Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

Yahoo's keyword tool down; webmasters at a loss

For years, Yahoo's (a.k.a. Overture's ) keyword suggestion tool has been a Holy Grail of sorts in terms of researching potential target search terms.

Recently, Yahoo decided to completely disable this tool, leaving many SEO folks in a state of keyword limbo. Discerning webmasters will tell you that this is essentially a non-issue considering that the folks over at Yahoo haven't update the Overture keyword tool data since early in 2007, making the tool an outdated resource at best.

Understanding why content is king

“Our site is mainly used for marketing and branding, so there’s no way that we’re going to add any written content to the existing pages.”

“I’m busy trying to do SEO for my site and/or we’re an e-commerce portal, so why would I spend time building new content?”

“We’ve undergone a link-building campaign but most of the sites we’ve contacted aren’t interested in linking to us.”

“We’ve done all of the on-page and off-page stuff, so why don’t we rank well in Google?”

These are some of the typical responses an SEO professional faces when trying to pitch the idea of building out fresh content for an existing website. It’s frustrating, demoralizing, and in some cases, flat out moronic.

Do you feel like you’re up against a brick wall when trying to push the content initiative? Or have you simply given up? Perhaps you just need a fresh perspective on exactly why content was, is, and will always be king.

SEO - Makes perfect logical sense

As a search engine optimization specialist, I can honestly say one of the greatest things about SEO is that Search Engine Optimization makes perfect, logical sense. No doubt if you read any number of SEO articles, you'll see the tons of "Top Ten" SEO Do’s and Don’ts lists - tons of lists.

Throughout my SEO career, I have learned whether from SES conferences, colleagues or hearing any of the industry experts speak about a particular idea within SEO talk about what you should avoid or what you should do, it always makes perfect, logical sense.

SEO – In-House or Outsource

Search Engine Optimization is an ever changing business and has helped many companies increase their revenue and gain visibility on the web. Many companies hire an agency to handle their SEO campaigns and I feel that it is the best approach rather, than bringing in an in-house team. Let’s look at the benefits of hiring an interactive marketing agency rather than bringing SEO in-house.

IAB Introduces Lead Gen Transfer Best Practices

The IAB has established standard for safely transferring leads generated by online marketing efforts. According to their press release, there are two important issues covered by the best practices document:

Survey: Users Prefer Yahoo to Google

University of Michigan's American Cosumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) results reveal that users prefer Yahoo to Google. (Well, come on - it is prettier!) From Reuters:

Data from the University of Michigan American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) showed Yahoo had seen its customer satisfaction score rise 3.9 percent from a year ago to 79 out of 100 points, while Google's rating fell about 3.7 percent to 78 points.

IHT on Advertisers and Social Networks: "Mistakes will be made."

Today's International Herald Tribune has a great article about major advertisers attempting leverage social networks including Facebook, MySpace, Bebo and Habbo. The article comes on the heels of a major contraversy that occurred last week when several UK advertisers pulled their ads from Facebook when they appeared alongside content for the British National Party.

Friday Fun: Shakespeare on YouTube

Anytime the Web is used for good, not evil, is a happy one.

1,000 kudos to Chris Barrett, the director of Hamlet on the Street for not only discovering some great new talent, but for bringing The Bard to the front page of YouTube. Good stuff.

(Young actor Craig Bazan performs the famous Act II monologue from Hamlet in lovely Camden, NJ.)

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Ink for Sale: Evidently, You *Can* Buy That Kind of PR

Two reports this week prove that you don't have to be a PR maven to score headlines and buzz -- you just have to hold enough budget to buy your way in.

Earlier this week, in what you might call a grand statement of the obvious, Nielsen BuzzMetrics reported that marketers can, in fact, buy their way into WOM. According to their press release:

After analyzing blog buzz volume, ad spending, purchase intentions and actual product sales, Nielsen found the best predictor of buzz for newly launched consumer-packaged goods (CPG) is a large advertising budget...

The study evaluated nearly 80 new CPG products across several subcategories, launched in the U.S. between 2005 and 2006. On average, the top 10% of products with the most buzz, spent nearly $20 million on paid media for the launch. In contrast, the companies that generated the next 40% of blog buzz spent an average of $15 million and the companies that generated the bottom 50% spent an average of only $5 million.

In another blow to hard-working PR firms everywhere, PR Week (via MarketingCharts) reports that 17% of senior marketers have bought advertising in exchange for ink. (Shocker.) Others admitted securing their media placements with gifts, or paying for favorable coverage.