Posted on: May 5, 2009 by Syzlak
So for the past 2 months or so Google has been inserting their map based local listings (affectionately referred to as the 10 Pack) into broad search results. Thus, when a non-geographically targeted search was used or even when a user was not logged in, Google would show local results regardless (irregardless for you Steph). While this was certainly helpful for the user, it has become a bit of a headache for the SEO, the business owner and the online marketing director. Today, a top 5 listing does not hold the weight it once did, because for the average user positions 4-10 are now below the fold. While this is a great opportunity for local businesses to thrive, (and in today’s horrendous economic climate, I’m actually a fan of this) it makes it that much harder for the nationwide business to succeed.
Unfortunately, it would appear that Google may have gone one step further.
This morning I checked in on my allergy doctor’s website. He’d recently asked me for a few tips to increase his search rank. I was pleased to see his site in the #2 position on Google for the very broad term: allergy clinic. I was so pleased that I asked the good Hack to perform the search and bask in my pride and glory. His response?
i see some sketchy looking allergy doc at number 5
What the hell?
Undaunted, I ask my old friend Luke to give me a third set of eyes on the situation. He too saw the listing in the 5th position. So, what was going on?
Luke lives in Bend, Hack lives in the nether regions of my mind, neither of them live in Portland. Where does Google draw the “local dividing line?” Is it DMA restricted? If I lived 10 miles away, would it be the same? Was Google honestly giving an organic boost to a local listing based on my location? Yes. In fact, Luke’s company had been noticing this of late as well and even had a rather serious sounding meeting to discuss it. He’d pointed out that because of this, “running reports geographic locations in the U.S. is no longer accurate” and that it even applies “when using google.kr, google.fr, etc.”
Fantastic.
Google has just pushed down organic rankings for even more nationwide companies. It’s one thing to have the 10 Pack show up in the 4th position, but giving local companies organic precedence means that many nationwide companies will fall even further below the fold…perhaps even to the dreaded second page of results.
While this isn’t bad for the local business that wants local customers, it does pose an interesting problem for the semi-local business – the local business that wants outside customers. At the web development agency where I work, one of our clients is Legend Homes, they’re a Portland home builder that focuses on green-built homes. So, naturally we try to target Portland and Oregon keywords, but also “green” keywords. In addition, they are looking at selling homes to people who are moving to the area, not necessarily living in the area. With the vast amount of competition in the housing market (real estate, home builders, private sellers, etc), it’s already a challenge to establish solid footing with a lot of these keywords. Now, throw in the fact that listings will appear differently outside of any given location, and you’ll see the problem with Google’s new approach to local search.
Posted on: October 22, 2008 by Syzlak
Yesterday, Rand posted a rather short-sighted view on the discrepencies in SEO and PPC budgets. While, I understand his fundamental argument for increased SEO budgets, the post drew ire from myself and fellow PPC advocates. Through quick smattering of evidence, Rand showed that PPC is on the decline, everyone looks at organic listings all the time, and no one clicks on ads (paraphrasing here folks). So, aside from a simple disagreement on the purpose of PPC and the effectiveness of SEO, what am I so mad about?
To some of you this may be familiar:
This eye research has been shown countless times to illustrate the Golden Triangle of search – the red area in the top left of a SERP where users are most active, violently clicking away to their hearts’ desire on the first thing they see. Since you’re probably familiar with this research, you probably know that I used it in a post from December of 2007 about Google’s encroachment on this Golden Triangle. Shit, I’m not even the first to use it! In fact, if anybody clicked through on the link Rand gave for the pic, you would see that Inspired Impressions used it back in April of 2006 (over 2 years ago). 2 years in “search time” is an eternity. For reference, if you were to have a kid in 2000 and he were to grow up in “search time,” he’d be Robin Williams from Jack.
Here’s how SERPs look more often than not today…well at least as of December 2007 (I’ll admit when I took the screenshot)
See how our buddies at Google are putting ads into that Golden Triangle? Do you suppose that users might be clicking on those a bit more often than they did 2+ years ago? More importantly, did you see what the top listing was in the pic that Rand gave us?
Look’s like that’s a Sponsored Link, and it’s getting quite a few clicks too…
Wouldn’t it be great if current data was used to make claims of suspect? While I think that some of what Rand is arguing is prudent (SEO could use a bit more money and focus for many companies), I do not agree with either his methods or his implied conclusion (we didn’t get a conclusion out of Rand, so I don’t want to put words in his mouth).
The fact of the matter is, PPC can drive instant gratification (traffic), qualified visitors (through ad copy and keyword targets), motivated visitors (drop ‘em on a landing page…they’ve seen everything – they’ve seen it all), and it can do all of this for as many or as few pages as desired on as much or as little a budget available.
Market size is also a determining factor of PPC/SEO budget. When I worked in local search for a few years when it was first blossoming, I would never have suggested to the 100 plumbers in Atlanta that they could spend their budget on trying to beat each other, as well as the national giants, on organic listings. For some industries, it’s pretty easy to compete in the less competitive field of PPC with focused keywords than to try to tackle 8,000 competitors in organic. So, why not allocate $100 towards a PPC budget that will pay off, and do so quickly, as opposed to spending thousands on SEO – especially when thousands aren’t available?
I hate to call out my pal David Mihm, but I also had a problem with his comment:
Well, honestly, it all stems from Kate’s comment, but I was more irked by this one. Not to be a downer, but sometimes in a “down economy” (I call it a depression, but ok 
), some companies may have to go with the cheap & quick solution just to stay alive. A lot of times, that’s the small businesses. Small businesses need to be present, build their brands and get visitors “in the door” just to make it to the next step-especially in a “down economy.”
I know Mihm, I know his work, he’s damn good and any small business would be wise to pay for his SEO services. Hell, businesses of any size would be wise to spend money on SEO; but for a lot of them, it’s just not in the cards right now. Not everything comes down to SEO having a bad reputation, being misunderstood & misrepresented, complex or the rest of the excuses a lot of us use; sometimes, SEO is just not what a business needs when we’re trying to sell it.
Posted on: July 1, 2008 by Syzlak
Hey reader!
Since I’ve gotten back into the swing of things over here at SyzlakSEM, I deemed it time to break out the ol’ Like-Like Link post. Today’s link post will consist mostly of links found today when I remembered that this post was due yesterday. Without further delay
1. Matt McGee has decided to have a job again. Pussy
2. Google decided that my life was just too easy and so they found a way to crawl Flash. Thanks assholes. Do you know how hard it is to deal with a Flash programmer? They’re insufferable bitches. Seriously, I have Flash programmers (some of them even like the oh so hoity title of “designers”) that are friends and they’re cool, but when it comes down to it asking them to change their precious Flash in any way is like asking a 4 year old to share ice cream. Now we’ll have a whole new generation of shitty looking web sites that aren’t planned out with proper architecture and are just projects to show off how fast someone can make a menu animate. I’m thrilled. Thanks again.
3. You know women? You know, like, models? I don’t mean Tyra or Naomi, but like the models on the lower tier. The catalog, newspaper, department store models. Not terribly flashy and they couldn’t make it in Milan; but all in all, damn fine looking women that would make you take a second glance 
or make Martin Lawrence go “DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN.” That’s what I’m talking about. The women that probably get stared at on a subway or train, get hollered at, demeaned, etc. when they really would like/should be treated like anyone else. The women that probably don’t get asked out often enough because they seem unapproachable, those that when interviewed (assuming they’d get interviewed for something) always say that they’re a “t-shirt and jeans kind of gal.” You know these?
Yeah, me too. Except the thing that dork-ass guys like myself fail to realize is that the “jeans” in question are probably a designer pair from a boutique clothing shop in the ritzy part of town and the “t-shirt” was found during a sale (yet not ON sale) at some rich ass store. What we don’t understand is that when they say they’re a “t-shirt and jeans kind of gal,” that means that they feel comfortable in their $300+ outfit. Which is nice I suppose, I’d hate for them to feel uncomfortable in a $1200 dress all day long. However, this is the very root of the problem, that’s not what we thought that sentence meant. Every fucking guy on the planet reads that sentence to mean “I like Levi’s with holes in them and any old t-shirt that fits nicely. I like to eat pizza, drink at least 4 beers a night, go out on the town often – but only to the sports bar ’cause I don’t like to get bored with conversation. Oh, and I really like to just lounge around all weekend.” Why do men think that? Because we’re idiots. Why are we idiots? Because we don’t realize that we’ve described a guy. Then when one of us has a chance to be with a “t-shirt and jeans kind of gal,” we fuck it up because we don’t know why they’re different from our preconceived notions.
Thankfully, Google can help us out on this one too.
4. Long set up on #3 I know, but I couldn’t just go the cheap route and link out. So now onto the blogger’s choice awards. This year they have a category called Worst Blog of All Time. Currently our friend SEOHack is in the “running” (read: nominated) for the prestigious award. Does he deserve it? No, but you should go vote for him anyway. Sure, his blog ain’t so bad, and yes it’s focused on SEO (kinda) so it couldn’t ever win this award, but who cares. It’s safe to sign up too! Those ass-holes ain’t sent me shit.
Fin
Posted on: May 21, 2008 by Syzlak
The long anticipated Hot Seat with Matt McGee was held last night at Hotel deLuxe. Although SEOHack had asked me to live blog the event, I will stick to my tradition of tape-delayed live blogs:
5:50pm – We’re allowed into the banquet room. One of the nice things about SEMpdx Hot Seat events is that they’re catered. Which means that for $40 you get to learn some SEO tips, sometimes hear a speaker and get some catered food, a damn fine deal.
Tonight it meant fish…raw fish to be exact. Fish really are the bane of my existence. I find them to be quite despicable in odor and taste. In addition, I am a vegetarian and do not eat the meat of the sea. Those that know me will say that they have seen me eat the delectables of a pig or a chicken, to them I say “you certainly have, but just as there are ‘vegetarians’ that eat fish, I am a vegetarian that eats the meat of the land.” So, the night’s off to a great start, let’s see if we can improve this eve.
6:07pm – Ben of Amplify Interactive is hosting the evening and conducts a raffle…and one of Ben’s employees wins the SMX Advanced pass. I’m not going to pass judgment, I’m just saying is all.
6:09pm – M2 starts to speak. The most entertaining part of the first 10 minutes is watching the Hotel deLuxe employee running back and forth as M2 kept creating feedback.
6:15pm – Will the Bulls take Beasley or Rose with the first pick? Rose may be a “smarter” pick, but I’m leaning towards Beasley. They could trade Thomas (and maybe Gooden) for some more help and walk away a much better team. Rose would only replace Henrich, which isn’t as big of a weakness…Matt’s talking commitment, saying that the whole organization has to be committed to the SEO project. That’s a good point, and one that I don’t think a lot of big businesses or Agencies really comprehend. He also said something to the effect of Mom & Pop shops being committed to wood…pens
6:25 – M2’s recommending knowledge centers. Sphinn? Really? I’m not sure I’d recommend Sphinn to newbies…too much repetition and petty cliques for newbies to sort through. That, and I don’t think too many small businesses need to know THAT much about Twitter.
Patience! Yes Yes Yes! So far my favorite part of the (ahem) triangle. SEO (even PPC, SMO, …SEM) is always demanded from clients as a simple request. It’s not simple. It takes time. Time to plan, time to prep, time to implement and time to change.
Design and Usability. Shit, Matt’s on a roll here! Favorite quote of the night
It’s not your website it’s your customer’s website
Brilliant.
The “Y” looks odd on the Keyword Research slide.
6:40pm – Matt talks nuts.
6:50pm – Sobriety is odd. Especially since most events that I’m tied to involve drinking. I know that people have been thinking I’m joking when I say that I’m sober now, but I am…at least for the time being. I don’t know how long it will last, nor do I know why I did it. Life hasn’t been going down the shitter like it was in college when I had to quit drinking for awhile. I just woke up a few weeks ago and didn’t drink that day or the next. That being said, David Mihm’s beer looks really good right now.
Man, M2 already knows the type of car he’s going to buy next…I suppose I know the type of guitar I’ll buy next.
6:55pm – Mihm and I both scramble to write down placeblogger.com
7:10pm – Steve from the Internet Strategy something or other starts name dropping in order to build some buzz about some event I won’t be attending
Hot Seat time
The first site tonight is Clowns Unlimited (clownsunlimited.com).
Seriously. The rep is worried that (sigh) Clowns Unlimited has become…limited. The next 15 minutes of my life will be the “stuff you just can’t make up.” I’ll now abandon “writing” in favor of a list format
- Wants corporate leads
- They have fluctuating rental fees based on seasonality…makes sense
- The rep became militant when the panel tried to help him…this struck me as rather odd, I would not want these guys as my client. Then again, I’m scared shitless of two things in life: 1) eye drops B) clowns
- Apparently his poor blog posts are not his fault (it never is, is it?). He had an ESL Filipino write those (natch)
- There’s a different price scale for birthdays compared to corporate functions. This bothers me. Why stick one or the other with a higher price for the same rented Rocket Turbo Slide?
Useful Takeaways – Don’t try to sell in your blog, keep it clean and conversational. Work on having paths of action that would make sense to the user. Listen
Up next J&M Homes (jandmhomes.com)
- The loud man that talked through some of Matt’s presentation was apparently here for a site review…fantastic. Let’s just have a short intro and then let the panel review your site.
- Sprague’s an odd name. Especially when you consider that there’s a city in Washington and a High School in Salem that share said name.
- This guy’s dragging me down, every time the panel gets on a roll, he stops them with inane comments. We know you need help with your site, we know you’re redesigning it – let them talk. Lord, I’m starting to want a drink…
- Oh fantastic, now the clown guy is helping out. The Hot Seat is falling apart!!!
- Then again, maybe that’s what the Hot Seat should be once in awhile: a round table. Get 2 sites, 1 moderator/expert and let the audience lead the discussion.
Useful Takeaways – Optimize your home site for cities not states (ie Portland not Oregon) because people don’t just want to live somewhere in the state. Have pages for the homes you offer in each city.
Poster Garden (postergarden.com)
- These guys seem to have a game plan.
- They need a cleaner/simpler site. Like some of the panelists, I was very confused/disoriented by their site upon arrival. CD replication sites might be a good place for layout ideas for the future site, as they’re a similar user based experience. Some of my faves:
All in all, a fun and informative night.
Posted on: May 19, 2008 by Syzlak
Tomorrow, SEMpdx will host yet another installment of the outstanding SEM Hot Seat series. The evening should be rather informative as the organization has managed to score another big name personality in Matt McGee to sit on the panel. The Hot Seat is the best event SEMpdx offers and is a great experience for people who are new to SEO, as well as SEM veterans.
The evening is entitled: SEM Hot Seat + Matt McGee & The SEO Success Pyramid. I know it sounds kind of like the second (and worst) of the Indiana Jones trilogy, but rest assured there’s a lot of useful knowledge here. McGee is a consummate professional, and his SEO Success Pyramid has been widely heralded for it’s unique presentation of the SEO “gameplan.” Even though it’s more of a triangle than a pyramid, the knowledge within is beyond reproach. For more on Matt, check out David Mihm’s interview from earlier this month.
If you can’t make it tomorrow (which, is really hard to believe if you’re in the Portland area. It’s pretty easy to go, and rather affordable. I mean shit, the lessons learned are worth more than admission), expect a recap of the event from me later this week. However, if you’ve ever read one of my recaps, it might be advisable to go ahead and attend the event for yourself
Additionally, if you’re a Portland area business or SEM professional, why aren’t you a member of SEMpdx yet? The organization has regular meetings and events, and offers discounts to various SEM conferences. There’s nothing to lose (aside from the nominal fee to sign up…), so sign up today.
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