There are two things that always seem to get tossed around in a conversation about SEO, content and keywords. There are more than just two, but those two probably show up in most of those conversations. A lot of times there is a struggle for content and to keep the ideas fresh, especially the longer you stare at it. One way to help lift that block are stories. Brad Geddes wrote a really good post at Search Engine Land called “Strike Keyword Gold By Writing A Simple Story“. He explains his method on how to target both high-level keywords as well as the longer tail keywords that sometimes can be hard to work into a site. Brad breaks down keywords into 4 types:

Explicit keywords: Directly describe a product
Problems keywords: Describes the conditions a product solves
Symptoms keywords: Describes a problem
Product names and part numbers: An actual product name and/or part number

Here are his examples on how to apply these keywords and drill down into the longer tail phrases:

This is a really great way to produce valuable and quality content. People go to the internet to find solutions to their problems and if you can describe the problem and solution(s) in detail, you can try to get that visitor to convert or use this content to support other pages on your site. eHow.com does this really well with a step by step guide to things. Here is an example of one of their more recent How To Guides on How to Conduct a Passover Seder. On this guide, they even have the things you’ll need to perform whats on the guide as well as tips and warnings that add that extra value to the end.

Google Analytics has become one of the most widely used web site analytic solutions around. It is used on an estimated 55% of the top 10,000 websites, including Twitter and LinkedIn. It is installed via a small piece of JavaScript added to the end of each page on a web sites HTML.

We use this software solution as a way to analyze traffic to our clients web site and to identify trends. I personally have been using Google Analytics since before Google purchased Urchin back in 2005. Overall, Google Analytics offers one of the most robust solutions for tracking visitors and conversions. It’s also a free solution, so it makes it extremely appealing to webmasters and marketers alike.

One potential shortcoming may come directly from Google. Google recently announced a browser-based opt-out for Google Analytics end users. This opt-out will come in the form of a browser based plugin, similar to the Google Toolbar. At this time, it is unknown which browsers will have this plugin available and whether or not it will be added within the Google Toolbar itself.

This optional opt-out has the potential to adversely affect the traffic numbers within Google Analytics if enough end users to a site opt-out. Hopefully, there won’t be enough people who opt out. Otherwise we might have to look for another solution.

TKG is looking for a results-driven manager to lead our web marketing team, the fastest growing part of our business!

Must-have abilities include:

• A positive, results-driven management style
• A strong ability to lead
• A knowledge of search engine marketing
• A true understanding of what it takes to run a significant portion of a business
• Understanding and ability to manage Profit and Loss
• Ability to manage multiple personalities and skill sets
• Great communications skills (both written and verbal)
• Ability to proactively grow the department

You can read all the details, benefits, etc here: http://www.tkg.com/search-engine-marketing-manager

Contact us today if you think you’re a fit!

I recently came across an article that claimed that Google is partnering up with Dish Network, Corp. to combine Internet search with television! The service, which is said to run on TV set boxes with Google software, would allow users to watch normal satellite TV programming as well as web content such as videos on YouTube.

As an avid television watcher, I think I would definitely consider getting this new software. Would you get the Google TV box?

Read the full Wall Street Journal article.

The Google and China dispute has become vastly overcomplicated by all of the “he said, she said” from both parties involved. We all know by now that China’s government reportedly attempted to access the Gmail addresses of several key Chinese human rights activists during the first few weeks of 2010. Google was outraged to make this discovery, especially after all of the problems that the company has had with China over Internet privacy in the past. The Chinese government has repeatedly denied these allegations, but has stated that they are “in talks” with Google.

So far Google hasn’t made any moves to pull out of China, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t happen. As an American citizen and overly frequent Internet user, I would have to agree with Google’s push to protect the privacy rights of users. China’s abuse of privacy and over-the-top Internet censorship makes me glad that I am an American. Google could use this opportunity to make an example out China, the question is: will they?

So I ask again: is Google overstepping its boundaries in China?  Should it just do what the government wants and quit protesting? Or should Google stand up for freedom of expression and fight back?