Note: This is a live blog post to go along with the “Secrets of SEO” Webinar to share links, miscellanea and hints along the way and manage the questions and comments which pop up in the back channel. And yes, the webinar will be available “on-demand” after the live event (we’re working on it).

View full screen version at SlideShare

Questions and Answers from the Webinar

Q: What is a branded search?

A: Jason says, “An example of a branded search is someone searching for “Levi’s” (or “levis”) or “Levi’s men’s jeans” rather than just “men’s jeans” or “men’s demin jeans” which are not branded searches (call these “unbranded” searches).”

Q: Is a URL like this SE safe? www.domain.com/index.php/seo/interestingdata

A: Jason says, “It’s safe but not optimal. Ideally the “index.php” would be removed and “interesting” and “data” would be separated by a hyphen (not an underscore) and ended with a trailing slash (which denotes a category or subdirectory to search engines).”

E.g.: http://www.domain.com/seo/interesting-data/

More on trailing slashes at: A List Apart - Slash Forward (Some URLs are Better Than Others) by waferbaby

Q: Can you name the companies just mentioned again for URL rewriting?

Gravitystream is “a turn-key solution that makes dynamic websites search engine crawler-friendly”

Note: At the risk of self-promotion, … Elastic Path allows customized URL rewriting by default for all pages (including faceted navigation pages).

Apache mod_rewrite “This module uses a rule-based rewriting engine (based on a regular-expression parser) to rewrite requested URLs on the fly. But all this functionality and flexibility has its drawback: complexity. So don’t expect to understand this entire module in just one day.”

See more info and tools at: Wikipedia Rewrite Engine

Q: What are inbound links? Are inbound links similar to backtracks? Reciprocal links - could you please provide a definition for this?

Jason says, “Inbound links are instances of another (external) site linking to your site. Reciprocal links are links exchanged between your site and another (again external) site. Backtracks (or Trackbacks) are (usually automatically generated) links created by blogs to acknowledge a referenced blog.”

Wikipedia: Trackback & Linkbacks & Pingback

Q: What are link bait campaigns?

Link bait campaigns refer to posted content designed to attract many links by being extra funny, universally appealing, particularly interesting, somewhat surprising or fantastically useful. This barrage of links results in (theoretically) increased page rank and marketing buzz. Examples include Get Elastic’s 107 Add to Cart buttons or Netconcepts’ Word Press SEO plug-in. More from Matt Cutts, Google Engineer and Wikipedia on Link bait.

Q: Will the milliondollarpage be an example for a “link farm”?

A: Yes. This (and many others like it e.g. Million Dollar Homepage etc.) sell “ad-space” by the pixel. The massive dilution causes the links to be worth basically nothing while making the site owner a few bucks.

Q: Do we get to choose IP range?

A: IP addresses (Internet Protocol address) are specific numbers (usually expressed in four-part dot-decimal notation) used by routers to exchange data on the Internet. IP range is assigned by your ISP who obtains IP addresses from ARIN or an upstream provider. When hosting multiple sites at one ISP (or internal corporate server), the content is all served from the same IP neighborhood and is (likely) discounted by search engines as they are considered affiliated. Be wary of ISP’s who host ’spammy’ sites or sites with questionable integrity.

More: Find IP of a Website + ‘Old Skool’ Internet users know they can use Ping and Tracert commands

Webinar Recap

10:04 - Heading to Q&A mode, there are about 35 questions so we’ll tackle a few of them straightaway

10:01 - Next webinar, Aug. 16th Topic: Product Reviews for Online Retailers - The Power of Social Commerce discussing user generated content and all that with Power Reviews CEO Andy Chen and/or VP Mktg Jay Shaffer

10:00 - Add Jason and Stephan in Linkedin

9:59 - Key metrics to measure include: page yield, keyword yield, spidering behavior …

Check out: Multi-channel magazine article “Beneath the Surface of Search” by Netconcepts’ Brian Klais (Brian at Natural Search Blog, Brian on Get Elastic podcast Organic Search Insider - Get Elastic #24)

9:57 - Secret #7 - Check your pulse and benchmark

use: netconcepts.com/urlcheck, alexa, search results …

Key indicators to track are search-fueled sales, orders delivered by keywords, conversions - Ergo: hits are NOT the critical metric

9:56 - Secret #6 - Influence the click decision

Make sure description entices click, people only look at first couple of words and listing, first page is implied endorsement - use heat maps to view where folks are looking - have Call To Action in beginning of snippet

9:54 - make multiple copies (canonical sites) of sites - e.g.: with/without “www” - multiple URLs, https version,

9:50 - Secret #5 - Make your URLs optimal

Hints:

• Multiple parameters and complex urls are not good, weakens internal page rage flow
• session ids are very bad
• hyphens are cool, underlines are not
• rewrite URLs using keyword (use proxy if needed or ecommerce which allows this (like Elastic Path ;-))

9:48 - Secret #4 - Rejig your site structure

Tag clouds are awesome! passes page ranks between pages - spend it wisely with relevant links, use faceted internal navigation and site search and rewrite URLs

9:47 - Blogging for Retailers Why it matters and how to get started (Free white paper)

9:45 - Hints:

• Use Social media (digg etc.)
• Embed links in press releases
• Try Linkexpertsfor buying links
• Use blogs (multiple, groups, employees, customers, more …)
• Spend as much time commenting to a-list blogs as you do posting

9:43 - Matt Cutts Google Engineer [mattcutts.com/blog] blogs about building page rank by link bait (funny, useful, interesting content with mass appeal) to encourage many to link to build page rank (and buzz). e.g. Netconcepts gives out at Word Press SEO plug-in

9:41 - Searchlight : An SEO Blog by Stephan Spencer

9:40 - Use caution with internal links, reciprocal links, footer links, site-wide links which are likely to be discounted (use “nofollow” as needed to not dilute page rank)

9:38 - Don’t link to “bad neighborhoods” + link farms, free for all

Netconcepts uses a database with millions of sites and page rank, category, title to show sites which are good to link back and forth too. Note: .edu and .gov have higher authority and result in better page rank

9:36 - Find link targets, Anchor text is very important, use Netconcepts’ Link Popularity Checker - Offer link-worthy content, Use an RSS feed (Note: Dave O loves RSS)

9:32 - Google Webmaster guidelines say less than 100 links. Fewer links weight each more strongly. Lots of tools to measure link popularity Yahoo, Google Webmaster & Toolbar, SEO Chat, SEOBook (Firefox plugin)

9:31 - Secret #3 - Build Links to Improve Page Rank

Not all links are created equal! Links from popular and authoritative sites are worth more - each page in site might have different page rank - not just about quantity, quality is also key

9:26 - Title tag is numero uno important! Home page is most important! - Have at least 200-250 words per page (Quality Content rules!)

Also key are:

• Header Tags are useful (H1, H2)
• Contextual links (make the keyword the anchor) e.g. use “men’s clothing” as link anchor rather than just “men’s”
• Graphical links get less search spider love (be sure to use image “alt” tag to describe
• meta keyword tags don’t help improve ranking (be wary of using duplicate meta tags on multiple pages - give secrets to competitors and flags as ’spammy’ site)
• meta description helps determine what gets displayed in results

9:25 - Jason advises avoiding tables and using CSS for layout (”where it belongs,” says Stephan + great for user experience as well as search engines)

9:23 - CSSZenGarden.com - Learn Cascading Style Sheets to keep text and code separate and clean

9:21 - Secret #2 - Make your pages sing to the search engine

With keyword focus per page in html (search spiders don’t care if it’s pretty - keywords must be high up in the code, call this keyword prominence)

9:18 - KEI score = Keyword Effectiveness Indicator - higher the KEI , the more attractive the term is to your audience

9:16 - Tools: Google [Keyword, Google Trends, Google Suggest] Word Tracker.com, Overture, Keyword Discovery

9:13 - Hint: Be aware of plural/singular difference - can make a huge change in rankings!

9:11 - Secret #1 - Improve your keyword portfolio

9:10 - Long Tail is a great book/blog by Chris Andersen - Long Tail of Etail with Chris Anderson - Get Elastic #21

9:08 - Chasing the Long Tail of Natural Search - Netconcepts report (free)

9:06 - Neopetsfanatic.com is Stephan’s daughter’s site making her $30/day from AdSense

9:05 - Plentyoffish.com is a Vancouver-based dating site which drives massive income from Google Adsense

9:00 - we are underway with Jason and Stephan - be sure to ask questions in the Webinar Q&A section

8:55 - Hello All, Dave O here, … just getting fired up and online.

Questions? Comments? Fire away either in the GotoMeeting chat window or in the comment section below and I’ll ask the esteemed panelists, Jason and Stephan, to chime-in.

Elastic Path is presenting a webinar on the “Secrets of SEO for Online Retailers” on Thursday, July 12th at Noon EST (9AM PST). This no-cost online event kicks off a series of monthly webinars on critical ecommerce topics presented by Elastic Path’s ecommerce experts.

To participate, simply sign up at: http://www.getelastic.com/seo-secrets/

The hour long interactive presentation offers a crash course in optimizing your online retail site for organic search dominance, plus you’ll learn how to maximize your pay-per-click ad spend and plan for seasonal fluctuations in traffic.

Noted search marketing expert Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts joins Elastic Path’s own Jason Billingsley to explain the techniques and strategies professionals use to drive quality traffic and increase brand equity.

[Ecommerce Expert Jason Billingsley keeps an eye on
Sales Rep Ryan Quaye at Book Expo America in NYC - photo by DaveO]

Participants will learn how to:

- determine the value of organic search engine optimization
- select the right keywords/phrases
- write for search engines and optimize conversions
- build links that drive traffic and increase pagerank
- architect your site for maximum search engine rankings
- deal with dynamic websites
- establish “hands-off” optimization practices
- leverage blogging and blogs to create search engine “juice”
- scout the competition efficiently and effectively
- get upper management to buy-in to the SEO program
- bake SEO into the everyday routine, hassle-free

Along with real-world examples (both of those doing it right AND wrong), the search engine optimization experts will answer your questions in an interactive Q&A session and moderated back-channel.

*** Save the Date ***
Thursday, July 12, 2007 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PDT (GMT -8)

*** Sign Up for “SEO Secrets for Online Retailers” Webinar ***
http://www.getelastic.com/seo-secrets/

Bonus: Jason explains the importance in investing in SEO in practical terms:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is like a lifetime golf club membership - a small up front investment gets you unlimited play. Unfortunately, most online retailers are charged ‘green fees’ (paid ads) for each visit. The SEO Secrets for Online Retailers webinar will help you get that lifetime membership and full access to the links.

In London, eTail UK kicks off with Search and Analytics day and Dave O having laughs with Elastic Path’s own expert Jason Billingsley. They discuss search marketing strategies and concerns plus Google’s role in ecommerce, global payments and adaption.

MP3 File

This morning, we circulated a press release about the Ecommerce Checkout Report and the forthcoming companion Webinar to the report. PRWeb does a great job of making the press releases more social with insta-links to share, save, and publicize via many social bookmarking and aggregater tools. Plus Jason’s mug shot is attached - great for desktop wallpaper!

But really, … Check out the ready made pdf of the Ecommerce Checkout Report as well and/or subscribe to the Elastic Path Press Release RSS feed or just read the spiel here and ’socialize it’ if desired.

New Ecommerce Research Sheds Light on Checkout Myths

The study looks at ecommerce checkout strategies at the Top 100 Online Retailers to determine which tactics are used most and work best. The report is free to download and requires no registration. A companion webinar, hosted by report researcher Jason Billingsley of Elastic Path Software and web marketing expert Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts, will be held May 17th, 12pm ET to discuss the findings in depth with full attendee interaction.

Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) May 9, 2007 — We assume a prominent return policy, site security badge, and shorter checkout process will lead to an increased conversion rate, but is this truly the case? Many online retailers are both time crunched and resource strained. They are unable to legitimately test which tactics do and do not work. Unfortunately, when determining which best practices to adopt, decisions are often based on hunches and not fact.

A new report evaluates the checkout strategies of the Top 100 Internet Retailers and seeks the correlations between the checkout tactics and success rates. The Ecommerce Checkout Report observed top performing online stores for 23 specific checkout characteristics affecting the customer experience in three categories 1) speed and ease of use; 2) security and confidence; and, 3) profit enhancement.

The report attempts to answer questions like: Does a shorter checkout process really decrease shopping cart abandonment? Should you use an order confirmation screen? Does live chat improve conversions? Study samples included a variety of vertical market groups including apparel and accessories, computers and electronics, and both high and low ticket value product retailers.

Interesting findings within the report:

• Conversion rates were nearly double at retailers selling high ticket priced items when coupon code entry was not available.
• Conversion rates were a full 40% higher where Top 100 retailers did not request a CVV (Card Verification Value), yet over 55% of them do.
• 36% of Top 100 retailers offer alternative payment options such as PayPal, Bill Me Later, or Google Checkout, but conversion rates were convincingly higher at retailers who did not offer alternative payment types - more than double at retailers selling high ticket value items.

Principal report researcher, Jason Billingsley of Elastic Path Software — an ecommerce software vendor, explains, “Our goal with this report is to give online retailers a yardstick for comparing the effectiveness of their own checkout strategies. Hopefully, it will give them incentive to start testing tactics that seem to be most effective for increasing conversions.”Beyond the complimentary report, readers can hear anecdotal commentary at an upcoming Webinar on May 17 at 12 p.m. ET with panelists Jason Billingsley and noted industry expert Stephan Spencer of Netconcepts. Webinar registration is free and the format will allow for questions to the experts. The collected conversations will form the basis of a follow up prescriptive report including objective recommendations for improving conversion rates in specific industries.

Read The Ecommerce Checkout Report and companion blog series (no registration is required):
Ecommerce Checkout Report and companion blog series

Sign up for the interactive webinar:
Ecommerce Checkout Report Webinar

ecommerce online+retail etail elastic+path conversions conversion+rates white+paper retail+tips net+concepts webinar netconcepts

Bookmark - Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl It | Spurl | RawSugar | Simpy | Shadows | Blink It | My Web

DM News published an article titled ‘Copywriting for better online retail SEO‘ by Elastic Path’s VP Marketing (and search enthusiast) Jason Billingsley in their March 30 2007 online edition.

Anyone who has chatted with Jason at a trade show or other event quickly learns that he is passionate about search engine optimization and enhancing usability to increase conversions. Show him your site and, after a quick and calculated look, he’ll rattle off a dozen tips and tricks which will increase your site visibility resulting in more (cheap) organic hits allowing you to reduce spend on (often expensive) Pay Per Click ads while maintaining or increasing your traffic levels.

No, Google is not too worried ;-), but your competition will be worried if you study Jason’s tips and follow them.

Anyhow, the article hands out a big concept which is basically a new way of looking at something you are already doing for your site - writing words. The gist of Jason persuasive case is ‘write how your customers search.’

People search similarly to how they speak. The content created should match closely to the content sought and, therefore, will rank toward the top of the search engine results page.

I find watching people use search engines remarkable due to the words they use to search - more often than not, casual phrases and conversational snippets are the norm rather than one-off, specific word strings like found in a products’ technical specifications.

Jason sets up an example of this:

For example, a typical description of a sheet set may read as follows: ‘100 percent cotton, 300-thread count, cross-woven machine washable.’ However, the product will be much more findable, and will rank higher in organic searches, if the name and description contained the same language searchers are using.

The shopper would respond much better to this: ‘These winter white soft bedsheets will whisk you off to a comfortable dreamland every night. No other luxury bedding will make your bedroom as regal as the Queen Collection’s 300-thread count, 100 percent cotton sheet set. The only trouble with a luxurious, warm and comfortable set of sheets like this is having to get out of your dream bed each morning.’

As you see, these words are more persuasive and contain sets of phrases shoppers are actually looking for: white soft bedsheets, luxury bedding, cotton sheet set, comfortable set of sheets, dream bed.

So when writing your descriptions, commit the time and energy to doing it right. Think ti through and write a little story for each product. This seems like a lot of work and it is. Writing isn’t necessarily easy and writing well takes practice and well, … time.

As such, seek advice from experienced writers (freelance if needed) and absolutely talk to people outside of your vertical universe. Talk to your nieces, grandmothers and neighbors to find out how they talk about your type of goods (ergo: a ‘couch’ to one person is a ’sofa’ to another and a ‘chesterfield’ to someone else). Make sure to get out of your company echo chamber where everyone uses and understands the same industry jargon and parlance. By doing so, you’ll find fresh insight into the ways customers search for what you have. By doing so, you’ll attract more qualified buyers, more cheaply.

Make more + Spend less = Great Success! Start by reading Jason’s tips.

In Feb. 20th edition of Internet Retailer, Elastic Path’s VP Marketing was quoted in an article called, “Keeping site design to a minimum” which discussed the very relevant idea of keeping your ecommerce site design clean and simple rather than barraging visitors with a confusing clutter of linkable chaos.

Here’s what he had to say:

Generally, many e-retailers can’t seem to see the forest for the trees, contends Jason Billingsley, vice president of marketing at Elastic Path Software Inc., an e-commerce platform vendor.

“A forgotten aspect of site design is minimalism—reducing features, reducing functionality,” Billingsley says. “When you look at successful e-commerce designs like Apple’s, you see it’s difficult to get confused. It’s minimalist. And if you can get across one clear message, it’s far more effective than crowding shoppers with more features and functions.”

The article also quotes Craig Smith, founder and managing director of Trinity Insight LLC, and Troy Lawson, chief technology officer at Best Kiteboarding LLC who echo Jason’s opinion saying on minimalism, saying, “You don’t want to cause analysis paralysis, where you give shoppers so many options” and, “… take something so complicated but present it in a way that is so easy to use,” respectively.

Another Press Release hit the street today, this time announcing that Elastic Path’s VP Marketing Jason Billingsley’s will lead a roundtable discussion about search marketing at the forthcoming Mid-Market e-Tail Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. Day One of the event is dubbed “Search Day” and, as the name implies, it’s all about the search.

Search Marketing Day is a hands-on, highly-interactive session with ecommerce experts and retailers. Attendees will spend the day with top-level executives who have mastered the art of optimizing organic and paid search marketing programs and will learn how to increase ecommerce search rankings.

Elastic Path joins a panel of search marketing experts including representatives from Celebros and Mercado to lead discussions on topics such as “Keyword Management: Working with Engines (not against them),” and “Making Your Life Better: 4 Ways to Optimize Your Search Rankings.”

Billingsley, also a co-founder of Elastic Path, is an experienced marketer with expert knowledge in search engine optimization, retail site usability and capitalizing on the “longtail” of search.

Read the whole release at PRWeb and/or download the ecommerce search day press release as a .pdf - and keep an eye on a podcast coming about this same announcement.

Elastic Path VP of Marketing Jason Billingsley explains how smart search engine optimization and parametric site indexing help retailers profitably capture the “Long Tail” market by positioning their ecommerce shop as a big fish in many small ponds.

MP3 File

[Photo of Jason Billingsley by Kris Krug]

See also:

• Chris Anderson’s Long Tail blog
• StomperNetwork blog