Today in 1975 - Bruce Springsteen(@springsteen) was simultaneously on the cover of "Time" and "Newsweek." If you got to pick just one #magazine... which one would you want to be on the cover of? #SSLLC #Music

Today in 1975 - Bruce Springsteen(@springsteen) was simultaneously on the cover of "Time" and "Newsweek." If you got to pick just one #magazine... which one would you want to be on the cover of? #SSLLC #Music

www.scriptablesolutions.com

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF SEO RANKING FACTORS

This room is packed with a good share of returnees and newbies. We’re told this session is going to cover everything you need to do to rank well in the SERP … mm hmm.

Speaking in this morning’s “The Periodic Table Of SEO Ranking Factors: 2014 Edition” are:

• Matthew Brown, SVP of Special Projects, Moz (@MatthewJBrown)
• Marianne Sweeny, SR Search Specialist, Portent (@msweeny)
• Marcus Tober, CTO, Searchmetrics Inc. (@marcustober)

This session is fast and furious, and so is this liveblog. Here we go!

The 2014 Ranking Factors According to Marcus Tober

Tober promises to explain the Google algo in detail in the next 90 minutes (his ranking metrics presentation is set to the Iron Man theme). In the recent study they’ve done they compared ranking factors of 2013 to 2014 and what they are seeing more commonly across top ranking sites now vs then.

A few of the 2014 Ranking Factors:

• Google+ and +1s don’t always give you great ranking results, however they help significantly in personalization results
• On-page
• Site Speed showed a strong increase in importance
• The number of internal links to pages; pages in the site that have targeted and well thought out internal links will sometimes outrank pages in the site with an inflated number of internal links.  You should still optimize for the flow of your link juice through the site. Sometimes Less is More.
• Brand factor is also important

What’s even more important?

Content. 

In the past the feeling was a little “yeah, content is important, I should have some”. Whereas now, it’s more like “Yes, you need to have content and your content needs to be optimized.” Marcus says they have noticed that the number of characters and the overall length of content has increased across top ranking sites compared to a year ago. Not only is it important to have more content, but you want to deliver a better user experience because the user’s expectation is higher than it was a year ago.

When writing your content you want to make sure to use Relevant Keywords and Proof Keywords. Relevant Keywords are the words and phrases that are relevant to your topic and are commonly used by other competitors. Proof Keywords are additional common words that aren’t necessarily ‘relevant’ but they were also found across the top ranking sites. Use synonymous keywords through out the content; don’t just reuse the same keyword phrase over and over again.

The readability of the content (Fleisch reading ease) is a factor so make sure to check this when creating content. Remember that the Panda algorithm focuses on the quality of the content on your site, so you want to have high quality content. Try to become holistic on your topic and become the best on the topic.

Social.

There was a high correlations with social +1s and Facebook shares among the top ranking sites that SearchMetrics looked at. The takeaway of this is that good content is shared more often, so create good content that people will want to share.

Link Profile.

Backlinks and their quality still matter — get good links from good sites.

Additional factors:

• Number of links to to home page
• New/fresh backlinks which are backlinks obtained within the last 30 days
• URL anchors
• Domain brand in anchor

Brands might not always have more “fresh” links but they have the brand awareness, so they typically rank high, and then the sites with a high number of “fresh” links were found to be ranking immediately after the brand.

When it comes to the mobile environment, the following factors were found to be important:

• Site speed
• Text length in characters; you want less content than what you might display on your desktop version of the site
• Number of back links
• Facebook likes

When analyzing desktop vs a mobile environment, only 64% of the sites ranking on the 2 platforms were the same in the SERPs. This makes it easy to say that mobile is ranked somewhat separate than desktop in the results with a fair amount of overlap.

Additional factors that SearchMetrics found to still be important in the ranking algo commonly among top ranking sites were:

• CTR
• Time on site
• Bounce Rate

The amount of time on site and the click through rate seem to be more important than the Bounce Rate according to their study. This makes since seems how Bounce Rate can vary depending on the site, industry and information the user is seeking.

Marcus says that SEO shouldn’t be defined as Search Engine Optimization anymore, but it should be Search Experience Optimization instead.

With that, Marcus closes and Danny states a basic observation -the search algorithm is supposed to mirror what humans actually like. Humans typically don’t like junk, spam or bad sites so why should those types of sites rank higher than the quality sites that people actually do want to see. Good food for thought.

Marianne Sweeny on the User Experience

Marianne starts with a funny statement about how UX folks are annoying. I think to myself,  “Really? More than SEOs to an IT team?” (ha ha ha).

She states that searchers are growing increasingly more lazy since search has become easier. Search has improved by the searchers behavior hasn’t improved at the same rate.

Historically, UX and SEO have developed on separate tracks when in fact they should have been joined all along.  Back in 2011 when Panda started, this was the first real clue to the industry that UX was important in the SERPs even though it had been murmured about for ages.

UX factors that are important to the ranking algorithm include:

• CTR
• Engagement
• Content
• Links

CTR is impacted by the SERP and how users decide on what result to click on.  Users scan results and because of this “lazy” behavior, Google decided to shorten the length of Titles they display and increase the font size in order to make it easier for those scanners.

Engagement: Users are not inclined to scroll on a home page unless induced to do so. They like to see the usable content above the fold. Maximize the space of your webpage above the fold.

Proto-typicality put simply means – Don’t put things in odd places, or call them odd things. Don’t get fancy and put your main global navigation at the bottom of a long page, or hide the search button in an inconspicuous spot on the page if your site has a high interaction with the search.  Don’t reinvent the wheel here folks. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Visual Complexity is something else to think about. This is the ratio and relation of images to content.  If a site has too much visual complexity it is perceived as not useful. Keep the ratio within reason to avoid any issues.

Navigation should be put where it is supposed to be and where users are used to finding it. Don’t have too many different types of navigation and make the overall navigation simple and easy to use so that users can find the pages they are looking for.

A popular design nowadays is having the large Hero graphic across the middle of the page, but according to Marianne, these don’t always work for UX. You’re taking away an opportunity to make the site useful.

Keep your “Click Distance” to task completion to only a few clicks. Don’t make people go to extra pages just to complete something that can be done in 3 pages.  Also, think about the overall depth at which you bury your content. This use to be big a few years ago and Marianne still thinks it’s important enough to mention – don’t bury your great content 7 or 8 directories deep in the URL structure.  This could lead search engines to believe the content is less important.

Content Inventory

Take a look at what content you have and what is presented to users. Do a Content Audit and assign each piece of content to a person where they have to either Keep it, Kill it or Revise it.  Remember that dense, subject specific content is preferred over “thin” content – by users and the engines (Panda anyone?). Hummingbird also needs to be considered when creating or revising the content to make sure synonymous phrases, semantic search and the like are supported.

Some Measurable UX to think about for your site:

• Conversions
• Page value
• Unique visitors
• Bounce Rate

Consider setting “scrolling” as an action to factor into the Bounce Rate of a page, because after all, scrolling is a form of engagement.

• Social Actions (shares, likes, pins etc.)
• Number of pages visited
• Avg time spent on a page
• And the exit rate

Matthew Brown on SEO Success Factors

Brown opens by quoting Edward Tufte: “correlation is not causation but it sure is a hint.” He then advises us to look at correlation studies as HINTS, and not as actual ranking factors.

Things you can bank on:

• Links: they’ll still be around for a few years but Google is trying to figure out how an expert user would say this particular page matched their information needs.
• Anchor text: if you have better anchor text, you will rank better. Internal and external

“Iffy” factors

• Keyword strings in Title tags – Google is doing a lot of rewriting of Title tags and descriptions so this doesn’t work as well nowadays
• Structure data – marking up for the wrong thing can negatively impact CTR. Match the markup to what the intent should be in order to benefit fully
• Ranking factors – not as useful because it’s so mixed; knowing what is showing up in the actual SERPs is more important

New things with potential:

• Entity based optimization and semantic search – know what other entities appear in the SERPs along with semantic useage
  • Alchemy API – a tool to learn about entities and gives you clues of other things to target in your optimization efforts
• Knowledge graph optimization – the Knowledge graph takes up so much space and includes a ton of useful data so use that to your benefit
  • Some additional information can be found here: www.Blindfiveyearold.com/knowledge-graph-optimization
• Mobile – it continues to rise with 25% of total web usage being from a mobile vs. 14% last year Globally

Unknown unknowns: “There are things we know; there are things we don’t know and there are things we don’t know we don’t know.”

Think about this for a second. There are things we know about and can easily guess that they may or may not become more important in the ranking algorithm. Then there are things we don’t know that may one day become important.  The important thing is to just pay attention and be smart about the competition. Know what is working for a set of competitors and then move towards that target.

Hummingbird requires us to retest all previous SEO assumptions. You now need to optimize content around entities and relationships. Furthermore, every site has its own set of success factors.  Know your competitors and what those factors are.

Final takeaway: SEO is going to be harder, and SEOs will be in demand for a long time.  

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=135

Medicab of #Rochester - This medical transportation company requested a user friendly website that would allow their customers to schedule rides, fill out employment applications, and to make bill payments – all with the click of a button. http://ift.tt/1sYvaG7 #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #Medicare

Medicab of #Rochester - This medical transportation company requested a user friendly website that would allow their customers to schedule rides, fill out employment applications, and to make bill payments – all with the click of a button. http://ift.tt/1sYvaG7 #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #Medicare

www.scriptablesolutions.com

WHO WANTS A NEW WEBSITE? ZAP REALTORS!

Zap Realtors have just signed with Scriptable Solutions for an awesome new website!  This premier flat fee real estate agency located in upstate New York, will soon be able to provide their clients with all of the bells and whistles that make home buying and selling a virtual experience.  Our team is going to "zap" to it and get cranking on this exciting new project.  So sit back, relax, and take a quick cat "zap"...we'll post a screen shot of our work in just a little.           



View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions

Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=122

Checklist Boards - This designer of patented checklist boards required a website and mobile presence that would expose the integrity and necessity of their products. Industry news, client spotlights, and examples of checklist board designs by industry are all clearly displayed. http://ift.tt/1yi5xVc #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #medical

Checklist Boards - This designer of patented checklist boards required a website and mobile presence that would expose the integrity and necessity of their products. Industry news, client spotlights, and examples of checklist board designs by industry are all clearly displayed. http://ift.tt/1yi5xVc #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #medical

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Today in 1910 - A #baseball with a #cork center was used in a World Series #game for the first time. When it comes to #wine…do you buy cork or twist off? #SSLLC

Today in 1910 - A #baseball with a #cork center was used in a World Series #game for the first time. When it comes to #wine…do you buy cork or twist off? #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

HOW CAN B2B COMPANIES BENEFIT FROM INSTAGRAM

Many B2B companies have turned their backs on social media marketing. However, they have to realize that things have changed. Social media is a never-ending and shifting landscape. If your business never engages in experimenting, then it will never leave its comfort zone – you might as well hang a “Closed” sign on your door.

Small businesses with small budgets need all the help they can get in finding savvy solutions for their needs. In the B2B world, often companies fall behind just because they don’t adapt and change the game plan.

The expectation bar has been set so high that companies selling to other companies have to adapt and recognize that as individuals it’s important to be able to do things on your terms, through the channel and the mechanisms which you want.

With over 200 million users, Instagram is too significant to be ignored, even by B2B companies. Because they don’t have tangible products to sell, they limit their marketing activities to blogging or other content based strategies to help them get in touch with their potential customers.

However, you must know that everyone has visual content to share, no matter if it’s B2C or B2B. Companies in the B2B area just have to look at it from a different angle.

Here are some great ideas B2B marketers can use to fuel a new Instagram strategies:

Show the human side of your company

Companies are filled with people. They represent the brand and its culture. Instagram is the perfect marketing channel to share pictures with employees at work or in a refreshing environment. You will find many opportunities to take a picture and share it in Instagram: an anniversary, the arrival of a new employee, a teambuilding activity and so on. Also, if you have testimonials from your clients convert them into short videos and share them on Instagram. Make sure you don’t exceed the 15 seconds limit per video.

Go behind the scenes

People love when they are given insider information from behind the scenes. You can show them how your business runs. There’s so much visual content you can create just by sharing what to you do on a daily basis. Be personal. Share pictures with your office or your everyday work rituals. You just have to be a little creative and blur the lines between professional and personal.

Tell the story of your business

All companies started somewhere. From a simple idea in front of a laptop, the first contract signed or the release of your first product or service. All these can be shared through visual or video content. Share older pictures or videos; let people have a deeper look into your company. This will make you connect with your audience on a personal level.

So anyway you look at it, the most important is to keep it visual, have fun, unique, and creative.

Are you using Instagram for your B2B marketing? What else do you do to get more engagement? Please share your experience in the comments below.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=134

Basket Boutique of NY(@basketbny) - This lavish gift basket company asked for an ecommerce website that would allow their customers to easily search their products by price, category, and occasion – while being displayed on a platform that is as unique and enticing as their products. www.bbny.us #webdesign #ecommerce #webdevelopment #seo #giftbaskets #SSLLC

Basket Boutique of NY(@basketbny) - This lavish gift basket company asked for an ecommerce website that would allow their customers to easily search their products by price, category, and occasion – while being displayed on a platform that is as unique and enticing as their products. www.bbny.us #webdesign #ecommerce #webdevelopment #seo #giftbaskets #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

THE HONEOYE FALLS MARKET WANTS TO SOCIALIZE WITH YOU

The Honeoye Falls Market Place has asked Scriptable Solutions to stock their shelves with followers and friends!  This large community grocery store offers a ton of weekly coupons, specials, menu ideas, and health tips...and we're here to make sure they get to you loud and clear.  Just to add a little bit more pazazz...our developers are currently working on creating a sparkly new Honeoye Falls Market Place website for you to visit.  The total Scriptable Solutions package is in full effect!


View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions

Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=125

Today in 1931 - Noted #mobster Al Capone was convicted of #tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in #prison. What’s your favorite Al Capone based #movie? On a side note: Does anyone find it ironic that today is also National #Pasta Day and International #Credit Union Day? #SSLLC

Today in 1931 - Noted #mobster Al Capone was convicted of #tax evasion and sentenced to eleven years in #prison. What’s your favorite Al Capone based #movie? On a side note: Does anyone find it ironic that today is also National #Pasta Day and International #Credit Union Day? #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Animal Service League - This non-profit organization requested a website that would display their available pets, adoption information, and ways to donate - quickly and professionally. Upcoming events, offered services, and photo galleries are also up front and center. http://ift.tt/1sQFvGv #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #animalshelter

Animal Service League - This non-profit organization requested a website that would display their available pets, adoption information, and ways to donate - quickly and professionally. Upcoming events, offered services, and photo galleries are also up front and center. http://ift.tt/1sQFvGv #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #animalshelter

www.scriptablesolutions.com

NACKA Kickball - In addition to online league registration and detailed team information, the new NACKA Kickball website features a sleek design, rotating sponsors section, upcoming events, and continuous feeds for articles, photos, and videos. http://ift.tt/1lF9cT5 #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #Kickball

NACKA Kickball - In addition to online league registration and detailed team information, the new NACKA Kickball website features a sleek design, rotating sponsors section, upcoming events, and continuous feeds for articles, photos, and videos. http://ift.tt/1lF9cT5 #webdesign #webdevelopment #seo #ssllc #Kickball

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Today in 1980 - AC/DC's "Back in Black" went platinum. Which song would you prefer to #dance to at a wedding…”Back in Black” or “You Shook Me All Night Long”? #SSLLC #Music

Today in 1980 - AC/DC's "Back in Black" went platinum. Which song would you prefer to #dance to at a wedding…”Back in Black” or “You Shook Me All Night Long”? #SSLLC #Music

www.scriptablesolutions.com

SHOULD GOOGLE AUTHORSHIP BE USED ON EVERY PAGE OF A WEBSITE?

Google Authorship is a way to connect authors with the informational articles (blog posts) that they write. It tells Google who the original author of the content is and links content written on your owned domain to your individual (not company) Google + profile. Content that is written by an author that has verified authorship through Google appears in the search results with their headshot and searchers can click on the byline to see more articles they’ve authored or follow them on Google+. Once authorship is verified, content appears in the search results like this:

It’s very simple to sign up for authorship. Here’s more information.

Since content attached to an author appears nicely on the search results page and the image and byline convey authority and may increase click through rate it’s natural to wonder: “Should I add code to every page of my site so that they all include authorship?” Even though we do see this happen, according to Google it’s discouraged. Here’s what Google had to say on the issue in a Google Webmaster Central Blog post titled “rel=”author” frequently asked (advanced) questions”:

Q: What kind of pages can be used with authorship?

A: Good question! You can increase the likelihood that we show authorship for your site by only using authorship markup on pages that meet these criteria:
• The URL/page contains a single article (or subsequent versions of the article) or single piece of content, by the same author. This means that the page isn’t a list of articles or an updating feed. If the author frequently switches on the page, then the annotation is no longer helpful to searchers and is less likely to be featured.
• The URL/page consists primarily of content written by the author.
• Showing a clear byline on the page, stating the author wrote the article and using the same name as used on their Google+ profile.

Q: Can I use authorship on my site’s property listings or product pages since one of my employees has customized the description?

A: Authorship annotation is useful to searchers because it signals that a page conveys a real person’s perspective or analysis on a topic. Since property listings and product pages are less perspective/analysis oriented, we discourage using authorship in these cases. However, an article about products that provides helpful commentary, such as, “Camera X vs. Camera Y: Faceoff in the Arizona Desert” could have authorship.

While Google doesn’t outright state it here, we can put 2 and 2 together and surmise that Google Authorship should only be used on blog posts- content that is authored by one person and includes their insights/opinions on a specific topic. Google Authorship should not be used on any other page of the site including the homepage, interior product or service pages, about pages, etc.

When it comes to Google it’s always important to “play nice” and err on the side of caution. Google clearly states how they want Authorship to be used. There’s no reason to jeopardize the likelihood that Google will show authorship on your site.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=133

HONEOYE FALLS MARKET IS GETTING TOP SHELF TREATMENT

The Honeoye Falls Market Place, located in Honeoye Falls, New York, has just asked Scriptable Solutions to provide them with a new top of the line website.  And do you know what we said?  YES...would you like paper or plastic with that website!  This large community grocery store boasts an expansive deli and prepared food section, a market-style produce department, and a wide assortment of specialty and organic product lines.  We are over-the-moon excited to begin working on this project and will post some quickie updates as we go along.  Stick around!          


View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions

Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=120

Today in 1966 - The game "Twister" was introduced by Milton Bradley. What was your favorite #game as a kid? #SSLLC #Twister #BoardGames

Today in 1966 - The game "Twister" was introduced by Milton Bradley. What was your favorite #game as a kid? #SSLLC #Twister #BoardGames

www.scriptablesolutions.com

Today in 1880 - The National League kicked the #Cincinnati @Reds out for selling #beer. How many of you would rather watch #baseball on #TV if ballparks stopped selling beer? #SSLLC

Today in 1880 - The National League kicked the #Cincinnati @Reds out for selling #beer. How many of you would rather watch #baseball on #TV if ballparks stopped selling beer? #SSLLC

www.scriptablesolutions.com

ONLINE AD REVENUES BLOW PAST BROADCAST TV, THANKS TO MOBILE

Perhaps the iconic pose of our era is someone squinting at a smartphone screen–replacing another iconic pose, the couch potato pointing a remote at the TV screen.

That stark change is apparent in a new report that says for the first time, Internet ad revenues have passed those of broadcast TV. Not all of TV, mind you. While online ad sales, which rose 17% to hit $42.8 billion last year, according to the report from the industry group Interactive Advertising Bureau, had already passed cable TV, broadcast and cable combined still dwarf online ads at $66 billion.

Still, the report marks a milestone, reflecting the fact that people are spending ever more time online–especially on their phones. Less than two years ago, it seemed as if the arrival of the smartphone as a primary means to access communications and entertainment was going to destroy or at least cap the growth of online giants such as Google GOOG -0.12% and Facebook. Now, after years of predictions that the year of mobile advertising was at hand, they’ve finally come true.



Mobile advertising revenues jumped 110%, to $7.1 billion, according to the IAB report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers . That’s the third year of triple-digit growth for the category, which includes multiple formats such as display, search, and so-called native ads. “Our survey confirms that we are fully in transition to the post-desktop era,” PwC partner David Silverman said in the release. “Triple digit advertising revenue growth from mobile devices contrasted the more tepid 8 percent growth from traditional computer screens.”

Digital video ads on Google’s YouTube and elsewhere also continue to grow, though at a 19% rise, not quite as fast as in recent years. Online video ad revenues, at $2.8 billion, hit 7% of the total to become the fourth-largest category, just behind mobile ads, now at 17%.

 

Search ads, dominated by Google, remain the top category at $18.4 billion, while display ads reached $7.9 billion. But both are growing much more slowly than mobile and digital video ads–search at 8.6% and display at 7%.

As television networks slowly move their shows online and people view them on multiple screens, the lines between online and TV ads may blur, making the distinction less meaningful. Indeed, one of the key focuses of advertisers today is how best to advertise across screens.

A new study by Google, for instance, indicates that people search a lot for shows online, even months before a new show premieres or a new season starts, and try to catch up on shows online an average of two months before a new season begins. What’s more, searches continue at a relatively high level for weeks after a premiere or new season starts. That suggests that networks and studios will have to find ways to better coordinate ad campaigns in different media.

Publisher: Scriptable Solutions
Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=132

WE'RE GETTING SOCIAL WITH CHECKLIST BOARDS

Scriptable Solutions has just agreed to manage the Social Media Marketing for Checklist Boards of Rochester, NY!  We are currently in the process of designing and developing, what will be, their brand new website.  And since we love being so matchy-matchy, we are going to tackle their social media campaigns too!  Twitter...Check!  LinkedIn...Check!  Instagram...Check!  Google+, Facebook, Pintrest, Tumblr...we're checking social icons off the list like crazy!   


View our web design portfolio to see some of our work.

Author: Scriptable Solutions

Source: http://www.scriptablesolutions.com/article.cfm?ArticleNumber=124