In Today's Issue
Search Engine Marketing
---> SERP Description
---> Adjusting Domains
---> SEO for a Swiss Site
---> Any Good SEO Books?
High Rankings Happenings
---> Personal Site Review from Jill Whalen
---> SEO Training Class – Oct. 23
Twitter Question of the Week
---> Do you give ballpark SEO quotes...?
Stuff You Might Like
---> BlindSearch – Search Engine Taste Test
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week
---> Competitor Running PPC Ads on My Brand Name
Advisor Wrap-up
---> Introduction
Hey everyone!
It's time once again for an SEO Q&A email bonanza. Enjoy! – Jill
Search Engine Marketing Issues
++SERP Description++
Hi Jill,
I've been asked to provide some info on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) description of my site, and how to manage it. As far as I know, it "normally" comes from the Meta description, but I also know that I've had a site where it came from DMOZ. Is there any way of controlling this?
Thanks,
Mike
++Jill's Response++
Hi Mike,
Yes, there absolutely is a way of controlling it! What you need is the robots noodp element. See this previous newsletter article on the DMOZ Description for more info and how to implement it.
Best,
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
++Adjusting Domains++
Hi Jill,
I've been following your advice for a long time and I REALLY APPRECIATE YOU! I have finally come to the point where I'm able to make some new changes to my website and wanted to (hopefully) get your input before I do.
I have a site where I started out selling everything – jewelry, perfume, decor, etc. I soon centered the theme to only home decor accents.
Then I bought a domain name that centered around the decor theme, but it has pretty much sat around because I never could figure out how to make the switch.
My plan is to move all the home decor products from the old site to the new one AND change the products of the old one back to selling the jewelry, perfume, wallets, etc. – that is, the "gifty" stuff.
What is the best way to make this change?
Thanks so much,
Rita
++Jill's Response++
Hi Rita,
Glad you've appreciated my advice through the years!
The best way to make the change is to 301-redirect the home decor pages of the old domain to their closest new counterpart URLs on the new domain.
You should continue to leave your "gifty" pages on the same URLs they're currently residing on within the old domain if you can. If you have to change those URLs within that website for some reason when you restructure it, you'll want to make sure to redirect those URLs to their new ones within the domain.
Hope this helps!
As an aside, we offer an SEO redesign consultation for companies in your situation to ensure that you don't do anything that will mess up your current search engine traffic, as well as to gain more, if you're interested.
Best,
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
++SEO for a Swiss Site++
Hi Jill,
I hope you're having a great summer and getting some time outdoors. I have a question that I'd love to get your feedback on if you can spare a minute.
I have a corporate client that is planning to purchase a company in Switzerland and they are wondering if I can do the SEO. My first instinct was to tell them SEO is SEO – no problem.
But then it dawned on me, there may well be some problems. For example, checking their rankings with a U.S.-based IP address might deliver different search results…do you think?
You must have some experience with this! Can you let me know what your thoughts or advice might be?
Thanks so much!
Lori
++Jill's Response++
Hi Lori,
Yes, that's one reason why you shouldn't be using rankings as your measure of success anymore. It's not just for international results, but ALL search results can be different at any computer, at any given time, by any given user in any given location.
See my article on the topic here:
Why Rankings Are a Poor Measure of Success
When you're done with that, please read the follow-up article:
Using Analytics to Measure SEO Success
That should get you on the path to what really counts.
If you can show your potential client how you will be measuring their success, it shouldn't matter what country they're in.
Hope this helps.
Best,
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
++Any Good SEO Books?++
Dear Jill,
I am new to SEO. I am writing my first website and would like to get a better understanding of building a great website that will attract my target market to my site. Can you suggest any good books that can help me achieve this goal?
Sharron
++Jill's Response++
Hi Sharron,
Unfortunately, there aren't that many good books out there that truly cover the SEO topic, in my opinion. But there are a lot of great online resources. I would suggest starting with my "Avoiding SEO Brain Freeze" 8-part series over at TalentZoo. It provides step-by-step instructions on building your site to best attract your target market.
Here's where you can find the Avoiding SEO Brain Freeze series.
If you really have your heart set on a book, Shari Thurow's "Search Engine Visibility" will provide you with a good foundation for building your website. You can purchase it from Amazon via my affiliate link.
Jill
Share your comments and thoughts here.
P.S. If anyone would like to republish the above article, please email me your request and where it will reside, and I'll send you a short bio you can use with it for your site.
Twitter Question of the Week ++Do you give ballpark SEO quotes...?++
Recently, High Rankings was approached by a website design firm to provide a ballpark SEO quote for one of their client's websites. We asked them to fill out our contact form to provide the necessary info we need in order to have some idea of the scope of the project. The company filled out the form, but neglected to put the website URL in, nor a proposed budget. So we asked again for the website URL, but they did not want to provide it.
I've been in the SEO biz for over 14 years and I don't recall someone ever asking for pricing (beyond what we already supply on our website...which is a lot more than most companies) without allowing us to quickly look at the site. Since we only take on sites when we believe we can actually achieve the desired results, we can't quote for a site that we can't see.
But beyond that, we don't work via a cookie-cutter method, so each SEO program is priced based on its specific needs. A ballpark cost could be anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 depending on hundreds of factors. Unfortunately, they wanted specific line-item pricing (although still ballpark), which, in my opinion, was impossible to provide.
So I got to wondering what other companies do in this situation and sent the following out to the Twitterverse:
"Do you give 'ballpark' SEO quotes to companies if/when they won't tell you what the website is? It's kinda necessary, no?"
Here are some responses:
@UprightSEO: I give them a ballpark that will at least weed out the time wasters who think they can get a quality program for $1,000.
@rishil: I just quote hour / day rates if it's consultation.
@DavidWallace: In that case I always quote it "way out of the ballpark." ;) 
@andrew_thomson: Why would you want to partner with someone who clearly doesn't trust you anyway?
@sjachille: Would a dentist give you a ballpark figure without looking at your teeth?
@winotone: Like trying to fix a car without seeing it...I quote the max as I'm not sure I want that client anyway.
@jacobstoops: I'd let them know you need to see the site in order to do their quote justice & make it accurate. Red flags if they still refuse.
@ann_donnelly: Ballpark yes – detailed quote only if I get more details. It takes time to do that and you need to weed out time wasters.
@BParrishKell: To me, you can't give line item w/o seeing what the problems are or they give you exact problems. Can only promise confidentiality.
@SEOHack: You really want to work w/a company if they're not even going to tell you that kind of important info? I'd tell 'em get bent.
@StoneyD: It's pretty necessary. Otherwise you can break it down by service that you'll provide and guestimate worse-case scenarios.
@milwaukeeseo: So you think it's just a pricing game they're playing? Sort of an informal RFP? Personally, I wouldn't ballpark it. Site a must.
@bncarvin: You have to have some way to screen for competitors fishing for information on your business. Legit prospect would give URL.
I think that last one really summed it up for me, as well as the analogies to the dentist and auto mechanic. Our time is valuable. We don't mind providing a legitimate quote for a legitimate website if we believe we're a good fit for that company, and that we have a chance of getting the work somewhere down the line. But this situation had too many red flags for us to consider it could lead to anything productive.
Want to participate in the Twitter Question of the Week? Follow @jillwhalen on Twitter.
Share your comments and thoughts here.
Stuff You Might Like++BlindSearch - Search Engine Taste Test++
Have you seen "BlindSearch" yet? It's a page with Google, Bing and Yahoo search all together, but with no branding. You make a search, see three sets of results and choose the one you feel provided the best results.
I tried 7 different types of searches ranging from brand searches and local searches to searching for a specific service. In many cases the results were quite similar and I didn't really want to choose one over the other. The interesting thing was, however, that I chose one anyway and 6 out of 7 times I had chosen Google! In analyzing the differences in the results, it typically seemed that Google gave a wider variety of websites than the other two engines, which seems like a smart way to do it.
You can play with it here.
Advanced Forum Thread of the Week++Competitor Running PPC Ads on My Brand Name++
What's your take on competitors who run paid search campaigns using your brand name as trigger words?
See our forum thread on this topic:
Competitor Running PPC Ads on My Brand Name
Advisor Wrap-up
That's all for today!
It's been a few weeks with the "full nest" at home and I have to say that it hasn't been too bad other than the sinkful of glasses. My husband and I have not been able to watch much "Roku" since the main TV room has been mostly occupied, but we'll catch up soon enough. Corie should be moving out to her new apartment any day now. She won't be there for long, however, as she's been invited on a month-long tour of the U.S. with the American Liberty Alliance.
We're very excited for her!
Catch you in 2 weeks! – Jill
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