From the monthly archives:

November 2006

The Design of an Authority Site

By Melissa Trippel

We have been hearing a lot lately about “authority sites” and becoming an authority in your industry/niche. We all have hopes of being the next about.com for our niche and with the resources and tools that we now have available this is no longer out of reach. You can be the authority in the industry by following a few simple guidelines explained in this article.

What exactly goes into the “design” of an authority site? Well, being a web designer, I have always been of the opinion that authority sites need to be super rich in visual appeal with flashy eye-popping design elements.

After beginning research on authority site development my opinion has done a complete 180, I know longer think of authority sites as a flashy, barely readable work of art for the web. These sites are simple, sleek in design and super rich with strong powerful original content, developed from the owner’s own voice.

Just looking at about.com, webmd.com, drudge.com these sites are not design oriented they are all about the content, and guess what they are definitely considered the authorities on the web. The design of an authority site is professional looking, navigationally functional and in no way takes away from the content. You can always tell a site that is lacking in original content because the design will blow you away, rather than the copy.

To build an authority site means to build with your visitor in mind, not the search engines. When you build an authority site the search engines will find you on their own, without SEO and other optimization tactics. We are building and enhancing our sites strictly for our visitors, our target market.

It is really quite simple, you have a basic, professional site design in mind, include compelling original content and market it through tagging, pinging, auto-discovery, social bookmarking, social networking and relevant RSS feeds from partner sites. Utilizing all these tactics, the world wide web is automatically put on notice when new content is posted to an authority site. There is not a single website that is successful and profitable on the web that does not generate original, high quality content.

Authority sites are also dynamic, meaning that they change and are updated every day with targeted relevant information. Static sites are no longer considered relevant in today’s web 2.0, which is all about syndicating the most up to date information on any given topic. When you have an authority site you are often linked to and remarked about by other bloggers who consider your information to be completely topical and original.

No one will link to you or bookmark your site if the information contained within is 100% third party content which can be found in numerous other locations. This is one more benefit to developing original content, the organic inbound linking opportunities of other people using trackback url’s and commenting about your site and your content on their sites.

When you are developing your authority site please know that the site need not be 100% original content to truly be an authority, you will have a good mixture of original and supplemental content from other authority sites delivered via frequently updated RSS feeds.

This just adds to the strength of a site when your visitors can find powerful copy developed from your voice and information from other relevant sites. They will automatically bookmark your site because they have found everything they need on your site rather than several, which is the definition of an authority site.

Bio:

Melissa Trippel is an authority site developer and coach at the Authority Site Center. Please visit her authority site at Crafty Places.

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Keyword Tools Useless for Long Tail

Today’s keyword research tools are simply worthless for finding [tag]long tail[/tag] phrases that have search value.

I have this list of keywords I just wanted to run through an analysis tool to tell me which words were the best performing on raw search data.

I don’t care about competition, duh, because I am looking for long tail. (i.e. no competition. Not anyone that I have to worry about anyway.)

Everyone and their sister is writing about “internet marketing” in my niche because of keyword tools, even Google’s, being so out of touch with today’s publishers’ ranking needs.

All you get back from all the keyword tools is silly, nonsense phrases that are all mixed up if they are 3-5 words, or simple two word phrases that everyone goes after.

The other drawback of [tag]keyword analysis tools[/tag] today is they assume we are all building massive niche site networks and that we don’t already know the market we are serving or might have our own list to start with.

I am not looking for a new niche. I want to know more about searches in my own niche.

Know how I am finding the most valuable information on phrases people use to find stuff in my niche?

My log files!

That’s right. That’s my high-tech market research. Sad thing is it is better than any [tag]keyword tool[/tag] on the market for telling me about my niche and the actual terms people are using to find this site.

Guess what? Virtually NONE of the terms people use to find this site come up in keyword reports as valuable terms to write around!

I don’t care what software or service you use, you are getting very bad data from today’s keyword tools.

They seem to draw a picture of your niche that you can “count on” but more often than not the list of words generated is worthless garbage for people like me who want long tail traffic.

I gave up competing for stupid terms like “internet marketing” long ago. Who wants a bunch of traffic from that term anyway?

What on Earth is someone really looking for when they type such a bland, generic, catch-all term into their engine of choice?

Yet those are the kinds of terms you get out of keyword research tools for all niches; the ones every other person who has already researched your niche is going for right along with you.

I don’t know how it can be done, or if I would let it be done (I would get venture capital just to buy it and keep it off the market I think) but a tool for long tail phrases would really make my day right about now.

The ultimate tool would be one that accesses the log files of all the top sites in your niche and finds exactly what people are really using to find those sites.

Yes, I know that is impossible, illegal and all that. But think about this: what would a list generated by Google’s keyword suggestion tool, or Wordtracker, or (ugh) Overture look like up against a list generated from actual searches used to find the top sites in a niche?

Totally different is the answer. Because people use phrases to search nowadays more than ever. Long phrases. Detailed phrases.

Who wants some aimless person visiting their site who found them through the most searched, yet most generic keyword for their niche?

Not me. I want visitors who know what they want and type what they want specifically into Google. No matter how long the damn phrase is!

Surfers of the world are far advanced of the webmasters who use keyword analysis and research tools available today.

What the tools are spitting out doesn’t match what the long tail searchers are using to find information…period.

And a massive amount of traffic is being missed out on in all niches because publishers like me are guessing at phrases or simply lucking out by constantly writing on hot topics and hoping for the best.

I don’t mind getting hit out of the blue with a search phrase I never actively pursued (a phrase that just happened to hit big in Google that no one else is competing for yet gets a lot of searches.)

But I’d love to peek into some REAL search intelligence and get the phrases for my niche that I haven’t nailed yet.

Heard of any tools that I might have missed?

Let us know about them below!

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Writing for the Web: Nourish the spider, engage the human

Guest Article by Rick Sloboda

Editor’s Note:  This article contains great advice on bridging the gap between search engines and carbon based units (humans).  Write too much for search engines, and you get no support from your visitors.  Write too much for your visitors and…wait…you CAN’T write too much for your visitors!

Unless it’s boring, un-targeted, irrelevant, pedantic, or any other fancy word meaning “bad writing!”  Here is how you can avoid the latter…

When you’re writing for the Web, you answer to two masters: humans and spiders.

For your website to reach its full potential, your web writing needs to appeal to the emotional needs of your target audience as well as the logical needs of search engine spiders.

Nourish the spider

Search engines, such as Google, identify relevant web writing for their search results by sending spiders (or robots) to ‘crawl’ and index websites. Complex sets of rules called algorithms are then employed to determine how useful your site is and where it should rank in the search engine results.

Given the facts that more than 500 million world-wide searches are made daily, and search engines account for more than 85 per cent of all new visitors to a website, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is by far the single most effective marketing strategy you can use to gain online presence.

But before your webpage can be optimized, you must determine which keywords to target. This involves:

• Finding relevant keywords
• Determining their popularity
• Assessing the amount of competition
• Deciding which keywords can be best supported with quality web writing

The selected keywords must then be tactfully integrated into your web writing. Search engines reward sites with well-written, relevant and content-rich copy, so your web writing should comprise a keyword density ratio of three to seven per cent. This is calculated by dividing the keywords by the total number of words on a page.

Engage the human

Once you drive traffic to your website, your web writing must connect with visitors on an emotional level to engage them and ultimately convert sales.

What’s the quickest and most effective way to achieve this? Give people what they want: relevant web writing!

When you’re writing for the Web, recognize and address the real needs of your visitors, and make it easy for them to find what they need or want to know.

Do:
Engage, inform, influence and convert online visitors into customers with clear, concise and relevant web writing.

Don’t:
Bore or irritate visitors with company-centered, self-absorbed messages, which will only guide cursors to the ‘back’ button.

Ignite readers’ emotions by clearly communicating the benefits of your products or services. It’s surprising how many businesses, large and small, overlook this all-important aspect, and instead focus exclusively on features. Promoting benefits will help visitors envision themselves experiencing your product or service.

By providing relevant web writing, you empower visitors to make informed decisions. This gains you instant credibility and trust, increasing your chances to turn them into full-fledged customers.

Rick Sloboda is a Senior Web Copywriter at www.webcopyplus.com
Put your web writing to the test with a free, easy-to-use keyword density tool www.webcopyplus.com/tools
Get more web writing tips www.webcopyplus.com/faqs

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Link Baiting, Viral Marketing, Viral Linking

Lee Oddin at TopRankBlog brings up a good point about renaming old things to make them new again in one of his latest posts.

He draws a line between viral marketing and the newer term link baiting. I feel like the better fit would be viral linking instead, but they are all closely related.

Link Baiting: Putting up some stellar piece of content, resource list, how-to information, a free guide… something free that makes people buzz you with links to make their readers go hmmmm, or to simply impress them.

Viral Marketing: This is really a lot of things that cannot be restricted to the narrower tactic of link baiting. It also encompasses free distributable materials where people are rewarded in some way for “passing them on.” It also includes publicity stunts that kind of go hand in hand with link baiting, yet can also veer from the definition above depending on the type of stunt you pull.

Viral Linking: This fits and joins the two terms nicely I think. This could encompass the best of both terms above, but who needs yet another term to throw on the pile of already confusing lingo for beginners?

What’s the point here? To get you thinking about getting links. That’s one of my biggest jobs here at FTR. Why, where, and how to get links is a big piece of any good marketing campaign. A BIG piece.

Google Top 10 offers some more resources on link baiting.

Link baiting may be the latest sexy term for viral marketing (or viral linking or Power Linking) but it is mostly a new spin on an old tactic. One of the oldest on record in fact.

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Blog Advertising Never Looked So Good

…to advertisers as well as bloggers!

“Analysts Bullish on Online Ad Spending“

Emarketer.com has an update on the “bullish” record for online advertising.

“…US Internet advertising revenues reached a record $4.2 billion in the third quarter of 2006.”

Imagine how things are going to look one year from now after advertisers have become more comfortable getting in front of passionately loyal blog readers - maybe yours!

Of course you need to make your readership passionate about keeping up on what you publish, but you are working on that aren’t you?

More television advertising is coming online every day as the big advertisers realize we might just have something here in the blogosphere!

Will you be there with readers and page views to sell them?

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Hello-Goodbye Blog Marketing

The best way to earn guaranteed loyalty from your visitors is to be a valuable resource.

Completely the opposite of what we in the internet marketing world (picture an incestuous mud puddle of gurus and sheep) learned about publishing, the best sites send people away.

Remarkably, although it has been noted time and again, many blog marketers just don’t seem to get the concept.

You never forget your first time. In this case, the first time was when you stumbled onto a resource that you wanted to bookmark and subscribe to so you’d never ever lose it.

And so you could come back again and again for updates and content that hits you between the eyes and links to resources of true, bonafide value.

THAT is the definition of an authority site.

So to get the party started once again, below you will find some good reading on sending them away and other [tag]blog marketing[/tag] topics.

If you don’t learn at least 3 new things from the blogs above, let me know and I will send you 2 free tickets to the next MENSA picnic.  (Don’t forget the potato salad.)

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Authority Site Review: Lady o’ Golf

LPGA Golf Authority Site ReviewWatch out MSNBC! LayoGolf.com just beat About.com for a prime keyword and has it’s eye on one of the other extreme mega players online!

Jerry Strain, the owner of LadyoGolf.com is playing for keeps. And his Content Desk publishing system is pushing him to heights that no one in the tiny internet marketing circles even hints about achieving with their silly, small time publishing systems.

Here’s the run down on a true authority site in the making:

The Site:

LadyoGolf.com

Alexa: 99,368 (As of posting)

Most people know that Alexa is only accurate, if that, on webmaster-related sites. But when you get below 100K on a non-tech related site like LadyoGolf.com, it is worth taking note.

Daily Uniques: 100+

Keyword Placements of Note

  • From Jerry himself: “Just can’t seem to get ahead of MSNBC for the term LPGA Players but I bet About.com is really surprised right now. Sitting in position 7 behind official sites for the LPGA, PGA and in front of sports.yahoo.com!”
  • Dominating on Google blogs for top keywords.
  • MSN and Yahoo placements are strong.
  • Technorati placements are very strong as well.

How it’s done…

Jerry uses the Content Desk publishing system. With built-in SEO and social networking tools along with live RSS feeds which are tagged and created on the fly, all he needs to do is post and rank.

Most of the traffic and SEO come from completely behind the scenes programming he never has to touch.

It is also what the site you are reading now runs on!

Keep an eye on LadyoGolf.com. It is going to continue its rise in popularity and authority as time goes on.

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