So your business is green now… how about your website?

Imagine if you printed each page of your site, and then gave them to Google. Then, after you handed them over, Google had to file them away in their archives. The smaller the pages are, the less space your pages would take up, correct?

If we look back at rule no. 1 of the Three Golden Rules Of SEO: “Do right to Google and Google will do right to you,” we uncover a great SEO rule for techs: the more we can reduce the size of the pages on a website, the better the website is for Google to crawl.

So – how do I reduce the size of my pages and my site?

Removing on-page CSS and Javascript and placing them in external files.

Reusing the same style sheet and javascript file will make your site easier to update and also more consistent. This will also reduce the total number of bytes the page contains when Google has to index it. In order to do this, you would need to edit the pages of your site and move the code into a seperate file.

Given the sample below, PennDOT has 87 lines of javascript on their home page. They could copy and paste that code into a file called home-page.js and replace all those lines of code with 1 line.

<script src=”/home-page.js” language=”JavaScript” type=”text/javascript”></script>

For moving CSS, it is the same approach but the code is slightly different. Take a look at the 300+ lines of CSS on the Lancaster County Library website. This can be easily moved to an external style-sheet by copying and pasting that code into a file named home-style.css and replaced with 1 line in the head section as follows:

<link href=”/home-style.css” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” />

You’re welcome Google, we just saved you 8KB of bandwidth and 8KB of storage each time you index those two pages!

No-Index duplicate pages with robots.txt

Create a file in the main directory of your website named “robots.txt”. The search engines will read this file each time it crawls your site to see what urls you don’t want included in the index. To determine what urls to exclude, you could do a Google search using “site:yourdomain.com” and look at the results.

If you have a lot of duplicate pages, especially from a dynamically generated script, the results will most likely be displayed at the end of the results. Click to the end of the pages of results, and look for the caption at the end “In order to show you the most relevant results, we have omitted some entries very similar to the X already displayed.”

If you like, you can repeat the search with the omitted results included. Click on that link and browse through the duplicate results. Once you have determined some urls to exclude you would simply add them to the robots.txt one url per line, as follows:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /url-to-block

The search engine spiders support blocking an entire directory as follows:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /directory-to-block/

Googlebot specifically supports a wild card feature. So if you would like to block an entire range of urls, say from a web calendar at an address like /calendar-2009.html you could do this as follows:

User-agent: googlebot
Disallow: /calendar-*.html

See if your web server supports the If-Modified-Since HTTP headers

I use a Firefox plugin called Live HTTP Headers so that I can inspect the http server headers. This is a handy troubleshooting tool while testing 301 redirects as well.

In order to use this you would need to be using Firefox, and install the plugin. Go under the tools menu and choose “Live HTTP Headers.” Leave the box open and load your website in the browser.

Several lines of text will go whizzing past. Go the whole way up to the top to look at the original request and response. Note the headers for a page from Wikipedia in the image below. In the first section – “GET /wiki/Google HTTP/1.1″ – is the request that the browser sent to the server. Note the line “If-Modified-Since.” This second section is the response from the server. What we are looking for here is the first line “HTTP/1.x 304 Not Modified” and “Last-Modified: Sat, 24 Oct”… This server does support the If-Modified-Since HTTP header.

When the Googlebot spiders this page again, it will be able to determine if the current web page is newer then the one already in the Google cache, therefore saving bandwith to download the page and storage space to store duplicate pages.

Is Google finding a way to integrate the tracking of online and offline marketing results?

Many people know that one of the great things about internet marketing is the ease and accuracy with which marketers can track the results of their efforts. With internet marketing, it’s generally not a case of not enough data. It’s more like:

“What in the world do I do with all this data?! What’s relevant for my company?”

But what about businesses that still rely on that antiquated tool – the telephone – to do business? How do you know which marketing activities generate the phone calls? Was it that magazine ad, an internet search, that midtown billboard, or a customer referral? Sure there are ways to track that, but none of them are convenient.

Your trusted, data hungry friends at Google may be working on a solution for at least part of this phone call tracking problem. Using Google Voice, the search engine has begun tracking phone calls that are coming from ALL Google-related internet marketing sources.

Google Voice allows for the creation of a phone number that is not tied to a particular location or phone. Instead, the number is tied to you or your company. The user can also control which phone rings (office, home, mobile, etc.) when someone dials a Google Voice number. A “G-Voice” account is similar to a Gmail account in that it’s portable and more flexible in where, when, and how it can be used.

One of the things that is rumored to be part of Google Voice (which is only available by invitation only at this point) is call tracking. If this is the case, companies would be able to use their Google Voice phone number in various internet marketing mediums to track calls generated from those sources. Two mediums that jump out right away are AdWords Pay-per-click and Google Local Business Center.

Yes, there are PPC management companies that connect sponsored ads to phone numbers. But if Google could provide a way to use that phone number across a variety of online properties, I think it would be quite valuable.

Ease of measuring marketing results is always a good thing in my book.

Get more info about Google Voice from this handy YouTube video.

At ProspectMX, we are proud to say that we aren’t just another internet marketing company that can rank websites with no regard for business goals. While sending an increased amount of traffic to a client website is a goal in nearly every campaign we launch, that increase in traffic is worthless if it doesn’t lead to more conversions on a site.

One of our clients recently came to us with a great question after noticing that a keyword was converting on their site while also generating traffic to on more than one webpage:

“Which landing page converts the best on my site for this keyword?”

The video above is a Google Analytics tutorial showing how to find keyword conversion by landing page. Hope you find it helpful. Enjoy!

So why is this Google Analytics tutorial valuable?

Because the information this analytics data provides can dictate which pages should rank for a particular search query in order to maximize conversions.

In the video above, the webpage that is home to our SEO link building chart drives more traffic than our homepage for the search term “SEO link building.” However, when reviewing goal conversion data by keyword, our homepage generates a much higher percentage of web leads and proposal requests for that same keyword.

So, from an search engine rankings perspective, the page hosting the link building chart is considered more relevant for the term “SEO link building” than our homepage. The ProspectMX.com homepage, in contrast, seems to be the better choice for generating conversions for that same keyword.

Based on these findings, it would be my recommendation to the client that the higher converting page should have a stronger presence for the search term. Perhaps a link building campaign and a review of the on-page optimization could done for that page, with the goal of creating an indented search result of the higher converting page underneath the higher ranking, traffic-generating page.

Search result listings that also include indented listings generally acquire a higher percentage of clicks than surrounding results without an indent. In some studies, the no. 2 search result with an indent even gets more click-throughs than the no. 1 search without an indent.

So I am now officially an Adwords Qualified Professional…woohoo! Just took the test this morning, so I figured it would be helpful to put together a quick study guide for anyone considering taking the exam.

Now, I won’t go into too much detail, since I don’t want to piss Google off, but since I was taken off guard by some of the questions, I think it’s only fair I share my opinion of it.
First off, I did study in the Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam Learning Center – but I basically did a review of the outline, skimmed the info and only read indepth on topics I felt I needed a little extra help in.

That was a mistake. While I am confident in my ability to use and build Adwords campaigns for our client’s benefits, there are still details of the program I could learn more about, and that certainly came up within the test.

For example, while I am familiar with Adwords’s billing policies, I don’t have the details memorized. I would suggest understanding their billing cycle before you take the test. Actually, my biggest recommendation is to simply study the Learning Center topics and take any example quizzes you can find.

Adwords Qualified Professional Study Guide

But if you’re like me, and your experience is more with the actual management and optimization of campaigns, here’s a particular list of subjects you may want to work on:

1. Billing details, such as the billing cycle, where to go to change preferences, etc.
2. The tabs/navigation of the Adwords interface and what each section includes.
3. The pros and cons of the different keyword match types
4. Editorial and policy guidelines for trademarks, ad formats, etc.
5. Different ways of “targeting” your campaign
6. The difference between Search Network and Content Network, and their individual policies. (Hint: Look into any difference in rules or approval policies in the Google Search Network between Google search results pages and the search results pages of other properties within the search network).

I think that’s enough for now – if I give too much away, Google might revoke my Google Adwords Qualified Professional status and I worked too dang hard to give up my pretty logo now!

Speaking of which, apparently it takes 1-3 days for the passed exam to show up in your Company profile. Guess I’ll just have to be patient.

We find, more often then not, that the people who develop business websites and web applications do not understand the basic principals of search engine optimization. Even if they do understand, they may not care, or may not find it to be an important enough part of the project, deciding to just worry about it later.

It is much easier to consider these tactics during the process of the project rather then trying to modify it after the fact. For all the tech’s out there, I’d like to offer my 3 golden rules of SEO:

1. Do right to Google, and Google will do right to you.
2. If you try to trick the search engines, it may work today. But eventually, you will be penalized.
3. You don’t have to do everything right. Just do more right than your competition.

What do these golden rules actually mean?

Do right to Google, and Google will do right to you.

“Do right to Google” means several things. It means to follow their best practices. Think about what Google’s goal is – they want to provide their users with an efficient way to find the information they are looking for. In order to do that, they have created an algorithm to rank sites in order of which they feel is the most likely internet result to answer the user has queried. Most of the scoring techniques are secret, but the goal is not.

So think about it this way – anything we can do during site development to help Google do their job, is extra points for the site. See the Google Webmaster Tools site for more information.

If you try to trick the search engines, it may work today. But eventually, you will be penalized.

Even though rule number two simply states the opposite as number one, it still is important in its’ own right. If we are doing everything right to Google, we shouldn’t be doing anything wrong, right? Sometimes SEOs will employ methods to optimize their site to unnaturally inflate their rankings. Using these techniques are considered “Black Hat” or “Grey Hat.”

The entire premise of rule no. 2 is that we don’t want to do anything that appears like we are trying to trick the search engines. If so, you may not get caught today or tomorrow. But one day, maybe your site will have points taken away… therefore dropping your ranking.

You don’t have to do everything right. Just do everything more right than your competition.

Last but not least, you don’t have to do everything right. Just make sure you’re doing more things right than your competition. It makes sense… perfect sense.

Just like winning a race, a football game or the even the World Series. In all of those examples, the winners can still make all sorts of mistakes, and still end up winning. They just need to do better then the competition.

So fear not, developers of the world. You don’t have to become an expert overnight. Just take these three solid rules into account while working on your next project.

For many of us that get bombarded on an annual basis with the typical 6 inch, thick, yellow paged book from yester-year and do not feel comfortable with tossing it in the trash for fear getting attacked by many trees.

Here is a list of the Top 10 uses for the books:

10. Use many of them together as building blocks to for an incredible play house;

9.   Ideal book to place on top of head and walking for practicing balance and poise;

8.   Door Stop;

7.   Conduct annual Yellow Page Book throwing contest;

6.   Excellent mini step ladders for the hard to reach places around your house or business;

5.   Ideal for making several hundred paper airplanes;

4.   Excellent seat for those who are vertically challenged;

3.   Use as cones for out of bounds and the end zone during your next pick up game of football;

2.   Great wheel/tire chuck for under vehicles and trailers to prevent movement while parked;

1.   Perfect stand to place your desktop or notebook on for the correct height to conduct your Google searches.

Not to mention if the Google Gods caught you using such an antiquated instrument of Search….. you may have an algorithm change done to you

I have had several conversations with clients and most recently a very good friend of mine about why they are not using Google Mail for everything. My good friend still has an AOL account that he has had since the time it took 7 days to connect….crazy! I have explained to him and have shown him the greatness of emailing, archiving, SPAM ELIMINATING, scheduling, chatting, document and spreadsheet creating/sharing, customizing and organizing found when you have a Gmail account. He/They simply say I have had my email address for years and I tell them there are tons of ways around that after a few weeks with Gmail, you will kick yourself for not making the switch sooner.

Now this is not a “Plug” for Google or maybe it is…..however, I would love to hear more excuses of why you would use a very limited system for email when there is such an amazing product available. Please tell me what you are thinking?!

I can see if you are concerned about Google going out of business before your existing provider

I hate having to clean out my inbox every day. Who wants to take time out of their busy schedule to clean out clutter, respond to important emails you don’t care about, and keep in touch with friends and family? Not me!

Introducing:

When I first read about Gmail’s new Autopilot program by CADIE, I was ecstatic! And getting to play with it this morning? Heaven!

Five emails from my boss to respond to? Done! (Curses and insults included!)

An important email from a client? Done, and I didn’t even have to give a crap!

And the relationship manager? LOVE IT! Why would I want to read and respond to my loved ones, when I can let Autopilot decide who is worthy of my time and who isn’t? I’ve already terminated relationships with 3 people this morning – and it’s only 9A!

I don’t know about everyone else, but I am loving this new program. I may never have to look at my inbox again. So thank you Google, for continuing to bring us cutting edge technology so we don’t actually have to deal with people on a personal level.

Hurray for technology!

Also…do I even have to say it? Happy April Fool’s Day!

The design-o-sphere is abuzz today with the recent blog post by Douglas Bowman about his decision to leave Google. Douglas was more or less the first real creative director at Google and brought about much of the look and standards that The Almighty Goog has become so well known for. Here’s a short snippet of his blog post that I think sums up his point clearly…

“Yes, it’s true that a team at Google couldn’t decide between two blues, so they’re testing 41 shades between each blue to see which one performs better. I had a recent debate over whether a border should be 3, 4 or 5 pixels wide, and was asked to prove my case. I can’t operate in an environment like that. I’ve grown tired of debating such miniscule design decisions. There are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.”

He sums it up with this..

“I won’t miss a design philosophy that lives or dies strictly by the sword of data.”

Obviously most of the people linking to and talking about this are taking his side and agreeing with his reasonings. But I’m not the kind of person to respond to a blog post with “Amen, Doug! u Rock!”

I’m not sure I do completely agree with him. Yes, that sounds annoying. Maddening actually. But websites are not art.

Well, most websites are not art. Some are. And the other 99.9% aren’t. As an artist, I’ve noticed a funny trend amongst other artists. Some like to hide behind the shield of their black turtlenecks and macbooks and refuse to change or take other input from other people because they are creating ‘art’. My feelings are, leave your art to your personal website or separate projects.

If you are a designer for a company, you are not an artist.

Essentially, you are a designer of a salesman. Every time you create a page you are making a conscious choice about how you want that salesman to look. Will that salesman sell better to your customer base with a suit on or sweatpants? In that situation you are consciously making a decision about whether you want your site to be formal or casual. Once that is decided, you can start nitpicking. Does your salesman sell better with a blue tie on or a red tie? Based on the solid statistics you get from that, you can make an informed decision that, frankly, does “live or die by the sword of data”. And I ask you, if you were a business owner, is there a better sword to live or die by?

If Douglas is in fact leaving because he’s tired of the nitty gritty details, I can understand that. But isn’t that philosophy of testing and trial and error something that should be going on everywhere? He is right though that 41 shades of blue is a little ridiculous, but if one shade converts your traffic even .001% better, isn’t it worth it?

Art is great, but is the business world the best place for it to live? In my opinion the 2 should not (and to an extent can not) ever co exist. Does anyone disagree?

I know that it’s been in the blogosphere often during the past few months that Google was displaying sponsored results among SELECT google image searches while users were logged into their google accounts, but now it appears to be mainstream.

I was actually just doing a search for our new Universal Search Optimization Chart to see if it was showing in google images and noticed the sponsored ads appearing.

The kicker is that I wasn’t even signed into google, which means that these results may now show all the time.  What does this mean for the industries that internet marketing focus on? What about artists and others who want to sell their “prints” and things?  Will Google offer to sell them for you?  Does this ruin the algorithmic benefit to Google image search in any way?