KEI Observation Deck: July 2005 Archives

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July 31, 2005

Wordtracker Magic Question

Wordtracker Magic Question: July 31, 2005

Hi John,

I just bought your e-book, Wordtracker Magic - great advice.
1. Can you explain to me why the quotes are important when I do my Wordtracker Comprehensive Search ?

2. And with quotes set to YES, do you have a tredshold for how big the competition may be, before you discard the keyword?

Regards

FJ, Denmark

--------------------------------------------

ANSWER:

[FJ] Can you explain to me why the quotes are important when I do my Wordtracker Comprehensive Search ?

{John Alexander] Yes, you must leave quotes turned on in Wordtracker, so that you can gather the results as "a complete phrase." If you turn quotes off, you will never discover those niche phrases.

But this does not mean that you should optimize using quotes around the phrase, but only for the research. When you optimize your page, create very focused content based upon one researched phrase per page. But no need to use quotes when optimizing. Keep in mind if you're finding "low hanging fruit" (phrases with high KEI) then often you only need mild optimization because there is literally no competition.

[FJ] And with quotes set to YES, do you have a tredshold for how big the competition may be, before you discard the keyword?

[John Alexander] This depends on your optimization experience. When you are brand new to SEO you might look for competition of 100 competing pages or less. If you've been more experienced you can take on more competition you can aim between the 500-1000 competing pages. Of course once you are experienced and know how to compete then it really don't matter because you'll choose your own comfort threshold.

When you are brand new, why not go for zero competition when you can find it?

What I attempt to do, is look beyond how big the competition is. In time, you can build your skills and you can grab more competitive phrases with lower KEI. But the reason you want high KEI to start, is because it's easy to grab quality traffic that results in business. The sooner a new SEO get's genuine results, the better! This is because that experience (call it a recent positive SEO experience) is absolutely essential. It changes our understanding and helps us to grow immediately. It changes the way we feel about our own work.

Ultimately, with practice, you're mind should be leaving the thoughts of keywords and learning to spot behavioural trends within the complete phrase. Do NOT get hung up in analysis like some people do. They'll write to me saying, oh my gosh John, here are 3 different keyword phrases and I don't know which one is the best?" I say, stop....don't get hung up.

If you have got three varied phrases that you can create intelligent content of useful value for your readers, THEN use all 3 phrases. Use one phrase per page and create 3 different pages of original content. Be sure to follow your instincts and test all of your ideas. You'll soon be growing muscles in this realm of research, but you only grow by reason of practice. You only grow, as you practice. So don't get stuck on one screen to long in analytic mode.

Another trap that people may fall into is they become addicted to those high KEI phrases and so they leave lower KEI phrases without realizing their value too. (some excellent value)

-Try and take at least one phrase away from every screenshot.
-Don't get stuck in a loop just looking ONLY for high KEI.

With practice you'll find that there is plenty there, but all of my emphasis on high KEI is for when you are "first getting started."

High KEI is not the end of the world. You can build your comfort and SEO skill level to the point to where you can compete (if you study SEO.)

If you have not had any SEO training and need some help to build your SEO skillset and understanding of the whole process then you could either:

1 Come to one of our hands-on SEO workshops (Tuition is $1795 for 5-Days).

Or if you cannot afford to take the time to travel...

2. Study Robin Nobles comprehensive SEO courses online which are right up to date. These are at http://www.onlinewebtraining.com

Here is a little peek at what she has in the advanced area:
http://www.onlinewebtraining.com/advanced_contents.php

Okay, finally I'd like to give you some our other free articles and tips (maybe you've already seen them)

Have you listened to my free Wordtracker Magic audio tips? Short little audios of me explaining how to do things in Wordtracker. I send out 2 X 3 minute audio tips per week. Just turn up your sound and listen on your computer.

Here is World Talk Radio "talk show" where I was interviewed about using Wordtracker Magic.

Here is an article where I show the huge impact between little phrase combination differences.

One last tip. Don't spend hours stressing over keyword research. Learn how to get Wordtracker to give up her gold in just minutes (practice what I teach in the guide). Think of it like growing mucles...the more you workout, the stronger you get. Develop your lateral thinking skills. Focus on behaviors more than keywords.

But most important, spend your time (most of your time) creating really valuable content for your visitors. Create content that you can read and be proud of. Create content that merits real value.

Then apply a little mild optimization based on those Wordtracker Magic phrases. Focus on only one phrase per page.

Here is our SEO Workshop agenda if you want to see what else we do in our workshops.

In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to write to me and I wish you the very best of visibility and exposure for your Web site. Thanks for buying the Wordtracker Magic e-book. Drop me a note as you experience more success and tell me how you're doing.

Here are our student's comments about what they experience from attending our hands-on SEO Workshop:

Highest regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com

Like the only REAL magic; the magic of knowledge!

Posted by John at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

July 30, 2005

KEI Observation Deck - Cinema and Big Screen TVs

KEI Observation Deck - Cinema and Big Screen TVs
Observations and advice by John Alexander (for July 28, 2005)

Welcome to the KEI Observation Deck where I regularly dip into Wordtracker and in just a few minutes grab and post some great
keyword phrases with fair to high usage and low competition.

What is high KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) mean?

1. Wordtracker says that a KEI value of 100 is potentially a good phrase to optimize for.

2. Wordtracker says that a KEI value of 400 is potentially an excellent phrase to optimize for.

Rule of thumb: The higher the KEI value, the bigger your "window of opportunity" for a phrase meaning a busy phrase in real use by searchers (on major search engines) while at the same time low to extremely low competition.

The value of this is that even if you are only just beginning to study SEO skills and are not yet proficient at dealing with heavy competition, you can still grab good traffic for phrases that most Webmasters don't even know exists.

Okay, let's talk about how we can begin thinking more laterally about our searcher's "behaviour." I teach these skills in detail at our live hands-on SEO Mastery Workshop if you are interested in personlized one on one training at Search Engine Workshops next month in Orlando at Disneyworld. Here's our SEO training agenda.

Let's define lateral thinking or "thinking out side of the box."

Your single biggest challenge when doing keyword research (for most people) is that our brains are already pre-programmed with keywords that we think are appropriate. Think about it...it's true.

The value of Wordtracker is truly awesome when we begin to move beyond the boundaries of keyword research and begin exploring the world's "searching behavior." Wordtracker not only will do all of the hard work for us but it literally is available to spot trends and "trails of gold" within just minutes and with practice, sometimes within seconds!

Sometimes I get a little weary of people complaining they can't find any "high KEI values" in the database, because I can find great KEI values nearly everytime I go into explore Wordtracker data. So I wanted to identify where most people are having a challenge. Here it is. The trouble is not with Wordtracker. The trouble is that we tend to think along very narrow lines when doing our research. Instead of exploring a handful of keywords that most people would think of, because those terms are very generic, we need a way to open up Wordtracker and instead of spending hours of our life researching, we need to be able to spot those low hanging fruit quickly and without stress.

Okay, let's examine a typical complaint or comment.

--------------------------------------

QUESTION: John, I am selling Big Screen TVs but I am unable to find any good KEI values like you discuss here. Look at what I find in Wordtracker:

Here's the results of my research:

"big screen TV" KEI 0.00 - Competing pages 771,000 pages

"sony big screen TV" KEI 0.003 - Competing pages 7,640

"Big Screen TV Reviews" KEI 0.490 - Competing 4,130 pages

Can you please tell me more about what I'm doing wrong or please demonstrate that there are some higher KEI search phrases that
I'm missing. All I cand find are 0 KEI values and you say there is always low hanging fruit? I'm lost.

Thanks for your thoughts
Larry A.
---------------------------------------

Dear Larry,

Never get discouraged because there are always things to discover about how people are searching. The term Big Screen TV is only one keyword phrase. You need to use a little Wordtracker Magic technique to dig in and reveal what people are really searching for that are far less compettitive.

Let me demonstrate that there are indeed completely different terms that people are searching with that could drasically eliminate competition. Also remember that each one of these phrases needs to be used to create valuable content that is useful to your readers.

In about 17 minutes of researching here are a few examples I found but I am sure there are more.

Instead of your phrase:
"big screen TV" KEI 0.00 - Competing pages 771,000 pages

try this observation which I found within 8 minutes in Wordtracker...
"personal home cinema systems" KEI 317.7 -
(Competition is only 29 pages)

or try this one which looks better even...
"home cinema systems equipment" KEI 485.0 -
(Competition is only 19 pages)

I am assuming you have read the e-book Wordtracker Magic, right?

Please read the section called "Techniques and Methods To Finding Great Results Fast" beginning on page 12. Try actually working in Wordtracker as you review this section.

I hope this helps open up your scope of observation. All you need is a little practice and you'll have it.

Best regards
John Alexander

----------------------------------------------

Okay, following the train of thought today on the topic of entertainment, film, TV or the Cinema, here is an idea for anyone who is interested in marketing movies.

Let me demonstrate something which may or may not work. This will be my suggestion to anyone with video or movie related Web sites. Watch out for a new higher search trend on the terms for "John Wayne" the movie actor. Here's a secret that you may or may not know.

Always keep apprised of real world news for your own industry. Know what is happening within the real world events and plan at least 6 months ahead of time. Okay, sticking to the topic of movies...

Look what I noticed in Wordtracker:
"John Wayne the High the Mighty" KEI 81.0 Competition 0 pages

Are you optimized for this term. If not, it's not to late, but there are others that may have beat you to it.

The High and the Mighty is a John Wayne film that has never before been released to the public in years. I understand it will be released on DVD August 2 as part of a rare collection. The point is
who is already ranking on Google for that title name?

Number 1 when I checked was the Internet Movie Data Base.
Number 2 was Amazon with their page scoring in number 2 for the new collectors edition.

All I am suggesting is to watch how things change in Wordtracker as the release comes. Also you can do the same thing and write reviews or other content based on what you know is scheduled to happen based on press releases or reliable industry information.

Hmmm. Where might that be for video or movie related sites? Check out that number 1 spot the Internet Movie Database for other films that are being released that either have a huge cult following or new movies that the experts predict to be blockbusters.

Example: Now might be the time to do some research on the movie King Kong which is being remade and released in December. But not just for the new version, put up some info about the old original 1933 version and the actors or background (useful historical stuff.) My impression is that if you can sell the video, why should it not be you that they find in their search in December.

Okay, enough lateral thinking.... Now back to Wordtracker:

A few more quick observations based on how to build a Star Wars type prop and a comparison of terms:

Maybe you are an affiliate marketer.

Someone wants to build a lightsaber....so they are probably looking for instructions on how to build a realistic prop. So if you gave them the instructions and then lower on the page, gave them an affiliate link to purchase a realistic prop, it might be interesting to see how many would take both.

Notice that as the KEI goes up on each other terms, the competition goes down

"Real Lightsabers" KEI 84.0 Competition 978

"Make a Lightsaber" KEI 217.7 Competition 553

"Build a Real Lightsaber" KEI 768.0 Competition 243

--------------------------------------

Okay, so we've been in a movie/TV related thinking mode. I hope these ideas stirred up some of your creativity regardless of what industry you are in.

Wordtracker is a tool that can open up a window to the world's searching behavior. Spend your time in action creativily building content of high value based upon your research. Never get hung up in paralysis over which term might be best. Learn to test all of your own original ideas. Far to many people are laboring in the research and so they get hung up wondering about what to do. Try and practice taking something away from every screenshot at Wordtracker.

One final word about the low KEI values. These will often be the first level terms that everyone is competing for. Can you optimize for highly competitive terms and win? Sure you can, but be prepared to work harder using a fuller scope of SEO influence.

Come join our 5-Day SEO Workshop next month at Disneyworld and we'll take you through the essential foundations through all of the advanced strategies to impart genuine SEO skills that you can take home and use immediately to make an impact with your business.

Turn up your computer sound right now.

Click on our audio invitation below and listen in for a few seconds:

Highest regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
Search Engine Workshops

Like the only REAL magic; the magic of knowledge!

Posted by John at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2005

Revealing Wordtracker walkthrough scheduled for Thursday at 1PM EST

Welcome to the KEI Observation Deck.

It's John Alexander here, thanks for looking in.

Normally each week I post a few niche keyword phrase combinations and many of you have written to say how much you enjoy reading these posts.

Something Special Coming Up on Thursday!

This week, I have something very special planned which some of you will enjoy. But let me ask you a question first....

Question: Have you got a high speed connection on your computer?

If you do not, you may want to skip this message. However, if you do have a high speed connection, keep reading.

Here is what I am going to be doing on Thursday July 28 at 1PM EDT.

I am going take you with me for a 60 minute revealing look inside of Wordtracker's member area. But you won't need a membership to watch because I'm going to make my desktop system visible right on your computer so you can see me in realtime and see exactly what I am doing inside of Wordtracker to extract the hottest keyword phrases, how to discover great niches for affiliate marketing, how to research your audiences "realtime" behavior and in just minutes, I'll show you how to find powerful trends that you can take advantage of quickly.

If you would like to join me live on Thursday July 28 at 1PM EST I'll send you a Toll Free number and take you personally by the hand and show you exactly how to find extraordinary "windows of opportunity" without spending hours of research time.

I'll be discussing a number of truths and myths about keyword research. You'll be able to listen to me explain at the same time you watch me as I open up Wordtracker's data within just minutes right on your own computer.

I'll show you how to use Wordtracker as a true power tool whether you are an affiliate marketer or an SEO professional or just beggining to build your skills in SEO, I'll be sharing my very best insights with you and you'll be able watch and hear everything I do live.

There are only 100 spots opened for Thursday's online class:
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com/articles/online-session.html

I hope to see you there.

Highest regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com

Like the only REAL magic; the magic of knowledge!

Posted by John at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2005

High KEI fishing phrases for fishing related sites

Hello there,

Welcome to the KEI observation deck. One of the questions I'm asked more often than any other question, particularly by our affiliate marketing friends is this:

"Can you tell me a few of the higher KEI phrases that I might optimize my Web site for?"

Now is that a loaded question or what?

Actually in just a matter of minutes I can tell you a number of niche phrases for any specific industry and if you've read my advise in our guide to performing Wordtracker Magic, you'll know exactly how to do it too!

Okay, on with a few observations today and the topic is "fishing."

It seems like it's still as hot a topic as it ever has been with some excellent higher traffic phrases that are only moderately competitive.

Check out a few of these terms next time you go into Wordtracker:

A term like "fly fishing alaska" only has a KEI value of 25.0. But still, for experienced optimizers, you should have no trouble competing with 18,000 competing pages if you use just half of what we teach you at Online Web Training.

If you are looking to raise the odds of higher traffic with much lower competition, try creating some quality Web content around the topic of "rainbow trout fishing canada" with a KEI of 49.0 and only 1500 competing pages.

If it still feels like it's too challenging.....then check out a few of these topics:

"canada northern pike fishing" KEI 184.50
(Only 738 competing pages)

"Lake huron salmon fishing" KEI 563.0
(Only 577 competing pages)

"Michigan Walleye fishing" KEI 762.0
(Only 517 competing pages)

or like taking candy from a baby (who would do such a thing)

"lake huron walleye fishing" KEI 1230.6
(Only 280 competitors for this exact phrase)

Other interesting phrases include:

"walleye checklists" KEI 961
(zero competition)

"how to make catfish baits" KEI 441.0

Just a few observations on this July evening. Come on back soon and we'll be observing some more top Wordtracker sightings.

Wishing you the very best of success!

John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com

Posted by John at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2005

KEI Observations - Top Keyword research Tips

Welcome to the KEI Observation deck.

Here we post a few keyword phrase clusters that have high KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) of 100 to 400 or higher for a variety of topics which are quickly extracted from Wordtracker's member area.

The rule is that a KEI value of 100 is considered "good."
But a KEI value of 400 is considered and "excellent" phrase.

The whole purpose is to discover niche phrases that have fair to high usage by searchers, but at the same time, have low competition. In other words, the value of optimizing for these types of phrases is that they are really being used by searchers, but even a novice or beginner at search engine marketing, should be able to gain visibility for these terms because of the lower compete counts.

Okay, let grab a few examples of keywords from Wordtracker and see what's happening for July 22.

Okay, here we go:

"lamp that replaces sunlight" KEI 196.0

"lifesize animal replicas" KEI 676.0

"refurbished octo-rack" KEI 869.0

"refurbished soda machine" KEI 161.0 (but only 33 competing pages!)

"ziehm refurbished parts" KEI 4096.0

"reconditioned sony camera" KEI 225.0

"wholesale pocket bike replacement parts" KEI 657.0

"ceramic recessed shower holders" KEI 705.0

"Backpacks and health risks" KEI 1444.0

Do you find yourself spending hours doing keyword research and wish there was a faster way to extract the very best terms and phrases for your specific industry?

Wordtracker is your window on the world of search behavior and may be one of the most powerful tools once you start focusing on behaviors. My little book explains how to access the best data in just minutes.

If you have already read Wordtracker Magic, then you may also enjoy this page of Tips on Wordtracker and keyword research.

Come on back soon for another view from the KEI Observation Deck.

Highest regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com
http://www.searchengineworkshops.com

Posted by John at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2005

Special Alert to keyword researchers and students

Hi there,

It's John Alexander here with a very special alert to all of our readers who may benefit from the following tip.

Some time ago I was asked by our readers to keep you informed of any interesting new SEO tools or software that I felt may be of significant value.

Well here's the scoop...it's just 6 hours away.

Watch for the official launch of a keyword research tool that is loaded with all of the bells and whistles and functionality you can imagine. As you may know, I'm much more focused on SEO skill building than relying on any single tool (as a rule.) But once in a while something very new comes along that you just know will have an impact on the process.

Skip all of the marketing pitch and just scroll down and download your copy now. These guys have thought of just about every single thing from every keyword research angle. But check it out now as the price jumps up in just 6 more hours at the official release on Friday.

Very nicely done indeed!

Best regards,
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com

Posted by John at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

Back from the SEO Workshop in Las Vegas

Greetings and welcome to the KEI Observation Deck.

I've just returned from our most recent Search Engine Workshop which was conducted live in Las Vegas last week at this nice hotel. If you are looking for a place that's very reasonable, good service, good food and service but only 2 blocks from the strip, the Clarion Hotel and Suites is nice.

We had a variety of very special talent sharing some exceptional strategies including people like Ginette Degner (who has what I describe as "high logic" SEO strategies.) These are the types of strategies that only come with years of insight and practice. Then there was Mr. Dave Barry who has extraordinary talents of getting anybody's database not only 98% indexed by the majors, but he shared his strategies on how he gets those pages ranked. Fabulous insights and talent from a guy who just tells it like it is. Then there was a visit by Mr. Jerry West, who shared some very hot research information (it don't get any fresher than this!)

We worked with some wonderful students who I expect to hear some great results from just down the road.

After the 5-Day Workshop came another 2-Day Ultra Advanced SEO Symposium where attendees had a chance to learn the personal and private insights and strategies for 2 solid days of information exchange.

Okay, it's back to doing some regular postings here at the KEI Observation Deck: (A few quick phrases of interest)

"rattlesnake photos" KEI 1390.6

"pictures of dream kitchens" KEI 2383.3

"Mars Lander Pics" KEI 10176.0

"wooden outdoor play sets with swings and slides" KEI 5929.0

Are you looking for more high KEI phrases? Come back soon or else hop over to Wordtracker and visit the members area. Are you looking for the best keyword phrase clusters much faster, maybe you need a little magic.

Best regards
John Alexander

Posted by John at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2005

KEI Observation Deck - July 5 Wordtracker Tips

If you are new to this Kei Observation Deck then welcome and make yourself at home. In this spot, we post a few keyword phrases that have high KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) values on a variety of topics.

Wordtracker as most of you know, is a keyword research tool. What you may not know is that is also a fascinating "window" on the world of searchers behavior. It's not just giving you the number of searches for a specific term, but it's also allowing you to extract the best phrase combinations. Whether you want good "money phrases" to optimize your web site with or whether you want those huge "niche windows of opprtunity" they are all there for the taking. By niches I am refering to those busy phrases being in fair to high usage BUT they also have lower competition so that you can focus on meeting those needs with literally no competition.

Okay on with a few phrases I've just instantly extracked with a little "magic."

KEI Observations July 5: (More great stuff for affiliate marketers)

The following extact phrases have zero competition:

"wedding glass love coasters" KEI 121.0

"craft for making drinking coasters" KEI 121.0

"wholesale wine coasters" KEI 144.0

"making stained glass coasters" KEI 361.0

And with only the mildest competition:

"tile coasters with original art" KEI 385.3

"warren kimble coasters" KEI 916.1

And on to a few other real quick observations:

"buying laptops on credit" KEI 400.0

"Food preserving ebooks" KEI 128.4

"general garden ebooks" KEI 396.7

"just released ebooks to resell" KEI 625.0

Plus a few outdoors type observations:

"blue world pools" KEI 327.2

"round decks and porches" KEI 450.0

"Pictures of Home Decks" KEI 529.0

"fire safety decks" KEI 544.0

"tempered glass panels for decks" KEI 1024.0

Be sure to drop by again soon for loads more keyword phrase examples based on Wordtracker's member data quickly extracted and posted for your thoughts and interest. Of course if you want to study your own industry specific keyword rich "windows of opportunity" you can hop over to Wordtracker right now and try it out yourself.

Wishing you the very best of success for your online business!

Until next time...

Best regards
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com www.searchengineworkshops.com
www.onlinewebtraining.com

Posted by John at 08:07 AM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2005

KEI Observation Deck - Happy 4th of July!

Just a few quick observations for keywords but first I want to wish all of our readers a happy 4th of July! Then I want to remind you that the Ultra Advanced Symposium is about to happen in just 12 days on July 16 and 17 in Las Vegas.

But first, here are a few KEI Observations from Wordtracker:

"Fireworks for Wholesale" KEI 168.0

"Steps to Making Fireworks" KEI 1156.0

"metacrawler quicksearch URL" KEI 648.0

"kodak easyshare z740 w/docking" KEI 225.0

"easyshare 7440" KEI 388.1

Okay, for those of you affiliate marketers looking for some high KEI niche opportunities, let's see what kind of unusual stuff there is in fair demand for easy exposure. All you have to do is find a supplier or service to meet these needs, but the optimization for some these should be a snap:

"Proximity Card Vinyl Badge Holders" KEI 136.0

"cheap plastic brochure holders" KEI 729.0

"resuscitator bag holders" KEI 961.0

"how to make candle holders out of plaster" KEI 1521.0
(zero competition)

"ceramic recessed shower holders" KEI 2116.0
(zero competition)

Reminder: The Ultra Advanced SEO Symposium is about to take place in just 12 days on July 16-July 17.

For Advanced Search Engine Marketers and experienced SEOs Only:

Learn how other SEO industry professionals are gaining their visibility with private examples of highly technical, white hat strategies. Presentations and demonstrations delivered by SEO researchers and strategists like Jerry West, Ginette Degner, Michael Marshall along with your hosts Robin Nobles and John Alexander.

What are some of the topics lined up for this 2 day event?

-Learn how to recognize weaknesses in your page copy and design and how simple improvements can make huge returns for your business.

-Learn exactly what Google wants and how they want it.

-See actual testing results from their algorithm and how the engine has evolved in the last six months and how it looks to predict which direction they will be going.

-Learn the truth behind PageRank and how it really impacts your website.

-A review of "Meet the Google Engineers" at Webmaster World in New Orleans will be given. Google Sitemaps and Google Suggest will be spotlighted.

-View the "BIG 3" backed with the freshest actual testing results - Yahoo!, Google and MSN, you will see techniques that can bring big dividends to your sites and/or your client's sites.

-Also included is how to spy on your competition and how to keep them from spying on you.

-Redirection Gone Bad - Pagejacking
How to spot it, What to do about it, Learn about preventative measures, Htaccess Redirection and Htaccess techniques

-Learn from the experience of a developer of SE personalization software as he talks about the implications of both localization and personalization for SEO

-Learn all about how various search engines are implementing these features, and what steps can be taken to meet the challenge.

-Understand the nature of blogs and the blogosphere, what to look for in blog software, benefits and potential dangers of business blogging, leveraging blogs for SEO benefit

-How to use blogs to generate scores of one-way, topically relevant inbound links without engaging in referrer spamming.

-PPC Marketing – a discussion of the use of PPC in the marketplace.
How to succeed using PPC buys.

-What you should know about Trademark issues, What to do if the term you want is banned, How to keep your ad visible

-Adsense – what adding adsense to your site can do for you.

-Yellow Page Fever - Discussion on localized market places. Learn where can you get listed. Discover what impact a local listing will have on your Web site. How much does it cost? Is it worth it to go Yellow?

- How to Become an SEO Rainmaker
Learn direct strategies in closing more business and getting more business from your current clients.

For more topics and details about our presenters visit the Ultra Advanced Symposium and please be sure to register before July 8.

This educational symposium is for:
-Advanced and/or technical SEO's;
-Those who want to take their skills to the highest level possible;
-Those who want to learn legitimate strategies that will help them compete in highly competitive industries.

This symposium is not for:
-Beginners or inexperienced SEO's. You need a measure of experience and at least understand basic methods in order to benefit from this ultra-advanced symposium.

-New SEO's who are just starting out in the industry.

If you are just new to SEO you'd be better to attend one of our hands-on workshops or else study one of our online SEO training courses first.

But for those of you who are experienced and want to attend the Ultra Advanced Symposium to improve your skills, be sure to register soon and come learn how these experts have risen to the top of the search engine rankings!

We'll hope to see you there.

Best regards
John Alexander
john@searchengineworkshops.com

Posted by John at 08:29 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2005

KEI Observation Deck for July 2

Let's start today with a few fresh high KEI questions that people are asking the Internet:

"why we go to mars" KEI 166.0

"Why Is Earth Day Important" KEI 616.0

A good question that folks are asking and expect to find the answer on the Internet is:

"why did i get stood up" KEI 1200.0

"Why Do Popes Change Their Names" KEI 4761.0

"Why Did Pat O'brien Leave Access Hollywood" KEI 11,664.0

"When Does Daylight Savings Time Occur" KEI 4422.2

"When Is Mothers Day in America" KEI KEI 2368.4

"wheres our economy heading" KEI 361.0

"how much caffine is too much" KEI 50,694.0

Finally for you BMW dealers....

"BMW Z6" KEI 1613.0

Are you looking for quick ways to find high performance phrases in Wordtracker? Try a little magic!

Come back soon for more keyword observations.

John

Posted by John at 02:19 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2005

Congratulations to Robin Nobles on 7 years of SEO Training!

It was 7 years ago last week (on June 29th) that Robin Nobles launched the very first online search engine marketing courses. In celebration of her 7th year in business as a well known international educator and trainer in the SEO industry, we thought it would be interesting to contact some of her earliest students and ask them what the early days of search engine marketing was like and how it compares to search engine marketing in the present.

John Alexander: Could we start by asking you about how you first began helping people get exposure to their businesses online?"

A few comments from Jerry West:

Jerry West: "I started in 1996 doing web page design for small local businesses after helping develop the Internet Publisher feature in WordPerfect for Windows. One of my clients asked me if I could get them ranked well in the search engines. I told them it wouldn't be a problem, even though I knew nothing about it. My software testing background helped me to quickly understand the algorithms and I read everything I could get my hands on at the time, which was very little. In just a few months, my client's sales skyrocketed due to their listings. I realized rather fast that I had a new blossoming career.

John Alexander: "Did you have many challenges when you first started up?"

Jerry West: "The biggest challenge I faced was the lack of quality information on search engine optimization. There was just a major void. I credit Robin Nobles for seeing a need for it. Before I took the course from Robin I would estimate that 70% of my time was spent trying to test methodologies rather than doing actual work for clients. That was very frustrating.

John Alexander: "Could you take us back and share some memories of the early days and what it was like for you?"

Jerry West: "It was the fall of 1998, I had been doing web site and search engine work for about two years. I had my own company, but it was just me. My "day job" was as a Software Testing Engineer and I was working in Washington State at the time.

Back in Utah, a large company that specialized in computer based training programs was discussing in their weekly meeting about the need of increasing leads via the Internet. Later in the meeting discussion on the upcoming NBA season heated up among two of the managers. The disagreement over a record held by Hall-of-Fame Jerry West of the Lakers spilled into the hallway and ended up at a computer to look it up on the Internet. They typed in "Jerry West" into Infoseek and the first result was:

"Jerry West – Search Engine Specialist, Get Fresh Leads!"

"They both looked at each other and couldn't believe their luck. They contacted me through email and a conference call occurred shortly thereafter."

John Alexander: "How very cool! How did it work out?"

Jerry West: "I won the account and the amount they wanted to spend was more than I was making per month at the time with all of my other clients combined. I was excited, but I remember after hanging up the phone I said aloud, "What am I going to do now?".

"I turned to the Internet and began searching for any courses on search engine optimization. I found several. After carefully reviewing each one, I decided to signup for Robin Noble's course. Robin was incredible. She answered my emails immediately after I sent them and was very personable."

"The information I learned from the training was so timely that I could use it right then on my new client. With the knowledge that I was able to gain from Robin, this company quickly became a top competitor for the best spots in the major engines and the conversions from the qualified leads were so good that the VP of Sales achieved the sales figures in his contract, thus he received a large bonus and a release from his contract."

John Alexander: "And this all worked out in a nice way for you too?"

Jerry West: "Yes, he then went to an eCommerce Internet Startup and then made me his first hire, allowing me to do search engine work full-time."

John Alexander: "Which of the search engines in those early days, do you feel delivered the best exposure and why?"

Jerry West: "I always felt it was Infoseek, as with the tracking that we had back then, we knew that the bulk of the leads/sales were from Infoseek. I loved their "instant indexing" so you knew exactly how your page ranked right then and could continue to make changes to it and see it rise (or fall) in the SERPs."

John Alexander: "Some people are interested in building a future career in search engine marketing. Besides building their SEO skills through the online courses at Online Web Training (http://www.onlinewebtraining.com) are there other resources you could suggest?"

Jerry West: "The best advice I can give is to read the book "Clients for Life" by Jagdish Sheth. In my view SEOs are a dime a dozen. They are just experts in their field. You can go to ELance.com and pick up as many experts as you care to. However, an advisor is someone you trust, someone you rely on. By becoming a true advisor, you become an invaluable asset to your client base. If they don't dare make a move without your advice, you have a client for life. Afterall, that is what you are after. You don’t want to keep signing clients to replace the ones you lose."

John Alexander: "That is excellent advice. Robin and I teach very similar themes to our students who attend our live SEO Mastery Workshop at http://www.searchengineworkshops.com and there really is tremendous value in having clients for life. Speaking of workshops, you are going to be speaking at the Ultra-Advanced SEO Symposium (http://www.ultraadvancedsymposium.com) coming up on August 7 and 8 at Caesars Palace. Mr. West, I am really looking forward to hearing more about some of the strategies that you'll be revealing there. Can you tell us just a couple of the things you will be teaching?"

Jerry West: "Well, most of the strategies that I share with my current clients are almost always met with the same reaction, "Why didn't I think of that?". My strategies make sense, you can see the vision right off, and you can also see the long-term benefits. I will mostly discuss Link Reputation (as it is far more important than Link Popularity in my view), PageRank addiction, and Yahoo!'s new WebRank that is in Beta testing right now."

John Alexander: "These are all things people want to learn about for sure. Anything else you will be sharing?"

Jerry West: "I will also have some discussion on the future of SEM and my personal views on where to get in now, so you are ready for the next market change."

John Alexander: "That sounds absolutely excellent and I'm really looking forward to it! A couple of last questions I have for you....What do you think is the biggest search engine marketing myth going around today?"

Jerry West: "The same one that was the biggest myth six years ago, that submitting your site to 10,000 search engines will bring loads of traffic to your site. I still can't believe people still believe that."

John Alexander: "Finally, what would you say is the single most important truth that people need to understand about search engine marketing today?"

Jerry West: "Personal ethics and integrity, for they will naturally spill over to your professional career. That is vital in the search engine business. With so many "black hat" techniques out there, it becomes harder to stay true to the "white hat" methodologies. If you stay true, you will win in the long term. The best advice I can give, again, is to think and act as an advisor, not as an expert. With a knowledge of SEO, the work that you perform will be SEO based without an emphasis on SEO. In other words, by concentrating on first making the site sell effectively and increasing the conversion ratio, you can then concentrate on bringing additional qualified traffic in. Don't do it the other way around, or you will get frustrated very quickly!"

John Alexander: "Thank you so very much Mr. Jerry West for those valuable insights and thank you for taking time out of your day to share some of your memories and some nice anecdotes about the early days of search engine marketing. That's all the time we have for now but another great big CONGRATULATIONS to Robin Nobles on her 7th anniversary of training in the SEM industry."