spidersplat.com

Friday, June 29 will be just another Friday in a series of Fridays for many, but for some it will be a day of change. At 6pm, droves of people will finally be able to buy an iPhone from Apple. But, how will this consumer device play a role in the SEO business?

Apple went out of its way to make the web browsing and email functionality on the iPhone second to none. SEO requires the ability to navigate convoluted pages that expect fully functional web browsers, able to handle large layouts with ease as well as the ability to utilize Web 2.0 content and AJAX-reliant pages. Apple’s Safari web browser will be present on the iPhone in a nearly full-featured capacity, delivering all of these requirements.

Typically, efficiently navigating and communicating with link building partners requires a laptop or device with a full sized screen; however, Safari’s use of dynamic zooming and panning on a heretofore-unmatched screen for cell phones, makes browsing just as natural as it is on a standard computer.  All of that, wherever you can make a phone call.

Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal calls the iPhone’s web features, “the best … we have seen on a smart phone [with] robust email software.” And other early reviewers that were advanced phones for testing have agreed.

I cannot wait to get mine - it will allow me to work un-tethered without excess bulk.

As most of you probably know, Apple’s iPhone is being released tomorrow to an enormous amount of hype and buzz thanks, in no small part, to their marketing department. Apple’s marketing for the product has been extremely unorthodox, no doubt relying on its rabid loyal user-base — something most brands do not have the luxury of.

Unlike most technological products, instead of releasing detailed product specs., Apple has purposely kept it from the public, adding to the mystique and mystery of the product. Note, though, this is actually somewhat consistent with the commonly-held marketing principle of emphasizing benefits as opposed to features.

Also as unorthodox, Apple has fueled and promoted speculation amongst the blogsphere, as opposed to quashing it with the concrete truth – something more common in something like Hollywood movie marketing rather than, say, PDAs. Doing this not only built buzz, but clearly differentiated the iPhone from the rest of the pack.

Another clear differentiation is that the iPhone is not marketed towards corporate businessmen like other smart phones already on the market. Instead, it’s portrayed as hip and fashionable, something that traditionally appeals more to the young adult crowd. Its ads have focused on colorful media, such as videos, music, and the Internet, as opposed to its organizational capabilities and other programs. In fact, its June release date was probably partially chosen because of its closeness to most schools’ graduations week, thus immediately positioning that iPhone as an ideal graduation present — a pricier gift than your typical Christmas or birthday presents (which come once a year), but at least cheaper than a car.

The strategy of targetting young adults is unorthodox, to say the least, and it’ll be interesting to see if Apple shifts to an older demographic once the initial buzz wears off in a year or so. It’ll also be interesting to see how the exclusivity contract they’ve signed with AT&T works out in the long-run. Unlike iPods, where “repeat” business comes in the form of accessories and songs from iTune, iPhone’s major source of follow-up income is going to be primarily in the phone service. Placing such responsibility in AT&T’s service indicates a lot of trust in the company, especially since Apple (assumingly) does not have much control in their operations.  On the other hand, partnerships with AT&T and other such mobile providers also reduces marketing costs and cuts down the wholesale portion of Apple’s supply chain management so, perhaps, the savings and risks even out in the long run.

Apple has always prided themselves in being innovators and their marketing strategies have been no different. However, innovative does not equate to invulnerable and only time will tell how their latest gamble works out.

The SpiderSplat search engine marketing firm in Downtown Boston has been added to the Harvard Business School’s list of corporate recruiting partners. SpiderSplat is currently recruiting HBS MBA level candidates for jobs and internships based in its Boston offices.

An HBS Recruiting Partner is any organization that has posted a job or hired a student.

Their list can be found at the Harvard website.

One of the most important tools for internet marketing are Directories. They provide two major benefits to a business: first, they improve the website’s position on search engines, second, they drive click through traffic to the website.

Search Engines consider websites listed on good directories as higher value links. Directories have human editors who go through the submitted links with a strict set of criteria before accepting it to their directory. The links are also reviewed to see if they are appropriate for the category they are submitted for to assure that directory visitors find what they find exactly what they are looking for. There is no human review process for Search Engine indexing of web pages, instead they use what are known as ‘Spiders’, automated ‘robot’ programs that ‘crawl’ through the internet from one link to another, indexing each pages content. In contrast, directories have highly organized and critical review processes, sites listed on them are more legitimate and credible to search engines than unlisted web pages. Thus, websites listed in quality directories will find their page rank improve substantially.

Directories existed in the early days of the Internet as the main resource for finding websites before the advent of Search Engines. They are still relevant today, for search engines and web surfers seeking quality websites relevant to the topic of their search. There are many different types of directories on the internet. They range from general directories to specific interests such as business directories and art directories. A business listing themselves to a number of these directories will find an increase in visitors to their website who sought out their product or services.

Links from a large number of good directories is just one immensely influentially part of improving the position of your site on a search result page of google.com and other search engines. Building links from directories will yield better results than links from unknown personal web pages, or worse, link farms. Directories also provide a solution for web pages low on search engine friendly content, such as flash sites, in that by being listed on a directory search engines will automatically index your site.

As a newcomer to the world and business of search engine marketing, I had no idea where to start. I was familiar with basic concepts like PPC, SEO, and CPM, but my knowlege was mostly in fragments and the process of search engine optmization was still a mystery. So SpiderSplat set me off on the first and most basic of tasks: link building.

What makes the web a web is the plethora of interconnecting links between content scattered across cyberspace. They’re one of the oldest and most basic pillars of the Internet and they’re just as important today as they were before. In fact, it can even be argued that in a world run by search engines and PageRanks, they’re even more crucial than ever before.

So the more links the better, right?

On my first day at SpiderSplat I was given a list of web directories, in which to submit information for a client to. Basically, the idea is that, once the directories listed the client’s website, presto! A link is born! In comes traffic, up goes the search rank, in comes revenue, and everyone is happy. I spent about six hours that day submitting content to whatever websites that would take my link in for free. I went home that Monday spent, but knowing that I made a difference in the (virtual) world.

The next morning, I was told that I was wrong. I had done practically nothing.

Link building is not that simple and search algorithms like Google have wisened up to such callous strategies. Sure, directories matter, but just like everything except French fries, it’s quality over quantity. The ability is to bring in traffic a tough proposition. One measure of high quality linkage (and, therefore, hopefully conversions) is Page Strength .

Here’s a someone’s list of some of the strongest directories on the Internet. Most of the free directories (and a lot of what I spent Monday submitting to) are in the zero to four range. (One notable exception is Dmoz.org, but the editorial factor weeds out irrelevant sites and makes it extremely difficult and valuable to get into.) Basically, as a rule of thumb, the harder (or pricier) it is to get listed, the better the directory.

Other lessons that Monday morning: context is key. Cramming keywords seperated by commas is not going to fly well with search engines. Links and keywords must be natural and organic-looking. Similarly, copying and pasting is also a no-no. Search algorithms will pick up on this quickly and easily. These issues have encouraged a relatively recent technique of embedding links in articles and blogs. Viral link-building on sites like Digg.com have also gained traction.

Basically, the point is that good-quality writing on a good-quality site will always equal good-quality links, and that is what search engines are after.

Information is power…when you have it.

“Information is the currency of the internet. As a medium, the internet is brilliantly efficient at shifting information from the hands of those who have it into the hands of those who do not.” (Levitt & Dubner 2005 p.68)

What economist Steven Levitt and journalist Stephen Dubner are talking about here in their wildly popular book Freakonomics, is the empowerment of the consumer via the availability of information. Typically within specialized industries or disciplines there are experts and then there are the consumers who need the expert advice. The experts are considered such due to their experience and the information they’re privy to. With the advent of the internet, this imbalance of information or what economists call ‘information asymmetry’ is no longer so.

Professional search marketers absorb an excessive amount of daily data via blogs, campaign results, and traffic logs in an effort to stay up to speed with search engine performance changes and to stay ahead of the competition. However, the search marketer is constantly at a disadvantage since the search engine programmer is the only one with absolute knowledge pertaining to their search engine’s mechanics. In a strange twist, the internet, in all its grand execution of information deliverability can only shed a dim light on the full scope of search engine functionality.

Since search engine complexity and operation can only ever be surmised. A search marketer constantly tests their theories about how a search engine delivers its results. Those whose theories are most accurate are going to deliver the best results for their clients.

So even though the internet has decreased the gap between those who know and those who do not, the search marketing industry will always be a cat and mouse game between the search marketer and the search engine programmer.

Are you making a contribution?
The search engine programmers are keenly aware that people are constantly attempting to exploit how search engines collect and display their results. Since the whole purpose of the internet is to deliver data relevant to the end user’s query, search engines must test and implement methods of delivering this information in the most relevant way possible without being augmented by known methods of exploitation.

The more time passes the more fine tuned the relevancy filters become. Search engines now have the capability to detect most exploitation techniques. Since this is the case, the best way to increase rankings (after building a site that is architecturally sound) is to publish quality content regularly. If your domain is making a significant contribution to the progress of the internet’s objective then you will be noticed.

Five things to consider for optimal ranking

1. Domain name research (involve keywords if possible)
2. Sound and easily crawled site architecture
3. Allocating best keywords for site focus and future keyword density
4. Means of facilitating content generation (blog, corporate or personal)
5. Social media marketing

References:
Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (2005) Freakonomics, New York, NY: HarperCollins