Two weeks ago I talked about my favorite presenter from SES Toronto 2008, Ken Jurina (this is a picture of Ken with Google Guru Matt Cutts). Ken is the man behind Epiar, a search engine optimization service company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As I mentioned two weeks ago, with only 15 minutes to speak Ken listed off a new tool almost every 30 seconds and gave web entrepreneurs a fantastic list of SEO-related resources to add to their arsenal.

I’m pleased to now share some of the results from Ken’s presentation:

Firefox Extensions - www.getfirefox.com

Pros:
•Tools work right within your browser
•Very quick, very powerful, and very free

Critiques:
•None - critiques usually resolved with extension updates

Cool:
•Audit a clients site live: SE Issues, opt. improvement
•SEO Extensions: SEOpen, Search Status, SEO Links, Groowe Toolbar, Customize Google
•Others: PDF Download, AI Roboform Toolbar for Firefox, Search Keys, IE Tab

Cost:
•FREE

URL for Extensions:
• https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/

SpyFu – www.spyfu.com

Pros:
•great competitive insight on PPC & Organic
•works in browser, quick & thorough.
•free stuff is good – though you can subscribe for more

Critiques:
•busy interface
•not intuitive as to what a particular button/tool does

Cool:
•dashboard: charts and data mash-ups

Cost:
•Some free options / additional subscription options

Browsershots – www.browsershots.org

Pros:
•works right within your browser

Critiques:
•Very slow gathering screen grabs
•May timeout when selecting multiple browsers

Cool:
•Can toggle screen size, flash, javascript, java and color depth.
•Great to see what your site looks like without manually
downloading and viewing all browsers.
•Fun if you’re bored.

Cost:
•FREE

What are your favorite SEO Tools?

Last week I discussed my involvement in SES Toronto 2008. Specifically I talked about how I went on a mission to find out why I’m still ranking in the same prominent positions for many of my important keywords but my traffic from Google (but not MSN or Yahoo) was down.

One of the people I connect with was Joe Dolson. Joe is I a freelance web designer living in Minnesota’s Twin Cities (Minneapolis and Saint Paul). He has been operating as a free-lance web designer since the beginning of 2005, and has been building websites since 2002. I was referred to Joe at the conference because he is an accessibility and usability expert.

What was Joe’s response to my problem?

It’s a strange issue, certainly. I took a quick look at your site itself, and didn’t see anything which stood out as a problem. However, when I went to take a look at your server, I found a few odd issues.

First, several tools I applied returned an invalid name check on your domain — while I couldn’t confirm it, this implies some problems with DNS resolution for your site. It may be that you have some kind of behavioral sniffer running which is checking for robot activities - if that is the case, you may want to try disabling it to see if it’s been blocking legitimate traffic.

I also found that your server response time is pretty slow - based on ping queries from 38 different server locations around the world, the average query response time for your site was 2.09 sec. This isn’t particularly extreme, but two of the slowest locations were Philadelphia (5.12 seconds) and Portland (4.89 sec), followed by Los Angeles (4.63), Atlanta (4.36), and Orlando (4.28). This suggests that your server’s regional network is providing very poor response times to several major population centers of the US, which could also have a significant effect on your traffic - there may be a large percentage of people clicking on your results who never actually arrive at your site.

For comparison, my own website has an average response time of 0.80 seconds, with a high of 4.60 (from Moscow). The third slowest response time for me is 2.14 (also from LA.)

I suggest investigating a change of host, or at least taking up these connectivity issues with your host to see if they can help resolve any problem.

I didn’t identify anything which really behaved like a “smoking gun” in the limited time I had to check, but I’d definitely be concerned about this issue. It’s worth investigating further.

Best,
Joe

Thanks for the advice Joe! It looks like I have to connect with my hosting provider and see if they can lead me to the next step!

Yesterday was Day 2 of SES Toronto 2008 and I enjoyed it even more than Day 1! To start things off the Press room had Internet today which made it easy to connect and take a break from the excitement that was going on outside.

Best Workshop: SEM Toolkit

The best workshop of the conference for me was yesterday’s SEM Toolkit. The description piqued my interest:

Competitive intelligence, keyword research, customer profiling, exotic analytics, and visual mouse tracking are just some of the tricks of the trade of search marketers. Guerrilla marketers on the panel show you the favorite tools in their kits. Many are low cost or free.

My favorite presenter was Ken Jurina of Epiar. With only 15 minutes to speak Ken listed off a new tool almost every 30 seconds and gave web entrepreneurs a fantastic list of SEO-related resources to add to their arsenal. Most of them were free and could be used immediately to help you grow your online business. I’m still waiting for Ken’s slides to be added to the conference website. He warned us that it would be too much to write down ourselves and he didn’t disappoint!

Man on a Mission

I also went to today’s conference on a mission. It always helps with these conferences if you have questions and know what you’re looking for - you’ll probably find an answer! Over the past month I’ve had a peculiar issue on my site where I’m still ranking in the same prominent positions for many of my important keywords but my traffic was down. MSN and Live traffic were up. Yahoo was consistent. But Google was down. Why would my traffic numbers be down if I’m still ranking #1 or #2 for the keywords? Seeing as I had some of the best from the industry in front of me, I figured I would ask their opinion.

Up first was Ian McAnerin of McAnerin Networks Inc.. Ian McAnerin is the “SEM Resources and Advice” moderator for the High Rankings Forum, the “Search and Legal Issues” moderator for the Search Engine Watch forum, a DMOZ editor, and has been vetted by the strict standards watchdogs SEOConsultants.com and SEOPros.com directories. Ian suggested that it might be an accessibility issue. His theory was that I was still getting the clicks but perhaps the pages weren’t loading properly and therefore the hits weren’t being recorded.

Lucky for me a speaker at the next seminar was Joe Dolson, a Web Design Consultant, and an accessibility expert. On the break I checked out my site on Browsershots.org. Browsershots (one of Ken Jurina’s tool suggestions) let’s you see what your website looks like in all the various browsers. I submitted my site and it looked fine in all the browsers except Internet Explorer 4 (does anyone still use IE4???). After the session I spoke with Joe and he couldn’t think of any problems off the top of his head. His only thought was that perhaps the site had a virus or a hack attack that would prevent the page from loading. He kindly offered to look at the site in more detail if I sent him a follow up email. Thanks Joe!

Next up was the Site Clinic where entrepreneurs could submit their websites and get them reviewed by the experts. In this case the experts were: Anne Kennedy, Manager, Managing Partner, Beyond Ink, Larry Bailin, CEO, Single Throw Internet Marketing, and Jim Hedger, SEO Consultant, Metamend Search Engine Marketing. Figuring that there would be a rush of people trying to submit their sites for review I got there early, introduced myself to Larry and got my site reviewed as the second example (good thing too because we ran out of time and didn’t get to everyone). Larry and Jim made some suggestions for the usability of my site and their theory on the Google issue was that either it was just a down time and people weren’t searching for entrepreneur related articles as much or Google was doing an update and some of my pages got downranked. If it’s a cyclical issue then there is nothing else I can do but wait it out. Anne suggested opening a new section devoted to how to “make it” in tough economic times to help drive new traffic.

Worried about the Google update issue I came home and checked my rankings across multiple Google Data Centers. I’m still ranked at the top so I’m glad that’s not the problem. It may be back to the drawing board for me but I’m going to connect with the speakers again to let them get a more in depth look at the site as it’s hard to make a judgment call on the spot without having done any research on the website.

Overall it was an excellent conference. I learned a lot of new tricks, made a few new connections, and left with a renewed passion to drive even more traffic through the search engines! As the slides of the presenters become available I’ll share a few more of the insights that we learned so you can also benefit from the experience.

Well I’m off to Day 2 of Search Engine Strategies 2008. Here is what I have planned to attend today:

10:30am-11:45am - Search User Behavior

How do searchers interact with search engines? New research is constantly revealing how searchers act. This session explores the latest studies and findings to provide tips and tactics for search marketers to consider.

12:45pm-2:00pm - SEM Toolkit: Marketers Share

Competitive intelligence, keyword research, customer profiling, exotic analytics, and visual mouse tracking are just some of the tricks of the trade of search marketers. Guerrilla marketers on the panel show you the favorite tools in their kits. Many are low cost or free.

2:30pm-3:45pm - Web 2.0 & Search Engines

An overused and amorphous term, “Web 2.0″ nonetheless encompasses an evolutionary shift from the typical web user experience of a decade ago. Some aspects of the “new” web environment are great for improving your search traffic. Other developments may lead you to make serious SEO errors. Among other things, Web 2.0 is about new user interface designs that speed up user actions with techniques such as AJAX (Asynchronous Javascript and XML), which allow users to perform operations nimbly without loading a new HTML page. This session will cover AJAX, CSS, user-generated content, and other new trends in web design and user experiences that may require a re-think of your SEO strategy.

4:00pm-5:15pm - Site Clinic

This interactive session takes volunteers from the audience and examines their websites live to provide general feedback about improving them to gain more traffic from search engines.

As usual I’ll report my findings after the day is through!

It was a fun Day 1 at SES Toronto 2008. Here’s a recap of my day:

Check-In

The check-in process was smooth and pain free - usually check-ins at conferences involve slow lineups and poorly trained staffers manning the booths but SES Toronto did a great job - having a press pass I’m sure didn’t hurt either.

Press Room

Immediately as I entered the main floor I was shown the press room where there were tables set up so you could recharge your laptop. Coffee, pop, and water were also made available. It was a great place to go to in order to escape the noise of the main area and get some time to write. The only issue was that the free wi-fi that was set up for the conference members didn’t reach the press room so we went without a connection.

Exhibiting Area

I made it in just before the exhibiting section opened up. The exhibitor list was fairly small but it was a nice group of companies. My first stop was Microsoft who was promoting their AdCenter product. I don’t do any online advertising, and instead, make my money as an online publisher. I was told that they didn’t have a solution for publishers in Canada yet - on to the next booth.

Google was my next stop. They had five people manning their booth and they were all from the AdWords or Website Optimizer teams. Website Optimizer is a new Google tool to help you measure conversion but it unfortunately doesn’t work yet with AdSense which is a big source of revenue for me. I grabbed a free magnet and moved on.

Next up was Yahoo! The Yahoo! guys were really stealing the show. They had free giveaways of mini chairs as well as multipurpose pens. They also had MarioKart set up so you could challenge other attendees to a game. Most of the buzz in the hall was around the Yahoo! booth.

The booth I found most interesting was by a company called Brafton. Brafton CustomNews is the news agency specializing in providing tailored news feeds for websites. Newsroom journalists write news feed articles to an editorial brief and keyword strategy that is controlled by you. All articles are unique, search-engine friendly and archived on your website. What are the key benefits? Keep your website fresh and updated with breaking news; increase organic listings with search engine-optimized articles; inspire confidence and portray your brand as a leading sector voice; drive revenue by directing traffic to revenue pages from articles; and increase dwell time and repeat visits with archived and related articles. It’s an interesting concept and the sales guy was very knowledgeable. Unfortunately they had no marketing collateral to hand out so I left my contact information and am waiting for a follow up.

Sessions

The sessions then began. My favorite one of the day was actually the first one. The topic was Search Around the World: U.K., Europe, Asia Pacific, & Latin America. I discovered that the majority of Internet users are outside of North America (Europe and Asia) and that there are many rapidly growing emerging markets that online marketers could benefit by targeting early. My favorite speaker of the day was Andy Atkins-Krüger. Andy is a trained linguist who has worked in international marketing for 20 years having worked with major brand leaders in five continents during his career in advertising and public relations. Then in 1997 he discovered SEO and a couple of years later paid search. In fact as the Marketing Manager of Portakabin, Andy was responsible for promoting the company throughout Europe in the late nineties and needed an SEO solution that was multilingual. The result was the business now known as WebCertain which Andy bought share of and became Managing Director in 2002 - later he acquired the whole company.

Andy was very knowledgeable, provided great insights and answered many of the questions from the floor. I didn’t take too many notes because they said the slides would be available online afterwards but I don’t see them yet on the site so I’m hoping they come soon!

Google Blunder?

After Andy’s insightful talk I got to thinking about overseas opportunities. Would there be a significant opportunity to translate my content and tailor it to non-English speaking countries? Since AdSense provides a stable income base for my website I wondered how strong the opportunities were for publishers in foreign markets. It would be much harder for me to sell direct and affiliate products in languages I don’t understand so I would have to lean heavily on AdSense to get started. How strong are the opportunities for AdSense in foreign markets? Do you make higher cost per clicks if the content is translated into that foreign language? Which are the top markets to get into if I’m an AdSense publisher looking to go outside of North America?

I immediately went back to the Google table. Unfortunately nobody knew the answers to my questions as there wasn’t a representative from the AdSense team. Disappointed in not getting any solutions I took a pamphlet of theirs on Webmaster Tools and then asked a question I was facing with my own Webmaster Tools account. Unfortunately there wasn’t anybody there either who was knowledgeable about Webmaster Tools. They suggested that I post to Google Groups and someone would get back to me. I’m a big Google fan - they drive most of my traffic and pay me a lot through AdSense but to have at least 5 people staffing a booth and have none of them be familiar with AdSense or Webmaster Tools at a Search Engine Strategies conference seems ridiculous to me.

All in all, however, it was a great day and I’m looking forward to Day 2 tomorrow.

More reporting to come!

This morning I’m off to SES Toronto and I’ve selected the following workshops for my agenda (thank you Kevin for the feedback):

11:00am-12:15pm - Search Around the World: U.K., Europe, Asia Pacific, & Latin America
Eastern and Western companies are rushing to get a piece of the action internationally, but does anyone really understand the marketplace? In this session, attendees will learn how to separate hype from actionable activity. Leading experts with “feet on the street” in the U.K., Europe, Asian Pacific, and Latin America discuss the marketplace and the impact it’s having on the world.

1:15pm-2:15pm - Orion Panel: Measuring Success in a 2.0 World
A successful search analytics strategy is key to maximizing ROI. Traffic is nice, but what happens after the click? What’s the dollar value of a lead? What about the dollar value of a social media relationship, or a discussion? Are analytics tools accurate? This panel of thought leaders in the field of analytics will discuss bounce rates, improving conversion, spotting trends, and generally elevating your SEO/PPC analysis to a whole new level.

2:30pm-3:45pm - State of Search Marketing in Canada
Which search engines are leaders in Canada, and what are they up to? What regional differences in search engine usage do we see within Canada? What vertical areas of search are growing? Representatives from major ratings and traffic analysis services share stats and info. Search engine representatives also comment on trends. Finally, panelists look to the big picture to assess the growing strength of digital marketing in Canada and where search fits in.

4:15pm-5:30pm - Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions
Link building is crucial, but linkbait tactics that worked this year may not be as effective next year. This session focuses on the underlying quality as well as ingenuity needed to get other websites to link to you early and often. It will also explain how you should approach journalists, bloggers, and other authoritative sources to enhance your company’s online reputation — whether or not you get links.

I’ll report back later on in the day to share some of the things that I’ve learned from the conference!

Next week is the start of Search Engine Strategies Toronto and I will be reporting from the expo on Tuesday and Wednesday. Fortunately for me I live in Toronto so my travel time consists of hopping on my Vespa and driving to the conference center.

I’ve never been to a SES conference so I’m excited to see what the excitement is all about. There are three tracks that attendees have the option of attending (at any point in time there are three seminars going on at once so you have to pick which track you want to go on). The three tracks are: Get Me Up to Speed, Practical & Actionable, and Advanced. Judging from the seminar information my inclination is to focus on the Advanced track but I will list the different seminars below. As I will be reporting from the event, if there is a particular seminar that you would like more information on please let me know and I might attend it for you.

Track: Get Me Up to Speed

• Introduction to Search Engine Marketing
• State of Search Marketing in Canada
• Site Clinic
• Search Advertising: PPC 101
• Keyword Research: Purpose, Tools and Tactics
• Link Building: The Basics & Beyond
• SEO Don’ts, Myths & Scams

Track: Practical & Actionable

• Search Around the World: UK, Europe, Asia Pacific & Latin America
• Getting Found in Maps & Local Search
• Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions
• What’s Different About B2B? Tailored Strategies
• SEM Toolkit: Marketers Share
• Accessibility, Usability & SEO
• Site Clinic

Track: Advanced

• Universal & Blended Search
• Paid Search: Advanced Issues in PPC
• Twitter: Ultimate Time Waster, or Great Tool?
• User Search Behavior
• Social Media Success
• Web 2.0 & Search Engines
• Giving Credit Where It’s Due: Which Campaign Sold What?

Which topics are you most interested in?

Of course, if you plan on attending, let me know as well!

Following up on last week’s interview post with Microsoft’s Ken Headrick I thought it would be useful to share some additional insights that came from follow up questions I had with him.

How important is a #1 ranking?

The first insight relates to “golden triangle” that Ken talked about when discussing how important it is to be #1 in the search engine’s index. Ken referred to data from Enquiro, a Canadian company (I actually interviewed Enquiro founder George Hotchkiss recently and he shared some very useful insights).

Here is a picture of what Ken was referring to taken from Enquiro’s website:

This represents output from Enquiro’s eye tracking software which records where your eyes go when you are on a page. As you can see with the three main search engines, if you’re not at the top of the page, you pretty much will get ignored. The red color indicates a significant amount of time spent looking at a particular section on the screen. From these results, Google users in particular only seem to pay attention to the #1 result while Microsoft searchers look over a few of the top results before making up their mind where to click.

Is Microsoft A Better Place For Advertisers?

Another one of Ken’s interview answers included the following statement:

Microsoft adCenter (the system you use to book PPC ads on Microsoft Live Search) provides the highest conversions in many categories.

I found this interesting and later asked him to provide a few more specifics where possible. His Marketing Manager, Melanie, quickly got back to me with the following information:

Microsoft Live Search has the highest conversion rates—on average, 71% higher than Yahoo! and twice that of Google.**Conversion is defined as a web visitor entering into a secure session on a website. ComScore Study September–November 2007.

Specific Categories that Live Search has had a higher conversion rate higher than Google and Yahoo!
- Travel
- Auto
- Retail

Once again, if you’re interested in meeting Ken and learning more about him and Microsoft’s search engine, he is one of speakers at the upcoming Search Engine Strategies Toronto conference.