These notes were extracted from the Google’s Conversion University test preparation presentation (where possible), and are not my property.

Introduction to Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free, web analytics tool that is hosted by Google.

Google Analytics shows you how visitors actually find and use your site, so you’ll be able to

• make informed site design and content decisions

• improve your site to convert more visitors into customers

• track the performance of your keywords, banner ads, and other marketing campaigns.

• and track metrics such as revenue, average order value, and ecommerce conversion rates.

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What Aaron has to say ?

This is what I had to say after being a member for a few months.

The title of this post is somewhat misleading.

The real question about SEOBook.com membership is not whether or not it is worth $100 per month, but what does it cost you not to be a member. SEOBook.com is an antipode to the vast majority of internet marketing training programs. It is not a one time quick fix thing.

If you believe that your needs could be met by a one time, one solution fits all, only $299, comprehensive internet marketing training book, or a DVD, SEOBook is not for you. No magic formulas there. No universal solutions.

The promise of SEOBook.com is not the one of definitive solutions. It is a one of perpetual learning.

SeoBook is not a fancy 8 hour long SEM workshop for which you have to pay several grand, only to leave with more questions then you originally had, or to very quickly figure out that the only fancy thing about persons conducting the workshop is their ability to market themselves.

SEOBook community is a workshop that constantly asks questions and does its best to answer them, more often then not it does. Being a member for few months made me realize that members don’t hold back when it comes to sharing experiences, giving advices, and answering questions.

Among those who actively participate in discussions are conference speakers, successful freelancers, webmasters (in the true sense of the word) , really sharp guys and gals that impressed me more then a few times with their ability to innovate and inspire.

Training modules are filled with up-to-date information about search marketing. And new ones are added every day to meet the needs of beginners and experts alike.

This makes it the best, and the most cost effective way to learn Internet marketing if you are a beginner SEO/Internet marketer or seasoned vet. For the ones that played this game for a while, the community offers the best feedback on your projects or ideas that money can buy. And it seems that those $100 act as a filter which really effectively filters out spammers, trolls, and all other noise.

Anyone who is in the business of launching a few sites a month can benefit from the discounts and coupons that SEOBook provides. Using those coupons can easily pay for membership, every month as long as BOTW and Business.com have some value.

I recommend SEOBook for anyone who is serious about Internet marketing. The only way I can see that SeoBook membership is not worth it, is if you don’t use it or don’t participate.

Why is ranking still alive and kicking ?

I understand the importance of headlines when it comes to CT rates, user engagement and sensationalism. But what I don’t understand is why people use simple phrases to explain very complicated trends and processes? Especially when those phrases are dead wrong. Bruce Clay and Matt Cutts (in a way) pronounced rankings dead recently. And it would be funny if it wasn’t sad.

Ranking is as dead as Microsoft’s determination to keep their grip on the operating system market.

To make things even funnier, Bruce Clay added that rankings are no longer a measurement of success for search engine optimization. What a shocker.

Rankings were never the best KPI for SEO work. Since the dawn of internet, from the time before Larry met Sergei, it was all about qualified traffic, conversion rates and ultimately, the ROI. Nothing has changed in that department. And nothing ever will.

I would have agreed if he had said that “general” or “objective” ranking is going to lose its importance during the course of the next year. But Bruce was so definitive in his statement that we shouldn’t have any room for doubt about what he wanted to say.

The scope of SEO work is already changing because of “personalization”, “localization”, and universal search. Building engaging sites has never been more important then now. Importance of being a part of the SERPs for many different vertical search engines has been growing and will continue to grow because now results blend, and no one can afford to miss out. But your site won’t get wiped out of the SERPS this year just because you don’t have a video as it was hinted by Bruce Clay.

Google wouldn’t make such a move. Not yet, at least not until an overwhelming majority of users start expecting a video on every site.

Google is the best search engine around only because it provides the best user experience. Their algorithms change to improve user experience and to diminish the efforts of spammers. Users on the other hand, mostly click on what appears at the top of SERPs.

Whether you want your image, your listing in “ten pack” , or video to
get you a visitor that will hopefully take the actions that you want, your best bet is to be at the top of the SERP for the keywords that you choose.

How will you make that happen in the face of these changes is a challenge in its own right. Just don’t think that ranking is dead. It’s just getting more dimensions, and a number of extra factors.

The importance and usage of local search is steadily growing at the expense of old fashioned paper Yellow Pages. There is nothing that will stop the transition from “paper to local”, as more and more small businesses allocate their marketing dollars to the web. Truth be told, not all industries can have the same benefit from local search marketing but there aren’t many industries that benefit more from local search optimization then car dealers.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing to do with that industry except from the fact that I am looking to get a new car. My curiosity led me to compile a list of sites that Google trusts enough to pull web references from.

I hope that someone will find this list useful. Sites are listed in no particular order. The list is not complete, but it is still helpful. Read the rest of this entry »

SEO is just a method of traffic acquisition. There, I said it.

I didn’t think that it will feel this good to degrade (in a way) what I do for living. But there is more to life (and internet marketing) then chasing rankings for keywords that you believe will improve your bottom line.

There is more to life then taking the number spot for that one precious keyword that over the time you spent chasing it, became inseparable from your ego, or the ego of your company. It feels really good when you finally get it, but you soon realize that it didn’t make a huge impact. You would know that in advance if you studied your web analytics reports. Read the rest of this entry »

Google seems to pass as a “good-doing” company with ease . Don’t do evil they say. While other IT giants like Microsoft are having a hard time fending of their  “evil corporation” stigma, Google gets away with almost anything.

Like enforcing their Adwords TOS when it comes to prostitution. Don’t get me wrong, Google is decent company with a huge impact (mostly positive) on our society. But they do make mistakes. Like in this case.

I will illustrate that with two screen shots.

Stance on prostitution

Screen shot above clearly shows determination to combat the use of Adwords to promote prostitution.

The second one is from the real world.

You be the judge!

Ever wondered what makes links good ?

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Why starting with title tags?

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