Beanstalk's SEO News Blog

A new article from Beanstalk's Matt Tuens is out today of SEO for blogs. It covers everything from links to content selection and more.

This article is part 3 in the blogging series. Here is an excerpt:

In a perfect world, your well-written, useful and refreshingly original blog would rank well in search engine results just because it’s good. But that’s not reality. Great content is the foundation of a good blog, but it doesn't guarantee high rankings. There are some search engine optimization (SEO) things you simply must do to increase the chances that your blog will be found – and read.

Be sure to read the full article, "SEO For Blogs".

Labels: blog, seo article

We've just completed part 2 of a 4 part SEO article series. Unfortunately I realized that I didn't blog the publication of part one. The irony here? The article series is on blogging and how it can help your business.

The articles, written by Beanstalk's Director of Copywriting - Matt Tuens, cover:

Yes Your Company Really Does Need A Blog
A article on why your business needs a blog and why.

and

What Type Of Blog Will Benefit My Business The Most
An article outlining different types of blog and the benefits of each for your business.

We hope you enjoy. :)

Labels: blog, seo article

Ah, the blessed Google updating - we hate to love it and vice versa. We ran our rankings again for our clients as we've seen a lot of movement lately and the latest round of results appears (for the first time in a while) to widen the gap between the Caffeine results and the live Google.com results. For some - this is a moment of joy and for others, panic. For all - it is temporary (and by temporary I mean more than even a standard update is).

This widening gap is (in my humble opinion) a sign that either the Caffeine results have been deemed to be less relevant than the live results and will be abandoned (in which case we're going to see updating based on a new algorithm here-to-for unseen) OR more likely - the fine folks at Google weren't happy with the portions they were testing and will resume implementing portions of the Caffeine results in the next few days.

Either way - if you saw your results improve - don't go counting your chickens and if you saw drops - don't panic (and yes - I know that's easier said than done). When in doubt - refer back to a previous article I wrote, "What To Do When Your Site Drops". We all deal with it from time-to-time and it provides some solid advice on how we here at Beanstalk deal with it - even when it's our corporate site.

Labels: google update, seo article

Go ahead, admit it. When you wake up - if one of your major tasks for the day is link building you're likely to hit the Snooze button, pull the covers over your head and procrastinate for just a few more minutes. We all know it's important - but I don't think it's anyone's favorite task.

Well to make your life easier (and maybe the link building a bit more interesting) I've found an interesting article over on Search Engine Land by Julie Joyce on just this subject. After polling some link builders she's written up an article outlining 6 methods for finding good quality links. Of course there are more than 6 but when I read the list - it was a good refresher on some things I knew but "forgot" and hit on a couple things that I hadn't thought of in the way she wrote about them. I didn't have high expectations when I saw "yet another link building article" I was pleasantly surprise to find this one. It only takes a few minutes to read and it well worth the time.

You'll find the article over on the Search Engine Land site here and while you're there - you might just want to peek at some of the other great content they have. It's like Danny Sullivan knows his stuff or something. :) (for those of you who aren't SEO's - Danny has been reporting on search engines since the first one was composed of mammoths scrawled on caves and helped start Search Engine Land and the always enjoyable SMX events)

Labels: link building, seo article

The lastest article by Beanstalk SEO has been published today. Written by Matt Tuens, the article outlines why your company needs a blog. It might seem pretty obvious but if you don't have one - it's a must read.

I won't bbother outlining the points from the article in this post. The article is only 1031 words - a pretty easy read. Watch for the next articles from Matt where he'll be sharing tactics for creating successful blog posts.

You can read his current article here and his others at http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/articles/matt-tuens.html.

Labels: blog, matt tuens, seo article

Has your website been swallowed by the Google SERPs? You may have noticed your page's rank (as opposed to PageRank) jumping up and down like a yo-yo without reason?

There are a number of confusing theories as to the how and why. We here at Beanstalk are playing "Sherlock" trying to make sense of all this. Look for an article tomorrow regarding this SERP dance that has been making a buzz.

Kyle.

Labels: google update, seo article

I forgot to put up a blog post yesterday announcing the release of the two latest articles by Beanstalk. Written by yours truly the articles cover article writing as a link building tactic (and they're good for our blog readers too :) and another article on how to make your Internet company eco-friendly through reduction and carbon offsetting.

You can find the article on our site at:

• link building with articles
• becoming eco-friendly

I hope that you enjoy them. Stay tuned, we've got more coming up next week.

And as a reminder, my weekly radio show on Webmaster Radio airs today from 2PM EST until 3. It looks to be a good show so be sure to tune in at WebmasterRadio.fm.

Labels: seo article, webmaster radio

The latest article by Beanstalk's Dave Davies (yours truly) has been published today. It delves into areas of competitor analysis and keyword research that more of our readers likely haven't thought of and that a large percentage wouldn't even consider doing now that they have.

The article, titled "Savvy Competitor Analysis and Keyword Research Your Competitors Aren't Doing" recommends some fairly unconventional things - but if you're in big business and you really want to know what everyone around you is doing - they're effective.

Enjoy. :)

Labels: competition analysis, keyword research, seo article

Inspired by a combination of an excellent research paper from Richard Stokes of AdGooroo, Google's Q2 earnings report and the recent happenings in the now getting tiring story of Yahoo! and Microsoft - the most recent article by Beanstalk's Dave Davies is out today. Titled, "The Search Landscape Reflected In Paid Results" it discussed some of the recent changes, how they're affecting the search engines themselves and what we can expect to see in the paid and organic results because of this.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Labels: adsense, adwords, google, msn, ppc, seo article, yahoo

Two new SEO articles came out of Beanstalk today.

The first article, titled ">1 Is the Lonliest Number" doesn't so much cover SEO as is intended to help Internet Marketing providers to survive the current economic climate. In a time when competition for dollars is at a high, insuring that you attain and maintain clients is critically importance. This articles outlines how we're surviving it and notes some common trends in companies that aren't.

The second article is more SEO focused. The article, titled "A Beginners Guide To Link Building" is just that. In it we explain why link building is important (from the search engine's perspective) as well as covering different aspects of links that are factors and a few of the more important link building methods. A good read for those just getting their feet wet in SEO and link building.

We hope you enjoy.

Labels: link building, seo article

Step Nine of our 10-step series on SEO is out today. Step nine covers conversion optimization and was written by Rock Tobin, Director of Research at Enquiro Research. Rick is responsible for a lot of the great work and studies that have come out of Enquiro and is regarded as an authority on conversion optimization and study.

Rick will also be joining us on WebmasterRadio.fm at 2PM EST today along with Enquiro CEO Gord Hotchkiss to discuss the article and conversion optimization in general. Be sure to tune in or download the podcast off the Webcology show page.

Labels: conversion optimization, enquiro, gord hotchkiss, rick tobin, seo article

The most recent article in the series of ten was published today by Li Evans of Search Marketing Gurus. I first met Li at an SES event some time ago, have interviewed her once for Webmaster Radio (as I will get to again for the accompanying show to this article so be sure to catch it either at 11am PST or download the podcast.

Li is definitely an expert on social media - up there with Neil Patel. The article is an awesome read and her contribution to our ten part series is greatly appreciated. Thanks Li !!!

But enough preamble, you can read the article on our site here.

Labels: li evans, seo article, social media

Beanstalk's Daryl Quenet (Director Of Optimization Services) published his latest article today. Titled, "An Introduction To SEO" it covers the general theory behind the SEO basics.

While in this article we don't get into too many specific tactics (don't worry - there are some) it covers nicely the ideas behind the tactics. And as we've discussed in our blog previously - understanding the "why" helps you keep up and understand the "how".

You can read the article on the Beanstalk site here. Enjoy!

Labels: daryl quenet, seo article

As part of our ongoing series on optimization, Jim Hedger published part 4 in the series - content optimization. It's a lengthy read (with a topic such as content optimization, how could it be otherwise).

This article is released in conjunction with a special on Webcology (a Webmaster Radio show hosted by Jim and myself). Be sure to tune in on Thursday at 2PM EST to listen to some great interviews to go along with the article. If you've reading this too late to catch the show don't worry - you can download the podcast free of charge on the Webcology page here.

Jim Hedger, aside from being a great friend to me and the entire SEO community, is an SEO consultant for Metamend Web Marketing also out of Victoria, BC, Canada.

Labels: jim hedger, metamend, seo article, webmaster radio, webpronews

The latest article to come out of the Beanstalk workshop was just published today. The most recent article has an odd spin, it's for our would-be competitors.

The article, titled "Starting An SEO Company" describes some of the considerations a would-be SEO needs to make when deciding whether to launch an SEO company. The angle it takes is basically how to grow your business when you're starting from zero (I'm not an MBA so it's not an actually business lesson).

I hope you enjoy it. You can find it here.

Labels: seo article

The most recent article in the series of ten was published today by Ross Dunn of StepForth Web Marketing. I've been impressed by many of the articles Ross has written on the topic which is precisely why we invited him to write this section of the ten part series. And after reading it, it was only reinforced that we made the right call.

While we personally use different tools and techniques I love Ross' hand's on approach. It's a definitely must read for the novice or expert.

But enough preamble, you can read the article on our site here.

And here are the links to the resources listed in the article:

Articles:

• Is Your Website Search Engine Friendly? Your Personal Checklist
• The 10 Minute Search Engine Optimization
  
• 15 Shades of Spam

Other:

• SEO Tutorials

Labels: competition analysis, ross dunn, seo article, stepforth

Today I published my most recent article. This article is a bit different. It's on keyword research and is part one of a ten part series. What makes this a bit different is that there will be various authors from various companies publishing in the areas that they know best. We'll also be supplementing the article which will be published each Thursday with a special on Webmaster Radio where we'll have a chance to speak with the tools manufacturers and experts in the area spot lighted that week.

Next week Ross Dunn of StepForth will be writing part two on competition analysis and of course, he'll be a guest on the show along with some guest of his own.

You can read the first article on the Beanstalk site here. You can catch the accompanying radio show on WebmasterRadio.fm at 2PM PST on Thursday. If you miss it don't fret, you can download the podcasts free of charge.

You can read the article on the beanstalk site here.

Labels: keyword suggestion, ross dunn, seo article, webmaster radio

The latest article by Beanstalk came out today. Titled, "The Dark Art Of SEO" it covers all the advanced black-hat SEO tactics we use including cloaking, blog comment spamming, paid links, FFA spamming for competitor sites and more.

And do I have your attention yet? ;)

Alright, in reality the article covers some of the hidden and often forgotten areas of SEO. Those parts hidden in the dark and rarely accessed. The tactics discussed will take time and patiences and probably money but will give you a huge advantage over your competitors provided that you already have the basics in place.

You'll find the article here. Nothing like a little light reading over the weekend. ;)

Labels: link bait, link building, seo article

Beanstalk's latest article, titled "SEO For Google In Five "Easy" Steps" was published today. This article outlines the five basic steps to ranking your website on Google today, and in the future. It covers:

• Site structure
• Content optimization
• Link baiting
• Link building
• Social media

You can read the article in full here.

Enjoy the read and good luck (unless you're competing against any of our clients of course ;)

Labels: content optimization, google, link bait, link building, seo article, site structure, social media

As many of you are likely well aware, Google has been tinkering with their algorithm. The update start rearing it's head last Thursday evening and produced some fairly major changes in the results. We have published our latest article on this update and what we've seen as it's causes, effects, and issues.

I won't get into the details here as those of you interested will likely read the article. You'll find it on our website titled, "Google Algorithm Update Analysis". Hope it was nice to you. :)

Labels: google update, seo article

The most recent article by Beanstalk staff was published today. Titled, "Personalization And The Death Of SEO" it covers some of the changes that the SEO industry is about to experience, how the industry/efforts need to be adjusted and details some of the main areas indicated in the patents as critical to help you as the website owner/SEO adapt to those changes and, if done right, profit from these changes before your competitors even know they're happening.

You can read the article on the Beanstalk website here.

Labels: google, personalization, seo article

The most recent article by Beanstalk was published today. Titled "Building Link Bait" it outlines the steps to creating effective link bait for your site (as well as describing what link bait is and why it's important as part of a large link building strategy).

We are sure to write more on this topic as this article is meant to give an overview of it and some tips on how to get started. So keep watching our SEO articles and blog for more information on this and other SEO topics.

You can read the article in our archives at http://www.beanstalk-inc.com/articles/links/link-bait.htm.

Labels: link bait, seo article, sitepronews

I've published numerous articles and received feedback that's been both positive and negative as can be expected in this industry but I have to say, I've never had criticism of my work placed on such notable blogs as MarketingPilgrim.com before (Ironically I used Andy from Marketing Pilgrim as an example of a good SEO in the article)

It appears that SEO's are a bit disguntled by my assertion in the article I published yesterday that one of the things you should look for in an SEO is that they be able to rank for their targeted phrases. This doesn't seem to me to be a big leap of logic.

One of the big problems appears to be based on misinterpretation. I'm not sure how or where the critics believe me to be saying that all good SEO's should be able to rank for "seo" or "search engine optimization". I never said that. In fact, what I wrote was:

"... Too often when I take a look at the SEO's website and research their targeted phrases (usually pretty obvious when you look at the title and heading tags) I find that they don't even rank for their own phrases."

What I'm trying to say is that a good SEO should have done their research, figured out how to target their phrases and which they could rank for, and then do that. If you're an SEO focusing on real estate your phrase could well be "seo for real estate agents". The key is that you should be able to do for yourself what's you're claiming you can do for others.

For me to say that a good SEO should be able to rank for one of the two phrases noted above is a bit silly. There are a number of good SEO's out there and only ten spots on the first page of Google. Fortunately there are a good number of phrases available.

I write this as the article is getting picked up on more and more sites now and I really don't want to have to reply to each and every post attacking my stance. I stick by it and if you can't rank your own site for your targeted phrases (WHATEVER THEY MAY BE) then I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree.

Labels: andy beal, marketing pilgrim, seo article, what to look for in an seo

Because we at Beanstalk offer a guarantee to our clients, from time-to-time we have to put a hold on accepting new contracts. During these periods we offer to guide our visitors in the right direction in choosing an SEO firm as we're well aware of how difficult it can be to sort out the good from the bad.

To make our lives easier and to make the lives easier of our valued visitors I've taken the initiative and written an article on just this topic. Now, this doesn't mean you can't contact us if you have questions, just that the basics and some of the most common questions we get asked are now clarified (hopefully) in an article. The article is titled, "What To Look For In An SEO" and can be found in our articles area.

I sincerely hope that this article proves useful to you. If you still have questions, feel free to ask.

Labels: seo article, seo firm

An article published today by veteran SEO Jim Hedger (wow ... that's twice in one week he's been mentioned in Beanstalk's SEO blog :) covers well a topic of interest to all SEO's and which should be of interest to all business owners and those who manage websites - the statistics behind current search engine trends.

The article is a great compilation of links to some of the best and most revealing search engine and search usage trends reports to date as well as providing a solid analysis of what they mean.

For those of you interested in getting a better idea of not just where we are today in the search engine world but where we're potentially heading and how to better position your website both in rankings and in usability, then this article, published on the ISEDB website is a must-read. And I'm assuming from the fact that you're visiting our SEO blog that these issues are important to you.

You can read the full article at http://www.isedb.com/news/article/1219 (Note: link removed as the page no longer exists at this location).

Labels: jim hedger, seo article