chatter

SEO keyword selection

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:24:00 +0000

When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), we see a world in a constant state of change. These changes come about by algorithm updates, design and aesthetic changes, social media and the roles of other mediums of sharing, and (as always) the needs of the user. Through all of this, every SEO has been guilty of throwing out clichéd terms such as “content is king” and utilizing the “latest and greatest” new tool to help clients succeed. However, through all of this, one thing remains the same: keywords.

We must absolutely know what we are trying to target before we can begin. If we don’t, then we’re really just driving down the highway blindfolded and hoping we reach our destination. But the big question is, “how do we select the right keywords?” The honest answer is that there is no easy solution for this. It’s almost always a case-by-case basis that requires you to know, and I mean really know who you are attempting to target.

Choosing your Keywords – To Thine Own Self Be True

Simply put, you need to pick keywords that focus on precisely what it is you do. You have to look at your potential in terms of “how is someone going to use me?” If you sell car tires, then the words “car” and “tire” are out of the question as standalone keywords. They are far too vague. You don’t sell cars, and you don’t sell every type of tire. You sell “car tires” plain and simple. Don’t try to overextend yourself and target something that’s related to what you do. Stick to what it is you do, in fact, do.

Don’t Be Afraid to Be Specific

If you or anyone else were to walk into a tire store and say “I need tires,” you would invariably be met with a “….no foolin’.” This is how the world of search works. Nobody goes to Google and says “I need tires” or “I need shoes” or “I need a kangaroo.” That’s a lie. I am totally guilty of that last one. However, what a person will search is “tires for a 2006 Honda Accord”, “Honda tires”, “accord tires”, or some variation thereof based on their exact needs. Nobody wants to spend any more time than they have to looking for what they need, and for this reason, people tend to be specific. Target exactly what you have and what you provide.

Know When to Hold ‘em…

People will ask “how do you know what people search for?” and the answer is simple. There are tools out there that we as SEO use to ensure we know what people look for. Google offers a very nice, free keyword tool to help people figure out what a keyword’s search volume is. Not all tools are the same though. Some fit needs better than others. Try a few and find what you like best. When you use them, you will see certain fundamental elements such as “search volume” and knowing what makes a good keyword can be tricky. Everyone can easily be tempted to go for that very broad and very high volume keyword. To use the Google keyword tool with the above example, we see search patterns begin to unfold.

We can easily get greedy and aim for the broad terms and spend all of our time and energy on them, but remember, our goal in SEO is not to generate Web traffic, but to generate business. After hours of grueling and diligent work, if we manage to reach that coveted first spot on the results page for that very broad keyword of “tires,” then we have to contend with people looking for them for their bicycles, motorcycles, trailers, RVs, ATVs, wagons, wheelbarrows and the occasional scooter. You will see traffic, yes, but what percentage will actually do what you want it to?

Know When to Fold ‘em…

Odds are your conversion rates will improve as you work your way down the list of keywords above, provided you’re able to properly meet the needs of the user. As you work through your website driving users deeper in with proper navigation, you will organically optimize for the broader keywords. Even so, at the end of the day, you are targeting that person searching for 2006 Honda Accord Tires because they’re the ones who you can easily get to commit to a sale.

However, depending on the amount of searches for each term, the actual conversion rates may differ. We know that the deeper they get on our list above, the closer they are to a decision point. Through careful observation of your website and seeing what keywords generate traffic and which of those result in a conversion, you will be able to determine what is the more converting term and, as such, which you should focus on.

Takeaway::

Once you identify the most successful keywords with the highest conversion rates through a process of trial and error, you will know which words to push. I wouldn’t go all in, not by a long shot, but focus on them while still working to refine and adapt the rest.

About the author::
Joshua Mathe leads thunder::tech’s Search team and his infatuation with SEO and PPC began six years ago. He is a lifelong Clevelander with a love of all things #CLE. In the rare moments that he's not online, he’s spending time playing with his dogs, cooking, cheering for Cleveland sports and practicing kendo.

Put your strategic thinking caps on!

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

"Wait guys, I just got an idea. An idea so great that my head would explode if I even began to know what I was thinking about." - Peter Griffin, Family Guy

I bet you didn’t expect to see a Family Guy quote in a post about strategy, did you? This quote got me thinking about how great ideas come to mind and the advancements needed to make those ideas happen. Luckily, my head didn’t explode in the process. Strategic elements can be found all around you, but it takes a certain mindset and approach to turn strategic thoughts into action.

When you hear the words “strategic thinking,” what image comes to mind? If you are anything like me, I hope you envision yourself. Far too many times, people believe strategic thinking only refers to long, drawn-out work projects involving multiple departments and decision makers working to reach an end goal. In my experience, I’ve found just as many elements of strategic thinking in my personal life as I have in my work life.

I have a vision for my career and my personal life. With each new decision, whether it involves planning a weekend getaway or buying a house, I think strategically on how that will affect my day, my year or my life. This level of self-awareness may sound obvious, but it is a building block for your strategic thinking process and decision-making skills.

A recent example occurred when my laptop decided it didn’t want to work anymore, so I began considering purchasing a new one. Luckily, before I threw down any money, I took a step back, and followed these simple strategic steps in my thought process (you can apply them to practically anything in your own life):

Focus two steps ahead on a project: What if I take up a hobby such as graphic design one day (don’t worry Creative department, I won’t!)? What additional software or hardware would I need then and would the old laptop be able to handle the new workload?
Think big and then follow up with research: I could purchase the newest and most powerful laptop on the market; one that can launch the space shuttle! I followed up with a quick check of the bank account and a glance at the rapidly increasing price and realized…
Adapt when plans change: Turns out a new laptop wasn’t in my best interest and I decided to repair the older model and fix some of its imperfections. If something new comes along that better fits my needs, I will re-address the process.

Strategic thinking at thunder::tech entails everything from project preparation and direction to finding new and exciting ways to connect a target audience with the client’s brand. Ultimately, your strategic vision has to see what others have perhaps overlooked. The ability to harness not only what has happened in the past, but also what may happen in the future, is crucial to providing clients with answers in this rapidly evolving marketing environment.
A mentor of mine once told me, “You should enjoy making the gray areas black or white for clients.” When I first heard those words, I didn’t quite understand what he meant. But after several client meetings and working sessions, I got it. His strategic thinking process answered and cleared up any questions the client may have had so they could make an informed decision.

I certainly have not mastered all the aspects of strategic thinking, but I am fascinated by how big and small ideas become a reality and I want to learn how to become better. This article provides a great overview of what characteristics an adaptive strategic thinker should focus on. How do you measure up?

So, has your mental picture of strategic thinking changed? How do you make the “gray areas black or white” in your decision-making process? Hopefully, you can recognize or continue to use your own strategic strengths in your everyday activities. Now, if we could only keep watching Family Guy for life guidance, we’d be all set.

About the author::
J.P. Krainz is an account manager at thunder::tech. When he’s not creating spreadsheets of spreadsheets, he enjoys playing the drums, participating in recreation league sports and cruising through Cleveland on his motorcycle.

Will This Month Bring Flowers? It Just May...

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:46:00 +0000

Lugging that umbrella around is finally paying off! Let mother nature work her magic while you sit back, relax and let the flowers bloom.

Download our May wallpaper for your desktop or mobile device as a rainy day reminder.

May wallpaper with a calendar
1024 x 768 1280 x 800 1280 x 1024 1440 x 900 1680 x 1050 2560 x 1440

May wallpaper without a calendar
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May wallpaper – mobile version

Hey! Let’s chat about responsive design!

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:24:00 +0000

As new devices become available and old devices get updated, screen sizes are going to change. It used to be the case (a couple of years ago) that there were just a few sizes (1024x768px, 1280x1024px, 1366x768px). Nowadays, there are hundreds of combinations! Obviously we can't make a different website to fit on every screen size, so what to do?

Responsive design offers a great solution. It allows us to create one website that adjusts to fit perfectly on any size screen – the font size is always readable, everything lays out in a well-organized and easily navigable manner, images always fit perfectly. It doesn't matter if you are using an Android smartphone, an Amazon Kindle Fire or a MacBook Air.

Through the use of fluid grids and adaptive layouts and with the aid of progressive enhancement and a great content strategy, responsive design creates a single website that responds to the user's screen size and device capabilities to make the site look as perfect as possible.

Before We Get Started

Take a look at this simple example of responsive design we created: responsive.thundertech.com. Resize the window and see what happens (or if you’re on a mobile device, rotate it).

Fluid Grids

A really handy technique to get Web pages to adjust themselves based on screen size is through the use of fluid grids. This allows us to have a page element (such as a column of text) that always maintains a width that is proportional to the width of the browser window.

Say we want a column of text to be 80 percent of the screen width. As the screen gets smaller, the paragraphs will adjust themselves and the words to the right side of a line will jump to the next line. You can do the same thing with images and block elements. In our responsive.thundertech.com example, you see this happen on a desktop browser when you resize your window. If you are on a mobile device, you’ll notice that the text breaks in different places when you rotate your device but always takes up the full column width.

Adaptive Layouts

So imagine you have two columns of content… if you are using fluid grids, as your window gets smaller, both columns are going to get really skinny. Too skinny. That’s where adaptive layouts come into play. Adaptive layouts allow us to set breakpoints (i.e. if the browser window is fewer than 600 pixels wide, switch to a one-column layout) using CSS media queries. This can dramatically change the layout of the site based on screen size, ensuring that no matter what device the viewer is using, it will always look great!

Note: Some desktop browsers ignore adaptive layouts – specifically Internet Explorer 8 and below, so if you are using IE 7 or 8, you are going to have to take our word for this… just know it is supported in browsers and on devices that need to rely on adaptive layouts for responsive design to work.

If you jump back over to responsive.thundertech.com, you can see adaptive layouts in action by resizing your browser (again, unless you are using a really old browser). If you make your window really skinny, you will see that the orange boxes in the right column jump below the main column. If you are on a mobile device, you will notice that those boxes are already there. Typically a two-column layout works really well on larger screens, but most users prefer a one-column grid on smaller screens such as smartphones.

Progressive Enhancement

Paired with fluid grids and adaptive layouts are a few other techniques that help round out responsive design. Progressive enhancement, for example, adds efficiency in that it lets more advanced browsers (Chrome, Firefox) use features that aren't available in every browser (ahem, Internet Explorer) to enhance the site (think rounded corners or shadows on text), while still maintaining an enjoyable experience across all browsers.

Of course, there are hacks to get some of these features working in all browsers, but they tend to increase load times and often create bugs for all users.

Content

We tend to think of the mobile user as being en-route, walking down the sidewalk. The notion of "one eye and one thumb" has gone to the wayside. While many users are on the go, there is also a growing number of users who are making their mobile device their primary internet connection.

The decision to leave out content on mobile isolates this growing population. An effective sitemap and well-organized content can grant users access to important information quickly, while providing all the details to users who want to dig deeper.

Experience

Responsive design is all about the user experience. We can create quick, elegant sites that work really well for all users, regardless of their device, situation, etc. Furthermore, as new devices come to market, with new and unique screen sizes, a responsive site will be prepared to look perfect with little or no updating. The best examples of responsive design are the ones that users don't notice as being responsive.

Future Friendly

Using responsive design techniques, we can create sites that are as future friendly as possible, meaning we can be pretty certain that they’ll play nicely with devices that don't currently exist. This allows you to spend less time worrying about how your website looks on the latest technology and lets you create a more engaging experience for a wider audience.

About the author::
Justin Smith is a Web and multimedia developer at thunder::tech. He is also a founding member of the t::t bike club and the proud parent of a basset hound.

2012 NAB Show recap

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 14:33:00 +0000

I just got back from the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas (actually, I'm starting this post on the flight back). The NAB Show is an annual event that spotlights anything and everything related to video production and broadcasting. More than 90,000 people attended the show this year. Exhibitors showcased their new products while attendees learned about new technologies and techniques from the show floor and educational sessions.

A lot of the buzz this year was around 4K (and 2K, 2.5K, 3K…)—which are formats larger than high definition (HD), meaning more pixels and higher resolution. Manufacturers are developing more affordable cameras, which makes them accessible to video producers who will start to adopt them quicker. While this probably won't affect marketers for some time because they’re mainly used for digital cinema, eventually consumer screens will start to reach these higher pixel densities and therefore require high-quality content to fill them. That said, if you work with digital signage, some display setups are currently larger than HD, therefore requiring video to be recorded at these higher resolutions today.

An affordable, handheld 4K camcorder from JVC. Photo courtesy of JVC America’s flickr account.

Another trend I saw was more devices enabling mobile broadcasting. While this mainly affects those in news gathering, it also enables marketers to broadcast live events via the Web more easily, with less equipment and more flexibility. I didn't expect to see Verizon at this show, but they were there showing devices that plug into their 4G LTE network enabling high-quality, live broadcasts from just about anywhere you can get a signal. These devices enable someone with as little as a backpack and a camera to broadcast live content.

Software companies such as Adobe, Avid and Autodesk showed new versions of their editing tools that streamline various parts of the editing process. One big announcement was that Autodesk drastically reduced the price of their visual effects product, Smoke. Smoke is an editing suite that also enables editors to incorporate visual effects without having to jump to other programs. More streamlined editing tools enable producers like thunder::tech to fit more sophisticated effects and graphics within budgets, often with a quicker turnaround.

Another personal highlight of the show was hearing Bill Dean and Lon Bender speak about their work as sound designers on The Hunger Games. They spoke on the importance of sound in production and how it is used invoke a specific emotion from the viewer and enhance the overall experience. They talked specifically about creating the sound of the tracker jacker, which in the movie is a genetically engineered wasp designed to sting anyone or anything that comes near it and elicits deadly effects on its victims. The primary sound of the insect is actually various bike tires spinning on bike trainers, which was then combined with the sounds of actual insects.

We look forward to using some of the new technologies coming out this year to enhance the production quality of our work through greater efficiencies and increased capabilities. Let us know if you have any questions about these and other emerging technologies and how they can apply to your brand in the comments below.

About the author::
Matt Stevens is the manager of multimedia services and a graphic designer at thunder::tech. When he doesn't have a camera on his shoulder, he's probably swimming, biking or running (aka training for a triathlon). He also considers himself a proud "tree hugger."

Knowledge Bombs Away!

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:00:00 +0000

As education is one of thunder::tech’s four core principals, we value the information we can learn and share with our colleagues and clients. Walking around to my co-workers' desks, I’ll see a variety of publications and I always have the opportunity to stop at the thunder::tech library.

Because the world of marketing (which consists of technology, public relations, social media, design and much more) is always evolving, the need to continue reading and sharing knowledge bombs has never been more important. As every business is different, you have to learn the best way to keep up with the trends that are happening in your industry.

To help you get started, I have provided a list of marketing publications and website recommendations, based on what the t::team likes to read:

Mashable
Mashable is the largest independent news source dedicated to covering digital culture, social media and technology. Numerous studies and leading publications have acknowledged Mashable the most influential online news outlet and must-read site.

Advertising Age
Advertising Age is the leading global source of news, intelligence and conversation for marketing and media communities. You can follow Advertising Age by online or subscribing to their weekly subscription.

BtoB
BtoB is the magazine for marketing strategists, delivers timely editorial on all disciplines of business-to-business marketing.

PR Daily
PR Daily is a daily site that delivers news, advice and opinions on the public relations, marketing, social media and media worlds.

Adweek
Adweek is a National publication that appeals to the advertising, media and marketing professionals.

This is just a quick list of suggested marketing publications. Of course, there are always other insights to be found in your local and national news. If you’re already reading these and other publications relevant to your industry, don’t forget the value of sharing. Keeping your co-workers as well as yourself up-to-date can become an asset to your company. Your brand will be armed with knowledge, which means hearing about the latest advances in technologies, learning about the newest trends and staying one step ahead of the competition.

About the author::
Andrea Aber is account services team manager at thunder::tech and is our resident process guru. When she's not developing client strategy and working to attract new business, Andrea enjoys spending time with her family and friends, venturing to local Cleveland restaurants, neighborhood events and festivals.

How I Spent My Spring with Cirque du Soleil

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Recently, thunder::tech had the incredible opportunity to launch a media relations campaign for Cirque du Soleil's signature show Dralion. During it's run at the Cleveland State University Wolstein Center, we were tasked with generating media awareness in the Cleveland market.

As anyone would imagine, this was the dream media relations project. Not only do you get the world-renowned name of Cirque du Soleil, but you also get the non-stop pace of the entertainment industry. After being selected in December, we knew we had our work cut out and couldn’t wait to get started.

Working on this whirlwind adventure, I was able to build off my previous media relations experience while learning lessons along the way that can translate to future campaigns.

Though media relations professionals use certain best practices with every project, working within the entertainment industry can be a whole new ball game.

Based on my recent entertainment PR experience, here are some specific best practices to add to your toolbox:

Be accommodating and flexible
Any time you work with the media, you must have a cooperative, obliging approach. The more hoops you jump through, the happier they’ll be.

This is even truer in the entertainment industry. Usually with larger name clients, media are more interested and oftentimes, more rushed to deliver the story to their readers, listeners or viewers. As a result, you have to be flexible with your availability.

If the media you’re communicating with work outside of normal business hours, offer your cell phone number and check your email often. I’ve had media representatives text me with questions and they’ve really appreciated the ease of getting in contact with me. Remember, you don’t want to give media reason to walk away before they’ve even had a chance to hear the pitch.

Another aspect of timing is the clients’ tight schedules, especially if they are traveling. It’s common to have only short periods of time to talk with the client so it’s important to simplify and prioritize.

As a result, the media’s expectations also have to be managed. When working on Dralion, I was upfront with the media if I needed a day or two to get back to them – I also always responded to every email and phone call immediately, even if to say I received their message and I would get an answer for them. The media members appreciated my honesty and were often willing to work with me.

With a busy schedule also comes last-minute changes. They’re bound to happen and you should be prepared for them. Always have a backup alternative.

And that brings us to the pitch. In a perfect world, a project has multiple angles. These angles may be inherent or you may need to work with the client to peel back the layers. For entertainment pitches, the possibilities could range from the musicians to costumes, from makeup to physical fitness. Ultimately, it’s important to keep an open mind in how the media can cover an opportunity.

Although media may have their own ideas, it’s crucial to have alternatives ready in case they turn down the opportunity at first. Media members also appreciate a collaborative discussion to make their job easier. This will also show you’re targeting them for a specific reason.

Working with local media, for example, requires constant awareness of why the community should care. The same is true for national events or performances. The name may not be enough. Whether it’s the musician or traveling custodian, working with the client to find a local connection may make a difference in getting the hit.

Have endurance to win this race
Depending on the length of the project, a lot of media relations opportunities require endurance as they could span weeks, months or more.

Not only should you make an effort to maintain enthusiasm for the project, but you should also continue to research and learn new information and concepts that will help outreach efforts.

If the project is long term, accurate tracking and monitoring is extremely important. I like to have a process in place to track conversations with the media, remind me when to follow up and when to monitor for coverage. Establish a plan that works for you and helps keep you on target.

Understand the nature of media outcomes
We all want a mountain of articles, broadcast segments and radio spots as a result of our efforts, right? We also want them as soon as possible.

We can wish for this all day long, but media coverage doesn’t always come through immediately, especially from long-lead publications. With that being said, if the client wants media coverage as soon as possible, start early.

For me, it’s much easier to prioritize outreach to the monthly and quarterly publications first because they work much more in advance. During that process, find out when their deadline is if the event occurring during a particular month.

Additionally, it can be a challenge to obtain definite publication dates for secured opportunities from the media. Whether editorial calendars change at the last minute or the decision is up to a higher power, you have to manage the expectations of your clients.

This could also affect advertising if it is part of the campaign. While it may be ideal to run an ad alongside an article, it could be more beneficial to stagger these items to gain long-term exposure.

While these are just a few valuable lessons from my adventure with Cirque du Soleil, I know that this experience will be a strong asset to future initiatives. If you have any tips from working within the entertainment industry, leave a comment below!

About the author::
Aside from serving as the resident grammar expert, Noelle Pennyman is part of the Public Relations team. She likes to spend her time keeping up with pop culture, cooking her way through every recipe and searching for the perfect amaretto sour.

Your Brand – An Inside Look

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:54:00 +0000

We all do it – we spend time, money and every available resource on developing engaging marketing or branding plans for our customers. We focus so much attention on external resources to define our brand that we often forget to utilize one of our most valuable resources that exists within our own four walls.

You know what I’m talking about – the people within your company. The internal ambassadors who are interacting with the brand on a day-to-day basis. The employees who make up your brand.

Employees and co-workers can act as great sounding boards or focus groups for insight to your brand. So go ahead and take a look. Just take a moment and think about each department within your organization and the daily contact each employee of that department has with the brand. I mean, who better to provide feedback on your brand than the people who interact with it on a daily basis?

There are a number of ways to collect data from your team without compromising results. Provide a questionnaire and supply a response drop box for anonymity. Conduct an anonymous online survey through services such as survey monkey, emphasizing anonymous – it’s the only way you will get an honest answer. Consider using some of these example questions as a starting point::

Why did you want to be a part of this company?
What is your favorite part of working here?
If one of your friends wanted to work for the company, what would you tell them?
How would you explain what your company does to a young child?

Questions like these can uncover your employees’ true perspectives and will help identify the character of your brand. The answers to these questions will identify not only the practical benefits of being associated with your company and your brand, but also the emotional connection the employees feel toward the brand. You’ll begin to notice that many of the benefits identified by employees are the same ones desired by your potential customers. I cannot think of a better way to get a quick gut check on you current brand image than conducting employee surveys.

Another important aspect of marketing and branding that is oftentimes overlooked is the internal marketing or brand plan. One of the single greatest obstacles to brand success is a lack of internal understanding as to what your brand stands for that is then translated to your customers. Take the time to communicate with your employees, let them know what is going on with the company.

Utilize a company intranet or bulletin board to post brand buzz or plan an event to generate some internal excitement. Engage and involve everyone within the organization to help develop a stronger emotional connection to your brand.

thunder::tech’s “Wall of Awesomeness” is one way we communicate accolades that team members receive from our clients – we like to share our accomplishments. It’s just another way we create internal excitement, buzz and pride!

Essentially our employees and co-workers are our biggest brand champions. They invest their time and energy to keep the brand alive – maybe it’s time we take a look within and invest a little back.

About the author::
Heather Driggs is an account manager at thunder::tech and when she isn’t strategizing new ways to exceed her clients’ expectations, she is most likely hanging with her family or her dog, indulging in the CLE culinary scene, heading to a concert or jet-setting off for a long weekend with her hubby.

Goodbye Post-its, hello apps

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:42:00 +0000

No matter what business we are in, aren’t we all required to meet some sort of final deadline, communicate and even manage others? Whether it’s a deadline of setting up a meeting, planning to attend a years’ worth of trade shows or meeting your personal monthly sales goal for selling the Iron Gym Ab Strap (As Seen on TV!), we all have milestones to reach the end and see the light.

Thanks to advances in technology, we now have tools outside your standard yellow sticky notes to help us organize, remember, communicate and all-together more easily reach these milestones and deadlines without missing a beat and while increasing productivity. And the best part is they are easy to use anywhere at any time, for business or personal use.

Now I know when we say, we “can’t live without" apps, Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Fat Booth (OK, maybe that’s just me) are the first to come to mind, but in order to stay on track and be productive, here are my “can’t live withouts” for organization and productivity.

Wunderlist :: A free task manager app that automatically syncs your phone you’re your desktop or tablet, from person to person when sharing tasks and lists via email. Task managers are an amazing tool for assigning project deadlines and to-dos to team members, and who doesn’t love being able to check off a to-do? And if you want to go a little more in depth, check out Wunderkit.

Basecamp :: While this mobile site isn’t a traditional app, it’s definitely worth the investment when working as a team to complete projects and meet deadlines. Calendaring, file sharing, messaging, prioritizing to-dos and so much more are possible with this wonderful platform.

Dropbox :: Large files can be such a pain! Not anymore, files can be viewed from your phone or desktop, shared with team members, friends and family and are viewable online as well as off. Having a place to share large files without download date expiration?

reQall :: It organizes your ideas, to-dos and other items worth remembering by both voice, text, email and instant messaging (IM). The app also sends you reminders based on time and location, so no more excuses for forgetting what you wanted to ask your boss when you get to work or items on your grocery list!

It’s amazing what can be right at our fingertips: so much information, reminders, sharing and communication. They say being organized can save you money, which is true, but when using organizational tools in your day-to-day work and personal life can also save you frustration and time, it’s time to jump on board and try them out!

And I changed my mind, we don’t need to say goodbye to Post-its. They still make for a good laugh.

About the author::

Kelly McGuire is an account coordinator at thunder::tech. When she isn’t synchronizing client needs with the team, she is parading around at Cleveland festivals and concerts or attempting to cook like Julia Child.

Google algorithm updates are looming ahead

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:11:00 +0000

A little over a year ago, we saw great changes come from Google in the form of a series of updates they referred to as Panda. With these, they worked to weed out content that wasn’t original, wasn’t fresh and didn’t have a purpose. They sought to make the search landscape more relevant and meaningful.

Optimization Penalization

In this new year, Google is still making Panda updates, but they have something much more in store for the search world. They aim to make searches more valuable and are doing this through one big update. In this algorithm update, they are looking at sites that have overly excessive search engine optimization (SEO) and penalizing them. This could include sites with keyword stuffing in the URL, meta titles and descriptions and keyword-riddled content.

They are taking the stance that just because you can optimize, it doesn’t mean you’re capable of providing real help or answers. Answers are what people want, and because of this, Google wants them too. To ask the question, “how often is a 2003 Honda Civic supposed to get an oil change?” you’re not looking for images, shopping or directions. You are looking for an answer. In this case, you’re looking for a very specific answer. Google is seeking to quickly and easily provide these answers to the user, while helping to weed out those that are merely attempting to game the system.

Semantic Search on the Horizon

However, they are not going to stop here. In 2010, Google acquired a service called Freebase, which is an open-source knowledge graph. Simply put, it maps out concepts and makes connections between them. They are essentially identifying how concepts are being used. They plan to roll this into their algorithm to create a more semantic search, meaning it will improve search accuracy by attempting to make sense of results based on context. In the present landscape, when you search for “spa” or “hot tub,” you’re met with two different sets of results, even though they are for the same thing. With semantic search, these connections are made for you to provide a more complete picture.

What Does This Mean to You?

Now how does all of this relate to you? It’s simple. If you’ve spent time trying to reach the first results page using only optimization and link-building, make sure you go back to your site. Look at it from the standpoint of your user. If you have a nice-looking, shiny site that doesn’t truly address the needs of the users, then all that traditional SEO won’t help you.

The world of search has progressed far beyond search engine results page (SERP) rankings and keywords. It has embraced usability, and we spend a large portion of our time making sure that when users stop by, they’ll find what they want. If you write your content, build your site and try to improve it for the user, then you will be able to weather the storm and come out the other side of these updates just fine while your competition struggles to play catch up.

About the author::
Joshua Mathe leads thunder::tech’s Search team and his infatuation with SEO and PPC began six years ago. He is a lifelong Clevelander with a love of all things #CLE. In the rare moments that he's not online, he’s spending time playing with his dogs, cooking, cheering for Cleveland sports and practicing kendo.