I chose to adopt a tiger on the US site (pending, was having some issues over there) but if I got to choose on the UK site, it would have been to sponsor an acre of forest. No matter how you want to help out I urge you to consider it. There are a number of ways to help and not all of them financial.

The environment is something near and dear to my heart because after a long day on the computer, the one thing that calms me down is nature. Flowers, wildlife, and the earth overall. If we keep going the way we have been as a society that will all be over very soon.

So blame the Panda and join us in the fight to help the wildlife and nature.

Helping Out Wildlife – The Panda Made Me is a post from: Kate Morris

I have spent the last year working with an image powerhouse. The power of images is great, an untapped source of traffic for sure. I am a search marketer that is all about the conversion, but if all you want it traffic, images are just awesome and long tail. What’s just so sharable? Images. Why do you think we take data and make it pretty (ala infographics)? People love images. The most recent, not sure if it’s really the brain child of Paula Holmes Crimm, but maybe.

Shared almost 2k times as of 5:12pm CDT

Really. How freaking cute. He/She let the dogs out. Took claim for the apparent mess it caused. You just want to kiss that puppy and the share it with all of your friends. I saw it this morning, reshared it, and 5 of my friends have done the same and not all from me.

Now the image search for this image. I figured “I let the dogs out” would do it.

Alas no. I may be wrong in the search or it might just not have been shared outside of FB yet. Therefore, Google hasn’t seen it. So I’m posting it. With good alt text and image name. Let’s see what happens and if I can get some traffic from it. </SEO>

Take Away for Search Marketers and Businesses

This small picture is being shared. There is no commerce behind it, no linking scheme, just an image. So I want to impart something I have seen as I’ve developed client infographics and link bait, don’t make it about you. Make it about users, your target market, the everyday user, the facebook user, whoever you want to see and share your content. Make it about them and they will share it. This does not have a 100% success rate (meaning making “viral linkbait” is still not possible to just create) but it does help get to the heart of the user and that might transfer down to the tip of their “share” finger.

Letting the Dogs Out: Image Search is a post from: Kate Morris

Dear ModCloth,

I love your Facebook ads, they are one of the few that work for me … repeatedly. I even bought one once, took it with me to Mexico and it was even borrowed from a friend! Great stuff.

On the left, myself and Lauren Polinsky. To the right, Kristy Bolsinger wearing the same Plum Role Dress.

 and 

There is an issue though. Those ads … they feature pretty dresses that catch my eye. I click … and am taken to the dresses page. The dress I loved is NOT THERE. I have to search for it.

Example

Landing Page:

No pretty blue dress. *sad face*

How to Fix This Issue and Sell More Dresses

Talk to your developers. Find some way to land on something like this:

Or the product page (bonus you have suggested other products!). Maybe retrofit the landing page to be the product page but rather than suggested accessories, you suggest other dresses. Or add a call to action at the top of the page “see other dresses” or something more catchy.

Thank you for your time,

Kate Morris

PS I do love your products. Ordered another one the other day. But please make it easier!

Thanks to Lauren Polinsky for the photos from a great trip!

Sell me this dress ModCloth! is a post from: Kate Morris

I’ll outline a plan below but you can edit it as you please. The goal here is to change things up and get a more holistic approach to SEO. The more you change up your tactics, the more natural things can appear. So, without further adieu:

Round 1: Outreach and Guest Posting

Use the guest post search tips from my coworker Geoff Kenyon, and find bloggers in your space that allow guest posts. It’s fairly easy to do and a fantastic way to get links. This is the first step to building relationships as well, and those will come in handy later. Start by drafting a few posts and then working on contacting bloggers at the same time. By the end of your 17 days you should have a few posts live and maybe a few more ready to go live.

Round 2: Title Tag Research

After the outreach, head back to the foundation of SEO. Look at your site’s title tags. Depending on the size of your site, you can determine how in depth to go. First, address any duplicate titles you have. All of them. If you are running a site with millions of pages and 100,000 duplicate page titles, find an automated way of differentiating them. Trust me, it’s doable.

If you are good on duplicate title tags, move to identifying your top pages. Are there any missing? Why isn’t one of your top categories on there? Find the pages that should have top traffic and look at the title tag. If you only have a few static pages on your site, investigate them all. Do standard keyword research and make sure you are targeting the right key phrase to get the best traffic.

Round 3: Be the Resource

Remember those relationships you built with guest posting? Time to recontact those people. Hopefully their sites got all kinds of traffic from your content (you helped pushed those posts socially of course) and now they are emailing you for more! This time, get them to share their knowledge. Since they are in your space, their minds should be ripe with information your customers want to hear as well. Turn your blog into a resource by having top minds guest post for you and post some great information yourself. Be the resource and you will be.

Round 4: Think Social

So many of these rounds are social in that they are building relationships, but this last one, I want you to focus on being social on the big networks like Twitter and Facebook. If you have to choose one, go for Facebook. Reach out to your friends, get your 25 fans for your business page and claim your URL. If you can’t find friends to like you, buy an ad. I did that for a friend, took me 2 weeks with ads and $100. Done. But really do focus less on the friends and more on the conversation (it is a chicken/egg thing – you need fans first). Get out there and get people talking about you. SEO is marketing … the more people are talking about you, the more mentions and links you get.

And add Facebook comments to that awesome new blog.

Rinse and Repeat

So not like the diet, keep changing it up. There is no end to SEO. A #1 is not guaranteed in any market, so you should always be pushing to get more traffic and selling more. The only way to do that is to continually grow and reach out to more people. Hope you like the new 17 Day Diet.

17 Day Diet for SEOs is a post from: Kate Morris

From Sonny Photos

I seem to always get the inspiration to write on a plane. I think it has to do with the solitude and ability to reflect. I have not had the time to write on my personal blog for almost 7 months. Not to make excuses, but this is largely due to my job at Distilled. I have not found a position I am happier in but it takes most of my best writing ideas. I post regularly on the Distilled Blog and SEOmoz. More than that I have been adjusting to life outside of my MBA.

My update there is that I will be getting that piece of paper this month. I finished my last course last semester, but had to transfer everything in from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. I never finished my thesis. Longer story there. Long and short of it is that I made an executive decision not to beat my head into a brick wall of educational red tape and insanity anymore. Instead I sucked up thousands of extra dollars in tuition and sunk costs of thesis courses and took a class in Tacoma in the Fall of 2010. One of only two awesome classes I took in my entire MBA. Both were marketing electives and taught by professors that understand modern marketing and research.

In the next few months I plan to write a book review I have been meaning to do for a while. It’s on one of the few  ”business” books I have really ever enjoyed. The author is a friend, but I purchased the book on my own and intend to write a review that conveys what the book really does for the reader.

But tonight I am just reflecting on some changes in my life and how that will affect this blog. First, there probably won’t be much SEO on here anymore. You’ll hear much about my readings, my workouts (get ready for CrossFit), and whatever else crosses my path. I’ve missed my personal writing. I just penned a poem, and that has been a long time. My poetry is something I don’t share much with the world. Maybe someday, but not for now. But writing is one of my most cherished outlets.

I had a great discussion with Vanessa Fox at SMX Toronto this week and it has lead me to really remember who I am. That always changes, but times like this weekend when I can get away and really reflect on life is when I realize what has changed. I say a lot that life has not ended up like I expected it. It’s better in some ways, not better or worse in others. Just different.

I want to write and express myself more, hone back in on my technical skills, launch some sites and refresh some older ones. It’s feeling like time to work on the next step, whatever that may be. But I do know these few things. I have an awesome set of friends and family to support me along the way. A company that I can truly be honored to work for and colleagues that continually push me to learn and be better in so many ways. I could not be a happier woman at this woman in my life. Thank you to all who have impacted me, you know who you are. And if you are reading this, my guess is that you are one of those people.

Best Thinking on a Plane is a post from: Kate Morris

But I digress. What this post is really about is the paradigm to reward those customers that bitch, moan, and complain loudly. On the internet and in search marketing, companies spend thousands of dollars dealing with unhappy customers. In many instances they ignore the customers that could potentially make them more money in the future by being advocates.

During my stay at the Marriott, my first night was met with very little sleep. My tweet stream shows the progression of annoyance. In short, there was a wedding … and the people staying on my floor were very drunk.

Okay, I didn’t mention Marriott here, but there is the first indicator.

There is the main mention. And I’m defending them. I mean it’s not their fault that there are annoying people in the world right? Right.

Rant continues … and yes, Josh Groban makes me happy … and calms me down.

A friend notices, and at this point I am pissed.

And now more so … that was the last time someone knocked though.

And now still sticking up for them. What do I hear in return from this on Twitter? Nothing. I mention it to the front desk the next morning and they apologize. But it makes me wonder, if I had ranted, raved, and made a scene … could I have gotten a free night? Upgrade? I hear about people doing this all the time but can’t bring myself to do it.

Here is my point though.

Scenario 1: A customer complains of noise, yells and screams, and demands an upgrade to another room.
Typical Response: Giving what this customer wants to silence their negativity. The irate customer is silenced never mentioning the event again.

Scenario 2:  A customer gets upset but understands. Mentions the incident to the company.
Typical Response: They get an apology.
What should happen: In addition, they are compensated with a free night, spa treatment, or even just a few free drinks.
In Return: They then spread the word to friends, family, and maybe even online.

Word of mouth is the highest trusted form of advertising there is, so why not give up a $100 to a customer that may make you thousands in return? Think on that. </rant>

Rewarding Good Behavior is a post from: Kate Morris

In addition to just being a good airline, most of their flights now have wifi. I’m on it right now actually. It’s fast and very convenient, but there is one thing lacking that I am seeing more often when it comes to traveling. Lack of power. We have wifi and ample space to work (well for me I have plenty of space), but on a 3-4 hour flight, most laptop batteries will not last the entire trip.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am NOT complaining about my flying experience. And I am not sure that there is a quick fix to this issue, but I want to air it (giggle, unintended pun) in case someone can fix it. What I would love is the addition of power outlets under the seats in all planes.

I have an adapter for my Macbook just for planes, but rarely can I find a flight that has these power outlets. Not only that, but you have to dig to find the diagram of your plane to see if there are any outlets and get a seat near one because they aren’t always in every row. With wifi and the adoption of gadgets being used on flights, it seems as if this should have come before wifi.

There are things you and I can do to help the lack of power on continental flights including:

1. Powering up fully before a flight. (I tried to on this flight)
2. Bringing an extra battery. (Who wants the extra weight?)
3. Fly first class. (I never have but I hear it’s nice …)
4. Using an iPhone, iPod, Zune for music and maybe movies. They are battery sucks.

But in the end, I just would love to be able to charge as I am flying. Hopefully as the planes get better (Boeing Dreamliner anyone?) they will include power options as well as wifi, satellite TV, and all the other extras. We have fought over water, oil, and other things over history during travel. Now it’s the magical power outlet. Think about it the next time you’re cursing the person who got the outlet before you at the terminal and you are stuck reading the airline magazine … again … for 3 hours.

Amazing Flight Technology but … is a post from: Kate Morris

There are many people talking about the death of SEO. Yeah, I know, you are contemplating closing this post. Stay with me. Well, if you are a seasoned search marketing veteran, you are free to go. There is nothing here that is going to be earth shattering. But I have seen too much recently to not say something.

SEO is not going anywhere but it has changed. Long gone are the days of “tricks” and “secrets.” SEO is moving towards (and about time IMHO) being a staple of every company’s IT and Marketing schedule. But we are not there yet. I can’t research a local company or do a competitive analysis without coming across a handful of sites that are missing the basics. The larger companies are getting there, but again, not there yet. This is what should happen though, SEO is a part of marketing and web development and should take its rightful place.

But there are no secrets. Can you still pick up some good ideas from the minds at conferences and get togethers? Yes! But know that you might be one of those minds. How? It’s the experiences that make good ideas. Conference organizers constantly try to blend new speakers/new perspectives with seasoned veterans. But what is said there is not hard and fast truth. Any of them will tell you that your site is unique. It’s about the idea they are presenting that spurs the idea for your site.

The questions I’ve seen arise recently have been just like those from 2005. Site developers and first time website owners want to know how to get their site to #1 right now. They want to know why other “less desirable” or “less worthy” sites are outranking their beautiful creation. The answer is always the same.

1. Build your site well. It needs to be clean, understandable, and navigable. Page load times and text based content are things to notice.
2. Content needs to be focused to the user. Don’t stuff. Don’t over optimize. Build pages for different users and make it something they want to read. Users via email are different than those from PPC ads. And the users from organic SERPs are different too. All users are not created equal.
3. Content needs to engage and entice. Not only to convert (which is the first focus) but also to share. In this world of linking, the best way to go about links isn’t easy. The best links are from real people. You will get them by marketing and customer service. PR is a good road too, remember that one? Journalists are your friend.
4. If you are building links by paying someone in India, stop.
5. Be patient. Yes, the engines will pick up content almost instantaneously in some cases but not all. If you spotted a problem recently and changed it, give the bots time to find, fix and propagate.

Build your foundation (good clean code), set your framework (navigation and structure), insulate (link build), pick the right colors (content), and then market. The most beautiful well built house will never be found if no one talks about it.

Building a Proper SEO House is a post from: Kate Morris

When first approached about Blue Glass LA, I knew nothing about it, only that Chris Winfield, Brent Csutoras, and Tony Adam were behind it. That in and of itself was credibility enough to attend, but the more I looked into the show, the better it got.

First off, most of the panels have only 2-3 speakers, making them more focused and less rushed, for the audience and the speakers. I am a big fan of this format because the hand picked speakers get more time to really teach. And as a regionally based show, the crowd should be more intimate.

This show seems much like Search Exchange, which I spoke at this past May and loved. It was a good opportunity to really get to know and network with people. Blue Glass LA is hoping for the same vibe, adding an LA twist.

I think this is going to be an awesome show for networking and education. Taking all of the best things about some of my favorite shows (like PubCon and SearchExchange) and putting them on the West Coast with a great crew. I can’t wait to see everyone in a few weeks!

New Breed of Show – Blue Glass LA is a post from: Kate Morris

There is a new face in the Austin Personal Training scene, and he happens to be my brother. Brian Morris just finished his certification from PFTA here in Austin. He will soon be starting as a personal trainer on some lucky gym’s staff, but is also looking for clients.

Most personal trainers are all about finding the young people looking to prepare for bikini season, but Brian is hoping to reach people of all levels of life and fitness. We come from a family with a history of obesity, so Brian and I both know adversity when it comes to weight loss. He is even working with our mom right now. She has gone through a gastric bypass and thyroid cancer, making for an interesting combination of fitness and nutritional needs. No situation is too difficult with someone this dedicated to a healthier life for everyone.

For example, he wants to reach the baby boomers that want a better quality of life, not a beach body. Keeping up with grandchildren and traveling the world (that hike up St. Paul’s Cathedral in London is 1000+ steps!) are their goals.

I am very excited about this new part of Brian’s life because I can not only aide in this new venture, but it’s awesome to see him this excited about his career. Brian really does love helping people with their fitness goals. He has been telling me every week for the past 9 weeks about what he is learning in class and helping me change my habits for the better. (yes Brian, intervals are what I need to do, I’m working on it)

So as promised, if you are in Austin, and always wanted to work with a personal trainer, let me know. I’ll get you the hook up. *wink wink, nudge nudge*

A New Austin Personal Trainer is a post from: Kate Morris