SEO Lateral Keywords

Lateral keywords can bring surprising results in your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. Most good SEO professionals recognize the high importance of lateral keyword targeting, but they also want to sell you what you want to buy. In all of your excitement to reach the top of search engine results for your obvious top keywords, be sure that you do not forget about all of the many lateral keyword phrases that also apply to your industry.

What Are Lateral Keywords?

Lateral keywords are the keywords that branch out laterally from your assumed SEO target audience. These are the related keywords and keyword phrases that your competition often overlooks, and can provide great opportunities to reach your customers. An example would be that if you are trying to reach people for the keyword phrase “fishing rods”, it is simple to see why you would want to be returned in searches for “fishing lures” and a long list of other related fishing keywords. Where a lot of SEOs will stop is when it comes to other far-reaching lateral terms like “camping supplies”. This is a very sensible example, but it can be taken much further than that. These are also known as “long tail keywords”, and can cumulatively account for far more valuable Website traffic than the keyword phrases your competitors inundate.

Lateral Keywords Require Lateral Thinking

“Thinking outside of the box” is a very 1980s term, but that is what I mean by lateral thinking. In order to think laterally as it applies to your SEO, you must start by thinking like your customers. We all know this is step one in defining your market, but it is always a good reminder. If you think like your customers for just a moment, you can probably come up with a dozen good lateral keyword phrases in the time it takes to finish reading this paragraph. Another quick way to research your long tail market is to review your Website statistics. Sometimes the keyword phrases where only a few Website visits were generated can be a good start. They may be great keywords, but you are just so far down the search results list that you only have a few visitors.

Top Ranking for Lateral Keywords

Ranking on the top of search engine results for your lateral keywords is extremely valuable. In fact, I will take 20 good listings for lateral keywords than one or two listings for the “important” phrases. The good news is that it is often far easier to achieve a good ranking for these keywords. It may not seem as exciting, but you will often find that you will receive a very valuable target audience that you have been overlooking.

Hire a Web Developer and SEO

How often have you said to yourself, “I need to hire a Web developer”? My guess is that it is not something you do every day, unless you are in the business. I suspect that the question of hiring a Web developer  or hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) professional is relatively foreign to you, so allow me to help you.

When you shop for commercial real estate, the experts will tell you that the three most important factors are, in this order, 1.) Location 2.) Location 3.) Location. As for the building itself, some of the considerations are size, features, accessibility, ammenities, legal issues, etcetera. The cost will also be a factor, but if you get these basics right, the cost is a hurdle that you will make every effort to leap.

These principles of location (SEO), size, features, accessibility, ammenities, and legal issues hold true in Website development as well, so before you hire a Web developer, you should consider how they will address each of these matters.

Hiring a Web Developer: Website Location

I am surprised how many people think that because somebody can find them online by searching for their company name that it is enough. These people are missing the whole picture. If your company name is Bob’s Bait Shop and somebody Googles that, it is only because they knew you exist. That is not how marketing works. The only way to be successful online is if people who do not know you exist can find you. In the instance of Bob’s Bait Shop, Bob needs to be found when people search for worms, or stink bait, fishing lures, night crawlers, minnows, fishing rods, and boating supplies. This is what I mean by location of your Website, and it is very seldom to find a need for a Website that cannot benefit from a good location on the Internet. Hiring a Web developer, alone, may make it possible to Google your company name, but it will not likely set your cash register ablaze.

Web Developers and SEOs Are Not The Same

Just because somebody is a Web developer does not mean they have a clue about SEO. Also, many SEO professionals will know how to develop a Website, but it is not really their cup of tea. If you consider the hourly rates of Web developers or SEOs, there is generally a huge contrast, which explains why SEOs will generally stick to their area of expertise. They are both important to your Internet marketing, but I have found that too seldom these two experts do not play well together. It is common that the Web developer / Web designer is more concerned with aesthetics and layout, whereas the SEO’s job is to be sure that enough people will actually see the Website. These two divergent concerns often have technological conflicts, and if they are good at what they do, they will likely have big egos to preserve. With practice, they can get along, and once in a while, they can even be found in the same person or company. When you make the leap to hire a Web developer, you will be wise to find one that understands SEO, but it is even better if you find them in the same place.

How To Find a Web Developer and SEO

A sad fact for many people seeking to hire a Web developer is that they will go with the first referral from a friend who says “I have a neighbor kid who can build a Website for you”, or they know somebody who has a full time job but does a little freelance work on the side. You found my blog, so you can likely understand the difference between the professional Web developer and SEO and the kid who just unwrapped his new copy of Dreamweaver. As for the freelance guy with a day job, why isn’t he doing this full time from the comfort of his pajamas if he is really good at it? Your best answer is more likely to be to find a Web developer using Google. A Web developer with a good search engine ranking and a good looking and useable Website will normally suggest that there is the capacity to do the same for you. It is often comfortable to hire a Web developer in your general location, but I do a lot of work for companies far away from my location in Topeka, Kansas.

Hiring a Web Developer: Legal Issues and Liabilities

This is an area where I am often dumbfounded. I have been shocked on many occasions to be contacted by companies trying to resolve the ownership of their programming code, content, and even their domain name, because they hired an inexperienced or unethical Web developer. The concerns of legal and liability issues when hiring a Web developer should not be taken lightly. You should review their contracts carefully, and if you have questions, pay an attorney to review it also. If they offer you a “handshake deal”, run away, fast. There is good reason for a clearly defined Website development contract, and it will benefit you to understand it before signing it or paying a deposit.

Web Development and SEO Related Blog Posts

I have written many blog posts relating to hiring a Web developer or SEO, and I hope that they will help you to find your next Web development company. I would like my company to be the one you choose, but in any case, I want you to find this information useful, above all.

 

SEO and Web Development Hourly Rates

Hourly rates for SEO (search engine optimization) and Web development are confusing. As a Web developer and SEO, I am very often asked to produce a Website development quote, without the client giving all of the facts. The most important thing to remember is that there is no apples-to-apples comparison.

Website Development Hourly Rates

When you compare the hourly rates of two different Website developers or SEOs, you are really only looking at a fraction of the picture. If “Web Developer A” charges $85 per hour, and “Web Developer B” charges $150 per hour, which one is a better deal? There is a missing variable in how much and how well either of them can produce the results. If “Web Developer B” has a decade of experience and can finish the same task in half of the time, “Web Developer A’s” hourly rate just became $170 per hour ($85*2).

Another strong factor is that although there are standards for Web programming, there are many “correct” ways to produce a project, and usually the “correctness” will come in different degrees. This requires a question of how correct you want it. Two Web developers will likely never produce the exact same results. Thus, the comparison of hourly rates is already flawed.

SEO Hourly Rates

When it comes to SEO, many of the tasks are even less defined than Web development. Determining the best SEO between “SEO A” and “SEO B” it is like comparing two brains, which stumps even the most brilliant Neurosurgeons. There are many skills that we share, but there are also many varying opinions on the best practices. There is only one number one position in each search engine for a given keyword or keyword phrase. That is the goal of the SEO, but the methods used to get there often vary greatly between SEOs.

Reduce Hourly Rate Confusion

Perhaps the most challenging and confusing thing about shopping for Website development or SEO is how much a Website should cost. As I have strongly suggested before, it is best to set a budget. Here is a clip from another of my blog posts:

“Hiding your expected budget is like going to a realtor and saying that you want to buy a house and hiding your budget. If they do not know your budget, they can show you homes all day but you will both be spinning your wheels and never get anywhere.”

When a Web developer or SEO provides a proposal based on only a portion of the client’s objectives, they will always be wrong. I can appreciate the notion of “shopping around”, but to shop without a budget serves nobody at all, and may land you with “Web Developer A” who can potentially cost you more. When it comes to shopping for SEO services, the largest cost is often in the cost of lost opportunities.

Getting the Right Cost Quote

I have produced quotes to shoppers who simply refused to give me the whole picture, only to have them compliment me greatly but say that they believe I am “out of their league”. The fact is that I write quotes ranging from a few thousand dollars on up to many tens of thousands of dollars. It is always based on the information I am given. No two companies place the same importance on Internet marketing, thus, their needs and expectations of both performance and cost will always be different. Without clarifying the needs and expectations for both parties, nobody wins.

Internet Marketing Imagination: A Racing Webcast

If imagination is limiting your Internet marketing efforts, take a lesson from the professionals and open your mind to new Internet marketing ideas.

In early Spring 2008, I was tasked with developing an idea to reach more people in the fast growing demographics of automobile racing. Blogs are great, and can give a great mental picture of the action, but something was missing. Writing in blogs and posting some photos is great, but everybody was doing that. We needed something different and better. We needed imagination!

How About a Live Racing Webcast?

Enter the Live Racing Webcast. A racing Webcast, now there is a clever and fun idea to reach people. We could mount cameras in a racecar and air it in a live Webcast for people to come and watch our race season. We could distribute press releases in each of the hundreds of markets we would cross, and receive a lot of press coverage. It would be a great multimedia opportunity.

That is exactly what we did, but we did not stop with a live video Webcast. We added live in-car chat and a live GPS feed to make things even more engaging. We chose a time in early May 2008 to launch the Webcast with a 6,000 mile nine day maniacal road trip called the Cannonball One Lap of America. The event celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2008, and we were there to document it from beginning to end. Since the Cannonball requires drivers to drive the racecar itself from track to track across the USA, attracting much attention, we decided on the domain name, CopMagnet.com.

Internet Marketing With Imagination

I am often asked for new and better ideas about how to reach more people online. Fortunately for me, that is how I earn a living. I am an Internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) professional. My job is to develop new ways of defining and targeting an audience online. It is a great job, but one that comes with its own challenges. The greatest challenge is imagination. Fortunately, imagination is not my personal weakness, but it is often the weakness of my clients. Without marketing imagination, and the insight to implement new and better ideas to reach your market, you give everything to your competitors on a silver platter. The prevailing limitation to imagination is the people.

Internet Marketing Limitation: The People

If you close your mind to imaginative Internet marketing ideas, you greatly limit your potential. Think about your audience, and not yourself. Consider what appeals to them and what will engage them. If it is a racing Webcast, do it. If you find yourself short of ideas and your imagination is hurting you, consult a marketing professional and listen to what they tell you. They may just be on to something. When you open your mind to creative new possibilities, you are much closer to receiving their benefit.

Author Mark Murnahan is the Chairman and CEO of YourNew.com, Inc. and provides SEO consulting services to companies and non-profit organizations. Mark Murnahan may be reached toll free at 866-A-Web-Guy (*REDACTED DUE TO AGING WEBSITE*) for consultation.

Back to Business Basics: Remember Your Market Research

Chicken or Egg: We all have pondered the question of which came first, but how does this apply to your business? Once upon a time, you knew what came first. Recent economic concerns have led many people to forget or neglect the things that made them successful in the first place. If you have had concerns with the recent economy or how to improve your business, this is to you.

Market Research

Most successful businesses started as a great idea, but before you built a factory or opened a bank account, there was market research. Even if it was just asking a few friends, there was something to say that it would be worth the effort to bring your great idea to market. Market research is what gives people the confidence to invest themselves in a business or dismiss the idea and move on to the next brilliant plan. Once the market research returns favorable answers, progress can begin.

Marketing Plan

The next reasonable step in any business is a marketing plan. After all, without marketing, a business will fail. In order to sell a product, you must first know your market, and then find the best way to reach your market with your message. Even if the plan is to order 1,000 business cards and hand them out to everybody you know, there is a plan.

OK! This is where I can stop with the whole business lesson. What I covered in the first few paragraphs of this blog entry should be enough to remind you of where you started. If the present economic recession has clouded your view of the things that come first, it is time to remember the earliest days. The first challenges nearly any business will encounter revolve around marketing and helping others to discover the product or service offering.

Executing a Marketing Plan

In the beginning of most new companies, the funds are tight. For many business owners, the present economic environment provides a clear reminder of those times. If you can relate to this, what you knew back then was that regardless of all else you must execute your marketing plan. Executing your marketing plan was the only way you had hope of better days. The sales you received from that first marketing plan brought the profit needed to expand and continue. So, why should it be any different now?

Internet Marketing is the Most Affordable

The facts and figures surrounding the marketing industry show beyond a shadow of a doubt that Internet marketing is the most cost-effective means to reach your market. Even more specific than that, search engine optimization (SEO) is the most cost-effective approach to Internet marketing. Your marketing efforts shold be viewed as an investment, and any investment requires diligence.

Never Give Up!

Another clear lesson that everybody in business has learned is to never give up. If your marketing plan is not working, realign yourself and keep working to find what is effective. If your Internet marketing efforts are ineffective, Internet marketing did not fail, the execution failed. Consider the tips as follows:

  • Start with the most basic market research. Ask people you respect and trust for their evaluation and use what they tell you.
  • Read until your eyes hurt, and start with my blog. The new perspective is worth the investment of your time.
  • Learn about your market and how to reach the right people (see above).
  • Accept your marketing failures. Failure teaches far more than success.
  • Use what you already learned and perhaps forgot. Marketing came first.
  • Execute your marketing plan. A poorly executed plan beats well executed negligence.
  • Hire a professional. With qualified professional help, you greatly increase your opportunities.

Author Mark Murnahan is the Chairman and CEO of YourNew.com, Inc. and provides SEO consulting services to companies and non-profit organizations. Mark Murnahan may be reached toll free at 866-A-Web-Guy (*REDACTED DUE TO AGING WEBSITE*) for consultation.