FEATURE: SEO Contest Winner: The Elisha Foundation - 90 Day Update

by Ryan Freeman (guest author, contest winner and all around great human being), July 15, 2005

I can't begin this report without expressing my thanks and appreciation to Bruce Clay, Robert, Virginia, Lisa and the rest of the Bruce Clay team for everything they have meant to us at Strider during the launch phase of our company, and for providing this opportunity to promote the vital work of The Elisha Foundation. You guys at BC rock – and it can't be said enough!

The announcement of our win in the Give, Get, Go SEO contest came exactly 11 days after our incorporation for Strider was filed. This was my big step from freelance SEO to running a real business. The team was assembled, things were lined up, optimism was high – and then it became real when Lisa published the list of winners on February 15th. At the time, we were each working from home while we searched for office space. We didn't have a Web site yet. I had barely started training my team in the concepts of search engine optimization... but we were going to SES NY!

In truth, I cannot think of a better way for someone to be introduced to the search engine optimization industry than by attending a conference like SES, followed quickly by in depth advanced training from Bruce Clay and finally spending two days in Houston at Small Business Marketing Unleashed [Editors Note: Just to clarify, Bruce Clay, Inc. did not sponsor Ryan’s trip to SBM Unleashed. – Lisa]. In two months, we were lucky to experience the broad scope of SES NY, advanced SEO concepts through the Bruce Clay Advanced Certification training, and the practical application of the SBMU workshop format. This was better, than any in-house SEO training I could have given my team.

Our work on The Elisha Foundation's Web site began with consolidating their domains to eliminate the duplicate content and canonicalization issues that were present. All the usual suspects were there: www and non-www URLs, .com and .org TLDs, and domains with and without “the” in the domain name. In the end, we selected “www.theelishafoundation.org” as the primary domain name and implemented 301 redirects to eliminate duplicate content issues. At this time there is only one remaining duplicate page in the index.

The Elisha Foundation brings together families of people with special needs and organizes retreats for the entire family, including specialized medical care, trained supervision and activities for able-bodied siblings and parents. All the leaders, teachers, pastors, childcare workers and support team volunteer their time to help out on these retreats. Many children require constant care and attention, so for the parents the 2-3 hours a day of child care during the retreat is only “time-off” they get during the year. It is also a rare opportunity for the families to meet with other families in a situation similar to theirs.

In our estimation, this is a situation ripe for an online social environment. The families meet for a few days and then go their separate ways all across the USA and Canada. Friendships and bonds are formed during these retreats that should be fostered and supported throughout the year. We have implemented a vBulletin forum, complete with all the new social goodness that comes in the latest edition. I'm a big fan of vBulletin, having implemented in various applications with much success. The forums have been created and will be formally launched this week. Features include all the typical forum interactivity and structure, along with the ability for users to create new social groups (private and open) to discuss niche topics. Users have customizable profiles, photo albums, and profile and private messaging. It is our hope that families who attend the retreats will then use the TEF forums to post pictures and memories of the retreat while staying in touch with their new friends. There is also a section of the forums for members to discuss products, equipment and general tips and techniques for daily living with disabled family members. This should lead to a steady supply of user-generated content on topics related to special needs living.

The Elisha Foundation Web site was recently updated from a Wordpress blog to my favourite CMS, Movable Type, in December of 2007. Unfortunately, there were no redirects implemented at the time to direct users from the old pages to the new. This was resulting a lot of 404s and lost link juice. We ran reports to see what pages the search engines had indexed from all the TEF domains, and created 301s for each outdated URL. We also examined the log files to see what missing files were resulting in the 404s and added appropriate redirects to our list.

Movable Type is a very user-friendly and search-friendly CMS, with minimal tweaking out of the box. In this implementation, the publishing settings were set to generate all the common blog archives – monthly, author, category and (my personal favourite) category-monthly. This is a recipe for death by duplication. We removed the excess archive options, keeping only Category active. We also changed the publishing path for the content pages from “year/month/filename” to “category/filename” and created redirects through MT's template system. In doing so we are aiming to set the foundation for appropriate siloing of content as more content is prepared for the site. MT made it easy for us to create an XML Sitemap that is automatically updated when new content is published to the site.

Content is noticeably thin at this point. During the past few months TEF faced the rescheduling of a retreat (no small task), the recent arrival of a baby for TEF founders the Reimer family, and some hospital time for Justin Reimer. It's understandable, then, that work hasn't progressed on the site as quickly as we would have liked. However, we have committed to continue working with TEF for a full 12 months; in fact, I don't see us stopping even then. The work they do and the ministry they provide is too important, and it's a blessing for us to be involved.

The TEF site did not have an analytics package installed, so the only stats we have to benchmark from are produced by a pitifully outdated log analyzer. We have implemented Google Analytics to track our progress going forward. The primary domain is now a PR4, and we are seeing improved rankings on a number of keywords, including ranking #1 on Google for [special needs retreats].

Our plans for the near future include reorganizing the site's content, revisiting the use of video on the site, soliciting user-generated articles for the main site and creating more content to better outline the services offered by TEF. With better communication of their goals and ministry I am confident they will see an increase in donations of money, time and supplies. We will also be deploying content specific to TEF's new military ministry aimed at assisting families of soldiers disabled in combat.

[To hear Ryan and Bruce Clay talk more about The Elisha Foundation and the challenges of optimizing for small businesses, tune into SEM Synergy.]

Ryan Freeman is the founder and president of Strider Inc, an SEO firm based in Toronto, Canada. Strider specializes in assisting small businesses and non-profit organizations with their internet marketing initiatives. Ryan's background in internet marketing started with a local ISP in 1995 and evolved through web design into search optimization.

For permission to reprint or reuse any materials, please contact us. To learn more about our authors, please visit the Bruce Clay Authors page. Copyright 2008 Bruce Clay, Inc.

BACK TO BASICS: Landing Space in Local Search

By Susan Esparza, July 15, 2008

In real estate, there is a well-known saying -- "Location, location, location." The same thing holds true with online real estate. Where you can be found often determines the level of your online marketing success. For a small business, local search is often a prime location for traffic. With consumers flocking to the search engines to solve every problem, a local business can profit immensely by simply showing up. Learning how to appear in the general search engines, the search verticals, and the local only engines is the first step to creating a local search engine optimization plan that's everywhere you want to be.

Major Search Engines

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and Live Search are the first stop for a consumer in search of a solution. The traffic for local terms in a broad base engine far outweighs any sort of search volume in a local-only search engine. Because of this you can not afford to miss out on the opportunities available to you here. There are two basic ways to get into local search queries: make your Web site relevant to those local terms and register your business in each engine's local search vertical.

Searchers often use geo-targeted qualifiers in their queries like a city or zip code. To optimize your site for geo-targeted search terms (for example, “Simi Valley florist”) you'll want to include a physical address at the bottom of every page. This tells engines you are a brick and mortar business in the real world and gives them a keyword match which will verify for them your relevance to the search term.

Focus on the criteria that will convince a consumer to choose your business. Asking yourself these questions makes it easier to optimize your site for the interests of a local searcher. What are your customers looking for when they're looking for you? How close is it to their work or home? Does it fit into their lifestyle? Do you have community ties that speak to your good reputation and service? If the choice is between the local electronics store and a national chain, it's up to that local store to prove that they're not just as good as the national brand but better.

Speak your customer's language. Incorporate local slang and terminology into your copy so that those "in the know" will recognize your site as being relevant to their lives. If everyone calls a particular street by a nickname, feel free to sprinkle that in among the pages.

Local Search Verticals

In addition to their main index, each of the major search engines have a local-only engine that they integrate into their main results. Although less than one percent of searches are done in the local search vertical, getting into these indexes is well worth the time and effort that it takes. Thanks to blended search technologies, results from all verticals are now appearing in the main index which presents a great opportunity for a local business that appears in that specialized index. Yahoo prefers to use their Local results over qualifying Web sites, though they say it depends according to the query. Google places ten local results on a map above their main results -- appearing in this spot is a must for any local business. The process isn't difficult and is not particularly time-intensive either.

In order to get into the local index, you'll need to submit your business profile directly to the search engines. Fill out a form to give your address details, phone number, description, and if possible, when you're open, how you can accept payment, what products and services you offer, and professional associations that you belong to which might persuade a searcher. Like the information on your Web site, you want to be as detailed and clear as possible while delivering content that a searcher would find valuable.

You can often select up to five categories to list your business in, so give some thought to your selections. The engine will conduct a review of your information, a process that can take 5-60 days. Google will send you a confirmation number to your brick and mortar address so that you can prove that you are the true owner of your business.

Submission forms for each engine:

• Google Local
• Yahoo Local
• Live Search Local

Be sure to read all the instructions before submission. Always be complete and as accurate as you can be. Claiming your business in the large engines’ local verticals has the huge advantage of giving you control over the information that the search engines present. You don't have to worry about someone else presenting misinformation or the data becoming outdated and inaccurate. It'll also provide credibility to your potential customers. Another advantage of the local verticals is that customers can often leave reviews. This will help build reputation and increase consumer confidence.

Local-Only Engines

While most local search traffic does funnel through the major engines, once you're established in those engines, it's still worth it to look at the local search engines. Many will deliver targeted traffic and visitors ready to convert. Because many on the main search engines are doing research and aren't in the buy phase, the traffic they bring is often less qualified.

There is an almost dizzying array of local-only engines out there. TrueLocal.com and Local.com are the most well known local-only engines. Internet yellow pages like YellowPages.com, SuperPages.com, DexKnows.com and YellowBook.com are another place to appear for garnering targeted traffic.

One area in local-only search that's been doing exceptionally well are niche sites that lend themselves naturally to a geo-targeted query. Housing and real estate engines like Zillow.com, HotPads.com, ServiceMagic.com (which is for home improvement contractors) are all doing very well. Research your industry and find out if there are any targeted engines. Again, though the traffic will be lower, the visitors are usually more qualified and further along in the purchasing process.

The Problems of Local Search

Local search hasn't been perfected. Far from it, in fact. Some engines rely on IP targeting to deliver results, which can lead to problems if the IP address of the searcher doesn't match their physical location or if the results they need aren't in their immediate area. Searchers are getting better at specifying where they mean as well as what but that's not 100 percent of queries either. Many engines allow searchers to specify a home location but results shouldn't always be assumed. And of course, not all geo-targeted queries are local. [Las Vegas Hotels] is a popular search query with a geo-locator but it isn't strictly a local search. People in Las Vegas are not likely to be performing that search.

Conclusion

Just as there are a number of considerations to take into account when choosing the physical location of a business, landing prime real estate online also requires thought and planning. Consider the terms that someone looking for your site will enter into the major engines, including any geo-locators or local slang. Submit detailed information about the business to the major engines’ local indices. Include the physical address of your business on all pages of your site. And don’t forget to research any vertical or local-only engines that fit your industry, services or location. It’s a multi-step process that you won’t regret performing when consumers can more readily locate your business on the Web.

For permission to reprint or reuse any materials, please contact us. To learn more about our authors, please visit the Bruce Clay Authors page. Copyright 2008 Bruce Clay, Inc.