Six Ways to Produce Online Video on a Budget

Online video is hot. (Yeah, and people gamble in casinos, I know; what a profound observation of the blatantly obvious.) According to Compete.com, YouTube had nearly 86 million unique visitors and more than half a billion site visits last month. Business-friendly video sites like Vimeo, Viddler and Blip.tv are also seeing impressive traffic growth.

But small businesses who want to take advantage of online video can be caught in a quandary. Shooting a basic home-video style piece with a Flip Mino or Samsung SMX-F34 (my personal favorite YouTube-friendly camcorder) may not project sufficient sophistication, while a professionally-produced video costing $8,000-$10,000 or more is simply not in the budget.

Here are six options for producing reasonably high-quality videos, or at least something beyond standard home video camera fare, at a modest cost.

Convert PowerPoint to Flash

While Flash programming is a challenging and specialized skill few business people probably want to master, almost everyone can use PowerPoint. There are several tools available for converting manual or self-running animated PowerPoint presentations to Flash, with or without narration. Robin Good reviews three tools here: E.M. PowerPoint Video Converter ($46), Lecturnity ($215), and iSpring PRESENTER. Other options include PresentationPro's PowerCONVERTER ($149) and PowerFlashPoint ($199). Your best bet is take advantage of the free trials offered by most vendors to find out which product works best for you.

Capture Screen Action with Camtasia or Captivate

Both Camtasia Studio ($299 from TechSmith) and Captivate ($799 from Adobe) enable you to capture any on-screen action (e.g. a software demo, PowerPoint presentation, online video) along with narration, edit the production, and output the final result to a variety of common file formats including Flash. Captivate offers greater options for interactivity, but also a significantly higher price tag. Either will work for basic screen-to-video production.

Jing

For really limited budgets—and simple needs—Jing Pro provides the ability to capture any on-screen action (including web video), add commentary, and upload it to YouTube with one button. The negligible $14.95 annual fee even includes a free 2GB Screencast account. Editing capabilities are limited, but the price makes it worth checking out for straightforward needs.

Faculte

Though technically more of a video distribution platform than a production tool (similar to Flimp), Faculte does offer some useful video assembly functions, such as the ability to upload video and images; arrange the elements; add narration; and add notes, drawings and annotations to the video mix. Pricing starts at free, which includes full video editing/production features, but is limited to 200 views. The $50/month base plan allows 4,000 views, plus adds advanced viewer tracking, the ability to use a unique URL for the video, and faster load times than the free option.

ArticleVideoRobot

Got the need for speed? ArticleVideoRobot will turn any written article into a narrated video in minutes, no camera needed. The basic package ($47/month) provides basic editing capabilities; one-click distribution to 17+ video sites including YouTube, Metacafe, Break, Vimeo, etc.; and a choice of "human-like" voices to narrate your video. The Pro package ($97/month) offers higher video quality, a Flash output option, and an advanced video editing tool. Since you aren't recording your own narration, the results can be...interesting. Check out a few sample videos here.

SlideSix

With SlideSix, you can upload a presentation (e.g. from PowerPoint or OpenOffice), record audio and narration, attach external video files, and create a widget to share your SlideSix presentations on your blog. Though editing, distribution and formatting options are more limited than with other tools, SlideSix is free.

With the explosive proliferation of online video, the key to making your video stand out is creativity. To maximize the impact of your video production, think beyond conventional ideas both in terms of your content and your video production options.

*****

technorati tags: online video YouTube Vimeo Viddler Blip.tv Flip Mino Samsung SMX-F34 YouTube friendly camcorder Convert PowerPoint to Flash Lecturnity PresentationPro PowerFlashPoint Camtasia Studio Adobe Captivate Jing TechSmith Faculte Flimp ArticleVideoRobot Metacafe SlideSix

del.icio.us tags: online video YouTube Vimeo Viddler Blip.tv Flip Mino Samsung SMX-F34 YouTube friendly camcorder Convert PowerPoint to Flash Lecturnity PresentationPro PowerFlashPoint Camtasia Studio Adobe Captivate Jing TechSmith Faculte Flimp ArticleVideoRobot Metacafe SlideSix

icerocket tags: online video YouTube Vimeo Viddler Blip.tv Flip Mino Samsung SMX-F34 YouTube friendly camcorder Convert PowerPoint to Flash Lecturnity PresentationPro PowerFlashPoint Camtasia Studio Adobe Captivate Jing TechSmith Faculte Flimp ArticleVideoRobot Metacafe SlideSix

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 4

With the rapidly increasing use of social media tools for marketing and PR comes growing pressure to demonstrate results. But what metrics are really most appropriate for social media measurement? How can you monitor everything that's being said about your company, competitors and key industry topics across the social media landscape without spending a fortune on monitoring software? Is your social media strategy built on a solid foundation, or is it more like a Hollywood movie set—a pretty facade with nothing behind it? Which tools are most important for social media participation, analyzing what's being said, and separating important substance from the noise?

Discover the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best posts on social media from this year.

ROI Is Dead by StraightUpSearch

This post suggests that marketers should focus on a different ROI when calculating the value of social media efforts: "return on insight." Traditional ROI measures fail to take into account the search value of social media engagement, as well as the value of the customer service and product enhancements that social listening and interaction can provide.


Facebook Lets Users Open Up Profiles by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Mark Walsh helpfully outlines the recent changes Facebook has made to its privacy settings, though noting that "profiles opened to everyone, however, will still not turn up in searches on Google or other outside search engines."


How to Build a Reputation Monitoring Dashboard by aimClear

Marty Weintraub provides a remarkable and highly detailed guide to setting up a social media reputation monitoring dashboard using free tools such as Google Alerts, iGoogle, Google Analytics, and keyword tools along with Excel. The set up takes some time, but the end result is a powerful monitoring tool without the cost of a paid social media monitoring application. This tutorial is clear and generously illustrated with screenshots.


Is Your Online Marketing Strategy All Tweet and No Meat? by HubSpot

Rick Burnes notes that without a strong content strategy to back up social media efforts, marketers risk the "all hat, no cattle" syndrome: lots of attention on Twitter and Facebook, but no compelling content to back it up and turn the curious into the converted. Compelling thought-leadership content, blog posts, white papers, video and SEO efforts support and create long-term value for social media tactics.


A free DIY approach to social media by iMedia Connection

Rebecca Weeks provides a "cheat sheet" with five key tactics to increase website traffic through social media, including interaction on the most popular social networking sites, using free Twitter tools to maximize the value of that platform, and getting exposure on social news sites. Another noteworthy post from this publication is Facebook is a Personal CRM for Baby Boomers, in which Daniel Flamberg reports on an Accenture study showing that in early 2009, "boomers posted a 59 percent increase in use of social networks; a rate of adoption 30 times faster than any other age group." Facebook's InsideFacebook blog reports that in February and March of this year, the number of Facebook users age 35 and over doubled. Boomers use Facebook somewhat differently than younger age groups as well; Flamberg notes that "they are more reticent to share information, less likely to leave comments and a bit slower to join groups."


8 Excellent Tools to Extract Insights from Twitter Streams by Social Media Today

Noting that with the collective millions of tweets produced every day, there is "an emerging demand to sieve signals from noises and harvest useful information," Yung-Hui Lim reviews Twitter analytics tools that can help with the task, including Twitalyzer, Trendistic (formerly Twist), Twitt(url)y and TweetStats.


What’s In Your Social Media Toolkit? by Dave Fleet

In this short but useful post, Dave Fleet outlines the set of social media tools he finds most useful on a daily basis, such as Google Reader for keeping up with blogs, Twitter for real-time communications, Radian6 for social media monitoring, and LinkedIn for social networking.

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 1
Best of 2009 (S0 Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Search Engine Marketing
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 4

*****

technorati tags: social media marketing social media strategy social media monitoring ROI StraightUpSearch Mark Walsh aimClear Marty Weintraub iGoogle HubSpot Rick Burnes Rebecca Weeks social news sites Daniel Flamberg Facebook Yung-Hui Lim Twitter analytics tools Twitalyzer Trendistic Twitturly TweetStats Dave Fleet Radian6

del.icio.us tags: social media marketing social media strategy social media monitoring ROI StraightUpSearch Mark Walsh aimClear Marty Weintraub iGoogle HubSpot Rick Burnes Rebecca Weeks social news sites Daniel Flamberg Facebook Yung-Hui Lim Twitter analytics tools Twitalyzer Trendistic Twitturly TweetStats Dave Fleet Radian6

icerocket tags: social media marketing social media strategy social media monitoring ROI StraightUpSearch Mark Walsh aimClear Marty Weintraub iGoogle HubSpot Rick Burnes Rebecca Weeks social news sites Daniel Flamberg Facebook Yung-Hui Lim Twitter analytics tools Twitalyzer Trendistic Twitturly TweetStats Dave Fleet Radian6

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 4

Which factors are really most important in search engine rankings? How do search engines treat different forms of keywords? How can you get the most of out of Google's free webmaster tools to improve rankings? What other tools are worth checking out for keywords, linking and website analysis?

Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best SEO blog posts from this year.

Guide to Search Engine Ranking Factors by HuoMah SEO Blog

The brilliant—and entertaining—David Harry provides an exhaustive list of the primary and secondary factors affecting search engine rank, from link-related factors (link text, relevance, PageRank) and header data through trust-related factors (domain history, outbound links) and "dampening factors" (poor coding, duplicate content and URL issues).


Q&A: A Few Things You Need to Know About Keyword Usage by Search Engine Guide

Stoney deGuyter offers valuable insights on how search engines treat keywords, such as that capitalization (usually) doesn't matter, keywords have more weight if they are used in a title or header tag or are bolded, and search engines are getting better at recognizing forms of a word (e.g. sites including "kayaks" or "kayaking" will show up on a search for "kayak"). On that last point though, keep in mind that for popular search phrases, even a single character can make a big difference. For example, one website shows up at #2 on Google for "business services management," but at #23 for business service management.


Build A Great B2B Search Engine Marketing Campaign by The Milwaukee SEO

This post combines useful information about setting up b2b SEO and SEM campaigns (such as getting the website information architecture right to start with, choosing keywords carefully with an eye toward the long tail, using PPC advertising effectively, and targeting local search) with humor—at least to those of us who live and breathe b2b marketing, and are amused by how perplexing it can be to b2c marketing agencies. Another noteworthy post from this blog is Get Keyword Rank Data from Google Webmaster Tools, provides detailed step-by-step instructions for analyzing website performance using Google's webmaster tools. This is geekier than even most search marketers will go, but can supply valuable insights.


SEO Basics: 6 Tips for Google Webmaster Tools by TopRank Online Marketing Blog

Thomas McMahon serves up more tips for using Google's webmaster tools, including how to spot site errors such as broken links, analyze meta and title tags, and identify a site's top keyword search queries.


Domain Name Forwarding and Search Engines by Best Domain Names

Dan LeFree explains how properly set up forwarding for multiple domain names to a single website without being penalized by the search engines for duplicate content. The site looks a little spammy, but the article is a helpful, quick read.


Five Tips for Avoiding Deceptive SEO Companies by Small Business Trends

An excellent piece from Janet Meiners Thaeler on manipulative practices to watch out for when hiring an SEO firm, such as "guaranteed" rankings, use of hidden links, and duplicate content on multiple domains or subdomains. For more on this topic, see Just Say No to Bad SEO on SEOmoz.


SEO Tools 101, Part 1 by Search Engine Watch

Ron Jones reviews several keyword, site grader and linking tools. His favorite keyword tool is the SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool; as Ron explains, "I like this one because it links to most of the other existing keyword tools, such as Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, and tools from Google, MSN, and Yahoo. This one tool lets you explore many others."

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 1
Best of 2009 (S0 Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Search Engine Marketing
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 2

*****

technorati tags: SEO Google webmaster tools HuoMah SEO Blog David Harry search engine ranking factors Search Engine Guide Stoney deGuyter Thomas McMahon Dan LeFree Small Business Trends Janet Meiners Thaeler Search Engine Watch Ron Jones linking tools SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool Wordtracker Keyword Discovery

del.icio.us tags: SEO Google webmaster tools HuoMah SEO Blog David Harry search engine ranking factors Search Engine Guide Stoney deGuyter Thomas McMahon Dan LeFree Small Business Trends Janet Meiners Thaeler Search Engine Watch Ron Jones linking tools SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool Wordtracker Keyword Discovery

icerocket tags: SEO Google webmaster tools HuoMah SEO Blog David Harry search engine ranking factors Search Engine Guide Stoney deGuyter Thomas McMahon Dan LeFree Small Business Trends Janet Meiners Thaeler Search Engine Watch Ron Jones linking tools SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool Wordtracker Keyword Discovery

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 2

What are the four stages of Twitter enlightenment? How important is Twitter for business? How can you get more retweets and efficiently manage unfollowers? How exactly did Dell generate so much revenue by Twittering? What are the "secrets" of top corporate Twitterers?

Learn the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best blog posts and articles from last year on Twitter techniques, tools and tactics.

Sanity check: The four stages of a typical Twitter user by TechRepublic

Jason Hiner brilliantly summarizes the path to enlightenment of the typical Twitter newbie, from "confusion and indignation" through the use of tools and mobile messaging. Great advice for newbies, and experienced Tweeters will likely get a smile of recognition out of this post as well.


A Twitter Marketing Sanity Check by iMedia Connection

Yes, another Twitter "sanity check." In this article, Daniel Flamberg explains why he is "stumped and frustrated" by Twitter (maybe he needs to read Jason's post above?) but in the end concedes that "Twitter is ripe for experimentation," and advises marketers to "be true to your brand personality and ethos and play with this (not so) new tool." In another iMedia Connection piece on Twitter, Twitter brand smackdown: The winners and losers, Rodney Rumford highlights lessons from the Twitter successes of Ford, Zappos and Dell. And in a third piece from the same publication, Twitter now a business 'must-have,' Madhuri Shekar quotes a MarketingProfs survey showing that "84 percent of respondents (most of whom represent small businesses) claim that their company's Twitter usage will increase and 46 percent say it will increase by a 'significant' margin" in the coming year, and quotes the conclusion of Ann Handley, chief content officer for MarketingProfs, "Much like Facebook, Twitter is now moving into the business mainstream."


What’s a Retweet? by Social Media Today

The title may not sound promising to experienced Twitterers, but in this excellent post, Jill Kurtz notes that less than 1/5 of 1% of all tweets get 100 retweets—the level considered a "home run" for a Twitter post—then provides helpful tips for getting into that retweet stratosphere, such as including "pls RT" with tweets, keeping tweets short enough for others to retweet without editing, and asking for RT's only for relevant content.


5 Twitter Tools to Help You Manage Unfollowers by WebProNews

Jeremy Muncy reviews five helpful Twitter tools, from the ubiquitous (Twellow) to the less well-known, such as Twitterless, an online application that not only notifies you when someone stops following, but also supplies "a graphed out 'follower history' over a period of time to help you understand where your (sic) gaining or losing followers."


Dell Says It Has Earned $3 Million From Twitter by The New York Times

Okay, the figure quoted in the headline is now outdated (the most recent Twitter revenue claimed by Dell on Twitter is $6.5 million), but Claire Cain Miller does an excellent job of outlining how Dell has generated, and continues to generate, significant sales through Twitter. She also notes that "Twitter made exactly $0 from those Dell sales, something that will very likely change."


Pro Twitterers Share Their Secrets by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Mark Walsh reports on the secrets of highly successful corporate Twitterers from Comcast, Dunkin' Donuts and Six Flags. Among the tips: be human, authentic, even a bit immature. Favorite snip: "Frank Eliason, director of digital care at Comcast...drew hearty laughter when he described the cable giant as being known for its customer service. 'I can't wait until people stop laughing at that joke,' added Eliason."

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 1
Best of 2009 (S0 Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Search Engine Marketing
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 2

*****

technorati tags: Twitter enlightenment Twitter secrets Twitter techniques Twitter tools TechRepublic Jason Hiner Twitter mobile messaging iMedia Connection Twitter sanity check Daniel Flamberg Rodney Rumford Ford Zappos Dell Madhuri Shekar MarketingProfs survey Jill Kurtz Jeremy Muncy Twellow Twitterless Claire Cain Miller MediaPost Mark Walsh Comcast Dunkin' Donuts Six Flags Frank Eliason

del.icio.us tags: Twitter enlightenment Twitter secrets Twitter techniques Twitter tools TechRepublic Jason Hiner Twitter mobile messaging iMedia Connection Twitter sanity check Daniel Flamberg Rodney Rumford Ford Zappos Dell Madhuri Shekar MarketingProfs survey Jill Kurtz Jeremy Muncy Twellow Twitterless Claire Cain Miller MediaPost Mark Walsh Comcast Dunkin' Donuts Six Flags Frank Eliason

icerocket tags: Twitter enlightenment Twitter secrets Twitter techniques Twitter tools TechRepublic Jason Hiner Twitter mobile messaging iMedia Connection Twitter sanity check Daniel Flamberg Rodney Rumford Ford Zappos Dell Madhuri Shekar MarketingProfs survey Jill Kurtz Jeremy Muncy Twellow Twitterless Claire Cain Miller MediaPost Mark Walsh Comcast Dunkin' Donuts Six Flags Frank Eliason

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 2

How can you keep generating fresh ideas for blog posts? Use email to extend the reach of your blog? Build links and traffic? And most importantly, use a company blog to drive real business results?

Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best articles and blog posts on business blogging so far this year.

7 Ways to Keep Fresh Content Flowing On Your Blog by ProBlogger

Darren Rowse offers seven tips for avoiding "blogger's block" and keeping fresh ideas and content flowing on your blog, from mind mapping and answering reader questions to taking advantage of guest post opportunities.


How to Build Your Blog Using Good Old-Fashioned E-mail by Copyblogger

Dean Rieck details several methods for utilizing email to promote your blog posts, as well as helpful techniques for encouraging email subscriptions and properly managing your blog email list.


37 Tips for Optimizing Blogs and Feeds – SES New York by Online Marketing Blog

Lee Odden interviews Michael Gray of Atlas Web Services, Sally Falkow of Expansion Plus, Michel Leconte of SEO Samba and Rebecca Lieb, VP of U.S. operations for Econsultancy, about SEO, link building and RSS tactics for business websites and blogs. Among the tips they provide: keep keywords in mind for blog posts and titles, write timely blog posts, and have your own domain.


10 ways to boost the value of your corporate blog by iMedia Connection

Chris Baggott offers tips for finding the "the successful formula for both high ROI and reader satisfaction" for corporate blogs that actually contribute to bottom line success, such as keeping search top of mind, producing an adequate volume of content, and writing with an appropriate tone (humble, humorous, honest) for a blog. Another noteworthy post from iMedia Connection is Top link-building strategies for your corporate blog, in which Justin Evans suggests tactics such as commenting on other industry blogs and linking to both your own and others' blog posts on social bookmarking sites to build valuable links for blog SEO.


7 Tips for Making Your Blog Stand Out from the Rest by SEO Hosting

Eric Brantner presents helpful tips for making a blog unique and compelling, including building relationships with readers, promoting your blog "like crazy" through social media and guest blogging, and, my favorite: "if you aren't first, be the best" when covering breaking-news type stories.


Why Your Blog Beats Your Website to Your Prospects by Content Marketing Today

Of course, blogs and websites serve different purposes for businesses. Website content is more static and focused on the company's specific products and services, while blogs offer a steady stream of fresh content and thought-leadership type pieces. In this excellent post, Newt Barrett goes beyond these obvious observations, offering case studies of how business organizations have taken advantage of the unique strengths of each medium to drive business results and acquire new customers.


Content Marketing with Blogs: Fishing for Business, or Catch-and-Release? by Writing on the Web

The consistently brilliant Patsi Krakoff warns against "catch and release" blogging—attracting readers with great content, then failing to provide any call to action based on that content. To rectify this, she suggests what she terms the CODA system: Content, Outreach, Design, Action. The action isn't always a sales pitch, but is a request to do something more than extends the relationship, such as following you on Twitter or Facebook, tweeting your blog post, subscribing, or downloading an e-book or white paper.

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 1
Best of 2009 (S0 Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Search Engine Marketing
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 3
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 3

*****

technorati tags: business blogging ProBlogger Darren Rowse Copyblogger Dean Rieck blog email subscriptions Online Marketing Blog Lee Odden Michael Gray Sally Falkow Michel Leconte Rebecca Lieb Econsultancy SEO link building RSS tactics iMedia Connection Chris Baggott Justin Evans social bookmarking sites Eric Brantner Content Marketing Today Newt Barrett Writing on the Web Patsi Krakoff CODA system Facebook Twitter

del.icio.us tags: business blogging ProBlogger Darren Rowse Copyblogger Dean Rieck blog email subscriptions Online Marketing Blog Lee Odden Michael Gray Sally Falkow Michel Leconte Rebecca Lieb Econsultancy SEO link building RSS tactics iMedia Connection Chris Baggott Justin Evans social bookmarking sites Eric Brantner Content Marketing Today Newt Barrett Writing on the Web Patsi Krakoff CODA system Facebook Twitter

icerocket tags: business blogging ProBlogger Darren Rowse Copyblogger Dean Rieck blog email subscriptions Online Marketing Blog Lee Odden Michael Gray Sally Falkow Michel Leconte Rebecca Lieb Econsultancy SEO link building RSS tactics iMedia Connection Chris Baggott Justin Evans social bookmarking sites Eric Brantner Content Marketing Today Newt Barrett Writing on the Web Patsi Krakoff CODA system Facebook Twitter

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

SEO Tool Review: SEMRush

SEMRush offers a powerful suite of SEO and search marketing tools, particularly for those who've already done the basic SEO work and perhaps have an AdWords program running, but want to take efforts to the next level.

The suite includes tools for:

• Google Keywords (shows what terms a site shows up for on Google, along with search position, search volume, AdWords CPC cost for those terms and other stats)
• AdWords Keywords (for sites already running SEM campaigns)
• Competitors in Google (helpful for finding potential link partners and online advertising opportunities)
• Competitors in AdWords
• Potential Ad Buyers (for sites that sell advertising space)
• Potential Ad Sellers

One particularly helpful report for SEO purposes is the Google Keywords report. In this example (with only identifying information removed), notice that this particular site is showing up on page two of Google for a number of key terms. It's great to be able to identify such terms; with a bit more onsite optimization and link-building, the site could be moved up to the first page on Google and get a significant traffic bump.


In another example of the same report, this site shows up very well for a number of key phrases, though again there are page two opportunities identified. Identifying all of the page one terms can also spark ideas for additional key words and phrases to target with SEO and SEM efforts.


The tool also provides a "related keyword report." So, if you have one particular key phrase that is central to your website, business service management in this case, SEMRush will supply data on similar terms to prioritize for targeting.


The companion SEOPivot tool identifies additional potential high-traffic keywords for a domain, along with the current Google position of the site, average search volume and expected traffic.


All reports can be exported to Excel for for further sorting and analysis.

The SEMRush tools provide value for almost any website that gets 1,000+ visits per month (lower-traffic sites may not be in the tool's database). For consultants or agencies managing multiple sites, the cost is easy to justify by spreading it over several clients.

The free version of the tool has extremely limited functionality, but at the very least it gives webmasters an idea of the depth of data the tool will be able to provide for their website(s). For the fee-based versions, pricing ranges from about $200 per year for the light (organic search data only) to $500 for the Pro (includes AdWords information) offering.

Bottom line: the SEMRush suite is a valuable toolkit to help SEOs and search marketers identify new keywords, advertising and optimization optimization opportunities they may not otherwise discover.

FTC Disclosure Notice: The SEMRush tools were provided free of charge for 60 days to facilitate this analysis and review. There was no other exchange of value.

*****

technorati tags: SEMRush SEO tools search marketing tools SEM tools AdWords Google keywords SEOPivot

del.icio.us tags: SEMRush SEO tools search marketing tools SEM tools AdWords Google keywords SEOPivot

icerocket tags: SEMRush SEO tools search marketing tools SEM tools AdWords Google keywords SEOPivot

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom

Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 3

How can you help SEO clients, whether internal or external, understand what SEO (and isn't) and set proper expectations for an SEO project? What are the key signals of SEO quality on a website? How does the increasing use of social media affect SEO efforts? What common SEO mistakes should you avoid, and what myths to dispel?

Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best blog posts and articles on search engine optimization from the past year.

B2B Marketers: Setting Expectations For Your SEO Campaign by Search Engine Land

What’s the magic formula for SEO success? Julie Shumaker writes that "Setting realistic goals, measuring the right thing, and establishing a baseline" are all key parts of the process. She emphasizes that SEO is a long-term project, that getting on page one of Google isn't always realistic (at least in the short term), and that ultimately, traffic and conversions are what matters—not just rankings. Another excellent SEO post from Search Engine Land is The Evolving State Of Social Media & SEO. Eric Enge notes that "social media will be a major source of ranking signals for the search engines in the future," both due to its link-building potential and the emergence of real-time search.


Setting Expectations for Search Engine Optimization by Search Engine Watch

Following on the same theme as the post above, Mark Jackson writes a case study on setting realistic expectations with SEO clients. It's very difficult for small websites to outrank large ones, particularly for highly competitive phrases. Among his conclusions: more content helps. Blogging helps. Social media works. Link buying isn't supposed to help, but it does, and some large companies spend big bucks on this, which is difficult for smaller firms to compete with. Focusing on longer-tail terms can provide respectable traffic and conversions without huge costs.


Why it Makes Sense to Target Longtail Keywords First by SEO Book

Aaron Wall explains that because new or small sites without a large number of external links pointing to them are unlikely to rank well for highly competitive search phrases, it's better to focus on longtail terms first, building up trust, links and traffic gradually. This post includes a couple of excellent graphics showing the differences in how search engine algorithms treat highly competitive terms from more specific longtail phrases.


12 Easy Mistakes That Plague Newcomers to the SEO Field by SEOmoz

For those new to SEO, Rand Fishkin provides some excellent advice on mistakes to avoid including reciprocal linking (it doesn't work, and it looks spammy), targeting the same keyword on multiple pages, and not using XML sitemaps. My only quibble would be with his advice to use the nofollow attribute for PageRank sculpting; the nofollow tag is insidious and the value questionable.


SEO Quality Indicators & The Heap Paradox by Search Engine Journal

Ryan Caldwell ventures from the philosopical to the practical in this post, providing 10 key indicators of website SEO quality, from "lean code and meaty content" along with proper tag usage to listing a physical address and toll-free phone number. Another notable post from Search Engine Journal is There Is No Secret Sauce in SEO! , in which James Morris debunks several common SEO myths, such as that there is "mystical secret formula" or "complicated scientific method" to achieving SEO success. He closes with advice on where to begin, and the missions of an SEO including a clear understanding of goals up front and collaborating with developers and writers to optimize content.


Blog SEO: 5 Tips To Improve Ranking and Increase Traffic by PCWorld

Mike Keller offers a helpful set of tips for new bloggers to optimize their blogs for search, covering basics such as variable title tags in Blogger (note: this won't work with all templates), meta tags and setting up RSS feeds.

Previous posts in this series:

Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 1
Best of 2009 (S0 Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Blogging for Business, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Twitter Tips and Tactics, Part 1
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Cool Web Tools, Part 2
Best of 2009 (So Far): Search Engine Marketing
Best of 2009 (So Far): Social Media Marketing, Part 3

*****

technorati tags: search engine optimization SEO common SEO mistakes SEO myths Search Engine Land Julie Shumaker social media Eric Enge ranking signals real-time search Search Engine Watch Mark Jackson SEO Book Aaron Wall longtail phrases SEOmoz Rand Fishkin reciprocal linking Search Engine Journal Ryan Caldwell SEO secret sauce James Morris Mike Keller variable title tags in Blogger

del.icio.us tags: search engine optimization SEO common SEO mistakes SEO myths Search Engine Land Julie Shumaker social media Eric Enge ranking signals real-time search Search Engine Watch Mark Jackson SEO Book Aaron Wall longtail phrases SEOmoz Rand Fishkin reciprocal linking Search Engine Journal Ryan Caldwell SEO secret sauce James Morris Mike Keller variable title tags in Blogger

icerocket tags: search engine optimization SEO common SEO mistakes SEO myths Search Engine Land Julie Shumaker social media Eric Enge ranking signals real-time search Search Engine Watch Mark Jackson SEO Book Aaron Wall longtail phrases SEOmoz Rand Fishkin reciprocal linking Search Engine Journal Ryan Caldwell SEO secret sauce James Morris Mike Keller variable title tags in Blogger

Contact Tom Pick: tomATwebmarketcentralDOTcom