The Maine SEO Blog

I work with a lot of small businesses. As such, small businesses owners typically don’t have a) the budget or b) the time to deal with A/B (or split) testing. Google Analytics Site Overlay of course can’t do what a comprehensive A/B test could, but it can convince a client to place links or call-to-actions above the fold, change keywords or link language, and more.

Using Site Overlay you can see where people click and, more importantly for this little experiment, where they don’t.

The fact of the matter is Site Overlay is extremely helpful when it comes to usability…and that’s half the battle! How do you balance SEO and usability?

Design

• Is your design graphically enticing, while not too overpowering?
• Does your site architecture make sense to search bots and humans?
• Do you have more than 8 elements in your navigation? [We recommend 7-8, max.]

Content

• Do you have enough copy? Are you saying everything that needs to be said?
• Are you going overboard with copy and blabbing on and on?
• Is your copy set up to promote reading? (Is it in one black and white blob without spaces, bold and italicized words, bullets, or headers?)
• Are there links sprinkled throughout the copy? Are they helpful? Do they make sense?

Call-to-action

• Is your call-to-action hiding below the fold where few will see it?
• Is there a big, bold graphic that attracts attention?
• How about some enticing copy to get readers to sign up/buy/etc.?

These are just a few of many recognized usability guidelines; many of which GA site overlay can help with. I think the best tip is: think of yourself as the potential customer. What would you be looking for in the website? What would you expect?

Nicki Hicks
SEO for Usability

A few months ago, I hinted that Twitter snobs won’t follow you for certain reasons – and can you really blame them, what with all of the spammers out there these days. So here are some tips and tricks for getting those industry leaders, Twitter gods and goddesses, and self-proclaimed snobs to follow you. (And, for the record, a lot of them have a strict “no following” policy.)

The Basics (or getting someone to at least consider following you)

The hard part: Keeping followers

What about you?…what drives you crazy enough to get in touch with your Twitter snob within?

Nicki Hicks
Follow me on Twitter

Since January, Maine has been celebrating tweetups like no other state. Originally started by @therichbrooks and @ccmaine, folks in the Portland region have been putting aside their iPhones and BlackBerrys (for the most part) in order to enjoy each others’ company in a physical capacity.

What’s so great about a Maine Tweetup? Well, one of the criticisms of social media is by using it, you lose the personal connection: with a voice or a face. This way, we’re getting the best of both worlds: the massive power of social media with face-to-face interaction (and perhaps a cocktail or two ).

Furthermore, it’s great to get out in Portland and enjoy the company of so many great people.

Live in Maine? On Twitter? Well, join us!

• Where’s the Tweetup at?
• ME Tweetup on Facebook
• ME Tweetup on LinkedIn

Nicki Hicks
Follow me on Twitter (or come to a #metweetup and meet me in person)

A few months ago, one of the folks I follow on Twitter posted a link to Wordtracker’s Keyword Questions, a great little tool that gives you insight into the world of long tail search. Or, as Wordtracker puts it: “find the questions people are asking in your market”.

It uses questions people have actually searched for and – bonus! – how many times within the past year they’ve been searched for. But don’t let the low number scare you – 1. we are talking about long tail here and 2. this is the number of people who used this exact wording.

Here are the questions about keywords:

And here are some about SEO:

The questions on social media were particularly interesting:

It just goes to show you…it might be worth taking a look at the keywords before you write your next blogpost, article, and especially webpage in order to target the long tail. Interestingly enough, as I was writing this, Jill Whalen posed a question to the Twitterverse about this very topic. Here are some of the responses.

Nicki Hicks
Long Tail Searcher