The Maine SEO Blog

So you’ve just created a killer blogpost. It’s got a ferocious title that will bring in a ton of readers, it’s keyword rich, and to top it off – you’ve got some stellar, unique content. Ok, so now what? Hit “publish” and you’re done? I think not…

1. Email subscriptions and RSS

It may sound silly, but make sure your readers have the ability to subscribe to what you write: be it via email or RSS. I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve seen that don’t have either option, and interestingly enough: I’ve only seen them the one time.

2. Tweet about it, post it on Facebook and LinkedIn

Make that puppy viral! Sure, you have your email and RSS subscribers, but proactively seeking new readers and subscribers adds to your community. On top of that, your followers on Twitter might ReTweet your post – sending it out to their followers; your friends on Facebook might “like”, comment, or even repost your post; and your connections on LinkedIn could also access your post.

Specifically for Twitter, give your reader the option to “ReTweet” – the icon in the top left of this post – this way, they don’t have to do any work outside of hitting a button.

3. StumbleUpon it

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t use this tool for all its worth. But the reality is, you can create quite a bit of traffic around StumbleUpon – specifically among those people in your network or those that simply like the same things you do! Bonus: get other people to StumbleUpon the post too!

4. Digg it, or add it to your favorite Social Bookmarking site

There’s a lot of junk on social bookmarking sites. But then again, there’s a lot of great stuff too. Once articles go viral, there’s a ton of traffic in store for them, even if it’s for a short time. (That’s why you need #1 – to keep the readers.)

So, have someone digg or sphinn your post, add it to delicious, reddit, or whichever social bookmarking site you love!

5. Get your incoming link juice on.

Last, but certainly not least, get back to some basic SEO and get some other bloggers/sites to link to your post.

There’s an overlaying theme here: be everywhere. Be it a blogpost, a marketing message, newletter, what have you; distribute it to as many channels as humanly possible.

Nicki Hicks
Getting your blog out there, one post at a time

Webmasters and bloggers are more likely to link to business blogs than business websites. You might’ve heard Rich say this.

The reality is: it’s true! That’s why you need to really work on leveraging that blog. Hopefully your blog and website link back and forth, so while a link to the blog isn’t as good for the website as a link directly to the website, it’s pretty close!

How do you leverage the blog? Create captivating posts: not only what’s going on with your business, but also what’s going on around town (bringing in the local bloggers), what’s going on in your industry (bringing in industry bloggers), etc.

Then, go looking for blogs/websites that talk about the same subject(s). Google’s blog search is my favorite resource. The best way to start is by commenting on blogs you find – not just the generic “Great blog, keep it up!” but something insightful, a question, or best of all: that starts a conversation. Then, start the process of asking for a link.

The next time you write, ask yourself: what would be of interest to a blogger enough so that he/she would want to link to my blog? At the same time, these posts shouldn’t overwhelm your blog; first and foremost you write for your readers. So what’s the balance? Writing interesting posts that will entice both links and potential customers.

Nicki Hicks
Link Building for Blogs

I don’t expect clients to entirely understand search engine optimization when they come to us – or really even know what it is at all. And in all honesty, that’s fine, because that’s why I have a job. (Thanks for that.) 

But, after reading this perhaps you’ll know a lot more and be that much the wiser when you talk to your Search Marketer.

1. How bad is it to use white on white and write in a bunch of keywords?

Umm really bad. Probably as bad as you can get actually. In the olden days (probably all of 10 – 12 years ago), you could possibly get away with stuffing keywords. Today? Not so much.

2. I know SEO is important, so I’m going to do it this once and get it done with It’s a one-step process, right?

Sorry, no such luck. We’ll talk about it a little more later, but with search moving toward other venues like social media, local reviews, RSS, blogging, and other modern forms of web marketing, there’s no way you can do it once and be done. SEO requires constant massaging and experimentation.

3. What are these meta-keywords I keep hearing about? Can you make me a huge list of them?

Well I could. But it probably wouldn’t do a whole lot.

The thing with meta-keywords is 1) only Yahoo uses them and 2) if you use too many, they’ll hurt you. So, what do I suggest? Using a small group of focused keywords for each page if you’re intent on using them. And remember – even though Yahoo uses them, they don’t have much weight at all.

4. I just don’t have time for social media. Plus, I can get away without doing it.

Again, it’s really not an option any more. Soon, folks who haven’t hopped on the social media bandwagon are going to be struggling to catch up with the rest of the crowd.

So…create a LinkedIn account, get yourself on Facebook, and – if you’re feeling really socially frisky - join Twitter!

5. I’ve heard about this nofollow thing. Do I need to do that to all of my outgoing links?

Nofollowing links is sometimes a good strategy. But that doesn’t mean you should do it to every single outgoing link. 

Nor is it PageRank sculpting. To demonstrate that point, I like this short, sweet description by @Halfdeck.

(more…)

Dear Nicki,

Are there any advantages to purchasing a domain with strong keywords and redirecting it to my website?

–Wondering in Wisconsin

Dear Wondering,

No, there are seemingly no SEO advantages. But let me take a step back. I would argue that if this was a new website, then you might as well go with a keyword rich domain. There are still discrepancies as to whether or not search engines actually pay attention to keyword rich domains. Humans, however, might click on a keyword rich URL before what I would call a spammy-looking domain.

The only way this strategy might possibly work is if a) you promote those other sites for tracking purposes or b) other websites link to your other domains (assuming they use keyword rich anchor text) and the link juice would thereby be passed to your current website. But, why waste the in-between domain and simply worry about promoting your current domain and getting keyword rich backlinks to your actual site?

The thing is, if you’re doing all the right things at your existing site, there’s no need to start building a network of keyword rich redirects.

Nicki Hicks
No Need to Red Flag Google

There are certain ways you should ask for a link, and then there are certain ways you shouldn’t.  I recieved such an email just this morning: and to that person, I’m sure your company means well…it just doesn’t show in this link request.

1. “Dear webmaster.” Never EVER address the person as “webmaster”. It quickly told me that this person a) copy and pasted this email and/or b) did not take the time to read any posts and find out my name.

2. (The first of many) grammar errors. Read, reread, and proofread your link request emails. Since this particular request was through my contact page, I could theoretically overlook one grammar or spelling mistake, but not the 5+ here!

3. Random characters and symbols. ‘Nuff said.

4. A compliment. OK…props for that. However, I know full well that my website is just as esteemed as the 2839 other blogs that received this identical link request.

5. Link and anchor text will appear later. Typically, you would include the link and copy you’d like to appear as anchor text in the initial email. Not knowing what link I’d even be giving this person makes me just plain nervous.

Nicki Hicks
Thanks, but no thanks