Here is one our team just noticed on TMZ a popular celebrity blog.
http://www.tmz.com/2011/09/15/michaele-salahi-journey-neal-schon-affair-years-in-the-making-secret-promises-leave-husband-tareq-cheating-marriage-white-house-crashers-real-housewives-of-dc

Do you see all the keywords stuffed into this URL after 9/15 that we bolded.. This website URL is stuffed to the tilt. The funny part is TMZ doesn’t even need to do this or take this extreme of an approach. They are a huge trusted brand with a big social media following and TV show.

They kindly alerted us with their really cool link monitoring tool with a message like this:

The following link(s) for the “StealthMediaAgency.com” website have changed:

The link on http://www.mixx.com/stories/14828689/phoenix_seo?vote=1 has changed:
Link text no longer matches
Link URL no longer matches

So I checked out the Mixx.com site and at first their was an internal server error and about an hour later there was a new message about UberMedia acquiring the site which I also found searching Mixx.com in Google News. So now this social bookmarking link is gone and the rumor is UberMedia is building a Twitter competitor with this nice PR8 site that was a great source for link building.

This brought me back to my investment days with UBS Financial Services and RCG Capital Markets Group. See before I got into internet marketing and advertising with a local job board startup here in Phoenix back in 2003 I was a stock broker. And one of the biggest lessons you learn when managing an investment portfolio is diversification.

Diversification is essential to a long term healthly return on investment so you can live off millions of dollars you accumulate and preserve as your time horizon shortens. When a client wants to invest in the market and you figure out their time horizon and risk tolerance you can then decide what percentage of asset classes they should be in.

For example, if they are younger and have more risk they might want to be more heavily weighted in stocks with small cap, micro cap and even some larger cap blue chip companies with smaller portions in bonds and gold. When they get older they might want to play it safe and have more tax free muni bonds, corporate bonds, or government bonds that are income producing with some safer dividend yielding stocks.

The point here is in either scenario just like in link building if one asset class goes down usually there is an inverse effect and the others go up. So in this link building case with Mixx.com going down its not that big a deal because we still ranked Stealth Media Agency in less then a year for one of the toughest keywords  “Phoenix SEO” against some of the best SEOs Phoenix has to offer with a healthy diversified link portfolio of social links, directories, articles, blogs, local sites ect…

So the moral of the story here is if you look at your link building plan as an investment portfolio and continue to re-balance when things change. This will help you create an opportunity for your investment or website in this case help you achieve thousands or even millions in revenues helping you retire on that beach you dream of with a cocktail in hand and nothing but you and the sand between you and the never ending ocean view…

I never heard of this approach where the client basically took out a car loan for a website but hey if he is happy and that’s the company’s business model who am I to knock someone else. Also, I know the company is very reputable and do help their clients well. The attorney also told me he was buying leads and had a PPC campaign managed by a company that he wasn’t happy with. He felt since he just purchased this website he wanted “SEO” or “Search Engine Optimization” for the site. He knew about SEO because of a law firm he use to work for and he said they had the #1 position and it was important. After doing the keyword research which actually matched the two keywords he suggested that he wanted to rank for, I shared SEO takes time and with him having a brand new website and only a few new links back to his site that it could take three to six months before being visible on the first page. He said he understood but he wants SEO. I educated him that we already had bankruptcy microsites that are on the first page of Google that we can use for him exclusively and he said he wanted SEO. I then educated him that PPC Management when done right can get instant first page results and we can track the calls and leads for him better and he said he wanted SEO. Ok, we agreed to the two keywords and started an SEO campaign for him.

After month one his site went from not on the first ten pages of Google to the 65th and 67th position on Google for the two keywords we decided on to start out with. I reported the results and he seemed happy. I offered this client a month to month agreement even though I normally ask for 4-6 month contracts since it does take time. He told me he had a lot of budget tied up with the lead generation site and PPC and asked for month to month but would continue as he sees results. I agreed. So he said let’s go into month two. After the second month his site was now at the 25th and 27th positions of the two keywords as we continued to build local and strategic links to his site.

At this time I get an email after reporting the results and he said

I’m going to give it a month break because I am getting a different program going with (company that charged him 1,000 a month for 36 months for a website) and want to get that running first. He also says, You are correct in that there has been a bump in the rankings but it really hasn’t translated into any additional revenue coming in to this point.

Don’t interpret this as me saying that you haven’t done a good job or anything of the sort.

I kindly told him good luck and haven’t ever followed up with him. Don’t get me wrong this isn’t about him or the companies he chose that’s why they should remain nameless. The point is many times I have consulted companies that say they want “SEO” or “Search Engine Optimization” because they heard it somewhere, they think they want that, maybe because it sounds cool? Who knows, but really at the end of the day when you explain this can take awhile or is a long term strategy really they want to know if they spend x they make y. What they really want is leads right away that turn into trackable customers. This isn’t always easy with SEO depending on the clients situation and current website rankings. If I took his investment and bid on the two keywords and then tracked the calls off a landing page or using technology and showed him 5,10,20 calls each month that turned into business for him maybe he would be a client today?

I’m not sure with this case either since this person seems like he keeps trying different things every couple a months and then changing his strategy. Remember, he followed me on Twitter initially. Yeah he tried that for a few months and quit that too. I actually threw in a Twitter background and helped him with it in the two months I helped with his SEO as an added value and he hasn’t touched his Twitter since. I’m starting to feel like companies really want instant satisfaction and in my own experience the quickest way to get leads that are trackable into customers has been with microsites and PPC Management. What do you think?

Matt Cutts – Thoughts on Google Instant his Twitter account @mattcutts

Matt McGee – Google Instant Search: The Complete User’s Guide his Twitter account is @mattmcgee

Aaron Wall – How Google Instant Changes the SEO Landscape his Twitter account is @aaronwall

Rae Hoffman – Dear Mainstream Media – Please Remove Foot From Mouth her Twitter account is @sugarrae

Here is a quick video of Google Instant for you visual video type people like me.

Ok now that you are caught up I can get to what I have noticed especially for local small business owners. Since we own a local internet marketing company and help different niches like local car dealers with automotive marketing and dentists with dental marketing we wanted to take a look at the local searches. Here is a screen shot of what we noticed. (Click image to make bigger)

As you start typing something like Phoenix dentists all you see is pay per click ads and the top of Google maps or as they now refer to that section as Google Places. Another thing that we noticed that I haven’t heard anyone talk about yet is the Sponsored links and text ads on the right hand side in the 4th-6th positions are just as high on the page as the 1st-3rd sponsored links that typically get the most clicks due to how we always look top left when reading or looking at something. The 4th position is actually higher placed and right next to Google Instant results. Could this be an opportunity to get more clicks for less with all things being equal with quality scores, text ads, and landing pages? We aren’t sure yet as we haven’t tested but we do know the search result landscape sure does look like you need to really consider local pay per clicks ads and optimizing your Google Places positions.

I think Google Instant made it even more important to have a local holistic plan as a small business. Small business owners need to think about local SEO to build strategic local links and citations for the maps, local PPC to capture leads more instantly, and an overall local internet marketing plan to go after new business in their area.

When you are trying to optimize your website for the search engines it comes down to a great website architecture, content, and links. I would say link building is at least 60-70% of ranking higher in the search engines. It is like a popularity contest where the more people that vote for your website with a link to it gives Google and the search engines more reason to look at your website as a user friendly and credible source for the information you provide.

So let’s get into to this and see if I can pull this off with related different types of links and link building strategies with the different characters on the Jersey Shore.

#1 The “Snooki” link building approach

• Links that are developed in a haphazard way and not tracked.

Snooki always was trying to find a “gorilla” but was rejected over and over. As a link builder it is important track links and have a strategic approach. If you going after local search you want local links that are relevant to what you do. Also, you need a way to see if the links you build are still active or were submitted but never added. Many times SEO people will go and try to link to everyone and submit links to sites and get rejected. Just because you submit links or ask webmasters to link to you, you may get rejected several times.

#2  The “J-Woww” link building approach

• Links that are paid and the SEO is cheating the system

If you watch the Jersey Shore you know J-Woww cheats on her boyfriend. In the case of link building J-Woww style the SEO company is cheating their client purchasing Paid links. Even though, that night it might sound great in theory and you get excited to get a paid link on PR 6 or above site, long term you will hurt that relationship with the client when Google finds out you’re cheating buying links to the top.

#3 The “Angelina” link building approach

• Links that you regret

Angelina one of the dumbest of the crew left the biggest show on the planet but is suppose be back in Jersey Shore Season 2. Every SEO has built a link that ended up on one of those obsolete directories that are not relevant or even in the same geographic area of the website is targeting. You know the web directory that is in a different language and becomes blacklisted or a link farm that you end up on and regret.

#4 The “Sammi Sweetheart” link building approach

• Links with comment love

Sammie is known as the lover and the one that became the steady girlfriend of Ronnie on Season 1 of the Jersey Shore. She was definitely the “lover”. Link building in comments of blogs specifically the ones that have the “comment Luv” WordPress plugin or dofollow comments is definitely a great approach if done right. Remember it’s Sammi Sweetheart not “Spammy Sweetheart” so be careful when taking this comment linking approach on blogs.

#5 The “Vinny” link building approach

• Links that you get by genuine good content

Vinny is known more to lay back in the cut, be genuine, and put out some great content. One way to build links is naturally write great posts on your blog or put out useful and valuable content people want to link to. This is the best approach because it is natural and not influenced just like Vinny was on the show.

#6 The “Ronnie” link building approach

• Links that you land on a .edu or .gov site

Ronnie was the “one shot” king and fighter of the crew. If you get a link on .edu or .gov site with high PageRank that could be the one link that knocks out your competition. These are tough links to get and you have to do some fighting and strategic competition analysis to find them but they are out there. Sometimes that one shot link can rocket you to the top as it has become more about quality vs quantity of links.

#7 The “Pauly D” link building approach

• Links that you get because you researched the links your competitor has.

Pauly D was Mike “the Situation’s” wing man and he ended up with a lot of chicks because of taking the grenade launchers that Mike already had. In link building you can use tools to look at the back links of your competitors or the website that is ranking #1 for the keyword you are going after. Sometimes you can start with those links to even the playing field and then go after others they don’t have.

#8 The “That’s the situation” link building approach.

• Taking a holistic approach of building links with social bookmarking, directories, blogs, forums, articles, natural content, and social media.

Mike “the Situation” was the ultimate character of the show he worked all facets of the show. From being a star, to hooking up with Sammi at first and coining the phrase “that’s the situation”. In link building the best approach is to consider all angles and avenues and dominate the SERPS with all types of links pointing back to your website.

So there you have it. If you want to learn more about the tools we use or have your own comments about the different link building approaches we may have missed that relate to the characters of the Jersey Shore give us a fist pumpin comment below.

We haven’t even tapped into all of the robust SEO tools that their platform offers and already they came out with even more enhancements like adding modules to your dashboard when you login. This company is killer and I’m liking them more and more each day. I would highly recommend their platform to manage your own SEO campaigns and especially if you are an agency and have clients to look after and share results of your efforts.

Lastly, they are web based and becoming built into the foundation of our company like Freshbooks is to our billing, and Salesforce.com is to our CRM for sales, they are our #1 tool for SEO management.

• Just because your are targeting local, you still are in many cases competing with National competitors
• If you fix a website whether it is Local or National it is still the same process and still costs the same amount
• If you are spending 5 hours on SEO for Local Search and your competitors are spending 50 hours still tough to compete.
• Local Search = SEO
• Google Maps is a great tool for ranking for local keyword phrases
• Local does not equal “cheaper” or “lower cost” to optimize for the search engines.

Here is the video to get your own take aways from the video. I think it is a great video to share with clients.

So far we are ranking #4 on Google,

We are #1 on Yahoo,

The proof is in the pudding, need a internet marketing agency to represent you and help you with a holistic approach and full portfolio of internet marketing services? For a custom proposal call 888-863-7421.

Here is what we noticed today when using the Google Caffeine tool.

Also, there are reports that Google Caffeine is going live but there hasn’t been any official date out there and most likely be rolled out one data center at a time gradually.

We have also noticed that really strong keyword domain name mini sites that compliment a company’s primary are ranking really well.They are quick, robust, highly researched, add unique content, load quick, and help the end user get to what they wanted and searched for fast! They are great for SEO, organic and natural searches.

Call DIAP Media at our Google Voice # 520-302-5075 to schedule a time to discuss how we can help you with our SEO services and mini sites that can get new customers that are searching online.

Online reputation management doesn’t have to be reactive either. We actually tell our clients to be proactive and allow us to help get a lot of great, positive content, press releases, blogs, profiles, and reviews out on Google and the search engines so if something bad ever does pop up the good will outweigh the bad.

Online reputation management is another aspect of internet marketing, online branding, and winning on the web whether you are a person looking to land your next job, a new product being launched, a brand, or a company looking to build their reputation online in a positive light.

If you need help and would like us to monitor your online reputation or help you get rid of the a “rip off report”, or some negative links online for you please connect with us to discuss our reputation management options.

Call DIAP Media at 480-567-4958 to defend and monitor your reputation online today.