Just received an analysis of this blog’s Google Analytics by Scott Frangos at WebFadds. The blog is one of the main sources of traffic to the Bolen website, so it makes sense to analyze the traffic here and optimize the blog along with the website. The best news is that you’re out there. You’re spending time and reading these posts.

It’s been staring me in the face, and I just didn’t see it. After spending several hours over the past few days trying to find generic keyphrases for the Bolen home page, I finally understood. I couldn’t find any phrases that included ‘B2B’ and generated any volume of traffic. ‘B2B’, in my mind, has been the wide angle lens on the market that Bolen serves. Too bad my prospects don’t… Continue reading Keyword Research as a Positioning Tool...

After having an email exchange with Heather Lloyd-Martin, I know I need to take a step back to get a bigger perspective on what I’m doing re website renovation. The net of my exchange with Heather was that I will use fairly competitive, generic keyphrases on my home page.

Those keyphrases will be ‘SEO copywriting’, ‘B2B marketing’ and ‘marketing consulting’, or some variations on those. They won’t… Continue reading Keyphrases and a New Definition for 'Funnel'...

I had just posted my blog yesterday stating that I knew what to do next, when I got a blog posting from Scott Frangos. He owns WebFadds and built my blog for me using the WordPress platform. (Extremely cost effective way to get website functionality with built-in content management, by the way).

The post reminded me that navigation… Continue reading Don't Forget Navigation, Architecture and the Funnel...

I know it sounds corny, but it’s true. The conference last week was a life-changing event for me. So much of what I learned from the pros (and these people are truly at the top of their professions) coincided with what I’ve learned on my own and what I’ve been espousing to my clients. The puzzle pieces fit together.

The site metrics were terrible this week. Only eighteen visitors and an average time on site of just 17 seconds.

Of the five people who came to the site through a search, only one used a keyphrase that’s appropriate for what Bolen does. That was “advertorials for insurance”. Effective advertorials are one of my strong suits. They require a rare skill set (one that combines journalistic reporting with an ability to… Continue reading Google Analytics - Week of 8/3 thru 8/9...

Heather is the chair of the Direct Marketing Association’s Search Engine Marketing Council, the author of Successful Search Engine Copywriting (the benchmark work on the subject), and a petite, caffeine-fueled spitfire.

She’s dyed her hair red since this photo was taken, so the ’spitfire’ label really fits.

Heather is one of the very… Continue reading Heather Lloyd-Martin - SEO Copywriting...