DSS User GroupMay 2012

DSS User Group May 2012 Agenda

• Overview of new FWM Coaching Program• Common questions from recent coaching calls:

• How do I know if I was hit by the “Panda” or “Penguin” update?• Are my footer links bad?• How the heck to I change my footer links?• Why am I getting contacts from areas I don’t serve?• How do I set up email campaigns in DSS?• Why isn’t my picture showing up in the search results? Did I do

the author tags right?• Open Q&A• New DSS features

FWM Marketing Coach Program

• Each Basic or Pro user is assigned a FWM Marketing Coach – no additional charge.

• Your Coach meets with you quarterly to answer questions, make recommendations, review your site & your analytics.

• Customer Service still handles changes to your site – your Coach is for questions or issues that might arise between calls.

The Google Panda vs. Penguin Update

• Panda 3.5• Targets pages that aren’t great quality• April 19, 2012

• Penguin• Targets spammy, low-quality links• April 24, 2012

• http://searchengineland.com/penguin-update-recovery-tips-advice-119650

Significance of the Google Penguin Update

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/penguins-pandas-and-panic-at-the-zoo

How Do You Know If You Were Hit By The Penguin Update?

① Go to Google Analytics.

② Review your search-related traffic prior to April 24th and after that date.

③ If you notice a significant drop in traffic, you may have been hit.

Google Analytics: Where to Find the Data

Google Analytics: Where to Find the Data

Step 1:

Google Analytics: Where to Find the Data

Step 2:

Google Analytics: Where to Find the Data

Step 3:

What Should You If You Were Hit By The Penguin Update?

① Fix the problem:• Review your links• Review your content• Consider the SEO techniques you have used

② And then wait...Google says you will recover naturally.

③ You can also fill out Google’s form if you feel you were hit by mistake:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEVxdmdRWFJRTjRoLWZVTHZkaTBQbkE6MQ

Footer Links• With EVERY change you make to your site, ask yourself:

Am I doing this to HELP MY VISITORS or IMPROVE MY SEO?

• If you answer “Improve my SEO” – stop right there.• Are you using a long string of keyword phrases to link to

internal content on your site? Take this down.• Are you linking to a few other sites in your footer?

– Does this add value to the site visitor? If so, leave it– Are you doing it to help your ranking? Take it down

Contacts from other areas• Anybody can find your site and fill out a contact form• Increase your chances of attracting visitors from areas

you want by creating geospecific content for those areas:– Make a list of 8-12 towns or cites you want to target– Write Blogs, News, Library items, FAQs specific for

each of those areas• Got a good contact from an area you don’t serve? Refer

it!

Other Questions• Setting up email campaigns in DSS

– Under Books / DVDs / Offers in DSS, then Edit Offers– Set up email template for each Offer

• Author Tags– Google “DSS Author Tags” – look for Danielle’s article– Follow the steps

DSS Updates• New feed-all.xml for RSS• We now have KML and geositemap.xml files for all sites• You can now assign an author tag to a Practice Area

page• We now block robots from crawling the sitemap.html

page• The DSS Dashboard now shows color coding for the

Bounce rate field on the top 5 landing pages

Questions?