Every month, Base One Search puts together stellar reports for all our clients with loads of statistics.  We do our best to explain what the numbers in these reports mean, but clients sometimes have  questions about certain stats.  Here are the most common misconceptions.


 
1. A rising bounce rate is bad.  Bounce rate is (the number of entrances to a webpage that left the site without viewing any other pages) divided by (number of entrances).  It sounds bad doesn't it?  The percentage  of people who found your site so bad, they didn't abandon it by walking away, they were so thrilled to get out they actually bounced off in glee. 

A high bounce rate can mean that users found the landing page (optimized to rank well on SERPS) perfectly relevant to their desires and didn't need anything else on your site.  They took in your perfectly relevant content and departed without taking an interest in the rest of your site.
 
For instance, my cousin tells me he bought a mountain board.  I do not know what this is, so upon googling "mountain board" I find a relevant site to explain it.  Seeing that I don't have a particular interest in sporting equipment, I bounce from the site after reading up on mountain boards.  Argos-sports.co.uk probably will read my visit as a bounce, but in fact, I utilized their great definition of mountain boarding and departed.

2.Less Time on Site means Visitors are Less Interested. A decrease in the amount of time spent on site doesn't have to spell disaster - it can mean people are finding information faster.  This is a common result for redesigned sites.  So don't be upset if your website is doing an amazing job allocating the time available!  You may simply be leading visitors to their wanted information instead of pushing them out to pasture where they must foraging for relevant content.
 
3.  Impressions are really important.  Impressions are the number of times your ad shows up in a Pay Per Click advertising campaign.  We have clients who see their number of impressions decrease over two months and get worried, even as the number of clicks increase!  Root of Misconception: People familiarize themselves with your company/website by grazing past your impression to click on another source.  Correct: Users who click on your website are learning about your company/product/service. 

So don't worry about impressions, if anything, worry about clicks and the Click Through Rate (CTR), which is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions.  These numbers reflect how many users are becoming familiar with your website.

...So what statistics have you found most helpful when judging your website/s?  Any other common misconceptions you can ad to the list from personal experiences? 
 

As strange as it may seem ethics, morals and principles are associated to various coloured hats within the SEO world. We wear our hats like hearts on sleeves. As characters, our hats define us but they do not box us. For example, a 'white hat' may believe this is the best possible approach but could also respect and admire the innovation and techniques of their deadly rivals the 'black hats'.

To quote Salt n Pepa "push it good, p-push it real good" I hear you sisters, but how do you feel about pushing the boundaries?

The discussion of morals, principles and ethics within the SEO world is comparable to a heated discussion concerning religion or politics: there will always be more than two perspectives and therefore two sides. Both of which are strongly opinionated and could sell you 'their way' faster than a fat kid eating cake.

In order to gain a better understanding, we need to obtain a clearer insight into what colour the hats are and what they believe in. Practitioners within the search industry are divided into three camps. There are the "white hats," their polar opposites "black hats" and the hybrid outfit the "grey hats", who use a combination of ideas and techniques whilst hiding under the comfort and safety of the white hat blanket.

 "Do you wana be in my gang, my gang, my gang; do you wana be in my gang, Oh yeah?"

Coloured hats and their beliefs:
 
White hat SEO generally means using traditional and accepted optimisation techniques and thoroughly avoiding and thinking about using practices like cloaking, which made their distant cousins 'black hats' infamous.

Being part of the white hat SEO group you will typically use standard best practices, focusing on optimising a website for the end user but with the search engines in mind.  The content displayed will be the same content the search engines will see, the pages that rank will direct visitors to originally intended page; you will have nothing to hide.
 
Although this sounds like an astrology reading, white hats will have patience and strive to achieve a top ranking position naturally.  They will place a strong emphasis on writing engaging on-page copy, with well placed keywords and use above board techniques when link building believing (sometimes blindly) that Google will smile upon them if they do so.   
 
Black hat SEO Black hat SEO Black hat SEO (I am not keyword stuffing I promise) usually means employing ranking techniques that are clearly outside of Google's stated Webmaster Guidelines.  Black Hats will focus on optimising a website for the search engine with the end user in mind. Although it is not right to box them the majority will aim only to obtain high search engine ranking positions; many would say in an unethical manner as they breaks search engine rules and regulations and can create a poor user experience.  One defining trait of a Black Hat is that they continually look for loopholes in the algorithms of search engines; some could call them pioneers.  The one public example of how Black hat techniques can be detrimental to a brand is the BMW case where they were banned from Google for using a practise coined 'cloaking'.

Methods used to achieve higher search rankings include cloaking, hidden text, keyword stuffing, and intensively cross linked sites.
 
Grey hat SEO lies somewhere in the middle, they have no real territory, no allegiance and exist on the realms of both worlds. The concept of Grey hat SEO is much more difficult to define as techniques which fall into this category are subjective and could be argued to fall into either black hat or white hat.  Although Grey Hats are based within the walls of the white hat territory, agreeing with most of their principles, they just can't help themselves so they often peer out of their windows or go out across the street and snoop around, like a nosey neighbour.

A lot of Grey hats admire Black hats and push the boundaries by employing some of their techniques but toned down and reapplied with the end user in mind.
 
Anakin Skywalker would be the pin up boy of this gang, just before turning evil of course.
   
Deep Breath...

Some people feel that ethics, principles and morals are the equivalent of excess baggage which can't fit into the hand luggage, easily dismissed and forgettable on the trip to number 1, in the sunny, quaint village of Google.  Others would feel that ethics should be adhered to and are central to their way of life.

The benefits of black hat techniques are often short lived and like the laws of gravity, whatever goes up in an unethical way through using Black Hat must also come down - thanks Mr Newton.
 
Black hats seem willing to sacrifice the experience of the end user as their ambition to get the desired number one spot blurs their vision, losing focus on what's really important, the customer.  Client consideration must also feature in the discussion; it is immoral and dishonest to work on clients behalf using these techniques. I would never do this as in the long term they often turn out to be detrimental to a website.
 
The Streets sung "let's push things forward" and personally I view the black hats with respect and admiration.  They are integral to this industry being as dynamic as it is and their techniques inspire others to continue thinking of new practises. Some of their ideas get filtered and form the basis of techniques within the grey hat SEO World, who combine their original function with more focus of the end user.

SEO techniques and practises are not a science; they were and continue to be created out of trial and error and a lot of experimentation, knowing this, where do you stand on pushing the boundaries of SEO Ethics?
 

At one of my first SEO conferences I heard a respected SEO professional present the importance of keyword research. Being new to SEO, and agreeing with what she was discussing, I went to put this into practice, as part of a research campaign for a number of new clients. Little did I know that the difficulty would not be the research itself, but convincing the client of the proposed targeted keywords. Bear with me on this analogy...

The Foundations of the Relationship
The foundation of any relationship is based on understanding each other, what each other want and each other's natural behaviour. Most relationships break down as communication is lost and they do not try or want to change in order to gain a solution to each others problems. Particularly for women (feminist shmeminist) the age old question comes to mind what do women want? The fact is that men will never know because we don't even know, the difference is trying to understand what we want. This is the first step for any company, to understand their customer and their potential audience, their search behaviour and the types of persona they will be targeting.

First Date- Getting to know Each Other
No one knows the company better than the company in terms of product/services and brand. Any SEO company should be provided with a list of keywords from the company that outline basically what the company does - a kind of what's your name, where do you come from and what do you do (thanks Cilla) This will be the basis of our keyword research. The problem is that you will not always be found for keywords that you WANT to be found for, particularly smaller less well known brands, but should focus instead on search terms users WILL use. The first date is where you get to find out all about the other person - in understanding exactly what they are looking for in a relationship. Depending on your type (target audience) they may be looking for different things, using different search methods and keywords to gain their perfect match, search results.

Keyword research often reveals hidden opportunities, digging deeper on the first date could mean that you skip a lot of dates before you get to the end result, saving time and cost of wining and dining. Knowing your audience means that you know the right things to say and do in order to reel them in and get them to want to see you again.

The BIG question!!
Don't panic, the big question is looming...... now if you want to seal the deal and convert that relationship into a lifelong partnership you cannot dither with the language you use, get to the point, and just ask the question!! There is a danger using jargon or industry related keywords and phrases that a user, unfamiliar to a brand or service, would not search for. Keep it simple, remember users are lazy and want answers to their questions without redefining their search term. The problem is that a company provides solutions, whereby the user asks questions. The key is to optimise for both problem and solution for the search engines in order for a potential customer to find your site. A search engine, as sophisticated as it is, cannot work out the answer to a question which is why you should base the targeted keywords more of a conversation with your audience.

Once a company understands and targets the customers/audiences behaviour, you will be able to satisfy the customers needs. And it might sound a little something like this:  

A Little Dating Advice
Here are a select few keyword research tools to help ease you into the first date;

For a free and fun date, SEObooks keyword research tool  allows you to get to know the customer and start to collate information on their behaviour.  Another free tool is Quintura which shows searched keywords (and related) in the form of a mind map. 

Moving on to the special (paid for) night, worth the money for the end result is Wordtracker which costs £165 for annual subscription; they also have a recommended free version of their tool .Trellian's Keyword Discovery tool, is an supposedly accurate tool drawing on data from 180 search engines. It is a gourmet meal for 2 at $49.95 monthly fee.

"Most people don't know what they don't know about relationships. They don't know there is a proven body of knowledge and skills that, when learned, result in lasting, successful relationships"
(Paul and Layne Cutright)

Chances are in the realm of internet content, you're like my ex-boyfriend - you're a taker.  You take in news sources, catch up on favourite blogs, or check out product reviews, and you never give back.  Don't be selfish - give the online world a little bit of you!

We spend hours surfing the web, but they are few and far between - those gems among us - who actually LEAVE A COMMENT (or know how to treat a girl)! 

"But Chelsea," you say, "I don't care what the internet community thinks of my opinions, that's why I read their ideas!"  Well you should care, there are many
pros to becoming a commenter:


1. Grow Your Own Profile - Like a smart bespeckled kid in grammar school, you have an opportunity now to become that clever commentator (just try not to get a wedgie on the playground for it!) who the rest of the class (or reader audience) will take note of.  Don't forget, people listen to those with attitude and opinions, even when they aren't being said out loud.
 
2. Brand Awareness - Mention your company whenever it makes sense to do so.  But be forewarned, acting spammy (placing obvious, promotional comments) looses credibility and may even get you blocked from posting.  Don't think of posting comments as a chance to get your name out, as much as an opportunity to create a dialogue with the blogger or author.
 
3. Networking - Make friends with your fellow commentators.  You'll find other people dealing with similar issues and holding interesting opposing or agreeable opinions.  Think of them as your online pen-pals; people you haven't ever met in person, but who you get to know through words.
 
4. Widen Relationships - for all those who miss out writing their own comments, they'll be reading over your ideas.  Each comment allows you to incorporate one link to a website of your choosing, so be sure readers will be able to find you or your company with that link!

5. Test Ideas - Commentators are typically spontanious, honest, and sometimes downright cruel.  But this is good!  When you have an opinion let it show, the responses (positive and negative) will make you recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and improve it.  

Now you know why you should comment, "But Chelsea, I have no idea what to say!" you complain (excuses, excuses...).  Like my x-boyfriend, you think putting in any effort into a relationship (with your blogger) would be equivalent to climbing Everest.  But I'll give you another chance, "benefit of the doubt" shall we say?  And assume you're not commenting because threads are looking a little intimidating.  Or perhaps it's just a simple case of writers block.  Some ways to inspire your comments:

1. Ask a Question.  I do this because I'm too lazy to actually write a real response.  What don't you understand about the article of blog?  Push the dialogue further, think of it as your job to probe the readership.  

2. Memory Lane. Lend your personal experience or explain how your company dealt with a similar subject matter.  As long as you keep it brief, walking down memory lane with an audience can teach beneficial lessons to all.

3. Priory Post or Related Material.  Figure out how this article/post relates to older material by the author.  Find inconsistencies?  Point them out!  It will make you look like you know the source material really well.

4. Be Specific. There is a lot of information in a post, be sure to refer clearly to which bit you are commenting on.
   
5. Grammar & Spelling.  Look smart, don't use "u" when referring to "you" or numbers for letters, you know the drill.  For a professional edge, these are basic requirements.

So get commenting!  Transform that post or article you're reading into a two-way dialogue (remember, in a relationship you have to talk about everything together).  And after you leave a comment, be sure to check back to the site later and see who responds to your ideas (and follow up when appropriate).  IN FACT - practice leaving a comment here!  Do you think my post sucks?  Do I have any good ideas?  Where did I go wrong in forgetting to mention ____ (fill in the blank)?  Let me know!

As Base One Search website has finally launched, we decided to do something special. We  created this fantastic/or ridiculous, (not so) short movie called SEO Wars (I think someone used the name SEO Wars before and I'm hoping they won't get too pissed off with us).

We spent many hours, reharsing, directing and editing this movie.....ehm ok, maybe not. To be honest it was the best team bonding ever, as all we did was laugh and giggle of our own stupidity. We also showed a sneak preview of the SEO Wars movie at the last LondonSEO party last month and it was very well recieved. Although to be fair, everyone was pretty much boozed up so that might be why they were so content watching this movie. We are hoping to do a whole series of these SEO Wars movies, well that's if anyone thinks they are even slightly amusing. Heck we'll do them anyway, Julie at SEO-Chicks will laugh.

The movie is set in.....ehm....Cyber Space, and starrs:

Rand Fishkin  as Rand LinkWalker
Fantomaster as Darth Cloakmaster
Greg Jarbo as SEOda
and Matt Cutts as the Googlesaurus

Enjoy fellow SEO Jedis and SEO Siths =)

Drumroll.........Far far away in the cyber galaxy........................