The whole first page on Google game has gotten a bit harder recently. This is because Google has started showing up to four pages from the same domain on one page of the search results. The reason? Google wants to present the most relevant search results based on a searcher’s intent.  If that searcher is interested in a particular domain or topic they might see up to four results for one domain based on relevance.

Google’s reasoning from their blog: “As before, we still provide links to results from a variety of domains to ensure people find a diverse set of sources relevant to their searches. However, when our algorithms predict pages from a particular site are likely to be most relevant, it makes sense to provide additional direct links in our search results.”

It’s important to note that when more than one page is shown from the same domain, the website descriptions for the additional pages change from two lines to one. This makes the first 10 words of a meta-description tag even more important.

Previously Google would only show up to two pages from the same domain on one page, but in the past two weeks there has been a dramatic change. Showing four results from one domain instead of one or two can create a substantial advantage in the search engine real estate game.  Just like back in the day, the number of times your website is visible on a search page the more opportunities there are to click it.

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This month Google released “Adwords Call Metrics,” a call tracking service for Adwords campaigns. The service is free for Adwords account holders and integrates a Google Voice number into ads on both computers and mobile devices. Google Voice is the free service that allows Google account holders set-up a phone number from any area code in the United States. For the purpose of Adwords, users can set up either a local phone number or a toll-free number. Users are then able redirect the number to any phone. The total number of calls and average duration of the calls can be tracked in the Adwords dashboard.

The same Google Voice number used in Adwords can also be used on other marketing materials or a website for increased tracking through Adwords, although we recommend setting up a separate Google Voice number for each campaign. Separate numbers allow for more targeted conversion tracking.

Although this service is still in BETA, there is an incredible amount of potential for the Google Voice/Adwords integration. First, “Adwords Call Metrics” creates another way for Adwords users to reach customers, track offline conversions, and measure the success of their ads. Also, there is a lot of speculation that Google will introduce a pay per call metric, very similar to the pay per click metric. In the future Google might also offer increased call metric capabilities for Adwords, such as recording, transcription, and enhanced analytics capabilities.

Currently Google is offering the service to a limited number of customers, but as they test the service and refine the features it will be released to more customers. You can tell if you have the option of “Adwords Call Metrics” by looking under the Ad Extensions tab in your Adwords account.

To read more about “Adwords Call Metrics” from Google click here or here.

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Here at EIM, we are launching new websites on a regular basis. Some of these websites are new clients while other are past clients that are ready for a site refresh or new and improved functionality. Obviously clients each have their own unique goals. One consideration in developing any website is identifying what techniques to utilize to ensure search-engine friendliness. That can meet a lot of different things to different companies depending on their knowledge of  SEO.

For my post this week, I thought I’d share some of the techniques we utilize to ensure a website is developed “search-engine friendly”. Without giving away all of our secrets Below is a checklist that you can use or share with your agency or developers, to verify that your new site is being set up well. And if it’s not, well, you know where to find us!

SEO Set-Up Checklist:

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1. Make sure your Google Analytics code is transferred to the new site so you don’t lose any data with the new launch.
2. Add Google, Bing, and Yahoo Webmaster Codes to your site to alert the search engines of the changes and new/removed pages. For new Google Analytics accounts, this can now be done right in GA for Google Webmaster Codes.
3. Create unique thank you pages for any actions you request of a visitor where they have to give you any information. This helps you to track it better in Google Analytics and view see what keywords are attributing to website conversions.
4. When creating your website pages, ensure your URLs are keyword-friendly. This doesn’t mean creating super-long and drawn out URLs, but try to fit a key phrase in there if you can.
5. Don’t build your website in all Flash! (yes, we still have this obvious rule on our checklist…)

If you’ve turned a blind eye to the chatter about how videos can enhance your ranking in the search engines, listen up my friend – especially if you’re an online retailer. Video SEO is here to stay, and it can increase revenue by 10-15%. Here are some compelling stats that tell us why:

• Nearly 40% of users that search Google see video options in their universal results
• Search appears to be how most web users are finding video today, and 80% of folks view a video in its entirety – 25% click through to purchase a product
• 34 of the top 50 online retailers were using video in last year
• Videos can drive an overall revenue lift of 10-15%

So we’ve talked before about how the holidays are right around the corner, and I’m sure you’ve got your planning well underway.

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Settled back in from 2 full days at the SMX Advanced 2010 search marketing expo in weather-schizophrenic Seattle (hmm, sounds like another city I know) . The jet lag is fading back to my normal everyday loopiness, the withdrawal from 24/7 search marketing conversation is waning, and it’s time to recap a few takeaways that I think our readers would particularly like.

Now, while some debate always occurs at these conferences about the level of information (is it truly “advanced” SEO info?), the fact remains that our job here is to help the clients of EIM stay in the know enough to make smart decisions about their businesses’ online presence (and lean to us for the advanced details! ). So this recap is for you. Our user. It’s not necessarily to gain points with the SEO community (although I do love thee).

So here goes…by the way, if you haven’t already noticed it, keep an eye out for one very conspicuous theme:

Google Caffeine and Mayday—one more quick overview of what you need to know:

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• Google analyzes a TON more data now, and quicker. As soon as your well-built webpage gets crawled, it gets indexed. (This is in contrast to the every-30-days or very segmented indexing they used to do, which sent businesses and SEO pros into a mass frenzy. It also promises users that they’re being delivered the freshest content on the web.)
• Soon, Google will start looking at video sitemaps more (Methinks because: surprise, surprise, users like them!)
• It was confirmed that Google does not consider a site’s bounce rate—or any Google Analytics data—when ranking it. So no need for SEO pros to freak out over this.

Last week we attended a great CIMA dinner here in Chicago (fyi, CIMA = Chicago Interactive Marketing Association) with several speakers from large, nationwide brands like Kmart, Sears, etc. One comment stood out more than anything and it’s one we preach to our SEO team and clients alike that is very important – OPTIMIZE FOR THE CUSTOMER!

What exactly does this mean? Too many times when clients are incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) techniques into their website and marketing strategy, they focus more on what the search engines are reading on their site and less on what their own website visitors are reading. What the search engines can read is, of course, important, as ensuring they are able to find and index your site for relevant content. But you should always build and optimize your site for your visitors first, search engines second. Never sacrifice user experience for the search engines.

Here are some quick tips for doing just that:

1. Do keyword research prior to the restructure of your website and determine what keywords visitors are actually searching on in your industry. Phrases you may use to describe your business or product internally may be completely different than what your customers use to describe you. And don’t be afraid to poll your customers for ideas!

2. Plan out your site in a way that is easy for a visitor to flow from categories, clearly highlighting products or services. Don’t plan for whatever way is easier for your company to organize your data. If you think you have this issue with your current website, install heatmap software like ClickTale that will allow you to monitor visitor actions and engagement on your website. Then you can determine the best layout for your site from your visitor’s POV.

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5 quick fixes for making sure your new & improved website can be found by Google.

What is the top assumption our clients make when building a new website, you ask? Well of course, a new website means more traffic, more sales, and a promotion for the marketing director. Right? Um…we’ll just come out and say it: no. Just because you have launched a new website does not mean the search engines know it’s out there (yes I know, we think Google knows everything, but they don’t…yet…).

Here are 5 fixes you can do fairly quickly and cheaply to ensure your site can be found by the search engines.

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1. Place a 301 permanent redirect on either the www or the non-www version of your site. A 301 is a permanent way of redirecting one url to another. Search engines automatically see the non-www and the www as two competing websites.
2. Use the Google Keyword Tool to determine what people are searching on that is relevant to your site, and add that phrase to the beginning of your homepage title tag, as well as the rest of your homepage meta tags. A developer should be able to add these in for you and you can see your title and description meta tags when doing a Google search for your name (it is typically the listing that pops up). An example title tag might be: “interactive agency chicago | envisionit media.”
3. Make sure that same phrase is in your homepage content, sprinkled in a couple times if you can make it fit without seeming obvious.
4. The motherload: claim your listing in Google & Bing Webmaster Tools asap to alert Google the site exists and needs indexing. That includes the addition of an xml sitemap, which is just a guide for search engine spiders to navigate throughout your site.