LDS Media Talk

Adding an XML Sitemap to your blog is one way to ensure your blog is getting indexed by all the major search engines. And unless the content in your blog is getting indexed by an engine like Google, Yahoo!, Live Search, Ask, and others, it won’t be found by search engine users.

According to the Sitemaps web site:

Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling. In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can more intelligently crawl the site.

Web crawlers usually discover pages from links within the site and from other sites. Sitemaps supplement this data to allow crawlers that support Sitemaps to pick up all URLs in the Sitemap and learn about those URLs using the associated metadata. Using the Sitemap protocol does not guarantee that web pages are included in search engines, but provides hints for web crawlers to do a better job of crawling your site.

Since I have a WordPress blog, I use the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. After installing and configuring the plugin, my blog’s inclusion ratio - or the ratio of pages in a search engine’s index divided by the total number of web pages - has consistently hovered above 95%. The image on the left indicates that at present, Google has indexed 756 pages of LDS Media Talk.

TypePad, Blogger, and other blog platforms provide similar functionality. For example, see TypePad: Creating a Google Sitemap, WordPress: XML Sitemaps, and Blogger: Sitemaps and Blogs.

Although adding a Sitemap to your blog won’t guarantee that web pages are added to a search engine’s index, it’s simply another way to ensure your blog is search engine friendly.

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We recently ran a list of the most frequently misspelled words or phrases that people have entered into the search box on LDS.org. The following is a portion of the list from June 2008, and shows the number of times someone spelled the term that way during the month. It is interesting to see how people think words are spelled.

• geneology 611
• repentence 280
• pagent 268
• poligamy 124
• patriartical blessing 166
• patriachal blessing 103
• book of morman 65
• sacrafice 65
• sacrement 60
• babtism 56
• melchezidek 56
• confrence talks 55
• preperation 39
• priestood 37
• grattitude 36

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Another post from the Web 2.0 Expo:

Integrating SEO, Usability, and Internet Marketing for High Performance Results

Web sites are not “projects.” They are living, breathing environments. SEO, usability, and Internet marketing are often introduced on completion of the site and retrofitted later to support visibility and promotion to target audiences. This is counter-intuitive and country-productive.

Every aspect of the experience needs to be optimized with intent:

• Web site architecture
• user experience and interface
• content
• metadata
• assets
• media & publicity
• Internet marketing

Proven methodologies

• Competitive research and positioning (not copying other successful sites)
• Keyword research and positioning
• Ongoing content management
• Metadata optimization
• Formatting to maximize efforts, leverage best practices for widespread success (metadata, keyword utilization, etc.)

Since search engine algorithms change, best practices sustain these changes over time, without putting your site at risk of being blacklisted and will perform best for YOUR Web site.

True SEO incorporates (1) company mission, (2) unique value proposition, and (3) pre-qualification of audience. You want to attract people who are perfectly matched to your content.

Usability:

• Give your visitors what they want as quickly as possible.
• Promote engagement before they “bounce” (leave your site).
• Empowers the user to control the experience.
• Empowers viral marketing.
• Provides clear execution of desired outcome at all times.
• Promotes conversion.
• Answer every conceivable question or objection leading to the conversion.

Your mission is to meet the immediate and long-term needs of your audience.

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Today, about 80% of all Web traffic begins at a search engine. Increasing a Web site’s natural search engine rankings through search engine optimization (SEO) can help people access your site. Studies have shown that ranking on the second or third page of a search result can increase Web site traffic by up to 9 times. Top 10 rankings, or first-page listings, can mean an additional six-fold increase in traffic

Although SEO is not a panacea, it should be employed as an integral part of an overall promotion and marketing strategy. The best way to determine how much SEO to implement is to determine how your target audience currently searches for your content categories. Get reports that provide historical perspective of the popularity of key phrases that relate to your content. If you find that thousands of Web surfers are searching for your particular category per day, then you should move SEO to the top of your marketing priorities.

Remember that SEO is an ongoing, long-term investment. You need to continuously optimize content, fine-tune metadata, and optimize the page’s code to maintain excellent search engine results.

This is important both internally and externally. Internally, as you update your site’s content frequently, you need to optimize it so it continues to rank appropriately on search engines. Externally, since the ranking algorithms used by public search engines change constantly, you need to stay abreast of how your site is being ranked.

Ignoring SEO can be detrimental. Give search visibility the attention it needs to protect your brand and help people find your content.

(Several of the ideas in this post came from Business to Business.)

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Many Web sites are missing the boat with search engine optimization by focusing primarily on the home page. Key pages of content also need to be optimized, especially when site visitors may jump directly to those pages without going through the home page.

Many people–and in some cases most people–will find your content with a search engine, which will take them directly to the content they seek, instead of being escorted through the home page front door and relying on a site’s internal navigation or internal search engine. While this is a valued benefit of a well-planned search engine optimization strategy, it also raises issues about successfully introducing and cross-referencing content.

It is critical for a site to have a solid information architecture to accommodate a variety of different user scenarios. That model can’t rely on a single home page to introduce visitors to your content and brand. Instead, you need to treat every page like it’s your home page. Brand awareness, site navigation, and marketing need to be reinforced at all levels. Even the deepest parts of your site should help visitors understand what the site is about as if they were seeing your brand for the first time.

Site navigation is not only a user’s guide, it is a communication tool and opportunity to market your content. Carefully consider the navigation labels you use because they will inform site visitors of new offerings that may interest them.

Once on a page in your site, visitors will be most responsive to content related to what they searched for. If done right, contextual promotions will prompt them to read the message and interact with it. Introducing modules that integrate with the content such as “If you’re interested in X, you may also be interested in Y” is a great example of this.

Understanding how visitors arrive on your site and how they get around will help you craft a holistic user experience.

(Several of the ideas in this post came from Business to Business.)

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One of the best ways to get your site or blog listed on page one at any search engine is to have a substantial number of inbound and outbound links. So, how do you get those links? First and foremost, make sure your site has useful, interesting, up-to-date content that people will consider link-worthy. Next, set up a blog as part of your site because it is one of the best ways to build both inbound and outbound links. Below are some ways to get inbound links.

How to get people to link to your site

1. Get found. Find out what phrases people are searching by using a tool like Wordtracker. Then, make sure your pages use those phrases, so people will find you before they find other sites.
2. Stay current. Make sure your pages contain relevant, informative, and interesting information.
3. Promote your site. Encourage readers to digg and del.icio.us your articles. This puts links to your site on some very credible news feeds.
4. Let visitors generate content. Allow comments on articles and blogs.
5. Make lists. There’s nothing is more link-able than a good list.
6. Start controversy. That’s right, don’t be afraid to be controversial. As they say,“any press is good press”.

Consider who would benefit from linking to you

1. Bloggers. A great way to get noticed is to get out into the blogging community and start commenting on other blogs. Most blogging platforms will link to your site when someone clicks on your alias. Many bloggers rely on outside articles to supply their blog with updated, relevant information. Many are a quick “copy & paste” of information with a link to the external source. Even journalistic blogs will cite other blogs as references for their information. Whenever you get an e-mail or a comment from someone on an article you’ve written, make sure you follow up with them. If they are reading your content, they must think you are a reliable resource and this could be the start of a great business relationship.
2. Business Partners. These could be your blogger friends, your conference networking buddies, old colleagues, but they may also be your competition. It may be easier than you think to form a strategic alliance by finding a way that both will benefit. Many people will link to you if you link to them–even competitors.
3. Customers. Who better to spread the word about you than your loyal clientele? Offering links in your thank-you e-mails to related articles, and even outwardly asking them to link to you is a great way to invite traffic to your site. Many people will do so if you just ask. Any incoming link helps.
4. Suppliers. Think about offering testimonials (closing with a link to your site) on the testimonial pages of your dealers. Most organizations can use new testimonials, so a good deed for a good deed is good business. Ask them to list you on their “Partners” page.
5. Friends. If all else fails, talk to your friends. In the digital age, almost everyone has a blog or is part of some social network. Tell your friends to link to your site in their forum signatures, blogrolls, MySpace and Facebook profiles, and anywhere else they can think of.

How to get bloggers to write about you

This is the epitome of link building. If your list of blogger prospects isn’t large enough, find more at Technorati, Google Blog Search and Ask.com’s blog search engine. Here are a few ways to get bloggers to notice you and link to your articles:

1. Contact the blogger. This is a bold move, but if you think that something you’ve written will be of interest to the writer, then by all means, put yourself out there. You can usually find contact details on a bloggers site or contact page. When you contact bloggers, start with a compliment. Talk about how much you enjoy their blog, and do your research beforehand. Make sure you provide them with all the details they need to link to your site. For more tips, check out Ogilvy’s Blogger Outreach Code of Ethics.
2. Comment on other blogs. This has multiple benefits. If you write genuinely-interesting comments, people will feel inclined to learn more about you. Most blogs link back to your Web site if a user clicks on your comment name. Another benefit is that your comments immediately create backlinks to your site. Don’t leave obvious promotional comments; no one likes reading them.
3. Ask for a review. If you are product-based, offer relevant bloggers a chance to receive a free product in exchange for their review. Even if they are not an immediate fan, if they blog about your product you still a backlink that others may follow and even find a different product they prefer.

How to get your competitors to write about you

On the Web and in the blogosphere, it may be you have no competitors at all–just potential partners. Find arrangements that are mutually beneficial when it comes to link-building.

1. Exchange links. A non-threatening place to suggest a link-exchange would be in a blogroll or “partners” area of your competitor’s site. It doesn’t distract their readers but it’s still a valuable placement.
2. Fill a void. It may be that you have a complimentary article or product on your site that they don’t cover and they may see it as valuable to their readers. Many bloggers rely on other bloggers to fulfill their editorial needs by cutting and pasting, or speed-linking (a post composed completely of links to interesting articles and sites) to fill some white space. Fill that space.

How to get other inbound links to your site

Think about user-generated sites to create your own external inbound links. Use forums, online communities, social bookmarks, and online reviews to create live links to your content.

1. Social networks. Read more about how to do this in an article about being a social networking evangelist. It includes a link to our “evangelist toolbox” which shows you multiple places to set up shop and create links to your site from multiple domains, including Digg, MySpace, LinkedIn, Technorati and more.
2. Online Press Releases. If appropriate to your content, consider an online press release, which may generate multiple links to your site from all over the Web. Not only from PR sites themselves, but also from any browsing blogger looking to pick up a story. A list of free and paid resources (as well as a step-by-step how-to) is at Quick guide to distributing press releases online.

How to find out who is linking to your site

1. Try Yahoo! Site Explorer
2. See the backlink tool in Google Webmaster Tools
3. Check out the backlink analyzer Domain Stats Tool
4. The Firefox browser has a great plugin called “Search Status” that displays Google PageRank, Alexa rank, and Compete ranking anywhere in your browser, along with a fast keyword density analyzer, keyword/nofollow highlighting, backward/related links, Alexa info, and more.

This post was adapted from several articles at Mequoda.

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Getting on page one is more important than ever. Make sure you target keywords that will get you on page one.

Many people will find your Web site by searching, using public search engines like Google and Yahoo! If you want people to find your content, how good do your search engine rankings have to be?

That question is answered in part by an iProspect Search Engine Behavior Study. The study is from April 2006, but its lessons are just as valid today.

What is the main lesson? Get on page one at all costs!

Why?
   23% of Web searchers will click on the first few results on page one. 
   62% click on a result from the first page. 
   90% click on a result in the first three pages of search results.

So if you’re not on the first page, most people won’t find you. If you’re not on the first three pages, forget it! And over the past several years, those percentages are rising.

If your rankings are low, the only way to raise them is through discipline. There is no quick fix to win a page-one ranking.

Start by finding the keyword clusters that apply to your content that users are actually searching for. Try tools like Google Suggest to gauge the competition and WordTracker to see the keyword search frequency. The point is to find keywords to target that you’ll eventually be able to get on the first page for.

Once you pick good keywords, make sure your content is optimized for those key words and phrases. Use the relevant keywords in the content copy and in the metatags. Organize the content on pages according to Google’s Webmaster Guidelines. It will take time to show results, but keep at it.

Lastly, do all you can to have other Web sites link to your pages.

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Google’s May 16th press release explains that their new Universal Search will begin providing a “more integrated and comprehensive way to search for and view information online,” because the Google results will now include online news, books, video, maps, and other online databases, in addition to Web pages. Results from all these sources will be mixed with the traditional Web page results.

Bottom line: Now that more sources will be included in Google results, it’s now more important than ever to optimize your pages and your other content. If you were skating by before, you may find that news and video results will push your Web site’s rank down. Your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy must include optimizing not just Web pages, but also video, books, news, and other content you have online.

So what?

• If you’re a Google user, you’ll begin to see changes now, and more over the next few weeks, incorporating additional types of content in your search results.
• If you’re interested in search engine optimization, I recommend you read SEO guru Danny Sullivan’s good explanation of the implications of Google’s Universal Search on SEO.

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I attended a half-day session at the International Worldwide Web 2007 Conference on usability.

After learning a lot about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and usability, I’ve come to believe that virtually all efforts to make a site more usable for the disabled or more friendly for search engines, will also make a site better for the average user.

The session on usability presented a list of 5 major usability problems:

1. Unclear and confusing page layout
2. Confusing and disorienting navigation mechanisms
3. Inappropriate use of colors and poor contrast between content and background.
4. Graphics and text size too small.
5. Complicated language or terminology.

They then listed 15 issues that account for approximately 80% of the usability problems on Web sites. From that list, I’ve compiled the following list I intend to apply to Church sites:

Priority 1 Items
1. Text equivalents.

• Provide a text equivalent for every non-text element. Images should have an image list, a toggle image/Alt, or Show Images. Visual navigation should have a text equivalent.
• Use ALT tags on all images. For decorative images (spacers, etc.), use ALT= “” to facilitate screen readers, such as JAWS.
• For dynamic sites, ensure that when the page changes, the text equivalents also change. [Test by toggling Javascript and ActiveX on and off.]

2. Color.

• Ensure that all information conveyed with color is also available without color (for example, from context or markup, grayscale). [Test by using the Vischeck Color Blindness Simulator.]
• Ensure sufficient contrast between background and foreground and text. This accounts for 37% of the variance; in contrast, type font and size account for only 3% of the variance. For example, don’t just mark hyperlinks with color; also use underline.

3. Language.

• Mark changes in document language with language attributes. This helps JAWS readers in reading the languages.

4. Layout.

• Use stylesheets. Use HTML header tags (h1, h2, h3, etc.).
• Mark up lists properly—not with asterisks or dashes.
• Present documents so they may be read without stylesheets or with alternate stylesheets. [Test by disabling the CSS or toggling to another CSS to see if the document is still readable.]
• Use relative rather than absolute units in markup language attribute values and stylesheet property values. (For example, not text 12 pt, but “normal” or “larger.”) [Test by resizing to 640x480 and 800x600. Test with Juicy Studio Tools CSS Accessibility Analyser.]

5. Writing.

• Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for the site’s content.

6. Tables.

• When using tables for layout, don’t use any structural markup.
• For data tables, identify the row and column headers.

Priority 2-3 Items

7. Avoid movement on pages, since readers can’t detect it.

8. Since readers allow users to turn off spawned windows, don’t use pop-up windows or change the current window without informing the user.

Testing

• Don’t test your sites with average users. Test with disabled users, and if they can use it, the average user will as well. This will uncover all kinds of problems (site design, navigation, colors, contrast, complicated terminology, etc.) that will be devastating for disabled users, but also will be distracting or annoying for average users. Fixing these problems will create a great site for disabled users and an amazing site for average users.
• Test your site using screen readers, such as JAWS. It may point out problems for people with disabilities, but will also point out structures that seem illogical for average users. Be sure you use it like users will so you don’t get false negative results.
• For IE: Use the AIS toolbar.
• For FireFox: Use the Web Developer Toolbar and extensions.
• For Opera: Use the Web Accessibility Toolbar and developer tools.
• There is little support for automated usability testing for Safari.

Readers

The new browser CSurf (aka HearSay) is a more effective browser that identifies and reads only the relevant words on the screen.

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On September 29th, we announced we were going to hire a new Product Manager for LDS.org. We have determined not to hire a product manager, but instead someone to serve as my assistant in coordinating the content and services on Church sites. The new position is

Manager of Internet Coordination

This person will be responsible for coordinating the content and services on Church Web sites. It is a strategic position responsible for rigorously understanding the needs of end users (including leaders, members, and non-members) and developing and executing plans to meet these needs.

Applying candidates must have each of the following:

• Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and currently temple worthy.
• Bachelor’s degree; masters preferred.
• 8+ years of experience managing Web content and services, including extensive experience managing and marketing corporate-level Web products and services.
• Experience in monitoring, evaluating, and reporting on Web site use and effectiveness.
• Skill in developing business plans and requirements that shape the development and delivery of services to customers.
• Experience leading complex customer research and analysis of diverse audiences.

Exceptional candidates will have one or more of the following:

• Understanding of industry directions for developing and delivering content on the Web.
• Successful experience with search engine optimization and Web marketing.
• Proven experience in managing the life cycle of Web content and services, including identifying business needs and success criteria, creating product plans, maintaining and supporting content and services, monitoring and evaluating content effectiveness (metrics), managing user feedback, and creating plans to increase effectiveness.

A more complete job description can be found online (job listing #0700598).

Please pass this information along to anyone that you feel meets the requirements.

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