The SEO Rule of 3

Posted on May 18, 2012 by Curtis J. Morley

The SEO Rule of 3 is fairly simple yet amazingly powerful for producing high rankings on ALL search engines. If you don’t remember anything else about SEO for blogging remember these 3 rules.

Hierarchy
Density
Popularity

Because it is called the SEO Rule of 3, everything in this article will happen in 3’s. The first step in the process is picking keywords. You want to pick 3 keywords or phrases that you want to own. For example this post on How to Solve Flash Error 1009 follows the SEO Rule of 3. If you do a Google search for the keywords “Flash Error 1009”, “AS3 Error 1009” or “Actionscript Error 1009” you will see that in each case this blog comes up first or second. Google has a fantastic little tool that you can use quickly to find out the most popular keywords. Read “7 Tips to Get People to Read Your Blog” to find out what this simple tool is.

Be specific enough that you will be able to get the top spot but not so specific that only 3 people will ever search for it. For example “The Rule of 3” links to several Wikipedia articles about story telling and why 3 is the magic number for story telling like in the example of the 3 bears. Google shows (as of the time of this post) that there are “About 833,000,000 results (0.26 seconds)” yet if I type in “SEO Rule of 3” there are only “About 15,100,000 results (0.13 seconds)” which means I have 818MM fewer sites to compete with. 15 million is totally doable to capture a top search term like “SEO Rule of 3.”

Once you have determined what 3 keywords you will own, let’s jump right into The SEO Rule of 3. Here are the 3 SEO Rules one more time: 1. Hierarchy, 2. Density and 3. Popularity

Hierarchy – The key concept here is to put the keyword into each of the 3 steps in the Google search hierarchy. Google starts with the URL, next is the Page Title, and then the header. Of course Google also searches the body text but these have much less gravitas than the hierarchical order that Google uses. We address the body text in the next rule.

URL – Make sure that the URL has the most important keyword in it.
Page Title – This is the title that displays in the top of the browser.
Header – When blogging this is the post title. Put the keyword exactly how you want it in the title.

Density of Keywords – Google will rank you higher if you have the appropriate amount of keywords in your post. The structure below will provide that density. You can actually overdo the number of keywords and Google will penalize you for it. This guideline will be effective but also keep you safe from negatively impacting your posts.

First Paragraph 3 times
Body of article 3 additional times
Write the keywords in 3 slightly different ways

Flash Error 1009
ActionScript Error 1009
AS3 Error 1009

Popularity – One of the way Google ranks sites is based on what other sites think(or link) of them. I know this may be reminiscent of High School elections, but in this case Popularity is extremely important. Post to at least 3 different sites that rank high for the keywords you are targeting. Simply do a Google search for the keyword and start at the top of the results. Make sure that your comments are relevant and germane to the conversation. People like it when a linking comment provides additional content or a unique perspective on the subject. Be descriptive in the comment and link back to your site with the keyword linked. For example don’t say I have a cool site click here to check it out. Instead say, “This may help you with your SEO ranking” or “Here is another perspective on how to rank high on search engines”

A different yet popular blog
News site that is covering the topic
Popular site on the topic like a product site or support forum.

To sum up the SEO Rule of 3 is simply giving Google (and the other search engines) the food they hunger for, specifically Hierarchy, Density and Popularity.

Happy Blogging.

Curtis J. Morley

iStockphoto Promo Code

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Curtis J. Morley

I used this promo code on iStockphoto today and received $15 off my $75 purchase. So I only paid $60 on iStockphoto for 50 credits. A pretty good deal if you ask me. If you click the link above I will get a small commission thanks.

Here is the code – Promo Code: stocklayouts

Thanks to Elizaibeth for turning me onto the promo code.

How Many Companies in the U.S. Have Over 1000 Employees?

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Curtis J. Morley

How many companies have 1000+ employees? This is a question I asked recently while doing some market research at FranklinCovey. I looked in the traditional places but couldn’t find a consistent answer. I should say that I was not able to find an up to date answer for how many companies employ over 1000 people. So for everyone else asking the same question of the number of companies with 1000+ employees here is what I found so that you don’t have to search nearly as hard as I did. Here is some of the most relevant info I found.

U.S. Census Bureau – has a fantastic list that can be downloaded of companies in 2007 broken down by state but only lists the criteria to 500+ employees and not 1000+ employees. They also have this site that lists companies with over 1000 employees. The total number of companies it shows is 11,174. This is the most accurate that I could find. Here is how it is broken out.

Firms with 1,000 to 1,499 employees	2,916
Firms with 1,500 to 1,999 employees	1,542
Firms with 2,000 to 2,499 employees	942
Firms with 2,500 to 4,999 employees	1,920
Firms with 5,000 employees or more	1,927
Firms with 5,000 to 9,999 employees	952
Firms with 10,000 employees or more	975

Hoovers shows that it has data on 6994 companies with over 1000 employees. Hoovers is very accurate in the collection and sorting of data but does not look to have all records.

Manta lists over 25k companies with over 1000 employees. I looked through their lists for Utah and found multiple duplicates and several companies headquartered in other states that have a small office in Utah but are still listed. Long story short the numbers here are inflated.

Based on all of the data I found I would estimate that there are approximately 12,500 companies with more than 1000 employees in the U.S. currently. We will know the exact number next year when the U.S. Census Bureau does there next study.

Thanks and Happy Marketing

Curtis J. Morley

7 Tips to Get People to Read Your Blog

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

Everyone wants Google rank their blog high in searches. Another important key is to get people to read your blog repeatedly. Here are 7 tips to writing effective blogs.

Provide Value
Don’t write just to write. Have a purpose and give people what they are looking for.
Be Consistent (Reliable)
Write regularly. Keep to a schedule so people know when to come back. Seth Godin is the master at this. I find that the more I am consistent, the more people read my blog. If I get to busy and break a schedule then my numbers in Google Analytics drop. Schedule a time to write your blog every day or week, let your users know about that time, and then consistently post to your blog at that time.
Keep It Short
Don’t write a diatribe. In today’s lightning fast world people want a quick peek at something of value.
Answer a Specific Question
Use Google to find what keywords are most popular. One very easy way is to just start typing in the Google search box the term you want to focus on. This field will auto-populate with the most popular terms. See the screen-shot below.

Search Engine Optimization Terms
Get Creative in Your Titles
One of the most attention getting headlines I saw recently was from an associate at work who wrote, “My Dog ate my Blog”. Make it catchy, relate-able, and you can even use things like lists in your title. Something like “7 Tips to Get Humans to Read Your Blog”
Stick To a Theme
Become the expert in an area and write about that. Do this for several months before changing topics. You may notice that my blog comes up for the search terms “Flash Errors”, “Flex Errors”, and “ActionScript Errors” as well as Marketing, photography, and technology.
Let People Find Your Blog
Follow the 7 Tips for Getting Google to Read Your Blog so that people actually can find the great stuff you have to write.

Thanks and Happy Blogging

Curtis J. Morley

7 Easy Steps to Get Google to Read Your Blog (Google Food)

Posted on November 9, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

Many people often ask how I get so high in the search rankings for terms like “Flash Errors”, “Flex Errors”, and “Actionscript Errors”. I have been posting Flash and Flex errors for a while now and have steadily seen my traffic rise. To answer the question on search engine optimization – here are the seven things I do with every blog post.

Determine beforehand the one to three keywords I want Google to find.
Before you type a single line, determine which keywords you will target with your post. In other words, what do you want people to type into Google to find your blog post. Once the keywords are decided move on to step 2 for high SEO.
Put at least one of the three keywords in the title.
If you want great search engine optimization and Google to list you with a high ranking for the word “Leadership“, an appropriate title would be, “Leadership for the Next Century.“
Make sure that WordPress is setup to create each new link as the title.(or whichever blog platform you use)
In WordPress (the most common blogging tool which this site is using) Go to Settings >> Permalinks >> and choose either “Day and Name” or “Month and Name”. The URL is critical to search engines.
If the link says www.myblog.com/Google-Food vs. www.myblog.com/?p=123 it will be Google Food and Google will eat it up.

Wordpress Permalinks Make Google Food

Making your links into Google Food
Caption all images with the keywords chosen.
If your term is “Google Rankings” then insert an image that portrays how to get on the first page of Google and then give it a title and caption such as “Google Food” in it. Notice the caption of the image above. The title reads nearly identical.
Make sure that your Categories, Tags, Excerpt and Metadata are in line with your keyword terms.
Include several variations of the keyword terms in the tags, categories, and excerpts. For example – Leadership in Action, Corporate Leadership, Organizational Leadership, etc…
Keep to a theme
Give your blog a theme and keep things organized within that theme. Don’t write about your dog one day, your favorite recipe the next and U.N. Diplomacy another day. Make sure that you are consistent in what you post. It is OK to have a few related themes but no more.
Post a link from at least three other blogs
Do a Google search on the keywords that you are trying to target and start clicking. Find a way to comment on each of the top sites in a meaningful way and make sure to include a link back to your blog. Search engine optimization includes more than just your site. Google measures how many meaningful links there are to your blog.

Thanks and Happy blogging.

Curtis J. Morley

Stephen R. Covey iPhone App Special for my Readers.

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

April 13th only the “Great Work, Great Career” iPhone app is available for the price of $2.99. It has been selling for $9.99 but to help with the downturn in the economy FranklinCovey is offering the iPhone app for this special price today only.

The app is fantastic and it really should be 5 apps sold seperately.The application helps you find a job if you are looking and helps you keep your job and make a difference at your company if you are employed. Get the FranklinCovey iPhone app.

Here are some screen shots.

Great Work, Great Career, Great iPhone App

You can ask Stephen R. Covey or Jennifer Colosimo questions about getting and keeping a job directly through the app.

The app comes loaded with videos from Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo

One of my favorite features of the app is the Strengths finder. It helps you make a difference for you company by laying out your strengths and helping you tap into them more.

Find out what your true strengths are and how to best use them.

The “Resource Finder” is where you go if need to get a job.

Find the right job for you with the Resource Finder

Find the right job and get the skills you need with the Resource Finder

Once you have a job and know your strengths then use the app to set out to make a difference with your “Contribution Statement”

Don't Just Work - Contribute!

Another awesome part of the app is creating a “Village” where you have instant access using your own contacts to in a way you may never have thought of before.

Who is in Your Village?

Get the Great Work, Great Career iPhone app today.

7 Tips to Get Google To Read Your Blog

Posted on March 6, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

Determine Beforehand the 1-3 Keywords You Want Google to Find.
Before you type a single line, determine which keywords you will target with your post. In other words, what do you want people to type into Google to find your blog post. Once you have these keywords put them all over in your post in different variations. You will notice that throughout this post I will include the terms; “Google Food”, “Search Engine Indexing”, “Google to Index your Site”, “High Rankings in Google”, “SEO and Google Ranking”, etc… (Oh look I just added them again)
Put at Least One of the Three Keywords in the Title.
If you want Google to list you with a high search ranking for the word “Leadership”, an appropriate title would be, “Leadership for the Next Century.“ For Google to index your site, the way you want it indexed, you must have a title that contains at least one of these keywords. Because of the font size of the Header it will increase in importance according to Google’s algorithm.
Make Sure that WordPress (or whichever blogging software you use) is Setup to Create Each New Page URL the Same as the Title.
In WordPress (the most common blogging tool which this site is based off of) Go to Settings >> Permalinks >> Select >> and choose either “Day and Name” or “Month and Name”. The URL is critical to search engine indexing. If the link says www.myblog.com/leadership vs. www.myblog.com/?p=123 it will be Google Food.

One way to get Google to Read Your Blog
Caption all Images with the Keywords Chosen.
If your term is “Leadership” then insert an image that portrays leadership and then give it a title and caption that has the word leadership in it. Notice the caption of the image above. The caption and title of this post reads nearly identical.
Match Your Categories, Tags, Excerpt and Metadata to Your Keywords.
Include several variations of the keyword terms in the tags, categories, and excerpts. For example – Leadership in Action, Corporate Leadership, Leadership Consulting, Leadership Solutions, Organizational Leadership, etc… This is an easy way to get high rankings in Google.
Keep to a Theme
Give your blog a theme and keep things organized within that theme. Don’t write about your dog one day and U.N. Diplomacy another day. Make sure that you are consistent in what you post. Google loves reading blogs that not only have appropriate keyword density on a page but keyword density across your whole site.
Link to and From at Least Three Other Sites
Do a Google search on the keyword that you are trying to target and start clicking on the most popular. Find a way to comment on each of the top sites and make sure to include a link back to your blog. Also, throw an update (with link) on Twitter. Within your blog link over to other sites (including within your own site and other domains you own or use) that will most likely link back to you. The more links you can get the higher your “popularity” and Google is like a teenager the way it cares about popularity. Another great site that has a lot of great info on SEO and Google ranking is my friend’s site called Nick’s Traffic Tricks

Thanks and Happy blogging.

Curtis J. Morley

Email is for Old People

Posted on February 28, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

About three or four years ago I was giving a presentation about technology at a large prestigious University to a group of Masters students soon to graduate. The presentation was going well and the crowd seemed to be engaged and enjoying what I had to say. I had made it through approximately half of my slides and had mentioned something about an email I had received, when suddenly, from the middle of the auditorium style room a student shouted out, “Email is for old people.”

This comment caught me off guard and I stopped the presentation. I asked, “Who just said that?” The formal setting prohibited the disruptor from volunteering right away out of embarrasment. The crowd was large enough and the room lights were dimmed low enough that I couldn’t pick the culprit out. It seemed that whoever had made the disruption realized that maybe he shouldn’t have blurted out the comment. After some cajoling, a hand was raised and the once brazen student admitted to the outburst.

I asked him, “What do you mean, email is for old people?” He explained, to the agreement of the crowd, “No one uses email anymore! The only time we use email is when our professors make us check our grades.” I was very interested in what he had to say and so instead of continuing on my topic I put away my clicker, abandoned my slides and just had a conversation with the group.

“So Who uses email on regular basis?”
Less than a fourth of the hands went up.

“How do you get a hold of one another?”
“We text, twitter, or Facebook.”
“Email is so slow. We want to get ahold of our friends instantly.”
“Yeah, it takes forever to get someone to answer an email.”
“We can text during class and in meetings. You can’t really do that with a phone call.”

“How many of you will text first instead of calling on the phone?”
Almost all hands were raised.

“How do you communicate anything substantial, with only 160 characters?”
“U only need 160 chars 2 say what U need 2 say. FYI.”
“Facebook is for bigger stuff – and pictures.”
“If you really need to write something big you just post it to your blog. I have an RSS feed of all my friends blogs.”

The conversation continued like this for the duration of my visit. The votes were in and email failed the test of GenY and the Millennials. The next generation weighed-in and without an instantaneous response they are not interested.

A friend of mine, James Keddington, heard a similar story when he saw Gen. Colin Powell speak who shared an experience about his Grandson saying the same thing, “Email is for old people Grandpa!”

So, what does this mean for the world of Marketing? It means that those Masters students have been in the work force for several years now. It means that we can not ignore the power of new media, social networks, and social media. It means that 1f we adapt our products and marketing efforts to this group where they live, how they live and on the platforms they live on then we will span the generational gap and be a thriving company in the next five years.

Thanks,

Curtis J. Morley

P.S. Let’s regain our youth and instigate a worldwide “Email Free Friday.”

RSS Feed Filter Tools

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Curtis J. Morley

Do you need a lot of info fast? Do you need to be a maven in your industry? Do you want every piece of info that your favorite newspaper or blog has – BUT you don’t want irrelevant information that just gets in the way? Here is your solution. An RSS Filter tool. Everyone loves a good RSS feed but nobody wants the information overload that goes with it. Here are some of the tools that I suggest to get RSS feeds filtered just the way you like it.

xFruits

The perfect way to slice and dice all of your RSS.

xFruits RSS tools

I hope this helps you get a tremendous amount of info while simplifying your life.

Happy Filtering

Curtis J. Morley

CurtisMorley.com

Flash/Flex, Interactive Marketing, Photography, and Social Media

Category Archives: Marketing

The SEO Rule of 3

iStockphoto Promo Code

How Many Companies in the U.S. Have Over 1000 Employees?

RSS Feed Filter Tools

Yahoo Pipes

Feed Sifter

Feed Rinse

Syndic8.com

Newsisfree

Moreover