At first, [not provided] represented a small percentage of overall traffic to most of the sites for which I have analytics access. And then it grew. And grew. And grew.

Today, [not provided] represents about 25% of the daily referrers to this blog. But it also represents double-digit daily referrers to non-marketing/tech sites that I follow.

And maybe the most head-shaking thing of all is that, in just 2.5 months, [not provided] managed to become a Top 10 referrer for most of the sites that I monitor. Here’s a look at three.

Small Business Search Marketing

My impression is that this blog attracts a mix of marketing consultants/agencies and small business owners. In both cases, it’s probably safe to assume that many readers are Google users and also frequently logged-in to their Google accounts. The [not provided] keyword referrals bear witness to that.

Not surprisingly at all, [not provided] occupies the No. 1 spot among all keyword referrals for 2011 to this blog. That’s among almost 69,000 different keywords that sent 168,000 total natural search visits.

But lest you think that [not provided] only affected marketing/tech blogs and websites, consider this next case.

@U2

@U2 is my long-running hobby site about the rock band U2. It’s been in existence since 1995 and for at least the past 12 years has never ranked lower than third on a search for the band’s name. (It was #1 until the official site launched in 2000, and stayed #2 until the Wikipedia page overtook a couple years ago.)

@U2 had more than 1.4 million unique visitors in 2011 from all corners of the globe. It’s a very diverse site and certainly not limited to the tech crowd like my own blog is. Visitors range from teens to senior citizens (yes, we have readers in their 70s).

In 2011, natural search sent 1,763,917 visits to @U2 on 237,929 total keywords. But in just 2.5 months, [not provided] cracked the top 10 overall keywords sending traffic to the site.

Related: On the @U2 forum, which has its own subdomain (forum.atu2.com), [not provided] was No. 7 on the 2011 keyword referrer list. We also have a blog on its own domain (atu2blog.com), and [not provided] was the No. 4 “most popular keyword” during 2011.

In other words, this is not just a problem for tech/marketing sites.

Dr. Cynthia Bailey, California Dermatologist

As many of you know, one of my clients is Dr. Cynthia Bailey, a dermatologist in California. Dr. Bailey’s target audience is also not the tech/marketing crowd. Her site offers high-quality skincare products and solutions to a very mainstream audience; it skews female, but us guys have skincare needs, too!

And, much like my mainstream U2 site, [not provided] cracked Dr. Bailey’s list of the 10 most popular keywords; in her case, it was No. 2 on the list in only 2.5 months.

The Problem With [Not Provided]

In each case above, with three very different target audiences, [not provided] made up a substantial percentage of the overall search traffic to these sites — and the numbers would be higher if I only compared it to overall Google traffic.

There are ways to use analytics data to help get a general idea of who these [not provided] visitors are. Google’s own Avinash Kaushik has some ideas and examples in this excellent article.

(I should mention that next month’s SMX West conference has a panel dedicated to discussing ways to cope with this issue: Life In A [Not Provided] World.)

But you know what? I don’t use analytics for general ideas and guesswork; I use analytics for specific answers. And Google has taken away a lot of those answers.

For a number of reasons (many of which Danny Sullivan explained yesterday on Search Engine Land), the [not provided] keyword referrer is nothing short of a pain in the arse for anyone who does serious work on the web.

For me, a blogger who relies on analytics to understand what content visitors are looking for, [not provided] is more than 7,500 visits that are a mystery to me — and remember, that’s in only 2.5 months! I shudder to think what the full 2012 statistics will look like.

For someone like Dr. Bailey, [not provided] directly impacts the bottom line. She not only relies on keyword referrals to help decide what to write about on her blog, but also to understand which keywords drive online sales of skincare products. And in just 2.5 months, [not provided] was No. 2 among all keywords that directly led to online sales.

This isn’t the end of the world for Dr. Bailey, nor for me, but it’s a serious hurdle to accomplishing our website’s goals. (And it’s a slap in the face to think that Google’s paid advertisers aren’t facing the same hurdle, but that’s another post for another day.)

I’m curious: In your analytics, where did [not provided] wind up ranking among all 2011 keyword referrals? How has it impacted your website(s)?

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Google’s [Not Provided]: Assessing 2.5 Months of Analytics Damage

Pro tip: Don’t buy Facebook followers.

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Here’s Why Not to Buy Facebook Followers

If you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy.

I’ve been saying that for some time now, and I think it’s never been more true than it is today. If you want to succeed online in any industry that’s even remotely competitive, you must have an effective content marketing strategy. I’ll explain that more in a moment, but the key point is this: Static, rarely-updated, brochure-ware websites are dead. I think they’ve been dead for some time now, but Google really put the final nail in the coffin with its latest algorithm change that emphasizes the value of (and the need for) fresh content.

Google Wants Fresher Search Results

Earlier this month, Google made a huge announcement that I think probably hasn’t been written about enough. (Certainly not by me; I’ve been trying to write this post for weeks now.) Search results “are best when they’re fresh,” Google said in its announcement. “Even if you don’t specify it in your search, you probably want search results that are relevant and recent,” Google’s Amit Singhal wrote.

To be clear, this isn’t going to impact all small businesses in all industries in every location. In fact, I’d guess that purely local businesses might not be affected at all — searches like “seattle bakery” or “kansas city dry cleaners” probably aren’t the types of searches where fresh content is necessary.

But Singhal said this is a ranking change that affects at least one result on about 35% of all searches, and clarified to say that about 6-10% of searches would be changed “noticeably.” That’s huge.

What It Means for Small Business Websites

As I said above, I don’t think a bakery in Seattle is going to be impacted by this too dramatically. How often is there breaking bakery news? In Seattle?

But there are millions of small businesses that aren’t doing business just in their immediate local area. And millions more that are operating in industries where there is regular news or where things change on a regular basis. In those cases, Google is saying it will reward quality websites that offer fresh content.

If that describes your small business, your static and never-updated website is officially dead. In many industries, I believe it will be nearly impossible to get natural search visibility in Google with a small, brochure-style website that doesn’t offer fresh content.

How to Succeed Going Forward

As I said at the beginning of this article, if you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy. So it’s time to develop a content marketing strategy. And keep in mind that this content has to exist on your website; using Facebook and Twitter are fine, but that’s not where your content strategy lives. It has to live on your website.

Here’s what I’d do as soon as possible:

1. Get your team together and discuss the pros and cons of starting a company blog. Cons: Blogging isn’t easy, not if you plan to do it the right way. More and more business are blogging, but many will get it wrong. Don’t be one of them. Pros: When done right, blogging can mean more search traffic and more inbound links. A great blog can be the best weapon in your SEO holster.
2. If you DO decide to start a blog, start by deciding A) who will be in charge of it, B) who all will write for your company blog, C) how often will you publish new articles (I recommend at least twice per week if you can do it), D) what content policies will you need, and E) what other guidelines need to be in place. (I highly recommend allowing comments on your blog posts, for example, but there should comment guidelines in place.)
3. Before you launch your blog, create an editorial calendar. You’ll use this to guide what articles you’ll write, who’ll write them, and when they’ll be published. Be sure to read my article, A Simple Sample Editorial Calendar to Keep Your Blogging on Schedule, for more guidance in this area.
4. Write a lot before your blog launches. Before you even add the blog to your website, have the first month or two of articles already written — or at least as many of them as you can. Writing material in advance will help with making the launch smooth; you won’t be desperate for article ideas, nor will you be hurt if someone misses an assignment.
5. Know where to watch for new blog content ideas. I’m sorry, but I have a hard time accepting it when I hear bloggers say they can’t find anything to write about. I wrote a series with all kinds of tips for this: 5 Ways To Find New Blog Content. Oh, and when you’re writing, don’t worry about how long your blog posts should be.
6. Know your ultimate goals and be able to track what you’re doing. If you’re already using a web analytics program, it should be easy to tie your blogging in with existing company business goals. Those goals should have something to do with selling products and/or generating leads — whatever helps your bottom line. Don’t worry about less important numbers like how many RSS subscribers you have, how many times your articles are retweeted, etc. Those things are nice, but getting a hundred retweets isn’t going to help you meet payroll next month.

One last thing: It’s okay to choose NOT to start a blog now. If you’re not ready to make the commitment, that’s fine. But keep in mind, you still need to have some kind of plan to consistently expand your website with quality content. Can you start a weekly newsletter and put it online? Can you create a Glossary or a Frequently Asked Questions page and expand it regularly?

Whatever you do, don’t settle for a static, brochure-style website. It’s dead. If you’re in a remotely competitive space, you need more from this point forward if you want to succeed online. One last time, because it’s worth repeating:

If you don’t have a content marketing strategy, you don’t have an online marketing strategy.

(Tombstone image created via JJ Chandler’s tombstone generator.)

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

It’s Official: Static, Brochure-Ware Websites Are Dead

Two recent studies came to this same conclusion about photos, link and other types of content on Facebook.

Web Liquid Facebook Reach Analysis

The first study that I’ll mention comes from Web Liquid, a digital marketing company. They studied 16 brands with 3.5 million combined Facebook fans. More than 1,500 brand posts were analyzed between March and May, 2011.

This chart compares the interaction levels of four different types of Facebook posts:

Photos and videos both drew more than double the interaction that links did. Web Liquid also studied the reach of each type of content and found that the top two were flipped: videos generated the most reach (i.e., they spread further to friends of fans, etc.) and photos generated the second-most reach.

You can download the report from Web Liquid’s website; name and email address are required.

Momentus Media: Facebook Engagement & Interaction

Earlier this year, Momentus Media did a somewhat similar study that analyzed 20,000 Facebook business/brand pages and analyzed tens/hundreds of thousands of Facebook posts.

Their findings were similar to what you’ve seen above: Photos get the most interaction, while links get the least. This study differs a bit in the middle — it found that text/status updates attracted more interaction than videos.

This study offers a lot more data about business/brand activity on Facebook. You can download it from Momentus Media’s website.

EdgeRank: Why Interaction Matters

The reason all of this matters is EdgeRank. That’s the name of the algorithm that Facebook uses to determine what content shows up in its users’ Newsfeed. There’s a great EdgeRank guide on eConsultancy, but the Cliffs Notes version is this: The more a user interacts with your content, the more your future content will continue to show in his/her Newsfeed.

There was a study earlier this year that showed about 5% of Facebooks fans ever see posts to Facebook Pages. Yikes! That’s because of EdgeRank.

So, if you want your fans to see more of your content, keep in mind the types of content that they interact with more often. If they’re not interacting with you on Facebook, you might be wasting a lot of time.

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This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

Photos Draw Most Facebook Interactions, Links Draw the Least

(This post is written for small business owners; SEO folks, you can move along.)

Three Types of Keywords

There are three basic types of keywords that will drive traffic to your site:

1.) Branded keywords: These are keywords that match or use your business name (or your product name if it’s a unique product not available anywhere else).

2.) Non-branded, long-tail keywords: These are terms that don’t use your business name and are generally less competitive. An example might be a term like “dermatologist recommended skin care regimen” that sends traffic to a dermatologist’s website.

3.) Non-branded, short-tail keywords: These are terms that don’t use your business name, but are more competitive. Dermatology-related examples would be terms like “skin care products” or “clogged pores.”

I’m simplifying things a bit here, but those are the three main keyword types that I monitor.

Three Stages of Keyword Success

If you’re just starting out with a new site and/or SEO campaign, my experience tells me this is what you should expect to see if you’re doing SEO the right way.

Early Stage

In the beginning, you’ll probably only be able to rank for and get search traffic from branded keywords. Short of some miracle (like an appearance on Dr. Phil or something) that leads to amazing exposure, buzz and links, you won’t be getting traffic from many non-brand terms in the early stages.

Even this stage might be difficult if you have a common business name. Keep in mind that SEO success requires patience. Think marathon, not sprint.

Middle Stage

If you’re doing things the right way and making progress, you’ll start to rank for and get traffic from more than your branded keywords. It’ll still be too soon to get traffic from short-tail phrases, but you’ll see less competitive phrases showing up in your keyword referral list — things like the “dermatologist recommended skin care regimen” example that I mentioned above.

When will this happen? That depends on your industry, your competition, how strong your SEO and social media efforts are, and so forth. It will likely take months — could be 2-3 months, or it could be 6-8 months or more. I can’t tell you that.

Late Stage

I don’t want to call this the “final” stage, because SEO is an ongoing process that should never come to an end. But the third stage of keyword success is when you start getting traffic from non-branded, short-tail keywords. These are the competitive phrases like “skin care products” and “clogged pores” from my earlier example.

When will this happen? Again, it depends on all the factors I listed two paragraphs earlier. It could take 6-8 months, or it could take a couple years. There’s no fixed answer I can share. It takes time, though, and not everyone gets to this stage.

If you get to this stage, and you haven’t taken any shortcuts or cut corners that might get you in trouble, you can be certain you’re on the right path. Your website and SEO plan are doing well. (Ultimately, of course, you should measure success by how much money your website and SEO plan are bringing in, not just by how much traffic you’re getting. Don’t forget that.)

How Do You Get To The Third Stage?

I think you have to hit a home run with the four keys to online success: a well SEO’d website, a great and active blog, a strong social media presence and a great product/service.

I think you have to focus on earning trust in everything you do.

And I think you have to understand all of the pieces that define long-term SEO success.

It ain’t easy, but it sure is worth the hard work and long hours when you get to the point where search engines are sending you traffic for fantastic keywords that lead directly to sales or leads.

(Stock photos via Shutterstock and used under license.)

Hey! RSS Subscriber: Have you purchased my e-book, “How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes”? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s only $25 (for the time being). Find out why Search Engine Guide said, “I can almost promise that following the advice in the book will earn you your money back ten to one hundred times over.” Here’s where to learn more: E-Book: How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

SEO’s Three Stages of Keyword Success

Converting customers into social media fans and followers isn’t always easy. I’d say there are six things, at minimum, that you have to do and do well. And I think B&H Photo does a good job with all of them.

Converting Customers Into Social Media Fans

Check out an email that arrived this week from B&H Photo & Video: (click for larger version)

I think this is a really good example of how to convert customers into fans or followers on social media sites. Here’s what they’ve done right:

1.) They asked.

I love that the whole point of this email was to make me aware of the company’s social media outposts. There’s not a single product sales pitch in here. If you want people to fan/follow you, the first thing you have to do is be willing to ask. No sense being afraid.

2.) Benefit statements (shown above)

For each social media site they list, B&H begins by telling me what benefits I can expect by making the connection. On Facebook, I’ll get info about rebates, product availability and a forum for talking with fellow customers about photography and electronics.

3.) Sample content (shown above)

Show me. Don’t just tell me. Each site includes a sample piece of content. I can see that, if I follow B&H on Twitter, I’ll get updates about when gear is back in stock.

4.) Call to action (shown above)

B&H gives me an obvious call-to-action button for each site listed in the email. It’s obvious what they want me to do.

5.) Follow through

This is obviously an important point: B&H follows through on the promises of the email. When I click through to see B&H on Flickr, the content matches exactly what the email says: photos from B&H customers (some of which get posted on B&H’s blog, too) and a lot of active photography discussions. (Seriously, it’s pretty crazy how active their group is on Flickr — nine discussions have been active in the past day or two.)

6.) Analytics

You can’t tell from looking at the email, but all of the links are tagged so that B&H can learn exactly how much traffic/clicks this email drove. Smart.

Final Thoughts

About the only thing I don’t like is that B&H uses a completely separate domain for its company blog. But that’s a separate issue from this excellent email outreach, so I’ll just say that it’s best to keep your blog on your main domain whenever possible.

As for the email itself, this is a good model for small businesses to follow when trying to convert customers into social media fans/followers. You can’t be afraid to ask. You have to show the benefits of following you and make the call to action very obvious. Follow through by making sure all of your social media outposts offer value, and track things as much as you can.

Your turn: Have you seen any other examples of good (or bad) attempts to turn customers into social media fans? Do you agree with me about this B&H email? Comments are open….

Hey! RSS Subscriber: Have you purchased my e-book, “How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes”? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s only $25 (for the time being). Find out why Search Engine Guide said, “I can almost promise that following the advice in the book will earn you your money back ten to one hundred times over.” Here’s where to learn more: E-Book: How to SEO Your Site in 60 Minutes.

This is a post from Matt McGee's blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

B&H Photo Shows How To Convert Customers Into Fans & Followers