This deck from Rand is a good read for startups and businesses new to the concept of inbound marketing.

What I liked about it: Rand clearly denotes that SEO is not inbound marketing, but a tactic utilized for inbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing – any tactic that earns visitor interest, instead of buying it.

When performing a branded search for a company in Google you may have noticed something like the following display at the top of search engine results:

Optimized Site Links Example

Google will attempt to display an expanded business listing like the one above when someone is searching for a specific business (branded search).

Expanded business listings, or Site Links, provide additional information about the business being searched for.

Pay close attention to the few words below each Site Link. Notice how the words are descriptive in regard to each specific Site Link.

Optimized Site Links

In most cases, those few words below each Site Link are typically pulled from the Meta Description of each corresponding page. So, if you’ve been optimizing your Meta Descriptions all along, you are most likely in good shape or off to a good start. If you have duplicate Meta Descriptions in place this is where things could get a little sloppy (see below example).

Everything but those few words below each Site Link is determined by Google, which attempts to utilize popular or high ranking pages or posts as Site Links. Site Links seem to be changing on a semi-frequent basis, which means it would be a good idea to optimize all Meta Descriptions for use in Site Links.

Non-Optimized Site Links Example

Ignoring that the above example is actually a Boise SEO company (tisk tisk), pay close attention to the duplicate Site Link descriptions. Also, ignore the excessively long title tag for the homepage which obviously goes beyond 60 characters (sheesh). I’m picking on Tribute a little because they ‘tried’ to emulate the page title of Jtree.net. All things considered, if they ever read this it’s free SEO consulting. You’re welcome!

How to Optimize Your Website for Site Links

Since you don’t have control over what pages are selected as Site Links by Google, you might as well optimize Meta Descriptions site-wide, or for at least your top 20 pages.

• Optimize Site Links by optimizing Meta Descriptions for each page (yes, old skool SEO)
• Optimize Meta-Descriptions by focusing on the use of descriptive words at the start of each description (see Jtree example above)
• Check on Your Site Links on a semi-frequent basis as they are subject to change

Caveat

In some instances, Google may use actual text from your page instead of text from the page’s Meta Description. If this occurs, it will be up to you to locate the on-page text and optimze it for Site Links.

If you have any questions about Site Link optimization, SEO and/or Internet Marketing please contact Jtree.

About the Author

Josh has been in the search engine marketing and optimization field since the late 90s, spent time in San Francisco with one of the few Y2K .com survivors and is the founder of Jtree.net – Provider of SEO, PPC and Internet Marketing Consulting Services. He has over a decade’s worth of experience blending code and content for over 100 companies and agencies. Learn More…

• Facebook Event Page (please RSVP)
• SEOinBOI Facebook Fan Page
• Event Information on Jtree

Google +1 Buttons for Web Publishers (and SEOs)

Google has released a variety of Google +1 buttons, similar to those currently in use by Facebook and Twitter. The +1 buttons provide a way for visitors to endorse and share web pages, blog posts and articles. Use of +1 buttons currently does not effect search engine rankings.

Get the Google +1 Button Code!

Where we rank companies that offer SEO as a service in the Boise, Idaho area based-on their ability to achieve top search engine rankings  for the keyphrase “boise seo” in Google.

If you are trying to find a reputable SEO to help improve the keyphrase rankings of your website(s), identifying one that has achieved good rankings for their own website is your first step. If an SEO can’t get their own website to rank, chances are they won’t be able to get your website to rank either.

Learn more about how to hire a credible SEO with the SEO Hiring Guide.

9th Edition Boise SEO Rankings

Instead of attempting to display ranking information for all of the SEO companies we track (and we track ALL of them), the format of the Boise SEO Ranking Updates features the top 5 SEOs that rank for the keyphrase “boise seo” in Google.

The Top 5 SEOs listing below identifies the SEOs in Boise that have the best keyphrase rankings in Google for the keyphrase “boise seo”. We selected “boise seo” because it is a top keyphrase for Boise’s local SEO market industry, and we wanted the results verifiable.

Top 7 SEOs Graph

The Top 5 SEOs in Google for “boise seo”

1. Jtree.net [previously #2]
2. BoiseSEO.com (not to be confused with this website – which was acquired and in-use years before Boise Online Mall launched BoiseSEO.com) [previously not ranked]
3. SEOBoise.com (this website) [previously #1]
4. Cendesic [previously #5]
5. Valitics [previously not ranked]

Honorable Mention

• Tsuvo (#6)
• Nerdy Dragon (#7)

Note: Scores are a measure of visibility – where larger scores represent top keyphrase rankings. Ranking data for score assignment is queried directly from Google and is freely available to the general public.

SEO Boise (.com) is operated by Jtree.net, a Boise, Idaho based SEO, PPC and Social Internet Marketing consulting firm that has provided services to over 80 companies and agencies over the last 10 years.

• Google Talks Local Search Relevance Factors – Key factors are relevance, prominence and distance
• Google Reveals New Social Site Links – Your social media friends as Google Site Links in search resutls; further integration of Social Media into Search
• New Ranking Signal to Consider – Essentially due to a recent story circulating about a business claiming to utilize negative reviews to boost their ranking in Google
• US Online Advertising Expected to Continue Growing
• New Google Keyword Tool Filtering and Refinement Options
• Embeddable Music, TV Shows, Slides and More Now on Twitter
• Who Needs a Website These Days Anyway?
• Google + Bing Confirm that Twitter/Facebook Influence SEO

Where we produce a graph of Boise SEO companies ordered by their ability to rank for the keyphrase “boise seo”.

Who’s Involved?

Companies that offer SEO as a service in the Boise, Idaho area.

Why Do This?

If you are trying to find a reputable SEO to help improve the keyphrase rankings of your website(s), identifying one that has achieved good rankings for their own website is your first step. If an SEO can’t get their own website to rank, chances are they won’t be able to get your website to rank either.

Learn more about how to hire a credible SEO with the SEO Hiring Guide.

8th Edition Boise SEO Rankings

The 8th edition rankings remain steady this month inspite of the increasing number of companies in the Boise, Idaho area that offer SEO. Instead of attempting to display ranking information for all of the SEO companies we track, the new format of the Boise SEO Ranking Updates will feature the top 5 SEOs that rank for the keyphrase “boise seo” in Google.

The Top 5 SEOs graph below identifies the SEOs in Boise that have the best keyphrase rankings in Google for the keyphrase “boise seo”. We selected “boise seo” because it is a top keyphrase for Boise’s local SEO market industry and we wanted the results verifiable.

Top 5 SEOs for “boise seo” in Google

The Top 5 SEOs in Google for “boise seo”

1. SEOBoise.com (this website)
2. Jtree.net
3. WebCentric
4. Tsuvo
5. Cendesic

Note: Scores are a measure of visibility – where larger scores represent top keyphrase rankings. Ranking data for score assignment is queried directly from Google and is freely available to the general public. Ranking data is obtained from scanning ONLY the first 6 pages of SERPs.

SEO Boise (.com) is operated by Jtree.net, a Boise, Idaho based SEO, PPC and Social Internet Marketing consulting firm that has provided services to over 70 companies and agencies over the last 10 years.

The graph of Boise SEO providers below is ordered by ability to rank for the keyphrase “boise seo” in Google and Bing. We provide the Boise SEO ranking graph based on the premise that SEOs should be able to get their own websites to rank (as a signal relating to their ability to get other -client- websites to rank).

Boise’s Best Ranked SEOs for the Search Phrase “Boise SEO”

The Top 3:

1. Jtree SEO http://jtree.net/
2. SEO Boise http://seoboise.com/
3. Tsuvo http://tsuvo.com/*

* = companies that DO NOT offer Internet Marketing as their primary service (i.e. offer web/graphic design and development, branding etc. in addition to SEO related services) have been denoted because most multi-service companies cannot service infrastructure other than their own, while companies solely dedicated to Internet Marketing/SEO can typically provide service for ANY platform

note: scores are a measure of visibility where larger scores represent top keyphrase rankings in both search engines. keyphrase ranking data for score assignment is queried directly from Google and Bing and is freely available to the general public. companies not located in the Boise area and other vertical websites have been omitted. ranking data is obtained from scanning ONLY the first 6 pages of SERPs

We provide the Boise SEO ranking graph based on the premise that SEOs should be able to get their own websites to rank (as a signal relating to their ability to get other websites to rank).

New Boise SEO companies in this update:

• Big West Web Design
• Unattended Media
• KRZ Productions

Boise’s Best Ranked SEOs for the Search Phrase “Boise SEO”

The Best Ranked SEO graph identifies the SEOs in Boise that have the top organic keyphrase rankings in Google and Bing for the keyphrase “boise seo”. This particular keyphrase was selected because it is the top keyphrase for Boise’s local SEO market industry; where the results are verifiable.

This information is provided to the general public on the premise that companies that sell SEO services should have websites of their own that rank well.

note: scores are a measure of visibility where larger scores represent top keyphrase rankings, keyphrase ranking data for score assignment is queried directly from Google and Bing and is freely available to the general public, companies not located in the Boise area and other vertical websites have been omitted, ranking data is obtained from scanning ONLY the first 6 pages of SERPs