Bing Helps Veterans, The Panda Returns & Some Ecommerce SEO Tips Too!

Travis Bliffen
by Travis Bliffen 22 Apr, 2014
Bing Helps Veterans, The Panda Returns & Some Ecommerce SEO Tips Too!

In the News

>>Touted as the biggest ecommerce event of the year, IRCE is scheduled for June 10-13 and will be located in Chicago at the McCormick Place West. If you are nearby and are looking for serious tips, sessions and the perfect place to network with other ecommerce professionals, this event is worth checking out.

>>Bing is underwriting eight scholarships for military veterans and being a veteran myself, I think it is a great gesture. Bing mentioned the high unemployment rates for post 9/11 veterans and said they look forward to being able to help with the problem. You can read the full post here.

>>The supposed update to the Google algorithm that occurred back around March 25 has yet to be confirmed. While not confirmed, chatter is still heavy about the changes in the search engine result pages (SERPs) that occurred and this is being referred to as many by the "softer panda update", something that Matt Cutts (head of Google's Web spam team) mentioned would be released in the near future.

Marketing Resources

This week the focus remains on the rapidly growing ecommerce niche. Several small mistakes being made on your site can add up to a big loss of traffic and sales. Today, I wanted to share with you a few guides that give a good look at how to whip your ecommerce site into shape.

Kiss Metrics is headed up by Neil Patel, one of the leading names in SEO and a constant producer of high value content. Here is a guide on ecommerce SEO worth checking out. 

Shopify is a platform that allows anyone to build a site and sell products online. Geared toward beginners, the video tutorials they offer are worth taking a look at if you are new to ecommerce SEO. You can find those here: https://ecommerce.shopify.com/guides/ecommerce-seo-101

Moz is always one of the leading places to find information, tips and tutorials for all things SEO. In this post, they focus on the on-page issues you need to address to help your site excel. 

The Toolbox

One of the toughest parts of SEO can be building high quality links to your website. This past week, I had a chance to catch up with renowned link builder Brian Dean of Backlinko and ask him some questions about link building in 2014. You can find the complete interview here on Website Magazine, here is a little taste of what is in store.

- Tiered link building can be an effective and white hat strategy when done properly

- Private blog networks can still be used to dominate Google SERPs

- Broken image link building; a scalable and effective solution?

Be sure to check out the complete interview to learn how to build some awesome links to your site.

SEO Tip

Last Week, Chris from Lanauze Designs asked:

What would your advice be for manufactures that have already had their content direct copied by their retailers (and stolen for descriptions on eBay), and want to better optimize their sites?

Do they:

1. Get all their retailers to publish new unique content.

2. Publish their own new and more engaging content. 

3. Publish new content and write specific content for their retailers, (ie a media pack).

Great question Chris!

This is a scenario which happens all the time, especially in ecommerce. According to Google, the original owner of the content should rank highest for said content. I am sure many of you have seen, this is not always true.

If you are a manufacturer and other people are going to resell your products, you should be sure to educate them on the harm that can be done by copying your written content directly. In cases where it is stolen and used on other sites, you can contact them and inform them they have taken copyrighted information without your consent and ask them to remove it.

Another way to safeguard your content is through the use of Google Authorship, so if you are not using it currently, you should start.

While I would like to tell you 1, 2, or 3, each situation is unique. Educating the retailers of your products and working to make your site an authority in the niche are always good steps to take and do not be afraid to ask people who steal your content to create their own.

If all else fails, be prepared to write new content for your own site to gain higher rankings.

Looking Ahead

This is going to be the last SEO weekly roundup. Thanks to the overwhelming support you all have given to the tips and advice I have been sharing in my guest posts each week, I am going to be writing a feature article each week providing you with sound SEO marketing advice. Be sure to check out this week's post and check back every Tuesday for new and actionable advice.

Author Bio: Travis Bliffen is the founder of Stellar SEO, a search marketing and design agency located near St. Louis Mo. Travis loves researching and writing about SEO strategies and implementing innovative strategies for his clients. Connect on Twitter @theseoproz.

Travis Bliffen
Travis Bliffen
I am fiercely competitive and passionate about SEO, which means working with myself and the Stellar SEO team will put you on the winning side. Nothing about SEO is guaranteed, but we make a habit of helping brands dominate, even in the most competitive of industries. Since 2012, my company, Stellar SEO, has become one of the most highly regarded names in Search Engine Optimization. Taking the unconventional route, my journey to becoming an SEO industry expert began after reading a magazine article with a "Best Business to Start" headline. Starting with no funding or prior business experience, I began researching everything I could about entrepreneurship and SEO. In the process, I personally tested every theory, piece of sales advice, and "proven" method to deliver effective link-building campaigns. I found that there is no one-size-fits-all method or magic guru tricks to link building.