Posted on January 12, 2009

Glacial Multimedia – January 2009 Newsletter

Glacial Multimedia Inc.
The More Intelligent Approach to SEO.

January, 2009 Newsletter

We hope that everyone has a chance to read through this information. Most of this information is critical to understanding the work that goes into our search engine optimization. We have just concluded the 2008 fourth quarter SEO maintenance and reporting. We are pleased to announce the improved rankings on all the websites inside our SEO system. We have seen the largest increases in first page results more this year than any year in the past. Much of the trial and error work over the years has led to increased improvements in our work, enabling a more efficient system. With this being said there is still a lot of work that can be done with link building across the board.

Refining Link Popularity

At the beginning of 2008 Glacial Multimedia embarked on various SEO improvement ideas that were based on significant algorithm changes in late 2007. The first concept implemented was a shift in the focus on link popularity. We abandoned the reciprocal link exchange system for a new, one of a kind, proprietary model. This method was thoroughly tested over quarters 1 and 2 and additionally audited by a third party, TOP level SEO industry consulting firm. Glacial Multimedia invested our own funds to pay for this audit with the goal of making our work even better. We hope that this shows our dedication to being the best SEO company in ophthalmology. After the audit we received confirmation that our SEO techniques were legitimate, white hat, and more than acceptable for the medical industry. These methods were further validated by the HON accreditation (HealthCare Online) we received for the www.improveyourvision.com website. If you have any questions regarding our efforts regarding link popularity please feel free to call us directly.

The Marketplace Review

By the end of quarter 2 we were seeing across the board SEO improvements for ALL clients. This was mainly caused by the new approach towards link building. During the SEO audit, a review of the TOP 6 ophthalmology companies performing SEO in the largest US cities was compiled. Although we cannot release the information for legal reasons, we were happy to note that our company finished first or second in every single category and had multiple first page SEO results in the 3 largest cities. In light of increased competition and poor economic times we hope our clients will feel safe and confident with our solid SEO work.

Google Maps (The Google Dominance Continues)

Near the end of quarter 2 we embarked on a program to add additional value to our SEO maintenance. This program involved the arduous task of contacting google on behalf of all the practices we work with. Considering the future potential of universal search and the implementation of map results in the organic listings we decided to place emphasis here. The map project was completed with tremendous success over the summer, which has led to map results in over 75% of the submitted cases. Because the maps system involves more than meets the eye, we are continuing to refine the listings and optimization of these listings over time. We are happy to note that many practices that previously had NO Google maps presence now appear at the top of the first page. If google did not index a map for your practice please make sure to give us a call and we will engage with this process again. If google cannot validate the listing by a phone call to your practice the result is deleted.

Benchmarking Google Analytics

Half way through 2008 we were getting a lot of calls from practices who simply could not understand the Google analytics reports we mail out every quarter. We started to initiate training sessions to explain the elements of the report and what each section means to your business. This has been tremendously successful and also improved communication with clients. If you have not discussed your analytics from 2008 with us feel free to call and set up a time to do so. By mid summer we had started to compile some threshold points for the 6 main criteria in the report. For example, if your bounce rate was over 50% we would have cause for alarm. In many cases we started drawing comparisons between home page callouts and bounce rate. We concluded that non-offer based and poor callout choice leads to LESS leads and a higher bounce rate. In one case in particular, we implemented changes to a home page and within 2 weeks the lead total went from 3 a month to 50. This exemplifies the importance of google analytics. Client participation took our study to a new level when Greg Padovani of Northwestern University affiliation asked us for benchmarks. We then proceeded to take the threshold concept to a whole new level and created a benchmarking system. This was critical to answering the question, What does all this mean and what do I have to compare it to? Using Google’s benchmarking system was not going to work in this case because the compiled data would be too broad. We needed a sample from ophthalmology practices. We used a sample of over 100 US ophthalmology practices and mathematically computed averages and Z scores based on standard deviation. Now, we can intelligently comment on how any practice compares to the average optimized ophthalmology website. To date all 2008 data for three quarters have been compiled and used as benchmarks. If you would like to personally consult us regarding this benchmarking system for an analysis of what to do next feel free to call Michael Dobkowski at 207.878.5900. The impact of the information has led to website changes that immediately began generating more leads even in poor economic times.