Warmest thanks to all of the clients and partners that we’ve worked with throughout 2008. We hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year, and we’re looking forward to achieving further success for you in 2009.

We’ve got some fantastic new projects in development at the moment, including some major site launches set for the beginning of 2009. Keep an eye on the blog for updates, which will be coming very soon. Our industry articles will be continuing apace in the New Year, with an insider series on email marketing just about ready to get going.

If you’ve been looking at what we do and you’d like your company to be one of our 2009 success stories, then we’d love to hear from you.

Last of all - our studios are closed from 19th December to 5th January - all the best from everyone here at Green Media.

Our portfolio page has been updated today with some typically festive projects that were created this month. Warrington Audi’s fantastic Winter Event e-flyer sets the scene with a crisp blue and white theme, while North East Audi’s weekend sale mailer keeps it simple - and very, very effective.

In another supercar campaign, the incredible Maserati Quattroporte GT is the star of a promo for Lancaster Maserati Sevenoaks - a hero image in every sense of the word.

Take a look!

In the last of our SEO articles for 2008, we’re exploring one of the most enduringly misunderstood and misused terms in the business - “first page results”.

Don’t get us wrong, first page results are absolutely fantastic, they’re the goal of any SEO - but only ever on lead generating keywords. It’s absolutely pointless achieving first page results on keywords that no-one ever searches for.

When you view SEO as an indiscriminate race to get keywords - any keywords - on the first page of Google, it’s quite a simple process. In reality though, it’s a little more involved, especially if you’re looking to achieve the massive business benefits that SEO is capable of delivering.

The tide is slowly turning on this - just last month Google-guru Matt Cutts discussed the likelihood that “ranking was dead” - but some SEO companies are still pedalling it out as an indication of their so-called expertise. Here’s a little insight into why they’re wrong, and how to go about approaching SEO properly.

Lead generating keywords

Accessible through their PPC interfaces, Google, MSN and Yahoo all have accurate systems that show how many searches any given keywords rack up over a monthly period. Once you know the level of searches that a keyword is generating, you’re in a better position to decide on your target list. If a term doesn’t get many searches, then it’s obvious that while it’ll be relatively easy to rank for, it’ll probably not generate any level of interest. It’s always worth running your initial keyword list through one of these systems, you might be surprised at the level of searches they generate.

Unless you’re working in a genuine niche market with a totally unique product or service you’ll be required to compete, and the competition will naturally be fiercer on the lead generating keywords. This tends to be the point at which SEO companies who bleat on about “first page results” make their excuses and disappear. It’s important to formulate your target keyword list around lead generating terms, or else it’s quite a pointless exercise.

Fluidity of results

No matter how successful your SEO results may be at any given time, it needs to be kept in mind that search engines are constantly evolving, and your competitors are likely to be fighting tooth-and-nail on the very same keywords that you’re optimising your site for. Even if you do get a great result there’s no guarantee you’ll be there at the same time the next week, because when you jump up some positions, your competitors notice and react. However, with a well-strategised SEO programme you’re in for the long haul, and you’ll be able to fight back when required with proven techniques.

Return on investment

This is the single most important factor with SEO, and the reason why the vague claim of “first page results” just doesn’t cut it. SEO is no different to any other type of business marketing in as much as it needs to have a positive return on investment (ROI), otherwise it’s a complete waste of time and money. Adopting the “first page for anything” mentality that’s so common in the industry simply doesn’t achieve ROI - if you’re getting results on unpopular terms then how can it?

In this third article on SEO misconceptions we’re dealing with search copywriting, and particularly the way in which keywords are used.

If you’re aiming to be found by people searching online - which you are - then it’s your use of keywords that will make it happen. If you get your keyword frequency wrong however, you’ll risk poor performance on searches and even getting your site penalised - so it’s important to know what boundaries you’re working within.

Getting it wrong

The overuse of keywords in online copy - either deliberate or unintentionally - is generally known as ‘keyword stuffing’. Like a lot of SEO methods, keyword stuffing did used to work to some degree - once. However, search engines are now incredibly sophisticated compared to what they were, and such crude techniques are spotted a mile away. If your copy is loaded up with keywords to a degree that makes it basically unreadable to your audience, then you’re keyword stuffing.

It’s not just the body content that you should be considering here either, keep in mind your page titles, H1 tags, anchor tags and even navigational link titles - they’re all opportunities to over-do your keywords, potentially by accident.

Getting it right

Getting it right on keywords is easier than most people realise, as long as you keep the real purpose of what you’re doing in mind. “Create a positive user experience” should be the mantra of any SEO-savvy web developer, and the same definitely goes for search copywriters. As we’ve said on Green Notes before, copy really doesn’t need to be prize-winning novelist standard, it should simply be informative, interesting, on-topic and easy to read. If it’s staccato with keyword repetition then it’s unlikely to be any of these.

For more information on search copywriting, read our article on refreshed content or take a look at our search copywriting services page.