CHRISTINE YEE

Content Marketing. Writing. Social Media. SEO. Digital PR

 I was brought on by a company called FusionZONE Automotive to broaden the scope of their existing SEO practices. FusionZONE specializes in the development of responsive websites for car dealerships.

However, they also provide additional offerings such as SEO, social media and Adwords account management.

Much of their existing SEO results were being achieved through technical optimizations.

The on-page set of factors that they had been implementing included content, H1/H2 headers, SEO title and primary keyword usage within the url.

FusionZONE was interested in expanding their SEO practices beyond these basic areas.

Furthermore, the entire area of off-site SEO (e.g. backlinks) was missing from their offering set. The challenge here had to do with finding safe, but effective sources of backlinks.

Side Note: In the past, SEO was highly contingent on the number of backlinks pointing to a site. However, because this was being used to manipulate search algorithms, Google started penalizing poor quality backlinks through their Panda update.

Now, it is more essential for brands to create top quality content in order to generate authentic forms of signals which demonstrate that their online presence truly meets the demands of users.

Google is ultimately designed to meet (informational) demand with the right supply.

The search engine company has a vested interest to do so since the success of their ads depends on getting people to use Google, and not other search engines.Therefore, site features and design alone are oftentimes insufficient for achieving long term search exposure.

Content and user experience must be developed to produce a solid sense that the site offers exactly what users are hoping to find. And there must also be tangible indicators in the form of quality backlinks and even social signals which communicate this message to Google.

 Overall FusionZONE was interested in aligning their services with the latest developments and trends in SEO. I worked on introducing new practices for long term SEO success, while creating specific, trackable processes for executing upon these strategies.

Safe Backlinking System

Google continues to rely on backlinks for understanding the quality of a site page as well as it's value and usefulness to users. As a search engine, it assesses the quality of the link source.

A Natural Backlinking Profile of Do-Follow and No-Follow Links

Whether the links are do-follow or no-follow, also matters for backlinking strategies. While do-follow links impart direct SEO benefits, it is important to include no-follow links as well.

No-follow links contribute to a more natural looking backlink profile. They also help to alert search engines of content that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.

Using Social Sites - Simple Tools For Big Objectives

 I worked to identify respectable social sharing/curation sites to be used as sources of safe backlinks.

• Blogger ( A Google product which is crawled very frequently by the search engine). Offers do-follow, direct links

• Tumblr - Offers do-follow, direct links

• Google Plus (Another Google product which has been known to index new content rather quickly)

• Pinterest

• Flickr

• Slideshare

This list may strike some as being simple and thus unimpressive. But their value cannot be underestimated. Using these sites, a backlinking campaign would benefit from high domain and page authority sources that are known to be reputable by both humans and search engines.

Also, due to their popularity, these sites are also crawled more frequently by search engines. This is important for getting links discovered in a more timely fashion.

Quality, Crawlable Descriptions

The six sites above care strongly about quality user experiences. Therefore, posting urls and cursory text is insufficient for having the links actually be noticed.

I made it a priority to invest small amounts of time to create original short snippets of thoughtful, informative and engaging content. Not only is does this add interest for the reader, it also provides a searchable context for the links.

Furthermore, the original hand created descriptions created could then be repurposed into additional content for future use. This can be achieved most efficiently with the help of high quality spinning software (capable of understanding and reproducing natural human language patterns).

One rule to remember when it comes to backlinks is that the harder it is to attain, the more valuable it is.

This statement doesn’t just apply to the type of site that the link is placed, but also the context around the link.

While it might be easier to simply add the url into a field, a simple well crafted description does add greater value to the process.

Simple Process For Indexing Backlinks

Simply posting a backlink is just the first step. It is important for the posted link to be indexed in search engines. Thus it became necessary to keep a meticulous record of the backlinks and their index status.

This was achieved by creating a tracking spreadsheet to include information such as: date posted, the exact url, which page of the client site was targeted, and the indexation of the backlink

 When revisiting the backlinks posted, I found that Blogger's content was the quickest to be indexed out of the set. Therefore, this site was to be used as a reliable tool for indexing our backlinks.

 While pinging tools and social bookmarking tools do exist for this purpose, their results are not always guaranteed.

Writer Guidelines For Richer Content

Quality content is not a "nice to have" in SEO. It's a must have. Google loves authoritative content and penalizes thin content.

The primary job of it's algorithms is to help users find the best answers to their questions. Therefore, superficial, word-filling content offers little to no value for search engines.

Additionally, it should be noted that length also matters. Controlled studies have shown a rather strong correlation between content length and actual ranking performance.

One of the key challenges for the writing team was to continuously meet deadlines for numerous ongoing assignments. The strong emphasis on timeliness often compromised the quality of information being offered.

The writers did not have time to gather the facts they needed for the most optimal content.

 However researching information to produce the best possible content is not something that can be ignored.

Google does compare content to others within the same niche. Therefore it becomes important to strike the right balance between quality and quantity.

 It became important to find answers to the question of how the team could create better, more informative content in a time efficient manner.

I came up with the solution of drafting guidelines for specific forms of content . This was to be used as a resource for creating the richness of information that was needed.

 I was able to quickly compile necessary facts, designating some as mandatory and some as optional.

And furthermore, I provided an overall structure with a clear, logical flow that would help answer the types of questions asked by regular people.

 These pre-made guidelines helped writers quickly access facts and information they needed. Thus they were able to focus on simply refining the information into a clear, well written final piece.

Internal Linking and External Linking 

The homepage of the dealership sites gained the most visibility in search engines, while many of the internal pages remained in obscurity.

Thus it became necessary to connect the site pages together.

A solid internal linking system would then distribute the page authority of the homepage more evenly throughout the entire site.

Internal links

 Although FusionZONE had been creating content for dealership pages, the company had yet to leverage the use of internal links in the manner described above.

I educated team members, including our staff writers on:

the rationale for inserting internal links

how to create SEO friendly anchor text for these links, using a combination of exact phrase match terms as well as long tail phrases.

A solid internal linking system would enable a greater number of internal pages to appear in search engine results. This was important for number of performance objectives, including the monthly Toyota grading evaluations.

External Links

While it was important to link the pages together, it was also necessary to link out to high authority sites.

Here are a few reasons:

Google recognizes that good sites link to other good sites. And of course, we wanted our clients to be perceived as high quality sites.

One study was performed on a set of ten newly developed sites. Half of them had external links, while the other half did not. The sites with the outbound links out performed the other half siginificantly in their rankings.

External links connect sites to networks of more powerful sites. So linking to a site like Kelly Blue Book would create a connection to this influencer and their hub. Such links emphasize to Google, the niche that a site belongs to.

Connecting to influential hubs helps smaller sites benefit from this association. Alternatively, search engines see unconnected sites, almost like isolated islands. And it becomes difficult for them to know what niche they belong to.

The writers were given the following rule of thumb to apply. Every page of content on a site was to have:

• a natural number of links coming in from other pages

• a natural number of links pointing out to other pages on the site

In conclusion, a solid internal linking structure served to help a greater number of internal pages get noticed. And external links served to contribute to improved ranking performance (among other factors).

Structured Markup

The actual content on a page tells search engine what is being discussed. But it is even possible to add an additional meta layer of information to convey how the page is useful to users. This is what schema markup does.

In a search engine result, additional labels are added. Examples might include:

• pricing information

• event dates

• specials

• features

Although structured data was being implemented by the programming team on specific car products, I introduced the use of schema markup (through the existing resource offered by Google Webmaster) as a recommended process to be used for ordinary content pages.

This was especially important for those that have a higher potential of indexing in search engine results.

Outreach - For Press And Quality Backlinks

Although social sharing sites serve as a safe source of backlinks, it was still necessary to acquire other types of links.

For local SEO purposes, acquiring links from influencers within the same region as the dealerships became important.

I decided to focus on nearby colleges and local newspapers for this purpose.

Local Colleges

Since .edu domains offer particularly powerful inbound links for SEO, it made sense to reach out to local colleges near the dealerships.

For this initiative, I generated outreach letter template. The messaging requested that a link to the dealership site be placed on appropriate resource pages offered by the school.

Students could then learn more about the year round college grad rebate program maintained by the dealer.

Furthermore, I also requested content opportunities on behalf of the client, having to do with the topic of business and career advice for aspiring young adults.

Articles published in the school’s newspapers would be most ideal.

Local Newspapers

Another outreach target that I felt would benefit the dealership sites included local newspapers. Not only would this serve as a potent source of backlinks, but these articles would also index highly on the dealer’s own search engine results page.

Since the Toyota sites were being evaluated and penalized for the presence of "disfavored results" (e.g. competitor dealerships), including a greater number of highly ranked content associated with the dealerships would help push down these undesired results.

Links from colleges and newspapers would also give our clients a much stronger competitive edge over other similar dealerships in their area.

Automated Backlinking Solution

Although outreach is one way to acquire high valued, content opportunities, it is also possible to automate the process of acquiring backlinks. One tip, suggested by a renowned SEO expert, was to create a free image gallery page.

The idea is quite simple.

Free images could be offered to niche bloggers in exchange for a link posted back to the main dealership site. Everyone likes to receive free gifts and offerings. Thus the incentive of free images would present a more compelling reason for an influencer to post a link on behalf of our dealership clients, than the other route of simply asking them to.

Subdomain Sites

For the Toyota evaluations, FusionZONE was responsible for eliminating disfavored results that appeared when a user types in the dealership's name. This included competitor dealerships.

Content published by local colleges and newspapers is indexable and ranks highly.

But we still needed more sources. Another strategy that I aimed to implement was the use of subdomain sites.

Content To Meet User Intent

The subdomain sites themselves could be quickly generated by the programming team. All that was needed was a smart content strategy.

I analyzed Google results to see what types of car dealership pages were actually being indexed by Google.

Based on this, I noticed a rather consistent trend of content being served which as related to user demand or intent.

It seemed that the search engine anticipates the probable intent of users when they perform a search. Thus, it made sense to provide a stronger set of content which helps meet this type of demand.

Demand for Used Cars

Users typically want to find great value deals on quality pre-owned cars. Therefore a subdomain on the subject of used cars ( i.e. what factors to look for, what to avoid etc.) would then have links pointing to the used car inventory of the site.

Demand for Testimonials

Likewise, users would want to know more about the reputation of the dealership. A subdomain on the customer feedback would not only draw attention to positive reviews, but also offer other tidbits of information on how the dealership relates to their customers:

• what goes on during a test drive

• anecdotal details about how the sales staff ensures a quality over all customer experience.  

• meet the sales staff" section

Additionally, having subdomains on geographic topics would help benefit the local SEO goals of the dealership.

In other words, they would establish a stronger association between the dealership name, their offerings and their city.

Content would include:

• popular restaurants and shopping areas

• sight seeing spots

• streets and routes for recommended drives and tours

• landmarks

• historical tourist destinations

• beaches

• local bodies of water etc

A major challenge to pushing down competitor sites was the issue of their longevity.

Older more established sites would be harder to surpass in rankings. Simply publishing subdomain sites would surely not be a quick fix solution.

Therefore, a more realistic goal for this initiative would be to produce an abundance of quality content over the course of time that would rival the informational offerings of competitor sites.

One benefit of subdomain sites is that they are separate from the main site. Therefore, such content is viewed as being more shareable and contribute to better results from backlinking.

Content Generation Software

A huge challenge for FusionZONE (as well as SEO campaigns in general) is being able to quickly produce large amounts of unique, high quality content within a short time frame.

Duplicate content is more or less likely to be penalized by Google. And thus it is a concern for clients.

Although the company has a small team of writers, the overall demand for content was constantly overwhelming.

Combining Machine Efficiency With Human Skill

In my research, I stumbled upon the concept of content generation software. I realize that machines can never replace well written articles created by skilled humans.

However, it is possible for high quality software with advanced algorithms to closely approximate these outcomes. And a writer could then make final quick edits.

Software With Advanced Language Processing

Really basic spinning programs will identify opportunities for replacing parts of sentences with synonyms and closely related phrases.

However, they are not able to process certain nuances They might confuse a car model, for example, with a fashion model. And the final spun results would not make sense.

However, more sophisticated software products using artificial intelligence have been developed to overcome this limitation.

One such program is Word AI. Their site states:

" Unlike other spinners, WordAi fully understands what each word content means. It doesn't view sentences as just a list of words, it views them as real things that interact with each other." 

Another example is Chimp Rewriter. On their site, they mention:

" Chimp Rewriter's technology is built upon exhaustive research on Natural Language Processing. This is a huge field of Artificial Intelligence enriched by students and professors at Stanford, UPenn, MIT and more. It has even been sponsored by big players like Facebook, Google and Microsoft. In plain English, that means Chimp Rewriter understands content like a human, not a machine. "

Combining Content Software

Both Chimp Rewriter and Word AI can be integrated as third party API's into a primary software program called SEO Content Machine.

SCM also allows users to specify the number of unique content pieces desired. It also offers the ability to set multiple tasks at once, even when you are away from the computer. Furthermore,  it can be used with Copyscape to check for duplicate content.

In terms of projects, there are numerous cases where the subject matter remains consistent across sites and the need for originality is quite strong. This includes:

• new car inventory pages (general listing)

• used car inventory pages (general listing)

• model specific inventory pages (e.g. pages specific to Toyota Camry)

• research pages on specific models ( general information, such as specs, features etc. that customers would be interested in )

• model comparison pages (e.g. comparing Honda Civic to the Toyota Camry )

• "About Us" descriptions, to be used on social sharing sites

• contextual content for posting backlinks on social sharing sites

Such tasks are incredibly time consuming. Thus it makes sense to first create seed content and making use of quality software to generate natural, well written variations.

Final edits can then be done by a writer to perfect the final outcome.

Many of the pages across the dealership sites lacked content altogether. Therefore, it was not even possible to connect pages using internal links or insert external links, as described earlier.

Expediting the content creation process through the use of software would enable the dealerships to finally benefit from these small, but important details.

Renowned Citation Service For Local SEO Results

It is the primary goal of car dealerships to develop a strong online association with their city name.

For example, A Toyota dealership in Santa Monica would want to rank highly for search queries such as:

• best Toyota dealership in Los Angeles

• best Toyota dealership in Santa Monica

• used Toyota Santa Monica

• used Toyota Prius Santa Monica

A cornerstone strategy for any local SEO campaign is to build a strong repertoire of citation (directory) listings to help businesses strengthen this association, in how they appear to search engines.

This includes listings and urls on sites like Yelp, City Search and Yellow pages, to name a few.

However, there are hundreds of sites that can be leveraged.

Building too many links, too fast can actually hurt a site's rankings. This rate of link acquisition is seen by search engines as unnatural and a deliberate attempt to manipulate their system.

However, creating citation listings is acceptable, since it is considered to be an expected business practice.

The actual process involved in citation building is time consuming.

And the process includes many small details that are not easily addressed. Therefore, many agencies that offer local SEO services choose outside providers who specialize in this area. However, this will not automatically guarantee results. It therefore becomes essential to choose the right service.

Since I was in charge of many sites at FusionZONE, the use of a reputable service was a logical approach, as opposed to creating business listings myself, while ensuring NAP (name, address and phone number) consistency.

FusionZONE had used similar providers in the past, but with poor results.

In my research on citation building companies, I discovered White Spark, a brand that is backed by amazing real life testimonials submitted by agencies, excited to report real results:

"Life saver, time saver, and gets results. Whitespark's citation submission (very) noticeably improved ranking for both my website and my client's sites. Also excited to try out their ranking tracker to provide more detailed keyword reports to my clients. Both Whitespark's tools/services are awesome" - Google user

"I can't think of a bigger "no-brainer" local optimization service to utilize than Whitespark's Citation Building Service. Just do it! There's no possible way you can lose. The value/reward ratio is unbeatable. In fact, you're losing out by not using this fantastic service! It's the first thing I tell any local business to do if they're trying to improve their local SEO." - Dan Shure

"Whitespark's citation building service has been a great resource for our citation campaigns. Knowing that their team is trained and capable of producing good work allows us to focus on the hundred other things we need to work on during a local SEO campaign, and helps us produce faster results for our local clients." - Kane Jamison

" I started using Whitespark's Citation Service when it was first introduced and haven't questioned that decision since. We work with a lot of SMB's and this service is a perfect compliment to their overall search strategies. Not to mention Whitespark's customer service, which is impeccable." - Mark Kennedy

Whereas other service providers use automation to create directory listings, White Spark has a team of specialists who carefully select which sites to use and hand submit the necessary details. This ensures a higher degree of overall quality that in order to be picked up by search engines. And it is also a key element to their success.

Conclusion

Again, Google's job is to meet user demand with the right supply. Search engine results can be regarded as a type of (informational) buyer's market. The online user is the buyer and the individual site is the (informational) seller.

A good analogy is building a house from the ground up with the intention to sell it. To list the house on the market, you have to first complete the process of building. In the end, it should have the types of features and amenities that would most appeal to any given buyer.

You cannot reasonably expect to receive the rewards of the final sale when you have not finished building the foundation.

The same is true for a website. However, the building process doesn't just involve finishing the website. It also involves the overall set of communication to the end user, optimizing it for both people and search engines. This includes onsite content, as well as social media content.

While on-site SEO is often limited to basic signals of H1 headers, H2 subheadings, urls and SEO titles, the final results of any campaigns must successfully cater to the needs of actual humans in mind.

The final package should clearly offer a most rewarding and enjoyable user experience. This includes offering type of information and content that people would want to read about and further explore. It needs to answer the questions that a user would want to know. And the final results need to demonstrate a superb, job of engaging the user, above and beyond other competitors within your space.

Strong Foundations For Lasting Success

Whether we are speaking about a house or an online campaign, a strong foundation is essential. If you succeed in making your content and overall presence compelling, other people will happily link back to your site.

And you can then reap the benefits of ongoing social signals.

Actual evidence of other people sharing and linking back to your site is perceived by search engines as strong indicators that your site does indeed meet the informational demand of real users within your niche.

Thus all the strategies strategies listed above can be likened to the steps needed to reach the pivotal point where long term rewards can finally be reaped. Without a solid foundation, any gains achieved will be fleeting and short lived.

The actual process of a successful campaign can be expected to require an immense amount of time and energy at first to reach the smooth momentum that is desired in the end.

I was brought on by a company called FusionZONE Automotive to broaden the scope of their existing SEO practices. FusionZONE specializes in the development of responsive websites for car dealerships. However, they also provide additional offerings such as SEO, social media and digital PR. 

Much of their existing SEO results were being achieved through technical optimizations. The company wanted to go beyond  their current level of the on-site page factors that they had been implementing, such as content quality, H1/H2 headers, SEO title and primary keyword usage within the url. However, the area of off-site SEO (e.g. backlinks) was missing from their offering set. FusionZONE was interested in aligning their services with the latest trends in SEO.

Side Note: In the past, SEO was highly contingent on the number of backlinks pointing to a site. However, because this was being used to manipulate search algorithms, Google started penalizing poor quality backlinks through their Panda update.  Now, it is more essential for brands to create top quality content in order to generate authentic forms of signals which demonstrate that their online presence truly meets the demands of users.

Google is ultimately designed to meet (informational) demand with the right supply. They have a vested interest to do so since the success of their ads depends on getting people to use Google, and not other search engines.Therefore, site  features and design alone are oftentimes insufficient for achieving long term search exposure. Content and user experience must be developed to produce a solid sense that the site offers exactly what users are hoping to find. And there must also be tangible indicators in the form of quality backlinks and even social signals which communicate this message to Google. 

While at FusionZONE, I worked on introducing new practices for long term SEO success, while creating specific, trackable processes for executing upon these strategies. 

Safe Backlinking System

Google continues to rely on backlinking as a signal for understanding the quality of a site page as well as it's value and  usefulness to users. The quality of the link source is essential for achieving the benefits of backlinking strategies and avoiding penalties.

A Natural Backlinking Profile of Do-Follow and No-Follow Links

Furthermore, whether the links are do-follow or no-follow, also matters. Do-follow links impart direct SEO benefits. However, it is important to include no-follow links for a more natural looking backlink profile. No-follow links also help to alert search engines of content that might otherwise have gone unnoticed. 

Using Social Sites -  Simple Tools For Big Objectives

 I identified respectable social sharing/curation sites to be used as sources of safe backlinks. Although the following list may strike some as being simple and unsophisticated solutions, their value cannot be underestimated. Using these sites, a backlinking campaign would benefit from high domain and page authority sources that are known to be reputable. 

• Blogger ( A Google product which is crawled very frequently by the search engine). Offers do-follow, direct links
• Tumblr - Offers do-follow, direct links
• Google Plus (Another Google product which has been known to index new content rather quickly)
• Pinterest
• Flickr
• Slideshare

Due to their popularity, these sites are also crawled more frequently by search engines. This is important for getting links discovered in a more timely fashion. 

Quality, Crawlable Descriptions

One thing to note is that these sites care strongly about quality user experiences. Therefore, posting urls and cursory text is insufficient for having the links actually be noticed.  

 I made it a point to small amounts of time to create original short snippets of thoughtful, informative and engaging content as a prime (searchable) context for the links to be placed. 

The orignal hand created descriptions created could then be repurposed into additional content for future use, with the help of high quality spinning software (that utilizes artificial intelligence to reproduce natural human language patterns). 

One rule to remember when it comes to backlinks is that the harder it is to attain, the more valuable it is. While it might be easier to simply add the url into a field, a simple well crafted description does add greater value to the process. 

 Simple Process For Indexing Backlinks

Simply posting a backlink is just the first step. It is important for the posted link to be indexed in search engines. I maintained a tracking spreadsheet for all the inbound links created from the six sites listed above.

This included meticulous records of the dates posted. And this system also included a column for checking their index status. The process involved inputting the backlink urlinto the Google search field to see if it was indexed. If not,  a notification would say that the results could not be found.

When analyzing the backlinking results of the different social sites mentioned earlier, I found that Blogger's content was the quickest to be indexed out of the set. Therefore, part of the follow up process for indexing links would involve using this blog site to create content which included the backlink. 

Alternatively, it is known that pinging tools and social bookmarking tools do exist for this purpose. However,  the results are not always guaranteed. 

Writer Guidelines For Richer Content

Quality content is not a "nice to have" in SEO. It's a must have. Google loves authoritative content and penalizes thin content. The primary job of it's algorithms is to help users find the best answers to their search queries. Therefore, superficial, word-filling content will not suffice. Furthermore, studies have shown a rather strong correlation between content length and actual ranking performance. 

One of the key challenges for the writing team was to continuously meet deadlines for numerous assignments. The strong emphasis on timeliness compromised the quality of information being offered.  The writers did not have time to gather the facts they needed for the most optimal content. However, as Google compares content to others within the same niche, it was important to strike the right balance between quality and quantity.

So the question became, how can the team create better, more informative content in a time efficient manner. 

I came up with the solution of drafting writer guidelines as a resource for creating information-rich content. I was able to quickly compile necessary facts ( some mandatory and some optional).  And furthermore, I outlined an overall structure with a clear, logical flow that would best help answer questions the questions of regular people. 

The use of pre-made guidelines helped writers quickly access facts and information they needed. Their job became to simply refine the information into a clear, well written final piece. 

Internal Linking and External Linking to Site Pages

It was typical to see the homepages of the dealership sites rank in search engines. However, internal pages struggled to gain more visibility. Thus it became necessary to connect the pages together. The strong page authority of the homepage could then become more evenly distributed throughout the other pages of the site.

Internal links

However, although FusionZONE had been creating content for dealership pages, the company had not yet instilled the process of connecting all the pages together by inserting internal links.

I educated team members, including our staff writers on:

the rationale for inserting internal links

how to create SEO friendly anchor text for these links, using a combination of exact phrase match terms as well as long tail phrases. 

External Links

While it was important to link the pages together, it was also necessary to include external links to high authority sites.  Here are a few reasons why.

• Google recognizes that good sites link to other good sites. And of course, we wanted our clients to be perceived as high quality sites.

• One study was performed on  a set of ten newly developed sites. Half of them had external links, while the other half did not. The sites with the outbound links out performed the other half siginificantly in their rankings.

• External links connect sites to networks of more powerful sites. So linking to a site like Kelly Blue Book would create a connection to this influencer and their hub. Such links emphasize to Google, the niche that a site belongs to. 

• Failing to link to powerful influencer hubs causes a site to be seen by search algorithms as an isolated island, so to speak. And in worst cases, this can even cause sites and their content to be harder for search engines to find. 

The writers wer given the following rule of thumb to apply.  Every page of content on a site was to have:

• a natural number of  links coming in from other pages

• a natural number of links pointing out to other pages on the site

Outreach - For Press And Quality Backlinks

Although social sharing sites serve as a safe source of backlinks, it was still important to acquire other types of  links. Since the dealerships are interested in improveing their local SEO, it became necessary to target  well established authorities within their area. I decided to focus on nearby colleges and local newspapers. 

Colleges

Since .edu domains are particularly powerful, it made sense to reach out to local colleges near the dealerships. For this initiative, I generated outreach letter template requesting that a link be placed to the dealership on any online resources pages. Students could then learn more about the year round college grad rebate program maintained by the dealer. Furthermore, I also requested content opportunities on behalf of the client,  having to do with the topic of business and career advice for aspiring young adults. 

Newspapers

Another outreach target that I felt would benefit the dealership sites included local newspapers. Not only would this serve as a potent source of backlinks, but a publshed article would also index highly on the dealers' (name specific) search engine results page.  Since the Toyota sites were being evaluated and penalized for the presence of "disfavored results" (e.g. competitor dealerships), including a greater number of highly ranked content associated with the dealerships would help push down these undesired results. 

Competitive analysis performed on the backlink profiles of other dealerships showed that many of their inbound links came from minor, lesser known sources.

For the most part, many of these brands were small and lacked recognition or community influence. Thus, outreach to local colleges and newspapers would enable a much stronger competitive edge over other dealerships in their area. 

Automated Backlinking Solution

Although outreach is one way to acquire high valued, content opportunities, it is also possible to automate the process of acquiring backlinks One tip, suggested  by a renowned SEO expert, was to create a free image gallery page. The idea is quite simple.

Free images could be offered to niche bloggers in exchange for a link posted back to the main dealership site. Everyone likes to receive free gifts and offerings. Thus the incentive of free images would present a more compelling reason for an influencer to post a link on behalf of our dealership clients, than the other route of simply asking them to. 

Subdomain Sites

For the Toyota evaluations, FusionZONE was responsible for eliminating disfavored results that appeared  when a user types in the dealership's name. This includes competitor dealerships.

Content published by local colleges and newspapers is indexable and ranks highly. But we still needed more sources. Another strategy that I aimed to implement was the use of subdomain sites. 

Content To Meet User Intent

Subdomains could be quickly generated by the programming team.  I analyzed Google results to see what types of pages Google was indexing. I noticed a rather consistent trend of serving content related to user demand or intent.

It seemed that the search engine anticipates the likely intent of users when they perform a search. Thus, it made sense to provide a stronger body of content which helps meet  this type of demand. 

Demand for Used Cars

Users typically want to find great value deals on quality pre-owned cars. Therefore a subdomain on the subject of used cars ( i.e. what  factors to look for, what to avoid etc.) would have links pointing to the used car inventory of the site.

Demand for Testimonials

Likewise, users would want to know more about the reputation of the dealership. A subdomain on the customer feedback would not only draw attention to positive reviews, but highlight other types of content on how the dealership relates to their customers:

• what goes on during a test drive
• annecdotal details about how the sales staff ensures a quality over all customer experience. 
• "meet the sales staff" section

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www.dermhairclinic.com/ugraft-patent-body-hair-transplant-african-american/

www.dermhairclinic.com/body-hair-transplant-tricopigmentation-patient-results/

www.dermhairclinic.com/excessive-donor-harvesting/

www.dermhairclinic.com/leg-hair-grafts-longevity-nine-year-update/

www.dermhairclinic.com/dermatology-times-leg-hairs-grafts-hairline/

www.dermhairclinic.com/eyebrow-transplant-dermsurgery-jaad/

www.dermhairclinic.com/eyebrow-transplant-dermsurgery-jaad/

www.dermhairclinic.com/nigella-sativa-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/amla-natural-hair-loss-treatment/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-chemotherapy/

www.dermhairclinic.com/henna-crowns-hair-loss-women/

www.dermhairclinic.com/cystine-hair-restoration/

www.dermhairclinic.com/vitamins-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-associations/

www.dermhairclinic.com/processing-natural-hair-ingredients/

www.dermhairclinic.com/building-confidence-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/early-hair-loss-insulin/

www.dermhairclinic.com/gluten-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/black-hair-moisturizing-tips/

www.dermhairclinic.com/black-hair-care-relaxing/

www.dermhairclinic.com/choosing-hair-restoration-accepting-baldness/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-transplant-graft-quantity/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-oral-contraceptives/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-aspartame/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-transplant-phases/

www.dermhairclinic.com/strip-fue-growth-yield/

www.dermhairclinic.com/asiasari-radix-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/polygonum-multiflorum-extract/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-candidate/

www.dermhairclinic.com/beyonce-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-attitudes-opinions/

www.dermhairclinic.com/natural-oils-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-care-advice-black-females/

www.dermhairclinic.com/female-hair-loss-facts/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-research-pumpkin-seed-oil/

www.dermhairclinic.com/theradome-laser-female-hair-loss-treatment/

www.dermhairclinic.com/shiseido-hair-restoration-center/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-treatment-telogen-effluvium/

www.dermhairclinic.com/identical-twins-donor-follicles-hair-transplantation/

www.dermhairclinic.com/avoiding-hair-restoration-scams/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hairline-recession-maturation-difference/

www.dermhairclinic.com/spironolactone-hair-loss-medication/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-help-social-media/

www.dermhairclinic.com/advanced-fue-hair-restoration-illustrations/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-research-eighth-world-congress-may-2014/

www.dermhairclinic.com/beard-hair-hipster-trend-cosmetic-procedures-men/

www.dermhairclinic.com/dpa-dupa-androgenic-alopecia-hair-thinning/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-benefits-strip-surgery-comparison/

www.dermhairclinic.com/saw-palmetto-thinning-hair-baldness/

www.dermhairclinic.com/calum-best-second-fue-transplant/

www.dermhairclinic.com/ugraft-eyelash-transplant-now-available-to-restore-lashes/

www.dermhairclinic.com/kim-kardashian-thinning-baldness-extensions/

www.dermhairclinic.com/bmi-and-causes-for-severe-hair-loss-in-men/

www.dermhairclinic.com/gravity-theory-of-hair-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/taking-asprin-and-minoxidil-for-hair-restoration/

www.dermhairclinic.com/leg-hair-hollywood-reporter-hairline-restoration/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-follicle-cloning-research-columbia-university/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-results-hair-loss-thinning-wayne-rooney-injury/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-research-on-baldness-factors/

www.dermhairclinic.com/too-late-hair-restoration-severe-baldness/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-transplant-hide-strip-scars-jeremy-piven/

www.dermhairclinic.com/patrick-stewart-severe-baldness-advanced-fue/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-hairline-facial-appearance/

www.dermhairclinic.com/the-power-donut-baldness-body-hair-transplant/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-emotional-issues-men/

www.dermhairclinic.com/dht-hair-loss-cause/

www.dermhairclinic.com/dr-umar-real-self-100-award-recipient/

www.dermhairclinic.com/combovers-versus-fue-hair-transplant-ugraft/

www.dermhairclinic.com/aj-backstreet-boy-hair-restoration/

www.dermhairclinic.com/top-hairstyles-before-hair-transplant/

www.dermhairclinic.com/sunscreen-hair-loss-thinning/

www.dermhairclinic.com/advanced-follicular-unit-extraction-evolution-hair-restoration/

Q&A

www.dermhairclinic.com/follicular-unit-extraction-psoriasis/

www.dermhairclinic.com/strip-fue-growth-yield/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-transplant-phases/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-restoration-candidate/

www.dermhairclinic.com/acne-keloidalis-nuchae-natural-treatment/

www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-transplant-graft-repositioning/

www.dermhairclinic.com/different-graft-counts-from-hair-transplant-doctors/

www.dermhairclinic.com/oral-minoxidil-hair-loss-drug/

www.dermhairclinic.com/finpecia-hair-loss-medication/

www.dermhairclinic.com/follicular-unit-graft-size/

www.dermhairclinic.com/liposomal-atp-hair-transplantation/

www.dermhairclinic.com/concealers-post-hair-restoration-surgery/

www.dermhairclinic.com/sunscreen-after-fue-hair-transplant-operation/

www.dermhairclinic.com/iron-deficiencies-hair-restoration-and-loss/

www.dermhairclinic.com/surgeon-qualtifications-fue-hair-transplant/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-hair-transplant-yield/

www.dermhairclinic.com/preparation-hair-restoration-consultation/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-hair-restoration-stop-rogaine-propecia/

www.dermhairclinic.com/different-follicular-units-fue-hair-transplant/

www.dermhairclinic.com/best-punch-size-fue-hair-restoration/

www.dermhairclinic.com/fue-hair-restoration-stop-rogaine-propecia/

PRESS RELEASES

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/04/prweb12635844.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/09/prweb12980782.htm

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/08/prweb12888590.htm

http://www.bustle.com/articles/121247-does-acne-get-worse-in-the-winter-or-is-that-just-a-myth-photos -----> http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/01/prweb11456395.htm

http://beautygate.info/does-acne-get-worse-in-the-winter-or-is-that-just-a-myth-photos-bustle-3/

SKIN AND ANTI-AGING ARTICLES AND POSTS

Services and Expert Information

www.finetouchdermatology.com/acne-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/acne-scars-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/age-spots-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/belotero-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/birthmark-removal-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/botox-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/botox-for-excess-sweating-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/crows-feet-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/frown-lines-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/juvederm-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/latisse-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-dermatologist-laugh-lines-wrinkles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/leg-vein-removal-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/lip-enhancement-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/non-surgical-facial-contouring-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/non-surgical-jowl-lift-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/non-surgical-nose-job-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-non-surgical-cheek-lift/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/radiesse-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/restylane-perlane-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/rosacea-services/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/under-eye-wrinkles-services/

Blog Posts

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-celebrity-cameron-diaz-acne-treatment-struggles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/botox-info-los-angeles-patients-in-their-twenties/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-info-treatment-of-dark-circles-undereye-wrinkles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-celebrities-britney-spears-kendall-jenner-lip-enhancement-speculations/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/treatment-wrinkles-around-mouth-from-water-bottles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/treatment-wrinkles-around-mouth-from-water-bottles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-celebrity-jennifer-aniston-fraxel-laser-treatment/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/celebrities-and-acne-treatment/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-patient-info-alcohol-sagging-aging-skin/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-info-choosing-laser-for-hair-removal/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/holiday-gift-ideas-los-angeles-botox-dermal-fillers/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-skin-info-wrinkle-treatment-products-with-gold/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-info-laugh-lines-too-much-filler/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/temporary-tattoos-los-angeles-patient-info-alternative-to-laser-removal/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-patient-info-snail-slime-for-preventing-and-treating-wrinkles/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-treatment-dark-under-eye-circles-wrinkles-radiesse/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-beverly-hills-brandi-glanville-non-surgical-nose-job/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/research-botox-versus-dysport-los-angeles-patient-results/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/marilyn-monroe-los-angeles-celebrity-chin-augmentation-surgical-versus-non-surgical-options/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-patient-info-ipledge-acne-treatment-pregnancy/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-celebrity-kim-kardashian-liposuction-losing-pregnancy-weight/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-celebrity-kelly-osbourne-tattoo-removal-laser-treatments/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/information-juvederm-voluma-los-angeles-patient-education/

www.finetouchdermatology.com/eyelash-transplant-grooming-heated-manual-lash-curlers/

Although my focus has been on offsite and onsite SEO projects I was also given the responsibilty of managing webmasters to ensure the completion of technical tasks. 

Here are examples of technical areas that needed to be addressed. 

-  robots.txt issues causing errors being reported by tools like Bing and Google webmaster tools

-  consolidation of sitemaps from both sites (DHC and FTD) into a single sitemap for the up and coming Dr. U site.

-  multiple variations of urls being generated which were creating duplicate content issues reported by SEO tools like Google Webmaster

-  http/ https errors which resulted in about 50% of submitted urls being indexed

- conversion of the new Dr U site to the https domain

- update of the disavow list for the new site to reflect change from http to https

- transfer of old websites to subdirectories or subdomains on dru.com

- structured data errors reported by Google Webmaster Tools 

- HTML improvements reported by Google Webmaster tools

- multiple H1 tags being generated within content due to html coding error within the site's template

- missing descriptions in the head section of the page

- visibility issues due to certain pages having redirects

Project Management Duties 

I was required to keep a master spreadsheet of itemized issues and to track their progress to completion. Additionally, I opened dialogues in Basecamp to discuss pending issues that required input from the owner, or to just let him know the status of certain tasks.

Additionally, I was required to draft summary documents to describe issues to the webmaster and to also have written copies of what was described. This was followed up with phone meetings. I established two phone meetings per week. One on Monday to introduce tasks and one on Friday to mark completed items as well as pending issues. 

The requested offsite SEO strategies for the hair transplant site (www.dermhairclinic.com) and the cosmetic procedures site (www.finetouchdermatology.com) included:

(1) continued development of mini-sites

(2) social media

(3) procurement of quality backlinks from reputed high page ranked sites

Mini-Sites

The clinic maintained a large group of mini-sites. Here are a few examples that I created high quality content for on a regular basis:

(1) www.fuehairrestoration.net 

(2) www.acnekeloidalisnuchae.com 

(3) www.fuehairtransplant-info.com

(4) www.hairrestorationquestion.scom

The requested strategy was to create interesting content focused on the target key terms that were inherent in the url. Each post was to have a featured imagea along with  1-3 images in the body with optimized meta-data for:

(1) title

(2) description

(3) alt text

(4) image title attribute

Also since only one H1 header was allowed per page, the subheadings were created using the H2 tags to include reference to the target keyword phrases, without appearing contrived.  

Furthermore, about one out of three or four external links pointed to either:

(1) contextual content from the main site

(2) articles that lived off the main site, but which included links (to the main site)

The content body was optimized for:

(1) SEO title

(2) SEO description

(3) tags

Niche Forums

Another source of backlinks included well respected niche community sites. This included forums where hair transplant surgeons regularly post before and after patient photos of their most recent cases.

I was requested to create responses of about 300 words and to include several before and after photos to depict different angles of the final results. I also included a link at the end of the content which pointed to the patient's main case study which lived on our site. 

Here are several examples of postings that I created:

Hair Restoration Network

Hair Site

Hair Loss Help

Award Winning Participation on Real Self

Real Self is the leading community site where individuals can interact with real doctors and ask questions about  cosmetic procedures as well as skin and hair issues. I had gained a very solid working knowlege of the clinic's offerings and the general concept behind how treatments worked to create results. Therefore, I was able to answer very basic questions that did not require  high level medical expertise (e.g. drug interactions). Additionally with my background and experience in social media, marketing and PR, I was also able to function as a reliable advocate for the clinic's philosophy and methodologies. Although I could express an opinion, I always encouraged patients to consult with a physician on their particular issue. And for legal reasons,  I refrained from defining replies as absolute solutions. 

Here are several examples of responses I generated on Real Self

[ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KhAvrfylvLNV5Ec9sTknWIGCbCMOtQ3ERS0Yq-YBihs/edit?usp=sharing ]

[ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BbwCRHVWeSN4S35TZydjgtMCARxCUSeC3icS5KvHuNY/edit?usp=sharing ]

[ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BbwCRHVWeSN4S35TZydjgtMCARxCUSeC3icS5KvHuNY/edit?usp=sharing ]

Due to the volume and consistency of postings that I generated, the clinic was able to rank among the top 100 physicians members the site and earn the Real Self 100 award. The first time we won this award was in 2013.  And the second time we won the award was in 2014. All the responses that were contributed to these awards were generated by me. 

Real Self 100 doctors had their photos showcased in a digital collage that was showcased in Times Square New York. 

2013 [ www.dermhairclinic.com/dr-umar-real-self-100-award-recipient/ ] 

2014 [ www.dermhairclinic.com/hair-loss-help-social-media/ ] 

Backlinks From High Page Rank Sites

One of the projects I worked on involved identifying sites with high page rank that could help serve as a source of quality backlinks to the main sites. I identified several curation sites that I carefully populated with a combination of original content that I created, as well as engaging content from other sources. 

Here is a small subset of these sites:

Pearl Trees  (PR= 6, although it used to be a PR=7) 

[ http://www.pearltrees.com/dr_u#l724 ] 

Soup.io  (PR =5) 

[ http://www.scoop.it/t/hair-loss-baldness-hair-transplants ]

Scoop.it (PR=7)

[ http://www.scoop.it/t/hair-loss-baldness-hair-transplants ] 

Pinterest  (PR = 9) 

[ https://www.pinterest.com/dru_md/ ] 

Additionally I created content for e-book creation sites. One of these included Issuu.com which has a page rank of 9. 

[ https://issuu.com/dermhair ] 

Social Media

For the hair transplant and the cometic procedures site, SEO was a top priority over social media. Our social sites were therefore focused on the clinic's content, as opposed to being heavily curated.

Based on the success of Dogasaur;s Facebook ad, I proposed a similar type of social ad aimed at men suffering from hair loss. The clinic allocated a budget og $25/ day. And from May 2013 to October 2013,  the followers grew from 1600 to 42,924. And by August 2015, the clinic had well over 100k followers. 

Twitter was used to  engage in conversations with hair loss sufferers as well as bloggers. Pinterest was used as a high PR sorce of backlinks, And Instagram was used to help showcase before and after patient images.

Here is a document with sample content

[ https://docs.google.com/document/d/110uLvRDN19QtvpTaTzrPVgOPssZugGHl-4pBStFeOZ4/edit?usp=sharing ]

Onsite SEO

After you know what your keywords should be, you can get started applying your keyword research to your SEO efforts. Onsite SEO is fairly straightforward. After you've identified the most relevant keywords for each page of your site and weighed search volume vs. competition/difficulty, it's time to start crafting your content around those keywords.

You have to make sure that you are using the keywords appropriately all throughout the copy on your website. It’s also important to use those keywords in the headlines and titles on each of those pages. Don’t forget to use your target keywords in the meta tags, meta descriptions, image tags and actual URLs for those pages.

- square2marketing.com

While working on the sites, www.finetouchdermatology.com and www.dermhairclinic.com, I worked extensively to provide optimized content for onsite SEO objectives. 

SEO & Expanding the Conversational Potential of Hair Transplant and Other Cosmetic Procedure Topics

I was given an official list of target keywords (primary and secondary). Initially, I was asked to draft  more technical forms of content that strictly adhered to the primary keywords on the list. Later on, I was given the freedom to generate socially engaging topics that were more loosely linked to these terms. 

In each of these articles, I included the main concept of the target key word phrase as natural sounding variations throughout each piece. This was done to avoid potential issues with perceived keyword stuffing. However, the target phrase (and subtle variations) used some regularly throughout the H2 headings to create a more natural quality. 

Here are a few examples from the hair transplant site, www.dermhairclinic.com.

(1) Hairline Recession Versus Hairline Maturation – Know the Difference

[ www.dermhairclinic.com/hairline-recession-maturation-difference/ ]

One of the target keyword phrases was "hairline recession." In this blog post, I sought to pose an interesting question that would pique the interest of men who are experiencing the early signs of hair loss. 

(2) Patrick Stewart’s Baldness Is Treatable With Advanced FUE

[ www.dermhairclinic.com/patrick-stewart-severe-baldness-advanced-fue/ ]

The primary keyword, FUE (form of hair transplant surgery) is extremely competitive. By tying in a recognizeable celebrity name like Patrick Stewart, I intended to add a unique level of distinction by creating greater potential for social conversation and engagement. 

(3) Should You Pursue Hair Restoration or Accept Your Baldness? 

[ www.dermhairclinic.com/choosing-hair-restoration-accepting-baldness/ ]

In this post, I sought to connect the primary keyword phrase, hair restoration, with a social/emotional issue universally faced by men who are losing their hair.

Here are several examples from the female oriented cosmetic procedures site, www.finetouchdermatology.com

(1) Is It Possible To Overfill The Laugh Lines?

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/los-angeles-info-laugh-lines-too-much-filler/ ]

In this post, the target keyword term was "laugh line treatment," The topic concept that I generated was intended to raise a question that would interest anyone who is considering a procedure to fill their laugh lines. 

(2) How Botox and Other Procedures Are Becoming More Popular As Holiday Gifts

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/holiday-gift-ideas-los-angeles-botox-dermal-fillers/ ].

The keyword, "Botox" is highly competive. However, in this blog post, the injectable is tied to the social conversational topic of holiday gifts. It also includes reference to celebrities like Simon Cowell who has given Botox vouchers as gifts. 

(3) Should You Use A Heated or Manual Curler After Your Eyelash Hair Transplant

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/eyelash-transplant-grooming-heated-manual-lash-curlers/ ] .

The clinic offers eyelash hair transplant procedures. And therefore, this is another term that was targeted for SEO. Women who opt for longer lashes will also need a method to keep them curled. Nowadays, there are heated curlers offered as an alternative to the manual devices sold at most drug stores. This post not only targeted the keyword phrase, eyelash hair transplant, but also to pose an intriguing question to women who are interested in this surgery. 

Content Structure and Hierarchy

An important aspect of onsite SEO is a well organized site structure. This includes the primary, authoritative content (usually related to the the tabs along the main navigation). These pieces are linked to sub-categories of other content within the site. And the secondary content is linked to a teriary tier of content, and so on. 

At the clinic we made efforts to strive for this ideal. However, there was a tremendous amount of content which had been created over the years. Therefore, creating the perfect hierarchy remained as an ongoing project. 

Both the hair transplant site and the (female oriented) cosmetic procedures site had main authoritative articles. Each one was centered on a particular offering made available by the clinic, or a target keyword phrase. Here are examples of content pieces that I wrote for both sites.

The target phrase was clearly included in the title. And it was also included either directly or indirectly (i.e. minor variations)in the H2 headers of each piece. Additionally, LSI and more contextual phrases were used with natural, but deliberate regularity throughout each article. 

Hair Transplant Authoritative Articles

(1) Scalp Micropigmentation 

[ www.dermhairclinic.com/scalp-micropigmentation-smp-via-trichopigmentation ]

(2) Eyelash Hair Transplantation

[ www.dermhairclinic.com/eyelash-hair-transplant/ ]

Cosmetic Procedures - Authoritative Articles

For this site, I wrote all of the service page content and authoritive articles. Here are three examples:

(1) Lip Enhancement Services

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/lip-enhancement-services/ ]

(2) Acne Services

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/acne-services/ ]

(3) Non Surgical Nose Job Services

[ www.finetouchdermatology.com/non-surgical-nose-job-services/  ]

For this particular site, we started the process of adding a secondary tier of links to related articles at the bottom. Although I had completed several pages, many of these link sections seem to be missing when I revisited the FTD site. 

Implementing  Contextual Anchor Text 

Based on requests from the clinic, I created unique anchor texts ( for links within the onsite articles and posts)  that reflected subtle, but contextually relevant variations in format and wording.  However, I also retained the original, exact phrase keyword throughout other pieces. 

Meta-Content

Every onsite article and blog post for both sites was extensively optimized through the inclusion of highly descriptive and contextual metacontent for both text and images. Whereas it is a common tendency to simply use a standard set of keyword phrases, I was able to implement a much higher standard by creating more detailed metacontent. I made sure to reference specific elements of the content which might be of interest to the end user. 

For example, within an alt-text field for a patient image, I might use a phrase like "hairline transplant before and after 1500 grafts," as opposed to FUE hair transplant. 

Meta content areas that I consistently populated for the text body included:

(1) description

(2) tags

(3) SEO title

Secondly, I included carefully chosen featured images for every blog post and article. This required another set of meta data which included:

(1) description

(2) alt text

(3) image title attribute

Thirdly, every content piece had between 1-3+ images embedded within the body itself. Each image was also optimized to include contextual information for:

(1) image description

(2) alt text

(3) image title attribute

Again, my intention for populating meta content was to avoid the use of generic keyword phrases, but to add contextual information that highlights unique points of the article, especially if it is something that a user may conduct a search for. 

While working on both sites, I used the following tools very extensively to identify SEO errors (i.e. meta content, headers, links, content issues such as duplicates and lengths and image issues)

(1) Raven Tools

(2) Google Webmaster Tools

(3) Bing Webmaster Tools

MISC

Miscellaneous onsite SEO optimization areas that I worked on included redirects and the consolidation of redundant content on the site

In February 2011, I was hired by Pinagency in Glendale to take the social media efforts of AMI Clubwear (their main client) to a new level. The brand had actually developed a very successful ecommerce site. They were a leading destination for affordable nightclub fashion. Cute and edgy casual wear comprised their secondary niche. 

Comparative brands might include Forever 21 and Misguided which sell trendy styles for young women in their teens, 20s and early 30s.

However, much of their merchandise includes fashionable day wear. Where would a hip, cost consciouos fashionista go to find the right outfit for a night out at a popular club?

A casual search in Google for the term, "clubwear" would result in AMI Clubwear's site at the very top. 

The Need for a More Engaging Social Media Presence

Due to their great job at finding the right price points for their merchandise, AMI had become a leading seller of fashionable clubwear dresses. Repeat customers would also be able to find cute day wear styles as well on the site. And over time, they cultivated large followings on Facebook and Twitter. Despite the sizeable numbers, however, there was still a lot of room for better engagement. 

Also, there was a strong need to showcase the brand in a more positive light. Their rapid growth and large sales volumes made it difficult for the company to process all details needed process deliveries  smoothly and flawlessly. This resulted in disgruntled customers who regularly voiced their frustrations on consumer complaint sites. 

The role of social media became quite important for improving their online reputation. 

While their in-house marketing and PR team regularly posted on AMI's social media accounts, the messaging was often in the form of news and events.  It was weak in terms of truly expressing the brand's coloful personality and even showcasing the hidden gem styles that remained latent on the site. 

Demonstrating The Power of Images in Social Media

Of all AMI's different social media sites, their customers and fans were most active on Facebook. Although the brand created regular posts, their organization lacked a dedicated specialist who would be able to spend time culling the site to carefully select the right material for creating an engaging content strategy. Initially, the majority of their posts were often in the form of quick updates on partnership events sponsored by the company and joint brands. 

I recognized that as a brand whose customers made purchase decisions based on photos, images would hold an extremely important role.There are countless studies in psychology which suggest that people are more receptive to images compared to written text. This is powerfully demonstrated with the success of Pinterest. 

In revitalizing AMI's socally media presence, I decided to make images a priority. One of the main challenges was that the brand developed a following of many different women whose tastes represented a wide range of fashion styles.

To me, it made sense to choose styles (in the form of dresses, tops, skirts and outfits) for social media that had a broad appeal. On the other hand, I felt that it was appropriate to share the brand's penchant for the colorful, the extreme and the eccentric in the form of edgy shoe styles (e.g. heel-less platforms, think Lada Gaga). 

Although the notion of using images seems simplistic, the outcome, in this particular situation was profoundly transformative. 

Here are a few sample screenshots of the types of posts I created. 

Here is a simple, brightly colored dress that I had selected for a post on April 27, 2012. Base on feedback that I saw from other content that I posted, I noticed that many of AMI's fans were resonating with the color orange.  Coupled with the classic lines of this dress and the bold color, I felt this would be well received. This specific post received 878 likes, 25 comments and 16 shares.  It was also common for many of these types of merchandise based posts to receive inquiries by fans, (like Brittany Price) shown below in the screenshot,  expressing interest in purchasing the item (despite the fact that the link to the specific item was included in the post:)) 

I was also

More People Started Talking About AMI Clubwear and Following Their Facebook Page

The admin section of Facebook page had a linear graph which showed an average engagement level of 5,000 people talking about the page. Following the shift to image driven posts, the engagement soared to over three times this baseline to over 18,000 people conversing about the page. This happened within the first month. The number of people talking about the page vacillated, but more or less remained within the range of 15,000 to about 23,000. 

The boosted engagement led to a broader reach of the sponsored story ads. And subsequently, AMI acquired 25.5K new followers between March (301K total followers) to May (326.5 total followers) of that year.

The following screenshot was taken on May 25, 2012. It shows that the page had 328,850 likes and 23,515 people talking about the page.

I joined the Urgent Content team with the main focus on managing the social media campaign for Adobe's Subscription Diaries video series.  However, this client project faced internal delays and decided to postpone their marketing initiatives.

The main project that I worked on was the social/digital PR outreach for a comedy screen writing contest held by the Allance for Family Entertainment (AFE): Search For America's Newest Comedy Writer. 

About the Alliance For Family Entertainment (AFE)

The AFE is a large coalition of U.S. advertisers who is supported by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Collectively, their members represent over $10 billion spent yearly on nation wide television ads. Their membership base includes the following companies.

Since 1998, the AFE has worked to help air high quality, family friendly television shows, incuding"

• Gilmore Girls
• Everybody Hates Chris
• Eight Simple Rules

Screen Writing Comedy Writing Contest

In their efforts to continue offering high quality shows that the entire family can watch, the Alliance for Family Entertainment decided to hold a contest to find a talented comedic screen writer.  

 Urgent Content was hired to help promote the contest online.  My role was to find highly targeted influencers who are connected to groups burgeoning screen writers. The main performance indictor was simply to achieve as many placements as possible across a wide reach. 

Within a time span of about one month, I worked to compile a list of highly relevant sites and blogs. I also contacted influencers within the screen writing niche who would help spread the word about the contest to their followers

SAMPLE PLACEMENTS AND STATS

Here are a few screen shot images of sample placements and stats that resulted by the October 28th deadline. 

Words Trumpet (unique monthly visitors = 1102)

Indiana Film Commission  (unique monthly visitors is 2,373,864)

Minnesota Film Commission (unique monthly visitors = 2673)

Stage 32 (unique monthly visitors = 3199)

Georgia Film Commission - Facebook Page (12,865 followers)

Michigan Film Commission - Facebook Page (7401 followers)

In the final week of the contest, the Facebook reach totaled 25,663.

According to our data collection efforts, the total cumulative reach on Twitter includes approximately 105,378 followers. In just the last week the reach was 45,684.

These numbers reflect an aggregate total. Some of these tweets did not result from UC outreach. For example, Laughspin accounted for 905 individuals. And we’ve estimated collage outreach to include 1469 followers.

Neoganda regularly submits pitches for web development projects within the mainstream entertainment industry. I provided research, ideation and writing support to help the company develop documentation and other material used to vie for a few of these opportunities. 

Project For Wes Craven Movie - My Soul to Take 

(1) True or False- Wes Craven changed his original career as a humanities professor and started in the film industry as a production assistant.

(2) What was the original title of My Soul to Take?

a. Abel’s Revenge

b. Return of the Ripper

c. 25/8

d. 7 Souls

(3) In 1999, Wes Craven directed a movie starring Meryl Streep which was a departure from the horror genre. Instead, it revolved around

a. Music

b. History

c. Romance

d. Comedy

(4) John Kenneth Muir wrote a biography of We Craven, titled: 

a. An Illustrated Guide to Horror Cinema

b. The Mind of Wes Craven

c. Horror and Paradox

d. The Art of Horror

(5) Which of the following celebrities did not appear in Scream 1?

a. Rose McGowan

b. Alyson Hannigan

c. Skeet Ulrich

d. Drew Barrymore

e. Neve Campbell

(6) True or False -The 1977 version of The Hills Have Eyes was about a family’s encounter with evil religious cult members.

a. In the Hills Have Eyes (2006), the people of the hills are

b. religious cult members

c. witches

d. cannibals

e. mutants

(7) Which of the following quotes was not said by Wes Craven?

a. Any horror element is as much psychological as special effects

b. Horror films don’ t create fear, they release it

c. It’s a boot camp for the psyche

d. I like to address the fears of my culture. I believe it’s good to face the enemy for the enemy is fear.

(8.) The original inspiration for Freddy Kruger was

a. A character from Craven’s favorite book

b. Jack the Ripper

c. An encounter with a frightening stranger

d. Charles Manson

(9) Which of the following was the first feature film directed by Wes Craven?

a. Swamp Thing

b. Chiller

c. Deadly Blessing

d. Last House on the Left

(10) True or False- Wes Craven’s early career in film involved working as an assistant editor for Sean Cunningham

(11) Which of the following actresses starred in Cursed?

a. Alyssa Milano

b. Rose McGowen

c. Fairuza Balk

d. Christina Ricci

(12) Which of the following is not true of the movie, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare?

a. Stars Wes Craven as himself

b. Johnny Depp re-emerges from the dead as Nancy’s boyfriend

c. Features Heather Langenkamp, who played Nancy in the original Nightmare on Elm Street.

d. The Nightmare movies served to protect the world from a real demon.

(13) Who did Wes Craven play in Scream 3?

a. Janitor

b. Visitor touring the studio

c. Grandfather

d. Store Clerk

(14) True or False- In the movie Brook Shields plays the monster’s love interest in Swamp Thing.

(15) The movie, Deadly Blessing involves which of the following

a. succubus

b. incubus

c. child demon

d. sorceress

(16) True or False- In the movie People Under the Stairs, the strange owners of the house hide an escaped convict.

(17) Which of these features was the second hit film directed by Wes Craven?

a. A Nightmare on Elm Street

b. The Hills Have Eyes

c. Swamp Thing

d. The People Under the Stairs

(18) Who played the vampire in The Vampire in Brooklyn?

a. Eddie Murphy

b. Robert Pattison

c. Denzel Washington

d. Jaime Foxx

(19.) The Michael Jackson scene was in

a. Scary Movie 1

b. Scary Movie 2

c. Scary Movie 3

d. Scary Movie 4

(20) Where is Elm Street located?

a. San Francisco

b. Milford Pennsylvania

c. Postsdam, New York

d. Waitsburg Washington

(21) What is Wes Craven’s production company called?

a. Craven Maddelena Films

b. Craven Miller Entertainment

c. Craven Paul Productions

d. Craven West Films

iMedia Connection/ Fox Home Entertainment - Mirrors 2 Competition

Neoganda entered an iMedia Connection competition which required the development of a new media/ tech development project that would promote the release of Mirrors2 on DVD during the Halloween season of 2010. 

The company came up with the concept of a branded chat roulette site, specifically designed for the movie. This included the following key features:

• 3 to 8 second custom interstitial videos are inserted between each user skip
• A sub nav of all the 30 to 60 second clips sit below and can be viewed at anytime
• Halloween themed design

Neoganda also wanted to include a social campaign along with their entire submission.  My role was to provide support and general management for this component. The company specified the following requirements:

SOCIAL PLAN

• Rich Media Industry Buzz
• Industry Email Blast
• Industry Blog Post about the innovation of CT in a banner
• Industry blog post on Neoganda and the thinking behind the unit
• http://www.bannerblog.com.au

Startup Segment Buzz

• http://gigaom.com/ and similar sites

Horror Blogs: How to connect with horror fans

• blog seeding and connecting with influencers

Youtube Channel

• Post 30 second clips
• Invite user to create their own clips
• Post user submitted clips from the original Mirrors
• Deleted scenes
• Junket footage
• Feature clips from DVD extras
• Mirrors (original fan mash-ups and parodies)

Facebook

• Start conversations about the story
• Cross post videos from the Youtube channel

Twitter

• Users can tweet out a bit.ly link on the site
• Add content to current Fox Twitter account. http://twitter.com/foxhomeent

Additional

• A Halloween idea to differentiate the site during a period when everyone is simply promoting a scary film.

20th CENTURY FOX, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS - SOCIAL GAME FEATURE 

Neoganda was also interested in being considered for a project offered by 20th Century Fox for the movie, Gulliver's Travels. Promoters of the film were interested in developing a compelling social feature for sites like Facebook. 

Neoganda came up with the following list of concepts.

(1)Similar game to Guitar Hero

• works like this http://www.forbiddenkingdommovie.com/game/
• use the number keys to play a song and get a score. Challenge friends to beat this score

(2) Rock Lyrics

• A line from a rock song is presented to the player. They have to guess the title
• What format is this game/quiz? Facebook app? e-card?

(3) Lilliputian Official Speaketh App

• Write a note to your friends. Translater adds "-eth" to the end of words
• Send to your friends
• Is this a third party app that lives on the Gulliver's Travel's main site? Facebook app?

(5) Building game

• based on client's suggestion (getting Lilliputian players to build something)
• they can build a battleship for example
• this is on the main site?

(6) Full page ad

• Whirlpool to Lilliput
• Ad displays a whirlpool in action which then displays the main site

7. Tourbook

• Do users turn pages by mousing over the top right corner of the book?
• Content is static
• Book lives on the main site and can be shared
• Facebook connect can pull names of friends into the book so that it can be personalized and shared

8. E-card- Upload yourself as Gulliver

• Users can upload their photo and crop out the head.
• System seamlessly masks Jack Black's head with user's image
• Send to a friend
• on main site and on Facebook page as an app?

9. Facebook app Collective game

• be able to play with your friends.

Here is the concept that I further outlined in a document that I had drafted. The contents were used within the official submission to Fox. 

Concept Summary

• The Gulliver’s Travel’s rivalry of the little people will be recreated as a social game on Facebook. Users can participate either as Lilliputians or Blefuscians to see which side can build the bigger online nation. The objective will be to recruit the most soldiers and incur the fewest number of traitors. Players will act on behalf of themselves as well as patriots of Lilliputia and Blefuscia

• Because Facebook users can actively recruit their friends which is the main goal of the actual game, this application has enormous viral potential. Participants from all around the world will enjoy playing as Lilliputians and Blefuscians.

How to Play

• Profile pictures of all players will be displayed on the interface along with other details (e.g. blurbs they write about themselves, points, status etc.)

• Players can join by downloading the app. They can also join by being recruited through a friend invitation.

• Players who download the app will be required to take a personality quiz. This will determine which side they will join.

• Those who receive an invitation to play can choose the same side as their friend. They also have the option to betray their friend and join the other side. They will be labeled as a “traitor” on the game interface.

• Players who recruit the highest number of friends will receive special rank as a “general.” These points will be displayed on their profile picture.

• Each nation will choose their princess through a voting process. Female players can opt to be considered for this voting process. Or they can decline.

• The side who gains the most soldiers through betrayals is allowed to kidnap the princess from the other side.

In the summer of 2010, I had the pleasure of working with an award winning digital creative agency in Los Angeles named Neoganda. They develop graphics, images and interactive web features for corporate brands and high profile entertainment films. 

The company was chosen to design the homepage of the Fair Game motion picture site, including a timeline of real life events spanning 2001-2007, starting with White House allegations of Iraq's purchase of uranium from Niger to build nuclear weapons to Supreme Court trials investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.

My role was to organize the story into timeline segments and provide copy to describe the individual events. This involved:

(1) reading the script

(2) specifying key events

(3) compiling links to media articles and coverage of these events

(4) developing copy to summarize the principle events of the story

Timeline Copy and Media Links

(2001) The Niger Embassy in Rome was burglarized on New Year's 2001. A dossier surfaced in correlation with this event which implicated that Iraq had purchased large quantities of uranium from Niger.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/07/yellowcake200607

(2001): [July] aluminum tubes purchased by Iraq were intercepted in Jordan by the nation's secret police.

http://www.servinghistory.com/topics/Iraqi_aluminum_tubes::sub::The_Order_And_Shipment

(2001): [September] The tragic 9-11 attacks in 2001 marked the commencement of America's War on Terrorism.

http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/shattered/

(2001): [October] U.S. and British forces launched a series of bombs in Afghanistan as a military reaction to the September 11 events.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/07/gen.america.under.attack/

(2002): [February] Wilson arrived in Niger. During his trip, he found no evidence to support the alleged uranium sale.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/library/congress/2004_rpt/iraq-wmd-intell_chapter2-b.htm

(2002): [February] Responding to a request by the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA, Valerie Plame recommended her husband, Joe Wilson as a candidate to investigate the claim that Iraq had purchased significant quantities of uranium from Niger.

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/files/wilson_judgment.pdf

(2002): [March] Dick Cheney gave statements to the media affirming that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0203/24/le.00.html

(2002): [September] Despite rebuttals by the CIA, Iraq's purchase of 60,000 aluminum tubes was announced through media sources as indicative of nuclear weapons development by Saddam Hussein.

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/bush/wolf.htm

(2002): [December] Niger's Prime Minister publicly denied that his country sold uranium to Iraq.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2607081.stm

(2003): [January] In his State of the Union address, President Bush announced, "The British Government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC1tFsGCqSU

(2003): [March] The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) released the results of their analysis on the dossier which reported uranium sales transactions between Niger and Iraq. They confirmed that the documents were forgeries.

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/07/yellowcake200607

(2003): [March-May] The United States and the United Kingdom led a multinational force to invade Iraq.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/19/sprj.irq.main/

(2003): [July 6] Joseph Wilson's article, "What I Didn't Find in Africa," was featured in the New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/06/opinion/06WILS.html

(2003): [July 8] White House spokes person, Ari Fleischer admitted U.S. error in concluding that Iraq purchased uranium from Niger to advance their weapons of mass destruction program.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/07/09/iraq/main562312.shtml