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Content
21 September 2009, 19:53
Online journalism
How Brent D Payne increased Tribune sites’ monthly visits by a cool 20 million
By Rachelle Mone
Brent D Payne, as the Tribune Company’s in-house Director of Search Engine Optimization (and bald SEO legend), has managed a 20 million increase in monthly visits to its websites, including the Chicago Tribune and the LA Times. Payne tells Rachelle Money how these spectacular results have been achieved, including using keyword research to help give readers “the news we know they want”.
The Tribune Company has been in the press for all the wrong reasons in the last few months. In December 2008 it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors as it struggled under the load of a $13bn debt. The move came weeks after the company reported a $124m third-quarter loss, compared with an $84m profit in the same period of 2007.
With hundreds of jobs under threat many journalists have looked to the online editions of their newspapers for a glimmer of hope. For some it's the only part of the industry where there seems to be good news.
Brent Payne was the man given the task of increasing traffic to the Tribune Company websites and he's managed just that. “In 2007 we had 14m monthly visits from search engines, in 2008 it was 21 million and in 2009 it's 34 million”, says Payne.
SEO traffic has also increased its share of total Tribune traffic. In 2007 SEO accounted for 22% of traffic, in 2008 it jumped to 31% and in 2009 it stands at 36%.
So how did he do it?
Educating journalists about the benefits of SEO and keyword research has not been easy. When Payne joined the Tribune he gave a presentation to a roomful of suspicious journalists and used a simple analogy to make his case.
He told them: “Consider the news stand of today. Even though you write a great article, if no one sees that article it doesn't really matter. Online you can take a news stand and put it in the middle of Times Square by doing good SEO, or you can take your news stand and stick it in the middle of Kansas by doing no SEO. It's your choice.
“I said to them that although it may not be perfect for you guys journalistically to put a full proper noun in a headline, it makes a huge difference to the number of people who read your quality content.” Payne said his presentation connected with only around a quarter of those in the room, but that didn't dishearten him. Instead he used this minority to gain wider support in the best way he could – by exploiting the journalists' egos. Payne explains:
“Every time the stories from that 25% hit the top of Google an email went out not only to them but to their bosses as well. I sent a short email which said great job, your story got the first page of Google, you have driven this much traffic to our site - and that reaffirmed to them that this (SEO) was the right thing to do.
"From there people started preaching SEO without me even being in the room. One journalist talks to another and before you know it, it spreads like a virus through the newsroom.”
But not everyone at Tribune is converted.
'' There are still some who are stubborn, but it's the other way round now: 25% are still refusing to take SEO on board.”
Some of the old school Pulitzer prizewinning journalists aren't interested, but I'm not standing over them asking them to drink the Kool-Aid. Most of the newsroom are doing it and seeing great results, so I refuse to battle with a minority of journalists.” When asked what his involvement is once a story has been written and is ready to be published, Payne replied: “I have full access to the CMS (Content Management System) and I can edit whatever I want, like title tags, headlines, sub headlines or even the story if I wanted to.”
However, that's not the best way to do it if you want long term success. What I tend to do is edit the title tag myself and I won't touch the headline. Instead I'll email or instant message the online editor and say this needs to be better optimized. They change it and it's nothing to do with me, it's them making that change.”
Using keyword research and SEO in breaking news stories
When a breaking news story surfaces and it's crunch time for a newspaper site that has to rank high for relevant search terms, then Payne will step in to rewrite headlines.
The death of Michael Jackson is the biggest news story of the year so far. Payne told me that in the hours after the story broke he scrambled to win the race to the top of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for the keywords 'Michael Jackson dead' and 'Michael Jackson death'.
“When Michael Jackson died I didn't win for 'Michael Jackson' which frustrates the hell out of me. I won for 'Michael Jackson dead', 'Michael Jackson death' and 'Michael Jackson obituary'.“
I nailed those but what I missed was 'Michael Jackson', and the reason was because there was so much competition. I got 10% of the queries on Michael Jackson but I also had a record day, despite having only a tenth of what I could have got.”
MTV, TMZ and people like MichaelJackson.com won. And then someone who bought MichaelJacksonDead.com. You have to sometimes realize that you won't win every time.”
Most people who do SEO won't have to contend with thousands of pieces of content being published on their website every day. In the 15 minutes Payne spoke during the interview, more than 300 content items were published on Tribune websites. That includes photos, columns and stories. 38,031 different items went out on Tribune feeds in one recent day.
When you are responsible for that much content your SEO process must be watertight.
Enjoy!
Margarita Nomeikiene
Content
16 September 2009, 18:54
It's not what you are that holds you back...
A while back I spoke to a group in Houston and I showed them pictures of
some very famous people.
They included Thomas Edison, Cher, Walt Disney, Richard Branson,
Jay Leno, Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Turner and my hero Winston Churchill..
Then I asked the audience what they all had in common..
Can you guess?.
There were quite a few answers from the audience and they were all
wrong. It was only after I pulled out $100 and offered it as a
prize that a person in the back overcame his fear of being wrong
and volunteered the correct answer.....
....they were all dyslexic!.
I pointed out that the role that made each of them famous also
required a lot of reading. Do you know how hard it is for a
dyslexic person to read?.
But not a single one of those great people that I cited let
dyslexia keep them from being all they were created to be..
That's why one of my most favorite quotes is, "It's not what you
are that holds you back, it's what you think you're not.".
************************************************************
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It's the cure for low self-esteem while building a World-Class
confidence...Only 5 days remaining to save 35%.
http://www.asamanthinketh.net/denis.
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I use that quote by Denis Waitley virtually every time I speak to
an audience..
Because it really speaks to the problem I think most people have in
struggling for success --- they believe they're lacking something
that, if they possessed it, would make them successful. When the
truth is, they already possess everything they need to be
successful, they just need to learn how to use it to their
advantage..
This feeling of lack can be directly associated to a low
self-esteem, and I don't know anyone whose better than Denis at
teaching you how to build a world-class self-esteem. That's why
the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said, "he has the rare ability to
motivate every reader and listener.".
Last week we offered an incredible discount on Denis' 18-CD
Platinum Collection and the response was exactly what we expected!
But by prior arrangement we can only offer that discount for five
more days..
So if you haven't listened to the extended play sample
http://www.asamanthinketh.net/denis.
And please never forget this, "It's not what you are that holds you
back, it's what you think you're not.".
As always, thanks for supporting our sites :-).
Vic and Lisa Johnson.
ENJOY!.
sincerely, Margarita Nomeikiene.
Content
09 September 2009, 17:38
Self esteem with my corn flakes...by Vic and Lisa Johnson
Self esteem with my corn flakes...
During some of the darkest days of my life I had breakfast with him
every morning.
He taught me the very first principles I ever learned about
self-esteem. Like he did for millions of others around the world,
he convinced me that I had the Seeds of Greatness within me. As
much as anyone, he taught me how to be a Winner in every area of my
life. After all those days of breakfast I wore out the old audio
tapes, and his book has grown dog-eared with age and use.
It would be years later before I could thank him in person. And
just as humbly as he appears in audio recordings, the real-life
Denis Waitley quietly accepted the accolades I heaped on him.
There's no question he's the real deal and his reputation is well
deserved. I recommend him frequently to people struggling with low
self-esteem because he did so much to help mine. In fact, I used to
carry around copies of Seeds of Greatness as giveaways for "needy"
friends.
If you're not familiar with Denis, you should be. No less than the
late, great Dr. Norman Vincent Peale said about him, "Denis Waitley
is one of the most inspiring men of our time. And he has the rare
ability to motivate every reader and listener." He has taught his
principles to our Olympic teams for the last 25 years, trained our
Apollo Astronauts, and coached countless Champions in the world of
sports and business. His legendary clients include Dell, Microsoft,
Coca-Cola and many, many more.
A while back I found out about Denis' Platinum Collection: Healthy,
Wealthy and Wise. It's an incredible 18-CD library that will help
you learn how to maximize your performance, manage your time,
enhance your relationships, set and achieve goals, make more money,
simplify your life and supercharge your career.
It took us months to negotiate a sweet deal on the Platinum
Collection but when we did, and when we offered it as an MDI Big
Deal, it was far and away the single most popular Big Deal we've
ever offered. We've got another special purchase of this lined up
and that allows us to offer it at less than half of retail price
(while quantities last).
It would be worth your while to take 7 minutes and go listen to a
sample of Denis' teaching. I think you'll find him motivating,
enlightening and encouraging. And I know you'll find this is just
as special as he is! http://www.asamanthinketh.net/denis
As always, thanks for supporting our site :-)
Vic and Lisa Johnson
Enjoy!
Margarita Nomeikiene
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