Ken McGaffin
Ken McGaffin is Chief Marketing Officer at Wordtracker. He is an experienced internet marketing consultant and has worked for major pharmaceutical companies, advertising agencies, government bodies and non-profit organizations.
Articles by Ken McGaffin
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Why content is crucial to your website and what to write by Ken McGaffin, 17 November 2009
Web content is crucial for any business that wants to succeed online. Good content will engage your customers, attract search traffic and help build your business.
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Is online PR the ultimate link building technique? by Ken McGaffin, 29 September 2009
Getting coverage for your business in mainstream media can be hugely beneficial in bringing a swathe of new visitors to your site, and building inbound links from the media and from all the other people who comment on it. In this article, I want to give you guidelines on how you can use publicity in your own business.
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10 reasons why journalists will write about your website by Ken McGaffin, 29 September 2009
“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” Jonathan Swift
Opportunities for great free publicity and inbound links are all around us. They arise every day from a host of newspapers, magazines, blogs and online news sites… but we just don’t see them.
Read: 10 reasons why journalists will write about your website
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We want to hear your honest opinions by Ken McGaffin, 1 September 2009
Wordtracker would love to hear your opinions. We've come up with a short survey that we're hoping will help us to help you.
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3 ways to build large keyword lists using Wordtracker's new Keywords tool by Ken McGaffin, 30 June 2009
Whenever Ken McGaffin wants to create a new website or add content to an existing one, he begins with keyword research. He spells out the reasons why this is so important, and demonstrates how you can carry it out with the aid of Wordtracker's new Keywords tool.
Read: 3 ways to build large keyword lists using Wordtracker's new Keywords tool
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How to use a tool to build links: Introducing the keyword questions tool by Ken McGaffin, 5 November 2008
Read: How to use a tool to build links: Introducing the keyword questions tool
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The link building mindset by Ken McGaffin, 5 November 2008
We all know that one-way links from authority websites are essential if your link building efforts are to be successful. But what does it take to get those authority sites to link to you? Well, you’ll probably guess that it is not easy - quality links don’t materialize from feeble or automated requests. To get those ever so valuable links you’ve got to adopt the right mindset - the principles that show link targets you mean business and that you’re worth linking to.
Here’s my baker’s dozen…
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How Lurpak's post-Xmas campaign was left with the scraps by Ken McGaffin, 6 August 2008
Branding campaigns aim to build positive associations in the consumer’s mind so that they will look favorably on a company or product in the future.
Read: How Lurpak's post-Xmas campaign was left with the scraps
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Why online PR and SEO go hand in hand by Ken McGaffin, 6 August 2008
Once you’ve optimized your website copy, you’ll find that the most important part of the optimization process happens off the page – with links from external sites back to yours playing a vital role in telling Google and other search engines how important your site really is.
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Keyword creativity: An online opportunity for ad agencies? by Ken McGaffin, 6 August 2008
In 2002, AT&T made a major mistake. As part of the launch of its mobile initiative mLife, the company purchased television advertising during the Super Bowl coverage. Nothing wrong with that – along with the Oscars, it attracts one of the biggest audiences in American television and is seen as a creative showcase for the best in American advertising.
Read: Keyword creativity: An online opportunity for ad agencies?
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How quality newspapers can be a rich source of keyword ideas by Ken McGaffin, 25 June 2008
Read: How quality newspapers can be a rich source of keyword ideas
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Using Keywords: Identify and exploit niche markets by Ken McGaffin, 12 February 2008
If you want your business to succeed online, you too must find the niches that exist within your market and decide the specific ones you want to target.
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Using Keywords - A Primer. Part 2: Generate search engine friendly content by Ken McGaffin, 14 December 2007
Keyword research tells you what people are looking for online and therefore it is one of the best ways to find ideas for content on your website.
But many people only use keyword research to polish content after it has been created. This is at best time-consuming and at worst creates roadblocks to getting your content out where people can find it. It is much more sensible to do your keyword research before you start any writing.
Read: Using Keywords - A Primer. Part 2: Generate search engine friendly content
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Why keyword research matters by Ken McGaffin, 15 August 2007
People describe things in different ways. The words you use in your business may be very different from the words your customers use. For example, Gerry McGovern explains, “low fares” is an airline industry term (121 searches predicted at time of writing); “cheap flights” is a term potential customers will use (8,057 searches predicted per day). Use industry terms instead of customer terms and you will not be found. These three cartoons show what happens:
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Using Keywords - A Primer. Part 1: Optimizing your current web content by Ken McGaffin, 22 July 2007
The first quick win of doing keyword research is to get maximum value from the work you've already done - the web copy that you've published on your site. You need to make sure this is optimized and bringing you traffic before you even think about creating new content.
Read: Using Keywords - A Primer. Part 1: Optimizing your current web content
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Keyword Basics Part 4: Using keywords in website copywriting by Ken McGaffin, 4 April 2007
So you've done all your keyword research and you've found the best keywords for your website. How do you use these keywords to improve your website copywriting so that you rank well on the search engines and attract the type of customers that you are after?
Read: Keyword Basics Part 4: Using keywords in website copywriting
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Keyword Basics Part 3: Choosing your best keywords by Ken McGaffin, 22 February 2007
You know how sometimes you make a list of say, three things and then by the time you get to the end of the list, you remember that there’s something you really must include and your list of three becomes a list of four? This is Part 3 of Ken McGaffin's Keyword Basics series
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Keyword Basics Part 2: Discovering the keyword matrix by Ken McGaffin, 28 December 2006
This is the second in Ken McGaffin's Keyword Basics series and a simple method for expanding your lists of profitable keywords. The secret of writing great online copy is simple: use keywords - the words people use when they search - in your copy.
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What you can do with Wordtracker by Ken McGaffin, 24 November 2006
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Not this Saturday by Ken McGaffin, 24 November 2006
The last thing Susan Webster wanted to do this morning was to go into the office.
Susan was in the habit of going in every Saturday to plan the week ahead. She liked the silence, and the atmosphere of her oak-paneled office helped her to think.
But after what she’d been through in the last seven days she just couldn’t face it. She was determined to have some time to herself and relax with the weekend papers and a cup – no, make that a large pot – of strong coffee.
Susan had given up her job on Wall Street to become the new CEO of the family firm, Virginia Veg.
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Find the keywords and you’ll find the marketplace by Ken McGaffin, 24 November 2006
Email
From: Ken McGaffin, Linking Matters
To: Susan Webster, Virginia Veg
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Where to use your keyword phrases - a checklist by Ken McGaffin, 24 November 2006
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Keyword Basics Part 1: How search engines work by Ken McGaffin, 24 November 2006
One of the most frequently asked questions from website owners is, "Why can't my site be found on Google?" They know it's important to appear in search engine results but they just don't know why it doesn't happen to them.
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Keyword quality and the Wordtracker database by Ken McGaffin, 6 October 2006
Search engines get bombarded with automated queries from ranking monitors, popularity analyzers, bid optimizers and other tools. This deluge of non-human activity distorts keyword counts, and if it is not identified and eliminated will leave you with very poor keywords.
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Keyword creativity in web design by Ken McGaffin, 5 October 2006
"Keyword Creativity" is the process of understanding customer behavior through keyword research and using the insights gained to drive the creative process.
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Why keywords matter by Ken McGaffin, 23 November 2005
Why do some sites get a lot of traffic and others zero, the following diagrams helps to show why this happens.
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Keyword phrases in linking text by Ken McGaffin, 27 October 2005
Often simple things really matter. And the use of keywords in linking text is one of those simple things that turn out to be hugely important. Linking text, sometimes called anchor text, is the clickable text that takes people to another page or resource. You need to choose that text carefully.
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How to get links without asking by Ken McGaffin, 6 June 2005
Sending out link requests is a time-consuming business. So wouldn't it be wonderful if other sites linked to you without being asked?
Sound impossible? Well, it can be done and here are ten strategies to prove it.
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6 powerful ways to find link building targets by Ken McGaffin, 6 February 2005
Finding quality sites to target is at the heart of any effective linking strategy. ‘Quality sites’ are not the ones that are easiest to get links from but those that will drive most relevant traffic to your site. In our last newsletter, we looked at how to maximize your link value to make your site more attractive to link targets. In this issue we’ll explore how to find quality link targets.
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The perfect link building strategy by Ken McGaffin, 6 August 2004
If you’ve gone through all the hard work of a link building campaign, you expect to be rewarded with some impressive links. The reality is that many people are disappointed with the trickle of links and the trickle of traffic that their efforts produce.
