BugFix Information Technology

Note from Lee: Please welcome this guest post from Sara Duane-Gladden, of TopRank Online Marketing’s copywriting team. 

Facebook is changing again. That never happens, right? For regular users like me, it seems as if there is something new happening at the social network every day. Facebook Timeline is probably one of the most significant, though, and it’s coming to a brand page near you soon. Very soon.

Timeline is the newest change from Facebook, a social media network renowned for making “enhancements” to its much-beloved product that result in mixed criticism and compliments from users. Timeline is no different, as it has been both praised and panned in the blogosphere. There doesn’t appear to be a consensus on Timeline, which is typical of Facebook changes. Love It or hate it, users and brands alike will adjust to Timeline in order to continue participating in the Facebook community – just like they have in the past.

Every one and every brand on Facebook will be adjusting to Timeline soon, too. Any profiles or pages that have not already been converted to Facebook Timeline by this weekend will automatically transform. According to messages displayed at the top of pages and profiles that have not implemented Timeline, brand and business pages will convert on March 30th, 2012, while personal profile pages will switch over on April 1, 2012.

If you’ve been avoiding making the switch, now is the time to accept the change and take control of how your Facebook Timeline appears by previewing it now. Until this weekend, you still have a chance to preview your business page or pages, make edits, then publish it on your own terms. Making the changes yourself instead of allowing Facebook’s automated process to publish your new page for you will ensure that it truly reflects your brands standards and messaging. These changes can be initiated by visiting the Page while logged in as an admin and finding the instructions near the top to preview Timeline.

Perhaps you’ve already seen Timeline in action and are not quite sure what to think of it. What can you actually expect to see when your Facebook Page or Profile is converted over to Timeline?

Cover Photo. A large banner image prominently displays at the top of a Timeline profile. There are some requirements and restrictions for the images: They must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not include price or purchase information, contact information, calls to action or even references to Facebook site features such as “Like” or “Share.” Covers also cannot be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on other copyrights. Wider images work better than narrow.

The cover photo feature is great because it offers the chance to customize the top of a Facebook page like never before. Prominently display a new product. Show a picture of your service in action. Splash your brand colors across it with a compelling image that makes Fans want to scroll down to see more. Within the restrictions listed above, there are vast opportunities for filling this newly available space.

Profile Picture. While the Cover Photo display is rectangular in shape, the profile picture is changing to square. The acceptable size range for them is 180×180 to 32×32 pixels. That’s significantly smaller than the 4 MB photos allowed previously, but the cover photo size more than makes up for this change.

With the way they are arranged, the profile photo can be nicely coordinated to compliment the cover photo. The cover photo splashes across the top while the profile photo is an inset located on the left side. Some creative design here could tie the two images together for maximum visual effect.

Navigation and Applications. Directly below these two features is a navigation bar and section for apps. On the left side directly below the profile picture is the section for your profile or page that contains location, contact and other information. To the right of this section one can choose other data to display, such as photos, events, Likes or custom applications.

Photos are automatically displayed in this bar and cannot be removed. In addition to the usual Facebook features of photos, events and Likes, applications can be displayed in this area. This can include weekly ads, charitable apps, geo-location apps and more.

Public Page Insights. One of the features on the Navigation Bar is “Likes,” which displays more than just the people who are Fans of the page. With the old layout, users were able to get a glimpse at how many people liked the page and how many were talking about it. Now they can see more, such as insights into what geographic areas most fans reside, the most popular age groups, and what week was the most popular for activity.

One advantage for brands is that you can visit the page of a competitor, view its analytic insights, and use the information gleaned to make the most of your own Facebook social media marketing plan. The flip-side of the coin is that your competitors can also see your insights. What value it provides for fans is unclear and remains to be seen. This Facebook Timeline feature is something that we’ll all be learning about together!

The Timeline. Ah, the main feature for which all these changes receives its name, the Timeline. Status updates, Likes, shares and other posts are now displayed in a visual aggregation on the Timeline. The Timeline will extend all the way to the first day a brand page was established. Milestones in your brand’s history can also be added as well to extend the Timeline, all the way to when a business was founded.

Unlike the old Pages, Admins can highlight specific posts by starring them or pinning them to be more prominently displayed. Images also appear much larger with the new update. Furthermore, new apps are being created every day for use with Timeline to enhance its usefulness, with more than 3,000 available to users already.

Timeline and all of the new features that surround it is one of the biggest new changes Facebook has ever undertaken. Since it began rolling out to users at the end of last year, there have been many conversations on the topic – more than a few probably bordering on arguments. Some people and brands really like the new Timeline, while others are concerned that it will negatively affect the way users interact with their Pages. So far, though, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as one recently released study shows Timeline can drastically increase fan engagement an average of 46% and as much as 161% for Toyota.

So what are you waiting for? If you’ve been avoiding Facebook’s Timeline feature, the end is near and the change is inevitable. Make the necessary adjustments now to make certain that your Timeline looks the way you want it to when other people view it after April – not how Facebook makes it look with its automatic conversion. Grab the bull by the horns and make the change on your terms today!

If you’ve made the switch to Facebook Timeline, what has your experience been so far? If not, what is holding you back? Share your story in the comments!

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Facebook Timeline: What Are the Changes for Brand Pages? | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

Linkbuilding has to be one of my favorite aspects of SEO. All too often people use the analogy of linkbuilding being a popularity contest. As someone who views linkbuilding in a somewhat different light – and as someone who was considered by only his parents as ‘cool’ – I think it’s time to put that analogy to bed. Yes, being the sexy-fun brand will undoubtedly drive links for your site. But in my opinion, it’s the quality of the information on the page that will not only help you succeed in proactively acquiring links, but will also inspire others to link to your page. Or to return to the analogy, the cool kid might start out with the lead, but it’s the smart kid (see nerd) who ends up winning in the long run.

It is that passion for linkbuilding that drove me to put Linkbuilding Essentials as one of my can’t miss SES New York sessions…and it didn’t disappoint. Debra Mastaler, President of Alliance-Link, presented solo and here are just some of the highlights.

Create Quality Content

At the end of the day links represent another sites ‘vote’ for your page. To earn that vote you need to offer content that can’t be found on just any site. Provide resources, include imagery and ensure your headline grabs the reader’s attention. If you want to inspire sharing, give them something worthy of sharing.

4 Linkbuilding Considerations

1. Quantity - The number of links pointing to an individual page.

Take-away: Because the quality of links strongly influences the links value, link quantity can be dangerous to view in a silo. Use this number along with link quantity to evaluate your linkbuilding success and identify new opportunities.

2. Quality - Different search engines have different names for the metric used to evaluate link quality. For Google that is known as PageRank. PageRank – wisely titled – ranks a page based on the PageRank number for all pages linking to it.

Take-away: Online marketers learned many Google updates ago that Google places a strong emphasis on the quality of a link. That is, a link from Forbes is more powerful than a link from bookmarking site, although both may deserve a place in your linkbuilding strategy.

3. Relevance - The context or relationship between the page linking out and the page receiving is an important aspect of linkbuilding. The pages should likely have some similarities in order for link to be of value to either web property.

Take-away: If you’re a business that sells high-end IT software and yet most of your links point to your site from a site that sells boiled peanuts, there’s something wrong. As you consider what sites to target in your linkbuilding efforts, ask yourself is it reasonable for your audience to want to visit that page? If the answer is yes, it is likely a good link to acquire from both a SEO and UX standpoint.

4. Anchor Text - Links that leverage text to link to another page. When done right, the text of the link should provide insight as to what information will be found on the linked page.

Take-away: From a SEO perspective, anchor text links can be more powerful than a spelled out URL link. Why? For the same reason it is more powerful from a UX perspective. The text of the link provides the search bot with information about the page being linked.

No-No’s for Linkbuilding

Now with an understanding of some of the key aspects to consider when developing and maintaining a linkbuilding program, let’s switch gears and discuss a few practices that every marketer should avoid.

1. Building Links in Bulk – Seems counter-intuitive, right? If link quantity is factored by search engines, why not acquire as many as possible at once? The reason is simple: with exception to major announcements, product roll-outs or big advertising, it’s unnatural for most pages to suddenly have a burst in the number of inlinks. In addition, the types of tactics that lead to a sudden surge in links are likely against Google’s Terms of Service.
2. Not Linking Out – There is an old belief that linking from your page to a 3rd party property is a bad thing and hurts your PageRank score. In reality, linking to other sites offers far more pros for cons. The only caveat is that you take a strategic approach to how you link out. For starters, don’t use an important keyword in your anchor text and don’t link to sites that you don’t want associated with your brand
3. Talking Like a Robot – Using the exact phrase in each anchor text link you acquire is not ideal. Although it’s difficult to quantify how this approach can impact the SEO value of your links, think of it this way: no two people talk the exact same way, so it’s unreasonable that the only language relevant to your page is X. Consider mixing in long tail derivatives to strike a healthy balance.

One thing that I especially enjoyed in Mastaler’s presentation was the way she broke down the large world of linkbuilding into neat little segments that allows you form an action plan. Get nerdy and start your linkbuilding initiative with a commitment to provide better content than your competition. Next, evaluate your current inlink situation against the 4 key considerations. Identify your opportunities and be sure not to violate the linkbuilding no-no’s.

While we’re talking linkbuilding, what’s the best linking tool? Make your case with a comment below.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Linkbuilding Like a Nerd #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

Social Media Marketing: The long term and short term value with Avinash Kaushik

This interview from #SESNY features Google evangelist Avinash Kaushik on monitoring social media value.  Kaushik stresses that social media should be about quantifying your efforts.  Companies must determine what they did that ended in specific results, and the economic value that was created due to these efforts. You can see another interview with Avinash Kaushik here on the power of storytelling and web analytics.

Tips & Tactics for Improving Your Business

“Why Relationship Marketing is Important for Businesses” This video interview with author and social media guru Mari Smith(@marismith) sheds some light on the notion of “people-to-people” marketing.  In this video you’re learn why businesses must have listening skills and what businesses are doing well in relationship marketing. Via Social Media Examiner.

“5 Tips to Recruit a Star Candidate”  Sometimes finding the right candidate for an open position isn’t easy, and doesn’t happen quickly.  This article shares 5 very effective tips for “hunting” down candidates that will be the best fit for your organization.  Via Inc.

“7 Networking Secrets from Silicon Valley’s Greatest Connector”  Pejaman Nozad went from a 23 year old with $700 in his pocket to one of Silcon Valley’s best dealmakers.  A lot of hard work and genius networking has catapulted him to success.  In this article Nozad shares 7 secrets for networking like a pro.  Via Forbes.

“5 Emails You Should Never Send” Have you ever hit send on an email and immediately regretted doing so?  According to Penelope Trunk emails are obviously an effective way for communicating but there are some best practices when drafting your content.  Via Ragan.

Online Marketing Team News

Brian Larson- How A Google Change May Mistakenly Turn Search Traffic Into Referral Traffic
Google is poised to make some changes to ways it tracks visitor information from users leveraging their web browser, Chrome.  Some are speculating that this is change is Google extending its user privacy, while others have a slightly more aggressive take. Regardless of your interpretation of the intent, everyone should be familiar with this latest update and what it means to your analytics.  Via Search Engine Land.

Alexis Hall- Search Marketing and Social Media in Regulated Industries
This post is a great resource for marketers working within regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and healthcare. While some companies within this industry are using a wait and see approach when it comes to social media, this post suggests ways to use search and social media now while remaining compliant.  Via Search Engine Watch.

Shawna Kenyon- How Facebook Got its Green Back
Today Facebook released an animated infographic explaining its journey to sustainability. Prior to 2010 the focus was too focused on scaling to make going green a priority, but now Facebook has sustainable data centers, efficient photo storage and even a solar powered campus. Facebook hopes to boost its public image and bolster recruiting efforts with eco-aware talent.  Via TechCrunch.

Time to Weigh In:  What is your opinion on Google’s take on social analytics?  Do you believe that your company is measuring the metrics that have the largest impact on your bottom line?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Google Analytics Goes Social, Relationship Marketing, 7 Networking Secrets, Facebook Gets Green | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

Have you worked yourself to the bone on a video marketing campaign only to see the results fall flat? Do you have a wealth of video content but are unsure how to leverage it effectively to serve your marketing objectives? Can your presence on YouTube be summed as ‘well, we have a channel’?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re not alone. Getting results through your video marketing efforts can be a challenge if you don’t have the right game-plan. However, you’re in luck! At day 2 of SES New York TopRank CEO Lee Odden moderated a panel discussion with leading industry video marketers.Their stellar tips and insights that can be found below.

Video Marketing Tactics – Mark Robertson

Robertson did an excellent job providing a nice comedic break during the session by showcasing a video that pokes fun at one inevitable truth about audiences: we love cat videos. If you haven’t seen the Catvertising video, take a moment to watch the video below. It’s worth it.

Cats aside, Robertson shared some helpful and often overlooked SEO tips for YouTube that can help your video be found more easily through search.

• Titles-Be sure to include a relevant keyword at the start of the title to help the video be found through search.
• Summary – The summary serves as the meta description in the SERP. Start your summary with your keywords when possible to set expectations with your audience about the content in the video.
• Tags – Per YouTube’s own instructions, include as many relevant tags as possible.
• Playlists -They offer appear in search results and can keep your audience engaged with other relevant videos. Create playlists and include 3rd party content. Per YouTube, a videos ability to funnel traffic to other videos is factored into its search algorithm.
• Close Captioning – When uploading videos, be sure to upload closed captioning. The text from closed captioning is indexed and can help the hearing impaired and search engines find your video.

Applying a Strategic Approach to Video Marketing – Aaron Kahlow (@omconnect)

Video marketing shouldn’t live on an island in your marketing program. To be successful videos can’t be a simple one-off project or after thought. Kahlow encourages marketers to apply their marketing strategies to video and incorporate video marketing as part of a larger holistic effort.

Here are some key strategic steps to apply to video marketing:

1. Determine Your Goal – What marketing objective should it serve. What is the desired outcome of the effort?
2. Identify How to Capture the Video – Should the video have a raw feel that can be captured through a handheld or does the message need to be shared through high-quality video and production.
3. Target an Audience – Who are you targeting with this video? Apply what you know about this audience to dictate how, when and where you promote the video.
4. Leverage Your Brand & Promote Links – Your video should not be a secret. Promote it through other established channels such as: website, blog, email and social.

Video Marketing Case Studies – Greg Jarboe (@gregjarboe)

Making a viral video is a lot easier said than done. Although planning that a video will reach viral status is a dangerous expectation, Jarboe helps break down some of the commonalities that widely successful marketing videos share. Through his research, he found that every video that found a large audience fell into 4 categories.

• Inspiration
• Entertainment
• Enlightenment
• Education

An Example of Inspiration – Positive vs. Negative

Given the current political landscape, one might expect that the Republican candidates vying for the party’s presidential nomination would be gaining a large audience on YouTube. Compared to the number of views and shares for videos promoting President Obama, the Republican candidates’ audience is just a fraction of that of that of the incumbent. Why would that be?

One observation Jarboe noted was the focus of the videos. Whereas 71% of the videos on YouTube by Republican candidates were negative or attack focused, a majority of the videos surrounding Obama have a positive message promoting things like ‘hope’. Interestingly enough, only 10% of Obama’s videos from the 2008 election actually featured Obama himself. The remaining 90% focused on Obama supporters.

The takeaway for a business is that videos that promote a positive message more often inspire sharing. As Jarboe put it, get your audiences thinking about ‘we’ and not ‘you’.

An Example of Education – Consistency is Key

Ray William Johnson is an actor/comedian who reportedly makes over $1 million dollars a year. What makes that so unique is that you’re not likely going to find Johnson on a major network when you’re flipping the channels. Instead, Johnson found his audience through building his presence on YouTube.

Now it should go without saying that Johnson invests time and energy into putting together creative content – and without those funny videos the next point is moot – but one way Johnson has been able to stand out amongst the flood of videos on YouTube is through consistent publishing. Posting new videos twice a week and always at the same day and time, Johnson has taught his audience to expect new content on regular schedule – and he delivers.

 Next Steps

This session packaged information well and when looking at the guidance from a cumulative perspective, there’s a comprehensive plan to glean from these experts. Between incorporating Kahlow’s strategic step, following Jarboe’s guidelines for the type of video that inspires sharing and leveraging Robertson’s SEO tactics, you should have a good action plan to take your video marketing to the next level.

Do you have some expert guidance to share? What video marketing tips would you add?

Stay tuned for more posts from #SESNY, with additional updates on Twitter at: @toprank, @leeodden,@azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Expert Video Marketing Strategy – Spoiler Alert: Cat Videos Included #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

Whenever I go to a conference, or at least a dozen times a week by email, I get asked “What are some ‘SEO secrets’?” or “Hey–what keywords do you rank for, and can you show me some of your websites?” Until you have earned my trust, though, I’m really not going to show you anything. I made that mistake once and 3 months later saw a “clone” site from that person. It’s not that I’m a stuck up jerk and am not interested in helping people or paying it forward, because I really believe it’s a part of my role in the community. But there’s a difference between someone showing up at my door to ask for free food and someone asking, “Hey, can I go fishing with you so I can learn how to fish for myself?”
While I’m not a first generation SEO like Greg, Rae, or Todd, I have been been around a while, asked a lot of (sometimes stupid) questions, experimented and made a lot of small and awesomely catastrophic mistakes along the way, dabbled in the black arts, tried stuff and failed, and that’s how I learned. So much of what goes on today in the SEO community isn’t about asking questions, learning, and teaching; it’s about attention whoring, popularity contests, and SEO drama. Too many people are focused on finding the secrets for quick and easy ways to set up ATM machines on their front lawn so they can parade around like peacocks on display, having people tell them how they are like fabulously famous rockstars, when instead they should be putting in the effort to learn how it works, what keeps it running, and what do when when something breaks or your whole network gets torched. Because they don’t put forth that effort, when something goes off the rails, they are right back where they started: with no knowledge. All they can do is look for the next “handout” or SEO Secret.

Learning SEO is a lot like hunting. Without learning how to stalk your prey, how to hunt ir down, and how to “make the kill” that will feed you and your family, you won’t survive. Instead, everyone wants an ATM funded by SEO secrets. But when Google announces they are changing the algorithm specifically targeting SEO sites, your website built on tricks without knowing what you were doing or why you were doing it is likely to be a casualty caught in the crossfire. However if your website has strong technical platform with good information architecture practices, good or better quality content that exists for the users’ benefit and isn’t a wrapper for Adsense, and a solid social media and real world marketing plan and strategy, you are lot more resistant to these fluctuations. Content may be king, but if your tech foundation is so bad that search engines can’t understand it (listen up, Ajax and Flash developers!), your information architecture is so crazy and convoluted that search engines cant make heads or tails of it, and you don’t market on the proper channels where you can find your customers (not just the new hot social media channel that the techno weenies are talking about like your Pinterest page for whole life insurance), the best content lies trapped under lock and key where no one but you can see it. It’s the combination of all the pieces working together–content, information architecture, and good marketing & promotion–that leads to true success, not the elusive secret you are looking for to avoid one or more of those the steps.

Instead of focusing on ferreting out SEO secrets, concentrate on learning the fundamentals–like choosing the right URL structure. Learn how to silo your website, create evergreen content, and create seasonal content. Learn when you need to pay for premium content. Learn how to market with social media, how to automate it to get more ROI for your time. Learn how to develop and and when to email to your list. Learn how to build trust through links. Learn how to audit your content regularly and to keep your website lean, mean, and up to date. Learn to trim the fat, those useless parts of your website that don’t help you or your customers. When you learn those skills, you’ll find you don’t need to spend so much time looking for shortcuts, secrets, and tips … and you’ll spend less time worrying about algorithm changes. SEO drama my be a fun distraction or give you your 15 minutes of fame–but, unless it’s adding to your bottom line, it’s not helping you. It’s a distraction.

photo credit: Shutterstock/Willyam Bradberry

Related posts:

1. Local Search Tips, Tricks & Secrets This week I’m doing a series of posts about local…
2. Google Adsense Tips, Tricks, and Secrets I’ve been reading a few forums and blogs about Google…
3. AdSense Arbitrage: Tips, Tricks and Secrets If you frequent any of the AdSense forums chances are…
4. Google Search Tricks, Tips and Hints Even though I work in the search engine space I…
5. How Much Time Do You Spend Actually Doing SEO How much time do you spend doing SEO per day? …

Advertisers:

1. Text Link Ads – New customers can get $100 in free text links.
2. BOTW.org – Get a premier listing in the internet’s oldest directory.
3. Ezilon.com Regional Directory – Check to see if your website is listed!
4. Need an SEO Audit for your website, look at my SEO Consulting Services
5. Directory Journal – Get permanent deep links in a search engine friendly directory
6. LinkWheel SEO – Get Web 2.0 Backlinks
7. TigerTech – Great Web Hosting service at a great price.
8. Article-Writing-services.org – Article Writing Services creates quality content for websites and blogs at no cost to site owners.
9. Link Building Services – Hire WeBuildLink.com for well-planned advanced link building campaigns. Very affordable. Contact us now for a FREE evaluation.
10. Join 500+ top agencies & publishers who rely on The HOTH every day. US based, enterprise-grade support. High quality, contextually relevant links. 100% money back guarantee. Try it now.
11. Professional website designs – Get a unique brand image with website designs that sets you apart and convert your visitors into customers. Make a brand, not just a website
12. Krystal Glass Whiteboards – Glass writing boards for offices, boardrooms, and classrooms.
13. Performance-Based White Label SEO
14. SEO Cockpit

Advertisers:

1. Text Link Ads – New customers can get $100 in free text links.
2. BOTW.org – Get a premier listing in the internet’s oldest directory.
3. Ezilon.com Regional Directory – Check to see if your website is listed!
4. Need an SEO Audit for your website, look at my SEO Consulting Services
5. Directory Journal – Get permanent deep links in a search engine friendly directory
6. LinkWheel SEO – Get Web 2.0 Backlinks
7. TigerTech – Great Web Hosting service at a great price.
8. Article-Writing-services.org – Article Writing Services creates quality content for websites and blogs at no cost to site owners.
9. Link Building Services – Hire WeBuildLink.com for well-planned advanced link building campaigns. Very affordable. Contact us now for a FREE evaluation.
10. Join 500+ top agencies & publishers who rely on The HOTH every day. US based, enterprise-grade support. High quality, contextually relevant links. 100% money back guarantee. Try it now.
11. Professional website designs – Get a unique brand image with website designs that sets you apart and convert your visitors into customers. Make a brand, not just a website
12. Krystal Glass Whiteboards – Glass writing boards for offices, boardrooms, and classrooms.
13. Performance-Based White Label SEO
14. SEO Cockpit

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis WordPress Theme review.

SEO Secrets, Tips & Tricks – Why it’s Not Worth Your Your Time

This article was originally posted on the Graywolf’s SEO Blog

SES New York kicks off on Tuesday March 20, 2012, and I for one cannot wait.  Along with TopRank CEO Lee Odden who is speaking at the event, myself as well as one of our rockstar Account Managers Brian Larson will be attending and live blogging many of the scheduled sessions.

Based on the speaker lineup this years conference is sure to be filled with stories, tips, and tactics that any online marketer can put to good use.  This post is a combination of the sessions Brian and I  plan on attending as well as a little bit about our take on the Big Apple.  Hope to see you all there!

Ashley Zeckman: #SESNY Session Highlights

Tuesday March 20, 2012
Business Optimization in a Digital Age
Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist, Google

If you’ve been fortunate enough to see Avinash speak before you know you’re in for a treat.   Late last year I attended his session at the MIMA Summit on Improving Engagement Through Innovation.  Avinash’s keynote at SES NY will cover his perspective on finding the balance between multiple media channels, leveraging metrics, driving value, and leveraging the “Clear Line of Sight” model ensuring that you are properly optimizing accross the most important factors that drive business.

The Psychology of Social Commerce
Chad Childress, Michael Mothner, Dana Todd

Online marketing is a business driven by fact, gut feeling, and emotion.  Understanding what it is that makes your customers tick is key to effectively engaging and moving prospects through the buying cycle.  Some of the questions that will be answered in this panel presentation include:

• How do social rules and subconscious needs figure into the mix?
• How do you overcome the repeat “trusted brand” purchase?
• How do you capitalize on the consumer trend of sharing good deals within the community?

Wednesday March 21, 2012
Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues
Eric Enge, Jenny Halasz, Peter van der Graaf

TopRank CEO Lee Odden will be moderating this session which will answer questions related to best practices to avoid creating duplicate content across multiple sites.  Also, be sure to listen for the options available such as:

• 301 redirect
• Canonical tag
• Rel next and rel prev tags

Thursday March 22, 2012
Email Can Drive Search, Social, and Mobile
Jeanniey Mullen, Sundeep Kapur

For anyone looking to use email campaigns more efficiently I recommend attending this session.  We will learn how to leverage mobile marketing to improve email effectiveness through the case studies and best practices shared from personal experience by the speakers.

Content Marketing Optimization
Lee Odden CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

Content isn’t great until someone shares it.  However, in an increasingly competitive industry what steps can you take to optimize your content for sharing?  Odden’s session will provide insight into content optimization strategies as well as useful tactics for creating effective content on the social web.
My Top 3 Favorite Things About Visiting NYC
As you might have noticed from my previous conference posts I’m always looking for something fun to do or a great restaurant to try.  What are my favorite things about New York City?

1. Puglia: Little Italy is flush with excellent Italian restaurants.
2. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): There is no substitute for some great artwork.
3. O’Hara’s Pub on Cedar St.: This quaint little Irish pub is a mix of locals and business travelers.

Brian Larson: #SESNY Session Highlights

It’s about that time to head east for SES New York and download as much information as possible from some of the most respected and influential online marketers. For me, this trip is equal parts good and trepidation or excitement. The good is of course is the conference itself. I jump at any opportunity to learn marketing techniques and best practices from SEO and online marketing leaders. So what’s the exciting part? For me, that’s the city itself. More on that later, but let’s get started with the good.

The Good: SES NY

When I prepare for a conference, especially one of this magnitude, I like to ask myself “what do I want to learn?” Since the answer to that question is always EVERYTHING, I quickly move down my internal checklist and ask “as an Account Manager, what information can I pull away from this conference that can most benefit my clients?” That answer then informs how I go about picking the right mix of sessions to attend.

Before I jump into the sessions that made my must attend list (a prestigious honor for any presenter to receive), I want to add that while reviewing this year’s agenda I was struck by how well balanced the presentations were. From email marketing and paid search, to landing page optimization and offline marketing, there are sessions that can scratch any itch.

Wednesday March 21, 2012
Landing Page Optimization
Nathan Richter, Angie Schottmuller

You have to admire the singular focus of landing pages. Their job is to convert visitors. Whether that means obtaining event registrations, increasing fulfillment downloads or securing sales, they are evaluated on how well they convert visitors to take that next action.

Although there objective is easy to understand, the practice of testing and tweaking landing pages to achieve an optimal conversion rate is a little more complex. NY Times Bestselling Author & co-founder of Web Analytics Association, Bryan Eisenberg,  will share how businesses can tune and refine their landing pages to get that conversion.

Next Gen YouTube Marketing
Greg Jarboe, Aaron Kahlow, Mark Robertson

Get it on YouTube! That sage advice has been shared in marketing offices across the world…and for good reason as the video sharing network is now the second most popular search engine. But how can one leverage YouTube to help their video stick out and reach largest audience possible?

TopRank CEO Lee Odden leads this panel discussion with SEO-PR’s Greg Jarboe, Online Marketing Summit’s Aaron Kahlow and ReelSEO’s Mark Robertson sure to help marketers elevate their video marketing efforts.

Thursday March 22, 2012
Link Building Essentials
Debra Mastaler

Building quality links is a crucial component to a successful SEO program. Debra Mastaler, President of Alliance-Link, hosts a solo presentation discussing:

• How links are influence search algorithms
• How to use free and paid linking tools
• Universal link building tactics

Winning! Measuring Social Media Success
Tami Dalley, Eli Goodman, Daniel Lemin

It’s easy to count your number of followers on Twitter or your number of ‘Likes’ on Facebook, but how do those figures translate to ROI? If it’s not followers and ‘Likes’, what metrics can be used to evaluate success? Moderated by Thom Craver of Saunders College, the panel session “Winning! Measuring Social Media Success” is designed to provide answers to these questions and more.

What Am I Getting Myself Into New York?

Let’s begin with an admission that’s going to start some serious eye-rolling: I have never been to New York. My knowledge of the city is derived from cinema, the Travel Channel & related stories from friends and family. My REALLY big city experiences pretty much consist of 3 dozen trips to Chicago and a handful trips to Los Angeles and Boston.

Here are 5 things that make me scratch my head about New York.

1. Size: You know it’s a big city when you have to divide it up into boroughs. There’s approximately 20 million people in New York. Just saying that number makes break a sweat.
2. Getting Lost: I’m directionally challenged. There I said it. I can and have gotten lost in places that are relatively familiar. Given my track record, I give my odds of not getting lost at approximately ZERO.
3. Cost: I’ve just heard Anthony Bourdain say too many times how expensive X or Y is in New York. I’m half expecting that my cab fare will exceed my airfare.
4. Traffic: I arrive in NY Wednesday morning and I’m deathly afraid that I’ll be sitting in traffic until Thursday morning.
5. Attitude: I’ve been trained in the discipline of ‘Minnesota Nice’. How will that mix with the famed New York ‘tude’? TBD.

We look forward to seeing you all in New York! Some of you will be familiar faces and some first time attendees.  The TopRank Online Marketing team will be live blogging sessions each day of the conference and you can find our Twitter coverage of #SESNY on: @toprank @leeodden @bslarsonmn and @azeckman.  If you will be live blogging any of the sessions that TopRank’s Lee Odden is participating in please let us know!

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
A Preview of #SESNY in a New York Minute, or Two | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

How to Train Employees to Handle Your Social Media

This infographic by mindflash encourages companies to focus on uncovering the social media rock stars within the organization and prompting them to get on board with company goals and initiatives.  Highlights include:

• Options available to organizations for social media execution
• Group training
• Determining employee familiarity with web technology
• Commonly included guidelines

“Are Your Talent Management Practices Out of Date?”  Having trouble retaining key employees?  This article suggests that it’s time for companies to take a different approach to talent management and find a balance between give and take with employees.  Via Inc.

“How Can B2B Marketers Reduce Opt-outs From Email Marketing?”  Many engagement opportunities are cut short when customers or prospects decide to opt-out of email communication.  This in turn directly impacts a companies ability to influence customers, up-sell, and cross sell.  If you’re looking for some helpful advice on actions you can take to reduce opt-outs I strongly recommend reading this article.  Via BtoB.

“In Age of Pinterest, Instagram, Marketers Need An Image Strategy”  It has become clear at this point that image sharing has become a very social activity and is not a passing craze.  As people continue to consume even more viral content marketers must appeal to their audience with great written content and great visual content. Via AdAge.

Social Media & Content Marketing Tips

“8 Tips for Training Social Media Marketers”  Hiring new members to join your social media team can be a tricky situation.  Its important to allow them to focus their efforts on generating results but at the same time you must be very careful that they are accurately representing your brand as well as your clients.  Here are 8 great tips for navigating the training process. Via Social Media Examiner.

“12 Top Community Managers Share Their Tips for Better Engagement”  Everywhere you turn marketers are focusing on customer engagement.  However, what constitutes as engagement is still a heavily debated topic.  This article contains very valuable information from those who live it, successful community managers.  Via Mashable.

“7 Ways to Become a Masterful Storyteller”  Storytelling is an essential part of connecting with your audience.  Stories evoke emotion and engage people who might not otherwise take notice.  Via Ragan.

Top News From the TopRank Team

Lee Odden – “Google Gives Search a Refresh”

Starting in a few months, Google will start showing more facts and direct answers to queries at the top of the search-results page which could impact the search results for 10% to 20% of all search queries, or tens of billions per month.  Via The Wall Street Journal.

Brian Larson – “3 Step Model for Developing Insights Through Keyword Trends”

Every online marketer worth their salt knows the importance of picking the right keywords to focus their optimization. However, far fewer understand how to leverage keywords and their search trends to dig deeper and gain a better understanding of the opportunity and audience they represent. Brad Neelan outlines 3 simple steps that can help marketers with the latter on this article in Search Engine Land.

Shawna Kenyon – “Foursquare on Facebook: Hands on With the New Timeline Integration”

This week Foursquare rolled out its new Facebook integration that puts checkin scorecards on Timelines. Last August Facebook removed its mobile-only check in feature and revamped its location function so it works more like a tag on status updates, photos and posts. The switch makes Facebook less competitive with other checkin services and serves as a better platform for services such as Forsquare to integrate with.  Via Mashable.

Time to weigh in:  What do you foresee as the dangers and benefits of tapping your internal team to contribute to your social media strategy?  Does your company have a visual strategy and do you think this allows you to better connect with your audience?  When it comes to customer engagement what are the 3 things you believe it is most important to measure?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Train Employees to be Social, Update Talent Management, Become a Master Storyteller | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

Google+ For Business

This infographic was recently shared by Chris Brogan on his website and provides some valuable insight into using Google+ for business.  Highlights include:

• Why Google+ is the place to be
• Sharing is the key
• Taking your business page to the next level

“Introducing Google Play:  All your entertainment, anywhere you go”  Google is looking to eliminate the hassle of syncing across multiple devices and computers.  Google Play is a digital entertainment destination where users can find everything from music, to books and movies.  The best part about Google Play?  It’s entirely cloud based so everything will always be available.  Via Google Blog.

“Senior execs increase Twitter usage 13%”  A recent survey found that senior executives access media at any give time of day and are using both traditional and new media to gather this information.  It appears that even the 55+ group of executives appears to be pretty digital savvy. Via BtoB.

“Facebook’s tips for getting your mobile game noticed”  Mobile games have taken over smart phone app stores making it difficult to choose.  Facebook believes they have a solution that will make games more discoverable.  Via Venturebeat.

“Pinterest:  Why Your Company Should Take An Interest”  Many brands are beginning to utilize Pinterest as an online marketing vehicle.  While some experts say that it may not be time for every company to participate, Pinterest is definitely something to keep in mind as a tool to leverage some out of the box solutions.  Via the brainyard.

“Google Patches Hacker’s Chrome Bug in Less Than 24 Hours”  Within 15 hours of Google Chrome being hacked at the Pwnium hack competition Google had already developed a solution to fix the hack.  It’s clear that Chrome is no longer unhackable, but props to Google for coming up with a solution quickly.  Via Forbes.

“5 Reasons Your Content Marketing Must Address Price”  The way that people are shopping has changed to a very online focused business.  However, many businesses fail to address essential questions that their customers may have, especially when it comes to pricing.  This article provides some helpful tips on how and why you should discuss price.  Via Social Media Examiner.

“New Site Helps You Control Google Search Results for Your Name”  If you are interviewing for a job or trying to land a new client you can be sure that your name will be Googled before agreeing to do business with you.  A new website BrandYourself, guides users in optimizing the links that you want Google to push up in the results when your name is searched.  Via Mashable.

TopRank Team News

Brian Larson – Infographic:  The Google Panda Update, One Year Later
There seems to be a widely held belief that Google’s Panda update targeted and impacted article sites. This misnomer serves as a reminder to look back at Panda year later to evaluate what we learned and how we adapted.  Via Search Engine Land.

Ken Horst – Can Friendsheet give Facebook the power of Pinterest?
Facebook quietly launched its own version of Pinterest on Tuesday that looks like a 100% knock off.  One obvious benefit to a Facebook version of Pinterest is its seamless integration with your Facebook community.

On the down side, Friendsheets are not easily sharable with people not in your network and the image database is not very searchable.  Also, it doesn’t appear that  Friendsheet has  a toolbar applet for easy image curation available yet.

From a marketing perspective, I will set up and use this tool as a way to expand my reach but I plan to keep using Pinterest as my primary image curation tool because  I like the Pinterest community and the sharing options.  Via SmartBlog.

Time to weigh in:  Will you be targeting older executives more aggressively now that you know they’re spending more time online?  What type of businesses do you think should utilize Pinterest?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Chrome Gets Hacked, Facebook Can Get your Game Noticed, Take an Interest in Pinterest | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

What does it take to go viral?

This recent video from Salesforce.com covers what it takes for your content to spread as well as the formula for success.  The video also includes a checklist marketers can use to increase their likelihood of going viral.

This Week in Online Marketing News

“Getting Socially Optimized with Mobile Marketing” As mobile marketing continues to expand marketers are still searching for the best way to reach their audience through the development of applications for smart phones, ads, and mobile optimized websites.  This article provides some insight into the benefits and challenges of a mobile marketing strategy. Via BtoB Magazine.

“How Twitter is Pairing It’s Interest Graph With Ads”  While Facebook’s social graph provides information on connections, likes, and demographic data Twitter is taking a different approach.  Twitter’s interest graph will focus more on users likes, what they read, and generally what topics they are interested in.  Via Techcrunch.

“Facebook Revamps Pages For Businesses”  In order to create consistency between profiles and pages, Facebook has now rolled out the new timeline for branded pages.  Facebook is encouraging businesses to make the shift from pure advertising to storytelling and hopes that the new timeline will push companies to make the transition.  TopRank recently rolled out the updated timeline, what do you think?  Via the brainyard.

“Foursquare Says Farewell to Google Maps, Joins OpenStreetMap Movement”  Foursquare has decided to part ways with Google Maps saying that “as a startup, we also often think about how we can make life easier for other startups.”  Curious to know why Foursquare chose this particular product?  Via Mashable.

“Posting From Pinterest To Your Facebook Fan Page”  Tabfusion recently released a Facebook app that allows users to display their “pins” to their Facebook page.  The company shares that once Pinterest releases their application-programming interface there will be further integration.  Be sure to take a look at the clever cartoon attached to the bottom of the article.  Via Marketaire.

“12 important steps bloggers should never forget”  Writing a blog is a serious commitment.  Many bloggers get wrapped up in creating the content and forget some very simple optimization and promotional steps.  This article provides some good insight into steps that bloggers should incorporate into their blogging routine.  Via ragan.

TopRank Team: Search & Social News

Brian Larson – Google Images Adds Previews to Related Searches
Let’s face it, some searches are just inherently more intent on visual content. Google gets it and is making access to relevant images even more convenient. For businesses, this update reinforces the importance of optimizing images as part of an overall online marketing strategy.  Via Search Engine Watch.

Shawna Kenyon  - Clock counts down as Google privacy change looms
Google’s new privacy change is their solution for combining 60 privacy policies for different services. For some Google users this change is unfavorable as there is no way to “opt-out”.  However for those who favor all of Google’s services this will be a way for the user to be presented with content that is similar to what they are already looking for. Google continues to reaffirm its commitment to preserving privacy stating the change will only serve to “simplify” the user experience.  Via Cnet.

Alexis Hall – msnNow Is Driving More Traffic To Bing, But Is It Artificially Inflating Searches?
msnNOW, a new service which aggregates content around trending topics, launched just two weeks ago, but already seems to be having an effect on Bing traffic numbers.  While new traffic to Bing has jumped in the past two weeks, this post suggests that those numbers may be inflated due to how msnNOW links are structured.  We’ll have to keep an eye on this trend to determine how search engine market share may shift, as well as how msnNOW may impact the search and social landscape.  Via Search Engine Land.

Ken Horst – LinkedIn Launches Follow Company Button
Here is something every company with a Linkedin profile should jump on right away.  According to execs at LinkedIn, there is a finite limit to how many brands people will follow per channel.  Companies that drag their feet with the LinkedIn “follow company” button may find it more difficult to find willing followers later in the year.  Via AdWeek.

Time to weigh in:  Do you consider the new Facebook timeline for businesses a positive or negative change?  What impact do you think this will have on your business?  Have you integrated mobile marketing into your online marketing strategy?  What have been the results?

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Tips for Going Viral, Socially Optimized via Mobile, Facebook Timelines for Business, LinkedIn Company Follow | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog