A lot has been said and written about Pinterest in the past few weeks and months, from how marketers can use use it to drive traffic to how affiliate spammers are using it to generate income. However, I’m going to take a slightly “bigger picture” view of Pinterest.

How Should Web Publishers Use Pinterest

 There have been countless articles about how to extract short term value and traffic from Pinterest. Just as many social media gurus playing dulcimers while sliding down rainbows will point to companies like Chobani who use it to “connect with their fans” (although how anyone can meaningfully connect with thousands of fans in excess of Dunbar’s Number remains a mystery to me). But what marketers and publishers should be doing is using Pinterest to understand and research their customers not to force things down their throats–and especially not to pollute the web with more useless infographics.

The Marketing Lie … Attention Does Not Equal Customers

The truth is the one thing modern online marketing “professionals” seek more than anything else the praise and recognition of their marketing peers. That praise and recognition gets THEM a dose of pseudo celebrity, which, if they are smart, can be turned into getting themselves customers and generating billable hours. The needs of their clients and the effectiveness of their campaigns for getting new customers are secondary matters.  The primary goals are perpetuating fame and ego stroking. The success of their campaigns usually comes from riding on the pseudo celebrity status and the “reach” of the guru, which is measured by some meaningless statistic like Klout Scoure, and the sheer number of their lemming like followers. This isn’t just about online marketers. Real world offline marketers rarely “connect” with their intended audiences or demographic. If you don’t believe me, read this article on why marketers are having a hard time reaching generation “Y”

Young people do not want what the title photo shows, a Sonic done up like “The Fast and the Furious” circa 2002. Young people would rather get herpes than go to the “Sonic Lounge” at the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas. Ask Ford how their “Fiesta Movement” worked out, and I mean sales to young people, not just “social media impressions”. Car companies that indulge in these silly campaigns are like an obese person trying to lose weight by switching from Coke to fruit juice when what’s really needed is hard physical exercise and most importantly, self-discipline.

How Website Owners Should Use Pinterest to Understand Their Customers

Why Are You Doing A Wedding Dress Collection on Pinterest

Earlier this week Dana Todd asked why I (a forty something, married male) had a Pinterest board dedicated to Wedding Dresses. My initial response was that it contributed to that special brand of crazy, which I have been carefully cultivating over the years. Truth be told, there is more than a kernel of truth to that statement. However, the real reason is slightly more nuanced. IMHO to be a successful marketer, you have to immerse yourself in the world of your customers. You have to do so from their point of view and their perspective, not from yours in the ivory tower of the corporate boardroom, trapped behind a bunch of slide shows and power point presentations filled with carefully crafted and manipulated data. To really understand your customers you have to walk in their shoes, breathe their air, feel their situations from a first hand perspective. Sure, it may sound like bunch of voodoo zen fortune cookie wisdom, akin to the concept that to really know what it’s like to be in a forest you have to “be the leaf,” but there is some truth to the practice.

If you run a wedding site, you should be following and watching what types of wedding dresses are people pinning and reacting to. Yes, celebrity weddings will influence what brides want to wear, but if you really want to taste the sweet nectar of knowledge, you personally have to pick the fruit straight from the tree and take a bite … not wait three weeks until it’s sitting neatly packaged in the produce aisle of your local supermarket and has lost most of it “nutritional and informational value.” Yes, I understand you’re “management” and your job is to guide the process, to make sure things get done, but don’t underestimate the value of getting your hands dirty once in a while. There’s a good chance you’ll learn something … maybe even something worthwhile.

So what are the takeaways from this post:

• If you have the time to get involved in social media, be on the lookout for ways to do it that let you see real data from real consumers, not manipulated data in a PowerPoint
• Marketers in every area are almost always like insurance salesman trying to sell you a whole life insurance policy … also known as the one that financially benefits them the most
• Embrace criticism from your customer–don’t fear it. 99% of the time that customer is telling you what’s wrong with your product or service and how to fix it (looks squarely at Google+ team and Vic Gundotra for the gross incompetence in how PAYING Google apps customers are still being treated as second class citizens on Google+ with the lack of migration tool)
• Don’t be a short sighted marketer and strip mine Pinterest for traffic, filling it with spam to the point that it’s useless. Take a long term view and use it as a rare, unfiltered window into what your customers aspire to or think is awesome.

photo credit: BigStockPhoto/alenkasm

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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.

Why Website Owners Should Be Using Pinterest

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

Are Your Social Media Efforts Worth The Money?

This infographic recently released by Radian6 dives into how online marketers are currently measuring social media results as well as questions many marketers are asking.  Some of the highlights include:

• Equation for determining ROI
• Customer Engagement
• Importance of ROI

3 Rules for Building Business Relationships
Building your network both online and offline requires effort.  In order to strengthen your relationship with potential prospects, partners, or recruits it is essential that you provide value in a meaningful way.  This article shares 3 tips for building your network the right way.  Via Inc.

5 Social Media Metrics that Matter Now
As your social media strategy evolves so should the way that you are measuring results.  Exact metrics that should be measured will vary based on your industry, product, as well as a variety of other reasons.  However, this article provides some great insight into 5 metrics you don’t want to mis.  Via InformationWeek.

5 Creative Tips to Increase Blog Traffic and Boost Your Business
Many blogs fail because of one key problem, they don’t think like their customers.  A customer-centric online marketing strategy is key in both attracting and retaining followers.  If you’re looking for tips on increasing the quantity and quality of your blog traffic this is an article you don’t want to miss.  Via Social Media Examiner.

TopRank(ing) Online Marketing News – Hear From Our Team

Jolina Pettice - Use the Brown M&M Technique to Build Links
If you have heard about Van Halen’s request for M&M’s (hold the brown ones) and thought it was just an outrageous demand – think again. The point of their demands was a quality check measurement. Take this approach to linkbuilding and reap yummy rewards!  Via Search Engine Land.

Alexis Hall - Facebook Search Engine Overhaul in the work
Facebook has commissioned a team of engineers to overhaul the search engine within Facebook to make it easier for users to find videos, articles and status updates that have been shared within the social network. Although this doesn’t seem like an effort to compete with Google’s search engine yet, this is another step toward an increasing social search engine. Via Search Engine Watch.

Shawna Kenyon – 3 Twitter Rumors and What They Could Mean for Brands
According to a recent Ad Age report Twitter plans to add new experiences to its platform in order to entice brands to spend more ad dollars. Three possible changes could be coming to Twitter including,  a new open platform to giving access to third party developers, T-Commerce (Twitter e-commerce) allowing for a possible integration with Square, the mobile payment company Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey established in 2009. And contests/sweepstakes for brand pages to create a deeper brand engagement. As of now Twitter has made no official announcements.  Via Mashable.

Brian Larson – Yahoo! Takes a Cue from Google to Personalize Services/Search
To regain search market share and focus on provider users with a more customized experience, Yahoo! is investing in elevating their personalized services…and cutting jobs.  Via Search Engine Watch.

Mike Yanke- 2,000 Laid Off By Former Search Engine Giant Yahoo!
As part of a larger restructuring effort, one-time search engine giant Yahoo! has announced plans to lay-off 2,000 employees.   Per a quote picked up by Search Engine Land, Yahoo! expects to realize approximately $375 million of annualized savings upon completion of all employee transitions. No indication has been shared yet regarding what employees or divisions will be impacted by this change.  Via Search Engine Land.

Time to Weigh In: Has your organization been able to determine the ROI of your social media strategy?  What have you found makes the largest impact when networking with prospects or potential hires?  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Social Media ROI Gets Serious, Know Your Metrics, Facebook Search Engine, Twitter Rumors & What They Mean For You | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

That’s the topic of discussion for the PRSA Digital Impact Conference opening keynote featuring Caryn Marooney, vice president of technology communications for Facebook.

Before going to Facebook, Caryn explained that she ran an agency, however  she talks about having felt like a mechanical bunny always chasing something and not catching it.

Why? Everything is constantly changing. And we as PR and Marketing Pros have to be ok with that. What’s remains constant is what remains important.

3 important things we need to remember:

1. What audiences are we trying to reach
2. What are our goals
3. What tools can we use to reach our goals

As we think about audience, that of Facebook is expansive and exponential which is why it can be so effective in terms of online marketing.

There are more than 845 million people on Facebook and more than 100 billion friend connections.

On average more than 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook each day. In addition, users generate an average of 2.7 billion likes and comments per day.

The ability to share a message with a few and have it reach the many has never been so available. As marketers we have to start thinking about exponential reach. If we share content that’s valuable or unique or solves a problem and make it easy to share, there are no limits.

Whether your community is 30, 300 or 3,000 may not matter. What matters is that it’s the right people who are interested and want more of what you have – whether information, products or services.

To help you find the perfect blend of community members, Caryn next talks about tools.

Let’s think about it this way, the tools to help yourself and the tools to help your brand.
First, we start with the tools for you (and me).

What is not new with timeline:

• There is no new information in timeline, just a new format
• No changes in privacy settings

Caryn suggests spending time on the Activity Log, which includes all information you have shared on Facebook. You can highlight/remove items from your timeline via the activity log.

What’s new:

• Can add high-res images
• When you add location or check-in, it pre-populates a map which you can drill into and find the information/photos you shared while in those locations

Even at the personal level, we need to keep audiences in mind. Who are you trying to communicate with and with what message?

A couple newer features include:

Spring Cleaning
When you activate the tool, it takes you through your list of friends (note – requires over 300 friends for this to be available). The tool will make suggestions based on those who you have not been interacting with on a regular basis.

If you leave them ‘checked’, they will be moved to acquaintances and less of their information will populate in your news feed.

Subscribe
Anyone can turn on subscribe, via account settings.
Once you activate this feature, anyone can subscribe to your posts.

Want to know what works for journalists?

• Commentary on current events – 3x as many likes and 2x as many shares
• Reader shout-outs
• Behind the scene images

Interest Lists
This feature brings interests to your newsfeed.
If you subscribe to an interest list, it allows that information (i.e. tech news) to come into your news feed. Use this tool to keep up-to-date on topic areas you are interested in, provided directly to you.

Brands
Brand pages were recently transitioned to the timeline feature as well.

A couple quick tips:
1. Star – if you star an image on the timeline, it will be positioned as a double-wide image spanning the whole page.
2. Pin – use this feature to ensure content stays at the top of the page and won’t move down when new content is added. This content will stay ‘pinned’ for a week or until something new is pinned.
3. Friends Window – allows users to see a brand page through the lens of their friends. This means brands are instantly personalized.
4. Message – allows users to directly message with a brand.
5. Admin Panel –  quick and easy access to happenings on the page.

Caryn suggests checking out the Hunger Games brand page for a great example of leveraging the timeline feature and apps.

She wraps up by reminding us that we are in an incredible time which allows us to do things we never thought of, specifically through tools. Signs are posted all around Facebook asking this question, ‘What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?’.

And with that we wrap up with Q&A.
Q: What’s your favorite part of the Facebook atmosphere?
A: I have this moment every day where the ambition and excitement can be overwhelming, but that itself is very exciting.

Q: Do you expect that your list of preferred developers is going to change?
A: No, we work with so many different developers and they are all up-to-speed on the changes. I don’t think it takes a different skill set, so we don’t expect it to change – but maybe to grow.

In summary, it’s interesting to get insight into how Facebook (and someone from the inside) views the opportunities that exist within the channel. And how they push themselves to make changes, even if at first they might get push back from the community.

Like it or not Facebook (and other social channels) will continue to evolve. Our job is to identify opportunities with our audiences in mind. If we deliver what they need and want, we’ll ultimately be closer to reaching our goals.

Connect with TopRank Online Marketing on Facebook to find more information on the intersection of Search, Social and Online PR.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
BFF’s for Increased Online Marketing Reach? PRSA Digital Impact Conference Keynote | http://www.toprankblog.com

This article was originally posted on the Online Marketing Blog

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

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.

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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

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.

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© 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

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

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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

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