Archives for November 2009

November 30, 2009 By allen Leave a Comment

Why Blog Marketing Is Effective SEO

wecanblogit

Blog marketing has, in a certain very real sense, become the new SEO. The old SEO revolved around keywords and back links. The new SEO revolves around strong content and link bait. What’s the difference?

With the old SEO, webmasters wrote keyword-based content designed to get their pages ranked in the search engines based on how they used the keywords on the page. Then they market their web pages by building links to those pages using approved link building tactics. These tactics still work today but webmasters can achieve the same thing in less time by engaging in blog marketing.

Blog marketing is about adding new, fresh and original content to your website often. The more often the better. The more original your content the better. The higher the quality of your content the better. See a trend here? Let me explain:

The reason more content is better is because it brings the search engines back to your website to crawl it more often. More robots on your site means more chances to get your pages ranked. Plus, every blog post is a unique web page with its own unique permalink. More pages rank in the search engines for your keywords.

The reason original content is better is because duplicate content won’t get ranked. Don’t copy someone else. Be original. Add your own content with your own thoughts and ideas.

And finally, the reason quality is important is because higher quality content draws more links. When people see that you publish highly relevant and authoritative content on a consistent basis they will link to you

And that’s why blog marketing is about quality content and link bait. It’s the new SEO.

November 27, 2009 By allen Leave a Comment

The Rise Of Opera Mini And Mobile Web Marketing

Web marketers have been discussing the rise of mobile marketing for a few good years now. Until now, it really hasn’t taken off in a big way, probably because there has been nothing to scale that has caught on en masse. But that’s about to change.

Opera Mini is a mobile web browser that is becoming quite popular. In fact, it’s use has risen by 238% since October 2008. That’s pretty impressive growth.

Of course, that kind of growth means nothing for a web browser if marketers can’t tap into that power some how. For web marketers, the growth of Opera Mini is an opportunity just waiting to happen. Users of Opera Mini are already using Google, Facebook and Live, now Bing. And what that means is that people are searching the web using their mobile phones and engaging in social media. Where there is search and social media there is a marketing opportunity.

But how do marketers take advantage of that opportunity? First, you need to develop a mobile website. Mobile web browsers cannot read straight HTML sites. They require a special mobile website. The website can feature the same content as you primary website, but has to be developed so that mobile browsers like Opera Mini can read it. After that, it’s all about driving traffic.

November 25, 2009 By allen Leave a Comment

Rupert Murdoch: Search Engine Attack Dog

prom_queen

Rupert Murdoch has been the talk of the Internet lately. If you’d like to see why, check out this video in which he says that he plans to start de-indexing his websites from Google and charging people to read news stories on those sites.

If you are wondering what’s so fascinating about Rupert Murdoch saying this then you probably aren’t aware of all the facets of search engine optimization and the history of how search engines came into being – particularly Google. If Murdoch does strike a deal with Microsoft to allow Bing to be the exclusive indexer of his content then that would ultimately change how search engines operate in a big way. It would be even bigger than Google’s big debut in 1998.

Until now, the search engines have all been like the prom queen two months before the prom. If you want to even be considered for a date then you’ve got to chase the crown. The prom queen doesn’t chase; she sits. Everyone else sniffs and begs for a position in the line up.

Rupert Murdoch is threatening to change that. He wants the search engines to beg him to be indexed. And Microsoft is playing along. Evidently, some other news organizations are considering the same move. So the big question is, Can these news organizations change the way search engines operate?

Maybe they can. At least, Rupert Murdoch is banking on it. And Microsoft, eager to challenge Google’s place on the throne, just might be the search engine to let it happen.

But I can’t help but wonder what would happen to the rest of us if Rupert Murdoch succeeds and gets his paycheck from Microsoft. Would that be the way search engines operate in the future? Will they pay us all to be indexed exclusively in their search indexes or do you think this will just all blow over? My bet is Rupert Murdoch is gearing up for a huge fight. But is anyone else betting on him?

November 24, 2009 By splatter Leave a Comment

Street signs, content and the art of stopping eyeballs.

you_are_beautiful

What makes good content? I can wax on and give you the latest ten tips for making great content, but instead I’m going over simplify it because I’m in that kind of mood. Content is just like art. There’s good art and there’s bad art, depending on your perspective. My perspective is I like the kind of art that takes an everyday object and gives it a twist that in turn gets a reaction out of me. Any reaction will do. Here’s an example; I came across a post that documents unique street signs in Lyon, France.Â Â I’ve passed street signs with the international cross-out symbol like these in my travels abroad and here at home as well, yet I have never stopped to take notice of the design. In a matter of milliseconds, my eyes see the sign, synapses fire off registering it as a sign, I may or may not heed the instruction, then the eyeballs get bored and find something else to feed off of. Poof, forgotten seconds after the experience. But these French signs are memorable. There’s a lesson here. Content should be thought of in the same way. Why not approach your next article, newsletter, video, social media campaign etc., with the same kind of goal? Take the everyday concept and put your own personal spin on it. Recycling the same old information that anyone can find on the intertubes is easy. Coming up with a unique angle on a concept takes a heck of a lot more effort and creativity. Do the latter. If you do it right, people may just stop and take notice.

November 23, 2009 By allen Leave a Comment

Is Social Media Hyperlocal Or Mere Hype?

You’ve known that social media was important. You’ve been told countless times. And indeed it is. But this is the first time I think I’ve seen anyone call it hyperlocal.

(Source) The firm also says that even though the web is world-wide, its emerging power is hyperlocal. This is because this is the space where online and offline most often meet. That is a key reason why businesses, particularly local businesses should not ignore social media.

What does hyperlocal actually mean?

Hyperlocal is a phrase that has been around for awhile, but it is usually used in a context referencing other media, rarely social media. I have seen it used in reference to blogs where the hyperlocal blog is described as a blog whose mission and purpose is to serve a specific niche in a local environment or a very small geographic area. But how can social media in the broader sense be hyperlocal?

I think the idea here is that local businesses seeking to connect to customers and potential customers can do so on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn but rather than seeking out connections on a global level, you can seek out relationships on a purely local level. Facebook, with its local networks, makes this easy. Twitter is flexible enough that hyperlocal businesses can make good use of it as well. Other social media can be used in a hyperlocal context as needed.

Just because the term hyperlocal is being used in reference to social media doesn’t mean it’s being used that way – yet. I do see some local businesses making use of Twitter, but there’s still lots of room to grow. Facebook is probably leading the pack. YouTube is growing a strong hyperlocal user base as well.

When it comes to social media, if you’re a local business in a specific geographic area, you don’t have to count yourself out of the social media game. In fact, you can use social media in your favor.Â Just be sure that you don’t get wrapped up in the global hype and focus on your goal… to engage your customers and get new ones to try you out.

November 20, 2009 By allen Leave a Comment

Can You Be A Top Brand?

numero_uno_cup

An interesting survey shows the top online brands and reveals what made them so. The three attributes the top 10 brands online share are:

Trustworthiness
Helpfulness
Relevance

From Google and Sony to Amazon and Apple, the top brands online are brands that have reputations as companies who are trustworthy, helpful, and relevant. Does that describe you?

It’s clear that online branding has become one of the most important aspects of business in the 21st century. Google has a lot to do with that. Being the top resource for many consumers searching for information about brands online, Google has done a stellar job of positioning its own brand. Naturally, we trust Google as a resource for developing our own.

Amazon has become synonymous in recent years with e-commerce. There is no other e-commerce company that is as trusted as Amazon. Ebay may be a close second, but it still trails even though it did make the top 10 list. It isn’t far behind.

The leading social network, of course, is Facebook, followed by MySpace.

If you’re building your brand online then there is something to learn from this list. And it isn’t that you should be a search engine, a social network, an e-commerce or auction site, or a computer technology company. Rather, the lesson to learn is that no matter what niche you are in, it is important to build trust, be helpful, and establish yourself as relevant to consumers within your niche. If you can’t achieve at least one of those three attributes then you likely won’t be a brand that consumers will come to rely on.

November 19, 2009 By splatter Leave a Comment

Does YouTube selectively block certain features for some videos?

broken_tv

I was recently cruising the YouTube community help forum and reading the “bugs” section when one entry caught my eye. A link to ” An update on Video View Counts” had over 1440 replies. If that many people are talking about something, you know it must be a big deal. Here’s the gist; you post your video and you start getting lots of vies…then suddenly the views stop (or at least it appears that they have stopped). It’s like the views get frozen and don’t update even if you know your aunt Lucy just viewed your video. Liz, a YouTube support person, did admit that there was an issue and posted this reply,

Occasionally, when a video becomes popular quickly, it takes our computers longer to make sure those views are accurate. This means a video’s viewcount may not update for several hours, sometimes allowing ratings and comments on the same video to climb temporarily higher than the views.Â So if you see your video views aren’t moving, or that your video’s comments and ratings are moving faster than your views, don’t worry. If you’re still getting views, the count should update soon.

It looks like the problem persists and there really isn’t anything that can be done if this happens to you. You are SOL. I wonder if this would cause marketers to migrate to other platforms, like Vimeo, to distribute their videos. Have you found yourself in this situation? If so, what steps did you take to address the issue? Did you stay with YouTube? Did you move on?

Archives for November 2009

Why Blog Marketing Is Effective SEO

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The Rise Of Opera Mini And Mobile Web Marketing

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Rupert Murdoch: Search Engine Attack Dog

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Street signs, content and the art of stopping eyeballs.

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Can You Be A Top Brand?

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Does YouTube selectively block certain features for some videos?

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