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Search for autoshopper inventory on custom video web page
Wednesday, December 21
Smartphone shoppers are real buyers
According to Google:
- 79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, to finding more product info, to locating a retailer.
- 70% use their smartphones while in a store.
- 77% have contacted a business via mobile, with 61% calling and 59% visiting the local business.
- 44% of searches for last minute gifts this holiday season will come through mobile phones.
- Mobile searches on Black Friday rose 200% from last year.
- Tablet traffic grew 440% in 2011 from 2010.
http://googlemobileads.blogspot.com/2011/12/look-back-at-2011.html
"YouTube now exceeds 200 million views a day on mobile, a 3x increase in 2010."
"YouTube now exceeds 200 million views a day on mobile, a 3x increase in 2010."
Based on the numbers above, are your cars or property listings optimized for mobile? Have you created video landing pages for mobile users?
Now Google is looking for mobile optimized sites and apps to crawl. Is your web site ready for the 200 million mobile views every day?
...Take the lead now over your competitors and have Google search your site to optimize (rank) your site for mobile users... get ahead of your competitors.
Now there is a Googlebot for Smartphones... now Google can search and optimize your website for mobile.
"The new crawler will optimize content displayed on smartphones where it is specifically made for smartphones."
Understanding the new Googlebot tools.
Read this for an overview of what is going on here.
Large Website SEO Techniques
Often trying to manage a site with hundreds of links can seem daunting. How you go about laying out your site is absolutely critical to the success of your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) program.
Often you will have different departments vying for control over the front page which is of course where search engines start. One of the biggest issues is Conical links. How to handle links back to the site or to the same item in the site.
I spend a large amount of time trying to figure out "Best Practices" for these sorts of problems for my clients and use my Blog to capture the best ideas I come across.
None of this is new to us but often it is nice to read it in a concise simple article with all the considerations in a few pages...
I think this article:
Offers one of the better overviews of how to go about developing a schema plan for your site.
Remember that there is also a new consortium of search companies using schema.org layout parameters when instituting these new idea.
Often you will have different departments vying for control over the front page which is of course where search engines start. One of the biggest issues is Conical links. How to handle links back to the site or to the same item in the site.
I spend a large amount of time trying to figure out "Best Practices" for these sorts of problems for my clients and use my Blog to capture the best ideas I come across.
None of this is new to us but often it is nice to read it in a concise simple article with all the considerations in a few pages...
I think this article:
SEO Techniques for Large Sites
by Adam Audette
Read At:
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2133151/seo-techniques-sites
Offers one of the better overviews of how to go about developing a schema plan for your site.
Remember that there is also a new consortium of search companies using schema.org layout parameters when instituting these new idea.
Tuesday, December 20
FREE SEO Tools
I am always looking for the best collection of tools to analyze my client's web sites.
I think this site provides one of the best compendiums of web analysis tools around
http://www.searchenginegenie.com/seo-tools.htm
I think this site provides one of the best compendiums of web analysis tools around
http://www.searchenginegenie.com/seo-tools.htm
Long Tail vs Head Term SEO Results
We often think that if we can rank for the largest number of searchers for a core search term that we are winning the SEO wars. Fact is the conversion rate can be as much as 2.5x more for a "long tail" term as apposed to the core "head term" search word.
Conductor, who offers a great service called Searchlight, has put together a simple two page review of their findings on this and can be had for free at:
http://www.conductor.com/resource-center/research/long-tail-search
Conductor, who offers a great service called Searchlight, has put together a simple two page review of their findings on this and can be had for free at:
http://www.conductor.com/resource-center/research/long-tail-search
Wednesday, December 14
So you want to be an SEO Rock Star?
Advanced Keyword Modeling is a leaned skill. Like sailing a boat, making a pair of shoes... this can be learned.
I advise my clients to consider having their SEO staff take this simple and effective course from one of the pros
Learn From Bill Hunt on Advanced Keyword Modeling at the Click-Z Academy.
http://tinyurl.com/bo4htde
Learn:
I advise my clients to consider having their SEO staff take this simple and effective course from one of the pros
Learn From Bill Hunt on Advanced Keyword Modeling at the Click-Z Academy.
http://tinyurl.com/bo4htde
Learn:
- Optimizing your keyword strategy
- Optimizing snippets and identifying bad snippets
- Opportunities for end-of-life products
- Understanding searchers and using query intent and searcher mindset
- Brainstorming keywords, generating your initial keyword list and prioritizing
- Using keyword research tools
- Mapping searchers to actions, and keywords to pages
- Creating a taxonomy to define your content and search strategy
- Evaluating underperforming keywords
- Keyword modeling
- Aligning your keyword strategy to social media and PR
- Integrating paid and organic search
Mobile Privacy-What Verizon does with your data
Does your cell phone carrier really care about your privacy? Not.
Verizon says this in my account... RE: Relevant Mobile Advertising...When you use your wireless device, you often see advertising on websites (Verizon is controlling these ads not Google?) and apps (again who is getting my personal information?). Using the postal address we have for you and certain consumer information such as your device type, language preference and demographic and interest categories provided to us by other companies [They mashup my actual contact info with my search history with where I am standing with my phone in my pocket and the credit card data that I am using at that moment, buying underwear in some store - wow that is such a violation]... (such as gender, age range, sports fan, frequent diner, or pet owner), we will determine whether you fit within an audience category that an advertiser is trying to reach....Please note that you will receive mobile ads whether you participate or not, but under the program, ads may be more relevant to you.
- You will see ads whether you opt in or not! Verizon is running ads on my phone taking up my minutes? This is just the beginning. You can't really opt out of this either... only remove "relevant data" whatever that means.
Check out your own phone privacy settings with your carrier when you log into your cell phone account. You will be amaized at what they say they can do.
Here is a great review of this subject from Mobile Commerce News.
http://tinyurl.com/vprivacynotice
Privacy changes...It (V's new polilcy) will require customers to have to actively opt-out unless they wish to send information to Verizon about the features and apps that they use, the websites that they visit using their mobile devices, and where they have physically travelled while using devices on the Verizon network.
Verizon says this in my account... RE: Relevant Mobile Advertising...When you use your wireless device, you often see advertising on websites (Verizon is controlling these ads not Google?) and apps (again who is getting my personal information?). Using the postal address we have for you and certain consumer information such as your device type, language preference and demographic and interest categories provided to us by other companies [They mashup my actual contact info with my search history with where I am standing with my phone in my pocket and the credit card data that I am using at that moment, buying underwear in some store - wow that is such a violation]... (such as gender, age range, sports fan, frequent diner, or pet owner), we will determine whether you fit within an audience category that an advertiser is trying to reach....Please note that you will receive mobile ads whether you participate or not, but under the program, ads may be more relevant to you.
- You will see ads whether you opt in or not! Verizon is running ads on my phone taking up my minutes? This is just the beginning. You can't really opt out of this either... only remove "relevant data" whatever that means.
Check out your own phone privacy settings with your carrier when you log into your cell phone account. You will be amaized at what they say they can do.
Here is a great review of this subject from Mobile Commerce News.
http://tinyurl.com/vprivacynotice
Privacy changes...It (V's new polilcy) will require customers to have to actively opt-out unless they wish to send information to Verizon about the features and apps that they use, the websites that they visit using their mobile devices, and where they have physically travelled while using devices on the Verizon network.
Friday, December 9
Tuesday, December 6
From your mind to your eyes - google explains how search works
Google takes a minute to explain the history of the Google Search engine and how it has evolved and also how Universal Search [explained] works where they combine all of the various kinds of media types; web pages, images, video, text from books.... and how they get it to you faster.
If you deconstruct this video you quickly see that using other types of media besides web pages is the future of how Google plans to get you information.
OK Universal Search... return different media types in a single search. But really what does this mean?
1. Mobile devices doing search are better optimized for video. (30 % of our videos are being watched on a mobile device now)
2. How does Google make money? Selling ads, and if you haven't clicked on one of their ads in a general search, they make no money... but if they present a video result, namely a YouTube video link, this not only provides Google a second chance at charging someone for an ad impression, they also keep you in their eco system, instead of say going off to the New York Times.
Seems simple to me! What do you think?
If you deconstruct this video you quickly see that using other types of media besides web pages is the future of how Google plans to get you information.
OK Universal Search... return different media types in a single search. But really what does this mean?
1. Mobile devices doing search are better optimized for video. (30 % of our videos are being watched on a mobile device now)
2. How does Google make money? Selling ads, and if you haven't clicked on one of their ads in a general search, they make no money... but if they present a video result, namely a YouTube video link, this not only provides Google a second chance at charging someone for an ad impression, they also keep you in their eco system, instead of say going off to the New York Times.
Seems simple to me! What do you think?
Tuesday, November 29
NAR 2011 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
New Home Buyer and Seller profile study now released by National Association of Realtors.
"Of buyers who used the web as a starting point for their search (88%), 45 percent found the home they ultimately purchased online, up nine percent from 2009"
There was a dramatic sea change regarding the New Home buyer profile and the precipitous drop in Fist Time Buyers in the market this year... With tightening credit standards and so many buyers under water that is to be expected. But there are also a number of important clues for creative Real Estate Agents to use to stand out in a crowded market.
Research Overview:
http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/11/home_buyer_and_seller
Relevant Internet Use Summary: "... buyers use a wide variety of resources in searching for a home: 88 percent use the Internet, 87 percent use real estate agents, 55 percent yard signs, 45 percent attend open houses and 30 percent review print or newspaper ads."
There are tons of other important issues that the NAR study brings out for Agents to pay attention to...
We particularly liked the AGBeat overview of the study http://tinyurl.com/7p7ewqh
What does this tell us?
The major shift is from first time buyers to older, more established families... those over 65 tended not to use the Internet as much... again this is "as much" but they "still used" the Internet so from a standpoint of you are doing everything else to make your local presence known... you still need to use the Internet.
PDF overview of NAR 2011 Home Buyers Report http://tinyurl.com/7ejdomd
So as markets become more competitive what are you doing to stand out?
We believe that all studies indicate that using video, specifically YouTube video, which is not only the easiest way to put your listings in front of real buyers but also the fastest way.
In other studies it has been borne out that of all realtors in a recent study conducted by realtor.org …. (only) 2 percent used YouTube or another video hosting site.
October 10, 2010 study http://www.realtor.org/topics/homebuyers_sellers_profile/techtrends_pres
...and that 85.8 percent of American web users (77.3% of the population) are viewing web video...in addition, the tipping point for the use of mobile devices while in the field to view properties has grown dramatically. Putting video on YouTube solves all of these problems.
http://torreyrussell.blogspot.com/2011/09/tipping-point-mobile-video-search.html
So by taking the advantage that Video brings - you can quickly and easily gain a dominant position on the Internet without a lot of cost associated with creating and hosting it.... YouTube is free or use a service like ours, (http://techmediamarketing.com) cost about $1.00 per listing per month for a typical office to automate that process.
"Of buyers who used the web as a starting point for their search (88%), 45 percent found the home they ultimately purchased online, up nine percent from 2009"
There was a dramatic sea change regarding the New Home buyer profile and the precipitous drop in Fist Time Buyers in the market this year... With tightening credit standards and so many buyers under water that is to be expected. But there are also a number of important clues for creative Real Estate Agents to use to stand out in a crowded market.
Research Overview:
http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2011/11/home_buyer_and_seller
Relevant Internet Use Summary: "... buyers use a wide variety of resources in searching for a home: 88 percent use the Internet, 87 percent use real estate agents, 55 percent yard signs, 45 percent attend open houses and 30 percent review print or newspaper ads."
There are tons of other important issues that the NAR study brings out for Agents to pay attention to...
We particularly liked the AGBeat overview of the study http://tinyurl.com/7p7ewqh
What does this tell us?
The major shift is from first time buyers to older, more established families... those over 65 tended not to use the Internet as much... again this is "as much" but they "still used" the Internet so from a standpoint of you are doing everything else to make your local presence known... you still need to use the Internet.
PDF overview of NAR 2011 Home Buyers Report http://tinyurl.com/7ejdomd
So as markets become more competitive what are you doing to stand out?
We believe that all studies indicate that using video, specifically YouTube video, which is not only the easiest way to put your listings in front of real buyers but also the fastest way.
In other studies it has been borne out that of all realtors in a recent study conducted by realtor.org …. (only) 2 percent used YouTube or another video hosting site.
October 10, 2010 study http://www.realtor.org/topics/homebuyers_sellers_profile/techtrends_pres
...and that 85.8 percent of American web users (77.3% of the population) are viewing web video...in addition, the tipping point for the use of mobile devices while in the field to view properties has grown dramatically. Putting video on YouTube solves all of these problems.
http://torreyrussell.blogspot.com/2011/09/tipping-point-mobile-video-search.html
So by taking the advantage that Video brings - you can quickly and easily gain a dominant position on the Internet without a lot of cost associated with creating and hosting it.... YouTube is free or use a service like ours, (http://techmediamarketing.com) cost about $1.00 per listing per month for a typical office to automate that process.
Thursday, November 10
Friday, November 4
Video SEO - are you playing by the book? YouTube rule book
Its easy to think you know everything about how something works after using for years and years... but really take a minute to read this document
http://www.youtube.com/creators/playbook.html
This alone tells you exactly what is and is not going to work if you are trying to use YouTube to gain better SEO for your brand, your assets or services you market or the story you want to tell.
Also be reading this guy with his first post on Search Engine Watch
Terry Van Horne, November 4, 2011
Video SEO: Video Metadata Optimization
http://www.youtube.com/creators/playbook.html
This alone tells you exactly what is and is not going to work if you are trying to use YouTube to gain better SEO for your brand, your assets or services you market or the story you want to tell.
Also be reading this guy with his first post on Search Engine Watch
Terry Van Horne, November 4, 2011
Video SEO: Video Metadata Optimization
Wednesday, October 26
Video SEO using YouTube how we do it
It all started here officially several years ago with this study done by a respected industry analyst called Forrester Research, “video stands about a 50 times better chance of appearing on the first page of results than any given text page in the (Google) index”
http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html
OK, a 50x advantage using video, specifically YouTube video over any other method of web presence.
And if it is true that: "Most people start at a search engine on the Internet 74% of the time."
Information sources used in home search:
Internet: 74%
Real estate agent: 69%
Yard sign: 22%
Open house: 12%
Newspaper ad: 9%
Home book or magazine: 6%
Source: 2010 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
And that of all realtors in a recent study conducted by realtor.org …. (only) 2 percent used YouTube or another video hosting site.
October 10, 2010 study http://www.realtor.org/topics/homebuyers_sellers_profile/techtrends_pres
And the rules by which we do all of this is in constant motion...
The ever changing landscape:
As stated above Google dominates the search industry.. They own YouTube. Google also embraces new companies from time to time. At one time they backed Facebook, then Twitter and for a short while Groupon… today those are no longer seen as partners but threats and competitors. Now they are backing a new group of startups like Storify and Tumblr. This process of embracing and then letting go of different partners effects the rules of SEO. This also provides an uneven and turbulent market in which to conduct a company’s business in which to acquire customers.
In our blog at http://offersnetwork.com/blog we identify all of these issues and how you can use Google’s current “love affairs” to maximize the SEO of your listings.
For example to take advantage of this we have written an entirely dynamic series of rules that wrap our client’s inventory into SEO landing pages using current Google partner’s sites as the scalable location from which to generate entirely new levels of SEO for their listings without violating the new rules of Google’s PANDA release [read more here http://tinyurl.com/pandarules ] and also we recognize through this process other rules of the road that are not documented but test out in our labs.
We are constantly evaluating the signals that Google is releasing regarding who they are backing and how that might affect our client’s ability to gain SEO of their brand and how we can use those alliances to have our client’s offerings dominate their local markets using these techniques.
Summary: To generate significant, scalable SEO for clients with large ASSET bases requires a programmatical approach. This cannot be done by hand. And with the ever changing landscape it is important to know what are the relevant signals the search engines give off that work and have the flexibility of design to take advantage of those new opportunities. Knowing which ones work and which ones produce false positives is a matter of hard work and testing. In addition, the research indicates that for those brokers that use Video, specifically YouTube video, it represents a huge advantage to dominate search results for their listings over other real estate listings in their market (98% of realtors don’t use video).
http://blogs.forrester.com/interactive_marketing/2009/01/the-easiest-way.html
OK, a 50x advantage using video, specifically YouTube video over any other method of web presence.
And if it is true that: "Most people start at a search engine on the Internet 74% of the time."
Information sources used in home search:
Internet: 74%
Real estate agent: 69%
Yard sign: 22%
Open house: 12%
Newspaper ad: 9%
Home book or magazine: 6%
Source: 2010 National Association of REALTORS® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers
And that of all realtors in a recent study conducted by realtor.org …. (only) 2 percent used YouTube or another video hosting site.
October 10, 2010 study http://www.realtor.org/topics/homebuyers_sellers_profile/techtrends_pres
And the rules by which we do all of this is in constant motion...
The ever changing landscape:
As stated above Google dominates the search industry.. They own YouTube. Google also embraces new companies from time to time. At one time they backed Facebook, then Twitter and for a short while Groupon… today those are no longer seen as partners but threats and competitors. Now they are backing a new group of startups like Storify and Tumblr. This process of embracing and then letting go of different partners effects the rules of SEO. This also provides an uneven and turbulent market in which to conduct a company’s business in which to acquire customers.
In our blog at http://offersnetwork.com/blog we identify all of these issues and how you can use Google’s current “love affairs” to maximize the SEO of your listings.
For example to take advantage of this we have written an entirely dynamic series of rules that wrap our client’s inventory into SEO landing pages using current Google partner’s sites as the scalable location from which to generate entirely new levels of SEO for their listings without violating the new rules of Google’s PANDA release [read more here http://tinyurl.com/pandarules ] and also we recognize through this process other rules of the road that are not documented but test out in our labs.
We are constantly evaluating the signals that Google is releasing regarding who they are backing and how that might affect our client’s ability to gain SEO of their brand and how we can use those alliances to have our client’s offerings dominate their local markets using these techniques.
Summary: To generate significant, scalable SEO for clients with large ASSET bases requires a programmatical approach. This cannot be done by hand. And with the ever changing landscape it is important to know what are the relevant signals the search engines give off that work and have the flexibility of design to take advantage of those new opportunities. Knowing which ones work and which ones produce false positives is a matter of hard work and testing. In addition, the research indicates that for those brokers that use Video, specifically YouTube video, it represents a huge advantage to dominate search results for their listings over other real estate listings in their market (98% of realtors don’t use video).
Wednesday, October 19
Monday, October 17
Monday, October 3
Wednesday, September 28
Top Level Domains still pull the best for SEO
No doubt about it, using a top level domain (TLD) creates tremendous SEO for that site.... not just .gov or .edu. But putting the keywords you want in the order that the searcher is using also is key.
For example we just launched http://homes-for-sale-real-estate.com with each of our clients sitting under it by city and state and it is pulling a entirely new level of SEO for us. Each client (Real Estate) is then optimized at the Office, Agent and listing level...
Example site
Here is the video on all the features of this as marketed by our partner - Techmediamarketing.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YLKTWqftFY
Of course our entire process is to re-post directed links back to the YouTube videos for each listing to increase engagement (time) watching that video by more people. Our clients take our customized java-scripted-slide-shows of their YouTube videos as embedable links and post them on their web blogs, web sites and face book accounts generating huge SEO back links again. We are working with a newsletter company where we will take their embedded links and push that out to their newsletter readers... creating tons of page views, hey video takes longer to watch, email is opened on a mobile device 39% of the time, and creates longer "engagement" ranking for that search term... we win!
So this is an automated process... we are now creating new landing pages for each video, optimized for that city and state, then building clustered landing pages by category (houses for sale city state)... on and on. Cross links, back links, landing pages on our client sites with their videos embedded there, news sites that will take feeds like stumpleupon, tumblr, storify.... each listing is now linked from 10 or more places thus - with the TLD approaching the goal of starting the Google engine to follow all of this makes it simple and automated for tens of thousands of listings and is all kosher for Google (eg white hat).
It is nice to see other stories coming out that verify some of our techniques:
Author Tim Callan | September 28, 2011 on ClickZ
For example we just launched http://homes-for-sale-real-estate.com with each of our clients sitting under it by city and state and it is pulling a entirely new level of SEO for us. Each client (Real Estate) is then optimized at the Office, Agent and listing level...
Example site
Here is the video on all the features of this as marketed by our partner - Techmediamarketing.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YLKTWqftFY
Of course our entire process is to re-post directed links back to the YouTube videos for each listing to increase engagement (time) watching that video by more people. Our clients take our customized java-scripted-slide-shows of their YouTube videos as embedable links and post them on their web blogs, web sites and face book accounts generating huge SEO back links again. We are working with a newsletter company where we will take their embedded links and push that out to their newsletter readers... creating tons of page views, hey video takes longer to watch, email is opened on a mobile device 39% of the time, and creates longer "engagement" ranking for that search term... we win!
So this is an automated process... we are now creating new landing pages for each video, optimized for that city and state, then building clustered landing pages by category (houses for sale city state)... on and on. Cross links, back links, landing pages on our client sites with their videos embedded there, news sites that will take feeds like stumpleupon, tumblr, storify.... each listing is now linked from 10 or more places thus - with the TLD approaching the goal of starting the Google engine to follow all of this makes it simple and automated for tens of thousands of listings and is all kosher for Google (eg white hat).
It is nice to see other stories coming out that verify some of our techniques:
Author Tim Callan | September 28, 2011 on ClickZ
Tuesday, September 27
Monday, September 26
Friday, September 23
Thursday, September 22
Mashup your social and crm and what do you get Nimble.com
The new standard in the field for herding all our cats into one bag - Nimble.com
Follow jon http://twitter.com/#!/Jon_Ferrara
Follow jon http://twitter.com/#!/Jon_Ferrara
Sunday, September 18
Use Bundle Tool to View Expenditures by Consumer Type
What the average American spends
Understanding buyer profiles is key to knowing what to expect them to spend
Here is a great tool that allows you to slice and dice the data in real time
http://money.bundle.com
Understanding buyer profiles is key to knowing what to expect them to spend
Here is a great tool that allows you to slice and dice the data in real time
http://money.bundle.com
Wednesday, September 14
Tuesday, September 13
YouTube Slide Show
Slideshow of YouTube videos for Real Estate clients to post on their sites.
Now our clients can post their entire video library of listings easily in one place and it will update it automatically based on the listings they have posted with our service on YouTube.
Now our clients can post their entire video library of listings easily in one place and it will update it automatically based on the listings they have posted with our service on YouTube.
Wednesday, September 7
Friday, September 2
YouTube Playbook for Creators
Take a look at the latest writeup from the people at YouTube about what you should be doing to optimize your video posts Referral Story: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2106089/YouTube-Creator-Playbook-Offers-New-Strategies-Best-Practices
Wednesday, August 24
New Slideshow Presentation of our clients YouTube Videos they can embed
Click on property to view YouTube Video Slide Show
VIDEO SEO - fastest way to the front page of Google and beyond!
If you are a car dealer or a real estate agent... using video posted to youtube magnifies your presence on the web times the number of listings you have... multiply your visibility, in a way that Google likes, with one of the cheapest forms of SEO there is
Here is a great overview article about this subject
Here is a great overview article about this subject
Thursday, August 18
Wednesday, August 10
Where are you in the Click Stream. New SEO study by SlingShot says need to be in first 3
Good review of the study here
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2100616/Top-Google-Ranking-Captures-18.2-of-Clicks-Study
Friday, July 29
Facebook offers new user guide to Facebook for Business
Learn how to grow your business with Facebook's powerful marketing tools
http://www.facebook.com/business
Easy and important rules and ideas to promote your business on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/business/howitworks/
Review great article in SearchEngineWatch
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2097810/Business-Guide-to-Facebook-Launches
then all you have to do is monitor and reply to people who go there... Active Facebook traffic helps your general SEO if you have your page properly set up.
Here is someone to follow who is working hard to teach you about this
http://www.facebook.com/seo.tips.peter.drew
 |
Easy and important rules and ideas to promote your business on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/business/howitworks/
Review great article in SearchEngineWatch
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2097810/Business-Guide-to-Facebook-Launches
then all you have to do is monitor and reply to people who go there... Active Facebook traffic helps your general SEO if you have your page properly set up.
Here is someone to follow who is working hard to teach you about this
http://www.facebook.com/seo.tips.peter.drew
Wednesday, July 27
Monday, July 18
What are the top 10 things as a business you should focus on to gain top SEO for local search
David Mihm has released his annual Local Search Ranking Factors list, which compiles feedback from 33 local optimization experts.
Saturday, July 9
50% of auto shoppers view vehicles on YouTube before they buy a car!
“According to Nielsen, more than half of all in-market auto—car or truck—buyers will have visited YouTube in any particular month. So we know shoppers are there.”
What’s your video strategy?
Kimberly Stonehouse
Industry Development Manager
Google
What’s your video strategy?
Kimberly Stonehouse
Industry Development Manager
Angry Birds are they social? After 8 years and 51 tries Rovio lays a golden egg
Hurrah for Entrepreneur Peter Vesterbacka of Rovio.
Games are something almost every computer user plays... but is Rovio's Angry Birds a social phenom? Will it have staying power? Where is the economic model to pivot and twist into a global brand... that helps to build the connected brain tissues amongst us. While we have to take hats off to Mighty Eagle, Peter Vesterbacka, the game is still a one person event. This is true of most games and while I added the story from Forbes to profile their wonderful success I question their logic when they say ''We think we can be bigger than Disney in China.'' (PV).
In the recent Forbes article below it states that "It took Rovio nearly eight years and 51 tries to lay this golden egg." You have say one thing about those overnight successes, they are sometimes hard fraught and equal to the determination of a bird trying to build a nest in a windstorm on the side of a cliff... but where is the social event? As you walk up the aisle of an airplane before take off you will not see so many Solitaire games or people playing Sudoku as you will birds being pitched at pigs... What is the social aspect of this? Do we sit around the coffee machine at Starbucks and compare scores with our Barrista? So while these phenoms will come and go they represent little in terms of opportunity for social marketing. Without the connected tissues between us to develop they will die and go on to other one trick ponies. It is this thing we crave, showing off to our friends and 7th grade girlfriends that we are cool and smart and that we know what is the next big thing that drives us onto these social stages (I think). Sure you can do product placement... OK and even make a game of your app or service to entice people to "play along". But I think these are bumps in the road to the real interest and to the staying power of building additional connected brain tissues between and will otherwise fade-away as when we all had the need to have everyone talking on a CB radio while we are driving along (hey that might come back with google+... but really). I think something like Foresquare or other adventure games are more likely to succeed over time. Is this a one trick pony? How many of you have asked Groupon to stop sending you their daily emails?
Great article:
Games are something almost every computer user plays... but is Rovio's Angry Birds a social phenom? Will it have staying power? Where is the economic model to pivot and twist into a global brand... that helps to build the connected brain tissues amongst us. While we have to take hats off to Mighty Eagle, Peter Vesterbacka, the game is still a one person event. This is true of most games and while I added the story from Forbes to profile their wonderful success I question their logic when they say ''We think we can be bigger than Disney in China.'' (PV).
In the recent Forbes article below it states that "It took Rovio nearly eight years and 51 tries to lay this golden egg." You have say one thing about those overnight successes, they are sometimes hard fraught and equal to the determination of a bird trying to build a nest in a windstorm on the side of a cliff... but where is the social event? As you walk up the aisle of an airplane before take off you will not see so many Solitaire games or people playing Sudoku as you will birds being pitched at pigs... What is the social aspect of this? Do we sit around the coffee machine at Starbucks and compare scores with our Barrista? So while these phenoms will come and go they represent little in terms of opportunity for social marketing. Without the connected tissues between us to develop they will die and go on to other one trick ponies. It is this thing we crave, showing off to our friends and 7th grade girlfriends that we are cool and smart and that we know what is the next big thing that drives us onto these social stages (I think). Sure you can do product placement... OK and even make a game of your app or service to entice people to "play along". But I think these are bumps in the road to the real interest and to the staying power of building additional connected brain tissues between and will otherwise fade-away as when we all had the need to have everyone talking on a CB radio while we are driving along (hey that might come back with google+... but really). I think something like Foresquare or other adventure games are more likely to succeed over time. Is this a one trick pony? How many of you have asked Groupon to stop sending you their daily emails?
Great article:
Thursday, July 7
Wednesday, July 6
google+ what's in it for business and their brands.. a word from Google
Are you a business looking to get into Google+ and get your brand in front of your circle of prospects
Tuesday, July 5
The death of the printed page... long live the book! Go buy a book today.
In a recent post I wrote about how during the American Revolution it was the printed page that was the social vehicle that provided the touch-stone tool that ignited the hearts and minds (think social) of the people to rise up against their oppressors... (http://torreyrussell.blogspot.com/2011/07/revolutions-are-social-events-in-1776.html ) and that in this modern age, Twitter, Facebook and the internet have provided those platforms from which The Workers are unshackling themselves from their gray cubicle desks and the demons and dictators that try to rule them. This is happening right now around the globe in ever increasing numbers. The stars are now aligned, there is no turning back - the tipping point has been reached.
And now apparently we have also seen the tipping point of the death of the printed book.
Amazon.com has recently announced that they now sell more e-books than on paper and the Nook may well save another retailer whose brick and mortar investments in physical plant and equipment are causing them to sink into debt-oblivion.... and this morning, South Korea plans to withdraw printed textbooks from schools by 2015
Many Universities are now issuing tablet PCs and iPads to their students and having them forego their huge investment in books..... Are we in jeopardy of loosing our soul?
With all of that movement into the digitization of bits are we in danger of losing a key ingredient of our social society? Sure I have cherished the printed word my entire life... that thing that happens between the reader and the physical book. How many college texts do I still have on my shelf that are filled with interesting notes in the margins. I have been in sales and marketing management my entire life and read literally hundreds of books on the subject over the years. But I have nearly a one on my shelf any more. Why? Because I lent them to people, never expecting to get them back, to help them learn this craft... a social thing. And I have been given books by my mentors and friends. This lending and giving is going away. This is a critical aspect of a social world. We do this to communicate our love and interest in helping other people. Taking the hand of a young person and giving them the tools to help them succeed in this world. Where is the electronic lending library?
Will our souls and hearts be less full as we lose this simple expression of humanism and history building through the loss of printed books that we share and read to each other?
Go buy a book today and give it to someone else after you read it!
What are your thoughts on this?
Monday, July 4
Revolution's are social events. In 1776 the printed page was the Facebook of the day...
As we all learn to watch and comment on the various new social platforms, ugh and now another one claiming a Plus in our lives becomes available (google+), it is important to realize that revolution is a byproduct of our ability to be social. In this day of our US Independence probably the single most important technological advancement was the ability to put down ideas and disseminate them quickly and cheaply. Oh you could say that the printed word had been around for a long time before our US Revolution - but really it wasn't until cheap printing presses could transmit and respond to large groups that led to the fomenting of ideas and organizations that led us to our state of freedom. Sure, people had to be able to read, Sure, there had to be a cheap source of paper and ink ready in each city, a local printer and even the ability to move that information around with a mail service... all aspects of tipping-point event. But it was the ability to create and disseminate the printed word that brought us the waive of revolutions starting here in the US and then were ignited in France and other countries for the next 20 or 30 years.
The "Arab Spring" as it is called in the Arab world is now seeing similar transformations, as the fruits of the dissemination technology again are brought to a new tipping point. The birth of new and widely adopted Internet technologies and devices to engage and define them as a group with wants and desires. So they too are now able to congregate, foment ideas and act as a large group from which each could only stand as an individual before.
We must honor our forefathers for standing up to their masters and demanding their freedoms... it was the ability to created printed ideas and transmit them that gave them the strength in numbers to complete those dreams. And today we are seeing this happen as never before. Micro revolutions against governments and industries around the world. Connections of talented people from all parts of the globe coming together in forums and platforms to create and develop new business models, to re-frame the argument and which will free them from their cubicles as well as their dictator. We are at a tipping point once again and a new revolution that will take hold giving way to the large central production centers of the past and allowing those that embrace these new tools to live anywhere and conduct their affairs in the cloud - One step, Two step Three step, Four.... printed pages, web pages tweeted pages... can the singularity be far off? Not with computers but with the natural world. I often sit with my Bluetooth headset, looking out over my back yard (see below) having conversations and making deals with people sitting in their cement towers a few hours away in Seattle... if they only knew...becoming one with the thought of freedom.
For those of you that have figured this out... enjoy your freedom. Here is my office view....Happy 4th of July
The "Arab Spring" as it is called in the Arab world is now seeing similar transformations, as the fruits of the dissemination technology again are brought to a new tipping point. The birth of new and widely adopted Internet technologies and devices to engage and define them as a group with wants and desires. So they too are now able to congregate, foment ideas and act as a large group from which each could only stand as an individual before.
We must honor our forefathers for standing up to their masters and demanding their freedoms... it was the ability to created printed ideas and transmit them that gave them the strength in numbers to complete those dreams. And today we are seeing this happen as never before. Micro revolutions against governments and industries around the world. Connections of talented people from all parts of the globe coming together in forums and platforms to create and develop new business models, to re-frame the argument and which will free them from their cubicles as well as their dictator. We are at a tipping point once again and a new revolution that will take hold giving way to the large central production centers of the past and allowing those that embrace these new tools to live anywhere and conduct their affairs in the cloud - One step, Two step Three step, Four.... printed pages, web pages tweeted pages... can the singularity be far off? Not with computers but with the natural world. I often sit with my Bluetooth headset, looking out over my back yard (see below) having conversations and making deals with people sitting in their cement towers a few hours away in Seattle... if they only knew...becoming one with the thought of freedom.
For those of you that have figured this out... enjoy your freedom. Here is my office view....Happy 4th of July
Wednesday, June 29
Google Non-Plused about entering the Social Media Space for a 3rd time.
As if Goolge’s failure at the Social Media Space wasn’t enough…. With failed WAVE and BUZZ they are now introducing Google+ I think they are going to be hard pressed to unseat Facebook…. Also today MySpace (how quickly we forget) announced that it is laying off over 400 people. Where is this all going you may ask? Vic Gundotra one of the two project managers for the new social media service said to Wired “this was a bet-the-company project”
http://t.co/KylP1ZN
What does it all mean... this business isn't easy and it will take multiple iterations to get it right no matter how big you are... What about Microsoft? Where is the Smartphone integration of all this? Foursquare for sale? Good questions all... stay tuned
More on this at Search Engine Watch
Social Networks Grade Google+ Project
Frank Watson, June 29, 2011
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2082411/Social-Networks-Grade-Google-Project
http://t.co/KylP1ZN
What does it all mean... this business isn't easy and it will take multiple iterations to get it right no matter how big you are... What about Microsoft? Where is the Smartphone integration of all this? Foursquare for sale? Good questions all... stay tuned
More on this at Search Engine Watch
Social Networks Grade Google+ Project
Frank Watson, June 29, 2011
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2082411/Social-Networks-Grade-Google-Project
Wednesday, June 22
Thursday, June 16
Google Analytics for your Social Media - New tools to track the path to your door (web)
You can now create a new way to grasp how someone actually comes to your website. Although still in beta you should be applying for this great new Google Analytics Multi-Channel Funnels Tool. As a marketer with Google Analytics on their site to measure the impact of all the channel interactions a visitor has with the site leading up to a conversion or purchase... now you can also tell what social media they have been using.
http://www.google.com/analytics/analytics-funnels.html
Read more at:
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2072108/A-Step-Closer-to-Social-Media-ROI-with-Google-Analytics-Multi-Channel-Funnels
http://www.google.com/analytics/analytics-funnels.html
Read more at:
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2072108/A-Step-Closer-to-Social-Media-ROI-with-Google-Analytics-Multi-Channel-Funnels
Monday, June 6
Panda... above the (fold) waist or below - does your site violate the new content rules from goggle?
Is your site compliant with the new Google Search rules (released recently under the name Panda)
From a dialog with one complainer to Google it was quoted about ad/content ratio:
From a dialog with one complainer to Google it was quoted about ad/content ratio:
“The site must have user value other than providing ads. For example, Google provides web search, news sites provide regularly updated original content, and other services. To check that your website complies with our arbitrage policy:
1. Open the site in a new browser.
2. Expand the browser to a minimum of a 1024 x 768 pixel display.
3. Make sure you have minimal browser menus and your font is set to medium or normal.
4. Scroll to the very top of the page, as evaluation is based on what appears above the fold.
5. The site is considered compliant if the area of ads is less than or equal to the area of content.
“Please use the instructions above to evaluate your entire website and, if necessary, bring it into compliance with our arbitrage policy. If you’re not in compliance, you may receive a low landing page quality score, which can negatively affect your Quality Scores, cost-per-clicks, and ad positions.”
What does your page look like?
Read more at this link
Tuesday, May 31
21st century real estate agent... from a Forbes Blog. Good read - Consultive Selling
I love to hear stories of how simple it is to create your own circle of internet traffic. Some people make is seem so simple
What struck me about this story
http://blogs.forbes.com/quickerbettertech/2011/05/30/home-sales-down-not-for-this-realtor/
is that the person doing all the work doens't really have very much knowledge of how these tools work.. she just uses them, and uses them every day
Hope this gives you some ideas.... hey, car guys this is your story too if you can read through the lines.
How about How to Buy a car in YOUR CITY? What are the rules, what are the gotchas.
Selling is selling, it is best if you can take the "consultive approach"
What struck me about this story
http://blogs.forbes.com/quickerbettertech/2011/05/30/home-sales-down-not-for-this-realtor/
is that the person doing all the work doens't really have very much knowledge of how these tools work.. she just uses them, and uses them every day
Hope this gives you some ideas.... hey, car guys this is your story too if you can read through the lines.
How about How to Buy a car in YOUR CITY? What are the rules, what are the gotchas.
Selling is selling, it is best if you can take the "consultive approach"
Home Sales Down? Not For This Realtor
Friday, May 20
Thursday, May 19
Search Results hit hard by Google's new pet Panda? Ask yourself these 24 questions from Google
Google has given up little regarding their new releases of Panda. The named monster bear that has swiped search result rankings (SEO) from many sites.
Maybe it hasn't hit you yet, your a smaller auto dealer or regional chain of Real Estate offices....
But you have to ask yourself, "do you feel lucky?" To quote Clint Eastwood. Fact is everyone is coming under the rueful eye of the big Panda.
Google has offered little in the way of helping webmaster know what they should be doing but on a recent blog post
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html
They asked 24 little questions... does your site pass the test. Do your SEO methods fall into white hat or black had trickery?
Maybe it hasn't hit you yet, your a smaller auto dealer or regional chain of Real Estate offices....
But you have to ask yourself, "do you feel lucky?" To quote Clint Eastwood. Fact is everyone is coming under the rueful eye of the big Panda.
Google has offered little in the way of helping webmaster know what they should be doing but on a recent blog post
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality.html
They asked 24 little questions... does your site pass the test. Do your SEO methods fall into white hat or black had trickery?
What counts as a high-quality site?
step into Google's mindset, the questions below provide some guidance on how we've been looking at the issue:
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story?
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Other articles about the Panda release
Monday, May 2
SEO comes off the page - Look at how the rules of Panda have changed things
SEO has taken many turns... now the page has turned again.
If you think you can cram everything into a landing page and get the kind of results that you got last year read this great post by Eric Enge
If you think you can cram everything into a landing page and get the kind of results that you got last year read this great post by Eric Enge
The Role of On-Page SEO Content: Relevance, Not Rankings
Thursday, April 21
Top 3 of Google Search Results get 58% of all Clicks!
It's critical for websites to appear on Page 1 of Google, especially in one of the top three organic positions, as these spots receive 58.4 percent of all clicks from users, according to a new study from Optify.
Not in top 3... "forget-about-it"
Read more at
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110421-092523
Not in top 3... "forget-about-it"
Read more at
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/110421-092523
Friday, March 25
The Thank You Economy - Are you part of it? The Next Move After Social Media is your Context
So much of what we call Social Media is based on PUSH. We are PUSHING our agenda to others. We log in and sell our ideas. How many of you are actually listening to your customer and responding on a human level? It is unfortunate that online social interactions are called "social media". This implies a PUSH model where we are as we used to say in a sales call "showing up and throwing up". Not taking in the context of our relationships is totally missing the point. OK we are here to do business, I get that - me too. I want customers, I want YOUR business, but the real opportunity in the Social Context is to connect with people who I may never meet but where our interaction can actually benefit both of us. Because after all, the reader at the other end of this blog post can stop coming to read this at any time.
If you have been reading my blogs over the last few years you will find that most of my posts are wrapped around something I found useful or interesting that we are now doing for our clients. We are trying to help others and create a place for all of us to understand what is and what is not the right way to use Social Context with our clients to encourage them to take the relationship / trust paradigm to the next level... OK great. The question is, this cannot all be PUSH. There has to be the interaction, the connection. the interplay. The Business has to do more than just show up and throw up on their customer with brochures, coupons and ads. Businesses need to take into account the needs, wishes and interests of their customers.
I listen to a number of podcasts on my Droid on Stitcher (a great way to listen to all your favorite news and business and tech stories) and one of my favorite shows is Jason Calacanis and his This Week In Startups. Recently he had Gary Vaynerchuck on who just wrote a great book, "The Thank You Economy". Get it, read it, listen to this 55 minute video and prepare for a paradigm shift from the Social Media to Social Context. This is going to be a fundamental shift and it is going to happen. Some companies will get it and others are going to crash.
Watch This
http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/gary-vaynerchuk-of-vaynermedia-on-this-week-in-startups-126
What is your position on this? Write to me and tell me your thoughts on this idea and how you are going to implement these ideas.
Torrey Russell can be reached at torreyrusell@gmail.com
If you have been reading my blogs over the last few years you will find that most of my posts are wrapped around something I found useful or interesting that we are now doing for our clients. We are trying to help others and create a place for all of us to understand what is and what is not the right way to use Social Context with our clients to encourage them to take the relationship / trust paradigm to the next level... OK great. The question is, this cannot all be PUSH. There has to be the interaction, the connection. the interplay. The Business has to do more than just show up and throw up on their customer with brochures, coupons and ads. Businesses need to take into account the needs, wishes and interests of their customers.
I listen to a number of podcasts on my Droid on Stitcher (a great way to listen to all your favorite news and business and tech stories) and one of my favorite shows is Jason Calacanis and his This Week In Startups. Recently he had Gary Vaynerchuck on who just wrote a great book, "The Thank You Economy". Get it, read it, listen to this 55 minute video and prepare for a paradigm shift from the Social Media to Social Context. This is going to be a fundamental shift and it is going to happen. Some companies will get it and others are going to crash.
Watch This
http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/gary-vaynerchuk-of-vaynermedia-on-this-week-in-startups-126
Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia on This Week in Startups #126
What is your position on this? Write to me and tell me your thoughts on this idea and how you are going to implement these ideas.
Torrey Russell can be reached at torreyrusell@gmail.com
The Thank You Economy - Are you part of it? The Next Move After Social Media is your Context
So much of what we call Social Media is based on PUSH. We are PUSHING our agenda to others. We log in and sell our ideas. How many of you are actually listening to your customer and responding on a human level? It is unfortunate that online social interactions are called "social media". This implies a PUSH model where we are as we used to say in a sales call "showing up and throwing up". Not taking in the context of our relationships is totally missing the point. OK we are here to do business, I get that - me too. I want customers, I want YOUR business, but the real opportunity in the Social Context is to connect with people who I may never meet but where our interaction can actually benefit both of us. Because after all, the reader at the other end of this blog post can stop coming to read this at any time.
If you have been reading my blogs over the last few years you will find that most of my posts are wrapped around something I found useful or interesting that we are now doing for our clients. We are trying to help others and create a place for all of us to understand what is and what is not the right way to use Social Context with our clients to encourage them to take the relationship / trust paradigm to the next level... OK great. The question is, this cannot all be PUSH. There has to be the interaction, the connection. the interplay. The Business has to do more than just show up and throw up on their customer with brochures, coupons and ads. Businesses need to take into account the needs, wishes and interests of their customers.
I listen to a number of podcasts on my Droid on Stitcher (a great way to listen to all your favorite news and business and tech stories) and one of my favorite shows is Jason Calacanis and his This Week In Startups. Recently he had Gary Vaynerchuck on who just wrote a great book, "The Thank You Economy". Get it, read it, listen to this 55 minute video and prepare for a paradigm shift from the Social Media to Social Context. This is going to be a fundamental shift and it is going to happen. Some companies will get it and others are going to crash.
Watch This
http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/gary-vaynerchuk-of-vaynermedia-on-this-week-in-startups-126
What is your position on this? Write to me and tell me your thoughts on this idea and how you are going to implement these ideas.
Torrey Russell can be reached at torreyrusell@gmail.com
If you have been reading my blogs over the last few years you will find that most of my posts are wrapped around something I found useful or interesting that we are now doing for our clients. We are trying to help others and create a place for all of us to understand what is and what is not the right way to use Social Context with our clients to encourage them to take the relationship / trust paradigm to the next level... OK great. The question is, this cannot all be PUSH. There has to be the interaction, the connection. the interplay. The Business has to do more than just show up and throw up on their customer with brochures, coupons and ads. Businesses need to take into account the needs, wishes and interests of their customers.
I listen to a number of podcasts on my Droid on Stitcher (a great way to listen to all your favorite news and business and tech stories) and one of my favorite shows is Jason Calacanis and his This Week In Startups. Recently he had Gary Vaynerchuck on who just wrote a great book, "The Thank You Economy". Get it, read it, listen to this 55 minute video and prepare for a paradigm shift from the Social Media to Social Context. This is going to be a fundamental shift and it is going to happen. Some companies will get it and others are going to crash.
Watch This
http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/gary-vaynerchuk-of-vaynermedia-on-this-week-in-startups-126
Gary Vaynerchuk of VaynerMedia on This Week in Startups #126
What is your position on this? Write to me and tell me your thoughts on this idea and how you are going to implement these ideas.
Torrey Russell can be reached at torreyrusell@gmail.com
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