5 Great Social Media Marketing Tips from 2011

Posted in Social Media Marketing by scarter, on December 27, 2011 | 1 Comment

Hubspot recently posted an article “30 Brilliant Social Media Marketing Tips From 2011.” The article compiled a list of the best social media marketing tips that came out of this year that can also be used to help your marketing campaign in 2012. Here’s our top 5 favorite tips from the article.

  1. If you’re building an online community, show your followers that you appreciate their contributions. Ask them for feedback, offer them special discounts or prizes and thank them for participating. (Source: Social Media Today)
  2. Consider the timing of your social media posts. If you’re posting in the morning but your audience doesn’t get on Facebook or Twitter until night time, your post will get lost in a sea of status updates and go unnoticed. (Source: Search Engine Optimization Journal)
  3. Here are three universal content ideas that never fail: teach your audience how to do something, express a new opinion, create an awesome new list. (Source: Social Fresh)
  4. Use social media to get to know your customer better. Ask them how they heard about you to get a sense of what channels people use to learn more about you. (Source: Mashable)
  5. Write blog content for your target audience, which isn’t necessarily you. Blog about things your readers what to know about. (Source: Mark Suster)

Want more great social media marketing tips from 2011? Read the full article here.

Christmas SEO: Start Your Campaigns Early for Next Year!

Posted in Local SEO by scarter, on December 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

If you had some products that you thought would sell out this Christmas but just didn’t fly off the shelves as planned, keep reading! Did you advertise these products online? If you answered no, chances are your customers didn’t know these great products existed. One way to advertise your Christmas products online is using search engine optimization (SEO). Want your business to show up when a potential customer searches for wrapping paper in Google, Yahoo! or Bing? Then you need to start thinking about optimizing for those keywords months in advance. Here are some steps to take so you can use SEO to advertise your Christmas products for next year.

  • Figure out which products you want to highlight and choose your keywords accordingly. If you want to show up in the search results for Christmas ornaments, choose keywords like ornaments, Christmas ornaments, holiday ornaments, Christmas tree ornaments, etc.
  • Start weaving these keywords into your website content. If you sell your products online, sprinkle these keywords through the content on the product page. When search engines see new content, it’s more likely to boost your ranking.
  • If you’re a local business, freshen up the content on your Google Places page. Weave these keywords into your content and also add them to your Keywords section.
  • Run some pay-per-click ads using Google Adwords. Use one keyword per ad and customize the ad to reach your target audience. If you aren’t sure how to use Google Adwords, hire a professional to help you.

Remember, SEO takes time. If you want to use SEO as a technique to help you advertise your Christmas products you need to begin your efforts months in advance. Start thinking about optimizing for your products in September or October so your marketing campaign will be in full force by November and December.

Search is More Important than Social for Local Businesses

Posted in Local SEO by scarter, on December 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

According to a recent study conducted by Pew Internet and American Life Foundation, users turn to search engines rather than social media when finding information about local businesses. Pew surveyed about 1,000 adults in January 2011 and gathered the following information.

To find information on bars, clubs and restaurants:

38% of people use search engines.
17% of people use specialty websites.
3% of people use social media.

To find information on other types of local businesses:

36% of people use search engines.
16% of people use specialty websites.
1% of people use social media.

Although Pew found that about 14 different sources were used to get local business information, the Yellow Pages was not even a choice given to the respondents. This just goes to show how obsolete the Yellow Pages have become.

Top SEO News: Week of December 19, 2011

Posted in Search Engine News by scarter, on December 19, 2011 | Leave a comment

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Search Trumps Social For Local Business Information
A recent survey shows that search engines are the top sources for information about local businesses online. Thirty-eight percent of people surveyed get their information from search engines where only 3% rely on social networks and Twitter.

Google+ Overhauls Photos, Stream Control and Notifications
Google recently added new features to Google+ as a result of popular user requests. Google also made improvements to the already existing features of the new social network.

Google and Bing Have “Won a Major Victory” Over Content Farms, Study Says
According to the newest issue of New Scientist magazine, search engines have “won a major victory” against content farms. According to the study, Google has been the most active in the fight against content farms, dating back to the initial launch of the Panda update in February 2011.

Bing, Yahoo Now Neck & Neck in US Search Market Share
According to a study by comScore, Bing and Yahoo are practically tied for the US search market share, Bing with 14.80% and Yahoo with 15.20%. Both are significantly behind Google, which currently holds 65.60% of the market share.

How the World Googled in 2011
Google recently released its annual Zeitgeist report which displays the most popular search terms of 2011. Google also compared the searches from this year to last year to show emerging trends and other information.

3 Google+ “Don’ts” to Avoid

Posted in Organic SEO by scarter, on December 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

Since Google+ is a new social network, your company may be having trouble getting the hang of it. As your company integrates Google+ into its social media routine, here are 3 don’ts to keep in mind from Hubspot.

1. Don’t post inconsistently. When Google+ launched for businesses, many companies rushed to set up their page. Some companies posted a few times during the weeks that followed, then as time went on the posting started to die down. When you don’t post consistently, you hurt your chances of gaining a regular following. Try to get into a routine when posting on social networks to avoid this. Whether you post once a day, or once a week, your readers will know what to expect when they visit your page and won’t be disappointed.

2. Don’t forget to apply for Direct Connect. Google+ Direct Connect lets users quickly navigate to a Google+ page using Google Search. When people search +YourCompanyName they’ll be able to get to your Google+ page from the Google search engine. If you don’t apply for Direct Connect, it will hurt your company Google+ page’s search rankings.

3. Don’t forget to utilize Circles. Circles is one of the main features that sets Google+ apart from other social networks. Circles allows you to put people into groups so when it comes time to share you can direct your posts toward the groups that would be most interested. Don’t just make every post “Public,” put thought into your Circles and post only to those who will be most engaged by the information you are sharing at the moment.

Google+ is still a new social network and it will take time to get into the habit of posting on it as well as figuring out all the features it has to offer. Be patient and don’t abandon it; Google+ is here to stay and those who embrace it in the beginning stages will have the most success with it in the future.

Introducing: Google Indoor Maps

Posted in Local Maps SEO, Search Engine News by scarter, on December 14, 2011 | Leave a comment

Google recently partnered with some of the largest retailers, airports and transit stations in the U.S. and Japan to provide you with Google Indoor Maps. Now when you’re lost inside an airport, shopping mall or other confusing location, you’ll be able to use Google Maps to figure out where to go.

Google Maps “My Location” feature already shows your location as a blue dot so you can see yourself on the Map from your mobile smart phone to avoid walking or driving in the wrong direction on city streets. It also shows familiar landmarks and buildings nearby to give you a better understanding of where you are. However, Google Maps used to be able to get you to the right building, but once you went inside, you were on your own to find the right gate at the airport or the correct office in an unfamiliar building, until now.

Check out this video for a better understanding about how Google Indoor Maps works and read the official Google Blog for more information.

Top SEO News: Week of December 12, 2011

Posted in Organic SEO by scarter, on December 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Google +1 Button Hides in Search Results
Google has changed the behavior of the Google +1 button as it’s seen in the search results. It’s now hidden until you put your cursor over the search results, then it is displayed and clickable.

Marketing Land, Search Engine Land’s Sister Site Launches
Search Engine Land recently turned 5 years old and launched its sister site, Marketing Land.

Survey Says SEO The Single Most Important Marketing Channel for SMBs
A new merchant confidence survey conducted by MerchantCircle/Reply.com shows that search engine optimization is the marketing channel most small businesses would choose if they could only use one.

The New Twitter: Everything You Need to Know
Twitter recently got a major update with a new look and new features. Check out this article to see what’s different.

5 Key Digital Media and Advertising Trends for 2012
Check out these new media predictions for 2012 to prepare your company for the trends that lie ahead.

5 Tips for Great B2B Blogging

Posted in Local SEO, Social Media Marketing by scarter, on December 7, 2011 | 4 Comments

If you’re a B2B company and you haven’t dipped a toe in the social media pool yet, one great place to start is blogging. Blogging not only shows your company’s personality and sets it apart from other businesses, but it can also provide keyword-rich content to the search engines in order to boost your website’s page rank. Want to create an awesome blog for your company? Follow these 5 tips for B2B blogging.

1. Blog from your website. Blogging from your own domain is more search engine friendly because it provides regularly updated content for your website. Search engines are more likely to come back and index your site when the content is fresh, which means higher rankings for you.

2. Use keywords in your blog titles. Figure out keywords that potential readers may use to find your blog post and use them in the title and sprinkled throughout the body of your blog. This will make your posts more searchable and will help your blog and website rank higher in the search engines.

3. Provide quality information that is interesting and educational. Making sure your readers will be interested and will benefit from your blog post ensures that they’re more likely to share it with others. They’re also more likely to come back and read more posts in the future. As they’re reading your blogs, they’ll build more trust and loyalty toward your company and will be more likely to do business with you in the future.

4. Break up the text in your posts. People don’t usually read online, they scan. People will scan through the different headlines of a blog post and read the parts that seem most interesting to them. When you’re writing your blogs, make sure to break up the text with headlines as you to separate and organize ideas, rather than typing one post in one long paragraph.

5. End each post with a Call to Action. Does your company offer a service similar to what you’re blogging about? Are you writing about a specific event, promotion or company announcement? Let your readers know what your company can do for them with a short Call to Action sentence at the end of your post.

How to Remove Negative Reviews on Google

Posted in Local SEO, Social Media Marketing by scarter, on December 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

Negative reviews on Google are a problem many local business owners face. Want to know how to remove your negative reviews? This tutorial will show you how to minimize bad reviews as well as how to gain positive reviews from your happy customers.

Key takeaways:

  • Customers are expecting a good experience when they’re paying for your product or service. You must go above and beyond to exceed their expectations – this will encourage them to leave a positive review.
  • You cannot get rid of a bad review. You can make the bad review obsolete and you can change the reviewer’s opinion.
  • Gaining more positive reviews on Google will push the bad reviews down and make them harder to find.
  • Offer your customers a discount or other promotion for leaving you an online review. Advertise this discount on the back of your business cards along with instructions of how to leave a review. Or collect your clients’ names and email addresses and send them an email including the coupon and instructions on how to leave a review.
  • Become familiar with review sites and the process of leaving a review in order to better instruct others how to do it.

Top SEO News: Week of November 28, 2011

Posted in Search Engine News by scarter, on November 28, 2011 | Leave a comment

Check out the top SEO, search engine and Internet marketing industry news stories from around the Web this week.

Shoppers Research Deals via Mobile and Online Ahead of 2011 Black Friday Sales
Black Friday online shopping increased 26% this year compared to last year, according to comScore. Americans are now going online to shop on Thanksgiving night which is resulting in more money spent.

Google+ Is Slowly Invading Google’s Main Search Results
Content from Google+ is beginning to show up in the Google search results. Check out the recent changes here.

YouTube Passes 20 Billion Video Views in One Month
According to comScore, online video viewership reached record levels in October. YouTube received over 20 billion views for the first time.

Google News Gets Social, Adds +1’s
Now when Google users are logged in, they’ll sometimes see socially promoted stories in their news spotlight.

Google Searchers User Autocomplete Most, Ignore Google Instant (Eye Tracking Study)
A recent eye tracking study from Rosetta gives interesting insight on Instant, Instant Previews, universal search results, Places and autocomplete.