Internet Marketing And Publicity | Search Engine Optimization | Online Web, Video & Social Media Marketing
Archive for the ‘Internet Marketing’ Category
Seminar- Demystifying SEO
The Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors
Here is a cool idea from the people over at SearchEngineLand- a Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors.
SearchEngineLand is a fantastic resource for information on search engine optimization, search engine marketing, PayPerClick, and Internet Marketing.
SEO and Press Releases
Press releases are a fantastic strategy for Search Engine Optimization. The search engines love content posted on the myriad of press release websites, primarily because it’s fresh content, and I imagine it goes without saying, incredibly timely. Duh!
But clients always tell me that they have nothing to write about. Here is a great article from publicity expert Joan Stewart who shares 13 ideas on what to write about. I’m sure that once you read her article you’ll have more than enough ideas on what to write about.
Of course, then you should distribute to as many press release services/websites that you can.
One of the biggest myths of press releases is that they must contain news. That was true two decades ago when we wrote press releases primarily for journalists and we had to worry about insulting them with trivia about our business.
But now that we post them online, mostly to pull traffic to our websites, we’re free to write about whatever we wish.
Here, then, are 13 press release topics when your pockets are empty and there’s absolutely nothing newsworthy to write about. They’re excerpted from my free email course on 89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases. (PR people, take the course to sharpen your press release skills. And then use the tips below when you’re scrounging for ideas to publicize your clients.)
Publicity Hounds who have a subscription to Expertclick, The Yearbook of Experts, which lets you post up to 52 press releases a year, will find these tips particularly helpful.
1. Take a Stand on a Controversial Topic
Controversial topics can include everything from the old standbys such as abortion and gun control to local issues like proposed zoning laws.
When you’re done with the press release, generate extra publicity by writing a letter to the editor of your local or national newspaper. How to Use Newspaper & Magazine Editorial Pages shows you all the ways you can rally support for your cause or issue by using editorial pages, from writing letters to asking for a meeting with the newspaper editorial board.
2. Write About Your Blog
If you’ve started blogging for business, write a press release about it so people who want information on your topic can find it. Or devote the release to some of the things you mentioned in a specific post.
This blog, for example, helps people solve problems writing press releases, and I encourage people to submit questions to me. It also teaches people how to use social media sites to self-promote. I could write two press releases, or more, just telling reades about ways they can use this blog. You can, too.
Visit other bloggers who blog on the same topic, or a similar topic, and post comments at their blogs. By linking back to your blog from your comments, you will improve the page ranking of your own blog.
3. Lead Readers to Free Articles at Your Website
If you have free articles that solve people’s problems, or entertain them, say so.
Are your articles arranged by category? Are they updated monthly? Do you let the media, ezine publishers, newsletter editors and bloggers reprint them? Do you feature articles from other industry experts?
4. Tell People Where to Find You on Social Media Sites
Smart Publicity Hounds use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Quora profiles to position themselves as the go-to sources in their industries.
Do you post your photos and videos to Flickr? Do you have a YouTube channel chock full of helpful how-to videos? (Here’s mine.)
5. Create Your Own Holiday
Create your own day, week or month of the year, or your own holiday, at Chases Calendar of Events. The listing is free. You can then use that holiday as a springboard to even more publicity.
The topic doesn’t have to be serious. In fact, the more fun, the better. I love Doing Business in Your Bathrobe Day.
6. Make a Prediction
Predict something that ties into your area of expertise—or not.
Predict when gasoline prices, the stock market or interest rates will rise and fall. For fun, predict who will win the Super Bowl or when the first snowfall will occur in your area. Predict the winner of local or national elections.
7. Issue a Proclamation
Congratulate the local high school football team for winning a state title, or a local business for celebrating its 10th anniversary.
8. Write Tips That Tie into an Upcoming Holiday
Professional orgnizers can write about how to stay organized during the Christmas holidays. A child safety expert can offer tips on how to keep kids safe during fireworks season on the Fourth of July.
9. Identify A Trend You’re Seeing in Your Business or Industry
You don’t even have to think very hard to identify a trend you’re seeing. How has your customers’ behavior changed the way you do business? What’s happening with your orders? Is your nonprofit serving more people in a particular age group or income level?
If you want to cheat, Google “Top trends in the (fill in the blank) industry” and write about one of those.
10. Comment on Breaking News
This one’s easy. The news can tie into your business or industry—or not. If you’re an expert who welcomes interview requests for radio talk shows, say so in the release. See 6 ways to tie your pitch to breaking news for PR and publicity.
11. What Event Are You Attending?
Most people don’t think it’s a big deal if they attend a trade show or industry conference. But why not turn this into a publicity opportunity?
Write a press release telling people that you’d welcome meeting them. Encourage them to ask you questions about problems they’re facing.
12. Take a Poll or Survey
Sites like Survey Monkey make simple polling a breeze. You can also take a poll on Facebook. Don’t forget to write a follow-up press release that reports on the results of the poll.
13. Explain How to Solve a Problem
Press releases offering tips and advice are often the very best for pulling traffic to your website. That’s becauase you can dazzle readers with your expertise, help them solve their problem, and then link to a website where they can find more information about a product or service you sell that can help them even more.
What topics do you write about when the idea well is dry?
Written by Publicity Expert Joan Stewart. You can find more fantastic ideas for publicity at her website: http://publicityhound.net.
How To Write For HubPages So Google Won’t Spank You!
Search Engine Optimization, HubPages, AdSense And Panda!
Website owners interested in using search engine optimization and content production (namely articles) to rank high in the search results are still reeling from Google’s recent algorithm change known as Panda.
Some of the websites that got spanked the hardest hit include: eHow, Ezine articles, Mahalo, HubPages, Suite101, and Xomba. In the UK, Xomba had a 88.6% drop in visibility and even had all their AdSense ads removed by Google. That’s HUGE! And painful (costly)!
Even with all their internal and external linking, and their search engine optimization efforts, they still took a big hit from Google.
Fortunately, one of Google’s own AdSense team members, Thomas Tran, posted a blog ON HUBPAGES, describing how to drive traffic to HubPages posts and to increase AdSense ads click-through-rate. Tran’s suggestions follow most of the basic rules followed by savvy search engine optimization practitioners.
1. Write/produce original, authentic, easy-to-read-and-follow and structured content. (Kinda like this post!)
Things like lists of tips, instructions on how to do something, directions for experiments, or possibly a guide to traveling through Europe by rail. People love to read helpful, structured content that inform them on how to do something better, faster, easier, etc.
2. Think Like A User. What Are They Likely To Type In When Doing A Search?
Tran suggests using Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool and looking through the top search queries when using Google’s Webmaster Tools. Often, you’ll find that people search using keywords/terms that are not what you expected. For seo’s (search engine optimization experts), this is precisely what we do- research, analyze and discover precisely what it is that people type in when doing their searches.
These techniques also reveal topics that have low inventory, yet high search volumes, which is exactly what you want for driving increased traffic to a website.
3. Write Unique And Accurate Article Titles
When writing for HubPages, and pretty much anywhere else for that matter, do a little work by trying to come up with unique and interesting titles. Not only will Google find it easier to differentiate your article for gazillions of similar ones, but a catchy title is more likely to compel a reader to click on the link and then read your article/content. Think like the editor of the National Enquirer. They work very hard on producing article titles that practically force you to read the accompanying article.
Also, keep titles brief- Google only allows 60 characters (including spaces) in their search results link.
4. Link Your HubPages Posts Internally, And Externally.
Search engine results are primarily a popularity content. The more links you have, the more popular the search engines will think your HubPage post is, and this results in having higher rankings. Be sure to have links from inside your HubPage, in addition to the links from other HubPages, websites, blogs, forums, tweets, Facebook posts and so on.
Above all else, write stuff that’s interesting and is valuable to the reader. As a writer, it’s your job to impart your knowledge in an easy-to-follow, “hey, read me now” manner.
While these ideas may be fresh to you, they are standard operating procedure for anyone doing effective search engine optimization.
Social Media Marketing Report
Social Media Marketing Report Provides Useful Insights
Curious where businesses are targeting their social media marketing efforts? Wondering what benefits they’re achieving?
Michael Stelzner’s 41-page special report reveals how successful marketers are using social media to grow their business.
This Social Media Marketing Report will tell you:
The top ten questions asked most often
Just how much time advertisers and marketers are spending on their efforts
How time affects your social media marketing results
What the future has in store for social media marketers
The most used marketing tools and resources
Everyone who is responsible for marketing their business will enjoy the data in this great report. It also talks about additional forms of marketing, such as: email marketing, search engine optimization, event marketing (speaking, networking, etc.), media rich releases, Google Adwords, direct mail (no, it’s not dead!), display ads (on- and off-line), webinars, and radio & television ads.
Here is the link to Stelzner’s report.
Social Media Marketing Report- April 2011
Please let me know what you thought about what you read? Did it reveal some insights you weren’t previously aware of? How can you use some of the social media marketing ideas that you read here?
Five Ways Social Media Marketing Can Help You Earn More Money
ace it, Social Media Marketing is THE way that most savvy marketers convey their message to an insatiable, hungry audience. If you’re not using social media marketing platforms like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes, Twitter or WordPress, your prospects have virtually no way of finding you on the Internet. And how long can you let THAT go on?
Social media marketing is one of the simpler ways to connect and become involved with your audience.
When you listen to your audience, acknowledge them and their participation in your business, you’ll find that they become more loyal, and champions for your business.
Do you know that more than ninety-five percent of Internet users use online searches when they’re researching YOU? And 45,000,000 Americans have cell phones with Internet capabilities. FaceBook and Twitter have over 700,000,000 members and they’re growing like mad. Shouldn’t you be where these people are looking?
Ask yourself these questions:
Are you easy to find online? And not just by your name. Can they find you by the keywords/terms/phrases that best represent you and your business, service or product?
When your audience visits their favorite online places, will they find YOU? Or will they find your competition?
And once they connect with you, do you already have a program in place where you can engage with them over and over again?
Do you have a plan to start using cell phone marketing?
If the answer to any of these questions is “NO,” you’ve got to ask yourself “WHY NOT?” If you want to keep a viable business, marketing online is a must, because the majority of your competitors are, or will be shortly.
Here are five ways that social media marketing can help you improve your relationship with your clients and to turn them into your biggest fans, because NOTHING is more powerful than a client coming through a referral.
Social media marketing helps you understand your prospects, convert more of them into clients, and then help them becoming your biggest fans.
1. Be Social
Remember, it’s called “SOCIAL MEDIA” for a reason. Never before in history has social media marketing made it so easy to communicate with your prospects, and clients, for such a small investment. And you can, and should, communicate with them over and over again. That’s not to say you should email, text, snail mail or call them every day. You’ll find out soon enough what a good communication interval will be- your audience will tell you! People buy from companies they know, like and trust.
An effective Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and email campaign will give you numerous opportunities to let your audience get to know you, begin to like you, learn to trust you, and develop an on-going beneficial relationship.
Consistent and frequent communication is key, as with any important relationship. Social media marketing makes this possible.
2. You Simply Must Produce Your Own Videos For Social Media Marketing
As of 2011, YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine. (YouTube gets over 1 BILLION views per day!) Viewers are going to YouTube for solutions to their problems, looking for videos that’ll show them how to do something, and researching reviews on a product or service.
You must develop a presence there. Create your own YouTube channel and begin posting videos with solutions, how-to’s, and training, etc. You can use a Digital Video Camcorder, or even easier is a Flip Video Camera, or Kodak ZI-8, and now the Kodak ZI-10. (We prefer the ZI-10 because it has an external mic input which allows use of a lavalier mic to get better sound.) All of these cameras shoot in HD, and render incredible-looking videos. Editing tools like Screenflow for the Mac, Sony Vegas Movie Studio, CyberLink’s PowerDirector and even Windows Movie Maker can help you make very cool looking videos.
To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here is a video we recently produced.
3. Be creative with your Social Media Marketing platforms
This growing collection of Social Media marketing platforms offer numerous opportunities for growing your business through branding. Here are just a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
* Get pens made up with your Twitter username (@_______), or with a request to “Connect With Me On Facebook.” There’s a subtle, friendlier feel a person experiences when they get a pen with a Social Media aspect to it rather than a pen with just your company name on it.
* You could do the same with coffee cups/mugs, and the whole advertising specialty realm. Be “social”- have a “meeting” at your business and give attendees their coffee mug in person.
* Make a monthly video and at the end of it, ask viewers to follow you on Twitter or “friend” you on Facebook. Remember to add the Facebook “Like” button to all your pages.
* Include your social media contact information in the signature of your emails and in the Resource Box at the bottom of the articles you write and distribute.
4. Create Your Own Social Network Site
Believe it or not, you can now create your very own Social Network site- in almost no time at all. Two of the better known platforms are Ning.com and SocialGo.com.
At Ning, a fast growing number of political groups, musicians, entertainers and well-known brands find this social networking platform useful. Ellen Degeneres has her own site, as do Hershey’s Chocolate, Martha Stewart, National Republican Congressional Committee and the Epilespy Foundation, just to name a few.
SocialGO calls itself the “social network maker.” They’re based in the UK and offer free and premium plans for building a social network. Some of their customers include: LEVI Strauss, The Apple Store, Walmart, and Random House Publishing.
One nice feature that SocialGO offers is their “live video chat sidebar.” You can dial up a member and chat with them live through the site.
5. Increase Your Brand Exposure And Build Customer Loyalty
Social media marketing, and the Internet, is probably the quickest way a company can build brand loyalty. (Conversely, one of the quickest ways to destroy it, too.) Because you have the potential to reach so many people so quickly, online word-of-mouth can spread your name, business, product and/or service around the world in a matter of minutes.
If you’ve taken good care of your customers, they’re more likely to tell their friends through Twitter, Facebook, their blogs, a personal YouTube video, articles, social bookmarking sites, podcasts, webinars and so on. Since these are the places your customers visit, shouldn’t you be there when they visit? Imagine the potential of having all those people in your corner singing your praises.
When marketing on the Internet, for many businesses it doesn’t matter if you’re local, regional, nationwide or international- you can reach your audience for a fraction of what it costs using “traditional” marketing. Yes, it’s going to take a fair amount of work to develop these social media marketing campaigns, but you would have been doing similar work for traditional marketing. Now, your reach is exponentially greater, with the most important added benefit- you’ll begin having a conversation with your audience. You can’t do that with postcards, magazine ads, expensive four-color catalogs, or even radio and TV advertising.
Social Media Marketing will not improve your bottom line overnight. But if used effectively, you’ll begin to see a momentum shift in your business, and who knows, maybe one of your videos, article or podcasts will go “viral.” Wouldn’t that be nice?
Which social media marketing vehicles have you used? Which ones were most effective? Could you share one of your successes?
Be sure to click the “LIKE” button if you liked this blog post on Social Media Marketing.
You can download a PDF version of this Social Media Marketing Report. Click Here!
Google’s New “Panda” Algorithm Rocks The Internet
If you haven’t heard by now, Google’s newest algorithm update, called “Panda,” has caused quite a stir- both negative, and positive, in their quest to continue to enhance a user’s experience by improving their search results. This newest wrinkle in the algorithm penalizes those sites with poor/shallow/low quality content.
Quite a few sites suffered significantly lower rankings- a number of them deserved it, but others did not.
A group of testers/users surfed the web and were asked to determine whether they considered a particular site to be authoritative, if it would be okay in a magazine, see if it has “excessive” ads, and a number of related questions. Google is mum on what all the questions might be.
“And based on that, we basically formed some definition of what could be considered low quality,” Amit Singhal, one of Google’s top spokespersons is quoted as saying.
A more in-depth report is readable here on WebProNews.com.
Was your site adversely affected? Do you think these algorithm changes are fair?
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