Eddies Blog

Like every Super Bowl, the day-after water cooler conversation includes reviews of the game, but to a larger extent we’re all talking about the cool commercials that ran.  The buzz across the Internet is no different and I have come across a lot on the third quarter Google Ad.

I liked it.  Its a nice feel-good story cleverly told through a series of search queries. It moves quickly – which I thought was the perfect way to show the speed at which really important information spanning many different aspects of life can be found through Google.  The balance between conveying speed of information retrieval and being able to understand what was behind the story really worked for these reasons:

1. I got enough to understand what was behind the story
2. I liked the story, ….it was nice and made me want to watch it again
3. I liked the story but didn’t quite capture all of it because of the speed, ….so,
4. I jumped on YouTube and watched it again!!

What a brilliant strategy!

If you didn’t see it you can watch it here:

Every aspect of what Google search has perfected and become to us is conveyed in this ad – including speed of search, understanding misspellings and redirecting to the correct spelling, access to definitions, translations, directions, local business listings and even access to directions on how to assemble a crib.

Certainly there are a lot of other opinions and maybe I just love the technology aspect coupled with being a sap for a story like this.  But a good take-away for businesses is that we have become so reliant on search and social interaction on the web that if you are not taking advantage of Google local business listings, search engine optimization, social media participation and pay-per-click opportunities you have just created a long-distance relationship with your customers.

It goes without saying that great useful content that specifically serves your audience provides benefit certainly to them cause they found what they were looking for and it also provides great benefit to you by attracting qualified visitors, creating value and readership and hopefully business (assuming that is your goal). We believe that content on a business website needs to provide useful information and answer the top questions prospective customers would ask about your product or service or capability during a phone conversation. In Googles’ continued pursuit to provide relevant results “Answer Highlighting” is another strong move in that direction.

Answer Highlighting provides quick answers to fact based question oriented queries by boldng the answer within the search snippet.  Because the search snippets are generally only 2 lines in length answer highlighting works where the answers are short and sweet.  Think back to those common questions prospective customers ask and need to know before deciding if you provide what they are looking for.  Take a critical evaluation of your website page content.  Do you provide those answers?  I bet there are lots of opportunities to provide valuable information to your audience and have a better opportunity to place better in results for targeted searches.

It looks to me like there is real opportunity to help Google find and deliver social content through the establishment of a “Google Public Profile.”

As Google is now delivering relevant content through their social search, establishing a public profile seems to be the equivalent of submitting a site-map in the Google Webmaster Tools. Only this time, you’re submitting a “site-map” of yourself! In essence, when you create a “Google Public Profile” you are presenting Google with a centralized place to find and consider information within your social circle.

Matt Cutts gives a great explanation of the philosphy behind the public profile and the opportunity to make good content available through social search.

So why bother doing this?

• Google will likely give preferential treatment to the content you put at its doorstep.
• It’s yet another page of personal content to help you build credibility (assuming you are a thoughtful social media participant).
• It’s a way to bring all of your social media elements together with your “old school” contact info.

Are you ready to create your Google Public Profile…? Here’s the link to get you started www.google.com/s2/profiles/me.

by Matt Hamm

Like the rest of the world, we have really thrown ourselves into social media over the past 2 years.  Even to the point that we used Twitter to submit employee of the month nominations at yesterdays company meeting.

We began including social media optimization services both in best practice consultations and internally promoting our clients businesses through Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and other channels.  We’ve seen good results on two fronts, for our clients, and by gaining new business for ourselves.

I hear a lot of opinions that social media is moving at such a quick pace that search engine optimization is going to be less necessary and therefore less focussed on.  At least here at Site-Seeker, I have not seen a drop in contracts including SEO nor in the result of SEO to our clients websites.  I came across a pretty cool and related post that uses Google Trends to measure level of interest in social media versus search engine optimization.  SEO or Social Media: Is SEO Needed Now That Social Media Has Arrived.

The author uncovers some curious data about the trends of search activity versus the push of news references for both SEO and social media. Specifically:

• the number of people searching for seo as compared to social media has been narrowing although SEO is still searched for more frequently
• while news references for SEO have remained consistent the references for social media are more frequent and that trend is continuing.

It’s a quick read and pretty interesting.

A client asked me the other day if Twitter links pass pagerank.   Here is what Matt Cutts has to say about how Google considers links from various social media sites in general, and Facebook and Twitter specifically. 

Here are the top three points Matt makes:

1. If Google can crawl and index a  page, it treats the links on that page just like any other link.
2. In the world of links there is follow and nofollow. Wikipedia defines nofollow links in this way: “nofollow is an HTML attribute value used to instruct some search engines that a hyperlink should not influence the link target’s ranking in the search engines index.”
3. Matt says, that ‘links are links and the value of a link is based upon the PageRank and trust that the link possesses.’  He then goes on to say that Google does not differentiate between .com, .edu, .gov,  and .whatever links.

We all know Google has started to include Twitter pages in its search results. The SEO world is waiting to find out how Google will react to the popularity of a brand within social media sites despite the fact that many of the links from these sites include the nofollow attribute.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel there is a point that has been conveniently left out of this interview?

Last Thursday Site-Seeker, Inc. hosted the first of many-to-come FuZion Marketing Seminars in Windsor, CT.  FuZion Marketing Seminars focus on bringing together best practices of conventional marketing and public relations with successful Internet and Social Media Marketing.  Our guest speakers for this seminar was LSHD Advertising from Chicopee, MA.

FuZion Internet Marketing Seminars (and Webinars) and held through New York (NY), Massachusetts (MA), Connecticut (CT), and Ontario Canada. Next webinar is 7 October.

These folks did a terrific job talking about the history and evolution of conventional marketing, public relations and branding initiatives over-time, and how these same principles apply today even though the delivery vehicle has changed.  Site-Seeker (Kathy Hokunson and Dan Salamone) and LSHD had very active participation from the twenty New England businesses who represented a mix of B2B and B2C organizations.

It was interesting to see how the participation and interest raised as the conversation moved along the path of how word of mouth, once considered to be a great source of marketing and brand building, has evolved to word of mouse!  Great information was shared that will allow these businesses to place their products and message in front of qualified prospective customers through implementation of Internet marketing strategies including Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click program management, Web Analytic analysis and by engaging in Social Media marketing through Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and blog posts.

FuZion Marketing Seminars are planned for the upcoming months and throughout 2010 in MA; CT; Albany, NY; Central NY; Rochester, NY; Buffalo, NY; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  For a schedule of Fuzion Marketing Seminars and Webinars visit www.fuzionseminars.com.

A good friend of mine and very accomplished Marcom professional, Rick Short, just turned me onto something that I have run up against more times than I wish to recall.  Specifically, he referenced a post by Jennifer Laycock, Editor of Search Engine Guide.   Jennifer’s post speaks so very well about her frustrations with businesses that jump into a website development project without giving prior thought to the importance of SEO.  She makes a great correlation to the public service announcements advising homeowners to call before you dig to avoid planting your shovel into underground electrical lines or other hazards and creating a costly mess in the process.  Businesses that hook up with web designers and developers without the inclusion of an Internet marketing firm or SEO strategist to lead the effort are throwing their money away.  I am bewildered to think that this is not exceedingly evident, a no brainer.  Yet, in my travels throughout New England, Upstate, Central and Western NY, I still see owners and business leaders making this very critical mistake.  The end result is either a site that is found only by people who already know who you are, or a costly rebuild to put into place what should have been from the start!

Certainly the old adage, buyer beware still holds a lot of truth. I mean, you have to do your homework to make sure that you are buying the right product or service to fit your company needs. While I certainly work with a lot of very savvy B2B clients that understand the importance of targeted Internet marketing to promote their brand/products/services, in general, the B2B market place is still largely asleep at the wheel when it comes to understanding how the sourcing of products and services has changed. In the old days, if one was looking to acquire a product/service of major significance the process was painful and lengthy. The steps would include:

• Recognition of need
• Where do I shop-who are my potential venders?
• Interaction with potential suppliers
• Receipt of Request for Information, which was typically delivered by snail mail, fax, or personal receipt of delivered information
• Narrowing the field from 3-5 potential suppliers to 2.
• Negotiation between short list suppliers and selection of vender.

From the buyers perspective this was a painful and lengthy process. From the sellers perspective this provided an opportunity for them to sell to the prospective customer. Think about it, if you’re one of the potential suppliers you will be contacting the prospective customer on an ongoing basis in an attempt to further the sales process. As a good sales person this is what you do. From the buyer’s perspective this is excruciating. Consider the fact that prior to Internet search, the only way that the customer could become aware of the prospective venders was through traditional off-line means of advertising and promotion.

Enter search. According to comScore qsearch, June 2008 research there was 192 million on-line searches conducted on a typical day. The study went on to say that almost ½ (up from 1/3 in 2002) of all internet users were searching online rivaling email in popularity.

We’ve all heard that in-store sales over the recent holiday season dropped dramatically in these recessionary times. In July 2008, JCPenney CMO, Michael Boylson, stated “we see more people turning to online because it’s much more efficient in terms of time and money”. Statistics for JCPenney show that same store inside sales were down 7.4% but were up 8.7% for online purchases. The GAP showed more dramatic results with in-store sales being down 11% and online sales being up 21%.

The shift of power has dramatically turned to the buyer. Prospective customers use the Internet to research products services and capabilities to fill their needs. While the same steps in the sourcing process remain, the customer is no longer reliant upon prospective venders to provide the education required to quickly move to the short list of suppliers. The end result is that if your company’s products/services/capabilities are not in the direct pathway of qualified prospects your business is in jeopardy of losing business to your competitors that get it.

Eddie Bluff – Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Site-Seeker, Inc.

In my last couple of posts I was sharing some thoughts on effective marketing in a down economy as well as the role of customer defining content to help with optimization and conversion efforts.  As noted the role of thorough keyword research and subsequent vertical content creation can not be understated.   A collegue of mine contacted me with reference to a post titled It’s Not Mojo: How to Take the Guesswork Out of Keyword Selection.  The author, Michael Muray VP of Fathom SEO did a great job of further expanding upon what I want to talk about here.    Keyword research and selection is such a critical aspect of effective Internet marketing that I feel comfortable in saying that:

• all else that follows will be defined through this process and,
• the success or failure of your Internet marketing effort is dependent upon doing a good job here!

Keyword research is the tail that wags the Internet marketing dog!

It almost feels silly to state but after using a keyword research tool to define targeted keywords there is still much work to do before you start to build pages of content to drive traffic to.  This is particularly true when talking about pursuing natural rankings versus paid placement.  With paid placement you have the opportunity to:

• monitor which words and phrases drive traffic and which don’t
• monitor which words and phrases drive converting traffic
• quickly edit and refine your keyword list based upon statistical data

When you are pursuing organic rankings you don’t have the luxury to know what is working and what isn’t working for a much greater period of time.  Climbing to first page placement can be a long road.  Failure to thoroughly analyze potential keywords and ask the following 3 questions can make or break the success of your effort.

1.)  What is the nature of the interest or question behind the keyword or phrase being searched?

Getting into the heads of the searching audience can really tell you a lot.  Dad was an Insurance Agent for State Farm so I took a look at keyword research results centered around “insurance” and suggest that the following results provide insight as to what the person searching is looking for.

• Searches for insurance agent, insurance agency, insurance office, insurance agent locator tells me that these people are looking for someone to advise them.
• Searches for insurance agent “syracuse ny” tells me that they want to shop locally.
• Searches for auto insurance quote or price tells me that they are shopping to buy.

2.) How precisely do my products or services line up to the nature of the question being asked?

Understanding what is behind search queries is a great start to analyzing your page content and should aid in creation of new page content.  There is a need or interest or question behind every search.  Do you address these needs?

3.) Do I have a chance to compete for first page placement?

As much as my insurance agent dad would have wanted to be found for “insurance agent” there is far more value and opportunity for success to position yourself for those searches qualified prospective customers would use.  Long tail keywords not only will define a more qualified audience but give you a much better opportunity to rank well.

Eddie Bluff – Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Site-Seeker, Inc.

You wouldn’t know that we are in a down economy if you had seen the amount of food on the Thanksgiving table I bellied up to.  I am doing a lot better as far as over-stuffing the belly with Thanksgiving delights and actually walked away without feeling I needed a stomach pump.

A few days ago I posted some basic thoughts about pulling back traditional advertising spend and increased focus on Internet marketing in a down economy.  I know that my counter part Internet marketers clearly understand the basic concept of the role of relevant content but in the B2B world that Site-Seeker, Inc. serves the basic principles are far from second nature.

If I could offer an Internet marketing tip to B2B owners, executives and marketing folks it would be to find out how their audience is actually searching and address those questions with valuable content on their websites.   Sit down and write out a list of all keywords and keyword phrases that the prospective customer would use if they didn’t know who you were but had a need for your product or service.  Sometimes, as business owners and executives, we get a little too close to our business to think outside of the box.  Ask your customers, ask anyone within your organization that deals with your customer base for their input on words and phrases to describe your products and services.  Then take that list and run it through a keyword research tool.  There are a lot of tools to choose from.  Check out Google’s keyword tool https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal or try the free trial period from www.wordtracker.com.  I find this exercise to be really eye-opening.  Once the results have been reviewed and words and phrases that have economic relevance identified the effort has to shift to your site pages.  The research tool just told you how people are looking for what you do.  If you don’t have page content that includes these words and phrases then you can’t be found.  Think about the most common questions you are asked by customers and write pages that provide value to your audience by answering those questions and also using the words and phrases from your research.  My last thought is this; write single themed pages.  If you sell precision ball bearings that are used in many different products, applications, and industries then break each one out as a separate page.

Time for a turkey sandwich!