Search Engine Optimization, SEO, & Other Online Marketing Strategies » 2008 » July

SEC Ruling Gives a Stronger Case for Social Media Releases

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:59:15 +0000

For the longest time, traditional news wires have been the preferred choice when it came to disseminating information. They can send releases where it matters – newsrooms, trading desks and websites – quite fast. But although they may be efficient, they can also be costly. Calls for alternative means have been getting stronger in the past few years, thanks in part to the rapid development of the Internet. Just recently, the US SEC has finally responded. Companies may now solely use their websites and blogs to meet public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure), as long as they follow a new set of guidelines to be released by the commission. Chairman Cox has this to say:

Ongoing technological advances in electronic communications have increased both the market’s and investors’ demand for more timely company disclosure and the ability for companies to capture, process and disseminate this information to market participants. Indeed, one of the key benefits of the Internet is that companies can make information available to investors quickly and in a cost-effective manner. The use of electronic media is arguably superior to providing company information the old way. It’s a better way to provide information to most investors since today it can be presented in interactive format that allows each individual to click through or drill down to the level of detail that’s appropriate to him or her.

This is a welcome development especially to small and medium-scale companies. Instead of spending for these wire services (who, by the way, are understandably not very happy right now), they can use their savings to promote their websites and enhance investor relations. Another great thing about shifting to online releases is that one can readily include multimedia content: accompanying YouTube videos, SlideShare presentations, and what-have-you. Furthermore, valuable additional information can be pointed to by placing links, such as wikis, blog posts, and online news articles.

Some herald this as the death of press releases, but I wouldn’t go that far. As long as people continue to read traditional media, there will always be the corresponding traditional news wires. The specific conditions for this new ruling are yet to be released, and that will determine to a great extent how disruptive this change will be. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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The Best Headlines – Learn How To Write Them

admin — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:57:02 +0000

How can you choose the best headline — or at least the most appropriate one — for each article? I’m going to offer some suggestions that may help you make a decision next time you write a new post.

Why should I care about writing deadlines anyway?

Because each article’s headline is like an ad.

The headline is obviously the very first thing readers will see. If it doesn’t catch their attention, you’ll be in trouble. Some readers will proceed to read the article descriptions or excerpts available on search engines and social media sites, even when a headline doesn’t look particularly interesting. But many won’t do it. If your headline doesn’t make they feel compelled to read on, you’ll lose them.

Of course, the whole article must be good, not only its title. But then again, a good article without a good headline may pass unnoticed.

How is a good headline like?

While it depends on your audience — not all types of readers will react equally to the same titles — , it’s safe to say that the best headlines are the ones that let your readers know in advance what your articles are about. It’s a matter of usability: people feel more comfortable when they know what they are going to see after clicking on a link.

By writing headlines that clearly indicate your posts’ topic, you’ll not only help your readers but also yourself. Why? Because when people find your articles via search engines or social media sites, they will be more likely to visit your site if they feel you wrote about a subject they care for.

What about those headline formulas that marketers love so much?

Oh, yes, I love them too. Titles like “How To Blah Blah” and “Give Me (…) And I’ll Show You (…)” do entice people to click and/or read on. Those are proven copywriting techniques; they are used because they work. I know it’s a cliché, but that’s the truth.

Still, note that all those classical headline formulas induce a writer to fill in the gaps with relevant information on the piece’s nature. If I had titled this article as “How To Do What I Think You Should,” would you be interested in it? Granted, I do think you should be careful when choosing titles for your articles. But why should you care? How could you guess whether this post’s subject would be relevant to you or not?

What if I write intriguing headlines to make readers curious?

I’m a very curious person and I tend to click on many links just because their anchor text intrigues me. However, this often makes me waste my time with disappointing articles. And when I realise that the same blogger or webmaster has made me waste my time more than once, guess what happens? I stop reading his articles. And I’m sure I’m not the only Internet user in the world who behaves this way.

Moreover, you should remember that not everyone will have the same reaction to the same titles, as stated above. You may be sure that you’ve created a very intriguing headline, but readers may stumble upon it and think: “Who cares?” And you know that a reader who thinks so is in fact a lost visitor. One more reason to write clear titles.

I might have titled this post something like “I Can’t Believe You’re Still Making These Mistakes!” and hope that you’d feel curious enough to want to find out what mistakes I’d be writing about. But you might as well have shrugged and ignored it. I chose not to run the risk.

Can a good headline help me get more search engine traffic?

You bet it can. I already wrote a bit on search engine users’ behaviour in the paragraphs above.

In order to write headlines that generate more Google (or Yahoo!, or MSN…) love for your site or blog, you must get used to researching keywords before picking the definitive titles for your articles. I know that developing new habits isn’t easy. I confess I often forget my own advice. But whenever I remember it, I try to put it into practice.

I encourage you to do the same. Help search engine users find your site: write headlines that are both descriptive and keyword-driven.

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AdWords now serving placement-targeted ads

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:56:33 +0000

AdSense has always been ideal for small blogs as barrier to entry is so little. As long as you can get some traffic going, you can start making money right away, albeit probably not much in the beginning. However, there are changes in Google’s AdWords program that may tip the scales in favor of the bigger, more established websites. From Google’s Adsense blog:

“One of the main changes is the ability for advertisers to be more specific with their ad targeting through a combination of contextual targeting and placement targeting. As you may know, contextually targeted ads will appear on your pages if an advertiser’s keywords match your content, while placement-targeted ads will appear if an advertiser has specifically selected your ad placement or site. Now, advertisers can target your site or placements, but can also specify keywords for them so that their ads only appear in the most relevant pages. These ads will still need to compete with the available inventory of ads for a particular placement, and so only the highest-paying, most relevant ads will appear on your pages. At the same time, you’ll still be able to use your Competitive Ad Filter to prevent ads from specific URLs from appearing.”

Google contends that this will mean more relevant ads for your site’s visitors and increased advertiser confidence, resulting in greater ad spending. These may be true, but mostly for those sites that are already popular. It remains to be seen if this will lead to a major shift in advertiser preference (big sites vs long tail). I guess it will all depend on this new model’s effectiveness.

“In addition, while advertisers previously could only change their bids for all ads running across multiple sites, they can now adjust their bids for individual sites. This means that advertisers can spend more of their budgets on the specific AdSense sites which perform well and generate high-quality leads for the advertiser.”

With this recent development, I see scraper-type sites nearing their extinction. As for blogs, they will now have to be more competitive with their site branding to get noticed, and targeting a lucrative niche will become even more important. Google’s certainly keeping us on our toes.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll have to look for a purple cow.

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How Do Search Engines Like Google Measure Relevance and Popularity of Content?

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:46:26 +0000

The technology that propels Google and other search engines might be ahead of our time but one of the most basic principles, Information Retrieval (IR) was propounded in the middle of 20^th century and is still at the core of search engine technology. At that time and for another 40 years information retrieval was used in government labs and research facilities that had retrieval systems. The scientists at that time working on developing the search function realized that the quality of a search result depended on two concepts:

Relevancy (document analysis) – a webpage is considered relevant to the extent which its content matches a query.

Popularity (link analysis) – based on citation (translation: links), the more a particular document is cited, the higher its importance.

No one knows the Google formula for search results but it would be safe to assume that among other things, keyword density (relevance) and the number of incoming links (popularity) go a long way in determining how well you are rated in search engine results.

Relevance depends on Keyword Density: keyword density can make a huge difference in your rankings, but too many keywords can have a negative effect as well. It goes without saying that quality content will not appear to be stuffed with keywords and yet be optimized for search engines. While looking for relevancy a search engine looks for things like where all the search terms appear and how many times is it repeated in a document among other things.

Quick tip: Relevance can be increased by adding keywords to the title, headlines and subheaders or maintaining an appropriate level of keyword density.

Popularity depends on Backlinks: even if you have several incoming links from high PR websites there is no guarantee that Google would rate you higher than peers as it’s not just the number of backlinks that matter but their credibility as well. A link from .gov and .edu would be given more importance than a link from .com or .info and not just that, even the subject matter and quality of content on the linking site makes a difference to those stats.

Quick tip: Popularity can be boosted by increasing the number of incoming links from reputed sites related to your own site/blog.

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4 Website and Blog Monetization Models – Part 5

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:40:18 +0000

At the end of my article about link shops I promised I’d show you a few more ways to monetize your sites and blogs. That’s what I’m going to do today. You’ll see that besides the 4 basic business models presented in the previous parts of this series, there are several alternatives and mixed plans that you can use to make money online.

1. Article marketing

You choose a good product to promote and select appropriate keywords. Then you write articles optimised for the search engines and publish them on article directories. People will read your articles and hopefully click on the links in your resource box, which will lead them to a sales page on your chosen product.

This model is somewhat related to the fast money making sites and blogs that I discussed in part 1. However, there’s an advantage to article marketing: your articles are a way to develop a sort of relationship with potential buyers. If they like what you write, you will earn their trust, hence increasing conversions.
Article marketing can also be used for link building. All of the monetization models discussed in this series might benefit from it.

2. Human-edited niche directories

These aren’t your typical link shops. You must set clear, strict guidelines for link submission. Unrelated sites should be rejected, as well as sites with little or no content.

This is a long term business model. By not approving all submitted links, you may lose money at a first moment. However, you will also show that you are serious about your directory, which will help you build a strong reputation. And this is the kind of directory that search engines are more likely to favour.

3. Informational resources

They are like directories, with a fundamental difference in site structure: you first publish an informative article on a topic; then you place a related link list below it. Repeat this on all site sections.
By providing information, instead of merely listing dozens of random links, you make your site more authoritative. Internet users will have stronger reasons to visit your directory and to click on links. Therefore, your site will look more attractive to webmasters; they will not only get backlinks, but also direct hits.
For better results, it’s advisable that all sections on your informational resource deal with related subjects. Avoid general resources. If you want to attract more visitors and webmasters, you can always build more sites for different types of audience.

4. Visitor-oriented blogs and sites

Why am I mentioning this monetization model again? Because it blends relatively well with other models (see client-catching sites for an example). It can even be combined with fast money making sites, which are its opposite.
You can build a visitor-oriented blog and fill it with articles that, while relevant and helpful to readers, are also meant to make them take action (click on sponsor links, buy affiliate products, subscribe to newsletters etc.) as soon as they finish reading. This practice is a bit risky; it can harm the blogger’s reputation, making him/her look like a scammer. But it all depends on the blogger’s personality and boldness.
A visitor-oriented blog or site can easily include a directory/link shop. Depending on the blogging platform you use, it may be especially easy to do, because several platforms allow you to build link lists on separated pages, as opposed to the traditional sidebar bogrolls. WordPress is a good, popular example.

This is the end of this monetization models series. Of course, it doesn’t mean I’ll never get back to this subject. Much in the contrary: you can be sure that on Li’l Engine you’ll always find several monetization ideas and tips.

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Wordpress 2.7 proposed new features

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:08:35 +0000

Not long after Wordpress 2.6 came out, the talk of version 2.7 going public either in late September or early October has surfaced. For bloggers, it can be a challenge to keep up with this pace, and sometimes it just boils down to appreciation of the new features.

Here are the proposed changes for Wordpress 2.7 taken from the WP Codex. Of course, we’ll have to wait for the final release to know which among these actually got in, but by just looking at this list, do you think it’s worth the trouble to upgrade? Or rather, what would it take to get you to upgrade your current Wordpress installation?

1. Comments API
2. Keyboard shortcuts for comment moderation
3. Remove old/unused code
4. Theme update api, like we do for plugins
5. Some default shortcodes, maybe the most popular 10 from WordPress.com
6. Dashboard and write box rearranging
7. One-click plugin installs
8. OEmbed support, tied in with shortcodes
9. Admin-only reply thing, for admin replies to comments (7435)
10. Better UI for post revisions, maybe an optional field to say what changed in a version
11. Core updating
12. OAuth support
13. A frame-like method for moderating ping/trackbacks
14. GeoData for posts, comments, attachments, etc.
15. Duplicate post Tags UI for other taxonomies (6387)
16. SWFUploader make it work with Flash 10
17. Template tags to do everything the custom gallery on ma.tt does
18. Plugin browser embedded
19. Codepress code highlighting for template editing
20. Php xref hosted on WordPress.org
21. Tag intersections, all posts that have tag x AND y (We already do this)
22. Menu editor
23. Separate Large and Full image sizes, related improvements (7151)
24. Unbalanced tags across more and nextpage tags
25. Sitemaps by default
26. Comment threading
27. Batch editing of posts
28. Refresh of the importers
29. Subscribe To Comments plugin in core?
30. MPTT for hierarchies
31. Gallery post_type
32. Versioning of template edits
33. Documentation links for functions used in currently edited template

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What to do when your site disappears from Google

admin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:04:10 +0000

Since Google gets the lion’s share of search queries, it’s about the worst nightmare to have your website taken down from Google’s search results. If it happens, try not to panic. Follow these steps to determine the cause, and with any luck, you can fix it in no time.

1. Look for crawling errors

One possibility is that the search spider had some difficulty in crawling your site. This can be because your server was down or your “robots.txt” file has blocked the spider. Log on to your Webmaster Tools account to know more about these errors and how to correct them. From there, you can also check the last time your site was successfully accessed by the Googlebot so you’ll have a better idea on what might have happened.

2. Comply with the Webmaster Guidelines

Another reason why your site does not appear in the Google search results is noncompliance with Webmaster Guidelines. You can check this by looking if at the Webmaster Tool’s Message Center for any communications send by Google, or simply read the guidelines to see if you have commited any violations. If you find any, try to rectify them immediately.

3. Send in a request for reconsideration

Once you are sure your site is no longer in violation of the guidelines, submit a request for reconsideration. You can do this through your Webmaster Tools account. Just explain what happened and the corrective measures that you took. You’ll receive a confirmation that Google has received your request and it will be up for review.

If you still have some questions regarding this, you can ask for more in-depth expert advice from Google’s Webmaster Help Group. Goodluck!

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What Effect Does a Blogroll Have on Your Blog?

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:36:58 +0000

When I come across an interesting blog and I know I will visit it again… I like to snoop around, find out more about the author and look for tips that I can use on my own blog. Now this blog I came across today had an interesting angle to its two-column structure.

The author has done away with the Blogroll and introduced a separate page that holds all the outbound links from his site! I know how technology changes and to what extent webmasters can go in order to improve their PageRank. However, to do away with a Blogroll like it was something from the 90s appeared a little strange and at the same time indicated to a clever SEO trick to me so I had to investigate and here’s what I found out:

The Problem

If you link to a website, you are in effect extending your PageRank to it (now you know why people pay hundreds of dollars to have their link placed on a high PR webpage) since one of Google’s basis for determining the PageRank is links. Consider this, if you have 10 links in your Blogroll (which is present on every page by default) and 50 pages on your blog, you will be extending 10*50 PageRank worth of juice and to match that you’ll have to constantly link back to internal pages. Now, if you had a 100 links in your Blogroll you wouldn’t be able to balance it off.

So the question you probably on your mind at this point is, Should I get rid of the Blogroll?

The Solution

Yes, that’s one way to go about it but you can keep a Blogroll on your main page and remove it from all the internal pages. By removing the Blogroll from all internal pages, your blog will benefit at both SEO and PR. Now, even if you have 200 links in your Blogroll you will only have 200 external links. Another way is to add the nofollow tag to your external links. For those who are using WordPress you can either use this tip by Justin Cook or try this plug-in to add “nofollow” in rel attributes.

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Challenger vs. Champ – Cuil vs. Google

admin — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:07:32 +0000

Will the new search engine that being discussed throughout search engine forums be able to topple the giant?

The Name
Well let me start off by saying the name alone is a loser in my eyes. Im not sure the term “Cuil It” will be replacing the more elegant souding “Google It” anytime soon. But that isn’t to say there still isn’t hope for this new competitor.

“Cuil is an old Irish word for knowledge. For knowledge, ask Cuil.” – Cuil.com

Ok so there is meaning behind the madness but people aren’t necessarily harping on meaning. People like names that are catchy and that can roll off their tongues. 1 point Google, no point Cuil.

The Design
The homepage leaves much to be asked for with a black background (cmon guys we all know that a black background will not appeal to the masses) with blue and grey text. I would have to say it looks more industrial than anything search engine related, but let’s not stop there.

Next let’s take a look at an inner page. A simple search for “php tutorials” produces the following:

Now I know change can be good but when it comes to people digging to find a solution in as little time as possible then the organization of the results must be in a highly user-friendly and familiar format. Cuil fails to achieve this with their column laid search results.

What do you think?
I have merely scratched the surface on my Cuil.com review and am now opening it up to you all to let us know your view on the different aspects of it. Feel free to pay Cuil.com a visit then share your views with us.

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Tips for Marketing Through Social Media

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 00:20:17 +0000

The good thing about social media is that it’s more than just a buzz word – it’s a useful platform and I’ve seen a lot of people make money out of it. Internet marketer Chris Brogan recently made an exhaustive list of social media marketing techniques and I found them quite enlightening. Other people picked up on it, among them Jeremiah Owyang, a senior analyst at Forrester. He reorganized the list into five categories and then some, which makes it all the more readable. Let me share the list with you.

1) Listening: Gleaning market and customer insight and intelligence

10. Build sentiment measurements, and listen to the larger web for how people are talking about your customer.
11. Learn which bloggers might care about your customer. Learn how to measure their influence.
14. Build conversation maps for your customers using Technorati.com, Google Blogsearch, Summize, and FriendFeed.
21. Collect case studies of social media success. Tag them “socialmediacasestudy” in del.icio.us.
25. Search Summize.com for as much data as you can find in Twitter on your product, your competitors, your space.
32. Make WebsiteGrader.com your first stop for understanding the technical quality of a website.
33. Make Compete.com your next stop for understanding a site’s traffic. Then, mash it against competitors’ sites.
34. Learn how not to ask for 40 pieces of demographic data when giving something away for free. Instead, collect little bits over time. Gently.
38. Track your inbound links and when they come from blogs, be sure to comment on a few posts and build a relationship with the blogger.
39. Find a bunch of bloggers and podcasters whose work you admire, and ask them for opinions on your social media projects. See if you can give them a free sneak peek at something, or some other “you’re special” reward for their time and effort (if it’s material, ask them to disclose it).

2) Talking: Engaging in a two way discussion to get your message out (and get messages in)

2. Build blogs and teach conversational marketing and business relationship building techniques.
5. Create informational podcasts about a product’s overall space, not just the product.
8. Check out Twitter as a way to show a company’s personality. (Don’t fabricate this).
9. Couple your email newsletter content with additional website content on a blog for improved commenting.
13. Try out a short series of audio podcasts or video podcasts as content marketing and see how they draw.
19. Experiment with the value of live video like uStream.tv and Mogulus, or Qik on a cell phone.
23. Explore distribution. Can you reach more potential buyers/users/customers on social networks.
24. Don’t forget early social sites like Yahoogroups and Craigslist. They still work remarkably well.
26. Practice delivering quality content on your blogs, such that customers feel educated / equipped / informed.
28. Turn your blog into a mobile blog site with Mofuse. Free.
30. Ensure you offer the basics on your site, like an email alternative to an RSS subscription. In fact, the more ways you can spread and distribute your content, the better.
40. Learn all you can about how NOT to pitch bloggers. Excellent resource: Susan Getgood.
41. Try out shooting video interviews and video press releases and other bits of video to build more personable relationships. Don’t throw out text, but try adding video.
44. Experiment with different lengths and forms of video. Is entertaining and funny but brief better than longer but more informative? Don’t stop with one attempt. And try more than one hosting platform to test out features.

3) Energizing: Letting your customers tell your prospects on your behalf (viral, word of mouth)

1. Add social bookmark links to your most important web pages and/or blog posts to improve sharing.
3. For every video project purchased, ensure there’s an embeddable web version for improved sharing.
4. Learn how tagging and other metadata improve your ability to search and measure the spread of information.
12. Download the Social Media Press Release (pdf) and at least see what parts you want to take into your traditional press releases.
36. Help customers and prospects connect with you simply on your various networks. Consider a Lijit Wijit or other aggregator widget.
47. Spread good ideas far. Reblog them. Bookmark them. Vote them up at social sites. Be a good citizen.

4) Supporting: Getting your customers to self-support each other

6. Build community platforms around real communities of shared interest.
7. Help companies participate in existing social networks, and build relationships on their turf.
15. Experiment with Flickr and/or YouTube groups to build media for specific events. (Marvel Comics raised my impression of this with their Hulk statue Flickr group).
18. Start a community group on Facebook or Ning or MySpace or LinkedIn around the space where your customer does business. Example: what Jeremiah Owyang did for Hitachi Data Systems.
29. Learn what other free tools might work for community building, like MyBlogLog.
35. Remember that the people on social networks are all people, have likely been there a while, might know each other, and know that you’re new. Tread gently into new territories. Don’t NOT go. Just go gently.
37. Voting mechanisms like those used on Digg.com show your customers you care about which information is useful to them.

5) Embracing: Building better products and services through collaboration with clients

31. Investigate whether your product sells better by recommendation versus education, and use either wikis and widgets to help recommend, or videos and podcasts for education.
50. Use the same tools you’re trying out externally for internal uses, if that makes sense, and learn about how this technology empowers your business collaboration, too.

Strategy, Training, and Planning
While not one of the 5 objectives, many of these aren’t directly social media tactics, but they are great rules of thumb.

16. Recommend that your staff start personal blogs on their personal interests, and learn first hand what it feels like, including managing comments, wanting promotion, etc.
17. Map out an integrated project that incorporates a blog, use of commercial social networks, and a face-to-face event to build leads and drive awareness of a product.
20. Attend a conference dealing with social media like New Media Expo, BlogWorld Expo, New Marketing Summit (disclosure: I run this one with CrossTech), and dozens and dozens more. (Email Chris for a calendar).
22. Interview current social media practitioners. Look for bridges between your methods and theirs.
27. Consider the value of hiring a community manager. Could this role improve customer service? Improve customer retention? Promote through word of mouth?
42. Explore several viewpoints about social media marketing.
43. Women are adding lots of value to social media. Get to know the ones making a difference. (And check out BlogHer as an event to explore).
45. Work with practitioners and media makers to see how they can use their skills to solve your problems. Don’t be afraid to set up pilot programs, instead of diving in head first.
46. People power social media. Learn to believe in the value of people. Sounds hippie, but it’s the key.
48. Don’t be afraid to fail. Be ready to apologize. Admit when you’ve made a mistake.
49. Re-examine who in the organization might benefit from your social media efforts. Help equip them to learn from your project.

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