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Also known as social networking, the social web allows you to share with your colleagues, friends, family and strangers. It allows you to share your writings, thoughts, videos, music, pictures and more.
While the old Web was about Web sites, clicks, and “eyeballs,” the new Web is about communities, participation and peering. As users and computer power multiply, and easy-to-use tools proliferate, the Internet is evolving into a global, living, networked computer that anyone can program. Even the simple act of participating in an online community makes a contribution to the new digital commons – whether one’s building a business on Amazon or producing a video clip for YouTube, creating a community around his or her Flickr photo collection or editing the astronomy entry on Wikipedia.
The following slide show, although it’s from 2006, provides a helpful explanation of the Social Web, from Wikis and RSS to Blogs, Flickr and more.
Being Sociable
With today’s enormous shift toward online communication, understanding the online space is critical. Too many businesses are still merely dipping their toes into the world of social networking. This year, the need to jump in is even more pronounced. Interest groups are being formed, new brand leaders are being established, and thought leaders are constantly emerging in these new social communities. Anyone who is not out there making mistakes, learning the protocol, and getting a feel for how their brand and personal connection play in the bigger business cycle, will quickly find themselves isolated and on the outside looking in.
Big sites with big traffic are great places to drive traffic to your own site, whether it’s on Twitter, in blog comments, with a Facebook fan page, or whatever is appropriate for your niche. To establish brand credibility and your place in this new marketplace, create a group in LinkedIn, Facebook and other essential social media and trade association directories. Start the invitation process and begin to get a feel for what it’s like to be a participant in the community.
With nearly 60% of adults under 35 with a social networking site profile and Twitter usage nearly doubling in 6 months, it’s clear that successful online marketing and development groups need to get their arms around using these online web services.
In the following slide show by OHO Interactive, you will learn about Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube web services, who is using them, and how you can get started.
Topics include:
- The impact of these Web 2.0 applications on marketing
- The key offer and attraction of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube
- The latest demographic usage data for social networking applications
- Best practices – and biggest blunders – for using these applications
Homepages are considered some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Not even a square foot in size, the homepage is your company’s face to the world. In one short glance, a website’s homepage must communicate where users are, what your company does, and what users can do at your site. If a user has to ask “What is the purpose of this site?” it means your site has missed the mark, from which it’s nearly impossible to recover.
In order to communicate well, homepages must give appropriate emphasis to both branding and high-priority tasks. The homepage must also have a memorable and distinct look, so that users can recognize it as their starting place when coming from any other part of the website.
Top 9 Homepage Guidelines
Make the Site’s Purpose Clear: Explain Who You Are and What You Do
1. Start the page with a One-Sentence Tagline summarizing what the site or company does.
2. Begin the Title tag with the company name followed by a brief description of the site. The Title tag needs to provide good visibility in search engines and bookmark lists.
3. Group all company information in one distinct area – About Us.
Help Users Find What They Need
4. Emphasize the site’s top high-priority tasks by offering users a clear starting point for the primary one, up to four, tasks they’ll undertake when visiting your site.
5. For larger sites, include a search input box.
Reveal Site Content
6. Start your content on your homepage.
7. Begin link names with the most important keyword.
Use Visual Design to Enhance, not Define, Interaction
8. Don’t over-format critical content such as navigation areas, users often dismiss graphics as ads.
9. Use meaningful images to serve as powerful communicators depicting items of interest to users.
For a more in-depth look at this topic, check out 113 Design Guidelines for Homepage Usability
excerpted from the book Homepage Usability: 50 Websites Deconstructed by Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir.
What are you doing to fully optimize your efforts for SEO and extend your web presence?
Using social media to market your business is a good idea. Social networks provide wonderful opportunities for sharing, but no one will want to share your content unless it’s awesome. Set yourself apart from the crowd by doing things that others think are awesome and want to talk about – using social media to get the word out.
Your “Awesome” is comprised of things you do that others want to talk about. It’s all about how you spin your content to make it engaging in the social space.
Start by creating a strategy to effectively market your business using social media tools and sites like Facebook, Twitter, blogs, StumbleUpon and other kick-ass business networks. Use social communities like Yelp, Gotime and Biznik to increase your SEO footprint online. Set up and launch ad campaigns with multiple levels of targeting by age, gender, marital status, location, etc.
Regardless of what tools, platforms, or strategies you pick; at the end of the day; you have to understand where you money is going and what you are getting out of your investment. Before plunging into social media marketing, establish a social media ROI framework that will allow you to understand, measure, and maximize your ROI as well as to improve your marketing ROI and accountability as a whole.
Every two years, SEOmoz surveys top SEO experts in the field worldwide on their opinions of the algorithmic elements that comprise search engine rankings. Developed by Rand Fishkin as a gauge of the most important elements considered by Google’s organic ranking algorithm, this year’s 72 participants were each asked to rate more than 100 search ranking factors along with specific questions about hot issues in the SEO field. The results represent their collective wisdom, forming one of the most useful resources for SEO practitioners of all varieties, helping to provide transparency into what matters (and doesn’t) for best practices in search engine optimization.
Top 5 Ranking Factors
1. Keyword Focused Anchor Text from External Links 73% very high importance
2. External Link Popularity (quantity/quality of external links) 71% very high importance
3. Diversity of Link Sources (links from many unique root domains) 67% very high importance
4. Keyword Use Anywhere in the Title Tag 66% very high importance
5. Trustworthiness of the Domain Based on Link Distance from Trusted Domains (e.g. TrustRank, Domain mozTrust, etc.) 66% very high importance
Developed by David Mihm, the inspiration for this project came from SEOmoz’s biennially-published Search Engine Ranking Factors. This year, 27 prominent bloggers and practitioners were asked to rate the importance of 49 criteria with respect to their influence on rankings in the Google and Yahoo Local “Universal” search algorithms (those that drive the 10-pack, 3-pack, and authoritative onebox search results; NOT the standard organic algorithms).
If you find yourself confused by Local Search, this report will prove an excellent resource to help you fine-tune your marketing efforts. For example, Google Maps is now incredibly accurate (and forceful) in listing your business in your city/town regardless of your actual service area. Results indicate that:
It’s becoming even more important to have a physical location for your business within the city which is being searched.
The importance of links in the Local search algorithm(s) seems to be on its way down, while the importance of citations, particularly those from major data providers and industry/location-specific directories, was deemed to be increasing in importance. Hyper Local citations (from blogs or other businesses in your area) are becoming more important, too, but not at the same rate. The quality of links seems much more important than quantity, which speaks to the idea of Location Prominence as a central algorithmic factor.
When it comes to reviews, it’s the exact opposite–at least in terms of rankings. Nearly every expert felt that positive customer experiences dramatically increased clickthrough and conversion, but that volume of reviews is what makes the difference in ranking.
As the Web has evolved, websites have become much more diverse, particularly in how they are constructed. Most notably, with the wide variety of programming languages and design techniques now being used to build websites.
Unfortunately, some of these coding and design techniques are detrimental to search engine positioning. And if your website uses any of them, it’s probably time to build a new website, or at least rebuild in a format that is better suited for search-engine positioning.
Something to think about: Your website’s home page is where your site makes its first impression with the search engines. Therefore, it’s important to present the site with informative text that both the search engines and people can use. Start by making sure your website meets w3c validation guidelines.
If your website falls short, don’t hold off making improvements. While it may be costly to make a change, the cost of not showing up on the search engines is far greater.
Before you get stuck on what features are most important to incorporate in your website, check out this video by Wil Reynolds, head SEO consultant at SEER Interactive. He discusses which SEO practices are no longer being used as well as explaining best SEO practices.
A blog is your quickest path to top search engine rankings
It used to be where you could just build a static html site, stuff keywords throughout the title, description, and keyword tags in the code, and you’d be able to rank for those phrases. However, Google’s algorithm is changing from the days of old. Google.com, accessed by hundreds of millions of people each day, uses over two hundred signals in their web search rankings but the keywords meta tag is no longer one of them. (Source: Google Webmaster Central Blog, September 21, 2009) Google disregards keyword meta tags completely and has now turned to favoring sites that feed a continual flow of freshly updated content.
Blogs inherently create a continual flow of fresh content. Each blog posting is actually a new page that is crawled and indexed in Google search results. So, the cumulative effect of writing a lot of content is that you are continually building an inventory of pages that are accessible in Google for a wide range of keyword phrases. If people are finding your content, bookmarking your site, subscribing to your RSS feed, and coming back for more, then that means people will also be linking to your content. The more traffic, subscribers and links you have, the more PageRank will be attributed to your site. PageRank is the number and quality of links to your site. The more PageRank your site has, the higher it will rank in Google, the more often your site will be crawled, and the deeper those crawls will be – all of which adds more PageRank to your blog.
If you’re thinking about starting a blog, I highly recommend using WordPress, an extremely powerful platform for achieving high levels of exposure and top search rankings in Google’s search results. WordPress is a super clean CMS (content management system) that Google finds easy to crawl and who’s coding is well structured. Matt Cutts, a well known Google engineer, has even stated that WordPress takes care of 80-90% of the technical SEO elements automatically. To boost your blog’s success, check out the following video of Matt Cutt’s talk on SEO for WordPress at WordCamp San Francisco 2009, he shares a wealth of tips and recommendations:
Press releases are a powerful, but often overlooked promotional tool that can be valuable for just about any type of business, large or small. If you haven’t added press releases to your marketing mix, you’re missing out on one of the quickest, most cost-effective ways to get the word out about your products or services.
Some of the benefits you can expect from a well-written online press release:
Maximize your reach: Whether you send your press releases out to local, industry and other targeted publications to attract the attention of traditional (offline) media, you will definitely want to submit your releases to online distribution sites to maximize your visibility in new media (online) outlets.
Save money: If you typically pay for enhanced online submissions or mail your releases out with samples and other supporting information, consider submitting your release to free online distribution sites or send them out to traditional media –the only investment is your time.
Improve your SEO: By taking the time to write a well-formatted and effective online press release that contains targeted keywords, links and very specific information about your business, other websites, news and search engines will pick it up, which will increase your visibility dramatically.
Enhance your credibility: If you consistently write and submit relevant and well-timed press releases, they can quickly increase your exposure and brand name recognition among your target audience.
Press releases are powerful because they allow you to create news that is interesting to your target audience. Just about anything you do in your business – from launching a new website, to offering new services, to volunteering for a local charity, to speaking at a conference – can be newsworthy.
Just keep in mind, a press release should not be an outwardly promotional tool; rather, it should focus on the needs of your target audience. Your release should successfully answer the top question posed by your audience: “How will this benefit me?” If it does, you have a winning press release ready to send out to the masses.
Although many of the following sites offer free distribution to sites and search engines, paid services typically provide more options from better placement and permanent archiving to keyword links, company profile and logo placement.
1888PressRelease.com: A free and paid service that provides a number of options, including distribution outlets, visibility and tracking statistics.
24-7 Press Release: A free and paid service with varying formatting and distribution options.
Business Wire: A paid service (requires membership) that will distribute your press release to geographic, trade and industry media, and search engines.
Express Press Release: A paid service that includes distribution to state-based sites, industry-specific blogs and a PR forum.
i-Newswire: A free service that will allow you to submit one release per week to a global audience.
Media Syndicate: A free service that focuses on distributing press releases for small and medium sized businesses.
PR Leap: A paid service that distributes releases to all major search engines, newswires and websites.
PR Newswire: A paid service (requires membership) that will submit your release to a number of outlets, including newsrooms, bloggers, financial portals, social media networks, web sites, and search engines.
PR Urgent News: A free and paid service that allows up to three live links, targeted keywords and a thumbnail image with each release.
PR.com: A free and paid service that provides an option that includes a full company profile in addition to distributing your release.
PRBuzz.com: A paid service that distributes press releases to online news sites and blogs.
PRLog: A free service that allows you to include HTML links in the press release body, creates a PDF version of your release and allows you to submit to specific categories.
PRWeb: A paid service that distributes your site to numerous sites and lets you track and analyze results.
SBWire: A paid service that allows you to submit releases for geographical and industry targeting. They also distribute your releases via RSS to numerous third party sites.
The Open Press: A free and paid service that distributes press releases to numerous websites, blogs and RSS feeds.
In order to get a good response from your press release, you do not need to submit to all of these sites. A well-written press release with targeted, newsworthy and valuable information for your audience can be successfully distributed through one or two sites. Evaluate the options and pick the service that best fits your requirements.
Once you have started distributing press releases online, create a media section on your website where you can list your releases as news items. You can also develop an online media kit that contains your releases and other information about your business that interested parties can download.
A blog gives you a voice – a platform – a place to show your prospects and customers just how much you know – a place to start conversations – conversations that lead to building credibility, trust and customer loyalty.
If you have ever struggled with how to effectively communicate with your customers – perhaps alert them when you release a new product or service, or maybe you’d just like their opinions on your past sales or future company direction – blogs are becoming an incredibly common means to keep customers aware of sales and product releases as well as to simply talk to them more informally. Providing a forum where people can leave comments provides you with a measure of value and proves that your company does indeed care.
Reinforce your Brand
A blog can be a phenomenal marketing tool for your business, but it also needs to be part of your brand identity because that is what sets you apart in the marketplace – it’s all about recognition and brand trust.
Become the Expert
Position yourself and your company as the thought leader of your business. People in your industry will pay attention; they’ll read and discuss what you have to say.
Strengthen Customer Relationships
Have a more personal relationship with your customers when you join their discussions, provide tips and insights, or receive feedback.
Media Relations
Create a channel where media regularly check what you have to say instead of just relying on passive press releases.
Knowledge Management
Blogs are an easy way for readers to find information and resources they want or need.
Test Ideas or Products
Publish an idea and see if it generates interest. Does anyone link to you? What do they say?
Rank High in Search Engines
Google and other search engines rewards sites that are updated often, that link to other sites and most importantly, that have many inbound links.
Helpful Resources Once Your Blog is Launched
ProBlogger: A wealth of blogging-related information and resources to assist your blogging success.
CopyBlogger: Copywriting tips for online marketing success.
Lorelle on WordPress: Comprehensive resource site covering WordPress, blogging and social media and how it all works.
The Blog Herald: The premier source of news, information, tips, and commentary on blogs, the blogging industry and bloggers worldwide.
Google Blog Search: Register your blog with Google Blog Search. Blog Search is Google search technology focused on blogs, enabling users to find out what people are saying on any subject of their choice.
HitTail: Use HitTail to research topics to write about. HitTail gives you a list of the search terms used by those who came to your blog through a search engine. This search term list will give you ideas for future blog posts.
Feedburner: Redirect your blog’s feeds through FeedBurner so you can track your subscribers.
Add This: Use this tool to download a smart button that makes it easy for readers to share or bookmark your blog.
Technorati: Use Technorati tags at the end of your blog posts as a way of classifying your blog posts by topic and have them added to Technorati’s index (Technorati is the most important search engine for blogs).
Technorati Tag Generator: Use this automatic Technorati tag generator to avoid having to create the HTML code manually.
I recently had a conversation with a client that really opened my eyes. As she was thanking me for making the process of developing her new website such a pleasure, she admitted that she had delayed having a new website for two years. Why? Because in the past, other web designers she spoke with either made her feel stupid for not knowing what they were talking about, or like a jerk for wanting to define “creativity” in her own terms, or a poser for wanting great results within an admittedly tight budget. Now that’s just tragic.
It is our client’s job to be an expert at whatever it is that they do and it is our job to be an expert at what we do – in this case, web design. Since our clients are not web designers, we should not expect them to know everything that we know. Thus, we need to be able to speak about the design process in an understandable way – without speaking down to anyone. The client is not stupid because they don’t understand web terminology, we must simply find a way to rephrase what we are saying until they do.
Whether we’re a web design, graphic designer or interior designer, it’s our job as the designer to interpret the client’s vision and then translate it into the final product. If their vision doesn’t quite work technically, we need to offer suggested modifications to make it work, without compromising the integrity of their vision. Too many times people have come to me stating how unhappy their experience was with a web designer and how much they don’t like their website, because the designer inflicted their own aesthetic on the client’s project.
A good web designer should collaborate with the client on their project every step of the way, ensuring that the end result reflects that company’s image, purpose and personality. If you are in the market for a new website or an upgrade for one that you already have, consider the following helpful tips:
Your role
The process starts with finding the perfect designer, one who understands your needs and produces high quality work. Their job will be to translate your vision into something visually appealing and operational. Your job will be to provide direction.
Be clear and focused
Think strategically about what you want your website to accomplish and who your intended audience is. Make sure your designer understands your mission, goals and objectives. A good, clear plan will result in the best possible outcome.
Put the details in writing
Provide as much material as you can to your designer, including headlines, content, thumbnail sketches, images, and any other ideas you might have. Writing things down before you turn the project over to the designer ensures a smoother process and keeps design costs down. Establish a budget and timeline for when the project should be completed.
Provide background materials
Provide your designer with your business card, letterhead, company brochure, copies of your current advertising and promotional material, an electronic copy of your logo, and anything else you think might be useful background.
Trust the professional
That’s why you hired them. Don’t waste your time and money by micro-managing. Offer your opinions but also give them the freedom to be creative.
Collaborate
Throughout the design process, not just at the end, make sure you’re available for quick, incremental feedback to avoid wasteful misunderstandings. You wouldn’t wait until your house is already built to tell the contractor you want an extra bedroom, so don’t wait until the end to convey your feedback to the designer – by then its too late.
