SEO & Internet Marketing for Small Businesses in Kent and London

The Knowledge Graph for mobile and tablet search

BlueSquareManagement — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:48:05 +0000

Google launch the Knowledge Graph for mobile and tablet devices. Check out this article by Junyoung Lee, Google Engineering Manager, to learn more.

Have you ever had a question pop into your head at an unexpected time? Maybe when you’re talking with a friend over lunch, watching TV at home, or reading a magazine on the bus? On smartphones and tablets Google is great for these types of situations because it puts the information of the entire web at your fingertips. Today, we’re making it even faster and easier to get answers and explore no matter where you are, with the launch of the Knowledge Graph on desktop, smartphones, and tablets.

On wireless networks and on small screens, every page load and every pixel matters when it comes to speed and ease-of-use. So we strive for efficiency and try to make the most of touch-based interactions when integrating information from Knowledge Graph into our mobile and tablet search experiences.

For example, say this fall I’m heading to Chicago for a friend’s wedding, and I’ve heard I should check out Millennium Park while I’m in town. A quick search on Google brings up Knowledge Graph information embedded within the results. This initial peek shows what people are often interested in about Millennium Park.

Tapping or swiping on the content from the Knowledge Graph instantly shows me more useful information. I can see if there’s an event going on while I’m in town, and get some ideas for other Chicago attractions I might want to visit based on what other people have searched for on Google.

When searching on my tablet, I can swipe the rows of images to explore more related content.

Now let’s take another example. Say I’m searching for [andromeda], which could be the galaxy, the TV series, or the Swedish band. The Knowledge Graph distinguishes between each of these meanings and shows me an interactive ribbon at the top of the search results that I can swipe and tap to select just what I’m looking for. That means less typing.

These features are currently rolling out to most Android 2.2+ and iOS4+ devices. On Android, the feature is available through Google in the browser and the Quick Search Box. On iOS, the feature is available in the browser and will be coming soon to the Google Search App.

Posted by Junyoung Lee, Engineering Manager

Inside Search

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Improvements to AdSense reporting features

BlueSquareManagement — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:34:05 +0000

Google have made improvement to their reporting features in Google Adwords. The following post is by Arlene Lee, who is part of the Google Inside AdSense Team.

We’ve recently made a few improvements related to AdSense reporting to help you find information more quickly and to address some of the most common asks we’ve heard from you. Good things come in threes — so here are three recent updates to look for in your account:

1. View all-time reports

When selecting a date range for your reports, you’ll now have an ‘All time’ option to view all earnings, impressions, and clicks accrued since your first impression. If you used the previous AdSense interface, you may remember this feature — it now has a new home in the current AdSense interface as well.

2. Quickly access reports from the My ads tab

We’ve added quick links to your reports under the My ads tab, eliminating the need to search for ad units or channels in your reports. When viewing your ad units, custom channels, or URL channels on the My ads tab, just click ‘View report’ below a specific line item to view performance data for that particular ad unit or channel. This feature is particularly useful if you’re looking for channel data that isn’t linked to ad units in the interface, and will help you save time.

3. Download CSVs in the correct local formatting

Just as the placement of commas and periods can change the meaning of sentences, the same is true when it comes to numbers and figures. As you may know, an amount written as $ 1,000.00 in the US or UK would be written as $ 1.000,00 in most of Europe and South America. Previously, only the $ 1,000.00 format was available for downloadable reports, which created difficulties for a number of international publishers trying to export CSVs to analyze the data. Now, based on your language preference, you can export CSVs with figures in the relevant format.

Have any feedback or suggestions to share? Feel free to leave a comment or post them on our AdSense +Page.

Posted by Arlene Lee – Inside AdSense Team

Inside AdSense

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Coca Cola & Peugeot Exhibit Content Marketing Leadership with UK Video Marketing Campaigns

BlueSquareManagement — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:39:07 +0000

A great post from ReelSEO.com just showing what video marketing can do. Yes Coca Cola and Peugeot have the money for a large video budget, and as a small business owner, you are probably thinking that video marketing is going to be expensive. How wrong you are. All you need is an inexpensive flip camera, even a web camera would do the job, and just talk about your business market. Offer advice, hints and tips. Create GOOD content!

Enjoy this post:

The adage ‘Content is King’ is now becoming something of a cliché, rolled out regularly to prove the author’s understanding that it’s not just hits that count, but how people perceive your message and what they do with it, turning viewers from passive observers to willing propagators of your content is obviously crucial. A central component of this – creating a synergy between online video and social networking- to the extent that your audience become co-curators in your campaigns.

Coca Cola & the “Content 2020 Project” – Video + Social Marketing

There is a pressing need to go one step further than simply making an interesting or entertaining sales pitch. Coca Cola’s recent UK-focused marketing strategy is very prescient: their latest marketing plan – the ‘Content 2020 project’ – is a push to not just create interesting content, but to grasp the joint video and social nettle. Coca Cola’s mission statement; “we will move from creative excellence to content excellence” – a sign of the intent of the market leaders.

Developing what Coca Cola deem “liquid content” (quick to change, adapt and grow with its audience across any medium) requires a planning process: a shift from quantitative upfront research such as surveys and statistics, to more of an emphasis on engaging with customers and listening to their insights.

Coca Cola employed CommuniSpace, (http://www.communispace.com/home.aspx) which allowed them to create an online dialogue with customers to evolve ideas further. Coke has seized the ‘70/20/10’ model of content development, and have thrown their enthusiasm behind innovative, consumer and social-based strategies that would fit the ‘10%’ bracket (see below):

70% = Low risk content: takes up less time – They know what works from experience. Standard, unremarkable stuff.
20% = Targeted at a more specific audience but still a broad scale. Innovate on what works well.
10% = High risk content: brand new ideas which will become tomorrow’s 70% and 20%s. Take risks, and celebrate both failure and success. If it works, it works big,

Coca Cola Social Network Marketing Package:

Coke’s original ideas? Encouraging conversations on Twitter with “What’s the one thing you’d do to make the world a better place?”, and “Your Stories” on FaceBook – a collection of fan posts showing how people from around the world have helped make Coke into what it is today. For the specific UK focus, there is a blog featuring the mothers of Olympic Athletes topical, empathetic and appealing to a wide range of consumers. Top it all off with the Mark Ronson led live music events, videos and artist vlogs, and you have quite the interactive package:

Rubber Republica’s Video Marketing Campaign for Peugeot

Then there’s the original initiative of Rubber Republica’s ‘Non-stop’ campaign for Peugeot
Rubber Republic describe themselves as;

“A boutique agency that make engaging and fun things happen to help brands thrive in a world curated by the likes of Twitter, FaceBook and blogs”

The synthesis of a video ad campaign and social media awareness is clear here.

When I spoke to Rory Ahearn of Rubber Republic, he said they received a clear brief from Peugeot’s agency ‘Initial Marketing’, who had found the soundtrack (Rudimental’s ‘Feel the Love’) that would become the music for an experiential road show, and furthermore would create the framework for the launch of the new Peugeot 208. Not just a channel, but a whole series of live events was organized around this product.

Rubber Republic’s challenge

Rubber was asked to create a video that would be the start of a much wider cross media campaign. Peugeot knew it needed something that would be digital and social as the best approach to reach the target demographic for the car which was for a younger and fashionable group.

Rubber Republic confirm this, saying

“The video needed to appeal to younger drivers, [and] genuinely offer YouTube audiences entertaining content while reinforcing the new Peugeot 208′s global advertising proposition ‘Let Your Body Drive’”.

How did they do this? With exhaustive casting and auditioning, in an attempt to create a new online hero, or a massive attempt to start an online trend? No – they simply contacted an individual who was already a social networking sensation, as they confirm: “We (along with the 43 million+ others) first noticed Marquese [Scott] last September when he uploaded one of YouTube’s most viewed videos of 2012: ‘Pumped Up Kicks’”, and made him a central component of Peugeot’s own ‘Let Your Body Drive’ channel.

Peugeot v Nonstop

In this piece we see Marquese working his way rhythmically around an empty multi-storey car park, as a camera slowly pans to follow him. According to Rubber Republica’s website, “The video was shot in one take. There are no edits, no visual effects and Marquese just turned up and did his thing without choreography”.

There is no on-screen mention of product, and the car itself is not even in frame all the time.

This led to wide coverage in blogs and comment sites, with the campaign debuting in the viral video chart at number four. As Rubber Republic put it, the campaign, Initial’s chosen soundtrack and Marquese “was a match made in heaven”.

And the moral is…

When it comes to viral video and social content, Rubber state they had been trying to get various brands to take this approach to promoting their products and services for over ten years.

The three founders of Rubber had started their business by making things that people wanted to watch. They built an environment of ‘enthusiasm for the next thing’. This would become the viral ‘seeding’ means for whatever they did in the future – whatever that might be. The concept was to ask what will entertain and who will watch it and then what brand is a natural fit for that content. And the companies are coming on board to this.

Rory Ahearn deserves the last word:

“Traditional advertising won’t disappear, but finally, smart brands such as Peugeot have realised that a synergy of entertainment and existing cultural trends wins over a sales pitch for certain demographics, and is often a more interesting, valuable and ultimately profitable approach.”

ReelSEO Online Video Marketing Digest

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Setting Up Actionable SEO Dashboards in the New Google Analytics

BlueSquareManagement — Sun, 13 May 2012 21:03:24 +0000

I wanted to share this great article by SEO Book.com about how to set up an actionable SEO dashboard in the new Google Analytics:

There have been many mixed reviews about the latest Google Analytics UI. Putting the frustration of having to learn a new UI aside (here’s a great guide to navigating the new Google Analytics interface), the new Google Analytics actually brings to the table great customization options. One of my favorites being custom dashboards.

Both the old and new interfaces offer a standard dashboard that acts as an overview of your analytics profile. But where the new UI has its advantage is with your ability to create your own dashboard – in fact, you can create up to 20 of them for each profile.

Creating Dashboards

The first thing we’ll want to do is click the “+ New Dashboard” link on the left navigation of your profile’s Home tab. Google will then ask you to name the dashboard and to choose either a “Blank Canvas” or a “Starter Dashboard.” The Starter Dashboard is just like the default dashboard you already have in Google Analytics, so let’s choose “Blank Canvas.” Now it’s time to populate your dashboard with widgets.

There are two ways you can customize your new dashboard:

Use the “Add Widget” feature on your dashboard
Navigate to the view you want in Google Analytics and click the “Add to Dashboard” link.

When you use the “Add Widget” feature, there are four types of widgets you can choose from:

Metric – This will show you a single metric as well as a “sparkline” for that metric (which is basically a tiny line graph)
Pie – Displays a breakdown of various metrics in pie chart form
Timeline – A graph (only) of any metric (or compare two metrics) over any period of time
Table – Your traditional Google Analytics table, but it can be customized to only display what you’ve setup (including filters)

You build each widget the same way you would segment/filter data in Google Analytics normally. The key here is saving the view to your dashboard so you can quickly login and review performance without having to set everything up again.

As you add more widgets to your custom dashboard, you can easily drag, drop and rearrange your widgets into one of the three dashboard columns.

Now that we know how to setup dashboards, let’s take a look at some useful SEO dashboards you should consider creating.

SEO Monitoring Dashboard

The purpose of this dashboard is simple: a quick look into the health of your SEO campaign.

Widget #1: Total Organic Non-Branded Keyword Traffic (Metric/Timeline)

With this metric/timeline widget, we’re simply wanting to look at our total number of organic, non-branded search traffic. Remember, with the metric widget, you can only look at a single metric. If you only want to see the total number of visits, add a metric widget. However, if you’d like to see the total visit count broken out over the selected date range, you’ll want to add it as a timeline widget.

For this widget, we’ll add a Metric/Timeline with the following dimensions:

Widget #2: Total Organic Non-Branded Keyword Conversions (Metric/Timeline)

In this widget we’re looking to get a snapshot of just how many total conversions (or transactions) that have been generated by our non-branded organic keyword referrals.

For this widget, we’ll add a Metric/Timeline with the following dimensions:

Just like before, if you’d prefer to see this over time you can change this widget to be a timeline instead of a metric widget.

Widget #3: Total Organic Non-Branded Keyword Traffic (Table)

This widget filters out your branded search keyword referrals so you can get right to the keywords you’re most interested in. You may also consider adding an additional filter to remove (not provided) if it takes up a significant number of the results.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

You’ll notice that I didn’t choose any goals for the secondary metric. We’ll cover that in the next widget. For now, we want to get a good understanding of what keywords are driving

Widget #4: Total Organic Non-Branded Keyword Conversions/Transactions (Table)

In this widget we’re looking to get a quick look at our top converting/transaction keywords. Once again, I recommend filtering out your branded search terms. Depending on how many important conversion points you want to keep track of, you may need to add more than one widget of this type because you can only view two metrics in each Table widget.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

Widget #5: Top Social Action Content (Table)

You’ll find it easier to navigate to this report in the Standard Reporting section of Google Analytics (Audience > Social > Pages) and adding the widget using the top navigation bar in Google Analytics. The goal of this particular widget is to quickly see which content on your site is getting shared the most in social media. That way you’ll know what content topics have the best chance of going viral.

By default Google will show you information for only Google+, in a future post I’ll walk you through how to get other sites like Twitter and Facebook setup on here, too.

If your blog content lives under a /blog/ subfolder, you may want to consider filtering the report to only look at that content.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

After I added the widget to our SEO Monitoring dashboard, I went back and edited it to also include total visits as well.

Widget #6: Top Content Traffic & Conversions (Table)

In addition to knowing what content is getting shared the most, I like to keep an eye on what blog content is getting the most traffic and conversions.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

Don’t forget to filter in just your blog content if that is the area you want to focus on.

Widget #7: Organic Search Engine Referrals (Pie)

I like to keep an eye on which search engines are sending me traffic and how it changes over time. The best way to get a snapshot of this is to add a pie chart widget.

For this widget, we’ll add a Pie with the following dimensions:

I chose to only look at the top three organic search engine referrals, but you can select up to six for your pie chart.

Widget #8: Page Load Speed (Table)

We also need to keep an eye on any pages that are loading slow. We can actually setup the widget to only look at organic traffic page load speeds, although it would be in your best interest to look at all your content, not just that just with organic visits.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

The above table shows you your top ten slowest loading landing pages, and also includes how many visits that pages receives. You can sort by either, but it’s probably best to tackle the pages with the slowest load time first.

Widget #9: Site Search Keywords (Table)

The final piece to our monitoring puzzle: a list of keywords being searched for the most on our internal site search. This is a great way to generate new keyword ideas and to find new usability ideas (more on that later).

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

I also like to add conversions as a dimension to this widget so I can not only keep an eye on which terms are getting searched for the most, but also which lead to the most conversions.

Website Redesign Dashboard – SEO Focus

So it’s time for the dreaded redesign process. You have a pretty good idea of what’s ahead: long nights, lots of frustration and hopefully, a great looking website not too far down the line. With this dashboard you can quickly gain insight into what changes you should be making in the upcoming redesign to help out your SEO campaign.

You might also consider renaming this dashboard to be a Usability dashboard so you can frequently check-in on how well your site is performing for your visitors.

We’ll be borrowing a few of the widgets in our SEO Monitoring dashboard, but also adding a few. Let’s first look at which widgets we should be re-adding to this new dashboard:

Widget #1: Top Converting Keywords (SEO Monitoring Widget #2)

A website redesign offers a great opportunity for keyword inclusion throughout our site’s architecture (navigation, URLs, etc.) With this widget we can keep an eye on which keywords we should be focusing these optimization efforts on.

Widget #2: Top Social Action Content (SEO Monitoring Widget #5)

Which social networks are engaging the most with your content? What pages are getting the most engagements? Answering these questions will help you create a user experience that is not only tailored to your top social network traffic drivers, but that also encourages social sharing.

You’ll also want to look closely at what makes the content in this report so shareable. Is it because of the way they are laid out? The images they use? These insights can really help you carry that experience throughout your new site.

Widget #3: Top Converting Content (SEO Monitoring Widget #6)

Just like with the top social action content, you want to keep an eye on the content that is working best (and worst). This will allow you to duplicate your successes and (hopefully) eliminate your failures.

Widget #4: Page Load Speed (SEO Monitoring Widget #8)

The redesign is the perfect time to address page load speed problems. Take a look at the slowest rendering pages in this table and determine what the common problems are that are slowing the load speed down.

Widget #5: Site Search Keywords (SEO Monitoring Widget #9)

Site search is great for finding new keywords, it’s also a great way to figure out what problems people are having navigating your site. With this widget you can quickly see the types of content people are expecting to find on your site – but aren’t able to.

On to our new widgets!

Widget #6 & #7: SEO Geographic Summary (Table) & Language (Table)

Is it time to consider translating your site for a new geographic audience? This type of change will definitely need your attention as an SEO. It’s also an opportunity for you to branch out your link building into new languages.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

The organic traffic filter I have in place is definitely optional. I think it helps keep the data set you’re looking at more consistent by restricting it to organic visits only like the other widgets are set to.

For the Language widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

You’ll note that I also filtered out all non-organic traffic here, too.

Widget #8: Top Exit/Bounce Pages (Table)

For this particular widget, we’re once again trying to identify problem pages. Any pages that have a high exit/bounce rate should get a close review to see if the cause for people leaving can easily be identified.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

It’s important that we filter out any blog content that naturally creates high bounce rates. If you also have an event like a Account Login on your site, you may wish to use Google’s Event Tracking to filter out those visits as well.

Widget #9: Mobile Devices (Pie)

Which mobile devices are your visitors using to access your site? Are you getting a substantial number of visits? Do you anticipate it growing during the life of the next site design? More than likely this will be an area of focus for your redesign. It’s important that you know exactly which devices your consumers are using to view your site so you can ensure compatibility.

For this widget, we’ll add a Pie with the following dimensions:

Widget #10: Browser Conversion Rate (Table)

Finally, I like to take a look into what browser our visitors are using most, and what their conversion rate currently is. We all say we test all browsers for compatibility, but there are always pages that were rushed or that just fell through the cracks that might not be presenting themselves the way you had hoped.

For this widget, we’ll add a Pie with the following dimensions:

Holistic Dashboard

It’s no secret that to succeed in today’s online marketing world you need to be doing more than just SEO. Not just from the sense that other marketing efforts can help drive in new leads, but because it helps your SEO campaign succeed.

This dashboard highlights how your PPC and social media efforts are performing, so you can take that information and apply it to your SEO campaigns.

Widget #1: Top Social Action Content (SEO Monitoring Widget #5)

This widget will allow us to keep track of what types of content are performing best from a social perspective.

Widget #2: Top Referral Conversion/Transaction Sources (Table)

Within this report we’ll be able to quickly see which social networks are the most profitable in terms of conversions and/or actual transactions. This is a great way to see which social networks respond well to your offering, and that you should be investing more time in.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

Ideally you’ll want to setup a filter to only look at social networks. If you’re good about tagging your URLs with custom variables, then you can change the filter to look at the medium and enter the medium value you use for social URLs (example: social).

Widget #3: Top Paid Converting/Transaction Keywords (Table)

Ever since the (not provided) update, we’ve all lost out on valuable keyword data. But just as Google hoped we would, we can get this information from our PPC spend. With this widget we’ll look at the keywords that are driving the most conversions/transactions for our PPC marketing, so we can look into targeting them in our SEO marketing, too.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

Widget #4: Top Paid Revenue Generating Ad Groups

Just like with our previous keyword widget, I also like to look at the top performing ad groups. This is a good way to know what top level topics are performing the best for your paid search campaigns, so you can prioritize them in your SEO campaigns.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

Widget #5: Top Paid Landing Pages (Table)

If you’re not using custom landing pages for your paid search campaigns, this is a great way to see which keywords are working best for the various pages on your site. I like to run these types of tests before I commit to any keywords for SEO.

For this widget, we’ll add a Table with the following dimensions:

That’s just three of the 20 dashboards you could setup in Google Analytics. What are you adding to your dashboards to make them more actionable?

Categories:

conversion tracking

SEO Book.com

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YouTube Presents K-Pop stars in Mountain View, California

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:06:10 +0000

Last December, we added Korean pop style K-Pop to our genres on the Music page, making it easier for the growing number of K-Pop fans in and out of Korea to find the latest videos from the top Korean artists and music labels. Now we’re bringing K-Pop to you live on YouTube!

We’ve teamed up with Korean broadcaster MBC to host a concert in the U.S. on Monday, May 21 featuring some of the top K-Pop acts. The concert, YouTube Presents MBC K-Pop Concert, will be held at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, CA and will start at 7pm PT. If you want to attend, you can reserve free tickets from this website. You can also tune into the livestream on the YouTube Presents channel during the concert on May 21.

The line-up includes several star-studded groups such as Girls’ Generation, Wonder Girls, TVXQ, Super Junior, f(x), BEAST, KARA, MBLAQ, and Sistar. This is the first time we’ve featured musical artists from Korea on YouTube Presents.

We hope to see K-Pop fans in the U.S. at Shoreline, and we hope the rest of you will tune in wherever you are. For those who are totally new to the genre, we recommend that you check out a few episodes of Simon and Martina’s YouTube show K-Pop Music Mondays.

Seon-Jeong (Sun) Lee, YouTube marketing manager for Asia-Pacific, recently watched “Girls’ Generation – The Boys.”

YouTube Blog

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Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is Dead!

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:47:05 +0000

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is Dead!

Dealing with the aftermath of Google update Jagger

OK I know I’m not the first to announce this but let’s face it boys and girls SEO (search engine optimisation) as we currently know it is dead. It’s time to ditch those antiquated techniques that all SEOs cling on to and focus your online marketing efforts on ‘online brand optimisation’ – OBO for short!

So what’s the difference between SEO and OBO?

Think about the searcher not the search engine!

From a strategic perspective online brand optimisation (OBO) is all about optimising your site and online marketing efforts for the searcher, the end-user that seeks out your site via whatever means he or she chooses. Whether it is via a search engine, a content portal or even a forum. Your goal is to deliver what you’ve promised and help that searcher fulfil his or her online goal. If you don’t do that then you’ve failed in achieving your key online objective.

Ranking’itis!

SEO for most seasoned optimisers is about getting to the top of Google. The vast majority of SEOs become obsessed with checking their rankings in the SERPS (search engine results pages) on a daily basis and even across every possible Google data centre (DC). Checking rankings soon becomes an addiction for many SEOs and believe you me I know, I have been there. But I did come to my senses and I’ve realised that there is more to life than being no 1 in Google for a plethora of key phrases. I’ve also realised that in today’s search environment you can’t rely on the search engine to always deliver you targeted prospects that convert.

You may have read about the multitude of search marketers that have recently been hit badly by the Google ‘Jagger’ update. For many, their site has completely dropped out of the rankings and as a result they are now in an extremely vulnerable position. They solely relied on Google to drive visitors to their site and with no new prospects coming in; their business is starting to feel the strain of being dumped into the harsh terrain that I like to call the ‘Google Desert!’ As we all know no one ventures out onto page 127 of the search results!

Build a brand (a bit of a no-brainer!)

So what can they do to help rectify this? The best solution for many of them will be to clean up their site, create new compelling content, get rid of any unrelated link partners and focus their strategy on building a respected brand, not on building top positions in search sites. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying that good search engine visibility isn’t an important element of any online marketing campaign. I’m just saying that it shouldn’t be the only one and it should not drive your overall strategy, it should just simply support it.

For your organic search engine market efforts to work they need to be interlinked with other non-search related activity. Search engines like Google are complex beasts and they analyse your site in so many different ways. They not only look at what content you have and who you link with but there is also evidence to suggest they measure other off-site factors such as how many mentions your site gets on other authority sites, how people interact with your site when they land on it and so on.

The simple fact of the matter is that if you want to do well in Google you need to build a strong online brand and that involves promoting your site using a multitude of online and offline channels not just search. Like I said everything is interlinked and if you have a site with a strong brand behind it then it will make its way to the top of Google.

Don’t get banished to the online desert

Building your business model around a search engine is very risky and not a smart thing to do. Why? Because you have no control over the search engine. If you solely rely on the search engine to provide you with leads and customers then you’re doing far worse than putting all your eggs in the one basket – you’ll end up in the online desert with tumbleweed blowing through your site. Remember search engines don’t owe you anything; they don’t care how great your site looks. What they do care about is what your target audience think and we all know that weak brands never make it to the top!

Damon Lightley is a search engine marketing consultant at Site Visibility Ltd. Site Visibility is a UK based search engine marketing company that helps clients increase online customer acquisition and retention using search engine optimisation, pay per click and online marketing campaign measurement techniques.

http://www.sitevisibility.co.uk

Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Damon_Lightley

www.automotiveinternetsales.com 888-3-SYNERGY Automotive Sales Consultant CRUSHES Video Search Engine Optimization
Video Rating: 5 / 5

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Search Engine Optimisation – A Free Internet Marketing Strategy

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:58:08 +0000

Search Engine Optimisation – A Free Internet Marketing Strategy

What does SEO stands for?

The acronym SEO is most commonly known for the words Search Engine Optimisation.

Okay, well what does Search Engine Optimisation mean?

SEO is an Internet Marketing Strategy that helps improve the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines. To put it simply, it helps make you more popular in the world of the big wide web!

What is an Internet Marketing Strategy?

An Internet Marketing Strategy or Online Marketing Strategy is the advertising of products and services using the internet as a medium to expose and communicate products and services to consumers. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms used and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience.

How it works

The answer to how it works is really very simple, even if the methods of SEO aren’t. Search engine optimisation uses a number of tactics to draw the attention of search engines to your site. The idea behind it is to make your site fit as closely as possible with the searches performed within your target market. This is achieved by crafting high-quality content with well-placed keywords that influence your website page ranking on all search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Methods of Search Engine Optimisation

There are many different methods that SEO adopts to amplify its field of marketing.

Here is a list of a few proven techniques that you can use to help increase targeted traffic:

Keep domain names short, short names are easier to remember! Include short Primary Keywords, without hyphens where possible
Keep the host location to where you are actually hosting from eg. If you are hosting from the UK use.co.uk.
Include relevant keywords in the URL names and keep them unique to each page.
Keep navigation structure simple
Page content wording is very critical
Create and submit as many articles as possible
Find relevant websites within the same market sector or niche and form a link partnership
Submit your website to relevant or industry related directory’s
Utilise relevant Social Networks and Forums related to your Market Sector
Utilise Blog sites relevant to your Market Sector

Why go through all the effort?

Well, why not? You have your business or company online and you want it to succeed don’t you? To do this you need to do everything possible to ensure that your web site is listed as near to the top as possible, there is a lot of competition out there!

Optimise your site so search engines can find you and you will:

Increase high-quality traffic to your website
Reach customers at every point in the buying cycle
Find new customers and grow your customer base
Grow your revenue and profits

So get started and OPTIMISE!

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Top 250 internet retailers on social media: infographic

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:57:02 +0000

It should come as no surprise that 97% of the top 250 internet retailers have a Facebook presence.

However, did you realise that 61% of them have a Pinterest account? Or that just 67% are on Google+?

Social analytics firm Campalyst has pulled together this infographic to reveal how the top internet retailers use social media.

It uses data for the top 250 e-tailers from Internet Retailer’s top 500 from 2011.

It includes the average number of fans and followers, as well as breaking down who is performing best on each different network.

Obviously there is more to social media marketing than simply clocking up millions of fans, but it’s certainly a good place to start.

Posts from the Econsultancy blog

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Meet your Google Places Neighbor: Drew Elovitz

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:48:13 +0000

Editor’s Note: Now and then we’ll spotlight one of our amazing Google Places reviewers. Both so you guys can start to get to know one another and so we can pull together and share our favorite local places. This week we introduce you to Drew Elovitz of Manhattan.

To find out more about our community activities in New York, follow us on Twitter or Facebook.

Drew has lived in New York for almost three years. She moved here right after college to go to graduate school at NYU (“Best.Decision.Ever.”). She loves exploring and eating, and has been known to schlep to the Upper West Side for a Levain cookie under the guise of strolling through Central Park. A resident of Greenwich Village, she works in SoHo and likes to hang out in the West Village, the East Village, and on the Lower East Side.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love discovering hidden NYC gems vetted by residents and relatively unknown by tourists. There are so many amazing small restaurants to be found, there is endless potential for adventure! And I’ve barely been out of Manhattan!

Do you have any secret talents?

I have a knack for obscure knowledge and useless information. Bring me to trivia night.

Share an ultimate insider tip for your city:
Half priced apps and drinks are the key to living on a budget. Also, use your student discount wherever you go!

What would your superpower be?
My superpower would be time manipulation. I hate waiting. I’d speed things up or slow things down as needed – power over the “New York Minute” sounds good, right?

Have any embarrassing moments you’d like to share?
One time I threw up in a rose bush on Fifth Avenue? Almost sounds glamorous.

Tell us some juicy gossip:
Most of my juiciest gossip comes from Gossip Girl. Granted, this is a fictional portrayal of “Manhattan’s Elite,” but you know I love it. XOXO.

What’s your ultimate guilty pleasure?
My ultimate guilty pleasure is eating a ginormous brunch and then crawling back into bed for an epic nap. In the words of Marcel the Shell, “treats and snoozin’, snoozin’ and treats.” That’s about perfect. Also, did I mention Gossip Girl?

If you could see any celebrity’s reviews on Places, who would you choose and why?
In terms of fictional New Yorkers, it’s a tie between Carrie Bradshaw and George Costanza. Carrie would know the best of the best, but George would tell it how it is.

Carrie and George could definitely tell us about some great New York places. Speaking of great places, how about sharing some local favorites with us?

Levain Bakery – Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie is heavenly – big enough to share, but why would you want to?

The Meatball Shop – Meatballs and sides are amazing, but be sure to save room for dessert! Made to order ice cream sandwiches are divine.

Bagel Bob’s – Capers & NYU Student discount?

Apotheke – A must – if you can find it. Totally worth the $ 15 drinks.

MoMA – Start at the top and work your way down. Don’t forget to browse through the gift shop!

Posted by Esther Brown, New York City community manager

Google Places Blog

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AnyoneButMeWebSeries is March’s YouTube partner On The Rise

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:53:12 +0000

Congratulations to AnyoneButMeWebSeries! The award-winning web series is our featured “On The Rise” partner for March and takes the stage in the “Spotlight” section of the YouTube homepage today.

Shot on location in NYC and LA and written and produced by Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward, Anyone But Me centers around gay, straight and ethnically diverse teenagers who deal with all-too-common questions about identity and modern relationships. Throughout the series, viewers may identify with the emotional struggles of moving, relationship changes and being true to yourself. The third and final season just wrapped, and you can watch the complete series on their YouTube channel. Check out the video below for more background on the series and its history:

Here are a few words from the show’s executives, Tina and Susan:

We love making drama. And we love making it on the web. It’s as if the gods gave us a piece of this huge creative territory and said “Own it. Plant weird, wonderful new things. Do what you want here.” As creators, we couldn’t ask for more. Anyone But Me is a rare thing in the indie television world. For one thing, we don’t have zombies. (Alas!) We get off on writing about real humans and their relationships. Anyone But Me launched in 2008. After our second season, we had a never been done before Webathon, and the fans funded us for Season 3. So many people had our back. We got press in Fast Company. Salon.com, The LA Times, Tubefilter, AfterEllen. And we collected a lot of cool awards along the way. But it’s thanks to the passion of our fans that we’re here! We’re grateful to YouTube for this honor and the opportunity to connect with people we hope will become new fans. (Oh, and if you subscribe to our channel you not only get 26 episodes of our show & some fun video extras, we also link you to other shows we like. What could be bad about that?)

If you’ve enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our On The Rise Channel. Keep an eye out for next month’s blog post, as your channel may be the next one On The Rise!

Christine Wang and Devon Storbeck, YouTube partner support, recently watched “Elephant Plays with a Galaxy Note!”

YouTube Creator Blog

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