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Archive for the ‘Social Media Marketing’ Category

When it comes to local businesses, SEO trumps social media

Thursday, December 15th, 2011

It’s true –social media is a great way to engage your clients and customers, nurture leads, and expand your company’s mindshare. That said, numbers don’t lie, and when it comes to getting information about local businesses, the data is pretty clear – more people say they rely on search engines than Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social platforms.

That’s at least what researchers over at the Pew Research Center found after surveying 2,251 adults about whether they get news and information about local businesses and what medium they use most frequently to do so. Of the people surveyed, 55 percent said that they get news and information about local restaurants, bars, and clubs; 60 percent said they get news about businesses other than restaurants and bars. Here’s where it gets interesting, though: of those 55 percent, 38 percent say that they rely on search engines for information; only 3 percent report using social networking websites. Similarly, of the 60 percent of people who receive news about businesses other than restaurants and clubs, 36 percent use search engines; only 1 percent gets its information from social networking sites.

In other words, for all the fanfare around Google+, Twitter, and Tumblr, most people still rely on good ol’ Google search. What does that mean if you are a small business owner with a brick-and-mortar store? It goes back to basics. If you haven’t yet, head over to Google Places and claim your listing – Google gives more weight to listings that have been verified. And while you’re at it, don’t get stingy with the amount of content that you provide. Upload photos of the storefront and your staff, include links to your website and social media profiles, respond to user reviews (both positive and negative!), advertise special promotions, etc. If your Places page is a ghost-town, prospective customers will treat your business accordingly. And if you are feeling adventurous, check out this comprehensive list of local search ranking factors, put together (and updated annually!) by SEO guru David Mihm. It can be a bit overwhelming, so if nothing else, pay special attention to the Overall Top Ten section.

Beyond optimizing your Places page, don’t forget about your website. Obviously, you can’t learn everything there is to know about SEO in one day – we wouldn’t be in business for very long if you could – but there are plenty of existing resources to get you started. If you are completely clueless, take a look at the Search Engine Optimization Guide from Google, as well as this Beginner’s Guide to SEO from SEOmoz. And if you get hooked and want to learn more, head over to the Webhead Facebook Page, which we update every day with helpful tips, tricks, and industry highlights.

What medium – search engines, social networking sites, newspapers, TV, etc. do YOU rely on to get news and information about local businesses? Let us know in the comments! 

Posted in SEO Strategies, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Black Friday Confessions from an Online Shopping Addict

Friday, November 25th, 2011

I hate shopping malls.  For some reason crowds of oblivious people, screaming children, pushy salesfolk, and Kenny G’s Greatest Hits coupled with the smell of bad Chinese food and Auntie Annies has never put me in the mood to spend my money.   Over the years of working from home and learning to strategically avoid crowded situations altogether (while growing a perhaps unhealthy affinity for sweatpants and quiet time), my dislike for these sort of shopping situations has only grown.  So it should come as no surprise that I’ve always avoided the Black Friday crowds like the plague.  Peel my well-fed, groggy butt from my bed at midnight to fight with mobs of psychotic deal seekers in hopes of scoring something for 80% off?  No thank you.

 

But I do love a good deal.  And shopping.  And there’s not much I’d rather do after a 4,000 calorie meal than recline on my couch in my elastic waist pants and shop for Christmas gifts.  So you can imagine how thrilled I was this year when some of my favorite online shopping sites advertised their own special online Black Friday deals, for mobile! No need to wait till Cyber Monday to start crossing off my Christmas list.  Better yet, no need even to open my laptop!  Easy, fast, and 60% off, right from my iPhone.  Shopping perfection.

 

So of course, given my occupation in (and mild obsession with) online marketing, I couldn’t take advantage of this brilliant new way to shop without some serious reflection on the whole process.  The retailers that I shopped, right from the convenience of my smartphone, directed me there through compelling Facebook reminders or ads, seamlessly linked to their advertised sales, on a more-than-friendly mobile platform which allowed not only for fast and smooth purchasing, but dynamic views of the products and confidence-boosting return policies.  These are companies that are doing a really phenomenal job with meshing social media behavior with easy, intuitive customer service.

 

So where does that leave the retailers who are slow to integrate social media with their shopping experience?  Of course there are plenty of folks who will line the streets, even (yuck) camp out, to take advantage of the in-store sales…but what about the rest of us who are just as eager to start our holiday shopping, but not so eager to fight with crowds?

 

It is no longer enough for retailers to have a Facebook page, or a mobile site, if the two aren’t integrated to capitalize on the millions of people who are ready to buy if given an easy opportunity and a well-placed incentive.

 

As a retailer, you need to be where your consumers are.  And many of us are updating our Facebook status, on our smartphones, from the comfort of home, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to buy.

Posted in Social Media Marketing | 2 Comments »

SEO’s Best Kept Secret Is Still SEO

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

The timeless battle between advertisers and the Search Engines rages on in 2011 and everyone has an opinion. But who’s right?  In 2010 we learned that Social Media, like Twitter and Facebook, do indeed have an impact on where you land on the SERP’s (Search Engine Results Page).  This, of course, has set a mad scramble into play with every business on the planet attempting to gain precious Social Media Real Estate.  So now in 2011, everyone wants to know what is the best form of advertising to put your money into; SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Google Adwords Pay-Per-Click) or Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)?

 I think, at this point, we have all established the extreme importance of gaining relevance in the Social Media landscape.  To become a hot commodity on Facebook or Twitter will inevitably raise your brand awareness, solidify you as an expert in your field, and ultimately increase your traffic, sales, customer base, etc.  This is a no brainer at this point and if you are one of the few hanging back to see if Social Media is “worth it,” you’re missing out!

 Then, of course, is the perpetual question of PPC or SEO? While PPC is a substantial way to kick-start a new website or product, it is not (or should not) be a long-term solution.  At the risk of sounding like a broken record, SEO is still the best long-term goal for any website.  You can’t beat its impact or cost on your bottom line. However, businesses continue to drag their feet when it comes to SEO. At the end of 2010, SEOmoz said,

 “In 2010, estimates are that between Bing and Google there’s going to be about 20 billion advertising dollars spent on paid search and that receives about, maybe around 15% of all the clicks, so 15% of traffic. SEO, which receives about 85% of all the clicks, the spend is predicted by some people to be around $2 billion, maybe a little under $2 billion this year.”

 This is a profound and incredible statement and although I haven’t yet seen the bottom line numbers for 2011, I would guess that the results will be quite similar this year.  So, where’s the disconnect?

 I believe the disconnect comes with a lack of definitive answers and a constant changing of the Search Engine algorithm. However, the art of SEO has proven time and time again that even without these definitive answers, SEO is the clear leader in web marketing.  Having said that, the biggest take away from here is this; Social Media, PPC and SEO are not enemies, but instead they work together to ensure that the consumer is satisfied and the best results are displayed on the SERP’s.

 

 

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Posted in PPC Strategies, SEO Strategies, Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Google’s Keeping it Fresh…What Does the New Google Update Mean for Your Business?

Friday, November 4th, 2011

 

 

 

Let me start off by saying, I sometimes feel a bit like a broken record answering SEO questions.

 

What is the biggest thing Google looks for when ranking my site?
Relevancy.

Why do I need a dynamic social media presence?
Relevancy.

Why can’t I just cram a bunch of keywords in my meta descriptions tag and do whatever I want on the rest of my site? 
I think you get the picture.

 

So it really shouldn’t come as too big a surprise to anyone that Google just announced that their rankings algorithm will take into account the “freshness”of your content, and serve up the most recent results associated with your search query.

This also comes on the heels of their official acknowledgement that they will indeed begin indexing Facebook comments in the SERPs.  Coincidence? I think not.

What do these two announcements have in common?  They both indicate that Google is looking more than ever at your site’s overall online presence.  Not just your meta tags. Not just your blog.  Your online everything.  And everyone else’s online everything.  And who’s gonna win the #1 spot for a search term?  The site whose “everything” Google finds the most relevant.

RELEVANCY! Oh snap.

So what does that mean for your business?  For one, it means that fresh, meaningful content is more important than ever.  It also means that how your consumers, clients, fans, friends, and followers interact with your content means just as much.  And really, if your content it topical and timely, your visitors will be that much more likely to engage with it now won’t they?

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Posted in SEO Strategies, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »

Top Social Media Widgets: How to Make Your Website “Social Aware”

Tuesday, July 12th, 2011

As of July, Facebook has over 750 million active users worldwide. Twitter, the rapidly growing micro-blogging platform, boasts an impressive 300 million registered accounts. Over 100 million people were using LinkedIn by the time the popular social media network for professionals went public in May of this year. That’s hundreds of millions of potential customers, all within an arm’s reach.

And yet, a recently released study of the top 10,000 largest websites by BrightEdge, an enterprise SEO platform provider, shows that more than half of the analyzed websites did not have even a basic link to Twitter or Facebook on their homepage. That’s just a link, folks; we’re not talking about those fancy social widgets that let site visitors automatically “Like” or “Follow” a website without ever leaving the page. Integration statistics for such widgets are even more staggering: less than 11 percent include the Facebook Like button, 4.5 percent have the Google +1 button, and only 1.3 percent have the instant Twitter Follow button integrated.

Operating one of the 10,000 largest websites online and not including a social media widget on the homepage is equivalent to shooting yourself in the foot. Not including a link to Facebook and/or Twitter is just plain embarrassing. Search engines are slowly but very surely beginning to integrate “social proof” data into their ranking algorithms, which means that in a few year’s time, whether your website appears at the top of search engine results pages (SERP’s) may have as much to do with how many people recommend your brand on Facebook as with whether your meta title tag is properly optimized. These days, Internet is all about the social; time to get with it!

Even if your website does not generate millions of dollars in annual revenue, however, a basic social media widget integration strategy is a must. It takes only a few minutes to generate embeddable plugins for all of the major social media platforms, and, in most circumstances, only a minimal knowledge of HTML is required for the actual implementation. Of course, if you are not feeling up for the challenge, you can always ask your web developer for assistance or (warning: cheap plug imminent) hire Webhead to perform the installation for you.

Each widget is linked to your individual company profile on the relevant social network, so your integration choices are dictated by the networks you’re currently using to connect with your customers. Here are some specific recommendations to get you started:

Facebook – At the very least, include a Like button, which allows site visitors signed into Facebook to “Like” your website without ever leaving the homepage. Another popular option is the Facebook Like Box. In addition to a pre-integrated Like button, the widget also includes a list of your current fans and shows your latest posts. Click here to generate the HTML code necessary for implementing the Like button and here for the Like Box widget.

Twitter – Unless you are asking users to share specific content on your homepage (e.g. latest blog post), go with the Twitter Instant Follow button. The Follow button is virtually identical to the Facebook Like button; site visitors can start following you on Twitter directly from your homepage.

Google – You can think of the Google +1 button as Google’s challenge to the Facebook Like button. Users signed into their Google accounts can +1 websites, ads, movie reviews, recipes, products, and other online content. When the user’s Google contacts perform a search, they may see when the user “+1ed” specific content. Think of it as a personalized recommendation system, very similar to the “# of your friends like this” messages that you see all over Facebook.

LinkedIn – As far as we can tell, there are no automatic LinkedIn “Connect” widgets available. There are, however, several other plugins available. Implementation process is similar to the widgets referenced above.

YouTube – YouTube released a widget a few years ago that allows your site visitors to subscribe to your YouTube channel with a single click. Click here for more information and for installation instructions.

It should go without saying that if you intend to have people Like your Facebook page, Follow you on Twitter, etc. make sure that you are actually using these networks. Nothing is more of a turn off than a Facebook page that hasn’t been updated in months.

Have you installed social media plugins on your homepage yet? Has it helped with your client and customer engagement? Discuss in the comments below.

 

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Posted in Social Media Marketing | No Comments »

Social Media Week Kicks off in Nine Cities World-Wide!

Monday, February 7th, 2011

February 7th, 2011 marks the beginning of yet another Social Media Week that has exploded world-wide. It’s no secret that Social Media was all the rage in 2010 for businesses but now, the question remains, how do you stay on top of the latest trends? In 2010 we saw business of all sorts jumping on the social media band wagon by the thousands but now that they are there, how do they keep their Fans/Followers interested and engaged?  Many online marketing professionals anxiously await the coveted information that will be unveiled during SMW.

As a leading Tampa SEO company, we have persistently encouraged all of our clients to reach out to their online consumers through a Social Media Platform and not to miss out on its tremendous opportunity.  While some businesses may have been initially reluctant, thinking Social Media isn’t a good fit for their business or assuming that it would have no positive financial impact, most businesses have discovered by now the genius in Social Media. 

It is amazing how far Social platforms like Facebook have come since 2004 when the only people on it were college students who simply wanted to connect with their friends.  By 2010, not only was Facebook open to anybody with an email address; businesses were also beginning  to profit from a well -maintained Facebook presence ,and were able to add a Facebook ecommerce store.  The big question for 2011: now that we are all here in one place, what’s next?

Now that you have the “likes”/Followers, how do you hold their attention and more importantly; how do you continue to profit from these platforms?  As we learned towards the end of 2010, Google and Facebook have begun to really make you work to stay “relevant.”  You are now measured, not only by the quantity of “likes”/followers,” but by the quality of those people.  Things like re-tweeting and reposting are vital to your pages as it proves how important and interesting your posts are. 

There have been several forecasts on the potential changes in Social Media in 2011, and many of these predictions will likely be confirmed or denied during Social Media Week .  We’ll certainly be tuning in this week to see what is unveiled, so I invite you to stay tuned for an update next week!

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Posted in Social Media Marketing | 3 Comments »

Don’t Be Afraid; Let Moms Engage You

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

In this day and age, consumer created media is one of the strongest influencers in the buying decision. Consider these statistics:

  • Consumer reviews are significantly more trusted — nearly 12 times more — than descriptions that come from manufacturers, according to a survey of U.S. mom Internet users by online video review site Expo. (eMarketer, February 2010)
  • 44% of Moms use social media for brand/product recommendations; 73% trust online community recommendations. (BabyCenter LLC, July 2009)

That said many firms (and in particular in their legal departments) are simply afraid when contemplating encouraging just this sort of behavior … having consumers join and often lead discussions about the product.
Just as marketers leap for joy to learn a celebrity uses their product, caution is suggested when reposting from a major news outlet. As experienced social media executers get with the flow of their particular niche on Twitter, nervous managers advise everything be run by legal. Even worse, in a crisis, too many companies, unprepared, let the naysayers take hold of the message … as they see it and broadcast it across the web.
We are not advocating a reckless “anything goes” approach, especially for brands with significant equity. We do, of course, live in a litigious society. But by being too cautious one runs the risk of ignoring those moms who can be your biggest advocates and your best defense in a crisis situation.
So truly engaging the alpha moms, the influencers, the early adopters means letting them speak for your company. It’s not so far away from the traditional relationship that we’ve had with trusted media outlets … we shouldn’t be afraid.

Posted in Blogging, Moms, Reviews, Social Media Marketing | 1 Comment »

Does your online marketing plan leverage social media?

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Recently I was approached by a friend asking for a few quick tips on how he could use social media for his brand. Rather than handing over a social media playbook I advised him to focus on the bigger picture of creating an online brand ecosystem. Your online brand presence should incorporate social media as just one touch point for your consumers’ experience with your brand. After all, your consumers’ interaction with your brand should be a journey and not a destination.

When speaking about brand experiences, I can’t seem to knock one major brand example out of my mind; Disney. Take for example a trip to a Disney park; from the moment you enter the park your Disney experience has been well planned for you, with each interaction reinforcing the “Disney Magic” theme. Throughout the day with every activity or brand touch point encountered, the Disney guest experiences the magic and fun behind the Disney brand. It is these small interactions throughout the day that make up the entire brand experience, thus reinforcing the Disney Brand with a strong emotional connection.

So, what does the Disney experience have to do with your online brand strategy? Let your online brand presence take a cue from the Disney park experience. I know this may seem like a lofty goal, however start with an integrated strategy, one that builds your online ecosystem without spreading your brand and budget too thin. Using social media as one of multiple online marketing outlets (Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, etc) shows your brand “guests”, also known as your consumers, you are relative, relatable and worthy of their time. Prove your brand over time in an organic matter, your customers will become loyal fans, your brand will continue to strengthen and involve and of course, your business will reap the benefits you sowed with your integrated online ecosystem.

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Posted in SEO Strategies, Social Media Marketing | 2 Comments »