Thursday, 19 September 2013

It's more than just tactics! It's insights


Social Media
Social Media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are simple enough to use. I mean most kids now have a Facebook page by the time they’re 6. It’s not rocket science. But using them effectively as a marketing tool is a whole new ball game. There are small, boutique agencies out that specialize in Social Media Marketing and tactics. But many off them are struggling. Why when Social Media is such a fast growing marketing tool are these boutique agencies struggling. Well, Jamie Turner, founder of The 60 Second Marketerhas some insights.

In a blog post titled “How to Think Strategically About Social and Mobile Marketing”, Turner talks about how agencies are focusing only showing their clients some tactics to use when developing social content. This is good, but there is only one problem. After one or two campaigns, the clients are going to realize how it’s done and how best to utilize it and save money by using an in house team instead of hiring an outside agency.

So how do you prevent this? You need to become more than just the tactics person. You need to become a metrics person, says Turner. While people can easily go and figure out some good tactics and implement them, many are clueless when it comes to analyzing the metrics and discovering how a particular campaign is succeeding or failing. Knowing how to do this, and do it well makes you valuable to clients.

But, Turner goes on to say that this still is not enough. To truly make yourself invaluable to clients you need to be able to come up with the tactics, collect and analysis the metrics and then provide insights. You need to be able to look at you client’s data and their competitor’s data and spot the trends. If you can foresee any potential challenges and develop strategies to implement to avoid the challenges, you will look like Social Media Gods in your client’s eyes.

Tuesday, 17 September 2013

Does Google +1 help your page ranking in Google search?


Google Quality Score
Every companies or brands goal is to be number one on Google. But how does one do this, and do it right. How do you get to the top of the Google search ladder without getting blacklisted? How do you make sure that you show up in the right search categories?  Well, your page ranking depends on a number of factors that Google’s computers analyze. Keyword density, anchor text, metadata… the list goes on. But in a recent study done by Stone Temple Consulting, one thing is for sure. Google +1 have no effect on your page ranking in Google.
 
Many companies and brands assumed that Google+ shares would prove their brand influence, therefore improving its page ranking in Google. So when Google's Distinguished Engineer Matt Cutts politely said that, no, Google +1 in fact did not help your page ranking, it sparked serious discussions in the industry. And when Stone Temple Consulting released the findings of its study, many were shocked that Cutts was indeed telling the truth.

In terms of discovery and indexing, Google +1 do help. But when it comes to your page ranking, Stone Temple Consulting found that they had no effect that they could see from the 6 articles they tested in the study. "We saw no evidence of Google+ shares driving ranking," Eric Enge said, President of Stone Temple Consulting.

Well, there it is. While Google +1 will help Google search find and index your website, it will not help increase your page ranking.

To get more information on the study, see New StudyFinds Google+ Shares Don't Cause Higher Search Rankings or join the Google Hangout hosted by Eric Enge entitled "Documented Google Plus Impact on Search Rankings" this Thursday (September 19th) at 4 p.m. ET when he will discuss the study's findings. Joining him to discuss the study will be an all-star panel that includes Mark Traphagen of Virante, Pete Meyers from Moz, Joshua Berg of Google Plus SEO and SMO, and Marcus Tober of Searchmetrics.

Monday, 16 September 2013

Who uses Google? (Infographic)

Thats a weird question. Doesn't everyone use Google? Well, yes, but who is the average user? What do they look like? What are they searching for? Well, according to data collected by Google in 2006, the average Google search user is male, has graduated college, makes on average 77, 000 dollars a year ... well you probably don't want to sit there and read about it. So here is a fun info graphic  depicting the average Google search user.

Average Google Search User Infographic
Who uses this search engine? Does my products/services target market use this search engine? This is the kind of information that companies would want to know when they are looking to optimize their websites for search engines and making it the number one search result.