mRELEVANCE managing partners offer their respective expertise in this ongoing, “He Said. She Said” column. Each post in this series focuses on answering a question about online marketing from two different perspectives.. Carol Flammer answers from the reader’s perspective, where it’s all about content. Mitch Levinson answers from the perspective of a search engine.
Q: Can you explain more about inbound links?
A: Mitch – Inbound links are links on other people’s websites that link back to you. They drive the search engines back to your site when they index the other sites. The more credible the site is that links to you, the more relevant you are in the search engine index. Try to build credibility and get links back to your site from outside credible sources. After all it is all about building RELEVANCE.
A: Carol – To build relevance, don’t only blog on your site, blog wherever you can. Comment and link where possible also. This helps to build brand and build recognition. Not to mention that it is a great way to syndicate your messages. When you repurpose and curate content to different sites, you will want to post a different version of the content to each site. Because duplicate content is bad for search engine optimization, it is important to keep this in mind.You’ll want to change 40 percent of the content by giving it a different lead or a different angle. Sometimes you can just put the words in a different order. Some writers are comfortable with creating varied versions of stories and others find it challenging. If you are taking time to create content, use it as many times as you can. Post it online via online public relations and blogs then link back to your sites with anchor text.
A: Mitch adds – No one knows the exact algorithm that search engines use, but it seems that they give more credibility to the site where the content is published the very first time. If you write a story or post, publish it on your blog first. Then rewrite 40-60 present of it, tease the article and link back to page where the article first appears so that it gets more power from search engine.
What’s your Pinterest? Whether it is cooking, traveling, exercising, designing or pretty much anything else, Pinterest has a “pin” for you. One of the newest social media sites, Pinterest is all about imagery. Users create boards to categorize their favorite images. Think of it as an online bulletin board for all of your ideas, inspirations and, of course, interests.
According to a recent ragan.com article, imagery allows people to consume information in a much quicker way. For instance, if a user sees something they like, such as a product, they pin it and might refer back to it when making purchasing decisions.
For this reason, the site is a great source for branding—if you do it the right way. This means not posting just pictures of your products. Devote one or two boards for product posting and use the other boards to form relationships with pinners.
For example, for a company in the home and building industry, develop a board for pictures of your homes. Be sure to use interior and exterior shots and link them to your website. Then, create other boards that home
buyers would be interested in. Think interior design, home products, crafts and even recipes. These pictures will attract other pinners. As they repin and comment on these images and you repin their images, you can build relationships.
Your brand will be seen as an expert on all things home related, instead of just a builder spamming the site with tons of pictures of homes. Not a lot of pinners search for “pretty pictures of homes”. But if they are searching under the category “Home Décor”, they will come across all of your pins, including the homes you are selling.
The mission of Pinterest is “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting…With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.”
If you need help building a presence on Pinterest or creating a social media strategy for your company, contact mRELEVANCE.
mRELEVANCE managing partners offer their respective expertise in this ongoing, “He Said. She Said” column. Each post in this series focuses on answering a question about online marketing from two different perspectives.. Carol Flammer answers from the reader’s perspective, where it’s all about content. Mitch Levinson answers from the perspective of a search engine.
Q: Why is Syndication important? And how does it help you expand your reach?
A: Carol – Tick Tock. Tick Tock. You are already writing the content, why not use it in other ways? This will help you save precious time and make sure that your messages reach your audience where they are. When your blog is set up to post through to your Facebook and Twitter you save time. Create an editorial calendar and make a plan for what you want to talk about each month. Use your Blog as the content machine (I sometimes call it a time machine), then come back in between the blog posts and have the conversations that naturally occur on Twitter and Facebook.
So many people worry about having enough time to do everything they want to do online. If you think of your blog as time machine and build a program centered around it, you’ll create a cohesive program and save time. Syndicate content out as far as you can, and allow readers to share content. Include social sharing tools because many hands make work easier. Remember that your blog is the only part of your social marketing program that is completely searchable, indexable and sortable. And, of course, best of all it is yours.
A: Mitch – There are lots of tools that help connect your blog with social media sites to help save time. To integrate your blog with Facebook consider using Networked Blogs, Graffit or notes. Once properly set up, any of these tools will update your Facebook status each time you post on the blog. To syndicate your blog content to Twitter, try Feedburner. Your blogs RSS (really simple syndication) feed helps to create a seamless auto tweet on twitter. The best thing about syndicating your content to Facebook, Twitter and other sites this way is that all of these links connect back to your site. Your social media sites become interconnected like spokes in a wheel to integrate with your overall marketing strategy.
Make sure that you include an optimized website in your marketing strategy. Your website and blog should be the center of the spokes in wheel. Drive all of your traffic back to these places. Make sure to incorporate public relations and local search sites. In order to drive credible traffic back, you want to be where people look for credibility.
A: Carol adds – Remember that the whole program is not automated. So much of social media is about building relationships and having conversations. You can feed your blog through, but you still need to be on the sites checking in, commenting and conversing.
For more information on blogging or online content, please contact mRELEVANCE at 770-383-3360.
With visions of sugar plums dancing in our heads and the promise of an extended holiday vacation right around the corner, many of us end up extremely distracted this time of year. Not to mention all of the holiday parties, shopping, baking, decorating, visits with Santa and other events that come along with the season. It’s a wonder we can accomplish anything productive, let alone remember to post to all of our social media sites. Besides, if we’re this distracted then everyone else is too. I mean, no one is actually spending time on social media like Facebook, Twitter or reading blogs, right? Well, that’s not entirely true.
You may see a decline in readership, new fans and followers or Google searches at this time of year, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to slack off during the holiday season. Below are some of the reasons why you should continue to post content and monitor your social media sites, no matter what holiday is upon us.
Gaps in posts send a not so good message to your readers: You still have readers during the holidays, and if you’re not posting to your sites then it shows them that you just don’t care. Plus, large gaps in content say to your readers that you’re not reliable. That’s not the message you want to send to your potential clients and customers.
You’re losing valuable ground: You may be taking the holidays off, but I guarantee you that Google and some of your competitors are not. So, all of that work you did optimizing your blog goes to waste as you fall farther and farther down the search engine results page.
The holidays don’t stop the negative comments from coming: You may be filled with the warm and fuzzies, but that doesn’t mean that everyone else feels the same way. An unhappy customer may use one of your social media sites to voice a concern or issue during your holiday break. That’s not something that you just want hanging around unresolved.
Need more help? We’re here for you (even during the holidays)! Contact mRELEVANCE today for help in developing a social media strategy that will get you connected to your target audience.
The key to communicating is listening. If you don’t listen to those speaking to you or what is happening around you, what you have to say might be irrelevant. The same goes with social media. According to a PR Daily article, “To be a master at social media communication, you must have a strong foundation of listening.”
How do you build this foundation in the online world?
1. Set up Google alerts. This tool sends e-mail updates of relevant content found on Google based on your queries, or key terms. Want to know what people are saying about your company or clients? Generate a query for each individual company, client or relevant search term.
2. Set up Google Webmaster tools on your blog and website. Look at the inbound links report to see the number of inbound links and which sites are linking to your site.
3. Bookmark successful case studies. Read a case study or social media success story in your industry? Use social bookmarking sites, such as Digg, Delicious, or Stumble Upon, to keep track of them. That way, you can refer back to them online and you don’t even have to waste paper or ink.
4. Search on Twitter. Searching on Twitter allows you to view what others are thinking about certain issues, products and maybe even your company. Create search queries and monitor these daily. You can also create lists of people to monitor without actually following them. This makes keeping up with your competitors super easy!
5. Look at your Web analytics—at least once a month. This will help you see where your website traffic is coming from, as well as how it trends month-to-month and year-over- year.
After building a foundation, you can “listen” to what others are saying online and be able to communicate with them easier. Once connections are built, you may make new business partners or even clients. Just remember to listen!
If you need with any of the above tools or any other social media needs, contact the team at mRELEVANCE.
Today, we’re going to look at a core part of our lives: the phone and how Google can make it better with Google Voice. Google Voice creates an additional phone number that you can add to any phone, or use to replace existing numbers. This means that if you move, change carriers, lose your phone, or anything else, then your Google phone number stays the same. In addition, your Google Voice number can answer multiple phone numbers, so you won’t have to run across the house to receive a call when your cell is in your pocket.
Google Voice gets a lot better than that. Google Voice can be programmed to ring only during certain times. It can also be programmed not to accept calls from certain people (so you’re not getting calls from scary Larry from work at 10:30 p.m.). Your voicemails get transcribed and sent to you via email so that you can easily read them if you’re in a place where you can’t answer. Additionally, this provides a way to keep track of important information (like where you’re supposed to meet your next client or blind date). You can set up personalized voicemail greetings for groups or individuals. US calls and txt are free, international calls can be made for pennies per minute. Other features include call screening, text via email, conference calling and more.
Sometimes it is nice to have Google Voice set up as a separate number. Use the number as part of your branding and it becomes a hot phone for leads. Companies can also use it as their “on call” number to be shared among those with on call responsibility so the appropriate person can always be reached through one number.
You can always check out the Google home page (what, there’s something other than just google.com?) to see what they’re working on and find other cool Google gadgets. Be sure to check the mRELEVANCE blog often for more ways to increase your Search Engine Optimization, Internet Marketing, and Google-Fu. And if you need more than that, contact our team and we can help you get the most out of Google, Facebook, and everything else the web has to offer.
I’m online ALL day. In fact, like most people these days, I get a lot of my information (news, tips, recipes, etc.) from online sources. I also read and write for numerous blogs. So, it’s easy to say that my life revolves around the internet.
When people find out that a great deal of my job consists of writing and editing blog posts, I’m often asked how to write an effective, interesting blog. Although there is no one way to do this, there are things that you can do to make your blog more effective, visually appealing and interesting to your target audience. Below are some of my top tips on how to keep your audience interested in what you have to say.
Be Conversational: You should write your blog posts like you tell your friends a good story. Keep it interesting by keeping it casual. Don’t be afraid to add your own personal flair. If I wanted to read just the facts, then I would pick up a newspaper.
Know Your Audience: Who’s reading what you’re writing, and what do they want to see? This comes down to what you or your company is about. If you have an edgier audience, then it’s OK to push the envelope. However, if your audience and/or subject matter is more conservative, then make sure your tone reflects that sensibility.
Add Visuals: Pictures are a great way to break up blocks of text, make your blog more appealing and bring your story to life.
Limit Your Words: You may have something that is REALLY interesting, but brevity is key when writing for a blog. Online readers want their information and they want it fast. We all lead busy lives and many people don’t have the time to invest in more than a few paragraphs. In general, you should keep your posts around 250 to 300 words and NO MORE than 400.
For more information about blogging, or for help in building a blog for your business, contact mRELEVANCE.
B = better
L = listings
O = on
G = Google
Marketing today is different. Yet, there is no need to reinvent it all. Think about how to integrate what you are already doing into today’s marketing mix. You should incorporate social media marketing into an overall marketing plan just as you do Internet marketing, SEO (search engine optimization), events, advertising, specials and public relations.
Your online interactive strategy is built on stories, messages, and events, with ample space to encourage conversations and spontaneity. However, a sound social media strategy ends, rather than begins, with social networking sites. First, you must create an optimized website and blog. Whether you want to build brand or manage your reputation, you must create a plan, measure results, and focus on milestones. Milestones could include launching a blog, optimizing the blog to become a top five referral source to your website, or getting 200 new fans on Facebook.
Integrating social media into your overall marketing mix will streamline your program and make it more effective. Think of your blog or your blog/website as the engine of your program. Your editorial calendar will center on your blog and the blog will pull the entire program together.
My friend Paul Chaney says that BLOG stands for Better Listings on Google. Your blog or your blog/website links all of your sites together and provides your program with the necessary search engine optimization to improve your listings on Google, and all the other search engines for that matter. You blog or blog/website are the center of your program, much like the center of a wheel or a car’s engine. No matter what sites come and go, if you have built your program around the one piece that you own (your blog), you will have a strong program for years to come and great search engine optimization.
Contact mRELEVANCE to build your optimized blog and complete social media marketing program.
Often people ask me, “Who should be the author of the company blog?” And like so many things in life, there is really not just one right answer. It could be someone in sales or marketing, or even the company president or CEO. Maybe it is even all of the above. Your corporate blog can be a team effort.
One of the fun things about having a group of bloggers is that your blog will have multiple authors and multiple voices. This allows your readers to identify with one or more of the writers. Each author should post under their own name so that they are easily identifiable. You will discover that each blogger develops their own own group of followers over time due to different writing styles as well as their humor and personality.
An additional benefit of having multiple bloggers is that it removes the burden of all having all the writing fall on one person. However, one individual should manage the blog. The blog manager could be an employee or you could outsource this task to an interactive marketing firm like mRELEVANCE.
The blog manager will:
- Oversee the blog schedule
- Review the editorial content
- Ensure that writers post content regularly
- Moderate the blog
Moderating the blog entails checking posts for proper SEO (keywords, anchor text, and links), monitoring and responding to comments, and forwarding comments that require a response from someone else to the appropriate individual.
If you are interested in learning more about blogging, contact Carol Flammer at mRELEVANCE for more information. We’d love to help you set up an effective company blog and social media program.
Remember the old jingle to “let your fingers do the walking” its a snap? Our fingers are still doing the walking, but it certainly isn’t in a printed phone book. A recent survey from Yelp! shows that only 24% of business owners consider the yellow page phone books relevant today. Business owners believe that only a very few customers find them by looking in a yellow page phone book. Instead business owners say that their customers’ fingers are doing the walking on keyboards, tablets and smartphones as consumers turn toward online and mobile directories to find businesses.
Online Search
With 85% of shoppers using Google, Yahoo!, Bing, or another search engine to start their online searches, a sound search engine optimization or social media optimization plan starts with identifying the search terms buyers use to find you or companies like yours online. Next, you integrate these search terms as keywords into your blog posts, online public relations, and other online content you post as part of your social media marketing program. When these keywords are used as anchor text, search engines will identify your site as relevant for these words and phrases.
You must think like a search engine. This is especially important when blogging and posting to social media sites. One place to look to see how Internet shoppers are finding your website is in your analytics account. Yikes! If you don’t have an analytics account, then set one up immediately for both your website and blog. Google Analytics is free, but there are many other programs (both free and paid) available. You may be using Yahoo, Webtrends, Allstats, and or Urchin.
Make sure that your business is reaching today’s consumers where they start their searches for products and services – online.
If you need help with your interactive marketing including search engine optimization, contact mRELEVANCE, we can help!
