All posts in General SEO

Creating Social-Friendly Landing Pages

Posted by on September 15, 2014

Any discussion about SEO Philippines will never be complete without the mention of social media marketing. We can only implement a holistic SEO campaign with social media platform as an indispensable tool to obtain the goals of such campaign. The thing is we are able to pique the interest of our readers and entice them towards visiting the site, driving traffic to our branded sites. Unfortunately, all they do is browse.

So, how do we convert our browsing friends into buying customers?

We have yet to reconcile the disconnect between website design and development and social media communication. Most probably, the reason you are not winning over your browsing-but-not-buying friends is the page they land on when they visit the site.

And oh, please don’t forget that most of our readers are on mobile now. The way you craft a post on any social platform should also be the same way you are crafting your landing pages especially when a particular post leads to that landing page.

People expect. We all do. So, expect that the people expect almost the same thing that caught their attention in the first place when on the landing page.

The social media mindset

The social media audience has a very, very short attention span. Before other things distract them, make the call to action more obvious. The more obvious it is, the more likely a user will take action.

The simplicity must be evident particularly when moving from the social media post to the branded website. The number one rule is making the website as simple as possible, which means fewer options and processes, so the user will make a decision.

Distract him, and he will surely leave the site. Even endless browsing itself can distract the visitor thereby competing with the main purpose of the call to action.

If the goal of your website is having the visitors watch a video, download a free software or sign up to an email list, then tell exactly what they should do. Simple. That, my friends, is the job of a landing page.

The social landing page

Each social platform is unique – it has its own language and culture that only the users can understand. Well, for one, these platforms are highly subjective yet relatable. Perhaps, this is the reason Facebook has more than 1.3 billion active users per month. Facebook is very easy to use.

Ideally, create a social-friendly landing page that focus on a simple decision. Here’s a quick guideline.

1) Keep the voice of the landing page consistent with that of the social media channel.

2) Keep the visuals consistent with the social media aesthetics.

3) Ask for only one conversion that the website needs.

4) Put the social media widget on the confirmation page.

Along with these, you can vary the theme so you can create landing pages specifically for a community that you target. Consider the following.

  • The interfaces of the desktop versions of both Twitter and Facebook look and feel similar. You can use the same landing pages for your target Twitter and Facebook communities to boost conversion rates.
  • The landing page for Pinterest, Instagram and YouTube must be minimized and more visual. The same goes with putting visually enticing call to action buttons that resonate better for the communities on these platforms.

The mobile audience consideration

For most of us, social media consume our breaks, scrolling down our newsfeeds to update ourselves about what is happening around us. We update our statuses while at the queue at the grocery store or the train station. We stop for a moment to take a selfie on the coolest and most interesting places that we’ve been.

How should your social landing page fit the always-on-the-go lifestyle? How can it fit the needs and wants of the mobile engagers?

Primarily, take a cue from what you are ACTUALLY offering your market. Here’s an example. If you are offering a mobile app, there is no need to tap into the desktop-loving users. Your primary target should be the mobile-first users. Put simply, the best moments to convert a social connection is catching him or her at the right moment when he or she is on the right device.

Nonetheless, mobile-friendly landing pages is no longer about whether the landing page is viewable on the screen or not and if yes, how does it look. Consider these.

  • Mobile users can only provide the basic information such as name and email address.
  • Mobile users prefer signing up to a website through a social sign up button.
  • Radio buttons and check boxes work better for mobile forms than dropdown lists.
  • Buttons must be big enough so it can be easily tapped.
  • The landing page should only about 20KB so it will load quickly.
  • The content of the landing page must be brief enough.

Further, mobile-friendly landing pages are not enough. What is more important is the landing page contains all the readable information that the user needs. Put simply, the landing page should provide value to the users.

Not just the products and services that you offer themselves, but the landing page itself. It should save your visitors valuable time. For instance, if the landing page has every required details and loads quickly, then there is no need for the user to look for alternatives and substitutes.

Most of the brands tend to overlook this very important aspect. If the landing page fails to add value, conversion will never happen. That is, aside from the actual value of your product and service offerings, you might as well add value to the users through the landing page. We can call this the technical value of landing page optimization.

The social media present themselves as an opportunity for the brand owners to tap into the real and felt needs of their users that MUST be reflected in the landing page somehow for a conversion to happen. The bottom line is that the landing page must be able to provide real and felt value to the users before they convert. If there is one thing that we can learn from social media that is ‘snatched’ times are so valuable they are better spent on the right landing pages.

Comments: 0 Tags: , , ,

Link Tactics Changed Over Time, But Links Still Matter Survey Says

Posted by on September 8, 2014

Attention: providers of link building services in the Philippines. Good news, link building is not dead. Well, at least not the link building we know two to three years ago. Based on the survey conducted by Skyrocket, link building continues to be a relevant optimization strategy. Below are the details. After the discussion of the results, key takeaways will be discussed.

 

Before that though, here is Matt Cutts view on quality links and quality link building.

 

Who are the survey participants?

The total number of participants is 315. There are just five groups of participants. These are:

  • Consultants/Practitioners (Agencies) – 37%
  • SEO Managers/Heads – 30%
  • Business Owners (Digital marketing, SEO firms) – 13%
  • Business Owners(Non-marketing firms) – 12%
  • Consultants/Practitioners (Freelancers) – 8%

 

How much is the monthly spending on link building?

  • $0 – $1,000 – 20%
  • $1,000 – $5,000 – 20%
  • $5,000 – $10,000 – 23%
  • $10,000 – $50,000 – 37%
  • Over $50,000 – 0%

There is an obvious slight decrease in spending because, in the 2013 survey, about 10% of the respondents said that they have spent more than $50,000 for their monthly link building strategies.

On the other hand, there are more companies spending between $10,000 and $50,000 monthly compared to last year. Last year’s percentage is only 11% compared to this year’s which is 37%, which is the highest bracket.

 

What percentage of the total SEO budget is distributed for link building?

  • 27% said 0 – 25%
  • 27% said 26 – 50%
  • 40% said 51 – 75%
  • 7% said 76 – 100%

The question was followed by this question: Have you increased or decreased the total link building spending over the past year? Exactly 81% said they have increased spending while 19% they have decreased spending. Perhaps, this explains the increased in the total percentage of those who spend from $10,000 to $50,000.

The participants were also asked the reason behind the increase or decrease. The responses are categorized as follows:

  • Moving link building budget to content marketing projects
  • Good links are significant as ever
  • Moving away from the old link building strategies
  • Increasing production or creativity

They were also asked whether they will increase or decrease the spending, and 73% said they would increase while 27% said they would not increase the budget. Again, the participants were asked why they will do so. The replies are categorized as follows:

  • Link building continue getting more expensive
  • Raising the bar on the firm’s existing efforts to beat competitors with more sophisticated content strategies
  • Unsure where to invest exactly as firms are unsure if linking is working or not

 

Which link building tactics do you utilize most?

The five best answers are:

  • Content plus outreach – 69 votes
  • Infographic promotion – 47 votes
  • Guest posts – 38 votes
  • Resource pages – 32 votes
  • Contests/giveaways – 28 votes
  • Business directories/Local citations – 28 votes also
  • Broken link building – 28 votes also

Which tactics do you perceive to be the most effective?

The answers are:

  • Content plus outreach – 91 votes
  • Infographic promotion – 54 votes
  • Broken link building – 47 votes
  • Business directories/Local citations – 32 votes
  • Resource pages – 25 votes

Interestingly, press release submission, guest post and blog network are tied with 6 votes each.

Which link building tactics do you perceive to be the least effective?

The five best answers are:

  • Article directories – 50 votes
  • Social bookmarks – 38 votes
  • Forum profile links – 35 votes
  • Web directories – 28 votes
  • Comments – 28 votes also
  • Link wheels – 22 votes
  • Rented links – 22 votes also
  • Press release submission – 22 votes also

When asked which tactics do they consider the most harmful to the site, the participants voted for:

  • Paid links – 44 votes
  • Article directories – 44 votes also
  • Web directories – 38 votes
  • Forum profile links – 38 votes also
  • Link wheels – 38 votes also
  • Rented links – 35 votes
  • Blog network – 35 votes also

 

Before we proceed, you might want to watch Matt Cutts view of contents and backlinks.

 

What are the biggest challenges to link building that you currently face?

The answers are grouped into:

  • Getting links to unworthy pages
  • Lacking of scalability
  • Avoiding Google penalties

In 2013, these were the same challenges that the firms face. The concern as to which links are actually helping or harming the performance of organic search remains. The same goes with contemplating which processes are relevant and which are not in the sense of achieving optimal results.

 

With all these stats, there are key takeaways. Some are over-the-year concerns that remind the SEO people that link building is no joke.

  1. There are no shortcuts to link building especially today that we have Google as our ever-present watchdog.
  2. Links still matter, but only the highest quality links are relevant.
  3. Link tactics are not universal, so don’t expect that the links working for other firms will also work for your business.
  4. Employ diverse link building tactics and focus on what works best for your firm.
  5. Link building is not a panacea; it should be considered along with other digital marketing activities.
  6. Building online presence requires a sizable amount of investment perhaps the maximum that the firm can afford.

Understanding why spammy, robot-centric link building strategies thrived before is easy. Google has no algorithmic sophistication to end these black hat practices. Then came Google Penguin that killed almost 99% of low-quality link farms most especially. Quantities of links are no longer a worthy investment more so for companies that desire to build an online presence for long-term.

Today, links must be earned and in a hard way. Link building strategies nowadays put human connections at the center. This requires the builders to form a value-added mindset, speaking convincingly of their brands value before their target audience. This means discerning between links that are worth pursuing and are not worth pursuing.

This also goes to show the importance of the role of link builders. Before, it is rather difficult to take pride in what you do as a link builder – building, irrelevant and low-quality links. As such, link builders, and link building itself, are not taken seriously and defending the industry is difficult.

 

Link building continues to be a critical component of SEO. High-quality link building strategies is what will separate you from unscrupulous brands. The survey highlights that it is a fact that link building can be a risk. However, it will only be a risk if it will not be considered today specifically when online visibility is your number goal. The same goes with if you are not going to diversify your link building tactics.

 

Source: MOZ | Search Engine Watch | Internet Search Engine Marketing

Comments: 0 Tags: , ,

Offline Link Building – It’s Not Just Technical!

Posted by on August 28, 2014

Link building today is not as easy pre-Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird. It is not true that link building services are purely digital. In fact, link building is a creative undertaking that can be done online and offline. Here’s how.

1 Host an event

Small local events are a great way to build relationships given the right circumstances. Importantly, invite the right people to be on the event specifically those who can offer link opportunities such as local media, local influencers, famous bloggers in your niche and target audience.

Certainly, the local news team will cover the event and come up with a news story about the event. Just make sure that the media members will put a link to the story. Such links are valuable since Google mostly trust news sites.

Bloggers and influencers often have digital profiles where they can share the whereabouts of your about and perhaps a link or two. Links can be in a synopsis or review. Link opportunities are also high with these people.

The very reason you are hosting the event is your target audience. Hopefully, some of them have their respective blogs or sites where they can post a feature article or review about the event. Link opportunities are not that high but are still valuable for the purpose.

When organizing the event, consider these:

  • Build a PR team (if you don’t have one) and think of ideas on how to connect with your ‘real’ world audience
  • Research on who should go to your event before creating the invite list
  • Solicit insights on who should be invited to the event by asking your employees and colleague
  • Use a hashtag that all attendees can relate to and can be easily tracked once mentioned on various platforms
  • Increase participation through conducting interactive games and activities
  • Integrate the event promotion across various social platforms
  • Provide attendees with collateral that they directly lift and publish or quote on their sites or blogs

While at it, you may give away branded merchandises. When we say ‘branded merchandise,’ it means your company logo and info are printed or embossed on the merchandise.

Events such as conferences are the perfect venue to give merchandises away since most of the attendees are within the same industry or niche as yours. These are the people who can talk about your company freely and encourage (or influence) others to visit your site.

Nevertheless, you need to give away something that the people need; something that they’d be excited to receive and brag. Give something that prompts conversations. Just don’t give the merchandise and ask for a link. That’s a no-no!

2 Sponsor an event

Not all companies are ready to commit to organize an event though there is the eagerness to get involved. The next best thing is to sponsor a local event. Link opportunities on sponsorship are plenty.

Not to mention, sponsorship builds brand exposure and awareness and promotes goodwill. Though this might depend on your choice of event to sponsor, remember, we love to associate ourselves with positive people, object, occasion, etc. More likely, those who will attend the event will mention your brand as a sponsor digitally or otherwise.

3 Attend an event

Link opportunities depend on whether you are an event attendee or speaker. Undeniably, opportunities are greater in the latter whether it is an online or offline event.

Industry experts are frequently invited during big events. Good thing if you are an industry expert since attendees will surely write and link back to you. If not, you can leverage the opportunity by writing an in-depth blog post about the event for the sake of those who are unable to attend the event and hopefully, the speakers and other attendees will link back to your site.

Again, if you are an industry authority, you may give interviews and provide quotes. The interviewer will link to you, and so are the attendees who will link to the interview. The process increases your link’s value even more.

If you are an attendee, you can do networking while at the event. You may even find potential partners, prospect vendors or niche association to join. All of these networks can lead to high-quality links. In fact, interacting with other companies’ representative can positively lead to a valuable link.

4 Be an advocate

Sometimes, events are more formal ways to link build. Start within your firm. Let your employees be your brand advocates. Encourage them to encourage others to visit the website when the relevant opportunity arises.

Have them wear a t-shirt with the company’s logo and URL in it. People will look at it and remember. Even when the practice does not lead to new links, it will bring more traffic to the site. So, it’s a win-win situation for your brand.

During events, just be nice and polite to other people. The nicest people at events usually gain  more friends and yes, links. Conversations start with ‘who are you’ and midway, ‘what do you do’ or ‘where do you work.’ Exchange of business cards is often part of the conversation.

Offline as the new online link building

Many a reasons offline link building continue to be a good practice especially for startup companies.

– Establishing long-lasting personal and business relationships

– Receiving more natural links

– Receiving high-quality links

– Receiving more targeted traffic that can lead to conversions

– Building positive brand awareness

– Creating brand equity

– Obtaining more brand advocates

Evidently, there is nothing ground breaking about the strategies to build links offline. Nonetheless, the processes outlined above are sustainable. Your SEO company may take part on the event by researching for the right event for your niche and target audience.

Link builders need to squeeze their brains to let their creative juices flow. Pun intended. Kidding aside, the opportunities to link build are endless. Not just in the digital world, but also in the ‘real’ world. Above are some of the channels that you can exploit. Bear in mind it takes more than a keyboard and mouse. Good luck!

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , ,

Tips to Boost Your Content Marketing Strategy

Posted by on August 26, 2014

Wondering if you can produce more content to increase your site’s performance but have been missing a lot because of too much information? You may even have been jammed by a lot of things online and can’t decide how to simply put the marketing strategy. Well, just like any other SEO company that is aiming for the same goal as you, here are some tips on how to boost your content marketing strategy and make those write ups shareable online.

Know your audience

Take time to research the demographics of the different social media marketing platforms you will be using to share. Continue to be updated on what your audience interests are, what they are doing and what their needs and wants are. By this, it would be easier for you to create the information you want to give because you now have the idea of what your audience’s continuing needs and interests are.

 

Keep content relevant

Check also what your customers are sharing on social media. By this, you can base your content on what you have extracted from those social media sharing. You can also keep track on what contents to write and to share. Making your content unique is also one factor to make your content strategy even more effective and worthy to be read and shared because it contains your audience’s interests.

Constant self-reference is a no-no

Direct your message to your readers to stimulate engagement. Make it more personalized by using the word “you.” In this way, your posts will directly address the interest of your community.  As much as possible, make it to a point that what you have as contents will illustrate the benefits your business has to offer and not just something that tells them what you are and what you do.  As social scientist Dan Zarella says, “Stop talking about yourself.” Instead, “start talking as yourself.”

 

Share what works

Content sharing becomes plausibly effective if you know which works or not. And by this, it would mean creating collaterals that are effective and efficient. Consider also your own time schedule and talents. There are different formats wherein you can communicate your message. Some examples are writing short-form articles, infographics, photographs, short product demos or instructional videos, etc. Choose which format is more comfortable for you which will not only reveal what your business is like, but also on how creative you can get in relaying a message to your readers.

Curate

In content sharing, curating can be a necessary way in order to create relevant and shareable articles. It may sound like a lot of work because curating would need a human being to find and read and qualify digital content that is relevant to your readers. There are advantages on why curating is also a good move for a business. It is because in sharing content from others, your audience will look to you as a reliable source for information on a specific topic. Moreover, it would benefit you on broadening the conversation with others within your industry from being a third-party content sharer.

Write headlines

And not just any headline, but unequivocally humane headlines. There is nothing more notable and read-worthy than a very humane content title. By this, it would mean making topics that are interesting for humans to read like lifestyle, food, home, news, business or technology and relationships, the least. These are primarily categorized as highly shared topics because they tend to be very ‘human’ by nature.

Topics that discuss ‘what we eat’ or ‘how we live’ make up a huge portion of what we share online. And that is a challenge for content marketers to begin directing headlines in that direction.

Measure emotional value 

Emotions are what best triggers a human’s interest. Contents that contain such emotion-driven words or images prompt your readers and may allow them to share these to their friends which can be of good use or to let them share the same emotion inflicted upon them. More so, measuring the emotional value of your contents would help you know which and what kind of contents you should focus on and write about.

Content can be properly viewed

Contents, in this case, should be properly viewed in such a way that it can be accessed across different platforms and devices. Most web traffic is now coming from mobile devices, but sometimes—if not all—content does not look good or convert well for mobile visitors. Hence, it should be noted that your website content should be optimized for smartphone and tablet devices, so that readers can effectively consume the content.

Responsive design is one solution to this kind of problem. With regard to website ranking in search results, it is important to take this into consideration because Google is now including this standard for mobile user experiences. So if your site is not providing users with a great cross-platform experience, you may be putting your site at risk of losing Google ranking as well as prospective customers.

Make navigation easy

Users should be able to easily navigate around your website and quickly find what they are looking for. Navigation is one key feature a website could probably make or break its statistics. It enables the readers scan through your website, read from left to right, top to bottom and see what they can benefit from your website content presentation. With just a few clicks, probably made the experience worthwhile for the readers, which means, sales.

Tell a story 

Telling a story may be as easy as 1, 2, 3 but doing so would mean making it interesting. You can present your product by making a brief story of how customers would solve an on going problem with your product by doing it in a creative way.

Provide product reviews

Customers would love to read legit product reviews especially when they are looking out for more details on how they could benefit from your products or services. Provide a platform that makes it easy for visitors to access product reviews and comparisons.

You should be trustworthy 

Your site visitors would want to know that you are a trusted business. By this, it would also mean a lot for your readers if they see customer testimonials on your site that would speak highly about your product and services.

Quality over quantity

This is pretty much explainable. Although sometimes, contents are just being disposed with no further research and are written without pure depth and for content’s sake, which is pretty much a flawed approach. More pages or copy does not equate more traffic, engagement or sales. What’s important is your content delivers value (whether informative or pure entertainment) to your consumers, and therefore your brand.

 

Brand your content 

Your contents should say a lot about you, even if it only means having an infographic or an image or a video that is being shared. Make it to a point that your content associates and at the same time, complements your business’ brand. And with that, it would not only mean having being remembered, but also, allowing your readers, consumers and your audience that it is you they are reading, sharing and talking about.

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , ,

A Look Into Google’s Domain Registration Service

Posted by on August 22, 2014

google domains registrationGoogle started to test its own domain registration service back in June 2014. Across devices, the websites remain to be the go-to places when searching for information. Unfortunately, 55% of small businesses don’t have a website yet. That’s according to Google. If we are going to track the path towards doing SEO Philippines, we will always go back to where everything starts – a website. Websites start with domain names.

With Google Domains, digital marketers especially the small business owners can search, find and purchase a domain name for their business. The service also allows the transfer of the best domain regardless of the domain extension. Google disclaims that the service still lacks the necessary features.

How Google Domains work

Pick a name

Google encourages users to pick a domain name that truly reflects the business. Meaningful addresses can make any business standout on the web. The domain name will include a branded email (you@your_company.com) and management tools. Google allows website owners to choose unique and fancy domains including .photography or .guru.

Build a site

Google partners with website building services like Wix and Squarespace so domain name owners can easily create their own website. Additional cost applies for other features like customizable templates, reliable hosting and mobile site management, among others. Coding won’t be necessary.

Talk to Google

Google will give you an invitation code which means you can now buy a new or transfer your current domain name. Google only wants business owners who can take an active role in improving the service. Google welcomes inputs, suggestions, feedbacks and questions.

What are the features

Google also outlined a few features of the Google Domains service. These are:

  • Branded emails
  • Uncomplicated domain forwarding
  • Private registration at no additional cost
  • Customizable sub-domains
  • Domain management tools
  • Integration with top website builders
  • New domain endings
  • Support
  • Access to Google Internet infrastructure

Google saw an opportunity and seized it

google domain registrationPerhaps, we should take note here that Google allows businesses to purchase a domain from one of its partners. Through this, the business may use the services of Google. Google, nonetheless, mentions that the process will have no impact whatsoever on your ranking on the results pages.

While on beta testing, Google still partners with eNom and GoDaddy which means that the newly-created account will be outside Google unlike when it is created and registered with Google’s newest service. There is no need to visit the account though as long as the website owner is using Google services. Confusing, really!

When you purchase from a partner, the website owner is provided with easy mail setup, custom service addresses, auto-renewal, full DNS control, full domain management and domain locking minus the extra cost. Not bad for a search engine giant!

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) introduced about 1,400 new generic top-level domains. Before that, there are only 22 top-level domains, the most popular of which are .com, .org and .net. Aside from .guru and .photography, other new names include .reviews, .clubs and .rentals.

ICANN actually listed Google as one of its accredited registrar specifically for the most popular top-level domains like .com, .org, .net, .pro, .name and .info. Well, not all of us knows that Google is already an accredited registrar even before the beta testing begun. In fact, it started registering top-level domains in 2005.

In the last two years, nevertheless, Google continuously rolled out its program in getting businesses online; small businesses in particular. Google also launched ‘Google My Business’ which is an online portal for local businesses.

The impact of the move

We can only assume how the new service will impact its partners. The service, when it finally launched as a full-featured service, will represent competition to its roster of partners. At present, GoDaddy is considered as the largest domain registrar worldwide with more than 57 million domain names. GoDaddy has an email service starting from $4.99 per month and domain privacy protection service from $7.99 per month.

Google is not very adamant about prices although it hinted that registration price for a year could be $12. Certainly, this is a direct hit to GoDadddy’s discounted registration for top-level domain .com that retails at $8 per year. Not to mention, GoDaddy charges $20.98 for registration and privacy. A direct hit because we are talking about Google here. The Google that we all know.

As of the moment, Google is not offering website building tools, apps or services. However, what will happen if the beta test proved to be successful? Will it venture into becoming a website builder and compete with its current partners Wix, Weebly, Squarespace and Shopify?

Anyhow, Google introduces more benefits including the transfer of the domain name. The most profound benefit, nonetheless, is the possibility of creating 100 customized sub-domains and 100 email addresses on the domain. There are no extra charges for private registration. This is perhaps Google Domains main selling point since other registrars charge as high as the cost of domain registration itself.

Further, since Google know how important speed is as a ranking factor, Google will use its own servers. Visitors of any of these sites will get snappy responses when they land on your site. The new venture is very ideal from both website owners and users point of view.

From its quiet launch up to these days, Google remains to be secretive as to what and how the beta testing is progressing. The same goes with the vagueness regarding the total number of top-level domains that its domain service is currently supporting. One thing is for sure though, and that is .edu will not be included in Google’s top level domains.

The difficulty of the scenario

What we all can do right now is wait until Google is ready to give more details. We can observe a domain registration war between Google and GoDaddy and the partnership turning sour in the coming months or maybe not. The service seemed to be a full-pledge domain registration service no matter how Google claims that its aim is for private registration alone. Are you buying?

For now, we can contemplate on Google’s promise that it ‘working to provide you with as many options as possible so you can find the most relevant and meaningful names as you get started online.’ Let’s give it to Google and trust that it knows what it is doing.

Source: Google Plus | Google Domains | PC World | Marketing Land | Search Engine Watch

Comments: 0 Tags: , , ,

How Barnacle SEO Works for Smal Businesses

Posted by on August 15, 2014

Let me start by saying whether you are doing SEO in Manila or Cebu, the web is a jungle! The Internet aims to level the playing field in terms of promoting the brand and building a customer list. At times, you’d think that it is not made for small businesses no matter how much it tried to treat all natures, scopes and sizes of businesses equally.

Small business owners usually find difficulties navigating their way to the top, at least online, as they compete with attention. These businesses typically work with a very limited budget. Gaining real traction in both organic and paid results can be daunting. Unlike those giants which seemed to dominate the search engine results pages (SERPs).

If you are a small business owner, what will you do? Don’t lose hope. Ever heard of barnacle SEO? Well, the idea behind such is easy to understand. Let’s take a look at what barnacle SEO is and what it can do to your business.

What is barnacle SEO

Barnacle SEO is not in its infancy. Will Scott coined the term in 2008 to replace a somewhat derogatory term ‘parasite SEO.’ Fundamentally, the concept relies with digital landscape reality wherein larger websites can rank high and obtain traffic while smaller sites often lag behind, getting lost on the sea of results.

Barnacle SEO, while most websites define it as a process, for yours truly, it is an opportunity to attach the smaller website to a larger website. We refer to Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Angie’s List, Yellow Pages, Google+, Trip Advisor, etc. as larger websites. Smaller websites can use these sites as a necessary vehicle so they get noticed and included in the top spots of SERPs.

If someone will search for ‘SEO packages in Cebu,’ an independent site may not necessarily appear in the first page. However, a listing in Yellow Pages may make it on the first page. The independent site attaches itself to a large site thus improving the odds of being found.

Why become a barnacle

Barnacle SEO is mostly applicable to small businesses operating locally. It involves profile or business page optimization on well-trusted and high-ranking sites. This means small business owners like you just need a website – your own website – to make the strategy work for you. There is thereby the strategic fit with your limited digital marketing budget.

Barnacle SEO must be a staple of your local campaign. According to Search Engine Land, Google Hummingbird seemed to favor Yelp and other business directories. In another study, Yelp is a prominent result among mobile search queries wherein 37.3% of clicks go to the profile page in Yelp while 51.8% go to Yelp profile and category.

Sites like Yelp builds brand equity. The sites are well-known and oftentimes, only real businesses are listed on them. They also provide better answers. Consider this, users are looking for information about your business and these might be buried deep into the site (i.e. the Contact Us page). Unlike content listings that straightforwardly include operating hours, menus, amenities, etc.

Perhaps, this is also the reason Google ranks these sites high on SERPs as they provide better answers to queries. Business listings and directories are the big ships online, so you should barnacle on them.

How to become a barnacle

Before you can become a successful barnacle, you must know which sites you should be attaching yourself to. As you may know by now, not all sites are created equal and so are the larger sites. Some sites rank higher in specific industries.

Find the most applicable sites to attach yourself to. Start by doing a keyword search. Choose those sites with the most consistent results. Attach your site to these sites. Prioritize those sites that appear higher on SERPs when you search for a particular keyword.

Next, create a business profile on your chosen sites. Claim the profile as if it is the only business on your category or niche. Treat the profiles as an extension of your business. Rule of thumb: make sure that the information on all your profiles is accurate and consistent specifically the contact details. This is critical since a slight difference in the business address, for instance, can confuse Google and other search engines.

Take the time to upload images especially your company logo and others that show off the business like maps, galleries or menus. Some sites allow customization of the profile page. Make your profile appear like your own website. Think about visual branding. These are the major conversion points for your prospects.

Optimizing your profile to maximize the results is necessary. First, you need to submit your information in Google Places. A brief yet compelling description of the business must be apparent including a list of your product and service offerings. Include the basic info and the links to your website. Make sure that the links are working. Test them.

When creating business description copies, the SEO world is divided whether to optimize the description including keywords or not. Basically, small business opts for barnacle SEO because it cannot pay for high-competitive keywords. You may put your primary keywords on the description without being too blatant about it. Simply, integrate the keywords as organic as possible.

Majority of the sites welcome customer feedback. Encourage your customers to provide reviews and testimonials on the site. The review profile leverages your online presence and visibility especially on the results pages.

Barnacle SEO is processual which means results are not immediate. It will take a few weeks or even months before you can observe changes. However, the results are always worth the time, effort and (minimal) money that you have invested in it. Getting noticed may be hard at first. Barnacle SEO presents itself as a high-ROI strategy for small business. Leveling a playing field indeed!

To become a barnacle or not? This is the most pressing issue here. Anyhow, creating with the help of web companies in the Philippines is easier. Your concern should be providing real answers to your prospects when ranking high on search engines is difficult at the moment.

Caveat: There are SEO consultancy firms that can help you decide whether barnacle SEO is appropriate for your business or not. These firms can also provide you with options of strategies so your rank higher on SERPs on the price specifically created for small businesses.

Sources: Search Engine Journal | Search Engine Land | Moz

Comments: 0 Tags: , , ,

Getting to Know Google’s Quality Score

Posted by on August 11, 2014

Last June, Google released a whitepaper entitled ‘Settling the (Quality) Score: Using Quality Score to Guide Optimizations.’ The whitepaper is a part of Google’s AdWords Best Practices Series. This article will dig deeper into the claims Google made including an in-depth analysis behind those claims and how it relates to optimization. This is an attempt to understand the loopholes on what Google is really trying to say to the advertisers and users. If you are into link building services, better check the whitepaper.

Google maintains “a good ad experience is good for the users, advertisers and Google itself.” This is the main reason Google measures ad quality in general and not just Quality Score. Quality Score is not a performance indicator or metric, but a variable or guide that affects not only the ads CPC (cost per click), but also the ranking for a particular keyword used in the advertisement. On a scale of 1 to 10, a keyword will be designated with a score wherein 1 indicates the lowest score and 10 indicates the highest score.

Before it gets too complicated, Google said that QS is a diagnostic tool that indicates the overall health of the keywords and ads. It will give advertisers a general overview of the ad quality. In Google AdWords, ad quality can be best described by the statement: the best performing ads are usually the ones that people find the most relevant. The higher the ad quality, the more visible it will be on display ads.

To continue, Quality Score has three main components namely:

  • expected CTR (click through rate) – the likelihood of clicking to the ad,
  • ad relevance – the match between the ad and user’s intent, and
  • landing page experience – the relevance, transparency and navigability of the page.

Real-time evaluations of the ‘big three’ should result to actions to improve the overall ad quality. Take note: ad quality must be improved and not necessarily the Quality Score. The score is merely about 1 to 10 (or the score) while ad quality tells much about the position of your ad.

As Google puts it, the advertisers must:

1) Improve at matching ads to user queries, match the ad text language, speak more directly to the user’s intent and add negative keywords if the ad relevance is BELOW AVERAGE

2) Make ads more compelling, highlight unique benefits of the product or service, experience with calls to action and be more specific in the ad text if the expected CTR is BELOW AVERAGE

3) Drive traffic to more relevant and useful landing pages, use the ads in setting up landing pages, maintain spontaneity from the ad to the landing page and rethink mobile if the landing page experience is BELOW AVERAGE

What Google wants to say is that marketers should focus on the relevance of the ad texts to the search terms that the users used and the relevance of the ad copy to the landing page. Except on the first one that principally based the data on historical clicks and impressions, these factors are controllable by the advertisers themselves hence the recommended actions noted above.

Google highlights its mantra that users are happy when the search results it yields are relevant. The same goes with the advertisers who get to see more engagement for relevant ad results. Ad quality and ad rank are critical since they mainly impact position as well as prices and extensions.

Google goes on to say that the efforts must be devoted to high value areas that the advertiser can affect change, say from below average to average and above average scores. Advertisers should be more selective with the quality optimization initiatives especially those that allow for maximum impact.

Sparks more conversations and debates than ever…

Google emphasized in the whitepaper the criticality of the expected CTR which is mainly based on the performance of the related keywords. Can you really set a measurable expectation for click-through? This only means that you had to be on Google AdWords NOW so you can have ‘historical data.’ This also means if you are new to AdWords, you can expect that to receive a BELOW AVERAGE expected CTR. [Anyhow, we are all on AdWords, right? Or, maybe not.]

Ostensibly, it seems that the premise behind Quality Score is too basic. For instance, Google asks advertisers to look through the high value keywords so they may identify those keywords that lag behind. Remember that Google will “not measure new keywords from scratch.” Bringing up the performance keywords is a must so you can give your new keywords a chance to rank better while displaying ads.

Google also noted that the devices the users use in searching matters. This means that Google requires advertisers to be more responsive.  Does this mean that responsive ads will rank better than those non-responsive ones? So okay, let’s give it to Google since majority of the users are now using mobile devices in accessing the Internet. [Oh let’s not forget that Google is currently beta testing mobile app indexing where it shows contents of mobile apps especially those that are found in Google Store.] Another fact is mobile ads, in general, have lower expected CTRs on average compared to their desktop counterparts.

Google highlighted that the position of the ad on the page doesn’t matter and yet it mentioned that ad quality affects ad rank (mentioned not in the whitepaper, but in Check and understand Quality Score). It mentions that the higher the ad quality, the higher the ad position. Simply, the ad will appear higher on a given page which is essentially ad rank. Ad Rank determines where the ad will appear within the page or whether it will appear at all.

It gets more confusing when Google states that there are other factors that affect ad quality such as geographic signals and non-exact query matches. However, they aren’t reflected in the Quality Score. Just the three mentioned above. Together, they affect the ad rank.

Google was right when it said that the main focus of the advertisers should be the long-term performance goals. This can only be improved by improving the user experience. Indeed.

However, Quality Score is just one factor and, contrary to what Google claims QS cannot directly measure positive user experiences. Unless Google can clarify the relation between and among Quality Score, ad quality and ad rank in more details, it would be very difficult for the advertisers to align their goals with that of Google’s.

In the meantime, Google said “it is continually improving the way that we calculate the quality of your ads”. The bottom-line is Google rewards quality. So along with creating quality contents, the goal should be creating high quality user experiences.

Now, the question is: did the whitepaper give enough information for the advertiser like you to exploit or it only showed what Google will do to protect its AdWords algorithm and all its other products, tools and services? Your call.

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , ,

The Most Beneficial Paid Search Developments in 2014

Posted by on August 5, 2014

So far, 2014 has been a great year for Google, with all the updates it made at digital marketers’ disposal. Google updates are evident on paid and organic search. Some changes even require online marketers to undergo further SEO training in the Philippines or elsewhere for that matter. Let’s take a look at the major changes in paid search to date.

Google Shopping

Google Shopping is a service provided by the search giant allowing users to search for products and compare the prices of such from different vendors.

Google launches enhanced campaigns as Google Shopping became a paid service. In its wide-ranging efforts to compete aggressively with eBay and Amazon, Google made Product Listing Ads (PLAs) available globally. The search giant would be able to acquire more merchants to participate on the platform and thereby acquire more consumers.

Shopping Campaigns, as what Google calls it, is the new campaign format made specifically for PLAs. The format is much easier to setup and manage compared to the original version. The original format will be abolished come end of August.

Shopping Campaigns signal the opportunities that Google is seeing on the new format other than Google Shopping in general. PLAs drove up to 29% of the clicks among online shoppers in Q1 2014. This figure can be expected to rise for those online merchants using Google Shopping.

A side note: Facebook also entered the paid search this year through the launch of Multi-Product Ads.

Knowledge Graph

google knowledge graphKnowledge Graph is a system that understands the connection and facts among people, places and objects. Knowledge Graph helps in improving search relevancy.

This year, Google tested various ad types and in different formats one of which is the Knowledge Graph panel. Knowledge Graph presents opportunities to reach target markets beyond borders. However, even before the digital marketers can determine how to appear in Knowledge Graph, Google had introduced yet another big change for them to contemplate with.

Google tested ads from car dealership to movies to books. It even showed ads from Google Play on the panel and carousel interface. We can only assume that Google is attempting to strike a balance between paid and organic search although there remains the intention to inject ads on the results pages.

There is the possibility of scaring the users away. The truth is, the Knowledge Graph is already taking traffic away from the organic results. Oppositely, since the Knowledge Graph points to Wikipedia and other reputable sources, the users may perceive the credibility of the advertiser that he or she is not familiar with.

Step Inside AdWords

AdWords is Google’s advertising service. Google displays advertising copies in list format on the results pages upon entering a particular search query.

Google provided app marketers with more features and tools on AdWords such as new ad formats, enterprise tools, report features and offline conversion. Some provisions are bulk actions for all campaigns, automated bidding, multi-dimensional reporting and ad testing lab. The change highlights the growth of mobile advertising specifically app marketing. The changes enhanced capabilities for all online marketers especially the app marketers.

A side note: Google faces tough competition with Facebook with FBX and Twitter with Mopub, the app advertising units of each. The same goes with other networks and search engines that launch their own app advertising units.

Rangespan Acquisition

Rangespan develops backend supply chain management (SCM) software for ecommerce players. Amazon veterans founded Rangespan. Google acquired Rangespan just this May.

While the acquisition has no immediate changes for online marketers, it has strong implications for Google Shopping’s future. The software gives merchants the opportunities of identifying and sourcing best-selling items while also offering cross-sell suggestions on the basis of real-time dynamics. Aside from that, the software generates price competitiveness reports.

Selling optimization will be great for the commercial dealers. They can decide which items to discard and which need replenishment.

Not Provided

Not Provided means that the digital marketers would not be able to view referrer data. This also means that Google will not show the keyword string or the keywords a user searched for. They will be shown on reports though.

Google brought not provided, recognizing the discrepancy between search queries and organic clicks while on the referrer string. Google claimed that there will be no more passing queries on paid clicks. However, search queries will be available in AdWords. Matched Search Queries continue to populate Google Analytics.

AdWords Editor

AdWords Editor is a downloadable application provided by Google. It is used in managing ad campaigns more efficiently. Marketers can simply download the campaign, make the necessary changes and upload these changes to AdWords.

Google AdWords Editor is lagging behind the web user interface. Google introduced a new editor version in April, which included viewable impressing bidding, automated bidding process and engagement ads, among others.

The best part is providing more ad image sizes wherein mobile advertisers can manipulate to make their ads viewable on mobile devices.

Consumer Ratings Annotations

Consumer ratings annotations refer to a Google service that allow showcasing of industry-specific ratings. The ratings are viewable so users can inspect the ratings in detail.

Google began populating results pages with ads with ratings feedback. The change was launched as the result of a consumer survey conducted for brands through its consumer surveys platform. Google thinks that ecommerce operators will generate more business if critical information are presented to the shoppers.

The change marks another ongoing effort on Google’s part to incorporate reviews, feedbacks and ratings into the advertisements without having them manipulated by the marketers themselves. For the users, this means viewing products with legit testimonials and reviews.

Remarketing Lists

google remarketing listsGoogle added a new feature to build remarketing lists. Through this, online merchants can build retarget goals based on demographics and behaviors. The sellers are allowed to import the existing segments.  Remarketing lists built on Analytics can now be used for remarketing display ads. At present, these are powered by Google Merchant Center.

Further, Google introduced Smart Lists in Analytics. The feature automates processes on how to build retargeting lists. Aside from facilitating automation, Google is also planning to integrate data captured on the analytics. With this, it will be easier for the digital advertisers to identify and (re)target those users who are likely to convert.

Google made other changes including adding Keyword Planner, bolstering location extensions, applying conversion settings on transactions and goals and separating brand and non-brand traffic. All of these happened in the first half, which means we might be seeing more changes in the coming months.

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

How to Generate More Company Mentions on Social Media

Posted by on July 30, 2014

company mentions on social mediaThe link building services that we know today are very different from those offered 5 years ago or so. Nowadays, link building is all about indicating how useful the site is and making the website more trustworthy. One of the ultimate measures of a site’s success is the growing number of company mentions, which make it a worthy to consider as part of the services portfolio.

 

What is ‘mention’ exactly‘

Mention’ is often referred to as company, brand or social mention. Simply, a mention is the remark made about the brand and its products and services. Mentions mostly occur on social media hence the allusion ‘social mention.’ For instance, even before it started, the World Cup had already generated over 19 million mentions on various social media platforms.

Technically, Google refers to ‘mentions’ as implied links. In its Panda Patent, Google highlights that ranking in the future will be about links and mentions. These can be express or implied link or both. Express links are hyperlinks or links that are included in the source resources users can follow when navigating to the target resources. Implied links, on the other hand, are references to target resources such as citations wherein users cannot follow when navigating to the target resources. Hashtags are good examples of mentions.

Thereby, mentions are essential in maintaining positive online reputation. Online reputation is the main difference between traffic that will look into your brand and its products and services and traffic that don’t care. No one wants to be overlooked on the webosphere!

 

Generating more mentions on Facebook, Twitter, forums, etc.

Now that billions of people are actively participating on social media, the next best thing is to get them to talk about your brand and offers. It isn’t enough that you control and monitor your Facebook page, but you also have to streamline mentions beyond your Facebook walls. Here are some ways to do so. The recommendations below are the results of a study analyzing 1 billion public company mentions online.

1) Communicate on Tuesdays to Thursdays

communication social mediaWhile Thursdays reported to witness the most company mentions at 15.78%, you should also communicate with your public on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 15.68% and 15.52%, respectively. Saturdays and Sundays have the fewest number of mentions.

What do these figures tell us? You can interact with your target market during the weekdays. However, don’t forget to give them something to ponder on weekends. Develop contents that are scheduled to be published on weekends, so that your market will have something to mention during the week.

2) Communicate promptly

Although only 8% of your Twitter followers have over 500 followers, you need to enforce 1:1 connection. This only means to communicate with those who directly mention your brand and products and services. Answer a tweet in an hour or less.

Answer the tweets directed to you as well as those tweets about your brand. This guides people’s mindset about the level of service quality you can provide them. Speed and relevance are concrete differentiators between you and the rest of the brands in your industry.

3) Communicate on the right platforms

social media company mentionsPlatforms have their own strengths and weaknesses. Nonetheless, Twitter dominates with 66% of all company mentions analyzed. Bottom-line, reach your target audience and create a brand voice that everyone can recall and relate to be it in Twitter, Facebook or other platforms. For example, if analytics reveal that your target market engages with your brand more on LinkedIn, then treat LinkedIn as your main platform.

Add depth, realness and openness to each platform so that people may discover your brand more. Post constantly and analyze the results. Then, you can identify opportunities that you can capitalize on further.

4) Communicate in different languages

communication in different languagesAbout 64% of the mentions are in English, and the rest is in different languages. If you are a global business, you cannot underestimate the power of non-English company mentions. If you are a local business, you might as well use English and the language that most of your target audience is using.

Build the impression that you want to achieve by answering the questions of your audience in the same language that they use. They will think that your company is always ready and willing to help – an invaluable impression that is important in nurturing the company culture.

 

Tools to help you in monitoring mentions

There are two commonly used mention tracking and monitoring tools online: Mention and HootSuite. Users are notified whenever a site, page or user mentions your brand name, allowing the company to respond to inquiries and questions directly and promptly. Other tools to consider are:

TweetBeep

tweetbeepTweetBeep notifies users whenever someone mentions the company in as short as 15 minutes. It also tracks domain mentions. TweetBeep still notifies the users even when the user used shortened URL in the tweet, so you’d stay in top of most conversations. Users can also see whenever someone shares the blog post or any link from the site. This is a free service.

 

 

BrandWatch

brandwatchBrandWatch monitors and analyzes brand mentions as well as the mentions of your relevant keywords. The tool archives data and conversations on social media so users can track and analyze their online presence. BrandWatch is a paid service.

 

Google Alert

google alertGoogle Alert monitors both reputation and competition. It also allows users to conduct quality backlink opportunity identification in addition to competitor research. The service allows users to track up to 1,000 alerts. Google Alert notifies the user through an email. This is also a free service. Create your first alert here.

 

 

Social Mention

Social Mention searches keywords across various platforms. It also shows which online users are tsocial mentionalking about your brand and their general sentiments. The tool also breaks down average mentions in an hour and reach. However, it mostly mine old mentions, so the mentions are not as relevant and accurate compared to other tools that offer real-time mention monitoring. Social Mention notifies users through an email or RSS feed. This is yet another free service.

 

The last thing that a company wants is to be overlooked on the web. Tracking, monitoring and analyzing mentions are important in building and maintaining a progressive online reputation. Assessing competitors, analyzing campaigns and tracking trends is now possible with communicating more effectively and using tools that can help you achieve the purpose.

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Why Social Media is “The Bomb”

Posted by on July 18, 2014

Social media has become part of every digital marketer’s language and it is inevitable not to include it as a tool for advertising. And it so explosive that it creates a chain like debris falling from the sky. Sure enough, social media can be accessed anywhere through smartphones and mobile apps. Individuals and even digital marketing agencies use this strategy in order to create desirable rankings for companies they are working with or to extend their networks.

social-media-bomb-853x460

Reinforcing your knowledge on why social media can bring you to greater heights by recognizing these things can help you maximize your digital marketing options to produce a desirable and meaningful outcome.

Everyone is using it

Well, mostly. And when we say ‘social media’ the thing that comes into mind by most of us is Facebook. Yes, surely it is. And it has been creeping up unto most users. Teens are knowingly hooked into it but did you know that most adults are into social media as well? And with this, it has been considered among businesses to invest more on social media marketing because of the different types of people involved, not mentioning the number of users they can reach.

Helps you deliver customer service

Real time communication is essential for a business to thrive. Through this, customers will be addressed immediately if they have any concerns regarding your product. Having this kind of communication can not only gain you happy clients, but satisfied ones as well. If you go all the way from not just serving them through your product but through your service such as communication, then you will be able to gain trust from your customers.

And this is how social media works, it can help you connect and know the needs and wants of your clients, even if they are miles away. Who knows, you might get more customers if one or two of them gets satisfied and will have you broadcasted all over the Internet due to your fast and excellent service.

Social-media-for-business

For branding purposes

The social media can be one tool for your company to establish that brand image you want people to see from you. It can help you build your brand identity thus creating awareness among your customers about you. This would help your business become something people can relate into depending on their taste and personality.

By creating an emotional connection and some character with your customers, in turn, these steps will become effective and can help your brand stand out from your competitors.

Manage your reputation

Nowadays, people get so cautious about posting things, statuses and images on their profile pages because of the fact that people may be offended or may cause negativity among the online-sphere. Companies do this too in order to protect their reputation.

Managing your reputation online is such an integral part in any marketing strategy. And with the help of social media, it can provide you with a fast and effective way to maintain this. In dealing with sensitive comments and complaints, you can make instant feedbacks to your customers, which demonstrates a high level of customer service, which can diffuse negativity and resolve issues that the customer may have.

Keeps user engagement

Not only individuals who want to connect with their families and friends can use social media to get themselves engaged into each other’s lives, but also businesses. User engagement can be done over the Internet especially for businesses who want to connect with their clients. In order for this method to click, you can create some interesting posts on your social media accounts like images that may stimulate humor or could allow your users to share what they think about something you have posted.

You can always tell a story

Through social media, you can share anything you want. But that always depends on the audience you have and the type of person or business you are. Of course, it is also necessary to share a story to people; you might be interested to share to them how you started as a company or what your new products are.

Storytelling is one of the easiest ways to have an audience and social media can be a way for you to unleash those powerful and intriguing words to convey a notable message. Just keep in mind that it is better to keep it in a simple yet detailed way as not to bore your readers.

Obtain real customer insights

Insights and feedbacks are important results that can be obtained through social media. And these are significant in every business to know what marketing strategy they could do next. Social media makes an avenue for such feedbacks—well basically it really is an effective tool to be used for giving out reactions to anything—as well acquiring knowledge from these customer insights.

These insights can drive the development of your business’ social media campaigns and shape strategic decisions, which helps you make your website contents and product or service offerings more attractive and relevant to your customers.

It also makes it quick and easy for businesses to obtain feedback from customers through social media and will give you a clearer idea of brand sentiment and help you identify common points you can address to. 

trust

Increase brand or business trust

By being proactive and visible on your social media sites, this is one criteria a customer often finds for a business or brand to be trustworthy. Customers often find it overwhelming whenever they see alternatives that they can choose from. Moreover, because of those alternatives, customers want an easy way to authenticate a business that they are dealing with especially if it is a first.

Your social media activity makes it a trigger for potential customers to build their trust on you because they can see that you are always updating your accounts or social media sites. This means that customers are more at ease to know that you are active online, giving them signals that you care about them and once anything goes wrong, it will be easy for them to contact you. Plus bonus points for always being functional online!

Great way to promote your content

This is basically the bottom line of having a social media account. Not only in terms of SEO this shows how important content marketing is but also is a way to attract new customers. Social media helps increase awareness to your potential audience and can in fact be a way for your business to be recognized.

 

Comments: 0 Tags: , , , ,
← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Optimind offers guaranteed first page ranking on major search engines or your money back.

Contact Us