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How I Started Blogging. What’s Your Story?

BlogPostman — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 11:48:35 +0000

While today’s online media are abuzz with the latest and greatest social media tactics and tools, for many of us that have been around a little while, it was blogging that started our social media careers. It’s funny to think that in 2002 a type of site called “blog” came up on my radar as a possible marketing tool. At the time, many blogs were personal diaries posted anonymously or by people with a little tech savvy and plenty of opinion. Writing personal thoughts on a public web site was absolutely the last thing I would ever consider doing. However, it was a curious thing and I started a few blogs anonymously to see what it was like. Unfortunately, the excercise was so foreign, poorly executed and without feedback, that I deleted them. In mid 2003 I began looking for online content outside of forums and started reading several SEO blogs including Search Engine Blog (Peter Da Vanzo), Search Blog (John Battelle) and Search Engine Lowdown (Andy Beal). Interestingly, only Search Blog remains what it was. In December 2003 after using Blogger.com as a group blog software for a few collaboration projects I finally decided to start a blog under the blogspot.com domain for TopRank Online Marketing , which by then, had been in business about 2 years. As you can see from my “ Hello World ” post in Dec 2003, I had humble goals to post news and information related to online marketing. We had a web site that pulled in a lot of search traffic, why would we need a blog? The reason was simply to see what blogging could do to get the word out about our expertise and to share information. Blogging was very new territory and there wasn’t anyone to demonstrate best practices, so I set out to find what those were while sharing links, news and resources. I suspect there are a good number of companies that treat other social media services the same way, whether it’s Twitter, Foursquare or building a social mobile app. It’s new territory and they want to find out whether those applications or sites would make sense in their marketing mix. The problem with that perspective is that it’s about the most inefficient and unproductive way to go about finding the right online marketing channels for a business. The biggest mistake I made 6 plus years ago when I started blogging was not creating a strategy. As a marketer, I knew better than to chase a tactic, but I had no idea at the time how much of an impact blogging would have on our business. In other words, despite a lack of strategy, we were able to use our marketing savvy, curiosity and interest in connecting with the online marketing community to achieve many of the goals we set out to reach in our business. It just took a lot longer without that strategic plan. Companies starting down the path of becoming more social in their culture to better connect with customers and to realize the marketing, PR, and customer service benefits from social media participation don’t need to waste that time. Doing the homework of researching customers, setting goals and developing a strategy are essential steps towards a successful social media marketing experience. Back to why I started blogging. The SEO community was a lot smaller in 2003 and 2004. Writing a post about anything to do with search engine optimization would be noticed and commented on by the small number of SEO bloggers. There were plenty of cross links and “hat tips” (whatever happened to those?) and openly shared opinions. Blogging even made a number of SEOs very popular, very quickly. Blogging to get popular is the goal for some people and there certainly is some relationship between notoriety, awareness and credibility with the ability to attract sales. The key (for me at least) is that creating awareness of oneself is simply a proxy to gaining visibility for your business. It’s not a goal in itself. As a result, Ive been open about using visibility to help others and make connections. The turning point for me in blogging was due in part to learning to liveblog at conferences. Steve Hall of AdRants provided my first opportunity to liveblog at a ad:tech event - an absolutely humbling experience for anyone that isn’t a natural writer. I met people like Frank Gruber and David Berkowitz at that event in 2004. I did some liveblogging for Barry Schwartz and Search Engine Roundtable after that which also provided great exposure and connections. Matt McGowan brought even more exposure opportunity by having Online Marketing Blog as a media sponsor for SES conferences . There’s a huge list of people that have been very helpful over the years, especially our longtime readers. Since then we’ve published a lot of content and provided a lot of insight into holistic SEO and online marketing topics. During that time I think the most important thing I’ve learned is to find your voice and stick to it. Don’t try to be what you’re not. It simply doesn’t resonate with readers or with the goals you’ve likely set. Whether it’s blogging or other types of content and networking, I think the real value from online publishing in a social context is of course, being social. Blogging has been a great experience in terms of developing relationships with people I would have never connected with otherwise. It has definitely served as a platform for making connections in the industry that have led directly and indirectly, to a lot of new business. I started blogging personally as an experiment and found a process and strategy along the way that has helped grow our business and the online marketing/sales performance of many of our clients. Long time blogging provides ample opportunity to make and learn from mistakes. Blogging also allows us to continue to be a resource while sharing our expertise with potential customers, partners and employees. We’ll be going through yet another evolution with Online Marketing Blog in the next month or two and I wonder about the experiences of our readers that also blog: If you’re a blogger, why did you start? What’s your blogging story? Did you start as an experiment? Did you start with a strategy? What was your biggest mistake? What have you learned? © Online Marketing Blog , 2010. | How I Started Blogging. What’s Your Story? | No comment | http://www.toprankblog.com

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How I Started Blogging. What’s Your Story?

Using Vinyl Banners For Product Advertising

BlogPostman — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 18:24:19 +0000

The main priority of a good product advertisement campaign is to get more and more people to know all about your products and services. The advertising is going to tell the potential customers out there, all about the benefits of the product or the service. This is the main aim of good advertising; sway a potential buyer or customer to at least look through your product, if not buy it outright. There are plenty of product advertising mediums available out there. One of the most popular advertising medium is using vinyl banners as an advertising material. Not only can your products be advertised on these banners in a really stylish manner, but also the advertisements are going to last you for a really long time. Vinyl banners are quite durable; apart from that, you can find them in different colors, shapes, sizes and designs. You can not only use a vinyl banner for advertisement purposes for your business, but also to advertise special events like film screenings, exhibitions, political campaigns, school events, team events, company trips, seminars, restaurant promotion, musical concerts… forany occasion or event promotion, the use of banners are ideal. These long-lasting vinyl banners are more often used in areas which are prone to extreme atmospheric conditions like cyclones, winds, rain and typhoons. Long-lasting vinyl banners are digitally printed with base inks, which are semi-solvent. As these inks are water resistant, the printed words are not going to drip down the advertising surface, when exposed to water and air. You can also find vinyl letters stuck to a banner with an adhesive. As these banners are made of an extremely sturdy elastic material, you can find them in different sizes. So starting from 8 x 8″ to a maximum size of 16 x 100, ‘’ you can get the right vinyl banners of your choice and specifications, whenever required. .25 inches can be added on each side to adjust the dimensions of the banners. So, you have long-lasting sturdy banners, –advertising your products — which can be hung from any surface. So this is one of the best options for outdoor and indoor advertisements. Why use outdoor banners to advertise your business? First of all, these banners can be tailored to your specifications regarding color, design, style, and size. Many of these banners are going to come with a three-year warranty. These are extremely durable, and long-lasting. Continuous exposure to rain, sun, and air does not have a fading effect upon the ink or on the material. So once you have chosen your banner, and thought up the advertisement to be printed on it, you need to select the borders, fonts, themes, as well as graphics which are going to be printed on the banner. Custom banners can be used for promoting trade shows, festivals, reunions and other social activities. Custom full-color banners are a stylish advertising medium, which can be printed on both sides to entice more and more customers to your business. - About the Author: Bannerstoyou.com is a leading provider of vinyl banners in the USA and beyond. They can provide all your needs for vinyl banners for business or personal use. Tom Jacobsen is a writer for http://www.bannerstoyou.com who has worked in the industry for some years. Article Source

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Using Vinyl Banners For Product Advertising

Max Kalehoff on Social Media Advertising, Blogging & the Future of Paid Search

BlogPostman — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 10:18:21 +0000

One of the most insightful voices in the online marketing industry when it comes to advertising is Max Kalehoff of Clickable . I was introduced to Max at a Search Insider Summit conference several years ago with very high regard by David Berkowitz , another intelligent voice in the industry, so I knew immediately he was someone to pay attention to. Max’s company recently announced the addition of Facebook Advertising to their PPC management platform and he was very kind to take the time to answer several detailed questions about social media advertising on the Clickable platform, the future of the online advertising industry, slimy SEO middlemen, how he stays current and blogging about his Weber grill. 1. You have impressive credentials in the interactive marketing industry with your experience working at Jupiter, comScore and Nielsen. How did you come to work with Clickable? It’s mostly luck. I’ve been fortunate to work with a series of successful startup teams and entrepreneurs that played a key role in shaping the Internet. I came to Clickable from Nielsen , which bought our last startup, BuzzMetrics, the pioneer in social media measurement and research. I admire Nielsen and have many close friends there, but I wanted to build things and innovate again in a startup environment. Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures, a Clickable investor, introduced me to David Kidder and Munish Gandhi, Clickable’s co-founders. I shared their vision for helping businesses succeed by simplifying online advertising. We quickly became friends and colleagues and the rest is history. What’s behind your passion for building early stage companies? Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been passionate about building things, solving creative problems and exploring new territory. I’ve always tried to live out those passions through education, work, hobbies and family life. With work, entrepreneurial ventures are the best outlets for those passions. When I was in college, I started two summer businesses. The first was sailboat charter business, and the second was a Web development consultancy. Post college, I spent a few years in the marketing agency business but soon threw myself into technology and Web startup life. There’s nothing more invigorating than working closely with a group of like-minded, passionate people trying to change the world. Big companies have their purpose, but nimble upstarts attract smart people who crave abstract problems, peer-to-peer learning, mastery, self-imposed discipline and persistence. Upstarts also require a lot of risk-taking, serendipity and authentic discovery. To me, that’s the only way to live. And given the mess our world is in, we need more of these minds and ventures to invent our way to a better future. For the uninitiated, what is Clickable and what types of companies should be using it? Clickable is a software-as-a-service platform that makes online advertising simple, instant and profitable. Our tools empower beginners to professionals, and companies of all sizes, to maximize their advertising investment. We have three core products: Our flagship Pro tool is a simple dashboard that empowers marketers to manage online advertising with transformational return on investment. Clickable Pro activates instantly with an intuitive experience that makes it easy to manage performance across all major advertising networks, like Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and, now, Facebook. Clickable Pro is complemented by Clickable Assist, a managed service that delivers agile assistance to maximize online advertising success. Finally, Clickable Platform is a white-label solution for big services companies to rapidly deploy large-scale online advertising programs to their local business customers under their own brands. We have a simple purpose that ties everything together: to help businesses survive and thrive by simplifying online advertising success. We pursue that purpose by living up to three core values that comprise our DNA: 7:1 – The 7:1 ratio of good to bad acknowledges we’re not perfect. This is a powerful admission that enables us to listen better and constantly improve. This underlies transparency, trust and collaboration with each other and our customers. Simplicity – Our complex world is desperate for simplicity. Simplicity is difficult, yet it creates value, differentiation and opportunity. That’s why we make everything simple and beautiful. And – We are multidimensional. We innovate constantly to perfect our product-to-market fit … And we are a competitive sales culture that closes business. We celebrate both. Recently the Clickable ad management platform announced the incorporation of Facebook ads. Being able to track Facebook and search marketing PPC programs side by side seems a significant opportunity for all. What should advertisers, especially small and medium sized businesses that you serve, expect from social media advertising? What kind of advice do you give to temper expectations? Or do you even need to? We first removed the complexity that prevented marketers from expanding into search networks besides Google AdWords, by introducing a simple interface that marketers could use to manage all of their search marketing campaigns. It’s become clear that the next place where marketers want a simple, effective solution is on the world’s largest social network: Facebook. With over 400 million members, Facebook introduces a new way to advertise that complements search marketing. Using extensive demographic targeting criteria, advertisers on Facebook can get out ahead of their customers and create demand that they can later capture with their search campaigns. Marketers can also use Facebook to promote their brands and drive direct sales. Indeed, this is new territory for everyone. We look forward to experimenting with our advertisers to surface best practices and customer profiles that achieve success. In the course of doing business with many SMBs in conjunction with TopRankSMB , a surprising number of marketers mention having “tried PPC and it didn’t work”. In most cases it’s due to a lack of knowledge, tools and time to gain the knowledge to run a successful search marketing ad campaign. What advice do you find yourself or your company giving SMBs most often in regard to online advertising? What tips can you give to those just starting out? Indeed, we found that up to 50% of SMBs that try online advertising don’t succeed, primarily because of complexity. Similarly, a recent study we conducted on SMBs indicated that roughly half don’t properly track conversions. Knowing conversions is the first step in how an advertiser defines success, whether it’s generating a lead, having someone fill in a form or making a sale. Tracking conversions is important in directing your ad investment to the keywords that will drive the greatest return on investment. There’s a lot of talk about efficiency of click-throughs and cost-per-click, but in the end what really matters is the return on your ad spend, and the profitability of your business. Our most common advice? First, make sure you are tracking your results, and don’t do anything until your analytics are effectively in place. Second, embrace “goal-based advertising” — that is, make investments only toward very specific and realistic business goals. That requires determining the monetary value of your goals, and figuring out which of your services and products have enough potential to justify spend. Finally, invest the time to get educated in PPC and do it right, or hire sometime to do it for you. Otherwise, you will quickly become another statistic in the “tried PPC and it didn’t work” category. That’s a disadvantageous outcome for most businesses. You really hit a nerve with, Brands: Beware Of Slimy SEO Middlemen Meddling Through Social Media . The behavior of the SEO account exec you interacted with is strikingly similar to how many media relations people and start-up business owners behave when they pitch us to write about them on Online Marketing Blog. It’s often a bucket of fake suck-uppiness wrapped around a pitch for a single, short term outcome. It’s sad because something far more significant could be achieved if they looked past the one “placement”. Client demands drive a lot of this behavior and agencies of all types (SEO and PR) often comply. What’s your advice on creating a more meaningful connection with bloggers? My advice for creating a more meaningful connection with bloggers is the same as my advice for success in life: Give more value than you take. If you provide unselfish value, then people will become attracted to you and they will advocate you. Advocacy may result in links, testimonials, business referrals, constructive feedback, partnership, loyalty and friendship. But calculating relationships purely based on SEO objectives can quickly become a risk to your brand. It’s that simple. I like that you can switch from “ My New Weber Grill ” to “ Social and Search Advertising “. As an accomplished and long time blogger, what advice do you have for other interactive and marketing types for blogging over the long haul? How has your own blog affected your career and work? How satisfied are you with your corporate blogging efforts? It’s important to acknowledge that despite all the experts and gurus, the Social Media and Interactive bible is far from completion. We’re only in the beginning of the first chapter, and we’re all students. With that in mind, I think more successful blogging and social media efforts have a defined purpose, goals and room for lots of experimentation. My personal blog is very much me, reflecting the perpetual blur between my professional and home life. They are impossible to separate, and the tension between the two is what makes life interesting. My blog has created an online presence that’s delivered myriad opportunities. It’s led to new business, new friendships, introspection and (in some cases) breaktrhough ideas. I also believe a personal blog is the best laboratory to become fluent and personally vested in interactive technologies. The learning I gained from my personal blogging endeavors directly contributed to some of our more successful interactive marketing strategies at Clickable. I know we’re already into Q2 but what predictions can you offer on the future of paid search for the rest of 2010? What are your thoughts on: Microsoft and Yahoo, Mobile PPC, sponsored social content or what’s next for Google and it’s array of advertising opportunities? Our Q1 2010 analysis of search spending among advertisers on the Clickable Platform reveals that budgets are significantly higher in Q1 versus year-ago, suggesting an economic and advertising rebound. We have seen 75% of our advertisers increase their budgets versus year-ago, while 25% maintained flat or slightly decreased budgets. Based on Q1, we forecast that 2010 full-year search budgets will increase anywhere between 10% and 30% versus 2009. Meanwhile, search budgets are diversifying in terms of network distribution. Microsoft/Bing seems to be gaining ground on Yahoo and Google. Last year, only 5% of customers were using Microsoft/Bing, while currently this percentage is at 9%. We believe one of the big stories in 2010 will be gains in social-network advertising, particularly Facebook. Inefficiencies and behavioral friction have prevented serious experimental dollars to shift, especially among PPC marketers. Social advertising will grow dramatically in 2010 as the major social networks surface in third-party management tools, as well as improve their own self-serve dashboards. A lot of advertisers are highly interested in seizing new opportunities to connect with customers. Mobile advertising is picking up speed, but won’t be terribly relevant for most advertisers in 2010. You blog and write for MediaPost which I recommend people read. How do you stay current yourself? Do you have a short list of industry conferences, blogs, newsletters, Twitter handles or books that you’d recommend? I read a mix of news aggregators and thinkers in strategy, venture capital, tech and media, including: TechMeme , John Hagel , Fred Wilson , Umaire Haque , Jeff Jarvis , All Things Digital , TechCrunch , BusinessInsider , NYTimes Bits and (of course) TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog . While I write a weekly opinion column for MediaPost , I believe it’s one of the most thorough and ubiquitous sources of hard news in the interactive advertising industry. I’m also blessed with a quirky list of friends whom I pay close attention to on Twitter , and they reward me with serendipity, personal tips and reading recommendations. I’ve not read any good business books in years, so I’ve abandoned them for fiction, history and poetry. The market is saturated with conferences and good ones are becoming rare; the best ones tend to be grass roots, niche and local, like many Meetups. We co-founded the New York SEMPO Search Meetup , which now has a passionate following of more than 1,000 members. We also founded and run Interesting Cafe, a discussion series that features some of the greatest living innovators in tech, media, culture and science. Small, passionate gatherings like these have the most profound and positive impact. Thanks Max! Max Kalehoff is vice president of marketing for Clickable , a platform that makes online advertising simple, instant and profitable. He also authors AttentionMax . © Online Marketing Blog , 2010. | Max Kalehoff on Social Media Advertising, Blogging & the Future of Paid Search | No comment | http://www.toprankblog.com

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Max Kalehoff on Social Media Advertising, Blogging & the Future of Paid Search

Develop Your Ppc Plan

BlogPostman — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:47:46 +0000

No good business happens without a good plan. No good PPC marketing campaign can happen without an effective PPC plan . Know your resources The possibilities are endless (quite literally) once you enter the world of the internet. Before you even press the power button on your computer, you need to assess your resources. Set your own budget, know the time limits of your advertisements, decide if you are able to handle the influx of attention from PPC. Once you know your resources, you will know which venues are best suited to you and which you will prefer. Know the players There are the “big three” that are very trustworthy, tried-and-true. These PPC publishers are good options for nervous first-time advertisers. However, these venues carry heavier traffic and, therefore, heavier competition. Smaller publishers abound endlessly, but they carry a higher risk in terms of exposure, but also fraud. Knowing who is out there and their track record can mean a lot later in the planning phase. Know your goals Deciding what you want to get out of the PPC advertising experience is important to maximizing PPC effectiveness. Knowing who you want to reach, what you want to say to them and what you want them to see about you will help determine your ad and ad placements. Goals and budget must be reconciled with each other, but can unite to create a very successful PPC experience. The most important thing when forming a PPC plan is to educate yourself at every step. Knowing the industry norms will help you maintain status as a savvy advertiser. Setting high expectations within the realm of what is considered normal will acclimate you to the industry and promote a tradition of positive PPC experiences. No matter what you do, however, planning is the key. – About the Author: Joe Praveen Sequeira ~ is an award winning, best-selling author, speaker, educator and professional Internet Marketing Consultant focused on helping businesses of all sizes, increase their online sales, boost web site traffic and strengthen their overall brand through established online marketing strategies. He has overseen hundreds of Internet marketing campaigns for fortune 500 companies and is the Founder & CEO of The eMarketing Pro , a thriving Internet marketing and eBusiness consulting firm. Article Source

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How To Develop Great Content – SESNY

BlogPostman — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:00:45 +0000

At Online Marketing Blog, content marketing is frequently a hot topic. And with good reason: it’s a vital skill for marketers. Not only do we at TopRank Online Marketing see great results implementing content marketing for clients, but the industry as a whole sees it as a clear trend. Consider the following stats: 6 in 10 marketers plan to spend more on content marketing in 2010. 71% of bloggers who maintain blogs for a business – their own or one they work for – report that they have increased their visibility within their industries through their blogs (as just one example of content marketing in action). Content marketing plays an integral role in many of the top digital marketing tactics marketers implemented in 2009. In this fast-paced panel, 3 content marketers each shared some quick tips, trends and strategies for content marketing. Byron White, Chief Idea Officer, ideaLaunch Byron ran through an overview of 10 tips to follow when fleshing out a content marketing plan: 1. Develop a content marketing plan – many digital marketers just dive in without any type of plan. This is always a mistake, before going any further, you need to get organized and understand next steps 2. Use free and paid research tools to research terms – there are a slew of both free and paid research tools which can help you define keywords necessary to create a keyword glossary. Use tools in conjunction with your own creativity to create an inclusive list of terms. 3. Find the hot topics and keywords – by understanding the industry and leveraging tools, you can discover hot/trending topics and keywords to be a part of your mix in addition to the mainstay terms. 4. Develop customer profiles for testing/research the competition – building customer profiles and competitive research allows you to draw upon a knowledge base when creating content to both stand out from competitors and connect with your audience. 5. Develop an SEO plan with “keyword silos” – made up of long tail and short tail keywords – in addition to building a keyword list, group it into like terms in order for your content team to leverage it in an effective manner during content creation. 6. Score content for SEO strength – either via an automated tool or manually, score existing content for SEO strength in order to gauge what to optimize first. 7. Infuse your brand with great content – on the web, your content is your brand (and your brand is your content). 8. Create stories – people connect with stories more than just product pages and lists of features. Tell stories and connect with prospects at a much deeper level. 9. Define great content – know what great content looks like before you develop it. You can’t create something remarkable unless you have a vision in mind. 10. Document content publishing date – this is a frequently forgotten, but important tip. Only by documenting new content publishing date can you track/trend success of that content over time. Of course, metrics are key – track interaction and engagement with content. Get to a point you understand how your content, whether a blog post or a product page, is converting and working for your brand. Heather Lloyd-Martin, CEO, SuccessWorks Heather spoke on developing great content in the B2C and B2B space. Why care about content? The best SEO is good content, according to Seth Godin. If you want people to convert, link to you or even visit your site you need quality content. Main advantage of good content? Control. Great content allows you to gain control of your site. Tip # 1: Think about your target audience Start by creating a customer persona. The questions you need to answer to do this include: Who is your target audience? (hint: it’s not everyone) Do you have multiple audiences? How old is your typical buyer/reader? What education level do they have? What are their average levels of income? What benefits are important? Tip #2: Expand your keyphrase universe Look for opportunities to build out new, unique content. Reach both hit and long tail phrases, and create content that speaks to a broad mix of terms. One way to do this is build out a resource section to answer both broad and ultra-specific, detailed questions. Tip #3: Free your content from “fake SEO rules” “Party like its 1999…but don’t optimize your site that way.” I.E. – there’s no need to follow a specific keyword density to rank. Instead focus on quality first, keywords second. General SEO content rules: Keyphrases in headlines/subheadlines Keyphrases in hyperlinks Keyphrases throughout the content (but not forcing it) Keyphrase-rich title Focus around 2-3 keyphrases per page Tip #4: Help your titles sizzle off the surface of SERPs When you’re on a SERP, there are 10 results and users need to pick one. Try to keep your titles to around 70 characters Include your main keyphrases Clearly explain what the landing page is about Include benefit statements (such as “free”) whenever possible Tip #5 There is always something you can do Beware the “website mullet.” Check for outdated copy. Some of the worst offenders can be press pages, conference/events pages, old articles, etc. Where possible, update copy or add additional content if you have older areas of a website gathering cobwebs. Also, if you want to build out a new section of the site to make your content friendlier but can’t change the template: start a blog or create a new section of the site. Don’t let technical issues get in your way. Jonathan Allen, Director, Search Engine Watch Jonathan spoke on the idea of using other people’s websites/social sites to gain rankings and an audience. The theme was on mash-ups – aka remixes of content. Define your goal – is the goal of this content to persuade or sell people to take action or is it more long-term, to develop links to improve your search engine rankings/brand awareness. Develop personas – I.E. connectors, those hyper-connected individuals who will help your content spread. By reaching them, you achieve the highest propensity for your content to spread. Create content – it must be relevant and must be compelling. Connect – once content starts to spread, connect with others and encourage them to share so it spreads further. Rinse and repeat – when you find a formula that works, continue to leverage that to create additional content.

SESNY: 5 Tips To Optimize Press Releases For Search

BlogPostman — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:58:48 +0000

TopRank Online Marketing has been working with PRWeb providing SEO consulting services starting in 2008. PRWeb was founded in 1997 to help small businesses and communications professionals leverage the web to share their news directly with the public. As part of this process PRWeb lead the way for the “direct-to-consumer” press release, enabling companies to communicate their news directly to customers, prospects, analysts and the media. During the past decade, PRWeb has reshaped the traditional press release and changed how companies large and small distribute news. Innovations of PRWeb over the years include: Search engine optimization (SEO) for press releases to increase the visibility of news in search engines like Google and Yahoo! Social bookmarking tools like trackbacks and bookmark links to take advantage of the explosion in social networking Really Simple Syndication (RSS) to increase the distribution potential of news and built the industry’s largest RSS network Allowing customers to include podcasts along with their news to increase the impact of their news release The “Feature Video” allowing customers to leverage the video content from popular sites like YouTube to bring their news to life Meg Walker, Director of Online Marketing for PRWeb lead a session discussing how to optimize press releases to gain the strongest visibility in both search engines and media. 1. Meet audience demand Prior to drafting a release, you need to understand what your audience is demanding. Meeting audience demand is integral to accomplishing your press release visibility objectives. There are many times you don’t realize there may be a hook in to reach your target, and understanding audience demand allows you to tap into it. The steps to meet audience demand include: Knowing your audience – what is it potential prospects and media are interested in? In what tone should they be spoken to? Do they appreciate a certain angle over another? Understanding is key and should drive the strategy behind the release. Be relevant – more than just understanding your audience, give them content that is both relevant and timely. By doing this, you’ll create the highest propensity your news gets picked up, shared and passed on. Satisfy customer demand – to know what the demand is, first research popular trends in search engines and stay on the pulse of your industry. By creating content that is related to hot topics you can create far more visibility for your releases. Staying up to date, informed and on the pulse of your customers is vital to connect with them through press releases. 2. Stay focused By keeping your keywords and topics focused, your release can rank better in search engines and resonate more with media. As you are writing releases, remember you are writing about one topic per release . By segmenting the message or trying to say too much at once, you dilute your key points and take a risk prospects and media will walk away without taking next steps or remembering the point. Keep it simple, focused and impactful. 3. Use images for search Images can increase the click through rate on releases in both regular and news search by 15 – 25%. It’s a simple step, but can’t be stressed enough. Additionally, using images creates more traction in media – journalists and bloggers both love images as it helps them tell their story. At PRWeb, we have seen releases that used 3 images generate more than 50 articles. We also find that many people are discovering images via image search, which then draws them back not only to the release, but to the customer web sites. Because PRWeb hosts press releases forever, your images can continue to receive both organic and image search traffic indefinitely. 4. Use videos to engage visitors By using video in news releases, we have seen up to a 500% increase in time on pages. As the web shifts to a rich media experience, bloggers, media and end users are becoming more accustomed to video. In the future, it may be common that video is included with releases. But since today it is not as frequently used, it’s a chance to make your news stand out. 5. Optimize your release Anchor text links – use 3 One to homepage – direct visitors directly to your company website. One to product page – send media and consumers directly to the product they are reading about. One to blog post – this presents an opportunity to speak to readers in a less formal fashion. With social web users and digital influencers continually expecting social content, a press release presents a great opportunity to spark interest in your social content. Alt-tag – an alt tag helps your images get discovered in search engines – all release images should be tagged appropriately. URL Keyword – top keywords can be used as part of the URL string, so be sure and include those during the release selection process. PRWeb allows you to customize this. Description Tag – add a keyword rich and compelling description tag (on PRWeb, that will become the meta tag). Title of release – the title of the release will become the title tag of the page, which is a vital element of your on-page optimization. If you have a target phrase, ensure your phrase leads the title of release. You can learn more about PRWeb at their website or follow them on Twitter . © Online Marketing Blog , 2010. | SESNY: 5 Tips To Optimize Press Releases For Search | 9 comments | http://toprankweb2.mn2.visi.com

10 Reasons SES New York is a Must-Attend Marketing Conference

BlogPostman — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:25:14 +0000

Let’s get it out of the way that Online Marketing Blog is a media sponsor for Search Engine Strategies conferences and also that I serve on the advisory board . In fact, the blog you’re reading right now was the very first blog to be recognized as a media sponsor by a major marketing industry conference. Specifically, Search Engine Strategies thanks to Matt McGowan . As a long time speaker at SES New York in combination with our other involvement, you could say I have a pretty strong opinion of this event. Here are 10 reasons why I think SES New York is a “must attend” marketing conference: 1. Keynotes! Starting the day with big picture content is a great way to get the synapse firing in your brain. Well, that and a few cups of coffee from the Starbucks inside the Hilton. With David Meerman Scott – Author of the New Rules of Marketing & PR, Avinash Kaushik – Analytics Guru & Author from Google and Yusuf Mehdi SVP from Bing, you are sure to get riveting insight about the future of internet marketing and where companies should be focusing their efforts in the long term. David Meerman Scott is an excellent speaker and the release of the second edition of his groundbreaking book is very timely as the intersection of Search, Social Media and PR converge. The best internet marketing campaigns start and scale based on good insight from analytics and what better person to share the wisdom that Avinash Kaushik . Bing has experienced the best growth it’s ever had in the past few months and the search marketing industry is starting to take it more seriously. Yusuf Mehdi is the man to tell the story of how Microsoft plans to continue that growth. 2. Connect with the Industry I’ve heard that over 5,000 online marketing professionals will be attending SES New York this year. That’s 5,000 people you have the potential to network with including industry peers, rock stars, potential candidates to hire, potential employers to be hired by, possible partners, investors, news media and of course, the coopetition. Take a look at the conference agenda and you’ll see an excellent mix of smart marketers from agencies and from major brands like New York Times, Autodesk, IBM and Facebook. Plus you might get to meet people like Mike Grehan , VP and Global Content Director for for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ and Search Engine Strategies. 3. All the Knowledge You Can Absorb There are over 70+ sessions over 3 days covering the gamut of internet marketing topics from the expected SEO and Social Media to Analytics, Conversion Optimization, Geeky technical sessions, Advertising, Real Time search and one of my favorites, the Business Track. The conference is also sandwiched with a day of hands on training before and after the conference for those that want more than just 12 minute snippets from each speaker. Whether you’re new to the field of internet marketing or whether you’re looking for more advanced tactics, there’s a session for just about everyone. And that’s not easy to do. Just ask Stewart Quealy , Marilyn Crafts or Jackie Ortez . 4. It’s New York! As the CEO of an agency that pays for employees to attend conferences, you might think it a bit frivolous to suggest attending an event because it’s in New York, but the attraction of one of the world’s greatest cities brings a variety of people and a unique conference experience. Why not get smarter in a city that can offer you an experience unmatched anywhere? Whether you’re a fan of the Falafel stand outside the Hilton (be sure to go to the one with a long line) seeing shows on Broadway ( Wicked was Excellent. Equus was ah, different) or the lights of Times Square , that’s a never ending supply of new things to see and do in the big apple. That attraction brings together a group of international conference attendees that is unlike events in other cities and well worth taking advantage of. 5. Conference Box Lunches Maybe not! Whether you decide to go with the lunch offered by the conference or you decide to arrange meetings during lunch at one of the many, many restaurants in the area around the Hilton New York, networking over food is something I’ve found to be incredibly productive. Find a table near full of people, sit down and introduce yourself. Ask lots of questions, be a great listener and people will remember you more than if you try and “sell” everyone you meet. Sure, you may network at bars and clubs during after-conference parties, but the music is often so loud you can’t hear what people are saying and let’s face it: When SEO’s get near a bar, distractions are plentiful. The focus isn’t going to be on business. Connect with people during the day and suggest coffee, lunch or dinner before going out. Then have fun (in moderation of course) with them in the evening. It will likely be the best networking decision you make during the conference. 6. Create Content Attending conferences can be one of the most productive content opportunities because there are so many ways to do it. If a session is interesting, take notes – aka live blogging . If you meet someone smart and interesting, take notes. If you see something sensational at a networking party, no need to take notes on that. Logging what you learn as you hear it can help retention but it also becomes a source of content that you can use for blog posts, sharing with the team back in the office or with your clients. Content doesn’t need to be limited to text either. If you meet a smart industry expert, ask if they mind doing a short video interview. You’re in New York after all, take advantage of the city backdrop (sans the car horn and siren noise) to shoot a series of videos with people you respect in the industry. Those videos can be de-constructed into a variety of content types for digital asset optimization and other SEO tactics. Photos are also useful not only for company blog posts but for use as stock photos long after SESNY has ended. In fact, the photo of Grand Central Station above was taken while I was in New York for a SES conference last year. 7. Live Consulting On day 3 of SES NY there is a track called “Clinics”, which could also be called, “Free Consulting for My Business”. There are clinics covering Paid Search, Ecommerce, Conversions and Big Sites/Big Brand Sites. These sessions are a great opportunity for companies to have their web sites or advertising reviewed by industry experts and get recommendations. Keep in mind, that advice is often direct and to the point – yet polite. Panelists have been solving web site and online advertising problems for years and they’ll be able to see issues immediately and share possible solutions just as quickly. The advice a company might get in one of the clinics can be worth several times the cost of attending the conference. 8. Find New Resources to Grow Your Business At SES New York, the exhibit hall will have over 100 companies presenting their products and services. Cruising the booths and talking to reps (early in the conference, not late) is a great way to learn about companies that might have just the service you need to make your marketing more effective. Heck, if you’re really good, you might be able to reverse roles and pick up a few exhibitors as clients, depending on what it is that your company does. Finding consultants and services isn’t limited to the exhibit hall. You can find great resources by attending sessions where representatives from some of the top companies in the industry will be sharing their insights and expertise. Hearing an employee speak gives you some insight into their processes and how they approach working with clients. You can also find potential employees by networking with speakers, either directly or through referral. 9. Digital Asset Optimization DAO is the name of the panel I’m presenting on, day 1 of the conference at 10:45 am right after the keynote from David Meerman Scott. Optimizing for the new Google takes a unique and creative approach to content strategy and SEO. Optimizing and promoting Digital Assets present a tremendous opportunity to grow business through organic search. My presentation will focus on successful DAO implementations for a small business, a publisher/ecommerce site and a very large company. Plus I’ll be offering a new TopRank Guide for download. You won’t want to miss this session! 10. I’ve saved the best for last What are YOUR favorite reasons for attending SES New York? Whatever it is that you’re considering getting out of SES New York, be sure to get more information on the session agenda here.

2010 LeadingRE Conference: TopRank Digital Marketing Sessions

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:30:57 +0000

Last week, I was in Las Vegas for the LeadingRE annual conference and marketing technology event speaking on social media and SEO strategies for real estate professionals. It’s always interesting to see where different verticals are at with their willingness to embrace social channels, and I’m pleased to report the top realtors globally are already engaging, or at the least starting to define their path. I gave the opening presentation to the MarTech part of the conference – a track of panels/sessions designed to help real estate professionals better integrate their marketing initiates with technology. Additionally, I spoke on two panels in the general sessions of the conference: one on online reputation management and one as an open panel Q&A answering marketing strategy questions. For Online Marketing Blog readers, following is a wrapup of each of my sessions and some key takeaways. Architecting A Web 2.0 Marketing And PR Strategy For this session, I took event goers through an overview of the process we at TopRank implement for companies seeking social media strategy: a social media roadmap . I took audience members through the essential elements of the roadmap: 1. Define an audience Who is it you are trying to influence? Where are they participating, what types of content resonates with them? Understanding your audience comes first, and will drive the next pieces of the roadmap. 2. Identify objectives What outcomes do you want from this audience? Only after you understand your digital audience should objectives be solidified, as research may uncover new opportunities not conceived initially. While many skip to objectives, audience research provides the current situation necessary to proceed to identify objectives. 3. Develop strategic approach For a social media marketing strategy to be effective and not a cookie-cutter application, you must have a strategic approach unique and logical for your brand. Audience data + objectives + insight into your industry + strategic mindset as a marketer will enable you to formulate a strategic approach that delivers results and permeates the market. 4. Implement tools/tactics Even more popular than skipping to step 2, most marketing and PR pros skip immediately to step 4. It’s a cliché to say “we need a Twitter account” or “we need a Facebook page.” You don’t know that yet. Nor do you have the proper roadmap elements to execute them successfully by skipping immediately to tactical elements. It’s like entering a battle by sending in the latest wave of ultra-sophisticated fighter jets but not having any sort of plan of how they work into your larger strategy. Yeah, they might be bigger/faster/stronger but it’s setting yourself up for failure without knowing how they integrate with other elements. 5. Measure results/metrics What will your success metrics be? Formulate not just an ultimate objective measurement, but define the right KPIs that actually roll to those objectives. Understand how they all work together and stagger them in the right order in your marketing dashboard to keep your finger on the pulse of success. It takes a comprehensive understanding of web analytics reporting before getting into this phase. Online Reputation Management Panel For this panel, I presented alongside Jennifer Baumann , Esq. of DLA Piper. As I am not a lawyer and cannot provide any legal counsel, it was a good idea for Eric Bryn , conference organizer for LeadingRE to pair us. I shared prevention and response strategies and Jennifer discussed legal issues. In terms of online reputation management, the old adage of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” could not be truer. I spoke mostly on prevention, but also response. Some key takeaways from this panel: Negative PR gets referenced – The web is referential, and we are actively tagging brands to their actions. For example, the first thing many mom bloggers now think of when they hear the name Motrin is the Motrin Moms fiasco. We are constantly archiving and building upon events, news and essentially our lives digitally. This paints a larger picture of people and companies, and the scars of negative PR are not going to go away. By having a presence yourself and already established as a brand digitally, you get to be a part of that debate as opposed to silently sitting on the sidelines and allowing others to dictate how you are seen. Additionally, if you foster a community of supporters, that negative PR might get hedged in the first place. If I wrote a blog post titled, “Apple Sucks,” almost immediately I’m going to get comments defending Apple – not just in my own comment section but on other blogs that debate and interact with me. Instead of a one-sided story, it will turn into a lively discussion and debate, with all sides being considered. A community of brand advocates is a powerful force for defending a brand or personal reputation. In the case of Apple, whether by design or simply due to fanatical fans, they are now a part of the brand’s organic response. Search engine brand awareness – If your brand has a large digital footprint with multiple domains/sub-domains, an authoritative presence across social channels and a fan-base, owning page 1 of Google for your brand name is possible. By doing this, you won’t let a negative (and let’s hope isolated) event or experience show up in branded searches. Of course, in cases where negative PR spirals out of control (aka a Groundswell ) a negative situation can acquire so many links/attention it ranks on page one for your brand. In those cases, buying search ads to help counter the negativity, posting responses on the offending site, adding a response on your own site, and strategizing ways to regain control of page one via organic SEO methods are just some potential steps you can take. But of course, it all depends on the specific situation what the response strategy should be. Speaking of response strategy – for problems you anticipate may arise, having one is critical to be prepared for the worst. Consult PR before engaging legal – The RIAA’s reputation is irreparably damaged by their continual treatment of their biggest fans as criminals. Whether they legally can do something is not necessarily a reason they should. When technology comes along that makes a previous model obsolete, the natural reaction of the incumbent is to rally against it to defend a previous world. Unfortunately, all this succeeds in is positioning the organization or industry as draconian and opens the door to innovators who are designing models that embrace the new. When someone says something truthful but biting against your brand, the natural reaction might be to call your laywers to suppress that information. All this does is provide ammunition for that individual or media entity to succeed in gaining greater attention. In 2003, Barbra Streisand tried to sue photographer Kenneth Adelman for $50 million for taking a photograph of her house as he documented the California coastline as part of a project. As a result of the case, the picture substantially increased in popularity – quickly attracting 420,000+ views of a photo that otherwise would have existed in relative obscurity. Mike Masnick reported on the situation and coined the phrase “ The Streisand Effect .” The name stuck, and now even has its own dedicated Wikipedia page documenting multiple examples of companies suffering from the Streisand Effect by calling legal before consulting PR. Of course, there are situations where legal should be consulted, but they should be considered carefully, with legal being used as a last resort. Strategy Salon Panel L to R: Matt Dollinger, Matthew Ferrara, Adam Singer, Steve Harney - image by Barbara Springer This was an open Q&A discussion from the audience, where, Steve Harney , Matthew Ferrara , Matt Dollinger and I all riffed on answers to audience questions (moderated by Eric Bryn). A few of the riffs from our discussion included: Getting your company to buy in to social media – This needs to happen from the top. If your leaders aren’t fully bought in and driving forward the items you want team members participating in, you can’t expect them to succeed. As one example, if you have a company blog, someone up top should be leading and driving it if you want the rest of the team to contribute as well. To inspire people to stay motivated and engaged, create feedback loops within the organization to highlight success and nurture participation. The perfect company website – There is no single archetype of the perfect website. Also, yours shouldn’t necessarily model competitors or one you think is pretty, rather it should resonate with prospects. Keep SEO in mind from the start and work with developers cognizant of search engines or consult an SEO firm to guide your development process. Site search matters, and is one of the most important features of any website according to Google . Leverage site search to gain data/insight into your customers and also tweak results to highlight fresh content or current specials. The real estate company of the future – Instead of doing everything in-house, you may begin to outsource certain elements like design, marketing or IT. Why have generalists when you can have specialists in each field and work with them across distances and time zones via agile project management systems? Also, for smaller companies, it will be about more than just those within a small radius; recruiting top talent will be vital for performance. Of your full-time team members, leadership will be an integral role and not something simply relegated to management. You need to find and empower leaders at all levels within the organization if you want to succeed against competitors.

Custom Business Banners

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:10:44 +0000

Since world finances are amiss, every business has had to tighten their belts. Even more successful business people have needed to take measures that will bring more customers to their doors. One of the best ways to bring more business to your door is the use of custom business banners. Banners get your name out there in front of people, and they are a very effective way to promote your business. You can select from various online companies to find the one that will work the best for you. There may be local establishments in your area that sell custom banners as well. Businesses who make custom banners use specialized software to create a template for your customized banner. Banners are an excellent choice when compared to posters, since they are made from materials of higher quality, and they will last longer than posters. Once you design a custom banner for your business, you can publish it in various ways. First, you can buy ad space online, but the most effective way to use a banner locally is to hang it outdoors. Your supplier will use premium materials to produce your outdoor banner, and you can hang them outside your location or around the area. These banners are large in size and they will catch a lot of attention. It seems that you see banners every time you turn around, so you will want yours to be unique, so it will stand out. Competition is brisk in most areas, so it will help you if your banner is colorful and more appealing than those of your competitors. Banners are inexpensive and durable, and they can be placed in many different locations. You will want to take the time to design a banner that fits with what you have established as your company brand. It should also grab attention, and invite viewers to read the whole statement it makes. Color is an important component in each banner you are making. Add in various colors, since people are naturally attracted to diverse colors. Select colors that will provide an attractive canvas for people to look at. Choose a background color that is appropriate for the colors and the sign’s wording, too. A simple background is often the best, so that people’s attention is drawn to the statement or the company name, not a cluttered background. Always use pictures, words and company logos that you use in your other business advertising, so that the color scheme will pop into people’s minds when they read your banner. Use words and phrases that are eye catching and thought-provoking. Logos and pictures should be clear and distinct, so that they are easily seen, and the viewer won’t have to think twice about what your banner says – unless you want them to. Various colors or themes are popular in different areas of the country, so check around and see what banners work for other businesses. Afterwards, you can design a custom business banner that stands out from the rest and is also appealing to the eye. Resource Box Bannerstoyou.com is a leading provider of Vinyl Banners in the USA and beyond. They can provide all your needs for vinyl banners for business or personal use. Bannerstoyou.com is a leading provider of vinyl banners in the USA and beyond. They can provide all your needs for vinyl banners for business or personal use. Tom Jacobsen is a writer for http://www.bannerstoyou.com who has worked in the industry for some years. Article Source

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Custom Business Banners

Custom Business Signs

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:16:41 +0000

One color is enough to make people notice your business signs before they see those of someone else. You want your custom signs to tickle the interest of people, and they should also be very visible. The human eye looks for contrasts, whether the viewer is aware of it or not. So a well-made sign with light on dark or dark on light will stand out to viewers more than signs that use all dark colors or all light colors. Those may go unnoticed by the very customers the businesses are trying to attract. What colors work for your business? You probably have certain colors in your logo, and in other advertising your business does. So start out with contrasting colors that include those of your logo, so people will associate your company with these colors when they see them. The purpose of custom business signs is to attract potential customers to read your message. Make your lettering stand out effectively to draw the attention of people passing by. Regardless of what your sign says, you have to grab attention before it will be read. When you select the color scheme for a custom sign, remember that contrasting colors work the best for people to notice, whether they even realize it or not. You can use a light background with dark words and symbols, or a dark background with light symbols and words. Either of these two ways will get the maximum attention of people going by. The colors will help to increase the effectiveness of your signs. Dark colors recede and light colors advance, which makes them more easily visible to the human eye. Backgrounds that are white or off-white are very popular in custom signs. Not only do they give you the contrast you need, but they are usually cheaper to have made. They will also not draw any attention away from your logo or wording. You can use any color you like on your sign background, of course, just keep in mind what will draw the most attention, since that is the purpose of having signs made in the first place. As long as you don’t use light lettering with a light background, your words and logo will stand out. Color and artistic design will make your signs more appealing to read, and people will read it more easily if you use contrasting colors. A bright color message with dark around the borders will also grab people’s attention. Different colors evoke various emotions in the people who read your sign. Depending on what type of business you are in, you’ll want to utilize colors that best convey your message to readers. Pink and light blue will attract the feminine eye, whereas purple may suggest authority or wealth. Artistic businesses also use purple a lot to express that flair. Red is an eye-grabbing color, and speaks of strength and passion. White is an excellent color for any background, and yellow will grab attention with dark printing. Use your color choices to tell people what type of business you have. Bannerstoyou.com is a leading provider of Bannerstoyou.com in the USA and beyond. They can provide all your needs for vinyl banners for business or personal use. Bannerstoyou.com is a leading provider of vinyl banners in the USA and beyond. They can provide all your needs for vinyl banners for business or personal use. Tom Jacobsen is a writer for http://www.bannerstoyou.com who has worked in the industry for some years. Article Source

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Custom Business Signs