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SESNY: 5 Tips To Optimize Press Releases For Search

Posted by BlogPostman under Pay-Per-Click

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

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SESNY: 5 Tips To Optimize Press Releases For Search

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

Posted by BlogPostman under Internet Marketing, Online Advertising, Pay-Per-Click

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

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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

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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

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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