ArticleSnatch Blog

You are browsing the search results.

Weather delayed my arrival in Toronto for the start of Search Engine Strategies, but I was able to catch up quickly by reading what other journalists and bloggers were saying about the SEM conference. Here’s a roundup of the top stories and blog posts that I found this evening:

SES Toronto Day 1: State of Search Marketing in Canada
Andrew Goodman of Traffick provides a brief update from conference-land.

Hello from Search Engine Strategies 2008 Toronto!
Joey deVilla, aka The Accordion Guy, covered Fredrick Marckini’s Opening Keynote and the best thing in the goodie bag given to attendees.

Notes From SES Toronto 2008: Day One
Toronto Mike’s Blog threw down a quick entry with some thoughts about search engine marketing.

Going to Search Engine Strategies (SES) Toronto 08
nicolask7 of Montreal Social Media covered some of the panels as well as the other Montrealers at SES Toronto.

SES Toronto 2008: Opening Keynote
Louis-Dominic of Adviso covered the opening keynote.

SES Toronto 2008: Universal and blended search
Simon Lamarche of Innovation Web is covering the SEM conference in French: “Nous sommes actuellement à Toronto pour le SES Toronto 2008.”

Updates - Exciting News on the Foush!!
Rahaf Harfoush is live-blogging the Toronto Search Engine Strategies Conference.

David Snyder
As a result of both Twitter and SES Toronto 2008, Mike of Drop the Mike Blog had the pleasure to meet up with and spend some time with a very good up and coming Internet Marketer, David Snyder.

Getting Authoritative Online Mentions (SES Toronto)
Stephan Spencer came in late to the “Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions” session, but he did have notes from Jim Hedger’s presentation for Scatterings.

SES Toronto - Day 1
Evan Carmichael of the YoungEntrepreneur.com Blog outlines the sessions that he’s selected to follow at SES Toronto.

Is great social media content necessarily great site content? Absolutely not!

To illustrate, think of posts or articles that you know intuitively would perform exceptionally well on major social media sites. How many of these would you feel comfortable putting on your corporate site? Very few, right?

Accordingly, we need to look for the conceptual common ground shared by successful social media content and quality blog content. Ideally, that content should be woven into one cohesive strategy that will:
a. reinforce key messages to clients
b. help to further perceptions of authority
c. aid in attracting new clients
d. attract links from relevant high quality sources

Types of Quality Blog Content:
To begin, lets look at blog quality on a conceptual level. Professional blogger and marketing consultant Chris Garrett has a great post on the subject titled Diggbait, LinkBait, Flagship Content, and Authority . In this post, Chris defines the Content Value Ladder in order of ascending importance:
1. Filler content – The me-too stuff that many blogs copy and paste from press releases and other blogs.
2. Good, original content – Anything that delivers on the blogs promise in an original and valuable way
3. Authority building content – Content that positions the blogger as an authority in the niche
4. Pillar content – A blog’s solid foundation of resource posts and tutorials (coined by Yaro Starak)
5. Flagship content – Articles and reports that go above and beyond, creating significant value in a way that draws in readers for years to come.

Obviously, the goal is to create as much pillar and flagship content as possible. I’m going to disagree with Chris about authority building being a rung on his ladder. My belief is that authority is another dimension entirely, and can be layered like a filter atop most types of content.

Types of Social Media Content:
As mentioned in my last post Types of Social Media Content - A Conceptual Overview, there are essentially 3 types of social media content, each with its own strengths and weaknesses:
1. News
2. Sensational/Entertainment Submissions
3. Resources/Educational Submissions

Combining Both Types of Content:
By combining Chris Garrett’s Blog Content Value Ladder with the 3 types of Social Media Content, we can begin to understand which types of combinations perform well on both blogs and social media. This is the ideal!

1. News Content
Unless you’re an official news site, placing existing news stories related to your industry on your own site would qualify as the lowest form of blog content quality (Filler Content according to Chris). From a social media perspective also, news from non-primary sources is also not recommended, so there is really very little possible gain to be had. At the same time, these types of news stories certainly do not help you to establish authority either.

That does not mean that all news is a lost cause however.

Instead ask yourself:
a. Can you spin the story differently than has been done until now?
b. Can you provide an analysis of the implications of the news to your target market?

If the answer to these questions is “yes,” then the story has a good chance to be successful on related social media. In fact, capitalizing on media hype about a specific topic can help you get attention, and increase the probability of a related piece that you write being successful. Internally, we call it “just-in-time blogging”, because you’ve got to create the post in real time based on the major related news of the day.

This is a really good approach to social media, but also to blogging and quality content in general. The simple reason is that you are forcing yourself to expand on a concept. At the lowest possible level, it qualifies as good original content, but may well be pillar or flagship content if you put enough thought and research into it. Posts like this can also build perceptions of authority among potential clients.

2. Sensational/Entertainment Content
These entertainment/sensational-focused submissions typically perform very well on general social media sites like Digg, Reddit, or Stumbleupon, but do more poorly on industry/vertical sites.

From a blog content perspective, such posts would typically be classified as filler content, and offer very little real opportunity to demonstrate authority or exceptional knowledge. In fact, this type of post could possibly harm perceptions of the blog, if it creates confusion or reduces perceptions of professionalism (depending on the personality of the blog).

Accordingly, if this type of content is to be employed as part of a linkbaiting effort, it should be done carefully. First, it should not be done in place of a quality piece on content. If you do create this kind of content, consider the potential impact before placing it on the actual blog. Consider instead posting it as a separate page, and referring to it from a blog post.

3. Resource/Educational Content
Resource type posts typically attract many links, and often qualify as either pillar or flagship content, especially when comprehensive or supported by significant facts. This type of post performs exceptionally well at helping to define someone as an authority in subjects relating to the topic of the piece, though often require substantial time to create. They also do well in many types of industry specific social media … though often not as well in the generic social media (eg. Digg, Reddit).

What’s interesting about Resource/Educational posts versus Sensational/Entertainment type posts is that while Sensational posts drives lots of traffic in the short term and Resource type posts not as much, Resource type posts show stamina in continuing to drive traffic over time where Sensational often posts do not.

Authority Building and Content:
Earlier, I suggested that I disagree with Chris Garrett about listing “authority building” as a separate rung on his Content Value Ladder. I think it’s possible to insert authority-building content into posts in any of the other categories, and not simply as separate posts. For instance, fact-based, editorialized content may be included in a sensationalized piece to help explain how certain elements were made possible (like a water filtering company explaining why water can taste different amongst the 10 sources identified in a piece called “The 10 Best Tasting Glasses of Water on the Planet”). By doing so, a company can demonstrate their knowledge, and build their authority, even in a highly sensationalized piece.

Conclusions:
Using this model as a conceptual framework, my next few posts can now speak to specific recommendations and action items designed to help you accomplish your online objectives. Stay tuned …

Want a snapshot of the day’s search marketing news? Here we’ve collected today’s top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

• Does Google Allow Good Google Bombs?
  To some, it appears that Google has painted itself into a corner with its reliance on linking for its ranking algorithm. The lines between legitimate SEO, paid links, and Google bombs are becoming increasingly blurred.
• New Google Webmaster Tool Aids Robots.txt Creation
  For the coding-challenged, creating a robots.txt file for instructing search engine spiders on the preferred way to crawl your site has not always been easy. Thankfully, Google has created a robots.txt generator as part of its Webmaster Tools.
• Wordtracker Enhance Their Free Trial Offer
  The keyword research tool providers are offering a 1-week trial of their entire service and have released an accompanying 7 day video tutorial on how to get the best out of your Wordtracker account.
• SEW Experts: Social Media: One Size Does NOT Fit All
  Spending time on linkbait or viral ideas can drive traffic to a site. However, if the same attention isn’t given to preparing what to do with the traffic, the only remaining value is links, many of which don’t pass juice.
• SEW Experts: What Matters Most to Travel Search Marketers in 2008?
  Now that we’re nearly through the first quarter, it’s time to check in on the accuracy of the many predictions for the future of search.
• SEW Experts: The SEO Copywriter: Wordsmithing the Web
  Combining both technological know-how and a strong command of the written word, agency SEO copywriters are the front-line troops of any SEO initiative.

Click to read the rest of this post…

Spending time on linkbait or viral ideas can drive traffic to a site. However, if the same attention isn’t given to preparing what to do with the traffic, the only remaining value is links, many of which don’t pass juice. In today’s SEM Crossfire column, “Social Media: One Size Does NOT Fit All,” Chris Boggs explains the down-side of linkbait, and how to better use it to your advantage.

We, as industry insiders, often lose the pulse of the real world. Sometimes, we all need to take a step back and look at things from a new perspective, and realize that the majority of marketers are not immersed in search marketing as we are. In today’s Link Building column, “Creating a Link Building System,” Sage Lewis goes back to link-building basics and offers a seven-step plan to get beyond linkbait and start getting ranked in the SERPs.

OK, everyone knows the nearly mythological powers of social media to help grow long term site equity. Link building comes to mind immediately to most. Traffic waves can carry motivated visitors who might subscribe to your feed, engage in comment threads, complain about how bad your company sucks, and/or rave about fantastic customer service. It’s all good.

True, leveraging digital assets and hot social channels for long term SEM benefit has now become SEO 101. However your boss or client may need to be convinced that investing in another layer of content management system (CMS), content, and conversational networking WILL in fact yield measurable financial results soon. There is no better way than to set and achieve short term goals for immediate social media cash flow, to get folks excited about the long-term.

Here’s a few ways to get hands plenty dirty and flow cash in the first quarter of your initial social media forays:

1. Social PPC starts with Facebook if your demographic includes 14-26 year olds. Make no mistake; savvy clients are making millions of dollars in the space. Drill down into the Facebook social graph and you’ll find fascinating PPC categories (aimClear has charted about 10,000 preset interest-categories on the USA Facebook PPC social graph.)

   Anything in the pop culture, sports, music, education categories fly really well. Software, games, kissy, and in some cases even an emerging young corporate mindset can work. FB is noisy, applications are really annoying, and sometimes carefully crafted PPC works very sweetly amongst the clutter. Make it go Ka CHING$$$ the first day with landing pages segmented by interest categories (Buzz Pockets) rather than keywords.

2. Other communities have different gateways to insert paid advertising.  StumbleUpon, Digg, MySpace, and LinkedIn have advertising options. Whatever the community there is nearly always some paid method to insert advertising by way of a the site’s own and/or major ad platform partners like Google, MSN and/or Yahoo. Some communities use multiple ad platforms, both internal and third party.
3. 
   Open a door with outbound linking for your boss or client to make a sale right away. You’ll find an abundance of blogging-tips in the SEM trade pubs regarding the incredible value of outbound linking as a PR mechanism. At base, link out to bloggers and corporate sites to benefit your clients and customers. Any marketing department quality enough to warrant your outbound link will soon discover that you did it. Identify 30 authority-writers in your product or service’s space (who don’t directly compete) and ping them with an outbound link on compelling anchor text.

   After linking out to them in properly published content, have your VP send an email to alert your target site’s VP to the link. Tell your sales department that you’ve “made a new friend.” Suggest they invite the friend out for gruyere and Fume Blanch. This tactic is a more aggressive version of linkbaiting and can work really well. A) The social media department softens the target up. B) The sales staff at corporate follows. Case in point, here I invite distinguished CopyBlogger Brian to the table @ SEW Blog. He’ll hear about it in a daily alert. “Hello there” Brian Clark! Use this technique and make a goal of directly associating a SINGLE sale in the first 60 days from which the conversion can be directly attributed at least in part to a social media tactic.

4. Increase conversion on traditional (AdWords/Panama/AdCenter) PPC landing pages by mashing in headlines from feeds of corporate or customer activities. In other words, take the top 3 headlines each from the corporate media and community relations feeds and display them just above or below the conversion goal mechanism you’re trying to get users to bite on. aimClear’s data shows that when PPC landing pages display mashed-in headlines radiating from true community activity, conversion rises in a measurable way. Ka CHING$$$ again!

   BTW, yes it’s certainly OK to moderate what excerpted content is allowed to bubble into PPC landing pages, or any pages for that matter. If you’ve not incited much user generated content yet, prime the pump by originating the mashed-in feed content as “push PR” from a department of your company I.E. like customer support and relations. There’s nearly always good recurrent content available to source somewhere which will prove interesting to potential clients.

Money Talks, BS Walks
Methods to immediately quantify the value of investment in social media are limited only by the creativity of the SEM team. With social PPC and other paid SMO, financial objectives are immediately attainable. If cash matters and you’re used to PPC, the first questions to ask of any potential social value are “what are these folks chattering about” and “What Ad Platforms insert ads into the SMO stream?”

Outbound linking targeted to savvy customers (who monitor their reputation) can be a terrific door-opener. Partner with your sales department and upper level executives to maximize the “overture of friendship” embodied in giving a high quality outbound link.

After priming community activity within your own site’s data flow, mash-in community feed content to traditional PPC landing pages and watch how the authentic nature of the content spurs conversion. Show your boss or client the cash-money early in the game in order to achieve buy-in for long term link, traffic, and community building CMS and content building investments.

Lee Odden, the CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, spoke at the News Search Engine Optimization as well as the Blog & RSS Search Engine Optimization sessions at SES London 2008. He also moderated the one that I covered in “Online Reputation Management Requires Cabinet War Rooms.”

In his spare time, he did a video interview with Adam Lasnik of Google, posted photos from SES London, and covered the “Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions” session on his Online Marketing Blog.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, he found time to be interviewed for our new SES Conference Expo channel on YouTube.

Lee Odden, TopRank Online Marketing, at SES London 2008

For those of you who haven’t met him yet, Lee Odden is a 10+ year Internet marketing veteran and of TopRank Online Marketing. Recognized by MarketingSherpa and topseos.com, TopRank helps Fortune 500 companies with Internet marketing consulting, training, and implementation services.

Lee has been cited in numerous books and industry publications, including The Economist and DM News on the topics of search, social media, and online public relations. He also publishes the Online Marketing Blog, ranked as one of the top 10 marketing blogs online by Advertising Age.

Lee is a regular speaker at Search Engine Strategies, WebmasterWorld Pubcon, DMA Annual Conference, Media Relations Summit, PRSA International Conference, and Mediapost’s Search Insider Summit. At SES New York 2008, he’s speaking at the session, Beyond Linkbait: Getting Authoritative Online Mentions, and will be moderating the Podcast & Audio Search Optimization session.

Our session Beyond Linkbait at SES NYC has a very different approach to SEO and linkbait - how to use traditional public relations tactics to create authoritative links.

It’s all about how to take the content you have and make it newsworthy enough for other sites to want to republish your content or link to your site. Not just Top 10 lists. Real news.

I’m going to share the Bounce Test video story with attendees. Yes, they are videos of women running in sports bras. Giving this a valid science and research backing and making it part of a serious women’s health issue has garnered some major attention for these videos.

Lee Odden has some do’s and don’t’s on how to pitch your stories to bloggers and reporters.

If you think your business doesn’t have a news story you definitely need to come to the session. Every business has a story. How you find that story and then pitch it to the right news medium is the trick. We used to do it for print and TV coverage. Now we do it for links.

Want a snapshot of the day’s search marketing news? Here we’ve collected today’s top news stories posted to the Search Engine Watch Blog, along with search-related headlines from around the Web:

From the SEW Blog:

• How to Go Beyond Linkbait : SES NYC
  Reciprocal links - good or bad? If done properly, they can still be a good SEO tactic.
• Microsoft in Hot Pursuit of Google
  At the Mix08 Conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft loudly declared its intentions to increase its share of the search market.
• Yahoo Maps Announces Updates
  Yahoo Maps announced Wednesday that an update was rolled out, which includes several data and style improvements.
• Pentagon Bans Google Mapping Vehicles from Military Bases
  The Pentagon has banned Google from driving their mapping vehicles on military bases after detailed street views of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas, appeared on Google Maps.
• Why Digg’s Worth $200 Million or More to Google
  Digg IPO? No. Digg FSBO. For Sale By Owner. Again. The auction for social search engine Digg begins when Microsoft and Google make their bid.
• SEW Experts: Has Google Already Won?
  With the imminent demise of Yahoo and Ask.com, Google seems to have cemented its near-total control of search. The monopolization of our industry is fast becoming a reality, and yet the users of search are oblivious.
• SEW Experts: Sales and Your Search Marketing Agency - Part 1
  Now that you know how to win the right search marketing clients, it’s time to look at one of the most important areas of your business — how to make sales.
• SEW Experts: Social Media Meets Local Search
  Despite the growing traffic to social networks, local search tools for users of those sites are surprisingly few and far between. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stay active in those communities.
• AdWords Announces, Explains Load Time Usage In Quality Score
  The AdWords blog just announced the details of the inclusion of page load times in calculating Quality Score.

Click to read the rest of this post…

SES NYC is fast approaching. My session with Chris Boggs and Lee Odden titled Beyond Linkbait will cover some interesting ideas.

I spoke to Chris today to get his take on the idea of going beyond linkbait.

One topic he’s covering is reciprocal links - good or bad? If done properly, they can still be a good SEO tactic, says Chris. They need to happen naturally and be relevant. He has some great ideas on how to make these links work for SEO and offers examples of what a bad reciprocal link and a good reciprocal link would be.

Chris plans to share a case study about creating content for YouTube or other social media sites that is not intended to produce links directly. “We built a peice of content around a game on a client’s site with the intention of building buzz and getting bloggers to write it about it and then link to the client’s site where the game is hosted,” explained Chris.

They’ve had over 25 000 views on YouTube and a flood of links and traffic to the client’s site.

Sounds like a hard act to follow!

My case study is about The Bounce Test videos and how we took this content and turned it into a serious women’s health issue backed by research that got coverage from influential bloggers and mainstream media sites.

See you in New York on the 20th March
.