Bing’s New Search Goes Live

Posted on May 16, 2012

Bing recently announced that their new interface is now accessible to all users. Bing says that the new way of searching is “designed to help you interact with friends and take action without compromising the core search experience.”

One of the new features that Bing has added is a social “sidebar” that allows you to get a better sense of what your friends and the web know, which should make your decision-making process a little easier.

Bing will take information from your Facebook friends and their “likes” and the information they’ve shared in order to make recommendations for you. Two features of Facebook that Bing won’t use are status updates or check-ins.

“Snapshots” is a new feature that hasn’t launched yet. It will provide you with additional information about each listing.

The new Bing search is meant to tie search and social together. It has similarities to Google’s Search Plus Your World but pulls information from Facebook instead of Google+. It will be interesting to see if users prefer this over traditional search.

What do you think of the new Bing? Will you be using it?

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Tips from Facebook to Marketers

Posted on May 15, 2012


Over the course of a month, Facebook kept tabs on 23 brand Pages to see which of their posts did the best. What they came up with was that the posts that pertained to your business did better than the ones that did not.

Sean Bruich, Facebook’s head of measurement, says that “topics related to brand or about the brand were significant predictors of increased engagement. When pages post about topics related to brands, they increase engagement.”

What Bruich says is true, because lots of times companies will try to post something that’s popular at the moment to try to stay relevant. While it’s important to stay up-to-date with things in the news, if certain topics are something that your followers won’t be interested in, then there’s no point in posting them.

Other things that Facebook says will be beneficial to brand engagement are posting photos, videos and albums to produce more “likes.” With the Timeline, it’s easier for videos and photos to be seen by users, because they take up more of the space compared to a status update. Facebook also adds that more engagement will come from asking a question in a status update or post. If it’s one that you want to be seen over the course of a few days, you can star your post so it is more visible to users.

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5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Post the Same Things on All Social Media Platforms

Posted on May 14, 2012


Social media has the opportunity to be extremely beneficial for your business. It’s a great way to connect with customers or potential customers in a more personal way. After you have created a post to share, you might think it’s simple enough to share the same update on all of your social media accounts. You should, however, not post the same thing across all sites. Here are 5 reasons why it’s in your best interest to mix things up:

1. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are All Different

Although Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are all social media sites, they’re all different. They each serve a different purpose and have different audiences.
In order to achieve maximum success, you should word your posts differently for each and include different images. If people follow you on more than one account, they’ll want to see different things and not the same posts across all sites. In order to keep users’ attention, you should mix things up.

2. Mind the Length

You want to make sure that each update for each site fits within the character limit. Twitter has a limit of 140 characters, so it’s easy to use those up quickly. Facebook’s character limit is 63,206 and Google+ doesn’t have a limit. You shouldn’t just write one 140 character post and share it across all sites. You also don’t want to write too long of a post and have your tweet be cut off.

3. It Pays to Be Social

You don’t want to have all your updates sound exactly the same, because they’ll sound more like you’re not interested in engaging. If you mix things up, you will be more interesting than just copying the same things over.

4. You Don’t Save Much Time

By posting the same thing on all of your social media accounts, you don’t really save much time. You still have to go back and reply to those that comment or reply to your posts in order to really interact with users and create a social experience out of your social media.

5. Don’t Look Spammy

Let’s face it, if you post the same exact thing on all of your social media accounts, you can come off as spammy. This makes it so that users are less likely to click on your links or reply to your posts.

So while you may not have all of the time in the world to customize each post, it really doesn’t take that long. If you share different links or posts, it will help you in the end more than if you’re just lazy or think that it doesn’t matter. If you competitors are posting the same links or posts, that doesn’t make it okay for you to do the same thing. You should strive to be as social as you can be so that users are more likely to engage with you rather than competitors.

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When to Share on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr

Posted on May 11, 2012


It’s important to make sure that your posts on Facebook and Twitter are seen by as large an audience as possible. Bit.ly, a service to shorten and track links, has released recent data that says what the best and worst times to share links on social networks are.

Twitter

For Twitter, the best time to post is early on in the week between 1 pm and 3 pm ET in order to get a high click rate. You shouldn’t tweet after 8 pm throughout the week and shouldn’t post a link on Fridays after 3 pm.

Facebook

In order to get as many clicks as possible, the best times to post links on Facebook are from 1pm to 4 pm, with the peak time being on Wednesdays at 3 pm. Anything that is posted before 8 am or after 8 pm won’t get as many clicks and neither will posting on weekends.

Tumblr

For sites like Tumblr, you should be posting after 4 pm. Traffic peaks between 7 pm and 10 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays. Tumblr acts differently than Twitter and Facebook, because most of the action is seen in the evenings.

Depending on your social networks, you should consider when you’re posting if you aren’t seeing a high click-through rate for your links in order to get as many people as possible to see and click your posts.

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Google Analytics Now Shows Who is Linking to You

Posted on May 9, 2012


Google has recently announced a new feature to Google Analytics that will be able to show you who in linking to a certain page on your website.

Google said in their announcement:

Have you ever wondered which other pages on the web link to your own? Wouldn’t it be nice to know which sites are talking about your content, and in which context? Well, a problem no more: now you can see all the backlink URL’s, post titles, and more right within the new Social reports.

If only you could crawl the web and build an accurate link graph. The good news is we already do that at Google, and are now providing this insight to Google Analytics users.

Trackbacks will be beneficial, because you’ll be able to see who is linking to the content on your pages. It allows you to see the content that is linked to the most so that you have a better understanding of what works for you.

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How to Optimize Your Twitter Profile

Posted on May 8, 2012


Twitter is getting bigger and there are plenty of things you can do to optimize your brand’s Twitter account to make sure that you’re getting the most out of tweets.

Be Real

If you’re on Twitter, you probably want to inform your followers of newsworthy posts, share blog posts with them and get them to know your brand more personally. All of these things are great, but you need to inject some personality in your tweets so that you engage users. Throw in some tweets that aren’t so business-related so that users can relate to you on a different level than solely business.

Optimize Your Profile

If your profile isn’t optimized, you need to get to doing it. It shouldn’t take long but will set you apart from your competitors. There are some important aspects you should optimize for, including:

-SEO Title

Your username on Twitter can include keywords. They can be helpful, but they’re not a must. You want to make sure that the name you select is the one of your business, if it’s still available. If it’s not, get as close to it as possible.

-Profile Image

You want an image that best represents your brand. It can be your logo or something relevant that users can easily spot in their feed. Make sure to use your company name in the filename.

-Bio Keywords

You want to make sure your bio includes keywords that will get your profile found. Twitter search engines will look at the keywords in your bio when they are recommending profiles for others to follow. Some people use hashtags in their bio. You can try this as well.

Tweet Structure

There isn’t a set way on how you should structure your tweets. Make sure that they’re true to whom your business is and that they make sense. According to Search Engine Watch, this is the order you should structure your tweets:
1. Headline or phrase
2. Link
3. Hashtags that will get you noticed by large influencers

Hashtag Tips

There are some guidelines you should follow when including hashtags in your tweets.
-You shouldn’t include more than 3 per tweet.
-To avoid coming off as spam, don’t start your tweet with a hashtag.
-Do some hashtag research to find out which ones get the most response from users.

Retweet Strategy

Retweets allow you to be seen by a larger audience. If your tweet gets retweeted, it’s most likely because that person found it to be useful and thought their followers could benefit from it as well. Don’t be afraid to ask a close friend or colleague to retweet one of your tweets in a DM if you think their followers will be interested in what you have to say. You want to make sure you’re RT any tweets you find valuable and want your name to be associated with.
There are plenty of Twitter tips, but these should get you started to making the most of your Twitter account.

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How to Make the Most of the Penguin Update

Posted on May 7, 2012


Over the years, Google has had several updates to improve its search results by reducing spam. In order to get your website to the top of search results, many people have been using sneaky tactics that are now being caught by Google. According to Search Engine Watch, the things you should avoid are:

-Hidden doorway pages
-Buying links
-Different page for engines and users
-Hidden text or hidden links
-Cloaking or redirects

You should really focus on improving the user experience and add value for your customers so that any customer or visitor keeps returning to your website. Part of your in-house SEO strategy to take action after being hit by Penguin should include several factors so that you’re not affected again by the next update.

Act Now

-Run an analytics report

If you were affected by any Google update, including Penguin, you should run a 30-day traffic report to check your website analytics to see when you were hit and how many visits you lost due to the updates.

-Keyword referrer report

In order to know which keywords lost traffic, you should run a keyword referrer report. This will help you assess how much traffic each keyword lost.

-Check keyword rankings

You’ll have to manually check your top keywords and how they rank. It’s a must for SEO!

–Check Google Webmaster Central

Check to see if you received a message if your website was affected by the update. It’s most likely you did, but if you think that your website was unjustly hit, you should send Google’s web spam team a message.

–Use link tools to see your link profile

You should run occasional reports on your inbound links in order to see your link profile.

–Run redirect tools

Make sure that no problems were caused by developers by using tools such as pingdom or webconfs.

Plan for Long Term

–Enterprise-wide guidelines and training

You should create SEO guidelines that should be followed, mainly: on-page optimization and an acceptable amount of keywords so that you don’t come off as spammy.

–Financial forecast

-If you took a drop in rankings, you should create a financial forecast on how much revenue you have lost up until now so that everyone understands just how important SEO strategies are for the company’s success.

–Clear directions for IT

Developers should have a clear understanding of what the best SEO practices are in order to be successful. They play an important role in succeeding.

-Page level keywords

You want your keywords to flow with the content on your pages. You don’t want to stuff keywords in strictly for SEO purposes. This won’t help you anymore, anyway. By having your keywords sound natural and like they should fit in, you’ll make your content flow better and be easier to read.

-Monitor links

Make sure that your inbound links are working for you and not against you. By naturally building links to reliable websites, it will be more beneficial than linking to poor-quality sites.

-On-page SEO guidelines

SEW says that “this is a must have document and should include all on-page best practices like title, meta, URL naming convention, ALT tag, H level tags, internal linking, and copywriting best practices.”

-Content and copy team

Make sure that your content and copy team aren’t going too crazy with keyword stuffing. There shouldn’t be more than three of the same keyword on a page in order for them to seem natural.

-Work closely with your agency

You should be asking appropriate questions about your link profile and things like site benchmarks and keywords so that you understand what they’re doing.
In the end, the updates will be beneficial so that there isn’t web spam and that the quality of sites is improved so that users can benefit from them more than before.

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Google News is Now Influenced by Google+

Posted on May 4, 2012


Google News got somewhat of a facelift, including larger thumbnail photos. That’s not the most significant aspect of its new look, though. News stories that appear in Google News will now be influenced by Google+.

Some other features that Google News has included are a realtime coverage page that will display news stories as soon as Google News hears about them. This will make it easier to stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the world. This will make it easier for stories to be organized.

Another aspect that will come in handy to get the opinions of others, including those in your circles, journalists and other public figures are saying about breaking news stories. This feature will only occur if you are reading the US edition and are a member of Google+ signed into your account. You’ll have the option to turn it off so that you only see headlines if that’s what you prefer.

Google says in a blog post, “Many news stories inspire vibrant discussions on Google+, and today we’re starting to add this content to both the News homepage, and the realtime coverage pages.”

These new features will be rolling out in the upcoming week to “provide users with a beautiful, consistent experience across Google.”

Do you like how Google News can now be connected to your Google+ account?

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How to Respond to Customers Online

Posted on May 3, 2012


It’s great to engage with your customers online. There will be time when they will leave a positive message about your company and there will also be those times when a customer won’t be as pleased as other times, vocalizing their thoughts to you on social media or blogs. What do you do when you have either type of customer interaction? Here are some simple tips to make sure that you do the best you can with your responses without sounding generic or insincere.

Respond Promptly

Whenever a customer leaves a comment on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media site you are on, you should be aware of it so that you are able to reply in a timely manner. You don’t want to forget about replying, because it will show other customers or potential customers that you don’t value what they have to say. You don’t have to respond to every post, but you should make it your mission to respond to the good and the bad in a helpful and rational way. This will show others that you are genuine and appreciate both good and bad comments to improve your business.

Auto-Responses

If all of your responses sound the same or a little too manufactured, people will catch onto this. You’re better off not replying if this is what you do, because it seems disingenuous.

Leave it to Those Who Know Best

If you don’t have a social media team, let the employees who deal with your customers the most handle the replies. They’re the ones who know them best, after all. Part of your social media strategy should be to make sure that those employees interacting with your customers handle these replies since they know your customers the best.

Keep it Professional

Just because your employees know your customers doesn’t mean they should get too personal on social media, blogs, comments, etc. The tone of your replies should be professional to show your business in the same light.

Keep Responses Short

Social media responses should be short and to the point. Users want to quickly browse responses, not get stuck reading long ones. If it’s an issue that needs to be addressed with a longer response, email the customer or offer to give them a call.

Thank Customers

Every time a customer gives you a compliment about your services or products, you should thank them so they know you appreciate what they have to say.

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Performing On-Page Optimization for Ecommerce Sites

Posted on May 2, 2012


In order to perform on-page optimization for your eCommerce site, there are certain elements that you should try working on to make the most out of your product pages.

Customer Reviews

Reviews are one of the most vital parts of your eCommerce website. It’s important for you to gather reviews from content customers in order to improve your business and acquiring unique content.
You want to make sure that you’re also publishing some negative reviews, because if you don’t, customers will think that you’re trying to hide something, even if your business really is that great.
Some sites send emails to customers after their purchase for them to write a review. This would be a beneficial thing for your eCommerce site, because if customers are content with what they received or if you offer them a discount on their next purchase, they’ll be willing to write a review.

Product Videos

One thing that might be sort of tricky to implement but will be beneficial in the long run is adding videos to your product pages in order to improve the content. Videos can be an opportunity to demonstrate how products work, if users might not be too familiar with a product you offer.
In searches, videos that appear in results can attract potential customers solely based on the appeal of having something visual to see in search results compared to results that don’t have videos on the page. You should make sure that you’re embedding the videos so that users can play the video on the page instead of having to open it on another site.

Q&As

If eCommerce sites have a Q&A section that answers questions about products that customers want answered. This can improve conversion rates if you answer customers that others might have about your products or services and is a great way to get user-generated content onto your product pages.

Social Sharing Buttons

With social media as big as it is, social sharing buttons offer customers the chance to share products or services they love with others that they’re connected to. You should be strategic about where you place the buttons, though, because you don’t want customers to get distracted and not make a purchase. If you place them on the confirmation page after the purchase, it will probably be a better idea.

Page Speed

Since you’re running an eCommerce website, you want to make sure that your site runs effectively and efficiently. Page speed is crucial in keeping bounce rates to a minimum. Users most likely won’t wait for a slow page to load.

Search Options

In order for users to find what they’re looking for, you should offer a search box on your website so they don’t have to click through each page. It’s easier if they’re looking for a certain product. If you’re going to have a search box, make sure that searches bring up relevant results and that plural keywords show up as well.

Call to Action

You must have a clear call to action in order to sell your products or services. You should test your product pages in order to improve conversion and increase revenue. There are many ways you can measure your calls to action including Google Analytics.

Security Badges

In order for people to give up their credit card information, they need to trust that you’re a secure site. By including security badges on your website when customers are checking out, they’ll know that you run a secure site.

Breadcrumbs Trail

Users want to be able to go back to previous screens when they’re on a product page. Breadcrumbs are helpful in doing this by linking to the pages that led to the user landing on the page that they are currently on. This can improve the user experience by making previous pages more accessible.

Images

Images on your website should be vivid and high-quality in order for users to really get a clear sense of the product. You want to make sure that your images will come up in Google image searches by changing the filename to what the product actually is instead of a generic name.

META Title

You need to create META titles for your product pages without having identical META data. For product pages, you can probably just use the product name with a brief USP or call to action in order to increase click-through rates from search results.

Product Descriptions

By having unique product descriptions instead of the generic ones that are offered by the manufacturers, you provide users with more informative content. You want to make your products stand out, so you want to include USPs along with what you offer.

Page URL

You want to make sure you don’t have duplicate product pages, so include the product names in the URLs as well as a code so that it stands out from other pages with related product names.

H1 Tags

H1 tags can have an impact on rankings, so you want to optimize your tags with the product names as the H1 tag for the corresponding pages.

Phone Number

By including a phone number, you allow customers to contact you with any questions they might have. Phone numbers should only be made available if you have someone who will be there to take calls. If you don’t have anyone assigned to this, there isn’t much a point. Perhaps email is the best way to contact you in this case…just makes sure you’re answering emails promptly.

Company Information

By including your location, it can help when it comes to ranking for those keywords, especially if you’re a local business.

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