Posts Tagged ‘blogging’

Measuring Success and Popularity by the Number of Attacks

Monday, August 10th, 2009

angry-woman-733632

What is the only thing worse than people talking badly about your business/blog/employees/product/services?

Having no one talking about them!

This is the “you’re nobody until you’re somebody” concept, and frankly, no one discusses nobodies.

Like most businesses/blogs/etc, you probably have your share of both positive and negative feedback. And if you don’t have ANY feedback…then you aren’t being noticed!

The internet has always been a place for people to opine about whatever is on their mind. Sites like Twitter make it even easier for people to put in their two cents worth.

Whether anyone cares to listen is another story, but that doesn’t stop a good portion of the nearly 1.6 billion global internet users from writing articles, commenting on blogs and creating Photoshop images.

But the sad fact is that unless someone is attacking your name or bashing on your blog post, you simply don’t have enough exposure!

No one likes to read negative comments about your theories on SEO and brand management, or what Jon and Kate are up to lately. That being said though – I’d rather see SOMEONE commenting than nothing at all.

[Let me preface this next part by saying neither I, nor USASEOPros necessarily agrees or disagrees with any particular comment or opinion that we are sharing below. All of the examples are from individuals/sites that we respect and follow daily.]

Let’s look at some of the most influential people and successful Web sites on the internet…

…starting with TechCrunch.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a site that is so simultaneously loved and despised by its viewers.

arrington-techcrunch

Comments like the one above are common on just about every post. And it isn’t just founder Michael Arrington who is (at times) reviled. MG Siegler of TechCrunch recently had a relatively public spat with “Rock Cookie Bottom” who created a musical jingle for the Bing search engine.

At least there’s something that Rock Cookie Bottom can take away from this: he received a LOT of exposure from TechCrunch’s articles and opinions.

Then there is the SEO-force-to-be-reckoned-with Graywolf (Michael Gray).

Certainly no stranger to controversy, and never one to back down from an opinion, Graywolf is often either attacking, or being attacked on any given day.

His post about Sarah Lacy (again, from TechCrunch) and what Graywolf believes to be sponsored posts generated quite a bit of discussion from both sides of the fence.

graywolf-techcrunch

Graywolf has made quite a name for himself in the SEO industry simply because he is fearless in the face of attacks, and I have yet to see him back down – even from sometime-friend-sometime-enemy Lisa Barone.

Lisa is another example of someone who won’t back down from an attack, and uses her blog on Outspoken Media to share some very strong opinions about SEO and online marketing.

Some of it is controversial, and some of it is spot on, but it’s all designed to nurture conversation and force thought.

Then you’ve got Randfish (Rand Fishkin) of SEOmoz. He has posted some great articles about the industry, but he’s also been attacked. This article on SEORefugee highlighted some actions by Rand that seemed to the author to be irresponsible and unprofessional.

We’ll stay out of that argument, but it does go to show the importance of actually being SOMEONE. If Rand wasn’t Rand and wasn’t an integral part of the industry-respected SEOmoz, Skitzzo wouldn’t have had an article to write. No one cares what mommy-blogger #9017 has to say about Passion Parties – until #9017 actually is read by people!

A blog/business/Web site/etc requires a lot of work. Getting noticed, and KEEPING the attention of your readers and/or clients can be a challenge.

Controversy is a great way to snag readers and will almost guarantee a comment or two. Negative commenting or disagreeing isn’t always a bad thing. Hopefully you can stir up a conversation and keep some of the readers that visit because of the hot topic.

That’s how Lisa Barone grabbed me as a reader with her article on Links and Sex (GREAT title!)….and she’s kept me as a reader with thought provoking articles like the Power of the Unexpected.

Be someone that others are going to talk about. Be thought-provoking and discuss topics working talking about. Maybe even be a bit controversial. But more than anything…be yourself. I admire Michael and Lisa if for no other reason than they are who they are and they won’t conform just because someone else doesn’t like it!

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Managing a Blog for SEO and Marketing

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

blog-keyboard

So you have a blog. Great, but now what?

Blogging can be for both personal use and professional use, and each should follow some sort of guidelines for properly managing the blog. How?

I use the social networking site LinkedIn as a way to stay connected to certain fields, like the PR, marketing and communication industries.

The other day, a discussion started in the Public Relations and Communication Professionals group about how frequently you should blog and whether there should be a set schedule. This got me to thinking…

Assuming that SOMEONE out there reads your blog, does that make you responsible (liable) for providing them fresh reading material on a set schedule?

What happens if you take a vacation for a week? Or maybe you simply don’t have anything creative or worthwhile to say for several days…do you have an obligation to your readers to spew out less-than-quality content merely for the purpose of posting?

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Tim Walker, a public speaker and social media manager for Hoover’s, piped in to say that a blogger should pick a schedule that they can keep up with, and then stick to it.

That’s sage advice to be sure, but life sometimes throws a wrench in to even the best laid plans.

If you run the blog for a business, then I probably would advise not to let too much time slip by before you run a new blog post. But what if your creativity runs dries for a few days? Do you run a greater risk of driving your readers away by not keeping to your five-posts-a-week schedule, or by posting pure drivel?

I would prefer to take a day or two (or 5) off from writing than write something that I wouldn’t be proud to have my readers read.

Are some posts stronger and more popular than others? Sure.

But the best writing is based on topics that the writer feels passionately about. Trying to drag yourself through 500 words because you feel obligated to your readers won’t result in a good article.

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Now if the goal of your blog is to promote a company and use the blog for SEO opportunities and branding or marketing, the last thing you want is a series of sub-par articles. What better way to drive away your audience and potential consumers by showcasing your apathy towards a subject?

Your best bet is to keep to some sort of schedule, but remain flexible. Don’t force out a blog post just because it’s the day to post. If you can’t find/don’t have a topic you feel is really worth writing – why would someone find it worth their time reading?

In my opinion, the best way to manage your blog is to write as frequently as you have inspiration. Don’t force it, but don’t let too much time slip by either! Write for yourself as much as you write for your audience, and you’ll ultimately end up with a higher quality blog!

By: Zack S.

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Posted in Blog Posts | 1 Comment »

6 Tips for Behavior and Managing Social Media Community Profiles

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

Congratulations, you’ve gotten your company or brand name on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg and a number of other social media sites…but now what?

Your first post or two was rejected by the community and marked as spam even though another community accepted it. You tried to comment on a post and got thumbed down. Meanwhile, your Twitter profile, which quickly gained 250 followers has now sunk to 89, and you haven’t tweeted more than once a week for the past month.

Social media Web site profiles and accounts can be a powerful and effective way to reach out to your audience, but they need to be handled with care and thought.

#1 Don’t simply leap into community discussion without first listening. This means don’t submit your latest blog post, just because you love it, to each and every social news site. Spend some time on the site and see what is accepted and what gets rejected.

Every site has different moderators, different rules, and different levels of community acceptance. Twitter is fairly straightforward. You’re welcome to spam your stream with self-promotion, and nobody can give you a thumbs down – but they can unfollow you.

When I write a blog article for USASEOPros, I don’t always rush out to submit it to Sphinn – an internet marketing news and discussion forum. I try to participate in the community, “sphinn” articles that others have submitted that I enjoyed reading and found relevant and yes – submit some of my own stuff.

But not everything will get through, and that’s going to be something you’ll want to keep track of. If your first five submits were accepted on Reddit, but you last one wasn’t, what was different with it?

#2 This really should go without saying, but unless it’s a political or religious site, or that’s what your company is involved with, keep politics and religion out of your discussion.

Those are two topics that cannot result in a victorious argument – one that is sure to generate. Someone somewhere will disagree with your stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and you’re simply going to end up in a flame war, potentially damaging your brand name.

#3 Try to be professional. This varies site to site, but if you’re managing a company profile on Twitter, then tweeting about Pamela Anderson’s latest foray isn’t acceptable.

I found this interesting blog post about never LOL-ing on Reddit. If you’re trying to promote a business or brand, that’s probably sound advice.

Keep your responses to blog comments and your own comments to thoughtful, professional language. If someone disagrees with your post, thank them for reading the article, and perhaps offer a (polite) rebuttal of your own.

#4 Don’t make it all about you. If you’re managing your company Twitter account, don’t make it a habit to only tweet about your own stuff. Share industry-related things that interest you AS A PERSON. Make the people who follow your feed feel like there is a real person behind the profile page, not just a corporate entity.

I wrote an article about Twitter spam, and I said one of the easiest ways to drive people away from following you is by only posting about yourself and automating the process.

Yes, Twitter can be exploited and used by a number of automated systems. You can schedule your messages to go off every 12 minutes for a certain period of time on a certain day. You can auto-DM and auto-follow people, but are those things that really going to get you the results you’re looking for?

Having 12,000 Twitter followers is surely an ego-booster, but what if 11,824 of them never click on your links and never read your blogs or shared articles?

I would prefer to have just 100 followers if I knew that all 100 of them were actively engaged with my content and communicating constructively with me.

The same goes for sites like Reddit, Digg, etc. Please don’t let your ego get the best of you on these social sites. Other companies and other people can write quality content and can create something shareable. Don’t shy away from spreading the good word!

#5 Try not to simply dip your toes with these sites. You’ll see much better results if you actively manage your Twitter account day to day, rather than simply appearing now and then after you’ve written a new blog post or your company submitted a press release.

We have several team members who are active on a large number of social media sites, every single day. Yes, as an individual it can get a little crazy to manage 22 different accounts and post, comment, and digg every day, so you might pick just a few to get start.

#6 Trolling has (unfortunately) become part of social media – try not to let personal emotions affect your responses.

If you manage social media accounts for a business, you’re representing more than just yourself online. You have an entire company that you’re speaking for, intentionally or not. Just because someone lashes out at you on a social media site does not mean you need to bare your fangs.

In fact, it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to run across someone who flat out doesn’t like you or your company. Deal with it professionally. The Air Force has a (now) famous blog assessment chart that pretty accurately dictates what your type of response should be.

Air Force Blog Assesment

Air Force Blog Assesment

More than anything when it comes to social media, remember that this is an important avenue to reach out directly to the people you hope to sell to/work with. Keep it composed, keep it professional, and keep it friendly!

By: Zack S.

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The 8 Sites You Must Target for Online Marketing Success

Monday, May 18th, 2009

It’s hard to argue with raw numbers. We spent some time scouring Alexa for Web site statistics, and have come up with a ranking of sorts for social media sites.

Everyone knows that Twitter is the big up and comer. If your business isn’t already utilizing this powerful real-time site, you need to be!

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But did you know that as a business, you should focus more on Twitter than you should on Digg? Or that Buzznet is likely your best bet for promoting your band? How about that more German internet users use Twitter than Indian users, but India trumps Germany on StumbleUpon?

So without further ado, and it absolute order, here are the 8 sites you MUST target for online marketing success.

1. YouTube.

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We’ve all visited the site. There are well over 100 million videos on the site – perhaps closer to 200 million. The top videos on the site have attracted over 100 million views.

While it’s a safe assumption that your latest marketing video about the incredible health effects of acai berries won’t reach that number, if you’re creative with it, you very well may go viral.

YouTube pulls in some 18.06 percent of global internet users. That’s behind only Google and Yahoo, according to Alexa. YouTube also has 489,059 sites linking into it. Thanks to the embed feature found on most YouTube videos, that will only grow.

So what can you do to target your audience on YouTube?

Well the most obvious place to start is to join as a member and create a user name – ideally your business name. Make some constructive comments on other videos that interest you, and that have to do with your industry.

As much as you enjoy the latest Mariah Carey music video, your business account shouldn’t be used for simply saying “That’s awesome!”

Your next step is to upload some content of your own. If your business is the sales, installation and maintenance of pools, then adding some video of an actual installation might generate some interest in the niche community.

Or how about creating a video with you sharing your professional insights and tips for pool maintenance and chemicals? Sure, you’re giving away some free advice – but you’re also establishing yourself as a trusted authority on the subject.

Google is also very fond of YouTube videos, and they will rank very well if you take some time and consideration before you name and describe your videos. A title of “Personal Pool Maintenance Tips and Tricks” would probably rank very well on the search engines.

2. Twitter.

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It seems we can’t go anywhere these days without hearing about Twitter. Celebrities are talking about it. Talk shows are talking about it. Even the White House is on Twitter!

But how can you make it work for your business?

Again – the first step is to get on there! If you aren’t already, you better hope your business name isn’t already taken. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt to head over to NameChk and see what sites still have your business name available. Then get to signing up!

Twitter will work best if you pair it with a blog (see #3 on this list). That way you can write content on the blog and share it on Twitter.

Assuming you can provide some engaging content, others will re-tweet your information, and your name and blog can be spread around the community.

I would also suggest using Twitter to form some relationships with others in your industry or related industries. Look for people who may have similar business interests.

Maybe someone who offers pool cleaning services would serve as a solid “tweep” on Twitter. You can share with your followers their latest sales offer, and they can recommend you to people who are looking to invest in a pool.

Twitter also serves as a great way to monitor what people are saying about your company and industry. While you probably won’t see exposure and discussion on the same level as you will about Southwest Airlines, you might run across a tweet or two about the cost estimates on a new pool or what the best chemical brands are to use.

There’s your chance to jump into the discussion and offer people some professional, valuable insight!

3. Blogger.

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You can actually use any blogging service site like WordPress, or have one built into your home page, but we chose Blogger due to its rank and global exposure.

Blogger pulls in 8.29 percent of global internet users and has over 430,000 sites linking to it. Compare that to WordPress at 4.76 percent and 135,535 sites linking in. Either one will serve its purpose, but more internet users are familiar with Blogger than WordPress.

A blog is your company’s chance to engage in discussion with your audience. It serves as an excellent way to reach out to your potential customers and provide them with news, information, offers and upcoming events.

When USASEOPros wanted to have an online sale, we first announced it on our SEO blog and then our Twitter account.

A lot of companies use a blog as a means for the CEO to communicate with the community. A blog gives the company a more personal feel to it, and makes it seem friendlier.

Not everyone wants to do business with “Joe’s Pools”, but if they can see a picture of Joe and read his thoughts and insights into the industry, they may find him and his company more approachable.

Any time you are writing online, I would suggest keeping in mind some simple search engine optimization techniques. You are of course writing for your audience, but don’t forget that search engines will find your blog too.

Use some key words that pertain to your industry and that will rank well on search engines like Google. Maybe title one of your blog entries like “Insight and Hints for Maintaining your Pool from Joe’s Pools”.

If people comment on your blog posts, respond to them! You can gain some great feedback from blog comments, and if you are able to answer their questions, you may just earn yourself another client!

4. Wikipedia.

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This one is a little tough. Wikipedia cracks down on promoting for promotion’s sake. You can’t simply add an entry about Joe’s Pools and say how great it is and expect the entry to last.

But if you can offer up a valid, informative Wikipedia.org entry, it very well may last. You can use the entry to link to your website, your blog, and include industry information.

Best of all, Wikipedia.org ranks very well on sites like Google and Yahoo. A Wikipedia entry about your company could quickly come to dominate the search results for key words in your industry.

If you’re successful, you’ll enjoy the fact that visitors come to Wikipedia a whopping 14.57 percent from Google. This means that nearly 15 percent of people first do a search on Google, and then head to Wikipedia to learn more.

Wouldn’t it be nice if they were heading to YOUR Wiki entry to learn more about YOUR company?

5. LinkedIn.

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This is a networking site of over 25 million users who are billed as experienced professionals. Over 150 industries are represented, and users are connected through jobs, education, and friendships.

The site is an excellent place to find a professional in your industry, in your neighborhood. As a business owner, you can connect to colleagues, clients and partners. With a profile, you’re also increasing you business exposure and visibility in a professional networking environment.

LinkedIn can also help you target direct sales for your company.

While LinkedIn may not be the greatest solution for our fictitious “Joe’s Pools”, it might work wonders for an office supply company or a human resources company.

If you would like to learn more about the incredible power of LinkedIn, here’s a great article about effective LinkedIn marketing. It’s a little old (2007), but much of the information is still relevant.

6. Digg.

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Digg is a social news site that is essentially a central hub of information. Users can “digg” information they deem interesting, and the most “dugg” articles will find their way to the top of the site.

Start by creating a user profile with your company, and then get to reading and posting. We have an article about this called Spinning, Digging, Stumbling and Beyond: Profit for Free Online if you would like some more thoughts on this topic.

Digg has become one of the go-to sites for the latest and greatest internet news, photos, videos and articles. Users link the original content to Digg’s site, and then you can start digging from there.

Again, this is a site that will really benefit if you are able to offer your own content. Publish your videos on YouTube and then put them on Digg. Write a blog post, and then head over to Digg.

Users head to Digg as a news/entertainment aggregate – make sure they’re finding your company there!

The United States and India are the two biggest users of Digg. Over 43 percent of Digg’s traffic comes from the U.S., while India contributes over 13 percent. It’s important to keep in mind your potential target audience with each of these sites as not every site it big in every country.

If you happen to own a company that does exporting to India – or you’ve been considering making a move overseas, Digg might be one of your best bets for attracting interest there. Our number 8, StumbleUpon, gets 16 percent of its traffic from the country too, while Indian users make up over 14 percent on LinkedIn.

7. Facebook.

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With the raging popularity of Facebook these days, you might be a little surprised to see this one so far down the list.

It’s not because of Facebook’s lack of reach. Nearly 17 percent of global internet users visit Facebook, and the average time on the site tops out over 25 minutes a day.

But Facebook is not LinkedIn. It CAN serve as a professional profile, but the largest portion of users fall within the 18-24 age range.

Jello shots and keg stands may make for a fun picture, but they probably won’t help you sell your office supplies.

Creating a fan page can work for Coca Cola, but will it work for “Joe’s Pools”? Probably not.

That being said, it is probably a good idea for Joe to have a profile page, complete with information about his company, what he offers and how to get in touch with Joe for a beautiful new pool.

Facebook is a wonderful resource for targeting specific age groups, but it’s more valuable to small businesses as an advertising site than a networking site.

The site can be a gold mine for companies that offer consumable products (think Red Bull, the Whopper, and the aforementioned Coca Cola), but unless you’re hawking the hottest new energy drink or a brand new line of clothing, you’re probably better off focusing most of your social network efforts elsewhere.

8. StumbleUpon.

stumbleupon-logo

StumbleUpon is another social news site, similar to Digg, which works as an internet aggregate. It pulls in content that is “stumbled” by its users, and promotes the content on its site.

Although smaller in size than Digg, StumbleUpon still has a very respectable 118,000 sites linking into it.

Again, you’re going to want to create a user profile with your company name and then use the site to become part of the community: comment and “stumble” interesting blogs and articles while sharing your own content.

There are a number of other sites similar to StumbleUpon and Digg. Mixx is one that seems to be growing in numbers, but it’s still much smaller than these two.

It’s better to focus your efforts on a few of these sites instead of trying to spread your efforts and energy thin. You’ll get a much better response if you can spend some real time on StumbleUpon and Digg than if you scatter your content about.

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So there you have it. Our 8 sites you must target for online marketing success.

You’ll notice that many of these sites work well together. That’s the idea. You should have a network of sites that promote your business and build an online identity of your company.

There are some interesting statistics that link many of these sites together as well.

For YouTube, Facebook was the third most popular upstream link and the second most popular downstream link.

Over 9 percent of LinkedIn visitors came to the site after first visiting Facebook. Twitter is the fifth most visited site after visitors stop by Digg – they’re probably heading off to tweet about an article they found!

Through it all, Google reigns supreme though. Amongst all 8 sites, every single number one upstream AND downstream site was Google.

That means that users are first searching for content on Google, finding a profile or content on one of these 8 sites, and then heading there.

It also means that after reading or watching the content on those 8 sites, Internet users are heading back to Google to learn more. Clearly you want to get your business name on the top of Google!

With our sites, we started from the top, and worked our way on down. First and foremost is the content. From YouTube videos to Tweeting to a blog, you MUST give your audience something to digest.

You cannot promote your company on sites like Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Digg, Facebook and StumbleUpon with giving them something to talk about.

Bonnie Rait had it right all along apparently.

By: Zack S.

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Sphinning, Digging, Stumbling and Beyond: Profit for Free Online

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Let’s start by stating the obvious: the internet has exploded the business and income potential for companies of all sizes, bloggers, design artists etc.

Blogging sites like WordPress, Blogger and Typepad have given everyone – from CEOs to stay at home moms – the ability to share thoughts and perspectives about virtually any subject. In fact, in March of 2008, some 188 million people worldwide had started a blog. I suspect that number is significantly larger today.

The rise in power of the blog and the sheer volume of communicators out there is a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, you can find opinions and information about virtually ANYTHING online. Chances are somebody somewhere knows something about what you’re looking for.

But on the other hand, if you’re trying to communicate with your audience in a constructive way, there are those 188 million+ bloggers out there all clamoring for the same audience share.

How can you rise above the mediocrity of the masses and reach the very people you want to do business with?

Enter sites like Digg, Reddit, Sphinn, StumbleUpon, Technorati and many, many more. If you’re interested in whether or not your online user name is taken on over 100 social media sites like these, I’d suggest you visit Namechk. They may clue you in to a niche social media site that you can be using too.

The communities that form these sites are remarkably good at promoting Web sites, blogs and articles of value throughout the Internet. If you’re able to write in a creative and interesting manner, you can bet these communities will share your stories, discuss your content and link to you site.

No matter what industry you work in, there is probably a niche social market for you to be using. Digg is known to share virtually any information the community likes, but sites like Sphinn are tailored specifically to their niche. Like punk rock music? Visit Buzznet. Enjoy a healthy political debate? Try Politics4all.

So how do you profit for free online? Well we all know exposure = $$ on the Internet (assuming of course you aren’t just receiving negative exposure). So if you think you can muster up some writing skills and actively create content about your industry and engage your readers, more will flock to your site.

Better still, if you submit your blog or articles to sites like Technorati, Reddit and Digg, the community will push your content for you.

The catch? Well the catch is being a thought leader in your industry and creatively sharing those thoughts. It doesn’t whether you manufacture drum kits or you run a home EBay business. Share your ideas about the latest band and what their drummer is using. Discuss EBay seller templates and creative marketing ideas you use to increase the number of bidders.

Most importantly, have some fun with it! Your knowledge about your business and your industry is your chance to reach out to people. Ask questions to your readers and respond to their comments. Comment on other Diggs. Give an interesting article a Sphinn. Become an engaged member of the online community and recognize it as an excellent way to boost your real world profits!

By: Zack S.

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