07 Sep 2010
The following post is taken from my article on Search Engine Watch a couple weeks ago. As long as these articles continue receiving relatively good responses on SEW (indicating they are of interest), I’ll also be publishing them here. Enjoy!
A search engine’s ultimate mission is to serve the most relevant information it can. But from a search perspective, the emergence of social media has essentially expanded what’s relevant.
While many refer to this subject matter as social media optimization (SMO), I prefer social search optimization due to the specificity. The end game is simple, and nothing new under the sun: maximizing the visibility of relevant content for those looking for it.
But First, a Real War Story
My good friend, Valerie, was recently looking for a job. In anticipation of the process, she updated her LinkedIn profile and did some house cleaning on her Facebook page.
Considering…
...Continue Reading
22 Mar 2010
I often encounter this issue: Brands have a multi-million dollar campaign running across multiple platforms (print, T.V., web) and a Facebook page that was started then abandoned months ago. Just today I stumbled across some numbers from Emarketer on social media integration in ad campaigns, and it got me thinking about this issue. As you can see, the numbers are so-so, with just 41% of campaigns integrating third party social networking sites. Compare that with the fact that 55.6 million adults in the U.S. visit social networking sites monthly, and you realize there is a serious disconnect going on here.
Fear of the Social
We constantly hear from people who think that getting into the world of social media is a terrifying leap from the traditional media they are used to.
...Continue Reading
12 Mar 2010
I had the pleasure of talking with Charlene Li from the Altimeter Group last night – and she brought up the point of how search engine optimization is completely changing.
At the risk of paraphrasing, she basically indicated the importance of optimizing web pages is going away. If you consider how referral traffic is migrating from search engines to social networks, I’d say it’s easy to agree.
Of course, what we are seeing is search engines staying relevant by indexing social content. Case and point: I do a quick search on Google for “iPad” – and what do you know: My friend and business partner, James Clark, shows up on the first page of the search results.
Wow, over 48 million results, and his mug comes up on the first page? Yes, because Google is now recognizing and leveraging the relevance of social connections.
And although the optimization of web pages may be bearing less weight,…
...Continue Reading
15 Oct 2009
**This article outlines a personal experience with a client, leading them from search marketing success into social media and word of mouth marketing. To respect their privacy, I will only refer to them as ‘The Client’.**
Five years ago, search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising were only beginning to take shape as legitimate lead generation and marketing strategies. At the time, SEO and PPC were cutting edge marketing strategies – many brands and companies had heard the buzz surrounding SEO and PPC, but were unable to pinpoint strategy or purpose behind it.
Today, SEO and PPC have evolved into common marketing strategies for brands to place their marketing budget. Companies understand the huge opportunities that exist within search marketing for return on investment. Social media, conversely, exists much like SEO and PPC did five years ago. Companies and brands are keen to explore the social media space, but are often…
...Continue Reading
peterahall:
BrandonSings:
dominicdimarco:
AndyinColor:
lpmaynard:
Room_214:
JamesOClark:
bencastelli:
JasonCormier: