Search Engine Marketing Blog

By Herb Firestone
Marketing Coordinator

Today’s videos both present the same message, namely, in order to create a viral video, you need strategic marketing.

The first is a CNN interview with Stanford University student Dan Ackerman Greenberg, who at age 22. already owns three Internet businesses.

Dan Ackerman Greenberg Talks Viral Videos on CNN

The second is a parody of the CNN interview video remixed by a how to video sharing site called 5 Minutes.

Exclusive! Leaked! How to make Viral Videos!

At any rate, hidden away somewhere within are nine strategies for creating viral videos:

Rule #1: Keep it short, 15 to 30 seconds and don’t make an outright ad, because viewers will never share ads. Make it easy to remix so that other YouTube users are able to remix it, add their own personal touches and re-upload it as their own – which is exactly what was done in the parody version below.

Rule #2: Attempt to get your video to the YouTube daily most viewed list by promoting it on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and influential blogs.

Rule #3: Optimize the title and make it catchy.

Rule #4: Manipulate the thumbnail. Otherwise YouTube automatically creates the thumbnail from exactly the halfway point of the video.

Rule #5: Engage viewers to make comments. Speaking of comments, please feel free to make one on this post.

Rule #6: Release all videos simultaneously as opposed to one after the other.

Rule #7: Optimize your video tags and descriptions.

Rule #8: Measure effectiveness with metrics and traffic.

Rule #9: Summarize. (Please see 1-8 above)

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Eric Brantner

SEO Content Writer

If you have Gmail, you’re probably familiar with the targeted advertisements that are constantly thrown your way every time you check your mail. Admittedly, some of these links are of great interest to me. Recently, there was one advertisement that really piqued my interest. It was an ad promising over 1,000 one way links to your website.

The ad reeked of spam, and I just had to dig deeper to find out more about it. Essentially, the site said that if you paid around $100 per month, you could get all the free links you want.

From what I understand, the way it works is everyone submits their website to this directory. Businesses then go through the directory and choose the sites they want inbound links from. To those who don’t know better, this seems like a great way to build backlinks quickly and easily.

But there are several things wrong with this link exchange system.

• Quality of Links- I’ll take 10 high quality links over 1,000 bargain basement links every time. It’s not the number of links that’s so important. Quality trumps quantity nearly every time. It’s fairly safe to assume that the links on this website aren’t from high quality sources. If you’re a site with lots of trust from the search engines, you probably wouldn’t feel the need to sign up for a link exchange scam. No, the websites in this link building directory are more likely low quality, spammy pages trying to take shortcuts.
• Link Relevancy- The relevancy of your inbound links is another important factor in determining how effective they are. A site with a bunch of random, irrelevant websites linking to it looks a bit suspicious. It screams “I’m trying to manipulate the search results” to the search engines. Furthermore, irrelevant links send irrelevant traffic to your site. A quality link will send targeted, quality visitors to your website who are more likely to become customers.
• Paying for Unnatural Links- The bottom line of this advertisement is you are paying for links. Paying to have people link to your website is dangerous and a poor link building strategy. The best links are those you acquire naturally from having great content that people want to link to. Always focus on natural link building, and you’ll be better off for it.

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Eric Brantner

SEO Content Writer

 

Social networking has become the newest tool in the brand building arsenal. Many would argue that Twitter is the hottest social network on the scene. For this reason, businesses are Tweeting their hearts out with the hopes that they’ll have a stronger brand at the end of the day. To help you make the most impact on Twitter, I’ve come up with a list of tips on using this social network for your business.

1. Share the Love- Although the ultimate goal for your Twitter profile is to build your brand, it’s important to remember that every Tweet shouldn’t be an advertisement. The most effective Tweeters are those who share insightful links from around the internet. Instead of just promoting links to your own content, find other interesting articles from around the web. Doing this will help build your authority as an industry resource. It will cause your followers to pay even more attention to you.
2. Announce Time Sensitive Events- The great thing about Twitter is its real time interaction. Many people have the network connected to their phone so they can be updated whenever new content is posted. Take advantage of this quick interaction by posting time sensitive information. For example, you could announce a special discount that is only available for a few hours. Or, you can break industry news by being the first to post about it.
3. Add the Right People- Many times, our first instinct is to start blindly adding friends when we join a social network. There are a couple of reasons this isn’t the best practice for your business account on Twitter. First, the site limits the number of people you can follow to 2,000. While this may seem like a lot, it’s not. Second, you want to make sure the people you’re networked with actually care about what you’re posting—and vice versa. Search through Twitter to find people with similar interests, and your communications will be far more effective.
4. Interact with the Community- Posting to Twitter goes far beyond simply telling your followers to check out this link you found. Twitter is a social network; so, be social. The Tweeters who command the most attention are the ones who interact with their followers. Post thoughtful responses to their Tweets, and they will begin to feel they know you and your company. It’s all about building a relationship with your audience.
5. Post Regularly- You don’t want to be the person that posts so often that everyone ignores what you say, but you also don’t want to be a ghost. You should post at least a few times each day. This keeps your company in the awareness of your followers. Regular posting also helps your readers learn more about you which will make them more comfortable doing business with you one day.

 

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Eric Brantner

SEO Content Author

Choosing an SEO provider is one of the most important marketing decisions your company will ever make. Choose the wrong agency, and you’ll end up flushing money down the toilet. But if you choose the right SEO company, you will see an increase in brand exposure and sales. For this reason, I have come up with a list of 7 questions to ask an SEO provider before you hire them.

1. What have you achieved for your clients? Talk is cheap. You need to separate all the sales hype from reality. The best way to determine if an SEO company is right for you is to ask them for referrals and testimonials. Have the SEO company show you exactly how they have improved the search engine rankings of their existing clients. As the saying goes, “The proof is in the pudding.”
2. Will you analyze my competitors’ websites? There is a good chance at least one of your competitors has an SEO plan in place. The most effective way to combat their plan is to analyze their website. Your SEO provider should offer this analysis as part of their service. If they aren’t aware of the current state of affairs in your competitive market, how can they properly optimize you site?
3. How will you find keywords for my site to target? This is one of the most important questions to ask. Many of the shady SEO firms trick their unsuspecting clients by getting them great rankings for keywords no one searches for. Your SEO agency should have clear standards defining why they choose the keywords they do. Additionally, they should provide you with average search volume for the chosen keywords.
4. What link building techniques will you use? Link building is the backbone of any solid SEO strategy. Without inbound links, you will have a difficult time earning the search engines’ trust. Ask the SEO company for specific ways they plan on increasing your inbound links. If they speak in vague terms instead of naming specific tactics, you should consider looking elsewhere for your SEO services.
5. Will you be optimizing my website content? As tired as everyone is of hearing the saying, it still remains true- “content is king.” Some SEO companies try to take shortcuts by simply placing keywords in title tags and urls and nowhere else. The only way to achieve long term success in the search engines is to fully optimize your site. The content on your page is, perhaps, the most important area that needs to be optimized.
6. Do you service any other clients in my niche? If you don’t hear a “no” to this question, it’s probably time to start walking. Your SEO agency should not be servicing clients that compete with you. It’s a clear conflict of interest. An ethical SEO agency will only handle one client from a particular niche. This prevents a situation in which two clients are competing for the same keywords.
7. Do you use ethical SEO practices? We all know there are some shady SEO agencies out there. You don’t want to get involved with one because it could result in your website being banned permanently from Google. Always ask your SEO provider if they use generally accepted SEO practices.

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Eric Brantner

SEO Content Writing

After last Friday’s pilot episode of Internet Marketing Roundup, we are back for a second installment. Like I explained last week, the point of this roundup is to provide a one stop shop for the best internet marketing posts from the past week on both our blog and those from around the web. This week, some very informative posts were created; so, let’s get right to it.

On the D1 Blog

A couple of posts here on the home front that might have slipped past you:

• On Monday, I talked about the importance of managing your online reputation. What do people see when they type your name in the search engine? If you don’t know, you better find out, because you could be losing potential sales. Monitoring your online reputation is an important piece of your overall marketing strategy, and it should be done routinely.
• Yesterday, Herb Firestone posted a blog entitled “Defining Social Media.” The post gave us some great resources that really explain social media in a way everyone can understand. There’s no doubt social media is an important brand building tool that companies should be taking advantage of.

 

Around the Web

When I’m not writing, I’m reading. Here are a few of the posts I enjoyed this past week.

• Tom Critchlow made a great post about one of the most effective link building techniques around. Tom suggests finding websites that used to offer services similar to yours but no longer do. After you’ve identified these websites, you then find out who is linking to them. Simply inform those webmasters that the site they are linking to no longer offers those services, and suggest they link to you instead.
• Earlier in the week, Brent Csutoras broke a story about Twitter limiting the number of people you can follow to 2000. By limiting your following capabilities, Twitter hopes to combat the problem of spammers. Do you think this is an effective way to eliminate spam on Twitter?
• One of my favorite bloggers is Alex Cristache over at Blogsessive. This week, he wrote a post examining where or not content really is king. The post is full of great information bloggers from every industry can use. If you follow his tips, you will have a cleaner, more effective blog that helps build your brand.

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By Herb Firestone
Marketing Coordinator

Wikipedia defines social media as “an umbrella term that defines the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio.”

The following resources, Commoncraft’s “Social Media in Plain English” video and Marta Kagen’s “What the Bleep is Social Media” SlideShare presentation provide much more user friendly and easy to understand explanations.

“Social Media in Plain English” explains that social media means new opportunities to create and communicate with people that care” while “What the Bleep is Social Media” says that “more simply put, social media is people having conversations online.

Social Media in Plain English

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