Google just took big steps to make search more secure. What it means for marketers? Time to rethink your SEO strategy.
Think search marketing is old fashioned? Maybe, but it's still probably the source of your most valuable customers. The thing is, the way you handle SEO has just changed for good--but not in a way that will make you happy.
What Happened
Google has just moved to secure search. That is, all searches are now performed using HTTPS rather than just those for people who are signed into their Google accounts. Put in non-technical terms, that means that Google will no longer pass keyword search data to websites. That means you can't track users by the keywords they've used.
Knowing keywords is vital in online marketing because that's how you know what prospects and customers were looking for when they show up at your virtual doorstep. You might be able to adjust your content and targeted keywords and then see how each change affects trends, but forget real time. You're running blind. Here's how integrated marketing firm V3 puts it:
For instance, if I've got a client that sells little girls' accessories, and I know there's a lot of search traffic for the phrase "girls red tutu" (instead of, say, the phrase "red tutus for girls") I'm going to make sure my product descriptions on the website use that phrase, my blog content uses that phrase and my social media content utilizes that phrase. That's like using honey to draw the bees. You do the homework to find out what it is they are searching for, then make sure your marketing messages and content speak in the language customers and prospects use when they are searching.
The change at Google doesn't affect what other search engines like Bing do, but let's get real: Google has maintained about two-thirds of the search market. When you lose Google, you lose the big majority of the keyword data you used to get.
As V3 notes, this isn't a death knell. It takes the emphasis off getting on the first page of Google and puts it onto creating content that provides real value to customers and prospects. Simplistic strategies such as relying on the right combination of a few words lose power. Instead, you need the expertise to create what people will actually want to read, view, and hear. However, make no mistake: this is one major upset and a lot of marketers will have to make some big shifts.
Article curated from Inc. Magazine
Facebook boasts the largest and richest demographic, Twitter has a
surprisingly young user network, and 68 percent of Instagram's users are
women.
Each social media
platform has cultivated a unique identity thanks to the demographics of
the people who participate in the network. Some platforms are preferred
by young adults, who are most active in the evening, others by
high-income professionals, who are posting throughout the workday.
We explained in a recent report why many brands and businesses need platform-focused social media strategies, rather than a diluted strategy that aims to be everywhere at once.
In a new report from BI Intelligence, we break down the demographics of each major social media
platform to help brands and businesses decide which networks they
should prioritize. Being able to identify the demographics of social
media audiences at a granular level is the basis for all targeted marketing
and messaging. The report also spotlights the opportunities that lie
ahead for each social network, how demographics affect usage patterns,
and why some platforms are better for brands than others.
Here are some of our surprising findings:
Facebook still skews young, but the 45- to
54-year-old age bracket has seen 45% growth since year-end 2012. Among
U.S. Internet users, 73% with incomes above $75,000 are on Facebook
(compared to 17% who are on Twitter). Eight-six percent of Facebook's
users are outside the U.S.
Instagram: Sixty-eight percent of Instagram's users are women.
Twitter has a surprisingly young user population for
a large social network -- 27% of 18 to 29-year-olds in the U.S. use
Twitter, compared to only 16% of people in their thirties and forties.
LinkedIn is international and skews toward male users.
Google+ is the most male-oriented of the major social networks. It's 70% male.
Pinterest is dominated by tablet users. And, according to Nielsen data, 84% of U.S. Pinterest users are women.
Tumblr is strong with teens and young adults
interested in self-expression, but only 8% of U.S. Internet users with
incomes above $75,000 use Tumblr.
Click here to learn more about IES Marketing's social media marketing services and how your business can take advantage of these social media networks and their audiences.
Article curated from Inc. Magazine
The social network is guiding marketers though the ad creation process,
telling them exactly what to buy based on what results they want.
Facebook is aiming to take the guesswork out of picking the right ads
with new tools released Tuesday designed to automate the process around
an advertiser's expressed objectives.
The social network has reconfigured
the ad-buying process to start with a question: What's your advertising
objective? Facebook will then recommend an ad type for one of eight
possible objectives: Web site conversions, clicks to Web site, Page post
engagement, Page likes, app installs, app engagement
(a new option introduced last week), offer claims, or event responses.
The system is designed to give advertisers more of the results they want
with the least amount of manual labor.
Facebook will, as usual,
auto-determine where to place ads, but it is also letting advertisers
chose where their ads appear so they can tailor desktop and mobile ads
to link to distinct destinations. In addition, the Ads Manager tool now
correlates campaign results with chosen objectives and calculates the
cost per conversion.
The objective-based system is built into all of Facebook's ad
creation tools, including its API, meaning advertisers will have access
to the hand-holding approach no matter where they purchase ads.
The new leave-it-to-us system seems geared around giving Facebook's selection of advertising options, already simplified
in recent months, the broadest appeal possible. By telling marketers
and advertisers exactly what to buy, how to bid, and where to run their
units, the social network is dumbing down the process so that even
clueless advertisers can get more bang for their buck. If it works, the
new formula could have a noticeable impact on Facebook's advertising
business.
Click here to learn more about Facebook marketing for your business with IES Marketing's social media marketing services that start at only $100 a month.
Article curated from C-Net
If you're halfway paying attention, you know mobile is big. But just how
big? Early results from a massive study shed light on the topic.
Mobile is important, right? There are all those many hundreds of
millions of people who can use their smartphones and tablets on the
Internet to do research, view videos, and see consumer product
recommendations. Smart marketers and entrepreneurs know that mobile is a
must.
But that's often just a vague sense, like so many trends in business
that exist because enough people point to them and say, "Look, there's a
trend!" Consultants, vendors, and would-be gurus all want business
owners and managers to buy into whatever it is that they're selling.
Here is some data coming out of AOL and University of Virginia researchers about how consumers are using mobile.
(Disclosure: I write for AOL Jobs, among other places, though I learned
of this independently.) What makes it interesting is two-fold.
First, someone crunched through a hell of a lot of data: 500 billion
online ad impressions in travel, retail, auto, and telecom and 100
million conversion events across all devices. The conversion events were
booking a hotel, flight, or car reservation for travel; making a
purchase for retail; finding a local dealer, requesting more
information, or configuring a car for auto; and purchasing of new plans
and devices for telecom.
Although volume doesn't necessarily make information representative
of markets as a whole, take an honest look at enough of it and, almost
by definition, you have something that is of interest to businesses.
Second, some of the results show that mobile may be taking off faster
than most people, including industry cheerleaders, expected.
Mobile is important for conversions
In these four industries at least, 31 percent of conversion events
happened on a mobile device, and that was up by 28 percent from the
previous year. Telecom had the highest mobile conversion at 37 percent,
while the lowest was 20 percent for travel. If you aren't advertising
smartly on mobile, chances are you're giving away a chance to do
business.
Mobile is big at home
Mobile is supposed to be when people are on the go. But apparently
much of the public's get-up-and-go got up and went. Consumers spent 25
percent of their online time at home on a smartphone or tablet and
three-quarters of all mobile ad impressions happened at home. That can
affect how you structure a marketing program.
iPads really sell
You knew that iPads were the biggest seller in the tablet space,
though devices running Android are quickly catching up. But when it
comes to selling products, iPad is king by a long shot. About 65 percent
of mobile conversions happened on tablets and 85 percent of those
happened on iOS devices. No way to know whether that is due to the total
volume that has shipped or if iPad owners are more likely to respond to
advertising.
It's impossible to know whether there is a novelty factor at
work--people taking action because the whole process of using a tablet
is still relatively new, which would leave room for conversion rates to
drop over time. However, the prudent approach for entrepreneurs for now
is to make sure they treat mobile as an important marketing channel and
one often used at home, so don't assume that mobile is only good for
catching people when they are near your establishment.
Click here to learn more about how our mobile marketing services can help your business.
Article curated from Inc. Magazine
It goes without saying that if a business has a Twitter account,
they’ll probably be including a hashtag in their tweets. Or several
hashtags, many of which may be generic keywords to better attract new
fans to follow them with (#business #branding #tips), but some will be
created specifically for the business, by the business. For some
companies, especially those with less hashtag crafting expertise, this
fun activity can easily turn stressful if all you have on your mind is
the need for trending speed and to go viral in the span of a few hours.
What’s a brand fresh to this #PoundSignScene to do? As my own company
works on building a hashtag for a contest we have coming up later this
month, I picked up a few tips along the way to help your custom made
hashtag stand out from the crowd.
1) Conduct research.
While
you’ll never be able to trademark a hashtag for your personal use, it’s
important to keep an eye out on whether or not the hashtag you have in
mind is unique to what the business does and how they do it. The simple
way to do this is to type in the hashtag into the search toolbar and see
what else shows up and in what capacity.
#RulesoftheDunk might sound
just right for a basketball team’s account but it’s a hashtag that makes
a regular appearance on Oreo’s feed to talk cookies with. You can use
that hashtag if you like, but remember that in doing so you might
confuse other Twitter users when your “rules of the dunk” don’t include a
glass of milk on the side.
2) Integrate your brand’s name (or product) into the mix.
Don’t
take this tip too literally, especially if you have a business name
that’s pretty long. You don’t have to put your entire brand name into a
hashtag and it doesn’t mean you don’t have to concentrate on skimping
out on being creative either. Just keep a few small elements in the
hashtag that will keep it from being confused with another brand’s. A
great example of a company that does this well is Victoria’s Secret with
their #AskAnAngel
hashtags. Q&As catch the eye when the subject of the chat is
identified and in the case of VS, long noted for referring to their
models as “angels”, it’s a safe bet that you’ll be sending your tweet
questions to a Victoria’s Secret Angel to answer.
3) Keep it on the short side – and easy to read.
Hashtags
are at their best when they’re to the point and you have no trouble
reading or typing them out. Avoid placing two of the same letters
together unless one is capitalized – a hashtag like #letsstoppoverty is
slightly better when spelled as #LetsStopPoverty or even shorter at
#StopPoverty. Caps go a long way in making the hashtag stand out
legibly. Additionally, keep in mind that you can’t include punctuation
or Emojis in a hashtag, just in case you were looking to include that
thumbs up symbol everywhere you tweet. And while we’re on the topic of
everywhere, use your hashtag when it’s most appropriate. You don’t need
it in every tweet you send out and it won’t fit into the context of
every message either. That only means one thing… time for you and your
business to get cracking on making more unique hashtags!
To learn more about how Twitter can help your business, click here to learn about IES Marketing's social media marketing services.
Article curated from Social Media Today
image: twitter symbols/shutterstock
Social Media Platforms are the place to keep ongoing social
communications as well as these are the potential sources of website and
business branding. One of the biggest social media sensations is
Facebook which has started his journey from February, 2004. Either you
are an internet marketer or a webmaster; do you know Facebook fan pages
could drive more and more traffic to your website? You may have heard
that one is getting hundreds and thousands of visitors from a fan page
to their website. You may ask yourself how they do it. Even, one of my
friends asked me if it is possible or not. But on that moment, I didn’t
know how they drive so much traffic like that. But after a deep
research, I came to share some effective Facebook Fan Page optimization
tips that will certainly lead you a high number of traffic daily. No
problem how many visitors you got in the past, but optimizing your
Facebook with these strategies will surely make changes in your traffic
stats.
Top 8 Strategies that You Should Apply On Your Facebook Fan Page:
- Design Informative Cover and Profile Photo:
A Fan Page will look outstanding only when you will use a high quality
and informative cover photo and a profile photo. The cover photo is an
851px wide and 315px height image area what you have to design depending
on your page niche. You have to use this pixel resolution to fit the
area perfectly. As it is for your website, you should include your
website title and tagline on the cover with some attractive graphics.
Your website URL should also be included there which will encourage the
visitors to check your website first. And the profile picture would be
your logo but don’t forget to resize it into a square image. Facebook
profile photo area is optimized to show square size images. And the
minimum size of profile photo should be 180px width and 180px height. If
you didn’t learn yet how to design, you may contact with a designer.
- Make an Arrow From The Cover to The Like Button:
An arrow from the cover to the like button will encourage the visitors
most to like your page. Likes mean vote. So, usually the fans who liked
your page will get all updates from your page to their wall. So, it
would be helpful for the fan page increasing likes and also increasing
the amount of targeted visitors.
- Make a Redirection of an I-Frame Tab to Your Website: You
should build up a tab just along with the photos and like count tab
where the visitors could click on it and enjoy your website live.
Redirection tab will redirect visitors to your website or an I-frame tab
will show your website in an I-frame box. The good news is that you can
create it easily using Facebook static html page app Static IFrame Tab or Woobox.
- Include Your Website URL on The Fan Page Short Description: You
should include your website URL in the short page description. Because
the link on description will be clickable and it would be easy for the
visitors to go to your website with just one click. The short
description will also be shown on the root page. So, you will get better
chances to have clicked on it.
- SEO the Fan Page:
It is just like the same SEO process as it is for a website. The title
of the page will be used as the Meta title and the short description
will be used as the Meta description. So, you have to do deep keyword
research, choose suitable key phrase and put it in the title and
description. Now get some backlinks to your fan page to rank it on the
search engines.
- Regularly Update Your Website News and Offers:
As the main purpose of the fan page is promoting your website,
regularly update your website news and offers into the page. That
doesn’t mean spamming the page all over with links. You have to share
relative things with a brief description along with the link in the
status updates. If someone likes the status, he could share it and you
will get more explores to your status. That’s mean you will get more
visitors.
- Promote Your Fan Page: Start
promoting your page through Facebook groups, pages, own websites,
forums, advertising etc. But always keep in mind that spamming should be
prevented. Because most of the people don’t like spam. Even, for
spamming your page could be blocked by yourself. Facebook is now
removing spam from their website. They have the full rights to
completely delete or block your page. That’s why you should aware of
spam otherwise your journey could be finished at the beginning.
- Get Genuine Fans: The
last and important point is getting unique likes. It doesn’t mean to
have 10K or 20K likes in a single day using bots. I think, 100 real
likes are 100% better than 10K fake likes. Likes from bots won’t help
you in branding website or getting visitors. It is sure that you will
get zero traffic from bots like. So be conscious to get likes. I advise
you not to buy likes from those providers who provide 1K or 2K likes in
3-5$. If you really want to buy, you should choose someone that will
guaranty you 100% real fans whatever he cost. Getting fans will never
end up and it won’t have any limit. The more you lead likes, the more
you get visitors.
Analyze How Traffic Increase from the Referrer Facebook:
After
implementing all tactics, now analyze how visitors increase from
Facebook. Check for your website stats and you will see the changes. But
never expect to have 100 visitors daily only having 100 genuine likes
on your page. That is unspecific but the more fans will drive you more
traffic.
Article curated from Social Media Today
The social network is trying to make it easier than ever for small
businesses to buy ads. Here are 3 questions you should be thinking
about.
Should your business be advertising on Facebook? The social
networking company thinks the answer is yes--and they want to make it as
simple as possible.
So far, their efforts seem to be paying off: the company's earnings
release noted that Facebook had surpassed 1 million active advertisers. This included 300,000 small businesses using promoted posts in the third quarter; the number increased by 66% just by the next quarter.
Facebook's latest move to woo entrepreneurs looking to advertise is the just-launched Facebook for Business, which is intended to make it easier than ever for small businesses to get started creating targeted, inexpensive, quick-to-create ads.
Is this something that's right for your company? Here are three things to consider.
What's Special About Facebook Marketing?
It's where the potential clients are. Because ads can be targeted in
highly specific ways--married men in Chicago, fans of Breaking Bad,
33-year-olds with children, Dunkin' Donuts employees--it's possible to
aim for the exact audience you want.
Facebook can also serve as a branding tool. Increasing the prevalence
of a company's name can help it seem popular and ubiquitous, and having
a well-maintained, professional looking page can increase trust.
What Are the Ad Options?
Depending on your type of business, there are various options for
ads. A marketplace ad, which appears in a side column of a user's
newsfeed, can be used to drive traffic, increase page likes, or multiply
app downloads. It's not unlike a classifieds ad in print. It's a simple
ad that remains static throughout its life, so it's an easy
make-and-place design.
A sponsored story is created organically, whenever someone interacts
with the company page. A newsfeed message appears if a user's friend
installs an app, likes a post, or makes a comment. It works on the
bandwagon principle: a friend did it, so it must be popular.
One new product, mobile app install ads, has recently risen in
stardom. These ads, for mobile devices only, encourage the download of
other apps. This can be helpful for new developers who have created a
product but don't know how to get people to try it out. Now, they can
direct their ads to certain devices, categories, and platforms.
I've Got $500. What Would That Get Me?
50,000 clicks. Advertising is simple and inexpensive, costing only
$0.01 per click (CPC). The process allows for budget control on
different schedules (daily, monthly, lifetime) and enables additional
optimizations, such as paying for ad views or page likes. With CPCs, you
pay each time someone clicks on an ad or sponsored story.
Facebook makes it fairly simple to test out ads for a few weeks, or
up to a certain budget level, using a unique attribution link, which is
simple to create. By the end of the probation period, you can determine
how much traffic is coming from those ads as compared to another service
and decide if it's worthwhile to continue.
Even without a designated social media or marketing employee, most of
the promotions can be created quickly. The account and ads could be
ready less than ten minutes, enabling a campaign to be up and running in
the same time as a coffee break.
To learn more about how to use Facebook advertising for your business, click here to learn more about IES Marketing's internet advertising services.
Article curated from Inc. Magazine
