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Author: Search Influence Alumni

  • Google’s Paid Links – A Short Lesson for Marketing Clients

    Google Paid Links
    Your Stance on your Internet Marketing
    As first reported by perennial Google watchdog SEOBook, the search engine company has been found using followed paid links for their online marketing, directly in violation of their best practices. Some, including Aaron Wall, see this as further proof of Google’s lack of self-commitment to the values they force on small businesses and other website owners; however, it’s clear that this story’s moral is more far-reaching than simple “Do As I Say, Not As I Do” and even a small business can come away from this story with another case study in outsourcing marketing to a firm.

    The most in-depth coverage is from Search Engine Land, who chronicles the story’s discovery, damage control, resolution, and culmination, giving the interested the whole story and showing Google to be somewhat fair by penalizing themselves. There likely isn’t any intentional foul here — already the Chrome page has a PageRank penalty, dropping it relatively in the SERPs.

    But for the average marketer, the rubbernecking and tin-foil hats are only window-dressing. Underlying this story, like the widespread story from earlier this week about another outsourced marketing fiasco, is the need to ask your marketing company “How are things going?” With both stories, there was a breakdown on the client’s side to check on the day-to-day running of the marketing campaign. For Google, this led to sloppy blog posting guidelines from a company that doesn’t understand the finer points of SEO or user design; for Ocean Marketing, it led to a one-man shop answering hundred of emails becoming frustrated and lashing out.

    Any business letting someone else do their outreach or marketing has to be an active participant. It is not enough to pass the buck, throwing those you’re working with under the bus. The “it’s not me” game played by Google, then Essence Digital, and finally Unruly shows not that the companies are all trying to act in good faith, but that not one of the three companies checked to see if the campaign would do more damage than good.

    Clients of marketing firms: read the copy written for you; it reflects your business. Ask for the guidelines for freelancers and writers; making sure that best practices are mandated, rather than suggested. Avoid bad press for your brand by being involved in the process, making sure that the campaign is following the vision you had when you left the planning meeting. Don’t be Google — be better.

  • Learn How People Read Facebook and Make Your Business Page Better

    With the era of social media marketing only growing by the day, more and more business owners are realizing that maintaining a presence on websites such as Facebook or Google+ is not just an option anymore — it’s essential. Establishing a business page on these sites is the first step, but once you do, do you know how to make it interesting enough to keep readers returning for more?

    A recent study posted on Mashable reveals some interesting information about how people view Facebook pages and what parts of them have the most influence. As you can see by the heat map pictured above on Starbucks’ Facebook page, people tend to look at a business’ wall first — and often for four times longer than any other part of the page.

    The study also proved that images get attention too, as the page that had the most photos (PlayStation) made people stick around longer. It also taught us that having a person in your profile photos rather than just a photo of an item (a person drinking a Coke rather than just the can, for instance) elicited more of a response.

    Another bit of common sense that popped up in the study was that content up top on your profile performs best — which falls perfectly in line with the studies about people’s general net attention span.

    It is because of this element that the idea of keeping a page moving with consistent content is a good one. If people see the same thing at the top of your page every time they visit, they are likely to visit less, but seeing something new means the chance of them visiting more often to check out what’s new.

    So now we know how to make our Facebook business pages that much better, but what about Google+ pages? Huffington Post recently offered some great tips on how to make the most of yours, including how to best set up your About page, create galleries, use Hangouts and more.

    Do you have any tricks and tips that you feel are especially effective for you on your own business page? Or, when you visit another business’ page, what jumps out at you first or keeps you around?

  • 5 for Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

    The Evolution of Facebook Features — GroSocial

    Facebook has come a long way from the humble blue-and-white, bare-bones-HTML, .edu-email-restricted social site we all came to know and love in 2005. Check out this visual map and see how the ‘book has exploded since its inception, becoming a multifaceted “people engine” that has spawned so many imitators.

    INFOGRAPHIC: Web Equity – owning your digital presence — Blumenthals

    As with any other form of endeavor, the more effort you put into your online presence, the better it will serve your business’s interests. Get the skinny on the major players in the web equity game with this handy infographic.

    The Art of Timing – Posting on Facebook — DreamGrow

    While you’ve crafted perfect actionable Facebook posts and gained countless fans of your brand, there’s one element missing: the art of good timing. Find out how to hit the scheduling sweet spot for your customers and make sure your content is being viewed by the most eyeballs possible!

    Promoting Your Business via Twitter — ProNet Advertising

    Twitter is a powerful networking tool, but all too often companies simply use it as another venue to spew out announcements without engaging in any customer interaction. Read this handy guide to learn about Twitter dynamics and the fine art of the 140-character strategy.

    Epic: The Noob’s Complete Guide to Online Marketing [Infographic] — Social Times

    Straight from the experts at Social Times, here’s a mammoth infographic that cleanly illustrates the A to Z of online marketing from the basics on up.

  • Read This! — December 2011

    One of the main purposes of our weekly 5 For Friday posts is to highlight weekly news stories that are funny, idea-provoking or just plain interesting. In this feature, we examine pieces that are useful, actionable and directly pertinent to you and your business. Check out these informative articles and get on the road to a bigger and better online presence:

    How to Use YouTube to Build Explosive Product Buzz
    They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so on that note a video can be even more effective. This comprehensive guide gives you the basics of creating, optimizing and publishing a Youtube sensation that can grow your brand and attract even more eyeballs than static images or sales copy!

    11 Editorial Guidelines Every Business Blog Needs
    So have you taken our advice and started a blog for your business yet? Chances are you’re not just creating all the content yourself; this valuable set of guidelines can get you started on establishing rules and regulations for your posters and editing like a pro.

    The Beginner’s Guide To Content Marketing
    If you haven’t invested some energy into content marketing for your brand, you may be missing out on a whole swath of opportunity for new fans, viewers and clients. KISSmetric’s back-to-basics guide shows the advantages of this practice (as opposed to the “fatal flaws” of traditional advertising) and walks you through its first steps and best practices.

    Is your SEO copy crap? 8 ways to tell
    Yes, you may have paid an “SEO copywriting professional” to create the content on your website, but that’s no guarantee you’ve gotten the most you can for your dime. The always-excellent copybloggess Heather Lloyd-Martin shows you how to evaluate your site’s content and determine whether it stands on its own or requires some TLC.

    Integrating Social Media With Your Customer Service
    While social media marketing is a valuable and worth endeavor to grow your brand, simply gaining likes and followers isn’t enough. To dynamically engage your customers, your social media presence should incorporate an element of personalized customer service. Learn how to draw in your existing customer base and create a space for discussion, strengthening personal connections with and between your clients and getting proactive with your communciation.

  • Blinded By The Site: Making Friends With Web Design Minimalism

    If you’re anything like me, when you visit a website that’s overloaded with Flash, an abundance of images, excessive menus, and just a general maze of content, your brain shrivels up to the size of a raisin and your eyes glaze over with no focus of what to look at or where to find it. (As far as I’m concerned, the same problem exists for social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Creating endless posts and tweets just for the sake of having more content and saying whatever pops into your fingers is the quickest way to get me to block or un-follow your posts. Then I’ll never hear anything you have to say!) The idea that the more there is to look at, the more visitors, friends, likes, and followers you’ll get is simply untrue in many cases.  You can still catch plenty of flies with sweet, sweet simplicity.

    Too many web designers and developers make choices that, while skillfully executed with complicated Ajax and fancy Flash elements, not only confuse and deflect site visitors, but also have the same effect on search engine crawlers. While when properly used (read: in moderation) these elements have the potential to add functionality and style to your site, it is often beneficial to limit or altogether avoid these in favor of a clean, easily searchable and indexed site.

    Take splash pages, for instance. When a splash page is your homepage, it not only prolongs the amount of time it takes for your visitors to get to the actual content they’re seeking, but it also confuses search engines. Without your homepage containing index-able elements like links to the other pages of your site and keywords, search engine spiders will not be able to properly crawl and index your site. Get rid of that splash page!

    Aside from splash pages, using Flash elements or images elsewhere on your site for headers and menus can often cause visual frustration and complication for visitors and search engines alike. Dancing baby Flash headers and image-heavy menus can be a dizzying headache, and crawlers simply can’t read text embedded in Flash and images. There are several great resources for web designers on how to keep your site design from being overly complex while maintaining SEO excellence. Make sure you mind your H1’s, et al.

    minimalist web design

    Personally, I agree with the late Steve Jobs when it comes to valuing the beauty of a highly-functional, simple design. There’s something to be said for keeping a clean, easily navigable, minimal aesthetic. And I’m not alone in my love of minimalism in web design.  I’m not suggesting you go out and replace all your shirts with black turtlenecks, but I am suggesting that you consider what William of Ockham said and not unnecessarily complicate matters when you can simply state your case. When you embrace minimalism, everybody wins: you, me, and the spiders. And you don’t want to upset the spiders. Trust me.

  • 5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

    Preventing Negative PRs Online — ProNet Advertising

    When it comes to SEO and public relations, asserting your online reputation and connecting with your fans is important. However, this proactivity must be balanced with care not to draw any fire upon yourself or your company. Check out this handy article to discover what you can do to get on top of your PR before problems even arise!

    Thanksgiving Wishbone Competitiveness & Content Marketing Tips – Who Knew? — TopRank Blog

    Thanksgiving has passed and we’ve all come out of our mashed potato comas, but the turkey still has a lesson or two to teach us. Read on at TopRank to get Susan Misukanis’s “wishbone strategy” on content marketing.

    How The Internet Looked in 1996 vs 2011 [Infographic] — SocialTimes

    Now here’s a blast from the past: this informative graphic diagrams every change imaginable from the tiny village of 1996 Internet to the bustling metropolis of the 2011 version we know and love today. What do you think is the next big thing?

    What Your Analytics Software is Hiding From You — KISSMetrics

    Are you relying exclusively on Google Analytics for information on your site traffic and visitor stats? You may be missing out on valuable data. This article takes a look at the most prevalent holes in the system and the logistics behind them.

    How To Get A Link From A Blogger — Local SEO Guide

    Well, that’s one way to do it. Check out how one clever webmaster got a link to his domain from Local SEO Guide’s Andrew Shotland with a little innovation and a fair amount of chutzpah.

  • Lethal Commission Review or How to Get Rich on the Internet

    anik singal scamI am a man of simple pleasures. I love Internet marketing, terribly bad action films, and stunt queens. So when I learned of Anik Singal’s Lethal Commission I knew I had to watch it.

    What is Lethal Commission? From its trailer it is dubbed as the world’s first full-length Internet marketing movie. In actuality it is the most meta-tastic and downright embarrassing way to sell a product I’ve ever seen. To save myself some keystrokes, let’s just bypass the incoherent plot (involving a portly Indian spy stopping some sort of third-world Paypal thievery) and get into the meat and potatoes of what Singal is selling this time around.

    Lethal Commission is the latest version of Singal’s affiliate marketing software. For those of you not in the know, affiliate marketing is a form of revenue sharing that pays commissions for referred business. I personally don’t even care if the software (which promises to help you get thousands of new site visitors and large sums of money) works – the effort to make a movie this gauche for it is so astounding I find it all perfectly acceptable.

    How could I not? He’s an online “multi-millionaire” who swindling Internet-savvy autistics out of their disability checks through self-glorifying movies that would make the Troma guys wince. It’s pure malevolent genius. I honestly envy Singal for thinking outside of the spam box. Though based on his previous attempts at sell his software (see Commission Domination, Profit Jackpot, and numerous others), I suspect he had help pimping out his software this time around:
    anik singal

    Oh don’t get me started on the various accolades which Singal presents as “proof of concept”. When he’s not flashing his 2010 tax returns, he’s boasting about the number of indexed pages which mention him. I swear dude should have just said “Google me” – because Google is now the authenticator of all things true on the Intertubes. It’s just too bad he didn’t Google himself or Singal would have realized the third result on the page indicates he is admittedly “so full of $#!+”.

    I will never be surprised by the lengths people will go to get rich. There are hundreds if not thousands of people actively trying to sell the public useless junk online (my personal favorite is Sheryl “NO FEAR Millionaire” Walker). If anything, this is a cautionary tale for Internet entrepreneurs – don’t drink your own Koolaid. If you are hoping to get rich off the Internet through gullible dreamers, you should really take a look at the B-roll footage first.

    Thanks to American rapper, actor, and television host, Alvin “Xzibit” Joiner for appearing in this post.

  • Google Evolution Video: The Past, Present and Future of Search

    As a followup to their recently-released peek under the hood, the Google team has produced this video showing the remarkable evolution of their search service. Watch the once-humble engine (check out that MS Word Art logo!) exploding in under fifteen years from plain-text results with a month or more’s lag time between indexes to the omnipresent, light-speed information giant we all know and love today. Since its inception as a tool for data-gathering, Google has taken a keen emphasis on speed of results, with the end goal being an almost “seamless” meld between the user’s query and the answer to such; they’ve also expanded in other dimensions, covering new paradigms such as images, breaking news, and semantic results to help users navigate to the information they’re seeking as efficiently as possible.

    Google has evolved to an almost unthinkable degree of complexity in such a short time — and advances are coming at a breakneck pace, particularly with the social and business opportunities afforded by the introduction of G+. What do you think is next for Google and us?

  • Influencer Profile: Alison Ruth

    A member of our Account Management team, Alison Ruth is a New Orleans native and always proud to swim home.  She graduated from Louisiana State University in Mass Communication and Advertising. Alison held positions in several industries from advertising agencies to non-profits to hospitality, but especially loves working in advertising and marketing. She considers herself a New Orleans food enthusiast and knows how to bake a pretty mean King Cake.

    So what do you find yourself doing around here? Any particular favorite aspects of the job?

    Most days I’m fighting to cross off every line on my To Do list (it’s a pretty great feeling when I actually do!). My number one priority is always keeping our clients’ SEO services on schedule and making sure their sites are reaching new heights on Google. I sometimes have to spend my days staring at spreadsheets for hours and trying to keep from going cross-eyed. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s go to do it!  Some of my favorite aspects include seeing the progression of a client’s rankings when we’ve put in the work for them, and being able to show them how valuable Internet marketing really is! Oh, and I also love the office on Fridays at approximately 5:00pm, thanks to fellow Influencer Joe Luft.

    Have you done any Internet or marketing work before working at SI? How’s the transition been so far?

    My education background is in advertising, and I’m a twenty-something who grew up with computers, so that should tell you something about my experience with the Interwebz. I’ve worked at small ad agencies and even a non-profit where I was the communcations manager and developed their social media presence quite a bit, so I like to think I know a thing or two about Internet marketing. SEO is definitely new-ish to me, but so far the transition has been pretty smooth.  I’m learning a lot about SEO and the people here are pretty cool!

    Working at SI is pretty dang fun, but be honest — what would you be doing all day if left to your own devices?

    When I think about an entire day with no responsibilities, a few things that come to mind (not necessarily in this order):
    1. Sleeping late
    2. Hanging out with my dog, Lila
    3. Facebooking
    4. Baking sweet delicacies
    5. Eating said sweet delicacies
    6. Exploring NOLA (yes, there are things about NOLA that even us natives are still discovering)
    7. Watching silly YouTube videos
    8. Tweeting about said YouTube videos
    9. Traveling the world
    10. Enjoying the company of family and friends
    11. Laughing

    Last, but certainly not least — if you were a traditional NOLA landmark, what NOLA landmark would you be?

    Maybe a lesser-known “landmark” but definitely a NOLA staple, I’d be Hansen’s Sno-Bliz on Tchoupitoulas Street, the creators of the first shaved ice machine. It may be November, but I’m a self-proclaimed snoball connoisseur and lover of all things sweet and syrupy year-round.  I’d probably devour a snoball in the middle of a snow storm (if we ever had one of those here), given the chance.
    Try one of my all-time favorites from your local snoball stand and it just might change your life:
    The classic: chocolate snoball stuffed (not topped) with vanilla soft-serve
    NOLA favorite: pralines and cream snoball topped with condensed milk

  • Website Promotion – 7 Common Lies & Misconceptions

    After many conversations with existing and potential clients, I have come to find there are many misconceptions and straight-up lies about our industry. Some of these lies are just bogus and everyone should be aware, so I’ve whipped up this handy guide with explanations!

    7. You cannot make money with social media

    This is simply a lie. Social media can be a great source of revenue. The biggest complaint about social media I often hear is, “I cannot measure the success of social media.” With the use of iFrames and reporting tools, success can now be more easily measured. An iFrame allows us the ability to create a welcome tab on your page that acts like a website, so we can install analytics, implement a form and utilize call tracking to get a detailed and effective overview of what’s going on.

    Social media is the only outlet that allows you to target your proper demographic. Through the use of highly targeted Facebook display ads, we have the ability to put your brand in front of your target audience.  Social media is also one of the easiest and most effective ways to create interaction with your existing and potential customers.  There is no reason you cannot see profits through social media.

    6. SEO is a set-it-and-forget business

    I wish obtaining the best rankings was as easy as that.  I often hear potential clients ask me “Why am I paying for a monthly service?” to which I respond, “Your competition isn’t asleep.”  Much of the work for optimizing a site is done off-site. This comes a shock to many people who believe you can just make a few edits on your site and magically you are now in position 1.

    Yes, having your site speak properly to the keywords that potential customers are searching is very important, but it is not everything. This will not get you to the top position in a competitive industry. Ongoing link building is a key element to the success of any SEO campaign. Google looks at links as a form of “popularity contest” that proves to Google you really do what your site says.

    5. I need a new site before I do any SEO

    We can help almost any site rank, including ones that are not as attractive as others. There are a few exceptions to this rule, such as Flash and templates that do not give you access to the backend management. Many time people believe that their site needs to be “pretty” to rank well, when in reality, it is more about the conversion optimization of your site. This includes prominent display of your phone number and a small form located on every page of your site. Your design has no effect on the organic rankings.

    4. Guaranteed rankings

    Since my email also attached to [email protected], I have the privilege of receiving all of the spammy SEO emails we get on a daily basis. My favorites are the ones that use scare tactics and money back guarantees. These guys are full of it! I recently read one that was trying to make you believe the paid results were part of SEO. Ultimately, the money back gaurantee is just a ploy to get you in the door, give them some money, and sure enough a few months down the road you’ll be calling me cursing everything SEO.  These scammy SEO companies can offer these guarantees by choosing keywords that are so irrelevant there is no search-around and by paying to be on page one.

    Why we not guarantee results? Hint: it isn’t lack of confidence! We would have never been able to earn placement in the INC. 500 (with no sales team!) if we did not produce results. Unfortunately we do not have control of Google; if we did, I would be on a beach enjoying a Mojito right about now. Earlier this month Google made a change to the display of search results.

    3. Article marketing does not work

    I have recently read a number of blog post questioning the effects of using articles as an effective form of obtaining backlinks. For those of you who question the effectiveness, ask any of our clients who are in the top positions for their most popular searches. We have been and continue to use articles as an effective way to obtain backlinks. What doesn’t work is spammy, zero-effort articles with poor-quality or even plagiarized content. We put a great deal of effort into this part of our services and it shows. Article marketing works!

    2. Paid search affects organic rankings

    Paid search results have zero effect on organic rankings. They can not help nor hurt your organic rankings. You can do things to optimize for both organic rankings and paid search rankings, but you cannot affect one without the other.  Its that simple!

    1. TopSEOs.com is a legitimate SEO rankings site

    I won’t mince words: TopSEOs.com is the biggest bunch of bullshit out there. According to their website:

    “The independent authority on search vendors, topseos.com, evaluates and ranks the best in the internet marketing industry. Through in-depth vendor analysis, review of work completed, and client evaluation, we put together a list of the top search engine optimization companies in the industry. Our in-depth analysis delves into a vendor’s business practices and compares them against industry standards to ensure that the work is quality. Often times we connect directly to the clients of a vendor and ask about their overall experience as well as details about the processes, reporting, and success of the campaign.”


    Sound legit, right? Wrong! Companies like Webimax.com pay for their placement in TopSEOs.com so they can tout the fact that they have been ranked “#1” SEO company. Garbage! It’s complete garbage.  For just a few thousand dollars a month Webimax gets to claim to be the “#1 SEO Company in the U.S.” There are many blogs and forums that expose the scam for what it is. Oh yeah, and if you attempt to leave a negative comment about Top SEOs or one of their “valued clients,” they will filter your post to ensure only positive messages can be seen.

    Below are just a handful of resources that expose Top SEOs and Webimax for the scams they are:
    How Top SEO Companies like WebiMax Scam Clients – P.T. Barnum Unique Method
    TopSEOs.com – A Review of the Top SEOs Paid Rating Service – Aaron Wall
    Sphinn.com – Multiple posts about TopSEOs Scam