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Category: News

The Fantastic Four: New Faces Join The SI Team

This August, Search Influence welcomes its four newest Influencers to the team!

Andrew Shepherd – Junior Account Associate

Andy graduated from Tulane University in May of 2014 with a degree in political science and Spanish. After a year of serving as an AmeriCorps member in his hometown of Birmingham, AL, Andy is very excited to be back working in New Orleans at Search Influence. During his spare time, Andy enjoys cooking, running, and trying new restaurants and bars around the city.

Caroline Ainsworth – Junior Account Associate

Caroline is from Baton Rouge and recently graduated from LSU with a degree in public relations. During her time at LSU, she was an avid football fan and involved in her sorority, Chi Omega. She also worked in social media and blogging for the Old Governor’s Mansion, where she got to meet Fat Amy during the filming of Pitch Perfect 2! Her hobbies include traveling, pinning quotes, Mad Men marathons, watching Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and spending time with her great dane, Lucy. She just made New Orleans her permanent home, and she is so excited to be joining the Search Influence team!

Kayla Goforth – Junior Graphic Designer

Kayla grew up in Elon, North Carolina and graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in May. She just moved to New Orleans with her huge fluffy cat (appropriately named Toulouse), and she loves the historic architecture and general sense of community already. She’s been dancing since she could walk and hopes to one day dance with one of the many talented local dance krewes in a Mardi Gras parade!

Stephanie Burnison – Junior Account Associate

Stephanie is originally from Southern California. She graduated from Loyola University New Orleans in May with a degree in marketing and a minor in legal studies. While at Loyola, she was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority, where she served on the Executive Board for all four years culminating in serving as president. She is an animal fanatic and has a huge heart for rescuing any animal she can. Currently, she has three dogs (an ex-racing greyhound, poodle, and pit bull puppy) and a very fat cat. She is OBSESSED with making them famous via their own Instagram account @nolarescues. She’s a One Direction and Starbucks enthusiast and is related to the Kardashians.

Welcome, Andy, Caroline, Kayla, and Stephanie! We look forward to seeing all the great things you will accomplish!

August 26, 2015
Search Influence Welcomes Six Shining Stars to the Team

Search Influence is hiring and we are still growing! Six talented new Influencers have joined our team and hit the ground running.

Jared Jones – Junior Internet Marketing Associate

Jared is from Pensacola, Fla., and studied at Xavier University. He can be over-the-top at times, but he’s good at directing all of his excess energy. His hidden talent is a wealth of random information stored in his head that comes out at any given moment!

Laird McIver – Junior Internet Marketing Associate

Laird is originally from North Carolina and went to Rhodes College. She has phenomenal glittering skills due to her time decorating shoes for the Krewe of Muses, and she recently became a riding member! In her free time, she reads books, cooks, and scuba dives with sharks.

Leo Rubini – Junior Account Associate

Originally from Atlanta, Ga., Leo is a recent Tulane University graduate who couldn’t be more excited to begin his professional life in New Orleans. In his free time, Leo likes to explore the city, cook, travel, and go on runs.

Sarah Begault – Account Associate

Sarah is from Metairie, La., and currently lives in Kenner. She graduated from Louisiana State University in May 2014 with a degree in business and was a member of Pi Sigma Epsilon business fraternity for three years while in school. She has two German Shepherds that she loves (Beau and Sasha)! Her hobbies include reading, baking, painting, Pinterest projects, and crafts, and she’d like to start a blog soon about her crafting successes and fails. Sarah is currently obsessed with Orange Is the New Black and The Walking Dead. She loves country music but listens to just about everything from Lil Wayne to Taylor Swift.

Savanna Guzzardo – Junior Account Associate

Savanna is from Covington, La. She recently graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a degree in public relations and a minor in marketing. During Savanna’s time at USM, she was a member of Delta Delta Delta Fraternity, where she enjoyed raising money for its chosen charity, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In her free time, she loves to read and spend time with her pets. Savanna is excited to be back in Louisiana and joining the Search Influence team!

Sophie Kirk – Junior Account Associate

Sophie is originally from Mandeville, La. She is a recent graduate from Louisiana State University, where she majored in mass communication with a concentration in public relations. At LSU, Sophie was a very active member of her sorority, Delta Zeta. She is very excited to become a part of the Search Influence team!

Join us in welcoming Jared, Laird, Leo, Sarah, Savanna, and Sophie to the team. We’re so glad to have you on board! Interested in life at Search Influence? Find out about our company culture.

July 30, 2015
42 GIFs: The Answer to Life At Search Influence, the Universe and Everything

If you haven’t noticed already, we really love animated GIFs here at Search Influence. They are sent around in company-wide emails about promotions, they might appear in shared team meeting agenda documents, webinars, and presentations, and sometimes we even debate the proper pronunciation of GIF on our “Question Of The Day” board. I even asked my manager if just for one day I could respond to emails entirely via GIFs and no words. She’s still thinking about it …

All the GIFs got me thinking lately … We’re always hiring, and these newbies might be wondering what it’s like to have a Search Influence job! What would a day in the life of an Influencer look like if depicted entirely via GIFs? Check out the 42 moments below that basically all Influencers have experienced at one point, brought to you by the letters “G,” “I,” and “F!”

When one of your coworkers sends an email about the coffee pot, the dishwasher, too many dishes in the sink, the fact that no one ever cleans the dishes in the sink, or about making coffee …

When you hear “Did you try what Leigh’s mom made? It’s in the kitchen!”

When you are walking out of the kitchen as Lauren walks in with Costco-size bags of candy …

… But then one week later and the only candy left is yellow Laffy Taffy, grape Jolly Ranchers, and 3 Musketeers …

When CEO Will Scott comes running (seriously, running) through your department (for no reason) and scares the shit out of you …

When you’re trying to make an awkward keyword string fit in a resource box …

When someone is 10 minutes late to a 30-minute meeting …

When you pull out your earbuds and you thought your music was off, but it’s not and everyone now knows you listen to “Disney’s Classics” on Pandora …

When Amy sends out an email about the most recent life-changing algorithm update …

When the client doesn’t have any edits to your content …

When a client says “I’m thinking about launching a new site”…

… and then does without telling you.

When you hit send on an email, but you really, really, really shouldn’t have …

When a client asks “Are you planning on buying links on my behalf?” (which is something we will never do …)

When your kudos is called out in a company meeting …

When you get your task list down to zero …

When someone kicks you out of Hootsuite by accident …

When someone sends you a Google Doc and you don’t have access …

When there’s a shared spreadsheet or Google Doc that all employees are frantically adding jokes to (against the will of its creator) as you watch the joy unfold …

When you run out of Copyscape credits …

When you get excited about something then realize everyone around you has their headphones in …

When it starts to rain outside and everyone acts like they’ve never seen rain before …

When your access card doesn’t take and the door won’t open ….

When you prepped for two days for a conference call and you realize the client stood you up after you listened to hold music for 15 minutes …

When somebody else already wrote code to solve the exact problem you spent hours trying to solve on your own …

When your client starts ranking #1 organically for a super-competitive keyword like “personal injury attorney …”

When you totally screw up a project manager task, but it actually ends up working out …

When your client’s organic traffic is up when comparing year over year EVERY. SINGLE. MONTH …

How you feel after you lead your first kickoff call …

When you need to write content for a very technical/niche client and there is no information available on what they do …

When someone brings up that time when you first started and didn’t know all the search engine optimization lingo …

When someone takes forever to respond to your Gchat and you just see the three little dots that say they are typing …

When it’s your birthday and you get a card from everyone …

When you actually have a great answer for the question of the day …

When you figure something out that helps another department …

When a client’s username and password to access their site are the same as their domain name …

When somebody else uses your custom code solution to address the exact problem you spent hours writing a solution for months ago …

When GDocs, project manager, or the ticketing system decides to stop working … at 4 o’clock … on a Friday …

It’s 4:30 p.m. on a Friday and your task list has one item left to do, but YOU GOT THIS …

And finally, when that 5 o’clock Friday song comes on …

July 23, 2015
Five for Friday: Facebook’s Payment Feature, DuckDuck Go, & More!

1. Facebook Messenger Payments Service Is Nationwide – Mashable

Facebook’s vice president of messaging products, David Marcus, recently announced that Facebook Messenger has rolled out its payment feature. Users can add their debit card information in the Messenger’s settings. You can then send payments by starting a conversation with a friend and clicking the “$” icon followed by the “Pay” button. If you are on the receiving end of this transaction, you will be prompted to accept the payment at the appropriate time. Marcus has been quoted saying that the payment feature is “easy and safe.”

2. Google Earth Turns 10 – Google Blog

Google Earth celebrated its 10th birthday on June 29, 2015. Google Earth allows users to see the world from a variety of viewpoints, from 3D versions of cities across the globe to striking photos of our planet shot from space. Happy belated birthday, Google Earth!

3. Google: Panda Refresh Coming Soon – Search Engine Roundtable

It looks like we’ve made it through the holiday weekend without seeing the newest Panda update, but the “refresh” is coming soon. During a recent Google Hangout session, John Mueller announced that he expected the Panda refresh to happen in a few weeks. (The Panda update was first introduced in 2011 with the goal of preventing sites with poor quality content from ranking in Google’s top search results.)

4. DuckDuckGo Surpasses 10 Million Search Queries – Search Engine Land

DuckDuckGo, a search engine launched in 2008, hit the 10 million daily query mark on June 22. The company has promised not to collect or share your information while searching—a rare feature for any company in the search engine industry. DuckDuckGo has also announced that they will be giving out 10,000 t-shirts to users who promote their search engine to three additional users!

5. Instagram Makes Content More Accessible With Place Search – Search Engine Watch

Instagram has granted users the ability to search by location, allowing them to access other users’ location-tagged photos from the Explore page. Now, anyone with an Instagram account can peer into the most interesting places in the world. This new search feature also allows users to search people, places, and tags simultaneously.

Image sources:

Facebook Messenger payments

DuckDuckGo image

July 10, 2015
NOLA: Something to Write Home About
I am not a New Orleans native. I don’t ask how your “momenem” are doing, and I didn’t grow up eating red beans and rice every Sunday. I’m a good ole-fashioned Midwestern girl. I love a good steak, a cold Bud Select, and Cardinals baseball.

I’ve been living in New Orleans for a year and a half now—a tech transplant working for Search Influence, a fast-paced online marketing company that’s given me a chance to not only experience this city, but also has given me an awesome tech career. And I love it down here in NOLA! The people are warm and welcoming, the food is delicious, and the city itself feels like home. I’ve had the privilege of showing off my new city to my mother, my in-laws, and multiple friends, but there’s still one visitor I have yet to host: my dad.

Who wouldn’t want this guy to visit?

My dad and my stepmom, Jennifer, lead active, busy lives. They each own and run businesses, and they are parents to my adorable eight-year-old brother Blake.

I mean seriously, does it get cuter than this?

Although they likely have their vacations booked through 2016, I’m determined to ensure New Orleans makes the list. To help my case, I recently sent my dad an email with two (in my very biased opinion) fantastic ideas.

In case you are in a similar boat and trying to convince a friend or family member to come visit you, here’s the email. Feel free to paraphrase or steal any part of it to get them to book a ticket.

Email Subject: Best. Ideas. Ever.

Idea #1: Dad & Jennifer Take On NOLA

Contrary to popular belief, there are TONS of fun things to do in New Orleans that don’t revolve around partying like a frat bro. Here’s a sample of some of the things we would all enjoy:
- Swamp tour
- Visit a plantation
- Walking tour of the French Quarter
- Audubon Zoo
- Girls shop while dudes go skeet shooting
- Dinner at Brisbi’s on the lake
- Rent bikes and tour the city
- Go on a ghost tour
Idea #2: Dad & Charlie Best The Big Easy

Editor’s note: Charlie is my talented, hilarious, fun-loving 26-year-old brother who lives in Denver. And yes ladies, he’s single. And a dog lover to boot!

In line with popular belief, New Orleans is a freaking blast. Here’s a sample of some things we all might enjoy:
- Swamp tour with a stop at the daiquiri shop beforehand
- Mardi Gras World (open year ‘round!)
- Skeet shooting
- Deep sea fishing
- The Sazerac Bar
- Piano bar at Pat O’Briens
- Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar, the oldest bar in New Orleans
- Live music on Frenchmen Street
- Spend an evening on a Bourbon Street balcony with a bunch of beads (fun fact: this happens outside of Mardi Gras with similar results)
After sending the email, I received a pretty standard dad response: he’ll think about it. While I continue to hold my breath to see which of these trips will happen, hopefully you will find this to be a helpful guide to convince your own sought-after visitor to sample life in New Orleans.
July 6, 2015
Search Influence Takes a Shine to New Summer Influencers

Search Influence continues to grow! This June, we’re proud to welcome four new faces to the team.

Brittney Schering – Junior Internet Marketing Associate

Originally from a small town just south of Detroit, Mich., Brittney first ventured over to Grand Valley State University, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in professional writing in April 2011. The following month, she moved to New York City and then to Los Angeles one year later. Last October, she moved to New Orleans on a whim with her boyfriend and their crazy pup, Frida, who just turned a year old on Cinco de Mayo. Prior to working at Search Influence, Brittney worked as a full-time nanny and freelance writer/editor. She loves to spend her free time enjoying live music everywhere.

Jensen Quadros – Junior Account Associate

Jensen is from New Orleans, La. She is a recent graduate of Loyola University New Orleans. She has a degree in marketing (one of her favorite topics) as well as a minor in accounting. In her free time, she loves driving and going on road trips, especially trips to the beach. Jensen is excited to join the Search Influence team!

Jordan Smith – Junior Account Associate

Jordan is from Mandeville, La. She recently graduated from the Louisiana Scholars’ College at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches with a degree in communications and liberal arts. At NSU, Jordan was a member of Phi Mu Fraternity and the editor of the Potpourri yearbook. She is excited to get started at Search Influence!

Rebecca Cutler – Junior Account Assistant

Rebecca is from New Jersey, and she is about to start her senior year at Tulane University. She is pursuing a dual degree with a B.S.M. in marketing and a B.A. in economics. In the past, she has interned at advertising agencies in New York and in New Orleans. She absolutely loves New Orleans, but she especially loves the amazing food and trying new places to eat.

Welcome to SI, Brittney, Jensen, Jordan and Rebecca! We’re excited to see all the great things you will accomplish!

June 29, 2015
Five for Friday: Facebook Aims to Please, Amazon Goes the Way of Uber, & More!

1. Facebook Update Takes Into Account Time Spent Reading Stories – Search Engine Journal

Facebook looks to be taking the next step forward in studying user behavior. The social networking giant is now directly measuring user activity and engagement, even when the user isn’t interacting with content. How important to us are news stories that we just want to skim? The next time you stop scrolling to look over a story, you are casting a silent vote for that type of content in comparison to other stories in your feed. Facebook has already rolled this update out, which means you no longer have to comment on or like a story for your feed to be modified. If you feel like you’ve been seeing more of what you want to see, well, you probably are.

2. Twitter Makes Your Conversations Easier to Follow – Mashable

Having trouble following that long chain of tweets and retweets? Good news! Reading Twitter discussions will no longer test your mental sorting abilities. Dialogues are now conveniently grouped for maximum readability. If you have frequently wondered who is talking to whom, fret no more! Talks are joined by a single solid line.

3. Google Uses Sitelinks Based on Significance – SEO by the Sea

Google, acting as the undisputed market leader in search, is continually looking to improve the way their search performs. In a patent granted earlier last week, Google now seeks to identify the most “visually and/or functionally significant hyperlinks within the document.” This means that the location a link points to isn’t the only attribute considered when Google thinks about links, but where a link visually is on a page matters as well.

4. Amazon Debates Paying People for Deliveries – The Wall Street Journal

A big part of Amazon’s costs come from shipping, so it seems only natural they should be seeking to cut costs. Only, this time it isn’t drones: Amazon would like to turn every potential income-seeking individual into an Uber-like delivery driver.

5. European Sites Are Declared Liable for User Comments – Techdirt

On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that sites can be declared liable for what any random user posts on them. This has massive implications for sites that allow users to regularly post content. What lies in the future of censorship?

Image sources:

Cell phone image

Delivery image

June 19, 2015
A D-Day Infographic: 15 Years at The National WWII Museum

Seventy-one years ago on June 6, 1944, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops landed along the beaches of Normandy, France to fight Nazi Germany. The D-Day invasion marked the beginning of the end of World War II, turning the tide against the Nazis.

A D-Day Infographic

On the anniversary of D-Day this year, The National WWII Museum is celebrating its 15 years of preserving the story of WWII and making some history of its own. Such an homage to history and the museum’s work demands more than just words on a page. This D-Day, The National WWII Museum is making history come alive in an infographic produced by Search Influence.

The infographic is capturing hearts and minds across the nation, proving this content marketing strategy is helping to spread the word about The National WWII Museum’s efforts to honor the courage, the sacrifices and ultimately, the victory of the American people. In just over 24 hours since launching on social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the infographic received 1,284 likes, 124 shares and reached a total of 25,077 people and counting.

See the full infographic on The National WWII Museum’s website.

Didn’t know about New Orleans’ connection to WWII? Let us know what you learned in the comments!

June 5, 2015
Five for Friday: Google’s Phantom Update Revealed, Remembering Sally Ride & More!

1. Google’s “Phantom Update” Is a “Quality Update” – Search Engine Land

In early May, many people noticed significant ranking changes, which led to the rumor that Google had run a Panda update or a spam-related update. However, Google denied this, leaving many stumped by what could have mysteriously caused these rankings changes. Now, Google has finally confirmed that the “Phantom Update” actually included changes to how content quality is ranked, leading some to call it the “Quality Update.” However, exactly what changes were made and how quality is now assessed by Google is still being kept top secret.

2. New Cortana App Will Sync iPhones to Windows 10 “Very Soon” – Marketing Land

Microsoft announced its plans to make Windows 10 cross-device friendly with a new Cortana “Phone Companion” application that will connect your Windows PC to mobile devices, including iPhones. This app will take Apple’s “Continuity” feature to the next level by not only syncing across devices, but by syncing across devices regardless of your operating system. Stay tuned for the Android version of Cortana at the end of June; iPhone users will be on hold for the app until “later this year.”

3. Google Webmaster Tools Becomes Google Search Console – Google Webmaster Central Blog

Say goodbye to the name Google Webmaster Tools and start becoming familiar with the term Google Search Console in its place. After 10 years of offering the beloved Webmaster Tools, Google announced the rebranding change last week. The company stated that there were many types of Google fans using the tool, from small business owners to marketers to true webmasters, and the goal is to make sure that the “product includes everyone who cares about Search.” No drastic changes to the tool’s functions were announced with the new name. Contrary to speculation, Bing says that renaming its Webmaster Tools is “not on the radar.”

4. Twitter Helps Reinforce Your Mobile Local Branding In Search Results – Blumenthals

Google mobile search results can now display Twitter content for branded searches, which provides a great place for local businesses to increase their visibility and positive brand message while also pushing competitors further down on the search engine results page. This also gives local businesses another platform for sharing content, which can easily be synced to a Facebook page, and more ways to control front-page content for reputation management.

5. Google Doodle Celebrates Sally Ride’s 64th Birthday – Search Engine Roundtable

Tuesday, May 26 would have marked the late Sally Ride’s 64th birthday. Google remembered the birthday of the first American female astronaut in space with a series of Google Doodles inspired by her life’s many accomplishments. On June 18, 1983, Sally became the first American female in space—and the youngest still to date! After another successful mission, Sally founded Sally Ride Science, where she focused on educating young people, especially girls, about careers in science, technology, math and engineering. As a woman in the technology field, I would like to say “thank you” to Sally Ride for all she has done to pave the way for those who have come after her.

Image sources:

It’s classified GIF

Goodbye elephant GIF

Sally Ride GIF

May 29, 2015
Tech Talent Times Two: New Influencers Join the Team

Our talented troop is growing at Search Influence. Meet the two new Influencers who are joining our online marketing team.

Hannah Selser – Junior Account Associate

Hannah grew up in New Orleans and recently graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University, where she got her bachelor’s degree in marketing with a concentration in advertising and integrated marketing communications. Before Search Influence, she worked at PJ’s Coffee for six years as a barista and special events coordinator. When she’s not working, she’s spending time with her friends and family or doing just about anything outdoors!

London Fougerousse – Junior Online Advertising Assistant

Originally from Baton Rouge, LA, London graduated from Louisiana State University in May 2014 with a B.A. in English and a B.S. in psychology. She will be finishing her final semester in the English M.A. program at Tulane University this fall. With a book always on hand, she’d be more than happy to give you a suggestion for your summer reading list. A writer on the side, London is obsessed with sharing her love of HBO, Wes Anderson movies, southern cooking, and fancy baking.

Welcome, Hannah and London! It’s great to have you on the team.

Interested in becoming the next great Influencer? Check out our jobs page.

May 21, 2015