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Tag: local search

  • Write it Like You Own It: Defining Online Content Authority

    Respect my authority!
    Better do what he says, honey. He's got a badge.

    As a writer, one of the first and most integral choices you have to make before you put one single word onto the page is disarmingly simple, and yet deceivingly complex: what authority, if any, do I have?

    The answer to this one simple question will define the tone of whatever it is you are writing. It doesn’t matter if you are delicately constructing a poem, building a larger narrative one matchstick at a time, or sitting down to crank out 250 words for a roofing company’s website as a freelancer, you have to know where you stand, especially if you are using content to build online authority.

    Own Your Online Content

    Are you the absolute authority and source of definitive knowledge on this subject? Are you satirizing something? Do you want to expose the faults in an argument? Are you lacing your content with subtle humor? Do you just have to tell the reader when this business opens and what services they provide in the most direct way possible?

    All of these questions can be answered by determining where you, as the content creator, exist in relation to what you are producing. Sound simple? Well, there are a whole bunch of ways you can screw this up.

    I’ve been writing online content for a few years now, and I can tell you one of the most fundamental ways to mess up website copy is to write it in the third person. That can confuse and otherwise turn off a potential customer pretty quickly, and it is difficult to create the kind of authoritative content you need when you don’t know where you as the author stand.

    High Quality Content

    So there’s been a big storm, and you wake up with a tree limb speared straight through the roof of your guest bedroom. You stand there, scratching your head, wondering how you are going to find a roofer that will come out and patch your roof before it starts raining again.

    Suddenly, you remember something… the internet! You reach into the pocket of your Star Wars pajamas (I can’t be the only one to still wear these to bed every night, right?) grab your cell phone, tap the app that brings you to Google, and type in “24 hour roofer.”

    The very first site on the list looks great. The name of the business is actually “24 Hour Roofer.” Perfect, right? So you click on the link, wait for it to load, because AT&T, and then when you finally get the site open, you are greeted with this:

    “24 Hour Roofer is a great place for roofing. They can come help you right away. They have been doing this for a while now, and they can replace your roof quickly. You should call them.”

    Sweet Star Wars PJs.
    Admit it. You're jealous.

    Now, it’s important to note that you aren’t looking at Yelp reviews. You are looking at the actual site. Who is telling you this? Is it someone who works there? If so, why are they not saying “we?” Is this some sort of testimonial? If so, who is testifying?

    Why are people staring at me? Are they just jealous of my sweet PJ’s? What is going on? Ahhhhh!

    See how this can quickly lead to an existential dilemma? You know what can prevent it? Good, clean copy written in an authoritative voice.

    In other words, write it like you own it, even if you’ve never even heard of the business:

    “Roof problems? Come to 24 Hour Roofing. With over 40 years of experience, we can patch, repair, or replace your roof, no matter how damaged or worn out it is. As a locally owned and operated business, you can trust us to be there when you need us. Call today!”

    Problem solved! These guys sound awesome. Whoever wrote that content knows what I am looking for, and they are clearly telling me how to get it. That’s exactly what I needed! Now back inside! Froot Loops for everyone!

    Tone Makes all the Difference

    If you are writing something for yourself, your tone and sense of authority can come naturally, but it becomes much trickier if you are creating content as a freelancer who has never actually used the business and who really didn’t know it even existed half an hour ago.

    Your job is to write like you own the place. A clear sense of ownership really comes through the writing and can create a sense of trust and reliability that may seem intangible but can really go a long way with a potential client.

    Like anything else, this is an acquired skill. The more content you create that clearly lays out the who, what, where, why, and how in a direct way, the better you will be at making your eventual reader believe you are an authority on this topic, no matter what kind of “childish” pajamas you wear.

    Have you ever had an experience with bad or poorly written content on a site that scared you away?

  • What Are You Talking About? Semantic Keyword Search & SEO

    What Are You Talking About? Semantic Keyword Search & SEO

    Have you ever noticed two people to be arguing over the semantics of something? If so, they might make good SEOs! When it comes to search engine optimization, the meaning of the keywords being used in a search are as important as the well-optimized content you spend hours perfecting before rolling live.

    Semantic Keyword Search & SEO Blog Post Header Image

    A keyword is the word or group of words that a person types in to a search engine in hopes of finding a particular result. Someone searching “apple” may want to find a piece of fruit, but there may be different information that someone else hopes to find in their search results. This is where semantics comes into play.

    Semantics is the study of words’ meaning or how we comprehend something. Until recently, this concept was irrelevant to search engine marketers. However, with the many changes we have been seeing from Google — Panda, Venice and Search Plus Your World, among others — it is not very surprising that our keywords are changing now, too.

    Google has recently relayed the message that, while people worldwide search Google for answers to their every question, the search engine monster does not always understand what we are talking about. For years now, search engine users have thought that the better their keyword or keyword phrase, the better results they would receive.  Unfortunately, that is not the case. Amit Singhal, a Senior VP of Engineering and Fellow of Google, explains that “We cross our fingers and hope someone on the web has written about these things or topics.” Google will provide you with search results, but they may not be exactly what you were hoping for. So what does this mean?

    The Future of Search and Semantics

    With time, searching online will not be what we know it as. It will be focused on semantic keywords, which will be processed via artificial intelligence to understand the meaning of the search query. This is called semantic search, and is currently one of Google’s focuses. It will become necessary to understand the relationship between the keywords typed into a search rather than just searching for those specific words.

    For instance, what could someone mean when they search “apple?”

    • Apple nutrition information
    • Apple recipes
    • Apple computers and products
    • Different kinds of apples and their growing traits
    • The “Big Apple,” as in New York City

    As you can see, there is a limitless list of meanings to the search of just one word.

    What Does This Mean For SEO?

    It will be critical to detect accurate keywords based on the searchers intent for a real world application and then to create content around those words. The content must be created for the keywords that are answering particular questions that people are asking about that topic. Consider our “apple” example. If you chose to focus on the Apple Company, you would want to create content focused on Apple computers and products, and answering any specific questions searchers may have about those products. If you’re a food writer, you’ll want to create recipes and creative essays that are easily readable. If you’re a horticultural specialist, it’ll be necessary to make sure you have clean, precise information and are backed up by appropriate scientific sources, and so on.

    With time, we will be able to thank Google for allowing us to search online and find exactly what it is we are looking for. In the mean time, start researching and preparing your keywords and content for the future!

  • TV Ads vs. Facebook Ads: Targeting the Money

    Moonrise Kingdom
    Go see this movie! …we know you want to…

    I came across a kind of shocking figure the other day while reading about the Facebook IPO. It appears Facebook ad sales generated $3 billion in revenue in 2011. That’s as much money as JP Morgan appears to have lost recently. Whoops.

    But here’s an even more brain-wrinkling number: traditional television ads generated $68 billion in revenue last year. You know what you could buy with that extra $65 billion? Bill Gates.

    But here’s the real question: how many television ads missed the mark entirely? How much bang for their $68 billion bucks did television advertisers really get in 2011? Think about it – when is the last time you saw a TV commercial, and then immediately went out to buy that product?

    It was a Super Soaker, wasn’t it?

    Zeroing In

    As we’ve discussed before, the beauty of Facebook pay per click ads lies in the ability to target your audience. If you don’t care about what grandmothers in Cincinnati think about your bicycle shop in New Orleans, you don’t have to show them your ad. But if you really want to move some spokes and pony up the big bucks to advertise on the major networks, everyone is going to see your commercial, whether they care or not. We won’t even get into DVRs. Fast forward feels like a minor miracle every time some idiot in a gaudy suit starts shouting at me about some car sale I don’t care about.

    What I do like, on the other hand, is the movie Rushmore. At some point I probably sought it out on Facebook and liked it. Took me 30 seconds, and made my day a little brighter. Months or even years later, I see an ad for Wes Anderson’s new movie, Moonrise Kingdom, next to my news feed on Facebook. Up to this point, I had no idea that movie existed, but will I go see it now? Possibly.

    More Hit than Miss

    Now, if you look at the picture of my recent Facebook ad experience, you will see a second ad for SEO, and a third for Orleans Shoring. The picture on the SEO ad makes me want to go buy a donut, but that’s about all. I have no interest in joining some anonymous “Largest SEO Community,” but Facebook at least knows I have an active interest in SEO. Orleans Shoring, now that’s a wash. Can’t win every time.

    But how many TV commercials have you fast forwarded through this week? How about this month? How many hundreds of thousands of advertising dollars were thrown your way while you were waiting impatiently for Ted’s baby announcement to load on your phone? The answer is incalculable, of course, but the point is that it’s a wash — literally and figuratively. The messages are so numerous and all-encompassing that they’re easy to tune out, while the hyper-targeted Facebook ads offer a precise and effective alternative.

    So as Facebook chomps away at the massive amount of advertising dollars out there, what would you rather see? A commercial aimed at the largest possible audience, or an ad targeted at you?

  • INFOGRAPHIC: The Local Business Owner’s Guide to Mobile Apps

    We’re proud to publish this new infographic from the talented team at Avalaunch Media. If you’re a small business owner, check out this array of useful mobile tools and apps to maximize your potential.

    The world of technology is changing rapidly and small business owners need to utilize it in order to compete in the business world. With the rise in instant information through smart phones and high-tech mobile devices, it’s extremely important that business owners know which apps to pay attention to, get listed on, and spend their time searching.

    The graphic below helps you understand what the top apps in the industry to get listed on and to utilize are. Learn which apps make use of customer reviews on local businesses. These ones are important to the personality of a business and should be top priority when trying out apps. Find out which apps help connect merchants, and why your time using them is key to growing your small business.

    In order to compete in today’s business world you must get on board with mobile devices. Take advantage of apps shown in this graphic below. Check them out, get listed on them, and use them! Plus, nearly all of these apps are free!

    Copy and paste the code in the area below to put this image on your site for free.

    <p><a href=”http://www.searchinfluence.com/2012/05/local-business-owners-guide-to-mobile-apps/”><img src=”http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7232/7244922936_6a3c535d5c_o.jpg” alt=”mobile apps for local business owners”></a><br /><a href=”http://www.searchinfluence.com/2012/05/local-business-owners-guide-to-mobile-apps/”>The Local Business Owner’s Guide to Mobile Apps</a>, courtesy of Dream Systems Media</p>

  • SEO Tips from Contemporary Classical Composers

    It’s not only the cyberflâneurs that are the sources of invention for internet marketers. Music composition’s relationship to internet marketing seems like it would be improbable at best. Our world is one of visitor data and consumer behavior, conversion optimization and backlink profiles; how can that compare to harmonic keys and pitch classes, orchestral balance and melodic diminution? Even more so, how could the abstract world of Crumb’s graphic scores, Cage’s triple-tacet-threat, and Stockhausen’s helicopters be at all relevant to anything but the most strained of SEO metaphors?

    The most basic concepts in music, those of theory, melody, and harmony, are directly applicable to marketing simply by recontextualizing the subject matter. Theory, the arena of blogs and papers, is at the core of internet marketing: what ought to be an optimized page? Where do forms go on a page for optimal conversion rate? Where should backlinks be from? Theory is both proscriptive and descriptive, guiding our actions while we use it to describe where we break from convention. SEO “rules” are distilled from testing and tweaking, but are maxims that often fall flat when deeply or individually investigated.

    Similarly, diminution and augmentation of melody can be seen in advertisement copy, where small changes build to a radically different resonance of message. The long tail can be seen as one moves from an unornamented ii-V-I progression to “Rhythm Changes” to “Giant Steps.” Orchestration is unadulterated multiple attribution, where a brand PPC campaign adds the mezzo-forte piccolo over the booming brass section of offline advertising. These are simple comparisons, easily made as the underlying concepts apply to most pseudoscientific arts. But it’s from these three composers, Crumb, Cage, and Stockhausen, already very much the old guard of the avant scene, that an internet marketer can glean some important lessons for their own craft.

    Graphic Scores: Infographics for Music Nerds

    George Crumb, one of the most famous postwar composers, was a master of what some classical fans deride as “noise.” Regardless of the actual music, which is as beautiful as it is haunting, one of Crumb’s hallmarks is in his scores, which are often far removed from the staid black dots on parallel staves that are the default of much Western notation. One of the more striking examples is here, from Black Angels. 
    Infographics are one of the most common forms of viral marketing. They show complex, even opaque ideas in a way that truly makes it easier to understand. But it’s really about how “good” it looks. Is the infographic unique, showing the reader something that they wanted to know, and in a way that highlights the most important parts? Note how Crumb brings in and builds out the individual parts, gliding them together with elisions and separating them with breaks — this guides the music as well, giving shape to the overall end product while making a spectacle for the reader of the music and the musician.

    But it’s not just Crumb’s design qualities that are meaningful to an SEO — this concept of highlighting through design should be at the core of any data presentation. At the start of every reporting cycle, businesses receive lists of data from their SEO. These reports should be focused on what information is most important: your return on investment. As we create these reports, it’s tempting to add graphs and other visual candy.

    John Cage is a bit of a hot-button composer for many classical fans. Certainly, his work with Sun Ra is interesting, his Water Walk is a landmark piece of television, and his Sonatas for Prepared Piano are skilled miniatures. Regardless, he’ll forever be known for his 4’33” — a piece not quite that long that consists of complete silence.

    Cage’s piece calls for “any instrument or group of instruments” to have a piece of three movements that each only includes the instructions “be quiet.” While one can view this piece, and others, as simple trolling or nose-thumbing, the piece explores the far limits of minimalism in music. Two lessons can be learned from this experiment: one of background noise and one of removal of the unnecessary.

    Background noise is a key concept within SEO. It’s the long long tail, the organic traffic that even a totally un-optimized site with no backlinks will get. It’s also the fuzz in the data-driven world in which we work. How can you explain the value of someone who takes not only paid, organic, and direct channels, but converts on a seemingly random keyword? Multiple-attribution models try to clear the fog, but ultimately, you just have to bask in the glory of holistic website promotion and enjoy, much like the uncomfortable clearing of throats that are one of the focuses of 4’33”.

    The other lesson, one of questioning what is necessary, is one of the hallmarks of projects like The Open Algorithm, an up-and-coming blog that tries to test the more well-established mantras of SEO. This willingness to strip away what is extraneous (in Cage’s world, even the music at the concert) in order to see what makes the experience meaningful creates a system that is simultaneously simple and focused. Try, as the Open Algorithm suggests, ranking without on-page factors or even links, the most basic SEO currency. Try removing even seemingly important items to get to the core of what you’re really doing.

    Helicopter Quartet: Experimentation and Vision

    Removing aspects to get to the pure core of your art is a great experiment; however, it’s not just the removal that helps. Karlheinz Stockhausen, one of the most famous of the Darmstadt school of composition, is a Colossus of experimentation. His early use of electronics in pieces such as Song of the Children, his Wagnerian gesamtkunstwerk of his Light cycle, and his fascination with the drones and pitter-patter of voices in Stimmung all show a desire to play with his craft.

    One extreme example of this experimentation is his Helicopter Quartet, which combines spoken word, electric instruments, and the drone of helicopters to create his own vision of Vietnam. While the specifics don’t matter much, one can easily see that there is a spirit unlike the explicit minimalism of Cage which seeks something beyond the pale. It’s this experimentation that every SEO should revel in, expanding their skills beyond just 10 blue links and entering into rich snippets, post-Venice local SEO, or ranking via other methods like social marks. Beyond simple experimentation, the value of trying new things brings out a new vision of SEO, one not far from the “inbound marketing” of Moz and HubSpot — one of a holistic look at website promotion.

    This new vision is the driving force behind all these composers. It was not hubris that led Ornette Coleman to call his first major album “The Shape of Jazz to Come.” It was the whole zeitgeist of the first wave of post-modernists. They were trying to blaze a new trail while remaining cognizant of their forebearers. Similarly, an SEO can take that attitude and apply it to their personal brand of marketing. Experimentation is the only way to best determine what can and can’t be successful, and even in this supposedly dark time of Pandas and Penguins all paths are open.

    History: What Battles Have Already Been Fought?

    All these composers are brilliant stars of a former era. New composers, like post-minimalist Nico Mulhy, Radiohead guitarist Johnny Greenwood, and band geek Eric Whitacre built upon Stockhausen, Cage, and Crumb. But even the revered composers knew what had come before. Stockhausen had the computer work of Millard Puckette, Cage had the ur-noisemaker Futurists, and Crumb had the Ars Nova style. SEOs have years of blog posts, books, and personal experiences to draw from, allowing them to worry more or less than the common din about a given industry development. SEO By The Sea, which hones in on the abstract world of search engine patents, understands this, citing 5- and 10-year-old patents that are the talk of the town today. Search Engine Land understands it too, drawing on almost two decades of experience working in the field to color his commentary less alarmist than others’.

    Crumb again gives us a striking example upon which to expand — why reinvent what already has a long history? There’s usually little reason to backtrack when other have done existing research in the field. Academics know this, and spend much of their papers talking about already-extant data on their subjects. For SEOs, this means voracious reading, not only of superstars, but also of the little guys. It wasn’t a cursory look that showed Crumb this piece from the 1400s:

    Compare this to his works above; it’s clear he’s simply following centuries-old footsteps to a totally different end point. Similarly, SEOs can walk the paths of links and social shares while still innovating.

    Looking across disciplines can help give any marketer a little perspective and insight — what subjects have influenced your outlook?

  • Big List Of SEO Blogs … These are Blogs You Should Read!

    cast my net for collecting SEO blogs
    I cast a big net in asking all of our employees for their favorite internet marketing blogs

    We often tell our junior-most employees to read SEO blogs to expand their knowledge. (I have heard this instructed to our freshest faces about 3 times in the last week.) The more experienced staff is humble enough to say in a very matter-of-fact voice, “I don’t have all of the answers.” And in this industry where things change daily, keeping up with the latest has to be an active task by many.

    I was trying to compile a list of SEO related blogs for our newer employees to read and keep up with to help them grow their knowledge and hopefully to stir some entrepreneurial spirit. We love when we hear,

    “Hey, I was reading about this thing, and I was thinking we can try it for that client X.”

    Reading industry blogs and innovative thinking, trying to apply the things you’re reading about are all good things we encourage.

    To compile this all encompassing list o’ blogs, I cast a big net in asking all of our employees for their favorite internet marketing blogs. Wowsa! We have a lot of folks around here truly interested in the industry and in honing their own skills. I got a lot of response by a lot of team members. I have quoted 4 of our contributors because their responses were the most comprehensive.

    Joseph Henson, our resident Local Search Marketing Specialist, kicked off the responses with a fairly comprehensive list.SEO blogs from Joseph

    Doug Thomas loves research and has a real interest in the technical side of things, i.e. he likes to see what makes things tick. SEO bogs from Doug

    He mixed it up with a list of blogs clearly showing what he’s interested in and gotta love his commentary:

    Our fearless leader, Will Scott, added a few more …  SEO blogs from Will

    Julia Ramsey is our go-to for excellent writing, great editing, and extraordinary blogging. SEO blogs from Julia

    She threw in a few more blogs worthy of our list:

    We inspired Will with our list of reading sources, and in that inspiring light, he created a Google Reader bundle which should allow you to grab the whole group. Thanks, Will, for making it easy for the world to keep up with the latest and greatest in SEO!

    If you read one of the above blogs, we are interested in your feedback.  Or if you regularly read an SEO or internet marketing blog that is not listed here, please let us know. We would love to check it out!

     

    (Thanks to Brian http://www.flickr.com/photos/briangratwicke/ for the net casting image – nice pic!)

  • The One Thing You Should Do Right Now to Help Your SEO

    1. Open your browser. www. vs. non-www.adclub.org

    2. Type in www.[yourdomain].com. After it loads, does the web address stay on www.[yourdomain].com?

    3. Then, type in [yourdomain].com. After it loads, does the web address “resolve” to the same address as it did when you completed step 2?

    If not, your site technically has two versions of itself, therefore leaving search engines to believe that your entire site consists of duplicate content. This problem is actually very common, but fixing it is the one thing you should do right now to help your SEO.

    In the example above, the domains www.adclubno.org AND adclubno.org both exist, meaning there are two copies of every page on the site, which could be detrimental to rankings in search engines. Luckily, there is a pretty easy fix for this problem. But first, let’s discuss why duplicate content is bad for Search Engine Optimization.

    What is Duplicate Content?

    Image courtesy of SEOMoz.com.
    Google defines duplicate content as “substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.” Duplicate content is often considered one of the top negative SEO ranking factors. Duplicate content to search engines is like identical triplets to a drunk frat guy: how do they know which version is the right one to choose? According to SEOMoz, three of the biggest issues with duplicate content include:

    1. Search engines don’t know which version(s) to include/exclude from their indices
    2. Search engines don’t know whether to direct the link metrics (trust, authority, anchor text, link juice, etc.) to one page, or keep it separated between multiple versions
    3. Search engines don’t know which version(s) to rank for query results

    What this means is that search engines want to show the most relevant content to their searchers, but if you have duplicate content existing across URLs, the search engines get confused. Link metrics and page authority get split between the URLs, diminishing the value of all of your SEO efforts.

    Ways to Check for Duplicate Content

    Duplicate Content ToolBesides typing your domain in your browser, Virante has a duplicate content tool that checks whether your domain has duplicate content. Just submit your domain, and the tool will do a WWW/NonWWW Header Check, Google Cache Check, Similarity Check, Default Page Check, 404 Check, and a PageRank Dispersion Check. As in the previous example, www.adclubno.org failed the WWW/NonWWW Header Check, and because of this main problem, they also failed the Google Cache Check, Similarity Check, and Default Page Check.

    How to Fix These Issues

    So now that you’ve realized that you have a problem, how do you fix if? For starters, you can log in to your Google webmaster tools account and designate your preferred domain. This lets Google know which version of your site to provide in the search engine results. Next, you (or in my case, someone else with actual programming knowledge) should set up a permanent 301 redirect in the .htaccess file to let other search engines know which domain is the preferred one.

    Once this problem is resolved, you will want to make sure that you are consistently using the preferred domain for all of your link building endeavors.

    Do you know if your domain has duplicate content? Find out now!

  • Infographic: The History of Local Search

    Dream Systems Media is the copyright owner of this info graphic.

    Yelp and Foursquare, Google Maps and Siri — these are just the most recent efforts in Local Marketing. The folks over at Dream Systems Media put together this amazing graphic on the History of Local Search today. It shares just how far we have come with local marketing, from word-of-mouth through radio and TV to today’s local search. We wanted to share this timeline with our readers over here so enjoy and Kudos to the DSM team for putting together such an awesome graphic on local marketing!

  • Interview with Cracked Columnist John Cheese

    Cracked Columnist John Cheese
    John Cheese talks SEO

    Cracked columnist and longtime internet comedy writer John Cheese put out a call for interviews recently, and I jumped at the chance to talk to him. Out of all the writers on Cracked, a site I have been fairly addicted to since about 2007, John Cheese has probably spent the most time eloquently weaving his own life experiences into his always funny and often moving columns.

    John ended up really driving home a rather simple yet all-encompassing idea that we have adopted as a mantra at Search Influence: fresh content is king. It really doesn’t matter whether you are advertising a novel, a list-based comedy site, or a small business anywhere in the world – if you can produce quality content that people find interesting on a regular basis, everything else will fall into place. It doesn’t hurt if you are as insightful, funny, and talented as John is either.

    Take a look at the results of my email interview with John Cheese:

    (more…)

  • New Kid on the Social Media Block – How to Generate Brand Awareness and Valuable Links using Pinterest

    As an admittedly addicted Pinterest user, I’d like to clear up a few things about the relatively young social media site and its potential use for marketing and SEO linkbuilding.Definition of Pinterest With Pinterest quickly rising in popularity, I’m constantly hearing it referred to as a social bookmarking tool for sharing images.  Pinterest is in fact a social bookmarking tool, but it is not only about the images. The site allows users to “pin” or save links to external sites in an organized way, with few limits to what type of site or image can be pinned.  Users can save anything from a favorite blog post to products they love, from recipes to tutorials. Each and every pin not only pulls in an image, but also a do-follow link back to the source site! Can you smell the SEO potential yet? The brilliance of Pinterest is that it combines some of the most compelling features of social media in general: visually stimulating content and the opportunity to share your ideas, interests and inspiration. Upon signing up, users are provided with fully customizable “pin boards” and can easily find friends to follow using the Facebook and Twitter connected features.
    I escape to Pinterest to avoid all the drama and bad grammar on Facebook.
    As a marketing tool, Pinterest has great potential for small retail businesses that may have a hard time competing in search results. For example, a local boutique clothing store may find it incredibly difficult to outrank Macy’s and Saks in the SERPs for a keyword like “New Orleans shopping.” When users find something they like (usually pinned by someone they follow and are influenced by), chances are they will, at the very least, click the source link. Everyday I’m introduced to new brands and products on Pinterest, and more than once I’ve used what my friends are pinning as inspiration for making purchases. There are currently few brands using Pinterest, but with its popularity and the site’s high (and still growing) domain authority, all signs are pointing to increased use by brands and businesses in the near future.

    A few tips for putting Pinterest to work for your brand:Pin It Button

    • Add the “Pin It” button to your product pages or blog posts. It’s easy to do and you can add the button along with your other social media sharing buttons.
    • Create a Pinterest account for the brand itself and reach out to “visual influencers” on Pinterest for help getting your images re-pinned. Pinterest allows any user to follow any other user without requiring a follow-back. You may also tag other users in your pins, comment on pins and re-pin (the Pinterest version of a retweet) others’ content.
    • Create boards beyond your own products and brand, but relevant to your location and industry.
    • Utilize the description fields when creating Pins by adding keywords and geo-modifiers. Not only is this SEO 101, but Pinterest addicts often use the search feature to find relevant pins.
    • Keep pinning!  The search results and Pin feeds change up-to-the-minute, much like the Twitter feed and Facebook Ticker. Maintain a steady flow of Pins to ensure your products are staying top-of-mind.

    For SEO linkbuilding purposes, the benefits of Pinterest are pretty self-evident. Some basic info on Pinterest links:

    • Each and every Pin links back to the original source site or the file location (depending on where it was originally pinned from). Unless you’re purposely optimizing for image seach, a product page or site link is probably better.

      Pin Link Locations
      Standard pins provide links to the source site in two locations.
    • A Pin provides do-follow links in multiple places. The image itself acts as a link in addition to the “From:” link in the top right-hand-corner.
    • A pin comes with embed code for syndication to other sites like Facebook and Twitter, helping to develop backlinks to the Pin itself.
    • Pins are editable! You can edit your own Pins with updated URLs or reach out to Pinners who may have pinned your images from an unfavorable source site. Pins are easy to edit and the new URL you provide does not need to host the image, though I don’t recommend you use a link without the original image.
    • Because of the visual nature of Pinterest, it is a great way to promote infographics. Make sure they are Pinned to appropriate boards and contain relevant descriptions to ensure they are shared.
    • You can even add a Pin It button to your company’s blog pages by using the WordPress plug-in.

    Thanks to the intuitive nature of Pinterest’s interface, I think the best way to get going is to request an invite and just dive in. Remember, sign-up is currently via invitation-only, so ask a friend to invite you or request one from the site (it doesn’t take long). Let me know what you think about these tips in the comments, and if my screenshots piqued your interest, follow me on Pinterest!