A-to-Z Internet Marketing News: Bloggers Beware, Google Trust, Mobile SEO, New Twitter, SMBs Heart SEO
Posted on 09. Dec, 2011 by Ashley Zeckman in B2B, b2b marketing, Blog, content marketing, mobile seo, News, report, Search Industry News, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing
New Report on B2B Content Marketing for 2012:
This week started off right with the new report (pdf) from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs: ”B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets & Trends”. The report offers a great mix of insight into most and least effective content marketing tactics, social media tools, measurement, budgets and compelling data points like:
- 9 in 10 organizations market with content
- Content marketers use 8 different content marketing tactics (on average) in their mix
- The most popular content marketing tactics included social media, blogs, newsletters, case studies and events
- The least effective content marketing tactics: podcasts, mobile content, digital magazines
While SEO is mentioned in the context of measurement, “SEO Ranking”, there is no other mention of the role of search engine optimization in relation to content marketing in the entire report. Either questions were not asked that allowed SEO to be indicated as a response or this is further evidence of the disconnect between content marketers and the role of search optimization as a key traffic driver for content. Either way, it reinforces our evangelism at TopRank for companies to invest in content creation as well as optimization and promotion. #optimize
Bloggers Beware:
“Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn’t a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court –Imposes $2.5 Million Judgement on Her” Cox’s interview with Seattle Weekly sheds some light on a sticky situation. One of Crystal Cox blogs contained highly critical information about a particular financial company and it’s co-founder. The prosecution was able to convince the court that because Cox is not affiliated with a specific newspaper, magazine, news service, or network she is not covered under Oregon’s media shield law and therefore can be fined. Via Seattle Weekly.
Brands New Twitter:
“The New Twitter: Everything You Need to Know” Twitter has revealed a slew of new features and design including Brand pages (like Google+ and Facebook). New features and labeling include: Home (news feed), Connect (Your @replies), Discover (Personalized news stream), Me (Your profile). Along with these revisions are brand pages which are customizable and the ability to embed individual tweets in web pages. Verdict? Did we ask for these changes Twitter? Via Mashable and Twitter.
In Google We Trust: But Does Google Trust You?
“Are You Trusted by Google?” Determining how Google calculates reputation scores has long been a mystery. This article provides resources that give some teasers into how Google might use these scores but there is still no information provided on how exactly reputation scores are calculated. Google’s new Agent Rank provides some clarification when it comes to +1 scores and as predicted, they are not all created equal. Via SEO by the Sea.
Mobile is Your Daddy:
“How the Mobile Web Changes the SEO Landscape” Mobile Internet usage is said to surpass desktop usage by 2014. Something worth noting is that the way that users search using their mobile devices is also very different. This presents a threat as well as an excellent opportunity for marketers to optimize for mobile. This article provides some interesting insights into some of the ways that Internet usage is about to change. Via Forbes.
Dodging Social Media Risk:
“Too Many Wrong Messages on Social Media? Try Leadership, Not Control” Many organizations have found that the type of information their employees are sharing on social media reflects poorly on their brand and may have severe consequences. The question many companies face is should they control the way that their employees share? This article shares some great tips for educating employees on the do’s and don’ts of social media. Via Social Business News.
SEO is the Bomb for SMBs:
“Survey Says SEO the Single Most Important Marketing Channel for SMBs” A recent study by MerchantCircle/Reply.com surveyed 2,500 small business owners with some surprising results. Search Engine Optimization is the marketing channel 32.9% of marketers would use if they had to choose just one making it the front runner by a landslide. Facebook also ranked high as the most common marketing tool being used to promote their business online. Via Search Engine Land.
Nominate TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog
“Nominate Your Favorite Social Media Blog: 3rd Annual Top 10 Social Media Blog Contest” Social Media Examiner is taking nominations for your favorite blogs that cover social media topics. Online Marketing Blog ranked #2 in this list of prestigious blogs along with Brian Solis, Jay Baer, Mitch Joel, Jason Falls, Olivier Blanchard, Gini Dietrich and many others. Please take a moment to nominate TopRankBlog.com for the 2012 list 
Via Social Media Examiner.
Was there any news this week that you think would be of interest to our readers? As always we welcome any feedback that you have regarding our blog and what you would like to see more of. Have a great weekend and we hope to see you again next week.
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A-to-Z Internet Marketing News: Bloggers Beware, Google Trust, Mobile SEO, New Twitter, SMBs Heart SEO | http://www.toprankblog.com
Quick Guide to Smartphone & Mobile SEO
Posted on 30. Jun, 2011 by Lee Odden in Blog, mobile, mobile seo, SEO Tips, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, smartphone seo
Need to learn more about smartphone and mobile SEO best practices? Let’s start with a few statistics:
According to an infographic from Microsoft Tag, 51% of smartphone users are more likely to buy from a retailer with a mobile specific web site, however: only 4.8% of retailers have a mobile web site.
A recent study by Google, “The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Users” reports 77% of smartphone users visit search engine websites followed by social networks. And nine out of ten smartphone searches results in an action (purchasing, visiting a business, etc.). Mobile use is growing faster than all of Google’s internal predictions, with YouTube seeing 200 million mobile playbacks a day, according to Eric Schmidt.
To capture the market, marketers and advertisers are increasingly allocating budget to mobile. In fact, eMarketer estimates total mobile advertising spending in the US will reach $1.1 billion this year, which is up 48% over 2010. Mobile search is forecasted to account for up to 10 percent of search budgets with Google capturing 97% of that market.
How can marketers take advantage of the opportunity with mobile search & optimization?
Of course there’s paid search advertising on mobile as there is on the web, but our focus here is on content, social and organic search, so the following tips will emphasize what you can do without advertising.
Fundamental SEO Best Practices – Effective site optimization applies for mobile sites as they would for desktop websites. Search engine accessibility, keywords, content and links all matter with mobile. Keep in mind screen real estate is smaller for keyword use in titles and descriptions. As a primer, check out this post from the Google Webmaster Central Blog, Making Websites More Mobile Friendly.
Mobile Friendly Website – First, decide if you need a dedicated mobile site or if you will present mobile users with a mobile friendly version of your existing site. If you happen to know that a significant number of your customers use traditional mobile phones, then a dedicated mobile site may be warranted. See the “Mobile Filters in Google Analytics” tip below for info on determining your website’s mobile activity.
A custom CSS file can usually accomplish a mobile friendly site for traditional, internet enabled mobile phones or it may be necessary to develop mobile specific pages.
Smartphones can view most websites as a desktop browser would, only smaller and may not need such customization. Another consideration is that some features, such as Flash content, will not display on an iPhone. Hopefully HTML5 adoption will address that. While smartphone use is rapidly rising, there are still a very large number of traditional mobile phones in use. A “mobile friendly” site isn’t exactly a SEO tactic, but if people can’t view your site, there’ not much use in it attracting search traffic.
Mobile URLs & Content - Because of advice given by search engines, many Webmasters have their mobile sites detect user agent access via a mobile device and serve up a mobile friendly site using a different URL such as
- m.mywebsite.com
- www.mywebsite.com/mobile/
That is no longer necessary and website owners can present the appropriate content using the same URL. rel=canonical can be used for desktop content. In all instances, the same content must be served to Googlebot and Googlebot-Mobile as what a user would see. Advantages to a single URL include a single destination for link building and also to facilitate social sharing of pages via mobile phones meant for desktop consumption.
Mobile Keywords – When researching keywords, it’s worth considering that mobile search query strings, on average, are 25 percent shorter than desktop searches. As for mobile keyword research tools, Google’s keyword tool provides a mobile filtering option and the stats you see for Competition, Global and Local Monthly Searches, and Local Search Trends are all specific to the device filter you pick.
Mobile Formatting and Layout - There are many resources for mobile website development. If you want to test how your mobile friendly website will appear, then Mobile Moxie offers an array of handy tools for testing websites on mobile devices. Tools include: Keyword Research, Mobile HTML Code Grader, Mobile Search Engine Indexing & mSEO, Mobile Website Emulator and Phone Comparison, Mobile Search Engine Simulation and Results Comparison.
Mobile Content – In addition to testing the mobile user experience, it’s also important to test the effectiveness of your mobile content. Delivering mobile search traffic to pages is just the beginning with effective mobile marketing. Make sure the content users are interacting with resonates and inspires desired outcomes. Achieving mobile content effectiveness draws on content marketing best practices by knowing customers, their pain points and interests, keywords and social topics. Then apply that insight to your mobile content strategy. There are numerous mobile marketing case studies to draw ideas from to see what’s worked.
Mobile Site Map – Websites that serve only mobile content can provide Google with an XML sitemap. Non mobile URLs should not be included, but URLs that return both mobile and non-mobile content can be included.
Mobile Filters in Google Analytics - On mobile analytics, Lori Ulloa says, “You can use Google Analytics to track your mobile visitors without creating a separate, filtered profile. You can get info such as those coming from mobile operating systems, mobile devices and even mobile carriers. If you do decide that an app is the right way to go, the Google Analytics for Mobile Apps SDKs make it easy for you to implement Google Analytics in your mobile apps.”
However, if you do want to use filters to extract mobile data (arguably to see if you have a mobile audience in the first place) then Google Analytics offers options in both standard and beta. Filters will inform you how much of your organic traffic is coming from mobile, how they interact with your content and if they’re converting.
By 2012 mobile searches will account for 25% of global searches (Google Smartphone User Study). Consumer use of smart phones and tablets has skyrocketed and in keeping with best practices for changing customer information discovery, consumption and sharing needs, mobile marketing warrants serious consideration by companies of all sizes, industries and locations.
You’ve read my take on determining where to allocate search marketing resources before: If it can be searched, it can be optimized. That certainly means mobile search as much as it does search on the web. The question is, how and when your business will approach mobile marketing and more specifically, mobile SEO?
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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. |
Quick Guide to Smartphone & Mobile SEO | http://www.toprankblog.com
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