Small Business Marketing & Business Acceleration | FrontlineMarketingSystems.com

Linkbuilding Like a Nerd #SESNY

Posted on 27. Mar, 2012 by BLarson in Blog, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Linkbuilding has to be one of my favorite aspects of SEO. All too often people use the analogy of linkbuilding being a popularity contest. As someone who views linkbuilding in a somewhat different light – and as someone who was considered by only his parents as ‘cool’ – I think it’s time to put that analogy to bed. Yes, being the sexy-fun brand will undoubtedly drive links for your site. But in my opinion, it’s the quality of the information on the page that will not only help you succeed in proactively acquiring links, but will also inspire others to link to your page. Or to return to the analogy, the cool kid might start out with the lead, but it’s the smart kid (see nerd) who ends up winning in the long run.

It is that passion for linkbuilding that drove me to put Linkbuilding Essentials as one of my can’t miss SES New York sessions…and it didn’t disappoint. Debra Mastaler, President of Alliance-Link, presented solo and here are just some of the highlights.

Create Quality Content

At the end of the day links represent another sites ‘vote’ for your page. To earn that vote you need to offer content that can’t be found on just any site. Provide resources, include imagery and ensure your headline grabs the reader’s attention. If you want to inspire sharing, give them something worthy of sharing.

4 Linkbuilding Considerations

1. Quantity - The number of links pointing to an individual page.

Take-away: Because the quality of links strongly influences the links value, link quantity can be dangerous to view in a silo. Use this number along with link quantity to evaluate your linkbuilding success and identify new opportunities.

2. Quality - Different search engines have different names for the metric used to evaluate link quality. For Google that is known as PageRank. PageRank – wisely titled – ranks a page based on the PageRank number for all pages linking to it.

Take-away: Online marketers learned many Google updates ago that Google places a strong emphasis on the quality of a link. That is, a link from Forbes is more powerful than a link from bookmarking site, although both may deserve a place in your linkbuilding strategy.

3. Relevance - The context or relationship between the page linking out and the page receiving the link is an important aspect of linkbuilding. The pages should likely have some similarities in order for the link to be of value to either web property.

Take-away: If you’re a business that sells high-end IT software and yet most of the links that point to your site are from a site that sells boiled peanuts, there’s something wrong. As you consider what sites to target in your linkbuilding efforts, ask yourself: is it reasonable for your audience to want to visit that page? If the answer is yes, it is likely a good link to acquire from both a SEO and UX standpoint.

4. Anchor Text - Links that leverage text to link to another page. When done right, the text of the link should provide insight as to what information will be found on the linked page.

Take-away: From a SEO perspective, anchor text links can be more powerful than a spelled out URL link. Why? For the same reason it is more powerful from a UX perspective. The text of the link provides the search bot with information about the page being linked.

No-No’s for Linkbuilding

Now with an understanding of some of the key aspects to consider when developing and maintaining a linkbuilding program, let’s switch gears and discuss a few practices that every marketer should avoid.

1. Building Links in Bulk – Seems counter-intuitive, right? If link quantity is factored by search engines, why not acquire as many as possible at once? The reason is simple: with exception to major announcements, product roll-outs or big advertising, it’s unnatural for most pages to suddenly have a burst in the number of inlinks. In addition, the types of tactics that lead to a sudden surge in links are likely against Google’s Terms of Service.
2. Not Linking Out – There is an old belief that linking from your page to a 3rd party property is a bad thing and hurts your PageRank score. In reality, linking to other sites offers far more pros than cons. The only caveat is that you need take a strategic approach to how you link out. For starters, don’t use an important keyword in your anchor text and don’t link to sites that you don’t want associated with your brand
3. Talking Like a Robot – Using the exact phrase in each anchor text link you acquire is not ideal. Although it’s difficult to quantify how this approach can impact the SEO value of your links, think of it this way: no two people talk the exact same way, so it’s unreasonable that the only language relevant to your page is X. Consider mixing in long tail derivatives to strike a healthy balance.

One thing that I especially enjoyed in Mastaler’s presentation was the way she broke down the large world of linkbuilding into neat little segments that allow you to form an action plan. Get nerdy and start your linkbuilding initiative with a commitment to provide better content than your competition. Next, evaluate your current inlink situation against the 4 key considerations. Identify your opportunities and be sure not to violate the linkbuilding no-no’s.

While we’re talking linkbuilding, what’s the best linking tool? Make your case with a comment below.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Linkbuilding Like a Nerd #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Customer Centric Content Optimization (Say That 3 Times Fast) – Presented by Lee Odden

Posted on 27. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, customer centric marketing, lee odden, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

The final day of SES New York wrapped up with a series of the top rated sessions from other SES conferences. One of those sessions was a presentation on “Content & Customer Optimization” by my boss TopRank Online Marketing CEO Lee Odden (@leeodden).

I for one was impressed that on the final day of the conference and the last session of the day the room was packed and people were ready to learn.

Lee began by polling the audience to see what mix online marketing expertise was present in the room.  There were a smattering of SEO practitioners, copywriters, agency marketers (like myself), and those working client side.  Below I’ve included what I considered to be some of the highlights from Lee’s presentation.

What Would You Do if Google Disappeared Tomorrow?

If Google were to cease existing tomorrow do you know how it would affect your marketing and your business? Now many of you may say that’s ridiculous, Google is going to be around forever. However, should you allow Google dominate your marketing?

Lee recommends that Google should be used to empower marketers do what they really want which is to: attract, engage, and motive customers to purchase products or services.  So instead of focusing strictly on optimizing for Google what should you focus on?

Optimize for Customers, Experiences, & Outcomes

Taking a thoughtful approach to the wants and needs of a target audience will go a long way. Customer-centric content planning will inspire customers throughout the sale cycle and give you a leg up over the competition.

Key Questions All Marketers Should Ask:

How do my customers discover information?

• What are their interests?
• What needs and pain points are specific to my customers?
• What search engine(s) are they using to find my company?

What means are used to consume information?

• What are my customers content preferences?
• What media sites do they read or follow?
• Which social sites do they frequent?
• What sort of device is being used to consume this information?

What are the sharing preferences of my customers?

• How do they share information?
• What is their referral process?
• What steps do they take after purchase?

After determining more information about your customers it’s important that you focus on optimizing all of your content to meet their needs.  Examples of content that can be optimized include:

• Products & Services
• Corporate Info
• News, PR
• Help, FAQ
• Knowledgebase
• Job Listings
• Landing Pages
• Fulfillment Pieces
• Curated/Aggregated
• Media: Video, Audio, Images
• Blogs
• Tweets
• Status Updates
• Comments
• Tags
• MS Office Docs
• PDF Files

Building an Optimized and Socialized Framework

Throughout the different stages of the buying cycle it is imperative that your strategy is aligned with your customers needs.  By creating an optimized and socialized framework optimizing for where your customers are at you can better pinpoint what they are “feeling or thinking” at that given stage.  What are the stages to consider?

Stage #1 – Building Awareness: research, customer segments

Stage #2 – Peeking Interest: keywords, topics, messaging

Stage #3 – Consideration to Purchase: content, promotion plan

Stage #4 – Purchase: optimize, socialize, promote

Remember, not everyone is ready to purchase your product or service.  However, they may be willing or happy to refer you to someone else who is in the purchasing stage of the sales cycle.  Every audience member that you interact with opens up an opportunity to network with additional audience members.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about creating an Optimized and Socialized online marketing strategy be sure to check out Lee’s new book “Optimize” which will be released on April 17, 2012.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Customer Centric Content Optimization (Say That 3 Times Fast) – Presented by Lee Odden | http://www.toprankblog.com

Top Problems with Landing Pages & How to Improve Your Conversion Rates

Posted on 26. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

If your company is throwing around the idea of building a landing page or series of landing pages it is first important to understand what they are, as well as the elements that go into creating an effective landing page.

At their core landing pages are simply a single web page that contains a form that inspires your customers to take the next step. While seemingly simple, many companies are not properly implementing their pages.

Last week at SES New York I attended a session by New York Times Best Selling author and SES Advisory board member Bryan Eisenberg (@thegrok) on “The Anatomy of the Perfect Landing Page”.

The Problem With Landing Pages

Typically landing pages are focused on driving traffic. But how much is that traffic worth if your visitors don’t convert? According to Eisenburg on average only 2% of visitors convert once they reach a landing page.

While many websites don’t have a problem driving traffic there is a major problem with conversion. Even as technology continues to improve at a drastic rate, conversion rates have barely increased. What is the disconnect?

On average companies are spending $92 per visit to bring people to their site. However, the ratio of spend is $91 on driving traffic, and only $1 to convert traffic.

There is Hope for Landing Pages

A recent infographic released by Econsultancy on web testing suggests that you should test the following elements which apply to both landing pages as well as standard websites:

• Call-to-Action Buttons
• Page Layout
• Navigation
• Copy
• Promotions and Offers
• Checkout Process

According to another report by Econsultancy there are 4 variables that are most strongly connected to improving overall conversion ratios including:

1. Perceived control over conversion rates
2. A structured approach to CRO
3. Having someone directly responsible for CRO
4. Incentivizing staff based on conversion rates

Slice & Dice Optimization

Unless your website is already converting at 50-70% breaking up and re-assembling your page will not have a significant impact. You may be getting slightly better results, but if you’re trying to aggressively increase your conversion this approach will not have results that are worth the effort.

5 Dimensions of a Landing Page

Eisenburg shares what he calls the 5 dimensions of a landing page. These dimensions include:

1. Relevance: is your content relevant to the needs of your audience?
2. Quality: have high quality images been used on the landing page?
3. Location: are elements of the page properly located to catch attention and inspire action?
4. Proximity: does the flow of your landing page allow for quick access?
5. Prominence: are your calls to action prominently displayed and easy to access?

In order to properly develop the dimensions listed above it is essential that you focus on the “conversion trinity.” This trinity is a serious of questions that your customers will ask themselves either consciously or subconsciously as they are on your site.

1. Is this page relevant to my query?
2. Do I know why this is the right solution for me?
3. Is it obvious what I need to do next?

Cues that continue to move your customers through the cycle would include things such as trigger words or offers, appealing graphics, consistency in color, shape of elements, and location on page.

What Should We Ask Ourselves?

When building a landing page, website, or any online marketing tool it is key to ask yourself and your team: Why should someone do business with me? If you are unable to answer that question very quickly there is a problem. Be sure to always provide value and follow with strong calls to action that continue to move prospects through the buying cycle.

Looking for additional tips on optimizing your landing pages? Be sure to check out “Landing Page Tips to Increase Conversions – #SESNY” which was posted on our blog earlier this week.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Top Problems with Landing Pages & How to Improve Your Conversion Rates | http://www.toprankblog.com

Expert Video Marketing Strategy – Spoiler Alert: Cat Videos Included #SESNY

Posted on 22. Mar, 2012 by BLarson in Blog, Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Video Marketing

Have you worked yourself to the bone on a video marketing campaign only to see the results fall flat? Do you have a wealth of video content but are unsure how to leverage it effectively to serve your marketing objectives? Can your presence on YouTube be summed as ‘well, we have a channel’?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re not alone. Getting results through your video marketing efforts can be a challenge if you don’t have the right game-plan. However, you’re in luck! At day 2 of SES New York TopRank CEO Lee Odden moderated a panel discussion with leading industry video marketers.Their stellar tips and insights that can be found below.

Video Marketing Tactics – Mark Robertson

Robertson did an excellent job providing a nice comedic break during the session by showcasing a video that pokes fun at one inevitable truth about audiences: we love cat videos. If you haven’t seen the Catvertising video, take a moment to watch the video. It’s worth it.

Cats aside, Robertson shared some helpful and often overlooked SEO tips for YouTube that can help your video be found more easily through search.

• Titles-Be sure to include a relevant keyword at the start of the title to help the video be found through search.
• Summary – The summary serves as the meta description in the SERP. Start your summary with your keywords when possible to set expectations with your audience about the content in the video.
• Tags – Per YouTube’s own instructions, include as many relevant tags as possible.
• Playlists -They offer appear in search results and can keep your audience engaged with other relevant videos. Create playlists and include 3rd party content. Per YouTube, a videos ability to funnel traffic to other videos is factored into its search algorithm.
• Close Captioning – When uploading videos, be sure to upload closed captioning. The text from closed captioning is indexed and can help the hearing impaired and search engines find your video.

Applying a Strategic Approach to Video Marketing – Aaron Kahlow (@omconnect)

Video marketing shouldn’t live on an island in your marketing program. To be successful videos can’t be a simple one-off project or after thought. Kahlow encourages marketers to apply their marketing strategies to video and incorporate video marketing as part of a larger holistic effort.

Here are some key strategic steps to apply to video marketing:

1. Determine Your Goal – What marketing objective should it serve. What is the desired outcome of the effort?
2. Identify How to Capture the Video – Should the video have a raw feel that can be captured through a handheld or does the message need to be shared through high-quality video and production.
3. Target an Audience – Who are you targeting with this video? Apply what you know about this audience to dictate how, when and where you promote the video.
4. Leverage Your Brand & Promote Links – Your video should not be a secret. Promote it through other established channels such as: website, blog, email and social.

Video Marketing Case Studies – Greg Jarboe (@gregjarboe)

Making a viral video is a lot easier said than done. Although planning that a video will reach viral status is a dangerous expectation, Jarboe helps break down some of the commonalities that widely successful marketing videos share. Through his research, he found that every video that found a large audience fell into 4 categories.

• Inspiration
• Entertainment
• Enlightenment
• Education

An Example of Inspiration – Positive vs. Negative

Given the current political landscape, one might expect that the Republican candidates vying for the party’s presidential nomination would be gaining a large audience on YouTube. Compared to the number of views and shares for videos promoting President Obama, the Republican candidates’ audience is just a fraction of that of that of the incumbent. Why would that be?

One observation Jarboe noted was the focus of the videos. Whereas 71% of the videos on YouTube by Republican candidates were negative or attack focused, a majority of the videos surrounding Obama have a positive message promoting things like ‘hope’. Interestingly enough, only 10% of Obama’s videos from the 2008 election actually featured Obama himself. The remaining 90% focused on Obama supporters.

The takeaway for a business is that videos that promote a positive message more often inspire sharing. As Jarboe put it, get your audiences thinking about ‘we’ and not ‘you’.

An Example of Entertainment – Consistency is Key

Ray William Johnson is an actor/comedian who reportedly makes over $1 million dollars a year. What makes that so unique is that you’re not likely going to find Johnson on a major network when you’re flipping the channels. Instead, Johnson found his audience through building his presence on YouTube.

Now it should go without saying that Johnson invests time and energy into putting together creative content – and without those funny videos the next point is moot – but one way Johnson has been able to stand out amongst the flood of videos on YouTube is through consistent publishing. Posting new videos twice a week and always at the same day and time, Johnson has taught his audience to expect new content on a regular schedule – and he delivers.

 Next Steps

This session packaged information well and when looking at the guidance from a cumulative perspective, there’s a comprehensive plan to glean from these experts. Between incorporating Kahlow’s strategic steps, following Jarboe’s guidelines for the type of video that inspires sharing and leveraging Robertson’s SEO tactics, you should have a good action plan to take your video marketing to the next level.

Do you have some expert guidance to share? What video marketing tips would you add?

Stay tuned for more posts from #SESNY, with additional updates on Twitter at: @toprank, @leeodden,@azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Expert Video Marketing Strategy – Spoiler Alert: Cat Videos Included #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Landing Page Tips to Increase Conversions – #SESNY

Posted on 22. Mar, 2012 by BLarson in Blog, Landing Pages, Marketing PR Conferences, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

If you’re a marketer with business objectives tied to online conversions, landing pages are likely part of your marketing mix. While landing pages have a proven track record of serving as a lead generation funnel and producing solid ROI, not all landing pages are created equal. Enter the process of testing and refining your landing page in order to deliver maximum result – aka landing page optimization.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Landing Page Tips to Increase Conversions – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Google Bringing You Down? Tips for Avoiding Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues – #SESNY

Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, duplicate content, Search Engine Strategies, Search Engines, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Understanding the way that search engines like Google and Bing crawl your sites for duplicate content is not always easy to follow.  What exactly are the rules, and what are the ramifications for not following the rules?

This presentation by a group of industry experts focused on gaining an understanding of how search engines read your content, as well as what steps you can take to avoid penalization for your content.

Peter van der Graff: Redirecting Duplicate Content

We always assume that Google knows best, but is that necessarily true?  According to Peter finding a formula that works 100% of the time is no easy task.  He opened up with a great example “If you have a 301 redirect and you tell Google to go left, they’ll probably go right.”  You could end up implementing a 301 redirect and when you request the location a cached version of the site may still appear instead of the redirect you intended.

As a best practice guide for determining how redirects worked based on your tactic Peter provided a chart similar to the one included below:

Jenny Halasz: Let’s Talk About the Panda in the Room

I really appreciated the way that Jenny (@jennyhalasz) related information in her presentation; from the way Google Panda works to the way Pagerank functions.  Pagerank measures the quality and quantity of links to your website and periodically makes updates based on this information.  Google Panda evaluates the quantity and quality of the content housed on your site and assigns a value to your website or section of your website.  It’s important to note that just because you’ve updated your content, changes will not necessarily be reflected by Google until they update your Panda rank.

301 & 302 Easily Explained

A 301 redirect is comparable to putting a sign in your window that says “we’ve moved” and contains your new address.  A 302 page is similar to putting out a “be back soon sign” which gives visitors no idea where you are or when you’ll return, which can often send your visitors on a wild goose chase trying to find you.

Eric Enge: Syndication & Link Juice

Eric (@stonetemple) shared some very insightful information for content syndication, the do’s and don’ts if you will.  According to Enge if your team is consistently creating great content that can be published on different sites and if they link back to you, this is a great way to begin building additional links.

The Good, Bad & Ugly of Content Syndication

The Good

• Many sites hungry for fresh content
• By providing quality content you can:
  • Build your relationships with other publishers
  • Increase visibility to their audiences
  • Establish yourself as an expert
  • Net your links and social media mentions

The Bad

• Search engines can see duplicate content
• Search engines only want to show one copy

The Ugly

• Search engines MAY show the original author
• But, not ALWAYS
• Don’t get stuck syndicating your content and then not ranking for it!

Multi-Site Solutions for Avoiding Duplicate Site Content

There are best practices associated with developing content for multiple sites.  It’s important to avoid the easy route (a copy and paste) because as we learned during this session there can be some negative effects.  The best practices that were recommended include:

• Develop separate distinct content for each site
• Determine what the focus of each site should be and make them different
  • Who is the target audience: age, sex, preferences
  • What is the topical focus: cheap, premium, best
  • Vary your content style by site
    • Academic
    • Humor
    • UGC
    • Videos
    • News

Now that you know what not to do, does this have you considering your current strategy for managing content across multiple sites?  I for one appreciated the insight provided by this panel as it was easy to understand and provided great direction for which solutions are most highly recommended.  Stay tuned for more #SESNY coverage from our team: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Google Bringing You Down? Tips for Avoiding Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Is Your Local Optimization Landing You New Customers or Leaving Them Lukewarm? – #SESNY

Posted on 21. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, Local SEO, mobile, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

This afternoon I attended the panel presentation titled ” Local Myth Busters – Local Optimization Facts Proven or Debunked” which featured four very knowledgable panelists who provided a great mix of instruction and high level tactics.  This session was very focused on Google Places and finding a way to stand out from your competition.

If you are responsible for local marketing or would like to begin implementing a local/mobile marketing strategy these are some tips you don’t want to miss.  Below I have included what I considered to be highlights from the presentations.

Traditional SEO & Citations: Andrew Beckman (@Andrew_Beckman)

When implementing traditional SEO you’re on the hunt for backlinks.  When deploying a local search strategy you want to populate your “place” data among different channels in a cohesive way.  Citations (or mentions of your business) are key for ranking algorithms from search engines like Google.  How can you determine the value of a particular citation?

• Page rank of the sub domain citation
• Content and keyword density on the page
• Back links to the page
• Frequency of crawl on the sub URL where citation exists

Traditional SEO tactics are becoming a more important signal for local universal results.  When deploying a local strategy its important that you properly optimize the following:

1. URL structure
2. Title tags
3. Internal citation contact info)
4. Targeted phrases in content
5. Back links with anchor text
6. Deep linking to location pages

Categories, Ratings and Reviews, Microdata: Benu Aggarwal (@MilestoneMktg)

Consistency is key when optimizing local pages and listings across the Internet.  According to Benu the 7 most important fields to optimize include:

1. Site URL
2. Categories
3. Business details
4. Reviews on third party sites
5. Ratings on Google Places
6. Photos and videos
7. Events and coupons

User generated content in the form of reviews can have a very positive or negative effect on a company place page.  Don’t think that reviews have a significant impact?  Reviews can affect your content in the following ways:

• Encourages user interaction
• Supplies fresh content to search engines
• Reviews signal trust to search engines
• Enables users to recommend your business on any channel

Mobile vs. deskptop ranking factors: Jeff Cambbell (@CJeffCampbell)

Optimizing your business for local search can be a lot of work all in its own.  On top of that you also have to consider the fact that many of your customers are using a mobile device to find your information.  There are some attributes specific to mobile search which include:

• Users must be in close proximity to the location in order to effectively interact
• The completeness of your Google Places page is essential (especially for those using Google Maps on the iPhone)

According to Campbell there are very strong correlations between rankings in Google smartphone search results.  By properly optimizing your place page you will encourage more repeat visits.

Key Takaways

1. Optimize your place profile
2. Find out relevant unique categories
3. Optimize content on your website social network links
4. Facilitate your customer in leaving revewis on your site and third party sites
5. Optimize and maximize your use of photos and videos for Google Places
6. Consider the device your customers are using

What do you think?  Have you fully maximized the use of  your Google Places page as part of a local strategy?  What have you found has worked really well, and what hasn’t?  Be sure to follow us for information during the conference: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Is Your Local Optimization Landing You New Customers or Leaving Them Lukewarm? – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

7 Lessons Learned About Business Optimization from Avinash Kaushik at #SESNY

Posted on 20. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Avinash Kaushik, Blog, Search Engine Strategies, Search Engines, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

Perhaps he is writing some last minute jokes before his keynote?

There could not have been a better way to kick off #SESNY than a morning keynote from Avinash Kaushik (@avinash).  It didn’t matter if speakers had last minute slides to create or attendees stayed out until all hours, everyone made sure they were there.

This is the second time I’ve seen Avinash and he does not disappoint.  He presents the perfect combination of tactical tips and humor that both entertains and educates the crowd.  I’d like to share with you our readers the 7 things that I learned this morning from Avinash.  I hope you find them as useful as I did.

7 Things Avinash Taught Me About Optimization at #SESNY

1. If you’re only optimizing for a small group of people you are missing out.  Hyperfocus on a small select group of people can hinder your ability to focus on the larger group as a whole.
2. Identify both the micro and the macro conversions.  It’s important to understand the small picture as well as the big picture, and more importantly how they work together.
3. Focus on a more broad scale.  Relying only on one metric makes it difficult to have a clear and holistic picture of the situation.
4. Your salary should be based on the economic value you deliver to the business.  If your team is only focused on metrics that do not affect the companies profitability or bottom line, maybe it’s time to implement a new process.
5. Figure out how to move past the 2% because all it does is deliver short-term value.  Measuring clicks and visits is not enough, determine the value of the interaction.
6. Optimize for revenue and value.  It doesn’t matter Doesn’t matter if you are a B2B or B2C company, you can identify the goals that you want to deliver and determine value for the company.
7. The best things you can do when participating in multiple channels: understand, test, be less wrong.

Two Important Steps Every Online Marketer Should Take

 #1 – Understand how You Are Doing Today

Many online marketers assume that each of their tactics are in a silo, or don’t work together.  The issue that we run into with web analytics is that many times we cannot see or do not look at all of the data.  Having a deep understanding of how particular channels of promotion or tactics are working currently will set the stage for creating a more aggressive and educated campaign.

 #2 - Apply An Optimal Attribution Model

If multiple touch points are required to win or keep customers it is essential that your team is aware of what steps led to the desirable actions.   Don’t fall into the trap of following the Make Crap Up (MCU) model which is based soley on current data and not actual impact on the business.  There are many variables to consider with a customized model.  When it comes to attribution the best we can do is apply, understand, and test each action and measure the outcome.

What did other attendee’s think of Avinash’s presentation?

@TinaMBean – Fantastic, exuberant, funny, and invigorating keynote by @avinash at #SESNY #BRAVO!!!

@Tozehnder – This guy is awesome: Data Visualization with @avinash Kaushikhttp://youtu.be/QIyYiegBTCA #SESNY #video

@beebow – rather than obsess about technologies, obsess about digital outcomes for your business @avinash #SESNY

@thomcraver -  Unit volumes are a function of Market share times Market Size. Most of us forget that. @avinash #sesny

What part of this presentation had the biggest impact on the way you look at measuring results?  Which tactics do you believe you should focus on?  As a reminder we will be tweeting and networking throughout the event: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

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TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
7 Lessons Learned About Business Optimization from Avinash Kaushik at #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

A Preview of #SESNY in a New York Minute, or Two

Posted on 19. Mar, 2012 by Ashley Zeckman in Blog, content marketing, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing

SES New York kicks off on Tuesday March 20, 2012, and I for one cannot wait.  Along with TopRank CEO Lee Odden who is speaking at the event, myself as well as one of our rockstar Account Managers Brian Larson will be attending and live blogging many of the scheduled sessions.

Based on the speaker lineup this years conference is sure to be filled with stories, tips, and tactics that any online marketer can put to good use.  This post is a combination of the sessions Brian and I  plan on attending as well as a little bit about our take on the Big Apple.  Hope to see you all there!

Ashley Zeckman: #SESNY Session Highlights

Tuesday March 20, 2012
Business Optimization in a Digital Age
Avinash Kaushik, Digital Marketing Evangelist, Google

If you’ve been fortunate enough to see Avinash speak before you know you’re in for a treat.   Late last year I attended his session at the MIMA Summit on Improving Engagement Through Innovation.  Avinash’s keynote at SES NY will cover his perspective on finding the balance between multiple media channels, leveraging metrics, driving value, and leveraging the “Clear Line of Sight” model ensuring that you are properly optimizing accross the most important factors that drive business.

The Psychology of Social Commerce
Chad Childress, Michael Mothner, Dana Todd

Online marketing is a business driven by fact, gut feeling, and emotion.  Understanding what it is that makes your customers tick is key to effectively engaging and moving prospects through the buying cycle.  Some of the questions that will be answered in this panel presentation include:

• How do social rules and subconscious needs figure into the mix?
• How do you overcome the repeat “trusted brand” purchase?
• How do you capitalize on the consumer trend of sharing good deals within the community?

Wednesday March 21, 2012
Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues
Eric Enge, Jenny Halasz, Peter van der Graaf

TopRank CEO Lee Odden will be moderating this session which will answer questions related to best practices to avoid creating duplicate content across multiple sites.  Also, be sure to listen for the options available such as:

• 301 redirect
• Canonical tag
• Rel next and rel prev tags

Thursday March 22, 2012
Email Can Drive Search, Social, and Mobile
Jeanniey Mullen, Sundeep Kapur

For anyone looking to use email campaigns more efficiently I recommend attending this session.  We will learn how to leverage mobile marketing to improve email effectiveness through the case studies and best practices shared from personal experience by the speakers.

Content Marketing Optimization
Lee Odden CEO, TopRank Online Marketing

Content isn’t great until someone shares it.  However, in an increasingly competitive industry what steps can you take to optimize your content for sharing?  Odden’s session will provide insight into content optimization strategies as well as useful tactics for creating effective content on the social web.
My Top 3 Favorite Things About Visiting NYC
As you might have noticed from my previous conference posts I’m always looking for something fun to do or a great restaurant to try.  What are my favorite things about New York City?

1. Puglia: Little Italy is flush with excellent Italian restaurants.
2. Museum of Modern Art (MoMA): There is no substitute for some great artwork.
3. O’Hara’s Pub on Cedar St.: This quaint little Irish pub is a mix of locals and business travelers.

Brian Larson: #SESNY Session Highlights

It’s about that time to head east for SES New York and download as much information as possible from some of the most respected and influential online marketers. For me, this trip is equal parts good and trepidation or excitement. The good is of course is the conference itself. I jump at any opportunity to learn marketing techniques and best practices from SEO and online marketing leaders. So what’s the exciting part? For me, that’s the city itself. More on that later, but let’s get started with the good.

The Good: SES NY

When I prepare for a conference, especially one of this magnitude, I like to ask myself “what do I want to learn?” Since the answer to that question is always EVERYTHING, I quickly move down my internal checklist and ask “as an Account Manager, what information can I pull away from this conference that can most benefit my clients?” That answer then informs how I go about picking the right mix of sessions to attend.

Before I jump into the sessions that made my must attend list (a prestigious honor for any presenter to receive), I want to add that while reviewing this year’s agenda I was struck by how well balanced the presentations were. From email marketing and paid search, to landing page optimization and offline marketing, there are sessions that can scratch any itch.

Wednesday March 21, 2012
Landing Page Optimization
Nathan Richter, Angie Schottmuller

You have to admire the singular focus of landing pages. Their job is to convert visitors. Whether that means obtaining event registrations, increasing fulfillment downloads or securing sales, they are evaluated on how well they convert visitors to take that next action.

Although there objective is easy to understand, the practice of testing and tweaking landing pages to achieve an optimal conversion rate is a little more complex. NY Times Bestselling Author & co-founder of Web Analytics Association, Bryan Eisenberg,  will share how businesses can tune and refine their landing pages to get that conversion.

Next Gen YouTube Marketing
Greg Jarboe, Aaron Kahlow, Mark Robertson

Get it on YouTube! That sage advice has been shared in marketing offices across the world…and for good reason as the video sharing network is now the second most popular search engine. But how can one leverage YouTube to help their video stick out and reach largest audience possible?

TopRank CEO Lee Odden leads this panel discussion with SEO-PR’s Greg Jarboe, Online Marketing Summit’s Aaron Kahlow and ReelSEO’s Mark Robertson sure to help marketers elevate their video marketing efforts.

Thursday March 22, 2012
Link Building Essentials
Debra Mastaler

Building quality links is a crucial component to a successful SEO program. Debra Mastaler, President of Alliance-Link, hosts a solo presentation discussing:

• How links are influence search algorithms
• How to use free and paid linking tools
• Universal link building tactics

Winning! Measuring Social Media Success
Tami Dalley, Eli Goodman, Daniel Lemin

It’s easy to count your number of followers on Twitter or your number of ‘Likes’ on Facebook, but how do those figures translate to ROI? If it’s not followers and ‘Likes’, what metrics can be used to evaluate success? Moderated by Thom Craver of Saunders College, the panel session “Winning! Measuring Social Media Success” is designed to provide answers to these questions and more.

What Am I Getting Myself Into New York?

Let’s begin with an admission that’s going to start some serious eye-rolling: I have never been to New York. My knowledge of the city is derived from cinema, the Travel Channel & related stories from friends and family. My REALLY big city experiences pretty much consist of 3 dozen trips to Chicago and a handful trips to Los Angeles and Boston.

Here are 5 things that make me scratch my head about New York.

1. Size: You know it’s a big city when you have to divide it up into boroughs. There’s approximately 20 million people in New York. Just saying that number makes break a sweat.
2. Getting Lost: I’m directionally challenged. There I said it. I can and have gotten lost in places that are relatively familiar. Given my track record, I give my odds of not getting lost at approximately ZERO.
3. Cost: I’ve just heard Anthony Bourdain say too many times how expensive X or Y is in New York. I’m half expecting that my cab fare will exceed my airfare.
4. Traffic: I arrive in NY Wednesday morning and I’m deathly afraid that I’ll be sitting in traffic until Thursday morning.
5. Attitude: I’ve been trained in the discipline of ‘Minnesota Nice’. How will that mix with the famed New York ‘tude’? TBD.

We look forward to seeing you all in New York! Some of you will be familiar faces and some first time attendees.  The TopRank Online Marketing team will be live blogging sessions each day of the conference and you can find our Twitter coverage of #SESNY on: @toprank @leeodden @bslarsonmn and @azeckman.  If you will be live blogging any of the sessions that TopRank’s Lee Odden is participating in please let us know!

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
A Preview of #SESNY in a New York Minute, or Two | http://www.toprankblog.com

How to Socialize & Optimize Your Content Marketing: Upcoming #Optimize Speaking Events

Posted on 14. Mar, 2012 by Lee Odden in Blog, Marketing PR Conferences, radian6, Search Engine Strategies, Small Business Internet Marketing, Small Business Marketing, webinar

In one month my new book Optimize will be available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and many other booksellers on and offline. It’s been one heck of a journey so far and I’m really looking forward to sharing the key concepts and insights from the book with Search Marketing, Public Relations and Content Marketing professionals all over the world in the coming months.

So many people have reached out to me, unsolicited to offer help promoting the book, to review it and to have me speak at their event and I am truly amazed at what a super community we have with TopRank and our blog. The next few months will be an Optimize speaking extravaganza of sorts and I’m looking forward to meeting readers of our blog, fans, friends and followers on the social web and other likeminded “optimize and socialize” advocates for content marketing.

Here are my scheduled speaking events over the next two months. I hope to see you there!

March 16th, 2012, 11am-noon CT
“Content Marketing Strategy for Social Media”
Social Media for Business – Web  Conference (info & registration)
Presentation:
Success in social media depends a lot of customer engagement and encouragement starts with having an awesome content strategy. Content and internet marketing expert Lee Odden will provide unique insight into content strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing, creation and promotion of content on the social web. You will also learn strategic steps when it comes to creating content and editorial calendar that keeps your social media network engaged.

March 20th, 2012, 1pm CT
“Optimize and Socialize Your Content Marketing Strategy”
Radian6 Webinar (info & registration)
Presentation:
Attract, Engage & Inspire Customers with “Optimize and Socialize” Content Marketing Strategy. Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing and author of “Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing” will share insights from his new book in a webinar with Radian6 on March 20th. He’ll review a practical approach to integrating search engine optimization & social media marketing to boost relevance, visibility, and customer engagement. You’ll also learn how to determine the creative tactics that will provide the best results for your company, develop guidelines to scale online marketing success, and measure the business value of socialized content marketing. Be sure to join us as Lee offers a tested approach for an adaptive, customer-centric online marketing strategy.

March 21st, 2012, noon CT
“How to Grow Your Blog Community”
#smchat (info)
Twitter chat topic:
5 key components to growing your blog community from content planning, to engagement to recognition.

March 22nd, 2012, 1:15 CT 
“Content Marketing Optimization”
SES New York (info & registration)
Presentation:
The core of any search or social media marketing program centers on content. Digital assets, rich media, web pages, MS Office and PDF docs as well as content created and shared by consumers all offer opportunities for optimization. If it can be searched, it can be optimized! Online marketing is increasingly competitive and brand marketers world-wide are seeking real advantages that will improve the efficiency and impact of their Social Media and SEO efforts. This session provides unique insight into content based optimization strategies and processes as well as tactics for sourcing, creation and promotion of optimized content on the social web.

March 27th, 2012, 5:15pm CT
“How to Attract and Engage More Customers with SEO, Social Media & Content” 
Digital Series AMA Minnesota Minneapolis (info & registration)
Presentation:
In just 60 seconds, over 600 videos are uploaded to YouTube, 1,500 blog posts are published, 6,600 photos are uploaded to Flickr, 98,000 Tweets are posted, 695,000 Facebook status updates are made and nearly as many searches are performed on Google.

In an age of information overload and over-sharing, fast-changing technology and evolving customer behaviors, marketers need to implement a more adaptable and holistic approach to attract and engage customers.

Lee Odden, author of Optimize: How to Attract and Engage More Customers by Integrating SEO, Social Media and Content Marketing and CEO of TopRank Online Marketing will share key Social SEO and Content Marketing principles to better attract, engage and inspire customers to help your business achieve its online marketing goals. Learn how to optimize and socialize content throughout the customer life cycle – from prospect to advocate. You won’t want to miss this great event!

March 28th, 2012, 2:00pm CT
“Community Building”
#nptalk (info)
Twitter Chat Topic:
I’ll be answering key questions about blog centric community building including:

• What are some ways I can make my blog more interactive for my readers? (involve them)
• What is the best way to go about sourcing user generated content?
• Should you respond to all comments on your blog or only questions?
• Do you find that there is a difference in engagement if you ask more questions in your blog posts?
• How can I get more social shares on my blog posts?
• What is a good way to attract industry influentials to guest post on my blog?
• What types of posts typically get the most re-shares, comments, traffic? (lists, tips, etc)

April 2, 2012, 1:30 CT
“Content Marketing & Public Relations: Optimize and Socialize to Persuade Your Audiences to Act”
PRSA Digital Impact Conference, New York (info & registration)
Presentation:
The worlds of Marketing and Public Relations have converged in many ways and understanding the fundamental shift in how consumers and journalists alike discover, consume and act on content presents a tremendous opportunity for communications professionals to impact business goals. Using content marketing best practices, PR and Communications pros can now better design information that attracts, engages and inspires audiences to socially share, buy and recommend your brand.

This presentation offers a content marketing framework to
- Develop target audience personas
- Research social topics and search keywords
- Create an optimize and socialize content plan
- Leverage social networks like Google+, Twitter & Facebook to foster relationships and promote content
- Identify key search, social and content marketing tools including measurement services

April 10th, 2012, 5:30pm CT
“Optimize & Socialize”
Social Media Club Chicago (info & registration)
Presentation:
In an age of information ubiquity, consumers and technology have shifted the way we discover, consume and share information in amazing ways. Now more than ever, businesses have a tremendous opportunity to leverage the convergence of search, social media and content marketing to “optimize” brand messages and consumer experiences whether they happen on a social network or a search engine. From 30,000 foot strategy to practical and actionable tactics, this presentation will provide attendees with a framework for optimizing their digital communications to better attract, engage and inspire communities to take action.

April 18th, 2012
“SEO Content Strategy”
ionSearch Conference, Leeds, UK
Presentation:
Modern Search Engine Optimization is a very different animal today than it was a year ago. The role of content and social media are even more prominent as key influencers for both search engines and consumers. The practice of SEO must transcend keyword lists and links and further emphasize customer-focused content that’s optimized for search as well as for customer experience. This presentation provides a framework for SEO practitioners to understand the role of Content Marketing in a SEO focused online marketing effort that covers content creation, optimization and social promotion across the customer buying cycle.

I hope you can attend one of these events over the next 2 months. We’ll be publishing more in depth information on these events over at OptimizeBook.com.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
How to Socialize & Optimize Your Content Marketing: Upcoming #Optimize Speaking Events | http://www.toprankblog.com