Category Archives: Social Media Marketing

How Google Glass Could Change SEO

July 8, 2013Blogging, Google glass, SEO, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Technologyaugmented reality, google glass, Google glass seo, How Google Glass Could Change SEO, SEOPeter Marino

Most of us who have been in the SEO game for a few years, will be somewhat reliant on Google to continue our trade. Google is the largest search engine by far, so it’s there that we want to reach the top of the SERPs, and it’s generally ‘what Google say goes’ as far as our promotional strategies are concerned.

But Google is reliant on hardware to be any use. In order to access Google at all, we need to be using a computer, smartphone or tablet of some kind – and so changes in the hardware industry could very easily have a big effect on the way we optimise for search. With Google Glass poised to make a huge splash in the hardware scene sometime soon, how might we expect this to alter the way we use search?

Factors to consider

Of course for Google Glass to have any impact on SEO, it is somewhat necessary for the device to actually be a hit. If nobody uses Google Glass, then it’s not going to affect search – end of story. That said though, even if Google Glass doesn’t take off in a big way, it could certainly prepare the market for the introduction of other augmented reality hardware. It might be that Google Glass flops, but ‘The Viewmaster 5,0089’ becomes a huge hit. And if that happens, then Google needs to make sure that it is the number one search provider still – lest Bing get in there first and steal a big portion of the market.

The New Search

Assuming though that Google Glass is a hit, and that the competition doesn’t turn up and throw a spoke in the works, we will likely all be using Google to search still – just on our faces.

Currently Google Glass isn’t really a device that you might surf the web with, but as developers start creating apps for it, we’ll probably find browsers popping up and people searching the web ‘hands free’.

And to do this, people will want to be able to use voice commands. With no other way to input text, they will be completely reliant on the in-built voice-recognition software in order to get the search results they want. In turn, this means we might start seeing a change in the kinds of keywords that people use – they’ll be searching for things that come more naturally to say rather than things that come more naturally to type.

This will likely mean a wider variety of keywords, and it will probably mean more ‘long tail’ keywords – though because voice-recognition isn’t perfect, most people will still probably want to keep their searches rather brief.

Searching on the Move

The fact that people will be walking around as they wear their hardware though, might also affect the kinds of things that they search for – we might start to see people searching for local conveniences more often for example, or for the weather reports.

Likewise, Google is likely to include location services even more closely as more and more people start searching on the go (something that has already happened to an extent thanks to the popularity of smartphones). Watch this space to find out what else might change, but just make sure that your site and your SEO is ready.

Today’s guest writer, Mike, is an internet marketing consultant who works at Wisdek. He is a passionate blogger and likes to share his strategies and views on marketing. He loves technology and is fond of knowing more about the latest gadgets that enter the market.

3 Questions To Ask Answer Before Designing Your Medical Website

July 5, 2013Facebook Marketing, medical website design, SEO, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Web DesignPeter Marino

Before you spend lots of money designing a flashy new website you are going to want to make sure that it’s not just bells and whistles with no real content to sell your business. Make sure you have a site that helps you capitalize on your potential clientele and effectively market your services. Before you even get started ask yourself these following questions.

Do I make the most of my staff page?

If you want people to know right off the bat what kind of person you are, show them the faces behind the company. Truly take advantage of the opportunity to share information about yourself and your staff. Include photos and brief bios about each of your staff members. You’d be surprised how comforting this can be for people who may be skeptical about your company, perhaps because they are considering leaving a practice they’d come to know and love. They would really benefit from seeing the type of people they’ll meet in your office. It’s always good to put a face to a name and that is especially true when putting a face to your business.

Also don’t be afraid to step outside of the box with your staff bios. Perhaps instead of just listing their name, occupation and credentials, include interesting facts about them. For example customers may find it endearing to know their favorite quotes or most cherished accomplishment.

Does my web design have ‘social proof’?

Social Proof is a “psychology phenomenon where people assume the action of others reflect the correct behavior for a given situation…driven by the assumption that the surrounding people have more information than they do.” It is a classic case of monkey see monkey do. You can use social media to make sure your business is being talked about, shared and maintaining a degree of popularity, therefore building your reputation through social proof.

You probably know by now that you need to have your business represented on Facebook, so you have created a Facebook page. You want your page to be active and engaging. Don’t host a page simply for the sake of putting it on your website. Use it as a way to interact with your clients, stay engaged with the online community and show that you are personable and truly involved in your field. Use it to post articles about your field, links to your specials, and to start discussions about the new and inventive procedures your office offers. That is all content and content is important if you want to get noticed.

Facebook has been offering the “Sponsored Story” feature for some time now. It allows advertisers to attain more likes, posts and other activity. By getting their “story” featured, it is seen on the right hand side of your friends Facebook screen and functions as an advertisement of sorts.

In addition to Facebook make sure your social presence is big! If someone tweets something like, “I just got treated for sun damage at “XYZ Dermatology” and my skin has never looked better,” be sure to re-tweet it. Get listed on Yelp, be searchable on Google Business, allow people to check-in on Foursquare, get subscribers to your blog, and post testimonials to your page. Most importantly, make sure it all links back to your website.

Is my site at all persuasive?

Remember that at the end of the day you are selling a service. You can have the prettiest website on the internet and never get a single client if you aren’t persuasive. Incorporate some simple selling strategies to make sure that you are actively marketing and selling your services.

Product Badges—Help your customers during the decision making process by “badging” certain products with qualities such as “best-selling service,” “customer favorite,” “limited time only.”

Customer Reviews—the badges will catch their eye and the reviews will reel them in. You’ve labeled a product as best-selling, so include a review from a particularly happy customer to let people know that you aren’t baselessly boasting about your services.

Suggested sells—Strategies like buy-one get half off is a great way to persuade customers to try new products. Also sharing information about what other clients are buying can be quite persuasive. For example you could have a note under products that complement each other reading something like, “Customers who received the advanced acne treatment also purchased the dark spot removal services.” It suggests that getting both is a logical decision many others have also made and therefore is likely a good investment.

Our Guest Author: Dr. Steven Zimmet is an Austin dermatologist at Zimmet Vein and Dermatology who is dedicated to venous and dermatological advancements. Dr. Zimmet was nominated by his peers for inclusion in the Best Doctors in America Database 2011-2012 and has proudly served the Austin area for several years.

What Is The Secret To Viral Marketing?

July 1, 2013SEO, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Viral marketingPeter Marino

With the boom in dotcom businesses, there has been a subsequent explosion in the success of viral marketing. By using social media to spreading the word about your business, product or interests you can capture traffic, which depending on your ambitions can either be translated into a cash return or help you to build your online brand.

Finding Your Edge!

With 48 hours worth of video material being uploaded to YouTube every minute, to execute a successful viral marketing strategy takes consideration. Although there are a few basic principles to guide you in producing strong viral content (which this article will address in a moment), the real secret to producing profitable viral marketing is this: the main reason social media users share anything is in order to build their own image. If you keep this simple truth at the forefront of your mind at all times you will find it easy to produce super shareable viral content. If your clip is able to provoke a reaction, it is more likely to be shared. Simple!

Share Your Creative Juices

Perhaps the first principal when it comes to successful viral marketing is size. Keep your clips short, sweet and preferably ripe for a remi x. Also remember that whatever you want to go viral – a video, an animation or a jingle – your piece of content should aim to be unusual. Whilst it’s almost impossible to be original nowadays try to think outside the box when it comes to developing your idea. Another clip of a dog barking the words ‘I love you!’ is not likely to spread like wildfire.

Ship’em Out!

Remember that attention span is a short and precious thing. Attempting to slow release content or encourage people to return for a scheduled announcement just isn’t going to work. If you have related items, release them at the same time and cash in on those click throughs.

Finding a home Sweet Home

Think carefully about which forum you might release your material through – forums belonging to your target demographic are a great place to start. Likewise, using social media platforms can be a great place to begin circulating your content through your faithful followers. If you think your material is strong enough, use a charm offensive to target a celebrity with similar interests. Just one repost from them and you could be well on your way to a huge share count.

Theirs A Time And A Place

Plan your release by picking a sensible time to share. Don’t compete with television schedules or make a post whilst the football is on. Think about the trends that are relevant to your chosen topic and try to time your release and if possible, try to connect your viral to an existing promotion. Most reposts happen on Twitter between 9am and 6pm, on Facebook around lunchtime and in the evening and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the best weekdays for sharing as people are bored at work.

Always Fresh

Keep it current and concise. Choose trending topics, news items, anything that will grab your audience’s attention instantly. When you title it, keep by-lines pithy and purposeful and remember that friendly titles that will translate clearly when shared are ideal.

Hook, Line And Sinker

With these tips in mind, you will be well on your way to a successful viral marketing campaign in just the click of a mouse.

About our guest author: Steve Seymour is MD at Project Print Solutions, a printing and design company based in Manchester, UK.

How to Make Videos with SEO in Mind

June 27, 2013SEO, SEO video, Small Business Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Viral marketingweb videoPeter Marino

Online marketing is more than just running a search engine optimization campaign for your website and social media marketing. A good online marketing campaign should include every type of media possible, especially videos. By including online videos into your Internet marketing strategy, you will ensure that you create and distribute content in a format that your target audience enjoys consuming. But how do you make videos with SEO in mind so they are seen by the search engines?
Let’ take a look here:

Keyword Optimization

Just like you would with a website, you need to optimize your videos for your target keywords. By placing your target keywords in strategic locations of your video files, you will increase the likelihood that these videos are found via online searches. Some places where you need to place your keywords are:

• Title
• Video File Name
• Alt Tags
• URL
• Link Text
• Video Description

When you place your target keywords in those locations with each video you upload, you will give the search engine bots a better idea as to what your content is about. This will help the bots rank your videos appropriately in the search results, allowing people to easily find your videos online.

Build Links to your Videos

In addition to optimizing your videos for specific keywords, you will need to build links to your videos just like you would with a website. When you create a number of backlinks that point to your videos, search engines will view your videos as containing valuable content because other people are linking to them. When your videos are viewed as having valuable content, search engines will be more likely to include your videos in their search results so that they can give their users the best content possible related to their search queries.

High Quality Content

In order for your online video marketing campaign to be a success, your videos need to contain high quality content. By making sure each of your videos contains content that people will actually enjoy viewing, you will increase your chances of having your videos be shared online. Once your marketing videos are able to go viral, you will see a ton of backlinks come in to your videos, improving your search engine rankings in the process.

If you produce low-quality videos that do not contain useful information, people will not want to view all of the videos you produce. After one viewing people will think your videos are a waste of time and will move on to the next company that offers better quality content. This is why it is so important to create videos with high quality content as you will have an easier time keeping your target audience engaged with your online videos.

Use Exciting Titles

Another tip you can use to help improve the SEO associated with your online video marketing campaign is to use exciting titles that entice people to click on your video. It can be rather easy for a video’s URL to get lost in the mix if you use a boring title. If no one is enticed to click your link, fewer people will actually view your video. By making sure you create eye catching, interesting tittles, you will increase your chances of getting clicks on your links and therefore will have better results with your video marketing campaign.

Video marketing should be an important piece of your overall online marketing strategy. Through the use of high quality videos, you will be able to reach more of your target demographic, especially the subset that enjoys consuming their content in video form. When using this marketing technique, you will want to ensure you use your target keywords in strategic locations of your video, build links to your videos and create eye catching titles to attract more clicks. Using these tips should help you see the best results possible when it comes to running an online video marketing campaign.

About our guest author: Professional writer and SEO consultant, Sebastin Webb, born and raised in New York. Today he writes about the importance of incorporating SEO into your videos. Although it is a very powerful tool, not many people use the power of YouTube.