Tag | SEO
Social Media Can’t Replace Marketing
When you think about social media, think about it in terms of pizza sauce. Sounds absurd, but hear me out. Pizza is a delicious and wonderful thing to eat, you’ve got warm, fresh dough, sauce, cheese a a variety of toppings to choose from. Now if you take away cheese, toppings and dough you’re not left with much. Just a bunch of pizza sauce. This is exactly what social media is. It’s not bad on it’s own, but it’s not the complete package without other components, namely marketing, public relations, SEO, advertising and other related branding factors.
If you’re going to launch a social media strategy, you’ll need to consider how it can fit in with your overall marketing plan. Use it as a tool to build your brand and elevate conversations about it. It’s misleading to think that social media alone will transform your brand into an overnight success that generates ridiculous amounts of revenue. It is simply a good marketing option that can augment your existing efforts.
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Branding With Your URL
Good branding should be a top to bottom effort. From designing a website to planning your unique selling proposition, branding encompasses an entire strategy beyond just a pretty logo. An often overlooked component of branding is deciding what your site’s or blog’s URL address should be. This is a branding are that shouldn’t be taken lightly and we’ll explain why below.
Create a URL name that reflects what your business does or if you’re creating a blog, who the person is behind the blog. For instance, if you have a business that provides shoes for older women then you’d want to create a URL that reflect this, like shoesforseniorwomen.com. Same thing goes for developing a blog URL. The person behind the blog should use their name as the URL address, like LeiliMcKinley.com.
There are two schools of thought on URL branding. The first believes that you should use your company name in the URL since there are some folks who will search by the business name. This makes sense for larger, more established brands like Nike, Starbucks or McDonalds. It wouldn’t make sense for them to create a URL that says sportshoes,com, coffeestores.com or cheeseburgerandfries.com.
For smaller brands, which applies to most everyone else, the second approach to crafting a URL would be to write one that shows of what your business does through keywords. Using the larger brand examples from above, sportshoes.com would be an excellent way to appeal to large groups of people who are searching specifically for that item. Make sense?
Now that you have a basic understanding of what a branded URL is here are some other things to consider:
Hyphenated names. The pro is that search engine easily identify each keyword and will normally return better search results for people seeking what you offer. The con is that hyphenated URLs are easy to forget when people are sharing or recommending them.
Articles and plurals. If you’ve decided on a specific branded URL like childrensauthor.com, but discover it’s taken, you could add ‘the’ to the URL (thechildrensauthor.com). Downside is that unless people aware of the addition, you’ll lose traffic to your competitor. This is the same thing for plural URLs like, cat.com versus cats.com.
Choose carefully and spend some time planning. Try searching for something on the web and look at how the URLs have been set-up.
Press Release Tips
Using a press release to alert the media, bloggers and the search engines about business news and happenings is a fantastic way to drum up some interest and exposure. The thing about press releases is that their content is structured very differently from a blog post or article. By following a few simple guidelines you’ll be able to create a solid press release that can work to your advantage.
For all the authors out there this next mention will sound familiar. Just like a query letter, your press release needs to have a great headline. The purpose is to hook the interest of the reader, but also be succinct and direct at the same time. The headline should summarize what the press release about, but be catchy enough to entice further reading. Important: don’t include jargon or slang in your headline.
When you begin writing the body, or content of your press release, remember to stick to the facts. Press releases should contain a who, what, where, when and why. Additionally, they need to be written in a third-person voice and should be kept free of opinion. Editorializing should be avoided. Think of the release just like a news reporter would approach a story. Personal opinion is pushed aside so that people can make conclusions on their own. This is true with how your present the content in your release.
There are many different press release distribution sites on the Internet. To get a good sense of the style and tone of a release do some browsing on the web. Soon enough you’ll be able to distinguish between good and not so good, plus you’ll get a better understanding of how the components work synergistically to develop an informative piece.
The last part of your press release should be your boilerplate. The boilerplate is standard on every release and once you’ve written yours you will use it on all your releases going forward. It should contain a four to five sentences about who you are, your website and any other relevant information, such as a social media address or blog site. Boilerplates aren’t fancy, they simply summarize who the press release pertains to.
Visit corporate newsrooms to see good press release examples and to get inspired to write your own.
SEO and video: get better search results for your book
If you’re an author with a video trailer you’ll want to take full advantage of search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that can be used to enhance awareness of your video with the search engines. Optimization means utilizing keywords and other elements that add terms and tags to make your video more relevant for user searches.
Let’s say that you’ve just written a publication roasting coffee beans. Your SEO efforts would include specific words, like roasting, coffee and book, so that your video would be more likely to appear in Google’s search results. In addition, there are many other SEO steps that you can take to promote your book’s video.
1. Title
Start with a catchy keyword title. Remember that catchy is different from obscure so try to avoid getting overly creative. Keep it simple and use keywords that can be directly associated with your book, subject matter and general content.
2. Video Transcript
YouTube is evolving and this is a good thing. Word on the street is that it will begin to use voice recognition to capture audio which will then be made searchable. This will bolster the likelihood of your book video appearing in related searches. This technology is coming down the pipeline so prepare for it now by creating a keyword focused transcript to accompany your video trailer.
3. Meta Data
Meta data is a fancy term of descriptive keywords, or tags, that are used to find your video book trailer. There are many free online tools available that can help you discover popular and relevant keywords that you can use in your meta data. Use single words, two-word phrases, even three-word phrases. A word of caution on meta data – try to limit your meta data collection to around 16 to 18 word, otherwise you’ll appear to ‘spammy’.
4. Sharing
Put all your hard SEO work to good use and share your book trailer video on other video sites. Beyond YouTube, there are countless other video sites and uploading to each one can be time consuming. Try using a video distribution service like TubeMogul to get your SEO video out to the masses.
5. Syndicate
Publicize your video by using RSS feeds like Blinkx. Send the URL link to your video and you’re done. Millions of people will now have instant access to your book trailer.
Viral Video For Book Marketing and Book Promotion
Earlier this year, Erik Qualmann’s book Socialnomics created international buzz when its video book trailer went viral. The book offers a fascinating look at the impact of social media on businesses and consumers, but the video does it even better. Hence its viral accomplishment. The questions are how did this video go viral and what has it achieved in doing so.
Understanding the transformation can provide you with some insight on how to take your own video trailer to the masses successfully. First off, the video wasn’t exorbitantly long, just more than four minutes. Although most video attention spans rank at one to two minutes, Socialnomics has a fast paced format that keeps the visuals coming quickly and creatively.
The content is condensed into eye-raising statistics that leave viewers feeling surprised and mesmerized at the same time. Each fact relates back to the book and a specific social media reference. Regardless of whether you’re a social media novice or a guru, the content that Socialnomics shares is exceptional. Plus, it’s set to a trend Fat Boy Slim song that creates a sense of urgency and movement.
So how does this factor into going viral and what can you do to tap into its power? Truth be known, most people want to be entertained. There’s a time and place for being conservative, but if you want to grab someone and shake them into a response, you’re more likely to get it done with something amusing.
Think about compiling tidbits and pieces in a unique way so that viewers will want to discover more. If that seems challenging, consider adding a bit of controversy by taking an opposing view point through your video. Anything clever is sure to get noticed and that’s what can bring you epic numbers of viewers.
Once you’ve accomplished what you want with your video, don’t rest on your laurels. Take a cue from Qualmann. Instead of deciding ‘mission accomplished’, he has created a reloaded version of the video to continue driving and building its momentum. Guess what? It’s working. Once you’re satisfied with your own video trailer, test it out and don’t be afraid to make adjustments and release fresh versions. There’s no right or wrong way.
Use Qualmann’s video as inspiration to craft your own and see where it will take you. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results.
4 Top SEO Programs for Social Media Marketers
I was just listening to Susan Bratton interview Bruce Clay on Dishy Mix. It was a great interview and reminded me that most people dive into social media without understanding how much it is influenced by SEO. Any and all media, whether or not it is fed to a community on a social networking platform, must be able to be found and relevant. Obviously, the keywords in the title of any content will let folks know if it’s relevant to them or not, just for starters. The success of your social media content in creating traffic for your site is directly proportional to how much you understand SEO.
Social media marketing campaigns created and implemented without the use of top notch SEO, will under perform. So I pulled together a short list of on the ground SEO training that would benefit any Social Media Marketer.
#1: BruceClay Inc
BruceClay Inc is the undisputed leader in the SEO realm when it comes to imparting quality SEO coaching and online marketing programs. Led by Bruce Clay – the Web Marketing Tzar – BruceClay Inc is perhaps the best place for every serious webmaster looking for SEO coaching of impeccable quality. Known as SEOToolSet®, the SEO training package offered by BruceClay Inc is perhaps the most updated which exists since 1997. Scores of SEO consultants and Search Engine Marketing firms have benefited from this superlative SEO program and Certification Training which are based on time-tested search engine optimization methods.
How Much Does It Cost?
Quality comes with a price tag – the training cost for SEOToolSet® can cost you anything between 1795 USD to 1195 USD depending on the type of course you want to choose (please visit the website for details on the program), but the training empowers you with invaluable SEO expertise which will help you online business.
#2: Tampa SEO Training Academy
Officiated by Starship Computer Services of Florida, the Tampa SEO Training Academy offers customized SEO workshops for its clients. This institute stands head and shoulders above anything else in the region, with its expertise in SEO techniques. Headed by the industry veteran, Steven Scott, who has a proud association with training Fortune 1000 companies, this institution keeps pace with the brisk changes in the SEO world. Since its inception in 1998, the Tampa SEO Training Academy has found success in optimizing several new and old, but dwindling sites.
How Much Does It Cost?
Classes Conducted Course fee
5 day Mastery SEO Workshop $2095.00
3 day Advanced SEO Workshop $1595.00
2 days Beginners SEO Workshop $1095.00
Conducted by the world famous trio of Robin Nobles, John Alexander and Michael Marshall, these workshops are conducted throughout the USA and Canada. A special SEO mentoring program (6 month duration) is also carried out on a daily one hour basis, after completion of the workshop. And there are no extra charges for this special mentoring. Individual business owners, search engine marketing professionals including Webmasters and affiliate marketers can make the most of these opportunities. Participants are encouraged to bring along their own computers for better use of the skills.
How Much Does It Cost?
Classes Conducted Course fee
5-day Complete SEO Mastery Workshop $1,795.00
3-day Advanced SEO Workshop $1,195.00
2-day Basic Essentials SEO Workshop $895.00
Owned by Tracy Fredrychowski, the Search Engine Academy endeavors to provide SEO training to people throughout the USA, Canada and the UK. Majority of the classes are however, conducted in South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. Having been a former student of Robin Nobles and John Alexander, she is well versed in the latest SEO strategies. Her presentation skills receive accolades from her students. Special events in the calendar include a webinar at the Workshop Resource Center, TBA.
How Much Does It Cost?
The current price of the SEO program is not on the website. Fill in the contact form on the website for more details.
A Final Word…
I gain nothing from recomending these programs and I am not affiliated in any way. Also, this list is not exhaustive. I am sure there are other really valuable programs out there. I would like to hear about your thoughts on above the SEO programs. Also, feel free to respond with any other SEO training programs you might have joined in the past.
