Google recently announced that their real time search will now include Facebook status updates.  Google’s real time search, launched in December 2009, shows up-to-the-second search results including tweets on Twitter, relevant blog posts and activity on other social media platforms.  Facebook, though announced as one of the Google’s real time search partners in December, was still confined to their fenced cage until now.  Allowing the caged beast out to roam the world has leveled the playing field slightly between Twitter and Facebook.  I use the word slightly, as Google’s real time search is limiting indexing to Facebook fan page status updates only. 

What are the implications?

• Facebook Fan Pages become more relevant as a marketing platform due to the increased visibility in real time search – larger audience to influence
• Search Engine Optimization of status updates is a must – the keyphrase has to be considered when writing Facebook posts to stay in the race for the top real time search results

• Most importantly, brands that haven’t entered into the realms of social media, or are just dabbling with a Facebook group or profile, need to jump on the bandwagon and create a Facebook fan page to stay in the race for search real estate

The sheer size of Facebook alone means that in a very short period of time, real time search results will probably be dominated by Facebook fan page status updates – so if your brand does not have a fan page, now is the time to start one.

Lindsay Stough is an Online Marketing Coordinator at FluencyMedia.com specializing in Social Media with a particular passion for Facebook.  During her time at Fluency, Lindsay has assisted strategic clients with their social media efforts resulting in award recognition.  She was born and raised in Scotland and has now been Stateside for over 8 years.  Lindsay brings a unique international flare to our marketing team.

In case you haven’t opened your Gmail account in the past week, on February 9th, Google released its brand new social platform, Google Buzz.  Buzz is Google’s approach to sharing relevant information that matters most to you and your contacts.  So what’s all the buzz about?  Google is the search leader and they do it extremely well.  Twitter and Facebook are the social media leaders and serve their platforms very well.  Can Google do search and social media?  Can they succeed or will Buzz turn into another Google Wave?  These latest developments are still evolving but long-term SEO prevails in the organic search engine results pages (SERPs).

Tiger Woods Press Conference

Google introduces real-time search
In early December 2009, Google announced real-time search in the SERPs.  Real-time search allows you to see up to the second updates about whatever you might be searching for.  As an example, on Friday morning I started searching for Tiger Woods an hour before his big 11 AM (est) press conference.  Google’s real-time search was buzzing with countless reports from Twitter and news feeds about the highly anticipated conference.  Everyone was speculating what he might say and do, and this was all before Tiger even stepped in front of the microphone.  Real-time search is a great way for users to stay informed on the latest developments about their searches.

Google Buzz vs Twitter in real-time search
Since Twitter is the main feed for Google’s real-time search, it would only make sense that Google will begin to feed the real-time search results with Buzz content.  But if  Buzz would have been released several months ago, would we have seen a mix of Twitter/Buzz posts about Tiger on Friday?  What about only Buzz posts and no Twitter Posts?  Is Google just using Twitter to promote real-time search and then Google will change their search algorithm to discount Twitter content from the search results and only credit Buzz content?  Let’s look at the numbers.  Twitter has roughly 75 million participants where as Google has about 175 million Gmail users who were automatically signed up for Buzz.  So with an estimated 100 million more users providing content (assuming people begin using Buzz and don’t opt out), Google’s algorithm could show Twitter the door when it comes to real-time search results.

Role of SEO amid Google’s enhancements
As an SEO expert at Fluency Media, I look to stay on top of the latest search engine algorithm changes for our clients, and these recent developments by Google intrigue me.  I think incorporating Google Buzz into real-time search benefits the user searching as the results are the most up-to-date information.  It could be argued that making user relevant real-time searches with Buzz more static at the top of the SERPs might be Google’s next big search engine algorithm change.  Keep in mind that Google’s algorithm for Buzz is centered around relevancy to the user.  However, the content currently in real-time search lacks the long-term SEO value to maintain at the top of the SERPs.  As Google evolves, what direction do you think they are headed in with these developments?

Pure Michigan has received a lot of credit for its marketing program lately.

It looks like michigan.org will seal another year as the nation’s #1 Visited State Tourism Website.

And, within just 90 days of launch, michigan.org was rated the #1 Social Media Program (Gammet Interactive) for its aggressive push into social networking – boasting 20,000+ fans on their Facebook Fan Page, along with vibrant Twitter, and blog presences.

But it really shouldn’t be this way…

What about Hawaii, New York, Florida, and California; big states with “Nation-Sized” budgets and economies?  Tourism meccas blessed with the best climates on earth and larger than life attractions (Statue of Liberty, Disney World, Golden Gate Bridge)?

The answer is simpler than you think.

Michigan found a way to use the online channel to make its brand assets work smarter and harder. Let’s take a look at some of the key foundations for Pure Michigan’s dominance:

• Full Participation for Every Marcom Stakeholder

Online marketing has as full seat at the table. Often, the lure of traditional media overshadows the blocking-and-tackling judo employed by digital specialists.  In Michigan’s case, digital was given the resources and attention it needed to deliver results.

• Integration

Early on, the Travel Michigan team tied its objectives to the seamless integration of its web initiatives.  Our team at Fluency Media delivered digital programs that collapsed silos and combined the strengths of multiple platforms.

Quickly, we saw email marketing (still a killer app) spark rapid growth in all social media channels.  Integrating pay-per-click and SEO led to Michigan achieving top rankings on terms long dominated by private travel aggregators.

Across the board, integration proved its mettle by knitting together a formidable blend of tactics.

• Rigorous Tracking and Testing

From the beginning, Michigan used analytics to guide decision-making and strategy.  Every meeting was led by reporting of quantitative results.

Over time, Michigan was able to parlay small improvements into dramatic increases in visitors, subscriber sign-ups, and social media participation.

Like all successful marketing strategies, getting started is the most difficult step.  However, Pure Michigan’s case study offers some fascinating insights into outwitting and outplaying larger rivals.

But if you don’t have the time or resources to build a “Giant Killing” marketing program from scratch, your best move is to work with an experienced partner that has already built the best practices to succeed.

You’ve spent months building the website for your new online business, and now you’re ready to do some internet marketing.  You’ve heard about pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO), and you know that both will help you show up on Google and other search engines.  But which one do you do first?

At Fluency Media, we recommend starting with PPC.  While it may seem counter-intuitive to begin the search marketing process by driving paid traffic instead of “free” organic traffic, it’s actually the best route in the long run.

SEO is a long-term investment that often will ultimately generate the majority of your website’s traffic.  However, it’s difficult for a brand-new site to rank well in the search engines.  Search engine spiders look for things like site age, inbound links, and other factors – all of which put a new site at a disadvantage.

Never fear, though, because this is where PPC comes in!  Unlike SEO, PPC campaigns can be launched quickly.  With a little advanced planning, a well-crafted PPC campaign can serve as the basis for future SEO efforts.  I wrote about the process in depth over at Search Engine Watch.  Even a small PPC campaign will yield invaluable data that you can use to jump-start your SEO.

Like I said, SEO is a long-term investment.  And once a site or page is optimized, it’s hard to “re-optimize” for totally different keywords.  Therefore, it’s essential to make sure you’re optimizing your website for the most leveraged keyphrases at the outset, instead of wasting valuable resources on the wrong words.

Communication between your PPC manager and your SEO specialist is critical at this point.  Our specialists have regular meetings and impromptu conversations when working with new sites.  This collaboration is important, as it helps to share finding such as:

• PPC keywords with the best cost per conversion
• Ad copy that converts the best
• Keywords that convert, but have a low Quality Score
• Keywords that are relevant, but don’t convert

By making the investment in PPC first, we’ve been able to help our clients jump-start the SEO process and achieve high rankings and organic traffic much more quickly than if we focused on one without the other.

Do you remember the legendary movie from the 80’s, the Karate Kid?  The other day I was thinking about what I could be for Halloween and came up with the idea of being Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) from the Karate Kid.  I watched a few movie clips on YouTube and I couldn’t help but notice how Mr. Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) training program relates to a fundamentally sound Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy for an organization.

If you can recall from the movie, Mr. Miyagi takes Daniel under his wing and trains him using uncharacteristic techniques such as waxing cars, sanding a deck, painting a fence, and painting a house.  Mr. Miyagi has a fundamental karate mindset that has proven to win and trains Daniel with the long term benefit of being a successful karate fighter.  On the other hand, Daniel’s enemy Johnny was trained by the Cobra Kai Dojo.  The Cobra Kai has a quick win plan to teach their students to punch, kick, and cheat that ultimately fails in the end.

Like Mr. Miyagi’s training program, SEO is invariably a long term process using fundamental factors to determine rank, with time as an element in the calculation.  In a nutshell, this means it’s not plausible to think you can rank #1 in the search engines overnight.  Effective SEO takes time, and shortcuts today may cost you dearly in the long run.

So when it comes to your organization’s SEO strategy, avoid the Cobra Kai gimmicks and offers that will guarantee you overnight success.  Look to the Mr. Miyagi’s of SEO that will provide you with a long lasting benefit for your SEO strategy.

Wax on, Wax off!

Is Your Professional Service Firm’s Website Optimized for Clients to Find You?

Are you in the professional services industry and looking for ways to generate more business?   Have you considered how many of your potential clients might be using the web to search for the services you or your firm can offer?

Whether you are an accountant, architect, lawyer, physician, or other professional, in today’s market, firm owners in professional services are stressing the importance of client development and always looking for their professionals to generate more business.  Let’s face it, the competition pool is getting bigger and one way to get ahead of the competition is to ensure your firm is appearing at the top of the search engine results as more people are turning to the web to search for services.

After working in a large law firm and experiencing a website redesign, I know that one of the most important tasks facing the website development team for producing a great website is the look and feel.  Managing partners analyze the branding, the content, and the layout to make sure the potential client has an enjoyable experience while viewing the website.  This makes perfect sense, but without looking at how clients actually get to your website in the first place, you’re missing the big picture.

Did the potential client type your website name into the address bar that they got from your business card?  Did they do a Google search for your firm’s name?  Did they do a Google search for a firm in your city or did they do a general search for your firm’s particular specialty?  There are countless ways a potential client might get to your website.  The big question is, will your firm be at the top of the search engine results?

Let’s use a simple hypothetical – Company ABC is looking for a trademark lawyer in Chicago to work on the company’s trademark application.  They go to Google and search for “trademark lawyer Chicago.”  They see that XYZ Trademark Firm is the first result on the first page of Google and Company ABC has heard good things about XYZ Trademark Firm, so they click to view XYZ Trademark Firm’s website and eventually set-up an appointment.  If XYZ Trademark Firm had not been at the top of the Google rankings, ABC Company probably would not have viewed their website and wouldn’t have contacted XYZ Trademark Firm.

So how do you get to be at the top of the search engine results?

One major aspect to help with your search engine rankings is through search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the process of making a website more relevant for targeted keyphrases, as well as more accessible to the search engine spiders – search engine programs that read site content.  With increased relevancy and spider-readability, search engines will rank the site more highly in the search results for targeted phrases.

SEO tactics for professional service firms such as effective keyword research, title tag optimization, meta description optimization, and web-friendly content are a few aspects your firm should include during the website redesign process.

Importance of Top Rankings

SEO-Scientist.com conducted a study on the percentage of clicks in connection with the ranking on the first page of Google.  Here are their results:

• 50.9% of users click on the 1^st ranking
• 21.7% of users click on the 2^nd ranking
• 15.1% of users click on the 3^rd ranking

This means that only 12.3% of users are even bothering to click past the top three listings.

As you can see, appearing on the first page of a search engine isn’t always enough.  To capture the majority of search traffic, being in the top three results is key and the further from the top your website appears in a search, the less likely someone is going to click to your website.

With the implementation of a strategic SEO plan, professional service firms will provide considerable value and generate more business by making sure potential clients are viewing the firm’s website first no matter how clients search.

Why Writing for the Web is Important

Writing tactics which work well for conventional print media don’t always translate to the web, for the same reason that what works in a magazine ad probably wouldn’t be the best for TV — the web is simply a different beast. Writing specifically for the web is at the core of optimizing your site content to achieve maximum conversion potential.

People read web pages differently than print

Most users scan content on the web, rather than reading word-for-word as they would a print article.  The majority of a web page’s copy gets skipped — one study shows that users only read a maximum of 28% of page copy. This percentage gets even smaller the more words a page contains.

The web experience is altogether different from that of traditional print — typically, people actively choose how much time they spend where, navigating to content they see as more valuable and away from any content they see as an obstacle to their information retrieval goals.

Writing for the Web: Guidelines

Catering to users’ goals & behavior with your website copy can dramatically increase the usability and conversion potential of your site — and can be a big boost to your Search Engine Optimization efforts.  For web-friendly copy, be sure to:

• Write concisely — cut copy in half, and then some
• Focus on user benefit — Avoid lengthy prose or overly promotional “marketing speak”
• Focus on one idea per paragraph, one theme per page
• Begin with your most important ideas; follow with supporting content
• Use bulleted lists to clean up text
• Use headers & subheaders to organize
• Include informative keywords/phrases within the beginning of each header
• Use hypertext links within copy — link out to resource pages as well as to relevant internal pages as appropriate
• including informative keywords/phrases within hypertext links (do NOT use “click here”)

Web-friendly copy gives you an SEO boost

Everything that works well for web-friendly copy will help your site with SEO, and it’s no coincidence, given that search engines rank sites according to what will be most valuable to users. For example, eliminating unnecessary copy increases keyphrase density on your most important search terms. Search engines also view keywords in headers, bulleted lists, and hyperlink text as more important, as well as those towards the beginning of each element (header, paragraph, page).

Getting started with web-friendly copy

Still not comfortable giving your tried-and-true homepage copy a makeover?  Use Google Website Optimizer to test serving your new, web-friendly copy to a small percentage of your site visitors & see what happens.  Then measure the success of your new copy by looking at metrics such as:

• Bounces
• Average time spent on site (use to calculate maximum % read rates)
• Links to other pages on your site / partner sites
• Conversions & other user actions

Chances are, you’ll be impressed by the results.

Microsoft hits the nail on the head with its commercials for its new search engine, Bing – the “Search Overload” so cleverly depicted therein resonates with people because we all know exactly what they’re talking about. The search results listings we see day in & day out are cluttered with content disguised as human-readable but engineered to butter up search engines.

Our growing familiarity with these tactics is contributing to people’s shrinking attention spans when it comes to search results – while folks used to dig through three pages of results and beyond, now the majority never make it past the first few listings, let alone the first page.  (Of course, the quality of search engines themselves has a lot to do with that – they’re now so much better at returning the most relevant results right off the bat that we web users can slack off.)

How This Can Help Your SEO

With users investing less time in search engine results, SEO specialists need to work harder to make an impact and FAST.  For example, you’re not going to make an impact with a title that’s nothing more than a list of keyphrases that trails off in an elipsis.  But even when keeping the title tag succinct enough to display in its entirety, a key challenge remains – optimize for maximum keyword density & coverage… or sacrifice some real estate for a more “click-through-friendly” title?

With search engine algorithms broadening their criteria and placing more and more emphasis on off-page factors such as in-bound link structure & source, the title tag’s function as a marketing tool is becoming increasingly important.  Microsoft’s Bing commercials highlight the need to cut through the clutter & get to the point.  Build a great site, continue to consistently produce great content in a timely manner, and write title tags which are intelligent yet succinct.  Don’t abandon keyword targeting – put it in the context of what’s most helpful to users who are sick of “search overload”… but still want to find what they’re looking for.

In today’s climate of budgetary cutbacks, accountability is a key priority for every company.  But what does accountability in online marketing really mean?

It goes without saying that accurate & insightful reporting is essential – demonstrating results & incorporating learnings ensure an intelligent and adaptive ongoing program.  But more than that, accountability means doing the right thing from the beginning – making wise resource investment choices for the right reasons.  This is where smart keyword targeting and Search Engine Optimization come into play.

The value of niche keyword targeting is universally accepted among SEOs.  Niche terms should be:

• “long-tail” enough that fewer websites are competing for organic visibility
• popular enough to bring measurable traffic to your site
• highly relevant to your site content, converting at a higher rate

Other critical metrics to consider when picking your keyword-targeting battles:

• Can you leverage any current site ranking, & if so, how much?
• How much traffic do these keyphrases bring to your site currently?
• What happens once this traffic gets to your site – does it convert well?

It’s perfectly natural to want the moon for your site right out of the gate – but also necessary to understand what “the moon” is, why you want it, and what it takes to get there.  You might like your site to rank for some very broad “industry label” keyphrases, but your real goal is to increase traffic & sales.

Smart SEO strategy effectively recognizes and targets opportunities that will bring the highest return for your site – and that may not be those broad keyphrases.  To those not familiar with SEO, this strategy may seem counterintuitive.  But in a time when accountability is at the forefront, doing the right thing from square one is crucial to a company’s marketing success.