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How Google Instantly Made the Long Tail More Important for SEOs

posted on September 9, 2010

OK, random thought time.

Yes, we’re sticking with Google Instant.

Yes, it’s focused on SEO.

Yes, it ties back to my post about using Google Suggest for keyword research.

Yes, I’ll get on with it.

The long tail is about to become super-important for your search engine optimization efforts. Why? Because, despite our concerns that Google Instant is headache inducing, I think Google knows better. Google knows that using Google Instant–for the average searcher, not you or me–will be a whole lot of fun.

Take for example a search for “San Francisco Hotels.” OK, so the old Google still used Google Suggest, but that required the user to hit “return” or click “search” and commit to a set of search results. Pay attention to that, they had to commit to the search results.

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Are Social Media Ghostwriters Bad for Business? Maybe Not.

posted on September 9, 2010

Is it ethical to hire a ghostwriter to post updates to your social media accounts? Take a quick turn around the internet and you’ll find the majority of the people crying “no!” Words like authenticity and transparency get thrown around along with trust and honesty.

The American Marketing Association recently published a report titled, Social Media Ethics Shades of Gray: GhostTweeting and other Dilemmas. In it, Wayne Hurlbert, host of Blog Business Success on www.blogtalkradio.com, says that hiring a ghost is a grievous error.

“If you’re pretending to be someone else or pretending to be an organization that you’re not, then all trust is lost.  People prefer to do business with those who they know, like and trust and if you remove those factors from the social media world by trying to shade it into gray areas, you will not succeed.”

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Edible Social Media Marketing

posted on September 8, 2010

Hungry? Check Twitter and you’re sure to find some suggestions that will satisfy both your tummy and your need to share information online. But among all the discounts and Foursquare check-ins, there’s one company that has made social media an integral part of their dining concept. It’s called 4food and it’s giving all new meaning to the phrase “have it your way.”

4food serves hamburgers with a healthy twist. They have one shop in Manhattan but they’re getting press from all over thanks to their innovative concept. Instead of offering a set menu, the customer is asked to create their own special burger by mixing and matching ingredients from a long list. You can give your order to a waiter, the old fashioned way. Or you can sit down to an iPad (which is bolted to the table) and take your time developing your masterpiece. Then, you can surf the web free of charge while you wait for your creation to arrive.

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Men Put on the Dad Lens When Buying for the Family

posted on September 8, 2010

Everyone knows how important it is to market to moms, but what about dads? A survey by the newly formed Dad Central Consulting (an off-shoot of Mom Central Consulting) says that  92% of dads put on their special “Dad Lens” when shopping for the family.

What this means is that they use a different set of criteria when choosing items such as groceries, cars and home entertainment, than they used before they had kids. For marketers, this is a significant piece of information. Now, instead of marketing a car to men for its good looks and speed, this survey would suggest you go with safety and room to grow.

The survey also found that 77% of dad said being a parent significantly influenced their decisions and 82% said being a dad influenced who they trusted when seeking advice.

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Mobile and Online Deals Expected to Drive Holiday Sales Dollars

posted on September 3, 2010

In a recent survey about holiday shopping, 64% of the people said they’ll be spending less on everyone this holiday season, so that means marketers will have to work a little harder to make sure it’s their company that gets the cash and not their competitor. The trick is paying attention to how and why people are spending and customizing your marketing efforts to match.

eMarketer has a nifty new report called, “Online Holiday Shopping Preview: What Retailers Need to Know,” that can help, but here are a few of the basics. 42.7% of the people surveyed said they would only buy gifts that were on sale and 36% said they’d be doing more comparison shopping before forking over the cash.

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Keyword Research with Google Suggest Could Add 5,000 Visitors a Day!

posted on September 3, 2010

I used to be a keyword research freak.

Seriously! If you found me at one of the big conferences in the early 2000s you would have likely heard me discussing the importance of keyword research. “Keyword research is the most important aspect of SEO,” I would say. “Target the wrong keywords and it won’t matter if you are #1 on Google or not.”

Yeah, I took it seriously.

I still do, and that’s why I’m sharing this experience from the WebmasterWorld forums. WMW member vivalasvegas follows-up on a report he submitted previously about the sudden loss of almost 5,000 visitors a day for one keyword combination.

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Facebook Fans and Brands: Not a Two-Way Street

posted on August 31, 2010

”70% of consumers who “FANNED” a brand on Facebook didn’t feel they’d given this company permission to market to them.”

This comes from a 2009 ExactTarget study that was revisited in their latest installment of Subscribers, Fans & Followers. The study says that most users saw “Liking” (as it’s now called) a brand on Facebook as a way to express their personal endorsement. An almost equal number of respondents (40%) said they “like” a brand in order to get discounts and promotions. 36% said they were looking for freebies.