SEO Tips & Advice | Social Media Strategies & News

OK, so now Social Media has really started to become “main stream” – businesses are starting to cotton onto the idea it’s best for them to get involved and get a presence on various platforms. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube seem to be the popular choices (makes sense due to the user bases).

But one new problem arises, and that’s most companies are being there just for the sake of being there. They see their competitors doing it – they hear about it on the news, but they are yet to discover exactly what to do.

Another massive blockade is the reams of red tape that larger businesses have surrounding internal and external processes. This makes the whole use of Social Media very tricky indeed, as it often slows down response times to customer queries and there appears to be a big fear factor with allowing employees to be the voice of the business.

That’s why I believe small businesses (even one man operations) have a massive advantage over their big rivals. Never before have they been able to compete as easily and for free. Whilst the big guys are worrying about what to say, tone of voice, how to respond – the little guy can do whatever they like and only have themselves to answer to. What an advantage!

I had the pleasure of meeting a guy who runs a coffee van in Soho London, and was really excited to learn he uses Twitter, and blogging to share with his customers his every day experiences.

Read more…

Popularity: 3%

Sorry guys, no Podcast this week as there just didn’t appear to be anything exciting this week (as far as I could see!) so I wanted to quickly show an awesome TV advert currently showing in the UK that just blew me away.

Nike have launched a campaign to run with the 2010 World Cup with an amazing set of adverts (the full length version is below). What struck me (and made me decide to post it here) is how Nike included the “Like” button in the advert, but it’s not the Facebook version. It’s the YouTube button.

They’ve cleverly incorporated YouTube into the advert, which in my opinion is really enforcing just how well known YouTube is to the world. They have also updated their channel to include imagery from the advert.

OK, so why am I blogging about it? Well two reasons really:

1) The advert just rocks! I remember watching it the first time, and all my hairs stood up. I got pumped about the World Cup!

2) I found it very interesting how sites like YouTube appeared in the advert – it just goes to show how everyone recognises how popular these sites are to every day internet users.

So, take a look at the advert below and enjoy!

COME ON ENGLAND!

Popularity: 23%

Well this week – I am in a great mood (you’ll find out why when you listen), so it was my pleasure to compile all the news for you this week. Although its now passed my preferred bed time, I didn’t want to be late with this!

This week saw two sites in particular dominate (one for SEO and one for Social Media) as they had some great content.

As per usual, the links to the full stories can be found below:

SEOMoz – Finding Gaps and Opportunities: Step 3 of the 8-Step SEO Strategy

SEOMoz – A Natural Link Love Story

SEOMoz – 5 Ways To Turbo-Charge User Generated Content For SEO

SEOMoz – Whiteboard Friday – What Kind of Links Do You Need?

Search Engine Journal – Microsoft Bring Facebook Twitter Sharing to Bing Shopping Search

SEO Round Table – Google Maps Hijacking Getting Out of Control?

Search Engine Watch – Build Links with a Killer Sales Promotion

Inside Facebook – Some Facebook Page Fan Numbers Fluctuate After Changes to the Like Feature

Social Media Examiner – The Biggest Social Media Mistakes (a Jay Baer Interview)

Social Media Examiner – 5 Easy Ways to Drive Social Media Fans to Action

Social Media Examiner – Foursquare: Are You Checking Out the Hottest Social Media App?

Social Media Examiner – 3 Twitter Marketing Ideas That Avoid Marketing

All Facebook – Facebook Must Make “Instant Personalization” Opt-In Immediately

All Facebook – New FTC Complaint Filed Against Facebook

Mashable – 21 Essential Social Media Resources You May Have Missed

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 28%

It seems that there is a lot of focus on Facebook’s recent advances with their announcement of their open graph and a lot of talk within the SEO industry has been going on in regard to how this will affect SEO as we know it.

SEOMoz did a White Board Friday video (below) explaining the main differences between the two. If you haven’t seen it already I suggest you do as it makes things clearer.

I can understand why people were reacting as if this is the end of SEO – I even thought it but not in the way others have.

For the immediate future Google should be scared of Facebook (they’ve publicly admitted it) Why? One word – Traffic. Google over the last year has started to lose significant amounts of traffic to Facebook. And this is worrying for them.

Another threat? More and more advertisers will promote on Facebook – sometimes instead of advertising on Google.  Stands to reason hey? Crazy number of users, highly target-able and so cheap compared to Adwords (at the moment).

Are they threatened for search? Not at the moment. People just don’t tend to use Facebook as a search engine yet. If they do – it’s heavily reliant on things being made popular.

Google wins in the search war – but they cannot rest on that. Once Facebook becomes a habit for people to use as a search engine (and if they get good results) this could prove a massive blow for Google’s market share.

Read more…

Popularity: 28%

Before I dive into this week’s Podcast – I wanted to report back on a great day I spent with Deborah Micek exploring London whilst she was over for a Social Media conference. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see her talk on the Friday night, but did get to see the sites with her and get very wet in the English rain!

Deb took plenty of pictures, so I’ll see if I can ask for some and post them.

Now onto the news and well – another buy week in the world of SEO and Social Media with plenty to report on.

I didn’t realise but last week’s Podcast was not submitted to iTunes, so that has now been done and all accepted! Hoping to make this a popular podcast for everyone to enjoy.

Of course, let me know what you think – and what you would like to have included and I’ll see if I can accommodate This time I have included the links to the full stories, so for further information, please visit the links below.

Until next time, have a great week – and I’ll speak to you soon!

Stories mentioned:

SEOMoz – 30 SEO problems and the tools to solve them

Search Engine Land – How To Use E-mail To Benefit SEO

Search Engine Journal – 5 Types of Link Building

SEOMoz – Facebook’s Open Graph WON’T Replace Google

Inside Facebook – Facebook Now Testing Sending “Like” Window Stickers To Local Businesses

Social Media Examiner – 21 Creative Ways To Increase Your Facebook Fanbase

All Facebook – The Rise Of The Facebook Start Page

 SEO and Social Media News 2nd May 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 36%

So there we have it! My first Podcast all recorded, uploaded and edited and about to be put “live”!

OK, so the editing is basic at the moment but as time goes on, I really want to enhance the sound with jingles etc. I’ve heard some great examples, so looking forward to getting custom ones.

I have a confession though – I was silly and forgot to mention that you will be able to get the links to the full stories on the blog, but not only that – I have not got round to getting the links for you this time! Sorry!

However, in the future I will make a note of the links, mention it in the Podcast that you can get them here and post them!

So until then, take a listen (and download if you like!) my first Podcast. As usual, let me know what you think in the comments below. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 29%

OK – so you’ve got on Twitter, worked out what the hell it’s about and then thought “How on earth am I gonna get more followers?”

It’s true – it would be best to have an audience when it comes to Twitter – yes, you can just tweet to yourself as after all it is a micro blogging platform but in order to get the most out of Twitter, you need to get involved in the real time conversation.

One of the main things that grates me about the common answer to the above question is “Just follow more people and most will follow back” – ok great, so you can handle a million tweets flying at you 24/7/365? Are you interested in all those people? No? What a surprise.

Instead of thinking of ways to gain fake followers, you’d be best off following a few easy methods to gain followers who are actually interested in you.

Besides – seeing a Twitter profile with an unhealthy ratio of followers to followed just doesn’t look genuine. Are they really listening to all those people?

So – lets get onto 5 ways to increase your Twitter followers:

Read more…

Popularity: 71%

Listen up – I need to be quick.

Just finished recording a screen capture video showcasing the Google Real Time Search and I wanted to get this post out there. After all, if I waited, it wouldn’t exactly be “real time” would it?

Late last night (UK time), I saw the news, that Google had announced further information about their real time search (via Mashable – thanks guys!) Now this is BIG with a capital – well B of course!

Why? Simple – this affects EVERYTHING in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). The organic results aren’t gonna be the dominating factor on certain search terms. PPC (Pay Per Click) may be overshadowed even more if your ad appears down the right hand side.

If you’re an SEO that has been burying your head in the sand when it comes to Social Media and how it “doesn’t affect you”, then sorry – this is a kick in the balls for you. You woken up yet? This is as big as when PPC got introduced so deal with it, accept it and understand it.

It’s not just Google Real Time Search – it’s Bing. They announced before Google about their intentions to show Twitter AND Facebook updates in results. Bing also has a more exclusive relationship with Facebook as Microsoft (creators of Bing) have invested, and that includes exclusive deals, such as paid for ads and no doubt special treatment.

So Google will be showing Facebook PAGE updates and nothing more (yet), even this element doesnt appear to be live yet. Make sure you have your fan pages indexed! This is an awesome opportunity.

OK, make sure you check out the video below to see more about how Google Real Time Search will affect the search landscape.

Let me know what you think. Am I getting too excited? Too ahead of myself? Or am I just super awesome and know my shiz? Let me know!

Popularity: 39%

Bit of an unusual post from me today but it’s for a good cause so I thought I would share it with you! Naturally, I will take a look from a Social Media view

NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) have launched a campaign to allow you to send a personalised letter from Santa to your children (or any child for that matter). This is a great little gift all for a suggested donation of £5. Here is the information below:

The NSPCC’s Letter from Santa fundraising initiative gives parents, grandparents and anyone else the chance to nominate someone special to receive a magical letter from Santa for a suggested donation of £5. The letter is personalised with the child’s name and age and is sure to confirm that Santa will be making his usual stop in the child’s home town to wish everyone a merry Christmas. The letter is written in a hand script font and is beautifully illustrated on quality colourful paper. The envelope shows that it’s been safely delivered through ‘express Rudolph Mail’.

Fundraiser Binita Patel said: “Letter from Santa is a brilliant way to put an extra twinkle into Christmas this year and make a child feel extra special. The appeal also helps us to raise money to support children who are perhaps not as fortunate.“

“It is important to remember that Christmas is not a time of celebration for every child. Over the 12 days of festive cheer last year, ChildLine – a service provided by the NSPCC – counselled over 3,500 children who were in danger or distress and had nowhere else to turn. By supporting this appeal you will be helping to provide support, advice and protection for these children who are in desperate need of help.”

Also on offer is a Baby’s First Christmas letter from Santa, which is the perfect keepsake for newborns celebrating their first festive season.

To order a letter from Santa for a child you know, visit http://www.nspccwishes.org.uk/ or call 0845 839 9304.

It does look a real cool little gift and I can imagine thier eyes will light up when they receive it. There is a video on the site to show you more, so go check it out!

OK, from the social media side of things, there’s one thing that I’m pleased they’ve done, and that’s include the “Add This” button on the top right. This allows people to share the page via several social bookmarking sites – so that’s a pretty cool touch.

Read more…

Popularity: 57%

Hey,

Super quick post that I’ve slapped together. This is a review on the book Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk which I have to say is awesome.

This is how quick I wanted to share with you my thoughts. My room is a mess, I used my in built web cam and the sound is a bit ropey – but hey, I wanted to give you an unscripted review a real true insight from the heart.

I have never read a book so quick, I couldn’t put it down and I know I will read it again soon too.

Anyway, check out the video below:

Oh, how about grabbing the FREE Chapter?

If you want more information and videos about the book, you really should check out the dedicated site: Crush It Book

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Have you read it yet? Let me know your thoughts!

Still not sure? Feel free to ask any questions and I’ll see what I can do

Popularity: 58%