That Girl From Marketing

What SEMPO Knows, Meta Descriptions Aren’t Dead & SEO for Web 2.0… Sorta

Filed under: Natasha Robinson, Online Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web 2.0 SEO — Natasha Robinson

I recently went to a Silicon Valley WebGuild event at Google on what I thought would be a discussion on SEO for Web 2.0. I thought I would hear discussions on optimizing Flex and AJAX and learning how we could make these Web 2.0 Technologies more search engine friendly. Instead, the discussion was more focused on how Web 2.0 companies were using SEO. Which is completely different, especially when you consider that the two Web 2.0 companies featured -LinkedIn and Engage - acknowledge their success to viral marketing as opposed to SEO.

However the panelist were great: Adam Lasnik, Google Search Evengalest (aka: MiniMatt) Andreas Mueller, President of Search Marketing Firm Bloofusion, David Hahn, the LinkedIn Director of Advertising and Joelle Gropper Kaufman, Engage’s Vice President of the Experience.

On to the discussion… The issue with user generated content is that you hand over the control to the community. Andreas advised that those of us working with Web 2.0 sites should harness the collective intelligence of the group by:

  • Motivating contributors
  • Offering guidelines
  • Creating a relevant hierarchy
  • Getting the community to focus on the keywords

While Web 2.0 sites deliver a rich user experience, the issue with Web 2.0 technology is that content can’t be indexed and search engines cannot get behind logins. Andreas advised that AJAX be used for non-essential, private or duplicate content.

Usually as SEOs we want to get as much info out there as possible to the search engines, but with Web 2.0 sites there are privacy issues, so some things must be kept from search engines. Joelle noted that “30% of all searches on Google are name searches” (Adam could not confirm this) therefore users of social networks “need control over their personal identities.” In the case of social networking dating site Engage, opening up too much content to the public is a matter of member safety (and online reputation management J ). LinkedIn, understands the need to not make all user information public because they “want to make sure that people are not open to all of the salesy types.”

However, to drive traffic to a site via Search Engines, Web 2.0 sites need to compromise between internal vs. public profiles. Search Engine Optimization can be used on content without “giving away the farm.” The Public Profiles vs. Private Profiles on LinkedIn is a great example of “slicing the data just right” to allow privacy while opening up content to the search engines. Joelle recommend the use of mashups as a way to share information with the public about a person without giving away too much information. For example, your playlists and your bookmarks tell the world a lot about you and help people get to know you.

Is your Web 2.0 SEO Simply Tactical or Holistic?

After giving a brief history of the “content to links” movement in SEO, Andreas wisely advises the audience to build link building into their mindset. He then asked each panel member if they have a specific linking strategy and what is the role of SEO in the Web 2.0 strategy. David of LinkedIn said that they didn’t have a specific linking strategy because they “had the luxury of having a high page rank before the public profiles.” While SEO was not an initial focus for LinkedIn, “optimization of the public profiles has brought more users,” though they rely more on viral marketing.

I love that Joelle from Engage told the crowd that they were in the process of developing a Linking Strategy. Not many new companies (or well established ones) think like that. I guess that stems from her previous experience at Reactivity. When Reactivity was redesigning their site they found an SEO company to help them reach users via search engines because they targeted a niche market. I especially appreciated that Joelle realizes that with Engage, “it is more important that you find the people as opposed to general keyword terms.” And thinks of general keywords such as “dating”, as being part of the head or tail of a long keyword search. This is exactly what Ammon Johns was talking about when he wrote about The New Model SEO Customer.

Finally they covered online competition for Web 2.0 companies. Is a Web 2.0 competitor different? What is their Strategy and are they spamming? Andreas brings up a screenshot of a spammy page from eHarmony (Scroll down to the links) and Joelle repeats it a few times to Adam so that maybe one of her competitors would be taken out and punished. (That was hilarious. I love her!) When someone from the audience asks if this SEO method works, Adreas replies “Only as long as the search engine doesn’t find the mistake.”

Well obviously Yahoo and MSN Live Search have not found out yet, since eHarmony ranks #7 in Yahoo and #3 in Msn Live Search for the search query: Florida Online Dating. And when you check other queries by state such as: [state] Online Dating, they rank in the top 10 for both Yahoo and MSN Live Search for many of these queries. I wish I had done this search that night to see where they ranked in Google at that time.

While the meat of optimizing AJAX and Web 2.0 technologies weren’t actually discussed until I asked during the Q&A, it was still a great event with a great discussion. However many people afterward told me that they were disappointed for the same reasons that I was.

The What Have I Been Reading Reading List:

The I Also Glanced Over Reading List:

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The Too Cool: Goes to my new “Cheers”, Amber Bar. (Of course I’m linking to the Yelp page since Andreas optimized that site.) Finally, I have found a bar in San Francisco that meets my slighty dive-y, slighty hip (but not too much) standards. Cool bartenders, variety in patrons and good drinks. What more could I ask for? So I’m heading there tonight.

“We are young but getting old before our time / We’ll leave the T.V. and the radio behind / Don’t you wonder what we’ll find.” – Stepping Out – Joe Jackson

Posted by: Natasha “That Girl From Marketing” Robinson

Generational Media Habits Should Shape Online Marketing, Flash Toys Don’t Equal Interaction, Social Link Spam, err… PR & I made $250 Blogging on Cal Train

Filed under: Natasha Robinson, Online Market Research, Online Marketing, Press Release Optimization, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Optimization, Social Networking, Tools — Natasha Robinson

Note to self regarding Caltrain: Do not put your coffee lid down in order to add sugar to your coffee. You may get really sick and be out of work for nearly a week. Ok, that may not have made me sick, but that is what I’m going with.

 Note to others regarding Caltrain: If you are riding Caltrain, do not do work. Especially if you ride between all the tech stops from San Francisco to San Jose. This means you Yahoo Guy; completing your Powerpoint presentation on the train, bad idea. And you too Quicken Girl; reading your corporate email on the train, not a good idea. 

And speaking of riding the train: So I’m going through my normal morning blog reading ritual on the train on the way to work, when I click over to the post CSS History Stealing Applied to Black Hat SEO. I see that he’s having a contest: Whoever creates a funny description for his site that incorporates his key target phases in 300 charaters or less wins $250.00. So following the process I usually use for Meta Description Copywriting I created the winning description. $250 for 5 minutes of work, can’t beat that. My Shoe Closet The City of San Francisco Traffic Court, thanks you.

BTW: You know you need a break from Search Engine Optimization when you win a contest and they ask you what Anchor text you want for the link back to your site and you ask for the text surronding the link as well! SEOs gotta love’em. And speaking of SEOs, see also: Thanks for the Game: It’s Been Fun Beating You.

The What Have I Been Reading Reading List:

  • Forrester has been on a roll lately. From: How Consumers Find Web Sites In 2006. Generations’ Media Habits Shape Their Site-Finding Behavior: “To plan effective integrated campaigns, marketers must start with search and layer on site messaging in the media that resonate with target consumers: buzz, blogs, and banners for Gen Yers, deep search and word of mouth for Gen Xers, print and product packaging for Boomers, and the written word for Seniors.On “How consumers have found websites that they have visited in the past month”: 71% from general search engines (Why Search Engine Marketing is important), 46% from a link on another website (Why link building is important), 41% word of mouth.” (Emphasis is mine). Forrester Recomends that Marketers should:

1. Use search engine optimization as the backbone. All consumers favor search as the best way to find Web sites. Smart marketers will prioritize their search optimization efforts to ensure high relevance and ranking.
2. Orchestrate media channels by generation. Search is an essential part of the marketing mix, but marketers must leverage generational IQ to make smart choices about what other channels to include and how to portion the dollars.
3. Design creative to bridge cross-channel gaps. To capitalize on an optimal media mix, marketers must ensure that their creative goes the extra mile to help consumers bridge the gap between channels with which they’re engaged and the Web site itself.

      • Also from Forrester: Profiling Social Network Users In Europe: “Social network sites are used by 17% of the European online population: In the UK, 34% of online consumers are members, making them Europe’s biggest users of social network sites. Users are young, Net-centric, and have bought into the social computing vision — they are heavy users of RSS, blogs, and podcasts in addition to being members of social networks. Almost 70% of social network users go online daily — compared with 52% of all Internet users in Europe. Around 19% of social network users have listened to podcasts and 10% subscribe to RSS feeds. MSN was one of the top three players in all the countries we surveyed — building its social networking presence on the back of its successful Web portals.”
      • The 3 corners of radical trust: “But this media [the internet] requires a level of interaction where all other mediums have not required before. Most of the time, some sort of front end, basic interaction with a “flash toy”, game or otherwise seemed enough to keep the consumers coming to a site. But in reality, these offered little to no true communication with the client. In the end, the interest dissolves and the flash bit is used less and less. The sites that have offered true forms of consumer dialogue are the ones that are winning.” I’m currently on an online marketing mental tanget: What makes a site useful? Good to see others are pondering this. See also: Listening to the Pulse of the Internet
      • Public Relations Social Link Invasion: “But what can happen is in our zeal to make it easy for people to share content (or in this case, press releases) we encourage social media spam in the form of “illogical submissions” to venues that aren’t really appropriate. Thus embedding quick submission links to certain venues can create a stream of inappropriate submissions.” Thanks Eric. See also: Vote for ChangeThis Manifesto on Social Media Optimization.

      The I Also Glanced Over Reading List:

      The Too Cool: Goes to Big Spaceship’s Flash Effects Engine (via: Three Minds@Organic). From the Three Minds Blog, “Originally created for the Nike Air ‘Lift-off Experience‘, our friends at Big Spaceship have now opened up the source code for public consumption. It is an engine that allows you to experiment with Flash effects ranging from blend modes to bitmap filters. You then have the ability to take your creation and implement it on your own site or project. The latest release allows the integration of video and your own background images.”

      “My heart is like a marching band / I’m a fan in the stands / Yes I am ”- Morris Brown - Outkast

      Posted by: Natasha “That Girl From Marketing” Robinson

    Branded Utility, Web Analytics Intro, In the Year 2020, & Hallelujah: A Spy Magazine Book

    Filed under: Interactive Marketing, Natasha Robinson, Online Market Research, Second Life, Web Analytics — Natasha Robinson

    Normally I would have filed this under Too Cool, but it deserves top billing.

    Much like today, in Middle School and High School I spent 2 hrs a day on the train. Had Blogs been around then, I’m certain I would have been Blogging and/or Blog hopping, as I do today. But since they weren’t, I filled the hours on the train with Spy Magazine. It is the only magazine I loved other than Mad Magazine (the only magazine I’ve loved since is Radar… sometimes). I’ve always wondered why they never brought it back and why they never did a book. I wonder no more: My Coffee Table prayers have been answered because, coming soon is Spy: The Funny Years via: Vanity Fair.

    The What Have I Been Reading Reading List:

    • Brands could be creating things that are actually useful “For the most part, big brands and agencies are still trying to apply old-school formulas to the Web. Even though brand and agencies claim to understand the social power of the Web, at the end of the day they’re still only creating one thing: entertainment. You can spend millions on a flashy ‘interactive’ campaign that people try to ignore or you can put that money towards building something that could actually improve their lives; something that they could use and interact with every single day; something that they’d actually seek out. At a time when people are constantly asking ‘what’s in it for me?’, isn’t it blatantly obvious that the best way to engage someone is to be useful to them?” Thanks Jack! (via: Marktd)
    • Web Analytics Toolkit (via Attuned) “Intended for Web Analytics professionals at beginner and intermediate levels, the toolkit provides a simple framework to set up an Web Analytics initiative and informs the readers about how to put the steps of the framework into action.” Great read. What I like most about this into to Web Analytics is the links to additional resources. Actually it reminds me of IBM’s Search Engine Optimization Basics Series
    • Future of the Internet – (via: MediaPost – what is up with their linking policy – I can’t be the only one who hates reading things there only to have to search for the source.) Pew interviews analysts on predictions for the internet in 2020. You may laugh as much as I did if you repeat, “In the Year 2000” a’la Late Night with Conan O’Brien as you read the PDF.

    The I Also Glanced Over Reading List:

    Posted by: Natasha “That Girl From Marketing” Robinson