Show archive of November 2009
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Twitter Marketing: In-Stream Ads & Content Distribution
November 25, 2009
Twitter marketing is the topic du jour on today’s SEM Synergy podcast. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey consider the effect and efficiency of in-stream Twitter advertising. While some vocal users find in-stream advertising to be intrusive and off-putting, it may be a matter of time until Twitter users accept advertising within the format. After all, businesses have been using Twitter to promote products and services since early in the site’s history. See Dell for a shining example of community-welcomed marketing on Twitter.
Internet marketer Michael Gray then talks to Virginia about recommendations for marketing on Twitter. Michael says that in-stream Twitter advertising is a worthwhile platform for brands to explore. Twitter Lists comes with risks to online reputation management. And a number of Twitter content distribution tactics that Michael describes can be applied by businesses. For more Twitter marketing and SEO recommendations, follow Michael on Twitter at @graywolf.
Then Virginia, Susan and Michael Terry share some tips and statistics to optimize content distribution on the microblogging platform. Tracking clicks through URL shorteners is one of the key steps of knowing what content is most well received by the audience. They look at which URL shorteners receive the most retweets and have the best tracking features. They also look at statistics for time of day and day of week that retweets occur most often to help marketers leverage user behavior for content distribution goals. -
Lessons for Search Marketing in Europe
November 18, 2009
With Bruce Clay presenting SEOToolSet Training, Susan Esparza, Virginia Nussey and Maryann Robbins take over hosting duties to discuss some of the latest search industry headlines. Google Caffeine, an improved indexing infrastructure for the search engine, will be rolled out in full after holidays. Until then, one data center is live with Caffeine. Resisting the search giant, Rupert Murdoch says he’ll keep Google from indexing News Corp. sites once the media company starts charging for content — an exclamation met with much controversy. And across the Atlantic, the European Union has agreed on telecom reforms ensuring stronger consumer rights and high-speed Internet connections for all citizens.
Continuing the conversation about European markets, multinational search marketing expert and co-host of the WebmasterRadio podcast Bas van den Beld talks to Virginia about understanding the search economy in light of historical events. In his article SEM Lessons from the Fall of the Berlin Wall, Bas explains how an expanded market size, the cross-country regulations of the European Union, and a common currency have shaped the environment in which marketers work today. Bas is an historian and the editor of Europe’s most popular search marketing blog, SearchCowboys.com. The SearchCowboys podcast airs live on Tuesdays at 2 pm EST.
Then Susan, Virginia and Maryann consider SEO for multimedia and rich media content. The topic was the focus of a PubCon session and is highly relevant following the increase of rich Web experiences being created by brands and organizations today. Bruce Clay has encouraged the integration of engagement objects — interactive elements of a Web site — both because they can engage the audience and because they may come with search engine ranking benefits. On-site features should not significantly interfere with load speed, and any non-textual site elements should be surrounded with appropriate contextual text and Meta data.
Tune in to this episode of SEM Synergy Wednesday at 3 pm EST/12 pm PST on WebmasterRadio.fm.
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Social Integrations in Search
November 11, 2009
People are spending more time on their social networks and going to them for suggestions and review. And the search engines have taken notice of the power of social media, and recently, some big announcements have been made about partnerships between social media platforms and search engines. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey are critical and cautious in light of the potential implications of Bing’s Twitter and Facebook status update integration and Google’s experimental Social Search feature.
While content from social media and social networks has become increasingly integrated within traditional search engines, a new search engine and aggregator, LeapFish, seeks to gather and display real-time, social and multi-media results in a way fitting of the evolved Web environment. Ben Behrouzi, CEO of LeapFish, talks to Virginia about the need for far-reaching, relevant and customizable aggregation of data, including rich media, social and real-time content.
Finally, analysts are taking note of social media’s role in consumer behavior and influence as the holiday season approaches. Businesses and shoppers alike are turning to social media. Consumers are looking for deals, customer reviews and contextual information about products and services. And businesses are taking advantage of the opportunity to reach an audience through a platform that accentuates sincerity, reliability and openness. -
Search Engine Financials & Online Videos
November 4, 2009
The third quarter of 2009 is over and many companies have released their quarterly results. Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey examine the results reported by Google, Yahoo!, Microsoft and IAC for a measurement of the health of the search engines and a reflection on consumer behavior. Google reported revenues of $5.94 billion for the third quarter, an increase of 7% compared to the third quarter of 2008. Yahoo!‘s net income nearly tripled to $187 million in the third quarter. Microsoft Corp.‘s stock fell 14% to $12.9 billion, topping analysts’ forecasts of $12.3 billion. IAC, which owns Ask.com, reported a year-over-year revenue growth of -9%.
Topher Kohan, SEO Coordinator at CNN, then talks to Virginia about the news organization’s newly redesigned Web site. One of the most notable enhancements to the design is the prominence of video, and Topher shares his thoughts on why video is such an important site element today. He also gives his tips on how to involve SEO in online initiatives from the ground up as well as how he has been able to evangelize on behalf of SEO within the large media organization.
While CNN is one of the first to focus on video integration on the site, they aren’t the only one that has prioritized videos online. TurnHere, an online video advertising and production company, recently conducted a survey on trends in online video among brands and marketing agencies. Susan doesn’t take the survey at face value because TurnHere provides online video marketing services. However, useful lessons are contained in the insights about top reasons brands develop online video and what prohibits some companies from creating online videos.