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Google has warned Welsh businesses that they could be missing out on Internet marketing opportunities, as figures have shown that around 40 per cent of small firms based in Wales don’t operate a website, according to an article published by BBC News.
The message has coincided with the announcement that Google will work with the Welsh government as part of a year-long campaign to boost the presence of Welsh businesses on the Internet.
Google’s Laurian Clemence stated: “You are really missing out if you can’t be found online.
“We do believe there are definitely more benefits than not. The key thing is that people who have their business online see their business grow four to eight times faster than those that don’t.
“We realised that Wales was lagging behind in the adoption of web presences for SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises),” she said.
Clemence concluded: “There ia lot of opportunity there to help them get a website for the first time or if they do have a website improve it.”
As part of the project Google will be providing one-to-one advice sessions for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as a roadshow featuring tutorials, workshops and advice from experts.
Edwina Hart, business minister, said: “We welcome this initiative to help companies gain maximum benefits from using and exploiting digital technologies to innovate, grow and access new markets, driving business growth.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
OK, we knew it was kicking in, hence this week’s focus on the ‘new’ Google algorithm. Yesterday, Youtube’s new look was the focus because video is part of the all-important algorithm.
Today’s post should have been about QDF (Query Demands Freshness) in regards to news, blog posts, tweets etc, but there has been a new announcement which demands attention.
Before we get to that announcement, perhaps we should talk about the ‘new’ algorithm. There are those for whom, once upon a time, the acquisition of Goto, or Hotbot’s latest colour scheme, made IRC buzz. SEO was about hiding terms such as “Pamela Anderson” in your metas and making the keyword rich text the same colour as the bgcolor. Oh you may scoff now at such immature antics, but some of us remember when it worked. For a while, in about 1994/5. It is not often you see such tactics proposed these days, but there are many tactics from 1-2 years ago that would seem pointless now to the IM cognoscenti.
So, “new” has become a very subjective term in SEO and Internet Marketing – more “How new are you?” There are apps and techniques and on-page or even offline optimisation strategies which for many SMEs are complete wizardry. Let’s face it, there are still business people who don’t know what Twitter is! So, we are using new this week to mean – climb out of your PPC and basic SEO box, look at some of your options, understand what drives your audience to you in 2011, and then do it. If you don’t know what Google+ is, and you don’t have a Facebook profile, or you have never tweeted, blogged, answered a post in a forum, or set up an RSS feed to track your competitors – this is ALL going to be new. It might be an idea to start there first….and then return to find out what else you are missing.
Google + is suddenly appearing in the SERPs. (You need to be careful not to confuse +1 with G+). What we are talking about is that G+ status updates (stream/what’s news/posts etc) and Add to Circles have been spotted out in the wild. At present, it seems to be only on Direct Connect accounts, but that is a fairly typical Google strategy – target early adopters and reward those who at least give the betas a run for their money.
Now the Google devs are actually approachable on G+, the instant and valuable feedback that these beta tests garner for Google are well worth the pain of getting 153 comments to a throwaway comment about a new album a dev is listening to on Google Music. (Did you know that had also launched this week?! We’ll show you the workaround shortly for UK people).
The point is though that Google is playing a fast catch up to other social networks. It may not be a quick game. In fact, it is looking increasingly like a long one i.e not instant gratification, as many have come to expect of the online world. However, Google is joining up its dots and adding new functionality, removing dead wood (including the decent version of Reader, but we won’t go into that), and listening far harder, or so it would seem, to its users than a) has been the norm previously and b) its competitors.
So, today’s task is to look at your G+ page/profile, discover if you have actually spotted the SEO factors that Google is taking into account for its algo, and making sure that your page has half a chance to join the firehose that will be the re-introduction of real time search, but from G+ primarily and not Twitter, as it used to be.
And if you think that ignoring all those people who added you to circles over the last 10 days is still an option, or that applying for Direct Connect might be a waste of time…..think again. Your G+ status update might bring your company page to a first page position that your traditionally SEOd website has little to no chance reaching in a competitive world. *THAT* is the new algorithm!
In the current Internet marketing climate, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter might be the platforms most popular for marketing.
However it’s important not to ignore the power of YouTube adverts.
Just as with social media marketing, there are a number of rules to follow when creating YouTube content that you want to be worth sharing, according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
Rather than relying on luck to take your video ‘viral’, the video must ‘provide intrinsic value to your viewers,’ states New York Times bestselling author, Guy Kawasaki.
Kawasaki states that there are four forms that this intrinsic value can take, as he explains:
Ideally the ad needs to generate a buzz, talk and referrals – views alone aren’t enough.
These types of adverts can be hugely successful, as proved by a recent educational YouTube advert.
‘The Google+ project: A quick look’ advert, explaining the ins and outs of Google’s latest social networking venture, has been shared 147,262 times according to the Mashable Global Ads Chart.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
It is too soon for any business to migrate to Google+ because it is still very much in beta. Besides, business accounts are not yet permitted, apart from the odd test account. However, it is unlikely that Google + will go away so it is not a bad idea to start considering how and where it will fit into your digital marketing strategies in the future.
Discussions in the office about whether as a business you will need Google+ have ranged from “Yes, definitely” to “It’s just another place to post” to “Not until you have your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn strategies right.”
It’s interesting that it is only a few years since many companies banned their staff from even accessing Facebook during working hours, and now it is an almost essential arena for many businesses. This pattern has occurred so many times, from “Do you need a website?” through “Should you be doing SEO/PPC?” to “Does your business need a Twitter account?” etc. It is likely to be never ending…..which application or service do you need and which simply cannot be ignored?
The reality is that everyone in the office is right. Yes, you will need to be on Google+. Yes, it will be another place to post, engage, follow, interact, share and so on. And yes, you do need to ensure that every social media marketing strategy that you use works for you.
One interesting point that came out of the discussions is the need to occupy as much social media and online real estate as possible in order to find and target your customers. In ye olde days, it was far easier to find your audience because there were a limited number of channels – TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, conferences. Now there are seemingly an infinite number of channels where your potential customers may be found, and the workload which goes with this ’search and capture’ must be repaid with a return on that investment.
You need to find the right tool for the job FOR YOU, which may will be different to the business next door, a competitive brand, or the industry leader in your sector. Finding the right tools for your desired outcomes is where an experienced internet marketing agency and your in-house knowledge of your business and target market really comes to the fore.
We will look next at how Google+ could contribute to and complement your internet marketing actions in the future …………
An article published on entrepreneur.com has criticised the attitude taken towards social media marketing. With it, a lack of a fundamental understanding of ‘public relations, marketing, corporate communications and sales’ is also lamented.
Entrepreneur has pointed out a number of misconceptions when it comes to utilising social media marketing:
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, PPC, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
The power of viral marketing has increased because of social media, according to an article published by marketingweek.co.uk.
Providing an additional alternative in the world of Internet marketing, viral campaigns can be extremely successful if understood and created well.
Social network growth in the last five years has increased the potential to spread viral marketing campaigns greatly.
Whereas the previous method of getting a campaign to go ‘viral’ would have consisted of a person sending an email to 10 or 20 friends, social networks, like Facebook, now mean that the content can be accessed by anyone that person knows – giving the content much more value and potential.
Nokia are one of the highest-profile companies utilising the method to earn extra attention – with a recent Tron Legacy themed viral mystery game – spread across various social media sites – attracting the involvement of 80,000 people in just over a day.
Recent figures also back up the growth trend, with Nielsen reporting that, on average, 68 per cent of people are more likely to remember seeing an advert recommended or endorsed by someone they know than one without that element of social validation.
However, Michael Melazzo, global marketing activation for Nokia, commented that the process of creating a viral campaign needed to be handled with care. He said: “It’s about building for the longer term and avoiding the quick win.”
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in Search Engine Marketing & Internet Marketing.
Google have released a tool that lets you investigate and compare correlations of search volumes across different terms over time. This lets you see which search terms are always popular at the same time as one another. The tool is called Google Correlate and can be used for PPC purposes.
Google developed this as a result of the flu outbreak a couple of years ago. They realized that simple flu-related searches (“flu symptoms”, “feverish child”, etc.) were very closely correlated with actual flu cases. This information meant that Google could provide easily accessible data about where flu cases were (probably) worst to help planners deliver medications, etc.
But the system they used to set this up had the potential to be more flexible. In addition it can take non-search patterns and perform data-mining to look for the best correlated searches.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – experts in SEO, PPC, Multilingual Search Marketing and Website Conversion Enhancement services.
UK websites are being given one year to comply with EU cookie laws, the Information Commissioner’s Office has announced.
This seeks to reassure the industry that there will be “no overnight changes”.
The EU’s Privacy and Communications Directive came into force yesterday and requires user’s consent before using cookies – the text files that help organise and store browsing information.
The government said that it was looking for a “business-friendly” solution and believed in light-touch regulation.
“We recognise that some website users have real concerns around online privacy but also recognise that cookies play a key role in the smooth running of the internet,” said communications minister Ed Vaizey.
The changes will mean internet marketing companies need to address website visibility for SEO campaigns.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.
We all make mistakes when we’re learning something new, and Internet Marketing can be a new development for many businesses, particularly when it comes to utilising social media for marketing purposes.
It’s vital for business owners to integrate social media as a new component in their marketing strategy every day. Here’s how to avoid making a social media strategy faux pas.
1. Don’t set up your profile, and ignore it forever.
2. Don’t ignore customers and followers in need, surely the point of having a social media presence is so that customers can contact you in this way and ask for advice and assistance.
3. Don’t discourage discussion. Opinions of customers are vitally important and social media can encourage debate and discussion – view it as a free focus group that can give you an honest insight into the views of your consumer base.
4. Don’t give up after three weeks. You won’t see results from social media marketing right away so be patient and understand that it takes lots of commitment and nurturing to develop a successful community through any social network
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
In the months leading up to the May 23 album release of her Born This Way album, and even now — Gaga has paved a path for stars and brands to get inventive with the ways they use internet marketing and social media to promote themselves and connect with fans.
The promotional campaign further ramped up her all-encompassing web presence, fostering partnerships with Zynga for the FarmVille-inspired GagaVille, Starbucks for a massive scavenger hunt, VEVO for exclusive premieres, and GaGa famously beat President Obama to 10 million followers on Twitter.
“Gaga and her team are some of the best marketers around; they understand the importance of integrating social with traditional media, engaging audiences in real-time, and most of all, telling a story that is relatable and worth spreading,” said Alexa Scordato, a Gaga fan, digital strategist and community manager for MAT@USC.
News brought to you by ClickThrough – a best practice Internet Marketing Agency.
