5 lectures from top founders and CEOs. Get social media training for your business!

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Dan Martell, Co-Founder of Flowtown Introduction to Social Media Marketing

How to use social to launch, position your messaging and get distribution.
Foundation: Keywords and Position
Take a Guess
Deal in High Volume
Utilize Tools
Stew Langille, Vice President of Marketing at Mint.com Creating Engaging Content

Creating content in a variety of mediums – writing blog posts, engaging tweets or video/podcast/etc.
Content is King
Talk about the problem, not about your solution
Distribution
Engaging blog writing / tweeting
Writing great headlines
Laura Lippay, Search and Social Marketing Consultant Improving Your Search Rankings With Social Media

A look into how search and social interact with each other
Using Search to Own Social
Control the Discussion
Feed Traffic Back
Social Sucess = Search Visibility
Writing great headlines
Jeff Widman, Founder of Brandglue.com Leveraging Your Audience to Increase Your Reach

What makes people want to share? How to make your content shareable – technically and psychologically.
Social Means Sharing
Make it easy
Ask at the right time
Social Proof
Building Twitter Followers
Website
Build an Initial List
Jonathan Strauss, Co-Founder of awe.sm Optimizing and Measuring Your Impact

This section is focused on the metrics and analysis side of social.
Conversion Metrics
Simple URL tracking
Social Conversions
Word of Click
Email to share
What should you track?

Table of Contents

Over 6 lectures and 3.5 hrs of content!
Gain traction when starting with nothing
Set effective social media goals
Create content that relates to your audience
Optimize your search visibility with social media.
Turn all this social buzz into real momentum
Optimize your content for Facebook
Measure the effect of your campaigns

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Dan Martell

Online marketing, social media, technology, startups and working my @ss off to change the world.
Dan Martell skydives and snowboards and believes running is among the secrets to a fruitful life. But the 31-year-old Moncton, N.B., native insists business is his sport.

With a background in computer programming but no formal business training, Dan’s passion for technology and business has meant he has had a hand in launching several companies to date.

Dan has been described as not having a “knowing-doing gap.” At 25, and just 10 months into his 2004 start-up, Spheric Technologies Inc., the Canadian firm was landing so many deals south of the border that instead of seeking visa sponsorships for his traveling employees, he moved quickly to set up a U.S. office. Growing by an average of 152% per year, Spheric raked in three business awards before he sold the company in mid-2008.

An award winning Entrepreneur, Dan recently co-founded Flowtown, a social marketing platform focused on helping small businesses achieve real results in the world of social media. Now living in San Francisco, Martell spends the majority of his time looking at ways to build a bridge between Silicon Valley and New Brunswick. As an informal angel investor, he is active in advising entrepreneurs using the Lean Startup approach to gain market adoption.

An avid reader who dreams of remaining a lifelong student, Dan invests in startups whose opportunities and ideas he can get excited about. His philosophy is to build companies that solve the business problems he faces. He takes risks in work and life and focuses on the journey over the reward. Martell is relentless in his work ethic – if a job has to get done, he’ll do it right away.

Martell is a board member of Propel ICT and StartupWeekend, a startup advisor to YearOneLabs and 500Startups. He is passionately involved in facilitating micro-lending to entrepreneurs in developing countries through the non-profit, Kiva.org.

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I was recently going through a discovery process with a Fortune 500 executive who was guiding his company’s Web site redesign, and I inquired directly about the search aspects of the project. His response: “Search is not relevant to this process.” Contrary to what he was saying, search was in fact critical to the overall process; he was just clearly unaware of his company’s campaign history and investment in the search channel. In light of this response, seemingly old and worn advice is worth another spin or two around the block, especially if it will help convey the natural search value of a legacy Web presence.

In enterprise marketing, it is not a question of whether your company’s site is going to be redesigned or not, it is simply a question of when. Most companies do some kind of major redesign or tweak every two years, and if they haven’t just relaunched, they are planning for the next one. So the “when” is most often “now,” no matter where you are in the process. The important thing to remember here is that search should be a key consideration at every stage of the process, whether it is selecting a provider, setting requirements, producing comps, coding or site deployment.

So how do you fit natural search into the process? Here are a few ideas to start:

Use site language and messaging that is consistent with the user’s perception of your product or service.
For the most part, search engines are still very literal, and truly effective semantic intelligence still lies far ahead. Position content and language that reflects the way users search, in order to rank for those terms. The path to understanding this language is through linguistic and keyword research, and also by studying and knowing your target. Language and keywords impact and guide information architecture and content strategies, among other aspects.

Read your log files (and/or review analytics reports).
If you want to know what you stand to lose in a site redesign, take a look at what you are currently gaining in terms of traffic, visibility, revenue, and conversions. Are there any particular Holy Grail terms like “travel,” “shopping,” or “banking” that may be giving you a lot of traffic? See a section of a site that is referring a ton of long-tail terms? You will likely find some areas that are worth preserving.

Ensure that RIAs are both crawlable and indexable by search engines.
Rich Internet technologies that are implemented without search engines in mind can instantly render a once-thriving natural search program into total obscurity. Flash and Ajax are key tools in the design and development toolbox, but considerations must be made for search upfront.

Avoid the creation of URL canonicalization issues.
When you change phone numbers, the phone company will leave a recorded message telling the new number to the person who called your old number. This is the effect a 301 permanent redirect has on a search engine — it applies the old URL and backlinks to the new URL; the search engine is happy, and your site is happy. A canonicalization problem occurs when 302 redirects are pointed to permanently moved pages. I have seen instances where clients have gone through four or five redesigns using 302s, and a string of six-to-eight redirects points to a single page, each with its own set of inbound links. This basically makes it difficult for engines to determine the “real URL” to show in results and apply backlinks to. How do you fix it? See the next point.

Set up a redirection plan.
In just about every redesign project, at least some content is removed, and URLs go away. Help the engines and your users by using a 301 redirect to point them to the most similar page on your site, or the site map, home page, or custom 404 page. Spend the time to map out which URLs are going away, and where they should be pointed. And don’t sit on the plan —do it on the day or evening that a site is pushed out of production.

Don’t remove content that supports coveted rankings without assessing risks first.
One mistake I see frequently is when content is removed from a site, with no replacement content to support the valuable rankings and visibility it has previously created. Before axing existing site content, determine how difficult it would be to re-attain the ranking, the ranking’s importance in terms of traffic and revenue, or if it is your CEO’s favorite pet ranking. Then create a plan for bridging new content, or leaving it alone.

Include search as both a business and technical requirement before planning has even started.
If search is not a consideration and priority early on, then it will be 10 times harder and more expensive to try to re-engineer at the end of or after the project.

Ensure that there is a voice for search within the Web site team structure.
Having a search specialist as part of the Web design team (and implementing their recommendations) will do a lot to ensure a healthy transition in the redesign and relaunch process, in addition to the potential for growth. The list above is useless without some subjective strategy behind it. Get experienced search optimization help that is fit to your company’s unique situation, needs and goals, and make it an integral part of the redesign process.

These are just a few considerations to get you started. Feel free to add your own thoughts and considerations for redesign at the Search Insider blog.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Designing Web Sites For Search Visibility

Getting a top rank in Google may be your dream but you need to understand the keyword density for each of your article. The calculation for keyword density is critical. As a rule of thumb the keywords used should not be more than 5 % of your article. This to me makes perfect sense. Imagine reading an article with so many of the same words being repeated. It turns the readers off and is not good for your marketing. A naturally written article attracts more readers who would likely read to the end of the article before they decide to buy whatever it is that you are selling.

There are many tools that you can use to assist you in getting a top Google rank. Without a doubt, the most essential of all is Google Keyword Tool, a free web-based tool to help you find the right keywords and the number of searches made for that keyword in a 12 month period so that you can use the information to optimize your articles for a top rank in Google. There are also several paid keyword software tools that you can purchase but I find the free Google Keyword Tool is a great tool to start with before you progress to other multiple use software tools.

Original and informative content is what Google and the other search engines value highly. Why would they want to publish something that has already been written by someone before. The search engines are providing a service to the mass public on finding information and the more original and informative your information is with the right amount of targeted keywords, the higher is your chances of getting a top rank in Google.

Besides articles and information, your website has got to look like a normal website and not a sales page with just good copywriting. A normal website has the “about me” page, your contact details, privacy statement, categories, and pages. The more pages you have with the right keyword density, the more the search engines will love your website because they love content. The search spiders eat your content and will push you up the Google ranking if they love eating what you have to offer.

Once the spiders have crawled and you are listed by the search engines, you will need to optimize your site even further. Usually, you won’t rank on Google’s first page on the first crawl. Fine tune your articles with keyword density and build backlinks to your website. Backlinks that point back to your website are extremely valuable because it shows that your website is popular. You can build backlinks by marketing articles with your hyperlink in the resource box, joining forum sites and doing some social bookmarking on popular platforms such as Facebook, Digg and Twitter.

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

How To Get A Top Google Ranking

But in the end, being only human, you do the best you can, and let the readers judge for themselves. Anyway, I present to you my listing of “The 10 Biggest SEO Myths Exposed.”

1. Search Engine Optimization will put you on the first page of Google.

This is without question the biggest SEO myth floating around the Internet today. Here’s the truth: SEO is a tool – nothing more. And any tool is only as good as the person using it. That’s why some people have success with SEO, and others don’t.

Can SEO help get your website on Google’s first page? If the person doing the optimizing is competent, sure, it can help. But it’s far from guaranteed.

Here’s why: There are far too many variables that are involved in the ranking of a website – not the least of which are the age of the domain, relevancy and quantity of quantity of content, number and quality of inbound links, competition, and of course Google’s ever-changing algorithms.

2. Getting on the first page of Google will guarantee your success.

This is false. Let me tell you something: Getting on the first page of Google guarantees absolutely nothing!

Every single day, thousands of websites fail and go out of business. Some of those websites were on the first page of Google’s search results. So being on the first page of Google guarantees nothing.

Don’t get me wrong. While being on the first page of Google’s search results can definitely be an advantage, there are far too many variables involved that determine whether or not a website will be successful – not the least of which is the competency of the people behind the website.

They’re the one’s who really determine a website’s success or failure, not Google.

3. If you get a lot of traffic, you’ll make a lot of sales.

Another popular myth – but just that – a myth. It’s not how much traffic you get to your website that matters. It’s the quality of traffic and what you do with it that matters.

There are websites that get thousands of visitors every single day, that are not making a profit. Why? Because either their traffic is garbage, and/or they don’t know to convert their traffic into profits.

Conversely, there are websites that get only get two or three hundred visitors a day that are doing quite well. How are these websites able to do so much with so little?

Three reasons: 1. Their traffic is quality, targeted traffic. 2. They’ve figured out how to maximize the amount of traffic they get. 3. They’re working with a healthy profit margin.

If you’re not getting a lot of traffic, you’d better be making a lot of profit for each sale. Remember, traffic is wasted if you don’t have the ability to convert it into profits.

4. When your website tumbles in the search rankings, it’s because Google is penalizing you.

While this may be true in some instances, it’s not true in all instances. Here’s the truth: Google is only interested in one thing… Delivering the best and most relevant search results that it possibly can. Its continued world dominance depends on it.

And all things being equal, if your website delivers more relevant results than other websites in its category, then your website will rank ahead of those other websites. Now are there exceptions? Absolutely. Does Google get it wrong sometimes? Sure they do. No system is perfect.

But despite any conspiracy theories you may have heard about how your website is ranked, there’s really nothing conspiratorial about it.

5. All websites on the first page of Google are successful.

That’s the prevailing theory of course, but it’s far from true. The fact of the matter is some categories are more popular and profitable than others. Some categories simply don’t generate as much traffic as you might think.

That’s reflected in the price of pay-per-click advertising. Advertisers pay sky-high prices for some keywords, and mere pennies for others.

In addition, many businesses operate on extremely slim profit margins. That means they have to make an extraordinary number of sales to be successful. And if they aren’t getting the traffic, it’s difficult to generate the amount of income that they need to be successful.

6. Registering your domains for multiple years will help your search engine ranking.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all, if it was discovered that a domain registrar started this particular myth. But that’s all it is – a myth. While I was doing research for this article, I couldn’t find any evidence that registering a domain for multiple years has any impact on rankings at all – none.

That being said, registering your domain for multiple years certainly can’t hurt either.

7. Inactive or parked domains that are several years old have an advantage over newer domains.

This is false. A domain that’s 10 years old, which is inactive or parked does not have a significant advantage over a brand new domain that is active.

Why? Because inactive domains, regardless of age, don’t accrue links or trust. And inbound links and trustworthiness are significant determining factors when it comes to rankings.

8. Any link is a good link.

Nothing could be further from the truth. And if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: ALL LINKS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL.

If you’re under the mistaken impression that exchanging links with any and everybody is helping you – think again. While exchanging links may seem like a good idea, it always isn’t.

For example, if you own a hosting website, how does it possibly benefit you to exchange links with a butcher, baker or candlestick maker? Answer: It doesn’t.

The link has to be relevant to your website’s overall theme, otherwise, it will do you no good. Also, reciprocal links and links from article directories just aren’t as valuable anymore, as links from quality, relevant websites.

Because of rampant misuse, reciprocal links and links from article directories have been degraded over the years. And Google just doesn’t place as much value on those types of links as it once did.

Google places much more value on links from quality, relevant websites. So those are the types of links that you should spend your time trying to obtain.

9. If you build it, they will come.

Just because you build a great looking website doesn’t mean that people are going to be so impressed, they’re going to virally push your website to the top of the search engines. It doesn’t work that way. You have to get the word out.

Building your website is only the first step. You have to advertise your website to the world. In addition, you have to make sure that your website is properly optimized for the search engines. You also need to make sure that your website has plenty of fresh, quality, relevant content to keep visitors coming back again and again.

If you build it, they will come – but only if they know about you.

10. Submitting your website to the search engines will help you get indexed faster.

This is one myth that simply will not die. It has been written about in article after article after article that submitting to the search engines WILL NOT help your website get indexed faster.

What WILL help your website get indexed faster is getting linked to by a website that has already been indexed by the search engines – preferably a website that’s popular. For example, forums, blogs, article directories, etc.

Why is the popularity of the website so important? Because popular websites get spidered much more frequently – giving your website the opportunity to get indexed much more quickly.

About the author:

David Jackson is the owner of http://reviews-by-customers.com – directory of reliable online services! If you would like The Secret to Non-Stop, FREE Targeted Traffic, read this: http://tinyurl.com/yfj6rxk

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

The 10 Biggest SEO Myths Exposed