| LED Digest 2265: Social Media Optimization |
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Who's down with SMO? Social media optimization is the term for using social bookmarking and tagging sites for marketing purposes. Yes, it's nothing new, but is it effective? Also, individual listings and search. ================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Registration from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. October 12, 2006 Issue no. 2265 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ===================== --== Social Media Optimization (SMO) ==-- ~ Mike Banks Valentine "I'd be curious what others think of the value of SMO in promoting your business web sites and blogs." <Moderator Comment> "These...make it easy to quickly pop an article into the bookmarking / tagging sites." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Google Checkout ==-- ~ Jon Langley "I am in the UK and as yet, Google Checkout isn't open to us over here yet." --== Shopping Cart Applications ==-- ~ MJ Murphy "[This] program is written in ColdFusion..." ~ Reg Charie "Check CRELoaded for a shopping system that allows downloads." --== Local Listings and Search Engines ==-- ~ Beth Earle "...Google seemed to be giving priority to...edu and gov sites..." ~ Bruce A. Flinn "The strategic use of title tags is very important..." ~ Michael Linehan "The key for me is strategic / every day / varied." --== How to Promote an Online Newsletter? ==-- ~ Dan Jeffers "Thanks for the comments on my post..." ========= NEW ===================================== From: Mike Valentine Subject: Social Media Optimization (SMO) Are any LED members putting the same energy and enthusiasm into "Social Media Optimization" (SMO) as they do into the old school SEO techniques? No judgment there, just an acknowledgment of the evolution of this medium. I'm very aware that the basic building blocks of SEO are still important, but it is growing to include new techniques, including SMO. The relatively new term SMO refers to making it easy for your site visitors to use social bookmarking services, RSS feeds and social media sites by providing links to those services from your site or blog. The term SMO was coined by Rohit Bhargava of Ogilvy Public Relations in August of this year in his blog post titled 5 Rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO): http://rohitbhargava.typepad.com/weblog/2006/08/5_rules_of_soci.html Wikipedia has an entry defining and describing the term: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Media_Optimization I had been attempting SMO but was frustrated in tedious job of collecting code and "Chiclets" from all the feed readers and blog search engines for use in my blogs, and didn't like the way that collection of buttons looked when assembled. I recently signed up with FeedBurner for a single source of my blog feeds to replace that collection of "chiclets" from the various services and love that resource and especially love the stats that go along with their service. But FeedBurner doesn't offer the same type of thing for the social bookmarking services. I just discovered a press release for a new service called AddThis.com which facilitates using a single button that allows visitors to subscribe to both RSS feeds or the dozens of social bookmark sites to bookmark my site from a single interface. I contacted Dom Vonarburg, the co-founder of the AddThis service, and interviewed him for an article. That interview is currently on my blog (in my signature below). I have been updating my site template at http://website101.com and have decided to include the AddThis bookmark option there to test it, along with Digg and Del.icio.us links. I'd be curious to know what others think of the value of SMO in promoting your business web sites and blogs. Also if you agree that a single button and social media service makes as much sense to you. Mike Banks Valentine http://realityseo.com <Moderator Comment> I added these social bookmarking tag / share buttons (aka "chicklets") to LED-Digest.com a few weeks ago. There have already been a few stories showing up at the various sites (Digg, delicious, reddit, etc) from subscribers tagging and sharing their posts. Check it out at the bottom of each issue: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1165/55/ These are a good idea because they make it so easy to quickly pop an article into the bookmarking / tagging sites. Most of them require a free account to start using. When you click on one of the buttons at the bottom of the LED Digest, a small pop-up window appears with input boxes for the page content to be shared. The possible downside is that newer users will be flummoxed by all the different buttons, one for each service. It would be better from a usability perspective to just offer a single button that would "feed" all the social media sites automagically. (The tool I'm using actually gives the option of using more than twice the amount shown on the site. I have whittled it down to these 10 as they've been getting the most use so far: Delicious, Blogmarks, Connotea, digg, Furl, Magnolia, Newsvine, Reddit, Shadows, and YahooMyWeb.) Speaking of feeds, I'm also going to add my RSS feeds to Feedburner so that I can track stats. I just found this useful article on burning a feed with their service yet retaining your original RSS link, thereby keeping current subscribers on board seamlessly. Here it is: http://forums.feedburner.com/viewtopic.php?t=3 . That's the way to go if you want to use Feedburner but keep your RSS subscribers. Thanks for the post, Mike. I'm looking forward to hearing what other LEDer's are doing with this. -Adam ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Jon Langley Subject: Google Checkout > Google checkout. Has anyone done, did that? ... I have a PayPal > account, however, wanted to see how they compare / contrast. - Al Toman, LED Digest 2264 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1165/55/ I don't often reply, but thought as a long standing subscriber, I thought I had better. Google Checkout. I am in the UK and as yet, Google Checkout isn't open to us over here yet. I have my entire Commerce system with a company called Marketworks. I use them to list my inventory in various places. It also handles all my checkout facilities. As the company is originally a US one, they have already integrated the Google Checkout so when / if they come over to the UK, I know that Marketworks will already support them. Something I am not sure if you realise as you mention having Paypal. Google checkout and Paypal are pretty much the same thing. Google has the users details and card, and when you want paying, Google will charge the users card and give it to you. Depending on the tier rates you may have with Paypal, Google is cheaper. Another way of making Google cheaper is if you have signed up to Adwords. For every $1.00 you spend on Adwords, Google will give you 10.00 worth of processing. So in theory, you could have a $1.00 click for an item worth $10.00 and when they buy it, you pay the Adwords, but then don't pay Google any more. But if they pay through Paypal, you still have to pay them their fees. Jon Langley Jons-all-sorts.co.uk -------- new post - new topic -------- From: M J Murphy Subject: Shopping carts > Anyone with a recommendation on a > hosted shopping cart solution for a very > specific need for selling a file download? - Tim Klimasewski, LED Digest 2264 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1165/55/ Look into a software delivery program called www.cfpurchasepickup.com This offers payment processing with automatic delivery of software or other digital products, either by e-mail, download, or a even a subscription option. The program is written in ColdFusion but they are also working on an on-line version hosted on their server. M J Murphy -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Reg Charie Subject: Shopping carts Hi Tim, Check www.creloaded.com for a shopping system that allows downloads. When a customer purchases a downloadable product they register at your site, pay using the payment processor of your choice, and are directed back to their account on your site. Their account shows them the amount of days the download will be available and the number of times it can be downloaded. You can set the parameters for these. If you go to the CRELoaded site and "purchase" the standard version, (free), you will see the system in action. There are a number of modules for payment processing in the system. Thank You, Reg Charie www.dotcom-productions.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Beth Ann Earle Subject: Individual listings > Again, I wonder, is anyone else having this problem in > their marketplace, that the search engines are ceasing > to feature individual companies in the top 30 positions? - Shaun Johnston, LED Digest 2264 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1165/55/ Hi, guys. One Google change I remember reading about (and actually experiencing during searches) a while back was that Google seemed to be giving priority to sites that could technically be deemed more authoritative -- .edu and .gov sites and, more pertinent to this thread, directories. The basic idea seemed to be that a site that provided links to lots of pertinent information (in this case, directories that list lodgings) was more worthy of higher ranking than a site that provided information on just one facet of the search (in this case, the site for a specific lodging). I can't say if this is what happened to Shaun or if it's a definite, permanent trend in Google -- even if the "directories-are-more- valuable-than-single-topic-sites" theory did affect Shaun's rankings, it could just be something Google is testing again ... Wishing all the best to my fellow LED'ers, Beth Earle www.pilotfishseo.com P.S. Special thanks to Shari Thurow for getting on her soapbox in LED Digest 2261 [ http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1128/55/ ] -- I've always defined "search" in a much more narrow sense (and presented it that way to our clients). Shari's postings over the last few weeks really opened my eyes and gave me a lot to think about. Thank you!! -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Bruce A. Flinn Subject: Individual listings Shaun Johnston wrote in LED Issue no. 2264: > I suspect [Nathan Holley's] right that the search engines > are withdrawing service from niches better served by other > means, such as "local" businesses as vacation lodgings... > Again, I wonder, is anyone else having this problem in > their marketplace, that the search engines are ceasing > to feature individual companies in the top 30 positions? I agree - in the last year or two the big destination portals have taken most of the top spots because their content is so packed with redundant keywords for destination areas. Our Hotel and Resort have been in the top 10 for years on Google. Use this link and see that we are placed 7th & 8th out of 1,190,000 - look for Fernwood Hotel. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=pocono+hotels The strategic use of TITLE tags is very important and that is where you need to populate your destination keywords in different configurations and on many pages. For example we use: - Pocono Hotels - Pocono Accommodations - Pocono Destinations - Pocono Vacations - Pocono Conference Centers - Pocono Specials Each of the above target a different potential client demographic and each has always been listed in the top 10 on Google for years. By spreading the destination keyword over many pages I have given us a chance to be seen by a variety of searchers. I have never used pay for click or any paid ad / positions and have always been ranked in the top 20 for my keyword selections. Our destination "Poconos" is very competitive between individual properties and the portals - our own Vacation Bureau spends over 1 million for paid positioning and they are showing up on page 17 for "Pocono Hotels". Of course it does help us that most of these portals have a link to our site for further info. Sometimes a double-edged sword but if you work your TITLE tags you should start to see a move up in positions. Hope this helps. Bruce A. Flinn, New Media Director www.fernwoodhotel.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: Individual listings Hello Shaun, Just in the sample of my own clients, I would say, "No" for most business sectors. The worst, in my experience, is Accommodations. Tourism is, of course, an absolutely gigantic business. Over the last few years, there has been an incredible explosion of "me too" directories riding on the work of the people who are providing the real products and services. Seems like easy money to some, I'm sure. To be clear, I have nothing at all against directories. Some provide a fantastic service and add great value. But it has gone absolutely nuts - with a proliferation of mickey-mouse "directories" of a similar level of quality to those so-called sites that exist merely as vehicles to carry Adwords. That has been the growing reality in Accommodations. What to do about it? One client in a busy area is booked all the time and feeds people to about another half dozen establishments. Their secret - being willing to invest a bit of money to make money (which many of the others are not), and having a multi-faceted marketing program that uses many interlocking channels. The Chamber of Commerce confirmed for me that this was similar for all their Accommodations members --- those who were BY FAR the most successful were those who had an extensive, proactive marketing program. So I don't want to be so rude as to presume what you are doing or not doing, but if you haven't, I would suggest spreading your efforts. First, make sure content development, inbound linking and optimization are absolutely maximized by someone who really knows what they are doing. Then make sure the site is the best sales tool it can be. And finally use a variety of ideas and channels such as: - Developing an integrated strategic marketing plan that is implemented every day, - Ads in local directories, - Ads in a couple of key regional directories, - Membership in the Chamber of Commerce and key Tourism sites, - Rack cards at the Tourist info center, - Alliances with other Accommodation providers of similar quality to buy bigger ads and present an integrated branding, - Alliances with other Accommodation providers of different quality to refer to each other, e.g. a high-end place referring anyone who wants a more economical stay, and vice versa. - Starting a blog on the local area, or some particular interesting or fun aspect of the local area. And so on. The key for me is strategic / every day / varied. Using this approach, my client is constantly booked in an area where many are suffering. Michael Linehan Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Daniel Jeffers Subject: Newsletter promo > 1) what has been done to achieve 100k subscribers? > 2) what is currently being done? > 3) how does it all appear / function on his client's web pages? > 4) what is the nature of the client's business? > 5) what are their capabilities? > 6) what is their budget constraint? > 7) who is their target audience? - Al Toman, LED Digest 2263 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1138/55/ Thanks for the comments on my post. To answer some of the questions: the client is a large health-related government agency, and the list has been developed over the last few years, through conferences, online promotion, etc. But there is some discontinuity between the last people working on it and my efforts. We do some conference promotion, the sign-up is part of a large website, and there is a trickle of cross-promotion. I think there is some budget for advertising, but I would have to show that it would likely be effective to get much out of them. (perhaps campaigns in the range of 1k /month). The client is providing medical and health information, with a subscriber base that is split between health care professionals and general public. I hope that answers most of these questions. Dan Jeffers, Internet Marketing Specialist American Institutes for Research ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2006 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "As to diseases, make a habit of two things -- to help, or at least, to do no harm." - Hippocrates |
