iDrive Interactive Marketing Blog | LoSasso Advertising » Mike

3 Key Trends and Themes from Pubcon to Look Out For

Mike — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:10:59 +0000

I attended Pubcon last week and learned a lot about where the marketing industry is headed. Here are a few trends (that were discussed in nearly every session) that companies should be thinking about moving forward into 2012:

1. Mobile

The future is mobile. Look around. Virtually everyone around you owns a smart phone. Tablet computing also falls under the umbrella of mobile. The iPad is not a fad.

Companies like Microsoft are currently working on the next generation of mobile computing. The next version of Windows, Windows 8, will introduce the ability to use touch screens as a desktop. (Don’t worry; your QWERTY keyboard won’t be going away!) There are rumors buzzing about HP and Sony operating tablets powering Windows 8 (or webOS). Apple is mere steps away from doing the same!

So what does this mean for websites? Develop with mobile first in mind. A handful of sites have mastered this idea, look at Apple and Lifehacker. “Mobile first” must be your mindset – with half a million Android devices activated every day and the new iPhone 4S selling millions on release day, you can’t be left behind.

2. Content

Content marketing isn’t a new concept, but last February Google added an update to their algorithm named ‘Panda’. In a nutshell, the Panda update looked to eliminate low quality sites from the Google index. Many sites from scrapers to sites with too much duplicate content saw a significant drop in the rankings (some were even removed from results all together!)

Essentially, creating content specifically for engines doesn’t work. If you try it, Google will punish you. You need to craft your content specifically for your audience. This means understanding what your audience is interested in and creating content they want to read and share. Develop content that positions your company as a thought leader within your industry. Don’t be afraid to start small and “win” a topic or two within a specific niche. The more you work on creating fresh content for your audience over time, the better your site will fare in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

3. Social Signals

Google and Bing constantly tweek their algorithms and continue to introduce social signals into their ranking factors. If you like a post on Facebook or +1 a story from the local newspaper’s website, that information is being tracked by the engine. Then anytime a user searches for a related topic, those sites are more likely to appear at the top of the results. You might have already noticed – if you’re logged into Google and you use Google+ – a small picture of your friend’s Google+ profile is listed directly next to listings they ‘plussed’. If you’re a Bing user, you see Facebook integration within the results.

There was a comment made at Pubcon that social signals are the new links. But I personally always consider links social signals. The key is that in order to optimize your content, you need have an audience that will engage and find your content “sharable”.

There are many more highlights from Pubcon, but I think my biggest take-away from the conference was that this industry continues to grow rapidly. It’s like saving money; the earlier companies adopt new trends, the better they will fare in the future.

Mike Hernalsteen is the Senior Interactive Marketing Specialist at LoSasso Advertising Inc., a Chicago based interactive agency where he develops comprehensive online marketing strategies for leading B2B and consumer brands. (See more posts by Mike)

Optimize for the Long-Tail Keyword

Mike — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:32:02 +0000

For a few years now, SEO practitioners and other online marketers have been stressing the importance of the long-tail keyword. If you have been focusing your efforts on trying to rank for one- or two-keyword phrases and haven’t seen your site budge in the results, it’s time to shift your focus to the long-tail.

The phrase “long-tail” in this sense refers to group keywords that target more niche or specific markets, and typically involve more words (“Neapolitan-style pizza in Chicago” vs. “Pizza”). A report from Hitwise found that search queries longer than six words increased by 3 percent from June to July. While shorter search queries still account for the majority of total searches, long-tail keywords combined (more than 5 word phrases) account for 18 percent of all searches. As users continue to get more specific with their searches to get more relevant results, this trend will continue to grow.

How do you rank better for long-tail keywords? The possibilities are endless, but here are three things you can do today:

1. Write quality content that people actually want to read. The days of writing for search engines are long over. Writing content for human beings means you’re more than likely using keywords and phrases that people actually use in conversation. Users that enjoy your fresh content will link to it from their blogs, tweet it, +1 it, etc.

2. Create internal links within your site’s content to relevant pages. Remember to create variations of these keywords so you don’t go overboard with your optimizations. If you are a marketing agency, switch up the way you refer to yourself across your site. You might be both a “b2b marketing agency in Chicago” as well as a “Chicago social media marketing firm”.

3. Write very descriptive title tags. Write these titles in a way that users would search to find that content. Don’t stuff your titles with keywords separated by a ‘|’. That form of title is very effective for certain sites, but most people don’t actually search Google for “Best Pizza | Chicago Pizza | Chicago Pizza Parlor;” instead, they’ll search: “what is the best pizza parlor in Chicago?” Therefore, this would probably be a better title: “Mike’s Pizza – The best pizza parlor in Chicago”.

If you’re concerned with the idea that focusing only on the long-tail reduces your chances to show up for broad terms, consider adding paid search into your marketing mix. This gives you have the ability to control and craft your message the way you want, plus the added bonus of seeing immediate results for your targeted keywords.

Get to work on your long-tail terms and watch your conversions and on-site user engagement increase!

3 Keyword Research Ideas Worth Trying

Mike — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:27:23 +0000

Let’s face it. Online marketing IS keyword research. Without hours of research (and ensuring your research aligns with your goals), how can you expect to have success with PPC, generate quality traffic from SEO or monitor the correct conversations in social media? This isn’t a post to discuss the basics of keyword research, but instead will introduce some often-overlooked tools that can add value to your search and link-building campaigns.

Delicious

Delicious is a great site that can help you discover terms you may not have originally thought of within particular niches.

Let’s say you’re trying to find keyword or content ideas for a children’s health blog. Enter ‘children’s health’ in the Delicious search field to yield results related to children’s health—those that have been bookmarked by Delicious users. Those sites are potential link building opportunities.

The search results will also clue you in on the other tags people used to categorize posts related to children’s health. For example, “adolescents,” “antibiotics,” “fever,” “vitamins,” and the list goes on. Here you can gather ideas around current events and gain a better understanding of what type of content users find interesting.

Wordle

People use word clouds to show a visual representation of common keywords. You typically find them on blogs as a way to dig deeper into tagged content.

Did you know you can use Wordle to get a visual representation of a competitor blog’s commonly used keywords? Simply visit Wordle.net/create and enter the blog URL.

One of the most popular hockey blogs, Puck Daddy, for example, is creating content around today’s free agency period. So terms that pop up in their world include “Free Agents” as well as the names of some of the top free agents available: “Jagr” and “Ehrhoff.” The now-defunct Atlanta Thrashers are relocating to Winnipeg: Naturally, “Winnipeg Jets” appears in Puck Daddy’s Wordle cloud.

Google Insights

One popular blog technique is to develop content related to current events. Current events are interesting to everyone, and while ‘everyone’ might not be your target market, if you can somehow relate your industry’s trends with hot news items, you may be able to attract loyal readers.

Google Insights and Yahoo’s “trending now” section are great places to look for popular current search terms. Just remember to choose a topic that will be relevant to your own content!

Keyword research isn’t all about finding terms that generate the highest monthly search volume. Always be thinking of creative ways discover new audiences.

Subdomains and Subdirectories

Mike — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:29:32 +0000

Watch as Mike Hernalsteen, Online Marketing Specialist from LoSasso Advertising, discusses the difference of subdomains and subdirectories.

Social Media in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)

Mike — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 17:26:57 +0000

Watch as one of LoSasso’s Online Marketing Coordinators, Michelle Murphy, discusses how you can optimize your social media efforts to appear in search engine results pages.

2010 LoSasso Holiday Video

Mike — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 20:30:42 +0000

Check out the 2010 LoSasso Holiday Video!

How To Write Effective Text Ads

Mike — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:53:12 +0000

Mike Hernalsteen, Online Marketing Specialist at LoSasso, discusses how to write effective text ads to benefit your paid search campaigns.

See more SEO and PPC tips and tricks.

Keyword Research for SEO and PPC – SEM Minute

Mike — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 16:58:58 +0000

Watch as Mike discusses the importance of keyword research for your SEO and PPC campaigns.

Actionable PPC Metrics – SEM Minute

Mike — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:53:15 +0000

Our Online Marketing Specialist, Mike Hernalsteen, explains what he calls “actionable metrics”. These are metrics where there are certain actions you can take to improve PPC Performance.

PPC Metrics – SEM Minute

Mike — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:15:08 +0000

In order to have a successful pay per click campaign, you must keep a close eye on your metrics. Watch as Mike Hernalsteen, Online Marketing Specialist from LoSasso Advertising, explains the most important metrics used in PPC.

See more SEM Minute videos.