Tag Archives: media

SEO without the SEO

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Competition is stiff these days. It’s getting harder and harder to achieve optimal search engine rankings, at least without professional help. So how to compete in a space where it might not be feasible to increase rankings for your most competitive keywords? Believe it or not , there are actually plenty of ways to leverage existing visibility to increase traffic. To name a few: Test Meta descriptions . This is one of the easiest ways to increase traffic even without increasing rankings. Obtaining a first page ranking for a given keyword is just one step to getting more traffic because there are still nine other organic competitors on that page. So take the time to test different marketing messages within the Meta description to improve your organic click through rate.  For starters, make sure descriptions are relevant to page content and ensure competitive differentiators such as price and quality are included. If running paid search, take the highest performing ads and test them in the organic space. By overlooking how your listings are displayed in search results, you are passing up one of the easiest ways to capture new visitors. So start testing those Meta descriptions because you better believe your paid competitors are doing it. Run PPC on branded keywords . It’s the old 1+1=3 saying. Coupling organic visibility with paid search visibility has been proven to improve click through rates within both spaces. Consistent messaging and prominent display improves trust among searchers – especially for those that might not yet be familiar with your brand – thus increasing their likelihood to click. Manage sitelinks . Check to make sure these are displayed in an ideal manner. If non-relevant sitelinks are being displayed over more useful ones (About Us vs. Book a Room, for example) then log into your Google Webmaster Tools account and block the sitelinks that are not adding any value. This will make room for the more valuable sitelinks to be displayed. Utilize rich snippets . Again, it isn’t always about how well content is ranking. It’s how content is ranking. In other words, take full control of how your content is displayed. One way to do this is to use rich snippets to provide more information and context about your products and services directly from the search results. These can be used for reviews, individuals, events and videos. Structured data will play a key role in the future of search, so this is not something to be ignored if you have the type of content that is currently supported with this format. Tweet strategically for real time search . Now that Google is integrating dynamic streams of real time content into their search results, much of which comes from Twitter, this represents a huge opportunity for additional traffic.  Use relevant keywords in your tweets so that these will rank in real time search results and you can gain additional (albeit short lived) search engine visibility. Now I’m not saying to halt all search engine optimization efforts. Just remember that there are quite a few tactics that can be deployed in conjunction to SEO that will help to garner additional traffic. By taking advantage of all opportunities, large and small, you should see a lift in new visitors. Rachel Andersen works for the Portland based SEM agency Anvil Media, Inc . She has expertise in all aspects of search engine marketing and specializes in SEO for large sites. Andersen has been responsible for the development and execution of dozens of search and social marketing campaigns over her time spent with Anvil. Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . SEO without the

5 Ways to Maximize Social Media Marketing Productivity in the Workplace

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As social media continues to grow at an exhilarating pace, it can become challenging for marketers to balance the time-consuming demands of today’s social media marketing landscape with their career’s core focus. Whether you’re a full-time social media marketer whose main responsibility is to manage social media campaigns, a brand-side marketer who dabbles in social media throughout the day, or a consultant who networks with others in the industry, it’s important to streamline your social media initiatives as much as possible, in order to save time & stay focused. Here are 5 musts for boosting the efficiency of social media marketing in the workplace. 1. Check in at increments “Check in” at periodic increments throughout the day, but don’t let it consume your day. It’s easy for a one minute check-in to become 10 minutes of reading Tweets & links. If you’re not a full-time social marketer, schedule time in the morning, at lunch, and at the end of the day to “check in” on your favorite social networks. And if you are a full-time social marketer, check in at hourly increments. When you need to knock out a larger scale project, tune out the social chatter – except for any key, “emergency-scale” tweets. Those other tweets & updates can wait. Really. 2. Sch edule tweets in advance If you’re sharing content that’s not time-sensitive – i.e. articles, ideas, or commentary, schedule your Tweets in advance with a tool like SocialOomph . You can schedule Tweets once a day (or once a week), and then check in at a few increments throughout the day to engage with your following. 3. Focus on the most important tweets If you’re a brand-side or full-time social media marketer, stay on top the most important & relevant Tweets by monitoring key phrases with RSS feeds. Tools like NewsFire can notify you in real time when someone Tweets about your brand. Obviously, if you’re @ Starbucks , you’ll want to refine brand Tweets even further, or use an online reputation tool like Trackur . 4. Segment your social media universe Thought leaders, real-life friends, and colleagues: there are many ways to segment your Twitter universe. By segmenting your list into different relationships, you can follow work or industry-related Twitter friends during working hours, and more “fun” Tweeps, like @ aplusk & @ theonion after hours. Twitter’s own list functionality & apps like Tweetdeck make it really easy to sort your relationships, and focus on the right ones at the right time. 5. Multi-task when you can, but don’t repeat updates There are a lot of tools out there that can pull your Tweets and launch them to other networks. While those seem helpful on the surface, you have to remember your audience & the type of content & frequency that works on each network. While short, quick 140-character updates are welcome on Twitter, your Facebook fans can grow tired of those updates quickly, and would prefer less frequent updates of rich content, such as videos, contests, and photos. So instead of repeating the same exact updates on your different social networks, use a tool like HootSuite to launch network-specific updates from one master account. While all the growth & potential surrounding social media marketing is certainly exciting, it can become a bottomless pit of wasted time. But by staying focused on the right audience and streamlining as much as possible, you can be sure ALL of your marketing initiatives get the love they deserve. Megan Leap is Marketing Manager at ion interactive, a leading provider of advanced landing page software . As Marketing Manager, Megan manages search, email, webinar, and social media campaigns. She has extensive experience in conversion rate optimization and social media marketing, and when not championing high-ROI online marketing strategies, can be found running marathons across the U.S. She is also a frequent contributor to the Post-Click Marketing Blog . Follow Megan on Twitter: @ MeganLeap . Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal . 5 Ways to Maximize Social Media Marketing Productivity in the