Friday, September 30, 2011

What's In Your SEO Toolbox?

The SEO tool space is a pretty crowded one (and growing one!). Tools are helpful, there is no doubt about that. However, tools are generally only as good as the person using them. We'd love to know what tools you use and why, so please let us know in the comments after the post :)

I am not "house" handy by any means, I can barely hang a picture frame straight. So if you gave me the best construction tools in the world I'd still make extra holes and screw something up.

Even if I managed to get the picture hung correctly, it certainly would not look professional.

You can buy as many guides, tools, and accessories as you like but in the end it is your skill that determines the success or failure of a project (building a deck or building a website). Skills can be harnessed, but tools do not overcome a lack of skill.

SEO Tool Fatigue

SEO tool fatigue is a real issue for some folks. Some people spend a good chunk of their productivity on testing or trying out new tools, or even using so many tools that their implementation and interpretation of data suffers a great deal. One tool says this, another says that, and yet another says 1 or the other or both or neither :) .

The first thing to realize is that most of the data from tools (excluding analytics and such) are basically estimates of estimated data, or are directly from Google's various estimation-type tools (Keyword Tool, Trends, Insights, and so on), or driven off what the tool builder thinks are important or reliable metrics to build your research off of (there tends to be some swings and misses with that type of approach).

You are not going to fail miserably if you decide not to do days and days and days of keyword research with multiple tools and then spending more days comparing different datasets. Research is important, but there is a limit.

Picking a Core Set of Tools

From a cost and time standpoint I've found it really helpful to pick a core set of tools and stick with them rather than bouncing around to get an extra feature or two.

It's good to peek around from time to time but using mostly similar tools can lead to a "needle in the haystack" approach; where you spend most of your time digging a time-suck hole rather than building websites and adjusting strategies based on analytics and/or AdWords data.

Again, research is important but there is a sweet spot and it's a good idea to get some kind of system down so you can focus on doing "enough" research without doing harm to the time it takes you to get sites up and running.

Evaluating Tools

I'm going to highlight some of the tools I've used below, most of which are considered to be market leaders. I'll point out why I use certain tools, why I don't use others (yet) and I encourage anyone who's dealing with tool overload to do the same for the tools you use.

The areas I'll be focusing on are:

  • Keyword Research
  • On Page Criteria
  • Rank Checkers
  • Competitive Link Research Tools
  • Link Monitoring

Keyword Research

There are many keyword research tools that pull data from the sources listed below (like our free keyword research tool, which pulls from Wordtracker).

These tools use their own databases (although in Wordtracker you can ping Google's tool as well).

I use all the Google tools as well as Ad Intelligence and Wordtracker as well as the SeoBook Keyword Tool. Sometimes I use Wordtracker just via our keyword research tool and sometimes I use Wordtracker's web interface (I like being able to store stuff in there).

Our keyword tool also links in to most of the sources listed above. A big reason why I like our keyword research tool is that it's super easy to hit the major data points I want to hit on a particular keyword from one location.

Ad Intelligence is solid as (Microsoft claims) they incorporate actual search data into their results, rather than estimating like Google does.

I should also note that I mainly use Trends and Insights for comparing similar keywords and looking at locality (in addition to the history of keywords). Sometimes you run across really similar keywords (car, auto) and it can help to know which one is most relevant to your campaign.

On-Page Optimization

For the on page stuff I'm mainly concerned with large scale, high level overviews.

I use our toolbar for specific on-page stuff but when I'm looking to diagnose internal linking problems (not maximizing internal link flow, broken links, http status codes, and so on) or issues with title tags and meta descriptions either missing, being too short, or too long, or duplication then I use a couple different tools.

Since I'm on a Mac and I don't care to run Windows for anything other than testing, I use the three listed which work on Mac (though I don't use them in every situation).

I use Screaming Frog's SEO Spider pretty frequently as well as Peacock's Integrity. Integrity is a broken link checker while SEO Spider incorporates other SEO related features (title tags, H1/H2's, anchor text, and a ton of other important elements).

WebSite Auditor offers most, if not all, of what SEO Spider does but also incorporates white-label reporting, Google Page Rank, Yahoo! & Google Link popularity, cache dates, and so on.

For some of those features in Website Auditor you might want to either outsource the Captcha inputting or use their Anti-Captcha service so you don't have to sit there for hours entering in captcha's.

In my regular workflow, SEO Spider and Integrity get used a lot and Website Auditor comes in to play for some of those other metrics and for white label reporting.

Rank Checking

Here's a crowded space! So I think the right choice here really depends on your needs. Are you a solo SEO who runs multiple sites, or maybe you run your own sites and client sites, or maybe you are a client-only shop.

Here are some of the main players in this space:

Even if you have reporting needs, you can still do a lot for free with our free rank checking tool (scheduled reports, stored reports, multiple search engines, and so on) and Excel or another spreadsheet program like OpenOffice.Org or Google Docs. Some good tips on creating ranking charts with Excel can be found here.

There are a couple differences with the software players, Advanced Web Ranking and Link Assistant's Rank Tracker (both have multiple levels so it's wise to check the features of both to see if you need the higher end version or if the lower priced versions will work for you). Some of the key differences are:

  • Rank Tracker integrates with Google Analytics
  • Advanced Web Ranking has a variety of ways to track local rankings, including maps and a local preview engine
  • Advanced Web Ranking has more, easier to customize reporting options
  • I find that the interface with Rank Tracker is much easier to work with
  • If all you are looking for is rank checking, then Link Assistant is a bit cheaper overall (comparing enterprise versions of both). While noting, AWR has more local options at their higher price point. You can see AWR's pricing here and Link Assistant's here. Note, it's worthwhile to check out maintenance pricing as well (Link Assistant and AWR)
  • AWR let's you assign a proxy per project, which can be really helpful if you have clients all over the map.
  • AWR automatically pulls in the top ten sites for a keyword, and their last position compared to current, and let's you add that site to your tracking (at any point) with all the historical data saved and updated within your account.

One tip with software tools is to run them on a different machine, perhaps even behind an IP off of a private VPN service like WiTopia, and think about utilizing multiple proxies from a service like Trusted Proxies and/or using an anti-captcha service with Link Assistant's tools.

The idea is to not get your IP banned and to let you continue to work as normal on your main machine while another machine is handling the automated queries. If you don't want to fuss with that, you might want to try a cloud app.

The Cloud and Scalability

The 3 main services, that I've used anyway, come from Raven, SeoMoz, and Authority Labs. Authority Labs now powers Raven's SERP tracker too. My biggest concern with cloud-based rank checkers is that the keyword volume can be (understandably) limited. Now, Authority Labs has unlimited checking at 450/month but the other two have limits.

Let's just look at the highest plans for a second, Moz allows 30 campaigns and a total of 3,500 keywords. Raven's highest plan allows for unlimited domains and 2,500 keywords total (and 200 competitors).

If scalability is a concern for you then you might be better off with software solutions. Once you start running multiple sites or are responsible for reporting on multiple sites (and you are working the long tail and your analytics) then you can see how restrictive this could become.

Of course, comparing just the rank checking options of a tool set like Raven and Moz (which both have other useful tools, Raven more so for full on campaign management) doesn't do the pricing justice. So what you could do is still use the many other tools available from each company and use a software solution once your rank checking scales beyond what they offer.

Both Moz and Raven integrate with Google Analytics, and Raven's campaign integration with GA is quite nice too (beyond just rankings).

Link Research

Free tools like Yahoo!'s Site Explorer, search query tools like Solo SEO's link search tool and Blekko's link data are nice but at some point in your SEO career you'll might have to get on board with a more advanced link research tool or tools to get the data you need to compete in competitive SERPS.

A good chunk of software-based solutions pull link data from search engines but if you want a more, way more, comprehensive view of a competing site's link profile (and link history) you do have a few options.

Majestic was originally known for having a much deeper database, with the caveat that they keep a lot of decayed links, and their UI wasn't overly impressive. Well, as noted in a recent blog post (which includes 20% off coupons) on Majestic's new tools, most of that isn't the case anymore. Though, I still feel Open Site Explorer has a better and smoother UI.

Advanced Link Manager's strength lies in their ongoing link management and reporting but they also have some decent link research tools built in and they can connect to SeoMoz's API to gather link data, so that kind of sets them apart from those other software-based solutions.

Again, Moz offers other tools as well so it's hard to really compare price points. What I like about OSE is that you can get a really solid, quick overview of the anchor text profile of a competing site. Also, you get unlimited look ups and up to 10k links per query on their pro plan (in addition to other Moz tools). You can get a 30 day free trial of all the Moz tools as of this writing.

Majestic's New Tools

Majestic, now with their new site explorer and fresh index, rival OSE's UI and freshness a bit but there still are limits on usage. You can check out Majestic's pricing here and don't forget about the 20% off coupon mentioned here.

Typically I like to use both Majestic and OSE. I like the new tools Majestic has come out with and their historical data is solid. OSE, for me, is great for getting some of a site's top metrics quickly (anchor text, top pages, etc).

If I had to pick one, I'd go with Majestic mostly because Moz gives a decent amount of data away for free (being a registered user) and because Majestic has really good historical + deeper data.

Link Management

Building links, especially if you have a team, can be a cumbersome process unless you have collaborative tools to work with. Even if you operate mostly on your own, you might want to track links you've earned or built directly.

Every once and awhile i like to download a report from Majestic SEO and add any links that are not yet in my tracking program into the program. Some people like to just track paid or exchanged links and let the natural ones sort of come and go naturally.

There are a couple of tools out there that I've used, and one I haven't but I've heard good things about it from reputable sources so I'll include it here.

Raven's Link Manager is probably their flagship tool. It has received really high praise from experienced SEO's and is easy to use. You can easily add links, assign them to employees, and let Raven worry about the automatic checking and reporting in case something changes with a link.

Advanced Link Manager has many features built in but you can use it just for tracking links you want to track by uploading the links into the program. It's software based and you can set it to run whenever you'd like, automatically.

I personally haven't used Buzzstream, but reputable people have told me it is a solid program, and they have a free 14 day trial here. It's a dedicated link building and management tool (and also has a PR and social media tool) so chances are if you are looking for a specific tool to fill that need, this one might be worth a shot.

If you don't have a ton of links to manage or a team to manage, you might be just fine with an Excel spreadsheet or a Google Doc. To me, it's just one more thing to think about and Raven and Buzzstream have low priced plans if you don't need enterprise-level storage.

What's in Your Toolbox?

So there's an overview of what I feel are the best SEO tools out there and one's that I use frequently (or infrequently).

I'd love to know what you are using and why (or why not?) :)

Categories: 

Source: http://www.seobook.com/ultimate-list-must-have-seo-tools

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Google AdWords Topic Targeting: What Is AdWords Topic Targeting & When Should You Use It?

Last week we pointed out that Google Display Ads have been the subject of a lot of Google marketing and advertising attention recently, and of course there is a lot of opportunity on the content network in many verticals.

So when Google rolls out a new display network control like topic targeting as they did in March, it’s worth taking some time to better understand how the feature works and when it makes sense to utilize it.

What is AdWords Topic Targeting?

Google describes topic targeting by explaining that:

Using topics to contextually target your ads offers broad targeting and reach and is a good way to connect with a large audience quickly and easily to generate awareness or drive sales. When using topic targeting, our system looks at all the terms on a page to determine the topic of the page and is less reliant on particular keywords. On the other hand, using keywords to contextually target allows you to target your ads to a more specific set of pages in the Display Network, since you use individual keywords to develop a theme in your ad groups. However, both targeting options can be used together to effectively reach an audience across the Google Display Network.

So the general idea here is that topic targeting is taking a similar but less granular approach to targeting than keyword targeting. An example might be to think about a campaign you’re building around various footwear products your company sells. Let’s look at the topic targeting options here:

Topic Targeting

It’s basically all or nothing – you can target pages whose topics are footwear or not. Meanwhile with keyword targeting we could break out several groups with highly granular keyword groupings to speak to things like specific modifiers, brands, or styles. In fact, in thinking through content network organization, this has, historically, been Google’s advice on campaign structure:

Keyword Targeting

The first grouping looks a lot like what an overly broad topic targeting strategy may look like.

In this respect topic targeting is a bit like broad match in that it’s very aggressive and allows you to quickly generate a lot of volume, but offers much less control and specificity than more granular targeting options (in this case keyword targeting).

While many of these categories are far too broad to effectively target with any specific product and in most cases a more hand-crafted approach to developing tightly related keyword groupings on the content network will be more powerful, topic targeting is a very powerful tool for refining and limiting your targeting.

Using Topic Targeting to Refine and Limit Your Targeting for Better Relevance

There are a few implementations of topic targeting that can really help you sculpt your display network targeting. Brad Geddes does an excellent job walking through three of them here; basically the use cases break down into a few different possible targeting combinations:

  • Using Topics & Keywords – Here you can use topics to focus broader keywords (i.e., if we wanted to create a PPC group and ensure that we’re not showing our ad on sites that talk about personal pocket computers, we could use PPC as the keyword and search engines as the topic). You can also use topics as negative topics, which is a really powerful way to exclude both dual meanings and tangential associations that would lead to low conversion rates.
  • Using Placements & Topics – Here you can create efficiencies such as targeting a certain topic on a larger site, or narrowing the focus of a collection of managed placements by knocking out an irrelevant topic you know will be representative of bad inventory.
  • Using Audiences & Topics – Once you’ve created a demographic or retargeting campaign you can refine your audience more by looking for impressions on more relevant topic pages.

The thing to keep in mind here is that topic targeting is basically a more aggressive form of keyword targeting – with things like ad group structure where you need more granularity, it’s generally best to stick with keyword targeting, but when you’re modifying another targeting option or looking for a means of taking a broad but somewhat limited approach to refining your targeting, topic targeting can be a very powerful tool.

About the Author

Tom Demers is co-founder and managing partner at Measured SEM search engine marketing consulting, a boutique search marketing agency offering search engine marketing services ranging from pay-per-click account management to an SEO site audit and content marketing and link building services such as guest posting services and blog consulting.

You can learn more about how Measured SEM can help or get in touch with Tom directly via email at tom at measuredsem.com or by following him on Twitter.  

This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/08/22/adwords-topic-targeting

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Senior PHP Software Engineer/Creative Technologist (Social Platforms) / Affinitive / New York, NY ($1,000 Referral Reward)

Affinitive/New York, NY
$1,000 Referral Reward

Affinitive (www.beaffinitive.com), a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant (PDC), is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our development team and work on fun, innovative projects in the social media space leveraging best-of-breed technologies, API's, and frameworks.

We like to keep things agile and develop iteratively, using test-driven development and continuous integration. We whiteboard ideas when possible versus preparing 50-page detailed specs.

Requirements

* 4+ years experience working with modern web frameworks, social APIs, object-oriented PHP and JavaScript, and HTML/css
* Must be comfortable with unit testing, profiling and optimizing code, databases, and other services for quality, performance, and scalability
* Knowledge of a "NoSQL" database (MongoDB, CouchDB, etc) as well as strong relational database knowledge is a big plus
* Experience working in an agency-based environment (interfacing with non-technical staff and clients) is a HUGE plus

Most importantly, you need to be someone who is innovative, collaborative, inquisitive, and confident (but not cocky), able to meet deadlines, and have a 'do whatever it takes' attitude to your work. We have a great office jukebox, so having a good taste in music is also a big plus!

Compensation and Benefits

* Competitive salary, commensurate with experience
* Great benefits including full medical and dental coverage and 401(k)
* Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Interested?

Please drop us a line! Be sure to include links to relevant projects you have worked on as well as your GitHub profile (if you have one), and your salary requirements/availability.



Apply To Job

Source: http://jobs.searchenginejournal.com/job/senior-php-software-engineer-creative-technologist-new-york-ny-affinitive-acfe686213/?d=1&source=rss_page

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Google AdWords Topic Targeting: What Is AdWords Topic Targeting & When Should You Use It?

Last week we pointed out that Google Display Ads have been the subject of a lot of Google marketing and advertising attention recently, and of course there is a lot of opportunity on the content network in many verticals.

So when Google rolls out a new display network control like topic targeting as they did in March, it’s worth taking some time to better understand how the feature works and when it makes sense to utilize it.

What is AdWords Topic Targeting?

Google describes topic targeting by explaining that:

Using topics to contextually target your ads offers broad targeting and reach and is a good way to connect with a large audience quickly and easily to generate awareness or drive sales. When using topic targeting, our system looks at all the terms on a page to determine the topic of the page and is less reliant on particular keywords. On the other hand, using keywords to contextually target allows you to target your ads to a more specific set of pages in the Display Network, since you use individual keywords to develop a theme in your ad groups. However, both targeting options can be used together to effectively reach an audience across the Google Display Network.

So the general idea here is that topic targeting is taking a similar but less granular approach to targeting than keyword targeting. An example might be to think about a campaign you’re building around various footwear products your company sells. Let’s look at the topic targeting options here:

Topic Targeting

It’s basically all or nothing – you can target pages whose topics are footwear or not. Meanwhile with keyword targeting we could break out several groups with highly granular keyword groupings to speak to things like specific modifiers, brands, or styles. In fact, in thinking through content network organization, this has, historically, been Google’s advice on campaign structure:

Keyword Targeting

The first grouping looks a lot like what an overly broad topic targeting strategy may look like.

In this respect topic targeting is a bit like broad match in that it’s very aggressive and allows you to quickly generate a lot of volume, but offers much less control and specificity than more granular targeting options (in this case keyword targeting).

While many of these categories are far too broad to effectively target with any specific product and in most cases a more hand-crafted approach to developing tightly related keyword groupings on the content network will be more powerful, topic targeting is a very powerful tool for refining and limiting your targeting.

Using Topic Targeting to Refine and Limit Your Targeting for Better Relevance

There are a few implementations of topic targeting that can really help you sculpt your display network targeting. Brad Geddes does an excellent job walking through three of them here; basically the use cases break down into a few different possible targeting combinations:

  • Using Topics & Keywords – Here you can use topics to focus broader keywords (i.e., if we wanted to create a PPC group and ensure that we’re not showing our ad on sites that talk about personal pocket computers, we could use PPC as the keyword and search engines as the topic). You can also use topics as negative topics, which is a really powerful way to exclude both dual meanings and tangential associations that would lead to low conversion rates.
  • Using Placements & Topics – Here you can create efficiencies such as targeting a certain topic on a larger site, or narrowing the focus of a collection of managed placements by knocking out an irrelevant topic you know will be representative of bad inventory.
  • Using Audiences & Topics – Once you’ve created a demographic or retargeting campaign you can refine your audience more by looking for impressions on more relevant topic pages.

The thing to keep in mind here is that topic targeting is basically a more aggressive form of keyword targeting – with things like ad group structure where you need more granularity, it’s generally best to stick with keyword targeting, but when you’re modifying another targeting option or looking for a means of taking a broad but somewhat limited approach to refining your targeting, topic targeting can be a very powerful tool.

About the Author

Tom Demers is co-founder and managing partner at Measured SEM search engine marketing consulting, a boutique search marketing agency offering search engine marketing services ranging from pay-per-click account management to an SEO site audit and content marketing and link building services such as guest posting services and blog consulting.

You can learn more about how Measured SEM can help or get in touch with Tom directly via email at tom at measuredsem.com or by following him on Twitter.  

This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/08/22/adwords-topic-targeting

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Google AdWords Product Extensions Guide: A Product Extension Tutorial

This is the second installment in our multi-part series on Google AdWords Ad Extensions. Last time we covered Google AdWords location extensions, and today?s focus will be on product extensions.

Product extensions is a feature that allows you to link your Google Merchant account with your AdWords account to have enhanced listings for your products shown in search results on Google properties:

Product Extensions

In this post we?ll walk through why product extensions are important, how you can use them in your account, and when to use the extensions as well as how best to apply them.

Why Are AdWords Product Extensions Important?

Product extensions are important for much the same reason the other ad extensions are important: they offer increased visibility in search results. This means more clicks ? in many verticals a 1% click-through rate is good, which means most advertisers are trying to figure out how to turn as many of those 99% missed impressions into clicks (and ultimately customers), and of course click-through rate is a major driver of Quality Score.

Effectively leveraging product extensions can get you more of potential prospects? attention while offering you a means to show and tell them more about your product.

How Do I Use Google AdWords Product Extensions?

The first step to being eligible is creating a merchant center product feed, which you can learn more about here. Managing your data feed has a set of best practices all its own, so make sure you have the latest information on product feed requirements and best practices.

Once you have your merchant center account set up, getting your product listings firing from your AdWords account is pretty straightforward:

AdWords Product Extensions

As you can see you simply navigate to Product Extensions from the drop-down, and click ?New extension? to get started. Finally you simply associate your Google merchant account with a campaign, and you?re done!

While the set-up for product extensions is quite quick and easy, there are still some common questions associated with product extensions we?ll try to help with.

What?s the Difference Between Product Extensions and Product Listing Ads?

This is a common point of confusion since both these features pull from your Google merchant feed. Basically the difference is product extensions are a feature that?s tacked on to your existing search campaigns ? you create a campaign, and by associating it with your merchant account you?ll start to have product details show in response to the keywords you?re bidding on for queries Google deems relevant.

Product listing ads, meanwhile, are a different type of campaign altogether. They don?t actually use keyword or CPC bid data you?ve specified, but rather just take the contents of your feed ad a cost-per action you designate, and attempt to manage to that by matching your ads to the queries they deem appropriate. You can find more information on product listing ads here.

My Google AdWords Product Extensions Are Not Showing for my AdWords Ads?What Gives?

This is a common thing advertisers run into in first setting up product extensions. There are a few common reasons:

  • You might not have associated your AdWords account with your merchant account from within the merchant account.
  • You might not have associated your merchant account with your AdWords account as we outlined above.
  • You might need to wait 12-24 hours for the ads to start showing.
  • You might want to review the merchant guidelines to make sure you?ve uploaded everything properly and met their requirements.
  • Your product ads will not show on other sites (outside of Google search and Google images) or in content network campaigns, if you?re looking to see them associated with those campaigns.

Product extensions are available in the UK, Australia, Germany, France, and the US, but product listing ads are only available in the US.

When Should I Use Google Product Extensions?

Product extensions are a great tool within any campaign where you sell products related to the keywords you?re targeting, as they?re an extension of the campaign you?re already running and give you more real estate within the SERP.

Again the key in optimizing your product extensions is actually to jump outside of AdWords and think about the way you?re structuring your merchant center account. Our friends at PPC Hero had a great overview on best practices here, and this guide by Michael Sterns from Practical eCommerce offers some great advice as well.

In the next installment of our ad extensions series, we?ll look at call extensions.

This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/09/22/adwords-product-extensions-guide

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Senior Marketing Manager / Confidential / Portland, OR

Confidential/Portland, OR

WE ARE:
A leading edge firm, operating in the exciting and expanding field of enhancing sustainability. Based in the Pacific Northwest, our operation is in an expansion mode. Our organization is considered one of the industry's leaders, and we have accomplished much in our first several years of operation. We are seeking to become a recognized leader on a national level with our products and services.

WE SEEK:
An experienced, professional Senior Marketing Manager. The individual we seek will be steeped in the strategic aspects of marketing planning, and will have a proven track record of leading his/her firm in developing and implementing strategies that have taken their firm to higher levels. Our field is a rapidly changing one, and we need an individual who has the capacity to identify market trends, and to develop products/services that address those trends, as well as to effectively penetrate current market segments with our current mix of products/services. We envision this person to be active in the field, speaking with industry leaders, current and potential clients, and in general, becoming our �??advance scout�? with regard to market trends and opportunities.

A background in the field of sustainability would be a big plus, but we are primarily seeking someone who can demonstrate, in tangible terms, their capacity and success in taking their firms to the next level.

WE OFFER:
A competitive compensation plan, full benefit package, potential incentive compensation, and the opportunity to join a vibrant, fast paced firm as it expands.

WE REQUEST:
Cover letter, resume and salary expectations in application materials.

Apply To Job

Source: http://jobs.searchenginejournal.com/job/senior-marketing-manager-portland-or-143776867c/?d=1&source=rss_page

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Time, technology and leaping seconds

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/MKuf/~3/8oveK4pSfcw/time-technology-and-leaping-seconds.html

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Win of the Week: Clarity and Attention to Detail Increase CTR by 86%

Studying new winning ads is always fascinating because of the variety of products and services for which we're optimizing ad copy.

Every week, there is a new win ... in a new market ... for a new product. And yet, in spite of this variety and "newness," the principles of good ad writing prove themselves over and over again.

With that in mind, which of the two ads below do you think performed better? The headlines and the URLs are the same. Only the body copy is different. Which approach do you think worked best?

 

PPC Ad #1
Hospital Beds - Ad #1
PPC Ad #2
Hospital Beds - Ad #2

 

I suppose it's not too difficult to pick the winner. The grammatical errors make it easy to spot the losing ad. Ad number two is the winner. It was written by "SwayamDas," and it increased CTR by 86%.

So why did the new ad win? Here are a few reasons why...

1. The winning ad clearly describes the product. The first line of body copy repeats the primary keyword phrase "hospital beds." The searcher also discovers these hospital beds tilt and elevate -- an important detail for potential customers.

2. The plus sign (+) creates visual interest. The writer could have used a comma, but I don't think it would have been as effective.

3. The losing ad is sloppy. The placement of spaces and commas appears haphazard. This sloppiness makes searchers wary from the very first impression.

4. The primary keyword phrase in the losing ad ("Home Hospital Bed") wraps to the second line, which decreases comprehension. If a searcher is scanning quickly, they will see "Home Hospital" on the first line of body copy, and may get the wrong impression. They may miss "Bed" completely.

5. The losing ad starts poorly and doesn't get any better on the second line. "Showroom open today" makes sense, but I have no idea what "delivery" means in this context. It doesn't flow with the previous statement. Searchers will probably be confused and move on.

6. The winning ad includes a call to action. The word "Book" tells the searcher to take action.

7. In addition to the call to action, the winning ad clarifies the product being promoted. These are not just hospital beds. They are home hospital beds, and they are comfortable. These two distinctions encourage searchers to click and respond.

The bottom line: The new ad wins because it describes the product more clearly and includes a call to action. Plus, it avoids the grammatical errors of the original ad.

A few takeaways from this Win of the Week:

  1. First and foremost, aim for clarity in your ad writing.
  2. If you are going to use commas, use them properly.
  3. Try not to break up your keyword phrase onto two lines.

By the way...

The BoostCTR writers have collectively spent thousands of hours improving pay-per-click ads on both Google and Facebook. They increase CTR and conversions by 30% on average. Go ahead and put 'em to work... risk-free for 30 days!

ryan-healy About the Author: Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter and BoostCTR writer. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth.

This post originated on the WordStream Blog. WordStream provides keyword tools for pay-per click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) aiding in everything from keyword discovery to keyword grouping and organization.

Source: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2011/09/14/attention-to-detail-increases-ctr

email marketing building traffic list building article marketing affiliate marketing

Interactive Marketing Manager / Travelers / Hartford, CT

Travelers/Hartford, CT

Solid reputation, passionate people and endless opportunities.

That's Travelers. Our superior financial strength and consistent record of strong operating returns mean security for our customers - and opportunities for our employees. You will find Travelers to be full of energy and a workplace in which you truly can make a difference.

Risk Control is a dynamic organization responsible for providing risk assessments on behalf of Business Insurance Underwriting and providing products and services to insureds that help reduce risk, prevent loss and save lives. We are seeking a high energy, innovative, polished marketing professional to assist us in promoting our core services to insured customers and their agents.

This person will be responsible for developing and executing the Risk Control marketing strategy including print, web, email and social media. In cooperation with business unit and technical specialist leads, they will manage tactical marketing including collateral and advertising development, electronic campaigns and integration of social media channels into Risk Control communications. Work closely with Risk Control leadership, business units, product managers, field management, communications and Corporate Marketing to implement high quality, effective marketing support.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities
¿ Responsible for development of strategy for customer email program and execution of email campaigns to agents
¿ Execute the interactive marketing strategy including but not limited to: targeting and segmentation, marketing automation, marketing analytics and project management of marketing initiatives
¿ Develop educational and marketing communication campaigns to drive website traffic, product utilization and training attendance
¿ Provide strategic direction for integration of social media into an overall marketing and communications strategy within Risk Control
¿ Lead product rollouts for assigned marketing/communications including development of strategic plan, implementation of task list and communication with all constituents
¿ Perform quantitative analysis of marketing communications programs
¿ Develop and deliver comprehensive project plans and manage them from conception through reporting
¿ Provide copywriting, proofreading and editorial support as needed for communications projects
¿ Provide strategic direction and product support to business partners on email campaigns and other interactive marketing initiatives that involve Risk Control content, as appropriate
¿ Develop marketing and communication strategy for the various audiences served by the department such as policyholders, agents, business partners and internal staff
¿ Interact with Risk Control¿s senior management, field management, technical leads, directors of customer training, internal training, communications, website, and legal to support delivery of their business strategies
¿ Collaborate with Enterprise and BU marketing staff, market research staff and web usability staff to leverage in-house capabilities and coordinate activities to fullest extent
¿ Participates in group design sessions and print/web/email design concepts
¿ Reviews competitor email communications and provides ideas for improving Risk Control email services



Qualifications.
¿ BS degree in marketing, communications or related field, or equivalent experience
¿ Minimum 5 years experience in marketing communications or related field
¿ Initiative, leadership and organizational abilities
¿ Thorough knowledge of and experience in direct marketing channels, including email, tools, procedures, products and methods
¿ Experience using social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy
¿ Demonstrated project management skills and ability to analyze processes
¿ Proven direct response experience in preparation, execution and management of marketing plans
¿ Considerable knowledge of applicable regulatory requirements
¿ Good communication and facilitation skills and the ability to build relationships at multiple levels
OTHER:
Excellent organizational skills needed to manage multiple projects in a fast paced environment
Excellent time management skills
Above average negotiating skills
Ability to work in a team environment
Solid problem solving skills
Financial aptitude
Excellent time management and project management skills
Quantitative Analysis skills

Travelers is an equal opportunity employer. We actively promote a drug-free workplace.

Apply To Job

Source: http://jobs.searchenginejournal.com/job/interactive-marketing-manager-hartford-ct-travelers-ac6571ed3b/?d=1&source=rss_page

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On Location: Startups Shine At FM Signal Chicago

From Katie Morell:

Early Tuesday morning, I hopped in a cab and headed down to the W Chicago—Lakeshore for Federated Media’s Signal Chicago Conference. The event brought together more than 200 of the top minds in digital technology to discuss the theme ‘Marketing in Real-Time Conversation.’

I settled into the hotel’s 33rd floor conference room and spotted John Battelle, a visionary in the world of technology, Federated Media’s Executive Chairman, and the day’s MC. Everyone took their seats, the lights dimmed and the show began.

For roughly the next three hours, the best and brightest in the business spoke in 10-minute increments about new ideas, case studies and the state of the industry. It was riveting. A 90-minute lunch was followed with the same for the next three hours.

Here were a few gems from the startup world.

Fresh ideas

Entrepreneur after entrepreneur took to the stage to discuss new companies and how their ideas will change the future. The first to catch my eye was Bob Lisbonne, CEO of Luminate, a company that allows consumers to scroll over images and then link the image to a series of commerce sites to buy items contained in the image.

“From 1996 to 2011, so much changed on the Internet, but images have stayed the same,” said Lisbonne, adding that images are now a huge part of today’s society. “Ten percent of all the photos ever taken were taken in the last 12 months.”

The technology not only allows consumers to buy items embedded in the image (a hat on a woman, for example), it also helps identify geographic information, and even correlates purchasable musical tracks to photos of artists.

The next company to steal my attention was Shopkick. Co-founder and CEO Cyriac Roeding explained why location check-in apps aren’t enough for retailers to secure sales. Instead, “the app has to facilitate commerce,” he told the audience.

That is exactly what Shopkick does. Since its launch in August 2010, the company has partnered with retailers such as Target and Macys to place a hardware-honing device into stores. Consumers download the Shopkick app, and when they physically enter the store, the device (a small white box, not very noticeable) sends a message to the consumer’s smart phone. From there, consumers can redeem discounts and rewards in the form of ‘kicks’ at the register.

“The number one challenge for every retailer is foot traffic,” explained Roeding. “No one gives rewards for visiting. This is a rewards program for walking into a store.”

The idea has taken off and so far Shopkick is in 250 malls and 3,000 large stores.

James Gross is another entrepreneur who grabbed my attention. A former Federated Media staffer, Gross founded Percolate earlier this year as a site to help consumers categorize, or ‘curate,’ their news. For news junkies like myself, this is a perfect solution to a massive problem.

Case and point: I receive daily hard copies (I know, I’m ancient) of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and spend at least one hour per day scanning headlines. I then spend hours surfing Internet news sites for interesting reads, not to mention Facebook and Twitter feeds. Percolate searches for the news you want without all the work. You can train the site to hone in on what you think is interesting and then flag topics that grab you—thereby creating your own personal news feed. For a journalist: genius.

At this point, I started thinking…with all these startups and palpable energy, is there really a double dip recession coming down the pipeline?

According to Liz Ross, North American CEO of Mediabrands Ventures, the answer is no. When asked earlier in the day by Deanna Brown, CEO of Federated Media, for her general take on the economy, Ross said, “I think it will hold steady. I don’t think there will be double dip or triple dip. I think it is holding flat, but I do feel that the holiday season will be a huge indicator.”

Just before lunch, art collector and New York City gallery owner Jen Bekman took to the stage. She founded 20x200 in 2007 by mixing her love of the Web (she’s a former Netscape employee) with art. The site sells art pieces ranging in price from $20 to $10,000. According to Bekman, more than 140,000 prints have been sold to date.

How is that possible?

“We do it all by newsletters; e-mail is the killer app,” she said.

Bekman writes each newsletter, which creates an authentic feel to the business—something clients love.

“I still get e-mails from clients asking me to change their address,” she said. And instead of being insulted, Bekman takes it as a compliment that customers feel connected with the owner and the brand.

The last startup to catch my eye was AdKeeper. This is a company that allows Internet users to click on an ad and store it for later viewing. Scott Kurnit, famous for founding About.com, founded the company in 2010 and said it is going very well.

“The amount of kept ads are amazing; people love it,” he said. “We have a 4.6 percent click rate.”

When asked by Federated Media’s Brown why he decided to get back into the game again after such success with About.com, he replied, “It’s more fun to drive the bus than to whisper in the bus driver’s ear.”

Spoken like a true entrepreneur.

Click here for videos from the conference and here for the day’s presentations.

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/on-location-startups-shine-at-fm-signal-chicago

website development web hosting seo experts search engine marketing sem experts

5 Myths About Marketing To Baby Boomers

From PAUL PRISCO:

Did you know every day over 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65? There are almost 80 million Baby Boomers in the United States, and collectively this group has spending power upwards of $1 trillion annually. As a business owner, you should examine the myths surrounding this age group if you want to successfully target this lucrative demographic.

Myth 1: Baby Boomers have fierce brand loyalty

This is not the case, since Baby Boomers grew up in the 1960s during a time of youthful freedom, experimentation and expression. Some studies have shown Baby Boomers are more likely to try new brands than any other demographic. For example, 78 percent of Baby Boomers will switch TV brands, and 70 percent will switch brands when buying home appliances.

Myth 2: Baby Boomers have health and mobility issues

The perception that Baby Boomers are in bad health and have a hard time getting around leads to ineffective marketing. Your messaging and offers should engage them as active consumers. As a direct result of medical technology and the advancement of hip and joint replacement surgery, among others, they are going back to the activities they once loved to do—and some have never taken a break from them. What's even more encouraging is that Boomers are engaging in activities for health benefits. They might not be running as fast or jumping as high but they are out there doing it.

Myth 3: Baby Boomers get tighter with money as they age

Baby Boomers now cite the average retirement age at around 68, and over 50 percent of Boomers will have new careers. With a genuine need to contribute to society and stay active, retirement isn't what it used to be. Baby Boomers will have disposable income while working and continue to try new things given their busy and on-the-go lifestyle, which is great for marketers.

Myth 4: Baby Boomers don't engage with technology

A recent eMarketer study confirmed almost 50 percent of Baby Boomers maintain an active social media profile. So reaching them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is now an option. While Facebook is most popular among Boomers, Twitter is also growing in popularity. Don't count them out on the mobile front either, Boomers now account for over 20 percent of smartphone users.

 Myth 5: Baby Boomers don't travel that much

It is a fact that Baby Boomers have traveled more than the generation before them. They consider travel a necessity. With the kids off to school and a great connection to the global community, there is more opportunity than ever. Lastly, 82 percent of all luxury goods are consumed by Baby Boomers, which directly ties into the luxury travel and hospitality industries.

When thinking about marketing to Baby Boomers, the granny with the walker image needn't apply. Today's Boomers are more youthful, both in brand expression and loyalty. Developing a solid research and segmentation strategy to drive your creative process and actively engage Baby Boomers can prove to be a smart and profitable move for your company or brand.

OPEN Cardmember Paul Prisco is the Founder and Principal at Dog Food Design, a design and direct-marketing agency for brands. He has helped leading organizations such as AARP and others leverage design in their direct marketing programs to drive ROI.

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/5-myths-about-marketing-to-baby-boomers

online marketing website optimization improve google rankings search engine search marketing

Why Small Business Needs To Pay Attention To Yelp

From Shel Israel:

It all starts with a moving experience. My wife and I, for example, recently endured the exhaustion of moving households. Moving day was grueling. It started in one home at 6 a.m., and we were still slogging at 8 p.m. in our new home when we discovered we were both starved, with no food in the house and no knowledge of local restaurants.

I hopped online and did something I had never done before: I went to Yelp.

At the top of the list for affordable restaurants in our new hometown was Finnegan’s Marin, a local tavern. I found 98 reviews and an overall four-star rating. The place turned out to be almost exactly as Yelp reviewers had guided me to believe. We got burger based on Yelper recommendations and washed them down with cold, fresh pale ale from nearby Lagunitas.

The following day, I wrote my first Yelp Review. I consider myself on the tough side, but I gave it four stars. A couple of hours later, Henry Hautau, the owner, e-mailed me a thank you note. I was impressed that he considered Yelp so important and was watching so closely.

Since then, I’ve used Yelp to help me find other restaurants, a hair stylist, a car wash, a plant nursery and a dentist. I’m not as addicted to it as I am to Twitter, but I find it very useful in the same way I found Google Search, which recently bought a Yelp competitor.

My research for this column, as is true for all my OPEN Forum columns, started over on Twitter where I ask my followers for useful or interesting comments on my subjects. There I got hit with a curve ball. While I received several favorable comments from users and a couple of merchants, I also received several disturbing comments and links that challenged the legitimacy of the review service. Three of them gave me pause. I was told:

  • If you don’t advertise, good reviews get taken down.
  • If you do advertise, negative comments are made to disappear.
  • Yelp reviewers shake down local merchants for freebies to avoid negative reviews.

I took these questions to Darnell Holloway, manager of Local Business Outreach in Yelp’s San Francisco headquarters. He unequivocally denied them. “There has never been any amount of money you can pay Yelp to manipulate reviews,” he stated flatly.

Speaking at TechCrunch, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppleman also denied the charges, dismissing them as "conspiracy theories.” He pointed out that a class action suit related to these charges was summarily dismissed in court.

In speaking with several merchants about Yelp, I learned that all had heard these charges, but not one had experienced anything close to it. I contacted a couple of people cited in links on Twitter. Neither replied.

To further investigate, I turned to my first Yelp friend: Finnegan’s Henry Hautau who has been following Yelp for his restaurant since 2005. He told me that his high ranking after 99 mostly favorable reviews has brought him new business. He added that some criticism has been constructive and he has made changes partially based on them.

As far as the objectivity of reviewers, Hautau saw two camps. The first provides honest, balanced commentary. The second however, is people with axes to grind—such as disgruntled former employees. The latter group writes not to help other customers, but to damage a business reputation.

He said Yelp has been responsive when he has complained—not at a negative review, but ones that are intentionally misleading or written under aliases rather than the required real names. In six years he has complained about 10 times and Yelp has removed about half of the posts.

Hautau checks Yelp once or twice each day. He probably pays more attention to the negatives than the positives, looking for “legitimacy clues.” He checks to see what else a negative reviewer has written, how often and where. If he feels the panning review was authentic, he responds with an apology and an invite for a second try with a free dinner.

Finnegan’s position as Yelp’s favorite Novato restaurant is also clearly not influenced by advertising. He has never placed an ad. “I don’t see the ads when I go to Yelp. Maybe that’s because I’m just looking at what’s written about Finnegan’s,” he said.

Yelp’s Holloway seemed to argue that Hautau is handling negatives the right way. “You have to join the conversation,” she said.

To help merchants in this area, she said, Yelp provides tools to allow private conversations between merchants and reviewers allowing business owners to respond privately if they wish, which at times has certain obvious advantages.

Beside, the negative review issue may be overblown, from her perspective. She pointed out that about 80 percent of all Yelp reviews are or three stars and above meaning neutral or favorable. And she asserted that an independent study claimed Yelp reviews are generally more balanced than other review sites.

Holloway also observed that businesses tend to do online as they do in real life. “ We see that businesses who demonstrate the best customer service are the ones that always come out ahead.

I do not serve as an investigative journalist at OPEN Forum. But I do know that any venue visited by millions of people every day will be the target of some abuse. My talks with Yelp and a few merchants have persuaded me that the company is as vigilant as other major Web companies in preventing gaming, scamming and shakedowns that may—or may not—have occurred previously (just like Twitter and Google.)

I also believe that online reviews are already awesomely influential for local merchants. And with recent forays of Google and others to get into the reviews business, they will become increasingly important over time.

It is wise to pay attention and be responsive to anything said about you on Yelp. It is also legitimate—and a good idea—to tell a happy customer that a Yelp review will help. Like Holloway says, it's time to join the conversation.

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/why-small-business-needs-to-pay-attention-to-yelp

copywriting experts internet business link popularity link exchange pay per click

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Our "Brand" Stands for 'Anything That Will Make Money'

Want a good example of Google's brand-bias stuff being a bunch of bs?

Niche expert value-add affiliate websites may now lack the brand signal to rank as the branded sites rise up above them, so what comes next?

Off-topic brands flex their brand & bolt on thin affiliate sections.

Overstock.com was penalized for having a spammy link profile (in spite of being a brand they were so spammy that they were actually penalized, counter to Google's cultural norm) but a few months later the penalty was dropped, even though some of the spam stuff is still in place.

Those who were hit by Panda are of course still penalized nearly a half-year later, but Overstock is back in the game after a shorter duration of pain & now they are an insurance affiliate.

prnewswire.com/news-releases/oco-launches-insurance-tab-125739128.html

And this "fold the weak & expand the brand" game is something the content farm owners are on to. Observe:

While most the content farms were decimated, that left a big hole in the search results that will allow the Huffington Post to double or triple the yield of their content through additional incremental reach.

And, yes, this is *the* same Huffington Post that is famous for aggregating 3rd party content (sans attribution), wrapping a Tweet in a page & ranking it, and gets mocked by other journalists for writing 90's-styled blocks of keyword spam:

Before I go on, let me stop and say a couple of more important things: Aol, Aol Acquires Huffington Post, Aol Buys Huffington Post, Aol Buys Huffpo, Aol Huffington Post, Huffington Post, Huffington Post Aol, Huffington Post Aol Merger, Huffington Post Media Group, Huffington Post Sold, Huffpo Aol, Huffpost Aol, Media News.

See what I did there? That's what you call search-engine optimization, or SEO. If I worked at the Huffington Post, I'd likely be commended for the subtle way in which I inserted all those search keywords into the lede of my article.

And, of course, AOL is a company with the highest journalistic standards:

I was given eight to ten article assignments a night, writing about television shows that I had never seen before. AOL would send me short video clips, ranging from one-to-two minutes in length ? clips from ?Law & Order,? ?Family Guy,? ?Dancing With the Stars,? the Grammys, and so on and so forth? My job was then to write about them. But really, my job was to lie. My job was to write about random, out-of-context video clips, while pretending to the reader that I had watched the actual show in question. AOL knew I hadn?t watched the show. The rate at which they would send me clips and then expect articles about them made it impossible to watch all the shows ? or to watch any of them, really.

Doing fake reviews? Scraping content? Putting off-topic crap on a site to monetize it?

Those are the sorts of things Google claims the spammy affiliates & SEOs do, but the truth is they have never been able to do them to the scale the big brands have. And from here out it is only going to get worse.

We highlighted how Google was responsible for creating the content farm business model. Whatever comes next is going to be bigger, more pervasive, and spammier, but coated in a layer of "brand" that magically turns spam into not-spam.

Imagine where this crap leads in say 2 or 3 years?

It won't be long before Google is forced to see the error of their ways.

What Google rewards they encourage. What they encourage becomes a profitable trend. If that trend is scalable then it becomes a problem shortly after investors get involved. When that trend spirals out of control and blows up they have to try something else, often without admitting that they were responsible for causing the trend. Once again, it will be the SEO who takes the blame for bad algorithms that were designed divorced from human behaviors.

I am surprised Google hasn't hired someone like a Greg Boser or David Naylor as staff to explain how people will react to the new algorithms. It would save them a lot of work in the long run.

Disclosure: I hold no position in AOL's stock, but I am seriously considering buying some. When you see me personally writing articles on Huffington Post you will know it's "game on" for GoogleBot & I indeed am a shareholder. And if I am writing 30 or 40 articles a day over there that means I bought some call options as well. :D

Categories: 

Source: http://www.seobook.com/google-brand-spam

search marketing web 2.0 experts backlink building website promotion email marketing

Integrated Marketing Manager (2 positions) / Johnson Publishing / Chicago, IL

Johnson Publishing/Chicago, IL (New York)

Johnson Publishing Company is seeking two Integrated Marketing Managers for both its New York and Chicago offices.

Primary Responsibilities

Execute advertising category and project-specific initiatives, including but not limited to: advertorials, consumer events, merchandising, promotional programs, online and social media efforts for EBONY and JET.
Develop effective and creative ways to execute programs for specific categories and advertising accounts
Works closely with the Detroit and Atlanta sales team to develop fully integrated marketing programs
Interpret syndicated and qualitative research and apply consumer insights to proposals and presentations (MRI, Mars, Halls, Starch, NetRatings, GoogleWorks, JD Power, etc.)
Category development and execution�?? develop specific strategies for key advertising categories
Excellent marketing proposal writing skills
Recommend creative integrated ideas that leverages EBONY's and JET's core strengths and meet clients' objectives and goals
Ensure marketing programs are within designated budgets and are aligned with the client's goals
Attend client sales meetings and presentations as needed
Strong presenter of materials and information
Able to give clear direction to a creative team and provide succinct feedback
Assists sales staff in identifying appropriate client merchandising opportunities
Research competitor programs and events
Seek prospective new marketing program opportunities nationwide
Generate leads for partnerships and develop new business relationships
Highly organized and detailed-oriented
Position reports to the Integrated Marketing Director


Job Requirements

Ideal Candidate Qualifications

Ideal candidate has 5-7 years of advertising or marketing experience
Must have a minimum of 5 years experience in at least two of four integrated skills
Print
Digital
Mobile or Social Media
Promotions, Events, Sponsorships
Worked at a major media company, advertising agency or held a marketing role at a company in a fast paced work environment
Must be inquisitive and posses a problem-solving, can do spirit
Extremely proactive
Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Must have worked at a multicultural title, worked on a multicultural marketing assignment or demonstrates a great passion for Johnson Publishing Company brands
Team oriented, high energy and enthusiastic contributor with respect for corporate DNA
Impeccable work ethic



Apply To Job

Source: http://jobs.searchenginejournal.com/job/integrated-marketing-manager-2-positions-chicago-il-new-york-johnson-publishing-2eae03408e/?d=1&source=rss_page

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Social Media ROI Is Unquestionable

Claims about social media ROI are mostly fluff, right? All those silly Tweets are a waste of time for a serious brand or business, right? Yeah, right. You stick with that strategy.

Matt Creamer has an article in the November 29 edition of Advertising Age suggesting that brands may be well served creating "simple, random and banal" conversation.

Blackberry's Brian Wallace* served up a great example of marketing banality. On May 4th, National Star Wars Day for those of you in the dark, Blackberry tweeted, "May the 4th Be With You." Genious, yes? Apparently, Wallace had to justify this to the people in the office. I quote from the Adage article (because this was the inspiration for this post, and the best part):

"I remember getting emails from my peers asing me why we would post such a thing and was this why we created our Twitter channel. My response was that this post reached over 150,000 people, 98% of the posts were positive, most tweets made a positive association with our brand, and it drove a 15% increase in our followers. Now what's the value of all that to our company? For the cost of $0.00 we have increased positive brand sentiment, generated a measurable earned-media value and now have 20,000+ more people who Ican share product-related information to. Not a bad ROI."

Not a bad ROI at all. Well done, Mr. Wallace. Zing! Take that! social media naysayers.

I only take issue with one aspect. The cost of that effort was not $0.00. Though his point is valid, I doubt Brian, or whoever did the tweeting, was working for free. Nevertheless, an obvious marketing bargain.

Deep Ripples is not a social media marketing company, not per se. Search marketing is our speh-she-allity. But what we are learning is that a business cannot get the most out of its online marketing efforts without an integrated approach, including site design, SEO, CRO, email, and social media (what did I miss?)

If your plan does not include all of these, it is likely you are burning cash. Our recommendation? Change your plan, or use smaller bills (the fire will last longer).

 

 

*Clarification: Brian Wallace is Vice President Media and Digital Marketing for Research In Motion, makers of the BlackBerry smartphone.

Source: http://www.deepripples.com/blog/unquestionable-social-media-roi

web 2.0 experts backlink building website promotion email marketing building traffic

2 Social Networks That Will Help You Meet People

From TJ McCue:

Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are not the only social networks for small business owners. There are a range of others with fewer members that can be more focused and useful for growing your network and hopefully, your sales. In this post, I’ll explore two of them that level the playing field for entrepreneurs and business owners.

1. Biznik.com 

I can’t help but love Biznik’s tag line “Going it Alone, Together.” But I liked their old one better: “Business networking that doesn’t suck.” Many people were offended by it and were glad they changed it, but I felt it was accurate, or at least that the mission was worthwhile. Stop the junk networking. The new one is more politically-savvy...fair enough.

Here is how Biznik is different: It is for the solopreneur, the solo business owner, the indie professional. It is not LinkedIn. It is not for people looking for a job. It is, in their words, “for people who are building real businesses. It’s for sharing ideas.” But the real beauty is their merger of online and offline. The online social networks are great for connecting, but nothing can replace a face-to-face, in-real-life meeting. Biznik energetically encourages that you meet others in person. They take a local approach, so you join for a specific city or location and people find you that way first.

I like that the site opens with articles by other members and that local events are featured and prominent. The community is, for the most part, made up of other small business owners out on the field playing their hearts out. No, you don’t find that at other business networks. It is easier to meet people, online and in-person, on Biznik than some of their larger competitors.

2. Meetup.com

Just like the name implies, Meetup is focused on helping you create and host live events. It is hyperlocal. As you start navigating the site, it asks you if you want to find a group near you. The site is not focused on business, not at all, but with a simple search you can find people with the same interests.

This is how I met Amy Wiebeck who founded Sip & Socialize on Meetup as a way to help grow her business in the Seattle area.

Weibeck shared her experience with me: “Meetup helps grow business because it allows you to grow a really large 'warm' market of people who know what you do. The trick to Meetup is to hold events with some consistency. Our Meetup has grown from zero to over 900 in 2.5 years, having moved here and only knowing one person [in the area] we used it to find new friends and grow several businesses.”

I found 124 groups when I searched for “Small Business” in the Seattle area alone. While many of the groups don’t have sponsors, it is one of the missions of the Meetup site and service. There’s a whole range of ways for a company to sponsor an area meet-up and drive new business—from a simple “perk” type coupon offer to a full-fledged branding effort that Meetup.com staff help you build out. There are thousands of groups available for sponsorship.

Despite the economy, as small business owners we live in an amazing time. Meetup is democracy in action; it is the great "social" leveler according to Wiebeck. Her comments were the perfect close to this post: “You can be totally unknown but build a large online community of new friends and professional connections, by simply showing up on a regular basis and trying to help others find the connections they are looking for.”

Image credit: Shashi Bellamkonda

Source: http://www.openforum.com/articles/2-social-networks-that-will-help-you-meet-people

sem experts search engine optimization internet marketing online marketing website optimization

A 67-year reunion of wartime survivors, inspired by Google Books

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/MKuf/~3/0-E-ehkpJ7Y/67-year-reunion-of-wartime-survivors.html

online marketing website optimization improve google rankings search engine search marketing

Increase Your Profits with MixRank's New Competitive Research Tool

Not many spy tools out there do what MixRank does. MixRank is a tool that gives you the ability to peek into the contextual and display ad campaigns of sites advertising with Google AdSense.

Uncovering successful advertising on the AdSense network can give you all sorts of ideas on how to increase your site's profitability.

Not only can you uncover profitable AdSense ad campaigns but you can pick off AdSense publisher sites and leverage competitive research data off of those domains to help with your SEO campaign.

With MixRank own your competitors in the following ways:

  • Obtain the domains your competitor's ads are served on
  • Swipe your competitor's ad copy
  • Watch ad trends to target your competition's most profitable campaigns and combinations of ads

Another great thing about MixRank is how easy to use it is. Let's go step by step and see how powerful MixRank really is!

Step 1: Pick a Competitor to Research

MixRank makes is super easy to get started. Just start typing in a domain name and you'll see a suggested list of names along with the amount of ads available:

Here we are going to take a look at Groupon as we consider building a niche deals site. Keep in mind that MixRank is currently accepted free accounts while in beta so over time we can expect their portfolio to grow and grow.

MixRank breaks their tool down into 2 core parts:

  • Ads (text and display)
  • Traffic Sources

We'll cover all the options for both parts of the MixRank tool in the following sections.

Step 2: Working with Ad Data (Text and Display)

Let's start with text ad options. So with text ads you have 3 areas to look at:

  • Active Ads
  • Ad Reach
  • Best Performers

Here's a look at the interface:

As you can see, it is really simple to switch between different ad research options. Also, you can export all the results at any time.

The image above is for "Active Ads". In the active ads tab you'll get the following data points (all sortable):

  • Publishers - maximum number of AdSense publishers running that particular ad
  • Last Seen - last known date the ad was seen by MixRank
  • Frequency - amount of publisher sites on which the ad appeared
  • Avg. Position - average position of the ad inside AdSense blocks

Here you can export the data to manipulate in excel or do some sorting inside of MixRank to find the ads earning the lion's share of the traffic.

The Ad Reach tab shows up to 4 ads at a time and compares the publisher trends for those ads. To spread the love around let's look at a couple ads from LivingSocial.Com:

Here you can see that one ad crashed and fell more in line with an existing ad. You can compare up to 4 ads at once to get an idea of what kind of ad copy is or might be working best for this advertiser.

The Best Performers section compares, again, up to 4 ads at a time (use the arrows to move on to the next set) which have recently taken off across the network.

Needless to say, this report can give you ideas for new ad approaches and maybe even new products/markets to consider advertising on.

If the advertiser is running Banner Ads you can see those as well:

With Banner Ads, MixRank groups them by size and you can see all of them by clicking on the appropriate size link.

When you click on a banner ad you'll see this:

This is a good way to get ideas on which banner ads are sticking for your competitors. Also, it's a great way to get ideas of how to design your ads too. A little inspiration goes a long way :)

So that's how you work with the Ads option inside of MixRank. One thing I dig about MixRank is that it's so easy to use, the data is easy to understand and work with, and it does its intended job very well (ok, ok so 3 things!)

Step 3: Traffic Sources

Now that you have an idea of what type of text ads and banner ads are effective for your competition, it's time to move into what sites are likely the most profitable to advertise on.

MixRank gives you the following options with traffic sources:

  • Traffic Sources - domains being advertised on, last date when the ad was seen, average ad position and number of days seen over the last month
  • Reach - total number of publishers the advertiser is running ads on

The traffic sources tab shows:

  • Uniques - estimated number of unique visitors based on search traffic estimates
  • Last Seen - last date MixRank saw the ad
  • Days Seen - number of days over the last month MixRank saw the ad
  • Average Position - average position in the AdSense Block

A winning combination here would be recent last seen dates and a high number under the Days Seen category. This would be the advertiser has been and is running ads on the domain, indicating that it may be a profitable spot for them to be in.

You can also pull these domains into a competitive research tool like our Competitive Research Tool, SemRush, SpyFu, or KeywordSpy and find potential keywords you can add to your own SEO campaign.

Another tip here would be to target these domains as possible link acquisition targets for your link building campaign.

The Reach option is pretty self-explanatory; it shows the total number of publishers the advertiser is showing up on:

Another good way to evaluate traffic sources is to view the average position (remember, all the metrics are sortable). A high average position will confirm that the ads are pretty well targeted to the content of that particular domain.

Combine the high average position with Days Seen/Last Seen and you've got some well-targeted publishers. You can export all the data to excel and do multiple filters to bring the cream of crop to the top of your ad campaign planning.

MixRank is Looking Good

It's early on for MixRank but so far I like what I see. The tool can do so many things for your content network advertising, media buy planning, link building campaigns, and SEO campaigns that I feel it's an absolute no-brainer to sign up for right now.

For now it's *free* during their beta testing. Currently they are tracking about 90,000 sites so it's still fairly robust for being a new tool.

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Source: http://www.seobook.com/mix-rank

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