Michael Jackson Dies: Twitter Tributes Now 30% of Tweets

The death of one of the world’s greatest pop stars is having a global impact, but social media brings into sharp focus the scale of the world’s shock and sadness. Previously, we might have learned of a pop star’s passing via TV, or a friend or coworker: now knowledge is immediate, and mourning has become more public than private: a collective expression of loss... Read more:

Michael Jackson Dies: Twitter Tributes Now 30% of Tweets

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Mobile Video is at a Tipping Point

Just this week, we’ve already seen a number of apps rush to take advantage of the device’s video capabilities, with Kyte updating its app to support video recording, editing, and upload, and Posterous creating a way to instantly distribute your mobile video across multiple social sites... Read More:

Mobile Video is at a Tipping Point

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Up Close and Personal with Bing Team - WebProNews Video

The buzz around the announcement of Microsoft’s new search brand Bing is still going strong. Users are commenting on everything from Bing’s interface to the quality of the results. WebProNews caught up with Bing team members Nathan Buggia and Ramez Naam to get some first-hand information on the engine.

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The three main areas of focus for the new search product were:

1. Best possible results
2. Organized experience
3. Key tools to help users decide

Ramez says the quality of the search results have changed and the speed of the engine is better. Bing is continuing to work to cut down on the user’s time searching by simplifying tasks. To organize the search experience, Bing has a 3-column layout and a “table of contents” in the upper left-hand corner.

With the table of contents, Bing looked at how searchers view results and refine their queries and created categories accordingly. For example, if you search for a Honda Accord, the categories could be reviews, recalls, repair, videos, and images. Bing also provides key tools to help users make decisions regarding specific tasks such as travel and product purchases.

One of Nathan’s favorite features about Bing is the Best Match capability. With this feature, if it’s positive that a query is a navigational query, Bing will hide the regular algorithm results and showcase the “best match.” For example, for a query for www.ups.com, Bing will highlight the UPS site and even include a search box directly on the results page to track packages. Bing is also doing Entity Extraction on pages to pull out user reviews and obtain a deeper knowledge of the content on the page. The purpose of this is to include more valuable content in the search result captions to better serve the users.

What about Bing’s impact on SEO? Nathan says because the content publisher’s goals and Bing’s goals are the same, it leads to more targeted traffic. The categorized results show up to 20 results per page, which means everyone isn’t fighting over the top 10 blue links and the small businesses have a better chance of being seen.

Bing is doing some pretty cool things, and it has already been given some good reviews. But as users continue to test Bing out and see all that it can do, the big question remains: “Does Bing pose a threat to Google?”

Proof That Social Media Efforts Pay Off - WebProNews Video

Arianna Huffington launched the Huffington Post as a news content and blog site in 2005. The site quickly became a strong advocator of community engagement and involvement thus turning it into a social news site. James Smith, the Chief Revenue Officer of HuffPost, credits the success of the site to that social evolution, saying:

“It’s [Huffington Post] almost a social media site with news as the topic of conversation.”

The site logs over one million comments each month.

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In the above interview, James encourages other content publishers to push for active communities as well. He explains how implementing polls, thumbnails, and popular statistics can all add extensive social value to content.

Publishers that use social media know that it requires close monitoring. Most of the time publishers closely monitor their social efforts in order to manage the negative response. But did you ever think about how you could also benefit from closely monitoring the positive response? James says publishers have the opportunity to take advantage of the positive surges by further promoting them.

Social Media and Online Video Top Growth Charts - WebProNews Video

Nielsen Online and Ad:Tech joined together to create a landscape report looking at the global online media. The report compiles Nielsen Online data in the areas of online video, social media, audience, mobile, and more.

Typically, the online space doesn’t change dramatically from month-to-month or even year-to-year. But according to Charles Buchwalter, the Senior Vice President of Research Analytics at Nielsen Online, in the past 5-6 years, “this industry has transformed itself.”

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The growth is evident not so much in the number of users, but where users are spending their time and how much time they are spending. Not surprisingly, the two biggest areas of growth over the last 2-3 years are online video and social networks. The significant growth of these two areas proves that innovation is still happening despite the current economic climate.

Additionally, there are other areas that are showing positive developments in the midst of the recession. Healthcare, packaged goods, and telecommunications were big spenders in traditional media and were slow to come online. However, those industries are now stepping up their efforts on the Web.

Video Optimization Tips From Ad:Tech San Francisco - WebProNews Video

Making a good video can be difficult enough; you shouldn’t have to struggle to get it in front of individuals and search engines after wards. So at Ad:Tech San Francisco, The Search Agency’s Drew Hubbard gave some tips on how to optimize video for search.

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One key point is that “it’s all about the content on the page.” For now, content producers should still assume that videos are invisible to search engines. Be sure to come up with good titles, good tags, and good keywords.

Otherwise, if you’re trying to decide between hosting a video yourself or turning to a site like YouTube or Vimeo, there are a couple of things to take into consideration. Going the DIY route will grant you a great deal of control over the clip. At the same time, letting YouTube handle things may save you money, and it can put also the video in front of a larger audience.

Hubbard pointed out that, according to some statistics-tracking firms, YouTube is actually competing with Yahoo for the title of number two search engine.

Don’t Assume Anymore: Select Keywords That Work! - WebProNews Video

Do your keywords support your site? Unfortunately, the answer is no for many people choosing keywords for search engine optimization purposes. According to Mike Murray of Fathom SEO, people depend too much on tools such as Keyword Discovery, Google Keyword Tool, and SpyFu. These tools can be helpful, but there is also a great amount of research on your part that needs to be done...

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There must be a web page to support every keyword. Similar words do not count; they must be exact. Make sure your keywords are a good investment. If you choose the wrong keywords, you’re going to lose money and waste time.

Mike refers to people who do this as “people with their heads in the clouds.” He says people who dream up keywords are not going to have success in their efforts and need to come back to earth and be practical.

Mike suggests looking at the following factors when selecting a keyword list:

- Keywords in domain name
- Website analytics
- Competitors’ rankings
- Inbound links
- Where you ranked today, which page ranked, and on what search engine

Also, look for value in your PPC campaign. If someone is paying for a keyword, then it should be taken under consideration for your SEO program as well. It is possible that the same keywords could work for both programs.

Lastly, don’t look at who is ranking number 1 or 2. Look where websites are ranking that are similar to your site. You could be comparing your website, which is operated by 3 people, to a website that is run by a large corporation. Mike recommends first looking at the website’s age, size, and other factors before taking action. You may need to address other issues on your website to compete effectively.

SEO is a long process and the investment into keywords should not be taken lightly. After looking at the above factors, let’s again ask the question: Do your keywords support your website?

Marketing Strategies for Mobile - WebProNews Video

As mobile devices become more and more popular, the importance mobile marketing becomes greater as well. Cindy Krum of Rank-Mobile always keeps us updated on what’s going on in the mobile market and this video from SES New York is no exception.

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Cindy actively promotes having only one website by making your existing website provide mobile capabilities too. The same goes with marketing strategies. Cindy suggests that businesses integrate their mobile marketing strategy into their existing marketing strategy to get the best results.

The mobile Web is not just the current trend; it’s here to stay. Not only Cindy, but also many others including Dr. Vint Cerf, believe mobile will play a large role in the future. Based upon that information, Cindy believes if you embrace mobile now, you have the opportunity to pull ahead of your competitors.

So how do you integrate mobile into your overall marketing strategy? Here are a few quick tips from Cindy:

- Follow all traditional and local SEO best practices
- Provide info relevant to mobile users
- Submit your site to mobile search engines and directions
- Don’t rely on: Embedded images, Objects, Scripts, Frames, Flash, Pop-up Windows, Mouse-over trends

There are many mobile applications for search, which are taking feeds from existing search engines and integrating results into their own. Determine where they are getting their data from and make sure you are ranking well there. For mobile SEO, Cindy suggests coding in XHTML, employing multiple style sheets, and using CSS.

SEO Tip: Create Different Landing Pages for the Same Product - From Tubetorial.com

Great SEO tip from Tubetorial.com...

If you sell a small number of products, it’s a good idea to create different landing pages for each product. Each of these landing pages should be optimized for a different keyword.

There are at least two benefits to doing this.

1. Your search traffic will increase because you’re targeting more keywords.

2. Your conversion rates will increase because your landing pages have relevant content related to the keywords. Relevancy is one of keys to increasing conversion rates.

Here’s a video that shows two sites that are using this SEO tactic...

What’s Happening with Social Media and Businesses? - WebProNews Video

Chris Brogan and Lee Odden have been teased about their striking resemblance to each other, so WebProNews decided to feed to the humor and interviewed them together. Both Lee and Chris are a lot of fun, and they are also very knowledgeable in the Internet marketing industry.

In this video from PubCon South, the two discuss social media and where it fits into marketing. Chris says that we are seeing more and more larger companies embracing social media.

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There are also many people using social sites because they think they can “get rich quick.” As companies determine how to effectively use social media, Chris predicts the number of “get rich quick” people will rapidly decline.

Lee agrees with Chris’s outlook and points out that companies are now discovering exactly where they are getting the most return and capitalizing in those areas. He says social media has now become a natural part of marketing.

There are however, risks involved in social marketing if companies don’t have a solid plan in place when they start their social efforts. Lee’s company, TopRank Marketing, suggests that companies construct a social media road map, which requires them to identify their audience, behaviors, and specific objectives.

After these factors are determined, companies can decide on what their social strategy is, whether it be blogging or social networks. From there, companies need to choose what tools they are going to use and decide how they will track their success. When measuring progress, Lee says it is important to measure goals in actual conversions and not simply by the number of friends or followers the company acquires.

Chris follows up on that point by explaining the importance of putting the “physical connector” back into social media. The overall marketing plan should contain traditional marketing tactics, which includes a physical side, as well as Internet marketing strategies and social media.

More older Americans are going online than ever...

The Internet Is Getting Gray...
More older Americans are going online than ever.
Source: eMarketer.com

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, from 2005 to 2008, the largest jump in adoption of Internet usage was by users ages 70 and older. Internet penetration among people ages 70 to 74 increased by 19 percentage points from 2005 to 2008. For people 75 and older, the increase was 10 percentage points.

What sets older Americans apart is their online activities. Older Americans aren’t as likely as younger users to play games, watch movies, use social networking sites or read blogs. What sets older Americans apart is their online activities. Older Americans aren’t as likely as younger users to play games, watch movies, use social networking sites or read blogs.

The majority of Internet users are people under the age of 45, but growing numbers of older Americans are going online. That is an opportunity marketers can exploit.

Read more at: eMarketer.com

Making Twitter Work for You - WebProNews Video

Most people dwell too much on the “rules” or accepted expectations for sites like Twitter. In this video, Michael Gray points out that there is no right way or wrong way to use Twitter. He says the only right way is when you are getting out of it what you want and what you’re putting into it...

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What works for one person or business may not work for you. Therefore, it is important to determine your goals early and to do whatever you have to do to meet your goals.

Michael does give some basic tips that everyone could adopt and practice to build their reputation in the community. They are:

- Be polite
- Make friends
- Start conversations
- Ask questions
- Answer questions

Most people prefer tweets that are not self-promoting. Michael says bigger brands have more flexibility in this regard, but even they should not take advantage of it. Twitter is about engagement and most self-promotions do not encourage it.

The value you receive from Twitter is ultimately determined when you identify your goals and work to meet them. It’s not about how many followers you acquire. What really matters is how many of those followers actually know who you are and are helping you meet your goals.

Search Marketing Evolution - WebProNews Video

As search has developed, the end user has also undergone behavioral changes. Universal and blended search have played a lead role in the user’s changes. Many times, searchers don’t know what they want when they search and the blended results offer a number of different options for them to choose from. Mike Grehan of Acronym Media told WebProNews in this video that we must look at these developments when we think about search in the present as well as in the future...

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Grehan and many others such as Bruce Clay have said that ranking is not as significant as it once was, especially after universal and blended search rolled out. Universal and blended search have also opened up a whole new playing field for people who before didn’t have the opportunity to be noticed. These users are now able to be seen and heard through their clicks, their tags, their ratings and reviews, etc. Grehan says these “signals” the end users are sending are very powerful to the search engines.

So what does all this mean to SEO? According to Grehan, it places a strong emphasis on “engagement” and “connectivity.” SEO will become more complicated because users will demand a much richer experience. Monitoring the results will become even more important than ever since users will be producing more of their own content and even interacting directly with brands.

All this information and more is compiled into Mike Grehan’s new book which is set for release in August. His thought paper “New Signals to Search Engines: Future Proofing Your Search Marketing Strategy” can be downloaded at www.acronym.com/thoughtpaper.

SEO Metrics to Replace PageRank? - WebProNews Video

Rand Fishkin and SEOmoz introduced their tool Linkscape at SMX East and WebProNews was there to get the story. We followed up with Rand at SMX West to get an update on the tool.

Rand prefaces the discussion by boldly stating that they are “a few months away from reversing Google’s algorithm.” If that does happen, just know that WebProNews broke the story. As we all wait on that to occur, Rand tells of a different approach that SEOs can implement...

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Traditionally, SEOs look at PageRank to determine how well they rank and how and why someone ranks above or below them. Rand says this methodology is not much better than random guessing. The actual correlation that SEOmoz found is that basing actions on PageRank is only about 3 percent better than guessing.

He instead suggests acting upon data driven metrics. Take advantage of third-party data to estimate traffic competitively. For this, Rand recommends sites such as Compete, Alexa, and Quantcast. There are also tools that Rand recommends for predicting search engine rankings. They are Yahoo Site Explorer, PageRank, and Linkscape.

Rand strongly advocates this idea of bringing mathematics and statistics into SEO. He does however, believe that not one single metric should be held as the key. Link popularity is still the most prominent factor by nearly 75 percent and is followed by keywords and content.

comScore Reports on Search Growth - WebProNews Video

According to comScore year over year data, the U.S. has a strong search market. (It’s great to read a sentence that has the words “market” and “strong” in it, huh?) In this video, Jenni Tafoy of comScore gives us a positive report based upon their data...

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To be exact, comScore found total U.S. searches to be at 18.7 billion, which is up 38 percent year-over-year. These numbers are a result of more people (7.1 million specifically) being online, people searching more days out of the month, and people conducting more searches per day.

Consumers are becoming more and more reliant on search. Search engines have seen a 32 percent growth and interestingly enough, non-search engines have also seen tremendous growth. Jenni says this research shows how marketers can expand their campaigns outside of the traditional search engines and into search areas such as video, local, image, and social networking sites.

YouTube has shown 100 percent growth, which is massive. Local has grown 38 percent, and image has grown 32 percent. Social networks driven primarily by MySpace and Facebook show 49 percent year-over-year growth.

Even with those statistics, Jenni still encourages marketers to continue their campaigns with traditional search engines. She advises marketers to utilize both search areas. Video search, local search, image search, and social networks will only continue to grow, but traditional search engines are also holding their own especially with the increasing growth of universal and blended results.

Make the Most of Your Online and Offline Marketing Campaigns - WebProNews Video

As a result of the economic crisis, retailers are more concerned than ever about the return their marketing dollars are generating. In this video from SMX West, Ryan Gibson of The Rimm-Kaufman Group explains how retailers need to understand which online and offline programs are profiting them the most and capitalize on those areas...

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Offline marketing interactions with customers involve TV, radio, print, direct mail, or catalogs. Online marketing interactions include social media, content/display, search, and email. Offline conversions come by phone or by going into the store. Online conversions occur through a website or by email.

In a perfect world, all customers would either react only to online marketing methods or only to offline marketing efforts. Unfortunately for marketers and retailers, it’s not a perfect world and customers mix it up. Customers may search online, place a call to the calling center, go to the website, or go into the store before they take action. Every customer behaves differently which makes if difficult for marketers to track their online and offline marketing programs.

Ryan says marketers and retailers have to understand their customers. Observe the customer and be aware when they’re talking about you. If they are talking about you on social media sites, listen to them first and maybe even connect with them.

Do not however, forget about offline marketing efforts. Understand the customers sequence of action and which programs they are using to find you. Once you realize where your value lies, maximize those programs to their fullest potential so that you do not miss out on any profit.

SMX West: Solution to Marketer/Developer Relationship Barrier - WebProNews Video

The relationship between developers and marketers has recently been a hot topic at industry events, and SMX West was no exception. An entire track was devoted to the topic at the recent show. In this video, Nathan Buggia of Microsoft Live Search says the barrier between developers and marketers goes all the way back to the very definition of each.

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Marketers need data such as customer information. They need to have the ability to run experiments and update the text and content on their site. Developers also need data, but they need keyword and audience research. In addition to that, they need to be given all the details and structure of each project and then adequate time to complete them.

As business gets more competitive, especially online, Nathan emphasizes how the need is even stronger for developers and marketers to work together. He says that business success really depends on marketers and developers working together effectively.

The barrier between the two is more difficult for larger companies because there is usually a large marketing department and a large development department. Smaller companies are able to come together more often and be more open about the overall business strategy.

So, what is the solution to breaking down the barrier? Nathan says communication is the answer, and ideally, it starts from the very beginning. He and Vanessa Fox have created a conference based solely on this idea of building a strong and effective relationship between marketers and developers. Everyone is invited to attend the first O’Reilly Found Conference taking place June 9-11th in Burlingame, CA.

John Battelle Predicts the 2009 Search Industry - WebProNews Video

Predictions are exciting. They’re even better when they come from a credible source, someone such as John Battelle. He has been giving yearly predictions on the search, technology, and media industries since 2004 and has been quite accurate. WebProNews caught up with Battelle at SMX West and asked him about a few of his predictions for 2009.

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Microsoft has been the topic of a lot of people’s conversation this year, so it is really no surprise that the company made Battelle’s list of predictions. Specifically, the prediction reads:

“Microsoft will gain at least five points of search share in 2009, perhaps as much as 10.”

The giant company now stands in third place behind Yahoo and Google with a 6-10 percent holding. So how are they going to gain search share? Battelle says the company is very serious about winning the search game.

He also points out the company has a lot of money and that the world is essentially driven by money. One way Microsoft could increase their search share is to buy Yahoo, AOL, or even Firefox. Another option he discloses is that Microsoft could make a deal with a company such Dell or HP.

Yahoo makes another one of Battelle’s predictions. Speaking on behalf of all the recent dire news about the Sunnyvale-based company, Battelle says:

” I think Yahoo’s coming out of a long winter.”

He says Yahoo’s new CEO, Carol Bartz, is a very capable leader for the company and will help to revive its purpose. He still suspects Yahoo will make a search deal with AOL or Microsoft, but says:

“I will not count them [Yahoo] out.”

Although it’s not one of his direct predictions for 2009, Battelle talks about a new form of search that will become more and more prevalent with time. As he explains in this video, search is our interface to the Internet and the way we navigate. The new interface would allow Web users to search in forms other than text, in forms such as image, video, and sound.

As stated earlier, John Battelle has been very accurate in his yearly predictions, so it will be interesting to see how 2009 plays out.

Micro Campaigns to Target Customers and Make the Telephone “Ring” - By WebSuccessTeam.com

Is your website under performing? Not producing enough targeted traffic, leads or sales? Then it is time for a change of online marketing tactics. You should consider developing niche micro-site campaigns to target customers and make the telephone or email “ring.”

First let’s define the problem. You may be a medium to small company with a number of products or services. The questions I ask my clients are: Do your products or services relate to each other? Is your customer base the same for each of them? Or do customers need to be marketed to differently? What are your unique selling points? Are your messages clear, concise and quickly understood?

To address the above concerns, here are 8 strategies to get better results and boost sales:

1. Look at the Big Picture: Keep it simple
The old adage, “less is more” holds true for the web. Visitors view a website in chunks, scanning to see what catches their eye and engages them. If there are multiple messages or conflicting ones, the viewer won’t take the time to sort them out. They’re gone in less than 10 seconds. It is counterproductive to jam everything into a website, all that does is make it cluttered and confusing.

Your micro campaign should be direct and to the point. They are single page or 2-3 page websites that target a specific product or service. If you need to have a lot of content to explain your products or services, consider a 1-2 minute video. Make your pitch concise and simple. Visitors will appreciate the clarity and you will project a professional image and instill confidence . They will react positively, recognize that you are not wasting their time because they can understand it quickly. Then they are more apt to respond to your message or call to action.

2. Think Out of the Box: Be creative and innovative
Never get too comfortable with what you are doing or how you are selling your company’s products or services. You need to reach those customers that aren’t responding to this method or approach.

You can tailor a mini-campaign just to those potential new customers (i.e. a more youth oriented audience). This does two things: it won’t isolate your more traditional viewers and it won’t conflict with your current offers or messages. In marketing terms, we call this the low hanging fruit — ripe for the picking, providing you get there before the competition. Again, get creative, think out of the box, make an impact, and take a risk!

3. Make an Immediate Impression:
Campaigns should get their attention with a sense of urgency, a timely call to act now! Now that your message is clear and concise and you have their interest and attention, close the deal with a sense of urgency. If you are selling products, have time-dated specials with real value and savings; for a service, offer something value added and have the first 10 people to call will receive… Use of a flash element to draw their attention can be effective. Graphics should enhance the branding, never overpower it.

4. Target New Customers: Develop new markets.
People like to think of themselves as unique, individuals, and not part of the herd mentality. You can capitalize on their self-image by addressing new customers in ways that will appeal to them. Whether it is a lifestyle, the dream of a better quality of life, or as a means to an end — making their life easier. Remember, different markets will require alternative approaches. Tailor your branding and customize your message. Then of course test and track your sales approach. Get feedback from customers, new and old, how they use your products or services and then create a niche campaign directed to their specific needs.

> Get the other 4 strategies at:
http://www.WebSuccessTeam.blogspot.com

Matt Cutts Explains “Canonical Tag” from Google, Yahoo, Microsoft - WebProNews Video

Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft announced today a joint effort to help reduce duplicate content. The three major search engines came together to allow users to point out their preferred version of a url. As Matt Cutts explains in this video, this format offers users more control.

Duplicate content has been a challenging issue for a long time. Websites containing a lot of content such as a retail site, could end up with several urls for each page making it difficult for search engines to crawl.

Google gives an example on the Webmaster Central blog.

Watch this video of Matt Cutts at SMX:

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For more information, each of the search engines have explanations and examples in their own announcements: Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft.