Blogger’s Successful Approach to Staying Current -
Blogger, the free publishing tool from Google, is still going strong, and that’s quite impressive given that it’s ten years old and facing potential challengers like Facebook and Twitter. So at SXSW, a product manager over Blogger explained how the tool has kept up with the times.
As Siobhan Quinn, the product manager in question, noted, a “share to” feature that lets people inform their Facebook and Twitter contacts of new blog posts is one thing that’s proven handy. Sending links has allowed bloggers to reinforce connections regardless of differences between networks.
There’s not necessarily a competition taking place, either. Quinn pointed out that blogging is “definitely a different type of media from status updates . . . but it’s very complementary at the same time.”
The Blogger team has tried to give it some advantages, though, and one edge relates to the amount of control blogs offer users. The recent introduction of the Blogger Template Designer is a good example of this. Quinn said, “We really wanted to empower our users to express themselves not only through their words, but through how they present themselves in their blog, as well.”
To that end, the new template designer allows users to separate attributes so that they can choose designs, layouts, background images, and colors independently of each other. Yet at the same time, there are user-friendly shortcuts, like the option to shift all colors at once.
As for the future of Blogger, more advances are on the way. Look for further upgrades related to presentation, and monetization opportunities will also play a key role.
The Impact of FTC Regulation on Advertising -
WebProNews has extensively covered the ongoing saga regarding the FTC and regulation of online advertising. Continuing our coverage, we recently spoke to Jordan Mitchell, the Vice President of Data Intelligence at the Rubicon Project, to catch us up on the latest news around this situation.
Last year, the FTC told the industry that it need to self-regulate. The Commission also said that it would step in with regulation if the industry did not do it on its own.
Many bloggers and others in the industry expressed concern about the potential government intervention since they feared the enforcement of the regulation would be difficult and not done right. Because content has exploded online and has been largely supported by online advertising, Mitchell said many have raised alarm out of fear of innovation being halted.
At this point, the government has been conducting roundtable discussions with publishers and advertisers to try to reach a solution. In addition, the industry is scrambling to speed up self-regulation.
As for the future implications on online advertising, Mitchell actually sees a positive effect. He believes there will be an increase in targeted ads and the right balance between user transparency and control.
Tips for Domaining and Social Advertising -
Although it’s one of the oldest practices in the Internet space, domaining and direct navigation is not obsolete. The practice is somewhat forgotten due to all the hype around search and social, but according to Michael Kahn of Performics, it is still very effective.
Domaining and direct navigation strategy is when marketers buy domain names that can draw traffic to their main site. In addition, it involves consumer use of those domains. When a consumer types a common domain into a browser box, marketers have the ability to drive consumer engagement with their brand by building up content on the other domains.
Kahn also spoke with WebProNews about advertising opportunities in social. He said many people are under the pretense that they cannot sell in the social space. However, Performics has found that ads perform very well in social and can even get the same ROI as search ads do.
Social advertising can be a valuable addition to ad campaigns since people are talking about brands all across social networks. Social is also beneficial to advertisers since it brings in word-of-mouth feedback.
Technology’s Effect On Interpersonal Relationships -
Modern technology may prove distracting on occasion, but at SXSW, a panel agreed that it can help people maintain and build interpersonal connections. One panelist was good enough to talk to WebProNews and explain her ideas on the subject, too.
Jenn Deering Davis, Cofounder of Appozite and CheapTweet Community Manager, observed in an interview with Abby Johnson, “There are all these new tools that can augment our existing relationships.”
In fact, she later added, “I think the biggest thing is to just keep in touch with people and to use all of these tools that we have,” whether your tool of choice is the telephone or something more newfangled like Twitter or Facebook.
The popularity of technology can lead to a difficult sort of balancing act, though. People can spend the majority of their day staring at their cell phones rather than talking to others, and Jenn said, “I think we’re all still figuring out how to manage that and how to best do both, because our face-to-face relationships are important and we want to be here, but we also need to be keeping track of things.”
She then concluded, “We need both. We need the in-person, the face-to-face, and we need the online.”
Connecting With Customers Online -
Customer satisfaction is quite important. Unfortunately, it’s also hard to quantify, but to help with that, Greg Links, a regional manager at ForeSee Results, provided some insight into how his company works at OMS 2010 in San Diego.
Links defined one mission of ForeSee Results by stating, “We really help our clients connect with their customers.” An important starting point in this process is then finding out what clients hope to accomplish.
Next, Links suggested, “Prioritize the very specific elements of that website visit that will improve satisfaction which is linked to these desired outcomes.” And this can be accomplished simply by asking visitors what about a visit they found pleasing.
When all’s said and done, companies should have happier customers and more successful businesses as a result.
The Death (Or Redefinition) Of SEO Discussed -
Some people would have you believe that search engine optimization is a dying art, and depending on how you define SEO, that may be true. But at OMS 2010 in San Diego, Greg Jarboe, the president and cofounder of SEO-PR, explained that other definitions of SEO make it very much alive.
Here’s the thing: as Jarboe admitted, “The era of ten blue links is dead.” People also can’t expect to optimize a page by just changing keyword metatags anymore. Indeed, much of what so many SEO experts learned ten years ago has become irrelevant.
The trick is that expanded search, which can be defined as “search wherever it happens,” is now important. Facebook, eBay, and YouTube users all perform searches, after all, and their attention is valuable. So Jarboe concluded, “If you focus on those kinds of fundamentals, then SEO is alive and kicking.”
Tips for Attracting and Converting Traffic -
Advertisers and digital agencies have to be effective in how they approach search engine optimization. With so many tools for organic search, paid search, and landing page optimization, it is hard to know what to use.
As Matt Malden explains to WebProNews, Yield Software has taken a holistic approach to these areas. The company understands that advertisers cannot only focus on one area and neglect the others. As a result, Yield Software offers a cloud-based solution that includes organic search optimization, PPC optimization, and landing page optimization.
Malden also points out that Yield helps its users understand the importance of utilizing both paid and organic search. Often times, users do one and not the other. Malden said when users choose one area over another, it actually drives up their costs-per-acquisition.
In addition, sometimes users are so focused on getting the traffic to their site that they overlook conversions. However, they need to realize that all the areas are equally important in producing the best results.
Since the technology is cloud-based, it can be updated anytime. Malden told WPN that the company is constantly updating the software to ensure that it is effective. Also on the plus side, there is no software to install due to the cloud.
For more information on this solution, visit Yield Software.
Local Search Marketing Strategies -
Local search marketing has grown extensively over the past couple of years and is expected to grow even more moving forward. While this growth has opened up many opportunities for marketers, it has also created challenges.
At the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, Ian White, the CEO of Urban Mapping, spoke with WebProNews about local search marketing tactics. He explains how his company provides a solution to help marketers with their local efforts.
The service that Urban Mapping offers extracts geographic keywords from specific areas. It provides keywords such as names of churches, schools, landmarks, hospitals, and more.
As mobile technology advances, White said services such as this would become increasingly important. Although most mobile devices are equipped with functions that recognize location, it doesn’t mean that every user knows how to use the technology. In addition, many users may want to use local search for locations other than their own.
Yahoo on Coming Changes to Ad Platform -
Google has been the dominant player in search advertising for a long time, but is Yahoo and Microsoft about to shake things up with their joint effort? Only time will tell, but one thing that is certain is that the online marketplace will definitely see many changes in the coming months as Yahoo and Microsoft implement their search agreement.
The advertisers that use Yahoo’s ad platform will soon be migrating to Microsoft’s adCenter. The full transfer is anticipated to take place over the next 24 months and will begin in the U.S.
According to David Pann, Yahoo’s Vice President of Search Advertising, the company hopes to have the U.S. migration completed in time for the holiday season this year. However, if meeting that timeline means sacrificing quality, Pann told WebProNews that Yahoo would simply move the timeline to ensure the highest quality transition.
After the deal is implemented, Microsoft will be in charge of the core advertising platform for both companies, which specifically includes matching, ranking, pricing algorithms, and more. Yahoo, on the other hand, will maintain its responsibility for the consumer experience.
Speaking about the benefits of the deal, Pann said it was a “win” for advertisers, consumers, and publishers.
“It’s really a win for advertisers with a single buy getting access to more inventory, it’s a win for consumers for a greater relevance, and it’s a win for consumers and publishers since they have greater access to a new set of participation and inventory.”
In spite of all the changes the deal will bring for advertising, Pann was quick to say that Yahoo is still innovating and would continue to do so.
Keep watching WebProNews for more on Yahoo’s current innovations as well as information on company’s mobile and real-time efforts.
Since there are now so many different ways for people get to websites, natural search has become increasingly difficult over the past few years. Seth Besmertnik, the CEO of Conductor, talked about this idea with WebProNews and explained what search marketers need to do to leverage the changes.
In past years, SEO focused on content and keywords. However, when Google came along, the game changed. Google introduced links in relation to content and more.
Today, organic search is even more complex with personalization, real-time search, social media, and other new features popping up rapidly. As a result of the complexity, Besmertnik emphasized the need to have a scalable infrastructure that tracks everything.
He said this is critically important for businesses that want to compete in natural search. In addition, businesses that want to find synergies between their marketing efforts need to make sure they make the most of one area before they add more and complicate matters.
Besmertnik used the analogy that “you have to have bricks before you can build a wall.” Ultimately, companies will not be able to successfully blend efforts until each is established.
