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.
Yahoo Details Implementation of Search Deal -
Now that Yahoo and Microsoft have been granted regulatory approval for their search deal, what happens now? That is a question that many people in the search industry want answered.
Just for a recap, Microsoft will power Yahoo Search and Yahoo will become the exclusive search advertising provider for Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. Recently, WebProNews had the opportunity to sit down with Shashi Seth, the Senior Vice President of Yahoo Search Products, to learn more about how the alliance between the two companies would be integrated.
First of all, Seth points out that the full integration will take between 18-24 months. As it takes place, he is quick to say that users will continue to receive a compelling search experience from Yahoo that goes beyond the traditional search page.
In spite of the partnership, each engine will maintain its individual areas of focus. For Yahoo specifically, Seth says, “…What our users will continue to find is that not only can they find that great content that resides on [the] Yahoo network on Yahoo Search, but also that we can take people from Yahoo Search to the appropriate properties etc., in the right context…”
According to Seth, users will likely see slight modifications to Yahoo Search over the next several months as the Microsoft integration is completed. However, the companies have not yet decided if they will do a major launch with new features and functionalities.
There are still many questions regarding Yahoo such as the company’s level of commitment to search, implications on advertisers, future innovations, and more. Keep watching WebProNews for more information on these very issues directly from Yahoo.
Driving Traffic with Domain Names -
According to Monte Cahn, the Founder and President of Moniker, finding the right domain name is key in driving traffic to your site. At SMX West in Santa Clara, Cahn talked to WebProNews about several issues surrounding domain names.
He said specifically, “It’s not all about SEO and SEM strategies, but without the right domain name, you’re really not going to be successful on the Web.”
Since there is so much talk of 301 redirects, how do people know when to use them and when to build up a domain name? Cahn says people should always use 301 redirects for various misspellings of the brand’s name.
On the other hand, he advises companies to build out subsites for their products or services. By doing this, companies can take advantage of link juice and use the links and referrals to drive SEO value.
One of the biggest mistakes brands make with domain names is not being proactive when they release new products or services. Cahn gives examples where both Microsoft and Apple released products before checking on the availability of the domain. If companies wait until after they announce their new product or service, chances are the domain name price will skyrocket.
Is your domain name driving traffic to your site?
Incorporating Social into Email Marketing -
Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing but is still very effective. Social media marketing is a relatively new form of marketing but is also very effective. What happens if the two are combined? According to Kara Trivunovic of StrongMail, email and social media provide many great advantages when they are put together.
When people integrate social into their email marketing programs, they have the opportunity to not only expand the reach of their existing offers, but also to encourage existing customers to evangelize on their behalf. As a result, companies could grow their database through acquisition, which is not usually common in email marketing.
As Trivunovic points out, there are three primary ways that people use to implement social into their email marketing efforts. They are:
1. Sharing with your network
2. Leveraging as a medium to incentivize current customer base
3. Business model: acquiring customers through referrals
Trivunovic told WebProNews that approximately 86 percent of email subscribers share their email via email when they are asked to evangelize on the behalf of a company. Other social sharing methods include Facebook, Twitter, and blogging.
Incidentally, of that 86 percent that share via email, 19 percent of the receivers convert. That said, it seems safe to say that social media and email marketing work pretty well together.
