Digital Piracy Vs. The Music Industry [Infographic]
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Google’s Search plus Your World: 3 Changes Internet Marketers Will Care About
On January 10th, Google made a ground-breaking announcement that Google search will now be integrated with your social signals. The name for this update is Google Search plus Your World which is only activated when the searcher is logged into their Google+ account and searching on Google’s secure search. Google Search plus Your World marks a major shift toward increased social marketing and makes the use of Google+ necessary. With Google’s new social search feature, there are 3 main changes that you will notice on your results page.
Personal Results
The first is that your personal interactions will now show up in the results for related terms. For example, when I type in the term “technology” I see results from some of my co-workers.
Search plus Your World denotes searches that are specific to you with the blue person icon. These results are ones that have been shared with you on Google+ or are public results. Images will also appear in these results if related to the search term. If you are not looking for results specific to you, click on the “See all results” link to be redirected to information not limited to just your personal search results.
Profiles in Search
The second change that you will notice is that personal profiles will appear in the results and autocomplete when you type in a name of a person in your circles on Google+.
When you select a predicted profile you will be shown results from that person’s Google+ profile and relevant results from the web. However, because that person has a Google+ page, their Google+ results will outrank all other information related to them on the Internet.
People and Pages
The last major change that you will notice is the results for people and pages in the top-right of the browser for your search term. For instance, if you type in “movies,” you will see a few Google+ profiles highlighted since they are related to “movies”.
This feature also allows you to quickly add these people to your circles. As a result, this section will become vital for individuals and businesses to generate new traffic to their social profiles through Google. With the People and Pages on Google+ results showing so prominently in the results, who wouldn’t want to be there?
How to De-activate Search plus Your World
Fortunately, if you do not like the changes that Google has made to the search feature when logged-in, you can opt-out of seeing personal results. The first way to do this is with the convenient toggle that Google added to the top-right of your browser.
When Search plus Your World is activated, the person icon will be darkened. To view organic results without personalization, just click on the globe icon.
A second way to opt-out is to update your search settings. You can do this by clicking the gear at the top-right of your browser and choosing “Search Settings” then under “Personal results” choose “Do not use personal results” and save your new settings.
This will de-activate the personal results and profiles in search features, but the People and Pages on Google+ section is an addition to the results that will remain regardless of your settings or being logged into Google+.
What this Means for the Internet Marketer
With these changes being so significant, many of you Internet Marketers may wonder how they will affect you. At this point, the extent to which Google’s Search plus Your World will affect Internet Marketing is still unknown, but one thing is certain; that it is time to focus on Google+ as a serious social engine. So take all the posts you are sharing on Twitter and Facebook share them on Google+ too!
I mentioned earlier that the People and Pages on Google+ will be very important for individuals and businesses today. This section now takes up a prominent place on the results page and appears above pay per click results, so it will most likely take some traffic away from organic and paid search results. For example, look at the results for the term “seo.”
You will definitely want your page to show up on the People and Pages on Google+ section and Google provided some tips on how to accomplish this with the “Learn how you could appear here too” link.
In order to appear in this section, the first and most obvious step to take is to create a Google+ page. Many people and businesses held out on creating Google+ pages because they figured their social media initiatives should be focused on Facebook and Twitter. But they are now realizing how important Google+ pages are with Search plus Your World.
After creating a page, Google recommends adding a photo and filling your profile out completely. Ensure that your Google+ page includes all the information for which you want to be ranked for.
Next, Google suggests sharing information on topics that are important to you. The more content you provide related to the terms you want to rank for, the better you will rank for those terms. Also, the content you shared will then be delivered to people who have added you to their circles when they search for similar queries.
Most importantly, make sure that you are getting added to circles! All of your information will mean nothing if you don’t have people who are interested in it. The more circles that you are in, the more likely it is that you will show up in the results for People and Places on Google+. This is great for the early adopters of Google+, however many influential and relevant people did not embrace Google+ and will not appear in this section. But not to worry, if you follow these steps to create a well optimized Google+ page you will be on your way to reaching out to the over 60 million users and growing on Google+.
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5 Resolutions for Your Social Media Marketing Campaigns in 2012
[photo by healinglight]
It is estimated that 23% of Americans who make a New Years resolution actually keep it for the entire year. Reasons for losing sight of resolutions include aspiring for too much, setting too many goals, attempting to do it all right away or simply losing persistence and giving up.
This year, make some reasonable resolutions for your social media marketing strategy. Below are the top 5 resolutions people in the U.S. make at the beginning of the new year and how they relate to your social media marketing. Whether these are drastic changes you’ll need to make or just friendly reminders, resolve to keep them in 2012!
1. Get In Shape
To continue to have fans and followers, you’re going to have to stay ahead of the crowd. You might need to get your profile or page in shape to compete. Don’t simply rely on the tactics that made you popular for the past few years. It’s an ever-changing playing field and your competitors can catch up quickly with one innovative idea.
Is your page falling behind? Are you losing fans because you can’t keep up? If you have fans and followers now, you need to ensure they’ll continue to follow you. It is all about engagement. Ask questions, reply to questions and take a discerning look at your posting schedule and quality of posts. For larger social communities, it can be a challenge to keep up. Resolve to try your best and remain the leader of your page or profile!
2. Eat Better
Remember this in 2012: your followers are “picky eaters”. Although the expanse of online information is readily available, consumers are still “watching what they eat” when it comes to buying decisions and are relying on peer validation. Peer validation is simple: if my friend likes it, there is a good chance I will. If the gadget did not malfunction for my friend, it probably won’t malfunction for me. Peer validation comes in the form of social shares, comments, reviews and even face to face conversations.
Facebook, Twitter and Google+ have all incorporated the use use of peer validation for users to suggest fan pages, news articles, products and even to encourage them to connect to other users they may know. Spotify is a terrific example of a successful peer validation initiative. Out of the hundreds of music discovery and library managers available on and offline, Spotify began a significant movement through social proof and sharing in 2011. How can you apply this strategy to your social media campaigns?
In order to reach “picky eaters” you must build — and continue to build — an open social space where fans and followers are encouraged to share your content in a positive light…without you requesting they do. It’s not easy to accomplish, but it can be done. A simple reminder that your products are eco-friendly, on sale or helpful for “x, y, and z” can encourage your followers to share the information with their friends. Simple tips relating to your products work well too. Constantly be thinking, “How can I help my followers do _____ today?”
3. Spend Less, Save More
This is a very popular resolution. We all want to spend less and save more, no matter how much we have! This year, strive to take a long look at your Facebook advertising campaigns on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Is the CPC acceptable to you? Why not create a goal (or resolution in this case) to keep the CPC lower, decrease your budget and increase your connection rate? Make the ads you create work harder for you! Make your ads so compelling, people will click the like button right away without investigating further. How? Firstly, target, target, target. The Precise Interests” section is key — utilize it to the fullest! Invest some of your time into researching what your target audience is interested in on Facebook.
With precise targeting may also come ad fatigue. There is a finite amount of people you can reach with Facebook ads. Keep an eye on your reach and the number of times your ads are being shown to individuals to ward off ad fatigue. Change up your ad creative or your targeted interests.
If you end up spending a large percentage of your budget on clicks, regard those fans as valuable assets — retain them by extending a warm welcome and continuing to engage them in creative ways.
4. Quit the Bad Habit
We’ve all done it. We’ve started a social profile and, as a brand representative, become complete robots. Do you think your customers want to read a constant stream of pro-brand this and pro-brand that? Well, they don’t.
A pair of studies from the Chief Marketing Officer Council and social technology firm Lithium show a large discrepancy between what customers want from interactions on social media platforms and what marketers believe they want. 72% of people use social media to stay engaged with brands — is your brand interested in the same?
Marketers have a tendency to stand up on a platform and simply announce product launches, specials and news. Too often we list the benefits of our products over and over again. The better strategy is to get down off the pedestal and mingle with the crowd.
If you are not experiencing any engagement, it may be time to change your tone of voice. People who use social media want to feel they are talking to a “real person.” After all, they have come to a place where they can talk to the person behind your brand. Speak to them as a person — let loose a little, be natural and get them talking!
5. Volunteer
There are a multitude of celebrities, companies and groups who have found social media gold by coordinating with non-profit organizations, aiming to give back to their communities while also growing and improving their own social communities. Could your brand support a cause that aligns with your company values? 2012 is the time to raise awareness – for you and a non-profit! Let your followers see your company’s interest in playing an active role in their community.
Instead of giving your marketing spend to advertising again this month, why not pledge a donation amount and encourage people to follow you in return for hitting a goal? It’s an admirable way to start the new year off and a great accomplishment!
Trying to keep your resolutions? Don’t do all of it at once. Ease yourself into a different perspective toward your social media marketing by focusing on one of these five goals per month. Share your goals with your marketing team to keep each other accountable. Most importantly, congratulate yourself when you’ve achieved these goals or any major success on your social media platforms!
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5 Ways To Upset Your Online Users In 2012
[photo by dee gee]
Most New Years resolutions are familiar ones: lose weight, eat healthy, read a few books, stop smoking, etc. These are all excellent goals for 2012, but perhaps you want to do something a little more sinister before the world comes to an end in December.
2011 brought us a bunch of a examples of how to make people angry, so much so that it is even being called the Year of the Troll. In the online world, there were plenty of examples of companies infamously trolling their own users and losing traffic, customers and money.
If your 2012 goals include upsetting your customers, making people angry and probably losing a ton of money, here are 5 easy ways to do it online:
1. Force them to connect with Facebook or Twitter
Logging in to a site or web service through a social network is handy for users of those networks, but not everybody has a Facebook and/or Twitter account. Others don’t want to connect them with a site they’ve never used before. 2011 saw a large increase in sites using OAuth to connect with new users. Facebook’s comments system also became prevalent on 3rd party sites.
I’m in the minority, but I don’t have Facebook and I’m typically not comfortable connecting my Twitter account. Since I can’t connect to Facebook, I can no longer comment on Techcrunch posts and lost all of my Spotify contacts. But at least I don’t have to worry about Facebook’s massive collection of data about me growing even larger.
I wrote a post in the spring about the value of anonymity online and how connecting everything with Facebook — logins, comments, etc — would be a total disaster and ruin the equality of the web.
2. Hold data hostage
This is a big problem for freemium and subscription-based businesses. Flickr is the first example that comes to mind. I signed up for Flickr’s Pro account at a very reasonable $25/year some time ago. I ended up not renewing the account, though, and Flickr responded by stealing away some of my photos. Free accounts are limited to 200 photo upload. I had uploaded around 225 while I was a Pro member and, after my membership expired, Flickr hid 25 of my photos and wouldn’t let me access them until I either paid for a Pro account or deleted 25 of the other photos.
I’m sure this is all fair game under some user agreement that I admittedly never read, but this is a terrible practice. Those are my photos and holding them hostage has only encouraged me to never again pay a dime to them. Yahoo! needs to at least allow users with expiring Pro accounts a chance to download their pictures before hiding them away for good. Michael Arrington summed it up after encountering the same problem: they’re my photos, Yahoo. Not yours.
3. Come out in support of SOPA
SOPA is downright scary. It will ruin the Internet and the vast majority of Internet power users are very much against it. If you support SOPA, that is one thing but to publicly come out and say that is a surefire way to make people angry.
GoDaddy wrote a letter to the House of Representatives commending their efforts in creating the bill. GoDaddy users were furious. Boycotts were created, Move Your Domain Day was born and some 80,000+ domains were moved off of their service.
Fair or unfair, Internet users are quick to judge and condemn when they are angry. Careful management of your brand and public messages is more important than ever. One slip up could anger your entire customer base.
4. Violate your own guidelines
One surefire way to upset your users is to establish an uneven playing field. A perfect example of this is Google violating their own guidelines by buying links for themselves. A controversial video marketing campaign by Google included some sponsored blog posts and paid links pointing back to Google Chrome. Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan hit the nail on the head:
The head of Google’s web spam team, Matt Cutts, has been quite vocal that sponsored posts shouldn’t be a way for people to gain links in response for payment, that any links in such posts should use the nofollow attribute to prevent them from passing credit to Google’s ranking algorithm.
And yet here, we see one of Google’s sponsored post doing exactly that.
Kudos to Google who has remarkably penalized themselves after being outed, but the incident has confirmed to many search marketers that there is one standard for Google-owned properties and a separate one for everybody else.
5. Ignore mobile traffic
Perhaps the easiest way to frustrate your users in a hurry this year is to ignore mobile traffic and point them to your flash-based homepage that is inaccessible on a lot of mobile browsers. There’s nothing quite like trying to find out a restaurant’s hours or contact information for a business while traveling and being greeted with a website optimized for desktops only. Over 90 million people in the US alone own a smartphone. Pretending they don’t exist is going to raise a few tempers along the way.
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Count Down to 2012: Top 10 Internet Marketing Highlights for 2011
While the Royal Wedding was excitingly romantic and the Occupy Movement was, well, less than moving, these happenings did not earn spots in the Top 10 Internet Marketing Happenings in 2011. The ten things that did rock the internet marketing world this year, starting with number 10 are…
10. Going Mobile
From Androids to iPhones and tablets to eReaders, the availability of “smart” devices is increasing almost daily. With more hand-held and portable options, mobile searching in 2011 is way up! The downfall to this increase is the negative reflection you may see in your analytics’ bounce rate given that many websites have yet to accommodate to the mobile trend with a mobile website design.
9. Plus One it
Though it’s incredibly difficult to compete with the social giant that is Facebook, Google is giving it a pretty good stab with the Google+ network. In 2011, Google+ went from invite-only mode to public, and now boasts over 62 million members. With social signals becoming an increasingly important ranking factor, the 2011 addition of a search engine powered social network without-a-doubt makes the list.
Image provided by Bruce Clay, Inc.
8. Facebook Timeline
We love to hate it but it happens anyway – Facebook rolled out yet another major change to its design and function in 2011. New partnerships with other online media organizations and an increase of sharing vocabulary that goes beyond the traditional “Like”, makes this new version of Facebook even more valuable to the social media marketing world.
7. The Not-So-Cute-And-Cuddly Panda
How could the Google update that seemed to last all year long not make the Top 10 Internet Industry list? The Panda update impacted nearly 35% of search queries this year and made it quite evident that Google plans to enforce the notion that “content is King”. While it is almost certain history will continue to repeat itself with 500 or so Google algorithm changes in the New Year, the bizarre impact of Panda that plummeted rankings of sites like today.com will not be soon forgotten.
Image provided by Michelle Grimord Egger
6. Keep it Fresh
Just after the dreaded Panda update, the Freshness update comes in at number six. This change spurred on an increase in blogging and social outreach that constantly attempted to add current, relevant information to websites in an attempt to grab those “fresh” ranking spots. The 2011 Freshness Update could be a double edged sword: while qualified current posts may be rewarded with higher rankings, over-shared and under-qualified content won’t be so lucky.
5. End of an Apple Era
October 5, 2011, the world was robbed of a truly unique mind. Steve Jobs forever left his mark on not only the music industry, but in the Internet sphere as well. With such Apple creations as the iPhone family and the birth of the iPad, Jobs pioneered a competitive market focused on innovation, spawning others into the creation of competing smartphones and tablets. As this post is being written on an iPad, my preference and appreciation of Mr. Jobs’ brilliance is quite tangible and deserving of the Top 10 list.
Image provided by David Gomez-Rosado
4. Analytics, analytics, analytics
Another Google change makes the list, no surprise. The global search engine recently introduced “Real Time” analytics as well as a Visitor Flow filter letting SEOs drill deep down into traffic sources finding more, powerful information. Of course, with great power and information comes great responsibility – “Real Time” data shows the impact of online efforts more or less instantly which could easily tempt those with a weaker constitution to overdo it, especially in the social sphere.
3. “Bloggers Beware”
As if losing a $2.5 million libel suit wasn’t enough, Crystal Cox, an investigative blogger, lost the journalistic right to Shield Law. Big deal? Yeah big deal! In denying Crystal Cox the right to withhold the identity of her confidential source of information, Judge Marco Hernandez began drawing a deeper line between online publication and offline publication. This could be the beginning of a slippery slope where online journalists continue losing the rights guaranteed to print media journalists. Are bloggers journalists that should be protected as such? 2011 suggests not.
Internet Blacklist Legislation, SOPA, H.R. 3261…call it what you want, it is censorship. In an attempt to protect the capitalist ideas of our country by working to prevent online piracy, the bill potentially gives private companies and the government an amount of power to block or remove “questionable” content that is borderline unconstitutional. This legislation will force every person to reconsider what he or she posts online and have us typing on eggshells!
Image provided by Katie Tegtmeyer
1. SEO’s Living Nightmare
From bad to worse, the biggest 2011 change for the Internet industry is the introduction of secure Google searching and the disappearance of up to 20% of search data…“[not provided]”. While searchers logged in to Gmail or Google+ can enjoy the options of blocking or sharing sites with the +1 feature, SEO practitioners are not so lucky. Now instead of seeing completely useful analytics for the actual keywords leading traffic to a site, the troublesome “[not provided]” pops up at the top of the list. Getting creative with segments and filters can still give back some insights into the mysterious data, but until you see how keywords are performing in AdWords, your guess is as good as mine!
There you have it, the Internet’s Top Hits of 2011. Whether you agree or disagree (and please, let me know!), here’s hoping to positive changes in 2012 that will far outweigh the negative ones. Happy New Year!
Image provided by SpaPax
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WebpageFX Weekly: Our top 10 blog posts of 2011
2011 was an awesome year for WebpageFX! We added new talent, were named one of the 50 Fastest Growing Companies in PA, received an Entrepreneur of the Year Award and were named the #1 SEO Agency by Heardable!
It was also an exciting year on our blog. 2011 brought more visitors than any other year to WebpageFX Weekly and our posts were featured on PC Mag, Search Engine Land, Sphinn and Web Pro News.
The above graph shows total visitors for our 10 most popular posts published in 2011. More info on each (including a link) is below. If you are in need of some good reading over the holiday, look no further than our top 10 blog post 0f 2011:
#10: 6 Pressing Google+ Questions Answered
In my opinion, to ensure Google+ doesn’t become defunct, 750 million people need to jump on the bandwagon. That means 750 million people need to abandon their comfortable Facebook personas and habits and learn an entirely new interface, albeit very similar to Facebook. They need to download a new app, add all of their friends and start +1-ing all the content they previously “liked”. These are some major hurdles to ask of people before they know whether or not it’s here to stay.
#9: Employee Awards
What does a team of award-winning web designers, brilliant (and I do mean brilliant) web developers, Google Certified PPC managers, seasoned SEO analysts, social media gurus and link building geniuses do when they’re not busy enhancing and optimizing websites, increasing web traffic and search engine rankings or making websites look absolutely stellar? Reward ourselves for all of our hard work of course … with awards to frame and hang up in our cubicles.
#8: SEO Alignment Chart
I have been obsessed with alignment for the past few months. I never played Dungeons & Dragons growing up (in fact the first time I saw it played was in this season’s awesome Community episode), but the concept of alignment has fascinated me since I learned about it. Which characters personify each alignment? Where do I fall? Where do my friends fit in? I have a long commute so I have a ton of time to think 
. So in the spirit of obsession, here is my stab at an alignment chart for the SEO community. Notes, embed code, a detailed explanation of alignment, and references follow below.
#7: Google Plus Widget
Today, we released version 1.0 of our Google Plus Widget for WordPress! This plugin allows you to add a Google+ profile badge to your WordPress blog or website. Once installed, users can add you to their Google Plus network and you, in turn, can show off the number of followers in your circle.
#6: How We Increased Facebook Fans by 43% in 23 Days
Hands down, the most common question we get is “How do we increase our Facebook fans?” There are a million and a half ways to do this, but we’ve come up with a few specific methods that generate lots of quality fans without breaking the bank. Below are a few specific examples from one of the Facebook pages that we manage.
#5: 10 Things Users Need To Know About Facebook Timeline
Timeline marks the biggest update to Facebook’s design ever and considering the backlash the Facebook team receives for even the smallest of changes, I won’t be surprised if the reaction to Timeline reaches never-before-seen levels of vitriol. Already, their blog post announcing Timeline has been trolled to oblivion and the introduction video already has over 2,000 dislikes on YouTube.
#4: How To Study SEO in College
There is no such thing as an SEO degree. You can Google it and see some mostly shady results, but — as far as I know — nobody is walking around with a B.A. in SEO. That doesn’t mean that you can’t go to college and study SEO, though. You just have to get a little creative. My degree reads “B.A. Communication Arts with a focus in journalism,” but I studied and learned Internet marketing during my 4 years in school. How did I do it? I hustled. I was curious. I tried a bunch of different things and usually failed spectacularly. But I learned a ton.
#3: Notorious SEO: 10 Crack Commandments of Link Building
One of The Notorious B.I.G.’s greatest hits was “Ten Crack Commandments,” released in 1997. As the title suggests, Biggie rapped through his 10 commandments for selling crack in the 90s. I have no clue how ‘effective’ his tips were for his chosen trade, but it turns out they work pretty well when applied to link building.
#2: SPAM: More than an annoyance? (Infographic)
We discovered that a certain amount of Spam emails is actually the equivalent to the level of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions released from driving 3 feet. Discover how far the number of 2010 spam emails can take you across the world! You’ll be shocked! We also highlight the nations most responsible for the furthered adverse impact of Spam’s GHG emissions on our environment. Our hope is that awareness may create change. And a great start to doing your part is by personally installing a spam filter on you’re own email account, forwarding spam emails to spam@uce.gov, as well as informing others!
#1: App Store Wars (Infographic)
We compared the Apple App Store, Android Market, Blackberry App World, and the Nokia, Palm and Windows Phone 7 application directories. Statistics include OS distribution, percentage of paid vs. free apps in each directory, average apps downloaded by device, average app cost, and total 2010 revenue from all apps sold.
http://www.webpagefx.com/blog/general/how-we-increased-facebook-fans-by-43-percent-in-23-days/
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