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Social Media and the revolution
13 years ago
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Class Presentations
With regards to the whole MBA experience...I can honestly that I was able to derive the most value from listening to the ideas and thoughts of others...and this set of presentations were no different...
Iram: Awesome presentation skills...but what really got me thinking was the fact that social media is central to the whole project...while not necessarily impossible ten years twenty years ago (feeling old)...technology has really proven to be a valuable asset as far as education is concerned...I really appreciated the importance of establishing real relationships amongst educators in a virtual space...something that is really important to keep in mind...just cause something starts online doesn't mean it can't produce material results in the real world...I'd also like to say I'm pretty grateful that people are taking the initiative to help those who may otherwise be marginalized or at the very least may never be exposed to any real education...
Kind of related I'll take the chance to promote Kahn Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ an awesome educational initiative using a bunch of things we discussed in class (creative commons, youtube etc)...
Laura: What hit home the most about Laura's presentation was the emphasis on consistency...having multiple web properties without brand recognition can prove to be a problem...especially when growing...but this is a reality of any small business who outsources their website...if you don't use the same designer frequently or at all there are going to be some problems...I also appreciated the insight about leaving personal tidbits off of a business blog...
Adriano: What impressed me the most about Adriano's presentation is the ability to leverage one short film into a whole operation...the circle he had about relevant potential partnerships clearly demonstrated some deep thinking...the idea of having different audiences for the same thing based on the perspective is huge...this is something that I'll always keep in mind...Hamilton because of the creator and Montreal cause of the club vibe...
Jessica: Jessica clearly demonstrated a familiarity with many of the tools we discussed in class...of all presentations she has one of the greatest challenges...as experts preach that social communication should be a two way street...but some issues and organizations (including the gun control) are inherently controversial...this poses some interesting dilemmas that need to be addressed...while it is first necessary to see how it plays out...and of course there is only the challenge of competition...I think the point about documenting the experience is worth taking away to my project...
Based on the presentations of my classmates and their feed back I can say that I have adjusted my plan to focus on sports injuries (although not nearly as much as the assisted living material)...I can also say that consistency, real life connections and leveraging video have all influenced my final project...
It's been real...It's been fun...an @ times it's been real fun...
Enjoy
Iram: Awesome presentation skills...but what really got me thinking was the fact that social media is central to the whole project...while not necessarily impossible
Kind of related I'll take the chance to promote Kahn Academy http://www.khanacademy.org/ an awesome educational initiative using a bunch of things we discussed in class (creative commons, youtube etc)...
Laura: What hit home the most about Laura's presentation was the emphasis on consistency...having multiple web properties without brand recognition can prove to be a problem...especially when growing...but this is a reality of any small business who outsources their website...if you don't use the same designer frequently or at all there are going to be some problems...I also appreciated the insight about leaving personal tidbits off of a business blog...
Adriano: What impressed me the most about Adriano's presentation is the ability to leverage one short film into a whole operation...the circle he had about relevant potential partnerships clearly demonstrated some deep thinking...the idea of having different audiences for the same thing based on the perspective is huge...this is something that I'll always keep in mind...Hamilton because of the creator and Montreal cause of the club vibe...
Jessica: Jessica clearly demonstrated a familiarity with many of the tools we discussed in class...of all presentations she has one of the greatest challenges...as experts preach that social communication should be a two way street...but some issues and organizations (including the gun control) are inherently controversial...this poses some interesting dilemmas that need to be addressed...while it is first necessary to see how it plays out...and of course there is only the challenge of competition...I think the point about documenting the experience is worth taking away to my project...
Based on the presentations of my classmates and their feed back I can say that I have adjusted my plan to focus on sports injuries (although not nearly as much as the assisted living material)...I can also say that consistency, real life connections and leveraging video have all influenced my final project...
It's been real...It's been fun...an @ times it's been real fun...
Enjoy
Social Media Strategy
The book that we are using for this course is the Social Media Bible by Lon Safko and David K. Brake. I can say the that my biggest critique of this book is that there is a lot of vague discussion and very little depth (relatively speaking). I mean the world moves to fast for a all encompassing book on social media to remain relevant...and for the cost of nothing one can read a blog that dives deep into a given topic...
However I have tried to stay on track and have attempted to let the readings from this book and other sources inform my blog...As this is the final post I am going to make a concentrated effort to explicitly refer to the book rather than doing so in passing...
Consistent to the theme that has been preached in earlier posts is "Every business can benefit from a carefully crafted social media strategy, but every business begins at a different starting point"...In short it is the nature and resources of a business that informs the social media strategy...
In the case of the my social media case we are essentially starting from scratch...if one does not include high search engine ranking for location specific home health care stores (thanks to Yellow Pages) and a website that leaves a lot to be desired...
Starting from scratch the high level goal is to provide information to the middle-age children of potential customers...in doing so we hope to increase their awareness of Doks Home Health Centre, so that when it comes time to make a purchase they are familiar with Doks and understand the companies competence...
Because the nature of the industry ensures that one individual will likely need a whole host of products and services...there is excellent opportunity to cross market and cross educate via social media initiatives...for example occupational therapists can prescribe assisted living devices...and are likely willing and able to inform the customer on the sources of government subsidies...but they are not responsible for the actual sale...just as the retailer is not responsible to living arrangements...In short the home health industry involves many players who rely on one another in terms of providing their customers with the goods and services that they need...
In short the strategy will be one of promoted education and information sessions via social media...as this is to be submitted in the very near future I will spare the details...
Heres the SWOT
Strengths - Agile, owner cares, strong reputation in the industry
Weaknesses - Limited staffing, limited budget, limited tech savvyness
Opportunities - A few bodies willing and able to donate their time and skill sets, a unique positioning strategy in terms of targeting baby boomers
Threats - Intense competition, long waiting period between a sale and payment
Based on the above and the nature of the industry the 3 pillars to be used are:
Communication: Informing the target market of seminars and presentations
Collaboration: As mentioned earlier there are a lot of co or interdependence amongst businesses in this field...by collaborating across the board it is very realistic that value can be brought to the general public by these information sessions, as the alternative is for a customer to navigate their way through the processes by going person to person or company to company...it should also be noted that once the initial info sessions occur it is then possible to collaborate with the customers to optimize the content of future sessions...
Education: Seminars and Presentations...enough said ;)
So best practice...start with the business and then create the strategy...not the other way around...take some small steps if your a small business...no point in breaking the bank for an ineffective campaign...and finally always be on the look out for areas to improve...take advantage of the ability to change on dime...cause once the business grows thats no longer gonna be possible...
However I have tried to stay on track and have attempted to let the readings from this book and other sources inform my blog...As this is the final post I am going to make a concentrated effort to explicitly refer to the book rather than doing so in passing...
Consistent to the theme that has been preached in earlier posts is "Every business can benefit from a carefully crafted social media strategy, but every business begins at a different starting point"...In short it is the nature and resources of a business that informs the social media strategy...
In the case of the my social media case we are essentially starting from scratch...if one does not include high search engine ranking for location specific home health care stores (thanks to Yellow Pages) and a website that leaves a lot to be desired...
Starting from scratch the high level goal is to provide information to the middle-age children of potential customers...in doing so we hope to increase their awareness of Doks Home Health Centre, so that when it comes time to make a purchase they are familiar with Doks and understand the companies competence...
Because the nature of the industry ensures that one individual will likely need a whole host of products and services...there is excellent opportunity to cross market and cross educate via social media initiatives...for example occupational therapists can prescribe assisted living devices...and are likely willing and able to inform the customer on the sources of government subsidies...but they are not responsible for the actual sale...just as the retailer is not responsible to living arrangements...In short the home health industry involves many players who rely on one another in terms of providing their customers with the goods and services that they need...
In short the strategy will be one of promoted education and information sessions via social media...as this is to be submitted in the very near future I will spare the details...
Heres the SWOT
Strengths - Agile, owner cares, strong reputation in the industry
Weaknesses - Limited staffing, limited budget, limited tech savvyness
Opportunities - A few bodies willing and able to donate their time and skill sets, a unique positioning strategy in terms of targeting baby boomers
Threats - Intense competition, long waiting period between a sale and payment
Based on the above and the nature of the industry the 3 pillars to be used are:
Communication: Informing the target market of seminars and presentations
Collaboration: As mentioned earlier there are a lot of co or interdependence amongst businesses in this field...by collaborating across the board it is very realistic that value can be brought to the general public by these information sessions, as the alternative is for a customer to navigate their way through the processes by going person to person or company to company...it should also be noted that once the initial info sessions occur it is then possible to collaborate with the customers to optimize the content of future sessions...
Education: Seminars and Presentations...enough said ;)
So best practice...start with the business and then create the strategy...not the other way around...take some small steps if your a small business...no point in breaking the bank for an ineffective campaign...and finally always be on the look out for areas to improve...take advantage of the ability to change on dime...cause once the business grows thats no longer gonna be possible...
Social Media Measurement
Once again we are dealing with a powerful tool...that IS NOT the silver bullet it may be touted to be...
Again, as has been discussed again and again...context is everything when it comes to social media...and web based analytics are no different...
In answering how we can measure the success of social media campaigns and what to consider when looking and raw numbers it is necessary to create context with some hypothetical scenarios...
For example...the bounce rate refers to the percentage of users that land on your page and then leave without spending any real time on it...a high bounce rate could be a bad thing if your website is content based like a newspaper or blog...having a high bounce rate in such cases likely means that there is some disconnect between how search engines view your site and how the internet user views it...in such a case it basically means that there is some sort of bait and switch as you are not providing what it expected...
However if you have website for an accounting firm or even a dry cleaner...where the name, phone number and address of the company is all that is needed...then the bounce rate is not the best indicator...
Another type metrics with different values is the page of entry...for example if your website is a e-commerce operation and people tend to enter to a page with a specific product then you can use this metric as guidance...maybe you should promote this specific product more then others...or maybe there is a basic or high level version that you could stock but are not...perhaps there is also an opportunity to stock complementary goods...or if you're receiving a tonne of traffic but no sales then perhaps this page of entry can be used as an indicator that you are charging to much...
The bounce rate and point of entry are some of the more popular metrics...but the mere fact that you can get so much detailed information allows a company to do all sorts of cool things...specifically it allows one to reduce the dependence of what Avinash Kaushik calls faith based decisions...
One example would be to run a couple of versions of the same website in a week or over two weeks...changing one or two variables as you go...and seeing which one drives the traffic according to your intentions...be it purchase, content consumption or whatever else...
Finally much broader metrics like devices, geography or the sites that send traffic are all awesome guiders of the effectiveness of your website...If your getting a lot of mobile views but have done nothing to optimize your site for mobile users then this may be an area of improvement...if your selling digital products and geography is not a factor then it is worth while seeing what you can do to drive traffic from far and away places (like have a duplicate site in another language)...and finally by looking into the sites that send you traffic, you be able to do some real world networking or even find areas of relevance that you weren't aware of before...
Of course it should be noted that just like knowledge based organizations...there can be a disconnect between the data and context...in short...in order to make effective use of the data an organization needs to be able to react...something that is much harder for large companies then for the little guy...who is free of functions and silos and massive marketing initiatives...
Again, as has been discussed again and again...context is everything when it comes to social media...and web based analytics are no different...
In answering how we can measure the success of social media campaigns and what to consider when looking and raw numbers it is necessary to create context with some hypothetical scenarios...
For example...the bounce rate refers to the percentage of users that land on your page and then leave without spending any real time on it...a high bounce rate could be a bad thing if your website is content based like a newspaper or blog...having a high bounce rate in such cases likely means that there is some disconnect between how search engines view your site and how the internet user views it...in such a case it basically means that there is some sort of bait and switch as you are not providing what it expected...
However if you have website for an accounting firm or even a dry cleaner...where the name, phone number and address of the company is all that is needed...then the bounce rate is not the best indicator...
Another type metrics with different values is the page of entry...for example if your website is a e-commerce operation and people tend to enter to a page with a specific product then you can use this metric as guidance...maybe you should promote this specific product more then others...or maybe there is a basic or high level version that you could stock but are not...perhaps there is also an opportunity to stock complementary goods...or if you're receiving a tonne of traffic but no sales then perhaps this page of entry can be used as an indicator that you are charging to much...
The bounce rate and point of entry are some of the more popular metrics...but the mere fact that you can get so much detailed information allows a company to do all sorts of cool things...specifically it allows one to reduce the dependence of what Avinash Kaushik calls faith based decisions...
One example would be to run a couple of versions of the same website in a week or over two weeks...changing one or two variables as you go...and seeing which one drives the traffic according to your intentions...be it purchase, content consumption or whatever else...
Finally much broader metrics like devices, geography or the sites that send traffic are all awesome guiders of the effectiveness of your website...If your getting a lot of mobile views but have done nothing to optimize your site for mobile users then this may be an area of improvement...if your selling digital products and geography is not a factor then it is worth while seeing what you can do to drive traffic from far and away places (like have a duplicate site in another language)...and finally by looking into the sites that send you traffic, you be able to do some real world networking or even find areas of relevance that you weren't aware of before...
Of course it should be noted that just like knowledge based organizations...there can be a disconnect between the data and context...in short...in order to make effective use of the data an organization needs to be able to react...something that is much harder for large companies then for the little guy...who is free of functions and silos and massive marketing initiatives...
Web 2.0 and Internal Communications
Every generation is faced with a changing world...but more often then not this change isn't wholesale across the board day to day disruption type of change...
This cannot be said about the evolution of the internet...the advent and rapid adoption of the internet and specific websites has created an environment, where on one hand there is an infinite amount of irrelevant data and information, and on the other hand there are countless people and technologies to assist in providing context that would make such info relevant...of course there is an inherent dichotomy of work and play...For example...by tagging photos in Flickr.com thousands of users essentially organize the content so that others can find it...each individual has there own motivations for doing so...but no one is getting paid and no one has to do it all...
However in business the problem is much the same...but the resources lack greatly...so what to do?
While first I should be clear...the lacking resources refer to the people and not the IT infrastructure...In fact the disconnect between the technology that can store countless pieces of data and information, and the people needed to give it context is where the problem lies...
Because it has been put forth that such information and data and the synthesis of aforementioned can translate into a competitive sustainable advantage, it is the case that academia has taken an interest to this topic.
Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001). Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly , 25 (1), 107-136.
In this paper knowledge is defined in several ways, however it is widely noted that the human mind is the intermediary between information, data and knowledge...And because the human mind is not a shared resource... transferring knowledge to and across an organization is a challenge...
And just as a technology facilitates tagging on Flickr.com once the goals on the knowledge transfer are known (i.e store knowledge, share knowledge) within an organization...IT can be used to ensure that the knowledge base of an organization is utilized in the manner best suited for the firm...but participation must also be incentive...
So why is knowledge management important? How can web 2.0 social media technologies facilitate knowledge management?
Well anything that can be defined as a sustainable competitive advantage is important...and failing to capitalize on this information can be costly (just look as the success and hype surround Salesforce's CRM solutions)...
So social media can really assist in ingraining relevant knowledge into the minds of the employees...For example...think Yahoo Answers...If ones job involves thinking on their feet and the come across a situation where they are uncertain of the best course of action (i.e. get high dollar sale but disappoint loyal customer) by being able to post their predicament on their companies internal network they can source the answer from others who may have have company related knowledge...and once the question is asked and answered it can be ranked sitting there forever more...waiting for someone to ask same question down the road...
Another area where Web 2.0 social media technologies can assist in managing knowledge involves the tried and true problem of functional priorities...Any organization, once it reaches a certain size is going to experience a conflict across departments or functions because the priorities are not aligned and at times unknown...
This can be an issue horizontally...but if priorities are given top down in black and white...then each department knows exactly where they fit in and can act accordingly...take sales and logistics...sales wants to sell and logistics wants to ship cheap and efficient...often times these are mutually exclusive...however should the president explicitly state (knowledge) that given certain data and information the cost of the shipment is a lower priority then the sale...this knowledge is then transferred in a manner that can align both functions...Something like this could be executed via a company blog...
Again, as it appears to be a consistent theme...the types of knowledge and the tools used to transfer are only relevant in a given context...trade secrets may prevent the sharing of knowledge...just a a surge in growth may encourage it...it is therefore best to at the very least be aware of the value of transforming data and information into knowledge and deciding (given specific circumstances) how to best transfer it...
This cannot be said about the evolution of the internet...the advent and rapid adoption of the internet and specific websites has created an environment, where on one hand there is an infinite amount of irrelevant data and information, and on the other hand there are countless people and technologies to assist in providing context that would make such info relevant...of course there is an inherent dichotomy of work and play...For example...by tagging photos in Flickr.com thousands of users essentially organize the content so that others can find it...each individual has there own motivations for doing so...but no one is getting paid and no one has to do it all...
However in business the problem is much the same...but the resources lack greatly...so what to do?
While first I should be clear...the lacking resources refer to the people and not the IT infrastructure...In fact the disconnect between the technology that can store countless pieces of data and information, and the people needed to give it context is where the problem lies...
Because it has been put forth that such information and data and the synthesis of aforementioned can translate into a competitive sustainable advantage, it is the case that academia has taken an interest to this topic.
Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001). Review: Knowledge management and knowledge management systems: Conceptual foundations and research issues. MIS Quarterly , 25 (1), 107-136.
In this paper knowledge is defined in several ways, however it is widely noted that the human mind is the intermediary between information, data and knowledge...And because the human mind is not a shared resource... transferring knowledge to and across an organization is a challenge...
And just as a technology facilitates tagging on Flickr.com once the goals on the knowledge transfer are known (i.e store knowledge, share knowledge) within an organization...IT can be used to ensure that the knowledge base of an organization is utilized in the manner best suited for the firm...but participation must also be incentive...
So why is knowledge management important? How can web 2.0 social media technologies facilitate knowledge management?
Well anything that can be defined as a sustainable competitive advantage is important...and failing to capitalize on this information can be costly (just look as the success and hype surround Salesforce's CRM solutions)...
So social media can really assist in ingraining relevant knowledge into the minds of the employees...For example...think Yahoo Answers...If ones job involves thinking on their feet and the come across a situation where they are uncertain of the best course of action (i.e. get high dollar sale but disappoint loyal customer) by being able to post their predicament on their companies internal network they can source the answer from others who may have have company related knowledge...and once the question is asked and answered it can be ranked sitting there forever more...waiting for someone to ask same question down the road...
Another area where Web 2.0 social media technologies can assist in managing knowledge involves the tried and true problem of functional priorities...Any organization, once it reaches a certain size is going to experience a conflict across departments or functions because the priorities are not aligned and at times unknown...
This can be an issue horizontally...but if priorities are given top down in black and white...then each department knows exactly where they fit in and can act accordingly...take sales and logistics...sales wants to sell and logistics wants to ship cheap and efficient...often times these are mutually exclusive...however should the president explicitly state (knowledge) that given certain data and information the cost of the shipment is a lower priority then the sale...this knowledge is then transferred in a manner that can align both functions...Something like this could be executed via a company blog...
Again, as it appears to be a consistent theme...the types of knowledge and the tools used to transfer are only relevant in a given context...trade secrets may prevent the sharing of knowledge...just a a surge in growth may encourage it...it is therefore best to at the very least be aware of the value of transforming data and information into knowledge and deciding (given specific circumstances) how to best transfer it...
SEO: Can relevance be manipulated
Search is big business. For the little Mom and Pop operations, appearing 2nd in a Google or Bing can really make a difference in the amount of business they receive. Thus there is incentive to ensure that any business scores appears high in the RELEVANT page rankings...
And this is where things get interesting...Google generates billions of dollars a year by producing relevant search results and they also spend a pretty penny ensuring that the results they produce are as close to, if not exactly what users are looking for.
And they are not alone...Microsoft has made aggressive moves in the search game, and services like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp are bringing change to the nature of search.
With billions of dollars at stake it is in the interests of these companies to ensure that the results they produce are organic and relevant. However many businesses, small and large would like the exposure of appearing amongst the top results of a online search, and in many cases the relevance of the company to the search could very well be an afterthought.
With that said, there exists a middle ground...a place where search engines, businesses and searchers can co-exist in harmony...
Once upon a time it was possible to completely game search engines...today that is not the case...simply put search services have way to much to loose by letting the integrity of a search slide...still with some understanding of what makes a page relevant, businesses can take pro active measures to try to put their website in front of potential customers, via search. The following are a few relatively easy and not to technical approaches.
Key words:
While dumping relevant words and not so relevant words in a website is frowned upon by most search engines, ensuring that the right words are placed in the right spot, does nothing but help search engines return relevant results. Here a a few examples; domain name and website title - because you can really only have one domain name and because there is limited space for keywords, it is in the best interest of a website to select the most relevant terms. For instance...it may be tempting to load in some celebrity names in your keywords...as such terms are highly searched...however if these are not relevant to ones offerings then this page is likely to never be seen...so if one is not going to load up there keywords with celebrity names, what should they load up with? The answer is to stack the keywords with something specific, because generally speaking the use of broad terms increases the competition. While the Social Media Bible claims that by using meta tags to identify keywords to the bots that ultimately index the internet, one can boost their search result rankings to the first page, it is obviously not the case. This is because anyone can do the exact same thing and everyone has the incentives to do the exact same thing...so if your using general terms to rank higher and everyone else is as well there are less relevant gains...
So how do you pick the right keywords...Assume that you own a jewelery store located in the city of Toronto and suppose through anecdotal evidence the majority of your sales are gifts...while it might be tempting to enter Toronto, Jewelery, Rolex, Diamonds etc as keywords...you are better avoiding these terms, because there is likely to be intense competition...alternative words that are likely to have less competition are the region of the city (Yonge and Eglinton) and something like "gifts for the person who has everything" or "high end gifts"...while you may miss out on the Rolex Toronto searches (which there is no guarantee for high rankings)...your website will certainly appear high for someone looking to spend some decent money on a gift in your area...it also never hurts to name drop through out the website...If a company has the resources to list the brand and model names of their inventory...then odds are they can rank fairly high as a result of frequent updates and niche information...
Location:
As illustrated with the above example location is a huge part of relevance...In fact some, if not all search engines, automatically consider the searches location in rendering results...but never the less...odds are that location has some relevance to a business...Let's consider a live music venue in the city of Toronto...
By being listed in the relevant online publications and directories, search engines can confirm that the given venue is in fact located in Toronto and does in fact host live music...two features that make it relevant...however search engine relevance is only the beginning...
Consider that the venue is likely to have different bands on different nights...to this end it makes sense to also employ services like Twitter and Facebook, where the venue can share a nightly line up with anyone interested in the venue or the band playing on a given night...while this is technically not SEO...the fact that real time (Twitter) and recommendations (Facebook) are becoming forces in search (not to mention being integrated into the websites) means that these sites will increasingly assist in determining relevance...
Back links:
Perhaps the most powerful tool in determining relevance...back links are those who link to your site... and the more reputable their website the more value the link...for example should the aforementioned jewelry store list in Canpages and Yellow Pages...the a search engine like Google can be relatively confident that they are actually a jewelery store in Toronto that sells what it advertises...if this same store has done something notable enough to generate some press coverage (and a link in s seasonal city shopping guide) then there is further reason to rank high...If for some reason Rolex links directly to the store...then they are likely to score a high ranking in a search for something as competitive as Rolex Toronto...Still it should be noted that this cannot be gamed...it is the quality of the back links and not the quantity that determine the relevance...
In short...while having some idea of how search works can only benefit the rankings...it is no silver bullet...anything that is not organic can be done by the competition and search engines have way too much technology and way too much to loose to allow for the integrity of the search to diminish...
But for most business owners this is good news...you do not need to be a tech wiz to rank high...you just need to be relevant...and odds are that such relevance comes about in your day to day operations and not your online trickery...
And this is where things get interesting...Google generates billions of dollars a year by producing relevant search results and they also spend a pretty penny ensuring that the results they produce are as close to, if not exactly what users are looking for.
And they are not alone...Microsoft has made aggressive moves in the search game, and services like Facebook, Twitter and Yelp are bringing change to the nature of search.
With billions of dollars at stake it is in the interests of these companies to ensure that the results they produce are organic and relevant. However many businesses, small and large would like the exposure of appearing amongst the top results of a online search, and in many cases the relevance of the company to the search could very well be an afterthought.
With that said, there exists a middle ground...a place where search engines, businesses and searchers can co-exist in harmony...
Once upon a time it was possible to completely game search engines...today that is not the case...simply put search services have way to much to loose by letting the integrity of a search slide...still with some understanding of what makes a page relevant, businesses can take pro active measures to try to put their website in front of potential customers, via search. The following are a few relatively easy and not to technical approaches.
Key words:
While dumping relevant words and not so relevant words in a website is frowned upon by most search engines, ensuring that the right words are placed in the right spot, does nothing but help search engines return relevant results. Here a a few examples; domain name and website title - because you can really only have one domain name and because there is limited space for keywords, it is in the best interest of a website to select the most relevant terms. For instance...it may be tempting to load in some celebrity names in your keywords...as such terms are highly searched...however if these are not relevant to ones offerings then this page is likely to never be seen...so if one is not going to load up there keywords with celebrity names, what should they load up with? The answer is to stack the keywords with something specific, because generally speaking the use of broad terms increases the competition. While the Social Media Bible claims that by using meta tags to identify keywords to the bots that ultimately index the internet, one can boost their search result rankings to the first page, it is obviously not the case. This is because anyone can do the exact same thing and everyone has the incentives to do the exact same thing...so if your using general terms to rank higher and everyone else is as well there are less relevant gains...
So how do you pick the right keywords...Assume that you own a jewelery store located in the city of Toronto and suppose through anecdotal evidence the majority of your sales are gifts...while it might be tempting to enter Toronto, Jewelery, Rolex, Diamonds etc as keywords...you are better avoiding these terms, because there is likely to be intense competition...alternative words that are likely to have less competition are the region of the city (Yonge and Eglinton) and something like "gifts for the person who has everything" or "high end gifts"...while you may miss out on the Rolex Toronto searches (which there is no guarantee for high rankings)...your website will certainly appear high for someone looking to spend some decent money on a gift in your area...it also never hurts to name drop through out the website...If a company has the resources to list the brand and model names of their inventory...then odds are they can rank fairly high as a result of frequent updates and niche information...
Location:
As illustrated with the above example location is a huge part of relevance...In fact some, if not all search engines, automatically consider the searches location in rendering results...but never the less...odds are that location has some relevance to a business...Let's consider a live music venue in the city of Toronto...
By being listed in the relevant online publications and directories, search engines can confirm that the given venue is in fact located in Toronto and does in fact host live music...two features that make it relevant...however search engine relevance is only the beginning...
Consider that the venue is likely to have different bands on different nights...to this end it makes sense to also employ services like Twitter and Facebook, where the venue can share a nightly line up with anyone interested in the venue or the band playing on a given night...while this is technically not SEO...the fact that real time (Twitter) and recommendations (Facebook) are becoming forces in search (not to mention being integrated into the websites) means that these sites will increasingly assist in determining relevance...
Back links:
Perhaps the most powerful tool in determining relevance...back links are those who link to your site... and the more reputable their website the more value the link...for example should the aforementioned jewelry store list in Canpages and Yellow Pages...the a search engine like Google can be relatively confident that they are actually a jewelery store in Toronto that sells what it advertises...if this same store has done something notable enough to generate some press coverage (and a link in s seasonal city shopping guide) then there is further reason to rank high...If for some reason Rolex links directly to the store...then they are likely to score a high ranking in a search for something as competitive as Rolex Toronto...Still it should be noted that this cannot be gamed...it is the quality of the back links and not the quantity that determine the relevance...
In short...while having some idea of how search works can only benefit the rankings...it is no silver bullet...anything that is not organic can be done by the competition and search engines have way too much technology and way too much to loose to allow for the integrity of the search to diminish...
But for most business owners this is good news...you do not need to be a tech wiz to rank high...you just need to be relevant...and odds are that such relevance comes about in your day to day operations and not your online trickery...
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Is that "everything" in your pocket?
FORMATTED FOR MOBILE PHONES
Many years ago Mike, George, Nick, Sam and Bob
were walking down a dirt path...
They came to a point where there were several paths
to choose from...
Each decided to take a separate route, occasionally
they would cross paths with one another...
Until one day they all emerged on a single narrow path and
begun to fight to be the first in line...
At which point it became clear that all paths lead to the same place...
in this case the place is the internet on ones phone...
First and foremost there is a paradox embedded in the mobile web...
Screen size and keyboard limitations and processing power demand simplicity...
However, common phone features (GPS)that are not present on desktops demand complexity...
So what does this mean to business...well for starters it means that companies can actually track the physical whereabouts of their customers...for instance...is it possible for BestBuy to inform a mailing list customer of a relevant sale...via their phone...as they walk past the store?
It also allows for a whole new arena of interaction...
Can consumer brands entice potential customers to scan QR codes and actually interact with the product before purchasing it?
Can an upset consumer get instant "public" customer support via Twitter?
The answer to all the questions is yes...and then some...for instance...a customer no longer needs to be consuming content (in front of a screen or on paper) to be hit with targeted ads.
Once again it should be noted that the existence of such technologies does not necessitate the realization of potential...rather each individual company has a responsibility to execute the use of such technologies in a manner that encourages the user actually engage...
Another quick thought...once we in North America can actually purchase items via phones...will Loblaws be able to link a Twitter message to a customer who just purchased some cheesecake? Time will tell...
As a parting gift I will leave you with some cool news relevant to the Canadian telecommunication publishing industry as well as Canadian media...
Shaw recently made some moves towards the purchase of Canwest...for their content!!!...so refreshing to see someone make a move in this market without resorting to complaining to the CRTC...some real strategy is so much cooler then complaining...
heres the real news...Goldman Sachs Surprised by Canwest Sale, National Post Reports...Why Shaw wants a piece of Canwest and Why Shaw wants CanWest
Many years ago Mike, George, Nick, Sam and Bob
were walking down a dirt path...
They came to a point where there were several paths
to choose from...
Each decided to take a separate route, occasionally
they would cross paths with one another...
Until one day they all emerged on a single narrow path and
begun to fight to be the first in line...
At which point it became clear that all paths lead to the same place...
in this case the place is the internet on ones phone...
First and foremost there is a paradox embedded in the mobile web...
Screen size and keyboard limitations and processing power demand simplicity...
However, common phone features (GPS)that are not present on desktops demand complexity...
So what does this mean to business...well for starters it means that companies can actually track the physical whereabouts of their customers...for instance...is it possible for BestBuy to inform a mailing list customer of a relevant sale...via their phone...as they walk past the store?
It also allows for a whole new arena of interaction...
Can consumer brands entice potential customers to scan QR codes and actually interact with the product before purchasing it?
Can an upset consumer get instant "public" customer support via Twitter?
The answer to all the questions is yes...and then some...for instance...a customer no longer needs to be consuming content (in front of a screen or on paper) to be hit with targeted ads.
Once again it should be noted that the existence of such technologies does not necessitate the realization of potential...rather each individual company has a responsibility to execute the use of such technologies in a manner that encourages the user actually engage...
Another quick thought...once we in North America can actually purchase items via phones...will Loblaws be able to link a Twitter message to a customer who just purchased some cheesecake? Time will tell...
As a parting gift I will leave you with some cool news relevant to the Canadian telecommunication publishing industry as well as Canadian media...
Shaw recently made some moves towards the purchase of Canwest...for their content!!!...so refreshing to see someone make a move in this market without resorting to complaining to the CRTC...some real strategy is so much cooler then complaining...
heres the real news...Goldman Sachs Surprised by Canwest Sale, National Post Reports...Why Shaw wants a piece of Canwest and Why Shaw wants CanWest
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