Esther C Kane

Yesterday I received in my email box an article from a client. His company offers executive recruiting services and he’s very much on top of his company’s marketing campaign. Which is great! Anyway, he sent me an article about Google + and their new project.

Basically, Google is now adding information from your Google + account onto your search result pages.  This will only work if you’re signed in to your Google account while you’re doing your searches.  The article read, “The change is live now, though not everyone will see it until it fully launches over the next few days.”  So, this morning I opened my computer and guess what I saw???

How Does This Google+ Thing Affect Your SEO Campaign?

The answer to this depends on who you speak to.  I mean really, we can all try to predict what every political candidate will do based on what they say but the truth is, no one knows what they will actually do until they’re in office.  So, no one really knows what’s going to happen to SEO with the implementation of Google+ integrated into their search results.  But, it doesn’t mean you should do nothing.  After all, not voting shouldn’t be an option.

Okay, so, to the what, how and why.

1) Google+ is a social network.  It’s Google’s version of Facebook and Twitter.  The idea of integrating Google+ into search results is twofold, in most opinions.  For one thing, it’ll help Google to boost their Google+ program.  Second, they are following the study by Nielson that 90% of people trust their friends when it comes to referrals or recommendations.  So, it makes sense that if you’re searching for a tire shop and your friends have recommended a tire shop on their Google+ then guess what, that particular tire shop (or shops) will show up on your search results.  (Of course, only if you’re signed in to your Google account).

2) So, I’ve been talking about search engine rankings for a few years now, saying how irrelevant they have become and that the only true measure of a successful Internet marketing campaign is the traffic and of course, the conversions through a website.  But this new Google+ feature, pretty much ends any argument that rankings have any importance anymore.  So, don’t focus on where you find yourself on a search result.  It’s all about the traffic and the sales that come through from that traffic.

3) eConsultancy did a great article, basically an interview of several SEO superstars (we can call them that, can’t we?)  You’ll see that there are varying views on the implications of Google’s new move on search results.  What I concluded from it is that Google+ is important, but the effects are yet unknown.

4) I can’t help to think though that social networks like Facebook and Twitter are mostly used just for that, “social” and not really for business.  Although certainly there is no reason for businesses to avoid them.  They really have to embrace them these days.  But, again, do I mix my friends with my business partners on my social networks?  Not really.  I would rather not.  After all, my life is not all business.  I mean, do I really want my business partners to know that I am a complete Gleek and that I love westerns and sci fi movies?  (Well, now they know).  So, what’s the answer?  I really don’t know at this point.

What Should You Do With Google+ And Your Business

My personal recommendation, as someone who has been doing SEO for 12 years now (OMG, can’t believe it’s been that long) is the same as I’ve had for facebook and twitter.  Integrate them, if you can, into your business marketing model.  I don’t know if Google+ per say will be a huge effect because the bottom line is that by 2014 the majority of Internet users will be on mobile units.  That means tablets and smart phones.  So, how many of those are signed in to Google?  That’s the real impact, I think.  If 80% of your potential customers will be coming to your site via their smart phone and they’re not signed in to a Google account then Google+ means nothing to you.  (Well, 20% is nothing to sneeze at either, but you know what I mean).

I think the real “take away” here is that social media is not going away, ever.  If you own a business and you’re marketing on the Internet then you HAVE to integrate social media into your marketing campaign.  The reality of this statement though is that you cannot really outsource social media.  I mean you can, there are companies that will do it for you, but they don’t know your business like you do.  You don’t want ghost writers writing about your company.  So, take the time to do it yourself or have someone within the company do it.  Or share the responsibility amongst several people in the company.  It’s that important, it really is.

I’m often accused (and rightly so) of being nerdy and geeky and some of that is because I know the “lingo”. In other words, I know what Klout is and I use Hashtags in my tweets and I love Widgets. I only know these and more because I read about them often and I’m sure if you read the same things that I did you would be just as nerdy and geeky as well. (Not sure if that’s a good thing or not).

Anyway, my business coach sent me this great link with descriptions of 120 social media terms that you might not be familiar with.

So, take a look, see what you’re familiar with and any that you may not be familiar with, take a moment to learn about it. Who knows, you just might like it!

I tell everyone I know (and my hairdresser can attest to it) that the proof is always in the pudding. I mean, political candidates can say anything they want, but it’s what they’ve done in the past that really counts – that’s who they really are. I mean, studies and research are great but it’s important to know the details otherwise, it’s just a bunch of numbers put together to give the reader a skewed report.

So, needless to say, I am a bit empirical in my thinking – I like proof and I mean reliable proof, not just what someone said or wrote.

BUT – with that being said, I found an interesting study online today about how smart phone users are interacting with retailers. Now, although the study gives me percentages, what it doesn’t give me is the number of responders to the study. So, for all I know, only 10 people were “researched”. So I say, take these numbers with a grain of salt. But, what I liked about the article is that it did get me thinking about how small business retailers should be thinking about their Internet marketing when it comes to smart phone users.

So, to summarize this study…

1)  43% of smart phone users have installed a retailers app on their phone.

2)  But only 14% of these users actually used the app.

3)  78% of smart phone users check prices of the product and then buy it from another store.  My husband does this all the time.  He’ll be at Best Buy or Frye’s and stand right in front of a product he’s thinking of buying, pull out his smart phone, find that same product somewhere else or somewhere online, and make the purchase right then and there (if it’s online) or just get in his car and go to the other store to buy it.

4) The types of products that smart phone users do this “price check and buy elsewhere” thing are…

So, what does this all mean?  Well, if the numbers are significant, I mean if they researched 5000 people then it’s a study certainly worth looking at.  As a retailer, what can you do when someone is standing in front of a product in your store and checking prices elsewhere?  Can you match the price?  Can you offer free shipping?  Or maybe some bonus product?

Think about it – you may end up having that customer walk out of your store with an item vs. empty handed.

Have you heard of Google’s experiments with a driverless car?  Frankly I thought many had but as I speak to people about it they all are surprised so I thought I would just stop assuming and go ahead and write about it.

So, the story goes that Google created and has been experimenting with a car that completely drives itself.  They’ve tested it in the desert and also in San Francisco – here’s some more in depth information about the project.

And here’s the video so you can see it for yourself.

So, can you imagine the impact of this technology? If it happens within the next 20 years I’ll be able to take full advantage of it. I mean, as it is now, I have trouble driving at night so this would be a GREAT benefit for me. I wouldn’t have to rely on others to drive or cancel the even entirely just cause I can’t see well enough.

And what about those who are completely blind? They’ll be able to travel completely independently – it’s just an amazing concept. For those who are physically disabled, they won’t have to get specially equipped vehicles to accommodate a lost limb.

On the other hand – it’s always a bit frightening when a company contributes so much to the planet – I just can’t help but think of Terminator consequences. Let’s hope Google knows what they’re doing and how they manage the distribution of this amazing technology.

I have a friend who is quite computer and Internet phobic.  For whatever reason, she keeps coming up with a million reasons as to why computers and the Internet are just not good for her or for society.  We had a discussion recently where she expressed her thoughts that texting and communicating via the Internet is not really communicating.  People need to get on the phone and talk or meet and talk.  That’s TRUE communication, she said.

I disagreed and said that for me, and for many others that I know, social media and the Internet has brought me much closer to others.  I mean, there are people that I communicate with daily, sometimes several times a day without speaking a word to them.  I text, I Twitter and if I have something to say to alot of people, I Facebook as well.  The idea is that I know more about what is going on with my friends daily than I ever did.  I know what they’re doing, what they’re thinking, how they’re feeling.  Yes, we still do talk but now, when we talk, we spend that time exploring more deeply what’s been going on in our lives – it’s more intimate and less superficial.

What do you think?

I was reading this article from Forbes.com – written by Duncan Heath – and a quote from it struck me.

“Mobile internet usage is set to overtake desktop Internet usage by 2014, and what’s more, the way people use their mobile devices to browse is very different.  This represents a colossal threat and concurrent opportunity for Internet marketers, and it is only those that can truly appreciate how the Internet will be consumed via these various new mobile devices that will prosper.”

So, as long as you believe that we will still be around after 2012, then as a business owner (and website owner) you should know what needs to be done to your website to keep it up front and center in the Mobile Internet world.  Here are some tips that the article pointed out.

1) Since typing out search queries on a mobile unit is more time consuming than on a traditional keyboard, the thought is that users will be typing in less words.  So, that means shorter keyword phrases.  Which, as we all know, are more competitive.  This means that in order to compete for shorter keyword phrases the site will have to have more information and more incoming links from social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.  Yeah, I know, more, more, more.

2) BUT – (there’s always a “but”) – voice search is also gaining ground so it may just be that users of Mobile Internet will opt more for voice search instead of typing their queries.  The idea here is that people use longer phrases with voice SO, this means that it may actually work to the benefit of the website owner to market for longer keyword phrases to match what the user is saying.  If an analytics program could capture those voice searches, that would be an excellent way to find those phrases to market for.  We’ll have to see.

3) It may also be easier for Mobile Internet users to search via a program like Google Goggles which allows them search via images.  This means that it’s important that all the images on a website, everything from bullet images to larger images must be optimized for the keyword phrases on the pages they are on.  In truth, if your website has been optimized this should have already been done.

4) If you’ve been waiting to get into the social media marketing venue, you can’t afford to wait anymore.  91% of Mobile Internet usage is on social media programs (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)  If your customers are there, you need to be too.  In addition, you must begin to learn how to engage with your customers.  The days of just “advertising” your product / service are gone.  Forget Mad Men, those days are not coming back.  Marketing today is much more interactive, it has to be.

5) Mobile Internet users are more likely to use or buy from you much sooner than a Desktop Internet user.  How does this information impact what you say on your website?  Will you offer some kind of “special” to mobile users?  Maybe you’ll create an app just so they can keep in touch with you?  I’m really not sure. If you have any creative ideas, let me know.

So, don’t wait for the train to leave the station.  Get your tickets now and start thinking about how you and your business can benefit from the Mobile Internet.

So, today is November 11, 2011 (aka 11/11/11) – there are numerologists and many others out there wringing their hands in anticipation of what will occur today.  I thought I’d come up with 11 reasons or ways myself…

1) If you consider yourself to be a Nerd (I am one for sure!) then 11/11/11 is your Nerd New Year!

2) Because you deserve to give yourself a treat every now and then and 11/11/11 is now!  Take a break at 11:00 am.  It’s called Elevenses.  It’s a mid-morning refreshment such as tea and biscuits taken around 11am.

3) Celebration is all about acknowledging the extraordinary in the ordinary.  In other words, what’s special about an ordinary day or event or person (is there such a thing as an ordinary person?)  Anyway – turn a mundane task you have to do today and make it extraordinary.  Instead of just vacuuming – dance while you vacuum.  Instead of just driving to work, crank up the CD and sing out loud!  Smile when others stare at you!

4) The number 11 is symbolic of sensitivity and intuition.  Celebrate today by trying to be both.  Sensitive to the needs of others and intuitive enough to know how to act in a manner that makes others feel extraordinary.  We all love to receive that gift.

5) Make a list of 11 things you would love to do or have today and go for it.  Consider it today’s bucket list.  My list is…
1) Get up early and post a blog (I rarely have time for that)
2) Spend lunch with a friend (I’m usually working during lunch)
3) Watch a rerun of a Glee episode and sing and dance with them.  (I’ll be alone of course)
4) Wear my favorite outfit.
5) Lay down in the backyard for 30 minutes and watch the leaves fall from the trees.
6) Spend an extra hour with my husband tonight after dinner (instead of going back to work)
7) Eat Cocoa Puffs for breakfast
Call my mom in law (cause I love her so much)
9) Get to bed before 1 AM!!!
10) Listen to my favorite playlist all day while working
11) Avoid watching TV news (I don’t need to know Joe Smith’s opinion about anything)

6) Spend some extra time with your pet(s).  Most of us are so busy with our daily activities, our pets end up just following us around hoping for a minute or two of affection.  Your pet will love you and YOU will love you too!

7) If it’s just a little cool where you live, throw some wood in that fireplace tonight just because!  There’s nothing like a firepit or fireplace fire to relax you.

Treat yourself and hire a maid to clean your house before Thanksgiving.  One less series of activities to do and you’ll be contributing to your local economy.

9) Contact someone you haven’t spoken to for a while.  Call them, text them, email them, whatever.  Just take some time to do it.  How many times do we go to bed at night and think, “Damn, I meant to talk to so and so today!”

10) Begin reading that book you’ve been talking about or thinking about reading.  I’ve been telling myself I’d like to read Harry Potter (I’m probably the only person on the planet who hasn’t read it or seen the movies) and I just never seem to get around to it.

11) Celebrate 11/11/11 just cause it’s 11/11/11.  In reality, you should celebrate every day.  When my husband and I were living together very early in our relationship, I took out the fine china I had for a dinner on Thursday.  I set the table as if company was coming.  My husband wanted to know why and I said, “Cause it’s Thursday.”  it doesn’t matter, just celebrate!!

Well, it was just a matter of time I suppose.  “Earlier this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the .XXX top-level domain. The new .XXX top-level domain is expected to be big business for domain registrars and of course the entire adult entertainment industry.” (Original Article)

Basically, to business owners this means that someone can purchase your domain name with .xxx after it.  It may not turn out to be harmful at all  (to your business I mean) but if you’ve worked hard to brand your business name, do you really want it associated with an “adult entertainment” industry?

If you are concerned about this and want to “block” others from purchasing your domain name.xxx then purchase it yourself.   GoDaddy has a page set up just for that.

I know, it’s at least $100.00/year – it sucks.  What can I tell you?  The price of doing business just went up a bit!  But if it’s worth it for you to keep your name out of that XXX industry, then do it.  You won’t be sorry.  Cause, if someone does purchase it, it’ll cost you much more than $100.00 to get it back.

These days, almost everyone is looking to save money.  Doesn’t matter if it’s a family or if it’s a business – the goal is the same.  Spend less.  Or at the very least, get a higher Return on Investment (ROI).

So, if you spend $10.00 you at least want to get more than $10.00 worth back.  How can you do that with SEO, Internet Marketing?  I’m going to tell you and I’m going to give you some true life examples of it working (just in case you think I’m making it up).

AdamsLaw4Men.com
We’ve been providing internet marketing services for this website for years.  It has been a struggle, to say the least.  Why?  Well, basically, the client is non cooperative.  It’s almost impossible to market a website that doesn’t change.  There’s just no two ways about it – internet marketing companies can promise you the sky and the moon but if you don’t add new information to the website at least several times a year, you’re basically screwing yourself.

So, in July I just got so tired of repeating myself that I went ahead and added some new information to the website about child support and child custody.  Just some generic information based on keyword research.  Basically, matching what the clients are looking for with information on the website.

The result was that in September the traffic increased 60% and the #1 keyword phrase that was bringing in that extra traffic?  “Child custody”.

As for conversions, they increased as well, not as much as I would have liked to see but then again, I’m not monitoring calls coming into the business so I truly don’t know how many clients may have been obtained.

Now, the client is paying the exact same amount every month for Internet marketing.  Do you think he got a better ROI for September?  Duh! (Can you tell I’m frustrated?!)

BarnestreeFarm.net
This website belongs to a wonderful client who is struggling to understand this “whole Internet thing”.  He’s busy with his business and he really doesn’t have time to write, plus he just doesn’t feel comfortable doing it.  That can be said of many business owners.  But when this happens, I encourage the client to then get someone else to write it.  At the very least, they can write the entire page and all the owner then needs to do is edit it.

Anyway, back in February I asked an Intern to add some information to the website about the different evergreen trees the client sells.  He did, we added about 3 new pages and at least one paragraph to each existing page dedicated to evergreen trees.

The result?  Traffic increased 74% in April, and increased another 30% in May.

As for conversions, they tripled in April, increased 50% in May and has remained at that higher rate ever since.  And the keywords that are bringing in those visitors and clients?  Yep, you guessed it, the keyword phrases of the specific evergreen trees we added but NOW, the website has even more information about evergreens so it’s also getting alot more traffic for generic phrases like “types of evergreen trees”.

Again, the client pays the exact same amount for Internet marketing every month yet his ROI increased significantly.

In both these examples not only did the traffic increase, but the conversions increased as well.  So, the bottom line is they received more traffic, more sales, at no extra cost.  I’m no wizard at math, believe me, but I can certainly understand that paying the same amount and getting better results is Positive!

Add info to your site, believe me, it’s the best, cheapest marketing tool you have.

Succeeding in Internet Marketing or SEO involves a variety of activities – there’s no ONE magic task or program that works.  Like any other marketing, it involves a team effort.  The “team” being the following…

1) Content

If you’ve done any Internet marketing in the past you may have heard the term that “Content is King”.  Basically, when it comes to the Internet, “content” (also known as words) rule the roost.  The reason for that is because that’s how communication takes place on the Internet (for the most part).

What I mean is that the Internet is basically a collection of machines.  Machines that follow rules set up by programmers.  Machines that “read words”.  Those words being the words that are typed in to the search engines and the words on website pages.

If you’re searching for “davie fl dentist” you will get websites that have the words “davie fl dentist” as well as phrases that the search engines think are related (like “ft lauderdale dentist”, etc.).

So, the game then is to find the keywords that people are typing in and then putting those phrases on the website pages where they need to be (according to the rules made by those programmers).  When that happens, then the search engines can match the search with the website.

Of course, there are 200 rules and just putting words on a page is not enough but it’s the basics and it’s where every single website owner who is marketing their website must begin.  Otherwise, all the other rules won’t make a difference.

2) Conversion

There are many websites out there that bring in visitors, lots and lots of visitors.  But, what’s the point of all those visitors if there are no sales or if the conversion of visitors to customers is very low?  If your website was a storefront and all you got were lots of visitors but very little or no sales then all you would end up with is a very dirty floor in your store.

So, once the visitors start coming to your website, you want to know…

a) where are they going?

b) what are they doing on each page?

c) what are they searching for?

d) are they doing what you want them to do on each page?

Internet marketing involves analyzing these factors on each website page every month to find out how can those pages be tweaked, how can the conversions be better?

Ignoring this part of Internet marketing means that all the hard work you put into optimizing your website will just stay shelved.  In other words, all that hard work won’t work.  Why?  Because optimizing the website, adding content, researching the keywords, all of that is to please the search engines’ rules.  All of that is to help the search engines to find your website.  But to convert customers, now you have to please them.  So, navigation through the site, helping the customers find what they’re looking for easily, all that is a vital part of converting those visitors into customers and increasing your sales.

3) Collaboration

Oh, if I had a dollar for every client I’ve managed who just wants to hire me to market their website and they don’t want to be bothered – I could get myself a very nice expensive bottle of wine.  (And believe me, I need that wine after arguing with these clients!).

I know, I know – you look at shows like Mad Men and you see how clients just walk in and the “team” of advertisers presents them with ideas and does all the work for them.  Creating billboards, television commercials and newspaper advertisements, etc.   Yeah, that works great with traditional marketing but Internet marketing is way too liquid for that.  Internet marketing changes every single day (at least it should).

Here’s what I mean…

I have a client who is a local dentist.  I have been begging her to send me information about her practice for almost a year now.  She has a website but it only has the most basic information on it.

Recently, I did a little search for her on some local programs like Yelp and Foursquare, Facebook, etc.  Anyway, I found several coupons and other “service specials” on those sites.  Now, why didn’t she send me that information?  When I asked her – she said she didn’t think of it.  Even though I’ve asked many times.  Somehow, the connection is just not getting through.

Whatever is happening in your business, it has to show on the website as well.  Otherwise, it seems as if the website is abandoned (and to the search engines, if the website is abandoned, then the business must be also).

In Conclusion

So, to have a successful Internet marketing campaign and get your moneys worth from the marketing you’re paying someone to do (if that’s what you’re doing) – add content to your site on a regular basis, study the conversion research and collaborate with your webmarketer.  Believe me, it’s worth your while!!