SEO Werkt!

Have you worked yourself to the bone on a video marketing campaign only to see the results fall flat? Do you have a wealth of video content but are unsure how to leverage it effectively to serve your marketing objectives? Can your presence on YouTube be summed as ‘well, we have a channel’?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’re not alone. Getting results through your video marketing efforts can be a challenge if you don’t have the right game-plan. However, you’re in luck! At day 2 of SES New York TopRank CEO Lee Odden moderated a panel discussion with leading industry video marketers.Their stellar tips and insights that can be found below.

Video Marketing Tactics – Mark Robertson

Robertson did an excellent job providing a nice comedic break during the session by showcasing a video that pokes fun at one inevitable truth about audiences: we love cat videos. If you haven’t seen the Catvertising video, take a moment to watch the video below. It’s worth it.

Cats aside, Robertson shared some helpful and often overlooked SEO tips for YouTube that can help your video be found more easily through search.

• Titles-Be sure to include a relevant keyword at the start of the title to help the video be found through search.
• Summary – The summary serves as the meta description in the SERP. Start your summary with your keywords when possible to set expectations with your audience about the content in the video.
• Tags – Per YouTube’s own instructions, include as many relevant tags as possible.
• Playlists -They offer appear in search results and can keep your audience engaged with other relevant videos. Create playlists and include 3rd party content. Per YouTube, a videos ability to funnel traffic to other videos is factored into its search algorithm.
• Close Captioning – When uploading videos, be sure to upload closed captioning. The text from closed captioning is indexed and can help the hearing impaired and search engines find your video.

Applying a Strategic Approach to Video Marketing – Aaron Kahlow (@omconnect)

Video marketing shouldn’t live on an island in your marketing program. To be successful videos can’t be a simple one-off project or after thought. Kahlow encourages marketers to apply their marketing strategies to video and incorporate video marketing as part of a larger holistic effort.

Here are some key strategic steps to apply to video marketing:

1. Determine Your Goal – What marketing objective should it serve. What is the desired outcome of the effort?
2. Identify How to Capture the Video – Should the video have a raw feel that can be captured through a handheld or does the message need to be shared through high-quality video and production.
3. Target an Audience – Who are you targeting with this video? Apply what you know about this audience to dictate how, when and where you promote the video.
4. Leverage Your Brand & Promote Links – Your video should not be a secret. Promote it through other established channels such as: website, blog, email and social.

Video Marketing Case Studies – Greg Jarboe (@gregjarboe)

Making a viral video is a lot easier said than done. Although planning that a video will reach viral status is a dangerous expectation, Jarboe helps break down some of the commonalities that widely successful marketing videos share. Through his research, he found that every video that found a large audience fell into 4 categories.

• Inspiration
• Entertainment
• Enlightenment
• Education

An Example of Inspiration – Positive vs. Negative

Given the current political landscape, one might expect that the Republican candidates vying for the party’s presidential nomination would be gaining a large audience on YouTube. Compared to the number of views and shares for videos promoting President Obama, the Republican candidates’ audience is just a fraction of that of that of the incumbent. Why would that be?

One observation Jarboe noted was the focus of the videos. Whereas 71% of the videos on YouTube by Republican candidates were negative or attack focused, a majority of the videos surrounding Obama have a positive message promoting things like ‘hope’. Interestingly enough, only 10% of Obama’s videos from the 2008 election actually featured Obama himself. The remaining 90% focused on Obama supporters.

The takeaway for a business is that videos that promote a positive message more often inspire sharing. As Jarboe put it, get your audiences thinking about ‘we’ and not ‘you’.

An Example of Education – Consistency is Key

Ray William Johnson is an actor/comedian who reportedly makes over $1 million dollars a year. What makes that so unique is that you’re not likely going to find Johnson on a major network when you’re flipping the channels. Instead, Johnson found his audience through building his presence on YouTube.

Now it should go without saying that Johnson invests time and energy into putting together creative content – and without those funny videos the next point is moot – but one way Johnson has been able to stand out amongst the flood of videos on YouTube is through consistent publishing. Posting new videos twice a week and always at the same day and time, Johnson has taught his audience to expect new content on regular schedule – and he delivers.

 Next Steps

This session packaged information well and when looking at the guidance from a cumulative perspective, there’s a comprehensive plan to glean from these experts. Between incorporating Kahlow’s strategic step, following Jarboe’s guidelines for the type of video that inspires sharing and leveraging Robertson’s SEO tactics, you should have a good action plan to take your video marketing to the next level.

Do you have some expert guidance to share? What video marketing tips would you add?

Stay tuned for more posts from #SESNY, with additional updates on Twitter at: @toprank, @leeodden,@azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Expert Video Marketing Strategy – Spoiler Alert: Cat Videos Included #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

If you’re a marketer with business objectives tied to online conversions, landing pages are likely part of your marketing mix. While landing pages have a proven track record of serving as a lead generation funnel and producing solid ROI, not all landing pages are created equal. Enter the process of testing and refining your landing page in order to deliver maximum result – aka landing page optimization.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Landing Page Tips to Increase Conversions – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Understanding the way that search engines like Google and Bing crawl your sites for duplicate content is not always easy to follow.  What exactly are the rules, and what are the ramifications for not following the rules?

This presentation by a group of industry experts focused on gaining an understanding of how search engines read your content, as well as what steps you can take to avoid penalization for your content.

Peter van der Graff: Redirecting Duplicate Content

We always assume that Google knows best, but is that necessarily true?  According to Peter finding a formula that works 100% of the time is no easy task.  He opened up with a great example “If you have a 301 redirect and you tell Google to go left, they’ll probably go right.”  You could end up implementing a 301 redirect and when you request the location a cached version of the site may still appear instead of the redirect you intended.

As a best practice guide for determining how redirects worked based on your tactic Peter provided a chart similar to the one included below:

Jenny Halasz: Let’s Talk About the Panda in the Room

I really appreciated the way that Jenny (@jennyhalasz) related information in her presentation; from the way Google Panda works to the way Pagerank functions.  Pagerank measures the quality and quantity of links to your website and periodically makes updates based on this information.  Google Panda evaluates the quantity and quality of the content housed on your site and assigns a value to your website or section of your website.  It’s important to note that just because you’ve updated your content, changes will not necessarily be reflected by Google until they update your Panda rank.

301 & 302 Easily Explained

A 301 redirect is comparable to putting a sign in your window that says “we’ve moved” and contains your new address.  A 302 page is similar to putting out a “be back soon sign” which gives visitors no idea where you are or when you’ll return, which can often send your visitors on a wild goose chase trying to find you.

Eric Enge: Syndication & Link Juice

Eric (@stonetemple) shared some very insightful information for content syndication, the do’s and don’ts if you will.  According to Enge if your team is consistently creating great content that can be published on different sites and if they link back to you, this is a great way to begin building additional links.

The Good, Bad & Ugly of Content Syndication

The Good

• Many sites hungry for fresh content
• By providing quality content you can:
  • Build your relationships with other publishers
  • Increase visibility to their audiences
  • Establish yourself as an expert
  • Net your links and social media mentions

The Bad

• Search engines can see duplicate content
• Search engines only want to show one copy

The Ugly

• Search engines MAY show the original author
• But, not ALWAYS
• Don’t get stuck syndicating your content and then not ranking for it!

Multi-Site Solutions for Avoiding Duplicate Site Content

There are best practices associated with developing content for multiple sites.  It’s important to avoid the easy route (a copy and paste) because as we learned during this session there can be some negative effects.  The best practices that were recommended include:

• Develop separate distinct content for each site
• Determine what the focus of each site should be and make them different
  • Who is the target audience: age, sex, preferences
  • What is the topical focus: cheap, premium, best
  • Vary your content style by site
    • Academic
    • Humor
    • UGC
    • Videos
    • News

Now that you know what not to do, does this have you considering your current strategy for managing content across multiple sites?  I for one appreciated the insight provided by this panel as it was easy to understand and provided great direction for which solutions are most highly recommended.  Stay tuned for more #SESNY coverage from our team: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Google Bringing You Down? Tips for Avoiding Duplicate Content & Multiple Site Issues – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

This afternoon I attended the panel presentation titled ” Local Myth Busters – Local Optimization Facts Proven or Debunked” which featured four very knowledgable panelists who provided a great mix of instruction and high level tactics.  This session was very focused on Google Places and finding a way to stand out from your competition.

If you are responsible for local marketing or would like to begin implementing a local/mobile marketing strategy these are some tips you don’t want to miss.  Below I have included what I considered to be highlights from the presentations.

Traditional SEO & Citations: Andrew Beckman (@Andrew_Beckman)

When implementing traditional SEO you’re on the hunt for backlinks.  When deploying a local search strategy you want to populate your “place” data among different channels in a cohesive way.  Citations (or mentions of your business) are key for ranking algorithms from search engines like Google.  How can you determine the value of a particular citation?

• Page rank of the sub domain citation
• Content and keyword density on the page
• Back links to the page
• Frequency of crawl on the sub URL where citation exists

Traditional SEO tactics are becoming a more important signal for local universal results.  When deploying a local strategy its important that you properly optimize the following:

1. URL structure
2. Title tags
3. Internal citation contact info)
4. Targeted phrases in content
5. Back links with anchor text
6. Deep linking to location pages

Categories, Ratings and Reviews, Microdata: Benu Aggarwal (@MilestoneMktg)

Consistency is key when optimizing local pages and listings across the Internet.  According to Benu the 7 most important fields to optimize include:

1. Site URL
2. Categories
3. Business details
4. Reviews on third party sites
5. Ratings on Google Places
6. Photos and videos
7. Events and coupons

User generated content in the form of reviews can have a very positive or negative effect on a company place page.  Don’t think that reviews have a significant impact?  Reviews can affect your content in the following ways:

• Encourages user interaction
• Supplies fresh content to search engines
• Reviews signal trust to search engines
• Enables users to recommend your business on any channel

Mobile vs. deskptop ranking factors: Jeff Cambbell (@CJeffCampbell)

Optimizing your business for local search can be a lot of work all in its own.  On top of that you also have to consider the fact that many of your customers are using a mobile device to find your information.  There are some attributes specific to mobile search which include:

• Users must be in close proximity to the location in order to effectively interact
• The completeness of your Google Places page is essential (especially for those using Google Maps on the iPhone)

According to Campbell there are very strong correlations between rankings in Google smartphone search results.  By properly optimizing your place page you will encourage more repeat visits.

Key Takaways

1. Optimize your place profile
2. Find out relevant unique categories
3. Optimize content on your website social network links
4. Facilitate your customer in leaving revewis on your site and third party sites
5. Optimize and maximize your use of photos and videos for Google Places
6. Consider the device your customers are using

What do you think?  Have you fully maximized the use of  your Google Places page as part of a local strategy?  What have you found has worked really well, and what hasn’t?  Be sure to follow us for information during the conference: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Is Your Local Optimization Landing You New Customers or Leaving Them Lukewarm? – #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com

Perhaps he is writing some last minute jokes before his keynote?

There could not have been a better way to kick off #SESNY than a morning keynote from Avinash Kaushik (@avinash).  It didn’t matter if speakers had last minute slides to create or attendees stayed out until all hours, everyone made sure they were there.

This is the second time I’ve seen Avinash and he does not disappoint.  He presents the perfect combination of tactical tips and humor that both entertains and educates the crowd.  I’d like to share with you our readers the 7 things that I learned this morning from Avinash.  I hope you find them as useful as I did.

7 Things Avinash Taught Me About Optimization at #SESNY

1. If you’re only optimizing for a small group of people you are missing out.  Hyperfocus on a small select group of people can hinder your ability to focus on the larger group as a whole.
2. Identify both the micro and the macro conversions.  It’s important to understand the small picture as well as the big picture, and more importantly how they work together.
3. Focus on a more broad scale.  Relying only on one metric makes it difficult to have a clear and holistic picture of the situation.
4. Your salary should be based on the economic value you deliver to the business.  If your team is only focused on metrics that do not affect the companies profitability or bottom line, maybe it’s time to implement a new process.
5. Figure out how to move past the 2% because all it does is deliver short-term value.  Measuring clicks and visits is not enough, determine the value of the interaction.
6. Optimize for revenue and value.  It doesn’t matter Doesn’t matter if you are a B2B or B2C company, you can identify the goals that you want to deliver and determine value for the company.
7. The best things you can do when participating in multiple channels: understand, test, be less wrong.

Two Important Steps Every Online Marketer Should Take

 #1 – Understand how You Are Doing Today

Many online marketers assume that each of their tactics are in a silo, or don’t work together.  The issue that we run into with web analytics is that many times we cannot see or do not look at all of the data.  Having a deep understanding of how particular channels of promotion or tactics are working currently will set the stage for creating a more aggressive and educated campaign.

 #2 - Apply An Optimal Attribution Model

If multiple touch points are required to win or keep customers it is essential that your team is aware of what steps led to the desirable actions.   Don’t fall into the trap of following the Make Crap Up (MCU) model which is based soley on current data and not actual impact on the business.  There are many variables to consider with a customized model.  When it comes to attribution the best we can do is apply, understand, and test each action and measure the outcome.

What did other attendee’s think of Avinash’s presentation?

@TinaMBean – Fantastic, exuberant, funny, and invigorating keynote by @avinash at #SESNY #BRAVO!!!

@Tozehnder – This guy is awesome: Data Visualization with @avinash Kaushikhttp://youtu.be/QIyYiegBTCA #SESNY #video

@beebow – rather than obsess about technologies, obsess about digital outcomes for your business @avinash #SESNY

@thomcraver -  Unit volumes are a function of Market share times Market Size. Most of us forget that. @avinash #sesny

What part of this presentation had the biggest impact on the way you look at measuring results?  Which tactics do you believe you should focus on?  As a reminder we will be tweeting and networking throughout the event: @toprank, @leeodden, @azeckman, @bslarsonmn.

Gain a competitive advantage by subscribing to the
TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
7 Lessons Learned About Business Optimization from Avinash Kaushik at #SESNY | http://www.toprankblog.com