Is your YouTube content usable? A new article from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox outlines some compelling reasons NOT to participate in social networking sites. Research behind "Social Media Outsourcing Can Be Risky" makes the case that:
1. Usability can be harmed. In the article's YouTube examples, inappropriate image thumbnail choices, repetitive features, and poor organization are all culprits. It argues the broader point that the particular interfaces of social network sites may not serve your own site's users in the way that's best for them.
2. Your own users are being trained to go elsewhere for your content. Just as with search engines, the biggest social networking sites win out while your own site is the three-legged dog when users search for engaging or informative content.
The larger argument about the superiority of engaging users on your own website vs. more popular external sites (i.e., social networking sites) is a debatable point, but the idea is worth exploring. After all, website owners can probably all agree that they would ultimately rather see traffic on their own site than on a YouTube page.
What if you still want to use YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, et al.?
Nielsen recommends that you pay attention to the organization and categorization of your content. Using the default templates is NOT the way to go, so customize, customize, customize. Don't expect that your video will get a million views. In fact, according to a recent study by Slate technology writer Chris Wilson, the odds of your video getting even 1,000 views on YouTube in a month's time are 3 percent. Think about usability by writing good titles, descriptions and tags, which can also reap keyword-specific SEO benefits. I would also consider Google's ranking factors for videos.
For Twitter, I would recommend reading C.G. Lynch's "Twitter: How to Get Started Guide for Business People." For Facebook, Rae Hoffman's (Sugarrae) beginner's guide to using it is the best.
Last but not least, being mindful of usability should not prohibit tapping into the power of Internet video or Twitter or Facebook. Just be smart and consider the context.
Photo courtesy of twodolla via Flickr.
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome. »Achieve Email Success with Database Segmentation
Are you ready to take your email marketing program to the next level by driving high-quality opens, clicks, leads? Start segmenting you database. While the process can take time to fully implement, the results you can achieve by doing so will be well worth the wait. Get started today by following these easy steps...
Getting To Know Your Visitors in Google Analytics
Last month in the Fathom Newswire we looked at establishing goals in Google Analytics. Goals are a great way to measure how well your website is converting your visitors to a desired action. This month, let's look at visitor information available "out of the box" that requires no customization.
Google Caffeine Search Update Is Promising
Will Google Caffeine be a delectable treat or an erratic search sensation? I'm thinking we'll like Google's new dish - in time. Google has too much at stake to make a mess of things. Last month, Google called its new index infrastructure a "secret project" (or at least it was a secret) that will be the "next-generation architecture for Google's web search."
Fathom Uses Omniture Search Center to Boost Clients' ROI
As many of our lucky clients already know, we use Omniture Search Center in combination with Fathom Call Tracking. This gives our clients the best pay-per-click reporting with real-time 24/7 statistics. In addition, it gives us the tools we need to efficiently and effectively squeeze the most of out every marketing dollar.
Maile Ohye, Developer Programs Tech Lead at Google, recently covered some frequently asked questions regarding Google News, including News Sitemaps and PageRank.
Other items Maile covers include:
- Google News ranking factors
- Importance of "grouping"
- How Google crawls your news site
- Naming your news organization
Tips for News Search (Google Webmaster Central Blog)
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome. »Do you have a background in advertising or marketing? Fathom is looking for an interactive sales and marketing go-getter with a grasp of Search Engine Marketing.
Our leading Search Engine Marketing firm based in Cleveland is seeking an outstanding Business Development Manager who can add instant success to our thriving sales team. We need someone who excels with presentations and telephone communications, who is highly motivated and confident selling to upper management and business owners.
This position requires the Business Development Manager to meet and exceed aggressive sales goals, as he or she will be measured by daily contacts and generated revenue.
- Motivated self-starter who can hit the ground running in sales
- Proven experience in Search Engine Marketing, preferably opt-in email marketing experience, demand and lead generation
- Knack for identifying a prospective client's true marketing initiative
- Background in advertising and marketing beneficial
- Superb communication skills, with an ability to explain complicated information to a wide audience
- Skill in scheduling, organizing and maximizing all Internet and phone inquiries, turning them in to sales opportunities
- Exceptional organizational skills needed
- Outstanding phone and presentation skills
- Technology savvy
- Excel and PowerPoint experience is a plus
Compensation is based on a generous sales structure. If you think you could bring a new fire and energy to our Business Development Team, send your cover letter and resume to careers@fathomdelivers.com (no phone calls, please). Feel free to check out our Careers page for more information about Fathom.
Fathom (www.fathomdelivers.com), based in Valley View, Ohio, is a leader in ethical search engine marketing and placement, including search engine optimization, online public relations, pay-per-click, opt-in email marketing and online digital video production services.
Good luck and please pass along.
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome. »Rand Fishkin recently posted a nice in-depth look at on-page optimization over at SEOMoz. In the piece, he acknowledged that on-page keyword efforts are only one part of a much bigger SEO picture. Other slices of the SEO pie include time-tested concepts like link-building, site authority, and even something newer called social graph metrics. These slices, or suspected ranking factors, were the result of the latest SEOMoz biennial survey of industry insiders.
The Pie of Search?
What do all these other (speculative) pieces mean for SEO? Let's break it down:
1.) 23.87% - Trust/Authority of the Host Domain
Surprise! Is it 2004? This is SEO 101. "Trust" probably refers to how long the site has been around, as a more established domain has traditionally had an easier time getting rankings than a new one. Another part of the "authority" might relate to how much, if ever, Google has nailed you for cloaking or creating link farms and doorway pages. The guiltier you are, the more likely you'll be exiled from the first page. Still, how many of you readers know of a new blog or other website that was able to go toe-to-toe with more established players for competitive keywords in a relatively short time thanks to good SEO and a little luck?
2.) 22.33% - Link Popularity of the Specific Page
No surprise here. This means the page gets links from other pages. Probably lots of them. Quality over quantity, but quantity does count, at least according to Google's own Matt Cutts (see the excerpted quote in point #2).
3.) 20.26% - Anchor Text of External Links to the Page
Really? Is the year really 2009? Not to say anchor text (the words framing a link--see below) isn't important, but almost as important as link popularity? Anchor text is one of those things that is nice, but I think most people would take a link from a quality site without ideal anchor text over a mickey-mouse link that contains anchor text. For example, I would take a generic link to my employer from SEOMoz any day over a link from my grandmother's website that recommended us as an SEO firm. No offense, Grandma.
4.) 15.04% - On-page Keyword Usage
Use your keywords and use them well. Meta-data, page title, headings, even boldface. Again, if you have no idea how to get keywords on your page and behind-the-scenes in the coding, read Fishkin's piece.
5.) 6.91% - Registration + Hosting Data
This likely means consistency in redirecting multiple domains with mirrored content using the "301 redirect" command. Another matter of consistency could be the use of "www-" vs. non-"www" or domains vs. subdomains and other elements at the directory level.
6.) 6.29% - Traffic + CTR Data
Shocker this number isn't higher. Traffic to a page and how frequently people click on your page once it's in the results should be carrying more weight in the ranking equation. Assuming Google's algorithm is logical, it stands to reason that a web page that earns a first-page Google listing and then promptly takes a traffic dive would have a hard time holding down that top spot. But only 6% for this factor? Child, please! In the name of reason, how many of the 72 people surveyed were sober when these questions were asked?
7.) 5.30% - Social Graph Metrics
This factor may be an extension (or subset) of link popularity. In the hot realms of social media and online social networking, social graph metrics refer to mathematical models that determine hierarchy--and resulting quality of connections/links--in groups. In other words, if you are well-connected to the right people online, then your particular web page is more likely to appear at the top. For more detail on social graphs of online communities, check out Valdis Krebs.*
To get connected online, try Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning, or any number of websites/applications that allow easy sharing and social networking.
Now, to paraphrase the Dos Equis commercials, get out there and stay thirsty for rankings, my friends.
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*Hat-tip to colleague Dominic Litten
Photo courtesy of DigiDi via Flickr.
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