Welcome to the Fathom Blog
News & analysis on digital marketing & analytics
October Webbed Webinar: The Basics of Using Google Analytics for Your Online Marketing Campaign Metrics
Do you know how to take the metrics in Google Analytics and show that
value to your company, executives, or manger? Webbed Marketing
addresses the basics of Google Analytics in a free webinar presented live on Wednesday, October 21. Webbed Marketing discusses how to install the Google
Analytics code and basic feature setup, as well as explains what the
dashboard report really means to you, the user. It can be difficult to
understand the best metric to use to show results from Google
Analytics, and we highlight key factors for determining this,
including traffic sources, quality metrics and trends.
Wait, What? Google and Bing Add Twitter Search Integration
If you missed the announcement earlier today, Microsoft announced that they were bringing Twitter search to their Bing search results. After finally playing with Bing’s new Twitter search results integration – for, oh, 10 minutes – Google announces on their own blog that they too will be adding Twitter updates to their search results. What a coincidence!
From Google:
Given this new type of information and its value to search, we are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.
From Bing:
Because today at Web 2.0 we announced that working with those clever birds over at Twitter, we now have access to the entire public Twitter feed and have a beta of Bing Twitter search for you to play with (in the US, for now). Try it out. The Bing and Twitter teams want to know what you think.
Also from the “not a coincidence” file, both search teams spoke (or will be speaking) today the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. Take that Apple headlines.
RT @google: Tweets and updates and search, oh my! (Official Google Blog)
Bing is Bringing Twitter Search to You (Bing Blog)
Category: Google, Social Media
The Meta-Keyword Tag Still Matters to Yahoo
At Fathom, we’ve always optimized the meta keyword tag. While most search engines – including Google and Bing – have ignored the tag for years, the meta keyword tag has always carried some value because Yahoo! never abandoned it.
Earlier this month, Yahoo! announced that it too had stopped using the meta keyword tag for search results. Web programmers figured that, since the last major search engine had stopped indexing it, the meta keyword tag was finally dead.
Not so fast. Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land recently tested the policy by including a line of gibberish in his site’s meta keyword tag. Sure enough, Search Engine Land now shows up as the top result for “xcvteuflsowkldlslkslklsk” in Yahoo.
Yahoo issued the following statement after they found out about the test:
What changed with Yahoo’s ranking algorithms is that while we still index the meta keyword tag, the ranking importance given to meta keyword tags receives the lowest ranking signal in our system.
Words that appear in any other part of documents, including the body, title, description, anchor text etc., will take priority in ranking the document – the re-occurrence of these words in the meta keyword tag will not help in boosting the signal for these words. Therefore, keyword stuffing in the keyword tag will not help a page’s recall or ranking, it will actually have less effect than introducing those same words in the body of the document, or any other section.
However, when no other ranking signal is present, unique words that only appear in the meta keyword tag section of documents can still be used to recall these documents.
So meta keywords still do matter to Yahoo!. In fact, Yahoo!’s recently updated Help page encourages programmers to optimize the meta keyword tag. Even though the tag now receives the “lowest ranking signal” in Yahoo!’s algorithm, it’s still worth taking a few seconds to fill in 3-5 keywords and possibly giving your page a small boost in Yahoo!.
Google Caffeine – It Makes Me Nervous!
There
has been a lot of chatter recently surrounding the latest change to
Google’s algorithm. While the changes hinted at are nothing earth
shaking, anytime the phrase “algo-change” comes up, people start to
worry.
An algorithm change usually means that search
engine results, rankings and other performance measuring metrics will
get shaken up a little bit. In the world of search engine optimization,
this can be cause for concern.
However, with the proper preparation and a healthy dose of perspective, an algorithm change shouldn’t make you nervous.
To read or download the full Google Caffeine Whitepaper from Webbed Marketing visit www.webbedmarketing.com/GoogleCaffeine.
Google’s Tips for Online Reputation Monitoring & Management
Susan Moskwa, a Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google recently wrote about ways to manage your reputation through search results.
It is great to see Google offering practical tips to people or companies looking to improve their online reputation. As an online reputation monitoring strategist I am encouraged that Google is taking steps to educate their audience on this topic. Reputation management can be a daunting task for any company or search engine marketer looking to repair or improve upon negative publicity.
Susan approaches the problem at hand with three strategies. Here are some additional tips to help with your online reputation management campaign:
Think twice
If you decide to put your information online, it is crucial to determine the right keywords to use. Whether it is the name of a company, product, or individual – the key to success is to remain consistent. URLs for online profiles are typically derived from the user name you select, so be mindful of your final choice. Your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube account can rank right behind your website on a search for your company name.
Tackle it at the source
You noticed a forum post from 2004 ranking #57 on a search for your company name. If you are trying to get this post removed from a site to lower the ranking, the worst thing you can do is reply to the thread. Adding new content to the thread can increase the chance that Google will re-crawl this page and increase the ranking of the forum post. Leave it alone!
Proactively publish information
Be very careful to the way you go about responding to any reputation issues. If not handled correctly, a small campfire can turn into a raging forest fire. Don’t add more fuel to the fire if you can help it. If a blogger is not responsive to your rebuttal of false claims, consider taking the conversation offline with a phone call. Some journalists strive to post controversial topics, but make sure they aren’t denying your right to respond. I have seen a well written response denied by the journalist because they don’t want to cater to the reasoning of the company they slammed. As unfair as it is, it is a reality for a blog that has comment moderation.
Publishing new and positive content across the web is the best thing you can do to improve your online reputation. There are numerous social networks, wikis, article and press release websites that can be used to spread your name and positive image, along with improving your inbound links as entrance points to your website.
View more reputation monitoring articles by Fathom.
Category: Google, Reputation Management
Tweet This Book
There’s a bit of a digital divide in the Webbed Marketing offices- those of us who grew up learning to make phone calls on rotary dials use the term “cell phone” or, if we’re feeling pretentious, “my mobile.”. Those in the younger demographic just say “my phone” and don’t feel the need to add the “cell” or “mobile” modifier. Maybe the phrase “cell phone” is going the route of “digital alarm clock.”
That is, there is an assumption with the workers coming into the ranks now that certain technologies are just part of life. There aren’t cell phones, just phones. There isn’t social media, there is just media. There aren’t online influencers, just influencers.
And of course I can Tweet anything I want.
I would not want to be an intellectual property attorney in the age of YouTube, AdWords, Twitter and all the other forms of online communication that allow consumers to produce content about a brand faster than you can say “cease and desist.” An army of lawyers for Coke could not chase down everyone who has made the “Mentos/Diet Coke” videos. Whether you are Apple, Honda, or the guy that owns a pool cleaning business, there are three truths to the relationship between consumers and your brand:
- There are more of them than there are of you. At least, there sure as heck better be. Even if you have global team of marketers, you are simply outnumbered. The more consumers who love, hate or simply use your product, the more content they create about you online.
- They are faster than you are. If a consumer has a bad experience with your bank, they can blog about it, right now. If your bank wants to respond to the blog post, your marketing writer puts together a response, the marketing VP edits it, your compliance guy approves it and your IT guy tells you he ain’t opening up access to Blogger.com for you to post it anyway. This weekend I was at Kings Island and several times I heard people leaving rides or haunted houses saying, “I’m going to Tweet about that.”
- They are more trusted than you are. Consider this; you want to lose 20 pounds. You can get all kinds of information from various Web sites telling you how great this exercise program is, and that diet is. The brands simply don’t carry credibility with you. Now go search Technorati on the term “PX90” and take a look at all the highly credible bloggers, not to mention real people, saying good things. Who are you more likely to believe?
So aside from volume, speed and credibility, consumers really don’t have much of an edge over brands.
This has all been a very long and winding road to my original inspiration for this blog post. Several team members have attended webinars recently. When they received a follow up e-mail from the webinar, there was a note at the bottom saying the webinar content was specifically for attendees and should not be Tweeted or posted to a social network. I’m still waiting to see the first privacy notice on the bottom of an e-mail saying the contents of an e-mail are meant for the sender only and should not be Tweeted. Will more brands feel the need to expand their existing confidentiality and privacy statements to included social media? Is it necessary? Even if it’s necessary, is it effective?
Search Engine Marketing NewsWire – October 2009
7 Ways to Effectively Expand Your Paid Search Budget
So you have just gotten word that your should expand your pay-per-click budget. Good job! This should mean that you are doing a great job driving return on advertising spend out of the pay-per-click campaign you are managing. This brings up the question: How can I most effectively expand my budget?
Sizing Up The Stats – Benchmarking in Google Analytics
In previous editions of the NewsWire, we’ve looked at how to get the most out of Google Analytics. From establishing goals and drilling down to visitor profile data, there are many ways to refine the data so that you can see how your search engine optimization efforts are impacting your business objectives. At some point you may feel that you have a good handle on where you are, where you’ve been and where you want to go to improve a particular metric. But you are not operating in a vacuum. At some point you might ask yourself, “How do we stack up against the competition?”
Big Changes Coming to Email Deliverability
A recent report has shaken up the email marketing industry and confirmed what many people have suspected for some time now: Top ISPs are now starting to measure the open and click rate of your messages and are using it in conjunction with traditional spam-identifying tactics to grade your overall sender reputation. How will this affect you and what can you do to take advantage of it?
Put Search Engine Rankings in Perspective
It’s easy to get addicted to checking search engine rankings. I don’t think a day goes by when I don’t check rankings for something. And yet, truth be told, companies working with search engine optimization agencies should spend less time focusing on rankings and look more at sales revenue.
Using the Rules of Shot Composition to Improve your Online Videos
Learn the shot composition rules you should be using to enhance the quality of your online video footage. Steve Kozak discusses the rules of shot composition and how they can improve your video footage.
Webbed Marketing 2009 Webinar Series: October
Thanks to everyone who attended the September webinar. This is an invitation to join us for the October 2009 webinar, which will discuss Google Analytics.
"The basics of using Google Analytics for your online marketing campaign metrics"
Do you know how to take the metrics in Google Analytics and show that value to your company, executives, or manger? Webbed Marketing will discuss how to install the Google Analytics code and basic feature setup, as well as explain what the dashboard report really means to you, the user. It can be difficult to understand the best metric to use to show results from Google Analytics, and we'll highlight key factors for determining this, including traffic sources, quality metrics and trends.
This webinar will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 2 p.m. EST.
Those interested can register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/389040210
Look for updates regarding the remainder of the 2009 webinar series, including the November 2009 webinar, at www.webbedmarketing.com/webinars.html.
Fathom Job Opening: Entry-Level Technical Writer
Fathom is searching for an entry-level technical writer with impeccable writing and self-editing skills. Candidates must have an aptitude for understanding technical subject matter. Our preferred candidate has experience writing manufacturing and technical content.
We are looking for a technical writer who is detail-oriented with a go-getter attitude. You must be able to write content that is clear, compelling, persuasive and conversational. Our new technical writer is someone who is a fast-learner and can work with little supervision while producing high-quality work.
Daily activities for this position would include:
- Create new content for highly technical websites
- Optimize existing website content using search engine-specific strategies
- Create press releases for distribution to digital media outlets
- Develop white papers, case studies, guides and articles on various topics
- Write content for opt-in email campaigns, strategic landing pages and pay-per-click campaigns
- Eagerness to learn the Search Engine Marketing industry
Qualifications:
- Associate or Bachelor’s degree (preferred), but professional Internet, marketing, advertising or journalism experience may be accepted
- Excellence in grammar, spelling and English language composition
- Strong attention to detail, with the ability to self-edit
- Experience with natural SEO and online marketing tactics preferred, but training provided
- Ability to adhere to demanding deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Familiarity with Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver and HTML
- Ability to write in a variety of styles on a wide range of subjects
** Qualified applicants will be sent an email questionnaire for further consideration. All in-person interviews will require an onsite writing test. **
Please send your cover letter explaining why you are our ideal candidate along with your resume to: careers@fathomdelivers.com (no phone calls, please).
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.
How Many Twitter Followers Do I Need?
Or, how many Facebook fans does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Pop?
Here’s an old parlor trick of SEO folks from the late nineties. The SEO agency would tell you that they would be happy to be paid on performance and then define “performance” as keyword ranking. They told clients they promised page one ranking on Google for a great term like “big yellow bananas in Tallahasee.” They achieved the ranking. And of course, client’s business didn’t change one bit. And SEOs developed roughly the same ethical image of heroin smugglers.
Then smart SEOs and clients said, “Let’s measure how much business comes from search. Our keywords may be on page one or page two or page five of the search engine results, but what really matters is this: looking at all the traffic that comes from search engines, are we getting more leads, sales, media coverage, voters, donors or members then we were before?”
Then a few years back we all started to realize that we need to pitch bloggers like we pitch reporters. In the day, blogger pitch plans had a crazy number of target bloggers: “We’ll e-mail 200 blogger for $5,000 and 500 bloggers for $10,000.” Then, (and I’d like to think Webbed was one of the first to figure this out) us online PR folks figured out that it’s really dumb and inefficient to reach 500 bloggers, but if we find the three or five or 10 most influential bloggers in any space and build great relationships with them, we have much more successful campaigns.
Now, social media is going through the same evolution in figuring out what to measure. A year ago people just said, “Get me some of that Twitter.” Then we all decided we need to set goals and track success. The easy way to do this is to set goals on number of followers. So, 150 followers is better than 50 and 1,000 is really great.
Well, maybe.
See let’s take it down to the business goal. If Oprah retweets you and drives 500 people to your Web site and you sell a lot of books, that is a great thing- even if she is your only follower. Now let’s say there is this guy John you have never heard of. But John has connections on Facebook with editors and analysts. And on LinkedIn, he’s connected to CTOs from Fortune 500 companies. And on Twitter, he is followed by your Governor. And when John talks about your products and services, your Web site traffic triples and your leads from your site quadruple. That’s what I’m talking about.
The bottom line? Tracking number and types of social media connections is important, but followers and fans don’t make payroll. Stick to the business goals. If social media is driving more sales, leads, media exposure, or whatever your core success metric is, then the program is successful.
