01 Jun
Content Marketing and Small Businesses Win with Google's Latest Algorithm 'Panda'
by Jannice Almansur -
This is great news for small businesses and content marketers. The team here at Redberry Website Design have been praising the value and benefits for small businesses to develop and implement a consistent high quality content marketing strategy.
We have repeatedly sang the praises of content marketing as being uniquely well suited to small businesses because it is budget friendly - does not take a large investment. In fact, many techniques are DIY; It also removes barriers between you and your community and is shared with friends, family, relatives, colleagues (your community). Being an expert resource within a niche (you do one thing and you do it well) meas that you have many great tips, insights and strategies to give to your prospective clients and existing customers.
Taking the steps to create, share and promote this information through your website's blog and other social media sites is the essence of content marketing and now Google is rewarding your efforts with higher authority search results. Take a moment to read this article below that I found today on HotFrog.com. The author has done a good job explaining exactly what the changes to the Google algorithm mean to all small businesses.
Google's latest major algorithm change puts emphasis on quality content
Google's recent 'Panda' update changed radically the way the world's most powerful search engine indexes and ranks websites. The good news is that Google now respects 'higher-quality content'; the question is just what does that mean for small and medium-sized businesses?
In April 2011, Google - the world's most influential search engine – amended the way it ranks websites in all English-speaking countries with an algorithm update called ' Panda '. Unless you follow search marketing blogs and news you may well have missed this story, but it is vitally important – and beneficial – to the online marketing of small and medium-sized businesses everywhere.
What Panda did was clamp down on so-called 'content farms', content-heavy sites that featured high up on search engines purely on the strength of their text-based content and links. Most of these easily-findable sites are designed to generate ad revenues from page views but the relevance of their content to the average surfer is often limited and leads them to leave the site to look elsewhere for what they really wanted to find. Sites regarded as content farms have seen their visibility hit significantly by Panda while other sites – particularly those with comments and interaction on them – saw their domain visibility increase. An early indication of the early winners and losers can be found on the Searchmetrics blog.
Panda: It's not all black and white
Many of the 'quality content' sites that saw their search engine visibility increase were newspapers' online editions. For marketers this is significant, as coverage from one of these sources will often include a link back to their company website, which post-Panda carries even more weight than before.
This is great news for marketers and their search engine optimization (SEO) strategies as it means that, so long as they continue to follow SEO best practice, they stand a better chance of their content being found on search engines. Marketers can continue doing what they should be doing anyway, which is creating compelling, optimized content that engages target audiences wherever they are in their buying cycle and that can be easily shared on social networks. Given that length of time people stay on a site is also taken into account, it is essential to draw readers further into the website with more intuitive and insightful content.
Perfect your content marketing strategies
Now that Google has done small and medium-sized businesses a favor by punishing content farms' visibility, organizations need to perfect their content marketing strategies to make the most of the changes.
This means not only creating great content - such as blog posts and how-to guides, video and audio content on your own website - but also seeding content around the Web to help it be seen and shared even more. This strategy should include things like posting presentations on Slideshare, uploading informative and shareable video content to video sites such as YouTube or Vimeo (which were classed as 'winners' post-Panda), and sharing content on social networks such as Twitter.
Organizations are often unaware of the great content they already have lying around in folders: presentations from events, reports, white papers. Why re-invent the wheel if you already have a stack of great intellectual property to share already? Think about an editorial calendar and creating content that matches the needs of your different demographic of target audience.
To be effective at SEO and content marketing in general, small and medium-sized businesses need to work out which keywords and phrases they need to focus on and generate relevant, compelling and easily-sharable content around those keywords and phrases. A basic introductory course from an SEO marketing specialist will be money well spent here if you're unsure how SEO works. If you're successful it will pay back in terms of search visibility, traffic and – ultimately – new business. Make sure you track the performance of your keywords on Google – as well as Bing and Yahoo – over time so that you can see which keywords and phrases you need to focus your content marketing on.
Marketing managers should familiarize themselves with Google's own guidelines on how to improve the search visibility of their own website. Google Panda has done small and medium-sized businesses everywhere a favor by punishing content farms, the challenge now is to create that great content that will make the most of the opportunity.
Disclaimer: The 'winners and losers' statistics blog was created by Searchmetrics, a client of the author.
Chris Lee is managing director of London-based online PR consultancy Planet Content . He is also a social media trainer , speaker and contributor to the University of Westminster's New Media Knowledge digital resource
Use this link to read the original post from HotFrog.com.>> http://www.hotfrog.com/sbh/guides/googles-algorithm-puts-emphasis-on-quality.aspx?m=56f19e38-7421-4d41-a7e0-2455dbd9e611
Use this link to read the original post from HotFrog.com.>> http://www.hotfrog.com/sbh/guides/googles-algorithm-puts-emphasis-on-quality.aspx?m=56f19e38-7421-4d41-a7e0-2455dbd9e611
14 Jan
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING IS...
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING IS...
by Jannice Almansur -
Uniquely well suited to small businesses budget friendly - does not take a large investment in fact many techniques are DYI. Removes barrios between you and your community. It is with friends, family, relatives, colleagues (your community). Being an expert resource within a niche (you do one thing and you do it well).
Conversational marketing is...
Marketing via online social media sites
- No cost for entry (they are free...sign-up and get started today)
- Topical relevant (extreme growth in user subscriptions: multi generational, ethnic, gender)
- Most relevant and popular (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogs i.e. Blogger and Word Press)
- Easy to use no special skills required
- Real-time - interactions (two-way communication) A two-way interaction
- No location barriers
- Helps you drive qualified traffic back to your website.
Conversational marketing is...
Affordable and powerful with real measurable outcomes
As smaller organizations that do not have huge budgets that they can just throw money at every approach out there and see what sticks, it needs to be an effective budget friendly approach. Even choosing to work with a professional company to set-up sites, develop and manage strategy and maintain communities are affordable to most small budgets. If you can't currently make investments, DIY options are plentiful, there is information everywhere on the web to help with most aspects of getting your business on the right track.
Conversational marketing is...
Helpful, educational, entertaining, relevant (timely)
The concept of marketing by real time two-way interactions allows you to capitalize on your expertise and passion about your subject. Instead of spending your time trying to attract clients by shouting at them with ads, you can engage them by providing what they need most...Help to get something done and education on how to do something, or even just by entertaining them or engaging them in relevant topical events.
Conversational marketing is...
Smart and requires planning and strategy
Conversational marketing is research, discovery, planning, strategy and implementation. This means that it is not a quick fix. You need to be in it for the long haul. With the exception of those of you that consider "Writer", "Video Producer", or "Spoken Word Artist" your profession, it will not be easy, but it will be worth it in the long run. Through this approach you will build a portfolio of "Brand Assets" that would be the envy of any Fortune 500 company, but they will be uniquely yours...uniquely your story.
Conversational marketing is...
Very specific and targeted to your ideal clients
Once you get clear on who is your ideal client, what they want or need, and how you can fill that need, then fulfill that gap with the information, resources, tips, tricks and how to's...In a word "content", then you will have under your control the most powerful marketing approach of the 21st century.
Conversational Marketing Is Not... Learn more
Redberry Designs partners with you to make sure that the findability of your online business is pushed up to the top search engine ranking position. Contact our team to get your project started today! Click Here to Get a Quote Now!
About the Author: Jannice Boyd Almansur (http://www.jannice.info/) is Managing Director of Redberry Atlanta Website Designs. Redberry is an Agency that offers Branding, Website Development and Hosting Solutions and a full portfolio of business content marketing and brand identity solutions for small businesses. To learn more and to download FREE business tools and articles, as well as join their mailing list, visit the our BerryPatch Blog at http://www.redberrydesigns.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=419 and Redberry Atlanta Website Design website at http://www.redberryatlantawebsitedesign.com. You may print this article for personal use or republish it online only if it is left unaltered and in its entirety, including bylines, links and author information. Contact the author for all other permissions.
14 Jan
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING IS NOT...
CONVERSATIONAL MARKETING IS NOT...
by Jannice Almansur -
Not a substitute for high quality products and services. Companies with less-than-stellar reputations can converse with consumers and the mere act of conversing will fool some of them some of the time, but such engagement realistically has little tangible impact if consumers are not satisfied with what you are selling them.
Consumer perception is based primarily on the quality of the products and services you provide and improving those things is often not easy for companies. If you are not providing your current clients with a quality interaction with your products, services or support then this approach may not be the best option for you unless you are trying to get honest feedback to fix your issues. Expect not to be able to ensure the conversation is one-way or the other, you cannot control the feedback, that’s a risk you take when you open your company up to negative feedback & truly understand the importance of the word ‘social’ in social media. Best practices around customer interactions are the only route for success with conversational marketing.
Conversational marketing is not...
Not marketing through interrupting (i.e. Viral Marketing, Spam, Banner Ads, Pay-Per-Click Marketing)
We are all aware of the annoying series of advertisements that we must endure when we do not have TIVO, or the 20 seconds of ads that precede that latest viral video that you are trying to watch, or the flashing banner ad for insurance or mortgages on the site you are visiting. Marketing through interruption is the advertising concept that says put the brand and message everywhere, on buses, on television and radio commercials, on blimps over football stadiums, in glossy full page magazine ads and on t-shirts and other swag. It is the marketing equivalent of "Shock and Awe". It does not seek to build relationships, it does not look to understand the customer's true needs outside of focus groups and psychometric data-mining nor does it care about how much you may dislike it or wish it to stop. It is increasingly brash, loud and obnoxious, like a stalkerish masher in a singles bar as the night nears last call. Consumers seek any method available to shut it TIVO, by averting their eyes and attention away or by simply tuning it out.
Conversational marketing is not...
Not about driving streams of unqualified traffic to your website
Rather than trying to generate huge streams of traffic to your site, whether unqualified or not, in the hopes that some visitors will stay long enough to perhaps click a link and purchase a product, subscribe to your newsletter or engage your services, Conversational Marketing seeks to attract the correct target for your specific products, services or expertise and instead focuses on fulfilling their needs. The concept of marketing by real-time two way interactions allows you to capitalize on your expertise and passion about your subject. Instead of spending your time trying to attract clients by shouting at them with ads, you can engage them by providing what they need most...Help to get something done and education on how to do something, or even just by entertaining then or engaging them in relevant topical events.
Conversational marketing is not...
Not accumulation marketing
Conversational marketing is research, discovery, planning, strategy and implementation. This means that it is not a quick fix. You need to be in it for the long haul. With the exception of those of you that consider "Writer", "Video Producer", or "Spoken Word Artist" your profession, it will not be easy, but it will be worth it in the long-run. Through this approach you will build a portfolio of "Brand Assets" that would be the envy of any Fortune 500 company, but they will be uniquely yours...uniquely your story.
Conversational marketing is not...
It is not an excuse to continue to engage via unsuitable marketing techniques.
Poor product and customer support will cause some social media contact points to be used as the best place for consumers to share bad customer experiences.
Conversational marketing is not...
Not overly generalized
The process and results delivered are your unique prospective on topics and information of interest to your audience. So you should not be talking about puppies when you are an expert on roofing, foundations and house framing. First while everyone loves puppies, you need to respect your audience's time by giving them exactly what they are looking for without unrelated fluff. Next the key to success this marketing approach is providing valuable content that educates, answers questions or entertains. So, keep specific and keep in on topic.
Conversational marketing is not...
Not ego-driven (Me, Me, Me marketing) - Gimmicks - "get anything quick" schemes
Don't be so inwardly focused that you forget that it is also about content that starts with you giving them resources! Just keep in mind that it is not marketing through interruption, it is about providing value and don't be afraid to promote others who have valuable information that your audience will appreciate knowing about. Content sharing is a great opportunity to showcase other great vendors, because you are only as good as your resources, if you have great contacts with other businesses that offer services that compliment and partner well with yours and your audiences needs, it is a great win for you and them!
Redberry Designs partners with you to make sure that the findability of your online business is pushed up to the top search engine ranking position. Contact our team to get your project started today! Click Here to Get a Quote Now!
About the Author: Jannice Boyd Almansur (http://www.jannice.info/) is Managing Director of Redberry Atlanta Website Designs. Redberry is an Agency that offers Branding, Website Development and Hosting Solutions and a full portfolio of business content marketing and brand identity solutions for small businesses. To learn more and to download FREE business tools and articles, as well as join their mailing list, visit the our BerryPatch Blog at http://www.redberrydesigns.com/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=419 and Redberry Atlanta Website Design website at http://www.redberryatlantawebsitedesign.com. You may print this article for personal use or republish it online only if it is left unaltered and in its entirety, including bylines, links and author information. Contact the author for all other permissions.
14 Jan
Portfolio - RedberryDesigns.com
by Jannice Almansur -
Whew...Shafik and I have been working on our portfolio and updating some social media pages for our business. We are amazed at how much work we did in 2010 and how many new Redberry Designs creations exist because of that work. Please take a moment to visit our new portfolio... if you know anyone that needs a fresh look for 2011 please share it with them as well... http://www.redberrydesigns.com/
Findability! It's all about building a resource rich community...
Redberry Designs is an agency specializing in Online Marketing Solutions, Brand Identity Consulting and Website Design and Hosting for Small Businesses. Website design, development and content marketing is all about developing compelling brand messages that resonate with the target market and ideal clients and is most effective when used strategically and incorporated into the fabric of your business. Creating effective conversational based content and encouraging client engagement through the use of social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Buzz etc.), online public relations, online community platforms and emerging web technologies is part of Redberry Designs' commitment to the sustainable success of small businesses.Use this link to check out my Google profile portfolio... A Google profile is very effective way to organically promote your businesses...contact a Redberry Designs team member to learn more about other ways we can help you optimize your findability! Contact Us Now!
12 Jan
A few words about Redberry Services
Redberry Services is an agency built out of a passion for making our clients the best that they can be. We are not a template mill nor are we driven by self promotion. We do not believe in the me, me, me marketing that alot of folks practice in the online social media marketing space.
We are small, but we are equally very high touch. We care too much about getting it right to worry about fads. The work matters to us and we are not strangers to working hard for our clients. We do the heavy lifting so that you can do your core business. Our folks don't fit the mold; we are creating our own way each day. We're thinkers driven by action. We are what every small business owner needs in order to compete. Our agency specializes in research, discovery, action, and implementation. We are not trying to change you only shine a bright light on your positive features. Like any lover of art would, we are bringing to bear the creativity; technology and strategic marketing supported by a world class platform all delivered in a complete partnership driven online business solution.
www.RedberryServices.com | www.RedberryDesigns.com
Why We Blog?
Simply because we have so much to say...We are discovering so much new information every day, that even we find it hard to keep up with it all. So we know that our clients will find the resources we provide here helpful in making sense of it all. We specialize in working with small business owners, who have an overwhelming need for high quality professional marketing and branding solutions that are budget friendly.
Every day we monitor the many channels out there with excellent and valuable content, then consolidate the best of these messages and break them down into easily understandable tips, resources and how-tos. So when we say that we do the heavy lifting for you, this is an example of what we are talking about. Our value to our clients, and really to anyone that comes in contact with us is our ability to listen, comprehend, quickly find resources that support your needs and to act as a guide in implementation. Our gift to ourselves is being a gift to others. Here in the "Berry Patch" blog we share resources and information on everything from marketing, branding, online presence development and management, social media, and website strategies that are uniquely well suited for small businesses.
Why We are in Business?
Shafik Mansur is my husband and business partner. We started this agency out of a desire to make a difference in and to connect with our local area. He has always had an excellent eye for new trends in art, music and is a historian with a love of great music and languages. I, on the other hand, tend to be a consummate workaholic. I truly get excited by creating a great plan, laying out a project and strategic plan. It may sound a little odd to others, but to each his own. Our concept for Redberry Designs and Redberry Services is all-about providing a comprehensive solution for small businesses. In many ways we want to provide for our clients the affordable high quality solutions that we had wished were available to us as a small business owners.
So here we have combined a solution that takes into consideration branding, marketing and providing more that just a website, but more so a full service hosting platform with a powerful completely integrated database, content management, eCommerce and email marketing solution. We give you as a small business operator the powerful tools to level the playing field, allowing you to compete with the big guys...We put you back in control of creating lasting success!
Comments
Post has no comments.