X SEO

[This is part five in a five-part series charting Outspoken Media's operational development process.]
I love “ah-ha!” moments. I’m fortunate enough to work in an industry where they happen all of the time. Kind of like when I find your navigation is coded in non-crawlable JavaScript and not HTML. I love those moments like they’re my own children. Well, that’s extreme, but you get the point.

When Outspoken Media started working with Shem Cohen on strategic planning, team building, and organizational development, though, I stumbled upon more “ah-ha!” moments in our daily operations. They reinvigorated my love for the industry and Outspoken Media in general. Turns out, my assumptions about productivity and working with others were false and were hindering progress, not facilitating it. This is what I learned about making assumptions.

Assumptions Crush Productivity

Assumptions are easy to come by in this industry and I believe many online marketing strategies are based on them. This is an industry-wide challenge, because misreading analytics data can quickly lead to lofty assumptions, which can derail a campaign. It’s important to minimize them as much as possible to improve productivity and show results.

During the self-discovery and team exercises, I was able to learn what is important to my coworkers regarding work processes. Knowing this makes it easier to determine when and how to approach people involved in a specific project. Now I can get the best possible results when working on a project. With motivational knowledge at my fingertips, I am able to pull actionable work and feedback from the team, which makes my process more efficient, and in the end, results in even more successful campaigns for our clients.

Assumptions Are Not Goal-Oriented

Assumptions are placed on people, whereas goals focus on the big picture. Rather than working from a set of assumptions about a person or a task, refocus on the purpose of work–both your personal purpose within an organization, and the higher purpose your client is trying to achieve. This will make it easier to come up with high-performance link building methods and a content marketing strategy that converts. It’s also more fulfilling on a personal level when you can understand the reason for something, not just that it was assigned.

Remember also that your priorities may not always be the biggest priorities for everyone else. I had to realize that the answer I wanted wasn’t always the highest priority for the client or team. I can’t take that stuff personally. Rather, I had to anticipate answer times and schedule my work accordingly. This assumption isn’t a new one that came out of the work we did with Shem, but it is one that helped me become more proactive in scheduling and management of my pieces of the project puzzle. It’s why we created the link building strategies spreadsheet, to help navigate obstacles in an organization and still get the job done.

Assumptions About Motivations Create Roadblocks

If we work with assumptions as the norm long enough, they become just that, and efficiency is lost. My first months at Outspoken were spent assuming my co-workers knew what motivated me. That was a problem. During some of the self-discovery processes with Shem, I was able to share with my coworkers the things I discovered about myself. One of my discoveries was that I need projects and processes to happen in steps with feedback. We implemented this on a large audit which we split into sections, which helped us tackle issues as they came up, not as sweeping changes at the end of the project.

If we hadn’t shared with each other our motivating factors and how we work best, we would all be making assumptions about one another and creating unnecessary roadblocks. We see assumptions every day in the workplace, and especially in SEO. An executive assumes they know what keyword they need to rank for, and agencies assumes the executive’s motives are uninformed. The truth is, both parties may be wrong and right. The executive may know his business and goals better than the agency, but the agency may better understand the obstacles to achieving those goals. Before fighting over assumptions, clarify motives. Goals can be achieved through methods that make both parties happy.

Don’t let assumptions ruin an otherwise great project or working relationship with your coworkers. Get to know their motivators and use them for good in your organization. It will make working together exciting, and the results stellar.

Embracing Your Extrovert in Business
Three Lessons for Business and Life
Aligning Keyword Strategy with Corporate Goals
Corporate Culture for Introverts

[This is part four in a five-part series charting Outspoken Media's operational development process.]
Let’s just get this out in the open right now—a lot of you think the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test is a bunch of hooey. Come on, admit it. You think it’s like a horoscope, right? You can read into it pretty much whatever you want, and then use it to justify your behavior, right or wrong. I’m sure a lot of people do that. You’re not really responsible for your behavior if it’s attributable to your predetermined personality. That’s just you, and everyone else just needs to get used to you, and let you be you. Right? Yeah, how’s that workin’ for ya?

Look, if anyone is going to take the MBTI results and run with them, it’s going to be me. The test told me something I already knew—I’m an introvert. Actually, I’m not an introvert. In the Outspoken Media office, I’m the introvert. In the extrovert/introvert portions of the test, I did not choose a single extroverted response. Not one. In case you’re not completely familiar with introversion, it’s not just shyness:

Introverts are drawn to the inner world of thought and feeling … [they] recharge their batteries by being alone … [they] often work more slowly and deliberately … and have mighty powers of concentration. Introverts … listen more than they talk, think before they speak, and often feel as if they express themselves better in writing than in conversation. – Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking

The only thing missing from that description is my photo alongside it. I should be paid a commission anytime anyone uses that description, it’s so me. It’s why you’ll see me liveblogging at conferences, but may not always see me at the after-parties. It’s why making the move from working at home to being back in an office every day was very difficult for me. But it also meant I had a choice to make—how to fit into this company’s culture.

As Rhea said in her post about embracing your extrovert in business, one of the things she got out of the development process is being able to respect style differences, and her desire to do that is informing the creation of Outspoken Media’s culture.

With a work history of 20+ years, it’s been my experience that few companies or managers ever take the time to learn about their employees’ personalities and work styles, much less try to create an environment that is accommodating to them. In that sense, I feel pretty lucky right now to work for a company that is making an effort to create an inclusive and welcoming culture.

It would have been very easy for me to hide behind my newly validated label as an introvert, ensconce myself in my office, and close myself off from the rest of the team. That might have made me more comfortable, at least in the short-term.

But the truth is, I would have missed out on a lot of things if I did that. The opportunity to learn from my coworkers when they share their knowledge, ideas, or personal stories in meetings and casual conversations over lunch. The in-jokes that have become such a part of our daily routine with each other. The camaraderie. The laughter, and yes, some tears. The personal growth that can only come from being out in the world rather than shutting it out.

If you’re having a tough time fitting into your company’s culture, maybe a few of the things I’ve learned can help you, too.

Be Willing to Compromise

It can’t be all about you all the time. While it’s great for a company and a boss to want to accommodate everyone’s personal needs and work styles, that can only go so far. In order for the business to remain functional, and for everyone to feel heard and taken care of, there has to be some give and take on both parts. Remember that you’re one part of a larger entity.

Ask For What You Need

Fitting into the company’s culture doesn’t have to mean total conformity. There are times when I do need to shut my office door, put in my earbuds, and crank up SimplyNoise to concentrate on work. Part of our operational development process was letting our coworkers know what we need in order to do our best work. One of my requests was occasional quiet time so I can focus. When I need it, I ask for it, and my request is granted and respected. It can be scary sometimes to ask for what you need, but the alternative is slowly building resentment, and that won’t be good for anyone.

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

I won’t lie—sometimes, it’s still difficult for me to be in an office with people every day. And conferences? Yikes. Those can be really tough. But I get up and come into the office every day, and I go to conferences and make a point of introducing myself to people. Why? Because I can’t be a fully productive, contributing member of this company, or of this community and industry if I don’t. The temporary discomfort is far outweighed by the benefits of meeting great people, and developing good working relationships, and in a few cases, even friendships. Eleanor Roosevelt said it best (emphasis mine):

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Next time you’re in a position to take the easy way out, try to resist. Take on the challenge, and then revel in the sense of accomplishment. You try that, and I promise I’ll try to make it to at least some of the conference after-parties.

Check out the other posts in this five-part series:
Embracing Your Extrovert in Business
Three Lessons for Business and Life
Aligning Keyword Strategy with Corporate Goals

Image courtesy of jamiesrabbits

[This is part three in a five-part series charting Outspoken Media's operational development process.]
It was only around 10:00 a.m. when Shem set the jar full of Twizzler nibs, M&Ms, and pistachios on a chair in the center of the room. For me, it’s never too early for sweets. So as he explained the next activity, I fixated on acquiring the contents of the jar.

“Take some time to describe what you see. Avoid naming the objects. Just jot down thoughts or words to describe it. Feel free to walk around, pick it up, and examine it.”

I, the queen of long-tail keywords, was going to win this one. I started at the 2,000 foot view. A glass object holding several small objects. A glass vessel containing red, green, brown, orange, and yellow edible objects. A small transparent container housing high-calorie, high-energy foods. My list went on and on like that until I had a list of twenty or so descriptive phrases that I believed captured the essence of this jar without explicitly stating the names of the items.

After about ten minutes, we regrouped and went around sharing our lists. I expected my teammates to have a similar list of phrases, but instead I heard one-word descriptors such as “tasty,” “crunchy,” “sweet,” and “delicious.” They described events and memories associated with snack food. Someone mentioned their dad. This activity had gone to a weird place for me.

The truth is, I tend to look at the world through this lens all day. The way these snacks might make me feel, memories associated with eating trail mix, the joyful mixture of colors and textures—all that was irrelevant. My descriptions of the jar are very much how I choose to view the world. Just the facts, please. Leave the fluff at the door.

And the winner? There was no competition. Everyone was welcome to take snacks from the jar after the activity was over. But that’s just me. I see a target. Ready, fire, aim.

But the world is not full of people like me. And in order to succeed at my job, I need to take into account the different ways people describe and view simple, everyday objects and events. I learned that, before I make assumptions about a goal, I need to slow down, plan, and execute.

But I’m not the only one guilty of getting sucked into my world view. How many of us have clients who go for highly-competitive head terms without assessing the impact of those keywords on revenue? Who among us isn’t guilty of making assumptions about the way our customers search for our products and services without due diligence? We’re not just missing out on great opportunities for exposure; we’re leaving money on the table. Going after the right keywords with a solid plan takes time and effort, but can lead to increased revenue and opportunities to build customer trust.

Don’t know where to start? Here’s what I learned from the simple exercise of describing objects in a jar:

Don’t Discount Emotions

I never would have associated a jar of snacks with memories, but that is a legitimate way of viewing the same object. When we try to think of the ways our audience views our product or service, we can use the same principle to cast a focused keyword net. Are you only optimizing for “wedding centerpieces,” or do you have content that supports “simple centerpieces for wedding receptions”? Instinctively, which keyword sounds more purchase-focused?

A whole resource section could be built around identifying these personae and finding the emotional or personality-based keywords that align with their search behavior. Become a resource for brides looking for minimalistic weddings. Feature do-it-yourself guides. Become an integral part of the wedding planning process through an opt-in, money saving tip-of-the-day e-mail. Once you understand the emotional characteristics of the persona you’re targeting, you can create more focused content around low-volume, high-converting keywords, and build customer trust.

Clarify Goals from the Start

Interest and inquiries from the C-level can prompt marketers to act and react in illogical ways. When your CEO asks why your company isn’t ranking for “widgets,” don’t go into keyword-stuffing overdrive. Take the opportunity to clarify and align your efforts with overarching corporate goals. The objective may be to promote a specific service segment and increase revenue to the department, not rank for the short-tail descriptor.

Emily has already given us a great resource to help us understand how to fold SEO into your marketing mix. Ensure that your optimization efforts align with other marketing efforts at your organization to deliver a consistent message and brand presence. When your boss corners you about highly competitive head terms, tie all other aspects of the corporate marketing plan back to your efforts.

Sometimes it takes the simplest of activities to help us identify our weaknesses and assumptions. For me, it was describing snacks in a jar. Or as I’d prefer to say, small edible objects in a transparent vessel.

Check out the other posts in this five-part series:
Embracing Your Extrovert in Business
Three Lessons for Business and Life

[This is part two in a five-part series charting Outspoken Media's operational development process.]
Rarely do I get the opportunity to track my own evolution. Okay, I take that back. Facebook timeline kind of does that in a creepy “can’t believe I wore/said/acted/looked like that” sort of way.

But when it comes to true personal development, it’s rare that I have gotten to see cold hard facts showing that I have, indeed, evolved over time. But, during an organizational workshop the Outspoken Media team participated in, I got to see firsthand that I am a much different person now than I was six years ago.

How do I know? In my second year as a business management student, I was required to take an MBTI assessment for one of my classes. My personality type: a clear-as-day INFP. (Don’t worry, you don’t need to know all the details of what that means. I’ll show you as we go along.)

However, when we were all asked to take an MBTI assessment as part of the Outspoken Media development process, my assessment showed a new profile: ENFJ. This means that in the six years between testing, I have evolved enough to actually see it proved on paper.

Always happy to dig deeper into my complex psyche, I began to study the handful of jobs I have had in the last six years in an attempt to pinpoint those moments that helped change me into my new orderly, extroverted self. And, through introspection, I think I have nailed down a couple of valuable business lessons worth sharing.

Losing All Control

“INFPs do not like conflict, and go to great lengths to avoid it. If they must face it, they will always approach it from the perspective of their feelings. In conflict situations, INFPs place little importance on who is right and who is wrong.”

Having just been promoted to my first managerial position, I wanted nothing more than to be the “cool” boss. Most of my team members were around the same age as me, and rather than try to earn their respect, I instead tried to earn their approval. I let the team take longer breaks than usual, I gave them nothing more than a sideways glance when I found them chatting on their cellphones during work hours, and I was more than happy to “pitch in” and pick up the slack when they didn’t do their jobs 100%.

Wow, just in typing that, I think I died a little inside.

Fast forward six months. An employee came into work one day, and it was apparent she had no intention of actually working. I remember standing there, asking her to do her job, and she literally (yes, literally) rolled around on the floor, laughing, and flat out told me “No.” I had completely lost control.

Lesson # 1: Being Respected > Being Liked

I remember going home that night and talking to one of my best friends—my mom. She told me, “Em, you’re not there to make friends. You’re there to do your job, and to make sure that other people do their job too.” Learning to assert myself at the risk of not being “liked” was a hard lesson. And after developing such a reputation, it took months to repair it. But, after being consistent and learning to have confidence in myself and my decisions, I did. And I discovered something. I could still be assertive, and have people like me. Only, now they liked me because they respected me, and they worked harder because they respected me. And really, that’s a win-win.

Going with the Flow

“I like to stay open to respond to whatever happens… I like to keep plans to a minimum.” - Myers-Briggs description of Perceiving.

There came a time when I needed to move on from a job. I knew it wasn’t the right fit for me. The values and mission of the company had deviated, and they were no longer in sync with my own ideals. My boss, whom I respected, had left, and I was no longer interested in the work.

I remember coming home one day and just announcing to my husband that I was going to quit. I called my mom and told her too. I told friends. I was so excited about it, I could barely contain myself. And yet, every time I told someone, the response was the same.

“Awesome. So, what’s your plan?”

“Eh, I don’t have one” I would reply, proudly, riding on the high of my own boldness. The idea of quitting spontaneously was so brave in my mind. I saw it as an adventure, a new beginning, a world of endless possibilities.

And I quit the next day.

Somehow, in my zest for adventure I had failed to truly recognize just how much the economy had taken a nosedive into the proverbial crapper. I was unemployed in what is one of the worst economic times this country has ever seen. I had little experience, and my resume had more holes than Swiss cheese.

I applied for jobs almost every. Single. Day. For six months. My husband’s and my savings were depleted at an alarming rate. I was driving out of state to work a couple hours here and there for an old boss who was willing to lend me a hand.

At the end of the six months, I was so stir crazy and so frustrated, I applied for and took a job for less than I had been making in high school, just so I could get out of the house and help pay our bills. It took me another six months after that to even find another job in my field. It took years to replenish our savings.

Lesson #2 – Some Decisions are Never Okay to Leave to Chance

I can deal with leaving dinner up to chance, or choosing a movie on a whim. But I will never approach large decisions (especially in dealing with money) up to chance again when they involve other people. That six-month period was the greatest lesson in “choices and consequences” I have ever experienced, and even though it was difficult to go through, I am thankful for it.

Ask Rhea, or anyone else in the OSM office—I am a planning freak. Notebook in hand, checklists at the ready, I never want to leave anything in our business up to chance. I’ve seen what it is like to gamble and lose, and I will never do that with the money or success of Outspoken Media or our clients. Show me metrics, show me data, show me the outcome that I can reasonably expect. Sure, in business, sometimes you have to take risks, but they will be calculated, and I will be informed, and you can bet your life there will be a Plan B.

Finding Purpose in My Work

“The INFP needs to work on balancing their high ideals with the requirements of everyday living. Without resolving this conflict, they will never be happy with themselves, and they may become confused and paralyzed about what to do with their lives.”

It’s become a running joke in the office – the various “dream careers of Emily Cote” that I aspired toward while I was growing up. Infomercialist, Rockette (note: I’m 5’2”), astrophysicist, wedding dress designer, interior decorator, pastry chef, philanthropist, jewelry maker, champion dog breeder … at one time or another, I have wanted to be all of these things.

I laugh about it now, but there was a period where I felt very lost because I really had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that I wanted to be awesome—I wanted to save the world. And I had it in my mind that anything less would mean I had failed and wasted my time. I would run around thinking “I’m not doing enough. I’m not influential enough. I’m not saving lives.” And I would become disillusioned in each job I held because it was never “enough.”

Lesson #3 – It’s Enough to Make a Difference

At Outspoken Media, I have come to truly enjoy a job that is full of purpose. No, I am not rescuing puppies from wells or pulling people out of burning buildings. But I am making a difference. Every time I offer a new idea during a strategy meeting, every time I push through a website audit, every time I build a new .edu link to a client resource, I am making a contribution:

• to my company;
• to my client;
• to the SEO industry;
• and to the Internet as a whole.

I am also lucky to be a part of a very close team where we freely exchange ideas, laughter, collaboration, and food. (We eat a lot of each other’s food here.) I can’t tell you how many times one of us has jumped in to help another on a project, even if it meant staying late or missing lunch. As a company, we also have a strong focus on the community, and we contribute to causes we feel passionate about.

And I’ve come to learn that’s “enough.” That’s enough to make my work meaningful, and to make coming in every morning something I look forward to. And that, I think, is the best lesson I’ve learned so far.

Check out the other posts in this five-part series:
Embracing Your Extrovert in Business

[This is part one in a five-part series charting Outspoken Media's operational development process.]
This week, you’re going to hear a lot from Outspoken Media. Each day, we will feature a new post that is both personal and professional from each of us. We’re opening up about recent changes in the company and the broader business applications from our discovery. I’ll be the first to kick things off, but check back daily to get to know the team and benefit from our journey.

This all started back in February when we began a process of strategic planning, team building, and organizational development with Shem Cohen of Change Events, Inc. Shem has been incredible in helping me focus on the vision for Outspoken Media, our services, our clients, and our team. While there have been so many lessons I could write a book series, I want to personally take a moment to discuss what I’ve learned about myself in the hope that it can help you as well.

I am an extrovert.

You might be as well. And, if you’re not an extrovert, you probably have to communicate with one in business and in life. What follows is a deeper understanding of this gift of gab in the hope that extroverts can find the focus we need to accomplish great things, and introverts can learn to manage your expectations when faced with communicating with one of us.

There are a lot of misconceptions about extroverts, namely that we love huge groups and being the center of attention. What it truly means to be an extrovert is that:

“an extrovert will talk with someone else rather than sit alone and think. In fact, extroverts tend to think as they speak, unlike introverts who are far more likely to think before they speak. Extroverts often think best when they are talking. Concepts just don’t seem real to them unless they can talk about them; reflecting on them isn’t enough.”

I’ve always been scared of my mouth. I have this need to communicate with others, and it often leads to awkward moments or places where I’ve gone too far and said too much. Over the years, I’ve gotten this under control, but now, as a leader and a business owner, it’s even more important to recognize when to talk, to whom, about what, and how. I have followers that I can’t let down.

Here are the lessons I’ve learned through the team development process to more effectively manage my super power:

1. Respect style differences.

When the team took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) test, I realized just how unique each person is at Outspoken Media. This was awesome. Not only did we have unique professional backgrounds and experiences, we saw the world from different perspectives. In the past, I was quick to judge someone different as weak or lacking ideas and initiative, because I was always so eager to take the lead. By hearing more about the unique style differences on our team, I recognized how their traits simply need time to shine and my extrovert nature (if left unchecked) will overshadow others. As a leader, I have to manage these different communication styles to fit the situational demands of the business and empower the team. Suddenly, I got it.

Business application: In taking the MBTI, more than half of our team turned out to be introverts. This meant they needed time to think through their problems whereas I wanted immediate conversations to solve mine. This killed productivity in moments where the boss wanted an audience to think, but they needed the opposite!

We decided to move everyone into their own office with a door. Now, they could work independently until they were prepared to work as a team or we had a meeting. Because two of us are extroverts, we recognized that we would quickly lose our energy if locked away. The next step was to make the larger open office into an area that anyone could work in with others if they chose to.

The final problem was that most of the team had desktops. We quickly purchased laptops, and now everyone has the flexibility they need to work successfully in an environment that best suits their unique work style.

2. Find an outlet/support network.

As an extrovert, I have to talk through things, especially the big picture, complicated stuff. In the past, I would talk to my team—a lot. My team doesn’t need full disclosure on every topic. What they truly need is structure, clear roles and responsibilities, and feedback. Now I understand that this means I have to get my conversation fix elsewhere.

Business application: If you’re an extrovert, find like-minded professionals in your area to grab coffee or lunches with. Sign an NDA if you have to, but designate this time as a space where the two of you can openly discuss situations you’re facing at work, and how best to handle them. Sometimes these situations are super sexy like the most effective time-tracking tool, or different models for tracking profitability. Other times we talk about work-life balance and what that looks like when we love our company so much.

Whatever the problem, I now have a network of professionals I can turn to for the tough talks. This saves my friends, family, and my team from my extroverted nature because they have different needs and shouldn’t be used as my business sounding board.

3. Create a system.

Introverts need time to process information, and extroverts need time to talk to someone. Either way, we may both need time to get to a point of greater understanding. We may face this when dealing with a client situation, a complicated algorithm update, or an interpersonal situation at work. Whatever the problem, build a system of accountability within your business or your own position.

Business application: If you are in a managerial position (or can advise someone who is), set a clear expectation that everyone involved is going to take X time to process, but then you will come back together and reach a point of unified action. Focus on the action you need to achieve, and let go of personal affronts or emotion. By creating a system of respect and accountability, everyone knows the work that needs to be done and the goal they need to achieve. Give different styles the space they need to process fully and then get back to work.

This may also take the form of letting introverts write out their answer while extroverts discuss theirs. As a manager, reward ideas, not talkers. Good ideas keep the business afloat, not just the enthusiastic extroverts!

Have you had to balance your extroversion or battle an extrovert before? What did you do? Embrace your extrovert and speak up below in the comments!

Check out the other posts in this five-part series:
Three Lessons for Business and Life

Mighty Trends in Mobile Marketing

Every day we see mobile being used more and more for online shopping, local searches, email, social networking. And that is just scratching the surface.  This infographic from CultureLabel.com provides insight into the astounding use of mobile for Internet searches, as well as why mobile friendly marketing should be an essential part of your online marketing strategy.  Highlights include:

• 87% of the world’s population have mobile phones
• 300,000+ apps have been developed in only 3 years
• 74% of people use mobile at work

SEO SPAMMERS BEWARE! Google is On To You
Google’s recent webspam algorithm update (aka Penguin) released earlier this week is aimed at better filtering out spammy SEO tactics like: keyword stuffing, link schemes, cloaking, doorway” pages, etc. (Weren’t they already doing that?) Google’s official blog said “we also want the “good guys” making great sites for users, not just algorithms, to see their effort rewarded.”  The Panda updated affected about 12% of search queries on Google. Penguin is estimated to affect 3%. What changes do you think google will make next?  Via Google Webmaster Central Blog.

Google Launches Google Drive. All Your Files Are Belong to Us (what you say?)
The good news: Google launched a new cloud storage service that works with Google docs and syncs with your compter. You can upload and access all of your files, including videos, photos, Google Docs, PDFs, etc.  Via Google Blog

The not so good news: “Google Drive Sparks Privacy Concerns Among Businesses” CIO Journal. “Google Drive Doesn’t Work with iPad, iPhone” GottaBe Mobile. “Google Drive says it may ‘publicly perform’ your files. What’s that mean?” Christian Science Monitor. “Your Google Drive Files Can End Up in Ads” Wired Cloudline.

Selecting Social Networks for Business: Not An Easy Task
In an effort to stay up on the latest business trends many organizations will jump on board for a social network simply because it is new or receiving a lot of exposure. However, how much does that sort of fly by night strategy costing these companies?  It is essential that every company take the time to determine which networks are relevant for their type of business, as well as which networks their target customers are spending their time on. Via InformationWeek.

TopRank Online Marketing Team News

Jolina Pettice – 9 Tips to Develop a More Effective Internal Link Structure
The internal link structure of a website can be overlooked in the race to acquire inbound links. However, the link strategy on-site can be important in helping both search engines and users navigate the site.

From leveraging the most linked-to pages to understanding the information architecture and creating a link dashboard to help identify the impact of changes made on-site, this article is a great start to a more effective internal link strategy.  Via Search Engine Watch.

Joe Manier – The Hierarchy of Web Presence Optimization
What aspects go into a holistic optimization strategy for your business’ online presence?  Providing wonderful visuals from stage one of a website’s technical SEO foundation to the final stage of measuring   and improving your efforts, here is a high-level blueprint for succeeding online.  Via Search Engine Watch.

Mike Yanke – Swatted by Google Penguin?  Here’s Some Advice
Google’s latest algorithm update, Google Penguin, went live this week – and as designed – swatted down several websites that swan – or fell – in the seas of black hat SEO.  If you were one of those unlucky sites to be swatted down, what should you do?  Start by reading this post, full of advice, from SearchEngineLand.

Sara Duane-Gladden – How the B2B Social Media Marketing Experience Differs from B2C
Want to know more about how your social media marketing experience and efforts stack up against others? Check out this blog post from the Social Media Examiner that offers insight from the 2012 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. About 1,900 B2B marketers contributed to the study.  Via Social Media Examiner.

Brian Larson & Roxanne Hagberg – Your Webmaster Tool Belt Just Got Lighter
If you’re a fan of the Google Webmaster features robots.txt creation tool, subscriber stats or the site performance report, you might be interested to know that those tools are going bye-bye. Learn what other changes are in-store including the YSlow browser plugin or other Google tools such as Google Analytics and PageSpeed Online for Site Performance analysis and how that might impact your reporting in this post from Search Engine Land.

Time to Weigh In:  Has your team considered adding a mobile marketing strategy to your online marketing mix?  What process did you go through to determine which social networks were the right fit for your company?  Do you think that Google’s new Penguin update will affect your search visibility?

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Online Marketing News: Mobile Shows Muscle, Google Panda to Penguin, Google Drive(s) Storage | http://www.toprankblog.com

How Can You Become A Better Influencer? Tip: You'll attract more bees with honey than you will with vinegar!

Last week Lee Odden shared a post  on attracting the attention of influencers online.  Whether we’re talking about influencers with mass appeal, or those that have a closer and more personal relationship with their followers, each person presents an opportunity to learn and grow.

That got me thinking, when it comes to the inner workings of an organization: what makes a good influencer, and would I consider myself an influencer at TopRank Online Marketing?  In my opinion, there are some key factors that make a good influencer.

• Building a strong relationship and trust with your peers is essential in influencing their decisions.
• Having a team centric attitude towards those that you work with (no man is an island).
• Presenting an attitude that says “I’m lucky to be here” vs. “the company is lucky to have me”.

There is a certain power that comes with having influence over your peers.  A power that should not under any circumstances be abused.  After all, what is power without trust?  The bigger question to ask is: why should you want to be an influencer?  There are many benefits to being an influential member of a team including flexibility, trust, decision making power, and proof of ability just to mention a few.  I would like to dive into some of the qualities that I think make a better influencer, as well as some signs that you may already be an influencer and didn’t even know it!

4 Tips for Becoming a Better Influencer

#1 Listen More Talk Less:  Think back to your “Sales 101” training, what is one of the most important rules that salespeople must always remember?  Don’t talk yourself out of the sale.  By listening to what your customers (or in this case peers) are really saying, you can  better formulate recommendations that will have the largest impact on both their perception of you as well as the project, situation, or problem at hand.

#2 Give Before You Get:  One thing that I have found is that you cannot automatically expect that your peers will want to help you.  I enjoy seeing the organization I work for from a variety of perspectives and not just my own.  Being aware of when your peers may be struggling or need help is the perfect opportunity to offer your help.  Offering assistance on a fairly consistent basis will show that you are invested in making each person on your team successful, and are not simply looking to pull ahead of the pack. This will in turn increase your team’s willingness to help when you’re in a bind.

#3 Work Outside Your Comfort Zone: As online marketers our industry evolving at a rapid pace.  What was best practices when you go to sleep, may be vastly different than when you wake up the next morning.  There will always be tactics that you don’t know but  by charging full ahead and working on projects or platforms that are outside of your standard comfort zone you will increase your adaptability and ability to think on your feet. Adaptability and quick problem solving will increase perception that you are an innovator within the organization.

#4 Suggest Collaboration: I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: “two heads or better than one” well imagine what you could do when your whole team puts their brains together.  When we come up with ideas on our own without collaborating it’s easy to self validate concepts and consider only one point of view on the subject.  By creating an open brainstorming you will give your fellow team members an opportunity to share their opinions and feel that they have an impact on the end product, recommendation, or solution.  What you will end up with will most likely be a better version of what team members would have come up with individually.

4 Signs That You’re An Influencer & Didn’t Know It

While many of us may be working on becoming a bigger asset or a bigger influencer within our organization there are many people who are influencers, but don’t know it.  What are some signs that you may be more influential than you think?

• When your company is making new hires they ask if there is anyone you know that might be a good fit for the organization.
• You’re asked to work on projects or tasks that are outside of your job description.  Proof that you are adaptable and can work freely.
• Team members come right out and ask what you think they should do as it relates to one of their clients or customers.
• You’ve formed a meaningful and unique relationship with each member of your team, which shows that you are interested in them as an individual.

Truth Be Told: I shared what being an influencer means to me but I’m curious to know what you think.  Do you thinking working towards influencing your team members is a self serving strategy, or will it help the greater good?  Is there anyone in your organization that you would like to nominate as an influencer?  Why would you nominate them?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Want to Have a Larger Impact on Your Organization? 4 Tips for Becoming A Better Influencer | http://www.toprankblog.com

In the search engine marketing world, effective online marketing comes down to surfacing keyword opportunities that reflect a demand for solutions (products/services). Content about those products is created and optimized to attract search traffic for popular and relevant keywords.

Niche products often suffer from a universe of keywords that have low popularity counts and that creates a challenge. Because in the world of SEO, accountability starts with driving more organic, non-branded search traffic to a company website. If there’s very little demand for the keyword phrases identified, it can be frustrating for all.

A common reaction to that frustration is to accuse the products, company or industry as being “boring”.  But here’s the thing:

Challenges with marketing low popularity products isn’t an issue with the products being boring. It’s a problem with the marketers’ understanding of customers and the problems those product solve.  

If there’s a market for a product that solves a problem, then selling that product, as niche and “boring” as it may be, through SEO, content marketing or social media marketing has to do with better understanding the people and problems relevant to the product.

“One man’s junk is another man’s treasure” as the saying goes. What’s important is to understand the product and market well enough to know why a specific audience has value for it, what the end benefits are and the context for how prospects come to need and purchase it.

Here are 5 tips to help find ways to make marketing niche and low demand products more effective:

1. Who has bought the product in the past and why?  Current customers can tell you a lot that’s not revealed in analytics. Survey customers, sales people and customer service reps for the company to identify the company’s perception of their unique selling proposition and the actual reasons customers buy.

2. Segment buyers by common characteristics, pain points, goals and behaviors. Get in the mind of the customer and understand why, how and where they buy.

3. Map the buyer sales cycle from Awareness to Interest to Consideration and Purchase. What kind of content, search keywords and social topics are relevant to guide the buyer through the sales cycle (or better yet, attract them from other companies selling the same thing).

4. Optimize for a quantity of niche. Go horizontal and get creative with a wide variety of variations on keywords.  A keyword with a really low popularity count that is very high on relevancy only needs one sale to be profitable in many cases. Think about that and go wide for every situation there might be for buying the product.

5. Create a cycle of continuous monitoring, measurement and refinement that allows you to adapt and scale successes.

If you can think past keywords and get into the mind of the customer, their problem to be solved and the sales cycle they go through, you can develop an effective content marketing program that leverages search and social media to attract traffic, engage prospects and inspire both sales and social shares.  That’s the Optimized way of online marketing.

What are some of the tactics or situations you’ve solved with “boring” products or services?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Marketing Boring Products – It’s Not A “Boring” Problem, It’s a “Knowing Your Customers” Problem | http://www.toprankblog.com

Maybe you’ve been distracted lately by Tupac’s hologram stealing the show at Coachella, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to turn the conversation to content marketing for a moment. Okay, maybe a few moments—get comfy. From the bold strategy Coca-Cola shared with the public, to debates over whether content marketing sucks, content marketing has captured quite a bit of Internet attention, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up.

But one thing I’ve noticed is most people are focusing on the marketing part, and not so much on the content part. The general consensus is that quality content is the way to high rankings, traffic, and conversions. But while I’ve read a lot of posts that say you need quality content, I haven’t seen many that outline exactly how to create it. There seems to be a disconnect between copywriting advice, and content marketing how-tos. So let’s connect those dots.

Before you can engage in content marketing, you need content to market. Whether it’s blog posts, articles, infographics, instructographics, podcasts, videos, whatever. Before you sit down to create any of those, run through this checklist to make sure you get the most benefit from your content.

Come up With a Kickass Topic

If you know your stuff, topics should come pretty easily, but everyone experiences writer’s block from time to time. When that happens, the best way to decide on a topic for your next piece of content is to read. And then read some more. Oh, and then try reading. See what other people are writing. Look at what infographics they’re producing, and on what subjects. And when you’re done with that, watch videos related to your area of expertise, or produced by someone you admire. The point is not to copy what everyone else is doing, but to discover conversations, and hit upon something people will want to read about/listen to/watch.

What’s that? You don’t have time to do a bunch of reading just to write a post? Yeah, I hear you. Lucky for us, the generous people over at SEOgadget put together a content idea generator tool, and just updated it to an even more kickass version last month. The tool scrapes the latest posts on tons of sites for a given keyword so you can see what’s being talked about. Go check that out—after you finish reading this post, of course.

What’s that now? You’re so busy, you’re not even sitting in front of a computer most of the time to use a tool like that? If you have an iPhone, try downloading the News.me app. With access to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, it processes the links your connections are sharing, and delivers them to you in aggregate form, while showing you who shared them and when. If it’s true that the RSS feed death knell is sounding, apps like this may very well become the next iteration. No word yet on if or when News.me will be available for Android or other platforms.

With all that at your fingertips, you really have no excuse for not being able to come up with interesting, relevant topics.

Use Relevant Anchor Text

There’s a rumor going around that exact match anchor text isn’t as important a link signal as it once was. Google’s numerous Panda updates precipitated a shift in exact match anchor text value, and it seemed partial match was coming out ahead. To use the example in SEOMoz’s post, if you’re trying to rank for “Bing cherries,” you’re probably better off not using that exact phrase all the time, but mixing in others like “Bing is awesome.”

I don’t think anchor text can be broken down so simply into just two camps of exact or partial match. If you’re not considering user intent when constructing your links, you’re doing your readers and customers a disservice. If you were to link “Bing is awesome” to your page about Bing cherries, and bring in someone looking for information about the search engine, what do you imagine that’s going to do to your bounce rate? To your quality rating?

Need another reason to be specific with your anchor text? Here you go. In March, Google announced a few tweaks to how it interprets anchor text. One specifically says:

Better interpretation and use of anchor text. We’ve improved systems we use to interpret and use anchor text, and determine how relevant a given anchor might be for a given query and website.

So if you’re linking “Bing is awesome” to your Bing cherries page, that might not work out so well for you, not to mention the people who land on your page and feel duped. Keep your anchor text specific and relevant, and make sure it matches user intent.

Link In and Link Out

One of the link building methods we employ at Outspoken Media is guest posting. I’ve been shocked a couple of times by blog owners who questioned our use of links in a post. And I’m not talking about the one or two links we were really trying to build—I mean informational links used throughout the post. External links are citations that bolster your content’s authority and trust factor. They’re also a show of good will. If you link to a site, they’ll see it, and maybe they’ll return the favor someday, or at least share the content where you cited them.

Internal links are just as important. Ever placed a guest post and had your client’s link stripped out? Frustrating, isn’t it? There’s no chance of that happening with internal links. The only way you’ll miss out is if you don’t use them in the first place, and that would just be crazy. In addition to improving your site’s architecture, internal links give you total link building control to pass link juice to the areas of your site you want to focus on. Don’t pass up those opportunities. And remember what we just went over about anchor text.

Now, aside from the SEO copywriting aspects, let’s keep in mind some general writing tactics. Ready?

Grab Your Audience’s Attention Immediately

If your blog post, infographic, podcast, or whatever starts off sounding like a tenth grade book report, you have a problem. As an editor, my next pet peeve after extraneous use of the word that is an opening sentence that begins, “According to statistics…” or “Many people…” or “There is/are…” English may not be as flowery a language as Spanish or Italian, but with a little effort, you can come up with much more attention-grabbing beginnings to your content. Get your reader’s attention right off the bat, and you stand a better chance of them sticking around to the end.

Get to the Point

If your readers can’t tell what your blog post is about by the end of the first, but no later than the second paragraph, you’ve failed them. An infographic’s topic should be immediately apparent by skimming the title and glancing at the images. An instructographic’s title should tell you exactly what it’s going to instruct you to do. Leave the clever, esoteric titles for your fiction writing. Informational content has a purpose, which should be clearly stated. Don’t make your readers or customers work any harder than they absolutely have to in order to understand your content’s purpose.

Find Your Own Style

It’s one thing to admire someone for their talent and skill. It’s quite another to try to copy it. That rarely works anyway because it’s obvious to everyone you’re simply copying someone else, and you’ll lose people’s interest quickly that way. The person who coined the saying, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” was trying to excuse their own lack of imagination. Copying someone doesn’t flatter them. It probably pisses them off. Ever had original content of yours used without your permission? Were you flattered? I didn’t think so.

The key here is putting yourself out there. Yeah, it can be scary. Be yourself on the Internet? Who does that?! Isn’t this the place we can be cooler than we are in real life? Sure, but then what happens when you have to interact with people, whether in an e-mail exchange, or at a conference? It’s best to be yourself from the get-go, and flaunt your style. Not everyone will like it, that’s true. But you’ll have the advantage of not having to twist yourself into something everyone will like, which means you can relax and have fun with your content.

What about you? What’s your style? What methods do you use to create interesting, shareable content that provides the most benefit for your content marketing efforts? Let’s hear it!

That’s Old News! [Infographic]

This new infographic from Schools.com dives into social media and how it is quickly replacing traditional journalism as a widely used news source.  Highlights:

• Facebook makes up 59.5% of news consumed online
• Since 2009, traffic to news sites from social media has increased by 57%

“5 Ways Businesses Are Using Facebook Timelines” New Facebook changes are opening the doors to even greater creativity for brands.  Additional storytelling and education of customers can now take place via the social networking giant.  Be sure to see this post for 5 awesome tips that you can apply to your organization’s Facebook page.  Via Social Media Examiner.

“What You Can Learn from a Deal Gone Bad”  Each lost sales opportunity is  learning experience.  Using that loss to determine what you could have done differently and how you could have better met the needs of your prospect are an invaluable education.  Read on to find out what else your team should consider when a sales lead is lost.  Via Inc.

“Marketing Research Chart:  Top-rated tactics for developing value propositions that resonate and convert”  Recent research by Marketing Sherpa found that 69% of B2B companies have a set of established value propositions that they believe differentiates them from their competition.  This study shares what these marketers said were the most successful tactics for developing these value propositions that resulted in customer conversions.  Via Marketing Sherpa.

“3 Social Community Strategies to Drive Innovation, Engagement, and Sales”  Marketing is only successful if brands or organizations are collaborating with their fans and online communities.  This post shares 3 great social media strategies that will position your company to engage more customers which will hopefully lead to more sales.  Via ClickZ.

“5 Great Starting Points for a Content Recycling Program”  Content creation can be an overwhelming task for companies of any size.  However, there is some good news.  Not all of your content has to be written completely from scratch.  Take a stab at repurposing and mix and matching existing content to cut down on time and investment.  Via Content Marketing Institute.

TopRank Breaking Team News

Sara Duane-Gladden: Crowd Riff Engages Social Fans, Especially at Events
With hundreds of millions of public Twitter streams, it can be difficult to make sense of all the chatter. Crowd Riff allows fans to connect with a brand’s site and view tweets about it in real time, without all the noise. It’s particularly useful for tracking tweets about an event. It also allows you to find your superfans by giving them a score based on what they tweet about your brand.
Via Media Bistro.

Mike Yanke: IAB & PwC: Search Still Tops Online Ad Revenues, and Share Grew in 2011
Search ad revenue continues to grow, per the latest data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in partnership with Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC), as published by Search Engine Land.  Per this report, search capture $14.8 billion in ad revenue for the full year 2011, spiking almost 27 percent from the $11.7 billion capture in 2010.  Via Search Engine Land.

Jolina Pettice: Understanding the Pinterest Audience – Intro Guide for Marketers
Understanding the potential of Pinterest, begins with understanding the audience and how it does (or doesn’t) make sense to integration into your marketing mix.  According to HitWise, the demographics on Pinterest break down into 3 categories:

• Boomers & Boomerangs
• Babies & Bliss
• Families Matter Most

Want to learn more about what these different categories mean?  Read on!  Via Search Engine Watch.

Brian Larson: Google AdWords Now Automatically Matches Misspellings & Variants
People misspell things. There’s no way around it…and search queries are no exception.   Until now, savvy marketers have been accounting for misspellings and variations with their keywords. That’s now changed.  Via Search Engine Land.

Shawna Kenyon: Facebook’s Analytics Tool for Ads Will Soon Measure Actions Other Than ‘Likes’
In a few weeks Facebook plans to introduce a new feature called “Action Measurement” that will appear as a column and pie chart in Facebook’s Ads Manager. The new feature will allow marketers to dive deeper into user engagement data and go beyond typical stats. Read this article to learn more about the new capabilities.  Via Mashable.

Alexis Hall: 5 Colorful Sketches on Conversion Optimization
This post makes some great points on conversion optimization visually, using the iPad’s drawing tool.  The sketches includes insight on the conversion funnel and landing pages.  Via Search Engine Land.

Time to Weigh In: How much news do you consume on social networks vs. traditional media sources?  Have you adjusted to the new Facebook timeline?  Do you agree with the consumer categories set forth by Pinterest?

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TopRank® Online Marketing Newsletter.

© Online Marketing Blog, 2012. |
Online Marketing News: Maximize Facebook Timelines, Maximize Value Propositions, Drive Engagement | http://www.toprankblog.com