Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

Twitter is super amazing (just ask Mack’s kids)
You may have seen last week’s blog when Mack revealed her deepest and darkest secret (pause for appropriate gasp): She failed to appreciate the value Twitter offers…at least until her jaunt to Link Love Boston.

But here’s our new revelation about Twitter: it is an amazing tool not because of its abbreviated format and air of nervous expectation, but because of the people who engage on it (a.k.a. a whole lotta thought leaders). Every minute, all over the world people are tweeting valuable information, throwing out offhand gems of wisdom that it’s up to us to glean. And, if you were on Twitter, you too could be one of these casual sages.

If you have something to say, why not tweet it?

If you do decide to give Twitter a chance, you may need to know how to speak Twitter. We don’t want you getting on there and making a fool of yourself. Fear not, we’ve got your back. Here are some terms Mack Web thinks you may find useful while tweeting.

Twitter Lingo

Hashtag (#)
In the Twitter verse, the lowly symbol once known as the number sign has become instead the infamous “hashtag”. The use of this single character indicates an instant and succinct summary and categorization of what they’re tweeting about. It is also a way for people (both you-type people and other-type people) to find the topic through search. It’s the Twitter equivalent to a keyword, organizing all posts on the same subject under a single heading. You can generate your own hashtags as a brand for your company, you dream them up on a whim to see how others will respond, or you can follow a string someone else has started as a method of engagement.

Trending
This is a topic that many people are discussing on Twitter. It usually has to deal with things that are pop culturesque. On your Twitter account you can choose the region to keep a watch on what is trending. Feel free to use a trending topic if it’s something you know a lot about or find fun to engage in.

For instance, #WelcometoColorado was trending and Mack Web tweeted this statement and received 2 Retweets.

Direct Message
A DM is a function that allows you to send a private message to users whom you follow and only if they follow you, too.

RT
This is the abbreviation for ReTweet. Twitter gives you the ability to share someone else’s Tweet (with your own commentary before or after it, at your discretion).  A retweet displays “RT:” before the post. Be sure, when you add commentary, to differentiate between your comments and the original Tweet.

MT
Modified Tweet is sometimes necessary. If someone tweets and it’s too long or you only want to respond to an excerpt, you can modify it, but be sure to give props to the owner of the tweet via @them. Then you change the RT to MT.

#FF
Every Friday is #followfriday on Twitter. This is when people have a chance to feature their endorsements of others on a well-followed Twitter hashtag. The idea is about you drawing the attention of your followers to those you find interesting, funny, or influential. All you do is type the name, Twitterstyle (@relevantTwitterhandle), and then #ff. Congratulations, you have joined in on Follow Friday.  Be interesting and suitably awesome and maybe you’ll even make someone else’s list.

#LI
This is the official abbreviation used to reference LinkedIn. When you’re referring to information from LinkedIn (an article, your profile, a group), you should tag it thus: #LI. In the  following video, the founders of LinkedIn and Twitter discuss the potential for integrating their platforms if you want to learn more.

The rest you will learn…
Or you can tweet us and we can help you out.

Intra Office Mack Web Use
We thought it would also be helpful if we shared some “not so common” lingo that Mack Web uses. Perhaps you can use (Eh, on second thought, you should probably never use) on Twitter:

vlg- very large grin
kyinf- kick you in the face
SnOL- snicker out loud
SmIS- smirk in silence
swt- sweet
awsm- awesome
urfrd- you are fired
atd- alas the day
4rls- foreals
ccyctwyb?- courtness can you courtnify this with your brain?
ru8?- you have the puerile sense of humor most commonly found in boys children between the ages of 7 and 9

Ok, enough fun with the Twitter talk. Let’s get down to business. There are rules of etiquette when it comes to all forms of communication, right? Well, why would Twitter be any different? But never fear! You shall not commit an egregious tweeting faux pas when you’ve got us to guide you.

How to watch your Twitter P’s and Q’s

Show your face
If you have a photo rather than a logo, make sure it’s a photo that is friendly and inviting and of good quality. Remember, you want people to follow you, not unfollow in fear and horror.

Make sure it fits
If you are using a logo, make sure the image measurements fits properly. The standard dimension size for a Twitter profile picture is 73 by 73 pixels,  also make sure it is a .jpeg or .gif.

Don’t blast
There are some people who share valuable content but sometimes they do too much, too often. Once they start blasting out information at a high frequency, it’s enormously tempting for people to click unfollow. Make sure you tweet throughout the week, even up to a couple of times a day, but don’t overdo it.

Retweet
When you come across a helpful article or an inspirational tweet, don’t be afraid to retweet. It’s your way of giving props to a person for the work they’ve done. Maybe they’ll acknowledge you, maybe they don’t. But they are aware that you appreciated them and people rarely forget that.

Interact
If someone tweets you, respond to them. If someone has added their own commentary to a tweet you’ve sent out, feel free to retweet them if you find their contribution valuable or clever. Otherwise, you can just reply with a “Thanks!” Don’t feel obligated to respond to every retweet.

Be original
Take our word for it: you are an interesting person. Be yourself. If you still don’t believe us about your level of interestingness, have someone else tweet for your company. Remember to find the balance between informative and genuine.

Be professional
If you find that your audience is bringing their customer service queries to Twitter, be sure to respond quickly, and be courteous, not defensive. There are many eyes watching the Twitterverse. The way you respond to a complaint can mean the beginning or the end of a relationship with a customer/potential customer.

However you decide to use Twitter, make sure you add value, that you’re contributing something to the greater good of the universe.

Don’t make us come after you with an “ru8?”

You wouldn’t like that much.

We’ll make sure of it. (Mwah ha ha, etc.)

That said, feel free to connect with us on Twitter. If you’re super lucky, we may even follow you back! And we never unfollow someone who’s making their tweets count.

So you should do that.

Make them count, we mean.

Just to clarify.

It’s kind of embarrassing to say that I spent years toiling in the darkness that only a Twitter skeptic can know. I’ve been in the SEO industry for 10 years and until last week, I completely failed to take full advantage of the power of the people who are engaging on this social media outlet.

And I didn’t even know it. Tragic, isn’t it?

For those of you who are self-proclaimed Twitter cynics, I have taken it upon myself to change your mind. So suck it up and read on.

Behold…I have become the Twitter evangelist.

The Numbers
I’m going to start with the data (because numbers make me look like I know what I’m talking about. Just…pretend to be impressed. Please? For me?).

Twitter launched in 2006, but didn’t really take off until 2007. And what a take-off it was. Let’s take a look at the demographics on Twitter:

1. Twitter has 127 million active users (that’s a lot of peeps)
2. 13% of Internet users also use Twitter.
3. 67% of Twitter users are under the age of 45.
4. 54% of Twitter users use Twitter on their mobile devices.
5. 36% of Twitter users tweet at least once a day.
6. The average visit on Twitter lasts for 14 minutes.
7. 59% of Twitter users are female (and therefore, 41% male).

Remember way back in 2009 when they said Twitter was just a fad? Ha.

Back to the point.

The feedback we often get from our clients is that they’re wary of Twitter because they don’t think it’s likely that any of those 127 million active users are their target customers. Which is, of course, a possibility.

But you know who just might be?

The thought leaders in your industry.

You may not use Twitter to reach your target market, but it is an incredibly valuable place for you to become part of the conversation in your industry’s online community.

What I’m trying to say is this (I know, I know, make a point, Mack):

Twitter is more than just a place to waste time at work talking to your friends. Use it for knowledge, people!

A little story
June, Mack Web’s social media strategist, has been telling me for months that I need to think of Twitter in a different way.

And finally, thanks to a little adventure of my own, I have seen the light. I have had a revelation. I have drunk (drinked?) of the Twitter Kool-aid.

I am a Tweeter. (Twitterer?)

So, here’s the story:

Last week when I was at Link Love, as I was waiting for the speakers to begin their presentations, I could hear June’s voice in my head: “You must tweet when you’re at Link Love!”

So, I opened up a doc for note taking and a window for Twitter so that I could tweet during the presentations.

And then something interesting happened:

1. I was looking through the program booklet at each of the speakers’ bios. I thought, hmmm, it might be a good idea to follow these amazing thought leaders on Twitter. So I did.
2. The presentations began. As I took notes on my laptop, I would simultaneously post updates to Twitter. Good stuff that the speakers were saying. I was an animal, I tell you. Note-taking here, tweeting there. It was epic.
3. What I didn’t realize at first was that while the speakers were working their magic on stage, there was this parallel universe happening on Twitter, in the Twitterverse. The speakers who weren’t speaking were tweeting. Their followers were tweeting and retweeting. I was getting retweeted (which was super exciting even for a Twitter cynic, because, let’s face it: everybody likes a little attention. Even me).

I was connecting with people and getting new followers. I was hooked.

Okay, good story, right? Discovery of alternate universe overlaying our own reality. Hooray for quantum physicists, right?

But…who goes to a conference everyday? How does that help me the other 364 (or, this year, 365) days of the year?

Wait for it…
When I returned home from Link Love, June was incredibly proud of my tweeting.

I was beside myself with excitement because I was tweeting with the actual people in our industry (i.e. Rand Fishkin, my hero).

Now, at Mack Web Solutions, we preach online relationship building (no, not the eHarmony kind). We’ve got a couple of reasons for this. The first is oddly technical for such an interpersonal activity: it’s the best way to build your web presence and, eventually, dominate the search engines. Connecting to the right people and earning their trust and respect is a great way to gather links and referrals to your website and content.

But human relationships are also a vital part of human thought. Put a bunch of brains together and we become more than the sum of our parts. We bounce ideas off each other, benefit from wisdom and experience we didn’t have to be there to gain. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all (speaking of physicists, take that Sir Isaac Newton).

And Twitter is a great, immediate way to facilitate an ongoing meeting of the minds.

And at Link Love, boy, there were minds a-meetin’. I had started relationships, made some connections. I was running with the cool kids and I didn’t want to lose my edge. I wanted to stay in the loop, get all of the most current knowledge in our industry, maybe get some of those thought leaders we rave about to notice the great work that we do at Mack Web (because we totally know what we’re doing and, remember…attention). So I decided to change my game.

Here’s my new routine:

1. I get on Twitter
When I get to work every day, I don’t get on my favorite blogs or read my email. The first thing I do is check Twitter.

2. I review Tweets
I look through all of the tweets that have populated since the last time I was there.

3. I look for patterns
At first I was pretty overwhelmed with all of the info that was being passed around. Then I realized that many of the people I follow feature or retweet the same articles. They are also generating their own content, but not every day (that was a relief).

4. I try to get in the game
Many days, I’ve got nothin’. I am in awe of the level of knowledge (and I thought I knew a lot about SEO). But every now and again (and I’m just a week or so into it) I see an opportunity to engage. And sometimes I say something that gets retweeted (woo hoo!)

5. I have to work harder (great, more work)
Every day Mack Web digests the industry knowledge and translates it for our end user: our client, the guys who don’t know what SERPS are. (No, it’s not a disease. But keep on guessing, you’ll get there). We love doing this, but after Link Love, I realized that this wasn’t enough.

Although it is incredibly important to be a knowledge center for our clients, I don’t want to neglect our industry audience. We need to be part of that group too. We now know that Mack Web needs to generate content for both audiences: our clients and our colleagues.

So, give Twitter another shot
Long story short, you really should give Twitter another try. It has become one of the most powerful tools I use.

Plus, it’s free! And who doesn’t love free stuff? (Let she who has never absconded with the hotel shower cap throw the first stone).

Wanna give it a try? Here’s how:

1. Identify your thought leaders
Think of the lead people in your industry. The people you respect. The thought leaders. The people who are working to change the world (sounds beautiful, doesn’t it?)

2. Get on Twitter
Find those people (you know, the thought leaders) and follow them.

3. Do some stalking

Go to the follower list of each person and look for people on their lists that you might want to follow (June gave me this tip and it’s backed up by @Wil Reynolds). Follow some of those people too.

4. Engage
Don’t try too hard or push it too quickly. Remember, you’re relationship building here so you don’t want to freak people out by being too aggressive. Look for opportunities to reply to a post, or just retweet. After you get in your groove, generate some of your own content and push it out. Slowly but surely you’ll make a name for yourself. And have fun in the process.

5. Be selective

If you follow too many people, it’s going to be like drinking from a fire-hose (I know, painful). Stick to a short list. Over time if you can handle that, add some more.

6. Time yourself

Trust me, if you don’t make it a point to get off of Twitter, you never will. Choose some times during the day and limit how long you’re on there.

Let us know how this worked out for ya. If you want to follow my twittering tweets @mackfogelson. You can also engage with my team of amazing tweeters @mackwebteam.

For our client audience, we will be putting together a guide on Twitter language and etiquette. Stay tuned.

Why You Should Get on Google+
So what the heck is Google+ all about? You could say it’s just another Facebook (but you’d be wrong). Or you could say it’s an amazing social media outlet (that’s what the team at Mack Web thinks). You could also say that Google is finally focusing on making it the best it can be because of some advice Steve Jobs gave to Larry Page (one of Google’s founders).

People may be reluctant to be a part of yet another flash-in-the-pan social network or to participate in what they think is just another step in Google’s attempt to take over the world. Here at Mack Web we’re pretty sure it’s not going anywhere and that people will eventually migrate to it in droves, just like they did with Twitter. That being said, here’s a little background so you know what you’re getting into and a few reasons why you too should make your way over to Google+.

The Numbers: Google+ vs. Facebook
When Google+ first hit the scene in 2011, it was in Beta stage and accessible by invitation only. After 12 weeks of testing, it was open to the public. Immediately the fight between Facebook and Google was on.

Currently (based on this sweet info-graphic revealing the social media usage statistics for 2012), here’s where the stats stand:

Facebook
1. Facebook has 845 million active users.
2. The average Facebook user has 130 friends.
3. The average Facebook visit lasts 23 minutes.
4. 46% of Facebook users are over the age of 45.
5. 57% of Facebook users are female (43% male).
6. 57% of Facebook users report having been to “some college” (24% bachelors or graduate degree).
7. 47% of Facebook users report making between $50,000 – $99,000 annually (33% between $25,000 – $49,999).

Google+
1. Google+ has had 90 million unique visitors.
2. The majority of Google+ users are male (71%).
3. The most common occupation of a Google+ user is an engineer.
4. 44% of Google+ users are “single”.

Doesn’t really sound all that inspiring does it?

How Google+ Trumps Facebook
But here’s the fact that you’re missing: Facebook and Google+ are two entirely different social media outlets. They are intended to be. Their approaches, demographics, and benefits are deliberately dissimilar.

We could list all those out for you, but there’s one major differentiator and it has a ton of implications: Google+ is an open network and Facebook is not.

Here’s a few ways that plays out in real life:

1. Content Indexes in Seconds
The rate at which content gets indexed from Google+ is unparalleled (we’re talking seconds). What this means is that the minute you post content to Google+ it is instantly crawled and placed into Google’s index, as opposed to the days or even weeks it can take other content to populate.

2. Google+ Provides Integrated Results
Because Google+ integrates content from the Google+ network into its search results, posting your content to Google+ offers an additional opportunity for your content to be featured on a search results page.



Bonus opportunity: If someone clicks on the “+1” for your result (similar to a “like” on Facebook), it may start to rank higher in Google than other results without those +1 votes.

Boosting Your Rankings

And another note on how Google+ helps your search engine presence: Increasingly social signals are being used to determine the level of authority, trust, and relevance a website should be accorded. Engagement on both Facebook and Google+ will ultimately help your rankings (work for “shares” on Facebook and “+1s” on Google+) as it will help to raise your domain authority.

But, and here’s the kicker on the open vs. closed thing: posts to Facebook are only visible within the Facebook network. Whereas the content that you post to your Google+ account is public and can be (what was that again?) returned in a search result. The more valuable content that Google knows you have, the more Google likes and trusts you. The more Google likes and trusts you, the better you do in the search engines.

Ta da!

Getting Started on Google+

We here at Mack Web challenge you to open your mind, business plan, social media strategist, and other internal resources to this “new” social network. And just because we like you, we’ve put together are some guidelines on getting started:

1. Create a Personal Google+ Account. 

Before you can create a company Google+ page, you’ll need to create a personal Google+ account (we’ll use June’s account as an example). Keep in mind that whoever creates this account will be the administrator. 

Make sure that you upload a personal photo for the thumbnail photo in your profile, not a logo (32 x 32 pixels). Once you create your company Google+ page, you will have the opportunity to upload your logo and brand that page as your business.
One note on social media etiquette here: Just because June can assign the content she posts to specific circles in her Google+ account (friends vs. business associates, for example) doesn’t mean that she should ignore the fact that Mack Web’s company page is attached to her personal account. It would be prudent of her to post content that is appropriate to all audiences that may come across it (we’ve already talked to her about nights out in Old Town and spring break photos; she’s working on keeping it clean).

2. Create Your Business Google+ Account

Once you’ve created your personal Google+ account, you are ready to create your Google+ business page. Just click on the “Create a Google+” page to the right of your personal page and choose the type of page you want to create based on the type of your business.

3. Optimize Your Company Page
One of the best ways to capitalize on your Google+ efforts is to complete each of the areas in the About section. Here’s what you’ll need: an introduction, hours, website address (URL), contact information, photos, and videos. Make sure you take advantage of the recommended link section as this is a great place to showcase the other social networks that your company is a part of.

4. Add Businesses to Your Circles

Once your company page is complete and you have completed it 100%, you can start adding other businesses to your circles. You can do this by conducting a search in the “Search Google+” field (type a business name or keywords into the field). One item to note here is that Google+ does not currently allow businesses to add actual people (the individual has to initiate the contact by adding your business to one of their circles). Only after the person has added your business to their circles, can you, as your business, connect with them and “Say hello”.

Whoever is administering your Google+ company page can also take advantage of the “spread the word” tool.

This allows a post to go out to all of their circles. The tool is located at the right of the screen on the home page of your company.

Organize your Circles
One of the perks of Google+ is that it allows you to select who will receive the information that you are sending through the circles feature. Be thoughtful about how you want to organize your circles as your connections grow.

Post Some Stuff

Once your page is ready and you’ve got some businesses in your circle, start posting content on a regular basis (and make it valuable). Share articles, images, and videos you find useful. Google+ is easy to use which, in turn, makes it easy to leverage your articles and blog content.

Make Some Friends
In the current social climate on Google+, people are open to interaction so feel free to comment on posts. Get in there and engage and start building some relationships. If you’re posting good content, it will be easy to build relationships (people will really, really like you, trust us).

Have Fun

One of Mack Web Solution’s favorite parts of Google+ is the all-in-oneness. Despite its more professional demeanor, there is a lot of potential for fun, too. The ease of putting people into circles means that you can wear your work and personal hats in the same network, the easy access to YouTube videos means you can post both fun and serious multimedia, and there are secret emoticons you can use in chat. Oh, and one other awesome thing…if you download the Google+ application on your phone, all of the photos you take from your phone will automatically populate to your Google+ page. You can then choose which ones you want to share and which ones you want to keep private. No matter what, your phone will have a backup for all the photos taken from the moment you download the app. Ah, simplicity.

See? Nothing to be afraid of and lots of possibilities to explore and make use of.

And then, once you’ve got Google+ down, we’ve got some other great ways to make the most of your social media:

You could optimize your LinkedIn account as well (that is, if you haven’t already).
You could build some company culture with Pinterest (Pinterest? What’s that?)
You could figure out why it’s so dang hard to earn your rankings in Google these days.

There’s a lot more where that came from, but this will keep you busy for a little while. Good luck. May the force be with you.

We’ve seen it time and time again. You get a LinkedIn account just because you think you should have one. If you’re saying, “Yep, that’s me” (aloud or in your head or even in your secretest heart of hearts), then we wrote this just for you.

(If you didn’t say “Yep, that’s me” or some variant thereof, give yourself a pat on the back. Then read this anyway, ‘cuz you never know when you might learn something or find the opportunity to teach something).

For those of you are not making the most of your LinkedIn account, let’s just be clear: LinkedIn is a tremendously valuable professional network. That’s not in question.

The question is: Do you know how to use LinkedIn to its fullest potential?

Well, fortunately, it’s easy to do and it’s the same advice we give for every social network:

Be authentic, relevant and get engaged.

How to Optimize Your Profile

1. Complete Your Profile
First things first: make sure that your LinkedIn profile is one hundred percent complete. LinkedIn does a great job of tracking this and will let you know what is left to improve.

Take your time with this and do it right; share your work ethic, skills, education, and relevant job history. You can even sort the categories in your profile so that the ones that make you shine like a star are listed first (or at least above the fold).

2. Make Connections

Once your profile is 100% complete, search for people you already know professionally. Begin to make connections with the people in your industry, clients, potential business partners, industry leaders, etc. You can also connect with old professors, past employers, past co-workers, alumni, friends. (Although, remember that this a professional network so act accordingly with your friends; save the jokes, comics, sports talk, new Pinterest obsession for Facebook).

Once you’re in the habit, making connections on LinkedIn will be easy (and yes, even fun). Just like we’re always saying: it’s important to think of social media as face-to-face business development…online. Every time you meet someone in person (at a meeting, conference, speaking engagement, etc), look them up on LinkedIn. Get connected and follow them.

Also, we’re kind of picky about our connections and like to keep them relevant. In other words, if someone is looking to connect with you on LinkedIn (most likely just to increase their number of connections) and you don’t know them or aspire to, don’t friend them. No harm done.

3. Join Some Groups
When you’ve started to build up some connections, make a point of joining groups that look interesting or valuable. Many discussions occur on LinkedIn and being in a group is one of the best ways to build relationships. Some groups you’ll find worthwhile, others…not so much. You can always remove yourself from a group and explore another. If you feel like there’s a great gaping hole where a group should be…start it.

Keep in mind that self-promotion is the fastest way to becoming the loser of the group. You want to join the conversations within these groups when the opportunity presents itself (not just because you want to push your business card around). Using authenticity will help you to network with people beyond your local arena. You can gain a reputation as a thought leader in your industry via LinkedIn. LinkedIn recognizes those that contribute value to the discussion, whether you provoke a conversation or debate or answer a question. You could find yourself in the list of “ Top Influencers This Week”.

4. Get Some Recommendations
Another important, and quite possibly the most valuable aspect of LinkedIn is the recommendations people give one another. Don’t feel intimidated at the prospect. If you are good at what you do for a living, let others sing your praises. Make sure you also give recommendations only to those you truly vouch for.

Other Stuff LinkedIn is Good For
LinkedIn is a great networking tool, but it’s also enormously helpful when you are hiring or, contrariwise, when you are looking for a position. It’s good to point potential employers to your LinkedIn profile. People tend to treat all those lovely recommendations as references or referrals.

And Your Last Idea for Leveraging LinkedIn

Your LinkedIn information and reputation can be leveraged through other social networks or through your emails and email marketing. Place your LinkedIn profile on your email signature if you want people to know more about you professionally. Place your company’s LinkedIn profile in your email marketing if you want people to follow your company’s growth. Always think about how you can utilize and leverage through social tools.

And remember, 100% complete on your profile. That’s important.

S’why we said it twice.

Want to connect with us?
Mackenzie Fogelson, Owner: http://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenziefogelson
June Macon, Social Media Strategist: http://www.linkedin.com/in/junemacon
Natalie Touchberry, Design Ninja: http://www.linkedin.com/in/natalietouchberry
Courtney Brown, SEM Strategist: http://www.linkedin.com/in/cabrown4

Back in the day (like, a whole year ago) it used to be that you could invest in some good SEO for your website and, with the right keywords, you’d be attracting some pretty awesome targeted traffic. Thanks to Google (and we mean that in a good way), this is no longer accurate. Things have changed. A lot.

If you’re one of those people who want to know how to get your website on the first page of Google, you should read on…

Blame it all on a guy named Panda
In the early months of 2011, Google launched an algorithmic update that utterly and irrevocably altered the world of search. Even the practices that ethical search engine marketing companies (ahem. that’s us, by the way) were using were no longer enough.

In a nutshell, here’s what happened:

A engineer-type dude at Google named Navneet Panda engineered some updates to Google’s ranking algorithms. These changes drastically changed many of the rankings websites were accustomed to holding. For some this was very, very good. For many it was…not. The whole world proceeded to freak out. Mass panic in the streets, much headless-chicken behavior, etc.

The Panda update necessitated an evolution in the way we approach SEO and search engine marketing. Here’s why:

Before the Panda update all you really needed for decent SEO was a fairly simple checklist:

• build some good content
• integrate some keywords that you researched
• build some links to it
• pat yourself on the back for a job well done

Problem was that a bunch of people, even big, otherwise reputable companies like JC Penney (where grandma buys her shoes! insert sob of betrayal, here), were trying to scam the system. People were generating a ton of mediocre content and farming for links to that content. And, however inadvertently, they were being rewarded in the engines for this shifty behavior with good rankings.

Google was on to them. Panda updates went live. Stuff happened.

It was the search equivalent of heavy artillery fire turned against hordes of rampaging scavengers. Carnage.

And now…
When the smoke cleared and the new world order was established, that checklist had gotten a lot less straightforward.

Suddenly Google (and where Google goes, the others soon follow) was a lot more sophisticated about how they parsed the content on your site. The ways they evaluated your trustworthiness and authority, your relevance and appeal had grown up and gained some discernment.

Their reasons were pretty clear: a search engine’s purpose in life is to provide searchers with the best online answers to the questions they ask.

When you ask a question to a human person, how do you evaluate the information you received? You look at the source: how likely are they to know the answer? Has anyone vouched for them? Do they strike you as knowledgeable and trustworthy? You also evaluate the answer: does it make sense? Is it articulate?

The Panda update was Google’s way of applying those very human and instinctual rules to its own search results.

Of course, because of the very nature of the internet as a ginormous computer program, they still had to find ways to do this electronically. And those clever enough and not overly burdened with scruples can always find ways around electronic measures meant to emulate human response.

But the simple (and fortunately moral) truth is…Google hires the very, very clever, too. And they’ve sent a very clear message: we are watching.

Creepy, I know.

But wait, there’s more…

The new reality of search
It’s fairly safe to assume that any further changes Google makes to its code will trend in the direction of ever more human ways of evaluating your information. What this means is that, in both the long- and short-term, the most sustainable way to conduct your SEO is to meet all the standards that actual people demand of those from whom they seek knowledge.

For example:

You’ve got to be a brand that people know, trust, and want to share.

Links still matter, but the quality of the links have become of even more important. You’ve got to be selective about who you are building relationships with.

Design & user experience, always a factor, is now a screaming necessity. User behavior is one of the ways Google is teaching its engines how to think like people. It is weighed and measured to determine if human people linger on your site or click away quickly. (Word to the wise…most people aren’t wild about a design cluttered with ads and this is one of the first things the humanized search engines seem to have learned).

Pages with low authority (no one links to them, poor content) can drag down the authority of your whole website. There’s no such thing as a throwaway page: you need make all your pages valuable.

Content must be meaningful. Funny is good, but authentic and relevant are requisite. Be professional and engaging and put your personality into your content. Get the multimedia going: photos, maybe an info-graphic or two. Video if you can manage it. You want you site to have bits that people want to tweet, share, like.

And you really need to pay attention to your metrics. Not just how many unique visits you have on your site, but also: how long do they stay? how many pages do they view? do they share or like? are they talking about you out there in the wide world?

This is why you need search engine marketing
So, to recap, SEO now means more than just the keywords that you target on your website. You need to think about the bigger search engine marketing picture (which is brilliantly illustrated in this infographic if we do say so ourselves).

So what does this all mean to you?
What this comes down to is more time spent on generating valuable content and becoming the company you’ve always wanted to be…online. Because really what we’re saying is that if you do all of this and do it right (and Mack Web is behind you every step of the way), you will experience:

• Higher domain authority (trust us, this is important)
• Targeted traffic
• Desired rankings
• More value in your company
• More value for your customers
• Better relationships with your customers
• A clear-eyed view of your company identity and goals (this will change your company, believe us. we know)

If you want more information on how Mack Web Solutions can help your company succeed with SEM, give us a shout. We’ve got some good stuff to show you.

First of all, if you haven’t heard of Pinterest…we’re really sorry. Seriously, you’re missing out. Pinterest is a virtual corkboard. You can show off cards, pictures, quotes, things you like. You can make them yourself, snag them off other websites, or recycle things other people have pinned.

It’s inspiring, it’s informative, it’s entirely visual, and, frequently, pretty dang funny.

You could say it’s addictive, and you wouldn’t be wrong. Pinning yourself, browsing other people’s pins…it’s a delightful way to see several hours disappear without your notice.

You could say it’s the online equivalent of hoarding, if you really wanted to.

What we at Mack Web Solutions say about Pinterest is that it’s the perfect way to share our personalities and a little bit of our culture.

How Mack Web Uses Pinterest
We’ve spent some time thinking about this and we’ve decided that one of the most important and fundamental principles of the way we do business is that we treat people like people. That means we treat our clients like human beings with lives and deadlines and frustrations and joys. And we treat each other like that, too.

To that end, building some kind of relationship with every client is vital to our sense of workplace satisfaction. Unfortunately, as a company in the web world, we have clients across the country. It’s difficult to develop rapport with them over the phone or email. We can do straight-up business that way, but there are a few things we want our clients to know about us that are best conveyed through some other medium.

Namely, that we know our stuff, that we work hard, that we have a passion for our work, and also that we’re people, too. We have names and faces and senses of humor…and we understand that you do too.

This is where Pinterest comes into play. Businesses are still sussing out how to use Pinterest for promotional purposes, but for us, it’s about sharing our culture with you.

All of our team members have personal boards on our Pinterest site where they can pin things that show their personality and interests. We’re all pretty different in the particulars, but a quick glance shows that we have the broad strokes in common: we’re creative and clever and we’ve clearly got a handle on this web/social media/being awesome thing.

We also have a company board to focus on our branding. The theme of the hour (and month and, y’know, decade) is growth, so we’ve got a board where we can pin things relating to that: ideas, images, inspirations…other things that start with the letter ‘i’.

And since we also a) offer a web design service and b) spend a lot of time online, we tend to focus on websites that we personally like. We’ve got a board for that too.

We fully anticipate that the list of boards will grow with new ideas and concepts.

A Shout out to Authenticity (not self-promotion)
So this is the balance we’ve found with Pinterest. We are Mackcentric with our Pinterest, but not in a way that is blatantly self-promotional and runs contrary to the heart of the Pinterest concept. We aren’t selling our souls…we’re sharing our souls.

Cheesy? Maybe. But no less true for all that.

Even though Pinterest has been around for a while, businesses are just getting started on this particular platform. If you’re thinking about using it, we recommend a few simple preliminary steps:

1. Think about your purpose: why would you would create a board? what purpose will it serve?
2. Think about what you will pin and share: what topics do you want to cover? what type of media (doesn’t have to be just images; can be video too)?
3. Think about how you will contribute to the Pinterest community: what do you hope people will gain from seeing your board? how will they respond to what you’ve aggregated?

If you’ve taken all those things into consideration, well then…Pin on, MacDuff.

And hey, we’d love to see what you pin so make sure to let us know you’re on board (Hee hee. Bad puns RULE!).

The countdown has begun.

For 800 million Facebook users, myself included, the end is near.

(Not to be confused with our other countdown…)

The Timeline Approacheth.

Whether this is the first time you’ve heard of it, whether you’ve already jumped in with both feet, or whether you’ve been putting it off with a sense of impending doom, change is a-comin’.

Prepare yourselves.

Fortunately, Facebook is giving you a chance to do just that. Once you decide to convert (or even if you don’t decide and let the mandatory switch roll over you as inevitably as the tide), you have 7 days to review your new Timeline before it goes live. This gives you a chance to familiarize yourself with your page before you have to fumble around in real time.

The Scoop:
So here’s a rundown on what’s changing (dun dun duuuun):

Your news feed (the first page you see when you sign in with the listing of everything your friends have been posting) is…hardly changing at all.

I know, right? Huge sigh of relief. It will have some additional functionality, but the interface is not going to be a wilderness of confusion.

No, no. We reserve that honor for….

Your Page!

Okay, when you first see it, I want you to take a deep breath in and then let it out. Repeat after me: It’s going to be okay.

Because, honestly, folks, it is going to be okay. With the exception of the Cover (discussed later…kinda), this is pretty much all the same information that has always been available. It just looks a little different now.

Apart from the layout shift, the biggest change is the way your information is organized. Now you can find all the info Facebook knows about you sequentially. It’s all arranged through the handy-dandy, easy to use…Timeline.

I know. So literal, Facebook.

The vertical timeline is surprisingly unobtrusive on your page. Just a vertical listing of dates going back to your birth off to the right on your page. Click on a year and it shows you the events, posts, pictures from that year.

Not so bad, eh?

There are, of course, more changes than this, but I’m going to let you explore those for yourself.

‘Cuz we best remember what we teach ourselves.

What does it all mean?
This doesn’t really change all that much in your world. Yeah, sure, it’s a little easier for people to find those embarrassing college photos… but it’s probably time to grow up. Facebook is maturing and so should we.

And, as always, you can remove anything you post from your Timeline or choose who can see it.

All of these changes are actually a good thing. Not just because stagnation is death (though it is, and I don’t want you to die), but because Facebook has added some pretty cool new features:
-Posts are easy to read
-The new layout is clean and interesting
-More opportunities to customize your information
-Your profile now actually is…a profile. Of YOU. It shows who you are, not just by who your friends are, but from your photos, posts, likes, and affiliations.

Facebook has also expanded its interactivity with the other things you like. If you’ve joined the Pinterest craze, for example, you can easily share what you’ve pinned through Facebook.

Now, keep in mind, all of these new application options also give you the capability to be approximately a million-and-three times more annoying. Because you now have even more sources to glut the monster that is your news feed.

Or, more to the point, your friends’ news feeds.

Keep that in mind as you allow third party applications to post on your Timeline. You don’t want to be that guy, do you?

Some closing thoughts…of the deep and insightful kind, naturally
Okay, quick note: Facebook Timeline is not currently available to your business pages. There is no word on when that’s coming. So if the Timeline becomes overwhelming, you can retreat to the familiarity of your favorite businesses.

May we suggest…Mack Web Solutions? (hint, hint. Really. You should like us. We’re just that cool).

Secondly, here’s a little list of things to be mindful of as you make the adjustment:

1. Upload an awesome Cover. Your page now prominently features a large area in which you can upload a horizontal photo, image, quote…anything your heart and imagination can desire… so long as it fits the dimensions of course.
2. It’s always best practice to use a photo of yourself as the profile picture. Otherwise, people might think you’re a creeper posing as you. That doesn’t sound like it leads to good things, now does it?
3. Your ability to organize your photos is now unprecedentedly broad. Do it. Share ‘em. A picture is worth a thousand words and all that jazz.
4. Resize posts that carry importance. There is a little star on each post that lets you enlarge it so the post stands out on the timeline. This can be a quote, photo, video, status, anything. Let people know what really matters to you. What’s Facebook for, if not that?
5. Take advantage of Facebook Places. It’s pretty neat to look on the map and see all the places where you’ve spent time. (And no…Facebook is not just following you around with a map and a pencil. It’s based on your own shared information. They have not hired a flock of private eyes to skulk around in the bushes behind you, wearing trenchcoats and fedoras).
6. Be aware of who/what you like. This is something everyone who views your Facebook Timeline can see easily. If you don’t want everyone to know that you secretly watch America’s Next Top Model and listen to The Spice Girls…don’t post that in your likes.
7. Choose your friends wisely. Each month shows what new friends you have acquired in a pretty little box.

So…thus far, 242 people we know have signed up for the timeline. Who’s next?

And if you still have questions… check out this link to watch the awesome presentation Facebook made: https://www.facebook.com/about/timeline.

If you have questions after that…well, good luck.

Just kidding. Let us know. We can look into it and get back to you. Also, if there’s anything we’ve missed, let us know that, too.

All of us here at Mack Web Solutions would like to welcome our new Social Media Strategist into this world of search engine marketing and web design. June Macon is the newest edition to our roster of innovative employees.

Ms. Macon is experienced in public relations, marketing and social media and enhances the creativity, reliability and professionalism Mack Web Solutions currently provides for clients. Macon, with her expertise in social media and ability to identify the wants and needs of a company’s audience, will focus on social strategy and social engagement.

Prior to joining Mack Web Solutions, Macon held the position of Director of Public Relations, Professional Relationships and Events at a local company with a focus in education. She also consulted with companies in the education, health and real estate fields, providing web writing, social media management, social media strategies, social media campaigns and services in public relations. Macon holds a Master of Arts in Adult Education and Training and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations.

“In today’s web-driven world, it is imperative for businesses to establish an online presence,” says owner Mackenzie Fogelson. “We’ve found an approach and process that really works, giving our clients the web exposure they want and need. Bringing June onto the team expands our expertise and opens new avenues to generating great results for our clients.”

If your company would like a free consultation to learn how Mack Web Solutions can improve your search engine marketing and increase engagement in your current social media efforts or you are interested in learning more about what Mack Web Solutions can do for your company, contact info@mackwebsolutions.com.

About Mack Web Solutions:

Mack Web Solutions specializes in custom website design and development, search engine marketing, email marketing, social media, public relations and navigation development. For more information or to look at Mack Web’s portfolio please visit www.mackwebsolutions.com.

In the world of search engine marketing (a.k.a SEO, search engine rankings, getting good rankings in Google) Matt Cutts is a household name. In case you don’t know Matt, he’s the current head of Google’s Webspam team. In the Mack Web household, when Matt talks, you listen.

Just recently Matt validated a few specific areas that he feels small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) should be spending their time on:

The Mobile Market
You’re probably aware that most people use their phone more than they use their desktops. Matt reminds us how important it is that your website is well designed, easy to navigate, and that it loads quickly on mobile devices. A majority of the time people are going to be searching for your company from their phone. Make sure they can get to what they need quickly and easily.

The Social Realm
Social media, social media, blah, blah, blah. People talk about social media so much that it is easy to tune it out and ignore its magnitude. Getting your business involved in social media is a smart move for any business, and especially for businesses who require foot traffic. Whether you like it or not, social media is the way most people prefer to communicate, share information, and build relationships. I sound like a broken record when I tell clients that Facebook and Twitter may not be a direct match for every business out there, but that doesn’t mean that you have to count out social media altogether. There are some easy ways to get involved with social media, and there are many social media tools that can be used to build your reputation and establish your authentic, quality online presence.

Matt is really excited about Google making the web a better place, and they are going to use social signals to do it. More and more we see indicators in our clients’ metrics that point to higher rankings based on social media involvement. If you haven’t already started, get your business in the social realm.

Get Your Local Search On
Matt wants small business owners to know that Google is stressing SMBs as an area of priority. Getting your local online presence established is very important. Make sure to focus your efforts on a local search campaign to make it easier for people to find your business online…especially if you require physical traffic.

All of these areas: mobile, social, and local, work together to assist your company in gaining more exposure and reach your targeted customers. In order to make Google your pal, your SEO, link building and social media strategies must work together to provide value to your customers and to the search engines.

Getting into the world of social media marketing can be somewhat panic-inducing. In a virtual environment like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and so many more, knowing how to best utilize the available tools is difficult to sort out.

Fortunately, once you adjust to the pace and culture of the social networking universe, doing business there falls pretty much along the same principles as doing business out here in the real world. It just takes some getting used to (and some consistent effort).

What we’ve compiled for you here are the five basic laws of marketing through social media. They should look pretty familiar: offer value, be a person among people, be both generous and reciprocal, make the most of what you have, and pay attention to what you’re doing, adapting where necessary. All we’ve done is provide ideas on the best ways of implementing these practices in the social media sphere.

Not so scary, huh?

1. Put some thought into your content

   Even though social media appears to be posting spur of the moment thoughts and ideas, it’s still important to put some effort into your content. Your content has to be good enough for people to want to pass it along (“share” it on Facebook, “retweet” it on Twitter).

   Try different approaches to the delivery of your content. In addition to an article, post a video with a transcript of the dialogue in the video and then leverage that video on your website and on YouTube. When tweeting an article or blog post, try placing the link to your content in the middle of your post vs. at the end and see if that gets you more click throughs.

   Whatever you do, make your efforts consistent. Experiment with the frequency of your posts and determine what gives you the best results (time of day, day of week). At the end of the day, your success in social media all rests upon the value that you are providing in your content. If you continue to provide quality information and materials, people will come back and tell their friends to do the same.

2. Cultivate relationships
   In order to make an impact and spread your reach through social media, you have to provide something of value and have some followers (your mom and sister don’t count). In order to develop a network of good followers, start following the people that you respect and aspire to be. Read their blogs, follow them on Twitter, read their updates on LinkedIn, pick up their habits and ideas. When you get comfortable, start getting involved in your online community by commenting on their blog posts and getting the conversation started.Then make sure you’re on top of your game so that when these people visit your website or blog, they will be impressed and want to follow you and learn more about what you do. Where possible, get some of your friends in higher places to give you a leg up with a mention, share, or re-tweet. This can help to spread your network a bit faster than entirely on your own.

   And, don’t forget that your social media profile is very important because it’s your one shot to let people know who you are and what you do. Don’t miss opportunities by leaving blank fields in your profile information (i.e. LinkedIn). Make sure your information is consistent across all of your accounts so that people feel comfortable with who they see (they start seeing the same photo, similar info about who you are, they are clear on what you do, etc).

3. Spread some link juice
   In case you didn’t know, the reason why you want people to “share” and re-tweet” your posts is because acquiring inbound links from quality individuals and websites is one of the largest contributing factors to desired search engine rankings.So, work on being a reciprocator of link juice.

   When posting content on your website or blog, mention (link to) a useful article, video or person to follow. When someone does the same for you, thank them publicly through a comment on their blog post or wherever appropriate. This is just another beneficial way of getting involved in your online community and cultivating relationships.

4. Leverage, leverage, leverage

   Although Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ are the big ones, there are several other social media websites that could be a great fit for your goals. Whichever sites you choose to use however, don’t forget to leverage (less effort, more exposure).

   Of course you can use tools that automate the posting of your content to Facebook and Twitter, but we like to be specific about our message and delivery when addressing our different social media audiences. 

Here’s an example of how we here at Mack Web Solutions leverage our content:

1. Mack Web Blog
   After we finish writing an article, we first post it on our blog (and in the article we make sure that we are linking to other useful websites and articles where appropriate).
2. LinkedIn
   We have a Linked In User Group (Search Engine Rankings | Mack Web Solutions), so we usually start there first. We like to think about who is in that audience and anything specific that we might want to post there. We post a teaser of the article and link directly to our blog.
3. Facebook
   Facebook is an entirely different audience, so we re-purpose our message in our teaser before providing the link back to our blog. It’s ideal to mention one of your audience members directly or ask a question to spark a conversation.
4. Twitter
   Twitter is next. Once we tweet the blog post (with a very SHORT teaser; many times just the subject line) we usually see on Google Alerts within a few hours that the engines have already crawled (we have experienced a longer delay when we do not tweet the article).
5. eBlast
   Lastly, we use email marketing to connect with our existing client base. We send a teaser of the article along with some of the projects that we have been working on. Each eblast provides links to all of our previous posts. We usually get more click throughs on previous articles than we do on the feature article (which tells us that our content is still very valuable).
   
6. Watch what you’re doing

   None of your efforts are worth anything if you can’t track them, measure them, and make some changes based on the information that you are receiving.

With Facebook’s new Insights feature, you can actually see what your efforts are doing (after installing some code on your website to track your business/group page).Similarly, there are other apps that can help to report on the social media efforts that you are making like Hootsuite. 

Ultimately, if you have the budget, work with a social media strategist like Mack Web Solutions so that you have someone looking at your campaign and providing expert knowledge based on a global perspective.

So, there you have it. The foundation for successful social media marketing. For more on this topic, you should really check out Jeff Bulla’s article. He’s got some great ideas and a more specific step-by-step guide for some of the social media platforms.

Copyblogger also does a great job and has an article worth the read on effective social media as well (plus their articles always make me laugh).

So now, you have no excuse. Get out there and give it a whirl and then let us know what questions you have. We’re happy to help.