Conversion Strategy with Brad Tiller

One of my favorite reads is Search Engine Journal. It’s one of the best places for digital strategists to sharpen their claws and keep up with coming trends in our trade.

I read a great post today by Brad Tiller called ‘Build a Killer Conversion Strategy with Nothing but Time and Empathy’. It took me back to my first two campaigns; the hard work and sheer passion it took to successfully build  two brands.

It took blood, sweat and tears – this was before all the amazing software that’s available today. If you’re new to the game, you don’t know how good you have it!

Anyway here are some key points from the article:

1.) If you don’t have the money, you’ll have to make time – ah, yes…the hours, days and months of building a campaign with a small budget. You forget to get a hair cut, you forget to shave, you have winter skin all summer long. It’s for the feint-hearted!

2.) Content trumps style – Why? Because at the end of the day, users want solid, accurate, current information.

3.) Always be testing – Keep learning and giving the unknown a go.

4.) Learn from you mistakes – these are actually some of the most important lessons you can learn.

5.) Play a long game – those words are written across my heart!

Click here for the full article.

5 Essential Webmaster Links for SEOs

Here are some must-have webmaster links:

• 31 Actionable Social Media Marketing Tips
• How to Track the Effects of Your SEO Campaign
• Googles Official Webmaster Central Blog
• The Key To Building A Strong Online Reputation
• Google’s Webmaster Academy

Google Releases The Penguin 2.0 Update

Google’s Penguin 2.0 Update has arrived. The latest version of Google’s webspam algorithm specifically targets black hat webspam i.e. keyword stuffing and link schemes.

From Google’s webmaster central blog:

“In the next few days, we’re launching an important algorithm change targeted at webspam. The change will decrease rankings for sites that we believe are violating Google’s existing quality guidelines. We’ve always targeted webspam in our rankings, and this algorithm represents another improvement in our efforts to reduce webspam and promote high quality content. While we can’t divulge specific signals because we don’t want to give people a way to game our search results and worsen the experience for users, our advice for webmasters is to focus on creating high quality sites that create a good user experience and employ white hat SEO methods instead of engaging in aggressive webspam tactics.”

So if the focus of your website has been the creation of useful, quality content and you’ve grown your audience organically, the Penguin 2.0 Update won’t affect you at all. If you’ve used black hat methods to boost your page ranking, it certainly will.

In this blog, Matt Cutts clearly states that Google tolerate white hat/ethical SEO but that they prefer websites that use no site engine optimization at all.

3.1% of English language queries will be effected and roughly 3% of other major language queries will see a noticeable degree of change.

20 Fresh Ideas for Your Blog Posts

Like all writers bloggers can suffer from occasional writers block. It moments like those when a little inspiration goes a long way. Here is a list of 20 different kinds of blog posts you can write to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Write a review of a product or service. Examples: your experience using a particular brand of computer software or review a book or movie.
2. Post a list. Examples: ‘Must-Have Photoshop Plug-Ins’, ‘Websites Every SEO Should Know’
3. Organize a promotional give-away. Example: Goodie bags, gift certificates.
4. Preview upcoming events in your organization or on your blog.
5. Live blogging an event.
6. Post your answer to a reader question.
7. Post a tutorial.
8. Write a comprehensive guide on a specific topic. Example: ‘The Advanced Webmaster Guide to User Outreach’, ‘The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Photoshop’
9. Produce a weekly video blog using YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion or Keek.
10. Profile a person or thing
11. Write a post listing valuable resources.
12. Interview an influential person that will appeal to your niche.
13. Post a reading list.
14. Write an opinion post about something you distain.
15. A motivation post.
16. Have a contest, inviting users compete for prizes.
17. Post recurring weekly topics.
18. Photobomb.
19. Photo gallery relating to a specific topic. Exmaples: ‘Top Influencers in Social Media’ or ‘5 Social Media Platforms that Changed the Game’
20. Post a weekly guest blog.

Voila! I hope these suggestions are helpful to you. If you would like to add any more, I invite you to post them in the comments below.

The Big Three: Must-Have Blogger Outreach Software

In this post I’m going to talk about an excellent method of generating organic website traffic, which I mentioned in my last blog post. A staple of effective, ethical SEO is the use of social media monitoring software. These tools will enable you to create an outreach strategy to grow your audience and while building page rank enhancing back links to your site.

This method involves researching hot topics among your audience and identifying the interests of current and potential users in terms of what they are talking about and linking to. using this information, you are then able to connect with your niche audience, crafting content and marketing tailored specifically to their interests.

Here are three great blogger outreach tools to help you on your way:

• Vocus: Powerful digital marketing software that features real-time marketing opportunities i.e. social media conversations, curated content and inbound media inquiries.
• Radian6 : This software provides valuable insight into online conversations online about your brand, products, competitors, and industry as well as providing a means to respond in real-time.
• Cision: Target your pitches, connect with audiences and monitor coverage of your brand. Comprehensive analysis of audience behaviour.

And there you have it – three powerful tools that will take your traffic generating game to the next level!

Mastering Ethical SEO Techniques

Site Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term used to describe the method of achieving high page ranking in the non-commercial search results of internet search engines (SERP) with the aim of attracting more organic visitors to the website.

SEO is vital for anyone with an internet presence. It’s constantly evolving so it’s vital to say abreast of new developments that streamline and improve the ways in which you can improve your website’s visibility.

Most newcomers will probably begin by using SEO software but there are thousands of effective ways to improve your page ranking. Site engine optimization techniques fall in to two main categories: White Hat (ethical) SEO and Black Hat SEO.

White Hat (Ethical) SEO techniques may make the process of optimizing your website take longer but pay off down the line as they focus on building a connection with an organic, human audience. Whereas Black Hat SEO techniques often led to penalties and negative results in the long run.

With all that said, if you want to get serious about your websites SEO then I strongly recommend reading How to Rank: 25 Step SEO Master Blueprint by guru Cyrus Shephard. It is an invaluable resource for intermediate and advanced ethical SEO. It provides a comprehensive overview of essential keyword research, content, architecture, on-page optimization and link building. Enjoy!

Google Page Rank 101

The higher your website ranks in the Google search engine the more opportunities you’ll have to generate business which increases the value of your website for direct sales and this is inturn makes you more appealing to advertizers which will further increase your website revenue.

So in this post I’m going to discuss some basic ways you can move your website from the back of the heap to the front page for your keywords. Think of this as the beginners guide and over the coming weeks and months we will work our way up to intermediate and advanced levels.

Here’s 5 basic ways to begin moving your website up in the Google rankings:

1. High quality content: offer your visitors original content that makes your website stand out from the crowd.
2. Identify 3 Keywords: research and select three keywords relevent to your niche and target these in your website title, description, texts and backlinks.
3. Submit your URL: take the time to submit your website to every high ranking search engine and website directory you can find.
4. Consistent SEO: Be consistent with Search Engine Optimization with regard to your texts. For example, be sure to feature your keywords in your blog posts.
5. Quality Backlinks: Be sure to create quality backlinks to your website and blog posts using social bookmarks and by interacting with other websites and blogs. Avoid backlink spam from low page ranking websites at all costs as these will negatively impact your SERP.

9 Ways To Boost Your Alexa Page Ranking

Alexa.com is a free analytics service and the #1 provider of web metrics in the world. If you’re planning to monetize your website, Alexa ranking is vital because sponsors and advertizing networks often rely on the Alexa system to determine the value of running ads on your site. Alexa evaluates your websites rank by measuring the number of visitors who access your site with the Alexa Toolbar installed in their browsers. For this reason, Alexa’s accuracy is frequently debated as many website visitors may not have installed an Alexa Toolbar.

That said, a solid Alexa ranking will add tremendous value to your website among advertisers. So without futher ado, here are 9 ways to boost your Alexa Page Ranking:

1. Install the Alexa Toolbar and set your website as your homepage so it can record all of your visits.
2. Install an Alexa Widget on your website. This is a bit of a ninja move because by installing an Alexa Widget on your site, the widget will measure all of your visitors.
3. Ask your friends to Install the Alexa Toolbar on their browsers so their visits to your site will also be recorded.
4. Provide a link to the Alexa Toolbar at your site for your visitors and direct them to make use of it.
5. Fill in the ‘Alternate Text’ on all the images on your website using your website’s keywords.
6. Request testimonials about your website from your friends and visitors by directing them to your website’s Alexa page.
7. Publish links to your blog on your social media by tweeting your blog posts and photos and sharing them on your Facebook wall.
8. Use social media to interact in conversations about your keywords and link back to your website. 
9. Bookmark each of your blog posts to create more inbound links. Rinse and repeat

Welcome to Power Social Media

I started this blog because like many webmasters I’m always looking to discover new ways to expand my social media footprint. Sometimes it’s challenging to find reliable sources of information help us to reach our social media goals. So I will share what I learn on my quest to create high page ranking websites and a corresponding solid social media presence for my projects.

Feel free to leave tips, suggestions and questions in the comments. When I discover something that works, I will post a review at this site. Guest bloggers on the topic of social media are very welcome to submit articles.

So there you have it!

Enjoy this site and use it to achieve social media success!