Monthly archive: December, 2011

2011 Top Search Queries and Shared Content

December 30, 2011, by No comments yet

By: Ryan Miller

Search engines, data aggregators and social websites are in the midst of releasing the most popular searches and most popular content for 2011.  So what did 2011 look like on the worldwide web?  Let’s take a look!

First up is Google, who have updated their Google Zeitgeist website for 2011.

Google Zeitgeist has an unbelievable amount of data sliced-and-diced any way you want it, but their 10 fastest-rising global queries are as follows:

  • Rebecca Black
  • Google+
  • Ryan Dunn
  • Casey Anthony
  • Battlefield 3
  • iPhone 5
  • Adele
  • 東京 電力
  • Steve Jobs
  • iPad 2 

What struck me as fascinating was the number 8 search, being the Japanese kanji for the utility company Tepco in Fukushima that was damaged during the earthquake in May.  Google notes that the search interest “rose so quickly and at such high volume that the keyword landed a spot on our fastest rising list, despite Japanese-language representing only 4.7% of total Internet users.”

Yahoo has also released their comprehensive Top 10 lists as well, all of which can be found on Yahoo’s Year in Review.     

Yahoo’s top search terms for 2011 in the United States were as follows:

  • iPhone
  • Casey Anthony
  • Kim Kardashian
  • Katy Perry
  • Jennifer Lopez
  • Lindsay Lohan
  • “American Idol”
  • Jennifer Aniston
  • Japan Earthquake
  • Osama bin Laden

Diving in deeper in Yahoo’s data, the top news stories search for in the United States were:

  • Casey Anthony Trial
  • Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
  • Royal Wedding
  • Death of Osama bin Laden
  • Unemployment
  • Arizona Shooting
  • Death of Amy Winehouse
  • Arab Spring
  • Libya/Death of Moammar Gadhafi
  • Occupy Wall Street

In addition to data provided directly from search engines, we wanted to show you what Experian Hitwise has compiled.  Hitwise is a “search intelligence” marketing company and has as usual provided a year-end wrap up of data to sift through.  You can get some very granular data covering 2011 search data through their blog post here but here are two high-level data points worth checking out:

Facebook continues to dominate online usage, taking the number 1 spot for most visited website for the second year in a row and commands four varations in top search queries.

Also of note is the disappearance of MySpace both as a Top 10 search query and a top 10 visited website.

Lastly, Facebook has revealed the most shared articles for 2011.  These are all news-based content so it would appear that content like YouTube videos or images are not part of this list.

1. Satellite Photos of Japan, Before and After the Quake and Tsunami (New York Times)

2. What teachers really want to tell parents (CNN)

3. No, your zodiac sign hasn’t changed (CNN)

4. Parents, don’t dress your girls like tramps (CNN)

5. (video) – Father Daughter Dance Medley (Yahoo)

6. At funeral, dog mourns the death of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan (Yahoo)

7. You’ll freak when you see the new Facebook (CNN)

8. Dog in Japan stays by the side of ailing friend in the rubble (Yahoo)

9. Giant crocodile captured alive in Philippines (Yahoo)

10. New Zodiac Sign Dates: Ophiuchus The 13th Sign? (The Huffington Post)

You can see Facebook’s full list of more shared articles here.

What will be in store for us in 2012?  Somewhere in the 4th dimension lies in wait the next Rebecca Black, the next scandalous trial and the next world-shaking death.  For current events and news oriented websites, knowing what has come before will help for the future in terms of keyword research, title optimization and social sharing.  Prepare yourself!

Ryan Miller is the SEO Manager for Advance Digital, and provides best practice techniques for improving your search visibility. You can follow him on Twitter @cromiller and add him to your circles on Google+.   

The Anatomy of The New Twitter Layout

December 21, 2011, by No comments yet

By: David Aziz

Twitter has launched a new interface with some cool features that makes the toolbar the focal point of the new layout. The toolbar has three main buttons Home, Connect, and Discover which make your experience on Twitter simpler and gives the platform an ease of use feel to it.

Home

When logging into the new Twitter you are taken to the home screen. The overall appearance of the new home screen has a cleaner layout than the older Twitter. At the top left there is a brief description of the user and an option to compose a new tweet. Underneath the mini bio section Twitter offers suggestions on who to follow based on who you are currently following. At the bottom of the home screen Twitter provides a trends section where you can search for topics and keywords that are receiving a significant amount of attention. You can now change your location to see what topics are trending in different areas. On the right side is the main section of the home screen, your tweets! This is where you can view tweets from people you have chosen to follow. 

Connect

The next button on the new tool bar is the connect button. The new connect section is where you can join in on the conversation and see who is interacting with you. The interactions and mentions tab shows you who has recently followed and retweeted your posts.

Discover

According to Twitter

“Discover lets you tap into a stream of useful and entertaining information, customized just for you.  When you use Discover, you’ll see results reflecting your interests—based on your current location, what you follow and what’s happening in the world. As you use Twitter more, Discover gets even better at serving up more content just for you.”

This is probably the most important feature for the new Twitter interface; discover gives you a new way to find content and useful information that is tailored to what you tweet about. There is also an activities section where you can see what is going on your “Twittersphere” of friends. In the discover section Twitter makes suggestions on who to follow based on who you are following and what content you tweet.

Inline Video

Unusually when someone tweets content that’s from YouTube the shortened URL takes the user to YouTube to view the video.

With the new Twitter interface users are no able to view a video on Twitter without having to leave their profile page. This new feature makes it easier on Twitter instead of going to YouTube

Overall the new Twitter layout is easy to navigate and simpler to use with the new toolbar implemented. Adam Ostrow from Mashable states “The new interface resembles that of a far more sophisticated web app”. I believe that this is just the beginning for Twitter and there will be several more features they will roll out next year.

David Aziz is the Social Media Analyst for Advance Digital. You can follow him on Twitter@DaveAzizand see what he’s sharing using the +1 Button by adding him to your circles on Google+. 

“Year in Review” and Year-End “Best Of” Content Building for Your Website

December 20, 2011, by No comments yet

By: Ryan Miller

The end of 2011 is quickly approaching, and with it comes the plethora of aggregated content touting “Best of” lists and the “Year in Review”.  If you have a website that is current events focused, whether that be local news coverage, reviews of new releases in media (movies, TV, music, video games, etc) or updates on a professional or personal field of interest you will have content perfect for compiling for current and new readers alike. 

But what lists should you start with and how can you optimize your content so that it can be found by searchers? You can find all that you need right at your fingertips from the search engines.  Using auto suggest terms via Google, Google News and Bing will provide some great topics that people may be interested in.  Start typing in “2011 Year in Review” “2011 Top” or “Best of 2011” and you’ll be presented with an eclectic assortment of ideas to get your mind tingling with content ideas. 

Don’t forget you can have a little bit of fun here as well with “Worst of” or “Bottom 10” lists, which can certainly spark an emotional reaction among your readers and is always good for sharing.  For bloggers that may publish about more personal topics or don’t fit neatly into a “Best of” review, think about compiling content that might bring newer readers to some of your older content.  If you publish a photography blog for instance, put together a selection of your best photos from the year so that readers can be exposed to your full body of work.

Once you have a few topics you’ll want to sculpt your title and content.  Make sure that your actual post headline contains the topic idea you are targeting near the beginning of the headline and as one unbroken keyword phrase, such as “2011 Top 10 Video Games”.  The summary content that you write about for each piece within this post should be unique, do not just copy and paste a paragraph from a previously published older article.  Think about adding reflective thoughts, mentioning update information that may not have been available at the time the original post was written and similar-themed ideas.  Add a link to the original content on your website if it is available so readers can find more details about your selections.  You should encourage your readers to submit their own lists in the comments, with a potential follow-up post highlighting a few readers.

As you’re writing your content, and to make your post standout from other websites that may be covering similarly compiled lists, consider giving an item that should deserve the number 1 or 2 slot a much lower ranking or leaving that choice off the list completely.  This may invoke your readers to leave comments about your choices, share the content within their online social circles and offer up some additional linkbaiting incentive.  For instance, using our “2011 Top 10 Video Games” as a reference, you could leave off the very popular Modern Warfare 3.    As a fair warning though, tread lightly in this area, as you don’t want to be seen as out of touch with your area of expertise. 

Once you’ve published your content, you can do some internal linkbuilding to help with some initial keyword targeting. Promote the content on your homepage, and go back to your older posts that are now featured in your list and add a link notating that it made your Best Of selection, using the topic’s full title as your linked anchor text. Also, be sure to get your new content into your social media channels as soon as possible.  This kind of content is ripe for sharing and can generate some great discussion on your website and your social properties!

Ryan Miller is the SEO Manager for Advance Digital, and provides best practice techniques for improving your search visibility. You can follow him on Twitter @cromiller and add him to your circles on Google+.           

Google+ Page Tips for Engagement and Building Brand Presence

December 6, 2011, by No comments yet

By: Ryan Miller

In the past few weeks we’ve given a lot of coverage to getting yourself and your business/brand onto Google+.  We’ve given ideas for navigating Google+ personal profiles, tips on getting your Google+ page published and how to establish a link that will help verify ownership of a Google+ page. 

Now that your core Google+ page has been built, it’s time to start building up a voice for your page and get your page seen by those who are interested in your content.

The first thing that you’ll want to do, if you haven’t already, is to make sure that your website has a badge that can bring visitors from your website to your Google+ page.  This can be done through Google’s badge configuration.  Promoting your Google+ page through badges is an easy way to start bringing users to your page.  Incorporating +1 Buttons on your website will also give an additional signal to your users that you are on Google+.

One of the most important things that you can do with your Google+ page, especially when it is brand new, is to provide plenty of valuable content that people will want to share and comment on.  As with any social account, much of the upfront time will be dedicated to building up great content that will engage your targeted users to come back for more. With Google+ still being a relatively new social media network, and its users being somewhat finicky, you will want to provide only the best content whether that be news stories, photos, videos or updates centered around your page.

One of the more interactive options within Google+ is the live video conferencing for groups known as Hangouts.  Hangouts can be used for a multitude of user-targeted conversation such as customer service for e-commerce websites to product demos for merchants to news discussion of local events. Using hangouts can literally put a face to your Google+ page, and if you are in a competitive market, it can give you a leg up over your competitors.

While providing valuable content is one side of the coin, how you interact with those who have shared or commented on your posts is the other side. Quickly responding to questions or inquiries, whether positive or negative and especially when dealing with time sensitive matters, can help you control the conversation and message happening on your Google+ page.  Additionally, it will give a visual history to other potential fans that you are monitoring and interacting with the page.

One of the other great options that Google+ has is the ability to create circles, which is an account holder’s way of organizing friends and fans to target for updates. Once someone has added your page to their own circles (allowing them to see your updates in their stream) make sure to add them back. Depending on your page’s focus, create a circle that best suits them.  Is your page focused on local news? Check out where your follower is from on their profile page, and then create a circle for their city or region so when you have a news post for that area you can target it to that specific circle. 

Google also has some basic reminders for using circles within Google+ pages: 

No Google+ Page Can Follow You Until You Follow Them

We want Google+ to be a place you love to share. Pages cannot circle you until you follow them first. Of course, if you are in their circles, they can share great deals, exclusive coupons, product tips and hangouts, but the relationship is yours to start.

In Fact, Google+ Pages Can’t Even Mention You Unless You’re Connected

That’s right. The +Google+ page can’t even say your name unless you’re following. No +mention spam.

Google+ Pages Automatically Unfollow You If You Unfollow Them

If you remove a Google+ Page from your circles, you are automatically removed from their circles. You always are in charge.

While creating the foundation for your brand’s presence on Google+, you may want to hide your low follower count so that potential followers are not turned off by the low numbers. If you want to do this, click the “Change who is visible here” option on your home page and set your option accordingly.  Once you have established a solid follower base, be sure to make the follower count visible again.

With Google+ pages only being a month old, you can expect to see continued refinements and new abilities to be coming down the pipeline. A recent Q&A with Google revealed that multi-admin capability will be coming before 2012, that analytics will be coming soon and the ability to schedule posts or auto-post is something currently being talked about.  Keep coming back to Advance Search & Social to get the latest updates on Google+ pages and all that Google+ has to offer!

Ryan Miller is the SEO Manager for Advance Digital, and provides best practice techniques for improving your online business visibility. You can follow him on Twitter @cromiller and add him to your circles on Google+.

Local Reviews: Good Things Come to Those Who Ask

December 5, 2011, by No comments yet

by Sylvie Dale

It’s essential for companies that want to show up well in local searches to have a plan for growing their reviews on those local listings.

 Of all the local listings,  Google Places is the most visible –Google’s share of search is 64.8 percent, with Yahoo and Bing showing up much lower in the 2nd and 3rd places at 16.3% and 14.7%, respectively (comScore, Aug. 2011).

The 3-11 rule in business

A happy customer will tell 3 friends about his or her positive experience with your company, but an unhappy customer will try a lot harder, telling on average 11 friends about their experience.

The fact that unhappy customers (and some competitors) can sometimes lash out using this medium is unfair to businesses that try hard to deliver great service and value to all their customers. Why don’t happy customers leave more reviews? Quite simply, it’s usually more effort than they want to expend. 

This is actually good news for you! If you can ask them at the right time, when they are happiest with your company, and you can make it really easy  for them to find the Places page, you’ll be on your way to building up positive, sincere reviews.

Example — Basil T’s in Red Bank, NJ

During the summer of 2011, this restaurant and brewery on the coast of New Jersey ran a review-building campaign. Observant servers would notice customers who could get on the Internet, such as those using smartphones and tablets. They choose their moment carefully and politely asked if the customers would mind leaving a review on their Google Places page. If they agreed, servers would leave a printed card with details on what to do.

When we pulled up the Google Places listing, they had 178 reviews. Now they have 229 (See Figure A in screenshot above). When we mentioned we had left a review, a manager showed up with a Basil T’s t-shirt as a thank you gift.  The t-shirt had a Google Places marker on the back promoting the listing to others who may see it on the wearer.

Ideas:

  • Hand out cards at your front desk or checkout, explaining briefly what to do (use a short link so it’s easier to type)
  • Post the request on your Facebook page with a link to the Places page
  • Create an email campaign with a link to your Places page (only send to those who have “opted in” to messages from you)

What you’ll need first:

  1. A claimed and optimized Google Places page for your business
  2. Regular link to your Google Places page for use in email and Facebook – find your page in Google Maps, then click “more” link and select “email” (Figure B in the screenshot above>
  3. Short link to your Google Places page for use in printed pieces – copy your regular link, then go to a new web page and use a URL shortener (go to http://goo.gl/ and paste in your link)
  4. Customers with Gmail accounts (required for leaving Google Places reviews)

Sylvie Dale is the SEO Account Manager for Advance Digital, focusing on helping businesses have better local and organic search visibility using a focused, strategic approach. You can follow her on Twitter @sylectra and add her to your circles on Google+.