Twitter’s enormous – but there was a lot of speculation and reports at the start of the year that Twitter was being bought out by either Google or Facebook, with a hefty $10billion evaluation slapped on the microblogging site. With so many rumours flying around, a lot of attention turned to Twitter’s finances – long before the $10billion dollar valuation, there were questions raised about its business model. The Industry Standard, in May 2008 for example, wrote an article questioning Twitter’s long-term future because of a lack of revenue.
The latest rumour to be doing the rounds is that Twitter is going to start a new service for businesses which is similar to Facebook’s brand pages to maximise revenue potential. Apparently, brands would be able to create pages bursting with content which will help to grow a proper user following. This would help them to create branded content on-site, which would attract more users in an engagement sense.
Brands are currently relying on Twitter’s promoted accounts service and sponsored hashtags for visibility, so would more content be a way forward from a revenue perspective? Dave Parfect of Facebook though feels that companies need to work on an overall strategy and the bigger picture instead of just amassing followers and ‘likes’.
“Just because a brand has 17,000 fans on Facebook, that does not mean these fans are engaged with them. That is just where the marketing should start. Marketers need to transform the way they think, and social media should not be siloed.”
A lot of brands are beginning to understand the power of social media when it comes to SEO, and what a useful tool it can be when communicating with a user base. Twitter’s evolution over the coming months and years will be interesting to see, especially from a revenue standpoint.
Astonishingly, sixty websites out the FTSE 100 don’t have a social media presence on their website. Some of these do have a presence on ‘the big four’ – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube – but overall integration is incredibly low. What does this mean then? Do these companies simply not require social media’s services because they’re already doing so well?
The research was carried out by Radley Yelder over an eight month period. During that time, amongst other titbits of information, they discovered that only 29 of the companies had a corporate page on Facebook. Of those 29, only 16 update their profile with new content on a regular basis, with 19 making a thorough effort to communicate with their user base. Pretty incredible when you consider that over 500 million people have a Facebook profile.
Social media is at such a level that companies across the planet are making tremendous use of its services – communicating with their customers, integrating their organic search engine optimisation campaign with it, refining their brand and more. Those who have utilised it properly as early as possible are likely to see more advantages from it in the future than those who arrive late to the party – will these companies be in the FTSE 100 for much longer?
Well, such successful companies aren’t going to disappear from view simply because they haven’t got a Facebook profile, or tweet every other day. But Richard Coope of Radley Yelder sums it up very well when he says: “The survey raises the question as to whether companies are really committed to open and trusted dialogue.”
Richard essentially says that if you don’t communicate with people on the world’s largest, fastest growing social platforms, then your company may be viewed as something of a closed book.
The recent Earthquake off the coast of Japan and following Tsunami has been terrible for all who have been caught up in it – both in the affected areas and beyond. But who would have thought that Microsoft would try and use it to promote Bing?
Well, maybe even Microsoft weren’t in on it. Their effort to raise money for victims of the quake was posted via Bing’s official Twitter feed on March 12, and read: “How you can #SupportJapan – [link to site]. For every retweet @bing will give $1 to Japan quake victims, up to $100k.”
Within six hours, the company apologised for the tweet by saying: “We apologize the tweet was negatively perceived. Intent was to provide an easy way for people to help Japan. We have donated £100k.”
Those that perceived the tweets negatively will argue that Microsoft should have simply donated the money in the first place – and possibly even contributed more, such is the depth of their pockets. Such a quick retraction and apology suggests a PR gaffe of epic proportions on Microsoft’s end, and people have been quick to vilify the company for a crass approach and accuse it of using a terrible tragedy to market a search engine.
Although, from another point of view, you could argue that the tweet got lost in translation and that the fellows over at Bing did well to retract it as quickly as they did. It can be hard to get a lot of information across to the public in only 140 characters. But whatever the intentions where, it underlines the philosophy to think before you tweet!
When using social media in an SEO campaign, when you write your tweet don’t send it into the wide world immediately. Read it back to yourself – does it make sense? Does it say more than you might mean it to? Be careful when you tweet. As Bing has found out to its peril, a single tweet has the power to cause uproar.
The New York Post has it on good authority that YouTube is looking to stream full-length movies to viewers for a small subscription fee. YouTube executives are planning to offer free unlimited streams for a regular fee, and have – according to the New York Post – been in talks with the higher-ups in Hollywood “for months”.
Google has apparently set $100million to one side to offer to content providers and studios. This idea isn’t really anything new though – LoveFilm and Netflix already offer similar streaming services, for example. What can YouTube offer that’s different from the competition? A proper, full-on HD streaming service has been suggested which could help. Hollywood executives seem to be eager for the move, saying that it can help stamp out piracy in the long-term.
As well as providing a great movie-streaming service, it’ll help Google to establish YouTube as an advertising platform and give people more incentive to stay on the site for longer. YouTube advertising is a great way to promote a site when it comes to search engine optimisation techniques – imagine the benefits of advertising throughout a full-length movie hosted on YouTube!
Video advertising online and video optimisation is on the verge of explosion, and as it stands, YouTube is currently the web’s second largest search engine. The amount of traffic that passes through YouTube on a daily basis is incredible, and you can make some serious inroads for your business if you decide to use your search engine marketing services in conjunction with a site such as YouTube.
The piracy, subscription and quality arguments will have to wait for another day, we’re afraid. But when it comes to SEO, social and video optimisation, then they’re great SEO measures to employ when you’re looking to promote your site across the internet.
Environment secretary Caroline Spelman announced the other day that the government had done a U-turn, and had cancelled the proposed move to sell state-owned woodland in the UK. “I am sorry, we got this one wrong, but we have listened to people’s concerns. I would like to thank colleagues for their support through what has been a difficult time. I now want to move forward in step with the public.”
An odd proposal, which Caroline admitted hadn’t been received well at all. “I have taken a decision to end the consultation on the future of the public forest estate and I take full responsibility for that. I am doing so because it is quite clear from the early responses to the consultation that the public and many honourable members are not happy with the proposals we set out.”
Cut lots of back-slapping and congratulatory posts across Facebook, Twitter and many other social media platforms as the move was announced. Social media isn’t just great for search engine optimisation, you know. One of the most vocal campaigners, a campaign calling itself ’38 Degrees’, has taken a lot of the credit for the U-turn, thanks to its visible use of social media to stir up public interest and encourage people to sign an online petition which attracted 533,053 signatures against the proposal.
38 Degrees was able to raise funds to commission a YouGov poll – the results of which showed that 84 per cent disagreed with the move. “This was a real team effort,” says 38 Degrees’ executive director, David Babbs. “This is the story of an awful lot of people getting together and changing the government’s mind.”
People power has been championed as the reason behind the government’s change of mind. There’s no doubt too that social media services played a massive part in connecting people’s minds and opinions, and creating an enormous momentum towards a common goal and ideal that they all shared.
Rumours have been circulating for months now about Google potentially looking to expand into the ‘social coupon’ market, with stories of acquiring services such as Groupon making waves across the internet.
They probably won’t be too pleased to hear about Facebook’s latest social media services, then! Facebook have launched a new discount feature called Facebook Deals for its iPhone app and Android users that ties in with Facebook Places, and allows users to get discounts and deals at participating high street stores, restaurants and more.
Joanna Shields, Facebook’s vice president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, says of Facebook Deals, “Your life is not just about the people in it, but also the experiences you are having and the places around you.” So how does it work? When ‘checking in’ to Facebook Places when at a certain location, users will be able to take advantage of deals and discounts available to them, sort of like a virtual loyalty card. Big names have already signed up for Facebook Deals in the UK, including Yo! Sushi, Benetton, Alton Towers and Mazda.
Over 650 million users worldwide login to Facebook through their mobile – via app or browser – and the more we learn about Facebook Deals the more it seems like a ‘thank you’ to that crowd. Facebook say they don’t take any profit from the discounts, and are insisting that it’s a platform to help build better relationships with the corporate world.
As far as we can see, it’s also a clever way to get more and more people making use of Facebook Places! Facebook say they want to extend the service beyond big name brands, which will be great news for smaller companies who are trying to enhance their reputation with local SEO.
A small company that takes part in the Facebook Deals service is likely to attract a more-youthful, socially aware crowd that will help spread the business’s reputation further. Google had better get a move on if it wants to enter this market…
We’ve long championed the benefits of video optimisation here at www.searchengineoptimisation.co.uk, especially when combined with a social media campaign. If you spend a lot of time and investment making a video for your business that’s going to be uploaded to YouTube, and it’s lucky enough to go viral, then the benefits your business can reap are potentially phenomenal.
Video optimisation is going to be very big business in the next few years of search marketing and SEO services. Google understood that when they purchased YouTube, and AOL have set their stall out with their recent acquisition of GoViral for $96.7 million.
Never heard of GoViral? Easy to understand – it was only founded as recently as 2005 by a pair of Danish internet advertising executives. Its mission? To help people understand the benefits of video marketing and how it can help accentuate their brand across the web.
So, a specialist video marketing company has been captured by AOL. It’s true to say that the potential of advertising through web videos is yet to be fully realised. Have AOL stolen a march on their competitors with this purchase?
“We believe that GoViral … allows us to match our ambition for premium content creation and engaging advertising, with highly targeted distribution at scale. Video is core to AOL’s consumer programming strategy,” says AOL Europe senior vice-president, Kate Burns.
It’ll take a while before the service is fully integrated into AOL’s core offerings, and we wonder how it’ll be combined with current SEO services. Anything that helps to promote video optimisation can only be good, though. The ability to make amateur video gets cheaper by the day. Creating something professional-looking for a business can reap all sorts of rewards, and the potential of this deal excites us.
One thing’s for certain, lessons have been learned since AOL’s ill-fated takeover of Bebo…
Retail guru Mary Portas showed the nation an amazing concept on her first episode of Channel 4’s Secret Shopper. A ‘Twitter Mirror’, where consumers try on clothes in-store, use a touch screen monitor outside the changing room to take photos of what they’re wearing, and instantly tweet it to their friends/followers for an opinion before buying.
She trialled the idea at ‘fast fashion’ chain Pilot, whose owner was so impressed with the concept that he promised to roll the scheme out nationwide. We know how effective search engine marketing can be when it comes to promoting sites across the internet, but this is the first instance we’ve come across where social media has actually been ingrained into the actual retail experience.
But when we discussed the practicalities in the office, reaction was decidedly mixed. It’s important to point out that Mary Portas didn’t ‘invent’ the Tweet Mirror and that the concept is still relatively new. But Mary has helped to thrust it into the spotlight – her ambition was to show Pilot’s manager that his target market love taking pictures and interacting with their friends when shopping. It was an insight into the social media habits of a new generation.
But the idea of social media interaction during the shopping phase hasn’t gone down too well here. One colleague pointed out that if you aren’t ‘obsessed’ with Twitter and check it all the time, then you may not get a response as quickly as you’d like, adding more time to your shopping experience. Another pointed out that girls aged in their younger teens will probably adore the idea – but will there be any point for an older generation? Is it a bit gimmicky?
But there were positives, too. One was amazed, saying it showed that shopping doesn’t have to be a tired, boring experience, and another highlighted just how ‘real’ social media services are becoming. Whatever the opinion, there can be no arguing that social media is now a huge part in all areas of people’s lives. What next, a foot measurer in Clarks that connects to Facebook? We’ll have to wait and see…
Have an original, unique video that you’ve created for your website that you want the world to see? YouTube optimisation will help you to get it out there far and wide to a whole new audience, and can be of great use in your SEO marketing campaign.
We’re not talking about big, expensive adverts that fill up the gaps between Coronation Street and Emmerdale. Though they can be optimised for YouTube, you can create your own original videos for your business and use them to attract unique visitors. Content isn’t just about writing a good article or blog post, you know! If you have a video camera then you can create your own unique, original content that you can optimise for search engines via social media management.
Don’t feel as though that, because it’s just a video camera, you can’t record anything professional that won’t be of interest to people searching for your target terms. Take a unique approach, and have a short interview with a colleague to get their opinions on the current state of the industry. Or use it to promote some of your products – take a look at the below example from Tokyo Toys in London, of the UK’s largest importers of overseas toys and merchandise.
Tokyo Toys make a point of walking up and down their aisles with a member of staff and showing off their latest merchandise as well as unique things that may appeal to their customers. Though they are in a niche market, Tokyo Toys have got their YouTube optimisation spot on, and use it as a platform to not only show off their stock but to also relate to their viewers with the energy and positivity exuded from their staff.
Tagging your videos with key search terms and optimising it properly, both on your site and for the search engines, is a great way to interact with your visitors and show them more of yourself on a personal level.
How personal do you want your company to be? Well, if you use social media sites a lot, such as Twitter and Facebook, then it’s more than likely you’re already viewed as a forward-thinking company by your followers. Communicating with them through such avenues gives your company that extra little bit of personality and encourages people to deal with you.
But it’s important not to get too personal. You’re still a business and need to be taken seriously if you want to expand on a professional basis. What’s the point of investing money into an organic search engine optimization campaign and social media marketing if you become too friendly with your customers and lose sight of your goals because you’re being too chatty.
This is where a company newsletter can help balance things out when it comes to social media optimisation. You can still be friendly and answer questions from your consumers through Twitter and Facebook, but complementing it with a good newsletter that highlights your products, services and deals on a monthly basis can help to balance out your online universe.
The danger of pushing your products through social media all the time is that your followers will lose interest and switch off. You have to work hard to find a happy medium so you don’t drive them away, but keep them coming back for more. Alerting visitors to your site that you have a newsletter that they can sign up to gives you a new avenue to interact.
A monthly newsletter that has had a lot of time spent on it, is graphically-impressive and highlights your best deals will always generate interest and traffic. A well-written newsletter will convey all of the month’s happenings in your business and industry into small, easy-to-manage paragraphs with the option to follow a link back to your site for more information if available.
Newsletters can impart more professional information that may be hard to convey over social media sites. Investing in a monthly newsletter is a brilliant way to reach your customers, and keep them in the loop.
