The Maine SEO Blog

How do you create a social media strategy? The same way you create any other marketing, PR or business strategy. With an end in mind. Like with any other part of your business you want to start with a goal. Until you know what the purpose of you being involved in social media is or why you are creating content you are wasting your time.

1. Set Goals: You may have several business goals such as increasing brand awareness, increasing website traffic, improving online sentiment, or maybe it’s that you want yourself, or your business to be seen as the industry expert. Whatever the goal/s is, make sure you start there.

Okay so now you know what you want to accomplish by participating in this space, the next step is to see if your audience is even there…

2. Conduct Research: Where is your audience? Is your audience already on social media? If so, what platforms are they using? Where is your brand being talked about? Chances are they probably are already on the big 3 Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, but are they also participating in online forums or Pinterest? Are they reading blogs? It’s important to do some research and find out where your customers and target audience likes to get their information and share about their experiences.

3. SWOT/Competitive Analysis: What is your competition doing? Are they doing it well? Where are your opportunities? How can you do it better? It’s good to see what the competition is doing both well and not so well. This allows you to implement some of the strategies that they’ve already done the hard work to find out if it will work and to leave behind the things they are doing that aren’t working so well.

4. Develop a Social Media Content Strategy: The steps above should be considered in your content strategy as well as conducting keyword analysis so that you can create content that is optimized to improve not only your search visibility buy to use the same verbiage that your customers are using. You should also be connecting with industry leaders, following influencers, subscribing to industry related blogs and setting up Google alerts so as to stay abreast of the industry and get ideas for content your audience is interested in. Creating an editorial calendar can help keep you and your company accountable for creating content and also help with delegating tasks. The final step here is to create the actual content.

5. Monitor, Engage & Respond: There are several free and paid tools out there that you can use to monitor what is being said about your brand and company on the Interwebs. You can use Twitter, Facebook, Google Alerts, Social Mention, Tweetdeck, Hootsuite and many others. There are also paid tools like Radian6 and Sysomos. Whichever tool you use, you will want to make sure that you are monitoring specific industry keywords, your brand name and possibly your competition as well. This will give you the ability to respond when necessary and stay in the know.

6. Measurement and Analysis: Again, go back to your goals so you know what to measure. If it’s brand awareness you may want to measure how many Likes, Followers, RT’s, Mentions, Shared Stories etc. that you have on the different networks. IF you are trying to increase web traffic look at your analytics report. How many folks are coming into your site via the various social media platforms that you are participating on? What about blog traffic? And, then look at the overall numbers, has your overall traffic increased? If you are trying to improve online sentiment, take a peek at social mention or another tool and see if the numbers have improved. Or, you can start by tracking comments that are both good and bad… Did you have a baseline for before you started? How does it measure up?

There are ways to measure your Social Media ROI, you just have to know what you are measuring.

How do you create your Social Media Marketing Strategy? Share your tips with us here in the comments section.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
“What’s the use of running, if you are not on the right road.” – German Proverb

Photo Credit: By Waponi

A few weeks ago, a client needed a second Google AdWords account linked to an existing Analytics account already linked to an AdWords account. As luck would have it, Google just recently made it possible to do this!

1. Start by logging into each AdWords account separately and going to My account > Preferences. From this page, enable auto-tagging in both accounts.

2. Next, make sure both AdWords accounts have admin access to your Analytics. To do this, log in to Google Analytics and go to your Dashboard. In the new version, you’ll see “Admin” in the top right:

Click Users, then “+ New User”. Make sure the email addresses you use for both AdWords accounts are set as admins here.

3. Then, click the name of the site at the top of the page.

From here, you’ll see several options in the secondary menu. Click “Data Sources” and be sure you’re in “AdWords”.

If you’re logged in under an account that’s already linked to Analytics, you should see it listed.

4. Your last and final step is to log in under the unlinked account and follow step 3. Then, click “Link Accounts” and click “Continue” after seeing this screen:

And you’re done! There is one important thing to keep in mind: you’ll only have statistics for the additional account from the day you go through these steps.

Nicki Hicks
Two AdWords accounts are better than one

How to write a blog post…One of the top questions I get asked by clients is if I have a template that I use for a blogposts, or a checklist of sorts that I go by when writing a post. So, since it seems to be such a common question I created a very basic blogging template to use when writing for SEO. Of course there may be differing opinions on how to best set up your post, but the tips below have worked well for us here at flyte.

Before you start: Conduct a mini keyword analysis. You can do this by visiting Google AdWords: Keyword Tool. It’s free and easy to use. For this particular post I typed in the following…

- blogpost
- blog post
- blog post template
- Blog post checklist

Once you have you’ve chosen your keywords for the particular post there are a few places where it’s important to add them.

Blog Title (Most important place for Keywords):

Usually we like to word it in a way where you can repeat it naturally or reword your keywords.

Ex. Keyword phrase “10 Tips on Writing a blog post | How to write a blog post”

Body:

Incorporate keywords early on, first sentence if you can.

We usually start off with a brief sentence answering the question in the title using the keywords, or a brief 1 to 2 sentence description of what they’ll find below incorporating keywords.

Incorporate the keywords and version of the keyword phrase throughout the body content.

Create links on the post that go back to your website or another blog post that is appropriate for the content. Hyperlinking the keywords adds a little more SEO weight.

Image:

Adding a photo makes the post a little more interesting. Make sure that you fill in alt text describing the photo using keywords and  name the picture using a keyword, ex. “blogpost keyword search.jpg”

Steps to take before posting:

• Tag your post with appropriate keywords
• Select appropriate categories
• Use AllinOneSEO Plugin

Steps after posting:

• Tweet it out
• Share on Facebook (or set up Networked Blogs)
• +1 it
• Ask your network to help you push out the post

Basic writing tips:

• Write in short paragraphs
• Add bullet points or numbering
• Word the title in a way someone would type it into a search in Google
• Make it easily scanable and digestible
• Posts should be 300 – 500 words
• Include intrasite links

Want more info on blogging?

• Top 5 Blogging Tips for SEO
• 4 Steps to Take Every time You Publish a Blogpost
• How to Bring More Traffic to your Blogposts
• How to Get your Blog Found (Faster) on Google

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
I Love Blog!

This is one of my favorite blogging tricks and regardless of whether you’re running out of ideas or not, this little tip is great wayto re-kindle some traffic and re-inspire using your most popular posts. That said, let’s get right to it.

Start by logging into your Google Analytics account and going to Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Organic.

If you’re looking at statistics for just your blog, then you’ll probably already see some great ideas for blogposts. Regardless, change the number of rows shown to the maximum number (500), then continue scrolling down for more keyword ideas.

You’ll start to see limited searches for the same term (1, 2, maybe even 3). These longtail search terms are the perfect start for additional blogposts. Sure, people already use these to find you, but why not use what works? Here’s a quick snapshot:

I might take some of these keyword phrases and create posts like:

• The 100 Most Like Pages on Facebook (similar to this post)
• Alt Tags and Image Descriptions in Facebook (similar to this post)
• How do Alt Tags Help with Google Image Search? (similar to this post)
• What’s the Difference Between an Alt Tag, Image Title, Description, and Caption? (similar to this post)
• Analytics Decreasing? Here’s Why.
• My Bounce Rate is Really High. I think… (similar to this post)

This is part three in a four part series on the The Marketer’s Guide To Twitter.

So, now you know what to tweet and who to follow, so now lets try to grow your following through promotion of your Twitter account and then learn how to manage that following.

First, lets talk about off page twitter promotion.  This means putting your twitter handle and URL on any and all printed materials you have, mentioning it in radio advertising, placing an image on a TV ad, having it in your email signature etc. Any place that you already are spending time advertising or spreading the word should include your twitter info.

Second, is using twitter and twitter tools to help promote and manage your account.

Getting Retweeted: The best way to get retweeted is to tweet out good, let me rephrase that, GREAT content.  People will retweet you when you give them something news worthy, different, humorous, or interesting.  Make sure that you are mixing up your tweets as far as what types of messages and content you are promoting but also you can tweet pics and video that are interesting.

Here are a few reasons to try and get retweeted…

• It’s Flattering
• It’s an independent endorsement
• It Virally spreads your message
• Attracts new followers

Types of things that will get Retweeted:

• Headlines
• Valuable knowledge (breaking news, tutorials/how tos, free stuff, contests)
• Calls to action (help me…, vote for…)
• Adding “Please RT” – for contests, deals etc.

One last thing to note is that you need to leave room for RT’s (meaning don’t take up all 140 characters), this gives people the ability to comment or respond in their retweet.

Managing Your Twitter Profile: Staying in the Loop

Many folks talk about how when you start following  a lot of people and vice versa how it gets a little overwhelming as far as keeping up with everything and having conversations.  Twitter has a lists option that helps with this and Tweetdeck makes using and viewing the lists even easier.

Say that you have a list of people from Maine that you follow so you can strictly talk about what’s going on in Maine.  All you have to do is create a new column in Tweetdeck and import your list to that column.  That way it’s separated out from the crowed of “All Friends” and when you are in the mood to talk Maine, it’s right there for you.

You can also separate out your mentions and direct messages so that you can see these more readily.  This tool essentially makes it easier for you to have actual conversations on Twitter and not get bogged down by constantly having to search through tweets to see what people are saying.

Search: Next you may want to see what people are saying about your company, product or service but you may not be following them, or they may not be following you.  Using Twitter Search and Advanced Twitter Search can allow you to search for specific terms and words, as well as local tweets so that you can respond and promote your company or service.

Alerts: Setting up Alerts like “social mention” and google alerts is also a good method to help keep track of what people are saying so that you can respond, help and engage in conversation with others on Twitter.  These are simple to use and come right into your email inbox.

Cross Promoting Your Twitter Feed

Just like adding your twitter url/twitter logo on all your printed and traditional materials you should also add it to your other online profiles, blogs and websites.  This cross promotion allows people who normally visit your blog or website to discover you on Twitter easily.  And, chances are if they are already interested in your other online material they will be interested enough to follow you as well.

Measuring Your Impact

• Create custom landing page for only Twitter traffic, then use customer URL  this helps to measure traffic to your site from Twitter.
• Shorten and Track URLs: Most URL of the tools that you use to shorten URLs also come with an ability to track analytics.  Bit.ly is a favorite as it has great insights as well being the shortest URL you can get.

An important thing to note is that only about 10% of tweets come from twitter.com, the rest come from other Twitter management devices and smartphones.  So, your measurements will always be a little skewed.

Hashtags: helping you find interesting Tweets

• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
• Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Using hashtags

• If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
• Don’t #spam #with #hashtags. Don’t over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet.)
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

Stay tuned for part 4 of the Marketer’s Guide to Twitter.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Whether you are celebrating it’s arrival or wishing it away because you don’t want to keep track of yet another social network, Google Plus is here.  We will soon find out whether it is here to stay or a quick fad, but my guess is that this is the real deal.  If you haven’t had the chance to join yet make sure to go check it out.  And, If you are like me and you are thinking HOLY COW there is so much to learn and read.. Here are a few resources I found helpful gathered all in one place.

What is Google Plus and How Do I Use It:

How to Get Started With Google Plus: This is a great guide to getting started on Google + it gives great info and screenshots, but it’s a little less overwhelming than the Google Plus Collaborative Doc (below).

Google Plus a Collaborative Document: This is literally a guide to using Google Plus.  The Table of Contents lays out the document so that you can jump around and learn about the areas that you need help with.  This is probably the most in depth and useful guide I have come across.

The Google Plus Cheat Sheet: Exactly what it sounds like, a cheat sheet or glossary of terms on how to use Google Plus and what things mean…So, in case you don’t have the time (or patience) to go through the doc above.

10 Awesome Video Tips for Getting More out of Google + Don’t like to read? Check out these quick video tips!

How to: Get Your Own Google+ Vanity URL: Since Google Plus doesn’t offer vanity URL’s as of now for fear of spammers figuring out millions of Google+ users email account information, gplus.to has created a small app that makes it easy to create your own Vanity URL to make it easy to share your Google Plus Profile with your friends.

How to Get Google+ On My Phone:

Get Google+ On Your iPhone! And iOS App was released today making it possible for iPhone users to get Google Plus on their iPhones.  It’s been available since the beginning on Android phones and all you need to do is go to the Droid Market, to download your Google+ app for Free.

How To Use Google Plus for Business/Marketing:

10 Things CMOs Need to Know About Google+ Chris Brogan compares Google+ to the launch of Facebook and the leap people made from Myspace to Facebook.  Giving reasons such as Google is the King of Search so they will probably have their social network affect search, they are starting up business pages, it’s connections with gmail and other Google tools you already use and it’s fast growth in it’s first two weeks of it’s launch he thinks it’s the next BIG thing!

3 Ways to Use Google Plus in Your Content Marketing Efforts A lot of great tips here on Google Plus for content marketing as well as  a great list of related articles about Google Plus, such as “Can Google+ Rival Facebook and Twitter? Some Initial Thoughts” and “Top 6 Articles On Google Plus to help you Get the Most Out of Your Experience.”

Google + Now Part of Google Analytics: You can now track your social interaction as well on your Google Analytics by adding a bit of code to your sites.  Currently this tracks Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.  There isn’t a code yet to track LinkedIn interactions.

More On Google +:

5 Ways Journalists are Using Google Plus
5 Chrome Extensions that Improve Google+
What Your Business Needs To Know About Google+
How does the Google +1 Button Affect Search

The more I research, explore, play and use Google + the more I like it.  It’s incredibly connected, dynamic and the uses are endless. For example…

It recognizes when I take a picture with my Android, and then without me uploading or doing anything it is already in my photos on Google Plus asking me if I want to share it.

My new Tag line: Google Plus… It’s So Smart, It’s Spooky!

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Although Online graders, especially free ones are not completely accurate, they are still worth a peek. It can give you some good ideas on how to improve your sites and where you stand at present. So, without further ado here they are…

1. Facebook EdgeRank Checker: This one is probably my favorite so far just because it’s so new.  In my post, “Facebook EdgeRank: What Is It and Why Should you Care?”, I talk a little bit about what EdgeRank is and how the formula works.  This free online grader allows you to quickly check your page’s rank and gives you tips on how you can improve it.  Make sure to check often as recency is part of the formula, so your EdgeRank can change as your posts age.

2.Hubspot Website Grader According to Hubspot their “algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data , website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others.”  The Flyte New Media website got a 97!

The website grader bases it’s formula on many different factors including whether or not your site has a blog, indexed web pages, SEO, MozRank, linking domains, Social Media Links, traffic and more.  Check it out for your score today!

3. Hubspot Blog Grader Hubspot Blog Grader gave The Maine SEO blog a score of 92! Which means we ranked ranked 54,207 out of the approximately 757,812 other blogs that they’ve graded.  Not bad.  The blog grader bases it’s grade off of many different factors, it looks at RSS subscriptions, email subscriptions, twitter  and Facebook links.  It also analyzes your blog posts focusing on frequency of posts, average post length, average number of links and images in posts, how many comments you received, tweets and retweets, Facebook likes and sharing abilities. Although it may not be 100% accurate it does give you a great idea of what you can do to make your blog more SEO and user friendly.

4. PageRank Checker Your page rank is a numeric value that Google associates with your page based on links to your page.  Every link in Google’s mind is a vote for your page and the more votes the more important or your web page is considered, therefore giving you a high ranking.  Also, the rank of or importance of the site that is referring you plays a role in how much weight that vote has.  This is important because Page Rank is one of the factors used to determine where you will rank is search results. This Page Rank checker allows you to find out where you stand simply by entering your URL.

5. Online Video Grader The Pixability Online Video Grader measures how you use video on your website, how you rank on Google and other video search engines, and how effective your YouTube channel is.

And, Twitter Grader is kinda fun, although not in my top 5.  What Twitter Grader is trying to measure is the power, reach and authority of a twitter account.  In other words, when you tweet, what kind of an impact does it have? It’s not in my top simply because it doesn’t really give you a great idea of what to do to improve, however it gives you a score and some tips, I just don’t feel they have much of an impact.

My advice would be to not get too hung up on different numbers and grades that you receive.  As I said before these graders are by no means 100% accurate but they are a fun tool to get an idea of some ways you can improve.  If you have any different graders that you use and would like to share let us know in the comments section.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Nicki Hicks
Florida SEO

This is part three in a four part series on the 4 Steps to Getting the Most SEO Bang for your Buck.

Now that you’ve optimized your web presence, it’s time to start measuring. It won’t do much to research and optimize, if you don’t measure your results!

Search Engine Rankings

It’s critical to measure rankings to make sure you’re doing well on the search for the keywords you’ve optimized your website and/or blog for. However, it’s pointless to measure your rankings if you don’t know if people are actually coming to your website using those keywords. Sure, you may rank well for certain keywords – like your brand name – but if no one is using those keywords to find you, then ranking #1 is useless!

I recommend using a tool like Raven Tools to measure rankings. Unfortunately, it is a paid service, but there are a ton of other great features beyond getting rankings.

Google Analytics

To make sure visitors are coming to your website using the keywords you’ve optimized for, use a tool like Google Analytics. Using the search engine and keyword reports, you can quickly see what keywords visitors use when they come to your website. Don’t see the ones you want to be seeing? Go back and try to optimize for them again.

Google Webmaster Tools

Installing Google Webmaster Tools is one more way to be proactive about your website. Sure, you’ll get some statistics including crawl rates, incoming links, and even keywords; but what’s really helpful are the error messages. Before you find out from a customer or visitor that you have broken links on your website, you can find out from Webmaster Tools first.

Incoming Links

Even though search engines are a bit secretive, you can find out how many incoming links from a number of sources, including:

• Google Webmaster Tools – I mentioned it already, and you’ll see some of the most powerful incoming links to your site. The number of incoming links, however, is lower than the actual number of links.
• Yahoo Site Explorer – Slightly more accurate, but destined to disintegrate (thanks to the Bing/Yahoo merger), this is another great (free!) tool.
• Open Site Explorer – A paid tool from SEOmoz. OSE is by far the most accurate tool I’ve seen and a great resource for a competitive link analysis too!

There are a ton of other measurement tools out there, but these are the major ones. Next time, we’ll talk about the final step in getting the most SEO bang for your buck: repeat.

Photo credit: aussiegall

Nicki Hicks
Measure, measure, measure!

The following is a recap from a session at Search Marketing Expo (SMX) East. Follow the conference and this session on Twitter.

Social Media Analytics with Jack Bauer

Preparation is key. Start with a social media checklist.

Part 1: Discovery

Identify your business objectives

• Increase brand awareness
• Increase brand trust
• Increase interaction with customers
• Increase brand loyalty
• Sell more [your service/product]
• Better understanding of user behavoir

What characteristics do you want associated with your brand?

• Great customer service
• Convenience
• Low prices
• Refreshing

How much time and resources are you willing to invest?

A few stats

• 67% of Twitter users who follow a brand, are more like to buy that brand’s products
• 60% of Facebook users who like a brand are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend
• 74% of consumers are influence on buying decisions by fellow socializers

Part 2: Understanding your Audience

Listening – your parents were onto something

• How are your customers using social media
• Where are they participating?
• Are they currently interacting with companies via social media?
• What are they already saying about you?
• What is their activity level on each social network?

Part 3: Defining KPIs

• Define KPIs specific to each business objective
• Cool social media marketing analytics
• Use KPIs to measure, like:
  • Share of voice – Brand mentions/total mentions
  • Audience engagement – Comments + Shares + Trackbacks/Total Views
  • Conversation reach – Total people participating/Total audience views

Examples of Actionable KPIs

• Number of people in a specific location who follow us on Twitter
• Reduction in support costs
• Number of product improvement suggestions from Facebook fans
• Increase in product reviews & ratings
• Reduction in sales cycles

Other KPIs to consider

• Volume of consumer-created buzz
• Seasonality of buzz
• Rate of virality
• Embeds/installs
• Increases in searches
• Rankings improvemnts
• Demographics
• Interaction/engagement rates
• Number of interactions
• Store locator views
• Registrations by channel

KPI Evolution

• The key to successful social media measurement is asking questions

Part 4: Tools for Insight

• Scout Labs
• Radian 6

Configuration Tips

Setup separate searches for:

• Brand mentions
• Product mentions
• Events
• Promotions
• Competitors
• Product launches

Taylor Pratt, Raven Internet Marketing Tools

Social Media Metrics

Content-oriented social media

Consumption = branding and organic social media presence

Benefits

• Traffic
  • Unique visits/page visits
  • CPM revenue
• Visibility
  • Branding/buzz
  • Links
    • Long tail traffic
    • Search rankings (leads/sales)
• Stickiness
  • Newsletter/RSS subscribers
  • Return visitors

Quantitative Metrics (KPIs)

• Engagement
  • Comments (Not including spam, but do include negative comments)
  • Social votes/bookmarks
• Consumption – traffic count
• Micro-conversions
  • Subscribers
  • Fans/followers
• Virality
  • Social shares/mentions
  • Links

Granular Metrics: Links

• Volume of links for a number of pieces of content
• Amount of links based on number of visits
• Shift in link count over time
• Competitive link growth
• Links by category/topic
• Links by social channel

Micro-conversions/Engagement

• Bookmarks
• Downloads
• Favorites
• Feedback
• Forward to a friend
• Groups
• Install widget
• Invite/refer
• Uploads
• Wishlists

URL shorteners

• bit.ly
• Google URL shortener (Goo.gl)

Comment engagement

• Bring social comments into your blog with Disqus
• Conversion rate = # visitor comments/# pieces of content
• Compare to regular content vs. promoted content

Google Analytics

Google URL Builder

• Create trackable link (Google URL builder)
  • Campaign name
  • Promotion start date
  • Delivery method
  • Medium
  • Format
• Shorten your trackable link
• Add your shortened trackable link
• Track your URL in Google Analytics

Advanced Segments

• Segment social visits from regular visits through Advanced Segments
• Tie Advanced Segments to Goals

Other GA social analytics sources

• Content > Content by title > Entrance Source
• Click Map (content overlay)
• Infographic tracking through GA
• Google Social Analytics - GreaseMonkey for Firefox/Chrome
• Google Analytics for Facebook pages – FBML markup

Social Sharing Measurement

• Facebook Insights (through Facebook page)
• Facebook Page Tool
• WebTrends Facebook Analytics Tool
• (Official) Twitter analytics
• Twitter sharing – how many people are RT’ing you?
• Delicious bookmarks
  • View history to see how many times a URL was bookmarked
  • Use SEOQuake plugin to see how your site is bookmarked overall
• YouTube Insight
  • Views over time
  • Demographic/geogrpahic breakouts of views
  • How many imbed codes were shared
• Social sharing measurement - ShareThis
• Social Meter
• PostRank

Data Use

• Start with a baseline measurement
• Then do monthly audits

Takeaways

• Social media metrics vary with strategies, goals, sites, etc.
• Track anything possible for insight
• Social media is not just about numbers
• Measuring social media does not = ROI for social media

Jordan Kasteler, BlueGlass Interactive Inc.