The Maine SEO Blog

Something funny just happened. Did you tweet about it? 

You saw something strange. Did you take a picture of it and Facebook it?

You found a great article online. Did you share it with your social community?

It should be as easy as that right? But, it’s just not coming naturally for you.  You ask yourself why is it so easy for everyone else?

And, while it may not be easy for everyone else, Mashable just posted a blog talking about a new study that came out the may prove that it is more natural for others to participate in social media and use these tools for business than others.

Researchers at University College London published a new study in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, based on MRIs of a group of 165 adults who were asked to report the number of Facebook friends they have. The research discovered that those with higher Facebook friend counts had more grey matter density in the amygdala, an area the study says was already known to be linked to real world social network size, as well as in other regions including the right entorhinal cortex, which is associated with memory.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t learn to be more social, as according to the research study, they are not sure which came first, did these people have a more social brain before or after they started using these social tools? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

So, while getting started using these social tools isn’t always easy, you can take notes on what others are doing and learn from them.

For instance, pick the social network that comes easiest to you and makes the most business sense for you to use and then do it every day until you master it.

Take Facebook for instance, brainstorm ideas for updates, posts, pictures, and videos that you can share.  Look at what others like you are doing.  Pay attention to what the experts are doing. Is there anything they are doing that sparks inspiration for you? What are your competitors doing? What are you doing on a daily basis that can be re purposed for content? Are you taking video? Photos? Answering customer questions? Or, working on a new project?

My advice? Concentrate on one thing at a time, make a habit of it, and then move to the next item.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO Blog

Facebook releases new metrics for better measurement of how and where your Facebook content is being shared.

Facebook has released several new metrics, among those are Engaged Users, Virality, Reach and individual Post data.  While I think most of these will be very helpful and overall this is a fantastic addition to the Insights platform, the one I think is the most interesting is the new Facebook metric called “People Are Talking About This.”

This is the most comprehensive metric that Facebook has come out with yet.  This number represents an accounting of all user-initiated activity related to your company’s Page.

“The people talking about this” metric measures:

• Liking a page;
• Posting to a page’s wall;
• Liking, commenting, or sharing a page’s status update, photo, video, or other content;
• Answering a question posted by a page;
• RSVPing to an event hosted by the page;
• Mentioning the page (users must formally tag the page);
• Tagging a page in a photo;
• Liking or sharing a check-in deal, and
• Checking in at a place.

These metrics will help businesses measure the real reach and effectiveness of their Facebook Business Pages.  Until now, the information was really weak.  Now companies will be able to see how well items performed leading them to create more posts that people want to share and that have an affect on their audience.

In their press release, Facebook said “Research shows that word-of-mouth conversations among friends are the most influential for getting a brand’s message across,” this new metric is a perfect way to measure that.

The new insights tab will only be available to page administrators, according to Inside Facebook, but pages will display a counter of people talking about this just below their like counts.  Since the count is visible to everyone, this will allow for  competitive brands to take a peek at how their competition is doing in comparison.

Check out the new page insights by clicking on your Insights link on your Facebook Business Page or read the Page Insights Guide.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Measure Measure Measure

Thanks to Mashable’s instructions on how to enable Facebook’s Timeline Profile now, I am officially switched over to the new version of Facebook. I know there has been a lot of skepticism about this new design and people are always reticent to accept change, however I think most of you will find that it’s easy to use, looks great and is a lot of fun. As of right now you will not be able to see others timeline profiles unless you are a developer or have one yourself. The Mashable instructions show you how to get around waiting for it to be released to everyone by making yourself a developer.

Joan's New Profile

But, once you follow their steps and you get in, here is what to expect | The Facebook Timelines Tour

1. Cover

Your cover is the large image banner at the top of your profile. You can use any photo you want and you can change it as often as you like.  When you hover over the cover the ‘Change Cover’ editor button appears in the bottom right hand corner of the image.  From there you have the option to choose a photo from your already uploaded images, upload a photo, remove your cover photo, or you can reposition your cover image by simply dragging the image in the box to where it fits/looks best.  I think the new cover almost looks like a website banner and definitely is a way to share a larger photo that you like and expresses yourself with your Facebook friends.

2. View and View As

The views tab is where your name will appear, your ‘About’ info, an image box with the number of friends you have under it, photos, maps, and pages you like.  You can update your info from here very easily.  Also, you can ‘view activity’, meaning you can click on this button and see a log of sorts that is just a timeline of your most recent activity.  You can switch the date, month etc or just simply view your day’s activity.  You may also, click the down arrow next to the ‘view activity’ button, to view your profile as a particular friend would see your profile. See the View As photo below…

View

View As Option

3. Activity Log

Your activity log is essentially exactly like it’s name, it just shows you your recent activity.  You will be able to change any privacy settings on individuals stories, photos etc, right from this area as well.

4. Stories

This is essentially what your wall used to be, but now it’s called your timeline.  This is where people will see all the activity you’ve been up to, photos you’ve posted, updates, apps used, maps, check ins, pages you’ve liked, comments you’ve made etc.  However, what’s majorly different from the wall isn’t only the design, it’s the ability to see the past.  You can add more about yourself into the past section, like pictures from when you were born, and you can post major life events, and it will still have all the posts that you’ve done in the past.  This will create a thorough timeline of your whole life, rather than just the past few years you may have been of Facebook.

Timeline Dates

5. 5 Star or Hidden – Highlights

6. Getting Started

When you first finish the tour for the new Facebook Timeline profile it will give you a few tips of how to get started. But, the best way to really get to know how to use this new platform is by trial and error and exploring and poking around.  It might be a bit confusing at first, but some of the features are really cool. One of the best things to start out doing is to fill in your timeline and start hiding and highlighting stories to be sure your stories are showing how you would like them to.

To sum it all up:

Your Home page will still look fairly the same except for the new features Facebook released a couple weeks ago, like larger images.

Also, you will still be able to use your new Smart Lists that Facebook created by going to your homepage and grabbing the lists on the right hand column or by simply using the update feature and choosing which list to share with.

Also, business pages at this point still look the same, with a few additions like recommendations when you like something.

So, get on there and start trying it out and then share with us what you think.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Changing with the “Timelines”

Now when you like someone on Facebook, a box pops up asking you if you would like to recommend this page to your friends.  We recently put together a custom welcome tab for the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital, see the screenshot below to see how the recommend option appears when you go to like the page.

All you have to do is enter in a recommendation like so…

And, make sure that you have the post set to public, so that anyone that is subscribed to your news feed can see it, as well as anyone who visits the page that you are liking.

After that if you go to the page wall, you will see that there is a recommendations section in the right column where your recommendation will show up.

This reminds me a bit of giving a recommendation on LinkedIn.  It’s a way to show your support for a business that you think is doing great or that you have had a superb experience with.  Also, by having it in the right hand column it allows for anyone to see it no matter when they go to the page, unlike a general comment, which after time gets pushed down the feed.

Also, it’s a great way to spread the word to your friends that they should like the page, because it will show up on your wall and your friends news feed that you just recommended a page.

For more info on the Recommendations Plugin visit Recommendations On Facebook.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Find Us On Facebook

Facebook News Feed Update – You may have noticed a few changes this morning when you signed into Facebook. There is a layout change for one, but the major change is the Facebook News Feed.    You’ll notice that you now have Top Stories, which are marked by a blue corner, and then your most recent stories just below.

So, what is a top story exactly?  Facebook is pulling stories into your news feed that they think you will find interesting or that have been posted since you last signed in.

The news feed updates got me thinking about what the affect on the Facebook EdgeRank score would be, if it would change, or if it even mattered anymore since you would just get most recent updates.  However, according to Facebook, “We determine whether something is a top story based on lots of factors, including your relationship to the person who posted the story, how many comments and likes it got, what type of story it is, etc. For example, a friend’s status update that might not normally be a top story may become a top story after many other friends comment on it.”  So, my guess is that the Facebook EdgeRank score is still VERY important when it comes to showing up in someone’s top news feed.

If Facebook is pointing out something to you in your News Feed that you don’t think is interesting, they have made it very simple to hide or “unmark a top story”.   Also, you will have more control over what you see in your news feed by creating Facebook Smart Lists. 

The Facebook Real Time Ticker:  The ticker will show real time friend activity as it happens to the right of your screen just above your chat list.   This feature allows you to hover over an item to see the full story and also gives you an option to click in and join the conversation or comment. 

Larger Images:  Facebook has made the images that show up in your news feed larger.  And, who doesn’t love that??!!

Subscribe Feeds: Facebook has added a subscribe feature to personal profiles.  What this means is that you can allow people to subscribe to your updates.  This is very much like a twitter follow.  Like within Twitter you can follow someone without them following you back.  Same thing when you follow or subscribe to a Facebook personal feed.  It’s important to note that you will only be sharing information with subscribers that you post as a public update.  This is probably one of the tweaks that Facebook has added that most closely resembles Google+.

View Shares:  Lastly, Facebook has updated Facebook Pages by adding a ‘View Shares’ link on all posts.  So, you can now see who has shared content from your page with others.

The battle rages on between Facebook and Google+.  Who is going to have the better platform?  Who is going to lose or gain users? Which platform will be more important from a business standpoint to have a profile on?  My guess is that there is room for both and the battle will continue, which is a good thing for the end user.  The more they try to one up each other the better product we have to use at the end of the day.

What are your thoughts on the new Facebook updates?

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Enjoying the Battle

Find Me on Facebook
Find Me on Google+

While Facebook has had lists for quite some time, they haven’t always been easy to use for the basic Facebook user.  So, when Google+ launched Circles it was refreshing to see how easily you can segment your lists and update different friends with different things.  However, last week I was in New York City all week at the SMX East 2011 conference and so I missed the big unveiling of Facebook Smart Lists.  This is a game changer.

First of all, Facebook has one upped Google + in the fact that it will suggest people for your lists.  For example everyone will start out with a few different lists that Facebook has gathered.  Coworkers, People who went to the same school as you and who are in the same area as you for instance will automatically be added to a list.   Family is another smart list that Facebook will automatically add people to and make suggestions based on your profile for you to add to it. However lists like, Close Friends and Acquaintances will be left for you to add whom you would like to those categories.  Once you have added a few people it will then come up with suggestions for others.

Once your lists are created you can make status updates and determine what list/lists you would like that update to be shown to.  Also, someone who is put in the acquaintances list you will only get important updates like marriage updates and job changes etc., but you won’t have their posts showing up in your news feed on a daily basis.

One of the biggest draws to Google + was the ability to share what you want with who you want, and while Facebook has had this ability it was mostly used by power users as it was hard to get to, now that they have made it easier, I’m sure it will be used across the board.

One thing is for sure, the battle of who can one up who, will be provide us with a better user experience.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Fan of the Chronic One Upper

The following is a recap from a session at Search Marketing Expo (SMX) East. Follow the conference on Twitter. Follow the presenter – @mathewguiver

Google +still in infancy.

As the community grows the usage of +1 votes will increase.

Google+ is on a trajectory to surpass Twitter, LinkedIn and Myspace being second only to Facebook.

Google + and +1’s are intertwined.

Prediction 1: +1’s to Have More Impact on Average Position Than Quality Score

When you search for something and you are not logged into a Google account your search results will be different than when you are logged in.  For example if you search for Britney Spears products the results page shows the one he would choose as the 3rd result.  But, once logged in, since he has #1′d the result, it shows up number one.  This also works if a friend has #1′d the search result.

When click on it, while logged in, you will see a friend of yours that has recommended that page, Google has done research saying you are more likely to click on that page – lifting personalized results, could apply across the board and to sponsored results.

Prediction 2: The Value of a +1

If a +1 decreases your CPA, then it also increases your ROI.

When money talks, the big bosses listen.

Assign value to a +1 vote, because you get more click throughs when it is referred, which also has a higher conversion rate, more likely to take action.

Say one +1 vote increased CTR, and then it reduces your CPA, which gives you a higher return on Investment

Google +1 will be a great way to leverage paid search

Prediction 3: The End of The PPC Landing Page As We Know It

+1’s are shared between organic and sponsored listings…
start to see advertisers using pages that are designed for SEO and page search

Usually we create lots of pages, uncrawlable, because you don’t want to get knocked for dup pages, so that you can use landing pages for these PPC campaigns, instead, you can recommend within the ad, and then all related search results will always give you the page you shared, or had a +1 from a friend, in top results

So, now you are not paying again for a click, because the organic search will keep coming up,

Prediction 4: Bridging The Gap Between PPC and Social

Should see more overlap

Say you create an Ad for the term “Landing page Optimization”.  Then you create a landing page for the ad to send the person who clicks on the ad to.  It stops with that.  Instead, you should be creating Ads that send them to shareable content, like a blog post on “Landing Page Optimization” where they can +1 the blog post.  Now, that the post has a +1, it is going to show up as a top result on their SERP and potentially there friends SERP,  which leads to more clicks, traffic, possibly more +1′s and hopefully will also help it to start performing better in the organic results.

You will want to be driving traffic to Google plus profiles once businesses are on there.  Because then when anyone searches for that company their page is going to get that lift if you add them to a circle.

Prediction 5: Promoted +1’s
Google to monetize Google+ and +1’s

Google real time search used to incorporate promoted messages from twitter

Even confirmed splitting revenue with twitter

Google will do more outside the box, type ads for money, so Promoted +1s may make sense
Google+ to remain ad free?  Maybe companies offer incentive to +1 them

Prediction 6: Demographic Bidding for Sponsored Search Ads

In the future:
-  Race sex orientation
-  Religion
-  Interests
-  Income levels
-  Activity on profiles, who you block etc.

Prediction 7: Prediction Targeting

Google related, toolbar launched in august

Toolbar suggests sites to visit, based on social activity

Say you search something like a plane ticket, then the PPC that pops up, based on past behavior it might be a ticket sales item for a Britney spears concert in that place you are searching for on Google for tickets.

Be part of the future and stay ahead of the crowd.

If you’ve ever been interested in what your Facebook statuses of the past were, or just wondering what you were doing today last year, Facebook is now giving you a little glimpse.

Okay, so we all know that not all posts are created equal.  Some updates on Facebook are brilliant jewels of wisdom and others, well, they can be kinda dumb.  And, to remind us of that fact, Facebook has started displaying “On this Day in 2010″ on the right hand column of your Facebook profile.  It’s not there constantly, it just pops up every once in a while.  And apparently, on this day last year, my Facebook update was this…

While not incredibly helpful or brilliant, it did however make me laugh.  And, since it’s Friday I thought I’d share it with you.

If you have any gems that pop up on your profile share them with us here or on the flyte Facebook page!

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Suffering from a 2010 Hangover

I recently discovered the Top 100 Most Popular Facebook Pages and took a look at the top few – 5, to be exact – and saw both variations and similarities in their strategies. Let’s take a closer look at the pages and what we can learn from them.

1. Facebook

Likes: 52,227,065

Custom landing page: No

Cool Wall Details Worth Mentioning:

• Links to Facebook Live events
• Featured stories on how Facebookers have used Facebook (e.g. to find a job)
• Updates from their blog
• Information about new products and links for more information on them
• Photos of new innovations (e.g. grouping similar stories in news feed)

2. Texas Hold’Em Poker

Likes: 49,833,957

Custom landing page: Yes, with quick link to play Poker via their Facebook App (see right)

Cool Wall Details Worth Mentioning:

• Custom profile photo with a player of the week. (In order to become the player of the week, players must participate in the site’s forums.)
• Poker chip giveaways and other gamer awards
• Mentioning top players by name
• Photo albums that link to new games
• Mentioning VIP club, where players will receive additional perks and deals

3. Eminem

Likes: 46,644,195

Custom landing page: Yes, complete with embedded video (see right)

Cool Wall Details Worth Mentioning:

• Links to official Eminem videos
• Specials and deals for concerts
• Photos with promotions for concerts and albums
• Links to albums and songs in iTunes, Facebook App, website

4. YouTube

Likes: 44,777,937

Custom landing page: No

Cool Wall Details Worth Mentioning:

• Links to articles that mention YouTube
• Popular YouTube videos
• Links and videos to the YouTube blog
• Asking questions that require answers via video

5. Lady Gaga

Likes: 43,312,927

Custom landing page: Yes, complete with embedded video (see right)

Cool Wall Details Worth Mentioning:

• Posts to fans, seemingly from Gaga herself; some imported from Twitter
• Photos of Lady Gaga in the press
• Links promoting fellow celebrities
• Links to music videos

What can we learn from them?

The way I see it, all of these pages have a few major things in common, that can be summarized in just a few steps:

• Define your audience.
• What would your audience want to know about?
• How can you provide that in bite size pieces?

What have you learned from the more popular pages out there?

Nicki Hicks
Learn from those doing it the right way

Today I created my first ever YouTube ad so I had to share the process here.  It is incredibly simple to set up an ad, it’s very cheap, and hopefully very affective.  According to the video below, users are experiencing great success with YouTube Advertising.

And, so our experiment starts off.

Here are the steps for creating your first promotion on YouTube:

1. Sign into your YouTube account.

2. Go to www.ads.youtube.com

3. Add promotions to your account. *note: There will be an initial non refundable $5 charge when you set up your promotions account.  This is how they weed out those that are not serious about advertising.

4. Set up your billing.  All you have to do is enter your billing information and then establish a daily budget.  This budget will be used across all video promotions, however you can go in and change it whenever you wish.

5. Create a new video promotion

6. Choose a video from your YouTube channel (They will list them all there for you so you can just check the box of the video you would like to use) or you can upload a new video.

7. You must agree to the terms.  The terms state that you have full permission to use the video and that you either own all rights to the material or have been given rights to use it.

8. Write your promotion.  Choose your title and your copy.  Note that there are character limits of 35 characters per line so you must be concise. Also, while create your promotion you will be given a few different screenshots from your video to choose from as the video promotions image.

9. Add your Keywords.  You can do this one of several ways, you can simply add in any keyword that you think is applicable to the video line by line, or you can have YouTube Suggest them for you.  You can also use the demographic tool.  All of these tools are to help get your video in front of people who are searching for this topic and would be interested in it.

10. Set up your CPV (Cost Per View).  You can pick anything you like, it just has to be under your daily budget.  For instance I decided on $0.20 a view and a $10/day budget.

11. Preview your ad.  At this point they will lay out everything in front of you so you can see how your ad is going to look, your targets for you audience and your budget.

12. If everything looks okay, then hit the “Okay, Run My Promotion!” button and your off to the races.

YouTube provides you with a dashboard that you can then track your progress to see how your ad is performing, you can then edit your ad from there.  All in all it couldn’t be more simple.

Looking to learn more about YouTube Advertising? Check out the YouTube Ads presentation at this year’s Social Media FTW.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
YouTube Ad Enthusiast