While relevant, keyword-rich content is still the biggest weapon in your search for great search rankings, I think it’s interesting (and encouraging) that other elements of user experience are factoring in. Google doesn’t just want you to find what you’re looking for, they want you to find it quickly and easily. It’s also a strong nod to growing traffic from mobile devices.
Over time, search is getting smarter. This development is just more evidence of the growing importance of content strategy. Companies must evaluate what customers want to learn and what they want to do. They’ll need to organize and design accordingly, and maybe cut some dead weight.
Do you need that Flash intro? More importantly, do your visitors need it?
Director of Flint Interactive, Jen Strickler, pointed to search and social media among the hot topics of 2009 during our agency recap last Wednesday. She was absolutely right.
Not only have they both evolved immensely over the past few years, but they have become more and more reliant on each other. There are huge benefits to incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) and social media together. Here are just a few:
Gain Ownership of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) Have you ever wondered how one company can dominate the first page on Google? Well, if you haven’t noticed, blogs and social media sites index separately from website listings. By utilizing WordPress, YouTube, Twitter and FlickR in addition to your website, you could potentially secure the first five slots for a search query. Creating accounts in each site is the easy part. If you intend to succeed, then you’ll need to optimize the content with keywords and phrases in each location and update it on a regular basis.
Drive New Traffic to Your Website Well-optimized social media content can bring new visitors to your website. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that your website is optimized with relevant, dynamic content. This will help engage these visitors and encourage them to come back. When users come back often, site ranking is likely to improve because the traffic acts as a trigger to register the site with search engines as a valid, popular website.
Build Your Link Profile Including social media links on your website will improve your external link count (links to another site from your own). Including a link to your website on various social media sites will build your inbound links (links to your site from another). And, ensuring that the anchor text you use includes important keywords and phrases will add even more value to your links. Creating a solid, respected link profile for your website is likely to increase your site ranking in the SERPs.
Success in social media depends on SEO, and search engine rankings rely largely on social media. Don’t expect these topics to fizzle any time in the near future. If search engine rankings are a top priority for you, then you must be ready to embrace them both.
When you come across a great product, you want everyone to know about it. That’s why we are so excited to launch a new website for SunButter. Our task for developing the website was to create a user-friendly site that was fun, functional, informative and allows for interaction. Check it out and let us know what you think.
Check out SunButter at http://www.sunbutter.com
SunButter, a peanut-free spread made from sunflower seeds, is one of those products that people can’t stop talking about and are constantly praising. We love it so much we keep a supply at the office for employees to enjoy. If you haven’t tried it, try it. It’s so yummy.
The main audience for SunButter is people with peanut allergies. The number of people affected by this food allergy is astounding – more than three million in the US. SunButter appeals to health and fitness buffs and regular joes too, just because it tastes so good. The biggest SunButter fans are online – a lot. Social media is abuzz with conversations about the product and the comments are exceptionally positive. They are extremely creative when it comes to uses for SunButter. This has become a form of daily entertainment and fascination for me.
Here are some recent examples of what people are posting:
Grand Forks, ND (Vocus/PRWEB ) March 16, 2010 — A public policy news and information website published by Praxis Strategy Group of Grand Forks, N.D., has been named as a top site for 2010.
Planetizen, recognized as one of the world’s most popular urban planning websites, included newgeography.com on its 2010 list of the best planning, design and development websites for 2010. The sites named to the annual list are said to represent some of the top online resources for those interested in planning, design and development.
Websites are nominated by Planetizen readers and staff and judged against a common set of criteria including content, design and usability.
In citing NewGeography.com, judges commended its fair and balanced content, even though it sometimes goes against the grain of popular thinking among planners: “It was inevitable that certain voices that reject the current belief system of urban planning – people like Wendell Cox, Joel Kotkin, and Michael Lind – would band together. What wasn’t inevitable is that their collaboration would be readable, fair, and dare we say, balanced. With a bent towards the libertarian, Kotkin and crew cover urban issues, housing, politics and the suburbs with a hefty dose of demographics and GIS maps.”
Launched in 2008, NewGeography.com includes analysis and commentary on economic development, demographics, economics, politics and other public policy issues. It features writing and research from authors across the U.S., Europe, China and New Zealand and publishes an annual “Best Cities for Job Growth” in partnership with Forbes.com.
Today Andy and Alissa Pesta sit down to discuss her tenure at Flint Interactive and the Flint Group, staying on top of new trends and advancements on the web and what the future of digital marketing looks like. We also talk about her family, working remotely and coming back to work after her first child.
Flint Interactive’s Nicole Sandman and I sit down to discuss digital marketing, social media, and the lessons she learned from growing up on a pig farm. She also fills us in on the history of Flint Interactive, how her work has changed in the last seven years, and balancing her career and time at home with her husband and two lovely daughters.
Co-hosted by U.S. Senator Byron L. Dorgan and the Red River Valley Research Corridor. Fargo, ND, February 19, 2009
This year’s summit will focus on developing and strengthening the Red River Valley’s burgeoning life sciences industry. Presenters including entrepreneurs, financiers, researchers, and scientists from the region and around the nation will discuss and explore actions the region can and is taking to foster strong, sustainable growth in the life sciences sector.
The Red River Valley Research Corridor and U.S. Senator Byron Dorgan work in cooperation with leading economic, science and technology-based organizations in North Dakota and the Great Plains region to organize action summits.
Action summits are high-impact conferences that have a razor-like focus on specific research and technology development opportunities in the region. The summits are intended to:
Facilitate learning, networking and collaboration in the region.
Connect with key partners in business and government from outside the region in a highly focused and purposeful manner.
Showcase science and technology-based capabilities and initiatives in the Corridor.
Engage key players inside and outside the region to put a focus on what do we do now and in the future to make the Red River Valley Corridor an epicenter of research, development and/or production in this particular science and technology field.
Previous Research Corridor action summits have focused on hydrogen energy, venture capital, radio frequency identification (RFID) technologies, polymers and coatings, life sciences, animal identification systems and unmanned aircraft systems.
The Red River Valley Research Corridor is an independent non-profit corporation committed to catalyzing and promoting science, technology and engineering initiatives that create new opportunities in the region
Red River Valley Research Corridor Coordinating Center
Dr. Delore Zimmerman, President & CEO of Praxis Strategy Group in Grand Forks, Fargo & Los Angeles, California was named to serve as the Coordinator. Delore has over twenty years experience working with companies in technology and information industries, universities and local development groups. Since its founding Praxis has been awarded 8 Small Business Innovation Research Awards. Praxis Strategy Groupis a partner with the Flint Group.
A common misconception is that search engine optimization (SEO) techniques within the pages of your website will solve all problems related to poor or less than desirable search engine performance. While accurate page titles and keyword-rich copy are important, there are several off-page SEO techniques that often have a faster and more significant impact on your website rankings.
Off-page SEO refers to the strategies you execute outside the pages of your website—all of which are aimed towards link building and increasing site traffic. Here are a few contextual opportunities to generate inbound links for your website:
Article Marketing Writing and submitting articles is one way to get your site indexed. Submit one-page articles that discuss an area of expertise. Look for submission sites that specialize in the article topic and get your article posted on their website. Make sure to use anchor text in your article that directs readers to relevant content on your website. A few well-known submission sites include: Ezine Articles and Go Articles.
Blogging Search engines love text that changes regularly; thus, making a blog a great solution for improving your ranking. A blog is the most effective, honest and fastest way to receive inbound links. However, keep in mind that blogs need to be updated regularly to keep the content fresh and exciting. A neglected blog is a bad sign for both search engines and users. Make sure you have the staff and resources in place to maintain an effective blog.
Social Media Social media is another fast way to generate inbound links to your website. Social media also implies interactivity, which is a positive sign to both users and search engine crawlers. Look at different social media options, such as Twitter, Digg and YouTube to provide users with timely content and to help generate buzz about your website. Along with social media, however, comes reputation management—whether or not you are out actively participating in social media, your customers are out there talking about you. Keep a close watch over social media sites to make sure that the buzz being generated portrays your company in a positive light.
Quality trumps quantity when it comes to link building. Select only reputable online environments that are relevant to the content on your website. This is the ethical way to garner inbound links, and it will help you reach a targeted audience that is genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
Flint Interactive’s Mikaela Krenzen sits down to discuss SEO and SEM. She also manages to work her true passions into the conversation, shopping and family.
The professionals at SimmonsFlint are always hungry for new marketing trends, techniques or hot topics that we can share with friends and clients. Watch for a regular stream of insightful information – or join in the conversation.
is that search engine optimization (SEO) techniques within the pages of your website will solve all problems related to poor or less than desirable search engine performance. While accurate page titles and keyword-rich copy are important, there are several off-page SEO techniques that often have a faster and more significant impact on your website rankings.
