SEO PR TIPS

Getting quite excited here as the plans for the WebCertain International Search Summit on Social Media are really coming together…

There will be speakers from Plaxo, Bebo and LinkedIn.

Also, yours truly will be talking about the threats and opportunities of marketing through Twitter.  That’s a huge topic and there’s no shortage of information and opinions out there – the challenge is sifting through it.

Take a look at the full social media search summit programme

Social media is a concept 2 years ago I wasn’t really interested in, I knew it existed, yet I didn’t really know anything about it and I didn’t really want to. I reluctantly joined Facebook to view my friends photo’s from her travels around the globe, and then got hooked! Over those 2 years in which I have been interested in social media, I think it has been catapulted into the limelight (from my perspective anyway, you may disagree), and now there is no escaping it!

The development of design, content, links, networking and media coverage of social media has improved enormously, it’s well documented and new innovations are continually being introduced. Social networking is a phenomenon I never thought I would get into, never mind checking my profile and searching for friends regularly, this was more so when I first signed up.

Online profiling on such networking sites as, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter or any type of blogging sites will enhance and develop your profile across the web, depending of course on your privacy settings. Content quality and use of keywords all effects how you rank in search engines, such as Google.

The following selection of tips may enhance your visibility and optimization…
1. Include good quality content
2. Utilise any links to other sites you blog on etc
3. Update your blog / social networking site regularly
4. Use keywords to enhance ranking capabilities.

Over the past few months my colleagues have been talking about Twitter, I didn’t really want to join another social network, (having one I thought was enough work for me), and a couple of months ago I decided I had had enough and finally gave in.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I have benefited from joining Twitter – from a work/industry perspective anyway. As I mentioned in an earlier entry I am fairly new to the world of PR and SEO, following people on Twitter who have much experience and sharing links / articles on related topics has helped me immensely.

I often find with social networking some can people become obsessed over it, depending on whether it’s used for social or business purposes…. Is it ok to be obsessed with it? What do you think? Am I alone with this perspective? And have you tried typing your name in Google to see where / if you rank?

We have spoken here about PR reporting before – it’s just as important as any other aspect of online PR campaign management – after all, what’s the point if you can’t prove the worth of your efforts.

Compared with Paid search, online PR is limited in its tracking capabilities, simply because you cannot publish tracking code in your press releases in order to view visitor paths and conversions. Nonetheless, there are still some ways of getting around that – and many of them will be familiar to PR professionals who have long experience running offline PR campaigns.

Brand tracking
Hopefully you have a unique or unusual brand name for your business, or for some of your products. Track the number of people searching for these brand names through Google Trends, or Twitterholic.

Create unique landing pages to track visitors
There are lots of benefits to this. Firstly you have the opportunity to tailor a landing page with the most appeal for new visitors. If the landing page is only accessible to readers of your PR content, you have a clear view of the impact of your PR campaigns.

Unique paths for calls-to-action
If you have the capability to create unique telephone numbers, email addresses and other contact details, this is one of the most tried-and-tested ways of assessing the success of PR campaigns.

This can include custom coupon codes that relate to specific news – and with the large number of consumer forums that share information on coupons and discounts, this is another effective way to spread your news.

What are the “Golden Rules of Social Media and Internet Marketing”

1) Listen: listen and observe, see what’s being said online and how you can participate

2) Participate: join in, share stuff, be helpful

3) Give first, ask later. The best rule of thumb is to give more than you take.

4) Dialog: communicate, remember the cocktail party example

5) Don’t try and do everything: it’s not always a great idea to have 35 social networking sites. Get only as many as you can manage

6) Leave your wallet at the door: don’t show up online wanting to make money. Show up ready to share and enlighten. This will take you much further.

7) Don’t be afraid to share your opinion.

Be honest: it’s tempting for some to embellish or lie. Who’s gonna find out about it, right? Wrong. The Internet has a way of sifting out the fake stuff and embracing the real messages.

All credit to http://amarketingexpert.com for the article – great summary

Accidental good timing for a seminar on blogging last week which led to a good old discussion about journalistic standards (or the lack of) amongst bloggers.  A big row had just blown up between a blogger and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) because the blogger had published of allegations against an NUJ official, based on data retrieved from their email server. 

The controversy escalated when a senior member of the NUJ posted short-tempered comments reacting to the blogger’s activities, in the process, outing the full name of the colleague being accused of unprofessional behaviour.

The Guardian took the story up in a big way and the controversy continued as the writer of The Guardian’s think-piece is actually married to an NUJ member who was also posting comments on the original blog post (this was stated on his article). [Edit - see clarification in comments, she is actually an ex-member]

Hope you are following this…

NB – let me declare my interests in this (limited though they are). Our blogging seminar leader was Martin Belam, another employee at The Guardian. Also, a few years ago I had an NUJ training course arranged for me by someone right at the heart of the scandal. Yes, yes, I do move in the right circles…

To a career journalist working for a serious publication / outlet there are complex rules and standards about reporting, such as – never depend on a single source for information, don’t publish opinions as facts etc. etc.

Should bloggers follow the standards of reporting as employed by organisations like the BBC and Reuters? 

Here’s my twopennorth –

Blogs are not reports
From the very earliest days of blogs, there has always been the understanding that a blog is somewhat personal – in other words an “op ed”, or “opinion piece”.
(NB, the word “blog” is an abbreviation of weblog, meaning a journal)

Are the navel gazing “In my life” columns that feature in all our major newspapers subject to the rigorous fact-checking processes that a news report is subject to?  No, I don’t think so. In fact, I would guess some of them they have pretty obviously been dashed off in the last half hour before deadline with only the slightest bit of thought!  (Yes, that is professional jealousy…)

However, of course some standards should be met and many bloggers are completely unaware of even their most basic responsibilities.

I am a journalist by training, over the years working primarily on features and marketing content.

Nevertheless, I still have a hazy memory of McNae’s Essential Law for Journalists and therefore do my very best not to libel anyone, make wilful mis-statements (no matter how riled I am) or affect the proceeding of active court cases. 

Everyone blogging should adhere to these basic principles, but they don’t.  Yes – I’m looking at you Perez Hilton!

Basics

1. Don’t publish immediately after writing. Take a break, walk away and ideally get someone else to take a look at what you’ve written.
2. Don’t call Mr So-and-so down the road a paedophile, whether because you think it’s a funny thing to say, or if you really think he is one (if so, go to the police!). Furthermore, don’t even hint that someone on your road is a paedophile – technically anyone who fits your vague description could sue you.
3. Don’t panic if someone contacts you to argue about what you’ve written and don’t respond immediately! Take another look, ideally with a second pair of eyes, and see if you think you were fair.

   There are lots of ways to deal with complaints – valid or otherwise.  Often giving a complainant the right-to-reply suffices. Almost always, a friendly response is the sensible option and if your correspondent turns out to be irrational – end the conversation immediately.

4. Never, ever steal information…

There are lots of other legal considerations.  If you think there are any that bloggers should regard as a priority, please add a comment.  Thanks.