SEO PR TIPS

The use of social networking and blogging is growing increasingly popular every day, with more and more people looking to find reviews and true product knowledge on all topics. From finding what a specific holiday destination is truly like from real life experience of a blogger, to using Twitter for recommendations of restaurants and cafes in a certain city. The use of online networking has escalated to new heights, in a positive way; this will continue to rise in the future.

Blogs and forums are used to promote products / services and to inform people about issues which you may need to research about a product, or for example, DIY to give you up-to-date information. Many people use forums to get information they need, not necessarily to join one. News stories from bloggers aren’t always dependable, although many people do find blogs for product reviews.

Social media is also advantageous in real life experiences, i.e. following selected people on Twitter can be beneficial, as Jenny, our online news and PR manager discovered. Also, the news on the Hudson Plane crash posted on Twitter was passed around the world faster than any of the media coverage on satellite or cable TV.

With social networking you tend to build your own portfolio and web presence, creating links to people you know or people who may be of interest to you, generating a network, whether personal or professional.

Blogging is all about giving your opinion on a subject and can be more educational, unless you have your own site you’re not going to be building a web presence. Blogging can go from giving your opinion on a subject matter to reviews of products or services.

Both blogging and social networking are very different, yet can offer the similar routes to problem solving and product knowledge, getting you the information you need.

Although this blog is dedicated to sharing positive, cheery advice on how to get on in the online PR field, the first thing that anyone in communications needs to learn is think about what you’ve written before you press ’send’!

One hapless PR (not that she deserves any sympathy) has discovered  the troubles that can be caused by a thoughtless pun – especially when bloggers and tweeters can make a mistake big news in minutes.

The excellent Lost in Showbiz blog (not connected to the Guardian blog as far as I know) keeps us all our toes, correctly highlighting the pretentiousness, deceit and general, unconvincing uselessness of many press releases.

They’ve got a humdinger today.  Once of the most thoughtless headlines imaginable has destroyed a harmless release about a supposed poll on the best war films of all time.

Here’s the intro, can you spot the obvious error?

From: libby@swns.com [mailto:libby@swns.com]
Sent: 21 April 2009 10:51
To: NationalNews
Subject: SCHINDLER’S LIST IS GREATEST WAR MOVIE

WOULD JEW BELIEVE IT

NEWS COPY

Schindler’s List was yesterday (Tue) named the greatest war movie of all time.

Read more at Lost in Showbiz

Thanks to Twitter and other social networking sites, this story is flying around quicker than you can say “viral marketing”.

Do share more howlers here, or at our Global Social forums - and chat about it on Twitter…

Internet PR and Marketing investment continually rises, while offline spend is in decline, marketers are continually looking for new methods and approaches to suit business needs. The current climate of the economy has forced many companies to re-strategise in many areas, where spend is minimalistic and productivity potentially maximised.

With virtual social networking taking the world by storm it’s no wonder marketers have already jumped on the band wagon promoting their businesses and colleagues, for example, the use of Twitter has totally entranced our colleagues here @ WebCertain, follow: @globalppc @starbuck8 @jennysimpson @davidsegal @davidecorradi @ballueder @WebCertain @J__9 @YorkSEO @globalseo @andyatkinskruge @seoprtips @newscertain @WebCertain_DE @AnaVLeckenby @oscarcarreras, for updated information on specialised areas of multilingual search!

Promoting the latest international search summit, general information about PR, SEO, link building, PPC etc… has developed a wider knowledge on each subject, by sharing and re-tweeting relevant data to enhance the specialised knowledge arena WebCertain hold.

Many businesses and organisations are using online facilities and companies such as WebCertain not only for English articles, as we are multilingual; multiple languages from across the globe play a large part in how they operate, especially for clients. Online PR is a great way of getting your company, news / press releases / data, relayed around the world, especially using press release sites with an overseas domain, rather than the traditional offline methods. This however, does vary upon client needs; everyone wants something different and to be unique, so be adaptable and knowledgeable on your subject arena to create the best possible service for your company and your clients!

Compare the introductions of these two stories.

From AFP:  Guinea-Bissau delays presidential polls

BISSAU (AFP) — Polls to elect a successor to Guinea-Bissau’s assassinated president Joao Bernardo Vieira were pushed back until the end of June on Wednesday as critics of the army reported increasing abuses.

Former prime minister Francisco Jose Fadul, who also heads an opposition party, said he had been beaten up by men in uniform at his home in an attack that the rights group Amnesty International said was part of a pattern. SOURCE

and

From Wiki News:  Guinea-Bissau to hold elections this June

The prime minister of the western African country of Guinea-Bissau has announced that the country will further postpone elections until June due to increasing violence. Elections are in order to replace the former president, who was assassinated last month. Francisco Jose Fadul, the nation’s former prime minister, says that he has been beaten by men that he claims were in uniform and working for Amnesty International.  SOURCE

Oh dear, spot the deliberate mistake…

(Thanks to Donnacha Delong)

While Twitter membership rapidly grows and endless column inches a day are devoted to the phenomenon, marketers have been scratching their heads about the best way to use this new tool.

The obvious appeal is the ability to immediately reach out and create two-way communication with a wide audience, giving you the opportunity to sell yourself – and to handle customer service / reputation management issues.

The concern so far as Twitter is still largely populated by early adopters and members of the web marketing community – can you communicate with the right people?

Here’s a little anecdote to illustrate the marketing potential of Twitter.

My colleague (@davidsegal) has a friend who works for Sarah Coggles (@coggles_com) – an independent fashion retailer.

We have another colleague in our London office (@ballueder) who maintains a personal blog, posting pertinent and sometimes esoteric content.  This content is sometimes included in his Twitter posts.

We noticed that @coggles_com had linked to something @ballueder had posted – probably completely coincidentally, but this led to me tofollow @coggles_com and take a look at some of the clothes on their site.

I found a dress that I love and cheekily asked for a discount as a Twitter follower – which I have been given!

The end result is that I am seriously tempted to ignore the credit crunch and splash out on a new dress – all because of Twitter…

More info to add to my presentation on the opportunities and threats of marketing through Twitter that I’m giving at the International Search Summit later this year.