Published by Janine on 28 Apr 2010

International Search Summit – my first conference!

The International Search Summit conference is run by WebCertain and covers a wide range of subjects from the search marketing arena.
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Published by Jenny on 14 May 2009

Social Media Summit – London – review

The fourth International Search Summit hosted by WebCertain is taking place at the moment.  This conference is focussed on Social Media.  Whether you weren’t able to attend, or just want a reminder of what was said – here’s an overview…

Also follow #isslon on Twitter for live updates.

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Published by Janine on 17 Apr 2009

Are you twittering mad?!

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!

Published by Janine on 06 Feb 2009

Need for Social Media…

Social Media as many people are aware plays such a huge part in PR, especially for online content and sites. Travel sites are’nt necessarliy updated as frequently as they should:

“On travel companies not reviewing Web 2.0/Social Media as part of a comprehensive Internet marketing and distribution strategy, together with website re-designs and optimisations, search marketing, email marketing, strategic linking, online sponsorships and display advertising: Many travel companies don’t have the resources or confidence to think holistically.” said Scott McNeely, Director of Consumer & Affiliate Web, Viator Inc. also recommends that travel suppliers should constantly update content.

take a look..

The need to keep up-to-date with social media and business is imperative to promote the brand as much as possible…SEO, SEM, link building, web design etc

The WebCertain International Search Summit event about Social Media and International opportunities will be held in London @ the British Library on 14th May 2009… Find out more

Published by Jenny on 23 Jan 2009

Getting a multicultural message across – how to communicate?

For quite some time now we’ve been running multilingual PR campaigns and that has meant working with people from all around the world – we’ve been on a pretty steep learning curve.

I’m in the process of putting together some training documents for the multilingual WebCertain taskforce – it isn’t easy…

Although press wire services exist with a pretty standard format in most countries, I’ve come across lots of little, unexpected differences. For example, in Germany the fashion is for press releases with a short headline followed by a short strapline and in China and Korea, personal blogs are used quite differently.

Also, at some point in a PR campaign, you are going to have to communicate with a human being…

Now in the UK, we are happy to send an email with a simple “Hi” to the addressee. Not so in France. that would be insultingly bald. French business-speak is incredibly polite and it reminds me of when Laure was preparing to start at the company. I’d sent her a welcome email (“Hi Laure”) thinking I was being nice and friendly, but unwittingly caused great consternation to her as she debated back and forth how to address her reply to me. Was I a Madame or a Mademoiselle? She didn’t want to offend her new “chief”.

So, such a very simple issue can make the difference between making a new friend or enemy (or a story hitting the front page, or being spiked). What’s our advice?

  • Always (always) use a native speaker with experience of the local market – and listen to their advice
  • Never think you can cut corners by following an English / UK pro forma of communication
  • Get a name for your contact (that is very old advice)
  • Good luck!