Internet Marketing tips and tricks Archives - SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines

How to Track Youtube Rankings with Accuranker

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 10:39:08 +0000

With more than a billion active users, YouTube is the second-largest search engine which makes it the place to be for content creators and marketers looking to get more search traffic.

This makes YouTube optimization a necessity for content creators and marketers alike that don’t want to miss out on the opportunity of growing their audience. I wrote a YouTube SEO guide if you want to know how you can further optimize your videos.

Just like in any other search engine, tracking your rankings on YouTube and being aware of how you are doing against your competitors is crucial.

Lucky for us, Accuranker just released an awesome new feature that makes monitoring YouTube performance easier – you can now track your keyword rankings for your YouTube channel. Knowing where your channel currently stands gives you a better understanding of our channel’s performance and gives you more opportunities to optimize.

Before I get going with the review, I highly recommend that you check Accuranker out. They provide a 14-day trial so you could take a look at what they have to offer. You could get your Accuranker free trial by clicking this link.

Track your Video Rankings

Setting up keyword tracking for YouTube is pretty much the same with keyword tracking for SEO. The setup is easy and won’t take more than 5 minutes to set up tracking for a channel.

The first thing to do is to open up Accuranker and create a new project. Rather than putting your website’s URL, this time you have to put your YouTube channel’s URL.

Next, you can select the locale and location you want to track and select YouTube on the list. You can track both Desktop and Mobile rankings.

Finish up by adding keywords you want to track. It will take a few minutes for Accuranker to check the rankings depending on the number of keywords that you put. Here’s how it looks:

In the dashboard, you could immediately see the current rankings and the URL of the video that is ranking for the keyword. Accuranker will also give the average monthly search volume of the keywords.

YouTube SERP Features and Competitor Analysis

What I like about most about this update is that Accuranker also shows if there are YouTube SERP features for the keywords you are targeting such as:

Channel
Playlist
Related searches
Promoted Video

This already gives me an idea on how I could further optimize my channel and videos. Similar to how featured snippets can greatly increase click-through rates, grabbing a YouTube SERP feature can boost your videos’ traffic. If you want to know more about YouTube SERP features, you could click the icons on the further right column in the dashboard under ‘SERP’.

Track Rankings Across Search Engines and Monitor Competitor Performance

Aside from YouTube search results, Accuranker can also track the performance of YouTube videos in search engines like Google, Bing, Yandex, and Baidu. It is available for both mobile and desktop.

You could also add up to 10 of your competitors and Accuranker will also check their rankings. This allows you to compare your competitors’ performance to your own.

Key Takeaway

Whether you are a business owner looking to improve brand awareness and attract leads through video marketing or a solo-content creator aspiring to be a YouTuber, tracking your rankings on the search results for the keywords you are trying to rank for gives you a bigger perspective on just the numbers on your videos’ engagements.

The post How to Track Youtube Rankings with Accuranker appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

What You Need To Know About Facebook’s New Video Updates

Fri, 22 Jun 2018 02:41:20 +0000

Video content on Social Media has been at an all-time high recently, with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram seeing a rise in the amount of video content from their users. This has led to numerous brands promoting their content through the use of video, which has proven to be effective in generating traffic and user interaction.

When it comes to Facebook, the popular social media platform has become one of the largest video platforms across the internet, with millions of views on a regular basis. In the past few months, more and more video content has been published on Facebook, with a good number of these videos becoming viral. The emergence of video on the platform has proven to be effective in generating reach and creating successful social media campaigns, which has led to numerous updates that aim to optimize quality and add more variety to what users can create and share.

Here are some of these updates coming to Facebook video:

Gamification and Poll Videos

With the prevalence of video content in the platform, one of the new updates about to be launched by Facebook aims to bring in more creativity to how video is done, and give it more functionality. This enhance functionality comes in the form of live video polls and gamification, which allows an improved level of interaction. Live poll videos allow users to vote on various questions and topics and see the results real time.

This can be used by brands and channels for their shows or major events and helps keep the audience interested by giving them the ability to interact real-time. Imagine being a part of an online game show, where picking the right results allow you to progress through the next set of questions and win prizes in the end, and getting incorrect answers means getting eliminated.

On the other hand, live online polls allow you to vote for a variety of choices, such as picking what the hosts will be doing next in their live video or picking a certain personality to see which one is more popular. The update will be launched soon, with popular pages like Buzzfeed and INSIDER launching live shows that utilize and demonstrate the new features.

While these features have yet to be released, users who are interested in testing out the early access version can do so through registration.

Content Monetization and Pre-roll Ads

Another new feature that users that video content creators will find very beneficial are content monetization, which allows users to earn income from their videos through advertisements. This is similar to how YouTube users earn their income through their videos, which is one of the most popular ways to earn online. When users want to submit a video they want to have monetized, the video must first be evaluated by Facebook as a precautionary measure to ensure that it is fit for monetization, which can also be seen as a way to filter out offensive content that may not be suitable for younger audiences. With the number of active users on Facebook, allowing video content to be monetized on the platform is a bold step to making it into the largest video streaming site.

Another new update that will be launched within the year will be Pre-roll video. This feature allows users to be able to view a short snippet of videos on Facebook, which helps generate interest and shows users a glimpse of content that they might want to view. This feature helps increase traffic by a significant amount, which improves your Facebook page visibility. With these two updates, it would not be a surprise to see more Facebook users utilizing the platform as their channel to create their videos.

How does this affect SEO and SMM

With the push to increase the amount of video content on Facebook, implementing a strategy that focuses on this is now more crucial than before. This means utilizing live video more when it comes to promoting the brand and the content to a wider audience and using the gamification features to create more interactions.

These new features can also create more viral social media campaigns, which help generate a great amount of organic traffic that would prove beneficial for your website. Using relevant hashtags and keywords make these videos more searchable, Along with more video content, it is best to practice mobile optimization, as most Facebook users access the platform using the mobile application on Android and iOS, which means that they would be viewing your website through their devices.

Key Takeaway

Facebook is the largest social media platform in the world, and with video content being optimized, it would not be surprising to see it going toe-to-toe against YouTube as the most popular video streaming platform as well. With these updates, expect more Facebook users to create their own video channels with the goal of getting monetized and becoming viral, which helps their brand grow.

If you have questions about Social Media Marketing and SEO in general, leave a comment below and let’s talk.

The post What You Need To Know About Facebook’s New Video Updates appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Ranking Better by NOT Focusing on Social Media

Thu, 10 Aug 2017 08:28:19 +0000

The debate on whether social media marketing could positively impact your overall SEO campaign has been around for quite some time now, and even though Google has already given the answer, I still believe that a great social media marketing plan can still help your SEO.

Do not misunderstand. I still respect and believe that your social rankings are not a direct ranking factor, however, it is still undeniable that when you have a proper and successful campaign, it will be an essential part of increasing your overall organic traffic received and search visibility.

I’ll be showing you how you can incorporate your social media success into your SEO to gain better results in organic traffic and your visibility in the search results. Let’s start.

#1. Building Up Your Brand

More often than not, consumers do their research before availing of their desired products or services, and the main platform for their research is through social media websites. It is perfectly understandable because these websites are where people, highly likely, express their own opinions on a variety of things – including a great (or bad) product and service.

Which is why your product or services’ reputation with its users plays an important role in the overall conversion of any potential customer. This is due to the fact that a person shells out money because of trust, desire, need, and likeability of a brand or person.

Consequently, what you should do is to make your brand’s social media identity stand out more than ever. By improving your brand’s identity there is a high chance that your SEO will improve as well. Some of the things that you can improve on regarding your brand’s social media identity are:

Improving the aesthetic appeal of your products and/or services.
Constant engagement with your audience.
Continuing the publication of content regarding your product and services.
Reaching out to influencers with endorsements and offers.

After establishing the proper amount of trust with your customers and audience, make a habit of continuing the processes I just mentioned because this is an integral part of the success of your social media strategy.

If you still haven’t guessed it, if you have the sufficient amount of trust among your audience and customers, they will most probably look for your website regarding promos, new products, and any other news about your brand. It will also open your site to the possibility of gaining more organic traffic through the sharing of other delighted customers – which will be a definite improvement with your site’s overall traffic.

Basically, because your brand is trusted in the social media landscape, you’ll be looked for in the search engine landscape as well. This means that you are regularly increasing the demand for your brand, and more demand means better ranking signals. Just keep in mind that building up your brand is critical for your long-term SEO strategy.

#2. Social Profiles

People don’t just search for your brand or company. They also search for people that are related to your brands such as the CEO or any representative. Which would entail that if any user searches for a person in any search engine, the top results would be that specific person’s social media profiles.

Basically, all your social media profiles should possess the necessary information any user wants to know, from your position to what you can do for them. If there is a chance that a user happens to find your social profile, and it does not contain any information that is beneficial to them, then there is a high chance that they will opt to go for your competitor just because they have the necessary information on their social profiles.

This is the same for your business. All the information that the users need to know should be on your company’s social profiles.

So, along with having a proper social media strategy, you should also have an active and keen management of your profiles. Here’s what you’ll do:

Update all your images, videos, contact info, varying content, and CTAs for each and every social profile that you and your company have.
Build up a positive reputation by constantly engaging your audience through comments and other interaction in the social media platform. This will help the reach of your posts, and hopefully, improve the traffic that enters your website – which means a good thing for your SEO.
Understand your social profile settings, and use them to further understand the audience of your social profiles.
If other people are allowed to write on your timeline (Facebook), make sure that the posts are monitored and managed because the wrong message could be detrimental for your brand name.
If your business has multiple branches, make sure that Facebook and Youtube’s location function is active.

#3. Social Search Engines

As you may know, people could also search on social networks as well. Since most of the people here are professionals, let’s use LinkedIn as an example.

Most of the members that found you on LinkedIn have used the search tool to look for someone with your qualifications. So, you should make sure that your LinkedIn profile is optimized because it actually improves your profile’s visibility if your profile is active and up-to-date.

Optimizing your LinkedIn profile means you are updating your skills, summary, experiences, and other details. Whenever people regularly go back to your LinkedIn profile, it is inevitable that they will visit your website.

Key Takeaway

As I have mentioned, social media is not a direct ranking factor. So, if you are thinking of focusing on your social media strategy rather than link building or content marketing, then you are making a grave mistake.

However, social media can definitely help with your link building campaign (link potential), content writing (brainstorming), and your overall SEO endeavors. Always remember the tips I highlighted in this article, and you’ll surely have an easier time managing your social media profiles while at the same time improving your SEO.

Do you know other ways on how social media can help SEO? Tell me in the comments below, and let’s help each other out.

The post Ranking Better by NOT Focusing on Social Media appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Facebook Has Added Sound to Newsfeed Videos

Thu, 16 Feb 2017 13:45:44 +0000

Facebook has been changing things up a lot for both desktop and mobile users; and the most significant change, in my opinion, is that they are making Newsfeed Videos play automatically with sound.

Here are Facebook’s latest and biggest changes:

Newsfeed Videos Autoplay with Sound

Image courtesy of Facebook

The norm for Facebook in the past is that videos would autoplay as the user would go along their newsfeed. The videos were muted and would only play with sound if the user deliberately “tap” on the video. Facebook reasoned that people are now watching more videos on Facebook and feedback have reported that users expect the sound to automatically play.

Facebook conducted a focus test on a number of users and having videos play automatically with sound returned positive feedback which prompted Facebook to start offering the feature on a larger scale.

Of course, this is simply the new “default” setting for videos but the option to turn off the sound will still be offered.

Worth noting is that if your smartphone is set to silent mode, your Facebook videos will be silent as well.

Personally, I feel that this is simply a matter of taste. While it’s true that some people prefer to have this option, a number of people prefer the old silent-until-tapped feature – and that is perfectly fine.

Vertical Support Added for Videos

Facebook has finally added vertical support for newsfeed videos regardless of the user’s platform of chocie i.e. iOS or Android.

Facebook has modified the old system and added a new thumbnail as well as progress bar for when you are in full screen.

Picture-In-Picture Finally Implemented

Image courtesy of Facebook

Facebook has finally made it possible for users to keep browsing their newsfeed even if they are watching a video. Android has an added bonus: Facebook will also allow users to watch videos even from outside the Facebook app.

This is a smart addition and in my opinion the best addition to Facebook because it allows the user to keep moving even as they watch videos. One of the many concerns that people have is the attrition rate for Facebook’s new Video Algorithm. With this addition, content creators no longer have to worry about people skipping over their content because they are busy because now, then can simply keep watching as they browse their newsfeeds.

TV Facebook Video App in the Works

Facebook is working on an app which will allow users to connect their Facebook accounts to their televisions. This is a result of people calling for more ways to watch videos. According to Facebook, this new app will “roll out soon to app stores for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Samsung Smart TV,” with more platforms being worked on for the future.

Another nifty feature is allowing users to save videos that they want to view later on their TV storage as well as having the ability to share videos, save their favorites as well as watch live videos from content creators from all over the world.

Facebook stated that they are excited for the future of content creation with the advent of this new feature.

Key Takeaway

After reading through Facebook’s announcement, I came to the conclusion that Facebook is essentially following Google’s footsteps – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Facebook is not really innovating on anything groundbreaking but this is a good start, maybe except for the “autoplay with sound” announcement.

I am personally looking forward to the future of content creation on Facebook and Youtube et. al, due to the competition between the various social media websites intensifying as time passes. Do you have any experiences relevant to content creation on Facebook? Share your story with us in the comments section below!

The post Facebook Has Added Sound to Newsfeed Videos appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Facebook is Testing a New Way to Show Ads on their Videos

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 09:22:08 +0000

We’ve talked about websites going Mobile-First for a while now and I think that’s a good thing. Mobile is essentially the primary way for people to access the internet as well as their social media accounts – and Facebook is one of the best examples for this.

The Rise of Video Content

Facebook apparently has the goal of making “videos” the primary source of content for their website. It seems as though they are working hard at this endeavor with the not too recent release of their feature “live videos” which allows people to stream whatever they want – primarily with their mobile phones.

The social media giant is of course planning a version of “live” for desktop devices but their primary target are of course, mobile devices. The reason for this is simple: Everyone is using mobile to access the internet and this happens more so than people using their desktop computers.

Try asking the people around you: How do you check your emails or your social media accounts outside of work? I bet you that most of them will answer their phone or tablet. Mobile has become so big that Google is actually releasing rhe majority of their algorithm updates geared towards optimizing web browsing via mobile devices.

Facebook’s Live Feature is Great

Anyway, I digress; What I’m trying to say is that Facebook is now riddled with videos of people showing other people whatever they want. I once came across a Facebook live-stream of a popular mixed-martial arts tournament.

It was literally a cellphone pointed towards a television screen, streaming the pay-per-view event in all of it’s pixelated glory courtesy of the portable camera. What’s surprising is that it had at least a hundred viewers despite it being so low-def.

Of course, I thought it was brilliant but then it really hit me. Facebook should do something about letting content creators monetize their content ala YouTube since a lot of people use Facebook anyways.

Facebook did just that – which is great for people who are looking to become content creators themselves!

According to Marketing Land, Facebook is now giving content creators incentive to upload videos that can attract views and viewers. Facebook is the middle of testing out a new feature for ads which will run in the middle of videos.

These ads are triggered after 20 seconds of watching a video so long as the video is at least 90 seconds long. What this means is that if your video is at least 1:30 (one minute and thirty seconds long), after 20 seconds of watching your viewer will then see an ad run seamlessly.

Facebook is going the same route YouTube did by offering 55% of ad sales to the content creator – and I think that’s very attractive. Furthermore, Facebook is calling this new feature “In-Stream Videos” and these mid-roll ads will run for a limited of 15 seconds (or less).

The great thing about this new feature is that Facebook is also allowing advertisers to choose the categories of the videos that they want their ads to appear; this is also the same with categories that they want to avoid.

What this means is that if my ad is SEO-centric, then I can choose to only show it to people who are interested in SEO or Internet Marketing. The possibilities are endless but in the meantime, learn how to create a killer video by re-reading one of our best pieces about YouTube SEO.

Key Takeaway

Yes, videos are definitely a great way to monetize your content but the more important fact that you should remember is that these are also a great way to build a connection with your viewers. Making money is good but quality should never be compromised in favor of making a quick buck.

In the long run, it is wiser to please your readers or customers with quality content that they find compelling or great enough to share with their friends, family or co-workers.

Do you have any experience with content creation that you want to share with us? Feel free to talk to about them in the comments section below!

The post Facebook is Testing a New Way to Show Ads on their Videos appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Six Ways to Get People to Share your Content

Thu, 16 Jul 2015 02:31:30 +0000

Fifty percent of content marketing is dedicated to topic and content creation, while the other half is for its amplification.

There are so many ways to amplify your content (like through e-mail marketing or joining communities), but getting social shares is what marketers aim for. Perhaps because it’s still the most effective way to reach the right audience, and to actually broaden your reach. With more than a billion active Facebook users, and almost 300 million on Twitter, who wouldn’t want to be viral in social media?

And this is where I want to focus right now – how do we get more social shares? And I mean organic social shares. How do we get people to share our content?

Prepare your minds for some mind-blowing techniques.

How to get people to share your content?

Even if you have good content, you can’t just sit there and expect people to share your content. You need to do something, in fact, after this article, you’ll realize that you have so much more control over the amount of social shares your content is getting.

1. Customize social meta tags

By default, social networks will automatically pull data from your webpage’s meta values whenever you share it in different social media accounts. The post will be something like this:

But with custom title and description, you’ll get this:

Now, which one is more attractive?

Yes, I think it’s too obvious.

If you’re not very familiar with how you can create custom title and description for social networks, you can easily create one through open graph meta tags.

[bq1]

Open graph (og) meta tags

Open graph meta tags serve the same purpose as regular meta tags (that you should still fill out), but when your link is shared on social media (by you or a fan), the open graph data will be used instead.[bqc]

Visit The Open Graph Protocol to know more about this.

It only sounds complicated, but believe me that it isn’t, especially with plug-ins that make it easier for users to add title and meta descriptions for social.

You may use SEO Ultimate:

or SEO Yoast for this.

Other than making your social post more attractive, custom title and description allow your readers to have a better understanding of what your content is about through the title, meta description, and the image associated with it. This gives your audience more reasons to share your content.

2. Ask for shares

There’s nothing wrong with asking, in fact, initial shares from my posts usually come from people inside our office and my sister. Well, because I ask them to read and share it. In fact, by just asking, your social engagement can grow by 40+%!

But don’t keep asking if you’re not willing to do the same favor for them.

3. Use images

Just like the sample I used earlier, which one is the most attractive – the one with the photo or the one without?

People love images, in fact posts that include pictures on Facebook get 104% more comments, 84% better click through rate, and 54% more likes. Also, in a study conducted by Buffer where they analyzed tweets, they discovered that tweets with pictures get 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets.

To help you with creating images that will fit in your social media accounts, you can try out Canva, or follow this 2015 Social Media Image Size Cheat Sheet.

4. Use tools

If you have the budget, you can use tools to help you boost social shares. There are tons of tools that you can try out. But be careful, there are some who use fake social media accounts to generate shares.

Go for trusted ones like Blogpros – this is actually a personal favourite of mine.

The process is easy, just go to the Blogpros Sign-Up Page, choose how many posts you want Blogpros to promote every day:

Then select how many (range) shares you want for each post:

Enter your blog URL:

Then click Sign-Up, and Blogpros will do the rest!

Easy, right? In fact this image is so accurate, you will just have to wait and observe what will happen next:

The best thing about Blogpros is that it actually gives you what they promise – shares from real humans.

5. Do round-up posts

Whenever I do a round-up post, I make sure that the experts included are informed that my article is already published so that they could share it in their communities, then the people from the communities will read and share it too.

There are many ways for you to do this, but what I usually do is to e-mail them that the article is live – just like this:

Or mention them in my post:

This doesn’t just strengthen your relationship with the experts, but it actually makes you more credible because these experts trust you with their advice, and this trust is extended to their audience.

6. Add social sharing buttons

This is very easy to do.

Don’t make it so hard for your audience to share your content. You need to put social sharing buttons if you want them to easily share your post after they finish reading it. You can code it yourself, or you can use plug-ins to help you.

You can check out Blogging Wizard’s post on Social Sharing Plug-ins for WordPress 2015 to help you choose the right plug-in for your site.

Now, where should you place it?

While placing your social sharing buttons at the top of the article can be used as a form of social proof – because the audience will more likely read your post if they see high share numbers – natural readers usually share posts once they are finished reading it, so social sharing buttons should be placed at the bottom.
The best way to understand this is through testing which one works for you.

Final note:

As marketers, we want our content to be shared. But more than just the number, our goal should be to reach the right audience. So consider these practical ways on getting more social shares, but don’t neglect the fact that you have to produce great content so that people will find you relevant, and will not think twice about sharing it.

The post Six Ways to Get People to Share your Content appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

5 Digital Marketing Myths You Probably Believe

Tue, 03 Feb 2015 02:39:43 +0000

Remember growing up being told that cracking your knuckles caused arthritis? We believed it because we didn’t have the resources to check; and we’ve heard it so many times that we thought it must’ve been true.

Believe it or not, a multitude of online marketing myths exist and you may have just believed them. Stick around and read some of the most common digital myths debunked!

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Meghan Greene of The Marketing Zen Group.

1. With SEO quantity is king

Many people believe that with search engine optimization, sheer quantity of referral links is the key. But the algorithm Google uses to rank websites analyzes the quality of the website you are receiving a referral link from. Earning high quality links is important in a successful SEO campaign, because in some cases poor quality links can significantly hurt your website’s search engine ranking.

Examples of Bad Links:

Broken links
Purchased, solicited, or unnatural links
Links from completely irrelevant sites
Links from link directories or link farms

Examples of Quality Links:

Links from websites with high page ranks
Links from sites relevant to your industry
Anchor text links to your website that uses your keywords as the link text
Non-spam-y links

2. A blog a day keeps the failure away

The most common myth about blogging is that you have to generate and post new content every single day. Sure, this style of blogging can be maintained for a week or two however, after this period of high output writers often feel exhausted and uninspired, and the blog posts would clearly reflect the tired attitude.

To keep material fresh and readers interested, develop a consistent schedule where new material is published two-three times a week.

Once you establish your consistent posting schedule, avoid unexpectedly missing a publishing day. Missing, or skipping, could lead your blog followers to believe that you are no longer producing content, causing them to stop checking in on your blog.

Note: Because blogging can be such a tricky task, many myths exist. So, check out other common blog myths debunked to learn even more.

3. Advertising on social media is just like traditional marketing

To be a smart marketer you need to evolve with the time. Unlike traditional marketing, social media is not advertising. It is an arena where consumers crave conversation and connection. So using social media as a tool to talk to your consumers and not with them is a crucial error.

Followers react well when they know their voice is being heard and that your company is willing to socially interact with them. When you are generating content, think of what will get your followers buzzing, and create that topic; try posting something controversial, humorous, thought provoking, or conversational.

This article specifically analyzes how to increase engagement with followers on Twitter by implementing small changes into your social media strategic plan.

4. Social media can replace your website

Some companies have frantically started updating their social media sites so much that they forget about their website. I commend you for making the transition into the world of social media, but you absolutely cannot replace your website with a solid social media campaign.

Sure social media is an awesome tool, which aids in displaying the utterly unique qualities of your brand, but you need a quality website.

Your website is where people go to purchase your product. If your website runs slow, has broken links, and looks sketchy in general, people are going to become extremely wary of your brand and company.

In addition to that, poorly designed and maintained websites rank poorly in terms of search engine optimization. To best succeed in today’s competitive market, a well-designed, SEO friendly website and exciting social media strategy is a must.

5. Only the younger generations are online

It is common to walk down the street and see teenagers fiddling away on their phones; don’t be fooled though, digital media is used by almost every generation today, and if you tailor your content towards the younger generations alone you will be missing out.

Recent reports show that young people are leaving Facebook, leaving it to be dominated by 25-55+ year olds. As of January 2014, 71.1% of Facebook users fell in the 25-55+ age range, which clearly indicates that adults are the new market there. Teens are now flocking towards websites such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

Know your audience on each of the social sites and cater your content accordingly.

Conclusion

Don’t let these myths hold you back, be diligent in your research and stay up to date on emerging digital trends. For many, hearing the digital marketing myths and accepting them as common practice is easy because they honestly don’t know any better. To combat the constant stream of myths, dedicate time to research common online marketing practices and to help your company emerge as a dominating force in the digital era.

The post 5 Digital Marketing Myths You Probably Believe appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

Co-citation and Co-occurrence: An Overview

Tue, 19 Aug 2014 01:45:46 +0000

Two new topics within the SEO community has centered on “Co-Citation” and “Co-occurrence”. Often discussed together, these concepts are similar in a lot of ways yet still very much distinct and different from each other. What is without question though is that the two concepts will be at the forefront of the next wave of changes in Google’s search engine strategy, with all algorithm updates giving center-space to both co-citation and co-occurrence.

Co-citation and co-occurence are the first real steps taken by Google towards what I have chosen to call a “nolinks” approach – an approach where backlinks are completely dismissed as a ranking factor. Russian search engine Yandex is already practicing the method for their top money keywords – they were simply forced to cause the high influx of spam. Google has been testing as well, but according to Google’s Matt Cutts the results were far, far less than good. Well, now let’s get going explaining these two terms.

What is co-occurrence?

Co-occurrence is a concept which refers to the common presence, frequency of occurrence, and close proximity of similar keywords present across several websites. Co-occurrence may include keywords that are similar to each other and based on the same topic, but are not exactly the same.

The idea of co-occurrence was born out of the observation that search engines throw out what they consider to be “relevant answers” to a query that is submitted by the user. So, when a website has a certain number of keywords for which the webmaster wishes to rank for, the search engines will seek out the site and display it on their results when the keywords of the site become “relevant”. After last year’s Hummingbird update, the focus of SEO specialists have been redirected to rank for concepts, ideas, questions and answers rather than specific keywords.

Amit Singhal of Google made a succinct verbal painting saying:

The future of search is to become that Star Trek computer, that perfect loyal assistant, that is there by my side whenever I need her.

The trick to co-occurrence is that it is not fully dependent on links. Just great content with mentions of the keywords or the key phrases on the web pages can bring a website into prominence, even if it barely has any links at all. Besides the “relevance” of the keywords in search queries, co-occurrence is also said to occur when two or more search queries are made with similar terms. This is especially true if the terms are searched for consecutively.

Let’s consider an example. If a user looks for a term, say, “Ford Pinto Craigslist” and also looks for “used Ford Pinto car for sale”, Google starts interlinking the two terms, concluding that used Ford Pinto on Craigslist are what people look for when they search for Ford Pinto that are for sale. If a lot of people use these queries, then the link between the two queries is only enhanced and become related, even when used in different contexts by different search terms. In other words, a co-occurrence have occured.

The idea is not exactly new. Co-occurrence was first introduced by the Google Caffeine update 5 years ago. Matt Cutts correctly described the concept of co-occurrence then, without actually mentioning it by name, stating that Caffeine “allows easier annotation of the information stored with documents, and subsequently can unlock the potential of better ranking in the future with those additional signals.”

This was among the earliest acceptances of the fact that Google search technology, which had so far been based completely on links and link building, had been changing, and how important it was for SEO experts and analysts to get themselves acclimatized to these new concepts.

Finally, with co-occurrence being put on the fast track to approval by Google, its importance to SEO analysts will only increase greatly in the near and foreseeable future when it is expected to reach a high degree of sophistication, allowing Google to throw up far more relevant results.

The source site mentions all three sites – A, B and C, which is why all four are related. A and B has a higher relation since they appear closer to each other and may also be more closely related to the source since they are both found in the beginning of the text.

What is Co-citation?

Co-citation occurs when a website is mentioned, but not necessarily linked, by two different sources.
The term was first used in an SEO context by Moz founder Rand Fishkin, and it’s quite simple to understand. Google was based on the concept of linking one website to another, with sites that have a lot of backlinks rising up high on the SERPs.

Co-citation is a major change on that, as it requires a website to be cited or mentioned by two different sources without the compulsion of having a hyperlink involved. As more websites mention or refer to a particular site – not necessarily linking to it – its authority is established and it may rank more prominently in the SERPs. Also, co-citation happens even though the reference to the website is purely incidental or indirect.

Using Co-citation is one of the oldest tricks in the book for Blackhatters trying to fly under the radar. I remember how, as far back as 10-15 years ago, when people packed their (spammy) doorway pages with links to government authorities, universities, etc. just to avoid quick detection. Since Black Hat SEO is a short term game, you know that you could get wiped from the index at any given day, but with these kinds of tactics, you can expect your site to late a whole lot longer.

In fact, I see the same happening a lot today, and the trick is the same, but with great and relevant content that links out to different kinds of authority sites. You can also benefit by linking out in the same way celebrities benefit by constantly mentioning other stars in order to expand their fanbase. If you can rub shoulders with thought leaders of your niche, you establish yourself as a significant member of the elite.

Co-citation is also called by many observers as “link building without links”. There are two main ways in which two different sites are connected in a co-citation relationship.

They should share a common mention of the same site without having to link to it.
They should discuss a common or a similar topic. Now, this doesn’t mean that they should be using the exact same keywords. The keywords have to be similar, not an exact match – just as in co-occurrence, which has been discussed earlier.

To iterate, what co-citation does is to provide a signal to the Google algorithm that the mutually mentioned site is relevant and important. This now means that all the three websites, the one that is being mentioned and the two that mention it, are now symbiotically interrelated.

Few people have regarded “mentions” as a ranking factor, but it indeed is. Similarly, nofollow links will give your site cred even if no actual link juice is being transferred. This is yet another subject which I will get back to in a future article.

The significance of co-citation to search technology is that it serves as a possible replacement to anchor texts. While SEO analyst Bill Slawski was of the opinion that in spite of the increasing importance of co-citation, SEO analysts shouldn’t merely depend on it as anchor texts are still the deciding factor that is used by Google to judge its relevance.

Fact is, more SEOs are making serious studies of co-citation and co-occurrence due to the fact that Google has several times declared the diminishing value of exact keyword anchors. While yours truly hasn’t seen any significant change with regards to it at all, I am surely keeping it in mind while working.

There are many who appreciate co-citation as being the best thing to have happened to Google for a long time. One of which are those building “brands” that are now able to make an association without any hyper aggressive promotion – particularly since no links are needed for it.

What co-citation really does is to somewhat ”decrease” the importance of SEO techniques. A site may be ranking higher on Google by purely concentrating on creating great content that causes the site to be referred to by other websites.

Now, creating great content in order to get backlinks isn’t really new, but we all know that the adage “content is king” isn’t really effective by itself. The same goes for the principle of “build it and they will come” isn’t either, but the point is, they will certainly become more relevant when such strategies are practiced.

Ranking higher with a no links co-citation/occurrence approach will mean that newer or lesser known sites with excellent content may get the chance to rank high even if they don’t have a fulltime SEO/link builder working for them.

The post Co-citation and Co-occurrence: An Overview appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

A Simple Guide to Retaining Your Customers

Wed, 23 Jul 2014 03:56:20 +0000

Customer retention is the ability of the organization/brand to attach its existing customers to a specific goal/action. This could increase the time of the customers staying in touch with the company and be satisfied with the other offerings the brand is willing to provide.

There are several ways to actually retain your existing customers/clients but one that is under-utilized by most companies today is email marketing.

Email marketing requires a strategy and user-based actions to yield good results – high open and conversion rates. It doesn’t have to make every action complex and advanced, but simply be good with the basics.

In this post I’d like to share a few basic tips on how you can make your customers stick to your brand for the longest time you want.

Provide your customers with what they want

Sending newsletters that are not of interest to your existing subscribers is only a waste of time. The reason they stay and subscribe to your blog/product/offerings is because they want something from you and to get them become your brand evangelists, you have to satisfy that need.

Create a landing page that explains a specific action you want your user to take. It could be getting them to download your ebook, subscribe to your blog updates or get a free coupon from your brand.

Set the following elements perfect in your landing page first:

Clear offer and an image of it.
Text copy that describes your offer
Additional descriptions (features, testimonials, etc.)
Emphasized call to action (use complementary colors)

These are simple details that can be added and designed to your website by using landing page softwares such as Get Response and Unbounce.

Ensuring that your conversion-oriented pages match with the intent and need of your visitors could make the value of your content and offerings clear to them.

Provide user-targeted and readable newsletters

Newsletters are personal tool of the brand that is used to interact with its audience. Its enabling power to quickly share the brand’s content assets to the existing subscribers allows the brand to have an effective content promotion activity.

However, sending newsletters should be handled with care. One mistake in design, format and quality of content could result to many unsubscriptions (since some of your users would not be satisfied with the content contained in your newsletter).

Here are a few examples of newsletters that you can get insights from:

Insights from this newsletter:

A simple description about the blog post shared could give your readers a brief overview of the article.
A short overview of your next content piece could give your subscribers an idea of the quality and blogging frequency of your brand (daily or weekly posting).

Insights from this newsletter:

Allowing your existing subscribers to participate in generating topic ideas for your blog will ensure that your next content piece would get some good traction.
Initiating conversations with your users could help you identify things that you need to work out on your content and on your customer/user relationship in general.

Insights from this newsletter:

If you’re publishing several blog posts every week, then a single round up newsletter could help your readers know about the latest blog updates.
Provide social opportunities to your blog’s guest contributors by including their Twitter handles in your newsletter.

Insights from this newsletter:

Update your existing product users of your upcoming maintenance to get them ready with it. Otherwise, you’ll end up receiving bad feedbacks in your support email.
Use social profiles for customer service interaction to easily answer product-related questions from your customers.

Make it easy for your users to access your content

Free content should be made accessible to download/consume for the users. This will not only serve as good assets for your brand but could also open doors of opportunities for link building, brand strengthening and social sharing. Since the more you provide useful and expertly-made content in your industry, the more it showcases your authority and expertise in your particular field

Few tips to make your content freely accessible to the public:

Make it visible by linking to it from the most important areas of your website (header, sidebar, footer, end of the post/page, etc.)
Remove unnecessary element forms in your landing pages (e.g. phone number and company address for an ebook download page).
Promote your asset on relevant community discussions (forums, blogs, Q&A, etc.)
Link to it from your content distribution platforms (guest blogs, news sites, brand interviews, curated lists, etc.)

You can also create premium content available only for those who’ve access to your website, for existing subscribers or for your brand’s current customers/clients. Providing this type of content could make your customers/clients/subscribers feel important and the chances of them sticking to your brand are higher.

Final thoughts:

Customer retention should not be made complex to any brands of any sizes. It would always boils down to providing the best experience for your users/customers/clients in terms of product use, website’s user behavior and offline interaction.

The post A Simple Guide to Retaining Your Customers appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.

5 Simple Landing Page Optimization Tips

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 05:34:38 +0000

Eight seconds. That is all the time you have to capture a person’s attention, according to The Associated Press. Busy schedules and non-stop media barrage are quickly taking up your potential customers’ attention. You have just eight seconds to make a solid impression and get them to your next step. In the digital world, this super, most important first impression is called your landing page.

Webmaster’s Note: This is a guest post by Alicia Lawrence

What is a landing page and why do I need one

A landing page is a tailored webpage that appears after a user has clicked on an advertisement or inbound link. It is more specific than your homepage and contains a strong call to action. Landing pages have a proven track record of increasing conversions. But you are going to need more than one to do the trick. In fact, you should have a landing page for every campaign you run. When companies increased their number of landing pages from 10 to 15 they saw a 55% increase in leads, according to HubSpot’s Marketing Benchmarks report.

Landing pages should include:

Logo
Brief but direct description and call to action
Clear and enticing headline
Supporting image
Reviews or social endorsements
Clean, brand-consistent format with contrasting colors
Sign up button or contact form
Centralizes on User Experience

Take for example the landing page for SEO Hacker School. Sean did a great job making sure his landing page format is consistent with his branding using the contrasting red and white colors to grab the user’s attention. Instead of an image he has a video, which is great as long as it’s not set to automatically start causing the user to be annoyed and click off.

Notice the headline is as large as his logo drawing his readers to the brief description below that urges them to enroll in SEO Hacker School (the obvious call to action). Besides the button to Enroll Now is the Free Demo, an excellent choice to include when the real call to action requires money.

All the information a reader would need to click for a conversion can be found above the fold. Sean uses a long landing page, which is currently the trend, and repeats his call to action further down the page. The call to action should always be seen wherever the user is on the landing page. Towards the bottom of the landing page are a few great reviews of his program, further convincing his potential customers to sign up.

There are other links on the landing page, such as the sneak peak to the lessons, login, register and the SEO Hacker blog. While the login and register tabs won’t distract the potential customer, the sneak peak and blog should open up in a new window if clicked. Especially for the blog, since its content is time consuming and distracts from the main call to action.

How to optimize your landing page

After you’ve created a landing page or decided to go with an applicable existing page. Use A/B testing to make it as effective as possible in turning over conversions. Don’t make the two pages drastically different when testing, instead use small changes so you can see what works and what doesn’t.

Continue to monitor your landing page and make changes as necessary even after it has gone live. Set up Google Analytics conversion goals to monitor your landing page’s success. A big signifier if your landing page is performing correctly will be the bounce rate. Bounce rates vary from site to site; perhaps you are attracting the wrong traffic, but a high bounce rate also could mean your reader found exactly what he or she was looking for and hence does not need to stay on your page.

Since landing pages have a direct call to action to click or sign-up, a high bounce rate means the user wasn’t interested in your offer and left. A normal webpage bounce rate is around 40%. If your landing page does not have any navigation, besides that one call to action, the average bounce rate is around 80%.

Tips for lowering your bounce rate:

-Keywords: Have relevant anchor text so the user knows what to expect when they click the link.

-Navigation: Consider leaving out your navigation bar, which will distract your visitor from the call to action. You can put the navigation on the “thank you” page after the reader has completed the action.

-Decluttering: Remember you only have eight seconds to get your potential customers’ attention, so design your landing page with a simple and attractive format with text that is easy to read.

-Load speed: Not only is this a ranking factor and part of your Adwords quality score, but also a one-second delay in load time results in a possible 7% loss in conversions. Your landing page should load in under three seconds.

-Open external links in a new window: If you do decide to have other links on your site besides your call to action, open them in a new window by setting the link target to “_blank”.

Landing pages have too much potential to ignore them any longer. One of the biggest reason people don’t use landing pages is because they are too busy to create and test them. Having a freelancer or outside company design a simple template to use for all your landing pages would definitely be worth your investment in the long run.

The post 5 Simple Landing Page Optimization Tips appeared first on SEO Services Agency in Manila, Philippines.