From: verticalmeasures.com

The content development process centers on the ability to keep inspired. It’s about seeing opportunities to nab raw materials and turn them into marketable content, like bringing a digital camera to a conference or keeping a small video camera in the desk at the office. All it takes is a proactive mentality and a little [...]

Related posts:

1. Evaluating Content Performance For Reaching Site Goals
2. Meet The Newbies!
3. Goals, Virtual Pageviews and Event Tracking in Google Analytics

Read Original: http://www.verticalmeasures.com/content/developing-website-content-to-meet-your-goals/

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Teaming up with another site or organization is a great way to build links, exposure, and branding. It can be done in a number of different ways, depending on your company’s goals and resources.

Let’s explore some of these strategies for both la...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/WpkGJ6qkFqc/Developing-Links-with-Strategic-Partnerships

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From: google.com

Posted by Fryed7

This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author’s views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc.

Howdy Mozzers,

I’ve been spending a couple of weeks this summer in the Distilled office looking at the way they do linkbait in order to write up a guide on it.

Whilst researching and reading around what people had posted before, it became clear there were a handful of problems which kept cropping up why people were failing at linkbait. In this post, I hope to address some of the biggest headaches SEOs had.

We’ve Had Very Limited Success

1. No Outreach Plan

Don’t wait until you’ve hit publish to start thinking about outreach. Like a marketing campaign in itself, you wouldn’t build prototypes, injection-moulding systems and have a container load of widgets shipped across from China before you’ve spoken to and got reassurance from your customers well in advance that they’d love to buy it; ideally with pre-orders.

The same applies to linkbait.

You want to reach out to at least some of the linkerati beforehand and get your "guaranteed five links" before you even start your piece of linkbait. The good news is if lots of people are interested from the beginning and think it’s a good concept, other people will probably like it and link to it later on too.

I interviewed some of the London Distilled SEO and PR team on their tips for effective outreach. Here’s a sneak peak:

<iframe class="embeddedvideo" width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/--tgnMLD9g4?version=3&hl=en_GB&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></iframe>

If you’ve already launched, Wiep Knol has some excellent tips for breathing life back into your linkbait here.

2. Your Concept Sucks

Tough love, but if your concept doesn’t keep your linkerati wide awake at night buzzing about what you’ve just created (or have told them you’re going to create) then your concept needs some improvement. Even in the most boring industries this is possible - harder perhaps, but possible.

Find out the motives for the linkerati being online; is it their job? Their hobby? Something they’re expert in? Perhaps offer to interview them to build up a relationship to post on your website in advance to figure out what they’re really passionate about - this will help with refining a pitch to them, even better when it’s a warm lead.

3. You’re Not Working Hard Enough

It’s simple enough. You haven’t worked hard enough. Now there may be some genuinely good reasons for that - family bereavement, hospitalization or some other horror - but most of the time it’s down the lack of effective work.

You probably need a to hire a link building trainer…

… or get on a diet of productivity tips from the99percent pronto!

It’s probably rooted in the fact that you’re not excited enough. You haven’t got a team around you grinning as you show them the latest update or the graphics back from the designer. You haven’t got a clear purpose why you’re creating a piece of linkbait. It’ll help to identify why your creating this linkbait and what it means to people involved - that can be motivating.

My Linkbait Gets Copied by Competitors

1. You’ve Got Nothing or Little Unique

You don’t have or you’re not using something that’s unique and can’t be copied. Use proprietry data, your own contacts or something else which competitors don’t have and can’t acquire easily. It’s only a really big problem if it’s cannibalizing your links and preventing you from reaching future link targets. If it isn’t though, don’t fret too much - use it as a link prospecting tool though for future.

2. You’re Not Thinking Creatively

Don’t forget, you can still play the "first mover advantage" game if your kind of linkbait can be replicated fairly easily. That includes mashing up different linkbait tactics and hooks; perhaps an infographic linking back to an interactive tool. Try to maintain at least two different assets which are unique to you - that way you’ve got enough of a one-up over your competitors.

We Haven’t Got the Resources

This one sounds plausible, but I still don’t buy it for a second. Bootstrapped linkbait is harder yes, but still possible. You’ve just got to be more choosy in picking tactics and hooks to get links; there are some easy wins on a budget:

1. Design

If you’ve got a designer, or a designer friend or someone who’s good but not ridiculously expensive.

Designers expect money in exchange for work. That’s the way it works, even if you are on a wafer-thin budget. Look at crowdsourcing designs perhaps via 99designs or looking at the people using Fiverr for cheaper designers, at least to get in touch with them.

2. How-to Tutorials

You can’t always outspend your competition, but you can out-teach them. Think of all the countless books on learning to program, and then Y Combinator startup Codecademy comes along - I can’t wait to see what else they’ve got in store, but it’s a fantastic, interactive how-to tutorial.

3. Interviews

Provided you can put together some riveting questions and pitch an interview in a way that doesn’t tie up all their time. Wil Reynold’s Pro Tip: Call them up with Google Voice [US only. Grrr...] during their commute or other "dead time", record your call and get it transcribed.

A good time to grab top end interviewees is when they’re just about to launch a book. Hat tip to Andrew Warner of Mixergy.com for that one - when you’re in a self-promotional mood, an interview opportunity is hard to turn down.

4. User-generated linkbait

Perhaps you’ve got a small email list, blog or twitter following you could work with to brainstorm and create effective linkbait?

One of my favourite tactics is to sound out a forum, put together a skeleton outline of what the article or guide might look like in Writeboard, then let the community edit it. If you establish yourself in the community first - be human and sincere like you would be face-to-face, not a self-promotional a-hole! - then it can be a incredibly effective way to crowdsource expert content. I’ve even had my spelling mistakes corrected for me Make sure to cite your contributors however; always be sincere.

It’s All Overwhelming and Chaotic. I can’t cope with it.

You’ve got no effective process. Try and map out the big picture of what needs to happen where before you start. With that all mapped out (maybe even as a printed chart on the wall), you can work on the very next step. By forcing yourself to jump over little hoops and checkpoints regularly your far more likely to produce effective linkbait.

 

There’s plenty more tips and ideas like this in the linkbait guide, as well as a chance to get your questions answered in our Q&A Linkbait Webinar where two Distilled SEO Consultants will be answering your questions.

What’s been your experience creating linkbait? An exhausting path of misery or a thrilling success story?

Do you like this post? Yes No

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/CpGlW4y_r4k/why-your-linkbait-fails-and-how-to-fix-it

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From: searchenginewatch.com

There has been a lot of speculation about why the push for real names on Facebook and now Google, with Google taking a much harder line than even Facebook, not allowing for even the simplest derivation of “nyms” (pseudonyms). Add to th...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/FtRXoglMIcA/Real-Names-Google-Government-The-Identity-Ecosystem

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From: google.com

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/typepad/sethsmainblog/~3/-3AlahOXXA0/should-the-new-yorker-change.html

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From: searchenginewatch.com

In an Edinburgh conference for the UK TV industry, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt discussed the integration of television and the web. He announced that Google TV would come to the UK shortly and predicted that it would receive mass adopti...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/XsXBodVEBs0/Google-TV-Coming-to-UK-Schmidts-Hopes-Still-High

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From: google.com

Posted by Geoff Kenyon

• If your content or subject really is universally applicable – While this is very rare, there is some content topics that apply to almost everyone on the web. A good example of this would be Facebook; just about everyone on the internet has a Facebook account and has an interest in changes (especially when it involves privacy settings).
• Creating exhaustive guides – Super in-depth and extensive guides and documents can receive a lot of links if they are done really well. Think about how many links SEOmoz’s Beginners Guide has received.

• Sales data – you can analyze your sales data and segment it by population, gender, or other information you collect in the sales process to contribute something new. Yes this data might not be completely accurate as it is your sales data and may not be representative of the market. That said, it is still new and typically unavailable to people.
• User data – When users register, ask them for information. If they have profiles on their site, ask them for information. Then anonymously aggregate this information and present it with pretty charts and graphics (More on this from Dr. Pete). OK Cupid does a great job of this with most of their blog posts. Check out this one on stuff white people like (original stuff white people like).

• Do your own research – Offering brand new data is great because no one else has it so you get to be the definite (linked) source for forthcoming references. This can be really helpful with infographics – if you are having a hard time finding research that someone has published, do the research yourself. Tools like Ask Your Target Market are great for this as they provide you with a large panel so you can get quick responses and you can focus your time on creating your link bait, not doing research.

• Spelling/Proofreading – do you have typos or misspellings. It happens. A lot. Get someone who is really nitpicky and uptight to go over it.
• Technical details – Make sure that the content is technically correct and that you aren’t wrong. Find a subject matter expert and have them verify your work.
• Readability – While the linkbait might make complete sense to you and your cohorts, you this is your baby (and nobody thinks their baby is ugly) so somethings that might seem obvious to you really aren’t obvious to everyone else. Have your mom look at this, kind of like when you were in grade school and your mom checked your homework. Get someone object who isn’t invested in the project verify that it makes sense (and that it’s cool).

• News hook
• Contrary hook
• Attack hook
• Resource hook
• Humor hook
• Ego hook
• Incentive hook

---

What insights do you guys have? I’d love to hear what’s worked for you when you’ve been working on creating link bait.

Do you like this post? Yes No

Read Original: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/seomoz/~3/fYKvVN4dhm8/4-tips-for-creating-link-bait

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Google Calendar now automatically dims the brightness of past events by default. Google says this new shading feature is designed to “help you focus on what’s next.”

The new feature seems to make calendar navigation easier and upcomi...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/y6G_LY6xTGw/Google-Calendar-Fades-Past-Events

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From: searchenginewatch.com

A Google shareholder has filed a lawsuit against Google CEO Larry Page and the entire board of directors for unspecified damages because the company allowed advertising from online pharmacies and facilitated the “illegal importation” o...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/esUSiPSe4u0/Shareholder-Sues-Google-For-Aiding-Illegal-Drug-Sales

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Malaysian Independence Day, or Hari Merdeka, was celebrated in Malaysia today, Aug. 31, and Google added to the celebration with a Doodle on their Malaysia search page. 

Symbolically at midnight August 31, 1957 in the newly constructed S...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/eTMoCQfinrc/Google-Doodle-Celebrates-Malaysian-Independence-Day

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From: highrankings.com

What’s the first thing you think of when writing with keywords? Probably one of the first is that keywords and phrases are descriptive of the products and/or services you’re writing about. But what happens in those circumstances where you can’t (or don’t really want to) use your chosen keyphrases descriptively?

Read Original: http://www.highrankings.com/cannot-use-kws-313

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Google has released a new snippet format that extracts details from long lists and displays them in a bullet-point. The snippet format replaces meta descriptions and is used for sites that give categorical listings.

The new snippets were first s...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/jHBZgh-cDxk/Google-Adds-New-List-Snippet-Format

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From: searchenginewatch.com

Russia’s top earch engine Yandex has bought a social newspaper service known as The Tweeted Times. Yandex stated that it will be using the service to improve their social reporting capabilities.

The Purchase of the Tweeted Times

The Tweeted...

Read Original: http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/~r/sewblog/~3/N1tn76dzvSg/Yandex-Buys-Social-Newspaper-The-Tweeted-Times

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From: sitepronews.com

Have you seen those crazy looking black and white checkered boxes lately? They are not just in the Sunday paper, mail inserts, or at stores for fun. They are called QR Codes and they are the next generation of online advertising. These little boxes connect the consumer from a Point of Purchase directly to the [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

QR Codes: To Scan or Not to Scan

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2011/08/31/qr-codes-to-scan-or-not-to-scan/

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From: sitepronews.com

Business is all about minimizing costs and maximizing profits. For you to minimize the costs, you need to be cautious about the amount of money you commit to marketing your business. Whether you are new or old in the online marketing industry, you may have a limited advertising budget to market your website. Even if [...]

Post from: SiteProNews: Webmaster News & Resources

Why Not Use Free Online Marketing If Your Advertising Budget Is Limited?

Read Original: http://www.sitepronews.com/2011/08/31/why-not-use-free-online-marketing-if-your-advertising-budget-is-limited/

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