Month: February 2012

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Does an XML Site Map Help or Hurt Organic Placement

If you can’t include an XML site map on your website for some reason will this hurt you with search engines? My unequivocal answer is NO.

Although we do recommend the creation and registering of an XML  site map with both Google and Bing (by using their Webmaster Control Panels), to not add one is not a serious blow to your potential organic placement on search engines.

Search engine spiders do not need your created XML site map to spider your website. They will by their very nature spider your home page and then follow the text links in your home page to auto discover the other pages in your website. If your website navigation is not text based or is encapsulated in images or Flash then text links to your key inside sections as well as your own website HTML based site map should be provided on your home page. These links will typically appear in the footer. Doing so insures that you feed search engine spiders a way to travel and discover the pages in your website.

So if you can’t create an XML site map for some reason for your website all is not lost. Just make sure that you have created text links in your home page content that point deep inside your website.

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Google is Paying to Watch Your Web Surfing

Google is immersing themselves into market research with a new program they announced on February 10th called Screenwise. You can read the announcement here. Additionally it was reported on the web that Google has just recently bought some new domain names reflecting their strong interest in expanding Screenwise.

“Google said, “Through the new Screenwise initiative, US users aged thirteen and over will be paid up to $25 in Amazon gift cards to have their web site behavior monitored. Additionally, those panelists aged over 18 will be automatically entered into a monthly sweepstake, with a chance to win prizes such as a ‘luxury’ vacation to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, or Cancun; a variety of electronic goods; tickets to events; or downloads.”

“Google says it will use feedback from panelists to learn how people use the Internet, in order to offer them better products and services.”

Interesting so now if you are willing to allow Google to watch your every move on the Internet, they’ll pay you a token amount. The information that Google will be gleaning from observing user activity will surely impact results and new service offerings. Much of the intelligence will be used to fine-tune social programs and AdWords advertising.

I’ll look forward to seeing what new products Google will roll out this next year as the feedback comes in.

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Brands – Don’t Give Up On Facebook Yet

Facebook made some very big changes in the fourth quarter of 2011 that impacted how businesses can use Facebook and how they interact with fans. As a quick review, here’s what Facebook did:

  1. Got rid of the ability to send a note out from your Business Page to all fans. The best feature!
  2. Removed tabs and the ability to do FBML markup pages. You now have to do iframes.
  3. Killed off the notes and discussion sections.
  4. Removed the ability to auto feed your blog to your Facebook Page.
  5. Removed the ability to see who your Business page fans are once they have joined.
  6. Allowed anyone to comment on a Business page, not just fans.
  7. Destroyed the value of a like. No one needs to like your page any more to see or interact with you.
  8. Changed the News Feed for users. People must subscribe to your data to see it in their News Feed.
  9. Changed the personal News Feed so a Business’ News Feed updates are typically lost in the noise.

Actually, these are some very serious changes and have really strangled a businesses ability to connect with users on Facebook and for that matter have caused fan growth for pages under 100 fans to come to a near halt. So, you would think that I would recommend to our business clients to get out of Facebook, but I’m not.

Strategies change and what Facebook has done to kill off brand and business interaction on their platform will certainly change as the blow-back impacts their business. For now, I personally feel that these changes drove businesses into Facebook pay per click initially. As advertising is where Google makes huge returns, Facebook has struggled with trying to get their fair share of advertising revenue from their platform and thus has made changes to force businesses to pay to play.

I still feel that businesses should be on Facebook and keep a presence there, but maybe not in the same fashion as we recommended in early 2011. I recommend at least doing updates once or twice a day and taking a wait and see approach to what Facebook will additionally change in 2012. These changes may open doors again for businesses and brands. Positioning yourself to be back in the Facebook game quickly is a very good strategy.

 

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I’m Watching Pininterest

There’s a lot of buzz in my industry on Pininterest and it is definitely a site you’ll want to be watching. For now, here are a few links to check out some cool boards that showcase what you can do on Pininterest.

Photo of one board so you can an idea.

Pininterest board showing creative pictures of a sleeping baby – very creative.

Pininterest home page.

Get an invitation to Pininterest.

In a nutshell, this is what Pininterest is:

A visual bulletin board of images with links pointing back to your website or blog. Allows for others to share your board and items on their own boards.

Why would a business want to use Pininterest?

For an e-commerce stores that sell clothes, jewelry, and other fashion products, this may be one very hot way to market products and encourage social sharing to drive more sales. Just take a look at a few of the fashion Pininterest boards where ensembles have been created as suggestive selling to get an idea how this new platform could be used for marketing.

I definitely consider Pininterest a site to watch. There have been huge numbers of new members and extraordinary press exposure on this new platform. I recommend keeping an eye on this one!