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Search Engine Marketing – Jargon Buster

Friday, August 20th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon:

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

Successful Search Engine Marketing (SEM) involves you being the cyber equivalent of an obnoxious child. The type who always takes the teacher a shiny apple, sits at the front in class and shoots their eager hand up at every opportunity squealing, “Me, Miss, pick me!”

It’s about getting noticed. Of course in cyberspace nobody can hear you screaming, “I’m the best and I must be at the front of the line!” so you have to find other ways to get seen.

If Google is the mother pedagogue in our hypothetical SERPS school, then other search engines like Yahoo!* are sort of like supply teachers. We don’t know them as well as we know Mistress Google, we don’t always trust that they know what they’re doing either, but we must please them all the same. It’s worth buying an extra apple from time to time.

Mistress Google doesn’t always expect A* work from her pupils. Sometimes all you need to do is suck up a bit more and make yourself known to her. She likes to keep an eye on her charges. When it’s head count time will yours be the high visibility noggin that gets included? It will if you’re on stilts and donning a psychedelic plumed hat.

How will being teacher’s pet affect your relationships with your online peers? Oh, they’ll probably flick bits of saliva-sodden paper at you, shove your head down the toilet at lunch times and stick ‘Kick Me’ notices on your back. Oh well. Popularity doesn’t always mean being popular.

Note: * Can’t recall the names of the other search engines/supply teachers – though there are vaguely disturbing recollections of one of them drinking hooch under the desk and another being asked to leave after an embarrassing incident in Pet’s Club that startled a stick insect and several guinea pigs.

SERIOUSLY:

SEM (aka Search Engine Marketing) is a type of marketing where you promote your website by increasing its visibility in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages). The purpose of using SEM is to ensure that your website is visible in the search results when a user enters a query relevant to your business  in the search box.

Sometimes SEM is used to describe paid placements only. The ads on the right hand side of the search results page are examples of paid placements. These are usually CPC (Cost Per Click) ads but you can also purchase them as CPI (Cost Per Impression). With CPC ads, you as the advertiser only pay when a user clicks through on the ad. With CPI ads, you pay based on the number of times the particular ad is shown.

The SEM term actually extends beyond paid placements as it also includes SEO (Search Engine Optimization). As mentioned in a previous post SEO involves increasing the chances that your website will show high up in the unpaid search results. Users are more likely to click through to the unpaid search results as they have, to some extent, developed a certain blindness to PPC (“Pay per Click”) ads.

Other Resources:

There’s a  post over at Interleado’s blog which provides an insightful  analysis of SEO v PPC marketing strategies. As mentioned above, both SEO (unpaid Search Marketing) and PPC (paid search marketing) fall under the heading of Search Engine Marketing. Bill Egan extols the benefits of investing in SEO and he stresses the importance of investing in fresh engaging content as part of your SEO strategy. The Interleado blog is quite technical at times. However, it is well-written and very clear.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Marketing; Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content;  Fresh Content; Interruption Marketing; Linkerati;  PageRank; Permission Marketing; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.


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Content Marketing – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

In the hierarchical land of the internet they say that Content is King. And well he might be, after all he wears the cyber-crown. But, who is it that books his appointments, tells him where his socks are and hand picks the druff from his important monarchic shoulders? Now don’t all scream ‘wife’ at the same time, you’ll make yourselves look sexist and old fashioned. Things aren’t that archaic. No, no.

The person responsible for keeping King Content’s botty wedged into the seat of his web throne is Content Marketing. No, it’s not a particularly attractive or impactful name but, Content Marketing is responsible for everything that King Content is. She (for Content Marketing is a woman) enjoys her job and throws herself wholeheartedly into it. She’s a bit like a piranha fish in lipstick but she gets results.

She is a devotee, Miss Content Marketing; she works weekends and on the rare occasion when she does have a day off she wears a T-shirt with the slogan King Content Rules emblazed across it.

It has long been said that behind every great man there’s a great woman. Behind the King of Content lurks this success-oriented ambitious missy always looking for the next way to promote the sovereign.

Some say she and the ruler are having a passionate lustful affair, but this is unlikely as they are both abstract concepts without physical attributes, invented purely as a means to illustrate a point. Honestly! People see sex everywhere.

SERIOUSLY:

Content marketing is the process of creating and sharing content for the purpose of engaging users and ultimately making sales. The basic idea is that if you deliver high-quality, relevant, informative, useful, engaging content on a consistent basis to prospects, they will learn to trust you. When it comes time to buy, you will be their natural choice.

There’s a useful description of the concept over at Copyblogger.com:

“Content Marketing is a broad term that relates to creating and freely sharing informative content as a means of converting prospects into customers and customers into repeat buyers. The primary goal is to obtain opt-in permission to deliver content via email or other medium over time. Repeated and regular exposure builds a relevant relationship that provides multiple opportunities for conversion, rather than a “one-shot” all-or-nothing sales approach.”

Your online business can engage in content marketing through your blog, Twitter account, newsletters, Facebook account, webcasts and podcasts. Content marketing is not about the hard sell. It’s an informational form of marketing.

By educating and informing the reader, the idea is that the business gains a position of trust and becomes a thought leader; it establishes the brand. Content marketing earns you the right to make future sales. It’s a form of pull marketing.

How much emphasis do you put on content marketing in your online business?

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content;  Fresh Content; Interruption Marketing; Linkerati;  PageRank; Permission Marketing; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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Permission Marketing – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

You Cannot Be Serious:

Permissive marketing is where anything goes. Through the post.  You can send them panda ears, potato eyes, smokin’ girls, or at least their butts.  Their cigarette butts.  You can even, if you’re incredibly daring, send them an outrageously boring three-colour print job in A4 format, outlining what a fantastic drycleaning you could give the panda ears they already have.

But be careful with this sort of approach – people can be sensitive and you don’t want to offend them unnecessarily. Permissive marketing is also all about ‘warm bodies’.  If you can send them a piece of something that’s warm, then that’s all to the good.  Warm AND twitching – why, that’s gold. It also explains the reason, if you do decide to go with the panda ears (although that might be getting a little passé) why you need to get the freshest possible.  Why not grow your own?

Dolphin flippers do send a similar message, but in a less obvious way, so consider this sort of progressive creativity. Before you embark on permissive marketing, also think about ‘permission’ marketing.  This is where you call your prospect up on the phone and ask “do you mind if I send you some fruit-bat jowls in the mail?”  Let their answer inspire you.

Seriously:

Permission Marketing is a marketing technique that requires customer’s approval.  The prospective customer has given either explicit (eg email opt-in) or implicit (eg search engine query) permission to be sent the marketing message.

It’s considered an efficient marketing tool as offers are only sent to those who have expressed an interest.  The term was coined by Seth Godin. It’s the opposite of interruption marketing. These potential customers are warm leads. Permission marketing is a privilege: the business has earned the right to deliver their message. Godin writes of “turning strangers into friends and friends into customers”.

Other Resources:

Seth Godin on Permission Marketing (he has a whole book on the subject as well).

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content;  Fresh Content; Interruption Marketing; Linkerati;  PageRank; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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Fresh Content – Jargon Buster

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

Everybody loves fresh stuff.  Chefs, music producers, elephants.  It’s all about snapping up the newest, the peachiest, the least toadied by Time.  Luckily there’s an infinite well of it inside each of us.

Philosophers, neuro-linguists and cunning linguists state that nothing is as simple as creating a completely novel sentence, for instance.  It’s almost certain that you and I have, this very day, uttered at least 115 totally original constructions.  Such as “why do you always try to blame your farts on the phenomenon of “barking spiders”, like they do in ‘X Files’?”

Isn’t it just so liberating to think things are popping out all over the place that have never been said before?  I’ll name just two that readily spring to mind:

“Make my hair like Donald Trump’s, you cowering pizzle”, in the hairdressers, or “my plan is for the fat man to sit on many more bags of kittens, oh my yes”, in any location whatsoever.

I’m sure you can think of many more examples yourself.  Why not train yourself to produce fresh and titillating conversational nuggets by staring straight ahead while on public transport, barking out random utterances at discreet intervals.  Here’s one to be getting on with: “I was just admiring your most glamorous gherkin.” Now, that’s ‘brain training’, right there.

SERIOUSLY:

Fresh content is content which has not previously been published online. Search engines reward and pay attention to websites that have a continuous stream of fresh content.  Good quality, relevant, engaging fresh content is key to a successful online website. Businesses that budget for the creation of compelling fresh content are investing wisely.

When the search engine spiders come to visit your website they love nothing better than to gorge on any fresh content that you have added since their last visit.  It’s a good idea to have a regular publishing schedule.  For example, if you publish fresh content once a week on your site the spiders and your visitors will learn your publishing schedule and will base their visits around it.

A business blog is the best way to add a regular dose of fresh content to your business website. If you’re just starting out with your blog, try not to bite off more than you can chew. Don’t feel you have to post fresh content daily. Start out with a schedule that you can manage, even if it’s only once a fortnight at the beginning.  You can always increase the frequency at a later stage.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content; Interruption Marketing; Linkerati;  PageRank; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.


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Interruption Marketing – Jargon Buster

Friday, July 16th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

Interruptions are a universal nuisance. This is such a fundamental truth that the phrase “rudely interrupted” contains the redundant word “rudely”. There is no other way to be interrupted.

Salmon, for instance, do not eat when they leave the sea and return to their home river to spawn. So why do they bite the bright, colorful feathers presented by the angler? Because there they were floating gracefully thinking about getting laid when they were interrupted.

There is a similar situation for humans. Sitting down at their favorite restaurant, a couple read the menu. As they begin to salivate (partly because of the fare on offer) the fire alarm  goes off, interrupting them, and they have to leave the building. Damn! Don’t you just hate premature evacuations?

Online users are similarly plagued by interruptions; unsolicited offers to click, casinos where they can’t lose, pills guaranteed to increase the length and girth of their penis (Mothers Superior especially hate these), surveys to complete, eternal youth and guaranteed happiness, and any other bait that will be swallowed by the gullible.

The professional interrupters who provide the ads are only kept in business by the fact that some users, like the salmon, react violently to the bait and snap at it. Computer geeks aren’t salmon and don’t have a temper; they only bite humorous ads because they don’t understand them.

SERIOUSLY:

Interruption Marketing is the scruffy cousin of permission marketing and engagement marketing.  It’s a traditional form of marketing. It’s where the marketing message intrudes on the potential customer’s activities and fights for their attention. It’s where the marketer seeks out places where potential customers hang out and then subjects those targets to ads.

Types of marketing which come within this category include PPC Ads (eg Facebook ads, Google PPC), TV ads, Billboard ads, unsolicited marketing emails, newspaper ads.  These ads interrupt your current activity (eg you’re watching television, reading the paper, updating your Facebook Status) in order to bring you the marketing message.

It is widely accepted that interruption marketing is not as effective as other types of marketing such as permission marketing and attraction marketing. As the amount of marketing messages we come across on a daily basis continues to increase, humans are finding creative ways of ignoring these messages. For example, we increasingly tend to become blind to PPC ads in the SERPS and concentrate only on the organic (unpaid) search results.

As we (the customer/consumer) become immune to interruptive marketing techniques, advertisers and marketers are finding new ways to deliver their marketing message.  Hence the steady increase in alternative marketing techniques such as permission marketing, content marketing and engagement marketing.

Although interruption marketing is declining in its effectiveness, it still has a place in today’s marketing bag of tricks. When using interruption marketing as a tool, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you engage the customer as soon as you have interrupted them and got their attention.

RESOURCES:

Susan Gunelius has an informative article over at Entrepreneur.com where she explores the comparative techniques of interruption and engagement marketing. It’s somewhat ironic that a large advertisement/interruptive marketing message appears slap bang in the middle of the piece.  However, it helps to show that interruption marketing is not quite ready to make its funeral arrangements just yet.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content; Linkerati;  PageRank; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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User Experience – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

We give our guests a great user experience. We want them to like it so much that they want to come back, and guess what? Most of them love it and we have our “regulars”. Here is our “Recipe for Success” :

The San Quentin Guide to Providing a Good User Experience.

Make It Easy To Get In

It sure is easy to get in here. Johnny Cash comes here all the time, singing to our guests. He even stayed overnight in Bubba’s cell. He said that he got the inspiration for his song “Ring of Fire” from his visit here. I think it was because of the habañero chilli soup.

Make It Easy To Stay

Our guests here don’t want to leave. Once they get in, we just can’t get them out. Take “Mad Mick” Murphy from Dublin. Please take him because we don’t want him. He shows up drunk before breakfast, starts fighting and upsetting the other guests. We tried getting him to sober up but then he got sad and started singing about Ireland. Twenty four of our guests escaped that night to get away from him, and they were happy before that.

Make Sure Your Visitors Remember You and Come Back

Rob “Razor” Capone will never leave. He signed up for 25 years, but wants more. He says the premises are great, and he can get apple pies “just like mamma used to make” for $4. Nobody has the heart to tell him that for just $5 he can get apple pies just like mamma thought she used to make.

Our User Experience is second to none. Yes, San Quentin is one 4-star Prison.

SERIOUSLY:

You want some candy. You see a store nearby. You walk into the store. The floor is dirty and the store is badly lit. The products are scattered all over the place in no particular order. There’s no signage.  You can’t  find your way around.  You can’t find the candy. You ask the sales assistant. He’s not very helpful and tells you to find the candy yourself. How would this experience make you feel?

Your Virtual Store

Your website is no different. It’s a virtual store. It’s vitally important that you provide a great User Experience to the visitors that cross your website’s threshold.  User Experience (UX) is all about the overall impression, satisfaction and feelings that a user gets from visiting a site. Your business success is heavily dependent on User Experience.  Do all that you can to give your visitors a positive User Experience. This will improve customer satisfaction and drive referrals and repeat business.

Chasing the User Experience

Matt Cutts (of Google) recently highlighted that “… by chasing after a good user experience, you help ensure that you and the search engines are both working in the same direction. That’s much better than you chasing the search engines, which are in turn chasing what we think is best for users.”

There are a number of elements to User Experience including functionality, design, branding and content.  It’s about the overall package. Things that you can do to improve UX include:

  • factoring in UX elements into the design,
  • ensuring site navigation is intuitive,
  • improving site speed (load times) and
  • producing relevant engaging content on an ongoing basis.

Content & User Experience:

When it comes to content, the folks at The Wittery believe that if your content makes your site visitor smile, then you have achieved something very special from a User Experience perspective.  Aim to make your content induce positive feelings in your site visitor.

Websites and the internet are full words.   Don’t let the collection of words on your website fall into the “instantly forgettable” category. When commissioning content (or when writing it yourself), always keep your reader in mind. Aim to reach into their heart, soul and mind with your content. That’s how you can distinguish yourself in your visitor’s mind and improve their User Experience. Your visitor will then be  more likely to stay longer on your site, remember you when they leave, buy from you, re-visit your site and tell others about you.

The Journey and the Destination

If SEO is about getting search engines to bring visitors to your site, then UEO* is about making sure those visitors have a good time when they get there. “Driving traffic to your homepage is important, but making the destination worthwhile is vital” according to Entrepreneur.com.

Next time visitors arrive at your site how are you going to make sure that your store is in order and that your visitors get the experience they deserve?

*UEO (or UXO) is an acronym for “User Experience Optimization”.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content; Linkerati;   PageRank; SEO;  SERPS;  The Cloud

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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The Cloud – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

Hi y’all, I’m Billy-Bob, 24. I’m gonna tell all y’all about “the cloud”. Paw asked me to do this, cos I know all ‘bout the innernet. He said:

“Billy-Bob, your schoolin’ made us so proud, graduatin’ from High School last week an’ all.  So you show them city-folk that us red-necks know knowledge too.”

Y’see, it’s all a conspiracy. The Yankee government in Washington D.C. don’t want us to have any freedom. They sent in the feds to all the freedom-lovin’ states. The feds snuck in our homes and took our freedoms, rights, and god-fearin’ beliefs. They took all these things we love and built a massive pile, an’ guess what? They built the biggest bomb ever made and blew the livin’ shit outta our stuff.

There was so much in the pile, and the bomb was so big, that it made a cloud that covers the four corners of the earth. Some folks say it goes ‘round the world, cos they think the world is round, but we know better, bein’ schooled an’ all.

The feds didn’t get all our freedoms though  ‘cos we ain’t stupid. We hid beliefs and freedoms inside our Country music. Ma cousin in California says Country music is all Mell an’ Cawley. Jeez, they must be great song-writers. Bye y’all, and God bless America.

SERIOUSLY:

Do your eyes glaze over when techie people start talking about The Cloud and Cloud Computing? In simple terms, “The Cloud” is a term used to describe the internet.

When a digital item (an email, a document, a photo, a database etc)  is stored in The Cloud this means that the item is stored on a server which you access over the internet.  You won’t be able to retrieve the item from your own computer without an internet connection.

Google’s email service (gmail) is one example of a cloud based application. If you have a gmail account, all your gmail data hangs out on a server which you access over the internet.  It’s a web-based email application.

A big advantage of using web-based applications is that you can access that data from anywhere with an internet connection.

“Software as a Service “ (SaaS) is a common term in cloud-speak.  This is where the software provider hosts the software. This means that you don’t have to install the software on your computer or manage it. This can make things a lot simpler for you as the end user.

Cloud services include the delivery of software, storage and infrastructure over the internet. Many businesses are beginning to move most of their IT resources to the cloud.  Many other businesses are struggling with the notion that their data would no longer be on their servers if they move it to the cloud. There are concerns about cloud-based services as you are entrusting a third party to store your data on their server.

This cloud thing is not going to blow over any time soon, so having a basic understanding of what it’s all about can be useful.

How did we do with our explanation? Did we omit any vital bits? Our aim with this series is to inform you about terms that you are likely to come across in the course of your business. We aim to keep things simple. The “You Cannot Be Serious” part is there for your entertainment and to give you a tantalising taste of what witty writers can do with a brief.

Other Resources:

There’s a recent article in the Harvard Business Review about How Cloud Computing Can Transform Business. Bernard Golden points out the agility of cloud computing and how it is well-suited to the fast moving changes in business conditions. The comments on this post are also enlightening.

Sidney Angelo’s article over at All Things CRM is also worth a read.  He outlines both the advantages and challenges of cloud computing.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content;  Linkerati; PageRank;  SEO; SERPS; User Experience

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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SERPS – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

SERPS is an internet word that stands for “Stop Entering Restricted Porn Sites”. It is used as a warning sign that appears to sleazy surfers when they repeatedly try to access highly unsuitable web pages.

Being clever, those running the internet know not just what search term has been entered, but what are the intentions of the user. (This is known as “Just Ask Core Knowledge On Form Filtering” or JACKOFF.)  For example, users who search for “how many laid” will get different results depending on whether their previous search was for “fresh eggs” or “Debbie Does Dallas”.

The SERPS warning appears after 69 consecutive rude search phrases, although teenagers do not usually get this far.

“Stop Entering Restricted Porn Sites” is not just a warning sign. It is not a “suggestion” from the search engine either, it is a command. As well as the full-screen warning sign, the computer of the user is infected with a virus. SERPS may therefore be thought of as the virtual clap, and it cannot be cured, even with a visit to www.cure-my-pox.com

No, SERPS is serious, and results in the destruction of the user’s online life. No respectable website will go near a SERPS-infected user, especially not www.virgin.com.

SERIOUSLY:

SERPS stands for Search Engine Result Pages. They are the pages that are returned by  search engines  (ok, let’s just call this Google from here) when you enter a query in the search box. The pages contain a list of website pages that Google (Bing, Cuil) thinks are relevant to your search term.  Your site is likely to benefit from organic (unpaid) traffic if it appears in the organic listing on Page 1 of the SERPS.

Let’s Get Personal

Things are happening with SERPS.  Personalized SERPS is now here to stay and it will be interesting to watch the effect of this on traditional SEO practices over time. Personalization of the SERPS means different users get different SERPS results, depending on their browsing history.  Google is serving up results which it thinks are best suited to you, based on what it knows about you (and it knows way more than you think).

Personalized SERPS is the default setting and most users are unlikely to change the default setting.  Personalized SERPS applies even if you’re not logged into a Google Account.

As a website owner, it’s important to be aware when you’re being served personalized SERPS. The reason?  If you check your site’s SERPS on a regular basis, you’ll get a false sense of where your website appears in the SERPS for others. Google will return your most visited sites high up in your personalized SERPS results. You may end up gloating that your site is appearing in the number one position for your search term, when in fact it could be buried deep down in the SERPS for other users.

Incognito

There are a few ways to get a better indication of where your website appears in the SERPS for others. One of those ways  is to go “incognito” using Google Chrome (please correct me if I’m wrong on this one).  Get your dark shades and grubby rain mac on before taking the following steps:

  1. Click on the wrench icon at the top right of the Google Chrome Screen.
  2. Click on “New Incognito Window”.
  3. “You’ve gone incognito” the new window tells you.  There’s even a spy icon to remind you what you are up to.
Ignorance Can Be Bliss

Probably the best way to improve your site’s positioning in the SERPS? Try Ignoring it most of the time. Don’t spend too much time trying to understand Google and how its algorithm works. Try to understand your users instead.

Concentrate your efforts on developing your engaging content, learning to understand and connect with your website visitors, building relationships and working on elements that will improve the User Experience.  Your efforts in these areas will help your site in the battle for position across personalized SERPS.  These efforts will also help you to get traffic from sources other than search engines. Whilst you’re chasing after your position in the SERPS remember that the search engines are chasing after websites that are optimized for the User Experience. Remember also that SERPS is very fond of dancing.

How much attention do you pay to your website’s position in the SERPS? Do you spend as much time concentrating on User Experience Optimization?

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;  Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content;  Linkerati; PageRank;  SEO; The Cloud; User Experience

Other Resources:

Nathan Thompson has an informative post over at MarketingExperiments.com which covers the effect that the roll-out of Google Caffeine will have on SERPS results. It is well worth a read. We mentioned  Caffeine in January in this blog. Google announced last week that this new indexing system is now complete. The essential thing to note about Caffeine is that it aims is to provide fresher results to users. In the context of content, this will of course mean that fresh content will continue to become more important and will influence where your website shows up in the SERPS.

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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Linkerati – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

You Cannot Be Serious:

Practice saying and writing the following:

“Mwah, mwah! It’s simply marvelous to see you, dwarling. May I appreciatively press parts of your delectable flesh and tell you whopping great lies about how gorgeous and clever you are?”

And repeat: “Mwah, mwah! It’s simply marvelous to see you, dwarling. May I appreciatively press parts of your delectable flesh and tell you whopping great lies about how gorgeous and clever you are?”

Do this ten times a day until it becomes second nature to you. If you do several things are likely to occur:

o you will turn into one of the most shallow human beings on the planet
o people who used to like you will go off you
o you will get funny looks in the supermarket
o the police may be called (this usually only happens when actual pressing of physical flesh takes place)
o you will be equipped to win favor with the Linkerati

It is the latter occurrence that we are most interested in, you getting it on with the Linkerati online.

Who are the Linkerati, you ask? Where do they live, in silver, silk lined palaces with cons so mod you’d think you’d gone into the future? Do they dine only on puréed swans’ down and angel sneezes? Do they fart glitter? Tick yes to all of the aforementioned, and more. The Linkerati are the web’s wonders, the internet elite and you, as a humble serf like being who probably smells, must learn to court them.

Seriously:

Linkerati is a term used to describe people of influence online. The clue is in the name. It’s all about links and mentions. This select bunch includes popular bloggers, tweeters, social media mavericks, and forum poster gurus. It consists of a group of online influencers who are happy and willing to create and share links to resources that they find interesting.

It is a common phenomenon for marketers, individuals and businesses with an online presence to spend a lot of time trying to attract the attention of the Linkerati. Content created for the purposes of attracting the attention of the Linkerati is often referred to as “linkbait”.

If a member of the Linkerati mentions you or your business (and links to your website), it can have a powerful impact on your site traffic and bottom line. Quality links from high ranking sites of the Linkerati can send your traffic through the roof.

If you’re just starting out online and you are seeking to build a presence, is there an alternative to spending time waving at and flirting with the Linkerati?

Try this approach instead:

Keep an eye out for up and coming sites and people online and spend time building relationships with them instead. You will learn a lot more doing it this way. The journey is also likely to be more enjoyable. When you seek attention from the Linkerati, you are seeking attention from people who have already made it and who have social proof on their side.

Why not be more adventurous? Find new people to follow and interact with. Seek out tomorrow’s influencers. Be ahead of the crowd.  Be the purple sheep with yellow polkadots and take your own direction. It may surprise you when you notice that other multi-colored sheep start following you. You will then have morphed into a member of the Linkerati class yourself.**

I would like to share my recent experience of the blogosphere: I’m new to the blogosphere. (I’m lucky because I get help with my blog from my witty writer friends.)  I have started commenting on others’ blogs, both Linkerati blogs, newer blogs and blogs with small audiences. When I comment on lesser known blogs, I’ve noticed that I often receive gifts in return that sometimes bring a tear to my eye. It has taught me a valuable lesson.

What’s your experience of the linkerati and the blogosphere? Do you comment on lesser-known blogs? If so, do you find it rewarding?

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing; Content Strategy;  Duplicate Content; PageRank; SEO; SERPS; The Cloud; User Experience

Other Resources:

*Rand Fishkin, founder of SeoMoz.org is credited with coining the term Linkerati. From what I can gather, he first used it in 2006.

**It seems there’s a new trailblazing website on the horizon. Check out BryanRicard.com. His tagline is a Ralph Emerson quote: ”Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path… and leave a trail.” The importance of the “Leave a Trail” quote gets its own little section over at Bryan’s site.

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.

[FYI, The Wittery Writers are responsible for the "Not Serious" parts of this series. They can do your witty too.]

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.

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Content Strategy – Jargon Buster

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

The Serious/Not Serious Series on Jargon

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS:

Content with your content? You can’t just put any old thing in there, as the Vatican Council said to the bishop.   Imagine if women didn’t take a firm line with the management of content vis-à-vis their handbag.  Handbags require monitoring in order to retain a high quality of outgoing product.

How would the world proceed if women handbags (or ‘man bags’ if that doesn’t prompt an inexplicable cold shudder down the spine) became a black hole of eyeliner pencil stubs, foreign coins, used tissues and hair-laden combs?  It would be a disaster, a ‘chrome-plated, steam-powered ocean-going disaster’ as David Niven once said about a truly dreadful movie for which he was at least partially responsible.

But this isn’t the case, for has there ever been any example in the record of any woman, anywhere, admitting that her handbag was bang out of order?  Obviously since no one can ever recall such an admission, there are no handbag horror stories, so therefore it stands to reason that all women are perfect. Dipso facto, notonyournellium.

See how logic is so important to providing coherent content? Content that exists outside handbags is clearly not so very vital to the space-time continuum, so can be left to the devices of those that only carry wallets, and who stuff them unappealingly into the back pockets of their trousers, thereby creating content that’s one-sided and the enemy of good tailoring.

SERIOUSLY:

The very mention of the phrase “Content Strategy” can drive the most confident, hardened (online) small business owner to the verge of a nervous breakdown. Chillax, it doesn’t have to be this way. With a little bit of planning and thought your content handbag doesn’t need to be empty or mixed-up, dazed or confused.

Publish and be Damned – Use that Soapbox

If you have an online business you are a publisher. Accept this basic fact and start thinking and acting like a publisher.  Plan ahead for the creation and publication of your content. That’s what Content Strategy is about.

Your website Content is your soapbox. It’s how you deliver your message online. Content marketing helps you to reach out and connect with your potential customers. By having a Content Strategy, you can plan more effectively for the delivery of your business message over a sustained period of time.  You can build relationships with your prospective customers through your business blog. You don’t need an elaborate content strategy, but it helps to have a general roadmap so that you have an idea where you are going with your content.

The Cure for The Content Development Headache

Content development can be difficult for small business owners. However, by taking a bit of time to plan ahead you can ease your workload (and stress levels) in the long run. Set aside some time to have a brainstorming session dedicated to developing a content strategy. Try using some of these questions to help you find suitable topics for your business blog:

Who are your customers, what problems do they have and how do you solve these problems?

What questions/information do your customers most frequently ask?

What specific problems have you solved for individual customers in the past? Could you use some of these as stories or case studies in your business blog?

What news/developments are there in your business niche?

Are there terms or practices in your business/niche that you could explain in ordinary language to your customers?

Are there other blogs in your niche that you can look at for inspiration?

It is a good idea to stock up on some timeless blog pieces ahead of time.  This will give you freedom to write about topical items if the need, inclination or opportunity arises, but you will also be comforted by the fact that you have fall-back, timeless content for publication.  You will then have the freedom to diverge from your planned publication schedule if you choose. The key here is that it is your choice.

Get Close and Share

Building relationships with your customers through the development of your content can become an enjoyable experience.  Encourage feedback.  If you allow comments on your blog, you may find inspiration for future posts in the comments that your visitors leave. Remember that whilst you are developing your content, you are building the case for why your visitors should trust you and buy from you. Share your knowledge with your visitors and make it easy for them to buy from you when they are ready to do so.

Don’t underestimate your own expertise.  Brainstorm with other co-workers, employees, family or friends about your content strategy.  Think about engaging a professional freelance writer to assist with tidying up your content (or adding personality) for publication.  If you have the skills to do this yourself, lucky you.  By involving an experienced writer in the process, your business knowledge can be transformed into compelling, engaging content that will bring your blog content to a higher level.  Your customers will notice. Your accountant will notice too in time.

Other Jargon Buster Articles:

Attraction Marketing;  Buzz Marketing;   Duplicate Content;  Linkerati;  PageRank;  SEO;  SERPS; The Cloud; User Experience

Other Resources:

Copyblogger.com is an invaluable content marketing resource.  The tagline (Copywriting Tips for Online Marketing Success) aptly describes what you will find inside this Pandora’s Box of a website.

D.J. Francis has a neat video over at Online Marketer Blog where he explains Content Strategy in under 3 minutes using post-it notes.  (“What is Content Strategy and Why Should I Care?”) Nice work Mr Francis.

A guy by the name of Oscar Wilde once wrote a play in which a chunk of humanity (called Earnest) was found in the contents of a handbag.  It serves as a reminder that a big dollop of Earnest and a hint of humanity works well in your Content Strategy (and your handbag or man bag).  The mention of this resource is nothing other than a shameless attempt to squeeze in a reference to one of the greatest Wits of all time.  At the risk of being pedantic, you will notice the clever way that I managed to connect handbag contents and Content Strategy in order to justify the appearance of Mr Wilde in this Resources Section. (At least I thought it was clever, so please don’t burst my bubble – go burst someone else’s bubble if you must). Remember The Importance of Being Earnest in your Content Strategy and the next time you are trying to recall the name of a good play.  A little bit of trivial comedy for serious people can also add a splash of magic to any content strategy.

How’s your content strategy coming along? Are you a seat-of-the-pants content strategist or do you have all your blog posts lined up well in advance of publication? Feel free to pop a comment in the box and let me know the issues you encounter or any tricks that you use. If you’d prefer to waffle on about Mr Wilde instead, that’s perfectly fine with me.

Welcome to The Wittery Blog (aka The Witty Writer Marketplace)

You’re in the right place if you’re looking for Witty Freelance Writers to add zest to your business content. (Simply click here,  click the Register button [remembering to wipe your feet first] and give us some info about you. We don’t do spam (can’t stand the taste). There’s even a limited free trial where you can post your project for free.)

Witty Freelance Writer with a burning desire to join the wit mob? Click here, remove your shoes and then come through to the application form (you can’t miss it. It says “Apply”)

If you’d prefer to follow the scenic route instead, start off at the home page. See you soon.



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