3 Key Web Marketing Tips
Vroom vroom! Like a powerful sports car the world of web marketing keeps speeding up. We talk about how things evolve in business. But sometimes it's more of a revolution than an evolution in the world of online business.
We're here to help. Let's do a review of what's hot and current online. Here are 3 key takeaways you need to know to stay successful online for October 2012.
Google Panda
Google is rolling out updates to its search engine algorithm at a dizzying pace. The latest update is called Panda. What does that mean for you? Your site might loose a lot of traffic immediately if Google doesn't like what you are doing online. This may mean you got slapped across your big bad head with a Panda penalty. Those winning online are more often than not doing things with their website that Google likes. Big Panda hugs for these people and their websites. NOTE: Over the past few years Google has released significant Panda updates in October, then kept updates to a minimum until after the December holidays.
Google states that these Panda updates are designed to get rid of crappy and spammy sites online (our adjectives... not Google's). Here are some things that can negatively impact your site's overall search engine rankings with the latest Panda update:
- a high ratio of advertising to content; simply put, sites overloaded with advertising run the risk of sinking fast in search engine results
- duplicate content; either within your own website or duplicating content from other websites
- pages that have headlines that don't match the page's content
Got a web analytics tool? If not, boy you need one. If yes, keep an eye on your traffic using tools like Google Analytics, SiteCatalyst or KISSmetrics.
If you see significant decreases in traffic you might have been hit by the 'Panda'. Ouch! If your traffic has slipped a lot you need to learn best practises for building and maintaining a 'Google friendly' site immediately. A good place to start? Read Google's Webmaster Guidelines. Google quite clearly tells you what they like and what they don't like.
Google+
If you don't know Google+ it's Google's answer to the bigger social media channels like Facebook and Twitter. If you own a business and don't have a Google+ personal profile you need to set one up.... now! Then set up your Google+ Business page. Go ahead, set it up now and we'll wait for you to come back... you will come back right?
» How to Setup a Google+ Profile and Google+ Business Account
Why? Google is mad, crazy, obsessed with making Google+ a significant force online. I have friends quote visitor stats that note MySpace gets more page views than Google+. (Remember MySpace? It went from being one of the most hot and popular social media channels several years ago to being an 'also ran' when Facebook gained major momentum. Just in case you don't know MySpace is mounting a comeback... and I personally like what they are doing with their cool redesign and branding). Some of my friends says Google+ is a dud and just isn't that popular. But here is what you need to know! Google is like a hungry Rottweiler with a bone. They aren't going to let go of Google+ and the big G engineers are making it central to all of their ongoing search and marketing efforts.
And the Google+ bottom line? If you are active and influential on Google+ you are going to positively impact your website search engine visibility too.
Instagram
Unless you are living under a technology-free rock over the past six months you should have at least heard about Instagram. It's basically a cool way to share photos online. Instagram is all about your smart phone. You set up an account on your phone, click away taking photos, apply some cool filters, add some descriptions and hashtags, upload to Instagram, and you are golden my friend... yes, I said it... golden!
We wrote an excellent blog post last week about how to use Instagram for your business. We highly recommend you read it!
Next Steps?
- Be Panda aware. Keep an eye on your website traffic to gauge whether you have received a Panda slap... or a Panda hug.
- Get on Google+. When you are there start adding content including links back to all that great content you are routinely adding to your website's blog. (You are blogging regularly... right?)
- Download the Instagram app to your smart phone and start sharing photos and hashtags that relate to your target markets.
- If you found these tips helpful please share this page via Twitter, Facebook or Google+. These buttons are hanging around below just waiting to get clicked on. Thanks!
By Roy McClean