For those of you that live under a rock and are unaware of whats going on in the world of search. Google has made some pretty major changes recently. The last update which took place on 4/24, was known as the “Penguin Update”. It was meant to eliminate spammy websites. As an SEO I have seen my fair share of both good and bad websites. Well, lets just say the bad websites are finally getting what they deserve.
For those of you that are watching your website plummet, don’t sit and watch. Get on the phone and speak to your marketing professional. They will help you build and market a suitable website. I am now going to leave you with my favorite quote when it comes to building and marketing your website. “KEEP IT SIMPLE”
If your users can’t find what they are looking for when they get to your site whats the point? Don’t over think it. Put together a clean, well written and easy to navigate website.
This food was better than it looks. My wife, daughter and myself decided to go to the Strong Museum in Rochester NY this weekend. When I mentioned We were going, a few people I work with, they told me The Dinosaur was a must do. Let’s just say I am glad they told me about it. Our waiter asked, “is it your first time at The Dinosaur?” Yes it was. I asked him what he recommended, and he followed with “I think the wings are the best meat on the menu.” Sold! Wings it was. As you can see, they don’t skimp on the portion size.
Needless to say, I was only able to eat 6 of the 13 I ordered. I had some amazing french fries (if there is such a thing) followed by some amazing homemade Mac and cheese (dedication noodles)
Moral of the story. Go to The Dinosaur if your ever in Rochester NY. Just don’t follow the directions map quest gives you for the iPhone app. We got to see the heart of the ghetto. Not cool! Nonetheless, we made it there and ate good.
I am going to keep this short and simple. While participating in a conference call, please make sure the client is off the phone before speaking your mind about either him or her. If you are a professional individual, this would more than likely never happen to you. For the non professionals, this has either happened to you, or will happen to you. Let me assure you this will be one of the most awkward moments of your life.
There is no worse feeling when you think the client has hung up and a voice comes through the phone that says, “do I really have to listen to this?” This is when you insert your foot into your mouth. See image below. HAHAHAHA.
This may or may not be a true story. If its true, I would love to see the face of all parties involved. If its false, well I would love to see the faces of all parties involved.
If any of the 2 people that read my blog (hahaha) have experienced this, or know of someone that has experienced this, I would love to hear your story.
We take our coffee very seriously at the host. As you can see, we have a nice stock pile. Always caffeinated while working hard for our clients. Mainstreethost never sleeps, well at work anyways.
So, as you can see I haven’t written a post in quite some time. For one, I am not the best writer in the world, so it takes me a long time to ponder up a thought. Secondly, I have been extremely busy making sure all of our clients are happy. Lastly, I have been scouring through resumes and setting up interviews with the help of my Assistant Manager Samuel Wanamaker. My other Assistant Manager Scott Molloy (Scoot Molly), has been hard at work training our new hires. As of late, I eat sleep and breathe work. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but my family comes first.
Most people might think being busy is a pain in the ass, but someone like myself looks at it is as job security. As an internet marketing company, we are constantly making updates to not only websites, but to our products. Our Research and Development department Managed by the one and only Craig Kilgore (@ckilgs) is constantly pushing their brains to the limit. With the information they pump out, it keeps the rest of us extremely busy trying to figure out how to implement all this great information.
With all of our current growth, we have made major changes to our Web Design / Development Department starting by, adding a new manager with boat loads of experience. If you havent heard of Tom Seitz (@TRaySeitz) by now, you must be living under a rock. This guy has some of the best design credentials I have ever seen.
I am going to call it quits for tonight because I am exhausted. Until tomorrow folks!
So, I find it very fitting to find this article on the same day I renewed my Google AdWords certification. After a Google AdWords Q&A with @ckilgs and Scott Molloy I had at the exam. Its been a while since I have personally dabbled in an account, so it was nice to have two AdWord gurus within walking distance of my office. I was able to retain enough information from these two masters of AdWords to score an 89%. Given my track record when it comes to taking tests, I will take it all day long.
If you or someone you know needs help setting up or maintaining your AdWords account, contact Mainstreethost for a free consultation. We will work hand in hand to develop the best campaign strategy for your business.
If you are ever looking for a go to source for SEO, UX, link building or development information, Mike King is the man. Mike, aka iPullRank is very well known throughout the SEO community and is looked at as an expert to many, including myself. Mike is an SEO Manager with Publicis Modem and…
This is great! For many years now I have tried to explain what my job consists of to my parents. I no longer have to explain myself. I can simply have them watch this awesome video.
If you’ve been following all of the recent changes Facebook announced at their marketing conference held in New York City, you already know about new business page layouts, marketing features and tools and the new admin panel. Marketers have been hard at work over the last couple of days…
(via mainstreethostblogs)
Social Media Marketing Packages
• Social media marketing is one of the most affordable marketing tactics available.
• It allows companies to focus on and connect personally with their target markets.
• With over 800 million active users, Facebook is the strongest social networking website.
Facebook
• Setup of a branded Facebook business page customized to the business and optimized to be indexed on Search engines
• Creation of a landing page with custom design and navigation
• Inclusion of fan gate to increase incentive and build fan base
• Addition of a lead-generating contact form
• Monthly marketing campaigns to advertise and promote business via the welcome page
• Addition of a Facebook feed to the website that is readable by the search engines to strengthen SEO
• Linking of Facebook to website and vice versa in order to generate traffic and build credibility
• Linking of other social media pages/profiles and any other relevant links to Facebook
• Linking of personal Facebook profile to business page (if applicable)
• Conversion of existing profile to Facebook Timeline (if applicable)
• Creation of a custom Timeline cover photo for profile, which will advertise business page and other Social media profiles (if applicable)
• Development of 1 FREE 30-day application/contest to help gain fans
• Promotion of your application/contest regularly on your Facebook wall, Twitter account, and Google+ page
Twitter
• Setup of a branded Twitter page with detailed information about business
• Creation of a custom Twitter background
• Following of qualified users
• Linking of Twitter to website and vice versa to generate traffic and build credibility
Google+
• Setup of a Google+ page customized to the business
• Optimization of the Google+ page to maximize SEO value
• Linking of personal Google+ profile to Google+ business page (if applicable)
• Linking of other social media pages/profiles and any other relevant links to Google+
• Linking of Google+ page to website and vice versa to generate traffic and build credibility
Training
• In-depth training by a social media expert on how to effectively market the business using the aforementioned social media platforms
• Consultation on how to build personal relationships with customers/followers in order to grow social media presence and business
click for Facebook example: http://www.facebook.com/JustPizzaBuffalo
click for Twitter example: http://twitter.com/JustPizzaOver75
click for Google+ example: https://plus.google.com/117714654133478880692/posts
This is a guest post by Craig Kilgore. Craig is a digital marketer and heads up the research & development department at Mainstreethost. Check out some more of Craig’s work on his inbound marketing blog. You can connect with Craig on Twitter & Google+.
I have written in the past about what Google’s Search Plus Your World means for your online business and for the sake of this post, I will discuss with you what Google+ means for search. If you have yet to experiment with Google+, there is no better time than now to start diving into the newer social network. With predictions that the social network could hit 400 million users by the end of the year and the recent roll out of SPYW, there have already been clear indications that the search giant plans on continuing to use Google+ as a social search ranking factor.
How Big of an Impact Will Google+ Have on Search?
Now that you are aware of how quickly the social network is growing and the already significant impact on search results, how big of an impact will Google+ end up having on search down the road? In my opinion, everything is here to stay. Google+ is here to stay, search plus your world is here to stay and I predict that SPYW will begin including data from other social networks not long from now. With all of that being said, digital marketers will need to adapt to the changes and begin strategizing ways to leverage Google+.
It all Begins With a Well Planned Content Marketing Strategy
If you find yourself asking what it is you can do with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ without first developing a content marketing strategy, you are going to find it hard to build the ever so important community. Without a community or an audience, who is seeing your message? Developing a strategized, thought through content marketing strategy is going to give you an advantage over your competitors who are still looking at the social networks as the “tools” instead of treating the content as the tool and the social networks as the means for delivering your messages. All in all, you will be selling yourself short without first developing a content marketing strategy. Once it’s developed, use Google+ and other social networks as a way of getting your message in front of your audience and encouraging them to read and share your material (this will give you an advantage in personalized searches or SPYW).
Conclusion
I predict that Google+ and personalized / social search is here to stay and that it is only going to get bigger and have more of an impact on search. So it is up to you as a marketer to leverage these things or to continue along with old habits and marketing techniques in hopes that it doesn’t. Build a great community, develop great content, share your content and encourage that others do too.
This is a guest post by Craig Kilgore. Craig is a digital marketer and heads up the research & development department at Mainstreethost. Check out some more of Craig’s work on his inbound marketing blog. You can connect with Craig on Twitter & Google+.
I have written in the past about what Google’s Search Plus Your World means for your online business and for the sake of this post, I will discuss with you what Google+ means for search. If you have yet to experiment with Google+, there is no better time than now to start diving into the newer social network. With predictions that the social network could hit 400 million users by the end of the year and the recent roll out of SPYW, there have already been clear indications that the search giant plans on continuing to use Google+ as a social search ranking factor.
How Big of an Impact Will Google+ Have on Search?
Now that you are aware of how quickly the social network is growing and the already significant impact on search results, how big of an impact will Google+ end up having on search down the road? In my opinion, everything is here to stay. Google+ is here to stay, search plus your world is here to stay and I predict that SPYW will begin including data from other social networks not long from now. With all of that being said, digital marketers will need to adapt to the changes and begin strategizing ways to leverage Google+.
It all Begins With a Well Planned Content Marketing Strategy
If you find yourself asking what it is you can do with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ without first developing a content marketing strategy, you are going to find it hard to build the ever so important community. Without a community or an audience, who is seeing your message? Developing a strategized, thought through content marketing strategy is going to give you an advantage over your competitors who are still looking at the social networks as the “tools” instead of treating the content as the tool and the social networks as the means for delivering your messages. All in all, you will be selling yourself short without first developing a content marketing strategy. Once it’s developed, use Google+ and other social networks as a way of getting your message in front of your audience and encouraging them to read and share your material (this will give you an advantage in personalized searches or SPYW).
Conclusion
I predict that Google+ and personalized / social search is here to stay and that it is only going to get bigger and have more of an impact on search. So it is up to you as a marketer to leverage these things or to continue along with old habits and marketing techniques in hopes that it doesn’t. Build a great community, develop great content, share your content and encourage that others do too.
This is a guest post by Craig Kilgore. Craig is a digital marketer and heads up the research & development department at Mainstreethost. Check out some more of Craig’s work on his inbound marketing blog. You can connect with Craig on Twitter & Google+.
I have written in the past about what Google’s Search Plus Your World means for your online business and for the sake of this post, I will discuss with you what Google+ means for search. If you have yet to experiment with Google+, there is no better time than now to start diving into the newer social network. With predictions that the social network could hit 400 million users by the end of the year and the recent roll out of SPYW, there have already been clear indications that the search giant plans on continuing to use Google+ as a social search ranking factor.
How Big of an Impact Will Google+ Have on Search?
Now that you are aware of how quickly the social network is growing and the already significant impact on search results, how big of an impact will Google+ end up having on search down the road? In my opinion, everything is here to stay. Google+ is here to stay, search plus your world is here to stay and I predict that SPYW will begin including data from other social networks not long from now. With all of that being said, digital marketers will need to adapt to the changes and begin strategizing ways to leverage Google+.
It all Begins With a Well Planned Content Marketing Strategy
If you find yourself asking what it is you can do with Facebook, Twitter and Google+ without first developing a content marketing strategy, you are going to find it hard to build the ever so important community. Without a community or an audience, who is seeing your message? Developing a strategized, thought through content marketing strategy is going to give you an advantage over your competitors who are still looking at the social networks as the “tools” instead of treating the content as the tool and the social networks as the means for delivering your messages. All in all, you will be selling yourself short without first developing a content marketing strategy. Once it’s developed, use Google+ and other social networks as a way of getting your message in front of your audience and encouraging them to read and share your material (this will give you an advantage in personalized searches or SPYW).
Conclusion
I predict that Google+ and personalized / social search is here to stay and that it is only going to get bigger and have more of an impact on search. So it is up to you as a marketer to leverage these things or to continue along with old habits and marketing techniques in hopes that it doesn’t. Build a great community, develop great content, share your content and encourage that others do too.
One of the first questions I find myself asking clients is, do you have a mobile presence on the web? Most of them have no idea what I am talking about. This link shows just how important it is to have a mobile friendly website. I find it hard to believe individuals that own a business are not already on board with the mobile craze. Reports show that by the end of 2012, the number of smartphone users will have risen to half a billion. If you own a business and see this statistic, how do you ignore it?
I always try to portray this as a “What’s your business worth to you?” mentality. The harsh reality is, if you don’t get a mobile website, you will be left behind. That’s the truth! I encourage every business owner to hop on the bandwagon. If you have any questions just ask your marketing professional. I would have to think anyone in the marketing industry would agree with me on this.
Google and other search engines have come along way and our goal is to get clients on the same page.
