Google: The Social Empire

Not too long ago, the Internet was all about autonomy. If you were looking for something specific, you would go to a search engine, plug in your search term, find the answer, and move along. Back then, the results you found online were strictly based on your search terms and the algorithms of the major search engines like Google and Yahoo! But now, the Internet is a social web, and Google is spinning search in a whole new direction.

Including Social in Search

The debut of social media changed the entire Internet. The inclusion of social into search has been increasing rapidly. Traditional social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter were just the beginning. Following the trend setters were link-sharing sites like reddit. Major participatory sites like Wikipedia and blogging also add an entire element to the Internet that alter search as well.

Today sharing, following, commenting, and “liking” is a prime source for people to gather and exchange information. Sure, search is a bigger part of the equation but social is successfully moving in. What does all this mean for Google? Well, all of this effects how Google makes money, so it means the search engine has to be proactive with changes rather than simply reacting. When search-based surfing becomes smaller, and social sharing becomes larger—Google has to do something about it because it changes their bottom line.

If you haven’t noticed yet, Google is attempting to bring social into their brand and use your network to influence the things you find when using their search engine. Take a look at the steps the company has already taken to build their own social empire.

From Search Engine to Social Search Engine

To rival Facebook, Google launched its own platform Google+ last June. The Google+ project aimed to connect individuals and create relationships based on interests. At first, the public speculated Google+ would practically replace Facebook, much like Facebook replaced My Space. With time, the Google+ project proved not as successful. Although people initially were excited about this new social platform combining the benefits of networking, connecting, and video chatting, not a ton of people committed. In efforts to improve the situation, Google continually updates the social network.

Months after Google+ launched, Google announced another one of its bricks to build a social empire—Google+ pages. Google+ pages were designed to create a connection through common interests and passions. These pages were to help businesses and brands connect with customers, and offered a place for users to recommend the page. According to Google, the pages help people transform their queries into instant connections.

Following the Google+ pages was an update that merges search and social on a different level. This January, Google upped the search experience with Search Plus Your World. This update meant Google sifted through content as well as people and relationships. For example, if you were searching for a trip to Hawaii, the results would include relevant Google+ posts from your connections that concern traveling to Hawaii. The goal here was to enable everyone to get information from the people around them. For now, Search Plus Your World is just an option. However, in an attempt to be an all inclusive social brand, Google could potentially make this a permanent upgrade to make the cocktail of search and social concrete.

The Forecast for Google’s Social Empire

Because we’re all social beings, collectively performing about three billion searches per day, connecting social and search together can be used to everyone’s advantage. As further evidence of these benefits, a study suggested people are more likely to click to your website from the search engines if your face appears next to your listing. Better yet, the creation of a Google+ page and an integration of rel=author, can increase your click-thru rates by 12 to 15 times.

We believe social activities like this will continue to impact your organic listings in ranking potential, click-thru, and conversion. It’s an important part of online marketing and should be addressed immediately within your company.

Between dabbling in the social networking field and its ability to integrate search results and social connections, Google is embracing the new era of the Internet—and it’s even more important for you to claim your territory within the Google Empire.

Client Spotlight: Sporting goods and search marketing success

RIP-IT Sporting Goods started nearly ten years ago with the hope of making something good, great. After witnessing a younger sibling suffer an injury during a softball game, two brothers recognized a need for lightweight, easy to manage face guards. Sure enough, the brothers successfully designed and created new equipment that rivaled existing protective gear.

What was once a single product shop run from a garage is now an all inclusive baseball and softball go-to. RIP-IT offers a variety of sporting goods besides face guards including baseball and softball bats, helmets, and bags nationwide through online retailers.

A new opportunity for RIP-IT last year called for increased marketing efforts, and search marketing played a big role for the company. For anyone unfamiliar with the behind-the-scenes of baseball and softball, the equipment has certain standards and regulations for ensuring safety and optimal performance. Recently, new regulations for baseball bats were introduced and every student in the game had to get new gear. Because every high school and college team has to abide by these standards, RIP-IT wanted to become a major player in the sports industry for the newly required BBCOR bat.

For RIP-IT’s vice president of marketing and design, Matthew Delgado, being a front runner for the new bat meant gaining a competitive edge online.

“We wanted to have a dominant online presence by ranking higher on Google,” Matthew said. “We felt no one else takes advantage of that in our industry.”

With so many potential new customers looking for the new bat, RIP-IT wanted to be exactly where the people were. By targeting certain keywords, RIP-IT was able to secure beneficial positions on the search engine results page during the BBCOR frenzy.

According to Delgado, RIP-IT has seen significant increases in traffic to their site as well as traffic to their online retailers. Once upon a time, certain keywords for their targeted products were hidden on the tenth page of the search results. After working with SEO.com, the company has jumped to the first page of the search engine results and is happy with their rankings.

“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to find and buy our products,” Delgado emphasized. “It’s about getting our name out there and we wanted to have better interactions with our customers.”

SEO Tip: Build Site Authority With Content

When it comes to search marketing, targeted traffic equals more revenue. The success of a website is mostly determined by the number of targeted visitors received. To help build website authority it is important to utilize a number of different media.

Sure, writing articles keeps the search engines happy—but there are other avenues of content that build authority and keep readers interested. Try implementing a variety of the following content and SEO rich suggestions.

1. Infographics. Creative infographics are social sharing gold. Infographics with a unique idea and proper execution are a strategic way to lure more visitors to your website. By including SEO copy on the page, you can ensure the page will appease search engines as well. Don’t forget to leave an embed code.
2. Videos. You can drive traffic and increase leads if you utilize video marketing and optimize properly. Provide a relevant, interesting video for your audience and be sure to have a compelling title, keyword rich description, and also add tags.
3. Blog posts.Blogging has tons of potential to trigger and retain traffic. Guest blogging is a great way to branch out from typical blog posts because it helps bring in new traffic and even solidifies your authority.
4. Webinars. Presenting to a group of users utilizing a video sharing program builds your brand and can help you leverage links. Embed your webinar on your site, and even add a notes section to add any necessary written content or keywords.
5. White papers or eBooks. Develop an informative guide. White papers help capture leads and a lot of people are willing to share the wealth of knowledge. Also take the time to optimize the PDF.

Diversifying the type of content you provide helps keep your website interesting. Appeal to your audience and encourage social sharing to really maintain and attract targeted, revenue-boosting traffic.

Industry events

SMX Advanced: Seattle; June 5-6

SES Conference & Expo: Toronto; June 11-13

Optimization Summit: Denver; June 11-14

Conversion Conference: Chicago; June 25-26

More than a year ago Google introduced the Panda algorithm update, which fundamentally changed the search engine optimization industry. On April 19, SEO.com will host a free webinar analyzing the impact of Google’s algorithm changes on search engine rankings for many websites.

“There’s been a lot of talk about the Panda update since it came out,” said David Malmborg, a search engine optimization expert at SEO.com. “However, the majority of that talk has been directed toward Web designers and SEO professionals. This webinar will address the Panda update from a marketing point of view.”

Search engine optimization is the process of improving a website’s visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.com.

“The webinar will explain how SEO applies to marketing and website content,” said Malmborg, who will present at Thursday’s webinar. “It will also explain what parts of Panda business owners and marketers need to pay attention to.”

Since its release in February 2011, the Panda algorithm update has been revised about 14 times by Google.

“Panda is an attempt by Google to rate the quality of website content,” said Claye Stokes, SEO director at SEO.com. “The websites that suffered the most from the Panda update were sites that copied content from other sites and didn’t have very unique or high-quality content of their own.”

Stokes said lower profile blog-like websites were most negatively affected by Panda, not business and ecommerce sites.

But according to Malmborg, “marketers and business owners need to care about SEO and the Panda update because it directly affects their online visibility.”

SEO experts estimate that more than 80 percent of websites affected by Google’s algorithm changes are still struggling to regain strong search engine rankings.

The SEO.com webinar will detail the significance of Google Panda and how it relates to online content and organic SEO. The presentation will also provide tips on how to recover from previous Google Panda impacts and how to prepare for future updates.

“Whether you’re trying to start your own business and are just starting the website creation process, or you’re a marketing director for a large company maintaining a website, this webinar will tell you what you need to know and keep your eyes out for,” Malmborg said.

The webinar is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern time and will last for about 40 minutes. To register for the webinar, visit http://www.seo.com/webinars/impact-googles-panda-update-content/.

The Secrets Behind Successful Landing Pages

Generating traffic to your website is great, but it isn’t the ultimate goal. Traffic is only beneficial so far as you convert the visitors into customers. If you utilize email campaigns, pay-per-click advertising, or even if you gain website visitors directly from search engines, you could be losing the opportunity to convert website traffic into customers if you don’t create the right landing pages.

An all too common mistake businesses make is directing earned visitors to the home page. By dropping people off on your home page, it requires the visitors to navigate themselves and you are more likely to suffer from higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates.

Using a few key elements, building the right landing page is not only possible but more likely to be successful.

Where to Start

Landing pages are created for the sole purpose of promoting a particular product, service, or offer. These pages are designed to gather information from website visitors by introducing a lead generating form. If done right, a landing page will entice a visitor to fill out the form.
If people are looking for something specific, and you provide a valuable solution, your landing page should reflect this and provide a way for visitors to connect with you.

There are two critical questions you have to ask yourself prior to perfecting a landing page:

1. What do you want visitors to do on your website?
2. How can you ensure visitors do what you want them to do on your website?

Optimized properly, you can subtly tell customers exactly what to do and how to do it.

Getting People to the Page

Sometimes, you need to nail down the basics. First things first for a creating a successful landing page is making certain you take advantage of the title and meta data. The title is displayed in the browser and search results page as the link that goes to your site. Be sure to include keywords in the title. Write your title strategically, and try to include your brand. A lot of specialists recommend leveraging your brand because it can help increase click-through rates.

Writing the meta-description is of equal importance. The meta description provides a brief synopsis of the page and should entice people to go to your page. If you leave this section blank, the search engines will simply pull content from your site that may not be useful. It should also include keywords as well as a clear call to action telling people what to do.

Landing Page Pointers

When people get to your landing page, tell them everything with the headline. The headline of a page has a lot of responsibility. This single line has to capture attention, describe the page, include keywords, and read naturally. Because the headline of the landing page is the first thing visitors see, you want the headline to be straight to the point. A solid headline is a brief statement and should match up with the title of the page. It also happens to be the first thing the search engines index.

The actual content on a landing page should be visually appealing. Huge blocks of text turn visitors away. In an attempt to make your landing page engaging, consider breaking up the page with:

• Lists
• Bullets
• Videos
• Images

The content needs to be long enough to cover the subject at hand, but short enough to maintain interest. Try to be both descriptive and clear, and do not forget to have a call to action.

One of the most important things to optimize on a landing page is the actual lead generating form. The key to a solid form is to determine how much information you need from the audience. If you ask for too much information, you run the risk of getting less leads, but the leads you do secure could be more valuable. If you don’t ask for enough information, you may get more leads, but those leads might be a waste of time. Find a balance for your industry, and test it. A good start is just asking for a name and email address.

Perfecting the Landing Page

When all is said and done, it helps to get an unbiased opinion about your landing page. After you put your hard work in, an outsider’s perspective can help you see if you’ve missed the mark or have perhaps been a little too over promotional. If you want your landing pages to really pay off, a second opinion can help ensure it looks natural for better conversion rates—and that’s what it is really all about.

Client Spotlight: Reputable strategist uses search marketing to ensure success

Behind success is strategy and behind strategy is Rich Horwath. Rich Horwath is the President of the Strategic Thinking Institute and is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author on strategic thinking. He provides strategy training programs, workshops and gives speeches to help businesses build competitive advantages. So what does a guy like Horwath do when it comes to strategy and his own personal success? Horwath harnesses the power of search engine optimization.

Horwath has worked with organizations such as Google, FedEx, and Kraft building strategies, but with his very specific niche, he explained that in order to get new key clients who are looking for him and need his help, he relies on search marketing to connect him with potential clients.

“Today, when people look for information they go immediately to the Internet, and as an entrepreneur being able to have a strong presence on the Internet makes good strategic sense,” Horwath said. “Because that’s the first place people go to find things, it’s important to be there on page one.”

According to Horwath, since he began utilizing SEO.com’s expertise his trophy keyword ‘strategic thinking’ went from being on page three of search engine results to page one. He has even secured the number two position on page one of the search engine results beneath Wikipedia.

Search marketing has proved beneficial for Horwath for dozens of search terms. He has experienced an increase in page rankings for other targeted keywords related to his work as well. Some successful keywords shifted five or ten positions on the search engine results, while others have jumped forward nearly ninety positions.

In the wise words of Horwath, you have to be strategic or you’ll be gone.

“I think with the reality of today and the ability to get on the Internet instantly at any point and any time, including the development of mobile applications, it’s critical to have a good strong online presence,” said Horwath. “Or you are not going to be found.”

Tips and Tricks: Create a content generation strategy

Having a “good enough” content strategy is what puts you behind the competition. A content strategy needs to be more than high word counts and filling in white space. Your strategy needs to lay out an entire plan for the creation, publication, and control of usable and useful content.

The principles of a content strategy are centered on developing valuable website content to improve the user’s experience. Strategists need to build a structure for content to decide what content needs to be developed and decide why it should be published.

A superior content generation strategy will:

1. Build loyalty.With fresh content on a regular basis, your website or blog will urge visitors to return frequently. Consistency can help build industry credibility.
2. Appeal to search engines.Consistent and well-organized content can help you secure higher rankings in the search engines because it helps your website remain relevant.
3. Generate new traffic. Your content generation strategy helps you keep your site up-to-date and timely. As such, your website will spark more interest and bring in additional visitors.

Before you can create a content generation strategy you need to have your keyword research completed. Your keyword research will help you maintain a focus for your content generation strategy.

Creating a content generation strategy begins with brainstorming. Use your keyword research as a structure to appease the search engines, but find topics surrounding the keywords to be relevant to readers.

Once you have brainstormed topics and determined what you to write, organizing the information is next. From an SEO perspective, organizing your information prevents you from duplicating content.

You can organize your content by putting different topics in categories and lists. By mapping out your content, your strategy helps solidify quality content that will engage the right audience. Decide what type of content works best including blog content, eBook content, white papers, or even webinar content. It also helps to build a style guide for your site so everyone who will be contributing content will be able to work within your set strategy and structure.

By combining critical thinking with brainstorming and keeping yourself organized, you can maximize your content generation strategy by making sure to hit all the SEO basics such as creating links and including images, alt text, videos, and audio.

Industry events

Social Media Strategies Summit: Chicago; April 18-19

Search Insider Summit: Captiva Island, FL.; April 22-25

Search Marketing Expo: Toronto; April 25-26

SEO.com events

Webinar: Impact of Google’s Panda Update on Content — April 19 at 11 a.m. Mountain time

“I volunteered as a judge for DECA in 2010,” said Buckles. “I really enjoyed it, so I decided to volunteer again. This year I will be a judge for the sports and entertainment marketing series event.”

The conference is on April 30 at the Salt Palace Convention Center. DECA is still seeking business professionals to volunteer as judges for more than 40 competitive events.

“It’s a great opportunity to help the next generation of business people and entrepreneurs,” said Shane Thomas, director of competitive events for DECA Inc.

DECA is a non-profit student organization catering to high school and college students who are focused on careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

“A lot of students have been working on their project since the very beginning of the school year,” Thomas said. “The sports and entertainment marketing series event is a role playing event.”

While role playing, students are given 10 minutes to read over a scenario. Each scenario poses a problem the student must solve. Judges are presented with the solutions.

Students compete for mostly recognition, though some events offer monetary awards.

“We believe it’s important to stay involved in the community,” Buckles said. “What better way to get involved than to take an interest in our future employees?”

SEO.com, a leading provider of search engine optimization services, stays active in education circles in Utah. The company has presented in various business classes at Davis High School, sponsored the BYU Marriott School’s Sales Idol Finals and hosted a conference at Utah Valley University discussing the ethics of search engine optimization.

“SEO.com has been a valuable source of information for use in my social media marketing class,” said Jeff McCauley, business teacher and DECA adviser at Davis High School. “They have provided insight that my students found interesting and useful.”

Buckles said that SEO.com is interested in seeing what these students will contribute to the business world as they enter the professional workforce.

“We want to offer our expertise to these students. We want to tell them why search engine optimization, social media and other Internet marketing strategies are important components to effectively running and promoting their business,” Buckles said. “It’s important to us to prepare them for success.”

He encouraged other businesspeople to volunteer as judges for DECA.

To volunteer, applicants should visit http://www.deca.org/events/judge. All volunteers will be provided free parking, breakfast, lunch and an onsite orientation session.

“It’s all about the students and to see hardworking students achieve their goals and work toward this accomplishment,” Thomas said.

SEO.com was recently invited to take part in a unique event featuring Daymond John from the popular show ‘Shark Tank’ and hundreds of high school students from around the country. Mr. McCauley, an amazing business teacher from Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah, started tweeting Daymond over a year ago to ask the business celebrity to make a guest appearance via Skype for his Entrepreneurship students.

As busy schedules go, nearly a year later, McCauley and Daymond arranged a hangout on Google+ but took it a step further by inviting hundreds of high school business classes to participate. The team at Google+ graciously came through at the last minute to extend the normal 10 person hangout limit so students around the country could participate.

The 45 minute Q&A session between the successful entrepreneur and aspiring high school students left us with several valuable lessons:

1. Fail, Fail and Fail Again

Unknown to many, Daymond John closed down his clothing brand, FUBU, three times in the early days in the early 1990′s. FUBU later went on to become a major pop culture brand and do millions in sales each year. This story is not uncommon to some of the most famous successful brands and entrepreneurs.

From a recent article on FastMoney.com:

Pinterest is one of the fastest-growing websites in history, but struggled for a long time. Pinterest’s CEO recently said that it had “catastrophically small numbers” in its first year after launch and that if he had listened to popular startup advice he probably would have quit.

James Dyson failed in 5,126 prototypes before perfecting his revolutionary vacuum cleaner. Groupon was put on life support and nearly shut down at one point in its meteoric rise.

The ubiquitous WD-40 lubricant got its name because the first 39 experiments failed. WD-40 literally stands for “Water Displacement–40th Attempt.” If they gave up early on like most of us do, we’d sure have a lot more squeaky hinges in the world.

The key to Daymond succeeding after closing his business multiple times was that he kept hustling and kept selling. Daymond recounted the story about him approaching rappers to wear his shirts in their videos and then he’d take the shirt back and go to the next video set. He did this over and over until 3 years later his brand was major success but very few people knew that for many years, he only had 10 shirts.

2. Know Your Numbers, Know Your Business

To an investor like Daymond, nothing is a quicker turn off than being pitched by an entrepreneur who doesn’t know his numbers. If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank, you’ve likely seen the Sharks tear apart entrepreneurs who come unprepared or dodge the important questions.

Knowing your numbers applies at many levels. As an entrepreneur seeking investment, you should obviously be prepared with numbers regarding sales, pending orders, profit, expenses and market opportunity. The same principle applies as an employee of a company or as an agency offering consulting. Knowing your key numbers and key performance indicators is a valuable trait whether you work at one of the greatest SEO companies in the world or are in the early stages of launching one of the next greatest brands.

3. Analysis Paralysis & Common Sense

One thing that really struck me while listening to Daymond was how much gut feel and common sense play into his businesses and investments versus raw analysis of data and numbers. As mentioned earlier, you need to know your numbers but Daymond recommends avoiding analysis paralysis or over analyzing a situation. Sometimes you just need to dig in and get your hands dirty to learn or determine if an opportunity is good.

Daymond also discussed how the Sharks heavily consider the person when they invest, not just the business opportunity. They know that a given business may not work out but putting your money behind a hard working, smart entrepreneur is the safest bet they can make. Daymond, in particular, looks for a “hungry person with a great idea and a lot of desire”.

4. Born to be an Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurship and innovation is something that’s been on many people’s mind since the passing of Steve Jobs. As one of the world’s most innovative thinkers, Steve Jobs lived Apple’s slogan of “Think Different”.

The following quote from an inspiring video of Steve Jobs gives a very revealing look into his mind and how he sees the world of business and innovation.

When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is to just live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls to much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money but that’s a very limited life.

Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is, everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you … the minute that you understand that you can poke life … that you can change it, you can mold it … that’s maybe the most important thing. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.

Daymond John echoed these feelings by Steve Jobs during his Google hangout when answering a student’s question about when he knew he was going to be an entrepreneur. Daymond stated that he believes were were all born thinking like entrepreneurs but society teaches us not to be entrepreneurs by correcting us at an early age and telling us how things are supposed to be or how we’ll embarrass ourselves by failing.

5. The Future of Education is Bright

Mr. McCauley of Davis High School is leading the way by utilizing technology and social media to go beyond the text book and provide his students with a cutting edge education. Social media platforms have allowed him and others to reach out and get in front of celebrities and industry experts like Daymond John. With simple and innovative technology like Google+ hangouts, these celebrities and experts can now quickly and effortlessly communicate with students, fans and anyone else interested.

I’d like to commend Mr. McCauley for going above and beyond for his students and hundreds of others that were able to tune in. I also have much respect for Daymond John who willingly took an hour out of his busy schedule to give back to students who regularly tune in to Shark Tank and look to Daymond and others for advice as they become the next wave of entrepreneurs and Sharks.

The Full Daymond John Google+ Hangout

Entrepreneur Daymond John and an official from SEO.com spoke to high school students in March. John was in the classroom via Google+.

Daymond John, president of FUBU clothing and panelist on ABC’s “Shark Tank” will lecture to a group of Utah high school students on March 29. By utilizing the power of Google+, students will have the opportunity to engage via webcam with the entrepreneur. SEO.com will also present at the event about the need for small businesses to maintain a presence in social media.

“This lets students who would never get a personal interaction with Daymond John have one,” said Jeff McCauley, a business teacher at Davis High School in Kaysville, Utah.

“Shark Tank” gives budding entrepreneurs a chance to pitch their ideas to a panel of successful businesspeople. Contestants vie for the chance to make their dreams come true by securing funding for their business ambitions.

“I show the show to my class sometimes,” said McCauley, whose students are holding the event. “It’s pretty interesting having them point out the real-life situations I try to teach in my lessons.”

McCauley, who contacted John through Twitter to arrange the event, said his students can learn a lot from John, both as an entrepreneur and investor.

The Google+ webcam chat function, known as a hangout, has given McCauley the ability to bring big-name business professionals into the classroom via social media.

“Google+ is great because it’s easy and free,” he said. “I’ve held three classroom hangouts since the social network came out last year.”

SEO.com President Ash Buckles said a hangout on Google+ is a great way to discuss entrepreneurship between students and prominent entrepreneurs like John. It bridges the communication gap and exposes the next generation to social media tools and how to use them for business purposes. Google considers social activities like hangouts, +1 votes and written content when ranking search engine results, so each business benefits long after the initial hangout by archiving their brand’s content with more visible search rankings.

“Google+ is a free marketing tool,” said Buckles, an Internet marketing expert. “Where Facebook is used to connect with friends and share pictures, Google+ is heavily influencing how pages are ranked in Google. … Google is using social to better refine search. It’s using people’s preferences and social tendencies for making search results more relevant.”

He added that SEO.com is watching closely as teachers like McCauley train the next generation of entrepreneurs and social media marketers. SEO.com just launched a new program for small business owners and startup entrepreneurs who are hoping to improve where their websites rank in search results.

“Google and other search engines have dedicated a ton of real estate to small, local businesses,” said Bryan Phelps, a director of search engine optimization at SEO.com. “Our goal is to help push smaller companies to the top of the heap.”

He said businesses risk losing customers if they do not grasp how to market themselves on social media websites like Google+, Facebook and Twitter. Features like Circles on Google+ allow companies to target select audiences with products and services specifically created for them.

“That is a tool that you cannot find anywhere else,” said Darin Berntson, social media marketing manager for SEO.com.

The hangout with John will be recorded on Google+. Officials will place the recording on YouTube after the event

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a website in the search engine rankings. The ethical question businesses face is should they use accepted white hat SEO techniques for stronger, long-term search engine results or black hat techniques, which though unscrupulous may produce more immediate results. Internet marketing experts view black hat SEO as unethical.

Still, this is an area often discussed by organizations using SEO companies to help grow their presence online. Industry leaders weighed in on the ethical issues businesses face when choosing white hat or black hat SEO techniques.

“Businesses should make sure that they are ranking high in the search engines for the right reasons, not by taking shortcuts,” said SEO.com President Ash Buckles, a presenter at the conference. “SEO companies should have nothing to hide in the work they are doing. … Online marketing has seen rapid changes for more than 15 years. The standards of 1997 do not match the standards of 2012. Ideally, a search strategy is established and the work performed thereafter improves visibility without risking your brand through deceptive techniques.”

Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of Search Engine Land and Marketing Land added, “Pick any industry, and there are generally accepted rules of behavior. Some people want to push outside those rules. Some may win by doing so. Some also get hit with penalties.”

“I think it’s far better to ask yourself if what you’re doing is something you’re proud of. If you’re link spamming a blog that’s a tribute to someone who died, is that really what you want to hold your head up about? My biggest disappointment really tends to be that people will justify poor behavior all around with arguments that other people are getting away with it,” Sullivan said.

SEO expert David Mihm described tactics some search marketing firms use that may be deceptive to consumers.

“Things that would fall into this category would be fake reviews of your business, fake reviews of your competitors, fake Facebook or Google+ or Twitter personas that are not obviously fake, creating fake locations for your business, hijacking competitors’ business listings, dynamic price-switching tactics,” Mihm explained. “This should certainly be avoided morally and ethically and may even be illegal.”

One technique often debated is the purchasing of links to build search engine presence. Mihm doesn’t find any ethical issue with buying links, but recommended businesses stay away from this tactic so companies are not penalized by the search engines.

Utah Valley University assistant professor Arlen Card questioned whether Google should be the ethical arbiters on the Internet.

“Maybe the ethical issue is not about breaking Google’s rules, but instead about Google skewing and steering the Web in unnatural ways for their own ends – profit,” said Card, a presenter at the conference.

SEO.com Social Media Manager Darin "Doc" Berntson will be raising money this week for schools as he travels to the SXSW Interactive conference in Austin,Texas. Berntson will stop at schools along the way to teach students about social media.

Social media has become a way of life for today’s youth. That’s why Chevrolet has put together a group of Internet marketing experts who will tour the nation teaching students as young as elementary school about social media in anticipation of this month’s SXSW Interactive conference in Austin, Texas.

“The purpose of the tour is to raise money and awareness for Adopt-A-Classroom,” said SEO.com Social Media Manager Darin “Doc” Berntson, a member of the team from Salt Lake City.

Adopt-A-Classroom is a non-profit organization that raises money for teachers to purchase resources for their classrooms.

“South by Southwest (SXSW) serves as a perfect venue for Chevy to listen, engage and build relationships with next generation customers. We launched the road trip idea two years ago and added the charity component last year,” said Rebecca Harris, a Chevrolet representative. “The activity has been a huge success. In the past, the road trip teams have had great interactions with the schools, the kids have had excellent experiences and the teachers have provided positive feedback on the content and funding assistance. ”

Teams from around the country will begin their trips March 5 and will travel for about a week.

The Salt Lake City team plans to visit schools in Utah, New Mexico and Texas. The final destination is SXSW Interactive, a festival focused on technology. The conference includes presentations from industry leaders and networking events.

“I have always wanted to go to South by Southwest. The event has always looked amazing,” said Berntson. “The road trip aspect is just an added bonus. Being able to partner with Chevy and bring awareness to the charity as well as raise funds for them is icing on the cake.”

According to Harris, “social media is changing the way the world is communicating.”

“Schools are beginning to integrate social media into the classroom experience. Businesses are using social media every day. As these kids enter the workforce, they will be expected to know how to utilize these tools,” she said.

High schools and universities have even started offering courses in social media marketing.

“Kids need to be aware of what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable when it comes to using social media, and how these platforms fit into their lives,” Harris said.

She said that while elementary school students are not old enough to register for social media websites, Chevy wanted to teach the children about social media because they use the Internet.

“We are happy to be a part of the Chevy road trip to South by Southwest,” said Ash Buckles, president of SEO.com, an SEO services company. “Doc has a lot of experience in the social media field, and he is perfect to teach the next generation of marketers about social media.”

Chevy will have a map on its website with OnStar showing where the teams are at any given moment.

Follow Berntson and teammate Scott Duehlmeier on Twitter at @SLCSXSW. Use the Twitter hashtag #SLCSXSW and read the team’s blog at http://www.slcsxsw.tumblr.com.

Small businesses can thrive off local search marketing and here’s why:

• More than 40 percent of monthly searches use localized keywords
• 70 percent of households use the Internet when shopping for products and services locally
• 90 percent of people click on the first page of the search engine results

At this point it almost goes without saying that local search marketing has serious potential to help small businesses gain a competitive advantage—if done right.

Ranking With Relevancy

Ranking factors for local search mimic traditional search because they look for relevancy and popularity. Bryan Phelps, SEO.com’s director of SEO for small business, revealed expert insight on how to make your company more relevant.

1. Location.  The first thing search engines use to determine relevancy for local search results is the physical location of your business related to the search query. Phelps explained that if people search for a dentist in Salt Lake City, the closer the business is to the epicenter the search engines create for the city, the higher you may rank. For any new entrepreneurs who are looking for ways to start their small business off right from a search marketing perspective, Phelps suggests they do some research beforehand about local search and what the search engines are using as the epicenter.

2. Website. On-site optimization carries significant weight for local search rankings. For instance, Google will crawl your website to make sure your business name, address, and phone number match your Google Places profile. The search engine also crawls for relevant keywords on the website. The stronger your site, the bigger your online footprint. Focusing on simple things like title tags, Meta data, and content will help enhance your site and make a significant impact on local search rankings.

3. Business listing information. Consistency is key for local search. You need to keep your company name, address, and phone number (NAP) formatted the same across the web. Decide how you want your information to be standardized and stick with it. For example, do not alternate between spelling out ‘street’ in your address and using the abbreviation. Having different addresses tied to your company can work against your SEO efforts.

Building Online Popularity

In local search, online popularity is just as significant as relevancy. Compared to traditional search marketing, there are several unique approaches to building popularity for small businesses.

1. Create citations. Citations resemble link building for traditional SEO . Google goes out and searches for your business name, address, and phone number to check for an online presence. Consistency plays an important role in building popularity with citations as well. Using the same format for your business information helps the search engines gauge your existence online. Phelps said there are a number of ways to create citations and that you can build citations on almost any website. If you make your online signature your NAP, when you comment on a blog or forum Google will take note.

2. Distribute business listings. Distributing your business listing across other sites like YellowPages.com helps search engines recognize your business. When you have a presence on such sites Google acknowledges you are a legitimate and popular company.

3. Get reviews. “Building a review mentality in your business is really important,” Phelps said. He explained that small businesses should make online reviews a priority because search engines pay attention to quantity, frequency, and quality. Other local search experts agree and reveal that rankings change tremendously with review quality and quantity. It would be ideal to receive one or two reviews a week.

Leveraging Local Search

The sole purpose of local search results is to give consumers exactly what they are looking for, which is why local rankings can be critical for small businesses. When it comes to local search marketing and rankings, some small businesses fail to recognize the advantages available which is why many turn to an internet marketing service. Even worse, some small businesses fail to make their presence known. With these suggestions, small businesses can increase their relevancy, popularity, and more importantly, revenue.

Client Spotlight: Cautionary construction supply company keeps a competitive edge

While some teenagers are given allowance, others have a natural entrepreneurial spirit and are making money their own way. Back when Brandon Anderson was in the ninth grade, his father suggested he help sell traffic barricade lights for extra cash. Anderson took the challenge to heart and set up a rookie website and became a distributor. At a young age, he began cold calling companies, contacting manufacturers and trying to make sales. He proved successful, and later on in life Anderson expanded his horizons. Now, he is the founder and owner of his own company called Trans-Supply.

Trans-Supply has come a long way. What once was just a supply of barricade lights is now a plethora of cautionary construction supplies for highway renovation projects and even airport supplies.

“I really decided to take it to the next level during my sophomore year in college,” Anderson said. “I decided to start from scratch with a new site and began to add a wider variety of products from all manufacturers.”

These construction supplies help guarantee traffic safety. The supplies offered range from speed bumps and traffic cones to flashing airport lights and sand barrels. Aside from his extensive selection of supplies, Anderson does what he can to be best of breed.

“I make sure there are no headaches in getting safety products to my customers. I like to be the person they go to for inexpensive products,” said Anderson.

According to Anderson, people come to his site and are often surprised by his affordable prices. In fact, Anderson admits that his prices are substantially lower than the competition because his company makes it a point to research prices and ensure they are equal to, if not well below, competitor’s prices.

Anderson continued to explain that he does everything in his power to get products to his customers as fast as possible for as cheap as possible.

With Trans-Supply’s large network of suppliers and an owner who was raised in the industry, clientele can always expect extensive knowledge, top-notch quality, and inexpensive products.

Tips and Tricks: Make pages easy to share for social bookmarking sites

Social bookmarking services have little link building value in SEO, but they can provide value in their ability to generate site traffic. Many people still utilize social bookmarking sites such as StumbleUpon and Delicious, and having a presence on prominent sites such as Reddit and Pinterest can really help your site gain ground.

Personal bookmarks do not generate significant traffic to your site from a single user, but getting the attention of multiple users on these sites and offering them an easy way to bookmark your site or page so they can share it will have an immense impact on click-thrus.

Social bookmarking can help generate site traffic for a number of reasons. Users on these sites are:

1. Browsing. People who are browsing, or following along their friends social bookmarks can easily stumble on your site. If your site sparks their interest including an easy way for them to subscribe, bookmark, or share with their networks is a great way to attract readers.

2. Searching. People who are specifically searching on social bookmarking sites for certain content can easily find your site. Better yet, they tend to trust your site because it comes from like-minded individuals. In a way, some social bookmarking sites give your pages automatic credibility.

People who are browsing and searching social bookmarking sites who come across your site can eventually help your page rankings in the search engines because of the additional traffic. With increased traffic, people may end up linking to your site which will encourage a viral effect.

Taking all of this into consideration will mean more viral sharing to increase traffic as well as link equity for your website.

Industry events

SEMPO: Atlanta; March 8, 2012

SXSW Interactive: Austin; March 9-13, 2012

Search Engine Strategies: New York; March 19-23, 2012

Search Insider Summit: Captiva Island, FL; April 22-25, 2012

SEO.com events

White Hat/Black Hat Symposium — March 8 at 11:30 a.m.; Utah Valley University Library in the Lakeview Room (4th Floor)

SEO.com SXSW Road trip — Started March 5; Follow us @SLCSXSW and be a part of it with #SLCSXSW

Search engine optimization is a type of online marketing that helps improve the visibility of a website in search engines like Google and Bing. The major goal of Internet marketing is to structure, optimize and promote a company’s website in such a way that the website ranks near the top of the results when people use search terms related to the business.

But Claye Stokes, a Director of SEO at SEO.com, said his own family has no idea what he does for a living.

I try to explain it, but they really don’t understand what it is,” Stokes said. “Now I just say I’m in Internet marketing. The term search engine optimization tends to go above people’s heads unless they are in marketing or really familiar with the Web.

Instead of spelling out the acronym, Stokes said that people try to pronounce the name of his company as “see oh dot com.”

Though experts expect online marketing to grow to a $20 billion industry in 2012, even an explosion in the number of SEO companies, combined with efforts by marketing professionals to educate businesses about search engine optimization, has not greatly increased awareness of the industry.

However, Jon Reese, director of marketing for SEO.com, said that should change as more people eschew brick-and-mortar stores to do their shopping online.

Throughout 2012, Reese said SEO.com will use its website to show videos, blog and offer free webinars for those interested in learning more about search engine optimization.

There is a lot a business can do to improve where its website ranks in the search engines. We discuss those techniques,” he said. “We expect the popularity of search engine optimization to grow once companies realize that Internet marketing helps conveniently place a website in front of those who are already in the mood to buy.

Still, the term “search engine optimization” is still largely unfamiliar to the general public.

Randomly asking people if they knew the meaning of search engine optimization during a recent stroll in Salt Lake City produced some interesting results:

“It means faster ability to search,” Salt Lake City resident Jim Halcom said.

Others echoed Halcom’s explanation, believing that search engine optimization was something that occurred on the consumer end of the search engines.

“It means that I can find almost limitless sources of information in the right places. Anything I look for, there’s a lot of different things I can use to find it,” Salt Lake City resident Megan Torgersen said.

Some people admittedly had no idea what search engine optimization was.

Only one of the people who were asked knew the meaning of SEO, describing it as “calibrating the under-the-hood descriptions of a website so that it is searchable through search engines to increase the visibility of the website.”

That description was pretty close, said Jordan Kasteler, an online marketing strategist for PETA who is based in Salt Lake City.

Kasteler, a search engine optimization expert, said he has gotten used to encountering people who do not understand what he does for work.