Search engine optimization Search engine optimization (SEO SEO)) is the process of improving the visibility of a a website website or a a web page page in search engines engines'' "natural," or un-paid (" ("organic organic"" or "algorithmic"), "algorithmic"), search results results.. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results r esults page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from fr om the search engine's users. SEO may target different kinds of [1]
search,, local search, search, video search search,, academic search search,, news search and industrysearch, including including image search specific vertical search specific search engines. As an an Internet marketing marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search sear ch engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content and and HTML HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, activities backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. The acronym "SEOs" can refer to "search engine optimizers," a term adopted by an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients, and by employees who perform consultants SEO services in-house. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as a stand-alone service or as a part of a broader marketing campaign. Because effective SEO may require changes to the t he HTML HTML source code of a site and site content, SEO tactics may be incorporated into into website website development and and design design.. The term "search engine friendly" may be used to describe website designs, designs, menus menus,, content management systems,, images, videos, systems videos, shopping carts, carts, and other elements that have been optimized for the purpose of search engine exposure.
History Webmasters Webmasters and content providers began optimizing sites for search engines in the mid-1990s, as the Web.. Initially, all webmasters needed to do was to submit first search engines were cataloging the early e arly Web the address of a page, or or URL, URL, to the various engines which would send a "spider" spider" to "crawl" that page, [2] extract links to other pages from fr om it, and return information found on the page to be be indexed indexed.. The process involves a search engine spider downloading a page and storing it on the search engine's own indexer,, extracts various information about the page, server, where a second program, known as an an indexer such as the words it contains and where these are located, as well as any weight for specific words, and all links the page contains, which are then placed into a scheduler for crawling at a later date. Site owners started to recognize the value of having their sites highly rranked anked and visible in search engine results, creating an opportunity for both both white hat hat and and black hat hat SEO practitioners. According to industry analyst analyst Danny Sullivan, Sullivan, the phrase "search engine optimization" probably came into use in [3]
1997.. The first documented use of the term S 1997 Search earch Engine Optimization was John Audette and his company Multimedia Marketing Group as documented by a web page from the MMG site from August, [4]
1997.. 1997
Early versions of search search algorithms algorithms relied on webmaster-provided information such as the keyword meta tag tag,, or index files in engines like like ALIWEB. ALIWEB. Meta tags provide a guide to each page's content. Using meta data to index pages was found to be less than reliable, however, because the webmaster's choice of keywords in the meta tag could potentially be an inaccurate representation of the site's actual content. Inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent data in meta tags could and did cause pages to rank for irrelevant searches. searches.
[5 [5]][unreliable source? ]
Web content providers also manipulated a number of attributes [6]
within the HTML source of a page in an attempt to rank well in search engines engines.. density which were exclusively within a webmaster's By relying so much on factors such as as keyword density control, early search engines suffered from abuse and ranking manipulation. To provide better results to their users, search engines had to adapt to ensure their their results pages pages showed the most relevant search results, rather than unrelated pages stuffed with numerous keywords by unscrupulous webmasters. Since the success and popularity of a search engine is determined by its ability to produce the most relevant results to any given search, allowing those results to be false would turn users to find other search sources. Search engines responded by developing more complex ranking algorithms, taking into account additional factors that were more difficult for webmasters to manipulate. Graduate students at University, Larry Page Stanford University, Page and and Sergey Brin, Brin, developed "Backrub," a search engine that relied on a mathematical algorithm to rate the prominence of web pages. The number calculated by the algorithm, PageRank,, is a function of the quantity and strength of inbound links. links.[7] PageRank estimates the PageRank likelihood that a given page will be reached by a web user who randomly surfs the web, and fo follows llows links from one page to another. In effect, e ffect, this means that some links are stronger than others, as a higher PageRank page is more likely to be reached by the random surfer. Page and Brin founded founded Google Google in 1998. Google attracted a loyal following among the growing number of [8]
Internet users, who liked its simple design. design. Off-page factors (such as PageRank and hyperlink analysis) were considered as well as on-page factors (such as keyword frequency, frequency, meta tags, tags, headings, links and site structure) to enable Google to avoid the kind of manipulation seen in search engines that only considered on-page factors for their rankings. Although PageRank was more difficult to game, webmasters had already developed link building tools and schemes to influence the the Inktomi Inktomi search engine, and these methods proved similarly applicable to gaming PageRank. Many sites focused on exchanging, buying, and selling links, often on a massive scale. Some of these schemes, or or link farms, farms, [9]
involved the creation of thousands of sites for the sole purpose of link spamming spamming.. By 2004, search engines had incorporated a wide w ide range of undisclosed factors in their ranking algorithms to reduce the impact of link manipulation. Google says it ranks sites using more than 200 [10]
different signals. signals.
The leading search engines, engines, Google, Google, Bing, Bing, and and Yahoo, Yahoo, do not disclose the algorithms
Schwartz,, Aaron Wall and and Jill they use to rank pages. SEO S EO service providers, such as Rand Fishkin, Fishkin, Barry Schwartz Whalen,, have studied different approaches to search engine optimization, and have published their Whalen [11][12]
forums and and blogs blogs.. opinions in online online forums
SEO practitioners may also study patents held by various
search engines to gain insight into the algorithms. algorithms.
[13]
In 2005, Google began personalizing search results for each e ach user. Depending on their history of previous 2008, Bruce Clay Clay said that "ranking is dead" searches, Google crafted results for logged in users users..[14] In 2008,
because of personalized search. search. It would become meaningless to discuss how a website ranked, because its rank would potentially be different for each user and each search. search.
[15]
In 2007, Google announced a campaign against paid links that transfer PageRank. PageRank.
[16]
On June 15, 2009,
Google disclosed that they had taken measures to mitigate the effects of PageRank sculpting by use of the nofollow the nofollow attribute on links. links. Matt Cutts Cutts,, a well-known software engineer at Google, announced that Google Bot would no longer treat nofollowed links in the same way, in order to prevent SEO service providers from using nofollow for PageRank sculpting sculpting..
[17]
As a result of this change the usage of nofollow
leads to evaporation of pagerank. In order to avoid the above, SEO engineers developed alternative techniques that replace nofollowed tags with obfuscated obfuscated Javascript Javascript and thus permit PageRank sculpting. iframes,, Flash Flash and Additionally several solutions have been suggested that include the usage of iframes Javascript. Javascript.
[18]
In December 2009, Google announced it would wo uld be using the web search history of all its users user s in order [19]
to populate search results. results.
Google Instant Instant,, real-time-search, was introduced in late 2009 in an attempt to make search results more timely and relevant. Historically site administrators have spent months or even years optimizing a website to increase search rankings. With the growth in popularity of social media sites and blogs the leading engines made changes to their algorithms to allow fresh content to rank quickly within the search results. results.
[20]
In February 2011, Google announced the "Panda Panda update, which penalizes websites containing content duplicated from other websites and sources. Historically websites have copied content from one another and benefited in search engine rankings by engaging in this practice, pr actice, however Google implemented a new system which punishes sites whose content is not unique. unique.
[21]
Relationship with search engines Yahoo and Google offices By 1997, search engines recognized that that webmasters webmasters were making efforts to rank well in their search engines, and that some webmasters were even even manipulating their rankings rankings in search results by stuffing pages with excessive or irrelevant keywords. Early search engines, e ngines, such as as Altavista Altavista and and Infoseek, Infoseek, adjusted their algorithms in an effort to prevent preve nt webmasters from manipulating rankings. rankings.
[22]
Due to the high marketing value of targeted search results, there is potential for an adversarial relationship between search engines and SEO service providers. In 2005, an annual conference, AIRWeb, Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web, Web,
[23]
was created to discuss and minimize the damaging
effects of aggressive web content providers. Companies that employ overly aggressive techniques can get their client websites banned from the company, Traffic Power, Power, which allegedly search results. In 2005, the the Wall Street Journal Journal reported on a company, used high-risk techniques and failed to disclose those risks to its clients. clients.
[24]
Wired Wired magazine reported
that the same company sued blogger and SEO Aaron Wall for writing about the ban ban..
[25]
Cutts later confirmed that Google did in fact ban Traffic Power and some of its clients. Cutts clients.
Google's Google's Matt
[26]
Some search engines have also reached out to the SEO industry, and are frequent sponsors and guests at SEO conferences, chats, and seminars. Major search engines provide information and guidelines to [27][28]
help with site optimization. optimization.
Google has a a Sitemaps Sitemaps program to help webmasters learn if Google is
having any problems indexing their website and also provides data on Google traffic to the website. website.
[29]
Toolbox provides a way from webmasters to submit a sitemap and web feeds, allowing users to Bing Toolbox determine the crawl rate, and how many pages have been indexed by the their ir search engine. Methods Suppose each circle is a website, and an arrow is a link from one website to another, such that a user can click on a link within, say, website F to go to website B, but not vice versa. Search engines begin by assuming that each website has an equal chance of being chosen by a user. Next, crawlers examine which websites link to which other websites and guess that websites with more incoming links contain valuable information that users want.
Search engines uses complex mathematical algorithms to guess which websites a user seeks, see ks, based in part on examination of how websites link to each other. ot her. Since website B is the recipient of numerous inbound links, B ranks highly in a web search, and will come up early in a web search. Further, since B is popular, and has an outbound link to C, C ranks highly too. Getting indexed Google,, Bing Bing and and Yahoo! Yahoo!,, use use crawlers crawlers to find pages for their The leading search engines, such as as Google algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. Some search engines, notably Yahoo!, operate a
[30]
paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or or cost per click. click.
Such programs
usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results.. results
[31]
Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the the Open Directory Project Project both require
manual submission and human editorial review. review.
[32]
Google offers offers Google Webmaster Tools, Tools, for which an
XML Sitemap XML Sitemap feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that are not discoverable by automatically following following links links..
[33]
Search engine when crawling crawling a site. Not every page is engine crawlers may look at a number of different factors when indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the root directory of a site m may ay also be a factor in whether or not pages get crawled. crawled.
[34]
Preventing crawling Main article: article: Robots Exclusion Standard To avoid undesirable content in the search indexes, webmasters can instruct spiders not to crawl certain robots.txt file in the root directory of the domain. Additionally, files or directories through the standard standard robots.txt tag specific to robots. a page can be explicitly excluded from a search engine's database by using a a meta tag When a search engine visits a site, the robots.txt located in the the root directory directory is the first file crawled. The robots.txt file is then parsed, and will w ill instruct the robot as to which pages are not to be crawled. As a search engine crawler may keep a cached copy of this file, it may on occasion crawl pages a webmaster does not wish crawled. Pages typically prevented from being crawled include login specific pages such as shopping carts and user-specific content such as search results from internal searches. In March 2007, Google warned webmasters that they should prevent indexing of internal search results because those pages are considered search spam. spam.
[35]
Increasing prominence A variety of methods can increase the prominence of a webpage we bpage within the search results. results. Cross linking linking between pages of the same website to provide more links to most important pages may improve its [36]
visibility.. visibility
Writing content that includes frequently searched keyword phrase, so as to be relevant to a [36]
wide variety of search queries will tend to increase traffic. traffic. Updating content so as to keep search engines crawling back frequently can give additional weight to a site. Adding relevant keywords to a web page's meta data, including the the title tag and meta description description,, will tend to improve the relevancy of a site's search listings, thus increasing traffic. traffic. URL normalization normalization of web pages accessible via multiple urls, [37]
using the "canonical" "canonical" meta tag
or via via 301 redirects redirects can help make sure links to different versions of
the url all count towards the page's link popularity score. White hat versus black hat SEO techniques can be classified into two broad categories: techniques that search engines recommend as part of good design, and those techniques of which search engines do not approve. The search engines attempt to minimize the effect of the latter, among them them spamdexing. spamdexing. Industry commentators have classified these methods, and the practitioners who employ them, as either e ither white hat hat SEO, or or black
[38]
hat SEO SEO.. hat
White hats tend to produce results tthat hat last a long time, whereas black hats anticipate that
their sites may eventually be banned either temporarily or permanently once the search engines discover what they are doing. doing.
[39]
An SEO technique is considered white hat if it conforms to the search engines' guidelines and involves no deception. As the search engine guidelines guidelines
[27][28][40] [27][28][40]
are not written as a series of rules or
commandments, this is an important distinction to note. White hat SEO is not just about following guidelines, but is about ensuring that the content a search engine e ngine indexes and subsequently ranks is the same content a user will see. White W hite hat advice is generally summed up as creating content for users, not for search engines, and then making that content easily accessible to the spiders, rather than attempting to trick the algorithm from its intended purpose. White hat SEO is in many ways similar to web development that promotes accessibility, accessibility,
[41]
although the two are not identical.
SEO attempts to improve rankings in ways that are disapproved of by the search engines, or Black hat SEO involve deception. One black hat technique uses text that is hidden, either as text colored similar to the background, in an invisible invisible div div,, or positioned off screen. Another method gives a different page depending on whether the page is being requested by a human visitor or a search engine, a technique known as as cloaking. cloaking. Search engines may penalize sites they discover using black hat methods, either by reducing their rankings or eliminating their listings from their databases altogether. Such penalties can be applied either automatically by the search engines' algorithms, or by a manual site review. One example was the BMW Germany and and Ricoh Ricoh Germany for use of deceptive February 2006 Google removal of both both BMW practices.. practices
[42]
Both companies, however, quickly apologized, fixed the offending pages, and were restored
to Google's list. list.
[43]
As a marketing strategy SEO is not an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be more effective, depending on the site operator's o perator's goals goals..
[44]
A successful Internet marketing campaign may
analytics also depend upon building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, setting up up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure m easure results, and improving a site's site's conversion rate. rate.[45] investment.. However, search engines are not paid for organic SEO may generate an adequate adequate return on investment search traffic, their algorithms change, and there are no guarantees of continued referrals. Due to this lack of guarantees and certainty, a business that relies heavily on search se arch engine traffic can suffer major losses if the search engines stop sending visitors. visitors.
[46]
Search engines can change their algorithms,
impacting a website's placement, possibly resulting in a serious loss of traffic. According to Google's CEO, Erick Schmidt, in 2010, Google made over 500 algorithm changes - almost 1.5 per day. day.
[47]
It is
considered wise business practice for website operators to liberate themselves t hemselves from dependence on search engine traffic. traffic.
[48]
Seomoz.org has suggested that "search marketers, in a twist of irony, receive a
very small share of their traffic from search sear ch engines." Instead, their main sources of traffic are links from [49]
other websites. websites.
International markets Optimization techniques are highly tuned to the dominant search engines in the target market. The search engines' market shares vary from market to market, as does competition. In 2003, 2003, Danny Sullivan Sullivan stated that Google represented about 75% of all searches searches..
[50]
In markets outside the United States,
Google's share is often larger, and Google remains the dominant search engine worldwide as of 2007. 2007. [52]
As of 2006, Google had an 85-90% market share in Germany. Germany.
in the US at that time, there were only about five in Germany. Germany.
[51]
While there were hundreds of SEO firms
[52]
As of June 2008, the marketshare of
[53]
Google in the UK was close to 90% according to to Hitwise Hitwise..
That market share is achieved in a number of
countries. As of 2009, there are only a few large markets where Google is not the leading search e engine. ngine. In most cases, when Google is not leading in a given market, it is lagging behind a local player. The most notable markets where this is the case are China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the Czech Republic where Baidu,, Yahoo! Japan Japan,, Naver Naver,, Yandex Yandex and and Seznam Seznam are market leaders. respectively Baidu respectively Successful search optimization for international markets may require professional professional translation translation of web domain in the target market, and and web hosting hosting that pages, registration of a domain name with a top level domain provides a local local IP address. address. Otherwise, the fundamental elements of search optimization are essentially the same, regardless of language. language.[52] Legal precedents On October 17, 2002, 2002, SearchKing SearchKing filed suit in the United States District Court, Western District of Oklahoma, against the search engine Google. SearchKing's claim was that Google's tactics to prevent spamdexing spamdexing constituted a a tortious interference interference with contractual relations. On May 27, 2003, the court granted Google's motion to dismiss the complaint because SearchKing "failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted." granted."
[54][55]
In March 2006, 2006, KinderStart KinderStart filed a lawsuit against against Google Google over search engine rankings. Kinderstart's website was removed from Google's index prior pr ior to the lawsuit and the amount of traffic to the site dropped by 70%. On March 16, 2007 the the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (San Jose California Jose Division) dismissed KinderStart's complaint without leave to amend, am end, and partially 11 sanctions against KinderStart's attorney, requiring him to pay part granted Google's motion for for Rule 11 of Google's legal expenses. expenses.
[56][57]
Social media marketing Social media marketing refers to the process of gaining website w ebsite traffic or attention through
social media sites. sites.[1]
Social media marketing programs usually usuall y center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it with their social networks. A corporate message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself. [citation needed ] Hence, this form of marketing is driven by word-of-mouth, meaning it results in earned media rather than paid media.[citation needed ] Social media media has become a platform that is easily accessible to anyone with internet access. Increased communication for organizations fosters brand awareness and often, improved customer service. Additionally, social media serves as a relatively inexpensive platform for organizations to implement marketing campaigns.
Social media outlets/platforms Social networking websites and blogs websites allow individuals to interact with one another and build Social networking websites relationships. When products or companies join those sites, people can interact with the product or company. That interaction feels personal to users because of their previous experiences with social networking site interactions.[citation needed ] Social networking sites and and blogs blogs allow individual followers to “retweet” or “repost” comments made by the product being promoted. By repeating the message, all of the users connections are able to see the message, therefore reaching more people. Social networking sites act as as word of [citation needed ] put out there and is getting repeated, mouth. mouth . Because the information about the product is being more traffic is brought to the product/company.
Through social networking sites, products/companies can have conversations and interactions with individual followers. This personal interaction can instill ins till a feeling of loyalty loyalty into followers and potential customers. Also, by choosing whom to follow on these sites, products can reach a very narrow target audience.[citation needed ]
Cell phones Cell phone phone usage has also become a benefit for social media marketing. Today, many cell phones have social networking capabilities: individuals are notified of any happenings on social
networking sites through their cell phones, in real-time. This constant connection to social networking sites means products and companies can constantly remind and update followers about their capabilities, uses, importance, etc. Because cell phones are connected to social networking sites, sites, advertisements advertisements are always in sight. Also many companies are now putting QR codes along with products for individuals to access the companies website or online services with their smart-phones.
Engagement In the context of the the social web web,, engagement means that customers and stakeholders are participants rather than viewers. viewers. Social media media in business allows anyone and everyone to express and share an opinion or idea somewhere along the business’s path to market. Each participating customer becomes part of the marketing department, as other customers read their comments or reviews. The engagement process is then fundamental to successful social media marketing. marketing .[2]
Campaigns Adidas Adidas,, and their agency Carat, created a social media experience for soccer players. In 2007, 2007, Adidas Adidas pitted two different cleat types against one another and asked people to “choose your side.” The content focused on fostering an environment of friendly discussion and debate of Adidas’ two models of elite soccer cleats/boots, Predator and F50 TUNIT. Visitors to the community had the opportunity to align themselves with one product “team” “t eam” and offer commen ts in support of their preferred model. The community commun ity included content about professional Adidas soccer players on each “team,” rotational product views, downloadable graphics, forum discussions, a link to additional product information, and a link to the adidas Mexico Fútbol profile page.
Betty White Social networking sites can have a large impact on the outcome of events. In 2010, a Facebook campaign surfaced in the form of a a petition. petition. Users virtually signed a petition asking asking NBC [3][4] Universal to have actress Universal actress Betty White White host host Saturday Night Live Live.. Once signed, users forwarded the petition to all of their followers. The petition went viral and on May 8, 2010, 20 10, Betty White hosted SNL.
2008 Presidential Election
campaign had a huge presence on social networking sites. sites. Barack Obama Obama,, The 2008 presidential campaign The candidate for for US President, President, used Twitter and Facebook to differentiate his a Democratic Democratic candidate [5] campaign.. His social networking site profile pages were constantly being updated and campaign interacting with followers. The use of social networking sites gave Barack Obama’s campaign e-mail addresses, as posted on social networking site profile pages. This allowed the access to to e-mail Democratic Party to launch e-mail campaigns asking for votes and campaign donations. donations .[5]
Local businesses businesses also use social networking sites as a promotional technique. Businesses can Small businesses follow individuals social networking site uses in the local area and advertise specials and deals. deals .[5] These can be exclusive and in the form of “get a free d drink rink with a copy of this tweet” tweet”..[5] This type of message encourages other locals to follow the business on the sites in order to obtain the promotional deal. In the process, the business is getting seen and promoting itself.
Kony 2012 A short film released on March 05, 2012, by humanitarian group group Invisible Children, Inc. Inc. This 29 an International Criminal Court Court fugitive, famous minute video aimed at making making Joseph Kony, Kony, an worldwide in order to have for his arrest December thelaunch, time when the 100 campaign ends. ends .[6] The videosupport went viral within theby first six days 2012; after its reaching and Vimeo Vimeo..[7] According to research done by by Visible Measures, Measures, million views on both both Youtube Youtube and most viral video, video, to the Kony 2012 the 2012 short film became the fastest growing video campaign, and most reach 100 million views in 6 days followed by by Susan Boyle Boyle performance on on Britain’s Got Talent [8] [9] that reached 70 million views in 6 days. days.
Tactics Twitter Twitter allows companies to promote products on an individual level. The use of a product can be explained in short messages that followers are more likely to read. These messages appear on followers’ home pages. Messages can link to the product’s website, Facebook profile, photos, followers’ videos, etc. This link provides p rovides followers the opportunity to spend more time interacting with the product online. This interaction can create a loyal connection between product and individual and can also lead to larger advertising opportunities. Twitter promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
Facebook Facebook profiles are more detailed than Twitter. They allow a product to provide videos, photos, and longer descriptions. Videos can a product can be used as how to asshow otherwhen followers can comment on as thewell product pages use it. These also can include testimonials include testimonials
for others to see. Facebook can link back to the product’s Twitter page as well as send out event reminders. Facebook promotes a product in real-time and brings customers in.
As marketers see more value in social media marketing, advertisers continue to increase sequential ad spend in social by 25%. Strategies to extend the reach with Sponsored Stories and acquire new fans with Facebook ads continue to an uptick in spend across the site. The study attributes 84% of "engagement" or clicks to Likes that link back to Facebook advertising. Today, brands increase fan counts on average of 9% monthly, increasing their fan base by two-times the amount annually. annually.[10]
Blogs Everyday there are more reasons for companies to use blogging platforms to their social media LinkedIn creates an environment for companies and clients to connect repertoire. Platforms like like LinkedIn [11] online.. Companies that recognize the need for information, originality and accessibility online employ blogs to make their products popular and unique, and ultimately reach out to consumers who are privy to social media. media.[12] Blogs allow a product or company to provide longer descriptions of products or services. The longer description can include reasoning uses.and It can include and can link to and from Facebook, Twitter and many social and network blog pages.testimonials Blogs can be updated frequently and are promotional techniques for keeping keeping customers customers.. Other promotional uses are acquiring followers and subscribers and direct them to your social network pages. In a similar fashion, online communities benefit businesses because they enable them to reach the clients of other businesses using the platform. These online environments can be accessed by virtually anyone; therefore consumers are invited to be a part of the creative process. To allow firms to measure their standing in the corporate co rporate world, world, Glassdoor Glassdoor is a site where employees can [11] place evaluations of their companies. companies. Some businesses opt op t out of integrating social media platforms into their traditional marketing regimen because their employees dislike such isolated online environments. There are also [11]
specific corporate standards that apply when interacting online. online. Other corporations fear that the general public have too much power over how their marketing is perceived, due to the accessibility of Internet-retrieved information. To ensure having the advantage in a businessconsumer relationship, businesses have to be aware of four key assets that consumers maintain: information, involvement, community, and control. control .[13]
LinkedIn LinkedIn, LinkedIn, being a professional business-related networking site, allows companies to create professional profiles for themselves as well as their business to network and meet others. others.[14] Through the use of widgets, members can promote their various social networking activities, such as Twitter stream or blog entries of their product pages, onto their LinkedIn profile page page..[15] LinkedIn provides its members the opportunity to generate sales leads and business partners. partners .[16] Members can use “Company Pages” similar to Facebook pages to create an area that will allow
business owners to promote their products or services and be able to interact with their customers..[17] [18] customers
Yelp Yelp consists of a comprehensive online index of business profiles. Businesses are searchable by Yelp se ven different countries, location, similar to to Yellow Pages. Pages. The website is operational in seven States and and Canada. Canada. Business account holders are allowed to create, share, including the the United States and edit business profiles. They may post information such as the business location, contact information, pictures, and service information. The website further allows individuals to write, post reviews about businesses and rate them on a five point scale. Messaging and talk features are further made available for general members of the website, serving to guide thoughts and opinions..[19] opinions
Youtube YouTube YouTube is another popular avenue; advertisements are done in a way to suit the target audience. The type of language used in the commercials and the ideas used to promote the product reflect the audience's style and taste. Also, the ads on this platform are usually in sync with the content of the video requested, this is another advantage YouTube brings for advertisers. Certain ads are presented with certain videos since the content is relevant. Promotional opportunities such as sponsoring a video is also possible on YouTube, “for example, a user who searches for a YouTube video on dog training may be presented with a sponsored video from a dog toy company in results along with other videos [20].” videos
Marketing techniques Targeting, COBRAs, and eWOM Social media marketing involves the use of social networks, networks, COBRAs and eWOM to and Twitter Twitter provide advertisers successfully advertise online. Social networks such as as Facebook and [20] with information about the likes and dislikes d islikes of their consumers consumers . This technique is crucial, as [20] it provides the businesses with a “target audience” audience” . With social networks, information relevant to the user’s likes is available to businesses; who then advertise adve rtise accordingly. Consumer’s online brand related activities (COBRAs) is another method used by advertisers to Converse sneakers to promote their products. Activities such such as uploading a picture of your “new “new Converse [21] [21] Facebook ” is an example of a COBRA COBRA . Another technique for social media marketing is electronic word of mouth (eWOM) (eWOM) [21]. Electronic recommendations and appraisals are a convenient manner to have a product promoted via “consumer -to-consumer -to-consumer interactions interactions [21]” [21].
An example of eWOM would be an online hotel review review [22]; the hotel company can have two
possible outcomes based on their service. A good service would result in a positive review which gets the hotel free advertisement via via social media, media, however a poor service will result in a negative consumer review which can potentially ruin the company's reputation.
Social media marketing tools Besides research tools, various companies provide specialized platforms and tools for social media marketing:
Implications on traditional advertising Minimizing use Traditional advertising techniques include print and and television television advertising. The The Internet Internet had [citation needed ] Websites Websites often include already overtaken television as the largest advertising market. banner or pop-up ads. Social networking sites don’t always have ads. In exchange, products have entire pages and are able to interact with users. users. Television commercials commercials often end with a spokesperson spokesperson asking viewers to check out the product website for more information. Print ads are also starting to include include barcodes barcodes on them. TheseAdvertising barcodes canis be scanned to bymove cell phones computers, , sending viewers to the product website. beginning viewersand computers from the traditional outlets to the electronic ones.
Leaks Internet and social networking leaks are one of the issues facing traditional advertising. Video and print ads are often leaked to the world via the Internet earlier than they are scheduled to premiere. Social networking sites allow those leaks to go premiere. go viral, viral, and be seen by many users more quickly. Time difference quickly. difference is also a problem facing traditional advertisers. When social events a time delay delay between airings on the the east occur and are are broadcast broadcast on television, there is often a coast and coast and west coast coast of the the United States States.. Social networking sites have become a hub of comment and interaction concerning the event. This allows individuals watching the event on the west coast (time-delayed) to know the outcome before it airs. The The 2011 Grammy Awards Awards highlighted this problem. problem. Viewers Viewers on the west coast learned who won different awards based on comments made on social networking sites by individuals watching live on the east coast. coast .[24] Since viewers knew who won already, many tuned out and and ratings ratings were lower. All the advertisement and promotion put into the event was lost because viewers didn’t have a reason to watch.
Social media marketing mishaps Social media marketing provides organizations with a way to connect with their customers. However, organizations must protect their information as well as closely watch comments and concerns on the social media they use. A flash poll done on 1225 1225 IT IT executives from 33 countries revealed that social media mishaps caused organizations a combined $4.3 million in damages in 2010 2010 [25]. The top three social media incidents an organization faced during the
previous year included employees sharing too much information in public forums, loss or exposure of confidential information, and increased exposure to litigation[25]. Due to the viral nature of the internet, a mistake by a single employee has in some cases shown to result in devastating consequences for organizations. An example of a social media mishap includes designer designer Kenneth Cole' Cole's Twitter mishap in 2011. When Kenneth Cole tweeted, "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at [Kenneth Cole's website]" website]"[26]. This reference to the 2011 Egyptian Revolution Revolution drew objection from the public; it was widely widel y objected to on the [26] Internet.. Kenneth Cole realized his mistake shortly after and responded with a statement Internet apologizing for the tweet. tweet .[27] Numerous additional online marketing mishap examples exist. Examples include a YouTube video of a a Domino's Pizza Pizza employee doing unspeakable things to pizza ingredients, which went [28] Twitter hashtag hashtag posted by by McDonald's McDonald's in 2012 attracting attention due viral on the internet internet . A Twitter to numerous complaints and negative events customers experienced at the chain store stor e[29]; and a 2011 tweet posted by a a Chrysler Group Group employee that no one in Detroit knows how to drive drive[30]. When the Link REIT When REIT opened a Facebook page to recommend old-style restaurants, the page was flooded by furious comments critising the REIT for having forced a lot of restaurants and stores to shut down; it had to terminate its campaign early amid further deterioration of its corporate c orporate [ image.. image
The Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing for social social media measurement tools? tools? Try Trackur Try Trackur today!<< today!<< >>Looking for
So, in the late, late nights that I’ve spent making sense of and organizing Social Media Marketing, I’ve been able to find nothing that outlines strategies or o r fundamentals of Social Media Marketing. Yes, Rohit
Bhargava created a post that kicked into gear g ear the “5 Rules of Social Media Optimization (SMO).” After 20 days and much buzz in the blogosphere, it was expanded e xpanded into 17 rules, with additions from all over the
online marketing and business community’s thought leaders. And yet, while it’s an absolute must -read, there’s still no strategy outlining the fundamental strategies or tactics of Social Media Marketing. That’s what I’ve racked my brain to figure out and this is what I define as the Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing. The Five Pillars of Social Media Marketing Marketing
Any and all forms of Social Media Marketing tactics fall under at least one of these five forms of action. Often the same channel will incorporate two or more mor e of these: 1. Declaration of Identity 2. Identity through Association 3. User-initiated Conversation 4. Provider-initiated Conversation 5. In-Person Interaction Identity-based Interaction is your declaration of your value, who you are, and where you can be found.
Your customer happens upon your online identity that you, as a provider, define and declare. This is anything from your About Us pages on your blog or website, to your MySpace profile, to your Naymz profile. Here, there is very little interaction outside of your own declaration, but this becomes critical in defining how you can benefit your marketplace. There has been a recent re cent outcrop of websites created purely for this function. An expanded business card, if you will. Most also include the opportunity to link to your other forms of presence online, bringing together your presence in one place…well, kind-of. They include:
Naymz
Ziki
ClaimID
SuprGlu
LinkedIn
Association-based Interaction is your customers’ opportunity to associate themselves with you and you
with your customers. Most obviously, this is accomplished through things like becoming “Friends” on MySpace, you and your customers’ BlogRoll, or through their social bookmarking. This is your customer wearing your company’s logo proudly – Like Andy wears his Beatles shirts. The most explicit form of allowing for this ability is through social bookmarking sites. I say this, and not social networking sites, because this is the sole function of these sites. Make it easy for your customers to bookmark your site, blog posts, etc with their favorite tool.
del.icio.us Furl
blummy
Ma.gnolia
StumbleUpon
BlinkList
User-initiated Conversation is your users’ opportunity to create their own declarations or questions,
and your opportunity to respond. This is your opportunity to be there and cater to them. Here, you serve your customers. Perhaps the most cut-and-dry examples of this lie in messageboards, forums and “groups” sites such as Google Groups, Yahoo! Groups, community sites, etc. So, how do you find these conversations? Andy
Beal’s Online Reputation Monitoring Beginner’s Guide. Here, he walks you through, step-by-step, how to Beal’s find out what conversations are being initiated by others online. In order to get directly involved with your customers, the most well-known example of this is
“GoogleGuy” on the WebmasterWorld forums, is through your users’ forums, and sites such as:
Yahoo Groups
Google Groups
AOL Groups
MSN Groups
Topica EMail Lists
Kaboodle Groups
Eurekster
tribe.net
Ning
Provider-initiated Conversation is your chance to find out what your customers think, feel, love and
hate about your product. Ask them. Challenge them. Present yourself to them, but do so respectfully. As much as it’s an opportunity for them to tell you what they love and hate about your product, it’s also their choice whether to do so or not. Be kind. Be respectful. Appreciate their time.
Although it’s not a primarily online company, there is one company that h as made this their culture. Seeking feedback and input from its customers 24/7/265. And it is: Current.tv. There’s little -to-no format, except for about half of the content is contributed by its users. If you haven’t seen it or don’t have digital cable, find someone who does and watch it. Do that this week, you won’t regret it.
Social networking strategies for connecting with your customers can certainly be complex, tricky and
cumbersome, so I’ll be writing up strategies in the very near future to hopefully assist on those fronts. In the meantime, find your customers and interact with them here:
Myspace
Bebo
Friendster
Consumating
In-Person Interaction is the pinnacle form of interaction with your customers. You’re interacting with
them online, why not in person? Does it get better than that? This is where relationships are built and authentic conversation is had with so much more input, feedback, fee dback, collaboration and communication. I
had a seven hour conversation with a good friend last night. It was one of the best conversations I’ve ever had about so many things, and I could have never had that quality of a conversation online. Nothing beats face-to-face. Get out there. Meet your customers. Let them interact with other customers. Build your community. Go
to conferences…better yet, organize your own gatherings. To help this along, coordinating, managing attendee status, etc, there have been several sites that t hat can help in either finding local events or coordinating your own:
Meetup
BarCamp
Evite
Upcoming
Eventful
Final Thoughts Thoughts
One thing about social media marketing: It’s complicated for two reasons: no one has created create d a structure to work from, and there’s ther e’s so much overlap in functionality of different sites, that it can be quite confusing as to a site’s single purpose because…well…there usually isn’t a single purpose.
Don’t let this hold you back. Get out there. ther e. Spend time with these sites. Sign up, Use them, meet your customers, talk to your customers, and LOVE THEM. But wait! There’s More! Feel free to use my Social Media Marketing Tactics chart (on BenWills.com) to make sure your next campaign is a success.