The Mayday update is causing quite a stir, even in this blog which is mainly why I’ve stopped writing as much as I used to here on my personal blog. This blog used to get around 1500 hits per day but I confess I have not used any of my fancy and strategic SEO strategies on this blog for my own gain.
Thinking about it now though, I probably should be… But here’s what Google’s latest algorithm update means to me AND what I’m doing and you should be doing about it to keep your online efforts profitable.
First off… The new update means that fresh and new websites won’t rank for long tail phrases. Google calls it a quality win and while I understand Matt’s point and I somewhat agree with it, it also sucks because it was a great loophole for us online marketers when your first getting a website going and don’t yet have any domain authority.
This update has effectively made me decide not to offer SEO services anymore, at least not as my main focus with a new online marketing account. That’s not to say that good optimization doesn’t have it’s merrits… because they do… on an established website though. A non-established website (new site) should be doing other things first BEFORE trying to be the most optimized site out there.
Like what?
Before I give some general strategies you can rest your hat on, think about it this way.. This thought will give you more ideas than my ideas than I write down here if you let it. Question: What would you do if search engines didn’t exist? What would you do to bolster your brand, get visibility and start getting visitors to your website?
Why… you’d probably go out and press release first right? Get the media talking about you! Try and find something that shines or stands out about your business… what makes you different, cheaper, quicker, better than the rest and get the media to talk about that.
(Side note: the “media” in 2010 means something entirely different than it meant in 1985… The media now encompasses ANYONE who has an existing audience. That could be a radio station or radio show, could be a blogger or podcaster, could be a TV station, could be a tiny website or a giant media mogul…but someone currently holds a captive audience in your industry. Contact them!)
Perhaps you’d start chatting in the related industry forums… At first simply helping others, then maybe the odd time offering help by pointing a link to your site, all the while having your brand or website mentioned in your signatures so folks could identify you with your brand and website…
Perhaps another option would be general advertising… Pay per click, sponsorships, text ads, graphic ads.. let your brain open up and think about it.. How are you going to get “The media” (as described above) to want to talk about you and NOT view you as a threat?
Don’t make your goal sales…
In 2010, what’s going to burn all businesses on Facebook, on Twitter and on any web property will be the goal of sales first and foremost. It’s like walking into a bar, going up to the first girl that you see and asking her back to your place… SLAP! Why not start with hello?
EXACTLY!
Social media and EVEN press, advertising and all the other customer generating strategies out there won’t work by putting a product under people’s noses straight away.. collect email addresses… send free stuff, send tips, send friendly banter and conversation… Invite people to join the conversation… Get a following going….. Start building your own audience…. Of friends, followers, opt-ins, fans, commenters and website visitors… Before you know it… you’ll have carved out your own audience and will enter into being your own “Media” and people will start to contact you!
What’s this got to do with Google rankings?
Part of becoming an authority is getting authoritive websites to link to you… This will happen automatically if your running your business the way you should be, and building up your brand online the conversation way… People will talk about you without you having to solicit them to do so.
Yes, it takes longer… Yes it takes blood, sweat, tears… You’ll loose some sleep at night at first wondering whether what your doing is working or not, but in the long run (6 months+) Building an authority website will actually build steam and rank.
Thanks for listening to my rant. Join the opt-in list, I rarely send stuff out and I don’t spam.
All the best in 2010, to you and your profits!
Daniel J Deyette
One of my mentors and heroes in life, Corey Rudl used to say “Test everything, assume nothing”. Few really truly understand that the way he did. I mean he really did test EVERYTHING.. Things you’d never guess.
However, I wanted to mention an experience that came to mind the other day when reading an article in Website Magazine (which by the way is most of the time a pretty good read – although sometimes ameteurish)… Pricing strategy.
Once, while manning the technical support phones at The Internet Marketing Center, I was on the line with a customer who needed some maintenance on his Mailloop account. No problem. I logged into the customer service software and proceeded to add another install to his account so he could re-load the software on a new PC. One thing I noticed that made my eyeballs jump out… He had paid $999 for the software! Now, I had only worked there about 3 months at that moment – and as I understood it, this product was a $379 product. This was way back in 2004.
Test EVERYTHING.
Apparently, prior to launching Mailloop, Corey had the team test every price point, from $99 to $999 and see which one converted best. When you have 880,000 email addresses, doing a few tests of 10,000 doesn’t hurt your numbers! Surprisingly, you may not believe me if I tell you this, but INCREASING your price can increase conversion rate.
WHAT?!?!
Yes! Sometimes, if your price is TOO low, folks will perceive that it can’t be THAT good and not buy it as often as they WILL buy it at a higher price. Sometimes without any changes at all to the copy to justify the new price! Oddly, they found that the BEST conversion rate was at $379… It continued to sell at that price for over 4 years that I was there. You gotta think, those folks who read the EXACT same salesletter and didn’t buy Mailloop for $99?!?
Ever thought about increasing your price? Think about it…. An old partner and amazing salesman I used to work with said that he “value sold”. That was an amazing lesson to me. He didn’t sell for what something cost and then mark it up… he sold it for what he felt it’s true value was…
Meaning if it cost him $399 but would save a customer a million dollars this year, he’d have no trouble selling it for $10,000 where most companies might sell a $399 product for a reasonable markup of $699.
Odd that people are happier to pay a higher price with the value explained.
Daniel J Deyette
Its easy to think of social media as a win-win situation for business and consumers, but that fact is simply not true. Businesses and consumers both suffer as a result of social media in some ways.
#1. Differences of opinion
One of the obvious challenges in any customer service job is when there’s a difference of opinion about something. Whether that’s an opinion about how customer service should operate, or how a product should operate. These conversations (While not fun for the customer service rep) are often dealt with by sticking strategically to the policies outlined by the company… BUT… In Web 2.0, where the conversation can be had in public and often un-monitored and hard to control. Consumers can not only defend themselves, and explain their stance but have an audience of consumers also able to view and read and listen in…
#2. Errors and Mistakes
As the old saying goes “To err is human” and it’s very true. Human beings are not perfect, they make mistakes and sometimes those mistakes cause big problems. Big problems like the BP Oil Rig disaster in the Gulf Coast or perhaps like the Toyota Gas Pedal issues.
Human beings are going to make mistakes and when they do, it gets broadcast thru the social and viral media networks faster than your grandma’s gossip chain. My grand parents once came to visit in British Columbia (Mid-1980’s) and started a rumor on the coast. The goal and joke was, to see if the rumor would make it back to Quebec before they got home.
Today, no one would ever make that bet as to whether a rumor could get there… Because it takes seconds, even back then with phone calls, all that was stopping them was a long distance charge… But… Gossip and bad news travel much faster than Good news does. So you can bet Twitter and Facebook are going to be used for that if they’re going to be used for anything a human would…
#3. Mis-Use of Information
Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s comments on privacy in a CNBC interview, where he said, “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.”
Ever made a mistake? Had a few too many drinks at the company christmas party? Social media can destroy you! I’m super glad that cheap digital cameras and social and viral media weren’t available about 10 years ago, because I’m sure I’d never make it online in such a transparent society as we have today.
Think about it this way, unless you wouldn’t mind it on the front page of your local newspaper, I’d say don’t put it on your Facebook, Twitter etc. I actually stick to that and I wouldn’t mind any of the pictures (funny or otherwise) being broadcast publicly.
#4. Distracted Viewers
The great thing about the newspaper in 1955, was that most men after a hard day’s work (or early morning with their coffee) could sit back and read it peacefully.. 100% focused on the material in front of his eyes. There wasn’t often a TV on at the same time or radio going. There wasn’t Twitter, Email, MSN, Facebook, and there wasn’t media being blasted from every corner of creation.
Facebook and other social and viral media platforms contain some of the most distracted folks you’ll ever reach with your message. It’s an excellent tool for branding and exposure because of it’s reach (by that I mean the 500+ million members on Facebook) but it’s a horrible way to get any kind of action.
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It’s a reasonable expectation, that at some point you should consider social media as part of your overall PR Campaign…
A traditional PR Campaign includes some print and regular media, some spot advertising on high traffic related websites and of course, a press release… But the next step, is to incorporate your Twitter ID, your Facebook Fan page or group name and other social sharing and engaging elements that let people respond…
Responding can mean by…
* Commenting or offering feedback
* “Liking” as similar to the feature on Facebook
* Sharing with friends
* Joining or becoming a “fan” as on Facebook
PRWEB and other PR outlets are already incorporating some of these elements by default, but to take it to the next level, I’d suggest actually creating a Facebook group and a Twitter account to allow further two way communication between you and the outside world.
Why haven’t I mentioned some of the other forums, groups and communities on the web OTHER than Facebook and Twitter?
To be honest, Facebook & Twitter account for more membership and more activity than any of the others, they’ve become the social norms of our society for many reasons that are too complex for the nature of this blog post…
However, let me also say that you should join the conversation on other blogs and websites if your target audience (like hot rodders or bronco parts websites) that don’t interact as much with Facebook or Twitter as they do on other sites.
Regardless, join the online conversation before it’s too late.
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Daniel J Deyette
Truly some of the sadest news I’d ever expect to hear coming out of IMC…
It acutally springs a well of emotion to think that Corey (Who founded The Internet Marketing Center, and was my employer for over 4 years) will officially no longer own the website that he used as his guinea pig to learn all the marketing strategies that would later be sold in the course.
I could write forever on all the things that Corey and others learned from this website, it’s testing and eventual death 
See eBay auction of Corey’s First Online Business
Corey Rudl was an online marketing inspiration, but obviously online marketing wasn’t his first passion. Cars were… He loved everything from domestics to exotics. This website has the potential to make another millionaire yet… For years I wanted to do something just like it and launched ClassfiedCarTips.com in an effort to show people how easy it was to flip cars for profit or even just sell your own at a good price.
The sale of this site is nearly unforgivable.
Car Secrets Revealed was much more than just a website that Corey used to test online marketing strategies.. Yes sure the company nolonger needs it and certainly doesn’t have to keep it to remain profitable… However the legacy dies. One of the first successfully tested and well working salesletters of the late 90’s will nolonger be available for learners and those early to the game. Now’s your chance to print or save an electronic copy and archive it… This letter, properly marketed converted well. It’s more than that though… It also shows how to successfully offer both electronic files and physical copies for sale. How to SIMPLY ask for a fax or mail order without any complicated technology… Corey wasn’t a technical guy, he hired technical people…
Not really the news I wanted to hear about to keep my spirits up.
Until Next Time,
Daniel J Deyette
If your not a nerd, not a web dev or simply never plan to edit your own theme files ignore this post entirely. This is to help friends who see my blog often, use wordpress and could use a leg up…
Why wordpress?
That’s a long answer that woudl take too much time to sum up here, but the short answer is this…
* Easy to use once setup…
* Relatively easy to customize
* Incredibly easy to optimize for search engines
* Insane amount of plugins for sharing, shopping carts and more…
* Out of the box RSS, Commenting and other cool features.
I love that I can build someone a complete website and hand them the keys and say “here you go” and they can edit the site on their own without needing me. I hate web developers that hold the keys to the castle and love charging clients for the tiniest changes… I’m not a web designer by trade. I’d rather help people make money and get online exposure than make pretty websites… but that’s just me.
Wordpress Candy Cheat Sheet:
Wordpress SEO Cheat Sheet
Wordpress Theme Development Checklist
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Until Next Time,
Daniel J Deyette
I’m sure that’s a big question on people’s minds right now. How does social and viral media, particularly the top two biggest dawgs in the industry Facebook & Twitter fit into your business model?
Are they helping you generate revenue beyond your wildest expectations? Or are they something you haven’t really considered yet? Chances are, if your like most folks out there, you’re still lost as to how to use them to generate a profit… Understandable!
The old world business model (that many are still using today) looked like this:
Someone would see an ad in a Newspaper, TV, Radio, Billboard or some other form of old media… That’s where the awareness of the brand and products usually starts. Then they might talk to friends & family.
If they like what they see and hear, they would buy it by placing an order on the phone (like Sears or some major department store) or just simply walk to the nearest store of that type and do more investigation there… From there they’d likely buy it.
The challenge with this old way of marketing is that there’s no conversation and you can’t really filter who sees and who doesn’t see your ad. Yes, mass exposure to just about any product *IS* a good thing, however you still have to pay for that exposure. You can’t ONLY pay for folks interested in X, Y or Z… There’s also no way to measure the popularity and the conversations being had by friends by phone and in person as they discuss these various companies and products. It’s behind closed doors. I bet for some businesses that helped things but in the new world, that likely hurts…
Today’s modern model is changing dramatically… The landscape has shifted…
Did you know that fewer and fewer people turn to the yellow pages than ever before? Why would they? First, you pretty much have to guess WHERE in the book they may have put a given company, THEN the company themselves may not have listed the information your looking for (Hours of operation, product names, prices etc..) so even if you DO rely on the Yellow pages, it’s incredibly limited in comparison to the web. With the web, you can visit their website and get all this information and much more.
Even the way people discuss products has changed. Why ask your local friends & family about a company or product when you COULD.. Google them, search twitter for them, search Facebook for them.. discover the dirt on them, read reviews about them and find out whether they’re worth getting something from or not.. Find out how fast they ship, whether they stick to their promises, if the product works as well as described, or whether it lasts as long as they claimed it does.
The new social marketing business model:
Today, folks are more likely to turn to a search engine, whether it be on their home or office computer, or on a cell phone like an iPhone to seek the answer to their questions. That question might be “langley dry cleaners” or it could be “how to get soap out of a towel” or it could be specific like 2009 Kia Rio5 Reviews… Regardless, the search engine of 2010 finds the answers to the consumers questions much faster and more efficiently than Yellow Pages can.
Interestingly, Facebook now has 500 million users and at first it was a great tool to find out who was dating who, or what someone did last weekend… Now that extends to what someone bought last weekend but an even more facinating thing to marketers is happening online. A couple months ago, my wife posted on her Facebook status, “does anyone know where in Abbotsford I can find the best price on chicken?”, and to my surprise her small gathering of moms started naming off the best deals in town and where each were located and the pricing…
In this online conversation, brand loyalties came out, price gouging came out and quality were discussed… How are advertisers to jump into this conversation or even monitor it? Fact is, that same conversation is happening on Twitter in a smaller format locally and internationally about even more expensive purchases than a bag of chicken breasts!
When people DO decide to buy, they don’t need to phone and talk to a sales rep who may be able to convince them to buy something more substantial or influence their decision, instead they can buy online with their credit card and have it shipped to their door! Or… They could drive (which means neighbouring cities can compete for loca business… unlike that of a walking consumer) and that changes more dynamics in marketing.
Then, ultimately they can decide to buy the product. What has the web done for us in 2010 that it didn’t do when introduced in the 1990’s? It allows this conversation to take place on a global scale and even a local scale. A scale never before had… Product flaws are out in the open with the first few purchases, product benefits are out there too at the same speed.
Are you lost yet? Good!
It’s not surprising that social media business models can confuse folks. How do you jump into a conversation nolonger controlled by Journalists, media owners, print shops and big business? You can’t buy this type of conversation! But, it gets better. Fact is you can influence these conversations… Just as folks influenced the buying decisions of their consumers years ago with positioning, the new thing is awareness.
Dan Zarella has a basic overview of the concept in this graphic here… But i’d like to expand on this concept a little… I think of it abit more like this:
- Exposure (folks see you)
- Awareness (They know you)
- Club Joiners (they become a fan of yours)
- Action! (They buy, purchase, subscribe)
My next post will be a bit about some ways you can capitalize on Social and Viral media almost overnight. It’s the hidden key I hunted for ages ago, hidden under the door mat, welcoming you into the house of the social party going on online. It’ll tell you some simple and quick strategies to gaining tons of friends on facebook, and followers on Twitter. Nothing for sale here folks, just free info. Stay tuned.
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Daniel J Deyette
I don’t use this blog primarily to review electronics, It’s 99% internet marketing, 1% whatever I feel like writing about, but this device is truly an interesting buy…
I picked it up at Staples, because today they had it on sale, but the sale ends today.. So unless you read this today, the discount of $20 may be over…
I bought this to compliment my Mac Mini, as I found my full sized USB keyboard was Waaay to big and my desk is getting overloaded with stuff… So the big MS Natural keyboard was taking up too much space, and I wanted something smaller. After reading a few reviews online at how well it worked with OSX, ignoring some of the stuff about it’s missing features (like full sized arrow keys) I took the leap…
I have to be honest and say that I do already miss the lack of arrow keys… It also takes some getting used to and it’s NOTHING like the MS natural keyboards, so if your used to typing on them and you were hoping the arc shape would basically be the same thing,.. it’s not.
I already own the Arc mouse, so it seemed like they’d be a natural fit together and the amount of desk space it takes up is excellent. Since the computer I’ve put it on is primarily for graphic design, I doubt I’ll be too bothered by the typing aspects, but it’s a really sexy keyboard…
The sound up and down and page up and down buttons around the top are nice, and I did write an entire blog post about it that comes out May 5th (scheduled) using it entirely, so watch for that coming out soon.
Update:
I feel it only fair to tell you that I returned the Microsoft Arc to Staples for a full refund after only a few days of owning it. It’s only fair to be totally honest and I always maintain that policy even if it hurts.
Fact is the arrow keys (or almost complete lack) were totally annoying. The rest of the keyboard had those scissor type keys like you see on laptops, but the arrow keys were like the buttons commonly found on deskjet printers.. hard click type press.. annoying! Same with the top buttons had the same feel. And… It wasn’t easy to type on because it felt like the key spacing was odd.
What did I replace it with?
The Mac wireless mini keyboard. It’s only day 1, so I can’t say what my long term feelings will be, but i’m typing on it right now and it’s to die for… Full sized arrow keys and a nice form factor. Me likes!
Its interesting, being on both sides of the fence when it comes to the recent announcement from Steve Jobs regarding Adobe’s Flash…
I have friends who refused iPhones and iPad purchases because they wouldnt support Flash and I’m sure that Steve himself heard friends and family and folks around him saying the same things….
Yet, All of us in the back of our minds were probably wondering why, and now the secret is out…
According to Jobs…
- Flash is the #1 reason for mac crashes (Doubt that)
- Flash is a closed code platform (true)
- Flash requires extra cpu juice (true)
- Flash video is dated and not used by everyone (True)
- Not optimized for touch (true)
- Consumes battery life on mobiles (true)
Regardless, by refusing to work with what appears to be the second largest computer selling company and the world’s largest cellular phone manufacturer in the united states, its obvious that Adobe may very well have closed the door for good on Flash…
As a video platform, its quality degrades and it’s support varys and it definitely does require extra clock cycles on a CPU to execute….
Keep an eye out on the mobile web though as this may very well be the next advertising platform to explode businesses… Its definitely a key component of local businesses already even if they’re not yet embracing it.
Even I’ve typed things like “Langley Pizza” into my cell phone…
Daniel J Deyette
This morning, while reading an article on CNN.com, I started reading and thought… Wow…
Someone finally get’s it….
I bet there’s a handful of people thinking that Pete’s comments were a little out there.. I mean, seriously, Facebook users affect how Google ranks a web page? Why would that harm anything… Well, it will.
He’s 100% right. However, he’s missing a key ingredient to his discussion here, something I’m willing to wager few have thought of in addition to his queries and suggestions.
Peter suggests that Facebook “likes” could seriously harm the Google algorithm as the current algorithm judges popularity of a page by the number of inbound links from other websites pointing to it.
However, this is really only PART of the algorithm and a very vague description at best.
With folks now using the Facebook “Like” feature to share and discuss new favorite websites and posts, why would they want to “Link” to a page in a voting style fashion on blogs or other media to share it with their friends while at the same time giving a thumbs up toward the page, when simply clicking “like” exercises the same move?
Sociology has proven that users take the least difficult path, and thus with books like Stephen Krug’s “Don’t make me think”, it’s pretty obvious that Facebook’s 500Million+ users will likely begin using the like button and linking to web pages LESS….
Why even an OpenLink won’t fix Google’s Problem…
Already there are calls to create an “OpenLike” standard that’s accessible to all, reports Facebook watcher Nick O’Neill. However, Google Engineers will quickly point out that even if Facebook gave complete and total access to their systems and user data tommorow, the challenge would not end there… Likes cannot replace links algorithmically…
When Google evaluates a link, it looks at the age of the domain name it’s coming from, the links pointing TO that domain and the general authority it has. It also looks at how long the link has pointed to the other site, and what text it uses to describe the website or resource it’s pointing to. It also can gather information from the text around the link how relavent it is in relation to other content.
Likes and Algorithms…
The new question, one likely to be asked in 2011, will be this… How do you give weight or authority to a Facebook profile or twitter profile? One might instantly think this is easy… By stating the number of friends… A guy with 60,000 Twitter followers, or perhaps 2500 Facebook friends is clearly a leader in his field or a well known and trusted person.. However this simply isn’t accurate either… Because with the advent of “Follow Me-Follow You” groups on Twitter, and Facebook “add-me” groups, folks are gathering 1000’s of friends at a rapid pace already… Perhaps by combining time a user’s been registered with types of related friends or some idea could finally solve it… But it doesn’t exist yet.. IF you could even get your hands on that data.
Perhaps in 2011, Google tries to take over Facebook, or even more interesting, form a partnership for access to some sort of API that would give them the trust signals neccesary to place a weight on one “Like” vs another… Because certainly a like from a socially well known person like Britney Spears could be much more valuable than your next door neighbour who has 60 friends (4 of which don’t have his last name).
Regardless, Likes are going to become very dangerous to the Google way of ranking pages and the accuracy of Google’s judgement on what’s HOT and what’s not… Especially without access to the most freshest source of user approvals and popularities…
Thoughts? Voice in on the comments, bookmark this and most of all.. Like it!
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