This is live coverage of SES Munich 2007 by Gilad of SearchMarketing.co.il contributed to the Search Engine Roundtable conferences coverage series.
The first English Session is moderated by Tim Cole and presented by Rand Fishkin from seomoz, We are late because of a big registration queue while The two struggle technical issues with the wifi connection (side note :~35$ a day isn't fun!)...
The room got place for about 120 attendees, we're starting with about 50 and people about 30 more get in at the first 10 minutes.
Tim Presents Rand and tells all about the famous proposition... Rands starts with a warm Welcome, will cove 3 topics: Blogs, Social web 2.0 sites and LinkBait.Why is this Session important? Because it's hot, SE are looking for this type of "updated" marketing as an important factor at the overall picture.
First Topic: Blogging
Software Vs. Custom built - talks about the plug and play features of wordpress, movabletype and others - simple Install and maintenance. Custom built (like in seomoz) can give you some flexibility advantages but requires a programmer.
Publishing considerations: WYSWIG editors Website Look and feel Delayed publishing -Rand actually tries to publish the stories late night so the readers will see them as their first online content daily. Navigation Options Archiving System Threaded Comments - Very important, Rand thinks the threaded comments at seomoz is a great hook, # of comments jumped high after implemation.
Domain use and hosting: - Don't use a blogspot, wordpress or other non yours domain because you won't be able to move it and all links will be pointed to a site that isn't yours - Companyblog.com - different URL, lack of focus - Go with company.com/blog
Keyword research: 1. decide on a topic 2. write a title 3. run KW research 4. consider re-writing title based on KW popularity 5. write content that fit the title
Blog Title & Meta tags in Blogs - blog Title should be reflected in title tag
Blog URLS, WORST TO BEST- Evade parameters and post numbers, use a rewritten url to fit the post, better CTR.
Levereging comments Comments=Free content New blogs - Turn comments off, wait till you are popular Reward frequent commenters Offer incentive for comments
RSS Feeds - Use full text, not partial snippets - more subcribers (unless you got a monetization features on the full text version) - Action tracking - Measure signups - Offer multiple RSS options in the blog
Blog actions to track: new subscriptions, registration, newsletter signups, ad clicks, # of pages viewed per user - usage stat.
Claiming a Unique Niche: Find something you are BEST at, don't choose a saturated niche, find something interesting to YOU.
Embedding more than text: screenshot, photos, cartoons, videos, logos, charts, diagrams, tools, polls, audio podcast, flash animations - you can reach new audience by using a non conventional pitch.
Deliver on expectations: - Post frequently - Ensure that the subject matters - Cover new events - Link to other blogs users should be reading - Put boundaries for comments. - Think about frequency of Off-topic posts
Brand your Blog - Titling blogs - Memorable, Descriptive - Use your brand in Press, on other sites, Interest junctions...
Community participation - Comment on Other blogs - Build relationships with other bloggers - Participate in Memes, Polls, events, etc.
Blogging Q+A 1. Q: How important is blogging for ranking? A: It's a good tool for getting links, most of the platforms are very search friendly, support friendly urls, feeds etc. 2. Q -Tim: What is the big difference between a normal website design and a blog design? A: a Blog is a platform for frequent update of your thoughts and updates. Create a compelling content, use a special voice and understand that blog is a commitment.
2nd Topic: Social Media Marketing
Many social sites=Very cool environment... - Seo = Perceived Spam - Rand runs very quick... Seos do contribute to the process but are still treated as suspects... - Control your brand before others do (reputation management, brand guarding with squidoo, myspace, linkedIn etc.) - Build link popularity - many of the Social don't use the nofollow attribute - Rule the serps - Rand makes a search for [randfish] - the results include seomoz, SU, del.icio.us, technorati and more...
Creating successful profiles: - Use website's name or a single person's name from the website. - Create robust profiles - Comment and build relationships Sites to target: www.seomoz.org/article/social-media-marketing-tactics
Q+A: me: what is the proportion between REAL users and EMULATED users? A: 5-15% of spambots and fake profiles
Topic 3 - Linkbait: What is linkbait? Viral worthy content+link savvy audience = Lots of links to the site.
Meet the Linkerati - The linkerati sketch from seomoz - Linkerati rules the web.
Samples of successful linkbait:
Rebecca's Worst College Mascots article on Drivl.com - got quicly to Digg, 128K page views, 2000+ referring domains, #4for college mascots, 200 new RSS Subs.
Celebrity Nudity Awards on Drivl.com
Seomoz launch - 21 tactics to increase blog traffic, 75,000 pg views, 250+referring domains, #! For "Increase blog traffic".
Linkbaut could be used on "boring" websites - gives an example of a drug identification Chart, noe #1 for [Illegal Drugs]
Content strategies: - Lists - How-to - Teaching resource - Humor, Irony - Controversy - Interviews - Breaking News - Reviews - Poll results - Aedthetic Beauty - Tools - Great Insight - ...
Linkbait Launching portals: Criteria: Big traffic, Aim at industry "celebrities" Speaks more about: - Digg, what is it? how to get a front page?( 50-100 votes) - Reddit.com (20-40 votes required for 1st pages) - Netscape (20-40 votes required for 1st pages) - Del.icio.us Popular - Tech focused, (20-30 votes required for popular ad del.icio.us) - StumbleUpon Toolbar - buzz.stumpleupon.com for the best pages getting thumbs up.
Popular editorial sites to target: - TechCrunch - Slashdot - Techmeme - Lifehacker - Engadget - boingboing and more
Rules for linkbait safely- Digg and others use (and block based on suspect) :
- IP Tracking - Geography - Groups - Profile Identification - Spam submissions
More on this topic from Chicago here (https://www.seroundtable.com/archives/006891.html) Q&A
Though crowd but a very good presentation by Rand, during the Q+A Marcus from www.secretsites.de/joblog presents his LinkBait "methods" - Funny.
Disclaimer- Sorry for any grammar or other mistakes...
Gilad, SearchMarketing.co.il
