Web Marketing Category
Social Media’s Profound Effect on SEO
By now, it’s probably been pounded into your head that social media content is important for optimizing your company’s rank on search results. Google, Bing and other search engines now incorporate social media participation as an important factor in their alogrithms. But, have you seen this effect in action?
The screen capture shows Google results for the term “Ideopia.” Note that 8 out of 10 results are from social media – Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook. And these results are being incorporated fast, e.g. the Twitter post on phobias was posted just 28 minutes ago. Food for thought!
![[Facebook]](http://www.ideopia.com/wavybrainy/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Twitter]](http://www.ideopia.com/wavybrainy/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
Case Study: Social Media Clobbers Adwords
- The conversion ratio for social media was 96% higher than Adwords.
- The cost per conversion for social media was 27% less.
- Social media pushed about 16% more traffic to the site than the Adwords campaign.
- Social media visitors were more engaged, viewing 30% more pages than their Adword brethren.
- After 6 weeks, the search campaign was shutdown with only a slight impact on website traffic, and none on conversions.
Does this mean you should pull the plug on your search campaigns? No! The efficacy of social media will depend on your market situation and ability to deliver the goods. Ideally, search marketing and social media should complement each other.
Click and Talk Search Ads on Google
A new feature Googled up for mobile phone users allows them to click on a phone number in a search ad and dial it automatically. Yeeeeeha! You can leave one hand on the wheel and order double pepperoni! But wait, this innovation might be cool for your business, too. It’s easy to setup by plugging a phone number into your Google Adwords Account Google Adwords account by plugging in a phone number. Click and Dial is also sensitive to geography, so the user always gets the number for the nearest location. Clicks on phone numbers are billed at the same rate as clicks on phoneless search ads. Our advice? Jump on it!
Dr. SEM: Sucking Up to Search Engines vs. Paying For It
Sucking up to search engines, aka search engine optimization, is widely considered the best strategy for driving clicks from search. Most users, especially savvier ones, just put more stock in it. Depending on what shape your site is in, driving search rankings to page one of search results can be a long-term and expensive undertaking. But you need short-term results now, now, now! Your best option is probably a carefully crafted Adwords campaign, or a similar channel on other search engines. You’ll still pay, but if your campaign is optimized properly you should realize an acceptable ROI. The answer is different for every industry. The best solution is blended. A properly optimized site will not only rank higher in search, but it will lower the cost of search campaigns by increasing the relevance of your landing pages.
Should You Be Yelping?
Yelp is a website that features user-generated reviews of businesses. Yes, you should be scared! According to Comscore, Yelp is growing at a rate of 80% annually, while its main competitor, CitySearch appears to be flat lining. Yelp is especially competitive with mobile accessibility and popularity. So take a few minutes to see if your business is already listed on Yelp, and make sure the information is accurate. If your profile is missing, the process for creating one is fast and smooth. With the growing popularity of Yelp, it would be smart to monitor reviews of your business for attacks on your reputation. Negative reviews are one thing, but hatchet jobs by former employees or competitors are quite another.