10 Social Media Marketing Strategies In 2013

Social media is growing very rapidly and anyone cannot afford to ignore the power of social media marketing. Therefore, it is necessary that you strategize social media marketing for 2013 in advance.
In coming year, you have to learn from your mistakes in the past and plan for the future. So here are 10 social media marketing strategies for 2013.

1. Review what you did in Year 2012

First thing to keep in mind, while strategizing a marketing plan, is to introspect your past. You need to learn from all your mistakes that you did in year 2012.
You have to analyze why your social media marketing failed or didn’t do well as you expected. A serious brainstorming is required from all of your team members.
You need to identify all those points that led to the failure. It is of utmost important that you do not repeat same mistakes in the New Year.

2. Set-Out Targets for 2013

Social media is vast like an ocean. There are small nitty-gritty associated with it that you cannot come to know in few days. You need to understand all the dimensions of social media marketing and it cannot be done by one person.
Hence, you need a team of experts with a responsibility to set-out targets for 2013. On a white board, you have to chalk out plan in a right manner.
Whether it is reaching out to customers or clients you need to have a well laid-out strategy. Therefore it is better to set targets that you will achieve in a limited time period.

3. Humanizing Social Media with Your Personal Presence

Normally, while marketing on social media, companies and marketers commit very obvious mistakes, like they tend to overlook the importance of human touch while running a campaign via Facebook or Twitter.
They usually forget or neglect the human aspect of marketing through social media. Therefore, you must create your personal brand on Facebook and Twitter.
When people come to these websites they must feel that they are interacting with a person with human touch rather interacting an autopilot program or software.
Hence, start building a personality and give a feel to people that you are listening them.

4. Exploring all Your Local and Targeted Social Networks

You need to try your best to find out all Local social networks in your niche. Social networks which are more local to your city and town give you an idea what is going on to the streets.
For social media marketing, it is very important to know what people are talking on the ground and the best way to know it is through engaging with local social networks.
Secondly, you can target other social networks in your niche. It will help you to know the exact competition in your niche. Moreover, you can join them and market your product or services more effectively.
Hence local and targeted social networks are very important to know while marketing on social media.

5. Creating Synergy Between Online and Offline Advertising

Now this is one more important aspect of social media marketing. This year you need to bring together the online and offline advertising together.
All your advertising campaigns whether online or offline must develop a synergy. Hence, it means your left hand should know what your right hand is doing.
This year your team of marketers should run all advertising campaigns online and offline in tandem.
Bring both form of advertising together to get best out of social media marketing.

6. Creating More and More Viral Content

If you want to get more traffic to your blog or website then you have to create content that goes viral. Creating viral content has always been a great challenge.
This coming year you have to put an extra effort to create viral content because it is not that easy. You need to set a goal that how many people will be visiting your content in one day.
You have to learn from others how they are creating content which goes viral. Recently, Gangnam or “Charlie bit my finger” videos went viral on internet; you also need something like that.
Viral content needs a lot of research and fact finding.

7. SEO Optimization for Social Networks

I know SEO optimization is an old trick and you will say you do not need to do anything extra. But my dear friend, for social media marketing SEO is bit different than for ranking in organic searches.
To rank high for social media you need a great presence on social media. Your SEO team should know how to rank high in organic searches through Facebook or Twitter.
Therefore, this year you have to re-strategize your SEO plans for social networks.

8. Incorporate all Possible Multi Media Tools

To make best use of marketing efforts you need to incorporate all possible multimedia tools. It means your content should be dynamic and vivid only then your marketing could stand out.
These tools could be gif images, videos, info-graphics etc. You need to use these tools to make your content more relevant. You can also use certain apps and extensions from chrome web stores.
As a social media marketer you must always be looking for new tools that are coming on the Internet. They can be paid as well as free to use.

9. Keeping an eye on Mainstream Media

If you want to learn marketing then you have to look how the big boys like MNC’s are doing through mainstream media.As we all know social media is going to replace mainstream media but still later one reaches out to the masses much effectively than former one.Hence, in social media marketing you have to include the strategies that MNCs are doing through mainstream media.So this year in 2013 follow mainstream media and advertising running on them.

10. Finally, Going beyond Facebook & Twitter

Finally, this year in 2013 you need to go beyond Facebook and Twitter for social media marketing. You have to explore other venues through which you can reach out to people.
You can try paid medium for getting more exposure. It could be expensive but still you should prepare your mind to try everything in the store.

10 Ways to Write Good Copy

Writing effective copy is both an art and a science.

It’s an art because it requires creativity, a sense of beauty and style — a certain aptitude, mastery and special knowledge. Artistic advertising allows you to create content marketing that’s not just practical and persuasive, but awe-inspiring and breathtaking.
Writing effective copy is also a science, because it exists in the world of tests, trial and failure, improvement, breakthroughs, education and predictability. Scientific advertising allows you to develop an idea, and then test that idea. It’s how you know if your content marketing is working.
In bad copy, one (or both) of these elements are missing. In good copy, they are both abundant.
Read on, in the next few minutes we’ll explore ten examples of good copy living (and selling) out in the wild …

1. Plain copy

The most basic approach to writing effective copy is to simply introduce the product without gimmick or style. It’s a simple presentation of the facts and benefits.
There is no story. There is no conversation. There is no “sizzle” and no superlative claims.
Think Google Analytics.

That copy isn’t going to win any literary awards, but it will get the job done. It will give a prospect the information she needs to make an informed decision about the product.

2. Storytelling copy

Everyone loves a good story.
We like hearing about people — especially interesting people. People who’ve suffered challenges we can relate to, and can tell us how they overcame those challenges.
And the moral of the story, coincidentally, is that your product was the catalyst to overcoming those odds.
You might find this storytelling technique in an email series, a landing page, or a short video. Whatever the format, you’ll get four basic traits in the story:

1. Opening: Introduce the pain. Show how the character of the story had a normal life, then how that life was shattered by a change of events.
2. Conflict: How is the life of the main character threatened if he or she does not respond to the problem? What does her journey look like as she tackles this challenge?
3. Dialogue: People are drawn to conversations in a story. It’s human interest at its root: two people talking to each other. We are also drawn to dialogue because it’s easy to read. “Our eyes flow over dialogue like butter on the hood of a hot car,” says novelist Chuck Wendig.
4. Solution: Finally, your product is introduced as the cure for your character’s problem. You increase the credibility of your product by sharing specific results (347% increase in conversion, for example).

Your story doesn’t have to be dramatic. It just has to be interesting to your target audience. And this is where good research comes in.

3. Conversational copy

John Caples calls conversational copy “You and Me.”
In this style of copy, you write as if there is a conversation between two people: the copywriter and the prospect.
The language here would be no different than a salesman sitting down for lunch with a customer and talking through a sales presentation. It’s a straightforward approach that tries to identify with the reader:

I know how you feel. I felt the same way. That all changed when I found x, y and z.

Keep in mind that you don’t have to be a polished copywriter to create effective conversational copy. Often the sheer passion for what you’re trying to promote breathes off the page.
In fact, you can record a conversation about the product, transcribe that conversation, and use it as a rough draft.

4. John Lennon copy

When John Lennon asked us to imagine there was no heaven or hell, no countries, religion or war, he was using an effective tool of persuasion: imaginative copy.
As an advertiser, you can ask your target audience to imagine a painless way to lose weight, or what it would feel like to be a successful travel writer.
Imaginative copy typically begins with words like “imagine,” “close your eyes,” “pretend for a moment,” “discover,” or “picture this” in the first paragraph of the text.
This is the concept behind AWAI’s Barefoot Writer presentation.

In this example, you are asked to imagine your life in a certain way — to pretend what it would be like to live your dream, whatever that dream might be.
Then the copywriter paints a picture of achieving that ideal life through your product.

5. Long copy

The fundamental premise behind long copy is “The more you tell, the more you sell.” Ads that are long on facts and benefits will convert well.
Why?
Unlike a face-to-face conversation with a salesperson, a written ad has only one chance to convert a reader. If you get in front of the reader, you’ve got to lay it all out on the table.
Take the Google Analytics example above.
Page after page of facts and benefits are presented because the proposition isn’t simple — typical prospects are going to be asking a lot of questions. Better to anticipate those questions, and answer them in the copy.
But when you’re following the basic rules of content marketing that works, remember that you don’t have to present all the facts and benefits up front.
You can leak the presentation over a period of weeks through an email autoresponder (like our Internet Marketing for Smart People course), or a registration-based content library (like the Scribe Content Marketing library).
In this way, you’re turning long copy into short, easily-digestible snippets.

6. Killer poet copy

Here at Copyblogger we love Ernest Hemingway and David Sedaris. But we aren’t so enamored by their writing abilities that we try to imitate their styles at the expense of teaching and selling.
Our goal isn’t to convince our audience that we’re smart — it’s educating and selling with our copy.
As David Ogilvy once said, “We sell, or else.” But we try to sell with style. We try to balance the killer with the poet.
Killer poet copy sees writing as a means to an end (making a sale), and the ad as an end in itself (beautiful design and moving story).
In other words, the killer poet combines style with selling. Creativity with marketing. Story with solution.

7. Direct-from-CEO copy

It’s a known fact — third-party endorsements can help you sell products.
But it’s equally effective to position your selling argument as a direct communication between the company founder and his or her customer.
This down-to-earth approach levels the playing field. It telegraphs to the customer, “See, the CEO isn’t some cold and remote figurehead interested in profit only. He’s approachable and friendly. He cares about us.”
Jeff Bezos of Amazon is a superb example:

Notice this letter is conversational as well as plain: it’s a simple statement of the facts and benefits between two people: Jeff and you.

8. Frank copy

Some copy will explain the ugly truth about the product.
This approach doesn’t start with the jewels of your goods — it’s going to start with the warts.
When selling a car, you might point out the endless repairs that need to be done — thin brake pads, leaky transmission, busted sway bar, and inoperable dashboard — before you introduce the leather seats, Monsoon stereo system, sun roof, brand-new tires and supercharged engine.
What you’re saying is this car will need a lot of TLC. You might even go as far as to say, “Make no mistake here — there’s much work to be done here.”
And here’s a curious thing: when you are honest and transparent about product weaknesses, the customer trusts you.
When the reader trusts you, they will be considerably more likely to believe you when you point out the good qualities of your product.

9. Superlative copy

There are also times when you can make outlandish claims.
Claims like (these are actual ads):

• “A revolutionary material from this Nevada mine could make investors a fortune in 2013″
• “Stores across U.S. selling out of what some call a new ‘miracle’ diet fighter”
• “Obey this one weird loophole to get car insurance as low as $9″

But you can make only make extraordinary claims when you have the proof to back it up. The evidence can be in statistics, testimonials, or research — or preferably all three.
The problem with superlative copy is that it’s often hard to make outlandish claims and not sound like you are hyping it up — so use this type of copy sparingly.
Generally, it’s good to follow the “Remove All Hype” policy.

10. Rejection copy

Rejection copy turns conventional wisdom on its head. and tries to discourage people from being interested in your product.
This type of copy is a direct challenge to the reader that leverages the velvet rope approach — the idea that only an exclusive set of people are invited to use a product.
The American Express Black Card is a good example here — this card is reserved for the world’s wealthiest and most elite. The only way you can get your hands on one is if you are invited.
Similarly, consider the dating site Beautiful People. If you want to be part of this exclusive dating club made up of “beautiful” people, then you have to be voted in by existing members:

Potential rejection startles readers — they don’t expect to be turned down, especially not from an advertiser.
This approach also keys into our sense of wanting to belong. It generates that curiosity itch and activates our pride. We think, “How dare they say I might not be good enough to get into their club? I’ll show them.”

Over to you …

In the end, great copy often combines several of these techniques into one ad.
The CEO of a company writes a conversational sales letter built around a story about his passion for his product (whether it is peaches or water pumps).
A copywriter writes a long rejection ad that explains why certain people are excluded from receiving an invitation to dine at an exclusive restaurant.
Or a Savile Row tailor writes a plain but elegant sales letter about his suits, which have been worn by kings and presidents.
This is the art and science of copywriting.

Social media is not your saving grace: Experiences Should First be Defined and Supported

Social media experts will tell you, and they’ll make a pretty good case too, that it is the golden key to unlocking meaningful customer relationships and the gateway to surprising and delighting them over time. So how does social media do this? Well all it takes is to listen, be part of the conversation, curate great content, run native advertisements, and oh yeah, be transparent and authentic. Done and done.

Well, wrong and wrong.

Social media isn’t going to save your business nor is it going to make it. This may sound commonsensical, but to succeed in business takes much more than a Facebook or Twitter account. Hostess baked over 400,000 likes on Facebook and yet the iconic American brand is now shut down. Even small businesses are not immune to the real world. According to the SBA, over 50% of small businesses fail in the first five years. Social media isn’t saving those businesses either.
Michael Ames author of Small Business Management, assembled the top 8 reasons that contribute to small business failure and you’ll notice not embracing social media isn’t one of the contributors:

1. Lack of experience
2. Insufficient capital (money)
3. Poor location
4. Poor inventory management
5. Over-investment in fixed assets
6. Poor credit arrangements
7. Personal use of business funds
8. Unexpected growth

From experience, there are two other ingredients that serve as harbingers to the future of any business, under scoping or underestimating sales and marketing and underemphasizing product quality and customer experiences.

In any one of these scenarios, social media is not your saving grace—regardless of business size, number of followers, or however many viral videos you’ve introduced.
Am I saying that social media is useless?

No.

It is after all where connected consumers are spending a significant amount of time these days. Nielsen recently found that Americans spend 121 billion minutes per month in social networks, which is significantly up from 88 billion just one year ago.

I do believe that many experts are however taking their eye off of the ball in the name of social media. But, success takes design, intent, and the relentless pursuit of opportunities even when they are elusive. As a digital analyst and also an entrepreneur and investor, I’ve learned that technology is always going to introduce new channels for engagement. And, that’s a good thing. But they are not in of themselves channels for necromancy. The ability to surprise and delight customers starts with the ability to understand how to exceed expectations. And, even before that, it takes an understanding of what expectations are and where they’re met or missed.

So, here’s where social media can help...

Listening with Intent

Listening is among the most valuable ways to use social media for business relevance and ultimately success. However for it to offer true value begins with the questions you chose to answer. For example, in addition to asking, “what are people saying about me or my competitors,” also ask, “what are people saying or seeking in to improve what they’re doing today?” It’s the difference between information and insight and also listening to and hearing customers in a way that inspires innovation or iteration.

Designing the Experience

To deliver exceptional customer experiences takes experience design. You have to articulate, thoughtfully, what you want people to feel, say, and share. This is more than defining differentiators and value propositions. Businesses must think through how products and services evoke the original inspiration for starting or joining a company and the ongoing aspirations necessary to exceed expectations in the future. Social media then represents a series of open windows to engage customers during each and every moment of truth before, during and after transactions to reinforce experiences and desired sentiment. Think marketing, sales, service, support, and word of mouth.

Paying it Forward

If social media is about conversations you can bet that much of it is based on people asking questions. People are often looking for answers or direction. Rather than “Googling It,” it’s easier to ask those you trust. In this economy where trust is fleeting and transparency is elusive, there’s a tremendous opportunity to become the resource in your community. Don’t sell…instead; sell through the art of reciprocity. Customers feel a sense of appreciation for those who help and provide value.

The Power to Tell

As my good friend Peter Guber says, storytelling or Telling to Win helps people align with your mission through aspirations or solutions. Don’t sell just on price or features. Make your customers the hero by helping them see what they can accomplish simply by aligning with you. If you use social media, don’t just post questions, polls, or random pictures, unleash a gravity that pulls customers to you because they can clearly see that you “get” them and the things they struggle or hope to accomplish with or without you.

These are just a few ways to think about social media. But, there are many many other initiatives that you can consider that deliver value during each moment of truth. You have to consider though, that social media represents a series of new channels that complement other avenues that define your digital and real world opportunities. There is no one way to reach all of your customers and prospects.

Mobile.
Web.
Digital signage.
Geolocation.
Social.

And that’s what makes these times so challenging. You can’t assume however that building a distributed presence is good enough. You don’t have time for that. Growth and success are intentional, which means you can’t afford to stumble your way around them. There are customers to earn now and yes, technology is changing how you’ll reach them over time. See, the people who represent your customers 10 years from now are not the people who you reach today.
Ten years you say!?

Well, perhaps that’s too far to appreciate. The same is true though for three and four years from now.
Start with getting to know who your customers are and what they need…and how to help them. Then let it inspire you to create meaningful marketing strategies, relevant products and services, and desirable engagement channels in the moments of truth in the medium of preference.
If you don’t continually invest in the awareness of your value or experience you cannot benefit from consideration.

You are now perpetually competing for the future. Social media is one of the channels that now present you with yet another opportunity to truly engage with your customers. In the end, you have to think deeper about this opportunity. Just because you’re in business doesn’t mean you’ll stay in business. If you stop competing for attention and relevance you by default stop competing. This is your time to not just survive but thrive.

How to Boost Your Page Ranking in 2013

In the year 2012, there have  been several changes in
the  SEO  scene. Google   has  made  changes  to  its
search algorithm  and  has  given new  updates to the
entire   online   population.   All   the  existing   SEO
techniques have been spruced up to match the current
trends. Page Ranks play an indefinite role in ranking
your site  high  in  the  search engines. The benefit of
ranking  higher  in  search  engines  is  the  enormous
amount  of  traffic  your site, receives. Increased page
views,  contribute  to  increased ‘call to  action’. This
would  result  in  higher  number  of transactions with
which you can achieve business objectives.



Let us understand the logic behind Google Page Ranks, and find out what factors affect them. Google
Page Ranks are between the values 1 and 10. If your site scores close to a perfect ‘10’, it means that
your site is trusted, and if the score is close to ‘0’ it means the credentials of the site need to be
improved. One of the tasks at hand for an SEO professional is to change the reversing trend of lowering
page ranks, to achieve a steady increase in Page Ranks.

Creating Quality Links

Creating quality back links and clean in-bound links are the need of the hour. It is high time that you do away with just focusing on the number of links to your site. For instance, if your site is cluttered with several links from un-trusted sources, they will definitely lead your site down the cliff, in Page Ranks. Links to and from spam sites will also have the same detrimental result.

The best practice to be followed here is to have quality back links to sites that are related to your niche.This will definitely add value to your website’s SEO efforts. Create guest posts on sites that sport a high authority, and watch your Page Rank grow.

Original Content with Authority

You should be strict while framing the content policies for your website or blog. If you lag in this aspect, search engines will penalize you heavily even for a single mishap.

Have a strict policy against plagiarizing content. Do not host content that is copied, even by
mistake. Such errors might prove fatal to your Page Rank.
Research thoroughly and write original content that is precise. Add analysis, graphs, and all the
necessary information at the right places.
Keyword infusion should be done cautiously. Do not stuff keywords unnecessarily, which will
render your content meaningless.
If you hold a Google Plus profile, use it to your advantage. Google authorship does wonders to
the credibility of your content and it increases your Page Rank. Enhance Social signals by being
active in Social Media.
Take care of site design, layout, and navigation. A streamlined content presentation is a pre-
requisite for search engines.

Google has transformed the SEO space and has restricted our usual way of working. Special care in
linking and content creation should be followed for maintaining good Page Ranks. If thin sites with low quality links and content are hosted, the sites are lowered in ranking. Thus, the year 2013 will require websites to quickly adapt to changes in the SEO space.

Tricks and Tips Which Help You For Ending Social Media Marketing Confusion

Most of the marketers when they begin with social media marketing aren’t very much sure where to begin with. In fact, where to start is among the basic question that majority of online marketers pose today. There is a social media confusion found in the market, which seems to be creating a panic at workplaces. This is because there are more than 200 social media sites available on the web. So, it is very difficult for the marketers to identify the right social media site where they can find their target audience. By avoiding these confusions can help you in devising a competent social media marketing strategy. The below is the list of tricks and tips, which can help you in ending up the social marketing confusion.

Getting familiar with common social media sites

As said above, there are more than 200 social media sites, but it’s not possible to go through all the sites at the same time. However, you simply need to make yourself familiar with the social media sites, which are popular in the market. You can start with Facebook as it happens to be the most popular social media site. Make a profile there and then head to other social media sites, which are popular for marketing purposes. These include Google Plus, LinkedIn, Twitter, Yelp, Pinterest and even the Insiderpages, which could be called as perfect way to begin. Once you start using these sites you will understand the ways to use them for your marketing purposes.

Take a basic course

Though social media sites are not difficult to master and by investing some amount of time on a daily basis can help you understand them, yet if you are too busy for this, consider a basic course on it. There are many online marketers or institutes, which can provide you a competent crash course of effectively using social media sites for marketing purposes. Secondly, there are different training levels, which are required for different learning levels, which will liberate you from the social media confusion. You have course for beginners, intermediate and advance, so choose the course appropriately by checking the brochures available online at different learning outlets.

Choose few and focus more on your niche relevant social media sites

Social media is not simply Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus sites, but the fact is there are there are many other targeted social websites. So your basic tip would be to choose only a couple of these and get engaged there. While choosing these sites for your social media marketing strategy, make sure you understand the difference between social media, social bookmarking and social new sites. This will help you in working with appropriate sites.
Secondly, make sure you identify the social media sites related to your niche area and focus on them. Today, you will find social media sites for different niche areas. For instance, LinkedIn is appropriate for serious business relations, Facebook is good platform for non profits, and Twitter could be called as a casual platform, whereas MySpace is the best option for lifestyle and music.

Make your sharing simple

The basic mantra for effective social media marketing comes by making sharing simple and user friendly. So, placing Facebook share icon while sharing the post, this could be time consuming thing but certainly worthy thing to try. Add tools that can attract your target audience at your business page like you can ad ‘Like’ box over your blog for your Facebook profile. In same way, organize your Twitter party by setting proper data and time for the chat via hashtags on any of your niche area topic. Similarly put relevant videos to your niche area over YouTube and your blog to gear up things for your social media marketing strategy.

Final word

Social media marketing simply means promoting something tangible, which can go beyond your products and services. It is also about being creative and unique and doing things which can attract your target audience. Doing all these things with the help of the tips discussed above can change things for you.

Pinterest 101: 33 Ways To Create Engaging Content & Be More Pinnable

Many brands are still struggling to determine if Pinterest is a platform that will work for their business.  Companies that have taken the leap may be unsure of how exactly to use Pinterest and what their strategy should be.
The numbers don’t lie.  Pinterest has proven that it has staying power.

• 10.4 million users
• 25 million uni visitors/month
• 1/3 use for shipping inspiration
• Average time spent: 1hr 17 min
• Draws more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn, and youtube combined

33 Pinterest Best Practices

1. Users only have to follow what they like: This means you have an opportunity to only select the categories you are interested in and avoid feed clog (like Twitter).
2. Your pins are forever:  Unlike a tweet that has the staying power of mere seconds, a pin is a permanent fixture on your board.
3. There are SEO benefits: Pinterest is indexed by google and should be part of your backlinking and social linking strategy.
4. Content is searchable: Users can search for content by keywords, hashtags, or categories.
5. Repins encourage following: After someone re-pins an image from one of your boards they are prompted to begin following you as well.
6. Your customers & clients are on Pinterest.
7. Your competitors are on Pinterest.
8. Generate conversation:  You have the opportunity to begin engaging with users by following them or furthering your research on their website.
9. Create community: Users can easily embed their social sites and contact information into the Pinterest profile description.  This alerts users to all of the ways that they can connect with you.
10. Measure, refine, repeat:  To determine what has been pinned from your boards you can visit: http://pinterest.com/source/yourURL.com or utilize tools like Repinly.com.  Viewing your top pins will help guide your content strategy.
11. A like is nice, but a repin is forever.
12. It all starts and ends with a photo:  The power of Pinterest is all within the images that you use to attract and engage your audience.
13. Photos should shine:  Each photo should be high quality, engaging, focused, properly cropped, and it should be easy to identify the subject.
14. Watermarking your images: In order to protect the images you post on Pinterest you can use a watermark to describe the photo and include your information.  Some of the tools that can be used include: picmonkey.com, iwatermark, pixlr.com.
15. Image name:  Be sure to use search terms and keywords in your image names.
16. Before and after:  Images that show before and after crafts, weightloss, etc tend to do well on Pinterest.
17. Know your audience:  It is essential that you are in tune with what your audience likes to consume and share.
18. Organize your subjects:  If you can keep your boards clean and organized you will improve usability for your followers.
19. People like to laugh: Funny quotes tend to be crowd pleasers for any target market.
20. Inspire your followers: Find out what motivates your audience and use Pinterest to inspire them to take action.
21. DIY: Pinterest was built on the notion of DIY projects and recipes.  If applicable, try and share as many of these as possible with your audience.
22. Fit a popular category: The most popular categories on Pinterest are: home, arts and crafts, style/fashion, food, inspiration/education, holiday/seasonal, humor, products, travel, kids.
23. Consistency is key:  Make it your goal to share a helpful tip/image daily.
24. Infographics rock Pinterest: Infographics display  very nicely on Pinterest and are an eye catcher for your audience.
25. Upload pins related to trending topics: If you find something you can write about related to a trending topic, go for it!
26. Use keywords in descriptions: The most repinnable keywords are: recipe, chicken, minutes, bake, cake, cheese, cut bottle, step, mix, favorite, cool, top, butter, chocolate, ingredients, try best, baking, pour.
27. Include hashtags in descriptions: Hashtags will provide more focus to your image descriptions.
28. Be descriptive: Use words in your descriptions that entice and engage your followers.
29. Be brief: Shorter descriptions are more effective so keep it short and sweet.
30. Product image: If you’re uploading images of your products, be sure to list the price in the description.
31. Create a CTA: In general, calls to action lead to an 80% increase in engagement.
32. Taller is better: The taller your image, the better it will display on Pinterest.
33. Know when to pin:  It is important to upload images and engage when your community is pinning.

Curing the Bored Blogging Blues

Whether you are blogging for yourself or you blog for others as a living, there’s one road bump which every writer will hit: boredom. When a blog is not interesting to write, it becomes a desperate chore and one that many would rather avoid. Blogging at the best of times takes time, creativity and work; when you’re bored of what you’re writing on, it becomes a very specialized form of torture.
The reader can tell. One of the things I’ve told new writers (in all genres and types) is that if you’re not interested in what you’re writing, the reader won’t be either. If you blog for others, you’ll certainly have times where you don’t particularly care about what you’re writing, but you can push past it using a bit of creativity. However, if you keep writing until you’re completely sick of it, the quality you turn out will be poor and you’ll be unhappy.
So, how can you overcome the bored blogger blues?

Change Your Focus

As a writer myself, I often get stuck doing the same topic for weeks, sometimes months on end and believe you me, no amount of creative thinking can make that any easier! Changing focus at that point works so well that I immediately snap back to life and my writing improves multi-fold. What can you take away from this? Do the same thing! If you’ve been writing on one topic for a while and you’re bored of it, change your focus, start a new blog and write on something brand new. Then when you get bored of that, go back to your first topics.
This isn’t as crazy as it looks. Not only will you refresh, but giving the constant stream of content a rest gives your readers and the search engines a chance to catch up.

Take a Break

Stop writing; you’re making us look bad!
If the boredom blues are setting in, take a break. In fact, take a break before the boredom sets in. It can be anything from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Socialize, grab something to eat, read a book or go for a long walk. (Doing something physical works really well for me personally). Do something completely different from writing and then you can get back to it feeling reasonably refreshed. If you have a hard time tearing yourself away from your work, schedule a break. For example, if I know I’m in for a long haul, I make sure to break up my day; work for an hour or so, do something completely else for a couple of hours, and then get back to it. And I always make sure I go for a walk somewhere every day.

Be the Sponge

Good pro-bloggers (and writers of any kind for that matter) will tell you that they get their inspiration from a myriad of places and that means getting out in the world! Read online magazines, read books, read other blogs, catch up on the news and chat with other people. All of these things can become great fodder for your blogs. And if you’re interested, your writing will be interesting and readers will like it. The best way to do that is to give your blogs the personal touch of experience.
You can set up alerts through Google to let you know when new things are written about your topics or just stuff you’re interested in. Take the time every morning to read through it, let it ferment and come up with ideas from that. Discuss your ideas with others and see what they think about it. Not only will this give you good story fodder, but it’s also a great way to socialize, something which all bloggers can definitely benefit from doing more of!

Get Physical

As writers, we spend a lot of time sitting around reading and writing and thinking. And hey, we’re good at it! But it’s also a good way to get stuck with health problems, feelings of lethargy, and difficulty writing more. This is why it’s important to get out regularly and do something purely physical. Go for a walk or a hike, go for a run, hit the gym, play some sports or do something that uses the rest of your muscles. Not only will you refresh your mind, but you can also stave off the common problems of writers such as obesity.
The boredom blues hit every writer and blogger at some point, but they can be surpassed. These tips are all great ways to do just that. Beat the blogger blues and get back to writing!
Speaking of fitness, I do have another blog just for that, and you can visit it here for some great tips in exercise and dieting:  http://attitudeequalsperformance.blogspot.com/

My Top Predictions for Facebook's Secret January 15th Announcement

 

 

 1) Facebook to Release a Smartphone!

Facebook has received a lot of negative feedback over its poor mobile usability -- from consumers and advertisers alike -- but they have been taking strides to improve it. For example, consumers recently got a "Share" button so they can share another friend's update on their mobile devices just like they would on a desktop. And advertisers have received mobile-only ad targeting, allowing targeting for users only when they're using Facebook from, well, a mobile device.
Since Facebook and the mobile world need to get closer and closer together, it's certainly a possibility, but I think most people are agreeing that Facebook releasing its own smartphone isn't too likely for the 15th, considering Zuckerberg himself denied it in July of 2012. But hey, that was over five months ago ... that's a long time in internet years.

2) Facebook Finally Enhances Much Adored 'Poke' Feature!

Because of public appeal, Facebook has invested millions of dollars and thousands of engineering man hours into the enhancement of its 'Poke' feature. On January 15th, users will be able to not only poke, but also pinch, flick, stroke, trip, slap, punch, or tickle a friend. Businesses will be able to do this to page fans, too.

3) Facebook Launches New Gaming Platform!

If you recall (I didn't, until I read some news over at ITWire), during its IPO, Facebook identified gaming company Zynga as a bit of a weak point. Since they've been trying to separate from one another, it's possible Facebook will announce that its built its own gaming platform on January 15th. A gaming platform would be one more way for Facebook to earn even more revenue, on top of their growing ad network.

4) Facebook Builds, Launches "Facebot!"

Facebook's been working on building an actual robot, available for purchase, that will follow you around and speak your status updates to you. This eliminates the need for people to spend all day scrolling through their Facebook News Feed to stay up to date on what their friends are posting. For a small monthly fee, robots will display the user's profile picture on its face.
If you'd like to stalk someone, simply speak the name of the friend to the robot, who will tell you what they're doing, where they're going, and who they've been talking to. If you have a private message, the robot will tap you on the shoulder and lean in for a whisper.

5) Facebook Unveils Site Redesign!

Facebook's release of Timeline last year was the talk of the town -- some people loved it, some hated it (probably more than "some," but consumers are always up in arms about Facebook's changes), but all of us probably have a couple pieces of feedback on the layout. It's plausible, and many are chattering about this, that Facebook is announcing another redesign. It's pretty unlikely a redesign would do away with Timeline; you might notice other social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn have adopted the horizontal cover photo because it is actually pretty sweet. Many are speculating it will do away with the two-column update layout we have on our current profiles and pages, and instead will replace one side with more tools and widgets.
There's also a possibility, however, that Facebook really will scrap the whole Timeline design and launch something totally out of left-field. After all, they've never been ones to fear experimentation and disruption.

6) Facebook Trades in Blue for Pink!

While its trademark blue has gotten them far, Facebook's an agile, forward-thinking company. They know when it's time to experiment, and embrace change. That's why, on January 15th, 2012, Mark Zuckerberg will announce that their social network will now be sporting a soft shade of baby pink in lieu of the blue we've all become accustomed to. To promote the new skin, Zuckerberg will also be trading in his bluish grayish hoodies for more of a pinkish purplish hue.

7) Facebook Launches Dating Site!

Ooooh, am I being silly or serious? A little bit of both, I suppose. Facebook has a ridiculous amount of intelligence about its users: music taste, favorite movies, hobbies, profession, education, location, sexual orientation, relationship status. Why not build the option for users to opt in to a paid dating site, bringing over their information from their profiles, and suggesting matches for one another based on that intelligence? Hey, it's not the most far-fetched idea to solve Facebook's monetization problems.

8) Beast Announced as New CEO of Facebook!

It would be foolish to think Mark Zuckerberg could run his Facebook empire forever. And it turns out he's found new adventures to pursue, and as a result, has named his lovable dog Beast as his successor. He's supremely qualified for the role, as he's been maintaining his own Facebook page for several years now, and has amassed over 1.3 million Likes.

 

9) Facebook Buys Google!

In a surprise twist in the M&A world, Facebook has purchased Google for eleventeen billion dollars. Facebook acknowledged the need for a better search function, which Google's nailed pretty well with their search algorithm, and Google acknowledged they were in over their head with Google+, and that it really isn't that different from Facebook at all.

10) Google Integrated Into Facebook Search Function!

It is true that Facebook's in need of a more robust, more accurate search function. In fact, this is what many of my colleagues settled on as a possible announcement on January 15th -- perhaps not Google integration into Facebook's search function, but a brand spankin'-new search function built by Facebook. If Facebook could truly nail social search, perhaps by using social signals such as Likes, shares, or even user and business tags, it would present a great opportunity for marketers who can figure out and nail SEO for Facebook.

12 Valuable Tips for Video SEO Beginners

If you aren't optimizing your videos to match what people are searching, your videos are likely to get lost and not reach their intended audience. Without reaching their intended audience, they serve no purpose.
YouTube is the second largest search engine behind Google. Every minute, more than 48 hours of new video content is uploaded. Videos are 50 times more likely to rank on the first page of Google results, according to Nate Elliot at Forrester.
So how do you ensure your videos get results? With video search engine optimization, commonly referred to as video SEO.
To simplify what you need to do, think about your target audience. Consider their language, wants, and needs.
Use the following 12 valuable tips to get your video to reach the first page of Google and YouTube, but most importantly build visibility to a large niche audience that is interested in what you have to offer.

1. Content Quality Check

Ensure your videos are relevant, informative, and rich with content. Don't waste time producing videos that have nothing to do with your brand or service.
Videos demonstrating step-by-step processes or videos expressing opinions about topics can be quite useful. Videos should be fun, memorable, short, and leave the viewer wanting more.
If using a video production company, trust one that understands the importance of these concepts. If you're hesitant of their services, make sure to scan their existing video portfolio in detail for videos that match these qualities.

2. Title

Capture the potential viewer's attention with a catchy title that contains related key phrases that are relevant to your brand or service. Do some keyword research and find the words that your audience will most likely be searching, but remember to keep the title interesting, not just filled with keywords.
Create a title that will catch the eye of a user. Brainstorm some titles that catch your eye when passing a magazine rack. What compels you to pick up a magazine?

3. Tags

Optimize your video with important key phrases or keywords. Don't use complicated words or terminology that may not be common to the average person.
Refer back to your keyword research and think in terms of what your targeted audience might be searching for when looking to find your brand or service. Tag your video with these terms and consider naming the file of the video with these terms in mind.

4. Description

Optimize your video's description with relevant keywords and include a keyword-rich description of your video to allow search engines to index it and rank it higher, and for users to better understand your video before viewing.

5. Links

Use video as a portal to other content on your site. Upload a couple of videos to portals like YouTube and Vimeo, and consider providing links back to related content and other relevant videos on your site.

6. Transcripts

Provide transcripts of your videos. Good old HTML content is still a favorite with search engines.
If you want your video to rank well, you need to give the search engines something to index and rank. Surround your videos with on-page copy that can be indexed by search engines.

7. Length

Keep your video at five minutes or less. The average amount of time a user spends on a YouTube video is around 1 minute 30 seconds. People do not want to sit through a boring video, and most will not do it.
If you have video content that is of long duration, consider breaking it up into smaller pieces and tagging each accordingly, to be more appealing to the viewer. Not only does this make for better viewing pleasure, multiple videos are also better for optimization efforts.
YouTube is now paying close attention to viewership and engagement. It is critical that viewers watch your video for as long as possible.

8. Video Sitemaps

Submit a video sitemap to Google to make sure that the search engine spiders can find your video content and index it accordingly. This is the easiest way for search engines to find your video content.
Take advantage of Google Webmaster Tools for creating a video sitemap. Use important keywords in the anchor text that links to your videos featured on your sitemap.

9. Branding

As video is a great way to generate brand awareness with prospects, take advantage of this opportunity to incorporate your brand and logos into your videos.

10. Embedding Options

Help your video go viral. Allow other users access to the coding that will allow them to embed your video on their website or blog. This can help gain valuable back links and shares that will boost your rankings in search engines.

11. Syndication

Submit your video to RSS feeds and syndicate your videos to drive exposure across various online platforms and to optimize your videos even more.

12. Share, Share, Share!

Get on your social networks, look through your email contacts, write on your blogs, and get the hype going. Share your video with everyone, because if you have content worth sharing, it will continue to be shared to grow an expanding audience, and in turn develop more exposure for your brand or service.

Summary

Video optimization can be a great way for you to expose your brand to users who may otherwise not have been familiar with your brand, product, or services. It is a great way to engage, entertain, and promote that will get you great results on search engines.
Good luck with your video SEO!

3 Amazingly Simple Ways to Use Video for Link Building

While content marketing continues to be exceedingly important, it’s not all about articles or resources, as you may have discovered. As we kick off the new year, the most important thing you can do to help your SEO efforts is to bring about more diversity in your efforts, so definitely plan to include video in your link building arsenal.
According to comScore’s recent study, 182 million U.S. Internet users watched nearly 40 billion online videos just in the month of November, up by 3 billion from their October study. In fact, the study showed that 85.5 percent of the U.S. Internet audience viewed some form of online video, with the average length being five minutes. Clearly video is popular with audiences, so don’t miss out on this opportunity to engage your target viewing segments.
Often people dismiss video as being time-consuming or too expensive to bother with. That’s really not the case. Clever usage of videos can tremendously boost your link building efforts and make good content more digestible and engaging for your consumers.
Here are three great ways to use video for SEO.

1. Video Infographics

We all remember the infographics boom that dominated much of late 2010 and the early half of 2011. Infographics became the silver bullet du jour and everybody and their mother were publishing them.
While some well-researched, high quality infographics can still enjoy success, why churn out stuff that almost everyone else is doing? Let’s take something that has worked well to engage people in the past and give it a new avatar to breathe new life into the tactic.
Thus, consider creating a video infographic. A good way to start is to take an existing infographic that has done well in the past and have an animator turn it into a fun short video. Instantly the same content you created gets a new lease on life and reaches out to a fresh new audience.
Take this example of an infographic created on surviving the zombie apocalypse. Created in early 2011, it was an immensely popular link bait, even scoring a link from Wired.com.

Turned into a video and timed for the so-called "end of the world" in December 2012, it became a fresh tactic that once again earned high quality links and a host of social media shares.

Don’t stop with just re-creating old infographics. If you have a list of new ideas that could work well as infographics, create the copy and turn them into videos. These don’t have to be expensive; a good online animator with voiceover talent could create a high quality video for just a few hundred dollars.

2. Videos on Landing Pages

Make your landing pages work harder to convert customers by adding some video to them. A product page, for example, could be greatly enhanced with the addition of a customer review video.
Amazon uses this tactic very cleverly with its video product reviews option. Take this example of a simple kitchen tool Amazon sells, a corn kernel remover. Under the reviews section, the very first review is a video of the product in action; the video instantly showcases for the viewer how easy the tool is to use.

A tactic like this can greatly increase the conversion rate of the product page by not only showcasing the product in action, but also adding the crucial element of persuasion – social proof.
Google does a great job of showcasing their advertising options by explaining how they work and their core benefits through nifty short videos. Here’s a great example for their AdWords for video advertising option.

This short video quickly showcases all the key benefits to advertisers and explains how this method of advertising works. It then encourages the viewer to consume further information to learn more and get started. Simple, powerful and easy, it works extremely effectively to explain to the viewer something complicated in an easy, digestible manner.
Probably one of the better-known examples of product demos done well appears on the "Will it Blend?" website. Go on, admit it; we were all captivated to see Tom blend things like an iPad or DVDs.

Raise your hand if you watched the video for fun but came away impressed by how powerful that blender was and even considered purchasing it. This is a truly powerful example of a video campaign that gets links and also converts.
Video provides the opportunity to really showcase your brand or product in a fun and helpful way that truly resonates with your target audience. Rather than simply reading a dry page of benefits, seeing it in action is a much more powerful motivator for audiences.

3. Video Resources

Chances are high that you have this content already created. You have manuals or articles on the best way to use your product, tips on getting the most from it, or case studies on what your brand has accomplished.
Showing, rather than telling, is the key here, and your sales will be all the better for it. Any product can benefit from simple videos that showcase tips, demos and how-tos.
As the earlier example from Amazon also showcases, the product needn’t be super exciting to justify a video. Take for example a binding company, who say they have created all their videos for under $50 each. While binding is admittedly not the most exciting subject on the planet, their videos section has resonated with their audience and helped not just their SEO but their sales as well.

Brainstorming Tips: How to Come up With Ideas for a Video

Coming up with ideas for videos is the truly fun part. With a little bit of thought, anyone can create a great share-worthy video. Good steps to follow include:

• Look at existing content: You likely already have some immensely popular blog posts or other content that could work extremely well as a video.
• Turn to your customers: Host a video testimonial contest if you have difficulty sourcing videos from customers. The chances of getting something in return are high.
• Look at your FAQs: Each of these could be turned into individual videos or combined into one power-packed video.
• Look at your sales pages: You’ve already done the hard work to create content that converts; why not put all the core benefits and features into a video?
• Do a YouTube search: What are some of the most popular videos that show up on YouTube for your key terms? Those could be great sources of inspiration.
• Look at your competition: How are companies in your area promoting themselves either via commercials or through sales pitches on their websites? This is rich information ready for sharing.
• Turn to social media: Peruse the trending videos on sites such as BuzzFeed, HuffingtonPost, or What's Trending to get an idea of what people are really responding to. While the videos tend to fall more on the humorous side, they may still spark some creative ideas.

Video Production Tips: How to Get It Done

It’s really not that hard to get a video produced, especially if you start with an animated one.
You will need:

• A video script, which can be edited from existing copy.
• A video animator.
• A voiceover artist.
• Two to three weeks to get it all produced.

You don’t have to use an expensive production company; sites such as Elance or oDesk are rich with talented people from around the globe who can produce videos relatively inexpensively. Alternatively, contact local colleges with film programs and hire an intern for a couple of months. He or she will be grateful for the experience and expanded portfolio and you’ll be grateful for the impact to your SEO efforts.
Make sure to:

• Scan the past work and demo reels of all animators and voiceover talents to ensure you find a style that works well for you.
• Get all rights to the video signed over to you; the last thing you want is multiple copies of the video floating around before you’ve had a chance to launch your campaign.
• Post the video on YouTube after you're done, with an outreach campaign for added boosts. Create rich descriptions that contain your keywords and link back to your site so that people searching for your key terms can discover your video and potentially visit your site.

Summary

Video is a great SEO tool that is still surprisingly underutilized. Get ahead of the competition and give your link-building efforts a much-needed boost in 2013 by reaching the consumer where they already are – consuming videos online.

Will YOU Get Money From Facebook?

Facebook's Sponsored Stories Settlement Means It's Facebook's Turn To Pay You

After Facebook's IPO turned early employees into overnight billionaires, many users demanded to know when they would get paid for all the sharing that had made the social network a success.
Wait no more: Facebook has started notifying some users that they could get up to $10 from the company.
This isn't Facebook's way of saying "Thanks for all the vacation photos from Cancun," but rather a payout in a class action lawsuit concerning Facebook's "Sponsored Stories" ads that reached a preliminary settlement late last year.
The lawsuit alleges that the Facebook ads "used Facebook members’ names and likenesses to sell products without their consent." (Case in point: Facebook used one member's name and face, without his knowledge, to promote a 55-gallon tube of personal lubricant) Under the terms of the settlement, any current or former Facebook users who had their identities shown in a Sponsored Story ad -- name, nickname, profile picture, photo, etc. -- could be entitled to a check from Facebook.
The majority of Facebook's U.S. users could get paid: the social network estimated in August of last year that around 125 million users in the United States are eligible for a payout, or nearly three quarters of Facebook members in the U.S. (SocialBakers, a social media analytics company, estimates that Facebook now has over 168 million Facebook users in the U.S.).
Facebook has set aside $20 million that will be used in part to compensate users. If the number of claims exceeds $20 million, Facebook will donate all the money to a shortlist of nonprofit organizations, with no cash going to its users. The nonprofits will also receive any money that might remain in the fund after users are paid.
The social network has already started emailing some users to inform them that they could be eligible for a payout. Other Facebook members can learn more about the settlement here.

Win Free Tickets to Content Success Summit 2013

Want to win a free ticket to the largest online content marketing event of the year?
Social Media Examiner has worked hard to bring you our very first Content Success Summit.
And we’ve come up with a fun way to get you involved.

First, what is this event?

Content Success Summit 2013 is a large online conference dedicated to help marketers and business owners master content marketing.
More than 400 businesses have already signed up; these are small businesses just like yours that want to learn how to develop a content marketing strategy and the latest trends.
Twenty-two of the world’s most respected content marketing experts will share their strategies with you.

Your instructors are the world’s top content marketing experts.
These include 13 book authors: Joe Pulizzi (co-author, Get Content Get Customers), Ann Handley (co-author, Content Rules), Michael Hyatt (author, Platform), Michael Stelzner (author, Launch), Amy Porterfield (co-author, Facebook Marketing All-in-One for Dummies), Mark Schaefer (author, Return on Influence), Gini Dietrich (co-author, Marketing in the Round), David Siteman Garland (author, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper), DJ Waldow (co-author, The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing), James Wedmore (author, The YouTube Marketing Book), Stanford Smith (co-author, Born to Blog), Lewis Howes (co-author, LinkedWorking); as well as Derek Halpern (Social Triggers), Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income) and Marcus Sheridan (The Sales Lion)—just to mention a few.
Presentation topics include establishing your content strategy, making your content great, blogging, video marketing, podcasting, email marketing, creating online courses, marketing with webinars and much more! Check out all the sessions.
At last summer’s summit, 98% of attendees said they’d recommend the event to a friend and attend again.

How can you win tickets?

We have three free tickets to the summit, valued at $597 each, plus the opportunity to be promoted to more than 190,000 of your peers! And remember, this is an online conference—so no travel is required to participate.

Two ways to win:

There are three tickets up for grabs and two ways to win:

#1: Twitter Entry

Simply click the button on the right or tweet what you see below for a chance to win one ticket:

I want to win a ticket to Content Success Summit http://bit.ly/winCSS via: @smexaminer #winCSS13

You can tweet up to two times per day. Each tweet is an entry to win. We’ll randomly draw the winner of a free ticket. All tweets must have the #winCSS13 hashtag included.

#2: Written Entry

The winner gets two tickets PLUS a mention in the Social Media Examiner newsletter (190,000+ subscribers)!
Simply write about your biggest content marketing challenge in the comments box below (scroll down).
The judges (Joe Pulizzi, founder, Content Marketing Institute and Mike Stelzner, founder, Social Media Examiner) will select the winning entry. Their decisions are subjective and final.
What you need to know:

1. You can enter to win either or both prizes.
2. Tweets must contain #winCSS13.
3. The deadline is Monday, January 14, 2013, and the winners will be announced shortly thereafter.
4. If you’ve already purchased a ticket, no worries. If you win, we’ll either give you a full refund or you can give your spare ticket to someone you really like.
5. No purchase is necessary to win.

How to Write Title Tags For Search Engine Optimization

Today we're going back to basics! And nothing is more basically important to a site than properly written title tags. You know the ones that used to appear in the little blue bars in your browsers. Most modern browsers try to hide these, though that doesn't stop them being helpful!
So what is a title tag? Why is it important to SEO, and how do you write the darn things?

Meta Tags

First let's talk about meta tags. Meta elements are HTML or XHTML elements used to provide information about a web page for the search engines and website users.
Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of a HTML document. These elements are the:

• Title Tag
• Description
• Keywords (No one uses these anymore and you can get spam "points" for overuse on Bing, so just forget them. If you have keyword stuffed "spammy" ones, you probably want to fix those.)

What is a Title Tag?

Title tags are part of the meta tags that appear at the top of your HTML inside the < head> area. Think of title tags like the title of the chapter of a book. It tells people and search engines what your page is about.
Title tags are also part of what makes people decide whether to visit your site when it shows up in the search results. The title tag should contain important keywords to help the search engine determine what the page is about.
Write title tags for humans; format them for search engines.
NOTE: Every experienced SEO has their own unique methods to doing this, so I'm going to give you best practices along with some of my methods. However, there are a million ways to write a title tag.

What Does the Title Tag Look Like?

The title tag looks like this in your HTML code:
<title>Important Words Go Here </title>
Here is how title tags appear in a browser that uses the bar to display title tags (other browsers might only use the tab space or not show them at all):

Finally, here's where Google shows the title tag:

REMEMBER: A title tag is THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE TAG in your page. It tells the search engines what your page is about. It is still vitally important to your SEO strategy.

Quick Checklist

When you're writing your title tag what do you need to know? Here's a quick checklist with some tips on how to write optimized title tags:

• Length: Title tags should be a maximum of 70 characters long, including spaces.
• Keyword Placement: Your most important words (keywords) need to be first in your title tag, with your least important words being last in the title tag (most to least). However, if you're working in a language that reads right-to-left, then it is reversed, and it would be least important to most important.
• Keyword Separation: Use pipes | to separate important (keyword) phrases (no commas, underscores, dashes or any other punctuation unless the keyword is written that way).
• Wording: Keep your important phrases short and simple. Leave out words that would make it read like a sentence. (e.g., and, if, but, then, etc.)
• Company Name: If your company name is not part of the important (keyword) phrases, put it at the end of the title tag; if it is part of your important words, put it as the first words in the title tag. Some SEOs will tell you to leave it out. You can leave it in for branding purposes – so people will see the brand and click. This isn't valid for all sites.
• DON'T DUPLICATE Title Tags: They must be written differently for every page. Don't mass replicate your title tags.
• Make It Relevant: Title tags must be written to be descriptive of the content on the page. (e.g., the About Page would be:

About | Important Keywords | Company Name

or

Important Keywords | About Us | Company Name

Google & Title Tags

Sometimes Google doesn't like your title tag. In fact, sometimes Google thinks it can pick a better one, so it will rewrite the tag for you. There are several places it might get this information, most of them you won't prefer to one you crafted yourself.
While there isn't any assurance your title tag won't be replaced, make sure you write a title tag that is page related, content descriptive, short and sweet, and not keyword stuffed. This is your one defense.

Keyword Stuffed Title Tags

You've probably come across badly written title tags that try to rank for everything or repeat a word over and over. Keyword stuffing is the worst offense when it comes to title tags.
Say your site is trying to rank for Blue Bells and Yellow Bells. Many times you will see the main keyword repeated multiple times across the title tag. It might appear like this:

Blue Bells, Yellow Bells, All Types of Bells | Bells Bells and More | Doors.com

This is bad title tag writing. You don't need to repeatedly write the keyword. Google especially can pick up the keywords like your eyes can read them, so you would best to rewrite this as

Blue & Yellow Bells | Doorbells | Doors.com

We removed the extra words, combined the products (if possible you would split these products to separate pages, a blue and a yellow, but this isn't always feasible or desirable) and added a category keyword which would appear in the middle of the title tag on all doorbell related page titles, then end it with the domain name (again this is for branding purposes – there are also good reasons to not do this, it depends on the SEO).
Now our title tag is short, sweet, simple, and to the point. We have also categorized it and added in branding for good measure.
We also took out the word "and" and replaced it with an ampersand (&) so that you don't accidentally relate the two items and make Google think you want people who are looking for Blue AND Yellow Bells.
And there you go, a basic lesson in title tag writing. This can be the most challenging and fun part of any SEO's work! Or should that be "Inbound Marketer's" work?

Some Title Tag Writing Examples

Let's look at a few examples of writing title tags with actual examples.
If your important words (keywords) were "Charlie Sheen" and "Winning" your title tag would be written in that order:

Charlie Sheen Winning

Charlie Sheen would be the first words in the tag.
Now what if we had more than one set of words? What if my keywords were "Charlie Sheen Winning" and "Tiger's Blood"? Your title tag would still be written with "Charlie Sheen Winning" as the first words in the tag. Then you would add a pipe | and "Tiger's Blood" as the second phrase:

Charlie Sheen Winning | Tiger's Blood

Don't use hyphens, underscores, commas or any other type of character – just pipes.
Now what if we had more than one set of words and a company name we were not worried about optimizing for (the company name was not part of the reputation issue). If my words were "Charlie Sheen Winning" and "Tiger's Blood" and "CBS", you would separate these three phrases with pipes, with CBS last and farthest from the beginning, which Google sees as the least important phrase:

Charlie Sheen Winning | Tiger's Blood | CBS

The company name can be repeated in every title tag as long as it as not part of the important words and appears at the far right end of the title tag.
What about sentences? Couldn't you just write a sentence such as "Charlie Sheen Says Winning And Tiger's Blood And Gets CBS Riled Up"? You could, but those extra words like "says", "and", and "riled", dilute your important words and make them less important to content, so best to keep it short, simple, and clear. Leave out the extra words.

Title Tag Writing Pop Quiz!

When using strict SEO principles. Which are the BEST title tags for the important (keywords): (pick 2) "Charlie Sheen" "Winning" "Howard Stern Show" when optimizing (trying to rank for) the words "Charlie Sheen (1) Winning (2)"

1. Charlie Sheen Winning on the Howard Stern Show
2. Howard Stern Show & Charlie Sheen | Winning
3. Charlie Sheen is Winning Points on the Howard Stern Show
4. Charlie Sheen | Winning | Howard Stern Show
5. Charlie Sheen and Howard Stern Winning the Show
6. Winning | Charlie Sheen on the Howard Stern Show
7. Charlie Sheen Winning | Howard Stern Show
8. Doesn't matter as long as the words are all there

If I were writing this, the correct answer would be No. 4.

In Victory for Google, U.S. Ends Antitrust Investigation

Mladen Antonov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Jon Leibowitz, the F.T.C. chairman, said Google's search engine actions were "not undertaken without legitimate justification."

By EDWARD WYATT

Published: January 3, 2013 26 Comments

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WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday found that Google had not violated antitrust or anticompetition statutes in the way it structures its Web search application — handing a big victory to the search giant in its ongoing dispute with regulators.

REACTIONS ON TWITTER

Daryle W. Hier

@NostalgiaDr

With a wink and a nod, Administration lets Google off the hook http://t.co/0k7E3nns

3 hours ago ·

 

Related

Comments from the F.T.C.'s Jon Leibowitz


• U.S. Escalates Google Case by Hiring Noted Outside Lawyer (April 27, 2012)

• Onetime Allies in Antitrust Part Ways Over Google (December 17, 2012)

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But the commission found that Google had misused its broad patents on cellphone technology, and ordered Google to make that technology available to rivals.

Google’s competitors, including Microsoft, have pressed vigorously for federal officials to bring an antitrust case involving its search business. Last year, an F.T.C. staff report recommended that the commission bring such a case.

The F.T.C. found that although Google sometimes favors its own products when producing search results with its ubiquitous search engine, its actions were “not undertaken without legitimate justification,” said Jon Leibowitz, the F.T.C. chairman.

Google agreed, however, to take certain actions to address what Mr. Leibowitz called “the most problematic business practices relating to its search and  search advertising business.”

The trade commission’s inquiry has been going on for at least a year and a half. Google disclosed in June 2011 that it had received formal notification from the commission that it was looking into Google’s business practices.

Google has long defended its search business, saying that it offers results that are most relevant to consumers and that the “competition is just a click away.” It contends that users who believe a Google search is not meeting their needs can easily move to another search engine, like Microsoft’s Bing.

Google has also said that the barriers to entry into the search business are so low that it cannot abuse its market power, even though it has more than a 70 percent share of the search business in the United States.

Companies that rely on Google to drive traffic to their sites have complained that Google adjusts its search algorithm to favor its own growing number of commerce sites — including shopping, local listings and travel.

But the trade commission faced an uphill battle in proving malicious intent — that Google changes its search algorithm to purposely harm competitors and favor itself. Antitrust lawyers say anticompetitive behavior cannot be proved simply by showing that a change in the algorithm affects other Web sites and causes sites to show up lower in results, even though studies have shown that users rarely look beyond the first page of search results.

The commission was pressing to wrap up its case before Monday, when a new commissioner will be sworn in, a development that could have affected the result of the Google investigation. Joshua D. Wright, a professor at George Mason University, was confirmed by the Senate this week to take one of the two Republican spots on the five-member commission. Mr. Wright had previously said he would recuse himself from any Google matters for two years, because he has done work for or about the company including co-authoring a paper arguing that Google has not violated any antitrust statutes.

Mr. Wright will replace J. Thomas Rosch, a commissioner since 2006. If the Google case were not settled by Monday, the commission faced the prospect that a vote on whether to charge Google would deadlock at 2-2.

The commission voted 4-1 to settle the patent charges, and voted 5-0 to close its antitrust and competition investigation.

“The F.T.C.’s credibility is eroded when confidential details of internal discussions are revealed to the media, as has continually been the case in the investigation of Google,” Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, said in a Nov. 26 letter to Mr. Leibowitz, the commission chairman. Mr. Wyden also said there was plenty of evidence that adequate competition exists in the search business. He cited the recent introduction of competitors like DuckDuckGo, which has a no-tracking privacy policy inspired by some consumers’ complaints about the tracking of consumer behavior that Google and other search engines perform.

“Compared to almost any other market in the history of antitrust regulation, online search has effectively zero barriers to entry,” Mr. Wyden said.