So you want to know how many searches on Google a keyword receives? Do this.
This is adapted from an answer I gave on Quora
My colleague at Amplify Interactive recently gave a presentation here in Portland about local SEO and what it takes to rank highly for certain keywords in your local market. Here’s a Slideshare of her presentation.
Pinterest can indeed have a positive effect on a site’s SEO. Google is rapidly moving towards using social signals very heavily in search results. In the video below, Maile Ohye of Google clearly explains how they are using social signals for Google+. You can infer that will be using these concepts for any social channel that makes its information crawlable, including Pinterest (skip to 14:00):
All search is moving towards personalized search. So, if someone re-pins something that links back to your site, you can expect your authority to increase in the SERPS for everyone who follows that person as well as for the people who follow the followers. You also have to let Google know what to rank you for by using keywords.
Pinterest can be fantastic for local SEO and market research as well.
Check out this post for more SEO benefits: 6 SEO Benefits of Adding Pinterest to Your Web Strategy
Answer by Brent Baltzer:
Here’s some ways:
- use relevant existing hashtags (geographic/psychographic targeting)
- comment on other photos with hashtags relevant to your biz
- create your own hashtags for your fans to use (based around a particular campaign or just your business)
- do some market research; find out what your target demographics are posting and liking
- post your photos across your other social media channels
- aggregate your photos with all your other social media stuff and display it on your website so people can discover and engage with all of your stuff from one place
- Put the Instagram follow button on your website
- Display your Instagram feed at live events and have attendees participate using an event-specific hashtag
These are just some of the ways brands can use Instagram to connect. For a much more thorough treatment of the subject, see this link: 7 Tips for Growing your Business Exposure on Instagram
Check out this sweet infographic!
Miller High Life focuses its message on the pleasure of spending time with the beer, not on how cheap it is (even though it is cheap!)
With all of the incredible free marketing content being published these days, it’s virtually impossible to keep up (though that doesn’t stop me from trying!) It’s easy to get in the habit of skimming over tons of articles without retaining much, but that seems like a waste of time. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on key takeaways and make a note of them for future use? Why not take it a step further and make it a blog post? It seems like that way you might be more motivated to keep an eye out for key points and takeaways… that’s the logic behind this roundup anyways. So without further adieu, here’s a roundup of some of the stuff I’ve run across in the past week or so…
U.S. Mobile Local Ad Revenues to Grow from $664M in 2011 to $5.8B in 2016
As people spend less time on their computers and more time on mobile devices, it’s important for advertisers to include mobile in their marketing mix (especially local businesses!) This article is based on a study by BIA/Kelsey, and these were my main takeaways:
Using Behavioral Economics, Psychology, and Neuroeconomics to Maximize Sales
The high anchor price of “Le Balthazar” makes the “Le Grand” price seem reasonable by comparison
I’m naturally drawn to psychology. I’m fascinated by how the human mind works and I always want to be aware when psychological principles are being used to sell me on something. My main takeaways from this article:
Reality Check: How to Tell if Your Marketing Content Is Actually Valuable
Hubspot puts out some amazing content. One of the big takeaways from this article is the need to create personas that represent your target audience. As a marketer, segmentation is far from new to me but it’s always good to be reminded, and this article contains a link to a great power-point which can help you create your personas. Key takeaways:
12 Critical Marketing and Sales Metrics You BETTER Be Tracking
Another Hubspot post, and it’s about one of my favorite subjects in digital marketing: metrics! I love being able to get real numbers and being able to measure success… it makes work more like a game! However, it’s crucial to know which metrics to measure and to avoid vanity metrics. There are a lot of different metrics in this article, and I look forward to the opportunity of being able to implement some or all of them at some point in the near future… this article is definitely stored in my bookmarks.
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Well, that’s about it for this week. To close, I will leave you with a bizarre bit of comedy. This may be old news for some, but I just discovered this and I was literally laughing out loud… literally. I am a big fan of weird comedy, and this is right down my alley. Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to give this blog some comment love!
In my quest to become a more relaxed, organized and happy individual I have been reading and implementing David Allen’s personal productivity manual Getting Things Done. In chapter 3, Allen discusses the “reticular activating system” (68). The reticular activating system is your brain’s filter; it’s what enables one to sleep when music is playing but wake if one’s little baby is crying in another room. It’s why when you get a new car it suddenly seems there are a lot more of that type of car on the road.
We notice things that match our internal belief system and values. We are constantly given evidence of the validity of our beliefs, no matter what those beliefs are. However, the rigidity of one’s belief system is inversely proportional to his or her range of experiences. Maybe we should make the effort to notice what we’re noticing and reflect on how the way we view the world is more of a reflection of who we are than of actual reality.
Charles Duhigg, in his book “The Power of Habit
So what if you start your day everyday by hitting snooze and sleeping later than you wanted? You’re starting your day with a defeat… you were defeated by your lizard brain. It sets up a failing frame for the day and negatively affects your self esteem.
All of these things are small things… sleeping late just this once won’t hurt anything… and getting up at exactly the time you wanted won’t change the world either. But life is just a big collection of small things, and they add up.
And why do we do these unskillful things? Like eating poorly, skimping on sleep, surfing the internet too much… whatever your distraction of choice may be… I’m sure we are seeking true happiness, it’s just that some part of us is unconvinced of our plans. I guess that’s what they call delusion.
The good news is that small victories add up quickly. After about three days of living well I can certainly tell a difference in my attitude. But you know what’s weird? It’s at that point that something inside me says “cool, problem solved, let’s celebrate”. And it’s at time where it seems like there’s always a good excuse, a good party to go to… and there ain’t nothin’ wrong with a party! It becomes a problem, I guess, if you get complacent. I guess that’s where it helps to have people holding you accountable, holding you to your promises to yourself. Cause it’s easy to slip.
