Denver SEO – Google+ Is Being Rolled Out To Businesses

"Google now welcomes enterprises and brands into its Google+ social network through the introduction of Google+ Pages that could help them create a presence on the platform. Vic Gundotra, Google senior vice president of engineering, posted in a blog that users can now add businesses to their circles, connect with the enterprise through Hang Outs, and recommend them with a +1.

Google+ engineers gradually roll out the new Pages. Some organizations, such as the band Coldplay and The Muffets, have already signed up, there are still others who can’t. There are some users who click on the link to create a business page were met with the prompt that Google+ Pages isn’t ready for everyone. Then it asks users to check back soon. Gundotra said that the service would be available for everyone soon.

Google+ was released last June and a month later it asked businesses and organizations to stay away from the site for the moment as it readies the feature for them. During that time, Google asked businesses that were interested to be part of a test group so that Google engineers can find out how users want to interact with them.

After the first call for businesses, Google announced that it would accelerate its efforts to develop Google+ for business. It also stated that thousands applied to be part of its test group. Gundotra didn’t elaborate the details of how it optimized Google+ Pages for businesses."

http://www.toptechreviews.net/google/google-rolls-out-google-for-businesses/

Denver SEO – The Features Explained

Let me review the features first…

1. Circles – Google puts a strong emphasis on privacy.  Only the people in your circle get to see your content.
2. Sparks – Enter your interests in the Sparks search engine, and Google delivers a feed of content from across the internet on any topic you want in over nearly 50 languages.
3. Hangouts – Hangouts are multi-person video chat rooms.
4. Mobile Apps – Google has developed apps that allow for 1-click uploads of info into Google+.

Denver SEO – The Sum Of It All

Google is developing Google+ very slowly.  They don't want Google+ to have the negative PR that Google Buzz received.

In short, Denver SEO by KCC believes that Google+ is a work in progress.  It is too soon to know what it will become.  

Try it out and send me your thoughts on it!

Denver PPC Insights – Facebook Ads

In 2007, Facebook launched its ads division.  At first, Denver PPC by KCC stayed away from Facebook Ads; the interface was clunky and Facebook was slow to approve ads.  Now it is different…

Denver PPC by KCC has experimented with Facebook PPC ads a ton over the last year.  I'm going to share my insights…

1. B2B vs B2C – I think Facebook ads work better for B2C than B2B.  Still I recommend that ALL companies should be active on Facebook, but you should have realistic expectations going into the process.
2. Testing Is Key – You need to create various ads and test headlines, images, copy, etc.
3. Demographic Targeting – The targeting feature on Facebook Ads is much more intuitive than on Google AdWords…at least for me.
4. Lead Capture – Regardless of your market, you need to makes your fan page has a squeeze page component…otherwise you are wasting time and money.  It is not always reasonable to promote offers on Facebook, but you should capture leads.
5. "Likes" – Make sure you ask people for a Like, and then an opt-in.   
6. Budget – If you are not prepared to test $2k, don't bother with ads.  It takes money to make money.
7. Targeting – When placing an ad, I've had better luck sending traffic to my Facebook Fan Page than my business website. 

Do you have questions about Facebook ads?  Is it right for your business?  If so contact, Denver PPC by KCC today to learn about driving targeted traffic to your website!

SEO Insights – What Is The Panda Update?

In 2011, Google rolled-out a series of updates to their search engine algorithm called Panda.  These updates were intended to punish low, quality content farm websites who were trying to manipulate their SEO rankings.

According to Neil Patel of Quicksprout: 

If you use these clues, along with the results of the different Panda rollouts so far, SEOs are able to determine a number of different criteria that could be measured and used in an algorithm change, including the following metrics listed by Mark Nunney.

• A high percent of duplicate content. This might apply to a page, a site or both. If it’s a site measure then that might contribute to each page’s evaluation.
• A low amount of original content on a page or site.
• A high percent or number of pages with a low amount of original content.
• A high amount of inappropriate adverts (pages don’t match the search query), especially high on the page.
• Page content and page title tag not matching the search queries a page does well for.

To maintain high search engine rankings and protect your site from future Panda updates, or whatever later algorithm changes Google rolls out, it’s a good idea to consider taking the following measures.

• Share only high value, unique content – even if the Panda updates aren’t yet sophisticated enough to fight scraping sites still dominating the SERPs, rest assured that that’s the direction Google is heading. In the long run, providing people with good, original content is the best way to survive.
• Improve page load times – Google has made several announcements related to page load times, so it’s clearly something that’s on their radar now and will be in the future. To improve your page load times, restructure bloated code, compress or resize image files and take advantage of caching plugins if you are running your site on a content management system.
• Build brand awareness with social networking – because links from social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are now being taken into account as a ranking factor, it’s a good idea to increase your presence on these sites. Use them to reach out and connect with your visitors naturally, instead of trying to game the system by spamming links or buying friends.
• Avoid over-optimization – when it comes to ranking well in a post-Panda world, natural is the name of the game. If you have pages on your site that are so tightly targeted to a particular keyword phrase that they’re nearly impossible to read, rewrite them. Or, if you’ve coded every meta and headline tag with your target keyword, consider replacing some of them with terms that create a better experience for your users.
• Share expert content – remember, Google is looking to reward expert sites, and one thing that these authority pages routinely do is to link out to other great content that they feel will benefit their users. When you are writing your new, unique content, start linking out to at least 1 to 2 high quality sites in each article.

SEO – Conclusion

Personally, here is my take aways on the Panda updates and SEO in general…

• Be authentic
• Be transparent
• Become a content factory
• Ask yourself, "Does this help my customer?"
• Remember that there are no shortcuts.

Good SEO results take time and effort.  How long?  I tell my clients that it take 3-9 months to rank for competitive SEO keywords. 

It is unlikely that you will get instant results, but you it will pay off in the long run!

Does Social Media Drive Traffic?

-The Truth About Social Media-

When I work with clients, I advocate a balanced approach for driving traffic. 

One of big principles of financial investing is diversification.  Website traffic should be diversified to avoid concentration risk, as well. 

Facebook and Twitter are typically my 3rd, 4th, or 5th traffic sources after SEO, PPC, and direct traffic.  

Want Some Proof?

This is a snapshot from my Google Analytics account for fitnessfortennis.com.  Social media traffic represents 16.63% of the traffic to this website. 

Additional Thoughts

Social media traffic is different than SEO or PPC traffic.  These prospects are looking to have a conversation and learn more.  They aren't generally hot prospects. 

Regardless, they are an important element of the lead nurturing process and have to be considered in a comprehensive online marketing campaign.

To learn more about social media traffic, contact KCC today!