Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts

Monday, January 04, 2016

Six Social Media Rules for 2016


Six Simple Laws of Social Media

1. Be yourself… period.. Be Genuine — BE YOU.. not a copy of someone else.
2. DO: Be Professional — if F bombs are ok in your professsion so be it.. however you remove yourself from safe search when you drop them.
3. DONT: Feed the trolls.. Trolls starve without food and your energy and move on to some other mischief.  "Have a nice day" Can sound just like the “basic new york echo” — Robin Williams.. Google it.. better yet. click here (new window)

4. DO Spellcheck.. nothing better than saying somthing extremly smart with typos.. makes you look stoopid, doesnt it?

5. DONT: Run schedulers without lots of tweaking.. and learn how to connect accounts on different social media platforms and networks.. “I posted a Photo to Facebook” really makes me want to look.. also.. if you posted it to twitter.. people would actually see the picture without going to facebook.. which on a mobile device, for me isnt going to happen..

6. DO: Listen, Stop, Listen again, Think.. spellcheck.. check links.. then tweet..
PRO Tip Bonus: after :30 all tweets are archived in library of congress due to downstream twitter feeds and aggregators.. delete any tweets within 8 seconds to insure proper deletion.


Monday, April 20, 2015

What is SEO? How is that different From Social Media?



What is SEO?
(I keep getting asked simple SEO questions on Quora..  To save everyone some time.. i'm going to post some terms and explanations you need to know. Then link to here from Quora. =) *lightbulb - What If.... [saving this information for May 1st.]


How is SEO different From Social Media? 
(another question that is asked daily.. SEO is Search and Social Media is "Online Interaction Between Humans: Public and Private" )

What about DAO, KBO and ORM?
(If you are a Brand.. this is the question you should have been asking since.. 2003.)

In the beginning there was UseNet and  Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTPProtocol.
Your subject line was how you got people to read your posts... fast forward to when everyone was weaned off AOL and on to the Internet itself, circa 1996-ish..  fast forward again to today, now we have the Internet in our pocket, with GPS and blazing fast speeds.. What was it like then?
This is how long it takes a webpage to load, or get to Yahoo to search for something.

(let me show you, please click play.)


Visualization of Modem Connection 


SEO - (Search Engine Optimization) - is the practice of optimizing a digital asset for retrieval in some type of query based information retrieval system. These "information retrieval systems" are Google, Bing, Yahoo, Google Maps, your computer when you search for a file, also when you search outlook express for a subject line or the content of an email or who sent it. That is a "Query".

Search - Search (also see Query below), is the action of taking one piece of information and comparing it to many pieces of information, usually associated with an object. There are two types of searches. Searching against an "Index", or searching against some type of "Classification" criteria. (see "Object Oriented Design", below

Social Media - Social Media is human (and machine.. think about it.. eeek!), interaction across the digital ecosystem. If we check in, we are leaving a digital fingerprint/footprint on where we have been, what date, what time. These digital trails can develop patterns that can be used by advertisers, and criminals.  (see Water Hole Optimization)

Digital Ecosystem - As in life, each organism is itself an ecosystem, an ecosystem is defined by one pivot point with then spreads out to encompass all interactions, actual, perceived, or desired. (By the Client. Begin with the End in Mind, what are there wants, needs for digital? where do they fit into the digital ecosystem? where are they absent? 
A digital ecosystem for a user is different than a brand. The users path is to a brand. The brand path is about how users come to them online.. in digital.  Facebook that is your a Digital Ecosystem that contains smaller ecosystems like your friends list... that is your ecosystem. The contacts on your phone, are part of your ecosystem. Some of those contacts are shared with or connected because they are also friends of your on Facebook, or maybe they sent an email to your Gmail account? There are several ways your ecosystem crosses networks.. Networks you need to be aware of like; LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google, Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook.. Etc.  Those are the ones we are going to discuss today.

Back to Search...
Rule #1In Search, a "User" either has an association with a "Brand", or they do not.

Users - You, me, them.. are you on the internet? Then you are a "user".

Brands - Again, You, me, them.. example: I am (Me - "Steve Plunkett - Sr. Search Scientist - personal brand), I work at (Rockfish - Company Brand), I do work for these clients, (insert a BUNCH of other brands), (see Rockfish Website for clients.) Then again, an agency should probably never reveal their ORM or Online Reputation Management clients, in my opinion.  That is shared at the office. (We don't.) It is frequently counter productive to inform you that many companies pay people to change Google/Facebook/Twitter/Yelp - legally and ethically of course.. or at least that is the only way we or I will do it.. there are shady people on this planet.. i'm just not one of them.. that is my brand.. the Corporate Guy on the Black Hat Panel @ Pubcon - the scary one.. in the suit.. with suspenders.. 4 out of 7 executive say, "we are sure glad he is on our side".

In not mean or bad or scary.. i just protect my Brands.

Like a mother (insert fierce female mother animal you find scary)



(Blog in-progress) 



Tuesday, January 13, 2015

2015 - SEO and Social Media Prophecy and 2014 Digital Advertising Notables

As we begin 2015 there are things that made a lasting impact on 2014 and some that are just about to raise their ugly heads and catch many marketers unaware and unprepared.
Here is your future checklist for Digital – Mobile Application Development, SEO, Social Media Management/Marketing, Digital Advertising and Digital PR in 2015

1. Voice Search – More to come on this, in detail, but as “users”, (Search and Social Media), move to mobile devices, specifically phones, Voice Search Optimization is going to be a really big thing and is going to catch many marketers by surprise. Hint: We have been researching Voice Search at Rockfish since 2011, (Google Labs), and have been actively doing VSO, (Voice Search Optimization for clients).


2. KBO or Knowledge Base Optimization – Brands, Brands, #Brands – With Google keeping the searcher on Google’s network longer, (See Google Play, Google Knowledge Graph and Google Plus), being able to make a change to Wikipedia by having that editor friend or the media person who works in PLAs assist you in modifying what your client doesn’t like to see about their own brand in Google. Learn how to fix anything….  including Wikipedia.. Or perish.

3. YouTube – Video Search Optimization – YouTube Hashtags work on Google + now.  Dec. 2008 YouTube was 25% of all Google Searches. Now, More U.S. Based 18-34 Year-olds Watch YouTube than Cable and YouTube videos influence the purchasing decisions of 53% of all consumers in the U.S. YouTube has now replaced the TV set.

4. Digital Media Distribution – Someone hacked Sony Pictures, “The Interview” was released via Digital distribution methods BEFORE it was released in theatres for the first time in History. Personal Note: I watched it on Xbox Video, I purchased it for $15.99 downloaded it and watched it the day before it was released in theaters.

5. Television Content Viewing Habits – Similar to the above but “Binge Watching” is now a thing. Personal Note: Still have not watched Breaking Bad – but one day, Binge Watching it. Commercial Television has made the leap with APPS. Phones, Tablet and Gaming Consoles now have applications where you can watch network television complete with commercials. Unlike TiVo, it’s not when you want it, or like AT&T UVerse where you can pretty much pick your own time schedule for your own shows, but that is for digital cable users, which also have another app. Welcome to the world of multi-screens and cross=platforms, Netflix now charges by the screen.

6. Mobile – It’s everything and it’s everywhere. Google considers Tablets more like Desktop than a mobile device and sees Smart Phones as totally different. Overall, smartphones and tablets accounted for 39% of Google organic search traffic during the third quarter of 2014. Personal Note: The big change I made in October 2014 in mobile was I removed Facebook from my phone after they launched Facebook Messenger. Life is actually a lot more peaceful, calm and I have been sleeping more. Facebook Messenger was never installed on my IPad either.  2015 Mobile trend prediction – Look for devices to have LESS memory, and more services expecting data to be stored in a cloud.
Actually, isn’t there a lawsuit about this? “iPhone users sue Apple over iOS 8 device storage squeeze” see hashtag #itoldyouso for most of these "predictions"

7. Mobile Payments – 2014 saw the debut of Apple Pay with Google Wallet still lurking around, Apple leap-frogged PayPal and Google Wallet for Mobile payments. Storyboard Messaging Service Snapchat got hacked, many private pictures of celebrities unclothed were released in October, known as the “Snappening”, next month in November of 2014 introduced Snap Cash, See a pattern here?

8. Hacking – The reason why I purchased #The Interview on Xbox360 was that Hackers from somewhere, (Either Korea or the U.S. supposedly, I can’t comment), broke into mail servers and got email from Sony executives somewhere that shouldn’t have been having private conversations in email.  (Ask Mark Cuban about his messaging app - Cyberdust ) - Hackers then also did Denial of Service attacks on the sources of bandwidth for XBOX and PS4, shutting Sony PlayStation Network down.

Personal Note: I didn’t notice, I was watching The Interview on Xbox Video during the time of the Xbox attack. While Downloading Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare updates.

 Wait before I forget, entirely TOO MANY RETAILERS got hacked in 2014, let’s hope, actually pray, it doesn’t get worse in 2015... But it will... you have no idea... #beafraid #beveryafraid

Our openness with online websites like Facebook, Snapchat, Foursquare,
(Foursquare got booted in 2013, remember?), and mobile devices, security and privacy should go hand in hand... however we are not doing it right..  I’m still not using a credit card, cash only at some stores.

9. Selfies - 2014 was the first year I took a “selfie”. I took 9 last year, have taken 4 this year, maybe if I get prettier, I’ll take more? Instagram is built on a foundation of selfies. Thank God Pinterest hasn’t fallen victim to the Selfie trend. Facebook has, Twitter has, and Television and Magazines have, ok, prediction.  Some study comes out showing guys that take #selfies too much are serial killers or something..




10. Video Conferencing – Aside from the multi-BILLION dollar Adult industry built around video conferencing platforms like Skype, how soon in 2015 does it add FaceTime and Google Hangouts? Pinterest made private boards and thankfully Instagram picked up the adult traffic before they ruined Pinterest. However Facebook and Twitter are now seeing the Adult spam deluge with Vines just like the Adult invasion that pretty much killed Myspace.  Right before we all left and went to The Facebook. Never fear. Google hangouts are being used for business. Google even has a business unit named Google Hangouts for Business. Let’s hope it’s not overrun with Adult like Snapchat, look for more Google Hangouts to be catalogued in YouTube search results for educational purposes.

Social Media isn't "new" it's just a term for Internet Socialization. We used to "Go outside" and "play" - now we sit and watch Youtubes on our phones.. or we sit and play Xbox or PlayStation, which.. now has people playing and "watching them play".

From XboxOne..

It’s easy to make group video calls on Xbox One using Skype. Before you make a group video call, your Kinect sensor must be plugged in. At least one person on the call must have a Premium Skype account. You can initiate a group video call with a maximum of 4 people in a group (including yourself). However, if someone else on Skype initiates the call from another device such as a Windows 8 PC, that call can include up to 25 people.

Also, Didnt Amazon just buy Twitch? Where you can watch models play video games..




11. Stock Market – Facebook will continue to have a higher valuation than TWTR but Twitter will become more useful and more a part of our lives and Facebook will be ravaged by a virus. But to my dismay, will bounce back and the stock price will still go up. Facebook Offers and Twitter Cards will still provide excellent opportunities for businesses but Twitter Cards will rule Google.

Dear CNBC people, watch TV, Are you showing everyone's Facebook Page or Twitter /Nick?

Why is Twitter Stock worth less? I truly don't get it.



12. Private Messaging Fragmentation – Here are words to live by in 2015 – “If you don’t want it public, don’t connect to the internet or a mobile network” – Mark Cuban created Cyber Dust for this reason. Look for security and privacy to suddenly become big deals in 2015 when we realize how clueless we have been with our data. Governments are going to try and legislate this in 2015




13. Candy Crush vs. Kim Kardashian – Candy Crush (free) and Minecraft (paid) are the two most downloaded games in 2014. (Google Play) Any guesses on 2015?




14. As people look to express themselves more in a predominately 140 character world, blogging will resurface, video blogs will become bigger and better as well as more people looking for places other than Facebook  and Twitter, Instagram, Still the "@"  will still rule social media.

15. People will realize people are using Google+ and as it gets more integrated into Google Search, brands and businesses, a Google hangout may be akin to a Fax machine but probably not in 2015. Maybe 2016. Google + will be this place hidden in search results, hmm.. (light bulb)



Reference –
http://www.reelseo.com/youtube-facts-stats-2014/
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/mobile-neared-40-of-us-organic-search-traffic-in-q3-47320/
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2388648/iphone-users-sue-apple-over-ios-8-device-storage-squeeze
http://www.wired.com/2014/10/the-snappening-is-not-your-fault/




Monday, November 11, 2013

Water Hole Optimization (Leading the Horse to Water)

If you have heard me speak, you may have heard some analogies.
One is that Search Engine Optimization is like "leading a horse to water".

The key take-away is... SEO is not Conversion Rate Optimization or Landing Page Optimization, (ok, it is kind of... but...), SEO is simply leading the horse to the water... someone types in a keyword in a search result... and clicks on a website... or "pond/watering hole/oasis" i.e. where the "horse" drinks. The water hole, you got them there... the website.

As in... "You can lead a Horse to water, but you can't make it drink". SEO's can get you to the website, but not all of them are going to make the visitor contact you or purchase your services and/or products.

The process to make that happen is called "SEO" or Search Engine Optimization. From Google to a website... Stop... Do NOT collect $200do NOT pass GO! Someone searched for some keyword and clicked on a link to your website. End of Story. SEO worked.

Why do we use an analogy?

"The keyword matrix suggests the probability of a visit, the impressions estimation shows people have visited, social media data can be used to catalog the visits and provide re-introduction, top of mind awareness targeting, persuasion architecture, online reputation management defense as well as usage and demographic research."

Read the above; read the analogies below, if the above sans analogy is better, please say so. 

That is Search Engine Optimization... or is it? To some it is, to some it is not. Some say anything outside of organic keyword optimization is Search Engine Marketing, (Anything that is not organic search, but works in search as long as you pay for it.) 

About SEM, SEM could also be used to make the horses drink... once the SEO got them there. Yes, SEM does include the ads above the organic results so they can always click on paid ad and get to your website too. But that is basically picking up horses, driving them to water hole, feeding them and letting them go.

So you get the SEO part, right? How does this relate to equines or livestock management?


We are talking about Water Hole Optimization

So how do you optimize a water hole?
(Water Hole = Metaphor for client's online digital ecosystem or footprint

What are the aspects of the searcher/visitor/horse/water hole drinker, how do we influence them to make them drink once we get them there?  What are the factors for Water Hole Optimization?

 With the splintering of the ways users, (Horses), and how they are accessing water hole information.
Ranchers (Water Hole Marketers aka Digital Strategists and SEOs), have to reach across multiple disciplines, multiple query engines across varied OS for different screens. Ok, I know it's far-fetched, but pretend Horses have phones... laptops and tablet too of course... 

Is there an effective strategy for Water Hole Optimization, what are the aspects?

Organic Search = leading the horse to water

Paid Search (SEM) = Signs and Salt Licks paid for by humans to lead those horses to water...

Social Media - Horses sharing information about water quality, predator issues, etc...

Content Marketing - adding hay and other horse incentives for horse to visit water hole in their thirst search.

Conversion Rate Optimization - actually measuring the act of the horse drinking.

Local Search - Horse tracks, Horse trails that lead horses to water within the area around the water hole. Usually Geologists have maps of these things. Please consult an expert.

Digital Asset Optimization - widening the water source for the water hole... upstream...

Online Reputation Management - The 5 or 6 ranchers on the ridge around the water hole, sniping the coyotes, wolves and any other predators that would scare the horses away from the water hole.

Behavioral Targeting, Re-Targeting - Horse has been there before; they already know the way back to the water. BT or RT would be something that makes the horse thirsty again; they know where the water hole is that they just came from.  p.s. Be careful not to spook the horse... by following it too closely.

Naturally we will have Ranchers (Lead Strategic focused SEOS) and Ranch Hands (Search Developers), as the operation grows with scale... normally a ranch foreman (Search Scientists) will communicate with other ranchers about advancements in Water hole optimization... which is basically leading the horse to water.. With scale...
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