What We Know

We know that Penguin is based on low quality links, over optimized anchor text and keyword stuffing.  Penguin is basically a linking filter that runs every once in a while and is designed to reduce the rankings of websites that are using webspam techniques.  Now that Google knows what bad links look like, it is important to be careful when creating and reaching out for new links.

Google notices trusted links. Linking quality is one thing, but the calculated distance between a given page and a trusted source is a whole other story.  Getting links from high trusted sites such as universities and government institutions can improve your websites trust factor.

A great way to find those trustworthy webpages is by using MozTrust.  It’s SEOmoz’s link trust metric. To find MozTrust, you can use the Open Site Explorer or if you are a Pro member of SEOmoz you can use the SEO toolbar.

If you use the Open Site Explorer you can compare MozTrust between different domains.  It’s great for researching other metrics such as backlinks, top pages, and more. If you are using the SEO toolbar, you must be logged into SEOmoz in order to select MozTrust. Once you are logged in, click on settings, hover over show metrics and select MozTrust (mT).

Open Site Explorer is also a good way to view your backlink profile (along with data from Google Webmaster Tools). If low quality or suspicious websites are linking to you, you may want to take action by contacting those sites directly or using Google’s Disavow Tool.

Ways to Get Links

There are numerous ways to get links.  A great place to start is reaching out to bloggers.  Like you, bloggers are looking for ways to gain links as well or become a guest blogger to their blog. In addition to linking within blogs, develop a social media partnership. Share new articles and posts via Facebook and Twitter a certain amount each month.

Second, give universities good press. They are always looking for positive press that highlights something about their school.  Hosting a seminar for students or offering student specials and deals is a great tactic depending on your services.

Third, provide great content.  Providing quality content your audience likes to read is more likely to be shared.  Becoming the “Go To” resource can get you valuable links without having to ask.

Understanding where your links are coming from, the quality of those links, and building relationships with those in your niche are key components of attaining relevant links. The goal is to gain quality and trusted links organically.

What is it?

Universal Analytics is Google’s new version of Analytics and is set to change how we track and understand our users. It is still in beta but is now available to everyone.

How will it differ?

With Universal Analytics, it’s no longer just about tracking website visits and will no longer use cookies for tracking but will use unique universal tracking IDs. Universal Analytics will compile data across platforms and devices, including mobile apps so you will be able to better understand how people are using your apps, including video plays, location and language of visitors, devices and networks of visitors, and the order that visitors move through screens.

Universal Analytics will also integrate offline data, such as data from point-of-sale systems. Being able to track user behavior across a more complete pathway will give businesses a much better understanding of their customers.

There will be a lot of new features compared to the current version of Analytics, many of which are still a work in progress. A few of the main new features will be the ability to track offline actions (such as cash register transactions), linking your customer database (such as a CRM) to analytics, configuring session timeouts (rather than the default 30 min), the ability to segment based on multiple visits, and creating custom buckets for your data.

How do I set it up?

To set up Universal Analytics, it is best to set up a new account or profile and leave your current data as is. You will also need to add the new analytics.js JavaScript code snippet to your website to begin tracking. Click here for a step-by-step guide from Google.

Some of the more advanced features, like tracking offline interactions, will take some technical skills to implement and several features will require custom code. Although this isn’t a quick upgrade, t is worth setting up the new version and familiarizing yourself with the new features now, especially if you have a mobile app.

Have you tested Universal Analytics yet? Let us know what you think in the comments! If you have any questions about Google Analytics or the switch to Universal Analytics, you can contact us here.

Let’s create a scenario that many of us experience when meeting up with friends or colleagues.

Primarily, a substantial amount of Smartphone contact plays a key role in the preparation prior to the meeting of the minds.   One person may be mapping directions for the quickest route to arrive at the said location.  Next, the foodie of the crew is frantically scrolling through the menu on his or her phone, to ensure that the award-winning Bananas Foster dessert, is in fact, on the menu this evening.     Perhaps another individual is corresponding their ETA, because post-work traffic isn’t always on our side.

Then, there is our hero. This is the person who upon arrival, immediately logs into Facebook prior to seating. This is not necessarily to chat, check messages, or upload a photo, but to “Check In.” The gut-instinct to shout it from the rooftops, that he or she is dining amongst the elite, tagging all the included company, and about to indulge, is quickly interrupted by an unexpected pop-up coupon.  The tables are immediately turned and this delightful bonus brightens the occasion instantly. This pop-up coupon alerts the user about a complimentary offering;  perhaps an appetizer, dessert, or extra discount off the bill. Just for recognizing that you are in fact, alerting your contacts of your whereabouts, you’re rewarded?!   Many times, the answer is yes.  It is well worth it to see if your current location participates in the sweet rewards of checking in.

According to Crystal Kendrick, president of The Voice of Your Customer, a marketing company based in Cincinnati, check-ins “are really about creating brand awareness.” She explains, “Since Facebook users have 130 friends on average, the deals present an opportunity to generate buzz and expand your reach through those connections.”  Since we are a culture programmed to be “plugged in” the majority of the time, sharing locations within our networks and newsfeeds IS the new version of Word of Mouth.

Charge your phone, check in, and grab a spoon.

1. Xenu’s Link Sleuth

This downloadable software will is best known for checking broken links, but delivers much more information about each site that it crawls. For example, it provides a “level” for each page (how many clicks a page is from the home page) which can give insight into a website’s architecture.  The output also includes title and description for each page, so you can tell at a glance how your titles and descriptions are formatted, if any are missing, and the number of characters, as well as the alt text for each image. A basic, no frills output that provides a ton of data about a website.

2. Google Webmaster Tools

This tool is a must for webmasters because it lets you know how Google sees your site, including who is linking to your site, top keywords, if there are any crawl errors, how many impressions your website is getting in Google search, plus gives you the ability to submit a sitemap, test any rich snippets on your site, plus much more. Google also uses it to communicate with webmasters, which may include an unnatural link detection warning, if they notice an unusual drop in traffic, or if they think your site may have been hacked. For more information about the metrics and how to use them, check out this guide to Google Webmaster Tools.  Bing also their own version of the tool.

3. PageSpeed Insights

The speed of a web page is a ranking factor for Google and slow load times can increase bounce rate, lead to user dissatisfaction, and lead to few conversions. Google Analytics includes data regarding your site’s speed, but this tool from Google also provides suggestions on how to make a page faster.

4. SEMrush

Although SEMrush is a paid tool, they offer a free report that includes an overview of search engine traffic, organic keywords, and competitors in organic search. They also give insights into competitors in ads and paid keyword data.

5. W3C Markup Validation Service

This tool checks the validity of Web documents in written HTML and XHTML, plus offers other versions of the tool for checking CSS, XML schemas, and more. Although validation may not affect search engine rankings, it is important for usability and browser compatibility.

If you have any free (or paid) SEO tools that we missed, let us know in the comments!

If you have any questions about these SEO tools or how The Net Impact can help you with your online strategy, contact us today.

We always knew that this was a great opportunity, but we were so excited when we were asked to host a Google Engage Agency event! Google allowed us to invite many of our clients and prospects to discuss the advantages of working with an Engage Agency. The event featured a live streaming presentation of thought leaders from Google, delicious food, and a chance to connect or engage (see what I did there?) with each other.
When we first signed up, we thought Google would send us a small projector, but we were floored when they sent us a giant box full of tech equipment and swag.

They also provided a caterer for the event, to ensure our clients would not leave hungry!

After eating we moved on to the room, where we heard from Lisa Gevelber, VP of Americas Marketing Google, John Nicoletti, Google’s Director of Agency Development, and Bickey Russell, Google’s Head of Channel Managed Agencies.

The speakers covered everything from the landscape of modern day marketing, to Adwords, to the Zero Moment of Truth, a term that is changing the way agencies are marketing. One of the biggest takeaways from the event is customer-based marketing. The more technology is advancing, the closer companies can get to the consumer. After previewing “Google Glass,” the room went silent in awe of its intelligence, complexity, and ability to understand its user. After the presentations ended, we at The Net Impact were able to discuss our own case studies featuring clients like The King and Prince Beach and Golf Resort and the Vincent Van Gogh Gallery.

After we received our client feedback, we recognized what a great success the event was! Aside from the desire for a pair of Google Glasses, everyone was able to take something away.

If you are interested in attending one of The Net Impact’s Events, sign up for our newsletter to receive notification.

If you didn’t know already, Vine is a social networking application that allows you to make short, animated, gif-like movies. Like all social networks, it can end up being a great way to avoid those expense reports you meant to file OR it can be another great way to reachcustomers. Here are a few examples of how your company can embrace vine and gain loyal followers.

1. Showcase your awesome company culture. Use Vine to show cool things happening around your office. Whether it’s a clip of a company meeting or something funny, giving your customers a glimpse of what everyday life is like makes them feel included.  Here’s a really great tweet from one of my favorite guys, Cesar Milan. Here he is embracing Vine to bring followers into his office (which I have to admit, looks pretty awesome).

Just another day at the office. #CesarMillan #AlfieMillan #dog #vineapp #vine vine.co/v/bXK101M6O2b

— Cesar Millan (@cesarmillan) February 28, 2013

2.  Embrace Vine to let your loyal followers know about opportunities and upcoming events. It’s kind of like a hand delivered invitation, right? Calvin Klein does this perfectly. Here they are using the beautiful Hanneli Mustaparta to encourage followers to follow them on Tumblr for a runway show.

Check out calvinklein.tumblr.com tomorrow for live @hannelim updates from our W’s F13 runway show: vine.co/v/brBU7xJJrix #NYFW #CKFW #Vine

— Calvin Klein (@CalvinKlein) February 13, 2013

3. Use Vine to raise awareness. Cause marketing is extremely important in the non-profit world and volunteers and donors love to feel connected.  There are many non-profits out there who have not embraced this tool yet, but one would be surprised with how much can be said in 6 seconds or less. Below is a fantastic example from Unicef, which is promoting “mother language day.”

How do you say ‘mother’ in your native language? Hope you like our first #vine, for #motherlanguageday vine.co/v/b6Plu1Z175x

— UNICEF (@UNICEF) February 21, 2013

 

4.  Use Vine to promote your products. Videos are a great way to promote products. While YouTube is a fantastic way to show off your brand, Vine allows you to access a whole new fan base via Twitter. If you choose to do this, try to be as creative as possible. Here is a great #Vine from Red Vines, who tied their messaging in perfectly with Valentine’s Day.

Shy? We got you covered. Just freeze this #Vine on what you’d like to say to your sweetie this Valentine’s Day! vine.co/v/brMaTZKxF3X

— Red Vines (@RedVines) February 14, 2013

5. Run promotions and competitions. Engage your users by creating a #Vine competition! Brands are catching on to this rapidly and customers are chomping at the bit to enter. The bigger the prize value is, the more followers will enter. I really enjoyed following the Cavendish London Hotel’s #ValentineVine competition.

You have 4 hours left to submit ur #ValentineVine to win a romantic break 4 2. Here’s some inspiration vine.co/v/bvw2qTUMrmW(by @for_kate)

— The Cavendish London (@cavendish_hotel) February 11, 2013

These are just a few tips for how to increase your marketing efforts with Vine. Have you been using Vine in your marketing efforts? Leave us your best tip below!

1.   SEOmoz Crawl Test

SEOmoz lets you use their crawl test tool for free and will crawl up to 250 pages on any subdomain (more pages requires a PRO membership). The crawl report will include title tags, meta description, http status codes, link count, duplicate content, duplicate titles, whether your titles are too short or too long, nofollows, and much more. This is very comprehensive for a free tool, and it will give you actionable information about any website.

2. SEOmoz Link Analysis (Open Site Explorer)

This tool from SEOmoz lets you explore backlinks to any domain; plus it gives you the ability to compare up to five sites.  Get anchor text, page authority, and domain authority for each inbound link.  You can also filter by internal and external links and followed and nofollowed link.

3. Google AdWords Keyword Tool

Input one keyword or a list of keywords and get a list of similar keywords, plus competition, global monthly searches, and local monthly searches. Be aware that is meant to be a PPC keyword tool rather than a tool for determining data related to organic search. A term that has a high level of competition in paid search may not be as competitive organically and vice versa, and monthly search data isn’t 100% accurate, but this tool can help you expand on your keyword list by giving you suggestions for related terms and give you a general idea of how popular a term may be.
4. Ubersuggest

Another free keyword tool we like is Ubersuggest. Unlike AdWords, it doesn’t provide data on the number of searches or competition, but it does offer keyword suggestions from search verticals like shopping, news, and videos as well as regular web search. You can also choose from over 35 languages.
5.  Google Analytics

I am always surprised at how many businesses are not using this to track their website’s data. This is a completely free tool from Google that lets you view how visitors are behaving on your website (through metrics such as navigation pathways, time one site, and number of pages per visit), how visitors find your site (from organic traffic, campaigns, referring sites, and more), goals and ecommerce data if you have an online store plus much more. It’s critical to know how users are interacting with your website so you can make informed marketing and design decisions. If you don’t already have an analytics package on your website, we recommend getting started with Google Analytics ASAP!

Do you have any free (or paid) SEO tools that you can’t live without? Let us know in the comments!

If you have any questions about these tools or want to learn how The Net Impact can help you with your online strategy, contact us today.

1.       Optimize your website for mobile.

  Cost: $$ to $$$

Chances are you have probably heard this one already. Optimizing your site for mobile can be costly, but the benefits can easily outweigh the cost.  In a recent article by the Washington Post it was estimated that mobile internet usage will continue to rise at a shocking rate of 66 percent each year.  Even more shockingly, it was also quoted in another study that 61% of users will leave a site that is not mobile friendly. Many industry experts have estimated that phones and tablets will eventually overtake traditional internet usage, and with recent statistics, they are probably right.

2.       Improve your Mobile Marketing Coverage

  Cost: $$-$$$

If you already have a mobile website, consider investing in a mobile marketing strategy.  With over 91% of US citizens having access to their phone 24/7, it is critical to market through mobile. We are hearing more and more about consumers who shop on mobile, as well as make decisions on reviews via smartphone while shopping in-store.

3.       Rethink where you list shipping costs

  Cost: $

Imagine this scenario: You are looking for new running shoes and you finally find the perfect price online. You eagerly throw them in the shopping cart and feverishly enter your information. Then, the ultimate letdown: shipping costs are 20.00. For that price, you could have bought them at that high-priced sports store across from your office! What do you do? Abandon your cart and go somewhere else.  An estimated 40% of consumers abandon their shopping carts because shipping and handling costs were listed too late on their online e-commerce store (e-marketer.com).  If your shipping is going to be high, then it might be best to be upfront to avoid abandonment.

4.       Get Social

  Cost: Free to $$

If you haven’t already, be sure to engage your customers by going social. Stay in the conversation by setting up accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google + (to name a few).  Although sometimes taxing, it is important to utilize social sites as customers often research a company’s page before visiting them.  This gives them a chance to look at what others are saying, as well as provide valuable feedback that you may not get otherwise. If you are in a niche business, it might be beneficial to invest in Facebook ads which will target a specific demographic of customer.

5.       Leverage your customer engagement

  Cost: Free-$$

If not in 2012, SEO your website in 2013.  You can have a fantastic website, but it doesn’t matter if no one can find it.  If you are on a budget, consider using a free tool like Google Analytics, which will gather data on how visitors find and utilize your website. This will give you great insight on keywords to use, as well as which pages customers are visiting. If you want more in-depth SEO information, consider hiring a search engine consultant. Someone who is certified in Google AdWords and Google Analytics will know how to optimize your website for the best exposure to prospective customers or visitors.  If you would like to see a quick tutorial on Search Engine Optimization, click here.

If you have questions, or would like to talk to us more about upgrading your site, contact us today!

1. Extend Reach with Optimized Content

Your school website might be the first impression for prospective students and the go-to resource for current students, staff and faculty.  Polished content that is keyword optimized will help ensure that everyone you are targeting (including search engines) finds what they are looking for on your website. Use accurate and compelling title elements, meta descriptions and H1s for all of your website pages. This may be difficult on a large school website which is maintained by multiple staff and faculty members, but a little training on the appropriate way to write for the web can go a long way.

2. Keep Information Relevant

Your website is a representation of your school, and therefore, it should reflect all of the latest news and information for your visitors.  Search engines, just like humans, like to see that the content on a website is fresh and up to date. Keeping your news and events current is a win-win. Make sure activity calendars and team schedules are easy to find on your site and include all of the latest happenings.  This will also keep visitors coming back to your site on a regular basis for agendas, scores and more.

3. Promote  Research and Professional Pages

Your website is a great place to showcase the professional faculty at your school.  Giving teachers or professors their own page or section of the website where they can post the course syllabus, the latest homework assignment and information on class projects is an excellent way for educators to communicate with students and parents.  In addition, published material and other resources written by faculty members is good link bait as well as a great way to capture more keyword searches ultimately driving additional visitors to your school website.

Need help getting started?  Contact us today for more lessons in SEO 101 for schools!

Now that you’ve started a blog and your web presence radiates positive energy, you may see the additional benefits of feeding information to others. Blogging is a great way to connect to others and build relationships. Creating new contacts for business or socially can allow you to advance as well as learn from whom you’re surrounding yourself with.  As an expert, consider yourself a teacher. How many times have you typed in a search and not been able to find exactly what you are looking for? You can be that missing resource for another web user. This also is an opportune time to teach yourself. What topics do you have interest in but don’t know much about? Choose it as your expert field and learn all you can about the subject.

Social media provides a great source to share your content. After creating blogs, you can increase traffic by sharing your articles via social media networks. Creating a strategy for this is as important as the blogging itself. Sure, some people will still find you in searches they run, but why not go the extra mile and take control? Get the full benefits of blogging by staying social.

Blogging.org polled 1000 people to gather statistics on blogging in 2012. It was discovered that there are an estimated 31 million bloggers in the United States alone. 60% of those were men and 40% were women. The most popular platform used to build blog sites was WordPress. 60% of businesses have a blog and 35% of those are continuously updated.

Sometimes rather than using free blog sites, it’s more beneficial to have one built for you. The content will pull readers in but the design and SEO (search engine optimization) are equally important. The Net Impact is a full-service web strategy company that can create optimized, visually engaging websites. If you feel ready to take the next step, contact us today for more information.