Facebook as the new e-mail service

I'll be teaching search engine marketing, seo copywriting, and search engine optimization 101 training for a public relations and web development firm this April 13 and 14.

This activity was made possible thanks to Facebook. I often use my status updates to alert friends of the activity I was doing or preparing for.

At that time, shared about an seo copywriting briefing I was doing then via status update. Shortly thereafter, a contact was already asking for a meeting on how this can be done for their own company. We met, exchange further e-mail via Facebook, and the training was set.


With a clear purpose in mind, a Facebook or any other social networking account can be a powerful marketing tool. Use it wisely and don't abuse it!

SEO Content Writing for Journalists & Columnists

My column last month at Sun.Star tackled SEO content writing. It was written in response to a request from an editor asking for tips on writing articles with search engine optimization in mind.

(example of keyword results for "leadership" using Wordtracker.)

For columnist and writers, this can mean writing your article first and then analyze what keywords your article contains. From there, do a search on various keyword performance analysis tools to assess their popularity and make the necessary revision. This can also be done the other way around where you research the idea you have in mind first, before actually writing it.

In the end, the purpose of doing this is to ensure that your article will rank high on search engines and be found by readers who need such information.

7 Top Tips for SEO Success

 

Last October, I got the chance to read David Viney's "Get to the Top on Google". Fortunately for you, the whole book can also be read online.

In the last chapter of the book, Viney summarized his top tips for search engine success in 7 points and I added my insight to each:

1. Find a great niche and create good content
   I believe that this is important especially when you get more serious in your publishing endeavors. Tools like WordTracker becomes like a daily companion when figuring out topics to write about and the correct slant to approach it based on what user wants.
   
   With the right content, traffic can also come naturally. Attaining a certain number of visitors in a month will require content build-up dedication and this is a big challenge that even I had to overcome.
2. Lay the right foundation
   If I'll create a blog or site all over again, I will visit blog directories or advertising programs and figure out how blogs are classified. This I will use as a guide when creating my site structure. I will likely invest in a domain name right away at the minimum.
3. Do everything you can with your assets under control
   This includes fixing your sitemap, monitoring analytics, enhance your tags, improve page size, caching, among others.
4. Spend more time on directory submissions (paid, reciprocal, free, deep linking), article writing, and online press releases.
   This means all ways possible to get your site linked or be featured. Of course, this anchors on having good content in the first place.
5. Use paid advertising to complement organic search campaign
   For paid advertising, focus on long tail keywords (3 words and up) and must have a decent landing page that allows you to achieve your goal.
6. Put focus if website has a local angle
   Tap into local directory listings, geographic targeting, language enhancement, among others.
7. Promote your site with Web 2.0 tools
   This includes having a blog, use tagging, and really simple syndication (RSS). Target wikis, lenses, and social networking sites to further secure your ranking.

I must admit that reading Viney's book at a glance may make you underestimate its content especially if you are already into SEO like me. However, when I started mind mapping it, I was blown away on the richness of its content. The mind map I posted only covers up to 3.2 out of 7.4. The full one shall be made available to DigitalFilipino.com Club members including our updated SEO worksheet template.

Indeed, in this book, David Viney has proven that SEO is not rocket science. In fact, I could even say, "David Viney brings sexy back to SEO".