Social Media Infrastructure: Building a Foundation for Success

Social Media InfrastructureBuilding a foundation for success

aogreen

Ryan Welchaocreative.com_ryanwelch

Sunday, March 21, 2010

FoundationsWebsite should be your foundation for online presence

Integrating other mediums into what you’re doing on your website

Your Website

Twitter YouTube Videos Facebook Blog

Points back to website - your “foundation”

Determines “content” for social media outlets


FoundationsContent is key (‘king’ as Caroline said)

What are you selling?

What are you offering people as a value add?


Social Media Marketplace

The social media marketplace is now a conversation

Are you listening? What are you hearing?

From customers directly, keywords, online chatter

Listen first - talk (sell) second

Your Organization/Business Conversation Clients

Mistake: Using social media as a channel rather than conversation


Social Media MarketplaceAuthenticity and transparency are very important

Human element added to digital life

People want to interact with real people



Marketplace is now a relationship

How committed are you?

The value of participating online is the ability to build lasting, meaningful ties. Anything short is a brief "viral success" at best ...

and at worst, lost opportunities to maintain and grow a loyal customer base.



Before can take something “viral” - you need a Structure (your website)

A plan and a pathway (hopefully many pathways)

MicroBlogs (Twitter)

WebsiteRSS, News

Blogging, Forums Podcasts,

Videos, Photos

Wikipedia

Business Networking

Social Networking

eMarketing



Conversation

Your StoryDelivery

Story Telling

Visual Message

Information

Peer Connection

Client Connection

Selling

Customer Service

MicroBlogs (Twitter)

RSS, News

Blogging, Forums

Podcasts, Videos, Photos

Wikipedia

Business Networking

Social Networking

eMarketing


Social vs Traditional Media

Traditional media is a one-way street - message only flows one way.

Social media will NOT replace traditional media or core business elements

Social media is just another way of doing those things (marketing, public relations, advertising, etc.)

Mistake: Using traditional marketing tactics in social media


Social vs Traditional Media

Social media is not the end-all. It’s simply part of the infrastructure which changes traditional marketing in a way never seen before

New communication and promotional tools, to expand on your foundation...


Social Media and Your Site





Consider the platform’s elements/standards

Twitter: Bird, Facebook: F, LinkedIn: IN

Take the time to design it

Consider putting it front-and-center

Use apps or plugins

Remember where your content is showing up

Website Basics Social Media on Your Site


Twitter Feed


Facebook


Social Media Connections


Social Media Connections


In contrast...


Foundation (Website) Basics

But How?

You want to get online...to start the structure...


Spelling: If clients can’t spell it, less likely to remember it

Buy misspellings

Easy to say over phone, in conversation

Not too long (max length: 63 char.)

Utilize keywords

A call to action?

Make it memorable

Website Basics Domain Name


TroyTacklesMore.com Re-directs to HeadandShoulders.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGFVnFoNnt4



Buy domain name

FYINIC.com

GoDaddy.com

Register.com

Extensions

.com most popular

.org if you’re a non-profit or group



Basically “renting” space on a server to host your site’s files

Server machine running a web

server

Your machine running a web

browser

Your browser connects to server and requests a page

The server sends back the requested page

Server Your Machine

Website Basics Web Hosting

E-mail accounts with your domain name suffix

Depending on hosting service, you’ll pay around $6-25 per month for basic hosting


If you don’t have your own, use iStockPhoto.com

Website Basics Photos & Graphics


http://istockphoto.com

http://istockphoto.com

Navigation architecture of the site

Needs to be completed before design phase

Nothing more than basic outline, displayed visually

Initiatives News & Events Get Involved About PLF Our Partners Publications Contact

Portland Leadership.org Site Map

Overview of programs offered

List of upcoming events

Overview of getting involved

Overview of what PLF is about

Overview/List of partners

Overview of 2 pubs they offer

Phone/email & contact form

Program 1

Program 2

Program 3, etc

Global Nav

Desc. of page

Sub-pages

Use of DB

Funding

Volunteer sign up

Agents of Change

Impacting Lives

Board & Staff

Blog

E-Newsletter

Footer Provides contact information, direct links all of the above global nav and some sub links

Website Basics Information Design


Information you provide will help define goals of the site

Site map will help design the site from a structural and design point of view

Lots of work up front, but will pay off in the long run



Questions to consider:

What is the purpose of your business?

What are goals of the site? Short & Long-term?

Who are the intended audience of your site? Describe typical viewer.

Age group, sex, nationality, education, profession



What other companies have similar businesses to yours? What do their sites look like?

Functionality of the site:

Forums, calendar, password protection, e-commerce, products, backend database, social media widgets

Content Management Systems (CMS)

Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal



How will people find your site? Will they be repeat visitors?

Advertising

Google

Facebook

Search engines

Existing customers

Social media tools



Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process of improving the volume traffic to a web site from search engines via un-paid search results

As opposed to Search Engine Marketing (SEM) a form of Internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the use of paid placement.

sources: SEM, SEO

Website Basics SEO vs SEM


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_results_page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_results_page

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay_per_click




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_marketing

SEO

Search Engine Result Pages (SEM)

SEM

Paid Inclusion (SEM)

Natural (un-paid) results (SEO)

Website Basics SEO vs SEM

80% click on un-paid results


SEO takes patience, but will yield results if done correctly

SEO = The Tortoise

SEM = The Hare

Website Basics Search Engine Optimization (SEO)


Overview of Search Engines

“Spiders” or “bots” looking for links

Build lists of words, notes and where they are located

Builds index based on its own system of weighting

LINKS are everything!

Website Basics Search Engines


Encodes data to save space

HOME FootballTennisBasketballFieldPhotographyVideoScoresTeamsGrassStandsFans

ScoresScoreboardCollegeProfessionalYardsInchesShoesBasketMediaField GoalPhotos

Web Spider/Bot

Builds list of words &notes where they

were foundBuilds index based on own system of

weighting

Stores data for users to access

Website Basics Search Engines

Your Website


Google Page Rank is simply, a rough indication of the popularity of a Web page. A higher PageRank indicates a more popular page.

PageRank is a link analysis algorithm used by the Google Internet search engine that assigns a numerical weighting to each element of a linked set of documents on the web with the purpose of "measuring" its relative importance within the set

Website Basics Google Page Rank

Source: Wiki


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_theory#Link_analysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_theory#Link_analysis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank

Setting up your site for SEO success


Keywords are words that may be used by viewers searching for information

Determine the keywords that best describe your site and use them in your content

Website Basics Keywords


Long-tail keywords are those low-volume, obscure, infrequently searched-for keywords that turn up in your search query reports.

“red Nike mens running shoes” is long-tail

“shoes” is not

Website Basics Long-Tail Keywords

High Cost& Competition

Low Cost& Risk

Low probability of conversion

High probability of conversion

1-Word Phrases “shoes”

2-Word Phrases “mens shoes”

More Descriptive Phrases “red Nike mens running shoes”


Website Basics Keywords: Longtail

Benefits to Long-tail keywords:

can provide significant search volume

have less competition than generic keywords

more specific, easier to tailor ads to searchers

people searching with LT are further along in buying process

lower CPCs, higher CTRs and higher conversion rates mean long-tail keywords can be extremely profitable

Queries with 4-8 keywords grew YOY 3% to 20%


Website Basics Search Engine Principals

Google Keyword Research Tool

Google: “google keyword tool”


https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal


Use keywords in filenames: “contact-your-company-name.html”

Mistake: Using typical filenames that don’t use keywords.

contactus.html or aboutus.html

Website Basics Site Setup: Filenames


Website Basics Site Setup: Blog Permalinks

http://www.avayahblog.com/bravo-wedding-affair-at-the-embassy-suites-in-portland-oregon

NO

YES

Changing permalink settings in Wordpress(Lower left hand side of Dashboard)


http://www.avayahblog.com/bravo-wedding-affair-at-the-embassy-suites-in





Post Title

Post URL



Post URL

Post Title


Filenames


Website Basics Site Setup: Page Titles


Search-friendly (most weight put here)

Put something there that is significant

Whatever is at beginning of Page Title is most important

Website Basics Site Setup: Page Titles


Website Basics Keyword Best Friends

PhotographySame Day Edits

Wedding InformationWedding Day QuestionsWedding Videography

Eugene, Oregon WeddingsOregon Weddings

Oregon Wedding PhotographyWedding FilmmakingWedding Video Prices

Destination Wedding VideosCabo Wedding Videography

Home Page

(content & keywords)


Website Basics Keyword Best Friends

Page title, Content and

keywords very specific to

“destination weddings”

Page title, Content and

keywords very specific to “same

day edits”

“Create Silo Pages”

Destination Weddings Same Day Edits

Home Page


Meta Keywords, Descriptions

Order is important - put them at the top, just below “Title” tag in the code

Order: Title, Description, Keywords

Website Basics Site Setup: Meta Keywords, Descriptions


Use keywords in your H1 tags

Remember you’re writing for humans

Use to highlight main subject of your page

Use at top of page

Website Basics Site Setup: Heading Tags (H1, H2, etc.)

Don’t overuse H1 tags. Google looks down on too many <H1> tags on a page


Use keywords in the first part of our body text

Use as many keywords throughout the body text, but remember to “write for humans” not for the bots and spiders

3-4 keywords per paragraph

Use keywords as links:

Website Basics Site Setup: Body Text

NO

YES

“View” or “Watch Video”

“Canon HF-10 Review Video”


Search-friendly Images

Use the ALT tag to describe your image

Name your images using keywords

Website Basics Site Setup: Search-Friendly Images

Instead of: “weddingphoto001.jpg”

Use: “same-day-wedding-portland-oregon-01.jpg”

Spiders can’t click, they can read

Flash sites can’t be indexed


Engagement Object: an element or multimedia component that you can add to your website that is engaging and causes users to interact with your website.

Website Basics Engagement Objects

Videos

Photos

Podcasts/Audio Files

Macros

Graphs/Charts

Webcomics

RSS Feeds

Polls

Maps

Live Streaming


http://www.bruceclay.com/newsletter/volume65/engagementobjects.html

http://www.bruceclay.com/newsletter/volume65/engagementobjects.html

"I think, that a year from now, we are going to be sitting here saying – ‘if you don’t have video, if you don’t have engagement objects on your website, you are just not going to rank. It will make you last among equals if you don’t have it.”

Website Basics Engagement Objects

– Bruce Clay, BruceClay.com

120 200variables to rank sites


Creating quality, engaging and unique content

Publishing content that can be easily indexed by search engines

Describing that content in a way that follows best practices for SEO.

Website Basics Video SEO

What is Video SEO?It’s an extension of SEO

Source: ReelSEO.com


http://www.reelseo.com/video-seo-vs-seo/

http://www.reelseo.com/video-seo-vs-seo/


Hosting vs PostingShould we host our videos on our own server or post them to video sharing sites?

YES.


Consider submitting your videos to multiple video sharing sites (YouTube, Google Video, MSN Video, Vimeo, etc.)

Titles are extremely important

Put URL at beginning of description

Use watermarks on your video

Include web address at end of video


Basic Video SEO Tips (Posting)

www.TubeMogul.com


http://www.TubeMogul.com

http://www.TubeMogul.com

Submit your site to be indexed:

Google

Yahoo

MSN

Ask.com

Website Basics Get Indexed


Keeping track of your visitors

Google Analytics

StatCounter

Site Meter

Web Trends

Website Basics Metrics



The Third Pig

Build your site as strong as the third pig’s house

Don’t be short-sighted

Build your site with solid SEO base

Website Basics Wrap Up: SEO Principals


The Ant Factor

SEO doesn’t offer instant results

Must consistently do small, simple things



Learn from the Crowds

Figure out what people want, what they’re looking for, and how they look for it.

Use: Google Keyword Research Tool, Twitter search


LISTEN!


How will I manage the content on my site?

Can you add widgets to my site?

(i.e my Twitter feed/search, Google map, video widgets, etc.)

Will people be able to easily share things on my site using ShareThis, AddThis, posting to Facebook, Twitter profiles.

How will people interact on my site (add comments, post reviews, share products, ideas, etc.)

Website Basics Questions for your web developer


aogreen

Ryan [email protected]@_ryanwelchaocreative.com


mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]