How popular is Bing and how do its SEO ranking factors differ from Google?
We are only 4 months into 2011, but I don't think Microsoft and specifically the Bing team could have asked for a better start to the year!
Conversations about the search engine only seem to be heading in one direction, the same direction as the number of people using their service - up.
In a previous post this year I discussed how searches on Bing were increasing, well this trend has not changed. In recent posts on Mashable, bloggers are showing how, if current trends continue, Bing could well overtake Google in the US.
Summary of the current Bing trends
Bing accounted for 30% of all searches in the US during March 2011
In September 2010, Bing accounted 24% of searches
If the same trend continues it would mean by…
I'm working on several projects at the moment that require the integration of a blog into a wider commercial online presence. During one conversation we got into discussing, why is it some blogs die, yet others are so successful - what are the success factors? I jotted down the notes from that conversation during my train journey home and thought that I'd share them with you.
People buy people
Your audience are searching for information, something of value to help with decision making so it helps enormously if they can buy into real people as a part of that process. This is where the notion of thought leadership is powerful, where I can be a trusted source for you about a topic. I think this is why video blogs or blogs…
What are the barriers stopping companies blogging and how can they be encouraged?
I strongly believe that every business should have a blog since they're an essential hub to your digital marketing activities. If you don't have one, you're missing out on one of the best ways to engage existing customers and to get new customers through the power of advocacy and SEO. So we're on a bit of a mission to get more companies blogging, but know we need to understand what is holding companies back.
I find when I ask in my training workshops, that often only a quarter to a third on the course have a blog. So there must be some serious reasons behind low business adoption of blogs. In the spirit of encouraging more companies to adopt them I've summarised here the reasons for and against. But first a poll - thank to those who helped devise…
Why your blog should be *the* focal point for building your brand online?
I'm still surprised how little blogs feature in digital marketing strategy and planning -- whether marketers run a corporate or brand blog as part of their web strategy, or leveraging third party blogs via blogger out-reach.
Blogs can also give you a hub for syndicating content and offers via the social networks as this post by Dave on blog content syndication shows.
I believe that this area really needs taking more seriously, the latest information from Technorati's 'State Of The Blogosphere' (Technorati quiz several thousand bloggers) reveal some interesting take-aways that I'd hope provide some motivation:
Blogs are the new news: The blogosphere is still in transition, and still they have mainstream influence - you only have to look how progressive brands are leveraging bloggers to promote their latest product, message or campaign.
Blogs are social:…
Lighten the load and increase the impact
Value: [rating=3]
Our commentary: The CMI (Content Marketing Institute) have posted a case study that we can all likely take something from.
The company, OpenView Venture Partners, have more than tripled visitor traffic to their blog by getting everyone in the business to post on the company blog at least once per week.
The company has shared their seven steps to how they did it - and not surprisingly, step 1 was about getting over all of the eye-rolling from across the business.
Marketing implications: There are some real gems from the post, assuming a corporate blog is something that's relevant to you.
Lessons 5, 6 and 7 are more widely relevant and understood in regard to writing for personas, optimizing for search and of course marketing the blog content.
The way that OpenView created the internal process and motivation is what is a little different. It's worth reading, beyond…
Using web video has become one of the fastest growing digital tools available to marketers - up 37% year-on-year in the UK.
Of course, when we think web video marketing, we naturally think of YouTube and YouTube are keen for you to advertise within You Tube through new approaches such as Video Targeting and Promoted Videos for You Tube.
But the idea behind this post is to look at other options for using video too. In particular, it has proved to be very effective in raising conversion rates for all types of company. For example, see how eretailers are using video for merchandising.
So, In this post, I present a guide of steps towards developing a strategy to using video for marketing.
Step…
I have a confession. I use the Typepad text editor and I have even recommended it to others...
This means against the Top 100 blogs shown in the graphic, I sit with Geekdad, The Pioneer Woman and Seth Godin who all favour this easy to use WYSIWYG platform. But Typepad is not the mainstream choice, used by just 16 of the Top 100 bloggers. So what are the choices and what are the SEO fundamentals to check for?
At the heart of any blog is great content, I guess it goes without saying doesn't it?
It also goes without saying that SEO is just as important for blogs as it is for websites. When you are considering SEO for blogs, there are many established techniques you can use so that search engines can discover your content, however…
Not long ago, virtual reality was the futurists' "mot du jour" before the underwhelming takeup of VR gloves, headsets and Second Life.
Now, in 2009, I'm sure you've noticed, augmented reality featuring widely in the media. So as an update to for the next editions of my books, this post gives a definition and showcases some examples. I'd love to hear about other examples too - particularly where AR is being used for web marketing.
Definition of augmented reality marketing
It's tricky to define AR since it's new and has many different applications and feedback mechanisms from data capture to user. But here's the one sentence definition of how I see it used in commercial web context - please put me straight!
Augmented reality blends real-world digital data capture typically with a digital camera in a webcam or mobile phone to create a browser-based digital representation or experience mimicking that of the real-world
Examples always work…
