No problem, you can just recover it tomorrow. No harm done. But if you’re Apple employee Gray Powell and that lost iPhone is the not-yet-released iPhone 4G, you’re in big trouble.

• How One Man Shook Apple to the Core
• What’s New About the 4G
• Were Gizmodo’s Actions Right or Wrong?

It wasn’t just any phone—it was the not-yet-released iPhone 4G.

How One Man Shook Apple to the Core

For Apple Software Engineer, Powell, March 18, 2010 will forever be the night he lost the next iPhone. Powell graduated North Carolina State University in 2006 and later landed his dream job with Apple. His most recent project had him working on the iPhone Baseband Software (the program that enables the iPhone to make calls). Clearly, he knows his stuff.

On the night of March 18, Powell was out celebrating his 27th birthday at German beer garden Gourmet Haus Staudt in Redwood City, California. With him that night was the next generation of the iPhone which he was testing on the streets. To keep the prototype a secret, it was cleverly disguised as a boring, old 3GS iPhone…so 2009.

All around him, people were enjoying their night with drinking and good company. After some time, Powell decided the party was over and went home. Leaving the the infamous lost iPhone behind.

This is how the unnamed middle man recovered what he thought was a normal lost iPhone. While he waited to see if it’s owner would show, he began to play with it. He did not notice anything immediately special about the device. “I thought it was just an iPhone 3GS,” claims the middle man.

When Powell never appeared again, the middle man took it home and soon realized there was something different about this iPhone. He called Apple the next morning to tell them what he discovered. After wasted time and call transfers, he had no luck convincing Apple of what he had.

Unsure what to do, the man dropped the lost iPhone, for a mere $5000, in the lap of Gizmodo, a technology weblog about consumer electronics, who exposed the leaked device.

Gizmoto only had to fork over $5000 for the device.

What’s New About the 4G

Once the lost iPhone reached Gizmodo’s hands, they went to work checking if it was the real deal. Gizmodo determined this was the Holy Grail of iPhones, the 4G, and went to work documenting the new iPhone. There are many changes from past models as well as BRAND NEW FEATURES!

Updates from the 3G and 3GS

• Back is entirely flat and made of a different material (Gizmodo guesses glass, ceramic or shiny plastic)
• Aluminum border on outside
• Smaller screen, but higher resolution
• Squarer shape
• 16% larger battery (with smaller internal components to fit the bigger battery)
• 3 grams heavier

New features on the iPhone 4G

• Front-facing camera for video chats
• Improved back-camera with larger lens than before
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM (like in the iPad)
• Improved display and resolution
• Secondary mic on top
• Power, mute and new split volume buttons are all metallic

This 4G looks like a response to critics who called Motorola’s Droid from Verizon the answer to everything the iPhone couldn’t do. Looks like now there isn’t much the iPhone won’t be capable of.

Although it’s awesome and exciting to get a sneak peek at Apple’s newest innovation, a question lingers…

So many ethical questions…

Were Gizmodo’s Actions Right or Wrong?

If you’re wondering this, you’re not alone. Many ethical questions have been raised because of Gizmodo’s purchase of the lost iPhone and then exposure on their website.

Although Gizmodo paid for the phone, was this right?

And was it right to name to unfortunate engineer who lost it?

Steve Safran of the blog Lost Remote, posed these very questions to his readers and got a variety of responses. Some felt Gizmodo committed bribery and theft, while others saw it as a bargain deal for only $5000.

After reading the story and what’s at stake, what do you think? If you were Gizmodo or the unnamed middle man, would you have acted differently?

Update: Despite paying $5,000 for the lost iPhone, Gawker Media received no direct revenue from the millions of pageviews it received from publishing the scoop.

By Megan Ahern Megan Ahern thinks right or wrong, the 4G sounds like one sweet iPhone. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

He sported his fair share of terrible haircuts (ahem..The Facts of Life mullet) and starred in some films he’d rather forget (heard of Return of the Killer Tomatoes! No? Me neither).

But with hard work and some savvy career moves, Clooney is now the man with whom you want to work and connect.

Now it’s time for your site to go from Mullet Man to Leading Man. Make your website the George Clooney of its targeted keywords when you use the best link building strategies.

Want to learn more?

• Make Your Page Link-worthy and Attractive
• Get Great Links For Free
• Use Social Media for Link Building

“Now it’s time for your site to go from Mullet Man to Leading Man.”

Make Your Page Link-worthy and Attractive

Just like Clooney, you have to know when the mullet’s got to go. In other words, you have to know what will attract the most links.

Knowing the best link building secrets will put you on that path.

Hopefully, you’re not reading this going “Uh..what’s link building?” But in case you’re not sure, link building is getting external pages to link to your site or a specific page on that site.

But you don’t want just any links. You want quality links to connect to your site. These quality links are key if you want to appear relevant in the eyes of Google.

Google is more likely to rank your content higher for your targeted keywords if you can get external websites to link to you.

So how do you get Clooney’s Sexiest Man Alive status on the Web?

How to get your link building started:

• Create great, compelling content and TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT.
• Submit what you have to say to press releases or site directories.
• Put your content in front of influential bloggers.
• Get people you know and work with to link to you.

Not so difficult. But often when people start thinking promotion, they start adding up costs.

But not to worry, some of the best link building strategies can be yours for $Free.99.

“Create great, compelling content and TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT.”

Get Great Links For Free

There’s never anything wrong with a little free stuff. Some of the best link building boosts are completely free. You just need to know how to use them.

When you’re building links, the goal is to jump up in search engine rankings.

Below are some (free) smart ways to improve PageRank with link building.

Pay attention to anchor text.

The anchor text (meaning actual text of the link) should be the same as the keywords you’re targeting.

For example, if you write an article targeting the words “George Clooney Oscar nominations” and a linking site uses those keywords for their anchor text, Google will rank you higher.

Again, quality links are key.

The higher PageRank your external sites have, the more Google will think of your site. Search engines look at trusted links more favorably than questionable ones, and you will be rewarded with a ranking boost.

Think of actors who become infinitely cooler or more respected just because they did a movie with Clooney. The same principle applies.

Encourage links to more than your homepage.

When others talk about your site, they’re often tempted to link directly to your homepage. Make individual pages informational and relevant, they need link love, too.

So what smart link building tips have we learned?

• Pay attention to anchor text
• Get quality links
• Encourage links to all pages on your site

Sounds simple, but they really do work. And now that you know, it still did not cost you a dime, think of them as a present.

My gift to you is these best linking building techniques. They’re almost as nice as an Oscar swag bag, right?

“The more traffic you get, (hopefully) the more people will link to you.”

How to Use Social Media for Link Building

Of course, no discussion of the best link building tips would be complete without a reference to social media. One of the best ways to attract links to your page and content is through social media channels.

You can do this by seeding your content. This means submitting and posting content to different social media sites, forums and directories. If you do it right, you will build buzz around the content and encourage sharing. The more people share, the more links you can acquire.

But social media sharing does not stop with Twitter and Facebook. Sites like Digg.com and Reddit.com allow users to submit content for others to vote on. If the community likes what you’ve posted, a link to your content is put on the front page of the social media site.

The more people click the link, the more traffic you get and (hopefully) the more people will link to your site.

The key is being relevant and staying in the front of peoples’ minds. Again, look at Clooney’s long running career. If he did not continuously work on movies, promotions and charity causes, he could have easily become a story on Where Are They Now?

You have to work for your popularity.

Try out these best link building tips and reap the rewards. Just remember to thank me in your Oscar speech.

By Megan Ahern Megan Ahern would like to thank the Academy for all of their link building support. I love you all. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

In between the Super Bowl commercials for Budweiser and GoDaddy.com—Oh! and the actual Super Bowl, too—you may have noticed the banner that said, text “Haiti” to “90999″ to donate $10 to the American Red Cross in support of Haitian earthquake relief.

I did, and I remember thinking, Hmm… that’s different.

Different. Yes. This campaign raised an impressive $32 million dollars for Haiti. That might seem normal for a national campaign over the course of a year, but this campaign lasted just 1 month. This bold “mobile giving” move goes to show us the value of m-commerce, and not just for retail stores or other corporations but for nonprofits, too.

“… I remember thinking, Hmm… that’s different.”

Read on to learn more about:

• Mobile giving benefits
• An m-commerce increase
• Making the mobile move

Mobile giving benefits

We Americans with our soft, gentle and giving hearts are known for our philanthropic tendencies. Mobile giving makes this even easier. So put down your checkbook, Salvation Army jingle bells and Girl Scout cookies, it’s time to check out the benefits of mobile giving.

• It’s fast. The rapidness of the Red Cross campaign got aid to Haiti faster than ordinary campaigns or fund-raising (e.g. grants or small-scale benefits/drives). After a disaster of that magnitude, people need help right away, not in a few weeks, months or years.
• It’s green. How many envelopes, letters and checks (i.e. paper products) are used each year to raise funds or garner awareness about something? I don’t know the exact figure, but I know it’s a lot. Probably incalculable. If you care about a cause, you should also make it a point to care about a cause that directly affects us all: the environment. Mobile giving is practically paper-free.
• It’s easy. Sending a text message is really easy compared to making a phone call/being put on hold, searching the internet or filling out some kind of paper form. Not to mention sending a text is less risky (e.g. pretty anonymous, no person-to-person contact), so many people will feel more comfortable doing so.

“… they’re still going to have cookies somewhere in the deal, I’m sure.”

Another good thing that the American Red Cross did in their mobile giving campaign was to make the donation amount small and accessible to a broad audience. $10 is pretty affordable no matter your financial situation. Keep this in mind when creating your own campaign; a lot of people would see a major difference between $10 and $20, for example.

And don’t fret about the Girl Scout cookies. Even if the Scouts go mobile, they’re still going to have cookies somewhere in the deal, I’m sure.

An m-commerce increase

Mobile campaigns aren’t new and the American Red Cross isn’t the only organization to benefit from m-commerce. According to Millennial Media, consumers have increased their mobile and social media use during the last few months in light of mobile campaigns.

So you want to try m-commerce, but maybe you need a little inspiration?

Check out these examples of household name brands making a mobile statement:

• IKEA. After introducing the strange IKEA PS designs in 2009, IKEA created an “augmented reality” solution. That means they created an app that allows consumers to see what the IKEA PS furniture will look like in their home before they purchase and assemble it.
• Nike. Nike has created True City. This app maps out popular cities in Europe (e.g. Berlin, Paris, London), and it displays restaurants, museums, bars and also Nike locations. The information is generated by local insiders (and Nike lovers) who want to share their city’s secrets with fellow Nike advocates.
• BMW. Another huge American Red Cross-esque success story. BMW created an MMS campaign, which involved sending customized images of customers’ BMWs to their cell phones. The images featured specialized winter tires (necessary for German winters) to contrast with customers’ already purchased summer tires. This $60,000 campaign resulted in a $45 million profit and a 30% conversion rate.

That’s sort of a big deal.

“This $60,000 campaign resulted in a $45 million profit…”

Making the mobile move

If you’re looking for a new way to involve consumers, raise funding for a cause or make money for your business, try going mobile. As we’ve seen over the years, there are a lot of creative ways to do so. If stuffy, old BMW can do it, why can’t you?

Just be sure your campaign involves a call-to-action. Make it different, bold and unique. M-commerce is new enough that there’s still a lot of room to play and be creative. Make a move, but first learn about the campaigns that failed, so you don’t wind up on the same dead-end.

What’s your favorite mobile campaign to date? Share it below.

By Marlee Gallagher Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

Critics of these new services, however, bring to attention the fact that “anyone” can now create a mobile app has negative consequences, such as flooding of app stores that obscures useful apps from established brands. This article will explore the debate over ease in creating mobile apps and how to decide if a 27-second app is right for your brand.

“What else can you do in 27 seconds? Maybe take out the trash…”

Read on:

• How AppMakr has Changed the Process of Creating Mobile Apps
• The Case Against Self-Service Mobile Creation
• Choosing Whether or Not to Create Your Own Mobile App

How AppMakr has Changed the Process of Creating Mobile Apps

According to AppMakr’s creator, PointAbout, the process of creating mobile apps typically takes 2-3 months and costs $50,000 to $150,000. Each company must invest a lot of time into making sure their app runs across many platforms. PointAbout maintains that this lofty investment is unnecessary, and that the company’s “write once, run anywhere” philosophy enables its clients to maximize the reach and return-on-investment of their app.

Basically, PointAbout has created a substantial, generic app that can be populated with any client’s:

• RSS Feeds from Blogs or Website Content
• YouTube videos
• iTunes Content
• Photos
• Tweets

Once filled with a client’s content and customized with their logo and color scheme, the generic app becomes a custom marketing tool.

“This generic app that can be populated with lots of content.”

The Case Against Self-Service Mobile Creation

Now that these services have boiled down the high costs of mobile app creation to less than $500, most small businesses, bloggers, or even Average Joes can afford to utilize the tool. However, some technology followers say that self-service mobile creation harms, instead of helps, the mobile world.

Critics cite 3 major concerns:

1. The iPhone App Store will be overrun with low-quality apps.

   AppMakr doesn’t guarantee that Apple will approve every app it generates, but the service does provide a set of detailed guidelines and tips. The proliferation of fast services like AppMakr makes some question the quality of the hundreds of apps that could possibly overrun the market, making it difficult for consumers to find what they want.

2. RSS Readers do the same thing, only better, by picking up RSS feeds and condensing them into one app.

   Mashable writer Christina Warren asks, “Why would I want to download that, even for free, when I can just…view it in a great RSS app…? How obsessed with a site do you need to be before you’ll clutter up your home screen with its logo? So, no offense to AppMakr, I just don’t see the appeal of the trend it’s riding.”

3. Counterfeit Mobile Apps challenge real brands.
   Some counterfeit apps are being used to scam consumers. Brands are essential to online trust, and users often feel secure downloading a branded mobile app because they assume that particular brand has endorsed the app. However, that’s not always true, and some scam artists have been taking advantage of that brand loyalty. Mobile app publisher Monseta has recently been flagged for improperly using brands—the company uses well-known brands like Barnes & Noble, eBay, and even Bank of America to lure people into downloading the apps to their phones. However, once downloaded, the app just runs ads that generate money for Monseta.

   Even worse, counterfeit apps could also enable phishing, spread viruses, or steal personal information. With an app branded with a well-known bank like Bank of America, it’s easy to see how consumers could be fooled.

“Before making the decision, you must consider your goals.”

Choosing Whether or Not to Create Your Own Mobile App

In light of the criticism of the growing ease of creating mobile apps, a question arises: should your brand take advantage of a service like AppMakr?

Reasons you might want to consider ignoring the critics:

• While the RSS app option is certainly more efficient for high volume readers, some consumers might only be interested in a few blogs or sites and would rather have direct access to an app for each site.
• Less tech savvy consumers might be daunted by the process of using an RSS app, and would instead prefer to be able to download individual apps.
• The format of a populated, generic app works well for some. For example, a media specialist with a blog and active flickr and YouTube accounts might wish to combine the three formats for a personal tool that promotes his or her expertise.

For Seth Godin, it was a perfect solution. A marketing guru and blogger, Godin has amassed a following of tens of thousands of marketing professionals. Godin himself is a recognizable brand that can draw users to download the app and read his short, insightful blog articles on the go.

Creating mobile apps is a now a snap; but as with any business tool, you must consider your target audience and goals, instead of others’ opinions, when making decisions on whether to utilize a new service or technology to market your brand.

Cassie Wallace Cassie Wallace uses Google Reader, but will still download Seth Godin’s app just for the forehead logo. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

Novice search engine marketers might think that targeting the keyword with a higher search volume will get more traffic and sales. However, seasoned professionals know that long-tail keywords get more and better traffic, leading to increased conversion rates.

“‘How to get rid of bed bugs’ is less competitive than ‘bugs.’”



Read on to learn why you should optimize your site for long-tail keywords:

Long-tail Keywords Drive Traffic that Converts

There are 2 major problems with targeting short-tail, broad keywords:

1. Heavy Competition.
   It’s difficult to crack the first page of search engine rankings for broad keywords. Because a single word is part of thousands of long-tail keyword phrases and hundreds of concepts, there is already a lot of quality content vying for top billing. Often this content is coming from big sites like Yahoo and CNN that have high PageRanks and lots of inbound links, which boost rankings.
2. Low Conversion.
   Someone searching for “bugs” could be seeking information on any one of dozens of topics, ranging from bug collecting to computer bugs. Most likely, this person is also in the information gathering mode, conducting research and not planning on making a purchase. Therefore, few clicks you get from this keyword will convert. We can categorize most of these users as “noes” – they will never take the desired action. If your search campaign focuses on these keywords, your conversion ceiling will be very low – that is, most of your traffic won’t purchase your product or service. One-word keywords have the lowest conversion rate, a measly 7 percent.

On the other hand, there are distinct advantages to targeting long-tail keywords.

1. Less Competition.

“Is buying flowers online for a new girlfriend a good idea?”



2. More Search Possibilities.

   Potential customers can find your website through different combinations of keywords. For example, “is buying flowers online for a new girlfriend a good idea” could potentially rank for:

   • “buying flowers online”
   • “buying flowers for a new girlfriend”
   • “buying flowers for a girlfriend a good idea”

   …and a whole host of other possibilities.

3. Higher Conversion.

   Because they reached your site through a highly specific keyword, your content is more likely exactly what they were seeking. 4-word keywords have the highest average conversion rate (around 37 percent) because these search users can often be categorized as “maybes” or even “yeses.” Long-tail keywords target potential customers who are late in the buying cycle.

They’re past the information-gathering stage and ready to take action. If your website is at its best, they will take that action by buying your product.

“How to get rid of bed bugs” is one example of a long-tail keyword that will draw users more likely to fall into the categories of “yes” or “maybe.” These users have a specific problem and are intent on fixing it. This is where your landing page, your copy, and your website as a whole come into play. These users are already intent on fixing their problem; you must convince them that your product or service will do this.

Long-tail keyword click-through-rates are increasing between 2 percent per year (for 4 words) to 22 percent per year (for 8+ words). Conversely, one-word keywords are experiencing around a 3 percent drop in search results per year.

When comparing 1 broad keyword and 1 long-tail keyword, the search volume of the broad keyword is much larger. However, comparing 1 broad keyword with all of the long-tail keywords combined in a given category shows a different perspective. The majority of traffic volume comes from long-tail keywords.

Check out this graph:

“Target long-tail keywords for better conversion.”

The bottom line: target long-tail keywords and provide persuasive, quality content to raise conversion rates.

Cassie Wallace Cassie Wallace would rather rank for a long-tail keyword than a receive a long-stem rose. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

While Google and Apple have partnered in the past on such projects as mobile applications and music purchasing. More recent projects, however, have pitted the two giants in a growing war within the mobile search market and others. The turf battle is escalating as Apple begins to squeeze its way into search and advertising and as Google gets into producing and marketing smart phones.

Read on to learn about 2 major areas of conflict in the Google-Apple mobile search market showdown:

• Mobile phone production
• Mobile search market

Google’s Nexus One vs. Apple’s iphone

Mobile phones

Apple was first to enter this market, debuting its iPhone on January 9, 2007. The iPhone came a whole 3 years before Google’s Nexus One. Apple continues to dominate the super-smart phone market. With more apps, more dedicated followers, and more storage space, the iPhone has a distinct competitive advantage.

However, according to an insider, “Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy.” For this reason, Apple is attempting to keep Google from pressing into this market even further by removing Google as the default search provider on its iPhone.

But why does that even matter?

Default search

That same insider stated that “Microsoft is now a pawn” in the showdown between the two companies. Microsoft’s Bing search engine has seen far less success than Google search, but still stands to be made the default search engine on the iPhone.

To use Microsoft’s Bing, iPhone users currently must download a Bing app or go directly to Bing.com through their browser.

Adding Bing as the default search app would increase the visibility and usage of the less-than-popular search engine (which only holds 11% of the current mobile search market, compared to Google’s 86%). It’s also important to note that Google’s 86% stake in the mobile search market is partly due to the iPhone.

And the Microsoft-Apple collaboration may not even last long. Rumors are circulating that Apple is looking into developing its own search engine for both mobile and browser use, and that replacing Google with Bing is merely buying time. According to a source, given the growing importance of the mobile search market, “Apple isn’t going to outsource the future.”

If the switch to Bing takes place, Google search will take Bing’s place on the backburner in the mobile search market. In the short term, Bing’s gain is Google’s loss.

ipod’s default search app: Google or Bing?

However, long-term effects will probably be less drastic, as Bing seems to be just a temporary bargaining tool in the Apple vs. Google war. As for now, there is no clear winner in the showdown between the technology behemoths.

With Google’s brand equity, intense user loyalty and expansion into new arenas, it should be able to hold on to much of its market share and ultimately, be just fine without the iPhone.

Cassie Wallace Cassie Wallace maintains that Chuck Norris will win in the fight between Google and Apple. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

This is not to say that Google blindly offers up synonyms for all of your searches, clouding search results with irrelevant sites. Instead, Google says that this use of synonyms will only happen when the search engine algorithm determines that results with the synonym will improve results with useful and important information, such as in the case of “song words”.

According to Google, “for every 50 queries where synonyms significantly improved the search results, we had only one truly bad synonym.” Not bad.

One out of 50 isn’t bad!

Read on to learn how you can write your Web copy to effectively take advantage of Google’s change.

In this article:

• Use a Wide Array of Words
• Don’t Forget the Keyword
• Put the User First when Writing Web Copy

Use a Wide Array of Words

With Google’s new changes, it is now important to consider using an array of words and phrases instead of focusing on only your keyword phrase.

For example, an article targeting “health care communications professional” might also utilize some of the following phrases:

• Health communication specialist
• Medical communications professional
• Professional health care communicator

An article targeting “health care communications professional” might use a variety of phrases.



Google’s tweaks to their algorithm are actually enabling you to write stronger, more interesting Web copy.

Don’t Forget the Keyword

While it’s great to use a diverse selection of keywords, it’s important to still focus on your target keyword.

Include it in key places…

• URL (e.g. /heath-care-communications-professional.html)
• Title
• Heading (e.g. Jane Young, A Health Care Communications Professional that Listens)
• Sub-headings

…and throughout the text. Just don’t forget the number 1 rule of writing…

Don’t forget to focus on your target keyword!

Put the User First when Writing Web Copy

When taking into account Google’s updated algorithm, don’t forget the number 1 rule of writing for the Web or anywhere else. That is, the user comes first. Always.

Write naturally, only including keywords where it makes sense and sounds natural. Web copy is for human readers first, search engines second. Push your experience, credibility and personality, not a barrage of keywords.

Besides, Google’s algorithm likes quality content more than keyword density. Write Web copy that informs, persuades and entertains, focus on your keyword and its variations and the rankings will follow.

Cassie Wallace Cassie Wallace writes for people, but never forgets Mr. Google. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

Before you start to overheat your brain, I should tell you this is a trick question. Who can count that high?

Whatever the number, the largest percentage of these terms make up what SEO enthusiasts call the long tail of search demand.

This article will guide you to understand what the long tail is, tell you why you should use it, and give you some best practice examples.

Read on to find out:

• What is the long tail of search?
• How to get the long tail wagging
• Who is wagging it right?

“… the largest percentage of these terms make up the long tail.”

What is the long tail of search?

As you continue reading, I will impress you with colorful charts and stats about the long tail to persuade you of its awesome-ness. But first I will step back and explain this potentially foreign SEO concept.

The concept of a long tail of search really generated buzz in WIRED magazine. In it, Chris Anderson wrote about this concept and even titled his blog, The Long Tail.

Anderson explains, “The theory of the Long Tail is that our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of ‘hits’ (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.”

What does this mean for SEO? Replace “niches” with “unique keywords,” and the concept is working for you.

Next test question: What percentage of all search traffic do the top 10,000 search terms make up?

If you’ve guessed anything more than 18.5 percent, guess again.

3 quick long tail facts:

1. The top 10,000 search terms make up only 18.5 percent of all search traffic.
2. According to Hitwise, if search were illustrated as a lizard with a one-inch head, its tail would stretch 221 miles.
3. The head and body of search equal only 3.25 percent of Hitwise’s total data.

Let’s put this into pictures:

The above chart is an excellent illustration of the long tail of search concept. It breaks up the top keywords by how often they are searched each month. The gray portion represents the long tail of lonely keywords waiting for a nice person to adopt them.

But I’ve always been more of a bar graph person myself.

Here is that same information with each bar representing a chuck of keywords:

These charts show that using the “top” keywords isn’t the best strategy. Sure, you can make sure to include some of the top 500 keywords. But there are over 70 percent of all searches you are ignoring; don’t forget about them.

How to get the long tail wagging

Now that you’ve seen the pictures and numbers, how are you going to start using the long tail?

Matt Bailey, founder of SiteLogic, a web marketing consulting company, encourages clients to focus their attention outside of their top 10 to 20 most popular search terms: “Add up the terms that refer 1-3 visits during the month, and chances are, they will add up to more total visitors than the top terms. On closer examination, most sites will have the majority of their business (sales and leads) generated from these terms that are rarely tracked.”

Next test question: Write down your top 10 search terms.

Now throw that paper out and start a new, more creative list and start following your tail like a 3-month-old puppy.

Who is wagging it right?

Before you go into this last test question, you should do some Google-ing of your own and find some companies already using the long tail of search successfully. Think of this as the equivalent to cheating off of the brainiest kid in the class, only more ethical.

Here’s a list of sites that are waggin’ it right:

• Amazon.com: 57 percent of their sales are from keywords not considered “popular.”
• UK blogger and PR/Media guru, Mark Pack: his top 10 blog posts each month are responsible for only 1/4 to 1/3 of his blog’s total traffic.
• QueroMedia (international marketing agency): this highly successful, European-based agency uses numerous search terms for clients’ campaigns.

You now know what the long tail of search is, the steps to start using long tail searchs, and who you can “cheat” off to use the long tail of search effectively.

Armed with a full understanding of the long tail, you can now answer the last test question: Why haven’t you started using the long tail sooner?

By Megan Ahern Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

But then something goes wrong. Your business’s website and your blog get in a little tiff because the website thinks that the blog is getting all the attention. While this may be true, resulting in a 10 percent sales increase for your business, you decide that your business’s website and your blog need a little space to cool off. With some extra cash, you purchase a separate domain for your blog, and everyone’s happy (except for your website, but she’ll never be fully satisfied).

A separate blog-specific domain may work for some businesses but not all of them.

Here are some questions to consider when asking yourself the important blogging question, separate or same domain?

• What’s the purpose of my blog?
• Who’s my audience?
• How will this affect my SEO potential?

What’s the purpose of my blog?

Consider your intentions for creating a business blog. To reinforce your main brand? To focus on a specific product? Complement or supplement your website? Communicate directly with customers?

“Your business’s website and your blog get in a little tiff…”

Let’s say you have a business like EcoSMART. EcoSMART uses a same domain blog full of articles about bug identification, green living, and, of course, their organic insecticide spray. The point of the blog is to make sales, but they do so while showing the unique personalities and interests behind their business. Their blog articles encourage employee-customer discussion, and, overall, promote a sense of person to person contact rather than just person to computer or person to product.

However, consider creating an independent blog with a separate domain if you want a blog that is:

• Product-specific
• Not directly related to the purpose/interests of your business
• Focused on a subset of your business

You can check out Orient Watch USA’s blog for an example of a separate domain blog.

Keep in mind that if you choose to have a separate domain blog, you will need sufficient resources to fully market and promote it apart from your website. Whatever blog type you choose, you should incorporate blog specific marketing elements, which include being aware of your audience.

“Discover your audience—it’s definitely worth it….”

Who’s my audience?

Discovering your audience (if you haven’t already) will require some research, but it’s definitely worth it.

If your website and your blog aim to attract the same audience, then they should share the same domain. This will make your website more interesting and appealing to your viewers. However, if you have a website that sells cat and kitten products, don’t include a blog about your favorite dog products. That needs to appear in a separate domain (but you can link it to your main website if you want to).

“Your blog’s SEO status will start from the bottom and work its way up the numerical scale.”

How will this affect my SEO potential?

A blog adds content and value to your website. The more frequently updated content you post, the more search engine spiders will visit. Also, as more websites/blogs link to your website/blog, your SEO status will increase.

Again, this doesn’t mean your blog must be included on your website. If your blog domain is separate from your website domain, your blog’s SEO status will start from the bottom and work its way up the numerical scale as your website did. And remember, when your blog links to your main website, it can gain more value and credibility (and so can your website!).

So to wrap up…

Choosing a blog domain is sort of like life. Whatever path you choose, remember to keep your (blog’s) overall purpose in mind and everything else will fall into place.

By Marlee Gallagher Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.

Think about it. Would you completely ignore your pet fish if you got a new puppy? Sure you can’t cuddle or go on walks with your blog posts, but they still deserve occasional attention, right?

Read on to discover:

• Why Updating Old Posts is a Smart Move
• How to Easily Update Old Posts

“Would you completely ignore your pet fish if you got a new puppy?”

Why Updating Old Posts is a Smart Move

With the excitement of frequently publishing new blog posts, many bloggers often forget to occasionally check in and update past posts. Turns out, updating old posts keeps your blog content fresh and high on search engine rankings.

Outdated posts will show up in search results just as often as new posts, if not more, as they’ve likely acquired a higher page rank. They therefore will continue to draw in Web traffic.

Old content may be the first examples of your blog that many searchers view. This is reason enough to keep posts updated and fresh. After all, first impressions are lasting impressions. You’re more likely to attract a strong readership if each of your posts is kept somewhat current.

Updating old posts will also increase your blog’s presence on search engine lists. Updated content is viewed as more relevant by search engines than content that has not been updated recently. Therefore, the more you update your old posts, the more center-stage your blog will appear in the land of Web searches and the more your blog traffic will increase.

“Keep your content fresh for better rankings.”

How to Easily Update Old Posts

Updating old posts can be accomplished quite simply. Little tweaks such as the addition of new insights is any easy way to achieve updated material.

Make Corrections
Use this opportunity to correct past opinions or faux pas. For instance, if you have a post dedicated to the eternal relationship of newlyweds Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey, it’s time for an update.

Add Media
Another simple way to update old posts is to add pictures or graphics. Display your technical savvy by embedding a new video into an outdated post.

Interact
Comments also count as updates. Visitors to your blog can help you update your old posts by commenting. Or, you can go back through your old posts and answer any questions and give feedback on your comment section.

Link Internally
Links are another way to update old posts. Attach links to your old content to give readers a way to get to your newer posts. This not only updates your post, it also encourages readers to continue browsing your blog.

Making little changes to the content of old posts not only keeps these posts current but also allows you to demonstrate the knowledge and skill you have acquired since first publishing the post.

Consider a blog post an unfinished product – a work in progress. This way, you will be more inspired to continually add to and tweak your posts, keeping them up-to-date and high on search engine rankings.

As a blogger, do you ever revisit and update your old posts?

By Bryn Dehmcke Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.