The one thing anyone who pays attention to search engine rankings is that Google giveth and Google taketh away. It’s true that trying to understand Google’s search engine algorithm might as well be (and is) a full-time job for some people. But when something big comes along that will change the way your website ranks with the search engine, you should pay attention.
Author Rank is the much anticipated new way Google will start to weight the authorship of content in addition to the actual content. Basically, the idea is that knowing the content is one thing but if Google could also determine it was coming from a trusted source, it can show that link first. Author Rank isn’t meant to replace the current Google method of determining good search results. Instead it will add to what’s already there.
One thing to note is that Author Rank is much talked about and speculated about but it’s not in effect yet. There is no set start date and by the time Google announces it, it will probably already be in effect. So now is the time to start thinking about the benefits you’ll reap based on its implementation.
Google Athor Rank
How Your Brand Can Benefit From Author Rank
The primary benefit of Google Author Rank is that people who write killer content will automatically receive a boost to the content they’ve written for the web. It’s a circular process. Content that makes it to the top of the search rankings will be connected to other content through the author, raising their ranks as well.
But secondary benefits are tied in with Authorship, which is the tool through which Author Rank will be facilitated. Authorship is a way you can connect your Google Plus account to your content across the Internet. Once you do this, your face and full name show up in the search results along with a clickable link to your Google Plus account.
Search results with faces and recognizable names are more likely to be clicked than naked links. This is true whether your listings appear on the first page or the 17th page. Google has also confirmed that those who use Authorship will receive bonus links. If someone clicks one of your links, reads through the article, and clicks the back link, they will see a new link saying “More from So and So” with three new results underneath.
So, just to recap, you get higher search engine rankings, you get more clicks regardless of where you fall in the rankings, and you get more links on the page when users click on your existing links.
If that doesn’t sound good to you, you should get your ears checked. And if does, you should get started.
How to Get Started with Author Rank
The first step to preparing for Google Author Rank is to start using Google Authorship. First you need a Google Plus account. If you have a Gmail account, you probably already have one. And if you don’t, you get one here. Remember that you don’t have to be active on Google Plus to benefit from Authorship but you have to at least fill out your profile.
Next add the email address from that website domain to your Google Plus account. Just open Google Plus and click “Profile” on the left side of the screen. Click “Edit Profile.” About midway down the page is the section for email addresses. Click that and it will open up for editing. Add the email address in question. Click “Save.”
While you’re there, add that website to your list of places you contribute to. Scroll down near the end of the page to the Contributor To section. Click it to edit it and add the website name and link. Click “Save.”
Next, you should link back to your Google profile from your content. Add the following link to the header of your website: <a href=”[YOUR PROFILE URL]?rel=author”>Google</a> You can find your profile URL by opening your Google Plus account and clicking “profile” on the left side of the screen. Then copy and paste the URL into that code.
Finally, when you’re all done, it’s time to make sure it’s working. Go to the Google Structured Data Tool and enter your information to check if the rich snippets are in place. If they aren’t, go back through your process to check where you could have made a mistake. If they are, that’s great! You’re one step closer to being prepared for the adoption of Google Author Rank.
Google Author Rank Isn’t the Magic Bullet You’re Looking For
Right about now you may be thinking “Great! Google Author Rank is an easy way for me to finally get to the top of search engine results.” Hold your horses, though. It’s just not that simple.
There are no shortcuts in search engine optimization. There is no switch you can flip, plugin you can install, or person you can pay to dominate search results–at least not for good. Even if you manage to game your way to the top, Google will continue to evolve its methods to slap the cheaters and spammers back down. It’s a never-ending battle to stay on top. Only by creating amazing relevant content and working within the confines of good search engine optimization guidelines can you expect to see real, sustainable improvement.
While Google Author Rank is a smart way to take advantage of the tools and resources available to you, it’s not a quick fix. Remember that Author Rank will be just one factor of many. You still have to publish content worth reading and you still have to structure your website in a way that makes it accessible to search engines.
In other words, you still have to put in the work that comes with an optimized website. But at least if you understand and start preparing for Google Author Rank today, you’ll have a leg up on the process.
5 Reasons You Need To Think About Mobile Now
Bold sales and usage predictions about mobile consumers may still be up in the air, but there are 5 reasons why you need to think about mobile NOW.
Will mobile users really outnumber desktop users by 2014? Does mobile access equate to mobile usage? Can’t you just wait this out until mobile actually takes over? Only up-to-date research will get you the answers you need for your business.
Meanwhile, here are those 5 reasons why you need to think about mobile NOW, as well as five great questions to ask yourself just in case you’re still thinking about putting this off until… until… until… it’s too late:
Think-Mobile
1. Innovation – Could one clever mobile app change your world overnight?
Just because there’s no current app on the market that’s taken the world by storm in your particular service, retail or manufacturing niche yet is no reason to put off doing your research until there is one.
One clever and creative teenager could literally change your world overnight with some new mobile application that will either send all your customers rushing to your competitor or build their steadfast confidence and loyalty in you and your business.
In many cases, what use to take years of research, development, manufacturing, marketing, promotion, and delivery can now take only days to launch and deliver online. The mobile app that revolutionizes your niche may be here tomorrow. Will you profit or perish?
2. Research – Are you keeping current on what research says about mobile?
According to http://comscore.com, 92% of all the world’s data was created in just the last two years. If you’re not keeping up with how mobile technology is changing your marketplace, your marketplace will surely change you whether you like it or not.
To get started, simply do a Google search for “mobile statistics 2013″ or “mobile research 2013.” You may also want to search for “mobile for (your industry)” or “(your industry) mobile tips.”
The good thing about doing simple Google searches rather than pouring yourself into volumes of data is that others have already been there and done that for you.
Read their summaries, tips, suggestions, how-to, and short reports, then click on their links. That will surely save you time while keeping up-to-date. If you see something worthwhile and relevant to your industry, THEN go dive into all those statistical and demographic goodies.
Until then, just keep it short, sweet, and regular, meaning at least monthly. Things change too fast not to make mobile research a monthly habit.
Another quick research option would be to join an online networking group like the free Networking Clubs at http://socialmediaexaminer.com. Once you join, you’ll get instant access to all three Business, Blogging, and Facebook Clubs where you can “Start A Topic,” ask your burning mobile research question, and wait for input from professional members who stay current on such matters.
3. Disability – Can mobile customers and prospects actually see your site?
You’ve already invested hundreds, if not thousands, in your website and online presence. Your target customers may see your website in all its blazing informational glory from their desktop screens, but the minute they grab their mobile devices, they can’t see you at all.
Why? Older websites built for desktop computer audiences were often built with now outdated flash and other technology, rendering your beautiful website into a mess or even invisible on online mobile devices. Thankfully, a good responsive theme or an inexpensive mobile website can easily help you convert all that old non-viewable information into an updated online presence of which you can be proud.
4. Influence – Know who your most influential customers are?
No matter what you’re selling, odds are that most of your customers’ buying decisions are being heavily influenced by one weighty group of social networkers — 35-54 year old female mobile users.
They’re the most socially active mobile group online, as well as have a long-researched reputation for influencing just about every purchase made in their households, no matter who actually pays for the transaction. Know where you’ll find them? Online… actively using mobile devices.
5. Empathy – Can you offer real solutions for your customers online mobile problems?
And last, but probably most important, you need to be aware of the various challenges faced by your mobile-using customers online. While they may not be purchasing your services or products online, using online technology only to do their research before buying in person, they still need your help to troubleshoot online problems they have when visiting your website.
While this is obviously not your fault, there’s an odd psychological force at play here that should surely make it your concern. Most customers visiting your site are having a private conversation with you, whether you realize it or not.
When they have a problem while visiting you online, they associate their problem with you. No matter that you have no control over this. What matters is that you stay aware of this oddity and can offer actionable troubleshooting assistance when needed. Just a little bit of empathy here can go a long way with customers.
By the same token, mobile users expect you to know how to solve their mobile problems when visiting and researching your website online. No, it doesn’t make sense. Still, it’s something that should motivate you to stay current on mobile now so you can offer appropriate guidance or referral support to them tomorrow.
Given these 5 reasons why you need to think about mobile as it relates to your business, it’s clear that the sooner you get that research done, the better you’ll be able to handle your customers’ current and future mobile needs.
Will mobile users really outnumber desktop users by 2014? Does mobile access equate to mobile usage? Can’t you just wait this out until mobile actually takes over? Only up-to-date research will get you the answers you need for your business.
Meanwhile, here are those 5 reasons why you need to think about mobile NOW, as well as five great questions to ask yourself just in case you’re still thinking about putting this off until… until… until… it’s too late:
Think-Mobile
1. Innovation – Could one clever mobile app change your world overnight?
Just because there’s no current app on the market that’s taken the world by storm in your particular service, retail or manufacturing niche yet is no reason to put off doing your research until there is one.
One clever and creative teenager could literally change your world overnight with some new mobile application that will either send all your customers rushing to your competitor or build their steadfast confidence and loyalty in you and your business.
In many cases, what use to take years of research, development, manufacturing, marketing, promotion, and delivery can now take only days to launch and deliver online. The mobile app that revolutionizes your niche may be here tomorrow. Will you profit or perish?
2. Research – Are you keeping current on what research says about mobile?
According to http://comscore.com, 92% of all the world’s data was created in just the last two years. If you’re not keeping up with how mobile technology is changing your marketplace, your marketplace will surely change you whether you like it or not.
To get started, simply do a Google search for “mobile statistics 2013″ or “mobile research 2013.” You may also want to search for “mobile for (your industry)” or “(your industry) mobile tips.”
The good thing about doing simple Google searches rather than pouring yourself into volumes of data is that others have already been there and done that for you.
Read their summaries, tips, suggestions, how-to, and short reports, then click on their links. That will surely save you time while keeping up-to-date. If you see something worthwhile and relevant to your industry, THEN go dive into all those statistical and demographic goodies.
Until then, just keep it short, sweet, and regular, meaning at least monthly. Things change too fast not to make mobile research a monthly habit.
Another quick research option would be to join an online networking group like the free Networking Clubs at http://socialmediaexaminer.com. Once you join, you’ll get instant access to all three Business, Blogging, and Facebook Clubs where you can “Start A Topic,” ask your burning mobile research question, and wait for input from professional members who stay current on such matters.
3. Disability – Can mobile customers and prospects actually see your site?
You’ve already invested hundreds, if not thousands, in your website and online presence. Your target customers may see your website in all its blazing informational glory from their desktop screens, but the minute they grab their mobile devices, they can’t see you at all.
Why? Older websites built for desktop computer audiences were often built with now outdated flash and other technology, rendering your beautiful website into a mess or even invisible on online mobile devices. Thankfully, a good responsive theme or an inexpensive mobile website can easily help you convert all that old non-viewable information into an updated online presence of which you can be proud.
4. Influence – Know who your most influential customers are?
No matter what you’re selling, odds are that most of your customers’ buying decisions are being heavily influenced by one weighty group of social networkers — 35-54 year old female mobile users.
They’re the most socially active mobile group online, as well as have a long-researched reputation for influencing just about every purchase made in their households, no matter who actually pays for the transaction. Know where you’ll find them? Online… actively using mobile devices.
5. Empathy – Can you offer real solutions for your customers online mobile problems?
And last, but probably most important, you need to be aware of the various challenges faced by your mobile-using customers online. While they may not be purchasing your services or products online, using online technology only to do their research before buying in person, they still need your help to troubleshoot online problems they have when visiting your website.
While this is obviously not your fault, there’s an odd psychological force at play here that should surely make it your concern. Most customers visiting your site are having a private conversation with you, whether you realize it or not.
When they have a problem while visiting you online, they associate their problem with you. No matter that you have no control over this. What matters is that you stay aware of this oddity and can offer actionable troubleshooting assistance when needed. Just a little bit of empathy here can go a long way with customers.
By the same token, mobile users expect you to know how to solve their mobile problems when visiting and researching your website online. No, it doesn’t make sense. Still, it’s something that should motivate you to stay current on mobile now so you can offer appropriate guidance or referral support to them tomorrow.
Given these 5 reasons why you need to think about mobile as it relates to your business, it’s clear that the sooner you get that research done, the better you’ll be able to handle your customers’ current and future mobile needs.
4 Social Media Analytics Tools That Will Show You If Social Media Is Working For Your Business
With social media being such a large part of your online business strategy it can become overwhelming and confusing. You may be wondering just what exactly are you meant to be doing with all of these channels and if they are even effective.
Some obvious questions might be…
How does your social media presence compare to that of your competitors?
Are people engaging with and sharing your content?
How are you supposed to know if any of your website visitors are coming from social media sites?
How do you know if those visitors are becoming buyers?
Without the answers to these questions we are flying in the dark. We really don’t know whether social media is working for us at all.
That’s where social media analytics tools come in. They are designed to help you understand how your company or brand is being seen in the social media world. It is imperative you have an efficient tool to help you make big business decisions and understand all of the data you collect.
social-media-tools
Some key metrics that you will want to monitor include…
How many followers, fans, subscribers etc are new connections each month
How many of those followers, fans, subscribers, etc are actually engaging with your brand by liking, commenting or sharing on your posts
How many people are leaving or unsubscribing from your social channels each month
Which pieces of your own content are the most popular
How many people visit your website or blog as a direct result of seeing something on the social networks
How many times your brand is mentioned by the public using social media
How your well brand is doing on social media in relation to its competitors
An estimate of how much money is being made as a result of your social media efforts
Below is a list of some of the best tools which can help you in understanding your company’s social media presence. Between these 4 tools you should be able to make sense of all the suggestions above. Some are free or offer a free trial so you can test the service. Some are paid, so if you’re thinking about investing then it’s best to read up on the tool you are going to use as they vary in functions and layouts, with a little research you will be able to find one that fits your business needs. If possible take the free trial to test if the tool is right for you.
Google Analytics – Google analytics breaks down the data collected in to handy reports so you can easily understand different aspects of your business. For example the conversions report lets you know the value of social for your online business. The report shows each of the social networks and the number of conversions and the amount of monetary value of conversions that have happened on each. This will help you see which networks may work better for you so you can adjust business strategies as you see fit. Google analytics also offers other reports such as social sources which show the path of how visitors from social networks got to your site. They also have the social plug-ins report that shows the most shared articles from your site and tells you which social buttons they are clicking to share them. This tool is free to use.
Simply Measured – Offers you 16 free reports that will give you some incredible insights into your social media marketing campaigns. If you are a subscriber you can get up to 33 different reports showing you an even greater amount of data. The free reports you can get include a twitter follower report showing you data about your twitter audience and analysis by locations, behavior, interests and more. The facebook fan page report will show how well your brand is engaging people on facebook and which posts have worked well for you in the past giving you insight for the future. They also have competitive reports for facebook and youtube which shows how well you are performing against your competitors. Facebook allows you to compare up to 10 facebook pages and youtube allows you to compare up to 200 videos. Other reports also include the social networks such as Instagram, Klout, Google plus, Pinterest, LinkedIn and many other helpful reports.
Social Snap – Offers a professional interface which allows you to gain deeper insights into different data such as customer’s opinions and their behavior. Social snap allows you to easily navigate through all of your social media networks and find the relevant data you need to improve your performance for example; what sort of “Buzz” you are making online, keep an eye on the mentions of you and your brand and even your competitors, it can also help with defining keywords and much more. Social snap pride themselves as having a team of social media analysts and offer a great analytic support just in case the data is a bit too much or you need to understand something they will help out by translating the information into meaningful analysis.
Sprout Social – Sprout social is a social media management tool which can do a lot of things even beyond the scope of analytics. You can publish updates across several networks with a single click, manage a team of social media managers and assign them different tasks and even manage all your social media conversations in one place, regardless of the social network the conversation might be taking place on. In addition to all this their social media analytics reporting is great quality and very detailed. It publishes the information into an easy, presentation ready format to be shared in meetings with colleagues or clients. At the time of writing sprout social do offer a free 30 day trial with which you can test the service.
These are all very different sites, offering you social analytics in a variety of ways. By combining a few of these tools or even all of them, you can reinforce your social media strategy and be far more effective with your online marketing efforts.
Some obvious questions might be…
How does your social media presence compare to that of your competitors?
Are people engaging with and sharing your content?
How are you supposed to know if any of your website visitors are coming from social media sites?
How do you know if those visitors are becoming buyers?
Without the answers to these questions we are flying in the dark. We really don’t know whether social media is working for us at all.
That’s where social media analytics tools come in. They are designed to help you understand how your company or brand is being seen in the social media world. It is imperative you have an efficient tool to help you make big business decisions and understand all of the data you collect.
social-media-tools
Some key metrics that you will want to monitor include…
How many followers, fans, subscribers etc are new connections each month
How many of those followers, fans, subscribers, etc are actually engaging with your brand by liking, commenting or sharing on your posts
How many people are leaving or unsubscribing from your social channels each month
Which pieces of your own content are the most popular
How many people visit your website or blog as a direct result of seeing something on the social networks
How many times your brand is mentioned by the public using social media
How your well brand is doing on social media in relation to its competitors
An estimate of how much money is being made as a result of your social media efforts
Below is a list of some of the best tools which can help you in understanding your company’s social media presence. Between these 4 tools you should be able to make sense of all the suggestions above. Some are free or offer a free trial so you can test the service. Some are paid, so if you’re thinking about investing then it’s best to read up on the tool you are going to use as they vary in functions and layouts, with a little research you will be able to find one that fits your business needs. If possible take the free trial to test if the tool is right for you.
Google Analytics – Google analytics breaks down the data collected in to handy reports so you can easily understand different aspects of your business. For example the conversions report lets you know the value of social for your online business. The report shows each of the social networks and the number of conversions and the amount of monetary value of conversions that have happened on each. This will help you see which networks may work better for you so you can adjust business strategies as you see fit. Google analytics also offers other reports such as social sources which show the path of how visitors from social networks got to your site. They also have the social plug-ins report that shows the most shared articles from your site and tells you which social buttons they are clicking to share them. This tool is free to use.
Simply Measured – Offers you 16 free reports that will give you some incredible insights into your social media marketing campaigns. If you are a subscriber you can get up to 33 different reports showing you an even greater amount of data. The free reports you can get include a twitter follower report showing you data about your twitter audience and analysis by locations, behavior, interests and more. The facebook fan page report will show how well your brand is engaging people on facebook and which posts have worked well for you in the past giving you insight for the future. They also have competitive reports for facebook and youtube which shows how well you are performing against your competitors. Facebook allows you to compare up to 10 facebook pages and youtube allows you to compare up to 200 videos. Other reports also include the social networks such as Instagram, Klout, Google plus, Pinterest, LinkedIn and many other helpful reports.
Social Snap – Offers a professional interface which allows you to gain deeper insights into different data such as customer’s opinions and their behavior. Social snap allows you to easily navigate through all of your social media networks and find the relevant data you need to improve your performance for example; what sort of “Buzz” you are making online, keep an eye on the mentions of you and your brand and even your competitors, it can also help with defining keywords and much more. Social snap pride themselves as having a team of social media analysts and offer a great analytic support just in case the data is a bit too much or you need to understand something they will help out by translating the information into meaningful analysis.
Sprout Social – Sprout social is a social media management tool which can do a lot of things even beyond the scope of analytics. You can publish updates across several networks with a single click, manage a team of social media managers and assign them different tasks and even manage all your social media conversations in one place, regardless of the social network the conversation might be taking place on. In addition to all this their social media analytics reporting is great quality and very detailed. It publishes the information into an easy, presentation ready format to be shared in meetings with colleagues or clients. At the time of writing sprout social do offer a free 30 day trial with which you can test the service.
These are all very different sites, offering you social analytics in a variety of ways. By combining a few of these tools or even all of them, you can reinforce your social media strategy and be far more effective with your online marketing efforts.
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