Is your reputation management strategy a turn off to your customers and critics?

Should we respond, get angry, fire back, ignore the situation, censor comments, or just see what happens?  Those are some of the many questions that marketers are faced with today.  With more and more consumers and customers turning online to share what they think of a particular brand or company it has become increasingly difficult to capture everything that is being shared.

In April of this year Yelp.com reached 50 million users with over 17 million reviews on their database.  If you are a professional responsible for online reputation management it makes you wonder how many other means are there for your customers and critics to share their opinion about your company.

According to a recent infographic created by Digimind 47% of American companies’ net worth is tied up in intangible assets like brand equity and reputation.  That being said there are two questions that I would like you to ask yourselves:

• Do you know what your customers,competitors, and critics are saying online about your brand?
• Do you have a plan in place to respond to negative feedback?

If you answered no or maybe to either of these questions then there are some things that you should know.

You Gotta Cover Your Assets.

Step one is knowing where you are present online. Step two is devising a plan for using those assets to your advantage.  The state of online reputation management today calls for more than a company website.  Try leveraging your social media channels as a way to attract, engage, and inspire positive feedback about your organization.

[It] is Not Just About Control.  It’s Also About Letting Go.

You are in control of what you post, where you’re present, and how you react to questions or comments.  Make sure that your online approach is aligned and consistent for each platform.  It is impossible to censor every negative comment and piece of information you have online.  Instead respond consistently and appropriately when you do find negative information.

The Rules of Engagement.

Should an issue arise I recommend you have influencers in your corner.  If you take the time to properly build and cultivate relationships online you will be prepared with an army behind you to approach the subject when and if it happens.

The First Rule of Fight Club is: You Do Not Talk About Fight Club.

If your approach to reputation management involves not talking about or planning for negative press then perhaps it’s time to rethink your strategy.  Managing your personal or company reputation head on will show that you have listened and that most subjects are not off limits.

Please Don’t Take a Turn to Negative Town.

Counteracting negativity with negativity is a recipe for disaster.  If you can, try to take a positive approach and do your best to present your case online if you deem necessary.  If you believe that a formal response is in order, maintain a positive outlook and show that you are open to feedback and will address comments head on.

There Are No Mistakes, There’s Things we do, and Don’t Do.

Learning from the mistakes we have made is key in improving a reputation management strategy.  Perhaps you responded poorly to negative feedback.  To avoid making the same mistake twice devise a plan for addressing issues and shedding a positive light on your organization.

Well, I Guess We Can Close the File on That One.

False.  Ongoing monitoring of your online reputation is key in protecting your assets online.  Consider implementing some cost effective solutions that enable you to monitor issues in real time for quick response. It is important to not only monitor your brand name but also products, the company, and key executives.

Not Sure How You Rate?

If you have a few moments I recommend completing the survey below.  I am curious to know how our readers would rate themselves or their companies when it comes to addressing online reputation management.  I would like to share the results on the TopRank Blog in a future post to see how our readers are addressing issues currently and provide additional tips on reputation management for the future.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | 7 Ways to Improve Your Online Reputation Management Strategy | http://www.toprankblog.com

I think I just might!

It is no longer a question of IF companies should execute a social media strategy.  The question for most companies is HOW to best execute a meaningful and engaging approach that generates results.  With so many social media marketing options available, marketers must also decide best practices and what tactics to avoid.

We all make mistakes as marketers and it’s important that we not only learn from those mistakes but share  with others so that they can avoid them.  I hope that the 20 Social Media Marketing Do’s and Don’ts that I’ve provided within this article not only entertain you but make you think about your current social media strategy. Which tactics are you happy to say you’ve implemented and which mistakes will you admit to?

10 Social Media Marketing Do’s

#1: Save Time, Re-purpose Content.
While this is a great tactic it is important to be thoughtful about the way that you are re-using content.  Simply spitting out the same information over and over again will not work.  Be sure to change elements of your posts in order to either highlight different information within the post or target a different segment within your audience.

#2: Interaction is Where It’s At!
True interaction via social media can be a tough tactic for many marketers to master.  Finding the correct balance of self promotion and intriguing content that inspires action can be very instrumental in using social media appropriately.  Take some time to comment or interact with your current clients and prospective clients to show that you’re there, and you care about what they are saying.  A simple tactic is to ask questions that inspire a response.

#3: Try Multiple Media Types.
Social media users are interested in fresh new ways of presenting content and ways that they can share it with their networks.  In fact certain forms of media such as infographics or videos have a tendency to be much more sharable and appealing.  Try to incorporate some new media types into your social media content plan for the year.

#4: For Pete’s Sake! Make it Searchable.
I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that you have some sort of optimization in place for your website.  Keep the same strategy in mind for your social media content.  If it can be searched it can be optimized.

#5: Keep Calm in a Crisis
The last thing you need is your social media intern “Sarah” having a meltdown at the first sign of something unfavorable being said about your brand on social media.  By keeping a level head and having an emergency preparedness plan ready should disaster strike you will be able to calmly and rationally tackle the issue.  P.S. Ignoring it doesn’t count as a plan.

#6: Customize the Flow
If you’re like us you have multiple audience members to provide information to online.  This could be different verticals or even different departments within a single organization.  Do your homework,  what sites do your different audience members participate in and what topics are of importance to them?

#7: Don’t Let Just Anyone Represent Your Brand
In the past some companies have encouraged all team members to participate in the promotion of their brands because they worked under the notion that more was better.  False.  While you don’t want to discourage interaction or squash the dreams of your team it is important that the voice of your social media strategy represents who you are and what you believe in as a company.  Trish from accounting that posts on her social network about the copious amounts of alcohol consumed Tuesday night and the terrible time she’s having at work the next day may not be the best resource for networking your company.

#8: What Was the Purpose of This Again?
Remember why you’re using social media in the first place.  By setting a set of realistic and attainable goals you will be able to test what works and what doesn’t and adapt your online marketing strategy from there.

#9: Pull Out the Tool Box and Find Your Measuring Tape
If you create a beautiful piece of furniture but can’t fit it through the front door what was the point?  The same applies to your online strategy.  I don’t want to discourage planning big but make sure that you have an effective means of measuring your success in order to identify the true ROI of your online marketing strategy.

#10: Be Innovative, or at Least Open to Innovation
You don’t have to be cutting edge to run a successful social media program.  However, it doesn’t hurt to have your eyes and ears open to the latest trends.  Experiment with your strategy to find new and interesting ways to present the same information to your networks.

10 Social Media Marketing Don’ts 

#1: Hello? Is Anyone Listening?
One of the worst things that you can do is ignore your audience.  I shared an example last week of ChapStick’s reaction to unfavorable responses from their network.  Deleting information or simply refusing to answer are a big marketing fail.

#2:Have You Ever Tried to Have a Conversation With a Robot?
If you are like me, at one time or another you’ve found yourself screaming at the automated help desk for your credit card company beyond frustrated that you couldn’t speak with a live representative.  Try to spare your online audience of the same exasperation and create thoughtful and conversational content.  Leave the robots for the other guys.

#3: I Know You Are But What Am I?
As we’ve said before it is difficult if not impossible to take things back once you’ve said them online.  There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with audience members, colleagues, or competitors but there is no need to be impolite.  If you take a do unto others approach you will save yourself and your company a lot of damage control.

#4: Accounts Covered in an Inch of Dust.
You did some research and found 10 new social networking platforms that your company is not signed up for.  You assign a task to your marketing team to sign up for these accounts, and unfortunately that is as far as it goes.  If you cannot commit to utilizing a platform on a regular basis and setting it up in a way that clearly represents your brand then what is the point.  Don’t do it just to do it.

#5: One Size Does Not Fit All.
All social media sites are not created equal.  As marketers we must consider not only the type of interaction that typically happens on a given platform but also the audience we are trying to reach with that platform.  If your social strategy for Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are all exactly the same you may want to reconsider your plan.

#6: The Nameless &  Faceless Group from Company XYZ
In order to make friends online you need to be friendly.  Part of being friendly means adding a personal note to your social media profiles.  Snap some impromptu photos around the office and share a little bit about some of the key team members.  This is an instance where a little bit of extra effort can go a long way.

#7: Taking Your Relationship To the Next Step.
Romancing your prospects does not end at gaining them as followers.  Sure they’ve signed up to receive updates on your company but is that really enough?If your ultimate goal is to gain them as new clients then it is important to have a personalized and meaningful flow of communication that sets next steps in the relationship.  An example would be recommending that you have a phone conversation or possibly meet in person to discuss some business opportunities.

#8: We Really Care About You.  Just Kidding.
Spending countless time and effort to engage with prospects only to abandon them is a completely useless tactic.  Handle these relationships with the same care that you would your other business relationships.

#9: We Have No Idea What is Important To You.
Our company is great, we have so much to offer you, hire us now!  I consider each of these to be obnoxious and pitiful tactics for engaging followers.  Instead of utilizing your platform as a means for marketing your products and services try instead to offer information that can help solve the business problem of your prospects.

#10: What Are All of These Followers For Anyways?
Now that you’ve built up this community of online followers what can you use it for?  Your online community is a great resource for crowdsourcing content and brainstorming ideas.  If you want to gather a set of your own statistics why not go to your online community and ask them to participate in a study or survey and share the results with everyone.

I know that a lot of these tips may seem like no brainers to you some of you, but in the fast changing world of social media, mistakes can have a significant impact.

I’m curious to know if you have any other “no brainer” social media tactics that you’d like to share?  They can be funny, insightful, pretty much anything you want as long as they’re true.  I look forward to laughing, cringing, and sighing with you.  If you have a moment to fill out the survey below I’d love to get some feedback from you regarding this post and your personal experience with social media marketing.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2011. | 20 Social Media Marketing Do’s & Don’ts | http://www.toprankblog.com

You’ve heard it before: Content is king. But there won’t be much of a kingdom unless that content is optimized. But who is going to create it? Useful, relevant content doesn’t come cheap, especially when your goals are to publish on a consistent basis. As an internet marketer, if you haven’t tapped into the power of user generated content, you may be giving up a goldmine of SEO assets to your competition.

A study conducted by eMarketer in early 2009 found that the number of Internet users who consume user generated content and who create it will shoot up significantly in the next four years:

• By 2013, nearly 155 million US Internet users will consume some type of content created by users, up almost 34% from 2008
• The number of content creators will grow to 114.5 million by 2013, an almost 39% increase from 2008
• By 2013, 51.8% of all US Internet users will be content creators, up from 42.8% in 2008

Most companies are not in the business of publishing content. But in order to compete on an internet that is increasingly participatory and social, both now and in the future, companies will need to work hard and smart when it comes to publishing useful content that both search engines and customers will love.

But just what works best–forums, reviews, blogs or social media? The answer is, there is no silver bullet. Like with all tactics that compliment search marketing objectives, what is successful for one organization may not be as effective for another. The way in which consumer generated content works within a particular company’s search marketing mix depends on a variety of factors including: content contribution and sharing needs of the audience, ability to create or update content management systems that support user content creation and moderation, a sound strategic plan for developing the software, building community and inspiring community promotion of keyword inspired content.

Keep in mind these 5 points as you explore how to integrate content created by users into your search engine marketing mix:

1. Give it time. Not all consumers will participate immediately—and some may never participate. Consumer generated content efforts, if easy to use and rewarding to users, can have a snowball effect.  The more content that is created by users, the more opportunities for non-participants to be motivated to join in.

2. If you think user generated content is just for the Millennial generation, think again. It’s true that Millennials are most likely to participate—56%, according to an eMarketer study. But 46% of Generation X and 31% of Baby Boomers are dipping their toes into creating their own content.  The key is to structure the ability to create content according to the needs of your audience. Research other web sites that offer customers the ability to create, mashup or share content and identify what appears to work and what doesn’t with audiences that are congruent to your own.

3. Broaden your definition of user generated content. Don’t simply think of content as text – blog posts, articles, reviews or comments. Instead, provide multiple media format options (that make sense) for your community including audio, images and video. Digital Asset Optimization of multiple media formats increases channels of distribution via specialty search engines as well as the density of a brand’s visibility in search results on a single query.

4. Go with what you’re comfortable with. There are many forms of content that you can take advantage of, from consumer generated article submissions to customer product reviews. So begin with what you think is right for your site and your organization. Start small by incorporating a voting feature on your website, or go big by launching a contest to promote user generated videos or photos.  Think of both your own goals for content to rank well in search engines, but especially think of your customers’ unmet needs for interaction and content sharing. Then provide options for them to meet those needs in a way that allows your target keyword phrases to be used in the content that is created and shared.

5. User generated content can have the same effect as search engine optimized content on your site. First, content can be focused toward targeted keywords by providing pre-populated categories, tags and content options that have keywords already embedded. Second, it’s the nature of a vibrant community to add new content frequently, which will attract search engine spiders on a regular basis. And third, intriguing and useful content can attract incoming links.

Adding user generated content options to a web site can help meet several business and marketing objectives ranging from allowing active and passionate customers the ability to “have a say” about their favorite topics and brands as well as employing the efforts of many, many others to create content that can do well in search results to drive traffic to your web site.

The next step is to decide what your customers will respond to, what are their content creation and sharing needs and what will it take to create a plan and to test social/content sharing features.

If you’ve added social content sharing to your web site, what was your experience? What advice can you share with other web site owners for a successful consumer generated content program?

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2009. | Basics of User Generated Content for Search Engine Optimization | http://www.toprankblog.com

Aaron Kahlow, Chairman & Founder, Online Marketing Summit moderates this panel of speakers:

• Brian Ellefritz, Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing, Cisco Systems
• Matthew Liu, Product Manager, YouTube Sponsored Videos
• Greg Finn, Director of Internet Marketing, 10e20
• Barbara Coll, CEO, WebMama.com Inc.
• Bill Leake, President and CEO, Apogee Search

Will they give away their secret sauce?

Each presenter shared a presentation, and following all 5 was a quick Q&A:

Bill Leake, President and CEO, Apogee Search

Bill started by talking about the integration of the ideas of “paid vs. earned” media.  Concerning money spent on viral campaigns/social media at the high level there is the philosophical gap.  Ad agencies are quite good about spending lots of money to drive traffic to ideas they create.  PR firms are good at the idea of earned media.  Unfortunately PR firms also sometimes have blinders on at the idea of paid media.

One of the things search is great at is dealing with the issues of “need.”  Search is not necessarily the best aspect of marketing, it intersects with need but it doesn’t necessarily build trust.  Social media can help bridge that.  That’s because reviews and consumer voice have a lot more credibility.

Viral growth is a “reverse long tail” – it takes a long time to take off, but when it takes off, it takes off fast.  If you are trying to make something viral, you need enough people infected to get the idea spreading.

Greg Finn, Director of Internet Marketing, 10e20

Greg decided to give us some tips/tricks to start.  He shared a few archetypes of sharable content, including:

• Humor
• Educational resources
• Step by steps
• How to’s
• Breaking info, leaks

He also discussed how to make this content be successful, such as:

• Ensure proper formatting of content, that it is easy to consume, that it is extremely visual.  Also look for a social tone – make sure that it’s not too corporate.
• Consider the medium for success: identify an audience you can harness by finding a network where that content will resonate.  If you can brand it and put it into that network they will do the work for you.
• Social news is a vital channel – it is news by the people, for the people.  It’s a starting point for so many bloggers and web influencers you are going to see a lot of links and traffic if your content goes hot.  Also, make sure you are a part of the community to participate.

Advice for specific networks:

Digg: it’s not just for games and gadgets.

StumbleUpon: a possibility for all viral content – has every niche.  Make sure you use proper category, be as specific as possible

Reddit: use subreddits that are specific, even if they are less popular because this is a hotbed for early adopters.

Social news and networking: it’s much more than Twitter and Facebook.  Look at forums, look at niche blogs and uncover those smaller communities.

In reference to social sharing, consider cross-promoting:  put Digg links in Facebook or StumbleUpon links in Twitter.

Matthew Liu, Product Manager, YouTube Sponsored Videos

Not all viral videos are the same.  They do just happen…”sometimes” 100% organically but are unlikely to occur for your brand.

Viral videos can be created through the idea of “free” marketing, in that the channel is unpaid.  Two methods:

1)  Guerilla marketing: use subtle branding and stealth marketing efforts, seed to news sites, blogs, use social media to fan the flames.

2)  Explicit marketing: marketing directly to the audience you are interested in.  Engage in a very specific dialogue with the community.

Viral video through paid marketing:

Pay for views, something that “pours fuel on the fire.”  You can do things like buy placement on the homepage and get reach at scale instantly.  This is a way to help kick-off interesting content.

Secret sauce: a potential formula to make good content go viral:

• Seed video initially, start an organic buzz
• Promote content through grassroots tactics
• Then pull the trigger and pay to place video on page one of YouTube for massive exposure and can reach a synergistic effect.

Video SEO best practices

Title: make sure to include an accurate and descriptive title

Description: provide strong content that is descriptive, accurate and unique – spend time here, don’t rush.

Tags: include highly descriptive tags, don’t keyword stuff with unrelated terms.  YouTube actively penalizes people who spam the system.

Community opinion: share videos with members of the community, engage in dialogues with them.  Experiment with responses, annotations and thumbnails.

Embeds: embed videos on Web pages you own that get traffic to make your videos more discoverable

Barbara Coll, CEO, WebMama.com Inc.

Watch reviews, they can compile quickly and they show negative reviews fast.  Get the user-generated content to go positive by responding.

Constantly feed the “search beasts” by asking the community to get involved.

Provide the community content, engage the community and then spread the word, suggest an action.  This creates new content for the engines to come and find.

Brian Ellefritz, Senior Manager, Social Media Marketing, Cisco Systems

Brian had a problem with marketing for Cisco:  nothing to talk about, no content, they can’t disclose anything.  What they realized is instead of talking about the company, they could get users to talk about a problem.

They created a contest which allowed users to enter a video contest called “digital cribs” sharing a story about a problem due to networking.  Submit a 3 minute video, get a 10K prize. Their fear was no one would submit anything, but in the end were extremely happy with the results.

How did they achieve them?

• Don’t scrimp:  Two $10K prizes and $500 gift cards
• Consumers had to share and promote their own videos to get views (engaging people’s networks)
• Other integrated promotions:  paid search, banners, incentives
• Blog outreach to connect with relevant bloggers

Results?

More than 50 videos submitted, 60,000 video views, 15,000 comments

Questions and answers:

What is the most necessary element to go viral?

Need to get the technology right – if your blogs aren’t following best practices you won’t get found.

Can you be edgier, take risks with your content?  15 hours of video uploaded each minute to YouTube – you have to stand out.

Social media isn’t the number of followers you have, take a strategic approach and having the right people reading your material.

How can you optimize viral traffic for conversions?

Consistency – keep at it and go popular multiple times in the social web.  The name recognition will eventually work for you.

How to start if you are new?

Start by listening and paying attention, look at what the market is doing.  Look at the communities that are already built and see how you can engage with them.

Learn social media marketing and search engine strategies from 2009 SES SJ coverage by TopRank Online Marketing

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2009. | SES SJ: Igniting Viral Campaigns: Leveraging Consumer-Generated Content | http://www.toprankblog.com

As both an active participant (first and foremost) and a consultant in the ways of social media, it occurred to me that we should engage the communities of interest we’re involved with for tips. Who better to get tips on social media from than people who are actually USING social media?

Online Marketing Blog, which has a top 50 MyBlogLog community, is fairly active and even interviewed MyBlogLog CEO Scott Rafer. Today I pinged the members of our MBL community and within a very short period of time received about 20 responses. Here are 17 that made the cut and one of our own.

Our first tip on MyBlogLog is from none other than Robyn Tippins, Community Manager at MyBlogLog and a blogger at Practical Blogging.

Duzins
We made tags searchable a few months ago, with one caveat: 3 people have to tag something in order for it to be included. In other words, say you tag your own community ‘seo’. Until 2 other people agree by clicking the green plus button, that tag doesn’t get into the search results. The more times someone does this, they higher up in the results you are going to show A good example is sexyseo (username). She ranks number one for SEO.
[Note from Lee. Before you go and get tempted to abuse this, understand that it's pretty easy to spot abuse and suffer the consequences. ]

Wayne Smallman
In answer to your q. about tips for MyBlogLog, for me, it’s the simple things — I thank people for adding me as a friend. I mostly reciprocate. If I want to message my Community members, I do so privately, and I do not send links in messages, unless they’re private messages to ‘known’ friends.

NikNik
I have been using MyBLogLog for about 10 months now and these are a few tips I use regularly for marketing my blogs and getting exposure on MBL:
(1) Join like-minded communities
(2) Leave personal comments (not cheesy ones or mass use) on profile/community pages that refect something you liked or learned from their blog
(3) USE TAGS!!! Since using the tag feature, MyTechOpinion.com (Technology for Real Estate) is now in row 1, spot #1 when you search “real estate” on MBL. My avatar also appears on the first page for that search.
(4) It doesn’t hurt to have a nice looking avatar…at least that’s what I’m told.

Hummerbie
Tips on MyBlogLog traffic;
1. Make a noticable Avatar that stands out in a good way.
2. Visit blogs that visit you and lear and postback if they are related (standard blog practice of course)
3. Don’t spam people with “thank you for visiting” messages… if the Blog is good enough, leave a relevant comment on that blog.
4. Write good posts yourself (but you know how to do that)
5. Make sure you tagg the blogs with the right terms. Looking forward too your post on about the Tips you received.

chiropractic
The biggest My BlogLog benefit to me has been the ability to monitor who in the SEO industry is visiting my chiropractic blog. From that I’ve made some valuable contacts for articles and guest posts, created a list of SEOs I’d recommend to others, and created a list of people to buy drinks for at my next SEO conference.

Organic Response
I think the Recent Readers widget is one of the coolest features of MyBlogLog. Putting a face and/or name to the people checking out your blog gets me jazzed up about writing frequent quality content. A great motivator when starting to get a blog off the ground.

mjesale
This is what I have done (with mybloglog marketing)
1. Make sure you are logged into mybloglog before surfing the web – and specifically before using stumbleupon – which is a great place to find new blogs.
2. When you notice someone visited your site with mybloglog – add them as a contact and send them a quick note. This I have found increases readership and community members. Also if the member has a blog that looks good to you – join the community on mybloglog.

Tanner Hobin
One thing I always wanted from MyBlogLog was a button for my site that visitors could use to join my community. So I created one. It hasn’t been too long since I created it, so I can’t really provide any stats regarding it’s success. I also used to reach out to people who have viewed my site, and encourage them to join my community. I need to start doing that again. Anyway, hope this helps and thanks for putting it together. Tanner Hobin

whatisgoingonblog
Here is a tip about MyBlogLog, actully visit the blogs shared in MyBlogLog and leave a comment on their MyBlogLog page about them. You will find something good and/or something you never seen before and it will be appreciated and you will get more views and more members on your own MyBlogLog page.

Charles Lau
MyBlogLog is the first thing to start to get your blog socialized around the world! Get started now and have your first wave of traffic coming in. MyBlogLog is the social networking link between each and everyone of us!

Yasmine
MyBlogLog tips: Join large communities – your avatar/picture will appear letting others know you belong to the same community leading visitors to your page. Enable your feed Add Tags to your profile. Also add tags to your favorite communities.

Fred W
Here are a few tips for using MyBlogLog I put in a blog post: Fred

• Pick an image that stands out but is still somewhat professional..
• Never copy and paste the same message to the owner’s of different communities.
• When you leave a message, make it personal.
• Never leave a comment that just says ‘Great Blog’.
• Find communities you like and add at least one each day.
• When you leave a message in one of your communities, try to make it relevant to that community
• Put the MyBlogLog plugin on your site.

wolftrust
For me, MyBlogLog is about meeting the people behind the blogs I visit most, and networking amongst people who write blogs in a similar vein as mine. 4 quick tips to networking on MyBlogLog: 1. Visit the profiles of people who view your profile and friend those who blog within your areas of interest. Leave them a comment. 2. Respond to each and every comment, regardless of content. 3. Add blogs to your community. 4. Review the MyBlogLog widget at your favorite blogs and view the profiles of other visitors to those blogs to introduce yourself to new people.

contextweb
My tip is: I check the myBlogLog widget on our blog daily for new visitors. Anyone who is not already a contact through MyBlogLog, I will add. All the best, John Ebbert

1million
I did a post about MyBlogLog a few weeks a go, maybe you’ll find anything usefull there? Here’s the link. (list paraphrased by Lee)

• Sign up and edit your profile
• Get to know the community and it’s members
• Interact – friend others with similar interests and comment
• Use the MBL stats tracking code
• Per persistent about growing your community and joining others

TheMadHat MyBlogLog Tip – Only add contacts in your industry, otherwise it gets out of control with all the spam. Friends don’t spam friends (normally)

aimClear
First we do the basics: harvest new visitor’s myBlogLog usernames, their blog URL, the communities visitors’ belong to, and always leave our badge behind on their blog as a “thank you” for the traffic. We’ve made long term friends by this method. We also use the message features to contact friends, recommend pages, and learn more about friends we have in other communities like SU.

TopRank
Even though I can get outbound click data from Google Analytics, I tend to login to MyBlogLog to see daily trends on visitors and exit destinations.

I also like to use the community message feature from time to time that allows you to send a single private message to all of the members of your community. In our case, that’s over 1500 people. Adding the MyBlogLog widget to a blog provides instant feedback to readers, who’s reading. While that’s based on readers being logged into MyBlogLog, it still gives an indication of participation. As Marty mentions above, MBL is also useful for connecting with people that are also connected on other social media platforms.

I think that’s the most fulfilling and productive way to be involved with social communities when you have business goals in mind: The communities work together and as a whole, you’ll see more of the kind of involvement with what you’re interested in sharing with others than if you approach each social community as some kind of traffic generating silver bullet.

Do you have tips for using MyBlogLog? We’d love to read them, so please share in the comments.

This is the first of about 10 posts we’ll publish where the bulk of the recommendations will come from a network within those communities. Some of the tips will come from familar “experts” and some will be gems from people you will likely not know, which is the best part. Posts will be “tips” oriented and we’ll focus on a different social media site each week ranging from MyBlogLog to Flickr, LinkedIn, Facebook, StumbleUpon, YouTube, Yahoo Answers and others.

Stay tuned to Online Marketing Blog and subscribe if you haven’t already for the next post in our series on sharing tips about social media and communities from community members.

Additional MyBlogLog tips:

• Networking with MyBlogLog “Recent Readers” Widget

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At SES San Jose, I spoke on a panel with Matt McGee and Andrew Goodman about user generated content with SEO benefits. During the conference and after, the topic of UGC has continued to stay top of mind and therefore, I have this post to share, which discusses the trends towards information consumption involving user generated content (UGC) and why it may be a good fit in the search marketing mix.

In the world of natural search optimization, content is King but there’s a price to pay for the ongoing creation of useful, relevant content. Passionate customers and communities are increasingly tapped by web site owners for their content creation benefits but it’s still new territory for most marketers as to what works best. Is it forums, reviews, blogs or social media?

Traditionally, consumers of information looking for content and answers online would go to their search engine of choice and perform a series of queries to find what they were looking for. Search engines were the gatekeepers of information. That pretty much summed up the “searcher” experience.

Today’s consumers expect not only to be able to find what they’re looking for via search, but are increasingly becoming accustomed contributing the very kinds of content they’re finding in search results. A recent “State of Media Democracy Study“ by Deloitte & Touche in 2007 indicates that 40% all consumers have the expectation that they will be able to create their own content online.  In contrast, 58% of the “millenials”, the coveted 18-25 year old demographic, expect to create their own content.

It’s not just the young, hip kids that want to upload photos to Flickr, videos to YouTube and participate in social networks. 25% of “matures”, the 61 to 75 age group indicated a preference to contribute online as well.

Marketers would do well to note and act on this trend by creating opportunities for consumers to create and share content within the context of the brand experience. Not all consumers will take part, but for those that do, it creates an opportunity to satisfy their needs to contribute and share content. At the same time, this content helps the business web site create a broader footprint on the web.

Perhaps as part of the creation and sharing of content, it follows that consumers prefer user generated content over formal marketing communications. The same study from Deloitte & Touche revealed that UGC is where consumers are spending their time with 51% of all consumers indicating they spend time with user generated content such as blogs, social networking and video sharing sites. As you would expect, a much larger percentage (71%) of millennials spend time on user generated content sites.

Why the attraction to user generated content? Perhaps it’s an issue of trust. In a recent study (ITtoolbox and PJA Advertising + Marketing “IT Social Media Index, 2007) of over 2,000+ IT professionals, 66% reported trusting UGC over traditional sources. Consumer distrust of formal marketing communications has in part been facilitated by the alternatives offered through user generated content.

For example, to find out what the best digital camera is for purchase, a buyer can rely on reviews from strangers as well as friends through product review and social networking sites as an alternative to advertising on TV or print. Reviews, both good and bad, are deemed more trustworthy than polished marketing messages.

Product reviews are not only useful for consumers, they’re profitable for merchants. Product reviews increase retail conversion rates and consumer satisfaction as reported in e-consultancy and Bazaarvoice’s “Social Commerce Report 2007”. In that report 78% of online retailers reported increased conversions and 73% reported improved retention and loyalty.

User generated content shares many of the characteristics of proper content optimization for search engines by providing focused, frequently updated content likely to attract incoming links. A few of the most common benefits of user generated content for web site optimization and better search engine rankings include:

• Leveraging a like-minded, enthusiastic community for the creation and sharing of topically focused content in multiple media formats: text, audio, images and video

• Additional web site content attracts traffic through long tail phrase queries

• UGC increases the breadth of overall content available to consumers, increasing the chance they’ll find what they’re searching for

• The opportunity to contribute content in a meaningful way fosters community and can result in an effective feedback loop – motivating the creation of more content and participation.

Whether it’s adding content sharing and voting features, enabling product reviews or launching contests to promote user created media such as videos or photos, meeting consumer demands beyond search and information retrieval through interaction is what will characterize successful web sites in the near future.

Are you facilitating user generated content as part of your SEO strategy? I’d be curious to see other examples, especially those from in-house SEOs.

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© Online Marketing Blog, 2007. | User Generated Content for SEO | http://www.toprankblog.com