Eric  Krock  Co-­‐Founder,  Voximate  

@voximate  http://www.voximate.com/blog/  

What  We’ll  Cover   Trademarking   Blogging:  Tools,  Tips,  SEO   Basic  Search  Engine  Optimization  (SEO)    twitter:  Tools,  Tips    Filming  Low  Cost  Video   YouTube  Video  Search  Engine  Optimization  (VSEO)    Facebook  Pages    Site  and  Blog  Promotion  Tips  

Why  Would  You  Listen  to  Me?  What   Where   Notes  

Co-­‐Founder,  Voximate  

http://www.voximate.com/   Solution  for  Agile  project  management  &  collaboration  in  private  beta  –  ask  for  invite!  

Blogger   http://www.voximate.com/blog/  

Tweep  (twitter  user)  

@voximate  @WeAreSaidMusa  @WeAreShoaib  @AIDSvideos  

1600  followers  /  7  mo.  580  followers  /  2  mo.  872  followers  /  1  mo.  390  followers  /  1  mo.  

Not-­‐for-­‐profit  Vlogger  

http://www.AIDSvideos.org/  http://www.youtube.com/AIDSvideos  

2.4M  views  for  106  videos.  Cost:  $33k  all-­‐in  including  video  HW,  SW,  creation,  travel,  translation  

Facebook   http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllSaidMusa  http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllShoaib  

Trademarking  Your  Company  Name   Nolo  Trademark  PDF  eBook  for  $23.99:    http://www.nolo.com/products/trademark-­‐TRD.html  

 Do  your  own  initial  searches:  http://tess2.uspto.gov/  

 Have  trademark  attorney  finalize  your  best  candidates:    Price  for  formal  search:  $750  /  mark  searched    Additional  price  for  handling  official  USPTO  application:  $1250  

  International  trademark  filings  cost  extra  per  region  &  country  

Why  Blog?   Raise  awareness  of  company  and  offering   Establish  credibility  in  target  audience   Draw  traffic  via  organic  search  engine  results   Raise  relevance  ranking  of  your  domain  on  Google   Attract  prospects  who  may  convert  and  become  customers  

General  Blogging  Tips   Write  well!  

  Read  book:  “Elements  of  Style”  by  Strunk  &  White    Share  useful  knowledge  

  Gain  audience  by  teaching   Use  a  catchy  title;  it  must  be  a  “hook!”  

 Humor  and  irony  work  well   Publish  new  articles  frequently  

Use  Wordpress  to  Blog   Why  Wordpress?  

  Leading  blog  software    Free  and  open  source    Supports  Search  Engine  Optimization  well    Extensible  via  large  plug-­‐in  library  

 Your  choices:   Hosted:  Wordpress.com    Self-­‐Hosted:  own  site,  plus  Wordpress.org  software  

 Read  book:  “Wordpress  in  Depth”  

Customizing  Look  of  Wordpress   Use  a  theme  

  I  use:  ThemeHybrid  from  http://themehybrid.com    Outstanding  web  support  membership  only  $25/year!  

 Customize  your  theme  with  a  “child  theme”    Lets  you  update  parent  theme  later    See:  http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes  

Recommended  Plug-­‐ins  Plug-­‐in   Purpose  

Akismet   Spam  filter:  $5/mo.  single  site,  http://akismet.com/  

All-­‐In-­‐One  SEO  Pack   Optimize  Search  Engine  Optimization  of  blog  

cbnet  Ping  Optimizer   Prevent  duplicate  pinging  of  blog  syndication  feeds  

Google  XML  Sitemaps   Automatically  generate  map  of  site  for  Google  

Widget  Logic   Enable  conditional  content  in  sidebar  

Enable  Media  Replace   Enable  easy  inline  updating  of  images  

•   Get  plug-­‐ins  from  http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/  •   Back  up  your  Wordpress  installation  (HTML  files)  and  database  instance  before  installing  or  upgrading  any  plug-­‐in!  

URL  Best  PracFces   All-­‐lowercase  file  names    Separate  words  with  hyphens  (-­‐),  not  underscores  (_)   End  URL  with  a  /  (not  .php,  .asx,  etc.)  so  can  switch  CMSes  later  if  wish  to  

 Keep  page  name  short  enough  that  Google  won’t  split  page  name  when  it  compresses  the  URL  for  display  

  Ideally,  keep  total  URL  68-­‐74  characters  (less  important  now  due  to  Google  URL  compression)  

Other  Wordpress  ConfiguraFons  

Have  static  company  home  page,  put  blog  at  YourDomain/blog/  

http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page  

Pretty  permalinks   http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks  

Show  only  excerpt  from  post  on  blog  home  page  to  avoid  duplicating  content  

http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/show-­‐only-­‐excerpt-­‐in-­‐homepage  http://themehybrid.com/themes/structure  

Put  link  to  post  at  end  of  excerpt   http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/how-­‐to-­‐change-­‐at-­‐end-­‐of-­‐post-­‐and-­‐make-­‐it-­‐an-­‐active-­‐link  

Hardening  security.  (Update  both  Wordpress  &  plug-­‐ins  promptly!!!)  

http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress  

Blog  Social  Media  IntegraFon   http://feedburner.google.com/  

 Wraps  your  RSS  feed  in  easy-­‐to-­‐use  URL   Have  your  blog’s  RSS  icon  point  at  FeedBurner  URL  

 Use  royalty-­‐free  icons  for  RSS  Subscribe  and  twitter  Follow  links  

 AddThis.com  to  provide  social  media  Share  link  

Search  Engine  OpFmizaFon   You  are  writing  blog  posts  &  web  pages  for  TWO  readers:   Human  beings    Googlebot  

 Goal:  Enable  Googlebot  to  understand  page’s  content  and  focus  without  annoying  human  readers  

Target  Keywords  &  Key  Phrases   Create  list  of  keywords  /  phrases  you  want  to  rank  well  for  in  search  results.  Tools:    Google  AdWords  (free)    Google  Analytics  (free)  –  where’s  traffic  from?    SEOmoz.org  Keyword  Tools  ($70/month  membership)  

 Targeting  niche  keywords  with  less  competition  may  be  more  successful.  

Where  to  Use  Keywords?   Domain  name   Account  names  on  twitter,  YouTube,  Facebook   Blog  title,  category  names,  tag  names   Page  URL  (68-­‐74  characters)   Page  TITLE  (60  characters),  Description  (160  characters),  Excerpt  

 H1  –  H6    Image  file  name  &  ALT  text    First  sentence  of  paragraph   Bullet  items    Strong  /  emphasized  text  

Avoid  “Duplicate  Content”   There  is  no  “Google  penalty,”  but  if  same  content  is  on  two  pages,  they  divide  links,  clicks,  and  “page  equity.”  Single  page  will  rank  higher  in  Search  Engine  Result  Pages  (SERPs)  than  two  separate  pages.  

  Ideal:  one  piece  of  content  =  one  page  =  one  URL    Blog  post  lives  at  pretty  permalink  URL    Blog  home  page,  category  page,  tag  pages  show  excerpt  only  and  link  to  full  blog  post  at  permalink  URL  

  If  syndicate  articles,  ensure  each  syndicated  copy  includes  link  back  to  original  

Put  Images  in  Blog  Posts   Posts  with  images  rank  higher  than  posts  without  them  

 Use  stock.xchng  (sxc.hu)  for  royalty-­‐free  images   Use  image  editor  (e.g.  Mac  Paintbrush)  to  compress  image  to  small  JPEG  so  don’t  increase  page  load  time  

 Give  image  SEOed  file  name,  SEOed  ALT  text  

Inbound  Link  Campaign   Get  other  relevant  sites  to  link  to  your  web  site   Have  them  use  targeted  keywords  in  their  link  text  

  GOOD:  project  management  solution    BAD:  click  here  to  see  a  project  management  solution  

twiTer  Tips   Great  tool  for:  

  Listening  and  learning  from  others    Finding  your  audience    Engaging  with  customers,  prospects,  others    Promoting  blog  posts    Posting  shorter  comments  

twiTer  Basics   Use  bit.ly  to  shorten  URLs   Use  search.twitter.com  to  identify  hash  tags  used  by  your  audience:  #agile,  #pmot,  #prodmgmt  …  

 Keep  tweets  less  than  120  characters  so  others  can  re-­‐tweet  easily  

 Embed  relevant  hash  tags  within  your  tweets   Use  HootSuite  to  schedule  tweets  in  advance  and  follow  relevant  hashtags  

  Follow  people  with  similar  interests  &  see  if  they  follow  you  back;  give  them  time  to  decide  

 Tweet  Tue  –  Thu  between  9  a.m.  –  3  p.m.  Pacific  Time  

Key  twiTer  Rules   No  “aggressive  following”   No  “mass  unfollows”   Don’t  follow  the  same  person  repeatedly   Can  follow  maximum  of  2000  people;  after  that,  can  only  follow  10%  more  people  than  follow  you  back  

 No  inappropriate  (spammy)  use  of  hash  tags   No  excessive  @username  tweeting   Avoid  extremely  high  ratio  of  follows  to  followers  

Unofficial  twiTer  Good  PracFces   Not  official  rules,  but:  

 Only  follow  people  likely  to  be  interested  in  your  feed!   Don’t  follow  more  than  125  people  per  day    Give  people  7  days  to  follow  you  back  before  unfollowing  

  Should  get  at  least  1  new  follower  for  every  4  follows  if  you  are  targeting  correctly  

 Don’t  “autofollow”  followers!   Don’t  send  an  automated  thank  you  message  to  new  followers  unless  it’s  a  substantive  call  to  action.  

Unofficial  twiTer  Good  PracFces   Not  official  rules,  but:  

 Not  all  tweets  should  be  blog  posts    Retweet  more  than  you  tweet    Thank  people  for  retweets    Create  useful  lists  to  categorize  users  on  twitter  

How  to  Find  PotenFal  Followers?    Follow  opinion  leaders,  who  they  follow,  their  followers,  and  users  on  their  relevant  lists  

  search.twitter.com:    who’s  posting  using  your  target  hash  tags?  

 WeFollow.com   Tlists.com    

Blog  Post  +  tweet  Sequence   Pick  blog  post  page  name   Create  draft  blog  post  in  Wordpress   Use  bit.ly  to  shorten  URL   Draft  120  character  tweet,  including  hash  tags  &  shortened  URL  

 Write  post    Find  relevant  image,  retitle  it,  upload  it,  make  it  featured  image  for  the  post  

 Use  Wordpress  to  schedule  post  for  next  day  @  9  a.m.   Use  HootSuite  to  schedule  tweet  for  next  day  @  9:15  

Filming  Low-­‐Cost  Video:  Equipment    $350:  Consumer  HD  camcorder  with  Flash  memory  and  audio  input  port  

  $19.95  Radio  Shack  lavaliere  microphone,  or  $1000  Sennheiser  wireless  microphone  /  receiver  set  

  $837  Lowel  Rifa  eX  44  Pro,  TO-­‐83  Hard  Case  lighting  kit  (two  lights,  plus  hard  carrying  case)  

  $1099  PrompterPeople.com  Flex  Series  Teleprompter    $162  Libec  T68  75mm  2-­‐Stage  Aluminum  Tripod   Macintosh  computer    Final  Cut  Studio  (or  even  Express)  for  video  editing  

Notes  on  Filming  Video   Good  lighting  is  critical  for  making  people  look  good.   Good  audio  is  MUCH  harder  than  good  video!    Film  in  room  with  closed  door.   Use  lavaliere  microphone!     Make  sure  microphone  is  turned  on  &  battery  is  charged!  

 Won’t  look  like  Francis  Ford  Coppola  filmed  it.   Doesn’t  have  to;  costs  much  less!!  

 Be  Agile.  Film  and  publish  many  videos  cheaply,  see  what  draws  interest,  and  iterate!  

Video  Search  Engine  OpFmizaFon   What  to  SEO?  

  YouTube  account  name    Video  title  (50  characters  to  display  without  break)    Video  description  (make  long  and  detailed,  and  include  links  to  your  site!)  

  Video  tag  list  (up  to  500  characters  total)    Script  for  video  (upload  as  a  caption  file;  YouTube  will  automatically  synchronize  English  caption  file  to  video)  

  Playlist  titles  

More  Video  Tips   Promotion  

 Make  your  videos  replies  to  other  popular  related  videos  

  Create  playlists  including  your  videos  and  other  popular  related  videos  

 Use  YouTube  animations  to  cross-­‐link  videos    Syndication  

 Use  TubeMogul.com  to  syndicate  videos  to  multiple  sites  

Facebook  Pages   Many  corporate  sites  have  few  “Likes”  and  are  fairly  useless  

 Reserve  Facebook  Page  with  your  trademark  name  early  

 Consider  making  it  live  later  on  when  you  have  enough  interest  

 Have  a  strategy  for  your  Facebook  Page,  not  just  a  page  for  the  sake  of  having  a  page  

Site  &  Blog  PromoFon  Tips   Register  your  blog  in  technorati    Link  LinkedIn  profile  to  twitter  feed  so  your  tweets  are  automatically  copied  to  your  LinkedIn  feed  

 Remember  to  cross-­‐post  your  blog  posts  to  Facebook   Comment  on  relevant  blogs  &  include  a  link  back  to  your  own  site  (won’t  affect  PageRank  because  of  NoFollows,  but  humans  will  see  and  click  links)