I received an email newsletter from a favorite college classmate of mine and one of DC’s finest real estate agents today.

Granted she’s aware I’m poking fun and that I have a certain bias toward sites that support broad advertising visibility, but I responded  as follows:

Older Users Outpace Young Adults For Social Media Growth!

According to Pew Internet Research, Social networking use among Internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010.

According to Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist and author of the PEW report, ““Young adults continue to be the heaviest users of social media, but their growth pales in comparison with recent gains made by older users.”

To further support the fact older users have arrived, Pingdom reports that 57% of social network users were 35 or above!

Related Posts:

• The Ultimate Guide to Facebook Marketing
• The Value of Managing Your Brand With a Business Blog
• Do You Maximize Advertising Visibility Everywhere On The Web? … we sure try

Getting Back Links?

Search Engine Optimization is a very complicated & liquid process, but in simplified terms it consists of 1. well formed consistent content, 2. easily crawled [content on] pages and a 3. measurable reaction to content. What is a measurable reaction to content? Well, it’s many things and not all necessarily known, but you can assume that if your pages are getting bookmarked and back linked that you are much more likely to get competitive positioning [= more visibility] in the search engine result pages!

Use Caution With Back Link Strategies

Now I’d caution that certain back link strategies can hurt more than they help, including what Google refers to as ’spammy methods’. Methods that might include too much linking between two or more sites or excessive & unrelated reciprocal linking are detectable as spam! 

Google Search Quality Strategist Kaspar Szymanski, “It’s important to clarify that any legitimate link building strategy is a long-term effort. There are those who advocate for short-lived, often spammy methods, but these are not advisable if you care for your site’s reputation. Buying PageRank-passing links or randomly exchanging links are the worst ways of attempting to gather links and they’re likely to have no positive impact on your site’s performance over time. If your site’s visibility in the Google index is important to you it’s best to avoid them.”

Former Search Engineer turned SEO John Glick, “It’s certainly a red flag if a site gains too many links too quickly. The same is true if the profile of the links looks unnatural. At Yahoo! sites that got a sudden upsurge in inlinks were classed as “spike” sites. Legit spike sites (ex. the website of some unknown who wins an Olympic medal) have typical hallmarks like temporally-linked mentions in media sites that you can’t buy access to (AP, NYT, Time, etc.). The spikes that are blackhatted look totally different.”

What Can You Do To Get Good Back Links?

1. Create Useful Current Content!

If you’re helping people to answer questions or to solve problems you are much more likely to have some percentage of your visitors back link! Be authoritative; be knowledgeable and be appealing. I also feel being current is of paramount importance in a world where buyers can research their suppliers at will. Use new data the audience will appreciate. Polls & Surveys are great. Research is novel. And videos are proven to be very popular these days too.

2. Get Into Directories

What are the meaningful directories for your trade? Do your local newspapers have them? How about any local news sites? If not already, identify them and do your best to create back links from your profile. Not all will allow links and some will ‘no crawl’ them, but the worst case scenario is directory traffic might see you & visit. If you’re lucky, they will back link! Also, look for good article directories. They need content and will often give you back links for use of your content. 

3. Ask Business Acquaintances & Friends

You know other people who have sites. Great! if they have relevant business sites with like subject matter or regional focus. Having good page rank can help too, depending upon how meticulous you’re willing to be. Have you asked them to back link? And note, search engines have back link filters, valuing some more than others. For instance, it’s well documented that back links in-content or maybe in a blog post, as opposed to say a sidebar or footer, hold more relevance. If you can get the back link buried into a descriptive, even sought after, key phrase that’s really going to help too! 

4. Use Social Media

Start by registering your social media accounts. A second step might be to get your content into them regularly. Don’t fret, you can typically your blog’s feed configured to automatically push content into your social media accounts, making it visible in those environments. Make your posts re- tweetable and also Facebook like- able because when a visitor chooses one of these your content becomes visible to their circle of influence in those environments. We’d also recommend going further by participating and contributing in social network forums and on other like blogs.. and remember to back link to yourself when you do. The intent is usually not business, but try and find clever ways to make your circle of friends aware of what’s going on with your business. And folks, Google acknowledges that it measures social media engagement and back links!

5. Be Entertaining & Fun

Admittedly, I probably fail in this area … being very matter of fact and even dry; however, someone I respect very much [Stephen Fells, CEO Agency Logic] leverages super entertaining posts quite regularly. It’s all surrounding his firms focus on high quality real estate tools & applications , but very successful for him. Let’s face it folks, humor wins hearts and minds … and back links!

It’s important to gain every incremental advantage you can online. Your site’s crawler friendliness [i.e. markup, URL structures, categorization, tags] and consistent well formed content are huge!, but don’t ever underestimate the value of good back links. Follow the above advice and you should see your pages rise in the search engines, gaining you more visibility and traffic!

Related Posts:

• Confused By Search Engine Optimization? Try This ‘Laypersons Guide To Understanding SEO’
• What is the Approach to Link Building for a Business Blogger in 2009?
• The 10 Best Overall Factors Influencing Your Page Rank!
• The 5 Most Negative Factors Influencing Your Search Engine Page Rank

Some of you reading this have probably been blogging for years.  Have you ever wanted a copy of all those posts in a simple format that you can easily keep for backup or quick reference?  We recently encountered a free tool called BlogBooker that you might like to know about.

This nifty and FREE tool will allow you to turn your entire blog into a PDF book complete with tables of links to posts at the beginning.  It’s a nifty format for keeping backups or even just for personal reference to past blogged subjects.

BlogBooker is compatible for Wordpress, Blogger and LiveJournal blogs.  If you are a Kinetic client and need access to your Wordpress export file as described in the instructions, please let us know – we are happy to help.

Need a wordpress blogsite for your business?  We can help with that as well, give us a call!

Enjoy!

Recently, I saw a relatively high profile social networking consultant recommend his audience use a super cheap host service, with unlimited bandwidth and a free one click WordPress install. He spoke nothing of the potential pitfalls, probably had no idea himself… BUT I felt we should write something on the subject here for those considering that kind of a service. Forgive me, this may concern you.

Define Shared Hosting

For the layperson, shared hosting is where the host serves multiple sites from a single Web server. Although shared hosting is a less expensive way for a business to create a web presence, it’s typically priced based upon the bet you won’t use much in the way of server resources. If you’ve chosen cut throat pricing to host your business site, it’s  likely you’ve chosen shared hosting!

If Hosting Sounds Too Good To Be True, It Is!

What shared hosting also means, is you are on a server full of other random sites AND you are at the mercy of all the other sites activity. Shared hosting is usually not sufficient for any one site with potentially high traffic spikes.

You’ve spent time and energy to build products services and a brand, but when you [or anyone else on your server, for that matter] get a popular moment are you prepared? For example, say Digg.com points to your site one day and there’s a traffic surge. With shared hosting, there’s a good chance you’ll go down before you ever benefit from that surge. And if so, what of the reward for all your hard work?

If your site grows in popularity, are there even options to optimize your server for additional traffic? If so, you either pay up or you probably need to move… having learned a hard lesson! Here’s the next one: what is the cost to transfer your site and content seamlessly? Have you thought any about the retention of your data, images and video files? How about your back links? Your subscribers? Search indexing? How much will it cost to get someone experienced enough to successfully transfer all you have accumulated and want to protect?

Hosting with a FREE Wordpress Install?

What does a one click install mean anyway? Does it even address WordPress updates, or that the software quickly becomes problematic if you’re not updating it? If a major security release ever came along, will they tell you? Are they responsible? And if so, are you waiting until the installer decides to update… rather than right away?

Do you have any custom design? Any custom configuration? Certainly you have custom Search Engine Optimization? How about plugins? Are you using or embedding any 3rd party software? Analytics maybe? Cool widgets, maybe the weather? And what if all those fun features begin to hog resources; will your shared host simply shut you down with no explanation. Got a question about modifying something or adding a new feature? Either plan on lots of research in the WP support forums, assuming someone there has even dealt with your problem before. And folks, our CTO used to manage those forums! He’ll be the first to tell you  the volume is such, dozens of questions go unanswered. What would you expect when the forums are volunteer?

What Serious Business People Do?

So, what’s an incident really going to cost you? $150 $250? How about the next? Experienced and trusted WP developers aren’t cheap. Just because WP is open source, free to download and install, doesn’t mean it isn’t a complicated piece of software that requires various web technology disciplines to fix, customize or optimize.

And as for unlimited bandwidth, has that been defined? Know that if your server can’t handle peak traffic then having it is probably useless. Need immediate service? Good luck!

Folks, ultimately with shared hosting you may need to be realistic about potential down time, limitations on service, the possibility of things breaking and additional costs.

What do serious business people do? They get a dedicated Web server, either in- house or out with a managed service… maybe like ours. With us, there’s not only realtime customer service platform with human interaction, but complete WordPress care & updating. Throw in server optimization, technology advancement, storage, security, online marketing education,… and you’ve got our standard comprehensive services package!

Related Posts:

Cheap Hosting, GoDaddy and Your Site’s Health!

You’d rather rely on few, have less and pay more.

2. You don’t need easy to redesign site management software that advances with the web.

You like rebuilding your site from scratch every few years and spending more to add new features.

3. You don’t appreciate that marketing & advertising is more and more about the networking of your content everywhere possible.

You’d rather place a brochure site on the web, watch it loose any current status fast and either pay or hope to get traffic and prospects to it.

4. You don’t appreciate direct [RSS or Email] subscription and simple solutions that allow your target market to remain aware of your current content.

You’d rather use less user friendly, more invasive and more costly methods to remain on your target market’s radar screen.

5. You don’t appreciate simple cost free content creation, the appeal of new content to search engines and being current for a discerning marketplace.

You’d accept having a static presence, less search engine favor and would rather pay to have new content coded or existing content re- coded.

This post pokes some fun, but it is possible you could improve your web presence dramatically with the proper use of WordPress. So, maybe you do need it… and just don’t know it yet.

Does your site seamlessly leverage content everywhere on the web possible? Can you say it:

• maximizes search engine indexing
• promotes direct RSS & email subscription
• networks your content outward to other sites & social networks
• promotes more back linking and bookmarking
• encourages conversation & interactivity?

Does it meticulously organize content with proper URL structure, categorization, archiving and tags?

• The Value of Managing Your Brand With a Business Blog
• Wordpress For Company Websites? Why Not, Indeed!
• Top 10 Reasons WordPress is Important For Your Business!

Matt Cutts on ‘How Search Works’:

Important Takeaways:

• When one searches they do not search the whole web, only what pages Google has in it’s index
• Google indexes what pages it can find, but not the whole web
• As a site owner, assuming you have used the search terms on a page, you compete for a search results position against every other page Google has indexed with those same terms [ = key words or phrases]
• When comparing your page and the others, Google’s algorithm uses 200 questions or signals
• One obvious question relates to your use of the search terms on a page, like are they in your title, your URL and/or how are they used in the content of the page
• Another question looks for search term synonyms on your page – be careful NOT to over stuff the actual search terms as the algorithm is known to see this as bad practice or spammy
• Page Rank has emphasis and it is focused on the back links your page has accumulated, but note that it’s not necessarily just volume… it’s also very much a determination of the quality of those links
• Organic results or how Google ranks pages is NEVER paid for!

Thoughts on Search Engine Optimization:

• It can take time, but consistent activity and topic focus is proven
• How long you have been there for search terms can help
• Broaden search term target focus – leverage the long tail
• Your competition has a great deal to do with where you get and how fast you get there
• Pursue back links where you can, but from good sites preferably with good page rank and in anchor text
• Your site design & technology must not only be search engine friendly, but it must be updated & advanced in order to remain search engine friendly – static sites will not sustain a competitive edge!

Related Posts:

• Confused By Search Engine Optimization? Try This ‘Laypersons Guide To Understanding SEO’
• What does the Google Crawl mean to your business and how will your Business Blog help?
• So, how important is our Page Rank?
• Google’s Matt Cutts On Organic Versus Reciprocal Links
• Beware of What Is Sold As SEO!

SEOmoz recently put up a great article about Facebook Marketing for businesses that is worth sharing. It’s a step-by-step strategy for promoting your business on Facebook. Below you’ll find a brief overview of the article. Make sure you go check out the full version – Facebook Marketing: Ultimate Guide – on SEOmoz! It’s well worth your time and provides some valuable power tips and resource links.

Brand

• Don’t use personal accounts for business. Consider creating a “brand ambassador” identity (a purely business oriented version of yourself) to create business pages.

Create a Facebook Page

• Make the Most of Your Profile Photo – It’s one of the few things you can customize easily
• Add Page Information – Don’t forget to “think SEO” and add appropriate keywords
• Add Helpful Applications – such as Networked Blogs and Twitter Tab
• Vanity URL – You can get one if you have at least 25 fans
• Custom Landing Page – You can create custom landing pages using Facebook Markup Language. If you don’t have the skills you may be able to buy a template!

Internal Promotion

• Use your brand ambassador for internal promotion – add friends, skype contacts, use facebook search, join groups and events, etc
• Keep the Page Fresh – pictures videos and links are preferred to text updates
• Use Staff and Team Members to gain popularity – Ask them to “like” posts and add comments regularly
• Add Media Content – Use pictures and videos whenever you can
• Special Fan Offers – Create special offers only for your fans, reward loyalty publicly.
• Send an update to all fans – Make sure it’s good!
• Ask for Help – Your fans can suggest you to their friends, ask them for help
• Partner With Others – Build partnerships within your niche so that you get brand visibility from other business pages out there.
• Use Viral Applications to gain brand awareness
• Watch and Learn from Your Competition – Keep an eye on their strategy and borrow ideas
• Advertise if it makes sense

External Promotion

• Plug-ins for Your Website – Get visibility to your fan page using widgets on your website
• Use “Like” and “Share” Buttons
• Put your Facebook Page Link everywhere just like you’d do for your web address
• Make Viral Videos
• Use Outside Services – Find your target audience at places like SlideShare or Scribd and post reference links within the conversation to join your page

This is a great article and a great Facebook Marketing start for any business. Again – make sure you go check it out so that you get full access to all the valuable links and commentary!

Need help creating a business blog or pushing your existing blog content out to places like Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter?  Take a look at Kinetic Knowledge products, we’ve got you covered!

Why Am I Getting So Many Bad Comments Lately?

“Why am I getting so many bad comments lately?” - It’s a pretty common question these days.

Rash Of Dangerous Human Comments

Indeed, there has been a great deal of chatter in the web community about more and more human comment spam!

What’s going on? Well, it appears to be the effort of spammers and even ‘black hat SEO’s’. In either case, it’s getting more and more difficult for them to get back links and traffic with software so they’re looking to enter your site with a human comment. And don’t forget, it’s not only search engine rank you have protect… it’s also the visitors you send to bad sites via these links. What will they think if you’ve driven them to a porn site?

NOTE: By default we add a rel=”nofollow” to comment links, so for clients and many on WordPress configured in a similar fashion you are not technically exposed to bad backlinks. To clarify, if they add their bad URL in the comment form field or if they add a link in the comment itself, it’s a viewable, clickable link, however it’s not indexed by search engines in a crawl… and not going to damage page rank.

Modern spam blocking software readily detects bot [ = automated software driven] spam, but humans are always going to be able to [at least] enter your comment moderation. If not, then you’d be preventing good comments too.  So, in lieu of bot driven comment spam, human comments have apparently become the latest danger.

And that is if you have moderation set up as a back up to something like Akismet Spam Blocking software. If not, you should!!

You Must Moderate Carefully!

Ultimately, it’s your brand out there. These nefarious human comments are now common practice, so  look them over before approving! The comments are generally positive, meant to sneak past you, but the links they add are dangerous to your site’s health. When approved they become outward bound links from your site. If so, you’re likely pointing to bad sites or neighborhoods and that can hurt your organic SEO, which is partly rated based upon on the links you keep. And even worse, they can undermine your status with visitors who may have otherwise become a lead or client.

And after all, why would you ever allow a comment to reach your site unless it truly adds value for your audience? Please!, whenever you get a comment follow the affiliated link to the site itself and review carefully FIRST before you accept it!

Related Posts:

Quick heads up here on what may [= I'm basing this upon hearsay] protect your friends phone numbers in Facebook, who may have had them registered as private. If you want to remove mobile contacts from Facebook I’ll do my best here to present directions I just executed with:

1. Login

2. Go to ACCOUNT, EDIT FRIENDS

3. Go to the left side of your screen, to PHONE BOOK

4. At the top, you will see a blue link “click here” – click!

5. Then look for and go to ”this page”

6. Click REMOVE!

You may also want to go to ACCOUNT, YOUR PRIVACY SETTINGS, CUSTOM, Customize Settings, Scroll down to Mobile Phone, choose Custom Privacy and then  - ONLY ME.