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This post is part 31 of a series of Google+ posts I did to help entrepreneurs and small business owner create engaging G+ Pages content and increase interactions.

This truly is one of the easiest and most productive methods online for any web based or offline (local) small business.

Huge success has been achieved using this platform, you simple cannot afford to ignore it. At least not anymore!

And even while many so call experts tell you that in order to be successful using Google+ you need to learn how to use it well, usually behind this sentiment is an order button for their course or consulting services

…the truth is, you do not required any experience… and all you really need to build an outstanding social personal or business brand here in the Gplusphere, is included withing you.

Here is an infographic with some shocking stats for you.

So, what Google Plus strategies should you use?

None, just let the following guide you into finding your special place in this platform and start getting to know some other amazing people:

1. Your Personality.
Don’t hide your feeling and likes, showcase them and interact with then with respect and social consciousness.

2. Transparency.
Let your narrative be your presentation, without walls, so your audience get to know you better and qualify you as the person they really want to connect with.

3. Relevancy vs. Fun.
It’s great to be relevant to help you connect with people that might be interested in your type of business or knowledge. But, doesn’t do much for your personal brand, true narrative, value, engagement, and self-expression is a better way to create long lasting relationships in social media. 

So, be relevant, but do not forget to have some fun.

Continue reading “Google Plus: Building The Path To A Wonderful Social Layer, Your Own Way!”

Optimizing your business website and web presence for local search results is the strategy that can really increase your company’s customer based and revenue. This is why many entrepreneurs are trying everything they can to make sure they gain a prime spot on Google local results or any other top search engine like Yahoo and Bing.

But, because of the amount of market share, everyone knows that your main focus should always be Google. The only problem is that SEO is getting harder and harder every time the big “G” releases a new algorithm change, and now with the rise of
Semantic Search, your strategies need to also evolve in order to keep a marketing edge over your competitors. Now with the new Carousel Feature, which give a business a great visual spot on search if your site have proper SEO, social and content marketing strategy behind it.

What About Back Links And Citations?

The game has change, and it will continue to change… results will be semantic based, which means that is not just about a lot of links or citations, is about the quality of those mentions, and even more important is if your site is optimize well for the context behind an specific search query.

I recommend you to follow these 20 Matt Cutts’ link building tips to help you craft a great back-link strategy, one that is not going to get you in trouble and will keep improving your search ranking and exposure.

What Are The Steps To Great Local SEO?

Some of the steps to ensure good placement on Maps, Local results, and the Carousel are:

1. A minimum of 6 high quality photos (Google use this for the Carousel).
2. Image optimization for local.
3. Add Google Maps and links to direction engine on each page of the local site.
4. Current or up to date NAP information.
5. Amount of citations, and quality of citations (relevancy and geo-targeted)
6. Off citations from niche and geo targeted sites.
7. Videos with proper local optimization.
8. Amount of reviews, and quality of reviews on Google and other directories.
9. High quality Backlinks: Geo and niche targeted.
10. Maps requests from local and regional users.
11. Foursquare check-ins.
12. Foursquare reviews, mentions, and recommendations.
13. Diversity of backlinks: Unique IPs, Sites, GEO targeted, non-optimized anchor text for inbound links.
14. Up to date content on site or blog. Local sites need a minimum of 1 to 2 blog posts or articles per month. But, more is better, way better.
15. Up to date social profiles or pages in Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and niche based networks if any.
16. Increase the G+ Local Page authority.
17. Get more +1 votes for your G+ Page and website.
18. Setup your Authorship and Publisher.
19. Make sure your Structure Data is set correctly.
20. Optimize your website for mobile devices.
21. Add Google +1 button to your website.

And much more…. but those are some of the top factors. Here is an infographic with some great visual information:

Continue reading “21 Steps To Properly Optimize Your Website For Google Local Search And The New Carousel”

The freaking disclaimer:These are just one type of strategies you can use to make your YouTube clips to become fan magnets, and even after mastering this techniques it doesn’t guaranteed the success of your campaigns.

Ready for some unusual but very effective video marketing lessons that can take a video from zero to over 9 million views in a week. Now, not every clip you upload to YouTube is going to have this potential, the lessons below focus on the type of video Jimmy Kimmel have made in order to get that kind of attention. Plus, when he released the uncut version of the clip, that one when when viral as well, I will talk about that in a little bit, but first

…do you really want to have your videos go viral?

That’s the question you need to ask yourself before going bananas with the production and crafting your viral campaign. Before we continue here is a infographic that exposed the flow of the viral effect of a video:

As you can see on the chart above:

– The video get published.
– The first tier audience is notified of the inclusion.
– Depending on the preferences, that first audience might re-share the video link.
– Catch the eye of YouTube and online News sites.
– First batch of re-tweets start.
– If popular the first round of almost automated sharing starts.
– Mashable and other trending video sites take notice.
– The content viral effect gets a boost.
– Retweets, Facebook Likes, and email shares go nuts.

It looks like a great set steps anyone will one on their videos, don’t you think?… Well, not really, let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of going popular.

Pros.

1. A lot of exposure for your brand if is done right.
2. You might also get a boost to your SEO efforts with all the back links the video can generate.
3. You might get a boost in website traffic.
4. The viral effect of the video my take a long time before it dies, and sometimes will still generate thousands of views everyday.

Cons.

1. If the message wasn’t right and you used a random video like Jimmy did, it will not generate quality traffic to your website or blog.
2. Most of the exposure will be non-targeted, but you might still appreciate the back link if they come from an authority site like Mashable or new sites.
3. The main message of your brand can be misinterpreted by your audience and actually make harm to your online brand.
4. If the clip goes popular carrying the wrong message, it can be really hard, almost impossible to stop. Deleting the video isn’t enough.

Continue reading “The 5 Crucial Elements Your Video Needs To Go Viral: Lessons By Jimmy Kimmel’s Worst Twerk Fail Ever Video”

I wanted to do a follow up post about the impact of Semantic Search on SEO and digital marketing in general. That’s right, they way the web and search is evolving it will impact other type of marketing avenues, specially mobile organic strategies.

There are many ways to try to stay ahead and help you business and strategies evolve in a semantic way, but one of the main things you should be focus on and what search optimization expert +David Amerland recommends on his book “Google Semantic Search”, is to build a great company, a company that values its customers and audience and over-deliver fantastic products, service, and customer experience.

Basic Elements Of Semantic Search.

As you can see in the graphic below, some of the element of the new information finding engines are:

– Reasoning engines.
– Natural language understanding.
– Ontology search and expansion.
– Contextual analysis.

Image source: HLWiki International.

The main lesson here is that Google and any search engine that is focus on delivering semantic personalize results to their users, its trying to understand the meaning of your queries in order to present you with the most accurate results for you.

Video Tutorials And Google Plus Hangouts Interviews About Semantic Search.

Here are some of the best videos where +David Amerland and other top SEO’s and digital marketing experts talk about the future of search and Google:

Continue reading “12+ Amazing Videos About Semantic Search And Its Impact To Your Digital Marketing Efforts”

It’s time to learn together… I’ve been getting really into learning the ins and out of some of the social networks I’m not so knowledgeable about, like Linkedin.

After taking some intense training and taking advice from top influencers, I decided to share what I’ve learned, but I want to give you more that just tips and video tutorials, I want to give you a good resource of statistics and information to help you understand this social platform for professionals and business owners as much as you can.

Why LinkedIn For Marketing?

First, you need to know that LinkedIn is a great social network because is like becoming part of a world Chamber Of Commerce, with million of professionals to connect with. But, as a business owner sometimes you would like more than just connections, well, based on a study made by HubSpot recently, the site is one of the best network with a high lead generation conversion rate of 2.74%, which is miles away from what you will get from sites like Facebook and Twitter. I don’t mention Google Plus, because it wasn’t included on the study, and personally it has a great conversion rate as well.

Here is a great graph that shows how the network have helped businesses around the world:

LinkedIn Advice And Recommendations

Here are some a few tips to get you started on the right path:

1. Make to complete your profile and add keywords that will help you get optimized for the search engines.
2. Write a very compelling “bio”, this can be a little difficult for many small business owners, you can have somebody you know to write it for you or outsource it.
3. Don’t start socializing without having a good photo of you, if possible upload the best one you have, in this case is good to wear something more professional.
4. Don’t forget to add your skills and your job experience.
5. Join relevant Groups (global and local) to help you find other members you can connect with.
6. Use the “Answers” engine to ask questions or answer other people’s question, this way you build your authority and expand your reach.
7. Be sure to link to your profile from your website, blog, and other social profiles.
8. Stay active, don’t just automate your account or post everything from other social networks, is good to post at least 2 times per day directly on the website.
9. Recommend others and engage in conversation from time to time to help build your influence on the site.
10. Never, never ever, spam on your status, groups, comments, or anywhere.

Do you have more tips, please add them in the comment box below this post.

Continue reading “The Ultimate LinkedIn Marketing Guide For Small Businesses”