Altitude’s Weekly Round-up (September 9, 2011)

Every week I spend a considerable amount of time reading industry blogs and newsletters to keep up with all of the evolutions and revolutions in online marketing and technology. The purpose: to generate new ideas and recommendations for our clients—and for you, our faithful readers. This week we take a look at 10 Ugly SEO Tools that Actually Rock, Google Acquires Zagat, the 3 Myths of Social Media and much more.

SEO

10 Ugly SEO Tools that Actually Rock

You can’t judge a book by its cover. Some of the best SEO tools ever invented exist on a geek’s homemade Google Docs spreadsheet pulling in raw API data. We love ugly SEO tools. They’re practical and more often than not, made by a single developer. Let’s spread the love by appreciating those under-designed tools that are actually awesome. (SEOMoz) September 5, 2011.

Images, Coupons Boost Local Search Ads

Searchers look for images and coupons from local business listings online. US local search ad revenues continue to grow and the consumers driving those gains increasingly expect local business search listings to have add-ons like phone numbers, images and even coupons as standard elements. But the majority of local search marketers do not meet such expectations. (eMarketer) September 6, 2011.

How to use Google Analytics to Track SEO Progress

We show clients lots of reports that indicate the success of their SEO campaigns, and KPIs are slightly different for ever client depending on what kind of a site they have, what their goals are, etc. However, there are three univesral SEO Key performance indicators that we use for everyone. (LunaMetrics) September 6, 2011.

Search Engine Algorithm Research & Testing

Performing tests on search engine algorithms can help you stay current on what the search engines are looking for and help guide your SEO strategies. The hardest part is devising tests that show an effect on individual ranking factors. Because change is a factor in itself, it’s nearly impossible to test a single ranking factor independently. Here are some suggestions and warnings on conducting a search engine algorithm test. (Search Engine Watch) September 8, 2011.

How to rank highly in YouTube searches

Just as you can use traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to make your web pages more visible in online searches, you can optimize your videos to make them more visible on YouTube. As with traditional SEO, elements such as titles, descriptions and tags all play a role, as do the quality and volume of incoming links. YouTube also measures and evaluates user signals (such as click-through rates, bounce rates, feedback etc.) among its important ranking factors. (Econsultancy) August 31, 2011.

Social Media

Google acquires Zagat

In a surprise announcement, Google is buying restaurant-review company Zagat for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will help Google expand its offerings for local businesses, reaching beyond Web searches and search ads, besides becoming a trustworthy content provider. (Google Blog) September 8, 2011.

Is Your Audience Truly Engaged via Social Media?

According to an eMarketer study, the primary reason why companies use social media is for engagement. It is well known that consumers who are more engaged with a brand tend to make a purchase; which is why marketers categorize engagement as ‘high priority’. Research by the team at Position² shows that, for most brands, getting their customers’ attention is fairly simple. As a marketer, you have managed to get your audience to notice you; now what? (Position² Blog) August 24, 2011.

Social Media: The Three Big Myths

Recently, Gallup conducted research with more than 17,000 social media users — evaluating everything from the latest mobile social media apps to old-school word-of-mouth. We discovered groundbreaking new insights into how people interact with social media and into its effectiveness as a marketing tool. These findings debunk three big myths regarding social media: that it effectively drives customer acquisition, that social networkers are all the same, and that social networking is an online-only phenomenon. (Gallup Management Journal) September 1, 2011.

Social Media Is a Journey, Not a Marathon or Sprint

There are countless articles and blog posts comparing how social media is more akin to a marathon and not a sprint, but I only partially agree with this premise. (Social Media Today) September 3, 2011.

Social Media Monitoring ROI: Metrics For Measurement

One of the hottest debates in social media over the last few years has been centered on the concept of ROI and why measuring ROI on your social media monitoring efforts is so important. While there have been several studies concerning the ROI of social media marketing, with more companies starting social media monitoring on a larger scale, brands are now concerned with the ROI realized from their social media monitoring activities. (Position² Blog) August 18, 2011.