Cornwall SEO

Content Marketing Blog

Social media marketing

Link Building Strategy gets more complex

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In 2011 a few things changed in the world of link building, as is always the case. But add that to the cumulative changes that have gone before and we can see things have changed quite a bit. And guess what, things are going to continue to change.

I predict that they will change to the point where getting a link from a website to determine where your website is placed in Google will become less and less important. We see from the rise of social media the effect it can have on marketing budgets, indeed this website ironically has never really bothered with link building or SEO. Right from the start we went for social media, the thinking being the agencies who buy our services consume social media.

You go where the eyeballs are.

Being number one in Google for link building will earn you lots of dosh, but it isn’t the only way. Anyone starting in the SEO or link building would be wise to go the social route.

However, if you are selling plumbing supplies in Cornwall, you should be going for Google and that means link building. Add a social strategy to that which folds into a content marketing strategy and you are going to dominate.

Right now 12% of retail is done online, it is predicted the figure will rise to 25% in 2015. Yes, it’s a growing sector, but the competition for eyeballs is increasing.

We live in fascinating times and must keep our minds open to new opportunities and get ready with matches to burn our totems. Hmmm, not sure if that reference works, but you know what I mean. Don’t get hung up thinking anything is going to stay the same.

Look to the horizon and breathe deeply the air.

This blog post was in response to:

How Google Hit Organic Links.

SEO Infographic by SEO Book

Social Media Training in Cornwall

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I’ve been asked by a few local businesses to put on some kind of social media training and I’m going to test the water for such an event. If you are interested, subscribe to the newsletter opposite and I will let you know when it happens.

Getting savvy social media training in Cornwall is a bit tricky for a number of reasons: It’s a peninsular, meaning it’s long and thin and does not have a large catchment area, and it’s a long way away from large population centres and so economics of scale are not there.

Not that there isn’t a need, there is. But, it’s all about making the event worthwhile. In the past I have presented training seminars at online marketing conferences in London where the concentration of people interested make it worth doing. Also, large companies have brought me in to personally coach employees in the art of social media marketing.

Having been involved in social media marketing for about five years now, although it really depends how you define social media, I’ve built up quite a lot of real experience and consulting with some of the biggest companies and brands in the land I have been able to see how business implements social media. Mostly they get it wrong, in fact only a tiny percentage get it right. And when I say get it right I mean it adds to their bottom line.

So, I’m dipping my toe in the water and I will access the feedback. In the meantime, sign up to the newsletter and I will keep you informed

How much will it cost? It’s going to be attractive to small businesses in Cornwall, so it wont be the usual fee of around £200 per person.
When will it be? Probably in the Autumn.
Where will it be? Possibly Truro, or a nice beachside cafe that turns out a tasty burger.

For those of you who are not residents of Cornwall (you don’t know what you are missing) I may take the show on the road and hold the seminar/presentation/workshop around the UK.

Will Google +1 Result in the End of Small Business Online?

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It’s very simple.

Either Google +1 will affect the search engine results or it will not.

What if it does?

Will the frenetic dash that Digital Media Agencies mean that they then resell their networks to Corporate big gits to help crush the small independent, just as they have on the high street?

A little emotive perhaps.

But what does Google say?

When your ad is shared, Google notes its final landing page URL. When the same URL appears in an organic search listing, the organic listing will include the same personal annotations as would an ad.

Similarly, if a user +1’s one of your organic listings, ads with the same final landing page URL will include the same personal annotations, increasing the chance of your ads getting noticed.

+1’s (whatever their source — organic search, ads, or +1 buttons on publisher sites) is a signal that affects organic search ranking, but +1’s do not change quality scores for ads and ad ranking

How will the +1 button affect my organic search listings?

I had to read it a few times before it sunk in.

Rankings are not going to be affected. It’s just that some hairy seo/social-media-manipulator is going to have their mug next to the search results. As long as you are logged into Google and you circle/follow/adore the hairy seo/social-media-manipulator who has taken the valuable seconds of his existence to +1 it.

My point is this. Is the potential buyer of a cordless power drill, when searching for a Makita 18v going to see and then be influenced by the hairy seo/social-media-manipulator? Or is it going to only other hairy seo/social-media-manipulators who see the results.

I think the latter.

As a commercial persuasion proposition, the Google +1 button will be mostly worthless. The majority of the human effort going into the +1 will stay in the goldfish bowl which the hairy seo/social-media-manipulator lives.

Sometimes the hairy seo/social-media-manipulator does stuff not because it’s going to be of great benefit to the client, but because they have something to sell and the I-don’t-want-to-be-left-behind part of the brain gets excited.

People mistake influence in the hairy seo/social-media-manipulator bubble with an increase in wealth.

I’m not anti social media/social signals/crowd sourcing etc. far from it. But, most of what you hear about it these days is garbage, people need to sell books, fill conferences and get endorsed by the latest over invested fad and so desire has to be created.

It’s as if a food is being sold to hungry people which only increases their hunger.

Stop eating the empty calories.

More like this:
+ 1 button marketing

Great WordPress Plugin of the Day

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I found this plugin a while back, it’s called the CBnet Plugin optimizer

What is does is make sure you don’t spam by pinging to much. I add a whole list of ping services to my WordPress blogs and have to make sure when uploading a bunch of posts that the services don’t get too much ping action which leads to a black.

So, I am making CBnet Plugin optimizer plugin of the day.

You really want to have this installed on all your blogs.