Although TweetDeck and HootSuite are still known as “Twitter clients,” these applications can do so much more than update your Twitter. They can manage multiple social media profiles, allow you to schedule your updates, monitor your link analytics, do your homework, and listen to your wife while you watch the Super Bowl.

The only issue with these “Everything Social Media Clients” is that there are two major clients to choose from: TweetDeck and HootSuite. Which should you use? Well lucky for you, I’m about to tell you.

Let’s get on with this showdown!

Round 1: User Interface

In the beginning, TweetDeck’s dark, sleek interface was more appealing than HootSuite’s browser-based application. Now, if you’re lucky enough to own a Mac, Smartphone, or iPad, you can download a HootSuite application of your very own.

TweetDeck App:

• Standalone application for PC, Mac, Smartphones, iPad.
• Column-based system: All of the social media profiles are viewed in one window, but in separate columns.

HootSuite App:

• Standalone application for Mac, Smartphones, iPad.
• Desktop applications via Chrome, Prism.
• Hootlet Firefox Add On.
• Tab-based system: Each social media profile has its own tab.

Summary: It is easier to keep track of multiple profiles in one window using TweetDeck, whereas you have to click to different tabs in HootSuite.  Also, adding an update with a URL is much easier in TweetDeck, which automatically shortens any URLs you type in the box. When doing the same thing in HootSuite, you have to input your URL into a separate field in order to shorten them.

Round 1 Winner: TweetDeck

Round 2: Scheduled Updates

Both TweetDeck and HootSuite provide the ability to schedule your updates. However, in order to use TweeDeck’s scheduler, you must create a TweetDeck account.

HootSuite’s update scheduling tool is slightly more sophisticated than the competitor’s tool. You can schedule your updates in bulk, receive updates once the update is sent, and you can schedule an update for more social media profiles (Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Pages, LinkedIn, MySpace, PingFm, WordPress, Foursquare, and Mixi).

Round 2 Winner: HootSuite

Round 3: Speed

This round has a clear winner – HootSuite is by far the faster client to use.  TweetDeck uses Adobe Air to function, therefore it is a massive resource hog.  HootSuite’s interface (both in the browser and the actual application) is very snappy and clean.

Round 3 Winner: HootSuite

Continue reading “TweetDeck VS HootSuite: The “Twitter Client” Showdown”

It’s always good to get a refresher, or another perspective when it comes to doing your job. With that in mind Sara and I took off a couple of weeks ago to attend an Advanced SEO seminar given by Luna Metrics in Pittsburgh.

Presenters Christina Keffer and Jim Gianoglio brought up some very good points that make the optimization process a little easier.

Advanced Link Building
I was especially interested in this subject, as link research can get pretty monotonous and time consuming. It can also be easy to get in a rut. Here are some points that Christina brought up that I think could be very helpful:

• Create a Google Alert for your company – You could potentially receive an alert that a website has mentioned your company. You could contact that website and ask for a link back to your site.
• Advanced search operators - This resource (www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html) can come in handy when doing searches in Google.

Social Media
I also found this session to be highly informative. Check the pointers below:

• Research popular hash-tags – Here is an example: You own a restaurant and notice that the hash-tag #iamcraving is currently a trending topic on Twitter. You could leverage that and send out a Tweet incorporating that hash-tag and a link to your website. Everyone using that hash-tag may see your Tweet and visit your website.
• Tag your fans in photos on Facebook – Here is an example: you had an event that several of your customers attended. Tag them in any photos that they were in and all of their friends on Facebook can see they attended an event your company held, possibly piquing their interest.

Overall I was very satisfied with the topics and things learned at the seminar – it was well worth the drive (even though we got a little lost in the big city)! I love learning new things about the industry and getting another perspective – well done Luna Metrics!

Earlier this month Giselle and I headed to New York City for the SMX East conference. We both learned a lot and met some great people in the industry. The sessions that I attended were informative and all of the speakers shared valuable knowledge.

One particular session that I want to discussed Google Instant and its impact on both SEO and users. The speakers at the session included Othar Hansson, Google Senior Staff Software Engineer, Ian Everdell, a usability consultant from Enquiro Search Solutions, and Eli Feldblum the CTO & co-founder at RankAbove.

According to Othar, the main focus of Instant is to make search faster than ever before. Here are some key facts that Othar presented:

• The average query in English takes 9 seconds to enter and 15 seconds to scan the SERP’s.
• Impression is counted when there is a 3 second pause on the SERP – impressions will increase, but clicks remain the same.
• The results shown are for the predicted query, not what you have typed.
• Instant is present in the US and 6 European countries, but will be global soon.
• Users are still searching for good content – that has not changed.

As a usability consultant, Ian Everdell from Enquiro was able to offer a unique perspective of Instant and how it affects users:

• Instant saves 2-5 seconds per search.
• Users are now looking further down the SERP’s than ever before.
• Majority of users surveyed think Instant is ‘ok’ ( > 25%).
• About 65% of users surveyed do not think that Instant changed how they search.
• 83% of users surveyed say the length of their queries has not changed.

Eli Fledblum from RankAbove offered a few interesting points:

• Instant’s predictions have pushed more results below the fold.
• Despite the change in location, results 5-10 have experienced the most growth.
• Video results are up 28% across the board (use rich media to attract users).
• It is important to investigate how your site traffic has changed, if at all.

Google Instant has been live for 45 days (as of 10/21/10) and those in the SEO industry are still unsure about how it will affect the way they work. I am glad that I was able to attend this session as each speaker brought up great points about Google Instant and SEO. Hopefully, those in the industry will feel better after reading what was said at SMX. I found it comforting to know that Instant is NOT the end of SEO!

I’ll admit it. I’m psyched about attending the Search Marketing Expo East conference next week! Sessions offered cover everything from up and coming search marketing techniques like mobile search to good ol’ search engine optimization.  My only regret is not having the ability to clone myself so that I can attend more than one session at a time. I had to go through the painstaking task of choosing only one session per time slot. It was brutal, but I managed to narrow down my schedule to some really cool sessions:

The Search Crossover: Local, Mobile, Social
As mobile and social converge, the search landscape is becoming even more localized. In fact, local search is proving to be the driving force behind consumers’ brand preferences and, ultimately, buying decisions.

In the past three weeks, I’ve had a handful of clients ask about mobile, local search, and social media.  Clearly, these are all emerging trends in the industry. I’m interested in gaining more insight on how social media, local search, and mobile search can be leveraged together.

SMX Boot Camp: Link Building Fundamentals
Ever since Google created PageRank, more than a decade ago, every good search marketer’s motto has been “I link, therefore I am.” In fact, links are cited as four of the top five factors in the SEOMoz 2009 Search Engine Ranking Factors survey.

Link building is like the ugly duckling – Nobody wants to look at it and take it seriously. But link building is important! Though it may seem like a no-brainer, it’s more complicated than many realize. This session will serve as a refresher and I hope to gain some valuable insight of what’s new in the world of link building.

SMX Boot Camp: Search Engine Friendly Web Design
“I’m not designing my site for search engines” is a common designer objection to SEO suggestions. But when search engines collectively have more users than either Internet Explorer or Firefox, how can you afford to ignore how they interact with your site?

Our industry is constantly changing. It’s imperative that we keep educated about designing and developing search engine friendly websites. I expect to bring back valuable information to share with our entire team. Although I suspect we’re already doing the things we should be doing, I wouldn’t be surprised if I learn some new techniques we haven’t adopted yet.

And last, but not least…

Actionable Metrics and Diagnostics
We have hundreds of data points to track how the search engines and visitors are accessing our sites, but what’s really actionable and what’s not worth spending time on?

The most rewarding part of my job is knowing that something we’ve done actually made an impact. Analytics is the only way we know how effective we are in what we do. I love analytics!

All in all, I’ll be a very busy strategist at this conference. From rubbing elbows with search engine big wigs to spying on the competition, it’s all very exciting and I’m looking forward to it! Watch for my tweets from the show @gisellebardwell.

In the past videos were a nice, extra piece to your eCommerce site. These days, video is a necessity, and eCommerce sites that fail to have video fall behind their competitors. One important reason to have video is that multi-media on a site is a crucial part of gaining conversions. According to a recent eMarketer report approximately 80% of online users will watch the entire video, and 25% will convert, which in turn could lift revenue by 10-15%.

The importance of implementing multi-media started back in 2007 when Google started integrating video into the universal search offering. Since then, sites featuring video have gained a significant SEO advantage. One good example of putting video to good use is Macy’s. They feature a “Macy’s TV” page on their website, as well as interactive videos throughout the site.

When a site uses relevant videos that match the site’s content, search engine’s find and index that video. The eMarketer report also said that 68% of the top 50 retailers used video in 2009, which is an 18% increase from 2008.

The article “If you care about SEO, you need to know about video” gives six good reasons why eCommerce businesses should start implementing multi-media on their sites. Offering video on a website eventually increases rankings, sales, and the visitor experience.

Do you have a success story you would like to share?

In case you haven’t heard, Google Instant has made a quite an impact on the world of search since its launch last week. It has lit the SEO world on fire with questions such as:

•    How will this impact my rankings?
•    Will Adwords count impressions the same way?
•    What if users no longer look past page 2 of SERP’s?

Of course, the biggest question last week, and the one on everyone’s minds, is: Will Google Instant kill SEO?

In simple terms: No, no, and NO! SEO is not going anywhere.

The fact that Google Instant completes a search before a user has finished typing his/her query does not harm SEO at all. Above all else, search engine marketers need to consider who the audience is and how they search. Yes, this new interface may change the way that users search, and as search engine marketers, we need to evolve with them. There is no set list of tactics that we need to implement right now. There are SEO tactics that continue to hold true such as on page optimization, article distribution, link development, etc.

Many have argued that SEO is now irrelevant because Google Instant supplies highly personal results but Google has been giving users personalized results since 2005, so that is nothing new. Google Instant is actually going to be a great tool for SEO. It provides valuable information on what users are searching for such as local weather, super brands (i.e. Best Buy), etc.

As search engine marketers we still influence the results users get for their queries. As we learn more about Instant and what it has to offer, people see ways that Instant showcases good SEO tactics and fundamentals.

What are your thoughts on SEO and Instant?

Google’s Press Event

Today, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Google held a press event. For those of us who weren’t lucky enough to be at MOMA, Google broadcasted the event live over their YouTube channel. The event announced a brand new aspect of Google’s user-side interface.

Leading up to the event, Google changed its homepage logo. Yesterday, the logo consisted of flying colored balls that eventually formed “Google.” Before the press event, Google’s logo was blank – until you began to type. The theme of these logo changes? “Fun, fast, and interactive.”

So what was the “fun, fast, and interactive” change to Google that was announced at the event? The one that would, in the future, save 350 million hours of users’ time?

Google Instant

Google Instant was introduced as Google knowing “searches before you type.” Google claimed that Instant would predict what you’re likely to search and the bring results to you in real time. Google Instant was created using AJAX. AJAX is a programming language that basically allows a web page to provide new information without reloading the entire page. It’s quick. It’s simple. It’s… just plain neat.

The folks at Google said that there are three parts to Instant: Predictions, Instant Results, and Scroll to Search. When Instant is live, the engine is going to predict what you want to search, give you the results as soon as you begin to type, and let you scroll through the provided results.

Google Instant is live in Chrome, FireFox, Safari, and Internet Explorer 8 in the U.S.. In the next few months, other countries will see it as well. You will be able to turn Google Instant off. However, there is one caveat – you must be signed in to Google.

Google Raises Questions

Even though Google Instant is incredibly cool (and an amazing distraction), how is it going to affect us? What issues should be addressed in the future? After this streaming event was over, these were my primary concerns:

• How will this change SEO? Even if the fundamentals of optimization for search engines will remain the same, how will the users interact with Google moving forward? Will they abandon checking past page 1, if they can instantly change their query? Why would they want to spend more time on one search, when they can complete multiple in nearly the same amount of time?
• Since Big Brother Google will require users to be logged in to use Instant, will these cause any privacy concerns? If they are “predicting” our searches, how much more information are they going to collect from their users?
• For those who are still stuck with 256mb of RAM (if that’s even possible), will this slow down their machines? For the uneducated user, this could pose a problem.
• If you use Google Adwords, will the way impressions are counted be changed? With the dynamic of the search changed, I imagine there will be additional changes to these policies in the near future.

In summary – Google Instant is “fun, fast, and interactive.” But it will also pose a challenge for search engine marketers who are trying to adapt and stay ahead of the curve.

What is a meta description tag? It is a brief summary of a web page’s content and most often used by search engines to describe the page on a SERP (search engine results page).  The meta description tag appears between the clickable page title and the URL like so:

In the early days of web search, meta description tags played a significant role in search engine optimization.  They used to be one of the main factors in determining a site’s ranking.  Today, meta descriptions have little to no effect on ranking!  As far as search engines are concerned, a meta description tag is just that—a description.

Why waste time writing one then?  A new eye tracking study determined that searchers spend more time focusing on the description rather than the title or URL.  As you can see in the example above, Google “bolds” the keywords searched in the title, the URL, and the description.  So, the meta description tag serves as a powerful advertisement for your website.

Meta description tags won’t do much for your search engine ranking. But, writing a persuasive description will have great impact on your website’s click-through rate.  While meta description tags are not an effective SEO tool any longer, they provide valuable space for marketing calls-to-action.  Just think of them as the “prime real estate” of organic search results.  If done well, it may make the difference between users clicking your website versus the competition!

Guest blogger:  Collyn Floyd

With the attention span of web users only slightly longer than that of goldfish, it’s awfully hard to keep potential customers engaged on your site.  You’re going to need some snazzy copy if you want them to stick around for a while.  Here are a few tips to get you started:

Make your copy customer-centric. Before you start hammering away at the keyboard, take a minute to identify your target audience.  Think about why they’re visiting your site.  How can your product or service address their “pain”?   Structure your copy around solving the concerns of your customer, not tooting your own horn.

Write for the Web. When you’re writing for the Web, keep in mind that most users skim content; they don’t read word-for-word.   Keep your copy in bite-sized chunks by using copy strategies like shorter paragraphs, bolded text, bullet points, and “call-outs.”

Write with the Inverted Pyramid in mind. Since you know your visitors could stop reading at any moment, put your most important information at the top of the page.  This includes any kind of call to action or conversion point (i.e., newsletter signup, “add to cart” button, etc.).  Less “sexy” copy like product specs or details can go lower on the page.

Get Rid of the Useless Chatter. A wise copy strategy is to minimize distractions and get to the point.  Things to avoid: too much copy on a single page, too many links (especially links that may take your visitors away from your site completely), and too many ads or graphics.  Notice that online retailers like Lands’ End or Target don’t let much get in the way of their customer and products.

Make Your Copy Count. Don’t you hate copy that doesn’t really SAY anything?  For example: “Thank you for visiting company XYZ’s website.  We think you’ll find outstanding value in our products and services.  We’re proud to serve markets around the world and provide solutions that fit your needs”.   Yes, but what do you DO?

Of course, good copywriting for the Web entails these things and much, much more.  Hopefully theseoblog.org will ask me back, and I can share some additional tips!

Back in May, Google was awarded a patent for a new methodology in rankings. Everyone understands how important links are and prior to this new patent, a link was a link (in theory). The new patent puts more emphasis on the psychology behind web users.

Google’s new “Reasonable Surfer” patent in it’s most basic sense tries to determine what a links a user would be most likely to click on. This new patent allows links to carry more weight than others. Eric Enge over at Search Engine Land explains how this will change the SEO landscape.

This new patent is a very easy concept to understand. What would a visitor be most likely to click on when landing on a page?

The real question that needs to be asked, how do we influence users and funnel them into important pages?”

Here are some very basic things that you should consider with this new patent:

• Pages that you want to rank should be linked within the homepage. I’m not just talking about the main navigation. Create a bulleted list of your most important content. When a user lands on your site, what do you want them to see first? Make it easier.
• Utilize unique sub navigation that is specific to the content with links that are relevant. Create a list of related pages and related content.
• Use more images with keyword rich captions. Embed links within the captions if appropriate.
• Start utilizing bold links more often. Add color to your links.

This new patent is definitely a good thing. Google has built their brand on having a good user experience. People trust Google search results. This new patent tries to look at how users think and is really enriches the user experience. It’s clear they have been looking at these types of things for a long time, but now its out in the open.