While he addressed a couple of topics, the one item from the video that jumped out concerned SEOs and link building. According to Matt, SEOs might be focusing too much on link building. SEOs should instead be focusing on site design, creating compelling/useful content, user experience  and content marketing. Links to content should grow organically. Social networks are now an important part of marketing the content, while also a great way to try to earn organic links instead of building links.

It’s hard to believe that links will not play a huge part in ranking sites going forward, but will this affect your SEO processes and do you really think that it will change your link building strategies?

Let me know your thoughts on the future of  link building.

Live webinar was June 14, 2013. Watch the webinar on-demand by filling out the form below.

Social Media has become a vital part of a company’s marketing mix, but many people don’t even know where to start. Whether you decide to use one platform or all of them, creating a sound social media strategy before you begin can be critical to your success.

Join social media experts Lance Brown and Heather Centorbi as they explore nine simple steps in developing a sound social media strategy. They explore why social media is viewed as being so difficult, how social media has changed business, and who should be responsible for social media in addition to answering the question “Where should I start?”.

Watch this webinar to learn:
- How to identify, plan for, and execute a social media strategy
- What type of content you should promote
- Ways to promote your social media channels
- What metrics other CMO’s are using to measure their social media activities

“We’re extremely excited to have Jen on board” Community Manager, Lance Brown said. “Jen brings a positive attitude and a proven hard-work ethic; she really set herself apart from her peers by having a strong background that showcased leadership, volunteerism, and high-quality character. Jen will be a great help to our ever-growing social media services and will be managing some accounts of her own very soon.”

Jennifer, a northeastern Ohio native, is a former team captain of the Baldwin Wallace women’s basketball team and enjoys volunteering as a OHSSA  basketball referee among many other things. She will be a great addition to WTWH Media and we look forward to having her on board.

Follow Jennifer on Twitter: @WTWH_Jennifer

Linda Cheung, a woman who wanted to attend the LEX conference but was unable to do so, utilized the hashtag #LEX2011 to meet a man by the name of Brian Inkster. By using this hashtag, Linda was able to connect with Brian, and in the meantime, turned the hashtag #LEX2011 into a more popular attraction than the actual event itself.

Stories like Linda Cheung’s hijacking of the hashtag #LEX2011 prove that hashtags can help a topic become viral much quicker than most any other means (read Linda’s entire story at Marketing Donut).

That is the power of a Twitter hashtag that I think is important to understand. Using hashtags can help us reach people that we normally would never know, get introduced to, or have in our body of followers.

It’s inspiring to know that a simple Twitter hashtag can create such a buzz and at the same time keep it close and personal. Twitter is very unique in that sense.

Twitter hashtags are something that every business should have a look at and really embrace in their attempt to get a discussion going.

In order to ease you into the concept of using twitter hashtags for business, below is an infographic that helps you grasp the concept. The infographic (presented by Social Caffeine) called What You Need To Know About Twitter Hashtags is a great introduction to the power of hashtags in general.

Hashtags have of course been available for a long time, and their use has been widely known. But, I think people have forgotten about the power of a good hashtag and how to really utilize it in their attempt to make people aware of what they have to say and share.

Thanks to Bit Rebels for bringing this infographic to my attention.

-Lance Brown

Follow Lance on Twitter: @WTWH_SocialGuru

A 404 error message -”file not found” – is an HTTP status code indicating that a server couldn’t find a particular requested page. This error can occur for a variety of reasons:

- a user types in an incorrect version of a URL
- an external link to the page contains a typo or misspelling
- the original post has been deleted
- URL structure on your site has been changed
- the web page has been moved and not redirected

to name just a few. Too many 404 errors can cause a negative user experience along with wasting search engine bandwidth on crawling non-existent pages.

One option for addressing the error is to create a custom 404 error page for users. There are countless examples of creative 404 error pages, Live Nation’s is shown below, that inform the user that the url they supplied can not be found. The custom 404 page can contain a message informing the user the url can’t be found, a search box for the user to find the correct page, a link to the site’s home page, etc. It should be as informative as possible and allow the user the best options for finding the desired url.

Once a custom 404 error page is completed, it’s time to address the pages returning the 404 error for search engine purposes.

404 errors are a normal part of a website – pages get deleted, moved, new content is created, etc. If a page needs to be deleted from a site, it should return a 404 error after it is removed. This lets the search engines know that the specific url can’t be found. If the content is being completely be removed/deleted from the site, it is fine to let it 404. If the content is being moved to a different url or relevant content can be found at a different url, a 301 redirect should be implemented to the new url.

Both Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Webmaster Tools are free tools that identify 404 errors that each search engine encounters when crawling sites.

Example of Google Webmaster Tools list of 404 errors.

Example of 404 errors from Bing Webmaster Tools.

The layouts are easy to read and fairly similar. Use the information found here to identify which urls are returning 404 errors.  You can then analyze which of these are ok to return a 404 error and which ones should be 301 redirected to an alternative url.

Following these suggestions will help both the users’ experience and the search engines efficiently find the correct information on your sites.

Irregardless, here are 4 simple things you can implement that help you track leads, sales and social media ROI.

1) Offer Coupons & Secret Codes

Through your social media pages, offer secret deals or codes that people can use upon checkout. If your website doesn’t have a checkout and you’re more of a service-based business, tell your followers to “mention this post” upon payment to receive [10% off, free shipping, a coke, etc.].

2) Link to Landing Pages with Registration Forms

If you want to gather leads from your social media channels, then create custom landing pages with registration forms and share those links out via your social media outlets.

3) Create Social Media-Specific Phone Numbers

Are a lot of your sales done over the phone? Then make sure you give Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. their own phone numbers for people to call. That way, when the call comes in, you know what platform is proving your social media ROI.

4) Utilize Features in Google Analytics

Obviously, if you’re a marketer, you should be using Google Analytics. One overlooked feature is there is a “Social” link under the “Referrals” tab on the left of the page, and Google Analytics will show you what platform is bringing in the most traffic to your site.

Note: some people have found that Google Analytics misses about 30% of social referral traffic (Tweet this)

Also, don’t forget to set up goals in your Google Analytics. For instructions on how to create goals, see the tutorial on Google Analytics Help page

What other insanely easy ways have you shown social media ROI? Tell me what I missed in the comments.

–Lance Brown

Follow Lance on Twitter: @WTWH_SocialGuru

Little did I know that it would start a big debate in many LinkedIn groups I’m in as to whether or not I was holding the bar too high for hiring a social media marketing intern.

With questions such as:

Can you explain Facebook EdgeRank and its importance?
What is the difference between a LinkedIn Group and a LinkedIn Page and the benefit of each?
What is the most searched term in YouTube and why do you think it’s important?

I didn’t think I was out of line.

I got many comments along the lines of:

“You ‘re looking for more than an interns can offer”
“Interns don’t always have the skill set and are seeking real-world experience”
“You’re being unfair to a pool of interns”

Am I?

I argue that even with an internship, you need the basic skill set to do the job you’re applying for. If someone was interviewing for an accounting internship, would it suffice that they knew how to add and subtract? Or would you want the candidate to know at least some of the basics such as the difference between a credit and a debit or know what COGS stands for and its role in accounting?

My money is on the latter.

Just like simple math (adding & subtracting), anyone can post to Facebook and Twitter. For me to consider you as a serious candidate, I need you to demonstrate a basic understanding of “why” and not just “how”.

I don’t expect interns to have all of the answers, but this has opened my eyes to the question:

“Is it time for Universities to begin teaching the intricacies of social media marketing?”

While I don’t think that social media marketing is extensive enough to merit its own degree, I do think that marketing has had such a monumental shift that an “Online Marketing” degree should be taught and offered by most major universities as a part of their curriculum.

Online marketing is very, very different from traditional marketing and requires a large and vast knowledge of many things such as content marketing, search engine optimization, landing page optimization, community management, all in addition to social media marketing.

I mean, come on, if you can get a niche degree in Sports Marketing, why haven’t we caught up to the times?

What are your thoughts? Has online and social media marketing become so different from traditional marketing practices that it should be offered as a separate degree? Let me know in the comments.

–Lance Brown

Follow Lance on Twitter: @WTWH_SocialGuru

One of the subjects that I found most informative were the sessions on Pinterest because I know I’m not alone when I admit that I under-utilize this social media platform.

So, without further ado, here are some Pinterest best practices that I took away from Social Media Marketing World 2013.

Pinterest Best Practices

1) Be A Creator of Pins 

Over 80% of pins on Pinterest are repins, and the moral of the story there is be a part of the 20% and be a creator of pins, not just a re-pinner. (Tweet this)

2) Fill Your Boards and Pins With Keywords

This may sound like a no-brainer, but its astonishing to see how may people whiff on this point. Being found just by browsing can be very difficult, and its more beneficial to get in front of the persons eyes who are typing your keywords into the Pinterest search box.

Add text over your images to give your image context as well as increase its engagement rate.

3) Add Text to your Images

Don’t rely on people reading your pin’s description because chances are that they won’t. Adding text on top of your image can increase engagement with your post and can often put it in context. (Tweet this)

4) Make Tall Pins

Tall pins tend to get higher click-through-rates as well as more repins, so when you can, try and make your pins at least 800 pixels tall.   (Tweet this)

5) Pin Things Other Than your Products

There are a wide variety of things you can post that can drive traffic to your site as well as add value to the user. You can post things such as:

• 

  Pinning tutorial images can increase your click-through rate upwards 40%

  Infographics – Don’t have any? www.infogr.am is a great, free tool that provides infographic templates that are simple and easy to create

• Checklists – People love visual checklists and will repin them to save them for later
• Tutorials – Tutorial pins often have a collage or sequence of photos demonstrating how to do something. Tutorial pins often see a 40% (or more) higher click-through-rate compared to other pins (Tweet this)
• Blog Posts – This is a great way to gain traction to your blog. Find images related to your post (you can google non-royalty stock photos to find some) and don’t forget to overlay text on top of the photo describing the post or its title
• Videos – Yes, you can pin videos on your boards as well as images

6) Showcase your Products or Services In Action

When people are buying jewelry, for example, no one wants to see how it looks on a table, they want to see how it will look on them. So take the time to place your product or service in action and take a picture of it.

7) Don’t be afraid to upload your pins in bulk

Now you have to be careful with this one because you don’t want to go and post 300+ photos and absolutely clog someone’s Pinterest feed, but don’t be afraid to upload maybe 10 at a time. Doing this will help your products be seen as they will be grouped together as if it were its own category within the user’s feed.

A special thanks to all those whom I met and learned from at #SMMW13.

-Lance Brown

Follow Lance on Twitter: @WTWH_SocialGuru

What are your favorite quotes about the social media field? I’d love for you to share them with me in the comments below or tweet them to me @WTWH_SocialXprt.

1. Boost your response time
How-to: @tag fans, companies when commenting back

2. Track timing and frequency of posts
How-to: Find your high-frequency windows

3. Include one call to action per post
How-to: Use words such as share, comment, like, click here, sign-up and join us

4. Run a contest
How-to: Ask fans to submit cover photos for something relevant to your industry and feature that cover photo for one week

5. Vary content type
How-to:  Post pictures, videos, press releases and blogs

6. Test audience targeting
How to: Select the image of a target and choose your target audience when posting to Facebook

7. Spotlight your fans
How-to: Host Fanpage Friday – Let your fans promote their own page (good to do before a big announcement to boost EdgeRank) 

8. Build an interest list
How-to: Include public profiles and fan pages all centered around a relevant topic

9. Host events
How-to: Reply to questions between certain hours on a certain day of the week

10. Pay for more reach
How-to: Facebook advertising, video advertising, promoted posts

Follow Heather on Twitter: @WTWH_SocialXprt