The YVR Bloggers Meetup met on December 11 in the gallery atrium of the Waterfall Building for a panel discussion about using search engine optimization (SEO) and social media to promote your blog. This was the group’s second meetup and my first time hanging with them. I didn’t know what to expect, but was surprised at how much bang we got for our ten bucks.
Hosted by organizer Daddy Blogger Ricky Shetty, this Christmasy meetup brought together eight experts from the local marketing industry to dispense internet wisdom. With only five minutes to make their points on SEO and social, each expert had to be succinct and talk fast. It was like speed dating for geeks.
Experts Explode
Christine Neilson of MsPixel told us what tools to use to monitor and manage SEO efforts.
Her favorite plugin for controlling SEO is Yoast SEO and for measuring your traffic use Google Analytics. XMLSitemap helps Google see your pages. Google Authorlink is a plugin to help manager your authorship.
Bosco Anthony of Bosco Anthony said Google’s algorithm update, Hummingbird, is focusing on the “semantics of keyword research. We’re moving from a stage of content to context,” which is all about integrating your media.
Traffic doesn’t mean anything anymore, it’s all about conversion. When you think about content, look at your distribution and your social network, because those are the people that will make your content go viral.
Cijaye DePradine from Web Cash Coach, said it doesn’t matter how much traffic you get if the high quality visitors don’t convert.
Look at your posts strategically, she said,structure them to deliver a series of information that can be repackaged into an ebook, training course, a membership program “into an empire of massive revenues.” Also, understand the value of your audience using Google analytics and figure out how to get your users to convert.
Keith Kidwell of Netsurf Marketing said keyword research is the best place to get an idea of what information is in demand. Knowing where people are when they use search terms is important too.
Entering long specific phrases into the keyword research tools helps to find the descriptive long-tail keywords where the intention of the user is more clear. Always do keyword research before you take a step in the SEO direction. If you don’t, you’ll miss the target and you won’t see conversions.
Bonnie Sainsbury of Social Media Smarter suggested we think about 3 kinds of visitors: unique – those who find you on search or social media; recurring – through bookmarks, social media or via feeds like Feedly; and opt-in visitors. Think about who is responding to your blog and how to get people to opt in.
People that find you through groups like Meetup, Blogher, and Triberr will give you a bigger audience. On social media, she said 15-20% of your post should push your blog, the rest should be about your niche, thought leaders, etc. Use Bufferapp and Google Insights, to see what content is resonating with people, then make changes, measure again, repeat.
Christian Thomson of Marwick Marketing suggested a number of places to get Do Follow links (which pass along link juice). He said Linkedin has an area called Publications which gives Do Follow links. (This is done through your profile.) Flickr is good for a strong Do Follow link placed in each photo’s description. On Google Plus you can put deep links in your About section.
Also, don’t just cut and paste the URL in the Google Plus “Share What’s New” box; use the actual “Link” tool to get a Do Follow link.
Emily Chow from Chow Communications said going viral happens when people can’t help but share your post. Since Hummingbird is all about content and context, bloggers need to make themselves as relevant and interesting to an exact target market who will love what they do and share it.
She suggests creating a “spiderweb network” of content that is far reaching and relates back to one place. First, launch a blog post, then a facebook post with a graphic to go with it, send a tweet, and put up a video blog. Four pieces all related to the same concept will lift up your site in the search engines.
Chuck Anderson from Blissful Parenting offered several search alternatives to Google. Try using Facebook’s ad section to research keywords. And, Youtube is now considered the #2 search engine and has yet another set of keywords to research. Also, compile your blogs into an ebook to sell on Amazon, which is also a search engine.
These promotional suggestions were flying faster than shwag bags at WordCamp. After the SEO panel finished, they were bombarded with questions which they kindly answered until a band started playing.
I’m not kidding, a guitar and drum duo played at the Meetup.
During this intermission, I browsed the vendor tables and bought a bubble gun. Yes, I also did some Christmas shopping at this Meetup.
More Than SEO
Later, we listened to an excellent presentation on media kits by Leann Froese of Town Hall Marketing, as well as a talk about Facebook marketing by Matt Astifan.
All that, in addition to testimonies by three guys from the Salvation Army sprinkled throughout the evening.
But I have to say, Victoria Clements’ karaoke-style performance of Santa Baby made me realize this ain’t over ’til the skinny lady sings.
I’m wondering what the YVR Bloggers will do for an encore.
Merry Christmas AND Happy Holidays to all my readers. May you all come back again next year!