Archive for 2009

Using Live Chat To Build Links

By Debra on September 30, 2009

chatty-cathy

 

Earlier this month the Wall Street Journal ran an article on how businesses were using Live Chat to make incremental sales. 

This bit caught my eye:

 

 In late April, home improvement e-tailer Improvement Direct Inc., of Chico, Calif., used a chat feature on its site to converse directly with customers about its products and services. The response was overwhelming. “We got flooded,” says Brandon Proctor, vice president of marketing. “We couldn’t believe how many chats we were getting.” In July alone, the company had more than 300 chats daily and converted them into sales at a rate of 9%

Way to go Improvement Direct!    Since I suffer from link tunnel vision I immediately started to wonder how I could use the live chat application to get people to link.  Here’s what I came up with:

1.  At the end of every chat have the operator ask the customer if they’d like to have a permanent discount code for the product you’re selling.  All they have to do is link to your site and you’ll send the code.

2.  If you have a product requiring assembly instructions or a “how to use guide”  provide these links in the chat.  On the pages hosting these “how to” guides, make a push to link to your site.

3.  Do an email blast to current customers annoucing the new chat feature on your site.  In the correspondence drop the “link to us” offer and include a giveaway as a thank you.

4.  Issue a press release annoucing the new feature and your company’s committment to customer service and using advanced technology.  

While it’s a good idea to look at everything as an opportunity to promote your website,  it’s not a good idea to go overboard and become a pest asking for links.    Keep the number of times you ask to a minimum and use  the elements with the highest visibililty for a better chance of link building success.

P.S.  If you’re interested in the technology, the article mentioned Meebo as a free live chat software and search on the phrase “live chat software” for the paid companies.

Comments (9)
Categories: General, Tools

You Shouldn’t Use YouTube For Building YouLinks

By Debra on September 28, 2009

dont-do-it2

 

 

 

 

 

As a link builder I’m not enamoured with YouTube and do not recommend using it as a primary way to build links or as an integral part of your SEO program. 

 Why?

  • Videos on YouTube are on YouTube so any optimization effort you implement helps YouTube and not your website/pages.     

  • YouTube contributes to the pinking of the ‘Net/Web (uses nofollow) so any link you insert to guide people back to your site passes no link popularity. 
     
  • While traffic from YouTube can be beneficial, you have to optimize the content on YouTube like any other in order for people to find it.  This is time better spent elsewhere.
     
  • Efforts to make a video go viral begin with the webmaster, not YouTube
      
  •  It’s doubtful you’ll build a brand following on YouTube unless the public is already aware of your brand.      

  •  By-n-large people look  for information on a search engine first, they don’t search on YT for a place to buy baseball cards.  There is a reason Google has become a verb and YouTube a pastime.

But the number one reason?

  • YouTube results bump web pages down in the general search results and web pages make sales , videos don’t!

Want to see what I mean?  Look here, here, and here  and notice how the videos are all ranking in the top five but the sites they represent – don’t.    Yes the exposure is nice but where is there opportunity to make a sale??    Throw in local search results and images showing up and it can take a while to get to a static search result.   If your goal is to make your website an authority in your industry/niche, you should house and promote the videos on your site, not YouTube.  This will help with algorithmic authority, branding and traffic.

So is using YouTube to build SEO  links a wasted effort?   Pretty much which is why I don’t recommend using it to increase your link popularity but I wouldn’t totally discount using the number two search engine on the Net to build awareness.  Consider doing this: 

  • Make shorter versions of your video’s and insert on YouTube, longer vid stays on your site
  • Create those shorter versions as teasers and as a lead-in to promotions/information on your site
  • Be sure the start and ending frame of the vid include the URL to your website
  • Optimize your YouTube listing with your keywords
  • Be the first one to leave a comment/review under your vid, include the URL to your website and explain a longer more detailed version of the vid exists on your website
  • Encourage everyone you know to drop a comment/review on the video  (re/views help push your vid to the top for your keywords)
  • Create a video area on your site just as you would a media room and promote it to the media, your customers, vendors etc.
  • Make the vid’s on your website available through Creative Commons, make full descriptions embedded with kw rich links part of your attribution.

You need to decide what’s best for your site and if having YouTube video’s come up in the serps for your keywords is your goal, power to you.  But if you’re in business to make a profit and plan to use video to attract links, know the links you point at YouTube will have little to no effect on your overall rankings. 

Use YouTube or any image/audio hosting site wisely and they can be your greatest ally  and not a ranking enemy.

(photo taken from Zazzle.  Buy a tee shirt!)

Comments (26)
Categories: Content, General, Media Links

Yak, Yak Link!

By Debra on September 14, 2009

phoneIf you like  new toys and notoriety, I may have something to satisfy your techno fathead  and bring in a link or twenty.

I came across a social media  service today called SayNow;  they give away free telephone numbers people can call to hear personalized recorded messages from their favorite celebrities.

Once they’ve heard the message fans can leave a note for the celebrity and the celebrity can either answer personally or broadcast to his/her “followers”.    Right now the service is entertainment and athlete dominated but that’s changing as anyone can sign up for a number and start calling.  SayNow allows you to make your calls public or private, integrate with Twitter, Facebook and MySpace  and send out mp3, photos or text messages.  With  over 10 million registered users, SayNow has some impressive numbers if you consider they had five million in November 2008. 

My linkey senses went all tingly as I started thinking about how I could use this tool to deliver a targeted message and drive links naturally.  I came up with two ideas to start:

1.  Since the tool is integrated with Twitter and Facebook, tweet your SayNow telephone number and encourage your  followers to call in.  Create a welcome message and include

 an incentive redeemable at your site

 a retweet request  of your SayNow account  and most importantly

 a  request to link to your site. 

2.  I’d also recommend you:

write a press release announcing your SayNow telephone number, include info on the incentive program

email the press release to current customer and vendor list as well as your association and Chamber memberships

issue release through service such as PRWeb

highlight being an early adopter of the concept (make yourself look smart!)

encourage people to “fan” your SayNow account to receive automated updates

 If you sell to the teen market, this might be a service to try since teens are known to be into cell phones.  From the NYTimes:

But studios and stars are turning more heavily to the phone as a marketing tool as new services like SayNow pop up; cellphones become more ubiquitous; and evidence grows that their most crucial customers — teenagers — are not all that enamored with the likes of Twitter. A voice message is more intimate and authentic than a status update.

 And even if you don’t, marketing your SayNow telephone number to your customers, your Twitter followers and your Association  can put any future link building promotions squarely in their hand-held telephones :)   Hey it’s free, what do you have to lose?

Comments (7)
Categories: General

Pride In The Tribe

By Debra on September 5, 2009

virginia21

No link building post here, just a HUGE air punch for William & Mary, they beat
The University of Virginia (UVA) this evening in an exciting season opener in Charlottesville.  It’s the first time WM has beaten a FBS (football bowl school) school since 1998 so KUDOS to the green and gold.  Go Tribe!!

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Categories: General
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