I was looking to see where we ranked for our infographic marketing post today and was pleased to see us still ranking in the top 10. There are only a few other posts on the topic that are of any use and not just fluff, so when I saw who was outranking us, I kind of got a little pissed off. I thought I’d give an example that involves someone I know (am). Some of you may remember my rant about the buy espresso beans search results – we’ve been ranking top 10 ever since and we shouldn’t be at all.
From what I’ve been seeing in the SERPs, and I’m sure you have too, tons and tons of junk content still ranks. If you dig deeper into the actionable keywords like buy/review/best you’ll see an even scarier set of results. For the most part, the cliche “content is king” is looking like it’s 100% bollocks because links are God. I might hear from a couple of complainers that there are hundreds of ranking factors, but when it comes to tough keywords, it usually only comes down to links.
So the image below is a pretty accurate SERP result from a few different locations and people, so it should suffice for this post. As you can see, we’re ranked number 7 and right below us is a post from Mashable (which I’m surprised isn’t higher). The site that got my goat is from the Mono-Live site, which is a spam blog that is basically there to sell text links. The post has nothing of worth in it and the site is powered by tons of spam links and that’s about it….
At least Google got the first position right as Lee Oden’s post on the subject has been around longer, is well linked and as always, extremely well written. So I’d love to hear from you folks on similar cases like this where you’re getting bonked about by the SERPs but lousy content in this post Panda world. I will also be continuing my panda case studies as the year goes on, so stay tuned.
A lot of people think ads on a website were a big factor in the Google Panda algorithm update despite a Google spam team employee stating they didn’t factor in ads. If they had, or if they did without telling us then the Washington Post needs a smack upside the head. I was doing my daily redditing and came across a link that lead me to their site and this is what I got smacked in the face with…I don’t really care but thought it would make for a funny post. Please excuse my lame ass GIMP editing skills on this picture. How’s this for user experience?
For those hotels still wanting to get marketing on Foursquare, or those unsure if it’s worth it should quickly watch this short video. Taken at SMX West recently, Bhawna Sharma talks with Foursquare’s own Tristan Walker about the specific benefits. As you know, we do a lot of hotel marketing and Foursquare is a gold mine for regular business use, driving into their API for advance use or coming up with unique link bait that works from their platform. At the very least, get your hotel in their system and build that venue page because you’ll at least get a nice link and the attention of current users.
The only thing more spooky than what’s going on with Google’s SERPs lately is their Halloween inspired theme going on. If you drop on in to the Google Webmaster Central you’ll see this on your screen while you’re trying to give or get help. I’ve always seen the homepage get an animation or graphic, but this is the first time I’ve seen it elsewhere in the network. Not really much of a post, just thought I’d fill in some words while having the morning coffee.
We recently helped a hotel chain put together a 6-12 month link building + social media plan and do some training with the staff. I ended up getting a little training myself when they let me loose on their Radian6 account. If you’re unfamilair with this social media toolset then I recommend you jump on over to their website after checking out this video. We’re going to be doing a lot of social media based contests in the coming year, as well heavily tracking what’s being said. I’ve only had a few hours in there but it was really a delight and I think I’ll be recommending this to a few clients.
The data it presents makes tracking your efforts the best I’ve seen and if your brand is deep in the social media game, then check out Radian6!
It seems that creating an entire website, domain and all, is becoming a really fashionable way to market a single, usually very special, residence online. Granted, you probably won’t have nearly enough time to set one up for each listing, but for the ones that could really use some exposure, it might just be worth your time to throw up a micro site and maybe get a few potential buyers interested that wouldn’t have known about the property before.
Admittedly, you don’t necessarily have to buy a domain for a micro site, but if you do buck up and spend the ten dollars, it will lend your page that much more credibility, you can buy a keyworded domain to help with your rankings, and customize it entirely for the property. Let’s be honest, the competition to represent some of these multi-million dollar pieces of real estate is tough, everybody wants the commission and prestige that comes with selling one, but you have to be willing to take that extra step for the client. Having a custom built website for the property is going to be just that.
You don’t necessarily want to stop at buying the domain and slapping up a picture or two with the MLS number. No, you’ll want to go full bore and get what you can from the property and the owner so that you can really market the place. The website you are creating is really only a container for the incredible content you should be putting up on the site so get all the content you can and make sure that its quality reflects that of the house.
In some instances, keyword domains will help you sell a place because of the ease of ranking for said keywords, but, similarly, you might be able to market a property entirely on its address, if it’s cool. I wouldn’t recommend buying a domain for “4152 12th Ave” but if it’s something cool and marketable like “1 Panorama Ridge”, go for it.
Pictures
As far as content goes, you’ll not need much more than a few pages. First of all, you’ll want to throw up a few pictures of the house. I think you’ll find that white, clean themes with rotating headers will look best for showcasing a beautiful house. Good pictures are probably going to be the most important element in marketing these properties online. Although hiring a professional photographer will yield more desirable pictures, there is no reason that you shouldn’t be able to take a few stunning shots of the property.
Always keep the website in mind when you’re shooting, and even though a 15 megapixel image won’t do much for a website, a nice crisp lens and proper lighting are going to be a necessity. If you don’t have massive flashes that you can move all around the house, use natural light as much as you can. Open all the windows and, if you need to, bring a tall tripod so that you can take longer exposures for crisp photos.
I recommend having at least a couple good pictures of each room before you call it a day and when you’re shooting the exterior, the lower the sun in the sky, the better. You might have to take photos throughout the day to get the different shots of the house in the perfect light, but it will pay off.
Post-processing is also going to be a very important part of your pictures so get your skills ready and make those pictures pop.
Video
Similarly, you’ll want to have a video for the house as well. In the age of super smart phones, anything less than 720p is basically not worth trying. You might be the creative type and really run with the video portion of the website, but if not, either acquaint yourself with a video editing program or have a video made by pros using the pictures you have of the house. Not every video needs to be of the “15 Queen Anne Court” level of quality, but something like that is certainly not going to hurt your chances of selling the house. Remember that everything you put up on the site is going to be very closely associated with the property, whether rationally or not, so make sure that you’re not just carrying your cell phone through the house with wobble and a commentary that happens at the same time.
If you are going to do a tour, keep your phone or camera (my phone takes awesome video and yours should too) steady and plan out the shots before you shoot them. Always record commentary later through whichever recording device you have that produces the best sound quality. Great microphones are $100 and if you’re planning on doing this often, it’s not much for a lasting investment. A few cheesy, but admittedly powerful, time lapse shots of sun rising and setting over the property with manipulative music for a couple minutes should be plenty.
Copy
Next, you’ll want to write about the house. People tend to get bored reading long articles so I don’t imagine you’ll need more than a thousand words to describe the house to any potential buyer. You will definitely want to have a few substantial paragraphs so that the search engines are friendly to the new website, but I think that the pictures and video will do most of the marketing. If the house has any really funny anecdotes or famous previous owners, that’s definitely something worth mentioning, but you don’t really need to do a room by room description of the entire property. That being said, if it’s not too much work for you, it might be an idea to create a page for each room with a few pictures arranged in a nice gallery and a small writeup for each one. You can create a menu item for bedrooms that drops down to all the bedrooms the house has and do the same for bathrooms, kitchens, pools, airports, whatever… It will probably be overkill for the average buyer, but the site will look nice and robust to Google and the customers who want to see the house from abroad can actually view every room.
Whatever Else You’ve Got
I’m sure you’ve used tools like 360 degree room views among others, but now is the time to whip out every tool in your arsenal that helps move houses. Use maps, schools, restaurants, community centers, and whatever else you can use to sell the house on the website. Try to put a little spin on everything you do for these special properties so that they stick out from the competition. Now is the time to put on your marketing hat and whip out all the good and creative ideas floating around in your mind. Spitball with friends, associates, and, if they’re up for it, the house’s current owners. The more minds on creative projects, the better, so get together with different types of people and we could be talking about your site when it goes up.
If you need help
Quite frankly, we’ve been providing this service to some of our clients in the past and they think we should offer microblog setup as a package on its own. Get in touch with us if you need to get some help putting everything together.
I know we already wrote about the wicked cool marketing stunt by Ben & Jerry’s earlier with their Schweddy Balls, but sh!t just got real. Hot on the trail of news of an entire new season of Arrested Development prior to the movie, it looks like a fan has made a Ben & Jerry’s flavour called “Tobias Funke’s I Just Blue Myself” ice cream and it’s going mega viral right now.
This is such a great example of how fans can build your brand online. What’s more is that it works for both Arrested Development and Ben & Jerry’s. Can’t wait to see if the two will bow to pressure and actually make the stuff. Photo credit and work goes to designer ninja Jonny Etc.
I’m an avid Reddit user, 5 year club but who’s bragging? There are plenty of awesome examples of social media doing great things for a brand without them trying. The other day I came across this highly up-voted post about something one of the Kimpton Hotel’s did in response to a customer. With over 1250 comments so far and a few thousand votes, you know this is going to be seen by tens of thousands of people. I hope the person who replied from the Kimpton Hotel gets a little extra bonus next month because you just can’t ask for a better “strategy”.
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Negative SEO Attack?
Check out the anatomy of a "negative SEO" attack on our own site in our latest post. There's too much worry about these attacks happening, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. Come read what I think and just what to do if anything like this happens to your brand.
