The benefits of an increase in Google Toolbar PageRank (PR)

Google seems to have rolled out updates to the toolbar PageRank(PR) in the past couple of days. The last update was sometime in February.

Unlike in February, when I got the impression that there was a "general" drop --a personal view based on a very small sample of sites--this time I get the impression that the green bar has generally grown taller or longer [depending on the browser/ settings].

Benefits of an increase in the toolbar PR
The "psychological" benefits are enormous!
(a) Feel good factor: Doesn't the statement: PageRank is Google's measure of the importance of this page make you feel good, especially if you see that the PR bar is getting greener?

(b) Hope, Optimism & Re-assurance: Don't you experience highly positive emotions of hope and optimism that with a higher PR, your website is going to get greater traffic and cosequently more revenues (directly or indirectly)? Isn't it re-assuring to know that you are probably on the right track towards whatever that end goal is?

The consensus among SEO pundits is that the toolbar PR doesn't mean much and that material benefits like better search engine rankings and therefore, higher traffic are unlikely.

That is probably the case, but hey, while we are focused on the material benefits, let's continue to enjoy those wonderful feel good feelings of hope, optimism and reassurance with that little green bar.

After all, in most parts of the world, it is much better to see green than red or grey! :)

Link Building or 'Black Mailing' ?

A client of ours sent us the folllowing e-mail they received from a link building 'professional'.

It is a follow-up letter to his original solicitation.

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I have send you already a mail for link exchange if you want good links for your site than reply me fast..

I will place your link at our good site.

Send me mail for link exchange…. Here …

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It is obvious that this person is not a trained professional and doesn't have any sense that he is essentially trying to market his website. Most likely he is a freelancer trying to meet a set quota of links within a set time frame.

The more such e-mails go out, the more companies will be apprehensive of outsourcing link building. After all, their reputations are at stake.

On a slightly different note, notice the impatience and brashness in the tone of the e-mail? Unfortunately, I see a lot of it in the ITES/BPO generation in India. Arrogance is increasingly being mistaken for confidence. Of course, we want to see a self-confident society that can face the world on its own terms, but not an arrogant one that does not appreciate the value of humility.

Google, George Soros to fund SMEs in India?

Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim quotes a report from AP & Reuters that says Google along with the Soros Economic Development Fund and the Omidyar Network is going to fund SMEs in India.

It might well turn out to be a great investment for the future. Wonder what kind of businesses will be targeted for funding.

YouTube partner program- A bonus revenue opportunity for content creators

Revenue sharing with content creators is not a new concept--- numerous publishers, particularly those driven by the user-generated content (UG)model have been doing that for some time, mainly with the Google AdSense program, to incentivise content creators to contribute content.

What appears to be different about the YouTube partner program, which has been in place in the US and Canada and introduced to the UK very recently, is that the video content contributed to YouTube does not have to be exclusive ie. content creators can post/ distribute that content at multiple locations.

Without going through the terms and conditions closely, it seems like a very good opportunity for content publishers to generate additional revenue from YouTube's captive audience. Not only can these publishers monetize their content on their own properties with whatever audience they are able to attract, but they can also generate revenue from the publishing of the same content on YouTube, while still retaining the rights to license/ syndicate content anywhere else they choose to. How attractive this revenue stream will be for these publishers will depend on their reputations, ability to generate traffic to their own properties and the price the content can command, if licensing was an option.

Of course, such publishers may not be the key target for the partner program. That would be the individual/ small-time content creators who may be able to generate good-quality and relevant, niche video content, but don't have the marketing wherewithal to attract a sufficient audience and monetize the content.

SEO & keyword ranking reports

One of the questions we often get asked is: how often do you provide keyword ranking reports? Monthly, we answer. Can you provide it weekly, we get asked in return? Why would you need those weekly, we are tempted to ask, but choose to decline in a more polite manner.

Suffice to say, the obsession with "keyword rankings report" is one of those things a SEO agency has to live with. Not that it is totally bad--- afterall, it is one of the ways clients get an idea of what is happening with their SEO campaign. The problem is when that report is taken as indisputable evidence of the success or failure, or the competence or lack thereof, of the SEO agency.

The evolution of search engines means that position ranking reports need to viewed with a handful of salt. Search results may vary from location to location- why, even computer to computer. We've seen numerous examples where users sitting a couple of metres apart and searching for the same phrase have been shown a different set of results by Google, even when none of these users were logged in. So, how could one rely entirely on the ranking report, typically generated using a software?

The challenge for a SEO agency is to try and get clients (and often, prospects), focused on the right metrics. While Google Adwords says it very powerfully,"It's all about results", for us the focus has to be "It's all about results that matter".

Simple & effective link baits/ link building tactics

Jason Lee Miller at WebProNews wrote a piece today "Making Link Bait Work for You".

I liked the piece because it summarizes the three basic approaches that work when working on building link popularity. I like such categorization/grouping [let's say, the 50,000 feet view] because it often makes the problem/project at hand seem much simpler/ less daunting than when looking at the specific items. Undoubtedly, it is the latter that will ultimately get the results, but looking at the broad picture often lets us be creative and come up with "innovative" specifics.

Nevertheless, excerpts from Jason's article on link bait are included below- typically, most websites will need a good mix of all of these simple link building tactics for an effective campaign, but choose the one that suits your objectives and your website/ product/ service the most.

Long term success of any link building campaign or effort really depends on how scalable a particular approach is, how we can get "x" multiples in return (aka, links) of the effort we put in. This requires thought, time and effort (read, money)-- a fact that is not often appreciated/understood enough.

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The Resource Approach (Becoming the Expert In Your Field/Niche)
-- Create expert articles/lists/data sheets
-- Create practical or fun tools
-- Write How-To articles
-- Create a comprehensive blog roll (give link love, get link love)
-- Compile informative news stories and articles

The News Approach
- Get the scoop. Be first with industry news
-- Interview prominent people in your field
-- Investigate a hot topic
-- Do an exposé

The Humor/Novelty Approach
-- Post funny/interesting/amazing photos related to your industry
-- Create humorous/unique videos (Use Blendtec for inspiration)
-- Create lists; people love lists – Top 10 Ways to…; 10 Signs You're…

But whatever you create as link bait, don't just post and forget it. Send out emails to industry people, drop a link into Digg, post at YouTube. In short, take advantage of every medium at your disposal.

SEO Simplified: 3 'simple' SEO tips for great search engine traffic

Most of us in the SEO business know of the scepticism with which we are viewed---- some 'luminaries' have even branded SEO professionals as glorified snake oil salesmen. SEO is not rocket science, they scream at every given opportunity.

You know what, they may well be right.

There are only 3 things anybody has to do to drive search engine traffic to your website through the roof. So, here are those 3 simple SEO tips.

Content: Create "great" content, "frequently".
Now "great" is very subjective isn't it. So let's qualify that further: Relevant, Topical/Timely.

Accessibility: Make that great content accessible
Accessible to both humans and search engine spiders....

Popularity: Make the great content/website you create "popular"-- Spread the word, make your site known.

Absolutely simple, isn't it? If you said, "Yeah, what the heck, I knew that. I want to know HOW", I'm glad.

That's the 'rocket science' SEO consultants & other SEO professionals get paid for to think and execute.

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SEO 'Quote of the Day':
Plan & prepare for (SEO) success, and you will achieve more (SEO) success by accident as well.

Challenges in B2B online marketing

I found a useful blog post titled, the Top 5 Challenges for B2B Demand Generation Marketers.

An excerpt that I found particularly relevant and important for companies that have second thoughts about using online marketing / search marketing for their B2B marketing efforts (emphasis mine).

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What matters today in marketing is to be findable when people are looking. This, of course, means being everywhere they might possibly be when they start searching.

There are two interesting implications to this. First, it implies lots of cross-media, low-volume campaign all year long rather than spending your budget on one or two big programs. This way you can spread your budget across time period and channels.

Second, you need to focus your efforts where people look – and by far, this means managing your search engine marketing campaigns, especially on Google.

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