Best Marketing Tips on the Web » Public Relations

Best Practices for Optimizing Your Content for Search

EmNichs — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:16:52 +0000

14 Popular SEO Myths Examined
With so much misinformation about SEO having been dispensed over the years, it’s hard to know what’s true and isn’t true – making it all the more difficult to separate the proverbial wheat from the chaff, as it were. Concerned about the potential harm misinformation about SEO can ultimately cause, I decided to compile an alphabetical listing of the most popular and persistent SEO myths, to either debunk or confirm their factuality. [Read full story at SiteProNews]

4 Ways to Gain SEO Favor with Google
Google’s Matt Cutts wants to dispel the myth that Google considers SEO to be spam. He outlines some basic SEO best practices and strategies for marketers to consider. Follow these guidelines and you’ll be better off than most. [Read full story at FindandConvert]

5 Press Release SEO Posts & 10 Bonus Tips for Better Google Rankings
Press Release SEO has been one of the most popular topics to attract Google search traffic here on Online Marketing Blog. In fact, Lee told me he’s been using PRWeb (a TopRank SEO Client) to promote content in a news format since 2001. [Read full story at TopRank Blog]

3 Articles to Help Optimize Your Search Marketing and PR

EmNichs — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 18:12:10 +0000

Lose the SEO Lingo and Optimize for Customers
No doubt, you’ve searched Google or Bing and found web pages that were clearly “optimized” in the name of SEO. That kind of copy might help a page appear higher in search results (less so with Panda) but doesn’t do much for readers once they click through. When I see those pages, it reminds me of the increasing…
[Read full story at TopRank Blog]

4 Ways to Improve Quotes in Press Releases
What will sink your press release faster than an iceberg on a foggy night? Well, besides clichés, superlatives, and meaningless terms such as “cutting-edge,” using poorly worded quotes will have reporters hitting the delete button before they read your third paragraph. Don’t fall victim to this problem. Consider the following tips as you are crafting your press release. [Read full story at Impertinent Remarks]

How to Become an Expert on Your Client’s Industry
Great business-to-business PR advisors aren’t know-it-alls; they are intellectually curious. Here are a few tips I’ve received over the years that I now pass along to my younger colleagues…
[Read full story at Ragan's PR Daily]

How SES 2011 is Encouraging Attendee Engagement

EmNichs — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:52:56 +0000

Search Engine Strategies (SES) is taking a page or two from their speaker’s marketing books. You know you’re at a marketing conference when you see the very tactics to engage the audience that are being preached about in the sessions.

Some of the engagement practices I’m seeing at SES 2011 include:

Connected Marketing Week mobile app where you can review speakers and presentations from your phone, among other things
Facebook page with infographics and speaker presentations
An interactive wall with schedules of the show and TV screens, including a Twitter feed display
Codes on every presentation template for Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, etc to increase their UGC and link-building
A contest for the audience, whoever tweets the most with hashtag #sessf gets free books
Speakers interacting with the crowd, giving away books and candy
SES has rights to all presentations so audience members can get content after show directly from them

Some other engagement tactics included at the show were multiple speed networking sessions throughout the day called Speed Connect, a cocktail hour following the final session of the day, and Webmaster Radio’s Search Bash.

Do you have an event coming up? Are you planning to exhibit? Think about all the different ways to engage the show audience. If you sponsor, your logo will be everywhere. There are ads on the walls, ads on the floors, electronic ads, print ads, magazines, one pagers, buttons, pens, keychains, t-shirts, bags…anything you can think of, it was at the show. There are so many opportunities to promote your brand besides just having a booth in the exhibit hall.

For those Search, Social Media, and Online marketing professionals out there that couldn’t make it to the show this year, I highly recommend you keep an eye out for the next SES Conference & Expo that comes to your town.

From The Show Floor: Exploring SES 2011

EmNichs — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 03:04:13 +0000

There are some great lectures happening at Search Engine Strategies (SES) here in lovely San Francisco. The conference kicked-off with a great keynote presentation about conversion triggers by Susan Bratton. Susan explained persuasion marketing and the 4 keys to motivating and influencing buyers. She also made sure to mention some key influencers in Neuro-marketing including our own Joseph Carrabis. The 4 realms include:

Neuro-marketing - how our operating systems work.
Copywriting – how to make a dog of an offer sound good.
Story-telling – “Persuasion is a sequence of emotions that take prospects from interest to action.”
Structured Communications – getting into the sales mind-set and creating an offer.

SES 2011 has provided a wide variety of lectures from User-Generated SEO and PPC to Social Media and Viral Content. A couple of the sessions included:

The Tools of the Trade of PPC
Advanced Keyword Modeling
Meaningful SEO Metrics: Going Beyond Numbers
Automating Social Media: Creating & Distributing the Message

The conference is perfect for marketing newbies looking to understand paid search and analytics, or the more experienced marketing pro looking to learn more about the latest trends like persuasion marketing and social media. There’s no shortage of expert speakers like Lee Odden, Thom Craver, Brad Geddes, Michael DeHaven.

In addition to the flow of information and tips during these sessions, you have the opportunity for one-on-one conversations with search, social and software vendors and consultants including Google, Bing, blekko, DMA’s Email Experience Council, PRWeb, SEOmoz, and more.

..and this was only day 1. It’s sure to be a busy and informative day 2 for me…so stay tuned!

Relating Social Media and Search to Public Relations

EmNichs — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:15:18 +0000

Social Media and Public Relations. Friends or Enemies?
Last month, we launched a new monthly B2B expert roundtable series titled: B2B Marketing – In 140 Words Or Less. The intent is to start conversations on the toughest topics facing today’s B2B marketing community.
[Read full story at B2Bbloggers]

Why is Search Important to PR?
In the State of the Media 2011 Pew Research stated that search is the one factor that most affected the news business in the past decade. Since news is a vital part of PR, perhaps we should examine how search plays a part in PR and media relations. [Read full story at Business2Community]

McKinsey’s Thought Leadership Called Into Question: A B2B Public Relations Lesson
McKinsey, whose intellectual capital is typically the gold standard for consulting firms, has been slammed by the media about the study’s vague methodology and questionable results. The fallout provides some important reminders for public relations professionals… [Read full story at B2Bliss]

Tips for Connecting SEO, Social Media and PR

EmNichs — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:32:06 +0000

5 Tips for Increasing Your AdWords Quality Score
Quality Score is a dynamic variable assigned to each of your keywords that essentially affects your ad rank and the cost per click. So for a higher Quality Score, you can achieve a higher ranking at a lower cost. So how is a Quality Score determined? There are three factors…
[Read full story at ClickZ]

SEO Resources for Public Relations
Search engine optimization is a PR tactic. And if you think it’s the other way around, you’re doing both wrong…Certain elements of SEO are important tactics for integrated communications professionals to keep in mind…It can affect ecommerce, reputation and, if not managed properly, can be detrimental. [Read full story at Thinkers & Doers]

How Social Media Affects Search Marketing
In a very eye-opening article recently posted on the site SEOMoz brought to light the fact that Google search results are now being directly impacted by the social connections of the person doing the searching. As the author of the piece astutely posints out, “This should be giving everyone in search marketing a huge “ah ha” moment.” [Read full story at socialmediatoday]

7 Social SEO Questions PR Pros Need Answers To

EmNichs — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 15:28:14 +0000

7 Social SEO Questions Public Relations Pros Need the Answers To
The storytelling business is a competitive one and great messaging isn’t realized until it connects with influencers and those in a position to propagate it. Both SEO and Social Media facilitate discovery of news and information, so PR pros can boost reach and impact by becoming Social SEO savvy. [Read full story at Top Rank]

Inbound Marketing With Webinars Part 2 – Promotion
After you develop your presentation it is very important that you have a promotion plan in place and have given yourself enough time to implement this plan. There are hundreds of ways to market your webinar. [Read full story at kunocreative]

How To Use Occupational Targeting In Facebook For B2B Leads & Sales
For many B2B marketers, mainstream social channels a la Facebook (FB) and LinkedIn remain the proverbial Wild West of the contextual online advertising realm. While some early-adopters look to these platforms with intrigue and enthusiasm, others are handicapped by intimidation— skeptical of how rich and sophisticated these social landscapes might be. [Read full story at search engine land]

PR’s Role in the Marketing Mix

EmNichs — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 15:20:46 +0000

Importance of Social Media & SEO for Public Relations
With an ever increasing universe of data and ways to connect, PR and communications professionals are in a compelling position to master the new rules for consumer information discovery, consumption and sharing. As participants and content creators savvy about the search and social web, PR professionals can directly impact online brand visibility, customer engagement and acquisition. [Read full story at Top Rank]

Top 5 Tips for Breaking Into Public Relations
I recently met with a young woman who was seeking advice on how to break into the public relations field. Like many people graduating college over the past couple of years, she returned home and took the first job presented to her. So what would be the best way for her to get started in the PR field? [Read full story at PMM]

3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Measure PR
There are times when measurement is a waste of time and does you no good. Don’t believe me? Take a look…Aside from my personal financial stake in getting Walmart or a big bank to hire me to help them with measurement, I’ll give you three reasons why you should not measure—and three reasons why you should. [Read full story at ragan.com]

Using Mobile and Social Marketing to Promote a Brand

EmNichs — Mon, 16 May 2011 17:31:39 +0000

Mobile Search More Important to Marketing Efforts [Data]
Search, one of the top online activities overall, is becoming more important on mobile devices for both users and advertisers. eMarketer estimates that mobile search ad spending will make up 27% of the U.S. mobile ad market this year, rising to 34% by 2014. [Read full story at Hubspot]

4 Reasons Why Q&As Are The Answer To Marketing
You can while away hours answering questions or reading other people’s responses. But, used strategically, Q&A sites can help you position yourself as an expert while improving your online visibility and expanding your network. [Read full story at American Express OPEN Forum]

How to use text messaging and Twitter DMs to reach reporters in real time
I’ve said many times that the best way to reach reporters is when they are looking for what you have. It’s real-time communication with reporters when they are working on a story that gets you (or your clients) into the news. [Read full story by David Meerman Scott]

How to Keep the Content Coming

EmNichs — Thu, 12 May 2011 14:53:50 +0000

Feeding the Beast – 5 Quick Tips to Satisfy the Content Generation Monster
There is a growing recognition amongst the business fraternity that the days of the static, brochure-style website are dead and buried. All hail the living, breathing, regularly-updated website and resource hub – packed full of up-to-the-minute news, views, opinions and downright valuable content. [Read full story at Valuable Content:]

How to Turn a Blog Post into a Press Release
If you’re an ace at writing blog copy, you can write an excellent press release. Both have many of the same elements: strong headlines, top-down format (most important stuff up front), etc. You already know that press releases are a powerful way to promote your blog, and they’re an effective way to get your message out without duplicating content. [Read full stroy at PROBLOGGER]

Why PR is good for branding
Public relations is critically important to branding; perhaps even its most important element. This is because PR is the primary architect and facilitator of stakeholder engagement, its brief being to be concerned about both the organisation and its stakeholders – their knowledge, opinions and behaviour. [Read full story by Craig Pearce]