While many SEO agencies have been concerned about the projected death of blogging at the hands of the new juggernaut of social media, reports currently show that blogging continues to defy the odds and show strong signs of growth over the last months, not to mention positive projections for the future as well. In reports published by the Nielsen McKinsey group, where they tracked over 181 million blogs around the world, it was found that while growth may not be as dramatic as that of the new kids on the block – Twitter and its big brother Facebook – blogging remains a popular and effective form of SEO through the growing number of readers, that just seems to get better with age.

Years ago online activity was static and simple. People visited websites and then emailed the address at the bottom of the page for further interaction.
How we use the internet now is very different and dynamic, with online interaction increasingly transferring to social network sites.

In the era of social media businesses are constantly advised on how best to establish a presence on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and other networks. Experts insist that in this day and age no business can afford to neglect their social media strategy because of the nearly limitless possibilities for reaching consumers and liaising with other businesses.

Of course this is correct. But be wary of losing yourself in a frenzy of company blogging and company twitter feed updating at the expense of maintaining what is still the most stable and important part of your business’s web presence – your own website. Vibrantly engaging with consumers, participating in online conversations, and convincing people to click on your links are worthless pursuits if there’s nothing exciting waiting at your website.

There are many shady SEOs out there; we call these guys Snake Oil salesmen because they’re scammers who would sell their own grandmothers given half a chance.

These are the guys who offer “Guaranteed” first page listings in a ridiculously short period of time. They target small businesses that don’t have a huge budget and are easily sucked into the vortex of deception. Of course, it’s not only small businesses that get approached, but these are the guys who will feel the impact most.

Whatever means these SEOs use to achieve rankings and deliver promised traffic, they cannot be ethical. At the end of the day, many small business owners don’t know any better, all they really know about SEO is what these conmen have sold him. Promises of great traffic and impressive listings, and they are sold. These are the bandits that give us ethical SEOs a really bad name and they must be stopped.

Viral marketing has proven to be very successful for many online companies, so long as they get it right. That`s the trick though: to get it right. There are many reasons why viral marketing can sometimes hit the mark, and will at other times slither into underground territory where no one takes any notice of it. Finding the right playing field can be tricky, but once you`ve correctly targeted and researched your market, your viral campaign should be set to go. Only the right target market will catch on to the intent of the campaign, so double check that you are distributing/introducing it into the appropriate social community.

Creating a thriving presence online among an array of social media sites can be taxing on your time and resources. There are so many choices out there that it can become confusing when deciding on which platform/s you want to create your profile, and with which communities you want to get involved. It`s best to keep your number of profiles down to two or three. This is because you want to be able to dedicate your focus, valuable resources and opinions to only a few areas, as opposed to spreading yourself across as many sites as possible.

If you answered yes to the question, then this is a necessary read that contains some helpful resources for healing the damaging effects of bad press. I came across an article by Jeff Quipp on the Search Engine People Blog, which discussed burying negative posts that may have surfaced online about you or your company. It lists an extensive array of sites that can be used to your advantage when building up profiles on various online platforms in order to detract attention from the actual negative article that is being circulated, and to push it off the first results page. Removing negative press from the first page of the SERPs can be an exhausting process, but it`s worth it in the end as it could well save your reputation.

I want to talk about monetised destination sites that have fluid user experience, and that reel in the absolute ceiling in conversions. What`s interesting is that even if the site/action/services are complicated, the structure and feel of the site makes short work of them.

It`s not unusual to order something online – book a flight in South Africa, find a book that`s actually in stock, ask for more details on a number of services – and for it to be a struggle. Immediately I think that the company in question doesn`t particularly care about their reputation or about the sale; it`s the equivalent of walking into a store and being ignored by a shopkeeper, and then treated to a grudging exchange of my money for their product. The point is, as Read Write Web so eloquently states, “Users perceive all elements of the service (online) as the service itself (offline).” Which, I`d say, also goes for the company`s brand, no matter on whose platform it appears. If I have a difficult time finding information on Facebook about a company that has a brand as its avatar, I`m still going to associate that user experience with the company`s services; as illogical as that may be.

There are many ways in which to promote your brand online, but it is vital that you find the way most beneficial to your site. Ensuring that your brand is being promoted through the right channels, and in a positive light, can make or break your company`s reputation and status. There are many routes you can take in order to spread your brand across the net and get people talking about your company. One of the ways in which to achieve this is to get a free ride in on the tails of the big guns. It`s only free if you do it right though.