Raise the Roof at the March Madness Rankings Workshop

On March 25, some of college basketball’s best teams will compete in Salt Lake City for a chance to play in the Final Four. But before they tip off, smart marketers will assemble just up the road at the SEO.com headquarters for some March Madness of their own.

We’re hosting our third free workshop. And it’s going to be a barn burner full of SEO, PPC and social media marketing genius; networking opportunities with some of Utah’s brightest minds; and, of course, some great game-day snacks. And we’ll be evaluating two random attendees’ websites on the spot. You’ll be raising the roof, guaranteed.

Here’s the quick skinny:

What: March Madness Rankings Workshop
When: Thursday, March 25 from 2-5 p.m.
Where: 14870 Pony Express Road, # 100 in Bluffdale, Utah — just off I-15 at the point of the mountain
Topics: Pay-Per-Click Advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing, Website Review
Cost: It’s free, but space is limited so reserve a seat by filling out the form on http://www.seo.com/march-madness/

Companies are putting more and more $$$ toward online marketing. eMarketer.com says $23 billion will be spent online, half of that in search engine optimization. This workshop will show marketers how to maximize those marketing dollars by mixing smart SEO, PPC and Social Media strategies to gain traffic and drive sales.

As usual, we’ll have presenters for each subject followed by a Q&A session. But this time, we’ll be doing something different. Attendees will compete in a short shooting competition to have their websites reviewed on the spot by our trio of all-stars: CEO Dave Bascom, VP of Client Services Nelson James, and the Director of SEO Ash Buckles.

So, before you check out the NCAA Tournament on the 25th, make sure to stop by and get some tips to bring your website more traffic. For more information, to reserve your spot, or to see the list of presenters, go to http://www.seo.com/march-madness/ .

HR Pros See Value In Social Media

Social media plays an important role in problem solving and strategy development in the workplace according to a new survey of 900 human resources executives conducted by Toolbox.com and PJA.

Among HR executives and professionals, social media usage outpaced editorial and vendor content consumption. Respondents used social media at a rate of 3.77 hours per week, compared to 2.77 hours of online editorial content and 2.13 hours of online vendor content.

The survey indicated active participation in social media is an important part of the HR job role and acts as a resource for experience-based knowledge in the workplace. Respondents said staying current (78%) and networking with peers (71%) as the most popular uses of social media.

Additionally, more than half have responded to a question asked by a peer in an online community, while nearly 50 percent have built their personal knowledge network by making connections with peers.

"This survey proves HR professionals have been fast adopters of social media, not just for networking but for improving their value as professionals," said Mike O'Toole, president at PJA  Advertising + Marketing.

"They clearly identify social media channels as a way to increase their expertise and build their professional reputation."

Key highlights from the survey include:

*Social media represents 43% of total media consumption among HR respondents (compared to 32% for editorial and 25% for vendor content).

*Deep experience is seen as the most important attribute in a social media expert, followed by thoughtful and detailed responses.

*Nearly half of respondents say that a social media presence greatly increases or increases their value as a job candidate, while more than 50% claim that social media is important or very important in building their personal brand.
 

 

Report: Facebook Location Feature To Bow At f8

At the first f8 conference, Facebook Platform was launched.  Facebook Connect was announced the second time around.  And now, as f8 2010 draws near, a report's indicated that Facebook will finally unveil a feature having to do with users' physical locations.

Consider the difference someone's location can make.  Here's one basic example: Many people would pass over the status update "Kate is warm," but something like "Kate is warm - Miami, Florida" might attract all sorts of attention from Kate's friends (assuming Kate's not a Miami native).  Plus it could mean a different set of ads would get shown.

It's significant, then, that Nick Bilton reported this afternoon, "Facebook plans to take the wraps off a new location-based feature in late April at f8, the company's yearly developer conference, according to several people briefed on the project."

Bilton also wrote, "The new location feature will have two aspects, according to the people familiar with Facebook's plans.  One will be a service offered directly by Facebook that will allow users to share their location information with friends. . . .  The other will be a set of software tools, known as A.P.I.'s, that outside developers can use to offer their own location-based services to Facebook users."

As for how Facebook intends to deal with privacy issues, this should be an opt-in feature, effectively cutting off the sorts of protests with which some other changes and Google Buzz were greeted.

Now we just have to wait and see if Facebook actually follows through on these rumors.

Redesigning Your Web Site? Don’t Neglect SEO

When a company redesigns their site, it's usually for non-SEO reasons. But ignoring SEO issues during a redesign would be a big mistake. Here are some common mistakes that can happen when you're redesigning your Web site.

SEO Horror Stories

Our industry has made so many strides in gaining a more credible reputation. Yet we still suffer from many people and companies who claim to do SEO, but that really don't know anything beyond how to write a title tag.

Addressing the ‘O’ in Search Engine Optimization

Tips for improving optimization efforts.

Hand Edits or ‘Vince’ at Work in Google Search Results?

It's Google's job to rank the most qualified search results for their searchers. But is Google purposefully helping big brands rank higher?

SEO Site Review: Beadsbug.com

Mark offers tips for improving Web sites using basic search engine optimization tactics, including title tags, resolving duplicate content, link building, and much more.

Natural Link Building Practices

Don't take chances buying links. Make these safe, proven link building tactics part of your search engine optimization strategy.

Reputation Management: Own the Top 10 Results for your Brand

Owning as much real estate in the SERPs as possible for mentions of a brand is a basic, fundamental element of controlling the public perception.

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