Search: strategy

The model of using keywords to promote web sites is not as effective as it used to be. Most people will agree that Google has become the dominant search engine on the Internet. However what does Google think about keywords?

In September 2009, Matt Cutts with the Google Search Quality Team posted an article on the Google Webmaster Central Blog entitled Google Doesn't Use Keywords Meta Tag in Web Ranking. So if Google doesn't use keywords, then what do they use? According to the article Google doesn't completely disregard all the meta tag data, however their web search engine primarily focuses on things, such as "links pointing to a web page."

Now how can you generate more links pointing to your web site from other sites. Two suggestions would be to utilize blogs and social media. Through these two mediums, links to your organization's web site can be generated. This can serve several purposes.

Some people have taken on the concept of striving to be an online content expert, also known as a thought leader, for their specific field of expertise by posting regular articles on their blog and spreading the publicity of those articles through social media networks (such as Twitter and Facebook). For more information about one way to do this, read my post about the Open Graph Protocol.

One of our clients asked us how the Facebook "like" button worked, so we figured we would create a blog post about it.

Facebook has provided a way for their users to share with their friends various things that they "like" including web sites on the Internet. A web site simply adds the Facebook "like" button to the pages of their web site. If a visitor to the site clicks the button, Facebook will be initiated to ask them for their Facebook user account. Then on the visitor's Facebook account, it will indicate on their list of activities (called their "Wall / News Feed") within Facebook that the person "likes" the web site. The friends of that visitor will then be able to see the individual's activity list and the description will provide a link from Facebook to the web site.

Or in other words, it's a way to get people to tell their friends about things they like and provide their friends a way to go find out more information about it. In the end, the visitors to your web site help to advertise for your company/organization.

We use the Facebook "Like" button on our blog - see directly below, under the section "Like It. Tweet It. Buzz It. Digg It."

For more details visit: http://developers.facebook.com/plugins

Last Spring the Purdue University President's Council (http://www.garofaloglobal.com/pctalentbank/) approached us and asked us to work on a project to help them strengthen the connection with Purdue alumni. The goal was to provide alumni with opportunities to give back to the University through methods besides financial, such as sharing their skills and expertise.

The idea for the President's Council Talent Bank was born. The concept was to provide Purdue faculty, staff, and students a method to "cast" alumni for volunteering roles needed. For example a professor teaching a senior design course could post an opportunity for alumni to volunteer to mentor students on their senior design projects. Another example would be a president of a student organization looking for an alum to be a keynote speaker at an organization dinner/banquet. The "opportunities" are endless through the variety of roles alumni can be cast.

Cyber View's content management system, CyberStudio, is running at the core of the Talent Bank to manage user accounts as well as the opportunities posted. Social media such as Twitter and Adobe Wave were utilized as a means to inform members when new volunteer opportunities have been posted and approved.Cyber View is proud to have worked on this project to help Boilermakers young and wise be able to connect through this on-line system.

First of all, what is FourSquare? Well its an on-line social media game that allows individuals to "check-in" to locations they visit using a mobile device (typically needing a data plan with web capabilities). This also provides the ability to keep your closest friends notified of where you are so, for example, you can meet up at a nearby coffee shop. In some ways, it also encourages individuals to get out an explore their communities to gain "badges" - which are awards for being a more active player in FourSquare.

So what does this mean for businesses? The individual who "checks-in" at a location the most frequent will become the FourSquare "Mayor" of that location. Businesses can register with FourSquare and offer discounts to whomever is the current mayor of their business.

For assistance of how to get your business connected with FourSquare and how to market this brand loyalty to your customers, contact us. This technology is quickly becoming a new popular means to interact through the Internet with your most loyal customers.

For more, read the NY Times article: "Foursquare Introduces New Tools for Businesses"