Well we've all been waiting for Google to launch what was being called 'Semantic Search' and today it started...it will take some time for it to take effect here in Australia but rest assured it's a 'game changer.'
'Get an under the hood look at the next frontier in Search, from the team at Google behind the technology. The Knowledge Graph is a huge collection of the people, places and things in the world and how they're connected to one another. With this technology, Google can get you the best possible answers and help jump start your discovery.'
The idea behind 'the Knowledge Graph' is for search engines to think more like a human... Google "understands real-world entities and their relationship to one another: things, not strings."
No more key word stuffing ..no more dodgy backlinks...no more people telling me 'I can get a million (useless/irrelevant) links in some exotic backwater for next to nothing.'
So now the emphasis will be on quality content and a sound/legitimate SEO strategy...hallelujah !
This is one for all of my clients and associates on our ongoing SEO conversation.
This question was asked of Google SEO guru Matt Cutts.
" Hi Matt, could you please explain how Google's ranking and website evaluation process works starting with the crawling and analysis of a site, crawling timelines, frequencies, priorities, indexing and filtering processes within the databases etc. - RobertvH, Munich"
"So that’s basically just like, tell me everything about Google. Right?" Cutts chuckles.
That said the problem for marketers is that Google is constantly updating its ranking algorithm and we haven't even seen the impact/ramifications of semantic search yet. Want to know more? This is a great overview of what's happening with Google and search from James Mathewson the head of IBM Global Search. http://www.biznology.com/2012/04/the-rise-of-content-strategy-what-to-do-about-google-killing-seo/
BTW Google's search global marketing share is 80.76% and 93.29% in Australia
I've been following The Community Roundtable for some years now. With so much activity from Google and Facebook, countless new software vendors, agencies, the experts etc etc community managers stand out as the real barometer of what's really happening with social media.
'The discipline of community management blends the tangible and intangible - discrete activities, platforms and tools alongside the values, beliefs and business goals native to every community. In 2012, community management isn't new and it's no longer an option, managing communities is a business imperative to succeed'
This is an invaluable report and if you are looking for a framework to build a successful community and social business....take note of their 'Community Maturity Model.'
Social Insights is delighted to have Alison Michalk of Quiip, one of Australia's leading community managers, as one of our expert partners.
Last October I posted on 'a brilliant smart phone shopping solution' in South Korea where Tesco established a virtual store in subways with 'Supermarket aisle' displays. Those waiting for trains could use their smart phones to identify items to purchase, specify the quantity and determine the best time to have the purchases delivered to their home.In March this year in Australia we saw a copycat promo by Woolworths which claimed to be a world first (well for Woolworths maybe.)
This morning I came across this great example of social working with a pop up store promotion for Swedish Chocolateir Anthon Berg to promote their theme 'You can never be too generous.'
The big idea was to extend their genoristy theme by giving away chocolates via 'pay-with-a-treat.' "Generosity is one of the basic elements in human happiness. However, research shows that just 1 in 10 people experience generosity from others. We would like to help change that trend, by doing something more than just giving chocolate."
The pop-up store took payment for chocolates in the form of a Facebook pledge to a friend or loved one to do a specified act of kindness in return for a box of chocolates.
Rather than checkout tills, the pop-up store used iPads to handle the check outs in the form of posting their Facebook pledge. The pop-up store was only open for a day and had people queuing up for one and a half hours for their box of chocolates.
The discussion on measuring the ROI of Social Media just got more interesting. Google have just announced that they are releasing a new set of Social reports within Google Analytics. "The new reports bridge the gap between social media and the business metrics you care about - allowing you to better measure the full value of the social channel for your business. We wanted to help you with 3 things:
Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions
Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)
Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing program "
Adam Singer of Future Buzz is a member of the Google Analytics team...I couldn't agree with him more about his comments about nuturing your 'owned presence' vs external communities!
'We’ve been arguing at the Future Buzz that your owned presence (like your website or blog) should be where you focus activities for years. External social communities aren’t where conversions happen anyway. It should be pretty obvious, but we have to say it again because some people are still confused or looking in all the wrong places: your website or blog (a place where you control the templates, Calls To Action, etc.) is where the most possible users convert and where your business is best poised to capture value. And our new reports help you bridge social with web to provide your hub and spoke model with far more insight.'
