Facebook Graph Search | Search & Social All in One

Graph Search is a semantic search engine that Facebook launched in March of 2013. If you were not one of the first people to go through the beta testing process, you are probably getting notifications by now to get Graph Search.

Graph Search is Facebook’s way of combining social media with search which is intended to provide the user search results that are tailored to their individual interests. Rather than providing results based on matching keywords, the search engine is designed to match phrases as well as objects to provide results.

According to an article NBC did when Graph Search launched:
“Graph Search is a privacy-aware search, Zuckerberg said. That means that it only searches content which has been shared with you and that your search results will differ from the search results someone else will see … even if you enter the same exact queries.”

Right now you can use Graph Search to search through people, photos, places and interests, but we have a feeling that the platform will become much more advanced and will be vital in local business marketing strategies.

Not unlike standard search, your results will be based on popularity. With Google search first page results are due to a multitude of factors including your on-page SEO and back-links, or the amount of times your website is mentioned on the web. With Graph Search the search results are going to be different for every individual because the results are based on their social behavior. For example, if I am doing a search for “places to eat near me” this is what shows up:

Notice that the search results that have come back are all places near where I live (Chandler, AZ) and are all places that my friends have liked. If you also notice the first result was The Living Room where 5 of my friends have liked the page and the Irish Republic Public House has only 2 of my friends who like their page.

What this tells me is that your fan count and engagement is going to play a vital role in whether or not your business pages shows up in the search results. If you do not have a dedicated social media manager, now is the time! Another thing you must keep in mind if you want to rank in Facebook is to make sure your About Us portion of your page is optimized for the keyword phrases you would like to be found for. This is a simple fix and it only requires a few minutes of your time.

In addition to the content you want to make sure that you have claimed your local business on Facebook. Just like Google Places, Facebook’s Graph Search will provide results based on the users physical location, or where they are searching. If you have a brick and mortar business make sure your location is updated and that you have claimed your check-ins, but most importantly, find any duplicate entries and get rid of them!

Graph Search is taking social media to an entirely new level and you don’t want to be left behind, otherwise climbing your way to the top will take a great deal of time and money! Our new division, GetSocialWith.Me is more than happy to discuss your social media marketing needs and help you either maintain your social channels or train your staff on the proper social media management tactics.

QR Codes: Fad or Fixture?

Mobile marketing is on fire. As more consumers turn to their smartphones to connect to the internet and engage brands marketers have responded by introducing more and more targeted marketing efforts at a mobile audience. In fact mobile marketing has become so hot that Forrester Research projected mobile marketing investments to surpass $1 billion in 2011 alone.

There are many different types of mobile marketing, but one of the most popular tactics is QR codes. QR codes are simply those two-dimensional barcodes that store a significant amount of data. That data can then be scanned or captured using software called QR code readers and called up on an internet ready device.

The primary advantage to QR codes is that they can store an incredible amount of data in a small space. QR codes can supply customers with loads of information that otherwise would have been obtrusive or impossible to share.

The primary opportunity is that QR codes can represent a bridge between a company’s print and digital advertising efforts. QR codes help to take one-dimensional print ads and turn them into a dynamic experience by offering the consumer hands on access to additional information and discovery.

For example, Cook Wheelwright previously created a QR code campaign for a real estate agency that allowed the realtor to place QR code stickers on the signage and in the windows of homes the agency represented.  This allowed walk up traffic to access a webpage that contained all the information they required including the MLS listing, photo galleries of the interior and yard, and the ability to schedule an appointment with the realtor to view the home. The sheer magnitude of the QR code opportunity makes it an extremely attractive marketing avenue.

The main disadvantage of QR codes is that they’re not accessible to everyone. Everyone you know might have a smartphone by now, but smartphones only account for 62% of cell phone sales in U.S. There is a signification portion of the population that does not have the capacity to receive QR code marketing even if they wanted.

Furthermore, in order to unlock the data stored in a QR code, consumers must have previously installed 3^rd party software on their mobile devices that enables them to read QR codes. Without this software, they’re as helpless as “old fashioned” cell phone users. Even among the 62% of smartphone users out there, an estimated half of them aren’t installing QR code software to their device.

Downloading and installing QR readers is an extra step the consumer is forced to engage in. Without knowing the payoff on the other side of the action, many consumers find the risk to reward ratio to be too much.

The problem this presents is that right now the majority of QR code recipients are technology early adopters. This presents an interesting paradox for mobile marketing professionals. For some target markets QR codes can be extremely effective. For example, younger generations are adapt to using QR technology and have also proven more inclined to take the risk of acting on an offer they aren’t fully aware of than their parents or grandparents. This makes mobile marketing with QR codes an excellent tactic with this audience. However, a QR code campaign designed for a retirement home probably isn’t going to get enough traction to validate the cost of the campaign.

So are QR codes a fad or not?

One of two things really needs to happen before we know if QR codes are here to stay. Either smartphone manufacturers need to start including QR readers as pre-installed, standard software on devices, or the market demand needs to grow beyond localized target audiences.

Japan may hold the answer. The Japanese market has had success with QR code marketing for several years. But Japan is also years ahead of the United States in consumer responsiveness to new technology. Looking at Japan’s experience in the QR code field I’d venture to say that fully integrated QR code marketing is still a few years away for the US. However for the right business, mobile marketing with QR codes could generate incredible results now while the competition is low.

To learn more and find out if mobile marketing with QR codes is right for your company, contact Cook Wheelwright Marketing or scan the QR code below for a free mobile marketing analysis.

Facebook makes changes to their algorithm

Has anyone else noticed that Facebook has been very quite over the past few days? The reason is because Facebook just made changes to the algorithm to supposedly increase the emphasis on organics.

This blog states the emphasis is 80% towards organics and 20% towards paid… Do you think that the intention is to boost 4th quarter profits by increasing the cost of paid ads?

This is a link to a great blog post that will provide you with some more insight as to what is happening in the Facebook realm. http://edgerankchecker.com/blog/2012/10/facebook-decreases-pages-reach/

Ever wonder how your digital marketing s

Ever wonder how your digital marketing stacks up to your competition? Well now you can find out, and even better, we will do it for free! Just click on this link and lets get started! http://www.whatsyourgrade.com/

It’s not always easy, but it is worth i

It’s not always easy, but it is worth it! http://ow.ly/i/UHDy

Google Personalization | Getting on Page One Locally and Nationally

Getting on page one of the Google search engine results has been on every business’ to do list. It could mean a difference between hundreds and thousands of unique hits per day. With the new Google updates, getting page one rankings may not work as well as it used to in order to bring high search traffic to your website. Before, getting on page one meant you could be seen anywhere in the world, and now the former search engine optimization model has been dramatically changed due to two main factors: Localization and personalization. What does this mean for you? In basic terms, if you are not ranking for both national and local search results, you will get lost behind those who are.

Localization: Simply stated this means local search. Google now has the ability to tell where you are physically located when you enter your search term; whether you are in the comfort of your home, at a coffee shop downtown, or in a hotel room in a different city, Google knows. Smart phones and other mobile devices have changed search in dramatic fashions as one half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. When you type in a search query, Google now provides you the closest local search result based on where you are at that exact moment. If you are business trying to target local search results, and you are not targeting local keywords you could lose your first page rankings once the user searches from their mobile phone, or if they are logged in to Google while doing their search.

Personalization: If the user is logged into Google, the SERPs (search engine results page) will provide them with results based on their personalized activity. This includes past browser history, bookmarked pages and social media activities. So if the user follows you on Facebook or Google+, you will show up as an authority in their search results, even if your current page rankings are far off of first page standards. This is why having different active social media platforms is vital to current SEO strategies. This is how you can tell when you are seeing a personalized search. See the icons on the left hand side? This is because I am currently logged into Google and because I follow Cook Wheelwright Group on Google+ and Facebook.

This is not to say that page one rankings will not make an impact on your business as we have seen what the difference page one can have on an inbound marketing campaign. What we are saying is that as SEO strategists we have to start thinking differently, putting focus on both national and local search results and making sure our clients are using all the options available.

If you are concerned about loosing your page one rankings, or you want to learn how you can succeed with local and national search results, give us a call at 480.779.8001 or email us at Info@CookWheelwright.com and we would be happy to give you a complementary evaluation!

Facebook Fun Changes – Custom Privacy Option

Facebook is the world’s largest social network with over 900 million users as of May 2012.  With that many users there is no way that the media giant can keep everyone happy, but there are some recent changes that seem to be making an impact, especially the ones that mimic some of the most popular options that Google+ already has.

First off, one of the most raved about applications that Google+ has to offer is the targeted sharing option. What this means is that you can create small groups called circles and then pick and choose who has the ability to see your posts. Facebook has now added the option too which they call their custom privacy option. You can now categorize your friends into different lists and then choose who will see your posts.

In order to do so your first step is to write your post. Next to the “post” button you should see an option that says “Public.” You should see a drop down arrow which allows you to select different options of who you want your post to be seen by.

Public means “If you’re comfortable making something you share open to anyone on the internet, you can choose Public from the audience selector before you post. Public includes people who are not your friends on Facebook and people who are not in your school or work networks.”

Friends are the people you have selected to include in your network. If you tag someone in your post remember that their friends will be able to see the post as well, so if you do not want people you may not know seeing what you are posting then make sure not to tag others. “If you don’t want your photo or post to be visible to the friends of the person you tagged, you can adjust this setting. Simply click on the audience selector next to the story, select Custom, and uncheck the Friends of those tagged box.”

The next option is Friends Except Acquaintances. In order to exclude Acquaintances you must actually filter your friends and mark those who you consider only acquaintances.

Following that is the Only Me custom option. This is pretty much exactly that – there may be posts that you do not want others to see, but you want to keep it in your “file” again you must remember that you tag others in your only me post, they will see the post as well as their friend group.

Lastly is the custom option which is our personal favorite. This is the option that allows you to make the post public to everyone on your list if you so choose, but you can exclude certain individuals. Say you want to plan a surprise party for a friend, or you just invited to an interview but you don’t want your current boss to see, you can exclude those individuals from your post.

Remember though that if you customize who your posts go to once, you need to change it back for the next post otherwise it will keep the same settings.

There are many other new options available on Facebook so keep watching for more tips and tricks from your social media marketing company! Remember we are running some great promotions for the month of August where you can get your social media managed by the experts for less than $8 a day. Give us a call at 888.687.3313 or email us at Info@Cookwheelwright.com and we would be happy to talk about how social media marketing can make a difference for your organization.

Page One Rankings – No Longer the Cure to Organic Search

Getting on page one of the Google search engine results has been on every business’ to do list. It could mean a difference between hundreds and thousands of unique hits per day. With the new Google updates, getting page one rankings may not work as well as it used to in order to bring high search traffic to your website. Before, getting on page one meant you could be seen anywhere in the world, and now the former search engine optimization model has been dramatically changed due to two main factors: Localization and personalization. What does this mean for you? In basic terms, if you are not ranking for both national and local search results, you will get lost behind those who are.

Localization: Simply stated this means local search. Google now has the ability to tell where you are physically located when you enter your search term; whether you are in the comfort of your home, at a coffee shop downtown, or in a hotel room in a different city, Google knows. Smart phones and other mobile devices have changed search in dramatic fashions as one half of all local searches are performed on mobile devices. When you type in a search query, Google now provides you the closest local search result based on where you are at that exact moment. If you are business trying to target local search results, and you are not targeting local keywords you could lose your first page rankings once the user searches from their mobile phone, or if they are logged in to Google while doing their search.

Personalization: If the user is logged into Google, the SERPs (search engine results page) will provide them with results based on their personalized activity. This includes past browser history, bookmarked pages and social media activities. So if the user follows you on Facebook or Google+, you will show up as an authority in their search results, even if your current page rankings are far off of first page standards. This is why having different active social media platforms is vital to current SEO strategies. This is how you can tell when you are seeing a personalized search. See the icons on the left hand side? This is because I am currently logged into Google and because I follow Cook Wheelwright Group on Google+ and Facebook.

This is not to say that page one rankings will not make an impact on your business as we have seen what the difference page one can have on an inbound marketing campaign. What we are saying is that as SEO strategists we have to start thinking differently, putting focus on both national and local search results and making sure our clients are using all the options available.

If you are concerned about loosing your page one rankings, or you want to learn how you can succeed with local and national search results, give us a call at 480.779.8001 or email us at Info@CookWheelwright.com and we would be happy to give you a complementary evaluation!

Search Engine Optimization – A Few Steps Towards Success

SEO which stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the organic method of bringing leads to your business. Search engines have become the core resource for individuals looking for business. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo & Bing are a larger source of business referrals than the Yellow Pages, advertising in directories and magazines. In order to make sure that your website is search engine friendly you must first follow a few careful steps.

Keywords are the foundation for any inbound marketing strategy. When consumers are shopping or researching for a product or service they type in a set of keywords and then the search engines will use those keywords to serve up pages that are relevant and have authority. Whether you intend it or not your website is already targeting certain keywords that the search engines extract from you site through the on-page text and other factors however it may not be your intention to rank for those keywords. Choosing the right keywords is what will make the difference between being found in the search engines and not getting found.

The primary selection of keywords should pass these three main points. First you want to make sure that they keyword terms or phrases have sufficient search volumes. If you are ranking for a keyword that does not have any search volume then you are doing your website zero justice. Instead you want to pick keywords that your consumers are searching for in order to provide them with relevant information that will ultimately lead to conversion.

The second step to having a search engine friendly site is to make sure your code is clean and your site map is organized. Search engine algorithms require a clean, easy to navigate website structure. If the navigation is complicated or without reason, search engines like Google will discontinue crawling your site after the second page reached. Because of this it is likely that a large percentage of your existing website is not included in the search engine indexes and therefore can not be found by your market pool through search engine queries. As it currently stands a large portion of the website has not been cached and is handicapping your ability to fully optimize for rankings. It is important to note that those additional pages WILL NOT show up in search results and are damaging your search engine rankings.

In order for search engines to properly cache and index (read) your website we recommend starting with a complete analysis and restructuring of your site map using SEO friendly URLs. Unidentifiable URL addresses (such as http://www.examplesite.com/cru_332?515!) hinder search engine readability and  prevent search engine crawlers from caching these second and third tier web pages. In other words, URLs like the example above force search engines to stop reading immediately after .com preventing valuable information from reaching your audience.

Additionally, web usability research studies have shown that website visitors are more likely to follow and trust identifiable hyperlinks and URLs. A better site map design includes urls that are aptly named and search engine friendly such as http://www.examplesite.com/products/our-greatest-product-ever.html. Not only does this URL labeling allow search engine software to crawl the entire site, it provides a clean and clear label for site visitors to reference before following a link or visiting a page.

There are many steps to making sure that your site is SEO friendly. Keyword research, clean site code and SEO friendly sitemaps are only the tip of the iceberg. In future blog posts we will continue to explain the many factors that go into making sure your website is seen as an authority within the search engine algorithms.

If you are interested in having a strategic marketing specialist review your current digital marketing campaign feel free to contact us at 480.779-8001 or email Info@Cookwheelwright.com!

Cook Wheelwright Groups August Social Media Promotion