improving seo conversions through social content - gillian muessig

Using Social Content to Increase Conversions

Gillian Muessig

Cofounder | President SEOmoz

OMS at DMA San Francisco

October 10, 2010

• Basics• Conversion Optimizers• Specific Optimization Tips

Today’s Menu

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The BasicsStats &

Content Types

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Social Content in SERPs

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Social Media Popularity Around the World

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Check Us Out on Facebook

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www.frankthinking.com 03/2010

SMBs on social media sites doubled from 12 to 25% in 2009

Hospital Social Media Activity 2010

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830 Hospitals395 YouTube Channels 639 Facebook pages635 Twitter Accounts411 LinkedIn Pages92 Blogs

Read more: http://ebennett.org/time-to-re-think-hospital-social-media-adoption/#ixzz11o05kbhT

Social Media Platform Effectiveness

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Read more: New Media, New Influencers, and Implications for Public Relations, 2008 Society for New Communications Research

237 Marketing Communicators report their perception of the effectiveness of social media platforms

Conversion Optimizers

• Be a Scout• Reduce Risk• Increase Confidence• Create Urgency• KISS!

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http://www.siteposition.ca

Be A Scout (be prepared)• Know Your Customer

• Age• Socio-economics• Culture• Politics• Location• Weather

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Emotional Hooks

@AimClear # SMX NYC 2010

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• Anger• Exclusivity• Fear• Flattery

• Greed • Guilt or salvation• Desire to be recognized• Desire to understood

Emotional Hooks

Hershell Lewis The Art of Writing Copy, DMA 2010

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• Emotional hooks beat statistics every time

• 25% of children who contract… die of this disease. or -

• We lost Jimmy today… but Karen, Sacha, and Beryl will live.

Reduce Risk

• Money-back guarantee• Free shipping• Clear, generous return policy• Trial offers• Exchange privileges• Lease-to-buy

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Increase Confidence• Readily available customer

service• Testimonials• Brand recognition• Manage your reputation• Consistency in verbiage &

costs

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Localize Content• Localized colloquial language

includes:• Pop culture• Local slang• Local politics• Local slang• Local weather• Local news

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When In Rome…• Written word is NOT talk

written down• …but it’s getting closer• Use demographic

appropriate jargon• Speak like the Romans

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Create Urgency• One time offers at signup• Time limited sales

as a business model• Woot, Groupon, etc

• Occasional time limited offers• Refer to ad motivators –

• Fear of not being first• Fear of being left behind

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KISS• Reduce # options

• Good-Better-Best• White space is your friend• Consistency

• Process• Branding• Fonts and color palettes• Corporate voice

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KISS

• Email campaigns • Avoid too many post scripts• Be as specific as possible• Avoid glittering generalities• Use the 1st person singular/plural• Eschew obfuscation• Brutally red pen your copy

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The Elements of Social Media

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Social Media Platforms

• Blogs• IM - in the moment• Asynchronous communications• Vertical market social media sites• Image repositories• Video repositories• Social Commerce

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Optimize Blogs

• QDF – keep it fresh, update 3-7x week• QDR – stay on topic 90% of the time• Write for readers, SEO and SMM success

• Understand LDA• Including Video in blogs increases readership

• SEOmoz blog -• SEOmoz Whiteboard Fridays

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Video Value• 363,762 visits to text blog posts last month

• Average time spent: 03:11 •34,000 visits to (4) Whiteboard Friday blog posts

• Average time spent of 04:54 min

• 10% traffic go to Whiteboard Friday posts• Average time on post: +2 min• More comments

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Vertical Social Media Opportunities• WAYN• TripIt• Dopplr• SeatGuru• PhoneTag• FlyerTalk• Facebook, LInedIn travel groups• LonelyPlanet.com forums• Yelp, Urban Spoon….

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“I’m looking for a latte in Lesotho…”

Social Commerce

• Direct link between Social Media and Commerce

• Success is directly related to the strength of your community

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Community Development• Tight niche market• Focus on shared values, shared goals,

shared experience• Create a sense of exclusivity• Promote inclusion – share info• Encourage discussion

• Damn it vs damn you• Meld marketing and customer service

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The Bigger Picture• Social media to conversion process is NOT

just about what to post and where• It’s about determining

• Who your audience is• Where they hang out• Where they want to hear from you• When – frequency, days, times• How – email, tweets, blogs, videos,

images, white papers, testimonials

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The Bigger Picture• It’s about

• Consistency across an intelligently selected set of platforms

• Allocating sufficient resources to listen, report, ponder, and take action on a business, as well as marketing level

• Establishing a business model that melds marketing, advertising, and customer service

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Thank-you!

Gillian MuessigPresident, SEOmoz, Inc.@SEOmom

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No, REALLY Thank-you

WHITEHAT2010Enjoy a 25% Discount at SEOmoz.org

gillian@seomoz.org

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