Facebook Business Pages are GO for Search Marketing: they now get Page 1 at Google January 31, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : brand, digital biographer, facebook, googlicious, mobile search, online identity, search marketing ,A few weeks ago, Facebook changed something slightly. They made their business pages and personal listings include an extra section in their centre, with the subject of the page written in there. Why? Search visibility.
Previously, my Facebook page was at
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=850265552
Now, it’s at
http://www.facebook.com/people/David_Petherick/850265552
So what? Well, OK, so it’s easier to remember - but it’s also visible to search. The old one still works, but the new one is in the top 20 for a Google Search for my name between long-standing entries at Association For Community Networking and 43 Things.
My Business Page for Certain Host is right up on Google, as you can see below - and that’s a search with more than 7 million pages in my wake.
So if you want to be found for a specific search term, just add a page to facebook, name it accordingly, and convert your customers from there. There is a catch though - I can’t edit my Business Pages on Facebook this evening. I suspect the reason is because this news is spreading…
How is your business page doing on facebook? Got many fans yet? What are you going to do to monetise it, manage it, and keep it fresh?
http://facebook.digitalbiographer.com arrives 12th February 2008.
Tweet things are made of this… how to blow up your own Twitter Balloon. January 26, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : blonging, share, social media, streams ,A wonderful twitter update badge you can customise to your heart’s delight and place on your blog, facebook, myspace… the slight drawback is that the site is almost entirely in Japanese, but don’t worry, I’ve found the English interface so you can make your own Twitter Balloon…
The important element that I love is the ability to go back and forward in time to folowo the history of one’s twitterings, or tweets, so one can follow a conversation or thread of insights and ideas. These may admittedly be somewhat disjointed, but more interesting that simply having the ‘latest’ information presented. I can see an nice extension of this with a tweet balloon gallery, or even a mashup where those referenced by one user’s conversation can be linked to dynamically, or to follow how a topic or issue is being discussed.
Here’s one I created for my friend Boris:
Do your own thing at Korelab’s English Twitter Balloon Creation Page.
Digital Footprints: What size boots do you wear?
Posted by David Petherick in : 2.0, digital biographer, googlicious, online identity, search marketing, social media ,Pew Internet have published an interesting report, with a topic that’s absolutely my focus, but which I’ve only just had time to absorb. It’s clearly titled “Digital Footprints: Online identity management and search in the age of transparency” and it’s free to download as a PDF from Pew Internet.
The original questions that the report is based on are also available, a very useful measure to allow interpretation of any report - hats off to Pwe Internet for that simple addition, in addition to the report’s methodology being included at the end of the report.
Digital Footprints: Summary of Findings at a Glance
- The nature of personal information is changing in the age of Web 2.0.
- Internet users are becoming more aware of their digital footprint; 47% have searched for information about themselves online, up from just 22% five years ago.
- Few monitor their online presence with great regularity.
- Most internet users are not concerned about the amount of information available about them online, and most do not take steps to limit that information.
- Internet users have reason to be uncertain about the availability of personal data; 60% of those who search for their names actually find information about themselves online, but 38% say their searches come up short.
- One in ten internet users have a job that requires them to self-promote or market their name online.
- Among adults who create social networking profiles, transparency is the norm.
- More than half of all adult internet users have used a search engine to follow others’ footprints.
- Basic contact information tops most searchers’ wish lists.
There are some interesting terms and stats thrown up in the report which I include to pique your interest.
- Passive Digital Footprint: Personal data made accessible online with no deliberate intervention from an individual.
- “Second degree” personal information is material about you that may not be connected to your real name or is provided by someone else, with or without your knowledge.
- 11% of adult internet users say they have searched online for information about someone they are thinking about hiring or working with.
- 19% of adult internet users have searched for information about co-workers, professional colleagues or business competitors.
- Most users in search of information about others have some difficulty finding the information they want.
- The drive to be recognized online is so strong in certain circles that some parents have even begun to consider these issues when naming their children.
Related Blog: You’re a Nobody unless your name Googles well - Wall Street Journal (May 2007)
Marketers wake up to social networking, but they still don’t smell the coffee.
Posted by Thomas Power in : 2.0, brand, corporate blogs, digital biographer, ecademy, facebook, social media ,From Guest Blogger Thomas Power, Chairman, Ecademy.
Originally published 15th January 2008 at Ecademy.
The significance of social networks is now starting to become obvious to the marketing departments of larger companies, largely due to two factors - 1) Traditional advertising channels are proving less and less effective and 2) Marketing and advertising agencies have started to realise where people are spending their time.
They have seen the writing on the wall - with one particular statistic likely to be a challenge for many a marketing manager: “Social networks will become the dominant channel for viral marketing campaigns - email has been the dominant channel for viral marketing campaigns since the mid 90s, but social networks will overtake it in 2008.”
Another fact that’s staring marketers in the face - a tipping point that only has one further hurdle to clear: “In October 2007, Social Networks accounted for 7.7% of upstream Internet traffic to all other websites, making the category the second most important source of traffic after Search Engines.”
The next hurdle of course is for social networks to become a more important source of traffic than search engines. That’s a whole blog of its own, however.
An article in this morning’s Financial Times is entitled “Business urged to woo social network figures“, and uses language very firmly couched in the tradition of ‘moving product’ and the pages of publications such as ‘Campaign‘. This all suggests to me that although businesses may have woken up, they have not actually smelt the coffee - they still have the urge to sell cereals.
(more…)
Koollage: Turn your web content into portable, flexible groupware that looks great on mobile phones… for free. January 13, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : 2.0, authors, corporate blogs, digital biographer, mobile, mobile search, search marketing, share, social media, startup ,I have just turned the Digital Biographer blog into what I call a BlogPod in around five minutes with the amazing Koollage service.
The results: you can see below - and you can subscribe to the feed of my Koollage BlogPod, Embed it in your own pages, and of course absorb its contents elegantly on your mobile phone. It looks especially funky on an iPhone, with horizontal and vertical versions specifically to take advantage of the iPhone’s ability to use both formats.
An elegant feature is the ability to conduct a search within the Koollage Editor, and then select search results content added from blogs, including images. Although there might be copyright issues involved in this, fair use is obviously allowed. One of the interesting elements buit in is the ability for readers to add comments to any page in your Koollage content (and you get an email with this comment immediately), and to make your Koollage a group application, meaning that others can collaborate to create and update the content with other Koollage associates.
The service is still in beta, so has a few edges to knock off and features to tidy, but as you can see, it works, it’s very nicely designed, and it’s likely to be very viral. The site where you can join and create Koollage Pods for free, is also a growing community, so you can search for other users and their Koollage Pod (Plog) creations.
I for one can see the travel industry getting excited about using this - a City Guide Koollage of Hotels, Restaurants, and Transport Services made available to travellers hitting the ground at an airport makes sense… and a mashup with a Maps / GPS application would appear a logical move for what is obviously a very mobile application.
What uses you can see for this way on enclosing and displaying information?
My Dutch housebreaking friends would like your startup news. Or they might pay you a visit… January 8, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : 2.0, Conferences, social media, startup ,The Next Web Blog and associated April 2008 Conference in Amsterdam has been featured on TechCrunch, with Michael Arrington fondly remembering the time the guys behind The Next Web visited his house to pitch him on their Fleck project.
Arrington says:
“Anyone that aggressive, and that lacking in basic common sense and decency, is sure to turn up with a good story every once in a while. Check it out and let me know what you think.”
I think Michael has his tongue slightly in his cheeck, and I can personally vouch for the fact that these guys have a lot of common sense and decency - that’s why I will be attending the Next Web Conference, and why I am one of the Next Web’s WebTipr’s.
So if you are a UK Web Startup, an Irish Web Startup, a Scottish Web Startup, a Welsh Web Startup, or an English Web Startup, do get in touch with your news.
Further news on the April Conference is the participation of Leah Culver, CEO at Pownce, who joins a lineup that already includes Robert Scoble, Werner Vogels and Gil Penchina.
Current List of Speakers at The Next Web, April 3-4 2008, Amsterdam >>
Meet Robert Scoble & Werner Vogels in Amsterdam at The Next Web Conference 2008 January 3, 2008
Posted by David Petherick in : Conferences, authors, awards, blonging, commerce, social media ,Speakers are being confirmed daily for 2008’s European Web 2.0 Event: The Next Web, and include Robert Scoble, Tech Geek Blogger & Author of ‘Naked Conversations‘, Werner Vogels, CTO at Amazon, and Gil Penchina, CEO at Wikia.
Now in its third year, the Amsterdam event’s focus this April is on quality content, and extensive networking opportunities. Organisers anticipate at least 700 web savvies, internet influentials, and industry journalists from over 20 countries will be in Amsterdam, to be inspired, have fun and do business. This year, attending The Next Web Conference gets you free entrance to BrightLive (European version of Nextfest).
