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By Richard B Newman in Featured

spn_exclusiveConsidering the recent twitter debacle involving former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, many employers and human resources personnel are well advised to reconsider their approach and stay ahead of social media. To begin with, social networking and micro-blogging messages on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn can be seen by millions, instantly. The information can be accessed worldwide and seen by competitors, customers, and potential employees. While it is a given that former Congressman Weiner’s antics went high-profile very quickly, for numerous reasons, the reality is that the average impact of social media on the workplace is usually less dramatic.

Typically, issues are brought to the attention of an employer after an employee is offended by a co-worker’s online behavior. The first inquiry for an employer should be what relevance the issue has to the workplace. Situations often exist where the material posted online is false and not actually attributable to the suspect employee. A diligent investigation should always be implemented first as it is quite simple to establish false social media accounts.

Recently, employers have gotten into the habit of compiling policies against employees mentioning the company in social media postings. However, such practices necessarily raise concerns regarding running afoul of National Labor Relations Act protection of “concerted activity.” The NLRB is involved in several cases where employees were disciplined for social media use. Basically, the NLRB assesses two things. First, what does the employer’s social media policy say? Second, what does the employer do to enforce it? As a general rule, if a policy is too broad, the NLRB is going to say that it has the effect of chilling protected activity. If an employee uses social media and states that a particular employer treats employees like garbage, that employee is potentially speaking on behalf of other employees, which is protected. Conversely, going online and stating that one has witnessed an extramarital affair between a manager and a co-worker is not protected activity.

Interestingly, the NLRA’s “concerted activity” protection does not apply to management. That said, employers should strongly consider instituting a company-wide, written policy that managers are forbidden, under any circumstances, to use social media to say anything negative about the employer, its executives, business operations, products, and/or services. Often times, such language is incorporated into an employment contract that specifically defines improper conduct, prohibits disparagement, provides and establishes a morals clause, and forbids the appearance of or the actual possibility of a sex scandal. Everyone from the highest-level executives, down the chain, should be held to this standard. However, it is generally the high profile executives and managers that can do the most damage to a company because their conduct generally receives more attention.

In today’s digital marketplace with breakthrough products and technological applications always around the corner, more and more employers are finding that the biggest risk for a scandal is the disclosure of corporate trade secrets and proprietary information. Social media’s impact on corporate privacy and confidentiality is a significant concern. The slightest indiscretion by employees who are “in the know” can put millions of investment dollars at risk. Employees must be made well aware, up front, early, and often about the personal consequences of loose lips. These consequences should be spelled out clearly in employment agreements containing unambiguous confidentiality provisions with stiff legal and equitable penalties for violation. While it is almost impossible, and perhaps even unwise, to stop employees from utilizing social media entirely, best practice dictates establishing “how” and “when” and setting forth what is and is not permissible to do in social media. Employees should be advised in writing, via legally enforceable agreements, that they will be held responsible for their actions.

Richard B. Newman is an Internet Law Attorney and Business Litigation Lawyer at Hinch Newman LLP in New York City.

By UKFast in Featured

videoThe transformation of the video industry has created great opportunities for SMEs to improve their marketing strategy at little or no cost.

According to a recent roundtable debate held by hosting specialists UKFast, small firms can now enjoy the benefits once exclusive to the big corporates because of the transformation of the online video industry.

Byron Evans, presenter and founder of Wallop explained how SMEs can use video to enhance their marketing strategies. He said: “We can cut costs down and production values don’t have to diminish so much. The common consensus is that a video should be used as a tool to complement other areas of a campaign and to coincide with social media input.”

Nicky Unsworth of marketing agency BJL, reiterated this, saying: “Most of our clients are beginning to recognise that there is a real opportunity for brands to benefit from video. There are so many different ways that they can tell a story – they can host it on YouTube, on their own websites or they can use it at conferences.”

The panelists agreed that video advertising has become an accessible medium for consumers, and that creativity rather than cash dictates how successful a video will be.

Brian Barnes, film producer and MD of Activideo, said: “There are no real barriers any more. In the old days if you could spend £300,000 on an edit suite, you were in business and that tended to keep other people out of the loop. Now you can even edit on your phone, let alone a laptop – it has gone astronomic in terms of access.”

Unsworth reiterated the increasing importance of amateur-style footage in the advertiser’s portfolio: “The latest Disney ads feel like someone has done them on a hand-held in their sitting room – they reveal to the kids that they are actually going to Disney and they film their reaction. User-generated content is definitely becoming more of the advertisers’ portfolio.”

She continued: “Marketing companies have embraced online video; the clever thing that advertisers do now is seed an idea that lives beyond the original advertisers’ concept. Brands that have done it well are Dove with the Real Women campaign, Old Spice, and T-Mobile. They have gone out and generated an idea that their audiences have adopted and developed as their own.”

Panellists discussed the increasing significance of online outlets for video. Unsworth said: “There are ads that run maybe once or twice and actually they begin to live then on YouTube and the views that they have on YouTube are so much more significant than they get on TV.”

They agreed that the key to maximising the success of any online video is to take it ‘viral’, but achieving this with a commercial video isn’t easy.

Barnes said: “It’s creativity, something new and engaging that stimulates people enough to respond. It’s got to spark that user engagement.”

Evans highlighted the importance of a video’s ‘packaging’ in its potential to go viral. He said: “It’s not just about putting it on different networks, it’s how you label it and what tags you give it. It’s a precise art that needs to be mastered before you can stick this amazing piece of work out there and get the world to embrace it.”

UKFast is one of Europe’s fastest-growing technical companies (as ranked by Deloitte) and has been at the heart of the UK internet industry for more than 10 years.

By Russell Lundstrom in Featured

intlbusThe basics of website translation have been covered in numerous articles around the internet. What you won’t find is real information about the nitty-gritty of website translation. The boring, technical details that are never covered. The following strategies are often overlooked,
but are critical for your international success.

The following outline on website translation and localization strategy will briefly introduce you to some of the more important, and often overlooked, areas that will save you considerable time and money before you begin. Your nitty-gritty plan will include:

* A good, clean file and server management strategy.

* A very flexible site design.

* A far-sighted data management plan.

* A well defined roadmap including milestones and budgets.

The first critical step to a successful technical strategy is to review and clean up your file and server management. Having access to your original site files and not just the served files is a must. You cannot make the necessary improvements and changes through a browser.

Take the time to clean up your file naming conventions, file structure, and hosting environments. Create a system that allows for multiple versions of the site to co-exist (the translated versions) and allows for easy management of all the files. Make sure that this file system is able to grow and accommodate the number of future sites you anticipate. Better organization will greatly reward you later on in the process. Think of it this way, for each language, your file count will at least double. The possibility for error increases exponentially.

Creating a long term plan for the hosting and serving of your websites is another important strategical element. For most businesses it is adequate to host your foreign sites alongside your current source site. As your international business grows your need for local hosting will also grow. Your search engine ranking will also be affected by these choices.

Once your server file management is organized, the next investment is to review your site design for localization issues. Translated text will either shrink or grow by as much as 30% depending on the target language. Determine if your graphics are going to need to be re-sized or converted into a different format; preferably text links. Look at dynamic content served on your site.

Is your design going break when the translated text is served? What if one of your target languages is Arabic or Asian? Is your site design able to display right to left text?

Speaking of dynamic content, do you have a plan for your dynamic content to be translated. This includes external data sources such as news and blog feeds as well as internal data sources. If your site uses data tables, it is critical to have a strategy to manage the data within the tables. Similar to your server file management, your data tables will get unmanageable as you add additional languages if you do not have a good data strategy.

Included within certain data strategies are content management systems. Many different systems exist, but each handles multiple languages differently. Spend the time to research the best solution for your particular company needs.

What sort of global gateway are you going to serve your website though? Easy navigation for your foreign visitors is the first impression you are going to provide and will often times become a critical factor in your success. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression. Many different options are available to direct your visitors to the translated versions of your site. You will have to choose the best one that fits within the needs of your site.

Finally, you will need to define your success milestones. Before you move forward into that actual process of translating and localizing your website, you should have a budget and timeline defined. After mapping out your international and technical strategies, a project budget and timeline should fall naturally into place. Knowing how much you are going to spend and for what, and how long it is going to take are critical questions you must be able to answer.

Succeeding in international business is extremely rewarding as long as you have the proper processes to guide you. Many different resources are available on the Internet. Search around or ask your language provider to help you write your localization strategy. Taking the time to think this through will give you the foundation necessary to make the most of your international efforts.

In subsequent articles we will begin to put the project together and begin the actual translation processes.

Russell Lundstrom is an expert in international business and website translation. He has been helping companies succeed overseas for more than twenty years. You can learn how to grow your own business internationally by joining the community at http://globalsitesecrets.com and by following Russell on Twitter @gssguy.

By David Jackson in Featured

googlepandaOn Wednesday, February 23, 2011, a category 5 hurricane named “Panda” swept through the Gulf of Google devastating businesses large and small alike. The hurricane was reportedly named after one of Google’s engineers.

So what was the reason for this catastrophic and “game-changing” update? Well, according to Google:

“This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites – sites which are low-value, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites – sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on. It is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that’s exactly what this change does.” (Source: Google Blog)

Mission accomplished. Anyway, in the aftermath of the Panda update, there are 11 important SEO facts I’ve learned based on my own personal experiences, the experiences of my clients, and from listening to top SEO professionals across the Internet:

1. Waiting to Exhale

Think you survived the big Panda storm? Don’t exhale just yet. Google will introduce around 550 or so improvements to its algorithm this year. Yes, 550. (Source: Wired.com)

By Nilanjan Banerjee in Featured

facebook-logoA friend of mine was recently in a car accident. His wife posted a Facebook status update reading “Hubby in a car crash – thankfully nothing serious”. By the end of the day, she’d received twelve phone calls from insurance companies offering her no win no fee claim, services.

Where did the insurance companies get their information from? How does a Facebook status update become a targeted sales opportunity?

Let’s start with the obvious. Advertising on Facebook is advantageous because everybody uses it. There were 600 million active Facebook users as of January 2011.

Facebook offers advertisers the ability to geo target their advertising, by country; by state/province/county; and by city. It also lets them target advertising according to specific keywords, phrases and interest areas. When a user signs up for a Facebook page, he or she fills out information on his or her profile page that describes his or her interests. Facebook advertising lets the advertiser target his or her ad according to those interests.

There’s a less tangible advantage to advertising on Facebook, which is involved with the site’s own history. Facebook has always sold itself on the idea of exclusivity. You can’t see someone’s profile page unless he or she lets you. And you can’t be friends with someone unless they accept your request. The whole atmosphere of Facebook is about permission – permission to interact, permission to join groups and share interests. When targeted advertising pops up on your Facebook page, it feels like you have asked for it to be there – or at least that you have allowed it to be there. And that makes you more susceptible to its message.

Social media is constantly evolving, with Facebook as its apogee. Other Internet megaliths are getting in on the act – Google, for example, has just started trialling its “+1”, which shows you sites relevant to your search that people in your social network have tagged. The idea is one of backwards advertising. Consumers are still being directed towards products they might like to buy – but their own preferences, their likes and their plus ones, are taking them there.

The difference between advertising on Facebook and arriving at a product as a result of a +1 (which is similar to a Facebook “like”), is that the Facebook advertiser is not part of your social network. He or she is recommending his or her product rather than one of your friends. And that’s the ultimate advantage, right now, of advertising on Facebook. An advertiser, who knows exactly how to word and structure to encourage you to buy, can use Facebook to give himself or herself the status of “friend”.

Nilanjan is a Website Designer at TemplateKingdom, He is a regular blogger of the Templatekingdom.com where he writes about web design inspiration, photography and Internet Marketing.

By Gayle Hawks in Featured

png_tiff_imagesAs a business owner, you’re focused on your company’s products, services, and finding ways to grow and sustain your business. Your focus isn’t generally on image file formats and what’s needed in order to properly reproduce your company’s logo, letterhead, brochures, and business cards. But, if you’re a small business owner, you wear multiple hats and have the “joyous” task of managing not only the growth and success of your business, but all of the little, technical items associated with getting items printed for your company. And, you’re probably the head of your own “Online/IT Department” too.

So, in order to help you become more proficient with the IT hat that you wear, we thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to some basic file format information concerning images (for your logo/letterhead/business cards/etc).

Choosing the right file format for saving your images is of vital importance. There are six major image file formats used consistently in the design field – TIFF, GIF, JPG, BMP, WBMP, and PNG. Each format is well suited to a specific type of image, and by matching your image to the correct format, you should benefit from a fast-loading, high quality graphic. It’s also important to understand how these file formats work in certain applications. So, enjoy checking out these six image file formats:

TIFF – The TIFF (Tagged Information File Format) is a file format used for storing images such as line art and photographs. It was originally developed by Aldus (now Adobe Systems) and Microsoft. This is a popular format for high color depth images and it is supported by many image-manipulation programs such as Pagemaker, QuarkXPress, Adobe InDesign, PhotoShop, Paint Shop Pro, etc. Tiff is extremely high in its image quality, providing excellent compatibility with publishing and printing companies. Tiff can be modified and resaved, with the images being used an endless number of times without losing any image data. In addition, the image is extremely usable since it doesn’t require software post-processing during or after its download from a camera. It is a flexible and adaptable format.

GIF – The Graphic Interchange Format is an image file format that was originally developed in 1987 by Unisys using the LZW compression algorithm. For years it has been a standard image format used on the web. However, it has seen its share of difficulties due to licensing restrictions and requirements placed on it by Unisys. In 1989, they also developed Gif89a which allowed animated images. While GIF has enjoyed a significant presence on the Internet, it is being phased out by the emergence of PNG.

JPG/JPEG – JPEG is a commonly used compression method for photographic images. The name “JPEG” stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, the name of the committee that created the standard. The group was organized in 1986, issuing this standard in 1992 and finally approving it in 1994. The degree of compression may be adjusted to allow a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality. Typically, JPEG achieves 10 to 1 compression with little perceivable loss in image quality. In addition to being a compression method, JPEG is often considered to be a file format. JPEG is the most common image format used by digital cameras and other photographic image capture devices. It is also the most common format for storing and transmitting photographic images on the World Wide Web.

BMP – The BMP file format, sometimes called bitmap or DIB file format (for device-independent bitmap), is an image file format used to store bitmap digital images, especially on Microsoft Windows and OS/2 operating systems. The simplicity of the BMP file format and its widespread familiarity in Windows and elsewhere makes it a very common format that image processing programs from many operating systems can read and write. Other reasons for its widespread use are that it’s well documented and free of patents. While most BMP files have a relatively large file size due to lack of any compression, many BMP files can be considerably compressed with lossless data compression algorithms such as ZIP since they contain redundant data.

WBMP – This is short for Wireless Bitmap, a graphic format optimized for mobile computing devices. This is a relatively new file format that only supports monochrome images at the moment. A WBMP image is identified using a TypeField value, which describes encoding information (such as pixel and palette organization, compression, and animation) and determines image characteristics according to WAP documentation. TypeField values are represented by an Image Type Identifier.

Currently, there is only one type of WBMP specified; the Image Type Identifier label for this is 0. 0 has the following characteristics:

- No compression
- One bit color (white=1, black=0)
- One bit deep (monochrome)

Any WAP device that supports WBMPs can only support type 0.

WBMP is part of the Wireless Application Protocol, Wireless Application Environment Specification Version 1.1.

PNG – Portable Network Graphics is a bitmapped image format that employs lossless data compression similar to that of a GIF file. PNG was created to improve upon and replace the GIF format, as an image-file format not requiring a patent license. It was basically created in direct rebuttal of Unisys’ licensing requirements for using the GIF format.

PNG supports palette-based (palettes of 24-bit RGB colors), grayscale, or RGB images. PNG was designed for transferring images on the Internet, not professional graphics, and so does not support other color specs (such as CMYK). PNG works very well for geometric or line drawings, lettering, cartoons, and other images with flat color and sharp borders, such as computer screenshots.

PNG is mostly superior to GIF, since it is newer, supports more colors, and is free of patent restrictions. Unfortunately, PNG cannot be used for animation. However, it does offer highly sophisticated transparency and color support, among other features. In most cases where animation is not required, it is best to use PNG over GIF.

It’s interesting to note each format’s strengths and weaknesses. Overall, each of them definitely displays benefits in certain applications. The best way to approach these is to know ahead of time what the ultimate application and use for a certain image is going to be prior to creating it. As a business owner, it’s important to find a reliable printer that can service your company’s needs. CCA is able to accept and modify virtually any image file format in order to create a high resolution, quality image for use on your company’s business cards. If you have any questions or concerns about your logo or business card file format, please feel free to give us a call or inquire on our website.

Color Card Administrator is the parent company of PrintBusinessCards.com and several other innovative Real Estate Business Cards website, we’re eager to share with you what it is we do. Give us a call today at 858-522-9335 or email at Author@CardAdmin.com for Cheap Business Cards. We look forward to discussing your comments, suggestions, or hearing any ideas for future article topics you may be interested in regarding online business cards design or business card management.

By Pace Lattin in Featured

facebook_vs_googleJust within the last two years Facebook overtook Myspace as the king of social networking. Now Myspace has been regulated by the technology and advertising community to the garbage heap of websites. Now has arrived what everyone knew would come, Google+, the newest best “social network” to compete in a crowded pack, dominated significantly by Facebook. Many people see that Facebook has a stranglehold on the social networking, and that nothing will take away it crown. I see completely the opposite that Google+ has already won, and within a year will easily take away any dominance that Facebook has, quickly sapping Facebook’s influence and value.

For the last few years, I’ve made the argument to friends and colleagues that Google should be buying Facebook, it was only a natural progression. Instead of selling to Google, Facebook felt that it was a long-lasting company that itself needed to buy other companies and become the next Google. In this, Facebook has made a complete miscalculation and they’ve already lost the war, barring some miracle — and here’s three reasons that I feel confident in my prediction:

1) Google has everything already Facebook has and more. While Facebook is attempting to buy or partner with companies like Microsoft, Google already have competitive features for almost everything Facebook wants. From mail, to video chat, to embedded search, these features are seamless within Google and in many cases superior. Now when you login to Google+ you are connected to all these features and will be able to use it as part of your social networking experience. If they don’t have it, rest assured they will get it.

2) Advertisers love Google. Despite Facebook’s enormous growth in advertising, Google is still the main source of advertising money. Google has known for a long time that everything is interconnected in interactive advertising and has been building and buying solutions that will connect with their Google+ technology. The universal login that Google+ will become, combined with mail, calendars and much more will provide targeting feature that no other network, no other behavior targeting company can even come close to duplicating. Pretty much, with Google+ turned on, most of what you do, from networking, to search, to mail, to surfing non Google websites will have you somehow connected eventually to their back advertising and targeting systems. Advertising prices will rise, Google’s income will double, and many other advertising solutions will have no way to compete, including Facebook.

3) Facebook cares too much about “social networking.” Social networking as a stand-alone solution is gone. With Google, everything will become on function of the internet. People have made for a while the argument that Facebook is really just another extension of the internet, and that “social networking” is nothing more than another word for what we all do on a daily basis – just made easier by software solutions. However, with Google+ all these interests, all of the networks and groups that we create will be more integrated into every other function of the internet. Remember that Google is often the first site, the main site that everyone uses on a daily basis to connect to everything else they want to know. Search will become a social tool and social networking will become a search mechanism. There will be no distinction perceived or in reality. When you are connected to the Internet, for most of us, you will always be connected to Google.

That last point really wraps up all the points together. Technologists have been claiming for a while that at some point the Internet will be more than just a destination on a computer or phone, but instead a part of everything we do. Microsoft knew this many years ago and has been trying unsuccessfully to have a universal login that will log you into everything. Even before that America Online (AOL) wanted to be the login to the internet, but never even came close to converting from an ISP to a destination. Facebook has been quickly addressing this, with integration into blogs, login for everything, but they still aren’t anywhere near the daily influence and reach of Google. That’s what Google has over Facebook, and what will make Google dominate the market. The pure integration potential of Google is just amazing. Since most users on the internet chose the easiest solution, whatever is put in their face (or the first page of Google), that is where they will all eventually go.

If Facebook doesn’t like it, they also have another reality to face: Google generates somewhere around 30-times as much revenue as Facebook and they can easily buy all the new users they need.

Pace Lattin is a leading expert in interactive marketing and advertising. Pace Lattin, the publisher of the top newsletters in new media and online advertising is one of the inventors of many of the technologies and methods that have become standards in the industry. He has been called many things, including a rabble-rouser, a guru, an innovator and a watchdog — but one thing stays the same: he is one of the most interesting leaders and commentators in the online advertising industry. Marketing Sherpa, a leading marketing research publication called him the most influential journalist in online media for a reason.

By Tom Wilson in Featured

ppcUsing a PPC strategy was a good idea. From your perspective, it’s worked and it’s making you money. The figures tell the story. The click through rate is above average. The keywords and ads are working well. And you’re getting a satisfactory conversion rate and ROI.

But simply taking your results at face value can give you a false picture. Because you can be making a big mistake when looking at these.

The criterion of success for PPC search is whether it can meet your goals profitably through conversions. For instance, you could be trying to get subscribers for your newsletter. Or trying to generate leads. Or online selling (e-commerce). No matter. In all cases, these goals are about converting visitors into prospects or customers.

So, the decision to use a PPC strategy is about the value of each conversion to you. And the amount you have to spend in advertising to get it.

THE CONVERSION RATES TO EXPECT

Although Google does this for you, here is how to work out the average cost per conversion. Divide your total costs per click (CPC) by the number of conversions. Let’s say you spend $1200 on paid search clicks and you get 20 conversions.

That makes your average conversion cost $60. To put it in practical terms, $60 has been the cost of every sign-up, lead or online sale.

Of course, it depends on the conversion rates can you expect from your keywords and ads. Unfortunately, there is no precise formula. And rates vary across industries. It also depends on the quality and nature of the offer you’re making. But here are some general guidelines. Especially if you are giving something away, sign-up conversions can be very good. I’ve hit rates of 30% and more, but up to 10% is more realistic. Lead generation is lower, 2-4%. E-commerce can be as little as 1-2%.

Imagine you are in e-commerce. Each click is costing you $1 and your conversion rate is 2%. The outcome is that the cost of each sale is $50. Assuming your average basket or sales value is $50 or more, you would appear at minimum to be breaking even.

THE BIG MISTAKE

But the assumption you’ve just made may not be accurate. Many PPC advertisers misjudge the situation by failing to look beyond the sales value. They forget that this is not their profit. Imagine that the total value of the products in the basket is $50. But let’s assume that your profit is only $20.

So, for every $100 it costs you in clicks, you get back only $40. Your PPC campaign has made a loss of $30 per transaction. If you count just the profit, as you should, then at $1 CPC to breakeven you would need a basket value of $125.

Of course, these figures are generalizations, but they should prompt you to look again at your results. If the bad news is that you PPC is not profitable, don’t just abandon it.

THE SOLUTION

It’s likely that you could perform a lot better. To some extent because you thought your results were fine you unconsciously became complacent and did not do as much work on your campaigns as you should have.

So, re-examine your whole approach to paid search. If appropriate, look again at your PPC strategy. If you’ve been using a management company consider firing them. Because a good professional would have brought this matter to your attention from the outset.

With good PPC management, ongoing optimization and improving the quality score on your keywords and ads, you could cut your CPC and improve conversion rates. And perhaps then transform your PPC marketing into a profitable strategy.

Tom Wilson is an expert in Internet marketing and an award-winning marketer. He specializes in internet marketing and has been providing marketing services and consultancy for almost 10 years. He is a Chartered Marketer, and a Google AdWords qualified professional. His website http://www.cluedup-ppc.co.uk offers SEO services and a range of PPC services. These include PPC management, campaign setup, mentoring, and AdWords training courses.

By Gayle Hawks in Featured

videomktgUsing video to promote your website, services, or products has become an integral component of online advertising. With the explosive popularity of sites such as YouTube (now considered the number two search engine online), Vimeo, and others – it’s time to embrace video and make it work on behalf of your company and your website.

Here are some amazing statistics about online video from 2010:

* 172 million U.S. viewers watched an average of 14.6 hours of video.

* Over 40% of consumers watch online videos on a weekly basis – Over 70% watch monthly.

* YouTube serves over 1 billion videos per day.

* YouTube (owned by Google) is expected to hit $2 billion in revenue during 2011.

* Viral video marketing campaigns increase clickthrough rates by 750%. (MarketingExperiments.com, November 2006)

* E-commerce sites that use product videos sell up to 45% more. Onlineshoes.com says it sees a 45% higher conversion rate for customers who watch videos on its website. Zappos.com says it sells up to 30% more for products that it shows in videos instead of just static pictures. (Sources: ReelSEO, Internet Retailer)

By Michael Byrne in Featured

inbound_linksA few years ago to combat blog comment spam, the search engines implemented no follow backlinks. These changes wreaked havoc for big business and small business SEO.

These no follow backlinks were suspected of having no SEO value because they don’t pass PageRank from the linking site. It now appears that although they may no pass PR, they do have value.

In the recent SEOMoz Search Engine Ranking Factors report, a correlation exists between ranking and the presence of no follow links.The ratio of no follow to do follow links appears to be a search engine ranking factor. If do follow links greatly outnumber no follow links, the site or page link profile may seem unnatural. The search engines expect that in the normal course of link getting, links from both do follow and no follow sites are normal.

If your site link profile has a very high ratio of do follow links, you may need to get more no follow links from social media sites, no follow blogs and other sources to balance your profile.

What About Authority?

It’s probably true that PR is not passed with a no follow link. That statement may not be completely true, but let’s assume it is. My question has been for some time now, even if no PageRank is passed, is a link from an authority site related to the linked-to site valuable?

Some SEO teachers and specialist have been saying for awhile to ignore no follow and just get the link. They say that in their testing it didn’t seem to matter. I’m wondering out loud, if link juice is not passed through PR, are other signals being used to determine authority and relevance.

The Search Algorithm

For a lot of reasons, search engines are designed and tweaked to provide the best result for search queries. The algorithms look at off page and on page factors. Let’s look at factors from off page. A link from a site provides a vote to the destination site. If the link is no follow, the PageRank (PR) is gone, but I’m thinking other signals in the algorithm are present that make the link from an authority site valuable.

Google says there are over 200 factors in the algorithm, others say it’s more, why wouldn’t they be including the relevance of the link in relevance factors.

Let’s look at an example. Two sites have on page content and factors that are exactly the same. There’s nothing to choose between them. Based on on page factors, it’s a dead heat. Still, one ranks higher than the other. Why?

On site factors are the same, so the ranking must be based on off site factors. Let’s say now that both of these sites have the same PR profiles. Each has 1,000 links with the same distribution of PR, the same anchor text distribution and the same distribution of no follow and do follow links.

I am submitting that where the links come from is an overlooked factor. If the first site’s links are mostly from sites related to the content, while the second site get its links from general or non-related sites, the first site will rank higher. Few would argue this point, but it appears that no follow links may be passing relevance and authority signals even if there’s no PR value.

A New Life for No Follow Links?

So, just maybe, no follow links have value after all. I don’t know how valuable these links are, but if search engines are not ignoring these links completely (there not), no follow links must be passing signals for some reason. There appears to be link profile signals. Are there one or more relevance signals for no follow links as well? While I won’t advise ignoring the follow tag, in an SEO or local SEO program it now appears that those no follow links are more valuable than we thought.

Visit Daytona Beach SEO at http://seo10x.com/daytona-beach-seo to learn more about Local SEO http://seo10x.com/local-seo/the-elements-of-local-seo/

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Google Celebrates Art Clokey’s Birthday
Not many people will recognize the name Art Clokey. But a lot more people will recognize the green c...
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Reader Rescue : Should My Meta Description Tags Just Duplicate My Title Tags?
Hi Everyone From early days learning SEO, I went ahead and did all my meta descriptions with a bi...
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Death of Steve Jobs Fails to Break Twitter Record
We all heard the sad news yesterday that Steve Jobs, founder and visionary at Apple, had died at...
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