Bing vs Google – side by side
Here is a great idea: someone created a site that let's you search one term and brings up Google and Bing side by side. The moment I saw this I realised why I liked Google so much. First, have a look that this:
The information provided by Google on the term Aconex is a summary of the most relevant pages right on the top. In contrast, Bing gives me a list of seemingly unstructured information.
Add to that the "show options" link right above the result and I can't for the life of me think what would make me change from google to Bing...
Anyone have other ideas? Am I missing someting?
Can you control the message in social media?
Trevor Cook is someone I've been following for some time, because of his insights in media and PR. He wrote this (altogether good) article. There was just one quote that got me thinking:
Business needs to keep perspective on social media – Corporate Engagement
The Obama campaign is the current gold standard of this approach – they controlled message but they allowed people a great deal of lattitude in the way they helped promote that message
I've read it a few times now, and I'm not sure.
Did the Obama campaign control message? They certainly created it, but did they really "control" it allowing people "lattitude" in the way they helped promote it?
I don't think so. I think the reason it is the "gold standard" is because they created the kind of messages people wanted to share and promote, and then created highly targeted tools and activities to enable these messages to be spread.
In fact, had they made any attempt to control the message (apart from correcting people when they misrepresented the message), the whole thing would have failed.
What do you think? Did I miss something here?
What I would do online if I were you
That is, if you haven't done it already. I probably don't have to convince anyone that as a business today you have to be online; the question is more likely what you should do, and how much of it. There are hundreds, and hundreds of people online giving you all different advice, which in some way makes it harder, rather than easier to determine what you should do.
So why are you reading this instead? Possibly because you've read some other posts I've written and decided to come back, or you know me personally and decided to follow this blog. In either case, the fact that I have your attention is a demonstration of what you can achieve online without spending a dollar.
Just a reminder why you should do this....
Most of all, your competitors do it badly - I can almost guarantee that your competitors don't do half of the things they could be doing online. The vast majority of businesses still see marketing (and therefore their website) as a "set and forget" kind of thing. There's an immediate opportunity. Look at your competitors and see what they do badly.
Top things to do
Invest time in content - the more you've thought about your niche, and how you position yourself away from others, the better. This means that you can use SPECIFIC key words in your content and page titles that will help people understand your differentiation, and search engines find you. Make sure people can find the information they may be looking for FAST. Don't be gimmicky; people are in a hurry.
Invest money in design - create an online presence that makes you look bigger than you are, and is a window to you and your brand. If you do have some money to spend, spend it on someone who can help you with design. Why would you go through all the effort to get someone to your site, to present them with an image of you that is crap? YOUR NOT A DESIGNER, AND THEY'RE NOT THAT EXPENSIVE.
Make a blog a key page of your site, so you have your own media outlet. It is STILL the way to give your prospects and customers value that they won't get from your competitors. If you're looking for ideas for online PR in particular, Read David Meerman Scott's "The New Rules of Marketing and PR".
Get active in social media - If you are in B2B make sure you are on LinkedIn. If networking is the lifeblood of most B2B marketing, than you have to invest time in continuously building your network online. A LinkedIn account with two contacts is useless. A LinkedIn account with 50 or 100 is starting to get pretty powerful.
Start a Twitter account and use it wisely; contrary to popular believe, your customers won't give a toss if you're stuck in an airport, you've just divorced or if you're playing with your kids. (Yes, all of these have come through in my Twitter stream of professional contacts) What you DO want to do is use it to follow your customers, (if you can), post links back to your blog, or to other sites your customers might be interested in. Or to promote a special, only to your web followers. Your Facebook page can be automatically updated with your Twitter update too.
Experiment with Google pay per click advertising, BUT spend the time researching the best possible keywords, the same keywords you have used right throughout your website content. If you have extra cash, use an agency. In Melbourne, I'd use Salsa
Be as local and specific as you can, and use the phrases that describe your specific niche and your local market as much as you can.
It's going to take time -Whatever you do, online or off, it is going to take time and as the saying goes, the best time to start is yesterday, but today is the second best option.So, what are you waiting for?
Did I miss anything?
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