aimClear® Search Marketing Blog

Businesses: Raise your hand if you barely cared about Google+ until your SEO consultant called to say now you just have to. While the disproportionate weight Google is placing on + driven results may be unhealthy for SERPs in the short term, opening a relatively easy + door to bomb Google SERPs serves the function of enlisting SEOs to goad businesses into participating in Google’s fledgling social community.

Google’s strategy is brilliant, sort of like a sardonic dominatrix forcing her ambivalent quarry to capitulate with promises of immediate pleasure, ultimately resulting in long-term frustration for the poor S.O.B. that surrendered. Trust me, it won’t stay this easy to participate your way into SERPs via + as businesses flock to grab their share and mega authority profiles are grown by brand gorillas. Long term, true socialization will likely benefit SERPs. For now, one thing is sure: The SEO world is changing in radical ways. While (of course) we’d love you to hire a specialized consultant to counsel you on what to do next, here’s an awesome start without having to fork over mucho-sheckels. Read on as SEO industry pundits weigh in with gobs of actionable insights and tactics. Read the rest of this entry »

The concept of being social and engaging communities has been around a lot longer than “social media.” Today I was hooked by a vanity bait mechanism I helped create more than 15 years ago, in my role of Creative Director of a CBS affiliate station in Duluth.

Imagine my surprise to see my daughter on television this morning! Her school’s choir was singing on the local CBS affiliate’s Sunday morning news show. There she was! The show featured choirs from a number regional school systems. Awesome! My kid was on TV. I reached for my cell phone and started calling local family and friends.

“Tune in now,” I encouraged! “She’s on TV!” My fatherly buttons were bursting as I called, tweeted, DM’d and otherwise recruited viewers for the local weekend morning news show, realtime. Then it hit me! Read the rest of this entry »

IU basketball fans must be among the most engaged on earth. Just watch Twitter. Last week Indiana University’s Hoosier Nation was totally screaming, abuzz at IU’s stunning upset of (previously) #1 Kentucky.  I saw some retweets among my community that highlighted an incredible reality: These days sports fans don’t just yell at the players in the stadium or at their television sets. They yell at each other on Twitter, at the speed of rabid emotion! Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes it takes a grownup, in physical life, to remind us the basics of online community management. Celia Cohn was handling Ambassador duties at the front entrance of the Westin™ Kierland Resort, the official #SMX Social Scottsdale hotel. Her job is to greet guests in the hotel lobby, guide, engage and support.

She greeted me as I walked by, “Mr. Weintraub, how did your speaking go today, or is it tomorrow?” The familiar greeting surprised me, as I did not remember engaging with Celia prior.  Best practice number one: She did her homework. I did not realize until after the conversation that she had scoped out my #SMX Badge, which has my name on it and flags me as a speaker. She also knew that the conference was two days. I was so much more interested in the conversation because she had taken careful notice and engaged me along lines I care about, my speaking. Nice work Celia! This lady executes the basics, really well. (Author’s Note: I think we’ve also proven that Celia is great at link-building, as evidence herein .)

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Welcome back to aimClear’s coverage of #SESCHI! After two cups of coffee on this second (and way chillier) morning, we headed to the Social Media Signals in Search session. Moderated by Rob Garner, vice president of strategy for iCrossing, and featuring Andrea Fishman, VP of Global Strategy & Managing Partner of BGT Chicago, BGT Partners, and Jim Yu, Founder & CEO, BrightEdge, this team was dishing out top-shelf insight on the ever-expanding influence of social media on organic search rankings.

Last week at #PubCon Vegas, aimClear blogged a session that also focused on social media signals in search, though with two very different speakers and considerably different types of insight. Interested in presenting a variety of expert-level advice to the readers at home, we decided to blog this sesh as well- a nice contrast and compare type-deal. Read on for more juicy details as captured by yours truly, @meganlichty. Read the rest of this entry »