As a business owner you’ve worked hard to brand yourself and create a website. You’ve added all the bells and whistles you desired.  Now what? Now that your website is up and running you’re looking to focus on providing your customers with kick-butt customer service.  But where are your customers?

Here is your answer….Social SEO!!

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”.  As scary as the term sounds, it simply means using techniques to help increase the findability of your website online.

We use several techniques and work some magical secrets (they really are, don’t roll your eyes) to move you from a remote page 100 on Google to the top page of the pack!  Now, don’t you think this would help to bring some customers in the door?  We think so!

So why do we call what we do “Social SEO”?  We added the “Social” in front because that is the part lots of businesses have either forgotten about or don’t think they have time to maintain.  Social Media….what can we say about it?  It is Free, Fun and Fantastic!  Also, recently it became very important in your SEO rankings so listen to this!  The major search engines, such as Google and Bing, are now using Social Media sites like Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook to help determine which websites and information sources are the most relevant and reliable!

Here’s 3 tips to get you started:

1. Make SEO part of your website design process and not an afterthought
2. Content is King – make sure your website content is relevant and fresh
3. Look to the competition – if your competitors are ranking well, they must be doing something right

So hop on the bandwagon people and increase your Findability!

Remember the days when investigating a purchase meant picking up your local yellow pages?  Well, my friends, those days are long gone!

Enter the Age of Social Shopping

Plenty of research exists on the shopping habits of consumers and most have come to the same conclusion: the “New Consumer” investigates their purchases for Products or Services online prior to conducting a transaction.  They Google, Bing, Tweet (and many other acts of Social Media investigation) to find what they are looking for.  Then, they ask their Social Media networks for their ideas and opinions.

Never before have people had so many options to choose from and so many places from which to gather word of mouth “yays and nays” on products and services.  People are going mobile, online and to social media to access a powerful network of people who can make or break your sale.

What’s a Business to do?

Ensure you communicate a consistent message and brand on various consumer touch points, such as your website, Twitter Account and Facebook Fanpage.

Consumers are also looking to social networks for deals.  So provide relevant deals/coupons or offers on each of the media channels you choose.  If you offer the deals (along with the possibility for product/service reviews) right on your website, people never have to leave and can simply complete the entire process on your site.

So what does this mean for you and your business?  It means you have to be Findable and brand yourself on as many social media outlets as possible!  Ensure you communicate the same messages on each of the outlets you choose.  Also, make sure your SEO is up to date so people can find you…in the Age of Social Media, if you are not Findable, you are not shoppable!

Google has been working on several additions recently to its core search offering and there have been countless blog posts and reviews popping up all over the web. We will begin exploring some of the more newsworthy improvements in the days and weeks to come. More specifically, how they relate to SEO and your website’s findability online.

We’ve been asked recently by a few prospective clients about “Personalized Search” so we’re going to tackle that one first.

What is Personalized Search All About?

Google defines “Personalized Search” as the ability to use the search history you’ve been building to get better more relevant results (see Google’s original blog post here). Over time, Google will persist this information and use it to provide you with search results it thinks you want to see.

What kind of information? Things like search requests (topics and keywords) and click-thru results for a given website. For example, whether you clicked on any of its results and which ones in particular.

PS – Phase One

The first phase of the Personalized Search rollout worked well, however, there was a catch. The catch being that you must first have a Google account (Gmail). Second, you must be logged into that account for Google to begin persisting your search history. I don’t know about you, but I rarely if ever log into my Gmail account before googling something.

Your “personalized” search results may be ranked differently from someone else performing the same exact search based on your previous click-thru behavior. Phase One has been around for approximately four years now and hasn’t really changed the SEO landscape all that much.

PS – Phase Two

The second phase of the Personalized Search rollout is a bit more intrusive. Released earlier this month, this version does not require web searchers be logged into their Google account and is enabled for all users. Google takes advantage of a browser cookie to store relevant information related to your search habits. As with phase one, there is a catch. The catch in this case being that your search history only persists for 180 days. After that point your web history is cleared.

Again in this case, your “personalized” search results may be ranked differently from someone else performing the same exact search based on your previous click-thru behavior. As this second phase was only released very recently, the long-term effects are still unknown. That being said, I have noticed that Google just doesn’t do a great job unless I log into my Gmail account. I do a lot of searching and I just haven’t noticed very many “personalized” results where Google has actually customized something for me.

Has Personalized Search Killed Organic SEO?

There are a lot of discussions around the web that this second incarnation of Personalized Search is an SEO killer. I’m not alone when I say that is just not the case. Here’s why:

1. Google’s core search algorithm remains unchanged – the Personalized Search feature does not affect the results returned via Google’s search algorithm. Rather, it is a display functionality that adjusts the search results to add that personal touch
2. Content is still king – the combination of good content, a properly optimized website, and link juice are still critical. You have zero chance of showing up in someone’s personal search if your site doesn’t first achieve a good page rank. Search habits are learned through queries and click-thrus
3. A good brand goes a long way – the importance of building a brand has become even more important. A well known brand and/or website will always yield better results. Focus on making people love your website and building your image