Internet Marketing
Marketing With Out The Fluff

Time spent on social networking sites grew 159 percent in a three year period.

Worldwide, Australian Internet users spend the most time engaging with social networking sites and blogs, according to data from Nielsen.

The top 10 sites among U.K. users during the month of September 2009, from Hitwise.

Which social networks attract the most users and had the greatest gains over the past year?

Recent data from comScore’s World Metrix audience measurement service reveal that Russia and Brazil had by far the most engaged social networking audiences in the world in May.

In case you haven’t heard, Facebook is allowing for the creation of vanity “usernames” that will allow you to customize your Facebook address.  This change is a permanent and non-transferable … so select wisely. What ‘Usernames’ Applies To Users will be able to register custom usernames for both profiles and Facebook pages.  In case you aren’t familiar with the two, profiles are for human beings while fan pages are used for businesses, brands, causes and more .  Groups and applications cannot be given a Facebook username.  You can register Saturday Morning (12:01 EST) at the Facebook username page . How Profiles & Pages Work in the SERPs Profiles Profiles are currently listed in the SERPs, but the listings aren’t an carbon copy of your current Facebook page.  The page that is indexed is not a representation of what your friends would see; it is simply a page that is served up to search engines with a basic offering of information like location, sampe friends and a profile picture.  The current structure of profiles is facebook.com/people/firstname-lastname/FacebookProfileNumbe r.  In order to see that full profile, a searcher must be logged in with the proper permissions.  Note: If all of your profile privacy is set to “my friends only” then they will never be indexed by search engines. Pages Pages are fully indexed by search engines, and s so updates, comments and Facebook links can be seen.  Right now the page URL structure looks like this: www.facebook.com/pages/page-name/FacebookPagenumber . How To Use for Business Profiles Seeing that profile rankings in SERPs are hindered by the faux-page delivered to search engines, creating a username to rank doesn’t seem like an ideal maneuver.  Instead, usernames would be a nice addition for name branding, as people can insert easier into business cards, emails and the sort. Pages This is where a solid keyword username could help your page to rank (in both SERPs and possibly in Facebook queries).  Using the Facebook domain strength with a short keyword rich URL could really help for broader queries and also in reputation management for branded terms.  Twitter accounts have been showing up more and more in the SERPs, and this effort should help more Facebook pages show up as well. Of course you should make sure that your username fits in with your branding and you shouldn’t try to overthrow your current efforts because you snagged a cute keyword. If you have been active on the Facebook front, you probably have a few industry related pages devoted to broad non-branded terms.  These would be ideal targets for keyword rich usernames as they wouldn’t ruin branding and the keyword  in the URL structure would benefit any marketing efforts.  So if your antique auto parts store has a “Vintage ‘79 Fords’ page, registering the username “vintage-fords’ should help your page rank, and makes sense as a business move because it is a logical and legiti.mate username.  Facebook has made it clear that very broad terms “pizza” or “flowers” will not be allowed, so try and get a bit creative with your choice. Who is Eligible Any profile created before the announcement at 3 PM on June 9, 2009.  Each profile can have only one name assigned, and each page can only have one as well.  If you didn’t already have this in place, you are out of luck.  You will have to set up your page now, then check back on June 28th to nab your username. Facebook pages are a bit stricter. Your fan page must have been created before May 31, 2009 cut-off date and have had a minimum 1,000 fans at that time. What to Do Stick to Branding – Don’t ‘over-SEO’ yourself if you are working on a specific brand.  While you may be missing some main keywords, you will help in reputation management, branding and will cut confusion. Use Keywords Where Applicable – Companies very active with Facebook marketing most likely have some general industry pages set up that are non-branded.  Getting keyword rich usernames for these would be ideal. Brand yourself – Sure ‘hax0rM4n1k” is a cool handle, but it will be associated with your name forever, so stick to the basics and wrap-up your name for any Facebook profiles.  These profile pages will show in the SERPs so make sure you keep it clean if you ever want to be employed. Protect yourself – If not eligible and have a trademark?  Head over to the USPTO , grab your registration number, and fill out the “protect your username” form . What Not to Do Try to Steal Trademarked Terms – You will not be able to keep them and you are just being a jerk.  Don’t do that. Overly SEO Yourself – Don’t ditch your branding for a set of shiny keywords. Be Late – Facebook has a handy counter for you on the usernames page … so you have no excuse.  Any by the way that is 12:01 AM Eastern, so don’t be late west-coasters. Facebook usernames looks to be a nice addition for profiles and pages, just choose wisely as this is will go on your permanent (Facebook) record! Don’t forget to subscribe to the 10e20 RSS Feed !

While there has been a rather large commotion (mostly negative) about the recent release of the DiggBar we have been watching and tracking its usage to find out how the community actually uses it.   Surprisingly, we have found many beneficial aspects to the bar, and discovered a handful of ways that you can use the DiggBar or a shortened URL ( DiggURL)  help your success on Digg. (If you haven’t seen the DiggBar yet, check the following video) Who Sees The DiggBar Many people will argue that framing a website is intrinsically evil.  If you are one of this mindset, I would like to say that Digg’s most recent changes have honestly attempted to make the frame visible only to those who choose to view it, though it still does frame a website.  So before we get into the benefits of the DiggBar, we can take a look at who will and will not see the DiggBar to begin with: 1. Users who don’t have a Digg account won’t see it When the DiggBar first was released, all Digg users were sent to the DiggBar’ed story (unless they chose to always have it shut off.)  After a large outcry from casual users of the site and publishers, Digg went ahead and removed it completely on outbound links for users  who were not currently logged in with  a Digg account. What this means: The casual bloggers/publishers/lurkers who are trolling for stories on the site will never be fed a story that is DiggBar’ed unless they are currently logged in with the DiggBar turned on. They will receive the clean link directly to the source. 2. Users with a Digg account  who dislike can opt to NEVER see it One of the nice things that Digg did do with the bar is to make it extremely easy to turn it off forever.  There are two easy  ways that you can use to turn off the DiggBar: from the DiggBar Itself from your personal options Now, the really cool feature of the shortened DiggURL is that, even if you have an account and someone sends you that shortened URL (and your preferences are off), you will be redirected to the story page.  The only way that you can ever see the DiggBar is if you opt to by manually typing digg.com/ before your URL . What this means: Not all Diggers will see the DiggBar.   Unlike those horridly annoying ow.ly domains from HootSuite on Twitter, BurnURL or any other framed in service – the DiggBar is essentially only shown to those who actually want to see it. 3. If you don’t want anyone to see it, you can choose not to While the DiggBar was intended to help Diggers find great content and vote on it, at the end of the day, it is your site and you can choose to not allow anyone to frame it.  Many sites (even the New York Times) bust frames, so even those users  who opt in to view the DiggBar will be directed to the main article. Here are some resources on  how to break frames: Breaking Out of Frames with JavaScript Wikipedia includes a JavaScript variation that includes a popup as to why you will be redirected Also, if you have a WordPress blog, the plugin “ Diggbarred ” can be installed to block the DiggBar in its entirety. What this means: If you finish reading this article and still hate the DiggBar, you can make sure that nobody else out there will see it … even if they wanted to. How the DiggBar Can Help You So even though the DiggBar does frame a website, you can use this frame to your advantage, here’s how: 1. This one of the largest ‘approved’ ways to share your content off-site Digg has been known to enforce very stringent bannings on violations of Digg’s Terms of Use.  However, this form of promotion and sharing is not only acceptable, but encouraged.  The DiggBar allows you to share by email, Facebook or Twitter.  Emailing has always been an approved method of sharing, but now you can share your submissions directly on Twitter win a 100% approved fashion: 2. It allows for a quick check to see if a story has been submitted Digg has not been the most receptive to the use of its API to aid users.  Instead of relying on 3 rd party add-ons or plugins, you can now simply toss a “digg.com/” in front of any address to see if it has been previously submitted.  This is a simple and easy way to see if a story you find has already been submitted. 3. You can share content and people will know your intent (& you won’t look spammy) On Twitter or Facebook if you are attempting to share your story to increase the number of diggs, many times non-users simply don’t understand.  When sharing a DiggUrl, those who have an account and proper permission will see the DiggBar and give a vote if worthy, those who don’t participate in Digg will just be served the regular page – no harm done.  Before the DiggUrl and DiggBar, users on Twitter would try tagging tweets, sending to the Digg page itself and asking for Diggs.  The DiggURL makes it simple and straightforward; if you have an account, you understand the motive. 4. Users  who enjoy the DiggBar will have an easier time voting for your articles Believe it or not, there are users out there that enjoy the DiggBar.  It makes it easy to see the best comments, share good links and most importantly vote on articles that they deem worthy.  Digg has been ever changing to make it harder and harder to vote for stories that users enjoy.  The DiggBar is a step in the opposite direction, as users can vote quickly and easily, without having to flip back to the Digg page where they discovered the content.  Undoubtedly, the DiggBar will increase user votes and votes for your content

Having trouble getting exposure for your linkbait on social media news sites? Well, complain about algorithms all you want, but the odds are you’re doing something wrong.  Identifying these 5 main mistakes along with these tips to correct them, can help you debug your social media problems leading you to social success! This is a no-brainer; social media ‘power users’ do exist.  While you DON’T need to be a power user to find success on sites like Digg and Reddit, you DO need to be a part of the community.  If you don’t regularly participate in the community, vote on stories, submit great content (not just your stuff) and make friends … then the odds of  your content becoming popular are severely limited. If your accounts have never had any social media successes in the past, don’t waste your precious linkbait trying to make it your first ever submission to go popular .  Join the community, contribute to the site and build yourself up BEFORE submitting your content.  If you don’t have time to work your accounts, you should either stop your involvement in social media news marketing or look to others for help/guidance.  Chris wrote a brilliant post awhile back on how to meet other social media users and how you can use this to your advantage. The quality of accounts is one of the most critical success factors in the social media news sites.  To set yourself up for success, make sure you join the community wholeheartedly or know someone  who does. The quality of a site is make-or-break in social media.  If you are too salesy, business oriented or ad-focused you are setting yourself and your content up for  colossal failure.   Social media news users are looking for one thing – interesting news or great content .  They didn’t come to get slapped in the face with a massive pop-up. Many users are even repulsed by content that is too corporate.  Many times the creation of special non-branded pages or microsites is a good way to ensure that your linkbait will have a higher probability of being seen. A classic example of setting yourself up for failure is that of spreading your content across multiple pages to boost your ad impressions.  Sure, getting  ten extra pageviews for that piece of linkbait spread across  ten different pages is nice, but what would you rather have – a social media success with 100,000 visitors and 100,000 page views or a failure with 100 visitors with 1,000 page views.  I always recommend erring on the side of caution, and not giving social media users a reason to not vote for your content (or even downvote you). Even the most powerful social media users can’t make poor content popular.  Your content should fit the site’s audience, and be unique and engaging.  This is far and away the most common problem with the linkbait success. People spend far less time on lists, guides, and articles than they should.  If your content doesn’t floor someone, then why would they vote for you, let alone link to you?  If you are taking the humor hook , have your funniest friend or local struggling stand-up comedian help you write it.  Using the resource hook?  Then reach out (send emails, leverage twitter) and try to gain a quote from an industry expert. Maybe you think you can buy votes to get popular, or maybe you think setting up hundreds of accounts will do the trick.  Wrong.  Strategy is absolutely critical in social media news sites.  Your content should fit the network that you are using; you should follow all terms of use and you should act in a way that represents the community. Buying votes is a bad strategy .  Submitting to irrelevant sections just because they have more subscribers is an awful strategy.  Having everyone in your building vote on a story is a terrible method. Make sure that you have a well documented strategy before engaging in social campaigns, as one bad tactic can kill your linkbait forever . Let’s face it, sometimes your competition is just dirty .  Make sure your campaigns are under the radar until they become popular.  Don’t update your Facebook about upcoming promotions or send out Tweets asking for votes.  You are just asking them to help you fail.  Like everything else, there are always people looking to halt your success. Conclusion If you can take one and only one thing away from this post, I implore you to think about this: “When in doubt, always take the cautious route”. Do whatever it takes – ping a top user, put that corporate linkbait on a non-branded page, throw an extra set of eyes at the content, spend the extra time coming up with a comprehensive strategy and stay under the radar.  Your linkbait will thank you. If you like this post, please consider subscribing to our RSS or follow me on Twitter for more of the same