Article Archive by Michael Sherman

The Power A Blog Brings To SEO

by Michael Sherman

Google and the other search engines love blogs. Blogs give the engines lots of fresh content which get indexed much faster than webpages. But the trick is you need to keep your blog postings keyword rich and written on a consistent basis.

When you post a blog entry it is extremely important to choose a keyword that your want your blog post to get ranked for and then include that keyword in your title. Also, try to use that keyword in the first sentence of the posts and within the first 25 words. The closer to the start of the posting the better. Use the keyword in the blog post a number of times, but don’t exceed more than a 4% keyword density. Definitely don’t keyword stuff and only use it in a natural manner.

Use your keyword as anchor text for a link 3 to 4 times within the blog post and make sure you bold the link. Use the keyword in the URL of that post.   For example, http://domain.com/keyword. You can easily do this in many blogging software applications such as WordPress and Blogger.

Note, when using Blogger, you cannot change your URL once you have published the post.   Blogger chooses the first few sentences from the title of the post to include in the URL.   To confirm getting your keyword into your URL, publish your post with only the keyword in your title.   Afterwards you can always go back and change the title again, but make sure it still contains that keyword.

Remember, even though blog posts have great potential for search traffic, it doesn’t happen overnight.   Constant attention to creating quality posts is key.

How To Get Your Tweets Retweeted on Twitter

by Michael Sherman

Retweeting (RT) is the most effective way of sharing information you like within Twitter. But to getting someone to retweet your message (or tweet) requires you to use some tools.

1. Include Links.  Tweets have a much higher percentage of being retweeted when a link is used.
2. Use a URL shortner such as bit.ly and ow.ly when adding a link to your Tweet. This will drastically reduce long URLs and allow for more copy within the 140 character allotted space.
3. Speaking of allotted space, don’t use all of it when you are tweeting.  This will make it easier for someone to retweet as they are already losing between 5 and 8 characters plus the length of the username when they are retweeting your message.
4. As much as possible, use keywords and phrases within your Tweets. Research has shown the most retweetable tweets include words and phrases such as “social media”, “check out”, “blog post”, “top”, “please”, “help” and “free”.
5. Avoid tweeting about “boring” items. Yes, Twitter asks you to type in “What’s Happening” but stay away from using words like “haha”, “sleep”, “watching”, “home” and “bored” if you want to get your Tweets to be spread via the RT.
6. Use longer words.  Avoid abbreviations and use better language with more syllables. This will make your Tweet more intellectual and give it a higher chance of being retweeted.
7. Timing.  Many social media experts have said that the highest probability of getting your Tweets retweeted are between the hours of 4 and 5pm. Friday is the highest day of the week for retweets.

To use Twitter as an effective marketing tool, your greatest potential of reaching an audience beyond your followers is by having your tweets retweeted. These are just a few general recommendations to make your

Bing looks to have broken new ground in Online Mapping

by Michael Sherman

If you didn’t already notice, Bing is breaking new ground when it has come to online mapping. In 56 metro areas Bing Maps is introducing “Street Side”. This new technology features immersive street-level photography and allows users to “walk down the street” and explore neighborhoods and cities. Unlike other online mapping services Bing “Street Side” is extremely “rich”, bringing online mapping into a new reality. Microsoft is also utilizing its 3D mapping assets, Photosynth and Silverlight in creating this new experience. Here is how the Microsoft press release describes the technology behind the new map experience:

Photosynth and Silverlight are the underlying technologies in Bing Maps that connect everything and help provide the more seamless experience. Based on Seadragon and Photo Tourism concepts, Photosynth lets us literally “stitch” together photographs to provide a more realistic view of locations as they appear in real life. Photosynth-enabled Streetside imagery is built on geometric models that are reconstructed underneath the imagery to provide a truly 3D experience that shows locations as they are in real life.

The one “catch” is that you need to install Microsoft Silverlight to make it all work. (It only takes a few seconds to download) But once installed at the Bing Maps beta site you are now enabled into a wide range of experiences including search and discovery tools such as planning and sharing multistep itineraries, navigating streets at eye level and experience beautiful photographic scenes.

Additionally this new “apps gallery“ enables data overlays directly onto the map. Currently all of the apps are Microsoft created but in the near future third parties will be able to integrate such as Yelp reviews and Twitter postings, along with a mobile device version.