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So, Social Media Optimization. What's this all about? Well, I personally think that it is a very good derivitive of the whole SEO subject. It is by definition, a method of gererating publicity through online PR with a focus on social networking, social media and online community building. It is an essential part of the mix. By doing 'SMO' you are adding another dimension to your online visibility. It allows for traffic to driven to your site through another avenue other than search engines.
SMO can be quite a varied task. There's a lot of options available! Generating publicity can be done in lots of places in many ways. RSS feeds, blogging, using Flickr and YouTube, social media sites and social networking sites can all be used to communicate your message.
SMO is definitely something to pay credence too. Just as SEO is now an imperitive skill, spending time on devleloping a social media strategy is of great importance. The possibilities are endless. More to the point though, it's more fun. Playing around in the communities is quite an enjoyable way of doing marketing. Essentially we all spend our time looking at, reading and watching content within these communities anyway, so we may as well be tweaking little bits here and there for the greater good of our own sites.
SMO can be quite a varied task. There's a lot of options available! Generating publicity can be done in lots of places in many ways. RSS feeds, blogging, using Flickr and YouTube, social media sites and social networking sites can all be used to communicate your message.
SMO is definitely something to pay credence too. Just as SEO is now an imperitive skill, spending time on devleloping a social media strategy is of great importance. The possibilities are endless. More to the point though, it's more fun. Playing around in the communities is quite an enjoyable way of doing marketing. Essentially we all spend our time looking at, reading and watching content within these communities anyway, so we may as well be tweaking little bits here and there for the greater good of our own sites.
Anchor text and keyword research is so important if you want your links to gain respect and trust in the relevance rankings. Using the correct anchor text is the simplest thing you can do in terms of giving your links the best possible chance.
A simple link may have some benefit, but coupled with the right anchor text it is far more powerful. Google and the other SEs are looking to match things up, add things together and group similar things as much as they can. Their algorithms are mathematical and as such they want everything to be just so. By using the right anchor text, with the right links, with the right keywords, on the right page, in the right place, you are making everything very easy for the search engine. It's all there to see. The SE doesn't have to search around on the ground in the dark, with a torch; instead it gets broad daylight and some nice little arrows pointing to where everything is. The moral of this story is: make everything as simple as possible for the search engine. If you create hard work for it, you stand more chance of it getting bored and moving on somewhere else.
A simple link may have some benefit, but coupled with the right anchor text it is far more powerful. Google and the other SEs are looking to match things up, add things together and group similar things as much as they can. Their algorithms are mathematical and as such they want everything to be just so. By using the right anchor text, with the right links, with the right keywords, on the right page, in the right place, you are making everything very easy for the search engine. It's all there to see. The SE doesn't have to search around on the ground in the dark, with a torch; instead it gets broad daylight and some nice little arrows pointing to where everything is. The moral of this story is: make everything as simple as possible for the search engine. If you create hard work for it, you stand more chance of it getting bored and moving on somewhere else.
One of the
most important factors of successful Online PR is relevance. As soon as someone spots a relevancy inaccuracy in your site or information you publish you will instantly find yourself in trouble. The more relevant
you are to what your target audience want to see, the better.
Relevance is sometimes ambiguous and it does seem like a very simple thing to get right. However, many people and companies think they are being entirely relevant, but they are only thinking of relevance in terms of it being relevant to them. You may know something about your industry and think of something that is entirely relevant to your own knowledge, but the person you want to communicate a message to may never have thought of that as being relevant and may not understand where the connection comes in. Then they will think that the message isn't relevant to them, they won't distribute it freely and they won't do any of the work you want them to do!
Relevance is sometimes ambiguous and it does seem like a very simple thing to get right. However, many people and companies think they are being entirely relevant, but they are only thinking of relevance in terms of it being relevant to them. You may know something about your industry and think of something that is entirely relevant to your own knowledge, but the person you want to communicate a message to may never have thought of that as being relevant and may not understand where the connection comes in. Then they will think that the message isn't relevant to them, they won't distribute it freely and they won't do any of the work you want them to do!
Are the current problems in the housing market exacerbated by underlying faults within the economy? Or is it just that the media is telling us that there is a potential crash which is provoking panic from homeowners? I am of the opinion that the latter is the most prevalent issue.
Obviously the housing market - and general state of the economy - is newsworthy stuff, but the extent to which it is reported is surely sending speculation out of control. According to the Times today, mortgage approvals are down 56% from May last year. While this is an issue worth noting, it is not reason to go into blind panic. The mortgage market needs to go through a phase of correction to rectify the banks' errors with irresponsible lending. The way for them to do this is to stop giving out mortgages to anyone who asks for one, and start to bring their debt levels back to an equilibrium. This may lead to a short period of time where selling, buying, re-financing and borrowing will be a little more tricky, but it won't last long if people are willing to ride the wave and be patient.
The state of the economy as a whole is about as good as anyone could wish for and as such the correction of errors within it should not take long if there isn't an abundance of scare-mongering from the media. Once the banks have evaluated their issues and figured out a solution they will then be happy to lend again; though maybe in a slightly less reckless manner. And when this is the case the housing market will in-turn correct itself and cries of 'negative equity' and a 'robbing government' will cease. There will probably be a new group of property millionaires as well, who we can start complaining about the next time there is there is a little blip in our (think-ourselves-lucky-it's-not-Zimbabwe) economy.
Obviously the housing market - and general state of the economy - is newsworthy stuff, but the extent to which it is reported is surely sending speculation out of control. According to the Times today, mortgage approvals are down 56% from May last year. While this is an issue worth noting, it is not reason to go into blind panic. The mortgage market needs to go through a phase of correction to rectify the banks' errors with irresponsible lending. The way for them to do this is to stop giving out mortgages to anyone who asks for one, and start to bring their debt levels back to an equilibrium. This may lead to a short period of time where selling, buying, re-financing and borrowing will be a little more tricky, but it won't last long if people are willing to ride the wave and be patient.
The state of the economy as a whole is about as good as anyone could wish for and as such the correction of errors within it should not take long if there isn't an abundance of scare-mongering from the media. Once the banks have evaluated their issues and figured out a solution they will then be happy to lend again; though maybe in a slightly less reckless manner. And when this is the case the housing market will in-turn correct itself and cries of 'negative equity' and a 'robbing government' will cease. There will probably be a new group of property millionaires as well, who we can start complaining about the next time there is there is a little blip in our (think-ourselves-lucky-it's-not-Zimbabwe) economy.
The credit crunch and squeeze on lending is affecting the options for mortgage buyers. Before the worries about an economic down-turn, the major mortgage providers had plenty of cash to play with and lots of competitive offers for the consumer.
Now, the luxury of choice has disappeared. Last year, consumers could scour the market for the best deal out of 15,000 available mortgage products. This number has now reduced to a comparatively meagre 4,000 according to Moneyfacts. The flexibility and scope for finding the most suitable offer have diminished.
As well as the number of products decreasing, traditional high street lenders are now dramatically reducing the size of mortgages they're willing to give out. Consumers looking to secure over £1m mortgages are finding that the main-stream lenders are reigning in their maximum loan sizes and increasing their fees. HFM Columbus states that Halifax can now charge a fee of up to £40,000 to consumers looking for a £2m mortgage. Moving away from the traditional lenders is often the only option, though fees will still be sizable.
The lack of mortgage product choice is yet another problem facing the homeowner or first time buyer. Getting the credit in the first place is one obstacle, but then throw in the lack of product choice and apprehension from lenders and it would seem that tough times are set to continue.
Today sees another protest from lorry drivers over the soaring cost of fuel. It is expected that 1000 vehicles will descend on the London transport system throughout the day, aiming to disrupt traffic significantly in order to get their point across.
The haulage industry as a whole is suffering from the increases in fuel prices, as a litre of petrol and diesel have now reached up to 114p and 126p respectively. The protesters want the government to listen and take action as these steep price increases threaten their livelihoods.
The cost of crude oil hit $135 (£68) a barrel at the end of last week. Haulage workers fear that large numbers of job losses are imminent if price rises are set to continue.
The haulage industry as a whole is suffering from the increases in fuel prices, as a litre of petrol and diesel have now reached up to 114p and 126p respectively. The protesters want the government to listen and take action as these steep price increases threaten their livelihoods.
The cost of crude oil hit $135 (£68) a barrel at the end of last week. Haulage workers fear that large numbers of job losses are imminent if price rises are set to continue.