Search Results Archives: March 2010

Google arguably has an unrivalled willingness to try new things.

March 17, 2010 at 4:05 pm Filed in:Blog | Google | Latest News | SEO No Comments

From space and energy programs to virtual worlds and online hard drives, Google arguably has an unrivalled willingness to try new things. That’s not to say they’re all a success and a few, such as its Twitter-esque Jaiku have been deemed a failure and closed down. Knol however is one of the success stories and is still going strong more than a year after its launch.

This proliferation of traffic and scale raises an interesting question about how Google’s own tools can be used to increase your search engine visibility.

An important point to recognize when conducting a search engine optimisation campaign is that your success or failure does not necessarily depend on the web site itself appearing at the top of the search results. Think about SEO more as a chance to drive targeted traffic and raise online awareness (both pay offs of a good search results position) and you’ll begin to see why the use of other web sites and online properties can deliver that very same result. To my mind, that’s where Knol and Google’s other platforms come into play.

1. Knol

With a tag line ‘a unit of knowledge’, it seems that Knol was always intended to rival Wikipedia. An amalgamation of research and how to articles, Knol references social media in a big way. Material posted on Knol can be discussed by the community, reviewed, tagged and graded. Individual authors can collaborate with colleagues working in their field and even edit the work of others.

Benefits to your SEO Campaign:

As with all Google properties, it boasts an incredible PageRank (7), which makes it great link fodder.

As a collection of authoritative material about a particular topic, it’s also a very worthy showcase for research papers or white papers, helping to establish yourself as an expert in your field. This goes back to the principles of article marketing.

More importantly, the huge network of pages means it’s cropping up more and more often in Google search results. It isn’t displacing Wikipedia listings at the top of the page as yet so there’s no advantage to be gained in that sense but, it is another route through to your site from the higher echelons of the search results when your own site is languishing at the bottom of the pile.

2. YouTube

YouTube needs no introduction to the seasoned search engine optimizer. 99% of videos returned in Google Video results are YouTube based. Most publishers will only be able to dream of such dominance but, it’s easy to cash in and secure your own five minutes of fame with a prominent position for your brand. Simply create a YouTube account and upload your own videos.

Benefits to your SEO Campaign:

The best way to leverage this for search engine visibility is by using product demonstrations and how-to-programs. Steer away from marketing pitches and sales presentations.

YouTube has so much traffic going through it that you’re likely to find your target demographic searching for video related to your particular area of expertise. Reward that with helpful, useful footage and their next stop could be your web site or your store.

YouTube’s dominance in the video search results gives instant Google exposure, again shoring up your search engine presence if your own URL is not yet making an appearance in the top 10.

3. Blogger

If not already the largest online blogging platform, it surely can’t be long before Blogger camps out in the top spot permanently. This blog site is super easy to use with a friendly, problem-proof interface for the novice and more advanced branding and appearance options for the seasoned used.

Benefits to your SEO Campaign

It’s PageRank of 8 makes it excellent link fodder, just make sure that you abide by the core principles of SEO and build links around good quality content. As always the aim is to direct the search engine spiders and the end user back to the most relevant page on your site so deep link and use keywords in the anchor text to secure a double whammy.

You can keep the posts in an FTP sub directory on your own site, meaning you can use your blog postings to supplement site growth. This is hugely important, not just to show the search engine’s that you can keep your site up to date with relevant content but also to present readers and other bloggers with interesting pages to link to. This snowball effect will deliver more links and more inbound traffic.

Searches on most keywords will display a blogger.com URL somewhere in the search results. Again, this is a valuable route into your site for users who may not otherwise know your brand; if for example your own web site is not on page 1.

4. Local Search

Any location specific search will always trigger a Google Maps result at the top of the page. This enables you to get directions or more significantly, find a local business or store. Unlike Knol, Google does play favorites with Google Maps, always awarding it pride of place at the top of the page. Getting your business included in this section is a must if you have a physical storefront location.

Benefits to your SEO Campaign

Any business with a physical location can add their addresses and pictures to Google Local. When search users input keywords plus a state or zip code, your site will show up along with any images you’ve added to your listing. This is an invaluable opportunity to appear at the top of the SERPS, reinforcing your brand identity even if you have other page 1 listings.

Google Maps are a popular mobile search function as commuters search for directions or a restaurant / store nearby. This gives extra exposure for your web site, directing not only virtual traffic but physical foot traffic to your place of business.

Your listing is reinforced with images or a company logo, adding an extra note of interest to your web presence.

Designing for Brand Identity

March 3, 2010 at 10:10 am Filed in:Blog | Branding | Design No Comments

Brand identity is probably the most critical element of retail and business design. As a packaging designer you must be able to offer branding services as part of your design services package. Brand identity is the overall graphic representation that people will associate with a company or product.

In todays market, competition for customers is fierce, so you can see why a strong brand identity is crucial for companies.

Business owners rely on design professionals to invest time into researching, defining, and ultimately building a brand that people can trust. One could say that branding is the foundation of your design and marketing campaign.

For graphic designers who are new to building brand recognition this article will highlight the research process that experienced designers who are successful at building brands will implement in their graphic approach before offering up any directions. When building brands it’s not simply a matter of creativity it’s a matter of doing the right research.

Whether you’re branding a product or a company you will need to put in a good amount of time doing research.

Ask yourself some key questions such as:

* What kind of company are you trying to establish a graphic representation for?
* Who are their clients?
* What is the company’s target demographic?
* What services do they provide, etc.?

The same applies to product branding.

* What kind of product is it?
* Is the product targeted at males or females and what age group?
* How should the product be associated with the company that is selling the product?

Once you’ve collected your preliminary data from your initial questions, filter through and analyze your information to really hone in on your target audience. The ultimate goal of branding is to speak directly to your target audience in order to motivate them to action. In order to do this you better be sure that your target market is clearly defined.

Establishing your target market means identifying who your audience is specifically. To help you find out who your target audience is exactly ask questions like:

* Where is my audience located geographically?
* What colors should be associated with the product or company?
* Who is my brands direct competition?
* What elements have made my competition successful?
* Who are my competitors targeting?

You can do a large amount of this investigating on line. The more accurately you can assess your target market the more effective your brand will be.

If you spend enough time properly researching answers to your questions you will find that you have provided yourself with a guide to direct your creativity in the design process.

Remember, every element of your design is something that will be associated with the business or product you are branding. These elements should evoke emotion, create a reaction, and will not only define the company but be a part of it for as long as it exists.

These may seem like very simple questions, but the trick is making sure that you spend the time to answer them properly.

Many designers throw the term branding around without a true understanding of what that term means or how effective branding is accomplished.

A strong brand builds relevance, credibility and establishes trust. A strong brand speaks to your target market – it motivates customers to act. When done correctly it establishes the company or product as an industry leader.

By answering a few core questions you will be provided with a system of guides to help direct you when it comes to the actual design process. This is your map to an effective brand.