Category Archives: Website
All I Need to Know About SEO I Learned From an Urban Adventure Race
by Sam Sudano on October 9, 2012 | no comments
in Search Engine Optimization, Website
Last weekend I participated in a 30 mile urban adventure race in downtown Nashville.
The concept is simple: teams of three to six people are sent on a mystery course around the city to find clues, solve puzzles, and complete challenges. Each teammate is designated as a runner or a biker, and three teammates are required to be on the course at any given time. I’m a fairly new runner and not a biker by any means, but the team said I wouldn’t run more than eight miles, and would definitely not have to bike. Sign me up!
After one of our runners and two bikers returned from a particularly grueling challenge, we solved our last puzzle and discovered that our final task called for three riders to race from downtown Nashville to a studio we were not familiar with to complete a “boot camp” class. We searched for the address online (smart phones were legal in this particular race) and found that the independent studio was located just five miles away, according to listings on Google, Yelp, Bing and Yahoo.
Our riders were cold, wet, and exhausted, so we runners offered to take their place.
You can imagine our surprise when we rode out to the location only to discover that the studio was not there. We ran into a couple other riders, hunched over their smart phones, who informed us that the studio was actually six miles south of where we currently were – resulting in more than a 20 mile ride roundtrip.
Where was this address change listed? Not on any of the major search engines. In fact, the location was updated only in tiny print on the studio’s website. As we began the trek to our new destination, I found myself thinking about how all this could have been avoided with proper search engine optimization.
At the end of the day, we found the studio and completed our challenge. But what can be learned from this experience? If I can’t find your business’ location from a quick Google search, you have lost me as a customer. On a non-race day, don’t expect me to spend fifteen minutes digging through search engines to find you. Make sure you have taken the steps to optimize your business correctly to avoid losing potential customers. To learn more about SEO, visit lovell.com.
How Simple Changes to Website Images Can Increase Search Engine Discovery
by Scott McIntosh on August 30, 2012 | 2 comments
in Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Website
“A picture is worth a thousand words” – or maybe more, if it’s on your website.
Most websites contain images because they are a powerful way to keep visitors on your website longer. Images keep people’s attention and can range from an infographic containing important statistics to an intriguing picture related to your business message. Did you know that images can also help people discover your website through search engines?
Images can be optimized to provide more opportunity to place keywords throughout your site, which can help target more of your relevant keyword phrases. Optimizing your images with target keywords can also increase the chances an image from your site will be displayed as an image result in the major search engines. Although search engines can’t actually see an image (yet), they can determine what an image is all about by reading 1) image file names, 2) title attributes and 3) alternative attributes within the website code. And in those three attributes lies your opportunity.
File names are the actual names of the images that you are using. So when adding an image to your website or a blog post, try to add some relevant keywords (describing your business) as the image file name as opposed to something along the lines of, “pic24464.” This is especially important in the age of image heavy social media sites such as Pinterest, since photo file names travel with a photo (by default) when pinned to a board.
Alternate (ALT) attributes are the words that are displayed in place of an image when the image doesn’t display properly. So it’s an “alternative” way to understand the image. Images that don’t display may typically look like a box with a colorful little icon. These 
images appear less often as more websites and browsers continue to improve how they display images. Search engines, however, continue to use ALT attributes as a way to discover what an image is all about. So if you use an image of a hospital on your healthcare marketing blog, consider describing the image with an ALT attribute such as, “Healthcare Marketing Blog Image of Hospital.”
The same goes for a title attribute when adding relevant keywords. The title attribute is displayed as text when you hover the mouse over a website image. It can be read by the search engines in your website code and should describe the image as well as contain your target keywords (where possible). Be careful not to use the same phrase for the file name, title and ALT attribute as search engines like to see some keyword variety. When in doubt on whether to use keywords versus a more realistic image description, use the better image description. Websites that are more user friendly as opposed to more keyword stuffed will do better in the search engine results.
To Apply or Not to Apply? That is the Question.
by Dana Coleman on March 27, 2012 | 1 comment
in Branding, Search Engine Optimization, Website
There are several “opportunities” on the domain name front that are important for brand managers and trademark owners to consider, particularly for global consumer brands. To understand these opportunities, it’s necessary to unleash an entire new litany of acronyms, so brace yourself and here we go…
First, you have to know that a TLD is a top-level domain, or the suffix to the right of the dot in your URL. So for http://lovell.com, .com is the TLD.
A brand TLD is a new creation, and the application window for a brand TLD or “dot brand” closes on March 29. As the name suggests, this will give brand owners the opportunity to purchase a TLD specific to their brand, such as .coke or .pepsi; and it will probably be only the major players like those examples that apply due to the hefty $185,000 application fee. For those brands that can afford the investment, proponents say brand TLDs will improve SEO (search engine optimization) results, and PC World magazine calls the availability of Brand TLDs one of the top five changes facing the Internet in 2012.
Applications are also currently being accepted for gTLDs, or generic TLDs, such as .bank or .pizza. Along with the equally steep $185,000 application fee plus ongoing registry operation costs, gTLDs come with substantial responsibility. Applying for a gTLD is applying to run the registry business for that name, just as Verisign is currently responsible for .com TLDs.
Also currently up for grabs are names in a new category of sponsored TLDs, known as sTLDs. Familiar examples of sTLDs are .edu, reserved exclusively for U.S. post-secondary education establishments, and .gov, reserved for U.S. government sites at the federal, state and local levels. The new sTLD is .xxx, known as dot triple-X. As you might expect, a dot triple-X will indicate a pornographic site. Sponsored by the IFFOR (International Foundation for Online Responsibility), registering as a dot triple-X is voluntary for providers of explicit content. Proponents say the dot triple-X sTLD will make it easier for parents and employers to block this entire category of websites. While it’s unclear how many providers of pornography are applying for their new sTLD, many colleges and businesses are busy snatching them up at the cost of $100 per year to proactively prevent others from doing so.
Some registry periods include a sunrise period in which the owner of a trademark can block their trademark from being used by others. The sunrise period for dot triple-X domains has already closed, but trademark owners as well as anyone else can still register. This serves as a good reminder, however, that you must own the trademark registration for a trademark you may seek to protect in future sunrise periods. If you don’t already own your trademark registration, this may certainly be an investment in your brand worth considering.
I’m sure I’ve barely scratched the surface of the TLD morass, but my head hurts from the new acronyms I’ve already absorbed. What’s your take on all this? Share your thoughts or teach me a new acronym!
Photo credit: http://bit.ly/GU1gtX
PR Pros Push For Wikipedia Editing Rights
by Erin Lawley on January 19, 2012 | 5 comments
in Public Relations, Social Media, Website
In November, our blog identified the inability of companies to edit their own Wikipedia pages as one of the biggest risks of having your business listed in the ubiquitous crowd-sourced online encyclopedia. Fearing that posts will become biased, Wikipedia does not allow any business – or any organization or consultant working for that business – to make changes to its page due to perceived conflicts of interest (COI).
An unfortunate side effect of that policy is that posts often contain outdated or incorrect information that PR pros cannot correct. Basically, they can recommend to Wikipedia that the page be edited and then cross their fingers.
Frustrated with that often dead-end process for removing erroneous Wikipedia information, Edelman Senior Vice President Phil Gomes has launched a Facebook group called “Corporate Representatives for Ethical Wikipedia Engagement” or CREWE. According to a Forbes story earlier this month, the group is looking to engage Wikipedia in a discussion about “how communications professionals and the Wikipedia community can/must work together.”
At the time of the Forbes piece, CREWE had 72 members. A week later, it was tracking above 110 members – including industry scribe Jack O’Dwyer, a smattering of Edelman employees, and even Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.
Although joining the group requires an invite or approval from an administrator, any Facebook member can get a taste of the group’s work by browsing its Facebook wall, where posts are frequent. For example, at the time this post was written, the CREWE wall prominently featured a working document titled “Examples of unpublished COI Suggested Edits that followed Wikipedia Guidelines”. Listed among the examples is this one by Gregory Kohs:
“Comcast: Ever since July 2011, the Wikipedia article has stated that Comcast is the fourth-largest residential telephone provider in the country. The fact is, though, since March 2009, Comcast passed Qwest and became the third-largest provider. This was documented in DSL Reports, Reuters, and other news sources. Because I am purportedly “banned” from editing Wikipedia, I could not even make a mention of this on the WP Comcast Talk page, however, 16 days ago, I did the next-best thing — mentioned it on WikipediaReview.com, where dozens of Wikipedians (including admins) read the postings. I even provided a handy link to a Reuters source for the fact” … “It’s still being ignored by the Wikipedians.”
Among CREWE’s documents you can also find a working copy of the CREWE PR Plan and a proposal for a pilot project that would allow PR pros to edit Wikipedia pages.
Of course, at this early stage, it’s unclear whether these or other moves by CREWE will have an impact on Wikipedia’s perceptions and policies toward PR pros. But as the group undoubtedly grows in size, it will be interesting to watch and listen.
What do you think? Will CREWE be able to influence Wikipedia’s editing rules? Have you ever run into issues with incorrect Wikipedia postings? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Google Analytics Adds Social Media Metrics Plug-in
by Allison Russo on July 28, 2011 | no comments
in Facebook, Social Media, Twitter, Website
The internet has been ablaze the past few weeks following the launch of Google’s new social network, Google +. However, that’s not the only exciting service that Google has introduced of late. Google recently announced through their blog that Google Analytics now offers a social media metrics plug-in. Many of you are familiar with Google Analytics for analyzing traffic metrics to your company or personal website, however, with the introduction of the social media metrics plug-in, you can now see how people are sharing content from your website through social networks (+1, Likes, retweets, etc.).
The social media metrics plug-in component offers three separate monitoring reports:
Social Engagement: This report allows you to monitor how traffic to your website varies between visitors who share your content and those who don’t. This is a great way to determine whether visitors who share content are likely to hang out longer on your site than those who don’t.
Social Actions: This report calculates the total number of social actions (content sharing via Facebook, Twitter, Google +, etc.) that take place on your website.
Social Pages: This report analyzes which pages within your website are receiving the most amounts of social actions.
The social media metrics plug-in is a great way to gauge what content on your website is resonating with your audience. Will you take advantage of this new function?
When Bad Publicity is Just Bad
by Rebecca Kirkham on December 29, 2010 | no comments
in Organizational Behavior, Public Relations, Website
Ever heard the saying any publicity is good publicity?
Until recently, one online retailer lived by that adage with astounding success. Like many people, I was aghast after reading a recent New York Times article profiling this retailer’s practice of leveraging negative customer reviews to secure top ranking in Google and other search engines. Essentially a nastier, online version of the famed Soup Nazi (minus the quality product that kept people lining up for punishment), the retailer achieved infamy by berating, harassing and even stalking customers and then capitalizing on their outrage as they posted negative comments
You see, in the world of search engine optimization (SEO) the more a site is talked about or linked to, the more important it becomes to search engines. It’s the same logic that makes blogs, in and outbound links and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter effective tools for raising your online profile. In this case, the retailer ignited such a fury in his customers that their angry comments actually helped propel his site to the top of Google rankings – ahead of national chain stores and even the designer eyewear brands it sold. Bad for their reputation? Yes. But also good for business… According to the retailer, his site’s top ranking translated into serious profits.
But karma – and, in this case, Google – appears to have had the last word. After initially side-stepping the issue in the NYT piece, Google took quick action – convening a team of experts and ultimately altering its search algorithms to exclude sites with significant negative feedback. While it won’t reveal its methods, Google addressed the issue on its blog – providing a straightforward and human response to this complex mathematical issue. Since then, the retailer has been arrested on charges of cyberstalking and fraud.
There are many lessons to be learned from this debacle. Of course, any publicity isn’t good publicity. (Just ask BP, Bernie Madoff or Segway.) But, more importantly, it underscores the fact that doing the wrong thing is bad for business. Always. Exploiting a loophole might result in short-term gain but will ultimately be outweighed by long-term consequences. It’s a lesson business-owners and marketers alike can take to the bank.
Social Media and Journalism Converge in AP Stylebook Change
by Jan Morrison on April 19, 2010 | 1 comment
in Copywriting, Website, Writing
At the American Copy Editors Society conference on Friday, the AP Stylebook announced that it would change its standards for the term “website.” Previous editions of the Stylebook recommended that journalists use “Web site,” instead.
Known as “the Journalist’s Bible,” the AP Stylebook serves as the ultimate guide for technical writing rules in journalism. If a writer is ever unsure of how to use a comma, hyphen, state abbreviation, academic title or any other aspect of American English journalism, the AP Stylebook has the answer.
Journalists requested that the Associated Press consider changing the term from “Web site” to “website” for a variety of reasons. Here at Lovell Communications, we agree with most of the reasons other writers give for choosing one over the other and we have been using “website” as our standard for years.
The format of the word itself is not as significant as the process that initiated the change. The Associated Press made their decision based on feedback from journalists, through Twitter, blogs and every other form of instantaneous communication.
Our communications have reached a point where the public can now influence the authorities. This is an important convergence in the worlds of social media and journalism.
What else do you think the AP Stylebook should consider changing?
FTC Guidelines Include Affiliate Links
by Jessica Turner on January 7, 2010 | 16 comments
in Corporate Blogs, Social Media, Website
In October, Robin highlighted the key points of the new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines for disclosure for bloggers. The new guidelines went into effect December 1. As an avid blogger and blog reader, I have seen bloggers in blog posts when they are financially compensated and/or given free product for reviews, saying things like: This is a compensated review by BlogHer and HP. I have also seen a shift in disclosure policies- bloggers adding more details about affiliate links, financially compensated reviews, free products, etc.
The one thing that I haven’t seen is disclosure in blog posts when affiliate links are used. Affiliate marketing rewards people who are associated with a product, service or company for leads or clicks that they generate. The reward can be cash or product. Yes, most bloggers do have a statement in their disclosure policies that says their blog uses affiliate links. However, I have never seen a specific blog post say “compensated affiliate ” or something to that effect.
Since we have a client who is considering launching an affiliate program, we wanted to be sure we were clear on the law, so we did a little investigating. Our understanding of the law was that the disclosure was necessary, but since we didn’t see anyone doing it. Were we missing something?
After a bit of research, we found a webinar with Jim Edwards and Rich Cleland, Assistant Deputy at the FTC talking specifically about affiliates and the law. In the webinar Mr. Edwards asks, if a blogger uses the phrase: Disclosure: Compensated Affiliate on every post with affiliates, is the blogger in compliance with the law? Here was Mr. Cleland’s answer, which he emailed to Mr. Edwards: “The disclosure must be sufficient to alert the consumer that of the connection between the endorser. In this case it is an affiliate marketer. Your disclosure would appear to meet this requirement. The most important aspect of this kind of disclosure will be whether it is clear and conspicuous. Consumers must be able to see the disclosure when they are viewing the endorsement and at the point of the link to the seller’s website.” (Emphasis mine.)
This statement makes it clear that a blogger stating that they use affiliate links in their disclosure page is not enough. According to the FTC, a blogger must disclose within the post when they are endorsing something.
To gain further clarification, I called Mr. Cleland and asked him about affiliate links and when disclosure is necessary. He was kind enough to spend a few minutes talking with me about the matter. He said that a disclosure must be made when a blogger is recommending something and using an affiliate link. He went on to say that “the recommendation triggers the disclosure requirement.” He added that some affiliate marketing is clearly advertising and in that case a disclosure statement is not necessary. It is, however, necessary when the post includes an implied or overt recommendation.
It will be interesting to see how bloggers continue to apply these new guidelines to their blogs. What do you think about the guidelines as they apply to affiliate marketing?
Crisis Communications on the Web — Establishing a Dark Site
by Jan Morrison on July 24, 2009 | 4 comments
in Crisis Communications, Social Media, Website
With so many crisis communications experts on staff, we spend a considerable amount of time working for clients to anticipate potentially disastrous or unfortunate scenarios and developing ways to manage them in the public eye. One such tactic for handling a public crisis is through the creation of a dedicated crisis website.
Dark sites are websites that are usually “dark,” or invisible, but can quickly be activated and made visible in the event of a crisis or emergency. A dark site is an important part of your crisis communications plan for a lot of reasons, including:
- It allows for more control of publicly available information.
- It maintains relationships with customers/clients/key audiences by keeping them informed and providing a way to interact with your organization.
- It ensures fast and timely dissemination of important facts.
Dark sites are especially useful when they include functionalities such as text message sign-up, Twitter updates, volunteer sign-ups and other interactive elements that allow members of your target audience, or even strangers, to feel directly involved in the communication process. If you determine that a dark site will be to your benefit, consider these four elements when constructing one:
- URL Selection
- Design
- Functionality
- Site Map
URL Selection
The URL selection should be related to your product or service, and should avoid language such as “emergency” or “crisis.” Instead use more neutral language, like “updates,” as a file extension, such as www.mycompanysURL.com/updates.
Design
The design of your dark site should be consistent with the design of its corresponding live site in terms of design elements, color selection, font use and photography (when appropriate).
Functionality
Depending on the characteristics of your specific stakeholders, consider constructing your dark site with some of the following functions:
- RSS feeds for issued statements
- Twitter sign-up link for receiving alerts (register for applicable Twitter user names as soon as possible)
- Video link functionality (videos to be linked from third party, such as youtube.com)
- Sign-up mechanism for receiving text message alerts
- Sign-up mechanism for members of the community who want to help (i.e. provide donations, volunteer professional services, etc.)
Site Map
Your site map should be very simple in its construction, with as few pages as possible. Some pages that may be included are:
- About Us (general information about your organization)
- Detailed information on the crisis/issue/situation
- Newsroom containing links to statements and appropriate outside resources involved in situation
- Contact information (for target audience members, and separate PIO contact information for media)
With these considerations, you can add a dark site to your crisis communications plan in the event of a crisis. What other considerations would you recommend for creating a dark site as part of your crisis communications plan?
Content Management is King
by Jeremy Roe on May 27, 2009 | no comments
in Website
One of the joys of developing a site is helping write content and decide how to effectively engage an online audience with a notoriously short attention span. Whether it’s a redesign or reimplementation of an existing infrastructure, or a complete ground up redevelopment project, the devil is in the details.
Not long ago, many organizations’ websites were managed by the IT department. This made sense, because the site lived on the infrastructure provided by IT. But the role of many corporate websites has evolved from a simple online brochure to a robust user experience. Today’s marketers are more involved in the day-to-day decision making affecting websites. In some organizations, marketers are responsible for managing this next generation of websites, giving rise to a hybrid group of marketers, often with technical skills as programmers and designers. With this has come added responsibility to produce and manage content. Fortunately a wide variety of software tools, known as content management systems, have emerged to make automate the marriage of marketing and IT.
Why does content matter? One of the best ways of attracting visitors (and subsequently keeping their attention) is to generate strong content in a variety of forms – the written word, audio such as MP3 or podcasts, video such as Flash or Silverlight, and impressive images – that users want to interact with. Content is no longer just the domain of the news media. For example, Woot.com has blended hipster commentary with a quirky one-product-a-day strategy, to cultivate a base of raving fans for whom reading the product description is almost as much fun as shopping. In Woot’s case, content makes all the difference.
Your site may be a good candidate for a content management system if:
- You frequently change the wording on the same sections of your site, such as the home page
- You need to change photos or bios of staff regularly
- You want to launch a podcast
- You add news to the site on a monthly or even weekly basis
Of course, it is always a good idea to calculate return on investment. If your site rarely changes, or your current process is efficient and satisfactory, it may be wise to wait until your next website overhaul to evaluate a content management system.
Regardless, even a simple content management system can automate tedious processes such as these, freeing your marketing and technical staff to focus on adding value and creativity where they’re needed most.
