by Andrew Goodman, presented at the social media event Conversations, Connections & Opportunities, by Visability.ca on May 27, 2010

1. No Social, No See?
(with apologies to Bob Marley)
Visability – Toronto
May 27, 2010
ANDREW GOODMAN

2. About Page Zero
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

3. Hype fatigue?
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

4. Moving the Needle with
Search: Five Guiding
Principles

5. User eye patterns: change?
 Source: Enquiro Research

6. 1. Where you rank is incredibly important
(to getting a website visitor that is)
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

7. 2. Search today is blended and
personalized. No more “ten blue links.”

8. 3. Free, free, free. Search is your funnel.
Give more away, wider funnel.

9. 4. What is more free, and more
frightening, than a conversation?

10. 5. Your website doesn’t matter
(or at least it matters less than it used to)

11. Case study:
Freshbooks vs. BillMyClients

12. Search engine ranking factors (200++)

13. I think it moved!!!

14. Old term: “link bait”

15. Is “Attention Bait” a Better Term?

16. Or maybe it’s just “being remarkable”

17. Invisible in Search:
Here’s How!

18. 1. Brochureware 2.0: Futile attempts
at total brand control
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

19. Instead: balancing user needs with architecture
to help search spiders – on a home page
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

20. Instead: Demonstrate how you’re active in
the community, then blog, tweet, share.
http://freefirezone.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/getoutofjailcc2.jpg

21. 2. Hide Stuff and Officially Call Your
Pages “Barrier” Pages

22. 3. Buy links from a “link vendor” – because
any old link will do
Instead: do real world PR and ask for or incentivize links.
On the other hand, Google relatively forgiving on this –
cheating not usually a “minus” but “lack of plus”

23. 4. Centralize editorial. Don’t train your writers in
SEO, PR 2.0, social media. (Or, do the opposite…)

24. 5. Obsess about the 10 blue links.
Ignore local search, video, etc.

25. 6. Speak at conferences where
nobody tweets
At #vsmTO @andrew_goodman says: to be invisible, just
speak at conferences where nobody tweets

26. Top takeaways

27. Don’t reduce everything to one or
two key factors
 Sure, prioritize, but be comprehensive
 Develop a full checklist / scorecard
 “Google likes links” – yes but now what?
 “Keyword research is key” – yes, but how?
 Clickstreams & behavior – uptick in importance
 Include visibility & user experiences in dialogues
at all levels: IT, editorial, marketing

28. Quality content in higher volumes +
happy, vocal supporters =
success
(even in B2B or retail)

29. You can be visible by appearing on
other high-ranking websites
 Write articles
 Create press releases
 Hold events or partner with them
 Get mentioned
 Be quoted
 Sponsor, advertise
 Share over social media
 You might even get a link back!
 Suddenly it’s not all about your website’s
analytics alone…
 It’s about total mindshare

30. Don’t call it linkbait! It’s not a
narrow tactic – it’s PR 2.0

31. Keep thinking: where are we headed?
 Why do you suppose Google is doing this? (New search
layouts, and many new ad formats to follow…)

32. Honesty

33. Static tweetosphere, or engagement?

34. What it’s going to take…

35. >

36. Thanks!
@andrew_goodman