Avid readers already know my fondness for Advanced Web Ranking from my earlier post. In this post, I won’t cover the general working of Advanced Web Ranking but will instead focus on the upgrade from 8 to 8.5. There are so many cool additions in the version I’m testing (8.6) that I will focus on the changes and improvements made to this seo software.
 
First off, lets start with the integration of Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a staple for many web owners and the fact that AWR went and incorporated it into their latest version is simply awesome. You can view much of your regular analytics data but you can also utilize the information those analytics provide into very useful charts or take the data and use it elsewhere in AWR. Take keywords for example. If you want to add keywords to any of your projects, it’s as simple as going to “add keywords” -> “analytics keywords”. And just like that, you can import keywords from your website into search engines to see where you rank for each keyword! Personally, I think this was a fantastic addition have used this feature for every site I manage.

 
The next new feature that was a smart addition is the link profile with data from SEOmoz. It generates a list of all inbound links to give you a complete profile. Not only does it do this for your site, but also does this for all competitors’ sites as well! Tracking the link profile used to be a bit of a hassle as you had to maintain these records on your own and updating was very inconvenient. Now with the link profile on the new version of AWR, you can have a complete link profile for you and all your competitors that updates when you want it and tracks the link profile over time.
 
I always thought Advanced Web Ranking created very sharp and useful reports but they definitely stepped it up in the latest version. The fact that it incorporates all the information from the previous version of AWR but it also includes customizable reports that include Google Analytics data and link profile information. This is definitely a time saver and has proven very useful in the short time I’ve had the new software.
 
Overall, I am incredibly pleased with the updates in the latest release of Advanced Web Ranking. The addition of Google Analytics and SEOmoz have vastly increased the overall performance of AWR. Combine that with the reports and it is definitely one of the top tools for those looking to maximize their SEO.

But what does all this mean? It means the big book store chain, Barnes & Noble, is doomed, at least in a physical store front in our neighborhoods. The WSJ writes:

The bookstore chain’s stock sank 16%, to $14.59, after the company reported a worse-than-expected loss of $6.6 million, or 17 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 29, compared with a loss of $12.6 million, or 22 cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales declined 0.6% to $1.89 billion from $1.90 billion in the year-earlier quarter, with the biggest drop occurring at B&N’s college stores. via

I love the WSJ online, but you may be thinking the same things as me. First, this isn’t a big drop but it is significant. Second, B&N loss in college stores may be an indicator that the time of the old college book-selling rack is almost over.

What do you think? Are B&N’s days numbered? Can a physical book store survive the digital onslaught?

Book stores as locations where kids can learn about reading and adults can discover new works is being changed by the publishing industry. This isn’t a cause and effect it’s a collaborative effort from bestsellers and publishing companies. The first thing you see when you walk into a B&N is the Nook – an ereader.

There are a few things that will eventually kill bookstores – ereaders, the end of the love of paper books, and the paper book scarcity which will occur when books are no longer made available in paper form. All three of these points are indicators of the next step into the text evolution. Barnes and Noble, arguably, is good for the last two of the three.

First and foremost, ereaders are drastically changing the book-selling landscape. B&N created the Nook, even promoting it over paper books, and you can even say it’s selling well. They also have one of the largest online bookstore rivaled only by Amazon’s. I believe the Nook and Kindle will survive the next step side-by-side.

This next reason will likely lead to some great debates when I present it to an upcoming writer’s association.

The love of paper books. B&N and other bookstores are created to make people think they love paper books. Even though books are everywhere = how much longer can the paper (board) book survive in a digital world? When the new generation grows out of those cherished paperback copies of novels and are now able to find these documents on their own with a cheap Kindle it’s inevitable the printed form will not survive. I’m in the in-between generation that still loves books but primarily reads from devices such as ereader, tablet, mobile phone, or online. But will the next generation truly love paperback? Or will they find them to be a inconvenience much like I find my Dad’s vinyl records or cassette audio tapes?

As the new media gains dominate market share the old media is treated with scorn.

Booklovers – skip this section.

————————- Not for booklovers ———————-

No one wants the old, print version of Moby-Dick. Think about how easy it is to read this story on an ereader. It’s right here: http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Dick-Annotated-ebook/dp/B000FC1D6I

In order for B&N to survive it would have to survive the majority of writers who are moving away from the status quo and are self-publishing. Never mind that this will create plenty of bad writing, it will also add shame for lists such as “Best of the year 2012″ when poor writing is elevated by the masses.

————————-Welcome back booklovers —————–

An important element of this entire discussion can be found at colleges everywhere. The refusal to pay for a huge textbook or reading list. We may disagree, but the text books are probably worth more than what they cost if you look at the research and development that goes into them. (Ignoring the sometimes pointless republication for revenue) With self-publishing tools available to almost everyone, it makes it easy for a professor to create their own work. Why depend on the large text book publishing houses when you can create ebooks made up of class notes, excerpts and essays?

It boils down to one thing: Barnes and Noble stores will close. It’s a certainty. When this happen is still unknown. Does the industry data point to 5 years or next year? Well my fellow readers, that is the real question.

I may be biased but I believe there is magic in writing. Picture sitting with an author or song writer and they tell you in detail how to write a best-selling novel or a hit song.

The truth is that most everything creative boils down to a process. Creativity isn’t knowing what it will look like in the end. There is a lot of secret ingredients needed to complete creative work. It’s difficult to explain why one item of writing outperforms another. I’m often asked how I write, what I use to write and what triggers my ideas for content. (similar questions: how do I decide where this content should go? Blog? Article? Client idea? etc….) I respect the process and here are the key elements that culminates in my final output of writing…

1. The Tools.

The tools I use to write are as follows:

MacBook Pro (Or my custom made monster Office desktop).
Google Docs for newspaper and magazine articles.
Windows Live Writer for Blog post writing. (Adding your Blog to Live Writer makes it easy)
Scrivener for book and book proposal writing.
Evernote and iPhone Camera is where I keep all notes and ideas.
When I write notes out by hand, not often, I use white copy paper, etc…
I use Google Bookmarks to save all Web-based content.

2. The Tactics.

The ideas for content come from the following areas:

Google Reader: I use Google Reader and subscribe to many Blogs, news websites, and social networks on topics as far-reaching as marketing, public relations, branded content, technology, finance, economic development, psychology, art, music, travel, photography, fashion, innovation, etc… (I complement this with news apps, etc… on my iPhone and iPad).
Twitter: I follow interesting people and what they’re linking to in spaces like Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flipboard, etc…
I try to read a few books (iPad and Paper) every month on various topics from business and marketing to creativity and innovation (I almost never read fiction).
I still read (scan) the daily local newspaper and I try to grab the national & International newspapers a few times a week.
Magazines are packed with creativity. Everything from Wired and Fast Company to The Week and The Economist. (Also Photography and Travel)
I consume and study a lot of art (carving, modelling, assemblage and construction) architecture, printmaking, electronic media such as computer and digital graphics, ceramics, Visual Design, Graphic Design, collage, photography and Post Modern appropriation and recontextualisation).

3. The Techniques.

These tools and tactics alone won’t create words. It takes sitting down and working though the details and just writing. Much like my company writing is all about the process. I ask myself questions about topics that inspire me and trying to use critical thinking  to narrow down a thought or idea. Personally, I like sharing stories and relating them to others to create context and value. I also tend to generate large amounts of content in one sitting and revist the content before publishing. This allows the content to bounce around inside of me to the point where I must publish it.

How do you write? What works best for you?

I have been using the Advanced Web Ranking program and are still exploring it’s many features. I first heard about it from a top Italian Blogger who had read about the success people were having with it. I work for a social media company and at first I was a little skeptical about the software because there are many other programs out there that do keyword analysis.

One of the first things I did was to upload and test some of our client’s sites. Some of these websites we designed and others we only consulted on. I was definitely shocked when I saw what keywords that the keyword research tool for pulled from the site. Before it even ran an analysis, we were able to tell what keywords were visible to the program. Some of our clients had no keywords other than the title! We would have had no way to tell them that without this program. But anyway, now the fun part.

If this seo software did not pull the keywords you wanted to test, you can add some more into the list. We did this for just about all of our clients so we could be thorough in our keyword analysis. Next up, you can select which search engines you want to test it. They have a list that is incredibly extensive. I didn’t utilize the additional search features (yet) beyond Google, Bing, and Yahoo. But that was more than enough to get me started. After the project set up, I let it do its analysis.

It took about 40 minutes but it scanned all three search engines for my keywords and showed where my site ranked for a given keyword in each search engine. Also, it shows competitors (which you are easy to change if they don’t necessarily fit your website) and shows you where they rank for your keywords. I’ve played with adding and removing keywords and various competitors of some of my clients. The reports and comparisons are quick to generate and are very easy to understand. Now let me show you how this software helped us land a new client.

When selling a client on a new website and online strategy, we generated a report that showed the keywords found in the site (we had no prior access to the site). There were 6 keywords total, 4 of which were so generic they would most likely never rank for them. After finding this out, we generated about 15 keywords that would be common search terms for that particular organization. Next, we added in about 6 of their closest competitors and ran the program. What did we find? They were not ranked for some of the search terms that they very definitely should have ranked high for! And their competitors were ranked on many of these. When all was said and done, they ranked 4th out of the 7 websites we tested. Not good for an organization of that size.

We used the handy report generator and created some reports that showed where they ranked for the keywords we created and how their competitors ranked for the same keywords. Now these reports are very clean and easy to understand which definitely worked to our advantage as these people we were trying to sell were not “techy” people. After weeks of trying to convince them they needed a new site, we showed them these reports and got a “yes” a day later. You can explain the importance of SEO to someone over and over but when you can visually show them the impact their website and presence has on their discoverability, they quickly change their tune. And that’s exactly what Advanced Web Ranking does for us. It helps us show clients the importance of SEO but also helps us enhance our keyword generation and implementation in our websites. Advanced Web Ranking has opened up a whole new door for us that we are extremely pleased to have walked through.

Check it out!

-Peter

But many still have the question: What is the difference between social media marketing and content marketing?

The reality is the two overlap, which doesn’t help you understand the concepts easily. Let’s make these two less confusing and overwhelming by focusing on how these two methods compare and contrast.

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing like Social Media has many definitions. A simple definition is: any form of direct or indirect marketing that promotes a business through sharing and interactions on the social web. Examples are, Twitter and Facebook updates, forum posts, comments on blogs, videos, images, links are all considered tactics in social media marketing. Social sharing is simplified and personified through one-click sharing and thus creates the simplest form of social media marketing.

The key to successful social media marketing is to keep the conversations and sharing related to your business in order to indirectly promote your business beyond the post. It requires more than effectively starting conversations and encouraging sharing it takes developing relationships with those you are privileged to be in contact with.

Social media marketing differs from content marketing in that it helps you directly market your business. Examples: sharing a discount code on Twitter or a new product/service on Facebook. This direct marketing is used to motivate consumers to act in the short-term. These tactics differ from the long-term objectives that are driven by continuous conversations and sharing of knowledge.

A value aspect of social media marketing comes from it’s ability to help small business owners build brand awareness. It accomplishes this by giving the business more entry points to their content and (hopefully) ubiquitous branded landing pages online. This power is only compounded by blogging and social media participation developed to build relationships with potential customers and online influencers.

Content Marketing

Content marketing takes place both online and offline created and shared for the purpose of directly or indirectly promoting a business. More people and businesses are aware of content marketing due the accessibility of online social networks and social media tools that allow anyone to publish WOW, share-worthy content. This empowerment of publishing content has drastically changed the online environment.

Examples: Blog posts, articles, ebooks, online videos, press releases, videos published online, etc., are types of content marketing used to establish expertise and demonstrate added value to your target market. In many cases, content for indirect marketing may not even relate to your business but as long as it’s helping people it will indirectly build your brand because it builds consumer trust. It gets even better because this type of content might get shared and generate conversations! The power in content marketing comes from the adding value through your published and shared meaningful content, useful content.

When creating an optimal content marketing plans include both online and offline tactics that go through social media marketing tools to create sharing and conversations. Most importantly, content marketing establishes credibility, trust and loyalty because you’re helping people and/ or supplying content that intrest them.

Conclusion

Content marketing and social media marketing are not separate entities with some overlap. The only way you can be truly successful in promoting your blog, business, and/or brand through the social web is to integrate your content marketing and social media marketing into one. (Pictured Above) If you only publish a great blog post and forget about it, you’ll get almost nothing out of it. Remember, you need to publish great content and share it with the world for you to reach your goals!

-Peter
CEO of Uhuru Network

For more Social Media coverage, follow Peter Lang on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

A woman who was fired over her post on her Facebook account is scheduled to have her case heard by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Tuesday.

Dawnemarie Souza, a former medical technician was fired on December 1, 2010 for a post where she used vulgar language to criticize her boss on Facebook after he denied one of her requests. Her post began a thread in which several co-workers made similar  negative comments about the supervisor. Souza’s comments came from her private account on her own time and on her personal computer.

Souza’s employer American Medical Response of Connecticut Inc., a medical transportation company, argues that Souza’s comments constituted “online badmouthing,” which violates company policy. The NLRB feels that Souza’s postings were a “concerted activity,” and therefore are  protected by employees’ rights to communicate with fellow employees to improve the workplace.

“This is a perfect example of the law not keeping up with technology,” employment attorney Scott M. Peterson of Tully Rinckey PLLC observed.  “I would expect this case will provide some guidance moving forward when it comes to social media and the workplace, but I don’t think the fight is anywhere near over.”

Firing her shows that the company doesn’t put enough effort into the well being of their employees, and the company. They should be more concerned that their employees feel the online environment is private. Many users have trouble keeping up with application changes that ultimately alter privacy settings thus it is important to lead with education.

- @peterlang

Facebook is a wonderland of opportunity for local businesses. It not only allows you to target ads but you and your business can engage with fans. Sadly this is not the case for most local businesses. They are not using Facebook effectively and instead are seriously using it to their disadvantage. Far to often businesses are using Facebook like any other ad channel – this tool was meant to be used, to engage with people! I’ve listed some of the most common mistakes small local businesses make on Facebook and how these mistakes may be corrected.

1. Invite everyone they know/met to fan their Facebook Page

It’s not wise to invite people from New York to fan your California clam chowder. Does it make sense to invite other real-estate brokers from Minnesota to fan your Texas real-estate company? Is there a benefit to inviting your competition to fan your page? Rhetorical. The answer is NO! Fan page value comes from the ability to send messages through status update and FB messages to all your fans at one time. The benefit to having non-local fans is primarily valuable to businesses who have actual non-local customers (tourist related business) or giving your competition inside info on your business and what you offer to fans and customers. Realtors, this is directed to you – the value of a page is to be able to connect, message and have a dialog with people in your own area – not other Realtors. So resist the urge to invite your peers (especially those in your region) to fan your page. The numbers game works this way: it’s better to have a small fan page that can convert visitors to clients than a hub where your competition are able to steal your leads!

2. Only update with content related to their business

A local business regardless of the business industry is LOCAL first. To begin, when you update, your posts will have two sides – the business updates and local updates. If you have the inside scoop on sale at a local merchant, inform your fans. You must be engaged in not just your business but also in the city/town itself. This step will help you build new fans that are local and stand as a reminder to your existing community that you are local. Frequency of visits increase if you have something to say that directly relates to their life. Take a dentist for example – people at large won’t need your business information until they have a need or a toothache, but if you post content about dentistry related tips as well as local info like holiday events, you will find they are more likely to remember you as a local dentist when the day arrives where they need your service!

HINT: If you are a dentist – make your profile pic a tooth – if you are a Realtor – include a house in your page profile pic – get it? Help people visually identify what you do right in their status feed! Also maximize your image height 540 pixels by width 180 pixels.

3. Only share status updates and never engage with fans

When a Page fails to respond to fans in comments or they don’t explore their fans and comment on their profile updates local businesses loose a valuable opportunity. The speedy responsiveness of any communication will show visitors that you took the time to comment back. One of the best ways is to thank them for participating in your page!  I recommend that you personally friend your fans. A way to build a stable Facebook relationships is to actively seek to friend your fans from your personal profile. (Read my post on Personal Branding) To manage this strategy you will need to place them in a List titled “FANS.” In your account privacy settings you will be able to block “FANS” from seeing specific content like your personal info, selected albums and wall updates (Lists will allow you to retain a private Facebook environment).

4. Not engaging outside of the fan page

Exploring Facebook fan pages will expose you to the worst habit on Facebook – people and businesses that stay on their own profile and pages and never venture out to of that interface. To grow a page properly with a local following, you need to engage with local people and groups. This means you need to regularly comment on other local friends’ pages and join and engage with local groups. In the range of difficulty this is one of the easiest methods of growing your community. Find local Facebook Groups where locals are chatting. Set goals for your levels of engagement. At least 3 times a day post outside of your pages and profiles. You do this by commenting on other people’s status updates and local groups you become a member of. Successful methods vary but failure is certain if you are 100% sales focused – building relationships so when you post something about your business there are people who care listening.

5. Never let anyone know about their Facebook page

I’m assuming you have a business or are apart of an organization that desires to make money. Money is vital for the business to exist. As much as you advertise your business you will need to advertise your Facebook fan page. Do so by merging your website and your fan page via the fan box widget, add a link to your page on your website and place your fan page url on your personal Facebook profile info tab.

BONUS

GEOLOCATION is the FUTURE, TODAY. Use Facebook Places. List your business on Facebook Places, Gowalla, and Foursquare – or other industry specific sites. Regularly engage with the people and pages that mention your Places profile. Remind your customers to check into your own business everyday to keep your stream active and if you Tweet (which you should), tag the location with your Places profile.

I wish you SUCCESS!

- @peterlang

For more Social Media coverage, follow Peter Lang on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

The world we live in today is a product of several stages. These stages have technological influencers that enhance our greater prospective and simplify the journey. Dropbox is one of those technologies. I have already talked about Dropbox when he was still in its infancy (see article for an introduction). Dropbox allows you to back up your data securely and instantly online, but that in itself is nothing special.
Where Dropbox triumphs because it gives the user the ability to  create shared folders between different computers / users, that share by synchronizing files across multiple platforms.

Why should you use Dropbox?

Reason 1
Lets say your working on a Word file at the office or school. In order for you to take this file home with you’ll need a USB… Wouldn’t it be nice if the files were already home, waiting for you? How? With Dropbox.

Reason 2
From my personal experience: After a vacation I always have photos I’d like to share with family and friends. By sharing a “Photos” folder with those those select few the Dropbox will automatically update their box whenever files are added.

Some features of Dropbox

Dropbox allows you to sync your files online and across your computers automatically.

• 2GB of online storage for free, with up to 100GB available to paying customers.
• Sync files of any size or type.
• Sync Windows, Mac, and Linux computers.
• Automatically syncs when new files or changes are detected.

Hurry and register and install Dropbox, to start relieving stress.

- @peterlang

For more Social Media coverage, follow Peter Lang on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook

Just because you occasionally do the embarrassing and stupid thing doesn’t mean it’s something to include on Facebook. Along the same lines, the Huffington Post provides a slideshow of 13 things you can—but really shouldn’t—tell your Facebook friends. Items that should not be shared include:

• Your birth date and place
• Your mother’s maiden name
• Your home address
• Your long trips away from home
• Your inappropriate photos

Full story at the Huffington Post.

- @peterlang

For more Social Media coverage, follow Peter Lang on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook