Online Marketing Las Vegas

Your Main Blog Page- Summaries or Full Articles?

Will Paccione — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:51:00 GMT

I’m often asked by both business and personal bloggers if they should have their whole blog posts showing on the front page of their blog, or if should they only show the summaries. I've prefer to set up Blogs for clients the way I liked to read them - with summaries or the beginning XXX number of characters on the main blog page. I scan through the blog posts to see where I want to delve deeper. I'll slow down when I find something I like and click through. The only proof I had that this might be better was that I knew that people (like myself) scanned websites. Hence, people scan Blog titles only reading them once they've settled into an article or Blog post they liked.

Jakob Nielsen, the king of website usability (Crowned by Internet Magazine), has completed the study of what draws more visitors further in to your website. His conclusion:

“Showing summaries of many articles is more likely to draw in users than providing full articles, which can quickly exhaust reader interest. “

Now, I know that eye tracking studies don’t tell you everything, but this is a good indication of what might be better. Jakob Nielsen goes on:

“If your first article doesn't interest users, you lose them by "using up" all their interest as they wade through that first topic... On corporate blogs, summaries are usually superior to full articles because they let you expose users to a broad selection of topics. Offering more topics increases the likelihood that users will find something that really interests them and thus will click through to read more. (As opposed to leaving.) “

Make sure you read Jakob Nielsen's full article which shows the actual eye tracking studies.

The other problem I always had with showing the full article on the main Blog page is the way most Content Management Systems are setup. When your website visitors want to comment on your Blog, they won't see a comment section even after they've completed the whole article. To comment after they've completed reading your blog post, they now have to click the title to get to the page where the post is by itself with a comment form at the bottom. I've rarely (if ever?... hmmm) seen the comment forms reside on the main Blog page.

You main blog page should function like the front page of a newspaper (yes, I just did use a newspaper as a good website example), showing different articles and letting people decide what they want to read. People can quickly see what article interests them and delve deeper into your website. People with Blog summaries on their blog homepage will be able to have more post titles showing potentially capturing the interest of a wider variety of prospects/clients.

Email going away? Not when it comes to Shopping

Will Paccione — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 23:42:00 GMT

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said caught a bit of flack at a conference on June 16th when she said, "Email is probably going away". Before we all start abandoning our email accounts and taking them off out business cards- you might want to read on.

While SMS texting and Social Media communication are on the rise, they're still in their infancy. What is the best way for businesses to communicate with their customers? Now, I knew Sheryl Sandberg's eulogy was a bit early and exaggerated, but the stats for the preference of email marketing when it comes to receiving ads and coupons shocked even me.

The study I'm referring to was done by Econsultancy called "How We Shop in 2010: Habits and Motivations of Consumers". Ecommerce is very popular, but still only accounts for 8% of retail shopping. Most of our purchases are offline, though online product research, user comments and reviews relate to offline purchases. Stefan Tornquist and Jake Hird who wrote the report go on to say:

"Winners in the equation will be those who use digital communications to best enable and influence offline purchases."

The stats on how we the consumers, like to receive our coupons, shipping information, sales updates and more show that most people prefer email... by a landslide.

42% by email. Wow. Maybe it's because people feel they can come back to the email marketing later when they have time to read the promotion more carefully? Possibly it's something people want to hold on to, and Social Media communications come and go which make it more time sensitive?

Below is the breakdown by age. Email still crosses age barriers and dominates.

Even eMarketer showed Email still holds the championship belt.

How about you? How do you prefer to receive promotions and coupons from your favorite stores?

Thank You Edmonton

Will Paccione — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:10:00 GMT

I want to take the time to thank the Edmonton Construction Association and their members for welcoming me to their country... if only for 24 hours. The only issues were small ones -3 hours of sleep, clearing Customs, missing shirt button. However, the people who attended made it so worth it! You guys were great.

For those of you who don't know- The Edmonton Construction Association advances the interests of the Construction Industry through effective representation and provides valued services to their members.

Many of the attendees came up to me after the seminar asked me for some of the resources I used. I've posted my resources in the past, like with the GSBE Blog post and I think I'm going to keep the tradition going.

So here we go: I started with the video: Social Media Revolution 2:

The different Content Management Systems I spoke of (morning session asked this) are Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress (Wordpress hosted) and DotNetNuke.

I spoke about the American Express Open Forum.

The catalogs where you can search all submitted blog (do a search for construction) are Technorati and Blog Catalog.

One of the biggest Social Media successes is Gary Vaynerchuck and his Wine Library TV video Blog. Very informal- which makes it successful, and fun to watch.

The Social Media program I use to update and follow all my connection status' is Tweetdeck.

Diaspora is the "Do-it-all Open Source Social Netowork" that's being worked on right now (this came up in the afternoon session). Here is a report on Diaspora's progress.

To see a total Pro Blog her heart out, see Dru Bloomfield's At Home in Scottsdale. Also see Bill Marriott's Blog.

For the end-client, it's so easy to keep track of the blogs they follow using Google Reader. Some more free Google tools: Google Analytics will track all the visits to your website as well as giving you a wealth of information about your visitors. For more info on that subject, check my analytics posts. Google Alerts will tell you when your search term is mentioned anywhere on the internet.

The location based Social Networking I went over was Foursquare and Gowalla. And here are a few of my blog posts on how to use them: Location Based Social Networking and Location Social Networking for Business.

My Boy-to-Man Speaking Transformation

In boxing or MMA, there are some fights where the fighter is truly tested beyond what many people- including the fighter- thought he can perform. They call that fight a Boy-to-Man fight. Evander Holyfield had his moment when he fought 15 rounds with a seasoned vet Dwight Mohammed Qawi in 1986.

This trip to Edmonton, Canada was definitely my test.

Now, even though I've spoken about 15 times in the past year, I still barely consider myself a professional speaker. However, this Edmonton trip was my Boy-to-Man Speaking moment.

I figured out that my new friends in Edmonton don't gamble nearly enough as they should, since there's only one direct flight in and out to Las Vegas a day. The flight to Edmonton was at 8:05pm. Factoring in a one hour time difference meant I would get in at about midnight, and probably to bed about 12:30am. As it turns out, the flight to Edmonton was delayed 2 hours... Oh boy. Now we're looking at 2:30am earliest bedtime. I had to present to two groups for three hours each with a one hour break in between.

I finally landed in Edmonton and got delayed (read as: "questioned for a while") going through customs. Okay, maybe the picture to the right is a bit of an exaggeration.

Finaly, I got to sleep at about 3:10am. My alarm went off at 6am, I put on the shirt I was going to present in (the only one I had) and found out with all the traveling, the bottom button was gone. Now I'm gonna be flashing my belly button all day... great. (If anyone finds a black button at McCarran airport, please contact me).

However the funny thing was that during the seminars, I didn't even think about the traveling or the lack of sleep. It had everything to do with the great people who turned out to see it.

With all of that craziness, I still have to say I had a great time and wouldn't change it for the world. So I just wanted to thank them again! I hope you guys had a fun time as well! Keep in touch!

Foursquare for Business

Will Paccione — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:25:00 GMT

Been wondering why all those people in your Facebook timeline are telling you where they currently are with a link to a map? All you can think of is how vain your friends have become. Kind of.

If you didn’t read my post about Location Based Networking, I’ll bring you up to date and go a bit more in depth for how business owners can benefit.

Quick recap: Location Based Social Network websites allow you to "check in" at different venues from your phone when you arrive. When you check-in, you tell all of your Social Media connections on Facebook, Twitter and the location Social Network that you’re using, what venue you're currently at. Senseless, huh? Maybe not...

Foursquare is currently adding 10,000 new members every day. From what they tweeted the other day, that number is now at 1.7 million users.

Why does it work for businesses? People are more inclined to listen to what their friends are telling them about a restaurant, than what the restaurant’s billboard says. An "Ummm, great Steak at N9Ne steakhouse" from one of your friends works better than a billboard saying how great the restaurant's food is.

Sounds great! How do I get my business involved?

First, go to the Foursquare business page and look up your business.

Now it’s as easy as a 2 step process:

Confirm your business by looking it up and clicking the "Are you the Manager of this business?". Foursquare will then take you through the confirmation process.
Setup your special.

Foursquare tells you the kind of specials you, the business owner can offer:

Mayor Specials: unlocked only by the Mayor of your venue. Who's the Mayor? It's your single most loyal customer! (the user who has checked in the most in the last 60 days) "Foursquare has deemed you the Mayor? Enjoy a free order of french fries!"

Check-in Specials: unlocked when a user checks in to your venue a certain number of times. "Foursquare says you've been here 10 times? That's a free drink for you!"

Frequency-based Specials: are unlocked every X check-ins. "Foursquare users get 20% off any entree every 5th check-in!"

Wildcard Specials: always unlocked, but your staff has to verify some extra conditions
before awarding the Special. "Show us your foursquare Swarm badge and get a free drink!"

And more to come!

One of the best features of Foursquare is their Analytics for business owners. They show a lot of useful stats behind your venues' check-ins. They break down check-ins different ways, like what time of day the most users are checking in, what gender your check-ins are, and a whole slew of other analytics.This allows you the business owner on how to focus your marketing efforts. Possibly setting up "Swarm Badges" for slow times. A Swarm Badge is a highly sought after badge for people who check-in to a venue where at least 50 other users are checked in.

Location based Social Networks are becoming bigger and bigger. Although Foursquare looks as if they're leading the pack, the race is far from over. There are a bunch of others out there like Gowalla, Loopt and Brightkite. Keep your Social Media eyes out - the location wars are heating up.

Which location based Social Network are you on?

CrunchBase Information

Information provided by CrunchBase

Goodie Two Shoes

Will Paccione — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 06:20:00 GMT

I wanted to take this time to acknowledge a great charity that we have located right here in Las Vegas. Tony and Nikki Berti run Goodie Two Shoes, which is a charity that provides disadvantaged children with brand new shoes. They's teamed up with companies like Zappos' 6pm.com, Las Vegas Review Journal and many more. It's inspired us at Vegas Young Professionals to do as much as we can to help out as well.

Goodie Two Shoes Mission Statement:

The Goodie Two Shoes Foundation provides disadvantaged children and children in crisis with new shoes and socks as well as other items deemed essential for good health and positive development.

They even take the personal attention given to the children a step further (see what I did there?) by measuring the child's foot for the proper fitting shoe.

Check out Goodie Two Shoes and help out if you can.

Quick update- Nikki Berti is being acknowledged by Major League Baseball and People Magazine. They've teamed up to present "All-Stars Among Us," a campaign honoring the very best of philanthropic efforts around the nation.

Make sure you vote for Nikki Berti! Go here and click Colorado Rockies. Then select Nikki Berti!

WIIFM - Remember Your Analytics Basics Part 1

Will Paccione — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:24:00 GMT

I was talking to a friend and respected business partner Barb Helfman. She told me a great story about how much money UPS saved in gas just by adjusting their routes to make as many right turns as possible. See, their trucks didn't have to wait and idle at stop lights at right turns (except in New York) and they didn't have to wait and navigate through another lane of traffic to get to their lane. Now anyone who knows me personally, knows I will always check the facts so I don't spread urban legends. So I found some good articles that made me a believer.

I started thinking how that can relate to websites. It's the little things that make the biggest difference.

WIIFM

In all of sales history, WIIFM can sum up the prospects motivation. WIIFM = What's In It For Me? At every turn, no matter what you say or what your prospect sees, they're asking themselves "What's In It For Me?" Yes, we are a selfish bunch.

The question you should be asking yourself is: Does your website solve their WIIFM question?

Look at your company's home page for 5 seconds, then look away. If you were a potential customer would you see what you're looking for? In other words, is it easy for a customer to see "Can this company solve my current problem"? You may love what you do, but be honest with yourself- you're in business to make a profit. Clearly state on your Home Page what you can do for your visitors. Steer visitors to the areas that will give them more information to hire you.

Google Analytics

You can't manage what you can't measure. Where are your visitors clicking? Do you know? In Google Analytics (I hope you have Google Analytics or another analytics program on your website by now!) you can go to Content > Site Overlay. This will tell you where your visitors are clicking on each specific page. It'll tell you what's most apparent and or important to them.

Ask yourself:

Is there an area you'd like to send your visitors to? If you have an area that you want your visitors to get to- is it clearly marked? Make sure that button can be easily found no matter what page they're on.

Is there good, helpful content on your website so your prospects will return?

The latest studies show that people don't mind clicking, just as long as they know they're headed in the right direction. So make the path to get to their pain solving solution easy.

What pages are your visitors spending most of their time? Where do you want them to spend most of their time? Where are they leaving?

You can't read the minds of your visitors (yet), but your Analytics numbers will give you a good picture to what's going on on your website.

With that being said- I hope you check your numbers and stats regularly... and then make adjustments to your website. Because a bunch of the little things can add up.

What Analytics program do you use?

Thanks GSBE

Will Paccione — Fri, 14 May 2010 23:14:00 GMT

Thank you Golden State Builders Exchange for giving me a warm welcome at your May 13th 2010 Conference. I had such a great time, I wish I would have booked my flight a bit later so I could have spent more time with all of you.

For those that don't know, the Golden State Builders Exchange (GSBE) serves over 22,000 California construction firms through its State Fund Safety Group, and its 26 independently managed Builders Exchanges.

Since many of the members of GSBE asked me about the resources I was using, I'll just put it all right here:

The video we watched was Social Media Revolution 2

I spoke about one of the best Business Blogs in the Internet American Express Open Forum. The construction Blog I found is Construction Marketing Ideas. The all in one multimedia Construction website was ConstrucTube.

I spoke about the ever changing Facebook privacy options and the infographic of the changes.

For all you wine drinkers out there from the GSBE. One of the biggest Social Media stories is Gary Vaynerchuck and his Wine Library TV video Blog. Very informal- which makes it successful, and fun to watch.

I know I was firing off some Twitter resources to make your Twitter life (and other Social Media platforms) easier. Tweetdeck, Seesmic, Ping.fm.

Tracking data was a big part of your website. Where is that traffic coming from and how long are they staying. I use Google Analytics to analyze this information. Google has so many other great services like the one Denice brought up, where you can track anytime a specific word or phrase is mentioned online- Google Alerts.

The "What's next" in Social Media, I spoke about Foursquare and Gowalla.

What to look for when Hiring a Social Media Employee and Part 2 by my Social Media friends contributing to my Blog.

Thank you again to everyone from the Golden State Builders Exchange for your time and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Facebook and Your Privacy II

Will Paccione — Sun, 02 May 2010 20:50:00 GMT

Facebook, in an effort to rule the Internet, once again does it at the expense of their users privacy. Not too long ago Facebook caused an uproar when they gave you the option to change their updated privacy settings. Unfortunately the default picks were set for public sharing of your information. So if you bypassed that screen, you were now exposed to many more people than you originally thought.

Google itself made a couple of guffaws with their privacy settings when they released Google Buzz, but have since fixed the issue. When you do a Google search, whether you're logged in or not, Google knows what IP address you're at and can refine the Search Results page based on what you've previously clicked. However, I think Facebook has hit a whole new level of privacy breach. One of the reasons I saw Facebook as becoming more popular than MySpace was because of its privacy settings. MySpace wanted people to search for more connections. You can search for specific genders, age an relationship status too. Facebook was private unless you decided to open your profile. even the amount of people you can open your Facebook profile to was limited to 5000 friends (unless you're a business)

Now Facebook is trading in their popular "Share" button seen at the bottom of Blogs and articles for the "Like" button. Once clicked it will automatically tell everyone following your profile that you like that article. You can also post a quick blurb about it. (Okay, so I caved in and put it on the bottom of this Blog). This is all what Facebook call the "Open Graph".

The other thing to notice is that if Facebook is incorporated on other websites, you'll be able to see what articles and pages your friends like. In some instances, their pictures will appear. In other instances the website you're on will tailor the articles or advertising based on how popular your friends like it.

Website owners for a while now have allowed you to login to their sites using your Facebook account. Now when you do that, you can be sharing everything you do on that website with all of your connections. For example if you login to Pandora with your Facebook account, every time you "Like" a song, you're broadcasting it to your Facebook friends. No "Share on Facebook", no "Tell your friends", it just automatically does it.

How to watch what you share:

If you're logged into Facebook on your browser. Just logout and you shouldn't be sharing 3rd party websites info. That is unless...
You use Facebook to login to 3rd party websites. If you do, just create a login on the site independent of your Facebook account.
Check your Facebook application settings page to see if you're sharing too much info.
You can deactivate your account which hides it until you decide to reactivate it.
You can delete your account totally

What do you think of Facebook's new Open Graph?

CrunchBase Information

Facebook

Information provided by CrunchBase

Does Your Website Traffic Compare?

Will Paccione — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 00:58:00 GMT

Happy 5 year takeover Google. 5 years ago today Google acquired the website analytics program Urchin

How convenient that I spoke to a client today about their Google Analytics numbers. We went over the usual stuff- working on keeping people on the website longer, getting the bounce rate to drop, etc. Even though he was happy with those numbers, he asked how he compares to the rest of his industry. I figured it would be a great time to go over Google Analytics Benchmarking.

You can't manage what you can't measure

If you're unfamiliar with Google Analytics (or any other analytics program), you're in luck because your website world is about to open up. With an analytics program, you can track your website visitors, what websites are sending you traffic, how long visitors are staying, and much, much more. There are many analytics programs out there. I like Google Analytics because it gives you a ton of data, not to mention, it's free.

Google Benchmarking is an opt-in service that allows you to see how your website compares to other websites in your industry who have also opted in to allow their data to be shared anonymously.

How can you benefit from Google Benchmarking?

Google benchmarking allows you to see where opportunities exist in regards to overall visits, bounce rate, page views, average time on site, pages, new visits. You'll see the normal graph of your stats- thicker and in blue and the rest of the industry- thin and gray. Keep in mind that your website is compared to those in your industry you choose who have opted in for this service.

How do you get it working?

The first thing you need to do is to put Google Analytics on every page of your website. Make sure when new pages are generated, like Blog posts, that it's automatically put there too. Depending on what version of Analytics you have will depend on where you put it on your website. If you're using the new Asynchronous code which will track and help your pages load faster, it goes on the top of the page. Older versions of Google Analytics goes at the bottom.

Okay. Back to the Benchmarking. We all know Google's privacy rules, so you'll have to opt in for it. To opt in, go to the Google Analytics main page. Click "Edit Account and Data Sharing Settings". Click that you want to allow data sharing. Google specifically says that your website name and information will be stripped out before it's compiled.

Now, go to Visitors > Benchmarking and choose the industry vertical you'd like to compare your site to.

What analytics program do you like to use? Have you used Google Benchmarking?

CrunchBase Information

Google

Information provided by CrunchBase

5 Common Social Media Mistakes

Will Paccione — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:05:00 GMT

It seems as if every business is jumping into Social Media these days because they're seeing more "Connect with us on Facebook" and "Follow us on Twitter" links on business websites. To their credit, business owners see this and are jumping into waters they might not be used to. However, it's not as easy as they think. Social Media isn't "set it and forget it". The most important thing to do when involved in Social Media is to engage. So here's my list of rules on what I think should and shouldn't be done.

Don't AutoFollow. Do you plan to listen as much as you talk? Or are you just trying to collect connections to market to? There are currently tens of thousands of third party apps for Twitter. Some allow you to auto-follow people, some will auto-unfollow people if people don't return your follow. Now, call me a romantic, but I want to at least think you followed me because of me, not because I was one of the bulk connections that a computer program picked. That's like the equivalent of leaving your business cards on a table to your local Chamber of Commerce Networking meeting. When in doubt, remember the first word in "Social Media". People want to get to know you on Social Media and will then decide whether or not to do business with you. People are more apt to use people they feel comfortable with.
Don't AutoTweet. Just because you have a program that automatically tweets a headline and link anytime an industry-specific keyword is used in the news, doesn't mean anyone will look at you like you're an expert. Why should I associate that article with you, when you're probably not even reading it yourself?!?
Watch the outsourcing. Okay, I'm a bit torn on this one as I've heard some success with outsourcing. My current feelings are that the person sending out your status updates, updating your Social Media info and communicating with your clients should be a person in your company. I think that the person should have a vested interest in the success of the company, with company knowledge, and be part of the company culture. If they are, then they can properly answer the questions they'll get asked. I'll go back to the Chamber of Commerce example. Would you send someone outside your company to represent you and your company at a networking meeting? Is that person just sending out your message or are they being Social? I like to get to know people before I do business with them.
Don't Concern yourself with connection/follower counts. It isn't the amount of people that are following you. It's about how you engage with your connections. Check with the Social Media Experts here and here.
Don't make it all about you. Social Media is about being Social. It's a two way street. Retweet (with credit) other people's good tweets. If you read someone else's good Blog post, send it out to your connections on Facebook and Twitter. Chances are that you're connections have something in common so they might be interested in something you've seen. Listen to others, help others out. Basically, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Is there a "right way?

I know the title of this Blog post. But are there really mistakes? In actuality, there's no right or wrong. Just from empirical evidence I see what's working for businesses and what's not. So keep these points in mind:

Work on building relationships, not just connections.
Remember- Starting is easy, finishing is hard. Following through with your Social Media objectives even if you you don't see immediately results is important.
Try some of the not-so-popular Social Media platforms that may be industry specific to you.

More Reading: What You Need to know about Outsourcing Social Media, Social Media Examiner

Have any good social Media Advice? Put it below!

Location Based Social Networking

Will Paccione — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:08:00 GMT

Location based networking takes stalking to a whole new level.

Location based Social Networking websites like Foursquare and Gowalla, let you tell your connections where you are. Simple enough, right? So why are these websites getting so much buzz?

First, let me explain them. Location based websites allow you to "check in" at different locations on your phone showing all of your friends where you are. You can also put a short blurb about what you're doing (many of my morning gym visits have been preceeded with an "Ugghh"). Points, badges, and pins are awarded for check ins, check in frequency, adding locations, merging duplicate locations, etc. Users can broadcast the checkins to their already established Facebook and Twitter accounts telling their connections where they are and what they're doing there.

The Holy Grail for Local Business?

Businesses can benefit from these platforms by allowing them to market to people that are currently in their vicinity. This could be tremendous for local businesses. Think about it. I'm at the gym, and the guy who owns the supplement store 3 doors down can communicate with me that he has a special discount today. A sandwhich shop can offer discounts to people shopping in the area. Possibly just an offer to frequent customers can bring repeat business- like an incentive program. The business will benefit by getting free advertising from customers telling their friends every time they check in. This is far greater than the business itself telling potential customers how great they are. Customers are telling people who know and trust them and it doesn't cost the business anything except some time (and possibly a small incentive). More proof that Social Media is Power to the People.

How Users Can Benefit

This type of online networking can benefit offline relationships by telling friends when they're in the same vicinity- or possibly be used to avoid an ex-significant other.

On Foursquare users can write "Tips" for specific locations. Grape Street is a restaurant here in Las Vegas I love to frequent. Under the Tips section, one user tells me that Mondays are 1/2 priced bottles of wine, some users say which desserts are the best, which days have specials, etc.

Security Issues

I've blogged before about Social Media smarts and how you shouldn't broadcast when you're going on vacation. So try not to broadcast too far in advance where you'll be. Also: Don't check in at home. Don't check in at your significant other's home. Don't checkin at your bank. Use common sense.

Until a winner is crowned by the people, users checking in on multiple websites can be tedious. To prevent you from spending 15 minutes checking in at each location on all of your networks, some programs like Check.in allow you to check in your location on multiple location websites.

Which is your favorite Location Based Network and why?

Google: "Speed Will Affect Rankings"

Will Paccione — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 05:35:00 GMT

December last year, I Blogged about how Google will use your website load speed as one of the factors in how your website ranks in the their Search Engine. The Search Engine Optimization community was buzzing about this since Google made their official announcement last week. Matt Cutts fom Google, felt the need to ease some of the rumblings on website page speed.

A couple of things to note:

Site speed will only be 1 of the over 200 factors that determine a website's ranking. From Matt Cutts:

"We still put much more weight on factors like relevance, topicality, reputation, value-add, etc. — all the factors that you probably think about all the time. Compared to those signals, site speed will carry much less weight."

So website speed is a factor, but Google knows that the fastest website might not be the website that serves your search query. The goal is to give your users a good experience. Make sure your visitors aren't waiting for your website to load. Like I always say, people want to get into your website, get the information they need and get out.

So if you had anything to do with making your website, you might want to ask yourself:

Are your images optimized for the internet? Images make up a tremendous part of the internet, make sure the file sizes on your images aren't slowing your website down. Make sure you know the pros and cons of GIFs, JPG's and PNG's.
As small as css and javascript files are, they can be made even smaller by being compressed. Make sure you compress them on your website. Check this by using the tool on Website Optimization page, which tests for caching, speed at which your page loads on different modems, and gives you and analysis and recomendations.
If you load up my main Blog page, you'll see that the images will only load when they come into the view of the screen. My Blog goes into a browser-ready state before all the images loading. Will this help with Google? We'll soon find out.

Google points out that this change has only affected less than 1% of Search Engine rankings.

There are plenty of tools online that you can use to check your site speed. The first two that come to mind are Google Webmaster Tools and Web Page Test. Web Page Test gives you a "Waterfall" (see pic) of how long differrent requests take on your website. If you have Firefox with Firebug installed you can get Page Speed from Google or YSlow from Yahoo. Have Google Analytics installed? Remember to use the new version: Google asynchronous tracking

Any other things you do to keep your website jammin'? Throw'em in the comments.

CrunchBase Information

Google

Information provided by CrunchBase

Website Video Tips

Will Paccione — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:30:00 GMT

It's way past time to add video to your website. Whether you want a dedicated video page or just want to add video to your blog articles, there are some great tools out there. In this Blog, I want to go over some common video tips you should consider before firing up the video camera/webcam.

YouTube just announced in their Blog that they're getting 24 hours of video uploaded to the website every minute. You read that right. A full day of video is being uploaded to YouTube every minute. I'll admit, not all the video is ground-breaking stuff as you can see from this The Onion parody video.

Here are some tips if you're looking to put video on your website:

Ask yourself: Who is your target audience? Put yourself in their shoes. Attention span is extremely low on the Internet. Get to the main point you're going to cover at the beginning of the video. Are you keeping your target audience engaged? What's the purpose for the video? Are you making it about a new product? Introducing your team? Is it a How-to video? Basically, make sure it has a purpose.
It's more important to get the video out, than to get it perfect. Overanalysis = Paralysis. Don't worry if your videos aren't overly produced. Make them nice, but it's the content that makes it great. People are used to going to YouTube and viewing amateur videos so they relate better to videos where you just whip out the camera and start filming.
Short and sweet. If you have a 10 minute video, break it into 2 or 3 shorter videos. Possibly with a text summary on what's covered in each. The average video is 3.5 minutes. Consider using a video service with analytics that tell you which videos your audience watched and where on each video they dropped out. Learn from these stats.
Consider distribution outside your website. I always tell people that the goal is to get people back to your website. However, many people don't know about your website so putting the videos on websites like YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo can help get the word out. Put your logo, website address, contact information on in the video and in the description.
Keep in mind YouTube videos appear on Search Engine Results pages.
Make the file name something that will include your target keywords - You're in your industry, so step out of it for a minute and think- what would a potential client type in when searching?
Use keyword rich titles, descriptions and tags - See above
Use the word video in your titles
Place a link at the beginning of your description to your webpage or to where that video resides on your website.
Include a transcript in the description - It'll help Search Engine Optimization as well as make it accessible.
Keep the light in front of you! Don't film in front of a window when it's daytime.

In a future Blog post, I'll go over some common types of video services out there. Have any other video tips? Put'em in the comments section! Until then... Fire up those video cameras.

YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A 'Good' Video

What are Businesses Doing on Facebook and Twitter?

Will Paccione — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:34:00 GMT

"Okay Will, I'm on Facebook and Twitter, now what?"

OK, so maybe I recommend (read: yell) to my clients about the power of Social Media Marketing and Networking.

What are businesses doing on Facebook and Twitter? Here's a rundown [Souce: eConsultancy: Full Report]:

55% Facebook 50% Twitter: Improving their brand awareness and reputation
47% Facebook 47% Twitter: Using it as a marketing channel
46% Facebook, 49% Twitter: To publicize new content
37% Facebook, 42% Twitter: Brand monitoring
25% Facebook, 23% Twitter: Reacting to customer service issues and inquiries.

So what does this tell us? Businesses are starting to understand that it's not all about immediate Return on Investment (ROI). You have to engage with your clients and potential clients on Social Media to gain their trust. In the long-run, you'll gain their business. I always use Dell's Twitter account as an example.

Just by being accessible and publicly helping customers, they're helping their brand and reputation.
They Tweet out specials using Twitter as a marketing channel to communicate to people who opted in to receive their message.
Dell reacts and promptly takes care of customer service issues which helps their Brand.

It all comes around! Get involved and be AVisible!

[Souce: eConsultancy: Full Report]

CrunchBase Information

Facebook

Twitter

Information provided by CrunchBase

Hiring a Social Media Employee - Part 2

Will Paccione — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 05:13:00 GMT

In part 1, I posed the questions of how to hire a full time Social Media emloyee to three people I respect in the Social Media.

Now, it's Darin Berntson. otherwise known to the free-world as "Doc". Doc is the owner of All Aces Marketing, Inc. Throw a comment on Doc's Blog and follow him on Twitter.

Hire within if possible: It may be easier to train someone from within the company as a brand evangelist if they already love working for you. Then you can teach them the proper listening and engagement tools that will work best for the particular company.
If possible, a proven track record of existing social media knowledge. Do they have a good following on their platforms of choice (twitter, facebook, blogs)? But more important than the following numbers, how well do they communicate? Do they engage? How well do they interact already. How clean is their online reputation right now?
Ask the candidate "What can social do for our company?" Rather then telling them what you want, ask them what they can do, what they bring to the table, and what social media means to them. Do they talk about goals, building influence and trust, or are they just talking about power in numbers (followers), hits on websites, and all the people who can see your message?
Ask the candidate what platforms do they recommend for this company to use? Do they just mention the basics, or can they name 2-5 other platforms that would be a good fit, and why, as well. Do they talk about reaching out, and engaging on other blogs, forums etc, or do they only talk about how to broadcast your message?
Are they capable of learning and staying on top of new platforms and techniques? Are they a self starter, or do you have to point them in the direction of what to do? Are they an early adopter? Can they spot possible trends and hotspots on where to take your business next online?
How social are they? Do they love talking to people and interacting? Can they also be the social face of your company? Can you send them to events on your behalf? Do they look and act the part of the "care agent" for your business?
Do not look for or hire a huckster... a person who promises thousands of followers, and preaches how easy it is to build a follow base with automated tools. Social media is not about atomization, it is about caring, listening and engagement. I write a Blog post about this called Don't be a Social Media Huckster.
Do you trust this person you are about to hire? Trust them 100%? If not, you need to find someone you do trust 100%. This person will be the voice of your company on many digital channels, and possibly in person. This person MUST represent you well, and have you and your business in mind at all times.
Bottom line: If you hire in house, make sure this person loves your business. You do not want to hire someone just because they want the money or the JOB. They have to really care about your company, product and/or service. If not, it will show. In Social Media, people can smell BS.

It's Will again. I loved reading all three of these posts. The ongoing theme with all three of our experts seems to be:

It's not about how many connections or accounts that they have.
It's all about how the engage with their connections - Listening and responding.

I'd like to thank Erika Napoletano, Carmen Villadar and Darin "Doc" Berntson for contributing to my Blog with some great information!

Hiring a Social Media Employee - Part 1

Will Paccione — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:30:00 GMT

I spoke at the International Builders Exchange Executives (IBEE) convention here in Las Vegas and I was hit with a great question: "What qualities should we look for when hiring a Social Media employee?" I guess I made them believers ;-)

Since this is a bit of an opinion based subject, I thought I'd pose this question to three people I respect in the Social Media Industry. I've only met these people through Social Media channels. These Guest Bloggers stand out to me because they strike that balance between Social and Business... and they make it fun. This is part 1 of 2.

First up is Erika Napoletano. Erika is the Head Redhead at Redhead Writing, LLC, a Denver-based online strategies consulting firm. Unafraid to put forth unpopular views about social media and online behavior, you can follow her if you dare on Twitter @RedheadWriting and check out her thought farm over on Facebook.

Who the Hell Are Ya? - Ask any consultant or potential social media hire about their work philosophy and past successes. This person is going to be the "voice" of your company, whether under their name or yours.
- What will your time commitment to my account be each month?
- How do you map-out your activities for the month?
- What blogging platforms are you proficient with?
- If you have a personal brand, how could that both help and hinder our company's account? (Personal brands are a huge consideration when interviewing potential consultants or hires. How have they managed their personal brand and how can that translate into discernible ROI for your company?)
- How do you determine success? (And business owner - part of the onus for this is on YOU. Know what you consider a success before you begin any social media thrust.)
Who the Hell Likes Ya? Recommendations from current and past clients are a must. Many consultants work behind the scenes for clients (like I do most often) and will thus not have a client roster posted. However, any consultant not willing to put you in touch directly with references...well, they don't need to be handling your business. Everyone's an adult and understands confidentiality.
What Are Your Thoughts on Community Versus Followings? Honestly, any nitwit can get you Facebook Fans and Twitter Followers (ANY nitwit). But is that really where you want your company's image to go? Garbage in equals garbage out, and if you're talking to people who spew numbers of people over interaction and meaningful dialogue, keep interviewing.

Next up is the girl with my favorite name: Carmen Villdar. Carmen works for a prestigious German Marketing Agency. You can find Carmen at her many online locations: Android Website, her Blog and her Facebook.

Companies looking to bring in a Social Media employee really need to know first hand, what they expect that new hire to accomplish for them. If it's initially about generating new streams of revenue, forget it. It's not going to happen in the traditional ROI mode that many people want to see.

Here are just some tip of the iceberg points you may want to take into consideration.

Their "authenticity level of engagement". I just made that up but it's pretty self explanatory. Just because someone has a Twitter, Facebook, Friendfeed, Youtube, Vimeo, and so on .. social media account, does not make them a Social Media person, although this would be the right direction to look. In fact, there are many people on these platforms that really do not utilize these platforms to their highest and best use. Companies need to follow these people and observe how they "engage" with others.
How do they conduct themselves?
How many value micro dialogs can they have at one time?
Who are these people engaging with?
What do they do on these platforms that you feel would give your company added value?

.....and the list goes on.

Basically, a company can easily pick out their potential Social Media person by finding them online and approaching them, because they like their style. They get to see how effective this person's level of engagement is and best of all, they get to observe this person in their natural habitat. Which brings me to a second point.

When hiring a Social Media employee, companies need to make sure that these people really DO thrive on these platforms, almost seeming as if they were "born naturals". They are easy to pick out. You'll find them engaging with others of different circles, as well as seeing others engage back with them.

They shouldn't be too hard to pick out. You'll know one is right for you, just by their style of Social Media Savvy.

Make sure to look for Part 2, where we'll here from 2 more of my Social Media Mafia friends.

Google Online Mobile Advertising

Will Paccione — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:21:00 GMT

There's a reason why Google's stock is currently at $529. They never sit on their laurels. Once again, Google is leading the way with their Online Advertising products.

Announced on January 28th on the Google Mobile Blog, Google has a feature that lets advertisers show a click to call, straight from the search results page. Think about when you search on your phone. You might not want to go to the businesses website, you might just want to call. Straight from the Google Mobile Blog:

"Calling the business is now easier thanks to a feature that allows advertisers to add a clickable local phone number to their mobile ads. If you're using an iPhone, Android, or other smartphone, you just click the number to call the business."

For instance, next time you lock your keys in your car, you'll be able to save the click and scrolling with your fingers to find the phone # on the website- which might not view correcly on your phone anyway.

Ratings and Reviews on Your Website

Will Paccione — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 20:44:00 GMT

When setting up an eCommerce website for a client sometimes they have the option to have ratings and reviews for their products. I'm a bit surprised by how many clients choose to opt-out of this feature. Many think that people will just post a bad review because it can be anonymous. Others think their competitor will just keep ripping their products apart.

I've always felt that the positive reviews would overcome the bad reviews. Not to mention, keeping the bad reviews on the website would also give more credibility to the reviews as a whole. However, I was really surprised when I saw the below chart. [Source: Bazaarvoice via Econsultancy blog, Econsultancy Internet Statistics Compendium]:

Simple: If people have a good experience, they're very likely to give a positive review on your website.

The above chart shows that 87% of people in the US and 86% of people in the UK have given mostly positive feedback to a company/product in the last 30 days. Get this:

In the US: Online reviews are second only to word of mouth when it comes to influencing consumer purchasing decisions, according to a US survey by Rubicon Consulting. [Source: Rubicon, Oct 2008]
Internationally: Online user reviews and recommendations have replaced recommendations from friends and family as the most influential channel for European consumers. Every market surveyed by Weber Shandwick cited online reviews as their principal source of information (26%). [Source: Weber Shandwick, October 2009, Econsultancy Internet Statistics Compendium]

Their main reasons for giving reviews:

Reviews on your website

Help others get the right product.
Build your brand by gaining trust from your visitors
Provide more content around those products with product related keyword phrases and updated content helping in your Search Engine Optimization process.

What are your thoughts on giving reviews and feedback on your products?

WSI Ranks #1 in Internet Technology... again

Will Paccione — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:38:00 GMT

For the 10th year in a row, Entrepreneur Magazine has ranked WSI #1 in Technology services.

Many people ask me why I bought into a WSI franchise. Why didn't I just start my own company?

I've been involved in the Internet Marketing, Website Design and Website Development for about 10 years now. Buying into the WSI franchise has given me the support of 1500 other Internet Consultants, 15 (or so) dedicated website design and development centers, search engine optimization teams, online marketing teams, email marketing teams, you name it! I could have hired a couple people to start my company, but I chose buy into the franchise so I can have my choice of different teams that will work for me.

Being part of WSI, makes me part of the largest network of Internet Marketing Consultants worldwide. We collaborate about projects, designs, social media consulting, online tools, and much more.

When you're working with a WSI Internet Marketing Consultant, you know you're in good hands.

Here's the official Press Release of out Entrepreneur ranking.

Press Release

Thank You Vegas Young Professionals

Will Paccione — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:17:00 GMT

I was flattered when I was asked to serve as the incoming President of the Vegas Young Professionals (VYP). I can't thank VYP Superwoman Joanna Rodriguez enough for ~~strong arming me~~ suggesting I join VYP years back. It was a great decision for me and my business.

I've been a member of the Vegas Young Professionals since October 2007. Being a member has helped me increase my business while building great relationships.

If you don't know, the Vegas Young Professionals is for Las Vegas people between the ages of 21 and 39 looking to build their business network, and have fun while doing it.

VYP has everything from Fusion Mixers, which are business networking events in non-business surroundings to panels of speakers that can help you optimize your business in our Business 101's. We have a Toastmasters group and Big Wig Lunch meetings and much more!

When you own your own business, getting out to network is tough to do. Finding the time to get out and have a social life is tough too. Vegas Young Professionals allows you to do both.

I'm so grateful for the friends and business partners I've met through VYP

Join Vegas Young Professionals today and next time you come to an event, make sure you say hello!

Thanks VYP!

Is it Time for a Website Makeover?

Will Paccione — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:59:00 GMT

"Twenty Ten", I've heard is the "official" way to say our new year. A brand new year is a great time for a website check. Does yours need an update? How can you tell if your website is old? Here's my list of "You might need a Website Makeover..."

If your website is left justified and people get whiplash shifting their heads to see it... you might need a Website Makeover.

If your website isn't centered or if it was made for 800 x 600 screen resolutions, you need an update. There's plenty you can be showing your visitors by getting more info higher on your page (above the fold). Though dropping, 1024 pixel width is still the best to optimize for. Netbooks might keep the standard from rising anytime soon. People would prefer not to scroll down to get the info they need. Check out Google's tool, which shows how much of your website your visitors will see..

If you think Analytics is something a doctor does to you with his finger, you might need a Website Makeover.

Tony Soprano: "I won't even let a guy wag his finger in my face".

How can you increase your business if you don't know what's working and what's not? Analytics provides all that data and then some. Choose your preferred Analytics software and run with it. None are perfect, but like a bathroom scale, they're consistent.

If you have to contact your website guy to update the "mumbo-jumbo code" every time you want to put a new article on your website, you might need a Website Makeover.

It's 2010! We're way beyond, and well into the information age. People won't return to your website if all it does is advertise your business. If your website helps visitors make an educated decision, they'll feel they can trust you and return to your site. If you truly want to be the go-to person in your industry, then build the relationship with your visitors by giving them information that educates. There's plenty of software out there that let's you, the business owner, update most of your website yourself.

If you think offering free envelopes to visitors is a way to make your website content shareable, you might need a Website Makeover.

Whether you've embraced it or not, Social Media is here to stay. It's a tool to help people connect and build relationships. If you've already started Blogging (great!) and putting up good content on your website, let it be easily shared by the world. Add This, Share This are just two simple ways to make your blog posts easily distributed.

If you think an RSS feed is something new you feed to chickens, you might need a Website Makeover.

RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a way to broadcast all these great new articles you have on your website to the world. Make sure if you have a Blog, you have an RSS feed.

If you have a Visitor Counter and/or Guest Book on your website, you might need a Website Makeover.

Please, get help.

Have any others, please post'em below!

Google Easter Egg Surprise

Will Paccione — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:24:00 GMT

Haha. Check out Google's celebration of 2010. Happy New Year!!!

Google and Tom Cruise have the Need for Speed

Will Paccione — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:17:00 GMT

Google has "the need, the need for speed". Google is on a mission to make the Internet faster.

First came the release of Google's web browser named Chrome. Google proved that they can raise the speed standard for web browsers by making a web browser themselves called Chrome, which is lightning quick.

Then, Google announced Caffeine. Caffeine is Google's new architecture that allows Google to crawl the Internet faster. One obvious reason for the need to do this is Google making use of Social Media's real time web. It makes sense for Google to show searchers real time mentions of what they're searching for from Twitter, Facebook, the latest Blog posts, etc right on the Google search results page as they're being posted.

Obviously, to get those real time results on their search results pages, they needed to get their spiders crawling faster so they can index quicker. (Disclaimer: There has been no substantial proof Google has provided steroids to their spiders. Yet, as of this writing, Google has no performance enhancing drug policies in place.)

It doesn't stop there. Google wants you to take responsibility for the speed that your website pages load. Check out what Matt Cutts said in an interview with Webmaster News at Pubcom Las Vegas 2009:

"Historically, we haven't had to use it in our search rankings, but a lot of people within Google think that the web should be fast," says Cutts. "It should be a good experience, and so it's sort of fair to say that if you're a fast site, maybe you should get a little bit of a bonus. If you really have an awfully slow site, then maybe users don't want that as much."

Google knows that people have no patience on the Internet. People want to get onto your site, find what they're looking for and get out. If your website takes a bit too long to load, people are gone, and on to your competitors website. Your competitors are only a back-button click away.

Remember websites had all those flash intros?!? Ahhh! I still see a few! I don't even hit "skip" anymore, I just leave. Sorry, but it's true. Too long (not to mention outdated).

The good news is that Google is actually trying to help you make your web pages faster. If you have access to Google webmaster tools for your website, just go login and go to Labs > Site Performance. It'll tell you what pages are loading slow and give suggestions on how to load them faster.

They also have tools that compress code and test different aspects of your website, all making your website leaner and meaner.

The latest news was Google's Asynchronous Tracking for Analytics. It's a change to your old Google tracking code (you are using some kind of analytics program, right?!) According to Google, the benefits you'll get by installing your Google Analytics code this way are:

Faster tracking code load times for your web pages due to improved browser execution

Enhanced data collection and accuracy

Elimination of tracking errors from dependencies when the JavaScript hasn't fully loaded

I've already installed the Asynchronus Tracking on mine. The good news is that it's still tracking(!).

I'll keep you updated in future posts about the site speed. Until then, ignore all Internet speed limits.

URL Shorteners for Analytics

Will Paccione — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:48:00 GMT

I hear businesses all the time wondering if Social Media is helping their business or not. Let's face it, businesses want to expose themselves to potential clients.

So, how can you tell which Social Media platform is working for your business? One way is by checking your website analytics program. However, some people don't have access to their company analytics programs as they might have a "portal" page off their main company's website which is the bigger entity. Analytics programs and tell you a whole slew of information including where websites traffic comes from, however, they're are usually a step behind website technology.

An example being Twitter. A lot of people who use Twitter, use third party applications - Tweetdeck, Seesmic, etc. When people visit your website from these third party apps, most analytics programs (at the time of this writing) won't show the referring application.

Most of the time the link you want to send out won't fit into your Twitter, LinkedIn or other Social Media sites since most can only fit 140 characters.

This is where URL shorteners like j.mp (bit.ly), budurl, tr.im and a slew of others come into play. The best thing about these URL shorteners over others, is that they're track-able. You can see how many people have clicked on the link you send out into the Twitterverse.

Use if ro your Social Media platforms since it'll you who viewed it from an Adobe Air program..
Use different URL's ones for different promotions you're tweeting and updating and see what's working and what's not. My buddy Doc uses this with great success for his clients when he's running promotions with coupons to track what Social Media sites are driving what coupon.

As you can see from the bit.ly (j.mp) chart above, the stats you get are

Clicks
Referring domains
Countries sending traffic
Adobe Air apps sending traffic
Email clients
and more

Which URL shortener do you use and why?

Social Media Starts with Your Blog

Will Paccione — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 20:32:00 GMT

I met with a great crew today over at Construction Notebook. For those of you who don't know, the Construction Notebook is a publication that is the end-all, be-all resource for construction in Las Vegas and Arizona. They have latest bids, permits, new construction, old construction, and a bunch of other stuff I didn't even understand.

Basically, they're helping businesses in the construction industry find work.

Their question to me was: "How do we get more subscribers?"

The answer (which was another question): "How do you get potential subscribers continually going to your website, in turn exposing them to your services?"

Businesses can easily offer something free to get someone to spend time on your website. That free thing is your Team's insight into your industry. You got it... a Blog. Put industry relevant, easily shareable content on your website and the word will spread.

Their current website serves their company purpose. They post all the new information for projects for the construction industry in real time.

However, when I arrived at the office, I saw their company in a whole different light. The team behind the publication was friendly, fun and informal, yet professional... Which was great for me because everyone who knows me, knows how I hate formal dress codes. They even have dog running around the office.

A Team so entrenched in their industry would make me want to know their thoughts on industry insights, views, reviews, one-on-one interviews and team shenanigans. It would make me go back to the website on a continual basis. This is something most businesses leave out of their website... Personality!

I like to get to know people before I do business with them. The Construction Notebook can start their relationships with their potential subscribers before meeting them face-to-face by getting a Team Blog. Much like the Zappos Blog.

Event though Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn seem to be getting all of the press, Social Media starts with your company Blog.

Check them out, and tell them how much you'd like to see a Blog on the Construction Notebook website.