We work in an industry that is riddled with terminology t
hat even we don’t understand half the time when someone says “Well that meme is something of a paradigm shift”, we nod sagely but really, we haven’t got a clue either. So in celebration of the bollocks that is talked at marketing meetings throughout the world, we have updated the classic meeting game, bullshit bingo, with SEO at the forefront. The idea is that you liven up all those tedious meetings going to our SEO Bullshit Bingo card generator and priniting out the card. Cross off the terms as they come up in the meeting and if you get 5 in a line, up, down or diaganally, then jump up and shout “SEO bullshit!” Your boss will recognise your wit and intimate knowledge of the sector and give you a pay rise on the spot.
Topics: Clever Stuff, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Viral Marketing | Leave Us a Comment »
We have announced in the past that PushON is now armed to the teeth with a multilingual SEO specialist, and we have just updated the list of services with the relevant page. Go to Multilingual SEM at PushON to read about why you may consider using international search engines to promote your services or products, and the whats and hows of International SEM. We welcome your comments and feedback (and, of course, business proposals).
(On the image you can see the logos of voila.fr, yandex.ru, and rambler.ru search engines).
Topics: International SEM and SEO, PushON Work | Leave Us a Comment »
Just in case you’re in Salford and want a few pointers on SEO in Salford, I’ve been invited to speak to Jon Monk on Salford city Radio. It’s a mix of business and music. For some reason, the fools have asked me to choose 15 tracks to play that I like. If you’re thinking “ooohh, I hope he plays some Tina Turner”, this really isn’t going to be for you. The track listing includes
West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band - Smell of Incense
Can - Mushroom
Big Black - Kerosene
Neil Young - Down by the River
and so on. Anything else I should try and get played?
Topics: Podcast, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) | 2 Comments »
There’s some really interesting stuff going on over at Yahoo. They’ve announced a complete rewiring of the Yahoo plethora of sites in a bid to offer end users a single place to manage all things Yahoo related.
They claim not to be building a new social network but are focusing on building social into everything they do. I don’t envy them the task because the Yahoo network of sites has grown into a huge unruly beast over the years and the acquisition of Flickr, Del.icio.us and event calendering website Upcoming, further complicates the task. Pulling it all together though could see Yahoo moving toward offering serious competition to Google and Microsoft in the competition to offer a single brand internet experience.
Yahoo have also announced their Search Monkey project which it claims will lead to a more open approach to search by allowing website owners big and small “to build and present the next generation of search results”. Their hope is that buy offering a “free, open platform” and enabling site owners to provide further additional detail of their sites such as photos, ratings and addresses that will all show in the search results.
It’s a very nice idea but as highlighted in the comments accompanying the announcement on the Yahoo blog, there are concerns that this could mean Black Hat SEO techniques could be adopted by many to falsify Yahoo search results.
You can make your own minds up as to what is going on between the two monkeys I’ve used for the photo on this post but I think the surprise on the face of the one says it all.
Related Links:
Search Monkey Developer Preview
Topics: Yahoo | Leave Us a Comment »
Just a few days ago I remembered an episode from “Only Fools and Horses” about Batman and Robin. And now all of us here have been glued to the screen, watching a spoof Bruce Springsteen video to the song praising Microsoft Vista SP1 (and there’s a spoof version of a superhero, as well). If you haven’t seen it yet, go ahead and listen to “Our Ecosystem Rocks” from Bruce ServicePack and the Vista Street Band (produced by Microsoft Quota Records).
The word “rocks” brought to mind The Queen’s “We Will Rock You”, following which I remembered about the song “Another Bites the Dust”. I googled it, and before I knew I was listening to Queen - Another One Bites The Dust: Hidden Message.
I’m wondering now if it may make sense to play Bruce ServicePack’s song on reverse, to see if it hides any messages…
Topics: Blog, viral video | 2 Comments »
When I was looking at this lovely picture in a Search Engine Land article (drawn by Elliance) I noticed that an image of a ripe apple stood for “fresh content” and an image of a bird-pecked apple - for “user comments”. Both types of apples can be found on the Tree of the Blogosphere (see image).
I instantly thought about a political treatise by one Early Tudor statesman. The treatise “Tree of Common Wealth” was written between 1509 and 1510 by Edmund Dudley; you may consult its electronic copy at Nicholas Bridgewater’s site (and also to try your hand at deciphering a Tudor text).
In his treatise Dudley uses the image of a fruit tree to illustrate the functioning of the State and its social classes. On the tree there are four fruits, each of them is wholesome and beautiful on the outside. Inside is a “perilous core”, “that may in no wise be touched, but of necessity be utterly refused, for they be venomous in the highest degree, that no cause will help them” (modern transcription - JS).
Indeed, as the search gurus (or Evangelists and Thought Leaders, to use the imagery of the Tree of the Blogosphere) tell us, a quality content is a must for a blog to survive and to draw attention from Search Engines and links from other sources. Furthermore, since the Blogosphere and Internet Marketing are both about engaging in the conversation, the healthy flow of valuable comments shows that the content is attracting interest (see, e.g., Blogging Tips from Avinash Kaushik and Eric Enge). Yet comments can also damage your brand or topic, so attracting comments means bargaining in for the feedback you may not want to hear.
Fear not, though, for Edmund Dudley underlined that each fruit from the Tree of Common Wealth must be consumed with a special sauce, which, in his times, was “nothing else but the dread of god”. With the Tree of the Blogosphere, what sauce is there to sweeten the sour taste of comments that may befall your shiny quality content? In my opinion, it should be a blend of Brand Management and Business Development (whether we speak of a large corporate blog or a small business or individual blog). As some case studies show, the bitter comments befall the content (or product) that fails to engage with the audience (customers). However, for a company that doesn’t shun away from critique and aspires to make the best use of available and emerging marketing strategies, the Tree of the Blogosphere can bring fabulous and very tasty fruits.
As a matter of fact, the topic of how to handle the taste of the “perilous core” (=comments and criticism) and how not to overindulge in the sweet fruit (=content and PR) was exactly the subject of the KMP’s “Blogging for Business” seminar. (Roy wrote about it previously). So, in the end I may be not entirely wrong in drawing parallels between the early 16th c. and early 21st c. uses of the fruit imagery. In any case, the year when this treatise was begun is 1509, so it’s great to see how historical sources become useful almost 500 hundred years later.
Just one thing: it’s interesting to see a green apple of Technorati (”Brand Awareness”) lying under the tree. I wonder about the meaning…
Topics: Blog, Business Blogging, Clever Stuff | Leave Us a Comment »
We sat and sulked for the first couple of days blaming everything and everyone, life is so unfair, we didn’t deserve that, just who does this Google think, he/she/it is? We can do so much better anyway!
After our short period of sulking we finally admitted that Google had fallen out of love with us and set about trying to win back its’ heart.
We discussed, argued, researched, analysed and finally decided that there was potentially a number of factors that might have turned our soul mates affections sour, rather than any single given factor.
Here’s a list of factors we think may have caused Google to give us the cold shoulder:
- Unreliable hosting
- The change in method of displaying our RSS feed on our main site
- Less frequent posting
- Our RSS feed not function for a short period.
Here’s a list of things we did to win back the heart of big G:
- Fixed the hosting issue
- Changed the method we used to display our RSS feed on our main site
- Made more regular posts
- Fixed all issued with our RSS feed
- Upgraded our WordPress install
- Changed our permalink structure and used 301 redirects on all the old URLs
- Updated our XML sitemap
It now appears that we’ve rekindled Googles love for us and we’re seeing a whole range of posts previously going unnoticed, whilst it was giving us the brush off, hitting top of the Google once again.
It’s nice to be loved again.
Topics: Google | 3 Comments »
Jim Neath @ Virtuaffinity was somewhat disappointed to learn that in Japan they have invented the way to send a fragrance from your cell phone. NTT Communications proclaims that fragrance is the next big thing in telecommunications. The New York Times review, When Roses Won’t Do, E-Mail a Fragrance, describes it, as follows:
“users will be able to select and send certain fragrance recipes to an in-home unit that is responsible for concocting and releasing the various fragrances. Each holds 16 cartridges of base fragrances or essences that are mixed to produce the various scents in a similar way that a printer mixes inks to produce other colors… The first step is to choose a scent from the multitude of fragrance recipes available through an I-mode site on a cell phone. Once chosen the instructions on how to make the scent are then transmitted to the fragrance device through infrared from the phone, and from there the scent is quickly mixed and emitted.”
You can make long-distance fragrance transmissions, even setting the date and time for scent emission. Moreover, you can customise scents and share them with other users through the fragrance “playlist” on the website.
The device is expected to cost around $200, and cartridge refills around $16.
Jim’s disappointment, however, had to do with the fact that he and his friend were toying with the idea of scented microphones. Now that the Japanese have burst out on the market with scented phones, Jim’s idea seems to have been used. However, there is still a chance that Jim’s idea may come to life, as Katrina Gallagher has been thinking of visiting Japan, and, being interested in all new techie stuff, she would surely bring such phone back with her. A few people in our company also play gigs, and for my part I love singing. If all these pieces of jigsaw come together, then PushON and Virtuaffinity may well produce the next big thing in entertainment: a live band using scented microphones to create an unforgettable fragrant performance. If this happens, Futuresonic may specially commission us for their next festival.
Hmm… Whatever we get to do with these phones, the venture certainly seems like a gateway to viral perfume marketing (Jean-Paul Gaultier could definitely use the potential of the Japanese invention). It can certainly add more fun to all Social Media and Social Networking platforms, blogs, and videocasts, not to mention the opportunities for Organic Marketing and SEO. On the image above you see a meadow in Llangunnor in Carmarthen. I still recall the freshness of the air there, but wouldn’t it be nice to make the memory slightly more tangible?
And, of course, this invention hides an enormous potential for live TV of the future. Imagine: you’re not just watching a video ad of McDonalds’ cheeseburger, you’re also smelling the food. Before long, the cinema will take on a totally new spin, and we’ll have scented remakes of the classical movies. “Scent of a Woman” sounds like the film to begin with.
Topics: Blog, Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Social Networking, Viral Marketing | 7 Comments »
Account Win for PushON: Undiscovered Alps. Activity and Family Adventure Holidays in the French Alps.
By Julia Shuvalova | April 11, 2008
Are you a fan of activity holidays? I did my fair share of skiing and snowshoeing in the country renowned for its heaps of snow in winter (Russia, that is), although I never did either snowboarding or cross-country skiing. I also adore dogs and sledging, so “husky dog sledging” sounds like a perfect adventure. I would love to spend a night in an igloo, apparently it’s a wonderfully romantic experience. Cycling, mountain biking or snow biking are already not my cup of tea, as I can’t cycle. Neither are white water fun or ice diving, because I can’t swim. Caving or canyoning? Maybe. Definitely walking in the Alps, especially in the stunningly beautiful valleys of Champsaur and Valgaudemar in the Southern French Alps.
Amazingly, all these types of holidays are offered by the dedicated bilingual team at Undiscovered Alps who have recently become the client for PushON. This is a France-based family business specialising in activity and adventure holidays for groups, families and individuals in a relatively small region in the south of France. We’re working on their campaign together with Tekin Suleyman and a number of media and PR companies in Manchester to optimise the existing marketing campaign for Undiscovered Alps, as well as to develop it further. At PushON we absolutely believe in organic and Social Media marketing, and Undiscovered Alps seem to be the right type of client to benefit from it.
The valleys of Champsaur and Valgaudemar form the southern edge of the Ecrin massif in the French Alps. The region includes three of the cols on the route of the famous Tour de France, ideal for biking. Skiing activities are hosted at Orcieres 1850, a well-known high altitude Alpine resort, and surrounding villages. On our client’s website, in addition to the expected information about the region and types of activities, you can find a choice of reliable accommodation, the destination routes, and even kit lists for different types of holidays and a booking form for ski hire.
…and if you can’t ski, swim or bike, and aren’t a fan of walking, you can paraglide. With Undiscovered Alps, sky is indeed your limit!
Topics: Blog, Clients, External Sites, Marketing, Organic Search Engine Marketing, PR, PushON Work, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) | Leave Us a Comment »
We’re delighted to be shortlisted for an Award at the 2008 Big Chips.
The Big Chips Awards are the most prestigious digital awards outside of London. They are run by Manchester Digital; the independent non-profit association for digital and new media in the area, and the awards are judged by industry experts.
We’ve been shortlisted for our Search Marketing work for ContractStore, who sell contract templates online. The project involved Organic Search Marketing as the main focus & management of their Pay Per Click Campaign.
Along with various search marketing tactics, we worked with the developer of their site, suggesting improvements to the code and website structure to improve search engine rankings. We also proposed changes to the purchase process which improved conversion rates.
The Pay Per Click campaign was taken over, and we implemented conversion tracking which identified wasted advertising spend. Over the year long project, we reduced the the Pay Per Click cost per conversion - making a saving of approximately 75%.
Last year, Jamie won best rising star for his work in Organic Search Marketing, and the previous year, Virtuaffinity (our sister company) received a special commendation for the Heaven Spa website.
The award night is generally lots of fun, but very messy. I’m really looking forward to the awards this year, even to the inevitable “I don’t know what to wear” debate from the boys.
Topics: Awards, Organic Search Engine Marketing, Pay Per Click (PPC), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) | 4 Comments »