The new category of search advertisements would be showcased at the top of user search results instead of getting mixed with organic results. According to an announcement made by Facebook,

“Sponsored Results is a great way for you to drive more awareness of your app, page or place. We are making an API available for developers to sponsor search results.”

Users would be able to hide the ad and even indicate whether the ad is offensive, uninteresting, or otherwise inappropriate.

AT present, sponsored ads for search would only support CPC bids (Type 1) or Optimized CPM bids (Type 7). The minimum bid prices for already promoted and other Facebook entities in US$0.01 and US$0.15 respectively.

For instance, Facebook has evolved from a social network to become a highly sophisticated social platform that allows us to discuss, publish, play games, grow networks, and needless to mention ‘share’. With growing numbers of individuals getting confused with the idea of social and community, let’s delve deeper into different types of social media.

• Forum: A public discussion page with messages getting displayed in a chronological order. User can participate after completing a quick registration.

• Blog: It is a simplified publishing tool where items are displayed in a chronological order and placed categorically. Typical examples are; Typepad, WordPress and Blogger.

• Wiki: It is an online knowledge base where users can write and correct their content. Wiki pages feature page history, and can also be commented upon. Some of the famous examples of wikis are; Brickpedia, Wikipedia, and Wookipedia.   

• Sharing Service: An online service that allows users to post videos, photos, and as well as links. Community members or advertisers are able to create groups and channels to unite micro-communities. Slideshare, YouTube, Deezer, Delicious and FlickR are all sharing service sites.  

• Social Network: These are the sites where users have individual profiles. In addition to classifying users into various groups, social networks offer additional features such as, hosting third party applications, messaging, content sharing and publishing. Tagged, Facebook, Friendster, Twitter, Tumblr and Orkut are all leading social networks.

• Microblog: It is primarily a publishing service that enables users to share and discuss. Message reading does not require registration and each member has a public profile. Google Buzz and Twitter are the perfect examples. 

• Aggregator: It is an online service that allows users to collate all of the social media publication is a social stream.

• Collaborative FAQ: It is an online service support where questions and answers are posted by users. The cases are discussed and saved, and the member who posted the question chooses the most satisfactory outcome. StackOverflow and Quora are leading examples.

Bing is consistently adding social networks to its search results. The search engine maintains active collaboration with Twitter, Facebook. The addition of Quora indicates Bing’s continuous efforts to offer an engaging user experience in its search services.

Image Courtesy by: winbeta.org

• Title

Similar to blog posts, web pages and articles, the articles we use in our feeds should be keyword centric.

• Linking

Links within a feed should utilize the full path to ensure the link remains valid.

• Keywords

Keywords are not only for the content and titles. Links embedded with keywords are preferred by search engines.

• Search Engines

Getting searched by search engines quickly requires us to create a personal account on Google+, My MSN and My Yahoo!, and linking our own feeds on the home page.

• Popularity

We can enhance link popularity by submitting our RSS feds, podcasts and blogs to directories.

• Descriptions

RSS feed descriptions refer to short summaries of an article or blog content. The purpose of the summary is to attract a reader to click over the link and visit the site featuring the complete article or content piece. We must ensure that only quality summaries of our articles and blog posts are written.

• Subscribe

We must ensure that we subscribe to our own feeds. Surprisingly, publishers in large numbers fail to subscribe to their own feeds, so they remain unaware of what their subscribers are viewing. Subscribing to our own feed not only allows us to see how it looks, but also enables us to re-format or add other elements into it.

Besides strengthening control over the platform, the move enables Twitter to offer wide array of interactive services on its own. However, the announcement is drawing flak from developers and as well as users, who prefer independent clients such as Uber, Hootsuite and Tweetbot over Twitter products. But the criticism has not been a deterrent for Twitter, as the company observers were expecting the same reaction. Twitter had signaled its intentions earlier when the company ended a syndication deal with LinkedIn.

Let’s explore in detail what Twitter has actually imposed on app developers:

• User Limit: Twitter has set a cap limit of 100,000 users for third-part app developers. For existing apps with more than 100,000 users, they can claim up to 200% of the number of users. Furthermore, apps would be required secure permission from Twitter if users number cross 100,000.

• Authentication: According to new guidelines, authentication is now must for every API request that is forwarded to Twitter. The move would enable Twitter to have complete information about the developers, which was not the case earlier.

• Certification: Developers primarily engaged in releasing apps for mobiles, tablets etc would now be required to procure certificate from Twitter. 

After Google Panda update, it has become very much important to have quality content which is unique, informative and free from errors.

Given is the list of grammar checkers, style guides and word tools that assist us in improving our content:

a) Copyblogger

The Copyblogger blog includes a ten-step tutorial about writing a perfect copy for search engine rankings.

b) The Tongue Untied

Developed by the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, the blog features basic grammar, word choice, punctuation rules and sentence structure.

c) Fuel Your Writing

The website is a resourceful asset for business writers, technical writers, advertising copy writers and fiction writers. The website features editing and copywriting tips.

d) Grammarly

An automated proofreader, Grammarly checks our writing for punctuation, grammer, and as well as contextual spelling mistakes. Additionally, it is loaded with a plagiarism checker.

e) After the Deadline

Another automated proofreader, After the Deadline checks grammar, style and contextual spelling.

Google, already drawing flak due to its privacy policy issues, would be investigated for its role in promoting anti-competitive practices. Section – 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 pertains to the abuse of the dominant position by a market player. While Google claimed that its advertisement business is being operated as per the governing laws, the company promised to extend every possible support to investigators.

Google AdWords program, a major revenue generating service, sells keywords to advertisers and displays them in the form of short online ads. In 2011, the company’s advertising segment accounted for staggering US$3.6 billion revenue out of its total revenue of US$3.8 billion.

CUTS (Consumer Unity & Trust Society) International is an India-based NGO engaged in consumer protection, international trade & development, competition, investment & economic regulation, human development, and consumer safety.

BharatMatrimony.com, based in India, is one of the leading matrimonial search services providers.

While Google has agreed to pay the fine, it denies of any wrongdoing. On the contrary, FTC has accused Google of devising a cookie that managed to breach elite security of the Safari browser to collect transactional information. With FTC ordering hefty fine payment to Google on account of agreement breach, issue of non-compliance has resurfaced in the US IT industry. As FTC is mulling stringent privacy settings for online users, Do Not Track option is set to become a norm. Furthermore, online advertising can be severely hit if FTC orders all web properties to not track by default, and instead require individuals to opt-in if they wish to have cookies on board while surfing the web.

Given are the few compelling points in support of optimizing websites for branding keywords:

• With essential banding keywords being utilized deliberately in SEO, it becomes easier to actively direct the traffic towards our site.
• Branded keywords pave a way for web visitors to access most relevant pages. A user searching for particular information is provided with a relevant content.
• Quality user experience translates into higher conversion rate. As our site appears to be a logical destination from a search engine result page, we are more likely to cater to a delighted customer.
• According to one study, web visitors are more likely to leave a website pretty early if confronted with useless content. Using banding keywords assists website in keeping visitors engaged.
• Branded keyword optimization is crucial for an e-commerce website. Each item product pages must be optimized by model and other identifying brands and numbers, so that it becomes easier for consumers to find relevant products.
• Brand keywords channelize web traffic through external sources, including blogs, social media profiles, press releases, articles, and videos.
• Search engine results pages are generally easily dominated with branding keywords. Whenever a search is conducted for our brand, majority of the displayed content is expected to be of our website.

While conventional SEO strategies are still deployed extensively by various online companies, brand authority is gaining momentum in search engine results. So, it is in the interest of all the marketers to leverage branded keywords for stupendous marketing results. However, as branding keywords are vulnerable to easy hijacking with piggyback content, we need to remain vigilant and safeguard our business interests.

SEO professional should avoid the given below major mistakes to achieve desired objectives of their search engine marketing campaigns:

Low Client Interaction: While focusing on search engine marketing campaign, we should also consider listening intently to a client’s viewpoint over the desired outcome. Client’s consent is very essential as it goes a long way in keeping our morale high. Interaction with client not only gives us a clear picture of his viewpoint, but also paves way for other notable ideas. On the other hand, if we tend to overlook client’s exact requirements, our campaign may not yield desired results, much to the discomfort of our client.

Reliance on Unknown Third Party Application: In no case, any unknown third party application should be relied upon blindly. SEO professionals should ensure that third party platforms are thoroughly checked for accuracy.

Unplanned SEM Campaigns: SEM campaigns require meticulous planning and error-free implementation. For instance, launching a campaign over a weekend or a public holiday is an unplanned decision that can cost dearly. It is advisable to start with a campaign as the week begins so that we have ample time to assess its results. Additionally, we should be flexible enough to carry out any unforeseen changes as the campaign progresses.

Missed Keywords: The success of any SEM campaign predominantly hinges on its keyword arrangement. Ensuring proper keyword placement contributes significantly to campaign’s success. On the other hand, missing keywords or lack of focus in keywords arrangement trigger a campaign’s debacle. We may also utilize matrices to gauge campaign statistics.

If you are looking for quality Search Engine Marketing Services, feel free to contact our SEO Experts.