Good Afternoon Everybody,

The all important first search engine result page (SERP) on Google and the subsequent value of SEO seem to be running

Google Logo

a lot of web marketing ideas these days. Well, I am a web marketer. I am interested in SEO, but more important to me is the value and experience for the user. Does it matter how many SERs you have per page if none of these visitors to those results will end up customers?

I have been thinking a lot about this subject lately and I have come to the conclusion that SEO efforts that write for/attempt to market to search engines is just ridiculous. It leads us as marketers to black hat tactics and ultimately to experiences that the consumer does not enjoy. By Black Hat, I mean using trickery or unethical means of beating organic SERPs. Strategies like link farms, stealing or duplicating content, creating unmanned or spam social sites. For a list of tons more black hat (bad and stupid) ideas visit Beanstalk.

It seems to me that all of the big search engines: Google, Bing and Yahoo are moving to algorithms that lend more and more credibility to user activity whether that be direct voting or off-site promotion of the content. So, you want a strategy that will get you a higher search engine result and one that will get readers more interested in you and your products. Here’s one for ya: create interesting, unique content on a consistent basis. If you do this readers will want to read and share and link to it. The bots will pick up on that activity and your new keyword strength and reward you accordingly.

Oh, and just to show that I am not the only one with this mindset. Check out this quote from Google’s Webmaster Guidelines:

-The basic common sense principle would be NOT to utilize anything that you would not implement if the search engines didn’t exist, or in short:
“Make pages for users, not for search engines.”

So go out and create great content and get users to share it for you. What are some of your most successful SEO tactics. Check out the Big 16 rules for SMO tactics on the Online Marketing Blog.

Best of luck,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

My Sector 9 Cruiser/Carver

My Loaded Dervish

If you read this blog, you know that I love longboarding. I recently upgraded from a Sector9 cruiser/carver to a Loaded Dervish Flex 1 . Man I gotta say, I had read a lot of reviews on the Dervish and they are all true. It is a fantastic board. It is light, flexible, strong and has a great turning radius. It will go really fast before speed wobbles.

My Rig:

Loaded Dervish Flex 1
Big Zig Retro wheels. 76mm and 83d (Lime
Paris 180 Trucks
I also got bearing spacers and truck risers (to save on wear and tear)

What do you ride? Got any tips/tricks for mastering the dervish. I am really working on board walking and speed checks right now. Advice? If you are on the longboarding forum Silverfishlongboarding. My account name is willflavell check me out on there too.

Thanks for reading and if you are in the Omaha/Lincoln area and want to give Longboarding a try. Drop me a comment. I have two boards now and am always excited about getting new people into the sport. Check out all of my skating videos and photos on my Flickr Skating Set.

Later,

My cute girlfriend and my two boards

Will Flavell

Danger Wheels

Hey Boarders,

I just found out that I am ridin on wheels that were recently recalled by loaded. I just wanted to spread the word.

Taken from Consumer Product Safety Commission:

Description:The recall involves Orangatang “In-Heat” skateboard wheels. They were sold in two styles: 75mm/purple/83a durometer and 75mm/orange/80a durometer. The words “orangatang,” “In Heat,” and the size and durometer are written on the sidewall of the wheel. The wheels were sold in sets of four.

I was ridin the purps. So if you got these wheels send ‘em back. They already have cases of:

The recalled skateboard wheel’s core can shear and blow-out causing the wheel to separate from the skateboard truck’s axle and bearings. This poses a risk of serious injury to riders.

Needless to say, I have to get replacement wheels. But, I wanted to put the word out. Has anyone heard of a personal blowout story? What happened? Also, check out this longboarding forum on the subject and other people’s experiences with these wheels on SilverFish Forums.

Check out more info here.

Ride on,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

I am experimenting with tying my blog feed to my Twitter account for automatic push on my Twitter account (@willflavell). There are several tools out there that promise to feed your blog to Twitter.  There is a free online tool called Twitterfeed that I am trying first. It seems pretty easy, just sign up for a free account, put in your blog’s RSS feed and then watch the tweets begin. We will see.

The other option that I am seeing a lot of people use is Tweet This. It is a free WordPress plugin that auto tweets your blog posts. Check out a post on it here. Or just download the plugin and take it for a spin here.

Please tell me what you think? Got any other suggestions? Best Practices?

Thanks,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

If I am ever having a bad day or am really bored. This video always inspires me. It is titled simply and aptly Go Longboard. I hope that you enjoy it. One of the reason that I love longboarding and social media, is the freedom that they provide. They both give you the opportunity to try out new things and to teach yourself by challenging yourself. I hope that you enjoy the video.

Just wanted to post a quick video. This is my first recorded longboard slide. It was taken at Platte River State Park. Some really nice hills there and the concrete (sorry to asphalt) is pristine. Check it out! Sorry for such a tiny video. That is all that WordPress will let me display. But if you want to see the video in a larger size check out my Flickr account. I also have a bunch of longboarding photos.

Oh, and if you are wondering, I ride a Sector 9 cruiser and and use Loaded Gloves.

“Follow the latest buzz.” “Get into the Conversation.” “Make sure your Twitter personality and company voice sound the same.” “Follow who your friends follow.” “Tweet to attract and retain customers.”

Blah blah blah. Twitter is the marketing strategy du jour, and there a ton of blog posts providing managment-speaky advice like the quotes above. But do any companies actually make money using micro-blogs? Do any companies gain another real value from this medium?

A quick Google search for “Twitter Tips” returns more than 775,000 results. How many of these tips actually show companies a way to use micro-blogging that is worthwhile? There are thousands of strategies that will attract followers and make your profile appealing; however, it is difficult to actually generate income.

Here at Bozell, we want to simplify things. Out of the thousands of Twitter tips and strategies, we have identified three ways that companies are effectively using a micro-blog service today that have resulted in real benefits:

1. Micro Customer Service:
These companies give customers a way to receive help on a real-time basis.
Benefit: Better customer service ranking.
Check them out: @Comcastcares, @Firefox, and @Pandora_Radio

2. Microburst Sales:
These companies offer real-time, short-term sales as well as deep-discount product offerings.
Benefit: Increased sales.
Check them out: @PunchPizza, @NameCheap and @DellOutlet

3. Crowd-Sourced Research:
This includes polling of information as well as finding the correct contacts.
Benefit: Finding information.
Check them out: @skydiver (HARO) and @Threadless (Twitter Tees)

If your company cannot benefit from one of these three tools, it is probably not essential to have a micro-blog or Twitter presence. Typically, a good micro-blog account requires constant updates and time, especially to get them up and running. If the time investment doesn’t create profit worth more than the cost of time to build and manage a micro-blog, it isn’t worthwhile. Instead, think about what your business is passionate about. What can your customers contribute? Answer your social media needs with these answers and research other opportunities to make an impact.

It seems as if Twitter has created a monopoly in the micro-blog world; however, there is no guarantee it will be around forever. The site has yet to make money, despite its popularity. Other seemingly popular sites have already been shut down. (Example: Pownce) However, micro-blogging itself will stick around. Micro-blogging as a service is already a popular feature of the largest social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc. The micro-blog feature takes the form of a status update at the top of a profile page, often featuring links connecting to other sources.

Other sites have found useful ways to use micro-blogs. Check out this list of other micro-blogging sites with diverse and impressive features.

Tumblr
Yammer
Jaiku
Identi.ca
Bloggino
Kwippy
Microblogr
Plerb
Secondbrain
Yonkly
Beemood
Brightkite
Onhandblog.com

So, before you venture into the world of microbloggin, stop and think about a few things. What do you have to say? What do your customers need to hear from you? And where does your passion lie?

This post is my latest article from Bozell’s Thinking magazine.

Hey Everybody,

I have been interested for a while in crowdsourcing or community sourcing. This is basically the power of tapping a community or the public for an idea or answer that used to be done be a single profession. It is info and ideas by the populous. Think Wikipedia. Or Threadless here.

Anyway, it is interesting to see how much of business can now be crowdsourced or publicly outsourced: photos, design, customer service, cost structures, etc. What’s next? Is your job role one that the public can easily perform? Here is a great blog post I read by Twittermaven on crowdsourcing examples. Also check out the video below for more interesting info on crowdsourcing from the resident expert, Jeff Howe.

Enjoy,

Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

I wanted to share this Flickr slideshow for all the skaters in Omaha and all my friends who skate, but have moved away. The sport is alive and well in the city. Longboarding is really picking up steam here too. If you want advice on where to slide and what hills to bomb, drop me a quick comment or an email.

Photo credit: Noahconstrictor on Flickr.

But if you have a minute check out the slideshow here. These are all images submitted to Flickr that have been tagged with skateboarding and Omaha. It is a little city skate who.

Best,
Will Flavell

Hey Everybody,

Social media seems to be getting hotter than the sun these days and that means new case studies. So throw out all your boring, old slides on Motrin Moms, Blendtec and ComcastCares for some of these newbies. I have included links and short descriptions below to a few new ones that I have been reading about (many are stories from Mashable). So make sure that when you present Web 2.0 case studies to new clients or your boss, you are current and interesting. Oh, and here’s a social media case study of my own that you might remember.

Check these out:

1. Cadbury (the candy company) recruits “secret agents” in their Operation Goo, who create Cadbury content for the chance to win $30,000+ in support of their Twisted candy bar. Check out the case study here.

2. SeaWorld channels the barroom favorite, photohunt, in a viral photo comparison game that leverages Facebook, Twitter and iPhone apps. It’s a whale of a conversation campaign. See the case study here.

3. Vitamin Water pits Kobe VS LeBron in a Facebook promotion. This one allows fans to track and discuss a basketball battle for the ages. Check out the case study here.

4. Us Weekly sells their Facebook page for advertising to State Farm. Check out the case study here.

5. Here is a link to 10 more that are pretty cool. Including Target, Chuck, Threadless and Ford. Thanks Thoughtpick.

And check out a whole wiki of social media efforts and campaigns from the BeingPeterKim.com.

Thanks for stopping by and if you have links to any other good social media case studies out there today, share them. Lets grow a big collection together.

Best,

Will Flavell