Online Marketing for NonProfits

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

10 Signs you are a Search Marketing Geek

OK, I have to admit that I stole this and modified from another post.

Here is my top ten list to know if your a marketing geek:

You look for and point out the SEO mistakes on every site you visit.
Your friends and family have stopped sending you forwarded chain emails because they are tired of being accused of spamming.
You use acronyms for everything even if there is no reason to.
You forget that phone directories still exist until you see the new one on your doorstep once a year.
When you go out to eat you look for user reviews on the menu and can’t believe that restaurants have not embraced user generated content.
You want to call up every restaurant you find that doesn't have an operable website to offer your services - just so next time you can easily find their menu and phone number.
You can't understand why EVERY local business is not registered on local search - it's free people! And it will let me find your phone number and address, considering I recycle the phone book as soon as it's delivered to my door.
You get caught up in the usability of every website you visit
You've developed a new game with friends and family titled, "Can you tell me what this ad is selling and who is selling it?"
You've put your 60 something parents through search engine marketing training so that they can help you promote your family's website (yes, I've actually done this)

Does Wikipedia Link to your Website?

Wikipedia even tells you! Just follow this link, and put in your website address. Remember, Wikipedia is the most visited website in the world, so it's worth making sure your site is mentioned somewhere in the encyclopedia!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Microsoft Hopes to Buy Yahoo, Google not Pleased

Now granted, of course Google wouldn't want the other two big search engines to become one with a huge amount of market share, but I also have to agree that competition is a good thing for consumers.

If you want to catch up with the latest news on the potential buy, check out Search Engine Land's compilation of opinions about the story.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Found this comprehensive list from a the SEO Playbook post from StuntDubl.com, and had to share.

Link Development Resources:

Linkbaiting

Webmasterworld Link Development Threads

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Google Webmaster Tools Quick Start Guide Now Available

If you haven't already checked out Google's Webmaster Tools, you now have no excuse! They have released a quick start guide that you can use to take a tour of the tools they provide which allow you to:

	Know which of your pages are included in Google's index
	See any errors Googlebot had when crawling your site
	Find which search queries list your site as a result
	Find out which sites link to yours

There's not other way to know if Googlebot is having trouble indexing your site, so sign up for the free Google Webmaster Tools!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

How to Not be a Social Media Idiot

I had to share this Bruce Clay article I read the other day, and share some of his wit here on my blog, because it made me laugh. It talks about how as a marketer you need to understand how the social media sites work and have a clear understanding of why you are becoming involved in a particular social media site and what you'd like to do while you're there instead of just barreling into those communities.

If you joined Facebook to build professional brand equity and now spend your days throwing sheep at your colleagues and trying to bite your customers to turn them into vampires, well then, yeah, you’re a social media idiot and probably hurting your brand. That sure ain’t Facebook’s fault.
...marketers who leap into things with no purpose and spam everyone around them will absolutely tarnish their image. No one wants to be friends with the guy who’s going to sit next to them, talking during the movie and then stick their finger in your ear all day. Marketers have to be cautious when they enter the social sphere. If you don’t know why you’re there, you’re likely to spend your days gift giving, cause-hopping and SuperPoking your day away while branding yourself as a total annoyance.

There are hundreds of social media sites out there, and many aren't suited for our community - finding volunteers to help solve local community issues. That is why you've only seen me comment on Facebook, Craigslist, Meetup, and Gather as the primary communities on this site.

For instance, Linkedin, while great for career networking, is not the best community to join to
find volunteers.

When creating a Facebook account, you should follow the lead of the other Volunteer Centers who have already created profiles there (see my post below) and while it's tempting to install and use the vampires application in Facebook, it's probably not the best way to recruit volunteers. However, using the event feature, and posting flyers in your network, will probably be a successful way of getting folks involved.

Let me know how you've successfully used social media to recruit volunteers - I'd love to share your story on this blog and during our upcoming workshop at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service.

Monday, January 7, 2008

Hakia.com: Meeting Others Who Search Like You Do

So it's not one of the big players, but the new natural search engine, hakia.com, has a "meet others who asked the same query" feature that is kind of interesting.

Search for "volunteer + chicago" and you'll notice who has left messages wanting to meet other people interested in volunteering. If there's isn't a current conversation you can start one.

So go to www.hakia.com, type in volunteer + your city and see who else is looking to volunteer in your area.