So it’s been over a month since Google’s little algorithm update, codenamed Penguin (because it’s cold and heartless?), shook up the SEO world. Some people were hit hard, and others moved up in rankings (probably taking the place of those who were hit hard). Whether for good or bad, webmasters and SEO companies that were using questionable techniques that were accepted and effective for years have had to revise their strategies and come up with better solutions. In a nutshell, Penguin has penalized sites that have link portfolios that are considered ‘suspicious’ of being ‘over-optimized for SEO’. Sites that have used too much of the same text in links (having 100 sites link back to you with the term ‘batman comics’) or creating too many links in a short period of time (100 links in one day), or having links present in obviously scammy, low-level sites (social bookmarks, link profiles, footer links) all were hit if they relied on these tactics. Many have said that Penguin has ‘changed SEO forever’. For several SEO companies and service providers it has. For those who were doing it ‘right’ in the first place, not so much. Penalizing an industry for ‘over optimizing’, when their sole purpose is to optimize for keywords seems a bit silly to me. However, the SEO world has gotten very impatient and reckless over the past few years, and Penguin is forcing people to take it ‘nice n’ easy’, and that’s exactly what I think people should do. Atleast for now, the days of building 1000s of low quality, directory links in order to rank a site seem to be behind us. Instead, the new online currency is ‘relevance’. Prove to Google that your site is relevant to a keyword, not solely on the quantity of links, but more on the quality of those links, and you’ll see your results react. Good SEO Companies are essentially morphing into ‘Social PR firms’, connecting their clients with other relevant websites out there. Instead of having 100 links from random websites, have 5 good links from sites related to your industry. Have a website selling batman figurines? Get links from sites related to toys, games, comics, and anything else related to your product. Sell your product and site to other websites and encourage them to share. Those 5 links can be more powerful than 100 low level directory or social bookmark links. Over the past month, we’ve been able to help clients in highly competitive industries jump several spots and even pages just by getting their site on relevant blogs. Reach out to news, blogs, and association websites in your industry via social media, emailing and meets up, and ask that they write about you. Overtime, these relevant sites will serve as your proof that your site is relevant for your keywords. Rather than having 1000s of links with anchor text that says “Batman Comics”, have several blogs about comics write about your batman site. It may seem like a slow and ineffective process, but once you get past the misconception that 100 links are better than 5, you’ll see how effective it can really be. It’s really that simple. It’s never too late to start repairing your relationship with Google, so get started today! Where you hit by Google Penguin? What are you doing to repair your rankings?

Glad I asked. Let's start by clarifying this. When referring to "video," I'm referring to well thought-out, relevant, results-driven video. Marketing video. Because... remember: video that accomplishes nothing is art.... and most of us don't have room in the marketing budget for art. Ok, now that we've got that out of the way... here we go. Usually we evaluate all line items in the budget by the return it can bring. And returns are made possible by opportunities. So, what's the opportunity? Here's a couple of fun stats from Forbes to get us started: • 80% of Senior Executives are watching more video than they did in 2010. • 59% of Senior Executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text. Ok, Execs are looking for video. They're clicking the "play" button. This is good news for B2B companies for sure. More stats about those of us who don't wear suits every day: • 80% of us make online video part of our daily internet regimen. • The average internet user watches more than 186 videos a month. So, all of this begs the question: are you using video? Actually it's too late for that question. The real question? HOW are you using video? Here are some use scenarios for online marketing video: Website conversion--when it comes to ROI, this is usually the easiest to justify. Its purpose is to convert web traffic into real business. It's trackable. This is almost a no-brainer. The catch? You need to have incoming web traffic to capitalize. If you do have a decent amount of incoming web traffic, just think what a 5% bump would mean to the bottom line. Here's an example from an attorney's website. This video helped drive the conversion rate to 17% in a special pay-per-click landing page campaign. ________________________________________________________________________________ Resource video--this is more of a soft sell. The call-to-action isn't overt. The resource video's role is two-fold. 1) build the website's profile as a place that your targeted prospects or demo can come to find answers to their problems. 2) cut down on overhead by answering those "FAQ's" that your staff spends time on every day. If you spend 2 hours/week on a certain reoccurring client issue, what would it mean to your bottom line to have it handled by website video? 2hours/week = 96 hours/year. Here's an example from a Austin Telecommunications company that sells phone systems. ________________________________________________________________________________ Proof of Performance--this is what it sounds like. After a trade show, public event, charity race, etc., this video will serve to inform and engage targets with the message behind the event. Not all of us can go out to every event we want. Like me. I just had a baby, so I'm not leaving the house for about 5 years. It'd be great to see how it went. This video will take me there. Plus, the video can also serve to stroke the egos of sponsors & partners. This video concept works best when incorporating it into your eNewsletter and Social Media tactics. Also, people who attended will LOVE to see themselves on the video. This is where sharing online will be key. ________________________________________________________________________________ Hopefully you now know more about online video marketing that you did before you started reading this. If not, drop me a line and let the criticism rip. In the coming weeks, I'll be posting the 2nd in this series. It will cover what makes for effective online video. This will include format, length, web page placement, etc. Cheers.   Ben Cecil is the Director of Marketing Strategies at Unlimited Production Group (UPG). UPG helps business increase revenue by making the most of their online opportunities. UPG is an online video marketing firm that specializes in online video marketing campaigns that increase conversion rates and brand awareness. Engagement is paramount.