20 Top YouTube & Video Marketing Stories of 2012...

Not surprisingly, YouTube marketing news and developments continue to dominate this year’s installment of our video marketing year in review for 2012. In reverse chronological order, here are the top 20 video marketing stories of the past year:

YouTube Unveils New Look to Increase Channel Views, Subscriptions

December 7, 2012: The redesign aims to help users find their favorite channels and “subscribe, subscribe, subscribe.” By encouraging more users to subscribe to the YouTube channels they love, YouTube will be able to share 10 times more ad revenue with its partners.

Online Video Ad Spending Increased 27% in 2012; Projected to Grow Another 47 percent

November 22, 2012: A new research report from online video advertising company Adap.tv has found that online video ad spending has risen 27 percent in 2012. The company projects that online video ad spending will continue to grow by another 20 percent in 2013.

Obama vs. Romney: Who’s Winning the YouTube Vote?

November 5, 2012: President Obama is trouncing Romney with 53 percent of total shares – 69 percent of the ads shared on blogs, 86 percent of the ads shared on Twitter, and 51 percent of the ads shared on Facebook, according to Unruly's 2012 Election Tracker.

YouTube Algorithm Change: 'Time Watched' Key to Higher Video Search Rankings

October 22, 2012: YouTube has started adjusting the ranking of videos in YouTube search to reward engaging videos that keep viewers watching. In other words, “watch time” has replaced “view count” in the YouTube algorithm. What does this mean for video marketers?

Google Play TV Shows, Movies, Music Debut on Google TV

October 11, 2012: Google has released its Play software and media service to the Google TV platform. The update will allow Google TV users to access the Play app store as well as download and view content from the Play television and movie services.

AOL Puts Entire Original Video Library on 22 Monetized YouTube Channels

October 3, 2012: According to comScore, YouTube's parent company, Google, and AOL are the two largest video content properties by number of video streams per month, which means this deal brings together the two largest video properties on the web.

Google Play, YouTube & Others Getting 600+ 20th Century Fox Movies, TV Shows

September 18, 2012: Google Play and YouTube are among the new distribution channels chosen by 20th Century Fox for over 600 movie and TV show titles. Rupert Murdoch, who accused Google of pirating content, owns the company now working with the search giant.

Google TV Ads Cancelled

September 6, 2012: Following a four-year effort in the incredibly lucrative TV ad business, Google has decided to pull the plug. Traditional TV ads are out. Going forward Google plans to focus exclusively on digital with YouTube and AdWords for Video.

Unruly Unveils Brand Tracker Interactive Infographic for London Olympics

July 20, 2012: Unruly Media's Brand Tracker interactive infographic tracks which of the official sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics are generating the most social video buzz. It pits the 25 sponsors against each other in a race for advertising fortune and glory.

5 Key Video Marketing Findings From New comScore Report

June 7, 2012: The report examines how the online video market can be used to supplement traditional television advertising, the effectiveness of cross-media campaigns and recommendations for advertisers, agencies, and media buyers who want to incorporate video.

Google Not Responsible for Policing YouTube Content: French Court

May 30, 2012: Court rules Google has no obligation to “police (YouTube) content before it is put online as long as it informs users that posting television shows, music videos, concerts or advertisements without prior consent of the owner is not allowed.”

Google Hangouts On Air Live Broadcasting Ability Coming to All Google+ Users

May 7, 2012: Google+ introduced a site-wide rollout of Hangouts On Air, allowing all social network users to broadcast live. Videos are automatically recorded and uploaded to YouTube and the creator’s Google+ profile for sharing.

Google AdWords for Video Launches with Improved Targeting on YouTube

April 23, 2012: Google AdWords for video is out of beta and aims to bring the analytical power of paid search advertising to video content and use the same type of bidding model to make video advertising available, affordable and measurable for everybody.

YouTube Boosts AdWords for Video With Ambassadors, How-to Guide & $75 Ad Credits

April 23, 2012: In addition to introducing some new features to AdWords for video, YouTube is also creating an Ambassador program, providing an Advertiser Playbook, and giving away $50 million in free Google AdWords credits to get businesses into video advertising.

YouTube Adding 1,000+ Movies From Paramount, MGM

April 19, 2012: YouTube has added 500 hundred new movie titles from Paramount Pictures and more than 600 titles from MGM. Six major studios and more than 10 independent movie studios now offer movies for rent on YouTube and Google Play in the U.S. and Canada.

Becoming a YouTube Partner Just Got More Rewarding

April 16, 2012: YouTube is updating partner eligibility across 20 countries where the YouTube Partner Program has launched. Content creators in these countries can become partners by enabling their YouTube accounts, and monetizing at least one of their videos.

YouTube-Viacom Copyright Lawsuit Resurrected by Appeals Court Ruling

April 7, 2012: U.S. Court of Appeals reverses an earlier decision that protected YouTube from damage claims under the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The ruling means another courtroom battle between Viacom and Google.

YouTube Creator Playbook Version 2 Indicates Two-Dimensional Thinking

February 28, 2012: YouTube has updated the YouTube Creator Playbook, which compiles important tips, best practices, and strategies to build greater audiences on YouTube. While content and audience are covered smartly, one dimension is missing: video advertising.

Best Super Bowl 2012 Ads Put New Plays into YouTube Creator Playbook

February 6, 2012: The car brands and ad agencies that made the most viewed YouTube ads of the NFL's biggest game of the year have put seven new plays into the next edition of the Creator Playbook that other marketers and advertisers are likely to use again in the future.

YouTube Now Serving 4 Billion Videos Daily

January 24, 2012: Ready for some more crazy YouTube stats? In the next minute, 60 hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube, and by the end of today, 4 billion videos will have been watched around the globe on the world’s most popular video-sharing site.

Happy Holidays From Incisive Media...

As the year draws to a close and we are all thinking about family, friends, and winding down for the holidays, it's time to reflect on the past year. 2012 threw us quite a few curve balls but as usual we came together to overcome all the challenges that arose as best we could. Perhaps no more challenging was when Hurricane Sandy hit NYC and we had to run the business remotely for almost two weeks while executing on disaster recovery and business continuity plans.

Of course, working in such a fast-moving industry where change and innovation occur daily, the major test is maintaining our reputation for bringing you the most current information on how to manage, adapt, and grow your business online.

With almost 200 contributors at ClickZ and Search Engine Watch who provide how-to information and walk-throughs of the latest technology, as well as our faculty of speakers and trainers at SES Conference & Expo and ClickZ Academy, we're lucky there's no shortage of talent. And let's not forget our full-time team of professional journalists who add outstanding industry reporting on a daily basis.

For this, we are fortunate to be rewarded with such loyalty and support from our readers, conference attendees, advertisers, and sponsors. So, we want to offer our most sincere Thank You for your contributions and feedback.

It's because of this great rapport we have that ClickZ, Search Engine Watch, and SES Conference & Expo have managed to remain three of the most trusted brands in the field when it comes to education, training, and industry news.

2013 is going to be an even more spectacular year for innovation in digital marketing. As people and companies change the way they consume media and create and share content, brand new opportunities will emerge. And we'll be there, as ever, at the forefront reporting on these new industry developments and technologies.

For now, take a break and enjoy the comfort of friends and family. But also remember those less fortunate, like those in Connecticut whose hearts have been broken and will be missing the joy and laughter of treasured loved ones this holiday season. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.

On behalf of the entire team at Incisive Media in New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Mumbai, we wish you all the very best for the coming new year. May it be prosperous, safe, and peaceful for everyone!

Happy holidays,

Social Media Strategy in Times of Tragedy...

Brands seek to engage their fans, friends and followers; some even go so far as to buy fans. They want people to “Like” them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter. Brands want to socialize, share a laugh, hangout, join a Group and even have a conversation. The strategy of becoming a more social company is clearly working; 87% of people report Liking or friending a brand on Facebook.

When tragedy strikes, as it did one week ago, brands are more often finding themselves in an awkward situation. How can brands act as friends? What does that conversation look like? Can a company be empathetic or consoling… and is it their place to try to be that, or is it exploitation, self-serving and inappropriate?

Do We Really Need to Have this Conversation?

Truthfully, I’d rather not, yet the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut has made me reflective this past week. Across the country, I believe many people have been left confused, heartbroken and even depressed by this terrible event and others like it. As a parent, a neighbour and a human being in general, I’ve been unable to think about much else.

Yet when the unthinkable happens, life must still go on. As much as we wish the world could stop for a moment so we could collect our thoughts, business marches on. My sincere hope, as I write this, is that readers will understand where I’m coming from, which is a place of introspection and trying to deal with what I can and make sense of something that never will. My only hope is that you can take something helpful from my experience, as this tragedy has brought up issues and lessons for me, as a person and a marketer, that I believe can help others.

I didn’t choose to be in crisis management; it chose me when one of my best friends was murdered by a serial killer, who eventually confessed to killing seven others. I was just starting my career in public relations and suddenly found myself, alongside my friend’s family, under the spotlight of a national news story tragically similar to the recent Newtown, Conn. shootings. I understand all too well what those families are going through with what can seem like a circus of media.

I have experienced the pain of having the police confirm the identity of a loved one gone too soon. Yes, it was definitely Tracy’s raped and mutilated body found at her door. What was supposed to be her first day of school at University of Florida was actually her last day with us.

I was the last person to talk to my friend and will spend the rest of my life wondering why Danny Rollings randomly chose his beautiful and innocent victims. They just happened to be in his path of mental illness and destruction. Ever been to two funerals on the same day? I know what that’s like too, since Rollings also killed Tracy’s roommate, Manny, another high school friend whose heroic efforts nearly saved them both. Almost.

Everywhere we look in the wake of the Newtown, Connecticut tragedy, people and companies are struggling to somehow express their sympathies without crossing the boundaries that could make their messages appear self-serving or selfish. People are, by nature, skeptical of brand messaging, yet it seems callous and inauthentic not to say anything when you truly feel you have something to say.

Behind businesses are real people and as people, we are all affected. The Newtown school shootings raise questions on just how a brand should interact with fans during a crisis and the unwritten rules of social media etiquette.

How Can Brands Support Audience on Social Media?

According to a study, about 50% percent of consumers think a brand’s Facebook page is more useful than a brand’s website. If a brand really wants have a personal relationship with its audience and be seen as more than just a way to get coupons and giveaways, they need to offer more than promotional content. Brands need to offer resources, meaningful content. The first step is being real and getting personal.

What people will appreciate and remember:

• XFactor dedicating a song in the opening to victims. The song was "You are not alone."
• The Today Show and The New York Times publishing the names of each victim.
• Saturday Night Live opening with Silent Night from the New York City Children’s Choir.
• Acknowledgements from brands like this one.

• A moment of silence. Your fans may not have gotten over the tragedy and you don’t want to make the mistake of offending anyone.

Do the equivalent of traditional signs of acknowledgement via social media:

• Sending a card
• Putting a flag at half mast
• Taking out an ad in remembrance
• Starting a fundraiser
• Laying flowers at the makeshift memorial

Your brand needs to be real during a community tragedy:

• Be human. Acknowledge what is happening.

• Be real. Take off the automated posts. Get real in real time when tragedy strikes.
• Be credible. Report and share news, but confirm sources and facts first.

• Be Caring. Consider sensitive subject matter. If your brand is part of the tragedy or in a related industry, take a close look at what you are reporting.
• Be considerate. Take a few days off from your normal editorial calendar. Think about it, is anyone even paying attention to what you are promoting? “I typically recommend to cease posting branded content for the day, however always remain active in the community (regular moderation responsibilities),” Social Media and PR Specialist Lisa Grimm said in a heartfelt blog post she published the day of the Connecticut shooting.
• Be alert. Have a meeting with the communications team and put someone in charge of watching real-time news so you are aware of issues--good or bad--that can impact your community.
• Have a clean slate. Consider taking down recent postings that might be offensive to current events.

• Look at the most recent posts. Is it appropriate in light of the recent news? I would have deleted these posts or posted something acknowledging the relative of the shootings so that such content was not the most recent post for the first 5 days.

Don’t:

An American Apparel ad for a "Hurricane Sandy Sale" sparked backlash from the Twittersphere. American Apparel is just one of several companies that committed online marketing faux pas in times of crisis. Last year, fashion designer Kenneth Cole's Twitter account made light of the protests in Egypt by tweeting, "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online." 

When brands are looking to give away something via social media and beyond, promoting the gift of hope and signs to cope can be the best message in times of tragedy.

Why Brands Shouldn’t Ignore Tragedy

Sadly, I know what it’s like to deal with the media surrounding a national murder story and be the target for interviews. I know what it’s like to:

• Testify in the sentencing murder trial and come face to face with my friend’s murderer
• Be part of the briefing of what happens to someone who must live on death row
• Be at Starke prison when Danny Rollings was finally executed
• Finally feel a sense of peace, but always have the scars
• Be part of a community that must rise up and gather the strength to get through the absolute unfathomable.

The reason the collective conscience is so affected by tragic events is precisely because so many, if not all, of us, have experienced tragedy in our own lives. We can’t help but be empathetic. We want to stop the suffering of those affected, because we know how damaging it really is. This includes business owners and management, as well. Even if your customers were not directly affected, they certainly empathize with those who were. They may feel helpless, desolate, or even suffer survivor’s guilt.

It was more than 20 years ago that evil struck in my own life. We only had the traditional news to report and support. Things are much different today, with social media reporting and sharing the news fast and furious.

The day that evil struck the small town of Newtown and rocked the entire nation back on our heels, social media delivered the news from more than just major news outlets. Your brand in social media is now part of “the media” and your response (or lack thereof) will be noted by your fans and community.

Do you have tips or strategies to help people/brands communicate during times of tragedy? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Pin-Commerce vs. Facebook Gifts...

Facebook hopes to make some pin money with its expanding Gifts offering, while Pinterestlaunched business accounts. To participate in Facebook Gifts, retailers need a national or even global footprint, as well as massive logistics capabilities. On the other hand, any lil ol' blogger can sign up for a Pinterest business account.

Will social commerce take off this holiday season? And what site will deliver?

On Cyber Monday, Facebook drove 74 percent of social referrals to retail websites, while Pinterest accounted for 15 percent of all social referrals, according to the Adobe Digital Index, based on the analysis of anonymous and aggregated data from more than 500 retail customers who use Adobe Marketing Cloud technology.

It's worth taking a look at relative growth, as well. Facebook's retail referrals were flat from last year, while Pinterest's referrals doubled. There's plenty of growth not only for Pinterest, but for social referrals as a whole: According to the Adobe Digital Index, they are only 2 percent of total online visits.

When considering social commerce, "Brands shouldn't set aside foundational elements -- the social spaces where they've invested successfully in the past," said Teresa Caro, vice president of social marketing for Engauge, a full-service marketing agency. "Pinterest is an excellent place to focus extra holiday attention, particularly if your audience is Pinterest enthusiasts. These are people who are passionate about their areas of interest, who spend time collecting ideas and things that can bring it to life." These boards become shopping tools, Caro added, with many Pinterest users creating wish lists for themselves.

Caro noted that brands can use the Secret Board feature on Pinterest for holiday promotions, pinning content from partners and influencers and then revealing boards one at a time. The most successful boards, she added, include a call to action -- and what better call to action than, "Buy this now?"

Forrester retail analyst Sucharita Mulpuru said, "I like the idea of brands and brand advocates using these sites to generate ideas. Even consumers will say they like to discover things on Pinterest. The problem is that, while Pinterest has had rapid growth in the last year, I've heard it's flatlining. It's a fabulous source for idea generation, but they haven't been able to take it to the next level."

Re Facebook Gifts, Mulpuru noted that gift sites in general have had trouble gaining traction and sales. Another issue, she said, is that customarily, holiday gifts are a surprise, so people don't want to tout them in their Facebook timelines.

Finally, while Pinterest might be hot, brands shouldn't rush in without a plan, Caro said. Nor should they put all their gingerbread men in this basket.

In fact, Adobe found that mobile is a much stronger purchasing driver in terms of percentage of all online sales, as well as in growth.

Social Media on a Small Business Budget...

You see it touted everywhere: social media is the new "it" thing to do in marketing, right? Youneed to have this wonderful marketing channel in your business strategy, or so say the pundits. But how? You're a small business with very limited resources (time, money, and employees), so how on earth can you incorporate a social media strategy into what you're already doing when there are so many avenues out there to cover?

There are a lot of ways that small business owners can integrate social media tactics into their current marketing strategies without taxing their resources too heavily. The key is that you have to be a bit savvier about it than just going out and registering for every new social media community that comes along. First and foremost, though, you need to understand your audience.

Use Your Resources Wisely

Be in touch with your current customers. Knowing your audience or demographic you want to connect with will help you pinpoint where it is you need to engage. It'll assist you in also understanding just what it is that your audience is going to find valuable enough to share with others in their networks that reach far beyond the current communities you work with. Simple and affordable tools like Google Alerts, which is free, or Trackur, which has different levels of service can help you keep an eye on what's going on with your audience when it pertains to the subjects that affect your business.

Your employees. While many big companies look to one person to be the social media strategist or a community manager, small business owners might not have the luxury of being able to afford to hire one person to do just that. That's why educating all of your employees who have direct contact with your customers about what you want to accomplish in social media is very vital when you are on a limited budget. It also helps spread the workload and helps you reach more of your customers with a lot less effort.

Take for example a restaurant or bar. You'll want to make sure that you encourage your staff, (waiters, bartenders, managers, entertainment, etc.) to let your customers know you have a Facebook fan page, Twitter account, or even to encourage check-ins and reviews/tips on Foursquare or Yelp. Make sure you've already claimed your accounts with these social media communities as well and monitor them. Assign someone in your company some time to do this. Sometimes it can be as little as a half an hour a day, once it becomes part of a routine.

Your current marketing literature. Make sure that any of the primary communities you're participating in are listed prominently on your marketing literature, so it's easy for your customers to know how to connect with you. If you're utilizing a blog instead of Twitter, or a Facebook page instead of LinkedIn, you have those URLs prominently listed.

Don't just say "Find Us on XYZ." Remember, you're dealing with social networks - not search engines. If your customer hasn't visited you before on a community like Facebook, it could be a tough task to find you. That's why it's important to list the URL, and on Facebook even more important to claim your username (i.e., a vanity URL such as facebook.com/YourBusinessName). Put this information on business cards, flyers you hand out to customers, menus, table tents, cups, key chains, or any other promotional items you may give out to your customers. If you're trying to connect with them in the virtual world, make sure that on every level that makes sense in the physical world, you're letting your customers know how to find you online.

Use your offline content online. Every business has a story to tell. In fact, I can bet that every company has more than just one story to tell. Those stories are content! And guess what? People love to hear these stories and share them, so get them off of your walls and utilize them as content for your company to share in online communities where your audience is.

It could be how your company started out, a story about how your employees pitch in with the Boys and Girls Club after hours, or even how something in your company came to be. These are the types of stories that occasionally make the newspapers as fluff pieces if pitched by a great PR person. In today's world, a savvy small business person can "pitch" these types of stories themselves to their customers and even the media by turning them into online content that audiences can share easily through pictures, blog content, videos, PDFs, or slideshow presentations.

Small businesses can do social media; it's just about being savvy enough to incorporate some of your strategies into procedures that already exist and understanding that you also need to focus on where your customers/audience are connecting. No business can be everywhere, so focus your efforts to connect and engage in the communities that are most important to them; not just where you think it will be "cool" to have a profile.

9 ways to get ahead with social marketing...

We've gone through a world of change over the past decade. Not long ago the primary channel for a prospect to get information about a company was by engaging directly with a salesperson. Marketing focused primarily on brand building via advertising, trade shows, PR, and print media. But in today's buying and selling environment, there's no shortage of channels, forums, and sources for prospects to glean insight on your product, company, and brand. And the avenues that increasingly have the most potential to impact buyers? In a word: social.

Yet mere social media activity (e.g., posting on your company Facebook pages) doesn't cut it. To succeed today, you must use social marketing—by weaving social into all aspect of programs. You can't expect prospects to flock to you just because you've tweeted five times a day. You have to dosocial marketing every day, you have to be social. That's because the more your audience wants to engage with your content on social channels, the more likely it is that they will want to share and, ultimately, convert to customers. Not only will increasing your efforts help your organization develop a powerful new source of sales leads (and revenue) that costs a lot less than traditional media, but it will also help reinvent marketing as a core part of the company's revenue engine.

Sound revolutionary? Not really. There are nine golden rules to get started and down the path to social marketing success. I assure you the results can be stunning:

1. Goals are essential: Like any new program, you need specific objectives and ways to measure social marketing success and accountability. Be sure they align with existing marketing priorities and strategies—and keep them in mind for every new initiative.

2. Keep it light: It's about being social, after all. That means you need a good personality to make your brand likable.

3. Inbound just isn't enough anymore: Never underestimate what a bit of paid promotion can do for you and your business. 

4. Good content + solid offers = success: Even the best social tactics will fail without well-produced, engaging content. Whether it's a whitepaper, blog post, or infographic—or a cartoon that pokes fun at a common industry misconception—use content to not only show your expertise, but also your personality. Check out Marketo's Facebook page for a good example.

5. Have a strong call to action: It's just as important in social media as it is anywhere else. Whether you're looking to drive traffic to your website, a landing page, or new whitepaper, make it clear what you want the recipient to do.

6. Always add value—always: At the end of the day, if you are not providing some sort of value to your prospects and customers, your audience will figure it out. (And fast!) If you're just sharing the same article or whitepaper repeatedly, your follower/share rates will suffer.

7. Encourage peer-to-peer sharing: The closer you get to saying something unique and relatable—and the easier you make it to share your content—the more peer-to-peer engagement is possible. In social marketing, that's the best way to get your message heard.

8. Remember: It's a two-way street: By asking your audience to share, you're starting a conversation. No one likes being preached at, so remember to keep the lines of communication open in both directions.

9. It's more than social pages: Create a social presence that resonates with your target audience, promotes relationship building, and encourages sharing. It's not enough to merely post an article or two on Facebook and Twitter pages every so often and call it a day.

Social marketing is the new business imperative for all companies, whether you're a Fortune 500 CMO, or marketing intern at an up-and-coming organization, but especially for marketing managers and directors. Begin with a vision and a roadmap for getting there. Break down your steps, get some quick wins, and you will see impact fast.

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SEO Outsource: Foresee Your Business Growth Out of it....

SEO is science. It needs expertise, experience and updated knowledge for you to succeed doing it…

Outsourcing or reselling your business is never a new concept. The ultimate aim behind this would be “generating more revenue”, while you concentrate more on your core business or fetch for new clients vigorously. The real challenge for a business person when he decides to outsource his SEO works to another company lies in his ignorance in identifying the professional service provider. Any commoner may dig into Google’s SEO Starter Guide for a week’s time, and open an SEO Service Provider website labeled under a catchy caption. But how do you know if he is knowledgeable or new to business or a black hat practitioner?

SEO Professionals…What are they really?

You can reach a destination travelling the main highway road or could get there through the by-pass route. It’s quite obvious that you reach your destination 10 to 15 minutes earlier following the subway. But do you ever pay attention to the risk and life-threatening incidents that you might encounter passing through this abandoned subway route? Even if it takes an hour more to reach your desired spot, it’s always advised and preferred to follow the main route, because your life is the most precious than any other thing.
The very same story applies to you doing SEO. You could do all sorts of black hat tricks to get a website rank number 1 in search engine results. But is it for a long term? Never will it be a permanent position, since Google and Bing are smarter than you. Their engineers have set algorithms that are capable enough to screw your odd practices and the search engine bots are for sure to throw your business site to trash once they spot you. The most annoying part is that once you are penalized, it will be a huge job on head for you to recover your website. Never easy even up to a lower degree.
A professional SEO Service provider knows what he does. He has explanation to each service that he suggests to his clients. He will be updated on what is happening in the SEO and search engine world. When your service provider has the directory submission websites list finalized back in 2010, will that help you in any way now? A team effort is essential in getting ultimate success to your SEO job. A well-organized submission team, writing team, technical team, research team plays pillars to a professional SEO service provider. Panda and Penguin algorithm updates have changed the face of SEO, practicing rules and likely the strategies too. Don’t you need an SEO company which is aware of all these and has tested and proved its strategies in the near past?
There are even providers who guarantee rankings. SEO no ways is related to grocery/ jewelry business for you to guarantee revenue. There are many factors interlinked which ranks your website to the top. The main among them is the business you are dealing with and the keywords related to what your business deals with. Don’t fall prey to GUARENTEE frauds.

SEO Outsource

You can benefit from someone else’s expertise. You pass on your client requirements to a SEO expert and get the job done under your name. When your client approaches you with a service, for example Infographics designing which you don’t offer, yet they are your regular clients and it will be bad to say a no to them. Never stay anxious. Connect with a professional and experienced service provider and get the job done and satisfy your beloved clients.

SEO Reseller

You wish to do SEO business without breaking your head or hiring resources to work for it? Reseller will be the best option. SEO Resellers are highly advantageous since they have got the option to resell the best ever SEO packages to their clients in their very own brand name, with no need to create it except for the sales and promotion part. Your clients will receive the completed job from you under your name, but the actual job and brain behind will be of the company you chose to outsource with. Simply saying, you can use a best SEO firm’s packages under your name, quote a higher price you wish for, market and sell under your name.
When your core business is website development and designing and your client asks you for doing SEO to that website you develop, never worry. Resell SEO to your clients under your brand name, thus taking your core business to a completely new level.

Benefits you get out of

Stay free from anxiety

Your core business may/ may not be SEO. If your core business is SEO and you are successful in your business having a handful and more of clients, and what upsets you is the scarcity of resources to do the job for you. Or maybe you have no time to train a particular group of new employees who might do the execution process for you, since you are dumped with business leads and wish to take your sales process to the next level. SEO Outsourcing becomes a life saver for you in such a case. Deal with them for you get the revenue by just managing the process and handling the sales part.
If you are not an SEO and your core business is an entirely different industry, rather than having an in-house team who you find it hard to manage amidst your busy schedule, the wise decision you should take is to outsource your websites SEO to a professional. 

Investment Worth It

Each outsourcing company wishes to retain their customers, for SEO is never a one time job done for you to forget about it in future. Once any client approaches them to utilize their services, the SEO provider takes utmost care to accomplish their client’s goal. When they make their new clients satisfied cost-wise as well as result-wise, they are sure to get them again for further optimization of their website, may be after taking a moderate gap. Client retention plays a major role and so will this factor contribute to business owners less scared about their business handed over to safe hands. Compared to ad campaigns which are short lived, doing SEO to your site will show you comparatively slower, but effective results.

Small companies maintaining an in-house SEO will be a costly option, and it only ends as a burden to you affecting your core business too. When you outsource your website’s SEO, the budget will be very less and it will become even lesser when you outsource them to developing countries, rather than handing it over to providers from developed countries.

Marketing your brand through traditional means will be out of scope, that you will not gain global reach as well as your Return of Investment will be too bad when you calculate. Why take risk while you have an easy option of outsourcing SEO? You get the job done by your outsourcing company for $10 and charge your clients with $12. Does that make difference, yet effective?

Your Business gets exposed to collective knowledge

When you have an in-house team to SEO for your business website, the team members will not know the challenges and risk that revolve around each process, only because of the reason that they lack experience. Whereas a professional SEO service provider will have loads of experience from what he is doing on a regular basis for thousands of his clients. They are well-informed and know when, how and why to do a particular service for a particular website. Will your small group be aware of these? Finally you end up spending more no yet no results to return.
As per current statistics, 62% of the companies were doing SEO In-house in 2011, while the percentage has slipped to 43% now. Similarly the percentage level has fallen from 52% in 2011 to 48% in 2012 for those businesses who were maintaining their companies’ social media sites their own.
While you concentrate on your core job that you are an expert in or most familiar with, your outsourced SEO firm will do the website maintenance job for you. Both jobs continued at a stronger phase, which only benefits. Bet you!

Make News, Win Links...

No longer can we get away with creating content. It has to be newsworthy content. It has to be unique (or you'll find Twitter abuzz with people fussing about how sick they are of seeing x types of posts) and it has to be crafted with your audience and reach in mind.
Newsworthiness isn't a simple concept though. Almost everyone could give you a different definition of what it means to them.
What defines newsworthy? This really good list sums it up nicely in eight factors:

• Impact
• Timeliness
• Prominence
• Proximity
• The Bizarre
• Conflict
• Currency
• Human Interest

Couple these factors with your audience and your social reach and you're well on your way to understanding how to make newsworthy content work for you.

Your Audience

Your audience is critical when you're choosing content ideas. If you've ever been reading an article and a very offensive or inappropriate ad was displayed near it, you will understand why I say this.
If your goal is to create controversy then fine, but make sure you can deal with annoying people enough that they don't return.
If your goal is to keep people coming back and invite new readers, you should do some target market research to see what your audience will respond to.
For example, if you ran a site about natural childbirth, an article detailing the benefits of using drugs during delivery probably wouldn't sit well with your audience. A post where someone details giving birth with drugs, and then later without, would probably do well though. You just need to know how to properly frame your topics for your readers.

Your Social Reach

Tools like Crowdbooster can help you measure your reach and find influential followers. If you're going to need to promote content and you don't have an epic reach, having a good relationship with someone who does (and is willing to retweet you) is a good way to get more eyes on your site and increase your reach.
The tab listing Influential Followers will give you a better idea of people you should follow back, as they have a good social reach. Making a connection with them will help increase your chances of them retweeting your content and getting it seen by more people.
You should also pay attention to your Top Retweeters and engage with them, since they're already helping you out.

Tools

I like to incorporate non-SEO "tools" into ideas for figuring out what's popular. Late night TV, weekly radio quiz shows, and almost any form of satire are fantastic ways of keeping up on what's popular enough to get parodied. The unpopular story doesn't usually get referenced in these formats.
More traditional tools and methods are listed below.
If You Love Social Media:

• Twitter: I tend to learn of news on Twitter, which can break some stories faster than many news outlets can publish the information. When Hurricane Sandy was hitting the East Coast, I was glued to Twitter. When the presidential votes were being tallied, I was glued to Twitter.
• Twitter Trends: This can be seen in various ways depending upon your Twitter platform…but if you're on the web version like I am, you'll see a Trends section on the main page, which you can adapt.
• Facebook News Feed: if you're addicted to Facebook, you can usually see news-related items quickly when people post about them.
• Google Trends: There's so much to look at in Google Trends. You can view the hot trends, search for keywords and see trending information, etc. Just play around with it.

If You're A News Junkie:

• CNN News Alerts: I'm sure other news outlets have these, but I use CNN Alerts to deliver breaking news to my iPhone.
• Twitter Breaking News Alerts: Follow @BreakingNews on Twitter. There's also a mobile app.

If You're Old School SEO:

• Google Adwords' Keyword Tool is fantastic for giving you paid search data on keywords so you can find the most popular variations of your keywords.
• Bing also has a great keyword research tool.
• Blekko has a very cool news section that I actually like more than anyone else's. If you click on More under Search Filters, you see a bunch of other popular hashtags that make searches a bit easier, especially if you're feeling brain-overload.

One problem with trying to create newsworthy content is that people tend to only think in terms of what's currently popular. While it's great to ride the wave of what everyone else is talking about, it can also mean that you'll be drowning in a sea of posts that all say the same thing.
You need to either find what's happening and write about it first, take what's popular and give it a unique twist, or write something that on its own is newsworthy.

How to be the First

Figure out what's coming up. Ada Lovelace's birthday, for example, was Dec 10. If you don't know who she is, she's credited with being the world's first programmer.
Birthdays of famous people, especially when they are dead and made a massive contribution to the world, are always good newsy topics. You easily could have planned and created a post to publish at midnight on Dec. 10 about Ada Lovelace.
Find birthdays of people in your industry, make a content calendar, and get something ready to post at midnight of their birthdays. You can do the same with anything that happens on a regular basis, whether it's seasonal, annual, monthly, etc.

How To Stand Out

Use all the tools I mentioned (and anything else you can find) and put a unique spin on it. When we brainstorm at my company, we go off on tangents that sometimes seem completely irrelevant until I write them all down and look back over them. Sometimes when you're not trying to be 100 percent logical, you can be creative enough to come up with something really amazing.
Do your research, though. If you're writing about Ada Lovelace you'll see that almost anyone writing a new post about her is referencing the Google Doodle done on Dec. 10 in her honor. The whole front page of listings is variations of "Google pays tribute…"
Now, I've been a Lovelace fan for ages because of my math background and because she's Lord Byron's daughter. Has anyone written a math poem about her in his dark fashion? Not that I can find. And yes, I know that's a bit of a dorky example.
You can easily use connections to put a spin on anything. Just make sure that everyone else isn't doing the same thing, so when you do have an idea, search to see if anyone else has said the same thing.

How to Make News

Think about all the things that have gone viral…let's take Denver the guilty dog as an example. Dog shaming is now a huge hit with many people (sadists). In March 2011, Denver got shamed big time and it was all over the news. His official video is below:
Look at those stats: more than 21 million views. The official Denver Facebook page has over 54,000 likes.
Animals are obviously very easy to promote because they do absurd things and they're cute as the dickens. I personally am very fond of seeing people fall. That's just video though and I can't think of how Denver or a person falling off a diving board would really benefit any business other than a company who made dog-proof snack packages or really sturdy diving boards.
What if you run a local art shop selling works by artists that live in your hometown, and you don't have a big budget? You could host a small wine and cheese open house once a month for a couple of hours on a Friday evening.
Invite a few business leaders from the area around your shop and ask them if they'd like to host some of your shop's artworks for a month or so at a time. Create content on your site that showcases each business owner, details about the business, and the artwork featured. Get quotes from the artist and take a photo of the artist standing beside his or her work at the business.
That's one piece of interesting and newsworthy content for the month, but it could easily be adapted. You could write a post about the business and the artwork, just an overview, and you could then write a post about the business owner, then one about the artist. That's then three posts a month.
Remember that news is different for everyone. News isn't just something that will generate 100 million hits on your website; it's anything interesting and noteworthy. That could be anything from a big sale next week to an introduction to someone investing in your business. It could be a post about your latest employee, or an expose piece on pesticides being used in parks where kids play.

A Couple Of Examples

I regularly read Rolling Stone online so my first example is from a few posts there. Some types of news are always newsworthy as you'll see below.

1. The Kill Team is an article about how U.S. soldiers killed Afghani civilians and how the Pentagon tried to censor the images revealed in the investigation. War is always news of course and the spring of 2011 was full of news reports of war. This article was published in March 2011. It has 40,000 likes on Facebook, was tweeted 2,649 times, and has 1,919 comments. It has 21,914 backlinks from 1,375 unique domains.
2. Another post from March 2011 was about how Jay-Z and Beyonce held an auction to raise money for a school that helped children with learning disabilities. They're both usually huge news no matter what they do, but this article got 11 likes on Facebook, 24 tweets, and 0 comments. It has 772 backlinks from 86 unique domains. It's news, but it's not big news for a site like Rolling Stone.
3. The trial for Michael Jackson's doctor got postponed that same month. 0 likes on Facebook, 112 tweets, and 4 comments. There were 906 backlinks from 119 unique domains.

Now, these are three newsworthy articles on a very popular site. However, war is bigger news than celebrity (usually.) Rolling Stone is a site that is mainly concerned with celebrity, yet a post on war gets much more attention in the same month that posts went up with big news about big celebrities.
Secondly let's look at an SEO industry example to show us that traditional news isn't always what's going to be the most newsworthy for the audience. Sometimes it's going to be the most useful information that isn't being written, in various voices, all over the place.

1. When the news broke about Google's new disavow functionality, Simon Penson wrote a great piece on this site about it and it in October. The post got 500 tweets, 120 likes on FB, 64 G+ shares, and generated 36 comments. It has 286 backlinks from 66 unique domains.
2. Also in October 2012, there was the big Facebook leak news which Miranda Miller posted about. That post was huge news in our industry too. There were 414 tweets, 152 FB likes, 19 G+ shares, and 9 comments. The post generated 492 backlinks from 88 unique domains. This was big news just like the disavow.
3. Something that was not giant news was a post about Instagram. Lisa Buyer wrote a fantastic piece about how to use it for visual marketing and even though it wasn't news per se, it was useful to the target market at Search Engine Watch. That's real news, in my opinion. Her post had 911 tweets, 205 FB likes, 50 G+ shares, and generated 12 comments. This post generated an amazing 4,816 backlinks from 643 unique domains.

Bottom Line

Newsworthy content isn't easily defined, as it's dependent upon your target market, what else is going on when the content is released, how good your promotional efforts are, what your reach is, and what people are looking for that they can't find somewhere else.
The content getting the most social shares and generating the most links are pieces that stand out for being unique, whether it's in where they are or what they say. That's the real key: standing out in a sea of information overload.