E-Marketing Associates

Information Overload: How to Keep Your Blog Unique and Relevant

Renee Radia by
on April 18th, 2012

If you want to find the latest news or really any news at all, most people know by now to check Twitter. From there, you can search for a keyword and find hundreds of tweets about that topic. And maybe not immediately, but in time, there are sure to be hundreds of articles and blog posts about that news as well. Even if you search Google News for a specific topic, you will find hundreds of articles on reputable sites and blogs all reporting pretty much the exact same story. And therein lies the problem.

In this digital age where there is so much content online, it can be difficult to have a unique, fresh story. So many blog posts have simply been repurposed from other original news articles (not to mention they don’t even give credit)! While this isn’t necessarily a bad idea because it can help your SEO, and it’s possible your blog will reach someone who has no knowledge of the news yet, it really isn’t ideal. Does the web really need more blogs churning out the same information over and over again?

This is where you can take your blog in a new direction. Go the extra mile with the story. If the news or story is pertinent to your blog, by all means, write about it. However, push yourself to take a distinctive twist. Provide an unrepresented viewpoint. Pose unasked questions. Pursue an unexplored storyline. If the topic is simple, brainstorm until you have something else to say. Challenge yourself to not post until you write something unique to your article specifically. Still stuck? Try reaching out to someone credible and relevant to the story to see what he/she has to say or perhaps include the brief interview in your article. Writing a catchy or varied title can be a good way to bring in readers who are in fact looking for more insight into the topic. Being unrivaled in this way will make you, as a blogger, more reputable, and will ultimately increase your readership because people will appreciate the new information you provide.

As the reporting of news is moving away from traditional news sources, bloggers have become more prevalent in breaking these stories. But keep in mind that readers appreciate a fresh take on a topic and nobody wants to read something that is essentially the same exact thing written over and over again.

Categories: Blog,Internet Marketing,SEO,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , ;

Bringing Enhanced Productivity for Travel Industry Networking

David Sotelo by
on April 16th, 2012

There is always a desire to increase productivity in the travel and hospitality industry and TLabs is looking to make the experience much better. Specifically they are looking to improve business and travel conferences. The problem they are trying to solve is the randomness of meeting people at these conferences and not knowing who to talk to for developing an ideal business relationship. There is a lot of meeting people but not really knowing who would be the best fit when they are networking. Networking can be fun but it can also be frustrating if you have a plan of action and not getting the results you want. Enter WhosWhereWhen, the Smartphone application that aims to connect business professionals and maximize their networking opportunities.

WhosWhereWhen is an app that has a two tier price plan with monthly service charge. Included in the entry level registration is the option to be “found” at a conference. TLabs has signed deals with conference organizers to gain access to guest data. The data points are retrieved both before the conference and as badges are being scanned in. Sometimes you don’t always want to be pursued or just want some privacy and for a larger fee you can be not visible. The system takes into account Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter profiles, mobile phone numbers, Geo location, face recognition, Klout score, and an important travel industry rating.

As with any type of networking service, many people want privacy and so that is why they have set up this two tiered service. If networking is important but you don’t want to be tracked then the second tier is the way to go. You do not want to be too unapproachable because your industry rating could go down. There are pros and cons to this type of service but if you are looking for a better way to network and reduce talking to people who may not fit into your career networking plans then this may the right application for you.

Categories: Blog,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Social Media Marketing,Travel,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , ;

The Importance of Guest Blogging

Renee Radia by
on April 11th, 2012

We have covered before why writing your own blog is beneficial for not only your SEO purposes, but also so you can connect with your audience and generate more exposure for your brand or business. It is important to consistently post fresh and quality content to your blog. Once you have an established blog for your company and have learned how to manage your time so that you can effectively blog on a regular basis, there is yet another step that can take you, as a blogger, as well as your blog itself, to the next level.

Why write a guest blog post?
Guest blogging is a promising tactic that can deliver many positive outcomes. It can increase your exposure drastically, especially if you pair up with a high-traffic blog. It is yet another way to get your name out there and make it synonymous with a specific area or industry. It can enhance your credibility and allow you to be known as an expert within that field. Guest blogging can also help garner a larger community around your business or blog. If someone is a follower of the blog on which you guest post, he or she may also become a reader of your own blog. As you become more experienced in writing and as your content becomes more compelling and insightful, you are more likely to get comments and interesting discussions based on your material. This also helps in increasing your community and your following.

Another great perk of guest blogging is that you get to know other like-minded bloggers who may be influential in your industry. The blogging community is so large and most bloggers are more than happy to help each other out, so it’s really just another way to get involved. Plus, you never know when you will have a busy week and may want to include a guest post on your own site.

Guest blogging improves SEO
One of the biggest reasons to guest blog is that it can greatly improve your SEO. Since Google’s Panda update, it has been all about quality over quantity. Google is looking to increase your placing if you post well-written and relevant content. In addition, the hope is that your posts will be shared by many across multiple social networks. Then, with Google’s recent Search, plus Your World addition, your blog post will be more likely to show up on the top of users’ search results.

Guest blogging is very valuable, but remember not to neglect your own blog! Our blog is open to guest bloggers, so feel free to contact us to get the ball rolling.

Categories: Blog,Internet Marketing,SEO,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , , ;

Why Project Glass Scares Me

Golda Criddle by
on April 6th, 2012

I’m sure you’ve seen the Project Glass video by now. I put it off for awhile, but eventually I had to see what everyone on my Facebook feed was talking about. They all seemed excited. My reaction surprised even myself, as an admitted social media junkie: I was disturbed to the point of horror.

Project Glass, is, for now a video the shows a futuristic world where, through the lens of glasses, you can take care of all day-to-day activities, such as check the weather, make appointments, get reminders, find the subway, and much more.  Indeed, with these glasses you can even sense where your friends are and get directions for inside the store, all through voice recognition.

Now, I love my iPhone, my iMac and my new Kindle Fire. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube all play a regular part in my (mostly work) day and I do believe that they all contribute positively to my life. I enjoy knowing all the latest news and gossip. But when I leave work, I like to be able to deactivate: leave technology behind and experience the world for what it is.

I’ve found some of the coolest places in Los Angeles by accident—just walking and looking around. If I’d been stuck behind the lens of Google glasses, I’d probably be too busy reading my emails and checking into the drug store to discover the world around me. The efficiency of life with Google glasses is what terrifies me. It means that nothing will happen by accident, because it was already planned. No more wandering around a new part of the city and discovering new places, no more friendly conversation at the check-out counter.

It’s strange because the description below the video says that technology should “get out of your way” when you don’t [need it] and “helps you explore and share your world, putting you back in the moment.” How exactly can you be in the moment if you’re too busy listening to music or getting meet-up reminders? I think NPR columnist Linda Holmes said it best, “It’s designed to make you 100 percent efficient—and therefore about half as happy.”

I think there’s something wrong if I have to be reminded to take a call or meet a friend. If I can’t remember something unless it’s right in front of me that just proves I’m too distracted to truly enjoy life. I don’t think I need a pair of futuristic glasses to help me be “in the moment.” I’d rather unplug and just enjoy the sunset on my own.

Categories: Blog,Google,Travel — Tags: , , , , ;

Don’t Fall Victim to Over-Optimization

Melody Ciria by
on April 4th, 2012

According to a new announcement made by Google’s SEO guru, Matt Cutts, there will be a regulation on sites that are considered ‘over-optimized.’  This latest algorithm update is designed to penalize sites that are potentially using black hat SEO tactics to stay ahead of their competition. To avoid falling victim to over-optimization and protect yourself from Google’s pending Panda updates it is important to implement white hat SEO strategies and attract quality traffic. Because of the upcoming changes to Google’s semantic search and algorithms, site owners will have to be more careful in how they optimize their web content.  It has not yet been determined how search engines will target over-optimized sites but site owners should be prepared to adjust their SEO efforts based on these upcoming changes.  In essence, you may want to ask yourself whether you are overly optimizing your site.  When it comes to over-optimization, black hat SEO comes to mind.  That being said, you may want to ask yourself the following questions to ensure your website is not over-SEO’ed:

  1. Are you incorporating the same set of keywords throughout tags and within the content of the page for the sake of SEO? In other words, are you keyword stuffing in hopes that Google will crawl and index all your keywords?

  2. Are you internally linking all your pages using an excessive amount of text links? In other words, are you self-linking keywords to the same page?

  3. Are you duplicating the same content in all pages?

  4. Are you optimizing multiple pages with the same set of keywords? Alternatively, are you overusing key phrases in multiple areas with little regard to the content’s flow?

  5. Is your content based on how many keywords you can include rather than the quality of the message?

  6. Are you including keywords in a tag that is unrelated to the page’s content in hopes of targeting all keywords despite its relevance to the page?

If you answered yes to all these questions, then you are guilty of over-optimizing your site.  By continuing to implement these black hat SEO tricks, your site will eventually get spammed.   Practicing better SEO strategies will not only protect you from Google’s over-optimization penalty, but it will also generate quality traffic that will increase your return on investment.  Here are a few guidelines to follow in order to better prepare you for Google’s improvements and to help you in your SEO efforts:

  • Make high-quality content your priority.  Write content that is compelling and interesting to your target audience instead of focusing on how many keywords you can incorporate in a page

  • Build your presence in social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter,  &  Google+

  • Focus on reputation management.  Increase your fan-base on local review sites like Google Places  & Yelp

  • Make sure your site’s architecture and coding is up-to-date to ensure your content is easily crawled

By following these tips, Google will better recognize small businesses that produce quality content and develop a strong presence through local optimization.  So, adjust your SEO strategies based on Google’s upcoming algorithm updates to avoid being flagged.

Categories: Blog,Google,Internet Marketing,SEO — Tags: , , , , ;

Streamline Your Customer Service with Tello and Square

Golda Criddle by
on March 30th, 2012

Technology has been streamlining store processes for over a decade now, from cell phones to self-checkout machines to tablets. Each device is created with the goal of making purchases quicker and easier in order to provide excellent customer service. Tello and Pay by Name by Square are two tools that have promise to revolutionize small business—if only businesses will opt-in.

Now you can text a business feedback with Tello

Tello is trying to make this process faster by creating a SaaS and mobile application to help customers communicate with businesses in a fast and simple manner. The service was created so that customers could give live feedback to retailers, airlines, hotels, small business and restaurants. According to founder Joe Beninato, Tello is essentially “Twitter meets Yelp.” Feedback from consumers is usually concise and to the point, although it doesn’t have to be limited to 140 characters.

Users with iPhones and iMacs can download the Tello app and create a username to provide real-time feedback. With the app, smartphone users can text businesses, who can also respond. There is also the simple rating option of thumbs up or down with all feedback. So the next time you’re stuck in a line to check-in at a hotel, you’ll be able to communicate your frustration directly.

Tello goes a step further than services like Yelp to get the businesses involved. They are required to sign up for Tello so that they can be more involved with their customer reviews. Up to three profiles on Tello are free for most businesses. Beninato says that 80% of feedback on Tello has been positive, but the real question is, will businesses opt in to its services? Only time will tell.

Painless Payment with Pay by Name from Square

Technology is also streamlining another often painful part of customer service: payment. Perhaps you’ve used Square when purchasing from a street vendor; it’s a tiny reader that can read credit cards via your iPhone. Popular online payment system Paypal recently announced that they will be releasing a similar triangle dongle that can be attached to smartphones to compete with Square.

Tello and Pay by Name are both tools that have fantastic potential to improve a businesses’ customer service. Do you think users will use these services, and businesses will opt-in? Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Categories: B2B & B2C,Blog,Clients,E-Commerce,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Lifestyle — Tags: , , , , , , , , ;

Google Analytics Goes Social

David Sotelo by
on March 29th, 2012

Most of us know social media is important to stay ahead in the competitive world of online marketing but we’re not always sure how important. No matter what type of business you have the chances are you have a Facebook and Twitter account set up for your business. Return on investment has been for the most part fairly elusive for marketers and business owners. It has been elusive but is one of the most important factors in deciding how much to invest into social media. Google Analytics has recently announced that they will be releasing social reports for all users. This probably will not be the end all for social media return on investment but I’m sure it will definitely be a step in the right direction.

According to Google they want to help you do 3 things:

  • Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions
  • Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing programs

 

There will be social reports that will allow the user to see at a glance how much conversion value is generated from all of your social channels. You should get a better understanding of how much a goal completion is worth from those that resulted from social referrals. There will also be conversion reports that will show the monetary value for each of your social channels and the money they bring to your business. There is also a social sources report that will let you see how visitors from different sources behave. This will be valuable since it gives you a clearer picture of how people are interacting and behaving on your site. It can help you optimize your website based of the flow or funnel your visitors take. You will also be able to  see which articles are most commonly shared or recommended and which social networks there being shared on.

 

At this point we don’t really know if this new social media analytics feature will provide the ROI data that so many of us have been wanting but it should help us make better decisions. Social media is definitely a legitimate and exciting new medium for marketers and businesses but knowing how much it benefits us so we can decide how much to invest into it will be even more valuable to us.

Categories: Blog,Google,Internet Marketing,Social Media,Social Media Marketing — Tags: , , , , ;

Hotels Excelling at Timeline (LA Edition)

Renee Radia by
on March 28th, 2012

March 30 is when all Facebook Business Pages will change to the new Timeline format and that date is fast approaching! Exploring the new features on Timeline has been really fun and despite deactivating my personal Facebook account in part because I did not want to switch to Timeline myself, I do see a lot of value in business pages utilizing the new Timeline profile. Timeline is very photo-centric, so hotels and travel brands are lucky since they tend to showcase their properties and products with beautiful photography anyway. Timeline also allows for fans to finally message a brand or business individually instead of simply commenting on the wall, so now interaction can be a bit more personal if necessary. Applications and custom tabs are also displayed more prominently and can be a great place to exhibit a special or event at your property. There are many other ways that Facebook’s Timeline will enhance Business Pages, but for now, I will show a few examples of hotels in Los Angeles that have switched over to Timeline and are doing a great job of using the new features effectively.

Breathtaking Cover Photo
The new cover photo is the most obvious difference with the new format, and Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes does a brilliant job of enticing guests by showing its beautiful grounds along the coast while also utilizing inset images to exhibit activities at the hotel. The tranquil photos set against the bright blue ocean are enough to make anyone Like the page and book a relaxing vacation at this resort.

Inviting Tabs
The tabs and custom applications are now prominently displayed under the Like button and have their own images as well. The London West Hollywood uses a sexy nighttime rooftop bar photo with the text “Wednesdays at Sunset” to invite guests and even non-hotel guests to their parties on Wednesdays. Posting events or other specials on these tabs is a great way to garner attention and display even more photos of your property.

Alluring Image Updates
As I mentioned above, photos have now become more prominent as well. This is a great time to be creative with your status updates and posted images because of their new displays. I like how the JW Marriott downtown LA posts a colorful and eye-catching photo of the macaroon selection at a nearby establishment. It’s also cool to see the hotel being neighborly and shouting out to the restaurant, potentially driving its guests to check it out for dinner.

The Beverly Hills Hotel is encouraging great engagement here by posting a vintage photo as well as some trivia about it.

Increased Interaction
Lastly, the Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica is already using the new Messaging feature so guests don’t always have to post personal details directly onto a page. Fans can message brands; however, brands cannot initiate the message. The Messaging feature opens doors to new possible interactions since some people may not be comfortable posting their thoughts, questions, or concerns to a public wall.

How have you been incorporating Timeline’s new features into your Facebook Page? Feel free to let us know in the comments, and check back in a few weeks when I will be focusing on examples in another city!

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Social Media,Social Media Marketing,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , ;

Online Tools Guarantee Hotel Guests the Lowest Rates

Golda Criddle by
on March 23rd, 2012

It can be daunting to book hotels in a city you’re unfamiliar with: how can you be sure you’re getting the best deal? Luckily, new tools are coming out every week to help out travelers. In the past, we’ve covered newcomers Flip.to, Backbid and HotelTonight. of the best in finding hotel deals are Tingo and Guestmob.

Tingo

When you book a room online, you run the risk that the price will drop after you bought. This causes a lot of people to wait until the last minute. Tingo takes care of this catch by automatically rebooking your hotel room at a lower price if the rate drops. So if you book a room for $300 and a week later, the price is $200, you will automatically be refunded the $100 difference, and you’ll keep your room. Further if it drops again to, let’s say $100, Tingo will rebook and refund you again.

Tingo was launched on Wednesday by Smarter Travel Media, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor. What makes Tingo different from other sides that offer money back is that they refund regardless of trip dates and there is no limit on the amount of money you can get back. According to Tingo, 45% of hotels are booked online, and Americans could have saved almost $314 million with their platform in 2011.

Guestmob

Start-up Guestmob aims to completely change the way you book hotels by offering a “back-end auction” to find the best deal with participating hotels. You type in the city you’re visiting, and a collection of hotels in the area will appear with a price on the bottom.  Guestmob uses a pricing algorithm that factors supply, demand and social signals to find you the best price. There is a bit of a catch: you won’t know which hotel you’re at until you’ve booked, but all bookings are refundable.

Guestmob guarantees that all of its participating hotels are high quality, consistent and accurate in their amenities and price points. The site says it can offer hotel rooms at prices 50% lower than the best rates for the same hotel on other websites. Guestmob is currently available in 21 major cities across the U.S.

Online tools like Guestmob and Tingo make vacationing much easier as travelers no longer have to stress about how to get the best deal on hotels. With price no longer such an important factor, hotels will have to resort to other factors to attract repeat guests. Feel free to comment with your input on what these factors could be!

Categories: Blog,Clients,Hotel Internet Marketing,Hotels & Resorts,Internet Marketing,Travel — Tags: , , , , , ;

Companies Want Access to Your Social Networks

Renee Radia by
on March 21st, 2012

Before you get hired for a job, you should expect to be Googled. HR coordinators and interviewers are not only looking for mentions of your name on the web in general, but they are also specifically seeking you out on social media sites. It is not uncommon for a potential employer to scroll through your Facebook photos and wall, Twitter timeline, and of course, LinkedIn profile. The company is looking to learn more about you and see what kind of character you exhibit. It is also looking for anything inappropriate or something that would reflect negatively on the company if it did decide to hire you.

With the various privacy settings available, it is easy to make profiles private or at least only certain aspects visible to the public eye. Facebook profiles can even be removed from Public Search, which means your profile is unsearchable by anyone except your friends. Unfortunately, this has made the job application process a bit difficult for some, as a company may not be as willing to interview you if you aren’t transparent when it comes to social media.

This has also led to an awkward situation in some cases. Some interviewers have begun asking applicants to provide their Facebook logins and passwords. This appears to be more prevalent when the profile is unsearchable, but as most employers are aware of the many privacy settings available, they want to see what job seekers are really posting to their walls and saying to their friends.

This sounds like a giant invasion of privacy to me. The whole point of privacy settings on social networks is so you can be as public or private about your life on the web as you want. This is especially true in the case of job seekers, who are carefully selecting their privacy settings. And what about people who don’t have Facebook, or who have it deactivated? Would a company trust that the person is telling the truth or think that he/she simply won’t want to divulge his/her password? Not to mention, this goes against Facebook’s Legal Terms which directly state: “You will not share your password…, let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.”

I personally feel like I would not want to work for a company that has to check up on me in this way, invade my privacy, and start off our relationship by showing me this obvious sign of mistrust. I understand the job market can be tough and some people can’t be selective, but if applicants stick together and turn these interviewers down then maybe they would stop. If a company does want to get to know an applicant better, why not ask some fun personality-related questions during the interview?

There are currently proposed legislations in both Illinois and Maryland regarding this issue that would forbid public agencies from requesting access to their employees’ social networks. While there may not be a lot that any one person can do, if enough people take a stand against this massive invasion of privacy then interviewers may get the hint that this process is incredibly frowned upon and reflects poorly on the company. In the meantime, be careful what you say or put up on any social network, because you never know who may be watching!

Categories: Blog,Facebook,Google,Social Media,Twitter — Tags: , , , , ;
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