Survey says... ...Put your SEO program into perspective!
A recent article by Rob Garner from iCrossing says his company just released a study on SERP (search engine results pages) click rates, indicating the sites surveyed received more than 95% of all their non-branded natural search traffic from page-one across all three major engines. The data included 8.9 million queries sampled over nine months, representing 10 enterprise-level Web sites in different diverse verticals.
According to the survey, when looking at all three search engines, SERP click rates were within a razor-thin margin from engine to engine. Google provided the highest average; with 95.8% coming from page one, compared to Yahoo at 95.2%, and Bing at an average of 95% (total average of 95.3%).
It also found that most travel sites had the highest percentage of non-branded page-one traffic at more than 97% and businesses that focused primarily on health and insurance had the lowest percentage of first-page traffic at 93%.
Out of the almost nine million searches surveyed, queries break out across three major engines as follows:
More than 8.5 million non-branded natural clicks came from page one across all three engines
232,000 clicks came from page two
180,000 came from page three
When thinking of people searching for a site on the Internet, there is one key thing that puts your search engine optimization program into perspective: For first impressions and ultimate clicks, count your SEO chickens on the first page.
A reporter sticks a microphone or camera in your face. What do you do?
Avoid these common mistakes:
Never ever say, "No comment."
Don't do the duck...i.e. acting like the reporter, camera or microphone are not there by continuing to go on about your business or leaving the area without saying a word.
Garbling an answer or blurting something out to satisfy the reporter quickly. In all likelyhood, even if you know your topic and the answers to their questions, you will look and/or sound ambushed and surprised.
Don't ask the reporter to call your office to schedule an appointment.
Don't say, "If you give me a list of your questions, I'll be happy to look at them and get back to you."
Keep in mind that the camera is rolling! Anything you say or anything you do can be put on TV! The only way a to engage with a reporter in this situation is the following:
The CEO should, stop, smile, look the reporter in the eyes (not at the camera).
Politely say, "Thanks for your interest in interviewing me. I would be more than happy to speak with you, but right now I am about to...step into a meeting, leave to pick up my child from school, file a report, meet with my staff, rehearse for an important presentation, etc. (something credible and real).
Now, let's set something up for (later this afternoon, this evening, or in the morning-the CEO inserts time of day to allow for prep time).
This way, we can sit down, and I can be sure to have plenty of time to answer all of your questions.
As well, I'll be happy to stop by your office/station if that is convenient or you may drop by my office."
Remember, a reporter is a person and they appreciate being directly spoken to and politeness counts! Never brush off a reporter! They have an assigned story to do and the CEO (good or bad) has a story to tell. How the ambush is handled can turn a story from bad to worse and bad to much better, maybe even decent.
As a spokesperson, you'd be surprised how many times they have asked me to stop by their station when I offered. Reporters are usually on a deadline and I have found that by offering to do the interview at their station, you are meeting them more than halfway when an interview is put off for a later time. Plus, sometimes it is in the company's best interest to not have reporters roaming around the office and an interview disrupting the workplace. By going to the station, the location is actually more neutral.
There is also something to the fact of the reporter/station playing host to the CEO vs. the other way around. As the host, the reporter may not be as agressive or "in-your-face" with questions...Note: May not...
So, the interview is set for later. Now what?
The CEO calls the communications team to advise them of the scheduled interview.
The PR person should call the reporter and ask, "If there are any specific questions or areas of interest for the interview because I may be able to provide backgrounders, bios, or fact sheets that will be helpful for the interview."
It is fine to email information to the reporter, especially if the background materials are technical or detailed in nature.
Staff gathers other appropriate information for the CEO including key messages, talking points, FAQs, backgrounders, fact sheets and answers to hard-hitting questions.
Then, if needed, the CEO has time to review the materials before the well-prepared and relaxed interview.
For more information about how to come across as a success on camera and nailing that interview, contact me to set up media training for your CEO, staff or key management.
Suddenly Santa...flys on the World Wide Web...without the help of his reindeer.
Central Florida media outlets were invited to cover a sneak peak of Suddenly Santa, a “flash mob” video production being filmed today at the Winter Park Amtrak Station and in the surrounding park area. The script included an impromptu appearance by Santa along with hundreds of orchestral singers and choreographed dancers in a surprise performance to local cast members staged as families and tourists enjoying a day in the park. The joyous four-minute video, Suddenly Santa, was unleashed on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009 at 2 a.m. on www.YouTube.com/SuddenlySanta.
Want to create your own viral video? Contact me and I will hook you up with all of Santa's elves, in this case it was volunteers, to fly around the world.
B-Roll is video footage, with or without sound, used by broadcasters to supplement the main elements of a news story. In addition to the video, B-roll includes key images, copy and back-up material. It may include short quotes from spokespeople as well as sounds and images. It typically contains video without sound for broadcasters to select their own segment of the video for their story and they will match it with a voice over or on-screen explanation from the reporter or anchor.
For the most part, B-roll enhances, adds dimension or visually tells the story, but the origin of B-roll was footage shot that could cover an editing jump cut.
In the world of film and documentaries, B-roll is quite often thought of as back-up footage. For film, the producer uses the footage to edit together unconsecutively shot clips or scenes. This is done by changing from the A-roll to the B-roll while the audio from the A roll shot or another source plays under the B-roll. The footage allows the editor to cut back to footage, so that it appears as if the two scenes, visual and audio, were shot together as one piece.
In the context of news, B-roll has a different use. B-roll footage is provided to a broadcast news station to complement a story. It is shot in advance of the story that will run on the news. Producers set up the the provided visuals, but add their own or provided script from a news release or fact sheet and the reporter or anchor does the audio narration so the story appears like it was all done by the news station.
B-roll for news includes the picture stories followed by a series of soundbytes from spokespeople, people interviewed, sounds or "words from the man on the street". Each section of the video is introduced by what is know of as a slate. A slate is a black frame that runs for a few minutes before the B-roll footage is shown. The slate typically includes the title of the slate/segment, spokesperson's name and title, a short description of the footage and the the time the footage runs (usually in seconds).
When footage is provided in this format, editors and producers use the copy provided such as a suggested script, talking points, a fact sheet, a backgrounder or other important information to describe the story with the visual B-roll footage to backup the story for a segment in their news program.
Video publicity needs high-quality, timely, newsworthy footage to get the attention of news decision-makers. Broadcasters are likely to use B-roll of events with celebrities, action-packed stories, and new products or services.
B-roll works best when it is carefully and concisely edited. Accompanying interviews or sound bites always follow the B-roll footage.
Remember to always include a table of contents of slates, logo(s), graphic(s), photo(s) and the contact name and number on a slate at the end of B-roll.
An event company owner sent me the following question...
I am a catering , production and entertainment company. I need to know how to get more holiday parties for this season.. Help!!!!!! Corporate parties, invitations, entertainment, catering and more is our business help me get more business.
Sherry Schweitzer Owner, A TOUCH OF CLASS,INC. CATERING AND EVENT PRODUCTIONS ---------------------------------------------------- Sherry,
Assuming you already have an awesome website and collateral materials to sell your services, try the sales and marketing tactics the Tina Turner way and "Shake A Tail Feather" today.
1. Advertise in the local business journal newspaper starting in October. Offer an early booking special that includes added value such as invitation design, printing and mailing included for parties of a certain size (Bump up your prices a little this year to cover the added value). Or the first X number of people who contact you get a one-hour consultation for FREE.
2. Write short articles or tips. Distribute them to the local media and post them online.
3. Start a blog. Write about what you offer that makes your company different. Post your articles and party tips. Post photos of other events and parties.
4. Offer to speak for a few minutes on how to have an amazing holiday party or event at local women's clubs, civic clubs and business organizations. Sponsor a table or donate inexpensive center pieces of pine needles and magnolia with floating candles. Call them now to book for October.
5. Start sending weekly e-newsletters to your old clients and add potential new clients. (If you don't have a database, you can buy a list or create your own by researching businesses that you want as clients. Call them for the name of the contact who books their events and holiday parties. Ask them if it is ok to send them holiday event information.
6. Get booked on local TV or radio programs to talk about party and event planning. Ask them to put a link to your website on their website. You are an expert and the media wants to talk to you.
7. Send out news releases about your company, new clients, photos of creative invitations and events, unique entertainment you have available
8. Host a VIP after 5 what's coming this season open house with wine and cheese NOW! and invite area businesses. Display (video/photos) to showcase your company.
9. Get flyers or brocures made with colorful photos of your previous events, parties and invitations. Distribute them to area businesses including banks, doctor's offices, law offices, car dealerships, hair salons.
10. Pick up the phone and call people and ask for the business. Cold calling sucks, but it works! An old sales adage is that you should make 10 calls to get two appointments to make one sale. If it were only that easy today! I'm guessing that now it is more like 25 calls to get two appointments to get one sale. And ad that, you have to call them at least twice because it is hard to reach someone on the first call.
Why Tina Turner? Well this one is a look-a-like, a good one, and she made me think about using the name of one of Tina's songs to grab attention, or at least use as your motivation...
Good luck! And, if you need help with any of these, I'd love to help market your company!
It seems like a new restaurant opens every week in Central Florida. And being in the center of the entertainment and theme park world, for the opening event to stand out, it means having more than food and drinks for a memorable "ribbon cutting". Besides sending out invitations to the VIPs and key media, creating the event flow, planning the menu, and more, I wrote a "blessing" as an attention-getting way to kick off the grand opening night.
After the presentation, a friend asked which book or movie the words came from as they were so mythical and "Disney-esque," they had to come from a Greco-Roman story. He was right about the mythical part, and it was a story only the words and dramatic scene were written from the theater of my "Monte-esque" mind.
For your reading pleasure:
The olive has been held in high esteem since the beginning of time. Myth has it that the Goddess Athena introduced the precious fruit of the olive to the ancient Greeks and they named a city for her.
Homer called the oil of its fruit, “liquid gold.”
Hippocrates, considered the father of modern medicine said, “Let the food be the medicine and the medicine be the food.”
With a multitude of uses – for light, food, and healing – the olive and its oil has been revered for its magical properties, history even deeming it greater than the power and speed of Poseidon’s horse.
I present the olive.
A precious seed Born forth from this small fruit Placed with care by hand Connected to Earth Enriched by soil Peppered by rain This olive doth grow to be A life-giving tree The harvest cometh forth Bountiful and mythical Most blessed fuel Oh nourishing food Hail its healing tenents Treasure guarded by royalty And reveled in world religions Now an Olive tree blossoms in Orlando So we celebrate nature’s gift tonight And with this act We commence a new flame Of a forever blessed light.
Ladies and gentlemen Raise your glass and toast to the grand opening of The Black Olive.
Now, here is a peak at the grand opening ceremony:
- Configuring information or data to reveal trends, raise issues, identify opportunities and solutions;
- Ability to concentrate for long periods to deepen understanding or learn skills to generate unique ideas;
- Thinking strategically while quickly bringing the big picture into view for disaster/crisis situations and issues management;
- Figuring out how people who are different can work together productively;
- Fostering ongoing dialogue between and among teams, partners and/or individuals.
- Skill set to research, plan, manage and execute Satellite Media Tours, special events, public relations campaigns, media events and branding.
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