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Provoke's Online Marketing Insight, What Would You Like To Know About?

Can We Fathom the Human In the Search And Social Algorithm?

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The Google algorithm is a creature of endless fascination, not only to online marketing professionals but also to site owners and eCommerce who can become obsessed with chasing PageRank.

By now, we should all be aware that it is ‘human’ raters who are involved with providing research input for algorithm programming. Consequently, it definitely helps to know how their work may have an influence on Google SERPS, even though the process largely remains shrouded in mystery despite tantalising glimpses …
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Understanding The Art Of Social Media Content Creation.

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The message is loud and clear and the pressure is on! On top of everything else that an SME site owner must now do day in, day out is to inform, educate, entertain and generally provide superlative value content. The constant aim is to stimulate target niche audiences by attracting attention, gaining trust and winning their engagement.

So how can a busy eCommerce constantly come up with a rich supply of fresh, relevant content of value without falling back on sales messages and self promotion?
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When Finding The Time Means Falling Behind With Social Media

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“ Yes, we do social media, we have a blog and we’re on Facebook”, said the business owner, “… and we do it when we can find the time!” It’s not an uncommon story. A first look reveals the last blog was posted 4 months previously, and an announcement on Facebook about a tradeshow stand number.

A closer look reveals the usual typos, awkward grammar and ad hoc use of capital letters. It’s a scroll down through large paragraphs of cliché and bloat-text mixed in with how eCommerce imagines ‘social’ should look like in an attempt to be reader friendly.
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Algorithm Set To Rid Sites Of Fake Reviews.

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Like moths to a flame, cheating Google has always proved irresistible to countless thousands of site owners and their low–rent SEO partners in crime. Whenever a credible and successful traffic metric is identified, along come the spammers, fakers and auto-software makers.

Following repeated campaigns to cut back on poor quality content, aggregator and link farm sites, Google’s latest move is aimed at cleaning up another popular but increasingly untrustworthy method to shimmy up the ranking pole – fake reviews!
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Low Rise On-Site Link Building!

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“Click my link!” might be the biggest ‘need’ demanded by site owners with a push marketing mindset obsessed with grabbing inbound traffic from an external link, such as a PPC ad. The sole focus for eCommerce is just to get a visitor to site and then sell, sell, sell!

More savvy businesses have understood the shift to providing rich customer experience along an entire ‘discovery’ journey. Website pages with content created to add value, interest, inform and entertain are aimed to win hearts as well as minds. The internal anchor text, or ‘deep’ link SEO keywords have always played a key role for visitor and search engines, alike.
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New Google Tool Guide Aims To Improve SEO Keywords And Customer Experience.

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Need a little help with your PPC ads? Your kind and friendly search engine, Google, is now offering even greater clarity on how it views your efforts in constructing Adwords. Their stated aim is to create,” … a permanent data-centric dialogue with advertisers on how to improve their campaigns and create a better experience for potential customers”.

But this is just Google looking after its own interests in an increasing ‘walled garden’ online world – isn’t it ?
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Search And Social Marketing Tailored To Fit.

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Personalisation of search – the big issue driving online marketing in today’s multichannel environment. It’s the reason you notice ads appearing from websites you have recently visited. Google is unifying data from across its various services in a bid to build more specific user profiles.

While around a half of consumers claim they actually welcome relevant follow up content, one in six of eCommerce say they lack any coherent marketing strategies to adequately deal with navigating the multichannel maze of infinite consumer behaviours.
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Added Google+ To Your Social Media Sharing Buttons Yet?

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Noticing those Google+ and Pinterest buttons appearing alongside Facebook and Twitter on sites you visit? Pinterest has shot straight in as third most popular social media networking site while Google+ has been slowly gaining ground over the last year.

“Do we need more social sharing sites?” is the inevitable question on the lips of site owners who want to be present and correct on today’s multichannel brand awareness spaces. It’s understandable to think that Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are quite enough to be getting on with, so why bother with Google+ …
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Content Marketing Means Just Doing The Right Thing!

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So what exactly is the best SEO keyword practice on today’s multichannel social link building web? Is getting your head around endless Google guidelines, avoiding Panda patrols and trying to do the right thing in the social spaces getting all too much? Site owners simply want to stay ranked and attract good honest click traffic from paying customers!
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Most UK Websites Still Not Cookie Compliant As Deadline Looms!

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Regular readers might recall a Provoke blog post in January, which described how and why there might be a possible reluctance by website owners to comply with the new EU cookies law. With the 25th May deadline just weeks away, a study by UK leading audit and advisory service, KPMG, has revealed that a “ massive 95 per cent of firms claim they have not yet complied”.

It can only be assumed that a majority of eCommerce are not going to bother amending their site and believe it doesn’t matter because they’re unlikely to get caught, despite a possible penalty of up to £ 500,000 …
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Email Marketing Not The Walking Dead Of the Web!

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Spikes of media excitement have been peaking across the web with news of Facebook snapping up mobile pic sharing site, Instagram, and how Pinterest has overtaken LinkedIn as a fave content site.

Meanwhile, in the everyday struggle for the humble SME site to attract paying customers, it can be a case of grimly keeping up with PPC ad paid search and email marketing in the hope clicks will come …
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Facebook Instagram Purchase And The Bigger Social Picture

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Warning! It may be too easy to give a rueful smile and dismiss Facebook’s one billion dollar acquisition of the photo sharing site, Instagram, aged just 18 months old, as nothing more than business as usual for the global corporate giants. What’s it got to do with the every day online reality for the countless numbers of SME eCommerce sites fighting for leads, prospects, and sales conversions?
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