The Buyer Group PR + SEO News

Lisa Buyer and Sarah Van Elzen interview with Greg Jarboe at SES Chicago. The question? What can Google give me for Christmas this year? The answer. Page one in search!

Let it snow for SEO at Chicago’s Search Engine Strategies conference where Lisa Buyer presents on the News Search SEO panel today with Newsforce CMO Dana Todd (@danatodd) and YouTube and Video Marketing author Greg Jarboe (@gregjarboe), moderated by Top Rank Blogger Lee Odden (@leeodden).

The power of search is changing the game for public relations and social media says Buyer, president and CEO of The Buyer Group, an interactive online PR and branding agency.

Presenting to Internet savvy CEOs, senior marketing executives and search engine optimization professionals, Buyer offers insight and examples of ways to use public relations techniques, social media channels and SEO strategies to leverage an increase in online visibility.

“Google’s roll out of Real Time Search yesterday is a big indicator of the direction in search and social media,” Buyer said. “News is happening in real time, and now Tweets as part of Google Search shrinks the press release down to 140 characters or less. Let’s not forget Facebook alone has added 50 million new users in the past two months to reach a total of more than 350 million.”

“Interactive media has taken the communications industry by storm in the past year,” Buyer said. “With this enormous growth comes a frequent and exciting shift in strategy and practice.  Implementing SEO strategies into public relations is the latest movement as search engines begin to place increased importance on these messages.”

“Writing a killer press release and distributing promotional materials is not enough in today’s multimedia landscape,” Buyer said.  “Journalists in today’s fast-paced environment are using search to find or add to stories, while consumers are finding their news via the search engine, alternative networks like YouTube, and even through social networks.”

For more information, join the conversation on Twitter by following @lisabuyer and @SESConf.

About Lisa Buyer

http://www.thebuyergroup.com/60-seconds-with-lisa

About SES Chicago

http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/chicago/

Deerfield Beach, FL –October 15,2009– Wondering what your Tweets are worth? With Twitter’s new estimated value at $1 billion, there must be a very positive PR Tweetfactor. Lisa Buyer, president and CEO of The Buyer Group, joins Internet marketing experts in Las Vegas, November 10-13, at WebmasterWorld’s PubCon Internet Marketing Conference, highlighting the impact of social media on public relations.

Opening the conference as keynote speaker is Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who has made his mark as an early CEO adapter of Twitter as a PR tool. Zappos has become famous for its fanatical devotion to customer service, and Hsieh has proven the power of Twitter as a relationship-building tool.

“Tony has put Zappos at the forefront of the Twitter revolution within the CEO world,” Buyer said, “He’s been the CEO darling of Twitter and provides a perfect launching pad for the conference, which will be something to Tweet home about for sure.”

Incorporating social media tactics into everyday PR is The Buyer Group’s specialty. At PubCon, Buyer will delve into “the Twitter factor” and describe its power in a corporate public relations strategy. Buyer uses her own case studies as well interview results from other Twitter professionals who dish out the Tweets for PR and media purposes.

With over 15 years of business management and communications experience, Buyer understands the importance of engaging with customers in an online social sphere that encourages them to speak openly about brands.

“It is so incredibly important for companies to stay on top of the conversations surrounding their brands,” Buyer said. “Social media is opening the door for more people to broadcast their opinions than ever before in history. This change only adds to the responsibility of companies to actively engage with consumers and drive discussions that are mutually beneficial to both the public and their brands.”

Las Vegas PubCon 2009 will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, November 10 – 13, 2009. The event will include sessions on search, Web 2.0, net marketing, SEO/SEM, affiliates, domainers, video, and multimedia and is sponsored by bing.com and Raven Internet Marketing Tools.

For more information, join the conversation on Twitter by following @lisabuyer and @pubcon.

About Lisa Buyer
When it comes to relationships, Lisa Buyer believes the chemistry between search, social media and public relations is exponential. As the founder of three media companies and current CEO of The Buyer Group, Lisa is ambitious about the influence public relations has on Social Media, SEO/SEM and continues to share her innovative approach with clients, peers and associates. The Buyer Group is an interactive public relations and branding agency in South Florida that also offers consulting services for agencies transitioning from old school media to today’s best search engine strategies. The Buyer Group’s PR/SEO clients consist of public and private companies in the technology, real estate and health/beauty industries.

Lisa is a Certified Google Adword Professional, member of SEMPO, SFMIA and past Agency Management Roundtable. She also publishes a PR/SEO news blog in addition to her social media involvement and expertise. When it comes to interactive PR and corporate communication – Lisa believes Social Media, SEO/SEM should be part of the boardroom marketing mix.

About PubCon
PubCon is an educational conference and industry trade show produced by Webmaster World Inc. Specifically designed for internet professionals, the conference focuses on topics related to search engine marketing and optimization as well as website publishing and management.

The battle for online market share is continuing to intensify as Microsoft opens a can of competition at the established search engine powerhouse, Google.

Microsoft’s latest attempt to thrust its newly released Bing.com into the fray has them teaming with Yahoo.  Under the partnership, Yahoo is abandoning its own search technology in favor of the newly developed Bing algorithms.

According to Mashable.com, a partnership with Yahoo provides Microsoft the scale and advertising opportunities needed to turn Bing into an actual competitor of Google, at least in the short-term.  From Yahoo’s perspective, this deal seems to suggest the site will never again be a major player in the search market.

At The Buyer Group, we believe that as long as Google continues to provide quality search and services, loyalty to the site will prevail, leaving Bing with little more than a temporary blip on the market share radar.

One of the latest challenges in the SEO and online PR world is the issue of duplicate content.  One of the latest challenges in the SEO and online PR world is the issue of duplicate content.

While it may be mildly annoying for you to read the same sentence twice, duplicate content is a major problem for search engines trying to return unique and distinct results.

At The Buyer Group, we are constantly learning about the ever-changing realm of SEO (search engine optimization) and apply these tactics into our online PR practices.  Oftentimes, companies try to take the easy way out to deliver their message, in hopes to rank higher or produce more in search results.  This includes taking one page of content from a Web site and placing it on another site such as a blog or social media channel.

Unfortunately, this approach will not produce better search results at all.  Unless the content is heavily edited from one page to a next, using this practice will lead to issues within search results.  Search engines like Google figured this detour out quite some time ago and has adapted to filter search results that only display one set of duplicate content among its highest results.  So for example, if a company takes a Web page from their Web site and posts it on their blog, the search engine will only show one of these pages in the search results.

When it comes to online public relations, it is important for content to be thought out and uniquely designed across a company’s online real estate.  Strategic social media participation in addition to an optimized Web site can greatly increase the exposure of any company.

For information on how The Buyer Group can optimize your Web site for greater search results and brand your company’s presence on social media contact Lisa Buyer today at 954.354.1411 x 14 or lbuyer@thebuyergroup.com.

In the ever-changing, fast-paced world of social media, there is always something new to learn. Continually striving to be ahead of the PR curve, The Buyer Group took part last week in an emerging technology webinar presented by SEMPO (Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization).

The webinar highlighted the intersection between social media and online search results. SEMPO stressed that the future of all media is social and that search engines are increasingly displaying social media as top results.

SEMPO also explained that social media usage is more frequent and strategic than ever, pointing out that over 90 percent of SEM (search engine marketing) agencies are using Facebook as a public relations tool – good thing, considering 31 percent of CEOs have are active on Facebook.

The instant response platforms of social media sites have allowed for more brand communication than ever, placing new pressure on companies to monitor and engage in dialogue with consumers.  For information on how your business can use social media to its advantage contact Lisa Buyer at lbuyer@thebuyergoup.com.

Looking for Lisa Buyer this week?  Check Twitter.com/lisabuyer for constant updates.

Speaking in 140 characters or less, Twitter users have up-to-the-minute information about the who’s, what’s, where’s, and why’s of business, plus a little extra. My current status would look a little like this:

In twitter language that translates to: I’m attending Pubcon, a search marketing conference that covers all aspects of online business.  I am speaking on the panel  “Moving Old Brands into the New Social Media,” but better yet — I’ll be attending the coolest sessions that will take The Buyer Group PR campaigns to a new level.

And how valuable is PR right now?

It’s about as valuable as you make it — and in this economy, you must make every dollar count.

Check out what I have highlighted from a PR perspective:

• Writing Headlines that Rock
• Web Site Design and SEO Deployment – Get your PR agency involved!
• The Twitter and Microbogging Revolution -
• How PR Agencies Intersect with PR
• Brand and Reputation Management
• Intersection of Search and Social Media
• Optimizing a Local Search Campaign using PR
• Personalized and Universal Search
• Leveraging Consumer Generated Content
• Tracking Results

Let us know if you are interested in getting together to see how you can apply some of these strategies and help get the best PR/Branding ROI in this challenging economy. And keep in mind, traditional PR is still The Buyer Group’s foundation, all of this new media only gives us new tools to make PR more powerful — and all strategies are not created equal.

Searching for me this week?

Find me in San Jose, California at Search Engine Strategies Conference where I will be mixing, mingling, and speaking.

While I am there, here are some hot topic sessions I plan to attend:

• Universal and Blended Search – Industry gurus share exclusive advancements in the world of search.
• Mobile SEO – Mobile search is all about getting found at the tap of a PDA, don’t get left behind. This session highlights best practices to make existing Web sites mobile-ready.
• Pay Per Conversion – The state of the economy makes every click matter. It’s not just clicks, it’s all about conversions.
• Landing Pages – Getting the most out of your pay-per-click campaign and how it integrates with online PR.
• Google Analytics and Web Optimizer – How to increase the ROI of your Web site? Google continues to innovate around bringing power, flexibility, and accessibility to web analytics.
• Building a Search Friendly Site – Tools on how to please both crawler-based search engines as well as end user and visitors.
• SEO Through Blogs and Feeds – How to improve client blogs and generate feed subscriptions.
• News Search SEO - I’ll be in good company speaking on this topic and sharing insight on how optimized press releases and online PR improve search results. Fellow speakers include search-rock stars, Dana Todd, Lee Odden, and Greg Jarboe.
• Social Media Analysis and Tracking – Facebook, Wikipedia and YouTube can be part of a successful PR campaign. This session shares monitoring tools and tips on increased profitability.
• Facebook, Feeds, and Microblogging – Social networks enable the streamlining and exchange of information, what does this mean for your PR future?

If you want to catch up with me at SES or when I return, just let me know. I’d be happy to set up a time to discuss your online public relations and search engine strategies.