These slides were created for the course: Comm 350R Social Media Dr. Matthew J. Kushin Department of Communication Utah Valley University For more on the course see: http://profkushinsocial.wordpress.com For more about the professor, see: http://profkushin.wordpress.com or @mjkushin on Twitter

1. Social Media CourseDr. Matthew J. Kushin Assistant Professor Department of Communication Utah Valley University profkushin.wordpress.com mkushin@uvu.edu @mjkushin

2. Optimizing Content for Search Dr. Matthew J. Kushin Course: profkushinsocial.wordpress.com

3. Importance of Search People turn to search engines (e.g., Google) to find info Strategies have emerged to increase visibility of a web page in search engine results.

4. How do we search? With No matter what we search, we think of keywords: Cars:“fuel economy” “safety” “price” Restaurant: “pizza” “Italian”

5. Keywords are king So are vitally important to search! Knowing what terms others search when looking for what we’re offering is critical We’ll focus on this later For now, let’s look at how we try to use these keywords to our advantage!

6. Two ways to visibility SEM – search engine marketing – buy adds for certain search terms Ex: I search “gardening supplies” and Lowes comes up. SEO – search engine optimization – process of adjusting website architecture in attempt to rank highly in desired search terms

7. Paths SEM & SEO are critical But, generally not done by media practitioners SEM - done by marketers buying paid ads SEO – techies They should be used in tandem w/ strategies we’ll talk about today

8. Your Role Edelman notes 2 key functions for media practitioners: Reputational Search Social Search

9. Reputational Search

10. Reputational Search Application of “a search mindset to tried-and-true PR tactics” thereby impacting search results

11. Reputational Search Employs traditional promotional strategies But, involves Crafting messages to be optimized for keyword search

12. Problem is We don’t write the same way people search

13. Edelman’s 3 steps 1) Research & Planning 2) Content Creation 3) Measurement

14. 1) Research Goal: Find keywords people use when searching for your topic Best the competition

15. 1) Research A) Mimic Natural Language B) Be uncommon – so they don’t compete with other articles out there! C) What do people care about most related to your topic?

16. A) Mimic Natural Language How do people talk about your topic online? On Twitter? On blogs? What do they search on Google? Apply social data analysis: Search Twitter search Real-time web (socialmention or addictomatic) Google Search Insights

17. Example How do people talk about lacrosse ? We might find people say “lax” instead of “lacrosse” Is there another idea, product, topic, etc. you’d like to check? Twitter Addictomatic

18. B) Be uncommon You don’t want to compete with other content out there! What kind of keywords are heavily used, and what ones are less common? Common words include: brand names generic words e.g., “hybrid car” “soda”

19. B) Be uncommon It is though to think of uncommon terms! What are less common terms or adjustments we can make to terms to make them more rare? Example: “Macintosh competitors” Say, instead of: Soda or Coke?

20. B) Be uncommon But not too uncommon…. Search your terms to see if others are actually using them! 2 common strategies: Google Insights Google Keywords Tools (search google: Google Keywords Tools)

21. Google Keywords Search Part of Adwords Can be used to see frequency of search & competition in terms of paid ads While SEM (ad competition) is not our focus, it can help us see how often people search for terms

22. C) What do searchers care about most? Applying Social Data Analysis On Google Insights, I search “laptops” & scroll down to find top searches. I realize PRICE and QUALITY are key attributes people look for:

23. Result Create a list of keywords that reflect How people naturally search Are not too generic but are still sort of things people search for Focus on key attributes people hone in on when searching for your topic E.g. price & quality

24. 2) Content Creation Apply these keywords when creating content Journo story / press release / etc.

25. Writing Titles w/ Keywords Incorporate keywords into headline, toward front These keywords also appear in body 60-character limit (blame Google) Avoid superlatives (e.g., “best”) – Google may think its spam & penalize

26. Writing body w/ Keywords Focus on position of keywords in text body, not frequency Make sure it still reads naturally

27. 3) Measurement What were the results of your efforts? Are you getting more traffic? Image grabs of search results pages with your story is great evidence! Social Data Analysis tools discussed in more depth during another lecture can be used for this

28. Social Search

29. Social Search Many people rely on social networks when searching content E.g., Twitter Maximize visibility of content via establishment in social networks

30. What do we put on social networks? Use them as “embassies” to build relationships w/ public Employees provide content useful to community and bolster brand Example: Customer relations Professor Kushin complains on Twitter he doesn’t own car, so tired of Geico sending him weekly auto insurance mail ads Within minutes, Geico responded saying my name will be removed from mailing list

31. Thought Question What are some types of content that’d be useful to YOUR org’s community? Say you worked for a SLC music magazine? Did PR for a snowboarding equipment company?

32. Search Engines like: good content published often That means lots of participation Blogs Frequent updates on social networks

33. Search Engines like: Others linking to your content Important to generate discussion and having content others want to link to Having content on social networks that link back to your main content

34. Keywords Others linking to our social media content can increase visibility in search

35. Social Search Search engines are integrating our social networks in search results

36. Summary Understanding how people search for topics related to your content is critical Consider search: think keywords Relational & Social Search don’t replace SEM or SEO, but are helpful tools

37. For upcoming assignment 1 person in your group needs to provide everyone in group w/ a copy of an article or press release they’ve written for a previous class Tip: post it to Google Docs & share it Today: Talk among your group for who will do this and share this file

38. Resources Search Engine Visibility: An Edelman Digital Position Paper Journalism Next by Mark Briggs Producing Online News: Digital Skills, Stronger Stories by Ryan M. Thornburg