Net66: Google+ Introduces a New View Count for Profiles [Image]

It has to be said now that Google+ is a proper Social Media player. It might not be up there with Twitter and Facebook just yet, but there’s definite promise. Plus, Google will eventually shoehorn their users into using it anyway.

Recently they merged together the comments on YouTube with Google+. They were prompting a lot of users who previously had no Plus profile to create one in order to let them comment on the videos they were watching.

A new feature that has launched recently now displays the number of views your profile has been viewed (6,806 thanks for asking). See how it looks below:

This does bring up a lot of questions. Including what constitutes a view. Thankfully one of Google’s resident techies has posted the following FAQ:

What does this number count? This is total views on your profile, your posts, your photos, and your videos.

What constitutes a “view?” For your profile, when someone goes to view your profile page. For other things, it’s when they look at it — e.g., when one of your posts shows up on someone’s screen. (That’s because this is how most people read posts: showing up in a stream, without clicking on it explicitly) Looking at your hovercard doesn’t count.

Is this related to +1’s, reshares, etc.? Only in that someone who +1’ed your post also probably saw it. You can already see counts for those on individual posts, etc., and before today you could see view counts for each photo if you looked carefully at the one-up view — now you can see that for everything.

If someone reshares my post, does that count? Yes, since a viewer is seeing your content. Ditto if someone sees your post through an “Alice +1’ed this,” through a post embedded on a page, or any other way that someone encounters it.

I don’t want to show this on my profile! You can hide this by going to your settings page. Go to plus.google.com/settings and look for “Show how many times your profile and content have been viewed.”

This seems strange: Some people seem to have a lot more views relative to their number of followers than others. Is something broken? Not at all. Some people have a lot of followers but don’t engage with them well, while other people engage amazingly with a smaller group.

How many views has your profile got?

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Link Earning with the use of social media

Link Earning is becoming a more popular phrase within the SEO industry, especially with the way Google is evolving continuously. This new technique is having a great effect with Google and other search engines.

What is Link Earning?

Link Earning is basically giving your target audience content that they would benefit from. We have heard the phrase content is king so many times but there is a lot of truth behind it. Whilst link earning is gradually taking over from link building, the content required is a lot more advanced.

Writing the perfect content is the crux with link earning. Content with plenty of images, videos and links to reliable resources, also humerous content and fun to read. A mixture of these features will make the perfect recipe for link earning.

How to share my content?

This is a question we get asked a lot and what people don’t realise is that the answer is right under their noses! The internet. The best way to share content first of all is across all of your social media platforms.

Social media is a highly underestimated tool in the standard SEO arsenal which many people forget the shear power it has. Take a look at these sweet tips from Rand Fishkin;

The aim for link earning is not to only sharing your content across the web but where the full benefit comes into play is other people sharing it. So with social media you have a wide audience, therefore more of a chance someone will share your content.

Also, social media gives you the chance to go viral and make a name for yourself on the web.

There is not only social media which we can use to link earn but also blogs, forums and Q&A websites. (NOTE: the topic needs to be relevant to your content).

The reason these type of websites are perfect for sharing content is that they are normally full of people asking advice and you can put a reply with a link to your content.

If this is beneficial for the target audience then you will start to gain a reputation and become a well known trusted source of information regarding your chosen niche!

In summary, we need to start evaluating our methods and techniques in accordance to the updates Google has rolled out. I am a firm believer that link earning via social media is exactly what Google want you to do. It shows a sense of social engagement and content sharing.

Posted by Jordan Whitehead

Net66: Google Plus Could Start Charging for Vanity URLs

It’s a strange concept but now a new one. As with everything you upload to Social Media sites, although you’re uploading your own content, as soon as it hits their servers they can do with it pretty much what they want.

Even if you own it, and especially if you have intellectual property rights on it, you give Facebook and all the companies they own the right to use it. Here’s an exerpt from their terms:

“you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License).”

So, unless you delete your content, Facebook can use it however they want. Even if they use it for their commercial gain and give you nothing, you’ve let them as you’ve agreed to their terms.

With Google Plus, they have equally totalitarian terms and conditions when it comes to their new custom URL feature. As we all know, URLs on Google+ aren’t the prettiest of things. For example, my own is: https://plus.google.com/100119952662552310660/posts

Hardly a reference to myself. But now Google+ allows you to create custom URLs, but under their terms a copy of which is as follows:

“Google+ Custom URLs Terms of Use

When you claim and use a custom URL, you must follow the Google Terms of Service, the Google+ User Content and Conduct Policy, and the Google+ Pages Additional Terms of Service (if applicable), and the following policies:

We reserve the right to reclaim custom URLs or remove them for any reason, and without notice.
Custom URLs are free for now, but we may start charging a fee for them. However, we will tell you before we start charging and give you the choice to stop participating first.
Don’t include words and phrases in your custom URL that would violate the Google+ User Content and Conduct Policy
If you violate our policies or terms of service we may take a variety of actions, including suspending your access to Google+ and your use of custom URLs.”

I’ve highlighted the main issues here. Although you may think you’ve laid a claim to your new Google Plus URL, and you can then spend money promoting this and having it added to your website, business cards, flyers and other marketing items, Google can still strip you of it. Without warning or notice and for no reason, the injustice! Then, they have the cheek to ask you for money to get it back.

Of course this isn’t a tactic Google are likely to employ, I’m merely highlighting a worst case scenario. Still, it does give you pause for thought. Do you think Google will start charging for vanity URLs?

Blog Post by: Greg McVey

Creating the Social Media Pulse

So Google has made a load of changes recently, some of which were their biggest in the last 12 years!

Its been quite some 12 – 18 months, you could almost say that Google has completely revamped and the ball game has now changed when it comes to succeeding online.

But what do we make of this, is it now harder to rank on google, be seen and drive traffic to your website?

Well the answer is yes and no.

If you think your going to still be able to manipulate Google, by doing black hat or grey hat methods, then your going to be progressively disappointed. Google is smart, has been smart for the last 10 years, and is only ever going to get smarter, especially with the amount of resources it has at its disposal, so there’s only one way know to beat this Goliath and thats to play it at its own game.

What should you do to Make Google Happy?

Well before we answer that lets have a brief look into what the 3 main updates actually entail over the last year or two.

Panda

This one was all about content, if you had duplicate content on your website your gone!, if you had low quality poor content on your website your gone!

Penguin

This update focused mainly on the backlinks you had going to your website. This was were most people would try and pull the wool over the eyes of Google, and sure they may have succeeded for a while, but inevitably Google pounced back and their backlinking algorithm now is very different to what it was before.

Hummingbird

Now this is an interesting one, arguably the smallest update of the 3, but certainly one that has also reaped havoc in the world of online marketing and SEO.

So what is Hummingbird?

Well with the risk of over simplifying it, this update was all about the “user experience” if Google can be blamed for being obsessed with anything, then its definitely user experience.

In short,what is your user getting from your website when they visit it? What are you offering to them?

Do you provide quality content which is unique, do you offer a service; whether it be online or offline? Are you unique and original?

The Social Media Element

One of the good things about Hummingbird is that no matter how complicated and complex you may thing these updates are, it can be massively simplified, well.. to a degree.

What Google seems to have done now is take social media very much into consideration. You (the people) are the best algorithm that any computer or brain can come up with right now. If your on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or Linked In and your accounts are going bananas, then who is google to argue?

Don’t get me wrong, ranking on google and getting traffic isn’t just about being on Facebook etc. but its a box that no business can now leave, not tick it and be forgotten about.

By being social, by updating your account, by having others comment and get involved with what your doing, this is a great measuring stick for Google to go off, and being part of a good solid rounded SEO package will stand you in good stead for better rankings, more traffic and more sales and leads, now which business doesn’t want that?

Net66 SEO: Content Marketing – Beginners Guide to Failure

There’s been so much content generated and shared on the web ever since the veritable Krakatoa of Content Marketing. Everyone was in a rush to produce much more content, very quickly. As a result, people concentrated more on the quantity of material that was going through their website as opposed to the quality.

In fact, a recent video resignation went viral with the worker in question being unhappy with her working conditions. Ironically this person worked creating viral videos and succeeded with their final contribution.

Before you get to that stage though, you need to avoid these common pitfalls:

> Not Being Yourself. Writing a blog is different to writing a piece of content for a web page. As a blog writer you get to humanise yourself so don’t be afraid to show your personality off a little. People identify with people. If you’re just a another faceless company interested in people’s coffers than people themselves, it’s only going to go one way. But people reading a personalised blog can catch a glimpse of the people who want their business and could sway a decision.

> Bandwaggoning. By all means take a look around the blogosphere before you start writing and look for that piece of content that can help get the ball rolling for your own place. But don’t just rewrite it with your own words. Give your own opinion on the subject. You do have your own opinion don’t you? Good. Just checking. So use it, you might come across a post where they say a certain type of link is a bad link, and you might disagree, so write that down. People value honesty and if you’re simply regurgitating material, your posts won’t be valued.

> Buzz Words. They still work to a degree, but mostly in house. Most people find themselves reacting adversely to buzz words as they can sometimes feel like sales words and no body likes being sold to. Limit them if you can and only use them when no other words will do.

These tips won’t make you a content marketing guru (buzzword) overnight. But they will definitely set you on your way.

Blog Post by Greg McVey

Net66 News: Facebook Gets a new Facelift – News Feed Redesign

In the midst of my usual ritual of getting into work, making a coffee, eyeing a few emails and checking social media, I logged on to Facebook and was met with the screenshot below:

Bookmarks, Ticker and Chat

As you can see it’s a pretty radical change from the news feed we know and are used to. The most obvious changes are to the lateral areas of the page. On the left hand side where you were presented with your favourites, pages, apps and a nice big link to your profile, these have all now changed into what Facebook are calling Bookmarks. They’re presented in a smaller format looking more like App Tiles you get on your phone than links you’re presented with on a desktop platform. The “Ticker” and chat options on the right hand side are functioning the same but, as with the new bookmarks, the background colour has changed from the traditional Facebook light blue/white to the darker colour more associated with the mobile app. A stark change then.

You can still access the breakdown into favourites, pages, apps etc when you go to the very bottom of the Bookmarks list and click the icon with the three dots on it. This opens a little pop-out page which will seem more familiar to you.

News Feed and Options

What next jumped out at me was the size of the actual stories in the news feed. They’re huge and now definitely seem to be the main Feature of the site. Looking back at the previous news feed design, it seems so cramped and busy and I’m instantly warming to the new news feed.

As you scroll down your stories as well, the boxes on the right hand side of the page remain absolute and follow you down the page. I’m presuming this is so that Facebook can still serve advertisements to you, but as the news feed stories are now so large, you won’t begrudge them the space.

You also have much more control over what appears in your news feed with the use of the box in the top right hand corner. You can choose from your regular News Feed (usually customised), all friends, most recent stories, following, groups and even the latest photos, games, music and your custom lists. This makes it so much easier to switch between your different feeds as the previous Facebook only had the option to change between Most Recent and Top Stories.

Toolbar

The toolbar has also been given a nice little revamp. See below for a closer look:

Rather than the flat single colour of the previous toolbar, a gradient has been added. Whilst this is hardly the most taxing of changes, it does add a certain depth to the new toolbar. Especially considering that the background for the search box is now a dark blue colour as opposed to its previous white. The old Facebook logo that was in the top left that redirected you back to the home page has been changed to a simplistic tile, again like the bookmarks option, minimalising options on page.

To the right of the search box and logo you can also see the redesigned Home and Post options along with the notifications for friend requests, messages, notifications and a brilliant little “settings” tab. The reason I prefer this settings tab is that the first option you’re greeted with on clicking it, is to quickly switch between the identities of the Facebook pages you manage and your profile.

A good thing is having the “Post” button on the toolbar now so you can post anytime. I also have to say that this new toolbar looks eerily similar to Twitter’s toolbar.

I’ve uploaded more screenshots of the new Facebook below, feel free to check them out:

Blog Post by: Greg McVey