Bharati Ahuja

The Evolving Face Of SEO - 14 SEO Facts For 2013

Google turned 14 in 2012 and like any teenager it is still trying to acquire skills to face the world with more confidence and put its best foot forward. Obviously SEO – Search Engine Optimization has a direct correlation with search engines but as the search engines become more capable and as the search algorithms evolve and become more sophisticated many in the SEO world are even contemplating to rechristen SEO with some other name.

But does calling SEO by some other term change the true meaning of SEO? As a matter of fact has the SEO process and procedures changed or as they say is actually SEO dead?

The answer is NO, NO and an emphatic NO.

As black hat SEOs first focused on keyword stuffing and then went on link building sprees now after the Panda and Penguin updates this confused lot is talking about content development and undoing all the link building they have done in the past.

Survival of the fittest (Photo credit: onkel_wart (thomas lieser))

But some of the SEO Evolution facts are:

1. SEO is not dead but has gained more life for people who understand the genuine meaning of optimization for search engines.

2. SEO has come under more scrutiny as the search engines are more capable now to detect spam and have upgraded their algorithms to penalize spammy techniques.

3. As websites moved from static websites to dynamic websites increasing the potential for regular additional content the search engines too first worked on indexing such content but this year the focus has been on penalizing thin and poor quality content to give more quality results to the users.

4. Websites penalized are the ones with poor quality non topical, spammy links and thin content.

5. Websites which catered to technical aspects of SEO and do not have low quality links and thin content were not affected by the updates.(That’s what my experience says) Its like if you have a good track record it adds up to your goodwill.

6. With social and search integrations and upgraded algorithms one needs to do more that just on-page optimization and technical SEO. One needs to focus on UGC (User generated Content) and offer a regular flow of content in the form of blog posts , videos, infographics , images, podcasts, etc. to be able to generate the UGC and share it on various social media platforms to generate the much needed social signals.

7. Panda or no Panda content has been king since the first web page was published on the web. It is Google who has become capable in picking quality content in 2012

8. The on-page and technical SEO still remain the same but as the search engines have evolved and are better equipped with advanced algorithms the completion for high rankings has increased and Darwin’s theory of “The Survival Of The Fittest” is largely applicable today on the web.

9. Where there is content there is a creator hence Google came up with the Authorship Tag and the Knowledge Graph – The next big step to qualify content and the creator.

10. If content creation is a necessity then content curation is the answer if coming up with regular content is a problem.

11. SEO is just one aspect of the whole online presence. As Scott Gardner of Bank of America had mentioned in a related discussion on SEO 2013 : Search is multifaceted. Don’t forsake any part of the pie. Make sure you don’t lose the market share you’ve gained in other areas. You need a balance.

12. When we optimize the site the focus is on factors which will retain a long term search presence and thereby generate targeted traffic .

13. Rankings are important but when we speak of SEO we work on the quality factors of the website and then earn the rankings to get targeted traffic but incase of PPC we pay for the rankings and buy the targeted traffic.

14. It is the prime duty of every SEO to educate the client about the true meaning of SEO and make them set realistic SEO expectations.

Fake Fans,Followers,Likes ,Reviews, etc. – The Social Media Spam And Its Impact On Search & Ecommerce

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Google has been fighting spam right from the time it started indexing the web but as the anti-spam methods and tactics become rigid the spammers too come up with more sophisticated methods making the anti-spam teams restart from square one. This reminds me of the snakes and ladders game that we played in childhood where the player reaches almost the finish of the game but has to go back all the way because he comes across a snake just one square before the finish box.

Google lately has been doing well in combating diverse methods of spam by the Panda and the Penguin updates but as the search engines to come up with better quality results have integrated social and search , the impact of fake fans, likes, reviews, followers, etc is bound to be felt by the search engines too .

This kind of social media spam is bound to effect the quality of search results for sure.The social media and search budgets are showing an increasing trend according to SEMPO 2012 Survey but at the same time the measurement and ROI of SEO and Social Media are still a very big challenge .

Gartner Says By 2014, 10-15 Percent of Social Media Reviews to Be Fake, Paid for By Companies

I think this kind of pressure on social media companies adds the fuel to the social media spam fire in the form of fake fans, likes, reviews, followers etc. The PageRank technology made the black hat SEOs go on a link building spree in the form of paid links and other black hat methods of building low quality links and in the bargain defeated the very purpose of the PageRank introduced by Google. If this social media spam increases the very purpose of social and search integration is going to be defeated as the users will get distorted opinions in the search results adversely affecting the trust of the online buyers and in the long run have a negative impact on the growth of the ecommerce industry.

Google now not only combats spam from the search perspective but also keeps a check on the social media signals which are being incorporated to display search results. Google gives priority to the social media signals from Google+ and with the Authorship markup, +1s , rich snippets, meta data, etc. it tries to verify the signals trying to beat this social media spam as much as possible.

We also as social media and website owners can help in reducing the spam at this very stage when it is still at the initial stage and not let it become rampant like the spammy links on the web which the spammy link builders built just to have a high PageRank and Google had to devalue its importance and also have a Penguin Update.

Social media is not only Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+ but also blogs which generate UGC in the form of comments and reviews.

How can we as website owners and social media participants try to reduce the spam from mushrooming on the web?

We sure can try by the following some Dos and Donts:

1. Always moderate comments and add the comment only if it adds to the discussion.

2. Always give genuine reviews only when one is logged in to their Google account or a reputed social media account

3. Keep blocking spammy followers on Twitter else they will add up to the fake followers in your account which may negatively impact your account.

4. If we keep blocking these spambots then they get deleted by the social media sites else we are giving them a platform to exist.

5. Connect with people whom you think contribute to your knowledge or may benefit from your knowledge .

6. If you have a blog then add the Authorship Markup so that Google can verify the identity of the authors.

7. Have a company social media account to engage with existing customers and potential customers to clear their doubts so that they get genuine first hand information . This will surely help in restoring the trust in ecommerce.

All the fake social media fans, followers, likes, +1s, reviews and other forms of UGC might show a rosy picture to the brands in a myopic way but in the long run it will become the main reason for the decreased online sales as this will be the major reason for which the online buyer will lose trust and not feel confident to buy online.

Social Media - 09/18/2012

SEO Objectives, Budgets, Metrics, Challenges and SEO Fee Structure In 2012 As Per The SEMPO Survey 2012

Author : Bharati Ahuja

The State of Search Marketing Report is based on an online survey of nearly 900 client-side (advertisers) and agency respondents. The survey was live between March 12th and May 15th 2012. A total of 883respondents from 36 countries took part in the survey, with US-based respondents accounting for 64% of the total. The sample included 272 advertisers and 611 supply-side respondents (mainly agencies) carrying out search marketing and social media activity on behalf of clients.

Following is a brief synopsis of the survey regarding the SEO trends for 2012 :

Objectives For SEO 2012

To generate leads and drive traffic to the website is the major SEO objective for companies investing in SEO. But the objective of driving traffic to website has gone down by 8% in 2012 since last year.

The other main SEO objective is to sell products, services or content online which is the prime objective for companies investing in paid search according to the survey.

As the focus on driving traffic decreases the focus on increasing brand awareness and enhancing reputation has gone up by 6% since 2011. I think this indicates that companies investing in SEO are focusing more on quality SEO metrics and activities.

Metrics To Measure For SEO In 2012:

From the above metrics being focused on, by the companies the SEO trend will take a true turn for quality when the quality of the sales/leads will be more important that the quantity. As good SEO should drive targeted traffic not just volumes of traffic.

Secondly, it is not only about keyword rankings but about ranking for global keywords and global terms and terminology for the products and services offered by the companies. So its more about getting the site rank for correlated terms which can be achieved only by having substantial quality content and an engaging social media presence. This global keyword search presence should be a more important metric than traffic volume as the traffic volume and brand perception will follow if this has been achieved.

Though from the above objectives we can see that the companies are more open to quality SEO activities, a lot still needs to be done to educate the clients to focus on quality metrics so that the objectives can be achieved.

Budget For SEO In 2012

Though the companies having a budget of $1 to $25000 has gone down by 7% in 2012 as compared to last year , the companies allocating a budget of $25000 to $75000 has gone up by 9% in 2012. There is a 4% increase in the no. of companies allocating a budget of more than $3 million too. This again is a positive trend that companies are willing to allocate higher budgets for SEO.

This will pave the way for quality SEO activities as good content and good social media presence both are highly priced.

SEO – Inhouse v/s Hiring An SEO Specialist or Agency

Glad to see that there are more companies willing to hire SEO specialists rather than SEO agencies. This again proves that SEO is a specialized service which needs to be implemented by individuals or small close knit and like minded teams for better results.

Challenges For Managing SEO In 2012:

Measuring the ROI from SEO seems to be still at the helm for the challenges faced for managing SEO. This problem will be automatically solved when the metrics to measure SEO is decided upon by the company. This will be a continuing trend though, because the total ROI from SEO can never be measured as the ROI from SEO is an ongoing thing. This is because the brand and reputation created by SEO makes the company accrue returns in future. Many times the targeted traffic which visits the site as a result of SEO services may not take any immediate decision for buying or contacting the company but may delay the decision for various reasons.
Typical Fee Structure For SEO

40% of the companies pay a flat fee to their SEO specialists or agencies. This is again a very positive trend and I am glad to see this because we have been having this SEO flat fee structure for our annual SEO projects since 2005.

Overall SEO seems to be on the main agenda of the companies. This again proves that SEO is evolving and not dying.

The full SEMPO report is available to SEMPO members which can be downloaded from SEM Research page.

Bing / Google / News / SEO - 09/13/2012

Google Adds “Associate” Feature To Google Webmaster Tools For YouTube Integration

Google products integration seems to be getting stronger day by day. Google has added the “Associate” feature to Google Webmaster Tools for organizations having multiple presences on the web. This feature allows webmasters to add "associates" -- trusted users who can act on behalf of your site in other Google products. Unlike site owners and users, associates can't view site data or take any site actions in Webmaster Tools, but they are authorized to perform specific tasks in other products.

Google Webmaster Tools logo (Photo credit: Kinologik)

Image representing YouTube as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

For example, Webmaster Tools lives atwww.google.com/webmasters, but it also has a Twitter account and a YouTube channel. It's important that visitors to these other properties have confidence that they are actually associated with the Webmaster Tools site. To add or change associates In Webmaster Tools: 1. On the Webmaster Tools home page, click the site you want. 2. Under Configuration, click Associates. 3. Click Add a new associate. 4. In the text box, type the email address of the person you want to add. 5. Select the type of association you want. Settings In YouTube Account: It’s also possible for users to request association from a site’s webmaster. 1. Log in to your YouTube partner account. 2. Click on the user menu and choose Settings > Associated Website. 3. Fill in the page you would like to associate your channel with. 4. Click Add. If you’re a verified owner of the site, you’re done. But if someone else in your organization manages the website, the association will be marked Pending. The owner receives a notification with an option to approve or deny the request. 5. After approval is granted, navigate back to this page and click Refresh to complete the Google explained on its official blog that - for example, Webmaster Tools lives at www.google.com/webmasters, but it also has a Twitter account and a YouTube channel. It's important that visitors to these other properties have confidence that they are actually associated with the Webmaster Tools site. Currently , there is only the YouTube option available for this feature. It will not be surprising if gradually other Google products also get added to it. I presume (Just guessing) Google+ to be the immediate next product to be integrated soon.

Google / SEO - 08/01/2012

The Website Owner And The SEO Company – The Mutually Beneficial Association

Author : Bharati Ahuja

All this hoopla about Google sending notifications to web masters about unnatural links and warnings about removing them from their link profile is just like a teenager being caught with wrong friends and is warned by his parents to stop hanging out with them else he would be grounded and all allowances and perks shall be withdrawn.

Last Year the crux of my YouMoz post - “tation-of-the-seo-industry-12060" target="_blank">The Question About The Reputation Of The SEO Industry” was :

The reputation of the SEO industry is getting tarnished because of two main reasons:

.False promises by people who want to make a fast buck by calling them SEOs
·Very high expectations of website owners

If you see both are inter-connected if SEOs give realistic perspective about the whole SEO process then the expectations of the website owners would also be realistic. On the other hand if the website owners do not have false notions about the SEO results and they do not put pressure for quick results then the scene would be much different.

The article http://www.seobook.com/curious-case-small-business-and-seo also clearly points out how the business owner, the SEO Company, Google and the SEO community is directly and indirectly responsible for tarnishing the much needed SEO service by all businesses.

I totally agree that people falling under these 4 categories are sometimes jointly and sometimes individually guilty and responsible for such a situation of ultimate penalty to arise.

Many times due to lack of knowledge and at times due to impatience and greed the business owners join hands with SEOs who guarantee them 1000s of links and show them a quick short cut method for page 1 rankings.

We have been advocating natural links and vouching for on page SEO with a focus on content since we started working on SEO services in early 2000. I remember losing out on many SEO projects due to our non-compliance to offer them link building via mass submissions .

We have even got many "Thumbs Down" on our comments and views for our opinion on links for example http://www.seomoz.org/blog/dont-ask-sites-for-links-find-people-and-connect#jtc142513 but have never deterred from that view point despite all the discouragement.

When we told business owners about our natural link building methods, Google WMT , Google Analytics and focus on content strategies we were not taken seriously and they thought that the other SEO companies who went on a link building spree were the ones who worked hard .

But today when we see them coming back to us asking us to help them undo those links , we can sense the repentance and the lesson learnt in their discussions.

This is not a matter of unnatural links only this is infact a matter of attitude towards your work and a simple law of life that there is no short cut to success and no substitute for hard work.

This same situation will reflect in case of social media signals and stuffed content in future.

Fraudulent webmasters in the past have been involved in Keyword stuffing earlier then went ahead with the link spam methods and now I am sure people having that temperament and attitude will go ahead with the social media scams and content stuffing until Google gets more equipped with detecting it and starts penalizing sites for it.

The business owners have to be savvy in adopting the right approach and not go for quick results. They also have to accept that SEO is a continuous process which keeps on increasing the potential and probability of improving the search presence of the site on an ongoing basis. This onus of making the website owners develop the right approach is to a great extent on the SEO company.

If your SEO company is working on the following aspects and offers you reports regarding them then it is going on the right track.

Increased targeted traffic
Increase in the keywords with which actual searches take place (increase In The Search Queries)
Increased no. of impressions
Stable rankings
Increased visibility in more no. of Google geographic domains
Rankings and search presence not being drastically and adversely affected by changes in the algorithm
More and more pages becoming landing pages
Increased indexation

And

Constantly upgrading and educating you with the latest updates at Google so that you are aware of the changing search scenario .

All this can be easily monitored via Google WMT and Google analytics.

SEO - 07/22/2012

How To Integrate Twitter Cards With Blogger For Social Meta Data

Author : Bharati Ahuja

With the shift of the web towards the semantic web and the focus being on data connectivity and its co relevant display. The web is giving priority to Rich Snippets, HTML 5, microformats and schemas.

Twitter last month announced Twitter cards that make it possible to attach media experiences to Tweets that link to your content. Simply add a few lines of HTML to your webpages, and users who Tweet links to your content will have a "card" added to the Tweet that’s visible to all of their followers.

There are 3 card types that can be attached to Tweets, each of which has a beautiful consumption experience built for Twitter's web and mobile clients:

· summary: The default card, which includes a title, description, thumbnail image, and Twitter account attribution.

· photo: A Tweet sized photo card.

· player: A Tweet sized video/audio/media player card.

The summary card can be used for many kinds of web content, from blog posts and news articles, to products and restaurants.

The card is designed to give the reader a preview of the content before clicking through to your website just like a snippet.

You’ll notice that this card makes use of all of the properties described in the previous section: URL, title, description, and image.

Card Property	Description	Required
twitter:card	Should be set to a value of "summary"	No. If no twitter:card value is set, we will default to a summary card.
twitter:url	Canonical URL of the card content.	Yes
twitter:title	Title should be concise and will be truncated at 70 characters.	Yes
twitter:description	A description that concisely summarizes the content of the page, as appropriate for presentation within a Tweet. Do not re-use the title text as the description, or use this field to describe the general services provided by the website. Description text will be truncated at the word to 200 characters.	Yes
twitter:image	URL to a unique image representing the content of the page. Do not use a generic image such as your website logo, author photo, or other image that spans multiple pages. Images larger than 120x120px will be resized and cropped square based on longest dimension. Images smaller than 60x60px will not be shown.	No

If any required fields are omitted, the card may not be shown in the Tweet. Note that the card displays clear attribution for both the website and content creator. Here's the full HTML for the card above:

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary">
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@nytimes">
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@SarahMaslinNir">
<meta name="twitter:url" content="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/arts/music/amid-police-presence-fans-congregate-for-whitney-houstons-funeral-in-newark.html">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Parade of Fans for Houston’s Funeral">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="NEWARK - The guest list and parade of limousines with celebrities emerging from them seemed more suited to a red carpet event in Hollywood or New York than than a gritty stretch of Sussex Avenue near the former site of the James M. Baxter Terrace public housing project here.">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/02/19/us/19whitney-span/19whitney-span-articleLarge.jpg">
After this code is added the expanded tweet will appear as follows on Twitter when that particular link is shared:

This kind of code can be easily added to WordPress for each blogpost .

In order to add this code for each blogpost in Blogger, follow the following instructions:

1. Login to Blogger account.

2. Navigate to Design > Edit HTML

3. Click on Download Full Template for your security purpose.

4. Check the Expand Widget Templates box then..

5. Add the relevant code in the <head> section of your Blogger template. Enter the following code in the head section i.e above</head>

6. Click on the Save Template button

7. To check your description you can use the view source in your browser once you have navigated to the post page

This is an example code for 2 blogposts on my blog:

1) http://blog.webpro.in/2012/03/how-semantic-web-html5-microformats-and.html

2) http://blog.webpro.in/2012/06/empower-your-website-to-claim-your.html

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://blog.webpro.in/2012/06/empower-your-website-to-claim-your.html"'>

<meta name='twitter:card' value='summary'/>

<meta name='twitter:site' value='@webprotech'/>

<meta name='twitter:creator' value='@webprotech'/>

<meta name='twitter:url' value='http://blog.webpro.in/2012/06/empower-your-website-to-claim-your.html'/>

<meta name='twitter:title' value='Empower Your Website To Claim Your Search Engine Presence'/>

<meta name='twitter:description' value=' SEO though a branch of online marketing has its own purpose and identity which is beyond marketing – inbound or outbound. All about the SEO Cocktail '/>

<meta name='twitter:image' value='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-POb-AA9g7VQ/T9nZS79Z96I/AAAAAAAABcE/2QYKTrePsvo/s1600/cocktail.gif'/>

</b:if>

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "http://blog.webpro.in/2012/03/how-semantic-web-html5-microformats-and.html"'>

<meta name='twitter:card' value='summary'/>

<meta name='twitter:site' value='@webprotech'/>

<meta name='twitter:creator' value='@webprotech'/>

<meta name='twitter:url' value='http://blog.webpro.in/2012/03/how-semantic-web-html5-microformats-and.html'/>

<meta name='twitter:title' value='How The Semantic Web, HTML5, Microformats And SEO Are Inter-Linked'/>

<meta name='twitter:description' value=' HTML5 and microformats helping the representation of content as data for the semantic web '/>

<meta name='twitter:image' value='http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:W3c-semantic-web-layers.svg'/>

</b:if>

Twitter is in the process of bringing this new content preview experience to users on Twitter. To participate in the program, you should apply to participate. As Twitter rolls out this new feature to users and publishers, they are looking for sites with great content and those that drive active discussion and activity on Twitter.

SEO / Social Media - 07/17/2012

Matt Cutts' Opinion About Links vs Social Signals At SMX Advanced In June 2012

Matt Cutts in early June at SMX Advanced discussed the importance of links vs the social signals for the site.from the SEO and search engine presence perspective.

The video below shows Danny Sullivan and Matt Cutts discussion on this topic.

Google / Link Building / SEO - 07/06/2012

Empower Your Website To Claim Your Search Engine Presence

Author : Bharati Ahuja SEO is usually correlated with various concepts like rankings, links, content, etc. The Google Analytics metrics report the success or the failure depending on what metrics you focus on as per your web presence, purpose and priority. But, is SEO only about rankings and thereby traffic and conversions? The answer is an emphatic NO. I think that this sudden wave of correlating SEO with marketing is diluting the whole meaning and existence of the SEO industry. SEO though a branch of online marketing has its own purpose and identity which is beyond marketing – inbound or outbound. Good SEO empowers the website from the first link of the internal navigation structure to the last image displayed on the website. Good SEO empowers the website in such a way that as an offshoot the following benefits are derived: · A brand is built · The site gets regularly crawled and indexed by the search engines · The Technical aspects like the 301s, XML sitemaps, robots.txt etc. are up to the mark · The social media signals are integrated · Makes it immune to the negative effects of the algo. Changes · The site gets targeted locally and globally · Links get built naturally In order to derive those benefits the SEO needs to follow the strategic steps over a period of time .

The SEO Cocktail

· Optimum On-Page SEO (Neither more nor less) · Strengthen the internal architecture and navigation · Ensuring that the content falls under the category of quality content · Ensuring that content on the site is available in a balanced form of images, text, video, podcasts, news, etc. · Set canonical and duplicate content issues · Work on reducing page load time · Future proof the site with relevant microformats · Make sharing the content easy so that the site has the potential for getting natural links built gradually · Monitor the social media presence from the search engine perspective i.e share knowledge and information to add the value aspect to the social media account · Claim local presence via Google places and submission in important local directories. · Regularly suggesting and ensuring the execution of ideas for quality natural inbound links · Defend the site against negative SEO · Take corrective measures if the site gets affected adversely impacting the search engine presence negatively · Improve landing page design for better conversions · Improve upon the existing links and discard any if harmful · Customize 404 pages so that traffic from broken links is not lost · Monitor the analytics metrics to keep on improving continuously All these tasks involved in achieving SEO targets are a cocktail of logical, technical, management, design & development, promotion and psychological efforts which carve a special niche for SEO in the online world. SEO is a complete package due to which all roads from the web lead to your website or some online presence of the website reaping direct or indirect benefit. Measuring SEO success by the marketing perspective and the standard analytics metrics like visits, conversions, bounce rate, pages per visit etc. is a very narrow approach. All SEO benefit cannot be quantified as all the SEO efforts help build an online goodwill, reputation, persona, brand, reflect the company culture, add to the trust and authority factor and much more. The benefit accrued from all this cannot be quantified by any formula. You may get tired of spending on Ads. And paid campaigns, social media patterns may change affecting your social media marketing campaigns but genuine SEO efforts made for web presence keep adding on to the quality presence making it richer like old wine and empowering your overall web presence and website continously.

Bing / Google / SEO - 06/14/2012

Dealing With Negative Feedback In Comments, Reviews And on Social Media

Author : Bharati Ahuja

Content Marketing advocates the belief that if you share valuable, relevant , analytic and insightful content in various forms then you tend to correlate your persona on the web with the shared content and thereby the industry related to it. Digital content can be in the form of blog posts, images, videos, comments, reviews, podcasts, webinars, etc.

Sharing so much content as a natural offshoot generates responses which can be an appreciation, acknowledgement or a total rejection in the form of harsh criticism and negative feedback. Everyone can face the appreciation and accept the bouquets but we need to sensibly and gracefully handle the virtual brickbats as well.

As your blog gets more readership and as more and more people acknowledge your online presence on various platforms a healthy mix of reactions are generated online and facing them confidently and gracefully adds up to the authority, trust and if I may add the character to your online persona. Not everyone is going to agree with the views that one expresses in the content shared or published by you. If everyone agrees, then it is a matter of worrisome concern.

The first and foremost rule to take negative feedback constructively is “Never Take It Personally” as most of the time the person who has expressed the negative feedback in the form of comments or reviews does not know you personally and it is his response from what he understood by reading what you have written. Hence, it is a personal opinion and a perception and not a direct attack to you as a person.

Negative feedback can be a genuine difference of opinion a person has or can arise due to malicious intent too. But a negative feedback can be a powerful tool to establish online authority and gain customer loyalty if handled in an unbiased manner.

Some Points To Ponder:

1. Accept the fact that negative comments and feedback are bound to come your way if you are honest enough in expressing your thoughts and opinions.

2. You can accept positive comments all the time if you are a part of a mutual admiration community and not a part of the web community as a whole. In such a case you may get to read positive words about your product, company and yourself but you develop a negative online persona in the long run.

3. Standing by your thoughts, opinions and beliefs help you establish a unique online persona with an aura of self-confidence and uniqueness.

4. Never take them personally.

5. Acknowledge the feedback and reply accordingly.

6. A conversation thus generated helps to put forward your point of views and beliefs which in a way can earn you the authority and the trust factor.

7. Read the comment carefully, gather all the details and discuss further.

8. If need be you can take the matter offline too by discussing via phone .

9. Usually the negative feedback is from a dissatisfied or misinformed customer or a jealous competitor . In both the cases communicating with a right attitude helps solve matters.

10. Surf the web and see how others have handled such situations.

11. Every experience enriches you with knowledge. Make the most of it rather than shying away from it as it can be a golden opportunity in disguise.

12. Accepting an error or mistake made is a sign of strength and if you are right then standing by what you have said reflects the same strength of character.

Rejection and getting negative feedback is a part and parcel of content marketing . Learning how to deal with it having the right spirit helps you mature as an netizen and can put you in a win-win situation.

If the negative feedback comes from unknown sources or from the same sources repeatedly you can be rest assured that that you’re doing very well and some people just can’t take it with the true spirit of sportsmanship! - Be a smiling loser and a humble winner. When a winner makes a mistake, he says "My fault", when a loser makes a mistake, he throws the blame on someone else.

Social Media - 06/04/2012

@Avinash And +Think With Google Team On Shouting vs.Conversation vs."Utility" Marketing

Here's a video of a recent hangout that @avinash did with +Think with Google team. The topics discussed covered were:

Why is brand destruction so easy today?
Examples (From Seventh Generation and BMW - good - to Gatorade, ATT, and so many more sub optimal ones).
What kind of an organization structure do you need to have an optimal brand experience on social media for your audience?
Shouting vs. Conversation vs. "Utility" Marketing.

And so much more....

The Key Takeaways From The Hangout:

· The distance between its company and its brand getting destroyed is 2 pixels.

· Focus on sharing knowledge and information on social media which will add value to the lives of the people

· Understand the power of the medium

· Until now the brands have used the broadcast aspect of social and not the engagement aspect and when they fail to understand the engagement aspect it turns out to be an amplification nightmare

· It is like waking up every morning and walking the talk

· Every employee is a brand ambassador and the social media reflects the culture of the company

· In order to have control on the social media sharing on behalf of the company there can be a rule book or broad guidelines given to the employees who share on behalf of the company but have faith and assume intelligence on the other end.

· The rule book and guidelines to be broad parameters rather that the strict dos and donts.

· Review these parameters every 6 months and offer training to make the social engagement and amplification beneficial for the company

· Doing social effectively takes work and a shift in mind set and a new culture

· Companies using social effectively Cadbury’s, Esquire Magazine, BMW.

· People those who are going to get into social now are going to get a great advantage in future

Google - 05/26/2012

Editorial Policy: Human Expertise, Enhanced by AI

At WebPro Technologies, our content reflects over two decades of experience in SEO and digital strategy. We believe that valuable content is built on accuracy, clarity, and insight—and that requires human judgment at every step.

From 2024 onwards, we have been using AI tools selectively to brainstorm ideas, explore perspectives, and refine language, but AI is never the final author. Every article is researched, fact-checked, and edited by our team, ensuring relevance, accuracy, and originality. AI supports our workflow, but the responsibility for quality and credibility remains entirely human.

This hybrid approach allows us to combine the efficiency of technology with the depth of human expertise, so our readers get content that is both informative and trustworthy.

At WebPro, we see AI not as a replacement for human creativity, but as a tool that helps us raise the standard of excellence in the content we share.

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802, Astron Tech Park, Satellite Road, Opp. Gulmohar Park Mall, Ahmedabad 380015, India

+91 9825025904
info@webpro.in

Daily: 9:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday: Closed

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