Alright folks, BeTweeted is almost there. A grass-roots effort to begin a new trend of socially responsible advertising on Twitter--a sincere effort to see it monetized without spamming--now ranks number 12 on Google for the keyword "advertise on Twitter." This may seem like an unusual post, but I know so many of the readers are passionate about our mantra... we're asking for some link-juice.

That's right, linkbacks. I've watched with a bit of surprise as Twitter users openly tell their followers "I'm almost to 10,000 followers... can you help me" and loyalists jump right on board. But it's not just about us and our fame. Let me remind you what will happen when an ad service like BeTweeted suddenly finds itself on page 1 of search results:

Nearly 10x the traffic. That's the difference b/w page 1 and page 2. That means 10x more ads for you to tweet (if you're a twitterer). But more importantly, it also means 10x more advertisers getting the message that Twitter is not about SPAM!

So, what can you do? Link to BeTweeted from your own blog, website, facebook page, ning site, or linkedin profile. And, to be more specific, link a keyword-rich string like this: "Advertise on Twitter with BeTweeted."

Labels: Advertise, Blog, Monetize, SEO, Socially Responsible, Spam, Twitter

I was watching the Tonight Show last night and was captivated by a commercial. Now, I know there's this unspoken tradition of hatred toward Microsoft among many computer gurus, but I have to admit I don't jump on that bandwagon very easily. And, to make the point that Microsoft isn't out of great ideas, I would like to introduce you to Bing.

If you haven't heard of it, Bing is a new search engine. That's right, they have the audacity to think they can play in Google's back yard. But guess what? I think they just might be onto something here. And, no, I'm not just saying that because I get higher page ranking for my keyword on bing than Google: "Advertise on Twitter."

The basic premise is that, as people change the way they use the internet, search has to change with it. What is this major change that they think search needs to react to. The fact that they claim 4.5 new websites are created every second. So, how much of that do you think is crap? How much is designed just for SEO with no content in mind? Bing thinks it's becoming an issue.

What's more, the site search functions that so many have come to enjoy have become even more prevalent and easier to use on Bing. For example, search Bing for "twitter" and the first result includes a site search field. Google doesn't offer that. Try the same for eBay, Amazon, even Google itself (ironically).

As for advertising, their revenue model looks strikingly familiar. Sponsored links occupy most of the right column, and of course, the top spot in search results. Nothing new there.

But, what I do find a helpful advantage over Google is the offering of related searches in the left column.

What are you thoughts? Try it out. See if it might replace your home page. It has mine.

Labels: Advertise, bing, Monetize, SEO, Twitter

There's a distinct difference between search engine marketing and search engine optimization. What a lot of people what to know is, "will Twitter links boost my SEO?" That's a great question. Let's think about it.

First, for the novices reading, what we're talking about is what some people call "link juice." It's the value that Google places on your website for every time it finds another website linking to your own. In other words, when Google realizes there are lot of other sites out there that link to your site, it thinks there must be something good there and you move higher in search rankings. Now, this is an incredibly oversimplified illustration, but that's the gist of it.

So when you tweet a link in Twitter, that must have amazing impact, right? I mean, Twitter is the epitome of fresh content, dynamic, full of links, keyword rich... it's got the perfect mix for high Google authority. So, if they link to you, that must be the golden link, right? Wrong. See, Twitter actually tells Google via their back-end code NOT to follow any links in the tweet stream. In other words, its as if Google turns a blind eye to the links in the stream.

So, is there SEO value? It would seem that the answer is in fact no. But, while the link juice isn't there, I would suggest this is still a pretty powerful SEO tool. Why? Because of the shear number of visitors you get. Visitors equate to subscribers (provided you have RSS... a must for anyone whose serious about SEO). And, what you may NOT know is that Google not only loves to see that you offer RSS, but they really like it when your RSS gets read a lot. Didn't know they looked at that, did ya?

In short, no, you won't instantly jump to page one just by having links to your website in the tweet stream. Just like anything in life, it takes time for the benefits to come. But, if you use Twitter responsibly to build genuine traffic that subscribes to your content, you'll find that it's a pretty useful tool for upping your page rank.

Labels: SEO, Social Media, Twitter