How Much Traffic Does Bing Refer to Your Site?

How Much Traffic Does Bing Refer to Your Site?: "

I was going through our Analytics last night on SEJ and looking into our referrals from Bing, and thought I would share with our readers.

Over the last 30 days, Bing referrals account for 3.14% of the organic search traffic to Search Engine Journal. Looking at the top 3 referring search engines, Bing did top Yahoo for referrals to SEJ :

1. Google 91.46%


2. Bing 3.14%


3. Yahoo 3.09%

That may seem like a rather large difference and your first reaction may be something like “Bing traffic is not so great” but looking at our top traffic referrers for the past 30 days, and Bing is topping a lot of major websites and networks.

1. google


2. feedburner


3. bing


4. yahoo


5. twitter.com


6. facebook.com


7. sphinn.com


8. ask.com network


9. stumbleupon.com


10. aol


11. douban.com


12. mediapost.com


13. readwriteweb.com


14. reddit.com


15. en.wikipedia.org


16. delicious.com


17. twitterfeed


18. hootsuite.com

I do not think that this list is 100% correct however, since Google Analytics has such a difficult time consolidating all Twitter referrals into one metric. I think the Twitter driven traffic to SEJ does trump Bing & Yahoo. To track this better, we’ll be adding a new widget from BLVDstatus this week to better measure Twitter and socially driven traffic to SEJ.

So, what’s your Bing traffic look like? Feel free to share in the comments below.

Check out the SEO Tools guide at Search Engine Journal.

How Much Traffic Does Bing Refer to Your Site?

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5 Quick Ways To Improve Your Facebook SEO

5 Quick Ways To Improve Your Facebook SEO: "

With reports that Facebook sees more traffic than Google, it makes sense that many SMB owners are getting serious about setting up shop on the hip social networking site. Facebook pages are often being used in lieu of a real Web site (which I’d caution against) or as a business’ second home on the Web. With all the opportunities that Facebook provides for small business owners, it’s important that you take the proper steps to increase your SEO efforts on the site. After all, if no one can find them, then do they really even exist?

Give it a keyword-rich name

And by “keyword-rich”, I mean to use the name of your business. Your name will be the keyword your customers and potential fans will most often use when they’re trying to find you. So that’s what you want to show up for. Don’t try and get clever and stuff your name with too many keywords or appear for terms that you’re not really relevant for. Facebook is a personal social networking site. You’re going to turn users off by appearing overly spammy and salesy and you’re also likely to get yourself in trouble with Facebook. There are lots of areas where you can get a little looser with keyword use. Your page name is not one of those places. You want to reach your fans, not turn them off.

Be smart about your vanity URL

A few months ago Facebook opened up the opportunity for users to claim “vanity URLs” for their Facebook pages. For example, my Facebook vanity URL is facebook.com/lisabarone. These URLs make it easier for fans and customers to remember (or guess) where your page is located and it gives page owners a nice brand boost. Facebook has also opened up vanity URLs for Facebook Pages for those with more than 25 fans, which business owners would be smart to snatch up.

When you’re selecting your vanity URL, again keep in mind that the name you choose essentially becomes your URL. Again, I’d recommend using your business name, but there are opportunities to use keywords, as long as you do it sensibly. You want to pick something that adequately represents your brand and that will be easy for people to remember.

Use the Static FBML app to custom tab (landing page)

Many small business owners don’t realize that they can customize their Facebook profile to create a landing page of their very own creation. This is really important. The same way you use landing pages to speak and engage visitors on your Web site, you can do the very same thing from your Facebook profile using the static FBML app. By creating a specific page for people to land on, you help shape their experience and make sure the search engines are getting a keyword-rich page to spider.

To set this up, you’ll first have to add the Static FBML app to your page. Once you do, a pop-over will appear asking you to select the Page you want to add it to. You can select the Page you want to customize by clicking the “Add to Page” button. Once installed, you’ll be able to edit your page and get started creating your landing page. If you know a little bit of HTML, the process isn’t too complicated. Because it’s a little technical, I’ll direct you over to Jesse Stay’s post on Techipedia which will walk you through the process step-by-step. He does a far better job explaining it to SMB owners than I could. No need to confuse you.

Utilize the About box & Info tab

You want to take advantage of every opportunity that you have to write descriptive text about your business and to link smartly. The About box and Info tab give SMB owners an example to do exactly that.

• About box: The About box is one of the few places on your page that is accessible to the search engines. This little box located on the upper left hand side of the page gives you a couple hundred characters to tell people what you’re about, using the terms most important to you. Will it give you a huge boost? No. But every little bit helps so take the opportunity for every SEO bump you can get.


• Info Tab: The Info tab is another opportunity for you to include keyword-rich content about your business. Completing these sections is super important because the more complete your profile, the more likely Facebook will be able to show your page for related searches. Facebook also allows small business owners to include links to relevant pages/profiles, so make sure you’re using this area to drive traffic to other areas, as well.

Build Links To It

There are two ways to build links to your Facebook page to help increase its SEO power. The first way to build links is to increase your number of fans. Each time someone becomes a fan of your page, that is another link going towards it. Keep building your fan numbers and those links will quickly add up and help you dominate your SERP.

The second way to build links to your Facebook page is to build links off-site. For example, it means linking to your Facebook profile from your Web site, from your blog, from your other social networking sites, and encouraging others to link to it as well. The more links you can build to your Facebook page, the more authority you’re going to give it and the better it will rank in the search results.

As Facebook becomes a bigger part of small business owners’ marketing efforts, it’s important that you’re taking the proper steps to give these accounts as much SEO power as you can. Often with a few little tweaks you can create a page that both the users and the engines will love.

From Small Business Trends

5 Quick Ways To Improve Your Facebook SEO

When Gmail Gets Too Smart

When Gmail Gets Too Smart: "

Facebook Rolls Out Search Suggestion Feature

Facebook Rolls Out Search Suggestion Feature: "

The Faces Behind Social Media

By Business Pundit

Small Business Lessons We Can Learn from Watching Movies

Movies have a big impact on our everyday life. There is no denying that even with DVRs where we can record everything on cable television, we still take a lot of time to watch movies. The 2009 movie “Avatar” now has become the highest grossing film in history — by a wide margin.

In fact, technology has increased our appetite to watch to entertain ourselves since we can now watch not only on television, but computers and smartphones.

There’s no reason to feel guilty about watching a movie, thinking you should be working instead.

Relax! You can actually learn about business by watching movies!

I asked a few small business leaders what were their favorite movie quotes of all time and then I thought about what I learned from that movie. Grab your popcorn and take a look at what they shared:

NO EXCUSES!

Movie: Goodfellas. “Business is bad? F-you, pay me. Oh, you had a fire? F-you, pay me. Place got hit by lightning, huh? F-you, pay me.” (From Bob London)

• Lesson: If you are part of the organization, there are no excuses for results. It is also an incentive to keep your company overhead low so you have cash to pay for what you really need.

FOCUS FIRST, GROW LATER!

Movie: Jerry Maguire: Remember the Mission Statement? “We are losing our battle with all that is personal and real about our business. Every day I can look at a list of phone calls only partially returned. Driving home, I think of what was not accomplished, instead of what was accomplished.”

• Lesson: Fewer clients, more personal attention makes for a better business. Growth for growth’s sake is a bad business strategy.

STAND UP FOR YOUR BUSINESS!

Movie: Road House: “Be nice. Be nice until it is time to not be nice.” (From Prasann Thakrar)

• Lesson: Being nice in business does not always get the results you want. Many times, we need to press our point.

RISE TO THE OCCASION

Movie: Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium: “Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.” (From by Phillip Zannini – @PhillyMac)

• Lesson: We need to remember that we are responsible for our own success. Never look for that one magic bullet in business or for someone to save you because no one is coming. The magic comes from the hard work you give to your business.

EVERYONE NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO SELL

Movie: Glengarry Glen Ross “Good leads are for closers”. (From Vicki Donlan)

• Lesson: You need to know what to do with a lead if you are going to close a sale. There is no substitution for being able to sell. We all need to learn and have skilled sales people on our team.

GET TOUGH — DON’T COMPLAIN!

Movie: A League of Their Own: “There is no crying in Baseball”. (From Scratch at Boston Baby Dolls).

• Lesson: No matter how bad it gets, long term, crying does not help us in business.

From the same movie “Of course this is ‘hard’:

• Lesson: People always tell me that their business is especially hard. Guess what, every business is hard.

RELATIONSHIPS ARE POWERFUL

Movie: Hustle & Flow – You’re in charge of your business and the power of marketing relationships. (From Elizabeth W. Wilson)

• Lesson: No matter where you come from, you can become successful.

DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU WHAT YOU CAN’T DO

Movie: Legally Blonde: Elle uses what she has to achieve her goals. (Submitted by Phillip Zannini)

• Lesson: We all need to make it work from where we are right now

LEAD BY EXAMPLE

Movie: It’s a Wonderful Life: The movie shows the principles of leadership. George Bailey puts his customers, employee and family interests first by taking responsibility. (From Stephen Antisdel of Precept Partners)

• Lesson: If more financial institutions has operated this way maybe the “Great Recession” would have been avoided.

LOVE YOUR LIFE

My favorite movie quotes are from the movie, Jerry Maguire, as said by Jerry’s mentor, Dickie Fox:

”Hey, I don’t have all the answers. In life, to be honest, I failed as much as I have succeeded. But I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success.”

Want more? Check out Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo, the co-author of The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies interview on my radio show.

What are your favorite quotes or business lessons from movies? Share them below.

From Small Business Trends

Small Business Lessons We Can Learn from Watching Movies

I Apologize To No Computer! Ctrl + Z Cards

I Apologize To No Computer! Ctrl + Z Cards: "

These Ctrl + Z cards let a computer savvy recipient know you wish you could undo a particular operation. Probably not a bra strap either, although you're welcome to try. Just don't come crying to me when you get your face Ctrl + P'd with an open palm. Kidding, I'm here for you. Yesterday. I'm here for you yesterday. Call me when you invent a time machine.

The ultimate 'I'm sorry' card? Yes! [myextralife]

Thanks to Lisa, who sends anthrax-laced delete cards."

Thanks to Geekologie.com

Google Replaces SearchWiki with Stars for Customized Search [Search]

By Lifehacker

Google's messed around with personalizing search results for years, and changed its tactics often. Their latest idea kills SearchWiki in favor of adding a 'star' to a result you want to see up top in the future.

It's a feature that's rolling out, but should be available to everyone in the next few days, according to Google. When it arrives, any result you click to star is added to your Google Bookmarks, Google Toolbar, and any searches you do in and around that topic in the future. So if you star your local favorite coffee spot, expect to see it in a mini-box up top when you search for 'coffee' in the future. SearchWiki results will stick around for those with Google accounts; if you liked leaving notes on search results, Google recommends its SideWiki offering.

Can you see value in starring results, or is that what bookmarks are for? Share your thoughts on Google's latest personalized search experiment in the comments.

Stars make search more personal [Official Google Blog via CNET/DeepTech]

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Paper Rater Analyzes and Improves Your Writing [Writing]

If you like to write but lack confidence in your skills, Paper Rater is a a free, web-based service that analyzes your writing and offers feedback on your grammar, spelling, and more.

Paper Rater couldn't be easier to use. Just paste in the text you want analyzed, choose what type of content it is—essay, research paper, speech, etc.—and submit it for review. Within seconds, Paper Rater generates a report that analyzes several aspects of your submission.

Naturally the app takes a look at grammar and spelling, but it also gives feedback on your writing style and choice of words. To get suggests on word or phrasing replacement, just right click on the highlighted words.

Paper Rater also detects plagiarism by comparing the content you submit with published online content to see if there are any similarities. This feature can be overridden by simply flagging passages with the proper citations.

Paper Rater is a solid tool for double-checking your work as you prepare your next speech or presentation. What tools do you rely on to hone your writing skills? Share in the comments.

Paper Rater [via Download Squad]

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