Capital Press Digital Marketing Services

Agricultural SEO and Google Instant

2010-09-22T10:10:00.000-07:00

When Google launched its instant search a couple of week ago, there was cries that SEO was dead. These cries probably came from people who hoped they wouldn't have to deal with SEO anymore. Like most changes these are evolutionary--changing things but not blowing up the system, ...yet.

One blog I follow made some predictions and now have some data to see how close they were. It is a great article and gives more insight than my summary below. http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/21/guest-post-how-google-instant-can-help-and-hurt-seo/

The summary is:
1. get on page one of search. Instant is at present driving traffic below the fold more than expected but killing traffic on page two.
2. Long tail or long phrases are not performing well, people opt for the more usual phrases and keywords, so optimize for the KEYWORDS not long tail
3. Adult keywords are taking a big hit. Google only suggests mature words, so all you out there thinking to rely on Google for smut, clean it up!!

Agricultural SEO of course varies in some ways, we tend to have more long tail SEO because of the complexity of the industry, but we may have to adjust and get even more precise. Ag SEO knows the importance of page 1 results, now we have even more reason to drive the rankings to page one. As the average age of farmers is in the late 50's or early 60's, we understand mature and we certainly understand dirt, but by inclination keeping within mature guidelines for us is just a non-issue.

Of course these results may vary, as they continue to roll Instant out, but it does give your SEO some direction.

No website--Not to worry the web is a fad

2010-09-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share some reactions and comments I have been getting as I'm calling Agri-businesses with no websites for Capital Press Digital Marketing Services.

One did actually try to tell me it was a fad then he laughed. He had been using that line for a while but even he didn't believe it anymore.

I've had several tell me directories were their web pages. After the first one, I didn't argue, they see it that way, they get calls, they are on the Internet, no worries.

One told me they get better leads from the phone calls. the Internet users just wanted information and were not serious. I wonder who they will call when they are serious. Won't be him. They don't even know he exists.

I got several my daughter/son/brother-in-law is building my website. I have those on my list to call in a couple of months. I think most will still not have a website and they will have missed 2 more months of business.

The economy is another reason. I understand about how hard it is out there right now. It doesn't look better to any of these guys. I asked. One told me he had been carefully planning for this economic downturn for the last 10 years. He was still cautious. That takes a lot of focus to go through the busy years always expecting the worst. I wonder what he could have grown with some modest spending during the good years. He is happy now his predictions were right.

It is fun overcoming all these objections and finding the words to get them to realize, now is the time and waiting will just cost you more business. Can't wait to begin tomorrow's calls.

New Website

2010-08-31T09:38:00.000-07:00

Off today to start the website development process for another Ag client and Internet late bloomer. We started Capital Press Digital Marketing to open Internet doors for our clients who just don't have the time or the inclination to design a website. They just need a basic site so they can take advantage of the web's business opportunities.

For example our client West's Flying Service is still busy this year when they said they would normally be done. Can we attribute this to their new website or a late growing season. Probably a bit of both.

The Internet is used as a research tool if you are not on the web how will people find you? Physically looking something up in the Yellow Pages is almost a thing of the past. Our new Yellow Page directories were delivered a month ago and they are still sitting wrapped in their plastic right where they were delivered. And we didn't hide them they are by the copy/fax/scanner. It gets a bunch of traffic.

Internet directories abound, in fact, they are way past abounding. I know when I search I check to see what I am clicking and I will choose the company website before a directory. There is more information available almost always at the website than on a directory. I use directories of course when I just need a phone number or address but if I'm engaged in product research I know I will find more useful information on their website.

So we are creating websites so Ag businesses have an information location on the Internet. Think of it as an "Open for Business" sign on the information super highway.

I'm Impressed- Not

2010-08-25T11:21:00.001-07:00

"Try this great software with do all these wonderful things, free trial." It was recommended by SEO pros on Twitter and then ReTweeted. So I thought free trail, I'll give it a go.

Didn't load.

I also had a free trial of another software which I liked, but I needed to have expenditure prayed over and another employee look at it. Well the free trial expired, the discount was revoked. The free for life keyword tool doesn't work anymore. I just blew if off my machine.

God knows I make mistakes, I am the world's worse proofer for example. But for heaven's sake, make sure programs do what the say or at least load. No I'm not on Vista or some obscure system, so it should work.

Working with farmers, ranchers, and in agri-business reenforces your upbrining or at least mine. I have voices in my head saying,"Do what you promise, keep your word, do your best." It's the best way to do business.

Can great SEO overcome poor content?

2010-08-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

I just read by Bob Warfield's blog which asked would you trust a marketer without a blog? Interesting question. As a long-time marketer who for years didn't have a blog but then no one did, I felt trustworthy. But now as we all know things have changed, been turned on their head, new paradigms, new rules, actually we blew the whole thing up and started over. Ag companies in some cases are coming late to party.

His point was if you spend all your time on Twitter or even Facebook you couldn't produce the content that people would actually read, use, re-post, refer to, etc. I think it is the limited attention span argument in different clothes. If your content is just 140 characters long can you do the heavy lifting needed to build a long standing community rather than just a following? The answer is probably yes, but is the community generating leads or business? That answer maybe different.

I think great SEO can overcome poor content or no content for a while. Look at great advertising--it can create interest and trial, but advertising at its most brilliant can't make you rebuy a crummy product. I think SEO functions the same way. It can get to the top of the list but to stay there you need to have a good product or service.

This will give away my age, but Kmart started to remodel and update their stores and product mix calling the new stores Big K. The remodeled revamped stores were an improvement and it looked like they might regain their number 1 position. But they started advertising Big K before they got all the stores retooled. People went into the stores expecting changes and found the same old Kmart. Customers are not stupid, they knew then and they know now when a product is not what is promised, when there is no substance. What got Kmart into trouble and is certainly at play in the SEO world is survival. Can you and your company survive until that community is build and sending you leads?

It is so tempting to take the quick and easy path and maybe you only have enough resources for the quick and easy and you hope to develop the substance as you are building the community. I think you have to have both, the content people want to read and repost and the SEO to find it. Great content with no traffic is useless too. If no one is reading, what is the point?

So as with most things if not all, do it right, use your common sense, build the content, tweet the links, optimize your site. You will survive and thrive. Capital Press Digital Marketing Services can help with both Ag web content and Ag SEO. We know and understand Ag. We create Ag content that 100,000 people read every week. We can create customized content for you.

Check out our website.

Keyword Research Tools

2010-08-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

My head is spinning. I have been trying keyword tools. The results vary so much. The costs vary so much. Some of these should be gold plated. I think I may be back to Google. They should know what words are being searched. Right? But they are not as easy to use as some of the others which have analyzed, collected, grouped, and otherwise spun the google free tools.

My recommendation would be to try the free trials for several of these tools in your price range, compare them to the google ad words results and then pick the one that works the way your brain works.

Let me know which one(s) you use and why. Help my head stop spinning.

Keyword Research-- Step Two-Can You Own the Keyword?

2010-08-16T11:50:00.000-07:00

Once you discover what keywords are being searched,for "how to" see August 13th post, you must decided which words you can own. Owning a keyword gets you ranked on the first page for a search. If decided to open a pet sitting business trying to own pet sitting would be impossible but pet sitting in Salem, or Willamette Valley is definitely possible.

I think most web searches go like this--first search: pet sitting; search returns thousands of mentions, on how to pet sit, theory of pet sitting, and some businesses; all of which will not find you a pet sitter in the area. Next search: Pet sitters Salem. Ah! there are a few local pet sitters to pick from. So you must optimize your site for Pet Sitters in Salem, not the more generic pet sitter keyword.

Capital Press Digital has a similar problem, we do web copywriting, SEO, websites, news feeds, and newsletter. So do about million other companies and consultants. But how many of them understand agriculture? Not many. While the process is the same with Ag as it is in another industry, the terminology and the culture certainly are different. By knowing Ag we can decrease the learning curve and get your newsletter, website, Ag SEO done more efficiently, quicker and thus save you money. Can't beat that in these time.

For more details of Capital Press Digital Marketing Services visit our website: http://www.capitalpress.biz/marketing services.

Keywords- to research or not to research?

2010-08-13T11:11:00.000-07:00

RESEARCH- I thought this didn't even need to be stated or talked about, but then I'm a researcher both by inclination and from a previous life. But when working with a client who specializes in a very specific type of massage I was assured that everyone knew about this speciality. I didn't but then I'm not normal...ask anyone.

So we did some simple research using Google Keywords. Found no searches for the term. We ranked, then narrowed the search geographically still no searches. She belongs to a trade group for the specialty so we reasoned if the potential client knew the term they would find my client through that organization's website.

But keyword research found avenues she had never considered--massage and stress relief or massage and pain relief. That made her start thinking about who and why someone was searching. Searchers have a problem to solve, so searchers were looking for the benefit not the feature. Stealing something from my earliest sales training--benefits-talk about what the product or service can do for you not the features. Simply put talk about---relief not technique.

So with no research, we would have spent money and time optimizing her website for keywords with no traffic. No matter how well we had done the job the result still would be no traffic. My clients practice has gone from 4 clients per week to a waiting list. I'd say it was worth the 30 minutes it took to do the research.

How dos this apply to Ag SEO? Well the other day I started a keyword research for a tractor store in Oregon. Tractors have some searches but used tractors or used tractors for sale really rings the bell.

So first things first check out either Google AdWord Keyword Tool or sign up for Market Samurai's free keyword research software tool.

Affordable, Fresh and Relevant Ag Website Content

2010-08-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Do you need affordable, fresh and relevant agricultural content for your website? Capital Press Digital can help. We can tailor a newsfeed for you. For example, Oregonians for Food and Shelter will soon be getting a crop protection newsfeed delivered directly to their new website and readers at ofsonline.

We also have California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington Ag newsfeeds available. We also can deliver a dairy and cattle newsfeed.

Why would you want our content on your website, TRAFFIC. Visitors come more often if content changes. Would you log on to see the same old stuff again and again? NO.

A recent study by comScore noted that 123 million American read newspapers online. That is 57% of the total US Internet audience. So at least half of us are reading news. Also news sites generate higher click through rates too. It stands to reason if the news content is on your site, people will stay longer and read more. No click throughs needed -- the news is right there can't get more convenient than that.

So if news content brings traffic, increases length of stay, and number of pages read, why wouldn't you jump at the chance to include news from the West premier Ag news source, Capital Press. Email me at kmarikos@capitalpress.com. Get started today.

Just in Case You Missed It --Ag Social Media for Real

2010-08-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just in case you missed my last post about social media being a viable tool for Agri-Business. Take a look at what Forbes says.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/08/05/twitter-commodity-traders-personal-finance-farmer-crop-yield.html

I do love a great case of synergy. My associate editor just sent me this article 2 hours after my last social media and Ag.

Power of Facebook -yes even for Agri-Business

2010-08-05T08:42:00.000-07:00

Think Facebook can't help your business? The following is a post from one of my Facebook friends.

"The Burgerville Nomad will be making burgers in Salem this next Monday! You will be able to find it downtown around 12:30. Come to daddy my Walla Walla Onion Rings!"

This went out to all his friends and several people commented so then it went to all their friends. If his Facebook is hooked up to his Twitter it went out to even more people. At least three people commented, in the first 10 minutes after it was posted, that they would be there. Not bad ROI for a something a customers posted and it cost the company nothing. Nothing except being so good your customers advertise for you.

Do you have customers that will be that excited about something you are doing? Are you building a fan base on Facebook to encourage posts and tweets? If not Capital Press Digital can make sure you are maximizing your presence on social media and the web. We can help with Ag SEO websites, newsletters, press releases, agricultural SEO. Think it can't work for an Ag business? Capital Press has over 1600 fans on Facebook and 2400 followers on Twitter. Facebook is second at referred visitors to CapitalPress.com. It is closing on Google. Facebook is so powerful some colleges are not issuing email addresses to students anymore. The colleges found students were not using email but communicating through Facebook. It is for real, if you want to be in business in 2015 you need to start building the interactive customer base now.

Shifting Smart Phone Market

2010-08-03T11:27:00.000-07:00

Nielsen announced today that Androids are outselling iPhones for the first time. 27%of smart phone buyers bought Androids 23% bought iPhones last quarter. Both are still behind the 33% market share held by Blackberrys, But interestingly only half of current Blackberry owners would rebuy a Blackberry compared to 71% of Droid users and an staggering 91% of iPhone users. Of course, the problems with the new iPhone may change that number. Next quarters number's will be interesting to watch.

How many smart phones were sold? 14.7 million last quarter. This compares to 42million computers sold per quarter but still the numbers are getting closer together. I've been thinking if I weren't the PowerPoint queen around here I wonder what I would need a PC for. Email? Facebook? Twitter? Research?

So if you are thinking search isn't going mobile I think you would be wrong. Especially since farmers and ranchers are connected to home and the world by thier cell phones. Mobile search is the now or the very new future for agricultural SEO.

Search Keyword Research- the place to start

2010-08-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Think of your business. Do you know what words are searched most? You should. It is the basis of successful search. Go to GoogleAdWords and find the Keywords Tool and find out. For example, one of our Ag SEO clients urged us to use aerial spraying, but people were searching for crop dusting. Big difference. We did our research and convinced them to use crop dusting.

Another client insisted on listing his farm equipment and JD not John Deere. Hardly anyone searches for JD. All his listings would be found by only a small percentage of his potential customers. JD may be shorter and easier but it will not draw the largest audience.

Remember to use the words your customers use not the words the marketing people use. Yes, I represent that remark. Marketers dress things up, use shortcuts or words to differentiate products and if they are really good those words become keywords, but until they do you must remember to use the words your customers use.

Once you have the words people use, make sure they appear in your tags, text, picture captions, and headlines. It might make sense to use some for landing pages, so people can find important portions of your business quickly.

Stay focused don't get off on tangents, but do play around experiment and make corrections until you get the position you want.

Co-op SEO and the Future of Websites

2010-07-27T15:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.convinceandconvert.com/search-marketing-advice/co-op-seo-and-the-future-of-websites/

Co-op search sounds like a perfect way to deliver Ag's message to the public. Besides Ag folks know how to make use of Co-ops. I noticed one of the topics for Ag Chat today dealt with finding new channels to get Ag message to the non-farming public. Here is Jason Kintzler of PitchEngine explaining Co-op Search. I don't know about you but I'm headed to PitchEngine now.

Way back in the early days of PitchEngine (like 2009), people thought we were crazy to offer our social media news release service for free. “I can publish search engine optimized pitches for free, really?” Sales reps from traditional PR distribution services were even quoted as saying, “there’s a reason it’s free.” – implying that it doesn’t perform well. Little did they know, the model was well beyond their pay grade.

The Idea: “Co-op SEO”
The terminology came from one of our developers (Thanks, Dave), but the model has been in place since our inception. Basically, it’s everyone’s intention to tell their story and to share it. Which brings up the whole “viral” aspect of the platform.

Here’s how it works:

1.People come to PitchEngine to get the word out about something.
2.They create a pitch (which might be an announcement, a virtual brochure, a press release or even an ad)
3.They share their pitch
Before PitchEngine, you could:

1.Optimize your own content (which is difficult to do without some real knowledge of SEO)
2.Pay a service that in turn pays to have your content listed in search engines (expensive)
3.Get coverage on a popular blog or online news portal like Mashable that has great SEO juice
So, What Changed?
PitchEngine provided a platform for people to get their word out. Each of the 27,000 companies that use the service had the same goal – to share their pitch. Aside from optimizing the structure of the site and the pitches themselves, sheer volume and traffic drove our authority with Google and other search engines. Meaning, a brand (or person) could benefit by leveraging the crowd. The more one company shares their pitch, the more views it has, the more backlinks it provides, and so on. That’s what we’ve dubbed, “Co-op SEO.” It’s the power of the users, the crowd, that makes the engine rev.

How Does This Help You?
I’m not an SEO expert, but I’ve learned from some of the best. Let’s say you’re a small business owner who wants your brand to appear in Google when someone searches for your product or service in your area. If you make a blog or website, you have to find ways to get people to visit your site, thus affecting your search indexing. But, if that same brand simply creates a pitch on PitchEngine, and includes the product or service in their headline as keywords, they will typically appear somewhere on Google within 30 minutes for the search terms.

But what if you’re a big business with lots of SEO already? Spread the net. Regardless of size, you need backlinks. The more content pointing to your site from sites with authority the better. Use PitchEngine to centralize the launch of your stories. The more content, the better which leads me to the next thing…

Social Media Optimization
Sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you spread your brand’s net even wider. Someone searches for you, they’ll find your Twitter profile or Facebook brand page. This is another example of why you need accounts on these sites. But what do your consumers, journalists or readers do once they get there? Are they seeing exactly the stories that are important to you? How do you get them to your website or blog? Perhaps the better question is: How can you tell them your story?

For a few years, the blog (or website) has been the place to expand and give people the real “back story” about you or your business. Then came social networks that were great places to deliver and share messages – but not really that great for telling your story. That’s where the Pitch™ comes in. It enables a brand to share their story in it’s entirety and with context. Unlike your blog, which is on an island, the Pitch is mobile and travels around to all the places you need it to – email, social networks, search engines, etc., It’s not just distribution, it’s self publishing.

Why Am I sharing This?
Transparency is a brand currency on the social web. I’m sharing our recipe with you because I think it’s important to understand. The “magic” that the middlemen used to sell you is simply becoming snake oil. We’re often compared to PR distribution services, which is okay, but it’s apples to oranges. Their magic? It’s called Comtex, and every big PR wire service uses it to bolster their numbers. Comtex takes their feeds and spreads them around to their member sites. Does that drive business to you? I’ll let you be the judge on that one.

The new PitchEngine platform (launched about three weeks ago), takes things to the next level. Social media has changed the way we communicate. I think PitchEngine has the potential to change the way we publish – maybe even the way we think of our blogs and websites.

Co-op SEO and the Future of Websites
July 26th, 2010 Written By: Jay Baer 1 Comment and 16 Reactions94
tweets
TOP1KPlease RetweetGuest post by Jason Kintzler, the Founder and CEO of PitchEngine, where people go to get the word out. He’s a former journalist turned PR guy and straight shooter at New Media Cowboy.

Way back in the early days of PitchEngine (like 2009), people thought we were crazy to offer our social media news release service for free. “I can publish search engine optimized pitches for free, really?” Sales reps from traditional PR distribution services were even quoted as saying, “there’s a reason it’s free.” – implying that it doesn’t perform well. Little did they know, the model was well beyond their pay grade.

The Idea: “Co-op SEO”
The terminology came from one of our developers (Thanks, Dave), but the model has been in place since our inception. Basically, it’s everyone’s intention to tell their story and to share it. Which brings up the whole “viral” aspect of the platform.

Here’s how it works:

1.People come to PitchEngine to get the word out about something.
2.They create a pitch (which might be an announcement, a virtual brochure, a press release or even an ad)
3.They share their pitch
Before PitchEngine, you could:

1.Optimize your own content (which is difficult to do without some real knowledge of SEO)
2.Pay a service that in turn pays to have your content listed in search engines (expensive)
3.Get coverage on a popular blog or online news portal like Mashable that has great SEO juice
So, What Changed?
PitchEngine provided a platform for people to get their word out. Each of the 27,000 companies that use the service had the same goal – to share their pitch. Aside from optimizing the structure of the site and the pitches themselves, sheer volume and traffic drove our authority with Google and other search engines. Meaning, a brand (or person) could benefit by leveraging the crowd. The more one company shares their pitch, the more views it has, the more backlinks it provides, and so on. That’s what we’ve dubbed, “Co-op SEO.” It’s the power of the users, the crowd, that makes the engine rev.

How Does This Help You?
I’m not an SEO expert, but I’ve learned from some of the best. Let’s say you’re a small business owner who wants your brand to appear in Google when someone searches for your product or service in your area. If you make a blog or website, you have to find ways to get people to visit your site, thus affecting your search indexing. But, if that same brand simply creates a pitch on PitchEngine, and includes the product or service in their headline as keywords, they will typically appear somewhere on Google within 30 minutes for the search terms.

But what if you’re a big business with lots of SEO already? Spread the net. Regardless of size, you need backlinks. The more content pointing to your site from sites with authority the better. Use PitchEngine to centralize the launch of your stories. The more content, the better which leads me to the next thing…

Social Media Optimization
Sites like Facebook and Twitter can help you spread your brand’s net even wider. Someone searches for you, they’ll find your Twitter profile or Facebook brand page. This is another example of why you need accounts on these sites. But what do your consumers, journalists or readers do once they get there? Are they seeing exactly the stories that are important to you? How do you get them to your website or blog? Perhaps the better question is: How can you tell them your story?

For a few years, the blog (or website) has been the place to expand and give people the real “back story” about you or your business. Then came social networks that were great places to deliver and share messages – but not really that great for telling your story. That’s where the Pitch™ comes in. It enables a brand to share their story in it’s entirety and with context. Unlike your blog, which is on an island, the Pitch is mobile and travels around to all the places you need it to – email, social networks, search engines, etc., It’s not just distribution, it’s self publishing.

Why Am I sharing This?
Transparency is a brand currency on the social web. I’m sharing our recipe with you because I think it’s important to understand. The “magic” that the middlemen used to sell you is simply becoming snake oil. We’re often compared to PR distribution services, which is okay, but it’s apples to oranges. Their magic? It’s called Comtex, and every big PR wire service uses it to bolster their numbers. Comtex takes their feeds and spreads them around to their member sites. Does that drive business to you? I’ll let you be the judge on that one.

The new PitchEngine platform (launched about three weeks ago), takes things to the next level. Social media has changed the way we communicate. I think PitchEngine has the potential to change the way we publish – maybe even the way we think of our blogs and websites.

Do you need a newsletter?

2010-07-26T15:15:00.000-07:00

Do you have new products you want your current customers to be aware of? Do you have tips and ideas that if customers used they could improve their profitability or efficiency? Do you have reviews of new products you want to share? Do you have events or announcements to share?

Do you need a newsletter? If you answered yes to any of these questions the answer is probably. If you answered yes to 2 or more of the questions the answer is definitely.

Newsletters also establish you an an authority on your subject and when you give the customers useful information you score points as helpful as well. Plus, you can gather email address for your database, which is almost always an excellent plan.

So who writes it? You ideally, but you already have a very full plate. Then someone who understands your industry and keeps up on what is going on. If the newsletter just touts your products the readership will decline. So you must include information about the market, the industry, tell them something new, or produce more details about a well know fact.

Sounds like big job. Well it can be. Capital Press digital can help. We have a stable of writers who not only know agriculture inside and out but keep abreast of trends and innovations. They can tie the trends to your business and products. They are professionals their copy is intelligent and very readable.

Great, you say but that sounds expensive. Well, it isn't. We can produce a one page email newsletter or print version for around $200 per month. That is about what we spent each month on lunches. For anyone who has labored over a newsletter or stared at an empty page knows it is not easy to produce a newsletter once but producing one each month is very demanding. You will get all that time back to run your business.

It is affordable, you get your messages about new products delivered to your customers, you gain authority status and gain new email addresses. It seems simple and it is.

Give us a call at 503 385 4910 or at kmarikos@capitalpress.com and we can get you started.

Entities and Ag SEO

2010-07-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

Last week Google, amid all the iPhone 4-G fix hype, quietly announced it bought Metaweb. What does that mean for Agricultural SEO?

Metaweb says it is more powerful because it goes beyond words. We have all searched for something and gotten all sorts of things that weren't what we wanted at all. We live in Marion County in Salem. Getting the Marion County Fair site can be interesting or Salem Public Library or even the Capital Press is a printing company in UK. Even more frustrating is the example in the video Boston the town, the band, the basketball team?

What happens when a John Deere dealer hooks up to the John Deere entity? Does the dealer name become just another dealer or can they exploit this to make the local brand stronger? Right now John Deere website focuses on the product as it should, but the local dealers all look interchangeable.

As search engines master this challenge search will become less frustrating for the user and ads will become more accurately targeted. Brands could become stronger. But what will happen to the local franchises selling those brands? Local businesses in ag and elsewhere need to have a strong presence on the web. We will have to learn this new twist with that in mind.

Take a look a the metaweb video for a much better explanation of how the whole thing works.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJfrNo3Z-DU

Agricultual SEO and Social Media

2010-07-19T15:11:00.000-07:00

Are you still resisting Facebook and Twitter? It's time to join in, not resist. Search engines are using social media like Facebook and Twitter to rank organic search. So if you want an easy way to get your search rankings to rise join in.

It is fast a easy to start a Facebook page. Just get started then you can customize it as you go. Twitter is even easier you need a picture or logo then you just sign in and start.

Once you sign up, you have to play around and try things. Get come friends, find a group, start a list. There are several Ag groups to already very active. They can be great role models. Check out the Ag Chat Foundation's Ag chat on Twitter, Washington Friends of Forest and Farms on Facebook. Nevada Farm Bureau on Twitter. On Twitter just search for #farms or #ag chat and read the posts.

Just get started.

Get Links from Bloggers--SEOmoz video

2010-07-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

http://wwwseomoz.org/blog/the-beginners-guide-to-getting-links-from-blogger-video

Something I found on SEOmoz site. They have a whiteboard Friday. This has great helpful hints on how to engage bloggers and get them to link to you. Definitely worth the time to view. How does tie to agricultural SEO? Now I just have to go find funny pictures of tractors.

Twitrratr- Ag Speak, Ag SEO, Why you have to understand Ag

2010-07-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Twitratr, as some of you know, keeps tract of your positive and negative tweets. So if you want to know what people are staying about you just go there and type in your business name.

I check on Capital press every so often. Today our score was 2 positive 98 neutral and 2 negative. You have to sort through all the ones that are about capital and that happened to have press in the body- for xample press relase about capital investment.

But one negative one caught my eye. It was the debunking myth of rapeseeds bad reputation - capital press (subscription) - http://www.askbiography.com/bio/jack_brown_(footballer).html (view)
It got a negative rating because of rape and bad.

This just points out the problems of jargon and search engines. They are like manic speed readers with absolutely no comprehension. No way they can be anything else and make sense of anything. But it does make my point that an agricultural SEO does exist and it takes someone who understands and speak Ag to do make SEO work for Agri-Businesses.

Mobile Search will Impact Agri-Businesses

2010-07-13T10:58:00.000-07:00

How do these four types impact agricultural search? Here's my take. What is yours?

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31665

This is the link to Marketing Sherpa's chart detailing how businesses think personalized, real time, video and mobile search will affect them. As you can see from the chart most think personalized and real time will have the biggest impact.

Mobile search should have the largest impact on Agri-businesses. Farmers connect with the world using their phones. Phones are on the tractor, in the truck, or somewhere on the body almost always. The cell phone has allowed farmers to always be in contact; something that used to require yelling, driving to fields, or just loosing touch for hours. This should be essential for any Agri-business.

Personalized search could limit some businesses from showing up on your prospects personalized or suggested list. So businesses with low awareness, low Internet traffic, new businesses, or new product lines added to established businesses could suffer. More reason to make sure your website is optimized for all your products or services and more pressure to keep the rankings building.

Video will become more important as more video detail products, techniques and technology make their way to the web. Video content ranks well on searches and should be considered an integral part of any agricultural search program.

Real time search will make Twitter and Facebook more important. Instead of waiting for days or weeks for your article or video to show up on search engines, real time search will incorporate what is happening right now-real time, so it will make ranking shift more rapidly. So if you aren't using those two powerful social media you should be.

Capital Press Digital can help with training or implementing search engine optimization, Facebook or Twitter. Just contact us at kmarikos@capitalpress.com or 503 385 4910.

Buying Links on Thrid Party Websites

2010-07-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

http://www.wolf-howl.com/seo/buying-links-third-party-websites/

This post opened my eyes a bit. What do you think of the ethics of a couple of these tactics? Is it all's fair and love and war and business is war or...?

Anyone have any stories or thoughts to share?

Agricultural SEO and Web Content

2010-06-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Because of our 50 years experience telling agriculture's story we are uniquely qualified to assist you with your web pages, your web content or Search Engine Optimization.

We can considerably shorten the learning curve. We understand your Agri-business and the community it serves. This makes us more affordable, also you don't waste your time explaining to web developers about ESA or USDA or the other alphabet soup we all deal with everyday. We understand about crop protection and it's importance. We just understand.

Contact us at cappressdigital@capitalpress.com or 503 385 4910. We can't wait to start harnessing the power of the web for your business.

What are the Barriers to Agricultural SEO or Anything Digital?

2010-06-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

Language-Talk about yields, market prices, crop protection or the pros and cons of red, blue or green farm machinery and you will get an earful. Talk about Twitter, SEO, SEM, or the mysterious language of programmers and not many of us can keep up. So technospeak can delay advances.

Time-Farmers and ranchers, during their busy season, work dawn to dusk and beyond. It takes time to figure all this out. Time is a precious commodity of all of us, but especially for farmers during certain times of the year.

Age-the average age of farmers and ranchers in the US is 57.1 years. That means there are as many farmers older than 57.1 as there are under 57.1 years. While Internet usage is now a function of education rather than age, it still can take time for changes to be embraced.

Conservative-While farmers and ranchers risk resources and time each season deciding what to grow, what will sell, what will make the most profit, they also like the status quo. If you can convince them a new product or service will make them more money, they will grab it with both hands. But ROI is bit more nebulous with websites and the return can be hard to quantify.

So what can we at Capital Press Digital Marketing Services do to help? We speak agriculture not computer, we can explain what we do in simple English. We do the most difficult parts--the content creation and make sure it gets where it needs to be in a timely manner freeing you to do the important things. We understand Ag and its traditions some of us are a certain age ourselves so we understand why the new ways aren't always the best but sometimes they are quicker and help you make money.

So check out our website at http://www.capitalpress.biz/marketingservices and see if we can ease the transition to the digital age.

Capital Press Expands Its Digital Business.

2010-06-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Western agricultural business have a new partner to help with agricultural SEO, web page design, and web content including newsletters, blogs, optimized press releases, social media like Facebook and Twitter and other digital communication.

Capital Press announced on June 14, 2010 a new tool for local businesses to increase awareness and sales. Capital Press Digital Marketing Services will take Capital Press‘s 82 years of expertise in writing and a decade of Internet savvy put them to work for Northwestern agricultural businesses. Capital Press Digital Marketing Services will offer custom created web content, search engine optimization (SEO) and basic web design.

Capital Press delivers over 223,600 dynamic e-newsletters each year. All recipients request and verify the request before they receive the newsletter so all the newsletters are valued and read by readers. Marketing Services will use this expertise to customize newsletters and e-newsletters for clients.

Capital Press News Feed will be available to clients who want the latest Western Ag news to enliven their websites, increase site traffic and lengthen time spent on their site. Customized news feeds will also be available which will focus on news specific to that industry or business.

Digital Marketing Services will also offer blogs. This web content will be specific to company’s business and help drive traffic and search rankings.

“We are very excited to offer social media assistance to our clients,” says Kay Marikos, head of the Digital Marketing Services project. “Social media offers two-way conversations with customers,” she continues, “it is a whole new way of growing business.”

Optimized press releases will also offer Capital Press clients a way to increase web traffic and search rankings. These are tools big, sophisticated companies use. Now they will be available to agri-businesses in the West too.

For businesses with no website, we will offer a basic but effective hosted website. This is will give agri-businesses a way to capture their share of the immense group of internet shoppers.

“We think this is an obvious next step both for the Capital Press and the agriculture community it serves,” states Mike O’Brien Publisher of the Capital Press. “What better way to use our experience and expertise than to help our clients grow,” continues O’Brien.

For more details please visit marketing services website: http://www.capitalpress.biz/marketingservices/

About Capital Press
Founded in 1928 in Salem Oregon by A. M. Church. Four years later it became a state-wide weekly. After World War II it focused more and more on agriculture. In the 1960’s it began to cover Washington agriculture. In late 80’s Idaho coverage was added. In the 90’s California agriculture was added.
In 1991 the company was purchased from Dewey Rand Jr by the East Oregonian Publishing Company. It is the largest and most read agricultural weekly in the 4 states.

Company Contact Information
Capital Press Digital Marketing Services
Kay Marikos
1400 Broadway St NE
Salem, Oregon 97301
Phone: 503 385 4910
kmarikos@capitalpress.com