Various question re SEO and social media

[uniquegifts-277879]

Hi all:

It is time for my semi-annual “I don’t have a clue” question.  Actually it’s questions since there are three although they may overlap.

I am confused about the intersection of social media and SEO.  A couple of years ago it seemed like one of the better procedures for link building was writing articles and having them published on Isnare, Goarticles Ezine and the like.  Now I am not sure if this is effective anymore.  It seems like all of the emphasis is being put on social media sites. Not just Facebook, Twitter Pinterest, and blogs, but big ones (that I don’t have a prayer in the world of getting on) such as Mashable, Reddit etc.

How are my efforts best served at this point?   Should I still submit articles to article directories or should I concentrate on guest blogging (which isn’t so easy if you want a reputable blog) or try something that I can’t even think of?

Second, my blog is a Wordpress Blog that is no big deal and probably isn’t read much.  It can be accessed either at Wordpress or through my site.  It is listed in my Google Merchant Account, but I can’t imagine anyone reads it.  It’s about gifts and products that we sell and is not going to stimulate anyone’s mind.  Two things here: First (and I don’t know if anyone will know the answer to this) my site is hosted by Yahoo.  There is a tab at the top of my site that takes you to the blog, but Yahoo also has some way to integrate the blog with the website.  Does anyone know if this will make any difference?  Second, the last several times that I ran by backlinks on Open Site Explorer my Wordpress blog has not shown up.  It always did previously right at the top.  Any guesses as to why it no longer shows?

Finally, in the last couple of months I have had a precipitous drop in orders and visitors to my site.  The only thing that I have done is to lower my budget for Google Adwords, but it was never that high to begin with and shouldn’t account for the change.

Given the holiday season traffic should be picking up but it is going in the other direction. Does anyone know what is happening here and what to do about it?  Anyone with really good insights might get a gift certificate from us (is that permitted on SEOMOZ – if not then forget it).

The website is www,uniquegiftsanddecor.com.  Here’s a thought – buy stuff from us. (ignore if this is spammy).

Many thanks.

Don

[uniquegifts-277879]

Thanks for the encouragement.  I'll keep plugging along.

Don

[danatanseo]

LOL, I really like the one about how the right home decor can make you feel better when you get a speeding ticket. Excellent!

You know, sometimes, I think the hardest part is sticking with it. In the beginning, Rand's blog didn't get a lot of attention either. It's a lot easier to be motivated to write when you know thousands of people are just waiting to gobble up your content...but no one gets there without writing a lot of posts with zero comments first.

[uniquegifts-277879]

Really funny.  I love off the wall stuff.  I once posted on our Facebook page that in an effort to be more controversial and cutting edge we would begin selling children.  No one thought that it was funny.   I also wrote an article a couple of years back about how we were stuck with a bunch of dragon hatchling statues  who we couldn't find buyers for so they became homeless, meth addicted and troublesome when they reached their teenage years. I actually got a response to that one.  I went through a period of posting things on our blog that only incidentally had to do with what we sell.  One was about how the movie "Super 8" could have featured better home decor.  Another was how unique home decor can make you feel better when you get nailed by a speed trap.  Also one about how our candlesticks can be used to ward off burglars.

Some of our products are so weird that they look like they wee made up.

I check put ThinkGeek every once in awhile.  My problem is that I have a constrained template that does not allow me the flexibility to add pages.  I am having a yahoo store place look it over.  However, budget is a huge problem.

Thanks again for your advice.

Don

[danatanseo]

Hi again Don,

I do have one sort of off the wall idea that was mentioned this year at Mozcon that I thought was brilliant for attracting traffic and links (well, I guess they go hand-in-hand don't they?)....Have you ever thought about creating a fake product? If you did this right, and make it quirky or funny enough it could do great things for your traffic, especially for the holidays.

Here's one example of a fake product that went so viral that they first received a "Cease and desist order" from the National Pork Board and then they actually made the "fake" product a real product...wel not "real" really...but a fake, fake product, LOL. The fake product even got an article by a blogger for the New York Times...not bad!

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/unicorns-theyre-not-the-other-white-meat/

I'd totally love to brainstorm the idea of a fake product for you. It's something I just can't do at the company where I am an in-house SEO because our customer base isn't going to appreciate the humor.

Just an idea!

Dana

[uniquegifts-277879]

Thank you.  I posted a response to the other person who answered this.  Perhaps you have some thought.

Thanks.

Don

[uniquegifts-277879]

Hi Marcus - Actually I'm not bored with content so sorry for the misimpression.  I meant this as a true statement based on the fact that feedback to what I write and to my blog in particular is non-existent. i write some of my own and have outsourced to others.    I have posted on other sites lie Gather and Squidoo, but nothing major.  I have an active Facebook site although not a lot of followers.  I have large postings on Pinterest.and Wanelo and I'm posting to a new place called Manteresting.  But this isn't content - just pictures and links.

The problem that this creates is that I no longer know where to post content.  I used to use the article submission places, but as danatanseo states this is probably a waste of time now.  So do you know of places to post now that don't have to be highly rated blogs?  I am still pursing highly rated blogs but I never hear back from them.  Do you know what other people are using these days to get content out if their site is such that content cannot be posted on it?

Thanks so much.

Don

[Marcus_Miller]

Hey Don,

I am not really sure where to start on this one.

If you have a blog, that by your own admission, is not very interesting and no one reads, then I can only assume that it exists purely to generate links. Likewise, if you are doing article marketing, I assume that is also purely to generate links with exact match anchor text and it has little in the way of value beyond that.

Problem is, that jig is kind of up and is likely a good indicator of why your traffic has been declining. Whether you have some specific penalty or those links have just been devalued would need some further analysis - have you had large drops on a given date or dates?

You have really got to go back to the drawing board here and think about creating content that people will enjoy reading it and using that to promote your products.

Re social, you can't really use social in a meaningful way to promote your site until you have something to share and for people to link to.

Sorry, not great news, but sometimes the best friends are the ones that tell you the things you don't want to hear.

This community is great, ask more questions, get involved, and people will certainly help.

Happy Halloween. 
Marcus

[danatanseo]

Hi Don,

I have a couple of suggestions for you. Regarding article submissions, no, it's probably not worth your time any more. Yes, guest posting would probably be way more beneficial, provided you are selective and relevant about what and where you choose to write.

Regarding social media, do you have a Google+ account? If not, establish one and then establish authorship of your Website and blog. There are numerous articles that can guide you through this process. Here's one just for reference: http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/authorship/index.html  Learn everything you can about and start participating in Google+. Skeptical? Here's a great post that makes the case: http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/author-rank

Regarding your blog. I notice that it is a Wordpress.com blog instead of a blog built on Wordpress.org  I made the same mistake myself when I first started blogging and built a blog on Wordpress.com out of expediency. I only found out later that Wordpress.com is terrible for SEO because it is inherently limited. Last I checked you can't even install Google Analytics. If at all possible, move your blog to its own hosted domain. I'm not sure how complicated a migration from Wordpress.com to a regular Wordpress ite would be, but I can't image it's that bad. If there's an alternative to move it onto its own domain via Yahoo that might be a good possibility too.

Lastly, and this is very subjective so please take it with a grain of salt, you sound bored with your own content. If you aren't passionate about it, that lack of passion is going to come through. Perhaps it might be worth outsourcing some of the content production if it's something you don't feel a fire in your belly to do. There's just so much competition out there that if you aren't communicating passionately about your products, services or whatever it is, then it's going to be nearly impossible to persuade a complete stranger to care about it.

Those are my suggestions. I hope they help somewhat. I think some of your products are cool and quirky. I hope the holidays bring an upturn in business!

Dana