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Latest scam to steal your money

There are several versions of this scam. Some are automated calls that leave a callback number; some talk with the victim.

One version of the SCAM works like this. The victim receives a recorded message from a credit card or bank. The message indicates that the credit card or bank has detected unusual activity and would like the consumer to call them back to verify the activity. The message leaves a 800 number for the consumer to call. When the call is made the consumer is asked to enter their 15 digit account number so that the account can be retrieved. Once the account number is entered the consumer is connected to an operator who asks for additional information to verify that the caller is the owner of the account. At this point the criminals have everything they need to steal money from your bank account or to make charges on your account.

The PROBLEM with this tactic is it is the same process your bank or credit card company would use for a legitimate “fraud” alert phone call. That familiar process is what the criminals are hoping will make you comfortable enough to divulge information you would normally not share in an email or over the phone.

The SOLUTION is to only call the 800 number listed on the back of your credit card or bank card. Never call the number left on the recorded message. Taking a few minutes to retrieve your card and to locate the telephone number on the back can save you a big headache later.

Social Media Can Affect Search Rankings

Something big happened in the worlds of social media and search this month. After much speculation about search engines factoring social media influence into website rankings, we got hold of a big interview with Bing and Google to find out that indeed, social media IS affecting search rankings. BIG STUFF!

What I mean is, if someone influential shares a link to this blog post, it is that much more likely to show up in search results than it would if I just “SEO’d” the heck out of it…hint hint. So suddenly, in the world of search, people matter!

In case you think this is old news, we’re not talking about social search ranking, such as Google Social Search or Realtime Search. We’re talking about ordinary web search. Aside from their super secret algorithms, we already know that Google takes into consideration the PageRank of a webpage as well as the links pointing to that page and the HTML title tag. But now, rather than just looking at the web page’s authority, these search engines are starting to look at human authority too and so far, Twitter is the biggest indicator.

Both Google and Bing have announced that authoritative people on Twitter lend their authority to pages they tweet. In the case of Bing, the search engine takes into consideration how often a link has been tweeted, as well as how influential the users are that share it. Google answered that it only uses the data in limited situations (as vague as their algorithm) but they ARE using it.

As for Facebook, Bing pays attention to links shared that people share on their profile if they are marked as “everyone” and links shared from company pages. Google doesn’t factor in personal wall data at all and treats links shared on company pages the same way they treat tweeted links. It’s a bit harder for the search engines to determine the authority of a person on Facebook than it is on Twitter because of the lack of public information so really they’re just looking for trends to surface that will help them rank a webpage.

So how does this affect your marketing plan? Here are my three takeaways that you should keep in mind as social media and search blend and you plan for 2012:

1. Get on board

Your business, product or you need to have a presence on social media NOW. If you’ve been avoiding it because you don’t care to fill that piece of your marketing plan just yet, now is the time (how many times have you heard that!?). Everything is integrating together and will continue to be. If you build your presence now, you just may build the relationship with influencers that you’ll need when social media and search truly mesh. It is possible that one day we will see that you can’t have a good ranking without social media influence.

Furthermore, no matter what you think of company pages, they are currently the most available for search engines. So if you’re thinking of starting one, now is a good time. If you already have one, get in the practice of thinking about search when you’re busy being social. Use keywords that support your search goals when linking to your website or blog posts and start networking with other company pages to help share your content (more on that in number three).

2. Make influence a priority

Influencers are more important than ever. You can find them by looking at their Klout score or simply check out the size of their network and interactions. When you find people that are impressive, engage. Target the influencers that truly fit your niche and share your interests. Take the time to figure out what they love and then create a strategy around talking with them. If you build trust and respect with influential people, there’s a good chance they’ll share your links.

Also remember that being an influencer is just as important as having relationships with influencers. Luckily, there are steps you can take to make yourself more influential. For some insight on this, check out @CallanPaola’s blog post on how to raise your Klout score. As social media and search continue to merge, who you are and who you know is affecting far more than just your ego.

3. Be social:

Being social is a BIG deal. I’m not talking about just being on social networks but interacting with people and sharing content. There’s a lot of talk about link baiting, but if you look at it as simply being social, you’ll have much more success. If I share your link, you are more likely to return the favor. If I put my content all over the web, people are more likely to find it (a little bit of strategy here helps of course). If I include your opinions in my blog post, you’ll may want to boast about it as I alluded to in number one. If I partner with other company pages on Facebook, we open doors for each other to share information with like-minded audiences.

Getting the hang of being social, being influential, and working with influencers is a big deal already. Now that it’s affecting search, it’s taken over even a bigger piece of your marketing pie. Get in touch with us today to learn more about utilizing social media as relevant to your particular company and needs, and hey; we can even manage your social media campaigns for you if needs be. Carpe diem!

A cool NEW APP everyone should see

Just because I like to keep my clients and associates up to speed on whatever I happen to be looking at, learning about, or working with when it happens to be interesting and not beyond technical in nature, here’s a cool new one to check out:

Cool Ap for your phone and iPad… check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LOcUkm8m9w&feature=g-logo

Everyone enjoy!

Google Wants The Best of the Best ONLY Now

The old approach for ranking well on Google was to create lots of content to dominate a particular space or niche. That game is now obsolete. As both search and the web mature, Google must now work more rigorously to consume greater quantities of data in order to find the best of the best – what is worth sharing.

Google today is much like your 4th grade teacher that pushed you to your limits – asking that you always give your best. Why? Because once in a while you produced some stellar work that was worth sharing with the class.

You made her proud so she honored your work.

That’s what Google wants from you – only what is worth sharing.

It’s a very crowded web that will only get noisier, with massive amounts of content being created every day.

The challenge for Google used to be finding good content. Now that social sharing has become more prevalent, the new challenge for Google is to also eliminate content that is merely average – what content creators refer to as fluff.

You can see this trend playing out in book publishing. Non-fiction titles in particular are shrinking in page counts as a result of eliminating the fluff that traditional publishing established as the norm for a quality book.

Rate Your Content Quality

For your online content to rank well with Google moving forward, it will have to rate well against the following 5 attributes.

#1 – Relevance

Relevance is determined in terms of a specific and defined audience. The more specific the better.

#2 – Clean and Uncluttered

Unnecessary words and paragraphs are eliminated – with ample white space providing a pleasant display. Yes, even the visual appearance of online content is considered by Google.

Chunky paragraphs and crowded text suggest little care for the audience. Infographics that simplify and order content, while providing a visual hook also fall into this category.

#3 – Fresh and Original

With so much information being shared and repurposed, the value of truly original content is dramatically increased. Google any major news story and you will see most of the releases are aggregated into “related articles.”

However, one story earns the headline. Why? There are a number of factors, authority, originality, and completeness being among the most important.

It’s now more important to produce a well-written magazine style article than to merely be first to report the news.

#4 – Evergreen

One aspect of relevance is time. So, if you are going to go to the trouble of creating quality content, it is best to minimize references to time for an extended shelf-life.

Obviously, all of your content cannot be evergreen, but you should endeavor to have a foundation that serves as a reference for your loyal followers, while also helping newcomers to your community.

#5 – Interactive and Engaging

Interactive content is conversational. You ask a question and your audience mentally responds or physically takes some kind of action.

Watching a video, downloading a PDF, or navigating an infographic are all forms of interaction that tend to engage your audience. Links to related content also accomplish this objective.

When you understand how Google thinks you are better equipped for earning a high placement in their search results.

The good news is that the majority of content creators will not take the time and effort to create really good work that is worth sharing. As a result, ranking well with Google is possible even if you do not have a high level of authority.

Google is raising the bar. If you are among the few that are willing to rise to the occasion and create outstanding content, you will be justly rewarded.

New email scam to watch for

This is a clever one I just received, that really gives me a good example to show you what I mean when I talk about these email scams and how they work.

Below is the text copy of the email I just received. I have deactivated the links because I don’t want anyone to misinterpret this blog posting and follow the link by accident, thereby falling for the scam I’m attempting to educate you about.

The spam email:

New Version Of Skype Has Been Released

This is to notify that new updates have been released for Skype.

http://www.2011-skype-software-download.org

Following are major new features :

* Up to 5-way group video call.
* Redesigned calling experience.
* Improved video snapshots gallery.
* Improved browser plugins performance on some websites.
* Reduced false positives on browser plugin phone number recognition.
* New presence icons.
* Improved handling of calling attempts made when the user has run out of credit.
* Improved access to sharing functionality

To download the latest version , go to :

http://www.2011-skype-software-download.org

Start downloading the update right now and let us know what you think about it.

We’re working on making Skype better all the time !

Talk soon,

The people at Skype

So, to my smarter-than-the-average-customer customers; be aware to look for this one. This email was NOT sent by Skype, and of course email downloads are not the proper way to update your Skype program in the first place. If you have any form of Skype on your computer, there is an automatic updater that will prompt you within the program, NEVER by email.

This scam wants to fool you into downloading some form of malicious program. Of course we don’t want to find out exactly what kind, since that would require allowing the program to corrupt a computer and possibly any network that computer is connected to.

Be advised to avoid this email if you see it, be aware of it in case you receive it, and share this blog posting amongst your friends and colleagues to help ward off the bad download.

Visa / MasterCard FRAUD

This is a really clever scam; I probably would have fallen for it. Read carefully and pass it on.

This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want… All they want is the pin on the back of your card since they already have your card number by some other means.

By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself.

The scam works like this:

Person calling says – ‘This is (name), and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460, Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a marketing company based in Arizona ?’ When you say ‘No’, the caller continues with, ‘Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?’ You say ‘yes’.

The caller continues – ‘I will be starting a Fraud Investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number…. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. ‘Do you need me to read it again?’

Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works – The caller then says, ‘I need to verify you are in possession of your card’. He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card over and look for some numbers’. There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the last 3 are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the last 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, ‘That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card Do you have any other questions?’

After you say no, the caller then thanks you and states, ‘Don’t hesitate to call back if you do’, and hangs up. You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the card number. But after one person was called on Wednesday, they called VISA directly within 20 minutes to ask a question. They were glad they did! The REAL VISA Security Department told them it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to their card. They were able to make a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing them a new number.

What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them you’ll call VISA or Master Card directly for verification of their conversation.

The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you’re receiving a credit; however, by the time you get your statement you’ll see charges for purchases you didn’t make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

It appears that this Is a very active scam, and evidently quite successful. Here’s the snopes report:

Snopes verified: http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp

Pass this on to all your family and friends

Meet Our Latest Client – Swim-Fitness.com

Swimming is one of the most effective aerobic activities available. Not only is a swim workout program low-impact, so it is easy on your joints, it is shown to dramatically improve longevity over running or even walking. A University of South Carolina study led by Dr. Steven Blair evaluated comprehensive physical exams and behavioral surveys from more than 40,000 men, age 20-90 years, enrolled in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study (ACLS) over the last 32 years. “We also observed lower mortality in swimmers than in runners,” Blair explains. The actual results were presented at the 2008 World Aquatic Health™ Conference in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and have been published in the “International Journal of Aquatic research and Education”.

Check out their new webside designed by KWD

Come on in.. the waters fine!

A Michael Phelps Signature Swim Spa by Master Spas is a perfect solution for those that wish to pursue an active aquatic lifestyle, yet do not have the an Olympic-sized backyard pool. Even the largest exercise spa seems small compared to a swimable pool, and you won’t get dizzy from turning every few strokes during your swimming work out because the Wave Propulsion Technology creates a truly endless pool!.

The Wave Propulsion™ Technology in a Michael Phelps Swim Spa features a unique propeller design that provides a wider, deeper, and smoother current — giving you a swimming experience that is far superior to any other home swim spa. The resistance is fully adjustable with the Swim Number System™ allowing swimmers of varying ability to customize the flow and gage their performance. Imagine swimming any day of the year, right in your own backyard, because the convenient digital controls allow you to set the water temperature where it’s most comfortable for you.

The Michale Phelps Signature Swim Spas by Master Spas were designed in collaboration with Michael himself and his coach Bob Bowman to provide a real training pool environment. No other swim spa on the market can generate such an excellent swim current or provide the design amenities you expect from Master Spas.

Let Swim Fitness show you how to Get in the Flow!

5 Ways to Maximize the Value of Your ECommerce Video

Are You Ready to Tap the Power of Etail Video?

Top online retail brands are adding video to their storefront sites at a furious rate, and in a 2010 study, eMarketer found the reason why so many are jumping on the video bandwagon. According to eMarketer analyst Jeffrey Grau, retailers have found that videos boost sales and conversion rates while also reducing shopping cart abandonment and product returns.

It’s not enough just to add video to your site, however. Retailers have to optimize video for better user engagement and a stronger financial return on investment. Here are five tips for maximizing the value of your etail video and increasing product sales on your e-commerce site.

1. Use Your Metadata

Video is only a useful marketing tool if it reaches the right audience. But how do you increase viewership to make your etail videos more effective?

Don’t underestimate the power of your metadata. Search engines depend on keywords. Tag every video clip on your site with relevant keyword metadata so that web crawlers will pick up your content and include it in search engine results. Keyword tags are also useful for shoppers once they’ve started browsing your products. For example, if you sell hedge clippers and pruning shears, then metadata can help you associate related video clips on “lawn care” with the right SKUs. You can even organize automated playlists by topic, and cross-reference or recommend additional products by building links through secondary keywords. A tag for “pruning” might also point the way toward gardening gloves on sale.

2. Brand Everything

The best etail videos are ones that have a presence beyond your website. But once your content gets shared, you also lose control over how it’s presented. Brand all of your videos with the logo, look and feel of your site. Free video platforms like YouTube don’t allow much in the way of customization, but many premium platforms now offer publishers an opportunity to choose from video player templates, or better yet, access platform APIs to create a look that is unique to your business.

3. Automate Mobile Distribution: HTML5, Apps, and More

The wide variety of mobile operating systems, streaming protocols, and connected devices on the market make it exceedingly difficult to publish video on your retail site or app so that it’s accessible to consumers across the entire mobile platform spectrum.

Find a partner who can automate the mobile distribution process. There are services that provide automatic video transcoding and the intelligent device detection capabilities required to ensure every mobile consumer gets the best video playback experience possible. Look to online video platform and content delivery network companies for available service offerings. The right partner can make your video automatically accessible across iPad browsers, BlackBerry phones, Android apps, and more.

4. Accelerate Delivery

Performance is everything. If your video starts, stops, and stutters on playback, shoppers will move on to something else. According to a study by Tubemogul, more than 81 percent of all online video viewers click away if they encounter a clip rebuffering. Bad performance not only negates the investment you’ve made in your video; it also leaves a bad impression with online shoppers.

Improve video streaming performance with web acceleration. Web acceleration services speed content delivery so that consumers can access even large video files quickly and seamlessly. This is a no-brainer for any video you publish, and most online video platforms either include or partner with companies to offer acceleration services.

5. Measure the Right Stuff

Measuring the impact of video is different from measuring consumer response to other types of online material. Video offers different ways for audiences to engage with and share your content, and your measurement systems should reflect those differences. Solution: Use video-specific metrics to evaluate how the etail videos on your site are performing. For example, in addition to measuring how many users click play on a video, you should also record factors like how long viewers spend with a clip, what portions of a clip are most popular, whether users share a link or embed the video on another site, and how consumers rate or respond to a video in comments and through social networking platforms. Tracking these factors against purchasing behavior should provide key insight into how effective your videos are, and how they can be further optimized for higher conversion rates.

Search ranking factors released – What you NEED to know!

Every couple of years a group of search marketing experts from across the globe gather together to share their opinions on the most powerful search engine ranking factors. This year we have a panel of 132 SEO experts who have shared their thoughts…

…and predictions for the future of SEO in SEOmoz’s 2011 Search Engine Ranking Factors report.

The experts were asked to rank a number of different SEO factors across 9 core areas of SEO which can be seen in the pie chart below.

2011 Search Ranking Factors Released

The Results

In order to give you a snapshot of the results, below I’ve listed the 3 most influential factors across each area, along with the relative importance of each factor based on the voters ordering.

Page Level Link Metrics

Quantity of unique linking root domains that contain a link employing the keywords as the exact anchor text ” 71.9
Quantity of unique linking root domains that contain a link employing the keywords as part of the anchor text ” 71.5
Quantity of unique linking domains to the page ” 69.1

Domain Level Link Authority

Quantity of unique linking domains to the root domain ” 80.4
Raw importance of the domains as measured by the sub of the importance of the links to the domains (mozrank, pagerank, etc.) ” 67.3
Distance of the domain from a trusted seed set as measured by the algorithms ” 57.4

Page Level Keyword Usage

Keyword present in the title tag ” 94.4
Keyword in the first word of the title tag ” 77.8
Keyword present in the anchor text of an internal pointing link ” 72.9

Domain Level Keyword Usage

Keyword is the exact match root domain (eg: keyword.com) ” 97.0
Keyword is present in the root domain name (eg: ABCkeyword.com) ” 71.0
Keyword is the first word in the root domain name (eg: keywordABC.com) ” 69.3

Page Level Social Metrics

Authority of users tweeting links to a page ” 84.1
Quantity of tweeted links to a page ” 79.0
Quantity of facebook shares for the page ” 61.6

Domain Level Brand Metrics

Search volume for the brand/domain ” 84.7
Quantity of mentions of the brand/domain on news sites ” 78.0
Quantity of mentions of the brand/domain on social sites ” 68.8

Page Level Keyword Agnostic Features (page length/load speed etc.)

Uniqueness of content on the page ” 93.7
The presence of links to the page from other pages on the domain ” 82.7
Freshness of the content on the page (time since last updates) ” 70.5

Page Level Traffic Data

CTR from Google to the page for the keyword ” 74.6
Bounce rate of the page as measured by the return visits to the search results page ” 58.4
Aggregated CTR from Google to the page across all keywords ” 51.4

Domain Level Keyword Agnostic Features

Uniqueness of content across the whole site ” 89.4
Freshness of content on the site ” 74.9
Bounce rate for the site, as measured by users returning to the SERPs page very quickly after visiting the site ” 65.2

What about the Future of Search?

SEOmoz also asked the panel for their opinion on a number of questions about future changes in search ranking algorithms. From this data they were able to produce a list of factors which are expected to become more important, and those that are likely to decline.

Top 3 Factors Which Will Increase in Importance

Analysis of s site/page’s perceived value to users
Social signals at a page level
Social signals at a domain level

Top 3 Factors Which Will Decrease in Importance

Exact match keyword domains
The effectiveness of paid links
Anchor text in external links

The 2011 Search Engine Ranking Factors report has the full future of search chart and also provides additional analysis on the information presented above. If you have a few minutes spare I recommend you check it out.

This really shows the critical importance of building links to your site as well as the increasing importance of social media mentions of your site AND freshness of content.

Google’s ‘+1′ Lets Users Recommend Ads and Content

Search giant follows Facebook’s lead, allows users to recommend content and ads with “+1″ button.

Google launched “+1″ today, a feature that allows users to recommend web content and ads to others in a similar manner to Facebook’s Like button. The +1 button will appear alongside search results and website content, and users’ interactions with it may be employed to target future ads and content to them, the company said.

In addition to search results, the button will appear alongside AdWords ads, though the number of recommendations an ad receives will not be used to inform quality score or ad placement.

To make recommendations, users must be signed into a Google account, through which their endorsements will be shared with other users connected with that account. Their Google chat buddies would be one possible example. In a blog post published today, the company said it “may also incorporate other signals, such as your connections on sites like Twitter, to ensure your recommendations are as relevant as possible.”

The first time a user clicks the +1 button they’re given the option whether or not to grant Google permission to use that behavioral information “to personalize content and ads across the web.” To date, Google says it has not used search behavior to target ads across its network, but this introduction represents a step closer to doing so, making use of users’ post-search behavior but not specific search terms.

In a separate post on Google’s AdWords blog, the company suggested the button would also aid advertisers gain more quality traffic. “We expect that personalized annotations will help users know when your ads and organic search results are relevant to them, increasing the chances that they’ll end up on your site… Think of +1 buttons as an enhancement that can help already successful search campaigns perform even better,” the post read.

The feature will be slowly rolled out across Google’s search properties, starting with Google.com. It will also begin appearing alongside other content on other Google properties within weeks, the company said, suggesting integrations with sites such as YouTube are in the works.