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| AN E-NEWS BRIEFING ABOUT WEB TECHNOLOGY AND INTERNET-BASED BUSINESS TRENDS |
April 28, 2011 |
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| Made possible by an unrestricted grant from The HOYA Free-Form Company |
From the Experts: ODs Who Share
Digital Media Insights
As eyecare professionals explore new ways of increasing their participation on the web, CLICK is fortunate to have two ODs as exclusive contributors who are leaders in this arena, willing to share their experiences and what they've learned.
In this edition, we hear from Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, a Tampa-based OD who conceived of the idea (!) of Fourquare Day, now an international phenomenon. Hear what he has to say about this month's April 16 4SqDay in his first-person account.
And long-time CLICK contributor and SightNation blogger, Alan Glazier, OD, has just published a unique book, Searchial Marketing (see CLICK's March 25 edition). In today's CLICK, he relates practical insights about the importance of Web directories and sitemaps in getting your Websites "found" online.
CLICK, Vision Monday's e-newsletter, continues to be an essential resource in its twice-monthly briefings to ECPs about web technology and Internet developments. Past articles, featuring specific examples, programs and tips that you can use today, are available in our CLICK Archive. Also in the CLICK Archive are dozens of Cool Tools and important Sites to See which offer content and resource ideas for your sites and your social media activities. The easy-to-access Archives are located under the CLICK button at www.visionmonday.com.
Have you tried something new on your website or launched a special social media campaign? Tell us about it and we'll consider it for an upcoming feature in CLICK.
—The Editors
Where? Foursquare. Views From 4SqDay's Founder
By Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, FAAO
It is not every day that I get to lead an effort that people all over the world will participate in 3 million times a single day. And it is not every day I can sneak my name and the word "optometrist" into publications like PCWorld, The Miami Herald, Mashable, and other news outlets. But on April 16, both of these things happened in addition to me speaking at a news conference with Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn. And all of this is due to my diligent study of the times tables in the 3rd grade.
My friends and I use an application called Foursquare. We use it to track where we go during the day by "checking in" at different locations. I like because it is fun and I get discounts at local businesses. It is also competitive. Users compete for "badges" by going to places the most often or going to enough different types of businesses. As a business owner, I like this because the socially competitive nature encourages users to check in at my office. This helps me promote my practice, Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, creating word of mouth advertising at no charge to me.
Last year I had a simple idea. Because 4 squared equals 16, the 4th month and the 16th day, (April 16th) would be a great day to have a Foursquare event in the practice. It was my hope that this would draw some attention to Bright Eyes and lead to more sales. I posted the idea on my blog and with the help of many people "Foursquare Day" turned into a worldwide party. Foursquare created a special badge for the event and over 14,000 people in 300 countries participated.
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This year, the celebration was even bigger. On April 16, 2011, Foursquare had its best day ever—with over 3 million check ins over 500 parties around the world!
But Foursquare Day is not just a day to party. Cities such as New York, Atlanta, and Tampa officially proclaimed April 16 as Foursquare Day, because they understand that social media applications are truly small business development tools. Businesses, such as optometric practices, can use these free tools to gain new customers and build relationships with current ones. In the current economic climate, eyecare practitioners can't always afford the marketing campaigns that they previously used and are looking for other ways to reach customers. Social media is filling this need.
There are many ways Foursquare Day has been so successful and many ways that optometrists can use it in practice marketing. In the meantime, feel free to visit 4sqday.com and foursquare.com to learn more. Or listen to a podcast I produced about Foursquare, what it is, and how to use it.
Nathan Bonilla-Warford, OD, FAAO, Bright Eyes Family Vision Care, Tampa, Fla., is an optometrist specializing in the vision of infants and children. A social media evangelist, he helped create "Peripheral Vision" which educates eyecare professionals about social media. Dr. Warford was a speaker at the first
CLICK Conference last year. He is the chair of the social media committee of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development and is chair of the Florida Optometric Association's Children's Vision Committee. He is a graduate of the Illinois College of Optometry and is an active volunteer in many charitable organizations. He founded Foursquare Day in March 2010.
Practical Tips for Using Directories
and Submitting SiteMaps
By Alan Glazier, OD, FAAO
You've heard me speak about social media, search optimization and the combination, or as I call it "searchial" methods. These methods take time to bear fruit, so for those of you interested in what you can do to get an online presence faster, while you gear up the slower-moving efforts, here is an excerpt from my book "Searchial Marketing", available on Amazon.com, that teaches you methods to get found online right away.
Directories
Web directories are listings which you submit your URL for inclusion within. There are different kinds of directories; free directories, pay-for-inclusion directories and Bid-for-position directories. Pay-for-inclusion directory listings are generally posted quicker than non-paying directories because of the fee. They offer features similar to the Yellow Pages, where your listing can be bold, you can have a banner or a photo, etc. If you pay, you should give preference to directories that do not support the nofollow attribute—remember, that is the attribute that makes your listing unsearchable by Googlebots.
Directories exist for all types of content in every industry.
Bid-for-position directories are those that work similar to AdWords. You bid a certain amount, and if your bid is the highest, you rank highest on the directory. If one or more people bid higher than you, they appear ahead of you. Higher listings increase visibility, etc.
The following are some popular directories, according to Wikipedia:
- AboutUs.org—A wiki-based web directory.
- Best of the Web Directory—Lists content-rich, well-designed websites
categorized by topic and region.
- Open Directory Project (a.k.a. DMoz or ODP)—The largest directory
of the web.
The major search engines, such as Yahoo!, Bing, Google and Google Buzz,
and MSN, have directories as well. Be absolutely sure you have submitted your URL to these major players first.
Submission of SiteMap to Search Engines
A sitemap is a list of the pages on your website. By creating a sitemap and submitting it to search engines, you are ensuring the search engines know about everything on your site, including pages that aren't able to be found by the engine. The search engines aren't guaranteed to crawl every page on a website, but they will crawl your sitemap to study your site's architecture. Information gleaned from sitemaps include when the site was last changed, how often it is updated, and how important each page is to the other pages on the site. The engines "learn" by crawling, and you want your website to be part of that learning process each time they crawl.
Think of the Sitemap's role in your search engine optimization as a "hint" to the bots
as to where to look and how the bot can do a better job indexing your site. Sitemap Writer Pro is a great place to find tools that help you submit your sitemaps to search engines.
Alan N. Glazier, OD, FAAO is the founder/CEO of Shady Grove Eye and Vision Care in Rockville, Md. A search and social optimization consultant,
he is now a regular contributor to CLICK and also writes a regular blog for
SightNation.com. Glazier is at
aglazier@youreyesite.com and his regular
posts can be found via his Twitter handle: @EyeInfo, his blog:
eyeinfo.wordpress.com and his website:
YourEyeSite.com.
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If you like making to-do lists, you'll love TeuxDeux, a site which asks "What Deux Yeux Have Teux Deux Today?" The idea is a simple designy, free, brower-based to-do app. You can use the browser-based TeuxDeux at home or at work and then take your list of to-dos on the road with the new iPhone app. A clever video, with a dry sense of humor, explains it all including its week overview, ways to check off, delete or move tasks, fill in a 'someday' bucket and how to use the feedback button. The site is a collaboration between swissmiss and Fictive Kin. A Pro version, with more features, is also available.
Backpackit is an award-winning, web-based and secure intranet for your business. It allows you and your team to store, share, discuss and archive information in a practical way. Cited by Business Week as an "Editor's and Reader's Choice" and the NY Times as "A very cool organizational tool," Backpackit illustrates the way it can be used though simple tutorials, guides, examples and a basic video for using it yourself and also for using it among your office or others on your team like creating a common calendar, or centralizing messages and/or reminders. The organizer of notes, photos, maps or other info can also be integrated with your email account and there are a range of memberships available. Backpackit is a product of 37 Signals which also offers other productivity tools like Basecamp, Highrise and Campfire.
ZYLOWARE Catalog Online
Zyloware has made its 2011 catalog available for free download online. Full of the latest style intros for Zyloware's portfolio of brands, including Sophia Loren, Daisy Fuentes, Natori, Gloria Vanderbilt, Stetson, Randy Jackson, Via Spiga and Invincilites, the catalog features updated images and information.
ONE ICON, New OAKLEY Digital Mag
Zinio, a global leader in digital publishing technology and services, and Oakley, Inc. have partnered to launch ONE ICON: Oakley Magazine, an enhanced digital magazine that offers access to some of today's most accomplished athletes. Founded to extend the Oakley brand to new segments of the sports and performance lifestyle community, the free magazine provides information and insights that can't be achieved through any other venue.
"With Zinio, Oakley can deliver a powerful, immersive experience that comes with go-anywhere freedom," said Russ Ortiz, Oakley VP of global brand communications. "We can keep readers informed on everything from culture and entertainment to athletes and product innovations. From sport performance to lifestyle and beyond, readers of ONE ICON will have inside access to information, and Zinio lets us present it in an entertaining and enthralling way that keeps up with their active lives," Ortiz concluded.
"ONE ICON shows the power of the digital magazine medium," said Rich Maggiotto, president and CEO of Zinio. "It's an exceptional showcase for art, graphics, video and inspiring content." ONE ICON follows world-renowned athletes who rely on Oakley innovation to perform at their best. Featuring awe-inspiring photography and jaw-dropping video content, the magazine fully leverages interactive technology. Zinio's UNITY platform enables ONE ICON fans to enjoy the digital magazine on virtually any reading device including the Zinio Reader for Windows and Mac desktops, as well as the Apple iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch and select Android powered devices. The Spring 2011 edition features a cover story on Oakley & Shaun White Air + Style from China.
To subscribe to ONE ICON, log on to oneiconmagazine.com. The Zinio Reader can be downloaded at no charge here.
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Copyright © 2011
VisionMonday
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