Tag Archives: social media optimization

What’s New for October 22, 2013 – Social Media Traffic, Mobile Engagement, Responsive Sites

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Study: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest Send More Referral Traffic Than Google+

Shareaholic released an annual report highlighting social media traffic trends for the period from September 2012 through September 2013.

According to this study, Google+ has driven less than one-tenth of one percent (> 0.1%) of all referral traffic to its publishers over the past year. The top three referring sites over the past year were Facebook, with 8.11% of referrals; Pinterest’s was 3.24% and Twitter’s was 1.17% compared to Google+’s 0.06%.

Social Media Trends 2013

The study also measured the growth of the social media platforms as referral sources over the same period and found that Google + was at just 6.97 % compared to (58.81%), Pinterest (66.52 %), Twitter (54.12%) and YouTube (52.86%).

Study: Over 50% of Engagement on Facebook Posts from Mobile Devices

ShopIgniter did a study encompassing more than 2,000 posts with 2 billion impressions in the first 6 months of 2013. The study revealed that 51.4% of engagement on Facebook posts was from mobile devices and the average conversion rate from Facebook traffic was 4.4%.

The engagement rates of different post types was also tracked, and showed surprisingly high numbers for paid posts for photos (5.785%) and offers (4.186%). Unlike search engine users, Facebook users seem to not mind sponsored posts. The full report is available at ShopIgniter.

Facebook Engagement on Mobile

Google: Responsive Design Does Not Technically Give Your Site a Rankings Boost

Even though Google does officially recommend responsive as the approach to going mobile, John Mueller of Google states that having a responsive design doesn’t give you more of a ranking boost than using either of the other two accepted approaches to smartphone optimized sites.

The key however, is that Google does not favor non-mobile friendly smartphone sites in rankings.

Google’s John Mueller said:

“No. Google currently doesn’t differentiate sites like that.

You may see indirect effects (smartphone users liking your responsive site and recommending it to others), but we don’t use that as a ranking factor. We are starting to use common configuration errors to adjust the rankings in smartphone search results though.”

Bottom Line: Google might have taken a little bit of a hit on this week’s review, between backing off of its clear endorsement of Responsive Design, if only a little bit, and finding that the naysayers who have said all along that users are creating Google+ sites because Google makes them as part of Google Local Listings may be right. Facebook comes through with shining marks on sponsored information that does not seem to “put off” users and gives a very targeted, effective platform for advertisers.

Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in Zenergy Works, a Santa Rosa, California Online Marketing, SMO and SEO Company.

New Study: Facebook Referrals Equal Increased Sales

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I am often asked about Facebook referral and other Social Media referrals and how much of a return on investment clients can expect from a Social Media Optimization campaign.

Ecwid, an e-commerce widget provider, collected data from 180,000 of their online stores and found that the percentage of Facebook referral that resulted in a purchase ranged from 4 to 5 percent during the pre-holiday period of October 30th through mid-November. The actual holiday shopping period of Thanksgiving through Christmas saw the conversion to sales from Facebook referral links average 6 to 7 percent, and even went as high as 8.5 percent on December 6th.

This data was collected from a variety of online stores that are powered by Ecwid, including standalone Web stores, mobile-based stores, and Facebook stores. Ecwid has also been tracking sales growth for Facebook storefronts in the last year and has seen increased sales. This study provides further evidence that social commerce can provide an increase in sales to online merchants.

Bottom Line: As Social Media Campaigns become more sophisticated and allow users to complete purchases through Facebook storefronts, returns on Social Media Optimization will increase for ecommerce sellers. The question that the remainder of Social Media Marketers must ask is whether or not the growth in online purchasing from Facebook signals a continued acceptance of Facebook as a marketing medium as well as an information sharing platform.  In my opinion, it does, and every business should strongly consider Facebook marketing and Social Media Optimization in their marketing plans.

Eric Van Cleave is a Partner in ZenergyWorks, A Santa Rosa, California based SMO, Online Marketing, and Website Development Firm.

Jennifer Filzen & Steph Wargin, Social Media Optimization

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Meet the Zenergy Works Social Media Optimization Team!

Jennifer Filzen for Social Media Optimization

Jennifer Filzen, Content Writer

Social media is an important tool for any company or brand hoping to engage with customers, fans, friends, and industry cohorts. From the start, Zenergy Works has used Social Media Optimization (SMO) to attract new customers and generate interest for our clients’ websites through active engagement with the online community.

Because SMO has become such an important marketing tool for businesses and brands of all types, Zenergy Works has expanded its Social Media Optimization services. To stay on top of the ever-changing environment, we have two team members that take great care of our SMO clients.

If you have not yet met our Social Media Optimization Team, allow us to introduce you to Jennifer Filzen and Stephanie Wargin:

Jennifer Filzen started working with Zenergy Works in 2010 and was our first online community manager. Jennifer comes with an eclectic background of songwriting, event promotion, sales, and marketing. A “Jill-of-all-trades,” Jen has written content for the bulk of our SMO clients and SEO clients, as well.

Stephanie Wargin for Social Media Optimization

Stephanie Wargin, Social Strategist

Stephanie Wargin joined us in late 2012 as a Social Strategist and is a tremendous asset to our SMO team. She comes with a background as an author, blogger, programmer, and social media marketer. Steph will be taking over the lion’s share of our existing SMO accounts in 2013 as we take our SMO strategies to the next level.

We are very fortunate to have these two great copywriters on the Zenergy Works team. Together, they will help build a lively and engaged community around your business or brand. If you have questions about how this dynamic duo can help with your Social Media Optimization, contact Zenergy Works for a free consultation.

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