Google Reader Alternatives

March 23, 2013 — 1 Comment

It was heartbreaking to learn that Google is killing off Google Reader. I thought I didn’t have any emotional attachments to products and apps, but the death of Google Reader news proved otherwise. I had no problem selling my first car. Didn’t shed a tear. I had no problem getting rid of my mobile devices. Couldn’t wait to switch. But hearing of imminent demise of Google reader evoked surprisingly strong emotions.

Just as blogging was taking off in mid-2000s I needed a good way to keep stay updated. Google Reader was the answer. It was clean, simple; and it just worked. I’ve tried other services at that time but nothing was comparable. As with many Google products I stuck with it and never looked for an alternative. Until now.

Google Reader became part of my routine. It was the first thing I’d look through at 5am, and last browser window I’d shut down before bed time. It was engrained into my daily life. Which is why I was so disappointed to hear the news. So, now I have to find an alternative.

Many people argue that you can get your news through multiple sources, primarily focusing on social networks. Where news is already aggregated, shared and voted up by your networks and circles. I don’t want my networks to influence what I see in my newsfeed. By the time I see it, it might be too late. I want control over what gets pushed into my stream.

Also, RSS is built into all news sources and blogs I subscribe to. I know that if I do subscribe to the RSS feed I am guaranteed to get published content in my reader immediately. Getting my news from social networks won’t work because the content doesn’t get pushed through it consistently. And when it does, it’s cluttered with editor’s tweets and opinions and replies to their audience.

Lastly, certain pieces of content take up too much of a browser real-estate. The only app that can get away with this is Flipboard. There’s no scrolling down the page, just quick flipping to the next article. Essentially, I want my RSS stream to be clutter-free and published with reliable consistency.

Time to look for good Google Reader alternatives.

So, what would be considered a good alternative?

First and foremost, I should be able to import my existing Google Reader data. If a new service is unable to do that I won’t go past this crucial step.
The new RSS reader should have a familiar look and feel. I want all the headlines listed on one screen. Clean and clutter-free.
Show me the data. I’d want to see some stats on my content consumption.
Ability to share content across social networks.
Ability to ‘star’ or mark as favourite for reading later or reference purposes.
Ability to access the feed on various devices
Free or minimum ad-support.
Finally, can I quickly love it and incorporate it into my daily routine?

As soon as the news of Google Reader’s inevitable demise hit the interwebs, articles about best alternatives started popping up like weeds.

After reviewing the articles, I decided to test out just a handful of most commonly recommended RSS Readers for myself and see which one would be best suited for my needs.

The three readers that dominate RSS reader lists are NewsBlur, The Old Reader and Feedly. Between these three there’s no contest. Feedly takes the cake. NewsBlur wanted my credit card upfront before letting me test drive the app

Apparently they can’t handle the demand, or is this milking unsuspecting ex-users of Google Reader? However, I was able to click back then hit forward again to gain access to my imported feed. The design looked horrible. Too cluttered. And frames; what is this 1996?

I didn’t even get a chance to try The Old Reader. It’s been about 3 days now, and still no ETA on when my feed would be imported. Very disappointing.

I started using Feedly right of way. Works great on the desktop, iPad, iPhone and other iGizmos and Droids. Imported my feed instantly. No hick ups. I was hooked by the clean and beautiful layout options, similar look and feel of Google Reader, and tons of sharing options. This is what I always wanted the Google Reader to be.

Feedly meets all my requirements I listed earlier. Except one. It doesn’t provide stats on my content consumption. But I can live without it.

With this post it wasn’t my intention to review any apps. My goal was to explore various alternatives to Google Reader. Feedly comes up as the top recommendation on many lists. Other RSS readers don’t even come close. Bottom line is, Feedly is in a league of its own and it’s the best alternative to Google Reader out there.

In Blog content, feedly, Google Reader, google reader alternatives, newsblur, the old reader

The Only Question That Matters On a Customer Satisfaction Survey

December 11, 2012 — Leave a comment

Marketers love to ask questions. We want to know who you are, where you live, where you work, what you do, how much you earn, your interests, hobbies, how you make purchase decisions, what TV shows you watch, what websites you visit and on, and on. We want to know as much about you as possible so that we know where to target marketing communication and type of messaging to use that would elicit a response that would convert into a purchase.

Thirst for such information tempts us to load our surveys with as many questions as possible to piece together a complete profile of our target audience. Sometimes it’s ok to do that, but most of the time, less is more, especially during the post-purchase feedback process.

It’s a common practice to ask your customers for feedback regarding your recent purchase and its easy to fall into the trap of asking too many questions. But no matter how many question you ask, there’s only one question that matters:

Would you recommend our product/service to your friends/colleagues/business associates?

If you were ever forced to use just one question on a survey, that would be it. You don’t even have to bother with a ratings scale. A simple Yes OR No will provide enough information whether your customers love or hate your products and services, and experience they had with your company.

This single question will tell you if your customers are happy with you or not. If they’re happy keep on doing what you’re doing, but still don’t forget to be better today than you were yesterday. If all your customers would not recommend you products or services, you need to address it. As an additional step, if a customer answers No, reveal a comment box and give them the opportunity to voice their dissatisfaction. Collect the data and do something about it so that the next time, if you manage to woo dissatisfied customers back, they would gladly recommend you products or services.

In Marketing customer feedback, marketing survey, post-purchase survey, target market

Fundamentals of Ranking Better on Search Engines

November 30, 2012 — Leave a comment

It’s a race to the top. Everyone wants to be at the top of Search Engine results. And why wouldn’t you? You get more visitors, page views, leads and customers? But how do you get to the top of Google? Or even Bing or Yahoo?

The most common way, that everyone heard of, is to have the right keywords on your site. But as you can see from the chart below that are so many other factors influencing how well you rank.

This infographic is actually from 2011, and although search engines constantly tweak their ranking algorithms and add new variables, the fundamentals to ranking well remain the same.

I have this chart printed and pinned to a wall in my office. It provides a quick reference to ensure I have the basics covered when I create new blog posts and pages.

In the original post on Search Engine Land, Danny Sullivan also takes us through his previously published ranking factors charts. As you can tell, each revision improved significantly. This makes me confident that an updated version of the chart could be in the pipeline. But in the meantime, I’ll continue using this Period Table of SEO Ranking Factors and you should too.

If you know of other charts, maybe something more recent, please comment below. Would love to see what you’re using as a reference.

In SEO infographic, keywords, search engine land, seo ranking factors

Infographics – Why Create It When You Can Just Take It?

October 28, 2012 — Leave a comment

Not so long ago, infographics were somewhat of a rarity. An art form in itself, was a domain of skilled graphic designers, data miners and story tellers. However, with help from social networks such as Pinterest, infographics have recently enjoyed tremendous gains in popularity.

This rise in popularity also gave birth to speciality apps, production houses and graphics designers that specialize on creating infographics. But what if you don’t have the time or the budget to create your own infographic? In that case, use someone else’s infographic.

Don’t Steal

If you’re going to use someone else’s infographic, please don’t steal it and claim it as your own work. You must still follow proper etiquette and creator’s rules when reposting the work on your own online properties. For starters, if you find a infographic that you’re permitted to use on your own site use the source embed code, if available. The embed code is usually found at the bottom of the post. If no source code is available make sure you link the graphic back to the original post. A good practice is to also provide a text credit with a link to the source infographic.

When in Doubt, Just Ask

If you’re not sure if you are permitted to republish the infographic on your site, just ask. Most people will hardly ever say no. But do expect some guidelines.

Best Practices

Now that you got an infographic, what do you do with it? Just post it on your site? And what do you hope to accomplish with that? If you’re just going to post without any context behind it, then might as well use Pinterest.

If you found an interesting infographic, share some insights. Tell your readers what you found interesting. How does it relate to your industry, profession or business? Is it something that everything should have a printed copy of on their desk? Or is the infographic completely off-base and you need to debunk all the claims? Whatever you decide to do, a short write up about the infographic you’re sharing will make your post more meaningful.

To get you started and for some inspiration, check out these posts and how their authors comment on the infographics:

In Blog content marketing, inbound marketing, infographics, social networks

How to Launch a Corporate Blog

September 1, 2012 — Leave a comment

This post is part of a series on Corporate Blogging. So far I’ve covered everything from getting management buy-in to how to build a blogging team. If you need to catch up, check out these posts:

Depending on your organization’s culture and your level of authority; the launch strategy will very. Small businesses will usually post a single blog post, hit publish and announce to the world that they have a blog. Bigger organizations will scrutinize draft content, pick every word apart, send it through numerous layers of management and lawyers for approval, then hit the publish button. But no matter which camp you belong to there are a handful of best practices to follow when you’re about to make your company’s blog go live.

Create Content

Before even telling a single soul about your blog, make sure you have enough content published. Curious people will want to check out your blog right of way. If they go to your blog and there’s nothing on there, except for a single ‘Hello World” post, you can bet they’ll never return again.

Launch it Internally

Once you have enough content on your blog, share it with your team. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback, but be ready to address it. Sharing your blog internally will provide an opportunity to iron out any wrinkles before promoting it externally. Additionally, you may want to encourage your internal team members to comment on the blog posts directly. Give it a sign of life.

Launch it Externally

Once you’ve addressed internal feedback and there’s some activity on your blog, start sharing your content publicly. Make sure you provide easy sharing to social media sites functions. If you built your blog on WordPress, there are a number of Social Sharing Plugins for you to test out. If your site visitors like the content, they will share it with their networks, comment on your posts and eventually become your brand ambassadors or clients.

Keep It Simple

Launching a company blog is not rocket science nor does it need to be complicated. The key is to keep it simple. Don’t make grand promises, such as ‘my blog will help solve problem xyz” or ‘our blog is one stop resources for xyz” … your audience will decide. Instead, just launch it. Start engaging with your audience. Pay attention to what they’re interested in and how you can help them.

Your Blog is Like a Retail Store

I’ll sum up this post with this analogy: launching a blog is like opening up a retail store. If your store is empty and you tell everyone to come see it and spend money; chances are your first visitors will be very disappointed and never to return again. But if your store is fully stocked and offers great values, visitors will spend money, tell their friends about it, then return again to spend more money. Your blog is just like a retail store. It must have content that provides value to it’s visitors.

In Corporate Blogging corporate blogging, how to launch a blog, small business blog

Where to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities

August 14, 2012 — Leave a comment

There are many benefits associated with guest blogging. Including writing guest posts with a goal of placing targeted anchor texts, reach new audiences, build expertise and credibility. Whatever your goals are, here are a few ways you can find guest blogging opportunities.

Blogs You Already Read

Chances are, the blogs you visit on daily basis already accept guest posts. Start with them. Follow their instructions clearly and if they ask for samples of your existing work, send your best material. But that doesn’t stop the editors from exploring your other works, as well as looking you up on Google. So keep your online activities respectable.

Directory of Blogs Accepting Guest Posts

There are a number of bloggers who run lists of blogs accepting guest posts. A simple Google search will pull some lists, but here are a couple for you to get started:

David Shaw Blog: Blogs Accepting Guest Posts
BloggersPassion: List of 100 Plus Blogs That Allow Guest Blogging

Social Search

Get on Twitter, Google+ or other social network you frequently use and search for terms inquiring for guest post submissions. For example, if you search Twitter for ‘guest blog’ or ‘guest post’ you’ll get a mixture of people already published a post or looking for someone to submit one. Vet through them. You may also want to add another term to that search string, such as the name of industry, product or even a specific location. Experiment, and see what work for you.

Ask Your Network

Once you have a cache of articles available, let your network know that you’re looking for guest blogging opportunities. Your network is great source of leads and can easily facilitate introductions. They’ll even introduce you to their favorite blogs, which you’ve probably never heard of.

Be Social

Start a conversation or join one. Help, respond and answer questions. Make friends. Simple as that, don’t try to game the system and spam, or the internet will bite back. Only once you’ve established a relationship or built a rapport with other bloggers, only then you can ask to contribute to their blogs. Asking to submit a guest post right out of the gate will not only increase your chances of you being ignored, but also the possibility of being blacklisted.

Regularly Create Your Own Content

This might be an obvious tip, but if you create good content on regular basis, invitations to contribute will come in. Not only that, but your existing content serves as a portfolio of your work. So, if an opportunity arises you’ll be able to quickly share your existing articles and other work with editors and bloggers.

If you’re looking for existing resources and tips on Guest Blogging check out:

SEOMOZ’s Whiteboard Friday: Guest Blogging Strategies
KiSSmetrics: Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging

In Blogging guest blogging, guest posts, inbound marketing

Post Google Plus Honeymoon

July 26, 2012 — Leave a comment

In my earlier post I mentioned I was going to stay off Twitter and facebook to dedicate more time to google+ … Looks like I’ll need more time, because in order to fully take advantage of what google+ offers you need to grow a following and build new relationships. That doesn’t mean I’ll be staying off Twitter and facebook, it just means my online attention will be divided even more.

However, I hardly spent any time on other social networks through July, but I quickly realized that they were actually useful. Who would have ‘thunk’? For example, the only way for me to get a hold of some people would be via facebook. And when I needed to get answers or feedback quick, Twitter was my go-to-source. The usefulness of these social networks only occurred to me when I self-imposed limited use of Twitter and facebook through July.

In Blog

Text Content – Would You?

July 6, 2012 — Leave a comment

Would you text content to your audience (read: subscribers, customers, vendors, followers, etc.)? I would not, nor would I recommend it. But Gene Sigalov of Content Marketing Institute does:

You need to shock customers out of their computer screen slumber. You need to generate a buzz… literally (in their pocket). You need to start sending texts.

Think about this for a moment. What happened the last time you received a promotional message via text message? How did you react? Unless you explicitly gave permission for a marketer to text you content or promotional material I would bet that you did not appreciate to be interrupted. To make his case stronger, Mr. Sigalov points out some impressive SMS stats:

90 percent of all texts are read within 3 minutes (almost 100 percent are read eventually).

Marketing texts have an open rate of 97 percent, while email is around 10 percent.

Texting is the most frequently used channel for personal communications among adults under age 35 (email is second, and Facebook third).

While those figures are impressive, the reason why (I believe) people read 90% of texts within 3 minutes is because the arriving message is sent via private communication channel, which is reserved for personal or professional contacts. Once our phones buzzes, we’re curious to see who it is from, so we pick up the phone right of way. Furthermore, most of the text messages either start and/or continue a conversation, or a simple status update such as “I’ll be there in 5 mins.” But whenever I receive a promotional message from my Mobile service provider, I get annoyed that my SMS channel is used for marketing purposes. So I delete it.

Marketing texts boasts high open rates, just like email did in its early days. But as soon as our SMS channel gets inundated with promotional content and offers, those rates will quickly decline as it did for email.

Lastly, look at the third bullet point: “Texting is the most frequently used channel for personal communications.” Exactly! It’s a personal communication channel. We expect personal communication from our personal network. If you want to be part of that network, you need my permission.

In Blog, Marketing content marketing, content texting, sms, sms marketing

Just Create Good Content

June 15, 2012 — 2 Comments

For the past couple of weeks or so, I’ve been spending a lot of my ‘learn something’ time on more advanced SEO topics. Watched several previously recorded MozCon sessions, video posts by Matt Cutts and searching for technical SEO blogs and SEO experts to follow. But what I learned is that it all has to start with creating good content.

Rat Race to Crack the Code

It is obvious that everyone is trying to crack the Google Search Algorithm. There are a lot of very smart people spending their sleepless nights attempting to reverse engineer the algorithm, running endless A/B split tests and searching for shortcuts to generate numerous backlinks; to a point of obsession. To me at least, all this effort seems to yield only slightly marginal improvements. Any major improvements on rankings are usually short-lived, as most of these practices are what is considered to be Black Hat SEO, or borderline Black Hat. And smart SEO experts know not to deploy them, otherwise Google will catch on and ban their sites and their client’s sites.

Create Good Content

Matt Cutts said it many times before, just create good content. All good SEOs say the same thing. Of course there a number of good SEO principles to follow, such as have your keywords in the title, url, Headings, etc., and if you create good original content then you would get the links, ranks and credibility for your work. What I also learned from all this ‘catch-up’ work is that Google’s Algorithm is always changing. What SEOs talk about today, will be different tomorrow. The only thing that hasn’t changed is that Google values good content.

As I mentioned earlier, there are SEO principles to follow, ofcourse. There is no shortage of online resources and books at your local bookstore to help you optimize your great content for your target audience to find. However, you need to start with good quality and original content. If you do that, the links will come in, subscribers will flock and your authority will grow.

In SEO best practices, content, inbound marketing, SEO