Archive for May, 2012

The Rise of Pinterest

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Could Pinterest be the latest multi-million social media giant? Statistics revealed recently have estimated its value at a staggering $1.5 billion.
Hailed as one of the fastest growing social networks of all time, Pinterest appears to have come from nowhere, to be propelled to extraordinary heights of success in such a short amount of time. Since its relatively unknown beginnings in December 2009, the site has now become the fastest in history to break through the 10 million unique user mark.

Designed as a personalised media platform, Pinterest is essentially a pinboard-style, photo sharing site which allows its users to create and maintain theme-based image boards. As well as setting up their own theme based collections, users can browse through other pinboards and “like” fellow users’ photos or even “re-pin” them onto their own boards, in a bid to connect people from across the world through mutual interests.

Acquiring 10,000 users in just nine months, the site is also being targeted by online businesses eager to take advantage of its marketing potential. In particular, eCommerce sites have begun to look into the potential held by Pinterest. Being part of such an up-and-coming movement, the levels of exposure involved hold real value in creating awareness of a brand, as well as being a great opportunity to showcase products to millions of people across the world. Clothing retail giant, Gap, are a great example of a company tapping into the potential held by Pinterest, with different mood boards for different fashion departments.

However, it would be narrow-minded to assume that only eCommerce sites can benefit from the media platform. With the option to follow and be followed by like-minded peers across the web, the site also invites the opportunity to include things like infrographics and statistical charts to convey your company’s message. It basically provides another avenue through which potential customers and clients can find you on the web.

There is no denying that the way we use the internet is currently being revolutionised by the use of smartphones. With recent data showing that a third of the UK population use the internet on their mobile every day, Pinterest have been quick to adapt their service to accommodate for this increase. There is currently a Pinterest app for the iPhone, and an app for the iPad is currently in development.

So what’s next for Pinterest? The site is still comparatively new, gathering interest and users all the time, so it will be interesting to see what direction the social media site is taken down, but online businesses do appear to be playing a significant part in the future of Pinterest.

Posted in Industry News |

How Will Google’s PageRank Update Affect Your Business?

Friday, May 11th, 2012

How Will Google’s PageRank Update Affect Your Business?

As most people will now be aware, Google released another PageRank update yesterday. Being three months along from the last update which occurred 6th February this year, the arrival didn’t come as a great surprise. With updates in November, February and now May, it would appear that three months appears to be the emerging timescale between each one. Although you may not have seen any changes in your PageRank just yet, the process is currently underway and any outstanding changes are expected to be updated soon.

Introduced in 1998, PageRank is basically the mathematical algorithm used by Google to work out the popularity of any given page. This popularity can be based on a number of factors, including the number of backlinks and outbound links it contains, as well as looking at the attention of its audience. It is essentially a tool used to represent the probability that a person randomly clicking on links will arrive at any particular page.

The main question on everyone’s lips at the moment however, is how will this affect my website? Google has maintained on several occasions that webmasters and bloggers shouldn’t worry about their page rank as this doesn’t affect your search engine positions or the amount of traffic to your site. Although Google never releases specific information behind the actual processes of the PageRank algorithm, rumours often suggest that ranking is based purely on the level of quality of a site. This is one of the reasons why these regular updates have been been described in the past as being a purely motivational method for people to continue providing great content and sites.

Most of the experts would regard PageRank as having no bearing on SEO. So even if your page rank has changed but you’re still enjoying first page search engine results you should continue to see the benefits of presiding over your competitors, such as more brand awareness and extra visitors to your site. Nevertheless, at SEO Positive, we endeavour to provide our clients with good quality content and strong backlinks and inbound links so they are likely to see a positive page rank alongside their consistent SEO results.

Posted in Social Media |