Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the exposure of your website to search engines.  For those just getting their feet wet in SEO success might mean getting a website listed in Google for the first time, but for many, SEO generally involves campaigns designed to increase web traffic for select search keywords or phrases (“clean fuel technology,” for example) or even additional lead generation. (more…)

From the Editor’s Desk is a monthly series that highlights editorial tips, best practices and other useful tidbits of information, written by a member of Marketwire’s own editorial team.

As a member of Marketwire’s Editorial team, I read our clients’ press releases before they are distributed and have noticed that some of the most common mistakes have to do with times and dates.

Here are a few “time-sensitive” mishaps to avoid when writing your own press releases: (more…)

Marketwire’s EVP of Marketing/Editorial Operations/Media Relations Paolina Milana is speaking at the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) in San Diego, Wednesday, February 24, 2010, on the Integrated Marketing Forum panel discussion. In her blog post for OMS, she uses a Sicilian quote to highlight the importance of relationships in integrated marketing strategies.

Earlier this month, Econsultancy’s Vice President, North America Rebecca Lieb and Sally Falkow, president and social media strategist at Expansion Plus, presented “Engagement: The Key to Success in 2010,” a webinar that highlighted case studies and other research to show how engagement in social media and other online channels is tied to financial success. Appropriately, this second installment of our Ask the Expert interview series features Rebecca and Sally as they answer Nick’s questions  on social media engagement. (more…)

In this installment, I’ll answer questions submitted by SM10X30 participants about Twitter lists and retweeting.

I am now following @marketwire. I saw the post asking if followers were on the #sm10x30 list. How would I go about getting on that list?  (more…)

On Friday, February 12, 2010 the last of the torch-bearing runners makes the pilgrimage from Athens to Vancouver to mark the start of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It’s when more than 80 countries, 10,000 media representatives and a global television viewing audience of over 3 billion begin their two-week fixation on this highly awaited series of events. If you have news that is suited to a global sporting audience — product launches, business partnerships, Olympic-themed announcements, sporting, travel or health news — it’s critical to target that news to the unprecedented number of journalists, editors and media professionals covering this historic event. (more…)

Did you know that China boasts the world’s fifth largest number of households with more than one million US dollars in liquid assets? And that China’s online media consumption is expanding so rapidly that even the Chinese government’s 32 internet censoring organizations aren’t able to police the 30 million Chinese blogs and social media sites reaching the 200 million Chinese accessing the internet for information! (more…)

In this weekly series, SM 10X30 fitness trainer and resident social media specialist Nick Shin answers selected questions from program participants, offering tips and insights to help you make the most of your training.

Hi folks.  In last week’s Tips from the Trainer, I answered questions about username availability and how limiting your profile affects your social networking.  This week, I decided to answer questions specific to Twitter and Facebook.

How do I change my username on Twitter? Why would I want to change my username?  How do I cancel a Twitter account so I can reuse my email address? (more…)

When evaluating a media monitoring service, there are many factors to consider: your scope of coverage, which provider to choose and the service tier that best fits your budget. However, while it may not seem to be a difficult choice, one of the most important decisions you will make is selecting the best keywords for your new monitoring account – keywords that will deliver the most relevant and targeted clips.

Choosing the right keywords and phrases is essentially a balancing act. If you pick terms that are too broad, they will return hundreds (or thousands) of clips per day, leaving you with a virtual stack too large to read through. However, if you pick terms that are too narrow (for example, just your company name or your name) – and you are not in the news at the moment – you may find you get very few or no daily results. In both of these cases, having too many clips can be as dangerous as having too few – both will leave you disappointed with your monitoring provider and its system capabilities. (more…)

Social Engagement. Today, it’s vital for business sustenance and success. For many companies, social media and other online channels were lifelines that helped them overcome a tough economic climate and, in some situations, allowed them to grow.

Join Sally Falkow, social media strategist and president of Expansion Plus, and Rebecca Lieb, eConsultancy’s VP, North America, for a free webinar and case study presentation on real-world applications and benefits of social media engagement. (more…)

Note:  The following is taken from the Winter 2010 edition of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) Toronto Chapter member newsletter, New Perspective, and was written by the Chapter’s Joanna Nicholson.

As CPRS Toronto members and communicators, you’ve seen the Marketwire logo in e-blasts, in this newsletter and at events. You may have personally used the company’s services for a campaign you were working on. For those unfamiliar with Marketwire, we spoke with Lisa Davis, director of marketing and Michael Nowlan, president and CEO at Marketwire, to learn more about the company, the services it provides and its long-time relationship with CPRS Toronto. (more…)

Reading the recaps and following @Marketwire coverage from North American stops of Search Engine Strategies (SES) has been eye-opening. Colleagues from our Toronto, Chicago, and LA offices have been frequent attendees, and rave about how much they learn from top industry experts about search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO) and social media.  This year’s agenda for SES London is chock-full of brilliant and engaging speakers, so I thought I would share the reasons that I will be attending this year. (more…)