Google has been working on a few upgrades of late, dating back to September last year. The first change was for a more effective visitor view by doing away with the tabs. This was merely a design change with an objective to attract more business owners to list their business on Google Maps, I reckon they have done a good job of doing that.

Recently, which is more SEO related, Google has started adding reviews from non-traditional websites. A good example of this is Bob & Paige Salon, they are receiving reviews from a blog article written about them. The reviews are coming from the comments area of the blog post (below the post). This does potentially complicate reputation management but for good reasons though. When Google began using reviews within Google Maps there was an influx of companies generating their own reviews which appeared rather spammy at times. To counteract the spammers, Google has taken it on themselves to source natural reviews from blogs, comments and alike. Business owners have no control of the new algorithm so whether it is good or bad, Google will have the opportunity to expose the truth as to what people are saying about companies. I wonder if Hello Peter will be on Google’s list??

To date I haven’t seen these new additions within Google South Africa’s search results but it won’t be long until we do.

NOTE: How to build an online strategy centered around public relations?

Last week I discussed how being friends with authorative bloggers can be effective for online public relations. We are now going to take a step backwards and focus on how to build these fruitful relationships with bloggers.

Step ONE: Identify the top blogs in your industry. So for example, let’s say we are marketing a company in the travel and tourism industry. The first step would be to find out who were in the shortlist for the South African Travel blogger awards this year. Once we have identified them we have a look at their blog rolls and identify a few other top blogs. We can instantly see which are the top blogs by their Page Rank, the interaction within their blog (user comments) and any other social media platforms that they may use (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter etc).

Step TWO: Create a spreadsheet and insert the following into the columns:

• website addresses
• contact information (phone, physical address, or any combination available to you)
• specific editor names (when applicable; especially needed for larger sites) and contact information
• the angle the particular writer or site tends to take on your topic (e.g., do they usually only pick up breaking news or do they also give light to time saving tips or how to guides)
• columns for the date last contacted
• response received
• times they’ve linked to you

Now that you have created this list you will be able to use it. If you have a good online personality, a portion of this list will become “friends of the site” and become your network within the niche.

Step THREE: Create a Twitter and Facebook account.

Step FOUR: Make contact with these editors/columnists. The key is not to become an inteloper, don’t only contact them when you need something. We all despise this immensely. Send a personalised email to them introducing yourself and your website, and complement them on a good article that they wrote. I can’t stress the importance of not asking for a link straight away, they will put up a brick wall immediately if you do this. Some bloggers don’t accept emails though so find forums and blogs that they belong to and interact with them there. Add value to the discussion though and start contributing your own thoughts and opinions to threads/discussions.

Step FIVE: Create linkbait. Having content worth talking about is crucial. Don’t always repeat what other industry players are writing about but rather write your own opinions and maybe even be slightly controversial at times.

Step SIX: Start contacting your contact list. If you think an article would be found interesting by so and so, contact them, get in their faces and make your voice heard. If they don’t mention you in their blog post they will hopefully sign up for your feed or remember your brand name for when they do find a reason to link to you.

Remember:

1. Don’t email them everytime you write an article, make sure your post will be found interesting to them. In your email refer back to an old article they wrote about and ask their opinion on your article. Be friendly.
2. Once you have got them to subscribe to your feed, stop the ’selling’ emails and begin sending the ‘relationship building’ emails. There must not be any sales pitches or “look what I wrote” but rather go in at a conversation perspective.
3. Finally, if you still get no response out of them, then maybe write a positive article specifically about them with a link back to them.

Do all the above and be patient. The results will come.