Kevin Trainor - Marketing Prof.

When fast isn’t good enough

Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:56:33 +0000

I've always been amazed at search engine technology and how quickly a query for a term like "marketing professor" (or more interesting keywords) could sift through the webosphere and return so many results in fractions of seconds (25,500,500 results in .21 seconds to be a little more precise). As a former programmer who struggled with implementing simple sorting algorithms back in the day and having had experience as a database administrator (again, back in the day), I'm astounded at the computing power and infrastructure needed to support this crazy good response time.

Now, I've come to realize that I shouldn't have been so easily impressed. Google just released Google Instant (by now you've likely already experienced for yourself) which provides results literally the instant you begin typing. Pretty amazing…pretty cool!

This instant result paradigm presents some interesting implications for internet marketing. As a sort of predictive search, Google is using its vast database of previous searchers to guess what I am looking for and displays results that it thinks I want to see even before I finish typing the words. As a user, I find myself altering my search approach and, at times, selecting the keyword "best guesses" that Google came up with rather than finishing my own typing. While this seems innocent enough, we have to remember that Google is largely funded through its ad business and certain keywords demand higher prices. Google's own suggested results could inherently lead searchers towards certain ads/content. Intentions aside (after all, Google tries to "do no evil") Google is in a precarious position in terms of how they can influence the world of search and the associated advertising. Some argue that this doesn't change anything but try for yourself and see if you find yourself changing the way your search for information.

On a side note, as I monitor my ranking for terms like "internet marketing buffalo" and "marketing professor", I am seeing differences that seemed to be attributed to the data center where results are pulled from. For example, when I search for the term "internet marketing buffalo" from my office in Buffalo, NY, I see that www.kevintrainor.com comes in at the #1 or #2 spots. Meanwhile a friend of mine residing in Arizona who executes the same query finds this site on page 3! The same holds true for the term "marketing professor". It seems that I need to continue to optimize and will continue monitoring these differences.

Internet Marketing Search Results

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 03:51:37 +0000

Go figure…search engine optimization can work!

Building site relevance

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:35:11 +0000

It's been just over a month since I started this site and started building my online presence here in Western New York. Since my last post I've finished up another great Internet Marketing Class at Canisius College, wrapped up a couple research projects, finished out another little league season (as a spectator only this year), started a new semester as a marketing professor at Canisius College, and managed to squeeze in a family trip to Wisconsin to visit relatives. As I get back into the swing of things, I figure it's time to work some more on improving my site's visibility for certain keywords such as "marketing professor", "internet marketing professor", "buffalo marketing" etc.

I am pleased with where my site stands given how new my site is and how little time I have spent optimizing the site for search engines. Now, it's time to refine my strategy and incorporate some techniques such as link building (getting other sites to include a link back to yours) and microsites (niche landing pages that link to my site). I have started with a couple links from my e-marketingclass blog. In addition to this, keyword analysis reveals that my site is a little light on the keywords I want to be visible for so I need to do more writing!

In the meantime, I will include relevant RSS feeds from other marketing blogs (on the right side of the page) in hopes to pull in meaningful content/keywords.

How (not) to use social media for your business

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:39:33 +0000

Ok..so, there’s not much I can add to this story so I’ll summarize and point you to the whole (and still growing) story. Customer gives restaurant a bluntly critical review on yelp. Restaurant owner responds in an “interesting” manner. Restaurant receives all kinds of PR…unfortunately, not the type of PR she was probably looking for.

Key takeaways:

Social media is (and will continue to be) a useful tool for just about any business.
Businesses need to become comfortable with the social media landscape and listen, engage and act responsibly.
It might be OK to admit faults and apologize.
Failing to acknowledge #2 or #3 can lead to this excellent example of how not to use social media in a business context.