Strategically Communicating

TOMS is a pretty well-known company for how new it is. So before I tried search terms I expected there to be a lot where TOMS would pop up at the top of the search list.

The terms I searched that resulted in TOMS being the top result are:

giving away shoes, shoes for children, one for one, giving shoes to children and shoes for children.

I searched “donating shoes to children” and was surprised that TOMS did not show up on the first page of results.

Oddly enough, when you type “fabric” into the Google search engine, Fabric.com is not ranked at first position in the organic listings. They come in third place there, but they seem to have remedied this by buying the first ad on the page.

I do think the company is on top of their SEO because for the searches “quilting fabric”, “discount fabric”, “home decorating fabric”, and “retro fabric”, they are in the top two organic listings. When I searched for “fashion fabric,” I again found them ranking third in the organic results. This is not bad considering that the two listings above it are www.fashionfabricsclub.com, and www.fabricmartfabrics.com, two sites that sell mostly fashion fabrics.

Why do all of our textbooks keep saying that the public relations practitioner is not recognized as a professional? In Tom Hagley’s book, Writing Winning Proposals: PR Cases, Hagley states, “Public relations has yet to be fully accepted as a true profession.” Obviously, I am not arguing with the legitimacy of his book, he has a ton of public relations experience. However, I do disagree with this statement. The Bureau of Labor Statistics categorizes public relations professionals. The practitioners held 275,000 jobs in 2008. Most of them have college degrees in some form of journalism focus, and the employment of the specialists is expected to grow by 24% from 2008 to 2018. Learn more facts: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos086.htm

It is time that we start recognizing ourselves as a group of people within a defined profession. We “influence behavior” right? This myth of being a misunderstood sect of the journalism world needs to stop. It’s almost like a viral video. I can remember reading this idea in almost every public relations focused textbook since I have been in the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon. What do you all think about it? It is the degree we will be mounting on our walls, after all.

The days of playground bullying are so far gone compared to the type of bullying that is taking place over chat rooms and emails. Everyday people are harassed and made fun of over social media and it is only a matter of time before someone will reach their breaking point and do something terrible to either themselves or someone else. In this case a teenage girl was a victim of a cyber hoax that eventually led to her suicide. There needs to be more of an emphasis to protect children from internet bullying. In many cases the hurt that can be caused from words can be just as bad as physical punishment. Many people overlook this problem but in this day and age, the problem is real and this is a prime example of what could happen if things do not change.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1

After doing research on key terms or words that are ideal in using to search for Greenhill Humane Society, I noticed that anything that has to do with animal adoption or shelter in Eugene or Lane County will come up with Greenhill Humane Society in the Google search engine. Some of the key terms I used are:

Lane County Animal Shelter, Humane Society Lane County, Greenhill Humane, Lane County Greenhill, Humane Society Greenhill, Adopt Animals Lane County, Eugene Humane Society, Dog Pound Eugene, and Eugene Lane County Animal Shelter.

An interesting feature about the Google search engine is that it recognizes what types of searches that are most popular to the user of the computer. Therefore anytime I am on my computer and search anything that has to do with Lane County or Eugene Animal shelters, Greenhill Humane Society automatically comes up. On another computer the same search comes up with different results.

In my opinion, Golfweek has some work to do in order to improve its search engine optimization strategy.  Competitors GolfWorld and Golf Digest, as well as many other websites, appear well before Golfweek when performing a Google search of “golf magazine.”  Refining the search to “golf news magazine” is very effective, moving Golfweek to third overall.  However, this is very specific, and not a likely search by an average golf consumer.   General searches are the best way to generate traffic, since they are usually what people seek first.  For example, when searching “golf,” Golfweek was nowhere to be found, at least in the first four pages.  Golfweek needs to improve its search performance, especially for more general search terms.

In order to become the #1 golf news publication in the world, Golfweek must be able to grab the attention of captive web audiences.  Thus, it must “hook” the golf fan who does not yet subscribe to a golf publication.  Especially as Golfweek expands and improves its digital offering, it must make sure it can actually deliver this content to golf fans and industry professionals.  The best way to do this is to be front and center.  Golfweek should do everything it can to get those individuals to its website first, and SEO is the best place to start.