Gravitate Design Blog

Google’s Data Plot Thickens with Knowledge Graph

I vividly remember a night back when I was in college. It was 3am and I was sitting at my computer, 20-page essay on Leonardo DiVinci due at 9am and pulling my hair out and yelling “Argh! Why don’t you get what I mean, Google!?”

Thankfully, those days are in the past for me…and for Google. This morning, Google announced that it will be rolling out its new Knowledge Graph interface over the next couple of days. The Knowledge Graph attempts to automatically sift through the vastness of the web the way people do.

Luckily, the countless hours we have all spent surfing around Google, getting lost, and finding ourselves have not been in vain. The Knowledge Graph technology is made possible through Google’s analysis of the trillions (yup, trillions) of searches and user behavior.

This technology will help improve your search experiences in three ways:

You can narrow your search results to single meanings of words, names, or phrases.
To your right, you’ll see an extremely user-friendly panel with summary of the most relevant content on your search topic.
You can discover new and relevant information without falling down a never-ending rabbit hole.

As Google says, “We’ve always believed that the perfect search engine should understand exactly what you mean and give you back exactly what you want.” Soon you will be able to find the answer to the next question before you even knew you wanted to ask it.

We all want faster access to data, but the connection and relevancy of it is what evolves information into knowledge. I think Google gets this. The days of asking Jeeves are over but a new era of knowledge exploration is definitely upon us. I can’t wait to give it a try.

Driving into the Cloud

Last week Google launched its new online storage and sharing program, Google Drive. Gmail users can now install a piece of free software on any device running Windows, Mac OS X, Android and (soon) iOS. That device will then get a special Google Drive folder that synchronizes automatically with an online mirror.

knockoff or knockout?

Dropbox has been around for quite a while and Microsoft recently scaled up its long-neglected SkyDrive to include additional payment tiers and support mobile devices. Google Drive might seem late in the game, but as usual the web giant is working hard to stand out from the rest of the pack.

Google Drive isn’t just a Dropbox counterfeit, it’s new face of Google Docs. In an effort to pull users away from Microsoft towards the web -based office software, Google is hoping that new users for Google Drive will stick around and use Google Docs. Documents created through Docs won’t count towards your Drive storage quota, but all uploaded files are fair game for Google’s data-extraction technology.

Let’s take a look at what you get, using information provided by Geek.com. New users receive 5GB of free storage on Google Drive, compared to 2GB for Dropbox and a whopping 7GB from SkyDrive. Google drive is also right in the middle in regards to pricing for additional storage, however, upgrading to any paid account will reward you with extra Gmail storage.

paradigm shift

It’s a pretty big swing for Google to move from advertising to paid subscriptions. So, does this represent a fundamental change in how Google creates revenue, or just a foray into unfamiliar territory to head off efforts by Microsoft? Either way, users have nothing to lose at the moment, and a lot to gain. Both Google and Microsoft have drastically undercut the prices that Dropbox offers for additional storage. My hope is that with stiff competition between multiple big players, prices will fall and features skyrocket. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

Which to choose?

Stephen Shankland of cnet.com has the best answer: “Heck, use ‘em all!” With a combined free storage quota of over 10GB and a little organization on the part of the user, there doesn’t have to be any reason to choose just one.

Lights, Camera, Actionable Intelligence: Web Videos Done Right

You don’t need your own YouTube Channel to leverage online video and extend your digital marketing reach (though it wouldn’t hurt). Incorporating video on to your website is a relatively simple way to communicate quickly and clearly, engage your users, and improve your online presence and search engine rankings. Before dusting off your old home movies, here are three key points to remember:

Audience First

As with all marketing strategies, you must first decide who you are targeting before you develop your message. Then, make sure that your video is created with them in mind, particularly in terms of language and style. Your primary audience will play an important role in the overall reach of your video, so communicate with them in a way they will understand. This will increase the chances of your video achieving wider popularity. It may be helpful to investigate what styles of video are popular among your niche.

Short, Sweet, and Shareable

In a perfect world, your video should be between one to two minutes long. Realistically, anything less than five is alright, as long as it entertaining or informative – better yet, both! Though video can help you to explain complex issues, it’s best to keep things simple. Each video should have one clear message to get across. Following these steps will make it more likely for your users to share or link to your video on their social media.

Leave it to the professionals

You likely wouldn’t ask your middle-school-aged nephew to write a press release for your business, so why would you treat video production this way? Find a reputable videographer and editor to help you produce a high quality video; it is more affordable than you might think. Also consider investing in a professional writer to aid with the content. Your investment will produce big returns in the credibility and ultimately shareability of your video.

Incorporating video on your website is the ideal way to show your company’s personality and connect with your customers, especially those remote from you. According to eMarketer’s estimates “53.5% of the total population and 70.8% of internet users will watch online video in 2012.” That’s a lot of exposure. When done correctly, a great online video will have an exponential impact on your online visibility and brand recognition.

Don’t Coerce, Converse: Marketing in the Digital Age

The traditional goal of a marketing plan is to grab people and hook ‘em, right? Customer interaction has been fairly limited and mostly reactive rather than proactive in the past. Well, times have changed, due in large part to social media outlets and business blogging.

Today’s digital world offers business owners a unique opportunity to interact with their customers rather than just transact. With tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ companies can now proactively become part of a community and engage with their customers in more ways and more often than ever before.

Lead a Conversation not a campaign

With these changing tools and technology, the message must evolve, too. A lot of businesses are using this still new-ish technology, but sticking with the same old message. This just won’t cut it anymore.

Recently, in a Technorati blog post. Paul Adams, Facebook’s global brand manager, highlights this idea, “blasting a large ad on Facebook defeats the nature of the medium. Facebook should be used to build the relationship first, over time, and only then, market to them.” Your blog and social media pages shouldn’t be digital billboards. Find out what your customers are talking about and get into a conversation!

*Cartoon Courtesy of Eloqua (www.eloqua.com)

Build Relationships

Blogging and social media are all about building relationships, which can be an incredible tool for your business. A trusted relationship encourages brand loyalty and word-of-mouth recommendations. While this is possible, it takes time and considerable effort to create helpful, reliable, and shareable content. They key is to use social media to ask questions and listen to your customer base, find out what is important to them, and then give them what they want.

Check out Technorati’s 2011 State of the Blogosphere for a great Do and Don’t list for social media strategies for businesses. The highlights are: listen to the current conversations, be active, focus on quality, and be human. Social media tools and blogging are opening a new door into business-consumer relationships. Don’t let old habits slam it in your face.

Project Glass: See The World Like Our Robot Overlords

Google announced Project Glass this week and revealed the prototype for a new personal communication device that would encapsulate pretty much every Google program in a pair of futuristic glasses. Getting organized has never been more fashionable!

They aren’t really glasses per se, but a device worn on the head with a small screen above the right eye. The screen flashes information on cue, allowing users to set up meetings, get directions, take pictures, and video chat. It uses voice command to translate spoken commands into actions.

Google released this video to show what this product could eventually do. If it works, it could be big, really big. Pushing Google to the front of the pack in the personal communication device market. It even hints at artificial-intelligence…yes please!

Like most new technology announcements these days, it touts the ability to help users stay more connected and engaged with their world. The pictures of people wearing the prototype, however, make it look distracting…isolating, even. I guess the first cell phone user must have looked pretty weird too…

Sadly, you won’t be able to get these sweet specs at a mall kiosk anytime soon. A Google spokesperson said that it is unlikely that the glasses will be available to consumers anytime before 2013.

The Most Effective Internet Marketing Strategy – Ever!

Grandiose title or gold nugget?

In the few years I’ve been an agency-level inbound marketer I’ve seen dozens of clients both succeed and fail in digital marketing. You might wonder why some fail miserably and others flourish. Of course there are many reasons, but I’ve heard a lot of businesses blame the moving target of an ever-changing algorithm. While it’s true that search engines will always be evolving in attempt to improve our online experience, there is one key element that will never change.

Think long-term and ignore fads

Each year Google updates its algorithm more than 500 times. Equally, most SEO’s and webmasters put themselves into some level of panic every one of those times. That or they’ll use the latest update as a sales gimmick to take advantage of you. Don’t fall for it. In fact, there are 1000′s of internet marketing and search engine optimization techniques you should probably avoid.

Try and refrain from hitting the panic button over each new algorithm change, penalty or hot new SEO tool. But, don’t stick your head in the sand either, always be aware of what’s happening.

Be Cautious of "too good to be true" SEO Tools

*Courtesy Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy; DreamWorks/Apatow Productions (2004)

Finding the common thread

Search engines like Google are designed to provide the world with relevant information and answer our questions – any question.

Truth is, kids today have access to more information than ever before. They’re carrying every dictionary, encyclopedia, and how-to video in their pocket. The catch is, good information is often mingled with misinformation and plain junk. A good search engine helps users cipher through the junk and find relevant answers to our questions. This is Google’s goal. Take a look at this year’s algorithm updates; see a pattern?

2012 Google updates (and its only March):

Jan 30-pack (30 search quality updates including image search and landing page quality detection)
Search+ Your World (radical shifts in personalized search)
Panda 3.2 (additional penalizing for poor content)
Ads Above the Fold (devalues sites with ad-space above the fold)
Feb 17-pack (17 search quality updates, related to speed, freshness, spell-checking, content quality in search index)
Venice (local search update)
Feb 40-pack (40 search quality updates including image, freshness and content quality)
Panda 3.3 (upgrade to Panda, putting even more emphasis on quality content)

The common thread here? An emphasis on relevant and quality content.

Understanding the secret to search

I stopped worrying about Google’s algorithm changes or latest rounds of penalties because I understand where Google wants to be. Therefore, I understand what I need to do to remain in their highest graces. Write quality content that answers real questions.

Search engines have been cracking down on poorly written, irrelevant content this past year – with a vengeance. They’re making a strong push to clean up the web, and are rewarding those who are already providing good information.

Matt Cutts, head of Google spam team says, they’re “leveling the playing field.” Websites that have been over-optimized or contain poorly written copy will be penalized in order to reward those who have consistently offered well-written, timely and unique content.

The message is very clear: spend the majority of your digital business development efforts writing good content that answers your audience’s questions. To take this a step further, you can provide even more content by engaging your customers via social media channels.

If you can answer yes to these five simple questions, your business has great potential to succeed online:

Do you have an attractive website?
Is your website easy to navigate?
Is each page on your site specific to only one or two topics?
Is your copy grammatically correct, completely original and at least 250 words per page?
Do you have a blog hosted on your domain that you update at least twice a month?

If you answered “Yes!” to all of the above, you are well ahead of the competition.

Content is now God

You’ve heard the cliché content is king? Well, in today’s world of search, content is God!

The most effective SEO strategy you can implement for online success comes down to writing. This can be extremely daunting for most businesses. I suggest working with an agency or finding an employee who just loves to write about your business in their spare time. The future of your online success is counting on it.

I’ll leave you with some of my favorite resources for producing content that search engines will love:

QuickSprout, The Marketer’s Guide to Blogging
Mashable, Content Creation
SEOmoz, Content Strategies
Kaiser the Sage, Tips for Guest Blogging (and other great resources)
YoungPrePro, Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging

Good luck and thanks for reading. Please share your thoughts in the comments box below, I’d love to hear from you.

See ya next time – don’t forget to write. (Poor attempt at writer’s humor)

By: Matt Malone

Free Photoshop CS6 Beta

This past Thursday, Adobe released Photoshop CS6 beta with re-engineered design tools, content-aware patching, a sleek and modern interface, and a considerable update to its speed due to the Adobe Mercury Graphics Engine which allows previously sluggish tasks (Transform, Liquify, Puppet Warp and others) to take effect in real-time.

Winston Hendrickson, VP of Products at Adobe, had this to say: “Photoshop CS6 will be a milestone release that pushes the boundaries of imaging innovation with incredible speed and performance. We couldn’t wait to share this beta of Photoshop CS6 with our customers and are looking forward to hearing from them and seeing the ways they are incorporating the beta into their daily creative workflows.”

Our Thoughts…

The reaction to another CS version usually falls on one of two extremes. Either folks are frustrated that their version, which they just dropped a few grand on, is now officially out of date, or there are those that relish diving into new features, changes, and updated interface design. We are definitely part of the latter group and we’re pumped to try out the new updates even though the past several revisions haven’t been anything to write home about. In the last couple iterations, Adobe seemed to be piling on features, MS Office style, to try and appeal to everyone and it seemed they didn’t focus on making the basics better. With this latest version it’s very clear, after a few hours with the beta, that the main goal was to do exactly that: focus on the basics and build based on how the majority of designers use the program on a daily basis.

Here at the office, we’re excited to dive in further and we’re planning on having a follow up post titled: ‘Was the Hype Right?’ (hmmm, that sounds pretty corny…working title). If you’re like us and can’t wait to try it out, Mac users can pick it up if they have a GB of RAM free and a multicore Intel processor. PC folks need at least a 2GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. The Photoshop CS6 beta is available as a free download from Adobe’s website and the release version is expected to launch by the middle of 2012.

SEO Data: Sign of the Times

SEO-data: Actionable Intelligence
Your web presence is more precarious than you might think. If you’re not on page one of the search results, your chances of being found by your target audience diminishes rapidly. Even from the top of page one to the bottom you start slipping out of sight.

You need to be on page one!

SEO is all about harvesting and analyzing data. The nuts and bolts of making changes to your website that get you to the top of the search results are child’s play next to the problem of gathering the right data to know which changes to make.

As Avinash Kaushik, the web analyst, reminds us constantly, our problem is not that we don’t have enough data or intelligence to do business—we have TOO MUCH!

What is actionable intelligence?

The road sign above is a simplified analog to what SEO specialists confront every day with data. The sign is shouting useless information at the reader and the most important data might get you killed if you ignore it.

Same with SEO. If you are gathering and acting on useless information to optimize your website, you could get killed in the search rankings.

So how do you get the right intelligence?

Out of the mountains of data that can be gathered about your website and that of your competitors, you must be able to focus on actionable intelligence: that data which points directly to the actions you must take to move your rankings higher.

The sign of the times in SEO points to automation. It’s no longer possible to do effective data mining and analysis by manual means. There is too much data and too little time.

SEO Automation

Manual data mining for SEO involves the use of a dozen tools or more that are spread all over the web. They aren’t correlated with each other and they don’t, by themselves, produce actionable intelligence. That has always been the province of the specialist after the data has been gathered.

Automation let’s us design and test specific data gathering and parsing functions that makes it easier for a specialist to see the actionable intelligence and…well…act on it.

This doesn’t just speed up the process for us, the SEO specialists. It means we can gather and act on more specific information that produces results more quickly. Over time, we can also be more specific about what content to add to the website and which new keywords to target.

Gravitate SEO takes it to the streets

To save our sanity and stay current with the industry, Gravitate SEO is developing its own proprietary tools for data mining, analysis, and client reporting. It’s already making a huge difference in how we approach the work on our own website. Like many businesses, taking care of clients means we have at times ignored this website. Now we’re treating this site like any client site and using it as a test case to develop our new automated toolbox.

In the coming days and weeks, we’ll be reporting on our progress back to the top of the rankings, where we’ve been for years. We’ll also be offering tips and tricks that you can consider for your own business or non-profit website. Subscribe to our RSS feed and come along for the ride. We’ll make sure to warn you of any bridges that are out.

Leap Blog: The “Doomsday Rule”

Happy Doomsday, everyone! Did you know that the last day in February is called “Doomsday”? not in a “the world is ending” way, but it’s a mathematical equation called the “doomsday rule”, figured out by mathematician John Conway. You can read all about it on places like Wikipedia, but the jist is this: Doomsday is just a name, he could have called it “Conway Day”, but Doomsday has more punch! Doomsday is the last day of February each year. (a.k.a. March 0, or ZEROth of March).

What day does Christmas fall on in 3 years?

Where this rule is helpful is finding out what day of the week a certain date, holiday, birthday, etc. falls on. You might be thinking: I can always just Google it, or search for it on my calendar. Yes…IF you are at a computer. But what if you are not at a computer? What day is Christmas in 2015? Well, its on a Friday, of course! Isn’t that a great day for Christmas, because you probably get the Eve off, and then Boxing day is a Saturday – Sunday is an extra day. Boxing day always falls on Doomsday. So does Halloween, and the 4th of July, and that’s just for starters. Read on!

How to remember the rule { impress your friends }

These dates also fall on Doomsday (remember even numbers after 2): 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10, and 12/12. For the odd months these dates are also on Doomsday: 5/9, 9/5, 7/11 and 11/7 (remember “Seven Eleven is open from Nine to Five”). There you have all the months except January. For January, in regular years it is 1/10. Think of the tenth as 1 year, 0 extra days. On leap year it is 1/11 – 1 year, 1 extra day.

In normal years (the next three) Doomsday advances by one day (365 is 52 weeks + 1 day), and leap years it advances by two. This may seem like a lot to remember, but once you know the Doomsday for one year, you get used to figuring ahead. This year, 2012, doomsday is on Wednesday, so the next three years are Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So, in 2014, July 4th is on a Friday – a good day for that holiday.

But wait, there’s more.

*Warning – for the extra-math-geeky only! Yes, there is a whole algorithm for figuring out any year in any century, but for most people, knowing a few years ahead (and the current year, of course) can be helpful. If you really want to know what day will be New Year’s in 2099, you can do the math.

How much is your anonymity worth on the web?

Google has launched Screenwise, a 100% voluntary project that attempts to nail down internet usage statistics from normal, everyday users, rather than the ‘power-users’ that are typically monitored and seem to have the loudest voice. Google is willing to pay these regular Joes throughout the monitoring process as well, albeit via relatively meager Amazon gift cards.

What’s the catch? Well, once you opt in as a panelist, your every click around the vast interwebs will be captured by a browser extension and sent back to the Google mothership, to help them better understand how everyday folks use the web.

If you’re not a conspiracy theorist, or worried about being a part of a broad cross-section (and you’re at least 13 years old), you could have signed up to be a panelist through the Screenwise website. However, at the time of writing, there has been an overwhelming interest for this program and Google is urging those interested to “please come back later for more details”. If you got in early or the program opens back up, Google plans to reward panelists with a $5 Amazon gift card for the first month of tracking and another $5 gift card for every three months thereafter.

To take it a step further, of the folks that have already signed up, a handful have been approached to install a small black box to their home modem called a Screenwise Data Collector (SDC). Having an SDC box in your home will track your entire home network usage, no matter the time of day, chosen browser, or device you surf on. While more intrusive, the SDC program does award participants $20 for every month they participate and an initial $100 for starting the program.

So how do you feel about every keystroke, click, hover, or late-night Amazon impulse being tracked and recorded to provide the common user a better experience on the internet?