The webinar will be led by HCC Medical’s Muhammad Yasin and Slingshot SEO’s Jesse Laffen.

In this webinar, participants will learn:

• How social influences a website’s ranking factors
• How to create social content based on specific SEO keywords
• What social signals mean for a brand’s ROI

The SEO webinar is free but registration is required.

Muhammad Yasin is the Social Media Strategist for an international travel medical and short-term health insurance company. His social media marketing campaigns reached over 2 million people in 2011. Muhammad’s innovative use of social media in the healthcare industry was nominated for a Mira Award in 2010 as well as being featured as a case study in the book Search Engine Optimization: An Hour a Day. He was recently recognized as a Rising Star by the Indianapolis Star and by the Indianapolis social marketing community as the most influential Up and Comer of 2011.

As an evangelist for the use of social media, Muhammad Yasin regularly publishes tips at http://www.muhammadyasin.com.

Jesse Laffen is the Director of SEO Performance at Slingshot SEO. For the past four years, Jesse has been practicing search marketing on behalf of clients to achieve top organic rankings on search engines like Google and Bing. Jesse’s other areas of Internet marketing expertise include conversion rate optimization and copywriting.

About Slingshot SEO

Indianapolis-based Slingshot SEO was ranked #58 on the 2011 list of Inc’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies, and was #14 on the 2011 Tech200. Founded in 2006, Slingshot SEO provides professional SEO services to more than 150 clients across the country. The company’s results are driven by a tireless passion to make deserving brands digitally relevant.  For more information about Slingshot SEO and to read customer reviews, visit http://www.slingshotseo.com.

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Editor’s Note: Attached photo shows HCCMIS’s Mark Carney at the Slingshot SEO Client & Employee Awards.

Lawrence is a software engineer with 16 years of development experience. He most recently served as Director of OnDemand Software Engineering at Aprimo, an integrated marketing software and applications company.

In his new role, Lawrence will plan, coordinate, and supervise all activities related to the design, development, testing, and implementation of organizational information systems and software applications for Slingshot SEO, a growing internet marketing company that was ranked No. 58 on Inc’s 2011 500 Fastest Growing Companies List.

“John hit the ground running and has already added value to our existing team,” said Don Kane, Chief Operations Officer.  “His experience in building scalable solutions for enterprises is a welcomed addition as we focus this year on refining our systems and processes to grow our business.”

The DePauw University graduate and Carmel, Indiana resident began his new role January 9.

About Slingshot SEO

Indianapolis-based Slingshot SEO was ranked #58 on the 2011 list of Inc’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies, and was #14 on the 2011 Tech200. Founded in 2006, Slingshot SEO provides professional SEO services to more than 150 clients across the country. The company’s results are driven by a tireless passion to make deserving brands digitally relevant.  For more information about Slingshot SEO and to read customer reviews, visit http://www.slingshotseo.com.

Of course, there should be some level of accountability. Producers, promoters and consumers of all content, including Infographics, have a responsibility to ensure that positive attention — from social buzz and positive sentiment to links, traffic and authority — is given to deserving pieces instead of low-quality content. This approach will allow the crème of the crop among Infographics to rise to the top while providing valuable information and honest entertainment to end users who deserve nothing less. To further increase the quality and legitimacy, this content should come from relevant, deserving — and fully disclosed — providers. In time, the deluge of “spamographics” will become an insignificant trickle.

Back to the Quality Basics

Developing relevant, high-quality content is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s encouraged by search engines. Infographics scores major points for possessing the ability to facilitate keyword relevance, category relevance and, ultimately, domain relevance and trust for a brand. Based on metrics that I have been collecting for more than a year as a producer of rich media, including Infographics, I can say without reservation that the value brought from “Deserving Infographics,” as we like to call them around here at Slingshot SEO, far outweighs that of “Spamographics” in terms of social traction, links, sentiment and direct relevant traffic. Most importantly, “Deserving Infographics” support the continued growth of all of these metrics over time … in some cases for up to a year. So use Infographics as part of your marketing strategy but be sure to follow a few important guiding principles outlined in this post.

Think of the User

The relevance and authority of the links you could potentially attain from a “Deserving Infographic” is much greater than a multitude of spammy links that have little or no longevity and hardly move the needle for your SEO campaign. Also, the quality of traffic that your site could get from industry-specific readers with a sincere need for the accurate information presented in a high-quality Infographic is much greater. If a reader finds accurate, enjoyable and properly tagged content on your site and has a positive experience or successfully solves a problem due to your information, that user is more likely to return to your site. The bottom line is that bloggers should be more selective about which Infographics they host.

A Valuable Messaging Vehicle

There have been countless articles discussing the value of Infographics, so I won’t bore you with the details. Infographics are acceptable vehicles for the distribution of information through their assimilation into traditional marketing methods such as press releases and email marketing. They have also been widely adopted by journalists, as is the case at The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and more specialized and reputable communities such as Mashable. Some of the infographics placed on these sites come from external sources that may involve brand associations. Still, if the information is not intended for sales conversion only, but is also a value-adding and industry-relevant piece, then how can the graphic be considered spam? There are instances when a branded Infographic is misleading to the user, but there are also instances when branded Infographics are highly useful.

When an Infographic is delivered properly, it represents a win for both the end user and the brand. Infographics and other rich media, such as videos and photojournalism, encourage engagement. They also increase brand exposure, support message retention, and positively affect sentiment and potential conversion. “Deserving Infographics” also are readable and more easily digestible than a traditional print-only post because of the multi-sensory stimulation they provide.

Crafting an Honest Infographic with SEO & Marketing Benefits

When it comes to relevance and full disclosure, proper tagging of an Infographic allows viewers with various interests to discover the content through organic search. This allows you, as the provider, to achieve high engagement and positive sentiment. This only happens, however, if the graphic provides relevant information to the seeker and is found in an appropriate place.

Context should be considered at the initial stage of conceptualization. Depending on the brand associated with the Infographic, producers should choose an appropriate topic and follow some of the tips in Google’s Guide for Building High Quality Sites. Google alerts and trend reports surrounding product categories and keywords provide insight into what the hot topics are and what information people are searching for within your vertical.

After identifying these interests, it is important not to beat a dead horse by building a graphic that has already been done. Use bookmarking sites and graphic libraries such as StumbleUpon, Pinterest, Digg, Visual.ly, and vertical specific news sources to research existing graphics on the identified interests, as well as competing pieces. Infographics are a part of an online conversation and, just as in physical conversation, people do not want to hear the same idea multiple times. Present new data or spin a fresh perspective on data that has already been presented. In addition, it is also useful to analyze the performance of competing graphics by taking social metrics and performing link analysis to recognize the successful pieces from the non-successful ones as you consider new Infographic projects.

Beyond being “fresh,” newsworthy and relevant, an Infographic and other rich media should activate a certain level of pathos and appeal to an end user’s emotions. Sometimes, less fact-focused but more socially conversational graphics can still be relevant and perform just as well or better than Infographics centered on facts that offer no social value. The idea is to use emotional influence to spark a conversation.

So what are the most basic guidelines for successful communication between your brand and your target audience?

Here’s a quick summary:

1. Make sure your content is 100 percent accurate and properly cited.
2. Speak about what you know.
3. Appeal to emotion when appropriate.
4. Talk about trending topics.
5. Fully disclose your message and yourself as the provider.
6. Speak to an interested audience.
7. Analyze the performance of your posts.
8. Finally, as search evolves, assess your approach and delivery as you strive to improve conversations with end users.

Rich media continues to speak to end users with great emphasis and great opportunity for persuasion. Using this type of media honestly, infographics included, can truly open up the lines of communication between the online conversationalists and brands.

Although some members of the media, including The New York Times which described Indianapolis as a “Low-Key City,” have expressed a bit of surprise that this Midwestern city landed this prestigious event, we’ve been in the business of hosting large sporting events for years … in fact, nearly a hundred years. Every year, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the Indy 500, billed as the Largest Single Day Sporting Event in the World.

In Indiana, we’re fanatical about our sports — from high school basketball (the inspiration for the movie Hoosiers with Gene Hackman) and college basketball (think about those Butler University Bulldogs) to the Indianapolis Colts, winner of Super Bowl XLI. But we’re not just about sports, of course. Slingshot SEO is proud to be a significant player in the city’s sprouting technology scene — a significant addition to Indianapolis’ reputation for exceptional healthcare, leading pharmaceutical technology, and life sciences, as reported in The Wall Street Journal.

This week leading up to the Super Bowl XLVI has been to many in our city the crowning evidence of the remaking of our national image from that of “Naptown” to a major event showplace! This old blog post truly spells that what Indianapolis used to be. I have even heard stories about people firing guns in the central downtown area to shoo pigeons away a few decades back. My, how the downtown has changed!

With the hosting of this year’s Super Bowl, I’m sure many more people will get a glimpse of what Indianapolis has to offer.
I personally know several of the people who are on the various committees formed to plan for hosting this year’s Super Bowl. All of them have worked diligently for years to make this happen in the manner which might actually set us apart from other venues. As this week unfolds we will see if their dream becomes reality.

I am betting strongly it will, if for no other reason than my personal experiences of being part of that huge extravaganza called the NCAA Final Four. To keep it relevant, I will compare a few key items from the last two Final Fours – one held in Indianapolis in 2010; the other in Houston in 2011.

Both cities are fortunate to have outstanding dome-covered stadiums capable of holding huge crowds for this final event in the college basketball season. Ironically, my seats in Houston were much better than my seats in Indianapolis, but that did not alter my overall experience.

You see, in Houston, all I remember is the vast amount of time I spent on chartered buses. The various key venues were so many miles apart it was impossible to walk and even worse to park. In Indy, every venue is so close you can literally walk from one to another and, in the process, truly experience so much more flavor of the city. This ranged from walking by gift shops, street vendors, performance stages and, of course, the spirit of other fans attending.

From what I have seen so far in our local papers and on the Web, this same key fact of proximity will ring true for Super Bowl events in Indianapolis. Enjoying the benefit of proximity allowed the Final Four event planners in Indy to offer so much more in the way of building an experience. Time will soon tell if this is the case again for our city as the thousands attending this year’s Super Bowl descend upon Slingshot SEO’s hometown.

I will end with this Super Bowl Activity video, this news article about Indy’s preparedness, and this interesting article about how ‘Indy lured the big game.’ Please let me know if you were here and what you thought of Indianapolis as a host city.

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Now for the hard part… The CEO asks us to explain what we do and the value it brings to the organization. We stutter, pause and start to mumble as sweat beads begin forming on our foreheads. These seemingly simple conversations can be terrifying when you’re put on the spot.

If we had time to collect our thoughts we may have said something like… “Prospects are searching on Google for the products and services you offer and I help make sure you’re first in line to greet them.”

Do you offer the product or service a searcher is looking for? People use Google for a number of reasons, but in every situation there is intent. They’re looking for something or asking a question expecting Google to serve up the answer. It’s extremely lucrative for your business to come up first AND satisfy the searchers’ intent.

The aim of SEO is to help influence your web contents’ visibility when someone conducts a search related to your market.

Why is SEO materially more valuable than most other forms of marketing? It’s one of the most targeted forms of marketing. A searcher conducts a search at the time of their need for, or interest in, something. Proper positioning in the search results will allow you to capitalize and satisfy the demand at the right time.

Google is often the first place and the last place someone goes before making a purchase. It may take hours, days, weeks or months for someone to make a buying decision, but be assured that search almost always plays a role. For example, if you were in the market for a new mp3 player you may first search Google for “mp3 player”, browsing multiple sites and reading reviews. Within the hour your searches would likely evolve to more specific devices like “iPod nano” or apps for your phone “Pandora radio for the iPhone”. Along the way you’re being exposed to brands and products. Hours, days or weeks later you return to Google to search for a brand you remember such as “Apple”, a store you remember such as “Best Buy” or a specific device such as “16 GB black iPod nano” or better yet you combine all of those phrases to find exactly what you’re looking for and make your purchase. Where did your website show up for these searches? Ideally you’d be in the mix for all of them and your brand would have left an good impression.

Don’t take my word for it; take note of your own actions over the next couple weeks. How often do you use Google and how does it influence your buying decisions?

Other marketing channels play a role in the buying process, but again, Google is often the first place and the last place someone goes before making a buying decision. This great video by Google highlights the interactivity between multiple marketing channels and introduces a relatively new way to gain insights from Google Analytics.

Our client’s keen interest in the presentation reminded me of the feeling I had as a child whenever my mom opened up a classic children’s book and uttered the words “Once upon a time.”

Some of you reading this post already know about Slingshot SEO’s CLASS methodology, but many of you may not. Here are a few graphics we use to help explain the key concepts in CLASS:

Obviously, the slides can only provide a brief overview of the broad spectrum of CLASS, which is the foundation of our service portfolio.

Those of you familiar with search engine optimization certainly know the ever-changing nature of underlying search algorithms. Even when you think you figured it out one month, your theories can virtually flip flop the next. I refer to the changing algorithms to stress just how important the strategy component of CLASS is to the success of our clients.

This fact certainly did not go unnoticed during our client’s presentation. The strategies presented were quite varied yet extremely detailed. Our Client Success team outlined a customized step-by-step process for the client to utilize.

As a CEO who has worked with a large number of key vendors over the years, I can only recall a few that pulled off such a map of finite steps. Therefore, it is probably of little surprise to know those vendors have worked with me multiple times over the years, usually for more than one company! (One of the key questions I asked when entertaining the possible role of CEO of Slingshot SEO was how many of these types of repeat customers and decision-makers were in our roster of clients.)

Each and every time the strategy recommendations came out during the meeting, you could literally see the client’s staff members leaning forward in their seats. Just like those wonderful children’s books in which you don’t want the story to end, so it seemed with our clients when we indicated we would save the second stage of our strategy for the next meeting.

Our team knew those second and third steps to SEO success had to be based upon the first steps being complete and functioning. Just like any new building, especially major skyscrapers, need a strong foundation, so do “deserving brands” seeking “digital relevance” in today’s fast-pace world of organic search.

My future hope is one of our marvelous client success teams has a chance to make our CLASS methodology and strategy come to life for you. If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I will provide a timely answer or two.

That day, which was last Monday, marked the First Annual Slingshot SEO Customer/Partner/Employee Awards. All of our employees and some very special guests journeyed to a nearby hotel to attend this special luncheon ceremony. Any event like this which turns out special usually does so for various reasons. This event was no exception!

  Our special guests included several key individuals from two of our largest customers and a valued partner. (On a side note, the event would not have come off as well as it did without a great venue.  You are never sure how good the food will be for a luncheon like this, but in this case we were pleasantly surprised. So I would be remiss if I did not express a few accolades to our nearby Marriott).

We kicked off the awards ceremony with a recap of numerous achievements for Slingshot SEO during 2011, all of which would not have been possible without our valued clients. I was so proud to elaborate on milestones such as being named Techpoint’s 2011 Information Technology Company of the Year; achieving a 128 percent growth rate in revenue; signing three Fortune 100 clients; being recognized as a stand-out leader in SEO by two of the largest companies in the world; receiving $1 million in tax incentives from the state of Indiana; adding 77 new associates; and being recognized as the 58th  Fastest Growing Private Company in the nation by Inc. 500 with a 3,597 percent three-year growth rate.

As I stated at the podium, those accomplishments would not have represented a bad decade … let alone one year for a company!

The best part is that all of us believe 2012 will be even more exciting, as we alluded to during the event. Among the goals we’re looking to achieve this year include: Another 100 percent-plus growth in revenue; adding 50 to 70 new  employees to our team; holding our first-ever national client conference in October; establishing an industry-leading SEO pricing model; adding new enterprise account executives in the Northeast, Southeast, lower Midwest and the West coast; establishing more key partnerships with industry-leading SEO organizations; moving to larger and more functional office space near our present location; achieving more local and national awards; and, of course, achieving industry leading results for our clients.

I hope you agree such results will make for quite an upcoming year. I know our team is pumped!

We reserved the best for the second half of our session. We took this marvelous opportunity to announce and recognize a couple of our outstanding clients, a trusted partner and four employees who set new standards in excellence.

I could easily write an entire blog post about each award recipient. I will opt for brevity and summarize our 2011 award winners below.

Partner of the Year – Exact Target

Client of the Year – HCC Medical Insurance Services

Innovator of the Year – Paul Davison, VP Client Success

Rookie of the Year – Chris Cruz, SEO Consultant

Most Improved – Tracy Morgan, Human Resources Generalist

Employee of the Year – Jesse Laffen, Director of SEO Performance

All of our team agreed that our version of the Academy Awards was just as special, much more personal and thankfully much shorter in duration!

Please join with me in congratulating all of our winners. They will be one tough act to follow next year!!

Recipients from HCC Medical, Angie's List & ExactTarget

Employee award recipients.

A good planning process should reflect repeatable and structured reviews as well as the flexibility to quickly change if market conditions deteriorate or soar.

Joe truly was a salesman’s sales manager. But, remember this was back in 1976 and boisterous was often the order of the day for upper management. Joe hired me right out of Butler University the minute I told him about my three years as Rush Chairman of my housing unit, where we grew from nearly closing the place to being far over capacity.

Although I arrived at Moore in the middle of the year, Joe immediately got me into the practice of establishing plans and going after them. He helped me achieve a full 12-month quota and then, in November, land the biggest order the company had ever had in the Midwest. Some of his pet phrases reminded me of Alec Baldwin when he gave an unforgettable sales motivational speech in Glengarry Glen Ross — a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination.

When January 1977 rolled around, Joe challenged me again. He asked for a territory plan by the end of the week … for the entire year of 1977. You see, Joe insisted on detailed plans from all 16 of his Indiana account executives, whether you were a rookie like yours truly or a 25-year veteran.

So after thinking about Joe for a moment or two, I answered my Slingshot colleague by saying this would be my 35th year of pulling together plans and budgets for the coming year. With each one, I stuck to the basic foundation of making sure they were visionary, detailed and consistently at the forefront of employees’ day-to-day performance.

As fate would have it, each year the importance of strategically planning increased annually! And those sales skills, coupled with my love/study of finance, planning and budgeting, helped me lead many talented teams to numerous prosperous years.

Preparing for the Inevitable

Moving forward into 2012, it is now that time of year for New Year resolutions, annual budgets and strategic planning. I am proud to say that Slingshot SEO is armed with all three as we begin an exciting new year. One of the key strategies the Slingshot SEO executive team is embracing is making sure account cash flow and back-up plans are top priorities. If you integrate these into your marketing plans as well as overall organization plans, your organization should be able to respond quickly to opportunities as well as changes. As we fully realize here at Slingshot, it’s not a matter of “if” changes will happen, but “when.”

A good planning process should reflect repeatable and structured reviews as well as the flexibility to quickly change if market conditions deteriorate or soar. In 2011, we found it could be challenging to do such planning when your average growth rate from year to year is topping 300 percent. If you have ever operated in such a realm, there is a tendency to just try to hang on for dear life while you strive for 100 percent customer satisfaction!

I am more than proud of our team for darn near achieving that 100 percent customer satisfaction level while continuing to perfect and mold solid strategic planning skills. This is not easy in the rapidly changing world of SEO. I think you will agree we just might be achieving both when I recap our first annual Kickoff and Awards luncheon in my next blog post. I will share the special awards being presented, recap 2011 and share a bit of what is coming this year!

“In five short years, Slingshot SEO has experienced astronomical growth, landing the No. 58 spot on this year’s Inc list of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies,” said Jay Love, CEO of Slingshot SEO. “Along with hard work, flexibility and focus, our growth can be directly credited to our outstanding clients, partners and employees. Without their contributions, our success would not have been possible – and we wanted to recognize and thank them for that.”

Honored at Monday’s luncheon were:

Slingshot SEO Client & Partner Awards
1. New Customer of the Year – Angie’s List
2. Customer of the Year – HCC Medical
3. Partner of the Year – ExactTarget

Slingshot SEO Employee Awards
4. Innovator of the Year – Paul Davison, VP of Client Success
5. Rookie of the Year – Chris Cruz, SEO Consultant
6. Most Improved – Tracy Morgan, HR Generalist
7. Employee of the Year – Jesse Laffen, Director of SEO Performance

“In addition to recognizing these deserving brands and individuals, yesterday’s luncheon kicked off what will be a remarkable year in Slingshot SEO history,” Love said.

About Slingshot SEO
Indianapolis-based Slingshot SEO was ranked #58 on the 2011 list of Inc’s 500 Fastest Growing Companies, and was #14 on the 2011 Tech200. Founded in 2006, Slingshot SEO provides professional SEO services to more than 150 clients across the country. The company’s results are driven by a tireless passion to make deserving brands digitally relevant. For more information about Slingshot SEO and to read customer reviews, visit http://www.slingshotseo.com.
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