SEO Hong Kong | HK Search Marketing and Optimization Blog

I was invited to speak at Search Engine Strategies Hong Kong on 13-14th of September. This is a premier search and social media gathering finally happening in Hong Kong. In the past I used to monitor similar events happening in the United States and find out what speakers are up to.

I was curious what are the new SEO methods, new product releases or latest study releases so I can apply it in practice. Now, I am still curious not only on what others are going to talk about, but on what type of audience are expected to listen to my talk. As I am busy preparing my piece, it would be great if I knew what people would like to hear, even if the agenda already provide a good hint.

Aspiring social media practitioner and in urgent need of inspiration indispensable source of social media “strategy” to propose to clients? Fret no more, as a website developed by a UK branding company provides you with a handy strategy, one page reload at a time.

Built by Mike Phillips, a social media and engagement planner at a UK branding company called Lawton Communications Group, “WTF Is My Social Media Strategy” is a social media “strategy” generator. Put humorously, a visit to the website gets instantly rewarded with a randomly generated social media objectives. Unconvincing? Not a problem. Press [F5] and you’ll get another one.

A list of “strategy quotes” includes the following:

Just like how it helps individual writers connect with readers, blogs help businesses interact with clients in a more casual, personalized way. Business-to-business blogs help expound certain products or services without necessarily altering the tone of the message within product pages. But when they’re not optimized for search engines, their prospect clients may not easily find them.

Business people. Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44211617@N03/

Here are some common practices B2B blogs commit that could stunt progress on search engine visibility:

In its effort to save itself from further trouble, BP is employing search engine marketing as a PR tool. Yes, search engine marketing can be used as a reputation management device, even if it’s not sustainable or long term solution. I posted an entry about the benefits of having multiple pages appearing on the same search query results citing that by trying to own the page for a certain keyword query, the information search engine users see is the one you want them to see. That’s probably in the mind of BP, which is now spending up to US$10,000 per day to maintain its ads at the most prominent ranking. Hopefully, to those who use the query to find more news (and probably more degrading to BP) they’ll be able to find an alternative tone, essentially a positive message in spite of the huge tragedy the spill has caused. All searches on Google for ‘BP oil spill’, ‘BP oil spill lawsuit’ and ‘BP suit’ show a sponsored listing from BP as the first result.

Hong Kong is a place spoiled by the sheer number of restaurants, bars and night clubs. Some come and go, others last for decades. Over the web, they’re also among the most sought after. As search engines offer more facilities for users to access (maps, reviews, etc), the need to be more visible on search engine results has now become as important as ever. Equally important is the website’s ability to provide what visitors are looking for, hence the likelihood of an online booking or a physical visit.

A personal favorite: A Pho 24 beef bowl in Ho Chi Minh.

Since stiff competition will always pose as a challenge to new players (and even to veterans), hopefully the following tips would be considered by restaurants, cocktail bars and clubs considering a website revamp.