Using a free service like Wordle, users can enter an RSS feed or blocks of text. Here's the word cloud for this site; click to enlarge.

I recently discovered Hubspot's Website Grader, which is a free search engine optimization (SEO) tool that measures the marketing effectiveness of a website. By entering your website, the Grader analyzes data across several broad categories including: On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, Blogosphere, Social Mediasphere, Converting Qualified Visitors to Leads, and Competitive Intelligence. Hubspot's algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data, website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others.

Not surprisingly, my website scored a very mediocre 59/100 (full report here). For comparison purposes, Toronto communications professional and blogger Dave Fleet scored a 92/100. 

The value in Hubspot's Website Grader is that it pointed out some very easy fixes for me to help improve my ranking. Recommended areas included adding 'Meta Page Descriptions', an important SEO tactic, and setting up a permanent redirect between www.planetrelations.com and planetrelations.com to combine the incoming links. Another interesting area I never thought about was the time until renewal for my domain (planetrelations.com). It's set to expire in 4 months. Of course I'll renew it as it gets closer but Hubspot points out that some search engines like Google penalize sites set to expire soon (because spam sites are short lived). Good advice. 

While larger companies have full web teams focusing on search engine optimization, small- and medium-sized businesses do not. Services like Hubspot's Website Grader can help others find you quicker.

BusinessWeek recently updated a previous article about blogs and social media, which now concludes…"Look past the yakkers, hobbyists, and political mobs. Your customers and rivals are figuring blogs out. Our advice: Catch up…or catch you later."

But what happens if you really don't have the time (or staff) to write 2-3 posts per week? You may want to consider micro-blogging (or tumblelogs). According to Wikipedia, micro-blogging is 'a form of blogging that allows users to write brief text updates and publish them, either to be viewed by anyone or by a restricted group which can be chosen by the user.' The most popular service is called Twitter (check out my Twitter account), although there are others like Jaiku (acquired by Google), Cromple, or Tumblr.  Think that micro-blogging is a teenage fad. Just the opposite. 

NYTimes reporter Michelle Slatalla wrote an interesting piece about her struggles to convince her teenage daughters that Twitter was an easy way to stay connected. At least with teenagers, the experiment didn't go as planned (they preferred text messages).

Using services like Twitter, or something like Tumblr, you're able to initiate conversations with your friends/customers/prospects in 140 characters or less. Think about a series of posts over several days that go something like this:

"Off to visit supplier x to see if quality meets our standards" "Good visit with supplier X, think we may carry their product" "Started shipping product from new supplier, let me know what you think". "Thanks for feedback, we'll stock more next week".

In less than a minute per day, you'll be able to start creating an additional channel to gather feedback and insight from your customers by making them feel part of the process. 

Once you've mastered micro-blogging, you can go on to have a full-fledged blog that allows readers to add comments directly to your posts.  Good luck.

Well, according to a recent survey of US journalists by Brodeur, a unit of Omnicom group, blogs are not only having an impact on the speed and availability of news, but also influence the tone and editorial direction of reporting. The online survey was conducted among a random sample of North American reporters and editors, and was focused on understanding how social media and blogs influence their work. The study found that blogs are a regular source for journalists. Click here for a PDF summary of the survey findings. 

In a (green) nutshell: "Over three quarters of reporters see blogs as helpful in giving them story ideas, story angles and insight into the tone of an issue. Nearly 70 percent of all reporters check a blog list on a regular basis. Over one in five (20.9%) reporters said they spend over an hour per day reading blogs. And a total of nearly three in five (57.1%) reporters said they read blogs at least two to three times a week."

What does this mean for you? Stay on top of the green blogosphere.

1. Track the green blogosphere for several weeks to better understand the individual bloggers (and commenters).

2. Add selective, and relevant comments, to existing posts. Avoid overly promotional comments. 

3. Link back to your company (or personal) blog to begin developing a relationship with the blogger.

4. Pitch the blogger on a highly targeted story idea.

5. Continue the process all over again. Remember, it's a journey not a sprint.

For a list of relevant green blogs, check out The Best Green Blogs Directory. Good luck.  

According to Pew's phone survey, 15% of respondents had used such sites 'yesterday' or the day before they were contacted. Twenty-two percent shoot their own videos and 14% post some of that video online. These figures show that video sharing is becoming more commonplace.

So does this mean that every green project should upload a grainy, camera-phone video to YouTube? No, but you should at least include the option of video in your next project. [UPDATE: to stream live video from your phone, check out Qik]. Your customers, prospects, and job applicants are becoming more familiar with this form of communication. 

According to the Pew study, the percentage of Internet users aged 30-49 visiting such sites increased from 35 to 51% (+46%); ages 50-64 increased from 19 to 30% (+58%); and users 65+ increased 11 to 16% (+45%).

How are organizations using video? GreenPeace International has posted 82 separate videos to their YouTube channel including a rather cheeky one called Sunshine making the rounds on the Internet promoting energy efficient lightbulbs. They're also using video to document their hard work intercepting whaling ships.

Grocer retailer H.E.B. created a TV Commercial Contest asking customers to submit videos about their H.E.B. experiences. They established www.myheb.com with a YouTube-like look to post all of the commercials and identified a grand prize winner.

ProTEC Structural Insulated Panel system uploaded a promotional video to YouTube that has 4,181 views. Assuming 5% of viewers contact the company to request more information. That's 20 sales leads for little effort.

One of the best examples of a company using video to communicate with potential customers is Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. Check out these two videos: Onslaught and Evolution. For a subtle approach, check out Sony Bravia ads. 

Clients with uploaded videos: Chartwell School, Playa Viva, Green Key Real Estate, and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment.

And if you're looking for secret strategies to promote your viral videos, check out Dan Greenberg's article on TechCrunch.

Good luck.

Apparently, the press is just gushing about all aspects of green building. Stories abound about cities adopting green building ordinances, landscape designers pursuing green building practices, and manufacturers designing products for the green building market. For example, Glenn Hasek in Green Lodging News discussed a recent study by Autodesk and AIA indicating that "70 percent of architects say client demand is the leading driver of green building and that the primary reason these owners and developers are demanding greener buildings is for reduced operating costs." 

In my work as a freelance writer for eco-structure and Environmental Design+Construction magazines, and also as the newsletter editor (1200 recipients) for the Northern California Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, the level of interest in green building is at a level never before seen. Green building is the new cool kid at school with which everyone wants to associate.

Which raises the question: now that green building has come of age, how do companies rise above the fray? My prediction is the increasing use of social media in green building circles to develop meaningful conversations about what works, what doesn't, and what's plain greenwash. More posts in the coming weeks to explore this topic. Bye for now, I'm off to Twitter. 

The social media release essentially takes the information contained in a release and distills it into usable chunks. Think of it as a bulleted version of a press release with lots of tools (RSS, social bookmarking, tags, etc) that enable the reader to see who else on the web is talking about the news. It strips away the fluff, leaving the editors to place the 'news' in to a larger context. 

According to Don Bates in To Inform and Persuade: Public Relations from the Dawn of Civilization, Ohio Bell Telephone discovered in the late 1800s that if it handed out 'canned' news in the form of a press release, reporters would stop going to telephone rate hearings and asking pesky questions.

Is the same thing happening today in the green building movement? If a manufacturer calls its product green, is it so? Does having a LEED AP on staff make an architectural firm a green building consultant? Hyperbole is confusing the green marketplace. Perhaps the social media release has a place in the green building world. Who wants to try?

What's the relevance to public relations? The goal of public relations is to foster relationships with others, especially those that can affect (positively or negatively) your business, organization, etc. The desired action may be sharing information or changing behavior. Wikis allow relationship building by engaging stakeholders and fostering collaboration.

Think about whether a wiki makes sense for your business, organization, or initiative. I'll cite two examples of wikis in action: the Pharos Project and the NewPR/Wiki. 

In short, the Pharos Project aims to provide information about building materials and their environmental and social impacts. The PharosWiki is a "virtual commons … inviting the building material user community to discuss green materials." According to the website, it's designed to build a community comprised primarily of those using building materials to discuss, share, learn and build a common framework for evaluating and improving the health, environment, and social impact of the materals we use. Healthy Building Network, one of the primary organizers, says that it is committed to engaging many users in helping to develop Pharos in an ongoing, iterative way. Sounds like the essence of managing relations with one's publics. 

The NewPRWiki, on the other hand, is intended as a virtual watercooler where practicing PR professionals can collaborate. It's billed as:

• a repository of relevant information about how the PR practice is changing
• a collaboration tool for PR professionals and people interested in the practice of public relations
• an open space where anyone can ask questions, post ideas, or start a project.

Two notable projects include the social media release and the anti-astroturfing campaign. The NewPRWiki is advancing the practice of public relations in the age of technology.

You are when you don't assemble all of the key facts about your company or organization in one location. An online media kit makes it easy for the media and other stakeholders (e.g., customers, agents, partners) to learn more about the company. Typical online media kits include management bios, a company backgrounder, a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document, company logos, and press clippings (once they occur).

Will creating an online media kit guarantee coverage? No. Will making it more difficult for a reporter to find relevant details about your company decrease chances for coverage? YES.

EXAMPLE: Green Guide for Health Care online press kit

SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMPLE: SpiralFrog Press Release (note how the individual pieces are broken out for ease of use) 

ARTICLE: Want Reporters to Use Your Web Site? Start Thinking Like They Do