Guest Post by: James Katz

In my last blog post, I focused on legal issues that can arise by the unethical use of Google Places listings, such as the use of a third party’s trade-mark in order to draw attention to what is in fact, a competitor’s website. As I indicated back then, there is no Canadian case law that deals directly with this ever more common scenario. As a result, I was forced to go to recent case law from the Courts of Australia for guidance, which can provide us Canadians with some indication as to what a Canadian Court would decide if faced with such a scenario. Well, it’s time for us to go Down Under again in order to shed legal light on how a Canadian Court might deal with a dispute concerning Google AdWords.

Many of the legal issues surrounding the misuse of AdWords overlap with those that can arise with Google Places. These disputes generally involve allegations that an advertiser has misled the buying public by the use of AdWords that are comprised of the names or trade-marks of competitors. It had already been decided in Australia and other jurisdictions that in such cases, there was no doubt that the advertiser (the person selling their products or services online) can be held liable in such cases for breaches of various unfair competition laws. But, thanks to an interesting April 3^rd Court decision, again from Australia, it now turns out that someone else could also be liable for such illegal Internet content: Google.

In a unanimous decision from a panel of three judges, the Australian Federal Court ruled that Google had engaged in misleading advertising, contrary to Australia’s Trade Practices Act, when it allowed advertisers to use competitors’ trade-names as AdWords keywords which then triggered their own advertisements. The complete decision can be found here. The provisions of that law at issue (which has since been repealed and replaced with new legislation) basically stated that it was unlawful for a business to engage in conduct that is either misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive. Google’s main defence to this charge was that it was only a passive (and therefore innocent) conduit for the activities of the advertisers in questions (who had all been found liable in earlier proceedings). It was therefore Google’s position that, as an ad hosting platform, only the advertisers that misuse the AdWords system should be held to account. After all, Google argued, it was the advertisers that put in place the AdWords which turned out to be deceptive, not Google.

The Court, however, rebuffed Google’s arguments in their entirety, and found that Google was no mere passive conduit for the advertisers’ activities. This finding, which was key to the whole case against Google, was in turn based on several findings of fact made by the judges, which included: 1) The contents that appear on a Google web page in response to a user’s query is Google generated content. More specifically, it is the program that Google employs that generates the search results page, pursuant to the AdWords facility that is made available to the advertisers by Google; 2) An ordinary and reasonable user of Google’s search engine would conclude that it was Google that displayed the advertisers’ sponsored links in response to the user’s search query. Critical to this finding was also the fact that what is in fact occurring when a user executes a Google search is that a) the user is asking a question of Google, and b) the search results (whether misleading or not) are Google’s response; and 3) the conduct in providing a URL in response to a search query (which in turn leads to the advertisers’ website) is Google’s. In all, the falsity of the conduct engaged in by Google is that, in response to a searched keyword phrase which identifies a competitor, it is Google that displays the misleading URL in its sponsored link search results. This is, the Court concluded, very unlike the typical case of a passive advertiser who simply disseminates words and images as an agent of its advertising client (which would generally not attract liability), simply because it is Google (more accurately its computer program) that created the message that it then represents.

It is assumed that, given the ramifications of this decision, Google will be appealing to Australia’s High Court, mainly because this decision could form the basis for other similar decisions in the Courts of the UK and Commonwealth.

Shifting back from Down Under to the Great White North, it is difficult to say whether or not Google could end up facing a similar decision in Canada. Although Canada’s Competition Act contains language that mirrors that of Australia’s trade law, it does differ in one material way: it requires showing that the person who makes the misleading or deceptive statement in its advertising did so either knowingly or recklessly. This requirement of subjective proof that Google was either aware of the misrepresentation being made by an advertiser or wilfully blind to that activity taking place would be a significant bar to someone trying to successfully sue Google for committing an unfair trade practice. Further, Google would likely argue that, under Canadian law, by requiring advertisers to agree to its terms and conditions of use which specifically prohibit forms of deceptive conduct, such as the misappropriation of a competitor’s trade-marks for an AdWords campaign, it would be entitled to rely fully on the available defence of due diligence.

So, we again see that, when it comes to the Internet, the legal landscape in Canada is murky at best. Although we draw on the legal experience from other countries to see how things will shape up here, until we get a decision from a Canadian Court, consumers and advertisers here will just have to continue using good (ethical) judgment and common sense in how they market their goods and services online.

Related Blog Posts:

Legal Issues with Google Places: From a Canadian Perspective
Domain Name Disputes: From a Canadian Perspective
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Set to Change for dot-Ca Domains

James Katz is Lawyer and Trade-mark Agent with the Ottawa law firm BrazeauSeller LLP. James’ practice focuses primarily on Internet related legal issues and litigation, including trade-mark and copyright infringement, defamation and online privacy issues.

Disclaimer: The contents of this Blog post, and associated opinions  are those of its Author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of WebFuel, or its employees.

The Shifting Legal Landscape of Google AdWords: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

How Have Search Engine Ranking Changed?
Like everything else related to Search, there have been many changes over time. In the early days (mid-1990’s), a SEO would ensure that the Search Engines could find your website. It was quite simple if you understood how the major engines worked and the fact that there was minimal keyword competition. In the formative years of Google, web searchers would actually take the time to visit the top three Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Today they rarely go past the first search results page. Page one ranking became a must for many businesses – and the higher you ranked (top positions) the better. It was the way to get that online competitive edge.  SEOs, like myself, would focus on this goal, run off ranking reports, and were measured on this metric by our clients.

Then…. along came countless changes including Universal Search, Personalized Search, Local Search, Social Search, Mobile Search (just to name a few). Add to the mix, the addition of Paid Search Ads (i.e. Google AdWords), Google Suggest and all the many, many SERP display changes.

The Result?

“Google basketball... bounces UP and DOWN just like your search results.” Source: Search Engine Round Table

To sum it up…. Rankings do matter; but in a different way.  You must be visible in search results based on web searchers that need to find you, their keywords and where they are searching.  And… then you need to get the click – or who cares? (I’ll save that for another post).

Are you still measuring SEO success on just rankings?

Do Rankings Really Matter? is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Helen Faber @ SES New York

My original intention was to capture my reflections of the entire conference in this Blog post. However, there is simply too much to report on. So I will restrict my commentary to the keynote address which was delivered by one of the most respected individuals in our industry – Avinash Kaushik; better known as @Avinash on Twitter.

Avinash is a very sought-after presenter. Most likely due to his amazing level of expertise, which is coupled with a “unique presentation style”. Plus, he is just a nice person!

Analytics Ninja Avinash Kaushik

It is hard to describe what it is like attending one of Avinash’s speeches. Save it to say he utilizes a unique vernacular with superlatives such as “insane focus”, “enormously awesome” being mingled with the word orgasmic which was attached to a mundane topic (for some) such as Analytics data. I never knew that Google Analytics data could derive an individual so much pleasure (tongue in cheek). This fellow gets his enjoyment from some of the world’s most obscure subjects. However, his absolute giddiness is infectious, and the audience was enthralled throughout his 60-minute oratory.

Avinash and His 'Unique' Presentation Style

Avinash clearly articulated why we (anyone who is online) may need to rethink their approach to their online marketing efforts in order to create the best experience possible for the consumers of their content. And (of course) to gain the most value possible for their online investment.

After the usual discussion on web presences and the value derived by web surfers from same, his focus switched to the implementation of Social Media inasmuch as people tend to jump on every Social Media bandwagon in order to “be there” (Me paraphrasing what I heard. ) . This is often done without having a clue as to the value derived from the efforts expended. Rather we tend to see a “shiny toy” and quickly look at ways to acquire it. These were words that ring a bell with yours truly as I often wonder how many social media profiles an organization can effectively leverage, no less manage.  Case in point, Twitter. Unless you are committed to “Tweeting” on a regular and consistent basis, don’t have a Twitter profile (account). You will come across as being a lame duck who is just another wannabe. I digress.

Of course, Avinash was laying the groundwork for something that has been brewing for some time now in our industry. And that is how does one truly measure one’s “Social Media effectiveness”? A rhetorical question for Avinash as he had just prepped the audience for Google’s announcement (link to Google Analytics Blog Post) of the addition of the ability to provide just what the doctor ordered. And that is the ability to track the effectiveness of one’s social media efforts in a more concise and effective manner. Anyone who is familiar with Google Analytics will know that until this week, doing so has been relatively complicated and time consuming. Especially if you are not in GA on a daily basis as I am.

Avinash’s presentation closed with his urging the listeners to be more strategic in terms of measuring the value of their Online Marketing (including Social Media) efforts. No more guessing. Less assumptions…. Stronger focus. Be “laser-like”! I couldn’t agree more!

Les Faber & Avinash Kaushik @ SES NY

Are you paying attention to your social media profiles and the value derived from each?

As a footnote, I plan on delving into Google’s new Social Media Measurement tool in a future Blog post.

SES New York 2012 – WebFuel’s Reflections on Avinash Kaushik’s Keynote Address is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Sitelinks: What are they?
Sitelinks are the additional links that appear in Google below an organic listing or an AdWords ad.

Organic Sitelinks
In the early days, Google displayed a website listing that simply included a title, short description and the site address in the search results. Eventually sitelinks began to appear below the listing to specific pages within the website. These were based on brand name searches (and variations thereof). This process of generating these links was completely automated by the Search Engine. Sitelink selection and ranking can change from query to query, allowing for more of a variety of optimized results. Over time, Google Canada has increased the number of links displayed and expanded them (to include a short snippet) giving much more visibility for one’s website in the SERPs.

Paid Sitelinks
Unlike the organic sitelinks, these additional links are generated by AdWords. These extra landing page links allow for more text ad real estate (up to four links). They are generated by the advertiser – not by Google (however the search engine needs to approve them). And… they can be based on branded as well as non-branded keywords.

Here is an example of sitelinks based on a Google Search for “WebFuel Ottawa”.

You will note from the example above, the two different types of sitelinks.

In the Paid Search section (which appears first in the search results), the sitelinks are “SEO” and “PPC”, which are our core services. This will allow us to give more visibility to relevant key web pages related to the ad (and track the results).

In the Organic Search results, the set of links include “About WebFuel”, “SEO Site Audit”, “Google AdWords”, “Google Analytics”, “Blog” and our “Contact” page. These additional internal links will drive web traffic to specific web pages within our website.

So… what does this have to do with PPC and SEO?

In terms of PPC, Google AdWords management can include implementation and optimization of sitelinks via the ad extension feature. Using this strategy allows for quick visibility on a Google results page – and should improve the paid keyword traffic. Improving natural (unpaid) web traffic would involve SEO. Optimization of those sitelinks relates to organic algorithm factors (including site architecture), visible results takes longer and requires (in most cases) advanced SEO techniques.

Are you taking advantage of sitelinks?

SEO, PPC and Google Sitelinks is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Guest Post by James Katz

With the vast majority of consumers now searching for local businesses online, the importance of a Google Places listings to a business mining its local market can no longer be ignored. For those of you who are not sure what a Google Places listing is, or looks like, the good folks at WebFuel have provided a breakdown for you in the blog post entitled SEO & The Anatomy of a Google Places: From a Canadian Perspective.

My job as a lawyer that specializes in Internet related legal issues (which can range from simple contractual matters all the way to trade-mark infringement and cyber-libel) is to understand the legal issues that can arise from the use of Places listings. Suffice to say that, because of the volume of web traffic that Google sends, it wasn’t long before Places became a hugely popular location-based search tool. It also wasn’t long before legal issues associated with the misuse of Google Places listings began to arise, especially with regard to the issues of online trade-mark infringement and anti-competitive conduct.

Although Google has in place fairly strict policies governing the content of Google Places listings, including a general prohibition against using the intellectual property of others (such as trade-marks), it is important to understand what your legal rights are if you, and your business are faced with an online trade-mark dispute concerning a Google Places listing. For example, what if a competitor is using your business’s trade-name or trade-marks in its Google Places listing? Or, even more misleading, what if that competitor lists your unique business name or brand name as a link, which links not to your website, but to your competitor’s? Such tactics are not only unethical; they are also potentially in breach of Canadian trade-mark and competition law. I use the word “potentially” because, as of the date of this article, there are no reported Canadian court decisions that have concluded that such tactics are in fact illegal.

However, while the Canadian courts have been slow to address these legal issues, those in other commonwealth jurisdictions have a developing body of case law that indicates that such behavior is, in fact, unlawful. Recent court decisions in Australia (where Canadian courts often turn if a novel legal issue is being addressed in Canada for the first time)  have concluded that visible components of a trade-mark that appear either on a website or in a Google Places listing can amount to trade-mark infringement. The relief granted in that case included an injunction against using hidden meta tags on the infringing website that also made use of the infringed trade-mark, as well as an injunction prohibiting the infringer from using infringing keywords targeted via Google AdWords.

From a Canadian perspective, it is clear that using a competitor’s trade-mark visibly on a website (and this would include a Google Places listing) will amount to trade-mark infringement, especially if the infringing site itself that is linked to from Google Places is considered to be an active website, which in essence allows a consumer to purchase the infringing products or services directly through the website in question. In the case of passive websites (which are not set up to transact business, but act only as advertisements of the wares or services in question), the Canadian legal landscape is still unclear, as the appearance of infringing trade-marks on such sites may not be considered an infringing use of a trade-mark in association with wares. However, it is likely that such use may be considered infringing (under Canadian law) vis a vis services if the website is advertising services that are performed in Canada.

Canadian law is also unclear regarding the use of infringing marks in meta tags and paid keywords. However, given the Australian experience, it seems likely that, depending of the facts of a given case, that such unethical uses of a competitor’s trade-marks may, at the very least, be in breach of Canada’s Competition Act, which prohibits businesses from promoting its business by making a representation that is false or misleading in a material respect. It is also possible that such uses also amount to the tort of passing off, which essentially prohibits activities that are calculated to confuse consumers into thinking that infringing wares or services are in fact being supplied by the legitimate supplier and trade-mark owner.

Finally, it should be noted that trade-marks that also contain a design component (often called logos) are also protected as an artistic design under the Copyright Act. Therefore, there is no doubt that the use of such a trade-mark in Google Places or on a website, without permission, would amount to copyright infringement, which constitutes the unauthorized communication or reproduction of an original artistic work. As an aside, business owners must also keep in mind that if they use photographs in their Google Places listing, they must ensure that they hold the necessary copyright to use them. Stock photographs purchased (usually online) for Google Places listings or for any other advertisement are usually licensed, and commercial use of such images may be prohibited.

In sum, although Google has in place mechanisms to report infringements that occur via Google Places, keep in mind that it will often take Google months to even begin investigating such complaints. In the interim, your business could suffer as consumers are directed away from your website to that of your unethical competitor. Therefore, by exercising those legal rights available to you, you can equip yourself to take immediate and decisive action with your legal counsel to protect your business interests.

James Katz is Lawyer and Trade-mark Agent with the Ottawa law firm BrazeauSeller LLP. James’ practice focuses primarily on Internet related legal issues and litigation, including trade-mark and copyright infringement, defamation and online privacy issues.

Disclaimer: The contents of this Blog post, and associated opinions are those of its Author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of WebFuel, or its employees.

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Legal Issues with Google Places: From a Canadian Perspective is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

SEO is not new. It began in the mid 1990s. Today SEO is hot – and everyone seems to be doing it. And… depending on whom you ask, the definition of SEO can vary greatly.

Web Developers may describe it as building a “Search Engine Friendly” website. In other words, a site design that allows Search Engines to crawl and index content on the site. It could also mean installing a SEO module that allows for Title Tags, Meta Descriptions and Keywords to be implement in a site’s code. Content creators that do “SEO”, may develop new relevant content for a website. And… then there are Webmasters. SEO can simply be submitting various XML sitemaps to the major Search Engines. The list goes on and on….

So what exactly is SEO?

According to Wikipedia, their definition is as follows…

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.”

While we don’t disagree with Wikipedia’s definition our favourite is from Jill Whalen from High Rankings.

“Search Engine Optimization – Making a website be the best it can be for the search engines as well as the site visitors. (This is High Rankings official definition!)”

While “Search” is key to finding anything on the web, it is web visitors that convert (they buy, sign-up, join etc…) – not Search Engines. We believe websites should be built for people (first and foremost) – taking Search Engines into consideration during the development process.

WebFuel’s official definition, however, takes it one step further (beyond just the website).

“SEO” stands for “Search Everything Optimization”.

We believe that anything that can appear in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) should be optimized. This, of course, includes Social Media.

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What is SEO, Really? is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

We predict that the use of Search will only continue to grow in 2012. Search On!

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How the World Googled in 2011 is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

During Giving Back Month the folks at WebFuel have decided to use our Social Media for Social Good. We believe that Social Media is an incredible tool that can be used the change the world around us. It can help share a story. Increase awareness about an initiative. Influence the community around you. Raise money. Its reach, power, and versatility are incredible, and when used the right way, can make the world a better place.

We have invited a group of guest bloggers from local and national charities to tell us how they have used their Social Media for Social Good. Our first guest blogger in this series was Stacey Diffen-Lafleur who wrote about how The United Way Ottawa uses Social Media for Social Good. Next up Alexandra Reid tells us about how Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa is Using Social Media to make a difference.

Social Media for Social Good: Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa

Since its inception in 1970, Big Brothers Big Sisters has been an inherently social organization. Long before Social Media platforms began operating as virtual community centers, our locally focused and locally run programs were founded on the same principles that have now transferred into best practices in the Social Media space, namely community building and engagement.

There is nothing more fundamentally social than friendship, and while we believe that face-to-face interaction is vital to developing healthy bodies and minds in our young people today, technology can also play an important role in communication as well as initiating and maintaining healthy relationships.

As our organizational goals and those of Social Media align, it was only natural that we use these channels to develop the programs we’ve always provided on a deeper and wider scale. Our Ottawa chapter strives to be on the leading edge of the Big Brothers Big Sisters movement in Canada, and that includes adopting innovative technologies that allow our community to connect with us on their own terms.

Many of the young adults, youths and children suitable for our programs fall into the group widely known today as “Generation Y,” or the “Millennial generation.” The majority of the young people that fall into this category are so-called “digital natives,” which means they have never known a world without digital technology. Social Media has proven to be an excellent way of connecting with this tech-savvy demographic. They’re on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn sharing their experiences and asking questions about our organization, and so we’re on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn too, listening, answering and engaging.

Not to be boastful, but as a team of community-minded individuals, we do “get” what social really means. It does not mean aimlessly shouting press releases at our community, even if they are well disguised as tweets and status updates. It does mean listening and responding helpfully to our community’s inquiries and sharing appropriate and timely content that our community wants to hear about.

We’re also quite technologically savvy in our strategy, using Hootsuite to monitor Social Media streams for content shared by others, Google Reader to stay on top of blog posts and LinkedIn Answers relevant to our space and a wide range of analytics tools to track and measure our progress.

While staying on top of news in our space and finding appropriate opportunities to engage with our community isn’t exactly an easy job, Social Media has rewarded us in so many ways, we can’t imagine why anyone would be so silly as to ignore this valuable opportunity.

How, specifically, has Social Media helped us connect and build our community?

Social Media helps us establish relationships

Through monitoring Twitter streams, we find numerous people interested in learning more about our program and sharing their experiences. Even if these individuals aren’t in the Ottawa area, we reach out to them to answer their questions, start conversations and share their experiences on our channels. The simple act of listening bridges important relationships and gives confidence to those individuals that we truly believe in what we are advocating. Furthermore, sharing important stories demonstrates that we value and support their opinions and ideas as well. Listening and being supportive are virtues we encourage in our volunteers and so we must also practice them ourselves in the Social Media space.

But while our approach is genuine, it’s not entirely selfless. We are working to achieve specific goals by dedicating time to these platforms, and encouraging and then recruiting previously prospective volunteers is certainly a central goal if we are to continue moving our organization forward.

Social Media helps us maintain and develop relationships

Social Media has not only helped us recruit new volunteers, but also aided us in maintaining long lasting relationships that are vital to our success. In addition to volunteers, we also require consistent donations to continue running our programs. Social Media gives us the ability to open our doors completely and express our humanity online, while also allowing us to reach out to important financial supporters and develop those credible and trusting relationships that last.

Social Media helps us get our messages out

We also use Social Media to share our achievements, events and other news. To ensure a healthy balance, we follow the 80/20 rule, which suggests that just 20 percent of content shared by businesses and organizations is about themselves, while 80 percent is about others. Not only is this approach the most social, it’s also the most successful because it encourages reciprocal relationships whereby others feel encouraged to share our content, giving us the ability to tap into other communities and establish wider authority on our channels.

We also share our content creatively. Instead of simply tweeting the title of a press release, we engage response from our communities by asking questions and starting discussions around the content. Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Value of an Hour campaign, which exploded across Social Media channels nationwide, was proof that this approach works.

Social Media is also used to promote our upcoming events, such as Climb4KidsOttawa, a rock-climbing event to raise awareness and donations for Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa. Additionally, we start LinkedIn discussions, and ask questions through LinkedIn Answers and post our content as responses to relevant blog posts and news articles. There really is no end to how organizations can creatively share their content in ways that resonate with their audiences.

How do you use Social Media effectively and what are the benefits you have seen as a result of your efforts?

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) is the leading child and youth serving organization providing mentoring programs across the country. Providing support to more than 1000 Canadian communities, our over 128 local agencies offer the service that the organization was founded on: One-to-One Matching. Men and women (age 18 or older) give of their time to become a mentor to a young person who can greatly benefit from having an adult role model to look up to.

Times change. Volunteers change. Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada has also changed. In response to the different needs and demands of children, youth, and volunteers alike, we have created new programs to fit our changing society. Couples for Kids, Cross Gender Matching, In-School Mentoring, Big Bunch, and Kids ‘n’ Kops group programs (for those kids on the waiting lists), and the new Life Skills Program all provide a variety of opportunities for volunteering and support to children and youth.

Each local Big Brothers Big Sisters agency is responsible for responding to its own community’s needs, so please see what exciting and innovative programs are being offered at your local agency.

If you are thinking about becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister, contact your local agency.

Disclaimer: The contents of this Blog post, and associated opinions  are those of its Author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of WebFuel, or its employees.

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Social Media for Social Good: Big Brothers Big Sisters Ottawa is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

During Giving Back Month the folks at WebFuel have decided to use our Social Media for Social Good. We believe that Social Media is an incredible tool that can be used the change the world around us. It can help share a story. Increase awareness about an initiative. Influence the community around you. Raise money. Its reach, power, and versatility are incredible, and when used the right way, can make the world a better place.

We have invited a group of guest bloggers from local and national charities to tell us how they have used their Social Media for Social Good.Our first guest blogger in this series is Stacey Diffen-Lafleur who shares with us how The United Way Ottawa is using their Social Media for Social Good.

Social Media for Social Good: United Way Ottawa

We are always looking for ways to engage new audiences, to spread our reach and get their help to make our community better for everyone. We do this by sharing stories, demonstrating impact and making it easy for people to talk with us. Social Media has made a difference in our outreach strategy and how we engage people from across our city to make change happen.

Why are we using it? It’s a community conversation that everyone can contribute to and build on.

We’ve found that Social Media opens new doors for us. Since 2009 the team at United Way Ottawa has been using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Flickr to have a conversation.

Let me be clear, it’s not all about fundraising either. Our business is engagement. We use Social Media to demonstrate results, to share stories of the lives we’ve helped to change and to invite people to interact with us all with a goal of making our community stronger, healthier and safer for everyone.

Here are a couple of examples of where we’ve seen social media really make a difference.

Reaching out to up-and-coming leaders

Schmoozefest - an event run by our Next Generation Cabinet – recently celebrated six years with a complete sell-out. Money raised goes back into the community, again helping to make a difference in our community. How did we build a buzz about Schmoozefest? Via Twitter. And the people that came to schmooze got a lot more than they expected. Kelly Rusk, a member of Ottawa’s twitter community was there and shared her Schmoozefest experience through a post at Local Tourist Ottawa’s Blog.

And that’s just one aspect of social media supporting the work we do.

Bloggers are media too

We give bloggers the same access we give media, and we give them the same materials and same opportunities to meet and interview. And you know what? They like it. They write about us, they help us get the word out via the blogosphere about the work we are doing in and for our community.

QR Codes, offering more than just a quick read

QR (quick response) codes are another new way we are sharing stories of people who have had their lives changed through the help of United Way Ottawa. This year our print ads that feature people from our community contain a QR code that takes a reader directly to their story on our website, both written and in video format. What once was just a single view before the page is turned, is now generating traffic on our website and as a result, broadening our reach. Melissa’s story, a LiveWorkPlay program participant, has been scanned hundreds of times.

Twitter – a launch pad

Twitter remains one of my favourite ways to talk with people in Ottawa – and at the beginning I devoted a lot of time to building a following – both for my personal account and for @UnitedWayOttawa, our corporate account. Today the corporate account has its own momentum and has outpaced @TheStacey by several hundred followers. It is an instant channel to share daily campaign totals – which are retweeted regularly by news outlets and the general public. We use it to share lives changed too, these also get a lot of RTs. Everyone has a hand in helping us make change happen in our community.

Social Media helps us to educate our donors, partners and our community about how we are investing their gifts and the results we are working towards. Additionally, we use it to help other companies who are holding events, doing workplace campaigns, or soliciting other kinds of support like sponsorships, volunteers or gifts in kind.

Over the next few months we’ll be rolling out a new, fully-sponsored website, and building on a grant we’ve received from Google, we’re developing a Google AdWords campaign. I am certain that other channels will appear, and some may change, but one thing I know, the conversation about our community and the potential for everyone – no matter where they work or how they want to engage – to make it better will only grow. Social Media is where that conversation is happening, I invite everyone to join.

Stacey Diffin-Lafleur, Senior Director, Marketing at United Way Ottawa has more than 19 years of marketing experience and is one of Ottawa’s social media community pioneers. She gets the Internet, she gets communication and she gets the impact that conversations – online and off – can deliver for our community.

Disclaimer: The contents of this Blog post, and associated opinions  are those of its Author, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of WebFuel, or its employees.

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Social Media for Social Good: United Way Ottawa is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel

Although it seems like only yesterday that Jason Faber joined WebFuel as our Social Media Strategist, it has been over three and a half years! Where does the time go?

Jason started working with WebFuel as our go-to blogger while he was still studying at Bishops University and working as their Social Media Manager. Upon graduation he joined WebFuel full-time and has played an invaluable role in helping the company grow, driving our Social Media efforts, building our brand and being the face of WebFuel at dozens of events in Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto.

“Working at WebFuel has been a fantastic and fulfilling experience for me from day one,” says Jason. “Straight out of university I’ve been able to participate, contribute and have a real say in the growth of a company that I greatly respect – not just for the outstanding work they do in search but also for the ethical way they do it. The team at WebFuel has given me so many wonderful opportunities to work with great clients, contribute to great community causes as well as continually learn and enhance my search, social media, business and writing skills.”

While we are saying goodbye to Jason Faber today, we know that he will always be a big part of WebFuel and wish him all the best in the next chapter of his career.

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Saying A Fond Farewell To Jason Faber is a post from: SEO Ottawa | Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Agency | WebFuel