Archive for category social media
Beginner Tips for New Google Plus Users
Posted by Rachel in Guest Posts, social media, Social Networks on January 20, 2012
Google Plus has made quite a splash ever since it made its debut last year, however it was mostly and still is mostly adopted by the tech savvy crowd among us. Here’s one thing to keep in mind though about Google Plus, when Facebook first came out it was only available to college students and it wasn’t till quite some time after it had been around that it very slowly…became the phenomenon it is today. It was definitely not an overnight sensation or success. Yet look how powerful and omni-present it is now. We believe the exact same thing is going to take place with the Google Plus social network. So with that in mind, if you run an offline business or an online venture, we think it’s a smart idea to get on board and join Google Plus and use it to promote your content, site and or business.
Let’s take a look below at a few beginner tips for new Google + users. You.
Fill Out Your Profile Tab -
One of the most important things you can do with your Plus page is to fill out the profile tab which includes information about you and your websites or blogs. You can include a link to these in the About area and as of this writing they are do follow links. You can add a photo, details about your business and more. All for free.
Update Regularly -
If you can update daily, then that is great. If not, shoot at least for a few times a week. Your circle will look to you for info, tricks, tips and more on whatever niche you’re in. You can also outsource this if you find yourself short on time. Look in places like eLance and or ask your social network directly. Types of things you can post on your Google + page include quotes, photos, videos, tips, and or links to articles you’ve written or links to articles from others in your circle.
Plus Others -
As you grow your following, do share freely and often. When someone in your Circle has something great to say, share it on your page by Plusing it. When you’re perusing the web and come across a fantastic article or other item that you think your market might be interested in, share this as well. In other words, Plus often and it will become something that your Circle will come to eagerly expect of you.
Take Advantage Of The Free Tools Provided -
There are loads of widgets, buttons and badges available from various sources and Google itself to install on your website or blog, to bookmark items of interest and or to make it easy for others to join your Circle. Feel free to use these tools and take advantage of the many benefits found on Google’s hot new social network.
Let us know what tips you have for Google + beginners? Tell me below in the comment area.
This guest article was contributed by Rachel who writes for an online car hire San Francisco service provider and also runs a fun site dedicated to online marketing.
How to Manage Your Business Social Media Account on a Tight Schedule
Posted by Joe Koh in Facebook, Guest Posts, Promoting Your Blog, social media, Social Networks, Twitter on January 4, 2012
Internet Business Marketing – Introduction of Social Media
Social Media is a must use for anyone on the internet. Twitter by itself now has in excess of 100 million people accessing its platform and Facebook has over 750 million active members. YouTube is way ahead of the rest with website hits of up to 1.5 million per day, 100 million video streams per day and 63 million visitors each month. The best thing about all of this is that all these sites are free to use and just imagine how you could get a nice slice out of that pie of people. Imagine how you get your business noticed on any or all of these. You could really get a boost in your search engine ranking while using these and other websites and tools for giving your business more exposure.
But you say you are always busy and don’t have the time to use social media no matter how successful it is. Let me help you out with that. What you need to do is to make a schedule for Social Media. The three steps in this process are:
- Create your presence by creating an account on the website or websites you want to make use of.
- Next you will need to get used to the idea of providing information on a daily or weekly basis to any of these websites you choose, ensuring that your information is search engine optimized.
- Develop websites ensuring you’re linking and back linking is being done successfully.
Looks easy right? – Wrong it can be a bit daunting and if you are working alone it can take hours to get just one website done up. But let me give you some more advice to help you along.
Internet Business Marketing with Social Media - Focus on the Essentials
Devote a set amount of time each day to perform your social media tasks. Say an hour or two. Update one website at a time ensuring you have completed your work for one before you get to the next one. It is a bit hard to do all of this yourself especially if you want to use multiple websites. What you can do is get some of your employees to help you out if you have employees. If not you can get any teenagers in your household to help out if you are lucky enough to have them. If you have your own business you can create a position for someone who will specifically handle your social media management each and every day.
If none of the above are options for you, then you could hire a service that offers social media management along with internet marketing. They will take everything off your hands from setting up the website to generating and disseminating the information that you will use for posting to the websites. There are experts at what they do and they know just how to develop your social media presence to get you the best results. You can find these services at affordable prices giving your enough discounts for contracts that run over a year so it can be affordable. There are those that don’t require you to sign a contract which allows you to stay with them as long as you need.
It doesn’t really matter how you do it but that you do it. Social media marketing can open a lot of doors for your internet business. If you are not making use of this tool then you probably aren’t seeing your full potential as a business.
Internet Business Marketing with Social Media
If you find that you cannot find the time to do it yourself then hire someone to do it for you. In no time you will be able to break even making more than you are paying for getting it done while creating a source of income for somebody else. It will all pay off in the long run just be patient and you will see the results you need to be successful.
<a href=”http://askjoekoh.com/askInternetMarketing”>http://askjoekoh.com/askInternetMarketing</a>
How to Drive Traffic to Your Site Using Twitter
Posted by LuisMasi in social media, Twitter on December 23, 2011
Social media marketing is a fairly new concept, but one that any business can benefit from. More and more, people are turning toward social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as a way to connect with family and friends, but also to keep updated on their favorite brands and businesses. While Facebook is in many ways still geared toward staying connected with friends, Twitter is a favorite website for business professionals and even celebrities to interact with their followers.
Here are some simple tips for improving your site’s traffic using Twitter.
1. Keep your site URL in your bio. This way, anyone who finds you can easily locate your website.
2. Tweet regularly. The more active your Twitter page, the more likely that people will find you. There are several apps that allow you to write tweets in advance and have them posted automatically throughout the day.
3. Join the conversation. Rather than using Twitter as a one-way advertisement tool, join in discussions relevant to your topic. Link to blog posts or websites that relate to the discussion.
4. Follow people with similar interests. Search for users who are interested in your niche and follow them; chat with them regularly and click their links. They will do the same to you.
5. Add a “Tweet this” feature to every blog post or site page so that your visitors can share your information with their own followers.
6. Hold a contest over Twitter. Participants can visit your site for more details, but make the actual contest take place in re-tweets; this will drive a lot of interest to your Twitter profile.
7. Use Twitter to find guest bloggers or other professionals. They will be interested in promoting themselves through their own channels, allowing your post to get double coverage. You’ll also get great content for your site.
8. Spark a conversation. Rather than just stating your message, ask your followers questions. They’ll become engaged with your discussion, and their followers might come investigate what all the fuss is about.
9. Share other people’s links, not just your own. If you find something relevant to your niche, share it with your followers. They will be interested in the information, and it makes you look more friendly and less like you’re only trying to promote yourself.
10. Be friendly. People like social media marketing because it makes them feel like they are genuinely connected to the people they follow. Be warm, genuine, and helpful, and your followers will multiply.
Understanding Google+ For Connecting with a Wider Target Audience
Posted by PhilipD in social media, Social Networks on December 12, 2011
Today, every website is integrated with Facebook, Twitter and the +1 button. The idea behind such buttons is simple. It helps visitors share you content easily on the social media sties like Facebook, Twitter and Google +. With search engines giving more importance to content popularity, it makes perfect sense to create relevant, fresh and shareable content.
But, as a business you can do better than that. You need to take proactive steps to improve the chances of your content to be shared. Just waiting and hoping isn’t going to be enough. This is where the use of a social networking services like Google+ step in. Google, like Facebook and Twitter, has quickly recognized the potential of social platforms for business promotion and now offers a business ‘Google+ for business. It allows businesses to create their own identity on this social platform and starting a conversation by posting their content, or directly joining an existing conversation. This leaves no room for doubt that the content is going to reach your target audience.
Google+ helps you directly engage with people who visit your Google+ page. But this is not the end of it, rather it’s the beginning. Engagement helps build relationships, which in turn leads to improving your brand’s credibility and reputation. What’s more, your profile on Google+ will help you target specific customers groups that have been categorized according to certain parameters set by you. This ensures that your message reaches the people you want.
Face to Face Conversation with Hangouts
Say you are a restaurant specializing in oriental cuisine, and are hosting a Korean food week. With the use of ‘Hangouts’ on Google+, you can talk to a group of 9 people directly through high-quality video chats about the kind of food that is going to be a part of this event. This is just one way you can use ‘Hangouts’ for your promotional endeavors. Think of it is as your own personal space where you can hang out with people who you want to get to know better, and who want to know more about your business.
Target smaller audiences with Circles
Rather than targeting a huge audience, wouldn’t you rather divide the audience into smaller groups and tackle each group individually. This is possible by using the ‘circles’ feature. This allows you to customize a message specific to the particular group that you want to target. Persuasion has more chances of succeeding if the message is pertinent to a particular group of people, because you are able to construct a message that is aligned with the interests and preferences of your target group.
The use of ‘Circles’ also helps you offer products deals and discounts to specific groups. At the end of the day, by grouping your followers, you are improving the marketability of your business.
Google Search and Google+
Obviously, the fact that you are using Google+ is going to have an effect on your search engine rankings on Google. It’s the best way that Google can get more and more people to use Google+. So, let’s take a look at how a combination of the Google+ and +1 button will lead to higher SERPs for your website. Start off by making sure that you have a +1 button integrated on your site, after that ensure that your site is linked to your Google+ page. What this does is that all the +1s that you get from your Page and your website will be tallied into one single total. This total will have a positive impact on your search engine rankings.
Think of all the +1s that your website or page gets, as your recommendations and viewers will be able to see these when they come across your website search result, your website or even your Google+ page. It’s the kind of visibility that you simply don’t want to miss.
To put it in a nutshell, you can use Google+ to not just reach a wider audience, but reach the kind of audience that is really interested in doing business with you. At the same time, it helps you improve your search rankings. It’s like an all in one social marketing package that is configured for business success.
3 Successful SEO Marketing Strategies
Posted by jtoney in Blogging, Facebook, Guest Posts, Link Building, Marketing, SEO on December 2, 2011
It seems today there are a million ways to increase your site exposure. New SEO strategies are popping up weekly, some more effective than others. As websites grow, more people are veering away from basic SEO marketing and expanding alternative techniques. This sparks the creation of new strategies that when utilized with the basics, can increase your page rank and overall traffic. Therefore, we should take a look at these growing trends and see if your site can benefit from them.
Coupon Marketing:
With the current economic state, coupon shopping has become widely used. Many shoppers refuse to pay retail and spend hours clipping, printing, and collecting coupons. This trend has increased the use of coupon marketing among SEO professionals. However, coupon marketing is about more than just dangling a deal and hoping someone bites. By registering coupons with known coupon distributors such as couponchief.com and retailmenot.com, you are able to reach a customer base that was once foreign. The bargain shoppers receive these coupons through emails as well as Google search results. Since these sites are instantly indexed as new coupons are created, there is little wait for your marketing to take effect.
Along with a wider range of prospective traffic, these coupon sites build backlinks that are solid. With your site address posted to their site, your page rank increases. Since these sites have grown in popularity in the last 3 years, their rank is more than enough to be beneficial.
Credit Card Marketing:
Many sites seem to stay away from credit card marketing due to the bad wrap it has gotten from spammers. However, by choosing the proper credit card affiliates you will be able to increase your traffic with credible backlinks. Larger banking institutions allow for affiliate programs which allow you to offer benefits and rewards people may not get otherwise.
With the current rise in bank fees, credit processing fees, and ATM charges, many consumers are looking for an alternative to their current bank. This is a great time to research credible credit card merchants and find one that you can utilize for SEO marketing and increasing your traffic.
Social Networking:
Using the trend of social networking has become a highly respectful and successful means of SEO. By creating discounts on Facebook, tweeting your latest news on Twitter, and getting LinkedIn, you are exposing your site the possibility of a massive traffic increase. Combined with other SEO strategies you can create a page following beyond the occasional browser.
Many are utilizing coupon marketing with Facebook since their promotion of Facebook Coupons. For those selling items, this is a great way to increase sales. However, it is also a great tool for those who monetized their blogs, are offering discounted affiliate deals, and are looking for a way to increase traffic to their sites. By creating fan-based coupons, discount codes, and Facebook fan-only deals, you can require members to “Like” your page before seeing the deal.
Creating a new tab in Facebook
The most popular way of creating these fan-based deals is by creating a new tab in Facebook that requires members to “Like” their page. Here are instructions on how to create that:
1. Log into your Facebook page and type “Static HTML: Iframe Tabs” in the search bar. Click the first search result in the dropdown list.
2. Next click the “Add Static HTML to a Page” button and select the page from the drop down list. This will take you to your Facebook page.
3. On your page click on “Edit Page”, navigate to the “Apps” section and click on “Edit Settings” for the “Static HTML: IFrame Tabs” application. You will get a pop-up for you to enter the custom tab name. Enter the name you want visible on your tab and click “Save” then click “Okay”
4. Next the “Static HTML” editor will load and you will need to click the “Enable FBML” box if it isn’t already selected.
5. In the editors “Enter your Content Here” box you will need to type or paste the following code:
<fb:visible-to-connection> <img src=”YOUR COUPON IMAGE URL”> <fb:else> <img src=”URL TO AN IMAGE TELLING THEM TO LIKE PAGE FIRST”> <fb:else> <fb:visible-to-connection>
6. The first URL you replace will be to your coupon image. The second URL will be to another image you create advising them to “Like” you page first. Once they “Like” your page, the coupon will be visible under that tab. Each time you want to change your coupon you will need to change the first image URL with your new coupon image. After entering the URL’s click “Save and View Tab”. The page will load showing you what your new fans will see when they “Like” your page.
For those who just want to increase traffic without offering coupons or discounts, this technique can be used for anything you want you entice members with. It could be as simple as a new and interesting post on your blog where you use the title to entice them to click “Like”, or it can be a product review for something new. Whatever you want to use to convince them that it is worth it to click “Like” is up to you.
In the ever changing world of SEO, many are starting trends that will last long into the future. Following the current economic state, new products, and the trends of blog readers will increase your options for SEO marketing and allow a more versatile strategy. Take a look into your current SEO marketing plan and see if you have room for more.
Is the Ignore Option on Google+ an Obstacle for Marketers?
Posted by Aidan Hijleh in Marketing, social media on October 26, 2011
Although Google+ was rolled out with an impressive slate of features, the search company has slowly been adding additional functionality to its new social media platform. One of the latest features to be introduced is the Ignore Option, a function which hence the name, allows users to ignore others by limiting what they see in their profile. If users adopt this feature, it could have an impact on marketers, so here are some tips on how to avoid the wrath of the Google+ Ignore Option.
Stay on Track
There are many things to like about Google+, starting with its built-in friends architecture known as Circles. Unlike other social networks that group all your contacts into a single friends list, Circles let you divide your contacts into custom made groups aptly called circles. For example, your circles may consist of groups like business associates, prospects, friends, and family. When it comes to the Ignore Option, one of the keys to eluding its swift blade that will severe ties between you and your audience is staying focused with your communications. What we mean by this is you need to make sure you are sharing the right content with the right circles and keep all your interactions relevant.
Leave Sales Pitches at the Door
With such a large following that literally spans the globe, it is hard for marketers not to view social media as a viable sales channel. And although the numbers indicate that there truly are plenty of opportunities for sales, this is not the outlet to treat solely as an advertising tool. Doing social marketing right is about engaging and building relationships. This is true whether you’re working with Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. For Google+, a brand new social network, engaging users with aggressive sales pitches is probably the fastest way to convince your contacts to use the Ignore Option. It could also get you in hot water with Google, who has warned brands not to use the platform as a marketing tool until a business version is released.
Prove Your Worth
Your Google+ contacts probably will not ignore you if you are not being a nuisance and throwing hard pitches their way at every opportunity. If you provide value in your communications and give them a reason to interact with you, making use of the Ignore Option will be the furthest thing from their mind. Showcase your expertise. Direct users to resources that can help them with their problems. Do what you can to build meaningful relationships with your audience, and if sales are what you’re after, they’ll come in due time.
In all honesty, the Ignore Option in Google+ is no more an obstacle for marketers than the Hide All Posts function Facebook makes available to its users. It will only affect your efforts if you make yourself a nuisance. Stay relevant, avoid the sales pitches, make yourself useful, and you should be in the clear.
Facebook’s New Platform: “They Know Everything Now”
Posted by ThomasStone in Site Reviews, social media on September 28, 2011
Spotify users are angry about the new requirement to register their Facebook profiles, especially since Rdio and MOG have not added this requirement (yet). It seems mystifying at first: why would Spotify risk alienating their users in this way? Until we take a 30,000 foot view of the situation. Rhapsody, the music streaming service that is willing to admit how many subscribers it has, boasts only 800,000 customers. Meaning that the other services can’t have more than a few million subscribers apiece, at the most. Facebook, meanwhile, has 750,000,000 users and counting.
Most likely new modes of sharing Spotify songs, along with forms of free promotion spiced the deal with Spotify which, having launched in the US only this July, is already pulling ahead of the pack. Facebook a very powerful ally, with the biggest audience on earth.
Industry wonks who have time to absorb this alliance between Facebook and Spotify on a very busy week in tech news will be speculating: aside from their musical preferences, what else will Facebook marketers be able to extrapolate from the demographic data laid open to them by the new Spotify requirement?
As the world’s largest social network, Facebook has an audience of more than 800 million users that readily supplies it with information. Much like email marketing, Facebook’s ad platform reaches targeted users where they are – coming to them rather than waiting for their targeted audience to find them. Everyone checks their Facebook profile multiple times a day for new notifications just like they regularly check their email inbox.
Facebook’s ads have been highly targeted in the past, allowing advertisers to market to specific age groups, industries or people with specific interests. With the recent upgrade to their Open Graph and the new, tighter integration with other services, Facebook’s pool of data on its users is only going to increase. The recent rollout of the ticker in the top right of each Facebook user’s home screen shares with them the activities of their friends and is, on some levels, an attempt to influence users’ browsing habits and collect even more information on user interests that can give advertisers more options for ad targeting.
Spotify
Facebook’s Open Graph platform is allowing Spotify to more tightly integrate itself into Facebook users’ daily lives, prompting users to share their musical tastes with their friends and, in some cases, doing so automatically. Users could already import their Facebook contacts into Spotify to start sharing tracks and playlists, but now that sharing is going even further, showing up in the ticker and being done automatically, unless users choose to disable the automatic sharing. As more users integrate Spotify and Facebook, Facebook will receive information regarding the specific types of music users listen to and how they share their musical tastes with their friends, which could open up a new set of data that advertisers can use to target customers. Eventually, users will be able to share all of their music activity through a built-in Music Dashboard in Facebook, which will integrate with other services like Mog, Last.fm and Rhapsody, tying together nearly all of Facebook’s users’ listening data.
Video Streaming
The integration of streaming media services into Facebook doesn’t end with music; video streaming services like Hulu and Netflix are getting in on the act, too. Earlier stages of this could be seen in Hulu that allow users to post their viewing history on Facebook and showing comments from their friends on their favorite shows, but both companies aim to take it to the next level.
Hulu has built a Facebook app that allows users to share TV shows in new ways, not only showing others what they’ve watched, but allowing them to begin streaming from within Facebook itself. Further, users will be able to post comments on videos, even tagging specific video segments. Netflix hopes to eventually have the same options, though the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act prevents them from allowing users to share their viewing history publicly. Watching a video through the Hulu app and, eventually, the Netflix app will provide both Facebook and the video service with viewing data – giving advertisers a massive, localized pool of data they can use to target customers.
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