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Friday 30 March 2012

How to Drive Traffic to Your Website Fast

So you have a website and now you need to generate customers. What is the fastest way to drive traffic to your website for the best results? There are MANY ways to do that but the easiest and fastest way is to publish articles -- either through a blog or an article such as the one you are reading here.

First, understand that it is a numbers game. Simply put, whether you are an affiliate marketer with many quality items to offer fo different tastes, or offering a single product to a niche band of users, the more traffic you generate, the more sales you will make, period.

Two things are needed for article writing: keywords and writing skills. Keywords can be a complicated area but the short explanation is that keywords are what brought you to this page. If you punched in the search term "how to drive traffic to your website" into Google, you were brought almost directly to this page. "How to drive traffic to your website" is the keyword phrase. What you need to drive traffic to YOUR site is a program that will tell you HOW MUCH web traffic uses WHAT specific keywords, phrases, or search terms to locate YOUR specific product(s). Once you find which words or phrases generate the most activity, you can use those magic keywords to compose articles. That way, when someone searches for the keywords you've chosen to write about, they will read the article and ideally, be given a link to your site, where hopefully, they will like what they find. Many different keyword programs are offered through the internet and would give you the information you need.

If you do not consider yourself a writer, not to worry. You can outsource the articles. Many sites on the internet will offer a writing service. I would be sure that all articles are submitted to you before publication to make sure the articles are accurate and well written. In a short time, you should be well satisfied that the writers you use are competently composing articles the way YOU want them done.

If you have your own site that serves more of a niche marketplace, newsletters are an excellent additional way to drive traffic. Again, using keywords in your newsletter would be a powerful way to attract new visitors. Perhaps you would have one free newsletter with more general information and one for subscribers with more detail. A keyword program would help you find the more popular search terms so that YOUR writing would be listed first on the pages of Google.

Finally, don't labor under the misconception that if you have capital, you should not use article writing to generate traffic when there are so many other ways available. Don't forget; you are trying to leverage both time and money here and this is a VERY inexpensive way to drive massive amounts of web traffic your way. if you have the capital, outsource the article writing if you like, and move on to other areas of traffic generation. and market penetration

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6947459

Wednesday 28 March 2012

5 Ways to Improve Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn is a great way to market yourself as a professional. It's not much use for a business as a whole, but if you're a freelancer, contractor or independent consultant it's one of the most important digital business cards you can have, and you neglect it at your peril. Despite being around for a while, I'm amazed at how some people just fail at using their LinkedIn profiles to sell themselves.

Before I make a list, there's just one thing I want to say about LinkedIn - it is not Facebook. That means that Facebook rules and customs do not apply. You want to be connected to everyone you've ever met, and everyone they've ever met - because you never know when one of those connections will turn into a business opportunity.

1. Your profile picture

As I just said, this is not Facebook. Don't have a picture of you in your bikini, or chugging beer with your bros. Get a professional picture taken, or use a good one of you in a suit. The more professional you look, the more seriously people will take you. And don't forget to smile - it's not a passport photo.

2. Think hard about your professional headline

Your LinkedIn profile allows you to add a "professional headline". This isn't a Facebook status to be changed every day, or a place for you to be funny. It needs to be 10 or fewer words describing what you do, and it needs to be as specific as possible. A good example is "Online Marketing and SEO Consultant for the medical equipment sector." A bad example is "I'm an online marketer, casual baseball player and a follower of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour amen". You get the idea.

3. Spend time organising your portfolio

Whether or not you work online, you can usually find something to add to your portfolio on LinkedIn. It takes a little bit of fiddling to get the hang of it, but it is well worth devoting time to. Get rid of the default descriptions like "my website" and put something interesting in there that tells recruiters and businesses what the website/project is, and what your involvement in it was.

4. Create a vanity URL

Vanity URLs are something that Facebook introduced a few years ago, and LinkedIn followed suit. It changes the URL of your profile from "LinkedIn.com/23u409832ur0u" (for example) to LinkedIn.com/JoeBloggsConsulting. If you can't get your name, then get something close to it. Don't use a nickname like "Jojo99" - it's not MSN messenger.

5. Write a good summary, and don't forget SEO

You have the opportunity to write a 2,000 word summary. You don't have to use up the word count (and nobody will read the whole thing if you do) but spend a good hour or so drafting a good page of writing here. Focus on keywords that are good for how you're trying to market yourself (use the Google AdWords Keyword Selector Tool for ideas). Divide it into sections with sub-headings if it helps, but for the love of Batman use paragraphs!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6832109

Monday 26 March 2012

Facebook - Tips On Using A Page For Business

Nowadays social media has become a common place to showcase your business. It is easy to share news with people who have themselves chosen to follow your posts. Let's see how you can make the most out of your Facebook business page.

1. Frequency of updates

How often do you want to post updates? Ask yourself: What is a suitable frequency for the kind of updates you are intending to make?

Too frequent or not frequent enough can both be detrimental to your followership. If you post too often, people get tired of it and either won't read them or will un-like your page. If you post not often enough, people will forget about you or think you are not a dedicated businessperson.

2. Length of updates

Even though the amount of characters per status update is currently limited to 420 characters this does not mean you have to max them out every time you post. Depending on your fan base shorter updates will have a greater chance of being read.

3. Content

The content of your sharing is of obvious importance. The rule is to give your followers quality content, to give them something of value and / or interest. This is where you build trust and potential future business but do not let this be your main intent.

If you repeat your content frequently or regurgitate the same themes over and over you will bore your followers. Even though you will post in your niche, make it interesting and varied. The best updates are the ones that your fan base will look forward to.

4. Promoting self

It is to be expected that you promote your business, service or product. If, however, you overdo it and talk about yourself all the time, telling everyone how good your service or product is or only share your events, courses etc. you will loose fan base over time. If that's all that they can expect from you, they will stop reading your posts.

5. Updating followers or sending invitations

If you choose to send a general update or send an invitation make sure you spread those messages between other updates. Again, balance is the magic word here. Also think carefully about the people you invite to events and whether they would be interested and also if they are capable to attend.

All in all, check which posts of other pages you enjoy. Model someone's strategy that you like and remember it is about social networking, which means that you have to join in the conversation, rather than just talk talk talk...

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6942560

Friday 23 March 2012

Top 5 Twitter Tips On How Businesses Can Build Their Twitter Page and Get More Followers

With close to over 500 million users, Twitter is a great platform for connecting with friends, families, celebrities, and businesses. With having so many people part of one giant community, Twitter is the perfect place for any business to connect with current and potential customers. By putting the time and effort (or paying a marketing firm to do it), you can leverage the full power of Twitter to help increase your followers and to help make sure your current followers stay as followers!

Implementing these tips on your Twitter page will help you get your company's Twitter account off to a great start:

Claim Your Twitter Name and Page

Just as you did with your website, you will want to find a Twitter name that is relevant to your company or industry. The longer you put this off means less of a chance of claiming the name you actually want, especially if it's in a very popular industry or field. There are 500 million Twitter users out there, so claim your name while you can!

Fill Out Your Profile and Bio - COMPLETELY

This is one of the biggest mistakes we see many users and companies come into. They setup their Twitter account but don't bother filling out the profile part. You are a real person and your company is real, so you need to make sure your customers see that, and the best way to start is by providing as much information as you can about you and your company. Change the profile picture to something relevant! We typically suggest your logo, a picture of the store front, a picture of your product, etc.

Create a Custom Background

Another feature about Twitter that many newcomers don't take advantage of right off the bat is making use of a custom background. If you really want to stand out from the crowd, creating a custom background which reflects your company is the perfect thing to do. You can use the Twitter background to promote products, services, or just give some information.

Follow People and Companies With The Same Interest

Twitter is all about following. And aside from following your friends, family, employees, and co-workers, the next best people to follow are those in your industry or have the same interest. Doing so will show your follower's that you're active in your industry and that you're not just there to promote your business, but to also network with others and get the latest industry news and information

Post Relevant Content

Sure, it's easy to post that you're standing in line at Starbucks to get a coffee or that you found some new shoes on clearance at Target, but you have to remember that your followers are following you for a reason, and you want to continue to give them reasons for following you! Posting random thoughts and actions is fine in small doses, but the amount of relevant information about your market, industry, or business, needs to far outweigh your tweets about what's on TV or what you had for lunch (unless of course, that is what you are focusing on). You definitely don't want every tweet to be strictly about business, as throwing in random tweets about what you're doing does give your Twitter page some personality, but don't over do it!

Getting involved in the world of Twitter can give any business a great advantage. From branding your company and its products to keeping in touch with customers, Twitter can be a powerful marketing tool if used correctly. Following our 5 tips mentioned above will help get your company's Twitter page started on the right foot!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6911736

Wednesday 21 March 2012

Happy 6th Birthday, Twitter!

On March 21, 2006, Jack Dorsey tweeted the first ever tweet on Twitter.

The sheer fact that you can understand that sentence shows you how far Twitter has gone since then. It has become the de facto short message system of the internet and the favorite social networking service of celebrities all around the world.

And, with over 500 million users, it is the largest one-to-many open communication platform on the web.

However, the service’s beginnings were modest. The service started out as an off-hand project from the creators of podcasting company Odeo, and though it immediately showed potential, it was plagued by frequent downtime in its first couple of years.

Stability problems seem to be a thing of the past now, and Twitter handles and hashtags have become a part of popular culture – they are regularly seen on TV and movie trailers. Ask a celebrity how you can reach them, and the most likely answer will be their Twitter nickname.

When it comes to business plans, in the last 12 months Twitter has been somewhat eclipsed with Facebook’s IPO. The questions about Twitter still remain the same as on its last birthday: Will it go public, will it be acquired by a giant such as Google, Apple or Microsoft, or will it simply keep growing?

We’ll see. In the meantime, happy birthday, Twitter!

Friday 16 March 2012

5 Reasons to Use Pinterest for Internet Marketing

1. It is the fastest growing social networking site

Pinterest, the pin board sharing site, is now the fastest growing social networking site and internet marketers need to pay attention.Traffic on the site is up 40 times in the last 6 months and the growth is mainly word of mouth.

The social discovery site was launched in March of 2010 and by December of 2011, entered the top 10 social networking sites with 11 million visitors in a week. It is now growing as fast as Facebook grew in 2006.

2. Pins quickly go viral

When users "pin" something,their pin goes on their virtual bulletin board for all their followers to see. Followers can then "repin" anything on your boards that interest them. They can also "like" your pin just as on Facebook. Experts say that 80% of pins are repins which shows how quickly and easily a pin can become viral. It is easy to see the potential here for marketing.

3. Pinterest is visual

Since Pinterest is visual, the images play globally. It is a fast and easy way to get your message out to the world. Our culture is a visual culture and Pinterest plays into that. The challenge is to come up with the cleanest, clearest, simplest way to get messages out to the world.

4. Pinterest is still fairly new

Experts tell us that 33% of affiliate marketers use Facebook and 28% use Twitter. This leaves the fastest growing social networking site wide open for internet marketers.

Access to the site is by invitation only. You either are invited by a friend who is already a user or you request and wait for an invitation from Pinterest. This, in itself creates a buzz as future "pinners" wait for an invitation. Most marketers either don't know about the site or are clueless about how to use it for internet marketing.

5. You can upload a message from your computer

One cool feature of Pinterest is that you can upload a message from your computer to your pin board. This can be a photo or even a video. The uses for internet marketing are only limited by your imagination.

The more I use Pinterest, the more I think of ways to use it for internet marketing. The site is fun and addictive and has huge potential for marketers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6895688

Wednesday 14 March 2012

3 Strategies to Boost Your Business With Social Media

We sometimes forget people were social beforeImage social media came along. To understand social media and the structure of social networks, we must think of relationships as independent of technology.

With that in mind, here’s how to achieve 3 key marketing objectives, based on the way people actually use social media.

1- Drive Awareness

Driving awareness requires you to reach as many relevant users as possible. Users may have strong ties to only a handful of their connections, but social media has considerably increased the reach of individual users – people have 140 connections on average, up from about 100 a year ago.

Users may not always value purchasing advice from every single one of their connections, but if friends share content, people are most likely to see it. And if the content is appealing, users are most likely to click it. This applies especially to videos.

A great way to drive awareness is to create videos that people want to share. Sharing content on Facebook or Twitter does not always feel as instinctive as liking or commenting, so the video must be compelling.

The most relevant users to seed your videos are the ones who generate the most engagement in Facebook and Twitter. These are usually the long tail of every-day users, because they know their connections personally. This is what we focus on at the startup I founded, and so far the results have been impressive.

2- Generate Sales

Generating sales requires that you tap into a much different social network structure.

As Paul Adams, Global Brand Experience Manager at Facebook, points out, people talk to the same 5 - 10 people 80 percent of the time. People are tightly connected to five small groups, on average, with which they share a common interest or affinity.

Influence can be so strong between these few connections that it can actually generate sales. To generate sales in social media, create very exclusive offers rather than trying to reach the masses. This way, users are incentivized to share them with their most relevant and trusted connections. Doing so will maximize your sales.

3- Increase Loyalty

Increasing loyalty is another very valuable way to leverage social media.

Promote your Facebook page and Twitter account wherever you have access to your customers. Then, provide these customers with engaging content that will start a conversation between your customers, their friends and your brand.

Since the objective here is to start a conversation, this content should be more about your customers than about you.

Getting your customers to engage with your content is crucial. It will deepen your relationship with them and increase their loyalty. It will also turn your customers into your best advocates and your most valuable assets in social media.

In short, social media can help you achieve key marketing objectives with unprecedented results. But you should not try to apply old-media strategies to social media. Instead, brands should see themselves as regular social media users, and provide valuable input to start conversations around their content. Ultimately, this will help you boost sales.

Monday 12 March 2012

Make a Social Network For Your Business

Create a Profile

Make profile on several social media websites. You can utilize social networking software such as Facebook and Twitter to do so. Create biographical information that spells out the mission of the company as well as gives users an idea of the products and services which are offered. The profile should include all the pertinent information that is related to the company. This will give the consumer an idea of where the company is located as well as the mission of the business.

Make it Professional

Ensure that the profile as well as any other content that is posted through the social networking software is done so in a professional manner. The items that are placed on the Internet through social media will represent the views and thoughts of the company as a whole. Therefore they should be positive and upbeat. Any content which sheds a negative light on the business should be removed immediately. If allowed to remain, this type of content will give the consumer and anyone who visits the website a bad image of the company and make them feel that this is a representation of the way that the business feels.

Invite Users to Your Social Circles

The next step is to invite users into your social circles on the website. This will allow you to share the information and content that is posted with a wide range of people. All the users who have been brought into your network will be allowed to view the items that you place on the website. And the social networking software allows those users to share these items with the user who are in their social circles as well. This increases the chances of attracting new customers to the website.

Post Content For the Users

The last step is to post new information for the users to view. This can consist of articles, blogs, photographs and other media. The items that are placed on the social networking software should relate to the company in some way and promote the brand. This is a great place to post the latest news on sales and other happenings within the company. Another good way to promote the brand is to post promotional offers for the products and services which are made available only to those in your social circles. This will encourage more consumers to visit the social media website and begin receiving these offers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6916544

Friday 9 March 2012

Attracting Users to a Social Network

Post New Content Daily

The first and most important goal that should be accomplished through social networking software is to create new content everyday. A website that gets stagnant will not be able to be utilized to attract new consumers. They will begin to get bored and move on to something else. But this can be prevented by posting new articles, blog posts, press releases and photographs on a daily basis. The information that is placed on the website can even be updated two to three times a day to keep it as fresh as possible for the consumer. This is a great way to get more attention on the website.

Make it Entertaining

Placing boring articles on the website will not get the attention of new users. That is why the content that is posted on the social networking software should be fun and engaging. Articles and blog posts should reflect the content that can be found on the website as well as be entertaining to the consumer. And pictures should depict the latest products and services which are being offered by the company. Have fun with the content while still remaining professional and ensuring that all items posted reflect the good reputation that the business has built.

Gear it Toward the Consumer

The way to attract new consumers and keep older customers coming to the website is to create content that they want to see. The clients will leave feedback through the social networking software. These comments should be used to find out what the consumer wants to see and the type of content that they enjoy. From there the business can create article, blog posts and photographs that meet the standards that the consumer has set. When they see the content that they requested, it will keep consumers coming back everyday and the company will have no problem attracting new clients.

Make a Commitment

When you begin to build a social media presence, make a commitment to the website. Make sure that you are able to post content through the social networking software on a daily basis. This will allow you to attract new consumers to the website as well as keep existing consumers coming back for more. These posts can come in the form of wall posts, blog entries as well as articles which center around the type of products and services that the business sells.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6910295

Thursday 8 March 2012

5 Facebook Tips For Business

When Facebook started gaining momentum, thanks to the increase in its number of users, the idea of connecting with people excited not only the members who gamely created profiles for themselves. Business owners began to see a huge potential that could change the landscape of buying and selling by readily reaching out to the more than 150 million users who are actively using the platform.

Businesses of any scale are now strategizing their approach towards using the strengths of Facebook in driving site traffic towards their respective pages. However, because of the grand scale that has to be dealt with, there is reason for businesses to get intimidated, causing a momentary standstill while weighing options. Below is a helpful list that will guide you through the basics so you can maximize your Facebook experience.

1. Start by creating a business profile which will serve as your official account. This is where users can send their inquiries through Facebook messaging/chat.

2. You can double the marketing presence by creating an official Facebook Page. This is quicker since users only need to hit the "Like" button to subscribe to your page and not wait for your confirmation to their friend request. Once you appear in the user's profiles, your updates will also appear on their news feeds. The more widespread the subscription is, the better the chances to go "viral," resulting to a boost in SEO rankings.

3. Gear up on promotions and special occasions by creating Facebook Events. If someone responds and accepts the invitation as a confirmation that he/she is going to the event, this update will be seen by those belonging in the network of the said person.

4. Update regularly. Just enough that your presence will be felt, but not too much that it will cause users to unsubscribe from your updates for the nuisance caused by spamming.

5. Do not create an account just for the sake of exposure. Remember that once your page is out there for the public to see, you have to interact with users by responding to questions and comments. Your page is their alternative to reaching you faster online with their concerns. You can filter them out according to relevance, but just don't miss the chance to talk to the people, because eventually they will become influencers.

These cited above are just some of the things you can start working on to widen your online network. However, it is best to understand first what you want and need, because the use of social media platforms also depends on the type of your business and the marketing strategies you want to focus on.

Moreover, these strategies may need to be altered and changed in accordance to changes to the platform, as they have done recently. This is why using us for consultancy and/or management is highly beneficial for your online presence to keep up with time. While users are either throwing fits or expressing appreciation over the recent changes in Facebook, your main goal is to adapt to permanent changes that the site will enforce for your business page and strategies to stay on top of its game.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6850653

Wednesday 7 March 2012

How To Write A Great Twitter Bio

Twitter allows you only 160 characters (about 20 words) for your bio. That means your bio must capture the attention of a potential follower in only a handful of words. Writing 20 words shouldn't be tough, but it's actually harder to write succinctly than it is to write at length. But if you take the time to write a good Twitter bio, you will reap the rewards in more ways than one. This article provides four great tips on how to write a great Twitter bio that will make people interested in following you.

Tip #1 - Include Your Area of Expertise

Your expertise should be included in your bio, showing off what you are good at. This is the moment to show off your skills so that people can decide if there's something they can learn from following you.

Tip #2 - Use Your Keywords

Don't neglect your keywords. Using relevant keywords in your bio helps people who have the same interests to find you., and will also help you show up in search results. In addition, using keywords in your bio will help you pop up in Twitter apps that group users together by interest. For example, can you guess what keywords this bio is targeting? "The latest happenings in social media, plus tips on using Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Foursquare and more." If you guessed "social media" plus the four major social media sites mentioned, you'd be correct.

Tip #3 - Mention What You Offer

Mention what you offer within your profile. Show potential followers how useful you can be to them. Here's an example: "Beer hawker, entrepreneur and owner of The Good Beer Company. Food fanatic. Avid geek. Blogger and social media enthusiast." When you read this bio, you instantly see what they offer.

Tip #4 - Write with Personality

Last, include a peek at your personality in your Twitter bio. Personality takes a profile from ho-hum to intriguing - someone others will want to follow. In the example above, you get a sense of the writer's personality from the use of words such as "hawker", "fanatic" and "geek". Someone who uses those types of descriptors is probably casual, unpretentious and enthusiastic about his interests.

Tip #5 - Get Help

If you're stuck trying to come up with a good Twitter bio, ask for help. If you have a friend or colleague who has a way with words, ask them to write a bio for you. Or simply ask a couple of people to give you feedback on the first word that comes to mind when they think of your name or your business. Combine those words and you'll have a great Twitter bio. You can even ask for input on Twitter!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6903743

Tuesday 6 March 2012

6 Tips To Gain More Customers With Your Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is the wave of our business future and you must learn to utilize it now or your competition will. No matter what industry you are in, you must get a social buzz going to add creditability to your business. This is the bottom line. Here are 6 simple tips to get you started.

Tip 1: If you have employees why not ask them to put their personal blogs on your company website. Having your employee's blogs on your website shows your consumers and employees that you are a company that cares about their employee's perspectives. Sharing your company's values with the world will make your marketing brand more pronounced and solid.

Tips 2: You must stay on top of your social media sites and if you the business owner cannot then you need to hire someone who can. You need to blog at least once a week and Facebook every other day. Also use LinkedIn and Twitter at least once a couple times a week. If someone follows your company on Twitter you should follow them back. Making sure you stay active in your social media outlets will show consumers that your company is grateful for their customers and that you care about what they have to say.

Tip 3: Give out something for free at all of your social media outlets. Depending on the product or service you sell. If you are a marketing company you could give away a free Ebook about website promotion. If you are a veterinarian you could give out pink and blue collars. You must make sure you give away something that pertains to your industry. You are only limited by your imagination and your budget.

Tip 4: You can increase your social media reach if you tie in all of your social sites with each other. You will need to make sure all of your templates from each social media site will match your company's website. Your company brand is very important. By tying all your sites into your website your company literally can reach billions of online consumers.

Tip 5: Your company can sign up for free with Twellow to find people who are in your industry. Twellow is the yellow pages for Twitter users. Also sign up with Tweepi to get people and businesses that are targeted to your industry niche.

Tip 6: Look at the most popular social media sites within your industry. What is their niche? Can you do it better? What about their page grabs your attention? You should use these pages to get an idea of how you want your sites. You need to figure out how to set your company apart from others. Give consumers a reason to come back to your social media site and to share your updates. You should make sure you do contests and offer free stuff that has a real perceived value.

When you are doing a special sale make sure you put all the information about your sale on all of your social media sites. Another great way to keep customers coming back is to offer special discounts each week. Your goal in social media marketing should be for consumers to get to see a side of your company that they do not know. Get your brand identity out there and consumers will feel personally involved and will be back for more. By implementing some or all of these tips you will see how social media marketing reaches a whole new market demographic and can be extremely lucrative for your company. Till next time, I wish you vast success in all of your social media marketing endeavors.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6904734

Monday 5 March 2012

6 Changes With Facebook Timeline

Today Facebook announced to brand marketers the world over that, within the month, everything they knew about fan Pages on Facebook would be overturned. While you get your brand ready for the new Timeline format, here are six important changes to keep top-of-mind.

1. Updated Look and Feel
What’s new: The format of Timeline for brands is quite similar to Timeline for personal profiles. It employs a cover photo at the top of the Page, and the Page is separated into two main columns by a dividing line, which represents the passage of time. This format provides brands with new options for self-expression: They can outline their corporate history with milestones (such as product launches, store openings, etc.) to construct a narrative for their audience. 



Recommendation: Milestones present an important and dramatic opportunity to educate the public, humanize the brand and remove a perception of corporate anonymity. Our analyses of Page engagement have continually shown that brands posting content that depicts behind-the-scenes activities, exclusive updates or promotions encourages user interactions and promotes higher engagement rates. Using interesting milestones to craft the story of the brand over time (and updating the Timeline with new milestones as they happen) can help to stimulate conversations around major achievements.

2. Reduced Tab Visibility
What’s new: The new Timeline format does not have the left-side panel of links, which could include hundreds of different tabs. While applications still exist, they’ll display differently, in rectangular panels underneath the cover photo. The width of the Timeline and the space allocated for native apps like Photos means that only three tab panels are viewable at any given time. To see more, users must expand the tab panel by clicking a drop-down box. 


Recommendation: For marketers, this major change means that the three above-fold tab apps need to be considered carefully — this will be one of the first things users see when interacting with your brand on Facebook. Brands will want to switch up which tabs are visible “above the fold,” according to current company objectives or project popularity. A good Page analytics tool will be useful for determining which tab to promote on a day-to-day basis.



3. No Default Landing Page

What’s new: With the new Timeline Page format, you will no longer be able to set a default landing Page, a favored feature for many savvy brands. The option was one of the primary ways to control the first (branded) impression a user encountered. Since there are no more tab Pages, there is no way to set one as a default. This will drastically change user impressions when they first visit a brand’s Timeline Page. 



Recommendation: You will need to apply new and careful attention to all the top messages in the Timeline, as they will be the first objects seen by visiting users. Likewise, Facebook ads for brands will become ever important, as ads will be one of the major ways brands on Facebook can control a user’s experience. Setting up an advertising campaign for a Facebook promotion or new application will be the only way to guide new and clicking users directly to that application (as landing on this Page cannot be achieved by default).



4. New Way to Feature Content
What’s new: One major new feature that marketers will love is the ability to “pin” certain posts to the top of the Timeline. Similar to marking a blog post “sticky,” so that it remains at the top of a blog for a specified period of time, pinning a post to the top of Timeline allows it to precede any other content. A pinned post is distinguished by a small, orange flag. Brands can pin only one item at a time, and the pinned item then exists in two locations — as the top item on the Timeline itself, as well as within its chronological place. Once unpinned (which happens automatically when a new item gets pinned, or the item has been pinned for more than seven days), the post remains in the chronology of Timeline posts, but there is no visual history that it was pinned in the past. 



Recommendation: Since you can no longer create a default landing Page, pinning items to the top of the Timeline will become every marketer’s go-to strategy for highlighting new and interesting content. We will begin to see savvy brands design posts specifically to be pinned, whether images, a well-designed call-to-action, a statement about brand value, or a message calling for the user to click one of the tab panels under the cover photo.



5. Current Tab Content and Applications Become Outdated

What’s new: The new Timeline layout displaces Facebook’s existing Page tab configuration (including a tab’s 520-pixel width), and replaces it with a new 810-pixel layout. As a result, existing Page tab content will look centered in the middle of the 810-pixel layout without any adjustments. All applications that remain on a brand’s Page will need new application icons (the new dimensions are 111×74).



Recommendation: The most pressing updates for brands will be to update the images and tab functionality of the above-fold two apps. As these are the first tabs users will see, they will likely be the first to be interacted with, or entirely ignored if not optimized for the new experience.



6. Private Messages Between Brands and Users
What’s new: Finally, brands will be able to send and receive private messages with users. This allows for much deeper consumer interaction, and will also enable Page managers to take extended customer inquiries off the Timeline and into a private message. 



Recommendation: Be mindful of noise in the Timeline. Since the real estate allocated to each post depends on how engaging it is or how much interaction it has received, it can be easy to clutter your Timeline with customer inquiries. When these inquiries can be better serviced in a more one-on-one manner, reach out to the consumer with a private message and resolve her question. It’s a good opportunity to yield both a happy user and a clean Timeline.



Timeline for brands will certainly shake things up for social media marketers who seek to make an impact on Facebook. One thing is for sure though: The way content is shared and viewed within a Timeline Page is incredibly important. Brands that constantly create engaging updates and share important milestones will stay at the forefront of users’ attention. Create and rotate new apps for engagement, pin relevant and timely content, and update the feed with user-friendly dialogues to stay relevant in this new space.

Friday 2 March 2012

Six Google+ Business Page Tips

Here are six steps to help your business grow in Google+ influence and in search engine results.

These steps will increase your chances of getting seen on Google+, and more importantly, help Google drive traffic to your page.
#1: Fill Out Your Page

The first thing you need to do is create a page for your business. For step-by-step directions, check out Kristi Hines’ How to Set Up a Google+ Page for Your Business.

As you’re setting up your business page, focus on using keywords as you fill out the Introduction in your Google+ page’s About section. Use both the keywords you want to rank high on and the keywords your customers are using.

And as you fill out this section, be sure to think about what would be attractive to your customers. The day Google opened business pages, Chris Brogan tweeted:
brag tweet

Read over your page and ask yourself if it's bragging about how great your business is or if it's engaging your customers.
#2: Add Links Throughout Your Page

Google+ business pages allow you to add links in lots of different places. Take advantage of it! You are able to create links in the Introduction section.

In the image below, you see examples of inserting links as phrases (like “fundraising training”), as a web page (like “FundraisingCoach.com”) or as a straight web link (like “http://fundraisingcoach.com/subscribe/).
google plus about page link opportunities

Help drive traffic to your own site by using all the link opportunities on your Google+ page.

These links will help you get found in searches. And more importantly, they will help customers go directly to your website.
#3: Make Use of the Hover Text

As with setting up personal Google+ profiles, you can influence what people see when they mouse over your business name in Google+. They might do this when searching on a topic or simply responding to a post.

So you’ll want to have a compelling, short tagline.
hover card

The tagline both explains your business and fills in the "hover card" on other parts of Google+.


google plus hover card

The extra words on this hover card come from the business' tagline on their Google+ page.

You can see that only the first five words of the tagline made it onto the hover card, so make them count!
#4: Promote Your Business Page Everywhere

One of the best ways to get people to follow your Google+ business page is to let them know you have one! In addition to putting the link in your email footer and on all of your other social media pages, you can add a badge to your site.

Google+ offers a way to make a badge. But a prettier way to make a badge is to use a site like Widgets Plus. This site allows for an impressive amount of customization.
Widget

Adding a badge to your site allows people to circle your business without having to go over to Google+.

Including an interactive badge helps people circle you while on your site. They don’t have to go to Google+ to do it. As soon as they circle you, they’ll be able to see your updates in their news feed.

Getting people to circle you is crucial. Being in more people’s circles, or having more Google+ followers, improves your position on regular Google searches.

And at this point, businesses can’t circle people until people have circled them first! You’ll want to be aggressive in telling people about your Google+ page so you’ll be able to share with them too.
#5: Get Your Employees on Google+

Because your posts are generally only seen by the people who’ve circled you, you want to encourage your employees to set up personal Google+ profiles. You can’t tell them how to use those profiles. But you can ask that they add your website as a link in their Links section. You should also ask them to share your business page and its posts with their friends.
#6: Be Interesting

Steps 1-5 set the foundation for Google+ dominance. But only interesting posts will keep you there. Unfortunately, interesting is defined by your customers. Here are some tips to make your posts interesting:

Experiment across platforms. Try posting the same updates on Facebook and Google+ and see where you get the better response. You’ll be surprised at how the followers interact differently.
Try posting your blog in Google+. If you already have a blog, rather than simply posting a link to it in Google+, try posting the text and the link in an update. Posts that take up more of someone’s news feed seem to gain more traction than the Twitter-like 140-character updates.
Use pictures and video. Pictures and video work incredibly well on Google+. People are far more interested in sharing images then straight text posts.
Be quirky. Google+ users are very interested in sharing and commenting on quirky posts. So if there’s any way for your business to do something quirky, it will help people become interested in you. One great example is this picture of a Crockpot from Jeremiah Owyang. Posted soon after Google+ opened, his question generated lots of conversation about food and workplaces.

quirky update

Being interesting on Google+ involves a willingness to be a bit quirky.

What could you ask your followers that would make your company seem more “human” and generate comments?
Google+ Is Open for Business

While still new, Google+ is open for business. And it will benefit your business both in search engine results and increased interaction with customers.