1. SEA RC H E N G I NE O PT I MI ZAT I O N
&
SO C I A L ME DI A MA NAG ME N T
U N D E R S TA N D I N G T H E K E Y E L E M E N T S O F
O N L I N E M A R K E T I N G T H AT G E T YO U R
C O M PA N Y F O U N D O N T H E W E B
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2. Workshop Objectives
2
Keys Focus on ORGANIC marketing elements:
o Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Website Architecture
Take Notes
- Content Management
- Link Building Strategies
o Video Syndication
o Social Media Optimization (SMO)
Terminology
You will gain a better understanding of what constitutes
effective SEO and how to utilize social media & video to
manage consumer interaction & cost effectively build brand
Homework awareness.
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3. About GibSEM Group
3
Areas of Expertise:
o Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
o Serve SMB Clients
o Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
o Internet, Telecom, Real Estate,
o Social Media Optimization (SMO)
MLM, Retail
o Cause Marketing
o About Jim Gibson
o Online Community Development
o Company/User Reputation Management
o User Generated Content (UGC) Management
ARCC Acquisition
Retention
Conversion
Community
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4. Online Marketing 101
4
SEO: Search Engine Optimization strategies and tactics undertaken
to influence the organic rankings of web pages in the search
engines. Search Engine Optimization involves the 3 steps of SEO
including site optimization (architecture), content optimization
and link building strategies.
SEM: Search Engine Marketing promote websites by increasing
their visibility in search engine result pages (SERPs) through the
use of paid placement, contextual advertising, and paid inclusion.
SMO: Social Media Optimization is a viral marketing strategy that
leverages social media sites to personalize communications, build
brand awareness and drive traffic to your site.
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5. SEO: On-Page Optimization
5
o Architecture
o Content
o Links
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6. SEO: Off Page Optimization
6
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7. Popular Traffic Generating Techniques
7
o Search Engine Optimization
o Pay Per Click
o Link Building
o Banner Ads
o Article Syndication, Blogging
o Social Networking
o Video Syndication
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8. How Search Engines Find You
8
FACT: These 5 methodologies are broadly adopted
by Search Engines.
o Crawling the web (slowest)
o Page/Site Submission (expedited benefits)
o Paid Inclusion
o Directed Crawl (XML Sitemap, Feeds)
o Incoming Links
Search engine process: Crawling, Indexing & Ranking
Submit your URL to Google, Bing & Yahoo!
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9. The Golden Pyramid
9
There is no mystery when it comes to marketing your business online.
And, there’s no such thing as overnight success!
Social
Media
Keywords
Content Management System
Architecture
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10. Website Architecture
10
FACT: Your website structure is the foundation of all SEO efforts!
o Site Architecture
o URLs
o Content
o Meta Tags
o Clean Code
o Text Links (inbound, outbound)
o Site Maps
o Robots.txt SEO
Evaluate your site structure
for these elements
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11. The 5 Second Rule
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Your Website Must Have:
o Crawl-ability
o Read-ability
o Link-ability
o Use-ability
o Convert-ability
You have 5 seconds to get your website message across to your visitor!
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12. SEO Management Tools
12
Set up Google Analytics and Webmasters Tools for your
website
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13. Content is King!
13
Build content for user 1st – Search Engines 2nd!
o Most important keywords first
o Content must be unique!
o Limit repetitive content
o 200 words or greater a good target
o Mention keywords 2-3 times
o Keyword density 4% - 12%
o Content should be well written
o Limit the use of automated content generators
o No hidden text (spam!)
o Keep it fresh!
Evaluate your site content for keyword placement
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14. 5 Step Content Development Process
14
Who is Your Target Audience?
What do they want/need?
Use of Dynamic Content?
Competitor Analysis
Evaluate/
Keyword Analysis Re-Write/Add
New Content
Develop
Content
Create an off-line version of your homepage using
The 5 step process.
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15. Content: Drive to the Goal!
15
Design every page with your goals in mind!
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16. Keywords & Search
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Keywords are the specific terms that people use to search for
things on the web. The advantage of keyword marketing lies
in the potential to reach the right people at the right time.
Pay Per Click Keywords:
Used in paid advertising
SEO Keywords: Appear in SE’s sponsored listings
Used in meta tags on site
Appear in SE’s organic listings
Do a search for your keywords to see where you fall in
the search engines
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17. Keyword Analysis
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CLIENT: Software Company
KEYWORD: “Tax Software”
GOOD: “Inexpensive Tax Software”
BETTER: “Small Business Tax Software for $99”
It’s not the words you use to describe
your business rather it’s the words your SEO
Customers use to describe your business.
The bulk of searches occur in the *Long Tail PPC
* Closest to Purchase Decision!
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18. Think Like a Searcher!
18
“Tax Software”
“Small business tax software
for under $99 “
Using Keyword Research Tools, Make a List of 300 Keyword Phrases
That Best Describe Your Business.
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19. The Buying Cycle
19
Interest
Purchase Gather
PPC SEO
Branded
Long Tail
Keywords
Keywords
Exclude Research
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20. Meta Tags = On-Page Optimization
20
Meta Tags: The words you use to describe your business that you want
the search engines to use to help people find you online.
o Meta Tags
o Title Tags
All should contain critical keywords
o H1 Tags
o Meta Keywords
o Meta Description
o Alt IMG Tags
o Anchor Text
Look for ways to include important keywords in
these areas
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21. Meta Tags
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TurboTax Business Software
Go find your site’s Meta Tags and make sure they
explain what your business is about
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22. Links
22
Quality vs Quantity!
o All links are not created (or valued) equally
o Links should be descriptive & use keywords!
o Use text based links in lieu of graphic button links
…for more information
…find out more about our $99 small business tax software …
Links signal to Search Engines your sites relevance and credibility!
Review Your Site Content For Keyword Rich Link Opportunities
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23. Inbound Links – The Holy Grail!
23
The 4 Levels of Link Building for Success:
LEVEL 1 – Low Hanging Fruit LEVEL 3 – Relationship Building
o Submit URL to directories (ex. o Network with webmasters
Yahoo, DMOZ.org, Joeant, o Become a resource for people in your
Aboutus.org) industry
o Social Media Sites
LEVEL 4 – Become the go to person
LEVEL 2 – Start Writing! o Churn out content!
o Launch a blog o Stake your claim in your area of
o Article syndication, PR expertise
Set up a fan page on FaceBook, a company profile
on LinkedIn and a YouTube video page.
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24. Blogs - The Centerpiece of Social Media
24
Blogs provide your small business with a chance
to share your expertise and knowledge with a
larger audience.
o Communicate & share ideas directly with customers
o Have an ear on the street
o Opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum
o Generates trust with audience
o Drive traffic to your site through keyword rich links
o Increase search engine rankings
o Establish writer as industry thought leader
o Personalizes company
o Cost effective communications channel
Make it a goal to become a Thought Leader by actively
contributing to a blog that focuses on your industry
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25. Article Syndication
25
Writing articles and submitting them to
other sites is a valuable way to drive relevant
traffic to your site. Some benefits include:
o Build brand awareness
o Attract visitors to your site
o Increase page rank on SE’s
However, there are some things you need to consider:
o Obsolescence
o Unauthorized modifications
o Mirroring problems
o Association with spam
Pick a subject related to your industry and write a
piece for submission in an article directory
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26. Video
26
Use Video To Promote You & Your Business!
Pictures Say A Thousand Words
Videos Say A Billion - Literally!
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27. Video
27
If you don’t use video, you are missing out!
30,000 Video’s Uploaded Daily
40,000 Daily
Stand Out From Your Competitors
Reach New Audiences
Show Customers You Are Their Best Choice
Tell Them Your Way
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28. Video
28
The Video Possibilities Are Endless
• Advertisement • Infomercials
• A Promotion • A Mini-Documentary
Video Components
• Home Page Introduction
• About Us
• Testimonials
• Landing Pages
• Product Demonstrations
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29. Video
29
“Adding video to my website
was one of the best decisions
I have ever made. Now
visitors to my site can quickly
get information that they
need in real time. I'm also
noticing my website is getting
much better placement in
Google searches since video was added. In today’s marketplace,
having video on your website is a must if you want to stay
competitive!” – Dr. Michael Kosdon
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30. Video
30
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31. Video
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Research Shows People Prefer To Watch Video
Then Read About Your Company.
Average Conversion Rate For Text
Only Sites - 1%
Average Using Video - 12%
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32. Video
32
Stand Out From The Crowd
Get More Business!
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33. Video
33
Internet Marketing
Get Opt In Email Subscribers
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34. Video
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Make The Video Simple Or Fancy As You’d Like
• Photo’s, Music, & Text
• Add Voice Over
• Be On-Camera or Hire A Professional
• Use A Teleprompter
• Film On Location or Use Green Screen
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35. Video
35
Creating High Quality Video Gets You More Viewers
Create Branding – add company website throughout
End with your logo and contact information
Create a way for people
to share your video
www.addthis.com
YouTube Share Option
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36. Video Optimization
36
More People Will Find Your Video if it is Properly Optimized
__________
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37. Video Optimization
37
Videos are primarily search
based on user-given title,
descriptions and tags.
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38. Video Optimization
38
Tags
1. Use Relevant Tags - Make sure your tags are relevant to
your content.
2. Include YouTube Category Tags - This will help pin your
video to a category.
3. Use Tag words in the title and description.
4. Match Tags in Title and Description - Use tags as you
would primary keywords in a page optimization.
TIP - Tags are not long sentence like phrases.
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39. Video Optimization
39
• YouTube is a
community
• Have a Channel
• Add new video’s
• Make your featured
video a welcome video
• Watch other video’s
• Add favorites
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40. Video Optimization
40
Social Networking Sites, Blogs & Forums
Upload your video to Facebook and MySpace.
Tell those following you on Twitter.
Blog about your video and link to your video.
When allowed post on forums.
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41. Video Optimization
41
The Benefits?
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42. Social Media Optimization
42
What can your business
do to succeed?
Social Media:
It’s about building relationships by providing valuable content!
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43. Why People Use Social Networks?
43
People use social networking for a variety of reasons:
o Get back in touch
Have online profile
Statistics:
o Share information in a common channel Age 18-24 75%
Age 25-34 57%
Age 35-44 30%
o Find new friends Age 45-54 19%
Age 55-64 10%
Age 65+ 7%
o Networking (e.g., interests, business, jobs)
2008 Statistic:
35% of adults online manage one or more social network profiles
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44. Why Businesses Use Social Networking
44
Businesses use social networking for a variety of reasons:
o Build relationships
o Branding opportunities
o Attracting traffic
o Cost effectively communicate with customers
o Identify new sales channels
o Give customers a voice
o Build link popularity
If you start using social networking you have to do
it right, and do it consistently to succeed!
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45. Social Web Behaviors
45
The Social Web is Dominated by Member Communities and
Consists of 4 Behaviors:
o Content Creation – Knowing what to create
o Content Distribution – Understanding how
to get content out there
o Content Consumption - Must love to consume content
o Transactions – buy, convert
The Social Web is no longer just about creation, distribution &
consumption; in the future, the highest priority will be placed on the
value of the content.
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46. 4 Ways Social Media is Changing Business
46
Social media is helping to forge a new era in business
transparency and consumer engagement:
o From “Trying to Sell” to “Making Connections”
o From “Large Campaigns” to “Small Acts”
o From “Controlling our Image” to “Being Ourselves”
o From “Hard to Reach” to “Available Everywhere”
Social Media allows companies to opportunity to develop more
genuine and direct connections with their customers.
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47. Leveraging Social Networks for Business
47
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48. Social Media Comparison
48
Social Media Unique Visitors Monthly Growth
FaceBook 68.5m 1.2m
MySpace 58.5m 810k
Source: compete.com
Twitter 6m 54m 1/09
Twitter Growth:
283% since 1/09
4,500% since 1/08
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49. Twitter Tools
49
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50. Social Networking Conduct (Do’s)
50
Social Networking online is no different than face-to-face interaction.
Here are the 6 basic rules:
o Listen
I’m Listening
o Engage
o Contribute
o Build relationships
o Follow-up
o Represent yourself & your brand
Join an online discussion and practice these habits
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51. Social Networking Conduct (Don’ts)
51
How you conduct yourself online is a direct reflection of not only
you but your company as well! Whatever you do, don’t:
o Be careless
o Be inappropriate
o Be aggressive
o Be self centered
Important: It’s not a race to be the most popular! Building
relationships takes time and sincere effort.
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52. Making Social Networking Pay Off
52
Get into the CONTENT MINDSET!
o Focus, Focus, Focus!
o Build your contacts (Intelligently!)
o Know your target market & what they are looking for
o Join groups and contribute meaningful content
o Balance “distribution” & “contribution”
Building relationships via social media
takes time and effort. There’s no overnight
solution to achieve success!
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53. Summary
53
Must Do’s: The following basic steps are important for any
business to ensure a proper online marketing foundation:
o Analyze & optimize site structure
o Develop great content around relevant/strategic keywords
o Ensure meta tags on every page
o Install analytics software
o Create Google Webmasters account
o Create robots.txt
o Build XML sitemap & upload to Google
o Submit your site to the 3 major search engines
o Develop & implement a social media strategy
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54. Resources
54
o Analytics: www.google.com/analytics
o Webmaster tools: www.google.com/webmasters
o Keyword tools: https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
o URL Submit: Google - http://www.google.com/addurl/
Bing: http://www.bing.com/docs/submit.aspx
Yahoo: http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srchsb/ssb.php
DMOZ: http://www.dmoz.org/
o Site Analysis: www.websitegrader.com/
o Sitemaps: www.sitemaps.org
o Market Data: www.comscore.com
o Online Marketing Associations: www.the-dma.org
o Social Media Trends: www.mashable.com
o Online Marketing Publications: http://www.onlinemediatoday.com
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55. Tonight’s Event Sponsored By:
55
www.GibSEM.com www.SilverDoveProductions.com
www.VoiceIcon.com
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Notas do Editor
If you’ve spent any time researching online marketing strategies, you’ve probably concluded that there’s just too much information floating around out there. The world of online marketing is filled with schemes and scams as well as an abundance of insightful information that can help you achieve greater success marketing your business online. The question is which information is the right information and what should you spend time learning?That’s why were here tonight. We’re going to peel away the layers of the onion and share with you the fundamental concepts that will help guide your business through the turbulent waters of online marketing.We plan to put a lot of information in front of you. But we are not trying to make you online marketing experts – we simply can’t do that in 2 hours. What we can give you is a great road map. We won’t teach you to drive the car but we’ll give you the tools so that you know where you where you need to go.
Tonight we’ll focus on the organic online marketing elements…
SEO: It all Starts Here! Effective Search Engine Optimization is similar to building the foundation of a home. Without a sturdy and reliable base, the remainder of the structure is likely to be critically flawed. SEM:Search Engine Marketing is most familiar as a method of buying keywords through search engines pay per click ad serving programsSMO:Social Media Optimization is a viral marketing strategy that leverages social media sites to personalize communications, build brand awareness and drive traffic to your site.
In order to understand SEO, we need to break it down into two important elements. The first is On – Page Optimization. It involves your site architecture, navigation, content and internal links. These are the things you control… things you can do within your website to improve your sites ability to not only get picked up by the search engines but to have a better chance of your site ranking higher on each engine.
The second is off page optimization. You control these elements to a certain degree but the majority of the residual effect depends on how well established your network is and how effectively you have managed the relationships within each.(Explain the value of the hub and spoke approach)
Key processes of any search engine are: Crawling, Indexing & Ranking. Ranking factors include your site’s architecture, navigation, content and internal link structure. But the most critical factor in determining your sites rank is how many sites are linking to you.
In the time it takes me to say this you should already know what this slide is trying to tell you. Of all the keys, the back button is the most frequently used button on the keyboard.
How do you check these elements in slide 10? Use these tools to help out(Focus on google analytics and webmasters tools)
Content must be relevant to search termsKey points first!One idea per paragraphUse action wordsLists read better than paragraphsShort pithy sentences rather than long sentencesUse subheadsAdd keyword rich linksPROOF READ VIGOROUSLY!
Bottom up not top down. Explain here the common mistake that most companies make when developing website content. They write the content first then try to fit their keywords into their content after the fact.. Makes for unweildy content and a poor user experience. Other problems:Keyword density issuesKeyword stuffingPoorly written contentUnclear messageHigh bounce rateHarder to manage implementation of future keywordsDynamic content: What is it about your site that will keep bringing people back? Does your site include a blog, forum, news or video?
Whether your goal is to get someone to buy something from your site, to sign up for a newsletter or simply to stay on your site for a certain length of time. These are all goals that you must establish for your company in advance and then design your site and content completely around this mission. Every page should have a clearly defined goal. And always remember the 5 second rule..And remember, visitors can land on virtually any page of your website so make sure your messages remain consistent on each and every page.
Did you know that on search engines, 75% of people click on organic listings on the left side of the search results page as opposed to Paid or Sponsored listings on the top and on the right hand side of the page.And these people are 5 times more likely to convert to a customer on your website.
Right now, write down 5 words or phrases that describe your business (give them time to think & write)These are the beginning of a list that you can start compiling that represent the keywords to your business. You can use this list to generate a longer list of keywords (using a free keyword generator tool – later in the presentation) and begin to evaluate the amount of traffic that these words could generate through organic optimizationBranded terms don’t always show up number 1 in SE results. Unless they know exactly what they are looking for, People generally search for the concept first. A great strategy for a new business is to start small.. Leverage the keywords in the long tail to find less competitive words. Build your traffic slowly and over time you can begin to adapt your content to more competitive keywords. Its an ongoing process and it takes time and commitment. Read the book by Chris Anderson: “The Long Tail”
Its not the keyphrases that you use to describe your business it is the keywords that your customer uses – think like a searcher when you are considering your keyword phrases!
The buying cycle represents the various phases that most consumers go through when searching for things online.Interest, Gather, Research, Exclude, Purchase..The important thing to know about the buying cycle is you can develop a low cost SEO keyword strategy if you do your research. Investigate to find out what words people use in the beginning, middle and end of the buying cycle and focus on building more content around non branded keywords.
Although some experts agree, due to heavy abuse, search engines have minimized the value of meta tags in SEO. But you should use Meta tags since they cant hurt andmay behelpful to yourSEO efforts.
Issue 1:
The Global Link Popularity Of Your Website How many people think that your website is important or relevant enough to link to it from their own website? Why should anyone want to link to your website? Is your website just a brochure website selling your company? Does your website have any inherent value, any meaningful knowledge or analysis that other people may find useful?The more people (or websites) that link to your website, the more authority you get from the search engines. The more authority you have the better ranking you get and ultimately the more traffic you receive for your website. Not having enough links into your website (backlinks or inlinks) is the single biggest cause of poor rankings.Google became so popular because it consistently returned more relevant results than the other search engines. It was able to do this by measuring the quantity and quality of links into a website and compare this ‘popularity’ with other competing websites. Generally speaking, the more popular your website is the better ranking it will achieve.Issue 2: Anchor Text of Inbound LinkAll links into your website are not created equally. There are links that will give your website a huge boost and their are websites that will do little if any good for your popularity.So, when you are building your links, always try to influence the link you get, the best way of doing this is by suggesting links that have your keywords in them.Addressing the above two issues you will enable an immediate increase in your website’s online visibility and quickly lead to increased relevant traffic volume.
UGC – User Generated Content
Social media is helping to forge a new era in business transparency and engagement, creating both new challenges and opportunities.So the question is, what can your business do to transition and succeed in this new era of direct communications?
To understand how your business can leverage social media, you have to first understand why people are engaged in social networking.People on social networks don’t want to be sold to…Remember we talked about the buying cycle earlier? This is where the exclusion phase is so important. This is right before the purchase element where people, through social networks, evaluate your company and spread information both good and not so good.When you understand these reasons, social networking creates an opportunity either to further entrench your value proposition with your customers or gain a better understanding of what’s broken and needs to be fixed
The status of social networking is changing from me meme to what the value of the content is and how people react to it. Its not how many people are following you but how well you engage and influence.Communities are getting richer because they are tuning out the fluff and only listening to the real value content – kindof like Internet TivoSocial networks of the past were all about the me and how many people I can get to be my friendHow good your content is will determine your status on the web
Focus on less selling and more building relationships with customers. Example of the Timberland CEO tweeting about things he enjoys, passions, etcWith social networks, we have our own broadcasting network. Used to be that companies relied solely on huge marketing campaigns but now place a great emphasis on micro marketing. Used to be that customer experiences, both good and bad could take weeks or months to have an effect but now happens much faster and has a resounding cascading effect! CEOs of huge companies are now responding directly to customers.Put a friendly face on your company and be human. Of course you have to consider policies when employees use social networks and talk about your company but give your employees the freedom to be themselves and trust the relationships they build will help the company in the long run.To engage with customers its no longer just about having an email address and a phone number on your website. People want to communicate with a company via their chosen method. Give them the means to choose the most comfortable way to communicate with you. What this means is you should have as many ways as possible to communicate with your customers.
Here you see some examples of how Intuit Quickbooks is using social media to get closer to their customers. Talk about the importance of creating a footprint in each of the most popular social media channels
1. TweetDeck – This application works on your PC desktop. It is a way for you to manage your Twitter account without having to visit the site each time. You can create groups for friends, business associates or anyone else you like with this application. Best of all, TweetDeck works in the background and also can be used offline at your leisure. Some cool things about TweetDeck to point out include:• The ability to post your Facebook status and keep up with your friends within your TweetDeck window.• You can group certain users together in one window so you don’t miss any tweets from them.• You have a separate window for your @ replies, direct messages and your main stream.• No need to refresh the page as it updates automatically for you and you can change the amount of time in between updates.2. Twhirl – This handy feature works on the PC desktop as well. Instead of spending most of your day checking and rechecking your accounts, this handy tool notifies you when you have new messages. Also, it shrinks long URLs to more manageable shorter ones for anyone who wants to click on a link in your tweets. You can search tweets for interesting new subjects and there is a spell checker so you don’t send out illegible tweets.3. TweetLater – Just like the name says it allows you to schedule your Twitter messages much like an email system. If you are using Twitter for business, it is helpful to schedule tweet delivery, create draft tweets to be used at a later date, set up alerts such as notification when certain users send tweets and tracking users you want to follow.4. TweeTake – It is always important to backup files that you might need later. Computers can crash at any time. With this tool, you can backup your Twitter information. Us it to backup files, documents and photos. You can save a copy of Twitter account information as well as your tweets and group lists just in case your computer decides to give up the ghost.5. Twitterment – Well, Twitter has its own search engine as well. Use Twitterment to search for tweets using keywords or phrases. It’s also a buzz tracker to see what’s hot and what’s not in the Twitter universe.Twitter has caught on in a big way. If you are an avid Twitter user, the above five tools will help you manage your Twitter accounts without tying up your entire day.6. MyTweetspace– create free and custom backgrounds7. GeoFollow: a great one to find and follow people in your local area!8. Twitter Karma: a great tool to unfollow those who are not following you: http://dossy.org/twitter/karma
It’s like when you go to a party and your in a room filled with people you don’t know. Just because you are in the same room doesn’t mean you are friends with these people. It’s not acceptable to just scream across the room and expect people to listen to what you have to say. You must take time to introduce yourself to each person, allow them to talk about themselves and contribute in a meaningful way. This allows you to build relationships with each person you talk to. When you leave the party, you may not know everyone personally but you’ll have established the foundation of a relationship with a few and where future meetings (and messages) will be more inclined to resonate with the other person.
The rules have changed – people demand a more honest and direct relationship with companies they do business with.So you have a choice.. Wall yourself in and stay hidden and discrete or use social media to reveal a human side, welcome transparency and forge new relationships.Although social media can be used to drive traffic to your site, the main focus should be to build relationships, give your company a personality and to drive brand awareness.