Archive for the ‘Social Networking’ Category
10 Reasons Why Lancashire Business Owners Should Embrace Facebook
Lancashire businesses who wish to take advantage of online marketing’s many benefits, should really consider establishing a Facebook fan page. Social media such as Facebook and Twitter has been steadily increasing in importance throughout last year – and this trend is only set to increase in 2012.
Facebook fan pages are not just for personal users or enthusiasts, they have an important business function too, which Lancashire businesses can harness for their own good. They allow companies to connect with a much wider audience, throughout and beyond the Lancashire catchment area, for example.
Here’s another 10 reasons why Lancashire businesses should seriously consider setting up a Facebook fan page in 2012:
1. A huge market awaits! Facebook has over 600 million users alone, with half of this number logging on every day and spending around an hour surfing the site. Imagine how many of these are in the Lancashire area alone – then become aware of the fantastic possibilities for your business this provides!
2. Facebook provides its own analytics. With the Insights feature, Lancashire companies can track the demographics of their “fans”, sorting them by age, location and gender – thus helping you better target your marketing efforts. Comments on the page can also be tracked, helping to boost content.
3. Fan pages give you a branding opportunity. Lancashire-based companies can personalise their fan pages with their logo, bespoke backgrounds and designs – in fact, any “look” they desire to create a unique online presence.
4. There’s no limits! Unlike personal Facebook profiles, which only allow a maximum of 5,000 “friends”, there is no limit to the numbers a fan page can have – and the pages enable you to communicate directly with the fans, promoting special offers or informing of new products. For Lancashire businesses, they will be able to amass an ever-growing customer base, and communicate with them simultaneously.
5. Fan pages are great for SEO and Google. Because Google fully indexes fan pages, anything posted there will show up during an appropriate Google search, unlike personal profile content or a Facebook group. For businesses in the Lancashire area, this means that anyone in the area searching for the services your company provides will be able to find your fan page on Google – whereupon you can show them why you are the right choice!
5. Open entry. Facebook fan pages are open environments, where anyone who discovers the page can become a fan. This is unlike Facebook profiles or groups, where invitations need to be issued, or requests accepted. With potential customers in the Lancashire area stumbling upon your page via Google, they will be able to “try before they buy”.
6. High interactivity. Personal communication goes a long way in the modern digital marketing world, and fan pages are an excellent way to achieve this. Facebook fan pages mean a company can share content, videos or anything else they choose with thousands of potential customers – in Lancashire and beyond – absolutely free. This brings us to…
7. Free multimedia opportunities. Companies with a fan page can use it to upload as many files, pictures, videos, brochures and sound files as they want, with no extra charge. Compare this with the additional bandwidth charges levied by a traditional provider and you will soon see what a tremendous opportunity for engaging with your customer base this represents. Response rates to videos are much higher than just text.
8. Create events. When used together, Facebook fan pages and Facebook events are a powerful marketing tool. Fans can be swiftly informed about events or happenings related to your business in the Lancashire area.
9. Facebook fan pages direct traffic your way. All forward-thinking Lancashire businesses ought to have their own dedicated website, and fan pages are a great way to introduce first-time visitors to the site, by setting up the page as a mini-version – complete with ability to place orders or make enquiries. Facebook and the sponsored listings available also offer an excellent way of reaching your audience via a specific demographic.
10. Fan page design offers a great way to provide a highly professional presence for your business online. Engage with your audience on a regular basis and form a special relationship with your client base…
Using i-Meet To Expand Social Contacts
If you plan or provide services for major events, you may want to investigate i-Meet. It is a global community that allows planners to request information from suppliers and allows suppliers to advertise their sales. It also provides a place for people within the industry to exchange helpful information. The site does not charge a commission on projects that result from the leads; i-Meet simply charges a fee (currently it is $20) to make a request for information. Planners for all kinds of events have found their way to i-Meet. There are planners that specialize in weddings, conventions, student-events, and other events. And, as might be expected, there are suppliers that offer a range of services to meet almost any need a planner might have. If you were to go to a major event and think, “I wonder who arranged all of this,” the people that did the arranging are the same kind of people that visit i-Meet.
Planners and supplier from all over the world have joined i-Meet, and there is a plethora of countries listed on the registration page. The beauty of having such a global network is that if a planner is orchestrating an event in another region or country, he or she is able to connect with suppliers there well before the event is scheduled. In addition, discussing topics of the industry with people from different locations helps create a well-rounded view.
Planners can benefit from being members of i-Meet because they can find colleagues, exchange ideas, find answers from other professionals, and learn about the current trends in their field. The site features groups based upon both industry sector and geographical location. With over 50,000 suppliers from all over the globe, planners are sure to be able to find what they need. Planners can also gain access to reviews of suppliers, venues, etc. so that they will be well-informed before they make a purchase.
Everyone is interested in growing his or her business, and using an industry-specific network like i-Meet is a great way to do that. Suppliers will not have their profiles or advertisements drowned out by other industries, and planners will not have to sort through profiles that are irrelevant to their needs. Suppliers are able to build their experience and gain positive references and feedback so that they become more professionally recognized. And by connecting with other people in the industry, suppliers and planners will both become better at their jobs.
So, how does one build a business through i-Meet? First you create a profile as either a planner or a supplier and specify your location. If you are a planner, start discussions, join interest groups, request information from suppliers, showcase your skills, respond to requests for planners, search for venues, use planning tools, and exchange ideas with other planners. If you are a supplier, let planners know about your skills and services, join groups, take advantage of available media options, get leads on jobs, and earn good ratings from planners. Make your events memorable with i-Meet.
Dave, an avid internet marketer, freelance writer and SEO specialist, infuses his knowledge of many different subjects into all of his writings. His current project includes a website about freelance writing and where to find freelance work opportunities and freelance jobs around the internet.
Getting Your Business Socially Connected
Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace keep friends and family connected, but they are being used by businesses more and more to promote their products and services. In fact, some sites such as LinkedIn and FastPitch are designed with the professional in mind by allowing people to connect with co-workers, employers, employees, and other people within their industry. There are even some sites (I-Meet and ResearchGATE, for example) that are industry-specific. Before you choose a site to promote your business, do some research to be sure that if will fit your needs.
A business of any size could benefit from using social networking sites. Large businesses may have accounts on several different websites with employees such as public relations specialists or department managers devoted to their maintenance. Self-employed people are able to find work by networking with other people within their industry, targeting a customer base, and making themselves customers.
Social networking sites can be set up at any time, but you must have the time to update them consistently or that you can hire someone to update them for you. Like most of life, the frequency of updates should be balanced. Too little activity will bore customers, and they will quickly move on to something more interesting. On the other hand, do not bombard customers with sales information because this will lead them begin blocking your updates. In addition, the content of the updates needs to vary. Instead of having a non-stop advertisement, let the customers learn more about the business as a whole. If you are self-employed let the clients know what kind of work-related activities you have been doing.
Social networking sites can be updated from nearly anywhere as long as there is a suitable device and Internet access. Access to the site is something that must be determined from the beginning. Obviously self-employed people will have access to their own sites. However, larger businesses must decide who will be able to post to the site. The employees that gain access should be trustworthy, responsible, and good at marketing. Should the employee leave the business, login information should be changed to protect the business’s security.
Social networking is likely a good investment of time for any business. Gone are the days of cold calls and handing out fliers because word-of-mouth advertising has become lightning fast. Now businesses can add key words to their profiles so that customers can find them more easily. They can also monitor the demographics of people who visit their profile so that they can tailor marketing to certain groups of people. Colleagues are able to share information among themselves, enhancing the ability of businesses to grow.
Although anyone can create an account on a social networking site, there is an art to running one well. Ability to post to a site should be limited to only a few people to ensure privacy and consistency. Businesses should post things that make them stand out in the customer’s mind (in a good way) so that sales will begin to increase. Frequency of posts must not be either too often or too rare, and keeping the target audience in mind will help businesses create effective networks to boost sales.
Greg Henderson, a California-based businessman with over 11 years in SEO/SEM, provided this piece based on personal endeavors and education in search engine optimization with a concentration on content optimization for the social media future. His current projects include a background checks website Easy Background Checks as well as a marriage records website Genealinks.
Basic SEO Tips Every Blogger Should Know
Bloggers need a basic knowledge of how Search Engine Optimization known as SEO works. SEO determines where your site will come up when someone is searching for information. The sites with the most successful keyword optimization will pop up first, and they are the pages that are going to get the most traffic.
Spiders
Spiders are computer programs that read web content and organize the collected data. The data determines the order in which the pages come up when people are searching for information on a specific topic. Spiders read text just like people do, but they cannot decipher images.
Titles and Page Headers
Words in title and page headers are the first thing spiders and people read. They should contain the strongest and most descriptive keywords relating to your text, because they describe the topic of your content.
Simplicity
Keep your text simple and updated. Use an easy format to make it easier for spiders and people to read. Try not to discuss multiple topics on one page, because it can confuse spiders. Create a new page for each topic, and use as many links as possible since spiders will follow the paths.
Keywords
Keyword placement decides your success. Sprinkle keywords throughout the body of your text. Utilize words that you would type in if you were searching for information contained on your website. The use of common sense when you are choosing and placing words usually results in rich keywords and flowing text.
Stuffing
Many people think that the more keywords they use the better success they will have, but keyword stuffing works the opposite way. Search engine spiders include programming that considers text containing overused keywords as spam and ignores the content altogether.
Images
Spiders cannot read images, so consider picture placement carefully. Use the ALT tag that allows you to include a text description of every image placed on your pages. Pages with flash may attract readers when they find your website, but use them sparingly because they have no affect on SEO.
Final Thoughts
You can maintain an attractive website and still make it easy for people and spiders to find, read and follow your content. Confusing or complicated text does not correlate into success. The text needs to make sense and read smoothly to hold the readers interest. Use relevant keyword phrases in anchor text to link with other pages to further increase SEO.
Rebecca Jones is a contributing writer for Invesp, a company that assists clients with their conversion optimization efforts through site testing and adjusting pages to promote landing page optimization.
Google Plus comparison with Facebook
With the launch of Google’s social networking site; Google+ critics have started to compare it with Facebook. Comparison between both these websites is usual, because Google plus has evolved a lot of excitement in its initial stage.
Now, many people are seeing Google plus as a big threat to Facebook, which can snatch the social networking crown from Facebook. On the opposite side, some people think that it’s not going to be easy for Google plus to beat Facebook. In this regard, we will try finding answers to some of the questions that would help us solve this myth:
Can Google+ attract the masses from Facebook?
Most of the Google+ critiques are of the opinion that it is practically a straight replica of Facebook. On the discovery side, it seems an impressive effort. But, it appears just a little too difficult for Google plus to attract users from Facebook, because they are relatively happy with the ongoing services. Many of the Facebook users have concerns regarding privacy. If Google plus manages to cover the missing pieces, then for sure, it can attract users from Facebook too.
Are the Google circles better than the Facebook groups?
On Facebook, if you would like to be friends with anyone, you just need to send them a friend request and it’s up to them to accept or reject. People are quite used to it. On the other hand, in your Google+ account, anyone can add you into their circles without even taking permission from you. This is something very odd and annoying. That’s the area where Google+ needs to improve. And, if it does improve, it would definitely be a step ahead of Facebook.
Google+ Hangouts are better or Facebook group Video Chat?
Facebook’s video chat only lets you to have one-to-one calls, whereas, Google+ Hangouts allow you to have video chats with maximum 10 people at once. Although, Google plus has a plus point over here, but yet, it doesn’t mean that all users will leave Facebook and have their hands on with Google+ accounts for the sake of video conference calling only.
The vast majority of chat is one-to-one nowadays. Just think about how many times you make phone calls in a week. Now, think about how many times you have conference calls in one week. You have the answer with you.
Can Google+ plus really beat Facebook?
It seems difficult, but not impossible. In 2006, nobody actually thought of Facebook as knocking out MySpace. So, ruling out Google plus as being contender for the next big social networking blockbuster would be useless. However, Google+ really has to come up with solutions that some of other social networks have failed to offer.
Facebook has already received the flair for social networking, while Google+ is just striving for it. Since the beginning, Facebook has it roots in social networking. Google is already into many other things like search, advertising, music, mobile phones, and many others. Google plus could merely be another addition to that list. What do you think about it?
An article is written by Frederick Kingsmann who likes social media, android applications, remove malware programs, different software, pc antivirus and networking.
Direct Your Online Media Traffic Wisely
If you were born in the early 60′s or 70′s, you would hardly think socializing through online media would ever be a possibility; in fact, I distinctly remember sitting at my old Commodore 64 learning how to program nifty graphical syntaxes while chatting with my friend next to me; time has evolved to the point where we can chat with people in Iceland as if we were right in their living rooms. Whereas many people see this as an opportunity for global connection, businesses find this as a way to harvest potential worldwide traffic and potential customers. In this passage, we look at the need to direct your online media traffic wisely to not only cultivate targeted customers, but to cultivate life-long business and interpersonal relationships built on trust.
Seeking social media traffic is more than simply busting out Tweets and updating Facebook profiles; in essence, humility is necessary on both the business and personal levels in order to truly understand the people you wish to attract. You have to treat each person as number one, listening to the needs, trends and wants of each individual person before you even attempt to show them anything you are promoting. Sure, you’ll want to definitely geotarget traffic that will have a specific interest in what you’re selling; if you treat each person as a ‘sales push’, however, expect to get nowhere. Finding a comfort zone that both your potential customers and your business can exist on is the imminent key when cultivating online media contacts, always addressing each friend or colleagues concerns as an individual instead of categorizing them as a whole is also necessary, too.
Directing your online media traffic wisely also entails finding the best resource available for your niche. This would entail understanding what business-minded people or groups exist that closely resemble your niche and making sure to join those specific circles; simply going out and making friends just ‘because’ will often times land you disinterested people who simply wish to talk about life’s general happenings. Find organizations – Linked In being a great starting point – and find groups that closely resemble your primary directives, joining conversations that can cultivate new angles and eventually new friends. If you choose to use Facebook, it would be best to begin your efforts on a local level and slowly expand outward instead of joining global groups that may not be suited towards your niche.
It’s no secret your goals are to promote a business or product and expand operations; everyone wants to be considered prosperous. Having a tactical yet conservative approach to directing online media traffic wisely can surely be a huge catalyst in sustaining your efforts while building friendships that will last a lifetime and help to push your efforts across the board. Emailing the world with your offers and pushing affiliate links through Tweets is not what people want to see – it is the person that takes the time to outreach that will end up reaping the benefits of well-planted friendship seeds.
Greg Henderson, a California-based businessman with over 11 years in SEO/SEM, provided this piece based on personal endeavors and education in search engine optimization with a concentration on content optimization for the social media future. His current projects include a background checks website Easy Background Checks as well as a marriage records website Genealinks.
What Will Social Media See In 2012?
Now that the New Year is upon us world wide, it is no secret that people are scrambling to find new ideas to incorporate into social media; since it appears that well over 95% of internet users today are socially engaged in one facet or another, it seems as if though the ‘social generation’ is in full effect. It is time for all businesses, big or small, to fully integrate their sites, commercial pushes, and savings into social media if they haven’t done so already. Aside from that fact, what will social media see in 2012 and how will your business be affected? We deeply researched the subject and came up with the following 4 conclusions that should get your mind wandering:
Social Media Will Make or Break
Whether your business has coupons, special introductory offers or even clearance items, your Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets need to have full details with pictures, descriptions, and linkage; in other words, each social media presence should now look like ‘miniature’ versions of your current website. Living without social media will no longer be an option should you wish to increase conversions or, in alot of cases, make any sales at all. You should even consider having more than just Twitter and Facebook on your social media repertoire, such as Linked In, Stumble Upon and Squidoo.
Images Harvest Social Media Traffic
The newest player to the social media scene incorporates images as a means for not only generating a social media following, but giving you massive backlinks. Pinterest, the new image ‘pin’ board, is a social media heaven for photographers – and for smart SEOists to generate backlinks. If you have an image-rich website, you can easily pull off several hundred backlinks with Pinterest if you know what you’re doing. You can make friends, suggestions, and get people to suggest vising your site – all based off the images you have on your site. Images are ‘in’, so make sure to incorporate them wisely for social media traffic.
Social Media Will Be Indexed
Due to numerous requests to have Google index up-to-minute news and information, you will soon see permissible yet relevant wall posts, Tweets, and other social news become fully searchable through the Big 3. This would be an excellent opportunity to have yourself optimized through relevant wall posts and Tweets higher in the search engines as opposed to those that don’t care. Now is the perfect time for your business to evaluate the true direction it’s going and make your conversations count as it will gauge further search engine relevance when Google begins to process social media through their index bots.
SOPA Will Bond Social Media Tighter
Once Congress passes their beloved ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’, it will draw all social media fronts closer together in some fashion or another by either creating groups that enforce this law, or ‘sects’ that will oppose it and continue to share anyway. If you have a business that could indirectly – or directly – become a victim of SOPA, then you’ll want to evaluate your company’s stance in digital sharing and be prepared to sink or swim, depending on which group you attract yourself to.
It is an unfortuate happenstance, yet many people saw Government intervention coming for years. Socially engage your true feelings on this and watch your following grow in one direction or another.
About The Author
Greg Henderson, a California-based businessman with over 11 years in SEO/SEM, provided this piece based on personal endeavors and education in search engine optimization with a concentration on content optimization for the social media future. His current projects include a criminal records site Peoplesearchpro.com, and a business background check site SnoopStation.com.
