Social Media
How Will Google+ Affect Social Media And SEO?
Google+ is Google’s latest attempt at developing a social media network to rival Facebook. After failed attempts with Google Buzz and Google Wave, early success has been found (so far) in Google+. The new social media platform, which launched in late June, has since been the hot topic for online marketers and consumers alike interested in the Facebook vs. Google debate.
The wide spread release of Google+ also saw the platform gain a massive 10 million users signed up after mere 2 weeks of the network being live.
So, how will Google+ affect social media? And given Google’s dominance in terms of search, what will be the affect of Google+ on search engine optimisation (SEO)?
Here are 5 areas to watch as Google+ functionality further develops…
1. Integration with Gmail
Before Google+ launched, Gmail received a makeover in preparation to integrate Google’s mail service with the social network. Given that there are 250 million people with Gmail accounts worldwide (as at July 2011), this gave Google+ a powerful starting point to build the 10 million users they gained in just 2 weeks. To add to this, after Google+ beta moved from it’s ‘invitation only’ stage, the integration with Gmail made it easy for people to invite their friends by using Gmail contacts and Google verified email accounts.
The Google+ navigation bar is present when logged into Gmail and therefore Google+ is accessible through:
- Gmail
- Google Search
- Google Documents (Google’s online cloud infrastructure)
INTERESTING FACT: While it only took Google+ 16 days to reach 10 million users, Facebook reached the milestone after 852 days, and Twitter in 780 days.
Twitter Marketing 101
Twitter recently hit 200 million users. While the platform gained popularity through the sheer number of celebrities using the social networking site, Twitter offers significant opportunities for businesses… not only for building your online brand but creating engaging conversations with your target market in order to generate leads.
But getting started with Twitter can be daunting, especially with the use of @’s and #’s shaping conversations. So, here are some tips to help you get started with using Twitter for your business…
1. Opening a Twitter Account
Unlike Facebook, Twitter does not have dedicated ‘business’ accounts. Therefore, you simply need to setup a Twitter account. This process is easy, but there are some simple rules that can ensure your account is setup and optimised effectively for you business:
- Twitter asks for your name when signing up. In order to have your business name, instead of your personal name – it is best to put the business name in this location. This will ensure people are able to find you easily on Twitter by searching for your company name.
- Once you have setup your account, make sure to add an image and choose a background that is simple and professional. You can do this by clicking on your business name in the top right-hand corner and selecting ‘Settings’.
- It is also important to add a short bio that shares your business’ main service areas, and also outlines why people would want to follow your business on Twitter. As there is a 160-character limit, you may need to play with the wording to get this right.
- Make sure you include your business website URL so it displays on your Twitter profile allowing your followers to quickly click through to your website if required.
QUICK TIP: If your business name is not available on Twitter, make sure to find an alternative that is not too long, and is as close to your business name as possible. For example: @Web_Profits
Is LinkedIn Advertising Right For Your Business?
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with more than 100 million members globally. It has the world’s largest audience of affluent and influential professionals. In April 2011 LinkedIn surpassed 2 million members in Australia.
LinkedIn allows you to advertise to these professionals, and it can work very well for some businesses and not at all for others. In this article you’ll learn whether LinkedIn advertising is right for your business or not, and how to make it profitable if it is.
Who should advertise on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn advertising is ideal for companies that operate in the B2B space, such as accountants, consultants and lawyers. LinkedIn advertising is also ideal for institutions that want to attract the attention of highly qualified business professionals, such as universities advertising MBA programs.
If your product or service is mostly sold to end consumers, LinkedIn is probably not the right platform for you.
Facebook Marketing 101
With nearly 50% of Australians using Facebook, many business owners are seriously considering taking the step of investing in a Facebook Marketing strategy. However, before taking that step it’s essential to understand the various elements of a Facebook Marketing strategy because the combined use of all elements is where success is achieved. So, let’s break it down…
1. Facebook Business Page
When setting up a presence on Facebook for your business you must setup a Facebook Business Page, which is different to a Personal Profile. Setting up a Facebook Business Page will provide you with the following benefits:
- Anyone can view your Facebook Business Page
- Facebook users can become a Fan of your business page
- You can view statistics about your business page through Facebook Insights
- You can run Facebook Ads directly to your business page
- You can send an update to all of your Facebook Fans
- You can stream your Facebook page directly through your website
- Facebook users can become Fans directly from your website
- You can get more than 5,000 Fans (personal profiles only allow up to 5,000 friends)
- It’s against Facebook’s terms to setup a personal profile for a business, and Facebook can take it down.
2. Facebook Fans
A Facebook Fan is somebody who has ‘Liked’ your Facebook Page. A Facebook Fan is similar to an email subscriber except that they have ‘subscribed’ to receive updates through Facebook rather by email. You can see all your fans by referring to the side navigation of your Facebook Business Page.
10 Lessons From Barack Obama’s Online Marketing Strategy
In 2008 Barack Obama won the presidency of the United States on the back of one of the most successful online marketing campaigns in history.
The time has now come again… with the upcoming U.S. elections in November, Barack Obama has re-launched his online marketing campaign with the hope of achieving similar, if not better, results than in 2008 (of course this time he has the benefit of already being the President).
In this article I’ll cover 10 areas of his 2011 strategy, as well as explaining how you might apply them in your business.
1. A High Performance Website Is Used To Drive Action
When you go to www.barackobama.com the first page you see is a landing page that is focused on one thing… to get your email address and zip code. The main call to action is red so it stands out. It is obvious what they want you to do. They also use the words “I’m In!” in the button to encourage people to follow through.
Barack Obama’s people know that the key to gaining maximum leverage from those who visit his site is to capture their details and stay in touch with them on a regular basis through email marketing… the entire website is geared to drive email subscriptions and donations.
Action: What is the main action that you want your visitors to take? Are you capturing the email addresses of people who visit your website? Think about the best free offer you can make and integrate that offer into your website to drive action.
