May
06

Social Media for SEO

Categories:

by

I've had a few questions lately about whether my company provides Search Engine Optimization. My answer is yes, and it's done through social media.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about how search engines find your site and show it in search results for people who are looking for what you offer. If your SEO is good, Google can find you and puts you on the first page of results. Many business owners know this is something they need, but they have no idea what it is. So they look for someone to provide SEO for them.

How SEO is accomplished changes every time Google changes its algorythms. For my own business, I don't hire someone and pay them to run pay-per-click ad or create expensive backlinking strategies. I simply use my blog and social media, and my SEO results are great, and getting stronger all the time. Here are the ways in which social media provides SEO for you.

Blog Post Headlines

Google loves my blog post headlines. I am very strategic in adding keywords to my headlines. One of my blog posts is called "Your Social Media Identity". When you search for that phrase, you will see Tekkbuzz.com on the first page of results.

So, go ahead and write your post, then create a headline that includes some of the keywords your customers are searching for.

Social Media Networks

When I Google the name of my company, some of the highest listings in the results are from Facebook, iTunes and LinkedIn. That is because my profiles on these sites have links to my website. Google puts a lot of weight on backlinks. It shows Google that someone is sending people your way for relevant information. Because the social media sites are so highly trafficked, Google puts more weight on those backlinks. And they show up very high on search results.

To make this work for your business, be sure to use keywords in your profiles and use your website url. Also, put your blog posts with links to your website on these pages. This provides even more backlinks for you.

Bringing traffic to your site from search engines is a good strategy, because the more traffic you have, the more email address from leads you can collect.

Are you using social media to boost your search engine optimization?

 

 

Share

This post has no tag

Leave comment

Feb
25

Your Social Media Identity

Categories:

by

Now that you’re ready to enter the world of social media, it’s important for you to spend some time carefully thinking about your social media identity before you create a Twitter account, launch a Facebook fan page, and begin to market your business through social media channels.

The first thing you will want to do is decide whether you should use social media accounts as your business, as yourself, or as both. Each of the three options has benefits, but it is ultimately up to you to decide which will work best for your particular situation.

Here are some things to consider

1. Identifying as your business:

Social media is a very personalized type of communication. Most accounts are created using our own names and our own profile pictures. However, you may want to use your business identity without connecting it to any one personality. Because employees come and go, using the brand itself as your identity is a good idea for companies with more than just a couple employees.

2. Identifying as yourself:

For solopreneurs and independent professionals, identifying as yourself has great advantages. Your customers hire you once they have built a relationship with us and trust us. Creating accounts in your name and using your photo in the profile image section will allow you to further that relationship that you are building with prospects and existing clients.

3. Identifying as your business AND yourself:

Using only the business logo and name for an identifier on social media accounts can seem cold and less inviting for the people you are working to engage on social media. For that reason, I highly recommend that companies who decide to identify as a business also add the human touch of involving key employees who identify themselves on your social media accounts.

For instance, you could have two or three employees who write messages on the company Facebook Fan Page Wall using their personal profile. On LinkedIn, key employees can offer blog articles in Group Discussions. This allows readers to click the link to visit your company website, and also allows readers to see which employee of your company is starting the discussion.

Once you have selected your route, you should create accounts on social media sites and setup profiles that reflect your choice and are consistent.

Share

Tags: ,

Leave comment

Jan
13

5 Tips for Building Your Facebook Community

Categories:

by

1. Give your fans fun reasons to connect with you. People like a party. Why not have a celebration on your Facebook wall? Forget cake and snacks. Ask your fans to tell you a little bit about themselves. I do this on the Tekkbuzz Fanpage. It's fun to see the diverse people and businesses who show up on my page. Why not ask fans to tell you a little about themselves? This gives them a way to network with each other.

2. Are you using YouTube to upload videos about your business? Sharing the same videos on Facebook is a great way to catch their attention. You will get more mileage out of the content you've already created. Simply paste the YouTube embed code into the Facebook update field. Facebook will bring the video in for you.

3. Sneak Peak: Give your community a taste of things to come to create excitement and suspense. Have a new event coming this year? Let your community know a little about it, but keep the specifics to yourself for now. Just like a movie trailer, this little taste will peak their interest and bring them back again for more information.

4. Personal Insight: Use your Facebook posts to give your fans a little insight into who you are as a person. People want to relate to the products and services they use, and if they learn more about the person behind the page, they will feel that connection with you.

5. Share useful and fun links with your fans. You do not want to bombard them with hundreds of messages like this, but if you find a useful app, page or even an amazing video, do not be afraid to share it with your fans.

Now that you're starting to use Facebook for marketing, the first challenge is to get your community alking to you. The next step is getting them to talk to each other. The community will grow as more and more conversation is happening on your fan page. Building your Facebook community will allow you to have repeated contact with those people who like what you have to offer.

Have you started building your community? Leave me a comment and tell me how it's going.

Share

This post has no tag

Leave comment

Dec
21

Tekkbuzz Podcast 13: Interview with Mari Smith

Categories:

by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Deborah talks to Mari Smith about using Facebook to market your business.  Mari, a well-known expert in social media, has a new book called "The New Relationship Marketing."  This is an excellent read for anyone looking to use social media more effectively.

Mari talks about how to use social media to build trust and foster a community. She also talks about how much information we should share about ourselves online.

Margarita Moment:

Deborah shares her latest business success, and how she brought 550 new fans to her Facebook Fan Page in recent months.

Strategy Spotlight:

If you're wondering how to get more people to "Like" your fan page, then you don't want to miss the tips shared in the Strategy Spotlight portion of the show.

As always, it helps us tremendously if you leave a review of the show on ITunes.  Simply log in to your iTunes account and search for the Tekkbuzz Social Marketing Podcast.

Share

This post has no tag

Leave comment

Nov
26

Social Media for Business: 3 Ways to Combine Email Marketing with your Strategy

Categories:

by

I’ve been thinking a lot about social media and how it fits into the broader world of internet marketing.  As I teach social media, what I’m finding is many entrepreneurs are not aware of a few basic strategies that, when combined with social marketing, really work to convert readers to customers.

1. Opt-in List: Make sure you are capturing emails with an opt-in list.  An opt-in list can be managed with online software such as Aweber.  They will even give you code for the form and excellent instructions on how to install the form on your site. This online software is super easy to use to send emails to your community.

2. Email Newsletters:  Once you have built an email list, this is the tool by which you will have continuous contact with your interested audience. I send weekly newsletters letting everyone know about my latest blog post, with a link back to the site so they can read more.

3. Email Promotions:   From time to time, add a message to your newsletters about one of your products or services. Provide a link to your website so people can learn more.

By adding email marketing to your social media strategy, you will be able to continue your conversation with website visitors who have raised their hand, signed up for the opt-in list, and let you know they are interested in your product or service. Don't miss this opportunity!

Share

This post has no tag

1 comment

Older posts «