Archive for the ‘Blogging’ Category:
Before I started using social media, if I Googled my name, I would find about four listings for a couple sites where I’d written an article or two, and results from 5K road races I’d run. That was it. Most of the other entries on the page were about other people with my name. One is a doctor. I wonder if anyone has mistakenly thought I was a doctor. That would be uber cool.
As I opened my business, Tekkbuzz Internet Marketing, I knew, if I was going to have any success as a business, I needed to be found when people Googled my name or the name of my business. I, of course, started my blog, adding posts each week about social media. I made sure I used keywords in my post titles, such as social media, entrepreneurs, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
As a social media consultant, I am active every day on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. I’m even starting to use YouTube (which is a whole other post).
Now when I Google “Deborah Richmond” or “Tekkbuzz”, I see ELEVEN PAGES of search results that directly relate to my business and myself. What are the results showing? They are showing links to pages of my website, links to specific blog posts I’ve written, to my social media profiles, to guest posts I’ve written for other blogs. The road race results now appear on pages 6 or 7, which is too bad because my results were good!
This is a clear indication that social media is working to make me more visible to search engines. Now a searcher will find all kinds of information about me and my business. They will have a very good sense of what I am all about. And luckily, there are no questionable photos of me and an Elvis impersonator anywhere in the results.
Here are some key ways that using social media helps your search engine optimization:
1) Getting quality, relevant inbound links
A successful social media marketing campaign can result in thousands of new inbound links to your site. Inbound links are one of the most important things that influence the rankings of your site. Put two and two together, and it’s easy to see how social media can be a great way to improve your rankings.
The best thing about this is that the majority (if not all) of the links that come from a social media marketing campaign are natural links; they’re not reciprocated, bought, or solicited.
2) Fresh content = more hooks in the water for search
The more content you have on your site, the more traffic you will snag from search engines. Also fresh content keeps your site updated, which gives users a reason to come back. People don’t want to visit static sites, we’re already too used to sites being social.
3) The engines like frequently updated sites
Feed those indexes with fresh content and get rewarded with frequent visits by the search spiders. Search engines love fresh new content. They will see new content in your Facebook stream, LinkedIn profile, Twitter updates and blog posts. And they will direct traffic to all of those places for you.
When you Google your business name, are you seeing the results you want? Leave me a comment.
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Need to set up a blog or website, but don’t know how to do it? I strongly suggest you use Wordpress. There are many reasons Wordpress is one of the most popular blogging tools available. If you are creating a blog or website for your business, using Wordpress will give you several advantages.
It’s Easy to Install
You do not need to know code in order to install a Wordpress blog. If you choose a host that works with Wordpress, you will find you can install the Wordpress framework on your domain with a click of a button. Then you start to customize it and make it look the way you like by choosing one of dozens of free themes available. You don’t need to hire a designer.
It’s Easy to Customize
Not only can you customize the look of your blog, but you can add Plug-ins that are pieces of code that allow the site to perform other funcitons. There are, again, dozens of Plug-Ins to choose from. I added an SEO Plug-In which allows me to easily input certain information when writing a blog post. The Plug-in takes the information and makes it available in a way that search engines like. Another Plug-In allows me to add stats to my dashboard so I can keep track of how many people are visiting my site and where they are coming from.
It’s Easy to Use
With Wordpress, writing a blog post is like writing an email. You enter your title, just the way you would enter a subject line in your email. You then enter the body of the post. I write my posts in Word, then cut and paste them into the blog post section. When you are done, you fill out some SEO fields with the keywords that your post is using. Then you press the “Publish” button and you are done. The post is sent immediately to your blog.
It’s Easy to Find Help
If you do run into a snag in using Wordpress, there are plenty of ways to receive help. You can find lots of good useful information on the internet about how to set up a Wordpress blog. Even my own online e-course site, http://mysocialmarketingclass.com/, has step-by-step tutorials on how to get a domain and hosting. Then I show you click-by-click how to install Wordpress and start customizing your blog. If you find you still need help, there are lots of web developers who know how to use Wordpress. You can simply contact one, explain your snag, ask them to fix it for you so you can continue to work on your blog.
It’s Free
Even if you run into a snag and need a little help from a designer, you won’t have to hire one to do the entire project. You won’t have to hire a designer to create a $3,000 site for you. With Wordpress you can do it yourself pretty easily.
With these advantages, why would you use anything else for your blog or website? I use Wordpress for my blog and I recommend that you use it for your blog or website.
Are you using Wordpress for your blog or website?
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Many entrepreneurs are not eager to get started in social meda because they think it will take hours out of their day. If it does, you’re not doing it right.
A business owner should only set aside small amounts of time throughout the week to keep a social marketing machine running. I spend only 10 minutes a day on Facebook, even less time on Twitter. I get on, update my status, interact with a couple people, see what’s new and get out. Then I do it again tomorrow.
Even blogging doesn’t have to take tons of time. Once a week, I sit down for an hour and write several blog posts. I’ve usually collected some ideas throughout the week, so I simply write 3 to 5 paragraphs on a topic. If I write longer, my audience will not want to read the entire post, so I keep it short. Once the posts are written, I schedule them to post throughout the week. The rest of the week, I only have to return to my blog to answer comments from readers, which takes no longer than reading and answering an email.
Don’t make the mistake of shying away from social media because you think it is too time consuming. It doesn’t have to be. And the ongoing marketing benefits are priceless.
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1. Build Relationships
Your blog readers are likely to e your best customers, and knowing them better will help you find more just like them. A company blog offers opportunities to talk with your customers in a unique way through the comments area in each post.
2. Build Your Reputation
People like to do business with people and companies they know, like and trust. You may have your mission statement up on your wall in your office, but do your customers know what you stand for? And what you are trying to accomplish? Do they know what’s important to you as a company? You can post about charities you are involved with, share customer success stories, demonstrate solutions you offer and problems you’ve solved, all with the end in mind of building your reputation and brand.
3. Build Customer Loyalty
The more customers know you, the more loyal they become. As you feature different solutions you offer, they are encouraged to do even more business with you. You might also feature some of your best customers and solidify their relationship with you.
4. Build Authority
You may already have a website tat offers a few marketing messages. By starting a blog with good content, you will build authority through blog posts and responses to comments. Potential customers will have the opportunity to get to know you and learn about the solutions you provide for customers.
5. Build Traffic
Blogs are a strong tool for search engine optimization. Search engine spiders like fresh content. A regularly updated blog provides fresh, keyword-rich content that search engines love. This will cause your site to rank higher when potential customers search for your products and services and drive more traffic to your entire site.
Have you started your business blog yet?
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Building trust is one of your main goals when using social media to market your business. One way to build that trust is to give away really good content to your community.
A potential buyer will buy from you much more readily if they feel they know you and can trust you. By giving away good information that they are looking for and can use, you are taking a large step in building trust. Blogs are an excellent example of giving away good content. For example, if you are a human resources consultant, write about all of those areas of human resources that often trip your customers up. Why do they come to you? What questions do they have? Answer those questions on your blog. You could write about “7 Things You Should Know About New Hires”, and explain all of the necessary paperwork and details required when a small business hires a new employee.
The content you share, doesn’t always have to be your own. No, I don’t mean you should take other people’s stuff and give it as your own. But you can recommend articles written by other people to your Twitter followers. If you read an article that you think your audience will like, cut and past the title and the URL into a Tweet. Your audience will appreciate that you’re sharing good content. By sharing content related to your field, you are also demonstrating to your audience what issues you focus on. This also helps establish you as an expert.
Some people are hesitant to give their best content away. They have learned over the years to protect their information so that they can offer it to only their paying customers. This is no longer a strong strategy. With information flowing so freely, if you hoard yours, no one will ever know you are out there sitting on great information. A better strategy is to freely share information. If you demonstrate you are an expert in a subject I am looking for, I will be far more likely to come to you for further assistance if I need it.
What content do you give to your community?
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Before I started using social media, if I Googled my name, I would find about four listings for a couple sites where I’d written an article or two, and results from 5K road races I’d run. That was it. Most of the other entries on the page were about other people with my name. One is a doctor. I wonder if anyone has mistakenly thought I was a doctor. That would be uber cool.
