Here are a few books and articles that could help your learning curve on Social Media:
Business Week’s on-line version of Social Media Will Change Your Business
World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott
Groundswell, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff
Technorati.com’s State of the Blogosphere report
It is important to optimize your site for search engines. That means it should employ the three tried and true search engine optimization (SEO) techniques: good titles, meta tags and most importantly well-written content.
Three Tried & True SEO Techniques
Title Tag
Title tags are within the head section of the html code and it is what appears in the blue bar at the very top of the browser screen. Titles tags should succinctly describe (using 6 -12 words or about 60 characters) the content on that page and they should be unique for each page.
Meta Tags
Meta description tags are also included withing the head tags of the html code. The meta description is often used as the text that the search engine displays below your link. So it is important that this text is keyword rich and accurately describes its page. Meta descriptions should also be unique for each page on your website and should be written in a way that would make a potential customer want to visit your website.
Use the meta keyword tag to focus on what’s important on the page. Again, make it unique to each page and don’t stuff it with every imaginable combination of keywords. Pick a few keywords that focus on the content of that particular page and list them. Search engines may or may not use the tag to list your site, but they won’t penalize you as long as you don’t stuff it with excessive versions of keywords.
The Heading tag and Content
The H1 tag is an html tag that identifies an important heading. There are actually 6 levels of heading tags within html with h1 having the most importance. Your content (that means the content that people read on the page) should use appropriate keywords and should be well-written and structured for easy reading. Use the H1 tag for important keyword rich headings and write content that clearly and quickly identifies the focus of the content and supports the heading. Use video and graphics to support your concepts too and remember to use descriptive alt tags for images.
What if SEO doesn’t work as well as you expected?
These search engine optimization (SEO) techniques have been around for at least a decade or more and while I highly recommend optimizing your website for search engines, you should be aware that SEO in itself will not make your website successful and may not provide your site with the desired search engine rank.
If you’re confident that your site has been optimized well but you’re not happy with your current search engine rank, it may be time to analyze the competition. Which websites consistently rank higher than your site in the search engine results? What differentiates the top-ranking sites from your site?
Typically, I find 2 or 3 obvious factors that seem to contribute to the higher search engine rank.
1.Their site has better content – it’s more in-depth, it’s better written, it appears to be the better resource.
2.The site has been established longer and has been managed consistently and kept up to date.
3.It has current information and uses current techniques for presenting information.
There are of course many other factors that can come into play. But given that your site is free of technical errors and is coded to be crawled easily by search engine bots, probably the most important thing a website owner can do to optimize their website for search engines is to optimize their site for their customers.
The search engines’ goal is to list the best resources – it should be your goal too.
1.Continue to add depth to your content. You might add a blog or a user forum that will encourage customer participation while building the depth of content on your website.
2.Reach out to your audience – participate in social networks and give freely in the areas of your expertise.
3.Ensure that your site makes your customers feel secure with appropriate security measures and easy to find contact information.
4.Set a schedule to review your site regularly and edit dated information with updated content.
Your website may not be an overnight success, but with continued diligence in managing your website it will continue to improve as a source of referrals for your business and will become more and more valuable over time.
I took a little field trip a couple weeks ago and attended the Hartford Business Journal‘s E-Technology Summit in South Windsor. The hot topic of the day was, not surprisingly, social media. It’s hard for some business folks to wrap their heads around how “tweeting” and “friending” will help their business grow.
I kept hearing “How do I integrate it (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) into my business and how exactly can I use it to improve my business’ bottom line?”
I’m still a novice when it comes to integrating “social media” into my business but really Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn ( to name a few) are just communication tools. They are tools that expand the reach or your network.
Most of us know how to network. You listen. You talk. You find out what other people do. You tell people what you do. You see if there is a connection. You try to find people you can use as a resource. You see if you can be a resource to the people you meet. You make new friends. You tell your new friends about other friends who they might find interesting.
In the process of networking, you find business–via referrals, collaboration or strategic alliances. And you learn stuff–stuff that makes you more marketable. This all adds to your bottom line.
The new tools don’t change the concept of networking. But they do expand your network. Now instead of your business network being limited to Hartford, or to your region, you can make friends all over the world. Isn’t that a cool concept?
So, I made a new friend at the E-Technology Summit and she came by my office to have a chat yesterday. She’s a writer, I’m a web designer, so there’s opportunity for collaboration. We talked about the kind of clients we have and the kinds of things we’ve done and are doing.
I mentioned that with the popularity of blogging, there might be great opportunities for writers these days. I brought up the post one of my tweeple (a Twitter contact) made recently about a winery in California that was looking for a writer to blog about wine and food. They were offering a 6-month contract at $10,000 a month. That’s not bad green for eating, drinking and writing.
I saw the light go on in her head. But although she recognized that opportunities were out there in “twitterland” she was still kind of hesitant about the technology. She said she’s been to workshops about social media and they all tell you to “just jump in”. She pointed out that if she were the type of person to “just jump in” she probably wouldn’t be at the workshop.
Point well taken. I didn’t tell her to jump in.
But I did tell her what I did. As I said earlier, I’m a novice, so there are many people who are far more knowledgeable about this than I am. But for all you newbies out there who are afraid to “jump in” here’s how to stick your toe in the “twitter water”.
That’s it. I’m going to stop there. That’s how to stick your toe in the “twitter water”.
Next week I’ll talk about some of my favorite Twitter tools such as TwitterFeed, Twirl, TweetDeck.
There’s a website that I go to every couple of months for information and every time I do they’ve completely re-vamped the site. The problem is that every time they do, they make it harder and harder to find the information I’m searching for.
Now, I have no problem with ensuring a site is fresh, but in making changes you need to make certain that the navigation remains as clear as possible. Since we all have short attention spans, it only takes a few seconds to lose your viewer, so it’s all about providing the information needed in an easy-to-follow format.
Another thing to consider is the format that a user is accustomed to. I recently went to another site that was beautifully designed, but I couldn’t tell where to go from the home page. As a rule, people are used to left and to navigation bars. By adhering to this type of format, it makes it easier for the viewer to find what they need.
The bottom line is…you can make a site as creative and informative as possible, but if the viewer can’t find what they’re looking for, you’re going to lose them.
There’s a new domain type in town and it’s different than the .com, .biz, .org and .nets domains that you probably know. The .tel domain is not attached to a website like all the others. This new top level domain (TLD) is an internet directory listing that gives you complete and easily managed control over your online contact information.
When you sign up for your .tel domain you’ll get a username and login. With that you can login to your account anytime and update your contact information, address, and business information. They are like an online real-time business card. It’s a low-cost way for a business to keep current information available online without having a business website or in addition to their website.
From the .tel website…
Another take…
Top Ten Reasons to Buy Your .Tel domain
It’s a low-cost alternative or addition to a website and the new digital business card. Buy through your favorite domain seller – hopefully that’s cgwebhelp 😉
See a sample at cgwebhelp.tel
Watch Your Voice!
by Nancy Simonds
Tweets and IM notwithstanding, sometimes you have to communicate in complete sentences, especially in your marketing materials.
People often fall into the bad habit of using passive voice rather than active voice in their writing. Active voice simply means that the subject of the sentence acts rather than is acted upon.
(Remember those awful grammar lessons back in seventh grade? This is when they have a real-life application.)
In marketing materials, I prefer active voice because it’s more direct and has more authority. Passive voice is often clunky and wordy.
For example~
PASSIVE VOICE:
Your lawn will be affected by the quality of the grass seed you plant.
ACTIVE VOICE:
A beautiful lawn depends on quality grass seed.
See? Active voice is simpler and more to the point, and creates a stronger image. Use active voice in your newsletters, postcards, brochures, and Web content to add spark and interest.
Admit it. You lose contact with your ability to be creative sometimes. Or, maybe you think you’re not the creative type. Truth is – everyone’s creative. Truth is – everyone sometimes gets stuck regurgitating tired ideas that put even themselves to sleep. Here are some ways to return to the creativity to your business.
Creativity isn’t discovering something new. It’s making new connections between old things. Pick up that teen magazine and an idea on how to write about that IT seminar may jump into your lap. Read U.S. News & World Report in search of an idea you can connect with your ad for your new hair styling product. I once based an insurance product sales brochure on something from the National Enquirer.
Loosen up. Life’s too short. Take a break and do something you enjoy. You’ll get a fresh perspective and start new ideas flowing. Remember Archimedes in the bath tub. (I didn’t think you’d remember him. Archimedes, a great ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor, was stumped. His ruler wanted him to devise a way to tell whether a crown was pure gold or alloyed with silver. Solutions avoided him like cockroaches avoid light. Then when he took a break to take a bath he had a brainstorm. As he stepped into the water and watched it rise, Archimedes realized that a given weight of gold would displace less water than an equal weight of silver because it’s not as dense. Legend has it that in his excitement about his discovery he ran home naked shouting “Eureka! Eureka!” (“I have found it!” “I have found it!”))
Maybe your creative engine is starved for fuel. You may need more information about the project or the audience. Ask your client or source more questions about what you’re trying to accomplish. Set up an informal focus group. Call in your management team. Creativity often requires a sea of research. The writers for John Hancock’s award winning “Real Life” ad campaign got several of their ideas by spending long hours hanging out in a bar listening to people discuss their financial worries. (“No, boss, that’s not a beer, that’s part of my research.”)
We all have a place or person or book that never fails to inspire. Make contact. Spend some time relaxing with that enthusiastic presence. Good things happen when you’re in a good place or with a good person or in the mind of another creative. Whose brain do you like being around? Who always seems to be working on something wacky? Go see them. I have a few books that always offer me nourishing food for thought whenever I pick them up. Mind Your Own Business! by Murray Raphel and The Wizard of Ads by Roy H. Williams are two.
Creativity is key to business. It’s creativity that helps invent the new killer product. Creativity makes your stand out from the crowd and get noticed. Creativity finds a way to cut production costs by a third. Creativity opens your eyes to new ways to get your customers to buy again. So, get creative. It’s good business.
Chris Amorosino is the president and founder of Amorosino Writing LLC, a communications firm in Unionville. You can reach him at 860-673-0089 or chris@amorosinowriting.com.
Yesterday, Katie Couric featured Denny’s on the evening news. Denny’s is more Main Street than Wall Street and the CEO wasn’t showcased for multi-million dollar bonuses but for giving away breakfasts. It made a great “feel good” story.
Denny’s CEO plainly stated that the free breakfasts were a promotion to get more business.”It was just a couple of pancakes, eggs and bacon,” he said.
But amidst the nightly gloom-cast of unemployment and Wall Street bailouts, Denny’s was portrayed as humanitarian for giving back to the unfortunate in their communities. The reality was that it was a successful campaign that has since brought in more than enough customers to cover the costs of the free breakfasts because the promotion expanded it client base.
Free is good. It makes good press and helps develop a client base. It’s one of the building blocks of tremendously successful online and traditional businesses. Google was a free search engine long before it began collecting revenue. Craigslist, Facebook and Twitter are all examples of websites whose successes are not yet matched by revenue.
It may seem counterproductive to give something away–possibly even before you’ve established a steady stream of revenue. But any business owner who is trying to attract new business should consider offering something free.
What can you offer? Three simple ideas:
Give freely. It pays.
I’ve had a Twitter account for over a year now but have truly only been active for about four months.
Here are some things I’ve discovered:
1) There are ways to lengthen the conversation. It’s hard to carry on in-depth conversations with only 140 characters per tweet. Many Twitterers overcome this by posting their messages over multiple tweets.
2) Some people tweet about really stupid things. People who don’t use Twitter scratch up their faces and say, “why on earth would I want to know that my friend is standing in line at the checkout counter or that their dog just pee’d on the carpet?” … And they’re right. Those are inane conversations
3) Some people Tweet about really interesting things. Think of the Twitter-sphere as a worldwide bar or bistro, if you’d like, where the noise level is high, and many people are posturing to make a “score.” Imagine what you might find: two college kids are blathering on at the bar about nothing. But you may also find that there’s a couple in the back booth who are engaged in a fascinating debate about one of your passions. For all the stupid dialogue there are so many other intelligent conversations going on.
Discerning the Inane from the Interesting
The trick is to find the compelling conversations. That’s where search.twitter.com comes in so handy. This simple tool allows you to search for the conversations that matter to you and find the kindred spirits who have your passion who share your passion.
Right up front I will admit that this article will not answer the question the title poses. But you will learn more about this business networking Web site if you keep reading.
I’ve been on LinkedIn for about 15 months but had not been very active. For the next six months I’m conducting an experiment. I want to discover whether feeding LinkedIn lots of attention and good stuff will reward me with what I want (more and better business contacts and visibility.) I believe it’s possible that LinkedIn could help me find vendors, keep up with business education, promote my business and maybe even provide some solid clients.
If you’re interested in this concept, here are eight steps you could take.
Your best bet is to go to LinkedIn and experiment. See whether you think there are tools there to help your business. Give the site a fair chance by putting in your time to create a good profile and build connections. I heard one LinkedIn expert say you need to devote about 30 minutes a day to the site when you first join if you want to maximize the site’s effectiveness. Try to add value for other people you run into on LinkedIn.
May your business prosper as a result. See you out there.
Submitted by:
Chris John Amorosino
Amorosino Writing, LLC
Writing Business Stories That Live Profitably Ever After
860.673.0089
222 Pitkin Street, Suite 125
East Hartford, CT 06108
Phone: 860-432-8756
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