There’s a lot of buzz about social media marketing and how it can help you build your network, generate leads and strengthen your personal and business relationships. Now Google has taken another step toward integrating social media in their search results via “Social Search”!
Social Search enables Google account users (who are signed in to their account) to search on a keyword or phrase and see relevant results from their social circle of Tweeps, Facebook friends, etc…
You can use this new beta feature to your advantage in your career. If you consistently post high quality content on your social media profiles, that is relevant to your industry or area of expertise, your content will show up in the Social Search area when people you are connected with on Facebook, Twitter, etc… search on applicable keywords.
Here is a video from Peter Kolat that explains how Social Search works:
Social media marketing is a great tool for building and maintaining your business network. And, Google’s Social Search is just one more reason why you should consistently post quality articles on your social media profiles.
P.S. - I consult & train businesses on how to promote their business on the internet and get found! Subscribe to this blog via RSS Feed or Email so you don't miss any Free Tips! @KimberlyYow
In my opinion, you need a business blog. Below are a few reasons why they are valuable and worth the investment, as well as my recommended blogging platform.
1) Blogs are a way to gain extra visibility on the internet and to share industry information that positions you as an expert. Each blog post is a page on the internet that will potentially be found by prospects when they search on keywords (again, that apply to your industry). Think of it like this, if you write 10 blog posts…you have 10 extra “searchable/findable” pages on the internet and each page is linked to your bio & contact info. Wow! But what happens once you’ve written 50 or 100 or 500 blogs? Let your mind soar my friend!
2) People typically use the internet to find information. My opinion is, give them what they are looking for. Present them with useful, inspiring, educational or entertaining blog posts. Do it repeatedly and they will look to you as a trusted resource and potential provider.
3) From a long-term prospective, I recommend having a Wordpress “self-hosted” blog. This means YOU own the blog and control whether or not it remains on the internet. You can move your blog to a different internet provider any time you want.
If you use a blogging platform that is not self-hosted, the blogging platform provider can…at any time…decide that you are not abiding by their terms & conditions and they can shut down your blog without warning. Ouch!
4) A self-hosted blog is like “owning” a house and it is your central “hub” for all of your online activity.
Posting content to a blog that is not self-hosted or to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc… is like “renting” a house. You never know when you & your content may get evicted.
5) Oh, and did I mention that Google and other search engines love blogs? They do. Since blogs are typically updated regularly, blogs give search engines fresh, new content to index and they love that! Static websites eventually move further and further down the search engine results because the search engines have no way of knowing if anyone is home or if a company is still in business. Regularly updated blogs say “I’m here, I’m in business, I provide useful info to internet visitors”.
Why do you think blogs are valuable for businesses? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Kimberly
MarketingThatsEasy.com
I just spoke to a prospect who was referred to me and wanted to compare my internet marketing, web design and search engine optimization services with that of another company. The prospect mentioned that they would get a keyword domain name as part of their “package”. This immediately got me to thinking! And here is why:
I have a client who used to pay several hundred dollars a month to a lead-generation company that provided him with a keyword domain name, website and 800 number. He became unsatisfied with the number of leads and cancelled his service. What he didn’t realize was that by canceling his monthly service, he was loosing his domain name, website and 800 number! They hadn’t truly belonged to him…they were only provided to him as long as he continued his monthly payments!
So, a few words of caution:
- If you pay for “set-up” of a website, domain name, lead capture page, directory listing or anything else, make sure you are the owner of that item.
- If you pay for “keyword research”, get a copy of the results of the research and the recommended keywords.
- Before you pay a monthly fee for internet marketing, lead generation or search engine optimization…find out what you are truly paying for. If you cancel your monthly service, will what you paid for still be in place and have positive impact on your internet presence? OR, will you loose everything you’ve already invested in?
- AND, last but definitely not least, get all logins and passwords from any company that you contract with so that you can access your own accounts in the future if you change service providers!
There are a lot of internet marketing/lead generation/web design companies out there that charge a monthly fee and in my opinion “hold their clients hostage” by not giving them access to their own accounts. Be sure this doesn’t happen to you or your friends!
If you have any questions, please let me know…
Kimberly
MarketingThatsEasy.com
Companies in a variety of industries provide replicated websites. Two of the most common are network marketing and real estate. A replicated website is one that is almost, if not totally, identical to other websites. The provider of a replicated website controls the look of it and most of the content. It typically has what they call a back office or admin section that you log in to if you want to adjust your contact info, etc…
Pros of a replicated website:
- Allows you to quickly set up a website for your business.
- You don’t need to know html or hire a web designer.
- You don’t need to add much, if any, content to your website.
- There may be articles, forms or other features that you can easily add to your site.
Cons of a replicated website:
- Little to no control over search engine optimization of your website. (This means your website will NOT be easily found in search engines and you will probably get very little traffic from people using search engines like Google, Yahoo!, etc…)
- Duplicate content. (Duplicate content is content that is available on multiple websites. If you have a replicated website, your website has a lot of content that is also on thousands of other websites. Search engines do not favor websites with duplicate content, they actually penalize them in many cases.)
- Lack of design control which means your website will look like thousands of others in the same industry and will not showcase your branding or personality.
- Poor navigation is very common. This makes it hard for your website visitors to move around your site and find the info they are looking for. If your website visitors find it hard to navigate your site, they will simply find another site that is easier to use.
If you want people to find your website in search engines…do NOT use a replicated website. Hire a web designer to create a search engine optimized site for you. Be aware that not all web designers practice search engine optimization techniques. Be sure to ask a web designer if they will do keyword research for your industry and what other SEO (search engine optimization) techniques they use BEFORE you hire them!
Building and maintaining a website is a waste of time if no one can find it.
Kimberly Yow
Marketing That’s Easy.com
