Looking for a quick and easy way to give your website a boost in the search engine results? Here are 3 straightforward and easy tips to get the job done.
1. Add new content regularly
While that may seem obvious, it is really the best way to improve search engine results. There are a number of ways to add content including a blog, reviews, testimonials, articles and so on. Forums are also a great way to have new content added to your site by others.
2. Choose the right keywords
Select specific keyword phrases that are relevant to the webpage you are optimizing rather than general terms. Specific keyword phrases will be searched less frequently, however you will receive more targeted traffic and a higher page ranking for these phrases.
3. Linking
To achieve a high search engine ranking it is important to have other sites linking to your site. These can be one way links, or reciprocal links, where you link to another site in return for them linking to you. Internal linking also helps build the prominence of pages within your website.
Of all the types of links, one-way links have the most weight. To obtain more one-way links, writing quality content is the singular best way to motivate others to link to you. Additionally, posting on social networking sites, and linking to your site, and posting on blogs are other ways you can take control of building links to your website and web pages.
When it comes to improving your search engine ranking there are a lot of little things you can do to boost your page results however the three most important and the strategies you cannot survive without are obtaining links, choosing the right keywords and of course publishing quality content on a regular and consistent basis.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
5 Simple Ways to Get More out of Twitter
I am often asked about how to use Twitter effectively without spending a ton of time. While there are ways to automate some of your Twitter activity, an even better option is to participate strategically while you are there in order to get the maximum benefit in minimum time.
The very first thing I advise my clients is to understand why you are even using Twitter. What is your strategy and what is your end goal? Are you trying to get more blog readers? Build your newsletter list? Find joint venture partners? Tweeting randomly and aimlessly isn't going to be very effective.
Second, you'll want to spend a good amount of time interacting. There is nothing wrong with letting others know what's going on with you or your business. Just be sure to intersperse your tweets with some two-way conversation. This builds community and keeps things balanced and interesting. You don't want to be a "hit-and-run tweeter" who swoops in, tweets and leaves!
Third, I tell people to follow the "10/1 rule"--10 non-promotional tweets to every 1 promotional one. You don't have to hit people over the head. I saw a good example of this recently where a pet accessories seller regularly tweeted a "bizarre animal fact of the day." It's a way of promoting indirectly while still providing your community with value and interesting (and memorable!) tidbits of info.
Fourth, you want to find and follow people in your target market so that they are able to hear your message. Twellow.com and Wefollow.com are Twitter directories you can search by category. They're essentially the Yellow Pages of Twitter. If your business is local, a great way to find other local Twitter users is to use nearbytweets.com. You can use this site to search by both location and keyword. A lot of people like to use tools like this to set up "tweetups" which are basically local meetups of Twitter users in your area. These can be great for networking. Another technique if you are already following some people in your target market is using whoshouldifollow.com or mrtweet.com. Both of these sites recommend you new people to follow based on whom you are following already.
Finally, don't let your fear that you have nothing interesting to say stop you from tweeting. People want transparency and authenticity. They want to connect with real people. You probably have a lot more interesting things to say than you give yourself credit for. If you are still stumped for what to tweet, here are some suggestions:
© 2009 Communicate Value. All Rights Reserved.
Christine Gallagher, The Online Marketing and Social Media Success Coach, is founder of Communicate Value, where she is dedicated to teaching small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her weekly marketing & success articles on leveraging technology, building relationships and boosting your profits, visit http://communicatevalue.com.
The very first thing I advise my clients is to understand why you are even using Twitter. What is your strategy and what is your end goal? Are you trying to get more blog readers? Build your newsletter list? Find joint venture partners? Tweeting randomly and aimlessly isn't going to be very effective.
Second, you'll want to spend a good amount of time interacting. There is nothing wrong with letting others know what's going on with you or your business. Just be sure to intersperse your tweets with some two-way conversation. This builds community and keeps things balanced and interesting. You don't want to be a "hit-and-run tweeter" who swoops in, tweets and leaves!
Third, I tell people to follow the "10/1 rule"--10 non-promotional tweets to every 1 promotional one. You don't have to hit people over the head. I saw a good example of this recently where a pet accessories seller regularly tweeted a "bizarre animal fact of the day." It's a way of promoting indirectly while still providing your community with value and interesting (and memorable!) tidbits of info.
Fourth, you want to find and follow people in your target market so that they are able to hear your message. Twellow.com and Wefollow.com are Twitter directories you can search by category. They're essentially the Yellow Pages of Twitter. If your business is local, a great way to find other local Twitter users is to use nearbytweets.com. You can use this site to search by both location and keyword. A lot of people like to use tools like this to set up "tweetups" which are basically local meetups of Twitter users in your area. These can be great for networking. Another technique if you are already following some people in your target market is using whoshouldifollow.com or mrtweet.com. Both of these sites recommend you new people to follow based on whom you are following already.
Finally, don't let your fear that you have nothing interesting to say stop you from tweeting. People want transparency and authenticity. They want to connect with real people. You probably have a lot more interesting things to say than you give yourself credit for. If you are still stumped for what to tweet, here are some suggestions:
- Share links--some can be to your own stuff, but mostly link to others'
- Go to Twitthis.com and grab the bookmarklet to drag to your toolbar. This allows you to share content that's on any site outside of Twitter and post it to Twitter without even having to login
- Ask and answer questions--this often triggers conversation and helps you engage with others
- Use Twitpic.com to upload a picture, Utterli.com to post an audio tweet, or 12seconds.tv to post a video clip--these types of tweets add variety
- Re-tweet others, thank someone for re-tweeting you, be supportive, tell a joke, share a fact, offer a tip, comment on someone's twitter picture or background, congratulate someone, live-tweet an event, invite others to an upcoming event of your own, share an inspiring quote, solicit for guest bloggers, suggest someone to follow on #followfriday, post a poll...you get the idea.
© 2009 Communicate Value. All Rights Reserved.
Christine Gallagher, The Online Marketing and Social Media Success Coach, is founder of Communicate Value, where she is dedicated to teaching small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. To get your F.R.E.E. 5-Part E-Course and receive her weekly marketing & success articles on leveraging technology, building relationships and boosting your profits, visit http://communicatevalue.com.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Difference Between Spam and Marketing on Twitter
When we begin speaking in terms of marketing, invariably the question comes up, are my marketing efforts true marketing efforts or are some viewing them as spam?
Spam is about taking the choice away from someone and delivering them information about products and services without their permission. Spam comes in the way of unsolicited emails, junk mail and telemarketing.
Spam leaves a bad taste in our mouths and for good reason. We have not asked to be inundated with the information that we find floods our inboxes these days.
Marketing when done responsibly can be fun and witty. Commercials that reach us emotionally are effective marketing tools. People who care about their audience take the time to consider their message and how it will reach others.
On Twitter we each have an option as to who we will follow. And one might suggest it is that choice that gives others the right to “spam”. Wrong. Spam is irresponsible and annoying. More will tune out than tune in.
Take time to consider your message and how it will connect with your followers. Are you sharing a valuable service, product or resource? Do you take the time to share on a personal level as well as sharing on a business level? Have you established a relationship with your followers? Is the information you are providing timely and appropriate?
If you can answer these questions with a yes answer then your message can effectively be considered marketing rather than spam. Your followers will welcome your post rather than turn away from it. Share your tweet with others and in turn respond in kind to their own messages and tweets. After all, marketing is all about the relationship and spam is about nothing more than the bottom line.
Spam is about taking the choice away from someone and delivering them information about products and services without their permission. Spam comes in the way of unsolicited emails, junk mail and telemarketing.
Spam leaves a bad taste in our mouths and for good reason. We have not asked to be inundated with the information that we find floods our inboxes these days.
Marketing when done responsibly can be fun and witty. Commercials that reach us emotionally are effective marketing tools. People who care about their audience take the time to consider their message and how it will reach others.
On Twitter we each have an option as to who we will follow. And one might suggest it is that choice that gives others the right to “spam”. Wrong. Spam is irresponsible and annoying. More will tune out than tune in.
Take time to consider your message and how it will connect with your followers. Are you sharing a valuable service, product or resource? Do you take the time to share on a personal level as well as sharing on a business level? Have you established a relationship with your followers? Is the information you are providing timely and appropriate?
If you can answer these questions with a yes answer then your message can effectively be considered marketing rather than spam. Your followers will welcome your post rather than turn away from it. Share your tweet with others and in turn respond in kind to their own messages and tweets. After all, marketing is all about the relationship and spam is about nothing more than the bottom line.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
What Should You Be Tweeting About?
Many of us have taken on the social networks as marketing tools for our businesses. And in doing so, we have decided to use Twitter. Now we have accounts, at which we stare blankly.
What should we be tweeting about?
We have 140 characters to work with and while that seems easy, it can prove more difficult to provide a valuable post in 140 characters or less. We want to engage our audience, but the question then becomes how.
What should you be sharing with your followers? What is it that they want to see?
They want great conversation. Give them a statement worth replying to. Reply in kind and open the lines of communication.
They want to get to know the person behind the tweets. Give them the opportunity to get to know you, your personality, as well as your company and services.
They want links to great sites, videos or information. If you find it relevant and useful, chances are someone else will appreciate the resource as well.
They want a tweet worthy of sharing with their own followers. Whether that comes in the form of a particularly humorous quip or a great article you have read, give them something they can retweet.
While you want to engage your followers, they want to engage you as well. Don’t be afraid to jump in and get involved yourself. Join in on the conversations, thank a fellow Twitterer for sharing a resource you found helpful. Retweet their posts as well.
In any good relationship there is balance, give and take. Don’t ask anything of your audience that you are unwilling to give yourself. If you are afraid to take your social networking to the next level, don’t expect that others will find you approachable and worthy of their time and effort.
Give them what they want and what you will get in turn will be invaluable to you and your business.
What should we be tweeting about?
We have 140 characters to work with and while that seems easy, it can prove more difficult to provide a valuable post in 140 characters or less. We want to engage our audience, but the question then becomes how.
What should you be sharing with your followers? What is it that they want to see?
They want great conversation. Give them a statement worth replying to. Reply in kind and open the lines of communication.
They want to get to know the person behind the tweets. Give them the opportunity to get to know you, your personality, as well as your company and services.
They want links to great sites, videos or information. If you find it relevant and useful, chances are someone else will appreciate the resource as well.
They want a tweet worthy of sharing with their own followers. Whether that comes in the form of a particularly humorous quip or a great article you have read, give them something they can retweet.
While you want to engage your followers, they want to engage you as well. Don’t be afraid to jump in and get involved yourself. Join in on the conversations, thank a fellow Twitterer for sharing a resource you found helpful. Retweet their posts as well.
In any good relationship there is balance, give and take. Don’t ask anything of your audience that you are unwilling to give yourself. If you are afraid to take your social networking to the next level, don’t expect that others will find you approachable and worthy of their time and effort.
Give them what they want and what you will get in turn will be invaluable to you and your business.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Who to Follow on Twitter
Knowing who to follow on Twitter is important in your marketing efforts. You want to follow those who are of interest to you. You want to follow those who are of use to you and your business. Your hope is that they will in turn follow you back, if they aren’t already following you, thus opening up the lines of communication between your business and your audience.
There are several tools that can be used to make these efforts easier and more streamlined.
http://mrtweet.com/
Mr. Tweet - Show the influencers and followers you should follow and suggests you to enthusiastic users relevant to you.
http://justtweetit.com/
Just Tweet It - A user directory for Twitter organized by genre to allow for users to easily find other Twitter users to connect with.
http://www.retweetrank.com/
Retweet Rank - Retweetrank lets you find rank of any twitter user. With the rank, latest retweets of the user are shown and an RSS feed can also be grabbed for the same.
http://www.twellow.com/
Twellow - A directory of public Twitter accounts, with hundreds of categories and search features to help you find people who matter to you.
http://twitterel.com/
TwitteRel - By using Twitterel.com you can make your life a lot more interesting, we thought of a way to connect to other twitter users who share the same interests as you do.
http://friendorfollow.com/
Friend or Follow - Who are you following that's not following you back? Who's following you that you're not following back?
http://twitoria.com/
Twitoria - Twitoria is a web app that tidies up your Twitter friends list by revealing inactive friends that haven't tweeted in a long time so you can unfollow them.
http://topify.com/
Topify - Twitter application that improves Twitter's email notification and allows to follow and reply to direct messages by email.
http://tweepler.com/
Tweepler - A Twitter application that allows you to organize followers.
http://twimailer.com/
Twimailer - Tired of shallow e-mails from Twitter when someone follows you? Want to know more about the people who are following you? Twimailer is a free service that delivers that information right to your inbox!
Have a question you need answering? Find relevant people on Twitter to ask.
There are several tools that can be used to make these efforts easier and more streamlined.
http://mrtweet.com/
Mr. Tweet - Show the influencers and followers you should follow and suggests you to enthusiastic users relevant to you.
http://justtweetit.com/
Just Tweet It - A user directory for Twitter organized by genre to allow for users to easily find other Twitter users to connect with.
http://www.retweetrank.com/
Retweet Rank - Retweetrank lets you find rank of any twitter user. With the rank, latest retweets of the user are shown and an RSS feed can also be grabbed for the same.
http://www.twellow.com/
Twellow - A directory of public Twitter accounts, with hundreds of categories and search features to help you find people who matter to you.
http://twitterel.com/
TwitteRel - By using Twitterel.com you can make your life a lot more interesting, we thought of a way to connect to other twitter users who share the same interests as you do.
http://friendorfollow.com/
Friend or Follow - Who are you following that's not following you back? Who's following you that you're not following back?
http://twitoria.com/
Twitoria - Twitoria is a web app that tidies up your Twitter friends list by revealing inactive friends that haven't tweeted in a long time so you can unfollow them.
http://topify.com/
Topify - Twitter application that improves Twitter's email notification and allows to follow and reply to direct messages by email.
http://tweepler.com/
Tweepler - A Twitter application that allows you to organize followers.
http://twimailer.com/
Twimailer - Tired of shallow e-mails from Twitter when someone follows you? Want to know more about the people who are following you? Twimailer is a free service that delivers that information right to your inbox!
Have a question you need answering? Find relevant people on Twitter to ask.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Reasons to Tweet about Your Business
If you've done any reading on the Twitter marketing, you probably realize that tweeting can be an effective, cost-free or low-cost solution for marketing your business. All too often, however, we may be left wondering what to tweet about our businesses. We are under the mistaken impression that we simply have nothing worthy of sharing.
A good tweet can not only inform your followers about new developments in your company, but it can also educate, inform, or entertain them. .Once you achieve visibility, both your company profile and your client prospect levels will rise. The word of mouth that can come from a particularly intelligent tweet or series of tweets can result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in free advertising.
If you provide tweets that appeals to your followers, you'll gain credibility and be on your way to forming a valuable relationship. This can be very powerful from a marketing point of view.
If you’re looking for things to tweet about in relation to your business, consider some of these ideas. This is a list of 19 reasons to tweet about your business and help you get started today in utilizing this amazing promotional strategy for your business:
While there are many other reasons to tweet, these ideas should help you jumpstart your creativity.
A good tweet can not only inform your followers about new developments in your company, but it can also educate, inform, or entertain them. .Once you achieve visibility, both your company profile and your client prospect levels will rise. The word of mouth that can come from a particularly intelligent tweet or series of tweets can result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in free advertising.
If you provide tweets that appeals to your followers, you'll gain credibility and be on your way to forming a valuable relationship. This can be very powerful from a marketing point of view.
If you’re looking for things to tweet about in relation to your business, consider some of these ideas. This is a list of 19 reasons to tweet about your business and help you get started today in utilizing this amazing promotional strategy for your business:
- Starting a new business
- Celebrating a company anniversary
- Publishing of a new article or series of articles
- Publishing of a new blog post related to your business
- Publishing of a book or ebook
- Promote a book signing
- Receiving an award
- Announcement a partnership
- Promote a specific product, service, event, contest or fundraiser
- Promote a product or service that is holiday themed
- Promote a sale or holiday sale
- Promote a campaign using your company products that promotes a cause or creates awareness about something important
- Announce that you're available to speak on particular subjects of interest
- Promote a public appearance on television, radio or in person
- Launching of a website or blog
- Website or blog anniversary
- Announce free information or resources are available
- Sponsoring a workshop, seminar, conference or tele-seminar
- Announcement of a new strategic partnership or alliance
While there are many other reasons to tweet, these ideas should help you jumpstart your creativity.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The Virtual Assistant Internet Researcher
The Internet is an amazing tool for many people but it is not necessarily easy to decipher. A virtual assistant with the skills to dig out relevant information from the rest of the jumble can specialize in research. Internet researchers are in great demand for all sorts of clients.
In school they teach students to pick out the theme of a paragraph or story. After reading it is the job of the student to figure out what is the most important part of what they have read. As a researcher, that is what you will do for others who do not have the time or the skill to find it themselves. Compiling information that is useful to others is a part of your business.
The Market
The Internet provides access to a massive amount of information. Experts in different fields post their knowledge in articles and blog posts. Governments, agencies and professional organizations have digitized their databases and directories for use on the Internet by anyone who desires the information.
With so much information it is easy to see how the average person or business owner may get lost in the sauce, so to speak. Who uses that information? Businesses use the Internet to compile statistics and to learn about their competition. Writers, book authors, journalists and television professionals use information from the Internet for their work. With their busy jobs, they don’t have time to research.
Conducting research can be a lengthy process. On the Internet, it begins with knowing how search engines work and the best way to find exactly what you are looking for from them. Most people use Yahoo!, Google or MSN but there are plenty of other search engines that the average person doesn’t know about. An Internet researcher is familiar with all of them and uses the one that will yield the greatest harvest of useful information.
Virtual assistants who want to niche into Internet research provide some of these services to their clients:
As a virtual assistant Internet researcher you may find that you have a niche subject in mind for your business.
Maybe statistical information gathering and analysis are your forte. You can build a client base around just that for small and large corporate-type businesses. It is not easy to perform research and your clients will want the best.
In school they teach students to pick out the theme of a paragraph or story. After reading it is the job of the student to figure out what is the most important part of what they have read. As a researcher, that is what you will do for others who do not have the time or the skill to find it themselves. Compiling information that is useful to others is a part of your business.
The Market
The Internet provides access to a massive amount of information. Experts in different fields post their knowledge in articles and blog posts. Governments, agencies and professional organizations have digitized their databases and directories for use on the Internet by anyone who desires the information.
With so much information it is easy to see how the average person or business owner may get lost in the sauce, so to speak. Who uses that information? Businesses use the Internet to compile statistics and to learn about their competition. Writers, book authors, journalists and television professionals use information from the Internet for their work. With their busy jobs, they don’t have time to research.
Conducting research can be a lengthy process. On the Internet, it begins with knowing how search engines work and the best way to find exactly what you are looking for from them. Most people use Yahoo!, Google or MSN but there are plenty of other search engines that the average person doesn’t know about. An Internet researcher is familiar with all of them and uses the one that will yield the greatest harvest of useful information.
Virtual assistants who want to niche into Internet research provide some of these services to their clients:
- Compiling current statistical data
- Knowledge of all relevant databases and search engines
- Uses proven methods for information gathering (relevant use of keywords)
- Spreadsheet and Word document expertise for presenting information in useful manner
- General and specific knowledge of client subject matter
As a virtual assistant Internet researcher you may find that you have a niche subject in mind for your business.
Maybe statistical information gathering and analysis are your forte. You can build a client base around just that for small and large corporate-type businesses. It is not easy to perform research and your clients will want the best.
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