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WNW Design Ltd Launches Taylor’s Joinery Website

Jan
03
2012

WNW Design Ltd are proud to announce the launch of the Taylor’s Joinery website.

Taylor’s Joinery are a market leading Joinery manufacturer. They combine the best of traditional joinery with modern design, manufacturing and glazing techniques. Their modern and efficient factory provides best products for great customers’ satisfaction. Taylor’s Joinery offer all types of bespoke timber Doors, Windows, Conservatories, Kitchens, Furniture and much more.

Browse the website www.taylors-joinery.co.uk for more information.

Posted in Web Design, WNW Clients | No Comments »

SEO Basics: Can The Search Engines See Your Site?

Jan
03
2012

Search Engine Optimisation is a detailed and ongoing process of building your site’s reputation in the Search Engine listings, and before your website has gone live you should have already been working on a lot of the aspects of your website that influence those listings. Things like linking structure, keyword-rich content, sitemap pages, image alt tags, etc. However, on the most basic level, when your website actually goes live none of this will matter if Google can’t see your site, and there are a few very important things to do, and some to avoid, in order to ensure this is the case.

Publicise Your URL

First off, you need to let Google (and all the other Search Engines) know that your website now exists. One of the best ways of doing this is getting a link from a website that already lists well – it will count as a good ‘vote’ for your new website, and plus a well-listed website will be checked quite often by Google so they will see the link quickly.

Alternatively (or as well) you can set up a Google account for your site and submit a sitemap in Google’s Webmaster Tools area. This allows you to give Google information on your new website and its content.

Bing also has a Webmaster Tools area, and AOL and some others allow you to actually ‘submit’ your site URL to them for indexing.

Check Your Robots.txt

The robots.txt is a file that can be placed on your site hosting space and that the Search Engines know to look for. It can hold instructions to Search Engine robots (hence the name) about what pages on the site to spider (look through) and which not, and also where the website’s XML sitemap is stored (a file listing all the pages, their importance and last update dates).

A robots.txt that states ‘Disallow’ and then has either a / or a folder or file after it, is asking the Search Engines (either a specific one mentioned in the line above, or all is an asterix is used) to not spider those areas. The / means the whole site. In order to allow the Search Engines to see and list the whole site your robots.txt needs to have either nothing after the ‘Disallow’ or to use ‘Allow’ and then a / after.

If you have an /admin/ area or /cgi-bin/ or other folders and files that you don’t want listed in Google, you can list them in here to be ignored.

Use Visible Coding

Once you’ve publicised your URL and made sure your robots.txt file isn’t impeding the Search Engines finding and spidering your site, you need to consider your site coding. A Flash site, for example, is next to invisible to Google – it can’t read the text and doesn’t see the content, so it has no idea what your website is about. At the very least a Flash site has to have an HTML version, but ideally you need to make your website without Flash (limit it to dynamic banners if you must).

If your website is built with HTML coding that the Search Engines can see, great, but you need to ensure it’s not bloated and over-complicated (they are only robots after all, and can get confused if you have piles and piles of code and links all over the place) and that it has an understandable page and link structure. This way you stand more chance of the Search Engines quickly seeing all your site content, it’s hierarchy, and therefore also when it is changed and expanded.

You also need to avoid building your site from frames, which is an out-dated method often used to build sites with framed navigation, but that disguises the true content of the page from the Search Engines and can harm your listings badly. No-one really uses this method anymore though, and with good reason.

Now Go Forth, And Optimise…!

Now you know the Search Engines see your site, don’t leave it there, work on getting excellent listings and bringing in the millions of searches made every minute on the internet! Do your keyword research, optimise your page content and text, show Google what your images are about with alt tags, keep your website fresh and updated, relevant and interesting, and get links in with networking and Social Media. With a visible site and clear, structured coding, you will be building on excellent Search Engine Optimisation foundations.

About The Author: Camilla Todd manages Search Engine Optimisation, social media campaigns and brand awareness for WNW Design SEO clients. You can follow her on Twitter @camilla_wnw, email her at camilla@wnwdesign.co.uk or phone on 08456 588310. You can also follow WNW Design on Facebook here.

Posted in Blogs By Camilla T., General SEO, SEO, WNW Staff Blogs | No Comments »

Is Google Hurting Free Market Competition?

Dec
29
2011

Senators Call For FTC Antitrust Probe of Google, FairSearch responds

Senators Herb Kohl and Mike Lee have put together a letter calling for an FTC investigation of Google, with an emphasis on the company’s search results.

Note that the letter refers to Bing as “a partnership of Microsoft and Yahoo”. And that this is the only competition Google has. I’m not sure this is an accurate portrayal of the search industry. Bing is not a partnership of Microsoft and Yahoo. It’s Microsoft’s search engine. They are separate. Sure, they do have a partnership, and Bing powers the back-end of Yahoo, but they are still two different search engines. Granted, they are sharing an advertising platform now. Furthermore, there are other search engines out there, though their market share isn’t nearly as great.

Newer kinds of search engines have popped up in recent memory. Blekko and DuckDuckGo spring immediately to mind. Just because people aren’t using them as much as Google, doesn’t mean they aren’t free to compete. They aren’t being used nearly as much as Bing either. Bing has proven that marketing a search engine and making strategic partnerships can go a long way in gaining market share in the search industry.

The reality of the Internet and the search industry is much broader than competition among search engines. The fact is that people are obtaining information in a lot more ways now. They’re relying on search less for some of that. They’re turning to social media and different apps. A lot of iPhone users may be turning to Siri now. That’s just an example. Smartphones and tablets have opened up the world to a whole new world of apps for consuming information online. That itself could be just as big of an obstacle for Bing as anything.

For that matter, it could be a benefit for Bing if they play their cards right. If people have to rely on the traditional search engine less for some types of information consumption, perhaps there are opportunities for Microsoft to innovate more in the app world. I do believe the direction they’re going with Xbox and Kinect can have some pretty big ramifications. I wonder what a Bing-infused Xbox mobile device could accomplish for their share of the search market. Getting Xbox Live features on mobile devices is a start, but what about something more like what Sony is doing with the Playstation Vita, only Xbox style, taking advantage of the new Xbox platform.

A representative for the FairSearch Coalition sent us these comments on the letter from Rick Rule, head of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division from 1985-1989, a partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, and outside counsel to Microsoft:

Senator Lee is right to call for careful scrutiny of Google, given the numerous allegations of antitrust violations by the company. The antitrust laws of this country prohibit companies like Google that dominate important parts of our economy from using their market power to destroy competition and to deny consumers of choice. Decisions from conservative courts make clear that the antitrust laws apply just as much to the new economy as to the old. If a company like Google is allowed to flout the rule of law, then free-market competition will suffer.

Senator Lee’s letter to the FTC shows that the Senator understands that promoting sound antitrust law enforcement is an important bulwark against the inevitable calls for regulation. Senator Lee’s letter is in line with the views of conservative judges and free-market heroes, like Judge Bork and Judge Posner.

I too am a conservative who believes in the supremacy of free markets. I worked for President Reagan as the head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division. We understood then, as Senator Lee understands today, that in order for free-market competition to work, consumers and producers must be able to respond to the market’s “invisible hand” free from artificial restraints imposed by government, by cartels, or by monopolists like Google. The troubling allegations that Google uses its market power to impose such restraints are too numerous to ignore. As Senator Lee’s letter demonstrates, conservative principles demand that Google be held accountable to the rule of law.

They also sent us these comments from Mark Corallo, former Press Secretary and then Public Affairs Director for the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General John Ashcroft (2002-2005). He’s currently a spokesman for FairSearch:

Senators Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Mike Lee (R-UT) sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Jonathan Leibowitz requesting that the FTC conduct an investigation into Google’s business practices. They should be applauded. The rule of law is non-partisan. And that is all they are requesting of the FTC – make sure that Google is following the law.

Considering the grilling they gave Google CEO Eric Schmidt at Senate hearing back in September, the news is not that these two Senators have concerns relating to Google’s leveraging its market dominance in anti-competitive and potentially illegal ways. The news is that the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Antitrust Subcommittee put it in writing and asked for action. When two senators not only agree on an issue but are willing to do something about it, the seismic tremors can be felt from the halls of the FTC right on up to Google’s executive suites. And that’s nothing compared to the shockwave that Google’s multimillion dollar lobbying team is feeling from all sides – after all, they’re paid to cut off these types of legitimate inquiries.

About the Author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237 | StumbleUpon: Crum |
Google: +Chris Crum

Posted in Google, SEO | No Comments »

3 Ways to Protect Yourself from Copycats

Dec
28
2011

Editorial Note: The staff at SPN wish all of our readers a Happy Holiday season. SiteProNews will not be published on a regular basis for the next two weeks, but we’ll be back on track Jan. 3rd with more great articles, exclusives and news.

Small Business can take notes from grass roots political operatives in 2012 and take measures to limit the possibility that competitors will be eating their lunch by mid-year by literally taking their lunch. So how do you keep competitors from copying your good methods and ideas or co-opting them for their own, engaging in corporate theft? You have to grease the signs.

Small Business Politics

The political time of year is revving up, and with this year being an election year in the US, prepare yourself for more questionable, dirty tricks than you ever thought you would see. Candidates will work years to build the one thing they can run on– their reputation– only to see it demolished by discovery of the skeletons in their closets, or, if those closets happen to be vacant, a heinous accusation that stays regardless of its accuracy.

Typically politically dormant, the state of the country is troubling me and I found myself recently at the house of a local businessman for a political meeting, and got to know a guy named David from a national association called Freedomworks, and his job was to assist that group’s chosen candidates win the election. His politics for this illustration are beside the point. What lasted with me was one of the tactics he said they commonly used to minimize unethical politicking (stop laughing, really!). Once they’ve decided to support a candidate in a local race, they make up signs and choose places to legally put them 30 days preceding the election day (it seems to do so sooner than 30 days is illegal in my state).

David informed us that in many circumstances, within 4-5 hours after they put down a huge collection of political signs, they watch the opponent’s side pass by in a van and take them out of the ground, leaving of course the signs for their candidate. Unethical stunts indeed. What David told us after that made me laugh and get the concept for this article. He said that they spray Pam (cooking anti-stick) or swipe Vaseline petroleum jelly on the surface of the signs so that when the other guys try to get rid of them, it makes it difficult. When you’re stealing signs at a busy crosswalk, I found out that speed and prudence are key, and if you have to wrestle with it, the target sign will often sit tight.

Protect Yourself

So how do you keep the other guys from messing with your company and engaging in commercial espionage? Here are some of the most successful ways to avoid competitors from ripping you off:

The Legal Route

This is the most noticeable one, people. For anything that composes intellectual property that you actually care about, guard it with a patent, copyright (©), trademark (TM or ®), or a patent pending application. Patents typically apply to things that do stuff for us, otherwise known as inventions, or things that may someday do something for us. Copyrights are used to safeguard the originality of a work of art like a book or a song. Trademarks can be petitioned for phrases, names, symbols or devices connected with trade and to differentiate those goods from the goods of others. A Servicemark (SM) is affiliated to a trademark for one-of-a-kind services. Donald Trump without success tried to trademark his Apprentice catch-phrase, “Your fired,” but lost, not because he couldn’t do it, but because another existing company that made pottery got there first.

Control Your Reputation

In some cases the bad guys merely try to take your reputation. This has gotten easier with the development of Google, Twitter and a variety of other forms of online communication. Considering that most open-forum sites don’t check the facts before posting, it isn’t challenging for someone to seed the Internet with fake unhappy customers complaining about your company on RipOffReport.com or a comparable outlet. I once had a client asking for help because someone with a chip on their shoulder literally took the time to make complaint videos and put them on YouTube.

The trouble here is that, in an effort to get as much truthful, social info about stuff online in people’s hands, most search engines give a nice high rank to anything that sounds like an evaluation, comparison, or personal experience about a product or business. That means that a couple unhappy clients or dishonest competitors can clutter up Google’s page 1 about your business and be hard to delete.

What does one do? Take control to the degree you can.

First discover what is being said about you by monitoring your online reputation.

Put as much positive press and info about your company out there as possible in the form of press releases, awards, articles, testimonials and case studies. False allegations on the web work best in a vacuum. If you fill the internet with great, honest and fresh subject matter about your business and do it constantly, it becomes much more difficult for the other guy to make inroads. This is SEO
chapter 1.

Approach the issue head on. Contact the writer and, if it really is an unsatisfied client, see if you can resolve the situation and get a solution. Even if that is impossible, most of these forums provide a possibility to at least counter the criticism. If the bad press is from a competitor trying to ruin your rep, he’ll typically run like a cockroach when you turn the lights on when he understands you’re onto him.

Employ a company to do # 1 and # 2 for you if you don’t have the time and tools to do it yourself. Smart Company Growth does this as an unadvertised service. There are other services out there as well you can find by Googling.

About The Author
Karl Walinskas is the CEO of Smart Company Growth, a business development firm that helps small to mid-size professional service firms build competitive advantage in an online world of sameness. He is the author of numerous articles and the Smart Blog on leadership, business communication, sales & service, public speaking and virtual business, and Getting Connected Through Exceptional Leadership, available in the SmartShop. Get your Free LinkedIn Profile Optimization eBook & Video Course, Video Marketing video and course, or Mastermind Groups e-course & video now.

Posted in Business Development | No Comments »

14 Tips For Successful Facebook Advertising Campaign

Dec
27
2011

Almost every time I ask a Facebook user who is not a marketer if they ever interact with Facebook ads, I get the same response – “Facebook has ads?” That is one of the beauties of Facebook advertising in that ads are so custom tailored to user preferences and demographics, that they do not appear to be ads at all but rather engaging content.

As a business that wants to target some of the 800 million plus Facebook users, what are some of the best ways to go about this? Here are 14 tips to help you get started.

1. To get started, you’ll first have to create a Facebook Page.

2. Once your business page is set up, it would be most beneficial to have a Facebook App Developer create an App for your page.

3. Set your App as the “Landing Tab” for your Page.

4. Your Facebook application should have a clear call to action such as a special offer, discount, or even a call to enter a sweepstakes of some kind. The general idea is to offer something that is of some benefit to the user.

5. As you collect the email addresses of those you interact with your App, save them to email marketing program such as Constant Contact so you can reach out to these folks in the future. Click through rates for Facebook apps that collect email addresses are extremely high, ranging in the 70% to 80% range.

6. Your Facebook App should prompt the user to share with at least 3 friends via a wall post.

7. The total number of clicks required to navigate through App and ultimately share should be kept to a minimum. Keep in mind that each time a person has to “click or do something” is an opportunity to lose that user.

8. Carefully monitor analytics in Facebook Ads Manager and Facebook Insights for Apps. Both are free analytics programs provided by Facebook.

9. Create multiple Facebook Ads and conduct A/B testing, selecting only the best performing ads. You should aim for a minimum 2%-4% click through rate. At a minimum, 25% of clicks should also like your Facebook Page.

10. Once you’ve amassed hundreds or even thousands of likes and email addresses, don’t stop there. As they say, “rinse and repeat” those marketing strategies that are successful.

11. Studies have shown that over 51% of those who like a brand are more likely to buy from it.

Here are just a few studies that add validity to this point:
How Much Is a Facebook Fan Really Worth?
Social Media Fact: 51% of Facebook Fans More Likely to Buy
Facebook Fans More Likely to Recommend a Brand, Buy Products

12. Make sure you send your fans emails or Page posts on a regular basis with discounts and clear incentives to buy from you.

13. Statistically, people who “like” your business are “warm” leads and will convert at a much higher rate than cold calling, cold emailing, or other direct sales channels.

14. If your campaign is a success, get PR for it by sharing results and statistics on your company blog.

For those of you who would like these and other tips in a handy data visualization, check out the infographic below from AES Connect, Facebook app development company.

About the Author:
David Wallace, co-founder and CEO of SearchRank, is a recognized expert in the industry of search and social media marketing. A blogger and widely published author, David has been featured in many online publications such as Search Engine Guide, Search Engine Watch, WebPro News, SEO Today, and Pandia to name a few. David also serves as a frequent speaker at the Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies and PubCon conferences.

Posted in Facebook, Social Media | No Comments »

How Can Google Help Your Website in 2012?

Dec
26
2011

Google really wants to know. So do we. Tell us.

Google uses Google+ probably more than anyone else out there (except for maybe Robert Scoble), and regardless of whether or not you have added it to your daily social networking routine, it continues to provide a great channel for getting to know Google better.

What should Google be doing in 2012 to make your job easier? Comment here.

That doesn’t just go for helping your search rankings (which it can), but it provides a direct line of communication with many, many Googlers. It’s a great place to get advice from Google, and to share feedback. And it’s not just empty feedback. They’re actively participating in meaningful conversations with users, and have shown that they are taking ideas into consideration (for example, see recent Gmail integration).

This week, Google Webmaster Trends analyst John Mueller posted the following in a Google+ update:

“Google has tried a lot of new things this year when it comes to webmaster support — such as the hangouts in a variety of languages. Which parts do you all think we should work on next year? How can we make it easier for you all to make awesome websites, which are easily findable in web-search?”

“More hangouts? videos? more documentation? more detailed examples?”

This seems like a good opportunity to not only to raise this question ourselves with our readers, but to spread the question further, because you can actually participate in this conversation and possibly have an impact on future Google offerings, which can in turn benefit your site in the long run, and after a crazy year of algorithm changes, I’m sure many of you are looking for any leg up possible.

Google has already been hosting a slew of webmaster hangouts on Google+, and if you haven’t been taking advantage of this, why not? You are getting free access to some advice right from the horse’s mouth.

If you read WebProNews regularly, you should also know that Google puts out a lot of webmaster videos, generally starring Matt Cutts. We cover them fairly frequently, because they’re generally full of helpful knowledge for webmasters. Even when they contain things you already knew, sometimes it helps to be reminded of certain things, or Cutts might present the topic in a slightly different light than you looked at it before. It’s a good idea to watch these videos.

Here are some of the responses Mueller has received to his question so far:

Thomas Morffew: More people like you John, that are real faces, and available to help.

Sandip Dedhia: I agree with +Thomas Morffew, more Googlers who are open to speak about issues which webmasters are facing. In post panda era most of the replies on webmaster forum are so generic that it is hard to make out what is the exact cause of penalty or search traffic drop.

I would suggest some case studies around those websites who managed to recover from different penalties, like the reasons of penalty and steps they took to recover from that penalty.

Ramon Somoza: Certainly some assistance for multilingual sites would a great help.

Lincoln Jaeger: There could be more direct interaction going on through the webmasters console, with regards to flagging up issues, for example.

Bret Sutherland: When will Google shopping/product search get staff who are open and responsive?

Do you agree with any of these commenters? Have other ideas?

About the Author:
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter.

Twitter: @CCrum237 | StumbleUpon: Crum |
Google: +Chris Crum

Posted in Google, SEO | No Comments »

The New Part Played by Social Media in SEO

Dec
23
2011

When most people start planning SEO for their website I can bet you a large proportion of them get stuck when it comes to really understanding what part social media has to play in SEO.

Social media often lags further down the priority list behind SEO for a variety of reasons, mainly a lack of clarity as to what benefits it will actually bring and the fact that it’s often difficult to relate a tweet or Facebook message to a return on investment whereas with SEO, for example, website owners can more easily attribute a growth in sales to new rankings for key-phrases.

However, the way that social media has evolved means that it now plays a much more important role in search engine optimization. Searches are now taking into account the reputation of websites as reflected in social media sites to determine rank.

What Content do Users want to Share?

A more common occurrence nowadays is the placing of social networking buttons alongside pages and various pieces of content within the website.

That’s all fair and well, but it’s only an issue if people actually bother to click on them.

Users will generally want to share some content if:

* They find it funny or amusing
* Interesting
* Educational or inspiring
* Controversial or shocking

Depending on what business you’re in, particular areas of the page can be targeted towards the above sharing factors. So if the page in question is about a product, then the focus could be on the:

* Product Description
* Price
* Reviews
* Images

The marketing principle here is relatively straight forward. Like you would plan content for SEO to ensure maximum effect – take the same approach towards social media strategy. Identify areas of content that could be of interest to users and are most likely to be shared. Don’t be afraid to adopt or add to the content to make it appear more attractive / amusing to users. At the end of the day, whatever works best for you!

Facebook Seeding for SEO

The principle behind using Facebook is to engage with, and build an army of fans who then recommend you to others which means more ‘likes’ and help for the SEO and the domain of the website. However it’s not just that simple – to build a presence on Facebook and to attract fans takes ongoing work and management. The following tips will help you to build a suitable fan page and attract new followers:

* Design an entrance page that compels the visitor to click on the ‘like’ button – there are many things you can do for this – be creative, clever and innovative.

* By using Facebook PPC ads you can drive visitors towards the fan page thus building a larger and more active fan base that in turn helps the SEO and brand awareness of your business.

Social Sharing Sites

Some online communities, such as Digg and StumbleUpon are dedicated to sharing content and can be very powerful ways of spreading a message about your brand and forming social media links that will directly help your SEO. Users can vote on the content and enough votes will result in being featured on the homepage. A link from one of these sites will reflect well on the SEO of your own.

Again though, it’s not enough to stick up any old content and hope for the best. If it’s unplanned and ill thought through, the likelihood is people won’t click on it. In order to stand a chance of success follow these basic steps:

* Devise an eye catching and attractive piece of content that readers are likely to share. Offer people an incentive to share it, whether that means free samples, a discount or just make it so funny, amusing or interesting that people are compelled to share it. Just making it a straight forward advert isn’t going to work – be imaginative.

* Now you need to promote it, and this means work! Create suitable profiles, engage with users and don’t be pushy.

Social Competitions

The idea of running competitions isn’t a new one, but conducting a competition using social media solely, is. The principle is basic – get users to follow your business on social media and in return they stand a chance to win something. Entering such a competition is easy for people – all they need to do is click ‘follow’ or ‘like’ and that’s it.

The Social Media / SEO Relationship

This is where website owners sometimes get confused. The whole idea behind social content seeding is attracting social signals rather than the traffic. Yes traffic will come to the site via social media sites, but it will not result in conversions.

Where the benefit comes is from the organic rankings, the place where people are already looking for you. The social signals will be helping your website attain better rankings and that’s how the conversions are achieved.

About The Author
Article by Kausik Dutta. As a UK based search engine optimization company, SEO UK can develop and roll out social media campaigns for any new or established business. SEO UK has a wealth of experience when it comes to social media and can successfully weave it with SEO so as to create the maximum impact.

Posted in SEO, Social Media | No Comments »

Happy Holidays from WNW Design!

Dec
22
2011

Well it’s the end of another year, time for a bit of reflection on what we have achieved and certainly what our goals are for 2012. We’d like to wish all our clients, partners and associates a very happy holiday, whatever you celebrate (even if it’s just good food and time off work!).

This has been a busy year for WNW Design, with an awful lot of time focused on development projects such as our Mazurka Hub (which streamlines the creation of and updates for our Ecommerce websites) and our Ebay and Amazon integration with Mazurka, which allows customers to manage order-processing from one central location.

We expanded our team once again, and are pleased to welcome Natalie in Marketing. We also expanded our hardware with two brand new servers.

In April and March we held a successful series of free Social Media Seminars for clients and potential clients, with our MD Nigel speaking on the benefits of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other platforms for your business, plus how to get started and utilise them to best advantage.

We also supported the first steps of many of our clients into that Social Media arena, and are looking forward to doing the same for 2012.

Like many businesses, we spent some time trying to gauge Google’s new Social platform, Google+, and (again, like everyone else) are still trying to work out whether they have failed or whether sheer perseverance and visibility will eventually turn G+ into a success. You can find us on Google+ here.

Our staff blog posts of note for 2011 were:

~ Making Blog Comments Work For Your SEO
~ Drawing A Blank: 6 Ideas For What To Say On Your Business Social Media
~ Google PlusOne Button Statistics
~ Why You Should Be Paying Attention To Google’s New PlusOne Button
~ Google Adwords Rules
~ Take Control of Your Social Media Time Management

We hope you’ve all had a productive and enjoyable year, and are enjoying the festivities in preparation for the holidays. WNW Design are working until lunchtime tomorrow and then we return on January the 3rd, so have a great break everyone and we look forward to working with you all in 2012!

Posted in WNW Staff Blogs | No Comments »

20 Ways To Get More Fans For Your Facebook Fan Page

Dec
22
2011

Facebook has tremendous potential. Of the 800 million users globally, there must be millions of your target audience using the social platform too. Moreover Facebook offers great marketing tools for you to get new leads and customers. The platform allows you to ‘interact’ your way to new customers and also serves as a great way of promoting your new products.

You got all this and have now created a Facebook fan page for your business. But the number of fans is not increasing in the way you would like it to. How can you increase your fan base? Well, we have the ways listed right here.

20 Tips To Increase Your Facebook Fan Following:

We have divided these 20 tips into three neat sections, in sequence of their occurrence and relevance.

Driving Fans To Your Page:

1. Link to your Facebook Page from your website, blog (embed widgets)- There are plenty of snazzy Facebook Social Plugins for you to choose and place them on your website and blog. The ‘Like Box’ will entice your site visitors to see what you and your fans are up to on Facebook. Live Stream widget is also an interesting application to add, and Facebook users can comment on a live event.

2. Add your Facebook page URL in your email signature- Send and receive hundreds of mails everyday as a part of your daily routine? Then reach many people by placing your fan page URL in your email signature. Send across your Facebook Page URL to your friends, partners, clients, customers, and others. Since they know you they will surely explore your page.

3. Place your fan page URL in your personal profile- Have a 1000 friends on your personal profile? Then you must place the URL to your fan page on your profile. Anyone and obviously friends coming across your profile will also get to know about your page.

4. Ask your Linkedin account and Twitter followers to LIKE your page- Have thousands of Twitter followers? Then be really smart in Tweeting your Facebook Page link. Many of them will want to see what it is that you are promoting. Include a Facebook page link in your ‘About Me’ on Twitter to allow your followers to follow the link to the page.

5. Ask your present fans to spread the word- Your few hundred fans can be instrumental in getting more fans. If they share your Page on their walls, then all their friends, will be able to see the Page and many with similar interests may follow the link and LIKE you!

6. Advertise on Facebook increase your chances of being seen- Facebook ads are highly targeted and can get you instant exposure. Users view your ad and can also become a fan. Facebook has many promotional advert systems like ‘Sponsored Stories’ and ‘Ads’.

7. Ask users to like you in the ad.- You have to create ads exciting enough to give users a reason to LIKE the ads and land on your Facebook Page. Experiment with the copy, heading, images. But be simple, keep the language casual with a friendly tone. The good news is that Facebook may decrease your Cost per click if you have a high click-through rate! Do not send people to your website from the ad, as this way you will not be able to get a like from the ad. Send people to your Facebook Page.

Getting Fans To Like Your Page:

8. Create Vanity URL for your fan page- Once you have 25 LIKES, you create a nice URL. Include your business’ name in the same. Try to make it SEO friendly.

9.Create a smashing landing page- Your landing page comes in handy to create a positive, compelling, interesting first impression. The landing page must entice the visitors to LIKE it. It can be funny, daring, bold or mysterious. Whatever emotion you think can lead to a LIKE. Create a welcoming and compelling Welcome tab for your Facebook fan page. You can also include a video in this Welcome Tab.

For example see the interesting animation on the Coca Cola Fan Page-

10. Do not send fans to the wall- Always send them to your landing page. Never to the Wall as it may have comments from other fans which may not seem interesting to other users.

11. ‘Incentivize’ your landing Page- A smashing landing page design is a great step. But to ensure a LIKE you need more. You need to entice users to like you. Give a people of being ‘in the crowd’ when they will LIKE your Page. So things like ‘ Enter to interact with the kings’ will make a difference.

For instance see how HP Play has an exciting-’Win’ angle to their landing page.

Keeping The Fans Engaged:

12. Post interesting Content- Do not become beyond boring with just your news, blog posts, business information or sales specials. You have to focus on user engagement.

Ask questions to encourage response
Post links to a YouTube video
Post famous quotes and ask fans if they agree/disagree.
Post a photo and ask fans to caption them
For instance, see how this TV Show page has a photo of the lead pair and has asked fans to caption it.

13. Share Photos and Videos- If you have any new product or event photos or videos, then post them and tag your fans in them. This notifies them and their friends- instant attention!

For instance, this photo put up by a travel agency is topical to an event in history, and generates public interest too. See how they have tagged fans.

14. Tag relevant industry pages with huge fans in the videos and photos too- So you are an iPhone app developer, and have liked the iPhone page. This page has like several million fans. Tag the page and people will be interested in seeing what video has the iPhone been tagged in.

15. Run contests- This worked smoothly till recently. Still works but may be need written permission from Facebook among other things. But on the page, you can run a contest and ask Facebook users to LIKE you to participate in the same.

For instance see how the McDonalds Page is running a Quest to find the best Mac!

16. Reward those fans who get you more fans- Give out free coupons or virtual gifts like e-books for fans who refer other fans to your page.

17. Use Facebook Apps to integrate fans- There are plenty of apps you can use from NetworkedBlogs to live video streaming app called Vpype, Fan Of the Week, Booshaka, ContactMe and many many more.

18. Synchronize your fan page with your other social profiles- Link your Facebook Page to Twitter, Digg, Stumble and the like. There are many apps to do the same. So with them, your latest status updates, photos, links on Facebook page will be tweeted and displayed on all other social platforms.

19. Interact with your fans- On Facebook to keep your fans interested, you have to react, respond to their comments and Likes. Make your fans feel that they are interacting with a person who is genuinely interested in making a connection. Answer their queries, appreciate their feedback and praise their contest efforts.

The highly effective trick:

20. Give something for free to people to get them to LIKE your page- Everyone likes to get free things. So, on Facebook this works like magic. Offer free coupons, tickets, books anything you can think of to get more LIKES. The Kodak page ran a LIKE and get a free collage and Facebook photo printout offer. With this free offer, its LIKES increased really fast.

The highly effective trick:
20. Give something for free to people to get them to LIKE your page- Everyone likes to get free things. So, on Facebook this works like magic. Offer free coupons, tickets, books anything you can think of to get more LIKES. The Kodak page ran a LIKE and get a free collage and Facebook photo printout offer. With this free offer, its LIKES increased really fast.

About the Author:
Nav is the founder and CEO of Page Traffic, a premier search engine company known for its assured SEO service, web design and development, copywriting and full time SEO professionals.

Navneet has wide experience in natural search engine optimization, internet marketing and PPC campaigns. He is a prolific writer and his articles can be found in the “Best Articles” section of many websites and article banks. As a search engine analyst , he has over 9 years of experience and his knowledge is in application here.

Posted in Facebook, Social Media | No Comments »

The Most Popular Social Networks and Who Is On Them

Dec
21
2011

How much time do you spend online?

According to a time use survey compiled by ComScore Media Metric, the average American spends 33.9 hours on the Internet every week. Depending on age and other demographics, this number can double! And for those lucky individuals whose occupations rely primarily on computers: the Internet commands their lives and they aren’t ever not connected.

Computers have drastically changed the technological landscape. The Internet has facilitated efficiency in a number of offline processes. We use the web to communicate with our family, friends and business acquaintances in real-time chats. Books and other multimedia are available for online viewing and instant download. We can even shop for gifts online – often offered at a deeper discount than in brick-and-mortar stores! The Internet has revolutionized the way that we live, as we now spend one-sixth of our lives in the digital world.

Exhibit 1: 100 Most-Visited Websites by category, according to Google Ad Planner

Where are We Actually Spending Our Time Online?

Google has compiled a list of the 100 most-visited websites in the United States. (Being the modest company that they are, Google has chosen to omit their website and statistics from the study.) These 100 websites are sorted into six categories: social networking, search engines, shopping, entertainment, business and software.

The Internet can deliver information instantaneously, so naturally search engines and other information-related websites comprise the most popular category – sites ranging from web portals, such as Yahoo! and Bing, to encyclopedias and other how-to pages, such as Wikipedia and eHow. Closely tailing search engines are online shopping and other e-commerce websites – pages such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart – followed, in descending order, by the categories Entertainment, Social Networking, Business and Software.

Social networks are defined as any and all websites that are personal communities, professional networks, blogs, dating communities, deal of the day websites and other content sharing sites. It is significant that social media occupy the fourth largest category, as these websites have only gained popularity within the past few years. In fact, two of the top three websites in America are “social” sites. The number one site, Facebook, is the largest social network in the world with over 800 million loyal users. YouTube trails behind this social giant as the second most popular social network, and the third most popular website in the US.

Which Social Sites are Americans Frequenting the Most?

Americans have become fully absorbed in the social networking infrastructure. According to Nielsen, social media has engrossed 22% of our total time online. The chart, “Total Reach of Social Networks,” reveals the percentage of Americans that are logged-into the 15 most-popular networks in the country. The most popular social network is Facebook, with a total national reach of over 67%. Close in proximity is YouTube, with 54.7% of the population viewing, sharing and commenting on videos posted by others around the globe. Other social networks are used by less than half of the population – networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn, and blogging websites such as Blogspot and WordPress.

Another sub-category of social networks has made it to the top 100. Within the past year, the deal-of-the-day industry has flourished. There are dozens of competing websites, but the two that have thus far generated the bulk of the traffic and seized the largest marketing share are Living Social and Groupon. Consumers flock to these websites for the great discounts on a variety of products, services and activities. Only 5% of the United States population is connected to these sites. However, in another year it is predicted that the reach of these sites will more than double as the popularity of these sites is accelerating at an enthusiastic rate.

Exhibit 2: Total Reach of Social Networks in the US, according to Google Ad Planner

Which Americans are on Social Networks?

Of the 310 million individuals in the United States, at least 210 million are actively participating in social networks. Who are these individuals? According to Google, the majority of users are women. Females are more active participants in social media than their counterparts. Women are especially more active on deal of the day social networks – where users typically register in order to receive coupons. In fact, the only social network where men have the greater presence is LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network. This may be correlated to the fact that men hold higher-level positions in the US workforce than women. Currently out of the running Fortune 500 companies, there are only 16 female CEOs (as told by USA Today). Even more shocking is that this is the greatest number of women that have ever held this position at the same time.

Exhibit 3: Social Media Usage by Gender in the US, according to Google Ad Planner

In regards to age, the correlation shows that younger individuals prefer more active social networks, whereas older individuals prefer networks where there is an emphasis on content retrieval. Senior citizens are most active on deal of the day sites, which provide coupons and other group discounts for those that choose to lead active lifestyles. On the other hand, the media of choice for younger generations appear to be networks where regular, active participation is encouraged. Teenagers and kids flock to social sharing sites such as YouTube and Photobucket, an image hosting website. For yóung adults, blogs and other weblog sites that facilitate comments and sharing are most popular. Overall, the group that has the largest presence on social media is adults. The majority of the users of the 15 most-visited social sites are between the ages of 35 and 54 years of age.

Exhibit 4: Social Media Usage by Age in the US, according to Google Ad Planner

How Important are Demographics?

The Internet and technologies that make the Internet more accessible for us have been strongly embedded into modern culture. Laptops, smart phones, tablets and mp3 players with Internet access are consumed by all age groups. Internet users flee to the web not just for information, but also to shop, communicate and consume multimedia. The rapid growth in Internet consumption has led us to spend more time in the digital world and less time in the real world – one-sixth less time to be exact.

The media patterns of target audiences are changing. Marketers need to redevelop their marketing strategies in order to better influence target audiences and stimulate them to consume. The most successful advertisers are those that are able to reach their audiences through multiple channels. In modern America, this requires integrating an onlíne marketing strategy.

Using the demographics of our ideal buyer persona, we can learn which websites our target audiences are frequenting. These trending websites will prove to be the best online locations to advertise to these individuals. If the ideal buyer is a 35 year old soccer mom, then research shows that it would be useful to advertise on deal of the day websites that women in this age group tend to frequent. Alternatively, if our ideal candidate is a business executive that works long hours for a prestigious law firm, LinkedIn advertisements would be the indisputable way to go.

About The Author
Article by Caitlin Rambo. For more information about Modern Mail, please visit our website at: www.modernmail.com.

Caitlin Rambo currently works as Marketing Assistant for Modern Mail. For more information about this article, or for other articles by her, please visit her company’s website at: www.modernmail.com.

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