All posts in social media optimization

Guest Bloggers wanted! Evolving Interactive is now accepting guest blog posts. To submit your post, check out our new resource for guest bloggers. It has suggested topics, posting guidelines, and instructions on how to get your story posted as quickly as possible.

In return, Evolving Interactive will link directly to your site or your blog on every post that you submit, as well as promoting it. So head to the Guest Blogger page and get started on your post today.

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According to Local SEO expert Mike Blumenthal, Google is quietly adding a new feature to the places page that will show current events for specific venues; like theaters, concert halls, museums, and more. For these venue owners, it allows another useful step in optimizing the local page, providing more specific information and search terms. And for the searcher, this new places addition provides a more social experience to their search.  Starting in major cities, this feature will allow searchers to find their venue, add the date of the concert, opening, gala, etc. directly to their Google Calendar. From there, users can then notify and invite friends about the event.

Though this isn’t a mind-blowing update, it does represent another step in the direction of Google closing the gap between the search and the social. Less than one month ago, Google unveiled the +1 feature, citing that relevance (one half of the goal of their elusive algorithm) is about as much about the relationships as the content on web pages. This +1 feature appears next to results on the SERP, and searchers only need click once on the tiny tab to give their virtual thumbs up that the result is relevant and worth checking out. These kudos will start to show up to other people searching for the same thing. The idea is that you’ll see your friends, family, and those with opinions you generally respect (those with Google accounts anyway) pop up next to the result you’re searching for, and their approval will inspire you to check it out.

Also this month, and perhaps a bit more mind-blowing is Google’s take on the take-on of social consumerism, a la Groupon and Living Social. About a week ago, Google began a preliminary release of Google offers in a few select cities, promising future bargains of 50% off or more from local vendors, restaurants. These offers will be distributed by email as well. Given the success Groupon has had from a networking perspective with its daily deals, it’s no surprise Google has found its own style and flair for its own daily deals. While Google may not have been the first to come up with any of these concepts, it’s constant overhaul of “what’s working

So you’ve got a web home (your website) and have worked hard on making it SEO friendly. But you still need a boost in the online buzz department. Here’s a few easy, 30-minute or less tips to get you started.

Write a blog post
Websites used to be a home page and a series of jump and landing pages. They were an interconnected loop of relevant information that led to a specific result (usually a sale). Blogging has changed that; since you update it regularly (right?), you are constantly feeding the search engines new keywords giving them reason to rank you higher and give you more buzz.

Post a video on YouTube
Video is probably the quickest way to reach a broad audience, and YouTube is the biggest channel to broadcast it on. Popular videos are two things: engaging and informative. You want to give your viewer valuable information without putting them to sleep.

So play to your strengths. If you’re funny, be funny. If you love sports, slip a few references in there of your favorite team. Don’t shy away from who you are because you want sound a certain way. Authenticity is king on the web; be who you are and people will respond.

Tweet tweet with Twitter
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Print yellow pages used to be where ALL business listing information could be found.  Not anymore.  Today the vast majority of consumers (both B2C and B2B) search for business listing information online.  Therefore it’s critically important for enterprises to take control and optimize this information.

Reason #1: Mobile business listing search is outpacing all other practical smartphone application uses.

Consumers looking for businesses are increasingly turning to their smartphones to access local listing sites such as Google Maps, Bing Local, Yelp, Citysearch, Angie’s List, Merchant Circle, Yellowpages.com, and SuperPages.  A study released earlier this year conducted by comScore, a leading Web behavior research firm, looked at mobile subscribers accessing business directories on a mobile phone.  What they found was the number of mobile subscribers accessing business directories on a mobile phone increased 14% year-over-year to 17.3 million users in March 2010.  This increase outpaced 10% growth in the number of mobile media users who browsed the mobile web, used applications, or downloaded content during the same time period.  Steady double digit increase in usage from the previous year.  And with the dramatic surge in smartphone users in 2010, we anticipate a far more dramatic increase in the future.

 


Reason #2: Mobile media attracts younger and wealthier users.

The comScore study also found that mobile media attracts a highly desirable consumer segment for advertisers.  Mobile usage of business directories unlocks a younger, wealthier user base to advertisers. According to the report:

  • 58 percent are 34 or younger.
  • Over half have a household income in excess of $75,000.
  • The number of people accessing business directories on a mobile device at least once per week increased more than 16 percent year-over-year to nearly five million in March 2010.

Reason #3:  With so few businesses optimizing their listings, it’s easy to positively stand apart from competitors.

Since the local business listings are effectively the interactive yellow pages of the 21st century, businesses need to stop passively watching and actively engaging with their local business listing.

The first step is to claim your business listing.  Then make sure the listing has all the correct information about your business, products and services.  That is then followed by adding photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, events and other information that will help the local customer decide to do business with you.

Then after this initial update, you’ll need to regularly monitor and manage the listing, just as you do your website and Facebook Page.  Managing your local business listing includes managing customer reviews and engaging with them not only to secure positive reviews from satisfied customers, but to insure positive public relations with any customers that are less than satisfied.Знаком

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Last week we wrote about how large corporations were using Twitter to improve their brand image and connect with customers in new and interesting ways. This week we want to show you some simple strategies small businesses can use to monitor their brand on Twitter and other social media sites.

If your business is brand new to social media, start by creating profiles on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media websites. By taking this simple step, you will begin taking ownership of your company name on search results. This is an easy reputation management tactic.

The idea is that when someone searches your company name, you want to control the results they see; particularly on the first page. Instead of seeing things that are out of your control like a bad customer review or lousy press, the searcher will see your home page followed by the social media profiles you set up and perhaps some other IYP and directory listings. There are only ten spots on a search engine results page. By creating these profiles and utilizing some basic SEO tactics, you can control all ten results without much effort. (Tip: creating a Wikipedia page is also a helpful way to control the results).

After you have set up the profiles, what next? A good place to start is at search.twitter.com. This search tool from Twitter allows you to search their entire stream for keywords, like your brand name or your products and services. Enter your company name and perform a search. If someone Tweeted about your company, it may be a good idea to try to connect with them. Politely @reply to their message and if they are unhappy, see if you can address their concern. If they are saying how great your company is, thank them for the support.

For many small businesses, their company name isn’t being discussed everyday and repeating this exercise can be a waste of time. Instead tools like Tweetbeep will do the work for you and send you emails when someone Tweets about your company. There are a lot of articles about Twitter tools, but there are a few good ones: here, here and here.

Finally, develop a long term plan. Remember that social media is about community building. If you can give advice and become active among industry experts, your community will grow. The new local trends feature shows what people are talking about in your area. Become active in community discussions. If you use Twitter simply as a way to consume information rather than provide information, you will have a hard time building a community. But if you can create a community of people interested in your Tweets, you will improve your brand name and your company’s ability to retain clients.

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