Take Control! Enhance the Potency of Your Facebook Experience

Facebook’s control over the content that appears in users’ news feeds has rightfully been a hot topic of late, but the impact this has on our social media marketing efforts is really only half of the story.

The other half of the story, of course, is the impact it has on users.

It’s understandable that the massive decline in organic reach that many businesses and brands are experiencing is the primary focus of many posts and discussions here on Social Media Today. After all, we all clearly have an interest in the use and practical application of social media for marketing purposes.

We’re no longer choosing the content we see on Facebook

Interestingly, there is little talk about the impact that Facebook’s algorithm has on the average user.

Unlike most media channels that offer users a vastly open experience allowing and encouraging personal discovery, selection and choice, Facebook has effectively stripped these attributes from the experience they provide.

Because the vast majority of time on Facebook is spent on the news feed, Facebook’s algorithm is effectively picking and choosing the media that users consume.

Imagine any other media channel following a model like this. We’d be running for our pitchforks!

Okay, that’s maybe a little dramatic, but the point is that we certainly wouldn’t be happy about it.

The value of your ‘like’ has been diminished

It used to be that ‘liking’ a Page on Facebook was indication of a choice that a user made to allow the content of that Page to be visible in their news feed.

It’s that promise, the freedom of choice, and the personally influenced customization of experience that Facebook has essentially eliminated from their offering that was a reality not long ago.

Take control! Don’t let Facebook dictate your experience

The good news is that we can, and the solution is simple: Create interest lists.

Interest lists allow Facebook users to create custom feeds of content that is published by the Pages of our selection.

No algorithm.

No post filtering.

No sponsored posts (except those that are sponsored by the Pages we choose for inclusion in our lists).

This immensely underutilized feature allows you control the Facebook content that you want to see, with no outside influence.

Even if you have no qualms with Facebook’s algorithm and the selection of content that they deem to be important to you, Interest lists can still be amazingly helpful.

Consider creating lists to conduct competitive research, stay in-tune with categorically relevant happenings, educate yourself, grow your skillset, follow personal interests, keep up with the latest Internet memes, or keep your ear to the ground for special offers and discounts.

Whether you’ve been rubbed the wrong way by Facebook’s seizure of control over your news feed, or haven’t given it much thought at all, there’s no denying that utilizing Interest lists can enhance the potency of your Facebook experience. It’s time to list-up.

via

Negative Social Media Marketing Feedback and How to Handle It

According to eMarketer, of businesses in the United States with a minimum of 100 employees, 87 percent utilized social media marketing within the last year. While that is certainly a large number, clearly not all businesses are taking advantage of the benefits offered by social media marketing. Many businesses that are not putting social media marketing to work for them may be holding back because they do not want negative feedback or comments. Unfortunately, just because a business does not utilize social media does not mean consumers are remaining silent. With sites such as Yelp, it is incredibly easy for consumers to discuss and review your brand, even if you are not using social media marketing on your own.

Since you cannot avoid the potential for negative feedback, it is imperative that you understand how to respond to it. The social media training firm Social Media Marketing University found that less than 50 percent of marketing professionals had developed an effective plan for handling negative social media feedback. 

Respond Rather than Ignore

The first and most important rule of handling negative feedback on social media is to acknowledge and respond. Ignoring negative feedback does not make it go away. The worst action that you can take, other than to simply ignore it, is to delete it. You should only delete negative feedback in certain circumstances, such as when it involves lewd comments or inappropriate language. As tempting as it can be to handle negative feedback by deleting it, the truth of the matter is that it is already out there, and you can be certain that someone has seen it. Furthermore, the person who originally wrote the comment will see that it has been deleted, and nothing will prevent him or her from posting another, even more irate comment. Any chance that you have of rectifying the situation and preventing it from becoming exacerbated is gone forever.

What exactly is on the line by taking the time to respond to negative feedback? A study conducted by The Retail Consumer Report found that 68 percent of consumers who posted negative feedback received a response from the relevant business. Of that number, 18 percent of consumers who posted negative feedback were converted into loyal customers and 33 percent eventually posted positive feedback. Furthermore, 34 percent of consumers who had originally posted negative feedback later deleted that feedback following a response.

Clearly, when handled properly, even negative feedback can actually prove to be a beneficial tool for deriving loyalty from your customers.

Respond Quickly 

While responding to negative feedback is important, simply responding is not enough. The timeframe in which you respond is also critical to the final outcome. One study found that 25 percent of customers posting a negative review anticipate a response within 1 hour. Even more startling, 6 percent of consumers expect to receive a response within 10 minutes.

Provide Additional Information

So, what do you say when responding to a negative review or comment on social media? Above all, it is important to be sincere and human. Do not make the mistake of simply following a set protocol for every negative comment or review that you receive. A response of “We’re sorry to hear about your experience,” provides customers with no helpful information and does not resolve the problem. Responding quickly is important, but only if you provide genuine, helpful information. Be willing to be honest in your response. Rather than attempt to provide excuses for the customer’s experience, own up to it if the customer’s bad experience was your fault. Offer a genuine apology and provide a solution.

Know What Is Being Said About Your Company

The only way that you can appropriately respond to negative feedback on social media is if you actually know what is being said about your company. Even if your business is not a Fortune 500 company with the budget to hire a dedicated social media manager, you still need to know what is being said about your business. Setting up alerts through Google and even typing the name of your business into a Google search from time to time can help you to stay on top of the comments that are out there. 

Don’t Take It Personally

Finally, as hard as it may be, try to avoid taking negative feedback personally. Try to view such negative feedback as constructive criticism and an opportunity to improve your operations. If you feel that the customer is wrong, do not hesitate to defend your business, but make sure that you do it in a polite way. In some instances, the truth of the matter may fall somewhere in the middle. When this is the case, it is important to apologize for any error that is on your part while also gently correcting any misinformation on the part of the customer. At this point, it is also usually best to take the conversation offline and continue it with the customer in private. 

via

SEO for Dummies: Learn SEO in 10 Simple Steps

If you are anything like most people, SEO can seem like the unwanted elephant in the room. You know your business needs to deal with it, but you don’t want to be the one responsible for this task. When most people think SEO, they assume difficult, complex, and time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be any of those things. In fact, you can learn SEO in 10 simple steps. All you need to do is lean in, listen, and apply the information you are given. While no two businesses operate the same, SEO is flexible enough to accommodate any need, desire, or shortcoming. Remove the elephant in the room and take your business to the next level!

Step 1: Setup

During the initial setup stage, you should prepare yourself for success. Just as a house needs a solid foundation before the framing goes up, so does your SEO strategy. The foundation in this case consists of tools like Google Analytics, Google AdWords, and Google Webmaster Tools.

• Google Analytics will play a major role in tracking and analyzing how visitors interact with your site. Because it is free of charge and relatively intuitive, it is a necessity for every SEO campaign. In addition to creating an account and adding it to your website, you will want to read up on the features it offers.

• Google AdWords is particularly useful as it pertains to SEO for its keyword research capabilities. This incredibly valuable tool allows you to find out what users are searching for so you can cater to their needs, wants, and desires.

• Google Webmaster Tools allows you to gain the most out of your SEO efforts by letting you view your site through the eyes of Google. This toolset gives you keen insight into how pages are performing, which links are pointing to it, keywords that are working, and aspects that need to be fixed. You will find it useful to read through Google Webmaster Guidelines.

Step 2: Site Audit

If you have an existing site, you will want to perform a site audit when starting your SEO. With each passing month, Google is becoming more stringent with its penalties, and rules are becoming increasingly cut and dried. The best way to ensure your site is in compliance is to perform a detailed site audit.

One helpful site audit tool is the Moz Site Audit Checklist. As a reliable source, this detailed checklist is great for examining everything from content and accessibility to site architecture and internal linking. Another good option is WooRank. This helpful website audit tool automatically checks and analyzes many items on the Moz checklist. While a site audit may take significant time and energy, it is completely necessary to SEO. Penalties for preexisting violations can be harsh and eventually undo much of the hard work you put into your site.

Step 3: WWW or Without

Surprisingly enough, a very important part of SEO depends on those three “w’s” you see in front of your site’s web address. If you aren’t careful, you could make a costly mistake regarding these letters. People often think this determines whether someone can arrive at your website by typing www.domain.com or domain.com, which is not quite the case. At its core, this is about how the search engines view your website and how links pointing to your site are treated. You can choose to go with the ‘www’ or without it, but it is important to choose just one. If you choose both, the search engines will view your website as two separate sites, which can badly damage your rankings and link quality.

Step 4: Keyword Research

Some experts go as far as to say keyword research is the most important part of SEO. It’s hard to argue with that statement, as there are plenty of statistics to back it up. If you are serious about SEO, you need to invest heavily in keyword research. For your site to stand out against the more than 100 billion Google search queries per month, you must appropriately optimize. That starts with keyword research. Everything else falls into place after you gain an understanding of what your audience is searching for. Here is a sampling of useful tools you can use to get started:

• Google AdWords Keyword Planner
• Google Suggest
• Ubersuggest
• Google Trends
• Google Webmaster Tools

Step 5: Navigation

Navigation, as it relates to SEO, is important on two ends. First, it is imperative for visitors to be able to navigate smoothly and quickly through your site’s pages. Second, search engines need to find clear connections between individual links and pages.

To accomplish both of these goals simultaneously, you need to build a universal navigation. Do this by identifying why visitors come to your site, what your top exit pages are, and what search terms are used on site. Next, you should divide your products and key pages into categories with useful names. Finally, put those categories in the universal navigation and keep things simple. If you use drop down menus, they need to be in HTML in order for the search engines to read them. If your product pages have more than 20 items on a page, consider adding a filter for visitors to narrow their search.

Step 6: On-Page Content

While there is significant behind the scenes work that goes into SEO, you still need quality content for visitors to read and view. Google’s newest algorithm is putting a major emphasis on useful, high-quality writing instead of heavy keyword usage. Avoid keyword stuffing and instead use calculated, well-placed keywords. It is best to target one keyword phrase per page. As for the structure, each page should have a distinct arrangement and headings.

Step 7: Meta Tags

In order to understand the value of meta tags, you must think about things through the eyes of search engine users. When you search for something, how do you determine which result to click? You most likely analyze the first few results and read a few words from the title and accompanying description. As a site, you only have a limited string of characters to persuade a user to click on your result over millions of others available. That descriptive sentence is known as a meta tag.

Your site will see a noticeable improvement if you are able to properly attack meta tags. Each meta description should be around 160 characters and should include natural keyword phrases. It is also crucial that you include some sort of call to action. This can be difficult to accomplish in only a few words and requires careful planning and thinking. If you’ve done your keyword research and organized site content in an effective manner, it should all fall into place.

Step 8: Coding

Coding can be a difficult part of SEO for those unfamiliar with the topic. While you will probably need to find someone well-educated in coding to perform detailed actions, there is one area you should understand: robots.txt.

In simple terms, robots.txt is a text file that you put on your site to tell search engines which pages they are allowed to visit. While this code is not mandatory, it is very helpful in cases where you have pages you wish for search robots to avoid. Think of it like a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door. Thieves can still get in if they like, but most folks will leave you alone. It is important to make sure your robots.txt file is in the main directory of your site and is structured appropriately.

Step 9: Sitemap

You can have a beautiful, properly structured site, but unless people can view it, your hard work doesn’t mean anything. To get the maximum amount of traffic and visibility, your site must be indexed by search engines and directories, like DMOZ. Otherwise, the big guys, like Google, Yahoo! and Bing, are unlikely to find the most relevant page on your site to display (if your site is found at all).

Many techniques and tools promise to get your site indexed by search engines. However, the least time consuming and most reliable way to lead search engines and visitors through your site’s content is by creating a sitemap. With an HTML sitemap, visitors can quickly navigate the contents of your site and head to the most relevant area. Similarly, an XML sitemap is read by search engines to ensure the most relevant page of your site is displayed.

Step 10: Off-Page

In addition to the work you put into your site, you’ll need to spend some effort working off of your page. Focus on link building through content marketing, blog writing, guest blogging, infographics, site directories, and other tools that allow you to leave online footprints leading back to your site. Off-page efforts also include social media marketing. When properly used, sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram can be helpful tools in acquiring site traffic. Whatever you do, avoid black hat SEO techniques when it comes to off-page efforts.

via

Consumer Training as a Method to Improve Organic Reach on Facebook

Declining organic reach on Facebook has been a hot topic as of late.

Potential solutions are being offered up left and right for how to overcome this trend and earn content a valuable position in the News Feed.

The fact of the matter is that Facebook is making changes to suit its business and keep a diverse group of stakeholders happy.

As it pertains to organic reach of content and keeping businesses and brands happy:

Could they provide an unfiltered News Feed that mimics Twitter’s endless stream of recent updates? Sure.

Could they give greater priority to branded and business-related content in the News Feed? Sure.

Could they do any number of things to make marketers and business owners happier? Sure.

But you’ve got to know that Facebook is continually thinking about options to optimize the News Feed algorithm and are probably making more adjustments and testing more approaches than we can possibly imagine.

At the end of the day, they need to find a balance between what keeps their user-base happy, what keeps businesses and brands happy, what keeps shareholders happy, and what keeps any number of additional stakeholders happy.

A difficult task to say the least. But…

What if the solution for declining organic reach had more to do with user behaviour than complicated News Feed algorithms?

Let me explain.

It’s widely known that people spend the vast majority of their time on Facebook perusing the News Feed. For the most part, they accept what’s being shown to them there, and that comprises the bulk of their experience.

This is intriguing behaviour, however.

On other content distribution networks – which at the end of the day is a big part of what Facebook is – people actively make choices about what they want to see based on their interests, mood, time of day, what people have told them about, and a multitude of other factors.

On television, people surf channels, they PVR their favourite shows, they search Google on their tablets for what’s showing when… they make choices about what they want to watch.

In print media, people flip pages, reference indexes and tables of contents, bookmark pages, highlight passages… they make choices about what they want to read and look at.

And online, people demonstrate similar behaviour – they surf the web, they conduct endless searches, they bookmark, add blogs to RSS feeds, and on, and on… they make choices about the content they want to consume.

Why don’t people make choices about the content they want to see on Facebook?

My theory is that many people might simply not know how, and that many people are viewing the platform more as a broadcast channel than a personalized social experience.

Facebook has great built-in functionality to create Interest Lists that are essentially timelines of content that the user curates into custom lists. And these lists are available on the home page – right beside the News Feed – in the left sidebar.

You know all this, so I’ll not go into detail here, but Interest Lists are awesome, right?

In my opinion, the standout qualities of Interest Lists are that they’re user-created, they’re unfiltered, and they’re easy to make.

If everyone knew how to make Interest Lists, and you consistently produced absolutely killer content, don’t you think you’d end up achieving greater organic reach on Facebook? Don’t you also think that users would have an overall better experience on Facebook? If this isn’t win-win, I don’t know what is.

So, let’s make this happen.

How? I’m happy you asked.

I think there are two parts to this equation: 1) consumer training or education, and 2) the consistent publication of awesome, can’t live without it, content.

Let’s train Facebook users how to create and populate Interest Lists

Remember the early days of Facebook? When we created like-gates and huge graphics pointing to the ‘like’ button to acquire new fans?

We did those things because people weren’t used to using the platform (and sure, because we could). They needed training on how to get updates from the businesses, brands and organizations that they identified with, and train them we did!

Is there any reason we can’t get people creating Interest Lists and adding our businesses to those lists? Of course we can do that! It’ll just take a bit of time, some education and consistent reminders.

And if we all made a concerted effort to train this new behaviour, we could probably get them using this feature even sooner, and take a bite out of this declining organic reach issue we’re spending so much time talking about.

We need to live up to our end of the bargain by providing some pretty great value

Of course, if we’re going to get people to start making Interest Lists, and then have them want to add our businesses to those lists, we’ll need to give them some incentive.

So, we’ll need to be providing a solid value proposition to people to take the time to add us to their lists. This require continued energy and emphasis on producing killer content, facilitating some amazing social experiences, and of course building real relationships with these people so they feel compelled to continue checking out our businesses.

via

24 Things to Consider When Designing and Developing a Website

From functionality and appearance to navigation and coding integrity, a lot goes into creating an eye-catching, user-friendly website. It doesn’t end there, either. Web developers and designers must work together to produce websites that will be located by search engines, engage customers, and stimulate conversions. Whew! That’s a lot of pressure. Fortunately, the following 24 tips will guide you through the process of creating a unique user experience that inspires viewers to become loyal brand advocates. 

1. Choosing a Domain and Host

Great domain names (take a look at Google and Yahoo, for two) say so much while saying so little. In addition to being memorable, a domain name needs to accurately reflect your brand’s voice and be nearly impossible to misspell. Finding the right name for your brand is crucial, because incorporating a combination of SEO, simple spelling, and brand identity into the domain name leads to a higher chance of being located in search engine results. Simply put, businesses that are easily accessed online get more customers.

When comparing hosting packages, it’s vital to consider the nature of your website and business. Will the website be media-rich, with loads of pictures, videos, and presentations? Do you have technical support in-house, or do you need reliable, responsive support from your hosting provider? Also think about the amount of traffic your website will receive. Does the hosting company offer scalable solutions? What backup, security, and additional features are offered? Don’t forget to research reviews about the company’s performance on social media and third party websites before making a final decision.

2. Backend Services (CMS “Content Management System” / Software)

It’s impossible to develop a great website without a functional program taking care of the backend. If you think of your website as a car, you can understand why. When friends see your shiny new sports car, they look at the sleek paint job, glistening tires, and luxurious leather seating. In the world of websites, this equates to the part of your site a user experiences directly. Just like the powerful engine in your sports car, the backend of your website is where the magic really happens. Without strong backend services, your website won’t be able to “wow” your guests. Similarly, a sports car without an engine is rendered useless. One of the best “engines” for ecommerce sites is Magento, while WordPress is a customizable CMS ideal for informational sites. 

3. Clean Design

One of the most important things to remember during the process of website development is to create a clean, appealing design. A quality design is attractive and easy to read with intuitive navigation. Most importantly, a clean design helps viewers focus on the value of your brand and content instead of distracting graphics and large amounts of text. Often, customers associate website designs with the quality of a particular company or product. Hence, a clean design is vital to providing a positive user experience that encourages customers to return.

4. Effective Color Scheme

Color schemes are more important than customers realize. Different colors have the ability to evoke emotional responses, such as calm, happiness, or frustration. When it comes to using colors in your website design, it’s essential to consider your company’s niche, target audience, branding, and the elements of color theory. What colors will your target audience respond to? If your color scheme is similar to your logo and branding, is it overwhelming or pleasing to look at? Are you trying to convey your brand’s voice with a bright and spunky orange or a professional, calming blue? Regardless of your choice, spending the time to research the best color options will give your visitors a good impression.

5. Branding

Branding is important to all businesses, both large and small. The design and placement of your brand’s logo contributes to a viewer’s overall opinion. Professionally designed logos successfully catch the customer’s eye and provide a clear picture of the brand’s unique voice. Choose a location on your site that is readily visible to visitors, such as the upper left corner, since this is where the eye naturally begins to scan a website. To further solidify your brand’s identity, consider using the same logo on packaging, print advertising, and branded apparel. When a business is consistent with branding, it provides customers with an integrated and memorable brand experience.

6. Functionality

When thinking about functionality, there are a few matters to consider. Namely, is the website functional in the literal sense? Are there loading issues or broken links? Are the site’s security features adequate for your business’s needs? In addition to these operational issues, it’s crucial to view your website’s features from the user’s perspective. Are the contact forms, surveys, and customer feedback sections of your site working properly? One or all of these functional issues can prompt a customer to leave your site. 

7. Navigation

If a website is confusing and difficult to navigate, your customers may leave and never return. To increase the efficiency and appeal of your site’s navigation, conduct an in-depth site review as if you are a new visitor. Note the navigation streams that make sense and those that do not. One way to improve a visitor’s ability to navigate your site easily (and help search engines crawl your site) is to add a site map. Furthermore, streamlining navigation by eliminating unnecessary or underperforming pages may decrease load time while improving the quality of your brand’s online presence.

8. Usability

Websites that are easy to use are more likely to garner customer interest and encourage business. Usability can be increased by displaying product and service information in a clear, concise manner. Make sure your website has all the features a customer would need for the site to be easily accessible. If a viewer is reading your blog and wants to subscribe to an email newsletter, do they have to hunt for the opt-in form? Is your contact information clearly displayed? Does the layout of your website encourage social sharing and further interaction with your brand? These key elements are essential to review when optimizing the usability of your site. 

9. Call to Action

Placing calls to action on your website encourages customers to contact your business. A friendly suggestion, such as “Contact us today!” demonstrates that your business wants to develop a relationship with its customers. It’s important that calls to action are appropriate for a visitor’s level of engagement with your company. If they’re just discovering your brand, invite them to subscribe to your email newsletter. If they’re already a loyal customer, perhaps they’ll enjoy participating in your brand’s loyalty rewards program. Regardless of what you’re asking visitors to do at your site, always include a call to action at least once on each page.

10. Short Loading Times

When looking for information online, nothing aggravates visitors more than slow loading times. Customers can be turned away completely due to this issue. Testing your website ahead of time will help you pinpoint any loading time issues, and these can be fixed before your site’s official release. To increase customer retention and provide a positive user experience, periodically evaluate your website’s loading time once it has launched. Short load times give customers the information they want when they want it. If your site can’t deliver, a competitor’s site will.

11. Active Blog

An on-site blog helps keep customers informed about the latest products, company events, and industry-related information. Featuring a blog on your website is a great way to connect with them, especially if your posts encourage readers to interact with your brand. Keeping your blog regularly updated informs customers of your brand’s values and desire to promote communication. By regularly providing readers with fresh, helpful, engaging content, your brand becomes a trusted resource and an industry authority.

12. Clean, SEO-Friendly Code

Whether you’re developing new webpages or optimizing existing ones, it’s critical to have clean, SEO-friendly code. By taking the time to improve your site’s code, you can increase the overall return on investment. SEO-friendly code acts as a guide for search engine spiders by providing a clear picture of your site’s content. Certain CMS services, such as WordPress, provide plug-ins designed to simplify the process of cleaning up code and increasing search engine rankings. Since it requires little coding knowledge (if any), WordPress is a great resource for companies struggling to drive traffic to their websites.

13. Compatibility with Multiple Browsers

As technology progresses, the number of internet browsers is steadily growing. From Internet Explorer and Chrome to Firefox and Safari, it can be frustrating to keep up with them all. When creating a website, it’s vital to ensure that your website is reachable from multiple browsers. Specifically, your site should load properly on all major browsers – including older versions. Failing to take this step may exclude a large section of your customer base, which can be a costly consequence for a growing business.

14. Mobile Sites vs. Responsive Sites

Statistics indicate that the use of mobile devices to conduct online searches has increased significantly in the past two years. In fact, approximately 95% of mobile device users count on their devices to search for local products and services. To effectively reach this growing population of mobile users, businesses need to be sure that their websites are available from any device. For a large company with an existing web presence, it makes sense to develop a separate, mobile-friendly website designed to perform well on any device. On the other hand, a business planning the launch of a website would be better served by choosing a responsive design capable of adapting to any device.

15. Integration with Social Media

Integration with social media is no longer a novelty – it’s a requirement. As technology makes information sharing more convenient, businesses lacking social media integration fail to take advantage of what has been likened to modern day word-of-mouth advertising. Social media provides a venue in which customers can promote your brand, provide reviews, and stay in-the-know about your company’s latest news. Written and visual content, including product images and branded video, are easily distributed on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn with the addition of social sharing buttons on your website.

16. Captcha Tests

Spam, spam, and more spam. That’s what some businesses receive in their comment sections, contact forms, and site forums that don’t have captcha tests in place. These tests (you’ll recognize them as the random letters and numbers typed before submitting a web-based form) differentiate humans from robots. Adding these short tests to your contact forms will ensure that only humans are able to use your site’s resources – saving your business time and money.

17. Effective Security

With the evolution of technology, newer and more advanced security risks threaten to compromise your website’s integrity. From malware and viruses to malicious apps and the threat of hackers, websites must prevent security breaches on both the front ends and back ends. Websites built to conduct online transactions, such as ecommerce sites, need additional security measures to protect customer information. To reduce the potential for browser-based threats, businesses must add SSL certificates to their websites. During development, it’s critical to review the security features included in your site’s framework and design. Businesses also need to conduct regular security checks or work with a provider who offers this service.

18. Offsite Reviews 

Due to Google’s search algorithm changes, greater priority has been placed on local searches. Review services, such as Google and Yelp, can be instrumental in generating qualified leads for businesses. Now, when customers search for a local business or product, they’re often greeted with reviews about a company on the first page of search engine results. Obtaining reviews on third party websites adds to your brand’s credibility, while making it simple for viewers to gain insight into customer satisfaction associated with your brand. To guarantee customers are able to leave reviews about your company, make sure to claim your business profile on third party review sites like Google and Yelp. You can than create a call to action on your website that will prompt a client to write a review and lead them to that particular third party review service.

Google offers a great way to connect your Google+ business page reviews with your website. As long as you have an address for your business that qualifies and a Google+ account, you can search for your business page and if one doesn’t exist already you can create one. Once Google verifies that you’re the owner you will see your Google+ business page linked to your website whenever it appears in the SERP’s.

19. Customer Testimonials

Similar to offsite reviews, customer testimonials can be used to promote your business. By featuring customer testimonials on your site, you demonstrate your company’s skills, products, and commitment to customers. If you already have a loyal customer base, reach out to a few and solicit online reviews. If they’re willing to provide a recorded testimonial, take advantage of this opportunity to create a branded video. The more genuine, detailed testimonials your company receives, the greater your chances of gaining new customers.

20. Google+ Author Verification

Though Google stopped accepting page verification requests (not to be confused with Google+ business page verification, which is still active), it remains essential to complete Google+ author verification for your site. Linking site content to specific authors using Google+ profiles allows the search engine to easily distinguish between content created by a human and content of a lesser quality. Completing the Google+ author verification steps also ensures that the author’s byline and photo appear in SERPs. When looking for relevant content, customers greeted with the promise of information provided by a real person are more likely to click on the link. As a bonus, claiming your brand’s byline in SERPs makes it easier for customers and peers to connect with it.

21. Tracking

Between Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools and bing Webmaster Tools, web developers have the mechanisms necessary to accurately and efficiently calculate return on investment. For both traditional and mobile websites, these instruments can be used together to monitor traffic, engagement, and conversion rates. After digging deep into the data, it’s possible to uncover which marketing campaigns work best and which are underperforming. These valuable insights into why customers come to, stay on, and leave your website help your team perfect marketing strategies and adjust engagement techniques to maximize results. Since your branded online presence acts as a 24/7 storefront, it’s essential to simplify the outcomes measurement process by using Google Analytics along with Google and bing’s Webmaster Tools.  

22. Comprehensive Sitemap

When you sit down to read a book, what’s the most helpful section to review first? Typically, it’s the table of contents. Acting as a summary of the book’s details, the table of contents provides a snapshot of material found within. Similarly, a sitemap provides visitors and search engines with the information to easily navigate your website and discover its contents. To keep your site up to date, it’s necessary to revise the site map as new pages are added. Google Webmaster Tools simplifies this process for you.

23. Original Content

When designing a website, it is crucial to write high quality, original content that is relevant to your company and products. Everything from the quality of your content to the keywords used affects your site’s ranking in search engine results. Keyword research can provide topic ideas and, if used sparingly, will help customers quickly locate the content they’re seeking. To increase the appeal, each web page should have no less than 150 words and should include links to credible resources and other pages on your website. More than providing information, the content published on your site should be written to echo your brand’s unique voice. Before publishing, use a tool like Copyscape to ensure that it passes duplication standards. Posting duplicate content on your website will result in steep penalties from Google, including possible removal from search engine results.

24. Stock Images

Everything found on your website is considered intellectual property and falls under copyright laws. As one of the world’s leading suppliers of stock photos, Getty Images regulates the appropriate use of images online. If not posted with permission, images that are copyrighted may result in fines. When incorporating images into your site’s content, make sure to receive written permission for use and pay relevant fees, if applicable. There are also sites that offer access to copyright-free images. However, be sure to carefully review terms of use before posting them. For many businesses, the costs associated with the lawful use of images outweigh the immediate benefit of “getting something for nothing.”

Given these 24 aspects of website development and design, it’s clear that there are many factors to consider when creating a branded website. In addition to increasing traffic and generating leads, your site’s design, navigation, and content must engage customers and inspire further interaction with your brand. As you build a website, review the tools and information outlined in this guide to ensure that your site has the tools required to succeed.

via

5 Ways to Eliminate Wasted Time from Your Online Business in 2014

One of the biggest difficulties to overcome when you’re working on your own online business is staying focused and avoiding wasted time.  It is all too tempting, for example, to spend a few minutes chatting on Facebook after you share your latest blog post.  Or, you might be watching an educational YouTube video, and then take an extra minute to see what the latest compilation of cute cats looks like (of course, that can quickly turn into hours of wasted time). 

There are endless ways that online business owners can waste their time, and it all adds up to lost productivity.  For most people it won’t be possible to be 100% productive 100% of the time, but if you can increase your productivity by even 10 per cent, you’ll see some incredible results.  The following five great items will help identify waste, and eliminate it.

Multi-Tasking

STOP IT!  Many people feel like they are being productive when they are taking phone calls, responding to emails and working on whatever latest project they have all at the same time.  The fact is, however, that when you multi-task you almost always take longer to complete each item than if you would have just focused on one until it was done.  In addition, you are far more likely to have mistakes when you multi-task, so you end up having to go back and do things again.   Whenever possible, focus on one task until it is done, and then move on to the next item on your to-do list.

Ditch the Administrative Work

Many online business owners end up spending the majority of their time on the ‘administrative’ work, such as replying to emails, checking on statistics, sending out invoices and similar things.  As the business owner, your time is extremely valuable, and you should be focusing on the items that only you can do!  If you have the resources, consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of these administrative tasks that are holding you back.  If not, set a goal to be able to hire a VA, even just part time, by a certain date.

Kill the Quick Tasks

Even if you are able to get a virtual assistant to help you with some of the administrative tasks, you will still be left with a lot to do.  Many people make the mistake of putting off all the small tasks that they have, thinking that they can get to them later after the bigger projects are done.  In the end, this almost always ends up causing a lot of wasted time.  If you see a small task like responding to an email come in your inbox, deal with it immediately.  If it is going to take 10 minutes or less, there is no reason to put it off! 

Eliminating these small tasks will help your to-do list seem cleaner, and can also help you get the sense of accomplishment that can keep you motivated.  In addition, when you constantly have that list of small items nagging at you in the back of your head, it is difficult to concentrate on other things you need to get done.

Track Your Time

Keeping track of your time can be a great way to identify and eliminate waste.  There are many software programs that will, for example, monitor which applications you’re spending the most time on each day.  In many cases, people learn that while they thought that they were only spending a few minutes at a time on YouTube, it was adding up to several hours per week.  The same can be said about Facebook and many other sites.  Identifying where you are spending a lot of time (that is not related to your business) is an essential first step in eliminating that waste.

Let Those Fires Burn

The last, and for many people most significant, waste of time is the constant ‘putting out of fires.’  Whenever a problem comes up, many business owners feel like they need to stop everything and address it immediately.  While there are some problems that need this type of response, most of them can wait.  Knowing the difference between a real emergency and a problem that can be dealt with later is very important. 

If your business website crashes, for example, that is most likely a major problem that needs your immediate attention (unless you have an IT staff, then it is not something for you to worry about).  If, on the other hand, you get an angry email from a customer, that is not something that needs an immediate response.  Putting it off until later in the day, or even the following day, may be a good use of your time.  Of course, you want to respond to even minor issues as early as is convenient, but not at the expense of interrupting other important work.

via

Top 10 Myths Associated With Working In The Digital Industry

Just like any other industry, when it comes to working in the digital sector, it's fair to say that there are more than a couple of misconceptions and myths circulating about the roles available and the work involved.

Whether you work in SEO, social media or web development, sure you’ll have come across a few of these myths when you tell people exactly what it is you do for a living… and to say it’s annoying is a bit of an understatement.

With that in mind; I thought it was about time I set the record straight. So for anyone who’s thinking about entering into the digital industry in 2014 or anyone who thinks they know exactly what’s involved in the digital sector, despite never having worked in it, here are the top 10 myths associated with working in the digital sector.

1. You Have To Be Able To Code: Granted, more and more roles outside of the core web development function are calling for coding skills – but that doesn’t mean every single person working in the digital industry knows – or needs to know – how to code. Seriously, if the fact that you don’t know how to build a website has been putting you off a career in digital, it’s time to reassess.

2. You’re Good With Every Piece Of Technology: If I had a pound for every time my Mum’s asked me to fix her printer, I’d be a very rich lady right about now! Yes, I work in SEO and online content – but that doesn’t mean I have the first clue about printers, modems or digital TV set top boxes. Sorry Mum!

3. It’s Not A “Real Job”: The fact that the digital industry is one of the fastest growing and most profitable industries in the UK at the moment seems to suggest it’s a very real industry. And guess what? The jobs are too!

4. You Can Work From Home: Whether it’s a social media role or a copywriter vacancy, if you’ve recruited for a digital candidate this year, chances are you’ll have received an application from someone asking if they could work from home. Now, there are employers who do let their digital employees work from home – but there are more that don’t. Why? Because just like any other role in any other industry, the majority are office-based  and involve working as part of a tight-knit team where collaboration and creativity are key.

5. It’s Not Full-Time: Another common misconception associated with digital jobs is that they’re not full-time. Now, I’m not sure where this misconception has come from but I’m sorry to tell you that that’s just not true. In fact, I’d even go as far to say that employees in the digital sector actually end up working above and beyond “full-time” hours most weeks because, due to the nature of the job, they’re always “connected”, particularly if they’re working in something like social media, which is 24-7.

6. You’re A “Geek”: Yawwwwnnn!! Enough said!

7. If You Work In SEO, You’re Dodgy: Now, I understand why SEOs get a hard time. There are lots of dodgy SEO companies out there that just take the money and run… but that doesn’t mean everyone who works in SEO is like that. Seriously, I’ve been working in SEO for four years now and it’s fair to say I’ve met more “good” SEOs than dodgy ones – so take note!

8. If You Work In Social Media, You “Just Play Around On Facebook”: This one was submitted by our Social Media Manager Lauren but a quick discussion with my Twitter followers suggests this is a pretty common myth. Yes, social media does involve posting things on Twitter and Facebook – but guess what? It  also involves a lot of strategy, analysis, reporting and analytics too!

9. You Need Lots Of Experience To Get A Digital Job: Now, thanks to the competitive nature of the industry, I can see why this misconception exists – but I’m sorry, it’s just not true. Yes, some employers will always favour candidates who have some digital experience and knowledge under their belt, but there are others, particularly those recruiting for SEOs, who specifically look for candidates with no existing knowledge who they can shape and educate.

10. The Digital Industry Doesn’t Have A Future: When you consider the fact that the Big Lottery Fund announced plans to invest up to £15 million to develop digital skills in the country earlier this year and the fact that the industry is growing at an incredible rate, I think it’s fair to say the digital industry definitely does have a future… and a very profitable one at that!

via

5 Ways Data-Driven Marketing is Like Taking the Perfect Selfie

There’s a lot of reasons why many marketers have yet to let data take the wheel rather than just let it flash on the campaign dashboard. But all these point to one underlying trend: marketers have a perception problem toward the data-driven approach. This tends to outweigh any real value that data can put on the table. Luckily much of this is simply hormone-induced morning anxiety and not really grounded in reality.

Data-driven marketing is much more doable than you think. To hit the point home, let’s strip this approach down to the bare essentials and place it side by side with something straightforward like snapping photos of yourself. The similarities are striking:

1. It’s all about the right focus. That’s rule #1 in the fine art of taking selfies. It all comes down to finding the right angle and sticking to it until it no longer works. In marketing terms, this translates to staying with your objectives, audience, channels, and metrics. Anything beyond these is only a distraction or a false signal.

2. Connecting is what matters. Here’s a celebrity selfie tip for you: make eye contact with the camera. It’s the best way to easily connect with anyone viewing the image. That’s pretty much what you’re trying to achieve in marketing — to really connect with your audience. Think of data as a means to help you accurately cast your gaze where it’s most likely going to get a response.

3. It’s a trial and error process. When sharing his secrets to taking great selfies on Conan, actor Val Kilmer jokingly said: ‘First, you have to take 30,000 pictures of yourself.’ Of course, that’s a gross exaggeration, but it does shed some light on the trial-and-error nature of taking selfies. The same can be said of data-driven marketing. Sometimes, it’s really just a series of corrected mistakes. Don’t worry if you don’t get it right the first time.

4. Results always trump effort. No matter how great you think your self-portrait is, it’s not worth much without the likes, shares, and comments it generates online. In a similar way, your data-driven marketing campaigns won’t mean anything without the responses, leads, or customers they produce. No matter how much you’ve put in, it’s always the output that has the final say.

5. It pays to automate a bit. Apps really lend a big hand when taking selfies. With features ranging from basic photo editing all the way to gesture-recognition, apps make the process easier and the output better in a similar way that a CRM platform makes your life as a data marketer much simpler.

via

Social Literacy as a Competitive Advantage

Social literacy refers to knowing how to use social tools and platforms to find and gather information, share thoughts, and generate discussion. For businesses this has already generated massive opportunities to better connect with customers and other stakeholders as well as improve the general perception of their brand. What has largely been ignored is the potential of socially literate employees who use these tools and services to increase their own competence and thus the competence of the business.

The benefits outweigh the concerns

While there are concerns with employees using social platforms and tools, such as data security issues and productivity loss, failing to adapt social tools can be fatal to organizations moving forward. Furthermore, these concerns are usually based on management perceptions and not on actual studies and/or statistics. Hence management should provide their employees with the necessary tools and encourage their use if they are to stay ahead of the competition.

Benefits of socially literate employees

Socially literate employees are able to gather information from multiple sources efficiently and participate in meaningful discussions, which often lead to new ideas and business opportunities. A study by Microsoft found that 46% of employees believe their productivity has improved due to the use of social tools. However, there is a clear lack of management buy-in that is resulting in a loss of productivity and innovation. According to Microsoft’s study 38% of employees feel management underestimates the potential of social tools in the workplace while 37% feel they could perform better in their job if management was supportive of the use of these tools.

Most industrialized countries now have a heavily knowledge based economy where information and the ability to apply that information makes the difference between a thriving business and a failing business. Information gathering has become increasingly important as organizations are strained to stay ahead in innovation. By supporting employees’ use of social tools, management is opening their eyes to new ideas.

Encourage employees to use social tools

Organizations that are encouraging their employees to use social tools have found a new competitive advantage as their employees are able to learn faster and keep up with market trends better than ever before. The increase in sharing and collaboration has led to employees being better informed and thus able to make better decisions and generate new, more efficient ways of working.

Employees clearly want to use these tools as they are already seeing the benefit for both themselves and their employer. According to the study 30% say they would even be willing to use their own money for a new tool if it could make them more efficient at their job.

What needs to be done?

Any organization that wants to stay competitive will soon need to adopt social tools as social media is fast becoming the preferred place to get information. Companies need to provide their employees with training on the use of these platforms and the necessary tools to truly benefit from them. From our experience at Smarp, the following steps are usually needed:

1. Management buy-in

Without management buy-in organizations are stuck in old habits and unable to incorporate new, more effective ways of working. Therefore the first step needs to be getting management buy-in to the change.

2. Encouragement

Companies should not only allow the use of social tools but encourage it. This requires some type of internal promotion so that the benefits are clear to the employees and they are sufficiently motivated.

3. Training

To ensure no-one is left behind, the company should provide its employees with training on the use of these platforms and tools. This will increase the competence of employees and create a “smarter” company.

4. Tools

By providing employees with tools to share and interact effectively, companies are able to leverage their employees’ knowledge and networks for business benefit. This will also make the use of social tools and platforms more effective.

5. Application of new ideas

Employers should encourage employees to use the new found knowledge in their work to drive innovation in the organization. This requires that the business is open to testing new ideas and ways of working and moving away from old, less effective procedures.

via