Sep 28, 2009
Increase Landing Page Conversions with These Subtle Tricks
Most landing pages are often way too cluttered for their own good - hence the low conversions and high bounce rates. Consumers have shortened attention spans online so overly complicated landing pages with pop-ups, animations, and too much to focus on will only lead them to click away. The following subtle tricks should help you create a more effective landing page that boosts conversions and sales.
Don’t Forget to Provide a Clear Call to Action
Too many people dismiss the importance of a clear call to action. After reading your landing page, users should know exactly what they are supposed to do, whether it is to fill out the form or click “Buy Now.” Adding a call to action to a landing page where one is lacking or making your current call to action much clearer and more prominent can have a dramatic impact on conversions.
Make sure that you only provide one call to action on your landing page. If you provide several different conversion options, people will get confused and your sales message will get diluted. Your prospects just want to sign on the dotted line so make it easy for them to do so.
Keep it Simple
The majority of landing pages are cluttered and overwhelming. Make sure the design of your landing pages is as simple as possible. Get rid of the distracting audio, animation, and bright colors. Make the visuals of your landing page so simple that visitors are guided to the call of action without interruptions.
Text should also be minimized when you are simplifying the design and look of your site. Make the content on your site easy to read and digest by dividing it into sections, using bullet points, and keeping things concise.
If you’re using a form to capture leads on your landing page, try to keep it as short as possible. If your form has too many fields, you will end up losing sales because your prospects won’t want to spend time filling it out. Getting your prospect’s name and email is usually enough in most cases.
The use of simple language is also important. If a sixth grader wouldn’t be able to understand it, don’t use it. Jargon and marketing speak don’t increase sales. If your landing page is too complicated or wordy, your visitors will lose interest quickly.
Convey Your Credibility
Not only should your website be simple, organized, and professional looking, it should also convey your credibility. People have to trust you first in order to purchase something from you. In order to earn that trust, you can list the names of reputable companies you have worked with, provide testimonials, refer to awards you have won, list memberships you have to relevant professional associations, etc.
Take a look at your current landing pages. Are they simple, professional, easy to follow, and organized? If not, make some changes while keeping these tricks in mind. A landing page with a clear call to action and credibility will help you boost conversions dramatically.
Don’t Forget to Provide a Clear Call to Action
Too many people dismiss the importance of a clear call to action. After reading your landing page, users should know exactly what they are supposed to do, whether it is to fill out the form or click “Buy Now.” Adding a call to action to a landing page where one is lacking or making your current call to action much clearer and more prominent can have a dramatic impact on conversions.
Make sure that you only provide one call to action on your landing page. If you provide several different conversion options, people will get confused and your sales message will get diluted. Your prospects just want to sign on the dotted line so make it easy for them to do so.
Keep it Simple
The majority of landing pages are cluttered and overwhelming. Make sure the design of your landing pages is as simple as possible. Get rid of the distracting audio, animation, and bright colors. Make the visuals of your landing page so simple that visitors are guided to the call of action without interruptions.
Text should also be minimized when you are simplifying the design and look of your site. Make the content on your site easy to read and digest by dividing it into sections, using bullet points, and keeping things concise.
If you’re using a form to capture leads on your landing page, try to keep it as short as possible. If your form has too many fields, you will end up losing sales because your prospects won’t want to spend time filling it out. Getting your prospect’s name and email is usually enough in most cases.
The use of simple language is also important. If a sixth grader wouldn’t be able to understand it, don’t use it. Jargon and marketing speak don’t increase sales. If your landing page is too complicated or wordy, your visitors will lose interest quickly.
Convey Your Credibility
Not only should your website be simple, organized, and professional looking, it should also convey your credibility. People have to trust you first in order to purchase something from you. In order to earn that trust, you can list the names of reputable companies you have worked with, provide testimonials, refer to awards you have won, list memberships you have to relevant professional associations, etc.
Take a look at your current landing pages. Are they simple, professional, easy to follow, and organized? If not, make some changes while keeping these tricks in mind. A landing page with a clear call to action and credibility will help you boost conversions dramatically.
Sep 22, 2009
How to Provide Customer Service on Twitter
When most people think of customer service, long wait times on the phone, rude phone operators, and impersonal emails come to mind. Thanks to Twitter, however, customer service no longer has to have such negative connotations.
Twitter has redefined customer relations. Not only does Twitter enable companies to resolve customer problems very quickly, it also contributes to brand building efforts while reducing costs.
Why is Twitter an Ideal Platform for Providing Customer Service?
Twitter is lightning fast. Typically, calling customer service representatives involves frustrating wait times. On the other hand, Twitter allows staff to monitor issues and respond to them very quickly.
Twitter is very viral in nature. If other users notice that you are providing great customer service, they will take notice and share their experience, which will in turn bring you more attention and sales.
Providing customer service via Twitter is a lot less expensive than running a call center. And since you’re communications are limited to 140 characters, you are forced to keep it short, which usually means that it takes less time to solve problems.
Using Twitter to provide customer service is far more interesting for staff and customers than using telephone or email. Customer service reps will also feel more rewarded for their efforts because the immediate impact of their interventions will be visible on Twitter.
Monitor Your Reputation
In order to effectively provide customer service via Twitter, you must track all conversations that are going on about your brand. Find out what people are saying about you by tracking all relevant keywords, such as your company name, flagship product, nick name, etc. There are several tools out there you can use to track multiple keywords on one page such as Monitter. Tweetbeep sends you emails containing all mentions of your brand and links to each tweet.
Make Sure Your Customers Know Where to Find You
Your ability to provide great customer service on Twitter will be limited if your customers don’t even know you’re there. Make sure they know how to find you and follow you by advertising your Twitter presence on your company website, following others, and asking them to follow you back.
Respond Quickly to Customer Concerns and Complaints
When you’re monitoring your brand and find a customer complaint, respond as quickly as possible. Use @replies to ask the disgruntled customer how you can be of help. If it’s a complex issue, you can DM the customer and provide him with your phone number or email.
@replies are typically the best way to deal with customer complaints because they are public. Other customers dealing with similar issues can see your tweets and thus resolve their problems following the same advice, saving you time.
Connect with Followers on a Personal Level
Don’t just use Twitter to handle customer complaints. One of the major benefits of building a Twitter presence is the opportunity it gives you to improve your brand image and reputation. Give people a reason to follow what you have to say by retweeting successful resolutions to customer issues, giving updates about the company, and building a rapport with your followers.
Several companies out there, including Comcast, Southwest Airlines, and Ford, have successfully used Twitter to resolve customer service issues and build a stronger brand. Using Twitter to provide customer service is also far more cost-effective than telephone or email.
So there you have it. Twitter has transformed customer relations. Is your business ready to take the plunge?
Twitter has redefined customer relations. Not only does Twitter enable companies to resolve customer problems very quickly, it also contributes to brand building efforts while reducing costs.
Why is Twitter an Ideal Platform for Providing Customer Service?
Twitter is lightning fast. Typically, calling customer service representatives involves frustrating wait times. On the other hand, Twitter allows staff to monitor issues and respond to them very quickly.
Twitter is very viral in nature. If other users notice that you are providing great customer service, they will take notice and share their experience, which will in turn bring you more attention and sales.
Providing customer service via Twitter is a lot less expensive than running a call center. And since you’re communications are limited to 140 characters, you are forced to keep it short, which usually means that it takes less time to solve problems.
Using Twitter to provide customer service is far more interesting for staff and customers than using telephone or email. Customer service reps will also feel more rewarded for their efforts because the immediate impact of their interventions will be visible on Twitter.
Monitor Your Reputation
In order to effectively provide customer service via Twitter, you must track all conversations that are going on about your brand. Find out what people are saying about you by tracking all relevant keywords, such as your company name, flagship product, nick name, etc. There are several tools out there you can use to track multiple keywords on one page such as Monitter. Tweetbeep sends you emails containing all mentions of your brand and links to each tweet.
Make Sure Your Customers Know Where to Find You
Your ability to provide great customer service on Twitter will be limited if your customers don’t even know you’re there. Make sure they know how to find you and follow you by advertising your Twitter presence on your company website, following others, and asking them to follow you back.
Respond Quickly to Customer Concerns and Complaints
When you’re monitoring your brand and find a customer complaint, respond as quickly as possible. Use @replies to ask the disgruntled customer how you can be of help. If it’s a complex issue, you can DM the customer and provide him with your phone number or email.
@replies are typically the best way to deal with customer complaints because they are public. Other customers dealing with similar issues can see your tweets and thus resolve their problems following the same advice, saving you time.
Connect with Followers on a Personal Level
Don’t just use Twitter to handle customer complaints. One of the major benefits of building a Twitter presence is the opportunity it gives you to improve your brand image and reputation. Give people a reason to follow what you have to say by retweeting successful resolutions to customer issues, giving updates about the company, and building a rapport with your followers.
Several companies out there, including Comcast, Southwest Airlines, and Ford, have successfully used Twitter to resolve customer service issues and build a stronger brand. Using Twitter to provide customer service is also far more cost-effective than telephone or email.
So there you have it. Twitter has transformed customer relations. Is your business ready to take the plunge?
Sep 17, 2009
5 Tips for Building a Unique Brand for Your Blog
Nearly 1 million posts per 24 hours are being published in the blogosphere. Overwhelming? Perhaps… but just because you’re new to blogging doesn’t mean there is no chance for you to succeed as a blogger.
The key to success as a blogger is developing a relationship with your audience, which has to be willing to comment on your content as well as share it and link to it. You can also give your blog an extra advantage by building a unique brand for it. Whether you want to revamp your current blog or you are planning to build a brand new one, follow these 5 simple tips to build a unique blogging brand.
1. Create a blog design that’s minimalist and unique
Break the expectations of your audience by creating a unique, highly simplified blog design. Blog designs that are complex and cluttered are the norm whereas blogs that are simple yet sophisticated tend to stand out. Some attribute Google’s online success to the highly minimalistic design of their site.
2. Refine your writing style
The single most powerful way to build a successful, unique blog is to write in a distinctive, compelling way. Writing is at the heart of your blog. Great writing could even transcend a horrible blog design. As you continue to blog and delve deeply into a variety of topics, concepts, and viewpoints, your style will become more pronounced. Your writing style should be so unique that your readers could pick it out of a lineup.
3. Write about your topic from a different angle
No matter how crowded or competitive a niche may be, there is always room for new insights and perspectives. Even if you cover the same topics as a popular blog in your niche, you can make your blog stand out by adding your unique touch to them. Established sites in any given niche tend to have a predictable way of presenting topics. Provide a fresh angle or unique viewpoint on an established topic to garner some attention.
4. Find a unique topic or intersection of topics
In general, the more offbeat the topic is the better. If you can’t find a topic that’s totally unique, don’t fret. Consider writing about an intersection of topics, such as SEO and social media, online entrepreneurship and personal development, etc. Intersecting topics will help you build a unique community and mix of audiences.
5. Be consistent
One of the most difficult aspects of building and maintaining a successful blog is providing unique, informative content on a consistent basis. Although consistency is a basic blog quality, it could also be considered a unique element since less than 1% of all 133 million blogs created since 2002 are one of the top 50 blogs on Technorati. What can you count on the top 50 blogs having in common? Consistency, that’s for sure.
As the popularity of blogging continues to increase, the battle to build audiences and get reader attention will only become more challenging. Finding and building a unique brand for your blog will help you stand out and give you a far better shot at achieving blogging success.
The key to success as a blogger is developing a relationship with your audience, which has to be willing to comment on your content as well as share it and link to it. You can also give your blog an extra advantage by building a unique brand for it. Whether you want to revamp your current blog or you are planning to build a brand new one, follow these 5 simple tips to build a unique blogging brand.
1. Create a blog design that’s minimalist and unique
Break the expectations of your audience by creating a unique, highly simplified blog design. Blog designs that are complex and cluttered are the norm whereas blogs that are simple yet sophisticated tend to stand out. Some attribute Google’s online success to the highly minimalistic design of their site.
2. Refine your writing style
The single most powerful way to build a successful, unique blog is to write in a distinctive, compelling way. Writing is at the heart of your blog. Great writing could even transcend a horrible blog design. As you continue to blog and delve deeply into a variety of topics, concepts, and viewpoints, your style will become more pronounced. Your writing style should be so unique that your readers could pick it out of a lineup.
3. Write about your topic from a different angle
No matter how crowded or competitive a niche may be, there is always room for new insights and perspectives. Even if you cover the same topics as a popular blog in your niche, you can make your blog stand out by adding your unique touch to them. Established sites in any given niche tend to have a predictable way of presenting topics. Provide a fresh angle or unique viewpoint on an established topic to garner some attention.
4. Find a unique topic or intersection of topics
In general, the more offbeat the topic is the better. If you can’t find a topic that’s totally unique, don’t fret. Consider writing about an intersection of topics, such as SEO and social media, online entrepreneurship and personal development, etc. Intersecting topics will help you build a unique community and mix of audiences.
5. Be consistent
One of the most difficult aspects of building and maintaining a successful blog is providing unique, informative content on a consistent basis. Although consistency is a basic blog quality, it could also be considered a unique element since less than 1% of all 133 million blogs created since 2002 are one of the top 50 blogs on Technorati. What can you count on the top 50 blogs having in common? Consistency, that’s for sure.
As the popularity of blogging continues to increase, the battle to build audiences and get reader attention will only become more challenging. Finding and building a unique brand for your blog will help you stand out and give you a far better shot at achieving blogging success.
Sep 14, 2009
How to Market Your Website with a Creative Commons License
People can share, reuse, and alter content that is licensed under Creative Commons. You can license a variety of different materials under Creative Commons, and doing so is particularly beneficial if you would like your content to spread. When you license your content under Creative Commons, it gives people permission to share it with attributions. Creative Commons licensing can be an effective way for you to market your online content.
Creative Commons was designed with the way the web works in mind. On the web, sharing is a natural activity, and Creative Commons licensing allows you to share with little restriction. Although there is still a heated debate about whether it is right or wrong to share content freely, from a marketing perspective, unrestricted sharing is ideal. Even new digital content producers can get noticed quickly, thanks to unrestricted sharing.
What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons licenses lie somewhere between a full copyright and public domain. Rather than having “all rights reserved,” Creative Commons licensed content has “some rights reserved.” A Creative Commons license essentially allows you to modify your copyright terms. It tells people that they are allowed to use your content but that they must attribute it in the way you ask. Telling people they are allowed to share and reuse your content typically encourages even more sharing.
People who can benefit from Creative Commons licensing include bloggers, photographers, musicians, artists, businesses, and more. Adding a Creative Commons License to your content is a marketing tool because it encourages sharing and the word-of-mouth spreading of content. This type of social sharing is the most organic form of PR that exists. Creative Commons puts the control of the content sharing in the content producers’ hands.
What people have to realize is that if they produce high quality content, it is going to be reused no matter what. If you try to go against the sharing, it’ll be an uphill battle. Just look at the music industry’s current struggle with online file sharing. Rather than fighting content sharing, go with it and take advantage of it as a promotional tool.
SEO and PR Benefits of Creative Commons
As an added perk, licensing your content under Creative Commons has SEO benefits. Since you have control over how your content is attributed, you can have everyone link directly to your homepage using a hyperlink. This will help you get a lot of link love and contribute to your link building campaign.
You can also capitalize on your success in using Creative Commons to get some PR. The topic of free is trendy and is getting a lot of media attention right now so you can take advantage of that in order to get media coverage.
Encouraging Influential People to Share Your Content
When you create quality content and license it under Creative Commons, it encourages influential bloggers and professionals to link to your content. Established bloggers and content publishers are very careful not to infringe on copyrights because they know that it could lead to lawsuits. But if these bloggers see that your content is licensed under Creative Commons, they will know that it is completely okay to use it as long as they attribute it properly.
Want to get started with Creative Commons? Take the time to learn more about the specific licenses that are offered and then register one for your content. It’s free!
Creative Commons was designed with the way the web works in mind. On the web, sharing is a natural activity, and Creative Commons licensing allows you to share with little restriction. Although there is still a heated debate about whether it is right or wrong to share content freely, from a marketing perspective, unrestricted sharing is ideal. Even new digital content producers can get noticed quickly, thanks to unrestricted sharing.
What is Creative Commons?
Creative Commons licenses lie somewhere between a full copyright and public domain. Rather than having “all rights reserved,” Creative Commons licensed content has “some rights reserved.” A Creative Commons license essentially allows you to modify your copyright terms. It tells people that they are allowed to use your content but that they must attribute it in the way you ask. Telling people they are allowed to share and reuse your content typically encourages even more sharing.
People who can benefit from Creative Commons licensing include bloggers, photographers, musicians, artists, businesses, and more. Adding a Creative Commons License to your content is a marketing tool because it encourages sharing and the word-of-mouth spreading of content. This type of social sharing is the most organic form of PR that exists. Creative Commons puts the control of the content sharing in the content producers’ hands.
What people have to realize is that if they produce high quality content, it is going to be reused no matter what. If you try to go against the sharing, it’ll be an uphill battle. Just look at the music industry’s current struggle with online file sharing. Rather than fighting content sharing, go with it and take advantage of it as a promotional tool.
SEO and PR Benefits of Creative Commons
As an added perk, licensing your content under Creative Commons has SEO benefits. Since you have control over how your content is attributed, you can have everyone link directly to your homepage using a hyperlink. This will help you get a lot of link love and contribute to your link building campaign.
You can also capitalize on your success in using Creative Commons to get some PR. The topic of free is trendy and is getting a lot of media attention right now so you can take advantage of that in order to get media coverage.
Encouraging Influential People to Share Your Content
When you create quality content and license it under Creative Commons, it encourages influential bloggers and professionals to link to your content. Established bloggers and content publishers are very careful not to infringe on copyrights because they know that it could lead to lawsuits. But if these bloggers see that your content is licensed under Creative Commons, they will know that it is completely okay to use it as long as they attribute it properly.
Want to get started with Creative Commons? Take the time to learn more about the specific licenses that are offered and then register one for your content. It’s free!
Sep 12, 2009
7 Ways to Be a Great Social Media User
Want to become better at social media? If you’re new to social media marketing or you aren’t too sure you’re making the most of your social media usage, there are several things you can do to boost your social media profile and maximize your social media marketing efforts. Here are 7 ways you can build a more powerful social media presence and network while making the most of your social media marketing efforts.
1. Get social!
One of the most important aspects of being a great social media user is socializing! After all, that is what social media networks were made for. For example, if you are using Twitter, make it a point to get to know your followers and interact with them. It’s more valuable to have just a few dozen followers that you actually interact with on a regular basis versus having tons of followers that you haven’t uttered a word to.
If you use social voting sites, network with users by sharing their content with others and discussing their content in the comments section.
2. Spread your social media presence across various networks
If you want to build a stronger brand and network, consider using more than just one social media outlet. For example, if you use Twitter to build rapport with your followers, you can take your relationships to the next level by befriending them on Facebook or LinkedIn. On a social network like Facebook or LinkedIn, you can share photos, connections, and much more.
3. Contribute
Social voting sites like Digg survive and thrive because of user submissions. Rather than just supporting your friends’ content on social voting sites, make it a point to also contribute your own quality content so you can build up your account.
4. Be real
Be yourself, strive to get to know others, and the friends and followers will eventually come. While there are several reports out there about how you can get 10,000 Twitter followers instantly, what the optimum number of times is that you should submit articles to Digg each day, and so on, aim to be real instead of doing whatever is better statistically. People can spot a fake from miles away.
5. Manage your reputation
Reputation management applies more to business social media accounts than personal ones. Social media can be a highly effective way to get feedback from your customers, respond to complaints, and provide customer service. Comcast did this very successfully on Twitter by responding to all negative tweets about Comcast and providing solutions to the customers’ problems from the @comcastcares Twitter account.
6. Stay relevant
If you want to network with people in your niche and build your brand, it’s essential to share and promote relevant stories in your industry. Doing so will help you build beneficial business relationships, promote your own content, and network with people who share similar interests.
7. Dare to be different
Want to get the attention of a certain person or group of people? Don’t just vote for their content or retweet it. Dare to strike up interesting conversations, use humor, get snarky, or do anything else that would make your presence stand out. Ultimately, you should aim to let your real personality shine through rather than just copying what everyone else is doing.
1. Get social!
One of the most important aspects of being a great social media user is socializing! After all, that is what social media networks were made for. For example, if you are using Twitter, make it a point to get to know your followers and interact with them. It’s more valuable to have just a few dozen followers that you actually interact with on a regular basis versus having tons of followers that you haven’t uttered a word to.
If you use social voting sites, network with users by sharing their content with others and discussing their content in the comments section.
2. Spread your social media presence across various networks
If you want to build a stronger brand and network, consider using more than just one social media outlet. For example, if you use Twitter to build rapport with your followers, you can take your relationships to the next level by befriending them on Facebook or LinkedIn. On a social network like Facebook or LinkedIn, you can share photos, connections, and much more.
3. Contribute
Social voting sites like Digg survive and thrive because of user submissions. Rather than just supporting your friends’ content on social voting sites, make it a point to also contribute your own quality content so you can build up your account.
4. Be real
Be yourself, strive to get to know others, and the friends and followers will eventually come. While there are several reports out there about how you can get 10,000 Twitter followers instantly, what the optimum number of times is that you should submit articles to Digg each day, and so on, aim to be real instead of doing whatever is better statistically. People can spot a fake from miles away.
5. Manage your reputation
Reputation management applies more to business social media accounts than personal ones. Social media can be a highly effective way to get feedback from your customers, respond to complaints, and provide customer service. Comcast did this very successfully on Twitter by responding to all negative tweets about Comcast and providing solutions to the customers’ problems from the @comcastcares Twitter account.
6. Stay relevant
If you want to network with people in your niche and build your brand, it’s essential to share and promote relevant stories in your industry. Doing so will help you build beneficial business relationships, promote your own content, and network with people who share similar interests.
7. Dare to be different
Want to get the attention of a certain person or group of people? Don’t just vote for their content or retweet it. Dare to strike up interesting conversations, use humor, get snarky, or do anything else that would make your presence stand out. Ultimately, you should aim to let your real personality shine through rather than just copying what everyone else is doing.
Sep 9, 2009
Using Social Media to Hire Freelancers and Employees
Using social media websites to find new talent for your company can be very effective. Whether you are searching for a designer to spruce up your website, a writer to revamp your copy, or a digital PR specialist to run your next online marketing campaign, social media networks can be a highly valuable resource. The first step in finding people to hire on social media websites is to hang out where they hang out and connect with them on a personal level.
Twitter
In order to find your target audience and hire new talent, a good place to start is Twitter. Connections on Twitter take place instantly, and many people use Twitter to search for job opportunities. To get started with hunting for new talent on Twitter, search for your target terms to see who is tweeting about them. For example, you can do searches for terms like “plumber,” “interior decorator,” and “web designer.” You can also use Twitter Job Search. It is a great place for people to look for work and likewise, it is a great place for employers to find employees.
Another way to find talent on Twitter is to tweet about it to your followers. Tell them what kind of job you are trying to fill and ask them to re-tweet your update. If tons of your followers re-tweet your update, you will receive lots of inquiries from your followers, their followers, and their followers’ followers. In sum, you will be able to reach a vast network of talent.
Hold a Contest
Another great way to find new talent is to hold a contest. For example, if you are looking for someone to design a logo for your company, you can hold a contest and announce it on all the social media networks you participate in. The designer who wins the contest will receive lots of exposure and a prize in return while the other designers will also receive some exposure. It is a win-win situation for both you and the contest participants.
Other Useful Social Media Networks
Other social media networks that are useful when it comes to searching for new talent include LinkedIn and forums. LinkedIn is a networking website for professionals. It has a great search function and provides you with a wealth of information about talented people you can hire. Profiles on LinkedIn provide information such as educational background and employment history.
Forums can also be useful when you are looking for someone to fill a position. By networking with forum participants, you can spread the word fast and generate lots of leads.
Social media networks can also be used to do background checks when you are hiring people to fill a position. Your social media participation is a reflection of who you are. In order to determine whether or not the talent you find is fit for the job, you can simply look at their past tweets, comments, and what not to see if they are suitable for the position.
Keep in mind that prospective employees can also learn a lot about your company based on your social media and overall online presence. Online reputation management is important since prospective employees may or may not take the job based on the information they find about your company online.
In order to find your target audience and hire new talent, a good place to start is Twitter. Connections on Twitter take place instantly, and many people use Twitter to search for job opportunities. To get started with hunting for new talent on Twitter, search for your target terms to see who is tweeting about them. For example, you can do searches for terms like “plumber,” “interior decorator,” and “web designer.” You can also use Twitter Job Search. It is a great place for people to look for work and likewise, it is a great place for employers to find employees.
Another way to find talent on Twitter is to tweet about it to your followers. Tell them what kind of job you are trying to fill and ask them to re-tweet your update. If tons of your followers re-tweet your update, you will receive lots of inquiries from your followers, their followers, and their followers’ followers. In sum, you will be able to reach a vast network of talent.
Hold a Contest
Another great way to find new talent is to hold a contest. For example, if you are looking for someone to design a logo for your company, you can hold a contest and announce it on all the social media networks you participate in. The designer who wins the contest will receive lots of exposure and a prize in return while the other designers will also receive some exposure. It is a win-win situation for both you and the contest participants.
Other Useful Social Media Networks
Other social media networks that are useful when it comes to searching for new talent include LinkedIn and forums. LinkedIn is a networking website for professionals. It has a great search function and provides you with a wealth of information about talented people you can hire. Profiles on LinkedIn provide information such as educational background and employment history.
Forums can also be useful when you are looking for someone to fill a position. By networking with forum participants, you can spread the word fast and generate lots of leads.
Social media networks can also be used to do background checks when you are hiring people to fill a position. Your social media participation is a reflection of who you are. In order to determine whether or not the talent you find is fit for the job, you can simply look at their past tweets, comments, and what not to see if they are suitable for the position.
Keep in mind that prospective employees can also learn a lot about your company based on your social media and overall online presence. Online reputation management is important since prospective employees may or may not take the job based on the information they find about your company online.
Sep 7, 2009
5 Vital Tools for Your Digital PR Efforts
The public relations field has seen a dramatic shift from old to new technologies. The majority of PR efforts have moved from the offline world to the online world. This change has required old school PR professionals to adapt totally new strategies in order to stay in business. Here are 5 important tools in digital PR that all PR professionals must familiarize themselves with.
1. Blogging
Blogging is an incredible asset to online PR because it gives you an opportunity to build your brand and improve your search engine ranking. When you create a company blog that contains highly relevant and captivating content, you can connect with prospects, customers, and other people in your niche. Blogging helps you build authority.
When you ensure that your blog posts have plenty of links pointing to them and that they are rich with target keywords, they rank well in the search engines. As a result, influential journalists and bloggers may come across your blog posts when they are researching stories. References and links to your post will serve to further improve your ranking and reputation.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is one of the most important tools in digital PR. SEO improves the search engine ranking of content such as press releases, blog posts, news articles, images, and video, making it easier for journalists, analysts, and bloggers to find you when they search for information about your industry. The key to success in search engine optimization is optimizing your content for target keywords and phrases.
3. Social Media
In this day and age, understanding and using social media participation to your advantage is essential in digital PR. When you get involved in social media communities, you can reach your target audience and connect with influential people, allowing you to build a stronger brand. When you build a positive presence on social media sites, it accentuates the positive aspects of your brand and dispels the negative. The key to success is actually getting involved in the social media community and connecting with people on a personal level, rather than just using social media as a way to drop links and purely promote your products/services.
4. Optimizing Multimedia
A company’s message and influence can have a much further reach if it optimizes more than just standard text for search. The internet provides a full-sensory experience complete with video, audio, images, animation, podcasts, and more. By optimizing these different forms of media, you can improve search-based discovery and receive additional exposure.
5. Monitoring Brand Reputation with Social Media
By using tools like Google Alerts, Twitter, and Social Mention, digital PR professionals can monitor what is being said about their brand. Monitoring social media websites helps you collect feedback, keep up with industry news, respond to negative news immediately, and keep tabs on your competitors.
If you approach digital PR with these 5 vital tools, you’re sure to receive more press coverage than your peers, who rely solely on press releases, phone calls, and emails to get media attention. When you create and promote content on social media websites and leverage keyword optimization, you can build relationships with influential online personalities and make it easier for journalists to find you when they are searching for information about your industry online.
1. Blogging
Blogging is an incredible asset to online PR because it gives you an opportunity to build your brand and improve your search engine ranking. When you create a company blog that contains highly relevant and captivating content, you can connect with prospects, customers, and other people in your niche. Blogging helps you build authority.
When you ensure that your blog posts have plenty of links pointing to them and that they are rich with target keywords, they rank well in the search engines. As a result, influential journalists and bloggers may come across your blog posts when they are researching stories. References and links to your post will serve to further improve your ranking and reputation.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization is one of the most important tools in digital PR. SEO improves the search engine ranking of content such as press releases, blog posts, news articles, images, and video, making it easier for journalists, analysts, and bloggers to find you when they search for information about your industry. The key to success in search engine optimization is optimizing your content for target keywords and phrases.
3. Social Media
In this day and age, understanding and using social media participation to your advantage is essential in digital PR. When you get involved in social media communities, you can reach your target audience and connect with influential people, allowing you to build a stronger brand. When you build a positive presence on social media sites, it accentuates the positive aspects of your brand and dispels the negative. The key to success is actually getting involved in the social media community and connecting with people on a personal level, rather than just using social media as a way to drop links and purely promote your products/services.
4. Optimizing Multimedia
A company’s message and influence can have a much further reach if it optimizes more than just standard text for search. The internet provides a full-sensory experience complete with video, audio, images, animation, podcasts, and more. By optimizing these different forms of media, you can improve search-based discovery and receive additional exposure.
5. Monitoring Brand Reputation with Social Media
By using tools like Google Alerts, Twitter, and Social Mention, digital PR professionals can monitor what is being said about their brand. Monitoring social media websites helps you collect feedback, keep up with industry news, respond to negative news immediately, and keep tabs on your competitors.
If you approach digital PR with these 5 vital tools, you’re sure to receive more press coverage than your peers, who rely solely on press releases, phone calls, and emails to get media attention. When you create and promote content on social media websites and leverage keyword optimization, you can build relationships with influential online personalities and make it easier for journalists to find you when they are searching for information about your industry online.
Sep 1, 2009
Essential Tips for Purchasing SEO Services
So you’ve finally launched your own website. You have some great content up, and some people are visiting your site, but you searched Google and couldn’t find a trace of your website anywhere. In order to build your web presence and search engine visibility, it’s essential to invest in SEO, or search engine optimization.
Can I Do It Myself?
Yes, you can do SEO yourself if you are strapped for cash. But you have to realize that what you don’t invest in money, you will invest in time. One way you can learn the essentials of SEO is by signing up for an online training course or reading some e-books. There is also a lot of free information out there in the form of blogs and websites dedicated to spreading SEO knowledge.
The basic things you will have to do are ensure that your pages are crawlable and readable for search engines, target around 20 key terms in your website content, and build inbound links. You should also create a site map that points to each page of your website, and link all of your pages to the site map.
In order to do SEO yourself, you are going to have to learn about the technical aspects of SEO and web publishing. If you are willing to do this and you have the time to spare, then you can consider doing your own SEO. However, if you are strapped for time or simply do not have the desire to learn all that goes into SEO, your best bet is to hire an SEO professional, as long as you can afford it.
How to Hire an SEO Professional
Since there are no formal SEO industry certifications, you should not choose an SEO company based on their supposed qualifications. You should look at the results of their campaigns as an indicator of the quality of their services.
What to Expect from Professional SEO Services
What an SEO will do first is ensure that your site gets indexed by the search engines. They will adapt the inbound links, content, and design of your site to optimize it for the search engines.
SEO criteria are always in a state of flux so what worked a year ago may not work now. If you are trying to rank #1 for a highly competitive term, you can’t expect to hire an SEO and get those results overnight. For instance, search engines highly value links that have been built over a long period of time. However, it is obviously not possible for an SEO to get these types of links very fast.
Be Careful of Aggressive SEO Tactics
Some SEO companies are known to use aggressive optimization tactics, which can lead to your site getting banned from the search engines. In order to stay on the safe side, stick with the guidelines published by the search engines. Although aggressive techniques can often get results when the usual techniques fail, the consequences can be severe.
Most importantly, when hiring an SEO company, be wary of ranking guarantees. A #1 spot in the search engine results cannot be guaranteed. Make sure that whatever an SEO company guarantees in their contract with you can be tracked and measured.
Can I Do It Myself?
Yes, you can do SEO yourself if you are strapped for cash. But you have to realize that what you don’t invest in money, you will invest in time. One way you can learn the essentials of SEO is by signing up for an online training course or reading some e-books. There is also a lot of free information out there in the form of blogs and websites dedicated to spreading SEO knowledge.
The basic things you will have to do are ensure that your pages are crawlable and readable for search engines, target around 20 key terms in your website content, and build inbound links. You should also create a site map that points to each page of your website, and link all of your pages to the site map.
In order to do SEO yourself, you are going to have to learn about the technical aspects of SEO and web publishing. If you are willing to do this and you have the time to spare, then you can consider doing your own SEO. However, if you are strapped for time or simply do not have the desire to learn all that goes into SEO, your best bet is to hire an SEO professional, as long as you can afford it.
How to Hire an SEO Professional
Since there are no formal SEO industry certifications, you should not choose an SEO company based on their supposed qualifications. You should look at the results of their campaigns as an indicator of the quality of their services.
What to Expect from Professional SEO Services
What an SEO will do first is ensure that your site gets indexed by the search engines. They will adapt the inbound links, content, and design of your site to optimize it for the search engines.
SEO criteria are always in a state of flux so what worked a year ago may not work now. If you are trying to rank #1 for a highly competitive term, you can’t expect to hire an SEO and get those results overnight. For instance, search engines highly value links that have been built over a long period of time. However, it is obviously not possible for an SEO to get these types of links very fast.
Be Careful of Aggressive SEO Tactics
Some SEO companies are known to use aggressive optimization tactics, which can lead to your site getting banned from the search engines. In order to stay on the safe side, stick with the guidelines published by the search engines. Although aggressive techniques can often get results when the usual techniques fail, the consequences can be severe.
Most importantly, when hiring an SEO company, be wary of ranking guarantees. A #1 spot in the search engine results cannot be guaranteed. Make sure that whatever an SEO company guarantees in their contract with you can be tracked and measured.
