The 10 Best Social Sites and How to Use Them

There is no doubt that social media marketing has taken the lead in online marketing strategies. Social media sites have exploded and continue to grow in number and popularity. If you own an online business, it can be very difficult to know where to begin in this extensive marketing arena.

There are dozens and dozens of social sites and more popping up all the time. I have compiled a list of the ten best social sites with which to get you started. I have chosen these sites by my own professional opinion and by actual popularity.

1. Facebook – Facebook has an estimated 850 million users! This is the most popular social site and my favorite as well. Facebook is very versatile in what you can do with your page. Be sure to open a business account and also read the rules for businesses. Fill out your profile completely. Add images and videos to your page to make it more interesting and interactive. Visit your page every day and post helpful information, links and resources. Answer all comments promptly.


2. Twitter – Twitter has 200 million estimated active users. I like Twitter because it is quick, easy and effective for marketing your business. You simply add tidbits of information, new product info, sales and/or specials, links, motivational quotes, etc. and tweet! Keep your tweets professional and beneficial to your followers. Don’t tweet things like what you’re having for dinner or what movie you just watched. Get involved with other tweeters and participate!

3. LinkedIn – LinkedIn now has over 150 million estimated users. The thing I like about LinkedIn is how you can participate in groups that interest you or will benefit your business. Join groups and be sure to participate in the discussions by offering real and helpful information and advice. Follow their guidelines on how to completely and effectively fill out your profile.

4. Google+ – Google+ is one of the newer social sites, but it already has an estimated 65 million users! I must admit, I have not done much with Google+ as of yet, but I do like the format and versatility of the site. Be sure to add the +1 Google feature to your website so people can click it to show they like your site. This will help you in the ratings. Again, be sure to complete your profile and spend time daily or at least weekly on your Google+ page.

5. Pinterest – With over 10 million active users, Pinterest is growing in popularity very quickly. Pinterest has come up with something a little different. You are given a pinboard to add visual items such as photos, graphs, videos, etc. Pinning helpful visual information is a great way to attract people to your pinboard. You can add comments as well. People respond more to visual items than just words so get over to Pinterest and start pinning!

6. Ecademy – Ecademy has over 17 million users. Ecademy is a membership site for business owners to connect, help and grow with one another. There are paid and free memberships. Take the time to build relationships with other business owners. You can start your own clubs, write blog posts, and participate in discussions. This site is more involved than some social sites and will take more time to learn to use effectively.

7. YouTube – YouTube has an estimated 300 million users. YouTube is a video sharing site. Making an effective marketing video to share on YouTube can have a dramatic effect on your site traffic. Show your expertise with instructional and informational videos. You can also present slide shows to market your products and/or services. Set up an account and start uploading those business growing videos.

8. StumbleUpon – Despite a “stumble” in growth, StumbleUpon is now growing in popularity and has an estimated 20 million users. StumbleUpon is a social site that allows the users to share interesting and helpful websites. You will need to be an active user to reap the benefits from this site.

9. Ryze – With less than a million members, Ryze is not the most popular of the social networking sites but it can be effective. Ryze is similar to LinkedIn in that it is a place for professionals to grow, connect and help one another succeed. Join networks that target your business and network with other business owners.

10. Blogs – Blogs are very popular social sites and there are lots of them. Search for blogs that target your niche and become active with guest posts, comments, etc. Participating on blogs can help you make connections and get traffic you might not have gotten. Also, if you do not have your own blog yet, be sure to get started. I would recommend WordPress, but there are other blog services available.
If you are a business owner, you really cannot avoid social media in this marketing age. So rather than ignore it, you need to study it, learn it and participate in it. Once you do, you will find it to be a very enjoyable and beneficial experience!

ObjectZoom

How to Increase Google Page Rank of Your Blog: Blogging Tips for Beginners

How to Increase Google Page Rank of Your Blog: Blogging Tips for Beginners

As soon as you have set up your own blog, the first thing you want to know is how to make Google notice your blog and give it a great page ranking. The excitement of seeing a pretty decent Google page rank for your blog is tough to put into words. So, let us just get right to the point and start from the beginning.

What is a Google Page Rank?

According to Matt Cutts, who is the head of Webspam department, Google page rank (also known as PR) is the number and importance of links that a website / blog receives. It is always denoted as a number between 0 and 10, with 0 being the least and 10 being the most.

Why Should You Care About Google Page Rank?

Well, the reasons are many. Google tends to use page rank as an important criterion to decide how faster, how deep and often it should send the spiders to crawl your blog / site. Typically, the crawling is more favorable to sites with higher page rank, which means that a higher page rank site will be crawled more often than a comparatively lower ranking site.

Moreover, a higher page rank naturally confers higher authority and reputation to the site.

How Does Google Page Rank Relate to SEO?

We all are desperately trying to optimize our blogs and sites for the search engines and Google page rank comes in here as well. Google has always been emphasizing on providing relevant and quality results to people who use the search engine to find info on different topics.

Well, your page rank will determine how visible your blog will be to the people searching for info related to your niche. In simple words, it means that the blogs with higher page rank in a certain niche are considered to be more relevant in the eyes of Google than another blog within the same niche but with lower page rank.

When Should You Be Worried About Your Google Page Rank?

A page rank of 0 is something that seems straight out of a horror film for many bloggers and webmasters. Well, the fear of the zero is understandable as the usual tendency is to consider sites with zero page rank as spammy and low quality. But not all such sites are spam sites. It takes time and links to build your page rank, so if your blog is pretty new then obviously you are stuck for quite a while with the zero tag.

When Will Your Google Page Rank Change?

Google reviews sites on a continuous basis, but displays the results publicly approximately once in every 3/ 4 months, so that means if your blog is under 4 months of age, then you can hopefully look forward to a change in page rank soon. The last confirmed Google page rank update was on
May 3^rd, 2012.  There was another update on August, 2nd, 2012, since I wrote this post.

How To Check Your Google Page Rank?

Here is a handy tool to check your blog / website page rank for free. You only need to enter your home page URL to the page rank checker tool here and you will know the results instantly.

How to Increase Google Page Rank of Your Blog?

It is possible to increase Google page rank of your blog or site if you follow a few handy tips. Make sure that you provide only valuable, high quality and non-plagiarized content on your site. Check and double check that none of the links that are pointing towards your site are purchased from link farms and that sort of shady stuff.  This is especially true post-Panda and Penguin updates by Google in April 2012.

 Related: 3 Factors That Drop Your Page Rank by Matt Cutts of Google Inc

Synopsis

Page rank is dependent on relevance and reputation of the sites that link to you. So if you have a cartload of links pointing to your site, but none of them are coming from relevant / reputable sites, then say goodbye to your dreams of increasing your Google page rank. Try to get natural links from high PR sites.

Some of the best ways are to guest blog on such sites and post insightful comments on their posts. I have explained in complete detail in another post about steps to increase your page rank. Please read it to gain more information on how to increase your blog page rank.

10 Benefits of Having a Web Site

Do you need a web site? Are you considering getting one but are unsure? Here we take a look at the main reasons why a web site could be beneficial to your organisation.

1) It will give you the competitive edge
If you do not have a web site people cannot visit it – an obvious point you might say. But if your competitors have web sites people will be visiting them! These people are your potential customers! Remember also that many businesses have yet to get online, therefore a web site will give you the competitive edge.

2) It will be an effective method of advertising
A web site is not a substitute for other advertising media but works very successfully alongside it to enhance your image. You can add your domain name to other printed media - flyers, business cards, signs etc; these are places where many people expect to find your web site details nowadays. They will then expect to go to your web site for further information.

3) It will enhance your credibility
People these days will expect you to have a web site. If they hear about your organisation the first thing many of them will do will be to look on the Internet to see if they can find your web site. If you do not have one they may perceive you to be less credible and may not believe you are a ‘real’ business. Even worse they may stumble across your competitors and forget all about you.

4) It will enhance your communication efforts
Communication with potential customers and clients is of huge importance. A web site can provide all of your contact details, including email addresses. Many people prefer to make contact via email, as it is quick, easy, cheap and convenient. You can even include interactive features, such as feedback forms and customer query forms. People can sign up for a mailing list to receive information on your latest products and services.

5) It will be available around the clock
Your web site works for you day and night to give you constant coverage. Internet users can access your information regardless of whether or not it is business hours. You can reach current and potential customers 24 hours a day. It is almost like having an extra office that is always open!

6) You will have a global audience
You can reach out to a worldwide audience. Your services will be available for viewing locally, nationally and internationally, creating a much broader awareness of your organisation and potentially a larger customer base. Other more traditional forms of advertising reach a very small geographic area in comparison so a web site is potentially a very powerful marketing tool.

7) It can be easily updated
The information on your web site can be quickly and easily updated to include changes to your products, services, special offers or contact details. These details cannot be changed on brochures, flyers, business cards or any other existing print based advertising medium – they will all have to be reprinted.

8) You can trade online
Your web site can act as an online brochure, putting your products and services where people can see them. People can find your products and contact you by email to make enquiries, and you can provide online order forms. You can even have an online shopping cart where the customer proceeds to a virtual checkout and pays by credit or debit card.

9) You don’t have to carry lots of stock
You can have pictures and descriptions of your products and services on your web site. When you receive a request for a product you can order it in specifically for the customer. You don’t have to buy lots of stock upfront; money is not tied up. Some suppliers will supply the customer direct so you don’t even have to see the stock.

10) It will make the most of impulse buying
People can look at your online information straight away when it suits them. People are impatient and impulsive and may not be prepared to wait for your other advertising efforts to reach them. For example, if they have to wait 3-4 days for your brochure to reach them through the post, by that time they could have found another product from somewhere else.

Armed with these facts, you should now be in a position to tell if a web site is the solution for you.


  http://www.objectzoom.com.