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Google +1 | Increase ability to be Found | Yelp

Now that you know social media’s Google Plus is an excellent way to increase your ability to being found, did you realize that your local search ranking has increased as well? That’s correct! When you post on Google Plus, especially from your mobile device, you’re geo-targeted and have the option to link your location to a post. What does that mean for you? Well, are you listed on Yelp or any other local search directory? Google now interjects its position within that arena as well.

What Is Yelp?

Image via CrunchBase

If you’re not on Yelp, you might wish to list your business and give it a test drive. Yelp began as a platform separate from, but accompanying, the Yellow Pages by means of being a localized review site. Back then, Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO and co-founder of Yelp, realized people thought the larger the ad in the Yellow Pages, the bigger the business. Thus, the more reputable that business was… or was it? Those Internet Marketers, who think Yelp was created to complain about restaurants, get a grip! Yo

u don’t acquire millions of dollars for a startup o

nly to complain about restaurant service. Especially when a restaurant’s life expectancy is less than 5 years, if lucky. In short, Yelp was created to rate local businesses based on customer opinion, nationally.

Yelp, The Name

As for the name Yelp, a coworker (David Galbraith) to Jeremy, liked the word. There was no other reason for the name; it just so happens that it was a contraction of the Yellow Pages. In fact Jeremy hated the word, because when spoken, sounded like the noise a kicked dog makes.

How Does Yelp Work?

If you build a reputation, through your own business reviews or through commenting on others, your ranking in Yelp increases. As some marketers find that to be unacceptable, it’s exactly how every social media account operates. The louder your scream, the more attention you get! I read one review about Yelp, and the marketer was amazed that other businesses ranked higher. The issue was, that marketer only had one review from a year ago, and it was from a friend not a client. Hum, why were they upset?

Quality, Not Quantity

As I’ve stated time-and-time again in every article pertaining to this issue… QUALITY AND NOT QUALTITY! Let’s take a step back, IS search engine optimization the answer to being found, ranking, local search, feedback, comments, or most important, making money? NO! You must engage authentically and with all your efforts. When you’re in the perfect ranked position, you can’t stop. The reason; there is always someone on your heals waiting for the right moment to pull you down.

Where Does Google Plus Fit In?

So why is this all so important? Google Plus has raised the bar by being directly intertwined with all the tools used by SEO’ers. A strong social media marketing strategy, and an even stronger social media engagement schedule, is necessary and key to starting off successfully.

Google Plus is Not The Answer

Google Plus is not the new answer, it takes the average person at least six months to a year to assimilate, and then accommodate new surroundings. Where is your business in relation to social media? The work involved in building a strategy requires a Facebook Page, engage with Twitter and LinkedIn followers, create a YouTube channel, and now Google Plus account. Maintaining and monitoring your account is difficult enough, and being a Social Media Strategist and Inbound Marketer, I’m lucky to have a team that cares for and nurtures those engagements.

Questions to ask before beginning your own Social Media program:

• Who are my customers?
• Where do my customers spend time?
• Do I have the time to engage?
• Are there bad reviews about my company I need to attend to?
• Are the tools to analyze my efforts available to me?

Secret Tip!

Here’s a tip! Understand and engage with those who are loyal, allow them to spread the word about you, then engage with those who don’t know you, and bring everyone together in one circle to communicate. It’s a rough road, a time investment, and an understanding of human behavior (your customers). Create a strategy, a plan, a program, whatever you wish to call it, simply do it! If you build it, they will come…

“The New Age of Social Media Marketing: Seo, Twitter, & Facebook”

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As Twitter and Facebook Users Continue to Grow, Businesses Can Use Them as an Additional Means of Marketing

As the debate rages on about Twitter’s new design and whether it will change your life or not dramatically affect you that much at all (I have to say I comfortably fall into the latter category), in the SEO world, the use of social media to enhance a campaign is beginning to escalate.

With the sheer number of users on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the whole market for advertising your brand or product is increased. The relatively simple procedure of setting up profiles and pages and then searching for friends, followers and fans is a sure fire way to increase the number of potential customers first visiting your social media pages before moving on to your website.

‘Tweeting’ is a craze that suddenly seemed to take off and having the ability to keep your followers updated with the latest news and events from your company are a simple way of developing interest. If you can provide people with attractive, exciting and informative ‘Tweets’ on a regular basis, similar to writing much shorter versions of articles, the more likely you are to hold their interest.

The 140 character posts allow you to appeal to your potential audience in a more light hearted and down to earth way than you may have done previously. This is therefore potentially pulling in a whole new set of customers who may have money burning a hole in their pocket that they just have to spend on your product.

Facebook seems like the granddad of social media now; however it did only launch in 2004 and despite the newer, arguably cooler Twitter trying to muscle its way in, it still provides an effective platform to launch a campaign.

As the leader of the social media world, Facebook is jam packed full of potential and of course, worthy recipients, who could be interested in your brand and just don’t know about it yet. With the function of uploading pictures and creating both a profile to gain friends and a page to get fans, joining Facebook could be seen as the double whammy method of getting you out to the wider market.

Arguably getting up and running is one of the most difficult processes of social media. Sometimes current users are like the group of children in the playground when you’ve just joined a new school and don’t want to have anything to do with you because you are new. Getting through this and continuing to work hard to get yourself recognised will increase your popularity and have you laughing in the face of those kids who wouldn’t let you join in.

As Twitter splits opinions on its new layout, (I can also remember the same thing happening with Facebook in years gone by) the functionality of such social media remains the same and is an ideal platform to support and grow your brand, company and products.

With dedication, hard work (I am well aware most of us are a little afraid of this term) and patience as social media marketing does take time to effectively get up and running, used the right way with regular maintenance and modern, fresh ideas; social media is a fantastic way of marketing your brand to the masses.

How to Build a Thriving LinkedIn Group

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“How to Build a Thriving LinkedIn Group”

by Stephanie Sammons
published on August 10, 2011

Have you considered starting your own LinkedIn Group? These groups are excellent for networking, prospecting and establishing thought leadership.

You can start your own LinkedIn Group based on any of the following categories of professionals: prospects, peers, alumni, geographical, existing organizations, interest and more. You are limited only by your creativity!

In my experience, professional people are busy and if they’re going to participate in LinkedIn Groups, they really only have enough quality time for 1 to 3 groups weekly.

What follows are best practices for becoming a top group for your target market and specialty category.

READ COMPLETE ARTICLE via  “Social Media Examiner: Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle“

 

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