Put Social Networking to Work For You
by Sue Cooper
Social networking is a relatively new phenomenon. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are just a few examples of the social networking websites available to internet users. To join one of these networking websites, all you have to do is create a username and a profile. Once you do this, you can typically join groups within the network and interact with other members. For many people this is a great way to meet new friends, reconnect with friends lost over time and find people who share common interests. However, savvy internet marketers know these social networks can also be used for self promotion.
Most social networking sites allow you to become linked to other users. Whether these other users are referred to as friends, fans or followers does not matter. They all basically serve the same purpose. These members were either invited to become linked to you or requested to become linked to you. The more members you are able to reach the better. This is because these members will be able to learn more about you and your products or services.
To get the most out of your social networking experience, make sure you take the time to really research the networking medium. Although this may sound overly simplistic, you would be surprised how many people do not take the time to do this properly. Many people learn about one or two key features of the community and jump into the process of self promotion. However, there may be a host of other features which are equally, or even more, beneficial.
When utilising a social networking website, always make sure to seek out groups where there are likely to be large percentages of people who share an interest in the products or services you offer. For example, if you sell running shoes it is a good idea to join subgroups of marathons, triathletes, road racers, exercise enthusiasts or any other group you can find where there is likely to be a large group of members who are interested in your products or services.
Another way to take full advantage of social networking websites is to make sure your profile is up to date and accurate. This is important because this includes information which can be seen by other members. You are more likely to attract the interest of your target audience if your profile was designed to appeal to these individuals.
One important caution to using social networking for the promotion of your products or services is the terms of service or user agreement may prohibit this type of activity. When you join one of these communities, you will be asked to review these documents. Make sure you pay attention because violating these agreements can result in you being removed from the network.
About the Author
Sue’s passion is search engine marketing, and conducts regular hands-on SEO/SEM training workshops. Because of the low enrolment of all workshops, participants receive
WordPress SEO Tips
This is the best practices that pertain to optimizing WordPress blogs for the search engines. Blogging using WordPress is the most popular method of blogging among professional. This can be used and implemented by any ordinary WordPress blogger.
Frequently publish content
This means frequent updating of blog content is a common practice for successful bloggers. If you are blogging and have NOT been updating your blog regularly for too long, that is clearly a mistake. If you think you are busy, consider how busy successfully bloggers must be. Yet, they does have clear commitments to blogging, and we can see their frequently post content. The lesson here is to have some commitment to update your blogs as frequently as possible depending on your goal. You can set realistic goals, for example two blog posts per week or even at least one post per week.
Post substantial and original content in a mix of lengths
Other WordPress bloggers formulate difficult rules for themselves and punish themselves by writing 1000 words per blog post! The pro’s blog entries, on the other hand, are a mix of short and long content while being substantial and original. On average, write around 400 words per blog post. It can be even less, since these are plain text content. Use also videos and images.
Be Generous with links and tight with security
Links to quality sources WITHOUT rel=nofollow
Some professional bloggers, even big ones, seem to be afraid of losing a lot of link juice. They do not even trust external links to other websites EVEN if they are editorially given. As a result, external links from blog posts are full of rel=nofollow attributes. The rules are simple: if the link is given editorially (i.e. in your blog post), you trust the site; if you trust the site, then you should not be using the rel=nofollow attribute.
Locations of external links in the blog are also important. In some WordPress blogs, we can always see links in blog rolls and link pages. However, You don’t have to use a link page, resources page or even a blog roll. Instead, includes good sources of content pointing to another website. You will put a link to it using accurate and descriptive keywords as anchor text.
The lesson here shows how to make your blog appear more naturally in search engines by proper external linking. Too many links in link pages or in a blog roll, accompanied by an absence of quality external links in blog posts, can be a red flag and connotes a spammy WordPress blog (that is perhaps being used for link exchanges).
You have to cares about blog security
Wp-admin has to be disabled for other uses. Some bloggers care less about security, and when they get hacked (common in WordPress), hackers insert malware links that cause the blog to lose ranks in Google, therefore hurting previous SEO efforts. Security should be part of any SEO effort. You always have to update your blog to use the latest version of WordPress.
Use of an effective content structure
You can benefits from keywords in title tag, internal links and header tags and this type of structure can be easily implemented using WordPress. You also need to take care og the tags when you change the tmplate, unfortunately, lots of bloggers have substantially modified their template and removed these important tags. Put the rel=nofollow on links that you think is not nessesary for the searhengines to follow.
Tips To Help You Write Great Content
Writing great content for your website does not have to be difficult, it can actually be fun. If you’re having a hard time getting started here are a few tips to help you along.
Write about what you know. If you don’t know about something, and you’re interested in creating a webpage on it, take the time to learn about it first. Readers can tell if you’re full of beans, and building trust is an important ongoing task. If you’re new to your chosen topic, use the opportunity to create a “learning page.” Be honest, and readers will learn right along with you.
Share your passions. Passion is what gives writing a rich voice and keeps it from sounding like an instruction manual.
Edit your work, one way or another. If you have a difficult time editing your own work, have a friend take a look. I like to walk away from my writing, then come back and edit again later. If you don’t edit, your readers will do it for you!
Break content into small paragraphs, and plug in images or graphics to break up long sections of text. Online readers tend to have a short attention span, and most of us have learned to skim web text. Shorter paragraphs are easily digested by the eyes and keep readers entertained easily.
Spell Check is your friend! Make sure you spell check your content before tapping that publish button, and read it aloud to check for grammar errors spellcheck may not catch.
Lists and bullet points are a great way to break up your content. Speaking from experience, people love lists! They are intellectually and emotionally appealing, and help break up long sections of text.
Highlight and underline important points to catch the reader’s attention. Use these features sparingly; don’t get too crazy with the bold or underlining (and whatever you do, DON’T USE ALL CAPS!) Bold or highlighted text will draw the readers attention to your most important points.
Add headlines and sub headlines to make important points. It will also make the topic of your pages easier for Google to find and index (score!) and help skimmers pinpoint important info. Let the search engines know what your webpages is about with solid, on-topic headers in your modules
Be concise; don’t ramble. If you feel the need to post unrelated content on your page, that’s a sign that your page is too long or poorly focused. You’re better off with 2-3 shorter Webpages than a rambling unfocused one.
Use an active voice to call the reader to action. If you want them to click on a link, tell them so. If you want them to support your favorite cause, let them know why.
Write in a conversational voice. Let your content flow like you’re talking to a friend. You’ll make your reader feel more at ease and less like they’re being lectured to.
Use positive language Too much negativity can cause controversy. If that’s what you want, great! If you want your reader to have a good experience, or you’re hoping they’ll buy something from your webpage, keep it positive.
