11
Mar 2013

Top 4 Reasons Your Blog Needs Social Media Buttons

By Jonny Lis 1 Comment

What is it about blogging that makes plenty of people want to try it?

 

If you have kept a diary when you were younger or a journal when you were older, you would understand these individuals and realise that blogging is more than just a fad.

 

For some persons, they see this activity as a means of expressing themselves and their ideas. For others, it allows them to share information and ideas. And, as for corporate bloggers, they consider it an effective business marketing tool.


The Facts

 

So, just how wide is its reach?

 

Well, around 80% of all Web users in the United States are either contributing or reading blogs. What’s more, the activity accounts for approximately 23% of the time spent on the Net. This figure is twice higher than gaming, a feat that’s impressive in itself!

 

Well beyond the numbers, here are some blogging styles that will totally work in your favour:

 

Bringing Together Social Media and Blogging

 

Do you know that you do not just create a post and publish it?

 

These days, you cannot expect wide readership without a push from social networking, forums, discussion boards, and other channels.

 

Why?

 

You can obtain more visibility when you promote your content through activities like the following:

 

  • Adding blog URL to tweets and post updates
  • Starting a conversation related to your blog niche
  • Reading other bloggers’ work
  • Giving them comments

 

Doing these things can benefit you greatly. But if there is one method you must forget, it is to place social media buttons.

 

What are these?

 

Well, they usually look like these.

 

 

What are their functions?

 

They generally help with the following tasks.

 

  • Navigate the readers to your social page easily
  • Share or suggest your post to their network of friends
  • Bookmark your webpage
  • Retweet or Like your content

 

These uses are reasons enough to urge you to integrate your blog with widgets or buttons. But if you need more convincing, learn further about their importance.

 

1. Aid with convenient user experience

Several users don’t sign out from their networking pages, so they can access these whenever they open a browser or when they’re doing something else on the Web. Now the moment they click on the social media icon on your blog post, it automatically allows them to bookmark, tweet, or share your content.

 

2. Spread your thoughts or words

Given that your business blog provides its readers with valuable and engaging information, they won’t hesitate to suggest it to their respective online communities. And if their contacts like your work, they will recommend it to their own friends too. The more useful or interesting your content is, the wider its reach will be.

 

3. Boost site traffic

Of course, when more and more users know about you and your ability to create a great post, they would want to check out the rest of your blog. This means a higher number of visitors.

 

4. High search engine ranking

Bookmarks, tweets, Likes, Shares, etc.—these are social signals indicating your popularity. The more of these you get, the more famous you are online.

 

Now, your increasing reputation and credibility are the only rewards you can obtain. Your business website can also acquire a higher position in SERPs since most search engines consider social signals as ranking factors.

 

Looking at these insights, you can see the huge significance of placing social media buttons on your blog.

 

Final Thoughts

 

So does your content include these? If it doesn’t, now is the perfect time to start integrating them. And, if you haven’t tried blogging yet, then set up one now and take advantage of its benefits.

 

If you already have one, don’t hesitate to share with us your own tips.

 

About the Author:

Jonny Lis is a Digital Marketing Specialist at Smart Traffic, a private company based in Bristol offering SEO services in Australia, UK, and other countries. He oversees SEO strategies for Smart Traffic’s 300+ campaigns. 


Filed Under: Blog Tagged With:
22
Oct 2012

How to setup a business Facebook account

By Lillian Carter, Freelance Business Author Leave a Comment

Facebook has become one of the most widely used social networking sites, having an astonishing large and still growing number of users. Facebook has almost 60% of the entire market share of social networking sites. With such rapid growth, it is one of the most lucrative platforms for small businesses to focus their marketing efforts. If you are wondering how to setup a business Facebook account, a guideline is provided for you.

Before starting, you must remember that Facebook is a platform to create relationships with your potential customers, not making direct sales. The whole point of social media marketing is to initiate a communication process with your direct customers, encouraging their feedbacks and insights. It may be easy to create a Facebook business account, but using it properly is very important.


There are two options for business owners to start their Facebook business accounts.  If you don’t have a personal account on Facebook and don’t want to create one either, you can directly create a business page through the Facebook login homepage, you will only be required to select the option “create a Facebook Page” or “create a Facebook Ad.”

However, if you do have a personal account on Facebook which is advisable, you cannot create a separate business account; your account has to be associated with your personal profile. You can create a Facebook business account by signing in through your personal account.

“Create a Page” option can be reached in two ways. First, you can visit an existing page and scroll down to the bottom where the option is available. Second, you can go to your personal homepage and scroll down to the bottom and click on the “Advertising” option. Once the advertising page opens, you can select the “Pages” option and click on the “Create a Page” tab.

Getting Your Account Started

Now you can set up a business Facebook account properly. You may need to go through the following steps to make sure you have completed all essential requirements:

  • Facebook offers six basic business classifications. You should select the one that is well-suited to your business. Although your audience will not be able to view how your business is classified, it will affect your rank in search results.
  • Once you have classified your business, you will need to select a narrower category for your business.
  • After categorizing your business, you will be required to enter your business name, location and other information. You should remember that once you enter and save the information, it cannot be changed later. In case of any mistake, you will have to delete and recreate your page.

Provide Information

Once your account is started, you will need to fill it with information regarding your business. Don’t share your page with people until you have provided all the essential information and completed your page. You will need to do the following before you share your page with public:

  • Upload a photo. Ideally it should be your business logo or a visual representation of your products or services. Also provide the URL of your official business website.
  • In the “About Us” section, provide a basic, brief description of your business; what you do, what are you offering to customers and how you are different from others. Keep this description concise and informative.
  • After providing this basic information, you can select the “Edit Info” option and add further information. This may include your background, contact details, location, operating timings and a more in-depth description and benefits of your company, products and services.
  • You can also keep adding relevant photos and videos from time-to-time on your page.
  • Now that you have provided sufficient information about your business, you can share your page and invite your friends to like your page. You can also start posting updates about your business and any promotions you might be offering at that time.

Make sure that the information you provide on Facebook is in alignment with any other source of information that the customers may access for example, your company website or your business account on other site. Disintegration in information can affect the authenticity of your message. You should manage your social media marketing through all available means vigilantly.

Keep Updated

Once you have shared your Facebook business account, you will have to update your account regularly. Facebook dynamics change rapidly and an out-of-date account will create a more negative impact. You will have to update latest happenings and your current promotions every day.

You can track the performance of your account through Facebook Insights, which provide you with your progress record like the number of “likes” you received in a specific time period. You can also share information from your other social media account or your blogs on your business page.

How to setup a business Facebook account

Facebook can be a powerful and popular media for promotion of small businesses because it has a wide reach globally and it is free of any cost. Using a Facebook account for business can be very beneficial for creating long-term customer relationships and staying connected with them. For small business owners and entrepreneurs, learning how to setup a Facebook business account is a lesson worth investing their time.


Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: ,
14
Sep 2012

Wondering how to make a Twitter for a business?

By Lillian Carter, Freelance Business Author Leave a Comment

Social Networking media has become a life altering phenomenon in a very short period of time. While it may have its fair share of negative uses, it provides a great marketing and communication platform for business owners. It is very important if you are planning to have an online business or creating an online presence for your existing business.

Small business can specifically benefit from this largely because it is a free source. If you are an entrepreneur, you should be interested in knowing how to make a Twitter for a business. Setting up a Twitter account for business is a relatively easy process when it comes to social media usage for business.


You can use Twitter to promote your business and engage in open communication with your customers, talking about new offerings and getting feedback for improvement. Let us take a look on how you can set up Twitter business account within a few minutes:

Setting up a Basic Account

  • Visit twitter.com and fill out the essential information required on the homepage. This will include your full name, e-mail address and password. If you are creating a business account strictly, enter the proper business name that you intend to use instead of your full name.
  • Verify your account through a mail sent to your e-mail address. If you don’t verify, features will not be available to you and the account may be blocked after a specific time period.
  • After your account is created, Twitter will present you with options of following topics pertaining to your interests. Follow topics related to your industry. Next you can select people you want to follow. Again, select people who may be related to your industry or seem interested in your industry.
  • You can also import, invite or find your contacts from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, AOL and LinkedIn on Twitter.
  • Now you will be redirected to your homepage, where you will be able to view the tweets of those you are following and can make your own tweets.

Updating Your Profile

  • Now you will need to update your profile, providing vital information about your business. You can do that by clicking on the drop-down option in the top right corner of the screen, right next to your username. Select the “Settings” options and then select “Profile” tab.
  • Now upload a logo of your company and provide a URL of your company’s website. You can also provide a location for your business.
  • Provide a little information about what your business is, how it can benefit customers and how it is different from competitors. When you have done that, save the information.

Customizing Your Homepage

You can change the background of your Twitter homepage according to your business profile. Click on the “Design” tab and select a background theme available or upload your own background image.

Arrange Email Alerts

You can receive mails from Twitter on your registered e-mail address. You can select the events for which you want mail alerts and activate the service.

What to Share?

Now that your account is created, you can start communicating. However, it is important that you decide to provide your followers with information they find useful. Your posts depend primarily on the type of account you want to maintain.

If you want to set up Twitter for business strictly, your tweet should be related to your professional updates. You can also decide to maintain a business/personal hybrid account, integrating both your professional and personal happenings and sharing them on the account.

The things you decide to share should either be informative or entertaining and people should find it interesting.  You may also post relevant articles and links. You should also keep your followers informed about any promotional activity related to your business, but be careful not to repeat the same message more than once.

Twitter is not the only site where your presence is required. You can use different networking sites to your advantage. A number of different software are available that can help you in managing your social media marketing activities.

Summary

Social networking sites can prove to be a major promotional tool for small businesses since they are inexpensive and manageable. Setting up Twitter for business is an easy process. Once you know how to set up a Twitter business account, you can communicate and get people to follow your latest promotional activities, show interest in your business and receive prompt and accurate feedback from them.


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