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Free Social Media Monitoring Tools

Charlene Kingston — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 08:00:38 +0000

Many small business people don’t realize how many people are talking about businesses online every day. Social media monitoring tools let you find the hidden conversations about your business. You don’t have to purchase services with monthly subscription fees. You can create a customized solution using a small group of free tools.

Before You Start: You have a business and you wan to uncover the hidden conversations about your business online.
Learning level: 2 | Getting Started
Article Last Updated: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Social Media Monitoring

Social media is about conversations, and conversation require you to talk and listen. If you are using social media, you can listen to the direct conversations people have with your business when they talk with you on the various social media sites. But did you know that you can tune into hidden conversations people are having about your business online? It’s possible that people are talking about your business even if you are not using social media yet! And if you use social media, it’s possible that people are talking about your business with different social media tools.

If you are using social media for your business, you may have a blog on your website where people make comments. You also expect people to talk about your business with you if you are using Facebook and Twitter. If you are not using Facebook and Twitter, it is possible that people are talking about your business using these tools anyway. Here are a few additional places where people may be talking about your business that you don’t expect:

Blogs and Blog Comments. Anyone who has a blog may write a post about their experience with your business, or may mention your business within a blog post. Someone may mention your business in a blog post comment, even if the blog post doesn’t mention your business.
Local Review Sites. Your customers may be writing reviews about their experience with your business on local business review sites (Yelp, Citysearch, Angie’s List, etc.)
Industry Review Sites. Some industries, like restaurants, have specific review sites where your customers can provide their feedback about your business.
Question and Answer Forums. Many websites allow people to post questions and get answers from strangers. Some of these questions and answers may include mentions of your business.
Check-in Services (location-based services). If customers visit your business location, some of them may be using their mobile device, typically a smart phone, to check in and make comments about your business (Foursquare, Gowalla, Whrrl, etc.).
Map Reviews. Several online map services (Google Maps, Mapquest, etc.) allow the public to post reviews about businesses that appear on their map.

Free Monitoring Tools

There are subscription-based monitoring tools that charge you a fee to deliver a list of these hidden conversations. However, with just a little effort, you can pull together a small group of free monitoring tools that provide you with the same information. Here are a few free tools that you can use to start monitoring for conversations about your business online.

Google Search. You can save your search and have the new discoveries emailed to you through Google Alerts or send to your RSS reader.
Google Blog Search. This Google tool focuses exclusively on blogs and blog comments.
Twitter Search. This Twitter tools lets you receive new discoveries through RSS.
Twitter. The built-in Twitter search tool lets you save a search so you can run it later manually.
Boardreader. Searches through question and answer forums.
Technorati. Searches through blogs and blog comments.
Social Mention. Searches through a wide range of online resources.
TweetBeep. Sends you an email every time your business gets mentioned on Twitter.
Addict-o-Matic. Allows you to customize where it searches and displays the results in an at-a-glance single page format.

Experiment with some of these tools. You can put together a free solution that provides your business with valuable information with little effort.

Your turn: What is your business doing for social media monitoring? What conversations have you found that surprised you? Share you experience here.

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Blog Trolls

Charlene Kingston — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:00:57 +0000

A blog troll is someone who makes negative comments on your blog. Do you know how to handle a blog comment troll when he arrives at your blog?

Before You Start: You have a business blog.
Learning Level: 3 | Building Skills
Article Last Updated: Sunday, December 4, 2011

Blog Comment Trolls

Some bloggers complain about comments left by trolls, people who take a negative view of the post and seem to overreact to the content. Trolls are out there, and may find their way to your blog.

Trolls are just one challenge you face when you allow the public to post on your blog. One of the smartest things you can do is create a blog comment policy that explains to your visitors what you expect from commenters, and what you do when they break the rules.

Identifying Trolls

Every blogger must develop a thick skin. You write your blog to express your opinion and describe the world as you see it. Not everyone will agree with you.

Just because someone disagrees with you doesn’t make them a troll, however. If you allow comments on your blog, you are going to get comments from people who don’t agree. Remember that variety of opinions is what makes the world so interesting. Embrace different opinions and your life as a blogger gets much easier.

Dealing With Trolls

When a troll shows up in your comments, it can be shock to your system. Don’t do anything if you don’t have cool head. You don’t have to rush to action. In fact, taking any action while your blood is hot is never a good idea.

Give yourself time to think about the situation. Has the troll really done anything more than disagree with you? If action is required, start by making an unemotional response. Thank the commenter for expressing her opinion. Did the troll make any valid points (even if you don’t agree)? Thank him for adding those points to the conversation. You can also make a statement about how people have different opinions and thank him for sharing.

Did the troll cross the line? Did she use profanity or abusive language? When a commenter crosses the line, you must decide if you are doing to edit their comment or delete it. It’s really important that you are clear about why you choose either option. You may be challenged to defend your choice later. It’s your blog, but if your community thinks you have overreacted or censored someone, you may lose your audience.

Avoiding Trolls

You can do a lot to avoid trolls by the way you set the tone for your blog. Do you love controversy and like to stir the pot with your posts? You are more likely to find trolls hanging out on your blog than someone who sticks to the middle of the road. That just means you need to develop a thicker skin about comments and get used to trolls.

Creating and publishing your blog comments policy is a smart thing. It gives you a way to explain your actions toward any troll. Be sure to post your comment policy with your comments form.

Your turn: Have you encountered blog trolls? Have you seen blog trolls on other sites? Share what you learned from your experience.

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Create A Blog Comment Policy

Charlene Kingston — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:00:46 +0000

Many bloggers discover that some blog commenters have very different ideas about what is appropriate in a comment. Here’s what you need to know to develop a blog comment policy that lays the ground rules for comments.

Before You Start: You have a business blog.
Learning Level: 3 | Building Skills
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What Is A Blog Comment Policy

If you read a lot of blogs, you know that blog comments are a critical part of each blog. And yet, blog comments are written by blog visitors and out of the control of the blogger. Or are they?

Large and well-established blogs have a formal blog comment policy that they publish and use to moderate blog comments. A comment policy tells the commenters what you expect from them, and what you will do if they don’t follow your rules.

Blog Comment Policy Components

While each blog’s comment policy reflects the opinions and experience of the blogger, they generally address the follow types of issues:

Do you moderate comments?
What will you do with off-topic comments?
Do you allow profanities?
How will you handle personal attacks and flame wars?
Do you allow the comment to include links? Any limitation on the number of links?
Do you allow commenters to put keywords in place of their name?
Do you require a valid email address to make comment? How do you use that email address?
What about obvious spelling, grammar, and other language mistakes?
Do you allow commenters to add a signature with links at the end of their comments?

Blog Comment Policy Examples

Here are some comment policy examples you can use to inspire you to create your own comment policy.

When you allow people to add their comments to your blog, you create a place for conversation within your community. The conversation is on your blog. which means that you can set the ground rules for the conversation. A blog policy puts everything in writing for your community and lets them know what you expect of them. Over time, as new situations arise, you many need to update your comment policy.

Your turn: Do you have a blog comment policy? Add a link so we can see it. Have you seen blog comments that were truly out of line? Share your experiences.

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