Social Media DIY Workshop » Website

Announcing Your Social Media Presence

Charlene Kingston — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:00:11 +0000

Now that your business is using social media, it’s important that you share your online presence with your customers and potential customers. Here are ways you can do that, both online and offline, to make sure that the people who want to find your business on social media know where to look.

Before You Start: You have a business account on one or more social media sites.
Learning level: 3 | Building Skills
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Your Business Social Media Passport

Now that your business is using social media, you need a strategy to share your social media accounts with the people who want to find your business online. It’s easy to create a social media passport, a list of your online accounts, and share this information with your customers.

Before you get started, you need to prepare you social media passport information.

You need an icon for each social media site. You can find free icon sets online, or you can ask your graphic designer to create a set that matches your visual branding.
Create a list of the exact web address (URL) for each account. Make sure you have the address of your page and not just the front door of the social media site.

Here are some suggestions for sharing your social media passport both online and offline.

Email. Update your email signature to include your social media passport with links to your accounts. Use a tiny icon here to save space, and include a link to your page on the social media site.
Business cards. Social media accounts are generally long and don’t fit well on business cards. You can easily add your Twitter handle. For the other sites, simply include the site icon. Your customers who use those sites will recognize the icons. You might consider placing this information to the back of your business card.
Marketing materials. Update your print marketing materials with the icons for your social media sites. You can also add a sentence like “Find us on…” with a list of your social media accounts.
Website. Work with your website designer to find a great location on your website to include your social media passport. Ideally, this information should be on every page and should be near the top so it’s easily found by site visitors. Use the social media icons, and provide a link to your exact account page for each icon.
Blog. Most blogs have a two-column (or more) layout. Add your social media passport to the sidebar on every page, and position it near the top. Use the social media icons, and provide a link to your exact account page for each icon.
Menus. Add your social media account icons to your menu. This is especially powerful when you add it to the printed menu that you hand to customers and your carryout or catering menu.
Receipts. Add your social media account names or icons to any type of receipt you hand to your customers when possible. This includes any forms that you give to customers when they drop off items, like a dry cleaning claim form.
Signage. Put a sign on your front door that lists your social media sites with their icons. Place a sign near your cash register for additional reinforcement. Consider adding social media information to a sign outside your business.
Google Maps Place Page. Use the flexibility of your Place Page to add your social media passport to your Google Maps listing.

Your turn: How are you promoting your social media passport to your current and potential customers? Share you insights and tips here.

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Blog About Your Press Release

Charlene Kingston — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:59 +0000

A social media press release strategy helps your business in many ways. When you write a press release designed for search engine results for each event that is newsworthy to your customers, you not only inform your customers but improve the search engine results for your business website and blog for your target keywords.

Before You Start: You have a blog. You have written a social media press release about an event or accomplishment for your business.
Learning Level: 4 | Creating Solutions
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Writing Social Media Press Releases

There is an art to writing a press release, but there are simple tips for writing a press release that maximizes the search engine benefits from your press release. You should be writing press releases for your business regularly, and you should be optimizing them for search engines to get the maximum benefit from them.

If you are not sure why you should be using press releases in the social media age, take a few minutes to read David Meerman Scott’s “The New Rules of PR: How to create a press release strategy for reaching buyers directly” (free ebook).

Add Your Press Release To Your Website

Your business website should have a page where you attach press releases. You can also add any mentions of your business in the local media, which could include video clips or links to articles.

If you don’t have any press releases or media links today, start building them. There’s no reason why you can’t go back several months and write a press release for past events. After you have a couple of press releases ready to post, create a new website page and add your press releases in chronological order. Every month or so, write a new press release and add it to your website.

In the past, you only wrote a press release when you had an event that the news media would think is newsworthy. That’s a pretty high standard! In the social media age, you write a press release when you have news that your customers would think is newsworthy. That’s a completely different way to define newsworthy.

Here are some tips for getting the most search engine benefit from your press release and website news page:

Include your target keywords in the press release file name.
Put dashes (-) between words rather than spaces or underscores (_) in the press release file name.
Use target keywords as the anchor text for the link to your press release.

Blog About Your Press Release

Each time you write a press release and post it to your website, write a blog post about it. In the blog post, you can recap the news and give a bit more background. You can explain things in more detail than the press release, and include information that you couldn’t include there.

Here are some tips for getting the most search engine benefit from your blog post:

Use target keywords as the anchor text for the link to your press release.
Write your blog post to include as many of the target keywords for your press release as possible.

With a little effort, you can build your press release strategy and start getting the benefit of improved search engine results for your website and blog for your target keywords.

Your turn: Have you developed a social media press release strategy for your business? What have you learned in the process? Share you experience here.

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10 Ways To Build Your Local Twitter Community

Charlene Kingston — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:00:32 +0000

Twitter allows you to find local people easier than most social media tools and you should use it to find local people to add to your business community. Here are ten ways you can tap into your local community and build your local Twitter community.

Before You Start: You have a Twitter business account.
Learning Level: 2 | Getting Started
Article Last Updated: Wednesday, August 17, 2011

10 Ways To Go Local With Twitter

One of the strongest ways to build your local business community is through Twitter and local user searches. However, there are other ways that you can reach into your community to find people near your business on Twitter.

Here are 10 ways you can build your local community through Twitter.

Add your Twitter account information and a link to your Twitter profile on your website and blog. If you have other social media accounts, also include them in your social media passport. Display this information in a prominent place where visitors see it when they arrive.
Include your Twitter account information in your advertising, including your business cards, email newsletter, flyers, and any other communication you have with your customers.
Put up a sign when people enter your business that includes your Twitter account information. Another sign by the cash register reinforces the message to your customers.
Put your Twitter username on anything you hand to your customers. If you are a restaurant, add it to your menu. Add it your receipts, estimates, and invoices, also.
Post a sign on your building or consider renting a billboard to display your Twitter information for people driving near your location.
Offer to host a tweetup. A tweetup brings local Twitter users to your business and gives them a reason to talk about your business.
Add your Twitter username to your Google Maps listing.
Connect with other neighborhood businesses on Twitter, and engage them in conversation. Retweet any tweets that would interest your community. This lets you share your online communities with neighboring businesses.
Tweet about a community event, local sports team, neighborhood school recognitions, or anything else going on in your community. You might even offer a special through Twitter to support these community events.
Add your business to the mobile check-in sites like Foursquare and Gowalla (if necessary). Keep track of who is visiting your business on these sites and send them welcome or thank you tweets.

When you give your Twitter account information, always remember to ask people to follow you. Something as simple as “Follow us on Twitter” can prompt their action.

Your turn: What do you do to build your local Twitter community? What ideas do you have to reach more local customers with Twitter? Share them here.

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Facebook As A Social Media Hub

Charlene Kingston — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:00:41 +0000

Facebook is an important social media location for many small businesses. It’s one of the fastest growing social media sites, and its business features are growing and expanding weekly. These facts make Facebook an important component of a business social media strategy. However, it has limitations that you should consider and you should not make Facebook the hub of your social media program.

Before You Start: You are considering putting your business on Facebook.
Learning Level: 1 | Social Media Basics
Article Last Updated: Monday, August 22, 2011

Facebook Advantages

There are many reasons why your business might benefit from being on Facebook.

Easy to set up and maintain. Facebook guides you through the page setup process and doesn’t require any special technical skills or tools. In fact, a Facebook page is much easier to maintain than most websites.
Accepts all types of information. You can use your business Facebook page to post short paragraphs of text, photographs, and videos. Almost anything you create to communicate with your customers can be posted to Facebook.
Link to any location online. You can use Facebook to point out any web page to your fans. You can highlight blog posts, your website, your latest press release, an article about you (or your business) online, or an outstanding review of your company.
Reach many people. Facebook has over 400,000,000 members (as of June 2010) and new people sign up every day. Certainly some of your customers or potential customers are Facebook members.

These advantages make Facebook an attractive social media tool for businesses. But don’t let yourself be seduced into putting too much trust and effort into your Facebook presence at the neglect of other social media outposts.

Facebook Limitations

At the same time, Facebook has several limitations that keep it from being the exclusive social media tool for your business.

Facebook is always changing. The smart people who run Facebook are always adding and changing features. When these changes appear, they are unannounced and are not optional. Each Facebook redesign means that you have to adjust to playing by a different set of rules.
Facebook controls access to your business page. You have a free account on Facebook, and that means that you can’t control your access to your Facebook account. Occasionally, there are stories about people who get their Facebook account suspended who didn’t break any known rules. The process for appealing your suspension takes some time, and the outcome is never guaranteed.
Facebook provides a limited boost to your search results ranking. If you have a website with a blog, and if you put the same content on your blog and Facebook, you will get more traction from your blog.
Facebook doesn’t allow you to contact individual fans. You can provide mass communication to all fans, but not to individual fans.
Facebook doesn’t give you fan contact information. You can contact your fans only through Facebook, and only as a group. You also cannot export contact information for your fans.

When you look at the whole picture, you see that Facebook can be an important focus for your social media strategy, but it should not replace a website with a blog as your primary social media hub.

Your turn: Do you have an official (business) page on Facebook and a website with a blog? How do you manage your conversations over these different tools? Share your experience with the community.

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Add A Blog To Your Business Website

Charlene Kingston — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:00:40 +0000

A blog is a great communication tool for almost every business. A business blog is different from a diary and helps build your business. If you have a website and you are planning to add a blog, there are some technical and setup options to consider.

Before You Start: You have a website and you are considering starting a business blog.
Learning level: 1 | Social Media Basics
Article last updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011

Blogging Software

Most blogs run on special blogging software from companies like WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, Tumblr, Posterous, or Moveable Type. Blogging software has features developed specifically for blogging, including:

List of blog posts in chronological order (as you write them).
Archive blog posts so you have a permanent historical record of your blog.
Category archives allow you to put each blog post into one or more subjects (categories) for easy recall and organization.
Tags allow you to identify key points and subjects covered in each blog posts, and connect blog posts that include related information.
Sidebars allow you to list supplementary information such as most popular posts, recent comments, recommended web links, and blog categories for easy access by blog readers.

It’s a smart idea to use blogging software. Why pay a developer to reinvent the wheel when you can just use blogging software?

Join Separate Blogs And Websites

Because blogs use different software, most likely your blog will be separate from your company website. Here are some things you can do to make the physical separation less obvious to your site and blog visitors.

Visual branding. Select colors and fonts from your website for your blog, and include the same graphics and your logo. By repeating these important elements, your blog can have a similar look to your website.
Menu and links. Create a new menu option on your website that links directly to the front page of your blog. Add a link on your blog that links directly to the front page of your website. This allows visitors to navigate seamlessly between these two separate components. Make sure your visitors can jump back and forth without having to search for a link to the other component.
Cross links. Within your blog posts, provide a link for easy access to specific pages within your website.
Blog name. Give your blog a unique name that relates to your website, your company name, or your product or service brand names. This creates a logical link between the components.

Technically speaking, many businesses place their blog in a separate folder from their website where they host their website . There are two easy ways to do this.

Put your blog in a folder under your website: www.yourwebsite.com/blog
Put your blog in a subdomain at your website: blog.yourwebsite.com

Combined Blogs And Websites

It is possible to combine your blog and your website. However, this requires some technical knowledge beyond what most small business people possess. Creating a combined blog and website is a larger project than just starting a blog.

While it is nice to have a seamless look and feel (and connection) between your blog and your website, don’t let this technical challenge keep you from starting your blog today, and gaining the benefits from a blog immediately. You can change the setup of your blog and website at a later date.

Get started on your blog this week, and the next time you revamp your website, consider blending the two together using blogging software like WordPress which can do both websites and blogs.

Your turn: Did you add a blog separate from your website? What did you learn from this experience? Share your tips and insights with the community in the comments.

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Twitter Landing Pages

Charlene Kingston — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:00:39 +0000

Your Twitter profile allows you to link to one website page. You can link to any part of your business online presence, but one smart idea is to create a special Twitter landing page. A Twitter landing page is a special page on your blog or website that visitors only reach from your Twitter profile. A good Twitter landing page establishes your identity with new followers.

Before You Start: You have a business Twitter account. You have a business website or blog where you can add a Twitter landing page.
Learning level: 3 | Building Skills
Article last updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011

Twitter Landing Page Components

If Twitter is an important part of your social media presence, you should consider building a customized Twitter landing page for the web link option in your Twitter profile. A landing page allows you to speak directly to people who are checking you out on Twitter.

A Twitter landing page provides specific information that you normally don’t provide on your blog or website. When crafting a Twitter landing page, you could include this information:

Welcome message. Welcome your visitors and explain that this is your customized Twitter landing page. This is like greeting someone who arrives at your front door. Be friendly and thank them for stopping by.
Who you are. Repeat your name, your business name, and your Twitter user name (if different).
Your business contact information. Always make it easy for people to contact your business.
Your Twitter goal. Let people know your goal for using Twitter. By sharing why you use Twitter, you give potential followers a lot of information about how you use Twitter.
Your tweet topics. Let people know the types of topics that you tweet about. You might think that they can review your archive to figure out your topics. However, many people won’t take the time scan more than a few tweets, and those may not represent you well. If you want engaged followers who are interested in your topics, tell them what you tweet about.
Your follow policy. Do you follow back everyone, or are you selective about following people? There is no right or wrong decision. However, this is your chance to explain your policy so people don’t start off with the wrong impression. Most people will assume that your follow policy is the same as theirs. Giving your follow policy is especially important if you are selective. If you don’t follow back everyone, explain how you decide whom to follow.
List of recent tweets. There are many tools that automatically display the last few tweets from this Twitter account. Which one you use depends on how you build your Twitter landing page and your technical skills. Twitter provides a series of widgets designed to make it easy to add tweets to Facebook, MySpace, and blogs on TypePad, Blogger, and others.
Other Twitter accounts. If you have other Twitter accounts with other goals and topics, list them here. Perhaps this account isn’t the best fit for your potential follower, but they see that another account would interest them more.
Your social media passport. If you are active in social media, you can provide a list of all of your social media accounts with links to help people find you on each one.

By giving potential followers this information, you allow them to make an informed decision about following you. It also lets them know that you are doing business on Twitter, and that you understand how to give them the information they need. It’s an important first impression!

Your turn: Do you have a Twitter landing page? What do you include on it? Have you found a landing page that you thought did a great job? Share your insights here in the comments.

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Your Twitter Web Link Options

Charlene Kingston — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:00:43 +0000

Twitter allows you to link to one web address within your profile. You should give careful thought to the web address you choose for this important profile feature. A good web link gives potential followers and customers the information they need to decide if they want to follow you and to learn more about your business. Your Twitter web link directs traffic to any destination you choose.

Before You Start: You are setting up a business Twitter account or fine tuning your Twitter profile.
Learning level: 2 | Getting Started
Article last updated: Sunday, October 8, 2011

Business Link Options

The good news is that you can link to any site that supports your business and your business goals. There is no correct destination that works for all businesses. Consider using any of these web locations as your Twitter web address.

Your company website. Your website is the foundation of your business online presence. A link to your website points your customers and potential customers to the most important place to learn about your business products and services.
Your company blog. Your blog provides up-to-date information about your business that would interest your customers and potential customers. Most businesses update their blogs more frequently than their website.
A social networking site. If your business doesn’t have a website or blog, but you are on a social networking site like Facebook, you could link directly to your profile. This would make it easy for people from Twitter to link up with you on the social networking site, also. For example, if you use a photo sharing site like Flickr to showcase your photography work, you might link to your Flickr account.
Your resume. If you are a sole proprietor or a freelancer, you might choose to link to your resume on a professional networking site like LinkedIn. This would allow a large number of people to see your resume.
A customized Twitter landing page. If you have the ability to create a customized web page through a website or a blog, this option allows you to build a specific page for Twitter visitors like this example of my business landing page.

Use your Twitter goal to determine which option you use. You can also adjust your choice based on your current situation. For example, if you are a freelancer looking for clients, you might temporarily switch from your blog or website to your profile on a site like LinkedIn.

Your turn: What page did you choose for your Twitter web link? How is that working for you? Have you considered developing a Twitter landing page?

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How Does A Blog Help My Business?

Charlene Kingston — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:00:01 +0000

Many businesses today use blogs to communicate with their customers, potential customers, and the general public. You may be wondering if a blog would help your business. A blog provides many benefits for most businesses.

Before You Start: You are considering starting a business blog.
Learning level: 1 | Social Media Basics
Article last updated: Thursday, September 22, 2011

Advantages From Business Blogs

There are many advantages you gain from keeping a business blog. Here are a few of them.

Develop a casual dialog with your customers. A blog allows you to speak casually to a wide range of people, including your customers and potential customers. Through a blog, and through blog comments, you can create a casual conversation that builds real relationships.
Fast communication of current information. Most businesses don’t update their website frequently. A blog allows you to provide up-to-date information to your customers quickly and easily. It’s much easier to update a blog than your website, and it requires no special technical skills.
Increase your visibility in search engine results. As you blog about topics, you increase your business visibility in search engine results for those topics. A business blog with posts written around your most desired search results raises your visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find you.
Share multimedia content. With a blog, you can embed other types of content such as videos, photos, and podcasts easily. By including multimedia content in your blog, you centralize all of the content from your company, and make it easy for people to see and use the content you create and provide.
You are in control (mostly). Many people use a variety of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. These sites are run by other companies, subject to hacker attacks, and may close in the future. Your blog is the only place where you run the show. Yes, your hosting service may have some downtime, but with a good backup strategy, you can be up and running again quickly.
Be seen as an expert. A blog allows you to showcase your knowledge about a topic. As other people discover the benefit of your knowledge, you become seen as an expert in the field.

Deciding to start a blog is an important business decision that can help you build your business.

Your turn: Do you keep a business blog? What benefits have you found from keeping a blog? Share your insights with the community here.

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