Building an Effective Web Presence - Step 13 - Tweet!

Step #13 – Tweet

Over  the past twelve posts we’ve identified many steps in the process of building an effective web presence:   1) Define your ideal client; 2) Identify specific goals; 3) Create a call to action; 4) Give customers what they expect; 5) Be a better communicator; 6) Get found; 7) Improve Your Link Popularity;  8) Setup and optimize your free Google Places listing;  9) Make it easy to share; 10) Be analytical;  11) Start a Blog; and 12) Get LinkedIn.

The thirteenth step is:  Tweet.

What is Twitter?   (http://business.twitter.com)
Twitter is a network where millions of people and businesses find/share information every day. As a Twitter user, you read/write messages up to 140 characters. These are called Tweets. Other Twitter users subscribe to your messages by “following” your account. Your followers then receive each of your messages in their timeline … a feed of all the accounts they have subscribed to (similar to Facebook’s Newsfeed).

Did You Know?
There are 230 million Tweets per day and more than 100 million active users.  64% of Twitter users are 35 or older, with the estimated average age of 39.1.  Twitter is the social media platform of choice for Fortune 100 companies, with 76% ranking it as the most valuable. Only 15% of small businesses use Twitter. The other 85% are missing the boat. If you are part if that 85%, it’s time to start tweeting!

8 Reasons to Use Twitter for Business Marketing
Inbound marketing is about getting found by potential customers and it is tightly tied to relationship marketing where you earn business through growing relationships, credibility and trust. Twitter is a powerful platform for both and can be used for:  1) Brand Awareness;  2) Customer Service; 3) Content Distribution; 4) Lead Generation; 5) Credibility Building;  6) Referral Network Expansion;  7) Competitive Intelligence; and 8) Search Engine Optimization.

Get Started
Go to Twitter.com and create a free account. Remember, Twitter is all about packing power messages into small spaces. Twitter limits how much information you can include in your profile, so you need to make it count. Be sure to include a photo, a 160-character bio, and the URL to your website. Try to make your username as short as possible, for two reasons: 1) It’s easier to remember; and 2) People only have 140 characters for their tweets, including your name if they are replying to or retweeting one of your messages.

What to Tweet About
Always keep in mind, Twitter is a place to grow relationships and build your brand reputation. Pushing constant sales messages will get you “unfollowed” quickly. Instead, try to offer value in your tweets. Solve problems for people. Offer insights in your area of expertise. Provide coupons and deals. Take people behind the scenes of your business. Share photos of your business and the people who are the life-blood of it. Be real.  

Growing Tweeps ( or Followers … like your “Peeps”) Takes Time
Building your Twitter following doesn’t happen overnight, but if you consistently focus on value messages, share your insights, your values, and the personalities that drive your brand, you’ll ultimately grow a loyal group of Twitter followers who may ultimately become brand evangelists for your business.  How’s that for the price of a free Tweet?

Follow MSW Interactive Designs on Twitter  @PutTheWebToWork

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403

www.PutTheWebToWork.com

Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com

TWITTER:  @putthewebtowork

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/putthewebtowork

BLOG: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com

Building An Effective Web Presence - Step #12 Get LinkedIn

Over  the past eleven posts we identified steps one through eleven in the process of building an effective web presence:   1) Define your ideal client; 2) Identify specific goals; 3) Create a call to action; 4) Give customers what they expect; 5) Be a better communicator; 6) Get found; 7) Improve Your Link Popularity;  8) Setup and optimize your free Google Places listing;  9) Make it easy to share; 10) Be analytical; and 11) Start a Blog.

The twelfth step is: 
Get LinkedIn.

Most people have heard of LinkedIn, and like so many others, you may have setup a personal profile and not touched it since. It’s time to start taking advantage of everything LinkedIn can offer your company!

Did you know that LinkedIn has several new features that can positively impact business owners like you?  LinkedIn offers company pages (similar to Facebook) and there are already nearly 90 million business members.  Does your business have a company LinkedIn page? If the answer is no, then what are you waiting for?  Oh, by the way, it’s FREE.

Go to http://www.LinkedIn.com.  Click on COMPANIES in the top navigation bar and then click on ADD COMPANY.  Do it today – it won’t take much time.  Just as with other business social platforms, the key is not so much about you finding other people … it’s about them finding you … reaching out to you … and making a connection for business purposes.  If you are not there, they WILL find your competition.

Complete your personal LinkedIn Profile 100%, and take the time to thoroughly complete the profile for your company LinkedIn page.  You should include all of the following: company overview, business logo, location information, contact information, link to your web site, twitter ID (you are on Twitter right?), business blog feed (I know you started a blog after last month’s article!), detailed product/service description, careers available with your company, three images associated with your product/service (linked back to your web site or Facebook page), a YouTube video about your business, and a promotion from your LinkedIn company page.  

Yes, LinkedIn let’s you put ALL this juicy stuff on your page … for FREE!  

Once you’ve completed your LinkedIn business page, you can add a “Follow Us on LinkedIn” button to your website (and blog).  You can also add a “Recommend” button to your website that feeds back to your company LinkedIn page. This enables clients to easily write great testimonials about your business for all to see (and good testimonials make GREAT sales people)!  LinkedIn has also made a “Share” button available. It works just like the Facebook button we all know and love, except that it updates your LinkedIn connections instead of your Facebook fans.

LinkedIn is a truly powerful tool for your business inbound marketing efforts, and it’s one of the most overlooked. With a complete personal profile and business page, you are well positioned to start engaging on LinkedIn and building your reputation as THE local expert who continually offers value and expertise to your customers. Google also gives weight to personal profiles and company pages … one more spot you can hold on coveted page one when people search for your name or business name!

Try participating in LinkedIn “Groups”.  Here’s a tip … play outside your own sandbox.  This is where you will find your customers, not your competitors. For example, if you are a Realtor, don’t join real estate groups.  Join groups where you can interact with people who fit your ideal customer profile … not your competitor profile.

Use the “Ask & Answer Questions” feature in LinkedIn.  Contribute to the conversation.  Add continued value messages that build your credibility across the business social media landscape and cause prospective customers to actively seek you out. LinkedIn gives you a powerful platform to do this.

Setup your LinkedIn business page today.  Your competitors will … if they haven’t already!

Here is a great resource:  I do a lot of reading in my attempt to stay on top of what’s going on across the social media, web site, and search engine landscape. Most of these books I would never recommend to clients because they can cause instant brain freeze or certain drowsiness.  BUT … I have one that’s a MUST read if you’ve come to realize that social media is here to stay and your business better get in.  It’s quick. It’s to the point. It’s powerful.  “Social Boom” by Jeffrey Gitomer. Let me know if you read and enjoy it!

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403

www.PutTheWebToWork.com

Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com

TWITTER:  @putthewebtowork

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/putthewebtowork

BLOG: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com

Building an Effective Web Presence - Step #11 - Start a Blog

Step #11 – Start a Blog

Over  the past ten months we identified steps one through ten in the process of building an effective web presence:   1) Define your ideal client; 2) Identify specific goals; 3) Create a call to action; 4) Give customers what they expect; 5) Be a better communicator; 6) Get found; 7) Improve Your Link Popularity;  8) Setup and optimize your free Google Places listing;  9) Make it easy to share; and 10) Be analytical.

The eleventh step is: 

Start a blog and write … often.

If you’ve ever attended a Jeffrey Gitomer seminar, you know he talks about the path to wealth (and dominating your competition) is writing.  Gitomer says write daily and offer something of value to your customers.  Good advice. It should be no surprise that one of the keys to dominating your competition online is writing, as well.  A blog (short for “web-log”) is a great way to start.

When I present workshops about growing your web presence, as soon as I say “blog”, I often get deep groans from the audience.  The fact is, content is king on the Internet. Search engines soak up fresh, original, and useful content … internet users like the same thing.  Is it any surprise that websites with strong content and frequent supporting blog posts around a great topic tend to rise to the top of page one results? It shouldn’t be!

Blog Platforms
There are several free blog platforms that you can use to get started. Some good ones include:  Blogger.com, WordPress.com, Tumblr.com, and Posterous.com.  I use Blogger.com for each of my blogs.  It’s owned by Google and I am a fan of using Google’s products when it makes sense.

Watch this short video from Google to see how quick and easy it is setup and start your own blog ... for free!

What to Write About
The two most important things for a successful blog are compelling content and frequent updates.  Frequent updates are important, so set aside 15-20 minutes to write a post. It WILL make a difference over time … commit to doing it.

Compelling content can be a bit more challenging.  To get the creative juices flowing, consider some of the following ideas:

1. Lists
   People like lists. Write short posts around your area of expertise entitled, “The Top Three Ways to…”, or “5 Steps to …”
2. FAQs
   Write short blog posts around frequently asked questions about your business or area of expertise.
3. Photos
   Craft short blog posts around photos … from your business, your clients, your products, or your interests.
4. Recommendations or Reviews
   Offer your clients and readers recommendations or reviews around items related to your expertise.

Once you get a few blog posts under your belt, you can really go crazy and connect your blog to your business Facebook page. When you do this, all of your Facebook fans will automatically know when you’ve published a new post.

Make time for blogging. You won’t regret it. Jeffrey Gitomer says, “Writing leads to wealth...”

Sandy Waggett says, “Blogging leads to great search engine rankings.”

What are you waiting for? 
Start your business blog today at http://www.blogger.com!

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!

MSW Interactive Designs LLC specializes in small business web design, website hosting, search engine optimization, and social media services.

573-552-8403

www.PutTheWebToWork.com

Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com

TWITTER:  @putthewebtowork

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/putthewebtowork

BLOG: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com

How To Setup A Paypal Account

I just wanted to make a quick blog post to share the link where you go to setup a Paypal account for your business website.  Paypal makes the setup process pretty straight forward, but navigating to the link for Paypal Website Payments Standard can sometimes be challenging!

Use this link : http://bit.ly/dwGHM5

Paypal offers a nice tutorial video on this page to show you how to setup your account.  Once your account is created and attached bank account verified, you'll be ready to start accepting payments.  Your webmaster should be able to help you setup Paypal buttons on your website.

If you need assistance integrating Paypal with your website, please don't hesitate to contact us!

MSW Interactive Designs LLC
We put the web to work for you!http://www.MSWInteractiveDesigns.com
573-552-8403

Building an Effective Web Presence - Step #10 – Be Analytical

Over the past nine months we identified steps one through nine in the process of building an effective web presence:   1) Define your ideal client; 2) Identify specific goals; 3) Create a call to action; 4) Give customers what they expect; 5) Be a better communicator; 6) Get found; 7) Improve Your Link Popularity;  8) Setup and optimize your free Google Places listing; and 9) Make it easy to share.

The tenth step is:  Be analytical.

You’ve worked hard to build a professional web presence around clear goals and calls to action.  You are definitely a step ahead of the pack, but you should not stop there.  It’s important to have some type of analytics available about your web presence.  This allows you to make informed and intelligent decisions based on what people are (or are not) doing when they get there.  Without analytics, changes or adjustments you make to improve things are mere guesses.  

I came across a quote that puts it in the simplest terms: Measurable is the new “Gosh, I hope it works.”

There are several tools available for website analytics.  Your web hosting provider likely has a stats package available that will allow you to see basic data about activity on your website. Contact him or her and find out how you can access it.

Better yet, install Google Analytics on your site.  It is free, it’s powerful, and it is available at http://www.google.com/analytics.  Simply sign up for an account and Google will provide you with a small block of code that you (or your web person) can add to each page of your website. Once installed, Google tracks and compiles an amazing amount of data.

In addition to basic information like unique visitors and page views, you can see the bounce rate on your site, analyze a heat map to visibly see what links and pictures people are clicking on when they get to your site, plus you’ll have a wealth of information about how people are finding your site. When you use and understand Google Analytics, you're empowered to make informed decisions and create a higher converting website for your business.

In a last month’s article, we discussed making your website easy to share using tools like AddThis.com and ShareThis.com.  Both of these tools provide analytics on the content that is shared from your website. You can setup your account so those metrics are emailed to you weekly or you can simply login to your account and view them at any time. 

Just as you monitor analytics and sharing on your website, you should also monitor analytics on your business Facebook page. “Facebook Insights” provides business page owners powerful metrics on new likes, daily activity, interactions, impressions, feedback, and demographics. By understanding and analyzing trends within user growth and demographics, consumption of content, and creation of content, you are better equipped to improve your business social media marketing and create better experiences on Facebook for your customers. For advanced users, Facebook also provides a way to integrate Google Analytics into your Facebook business page!

I get calls from prospective clients who ask me to help them increase traffic to their websites.  This is a worthy goal, but it is important to look at the existing traffic first. Many times it is not actually the lack of traffic that is the problem … it is the lack of conversions with the visitors they already have.  Using analytics is the best way to understand what visitors are actually doing, versus what you want them to do.  This often illuminates simple improvements that can be made to increase conversions and build a more effective web presence.

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403

www.PutTheWebToWork.com

Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com

TWITTER:  @putthewebtowork

FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/putthewebtowork

BLOG: http://put-the-web-to-work.blogspot.com

Building an Effective Web Presence : Step #9 – Make Your Website and Content Easy to Share

In previous articles we identified steps one through eight in the process of building an effective web presence: 
  
1) Define your ideal client
2) Identify specific goals
3) Create a call to action
4) Give customers what they expect
5) Be a better communicator
6) Get found
7) Improve Your Link Popularity
8) Setup and optimize your free Google Places listing

The ninth step is: 
Make your website and content easy to share.

In a 2010 social media study, 89 percent of Internet users said they actively share content.  If you are on Facebook or Twitter, this should come as no surprise. Social sharing tools spread your content and brand across the web. What’s even more powerful is the return from social sharing by bringing even more visitors back to your website.

Some of my favorite social sharing tools include the following:

AddThis.com

AddThis.com is the world's largest content sharing platform. It gives visitors to your site a simple and easy way to share your content across the social web, and it provides you with increased web traffic and in-depth analytics.  Did I mention it’s FREE?  You simply go to their website at http://www.addthis.com, choose the button style that best fits your site, then AddThis.com  gives you (or your website designer) a block of code (or a widget) that you place on your website. This gives people who visit your site an easy way to share it with their connections on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever their favorite social platform might be. With the analytics AddThis.com provides, you can see how many “shares” (and across what social platforms) you receive each week.

ShareThis.com

Sharethis.com works just like AddThis.com.  I like ShareThis.com because it’s a little more customizable than AddThis.com, however both work equally well. Their website is http://www.ShareThis.com.  If you use one of these sharing tools, I recommend putting the widget on each page of your website.  If you have an eCommerce storefront, you should include a sharing widget with each product, as well.

Facebook “Like” Button

The Facebook “Like” button lets a visitor to your website share your content with their friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the “Like” button on your site, a story appears in the their friends' News Feed with a link back to your website. With the average Facebook user having over 100 friends, it’s easy to see how powerful this is because more than 100 people will see your content.  You can customize your “Like” buttons so they include faces of your Facebook fans, a “Send” button, and/or a live stream from your Facebook page.  To create a Like button for your site, go to: http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/ .

The biggest difference between the Facebook “Like” button and the AddThis/ShareThis option is the AddThis/ShareThis feature allows the end user to choose which platform on which they want to share your content.  The Facebook “Like” button only shares it on Facebook.

On my own websites and on my client websites, I use a combination of each of these sharing tools. The important thing is that you use at least one of them to give your website visitors the ability to share your content.  With 89% of Internet Users indicating they regularly share content socially, you are missing an opportunity if you don’t give them an easy way to share the content from your website!

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403
www.PutTheWebToWork.com
Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com

Building an Effective Web Presence : Step #8 – Setup and Optimize Your Free Google Places Listing

Over the past seven months we identified steps one through seven in the process of building an effective web presence: 1) Define your ideal client; 2) Identify specific goals; 3) Create a call to action; 4) Give customers what they expect; 5) Be a better communicator; 6) Get found; and 7) Improve Your Link Popularity.

The eighth step is:
Setup and optimize your Google places listing.

If you’ve ever attended any of my workshops, you know that I am a big fan of "FREE." The cool thing about Google Places is it’s absolutely free and it’s very easy to setup.

To start, go to http://www.Google.com/Places, and then click on "Get Started" under Google Places for Business. Google will literally take you through the step by step process of adding your business. Once you’ve completed the basic listing, Google will immediately call your business phone number and give you a PIN number to enter to validate the listing.
Now that your FREE Google Places listing is setup, you can optimize it so it appears in the coveted top seven positions on page one for Google Places.

Here are some suggestions:

Basic Business Information: Complete all basic and required fields. Be sure you use the actual name for your company and that your address information is your physical address.

E-mail and Business Description: Use a business e-mail address that is associated with your domain name. For the business description you have 200-characters - use all of them! Describe precisely what you do, including any specialty areas. Include your complete website address.

Business Category Selection: Selecting the right categories can make or break your chance at ranking prominently on page one in the Google local listings. Google offers one main category and four related categories to help define your business. Select a primary category and DO select sub-categories.

Service Areas: Google Places offers the option for businesses to define service areas. This is home-based businesses and mobile businesses. If your business fits this type of business, include your service areas. If you have a brick and mortar location, do not include service areas.

Hours of Operation and Payment Options: Even if you really service customers 24/7, fill out your hours of operation and payment options. These details help you get closer to a 100% complete Google Places listing, and ultimately can help make it rank higher.

Images and Videos: Adding images and videos also counts toward a 100% complete listing. Make use of this option and upload photos related to your business. Google allows you to upload 10 photos, so be sure to load 10. If you sell products online, you can upload images of your best sellers. You can also upload videos. You can do promotional videos or how-to videos for your customers. Google Places gives you the ability to showcase up to five videos. A great resoruce for easy video creation is http://www.animoto.com.

Additional Details: This section allows you to provide additional details you wish to tell prospective clients about your business. You can add several fields. Sample fields to consider adding: free quotes, business awards, and other ongoing specials. You can also add links to your Twitter or Facebook pages. Just add a field called "Follow us on Twitter" or "Follow us on Facebook" and copy the full URL for your Facebook or Twitter Profile into the field on the right hand side.

Review/Testimonials: One of the best things you can do is ask your happy clients/customers to give you a testimonial. I always recommend adding these to your website, but here I am specifically recommending that you send your client/customers a link to your Google Places page and ask them to submit a public testimonial/review.

Creating a FREE Google Places listing (and optimizing it by completing ALL the information Google asks for) will give you a GREAT chance of landing on page one of Google for your primary search terms.

Sandy Waggett, Owner
MSW Interactive Designs LLC ~ We put the web to work for you!
573-552-8403
www.PutTheWebToWork.com
Sandy@MSWInteractiveDesigns.com