From Twitter to FaceBook to LinkedIn and everything in between, Social Networking is HUGE! You can spend your whole day lost in a maze of Social Networking and get absolutely nothing else done. Trust me, I’ve been there, done that! So, what’s the answer? Moderation.

We all know that Social Marketing is important for targeting new customers and also for keeping up with our current customers. Make sure and read Social Marketing if you haven’t. It’s got lots of great information for you. Just make sure that Social Networking / Social Marketing doesn’t take up your whole day. Pick just one of the general Social Networking companies (FaceBook, Twitter …) and then one Social Marketing site that is geared for your specific business niche. If you need a list of some of the Social Networking Websites, you can look up Social Networking on Wikipedia and go to the List of Social Networking Websites.

Have fun, set a timer, meet some new friends, gain exposure and make sure and include your URL in your home page at the Social Networking Website! Hey – it’s a free linkback!

Have you ever held your curser over a picture and some words show up in a box? That picture has a Picture Tag. Picture Tags are a great extra that so many people miss out on. We were looking at a Charter Fishing Web Site that had lots of great photos. One was of Jim Carey – THE Jim Carey. Unfortunately, it didn’t have any Picture Tag on it, so the opportunity for capitalizing on a very famous Movie Star was lost as there wasn’t any copy on the page – only pictures.

Just as Search Engines crawl for Meta Tags, they also look at the Picture Tags when crawling your site. Again, you want to make sure and use your Key Words (along with other important words/names) so that your Meta Tags and frequently added Content, along with your Picture Tags all coordinate. This will achieve higher Search Rankings which bring more people to your site!

Simply put, Meta Tags are snatches of information that your Web Master puts into the “code” (part of the Web Site that is not seen by everyone – the “background information”). For instance, if your business is a Bed and Breakfast, you’d want to include “lodging”, “bed and breakfast”, “accommodations”, “food”, “dinning”, “cabins”, “cottages” and any other words that describe your business. Another key part of the Meta Tags are to put in what town you are in, what Borough or County and what State you are in. You want to include anything that might bring people to your site – but you don’t want just anyone! You want those who WANT to find you. Those will convert to sales and sales is what we all want!

Meta Tags used to be very, very important. However … just as the links were abused, the Meta Tags were also abused and therefore, the Search Engines no longer put such a big emphasis on Meta Tags. They are still needed, they just aren’t as important as adding relevant content as often as possible.

Discuss what Key Words you want to use on your site with your Web Master. Once those Key Words are in your Meta Tags, make sure and use those same Key Words in the content on your Web Site. Whether you have a Dynamic site or a Static site with a Blog attached, continue to use those Key Words. This consistency will score higher with the Search Engine Spiders as they crawl your site and get you higher rankings with their Search Engines hence bringing more traffic your way.

Sometimes called Reciprocal Link, Link Swaps, Link Exchanges or Link Partners, Link Backs is your Web Site URL on someone else’s web site. The most effective way to utilize this is to stay within your business niche and get others to mention you and your web site on their blog. Sometimes you can get others to place your URL on their blog if you mention their URL on your blog.

Then someone got greedy and decided to create a “Link Farm”. Link Farms are something that the major Search Engines frown upon and if you (even unknowingly) get listed on a Link Farm site, your URL will usually get black balled from the Search Engines and you will lose your standing/rating with the Search Engines. This is not a good thing! Link Farms are basically a mega link exchange. You put 200-500 links on your URL and those 200-500 URLs add a link to your site on their site. Good theory, bad execution. The major Search Engines have realized what is happening and instructed their spiders that crawl the web to take note (black ball you) when they find a Link Farm.

Be very weary of anyone who promises to get you Link Backs for money. Those tend to be Link Farms – something you want to stay away from.

So how do you get good Link Backs? Meet people in your business niche – on line and off. Once you get to know them (and make sure their readers would be a good fit for your business), ask them if they would like to offer their readers a “Special” to run on their Web Site. This “Special” could be anything from 10 % off the next purchase on your Web Site to a free PDF that you have put together detailing some aspect of your particular business niche. Something that will attract possible new customers to your site AND a link to your URL. It’s a win/win situation! Another great way to get good Link Backs is to offer a “Special” to those who write up a review (including your URL) on their blog. There are many other good / honest ways to get good Link Backs to your Web Site. Ask your Web Master for additional ideas.

Google and other major Web Search Engines are placing higher rankings for those who have new, relative content rather than the old ways of “buying your way to page 1”.  Therefore, by placing a Blog on/in your site (located in your Web Site – not off site with someone else building their Web Site) the Search Engine Spiders will search through your Web Site and rank your new content every time you write something!  This is good.  The more they search your Web Site and find new, relative content, the higher your site will rank on the Search Engines! 
 
Also look over your original Content on your Web Site.  Is it well written, using Key Words relative to your business niche?  If not, re-writing it might be well worth your time.  If you write your own Copy, you will save money.  You can hire a writer to come in and re-write the copy (content) in your Web Site to make it more relevant to your business niche or you can sit down and write it yourself.  Hint: read it out loud or better yet – have someone else read the copy you have written out loud to you.  Usually you can hear mistakes or things that just don’t sound right when read out loud!
Keep in mind, your Web Master will put whatever you want into your Web Site.  While he/she might question you, the final choice of what goes into your Web Site belongs to you, the Web Site Owner.  Most of the time your Web Master will want to help you achieve the highest rankings possible and therefore will advise if they see something that might be better worded a different way, however, if you are not paying for an Editor/Writer, it might get missed. 

Writing Your Own Copy Will Save You Money – as long as it is well written!
The more work you do, the less work your Web Master needs to do and therefore, the lower your Web Designer fees should be.  This is especially true when starting a new Web Site or switching to a new Web Master.
   
Copy work is HUGE!  Supply your Web Master with well written copy for your Web Site.  Tell about your business using key words that are unique to your business niche.  In order to obtain the highest ranking possible, it is important to continue to add relevant copy to your Web Site – which is why we recommend adding a Blog to your site.  It is much more economical for you to add new content to your site weekly (or daily) than it would be to pay a Web Master to continue to add new content into your web weekly/daily!

What will get me higher Web Site Rankings?

• Constantly adding content
• Link backs
• Meta Tags
• Picture Tags
• Social Networking

Over the next few days, we’ll be exploring each of these and finding ways that you can help your Web Site reach higher Web Site Rankings.  There are some things that only your Web Master can do, but there are a lot of ways you can help your Web Site reach Higher Rankings without paying someone else to do it for you.

What is Social Marketing?  That depends on who you ask!  Everyone seems to have a different opinion about what Social Marketing is.  I believe if you break the phrase down to simple words, the definition itself will be simple.  Social: meeting people and/or getting to know people.  Marketing: sharing your products or service.  So, Social Marketing is “Meeting and getting to know people and sharing your products or services.” 
   
There are several ways you can accomplish Social Marketing: in person and on the web.  In person you can go to your local Chamber of Commerce Mixer, go to a State Convention that is specific for your business (travel, construction …) or you can take fellow business owners out for coffee.  On the web, your choices are endless.  From Blogging  to FaceBook to Social Networking geared toward your particular type of business to everything in-between! 
   
Get out there and let your voice be heard.  Let people know who you are.  Start small – make friends.  Then, when the time is right, tell them about your business.  Whether it’s in person or on the web, let people know you, get to like you and then they will want to buy from you!  Talk to your Web Master about attaching a Blog on your Web Site or linking to FaceBook/Twitter or any type of Social Networking Site.   That is Social Marketing that works!