SEO Pal No Comments June 7th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks

Famous Social Media Writing Errors By Famous People

People make writing mistakes on social media all the time. Maybe they’re just writing too quickly to proofread their work, or maybe they simply don’t know how to write properly. Either way, you’ll certainly find a spelling or grammatical mistake on your news feed every day.

Celebrities are included in this group. With more and more celebrities using social media for personal or professional reasons, many of them are finding themselves the topic of conversations when their tweets and posts contain writing errors. The following are some famous social media writing mistakes by famous people.

Chad Ochocinco

Chad Ochocinco is a professional football player in the NFL. In 2010, he was fined $26,000 for tweeting during one of his preseason games. Apparently the NFL has rules against a player’s use of social media, stating they cannot use it 90 minutes before the start of their game up until their post game media obligations are over. Not only did the topic go viral, but Ochocinco’s poorly written Twitter response to the issue also went viral.

50 Cent

50 Cent is always making enemies, and he decided to take out his frustration with French Montana through Twitter. Unfortunately, his poor use of grammar, spelling and punctuation got more buzz than his threat.

Lamar Odom

Even celebrities have to get creative with the 140-character limit, but Lamar Odom took it a step too far when he posted a message of random phrases that contained a variety of misspellings and grammatical errors.

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson is known to be a passionate man, and he allows his passions to run through on his Twitter feed. Apparently, he’s also known to make up his own words, as some of his vocabulary cannot be found in the dictionary. Here’s to hoping he was just trying to be creative.

Lil’ Wayne

Someone should tell Lil’ Wayne that the “k” sound can also be made with a “c”. He should also be taught how to spell things appropriately, or at least use a spell checker.

Jamie Oliver

Jamie Oliver is a celebrity chef who likes to use his Twitter feed to inform the world of news he hears as well as his own personal endeavors. When Oliver heard a story about UK farmers, he turned to Twitter. Unfortunately his poor spelling, grammar and punctuation got more buzz than the news he was trying to share.

Mary J. Blige

Mary J. Blige used Twitter to express her disdain for those who always question her intelligence. Unfortunately for Mary, her tweet was filled with spelling and grammatical errors, including misspelling the word “intelligence”.

Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher made headlines when his tweet was misinformed. After hearing only bits and pieces about the Joe Paterno scandal at Penn State, Kutcher took to Twitter to mention his displeasure. His news feed then blew up with people attacking him for endorsing Paterno’s behavior, and Kutcher then handed his Twitter account over to a third party. This just proves that it’s not always about spelling and grammar, but also about your content.

Featured images:

License: Image author owned
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Caleb Grant is a social media manager and avid blogger. He uses an online grammar check tool to proof his writing before posting it online.

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SEO Pal No Comments May 30th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks

How To #Hashtag Effectively To Make Your Business A Success

Since Twitter became a global brand, the concept of ‘hashtags’ has permeated every single aspect of online life. World events are followed by the simple application of a # sign, brands are built around this digital shorthand and PR disasters follow in its wake by the dozen. So how do you translate this trend into business success? Simple: by learning how to use the hashtag to push your company up the search rankings and turn your low-profile business into the talk of the town. Here we tell you how to do just that, and what pitfalls to look out for along the way:

Using Pre-existing hashtags

Thanks to the utter ubiquity of Twitter, almost anything you care to name likely already has a hashtag. For example, #smallbusiness is used by small business owners looking for advice, tips, or just information on how others are faring in the current economic climate. Therefore, no matter what service you’re providing, there will already be a number of related hashtags. Using the most common hashtags will bring your posts up in searches – directing people to your feed and on to your company. There’s no limit to the number of hashtags a tweet can contain – so, for example, you might end your local promotion with #retail, #Denver, #sportswear to appear in the maximum number of relevant searches.

So, what should you be tweeting? The same as everyone else: offers, competitions, advice – anything that will get people looking at your posts. Be warned: always check what’s being said around a specific hashtag before tweeting. In 2012, a clothing company used #aurora to promote their own ‘Aurora’ dress – not realising the hashtag related to the recent Aurora shooting.

Crafting Your Own Hashtags

As useful as it is to jump onto pre-existing hashtags, nothing generates publicity like getting your own hashtag trending. Big companies will often deploy specially-crafted hashtags in conjunction with a promotion or marketing gambit in the hope of generating interest. For example, Wagamama’s launched a 21st ‘birthday’ promotion with the tag #90smemories. The idea was that people would share their favourite ‘90’s memories’, with the top tweets winning discount vouchers. This promotion worked by tapping into the collective nostalgia the world currently feels for the early 1990s – people who had never even heard of Wagamama’s saw it and jumped onboard, resulting in a lot of publicity for the chain; all for the price of a few discount vouchers.

Other companies have gone even further, giving Twitter users direct influence on real-world decisions. Domino’s #letsdolunch promotion encouraged people to get the hashtag trending by promising to halve the price of pizzas that lunchtime – but only once 85,000 people had tweeted it. They duly did and Domino’s received a fantastic PR boost.

Other Hashtag Uses

While promotion is the main reason to get your marketing department tweeting, there are dozens of other uses for hashtags within the business world. At their most-basic, hashtags can be a way for you to check up on competitors, get advice or simply see what the market is doing. With a little more application, they can be used to find you anything from new clients to new staff. If you’re recruiting, searching #hiring or #hireme will open up a treasure trove of talent just waiting to be mined. If you’re feeling adventurous, #needajob is one of the most-tweeted hashtags by the unemployed, while others will simply tweet #CV along with a link to their resume. In other words, a quick Twitter search can uncover the sort of talent your company is crying out for, without having to waste time with recruitment agencies.

Twitter can really be used to generate a buzz around your business, so don’t forget to tweet regularly with interesting content and utilize your hashtags. Twitter is full of opportunity and great networking tool, whether you are hiring, needing advice, looking to attract followers or even introduce your business to celebrities or top magazines; Twitter is the place that makes it achievable.

About the author: Kirsten works for Letterbox. Customers can buy outdoor games from Letterbox through their e-commerce site. They have found recently by utilizing hashtags more effectively within their marketing campaigns, that sales have increased dramatically.

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SEO Pal No Comments May 16th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks

Using Social Networks For Marketing

The primary reason some ad campaigns have been so successful is they were placed where consumers could see them. Social media is quickly becoming the most effective tool for reaching consumers where they spend their time. For example, Facebook users average 1400 minutes per month. This is about 46 minutes per day, which equates to about 5% of a person’s waking hours. With over 900 million users, a Facebook ad has the potential to reach one in eight people in the world.

When compared to traditional venues such as television and radio ads, social marketing offers some unique advantages.

Establish a relationship with your customers and create a network for your company.
Consumers may join your network now and buy your product later.
Design targeted campaigns for specific audiences.
Create interactive ads which invite users to visit your company website, blog or other social media profiles. Increased interaction with your brand increases conversion and loyalty.
Engage consumers to increase brand awareness.
Consumers can advertise for you by sharing, liking and tweeting.
When combined with an analytics service such as cloud marketing, you can receive real-time feedback on what is working and what is not and fine tune your campaign.

Engage Your Audience

In the 1990’s, the banner ad was introduced to digital marketing. They were successful in their day but have now become the radio or television ad of the internet. Consumers can simply “mute” banners and side bars and focus their attention on the content that interests them. That is why the future of advertising lies in engaging the audience.

Engaging content can take many forms including blog posts, articles, videos, photos, contests and giveaways. Here are some items to consider when creating content for social media:

Consumers want to know details about the products. Some marketing cloud services include website management tools which will help you create an interactive experience for the customer including zooming in to see detail, changing views of the product or changing colors.
Know who your target market is and what they want to hear. Customize your message for each social network where you advertise. Facebook, LinkedIn, Tumblr and Twitter have unique ecosystems and serve unique purposes for their communities.
Again, analytics will be useful in obtaining data about the success rates of each initiative so you can effectively target your potential customers. Consider using a cloud marketing service to help you invest in the right advertising opportunities.

Creating Positive Brand Associations

Social network marketing has changed the advertising world. In the past, advertising was a one-way communication where the business told the consumer their product was the best. With social media, advertising now has as much to do with what the consumer says as what the business says. There is constant conversation between consumers about brands. This can be free advertising for the business if the consumer has positive brand associations. Consider some of these ideas for your next marketing campaign:

Photos and videos of company events can give a face to your business and help consumers connect with your brand. Social media marketing is about creating a relationship with your customers.
How-to videos are another simple way to increase brand awareness. Useful information is a form of engaging content and increased interactions with your brand will increase conversion.
Contests, giveaways, and discounts are great ways to get consumers talking about your brand on social networks. Everyone loves free stuff and good deals, and they share them with their friends.

Keep it Simple

You can start simple. Creating a Facebook profile for your business is free and is an excellent starting point. After becoming a fan of a company’s Facebook page, 50% of consumers say they are more likely to buy the company’s products and 56% say they are more likely to recommend the brand to their friends. Make some friends on Facebook today and they will be your loyal customers later.

Featured images:

Image courtesy of Cheap photo stock

This article was written by Jared Jaureguy. Follow him on Twitter @JaredJaureguy.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 26th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks, Traffic Tips

The Critical Importance Of Google Webmaster Tools

There are many different tools out there to help you track your SEO efforts. They all come with different components; different capabilities and factors that would go into your decision in deciding which tool(s) you would need to use. Today I am here to talk about Google Webmaster Tools.

Google Webmaster Tools have many different components and benefits. And because of their many benefits, I feel that Google has provided tools that are absolutely essential for every Webmaster.

To help you understand the critical importance of these tools, here are 5 beneficial functions of Google Webmaster Tools:

1. See Your Organic Rankings

When logged in to Google’s Webmaster Tools, you can see exactly where you rank organically in Google. You are able to see the exact keywords/keyphrases that you are ranking for, and exactly how you are ranking in Google for each of these keywords/phrases. This way, you don’t have to go through and manually check each keyword that you are ranking for; you are able to see each of your keywords and their ranks right there in your tool. On top of that, this tool provides you with more correct rankings than checking your results manually.

2. See Your Organic CTR

SEO efforts can be difficult to track. But Webmaster Tools by Google help you to see many of these trackable metrics on your organic results. One of these helpful metrics that you are able to see is the click through rates that you are receiving on organic searches. That way, you are not only able to see the keywords you are ranking for and what your rankings are for each of those keywords, but you are also able to see how your results perform with searchers.

3. See Site Links From Google’s View

If you are performing SEO efforts, odds are that link building is at least a part of those efforts. But, even though you may be able to track what links you have coming into your site, it may be fairly difficult to be able to see exactly how each of those links are affecting your rankings. That is, without Google’s Webmaster Tools. With this tool, Google shows you exactly what type of credit they are giving you for the links that are coming into your website.

4. Safety Features

This webmaster tool also includes a feature that will scan your site and inform you of any viruses or malware that it is picking up. This helps you to always be aware of anything that is affecting your site in this way, not only just for safety and security reasons, but also so that you can prevent your site from losing its rankings due to these types of issues.

5. Finding Errors

Google Webmaster Tools will also be able to show you if you have any broken links, Error 404′s, etc. This helps you to know that all areas of your site are always working properly.

Conclusion

I spoke to an SEO company recently that said that Google Webmaster Tools is the most important tool that they use to help them track their SEO efforts. And I can’t help but agree with them. I think that anyone in charge of their company’s SEO efforts (or individual SEO efforts on a personal site), should be using these tools to help them see their rankings, track their efforts, find errors, etc.

Nicole is a writer for the SEO industry. She writes about all things SEO; from tips for beginners to articles for SEO experts.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 18th, 2013 Blog, SEO Tools, Social Networks, Traffic Tips

Hootsuite Professional Review

Hootsuite is a social media management tool that people can use to enlarge their reputation and brand. It creates links with the following social media sites: Facebook, Google, Myspace, Foursquare, LinkedIn, WordPress, Mixi and Twitter, and has over six million users taking advantage of its expertise. It should be mentioned here that there is an opportunity to sign up for free, although there is another level of service that includes a monthly fee, and it might be worth paying for this. But one does not need to decide this in a hurry, as will soon become evident.

HootSuite – Statistics (Photo credit: Search Influence)

Social network has exploded in popularity since websites started to appear in the mid 1990’s. Facebook has over nine hundred million users. It isn’t surprising therefore that professional people are seeing social network as a major opportunity to reach potential customers. Hootsuite isn’t a tool that only professional people need – it might be something that a heavy social media user wants to streamline their interaction – but Hootsuite is something that turns the use of social media into an organised and professional activity.

The most commonly sung positive of Hootsuite is that it saves the user a huge amount of time. One can update each of their social network sites simultaneously and even arrange schedule posts to go out. Even if one chooses to pay for the higher level of service then they should be able to justify the fee by the amount of time saved. The fee is under ten United States dollars a month. One needs only to calculate the time they might save through Hootsuite and compare that with the service fee. If the service fee number is lower than the number that one earns in the amount of hours that are unnecessarily wasted then it is worth the fee.

Hootsuite Goes 3D (Photo credit: Bibi)

For those who require the social media websites as platforms for their business, Hootsuite is a tool that empowers the user with a degree of control that is difficult to discover without. One doesn’t need to refresh a Twitter page to check for a reply; with Hootsuite the updates are instant. On any tweet and retweet it reveals if it has been shared and viewed by other people. A Facebook post is clearly signposted with the number of people who have clicked ‘like’. If social media is an important part of one’s business plan – and it probably should be – then Hootsuite gives the user a measured command of the information.

The website of Hootsuite boasts users such as McDonalds, Sony music, Virgin and WWF, and also that it is used by over six million satisfied users. A free thirty-day trial is offered, and this proves the confidence of Hootsuite. They can afford to allow their product to be tasted for free because they are positive that the user will feel the advantage and then realise that they must pay for the service after the trial period. Confidence is an attractive quality for a business to have. It shows that they know their product or their service is beneficial. Now all that’s left is for the people who aren’t in the six million current users of Hootsuite to sign up for a free trial and realise how effective the service is.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 18th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks, Traffic Tips

Pinterest For Ipad: Is It Worth Grabbing?

Facebook, the leading social networking site, once dominated the world of digital photo sharing. The scenario entirely changed when Pinterest was introduced. The availability of a Pinterest app for Ipad is a clear indication of its competitiveness and goal to take digital photo sharing to a new level. Majority of you might already tried the web version of Pinterest and find it very easy to use. Does this mean it goes true with its mobile version as well? If you still can’t decide whether grabbing the Pinterest app for Ipad is worthwhile, browse through this article and discover interesting as well as lacking features from its overall package.

Why choose Pinterest?

Probably the best thing about Pinterest for Ipad is that configuring it won’t cost you so much time. Even those who never tried installing apps on their Ipad before managed to pull it through within a few minutes. For those who don’t have a Pinterest account yet, they can simply link their Facebook account and get started without undergoing a tedious sign-up and confirmation process. After completely gaining access to the app, you’ll be asked to pick a series of photos so it can determine your preferences. Same as its web version, you are not restricted regarding what photo to browse and share using the Pinterest app for Ipad.

User interface

The Ipad user interface of Pinterest is basically similar with its web version. Nonetheless, a few adjustments were made to accommodate and efficiently use the Ipad’s touch-screen feature. Navigating through the Pinterest app for Ipad is pretty simple and being a master in sharing and enjoying photos won’t cost anyone so much time and effort.

Does it offer what we really need?

One downside of Pinterest for Ipad is that it won’t allow you to pin photos directly in Safari, which is the commonly used Ipad browser. You still need to access the Pinterest browser where you’ll need to type the exact address of the photo you want to pin in order to get it done. There are also several cases where users experienced frequent freezes and lags while sharing photos through the Pinterest for Ipad. You also can’t edit your board descriptions and profile information using this app.

Is it possible to upload photos?

The Ipad version of Pinterest does not offer an upload feature. This means you need to acquire another app to carry out this task such as the Photo Uploader. This is really what turned down a lot of Ipad users to get this app which is contrary to the Android version of Pinterest which supports upload and other useful features found on its web version. Seems unfair right?

The verdict

The Pinterest app for Ipad is indeed useful. It’s perfect for anyone who loves sharing beautiful photos to their peers, family, and loved ones. The Pinterest app for Ipad is free so there’s nothing to worry about frustrations after grabbing it since you can simply get rid of the app in just one click. But then again, it’s quite obvious that the current version of this app needs a lot of improvement before it deserves to be among the most needed Ipad applications today.

Andrew James is a social media marketer and blogger, interested in social networks, high-tech and Flash Templates

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 16th, 2013 Blog, Marketing, Social Networks, Traffic Tips

Could Social Search Replace Traditional Search?

We’ve been talking about the eventual power of social search for quite some time now without knowing what it would look like. Now, we have a visual when using Facebook’s Graph Search. It’s a little scary how much information one website can aggregate about an individual from the shares, likes, comments, messages, games, movies, etc. you have on your profile. Some have left Facebook for this reason. It can be alarming to be presented with advertisements tailored to private conversations with your friends. But, we have to remember that every free website exists to earn money in some way; the gathering of information to resell to companies being a very profitable one. Google has been tracking your behavior online, but you may not be as aware because the evidence isn’t presented the same way.

Will People Prefer Facebook’s Search?

Millions of people are already on Facebook every day, but will they switch over from Google as their browser to perform every search on Facebook? The latest Facebook commercials are now showing Facebook home for mobile phones.

Graph Search is impressive: the sheer number of subcategories that allow you to narrow down your search is something Google hasn’t done. It’s a great way to divvy up the room at the top of the listings, rather than show irrelevant content and worry about algorithm updates to correct the problem.

The power of social will likely be driven by a business decision on Google’s part. Currently, Google Plus is years behind Facebook in regular users but they are finding new ways to drive people to it. Webmasters have long been waiting for a search engine to stand up to Google’s traffic sending potential, but up until now, we haven’t been able to measure Facebook fan conversions the same way we do clicks from the SERPs.

Is Social Better?

Yes and no.

Yes, because it’s a true measure of natural like or dislike of website content. The links don’t contain keywords and the traffic to your website is from people who are generally interested or are taking the advice of someone they know or trust.

No, because there are still plenty of authorative businesses out there playing catch up with the well-established businesses on Facebook. They might even have better quality content on their websites, but are not as popular because they got a late start. As more and more businesses set up their Facebook profiles as soon as they set up their businesses, we should see an improvement, at least on a local level.

And, no, because if a person with a lot of fans likes something but is not any type of authority in the niche he is liking or sharing, his vote should not count more than someone who is an established authority in that field. I would trust a like or share of financial website shared by an accountant more than one shared by a cook.

But, perhaps social will get there. Facebook has already helped make anonymity online a passing fad. Now, it just needs to take accountability and authority to the next level.

And we’ll have to see if Google can top Graph Search. Leave it to the internet king to think of something to secure their throne.

Featured images:

License: Creative Commons image source

Theresa Happe works with BuyDomains.com where businesses can buy domains in any niche for national and local website creation.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 10th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks, Traffic Tips

Promoting A Business With Twitter

Where can you get a message out for free to millions of people? Where can you generate free publicity and buzz for your latest products and brand. Where can you share your deals with people, and encourage others to share them as well, reaching a network of thousands and millions? The answer can only be found in one place, the internet. And more specifically Twitter. Social media has exploded in recent years, and there are currently hundreds of millions of active users of the largest social networking websites. Not only is this perfect for regular users who want to connect with others, it is a marketing dream.

Why Twitter?

Facebook is the biggest social network in the world. With a following that is somewhere close to one billion, there is no chance that any other network could rival it anytime soon. Twitter is the second most popular network, with an estimated 500 million active users. This is less than Facebook, so why is Twitter the marketing tool of choice? Twitter has a unique format that lends itself to marketing a lot easier than Facebook. Although Facebook has introduced fan pages that can be followed by anyone, contact is limited to commenting on posts, and replies to those comments. As a result, Twitter is still the best medium for direct communication between companies and their customers.

The Marketing Edge

When used properly, Twitter can give a business a real advantage. Aside from the hundreds of millions of users, the best thing about it is that it is absolutely free. This makes it an invaluable tool for any business with a budget, and ideal for small businesses hoping to get their brand out there. What is more, an increasing number of people is turning to social media, and specifically Twitter, to comment on the quality of a company’s service – both positively and negatively. It seems as though social media is slowly replacing traditional customer service channels, and a good company would do well to take notice.

Twitter Techniques

So how do you get your brand out there on Twitter? It is not as simple as creating a Twitter account and automatically enjoying the free publicity. Twitter takes some mastering, and if used incorrectly can cause an unwanted disaster. As such there are a few rules that should be followed as a business:

1. Too much advertising can be off putting.
2. Do not tweet about sensitive topics, or try to hijack hashtags for serious issues. This has backfired in a big way for companies such as Kenneth Cole and CelebBoutique.
3. Spread the word. Get your employees to tweet about your company, and tweet regularly – but not too much!
4. Be careful with who you let take charge of your company Twitter account.

Now that you know a few of the basic rules of Twitter, you should be able to go forward with a strong social media campaign. If you want to promote your brand effectively, it is neve too soon to start utilising Twitter.

About the Author: Lindsey Patterson is a freelance writer who specializes in the latest social and technology trends, specifically involved with social media. She is currently acting as a social media consultant to Vivint. Like them on Facebook here.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 10th, 2013 Blog, Social Networks

Social Media Marketing: 3 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Twitter

Tweet, tweet. Twitter is like the Wild West of social media websites. You have only 140 characters to work with so make each tweet count. Many internet marketers send out tweets in rapid fire fashion, filling the stream with updates to stand out from the IM crowd. Adopt a slow and steady approach to make a more positive impact than the average user. Never be in a hurry. All good things flow to individuals who tweet value on a persistent, steady and relaxed basis.

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SEO Pal Comments Disabled April 3rd, 2013 Blog, Social Networks

Small Businesses Need To Take Notice Of These 4 Relevant Tips For Effective SEO

Many small businesses these days have their own websites to conduct businesses and use the local search options on search engines. These websites and small businesses also focus some of their valuable resources, time, energy and team members to ensure that they get the relevant SEO results with their limited resources.
However, a number of times, many of these businesses undermine how a small review of monthly changes undertaken by them can transform their businesses without too much expense. In turn, such efforts ensure a continuous improvement in the number of visitors and online followers for the website. Here is a list of four such important tasks which can help small businesses master the art of search engine strategies and use effective SEO techniques for the betterment.

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