Allisan Looman shared some key tips and answered many questions about working with social media. Read her excellent comments given at the Orem ELP meeting 8/26/2011.
Start With Your Website
“Websites are the cheapest and most effective way to work on the internet. This primary site shows your information, company values, and selling propositions. You are in control of the action on your website.”
Group Social Media Sites Around Your Website
“Websites are the hub around which you cluster your social media satellites. These satellites pull in people and should be designed to send their visitors to your website. And they need to be sent quickly since the satellites, by design, share lots of distractions that could pull your prospects away from your effort to engage them in your message.”
Blogs–Your #1 Social Media Site
“I tell my web design clients all the time, if you want more business, you gotta blog. End of story. Blogs do so much for businesses I don’t even know where to start. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s like your taxes – it’s infinitely better to pay someone else to do it than to not do it at all. Especially because it isn’t exactly skilled labor, and even a really bad blog can be good for business.”
“First off, if you do have a good blog with the kind of content that brings people back on a consistent basis – useful advice, news & information, funny stories, giveaways, discounts, events, etc – that’s worth paying an intern $30/week in and of itself. And you being too busy is no longer a problem.”
Blogs Are a Huge SEO Benefit
“But beyond the marketing value of it, the SEO benefits of a blog are enormous. You ready for this?
- Search engines love fresh information.
- Search engines love frequently updated information.
- Search engines love frequently visited websites.
- Search engines love websites that are full of keywords. Lots of text, even carelessly written without a list of ideal keywords on hand, is always a treasure trove for visitor-magnet keywords.”
“Not only is your blog huge for boosting SEO, your specific audience will love sharing news, advice, how-to’s, giveaways (for something in return), and contests. You can schedule your blog posts in advance. Do your blog posts for several weeks on a certain Saturday and set the dates you want each to appear. That feature is in the upper right corner of your Dashboard. Be sure and post at least twice weekly. Make sure you are creating relevant, meaningful content your audience wants.”
3 Social Media “Good Ideas”
“I have three social media ‘Good Ideas’ you should use.
- On your Facebook page your Profile Photo can be up to 500 pixels tall and 150 pixels wide. Underneath your photo you can place your contact info. Arrange your photo in Microsoft Paint. And then use Facebook for a popularity contest; share quotes, advice, funny/amazing videos, contests, giveaways, coupons, and promotions. Remind your audience why they need you. If you have questions about how to do something on Facebook, Google it. The answers on Google are easier to understand.
- Buy multiple domain names and park them. They should be crammed with keywords that your targeted audience would use and point them to your primary website. So when someone searches one of those names, it automatically brings them to your primary website. And for $10 per domain per year, the added cost is paid for with one product purchase.
- Put video on your website. WordPress has built-in plug-ins that can embed your video into your text. YouTube video is a major drawing card. So having a related video that you can send your YouTube visitors to on your website is another way to quickly get them to your site. Be sure to write text on your YouTube site underneath the video that they can click on to go to the video on your website.”
3 Social Media Actions to Avoid
Here are 3 bad ideas you should definitely avoid.
- Never put all your eggs in one basket. Focusing all your efforts on maintaining your contacts with your Facebook “friends” will limit your effectiveness. Opt, instead, for a multi-site marketing effort using all the social media sites you can handle. Some, like your blog, you’ll do at least twice a week. Facebook and Twitter require at least twice a day response and most others can be once a week or twice a month.
- Forget newsletters! They are not read, for the most part, and are a waste of your time and effort. Replace them with answering a question or two as an expert on forums once a week with the link to your site. This boosts your SEO, establishes you as an expert, and encourages repeat visitors to your website.
- Posting external links on your blog is a way to lose a prospect. The temptation to click away is too easy. If you have to “quote” someone and reference the site you got it from, minimize it. Don’t play it up.”
The Key to Using Social Media
“The key to using social media sites is to always give your targeted audience something they want so that they will become loyal customers.”
You can reach Allisan Loomis at www.AllisanLooman.com or Allisan@gmail.com. Learn more in Allisan’s blogs atwww.DIYwithwordpress.com.