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Archive for June, 2009

How to create a Squidoo Lens for your business

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Social media come in all shapes and sizes. When it comes to link-building, however, we give priority to the social media that delivers the most traffic.  Let’s go over the two most important factors that influence search results:  (1.) links to your site from high-ranking pages (2.) creative content.

Squidoo is a social media platform that allows you to create a hub page around a given topic.  That topic can be your favorite artist, books you’ve read, or your business.  People have created Squidoo lenses (another name for Squidoo pages) on nearly every conceivable topic.  The Squidoo site generates a lot of traffic from the web and is constantly referenced as one of the best ways to build links back to your website.

So what is a Squidoo Lens? A Squidoo lens is a webpage built with modules.  These modules enable you to integrate Flickr photos, a blog feed, text, video, and many other features.

As with all social media, you will have to register to the site first.  After you register, you’ll be able to make your first lens.  If this is your first time making a Squidoo lens, we recommend you try the Magic Builder, which is basically a wizard that helps create the page for you.

  1. Have a concept behind your lens. The concept I chose for the Tempo Creative Squidoo lens was to aggregate all of Tempo’s companies onto one page, provide information and links to each company, and include the company blogs.  This is a good strategy if your web business has a parent company and several smaller ones.
  2. Choose your url wisely; it will appear after http://squidoo.com/yourname.  You can put a keyword in place of “your name” or simply use your business name.  For example, the Squidoo lens for Tempo Creative, Inc. is http://squidoo.com/tempocreative
  3. Choose a title for your Squidoo Lens.  When choosing a title, pick something that will grab people’s attention and also give a good description of what the page is about.  The title for the Tempo Creative lens is, “Fun, Creative Web Company:  Tempo Creative”.
  4. Pick a category. The category for your Squidoo lens will determine the page style and the modules, but you can always add and delete modules later.  You can also change your category later if you want.  For Tempo Creative, I used the category “business” because the lens is about Tempo Creative, Inc.
  5. Add content to your lens. Remember the second most important factor I mentioned is creative content.  So be unique in terms of text.  Make sure the information is relevant, useful to large groups of people, and humorous or interesting.  When creating content for a “business” Squidoo lens, you may have less creative freedom but you can still organize your content in an interesting way.
  6. Add images to your content. Everyone likes pictures.  When you choose images for your Squidoo lens, be creative.  Don’t pick stock images that everyone has seen; do a little searching for eye-popping images.  For the Tempo Creative lens, I decided to use caricatures of the people who work at Tempo.  There’s a different caricature for each company owned by Tempo.
  7. Use the feed modules. If your company has a feed, use it!  By integrating a feed into a Squidoo lens, you give the page currency.  This is more effective than a static page for directing traffic back to your blog.  For the Tempo Creative lens, I integrated two different blog feeds.
  8. Don’t include modules that have no purpose. Always keep in mind with social media, you don’t want to clutter the page.  So only include modules that support your content and help to streamline the information.
  9. Add links to your text content. The clear advantage to building a Squidoo lens is the “do-follow” links. “Do-follow” links are the links you put into your Squidoo lens which direct traffic back to your site. In contrast to “no-follow” links, “do-follow” links improve your site’s Page Rank with Google.  To add links to your text content, simply use the html for links:  <a href=”http://tempocreative.com”>Visit our site!</a>

All in all, if you are looking to build links to your website, a Squidoo page is the way to go.  It’s easy, highly searchable, and and effective way to increase Page Rank and traffic.

If you enjoyed this post, you may be interested in “How do I create a Facebook Page?”

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Posted in social media general | 2 Comments »

Three Twitter Apps to Expand Your Reach

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

As a Web 2.0 marketing company, Twitter continues to amaze us with its myriad ways to create publicity. Part of what makes Twitter so fascinating is its evolution through countless new Twitter applications. Like Facebook, Twitter is open API, meaning anyone can create a program that enhances the basic Twitter functions. New Twitter applications are developed every week, if not every day. Entrepreneurs and start-ups have gone in many interesting directions with what Twitter can do, increasing the power and scope of the original Twitter application.

Here are three Twitter applications that we use here at Prechnology:

1. HootSuite

I have personally tried nearly a half-dozen Twitter platforms.  Some of these include Nambu, Twhirl, TweetDeck, and Seesmic Desktop.

Twitter platforms have many features and benefits that add dimensionality to the Twitter experience, and everyone seems to have a personal preference.  Twhirl, for example, creates an “instant-messaging” feel to twittering.  Seesmic and Nambu are both excellent platforms with multiple “panes” that you can rearrange according to your viewing preference.

Tweet Deck was the platform that I first fell in love with, probably because of its sleek look.  By dividing your tweets into columns (@comments, live feed, and direct messages), each of these platforms helps to simplify the activity of twittering.  When your number of followers reaches a certain point, I would say it’s almost impossible to continue using Twitter without one of these platforms.

But it turns out my favorite Twitter platform is HootSuite.

There are several reasons why I prefer HootSuite over the others.  HootSuite was created as a Twitter platform for multiple accounts, while some of the other platforms, like TweetDeck were not and are only adding functionality for multiple accounts right now.

If you’re running more than one business on the web, I would suggest a separate Twitter account for each business. HootSuite is the ideal platform for multiple accounts because you can toggle between accounts while remaining on the same page, in the same window.  You can also post simultaneously across selected accounts.

Using Nambu and Seesmic I had a very over-stimulated experience that I didn’t particularly like.  In addition, I felt that these platforms were slower to send tweets and upload feeds.  With HootSuite, I quickly shoot responses to each of my followings and toggle the various accounts rather easily.  I can “star” comments by users and return to them later.  “Star” comments appear in a separate column.

Lastly, and perhaps the coolest thing about HootSuite, are the statistics.  Statistics are important for social media campaigns and if you run a business on the Web you’re going to want to know how much traffic your Twitter account is driving to your website.

On HootSuite, you can use the ow.ly shortener to create links and track the hits on each link you post.  This feature provides you with a feedback loop for your campaign.  You can see the exact amount of popularity for each of your links; and you can find out which links drive traffic and which ones don’t.

2. Twollo

Twollo is a godsend of a Twitter app.  Basically it allows you to focus your Twitter campaign.  The service runs an automated search of every Twitter conversation based on keywords you choose.  All of this happens in the background and goes on without you.  All you have to do initially is  enter the keywords into the system and Twollo will add you as a follower to anyone who uses those keywords. This ingenious service will ultimately create a targeted following for you.

Even though Twollo adds you as a follower to each new conversation it finds, about half or more of the Twitter users will follow you back. Through casual conversation and tweeting, you’ll discover more about your followers.  Followers are essential to your social media campaign because they will re-tweet your posts and ultimately serve as your “marketing friends”.  I would say as long as your followers feel that they are interacting with a real person, they’ll continue to support you.

Twollo has a basic service that is free, but for $7 for one month or $5 per month, you can create a priority account.  I recommend the priority account.  With priority, the Twollo system will add many more followers based on the keywords you’ve choosen.  This also means you will receive nearly 10x as much traffic to your Twitter page compared to the free Twollo service.

3. Huitter/Mutuality

Not everyone will follow you back, however, and this is where the last Twitter app comes in handy. Huitter/mutuality enables you to bulk follow everyone who follows you and bulk unfollow everyone who doesn’t. Depending on how many followers Twollo is adding to your account, you will want to regularly eliminate those people who are not following you. You will also want to follow those who are following you.

So are you really following anyone?

Your main objective is to increase publicity for your business. The only way to do this is to build relationships with followers by diversifying your tweets and sending cool links. You don’t really need to follow anyone unless of course you want to.

From a public relations standpoint, they are following you and you are trying to increase your targeted followers.  To learn more about the importance of social media for your business, check out this post.

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Posted in twitter | 1 Comment »

Common Question: How much Social Media is Necessary?

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

As a public relations company that specializes in social media, we are often asked about the various services we provide from Twitter to corporate blogging to Facebook, “What is it?  And do we need it?”

The purpose of this post is to explain the value and growing importance of social media for your business, as well as suggesting the necessity of it in the near future.  About five years ago, before blogging became really hot, social media was virtually unknown to the mainstream.  Fast forward to today when you hear about Twitter on the news, and how just last Friday Twitter played a major role in Iranians protesting the presidential election.

Social media can no longer be characterized as a collection of social networks used by a subculture of “computer” or “tech” people.  Naturally, the younger generations embraced social media first through the explosion of Facebook.  New services were developed such as Flickr that became indispensable to anyone wanting to organize and share photos over the web.  And now an older generation of users is quickly become proficient in the new social technology of Twitter.

Twitter’s edge over other social media–at this point–seems to be its cross-functionality with smart phones.  You don’t need a laptop computer to use Twitter, which dramatically increases its user volume.  People can send tweets over their phone and read their updates as well.

To answer the question, “What is it?  And do we need it?” I’ll say the following.  If you have plans to continue providing services or products over the Internet, then at the absolute least you should have a blog.  By having a blog connected to your main site, you allow visitors to get to know you and respond to you.  The comment feature on blogs creates a “dynamic” page, which generates more traffic than a “static” page.

Furthermore, a blog can be used in a number of ways.  You can publish press releases on your blog, announce a new product line, or ask customers their opinions.  When it comes to search results, your blog will appear in Google or Yahoo! if you have it properly configured for specific keywords.  That’s what we do here at PR-echnology.  We make sure your business gets discovered.

If you’re feeling ambitious, then I would definitely suggest a Twitter account for your business.  No, this is not necessary, but it will generate traffic.  It may even generate more traffic then your blog.  TechCrunch, a popular Silicon Valley tech news site, recently reported that next to Google, Twitter is now their second largest source of outside traffic.

PR-echnology has found the very same thing to be true with Twitter accounts that we set up for our clients.  Twitter generates the second largest amount of outside traffic to these websites; the first being Google.

What is Twitter? If you want to know about what Twitter is and how you can use it to your advantage, check out this post, “Twitter is for Sharing, not Selling”.

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Posted in social media general | 1 Comment »

Diversify Your Tweets

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

In my last post, “Twitter is for Sharing, not Selling,” I talked about how you will bring the best kind of attention to yourself and your business by sharing, not selling, over Twitter.  My next suggestion is:  diversify your tweets.

Twitter is a flexible and creative medium.  Take advantage of all the different ways to communicate with your followers.  In a single day, I will tweet songs from Blip.fm, pictures from Twitpic, quotations from books I’ve read, status updates (What am I doing or thinking right now?), cool links I’ve found, and RTs, or re-tweets of others’ posts on Twitter.  In addition, I use @tweets which are a form of communicating publicly to someone over Twitter.

TwitPic is a great way to accumulate page views.  Your profile page on Twitpic.com will also have a place to put a link to your business website.  Take advantage of Twitpic to add diversity to your tweets.

Maybe not everyone will be interested in listening to your songs, but some will; and Blip.fm is an excellent way to attract those people.

Keep in mind, headlines are everything on Twitter.  When you post a twitpic or a blip, be sure to give the link a catchy title which invites people to click on it.  The same goes for tweeting links.  Most Twitter users love cool links, and the headline is what grabs their attention.  Make sure your headlines are to the point, descriptive and fun.

I suggest you hone in on a specific area of interest and Tweet links based on that general field.  For example, on a book publishing account, you would publish links that relate to books, publishing, e-books, resources for writers, etc.  People will soon come to expect quality links about a given area of interest.  This can help to build your reputation as a reliable source of information, increase followers, and draw more traffic to your site.

You may also want to tweet links about the state or city that your business is located.  For example, if your business is based out of Scottsdale, then send links that relate to “real-estate” or news stories in Scottsdale.

But don’t overdo tweeting cool links.  Two or three interesting links a day will attract noticeable traffic.  Remember:  diversify your tweets!

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Posted in twitter | No Comments »

Twitter is for Sharing, Not Selling

Monday, June 8th, 2009

This may seem like an oxymoron at first.  If you want to increase traffic to your site and ultimately sell something, a service or a product, then we suggest you share on Twitter, not sell.

Twitter is a social network composed of real-life people who enjoy communicating and sharing links in short, condensed “tweets”.  When you’re building relationships on Twitter, the absolute worst thing you can do is present yourself as a salesman of any kind.

There is something known (and detested) called “Twitter spam”.  “Twitter spam” is what bots, not humans, tweet.  This comes in the form of links to affiliate sites; how to gain 10,000 followers or make money from home, the usual junk mail except in the form of tweets.

You don’t want to be identified in this category.  You’ll isolate yourself from any real following by constantly bombarding your followers with links only relating to your business or your product.

Some Twitter users send all their new followers automated direct messages.  We don’t recommend this.  While it may seem like a good idea to send a link about your business to everyone who becomes your follower, the large majority will not even click on that link.

I would even suggest downplaying your role as a business.  You will attract attention to your business if you come across as a real person with real interests.  Twitter users will love you if you share with them interesting links, valuable information, striking pictures, and thought provoking quotations.

Of course you can tweet about your business from time to time.  Updates about your services and products, there is nothing wrong with that.  You just don’t want to only tweet about your business.

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