Tag : Reddit

  • Gettn’ The Buzz Goin’ With Social Media

    Posted Jul 6th, 2009 By in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Networking With | 2 Comments

    A quick & easy social media guide to get you started

     

    Last month, we covered the very basics and benefits of social media and why it is essential for every business to be visible across a multitude of web sites. If you did not read last month’s article, please visit our blog. You will want to read it before you continue with this article.
    In this article, we have listed some tools that can help you position your business above competition. Please remember, do not jump into anything before strategizing first. A strategy will save you from wasting time and going in circles.

     

    Social Bookmarking

     

    When you find a great web site that you want to remember in the future, you usually bookmark it, right? Well, social bookmarking is simply sharing your favorite sites with everyone else. There are literally hundreds of sites that do this, but some are more important than others when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO) and traffic. Popular social bookmarking sites, such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Del.icio.us, Mixx, and Newsvine allow you to nominate and bookmark your favorite web pages or news events that you think are worthy of attention.

     

    With nearly all of these social bookmarking sites, there is an option to approve or disapprove other people´s selections and comment on pages that others have bookmarked, while adding a plug for your own businesss. The most popular bookmarks get seen more often. This can lead to increased traffic and more backlinks coming into your site; therefore, higher search engine rankings.

     

    Social Networking

     

    Facebook, Friendster, MySpace, and Plaxo platforms are often what we think of when we hear “Social media” and many businesses have made great use of them. However, a surprising number of business owners have still not touched many of these sites, despite the fact they could be of great use in boosting SEO, increasing visibility and the bottom line (SALES!).

     

    There are also virtual worlds, such as Second Life that allow users to socialize with each other in different online environments that resemble little cities. Businesses can meet up with employees and can create stores within these worlds that anyone can visit.

     

    With Twitter and Tumblr, members can follow each other’s activities or posts. Whether personal or business, post about what you are doing and thinking. This allows others to keep tabs on you (only of you want them to, of course ;-) .

     

    Yammer and Jive SBS allow employees to keep up with their colleague’s activities and ask them questions. Orbius is a social marketing platform that provides a set of tools to help brands and organizations set up social networks.

     

    LinkedIn and Ryze offer professionals a place to congregate, find people they know, link up through the recommendations of others, and search for jobs and employees.

    Social Answers

     

    Did you know that asking and answering questions is also another form of social networking, and it is so useful, that we have classified it as an area of its own. Web sites like Yahoo Answers, Answers.com, and Askville are social sites where someone asks a question and anyone can join in and answer. The best answers often get links back to the recommending site. Your profile can also link to your website. When you answer a question, you can offer further information or quote your source, which is where you get to link to your blog or business site.

     

    Also note that LinkedIn has the powerful “Answers” feature too.

     

    Social Content Sites

     

    Social content web sites exist because of their participants. Everyone who joins, adds to the community at large. These are usually excellent ways to increase backlinks to your site and can be very rewarding if you really get into the networking aspect of the content site. Squidoo is Google´s favorite content site where you can create a “lens” or website that lets you earn money, link out and get top place in the search results with your keywords. Wikipedia is an ever growing knowledge site that relies on its users to create new articles and edit the ones that already exist.

    Social Photo Sites

     

    Not all content is necessarily written, so it´s not surprising that photo sites are a great addition to social media. Among the most popular photo sharing sites are Flickr, Picasa, and KodakGallery. On these sites you can share your best photos, comment on other people’s photos and generally make friends.

     

    Social Video Networking

     

    With Internet connections getting faster, more and more people are looking to video to keep them abreast of the latest information. Now you can even create video responses to blog posts and other videos, turning this into one of the most interactive social media types ever.

     

    YouTube is the forerunner video site for posting homegrown videos. Many businesses are using YouTube and similar sites to post videos of product demos and information. Video watchers can comment and interact with a community of other users, exchanging thoughts and ideas about the clips they have seen. Other popular video sites are Joost, MetaCafe, Revver and Viddler.

     

    Blogging

     

    Last but not least, we cannot forget to discuss the importance of blogging for any business. Web logs (known as blogs) are a big part of the social media mix. Blogs should be your hub that you direct people back to from the social media sites. We recommend adding blog posts a minimum of twice per week (3-4x/week is great!) to keep people coming back.

     

    To direct traffic to your blogs, use other social media sites, social bookmarking as well as creating hyperlinks to your blog on other blogs and discussion forums.

     

    There are literally hundreds of social media sites out there! You do not have to use all the above options, but social networking strategies have certainly worked for many businesses. All of the social media sites mentioned here can be excellent ways to not only get links back to your business website, but also to improve your online visibility. Reputation is everything and by getting out there and becoming more transparent, you are going to find your business growing and your reputation improving.

     

    Every business is crying about the economy, but you do not to one of them. The Internet gave us all the opportunity to grow our business in ways that no one thought possible. Don’t procrastinate, get started in putting your social media plan together. If you are still lost and confused on where to start and what works best for your business, please get help from the experts.

     

    Remember, you are never alone when it comes to growing your business!
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  • Top 15 Social Bookmarking Sites

    Posted Jun 3rd, 2009 By in Social Bookmarking With | 1 Comment

    Trying to figure out which social bookmarking sites to use can rapidly become overwhelming with the sheer number of choices available. To make things a little easier, I’ve narrowed them down to 15 sites that really are worth checking out.

    1. Digg
    Despite complaints about the notoriously short attention span of the majority of Diggers, this remains the number one social bookmarking site.

    2. StumbleUpon
    A friendlier way to connect with people and share favorite sites, StumbleUpon is easy to use and a true social bookmarker.

    3. Propeller
    One of the best sites for business use, Propeller tends to focus on sites of interest to older males in business for themselves.

    4. Del.icio.us
    Del.icio.us is the oldest bookmarking site around, but that doesn’t mean it’s out of date. Millions of people use it still and the site has a simple, easy to use format.

    5. Blinklist
    This social bookmarking service is well used and tends to focus on marketing and media, with no restrictions as to which webpages you can tag.

    6. Reddit
    Offering a personalized groups feature where you can save sites for those in your group to see, Reddit is an oldie, but a goodie.

    7. Blipoo
    If you are looking for a site that allows self-promotion, Blipoo is the place for you. The site leans heavily toward blog promo.

    8. Buddymarks
    This site offers three options for saving your bookmarks, personal use only, sharing within a group, or open social bookmarking.

    9. Diigo
    Hailed as “social bookmarking on steroids”, this site offers heavy duty bookmarking options for the serious surfer.

    10. Yahoo! Buzz
    This site works similar to Digg in that you can vote your favorite sites up and the worst ones down, plus the Yahoo name makes it a little more valuable.

    11. Slashdot
    Perfect for bookmarking technical information, this site also has clout with Google, making it a good place for tech business news.

    12. Mixx
    Here’s a site that is multi-purpose, allowing for submission in a wide range of categories to be voted for by users.

    13. Furl
    Furl has plenty of Google juice and for this reason, it’s a fairly popular choice among marketers and internet based businesses.

    14. PlugIM
    A site that offers bookmarking services to internet marketers and lets you submit content, vote stories up and make friends for a full networking experience.

    15. ListerLister
    Our final social bookmarking site, ListerLister is a site that not only promotes bookmarks, but forming communities based on common interests.

    Which social bookmarking sites do you use and what is your favorite?

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