Erik Qualman's Blog, page 497

What Is the Value of an SEO Audit?

You can find a mountain of information online about how to perform an SEO (search engine optimization) audit. An SEO audit can offer insight into your website’s SEO performance to help you identify strengths and opportunities. Conducting a thorough audit of your site and developing an SEO strategy based on audit results will keep you one step ahead of the competition. Following the basic fundamentals of SEO will ensure that Google’s algorithm changes don’t have apocalyptic consequences for your rankings.

Helping You Get Mobile-Ready

By now, you’ve probably heard that Google implemented a mobile-friendly algorithm update, Mobilegeddon, on April 21st. Sites incompatible with mobile took major hits in search rankings as a result. A search engine optimization audit involves a comprehensive analysis of your site, and it works just as well for mobile as it does for desktop.

Generally, more than 50 percent of searches now happening on mobile devices, meaning a mobile-optimized site is a must. A mobile SEO audit will evaluate, measure and report on the variables that influence your mobile search rankings. An audit will reveal how much mobile traffic you get, what visitors see on different mobile devices and browsers, and where you fall in mobile search rankings, to name a few.

Spotting Link Assets and Liabilities

Search engines use the links on your site for several purposes. First, links tell search engines how pages relate to one another. Second, search engines rely on backlinks, or inbound links, to judge the relevance, authority, and popularity of your site.

During an SEO audit, you’ll perform a backlink analysis that will help you gauge the quality and quantity of inbound links to your site. You can then compare your backlink profile to that of your competitors. Additionally, you can do a toxic link analysis to see if your backlinks are coming from the web’s sketchy parts of town—the link farms, private blog networks, and spammy websites eschewed by search engine algorithms.

Calibrating Content for SEO

A lot of companies bounce from one vendor to the next without realizing that some were practicing black hat SEO, or shady SEO tactics that violate the rules of search engine algorithms. Such tactics can devastate your search rankings, but you’ll never know about them unless you do an SEO audit.

Similarly, an audit will identify opportunities in your site’s content for changes that can quickly boost your rankings. For instance, you will see how search engines interpret your website based on the current content, such as the keywords present. Even just a few minor changes can turn your site’s SEO performance around. Additionally, a content audit will help you determine the efficacy of your current meta descriptions, title tags, URLs, and other site characteristics. Again, just a few tweaks here and there can have an enormous impact on your rank.

Conducting an SEO audit is one of the single best things you can do for your search rankings. Becoming mobile-friendly, strengthening (and checking the toxicity of) your backlink profile, and optimizing content and keywords are just a few of the things an SEO audit can do for you.

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Unlocking Your Social Media Potential with Automated Instagram Likes

Unlocking Your Social Media Potential with Automated Instagram Likes  

It is the most talked about social media platform. Every celebrity has some sort of presence and big brands are now falling over themselves to get noticed. Yes, this is how fast Instagram has evolved. Since Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched the social networking site in 2010, so much has happened within the five years and analysts reckon it will take a major revolution to take Instagram off its perch.

Rich Customer Potential

For starters the networking site gained 1 million users by December 2010, the same year it was launched and from that moment, it was all systems go. By the time Facebook was buying the platform in 2012, it had already clocked 80 million users. In fact, in 2013, Instagram grew by 23% while Facebook only expanded its user base by 3%.

As of 2015, Forrester Research reports that over 300 million users are using the social networking platform which, as a marketer, should jolt you into action. With 20% of internet users already on Instagram, the potential here is just unlimited. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there are about 3.92 billion internet users giving a clearer picture of the rich customer potential on this platform.

The innovative mobile social platform has also been refined over time with additional features including the Willow filter launched with the v3.2 update. Other updates including v3.4.1 in 25 languages, tagging capability in 2013, updates on Ios7 and Instagram Direct among others have all made the experience even more stimulating. In essence, you are more likely to find your target customers on Instagram as opposed to other social media platforms.

Instagram Social Media Value

A report on Business Insider based on a Nielsen Study shows that over 70% of online shoppers follow their favorite brands on Instagram. In essence, this platform offers more than photo sharing experiences. Marketers are now posting photos of their companies and products to invite relevant comments. It is an ideal way to move away from the bland Facebook comments and instead engage better using photos and short postings.

It also offers you a chance to stimulate your other social media users into engagement by linking your Instagram postings with these networks. The effect is that more people get to see what you are sharing and ultimately, word starts doing rounds. This visibility and online presence is crucial in any online marketing campaign.

Your potential to connect is increased tremendously when you post eye-catching photos and share them on this platform. Instagram can thus form the crux of your social media campaigns. One thing you can be sure of is that internet users love videos and photos especially those with a human element. You need to leverage the wide reach offered by this tool to make a mark in your niche.

In summary your Instagram offers you:

Greater online reach
Better engagement with brand followers.
Easily sharable content
Flexible exposure for every type of activity, brand or service you have in mind.
Creative marketing using videos and graphic
Targeted marketing by using popular niche hashtags
A learning curve where you understand what excites users on Instagram

By adding your location, you even invite more relevant engagement. eMarketer says there is 79% more engagement on postings tagged with a location.

Getting Your Instagram Likes Hassle Free

It is without doubt a unique and defective way to make your brand visible online but no one should deceive you that opening an Instagram account is enough. In fact, this is where the hard work starts because you must get many likes and follows which later convert into sales.

The best way to get Instagram likes is by automating the process. With an autobot such as Instamacro, you just need to open your account and the software will do the rest for you. The idea here is simple; reduce the time it would take to get many likes by making sure you get such likes from relevant people.

This an ingenious way of getting invaluable likes on autopilot. Once your Instagram account is up and running, you just need to use the automation service which will in turn help you to do everything from liking other photos, following relevant users. You can set your target or even the number of days you want the campaign to run to ensure it doesn’t appear automated.

One thing you need to understand about the other bots in the industry is the fact that some will forge followers and likes and this can eventually lead to loss of your account. To avoid such an eventuality you need to use a service that only gets you the right kind of followers.

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Simple Tips For Successful Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is difficult but we do have to understand that there are many things that can be done in order to increase the possibility of success. Everything basically revolves around the connection that you manage to achieve between the business and the followers, together with the communication that is established. It is vital that you always focus on this aspect and we have some great tips for you that you want to consider.

image via pixabay.com

Always Have An Attitude

No matter what you sell, people want to see you have a suitable attitude. Never hurry your posting and think about the voice that you use when you communicate with your audience. Focus on having an attitude that is suitable for the industry that you operate in. As an example, when selling corporate software, the attitude needs to be different than when selling couture fashion.

Remember that everything starts with the picture that you use. In social media marketing visuals play a huge part. The very first thing that you see when you reach a new page is that profile picture. After you develop your voice, make sure that everything you create is in a proper accordance with that voice.

Focus On Engagement

Remember that the name that we use is social media. A business has to stop simply broadcasting and has to talk with people. There is no person out there that will follow business feeds covering just pitches. When that feed becomes relevant and valuable, the association is better and engagement is higher.

One of the main benefits associated with social media is that a relationship is developed with the followers. As you offer high quality data through what you share, they will trust you more and will keep coming back.

Use Only Suitable Social Media Channels

There are countless social networks that you can be a member of. Many novice marketers make the mistake of creating an account on as many as possible. This is not something that you want to do since your desired audience is not present on all of them.

It is a great idea to first focus on a couple of platforms. In most situations the choice is made between Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or Google+. Be sure to highlight when activity will take place on the networks so that people would know when to look for you online.

Brand Monitoring

Third party applications like Hootsuite should be used in order to track when people talk about your business or about you. That is a great source of information that you can use to your advantage. It is really important that you always have a proper presence. If you do not know what people say about you, there is no idea how to modify the campaigns to bring in better results.

Remember that people will talk about you on social media. This cannot be controlled. With this in mind, why not know what they say? You would be able to get more clients and it is so much easier for the business to adapt when business managers know what the target audience thinks about what is offered.

 

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The Top Ten Reasons We Love Social Media

As brands, social media has been a way to reach and interact with consumers on a level that resonates with their behaviors on a day to day basis. They’re already there. They’re using channels they way they prefer. For example on Pinterest they’re planning and dreaming for their future; while on Periscope they’re getting an inside look; and on Instagram they’re building and sharing their own stories.

And as brands that is pretty great. It allows us to understand our target audience and provide content that will truly matter to them, where and when they prefer it. So instead of the 2016 lists we’re all about to read, let’s remember why social media is important to our brands, and why it still will be in 2016.
So as digital marketers we love social media. We love it simply because:
1. You can get content out fast
2. You are able to respond to consumers faster
3. You know what your competition is doing on the same channels
4. You can curate content
5. You can see what themes are trending to create new content
6. You can be involved within cultural phenomena
7. You are able to create a dialogue
8. You are able to see what content works right away
9. You will know what content to put paid media behind
10. Your brand can stand out
And that’s just part of the story. Your brand can also choose the channels that work best for success. Choose the content that will resonate deeper with your audience. And of course, finding the right paths to purchase, and helping consumers become loyal advocates through driving their followings to your brand as well.
Why does your brand, as a digital marketer, prefer to budget, spend, and invest in social media as a way to reach consumers?
Image sources:
Priority Media Plus
Business2community
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Hosting a Successful Networking Event

Whether you’re looking to grow your business or you have been in business for years, networking is the most efficient way of meeting like-minded business owners and increasing your contact database. Hosting your own event is the most efficient way of making networking work for you, ensuring the best outcomes for your business.

Cost

Whilst your business may have been up and running for months or even years, this may not be the case for everyone attending. Small business owners, and those who are just starting out may feel intimidated by having to spend a large amount of money attending an event. That being said, you want to ensure that you make a profit or, at least, break even from the cost of your supplies. To do this, it is important to keep your cost of entry low and reasonable, as neither you nor your guests will want to be out of pocket.

Venue

There is no point in choosing a venue that no one has heard of, guests will either decline invitations or arrive tense after struggling to locate your event. Where possible, hire a venue central to your town or city, a business capital like a meeting venue in London, or one that is clearly sign posted. Cost may be an issue here, but negotiation can stem from reassuring venue owners that their establishment will earn their own money from the event (from the sale of food, drinks etc.).

Refreshments

If you decide not to host your event in a location that serves its own food and drink, it is important to supply these yourself. The appeal of free food and beverages may entice visitors who may be unsure as to whether or not they should attend, and large tables serving food are great ice breaking locations. These need not be expensive, just enough to ensure guests feel they are getting their money’s worth for travel, accommodation etc. which was required to get to the event.

Entertainment

Whilst talking shop is a great way to gain insight into other business owners in your local area, repeatedly discussing your business goals can become monotonous after a while, particularly if your guests are attending after spending a full day at work. Use your event to entertain guests, as well as informing and connecting them. Look to local entertainment providers, such as bands or theatre groups, whose work is relevant to your business. Not only will this benefit the performers, it will also be a great way of getting guests to connect through mutual interests

Utilise what’s available to you.

Whilst not all business owners in your local area may work in the same industry as you, you still have a lot in common based on your location. It is important not to exclude certain business owners from invitations and guest lists, just because you don’t feel their work is relevant to your event. Whether you’re discussing cupcakes or conservatories, the underlying theme is still business! Get others involved, if you own a clothing company, include vintage clothing samples from local markets, or sell handmade confectionary, at food-based events. Anything to draw in as many business owners as possible. This also provides an opportunity to make a profit, as business owners are likely to be willing to share a portion of their profits in exchange for exposure.

Give back

Whilst it is important to increase your contact list and meet with like-minded business owners, it can also be beneficial to use your event to benefit others as well. Taking donations, or donating a portion of your profits, to relevant charities is a great way of raising funds and awareness for whatever cause you chose, and shows your philanthropic side in an environment that can seem purely business focused. Not only that, but guests may be more likely to attend if they feel the event is going to include an element of variety, instead of just being about discussing work with other business owners.

 

Hosting your own networking event may seem intimidating, especially if you’re only just starting out. But holding a small event can dramatically increase the number of people you are able to communicate and connect with, in both a professional and personal capacity. 

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Make the Holidays the Social Time of Year

It’s the holiday season and with it comes events and parties!

Time for cookie swaps, ugly sweater parties, office get-togethers and cocktails with old friends.

With social media, you can make your plans much easier and make sure everyone is included.

Whether you are hosting a fabulous party at your house or planning the office white elephant gift exchange at the restaurant down the street, jump on social media to make the most out of your party.

From beginning to end, social media will be your liaison in your party planning.

Here we go…

• Gather your guess list – You can use a Facebook page to plan your party and invite guests. Send out details here and let guests respond. Even if you are sending out traditional invitations or ones through email, social media is a great way to gather everyone’s most current contact information. Also, if you are missing someone’s contact information, someone else on social media is sure to have it;

• Invite – Send out your invitations via social media. It makes it easy on you and easy on your guests to respond. They can see who is invited and you can see who is coming. You can also send event reminders out as well as the date gets closer;

• Plan the party – If the party is at your home, you’ll want to decorate. Take a look at Pinterest or Instagram for inspiration and ideas of what you’d like your theme and decorations to be. Whether you want an elegant white winter theme or a tacky ugly sweater one, social media will help get your creative juices going.

• Post pictures -. During and after the party, you and your guests can post pictures from the party on social media. As the following article looks at, come up with a fun hashtag or two to use and make sure you are capturing holiday memories when you’re hosting. Social media makes photo sharing so easy, no more worries on getting pictures from your friends afterwards.

• Share recipes – If it’s a cookie party of anything else with shared food – post your recipes on social media. It beats making multiple copies of recipes that many people won’t really want or that they’ll lose.

Social media is your perfect party-planning buddy.

From the guest list to the invitation to the food and decoration and photo sharing, it’s all easier with social media.

So pick your platform and get started. This one can be an event to remember!

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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Content Meets Chat with Versy

I recently got the chance to chat with the executive team of Versy. Described as content meets chat, Versy is an app that allows content to be shared and start conversation among users. With 250 content channels and publishers, a following is built around the content and users can create communities based on their interests. Some content channels that Versy work vary from comedy to music to fashion. There is really something for everyone.

What makes Versy different from other chat apps is that the size of the groups are not limited. Once you go to the content of your choosing and start chatting, chat groups grew organically. A chat group can have 25,000 to 30,000 people – lot of conversation. It’s a cool concept because everyone in the chat group has been connected based on a common interest.

Currently, Versy is only available in Latin America but plans on expanding to America next year.

So why should you download Versy? Because mixed media place to have conversations. Versy gives you a new area to have a different conversation which is refreshing.

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Using Social Media to Make the Right Home Handyman Choices

It’s tough finding good help; not only good help, but honest help who pose no dangers or threats.

For senior citizens, this is even more of a problem as they are often the victims of fraud.

However, there are some tactics that senior citizens can use when hiring someone, like a handyman, in the home.

Seniors often need someone around the house to help with small tasks, like painting or electrical repairs or other general maintenance – a good handyman is a great person to have.

But what’s the best way to go about finding one that can be trusted? Believe it or not, social media can help.

Finding Trustworthy Help on Social Media

The article, “Thought Leader Series: Seniors: Follow These Tips When Hiring a Handyman” offers some good tips and advice for seniors looking to hire a handyman around the house.

Some of these include:

• Review ratings – This is an important step and one that social media is great for. Read the ratings, reviews and reliability statistics on someone you’re thinking about hiring. Remember; be wary, though – some reviews are actually paid advertisements, so the best reviews are from people you know.

• Ask people you know – Asking on social media is a great way to find reliable help. It beats calling someone cold that you find online. Your friend’s recommendations can be the best advertising.

• Family help – Once you find someone, ask your family to help out when the handyman comes to your home the first time. It helps to have someone there to back you up, as often, unfortunately, seniors are taken advantage of. It’s also just safer in general to not be alone when strangers come to your home.

• Use social media to find comparable quotes – Search around a little on social media to find out what you should be paying for your job. If the handyman comes in with a quote way too high and out of the ballpark, he’s probably not very trustworthy.

• Shop around – This means you don’t have to stick with the first person you speak to. Even if your friend or daughter-in-law loved him, you may not. Have two or three handymen come give you a quote and base your decision not only on price, but on the vibe you get. Trust your instinct.

Some people just don’t bother getting the work done because it can be a hassle.

However, don’t let this stop you because with social media and some support, you can find a great handyman to help in your home.

And once you find that one, you may be referring him to your friends and writing social media reviews to help someone else!

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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5 Questions to be Cleared Before Start Building a Website

To compete in today’s marketplace, you need to have a website. Online business now comprises a huge percentage of retailer profits. If you ignore the possibility of digital sales, you could be missing out on a huge source of revenue.

However, what should be part of such a website may not be clear to newcomers. To help, below are five questions to ask a web design client before you agree to a deal.

 

1. What Is Your Website’s Purpose and Function?

The first thing you need to settle on when getting web design clients is the purpose and function of the website you want created. If you want to use the website to make money, how will the site accomplish that? Do you want to open an online store to sell your products? If that’s the case, your website will need specific architecture to accommodate that as well as the integration of shopping cart software that can allow customers to purchase products. Customers will also need the ability to create user accounts and track their orders via e-mail.

 

There can also be other ways a website can make money. You may want to use the website to generate leads for your business without the sales being transacted on the website itself. You may also simply want to use the website to generate ad revenue. There are many possibilities.

 

2. How Will Internet Users Find the Website?

 

Obviously, a for-profit website will be useless if no one is able to find it. With over 4 billion websites on the internet, you better consider this question carefully or your website may become a needle in a haystack. Thankfully, there are different ways to allow your website to be found. One of these is known as search engine optimization or SEO for short. It’s a web design philosophy centered around obtaining good visibility on the major search engines like Google and Bing. Make sure the developers you choose have SEO skills for web design.

 

3. What Should Visitors Do on Your Website?

 

To create an intelligent website and marketing platform, you need to know what desired action potential visitors should perform when visiting your website. If you want to open an online store, obviously you want to convince them to purchase products. If your goal is lead generation, you may want them to call up your sales personnel. If it is producing ad revenue, you will want visitors to click on the links to advertising partners included in your website’s content.

 

4. Will Your Website Be Optimized for Mobile?

Today, over half of internet traffic is mobile. This has been a huge transformation in how people surf the web. Websites that were designed with desktop and laptop computer use in mind aren’t necessarily easy to browse with a smartphone or tablet. If you want to produce sales from mobile users, you will have to integrate mobile optimization into your website’s design. Many companies, for example, have a separate web design that launches specifically for mobile users so they can easily navigate through the content on a smaller touch screen.

 

5. How Will You Monitor Your Website’s Success?

 

In order for a commercial website to be effective, you need to have the ability to track its success. You need to have a platform that can allow you to view and analyze statistics related to your website. This should include things like the number of web page views, what links fed traffic to your website, how much time visitors spent on the website and how many of your them actually went on to purchase products or click on ad links.

 

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Zuckerberg Baby Steals Star Wars Show

What To Say When You’re Ready for A Nap…

I need to put on my sleepy socks. Netflix has come up with a solution for the tragedy when you fall asleep and lose your episode during your binge watching. The solution? Socks. Now you might be thinking to yourself, how are socks going to fix anything? Great question. Well, the magical socks use an accelerometer to tell when you’ve stopped moving for a while and that sends Netflix the message to pause. Don’t put these on your Christmas list quite yet – they are only in prototype at the moment. Sock it to me. (Source Business Insider)

Quote of the Day: “Jeff is hands-down the best operations executive I’ve ever worked with.”

Looks like people have good things to say about Apple’s new Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Williams. Yesterday, Apple announced some changes to their executive staff. One of the more talked about changes is appointing Jeff Williams as COO. Williams has been with Apple since 1998 and most recently served in Tim Cook’s old position overseeing the global supply chain. Williams has worked on key products like the Apple Watch and other big initiatives. Congrats on NEW-ton job Jeff.(Source Re/code)

Happy Star Wars!

The new Star Wars movie comes out today and people are excited. But no one is as excited as little Max Zuckerberg. Proud new dad, Mark Zuckerberg, shared a picture of Max wrapped up in an Obi-Wan like costume next to Chewbacca and Darth Vader toys with a lightsaber in hand. The force is with you. (Source Mashable)

Stuff Your Stocking with our Socialnomics book

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