It’s no surprise to me that one of the most asked questions I get from clients and readers is how to get content shared more and pull new traffic.
Of course we know dropping valuable content, being consistent with that content, put some focus into blog post SEO and effective social networking are some of the key elements at the top of the list. But today, in this hyper-competitive blogosphere, those things are kind of a given. Everybody does that.
That’s why sometimes focusing on the little things is where we can make a difference over our competition. One of those things is providing great sharing options, at least I know it made a huge difference for me.
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Guest post by Erika Napoletano from Redhead Writing.
Aside from the fact that you’re staring at this post’s headline with a healthy dose of WTF right about now, it’s 100% true. How often do you think about what you’d give up in order to get more?
And in many cases, it’s not even about more. It’s about better. More loyal. More committed.
We’re going to talk about four ways that you can – starting today – lose traffic to your website or blog, yet still come out ahead in the long run.
Clean Your Room
You are a dirty (dirty, I said) little social media user, aren’t you? When’s the last time you cleaned out your Twitter account? Purged your Facebook friends? Took a really long, hard look at your LinkedIn connections.
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We can’t deny the growth in participation on social networks in the recent years. Today we use these platforms for a wide variety of reasons and we feel more comfortable than ever in them.
But are we ready for social commerce?
I remember an interview I did back in October with VenPop about Social Commerce. Since we were approaching the holidays one of the questions was about my thoughts on what we should expect. One of the things I said was that while Facebook clearly has the prospect, now it needed to establish itself as a solid retail platform.
If you think about it, 2011 was the first year we looked at the social web as a possibility to carry actual transactions, not just as traffic generators or promotional channels.
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I don’t know about you but I’ve been waiting for the launch of the new Facebook Pages for a few weeks.
So it finally happened yesterday and as expected, there are quite a few changes raising eyebrows, some likes and dislikes. As it usually happens with Facebook.
This post is to list and explain each one of those changes, how they will affect the way you manage your Facebook Page and the new possibilities for customization, engaging and communicating better with your fans.
Let’s get started!
When do we get it?
The new pages are available now, if you go to your page right now you will see a banner on top and instructions on how to publish. This is optional at the moment and Facebook is giving you a grace period of 30 days to work on your content before going live with it. The new format will be forced on March 30. Whether you’re ready or not.
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The other day I finally gave in and stopped at this place near Colorado Blvd in Pasadena. It’s a tiny shop that sells hotdogs and sodas. I’ve been driving by for years looking at masses of people wait outside in line. You’d immediately assume the hotdogs are pretty damn awesome.
Truth is I get tired just looking at the line, I’m not about to spend an hour waiting for a stupid hotdog. But I had to at some point. So I did. The hotdogs have this very particular and horrible taste. So I asked. It’s the “secret sauce” the waiter proudly responded with a smile on his face thinking I can’t get enough of it. I could barely keep it in my mouth.
It’s “secret”, they’re not gonna tell me what’s in it. Frankly I just wanted to avoid putting those ingredients together in the future, you know, by accident.
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This is a guestpost by Brad Shorr from Straight North.
Don’t get me wrong: I love SEO and we do a lot of SEO work. However some businesses turn SEO into an obsession, and that’s a big mistake.
The fatal flaw of an SEO fixation is that it takes your eye off the ball. SEO is about traffic. Traffic is important, but it’s not the goal. The fundamental purpose of Internet marketing, as I see it anyway, is conversion.
First CRO, Then SEO
A typical scenario, and one that makes no sense to me, is when a firm spends tons on SEO and pennies on conversion rate optimization (CRO). They’re driving more traffic to their site – but so what? If their lead generation site features ho-hum offers or no offers at all, people won’t inquire. If their e-commerce site has baffling navigation, people won’t buy.
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This is a guest post by Mitt Ray from Social Marketing Writing.
Social media and blogs are usually the basic requirements of every content marketing strategy. Having a good blog with a lot of good content and being able to share them on social media platforms with lots of followers and fans can be a really good start. But the marketing material you should never forget to use in your content marketing strategy; is a white paper.
White papers differ from blogs and other form of content as they have a tiny bit of direct marketing messages in them. Most of the white paper is generally content, but a small fraction of a white paper consists of direct marketing material. A blog can be very powerful and educative, but it would normally take you some time before you start generating leads (on average it takes about 6 months for a blog to generate leads) from it.
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The future of Facebook, a visual story of what the blue giant could become in the next 13 years is creatively turned into its own Timeline.
Some very interesting and probable predictions, others a little more out there, but for sure a fun infographic designed by the guys at Ph. Creative.
I specially like the idea of “Facebook Search” because it’s an aspect I believe represents the weakest link for the network.
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