Posts Tagged ‘social media’

I need more content! – how to help your customers overcome social media block

Business News, Client News | Posted by Katie
Aug 17 2010

I am sure I am not the only person who has real trouble receiving content to use from customers am I?

You know when you first meet with someone and you explain that all you need is a steady flow of interesting articles or anecdotes or photos etc etc and they are all enthusiastic and raring to go…. well we all know that this flow soon stops and if you are like me you end up sending out emails pleading for content to work with.

Ok, so I don’t have all the answers but I have found a trick that works – simple, effective and helps the social media shy customer or the ‘but everything is boring here’ comments.  I ask the customer once a week minimum to send me an email as if they were writing to a friend and to include such content as:

  • What happened last week
  • Any great guests or customers
  • Any strange requests from guests or customers
  • If they are a restaurant what is their recipe of the week
  • Anything funny happen with you or your staff
  • Is anyone within your company doing anything exciting or for charity
  • What is going on in your local area in the next week

The list could go and on, but as social media is heralded as the ‘friendly’ face of a business a chatty piece of content is great to work with – well that’s what I am finding anyway – for example Boath House – a luxury Scottish hotel.  Don Matheson one of the owners can wax lyrical in a fun way about the pitfalls and joys of running a hotel – if you would like to have a look then go to their Facebook page – oh and become a fan, as it all helps!  If anyone has any other suggestions I would be interested to hear them – always looking for help in this area!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Getting the most from Social Media Marketing

Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 28 2010

We get asked a lot of questions about Social Media:

  • What is it?
  • How does it benefit my business?
  • How do I get started?
  • How long do I spend per day/week?
  • … and many more

Social Media (should) mean different things to different businesses – what channels to use and when, how long to spend, what type of content to put out and how to get involved in online conversations with potential customers.

Most of the answers depend on specific online business goals and a social media strategy should be planned around these, planning is everything along with monitoring and measuring the success of your efforts.

There are many companies that can help you with this but ultimately it is time and budget which drives business marketing decisions.  Being as informed as possible is the key when considering such an essential part of a  businesses online marketing – and to muddy the waters further, the face of social media marketing is constantly changing.

It is a core part of our ethos when providing SEO services to Scottish businesses that we keep our clients informed of changes to this marketing ‘landscape’ and provide information, content and links to all the key resources that will help their online marketing decisions.

With this in mind Jennifer Laycock, editor of The Search Engine Guide has recently posted a great article::
Understanding the Three Primary Goals of Social Media (highly recommended reading)

If you would like more information relating to this post please contact me or join me online: Twitter | Facebook

Popularity: 4% [?]

How To: Get Your Business Listed in Google

Business News, Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 23 2010

Google’s business listings & it’s SEO value

When you make a search within Google you will note that more often than not the top results are related to ‘local business listing’ (including location maps).  We are regularly asked by our customers how to get their businesses listed in these results and what additional value it will have in relation to their sites’ SEO – the method of listing your business is easy (you just need a Google account) and the value in terms of SEO is huge and best of all … it’s free to list!

  • How does it all work?
  • How do I claim my listing?
  • How do I make the most of it’s features?

Google have recently combined its Local Business Centre and Place Pages into one entity, and in addition added some new features.

In order help you get listed properly and make the most of the service, Google have recently published an in depth webinar explaining all. If you looking for more information or are new to the Google Business Centre/Google Places we highly recommend that you watch this, it really is a must see:

Popularity: 2% [?]

Blogging – a key part of any online marketing strategy

Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 21 2010

The Importance of Your Business Blog

It is widely understood that your website should become the definitive online business/product range information repository and meet the requirements of all customers, markets and occasional site users.  The functionality should facilitate and enhance any online marketing activities e.g. links to business blog, social media pages/profiles and news/press article related pages.

A business blog is a key part of  any online marketing strategy and will create a point of connection with local and regional customers  – it is an essential ‘interest generator’, creating an online buzz about your business and introducing the news, new product information and offers to the target audience.

A business blog is an effective link generator – Google has recently adjusted its search engine results pages to include additional social media filters, allowing users to filter results by type such as blogs, news, video etc.  From this transition it is now widely recognised that Google index blog posts within a very short period of time – sometimes within hours! This change is extreme beneficial when considering SEO.

If you would like more information relating to this post please contact me or join me online: Twitter | Facebook

Further Reading:

Getting Your Blog Posts Right
Blog Post Checklist: 10 Questions to Ask before you publish

Popularity: 2% [?]

5 Tips to Get Your Google Local Listing to the Top!

Client News, SEO Scotland | Posted by Gavin
Jun 01 2010

With all the search options within the Google portfolio, it is essential that businesses utilise the Google local listings.  Local & business listings are appearing more and more in the Google’s SERP’s in relation to geographical, regional and town/city related searches and users are becoming more and more used to seeing these listings and accepting them as highly relative to their specific searches.

With Google Local listings taking the top spot in most searches, it’s critical that you claim a listing for your business. Once done it is essential that your listing is set up correctly – below we have included some guidelines to help you:

  • Claim and update your listing (and only one listing) – make sure the description is as relevant and keyword rich, in relation to your products and services, as possible. Select the correct business category and make sure you use all contact numbers complete with area codes. Include any additional content in line with other web listings to ensure continuity.
  • Upload images and videos – ensure that you have logos and images of any products in relation to your business type.  Place description tags for each but don’t overdo it and avoid ‘spammy’ labels
  • Cultivate Reviews – this is good for user recommendation – other will be more likely to buy from a previously used and endorsed source, this is your opportunity to get business via online ‘word of mouth’. Encourage your client base to use your business listing as a point to leave reviews and refer to them in additional listings and blog posts
  • “More about this place†– This section is a listing of mentions on the web that Google consider to be relevant and authoritive. It will usually list key listings, blog entries and social media profiles.  This provides the user with a point of reference to find additional information about your business.
  • User Content – this section lists additional user generated resources & mentions of your website and will list mainly sites that allow users to tag and mention additional sources such as Flickr, Google maps and Wikipedia

The Google Local listings are a very powerful (free) resource available via your Google account and we cannot stress enough the value of getting this right.  So, make time to ensure your listing is as good as it can be – and if you don’t have the time, we are happy to help you or do it for you – contact us now.

Popularity: 5% [?]