Web Hosting Geeks' Blog » social media http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog Web Hosting Industry News, Latest Trends, and Analyses. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:48:19 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 E-commerce and Social Media: No Longer Oil and Waterhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/06/e-commerce-and-social-media/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/06/e-commerce-and-social-media/#comments Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:35:18 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=2155 Once upon a time, there was a hard and loudly enforced social rule on the internet: there were places to hang out and places to shop, and never the twain should meet.  Anyone who dared break this rule suffered the wrath of the collective cyberworld, and the results weren’t always pretty.

This rule was strongly agreed upon and enforced by any means necessary until about five years ago.  It’s difficult to say exactly what happened to cause this shift.  Likely, it was a combination of a number of factors.  For one, there was a general sense that web site users were getting a bit of a free ride and that the money for web site owners to pay their bills had to come from somewhere.  Also, whereas businesses who wanted to find new customers before had to resort to reviled options such as direct email solicitation (forever etched in our vocabulary now as “spamming”), now alternate means exist, mostly through non-intrusive means found on social networking web sites.

Jump on in!  But do it right.

This means that those who are in new or growing businesses who want to use social media web sites to increase their customer base no longer have to worry about the blowback from treading in forbidden waters.  However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t still certain rules that apply.  It also doesn’t mean that it’s just as simple as slapping down an ad and forgetting about it.

If you’re a business who wants to expand into the social networking world, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Work with the site, and the users

Since large social networking sites need your money to keep going, they’ll be in the best position to tell you what the lay of the land is like: they’re not going to want to see you set up shop just to get chased out of town for not following some social code you didn’t know of until you broke it.

Also, listen to user feedback.  While there will always be some trigger-happy users who find spam everywhere they look, generally you’ll get a good idea of what’s fair and what’s not from user reactions.  And if you actually asked, you’d be in such a rare category that you’d automatically earn a certain level of respect.

2) Follow the cool kids

Yesterday it was MySpace.  The day before that it was LiveJournal.  Today it’s FaceBook, but there are already signs that it might have peaked.  Tomorrow it will be someone else, possibly FourSquare, or likely Google Plus.  The “hot spot” changes at lighting pace.  You need to move just as fast.

3) The toys change too

In addition to new places on the web, you will need to keep track of new ways to access the web.  PCs aren’t exactly dying as much you might hear, but iToys are going to become more and more frequent.  These new technologies more and more often include in their embedded software ways for businesses to interact with customers without having to go through a web browser.

One last bit of advice: hire an IT guru.  Or if IT is your specialty, hire a marketer or secretary.  The point is that just keeping up with how your business does Ecommerce is enough to keep one person busy for well more than 40 hours a week.  You’re going to want to make sure that you have someone who can focus on that, and only that.  Social networking is no longer a no-business-class zone.  They can and do now coexist.  You just have to devote the resources necessary to do it right.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/06/e-commerce-and-social-media/feed/ 0 To Blog or Not to Blog?http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/01/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/01/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/#comments Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:05:23 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=2005 Social media is becoming an integral part of the 21st century.  Customers expect business owners to use social media marketing tools such as blogs to promote products and services.  In fact, 50% of global companies implement blogs into corporate communication and about 12% of larger Fortune 500 companies blog.  While there are many advantages of blogging, business owners must have the time and energy required to maintain a blog, otherwise it’s a lost cause.

Blogging is an increasingly popular way of maintaining relationships with existing customers and attracting new sale leads.  Perhaps the greatest advantage of blogging is being able to keep customers in the loop of the daily operations of a specific company.  Whether providing important customer updates, details on special promotions for first time buyers, discount information for existing customers or just random ramblings too read for enjoyment, everyone with a garnered interest appreciates being kept informed.  Companies that open their doors and share experiences via blogging are more often than not repaid with customer loyalty.

Blogs are also a great tool for building and strengthening business relationships.  Not only do blogs allow customers an insight, but also encourage them to participate in blogging by leaving comments and feedback regarding specific products or services.  Many blog administrators find it helpful to enable the comment feature on blogs to allow visitors to post comments and replies.  This is especially helpful when soliciting customer feedback.  Although most feedback is extremely positive or negative, each individual feedback response is vital for continuous improvements of product quality or services

Blogs also help to generate traffic to a particular website.  An increase in blog activity is typically a good indicator of increased traffic; thus more traffic means an increase in potential sells.  While it’s important to keep in mind that not everyone visiting a blog will make a purchase; however, blogs are a great marketing tool to fish for new sale leads.

Disadvantages of Blogging

The greatest drawback of blogging is the time it requires.  Depending on how often a blog is updated dictates how much effort is involved with maintenance.  If a blog is only updated once a month, bi-weekly, or weekly, the time required isn’t too demanding; however, for those requiring everyday entries, the task may become daunting.  It’s important to post scheduled blogging entries; old and out-of-date entries are a sure way to tarnish one’s reputation.

For blogs requiring daily entries, often the task of posting entries is outsourced to a third party.  While smaller companies may not have the resources to hire someone responsible for blogging, larger ventures find that having someone to handle the blog a worthwhile investment.

Spam is another disadvantage of hosting a blog.  While it’s not nearly as much of a nuisance as it was just a few years before, robots and malicious users continue to thrive on posting spam and other annoying posts.  The good news is that blog administrators have more control over blogs, especially when it comes to thwarting spam attacks.

Conclusion

The decision whether or not to blog depends on the size of the company and available resources.  Even though most blog web hosting packages include a free blog, the amount of time and effort required to maintain a functional blog is often too much of a strain on smaller ventures.  Mid to large-scale companies with a sizeable customer base, however, reap the most benefits from blogging.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/09/01/to-blog-or-not-to-blog/feed/ 0 RankCheck.org – free tool to check rank of your websitehttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/06/rankcheck-free-tool-to-check-rank-of-your-website/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/06/rankcheck-free-tool-to-check-rank-of-your-website/#comments Sat, 06 Aug 2011 22:00:46 +0000 Dmitry http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1784 RankCheck.org is a free tool to check rank of your website on the web and social media.

The results include:

  • Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Compete Rank, Technorati Rank
  • Indexed pages by Google, Yahoo, and Bing
  • Inbound links by Google, Yahoo, Alexa, Digg, Delicious
  • and some other semi-useful values.

Go check it out. The rank check for WebHostingGeeks.com is here.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/08/06/rankcheck-free-tool-to-check-rank-of-your-website/feed/ 2 New Facebook Social Media Storehttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/06/27/new-facebook-social-media-store/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/06/27/new-facebook-social-media-store/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 22:18:38 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1687 Lyle & Scott recently announced the launch of its first social media eCommerce store. Created by BT Fresca, the new application allows customers to make purchases through Facebook with the Scottish fashion brand. The store was customized to fit the social media while making it easy-to-use. Prior to the launch of the store, the organization’s Facebook Fan Page had 38,000 fans.

The Revamped Website’

The release of this new social media store has been launched in conjunction with Lyle & Scott’s revamped website which has been optimized for mobile use. Also developed by BT Fresca, the site serves more than 53 countries. Also, the design of the website is now suitable for viewing on smartphones with quick and easily-navigable uncluttered pages.

A Statement Lyle & Scott

The head of the eCommerce department at Lyle & Scott released a statement announcing that customers can now easily shop with them no matter their location. The mobile site was the first step and the new Facebook store allows customers to shop without ever leading the social networking site. The company selected BT Fresca because they have supported them with the development and execution of the social media strategy.

Increasing Sales and Experience

Known as transactional social media, this addition to their portfolio should significantly increase sales due to an enhancement in customer’s buying experience. It is also an excellent opportunity to further grow the Lyle & Scott brand. Today’s online shoppers spend more time on Facebook than retail websites. Therefore, it is extremely important for retailers to maintain a specific brand image across all channels of revenue.

Additionally, BT Fresca is providing Lyle & Scott with online marketing services such as email marketing campaigns and traffic analysis. Therefore, they are providing well-rounded support for their product.

Company Information about Lyle & Scott

The Lyle & Scott brand was established in 1874 and features a contemporary look through original and authentic designs. The company is driven by a simple sense of integrity and the highest level of quality. The company was named Drapers’ Young Fashion Brand of the Year 2010 for its high-quality jackets, skirts, knitwear and polo shirts.

This is the beginning of many land-based and online retailers adding a Facebook eCommerce store to their portfolio in order to reach the hundreds of millions of users across the world. In the future, expect to see a variety of new eCommerce pages from some of the most popular brands.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/06/27/new-facebook-social-media-store/feed/ 1 New Social Media Website Announcedhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/05/04/new-social-media-website-announced/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/05/04/new-social-media-website-announced/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 21:52:15 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1580 On Thursday, April 7th, 2011, Spling.com was made available to the public and recorded an unprecedented amount of traffic throughout the entire launch weekend. Spling.com searches, collects, sorts and assembles a collection of media from numerous sources across the Internet thus eliminating the need for minor status updates on a regular basis. This is all accomplished in a fun and social atmosphere.

The Amazing Numbers Following Launch

Within the first four days following launch, the site generated over 1 million hits, boasting 5,000 unique visitors and 125,000 page views. As a result, Spling.com was tagged as one of the fastest growing social media websites to ever launch. This is quite the honor considering the competition like YouTube, Twitter, Flickr and social bookmarking sites.

The Goal of Spling.com

The primary goal of the CEO and Founder was to launch a different experience. Spling.com’s idea of sharing a variety of popular media content is straightforward and simple. Once a user joins, they become media broadcasters by creating their own virtual channel utilizing the Spling system to collect the best and most relevant media from across the Internet. This content will then be sorted onto a personalized page as a microblog.

The First Real Social Networking System

Spling.com claims to be the first true social networking system utilized solely for entertainment and media. The experience is a hybrid website, an intersection between social networking and microblogging with the goal of entertainment. Their motto is, “We are new, we are different, and most importantly we capture the Internet users’ thirst for entertainment.”

The 2011 Venture Plan Competition

The founders of Sling.com recently took first place in the 2011 Venture Plan Competition sponsored by the Greater Susquehanna Keystone Innovation Zone, Bloomsburg University, Bucknell University and Susquehanna University. Spling.com was initially launched on 19 college campuses simultaneously and is currently being promoted by 35 campus representatives to advertise the service.

Innovation at its Best

Spling.com appears to be an innovative, fun and different way of communicating with friends the latest happenings in the news and entertainment gathered from across the Internet. Each account seems to be fully customizable to the tastes of each user. Therefore, other users can search for specific types of media in various categories to display the virtual channel of users in that group. This is definitely much different from Facebook, Twitter and other popular social media websites.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2011/05/04/new-social-media-website-announced/feed/ 0 Contextual Advertising vs. Social Mediahttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/18/contextual-advertising-vs-social-media/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/18/contextual-advertising-vs-social-media/#comments Tue, 19 Oct 2010 01:25:53 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=1160 The Internet is gradually progressing towards a more interactive experience everyday, with music, movies, games, and video clips being the extremely popular. It seems as if a lot of internet user just don’t feel like reading, and many of them would rather watch YouTube for the entire afternoon than learn something new by reading an article. Of course, the average webmaster like yourself looks at the internet in a very different way, and is able to recognize the power of viral videos when used for internet marketing.

Contextual advertisement is not to be underestimated however, as many lucrative online businesses have utilized contextual advertising services like Google Adwords for years, and it continues to work today when done properly. However, the applicable uses of contextual advertising differ greatly, which is why it is important to consider the following information about the differences, advantages and disadvantages of contextual advertising and social media.

What is Contextual Advertising?

Contextual advertising may come in the form of strategically placed text blocks, banners with flash animations, and even small videos in the sidebar of a page. This type of advertisement bears its name because it is served based on the context of the web page, hence the name ‘contextual advertising’. A prime example of contextual advertising is Google Adwords, an advertising services that let you place ads for your site on another person’s web site in your niche.

How Does Contextual Advertising Work?

Google uses bots to index data on web pages, and when they detect certain keywords (which you bid on) they serve your ad wherever the webmaster decides to put their Google Adsense ads. The problem with contextual advertising for many novice webmasters is that it requires some investment and some expertise in order to bring substantial success quickly. Literally every major company uses contextual advertising, so your competition is usually fierce.

What is Social Media?

Social media is any form of media that is marketed on a social site with the intention of driving traffic to a certain web page, or to advertise a specific brand. Social media can be a free and easy way to generate traffic instantly without any monetary and very little temporal investments. Simply making a an interesting video and putting it on YouTube could result in thousands of visitors to your web site over night. Social media has become enormously popular because it is the best way to generate an incredible amount of intention with the least amount of effort.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/10/18/contextual-advertising-vs-social-media/feed/ 1 Best Methods for Generating YouTube Traffichttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/04/27/best-methods-for-generating-youtube-traffic/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/04/27/best-methods-for-generating-youtube-traffic/#comments Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:21:31 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=869 Social media has become one of the best advertising mediums. With millions of users on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and YouTube, this is prime advertising real estate. YouTube is an entertaining site that now offers more than just interesting videos.

Utilizing YouTube’s power to generate traffic to your site and potentially convert that traffic into sales is becoming a mainstream idea. The following are a few tips to acquire additional traffic and promote products utilizing YouTube. These pointers include:

  • Posting viral videos
  • Posting quality videos
  • Including your website logo in the videos
  • Video promotion
  • Make videos search-friendly
  • Create an intriguing profile

Viral videos are useful videos that appeal to large groups of people. If you create a video that becomes viral, others will promote the video for you by word of mouth. This allows anything in the video to be seen and accessed by potentially millions of users.

Unfortunately there are many low quality videos available on YouTube. By posting videos of high quality, you are separating yourself from the pack. Viewers don’t like lower quality videos so they will skip over those not conforming to their viewing taste.

Including your website logo or actual web address in the videos is the best promotional tip to generate traffic because it creates branding. Its best to place the logo and URL throughout the video for extended exposure.

Once this is all achieved, promoting the video to gain viewership is the next step. Its unrealistic to just assume that any video created will become viral. Step up and start promoting in blogs, forums, content mills, email links, or other high trafficked web sites.

Furthermore, allow viewers to be able to easily find your video on both YouTube and search engines. To make the video search-friendly, simply include major keywords in both the title and descriptions and pay close attention to tags.

The final tip is while you’re creating and promoting the video, craft an interesting and intriguing profile. This allows viewers to learn more about you. If they read a boring profile, they won’t want to view your content any further.

YouTube and other forms of social media are a gold mine for advertising and generating free traffic. Although there are many videos displaying websites and many advertisements on Twitter, Facebook and Myspace, this is still an untapped, highly resourceful market.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2010/04/27/best-methods-for-generating-youtube-traffic/feed/ 0 Twitter Lists and Businesshttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/05/twitter-lists-and-business/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/05/twitter-lists-and-business/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:53:07 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=605 The latest feature rolled out by Twitter is lists.  This new offering by Twitter allows users to create lists of specific Twitter users.  Believe it or not, Twitter lists can be helpful to the business web site owner.  After all, social media has been proven to be a boon to the online business owner.

How Twitter works for business

As social media outlets go, Twitter is quickly becoming one of the more popular micro-blogging sites around.  The list of businesses currently using Twitter in one fashion or another is constantly growing.  Comcast, JetBlue, and Dell are just a few companies that realized early on that Twitter has great potential to help them get in contact with and support their customers.  Comcast is a perfect example of how a business can use a micro-blogging service to give fast and courteous service to their existing customers as well as garner new business by word of mouth from happy and support customers.

How Twitter lists work for business

Once a business has set up their Twitter account, it is very easy to start racking up the number of users being followed.  At last count, the official support Twitter account for Comcast has over 32,000 users it’s following.  Trying to keep track of that many conversations at once is completely impossible.  So, what is the solution?

Simple – Twitter lists.  Creating a list is a very quick and easy process.  Log into Twitter and click on the “New list” link found on the right-hand side of the web site.  A new window will open up where a name can be typed in as well as the type of list it should be (private or public).  Once the list is created, it’s then a simple matter of going through the “following” list of the account and adding members to the newly created list.

One great example for a business use for a Twitter list is a company that has offices and customers across the states.  If this business wished to group its customers by area, lists such as “northwest_customers” or “Oregon_clients” could be created.  Then, support teams could have direct access to specific customers based on geographic location.

Taking it one step further

Twitter has made it convenient to include user lists within web sites.  By going to the Goodies – Widgets area, one can find the easy to customize Twitter list widget.  Once customized, the code then can be grabbed and integrated easily within a business web site.  This widget provides a quick way to keep tabs on customers and makes it very simple for new customers to join in on the conversation.  The list widget can be placed on a front page of a web site or even within a support section.  Either way, including this bit of coding is a perfect way to generate more business.

Conclusion

Including Twitter within a social media campaign is a smart move.  Twitter is continuously adding new features to make the experience of micro-blogging easier.  The latest addition of Twitter lists is a splendid way to monitor topics and people who matter most and a great way to keep in contact with and give support to customers and clients.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/11/05/twitter-lists-and-business/feed/ 0 How to Get a Better Service from Your SEO Firmhttp://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/22/how-to-get-a-better-service-from-your-seo-firm/ http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/22/how-to-get-a-better-service-from-your-seo-firm/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:23:09 +0000 Art http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/?p=585 Many website owners are not getting quality results from their SEO efforts.  This even holds true for those who have decided to outsource these tasks to professional third-party companies.  While you are paying the company for its services, there are some responsibilities that must be handled on your end in order to get the best bang for your buck.   In this article we will give you a few pointers for getting the most out of your SEO firm.

Lend Valuable Insight Where Needed

It does not matter how good the SEO company is, there is no way they can be fully grasp all the activities and processes going on within your organization.  By emphasizing some of the essentials upfront, you can shed light on areas that aid the outsourced agency and result in a win-win situation for both sides.  Don’t want until the SEO firm has almost completed the project to bring up matters that should have already been discussed.

Build Trust within the Firm

One definite way to hinder the success of your SEO project is to challenge the service provider with justification for every little recommendation.  True, since they are working for you, the company should have no trouble providing you with the answers you require at any given time.  However, making them do so repeatedly and needlessly could tie up resources that may have been devoted to pouring more productivity into your project.  Establishing a level of trust is not always as easy as it sounds, but if it does not exist, your campaign can turn out be very chaotic very fast.

Stay Open to Change

Some SEO campaigns require that significant changes to be made to the actual content or the overall structure of the site.  Depending on your role in the project, you may have to argue on behalf of the agency in order to change existing corporate polices and bridge the two parties together.  This could be a major hold up if top decision makers are not willing to discuss the negative impact their polices could have on the project.  If it is you making the decisions, keep yourself open to exploring possible changes that will benefit the campaign.

Learn and Apply

The more you know about your campaign and what it needs to be a success, the less the SEO firm has to go over.  Therefore, if a particular area has already been thoroughly covered, the firm should be able to build on it and consistently elevate their efforts to achieve the desired results.  That does not mean you shouldn’t try to bring something to the table.  If you don’t know or care enough to add to working concepts, it is very unlikely that your SEO agency will get the support they need to successfully employ advanced methods such as link building via social media and video sharing platforms.

If you want good results from your SEO campaign, get involved with the company handling all the hard work and give aid where ever you can.  By sitting back and leaving the entire project in the agency’s hands, you are more than likely to receive less than desirable results.

Related posts:

]]> http://webhostinggeeks.com/blog/2009/10/22/how-to-get-a-better-service-from-your-seo-firm/feed/ 0