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Google Plus SEO: Engagement

02/27/2012 by

SEO for social networks is not the same as SEO for your website or blog. A large component is the social element and Google Plus is no different. Not only do you need to optimize your profile, link your website and optimize your posts, but you also need to talk to people.

Sharing your Posts

When you write a post, make sure that you are sharing it to the public. You have a choice of what circles and with whom you want to share your content. You can make it as limited or open as you would like. But if you want people you don’t yet know to access your content you need to make sure it is publicly available. You do this by selecting “public” when you select your circles.

By making your posts public, not only will people be able to find you in searches but when they go to your profile they will be able to see what you have posted. Many people like to “browse” profiles before they circle someone. Think of this as your Macy’s window and they are window shopping.

Respond Back!

So many people ignore the people who engage with them. This is bad. If you want to grow your network, your exposure and improve your SEO you need to engage back. If someone pluses your post, add them to your circles. If someone comments on your post, respond back…and add them to your circles.

Tag People

A great way to initiate conversation with someone is to tag them in a post. You do this by typing + and then their name (which will auto-populate when you start typing). This creates a tag, or linked text, in your post. Doing this also gives a notification to that person that they were tagged.

This is a great way to start conversation or let someone know that you are talking about them, or their content.

Comment

Comment on other peoples posts. It really is that simple. Stop only looking at what you are putting out there and start looking at what other people are sharing. If you post thoughtful comments on other peoples posts you might make a new contact, create a conversation or debate. You will all be introducing yourself to all their followers who saw that post, because when they see the post they will now see your comment. If it is good they may circle you or look at your shared posts.

Circle People

Circling people is one of the easiest and fastest ways to grow your network. Go out and find people in your interest area. Find people you might want to talk to. Add them to your circle and start engaging with their content. Many people will circle you back just because you circled them.

Finding Content

Finding people can best be done by finding content. You do this through G+’s real time search. Type in a search term and your results will stream in real time what people are currently posting. You can keep this search list auto-refreshing or pause it for easier reading. This is a great opportunity to comment on people posts and find people to add to your circles.

All of these things will help boost your overall SEO. Google+ will rank you higher in their internal search engine, getting you more exposure, and thus helping your overall SEO.

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Facebook Timeline is Everywhere and People are Mad!

01/30/2012 by

The Facebook timeline has been rolling out since November to the general public. Until recently people have been given the option of it they want to upgrade their profile.  If they did upgrade and didn’t like it, they could return it to the old style within 7 days.  Facebook has announced that there will be no more of these shenanigans and that everyone will be upgraded automatically to the new timeline profile.

Like most updates this has Facebook users up in arms. Many people don’t like the new timeline. They find it confusing and difficult to find things. They like the original layout which just lists activity. In response many people are saying they will leave Facebook for Google+ or just turn off social networks all together.

Lets be real. Maybe a couple people will actually leave Facebook, but most people will not. Facebook knows that they can make these changes, completely ignore feedback, and people will continue to use the network. It has become too ingrained in our online and social culture. Where Facebook will make changes is when it starts to hit their bottom line, ie. affecting businesses.

Of course many of the changes they have made over the past year have greatly affected business on Facebook for the negative but individually they were so small that we couldn’t make a fuss over it. One change that did raise everyone heckles was when FB was deciding what posts should appear on your pages timeline. It resulted in a huge outcry from the business community and prevented the change from ever making it out of the trial phase.

So despite the new roll out, people will yell and complain. You will likely see posts in all caps complaining about how horrible it all it.  You will likely hear that you can revert back to the old style (which you can’t), there will be scams that supposedly let you revert your profile (don’t click those links), or apps created claiming the same thing (they are bogus). Like it or don’t like it, the timeline is here to stay.

 

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Will Fan Pages Get the Timeline Update?

10/12/2011 by

Facebook has been rolling out the “timeline” update on the newsfeed and on profiles. Will fan pages be the next update? It is the logical progression. Since the fan page update at the beginning of 2011, Facebook has been updating the layout of the fan page in conjunction with the profiles. The main goal being consistency in the user experience.

The latest update for the profiles was not only a dramatic visual change but also a UI (user interface) change. It is changing how users are using Facebook. In fact, the new timeline profile is deepening the emotional connection between Facebook and its user. If Facebook updates fan pages as well, it has the potential to have a similar emotional effect.

The cover image will be a great opportunity for branding, with the profile image being the “face” of your engagement. The more graphic display will really encourage fan pages to post more dynamically using significantly more photos. Beyond using more photos, it will encourage businesses to use a more cohesive and truely graphic based brand strategy. The page itself will be like an interactive page from a magazine. It has the potentially to be incredible.

No profiles have gone public yet. Below is a mock up by the New York Agency Skinny of a potential fan page. The branding opportunity is incredible! Of course this means that people will need to strategically implement their fan page design, which means that marketing firms need to embrace social media design. The game is changing…and getting more aesthetically pleasing!

Burbery TImeline Fan Page

A mockup of the Burberry Fan Page by New York Agency Skinny. Click the image to see more mockups.

Filed Under: Facebook, SM3 Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Are You Ready to Subscribe to Your Friend Facebook?

10/04/2011 by

Facebook Subscriber ButtonFacebook has made a big change in profiles. They have offered a solution to public figures, people using Facebook for business, and people who just don’t like to friend people. They have released the subscribe button. At this moment you might be asking what this is. The subscribe button essentially makes your profile into a fan page.

People can subscribe to your profile. They will then get your public updates to their newsfeed. When someone subscribes to your feed they are not your friend. They are not added to your friend list.

Why subscribe?

  • You can follow someones updates without having to add them as a friend
  • You can control the information that comes through your newsfeed.
  • You can subscribe to someone but they do not have to approve you

Why allow subscriptions?

  • You don’t have to worry about the 5000 friend limit
  • You can control what information goes out to your subscribers
  • You can control comments

Benefits of Subscribing

  • When you subscribe to a profile you can control what information filters through your newsfeed. You can choose if you want to receive all updates, only photos, only links, only important items. And important is decided by Facebook, which includes change in relationship status, though it is currently unclear what else is considered important.
  • The information is not reciprocal. Traditionally when you friend someone, you see their updates and they see yours. The social relationship is reciprocal. However, with subscribing, you see theirs but unless they subscribe to your profile they will not see yours.

Benefits of subscriptions

  • Profiles are limited to 5000 friends. If you want more than that you have to switch to a fan page. With subscriptions that is not the case. You are still limited to 5000 friends, but there is no limit to subscribers.
  • Controlling information. If you only want your friends to see an update you can mark it as private and it will not go out to your subscribers. If you leave the update as public then it will go out to your friends and subscribers.
  • You can control comments from subscribers. When you set up subscribers you have a choice on if you want to allow comments on your posts. If you turn off comments, none of your subscribers will be able to comment on any of your public post. Only friends will be able to comment.

The subscription option is a great medium ground solution for people who don’t want to have a fan page, but have been frustrated with the limitations of a profile. This is great for public figures, people who use their profile for business and personal. For maintaining professional distances, like teachers and students or bosses and employees. This allows for the Facebook social relationship without feeling like you have to censor your posts because your boss or teacher might see it.

The big question is will it catch on?

Learn more about subscriptions from the Facebook FAQ.

Filed Under: Facebook, SM3 Tagged With: , , , ,

Chronicling Your Life on Facebook: The New Timeline Profile

09/27/2011 by

If you are on Facebook you have a new profile, or you will be getting it soon. The new profile design is being rolled out and is currently a voluntary update. Though like all Facebook updates, the volunteer will be turned to voluntold quickly. So what is the breakdown of the new profile? Well it is called the “timeline profile” because it now allows you to see what you have been doing since you started on Facebook. You can see pictures, comments, and significant event since the dawn of your Facebook account grouped according to when it happened. Sounds confusing, well, it is. But it is visually appealing. Here is a breakdown of your new profile:

1. The Cover

This is a giant picture at the top of your profile. It can be anything you want as kind of sets the theme to your profile. In essence this photo is supposed to be a personal expression of you. This is the first thing people see when they come to your “timeline”.

2. Views

Underneath your cover is your “views” this was previously your info section, or a hybrid thereof. This is where you’ll find your info, photos, likes, apps and other stuff all on one header bar.

3. Activity Log

This is a section that is only available to you. This is where you can edit the privacy settings on your posts and pictures, even ones previously posted. This will let you see all your activity on Facebook since the dawn of time.

4. Stories

This are shows your top stories. Your photos, updates, posts and shares from all time that are considered top news. You can view top stories from any period of time by clicking a time period on the timeline at the top right of your profile.

5. Star or Hide

You can star or hide any post at any time. If you click the star on a story it will expand it to full screen. If you click the pencil, you have the ability to hide or delete it off your profile.

6. Life Events Menu

Above the area for status updates is your life events menu. This is where you can add or edit you significant life events. You can even set up when they happened so they are properly archived in your timeline. For instance, never put in your marriage? Well, now you can add it in and add the date that you were married.

7. Info

Your info area is now much more extensive as far as your familial connections. You can add your entire family tree from aunts, uncles and cousins to in-laws!

New Facebook Timeline Profile

Honestly, I was a bit reticent about the new layout. There were concerns that the profile would be too much about you and not enough about your interactions. Though not all of those concerns have been put to bed. The timeline layout is beautiful. Scrolling through the years is like a trip down memory lane. Being able to read comments that friends made so many years ago gives you a nice reminder of your relationships and of times past. Though some of the remembrances are sad, lost friends, lost relationships, the new timeline is a nice chronicling of your life as shared on Facebook.

Filed Under: Facebook, SM3 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

New Facebook Profile brings YOU to the forefront

12/09/2010 by

Lauren MacEwens' Facebook Profile Screenshot

Facebook is bringing YOU to the forefront. The new profile layout is already being criticized, of course, but like every Facebook change we will all adjust and then wonder why we ever liked it the other way.

The most noticeable shift is that your tagged pictures are right at the top of your profile.  This makes it easy for your friends to see the newest pictures of you.

Directly above that is your info, which was previously on the info tab. Now where you work, your school, where you live, where you are from, your birthday and your relationship listing is right at the very top of your profile like an elevator pitch summary of who you are.

Don’t worry, your privacy settings have not been affected. Whatever they were before, they are now.

The nav bar on the left is easier and more straightforward. It is simply Wall, Info, Photos, Notes and Friends.  This nav bar is replacing the tabs.

Oh yeah…no tabs!  I personally think eliminating them is a good idea.  Many people do not like them, and more often than not they get ignored.  Unless a photo or a piece of information is on your wall, people won’t click the tab and therefore don’t see it.

The Wall

The wall hasn’t changed much.  The status update interface is a little different. It is not as obvious as it was before, but it is actually a cleaner interface.

Info

The info tab is much more graphically oriented.  Every piece of information has a picture or a placeholder photo.

Your contact information is still on the very bottom.  Unfortunately, if you are trying to drive traffic to your website from your info area, that has not been made any easier. FB did not give prominent placement to web addresses.

Photos

I like the change in this interface. It is cleaner and seems to load faster.  Your albums are prominently featured on top and then photos of you are like an endless sea flowing beneath the albums.

One thing I don’t like is that it is not immediately clear about how to add new photos. But once I oriented myself to the new layout I saw the “upload photos” button in the upper right corner.

Friends

Friends never had an info tab.  I have spoken with many people who did not know how to find their friends, unless it was from the news feed.  The addition of a friends category on the nav bar is a big improvement.

Another change is that your friends no longer come up in a pop-up window, now they are listed on the page with a prominent search box at the top. This makes finding friends much easier and seemingly more accessible.

No more boxes!

All those little boxes that ran down the left side bar of your profile are gone!  FB has been threatening to remove them for a long time and has been phasing them out for quite a while.  But in this new profile they are gone.  The side bar is now reserved for your nav bar and a listing of your friends and family.

I actually prefer this to the boxes.  They always seemed clumsy to me.  Now your nav bar is easy to find; if you have a relationship listed, your status and their profile link and thumbnail are prominent, and then your friends and family stream down in a big column.  It is as though the sidebar has changed its focus to your relationships.

Here is the promo video from Facebook.

If you don’t have the new Facebook profile yet, you can get it by going to www.facebook.com/about/profile/

What do you think about the new profile layout?

Filed Under: Facebook, On the DL (down-low), SM3 Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Are you Verified on Twitter?

10/25/2010 by

Are you verified on Twitter? Does it matter? Is it important?

For some people getting verified on Twitter is extremely important. Twitter verification is essentially a big blue check mark that says you are the real deal! It is Twitter’s way of establishing authenticity behind a well know and public persona. It is used for public figures, ie. politicians, celebrities, rock stars, etc.

Dexter verified on Twitter

The reason why this is important is because your name is important, especially if you are a public figure. Issues that people have in getting verified, and why it is important, are someone already claimed your name and won’t give it up, they are not doing anything with it, just cyber-squatting. Maybe they claimed your name to spam. Maybe they are just posing as you.

Your name is a brand. You have worked hard at getting name recognition and you should be able to reap the rewards, not some random person in cyber-space who doesn’t know you from Adam. What is even worse than someone squatting on your name is if they are spamming or misrepresenting you. Are they damaging the good name you have built? This is, of course, why Twitter started verifying to begin with. But many people have difficulty in getting verified, or getting Twitter to help them resolve issues of cyber-squatting or spam/misrepresentation. In fact less than 2% of Twitter users are verified, and there are way more public figures than 2%.

However, Twitter is no longer verifying accounts. Since the change to New Twitter, many verified accounts have even lost their prized check mark. Though support@twitter does say they are restoring them to their rightful owners.

The change to new twitter seems to come with the promise of a change to the verification system. Apparently the verification system was in its beta form and Twitter will be rolling out a new and improved system. Maybe this new verification system will make it easier to get verified.

You worked hard for name recognition and deserve to have that little blue check mark!

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