The new way to brand online businesses is by social media marketing. Clued up website owners no longer see websites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn as site for kids but social media business marketing platforms. These sites provide businesses with a comprehensive marketing communications tool which open doors to new networking routes. However when embarking on a social media marketing strategy a level of expertise is required. Here are some basic pointers:

Choose your sites

As with all marketing you need to think about your objectives and plans at the beginning to ensure you make the best decisions. The first area you need to consider is which social networking sites are best for your online marketing campaigns. Signing up to every new site will just eat into precious time and you may find you simply don’t have the man hours to keep every profile up-to-date. As developing your social media sites can take time and effort you need to have the relevant resources to tackle the job well. When planning put a social media marketing strategy in place to ensure you are focused on developing the brand.

Getting set up

Once you have selected the website with the best fit to your business you will need to ensure that you set your profiles up well. You need to position your website in a way that will appeal to the particular audience or niche you desire. This involves finding a name that reflects your positioning and brand image as well as adding information that will appeal to people.

At www.searchengineoptimization.co.uk we offer a range of website optimization and social media marketing services.

A huge number of online businesses now have profiles within social networking websites such as Facebook and the reason for this is search engine optimisation. Research has revealed websites such as Facebook can help businesses considerably when trying to develop their brands within the online community and direct relevant traffic to their websites. A lot of website owners are familiar with Facebook from personal use and so using the site for business has become common and is making a big difference to some.

However, if you are going to use Facebook for the benefit of your SEO campaign and your business you have to attract followers, and this can be challenging. With so many different businesses and users within the Facebook community, it can be difficult to stand out and make others interested in what you say and do. Many businesses do achieve this though and build up a sound number of followers with which they communicate and share information with on a regular basis.

If you are one of those business owners that has created an appropriate profile within Facebook and now has a number of followers this is highly encouraging. It is likely you are spreading the word about your business effectively and sparking new interest in your website.

However, you must not get carried away at this point and become complacent. You have to be sure you are actually giving your followers what they want and expect from you and this is where many site owners go wrong. They feel content with the number of followers they have obtained and then share relevant information with this audience on a regular basis as part of the development of their SEO campaigns. What they do not think about though is what those following them are getting from this association and how they can benefit too.

Studies have shown a huge number of those following businesses within Facebook are doing so for special opportunities. They are hoping to receive information on sales or deals first, expect special offers and discounts and believe by following a business they will be entitled to special treatment. These are not unrealistic expectations and if they mean you can increase your exposure and presence within the Facebook community, should be offered as much as possible.

Provide those following you with special discount codes, with early access to sales or promotions, with free prizes or giveaways and with other special rewards. Not only will you find these bonds you make with Facebook users beneficial but they will too and this will help you to gain even more followers in the future.

When using Facebook, you have to think about what others are getting from being associated with you and how you can make it even more tempting and satisfying for them to be a follower of your business.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this! MySpace’s redesign was supposed to herald the dawn of a new era for one of the world’s first and most popular social networking sites – instead, figures released by comScore show that MySpace is haemorrhaging unique users. In fact, between January and February of this year over 10 million uniques have deserted MySpace. MySpace has also announced that it has to shed staff worldwide – things aren’t looking so good for MySpace as the years roll on…

Approximately half of its staff globally are being cut – a real fall from grace as it used to be the one and only place on the internet for new artists to launch their music careers. It’s looking less likely though that those heights will ever be hit again as people desert MySpace on a year-by-year basis. Almost 50 million are leaving the site annually – that figure may be even higher this year if 10 million people have already left in the first two months of 2011.

MySpace was, of course, bought out by News Corp in 2005 for a grand total of £330 million. Today’s valuation of MySpace would no doubt be much much lower. And the reality of it is that it’s no surprise as MySpace has failed to capitalise on its social position, and has been overtaken by social behemoths such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

MySpace’s problems are that it is now purely an entertainment destination, and that it decided to stay in the music niche it carved out for itself all those years ago. MySpace still attracts a huge amount of organic users, and though that number is receding on an almost daily basis, all is not lost. But is there anyone at News Corp with a vision clear and ambitious enough to turn MySpace around?

The ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) has been given new powers that allow it to police the world of online marketing. Something they’ve never been able to do before – apparently ASA has received over 4,500 complaints about online advertising since 2008, but hasn’t had the power to do anything about practices that may breach their guidelines.

As of today (March 1) the ASA has new powers to censure misleading advertisements through social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. ASA, before today, has only had the power to scold advertisements shown on the television and paid-for online advertisements. But its reach is growing ever further, and this move is a stark reminder to those who use social media to promote their business to be professional at all times.

Chairman of the Committee of Advertising Practice, Andrew Brown, said recently: “Extending the online remit of the ASA has been a top priority for UK industry over the last couple of years.

“Our aim has been to extend further in the online world the principles that are already well established in our system, namely those of effective consumer protection and fair competition.”

What do we mean by professional? We mean being trustworthy and honest, never exaggerating your products and services, communicating with your consumers whenever they ask a question and conducting yourselves in an appropriate manner at all times. It’s tempting when you create a Facebook or Twitter profile for your business to fall into an overly-personal way of doing things, and forget that you’re actually running a company!

ASA has the power to name and shame businesses that they do not feel comply with their guidelines, and can make them withdraw their online marketing habits as soon as possible. When using social media as part of your SEO campaign, remember that you’re running a business, and try to keep it as professional as possible at all times.

If you’ve kept your ear to the ground over the past week or so, then you’ll know that rumours of either Google or Facebook buying Twitter have reached fever pitch. But while reports are emerging saying initial negotiations have been held and that waters are being tested, Twitter chief executive, Dick Costolo, has recently said that that’s all they are at the moment – rumours.

Mr. Costolo was speaking in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress. He said, “”People write that stuff all the time… I don’t know where these things come from, it’s just a rumour.” What’s telling is that there were no denials or aggressive dismissals. With Twitter thought to be making losses because of staff additions and purchasing new data centres, Dick also suggested that the microblogging kings are looking at new ways of generating revenue, though there were no indications of what those methods may be.

Also, to provide an insight into just why Twitter is being valued at upwards of $10 billion, Dick also highlighted statistics collected during this year’s Superbowl. “At the end of this year’s Superbowl we saw 4,000 tweets per second. During the game there were sustained periods when it was 3,000 tweets per second. Just to give you some contrast, during the 2008 Superbowl we served 28 tweets per second.”

We can’t help but wonder what the implications would be if Google purchased Twitter and what it’d mean for SEO. It’d be a large social statement of intent from the search giants, and show they’re serious about moving into such a lucrative field. Facebook and Twitter together, though? What a social hub that would be!

From what Dick says, though, it doesn’t look to be happening anytime soon. But we’ve heard coy business denials before. Can Twitter really stand on its own two feet from a financial point of view? The next few months will be very telling indeed…

Conventional optimization and the commercial exploitation of the new social media networking sites are frequently pursued in parallel. There are good reasons for this. Firstly, the two disciplines have similar objectives. Secondly, the two categories of activity are converging because of deals between some of the major search engines and the important social media networking sites. Thirdly, the sheer popularity and broad international spread of Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Twitter mean that many consultants think restricting their actions to getting ahead just via Google is an obsolete tactic.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we have always favoured ‘joined up’ thinking. This means that we always look at the site and the firm and assess what their precise needs are. Then a SEO plan is formulated which typically combines the conventional optimization and the efforts to make the most out of the available social media opportunities.

It is important to recognise that each site is different. However, if a site could benefit from a joint approach as described above it makes sense to explore how the two sets of techniques can fit together to produce the best possible results. Obviously, the answers to this question will vary from site to site and differ over time as the search world changes. Despite this point, some instructive comments can be made:

• Putting the social networking buttons on a site is a great statement of intent. It shows users that the site is up-to-date, shares their interests and is in touch with the latest developments in the technology concerned. Sometimes, it is more impressive if Facebook and Twitter are not the only buttons on display but it is important that relevancy is maintained

• Using the likes of Twitter to draw attention to a blog post is good practice. If the tweet is well-crafted then it can get retweeted several times. If this happens the number of people frequenting a blog can get much bigger over time. It is crucial to recall that not every tweet should be focused on advertising content in this way. Some tweets should be asking questions of members of the target audience. Retweeting the contributions of others can be a great way of showing that you want to be part of the buzz

• Facebook is a great way of getting information on a target audience. This can be used to hone conventional optimization, but it can also be fed back into a social media optimization campaign. Using a Facebook Fan Page can be a good way of getting to know the individuals who are interested in the goods and/or services which are available from the firm

• Depending on demographics, level of education, interests and so on, it may be that a segment of a target audience is on Facebook, Twitter or Digg already. The right thing to do is to move forwards with a campaign that expands and defines a target audience. This enables the site content to be refocused as necessary

It is important to remember that optimization and social media work are only going to pay the maximum dividends if the necessary work on improving conversion rates is performed.

Social media marketing (SMM) is not an exact science. Nevertheless, some types of behaviour on social media networking sites are almost guaranteed to prove disappointing. This means that they should never be employed by companies or the firms to which they outsource what is clearly a specialist activity. Following poor practices can easily get a site the wrong type of visitor, or far fewer visitors than should be the case. Either way, respecting the relevant etiquettes is a great way of avoiding this kind of debacle.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we have the experience and expertise to deliver focused and tailored campaigns which gradually improve the performance of a site. It is also the case that these campaigns are adjustable and can therefore adapt to transformations in the sphere of search such as the shifts in the popularity of the social media sites.

It is instructive to illustrate these general points with an example. It is often the case that a campaign is conducted on more than one social networking site, hence this post will focus solely on a Twitter campaign. A Twitter campaign can be derailed in several ways, but adhering to good practice can prevent this:

• It is vital that a campaign is planned and implemented with a clear sense of direction. In practice, this must be related to the need to aim the campaign squarely at defining, learning from and expanding the target audience. Communication between a site owner and a SEO firm can establish what the target audience for the goods and/or products of the firm is. The campaign can then locate the places on Twitter where individuals belonging to this group are present
• Each tweet must be carefully considered. For retweeting purposes, it is often best to keep the messages down to 12 or 15 characters below the official limit of 140 characters. The more tweets you make, the easier being succinct becomes. This means that other things as well as brevity deserve attention. Every tweet must be purposeful and aim to achieve something positive

• Only a small proportion of tweets should be directly self-promotional. It is important that most tweets should not be irritating to ordinary users. Direct Messages should be used very sparingly, if at all. The majority of Twitter users do not come on the site to purchase products, so subtlety is all. It is a great idea to ask members of the target audience questions about their tastes. Commenting on industry news by promoting blog posts can also be a good technique if these tweets are interspersed with others

• Tweets should never depart from the sphere of relevance. There is no point in tweeting about the weather or about how you got to work. The key is to remember what kinds of tweets you find inane or tedious to read. This kind of tweet should be avoided, and you should never retweet them. Each retweet you make should reflect well on your taste as well as underling your collaborative and friendly mindset.

Social media optimization (SMO) is not a simple activity and getting it right takes skill, care and patience. However, in the early phase of a campaign a novice can simply become very discouraged. All the planning and care taken over the implementation process may appear to  have extremely limited rewards. It can seem that the likes of Facebook and Twitter are arenas for parties from which you have been excluded. It is not that you have committed a social faux pas; it is just that you have not received your invitation yet. To ensure that you approach the dilemma with skill it is well worth using the services of an experienced SEO firm.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we deliver focused campaigns that tick all the necessary boxes. This means that optimization techniques are usually applied to a site while the social media campaigns are implemented at the same time. Once everything is up and running, the rewards become evident and any necessary adjustments can be made in accordance with changing circumstances.

The early part of a campaign can be frustrating for the practitioner and the firm they represent. This is best illustrated by examples:

• When you first begin tweeting as part of a Twitter campaign, it may well be that your tweets are as good if not better than many of the tweets being made. It may be that you are even a little envious of some inferior tweets which are being retweeted when your tweets are not given this minor but beneficial accolade. The reason this phenomenon is happening is that you are not yet embedded in your target audience. When you are, things will change
• When you first advertise your blog posts on Twitter it may be that few people make the effort to come on to your blog from that source. It may be that you are advertising your blog with suitable titles. It may well be that you are not being excessively self-promotional. This means that there is no reason why people should not be using the link. The explanation is that you have yet to establish yourself on Twitter. It is vital to persevere and to ignore the lack of positive outcomes
• It is similar with regard to your Facebook Fan page. It may not be flooded with members overnight. It will be very useful in time. It will help in your efforts to discover more about your target audience. At the same time, it is important not to underestimate the amount that you can be learning about your target audience in the meanwhile. It is usually vital to apply a range of techniques in various internet spaces to achieve your goals

Once campaigns have obtained some momentum you will gain benefits from them without needing a great deal of work. For example, you will get followers and friends that you have not done anything to attract. Your blog will get more users even though its quality may have only improved marginally. You will get retweets even when the tweet is barely worth retweeting. The important thing is to avoid complacency and to maintain high standards to maximise positive outcomes.

With the advent and evolution of the new social media, there are plenty of opportunities for online firms to try to get ahead with. However, the opportunities are not always as potentially profitable as initially assumed. Furthermore, exploiting these opportunities can be problematic without specialist assistance. In part this is the consequence of the intense competition which prevails in many sectors of economic activity. Nevertheless, another part of the problem is caused by the various etiquettes which must be respected during the course of a marketing campaign. It is best not to push products too aggressively, for instance. If a campaign is to be productive it might be thought that hiring a social media optimization outfit was an essential first step.

At Searchengineoptimization.co.uk we perceive that the need for social media marketing activity is a very real one. The social media networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digg and so on are very popular and it would be a shame to miss out on contacting target audiences on those platforms. However, it is advisable to obtain the services of a firm which also performs site optimization for several reasons:

• SEO can help discover more about a target audience. For example, a blog can provoke responses from users. These comments can reveal quite a lot about the individuals who make them and their concerns. In addition, hosting a forum can be a great way of encouraging users to linger on the site. This means that they invariably part with more and more detailed information about themselves. All of this data can assist when trying to locate a target audience on Twitter or Facebook

• If optimization is not performed, the site will not feature very high in the search engine results pages. This will diminish the overall level of traffic received, however efficiently the social media work is done. If users come to the site via Google they may not be impressed if it is languishing in the rankings

• Without optimization being implemented effectively, the traffic which does come from social media activity will be largely wasted. The users will find it problematic to navigate around the site. There will be a lack of helpful prompts and calls to action. This means that users will wander around a site in a manner that makes it unlikely that they will actually make a purchase from it

• Doing social media work in the absence of optimization will restrict the possibilities of the former activity. One of the crucial ways forward in using the social media is to get ahead via spreading optimized content around the net. If that content is not produced in abundance, then distribution will be made extremely problematic

• The main point is to acknowledge that search engine work and social media activity is increasingly converging at a swift pace. This means that ‘silo thinking’, viewing them as separate things, is becoming obsolete. It is best to integrate these activities as effectively as possible. Performing them in parallel leaves a site somewhat vulnerable to the more sophisticated strategies of some its competitors.