SEO and social media have become one in the same. That’s why we’ve developed iGenii’s Ten Pillars to Increase Your Income Through Social Media. With Google’s ever-changing algorithms, SEO has become only half the battle. It’s imperative to your business to have a social media strategy because you can count on the fact that your competitors do. At iGenii, we’ve developed a results-oriented strategy that allows you to see the benefits from social media.

Each week we’ll be giving a tip about how to make social media work for your business…

 

TIP ONE – Outsmart the search engines.

Google (and other search engines) are getting smarter, and their algorithms are making it tougher to win the SEO battle based on keywords alone. Social media essentially solves this issue, providing your company with the exposure it needs to potential and current customers.

      How long do social media duties take?  The question we’ve ll been trying to answer for the last handful of years…

While there is no hard answer, there are a few universally accepted duties that must be done in order to maximize social media potential and, theoretically, increase one’s business.

 

 

 

1.  Update.  Take a few minutes to post something, scan your social media pages and respond to anything outstanding.

2.  Tweet on a trending or applicable topic.  Re-tweet throughout the day.

3.  Blog.  Comment on other blogs related to the topic and make sure you’re updated regularly.

4.  Be thankful.  Communicate with customers and friends, expressing gratitude for their business and interactions.

These points may seem general; they are.  Depending on the type of business you have and what you’re goals are, the amount of time and effort will be different.  But understanding that social media is integral to any business is a step in the right direction, no matter how many resources you want to devote to it at first.

NASA is apparently turning to social media to promote and garner interest for their new mission to the moon. They have a rover landing on Mars next month, and in the meantime, NASA has posted a Twitter page and a Youtube video.

The Youtube video outlines the challenges ahead. More than 111,000 followers have been tracking updates about the rover’s mission scheduled for August 5th. You can view their pages, here:

https://twitter.com/MarsCuriosity/

 

It seems social media is now officially ‘other worldly.’  For assistance with social media on planet earth, please don’t hesitate to contact us @ kurt@igenii.com!  :)

There’s been a new movement in social media over the last few months and it’s directed at a new demographic.  Typically associated with a young and tech-savvy crowd, social media was intimidating to the older crowd initially.  In time, everyone’s parents (and even grandparents) got on Facebook but it didn’t happen overnight.

Pinterest is different.  It’s being pioneered by a somewhat older crowd and has been deemed “The Napster for Housewives.”  While that’s an overstatement, there’s no question that Pinterest has found itself being utilized by quite a different demographic; a slightly older female crowd.

The site essentially provides a platform for social photo sharing and the topics often revolve around recipes, fashion, travel, hobbies, etc.  It’s quickly become one of the fastest growing social media web sites with over twelve million unique users.

With over 80% of the American users being women, it’s safe to say that social media platforms are changing and becoming more specified.  It’s also safe to say that a male equivalent is probably right around the corner.

As many savvy business owners may already know, Google has recently developed their new algorithm update which is aimed at discouraging some of the current SEO tactics. “Penguin” – which was predated by “Panda” – is presently affecting over 3% of the searches in English.  So, what’s one to do? How does this affect your business?

In a nutshell, you need to react, and you need to react quickly, ideally by working with a company that’s savvy enough to adjust to the ever changing model.
Here’s the way Penguin works:
It is penalizing web sites for an overabundance of key words and phrases, in theory lessening the ability of internet marketers to trick a search engine. What you need is a company who understands the new algorithm and is able to adjust to its changes. Google’s changes are not an event; they’re a process and a journey. You need SEO strategists that can make that journey with you.
In the last several weeks a host of new videos, blog and articles have come out, some well sourced and explained; others not. Here’s a video explaining the concepts of the new Penguin update, the legality behind it, and a philosophical approach about thinking ahead with regards to internet marketing.

Due to overwhelming interest in our December blog regarding the “Peer to Peer” marketing model, we’ve decided to take a closer look at what makes this method so effective.  You can find the prior post, here:

http://www.igenii.com/blog/2011/12/why-peer-to-peer-marketing-is-a-relevant-business-model/

 

P2P = an untapped resource for many companies or individual’s marketing a product. 

Once a revolution, P2P has become somewhat pedestrian in terms of public perception.  Napster and Limewire created a platform for people to share media.  These services spiked in popularity so wildly that it’s been taken for granted, especially after the legal disputes they each had to deal with.  The fact is, with a tangible product that one has rights to (like apparel in the case of Karmaloop) the P2P and social media model is very effective.

One particularly interesting example is the online apparel retailer, Karmaloop.  They have done 27% of their business through the peer to peer model.  By allowing customers to sign up to become a “rep,” they can then share the unique promotional code with their various social networks like Twitter and Facebook for a savings of 20% initially, and 10% after the first purchase.

This model gives customers a reason to get involved with the company itself.  By creating a peer to peer platform, Karmaloop was able to do something many companies have failed to utilize in the last few years; the power of friends.

By: Jordannah Elizabeth for iGenii Web Development

Some of our amazing readers are beginning to ask for information about certain topics in our comments.  Here is a response to a request for more information about backlinks!  Thanks and keep reading!

Backlinking is a great way to draw traffic to your website, and it helps your site attain a great ranking on search engines.  When your website is ranked well on a search engine, it means your site will show up on the first few pages of Google and other popular search engines when someone searches a topic that your site may specialize in.

Backlinking is simply having other sites link back to your site.  There are many ways to make this process work for you and your company.  You want other sites to link back to your website because any links that point to your website are great promotion, and heighten your chances of attaining more customers and followers.

Simple Ways to Attain Backlinks:

1. Social Networking (with friends and family)

• Social Networking doesn’t always have to be done through sites like Facebook and Twitter, although in many cases these sites can be deemed the most effective in regards to backlinking (social backlinking). You can network online by communicating with friends and colleagues that you already know.  Ask them to link your website on their website, and you will do the same for them.  Try to  get 10-20 friends to link your website, and you will have a great start!

2.   Social Networking (using your online presence)

• If you know that you have a bit of influence on your social networking profiles, it is a good idea to work on attaining backlinks through your social networking sites, and your online circle of colleagues and friends.  You can use your influence to share information about your website and company and ask your online network to share and link your site.  You could give them a discount in exchange for their promotional efforts!

3.   Social Bookmarking

• If you’re a blogger, or your business has a blog connected to your website, social bookmarking is a great way to get your website noticed and its link shared all over the internet.  There are several sites that you can use to share your blog articles and content like: Reedit.com, Digg.com, Stumble Upon, ect., that are social networking sites that specifically share information that promotes article sharing and encourages people to bookmark great content.  If you think your site has great content, share it on a social bookmarking site, or share the article with your friends, family, and colleagues, you never know how far the information you share can spread!

Backlinking can be a simple and powerful way to share your website with the world!  It takes a little bit of time and the belief that your company and content should be linked throughout the internet by your friends and followers so you can touch a greater number of users who will hopefully become potential customers and supporters of your cause or business!

 

 

Social Media Revolution is an interesting video that shines a light on the amazing phenomenon that social media has become.  It has spread throughout our society like wild fire and has effected our human population several times faster that older forms of media outlets like television, radio, and the internet

Make sure you click the link above (or the image below) and watch this fascinating video.  We may be in the center of a technological revolution.  Don’t let history pass you by without understanding how significant social media has become in human culture!