As we say hello to warmer weather for springtime, we say goodbye to the first quarter of 2013. For those of us working in social media,  we’ve been on our toes keeping up with all the latest updates Facebook and Google have rolled out to us in past three months.  Get ready, we’re about to recap the biggest announcements in social media marketing so far this year.

Facebook

Facebook announced three big updates in Q1:

• Graph Search [Beta ] – January 15^th, 2013
• New Looks for News Feed – March 7^th, 2013
• Improvements to Timeline – March 13^th, 2013

Facebook Graph Search was created, “to make the world more open and connected,” according to Facebook.  This differs greatly from a web search in the sense that users won’t be searching by keywords, but rather by combining phrases. For example, you could do a search for a “Pages liked by fans of Internet Marketing Inc.” (See below) to help you find other pages that interests your fans. Take this a step further and start sharing articles from those pages as your brand page and you’ll become even more popular with your fans. Get on the waitlist for Facebook Graph Search today! 

As an attempt to reduce clutter and focus more on stories from people you care about, Facebook created new news feeds for users to explore. Users can choose from all friends, photos, music, and following (where brand page posts lie); with bigger and more vibrant photos. You’ll also experience the same look and feel across all devices (see right). Get Facebook’s new news feed today!

The most recent announcement from Facebook relates to a new timeline design that helps users express what’s important to them.  Instead of scrolling down the timeline, reading from left to right, the left side will showcase a more detailed about me section, followed by apps you choose to feature. Facebook gives the following example, “If you’re an avid reader, you can keep track of the books you want to read or add more with Goodreads” (see right). The right side of the timeline is where your posts and posts from friends will be displayed.  Facebook is continuing to roll out the new timeline to personal pages in the coming weeks.

YouTube

Google recently announced a complete redesign for YouTube channels, what they are referring to as “YouTube One.” The new design has three distinct features. First, brands can now win over new subscribers with a trailer video that only appears to non-subscribed viewers. Second, similar to Facebook’s new design, branding works across all devices (see right).  Lastly, brands can organize and present their videos and playlists to reflect their one-of-a-kind style. You can see an example of the new YouTube One design below; notice the social icon links to help with cross-promotion. YouTube has even created a “Channel Setup Checklist” for brands to follow to ensure they are getting the most out of the new design. Make the switch today!

Pinterest

Pinterest users are now given the option to “Switch to the new look” (see below). The functionality within Pinterest all stays the same, just a sleeker design in my opinion. The real update is Pinterest web analytics. Brands can now track their pinning activity by reporting how many people have pinned from their website, the number of impressions versus the number of clicks. Brands can also learn what pinners like by analyzing the Most Repinned tab to find out which pins get the most repins, and then tailor your website and Pinterest boards based on the information gathered. One thing to note is to make sure you’ve verified your website on Pinterest and switched to the new look in order to view Pinterest Analytics. Analytic reporting will not begin until you’ve verified your website. 

Social Media by the Numbers

Now that we’re aware of what’s been happening in the social media space this past quarter, check out where the channels stand against their competition in regards to number of active monthly users:

Source: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/resource-how-many-people-use-the-top-social-media/

If  you know of any other  big updates, I’d love to hear them in the comment section below!

This blog post is a compilation of two separate articles I wrote for Ragan.com.  You can view the original articles here and here, with the original also re-syndicated on PRDaily.com.

Social media is the new public relations of the marketing industry. Enthusiastic newcomers think it’s the “exciting” marketing discipline. It is a great field, but it’s more than tweeting and Instagraming around the clock.

Saying that you want to work in social media so you can play on Facebook all day is like saying you want to work in PR because you like people. Good for you, but that’s just not what we do.

These are the necessary traits for success in social media. It’s not as easy as it looks. You must be:

1. Nimble

Social media is the fastest-changing and continuously evolving industry ever. You have to religiously monitor the environment and adapt quickly to change.

2. Educated

You have to be committed to reading constantly about social media and measurement, and searching aggressively for the latest trends and best practices.

3. Dedicated

There is little to no off time in social media. It happens 24×7, so you have to be ready to respond at any time. If someone posts something negative on your Twitter stream and you don’t respond for 24 hours, good luck finding another job in social media.

4. Clever

Social media enthusiasts are quick and clever. You need to be, too, or you will come off looking like your grandma or, worse, like a corporate mouthpiece.

5. Strategic

Social media doesn’t exist in a universe by itself. It’s part of a larger, strategic marketing mix. You must see and understand the overall goals, strategies, and objectives before you can implement social media tactics.

6. Meticulously Organized

You have to write, post, monitor, respond and measure for countless social media channels. You have to be organized, but not such a perfectionist that you can’t move quickly, and it’s so important to have great monitoring systems in place.

7. Playful

Some of the most successful social media folks are funny, lighthearted and don’t takes themselves too seriously. Hello, “NOT COOL, COOKIE!”

8. Analytical

Yep, that’s right. We don’t just sit around and tweet all day. We have to measure our results just like anyone else. Having science and math skills is a big plus.

9. Well-rounded

Though it’s important to be an expert in this category, it’s not good to be too focused on one skill. To truly be a valuable contributor, you need to understand the big picture of marketing.

10. Social

Yeah, that’s right, I said it. You need to be social to work in social media. Get out from behind the computer and have a few face-to-face conversations. Enjoy the life that you’re posting about.

11. Balanced

Yes, social media is a 24×7 job. However, to keep fresh (and sane), you need to set a clear work/life balance and remember to unplug regularly to recharge your own batteries.

12. Cautious

If you’re handling many social media accounts at once, including your personal accounts, don’t get them mixed up or you could be tweeting about unemployment.

13. Measured

Social conversations evolve quickly. Take an extra minute to think about your response. Say it out loud first; that helps make it real.

14. Humble

No one is the “end all, be all” social media expert. We can learn from each other and collectively take social media to the next level. Just look at this post. It’s a collection of your thoughts. We make each other better.

15. Progressive

Instead of always catching up to your competitors, be a trendsetter.

16. Patient

We all want to see our social media posts explode, but it doesn’t always happen. Take the time to listen to your audience, learn from them, and engage in ways that provide value to your followers.

17. Well informed

Know more about your industry than your followers. You don’t want to be a social media manager who can’t talk the talk.

18. Witty

Know your audience and what hits their funny bones. Let your guard down (appropriately), and show that you are a living, breathing person behind the brand.

19. Prepared

Be ready to combat negative press or circumstances at all times. Have a crisis plan in place on how to respond on social media if things go south.

20. Intelligent

Use social channels to educate your fans and customers on the basic principles and capabilities of social media. As the channels evolve and push out new updates, be the authority they turn to when learning how to navigate the latest social platform.

Carrie Peterson is our social media director here at IMI.  Follow her on Twitter @CarrieSavvy to let her know which traits you feel are most important to work in social media.

We know you saw Bodyform’s video response to a “negative” Facebook rant recently, and we know you loved it. How could you not? The sanitary napkin company did just about everything right in its response and now is basking in the rays of positive comments and increased brand exposure. (See images below.)

But just in case you have somehow managed to avoid hearing about this delightful Facebook banter, we’ll sum it up for you. A British man posted on Bodyform’s Facebook page claiming tongue-in-cheek that the company’s advertisements, which portray menstruation as “a wonderful time of the month… [when] the female gets to enjoy so many things”, are all a lie.  The post went viral almost immediately and within 40 hours had nearly 20,000 “likes”. A week later, the post vaunts nearly 90,000 “likes”, 4,000 comments and has been picked up all over the internet! Now do you get why we’re surprised that you missed this? Below is the original rant and the video response:

Turn the Tables with these Four Tips to Energize Your Social Media Rebuttal

So when a company gets a post like this, what is one supposed to do? Well, we recommend to follow Bodyform’s example and stick to these steps:

1.)    Have a Sense of Humor!

There is a difference between an aggressive/hurtful rant and a consumer giving you a hard time in jest. When it’s the latter, take advantage of this opportunity to show that you are a human and have some fun! For goodness sake, don’t fail to respond and don’t take it too seriously. Social media is about being social (derrr) and people will connect with you better if you don’t act like a corporate machine.

2.)    Don’t Shy Away from an Opportunity – Go Big or Go Home 

Bodyform was handed an opportunity on a silver platter, so they went for it. It could have been easy for them to a.) Not respond, or  b.) Do something that takes little effort, like comment on or “like” the post, but they didn’t. They recognized the opportunity, grabbed it by the horns and decided to take the time necessary to make a fantastic and quality video, which leads me to the next point…

3.)    Present a Well-Crafted and Thought Out Response

It’s clear that Richard spent a little time dwelling on and drafting out his “rant”, and Bodyform responded on pointe with a video that clearly wasn’t just thrown together in 20 minutes.  The filming was professional and quality, the faux CEO was a great actor, and the thought out script addresses Richard’s exact statements, includes a historical background to build the story (see 0:50 – 1:06), and even weaves in the feminine-product advertisement staple: blue water! Bodyform went above and beyond to create an amazing response.

4.)    Respond in a Timely Manner

The time period between Richard’s Facebook post and Bodyform’s video response was just about one week. Any longer, and the response would have lost its steam. Any sooner, and it’s possible that the video might not have been as well made. (But, IF it was possible to turn the video around faster while still keeping its quality, that would be fantastic.) Just make sure that if you are responding to a consumer, do so within a time period that makes sense. Generally, the faster, the better.

Since Richard’s comment and Bodyform’s response, the page’s “people talking about this” numbers have soared to more than 85,000, and I expect  we will hear more about this over time as this will likely go down in one of the best social media company responses in history.

 The Exposed Golden Nuggets of Information

So what have we learned? Be a human and have a personable side, don’t be afraid to try something a little extraordinary when you have the chance, put in the effort, and be prompt in your response. As we have seen, the results can be priceless.

Consumer responses:

Who knew sending tweets and status updates could cause tens of thousands of people to flee from their homes? Well, we all know cyber bullying is a major modern issue amongst American teenagers and has brought too many college students to points of suicide. Facebook, Twitter; they all have the power to drive someone to madness when all that is wanted is to simply partake in the craze of social media. An especially aggressive and threatening form of cyber bullying forced a mass of terrorized Indians out of their homes two weeks ago and it was definitely not due to an embarrassing Tumblr picture of someone at a high school party.

35,000 students and workers from remote northeast Indian regions like Bangalore, Pune and Chennai returned home this week after leaving their beloved cities because of aggressive threats from Muslim extremists. Civilians received offensive remarks over the Internet from supposed Pakistani Muslims, who threatened to wreak havoc and terror on the once quiet, Indian towns and its people.

The residents in the Assam region were terrorized in a variety of technological forms. From anonymous texts to spiteful Facebook messages, social media was not seen as a, hip, fast, efficient communicating tool, but rather seen as a plague on the Indian communities.

Usually, status updates and sending video clips to your friends is an innocent doing. We thank the Internet for allowing us to talk to our long lost friends or enabling us to scan webpages for those cute, kitten videos we love sharing.

But instances of aggressive cyber bullying have come to the surface too often in the past decade. Arab Spring started it all in 2010. When oppressed civilians living in the Arab World realized the true power of social media, they partook in the revolutionary wave of demonstrations and protests known as the Arab Spring.

Countries like Libya and Egypt have been crowding news feeds and representing the modern approach to rebellion. It all started with oppressed civilians craving for a revolution. Craving for change. Active blogs and Facebook statuses seemed to be the best thing for immediate communication and perfect place to channel frustrations.

The next thing the world knew, Egyptians were overthrowing governments, Libyans were Tweeting from infuriated, crowded streets and Indian civilians were fearfully fleeing their homes.

India is not dealing with a domestic uprising, but rather, the government is doing everything in its power to protect its people. So much so that over 245 web pages have been blocked and mass texts are banned on cellular servers throughout the nation as a preventative measure. Facebook and YouTube have claimed that they have never taken their non-violence policies as seriously as they are now.

More and more rules may mean more and more unhappy users. Whether it’s in court rooms or online forums, claiming what should and should not be censored on the Internet has emerged as a hot topic. But the more and more webpages become blocked, the less and less power social media will have as well. This will not inhibit revolution but instead, most likely instigate it.

Revolutions may produce negative images of angry mobs and pitchforks. But without social media tools, Tweets would have never caught diplomats’ attention. Ideas may have not been so easily communicated. Democracy would have never been achieved in nations like Libya or Egypt.

People have become so comfortable with the accessibility and freedom that comes along with social media. But this accessibility and freedom of hateful speech has been taken advantage of by people with negative intentions too often. It’s a question of sacrifice; to have the benefits and burdens of social media, or to not have it at all.

On Monday, August 6^th, NASA’s latest nuclear-powered rover, named Curiosity, is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars at 1:31 ETA. Two days before the anticipated landing, 30 chosen men and women will be Tweeting, Facebook posting, blogging and performing all types of social media to inform the world of this revolutionary galactic endeavor.

NASA carefully chose 30 people out 266 hopefuls based in part on their social media expertise, blogging strategies and web-based audience. The governmental aeronautical agency did not choose reality stars with the most Twitter followers or Facebook comments, but instead searched the web for popular Internet leaders related to or interested in aerospace and similar topics.

The internet-savvy participants will learn a handful of confidential NASA related-data, filled with technical terms in outer space language. The participants will be expected to translate and fit these heavy terms into concise and logical statements fewer than 140 characters. From seeing a model of the Orion – a new partially solar powered spacecraft scheduled to carry astronauts deeper into space than ever before – to taking a tour of a model of the Dream Chaser – a reusable craft that will travel to NASA’s space station, the 30 individuals will distribute these reports to its followers and readers as cool, concise and efficient as possible.

But the most imperative information that be communicated pertains to Curiosity’s landing phase, or as NASA spokesman, Mark Finnerman puts it “the seven minutes of terror”. The experienced bloggers are expected to accurately depict the adventure and update their followers as the craft rips through the Martian atmosphere of up to 3,800 degrees Fahrenheit and free-fall to the desired landing platform.

Curiosity will be over 154 million miles away, in the hopes of discovering past or present Martian habitability and the feeling of a good $2.5 billion well spent. This also means that all information relayed back to planet Earth will take up to 13 minutes because of the enourmous distance. In those nail-biting moments, the social media experts will be working hard at what they are good at; keeping followers calm, informed and excited about the potentially revolutionary discoveries.

This Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover has been flying through the galaxies of space for the past eight months, after a two-year intensive planning period by the rocket scientists. The “Tweetup”, where people on Twitter come together in person, will last a much shorter period of time, beginning on Friday in Hampton, Virginia and continuing until the spacecraft is expected to land on early Monday morning.

One would think this would attract a limited audience but Mark Finnerman states that this program attracts “people of all ages and walks of life”. NASA has done its research for sending robots to Mars and for social media marketing as well. From Harley Davidson fanatics to stay-at-home moms, the participants are guaranteed to distribute the critical information to a vast array of eager followers interested in the subject at hand.

The fact that NASA is welcoming civilians to roam the intimidating halls of its headquarters and is sharing these pivotal moments in space history with bloggers simply empowers social media and social media techniques even more. It establishes a level of trust and respect amongst the participants in this technologically advanced and speedy era of communication. It also promises a serious future for the millions of micro-bloggers and Facebooking fiends on the worldwide web. Who knows, maybe someday they will be asked to send updates all the way from the atmospheres of Mars or Jupiter.

A hammock overlooking the ocean, an entertaining book, and a drink with an umbrella in it—a vacation to an exotic location is something we all dream about, save for, and plan.  However, the way we plan to travel has changed over the years.  Unlike past generations, most of us (ages 18-35) have seldom used a travel agent, and often don’t request a brochure by mail.  Printed newspapers and magazines are beginning to lose out to their more accessible online version, and we have become an instant gratification society—for better or worse.  

Statistics show that over 80% of today’s traveler uses the internet, looks at e-brochures, reads online reviews, and reaches out on social media sites to determine where we will vacation; we search on Google and access sites like TripAdvisor, Kayak, and Facebook; we read reviews and place higher importance when the review is from a trusted friend.

Just as today’s traveler has changed, marketing strategies for hoteliers must evolve as well.  Traditional marketing and print media, while still important, aren’t as effective as they once were. This year, in the US alone, a third of all travel will be booked online, and another third influenced by online research and user generated content, but booked offline.  The internet has become the first place people go to research a vacation.

Technology now provides hoteliers with the tools to not only develop more intimate relationships with key customers and influencers, but also the means to quantify, analyze and shift online marketing initiatives.  Hoteliers now can also receive instant gratification by seeing how every online marketing dollar performs in near real time.  Not knowing which of your marketing dollars are working no longer has to apply.

For example, Randy Russell, Senior Vice President of Couples resorts states, “The old adage that ‘half of all marketing is wasted, we just don’t know which half… ‘ is simply not acceptable any longer. Our decision to shift the majority of our marketing dollars to online initiatives has resulted in a 1000% increase in direct bookings over just the past three years.  I love knowing that for every dollar I spend online I can track 10-12 dollars in return.”

The problem is that most hoteliers don’t know how, what, or where to focus. The good news: online marketing can be more effective at a lower price than traditional marketing.  Contracting online marketing experts who can design, execute, and manage your online strategies, creating exciting interactive experiences that compliment your brand and improve your ROI will be key to your success now and in the future.

5 recommended areas to focus on are:

• Website Development

Your website is the most important tool for reflecting your brand image and capturing new potential clients, customers, and business relationships. It is imperative your website is optimized, engages visitors, and entices them to “Book Now.”

• Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the most effective/cost efficient was to increase traffic to your website. Ranking for keywords, link encouragement campaigns, press releases, and blog posts are some of the best ways to increase your online presence over time.  The increase in online ranking will increase brand recognition, and increase occupancy.

• Pay Per Click Management

Perfect in tandem with SEO, Pay Per Click (PPC) are extremely targeted, highly optimized online ads used to generate immediate results.  This will help your ROI in the short term as your improve your SEO rankings.

• Email Marketing

Emails are a way to directly communicate with your potential guests. Gain loyalty, advertise promotions and sales, and persuade your potential clients to allow you to host them on their next vacation—or better yet, stay with you again!

•Social Media Marketing

Social Media is changing the way we communicate.  Travelers are consistently using social media to learn about new properties, and to receive updates and special deals from their favorite vacation destinations.  It is pivotal to have a professional and exciting Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter account that engages your guests and keeps them talking about your brand.

Internet Marketing  will help you leverage your online presence, foster direct client relationships, create a buzz about your brand, and increase revenue by tracking your potential consumers’ online behaviors, enticing them to make a booking or re-targeting them back to your website to book.

With over three billion views a day and sixty hours uploaded every minute, how will your YouTube video stand out and grab the attention of some of the 800 million registered users? Pay close attention and bookmark these five easy steps that will serve as a guide to your social media marketing strategy and help your clients build their social influence.

1. Embed Links Back To Your Site: This is very important because when users share your video, you want to make sure they are given a backlink back to your site so once they’ve enjoyed watching the content, they can find out more about your company easily. This is also a very valuable tool for search engine optimization purposes, as well. 
2. Use Keywords in the Title, With Attention-Grabbing Semantics: The title to your video is the most visible element to users and also the most valuable for SEO. So try t include your main keyword, while not sounding too obvious (surround with other words that will really entice users to watch). Remember to keep it under 66 characters, or Google will cut you off in the search results.
3. Use Keywords in the Video Description and Tags: Once you’ve completed the necessary keyword research, be sure to include the keywords you wish to rank highly for in the description of the video, once again be reminded to avoid keyword stuffing. We also recommend adding the URL of your site at the end of the description, in efforts to drive users back to your site. Include the word “video” as well while describing and tagging (because most users will enter this in the search query when looking for videos). If some of your important keywords don’t sound right in the description, no problem! You should tag at least 10 keywords in the tagging section that you wish to rank for.
4. Keep Videos 90 Seconds or Less: The truth of the matter is that Internet users have very short attention spans. With that being said and in hopes that your video is watched and shared with friends, you should aim to keep the video shorter rather than longer.
5. Eye-Catching Thumbnails: The thumbnail is going to be the only visual a user gets when searching for a video. Therefore, you want this to be the most eye-catching image of your video. You are able to choose the thumbnail image in the edit section of the Video Manager, in which YouTube will automatically pull three images.

Now that we know the five easy steps, go to your YouTube Channel and see if each and every video has the necessary components to rank higher. If you have any other helpful video optimization tips, be sure to share with us in the comment section!

At this point, it’s no secret that businesses who take advantage of various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or Youtube are more successful with their internet marketing campaigns. To take your business to the next level, you need to learn how to apply the three levels of analytics to monitor your engagement and success in social media.

Level 1: Reach

In internet marketing management, it is crucial to know how many views, visitors, followers, fans, and subscribers they’re catering towards. Monitoring where and when their brand is being talked about helps them understand the true social scale of their brands.

Level 2: Involvement

Having direct insight into the actions within their brand’s various online communities allows for better analysis than simply counting “likes” on Facebook. This in depth analysis allows one to determine the key drivers of participation and amplification.

Level 3: Advocacy

It is important for marketers to locate and nurture users’ actions that are related with brand loyalty. Examples of this would be comments recommending products or services, referral programs, and comments and followers per user.

These days, when even the most basic of companies have some sort of social media marketing package, the importance of conducting research on the analytics of various social media platforms is huge. Businesses looking to really increase their return on investment will find success when they take on the three levels of analytics.

There is no doubt that Twitter can be a very useful tool in effective social media marketing and expanding the reach of your company, but Twitter is often under utilized for search engine optimization (SEO) efforts and natural link building strategies. Twitter can be a very powerful social tool and SEO tool because search engines crawl Twitter for links, which is factored into search engine rankings, while reaching a vast audience of followers to increase your presence on the web.

Twitter provides an amazing platform for natural link building strategies and inbound marketing, but it must be done in a natural way that fosters audience interaction for it to be effective. As one of the top internet marketing agencies, we will cover several link building strategies that can help optimize Twitter activity for SEO while still being natural and audience focused. These strategies of course will assume that you already have an active Twitter page with followers and that you follow users on Twitter as well.

Optimizing Your Twitter Profile to Build Links

This is often overlooked, but it is important to have your website URL in both the Web and Bio fields of your Twitter profile to easily make your website URL visible and accessible to Twitter followers. This can help by displaying your website URL in both Twitter profile and following lists. Also, if you can photoshop your URL into your photo, that wil further promote your URL although it canot be read for SEO. An example of this is shown in my profile.

Foster Meaningful Connections and Content

When using Twitter it is important to foster meaningful and relevant connections with other users. Interacting with users with relevant and quality posts will develop more meaningful connections and increase the chances that they will be willing to link to your site. Creating quality connections with users will motivate people to talk about your company because they will view you as more authoritative in your industry as well as increase trust and respect for your company. Essentially creating these relationships gives you more options for generating buzz and link building because other people will post links to share your content.

Gaining Links From Twitter Activity

Gaining links from fellow Twitter Users through meaningful Twitter activity can be an excellent method to not only help with SEO but also increase your authority within the Twitter world.  There are many ways this can be done, so here are two easy and highly effective methods. Just to clarify, Twitter links are no-follow links meaning that they are not followed by search engines for search engine ranking. These strategies refer to gaining links on other websites that stem from meaningful Twitter activity.

The first method is to create Top Lists for various topics of industries. Select a topic, such as “Top 5 Places To Eat In San Diego.” From there you can compile a list of your top choices and use a service such as Follower Wonk to find people and businesses within that industry on Twitter. Create a piece of content for your list with a small positive description of each business or person, and Tweet this to the “winners” as well as other influential people in the industry. You can give the winners a badge or certification for having won which they will most likely put on their Webpage. They in turn will be likely to give you a link back to your URL or Twitter. Another advantage of this method is you are creating valuable content for other users, which can increase your following and authority among Twitter making it a highly beneficial action.

Another excellent method to get links from Twitter users is to offer testimonials. Positive testimonials are valuable for any company so this is a great method that fosters reciprocation among the users you give testimonials for. For example, you can create a blog post about how much you loved a company’s product. After creating this you can tweet to the company by saying something like, “Hey I loved your product and wrote a blog post about it. Direct message or email me for a testimonial. I’m following you.” You will likely gain a follower from it as well as an email for the blog post. They will then link to your blog post on their Twitter to share the information to their followers. Also you will be viewed in a positive light and they may be likely to offer you a testimonial as well. This is a phenomenal way to create links and foster meaningful relationships with Twitter users.

Correlation vs. Causation

It is important to address the concept of correlation versus causation on this subject. Social activity and buzz, such as on Twitter, does not cause search engine rankings to rise, as Twitter activity links are no-follow.  However there is a correlation between social media buzz and improved search engine rankings. As social media buzz an activity increases search engine rankings will often rise, but the rise is not due to social media buzz. Often social media buzz will foster links on other websites which can attribute to increase rankings, but the actual links within Twitter posts will not be a cause of improved rankings.

Using Twitter Tools To Create Backlinks

There are several authoritative Twitter tools and directories out there that can be used to provide followed backlinks to your site, which will help increase search engine rankings. Before divulging too much into these sites, it is important to address the issue of account security with these sites, which will essentially run as applications on your Twitter. Once signing into any Twitter application or service using your information, it is important to make sure these applications do not have access to tweet for you. If you need to revoke access from these websites or applications you can revoke access to your Twitter account by viewing your account settings, clicking on the Applications tab, and then clicking the Revoke Access button (Settings>Applications>Revoke Access). This will allow you to use these services without allowing them to automatically tweet on your account. While few applications and services create tweets from your account, it is a proactive safety measure to take because websites and applications change rapidly and without notice.

With that said, there are several websites for Twitter tools and applications that you can use to get links from pages with high Pagerank (PR). Pagerank is Google’s metric to calculate the authority of a given page, and links from authoritative pages with higher Pagerank will carry more weight than backlinks from pages with lower Pagerank. Pagerank is a logarithmic scale, so a PR5 is much better than a PR2. Below are some websites you can use to get permanent do-follow backlinks ranging from a PR5 to a PR7!

Klout

Klout is an application website used to measure your Twitter influence on the web.  Klout is a PR7, which is a great backlink and allows you to place your URL in your bio section. Klout automatically makes profiles for most Twitter accounts at http://klout.com/yourusername and you can sign in with your Twitter account.

Listorious

Listorious is a PR6 website that allows people to search for Twitter users and lists. Within Listorious you can place your URL in the web link section, which will offer you a permanent do-follow link. You will need to sign up using your Twitter account and authorize Listorious access to pull information from your Twitter account to fill out the bio field.

TweetLevel

TweetLevel is another Twitter application that measures your Twitter influence on the web. Like Klout, Listorious automatically generates profiles for Twitter users, so you can find your page at http://tweetlevel.edelman.com/User/yourusername. Listorious allows you to put your URL in the web link section to provide a permanent do-follow backlink. TweetLevel also offers a very detailed algorithm to your influence on Twitter and also offers tips to gain influence on Twitter making it a very useful tool.

TwtBIZCard

TwtBIZCard is a PR5 website that allows Twitter users to create an online business card based on your Twitter account. TwtBIZCard allows you to place your URL in both the bio and web link sections, and provides permanent do-follow links from both sections. Since Google only follows a hyperlink one per page, you may want to add links to two different sections of your site to full take advantage of the 2 hyperlinks offered by twtBIZCard. Most users will already have an account which can be found at http://twtbizcard.com/yourusername, but creating an account is simple by signing in with your Twitter account.

Use Your Targeted Keywords

Your website is optimized for the keywords that you rank for, and similarly these keywords should be used in your Twitter activity. Naturally using these keywords in your bio and linked tweets will help to add context to your tweets and signify the relevance of these tweets to Google. You cannot add anchor text html links to your twitter, so the only way to add context to links is to use the keywords naturally around the link.

Make Your Tweets Retweetable

This is a very important and easy way to share your links among other Twitter accounts. You need to allow Twitter users to retweet your tweets because it will allow your tweets containing links to be posted and shared, thus increasing the number of backlinks you get. To do so, make sure that your tweets are less than 140 characters so that your tweets can be re-tweeted without cutting off characters and potentially the link. People will want to add their own comment on this, and 140 characters is the maximum number of characters that Twitter will display when people do this.

Wrapping It Up

Now that may be a lot to take in, but all of these tactics can be extremely beneficial ways to optimize your Twitter account and activity for SEO and link building strategies, as well as creating a better presence on Twitter. You will not only increase your search engine rankings, but also gain a greater following of people who support you or your business. This can also foster word of mouth advertising among followers’ friends and social sharing among other social media platforms when you truly inspire a follower. Try some of these tactics when using Twitter and let us know what you think. Also, can you think of any other tactics?

In a growing world of SEO, SEM, social media and other forms of internet marketing, infographics are becoming more popular throughout the web. If you’re unfamiliar with infographics, they’re basically visuals that have information and statistics about a topic. You could also find charts, facts and predictions within the all-mighty infographic. By incorporating charts, facts, bold visuals, colors, and other eye-catching details, more attention is drawn to infographics. It is important to attract and hold the attention of the consumer these days with so many other distractions on the web like Facebook, email, Twitter, and a list of other links.

Now that you have a handle on the background of the infographic you’re probably wondering how to create an infographic that will get the people going. One of the key aspects when designing your infographic is to be creative and come up with a layout that will attract people’s attention. Make sure that your infographic is relevant content to your topic and also has some knowledge to send a message about your point. If you’re struggling to get your infographic going, start a flowchart of ideas and go from there. After you get some structure into your chart, start adding color schemes and bold visuals. Don’t forget to put in the research to make your infographic accurate with up-to-date information. Editing is the last key element. You want your image to be easily understood by whomever looks upon it.

Being far more interesting than just plain text and more informative than a picture with a caption, infographics serve as great online marketing tools. You’ll find that infographics have a large effect on your social media marketing as well as search engine optimization. Users intrigued by the infographic share it among friends and co-workers, bringing in those precious inbound links. So next time you consider what strategy to use to build up back-links to your webpage, consider an awesome infographic.