Reasons Why You Should Be Using RSS Feeds

A really cool feature that we add to all of the websites we make is an RSS feed. RSS stands for: Really Simple Syndication. So basically, whenever a web blogger (like yourself) makes a blog post such as this one, the post gets syndicated through other channels that are connected to the blog.

So, let’s say you find my blogging to die for and want to keep up to date with all of my intellectual, interesting, and entertaining musings; you would click on the button that looks like this: That will either start your mail handling program (Outlook, Eudora, etc.) or take you to a page that looks like this:
When you have this page show up on your screen, you can either select a reader from the box on the right, or click on the “View Feed XML” link and have the feed exported to your mail handling program.
In the case of the mail handling program, you would answer the security questions with a yes and presto, every time I write another blog post, a snippet of the newest musings from ADC Online will be in your inbox under feeds.

Reasons why you should be using RSS feeds:

Keep current with your profession by subscribing to useful blogs in your field.

Build a following of subscribers to your blog.

Subscribe to competitors blogs-keep up on the competition!

Stay current on news by getting your favourite news feed.

An RSS can be linked to your Facebook page, so every time you post in your website, it automatically posts in your Facebook page as well!

Check out the “Share the Knowledge” icons below. You’ll find an RSS icon in there as well. It will subscribe you to the comment feed of this post. That could be handy if you want notification of comments on this post.

Buzzword Bingo!

When new technologies and new methodologies emerge on the internet, people make up new words to try and communicate these new ideas with others.  There really isn’t any problem with buzzwords unless they are used to confuse people. All too often people use buzzwords in order to sound knowledgeable about a subject.

Ok, I admit; I did it too, way back in high school. I try to simplify things now and explain to clients what a particular buzzword means before I start using it in conversation. I certainly don’t want to be accused of playing “Buzzword Bingo”.

 

 

Why don’t all my Facebook Fans get my newsfeed?

You can be proud that you have a couple of hundred fans on your Facebook page, but are they quality fans? What’s the difference really? Well, the difference is something called Edge rank. Edge rank is an algorithm that Facebook uses that determines what shows up on the newsfeed, and that includes the posts and other information from your pages.

We can all understand why everything that everyone posts on Facebook can’t possibly make it to our newsfeed, but how does Facebook go about determining what actually does show up on your feed?

Looks complicated? Well, let’s go through it:
μ_e – the affinity score. How often you interact with a particular Facebook friend raises your affinity with that friend.

w_e – the edge weight. What interaction is going on? more weight is given to a comment than a like, for example.

d_e – the time delay. How long has the information been up. The longer, the less it’s worth.

So what does this all mean? Well, when all these factors are multiplied together, a high number means your object (picture, comment, tag, etc.) is more likely to show up on your Facebook friends’ newsfeed.

Taking this all into consideration, and making it simple; the people that interact with you, and you with them, are more likely to get your fresh objects in their newsfeed.

See the f8 video from April 21, 2011

Why am I not showing up on Google? Part 2

Part 2 of the series:

Why Am I Not Showing Up On Google?

In the last post we took a look at some reasons why a website may not show up at all on a Google search, and then explored how using optimized keywords can get a website to rank higher on a Google search. Now, as promised, why the type of website you have can also play a role in search engine ranking.

Basically, to be properly represented on the net with a website, you will need either a static HTML site, a dynamic blog/Content Management Site, or a combination of both.

HTML sites are very customizable and that’s their best advantage.  A good web designer can make art with a website. If you need that kind of customization, then you will probably have to use HTML.  For the most part, the web presence that will absolutely have to be completely HTML will be a rare type of presence. However, we have found a great number of static HTML sites on the net that are simple, and usually generated from a template.

The clients that come to us asking why they rank poorly in search engines usually have this type of site. I’ve heard these sites referred to as “set it and forget it” sites, or “build it and they will come” sites. The truth is, there is no setting and forgetting on the web, and if no one knows about it, they won’t come. Static HTML sites–even .net sites fall short when it comes to being found on search engines, unless they’re constantly updated and optimized.

Consider carefully the trade off between beauty of a site and search-ability. I know of companies that have spent tens of thousands of dollars for a gorgeous site that is virtually impossible to find on Google except for a few useless keywords. There are ways to be found anyway, but you probably don’t stand a chance against your competitors site that’s uglier, cheaper, and ranks way higher for the keywords you want.

In my opinion, there is no sense to having a website that no one can find, and I’m very weary of someone that would sell a website that is impossible or nearly impossible to find. The ability of a site to be found and ranked is absolutely essential to a public website. Part of the reason for writing this post was to rant about the web designers that build these useless sites and charge a lot of money for them. I’m talking about reputable companies with big name clients. They make useless sites! I digress…

Dynamic sites like WordPress fare much better in the search engine department. A few years ago, the big idea was to combine the customization of a static HTML site with the search engine favoring dynamic blog. This wasn’t a bad idea at the time, but that time has passed as well. Today’s site is all dynamic: there are WordPress sites on the net that look and feel just like their older HTML counterparts but work very well with search engines. They have interactive components that allow the audience of your dynamic site to interact directly with you. You can now generate your own fresh content and post it in real time through all your social media channels with one click because it can now all be interconnected. That means your Facebook page, RSS feeds, YouTube channel, LinkedIn account, etc., can all be updated easily from your website. Google loves fresh content and link backs!

WordPress can also be easily optimized for mobile devices, and those little QR codes you see on many product labels and print ads can also be simply connected and tracked.

Basically, if you’re at, or near the leading edge of website technology, you will rank higher in search engines for your keywords. If you have a site that is old technology and isn’t optimized, you won’t have nearly as high a ranking. It just makes common sense.

Why am I not showing up on Google?

So the big question we’re being asked around here lately is: “Why am I not showing up on Google?” or the variant: “Why is my site on the 23rd page of Google?”.  If you’re not showing up on Goggle at all, try this; In the search box type:  site:http://www.yoursitename.com . Does your site show up?  If it does, then move on to the next paragraph, if not, I have waited for up to two weeks before a site I built was indexed. Although search engines will naturally find your site and index it, your webmaster should also submit the site to the popular search engines asap to kindly ask the friendly search bots to drop by to visit.  If the site has only been in existence for less than a couple of weeks, try again later and move on to the next paragraph.  If you’re still reading, your site may be hidden from search engines, so talk to your webmaster to change this setting.  Lastly,  you may have been removed by Google due to an offense.  If this is the case, you should have received instructions to correct this and apply for reconsideration.

First of all, we’re not a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) company (it is a hobby of mine and we do the best we can with all of our sites), but what we do can and will help with your Google ranking. Google is now real time, and gives preference to websites that change a lot, add a lot of content, have relevant link backs, as well as a bunch of other stuff that fits into their ever changing mathematical algorithm that decides who shows up first with certain keywords. “Keywords? What?” OK Let’s start with the basics:

Keywords are the words that you enter into the search box of your favourite search engine to find what you’re looking for.  They are also listed within your site so those searched keywords match up with the relevance of your site.  When new clients come to us seeking higher ranking with their existing site, we mainly check two things: 1. The type of site (static, or the preferred blog site like WordPress) 2. The current keywords. We’re noticing many sites are lacking useful keywords or have poor or misspelled keywords (may not be a bad thing to misspell if it’s a popular misspelling) so let’s see what you have on your site now:

1. 1. Go to your favourite web browser and enter your url into the address box.
2. 2. When your page is loaded, click View, Page Source (crtl+U) in Firefox, or View, Source in Internet Explorer.
3. 3. Observe the gobbledy gook (the source code that makes up the page).

Somewhere in the top part of that gobbledy gook (if you’ve hit the </head> tag, you’ve gone too far) should be a meta tag that looks like this: <meta name=”keywords” content=” Selection of keywords separated by commas” /> Is it there?  If it isn’t, well, pass me the grease rag, now there’s your problem; or at least part of it.  You can ask your web programmer to add some keywords for you if you have an HTML site, or if you’re using a WordPress site, you can add an SEO plugin that will allow you to add specific keywords to each or all of your pages.

Google doesn’t use meta keywords; keyword rich content, description tags, alt tags, url’s, and title tags are key. There is some confusion as to whether Yahoo and Bing use meta tags. Since the search algorithms are closely guarded secrets, we can only use our best intuition with the information we have. For the time it takes to make a meta tag, I include them anyway.

Aside from good site structure, W3C compliance, and links, Keywords are an important part of being found on the internet. Keyword research is part of what a social media marketer does to increase the usefulness of the keywords you use and ultimately rank your pages higher in search engine organic results (the results that aren’t paid for). We call it keyword optimization, and it does make a difference to how relevant your content is in a search.

Another big deal for ranking is the type of website you have.  But alas, that’s for the next post.

 

 

Social Media is Not Advertising

When I tell people I’m a social media marketer, people often respond with something along the lines of “So you’re in advertising…”

Well, yes and no.  Yes I do use social ads on Facebook and yes I do generate some content and creative that would be classified as advertising, but no, social media marketing is not about advertising.

It is about generating interest and making connections.  That may not sound like a completely worthy venture for business, but it is and I’ll tell you why: no business survives without a network of connections.  You must respect your connections, they are valuable people.  Social media allows you to not only connect with them, but with their network of equally valuable people.

You wouldn’t go to a business cocktail meeting and advertise your business to everyone in the room, or the next time you’ll be having cocktails alone, on your balcony with only your thoughts for company.  Think about it for a minute; if one of your connections needed the widget that your company sells, wouldn’t they already know you sell them?  Unless they are the newest of the new connections, they probably already know you sell widgets and didn’t connect with you to get spammed with widget ads.

The idea of social media marketing is to keep you and your widgets top of mind for the next time someone in your audience (or your audiences’ audience) is in the market for a widget. Instead of spamming your audience with advertising, (of which we are all inundated with) provide them with some useful, interesting, or entertaining content related to the widget product/industry. You need to make connections, widen your network, and grow your business, but a sure shot way to get “de-friended” or have your feed blocked is to advertise relentlessly to your connections.

Can you advertise with social media marketing? Yes, but keep it less than about 20% of the time.  Maybe only when you have a super mega blow out special on French Dijon widgets.

Every Political Campaign Needs a Social Media Manager

In a political campaign team, there’s the candidate, the campaign manager, the volunteer manager, but do you have a Social Media manager? As campaigns move increasingly on to the web, and connecting with constituents through the Internet becomes crucial, every campaign now needs an online manager.

Using social media in a campaign is not about a couple of blog posts, a website, and a few tweets. You will have an online manager with staff, and responsibilities such as (but not limited to):

• Online reputation
• Determining who the players are in the online political field
• Determining where to have a presence
• Becoming a voice in important social media channels
• Monitoring and if necessary, controlling conversations and comments
• Tending to, eliminating, or ignoring online trolls
• Recommending channels for the candidate to personally connect in
• Recording, reporting, and deciphering metrics
• Monitoring the opposition

We were recently part of a campaign with almost all candidates having an online presence. The top three candidates had: website/blogsite, Facebook page (one had a locked profile not a page). Our candidate also had a LinkedIn profile, and a Twitter account.  Our candidate’s web site added pages almost weekly, with more and more content as time went on especially near “e” day. He was tweeting three or four times a day with useful messages. His Facebook page was constantly getting comments, and he was commenting back. We were also monitoring important forums and pages. As for the other guys; one did nothing online except set up his channels and not so much as review them for the duration of the campaign. The other had some comments in his Facebook page, a blog of self promotion, and no presence outside of that.  Needless to say, our candidate dominated the online media. Oh, and won the election.

I’m not saying that you will win the election if you have a competent online manager, I’m just saying that without one you will be missing out on a huge opportunity to effectively connect with the people that are voting. Your online manager and their staff are responsible both for the message of your online campaign and the messages online about your campaign. A social media marketer experienced in political campaigns can guide your online team to success.

7 Tips to Starting a Political Social Media Campaign

There is no doubt that social media has become a necessary part of any political campaign.  Campaign budgets are always tight and social media is probably going to give you the most connections per money spent than any other medium; that is, if you do it right.

There have been numerous examples of how the use of social media and the Internet made a long shot challenger into the campaign victor. So how does a candidate employ the channels available to them to become the overall winner?

7 Tips To Starting a Political Social Media Campaign:

1.  Start early. Even if you’re just thinking about getting into politics, start a Twitter account and an open Facebook Profile.  Work at making relevant connections. Not having connections in your social media channels is a lot like announcing your intention to run for prime minister of Canada to a huge empty stadium.

Connect and engage with people in the geographic region you’re thinking about politicking in. Show up to special events and demonstrate how active you are in your community. Take pictures and post them online. Basically, use the channels at your disposal to demonstrate yourself as an active and interested member of society.

2. Join groups and online chat boards in your area and be an active member. Tweet about issues that are important to the community and elicit reaction. Be active in the conversation which demonstrates that you have a genuine interest in the community in which you want to serve; getting your name around is crucial.

3. Optimize your social media channels. Make them all interconnect and tweak them for the best keywords. It’s so terribly time consuming having to post the same content multiple times in multiple networks and in multiple channels, so make it all automatic.  Take the time to optimize your postings for keywords so your content will be more easily found when someone is looking for the keywords in search engines.

4. Authenticity If you’re not authentic, you can stop here and choose another line of work.  The key to social media is authenticity.  Your personality has to shine through in your communications.  People want to connect with you, the person running for office, not a talking head on the television or YouTube video that looks and sounds an awful lot like a politician. Online is a place where reputation is everything and it takes time to build an online reputation so make it solidly your own.

5. One word: Transparency. I have rekindled my interest in politics recently and I’m following a story about a member of our federal government who made a small edit in a federal document. At first she said she didn’t, and then she said she did.  That was over a month ago and the political storm is still raging within the House of Commons. Now, imagine if a politician with a large online following was caught trying to obfuscate the facts, not in front of other politicians, but in front the people who have elected them and are paying them to be there. Again, reputation is everything online and if you’re not transparent about your actions, you can be certain of a non-elected position after the next election.

6. Tweet on Twitter. The new mayor of our city is a social media master.  He is authentic and genuine, and he does his best to involve people in his everyday life as mayor of our city.  If you’re an interested citizen, you can follow him on twitter and find out that he is actually doing something for the tax dollars we are paying him. Now he’s in council chambers, later he’s at a steering committee meeting, and this evening he’ll be practicing with his punk band for the upcoming Earth Day concert.  Never before in history can the average citizen have an insight into the daily life of our political figures on a daily basis. This could be a double edged sword, but if used correctly, you won’t get a reputation of being lazy or getting paid to be a politician and moonlight at your law practice as well; that is, if you’re not.

7. After you win the election, stay connected. Those people who voted you in want to know that you’re doing what they elected you to do, so let them know. Send them pictures of the buffet table at a charity fund raiser, tweet about the difficult negotiations at the budget meeting, post some articles of interest in Facebook. What you’re really doing is securing your victory at the next election.

Twitter Tools for Local Tweeps

Yes, the Internet has made it “a small world after all”. It’s possible to find out what’s happening minute by minute in Mongolia but what if you want to start conversations on Twitter with people in your own community?

Here’s a short list of some Twitter Tools that will help small businesses connect with their local market. Read more

Social Media & Email Marketing P B & J

While Social Media is the best thing since sliced bread to promote small business, one of the rules of social media etiquette is ‘Do Not Advertise’ which leaves business owners scratching their heads trying to figure out how advertise their products/services and how to integrate Social Media with their other Internet Marketing efforts. Read more

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