Social Media: No time (or inclination)?

I noticed this tweet today: "Do you run a small business and don't have time to 'do' Social Media?"

A concise message, to the point. Can learn from this? (not too proud to learn from our competitors!) One click took me from Twitter to FaceBook where there was another link... which went to a page that said, in capital letters (paraphrased below to 'protect' the originator and also avoid duplicate content):

YOUR COMPETITORS ARE USING SOCIAL MEDIA BUT YOU DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO LEARN WHAT IT IS OR HOW TO USE IT - WE WILL TAKE THE STRESS BY MANAGING YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOU WHILE YOU FOCUS ON RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS. (Click to find out how)

Another click? Finally, we get to read the crucial 4th message... and it was good. It just took too long to get to it.

So, if you would like The BPc to manage your social media while you focus on running your business, email or call us. Thanks!

Blogging and Sharing on FaceBook and Twitter

You have a plan to write two Blogger posts a month (1 hour), two FaceBook Page posts a week (15 minutes) and a couple of tweets every other day (two minutes). 

The most productive way of doing this is as follows:

Once a month, write both blogs and set them to post when you want them to with Blogger's Schedule facility.

You can set up a third party feed that will automatically post the blog link to FaceBook but, unless the posts need to be published at the same time on both media, you have more flexibility when you add posts manually.

We suggest that twice a month, sometime after each blog post is published, you go to your FaceBook Business Page and schedule the next four posts using the Activity Log - one can include a link to the most recent blog post, perhaps another may link to a page on your website.

While you are on your Page, it's a good opportunity to interact with followers, 'Like' some pages and post some information on relevant 'Liked' pages.

If you log in to both FaceBook and Twitter at the same time, you can set up FB posts to automatically tweet by entering www.facebook.com/twitter and linking the two accounts. That takes care of a few of your monthly tweets.

If you are an avid Linked-In user, you can set it up to feed through to Twitter. If not, you need to become a regular Twitter user - for best results, always keep a tab open with your Twitter account and follow these 10 Twitter tips.

Of course, if you need help, that's what we're here for.

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p.s. Links:
You can Like The BPc business page on Facebook and Follow Bee Primrose on Twitter.

Emergency - our website is down!

An SEO client's website suddenly disappeared without warning.

Investigation showed that, although a hosting invoice was issued and paid to September 2013, the hosting company decided to drop the service in December 2012. The client received no warning before and no messages afterwards.

While they are resolving the issue with that hosting company, we have, overnight, transferred the domain and hosting to another company and managed to upload all the pages with most of the content. Unfortunately, it's taking a while for the client to re-source some photographs from the original website developer but, in the meantime, potential customers can visit A White Rolls Royce, even if they can't view their luxury wedding cars for the next couple of days - the company is still going strong!

Season of Goodwill

If you wish to practice blogging or social media skills and have any questions over the Christmas - New Year period and you want some help, please feel free to ask questions here (as comments) or via www.twitter.com/BPcUK and I'll attempt to assist.

Enjoy! See you next year.

Comments on Blogs for SEO

There are many different kinds of motivation for commenting on blogs. Even when the common motivation is SEO, there are two distinct types - specific or generic.

The BPc maintains blogs for a number of clients. Whether Blogger or WordPress, we set them up so that anyone is able to leave a comment but every comment has to be approved before publication. Yes, there are occasions when a plethora of spam comments have to be reviewed but, in general, the numbers of comments are easily managed.

Most commonly received comments are from link-building agencies and most, though not all, should be rejected. Often, if you paste this generic type of comment into Google, it may be found on several other blogs, which brings no value to your blog.

It's a rare pleasure to receive genuine comments. These are from people who have read the post and given related feedback, good or controversial. (Please, feel free to leave your comments on this blog!)

Sometimes, 'specific' comments may promote competitors. If your client base is Hertfordshire and there is a comment linking to a similar small business outside your area, it could be beneficial to you both. It's worth checking whether they have a blog for reciprocal comments.

But what if they are a direct competitor? If there is an opportunity for a reciprocal link, then it could be OK. Contact The BPc if there is a specific instance to be debated!

Benefits of Comments on Blogs for SEO:

• add to the content
• increase relevant keywords
• keep blog posts 'fresh' for search engines

Links from Images in Blogger

I've just read a blog where the blogger was frustrated because he wanted to link to another blog by clicking on an image rather than the display a larger image, the default setting in Google Blogger.

To do this isn't too painful. At the top of the post, there are two buttons: Compose & HTML. Normally, a blog is written using the Compose window. When you have finished, you will need to go to the HTML window to change the link from the image.

In the HTML code, if you have used an image url (i.e. from another internet location) you will see a paragraph something like this:

• <a href="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" />

If you have uploaded an image from your computer, the code may look like this:

• <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8N8w/UZ9tIg/AAABMY/zuZNk/s1600/blogpic.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8N8w/UZ9tIg/AAABMY/zuZNk/s1600/blogpic.JPG" /></a>

src= lets Blogger know where to find the image that should appear in the post and a href= is the default link to display the original size image.

Simplified, you must leave the src= (image source) intact but the link contained in "quotes" next to a href= can be replaced with the destination url/page of your choice. Sometimes you may just want to remove the /image.jpg part of the link, or you may want to replace the whole link.

Examples:

<a href="http://www.site.co.uk" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" /> will link to the site where the original image is sourced.

<a href="http://www.anotherblog.blogspot.com" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://www.site.co.uk/image.jpg" /> will link to a different location, such as a blog, another website, social media account, etc.

Note that these paragraphs must remain between the < and > signs.

And finally... an example of an image that should open another blog in a new tab or window:

Google AdWords Tips for beginners

If you are new to managing a Google Adwords campaign, here are 3 tips you may find useful.

Mobile Devices
First of all, are you aware how many of your website visitors are using mobile 'phones? You can find out with Google Analytics. From the statistics used in the example below, almost a quarter of all views are from a mobile device with Apple iPhone the most popular.

You can check that your ads are already showing on mobile devices by logging into your Adwords Campaigns page, selecting the Settings tab and checking Devices. If not All, you may want to edit.

Geographic Target
If you have a limited geographical delivery or service capacity, such as a 30 mile radius from your base of operations, have you set or adjusted the regional target of your Adwords campaign? Do this by selecting the Settings tab for the Campaign and clicking the Edit option for Locations. To change the targeted location in the small pop-up box, click on it and, in the larger pop-up box, click on Radius Targeting. You will then be able to insert a core geographical target and a number of miles, shown visually, for you to adjust and save (or cancel if you change your mind). There are other options, too.

Targeting Keywords
When you create a new text ad, are you aware of the {KeyWord: Used Cars} feature? Place your default Ad heading after Keyword: within parentheses and if someone searches within your keyword selection, the search term with replace the default keyword, e.g. Used Cars may be replaced by Used BMWs or Second-hand Cars, tailoring the result to the person searching for the product or service you are advertising.

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