Are You Linked In To A World Of Opportunities Online?

by denise 10. July 2012 10:45

LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with 161 million members online, of which 9 million are in the UK.

There are many reasons to join a professional network like LinkedIn and create your online profile. Building a professional profile is the first step in the process which will enable you to build up a connection network that can be used to access business opportunities, facilitate job hunting, support professional networking and provide a showcase for your skills, knowledge and expertise. It’s also a great opportunity for maintaining contact with former work colleagues or classmates.

Once set up LinkedIn is a valuable tool to leverage your existing contacts to connect with people and potential customers online. When LinkedIn for business, you can list up to three websites; you can include a link to your company’s website, a link to your blog and to your social media accounts which can be a great platform for social media marketing and also to showcase your social media cv.

Building a Professional Profile

Build a complete, well structured Professional Profile is vital in order to optimise the effectiveness of your LinkedIn presence. When your online profile is 100% complete it will increase your visibility and help you get found by employers, recruiters and prospects.

Initial areas of focus

Profile Headline

Your profile headline gives people a short, memorable way to understand who you are in a professional context. Think of the headline as the slogan for your professional brand. Also consider making it keyword rich, improving the chances of your profile appearing in the search engines for a user’s query.

Profile Photo

When choosing a photo — and we recommend that you do — select an appropriate, professional, high-quality headshot.

Summary

This is a key part of your profile. Describe your professional experiences and goals - who you are, what you can do. Present your summary in short blocks of text for easy reading. Bullet points are great too, and again dropping in a few search friendly keywords is recommended.

Work Experience

List companies you have worked for and add a brief description of what they do and what your role was within the company.

Connections

The point of a networking site is to establish as many connections as possible. Try to aim for 50 to start with, with your end goal being 500+

Specialties

In this area, include keywords and phrases that a recruiter might use in a search engine to find a person like you.

Recommendations

Nothing builds credibility like third-party endorsements. The most impressive profiles have at least one recommendation associated with each position they held.

Groups

Join as many relevant groups as possible; many interest groups and professional bodies have established LinkedIn groups.

Update your status weekly

Tell people about events you’re attending, major projects you’ve completed or similar news that you would tell someone at a networking event.

Share your work

Add examples of your writing, design work, or other accomplishments to enhance your LinkedIn profile even more.

Once your profile is complete, there is much more to consider such as optimising your profile for search engine visibility, setting up a business profile, starting or engaging in conversations and creating your own groups. If you would be interested in attending a LinkedIn workshop to help you or your business get the most out of LinkedIn, email us on info@thewebbureau.com

SEO & Pinterest – Get Pinning to Boost Website Traffic

by denise 6. July 2012 17:31

It is no secret that search engines are using social media interaction as a measure of search authority within their algorithms. Since users can share “pins” on both Facebook and Twitter, there is an obvious benefit from an SEO point of view.

Pinterest works best when you’re regularly active on it. Help drive more traffic to your site through Pinterest by establishing your presence there—putting your domain front and centre in your profile, pinning your own content, pinning interesting content from elsewhere on the Web, creating keyword-rich board titles and descriptions and connecting with other users to build your community.

One of the largest untapped benefits of using Pinterest for business is search engine optimisation (SEO). The SEO power of Pinterest starts in the users profile and is found in full force among the pins.

Creating Your Pinterest Profile

When setting up a business profile on Pinterest the company name should be placed in the First/Last Name fields, splitting the full company name between the two. This will show the company name at the top of the page verses the showing the name of the person who has set up the account.

Optimise Your Pinterest Profile

The content placed in the about section is important to the optimisation of a Pinterest profile. This information shows at the top of a profile under the user’s name and is valuable for being found in searches. The about section allows users to add 200 characters explaining what they do. Place some keywords describing the company in a concise business description here.

Once your profile is set, you are ready to pin. Every pin made and each re-pin gives the website source a backlink. With over 80% of pins being re-pinned the SEO effects can be tremendous.

So how do you get your pins re-pinned? Optimise their descriptions! Take advantage of the description field that goes along with each pin. In it you should place simple keywords (or search terms) marked by a hashtag. Pinterest then activates the hashtag used so that when it is clicked on, pinners can view other pins pinned with the same keyword.

Website URLs can also be placed in a pin’s description. Currently, Pinterest hyperlinks these URLs. While some users may not always click on the photo to visit the source site, many are used to clicking through on hyperlinks and will take the bait. These clicks can create unique visitors for your website and the possibility of online sales if you participate in e-commerce.

Keep in mind that no matter how well crafted a hashtagged description is, no one will re-pin content that is dull. Make your images say something. Infographics are a particularly popular item to pin. For starters, they provide useful information with visually appealing delivery. Infographics also tend to be longer in length, giving them more real-estate on the page and a better chance of being noticed.

Another tip that can help with using Pinterest for SEO lies in the source link. When making a pin, the user has the ability to change the URL the photo will direct users to if clicked on. Perhaps a photo came from a press release but you want it to direct users to the homepage of your website, it is possible to alter the source url when making the pin.

Pinterest is well worth taking note of. With over 9 million Facebook connected users the site has become a major player overnight. Don’t wait to add Pinterest to your social media marketing plan. Get in the game early and gain the upper hand against the competition.

So as they say ‘happy pinning’

Social Media Marketing: How to Build Your Brand on Pinterest

by denise 3. July 2012 15:03

Pinterest is one of the latest Social Media tools which has captured the attention of social media fanatics but similar to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and many other Social Media Networks, there is also scope to use Pinterest as an Online Marketing tool for your business.

If you are not familiar with Pinterest, read our previous article, Why Online Marketers Should Be Interested in Pinterest!

If you are considering using Pinterest to build brand awareness and market your products and services, here's a few tips on building your brand identity on Pinterest.

Perhaps you’ve heard rumours that Pinterest is just for consumer brands or that only women are pinning. Pinterest can benefit all types of business but before you jump into pinning, consider the following:

Is your audience on Pinterest?

Are the people in your current social networks trying out Pinterest? Providing that your brand actively participates in the Pinterest community, the site can be a great way to build social presence, gain search authority, and increase overall visibility for the brand.

Can your brand be visually represented?

If your website is image rich you’ll have no problem but for some, you may need to think outside the box. If you’re in food or fashion or crafts, these topics lend themselves perfectly to Pinterest. If you’re in a manufacturing industry or something intangible like insurance or banking, you’ll need to be a lot more creative. To start, think about the lifestyle your product or service can help create, then use images to represent that lifestyle. For example, if you sell insurance you can visually represent the objects most important to people – homes, cars, art etc. You can also use the idea of security and safety to appeal to pinners. Also think about using text on a colourful background as inspirational quotes make great pins.

If your web developer embedded your images into the background of your website you won’t be able to pin them directly from the site. In that case you’ll need to obtain and upload them, then link back. Moving forward, you should discuss your intentions to use Pinterest in your marketing strategy with your web developer so they can make images pinnable in future updates.

Original images are the best kind of content for Pinterest. They speak to your brand directly and add value to your stream. So, if you have someone that can create original content for your boards all the better. But even if you don’t you can still be successful by sharing and pinning other people’s content.

Do you have the resources to put behind a Pinterest strategy?

While social media tools for customer engagement are free and have a low barrier to entry, successful implementation and community building takes significant resources. You need the time and the staff to create content and maintain your communities, wherever they are. Many businesses have started Facebook pages, Twitter accounts or YouTube channels and then abandoned them because they don’t see an immediate return. Like any relationship these take time to develop even with an investment of resources. Pinterest, while easy to use, is no different. Plan to invest time and energy to be successful.

Pinterest Tips to be aware of:

• Blatant self promotion is frowned upon, and ultimately will not be the most effective utilisation of the site. The most successful Pinterest profiles are those that interact with the community and “pin” items from other community members as well. Brands can support the target community by following influential people in the category, and ‘pinning’ photos from people who have interests that align well with your brand.

• The Travel Channel does a fantastic job of connecting to people’s emotional ties to travel, such as the culture, food, and activities in addition to highlighting its traditional offering, suggesting destinations. The key lesson here is do not solely feature your company’s latest product and service - ensure there are additional boards that feature secondary categories associated with your brand, thereby creating more of a connection with the consumer.

• It is important to supply engaging imagery to maximise results.

• If your brand decides to use Pinterest, Pinterest sharing buttons should be added to all applicable content.

Good Luck & Enjoy Pinning!

If you would like any further information on Pinterest or any of our Online Marketing services, contact Denise on info@thewebbureau.com