Social Networking

Hi, Gary and Marshall here,

With the growing popularity of the business and professional social networking site LinkedIn, it was only a matter of time before another powerhouse of the web2.0 world joined forces and integrated their services.

We’re talking about the WordPress application for LinkedIn.  With the WordPress App, you can now sync your latest WordPress blog post and all its content with your LinkedIn profile.  This means you can keep everyone linked to your profile up to date with your latest business ventures.

Once you’ve loaded this WordPress App. you can filter your posts with a special LinkedIn tag and even display your personal WordPress Gravatar (global avatar) with updates sent automatically to your entire LinkedIn network.

Continue Reading – Who’s Joined LinkedIn?

Hi, Marshall and Gary here.

Last post on Small Business Internet Marketing, we tried to define what social networking and Web 2.0 are. Hopefully we achieved this.

We find people that we speak to about this nod their heads sagely and say “ah yes, I am a Facebook member so I understand what you are talking about”. There is no doubt using something like Facebook really shows the power and scope of social networking. Instead of ringing 20 friends to say you are going to the pub tonight, you simply post it on Facebook.

Continue reading – Social netwroking – more than facebook

Hi, Marshall and Gary here.

If you remotely follow the internet, you will have no doubt seen the term social networking. Quite often it is used in conjunction with Web 2.0.

At Small Business Internet Marketing, we like to try and provide our clients and followers simple descriptions of terms and concepts.

So let’s start first with Web 2.0. The best way we can think to describe this very broad concept is to highlight what Web 1.0 is. Think of the most static, one-dimensional website that you have ever seen that has absolutely no interaction with a visitor to the site – well that is what Web 1.0 is. Classic symptoms are informational only, static, no videos, little change.

Web 2.0 is characterised by online communities where people share opinions and information, lots of videos (did you wonder why Google bought YouTube when they already had a video service anyway) and audio and general interconnectiveness (well there’s a new word for the world). It has grown off the back of broadband rollout that has provided the bandwidth.

A good definition of social networking is “it refers to a broad class of web sites and services that allow you to connect with friends, family, and colleagues online, as well as meet people with similar interests or hobbies Many, such as the popular Facebook and MySpace, let you create a profile where you can post photos, information about yourself like location, hobbies, and relationship status, and send and receive correspondence with online contacts.” – thanks to tucows for this definition.

Between Web 2.0 and social networking, there is a fundamental change in the way people are using the internet. So any internet marketing strategy has to be cognisant of these sweeping changes.

Next post – the true value of keywords.

Your business buddies

Marshall and Gary

Hi, Marshall and Gary here.

Our last post on the Small Business Internet Marketing blog was discussing the attachment that small business owners have to their business name.

It makes sense that if someone searches for your business name (and you have something on the internet), that the Google search should offer your website up as the first organic result. If not, we would suggest some serious navel gazing as to the value of your website as currently configured.

This, unfortunately, is all too rare for many companies. It is more likely that a searcher will type in what service or product they are after.

One reason we like blogs is that it can create much more freedom in the domain name selection – owners accept that they can be used a useful tool to create interest in a area related to their own area of expertise. So this allows them to more clearly focus in on the keywords that are being searched to craft a high visibility name.

To use the Bob Smith Auto Electrician fictional example – Bob may be have technical expertise in racing car electrics. Using this knowledge, it may be that 500 searches done every month in Australia on electrics in racing cars when researched. It may be that the domain name “racingcarselectrics.com.au” is available. So Bob can set up a blog under this name and start to post away to get high visibility.

Selection of a good domain name is only one very small part of getting seen, but is also a good place to start when using a blog internet marketing strategy.

Next post – social networking

Your business buddies

Marshall and Gary