Do you know any celebrities? Have you thought about using them to help your search rankings? It’s a bit of an odd idea but I think it can actually work – and on several levels. Here’s why.

You’ve probably heard by now of people selling tweets or followers. For some time now celebrities have been generating additional income through this and – I’d imagine – to a fair bit of success.

Not only does the tweet get published to thousands – if not millions – of followers and can bring you many clicks and followers, it also acts as an endorsement from that celebrity. And I think that’s why so many people are turning to celebrities to push their brand or cause, whether it’s for charity or for financial gain through business.

We know that celebrity endorsement works – that’s why we see Michael Parkinson selling life insurance policies, George Clooney selling coffee machines and Davina McCall and Cheryl Cole advertising hair products on the television.

Taking this back into the online world, with Google Plus becoming more important as a social tool – as well as an SEO tool – getting high profile +1′s from authoritative celebrities is one way of publicising (or even initiating) endorsement quickly and encouraging people to click your site within the search results.

Let me explain. Those that are logged in while searching and have a Google Plus account will see which of the people they follow have +1′d your site. If that celebrity is one of those that are being followed this will appear in the search results next to your listing and the chances of click-through and potential sales potentially can increase massively.

Chosen wisely, the celeb will also have close ties to your industry and with a wide reach this could be a very powerful move for your online SEO campaign.

Not only that, but through the association between your business and the celebrity you might also see people publicly talking (via social media, forums and blogs) about the decision made by the famous face and it all contributes to creating buzz. In turn, this could quickly lead to links pointing to your website helping to push it up the search results.

Previously, a celebrity endorsement would be printed on leaflets and magazines and put on radio and television adverts and took time to be publicised, yet with social media it is almost instant and reaches out to those that are already ‘connected’ with the celebrity. And now that these +1′s appear within the search results, the connection is made obvious to those looking for products and services similar to what you provide – a connection that could work really well.

The idea is very quick and potentially very effective when it utilises social media, particularly powerful if there’s a good overlap between the celebrity and your audience and can be exploited as often as you like. It can also work for highly authoritative and well-known figures within your industry.

As for the cost… please contact your nearest celebrity.

An SEO campaign, complete with all the add-ons of Pay-Per-Click, E-Mail Marketing, Guest Blogging and Internet Marketing is very similar to creating the LEGO castle you wanted as a child. You have all these various parts which when separated and laid out look as though they couldn’t ever provide the results that you want; however when carefully constructed provide outstanding results  and for an SEO campaign, the majority of these results can be viewed, dissected and analysed with the help of everyone’s favourite tool, Google Analytics.

Unfortunately whilst Google Analytics can provide certain results, when it comes to the final add-on, social media, it doesn’t provide any insights. This is because social media, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn can often be a dark, murky and mysterious world, especially for a novice. Luckily this is all about to change, with the introduction of Twitter Web Analytics.

Hold Your Horses:

Now before I go any further, I appreciate there will be those of you who are a dab hand at social media, in particular Twitter and will argue that there are already Twitter analytics available and I don’t disagree with this. After all, if you type into any search engine, “Twitter Analytics” an extensive list will appear. This list will undoubtedly include, Tweetstats, Tweetmeme, Twitalyzer. Being the conscientious person that I am, I had a brief look at all of these and I honestly believe that they add more murkiness and confusion to the Twitter-sphere.

An example of this is Twitalyzer. Using @crearecontent, the Twitter account used by Creare’s Content Writing team for research purposes, I was able to find that @crearecontent is in the 61st percentile of all Twitter users, has a Klout score of 23 and a PeerIndex of 19. Mean anything to you? Me neither!

The Future’s Bright, The Future’s…..

The future however, thanks to Twitter Web Analytics, looks a lot brighter and more promising for businesses turning to Twitter to boost their internet brand whilst engaging in conversation with customers and other businesses.

Working in a similar way to Google Analytics, Twitter Web Analytics when stripped down to its very basics and core principal will provide users with a detailed insight into three specific areas:

1) Help you understand how much your website information is being shared across Twitter

Not only will this help you see how much of your website content is being shared, but it’ll also give you information in regards to the click-throughs your content is receiving. This previously wasn’t possible in any of the other forms of Twitter analytics available, and to put the Twitter Web Analytics head and shoulders above the rest, the information provided enables you to dissect who is sharing and how they are.

2) See the amount of traffic your Twitter account is sending to your website

In the past it’s been debated as to whether this has previously been possible or not. Some theorists claim that the click-throughs to your site are shown as “organic visitors” whilst other theories don’t believe it has previously been possible. Whichever side of the fence that you sit on, one thing is certain, with the advancements of Twitter Web Analytics you can see clearly what traffic is coming to your site via Twitter.

3) Measure the effectiveness of your Tweet Button Integration (if you don’t currently have the Twitter button integrated onto your website, I recommend you do it today!)

We all love to share information, whether it’s a bit of office gossip, sport related news or SEO tips and tricks. With the Tweet Button integrated onto your site and by using this new analytic platform, you can see just how effective your “sharing” is in the social media world.

Sold?

By now I’m hoping that you’re already sold on the Twitter Web Analytics and that you’re itching to sign up to receive it. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to rein you back in (for the time being at least) as Twitter have announced that for the time being this will be rolled out to a select few (to ensure it works as well as hoped) before being rolled out to a much wider audience.

Despite having to wait to get our hands on this tool, the future certainly looks bright in terms of social media being the next brick in your SEO LEGO castle, and you’ll be able to see hard evidence as to how well your Twitter campaign is running , without delving too deep into the dark, murky and mysterious world of social media.

Will the development of Google + add another threat to the existence of Facebook?

Not so long ago, Facebook was the talk of the internet. Enabling you to connect with friends, post regular updates on your daily goings-on and upload images of unforgettable nights out on the town, Facebook was a place of refuge for teens and adults alike across the country. However along came Twitter a few years later with their 140 characters and just recently Google has announced its social media baby, Google + or Plus, that they hope will challenge the reign of Facebook as leader in the field.

Whilst I am confident that Facebook still has a future on a personal level and for businesses to use within an SEO campaign, the gauntlet has certainly been laid. Twitter is undoubtedly the stand out competitor and its popularity continues to grow whilst Facebook wanes somewhat. The figures don’t lie and in the month of May alone, 100,000 British users deactivated their Facebook accounts to take the total number down to 29.8 million.

This must be a worry to founder Mark Zuckerberg as this trend has followed across the world, with 6 million users logging off for good in the States too. Furthermore, with Google’s announcement of its version of a social media platform, the competition for users will only intensify.

Despite failed attempts at content sharing sites by Google before, the likes of Buzz and Wave don’t really warrant a mention, the hype surrounding Google + is certainly not going to be missed by the likes of Mr Zuckerberg. Furthermore, as Facebook leans towards arch rival Microsoft, Google will certainly see the battle as well and truly underway.

Google + incorporates many similar features to Facebook and in all honesty bears a striking resemblance. With specialised groups of friends, live feed streams and the opportunity to add images, Google has sneakily used the base for success and built from there.

Split into five sections, Circle, Sparks, Hangouts, Instant Upload and Huddles, Google + takes social media networking to a new level whilst incorporating certain features that have proved popular elsewhere;

Circle:

Allows you to group contacts into work, family, school etc so you can directly contact certain groups rather than forcing your updates onto everybody.

Sparks:

Acts in a similar way to an RSS feed (or Facebook news feed) by letting you input things you are interested in and pushing similar content in your direction.

Hangouts:

An inventive idea that features live video chats with up to 10 friends at once- an idea potentially gained from the ever popular Skype?

Instant Uploads:

Recognising people are always on the move, this features enables mobile uploads of images and videos directly to a private album on your account.

Huddle:

The fifth element is a group text feature, possibly designed following on from the success of Blackberry messenger, that lets you have large group chats through your phone with others on Google +.

It is still very early days for Google + and its threat to Facebook will only be seen over time. For now, I would certainly stick with Facebook and Twitter if you are looking to push your business in the social media direction as a side to an SEO campaign, but with Google’s firepower you never know. It could be a resounding success or follow some of its predecessors and disappear with a whimper!

Let us know what you think is going to happen in the social media world by leaving a comment below.

Top up Your Knowledge with a Detailed Examination of the Many SEO Techniques

As we are smack bang in the busy exam period for schools, we thought it was about time that we created a revision guide to study from in order to succeed in the wonderful world of SEO. With so many different elements that make up an SEO campaign, by reading this you may welcome features that your business is missing out on!

Firstly you must understand exactly what SEO is and how it is can be highly effective in aiding the profitability of your business.

The internet is a fantastic resource and can be used to find almost anything. From a single pair of shoes right through to a construction company to build you a new home, by simply inputting a few associated words into the search bar you are supplied with a seemingly endless stream of results. Successful SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation if you’re going for top marks in the exam, is designed to help a business get to the top of the search engine rankings for the particular keywords that it is optimising for.

With almost every business having some form of website, the potential to run an SEO campaign is available to the majority of them. Here are is selection of the onsite SEO techniques that can be implemented;

Keyword Selection: It is imperative to choose the correct keywords in relation to the business in question, whilst also making sure they are those that a significant number of people are going to search for. This will ensure that when a business does get to the top of page one, it is there for the relevant search terms.

Text and Content: Once keywords have been selected, the text and content of the website should be changed to incorporate these for maximum SEO effect.

Increase the Size of Website: As time progresses and traffic continually comes through to the site, additional pages and extra content can then be added to further improve the overall user experience.

On completion of the onsite SEO techniques, the next stage concentrates on building up off site search engine optimisation through the following techniques;

Link Building: This is a procedure that should be undertaken with great care to ensure that a collection of good quality links are being created. This is certainly an example of how quality, not quantity, rings true as poor quality link building can quickly see a business go in the opposite direction in Google’s rankings.

Article Marketing: Intertwined with the continued expansion of the site, the introduction of article marketing to a campaign is highly effective in developing internal and external links. Adding content to the site increases the number of areas a user can visit whilst external distribution of articles works at building wider links and drawing potential consumers in from further afield.

As time progresses and the implementation of both onsite and offsite Search Engine Optimisation continues, there are then other features that can be brought into the equation to further increase the chances of success;

Pay Per Click: Pay Per Click, or PPC, is an extension to an SEO campaign as it ensures that the business is advertised on the first page of Google’s rankings. As people search for the related key phrase of the business in question, an advertisement appears in the PPC section of the search engine and ultimately draws in interest. This technique can be particularly effective for competitive keywords that may take time to reach the top of the rankings.

Email Marketing: Email marketing, or eMarketing, is one of the most popular brand building and promotional tools available to a business. It offers the opportunity to advertise new products, latest news features and regular updates on services by sending out email type newsletters or e-shots to a business’ catalogue of clients.

Social Media: A Twitter profile and Facebook profile/page can be the perfect opportunity for a business to further promote its services on a grand scale. With the millions of people on both social media platforms, there is a whole new business to aim at. Focus should be made towards the advertisement of products and services in the quest to build the brand and draw potential business back to a website through the use of good quality links.

The features focused on within this revision guide are aimed at giving you a better understanding of the processes involved in a successful SEO campaign. Now why not test your friends, colleagues and business associates with a selection of questions you have created to see how much they know about the ever-changing world of Search Engine Optimisation?

Top Tips for Utilising a Business Twitter Profile

No matter where you are, it seems that you can’t escape the internet giant that is Twitter. Created in 2006 by Jack Dorsey, the social media outlet has grown from strength to strength and at present has well over 200 million active users who generate in excess of 65 million tweets a day; some interesting, some not so (not looking at anyone in particular Charlie Sheen!!)

With a growing number of businesses now creating Twitter profiles to showcase products and highlight services, celebrities trying to plug a new book or detailing the escapades of a night on the town are now being pushed to the background.

To ensure you don’t miss out on the phenomenon that is Twitter for your business, here are a few top tips for getting the most out of your profile;

1.    Branding

When creating a profile make sure your profile name matches as closely to your business name as possible. If you can reflect your services through your Twitter username, all other users will know exactly what you have to offer and, all being well, will follow you to keep up to date with your news and thoughts.

Once you have your profile set up, the next step to consider is your short company biography. Remember you only have 160 characters to work with on the bio so keep it short, sharp and to the point but cover everything that is worth knowing. Add the URL for your website and the basic setup is all done!

2.    Gaining Followers

The most effective way of gaining followers for your profile is to get out there and follow relevant companies/individuals/organisations who you feel will be interested in what you have to say. If they aren’t bothered about your profile they won’t follow you back in which case you scrap them and move on!

The more profiles you are initially following, the better chance of gaining more followers for your profile which is when the real fun can begin.

3.    Tweeting

Whilst many of the older generation ask what the hell this is when you incorporate it into a conversation, as a business owner it is essential that you maximise the potential of your Twitter presence with regular tweets (updates for those who are still a bit behind).

If you have an RSS or news feed on your website, you can aggregate this to the profile so every time a news item is uploaded to the news feed, a link to it will automatically be tweeted on your profile. It is then down to you to add further tweets. How about considering a ‘Product of the Day,’ a link to relevant national industry news features or retweeting another users tweet? This can all help to develop interest in your profile, however remember not to overload as people can quickly get annoyed with tweets every half an hour; 2 or 3 times a day at max if you can.

4.    Contacts

Once you have established yourself, the time now comes for you to get out there and interact with people. Think of it as if you have been sat in a bar for a couple of hours and have finally plucked up the courage to go and chat to the attractive member of the opposite sex stood in the corner (they’ll be no sexism in this post!)

In addition to the previously touched on retweets, there is the option to direct message users or mention users in your own tweets by adding the @ sign before their name. A good level of interaction between you and your followers can build up your respectability whilst giving you the perfect opportunity to publicise what you have to offer (not in the same over dramatic way as some celebrities though, i.e. Katie Price)

5.    Build the Brand

As the months of regular use progress, you will effectively be increasing awareness of your brand on a grand scale (excuse the rhyme) and building new connections along the way. The aim is for you to start getting enquiries for business or interest in a product or service via Twitter for you to then convert into cold, hard cash which is undoubtedly the aim of the game for every business.

Investing in social media alongside your SEO campaign is a great way to get your business out there and show that you are keeping up with technology by being a part of the world’s largest online networking service. As soon as you have an understanding of how best to utilise your social media profile, the direction for you to travel will be paved out and the rewards from this will steadily role in. I hope these top tips will help you along the way.