What is the customer journey?

The customer journey is a path that customers travel along, from discovery to engagement and beyond.  Managing the customer journey is a critical aspect of your business, and it’s vital to get it right. Many companies put little-to-no thought into their customer journey and still manage to grow organically.  While this approach is ok for some small businesses, it’s just not good enough for long-term success.   Therefore, if you want to maintain success over the long term, then you need to plan the customer journey carefully.  Then you should optimize that plan where possible to maximise the ROI of your marketing efforts.

In fact, recent statistics show that over 50% of organizations will implement business model changes in an attempt to improve customer experience, while 72% of businesses cite improving customer experience as their top priority.

Why is it essential to managing the customer journey?

Your customers may already be trickling in.  But imagine what would happen if you combined that with a strategic customer journey to make the process more efficient.  Getting started isn’t always easy, especially if you’re not too sure what you’re doing.  Luckily, we’re here to help take your brand to the next level.   We’re about to walk you through the process of creating and managing the customer journey.  Learn how to control the way that people interact with your company from a passive observer to an active customer.

Getting started with buyer personas

Before you can map out the process of managing the customer journey, you need to understand who your customers are. Now, the chances are that you’ve already got a pretty good idea of who buys your products.  Therefore you don’t need to start from scratch.  You can leverage data on existing customers such as the industries they work in or the most common job titles.

From this, you can create as many different buyer personas as needed.  Some companies have a more varied customer base than others. The goal is to put commonalities together into a short profile. Give them a name and a brief biography so that it’s easier to talk about them internally.  Make sure to consider where they are on the buyer’s journey.  Have they only just heard of you or are they almost ready to make a purchase?

Important factors to consider when documenting buyer personas include:

Capture demographic information such as age, gender, and income.

This data is widely available and will help guide and shape your marketing strategy.    Hence customer demographics will determine how you build your website, how you advertise online and even your target market.

Learn where your customers are.

Location information such as geographic data will help you know where your customers are and how different locations may have different purchasing patterns.   This information can be used to target specific areas where you have a business presence and can support their needs.

Managing the customer journey includes knowing your customer goals and values.

Many try to use demographic information to make assumptions about customer goals, but this does not always work.  Instead try to get detailed information about your customer ‘s family structure, professional and personal goals and values.  This information can be a great indicator of buying behavior.

Create a buyer personas template

You can get started by Googling for buyer persona templates and picking one that works for you.  Customize it if you need to so that it includes all of the information that’s relevant. Then circulate those buyer personas, so you align everyone on your team with who you’re trying to reach.

Your buyer personas will eventually become one of your most valuable assets.  These assets will help both marketing and your company as a whole. For marketers, buyer personas allow them to target every message and every campaign towards a specific type of customer. For R&D departments, personas can be used to make sure that there’s a market for products and services before creating them.

Managing the customer journey involves identifying customer buying stages

When you’re starting to map out the customer journey, it can help to turn to an existing model to highlight specific steps along the way. One of the most popular models is the AIDA model: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Here’s how that works:

• Customer Attention

The first stage is to attract the customer’s attention. After all, they can’t buy from you if they haven’t heard of you! You can draw your customer’s attention in many ways, from running banner ads to getting lucky with a viral video. However you do it, you need to get the messaging just right so that you take that attention and turn it into interest.

• Customer Interest

When someone is interested in your company, they’ll be ready for a different type of content. They might want to get to know your team through reading a blog post or watching a YouTube video. Remember, though, that at this stage they’re not ready to buy. Your calls-to-action should focus not on scoring a direct sale but on persuading the customer that your product can help them.

• Customer Desire

Once someone is interested in your product or service, the next step is to create excitement. You can do this in many ways, from just showing how your offering can improve their lives to catching their attention through working with an influencer. Once the desire is there, your calls-to-action should switch so that they focus on pushing people to make a purchase.

• Customer Action

In this phase, your prospect becomes a customer by making a purchase. Remember, though, that your relationship isn’t over once they buy from you. In fact, it’s only just beginning. It falls on you to encourage them to spread the word about your company by turning them into brand advocates.
By using the AIDA model, you can identify areas of your marketing efforts that apply to different regions of the buyer’s journey. You can also make sure that your customer journey lines up with the buyer’s journey.  This alignment prevents sending out the wrong message and creates positive brand awareness.

Remember the Pareto principle as well. That means that 20% of your customers create 80% of your revenue.  Your job is to figure out which customers that 20 % are.  When you do, you will want to focus most of your budget towards winning their business. Measure your marketing and do more of what works.

Retention and advocacy complete the customer journey

The problem with the AIDA approach that is it doesn’t consider what happens after the purchase.   We know that after the sale is made a customer journey continues.  Your relationship with the customer will grow and change. Successful companies always need to retain and sell to existing customers.  Also, social proof is a huge part of marketing in the digital age. Therefore recruiting your customer as an advocate is also essential for your brand.  Thus a better approach is displayed in the graphic below.  We replace the AIDA model with awareness, consideration, purchase, retention, and advocacy.   At the “advocacy” stage the buyer journey starts all over again at “awareness” in a cycle of events.

Managing the customer journey includes creating buyer personas grid

Once you’ve identified who you’re trying to reach, and you’ve mapped out their personas, the next step is to place them on a grid.  One approach is placing your personas along the X-axis. Then your buyer journey stages are along the Y-axis. Then marketing teams focus on one cell at a time and brainstorm content ideas that could cater to that specific persona at that particular stage of the process.

Great marketing involves creating the right content for the right person in the right place at the right time. For example, if you’re trying to reach a busy executive then sending them an email at 8 AM on a Monday morning is probably a bad idea.  While just after bedtime could be a great time to reach stay-at-home parents on Facebook. Restaurants could post food photographs just before lunchtime to lure office workers with rumbling stomachs.  Mapping out this process on a chart allows you to double check that you’re creating food that people will want to consume.

Buyer personas create sanity checks and stop bad ideas

The buyer personas grid is also a great tool if you have an idea, but you want to sanity check it. Have you ever had to create a piece of content because your boss had a “great idea” or someone told you to do it?  If so, you’ll know how useful it can be to have something to fall back on when you need to say no.

Getting the place right can be difficult, especially in our modern omnichannel world. Consider offline channels such as direct mail and traditional advertising.  You need to make sure you’ve included a call-to-action with each piece of content.  Doing so will usher people along to the next stage of the customer journey.   Then you determine an ROI by comparing the results generated with the amount of time, money and resources used to fund your campaign.

Marketing automation and CRM systems

By now, you’re probably starting to worry about how you’re going to handle all of this.  Reaching the right person with the right message at the right time is the goal, but it isn’t easy. The process gets more confusing as you add more personas and more marketing outlets.  This confusion is why most serious marketers turn to automation.
Automation is significant because it allows you to set up triggers in advance.   Triggers can send an email campaign or automate your website to display different content for different customers. This benefit means that you can serve up optimized messaging for your target personas at any stage of the buyer’s journey.

In fact, automation tools can even help you to manage the customer journey as a whole. If you use a customer relationship management (CRM) system, you’re able to create records on every prospect.  You can even track every interaction they have with your brand. If they download an ebook on a particular topic and then they request a consultation call.  You can refer back to that download while simultaneously thanking them for sharing your company’s most recent social media post.

Lead scoring and beyond

Many CRMs come with built-in lead scoring systems.  Lead scoring allows you to assign points to prospects based their readiness to buy. In the example above, sharing a social media update might score one point while downloading an ebook scores five and requesting a call scores ten. There could also be a threshold in place when a lead hasn’t asked for a call; they receive one anyway because the CRM knows that they’re ready to buy.

In fact, lead scoring can be one of the most effective ways for B2B companies to boost their conversion rates.  It helps them make more money by being more strategic about controlling the customer journey.   For B2C companies, though, it can be less practical to use lead scoring campaigns.  It starts to make more sense to use retargeting and other technologies to push for a direct sale.

Managing the customer journey through change with online tools

A customer journey is never static, so you’ll never have it in full control. Instead, online marketing automation tools and customer relationship management systems allow you compensate.  Most online marketing automation tools help you gently nudging customers and potential customers along by providing relevant, personalized content.  This content, when done right, can cater to their needs and smoothly move them through the buying cycle.

Automation tools won’t help unless you’ve created buyer personas and mapped out the customer journey.  Don’t buy expensive software and fail to generate buyer personas or map out the customer journey.

While there are plenty of expensive tools to help companies to be more efficient, there are also lower-priced alternatives. MailChimp has even made some marketing automation tools available for free, a move which has shaken up the industry. This upgrade means you can take steps to manage the customer journey without expensive tools.  Furthermore, just having the buyer personas in place will change the way you do business.

Conclusion

Knowing who your customers are and what they want from you is the first step to managing the customer journey. Creating buyer personas and managing the customer journey makes sense and is the best practice. Hence if you’re not taking steps to map out and to optimize the customer journey; you’re going to be left behind by competitors who are.

Creating personas and mapping the customer journey concludes you’ll be delivering the right content to the right people. It can add a little backbone to your marketing strategy and help to align your company as a whole. Revisit your customer journey regularly to confirm that it’s relevant.  Then double check that you’re using it to make critical decisions. After all, a strategy is only useful if you apply it.   Good luck!

Do you need help managing the customer journey?  We can help everything from creating a dynamic website to creating engaging content for your blog.  Contact our team at 978-851-9077 for a consultation.

The post A guide to managing the customer journey from buyer personas through marketing automation appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

“There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down, simply by spending his money somewhere else.”

– Sam Walton, Walmart

What is your company’s greatest asset?

A lot of business owners and managers like to think their employees are their most valuable asset. Others think it’s their intellectual property that gives them an edge.

Sam Walton had it right: It’s the customer.

Why you need a customer advocacy program?

They say “the customer is always right” for a reason. It’s the customer that has the power to make or break our businesses, especially in the era of social networking when everyone is a potential influencer, and we’d be foolish to forget that. But many people see the customer as only a threat, and they spend their time trying to limit the potential for their customers to complain about them instead of giving them a reason to sing their praises.

In many cases, the customers want to help. They love your brand. And they want to spread the word by recommending it to their friends and family. It’s just that sometimes they need a little push, which is where customer advocacy programs come in.

What is a customer advocacy program?

A customer advocacy program is a marketing initiative that is designed to turn customers into spokespeople for your brand. A formal customer advocacy program does this by offering customer incentives. By doing this, you can encourage your best customers to take time out of their busy lives to spread the word about your company.

Don’t show them the money, show appreciation.

You can achieve customer advocacy through a variety of ways, but money is not one of them. In fact, it’s a bad idea to outright pay people. Doing so will send the wrong message and attract people with undesirable motives.

Instead of merely buying their loyalty, the goal is to offer a token gift of appreciation to reward the people who are already loyal to your brand. The goal is to make them take one more step by recommending you. Instead of looking at it as a transaction, treat it more organically like a relationship. You’ll find yourself developing the right customer advocacy program in no time.

Why turn customers into advocates?

Customers make for great advocates because they lend your brand credibility. Nobody trusts a nameless, faceless company when it tells them how great they are, but they do believe their friend Dave when he talks about exceptional customer experience in a Facebook post. It’s called social proof, and it’s the reason why we take the time to look at product ratings and to read customer reviews.

Another thing to remember is that a brand advocate will continue to spend money with your company. If you can take someone who’s just made their first purchase and turn them into a brand advocate, their lifetime value for your business will go through the roof. And I haven’t even mentioned the fact that they’ll also do your marketing for you at no extra cost.

All in all, creating brand advocates can be a low-cost way to spread your message through word of mouth to the people who it’s most likely to resonate. It’ll cost you less and be much more useful. What’s not to love?

How to Create a Customer Advocacy Program

Now that you know what a customer advocacy program is and why you might want to deploy one, the next step is to get started. The problem is that if you’ve never created a customer advocacy program before it can be difficult to know where to get started. That’s why we’ve done the hard work for you and distilled the approach down to five easy steps. Let’s go.

Step #1: Prepare yourself

One of the most common mistakes that people make with customer advocacy programs is that they dive right in without taking some time to prepare. For example, they’ll start up a customer advocacy program where they have to log the data manually, and then the advocacy program will take off, and they’ll end up processing vast amounts of data by hand.

Dedicate an employee to manage your customer advocacy program

On top of that, you’ll need a solid strategy in place which outlines exactly how the customer advocacy program will work, including how you’ll communicate the news about your customer advocacy program to the people who’ll be interested in taking part. You’ll need to do the same thing internally, too. In fact, you’ll need to pick out an employee and assign them the responsibility of managing the customer advocacy program and making sure that it happens.

Give your customer advocacy program credibility and resources.

For best results, it’s often a good idea to spread this responsibility across a team that encompasses employees from both marketing and customer service. Give them the time and the resources that they need to future proof your customer advocacy program and to adequately plan it out before you deploy it. Otherwise, you could be wasting your time and even doing more harm than good.

Step #2: Identify the right advocates

Ready to go out of your way to create and reward brand advocates? You’ll want to make sure that you’re targeting the right people. Not every customer will make a good brand advocate, and some will be more active than others. It’s usually a good idea to try to work with those who are already engaged in your industry. And if they are a busy and successful blogger or an expert with a following on social media you might just hit a home run without trying.

To do this, you’ll need to go to find people wherever they’re already spending their time. It might be social networking sites or on industry blog sites, and they might even be more comfortable to reach out to offline at in-person events. Creating a brand advocate follows many of the same principles as content marketing: you need to reach out to them at the right place at the right time with the right message.

The very best brand advocates will already have a reputation within the community. They’ll have an established history of participation from long before you reached out to them, and they should also have an existing social media following – if only a small one – that they can sing your praises.

Step #3: Develop a relationship

Now that you’ve got your infrastructure in place and a list of potential advocates to reach out to, the next step is to get in touch with them and develop a relationship. Don’t make the mistake of looking at this as purely transactional. Instead, think of it as a friendship and don’t be afraid to put some time in and to listen to what your advocates are saying. The conversation should be a two-way dialogue.

One way to develop a relationship is to show people that you trust them. Invite them to come to your office or allow them to try products before they are released. All you want in exchange is their feedback. You’ll also want to remember that relationships don’t spring up overnight. Just like a marriage, it’s something at which you’ll need to work. If you don’t put the effort in then, people will soon get bored and move their loyalty elsewhere.

Another common mistake is to think that you’re somehow done developing relationships. Building trust between your company and your customer advocates requires a continuous, ongoing effort. If you start to get complacent, then you risk allowing those relationships to stagnate. If you only ever reach out to people when you want something, they’ll notice.

Step #4: Facilitate communication

A customer advocacy program is all about communication. And that conversation can flow in different directions. Your advocates can act as a filter between your company and its customers by occupying the grey area in between, but they can also channel information the other way. Take this opportunity to listen carefully to what they’re saying. You’ll be able to take their feedback and pass it on to your research and development team. Hence the program will also allow your customer advocates can help you to improve your products.

It’s your job as the brains behind the customer advocacy program to make sure that your advocates have access to a platform that allows them to make their voice heard. This platform could be a blog, a forum or a Facebook group. It could be a mixture of all three and more, or a bespoke solution from a specialist software provider. Don’t just set it and forget it, though – you’ll need to invest some time of your own to moderate these communication platforms and to make sure that the information is up to date.

Remember that communication is vital, and that holds true even if someone’s unhappy. Negative feedback is still feedback, and you’d be crazy not to investigate it also if it turns out that there’s nothing in it. And you never know, you might examine a piece of critical feedback from one of your brand advocates and find out that they have a point. If that’s the case, you’ll want to take steps to fix it and to stop the problem from happening again.

Step #5: Make it the new norm

Once you’ve set up your customer advocacy program and started to see results from it, the final step is to fully integrate it into your way of working by making it a part of your protocols and workflows and offering full recognition to the advocates who change the way your business works for the better. Much of this will happen naturally, but you’ll also need to make a concentrated effort to keep the momentum going.

For B2C companies, this may mean inviting brand advocates to submit ideas for new products and even bringing them in-house to work with an R&D team. For B2Bs, it might involve empowering brand advocates to become public speakers and to attend events and conferences on behalf of the company. It looks different for every company, but you’ll know once you’ve got it right. Once customer advocacy becomes the new norm, it changes the way that you do business.

The great thing about customer advocates is that they’re a gift that keeps on giving. As long as you remember to put some time into your relationship, they’ll continue to use their voices to sing the praises of your company. After all, if you give someone a positive customer experience, then they tell their friends about it. A well-designed customer advocacy program just grabs hold of that concept and takes it to the next level.

Ten ideas to show appreciation in your customer advocacy program:

1. Give recognition in the form of leaderboards and shout outs on social networking sites.
2. Provide early access to new products and invite their feedback.
3. Give them a t-shirt or other wearable promotion that displays your brand.
4. Invite them to an exclusive event to meet your team
5. Create unique graphics badges that advocates can use on their blog or in social media
6. Encourage advocates to promote your company or product by asking them to post a photo on social media. Then re-post or retweet customer social media posts to show thanks and give recognition.
7. Involve advocates to coming up with ideas for new products and give them credit when you use their approach. Yes even if you already had planned on doing it anyway.
8. Ask for help to improve the way you do business. You might uncover issues you did not know about that are hurting your brand.
9. Have an essay or art contest. Publish the creative works and results on your website and social media.
10. Give thanks and show appreciation back for every effort your advocates make. Respond professionally and in a positive way to every comment.

Conclusion

Customer advocacy programs can be an exciting way to level up your marketing and to create a network of brand advocates who do your marketing for you. Just don’t make the mistake of relying entirely on a customer advocacy program. You’ll need a balance

Customer advocacy programs are best when used as part of a broader marketing mix.  This mix should include marketing automation and a process for managing the customer journey.   Used correctly, it can integrate with content marketing campaigns, SEO, social media marketing and all sorts of other online and offline marketing channels. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

As the customer’s voice continues to gain importance, it’s pretty clear that well-executed customer advocacy programs have a firm place in the marketing mix. This approach is most useful for companies that specialize in niches and dealing with specific types of customer.

If you sell Warhammer figures, for example, then the chances are that every gamer you reach knows a dozen more people who don’t just play Warhammer – they live it. All you need to do is give them a reason to sing your praises and your product will sell itself. Customer advocacy programs are here to stay.

The post 5 steps to creating a successful customer advocacy program appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

Follow these LinkedIn tips for success when creating a b2b LinkedIn Marketing Strategy

#1 – Document your LinkedIn Marketing Strategy with help from these LinkedIn Tips

Like every social media platform, LinkedIn has unique characteristics that require a tailored strategy.  Like any other strategy, you need to document your LinkedIn marketing strategy with specific actionable items, or it won’t happen.  Whether you’re trying to sell your products or services or looking for employment, having a well documented LinkedIn marketing strategy, is a great way to reach other business owners.  Continue reading our LinkedIn Tips and make sure you don’t make mistakes.

#2 – Never stop building your LinkedIn audience.

Follow this Tip by connecting with everyone on LinkedIn.  Don’t forget to include those in your professional and personal life.  Don’t stop doing this, because the more people you connect with, the more visibility and reach you have on LinkedIn.  Why?

• Continually building your connections improves your chances to rank well when someone does a search on LinkedIn for your expertise.
• A more extensive network of connections means that your activity will reach more people. Because your LinkedIn activity appears in the news feeds of your connections with every status update, comment and like. Likewise, your contacts activity as it relates to engaging with you and your posts will also appear on their connection’s feeds.

Thus the more connections you have, the broader your potential audience, so don’t stop building that audience.

#3 – Views are second to engagement.

#4 – Helpful content with great value can strengthen your brand.

#7 – It’s all about interaction – Create conversations.

You don’t just post an article on LinkedIn and leave it sitting. Think of it as a launching point from which to start a discussion with your readers. You see, LinkedIn openly reveals the identity of those who, for example, decided to “like” a particular post. Whenever someone leaves a comment, even if it doesn’t contain a question, you should still respond to it, thanking the person who started it.

#8 – Get inspired by reading other people’s comments.

Are there any particular things they’re mentioning? Do you recognize a pattern of people asking for a specific type of content? Comments contain a goldmine of information; it’s just as if people were to come to you and reveal what it is that they want to see. Then, all you have to do is write an article that answers these queries. Simple as pie.

#9 – Most LinkedIn users are professionals.

Keeping this in mind will help you a great deal when structuring your responses and posting new content. Knowing your target demographic will allow you to custom-tailor it to their needs and expectations. What you’ll find is that most of them are professional (at least when it comes to what they do) and are less likely to engage in petty arguments with others, unlike what’s rather commonplace on other social media.

#10 – Master the art of refining your writing.

If you didn’t get the response, you were hoping for, learn from your experience, and try to make it better next time. Was the title not exciting enough? Was the content a bit too dull and non-revolutionary? Letting your experience guide you makes all the difference. Hence once you learn what’s working from a bit of trial and error, you can apply that knowledge to all the other content you produce.

#11- Make sure you regularly update and keep your contacts engaged

Updating your article is one of the most exceptional tricks of the trade, especially if you haven’t attracted many readers when publishing it the first time around. Even if you add a paragraph or two, a graph, or maybe even an image, this is enough of a reason to let others know what you’ve changed. There is another benefit to this: you’ll be giving off the vibe that you’re pouring a substantial amount of effort into your work, which is bound to motivate plenty of those who missed out on it before to check you out.

#12 – Stay professional and positive!  Avoid posting controversial content.

Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube where you can go viral by posting issues that are controversial, a good LinkedIn marketing strategy requires a more professional approach.  For this reason, it is often more challenging, but not impossible, to go viral on LinkedIn.  It is the same reason you would not bring up politics in a business discussion.    Politics polarizes and therefore should never be part of your marketing strategy.  Thus a robust LinkedIn Marketing Strategy should steer clear of politics unless elections are your business.  Then, by all means, be a democrat or republican or whatever suits your fancy.

#13 – Publish on LinkedIn Pulse and your blog.

LinkedIn Pulse, much like LiveJournal, Blogger, and other free providers.  The service offers you a way to host your content for free. Yes, you don’t get much control regarding inserting your squeeze pages and ads. Yes, LinkedIn’s editors can take it down at any time if they so choose.

But (and this is a big one), in return, you can tap into an already-existing audience LinkedIn has established, and articles published on LinkedIn Pulse show up in LinkedIn’s search results more often, as well as in organic search engine results. You probably don’t need us to tell you the amount of authority LinkedIn has in the eyes of the search engines, and they’re giving you the option to ride that wave free of charge.

Of course, having your blog is essential as well, and you should not neglect this aspect of your business either. Now here’s a neat trick if you want to leverage the same piece of content and double-dip it by posting it on LinkedIn Pulse as well. Just be sure to mention where it was published originally in the opening paragraph. That should cut it. If you’re keen on siphoning that traffic and sending it to your website instead, you can also just copy and paste a snippet, and leave a link to where they can read the full version.

#14 – When is the best time to post to LinkedIn?

According to research done by Hubspot the best time to publish content on LinkedIn is during off work hours   This means, to get the best click-through rates, you should schedule your posts to release on LinkedIn after and before work and during lunch.  Hence you should target posting your content in the middle of the week between Tuesday – Thursday at times that correspond with the morning and evening commute.  (roughly 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 5-6 p.m.) as well as the lunch hour, around 12 p.m.

LinkedIn Tips Conclusion

Follow these LinkedIn tips as a guide.  In doing so, your LinkedIn marketing strategy can be one of the best ways to reach other business owners. Having access to such a highly targeted demographic is something you should take advantage of to get new clients. The final question is, are you willing to put in the sheer amount of work it takes to succeed?  Only you can answer that question.

Do you need help managing your social media marketing?  If you liked our LinkedIn Tips you will love what we can do for your business.  We can help everything from web design, LinkedIn marketing strategy to creating engaging content for your blog.  Contact our team at 978-851-9077 for a consultation.

The post 2017’s best LinkedIn tips and marketing strategy appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

Guest blogging can create substantial direct Internet Traffic from backlinks.

Location! Location! Location! This concept is the easiest for everyone to understand. Getting more foot traffic can equal more customers and more customers can equal higher sales. Think of how the placement of a company in a busy mall can help sales. Hence the location of your business is critical when it comes to sales. In fact, when entrepreneurs locate a company in busy economic areas, they have a better chance to get sales.  Therefore placing a good blog post on a busy blog will get your company noticed.  And, if the post includes a link that sends quality traffic to your website that can be a huge bonus.

Links can give you PageRank. What is PageRank and why does it matter?

For those who are new to PageRank, it is an algorithm used by Google Search to rank websites. Google named PageRank after Larry Page, one of Google’s founders. PageRank is one way to measure the importance of website pages. Google counts the number and quality of links and citations to a page to determine the significance of a website. The assumption is that high-quality sites are likely to receive more links and excerpts from other websites.

Since Lawrence Page invented PageRank (PR) in 1998, millions have focused on getting it.  This obsession is especially real for publishers and retailers who have adopted the Internet as their sole method for getting sales. Therefore if your business depends on the Internet for sales, you had better pay attention to PageRank.

For this reason, link building has been the focus of SEO efforts. And guest blogging has been one of the more successful approaches to link building.

Getting backlinks from websites using guest blogging.

The basic idea of guest blogging is to enter into a mutually-beneficial agreement with another webmaster. You provide quality content in exchange for a link back to your website. This trade is the basic idea of guest blogging in a nutshell. However, it gets more complicated because not all links have the same value. Furthermore, Google has expressed disapproval with large-scale guest blogging strategies as you will see.

“Do follow” backlinks matter most.

Because it easy to create links, search engines came up with a way to stop people from manipulating search results. Google created a special “no follow” tag that needed to be part of the link when the link is a paid or non-editorial link. Google felt that only citation links or links that are part of the editorial content of a website matter for PageRank. Therefore the “no follow” tag told Google that the backlink had no authority and should not transfer PageRank.

Natural links pass PageRank.

Guest blogging links are typically not ordinary backlinks! We’re talking about a high-quality, “do follow” editorial backlink from an authority website. Bloggers can create backlinks that are an intricate part of the subject matter.   In fact, backlinks are best when they support sticking points, facts or logical reasoning in a helpful blog post. They should not be part of some unnatural link building scheme or link exchange.

The placement and intent of backlinks are essential.

Natural backlinks are typically part of the main content in the primary area of a blog post. They are not some sidebar or a footer link. As most  SEO experts will agree, backlinks placed somewhere towards the center of content are the best quality backlinks.  Furthermore thinks that are in the navigation or sidebar of a website are placed in the same position on every page of a website. The odds of it being an advertisement or a paid link or are high.

Websites with the most quality back-links have the most authority and pass the most PageRank value.

This SEO value of backlinks is especially helpful if the domain they’re coming from has a lot of authority with search engines. The total number and quality of links that point to that website make up its authority value. Websites transfer that power to other sites when they link to them.

Keyword anchor text sends both PageRank and meaning.

When webmasters place a link on a website, it usually includes a word in the description. Words like read more or click here are unhelpful. We are talking about the keywords that people search for to find your business. More often called a targeted keyword because we use them to describe or identify something. Therefore when webmasters or editors use keywords as the anchor, it tells search engines that the website to which you are linking is about that word.

Google has taken an active position against direct link exchange programs, and this can include Guest Blogging.

Guest blogging, if done correctly, can be one of the most effective SEO strategies. The wrong approach can lead to opposite results. In some cases, Google will even go so far as to take action against your website if it has reason to believe you are running a link building scheme. Therefore you need to be careful not to promote a link exchange as a benefit to guest blogging.

Google expressly prohibits large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns with keyword-rich anchor text links.

Start by reading Google’s official position on guest blogging.  Does this mean that small-scale article marketing or guest post campaigns are ok? What about links without keyword-rich anchor text? At what scale do guest blog posts become a link scheme.  Google will not answer these questions because it will give too much information to spammers.   The take away here is that Google leaves open options for Guest blogging on a limited scale.  Therefore smart webmasters will want to take advantage of this opportunity.

Google’s algorithm can identify patterns of behavior that can make guest blogging qualify as a link building scheme.

Google is vigilant at identifying link schemes. If Google defines a pattern of behavior showing that you are exchanging links for something of value you will run into trouble. This situation will result in both your website and that of your guest bloggers will get penalized.

Why is Google against guest blogging?

Back in 2014, Google’s SEO Executive Matt Cutts made a considerable post encouraging webmasters to stop using guest blogging as a means of getting backlinks.

The real reason why Cutts started an anti guest blogging campaign is that there were just too many spammy, automated type of guest blogging requests that found their way into the webmasters’ inboxes. The problem with this is that these were mailed out on a massive scale without any personalization whatsoever.

The auto-approve types of websites are even worse in the big picture. They are willing to accept all kinds of content, regardless of its (lack of) quality, and the backlinks are often pointing towards spammy affiliate websites with zero added value to the visitor. Now, it’s probably much easier to see why Google wasn’t exactly fond of it.

If a guest post was detrimental to SEO, why are so many webmasters still doing it and why are established websites still accepting guest posts?

Simply put, Google isn’t against guest blogging per se, but they are against low-quality content and spamming. Some writers even tried to push this to the extreme by writing a single piece of material, then used various word spinners to mass produce variations of the same article that used different synonyms and trying to appear unique to the search engines. That way, they were able to game the system and only do the work once, gathering a ton of backlinks from their efforts. We strongly discourage this approach as it will lead to failure because Google is just too good at detecting these patterns of behavior.

Clean your house first before you start Guest blogging.

Before you consider starting a Guest blogging, it is important to have substantial quality content and an attractive website. Thus you will want to focus on getting your website up to date and in good working order. If you write an excellent article for a highly trafficked site, they may hesitate to give you a backlink. After all, they will be sending their customers your way and, who wants to visit a poorly designed website with old outdated content and broken links? Furthermore, bloggers are looking for high-quality sites to place content. If your website does not look promising, then the return regarding direct traffic might not be worth the time investment.

Can guest blogging help me without a backlink?

One way to prevent your website from getting into a link exchange penalty is to Guest blog in exchange for a company citation. Google is now using references to your NAP (Name Address and Phone Number) as part of its algorithm for ranking websites. While it is not as powerful as a link, the number of times your company name, address and phone number are listed online will have an impact on both organic and local SEO.

Furthermore, as a guest blogger, you are promoting a brand. By getting your name and company cited as the author at the end of your article, you are relating the content to you and your company. Furthermore writing great articles will help you build an excellent reputation for you and your business.

Thus, if you’ve managed to pique the readers’ interest, they’ll be naturally inclined to find your website to learn more about your business. Therefore, guest blogging has some immediate traffic benefits, with or without the link to your website. Furthermore, if you’re guest blogging on the right websites, it’s also going to consist of highly-targeted individuals.

Don’t just give your guest blogger a link, find relevant blog posts on their website that can enhance your user’s experience and cite them.

The way this can work is to have the blogger you are donating content to review your blog posts. If they find content that will enrich an article or inspire a new blog post, then they can use your website as a reference instead of making a direct link exchange. This approach shows Google that it was not a link exchange. Instead, your blogging partner reads an article on your website, and it helps inspire or provided facts needed for a topic they are covering.

The agreement can be, you will create content for a blogger. In return, they can spend some time reviewing content on your site. The goal of the review is to find articles to reference with an eye on improving the quality of both websites. Hence there is no direct link exchange or scheme involved in linking to your content. The purpose is to enhance the experience for visitors, and this is what Google wants webmasters to do most. Hence there is no clear profit motive for linking to your content.

Evaluate every guest blogging opportunity with the same vigor as you would if you were taking full-time employment.

Google’s guidelines are vague, but one thing is clear you need to go slow. Don’t jump into every guest blogging opportunity that comes around. If you do so, it could be part of an automated link scheme getting you in trouble. Learn more about your guest blog partner before you work with them. And only accept content from reputable sources. This reason is why the cleaning house step above needs to come first. If a website is worth your time investment, they should be doing the same evaluation of your site as you are theirs.

Start with the following tasks in evaluating possible guest blog opportunities:

– Review the content of sites you intend on being a guest blogger for and make sure they have nothing but quality content.
– Put their content through automated testing tools like Grammarly to see if there are excessive grammar or spelling issues
– Identify other backlinks to their content online and make sure they are on reputable websites.
– Make sure they are not stuffing content with too many redundant keywords

These procedures will prevent future problems with guest blogging.

The evaluation described above is not done once and forgotten. After you agree to guest blog, you have entered into a long-term partnership. Future changes to your partner’s website and approach can impact your website. Therefore both websites need to continue to follow similar guidelines:

– Take great care in the way both sites are linking
– Don’t overstuff articles with links.
– Keep links organic and use quality sources.
– Avoid repetitive keyword anchor text links.
– Include some links without keyword-rich anchor text
– Don’t guest blog with websites in which you are not familiar.
– Check spelling and grammar, if there are a lot of mistakes you may want to pass.
– Place links in different places, not always at the end of posts and not on the same blogs. Differentiate and mix it up.
– Only work with blog partners that are relevant to your industry and write articles covering topics that are related to your website

How much traffic and business can I expect from Guest Blogging?

Of course, the amount of traffic you’re going to get by piggybacking on other people’s websites depends on the daily amount of visitors they’re getting. If you’re going to be posting your articles on a relatively smaller niche blog, you can’t expect miraculous results. But it will undoubtedly help you in some way. Bear in mind that a small amount of high-quality traffic is always better than a heap-load of non-quality traffic.

Optimize your website for conversions

For your efforts to bear fruit, it’s important to optimize all of your landing pages for conversion. That way, you can ensure that the maximum number of visitors will decide to become your customers and set yourself up for the best chances of success.

On branding and getting authority

It’s probably not hard to guess that not every webmaster out there is going to be willing to accept your submission. This fact is especially true if you’re an unknown entity in your niche. Don’t let this discourage you from trying to get your articles published if you believe you’re genuinely doing your best to produce something worthy of reading.

More than anything else, it’s a numbers game. But don’t start spamming webmasters’ inboxes in hopes of getting a “yes.” It’s just not going to happen. Instead, you should take things slowly and message them one by one. Take the needed time to review their websites and structuring a coherent personalized proposal.

After a while, after your brand becomes recognized in the industry, you’re going to have an easier time getting approved. You may also see other people coming to you and asking you to be a guest blogger for them. Hence it’s easy to get things running after you’ve made a name for yourself in a given industry, although – admittedly – this can take quite a while to achieve.

How to find guest blogging opportunities

You can use specialized search engines built for that purpose, or simply use the one you probably know best: Google! Using a simple formula such as the ones we’re going to outline, you can quickly and easily identify guest blogging opportunities in the important niches:

“[keyword]” + “write for us”
“[keyword]” + “guest blogging”
“[keyword]” + “contribute”
“[keyword]” + “writing opportunities”

And so on. You get the idea.

Conclusion

So no, guest blogging isn’t dead, at least not if you’re trying to generate authentic, well-researched, and high-quality content. If anything, it’s a triple win: you get a backlink or citation from an authority website, the webmaster gets excellent free content, and the search engines can index another article that’s designed to answer the search queries of their users. By doing it right, everyone wins.

Guest blogging, if done right, is as strong as ever. Why not start your own guest blogging efforts to get quality backlinks for your website.   After all, quality guest bloggers are a positive force in the search engine ecosystem, and there’s no reason why this would change.

If you don’t have a blog yet or need some help getting started contact one of our marketing consultants at 978-851-9077.  We are happy to help.  You might also want to read this blogging guide: How to make a successful blog – 8 helpful Tips for first time bloggers

The post Is guest blogging dead or alive? SEO benefits, backlinks, Google PageRank and More! appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

Websites and blogs still cite this publication as a reference for why people share online.  Broken are hundreds of links to the report.  The report’s website was taken down in 2016.  Hence it created an undesirable impact on the SEO and credibility of the websites that link to the page.

We set up this page as a backstop until there is a new study on “Why people share online.”

Therefore, feel free to link to the page as a reference.

The Psychology of Sharing, Why do People Share Online

You can also link to the original PDF below.

NY Times Study: the Psychology of sharing, why people share online.

This study was used as a reference in our article: Learn how to go viral on Facebook by posting shareable content.  We hope it helps you with your social media marketing.

Publications, Academic Research, and Studies on Why Do People Share Online,  Sharing on Social Media and Social Networking Behavior

1) Everyone is too distracted to stop sharing fake news, study shows

Published on PBS science June 26, 2017, 4:06 PM EDT

Nsikan Akpan the digital science producer at PBS did a great job reporting on the nature magazine publication on why people cannot stop sharing the fake news.  The study found that when news feeds are overflowing, people have a difficult time discriminating between fact-based stories and fake news on social media. The problem stems from how social media platforms work, and may also explain the popularity bias in modern journalism.

This news story is based on the Nature human behavior study and publication – Limited individual attention and online virality of low-quality information, PUBLISHED: 26 JUNE 2017 | VOLUME: 1 | ARTICLE NUMBER: 0132

About the Authors: Xiaoyan Qiu, Diego F. M. Oliveira, Alireza Sahami Shirazi, Alessandro Flammini and  Filippo Menczer

2) Why Is Facebook So Successful? Psychophysiological Measures Describe a Core Flow State While Using Facebook

Published On December 2011 in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking Vol. 14, No. 12

The study explores whether the use of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) elicits a specific psychophysiological pattern.  It also records specific positive and negative effects using SNS has on individuals.  What aspects of the social networking experience make SNSs so successful?  Hence, the increasing use of SNSs shows that people use SNS because they have a positive experience when they use them.

About the Authors:

Maurizio Mauri – Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences, IULM University, Milan, Italy.  Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Pietro Cipresso – Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences, IULM University, Milan, Italy.  Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano–IRCCS, Milano, Italy.

Anna Balgera – Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences, IULM University, Milan, Italy.

Marco Villamira -Institute of Human, Language and Environmental Sciences, IULM University, Milan, Italy.

Giuseppe Riva – Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, Istituto Auxologico Italiano–IRCCS, Milano, Italy.  Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy.

3) The Importance of Sharing Experiences – Two new studies suggest that extraordinary adventures are overrated—unless you have them with someone else.

Published in the Atlantic in October 2014, is about two recent studies in Psychological Science.   The results suggest: 1) that unusual experiences can have a social cost, in that they alienate us from our peers who did not share those experiences with us. 2) Sharing experiences—even with a complete stranger—makes people rate those experiences as more intense than people who underwent them alone.

About the Author: Olga Khazan is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

4) Beautiful friendship: Social sharing of emotions improves subjective feelings and activates the neural reward circuitry

Published in October 2014 in the Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Volume 10, Issue 6, 1 June 2015, Pages 801

While not about online sharing, this publication provides insight into the basic human motivation to share and affiliate with others in emotional situations.  Researchers in Germany evaluated the effect of social sharing of emotions on subjective feelings and neural activity by having pairs of friends view emotional movies at a cinema either alone or with the friend.   As a result, the study showed that people appreciate the company of others because their mere knowledge of the presence of a peer who shares the same emotional experience is subjectively rewarding.

About the Authors: Ullrich Wagner, Lisa Galli, Bjorn H. Schott, Andrew Wold, Job van der Schalk, Antony S. R. Manstead, Klaus Scherer, Henrik Walter

Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Division of Mind and Brain Research, 10117 Berlin, Germany, University of Münster, Department of Psychology, 48049 Münster, Germany, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, 10117 Berlin, Germany, Cardiff University, School of Psychology, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK, and Swiss Center for Affective Sciences, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland

5) New, More Rigorous Study Confirms: The More You Use Facebook, the Worse You Feel – Holly B. Shakya,  Nicholas A. Christakis, April 10, 2017

Published in the Harvard Business Review and covers the impact that Facebook can have on our self-esteem.

Written in 2017, the study and research show that the use of Facebook and social media may; detract from face-to-face relationships, reduce investment in meaningful activities, increase sedentary behavior by encouraging more screen time, lead to internet addiction, and erode self-esteem through unfavorable social comparison.  Furthermore, the sheer quantity of social media interaction may detract from more meaningful real-life experiences.   Consequently, the exposure to images and content from others’ lives leads to negative self-comparison.

About the Authors: Holly B. Shakya is an Assistant Professor of Global Public Health at UC San Diego.  Nicholas A. Christakis is the Director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University and Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science.

6) Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature – Daria J. Kuss and Mark D. Griffiths

This review was published in the  International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and covers ‘addiction’ to social networks on the Internet and the potential mental health problems it can create.

Published in August 2011, this study covers the ‘addiction’ to social networks on the Internet and potential mental health problem for some users.  The focus of the publication includes a study of six areas of human behavior on Social Networking Sites (SNSs).   Areas of interest include: (1) outlining SNS usage patterns, (2) examining motivations for SNS usage, (3) examining personalities of SNS users, (4) examining negative consequences of SNS usage, (5) exploring potential SNS addiction, and (6) exploring SNS addiction specificity and comorbidity.

About the Authors: Daria J. Kuss  and Mark D. Griffiths are from the International Gaming Research Unit, Psychology Division, Nottingham Trent University, NG1 4BU, UK

Finally, here is our own comprehensive list of why people share online.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

The post NY Times Study: The Psychology of Sharing, Why do People Share Online appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

If you want to go viral on Facebook, you have come to the right place. First of all, if you’re going to get any return on your investment posting, shareable content must be a big part of your marketing strategy.

The benefits of shareable content should be easy to see. By motivating your Facebook followers to share your content more people are going to know about your business. This engagement will almost always create significant traffic, and this is what every business owner needs. After all, it cost you nothing and the social value it produces is substantial. Furthermore, the benefit will be even more meaningful if the message reaches your targeted audience.

Doing this right could also trigger a snowball effect, making your content go viral. This result is the ideal goal you want to achieve. However, there is no foolproof formula on how to go viral on Facebook; it’s just that certain types of content have a higher chance of striking a home run than others.

Before your content can go viral on Facebook, it’s important to understand the reasons why people are inclined to share content in the first place.

Why do people share content?

A New York Times study revealed the human psychology behind why people share content online, and they do it for the following reasons:

– Educate: 73% of them state they can process the information more clearly and thoroughly when they share.

– Influence: 49% of the respondents say that they want to influence the opinions of others or inform them about a specific cause.

– To help others: the vast majority of the respondents (94%) want the content they share to be helpful to the recipient.

– Personal identity: 68% of respondents share content because they want to create a persona and associate themselves with specific activities or values.

– To connect with people: 78% share content online since it allows them to remain in touch with the people. 73% of them do so because it will enable them to establish new connections with people who have similar interests.

– Feelings of participation: 69% of people share content because they feel more connected to the world.
– To support: 84% of respondents want to help a cause or bring attention to specific issues, and sharing content online allows them to do that.

View the New York Times Study on The Psychology of Sharing: Why Do People Share Online,

The types of content that go viral on Facebook

Now that we’ve established the reasons why people share content online, it’s time to look at what types of content are the most suitable to invoke the desired response (in other words, get users to share and make your post go viral on Facebook).

1. Shareable content can give

The giving could be special offers, discounts, limited-time sales or contests. As long as there is a benefit, they will happily share it with their friends. This sharing is especially true in the case of giveaways with progressive rewards (as in the more people participate, the more prizes are given out).

2. Shareable content can advise

If you can provide helpful material that gives good advice, you’re onto a winner. Think about solving a problem, achieving something, or overcoming an obstacle. However, it does need to be related to your business to make an impact on your revenue.

3. Shareable content can warn

If there is an impending danger of any sorts, people will be motivated to share it to inform their friends.

4. Shareable content can entertain

Entertainment is a surefire way to success, especially if it clicks with a broad user profile. Funny anecdotes, pictures, and quotes are a great way to entertain your audience. The only thing to look out for is that the humor is not too offensive to a specific group of people since you don’t want to offend your followers.

5. Shareable content can motivate

Inspirational quotes and stories get people moving towards a particular goal in their lives, and carefully picked inspirational material can go a long way towards getting lots of shares.

6. Shareable content can amaze

If you can come up with amazing pictures, that’s great. Fact listing is also excellent, as long as you keep it relevant.

7. Shareable content can unite

People are naturally inclined to form groups based on personal, religious, or other types of values and beliefs. That way, they feel like they belong to a group, which allows them to reinforce their standpoint.

How does Facebook measure user engagement?

Facebook does, in fact, measure user engagement regarding shares, views, likes, clicks, reactions, the number of people reached, and so forth. With the help of these metrics, Facebook can quickly determine which types of content the users consider to be the most interesting.

User engagement is essential since it has a direct effect on how many people will see your posts. In other words, your reach depends on the user engagement of the content you post. In the end, a high user engagement on Facebook shows that you have a quality audience and that you tend to share content that matches their interests.

A quick word on getting ideas

Getting ideas is much more comfortable than what you might think, and we’ll let you in on a little secret:

Follow the Facebook pages of your competitors, observe what works and replicate it.

That’s it! Of course, you shouldn’t just copy and paste other people’s content directly, but it’s a great way to get a tip on what you should be doing.

Then, all you need to do is to come up with quality content of your own, or – better yet – just link to relevant pieces of content you found online. If the material meets the criteria outlined above and you believe it is something your audience would enjoy, just run with it.

Ask others to share your content, and it can help you go viral on Facebook with little effort.

If you’re promoting a good cause, for example, there is no shame in asking others to share it. In fact, they will be glad to do it, since showing your support is a good deed, and it also portrays whoever shares it in a good light. Remember the vast majority of the respondents to the study as mentioned above (94%) want the content they share to be helpful to the recipient.

Now go viral on Facebook with a solid content marketing strategy

By reading this article, you’ve learned the most important reasons why people share content and the most shareable elements. By using this knowledge, you can increase user engagement, promote your business, and increase sales. Now you’re on your way to mastering Facebook and growing your business.

For more on this subject read this related article on how to “Create Viral Press Releases and Content“

The post Learn how to go viral on Facebook by posting sharable content appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

Follow these techniques and get free Facebook page likes and followers.

Once you’ve created a page on Facebook, the next logical step is to get free Facebook page likes and grow a following. Generally speaking, the more people that follow or like you on Facebook, the more exposure your business will get. After all, if no one sees your message, you’re probably not going to get sales, so it’s essential to build an audience of potential customers.

There are many things you can do to increase your following and get free likes on facebook. Often you can leverage the power of other online assets you’ve built to reach these goals. Today, we’re going to reveal some strategies you can use to create an audience by getting free likes on Facebook:

1) Link your profile to your page and get free Facebook page likes.

If you’re active on Facebook, chances are you’ve also established a personal profile that goes hand in hand with your brand. If you don’t mind associating your name with the name of your business, one easy way to get free likes is to connect the two. The simplest way to link your profile to your business page is to fill in the “work” category and drop a link to it your page.

Doing so is rather straightforward. Navigate to your page, find the “work and education” section, then select your business page as your place of employment. That’s all there is to it! Just make sure you set your Facebook page permissions to public, and you’re good to go.

2) Invite everyone you know to like your Facebook page.

Many feel asking your friends to like your Facebook business page is shameful. They believe it is necessary to earn likes and followers with quality posts, photos, videos, and content. It doesn’t count if you invite friends and family to like the page. It’s like asking your mother for a review. Of course, she will give you a good one, even if you just got out of jail for some federal crime.

While this may be true, I can’t think of a better reason why you need to ask friends to like your page. Likes are similar to reviews; we all look at them when considering if we should follow a page or not on Facebook. They are social proof that you are doing a good job. If you don’t have likes, it is harder to get likes and so on. So drop your ego and start asking your friends and family to like your page.

3) Customize your message and invite friends and family to do you a favor and like your page.

When you invite close friends and family to like your page, send it with a personal message. Include a plea to do you a personal favor to like your page. Make it a custom message, so they see you are sincere and not just sending out another dreaded mass email.

4) Give them a template to invite their friends.

If you have ever run for office before or volunteered for a political campaign, you may have sent a dear friend card. It’s how friends invite friends to vote for public officials. This approach works wonders when the public official is a newbie without a tarnished reputation. This method also works with a new Facebook page. An invitation to like a Facebook page is just like a dear friend card.

The template could be as simple as:

Dear [insert name],
My friend [name] has just launched a Facebook page [page name] on [page topic].
I know that the page will have fantastic videos, photos, and posts covering [page topic]. Also, please consider trying the services and or products that they are offering at [insert your company name and location] Unlike the competition, they are community focused and want to make a difference.  Thank you for your time and consideration. 

Your Friend 

John Doe

5) Promote your page by asking for free Facebook page likes on your website.

Most business owners also have a website that’s receiving search engine traffic. Why not take advantage of this to get free Facebook page likes well?

The most convenient way of doing this is to add a Facebook “like” button to every piece of content you post. That way, your visitors will be able to “like” your content without ever needing to leave your website.

6) WordPress can install Jetpack which includes a free Facebook page likes box widget.

If your working with a web designer that uses WordPress, getting free likes on your Facebook page is easy to do. Just install Jetpack for WordPress and enable the Facebook Like box widget.  Complete your options. Features include whether or not you want to show faces, message stream, and your total likes. Then place the widget in a sidebar, homepage or other visible section of your web pages.

Essentially, by putting a like button on your website, you are killing two birds with one stone. Not only is your Facebook page going to receive additional likes, but you’re also going to be adding the much-needed social proof.

7) Identify other opportunities where you can drop the “like” button.

Consider this approach for sign-up forms, login pages, thank you pages, footers of your email messages and so on. Once you start getting free Facebook page likes, you can determine which is the best approach for your business.

8) Get additional exposure from forum and blog posts.

By being active on forums and online discussions, you’re establishing yourself as an expert in your niche. This marketing strategy is useful for promoting your business because you are helping others. People typically appreciate being supported and will almost always return the favor? Why not use this to bring more attention to your Facebook page.

Furthermore, if you make a significant contribution, you will be liked and respected within the community. Other users will be naturally inclined to want to learn more about you and your business. As a result, it will increase the chances of them becoming your Facebook followers.

9) Don’t forget to ask for the like.

Sometimes it is not enough to be helpful and give quality advice. Even if you do, people may not automatically search for your Facebook page and give you a “like.” You will need to ask for the like. So don’t forget to ask users to like your Facebook page after you have helped them out or at the end of a great forum post.

10) Posting relevant and engaging content will produce free Facebook page likes.

Perhaps this section deserves a dedicated article, but just to cover the main idea here, it’s important to mention that your followers typically come to you looking for one thing in particular: high-quality content. It should be relevant and tailored to your audience’s interests (also regarding age groups, education, etc.)  Read this Tips for first-time bloggers article for more on creating helpful content.

Whenever you decide to post a new article on your page, you should also make a post about it on the Facebook page (and other social media if you’re using it). This technique will give them a reason to keep an eye on what you’re doing, and if your content is fantastic, they’ll share it with their friends too (however, asking them to do it doesn’t hurt either).

11) Sharing is caring! Especially if you get free Facebook page likes from it.

Now, don’t limit yourself by posting the content you’ve created exclusively. While this should be a part of the overall equation, linking to content that others have written, as long as it’s relevant and well-written, will motivate your followers to keep coming back for more. After all, your knowledge, personality, and good taste are the main reasons why they’ve decided to become your followers in the first place.

12) Shop the competition and take notes on how they get free Facebook page likes.

If you run out of ideas on what to post, it doesn’t hurt to check what your competitors are doing. The important thing to grasp here is that you shouldn’t create the same posts or link to the same articles. Instead, try to dig deeper into the topic or put your unique spin on things.

Hence reviewing the competition lets you get a general feel for what they’re feeding their followers. If you see it helps them, do something similar, but always put a unique spin on things.

13) A word on Facebook post consistency.

Adopt the mindset that growing your Facebook audience is a marathon and not a sprint. You are unlikely to achieve massive results overnight. However, if you work on increasing your Facebook followers and likes slowly and steadily, good results are bound to follow.

14) Whether you do it yourself our outsource – just make it a priority.

The catch is to focus on things that work and leaving everything else behind. After all, social media marketing requires some serious work and dedication on your part. In fact, many business owners decide to outsource the social media management part of their business, either because they don’t have the time to do it or because they prefer to be doing other things.

It is essential to stick to a schedule and post something at least a couple of times a week. It could end up never getting done if you do it whenever time allows you. In any case, just make sure that the quality of what you post doesn’t diminish merely because of time constraints.

15) Identify your kind of people on Facebook and get them to like you.

Finally, don’t forget to focus on the people who share similar interests. If you are networking or engaging in online discussions to promote your business, you need to target the right audience. Your time is well-spent if you’re addressing the right type of people (in other words, those who are interested in what you have to say).

Conclusion: Get out there and ask for free Facebook page likes.

Hopefully, you’ve learned a couple of tricks on building an audience on Facebook. After this is taken care of and you’re reasonably satisfied with the results, it’s important not to rest on your laurels and keep on going with what’s brought you this far. After all, fans, followers, and potential prospects are the lifeblood of every thriving business.

Once you have mastered marketing on Facebook with one page you might want to look at the benefits of getting more than one Facebook page.

The post Build an audience of followers with free Facebook page likes appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

Marketing automation is not just for big companies anymore.

Marketing automation is big business, these days. Let’s face it; we’re all marketers in the age of blogging and social media. Even if we’re not marketing our companies in the workplace, we’re job hunting on LinkedIn, promoting the blogs that we write or merely seeking a little attention and validation from a Facebook update.

At the same time, large companies are deploying social media marketing campaigns supported by digital advertising, or they’re hiring marketing agencies to do the work for them. For smaller companies, or for individuals and self-employed workers who are trying to cut through the noise, it can all seem a little daunting.
But there’s good news: you don’t need to spend a fortune to do marketing like a professional. In fact, marketing is more about strategy and engagement than flat out spending, and it’s often those with the smallest budgets who can outmaneuver the big spenders and who get the biggest and best results. Here’s how.

It’s all about marketing strategy.

When it comes to running a marketing campaign, the strategy is vital. The beauty of today’s tools like Facebook and WordPress is that it’s easy to sign up and get started, and that’s often better than flat out doing nothing. But at the same time, it’s important to put some thought in up front so that you’re investing your time where it’s going to make a difference.

Modern marketing is about reaching the right person with the right message in the right place at the right time.

To do this, it helps to create buyer personas for each of your most common types of customer and to make sure that every piece of content you create would be of interest to them. If you’re a blogger or your company is predominantly a publisher, the same thing applies – you just need to profile your readers instead of your customers.

Let’s face it, in this digital world there’s no escape for your customers.  No matter who you’re trying to reach, there is a cost-effective way to reach them. Even when their computers and their mobile phones are off, their Amazon Echoes and Google Homes are still listening. The key is to find out where they are and how you can help them, and then to deliver a piece of content that does the job.

Marketing Automation, if done right can produce huge dividends.

Now, you’re probably curious how you are going to handle all of this. Tailoring your message to every single customer takes a lot of time if you do it manually, which is why most people turn to marketing automation tools. At their most basic level, automation tools can help you to schedule social media posts or emails or to set up autoresponders, while at a more advanced level they tap into customer relationship management (CRM) systems or they nurture leads along the buyer’s journey until they’re ready to make a purchase.

You can start marketing automation today for under $100.00.

There’s a perception that these tools are expensive to purchase and cumbersome to use, but that’s not true anymore. In fact, one of the best things about digital marketing is that the barrier to entry is relatively low. All you need to get started is a website with a domain name and an email address.  For do-it-yourself marketers, this can cost under $100.  From there, you can sign up for social networks or create a free MailChimp account to start building your email list.

Back in the early days of digital marketing, if you wanted to get something done, you had to use expensive specialist software to do it. And don’t get me wrong, those tools are still relevant. It is often worth splashing out on HubSpot or Salesforce if you’ve got the resources. When you’re marketing on a shoestring budget, though, that’s out of the question. Luckily there are alternatives.

MailChimp is giving away free marketing automation tools.

In May 2017, MailChimp announced that it would be providing marketing automation services for free to all of their customers – including the free accounts. This decision is huge news because it opens up marketing automation to the masses through an interface in which many are already familiar. In 2016 alone, MailChimp users sent nearly 250 billion emails, leaving no doubt that it’s a significant player in the email marketing marketplace. And if you have less than 2,000 subscribers, it is available for free!

Social media websites take target marketing seriously.

With MailChimp, you can set up free drip emails to your customers, but it’s not the only tool you’ll want to use. Social networking sites are your friend as well because their advertising options allow you to deliver your message to only the people that you want to reach. For example, if you are a Red Sox fan located in a specific town, social media websites know this by your activity (who you follow, like and mention) and freely share this with advertisers.

Target Facebook users directly, just upload contact information.

Facebook takes target marketing to the extreme by letting advertisers create and upload a custom audience of customers and target them directly with your ads. Hence you can focus only on your customers and reach those who have already purchased from you.  Happy customers are always more likely to buy from you again.

MailChimp has partnered with Facebook so you can run those same ads without leaving MailChimp. MailChimp makes it possible for you to run ads targeting Facebook users that are already on your email list. In other words, with MailChimp, you can send the same message to the same person both in their inbox and on Facebook the same day at a low cost.

Google lets you follow people all over the web.

In a similar vein, Google will allow you to use a simple piece of tracking code to create ads that will follow your website visitors as they surf the web. Google calls this Remarketing, and it works even if someone visits your website for a short time.

Small businesses compete with large ones using high tech marketing tools and strategy

Smart advertisers combine the email marketing automation of MailChimp with the extreme targeting capabilities of Facebook.  This lets them reach known prospects and customers easily. They also use Google Remarketing to follow those who stumble on their website. Therefore, by the right combination of the services described above even a small business owners can market like a pro on a shoestring budget.

Marketing Automation will help manage your customer journey.

You’ve got your buyer personas, and you understand how automation can help you to reach the right people with the right message at the right time. You also know which tools you can use to increase the relevancy of your messaging without burning a hole in your wallet. Now it’s time to think about the customer journey.

What is customer journey and why is it important?

The customer journey is the term used for the path that someone takes between first discovering your company and making a purchase. It even continues far beyond that in terms of the aftercare that you provide.  It can also include whether customers go on to recommend your company or make a second purchase. You can’t control the path that your customers take, but you can map it out and try to usher them along the way.

This is where those automation tools come in. With MailChimp,  you can set up emails that will automatically be sent if they’re triggered by an event.  This can be almost any event including:

• Scheduling ‘Happy Birthday’ emails
• Adding new subscribers to an introductory email series
• Following up with people after they visit your pricing page or abandon a shopping cart.

People need guidance on their journey. Don’t keep them waiting.

Your website visitors and your email subscribers are waiting for you to tell them what to do next. In fact, the reason why marketers use calls-to-action is that they work. Furthermore, if you use a free split testing tool to optimize your calls-to-action, you can guide as many visitors as possible along their journey. (you can do it using Google Analytics)

The same thing applies when people sign up to your email list. You’ll want to use the emails you send them to guide them along the buyer journey until they’re ready to make a purchase. You can test subject lines and other factors within MailChimp to see what gets results, and you can even follow up on transactions to make sure that people are happy or to ask them to complete a survey.

This approach will help you create a picture of individual customers so that you can send them even more targeted messaging. For example, if someone has purchased from you in the past and has shown an interest in a specific product or service, you can send a targeted message to them. This approach is more efficient than if you didn’t have any data on who they were and what their interests were.

Conclusion: Even small businesses can automate and personalize marketing campaigns.

This article should give you a good idea of how the pros use automation and personalization to market their companies. You should also know which tools are out there to help you to get started on a shoestring budget. Using MailChimp marketing automation alone can help you to make more sales, boost customer loyalty and encourage repeat purchases. MailChimp becomes even more useful when you combine it with other tools like Facebook custom list advertising.

When you get the strategy right, and you perfect your messaging, you’ll start to see results flowing in, and the good news is you can scale this approach as it begins to deliver an ROI. MailChimp is only free for up to 2,000 subscribers, but by the time that you have 2,000 subscribers you’ll be making enough revenue for the investment to be worthwhile. MailChimp is betting its entire business model on this assumption. Likewise, you might want to scale up your advertising efforts as your shoestring budget starts to increase from all of the sales that you’re making.

And remember that while your shoestring budget might feel like a hindrance, you have something that those huge companies with global marketing departments don’t. You can be nimble and authentic instead of slow and corporate, and people respond to that. If anything, you’ve got an advantage. So why are you waiting? Start automating your marketing efforts and bring in the customers?

If you need help setting this all up, don’t hesitate to contact our team of marketing consultants.   Just call 978-851-9077

The post Marketing Like a Pro on a Shoestring Budget appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

There is a strong business case for accessibility in web design.  In fact, it is becoming one of our favorite SEO strategies.

Our SEO team recently wrote an article on Google’s latest web development tool Lighthouse and its accessibility audit features. The main point of the article was that Google’s Lighthouse accessibility audit tool offered a boost for online accessibility.

Writing this article made us wonder if accessibility in web design could translate into more significant SEO benefits.  As a result, we discovered some SEO secrets we will share with you today.

The Accessibility & SEO Myth

Our first discovery was a post called The Accessibility & SEO Myths written by a well-known accessibility blogger named Karl Groves.  The blogger’s post argued that there is no business case for accessibility web design to be SEO friendly.   He explained that there is only a small number of areas where SEO and accessibility in web design overlap.  Our SEO experts recognize that he makes a valid point, but we disagree with his conclusion. The overlap may be small, but it is significant and a growing trend.  Hence accessibility in web development is becoming more and more compatible with basic SEO principals. Here is why.

Video captions have enormous SEO value and are critical for online accessibility.

According to a recent study by Facebook:

• 450 million videos were viewed on Facebook throughout the five-day shopping period from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday, November 23-27, 2017.
• Among people surveyed by Facebook in the US, 30% of mobile shoppers said videos are the best medium for discovering new products.
• Facebook confirms that when feed-based mobile video ads play loudly when people aren’t expecting it, 80% react negatively, both toward the platform and the advertiser
• Facebook research disclosed that 47% of the value in a video campaign was delivered in the first three seconds, while up to 74% of the value was produced in the first ten.
• According to a recent digiday.com study, 85 percent of Facebook videos are watched without sound

It is not surprising that people don’t disturb others and keep the sound off when watching videos.  The statistics above prove that videos have great potential for marketing online.  Furthermore, the captioning of a video is critical to get a users attention when it is needed most in the first three to ten seconds.   Hence, captioning is a big part of the online content experience for everyone, not just people with disabilities.

Captioning videos help everyone today, not just those with disabilities.

In summary, this is why captioning videos help both accessibilities in web design and SEO.

• The popularity and effectiveness of using videos for online marketing are increasing.
• Good quality videos keep people engaged, hanging out and coming back to your website and social media pages.
• Captions are required to capture the attention of viewers in the critical first three seconds
• Videos with captions are 85% more likely to be watched in full by people on Facebook and social media.
• Captions improve an advertisers chances of getting the full message across in a positive way.

The economic benefit and business case for accessibility in video captioning is compelling. This argument is valid for both social media marketing and SEO.

Make sure you read and edit the results when using automated tools to create captions.

There are SEO benefits to captioning videos. However, the impact will not be the same if those keywords are messed up by the auto-caption tool.  Furthermore, individuals with disabilities are not the only ones using captions. Therefore issues with poorly captioned videos will impact the experience of a much broader audience.

Transcribe audio podcasts for accessibility in web design and SEO.

Creating audio content with text alternatives is an underutilized SEO strategy. It is time to reevaluate your approach if you are still building web pages with 100 words with a link to a 1-hour audio file. Why not transcribe the audio clip into a page that is rich with SEO friendly content.   This method will make your message SEO friendly and accessible to millions that cannot hear your podcast.

Online SEO tools encourage substantial word counts for content on a page.

One of the more popular SEO tools is Yoast SEO. This software is an SEO plugin for WordPress that scores the SEO value of a page or post. Millions use the plugin. The plugin analyzes your content and recommends no less than 300 words on a page.  Therefore transcribing audio and video is one way to boost your word count without a lot of extra work.

Image alt and title attributes are helpful for SEO and accessibility in web design.

Unlike text, pixels make up digital photos and graphics. Unfortunately, pixels are not readable using today’s standard web browsers and assistive software. For this reason, assistive technology can’t help disabled users to know whats in a picture.  Alt Image and title text attributes are an alternative description of an image. These tags make it possible for both search engines and accessibility software to see the picture. Therefore Image alt attributes facilitate both SEO and readability for those who have blindness or impaired vision. Having images can make your content more attractive.  SEO standards recommend having at least one on every page of your website.

Image captioning provides visual detail about images for SEO and accessibility.

Captions are typically displayed underneath a photo visible and used for everyone, not just the visually impaired.  Both web and graphic design use captions for pictures. Sometimes a photo requires more information for the reader. The most common is a group photo where the caption tells the reader who is in the picture.  We recommend image captioning for SEO and meeting WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines. Hence, having a picture with a descriptive caption not only looks good from a design perspective it has both SEO and accessibility benefits.

SEO and accessibility in web design both require header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.)

The benefits of Header tags have documented going back to the beginning of the web design. Header tags organize the content of a page and need to have a logical order with H1 being the primary topic of a document. There can be only one H1 tag, and other headers follow in a nested hierarchy. It is important not to skip a header level. For example, going from H1 to H4 is confusing and undesirable.

In other words, header tags tell the reader what that topic is about like the name of a chapter in a book.   Sub-headers (h2, h3, h4, etc.) describe subtopics.

Link anchor text is critical for navigation and meaning in both accessibility and SEO.

For people to be able to navigate using a keyboard, a link anchor text is required. Disabled users navigate with the keyboard and do not use a mouse. For navigation to work screen readers need to read the link anchor text, so users know where the link will take them. The tab key allows users to go from link to link and the enter key performs the function of clicking on the link. Users with disabilities cannot navigate correctly without a precise and accurate link anchor text.

Anchor link text sends both page rank and a signal of meaning to search engines. The page that is linked to can get SEO benefits if the anchor link text includes essential keywords and phrases. Thus SEO and accessibility share the interests of good anchor link text. Where they differ is in the goal of their usage.

A good sitemap is an SEO and accessibility in web design benefit, especially for the large and complex website.

On-site sitemaps and breadcrumbs have SEO benefits by helping search engines index your content, while they assist visual and non-visual users with navigating. For sitemaps to be useful, they should be well organized and contain links to all content areas of your website.

The contrast, color, and size of text are essential for SEO and users who are visually impaired.

There are many levels of disability including those who have limited vision. When the text size, color, and contrast make it difficult to read these users with low vision can’t see or understand your website.

When it comes to SEO, search engines blacklist websites that use hidden text.   This black hat SEO technique what webmasters would use in the past to rank for keywords. Google states in its webmaster guidelines that the deceptive practices like hidden links and text will increase chances of your website getting delisted in a manual action.

Will accessibility in web design continue to improve SEO?

A better question is will Google Lighthouse make accessibility an integral part of SEO?   Lighthouse is Google’s latest dev tools for progressive application development that also contains a design audit test for accessibility.

Automated accessibility tools are not unique to the web.  However, Lighthouse is the only one included in Google’s new Flagship dev tool and Chrome.  It is where most developers are already testing there websites and applications. These same dev tools have testing audits for other well-known SEO ranking factors including mobile and page speed.

With all the benefits that SEO and accessibility in web design share, there is one thing holding back a complete match.

Google must make accessibility a ranking factor for accessibility in web design to succeed. Only then will SEO practitioners have a clear profit motive for making the web accessible to everyone. Google Lighthouse accessibility audit has the most potential to get us closer to this goal.

There may be a light, or Lighthouse, at the end of the tunnel for accessibility in web design.   For more on this topic read our article: Will the Lighthouse accessibility audit tool help make the web more accessible?

Contact one of our web design, SEO, and accessibility consultants if you need help making your website both SEO and WCAG 2.0 friendly.   Call 978-851-9077

Below are links to two WCAG 2.0 friendly websites that our team recently created:

• Pennichuck Corporation
• Pacific Gas and Electric Company

The post SEO Secret of the day: Accessibility in web design can help SEO appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.

This article on creating more than one Facebook page is the first of a series on finding success on Facebook and social media.

What are the benefits of creating more than one Facebook page?

Many business owners ask if it makes sense to create more than one page on Facebook.   You’d think that once you are done creating a facebook page, you can get to the business of social media marketing. Well, yes and no.  Depending on your business and background, you may want to consider creating another page.

With everyone else competing for your customer’s attention, a single page is rarely enough these days. More than one page will allow business owners the ability to reach a higher number of potential customers in a more targeted way. This approach can result in more sales and a more significant audience for your message.

Three examples where more than one Facebook page can pay off

Do you have more than one location?  A business with more than one location can benefit from more than one Facebook page.

You own a restaurant in numerous locations and wonder if it makes sense to create a facebook page for each site. Consider that your restaurants are in different communities, and each area has unique demographics. There will always be times you will want to send messages to customers of one town and not the other. For example menus, promotions and events may all vary between locations. You may decide to have a fundraising event for a local cause, and it makes sense to promote it only in one area. Hence multiple pages allow you the option to keep your posts targeted to your audience.  In doing so, you will achieve a better response rate and high-quality customer engagement.

Do you have promotional campaigns that benefit your community?  Whan it comes to cause marketing, more than one Facebook page can boost followers and engagement.

Setting up a separate page to promote the cause can increase your audience and their engagement.  This approach is especially true if your company’s promotional campaign has the dual purpose of promoting your business and bettering society.    For example, your business is hosting an annual event to promote a particular cause.  You may want to set up one page for your business and another for the fundraising event. Keeping your business and fundraising separate can result in more community interest on Facebook.  Your company will benefit as a result. After all, people are more likely to identify with, “follow” and “like” a cause than a for-profit company.

Does your business have a joint venture?  When it comes to joint ventures separate Facebook pages are a must-have.

The most obvious reason for more than one Facebook Page is when your company has a joint venture. In this case, setting up a separate Facebook page is a requirement. You will want to keep your primary business, and the new venture separated on social media.  You can still leverage cross-promotional opportunities on Facebook.  However, if that joint venture turns sour, you will want to escape the social media fallout which can harm both businesses.

Managing more than one Facebook page can be a challenge.

There is a downside to having more than one Facebook page for your business. The most obvious one is that having more than one Facebook page requires more work and makes things arguably harder to manage. Depending on what your budget allows you to do, though, you can outsource this aspect of your business.  This may be a good option if it becomes too overwhelming or if you just prefer to focus on running your business.

Duplicated posts are another issue you need to consider. You can end up annoying your audience by posting the same message on all your pages.  The reason is that they may end up getting the same thing more than once if they are following all your pages.  If you want to publish on more than one page, allow for a day or two to pass.  Now the message will serve as a reminder instead of an annoyance.   Therefore be selective where and when you make your post to avoid losing followers.

Facebook makes it easy to target your audience with messages they are interested in receiving

If you want to stick with one page, you can use Facebook’s Targeting feature. By using it, you can decide exactly which segment of your audience is going to see a particular message you post. This capability will cost you money, so if a primary goal is to generate as much free exposure as possible, then more than one facebook page is the best approach.

The best Facebook strategies involve having one page to promote your business and other pages to target the diverse interests of your customers. This approach could be as simple as a separate community page for your local area where you can build an audience by posting great content. While doing so, you can discretely promote the name of your business and your local services. When goals of your business and the community work well together, it can become a recipe for success.

Some local service providers don’t need to sell on Facebook, just be visible.

Creating multiple Facebook pages is an excellent option for marketing for service providers like Realestate Agents, Lawyers, and Financial Advisors or other professions.  Because the name of the business and your reputation are closely tied, it may not be necessary to promote your business at all. It is all about name recognition. Hence if you achieve high name recognition from social media, it can give you a high ROI for your business without you even needing to promote your business.

What are my options for creating a Facebook page?

Creating a Facebook page is the first essential part of achieving social media marketing success on Facebook. But since there are multiple types of Facebook pages the following tips will help you decide the right choice for you and your business.

Before you can create a Facebook page, Facebook requires that you select a type or category for your page.  Depending on the type of page you choose you will have different content and functionality options for your page.  The good news is that you don’t have to make this a stressful process, if you need to change the category of your page, Facebook allows you to do so without complications. With that in mind, let’s look at the different page types you can create:

1. Creating a Facebook page for a Brand or product

Select this if more than one store is selling your product. Companies use this option to promote a brand or product they are selling. Consider companies like Coca-Cola and Adidas as this is an option they would use. As you can imagine, this choice is ideal if, you’re a manufacturer of products sold at various outlets

2. Creating a Facebook page for Entertainment

This category is for Radio stations, magazines, and TV channels, as well as anyone else whose primary role is to entertain others. If you have a local band, you may want to hold off on this option and continue reading as there is another category that is better suited.

3. Creating a Facebook page for a Cause or community

Although charities and similar organizations will find this type entirely relevant, it is not exclusive to non-profits.   It can also be used for community groups or special interests.   The purpose of these pages is to focus on and raise awareness of concerns that benefit society.  However, this option is not just for non-profits because the power of cause marketing can bring huge rewards if done right.  Just look at the NRA for an example of a cause with a substantial presence on Facebook and an industry that makes a lot of profit.  Local business owners can generate substantial business, brand awareness and goodwill if they use this feature to promote a favorite social cause.

4. Creating a Facebook page for a Local business or place

This category is straightforward.  If you have a physical location your customers can visit, this one is a no-brainer. If you’re still not sure, go through the category list provided by Facebook. There, you will find various examples, and you can use them to help you determine whether this category is the right choice for your business.

5. Creating a Facebook page for an Artist, band or public figure

If you’re a known writer, actor, a politician running for office, artist, etc., then this is a good match for you.  As you can see, there is a bit of an overlap with the ‘entertainment’ category. Just use your best judgment when making a choice and look at the examples provided by Facebook.

6. Creating a Facebook page for a Company organization or institution

Choose this option instead of ‘local business or place’ if your business has more than just one physical location. Each of these may have a different schedule, address, and open hours.  However as stated above there are benefits to having separate pages for each location so you will want to give this some thought before jumping in.

Now that you have picked a category you will also find that each category has many sub-categories.  In fact, there are too many to cover in this article.   Just take your time picking the right one, and remember you can always change the category later.

Facebook groups are a marketing option that’s often overlooked by business owners

Facebook groups have filled the shoes of what online forums have served in the past. The traditional public forums are still not dead, but think about it: it’s much easier to get someone to join your discussion group directly on Facebook rather than having them leave the site and visit some other domain. Doing so would require much more work on their part since they’d probably need to register for an account as well. On the other hand, while they’re on Facebook, they can post directly from their existing account.

Facebook groups can be better than Facebook pages since they allow like-minded individuals to connect, share their thoughts, and achieve common goals. And yes, everyone can create a Facebook group! Some of them are public, and some of them are private (also known as invite-only).

There are two ways you can use Facebook groups to promote your business.

• You can try to build a community from scratch, but this will take time and resources to develop the group.
• You can come up with meaningful replies to existing group posts in your niche. This approach will let you will grab the users’ attention and divert it towards your business.

Regardless the approach you take, make sure all your posts are helpful, meaningful and that they are designed to help solve someone’s problem or give some solid advice.

More than one Facebook page or group, when done with care, can be a good strategy for social media marketing.

So the verdict on whether you should have multiple Facebook pages or not is as follows: it depends.   The primary considerations are your goals, resources, purpose, the number of physical locations you have, and other variables.

Now you are ready to get started on Facebook. Creating an engaging page and building an audience is your next step. You can take advantage of the knowledge to gained from this article those that follow to get an edge over your competition.  Not everyone uses these social media tactics, so there is plenty of opportunity on Facebook.

If you feel social media management is too time-consuming or complicated, our team of social media consultants is available to help.  Call 978-851-9077 for a free consultation.

The post Should I create more than one Facebook page? appeared first on New Hampshire Web Design.