With 800 Million users already registered, Facebook is the premier social media website. With this opportunity to reach prospective clients, many businesses are creating Facebook pages to promote their products and services and build their social media presence. If you’re thinking of joining the ranks of these Facebook entrepreneurs, remember the golden rule: your page is only as good as the number of visitors it attracts. Make your page magnetic

If you want your Facebook page to keep clocking up the ‘likes’, here are some strategies you can apply to establish your presence and generate new leads – by making your page a magnet for visitors.
Use Widgets: By embedding your Facebook page in your company website or blog, you’ll draw more visitors who will ‘like’ what they see!

Add your Facebook web address to your email signature – everyone you correspond with by email will be able to visit your page.

Link your personal Facebook page to your company’s page. Your friends and colleagues will easily be able to visit and ‘like’ your page, or recommend it to their friends.
Link your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts to your Facebook page by tweeting the link regularly and adding your page to your LinkedIn profile.
Use Facebook Ads – they are a great way of directing people to your site, and if you can get fans to ‘like’ you in the ads, all the better!

How to be liked a lot

Once you have 25 likes or more, you can create a page which contains your company name in the title. After you’ve done this, keep the likes coming by making your page attractive and enticing. Don’t direct fans to your wall where other fans’ messages may bore them, instead make your landing page the focal point, with a great design and regular videos, links to other sites, and competitions to keep your fans returning.
Don’t forget regular status updates, which will keep your page in sight and very much in mind. It’s also important to interact with your fans by replying to comments, and offering answers and solutions to questions they may have.

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Many business owners become frustrated when their twitter presence doesn’t yield the results they were hoping for. Even if you tweet regularly, you’ll need a twitter plan – a strategy that includes writing monthly tweets in advance - in order to harness the power of this social media tool.
What are the benefits of a tweet plan?

Planning your tweets in advance has several benefits, especially as a business owner. Firstly, it brands your presence on twitter so that even when you go off topic slightly, you’ll be tweeting consistently and establishing a following.

The second advantage of a twitter plan is that it ensures consistency. Even if you’re out of the office or busy with something important, you’ll still be tweeting and engaging with your followers.

Finally, a twitter plan saves you time on a daily basis. By generating tweets in advance and scheduling them to come out daily – part of your online content strategy – you’ll save time every day.
Creating your twitter plan – steps to success

Who is your audience?

Your twitter audience is broader than just prospective clients. You’ll want to include current clients, referral sources, suppliers, joint venture partners and your whole business network to make the best use of twitter

How many tweets will you send daily?

This depends on the number of tweets you currently send on a daily basis, as well as the amount of time your audience has to read them. Bear in mind that your tweet plan is just the beginning – you can add as many daily tweets as you like depending on the amount of time you have.
Choose your keywords

The keywords you use can determine the success of your twitter plan – your followers will respond best to keywords they use too so bear this in mind. Also, twitter has a 140 character limit per tweet which means that shorter words are best.
Tweet Formats

If you’re going to be scheduling 5 tweets a day, you’ll need to write 140 tweets per month. To ease the workload when you’re writing tweets, divide them into various categories. This will allow for variety in your twitter feed which will appeal to your audience.

What time should your tweets go out?

It’s important to space your tweets over several hours, taking note of the times when your audience is most likely to be free to read them. One tweet every few hours should be enough for starters – remember you can always add more!  

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Social media marketing is the new frontier for businesses looking to attract new clients and make more sales by harnessing the power of the internet. Gone are the days when it was enough to have a simple ad on a search engine or place your website on an online directory – today’s online user must be approached through social media, and that is a challenge in itself.
Standing out from the crowd

The realm of social media is a crowded place. With millions of users on Facebook, more twitter feeds than you could follow in a lifetime, and a host of other social media sites just waiting to grab the attention of potential clients, your message really has to stand out from the crowd.
It’s also important to remember that web users don’t sign up with social media websites in order to read advertising material. Facebook is a place where friends and family connect, while twitter is like one big conversation between people who are seeking a really good chat. None of these users is there because they are looking for the latest product or service.
These two factors spell out the challenge for any social media strategy. Your message has to be compelling, unique, and must speak to the audience as individuals – with the same personal touch as their friends’ Facebook updates and tweets. If you’re able to craft a message like this, your social media strategy will be off to a great start.
 Know Your Audience, Personally.

The key to compelling copy is to really know who your audience is. There’s no point in producing something so generic that anyone might read it – chances are, no one might read it. Instead, try to visualise the individual person you’re writing to, taking notes of the person’s dreams, desires, goals and personality. Think of someone you know who would fit the bill, and write a piece of copy that would blow them away.
The ‘wow factor’ is a very important part of any content strategy. When it comes to attracting potential clients, you’ll see great results if your content is tailored to the person reading it – your newest client.

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The benefits of a well-planned content strategy can range from an enhanced brand identity to tangible increases in leads and sales. On the other hand, up to 95% of blogs on the internet are abandoned eventually, probably because they are seen as not being effective enough.
How can businesses measure the effectiveness of their content strategies? Here are a few useful tools that will allow businesses of all sizes to gauge the effectiveness of their internet marketing efforts:

What Are You Measuring?

In order to track the effectiveness of your content strategy, you need to decide how you are going to measure it. Since most content strategies are geared towards increasing brand awareness, a good starting point is to track the number of new signups you are receiving.
Establish a baseline

In order to track the effectiveness of your content strategy, you’ll need to find out how many signups you’re currently getting and from what sources. Once you know this, you can track your future progress.

Track your early success

If you’ve recently launched your content strategy, you may not have a large audience yet. Nonetheless, you can use several proxies (indirect measurements) to track your progress. Focus on your social media presence, taking note of the following: likes on Facebook, retweets, reblogs, links back to your site, followers, @ mentions, followers, and average page views per visitor, as well as the amount of time spent on each page.  With these proxies, you’ll be able to measure your progress by understanding how effectively your content is ‘speaking’ to the audience.
Track Conversions

You’ll know your content strategy is working once you start to see conversions – the percentage of site visitors who take the desired action like clicking the ‘buy’ button. Google Analytics can measure your conversion rate easily, but you’ll need to track your progress by measuring more than the sheer number of leads. By using proxies like the quality of leads, retention period, and number of new customers referred per lead, you’ll have a clear picture of your content strategy’s Return on Investment.
Patience is Key

An online content strategy may take a while before it shows tangible results – it’s an investment in the future of your business.
Like planting a seed, you’ll have to put effort and patience into your strategy but when it starts to bear fruit you’ll have a sustainable, personal online relationship with your clients – both current and prospective – that will bring you increased leads and sales in the future. 

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Writing ‘compelling’ copy is one of the trademarks of any good copywriter. By compelling your readers, you are encouraging them to act, convincing them of the value of something (usually a product or service), and informing them in an entertaining way – without ever being pushy. If this is your goal as a writer, here is a great tip – don’t write for a demographic, write for a person.

Persuading the Individual

Every business has a target market, be they young professional men under 35, women approaching retirement age, or married couples in their 40s with one child. When you receive a brief that includes demographic information, try to look beyond the dry numbers and imagine the type of person you want to compel – it’s easier than you think!

No matter what demographic you’re dealing with, you probably know someone who fit the description in your brief to a tee. Plan your writing with that person in mind, and ask yourself the following questions:

• What does this person like to do in his or her spare time?
• Does this person have a lot of time on their hands or very little? This will influence your writing style.
• What stage in life is this person at?
• What kind of everyday language does the person use?
• What goals and dreams lie ahead for this person?
• What would make this person laugh, or make their day?

If you can answer most of these questions confidently, you’re well on your way to knowing your target market. Armed with this information, you’ll be able to write copy that is truly compelling – in other words, copy that speaks to the reader, copy your reader can relate to like a chat with an old friend.

Once you’ve established a comfortable tone with your reader, you’ll find your copy goes down extremely well with the target market. With compelling copy like this, you’ll see the results you really want!

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Using copyright material without permission is one of the mistakes copywriters try to avoid the most. While it’s understandable that copyright holders should be protected by the law, we often don’t realise that there is a wealth of material we are permitted to use – as long as we credit the copyright holder. This is known as ‘fair use’.

In the words of internet marketing guru Seth Godin, “copyright is not an absolute. Potato chips are an absolute”. In using this witty expression, Godin is explaining an important fact:  I may not be able to take a potato chip from you without your permission - it’s yours after all, not mine. However, copyright does not work like this.
The key to understanding fair use is to remember that you are allowed to quote someone else’s work as long as you give the author credit for what he or she has written. Fair use allows comparisons to be made and permits the free flow of information. Here are some useful facts about what online content you may use:

• You may provide a link to any website without asking the site owner’s permission. You may also freely use a website screenshot in a directory or piece of writing.
• When it comes to written material, you can quote many pages of a book without the publisher’s permission. However, songs and poems are not so free to use – you should obtain permission when reproducing these in full.
• Photos are a tricky subject. If you are commenting on the photo itself (for example, if you write for a photography journal) you may be free to use it. However, when selecting images for your website or blog posts you should be very careful that the image you are using is in the public domain.

Finally, always remember that once you’ve written any original document in a tangible form – be it a Word document, a printout or on a website – it is immediately copyright material. Adding a small © is a useful way of telling others that the material is copyright, but no special registration is needed. 

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There was a time when SEO strategy was clear-cut. A domain name rich in keywords, templated page designs and lots of good anchor text was the first step. The site would then be included in as many web directories as possible, and also mentioned in blogs and social media platforms to draw visitors. This formula worked quite well for a lot of SEO entrepreneurs until earlier this year when Google Panda – the updated search algorithm - came on the scene.
Life after Panda

Before the Panda era, SEO strategy focused on satisfying Google search criteria and on building a site that ‘did all the right things’ Google-wise to climb the rankings and gain authority. The biggest difference after the Panda update is this: sites can no longer rely on satisfying a list of criteria in order to succeed. They need to be good sites in themselves.
Don’t just build a site – build a brand

If your sites are going to be successful in this new era, they need to do more than contain the right SEO elements. While these are still important, the main focus today is on producing a high quality website that can stand alone as a brand. There are several ways to achieve this, listed below:

Less is more

Create a simple yet effective site that draws new visitors because it is easy to use and provides information, entertainment and a great product or service. Remember that Panda counts load speeds as part of its ranking, so a site that is too slow isn’t likely to make it.

Don’t forget the content

The old SEO adage, ‘content is king’ may be overused, but it is very relevant today. High quality content is a magnet that keeps visitors coming back to your site and draws new visitors in. If people enjoy using your site, they will return and spread the word.

Plan your Marketing Strategy

Once you’ve built your site, build a brand around it by using social media, networking sites and any other internet medium you think will promote your new brand. With hard work and creativity you will be able to rise in the rankings even in the new era of Panda.

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The internet is a big place, and many of us make our way through this vast sea of information by clicking on relevant or interesting links. This way of ‘getting around’ the web is extremely useful when you don’t have specific site or category in mind that you could type into a search engine. A good link draws new visitors to a website and can be one of the most valuable SEO tools – but what makes it good?

 It’s all about relevance

With billions of web sites (and users) out there, your site needs to be linked to relevant sites and attract relevant visitors. The number of visitors browsing your site each month may not be as important as who those visitors are – targeting the right site visitor is crucial.
Keep them close to home

Often it’s useful to target visitors from your geographic location by using links from sites that are based in your country or region. Visitors from South Africa may be more interested in a local news or shopping site, and including this link will draw them to your site too.
Finding an audience

Sites that are included in online media directories often attract an audience well – even a small group of focused visitors may be better than a flood of random ones. Ensure that your site also has a good ‘about us’ section, which gives it credibility with new users.

Share information

Visitors to your site should also be given links to other websites that have something in common with yours. Blogs, news stories and how-to guides are always popular choices, provided they are not sites which are in competition with yours.
Keep the links clickable

Links that appear in small text at the bottom of your website won’t easily be clicked, and neither will links that sound boring or not useful. Make sure your links are visible and attract users by sounding useful and engaging. Special offers and informative sites are great choices.

Get your visitors to act

Voting in website surveys, commenting on blogs or entering their email addresses for e-newsletters or competitions are great ways for visitors to show their relevance. Encourage them to do so and you’ll be sure that your link has done its work in drawing relevant visitors.

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If you’re a long-time internet user, think back 5 or 10 years to the sites you used the most in those days – chances are you don’t visit most of them anymore. The websites you do still visit probably include search engines, email sites, or a favourite news or blog site that keeps drawing you back. This simple exercise makes one fact very clear: the sites we keep visiting are the ones that are simple, useful, fast, portable, and have a strong human element.
Future-Proofing Your Website

By using these principles when you design your website for the future, you gain the upper hand when it comes to technology changes. If your site’s design is completely reliant on technology, you could find it becoming obsolete when technologies change. On the other hand, a site that attracts users with great content and ease of use will be able to change its technology and keep growing its user base.
Keep it Simple

In today’s overworked societies, where time is precious and people are overloaded with information, a simple website is always appreciated. Understanding your target audience, being aware of their needs and knowing exactly what you want to offer them will help you greatly when it comes to keeping your site simple.
Make it Useful

When it comes to usefulness, content is king. Keep your audience fascinated with great content that really tells a story, while providing useful information that links to your website’s product or service offering. A website that entertains and informs will always draw new users.

Make it Fast

Websites that take too long to load are a big negative for internet users. To ensure that your website loads quickly, make sure it is kept simple. You can also run YSLow from Yahoo or Google’s Page Speed Online – two great tools that will speed up your site.

Portability

Mobile internet is the future. From tablets to smart phones, to digital screens that may be found all over in 5 years from now, your site will have to be mobile-ready in order to stay viable. If you’ve kept your site simple, this will go a long way in preparing the mobile version. Remember to keep your navigation simple and avoid developing Flash applications – focus instead on html or JavaScript.
The Human Touch

Internet users like nothing more than human interaction. Social media aside, you can make your site more human by making all your content accessible, remembering that great content tells a story. Pay special attention to bulk emails and error messages – making these more human can reduce your bounce rate significantly. 

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Before the days of the internet, there was email. As the web has developed, especially with the popularity of sophisticated social media tools, some internet marketing professionals have questioned the power of email to carry a brand message or attract users to a website. Could email be a thing of the past, best left out when developing your SEO strategy? Not quite.

The Ongoing Popularity of Email

Like many basic products and services, email remains popular even as more sophisticated options become available. Web users are normally willing to sign up on new social media sites, shopping sites, and other value-added websites which they test out for a few days or weeks, but email accounts stay quite constant due to the need to stay in touch. Studies have also shown that email remains the most trusted form of communication – in short, the email address is here to stay.

Mobile Email: Pocket Marketing

With the introduction of mobile email on most smart phones, you don’t have to wait for your target users to be at their computers anymore – emails can now be read as soon as they are delivered and that presents a marketing opportunity.

It’s worth noting that email content which is going to be read on a smart phone needs to be designed so that it opens quickly and displays well. Also, when you design your email content make sure your links aren’t buried too deeply in the text or mobile users may miss them. When it comes to tracking you may not want to use open rates, opting for shares and clicks may be a better strategy.

The New Approach to Email Marketing

Rather than viewing email and social media marketing as two separate things, the approach we need to take today is to integrate them. Make email a feature on your websites when it comes to content sharing, and include links to your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages in email correspondence.
Remember, the average reader’s attention span is nine seconds. To take advantage of this fact, make your content short, sharp and captivating. Once you draw your reader in, your marketing message will make a big impact.

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