Archive for Technology
The Do’s and Don’ts on Twitter
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Twitter is a useful tool for both personal and business needs. If you are new to Twitter, it may be helpful to learn how to use it to your best advantage. Here are a few do’s and don’ts to get you started.
Twitter was revolutionary when it started. It’s a platform that uses short messages to communicate with others. It could be up-to-the-minute information about you or communication with clients and co-workers on projects and the like. And, you can follow others just like on other social networks.
With Twitter, there are very few established rules. Most of the advice given on how to use Twitter is about etiquette and using the service to connect with other business professionals, clients and the like.
Do’s on Twitter
So, let’s take a look at some of the positive things to do on Twitter.
Follow others – It is not just about you; it’s also about connecting with people. Get involved in what is going on in your area of expertise. Follow people with similar interests. This gives you a higher visibility and can help establish you in that niche on Twitter. If you see something interesting, retweet it so others can follow too.
Tweet – It’s just like posting on Facebook. Leave meaningful information for others. You can talk about yourself, but not too much. Intermingle some useful content with your conversational pieces.
Create a compelling biography – Use your bio to its utmost. You have just a few characters so use keywords that are searchable to describe yourself and help others to search for you and find you.
Be professional – This includes using proper grammar in your tweets. Abbreviations don’t lend themselves to professionalism.
Don’ts on Twitter
Don’t tweet every second – You often hear about people who tweet about eating dinner, inappropriate habits and every other thing they do all day. This is not what people want to hear from you. In fact, it is one way to lose your ranking and current audience. It just clogs up the works for those following you.
Be careful what you say – Once you have entered something on the internet, it will be there forever. Inflammatory tweets reflect negatively on you and can come back to haunt you later.
Don’t be too negative – People who are always looking on the downside crash the party. Misery loves company but you will lose yours if you persist.
Learn to use hashtags properly – Hashtags can help you and others to follow a conversation more easily. But, use them the right way. Don’t put a hashtag on each word in your tweet. And, don’t hashtag a run-on tweet.
Using Twitter doesn’t have to be complicated or hard. Be yourself and use the above advice to make the most of your time there.
How to Increase Website Traffic
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Website traffic is always a priority for online solopreneurs – without some type of web traffic people won’t know your business exists. So just what is the right formula for more website traffic?
Here are our top tips:
1. Write and distribute articles. This may seem like a simple strategy on the surface but it can be very powerful. Just writing one or two articles a week will quickly add to a lot of incoming one-way links (the type of links the search engines love most) for your business.
Once you write the articles distribute them to a few top ranking directories, but don’t stop there. Think about distributing a few articles to large online traffic websites directly. Give them exclusive use of the article in exchange for the incoming link. This is a great strategy you can easily apply.
2. Make your pages search engine and reader friendly. Striking the balance between writing for your human visitors as well as the search engines is simple if you stick to this rule – write for the reader first and then naturally insert your keyword phrases into your copy.
It’s also a good idea to include all the appropriate SEO tags on all your pages. These tags help the search engines find you.
3. Set up a search-engine friendly navigation structure. For the search engines (and your human visitors) to find the content on your website, you need a clear navigation structure. This structure should consist of your top topics which are also your keywords and then for each of those main pages you’ll have sub pages including extensions of that main keyword.
By having the main keywords as your top topics on your navigation structure, your readers and the search engines will easily find your deeper pages of content. It’s also a good idea to include a back link to your home page on each page of your website. A clear and well-defined site map is a great addition as well.
These three key steps are the starting point to your traffic success. Apply them regularly and ensure that your content is fresh and up-to-date and you can’t help but to win over both the search engines and your human visitors too.
Using the Cloud for Business
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Today everyone is saying, “Take me to the cloud.” But what does that mean? And, is it a good thing for your business to get involved in?
What and Where Is the Cloud?
We are talking about cyberspace. You know it exists and you can see the results of it, but touching it is as elusive as putting your hands on a real cloud. Nevertheless, it is a revolutionary idea in network sharing and storage.
So, what is the cloud exactly? Well, if you are using the internet right now to read this article, you are a part of the cloud network. Companies used to set up IT networks on their own, installing, running and testing software applications. Whenever there was a problem, everyone turned to the IT expert to fix it. This took money and time which could cost the business money in man hours and lost productivity.
Cloud computing offers a break to companies both large and small with an easier way to store information. Instead of each company managing their own applications, third-party vendors offer access to a virtual network that they manage. Each company only pays for the amount of usage that they need.
This one area houses hundreds of apps that each company can customize for its own uses. It’s like having one central location for housing all business but with the ability to function according to the specific needs of each.
How Can Your Business Benefit?
Because the cloud is in cyberspace, you are not limited to one area when using it. In fact, the cloud was made for mobility. No matter where you or any of your associates are, you can upload information to the cloud that can then be viewed by others who also have access to the network. They can make changes to the document and then send it back to you in a flash.
Want to hold a meeting? You can do that too. Sharing ideas across the miles but within the same company has never been more accessible. What may have taken precious time through emails, faxes or phone calls can now be handled all at once via cloud computing.
And, your business can lower the cost of overheads by utilizing the cloud. With a third-party vendor managing the operation, they handle upgrades to software, technical questions and support for you. If there are problems, you will be up and running again as quickly as they can help. That also means that anyone accessing your applications is also back on the grid.
But, do your homework first. Make sure that the cloud is what your business needs and that it can meet your specific criteria for security and ease of operation. You decide if the cloud can move you forward.
Website Analytics Tools
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Analytics are a business owner’s best friend. They can help you optimize your strategies and tactics. They help you get a better understanding of what your customer wants and needs. Website analytics can be the most valuable asset you have. However, choosing the right analytic tools can be overwhelming. There are many to choose from. Here’s a brief list of some of the more popular analytic tools, and advice on how to choose the right one for you.
Google Analytics is free. You simply register with Google if you don’t already have an account. Sign up for the analytics tool by providing a bit of information about your website. Then it’s merely a matter of cutting and pasting the code into your website.
You can choose your settings and the data you track. Google tracks visits, average time on site, page views and the referral source. It also tracks geographic data and can be used to track split testing results. It’s a comprehensive analytics tool that provides just about everything a website owner could need.
Piwik is an open source type of analytics. That means it’s free. It’s also open for development. This can be a big advantage if you want your analytics to accomplish something new. Piwik is designed to be the open source alternative to Google analytics so their offerings are similar. With Piwik your analytic data is on your server. You own your data. Additionally, you can customize your interface to suit your needs.
AWStats is another popular analytics tool. Again, it provides much of the same data as most other analytics tools. However, it also provides some unique data. For example:
- Visits of robots
- Worm attacks
- HTTP errors
- Number of times your site is added to a visitor’s favorites
AWStats doesn’t work with all websites. You’ll need to double check before you install it. It can work with all web hosting providers which allow Perl, CGI and log access.
Site Meter offers two options. They offer a free version. They also offer a paid version that starts at $6.95 for 25,000 page views. The rate increases depending on your page views. Site Meter offers a vast amount of information including page views, bounce rate and time spent on your site. Site Meter also tracks the path your visitor takes when they arrive at your website. This is extremely valuable information. It can help you tighten your website content and copy to achieve a desired result.
Which Analytic Tool Do You Choose?
Decide which data points will be most useful. What do you need to know to optimize your website? Also consider who you trust with your data. If you utilize a service, then they have access to your website data. If you install the software on your server then you’re the only one that has access to your data. Also make sure you can easily read and understand the reports. All of the tools mentioned provide demo data and reporting.
Once you have a trusted source and the data you need to grow your business, it comes down to price and personal preference. Most analytics tools are free or very inexpensive. Choose your tool, install it and start taking advantage of the information website analytics provide.
How to Get Started on Facebook
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You would like to get in on the social networking scene, but maybe you aren’t quite sure where to start. Whether you are interested in promoting your business through social networking or just want to catch up with friends, it can be intimidating if you aren’t sure how it works. Facebook is a good place to start for social networking. To start using this popular networking site, here are some ideas that tips that can help you take the first steps to getting on the networking scene.
What Is Facebook?
You can think of Facebook as a way for people to stay connected. You update your status and read the status updates of other people, and you can search for people whom you know and who know you. You “friend” people and accept friend requests from others. You can join and start groups, and invite others to join. Facebook allows you to share sites, pages, and information that you like.
1. First, log on to Facebook.com and follow the on-screen directions for setting up an account. It’s quite user friendly, and you can change the information you put in your profile at any time.
2. Your profile should say pertinent things about you, whether it’s your business or your personal account. You do need to decide whether or not you are going to go at this from a business or personal perspective, because the general opinion is that personal and business communications on Facebook should be separate.
3. Once you set up your account, you can search for friends using the Search feature. Facebook allows you to search groups, or search for people according to a certain demographic (people who share your graduation year, for example, or your home town). Once you have a few friends, you can search for friends of friends – those mutual friendships you share. Then your friend list will start growing.
4. Privacy settings can be adjusted according to your preferences. Check into the guidelines and make sure you have the settings where you want them. You are in control of who sees your profile and updates. You can also block people you don’t want to contact you on Facebook.
5. You can communicate with your friends in various ways. If you “write on their wall” then you are posting something others can see. The friend whose wall you wrote on would have his or her own privacy settings, and your friend decides who sees what’s on his or her wall. So just beware that the wall is considered “public.”
You can also send messages to individuals. If you hover your mouse pointer over a person’s picture, the option to send a message comes up. Messages sent this way are not readable by others.
6. Groups are a nice feature of Facebook. Take some time to participate in groups within your specific niche.
If you would like more strategies for using Facebook for business, I suggest taking a look at Facebook 4 Biz…a new session is starting on Monday, January 9th. Get more information about the class and sign up today at:
