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Twitter Integrates Location into Tweets

“After months of rumors and hinting, Twitter is ready to unveil its new and major foray into the world of geolocation: Twitter Places.

This feature will highlight tweets around a given location. Starting now, Twitter.com desktop and mobile users can tag their tweets with existing Twitter Places and add new Twitter Places, too.

Twitter Places can be explored and will reveal a list of recent, public tweets from that location. Twitter will also show you nearby locations and points of interest, including restaurants and shops.

Twitter Places will be integrated with Foursquare and Gowalla, as well. ” Location is a key component of these tweets, so we worked closely with both companies to associate a Twitter Place with Tweets generated by these services,” wrote Twitter geo head Othman Laraki today on the company blog. Location data will also work with more browsers, including Safari and Internet Explorer.

Twitter is also releasing an API that will allow developers to play with Twitter Places in their third-party apps; we expect details and some interesting discussions will pop up in Twitter’s API Announcements group soon.

“Over the next week, we will roll this out to users in 65 countries around the world,” Laraki continued, “so keep an eye out for the ‘Add your location’ link below the tweet box.” Users of Twitter’s official smartphone apps can also expect upcoming integrations of Twitter Places.

If you’d like to stay up-to-the-minute on Twitter Places, you can follow @geo on the microblogging service.

Twitter first announced its geolocation API back in March, and Evan Williams announced at the Chirp conference in April that the company would soon be launching a Points of Interest feature.

What’s your opinion of this feature so far: Fun and useful, or just more noise?”
~ Source: Mashable.com

For more news on how to use this new feature for your business, contact ebasedEVOLUTION, and our team of search engine optimization specialists.

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Posted Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 in Social Media | No Comments »

Bing Adds Facebook Updates to Search Results

Facebook search will go live later today at bing.com/social and will include the full Facebook firehose complete with non-Pages content.

Microsoft’s search engine will combine both Facebook and Twitter results into one search experience. Results will include Facebook Page updates, as well as popular shared links from Facebook in aggregate form.

Bing promises that the Facebook links that surface in search results are based on Facebook updates that are shared with “everyone.” The company is even going so far as to share only the link content, so Facebook users’ names and photos won’t be revealed.

The blog post on the news explains how the search engine handles links with this example (as seen above): “Searching for ‘World Cup’ will show what links Facebook users are sharing on the topic – with a caption that is extracted from the original article shown below the link.”

Bing will also be updating the homepage to surface trending topics based on Twitter and Facebook data.”

What do you think of the new search features? Are you interested in learning how to utilize this for your business? If so, please contact one of our SEO specialists today!

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Posted Thursday, June 10th, 2010 in SEO, Search, Social Media | No Comments »

Why Adopt Social Media Marketing

“Why is it so effective? Three reasons that are particularly attractive to small business and other entrepreneurs: low impact/annoyance factor, cost effectiveness, and a viral spread of information.

1. Low Impact
In the same way that email rapidly replaced telephone contact and so called “face time,” blogging, Twitter, and Facebook are replacing other more traditional forms of marketing, and for the same reasons.

Emailing became the norm for the “sender” of information because it was easier (both physically and emotionally) than making a phone call or meeting with someone in person. Email grants immediate completion and instant gratification: No getting a busy signal or, worse, an answering machine or voice mail inbox that required you to leave a message (wherein you might say the wrong thing and not be able to erase and re-record) and no having to carry on an unscripted conversation with someone in person (wherein the same dangers were ever present). The receiver was equally blessed by the ability to respond (or not) at his or her leisure and with the same assurance of faux pas-free “conversation.”

Social Media does the same for marketing by freeing the marketer to place his or her “ads” at any time, around the clock, 24/7, rather than to some PR office or publisher’s schedule, while simultaneously granting the target audience the ability read/view and/or delete at will instead of having to dispose of or recycle the publication, and all for the low, low price of . . . well, nothing.

2. Cost Effective
You can’t get much more cost effective than “free,” and all of these Social Media Marketing venues are just that. Free as the air you breathe ~ which, by the way, is how many viruses spread.

3. Wherein a Virus can be Your Business’s Best Friend
Remember the “water-cooler” metaphor above? Years ago, in the traditional brick and mortar model of business, the water-cooler was the place where employees would gather to socialize during breaks, exchanging pleasantries and information, introducing the “new guy” to the old guard, telling jokes and showing off pictures of their pets or the new baby.

Long after the physical water-cooler had been replaced by bottled water, “hanging around the water-cooler” remained a metaphor for the casual meetings and conversations that took place among people in the physical spaces of a business environment. Whatever the place, the close physical proximity inherent to “hanging around the water-cooler,” made it equally easy to pass along a cold or flu bug with the jokes and those pictures of your little ones.

It’s little wonder, then, that adopting Social Media Marketing is a good idea for your small business. And it’s kind of comforting to some of us, after all, that even here, in the virtual business world, we can find in these new fangled technologies an echo of tradition and a sense of continuity that is familiar and reassuring.” ~ Source:WebProNews.com

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Posted Friday, May 28th, 2010 in Social Media | No Comments »

BP, The Oil Spill, & Twitter

“Check out the Twitter feed @BPGlobalPR, and you might blow a few blood vessels … at least if you’re already angry about that oil spill thingy happening in the Gulf. Or you may just bust a gut laughing.

“We regretfully admit that something has happened off of the Gulf Coast. More to come,” read the account’s first tweet May 19. And, like the spill itself, things only got worse from there.

“Oh man, this whole time we’ve been trying to stop SEAWATER from gushing into our OIL. Stupid Terry was holding the diagram upside down,” read one of yesterday’s tweets.

And today: “The ocean looks just a bit slimmer today. Dressing it in black really did the trick! #bpcares.”

Even if you’re unfamiliar with Twitter, you’ve probably already figured out that this Twitter feed is both as funny and “real” as that of @DrunkHulk. Meaning that @BPGlobalPR is fake — a satirical take on BP’s actual Twitter feed, with 36,622 followers and growing. (The real company account, @BP_America has less than 5,000 followers.)

Since @BPGlobalPR (just barely) conforms to Twitter’s guidelines on parody, commentary and fan accounts and, according to industry publication Ad Age, BP hasn’t requested the account’s removal, the account continues to spew hilarity into the void.

Notably, @BPGlobalPR recently switched its account logo from the real BP’s green and yellow icon to a black and white version featuring an oil stain. Still, the real BP may better serve its drowning public image by avoiding what would seem to many a petty fight in cyberspace, and impress upon the world that all attention is focuses on the company’s more serious problems in the real world.

“People are entitled to their views on what we’re doing and we have to live with those,” BP spokesperson Toby Odone told Ad Age. “We are doing the best we can to deal with the current situation and to try to stop the oil from flowing and to then clean it up.”

Meanwhile, tweets sent directly to @BPGlobalPR reveal that not everybody on the microblogging site gets the joke. For example, @BELGARATH83 tweeted, “@ BPGlobalPR Here’s an idea: How about find a way to fix the oil leaking into the environment faster than the current?”
~ Source: MSNBC.com

Lesson to be learned?! Don’t let this happen to your company! Registering for a Twitter account is fast, easy, and free! We recommend registering multiple Twitter-accounts for your organization, in hopes of avoiding a PR nightmare similar to this. Let our team of SEO specialists help you with Twitter!

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Posted Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 in Social Media | No Comments »

Twittering For Your Business

On a regular basis, our team of search engine analysts gets asked “What is the Best Way to Twitter?”. Here are 10 great tips for tweeting!

“1) Regular Postings: Now I’m not saying you need to post every day, although that would be nice. You do need to make an appearance on a regular basis. It’s like school - you need to show up to pass. Be a contributor that your followers get to really know and look forward to your Tweets. If you’re the type of person who needs to plan ahead, you can always use a service that allows you to schedule tweets in advance, such as Socialoomph.com

2) Retweet: If you see Tweets posted by other users that you think your followers would like, then retweet them. It only takes one click, and you’ll also be creating goodwill with other Twitter users at the same time. If you’d like, you can add a personal thought or comment before sending it. Also, make it easy for others to retweet your posts by adding RT buttons to your website or blog. It’s easy with the TweetMeme Retweet Button.

3) Be Helpful: Keep in mind Twitter is a form of social Media, so social interaction is key. It’s not all about you. Whenever a chance arises to answer a question, participate in a survey, or help solve a problem, do so. In this way you’re participating in the community. This also will help your brand and image when others know they can count on you for support or feedback.

4) Don’t Be A Follow CopyCat: Don’t follow everybody who follows you. This is probably my biggest pet peeve when it comes to Twitter. So many people turn this feature on to auto follow those who follow them. Why would you want to do this? I’d prefer that those I follow are people and topics I’ve hand-selected that interest me, and not a mish-mash of followers who may be ranting about things I have no interest in. Be selective in who you follow or your Twitter stream could quickly fill up with junk or spam.

5) What to Tweet: Make sure that the tweets you post are helpful and/or informative. Late breaking news pertaining to your industry, as well as any specials or sales you may have going on are always good topics. If you find something you think your followers would like, especially if it’s free or a bargain, share the love. Plus, if your tweets are good, it will encourage others to retweet them.

6) Comment: Particpate in the community by commenting on other people’s tweets. If you can answer a question, do so. It doesn’t hurt and people really will appreciate it when you take the time to comment on what they have to say. It lets them know that others are actually listening to what they have to say in the “Twitterverse”.

7) Say Thank You: When someone takes the time to retweet one of your tweets, make sure to reply to them with a “thank you”. Manners rule online as well as off, and they’ll like the fact that you noticed the retweet and took the time to show some gratitude. It may even inspire them to retweet more of your tweets in the future.

8) Be Personal: Again, I don’t need to know what you ate for dinner, but every now and then you should show your human side with a creative thought, quote, or other statement. Let people know you’re “real” and not just a lean mean business machine. You want to tread lightly in this area. Too personal is overkill, but a little can help in establishing a connection with your followers.

9) Post Pictures/Video: Remember, Twitter is not just for text. It’s easy to post short videos, and pictures too. It’s nice to mix it up a little and share content in other formats as well. Here are some resources - Video Sharing Websites for Twitter.

10) Talk About More Than Yourself: It’s not all about you, so please don’t make all your tweets one big marketing message, such as only tweeting about your latest press release, blog posting, or article that was published. No one will want to follow you if you’re one big commercial. Yes, some of this is fine in moderation, but you need to walk a fine line and mix it up with other helpful, interesting topics.”

~ Source: SiteProNews.com

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Posted Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 in Social Media | No Comments »

Social Media for Your Company: SlideShare

One of my clients asked me about the benefits of SlideShare and SEO. I decided to poke around online and see what I could find and how people are using this social media site that appears to be targeted to businesses (hence the presentation part).

I found this informative, introductory article for the new Slidesharers out there. It touches on relatively easy and basic SEO techniques for optimizing each presentation (tagging, titles, etc). SocialSEO also gave us some creative, out-side-of-the-box ideas on how to create more presentations:

  • Explain a complex business process that could use a few visual aids
  • Create “how to” tutorials
  • Give a sales presentation
  • Show off pictures from an event
  • Breathe some life to case studies
  • Bring existing presentations to the web
  • Repurpose old articles by turning the main points into a presentation

Our Charlotte SEO company is working to help make our clients more visible online. Increasingly important, companies need to  build their social community by engaging customers, becoming resilient to negative feedback  and implementing the ’sharing’ factor. Sharing presentations ( like on SlideShare), coupons on Google Places, asking for feedback on Facebook and connecting Twitter followers with popular news is eminent in the realm of today’s social media marketing.

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Posted Thursday, April 29th, 2010 in Branding, Link Building, SEO, Social Media | No Comments »

Google is going Places

On Tuesday, Google Local Business Center became Google Places.

Google Places exists to help local businesses reach local customers. Currently, Google reports that about 4 million businesses have already claimed their virtual dot on the map. Also, Google reports that  one in five searches relate to location.  Business owners partner with Google Search to bring in more site traffic and business by using old features with new ones.  Familiar features include directions, hours of operation, uploaded photos, customer reviews, coupons and real-time updates.

And the drum-roll for Google Places’ new features…

1) Service Areas:

2) Advertising Program: For $25 a month, business can add ‘flare’ to their listing on Google.com and Google Maps with Tags.

3) Free Photo Shoot: Request to get Google to snapshot your Google Business photos. These pics will supplement those under your current photo section on your Places page.

4) Customized QR Codes: What is a QR Code? A QR Code is a two-dimensional bar code, or a matrix code that stands for ‘quick-response’. Mobile phones can quickly read this code with its camera. To see how QR code and how to use, please view the video below.

5) Favorite Places :

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Posted Friday, April 23rd, 2010 in Branding, General, Link Building, Search, Social Media | No Comments »

Facebook’s New ‘Like’ Feature

“For Facebook’s next act, the social networking site will break free of its domain and let you “like” things all over the Web, according to two news reports.

The New York Times and the Financial Times tell a similar story based on unnamed sources: Facebook wants to expand beyond its core site with a “like” button that Web developers can embed in their pages. Yes, it’s yet another media sharing tool in the style of Digg and Reddit — it just happens to be aligned with the second-biggest Web site in the United States.
A Digg Killer?

A lot of sites already use a “share” button to connect with Facebook, letting users post links to their news feed, but a “like” button seems more in line with the simple interaction offered by Digg. In other words, your commitment starts and ends with a simple thumbs up. It also could allow interaction with non-editorial sites, as the New York Times suggests Yelp could use the “like” feature to show users how many of their friends enjoyed a restaurant or business.

That said, we don’t yet know exactly how the concept will work. Does liking a page automatically create a news item for your Facebook friends, or is there some other way for Facebook to determine which liked stories get shared?

The rise of Twitter and Facebook have hurt Digg’s popularity, but part of the site’s allure is its anonymity, and sharing among random strangers. Facebook is all about interacting with your friends. Still, the sheer volume of people using Facebook could quickly cement the “like” button as the premiere way to share Web content.
Privacy Issues, Of Course

It seems like any time Facebook does anything, privacy is part of the discussion. That’s likely to be the case here, as some marketers tell the Financial Times that they’ll use “like” information to target ads at users. Analysts tell the New York Times that privacy concerns are possible as shares more details about users with external Web sites, though that seems like a more general issue than a specific flaw in the “like” service.

Facebook denies that it will use the service to track users across the Web, saying that it bases ads only on information users fill out in their profiles. “We have no announcements or changes planned to our ad offering and policies,” a Facebook representative told the Financial Times.
More “Like” in More Places

Back on Facebook.com, “like” will be implemented in advertisements, replacing the “become a fan” functionality for brands, says the Financial Times. It’s not clear what this means for the messages and news postings you get in exchange for brand fandom. Again, liking something seems more casual than becoming a fan, so I’m a bit skeptical that one feature is completely replacing the other. We’ll see what happens at F8, Facebook’s conference on Wednesday where it’s expected to announce the new features.” ~ Source: PCworld.com

Stay current with ebasedEVOLUTION and Facebook News!

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Posted Wednesday, April 21st, 2010 in Branding, Social Media | No Comments »

Foursquare.com and Search Engine Optimization

“Foursquare is a location-based application that works on the iphone, android and blackberry smart phones. It brings a game aspect and some competition into the mix and you can use that to your benefit as a small business in regards to how you market yourself locally.

First and foremost, Foursquare promotes exploration around town and trying out new venues. You can open the app, see what is around your current location, if there are any specials nearby and what those are, and you can see if any of your friends are checked-in at any of those locations. You can see if a place is trending (quite a bit of check-ins in a short amount of time) and how many people are there.  Think popularity. Foursquare has badges that one can “unlock” for certain accomplishments, say if they visit 5 different Starbuck’s they unlock the “Barista badge”.

People love playing the game, and less than 1% of businesses are seizing the opportunity to entice those users into their place of business.  And you’re spending how much on print ads that hardly convert?

Some Stats about Foursquare
At the time of my talk, Foursquare had been around for just about 1-year. In one year, they’ve obtained almost 1 million users, have over 16 Million checkins, have over 1.4 Million venues in the database (all created by users mind you). That’s fairly impressive no?  Out of the over 1.4 Million venues, only about 1200 venues have special offers. Can you say “Opportunity”?

What do badges and leaderboards mean to you as a business?
Ego.  People have one.  Competition.  People like to win. This means that people are already playing this game and checking into your business whether you’re currently aware of it or not. This means that there is a game, external from your knowledge, that is essentially tracking and awarding your customers for frequenting your venue.

SEO Benefits of Foursquare
Google maps and now Bing maps are showcasing Foursquare venues when people search locally. Again all without you spending a penny.  Google is starting to use the tips and shouts from Foursquare venues for citations about your business. If you haven’t heard, citations are used in the rank algorithm.  This is why Yelp and Google Local reviews are so powerful and sought after.

Foursquare venue pages are ranking in search results. It has your business name, address and again links to your Foursquare venue page which also has your phone number.

How Businesses get Involved with Foursquare
Simply put – go to Foursquare.com, and Search for your business. If you’re in there make sure your information is correct. There should be a little pencil icon under the info (once you have an account). This is like any site, you need to make sure your information is correct and that you’re represented properly.” ~ Source: RYNOweb.com

r the info (once you have an account). This is like any site, you need to make sure your information is correct and that you’re represented prop

For more information, please contact one of our SEO specialists.

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Posted Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 in SEO, Search, Social Media | No Comments »

5 Methods for Optimizating your Facebook page

Method 1 - Respect Your Audience
We’ve covered the power of individuality on the Web. While it is true the Web offers exceptional degrees of anonymity and collective activity, at the end of the day every user has his/her own judgments to make, and will make those judgments known via clicks and comments. There are websites solely devoted to expounding on peoples’ bad experiences, such as the popular Not Always Right. Rest assured that if you stick to sales pitches and infomercials, your work will be forgotten or derided quite quickly.

Method 2 - Identify and Use Your Keywords
Keyword usage requires research. It isn’t a matter of simply plugging in all the buzzwords in every awkward conversation - this is a good way to get sites to blacklist or penalize you in their rankings. Take the time to really examine what key roles your business works toward, and then research the keyword usage of related activities. Pick out those keywords that seem most relevant, and then work them into your site as naturally as you can.

Method 3 - Remember Reciprocity
The interesting thing about your Facebook page is that your company website doesn’t host it - Facebook does. This puts your content in two distinct places on the Web, potentially doubling the coverage you can receive during Web searches. Take advantage of that by remembering to provide links from each site to the other. Your company homepage should be linked from your Facebook profile, and vice-versa. This will improve traffic to each site by bringing in visitors from the sister sites, and takes less than a minute to implement.

Method 4 - Harness Multiple Media
Given the social nature of Facebook, it’s an appropriate page to include ‘related’ content to your venture that isn’t strictly relevant in the normal sense. Consider a site focused on pet care and related products. Rather than tying in a sales video, post the latest adorable kitten video from one of the many cat websites on the Internet. Tag it with keywords related to your focus by all means, but the key here is to give people additional reasons to visit your site and help drive your numbers.

Method 5 - Learn From the Best
A writer once commented that every good story has already been written - what remains is for the good writer to borrow judiciously. If there is one thing the Internet is good for, it is copious amounts of free information. Take a look at popular Facebook sites and take notes on what they’re doing. You do not exist in a bubble, but rather a network of ideas and interactions. Consider adopting different approaches that others are making work, or putting your spin on them for even more success. Creativity drives much of the Web, so feel free to experiment. ” ~ Enzo Cesario, Sitepro News

For more tips on search engine optimization, contact ebasedEVOLUTION today!

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Posted Monday, March 22nd, 2010 in SEO, Social Media | No Comments »

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