Learn SEO | Search Engine Optimization Tips and Techniques

There are CEO’s and COO’s and CTO’s and CFO’s.  Could a CSNMO (Chief Social Network Mangement Officer) be far behind. With more and more companies, both large and small, embracing social networking, how long will it be before a dedicated position is created within a company for a full time professional social network manager?  It would definitely be an interesting job. I wonder how the marketing department would look at this position? Would they consider a threat or would they embrace and support this individual.

Paying someone to be a full time social networker could have it’s benefits in establishing a more personal relationship between customer and company. By providing customers the ability to interact with your company via Twitter, Facebook or any other social network, you are bringing your business to a more personal level. As a social networker who creates an online persona and then uses that persona to interact with followers you have in effect brought your company down to a one to one level with the customer.  People like the ability to communicate with a company, to provide ideas and suggestions as well as complaints, and the smart social networking manager will use this information to better their product or service.

Maybe the time has come to add this position to your company. What is your opinion?

Testing the Twitpress pluging since changing my Twitter username to see if it still auto updates.  Changed my Twitter name to reflect the name of this blog, x7SEO.

Got a pleasant suprise this morning while looking at Bing. This blog is on the first page of returns for the search “learn SEO” on Bing.  I am at number 10 but everyone knows the importance of first page listings.  I have been hovering between 15 and 20 on Google for about 6 months so it will be interesting to see if there is an increase in traffic.

We all know that fresh original content and one way inboud links are good for SEO.  How can a blog be used to get these inboud links and to display content that the search engines like? I have in the past said that for each new website being built there needs to be an accompanying blog that supports that website and has a different domain name. By using a blog to display regular updates with news and information about your sites service or products, you are creating fresh content that will be linked to your site as well as one way inboudn links to your site. This is especially good if you have a large static website that would take too long or be too cost prohibitive to redesign in a more SEO friendly fashion.

By building a blog under a different domain name you do a couple of things. First you establish a second identity in the same industry. This second identity can be developed to the point where you are considered and expert on your particular field of interest.  As your build your blog you can use it to display the latest news and achievements from your company as well as your industry niche. When these news articles are written you have the opportunity to use anchor links in your text to link back to your original site.  Of course it takes time to build credibility so those links will be effective but with good quality original content you can achieve that status in a few months. Quality is definitely the key to this process.  In addition to anchor text links throughout your articles and news you have the opportunity to use a keyword based link from your blog roll back to the original site.  Place a banner ad on your main site displaying a visual link to your blog and set up a Twitter account with an auto updater plugin so your blog entries will post automatically in Twitter.

Before long your secondary web presence (blog) will be driving traffic to your site and you have the opportunity to actually rank more than one site for the same company high in the search engines.

What is your experience with using blogs and websites together.

Here is my example:  Main site at www.bbq-festivals.com and blog at www.bbqhub.com

I had an interesting discussion about Twitter with a good friend over the weekend. She is a well educated medical professional and is 47 years old. I was sitting at my dining room table after eating barbecue and my Moto Q phone started dinging that messages where incoming.  For several of the people I follow on Twitter I have my phone set to send me messages when updates are made.  I picked up the phone and was reading through the latest batch of texts and she asked what I was reading.  I said “I just received some Twitter upatess”, and she looked at me with kind of blank stare and said “what in the world is a twitter?”

I suppose I just assume because I know what it is that everyone else knows also. Wrong! Her 16 year old daughter piped up and immediately said something to the effect of “oh mom don’t you know anything!!” So I tried to expain to here as briefly as possible what social networking was and more specifically what Twitter was and how people us it to keep others up to date with various aspects of thier life. I told here there is everything from business to personal messages flying around and you can really get insight into what other people are doing and what they are interested in.  More importantly though this conversatoin turned to the whole use of mobile communications devices and social networking and the impact it is having on lives.

She admitted she was technologically resistant as she thinks it takes too much time to learn to use these advances and that they are too complicated. I told her on the contrary they can actually make your life easier.  I showed her an example with one of the people I follow on Twitter who is an employee of Southwest Airlines and where he periodically posts special announcements about reduced fares.  I showed her a contact of mine on Facebook who works for Dell Computers who offers discount codes only for Facebook contacts.  I could see the light coming on as she listened.  Then she said how can all of this be used in my day to day life. I gave her this example.

A friend of mine went to a locally owned regional store that sells electronics, stereos, televisions, computers etc….   He saw a nice 52″ high definition television but thought the price was too high. The salesperson was really putting the pitch to him to buy the TV but Kevin, the shopper told the salesperson to hang on while he looked something up. He then proceeded to pull his Iphone out of his pocket and went online and found the exact same television at Best Buy for almost 400 dollars cheaper with free delivery as well. He showed his Iphone screen to the salesperson and said I would really like this tv but I can go across town and get the same model for this price. The salesperson said wait a minute and went to talk to the store manager and he came back and said they would match the price and he got his new tv.

This is just one example of how technology and social networks are working in business and personal lives to make things easier. I told my friend that the time is coming when department stores, restaurants and other business will offer special discounts via Twitter, Facebook and other similar programs which will be advantageous to both the consumer and the business. I told her imagine getting a message on Friday evening that says something to the effect that on Saturday from 9 until 3 XYZ department store is offering 50% off everthing in the store to Twitter followers only and to use promo code “whatever”.  Only Twitter followers of that particular store would get the discount.

I told her that was only the tip of the iceburg and that there is so much more possible…………..  So if you are over 40 and not quite sure what all this Twittering, Facebooking and other “ing’s” are all about, just ask a user and you will be suprised at what it can do for you.