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Archive for July, 2010

July

Facebook Questions: Because Your Friends Want to Know

Facebook has a new feature, Facebook Questions, which it envisions as being a valued place where people can get advice and product recommendations from friends and other members (blah blah blah). I know what you’re thinking—the web does not need another Yahoo! Answers. But hey, if Q&A sites like Aardvark, TripAdviser, and Quora are utilizing the Facebook network why shouldn’t Facebook?

Facebook Questions isn’t up yet, but below is an example of what it will look like. Facebook describes it as a cross between Yahoo! Answers and LinkedIn Answers, but as you can see from the image below, answers can reach Wikipedia-length proportions.

Facebook Questions

Everyone on Facebook will be able to see your question or respond to it. Facebook friends will see your questions directly in their News Feed. Which poses the question: Is Facebook Questions going to be appreciated or downright annoying?

Using the service is pretty easy. You can either type your question directly into a search box found at the top of each page, use the Questions dashboard, or ask a question via your profile/homepage.

Like Yahoo! Answers, once you post a question on Facebook it will be available for everyone to see. The main difference between Yahoo! Answers and Facebook Questions is that Facebook’s service will not be indexed by search engines, though that may change.

Google-Owned Aardvark Q&A

If you can’t wait for Facebook Questions to go live, check out Google-owned Q&A service Aardvark. When you ask a question on Aardvark it sends it to registered users with experience on the topic, users with similar tastes, and friends of friends in your network who may be able to help. You can share your “Vark” Q&A’s with Facebook friends and friends of friends. Tags within the profile of your network are used to determine whom to route a question to (activities, interests, places, local information, products mentioned, skills, academic information, professional experience, organizations, political information, etc.).

Aardvark Q&A Service

Other sites using Facebook as the base of a Q&A service include TripAdvisor (enables Facebook users to ask their friends questions about specific cities) and Quora. Google Social Search isn’t a Q&A service, but it will give you content posted by people in your contacts list that is relevant to your search. This allows you to review what they have to say without broadcasting your business to your entire network.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

July

How To Report a “Google Adwords Professional”

This seems to be getting worse and worse … without an end in site. People either claiming to be Google AdWords professionals or they really have the title and they do shoddy work for their clients. Just as “SEOs” charge outrageous fees upfront with little or no real guarantees for their work, “AdWords Professionals” are doing the same thing and it is causing a lot of frustration for business owners out there.

Most of the problems lie in “education” or “perception” or what I like to call miss-perception. Why? Well, in the interviews I conducted, nearly all the business owners who feel they were cheated thought the “AdWords Professional” was a Google employee, which isn’t the case. They have merely passed a test issued by Google.

So let’s say an AdWords Professional has scammed you in some way, how do you go about it? First you need to make sure they are really AdWords Professionals and are certified by Google. Then you can fill in a form that can be found on their Google page. Look for ‘report a complaint about this partner’, and clicking that link will direct you straight to the form to fill out. Then it’s up to Google to look at the complaint and take appropriate measures.

Or, you can hire the right person the first time. I’ve used Joel McDonald for years to handle my AdWords campaigns and I have been very happy with the results. Click for more info on Joel and what he can do for your business. Just realize that he focuses on companies that are spending at least $5k a month in AdWords.

Tags: Google Adwords Professional
Posted in Google, Webmaster | 3 Comments »

July

Tips & Tricks to get more traffic from Twitter

Twitter is one of the hottest social networks these days with thousands of users following each other. Using Twitter seems to be the most fashionable thing to have happened to the masses and we are all enjoying every bit of the twittering moments. It is one platform where people of different likes and origins unite to discuss their thoughts and aspirations.

However, despite all the hype, it can also be a place where there is a lot of people talking but not a lot of people listening!

But, did you know that Twitter also helps in getting traffic to your blog or website?

Tricky thing!

Twitter

Well, that’s true! Twitter is the most popular micro blogging system that helps in gaining traffic to your blog (but yes, you need to take help from some SEO experts). However, there are certain rules to be followed. I will mention some major points for you so that you get an idea.

Twitter allows only 140 characters per message, which is why it is called a micro blogging system. Twitter is so simple to use and it is even easy to find friends and a great way to start communicate with them. This is the main reason that this particular social networking website has become so popular.

Twitter is the only place where you can hang out with people and also tell them what you are doing and how you spend your days. Starting from very light-hearted communication to blog sharing and information transfer, everything is possible on this social network. You can as well build a community of your own and have thousands of people following you, while you also follow others.

This is how traffic is generated, and traffic means profit in turn.

However, there are certain areas in this social network that needs to be optimized to drive more traffic from twitter. So, what are the steps to be taken care of, for fetching more traffic from Twitter? Some important points are mentioned below:

Tip#1: Create your Twitter Profile

Your Twitter profile should be interesting enough to grab user’s attention. The cover page determines what kind of personality you are having and also reveals your interests. If you provide the best information about yourself, you will likely find more like-minded people following you. Add your picture or something that’s interesting and might grab attention to your profile as well. Choosing an appropriate username is also very important.

Tip#2: Give the Link to your Website/Blog on your Profile page

Linking your blog or website to your profile page with proper heading and description of the content in the particular page can help in generating roe traffic. As Twitter is a great way to interact with people and make thousands of friends, you simply cannot miss out on this. This is the best way to let people now what you are capable of doing and how. Your username should speak about your interests too.

Tip#3: Interact with People

Twitter is a platform where people follow each other while sending messages. So once you receive a message from someone, never miss the opportunity. Always make it a point to interact with people who have expressed their interest in your profile. After a few moments of casual talks, you can get back to business, but informally.

Tip#4: Find Like-minded People

As there are thousands of people on Twitter, you can easily find some friends sharing common interests and having similar thoughts, in order to find them you just need to choose from a few options. Whether you want to search on twitter or on some other networks or invite some friends via email or check for the suggested user options, it’s all your choice. Also, you can use all these options together.

Tip#5: RSS Feeds are great help on Twitter

Display the RSS Feeds of your blog or website on Twitter to get more traffic. As you publish an article on your blog, you can tweet and inform your friends and get it done automatically. This will generate traffic and your followers will target your writings and make it a point to see what you have written.

Always monitor your Twitter account and be consistent – that’s the way to tweet!