Facebook and Business

Hi everyone!

I have been AWOL for a while now. Things have just been crrrrrrazy hectic! I am back though, so all is well! *wink*

Anyway, today I wrote an article about using Facebook as a springboard for getting the name of your business 'out there' and thought I would share some of it with you... 

Facebook offers businesses all around the world priceless opportunities for online marketing (they actually ARE priceless seeing as though they are FREEEEEEE!) It would be silly for a business, regardless of its size, not to take advantage of Facebook- and social media in general- as a marketing tool. 

Many people believe that Facebook was made solely to stay in contact with friends and family. This, however, could not be further from the truth! Facebook and business have recently become synonymous with one another and there are businesses all over the world taking full advantage of this specific social networking site’s features. It is now easier than ever to advertise your business or company on Facebook- completely free of charge!

The best part about Facebook? It gives you the opportunity to become aware of what your already existing clients are thinking, what they need, and what they want. This is invaluable when it comes to tailoring your services and products- you will be able to give them EXACTLY what they are looking for, thus maintaining your client base with ease.  

If you own a business, you should make sure that you have a firm social media strategy in place. It could mean the difference between a business's failure or success! If you simply don't have time to handle your Facebook page for business or to keep up to date with all of your business social media, feel free to give us at Ipcoweb a call. After all, online marketing and SEO is what we do better than any other company in South Africa!

Check out this other article I wrote about how to get the most out of Facebook for business. 

Keep well guys!

B

xx

More SEO Tips

Hello all you people out there!

So, as I mentioned the other day, we at Ipcoweb have recently revealed our brand new website. Our designers have done a really fantastic job! Also, a good few of the new articles on the site have been written by yours truly, so be sure to check it out!

I have written some new and exciting SEO tips for you all. They have yet to be published on the site so you are all the very first (very lucky) readers :P Take a look:

·         Free SEO tip #1: Make sure that you do intensive keyword research. Look for keywords that people are searching for relating to your specific company, products and services. Opt for those keywords that your competition has yet to cater for in their content.

·         Free SEO tip #2: Make sure that your website has a variety of reputable backlinks. This is SO important. Backlinks give your website a reputation (hopefully a good one!)

·         Free SEO tip #3: Be active in the world of social media. Social media marketing is the key to attracting and maintaining a strong client base. Make a Facebook page for your business, open a Twitter account for your business, join Google Plus- do it all, and you will reap the benefits in terms of SEO.

·         Free SEO tip #4: Ensure that all articles containing keywords are informative and interesting to read. Do not write articles just for the sake of including hundreds of keywords. The potential clients visiting your site will not be impressed with this- and nor will Google.

·         Free SEO tip #5: Your SEO practices and Google marketing should always be ethical. Unethical SEO refers to the occurrences where people find ways to ‘cheat’ their way into ranking high in Google searches. If your website is caught doing this, your company will be banned from internet search engines completely- definitely not good for business and definitely not worth the risk!

·         Free SEO tip #6: Update your website regularly with new articles and blogs. This keeps your website interesting and appealing to both clients and Google.

·         Free SEO tip #7: Keep your keyword density at about 8%. Over-use of keywords can actually work against you in terms of SEO and Google marketing.

·         Free SEO tip #8: Keep SEO content friendly and straight to the point. Do not give useless or irrelevant information. People want to see the facts, so make sure you give them what they want!

·         Free SEO tip #9: Learn how to design a website that appeals to your target market clients. For instance, if your target market is females between the ages of 15-21, don’t give your website an army theme. If your target market is males between the ages of 30-45, don’t make the main colour of your website bright pink. Learn to cater to your specific clients’ general likes and preferences.

·         Free SEO tip #10: Make sure that your website is user-friendly. Include all relevant information (like contact details) in appropriate places where they are easy to find. 

SEO is ever-changing which makes it so interesting to work with. You learn something new everyday! Hope you all find these tips useful when tailoring your websites.

Have a fab week, everyone!

B

xx

Tips for Online Marketing on Message Boards/Forums

Hey guys...

I found these tips about message board/forum marketing really interesting. Hope you do too!

1. Do register. Look for a "Welcome" or Introductions" sub-forum to introduce yourself. Be honest and ask how advertising and sponsorship works on the site.
2. Don’t post marketing messages right away. You could be banned, and your product or service could be maligned on a site that ranks high on search engines.
3. Do contact the site admin. Send a private message to the site’s owner or head admin, explaining your product and ask about becoming a paid sponsor.
4. Don’t pretend. Portraying yourself as a regular member when your only interest is commercial in nature is likely land you hot water sooner or later.
5. Do consider advertising. You might want to look into promoting your product through a combination of banner advertising and sponsored posts. Many forums have "sticky" threads that they sell to sponsors. These discussion posts are “stuck” atop the forum index to gain maximum visibility.
6. Don’t push it. Incessantly bringing up your product or service when it’s not related to the topic at hand could get you banned. Make sure your message is on topic and engaging. Forums are a hybrid of communication, entertainment, and education. Tailor your message accordingly.
7. Do contribute. Become a valued contributor to the site. Use your account to talk to other members, reply to questions, or to ask your own questions. This way you become a known entity and marketing opportunities become available to you.
8. Don’t ignore criticism. Immediately respond to complaints and criticism. Don’t make it personal. Attack the arguments not the person.
Remember: Internet forums and message board posts are archived and searchable, making this the promotion that keeps on giving. Take advantage of that.
( http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/223900)

Oh, and please check out Ipcoweb's brand new website! It's pretty amazing if I do say so myself!

B

My Thoughts...

Hey everybody!

Hope that today hasn't been a blue Monday!

Today, I would like to share some of my thoughts with the world! Enjoy and let me know your opinions.

1) Which would you choose to do? Lose all your old memories or never be able to make new ones? This a tough one. There are many memories that I would love to wipe away from my psyche, but too many that I would hate to lose. So I would probably opt to keep all my old memories. Then again, if you lost all of your precious old memories, I suppose you wouldn't really know that they were there in the first place. Hmmmm.....
2) A friend moving far away or losing touch with a friend that lives right near you?I would have to say that a friend moving far away would be worse. Losing touch with a friend who lives near you is a situation that can always be resolved...
3) Betraying a friend or having a friend betray you? I would rather have a friend betray me... At least then I wouldn't have to live with a guilty conscience.
4) How have you and your feelings changed throughout your life?Quite drastically, actually. I no longer trust blindly and I now think before I act (most of the time). I have also become more guarded, more wary, but definitely much more CAPABLE. I have had quite a few nasty things happen to me in the past few years, but all of those experiences have taught me something- about life AND about myself. I don't regret them.
5) What's your worst fear?My silliest worst feat is spiders. My legitimate worst fear is not being remembered by those who have made an impact on my life. Those are the people who I will always remember and hold dear to my heart- them not doing the same is pretty scary.
6) If you could change one thing about your past what would it be?Trusting people I probably shouldn't have. In the past I have had a tendency to throw my whole self into situations that never provided me with guarantees. Those were the situations that ended up breaking me. However, over the years whilst putting the little pieces back together again, I have become stronger and more resilient than ever.
7)  Do you believe that you can be in love with 2 people at the same time? Nope. Never. And if you are, then it's not love.
8) Why do you think bad things happen to good people? Maybe because good people trust bad people? Maybe because good people don't expect other people to do bad things because those good people wouldn't do those things themselves? I don't know. That's life- we will probably never know the answer to that question.
9) Would you sacrifice self respect for love? I have in the past. Trust me, it's not worth it. How can you expect the other person to love and respect you when you can't even respect yourself? Your self respect should always come first.
10) What's the one thing you want to do before you die? Wow. I suppose it would be nice to feel satisfied with the impact that I have made on the people and the creatures of this earth.
11) Whats the best feeling in the world? Before I answer this question I would like to make a statement. Many people say that they want to be happy. The truth is that happiness is not an ever-lasting thing. The only way that one can be truly happy is to savour and appreciate those flashes of happiness when they DO happen- regardless of how long they last. Those flashes of happiness are the best feelings in the world. Hold on to each one! They will get you through the unhappy times.

That's it from me!

Don't forget to check out www.ipcoweb.com and take a look at our SEO packages. 

B
xx

The Importance of Your Company Website

As a copywriter for a SEO company, I visit stacks of different company websites everyday and yet it is rare for one to really stand out and impress me. I find this strange because, living in the technology driven world that we do today, the focus of your company is often on your website. The majority of the time, before people do business with you, they will check your website. I am of the opinion that a business that has an outstanding website full of information and pictures is the business that I will be most likely to trust. Not so? Here's an example:
There are two businesses that offer audio systems... business A has a fantastic website with multiple pages including testimonials, interesting graphics, product information etc. whereas business B has a simple one page website that includes contact details and perhaps a paragraph of information. Which business do you think you would choose? As a consumer, I would instantly opt for business A- why? Because in my mind, the amount of effort put into their website is directly related to the amount of effort that they dedicate to pleasing their clients and to business in general.
In short, your company website represents the way in which you conduct  business- so make sure that you show clients that you take your company seriously, that you are passionate about what you do, and that you have what it takes to give them what they need: excellent service and quality products!

If you wish to upgrade your company website, be sure to get in touch with us at Ipcoweb. Our web designers are simply out of this world.

Cheers for now

B
xx