It’s easy to slap a name onto your business and call it a brand. But that alone won’t cut it these days – especially not online. It needs constant nourishment and attention in order to position it into something that will be successful. The great thing about promoting your brand online is that there are plenty of tools available out there for you to use. Like websites and blogs. Social media and local business listings. Online maps and directories. E-newsletters and RSS feeds. Of course, by building a brand online, you can also reach and influence more people than ever before – and at a much quicker pace than through traditional means like radio, TV, or print. Before you throw your brand onto the World Wide Web, however, it’s best to follow some of the online brand management tips which you’ll find below. Develop an Online Marketing Strategy You may have a lot of high-quality valuable information on your website, – Read the full article
When Twitter first came out, only few saw its potential as an engagement platform. But this hugely successful microblogging site has since grown to have more than 20 million users in the U.S. (and 50 million worldwide) – with networks that cover individuals, communities, small businesses, and even corporations. Even majority of Fortune 100 companies now have Twitter – are even said to have ‘embraced’ the technology. But are they using it effectively? Not really, at least according to a recently released Twitter study conducted by Weber Shandwick. The objective of the research was to evaluate how well Fortune 100 companies were using Twitter to its potential as a valuable communications channel and strategic social network. Among the numbers that were published in the paper were: 73 – number of Fortune 100 companies on Twitter 41 – Twitter accounts that appear to be used as one-way broadcast/newsfeed for branding efforts 50 – percentage of Fortune 100 Twitter accounts that had – Read the full article
Recently, Google rolled out another one of its search engine innovations: the Google Social Search. The announcement was made in conjunction with the company’s new partnership with social networking giant Twitter, which should help users find more up-to-the-minute, real-time data – including tweets – in Google search results. Google Social Search, however, is something independent from the Google-Twitter collaboration. Contrary to what some people might think, Social Search is not real-time search. What the new service does do is help users find content published by people in their social circle – and then see this kind of content included in search results. “Most people on the web today make social connections and publish web content in many different ways, including blogs, status updates, and tweets,” as explained by Google in the official blog entry announcing Social Search. “This translates to a public social web of content that has special relevance to each person.” It is this relevant, social web of – Read the full article
The search wars have just been taken to a whole new level. The catalyst? Social media. With the phenomenal popularity of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, both Google and Microsoft will now be integrating real-time updates into their respective search engines. In separate announcements made yesterday, October 21, Google said it has reached an agreement with Twitter to include real-time updates – “Tweets” – in a new Google feature called Social Search; meanwhile, Microsoft has signed deals to get full feeds from both Twitter and Facebook. Google cited the fact that “an entirely new type of data has emerged… not only as a way for people to communicate their thoughts and feelings, but also as an interesting source of data about what is happening right now in regard to a particular topic.” The agreement with Twitter means search results will now include up-to-the-minute data and real-time observation from a stream of Tweets, so that users “will find tweets from – Read the full article
Web design is more than just creativity, it usability. At Lakeshore Branding, we believe understanding your visitors and how they use your website will lead to increased conversions. For each new website or website redesign, our team of graphic designers, SEO consultants and marketing specialists work together on strategy, design, usability, and goals. Custom SEO Packages Let Lakeshore Branding introduce you to our talented web designers who can help you build a website that not only conveys your message, but has a strong emphasis on usability and conversions of your traffic. E-Commerce SEO Solutions For clients that require an out of the box custom solution, we specialize in building e-commerce websites on the Magento framework. Magento is an open source program that has been regarded as the future of e-commerce with a list of features that few can match. This shopping cart is fully customizable with full SEO integration. Chicago Central Dearborn Park/ Printer’s Row: 60605 Gold Coast/ Streeterville: 60610, – Read the full article
Facebook’s photo sharing feature has become increasingly popular among Web users. This feature has enabled people to share their special moments with their family and friends all over the world. Besides individuals, businesses have also taken advantage of Facebook photo sharing as a social media marketing tool to promote their products and services. The following are some guidelines that will help you use Facebook’s photo sharing feature more effectively. Name your albums Facebook automatically stores uploaded photos into an ‘untitled album’ (usually with the date of upload). You can change or arrange such albums easily according to your personal needs. When creating an album, the first thing to do is to appropriately name the album. Facebook automatically names albums according to the date when they were uploaded. However, a name such as ‘August 8, 2011’ is not likely to grab anyone’s interest. Therefore, select titles which are catchy and relevant to the photos contained in the album. Customize the album – Read the full article
On 28 January 2011, Twitter published a monumental blog post which detailed their censorship plan (or rather, lack thereof). The logic that representatives of Twitter utilized was both practical and easy to understand: the company simply lacked the manpower to review one hundred million tweets per day, and furthermore, they believed in the free flow of information and thus would only remove from Twitter illegal tweets and spam. In fact, Twitter in 2011 believed that discussion of topics in geopolitics made Twitter “fun” and “important”. Country-Based Censorship Needless to say, the alterations to this open-information policy just one year later came as a shock to Twitter users. On 26 January 2012, Twitter published a post on the same blog which explains their alleged need for selective, country-based censorship. This approach to sharing information is, according to Twitter, informed by certain countries’ views on free information. Content Control Specifically, Twitter will not be preventing content from being published. They will simply remove content retroactively, – Read the full article
I will be the first to admit that working in a social media department sometimes feels like a workout. You’re responsible for liking and tweeting and connecting and sharing and friending and +ing and stumbling and running and running and running. Did I say running? By the time the day is over, it feels like you were moving a mile a minute and you need a break. Whether you work in a social media department or are simply a company trying to keep up with the social media, enough is enough. What is Pinterest? However, even I will make an exception for the latest social network, Pinterest. Once you get over the groaning, you will find that this new social network is actually quite interesting. Basically, the site is a virtual board where you can “pin” visuals that interest you. Be it an infographic, video, picture, or just a color scheme you like, you can pin it onto your board for – Read the full article
