PostRanger.com

Social Networking Websites

Social networking Websites can be very useful in promoting a professional blog or one you maintain yourself for your business.

However, as Internet entrepreneur Chris Perillo points out in the following video, it's best to know what benefits you are receiving from your social network before continuing to spend the time using it.

No matter how large and supposedly successful the social network, if being connected does not translate into visitors on your blog you may wish to reevaluate the time it takes to promote your blog there.

To examine more carefully how various social networks are benefitting your blog (or not) simply enter your Google Analytics page or sign up if you don't yet have a free account.

Next, click on the "traffic sources" button under the dashboard and you'll see which sites on the Web have sent your blog the most traffic.

In the case of PostRanger.com, we get much more from our memberships on Flickr, LinkedIn and MyBlogLog--we get considerable traffic from all three--then from our involvement with Facebook and MySpace, despite their size and popularity.

Deside what you want from a social networking Website then experiment with free accounts until you determine which make sense for you.  

Using XHTML strong tags

Using XHTML strong tags can help your blog post's SEO.

Live Strong
Originally uploaded by Incase Designs

Some blog platforms, like TypePad, already convert all bolded words and phrases in the site's "Rich Text" editor with the strong tag (written as <strong> with closing tag </strong> ) but, if you're not sure, you may want to check.

Simply select the HTML editing option in your blog platform's compose window or right click  and select the "view source" option.

The XHTML strong tag is quite different from the bold tag (coded as <b> with closing </b>) because it does more than simply change the appearance of text.

Using the strong tag adds emphasis to keywords and phrases which are detected by search engines like Google.

Increase blog traffic with inbound links

A great way to increase blog traffic is with inbound links from other places on the World Wide Web.

Inbound
Originally uploaded by me'nthedogs

Whether you're creating a blog on your own or hiring a company to provide keyword rich blogging services for your business or organization, inbound links are vital.

It's even more important that those links are relevant meaning they are often anchored with keywords or phrases related to the topic of your blog or post.

Certainly outbound links to other blogs or Websites related to either the topic of your site, blog post or a particular phrase in your article  is a great way to start.

Outbound links can encourage bloggers, visitors and even some search engines to follow links back to your site and may encourage reciprocal links in the future.

Anothert option is to create, or ask someone in your organization to create, complementary content with keywords appropriate to your blog's topic on other sites like Squidoo, LinkedIn, Facebook or other blog platforms like Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, LiveJournal etc. 

PostRanger.com provides social media marketing

PostRanger.com provides social media marketing for a variety of social media environments.

Look for our contributions to online small business community BizSugar.com daily including a regular feed here on our blog to keep you updated on our daily postings.

We'll be posting on a variety of small business topics plus commenting on links posted by other members.

Join BizSugar.com free and share small business posts from your own blog or from sources across the Web. Vote on other members' submissions, discover new friends and network with small business leaders throughout the world while sharing ideas and resources.

For more on our social media services contact PostRanger.com and find out how we can help enhance your social media presence today!

Blogging for your home business

Blogging for your home business can be an effective and inexpensive method of promotion.

Blogging
Originally uploaded by vanessaeducation

You can certainly create your own blog through a variety of tools available online.

Or hire a professional blogger to create a site especially for your business and partner with other small business entrepreneurs to help grow your business.

Blogs can:

• Get Website traffic increasing sales of products, leads for new clients and potential revenue from AdSense or other online advertising
• Improve PageRank with increased inbound links creating more visibility for your Website on search engines
• Build your brand by sharing with potential customers more about who you are and what you do

For more on how to grow and market your blog through social networking watch the video below:

The Value of Social Networking Relationships from Justin Smith on Vimeo.

PostRanger.com welcomes CheckItLive as client

PostRanger.com welcomes international client CheckItLive.com with the launch of the website's LiveVideoFeeduk.com blog Monday.

CheckItLive.com, created by fiNETra, a Wellington, England, based firm providing streaming video for Websites, offers up live Webcams from throughout the UK with a social networking twist.

Marck Welch, CEO of finNETra said the idea for the site came to him one day while driving back from a meeting in Polzeath, Cornwall.

Welch said the concept impressed him believing the "sheer escapism of being able to check what’s happening right now would appeal to a global audience", a belief he says has been born out by e-mails and comments praising the site.

CheckItLive offers visitors the opportunity to comment on live videos within the site's community or post video to a variety of social and bookmarking sites including MySpace, Facebook, Digg, StumbleUpon, reddit, Yahoo!, del.icio.us, furl and LiveJournal.

For more on how PostRanger.com can help your business obtain greater visibility on the Web with blogging or social media services contact us today.

Outsourcing your social media

When examining the possibility of marketing with social media consider outsourcing these services instead.

Outsourcing
Originally uploaded by re-ality

Marketing with social media from Facebook to MySpace to LinkedIn to Digg etc. or on a new site you've created to build community can be amazingly effective.

But the effort can be extremely time consuming especially if you've got some core business to run or other work on your main Website to keep you busy.

Let us help. PostRanger.com can handle your social media needs.

We'll moderate your social network participating in discussion and community building by posting four story or video links and leaving four comments with the posts of other members a day, voting on posts and leaving one comment a week on your blog if applicable.

Please include a contact, the URL of your social site (and blog, if applicable) and any special instructions with the payment for your first month of service.

$200 for first month

Free Google Keyword Tool Box

Don't go to work without your tool box...your Google Keyword Tool Box that is.

Tool box
Originally uploaded by HelenPalsson

Whether you're a professional blogger or an entrepreneur or other business person trying to market your company online, you'll need it.

Here is a run down of what you'll find inside and how it works:

• Google Adwords Keyword Tool--Enter a keyword or phrase and the tool shows you the local and global searches over the last month and what alternatives might be receiving more interest.
• Google Gadgets--From the Facebook Gadget allowing you to display your profile page on your website to the Google Clock, these gizmos created by enthusiastic users can enhance your blog, but don't go overboard trying to use them all.
• Google Lab Specials--Find out more about the latest Google apps engineers are working on.
• Google Trends--Probably inspiration enough for numerous hot blog topics daily, the application tells you what subjects are hot with searchers and lets you click through to top searches on those topics
• Google Chrome--A place to download Google's free browser for Windows XP and Vista.
• Google Webmaster Central--Info. to assist Webmasters, including bloggers, and tools to improve search engine indexing and increase traffic to your Website.
• Submit New Website Name--Let Google know about your Website quickly and easily and be pleasantly surprised how quickly you begin getting top listing under your domain name and start receiving traffic for domain name and keywords.
• Google Analytics--The ultimate in providing information on visitors to your site.
• Google Adsense--The only thing in this tool box likely to cost you anything at all, and it might also make you money should you decide to display Google Ads on your site. You'll also learn how to place performance based ads to be displayed across a vast online network
• Free Google Products--Even more free stuff from Google!
• Google Official SEO Starter Guide--Reputedly written for teams within the Google organization, this document on how to improve your blog or Website's performance with the search engine is now freely available on the World Wide Web.

Free ebook from Seth Godin

Here's a free ebook from Seth Godin on blogging.

Seth Godin at TED 2009
Originally uploaded by magnifynet

Seth explains how blogging is changing the world by:

--breaking the monopoly of big media and giving everyone with something to say a voice

--creating a new way to spread ideas and influence others in the marketplace and beyond

--creating a new heirarchy where small companies and organizations can compete with big ones so long as they have something remarkable to share

--building a new relationship between you and your audience based not on how much money you spend but on what you have to say and how much it matters to others. 

Share this great ebook with others you know.  Offer it for free dowload on your Website or blog. Help spread the word.

Download Who's there? Seth Godin's Incomplete Guide to Blogs and the New Web today!

Maybe you DON'T need a professional blogger after all

OK, maybe you don't need a professional blogger to promote your business.

Shawn Hessinger of
PostRanger.com

In a comment on Valeria Maltroni's blog last week, I took issue with the idea that as a rule businesses shouldn't hire other people to do their blogging for them.

In retrospect, since professional blogging is a good part of what we do around here, I thought it would be a good idea to concede a few points in the interest of balance.

First off, you definitely shouldn't hire a professional blogger if:

• You can do it all yourself. Let's face it. This stuff isn't rocket science. If you have the time to put in to setting up a blog, getting it hosted and purchasing a domain name if necessary and time to look for the relevant outbound links in your niche that will build your page ranking and traffic, then don't waste your money! We've got plenty of resources here to help you learn the ins and outs and much of it is free.
• You plan to deceive your customers. It's not something we or any other respectable blogger will help you do anyway. Blogging is about honestly representing who you are and what you have to offer to the Internet community and tricks to improve search engine ranking or increase traffic will only backfire in the end hurting your site and your credibility. (See the video on "Blogging for Business" from yourBusinessChannel)