At the start of the month, in our newsletter, we launched the first of our Monthly Internet Marketing Workouts, kindly brought to us by Sally Walker of Walker Media Labs. By her own admission Sally is a bit of a geek! She likes pressing buttons, messing about with servers, developing new features for applications such as WordPress, Simple Machines Forum, phpBB and she also design websites (including this very blog!). However, her real passion is Social Media, particularly helping Mum’s in business. Sally has her own company, an online TV show, trains and run courses on Social Media (as well as other things) and more, but at the end of the day is still a housework hating, cake eating Mum of 2, which is the hardest job of them all!
So what is a ‘Monthly Internet Marketing Workout’? Each month I will be sharing some top tips with you to help you and your business flourish on the internet, using marketing skills, SEO and more. But first of all a quick definition of SEO and Social Media is in order I think!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, very simply put, this means making your website ready for Google to grab and it add it to its search engine (or any other search engine for that matter). In order for your website to be optimised for search engines, certain elements have to be added to your site to get it ‘ready’.
Social Media is a world wide conversation. It allows anyone with access to the internet to say how they feel, where they are, what they are doing etc. In business marketing terms, it’s like having a massive noticeboard where you can tell the world about your latest products, services, special offers etc. As well as networking with other people. There are literally thousands and thousands of social media websites that you can join and network on, however for our Monthly Workouts we will be concentrating on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and we’ll do one each month.
So, let’s get started!
SEO Task for July
Go to Google and type in the search box the words that you hope most people use to search for you by. For example, if you are a toy shop in Hertfordshire, type in “toy shop Hertfordshire”. On which page of the search results do you come? Are you on the first page? Second? Tenth? Last? Remember to ignore the sponsored links at the top of the page too; they are only there because people have paid for them to be there. Find where you are and write it down along with the date.
I’ll use myself for an example. If I type in ‘social media expert UK’ I am on the first page of the search results and I am 4th down on the list.
Once you have done this, you will either be really pleased with your result or sitting there thinking “oh my goodness, where am I?” well don’t worry, over the next few months we’ll have your SEO kicked back into shape.
Your Task: Write down 10 words or phrases that you hope people would search for you by. So going back to our toy shop in Hertfordshire, this could be “toy shop Hertfordshire, online toy shop, wooden toys, children’s toys etc…” Then do searches on each of these terms in Google. Does your site show on the first few pages of the search results? Do your competitors? Keep a note of where you are on all these search terms and where you and your competitors come. You will need these for future tasks
Social Media Task
For this purpose I am going to assume that you already have a Twitter account, if you don’t, well go and get one quick, it’s free!
Your Task: Login to your profile on Twitter and at the top you will see a link that says ‘Find People’. Click this link and add in the names (business names and personal names if you know them) of all of your direct competitors, one by one, and as you find them, click on ‘Follow’. You need to be able to keep an eye on your competitors in business, but not because, as you may be thinking, you want to spy on them, but to learn from them. What do they do really well? Talk to them! Yes, you heard me correctly, chat to them, get to know them, if they ask for help, help them, if you need help, ask them for it. I have a mantra for all business on Social Media, whether you are a large corporate business or a work at home mum and that is “Don’t compete, collaborate” a lot of the ‘Mums’ that I train or work with get sick of me saying it I’m sure, but it is so important. Businesses, large and small need each other and by using Social Media (and especially Twitter) you can get to know your competitors and interact with them. Networking with other businesses is a smart move; networking with your competitors is even smarter.
Two tasks that will certainly get your brain thinking about how you work on the internet – roll on August for some more!
See you next time.
Sally Walker
Sally Walker Media Labs: www.sallywalker.me.uk
Sally Walker on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sallywalker
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