Archive for May, 2010

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Online Social Networking Services – 99 Chats

Friday, May 28th, 2010

Hosting a chat room can be a good idea for a business who wants to interact with customers. This form of online social networking allows you to have a two-way conversation with customers or clients, answering questions and getting feedback on your company’s products and services. Or you can use a chat room in-house, to communicate with coworkers to discuss business, share ideas, and assign tasks.

Maybe you see the benefits of a chat room, but aren’t sure where to begin? A great way to do this is with 99chats.com, which was launched by 99Widgets in early 2009. 99Chats is a free online service that provides script hosting for chat rooms that you embed into your website, blog, social network, etc. It’s very easy to set up and use, even for those who aren’t tech savvy, and you can customize it with different colors, themes, fonts, etc. You can make it private, or create a public chat room so anyone can search and use.

One way 99Chats is being used for business is through eBay stores. Store owners can embed 99Chats right on their eBay profile to interact with potential buyers – answering questions about the products they offer in real time.

If you think this is something that appeals to you, check out the press release on 99Chats online. Using social networking has never been easier.

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Posted in Business Marketing Online, Online Social Networking | No Comments »

How to Use Video SEO To Drive Traffic To Your Website

Monday, May 24th, 2010

According to a recent study by Nate Elliot of Forrester Research, videos that are properly submitted are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of the Google search results page than a text Web page. There are far less videos on the Web than text pages and for this reason, SEO firms have begun offering services ranging from video production to the creation of keyword-driven video pages to drive traffic to their client’s Website.

Elliot recommended that companies and SEO firms optimize keywords by including them in titles, tags and file names. Also to increase the video’s page rank it’s a good idea to host it on YouTube and make sure to add fresh content. Use videos for branding rather than trying to present a ton of information. This will help drive traffic to the Website, where they can find all the information about the product or service. The video is meant to get their attention. The video also serves as a way to entertain potential customers, which will make them like you and gain trust in your product or service, which is an important thing, especially when selling a product online.

Although video SEO is becoming increasingly popular, there are still companies out there who are simply ignoring it or submitting the pages on which the videos are found instead of optimizing the actual video. This is a mistake because you will miss out on the benefits of video optimization and what it can do to help drive traffic to your Website. Elliot’s study showed that on average, videos have an 11,000 to 1 chance of appearing on page one, while text pages have a 500,000 to 1 chance. If you don’t optimize the video correctly or at all, your video’s chances of being seen decrease significantly. The problem is, many companies don’t want to do the work. Video production can be expensive and time consuming, and it’s often difficult to make a short video that will get potential customers’ attention and keep it. It’s hard to narrow down information and pick and choose only the most important to include in a video. There is also the problem of a video that takes too long to load. If your video is running slow, odds are the viewer will become impatient and ‘X’ out of it within a few seconds.

Video SEO can be time consuming and difficult but the benefits are worth the effort. If your video is optimized correctly, it is much more likely to be seen by many potential customers simply by chance than your Website. It’s best to enlist the help of a professional SEO firm when trying to optimize a video if you aren’t familiar with the technique. The video can be a powerful tool to drive traffic to your Website and get the company’s name on potential customers’ minds, which is, after all, is the goal of Internet marketing.

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Posted in Video SEO, Video Search Marketing | 1 Comment »

Don’t Make These 7 Common Mistakes When Writing a Press Release

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

The purpose of a press release is to show your company in a positive light – whether you’re announcing the benefits of a great new product, or clearing up misconceptions or false allegations by a competitor. The last thing you want to do is write a press release that does the opposite. Here are 7 common mistakes that people make when writing a press release:

1. Writing an ineffective subject line. You want to create a subject line that will entice the recipient to open the e-mail. A good way to determine what NOT to write is to look at messages in your Trash folder that you never opened. What is it about the subject lines that caused you to skip over this e-mail? Be creative with your subject line and stick to the point.

2. Not doing all your research. Rather than blindly jumping into writing your press release, read other press releases from other successful companies in your industry. Take note of layout, content, and phrasing.

3. Talking down to your audience. No one likes to feel stupid. While it’s important to write clearly and state your message in a way most people can understand, you have to assume your readers are adults of at least of average intelligence, not 5 year olds.

4. Over-writing the release. Your press release should be informative, and to the point. You don’t need to add a bunch of irrelevant information to up your word count.

5. Over-selling your product or service. Avoid writing the release to sound like an ad. Don’t assume your reader is a buyer, but instead think of him or her as someone else in the industry who needs to know more about your product.

6. Assuming your readers are already familiar with your company. Be specific when explaining your product or service, and make sure to include all necessary details. However, be careful not to make mistake #3. Don’t explain in such a way to make your audience feel stupid.

7. Jumping the gun when sending your release. Don’t send your release until you have all the facts, details, and correct information. You are better off delaying the release than to send it with missing or possibly incorrect information.

In addition to avoiding these common mistakes, its always a good idea to check spelling and grammar of your press release. You should also read it over a few times to make sure the words flow smoothly and the information is correct. An effective press release will assure that not only the correct information will get out there, but that people will likely read your press releases instead of deleting them.

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Posted in Press Release Writing, Tips For a Press Release | 1 Comment »

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