While marketers aren’t sure yet exactly how Google+ is going to change the online advertising and social media promotion game, it’s certain that Google+ is a big game changer. Google+ business accounts have only recently become available, but there are a couple of reasons you need to incorporate this new phenomenon into your SEO strategy as soon as possible.

For one thing, Google+ is from Google, and it’s always a good idea to stay on top of what Google is doing right from the start. Right now, Google is the main authority for page rankings, so you can be sure that Google+ is going to have a big impact in the future. Plus, unlike Facebook and Twitter, links within your Google+ account are Follow links, which means that they have an actual impact on your site’s page rank (as opposed to Facebook and Twitter’s NoFollow links, which do not!). If you want to start incorporating Google+ into your SEO strategy, here are three ways to get started:

1. Use Backlinks in your posts

As noted above, links through Google+ are Follow links, so they are valuable backlinks to your main page. They act like links from a blog or website, which a spider sees and assumes that you have higher value because other sites like you.

On your Google+ page, you can link to your company in a couple of ways. In the About Me section, you can put a permanent link to your blog in. This backlink will have a lot of staying power because it will be there from one day to the next. You can also link to your site through individual posts in Google+. Because you’re running these links on a news feed, they won’t be as valuable over the long term, but they can help boost short-term rankings and get you some visitors right away.

2. Create Some Social Buzz

Like Facebook and Twitter, Google+ marketing is all about social buzz. Getting people added to your circle of followers is the most important part of Google+ right now. Get out there and talk about your business, and post relevant content that potential followers will find interesting. You can create more of a buzz on your Google+ page in a few ways. Here are couple of options:

• End posts in a question, which will invite discussion on your page, drawing more visitors to jump in.
• Use your company network to build followers by having your employees get personal Google+ accounts and join your business’s circle.
• Promote your Google+ account on Facebook, your company website, your blog, and Twitter so that you’ll get even more people to check it out.

3. Create Compelling Content

Of course, keeping people in your circle on Google+ is all about having good content. Repost your blogs here, and post interesting related blogs from other websites or industry experts, too. Add in videos, which are some of the best marketing tools at the moment. As you’re creating good content, make sure you optimize it for SEO so that it’s helping boost your SEO ratings as its drawing in new visitors to your Google+ circle.

If you aren’t sure how to start a Google+ page or get it going, it might be worth hiring a freelance or part-time marketing expert to get it started for you. It will cost money to start, but in the long run, it can help build your business, since Google+ is the next “it” thing in social media marketing.

If you don’t currently have the funds to hire someone to run your Google+ campaign, consider a credit card or traditional bank loan to pay for the costs. Ashyia Hill from CreditDonkey says, if you’re using your small business credit card responsibly, it can be easier than getting a small business loan, and you can get business credit card rewards that you can also use to further your business.

Follow Key Theory on Google +

Key Theory worked directly with the Suck It Up crew to develop a strategy for marketing with social media and growing the website’s popularity. The site was re-branded to be sporty and lively.

So my first thought when I heard about Google+ was “I really don’t need another site! Google Buzz was a big fail. This will blow over soon”. So I didn’t try to get an invite went about business as usual. Well it didn’t blow over. In fact, G+ was becoming more &  more popular, especially within the tech/marketing world. People who got early invites were flaunting it! OK now I wanted one (sucker). I gave in & asked a friend, Damien Robinson (thanks again!) for an invite. I set up my Google+ account, got my vanity URL  http://www.gplus.to/saraheharper &  got  to work creating yet another profile.

So now what? I am bouncing between Twitter, Quora, Facebook, LinkedIn, Foursquare, Pages I manage, blogs, news articles,  emails & now I have to learn, fill in my profile, keep up with & add interesting yet authentic content to G+? Ugh.

This is different. 

After being on G+ for a few days, I realized I didn’t quite grasp the way Circles worked. I was used to Facebook & Twitter but Circles works much differently. There are some pluses & minuses, depending on what you are looking for. Basically, Circles work more like Twitter follows than Facebook add friends.

Sharing with them doesn’t mean they’ll ever see it

When you add someone to a Circle, you are controlling what information you are sharing with them as well as organizing your stream. They can choose to add you to a circle as well, but they don’t have to. If they don’t add you to a circle, you only see what they share publicly . In other words, when you add someone to any circle, you are offering to share information with them & viewing what they share publicly. They will only see the information you share if they add you to one of their Circles or they can view it in a stream titled “Incoming”.  So, if you put your favorite author in your Circle that you named “Successful Authors”, you will see everything they share publicly. Most likely they won’t add you in one of their Circles, so they won’t see what you share unless they click their “Incoming” stream. If you put your best friend Shelly in a Cirle that you named “Besties” & Shelly puts you in her Circle she named “Closest Peeps”, you both will see the information you share with those circles.

I think you’re my friend but you think I’m annoying 

Here’s where it gets confusing. (here?) Let’s say you put Ian in a circle called “Friends” but Ian puts you in a Circle he called “Jacksonville Business”. This means you are in different circles for each other but since Google+ doesn’t let people see what Circle they’ve been put in, neither one of you will know. This means if Ian is viewing his circle named “Friends” he won’t see you, because you’re over there in “Jacksonville Business” and you will only see what Ian shares publicly or what he chooses to share with “Jacksonville Business” but only when you are viewing  your “Friends” stream. Confused yet? Essentially, this puts the user in more control over what they see in their stream as well as who sees what they share.

Whew! Did you get it? It took me a while.

G+ Circles are confusing, but worth figuring out.

The nice thing about Google+ is it’s still in the developmental stage  & they are quickly changing the functionality when they get feedback. I’m excited to see what develops over time.

Feel free to add me to your Circle. I will add you to one of mine, just not telling which one.

 More G+ info

I’m including some great G+ resource links. You may have to look at a slide show or watch a video & then read this again.

Mashable – 19 Google + Resources

Google – About Google + Circles

What:

When:
April 5th at 9 p.m.

Where:
UNF Building 42 Coggin College of Business /room 1102
Jacksonville, Florida

http://www.unf.edu/map/

Social Media Speakers.

Kenny Harper: Owner of Key Theory – Web, Social, Mobile

Vincent Laganella: Director of Sales & Marketing at TSPI, A CSC Company

Angel Torres: Web Imagineer/Social Strategist – CTO @ Cloud Yellow

April 5th, at 9 p.m., I’m presenting Social Media Tips, Tools and Techniques to the UNF AMA Chapter with Vincent Laganella & Angel Torres.

Elizabeth Johnston, the President of the UNF AMA Chapter has put together this event to help the UNF AMA chapter learn some techniques from professionals in the field.

This is a FREE public event so if you’re looking to learn a bit more about SM or want to share some techniques come on out. The UNF AMA Chapter is full of great aspiring minds and you may find someone who can help you out with your social needs.

So why is blogging so important?

It is your chance to share your expertise and connect with people. It is also a tool to grow your website and get more site traffic. It is a really thrifty way to build your brand and business. It just takes time and continual effort.

If you missed the SEO Meet Up, you can still gain from her knowledge by following her or reading her blog. She is currently available for consulting as well.

Top takeaways from Blogging presentation:

• A great blog post can can be simple, as long as it shares a great idea or resource.
• Content curation is a great way to create unique content.
• Gary Vee’s “Crush It” is a must read.
• Ideation and Strategy is crucial before starting a blog.
• 17 post ideas including:
  • Creating a list of link resources
  • Event Posts – Pre, at event, or a re-cap
  • Guest Posts – participate in them, get them for your blog.

And that’s barely scratching the surface.

And that’s why Angela is the subject of my first post for the new “People of Interest” category.

Angela Dunn
Twitter: blogbrevity
Site: http://blogbrevity.posterous.com/

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization involves using online strategies to improve site visibility and rankings on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

SEO Facts:

Basic SEO Process:

An SEO strategy can be very involved and take quite a bit of time to execute and even longer for results to occur. Anyone can go through the motions but it takes an expert to really hone in on what will be effective for an SEO strategy.

1. Initial Analysis
2. Keyword Research & Analysis
3. Competitor Analysis
4. Sitemap & RSS feed inclusion
5. Search Engine Directory Submission
6. Social Book Marking / Social Media
7. Blogs + Press Release Creation
8. Articles Submission
9. Link Popularity
10. SERP Report / Analytics

Three Basic Principles for Search Engine Optimization:

1. Good Quality Content (formatted for web)
2. Inbound Links
3. Proper Web Site Development

In Part 2 of this 3 part series, we’ll look deeper into the basic principals of Search Engine Optimization.

Why social media is a must for businesses of all sizes:

Not every business needs a Twitter or a LinkedIn account necessarily. There are definitely “different strokes for different folks” but unless you are set with the amount of business you currently have, and don’t mind losing any, I’d advise at least having a digital presence; your competitors probably will.

Social Media allows businesses to:

• Engage with their customers
• Research what people are saying about their business
• Gain insight on where their industry is going
• Network with others in their industry
• Gain loyalty with clients

Having the social media outlets is just the beginning

You can have a YouTube and a Twitter account and be using them but if you have no strategy you may not be using them as effectively as you could. Why bother putting more time or money into it? Because by making social connections with others, i.e., networking, you’ll gain more followers and have more loyalty if you give people a reason to return or to share with their contacts. The potential benefits of social media networking and marketing are unlimited. Some people have shared a link of a video with a few friends and the link goes viral and gets thousands of viewers within a few hours. Most efforts will not go viral but no effort is a great way to fail.

If you need help with your social media marketing, whether it’s creating a strategy, branding your accounts or just have some general questions, feel free to drop me a line at kenny@keytheory.com.

Here’s a cool slideshow showing you how you can measure your ROI with social media.

Below are some of the websites that I frequently use to market a business online and track results.

1. Google Analytics: Site Statistics & More

   A free tool by Google to check your website stats. You can get some good marketing data; see who came to your business website, from where, how they clicked through your site, how long they were on each page and much more.

2. Quantcast: Monitoring Demographics

   Quantcast is a free tool to get demographic data about your business site’s online audience. Combined with Google Analytics, you can see trends in people’s viewing behavior, see what’s working for you and what’s not.

3. Facebook: Social Networking

   I created a Facebook page for Key Theory a few months ago, and now have over 200 fans. Facebook is a great way to get your business more good internet exposure; connect with people and make new friends, business partners and potential customers.

4. Twitter: Micro-Blogging

   Although I didn’t get it at first, now I understand the business marketing benefits of using a tool like Twitter. You can follow topics you’re interested in, connect with others in your field, see what people are saying about your company and just keep people up to date on what you’re up to in 140 characters.

5. YouTube

   With YouTube you can have your own channel and share your message with the masses for free. I started a YouTube channel and I’ve posted up some test videos to get my feet wet. YouTube makes it easy to share your video messages.  The more videos I do, the more I learn.

6. LinkedIn: Professional Networking

   LinkedIn is a great site for professionally connecting with others and marketing yourself and your business. You basically upload your information and connect with others in your industry and with your clients. You can receive referrals as well as make them. You can join groups and participate in discussions to share ideas and for more social networking. At the very least it’s helping me remember people’s names.

7. Delicious: Access your bookmarks from anywhere

   Delicious can help you to access your bookmarks from any computer, import your current bookmarks, share your bookmarks with your friends, and much more.  To start using Delicious, you need first to set up your personal account, and then you can download a Delicious browser toolbar for FireFox (my preferred browser) and make bookmarks to your account.  If you like keeping track of good websites, use Delicious.

8. Digg: Keeping up to date & self promotion

   Digg is a great place to be inspired, keep up to date with trends and news. The best content is voted to popularity by anyone uses Digg. You can also submit your own content to Digg and get some good exposure. You must keep in mind that nobody wants spam. I have Dugg a few things but haven’t submitted anything… as of yet.

9. Stumble Upon: Discover the best of the web in less time

   Instead of blindly surfing through the internet wouldn’t it be better to look at stuff that peers found worthy? Choose a topic that interests you and start Stumbling into new things. Go places you probably would  have never gone to prior.

10. Web Site Grader: Grade your site and make improvements

    Quite a handy tool provided by HubSpot. Enter your site and see how it ranks. It will give you tips to how to improve your score and get better search engine ranks.

Well, these are just a few of the sites that I currently use in business marketing online, and some ideas how you can use them to help your business.

Have you found some of these websites helpful, too?  Do you have some other helpful suggestions to share?  Please share your comments.