Social Media SEO

There is a right way and a wrong way to display images online. Social Media is such a powerful force for getting your brand name and image out there why would you risk that? By not going the extra mile to add clean and properly sized images to your profiles you are risking a confused and inattentive consumer.

Profile Image Sizes

For every social media site there is a set parameter of image properties to be utilized. And just doing a little bit of research can help set you apart from the competition if they are being lazy and sloppy about how they are presenting their brand on social media.  

There are 2 ways to go about setting up your profiles. You can do it in house that is either do it yourself or have an employee in charge of this or outsource it to a company that specializes in social media profiles and content. Once you have made that decision t is still up to a business owner to visit these profiles and make a judgment as to whether or not the proper images are being utilized that best convey a brands image and message.

As far knowing the proper image sizes to use there are typically user instructions on any of the given sites you are targeting there are also social media image guides that are easily searchable on Google, or Yahoo. Here is a great website with tons of info on a bunch of sites.

Proper Image Sizes are Important

It is really important to keep your images clear and properly sized, it is also important to maintain similar images across the many sites you intend to utilize. Changing up images is not a great idea as it will confuse consumers and the very people you are trying to draw in. Keeping a consistent look across all platforms is very important to building your brand.

Whether or not you want to use your own image as an individual or a business logo or brand image is up to you. There is a lot of research that points towards more interaction when you display your headshot as a profile image, however if you have an established brand or semi established brand it is ok to utilize a logo in it’s place. If you are an insurance agent for instance and you work for a national company on a local level I suggest a personal Image vs. the Company logo. It will come across as more personalized and genuine.

Here are some basic social media sites and image sizes. For now we will just stick with profiles and header image sizes. We will get into ad’s and other areas at a later date.

Facebook  The large Background image should be 851x315

And your profile image should be 180x180

Twitter  The large Background image should be 1500x500

And your profile image should be 400x400

LinkedIn The large Background image should be 1500x500

And your profile image should be 500 x 500

You Tube The large Background image should be 2560 x 1440

And your channel icon should be 800 x 800

Again these are just a few of the most often utilized social media sites and there basic profile image sizes.

There are many ways to resize and save the proper images that you are going to need. Photoshop, Paintbrush Corel Draw all these or any photo resizer program can get you there. There are also a few great free online options as well like, webresizer, picresize, and imageresize to name a  few.

As always if you need help setting up or managing your social media site or sites contact a professional company like Results Business Marketing. We love to help businesses how to maximize their exposure on social media!

Results Business Marketing

Minneapolis St Paul and Across the US

612-615-8196

www.resultsbusinessmarketing.com

 

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SEO and Embedded Content Marketing

So your SEO Campaign is taking a bit longer than you thought it may to reach the top pages in Google Search. 

Well it’s really no surprise. Gaining the top slots in search engine results pages can take a lot of efforts. If you are focusing your efforts in the wrong area it can be a painful journey.

Some of the things you have probably read about like page titles, image title tags and fresh content in abundance without over stuffing your keywords have seemed to begin working for you, however you are in an industry that has very competitive  keywords and it’s a tougher climb than you thought. 

Have you heard of embedded content blogging? Certainly you have gone to one of the many free blogging platforms and started up a blog…right? If you haven’t you best get started and you best get your pencil ready. Writing and publishing fresh content in his type of format is going to propel your seo efforts forward. Blogging is a great way to add fresh content, and get your message across to your potential customers effectively. 

There are many free platforms for starting a blog, We use Blogger which is from Google, no cost and if you already have a Gmail Google webmaster tools or Google analytic account it is right there at your fingertips. 

You can create fresh content to boost seo add images add videos create backlinks etc.

You can also embed content such as slideshows videos etc. And you can do it from more than just Youtube, you can embed from Pintrest, Vimeo and many more sources. This will give you the ability to leverage content that is related to your business and create posts potential customers will want o read and share.

Embedding visual content is a crucial storytelling method. Storytelling thrives on bringing experiences to life – adding jaw-dropping visuals to your text makes your story that much more engaging. Embedding your content opens gateways of opportunities and audience reach that wouldn’t be possible through pasted content or visuals. Utilizing services such as thinglink.com allows you to make visually rich content that engages readers. Visual storytelling helps connect, inspire, and engage your brand with your audience better and faster than a simple text. 

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Adding video or interactive media like slideshows to you blog shows your readers and customers that you care and that you are taking the extra time to inform and educate them so they can make an educated purchasing decision.

You can Embed content from many sources. Here are just a few.

       Youtube – Embed video content that you have created or share content others have made that is likely to inform your visitors and readers.

     Pintrest – Embed interesting Pins and Boards onto your blog

          Instagram - Keep in mind that when you share or embed one of your Instagram posts, anyone with a link to that post will be able to see it. This means more traffic.

         Vimeo – Is another great source for information rich content. Make your own or share others.

          Cincopa – Create slideshows that will impress your readers and encourage them to share your message!

These are just a few examples of what you can do to spruce up your articles and blog pieces and maximize your seo efforts.

Remember sites or site owners that blog tend to see about a 75% increase in traffic than those that don’t so adding as much rich content to your story as you can will get you to the top and leave your competition in the dust.

If you are interested In adding embedded content to your blog or creating content for your website promotion but don’t have the time or the skills contact a company like Results Business Marketing. 

Marketing companies like R.B.M are experts in content and embedded content marketing.

                                      

Results Business Marketing

Minneapolis St Paul Mn SEO Experts

612-615-8196

www.resultsbusinessmarketing.com 

SEO Services, Minneapolis SEO, SEO Minneapolis, Local SEO

Too Much SEO? Too Little SEO?

When is too much seo a bad thing? Is there such a thing? Well in life as in 

Too Much SEO?

e-commerce and web promotion yes there is such a thing. If you are running a business you are probably consumed with inventory sales, employees locations payroll family time etc. If you have to spend 10hours a day promoting your business online and performing seo at a professional level whre are you going to find the time to sleep or eat? 

Fortunately there is that cutoff point. You see over doing it can actually work against you.

First off if you are running a business taking the time to learn SEO may not even be in the scope of your daily activities. Professionals spend years learning and adapting to constant changes in the world of SEO.  Just when you think you have a  system down and know what search engines like hit the breaks they change the game on you and it’s back to the drawing board.

Here is a look at the history of over optimization

1   1. Over optimization used to work

You see, in the old days of SEO, over-optimization was how sites operated when they wanted to gain rank. Stuffing a site with tons of keywords, or sending thousands of spammy links to a site was the quick-and-easy way to boost a site in the SERPs. 

2. Over optimization doesn't work any more.

That is because In April of 2012, Google leveled the over-optimization penalty, which completely deindexed sites that were still playing the linkstuffing and linkspamming game.

Too Little SEO

You see since developing these new criteria for what makes for good seo Search Engines outlawed these Black Hat SEO techniques and made spammy sites a thing of the past. Too much seo can hurt a website bring Google penalties and pretty much make your site disappear. 

One trick webmaster used to use was to load a page with keywords and then make the font color the same color of the webpage in essence ghosting the words to the human eye. Only the search engine spiders could see the words and they (at the time) gave a thumbs up thus sending the webpage to the top of serp (search engine results pages).  

Another technique was to find blogs with content related to their own website. Then a webmaster would comment on the blog post. In the comment you could add a link back to your website. Google saw this as a weak way to build back links and it was also given penalty for weak backlinks. It is no longer advised to do this as it may result in a penalty.

There was and is a desperate struggle to get  that coveted top spot in search, but the shortcuts have been eliminated, what worked then no longer works and what works now may not work in the future. It's Googles world and we are but allowed to work in it.

This SEO is just right

Working in the world of seo offers it's challenges and professional seo experts have learned to adapt or beleft behind. 

There are many ways to work hard without doing to much. The one thing we know for sure is that search engines love fresh content, Search engines love to see you active in social media. And search engines will forever be changing and adapting to this electronic medium. 

You can look at SEO like Goldi Locks. This site has too much. This site has too little and this site is just right. 

If you don;t have the time or if you have been putting too much time into SEO for your website contact an SEO Professional like Results Business Marketing. With many years of experience and many satisfied clients Results Business Marketing can be the partner to help you solve your SEO problems.



Results Business Marketing
Minneapolis, St Paul SEO
612-615-8196
www.resultsbusinessmarketing.com

Minneapolis SEO, SEO Minneapolis, Mpls SEO Local SEO, SEO Mn, SEO Services,

Keywords, how valuable are they for SEO?

Keyword Research

Keywords help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and more determine what your website and website content is all about. Identification of a  websites content is important for SEO. When a search engine spider crawls your website and determines where you are going to end up in search engine results keywords will help get  you there.

If you are not landing on page 1 of search results it may be  because you are using the wrong keywords.

Have you done your keyword research? Have you checked out the competition. More than likely you are not the only business or person online that is trying to get their website recognized for a particular product or service. Whether you are a plumber, lawyer, or mechanical engineer company you are up against many other websites that are all trying to land  on page 1 of Google, Bing or Yahoo. Examining your competitions website page titles keywords image tags etc. can help you identify the key words and key word phrases necessary to outrank your competition.

There has been shifts in how search  engines look at keywords on website pages. For instance there are single keywords and long string keywords. Search engine algorithms treat each of these with different ranking factors. Let's have a look at what defines a keyword and a long string keyword.

Keywords and SEO

Keywords: Search engines can't think for themselves. They rank you for the choice of your own internet keywords. You are the one who decides which one is the most suitable keyword for that particular web page. They take you for your "word" and place you in the results for that particular internet keyword. You have to be very cautious about the choice of your keywords or keyword phrases.
If you are a plumber your keywords may be Plumber, Plumbers, Local Plumber etc. This is a great start to guide search engines to understand what your website and it's content represent.

You can expand on those into what we call long string keywords which is a string of words that also describe your website content it's location and particular products and services. Thismay include words like Plumbers in Des Moines IA, Local Des Moines IA Plumbers, Professional Plumbing Companies in Des Moines Ia. All of these types of combinations will have an impact on how you come up in search engine results.

It really comes down to how people are searching for you some may have the subject then the location some location then the subject. This definitely has an impact on your search engine results. Also abbreviations like Plumbers in IA will have another search result. It is important to try and maximize the most keywords possible to maximize your search engine results.

Where can you do keyword research other than your competition?
There are many free tools that will help you identify quality keywords and long string keywords that will help to rank your website on top pages. Google keyword search tool is free and a great resource to understand exactly what people are searching for. This keyword tool will help you see the amount of monthly searches for a given word.

Here is an example of plumbing keyword research.
As  you can see different keywords offer different results. Focusing on the keywords that will get you the best search results is as important as it get's in Search Engine Optimization. 

Keyword Research

There are a couple other keyword research tools out there if for some reason you are not a big fan of google you can try, Keyword Tool,
Wordstream is another great resource for keyword search. There are many more but these can help you get where you need to be.

To recap, search engines don't think for themselves. They rely on your ability when building a website to add keywords relevant to the topic of your website products andservices. There are many places to utilize thesekeywords, Page Titles, Image Tags and Relevant paragraphs and descriptive text. There is a happy balance to achieve you don't want to over do it or keyword stuff, and you don;t want to under-do it and not get the benefit of  identifying your websites purpose.

If you need help with your sebsite seo and identifying keywords to boost your search presence contact a company like Results Business Marketing. We are Search Engine Optimization Professionals. We can help you identify where a stronger use of keywords and keyword strings can help you boost your presence in search engine results pages.

Ressults Business Marketing
Minneapolis Saint Paul SEO
612-615-8196
www.resultsbusinessmarketing.com

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