SEO Optimization Part III: Facebook!

There are many forms of Search Engine Optimization, and once you have made sure that your website has the highest ranking possible in search engines, the next step to completing your website marketing campaign is to look outside of search engines to get more traffic to your website. However, a professional SEO Consultant will consult you that this is also part of SEO as you are creating backlinks to your website which will then be indexed and used to increase your ranking. Facebook is currently one of the most popular social media websites, others have come before it and many will follow, however, so far none have reached its popularity. There are many ways that you can utilize it to better help your business as well as popularity of your website.

First and foremost it’s important to create a profile. Make sure that it’s very interesting and well written with a lot of information about yourself or your company. Offer details about what your website and company offer. Utilize all of the points of information input that they offer, as well as post contact and website URL. You may also want to include pictures in your albums of your company, products, and events. Most importantly, make it public, so anyone can find it online.

Building your company network is overall the same as building your personal network, however, there may be far more people you don’t personally know in it. Start off by finding all of your friends, family, and acquaintances. They will be the stepping stone to getting more people viewing your profile and network. Talk to them about helping you promote your company to their friends that may be interested. Also, it’s good to do a search in Facebook for other people that are either in your area or have the same interests as you or may be interested in the company. However, keep in mind if you are too pushy about getting your friend request accepted, it may look spammy.

There are new applications available daily, most of which are completely useless to what you are trying to achieve. Rarely can you find some that will actually help, but every bit counts. There are applications such as widgets that track blogs, so your profile is constantly updated. Also, you can get the MarketPlace widget or even one that helps you cross post to twitter to save time. Search through the different applications using different options to help you find the right one for you.

Aside from just building a profile, you can also use the ads offered on Facebook. These are the ads that pop up on the left hand side when browsing through Facebook. They are chosen specifically for each user, based on location, interest, job title, etc. So it’s a great way to reach people that will most likely be interested in your website. There is a small fee, but it’s a great form of advertisement. Another way to get noticed is through creating a group, something pertaining to your website. This way you will get more people that have the same interests and be able to accelerate the traffic through your website.

Having a public profile on Facebook may be a little too much for some people, as it is a lot of private information out there for anyone to see. A great way to avoid this is through separate profiles. You can create a personal profile that is completely private and visible only to your friends, and a public one that is more to the point and directed to customers. There you can offer the company information, with limited information about yourself. Also, you don’t want your potential or current customers knowing what you did this past weekend anyway.

Lastly, and most importantly, don’t just create the profile and forget it. You must log in daily and be active. Part of being active is posting daily, maybe you don’t have new information to post, or a new note to add, however, a simple status update will keep you in peoples’ minds. Another way to get more attention to your website is through visiting others profiles, groups, and visit their websites. Post comments which will in turn bring the people to your website, and possibly end up reading up on what you have been doing lately, and eventually clicking on your website. It’s definitely going to take a lot of time and effort, but it’s well worth it.

So, when you have finished with the Search Engine Optimization for your website, it does not end there. Speak with your SEO Consultant about giving you some more suggestions as to how to further utilize the many media websites online that you can use to get a higher ranking as well as get more traffic to your website. It’s important that you don’t just create and forget a profile, but continue to be active in order to have any sort of effect from it, so participate and make great contacts for future business.

Leadership: It's all about style

Running a business has its challenges, one of which is learning how to pick a good leadership style. Everyone has their own leadership style that works for their business and works well with their employees. To help you find a leadership style, here are a few of the most popular:

Charismatic Leader
This is the type of leader everyone wants to have. A person with natural charisma is full of life. They enjoy what they do and people love working for them. They have knowledge that helps to bring out the best skills in the people they lead. A charismatic person also sees the joy in life and helps to create a positive atmosphere.

People like to be around a person that has charisma because they can find a way to get through difficult situations. Being around a group of people is easy for them because they have natural charm that others gravitate towards. The other important quality a person with charisma has is the ability to establish trust with their employees.

A charismatic leader always has a plan for the future. They have a vision that is easy for others to follow and they have smaller goals that can help their employees understand how they can reach the end goal. Because of the leadership qualities this person has, employees don't even think twice about following this person wherever they go.

The Micro Manager
Many small business owners are micro-managers. Since they started their own business, they have more money and interest vested into the company. This causes them to have a hard time relinquishing control to their employees. When you deal with employees that are blue or white personalities, a micro manager will be successful because they can help to push those individuals. Micro managers are red personalities because they like to be in control all the time. They may not always bring a positive attitude to the office, which can cause employees to become stressed and overwhelmed. Micro managers have a difficult time taking criticism from others and they often are not afraid to hurt other's feelings.

If you know that you are a micro manager, you may need to work on yourself to start offering more control to your employees. Start by assigning some of your smaller projects to your employees and work on establishing trust with your staff. Your people skills will need a serious overhaul so make sure you look for different ways to connect with your staff.

You can still be a micro manager, but you just need to loosen up a little bit and learn to accept that your employees will not work the same way you do.

The Passionate Leader
Similar to the charismatic leader, the passionate leader is a person that absolutely loves what they do. A passionate person has a vision for the future and they can easily convince others to follow them. Their passion for their job can easily rub off on their employees as they see how enthusiastic they are.

A person that is passionate has a vision, but they usually need help to find a way to make this vision a reality. Involve your employees in the brainstorming process and ask them to help you discover goals. This helps to energize the office as everyone is working toward the same goal. A passionate person can get a large following and they are often the best leaders for non-profit organizations.

There are several other types of leaders, but these are the top 3 that are often seen in the business world. Don't be afraid to come up with your own leadership style just make sure you are a trustworthy person and you are willing to listen to your employees. Bring a positive attitude to the office to harbor a positive workplace.