Tag Archives: Branding

Elissa Giroux

Google+ Branded Pages – Tips for Engaging With Your Customers

Although Google+ is still in the beginning stages of its life, it has captured the attention of some major companies and social media lovers.  When branded pages were finally launched at the beginning of November, brands such as Pepsi, Cadbury, and Jet Blue were quick to jump on board and create some really interesting content.  Because the few people using it are so social-media-savvy, they have been asking for real engagement and conversations from these companies.  The brands who have experimented with the features offered by Google+ have been quite successful and have caught the attention of their customers.

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John Merse

Website Construction: Internet Marketing For Real Estate Agents

Part 2: Search Engine Optimization Strategies 101

“This blog series is intended to be a walkthrough for setting up a lead-generating website. My goal is to get you thinking about ways to improve your site and enhance its performance. Each blog post will be centered on a specific part of website development that will help you grow your online business. Some posts will be more specific and advanced, while others will be more general and introductory.  Taken together, the posts in this series will offer valuable tips, regardless of where you are with the maturity of your website.”

Can SEO be measured, and can my site place in search engines even if it never has? The simple answer to this question is yes.  To get a more detailed answer, you first need to ask, “for what terms?” Not all terms are created equal, and the terms that are most achievable for you and will return the best placement aren’t necessarily the ones that you think they are.

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John Merse

Website Construction: Internet Marketing for Real Estate Agents

Part 1: Real Estate Website Design and Functionality 101

“This blog series is intended to be a walk-through for setting up a lead generating website. My goal is to get you thinking about ways to improve your site and enhance its performance. Each blog post will be centered on a specific part of website development that will help you grow your online business. Some posts will be more specific and advanced, while others will be more general and introductory.  Taken together, the posts in this series will offer valuable tips, regardless of where you are with the maturity of your website.”

Design is an important element in website development. In the past the thought was to create animated, Flash-heavy websites that dazzled Internet searchers. Today, Internet Marketers say that Flash websites daze and confuse consumers, who have become more sophisticated at searching for websites thanks to companies like Google.

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John Merse

NY Times Article: The Dirty Little Secret Of Search

How JC Penney Got In Trouble With Google

NY Times writer David Segal wrote a great article about JC Penney attempt to ‘’cheat’’ Google and increase their organic rankings. As we know, Google’s goal is to search every corner of the Internet and find the most important, relevant sites that match the query you typed in. But what is the cost of being a relevant website and ranking number one for numerous keywords? JC Penney unfortunately found out the cost of trying to fool Google into instant rankings across the board.  These sorts of tactics, known as “Black Hat” SEO, comes with consequences (and is of course not what we recommend).  This article brings up the issue of using Black Hat versus White Hat SEO.

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John Merse

Updates To Facebook Fan Pages

What Does It Mean For Internet Marketing?

Facebook Fan Pages are used by businesses to interact with their customers online.  This is the first time Facebook has rolled out changes that bridge the gap between personal and business pages. There are a few new features that will help you manage communication and increase engagement. We’ve taken the time to outline some of the changes and what you will be able to do with them.

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Union Street Media News

Google Query Suggest Takes a Shot at Realtors

I discovered this affront to the Real Estate profession recently, as I was gathering material for an upcoming presentation on using video to increase online user engagement.

One of the things that I like to do in the beginning of my presentations is define a baseline of interaction. As a website owner, you know where you want people to end up when they visit your site. (If you don’t, then stop paying your hosting fees!) But before you can effectively drive people toward that goal, you need to figure out what they are thinking when they arrive: What are they looking for? What are they not looking for?

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Union Street Media News

Facebook vs Blog: Where Should You Post Your Content?

This is the third installment of the Facebook for Business series.

As the number of businesses using multiple social media platforms continues to grow, the question frequently comes up:  Which content should go where?

Is it Facebook content or blog content?

Is it Facebook content or blog content?

The two platforms that provide the biggest source of confusion are blogs and Facebook. There is a purpose for both, and each is ideal for particular types of content. It is important to understand the intention of each of these channels.

So, should you put your next update in your blog or on your Facebook page?

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Union Street Media News

Facebook for Business

The Social Media boom may be bigger than you think; Facebook is at its forefront. Our “Facebook for Business” series will help you make sense of this powerful tool. You’ll learn how to tame the beast and harness it for your business. Follow our series during the next several weeks and:

  • Learn Facebook basics
  • Learn how to leverage Facebook to underscore your brand
  • Learn how to get fans (and what to do with those fans)
  • Learn how to optimize your Facebook page
  • Learn about applications and FBML (Facebook Mark up Language)
  • Learn how to measure your Facebook traffic
  • Learn how to effectively link your networks

With over 300,000,000 Facebook users, 120,000,000 of whom log on daily, the business opportunity Facebook presents cannot be ignored. According to Socialnomics, social media has claimed the number one web activity spot over the previous “less acceptable” contender. Facebook is a free way to improve your online presence. To increase your success online, your business must be part of this popular activity.

Leading companies have joined the crowd and are successfully using their Facebook pages to keep their customers happy and connected with with their brand.

Look at who is making the best of Facebook: 10 Successful Facebook Business Pages (from the Penn Olsen Social Media blog). With due diligence, and focused hard work, your business could be among the leaders.

Facebook logo

Facebook logo

A business Facebook page is different than your personal Facebook page.

  • You have “fans” instead of “friends”
  • It represents your brand, not you.
  • You have access to much more information about your traffic.
  • There is more customization for privacy settings.

The business page is built off of your personal account and gives you plenty of tools to reach the growing network of individuals using Facebook. You can run ads on the Facebook sidebar, track the demographics of your page traffic with Facebook Insights, create a badge or fanbox to promote your page, start discussion boards with the fans, add company information and events, and much more.

There are many ways to use these features and many ways to optimize your page; but to start, how do you create a business page?

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Union Street Media News

Are you taking full advantage of your USM website’s software?

Some of you may know that my Mother, Peggy Smith, is one of our clients. She recently redesigned her site and purchased the software upgrade with email notification. Over dinner one evening she mentioned she was sending her buyers new listings through the MLS web site rather than her own. It occurred to me that she could use her site’s own email notification software and benefit from the built-in branding it provides.

I then realized she’s probably not alone; the user registration is, after all, geared towards the site visitor. However, it could just as easily be used to the agent’s advantage for new leads that come from other sources.

My Advice:

When you get a new lead, ask for the appropriate search criteria and an email address. That is all you need to create a new account!

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