‘Twitter’

The battle between Facebook vs. Twitter has not even begun and may never really. Instead, the two social media tools are just that – communication tools and are not likely to ever replace normal search engines or portals, but they are important for any business wanting to rapidly expand its market and brand name.

What is more important is that for business applications you may need to choose, simply because of the time constraints involved in using social tools such as Facebook or Twitter. Many people have asked which of the two will be the best to use for business and who will take the lead in future?

Main Differences

Facebook with millions of users is a vast network. Small businesses often make the mistake of having the owner trying to self promote, social, and communicate on both business and social level with disappointing results. It can be compared to a person trying to sell a MLM scheme or perhaps cosmetics to her close circle of friends. They will simply attend the first time and then ignore all her calls and messages thereafter. If you want to keep your friends and use Facebook as a business application, the two must be separated.

Twitter, on the other hand, is perhaps not the best tool for simply communicating as it gets a bit dull to follow every step of a business through tweets. It is, however, a fast track communication tool to share breaking news. Anyone entering the world of tweeting soon realise that to create a loyal following means work and also sticky content.

Facebook is More Suited for In-depth Communication

Businesses can utilise the features such as photos and videos, links, updates, and discussions. One can create two profiles – personal and business. Nowhere is it more important to separate work and private life than on Facebook. To make it as a business on the social medial networking site you must setup a business fan page. It is also a good idea to purchase PPC ad space as such seems to be highly effective. There is also the Like feature that allows for others to quickly add LIKE and then receive updates about your company as you send such out. In addition, users can easily recommend your page or anything of interest. Because it is such an excellent viral tool, brand awareness can quickly spread to millions of users.

Twitter is for Quick Communication

Twitter doesn’t have features such as videos or photos, but it offers an exceptionally fast communication tool. The tool allows for an endless stream of posts, viral communication and information about events. Links can be created in an instant and it is the ideal tool for quickly getting an answer.

The Usage is All Important

Because of the differences in the two communication networks, the usage reason becomes important. Recent research indicated that around a third of people using social media are willing to pay for the services offered by Facebook and only about a fifth of users willing to do the same for Twitter. When it comes to business though, the figures suggest that businesses are more willing to pay for Twitter services rather than Facebook ones. The main reason – instant communication and feedback from users.

Another study showed Facebook trailing behind Twitter when it comes to business to business marketing and communication, but when it comes to the business to consumer category, Facebook is on tops. This is largely due to the interactivity and visual tools available in Facebook. The consumers love the glamour and glitz of images, discussions, and videos. Businesses, however, are information focussed and as such appreciate the fast flow of information on Twitter.

Facebook is doing better when it comes to businesses that have already developed a brand and strong presence on the Internet. Twitter seems to perform well in the B2B category for quick updates. With the Retweet option, a message can quickly spread and large amounts of traffic driven. Unlike with Facebook where a large fan base may be needed to create the desired awareness, the simple manner in which Twitter tweets and retweets work make it easy to quickly get the message out.

Twitter Overall Advantages and Disadvantages for Business

Easy navigation and quick updating in addition to linking for spreading the message are some of the positive features of the tool. You are not limited to your immediate fan list or group of supporters because re-tweeting allows for spreading of the message world-wide. Quick responses and immediate customer feedback are essential when launching a new product or service. With the RSS feeder a user doesn’t have to login to get updates. It is interactive and streamlined.

On the negative side, it offers less functionality than Facebook with only 140 character tweets allowed. People don’t fall in love with the tool right from the start and it can become a bit of a spam magnet.

Facebook Overall Advantages and Disadvantages for Business

It is easy to interact and create sticky content. Many users have already indicated that they prefer logging into their Facebook and stay logged in the whole day. As such they update and because of the like feature, what your fans like will also mean their friends will see. Pretty soon all the likes will feature at your site. They can see which of their friends like and use your site and transparency is improved. It offers a tremendous user base and with fun to use applications and gifts that can be send to users, loyalty can be built pretty quickly.

Responses are not as quick as with Twitter and users must be logged in to ensure quick responses. The updating and navigation part are time thieves.

How to Choose Between Facebook and Twitter

The good news is that at the end of the day you don’t have to choose. Use Twitter for the important B2B communication requiring quick responses and to rapidly spread a message. It is a perfect news tool. Use Facebook to build a loyal customer base.

Make the Most of Social Media Networking

Create lists at Facebook to ensure that users only get what is relevant to them, ensuring quicker responses. Make sure that every time a person leaves a wall comment that a response is given. Stop self promotion efforts from users. Simply delete and keep the page clean.

Link to others by means of posting links to their articles – one a day will do the trick. Create polls and make it fun to participate. Link to your own website articles and anywhere your business features on the Internet – once a day. Note that you must create a fan page if you want to succeed as a business at Facebook.

In terms of Twitter – create content worth reading and following. Customise your Facebook pages and at the end of the day – use both because they are here to stay. The tools will not replace normal search, but will improve B2B and B2C communication.

What do you love? The answer is simple and yet so complicated. Google has quietly launched a new search interface bringing together a full twenty of their products at one page. The interface is still in progress and if you are already curious you can type www.wdyl.com in your browser address bar. Don’t leave out the www. as without it, you will get the 404 error message.

WDYL is the latest in a range of products added to the Google product stable. The Google Social Network named Google Plus has also been rolled out recently, but you need an invitation at this stage to join. “What do you love?”  is a question that provokes an answer and hats off to Google for the new service. In short, it is a search interface with simple search bar and the question of “What do you love?” The user can type in a search phrase, press the heart and get numerous Google services and products about the topic or covering the topic on one page.

Must admit, it is at first a bit overwhelming when all the widgets appear at one page. It works best with broad terms and as such is the ideal tool for the person who wants to know everything there is about a topic or wants to start a search, but doesn’t want to have to click on every Google product and then return to the normal search page for additional searches.

WDYL is the search tool for people not familiar with all the Google products and thus the ideal introduction to such. Most people don’t think about the 20 different products every time they type in a search, but with “What do you love?” you can get a quick view of how the topic is covered across Google products. With a message at the bottom of the search page stating “more coming soon” we can expect even more of the product in the near future.

Example Of How It Works

Upon typing in a search for paintball at the “What do you love?” search page, the results page delivered several means of exploring the topic further including:

• Explore paintball in 3D.
• Measure popularity of paintball on the web.
• Watch videos of paintball on the web.
• Find books about the topic.
• Translate paintball in 57 languages.
• Start a discussion group about the topic.
• Call someone about the topic.
• Scour the earth for it.
• Find patents about it.
• Search blogs about the topic.
• Arrange an event.
• See pictures of paintball.
• Email someone about it.
• Get alerts.
• Search for it on the move through mobile search.
• Organise a debate.
• Get news on the topic.
• Find paintball nearby.
• Access stuff on the web faster.

At the upper right corner of the search engine page you still have a search bar which can be used for more searches. Don’t even think of being too specific as the results will be disappointing, but if you plan to create awareness of a product searched for, it is the search engine to use. You can in an instant add an event to your Google Calendar as reminder about the topic, email people from your Google mail account, create a discussion group, organise a debate, and get more alerts about the topic.

No Facebook

The Google +1 button is neatly tucked on the left side of the search screen just below the scrollbar. You can utilize the scroll bar for easy navigation through the long list of product pages. From Picasa to YouTube, Google Maps, and Books are represented on the search page. You can view posts about the topic searched for at Blogger or quickly create your own about the topic. If you wanted to know how popular the term is one the Net use the trend finder.

Although tech savvy SEOs may be well aware of all the Google widgets, the average user is not and for such it is a great service. With WYDL, Google gets the chance to market these widgets to the general search population. With the Voice, Gmail and Moderator widgets Google tempts users to make use of the services. In a sense, “What do you love?” is almost just another version of iGoogle, just more user-friendly and visual.

It is amazingly easy to use. The first fear of being taken away from the page upon selecting one of the widgets was ill found. Google has thought of everything and upon clicking the Gmail option, another tab opened with a little message about “paintball” already in the message box. All that needs to be done is to add recipients before clicking the send button. The recommendation words “Hey this is awesomely awesome” are already placed in the subject field of the Gmail message. Google obviously ensures that should you want to recommend WDYL that you will not have a hard time in doing so.

You will find Google Buzz, SketchUp, and Chrome, but you will not find Facebook like options. Facebook and Twitter once again fall to the side. The Chrome feature is just as useful for further web searches and for anyone who has to do a school project on a broad topic, WDYL will work great.

Will WDYL Replace Normal Search?

Not likely, as the organic search results can hardly be displayed effectively on a page full of widgets, but for Google Chrome users it may become their new homepage and a good starting point to search. Since each widget opens in its own tab while the “What do you love?” page remains open, it is simply the new search interface. For a broad search you will use the search at WDYL, but for more advanced searches you will make use of Google Chrome.

Will “What do you love?” Take Off?

Well let’s hope so. Launching a product without even discussing it on your blog is secretive and with such the average user who isn’t following the latest Google trends will hardly become aware of such, unless someone notifies them. Looking at the Gmail message composition, mentioned earlier, it may just be a case of Google leaving it a secret because people struggle to keep secrets and love to share their new discoveries with other. WDYL, if marketed by means of a secret viral marketing campaign, can thus become the next hot topic at campuses and discussion forums.

It is the digital age and any business without a solid online presence has to work harder, invest more and wait longer to expand their market share and increase profits. A business needs a website and online marketing campaign to effectively compete with the millions of other businesses in the world. It is possible to simply make use of secondary sites for online promotion such as directories, social media such as Facebook, forums, auction sites, online shopping facilities and blogs to attract the attention of possible customers, but to truly benefit from an online presence a business needs a an online site and a well planned marketing campaign. A few more reasons are provided below as answer to the often asked question of “Why does a business need a website and online marketing campaign?”

Information To Help With Decision Making

Consumers require information to make decisions as to whether or not to make use of a company’s services or to buy a product. A business can hardly be open 24/7, but with a website they can. The website offers the opportunity to give enough information about the company, products, and services, ensure that questions are answered and that the client can get in contact with a representative. The information can be displayed in a visually attractive format and trust can be built through regular online communication.

Convenience For The Consumer

If you are looking for a more convincing answer on the question of “Why does a business need a website and online marketing campaign?” consider the convenience offered. Mr. X doesn’t want to get in his car and drive 10 km, fight traffic, struggle to get a parking spot, wait in line to be served and then have to decide whether or not to buy product A or B under pressure. He loves sitting at home or office and browsing the Net. Email communication is more his style and if he really wants, he can simply call the customer service line. He can make a decision in his own time, place the order and make payment without ever having to go the through the process described earlier.

Mrs Y loves shopping, but uses the website to get more information about the product. She wants to feel the fabric that she will buy and as such uses the website as her first point of decision making. There are many more scenarios that can be described, but the bottom line is that it offers a convenient facility for the consumer. The choice of interaction lies with the consumer, but information, pictures, and feedback opportunities are available 24/7.

Additional Outlet

Having an online presence can be seen as having an additional outlet. It serves as an entry point to your business. Instead of having to be at every exhibition or having to open offices in every possible town, you can have one website and reach consumers around the world. It is thus also a cost effective way of expanding your reach.

Additional Customer Communication

The customer gets another means of communicating with your company through online application forms, ordering facilities, feedback forms, email, chat facilities, forums and blog comments. It becomes a two way street of communication and thus an essential tool for building trust and improving customer relations.

Creates Credibility

While exhibiting at an event or discussing options with a client you may find that the client wants more information. The clients and potential clients often request the website address. If you send an email to a client from a free email address not connected to a valid domain, your correspondence will more than likely be met with some scepticism, but a valid domain and domain based email will build trust with the potential client.

Why Does A Business Need An Online Marketing Campaign?

The second part of the question “Why does a business need a website an online marketing campaign?” has not yet been answered. The online marketing campaign is what ensures visibility. Just as offline marketing is essential to create brand awareness and to let the customers know where your business is and what you offer, you need a solid online marketing campaign to ensure that your website can be found amongst the millions of other online businesses.

Many small business owners create websites and simply think that should do the trick. A few months down the line someone may ask how the website works for them and they will say that it is not worth their while. The reason is straightforward enough – their site doesn’t get enough targeted traffic. It is one thing to optimize the site for search engine placement, but another to ensure that all links stay in working order, a solid rank is obtained and that users will find the site when searching.

An effective online marketing campaign should include a complete mix of marketing techniques. It is essential to establish the goals of online marketing, the budget, expected return on investment, target audience, and general purpose of the website before investing in Internet marketing.

With the digital business world being rather competitive, the website owner cannot afford to use a fly by night approach. It takes time to develop a strong online presence and with the online world changing rapidly attention should be given to the whole package including:

• Website design for easy navigation, readability, information value, and convenience.
• Branding through the website, banners, affiliate marketing, pay per click advertising, social media such as Facebook and Twitter, blogs and search engine visibility.
• Developing good ranking for particular keywords and ensuring relevance.
• Link building for higher ranking.
• Creating sticky content to ensure that the visitor stays longer and finds the site useful.
• Improving user experience through feedback forms, avatars, video content, and information.
• Improving visibility through YouTube channels and Facebook.
• Ensuring accuracy of information and professional display of information.
• Adding social media buttons such as Google +1, Facebook and Twitter.
• Creating a strong AdWords campaign and landing pages for higher sales turnover.
• Building relationships through newsletters.
• Using press releases to announce important business product launches.
• Market analysis and website traffic monitoring with tools such as Google Analytics.

The above elements are only a few of the important aspects of an online marketing campaign that can help to ensure a solid return on marketing spending and thus the growth of the business. In an age where millions of businesses have already shifted their focus to the online market, the question of why does a business need a website and online marketing campaign is almost too obvious. If you have not yet join the ranks of the online business world then do so now by getting immediate professional assistance through iLead Online for optimal success. Contact us for assistance today.

The Google Social Search, which has been available since 2009, has now been globally rolled out. The search tool is already available in 19 languages, but it is only the start. With some powerful updates to the search tool, Google has succeeded in bringing the social media, opinions and organic searches together for a more personalised search experience, which will also influence search results dramatically.

Friend Opinions Will Count

The idea is that in reality people often make decisions based on the opinions of their friends. If a good friend recommends a movie, chances are that you will buy a ticket and also go see it. If you like it you will recommend it to more friends. If not, well, it will get thumbs down from your side and you may be rather outspoken about why to your friends. As such opinion makes a movie sell or fail.

With the Google Social Search then you can connect to what your friends recommend. Linked to the social networks, and with the option of the Google +1 button for easy like which can be made public or kept private, the user is put in the control seat of how search results will ultimately display. Speculations are that in the near future we can expect to see universal search results disappear and only personal search results displayed. What you and I thus see at the search results will differ dramatically, making the work for SEOs just that one extra notch harder.

Several Changes In Search Results

Previously you would have seen a few extra links at the bottom of the search results page which were recommendations of what you may perhaps like. The information was gathered based on your search usage and the limited information collected about your contacts’ search preferences as well as what is generally sought for when someone searches in a similar way. Tweets, Likes, recommendations, and blog items were used in the gathering of information.

Google Social Search Improves Personal Web Experiences

It has changed since the users can now tell Google a bit more about their friends by associating their Google ID with their various social networking sites including Twitter, Flicker and Quora, but unfortunately not yet, the all powerful Facebook. By doing this one then confirms the contacts and information Google has already gathered, enabling Google to deliver information according to friend recommendations and search behaviour.

If you have for instance, followed a tweet on a particular subject earlier, Google may include it in the search results based on the link. Fortunately with the Google Social Search you will be able to see which ones are Social Search results and which ones fit both categories. As such for people not following the opinions of friends they can still get search results not influenced by what others have to say.

If you thus created a tweet on a topic and hundreds or thousands of people follow you on Twitter, then should one of them do a search for a topic related to what you have tweeted about, their search results will differ completely from those who don’t follow you on Twitter for the same search and are not connected to any of your followers.

Broad Contact Networks Will Influence Results

The Google Social Search goes one step further by also including results where information was tagged by a friend about a specific topic. This can help to bring up a small and unknown blog above one of the big news players. As such the search results will no longer favour over optimised pages. Around 18-22% of search results will be changed when using the Google Social Search facility. For SEO this means a whole lot more work and the average website owner may need to make use of SEO companies that also incorporate social media optimization in their product profile.

The tagged social search results can include articles from Google Reader to which you have subscribed, recommended web content by means of the +1 button, profiles of your contacts at social media sites and images which have been shared by your contacts as well as blogs and any content shared by your friends. The tool also enables more results and filtering of results.

Social connections include your connections from:

• Google contacts in the My Contacts group.
• Gmail & Google Talk chat lists.
• People followed on Google Buzz (which may not be a very long list, given the dismal failure of the social media application) and Google Reader.
• Public connections of your public social contacts including the people that your friends follow on Twitter and the additional people that they have connections with.
• Public connections you have at social media sites including FriendFeed.

The content that you publish publicly and share in the same manner will be visible as results for others, but you can remove or add more links to your profile to ensure more or less public display. One must be signed into a Google Account to see the results of Google Social Search. The more you customize your profile by adding for instance, public connected sites, your e-blogger account, and add friends to your My Contacts group as well as subscribe to public content, the more personalised your search results will become. RSS Feeds, Digg, and more can all be included in the results.

On the SEO part of things it is possible to make the most of the Google Social Search for best results by:

• Getting in on the social media frenzy by creating blogs, Facebook personal and business accounts or fan pages, a Twitter account, LinkedIn,  FriendFeed, and MySpace as well as Blogger (e-Blogger BlogSpot). Facebook is not yet connected, but remember that the Facebook users are often also users of other social media which can be important. Be sure to create a profile at the current Google Buzz which may in the future become Google Circles and build a list of contacts. Don’t forget about Google Talk.
• Don’t just create the above accounts, but become active there. You need to post blogs, and post updates. To boost traffic use similar keywords used at your website. Get as many as possible subscribers.
• SEO must be done for your newsletters which can be posted online in addition to sending such out. Get rid of single image based newsletters and exchange the style to text which can be optimized.
• Go with full text RSS feeds as you will want to increase the chances of your subscription feeds showing up in the search results.
• Build your Gmail contact list and be sure to get in on the lists of others.

Google Social Search will change the way that results are displayed and where pages will rank. Contact us at iLead Online to help your website not only survive, but succeed with top rankings in personalised results.

Following the recent complete shutdown of the Internet in Egypt to curb political unrest, comes another ban on the use of Twitter. This time around the ban on Twitter seems a bit more legit. The ICC announced earlier this week that players will be prohibited from using Twitter during matches at the 2011 Cricket World Cup. The Cricket World Cup will be co-hosted by Bangladesh, India, and Sri-Lanka and will run from February 19 to the 2^nd of April 2011.

The ICC has decided to ban Tweeting by players and officials while playing matches to curb down on corruption involved. The risk of match fixing, which is associated with the large illegal betting network in India, is hoped to be minimized. Although one may not gamble in India, reports of wide spread betting on matches between Sri Lanka, Australia, Pakistan, and South Africa have made the rounds. To keep the game clean and minimize the possibility of a match official or player being lured into fixing a game while their team is playing, a total ban on the use of Twitter seems in order. The ICC has said that the ban is not on Twitter as such, but rather on the use of Twitter during games.

The call is not unfound since the Australian team manager; Steve Bernard is a regular tweeter during matches. The officials don’t even want a hint of match fixing or involvement in any bets by staff or players during the Cricket World Cup. Many players are known as regular tweeters and as such the concern by the ICC is not unjustified. Tweeting will still be allowed by players when their teams are not playing.

How Powerful Is Twitter?

The social media networks have been in the news on numerous occasions during the past two or three years and it is reported that Facebook has officially gained more visitors on one day earlier in this week than Google. Although not all Internet users have the same search skills and many don’t even use online banking and ecommerce facilities, they do use Facebook and Twitter extensively. It has become the gossip vine, just faster and perhaps also a bit more truthful.

The people of Egypt used Twitter to communicate with their friends and the world about events in Egypt and to air their dismay with the government. Twitter as a communication medium has proven to be rather effective in getting the attention of the Egypt government and the world. It has also been used in alleged match fixing and sport corruption. The immediate communication to large groups of people does seem to have an extreme amount of power. The ICC officials have thus made their choice based on past events involving Twitter and as such their decision is certainly justified.

Twitter Links South Africa To The World Cup Cricket Games

With not that many South Africans able to attend the World Cup Cricket games, Twitter will be a useful link to the events as they happen. The South Africans that will attend, will also be able to keep South African fans at home updated not only in terms of the matches, but also any interesting events during their stay in any of the host countries.

Twitter will thus be our link to the outside world. Just as powerful as Facebook can be, so is the immediate communication through Twitter. South Africans will be able to follow their team and ensure that they don’t miss anything of importance by following the Tweeters.

Is The Hype About Twitter Worth It?

With Twitter becoming the next hot trend in social connectivity, just about everyone and every event can now be followed. Just a quick search on the Internet regarding Twitter for Sport is needed to realise exactly how big the application has become. Twitter ensures full engagement of the crowds, to engagement of fans at home, joining of fans into a community, and it widens the sport audience. It is an inexpensive method of communication, which also spans all geographical boundaries.

ICC Website

South Africans that want updates and more information about various aspects of the World Cup 2011, will be glad to know that the ICC has a rather user-friendly website, packed with up to date information. The site which can be visited at http://icc-cricket.yahoo.net loads fast and features an easy to navigate menu linking to pages on the latest cricket news, match zone area which includes important ICC events, and a specific section on events where users can locate information on the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup.

The ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup page is the page to visit if you want schedules of players and games, updates on scores, want to buy tickets, go mobile for cricket allowing you to get scores during the match, videos, games, and an online shop. With the website the ICC makes it possible for fans worldwide to stay up to date with the events at the World Cup in real-time. If you want to learn more about the teams, simply navigate to the Team section for a complete breakdown of all the teams, details about the players, rankings and top scorers. South Africans can also find information on upcoming matches and matches already played.

Gone are the days of having to wait for TV reporting and news articles to know what will happen at major events. The Internet has truly brought sport into the homes of fans world-wide. Fans can even get all the information on the go by connecting mobile. Even though the games will be played thousands of kilometres from home, the interactivity and communication brought about through the ICC website, in conjunction with usage of Twitter and Facebook enables fans to be participants in the events.

What Will The Implication Be Of A Twitter Ban During Games?

Fortunately players and staff who are not immediately involved in a game will still be able to tweet ensuring that the latest application in social networking can still be used to communicate with fans and the sport community. As such other than preventing game corruption and game fixing to suit bests, fans will still be able to use Twitter to the fullest.