If your business is on Facebook or Twitter, there’s a good chance that you’re going to experience the complete headache that is a troll. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
The Importance of Social Media in SEO
How do your customers find you online?
It seems like an obvious question. They go to your website, of course. But if they’ve never heard of your business, how else would they stumble across your site?
This is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in, a way for you to better your website so Google and other engines can find and share your content with their users.
A Brief History
There are many ways to optimize your site, but previously, the best way to get your page to the top of search results was through link building. This meant getting links to your site placed around the web to increase your PageRank (the level of authority Google gives your site). Then, as with most things, people went overboard with this tactic, trying to game the system by paying for links in a high volume of places.
To combat this problem, Google started assigning weight to these links. Low-quality (say, on a spammy page with nothing but a bunch of paid links) and higher-quality links (the New York Times linked to you, for example) were given appropriate values and the linked website was ranked accordingly.
Keywords were – and still are –important in helping Google decide if your website matches a certain query. But again, this was abused and keyword stuffing became an issue. Thus, Google had to change its focus again.
So how does Google determine value today? Weighted links and keywords are still taken into consideration, but the search engine has shifted much of its focus to providing value to users and creating a more personalized experience.
This is where social media comes in.
You’s a Bad Motha-Shut Yo Mouth!
It’s getting a lot harder to bitch about your job nowadays, isn’t it? From the awkward moment your bosses follow you on Twitter to the incredibly long internal debate you have on whether to accept their friend requests on Facebook – it always feels like somebody’s watching you. But that’s because they are.Continue reading
Social Media Tips from @MiddlesexLounge
Nate Brown of @middlesexlounge has a lot to do. He’s the face and voice of one of Boston’s hottest bars and lounges that features regular live music and performances – so how does one juggle all of that and not sound like a robot? It’s no easy task, but Brown didn’t make our “Who to Follow” list for nothing! We asked for some advice.
1. Have social media be a part of someone’s job. not an afterthought or addendum to someone’s job. If its a marketing person, it should be one of the main duties.
2. Engage people, even if it’s a Foursquare check-in or you’re hashtagged and not directly communicated with, reply or retweet.
3. Cut down on links. More links away from Twitter make it a pain in the ass, and not all links are worth it clicking away for.
4. Give as much info as possible in 140 characters. Is it an event? Offer the time, date, cover fee, type of music/ artist, etc.
5. Have something worth reading. If you read your own tweets as if they were from a completely unknown account, would you follow that account?
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Social Media Tips from @mcslimjb
MC Slim JB may sound like the name of your newest favorite Boston-based rapper, but in reality, he’s so much cooler than that. The local restaurant critic writes reviews for the Improper Bostonian and plenty other publications, all the while happily tweeting about food, Boston, and more. And if you were wondering, no, he is NOT the cat in his Twitter avatar. Find more Food & Drink Twitter accounts at our list of Who to Follow in Boston!
1. Find a niche and stick to it. Probably 85% of my comments relate to Boston food and drink, with a sprinkling of national food/drink stuff thrown in. That’s why people follow me.
2. Credit your sources, ideally with their Twitter handles. It’s not nice to pirate ideas. Nobody expects you to come up with original content all the time; they follow you because they take some interest in what you find interesting. So point them to cool, funny, interesting stuff besides your own; just tell people where you found it.
3. Go easy with the Tweeting of photos of what you’re eating. That dish might indeed be awesome, but if you’re like me, your smartphone-based photo of it is probably pretty pitiful, and maybe not doing the chef or restaurant such a great favor.
4. Be wary of reporting rumors, especially restaurant closings. False rumors can hurt a business and its workers. Better to be scooped than to get the facts wrong. Nobody cares if you got the news out first, anyway.
5. If you’re going to lob a dart at somebody in the industry for their self-aggrandizement, dumb restaurant name, horrifying marketing campaign, or shady business practices, consider using satire over sanctimony. For most readers, it’s more fun to see a scoundrel or ninny ridiculed than scolded.
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Social Media Tips from @BostonAttitude
They say “attitude is everything,” which means that John Romard (aka @BostonAttitude) is everything Boston. Follow his account for tweets about “Living, Working, Playing in Boston!!” BA’s on our “General Boston” Twitter list for Who To Follow on Twitter in Boston, because, well, if you live in Boston, you better be following him!
Here are @BostonAttitude’s tweeting tips:
1. Pick something you know about to talk about.
2. Be consistent with the content in your posts. I tweet about Boston and major events. I try to keep my content honest, accurate and current.
3. Have fun and work with others, it’s not competition.
4. Never give up or get discouraged. You don’t build a following overnight.
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Social Media Tips from @OnTheBar
@OnTheBar is one of the coolest apps to have if you’re living in Boston. It’s also one of the coolest Twitter accounts to follow — you can see where your favorite bartenders are working on any given night and plan your night accordingly. Plus, their tweets are beyond entertaining. Find more Food & Drink Twitter accounts at our list of Who to Follow in Boston!
1. Try to mix it up. We’ll sometimes throw in cultural references that are not immediately related to what we do / our mission. If we’re just, “cocktails, cocktails, cocktails!” all the damn time, we’d be both boring and drunk.
2. Have a sense of humor, but don’t be a jerk. We take a pretty irreverent tone from time to time, but we never (or very, very rarely) speak negatively about a person or thing. Usually if we’re making fun of something, it’s ourselves. People seem to dig that. Corporate accounts are usually stodgy as hell.
3. Talk about others more than yourself. Our job is sorta easy here because we have all these amazing bartenders creating really cool content about what’s happening in their bar or what drinks they’re making, etc. We get to share this via Twitter and Instagram, and we love hyping our community members. Like that @sahildmehta guy. He’s great. You should follow him.
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Social Media Tips from @BriteBoston
Sara Steele-Rogers can tell you what’s up in Boston. As the Boston Metro Marketing Manager for @BriteBoston, Steele-Rogers tweets about and attends some of the coolest events in the city. Find more Event Twitter accounts at our list of Who to Follow in Boston!
1. Be consistent. Every week, I schedule my tweets on Mondays and Thursdays for the next few days to keep accountable.
2. Eventbrite Boston is all about showcasing Boston’s best events and live experiences, not just events on Eventbrite. Be sure your tweets aren’t 100% self-promotional. Branch out and give others in the community some love, too!
3. Know what your followers are looking for. The Eventbrite community particularly loves free events, as well as fitness, food and drink, and tech events. Also, anything out-of-the-box or super unique is always very popular!
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Social Media Tips from @PeteMFBoyd
Local bearded tweeter and “purveyor of beer” Pete Boyd is a Narragansett rep who tweets about the best of the Boston beer scene. His tweets cover great events in Boston (and beer, beer, BEER!). Find more Food & Drink Twitter accounts at our list of Who to Follow in Boston!
People need to engage in conversation, not just retweet everything. A simple retweet can let people know that someone hollered at you. Engaging in conversation will lead to a much more open dialogue. It can give people a better idea of who you are or what you meant, rather than limiting them to your 140 character blast.
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Social Media Tips from @OnlyinBOS
OnlyInBOS is one of Boston’s newest and most popular Twitter accounts. Whether they’re tweeting about events, sights, and goings-on in Boston, the beauty of yoga pants, or the hottest celebrities visiting the city, OnlyInBOS is forever in-the-know in terms of Boston Twitter. Find more “General Boston” Twitter accounts at our list of Who to Follow in Boston!
Lots of people on Twitter always wonder how they can get a celebrity or Twitter celebrity to respond. Here’s a couple tips:
1. Follow them. Even if they don’t respond publicly to a tweet, you might have a shot at them responding via direct message. You can DM anyone who follows you, but you don’t have to follow back to send a DM.
2. Whatever you tweet, use the hashtag the celebrity’s been recently using.
3. Make your tweets interesting with a photo. It’s an attention-grabber for sure.
4. Tweet at celebrities right after they’ve tweeted. That means they’re actually on their account looking through their timeline. That would be the best opportunity to get a response.