Entries Tagged 'twitter' ↓

Your website could be the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen, but if it isn’t getting traffic it may as well have been written in invisible code.

If your website has been written with the search engines in mind and your copy is SEO friendly you will stand a good chance of getting good organic listings. However there is another element that needs to be taken into consideration – back links.

Google loves back links; they are a way of showing your sites’ authority – the more external links that point to your site the better. A great way of producing these links is to start a blog and by using other social media tools such as Squidoo or Hub pages.

Blogging really works

This really does work as I have used this method to achieve great organic listings for my chosen keywords.

I began this blog last year for 2 reasons – to drive traffic to my website and to give away copywriting tips. It took only a matter of months before I was seeing great results and my main website began climbing the Google rankings.

I know what you’re thinking “It’s alright for you, you’re a freelance copywriter so you know how to write stuff that works – I don’t even know where to start.”

OK, yes I write for a living but that doesn’t mean you can’t achieve the same results as I have. As for not knowing what to write about, here are some tips:

• Think keywords – write a post around your main keywords. Remember to use these words as your anchor text for when linking back to your main website.

• Think products and services – if you make cards, don’t write about how to make them (you probably don’t want to give your secrets away) instead blog about the type of cards you are making. So if you are selling a range depicting poppies, blog about poppies.

• Think about venues – if you provide a service such as wedding photography, blog about some of the venues you work at.

• Think relevance – if something interesting has happened in your field recently, blog about it again linking through your keywords.

• Read around – if you follow other blogs in your industry and read something interesting, blog about that post and link back to it and to your site (again through relevant keywords).

Blog regularly

To reap the rewards of your blogging you should also blog regularly. Spread the word about what you’re doing through other applications such as Twitter or social networking sites such as BTTradespace. This will help you increase your web ‘footprint’ and generate more interest and traffic.

Once you get the ball rolling you’ll begin to see the benefits. But remember don’t just write about the same things all the time – variety keeps your writing fresh.

If you follow me on Twitter you may already have seen this information. But if you’ve not seen it grab a pen, you’ll want to make a note of what is about to follow.

Websites you should know about

The first website is http://gethuman.com/numbers/uk.

This one is fab for those of you who’ve experienced the frustration of trying to get through to a real person on a customer service line.

The site lists short cuts to a human voice for a number of UK companies. It will save a lot of time and frustration.

The second site is www.saynoto0870.com. Many companies use 0870, 0500 etc premium rate numbers which we pay through the nose for. This site allows you to search for the geographical equivalent number saving you £££££s!

So there you go – my handy hints for the day 🙂

I love Twitter. It is a brilliant tool for networking, business promotion, meeting amazing people and a superb resource for information. I feed all my blogs and Squidoo pages through it helping others by spreading my copywriting tips to a wider audience (you can follow me by clicking here).

But unless you use it, you don’t always get it.

Well, prepare yourself for a mini Twitter master class. I found this fab video by Mark Shaw (follow him on Twitter here)

If you are unsure whether it is for you, watch this video – Twitter Show: Why I left Twitter after a week and then you’ll understand the power of Twitter.

NB – since making this post, the above link for Mark’s video is no longer valid. However, if you want to learn about Twitter and how to use it effectively, why not take a look at Mark’s series of videos on Twitter.

I was recently asked by the Twitter Guru, Mark Shaw (@markshaw) to do a Twitter Business Interview.

Follow the link below to see how I use Twitter

Twitter Business Interview – Sally Ormond | Twitter For Business.

I was asked by Nikki Pilkington recently to write a guest blog for Business on Twitter. So here are my ramblings about how a copywriter (or any business owner or individual for that matter) can use, enjoy and get the most out of Twitter.

Twitter appears to be a marmite application – you know, you either love it or you hate (probably because you can’t see the point of it all).

Personally, I love it – it’s great on a personal and business level.

As a freelance copywriter, it allows me to broadcast my news, views and opinions to a huge audience so I can reach the parts that other copywriters can’t.

Twitter – a two pronged tool

From a marketing perspective, Twitter is a fantastic micro-blogging tool. There has been a lot of debate about whether Twitter will kill off blogging but for me, it complements it. With an RSS feed from my blog fed into my Twitter account, every new blog post appears as a Tweet giving me the opportunity of casting my knowledge far and wide.

A whole new readership has now opened up for me. Twitter will help you push your name out into the Twitterverse – and who knows where that will lead.

But it’s not just all about marketing and using Twitter as a business tool – after all, no one likes a Tweeter who constantly bangs on about their business all the time.

Twitter is also a gold mine of information. It is all about sharing knowledge. If you find something of interest on the web, tweet about it.

By following people within your industry you will be able to keep abreast of all that is happening. I use Tweetlater to receive daily emails updating me about who is talking about certain keywords. Then I have the option to follow those I find interesting whilst catching up on the latest happenings and goings on.

Basically for me Twitter is a wonderful vehicle through which I can broadcast my message and receive information to keep me updated with new ideas and new ways of thinking.