Image courtesy of Thos Balantyne via Flikr

Almost everyone now has a FaceBook account, mostly because it is the biggest social networking site on the internet. However, not everyone is completely familiar with FaceBook, and they have basic questions, but they are too shy to ask them. Therefore, I am going to try to answer some of the most basic questions asked in regards to FaceBook.

• What is The Different Between A FaceBook Profile and A FaceBook Page?

Just like with Google+, a FaceBook Profile is for personal accounts. A FaceBook page is for an entity, such as your company.

• I Accidentally Set Up A Profile Page, Can I Convert it To A FaceBook Page, Instead?

FaceBook has recently release a business migration tool that will allow you to do this, without losing any followers. Even though you will not lose any followers, you will lose page content and pictures. Also, if you have less than 100 friends, you are given the option to rename your FaceBook Page.

• I Have A FaceBook Page, Can I Add Another Administrator to The Account?

Yes, you can. Just head on over to the Applications page, select Page Manager, and then add someone else as a page administrator. Keep in mind, they must have a FaceBook account as well.

• How Do I Get A Page Vanity URL?

Firstly, you have to have 25 likes on your page (fans). Once you have gotten to that milestone, you can go to facebook.com/username, click “Select a Username” and then enter the username you wish to have. After that, press “Check Availability” and then you can confirm your username.

If you have any other basic FaceBook questions that you know of, and you have answers to them, please list them below. If you have found this information to be helpful, please let us know. We love knowing that we have helped our readers out.

Image courtesy of Rosaura Ochoa via Flikr

Twitter is an extremely powerful tool that you should try to harness the power of. It’s a great way to get some quick traffic and potential customers to your website. However, some people may have some basic questions about the service, but they are too shy to ask them. Therefore, I am going to try to answer some basic Twitter questions.

• Do I Have The Ability to Change My Twitter Username?

Even though most services do not offer this ability, Twitter does! Just go to the Account tap on Twitter and you will see a field that enables you to change your username.

• Should I Follow People Back That Follow Me?

Simply put, no you do not have to follow anyone that you do not want to. However, if you follow people back, the more gracious they will be. You shouldn’t follow everyone that follows you, but if they post useful or interesting information that you are interested in, consider following them back.

• What Are #hashtags?

Basically, #hashtags is a way to organize tweets that makes them easier to filter whenever someone is searching for something specific. Therefore, I would highly suggest using it, so your tweets are more visible.

• How Do I Use an @Reply?

An @reply is basically a public message that is sent to someone else on Twitter. If you want to send a public message to someone, simply put their username after the @ symbol somewhere in your tweet. For instance: “@ColorMeSocial great information! Really helpful!!” Your message will be sent to the user ColorMeSocial where everyone else can see.

If you know of anymore basic Twitter questions and you have the answers to them, please list them below in our comments section. Remember, it’s a great feeling to help others out.

Image couresy of Bruce Clay via Flikr

You may find that you have some basic questions about the new Google+, but you are just way too shy to ask them. Therefore, I am going to answer some of the most basic questions you may have about Google+.

• Where Should I Go To Create A Google+ Business Page?

Go to http://plus.google.com/pages/create to create a Google+ page. Keep in mind that you have to have a Google account in order to set up the page.

• So, What’s The Difference Between A Google+ Page and a Google+ Profile?

Google+ Profile is for personal accounts, while a Google+ Page is for an entity, such as your business.

• What is Direct Connect?

Direct connect will allow searchers to be able to find a Google+ Page in Google Search and then they will be able to add it to their Google+ Circles by searching for +brandname. At this point in time, not all Google+ pages are eligible for Direct Connect, however everyone should try to make their page eligible for this feature whenever it is readily available for everyone.

• How Do I Become Eligible For Direct Connect?

First, you should add your website URL to your Google+ Page. After that, add a snippet of code to your website. This is explained in more detail on Google’s support website.

• May I Add People to More Than One Circle?

You absolutely can.

• Will Google+ Pages and Posts Be Listed in Search Results?

Yes, both pages and posts will be displayed on search engines. Undoubtedly, Google+ can definitely help you out with your SEO efforts.

If you have any more Google+ basic questions that people are asking and you have the answers for them, please list them below. Remember, especially around the Holiday season, it’s always better to give than to receive.

Image courtesy of Beth Kanter via Flikr

In September of this year, Google sites loved getting 184.5 million unique visitors. FaceBook, however, came in fourth place, gaining 163 million unique visitors. So, now is a perfect time to start up that Google+ account you have been contemplating. Google has plans to compete with both FaceBook, and Twitter. This is going to be a fierce battle, and you need to make sure you are on all sides.

So, if you have been contemplating setting up a Google+ page, all you should worry about is that FaceBook certainly gets a ton of love, and you should definitely have a FaceBook account, but Google is going to prove just how important search engines are when it comes to content. If you want your company to have a good standing with the search engines, Google+ is going to be the way to go, because they are going to have much greater visibility in search results for things that have been shared on Google+ pages.

Therefore, with a Google+ page you will have the benefits of being able to interact with other users across the web, just like every other social networking site, but you also get benefits on the search engines when you are active on Google+. Also, of course, the more times your content shows up from a Google+ page on the Google search engine, you are most likely going to build up your circle on Google+. It is definitely a win-win situation that you need to become a part of. If you are not, you are going to regret that decision later on.

If you have any more tips you would like to add for Google+, please let us know by leaving a comment below. Let us know how Google+ has affected your online presence.

Image courtesy of Susan Averello via Flikr

A troll is an internet user that just absolutely thrives on attention, and causing chaos. Their main objective is to start up unnecessary drama, in hopes of starting an argument with someone. If you give into trolls, you could potentially ruin your social networking presence. Their main objective is to cause you harm, and ruin your online reputation. Therefore, you need to be prepared when dealing with trolls, so I am going to give you some tips.

Do not ever feed the trolls! This is a common term shared amongst internet users when it comes to dealing with trolls. Remember, they want to ruin you, so you cannot let them. Therefore, do not give them what they strive for. Your best defense against trolls is not giving them any of your time, and any attention what so ever. Therefore, when you encounter a troll, just overlook what he has to say and pretend as if his post or message does not exist. If you respond, you are feeding him.

Sometimes, just simply ignoring the troll is not enough, and you have to do something. They will usually up their game, making much more hurtful and inflammatory comments. Eventually, this could lead people to have a negative outlook on you, or could encourage other people to step in, making the situation much worse. If you do respond, just say something along the lines of “thanks for the feedback” or “thanks for taking the time to share your opinion.” After that, move on. You will be responding with a neutral comment, and won’t be giving them any material to use against you.

If you have ever dealt with a troll, and you have some advice to share when dealing with trolls, please leave a comment below.

Image courtesy of Denard Vincente via Flikr

Back in the day, everyone knew that social media networks such as FaceBook and Twitter both had nofollow attributes associated with outgoing links. Therefore, you would not gain any search engine authority whenever you posted your link on Twitter or FaceBook. However, the game has changed since then, and actually back in December of last year, Google said in an interview that tweeted links are a signal for search engines organic and news rankings. So, don’t ever be afraid of posting your link up on Twitter now. It definitely helps!

Whenever you post on Twitter, you should always try to get some use out of your keywords in the tweet. However, with 140 characters this can become a bit of a challenge. To make matters worse, but this definitely helps, is that you want your tweets to be able to be retweeted without the person retweeting having to delete some of your message. You never know, they could end up having to erase your keywords from the tweet. Therefore, whenever you tweet, try to give a little bit of legroom. Instead of taking advantage of the full 140 chars, try to limit yourself to around 120 characters. That way, you can take full advantage of retweets and your keywords will still be intact.

Whenever you make a Twitter account your username does have an influence on SEO. Never have a username that has numbers in it, because a lot of the spam bots on Twitter have numbers in their username. Whenever search engines such as Google comes across links posted by people with numbers in their username they disregard them, because they cannot differentiate whom is truly a spammer, and who is not. Therefore, leave numbers out of your Twitter name.

If you have any other search engine advice for social media outlets, please post below and let us know.

Image courtesy of Jon Gosier via Flikr.

If you have a Twitter account it is most likely because you want to market your business on Twitter. That’s completely understandable because it’s a great way to gain traffic and potential customers. However, Twitter has personal branding options that you just can’t simply leave it. If you want to increase your effectiveness on Twitter I am going to give you some simple steps on how to accomplish this.

Take advantage of using a custom background on Twitter. This is one of the first components of your Twitter account that you can optimize and I would highly suggest doing it. You will have the option of being able to upload your own custom background, or you can choose from a list of default backgrounds on Twitter. You should never use the default option. Using a custom background on Twitter will make your page more unique, and stand out amongst the other millions of Twitter pages.

Your account picture is another thing that you can completely customize on Twitter, and you should never leave this out. Having the default avatar of an egg will not help your Twitter marketing campaign. You should consider uploading your business logo, or something that pertains to your business.

Also, do not ever forget about your Twitter bio. This is another thing that will set you apart from everyone else. Give people information about your company or your brand, but do not make it too long, or boring. Of course, link to your website in your bio where users can find out more information about yourself, or your company.

If you have any other Twitter tips please leave them in the comments section located below this post. We love reading what our readers have to say.

Image courtesy of "theimpulsebuy" via Flikr

If you want more Twitter followers, or more people to Like you on FaceBook you are going to have to offer them something in return. Most of the time simple information works, but some people take it a step further and offer people something more in order to gain followers, or to get people to Like them on FaceBook, so we are going to go over some example, and maybe it will get your creative juices flowing.

• Artist Made a Sketch of Every New Twitter Follower

An artist made a commitment that he would sketch the first 2,000 people that followed him on Twitter. Seemingly overnight his Twitter account blew up with a slew of new followers that were eager to have a sketch of themselves. He kept his word, and now he has a ton of new followers that are interested in his work.

• Wendy’s Gained 30k Twitter Followers Over The Span of A Month

Wendy’s hosted their own game show on Twitter. All you had to do was include a certain Twitter handle in your tweet to participate. In return, you could win all sorts of prizes and coupons. As a result of this, they gained 30k Twitter followers in a month.

• Offering Coupons or Special Deals

If you run your own business, or offer certain products that people be interested in, you should definitely consider offering coupons or discounts. A lot of companies are doing this and as a result they have gained tons of new fans on their social networking pages. For instance, Healthy Choice’s fan count grew from 7,000 Fans on FaceBook to over 60,000.

If you have any other examples of ways to increase engagement on social networking websites please let us know.

Image courtesy of Jerry Slifwer via Flikr

Go to Twitter and create an account. You can do this by going to www.Twitter.com and clicking on the “Get Started – Join” link at the top of the page. The sign-up process s is fairly simple, so you should not have a problem getting started at all.

If you have any other Twitter tips for marketing and PR purposes please leave a comment below this post and let us know. We would love to hear your input on the subject.

Image courtesy of Colin Howley via Flikr

It has been proven that posts made on FaceBook between the hours of 8pm – 7am have 20% more user engagement, than posts made between the hours of 8am – 7pm. If you think about this, it makes complete sense why there is such an increase in social engagement in the later hours. During the hours of 8am – 7pm most people are going to still be at work, or in school. Therefore, they are most likely not going to have the ability to interact with FaceBook, and if they do, it certainly will not be for an extended period of time. Once they are home, they are able to spend more time on FaceBook, doing what they want to do.

Most companies frown upon the use of social media websites in the work place. Therefore, most people are not going to risk their job just so they can log onto FaceBook and see what their friends are up to, and they are certainly not going to risk logging in and clicking on one of the links that you have posted up. Therefore, most people keep their daily FaceBook use to a minimum.

Therefore, if you want to run a successful FaceBook campaign, you have to do your research. Keep different time zones in mind, and how people interact with FaceBook during different times of the day. If you can tap into this strategy, you will undoubtedly get more traffic from FaceBook, and be able to take full advantage of your FaceBook account. A lot of people do not even think about this aspect of FaceBook marketing, so you need to take advantage of it to its fullest.

If you decide to employ this strategy please let us know how it worked for you. As always, if you have any other FaceBook tips, we would love to hear them. Just leave a comment below.