The user can then give feedback on whether the site matches his or her taste by giving it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. It’s a virtuous cycle where StumbleUpon gathers all the feedback, ranks them and presents the most liked sites as random selections to its users, which leads to more feedback and so on.

At first glance, StumbleUpon looks like it’s just something to entertain lazy web surfers. In truth, it’s a powerful tool that gives a website access to new, previously untapped audiences. A robust StumbleUpon app for mobile already exists, waiting to take advantage of our growing use of the web from mobile devices. While it can be hit and miss at times, the fact remains that SU puts a site in front of millions of users who can potentially become avid readers and even regular customers.

You might be thinking, “Hey, I already use Facebook and Twitter. Why do I need to use StumbleUpon, too?” The truth is the numbers are simply in favor of SU. When it comes to making your blog or website go viral, StumbleUpon is an efficient path to take to gain more website traffic.

StumbleUpon was responsible for more social shares than even Facebook in the United States recently. Given that StumbleUpon only has 20 million users right now while Facebook has 800 million, this shows you the enormous potential for growth through going viral via SU. If such a small community can account for such massive amounts of traffic now, imagine the coverage you can get when this community grows even bigger.

Case in point: StumbleUpon has been instrumental in building the success of several online businesses, helping them reach out to new visitors and giving them access to a large potential market while attracting ad revenue for their sites. Here are two examples:

Stereomood is a web-based service that allows visitors to compile and listen to music that matches whatever mood or situation they’re currently in, be it a lazy Sunday morning, a cold winter night, or even a soundtrack for spring cleaning. This simple service has generated over 400,000 individual hits in a few months from StumbleUpon alone. As more people visit Stereomood, the potential exists for the site to starts generate large amounts of ad revenue – or even be purchased by a major player in the music or entertainment business.

Artists and designers, such as Aled Lewis have seen their work reach a much broader audience than would otherwise have been possible thanks to StumbleUpon. His website, aledlewis.com, has received almost a quarter of a million hits in 2009 alone – and those are just the hits that SU is responsible for. Factor in the way people share links with their friends and loved ones and the actual number of hits that can be attributed to StumbleUpon rises even more.

One caveat: while many sites can see huge gains when using StumbleUpon, it’s not for everyone. Businesses like retailers and service providers that operate only in certain locations will find it less rewarding, if at all, to use SU. On the flip side, getting on StumbleUpon is a great match for web-based enterprises like video tutorials or Etsy handicrafts.

So how exactly do you duplicate this type of success on your own blog or website? Well, there are just a few key steps that you need to follow in order to achieve some StumbleUpon success.

First of all, you’ve got to be a heavy user of StumbleUpon yourself. Install that toolbar and start stumbling onto other websites, and be sure to give your rating for each one that the program throws out at you. Take the time to fully personalize your account, joining those communities that are closest to your personal and business interests. By being active and responsive in the community, you are creating a strong and very visible profile in SU. And you also get to discover new sites and interesting people along the way.

The next step is to build up a strong network with other active users of StumbleUpon, especially those that share the same interests or are in the same type of business as you are. Obviously, if you’re interested in social media, you should make sure to follow me on StumbleUpon. Stumble onto the websites of these people, and take the time to get to know them. Remember, this is still a form of social network marketing so good community relations is a must.

Next, make sure your site or blog has some content that would easily catch the eye of other StumbleUpon users. Top 5 lists and list posts in general usually do very well because they are chockfull of information, easier to read and are just as entertaining as regular articles. Use eye-catching titles that you know will pique the interest of your target audience. If what you want to promote is a static website, create a high-impact landing page instead of using your homepage so you can rake in more positive points. Of course, you also need to provide good content because getting page views simply won’t be enough. You’ll need to garner mainly positive ratings in order to really succeed.

If the method above simply isn’t enough for you, and you’ve set aside a bit of cash for promoting your site, then you can avail of StumbleUpon Paid Discovery. These are ad spots that feature your link at a cost of as little as 5 cents per click. Given the much higher potential to go viral than on other social networking sites, it’s a pretty good potential investment.

Whatever it is you are promoting online, the key to internet and viral marketing success is in providing something unique and authentic, which is why building your business identity within the community is so important. Once you’ve got that down pat, you need only wait and let StumbleUpon do the rest of the work for you.

Has StumbleUpon helped you find new customers? Any other SU marketing strategies or advice that you would add?

Oh, and if you’re still mystified by StumbleUpon, please check out this inforgraphic with the latest statistics to give you more background on why this social media website is so special.

With that in mind, I’m glad to share with you what I believe are the best conferences and events social media practitioners should go to this year, all in the United States (sorry but I don’t know enough about events outside of the United States to be able to offer my international readers any advice). Each event has garnered a lot of praise from its past participants, with sought-after speakers and expert panels in attendance discussing the most relevant social media topics of the day.

Some of these events, like Blog World, have multiple events where they have not announced dates and locations for their conferences later in the year.  Make sure you check back here for updates.  And feel free to add other social media conferences that you recommend in the comments. Thanks!

BlogWell – January 24, 2012, Dallas, Texas; March 27, 2012, San Francisco, California; July 18, 2012, Chicago, Illinois; September 25, 2012, New York City, New York

BlogWell is a unique event where 8 great case studies on the best social media programs at large companies are presented to audiences. Staged by SocialMedia.org, a community of social media leaders where members help each other by sharing ideas, best practices, and solutions. Held in 4 locations in 2012, BlogWell speakers will present case studies from many well known brands, including companies like AMD and Farmer’s Insurance who have been blogged about here before.

iStrategy Conference – January 31 – February 1, 2012, San Francisco, California

iStartegies missions is to spread passion for existing and emerging digital media throughout the world, where each event offers original experiential learning opportunities for participants. It is for senior executives who espouse the belief that the success of their business requires a solid digital strategy. While the concentration is on digital, there is more than enough social media content to keep you satisfied, including an emphasis on “results-oriented social media strategies.” Note that iStrategy also holds international events, with London and Sydney conferences slated for later in 2012.

Social Fresh Conference - (East) February 6 – 7, 2012, Tampa, Florida; (West) August 20 – 21, 2012, San Diego, California

With a distinct focus on social media for business results, the Social Fresh Conference is staged with the end goal of inspiring marketers to create social media strategies that produce tangible results. Social Fresh may not be as well known as other conferences here, but they have a solid track record of delivering successful social media conferences throughout the nation. The keynotes for the Tampa event are from the cream of the crop of social media speakers: Scott Monty of Ford, Jay Baer, and Chris Penn – and these are balanced by case studies presented from corporate social media strategiest from AOL, Nordstrom, and RadioShack.

Online Marketing Summit – February 6 – 9, 2012, San Diego, California

The Online Marketing Summit puts education first. Beyond the usual conference and tradeshow set-up, through lab sessions with experts, thought-leadership presentations and peer-to-peer collaboration, OMS’s focus is providing direct, hands-on training workshops that are personalized and one-on-one. A four-day event traditionally about online marketing, there is a healthy dose of social media marketing content for those in attendance.

The Social Media Strategies Summit 2012 – February 7 – 9, 2012, Las Vegas; April 18 – 19, 2012, Chicago

The Social Media Strategies Summit has been designed in such a way that learning objectives are spread across six tracks, each outlined to focus on a particular industry – yours. So while sessions are focused on specific categories that are tailor-fit, such as case studies, ROI and tools, and legal risks & strategies, participants are free to move between tracks based on their own learning objectives. Note that the Social Media Strategies Summit also has an event in London as well as Miami. The Miami event is not listed above as it is focused on social media in Latin America.

Gravity Summit - February 22, 2012, Los Angeles, California

Held annually, the Gravity Summit event in 2012 is where leaders from the realm of sports and entertainment discuss social media marketing trends, innovations and tools and how these are reshaping the industry and audiences alike. The event is perfect for those involved in broadcasting, entertainment and sports. Created by the co-authors of The Power of Real-Time Social Media Marketing, Gravity Summit always promises unique and high quality social media content.

Inbound Marketing Summit – February 28 – 29, 2012, New York City, New York; June 12 – 13, 2012, San Francisco, California; October 24 – 25, 2012, Boston, Massachusetts

The Inbound Marketing Summit is one of the leading national conferences for digital and social media marketing professionals. Featuring inspirational speakers coupled with cutting edge content and real-world case studies, IMS is where innovators from media and marketing meet their peers, engage in lively and productive sessions, and broaden their networks – all in two power-packed days. The upcoming Boston event features the following tracks: Inbound Marketing, Mobile Content, Content Automation, and Convergence.

SocialTech 2012 – March 29 – 30, Seattle, Washington

Sponsored by one of the largest online marketing communities, MarketingProfs, SocialTech is the leading social media conference that focuses purely on B2B social media marketing. The first day will feature workshops on Content Marketing and Social Media Measurement while the second day will feature quality speakers on relevant topics such as “Using Gamification to Captivate Your Customers” and “Social Media Guidelines for Highly Regulated Industries.”

BlogWorld & New Media Expo - June 5 – 7, 2012, New York City, New York

BlogWorld is undoubtedly the largest in scale and longest running social media event on this list. Originally for bloggers, BlogWorld now includes enough social media speakers and workshops so that I can say that if there was only one event you could go to in 2012, this would be the one I recommend. With past speakers that include tech guru Guy Kawasaki, you can be assured of high-impact exchanges plus the chance to meet and collaborate with fellow practitioners and innovators. BlogWorld is also held in Los Angeles late in the year.

Content Marketing World 2012 – September 4 – 6, 2012, Columbus, Ohio

Dubbed as the largest gathering of content marketing professionals in the world, CMW is where content marketers converge to tell their stories. Covering topics that include Managing Content Marketing and the ROI of Content Marketing, Content Marketing World is the brainchild of the “Father of Content Marketing,” Joe Pulizzi, and his Content Marketing institute.

Have you been to any of the above events? Which ones are you the biggest fan of?

As in 2011, I tried to find those to recommend you follow that were not yet in the Top 50 of the AdAge Power 150 of top marketing blogs as well as those that were focused on social media and had consistently high quality. As a rule, I also did not include any blogs that I recommended you follow in 2011. With that, I’d like to share with you my picks for the top social media blogs to follow in 2012. Enjoy!

Conversation Agent - This blog, authored and maintained by veteran marketing strategist Valeria Maltoni, gives us various insights into digital marketing, communications and brand strategies. A recognized leader in her field with 20 years of real-world business experience under her belt, she helps veterans and new entrepreneurs alike take advantage of the growing social media space in their marketing efforts. Valeria is also a truly engaging participant in social media and the founder of the #KaizenBlog Twitter chat. Recommended blog post: Blending Personal and Business on Facebook.

Social Media B2B - Social Media B2B serves as a relevant news source and discussion site on how social media impacts B2B companies. Through expert advice from site publisher Kip Bodnar, who is also Inbound Marketing Manager at Hubspot, and managing editor Jeffery L. Cohen as well as other recognized leaders in the field, Social Media B2B is your virtual classroom and business school online for a hot topic that should see a renaissance of activity in 2012: B2B social media marketing. Recommended blog post: 10 Rules for Epic B2B Blogging.

Beth’s Blog - Readers of my blog should already be familiar with the work of Beth Kanter, as her co-authored The Networked Nonprofit book made my best social media books of 2010 list. Beth’s personal website is one of the go-to blogs for nonprofits. She was recently recognized by being a recipient of the inaugural Pepsico Women’s Inspiration Award. For those involved in social causes or those employed by nonprofit organizations, this blog can serve as your indispensable guide to harnessing social media in furthering your advocacy. Read Beth’s blog for inspiration and guides on how to reach out to wider audiences through social media, network building, and relationship marketing best practices. Recommended blog post: Facebook Changes for Organization Pages: Focus on Results

Awaken Your Superhero - I’ve already spoken praise for Christopher Penn, the man behind this site and an extremely valuable newsletter, in my post on Top LinkedIn Open Networkers and Connectors to Follow in 2011. Chris portrays himself as being a bridge – a connector between differing fields, professions and ideas in order to help both sides understand each other. “I can speak and sling code, but I’m not an IT professional. I can design campaign strategies and write copy, but I’m not a marketing professional. Where I provide value is in helping IT understand marketing and vice versa,” he shares. Penn states that we all have social media superpowers. He hopes that this blog will help in your journey of discovering your own powers and harnessing it to better yourself and those around you. Recommended blog post: How to Get Started with Google+ pages for Business. 

ConverStations - Mike Sansone believes that blogs are ”Conversation Stations”. He dubs himself a “Conversation Condutor”, guiding companies in building their own business sites. He coaches small businesses and solopreneurs in using blogs and social media not only as platforms for conversations, but also as a vehicle for linking with customers and forging lasting relationships. The subjects covered in ConverStations are valuable roadmaps for navigating the social media highway. Recommended blog post: 4 Social Elements and the Talk-nology Empowering web.

Jaffe Juice - Joseph Jaffe is the first one that I remember hearing the quote “Social Media is a Commitment, Not a Campaign” from. From a once a week op-ed column online, Joseph Jaffe’s site Jaffe Juice has evolved into a no-holds barred site tackling new marketing, advertising and creativity. Offering rich interviews with top-notch leaders in the field and insightful commentary from new-media thinkers and doers, the site fosters healthy discussions on the issues that face social media today.  Recommended blog post: Photos as Sales Drivers 

SocialWayne.com - One of the most sought-after advisers in his field, entrepreneur and tech journalist Wayne Sutton has helped countless individuals, startups and businesses achieve success by harnessing the power of communicating through the social web. Through his blog, ranked as one of the 50 best technology and social media blogs in the world, readers get to partake of his valuable know-how and  business intelligence to their advantage.  Recommended blog post: 29 of your top social media questions answered on Quora

Smedio - Backed by a diverse team of experts with extensive experience across various disciplines, Smedio is the new media and social web guide designed for marketing professionals. With its aim of continuously defining the business value of new media and the social web, it supplies readers with the social rocket fuel they need to help their businesses reach new heights in 2012 and beyond.  Recommended blog posts: How to Save a Dying Business with Social Media

Heidi Cohen - Heidi Cohen’s blog provides marketing insights–grounded both in digital and direct marketing–that provides readers with the competitive edge for making it big  in their respective industries. She provides practical tips and relevant case studies gathered from her 20 years of experience and expertise as a renown marketing professional. Recommended blog post: Twitter Marketing: 5 Ways to Maximize Your Returns .

Ask Aaron Lee - If you have been on Twitter and are interested in social media, you’ve surely seen the handle @AskAaronLee appear in your news feed on several occasions. Aaron has contributed to this website through his 3 Alternative Ways to Find Great Content to Share on Twitter post, and he has become a good friend of mine over the years. He also has an excellent blog. Geared towards small businesses, Aaron sets out to give businesses a human  dimension and to professionalize people through social.  As  co-founder of apparel company Leneys, Lee has a keen understanding of the workings of small and medium enterprises and what it takes for them to survive in the ever-changing business landscape – and I expect 2012 to be a breakout year both for his company and his blog.  Recommended blog post: 8 ways to humanize your business on social media.

As always, there is some subjectivity in how I chose the above blogs , but I hope that it helps you discover new content to follow in 2012.

Are there any other social media bloggers that you think deserve recognition in 2012? Please let me know in the comments below. Thanks!

This week’s announcement from Google unveiling their new Search Plus, which prominently features Google+ conversations in search results, has been called “Google’s most radical transformation ever” and has even been analyzed by SEO experts as overly favoring Google+ conversations in search engine results. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, click on those links and then repeat after me:

The writing is on the wall. The time is now for Google+.

The funny thing is that G+ still has only approximately 25% the number of users that Twitter has.  In other words, if you haven’t embraced Google Plus yet, it’s not too late!

I wanted to get some historical perspective before creating a post formally introducing Google+ to my readers, but now that I see a certain amount of maturity in the functionality and the user base its growing – not to mention this week’s announcement – the time is now for your business to adopt and leverage the platform.

A Google+ Overview

Google+, or “G+”, is Google’s biggest push to be part of the social space.  Ten million users managed to create accounts during its beta testing phase last July – a number which is now 60 million.  Yes, it’s another addition to the numerous social networks on the web, but there’s one crucial thing that separates it from the rest: it’s powered by the one of the largest internet technology companies in the planet.  That means your G+ account is hooked onto of your Google tools, and yes, that means that posts, conversations, and topics that you’ve delegated for public consumption are searchable – and are rapidly being prioritized by Google.

It’s not a Facebook replica.  In fact, it’s far from it.  G+ focuses on “Circles”, a function that lets you drag-and-drop your contacts into literal circles that enable you to classify them into customizable groups. This makes it easier to share information to a certain audience, and gives you a more secure online social experience.

With Circles, you can use “Hangouts” which facilitates group chats and video conferences for a maximum of ten persons.  A new Hangout function called “Hangout On-Air” has recently been launched.  It gives those on G+ the ability to create recordable instant webcasts.  What’s great about Hangouts is that it supports devices with Android 2.3 and above, with a provision for iOS coming soon.

G+ integrates “Messenger” (formerly known as “Huddle”) into its interface, which enables Android, Apple and other SMS devices to use instant messaging and photo sharing within Circles.

Some other interesting G+ features are:

• “Sparks”: identifies topics of probable interest that a user may share
• “Instant Upload”: stores your photos and videos in a private album
• “Games”: social games that are accessible in another G+ tab in order to avoid their updates from mixing with your posts
• “Search in Google+”: enables you to search for content within G+
• “Data Liberation”: enables you to back-up and download your posts, circles, and other important information on G+
• “+1”: works similar to Facebook’s “Like” button
• “Ripples”: a visual analytics tool for G+, Ripples shows your statistics for a public post, including number of +1′s, shares, average chain length, and top contributors

Since it seems to take the best of Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, and mixes them into a competitive and user-friendly interface, G+ definitely spells online fun on a personal level.  That being said, the overwhelming majority of the conversations that I have witnessed have been serious and professional. What’s more, business-minded individuals need not be worried about missing out on this new platform though, as Google has recently launched Google+ Pages.

How and Why You Should Create a Google+ Page

Even though it’s a young platform, G+ has decided to cater to businesses only a few months after its launch. Google+ Pages is a feature that is similar to its Facebook counterpart, and definitely holds a lot of promise with regard to user-friendliness. In fact, this may actually be what G+ can leverage on; creating a G+ page is so easy, you’ll need only a few minutes. The only thing you’ll need is a Google account and a G+ profile before you can create your Page.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get started:

1. Visit Google+ For Business.  Click on the “Create Your Google+ Page” link, and you’ll then be asked to place your business under one of the following categories:

• Local Business or Place
• Product or Brand
• Company, Institution or Organization
• Arts, Entertainment or Sports
• Other

2. You’ll need to put in information that is relevant to your category, such as your name and your website.  You can even choose who can access your page based on your content.  Once you’ve filled up the form and read the Pages terms, G+ will then create your page.
3. After your page has been created, G+ will ask you to upload your business’ profile photo.  (You can opt to do this later, but it would be better for your audiences to have an image or a logo that they can immediately associate with your business.)

That’s it!  You may now start posting, creating Circles, and even adding a G+ Badge on your website.

There have been many critics who say that creating a Google+ Page isn’t something that businesses should bother with, citing page administration issues, lack of facilities for promotions, and the inability to integrate with other platforms.  Though these are indeed pressing issues that Google must immediately address, it’s good to remember that G+ is a growing platform and you can expect that there will be many improvements to it in the coming months.  One big advantage in having a G+ Page is that your business will undoubtedly have better chances of coming out as an organic search result with higher ranking than most, due to Google+’s integration with Google Search as we are seeing beging to manifest itself with Search Plus.

Another G+ feature that is currently being tested is Direct Connect.  Here’s how it works: whenever a user adds a plus sign (“+”) before a brand name on Google Search, the platform brings up the brand’s G+ Page.  Once it’s publicly launched, Direct Connect will definitely be a great help with SEO, as the G+ link appears right under the search box, which is basically above other search engine results.

Google+ Pages are very easy to navigate, share and add into personal circles, as long as you’re logged on to your Google account.  The interface is simple enough that you can see everything at one go, and adding or removing a page from a circle doesn’t require you to dig deep into the system.

A Few of the Many that have Taken the Google+ Plunge

Once Google+ becomes more stable and packs more functions, it will indeed be a very formidable social platform. Many famous companies, brands and personalities seem to already know this, so in case you need a bit of inspiration, here are a few good Google+ pages you can look at:

• Anderson 360 - The silver-haired reporter from CNN is on G+.  What’s great about this page is that the interaction between Anderson Cooper and his followers is very natural.  Giving out clues to his RidicuList segment is also a nice touch, as it keeps everybody on their toes.
• Angry Birds - Interested in game updates, fan submissions, comic strips and plushies for sale of those ferocious feathered creatures?  Visit them on G+ for your dose of ca-caws!
• Burberry - The British luxury fashion house uses G+ to tease its followers with beautiful photos of their products.  Check out the .gifs of snow falling on their photo bar.
• Pepsi - The beverage company uses G+ to boost its “Where there’s music, there’s Pepsi” campaign.

Remember that G+ is a unique platform, so offer your audiences something that is equally unique.  Don’t just copy and paste the same posts from Facebook or Twitter.  Instead, create content that will sync with what you have on your other social platforms for a well-rounded online presence.

To sum things up, G+ is a place where you want your business to be, and despite some initial negative feedback, it would still be pretty good to be on it before everybody else adopts it (or grabs your brand name).  After all, Google is behind this social fledgling, so be patient – things are definitely bound to get more exciting – and give reason for your business to spend more time on G+ – very soon!

Have you created a page for your business? What have your initial impressions been?

Having the right plugins can give you an edge over other blogs and can also assist you in gaining the extra functionality you need for your WordPress-powered site, especially if social media is an important part of your marketing strategy. Let’s have a look at the top plugins that I recommend you utilize in 2012. There’s a few new plugins in the mix together with several plugins that I recommended in my Best 2011 WordPress Plugins for Social Media and SEO that you’ll want to reference if you haven’t done so.

Social Media WordPress Plugins for 2012

There are many ways to utilize the power of social media to help spread the word about your blog posts. The 3 essential types of plugins you need to have here that I cover below are social sharing, social commenting, and integrating Twitter:

1. Sharebar
   While there are many social share plugins available, Sharebar provides you something that none of the others do: The flexibility to add the “share” code before it is “officially” supported by the others. In doing so, and with its other customization features, Sharebar allows you to feature only the share buttons that you want on your site. If you want to install the Buffer (one of the essential Twitter apps I use) code on your website, note that this is their “officially” supported social share plugin at the moment.
2. Disqus Comment System
   Disqus is a separate comment blogging system that supports threaded comments and replies with varied indentions. WordPress does not support this by default, so this will make reading comment threads much easier. It also adds the ability to have your readers easily share their comments – and a link to the commented blog post – in social media. If you haven’t looked at Disqus recently, they have revamped their user interface and it is now much more responsive and easier to use.
3. SEO Facebook Comment
   This plugin helps you leverage the power of Facebook by embedding comments in your site. It’s easy to setup and you can have it running within a few minutes. The plugin also allows you to define the width of the Facebook comment box to better fit your site’s theme. The debate is out as to whether you should utilize an all-inclusive comment system like Disqus or leverage the power of Facebook to help spread the wealth of your content on the world’s largest social networking site. But if you do want to take the Facebook route, this is the plugin that I would recommend to you.
4. Tweet Old Post
   If you have been engaging and building a community of followers on Twitter, then this plugin is the perfect way to sprinkle your archived posts into your tweets. Tweet Old Post simply creates a tweet out of your previous blog posts, and sends them to your Twitter account. It even has options to add hashtags and leading text to it. The customization capabilities – and ease of doing so – give this plugin my thumbs up in the field of Twitter integration.

SEO WordPress Plugins for 2012

SEO is a never-ending battle for your blog, so you’ll want to make sure you have the right weapons on your side:

1. All in One SEO Pack
   This plugin optimizes your site by letting you easily add a Title and Description that will be indexed by Google instead of the default title of your blog post and first words of your blog post that is the present WordPress default. While All in One is and older platform that has seen a lot of new competition these days, it is still the default and no-brainer option here. All in One is also supported out of the box by Scribe (see below).
2. BWP Google XML Sitemaps
   After successfully installing and setting up your WordPress site, you need to make sure that all your work doesn’t go to waste. Make your site known to search engines by using this plugin. As new posts are added, this plugin indexes your site quickly by updating the XML sitemap and pinging major search engines to let them know you have new content. There are other Google XML Sitemap plugins out there, but this one was recommended to me by a web hosting service sometime in 2011 – and I have stuck with it with good results.
3. Scribe SEO
   I do not blog without optimizing my posts for SEO, which I do using this plugin. This is a plugin that helps your content rank higher in search engine results by analyzing your posts and making suggestions about how you can improve your post from an SEO perspective. With a click of a button, your content is evaluated and given a score based on its structure and keyword density – and you can rest assured that Google will see the same targeted keywords that you intended for every blog post and page of your website.
4. SEO Rank Reporter
   This plugin gives you the ability to keep track of the keywords you want to rank on or are already ranking with inside the comfort of your WP dashboard. It can even issue you a report every three days by notifying you via email whenever certain keywords experience major changes in search engine ranking. A smart tool to help you monitor where your website stands in the search engine wars.
5. WP Smush.it
   Images are the most resource-intensive content on a webpage. So, if you’re looking for faster load times, which Google has already announced is a factor in determining search results, then optimizing pictures is a good place to start. Smush.it automatically optimizes image compression when images are uploaded to your media library, and provides a simple interface where you can decide exactly how big or small you want your image to be. A no-brainer addition to your collection of plugins.

Web Conversion WordPress Plugins for 2012

Social media and SEO are two of the best ways in which your blog, and blog-equipped website, can be found. But once someone sees your content, how can you ensure that stay on your website and increase your chances of “converting” them on whatever call to action you might have? Check out these plugins to help you achieve just that in coordination with the above SEO and social media plugins:

1. Premise
   Premise makes building effective WordPress landing page templates easy.  It’s loaded with features including graphics for your landing pages, copywriting advice, customizable landing page templates and full compatibility with the email newsletter services of Aweber, MailChimp, and Constant Contact. You can use Premise not only for traditional “landing pages” but also to create “Content Pages” to optimize the SEO of your past blog posts.
2. The Slide
   The Slide is a free plugin that helps you increase your site’s page views. This plugin analyzes your articles and recommends past articles that are similar to it. It slides a discreet window at the bottom right of the screen which has a link to related articles the reader might be interested in. You can see The Slide in action on this website.
3. Outbrain
   Showing related posts on your site helps reduce bounce rates and retains visitors so you can turn them into subscribers, clients and customers. Outbrain adds extra interactivity to your site by letting users rate your articles and check out related content based on the rates they’ve given. It also provides a reporting system that allows you to view your most popular, highest click-through articles. I’ve tried a few of these plugins, and right now my recommendation would be to use this one for ease of customization, good look-and-feel, and performance.
4. Hello Bar
   This is a simple and unobtrusive web toolbar that sits across the top of a website. It lets you catch your user’s attention and leads them to a call to action. You can even customize the color of your bar, the text font, text color and a few other options so that it blends perfectly with your site. Don’t let the most valuable part of your website – the top horizontal space – go to waste! Guide your visitors to where you want to send them!
5. WPtouch
   This plugin detects requests from smartphones and loads an alternate mobile theme for your site that best suits small touchscreens. The styling mimics that of iPhone applications, so the interface looks and feels intuitive to many mobile users. If you haven’t checked your latest Google Analytics you just might be surprised how many mobile visitors are visiting your website. Give them what they deserve – an easy to use and optimized user experience – for free!

For me, these are 14 of the best WordPress plugins for those who want a truly optimized blog for social media and SEO in 2012. Which plugins do you use to optimize your WordPress site for social media and SEO? Any ones that don’t appear on this list? New ones that you recommend to be included in this list? Give me a shout out in the comments below. Thanks!

It’s often where your customer is at

If you wanted to sell your produce in the past, you had to go to where your audience was. With 65% of Americans using social media, there is no doubt that your audience is spending more and more time on social media.  Obviously you need to figure out which platform is appropriate for you, but there is a social networking site out there where your target customer lurks.  Chances are that platform will be Facebook, but depending on your product you might have better luck concentrating on LinkedIn.

It’s often where everyone is being social

Everybody congregated at the farmer’s market.  It was a huge social event.  So is social media. The key to being successful, therefore, is that we have to be social.  We can’t just set up a Page and expect things to happen just like you can’t just set up a stand and expect to sell.  You shouldn’t be over-pushing your product like some vendors do, but those that tend to sell a lot of produce at my local farmer’s market are those that have free fruit samples.  Not only do my kids love them, it gives us a chance to try out their products and establish a relationship with the vendors.  What is the free “fruit” that you are giving away to those who engage with your business in social media?

It gives you a chance to go direct to your customer

The advantage of social media as a marketing tool is that it allows you to go direct to your customer.  Similar to how vendors need to build trust at the farmer’s market by providing quality produce week in and week out, you too need to do the same with the amount of online conversation and recommendation apps that exist.  That’s why you should be taking advantage of what social media provides you to get to know your customer a little better.  Don’t be shy: engage.

It gives you the ability to easily establish a new brand

I actually spoke at a workshop that was co-sponsored by Tomamo-chan.  Tomamo-chan is the result of a major seed distributor realizing that Kumamoto is the leading producer of tomatoes in terms of volume in Japan, but very few consumers knew this nor were buying tomatoes specifically because they were from Kumamoto.  The seed distributor got several of the leading tomato producers to join forces and create a new brand to co-brand their products going forward.  Such is how “Tomamo-chan” was born – “Toma” coming from tomato and “mo” coming from Kumamoto.  A cutesy character was created (displayed above), and through the help of my friend Katsuyo Nakao, they were able to easily establish this brand by tweeting and launching a Facebook Page where fans could actually see, and help “Tomamo-chan” grow up.  I always say that social media provides a land of opportunity for unknown brands to make a mark in whatever marketplace they are trying to establish a presence.  By showing up in social media with a unique brand in a consistent and engaging manner, it is as easy to establish a new brand entity through social media just like it is by consistently showing up at the farmer’s market.

Case in point to drive all of this home: At the end of the presentation, a gentleman in the back of the room raised his hand to share his experience with us.  He was a watermelon farmer from the rural prefecture of Oita.  He started a Facebook Page and was sharing how watermelons were harvested by using both photos and videos.  There was nothing high-tech about what he did.  In fact, he didn’t even have any apps installed or a Facebook Ads budget.  He had some of his friends “Like” the page and it grew from there.  One day someone simply posted on the wall that they wanted to buy a watermelon, and he took the order via email.  Since then he confided he’s sold quite a few watermelons.

A tea farmer also stood up and reminded us of how much content farmers had to share – and how good it felt to share it.  The farmer reminded us of how labor-intensive and tedious a job traditional agriculture is in Japan, but that when “fans” started to “Like” his photos, it made him proud.

Yes, social media can make your company and your employees feel good too!

Sometimes we overcomplicate social media with the technology and tools that we can leverage.  If you remember that social media is the new farmer’s market and think how you would represent your company at the biggest farmer’s market in the world, hopefully you’ll see how common sense should be the cornerstone of your social media marketing strategy.

Have you ever sold a product through a Facebook Page comment?  How do you feel when someone Likes your content?  Let’s chat!

Social media requires an investment in time, resources, and education among over things.  I recently wrote about why this can be counter-intuitive to small businesses who want immediate ROI from social media marketing.  Larger companies and big brands have the resources to invest and are willing to take a long-term view of social, but the problem now becomes a new one as indicated by the questions companies should be asking themselves below:

Do we have the people in place to invest in social?   You need potentially create an entirely new department which must include an experienced community manager, a content czar, and a social media strategist.  Do you have people to spare in place to handle the job?  The right social agency will.  With limited personnel budgets, bringing on a social media agency is a logical move to help you immediately ramp up within your potential budget constraints for employees.

Do we have internal expertise in social?  It’s not about hiring an intern or learning on the job.  You wouldn’t hire a sales executive if they didn’t have sales experience.  Why would social media be any different?  Your brand is at risk if you can’t engage with those that are both saying negative things about you and are missing out on huge opportunities by not developing brand ambassadors with those saying positive things about you in social media. It requires a different mindset and set of core competencies to succeed, and social media agencies that have worked with a multitude of companies on their social implementation have acquired expertise that is hard for a solo practitioner to emulate.

We use an agency for ads, but what do we do with social ads?  Social Ads on sites like Facebook, Twitter and even LinkedIn are already accounting for more than 10% of online ad spend in 2011.  Has your company began to invest in social ads or are satisfied with what your traditional ad agency has done for you?  Social media agencies who offer managed social ad services can help your company effectively microtarget communities where your target audience is because they deeply understand who uses and how they use these social destinations.

We use an agency for creative help and expertise – but why would we need them for social?  Social media is ripe for experimentation and creativity in order to better leverage the functionality that they offer as well as figure out how to better engage with your targeted community.  Social media marketing needs to be creative because it is not digital marketing; it is not about pushing your message out but in communicating with and listening to your audience.  A good social media agency can provide you with advice here because they understand the social website platform functionality as well as have probably had creative experience in the creation and management of social media campaigns that were socially interactive.

Not every social media agency is alike nor offer all of the above services, and companies are best to do due diligence by selecting an agency carefully and making sure they make sense in their offering and are truly hand-holding you through the process rather than creating a black box and asking you to pay dearly for it.  But if you think your company can go it alone without an agency, you might want to make sure you are confident that you have all of the above pieces in place at your company.  If not, why not contact a social media agency and find out what you might be missing?

What’s your take on the potential role of a social media agency?

And if you want to see me speak on the issue, see my Social 5150 video below. Thanks!

“Content is King.”  The words are stated so often that few people question them.

Yet, kings can be both fickle and demanding sorts.  And, let’s face it; for those who work in social media, and areas like marketing, content is not just king, but can be a royal pain, too; after all, it can be a real challenge to generate the quantities of high quality content needed to stay ahead of the proverbial pack.

Bringing social media together with marketing via content marketing can address this concern and offers other benefits.   It can provide social media teams with new sources of content and a way to earn ROI for their efforts.  For marketers, the practice can help them use the latest methods to reach customers and support thought leadership, brand building and lead generation activities.

In short, social media and content marketing can be a perfect match.   When done right, you can use social media to transform content from a demanding diva into an asset, a workhorse that produces real business results.

What is Content Marketing, and why combine it with Social Media?

Content marketing and social media have existed independently, however tools for both are improving and opportunities (and reasons) for combining them are growing.

Wikipedia defines content marketing as a practice that “involves the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential consumer bases… [it assumes] delivering high quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action.”

The term, and the above definition, is just a fancy way of describing a sales and marketing approach in which you lead with content, generally as part of a “soft offer” (as opposed to a hard offer, i.e. a pitch for products or services that mentions price).

If the meaning is still unclear, just recall all of the times you have been drawn in by “free information” – whether that is a vendor white paper, webinar, or consumer product content like quizzes, apps, games, and nutritional guides.  Approaches like these are a warm and inviting welcome, a way to learn about a brand or solution without the cold approach of a hard sell or pitch.

To better understand content marketing, and its growing importance and role in social media programs, it can help to take a step back and consider how marketing and advertising have evolved in recent years.

People now have more media and content choices than ever, and it is harder to get their attention.  They are proactively seeking out information they need to get smarter and make purchasing decisions.  These trends are driving the growth of vehicles like content marketing, part of the larger trend towards inbound marketing, i.e. tactics designed to pull the customer in rather than bludgeon them with purely outbound efforts like traditional display advertising, Web banner and pop-up ads, direct mail, telemarketing or commercials.  They are thrusting content and engagement into central roles, and decreasing the importance of traditional, so-called interruption marketing.

What Makes Good Content for Content Marketing

It is not just any content that drives effective content marketing programs.  To be effective in pulling people in, it has to be relevant, compelling and fun or interesting.  It also helps if the content is authoritative, that is comes with the imprimatur of a known and respected brand, authority or publication (the latter brings editorial coverage and PR into the mix).

This does not automatically exclude traditional ad-related content – however more information choices means that consumers can more easily act on their natural distrust of blatant sales pitches  and just “change the channel.”  They can select the tweets, blog posts and Web news that appeal to them.

At the same time, people are often naturally interested in information about products and product categories that they like, and that help them express themselves as consumers, whether they are in buying mode, enthusiasts/hobbyists, brand loyalists, or otherwise part of groups associated with the above.

Elements of good ideas for content marketing will be covered in an upcoming article in this column; suffice it to say for now that they can share some of the same characteristics of successful social media content (if you define success as content that is viewed, shared and acted upon): the information pulls people in, educates and engages them.

Benefits of Combining Content Marketing and Social Media

While content marketing can exist offline, when you bring it online and add social media and Web tactics into the mix, some wonderful things can start to happen:

• Provides an additional source of content for social media programs
  • The information can be used to feed social media channels and provide content for owned media such as Website, Facebook pages, blogs and in other places.
  • Twitter and other methods of communications and sharing can be used to connect with your customers via a soft sell and call attention to your content.
• Provides an opportunity to integrate Web, marketing, social media, PR and sales initiatives
• With a little planning and design, it is possible to implement closed loop systems that use content as the essential hub, the draw that brings people to your website or micro-site, where you can track their activities and capture their information; from there it is relatively easy to connect the dots between the campaign and  sales that result.
• Gives social media and marketing managers a path to ROI for efforts and helps underwrite additional campaigns and content.

Conclusion

In this introduction, I have attempted explain what content marketing is, and benefits of combining it with social media.  I look forward to sharing more details in the coming months, to explain how it works, how to make it happen, and examples.

It’s an exciting time for these ideas; no longer does content need to be seen as the stumbling block, the most labor-intensive component of social media that can challenge teams to keep up; it can be the central attention and engagement hub that enhances social media programs and becomes a driver of improved business results.

Bob Geller  (3 Posts)

This monthly Content Marketing and Social Media post is contributed by Bob Geller. Bob is president of Fusion PR, and has a background that combines a solid grounding in technology with a 25 year record of success in sales, marketing, and public relations. Bob joined Fusion in 2000, and has helped build it into a leading independent tech PR agency. He has led client teams that have achieved outstanding results in areas ranging from enterprise tech, to telecom, online, CE, financial and clean tech. Bob also helped launch Social Fluency, a subsidiary of Fusion that develops dynamic social media practices which are integrated with traditional PR efforts. Bob has provided critical commentary to publications such as CMO Magazine, PR Week, PR News, and Bulldog Reporter. He created and manages the influential blog Flack’s Revenge, and has contributed to Cision Navigator, Ragan’s PR Daily, and Handshake 2.0, among others.

Free advertising is a blessing that is hard to come by, and the use of social media networks as advertisements is particularly helpful and cost-effective. However, businesses often do not spend the time and resources on social media properly, and instead they find that their work becomes fruitless and a waste of time. There are several key points needed for establishing an effective structure for using social media for business, including more effort on a few accounts, a solid relationship with the people who view their pages, and a willingness to try new things. 

Focus is Paramount

Those in charge of running social media endeavors should appreciate what concentrating on less accounts can do for them. There’s no need to have multiple accounts on every social media network. Oftentimes, businesses think that their social media structure should reflect that of the company: one account for every division, team, leader, project, and so on and so forth until you have 100 or more diluted and ineffective accounts. Instead, create one Facebook account, one Twitter account and one YouTube account, and keep those accounts updated frequently. People who view those well-kept pages will think much more highly of that business than if the business would have made several accounts that aren’t maintained regularly.

When people are attracted to a Facebook or Twitter page, they are more likely to come back, and as a result, learn more about the business. After all, growing knowledge and awareness of the business is exactly what people want when they use social media pages. There are several instances of businesses that really took off because of their social media exploits. All one needs to do to understand this is to look at their net profits from month to month, and one will see that they are still growing.

Grow Your Business By Making a Few Friends

Building a relationship with those who view the pages of the business is a very crucial aspect of using social media to help a business. When people view a business page, they want updated content. They also want discussions and two-way feedback from the people who run the page. If a person with high speed internet goes to a page and knows their questions will be answered in a timely manner and their suggestions will be taken seriously, they will be much more likely to return to the page, and in turn, pay attention to the business. Ideally, the social media accounts of businesses should be more aimed towards gaining attention and forming relationships than full blown marketing.

Essentially, social media is the ultimate marketing tool when used correctly. Having 9 trillion followers on Twitter may seem like a good thing, but as a business it is important to grow steadily, interact with those that are already interested in you, and allow your current followers to help expand your following (snowball down a hill, that sort of thing).

Experiment with Social Media and Be Flexible

Finally, a page of variety and fluidity can only help a business’ social media experience. A smart idea is to make questions that invite thoughtful answers, putting ideas to votes, making videos about the business, where people can see a person talking directly to them, adding relevant photos, and other visual aids.

People are more likely to become interested in a business if they associate it with some kind of picture or voice. Why do children know and understand where McDonald’s is? They know what the golden arches look like. A business using social media pages needs to create an identity, and further, an image off of that identity.

Today’s guest blog post was contributed by Blake Sanders, who writes about technology at broadband comparison site Broadband Expert and specializes in internet service providers, cell phones, and the latest in high speed internet news and information. If you too would like to submit a guest blog post to this site, please contact Windmill Networking.

Neal Schaffer  (347 Posts)

There is a popular term in social media circles that “social is the new SEO.”  The relationship between being active in social media and how it affects your search engine optimization cannot be denied, especially with the emergence of the Google +1 button and Google+.  The issue on hand, however, is that social media marketing and search engine optimization should be two completely disciplines, but some of the latter discipline experts feel that social is becoming an important part of their role.

A recent SEOmoz post pointed out how the responsibilities of SEO have been upgraded.  There were 12 different responsibilities for the new SEO practitioner, who has now been labeled an “organic web strategist.”  The interesting part is how half of these responsibilities might be perceived as falling into the camp of many a social media strategist:

• Content Strategy
• Content Creation
• Social Media Promotion
• Social Network Reach
• Community Management
• Reputation Tracking (SM Monitoring)

The approaches between search engine optimization and social media marketing are intrinsically different.  SEO is an art that helps to technically improve your chances for the right content of yours being found in search engines for the terms your customers are probably searching for.  Social media marketing, however, is about engaging with other people on social platforms through communication and providing shareable information.  There is no technical way to optimize your socializing with present and potential customers, so the approach taken by an SEO agency and a social media agency towards social is going to be fundamentally different.  While SEO is clearly focused on search engines, social media marketing is concentrating on social websites.

The need for SEO, especially on-site search engine optimization, has not and will not lessen in importance.  But having a deep understanding of  social media websites and being effective in communicating and managing both shareable content and conversations with customers require skill sets that might not exist with your traditional search engine optimization practitioner.

The debate between SEO and social media will only intensify with the emergence of Google+, and the truth is that both are necessary to help the marketing efforts of any given company who needs an online presence.  Understanding the approaches taken by each practitioner will give you a better idea as to which type of agency or employee you might want to hire to help out with your social media.

Now it’s your turn: Would you classify the above 6 responsibilities as search engine optimization or social media?

And if you want to see me speak on the issue, see my Social 5150 video below. Thanks!

Neal Schaffer  (347 Posts)