Pinterest & SEO: 10 Rock Solid SEO Tips for Pinterest!

Pinterest & SEO...are you, like many, overlooking the power of optimizing your Pinterest account so search engines find you every time? Well, quit that and let's get down to getting seen!

Want to know the 11 areas you need to optimize right away?

1. Image Name: Not sure if you were aware of this but the search engines do look at names of pictures. So it is a great idea to name your images with keywords very relevant to that image.

• So for instance on this image I would name it “Grand Traverse Bay Traverse City Michigan”. Lots of words in that image name that could be found in a Google search. 

2. Add Link: After you pin a new image to one of your boards you should click "see pin" and then edit. Once you go into edit mode you will see a place for an outgoing link. Use this one link wisely to try to achieve desired results

3. Description of Image: 500 character keyword rich description goes here! Use keywords early and often but make sure they flow smoothly like a sentence.

• So for instance on our image description could read: Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City Michigan.  Northern Michigan’s beauty is just what the soul ordered etc…

4. Hashtags: Add hashtags in pin descriptions and in pin-board names as Pinterest now recognizes them

5. Name of Boards: Each board has it’s own URL and search engines put big scores on keywords in URL’s. So carefully choose the name of your board to reflect the biggest keywords you are trying to incorporate.

5. Username: Your Pinterest username becomes part of a URL also so once again…use top keywords in your username

6. About Section/Bio: Completely fill out your about section. Make sure you have a section of your bio that is keyword rich.

7. Location: Search engines love geographic’s so be sure to add the location to all pins.

8. Open Pinterest Up to Search Engines and Facebook & Twitter: Make sure you aren’t hiding you account from search engines in settings and turn on Facebook & Twitter for more exposure (see image)

9. Website: Add a button on your website directing to your Pinterest account

10. Add to Your Fan Page: Add Pinterest on your Facebook fan page – As of right now I haven’t found a Pinterest app for fan pages but I have found a work around that works pretty good … How to Add a Pinterest Tab to Your Facebook Fan Page

NOW...Go set yourself up to be seen and visit me while you are there : )

Michelle Corteggiano Pinterest

Timeline Pages for Brands – Cover Photo, Profile Photo, Apps Icon & Landing Page - Sizes, Tips and Tricks

Well it here! Timeline for brands, also known as fan pages, business pages and Facebook pages can be activated right now and will be rolled out to every fan page as of March 30, 2012.

With that said…it’s time to prepare for the new Timeline by getting your visual WOW branding set up now. As you will see, good branding really makes Timeline pop and bad branding just plain looks unprofessional.

Before I go into the sizing ...I found a couple of very interesting stats on how people view Timeline compared to the old Facebook, Check this out!

Here is what this tells me...the new Timeline is much more visual and you need to capitalize on the spaces people are looking at. These graphics speak for themselves!

So here are some tips to help you prepare for the new visual aspect of Timeline…

• Cover Photo 851 X 315px – the cover photo is at the very top of your fan page and is the first area people are looking (chck out the hot sheet images at the bottom of the page for info on where people are looking compared to old Facebook...very interesting). Use this to showcase your business, for instance…

1. Picture of your business
2. Picture of you (if you are the brand)
3. Picture of your product or service
4. Picture of customers using your product or service
5. Logo

DO NOT use this space to market in any way. That is the reason Facebook did away with default landing tabs because people were marketing to heavily there. No contact info or calls to action are allowed here. This is very important!

Here are pop ups directly from Facebook on this issue:

• Profile Photo 180 X 180px – This is the photo that will show in the small box at the top of your page within your cover photo. It’s important to know that this photo will be the one that shows in people’s timeline with your posts. It will also be the image that shows when people visit your fan page via a Facebook app on mobile phones

• Application Tabs 111 X 74px – Every application comes standard with an icon that will show in your tabs area. The problem is they don’t fit correctly. With the new Timeline you have the option of adding a custom image here that grabs your visitors attention.

To upload a new image for a tab:

1. Click “dropdown button” to the right of the 4 tabs showing
2. Now hover over the tab you want to add a custom image to and click the “pencil” in the top right corner
3. Choose “edit settings”
4. Right next to custom tab image click “change”

And now you have a custom visual for your tab…congrats!

• Application Pages (tabs) 810px X infinity – Custom tabs are not new. You have seen them many times most likely in a welcome tab or landing page. They are much wider now and look more like a website.

This is an area where you can do a bit of marketing. Here are a few examples of how to use tabs...

1. Welcome page
2. Coupons
3. Map to business
4. Email opt-in page
5. Resource page
6. Events calendar
7. Etc, etc, etc…

So there you have it! Now take some time to get ready for your new Timeline so you won’t be the brand that looks like they got caught behind the eight ball.

Enjoy and please link me to your new Facebook Timeline when you get it all up and looking good.

Michelle Corteggiano

Marketing on Facebook…Do You Understand What Works?

I get the question all the time…"How do I Market on Facebook" and, hats off to the people who are actually asking. 

Times have changed, a new economy has emerged before our eyes and we must adapt to what attracts our customer in a new social world. All businesses marketing on Facebook (and all other social networks for that matter) must become “social businesses” on the web. Just a little hint…the “socialization of your brand” needs to happen internally, on site, as well as on the web!

With that said, here are a couple of golden rules when marketing socially

1. Do Not Spam – Duh…seems like a no-brainer but, I see it every day. Remember, the audience you are marketing to in the social world is not there to see your message, they are there to be social. Interrupting them with your stinky spam will not work…okay?
2. Add Value – Make sure that the mass majority of content you post is valuable to your audience. Think of it like this…if your message were a text message and all your customers or potential customers are going to see it, will they want to opt out or will they be glad they got the message. Is your message valuable?
3. Look, Listen and Engage (Monitor) – Watch what people are saying, make sure you acknowledge every comment or question and act on what they are telling or asking you. After all, what could possibly work better than giving them exactly what they told you they wanted?
4. Be Consistent – Once you are there, they will expect you to be there all the time. If your audience returns to see no new engagement, it will be difficult to keep them coming back.
5. Be Patient • Be Warm & Fuzzy to Gain Their Business – Ultimately, we are marketing on Facebook to increase sales but, remember back to the day you opened your doors for the first time…did they knock down your door with credit card in hand or did you have to caress relationships and go the extra mile to capture their business? Of course you had to work at it. Social media is not turnkey marketing, it is relationship marketing and the better you become at adding value, giving people what they want, making them feel good and becoming a resource…the more business you will create via Facebook.
6. Appreciate Each & Every Follower – I keep hearing things like “I only have 900 fans”. To that I say CONGRATS! You must have done something right … now go make every one of those 900 feel like they are sitting in first class! Remember, this is not a numbers game, it is a relationship game. The business with the most real relationships wins in this new economy.

Stat by implementing these six marketing techniques on Facebook and I promise the seas will part and you will see the way. Next, get and read the book The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk…he flat out nails it in this book.

Before I sign off, I wanted to share an excerpt from an article I read that does a great job summarizing the philosophy of marketing on Facebook…Enjoy!

“Social Media is not a broadcast medium, it’s not a platform for interrupting people. It’s an interactive medium. In fact, the social web is very close to offline interaction. You wouldn’t interrupt people in the middle of a telephone conversation with an ad, so why do the same thing on Facebook? If you saw two people having an intimate chat at a party, you wouldn’t go over and suddenly interrupt them, to tell them something that is not related to their conversation. The social web requires marketers to build relationships with customers. This requires one to one attention. It requires responding to every post or comment that people leave you. More importantly, people are looking for short-term wins on a platform built for long-term relationships. Relationships take time, and are formed from many sequential interactions. Too many marketers are currently approaching Facebook by trying to close on the first date. And even if they succeed, it’s unlikely to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

What you know about advertising on TV, or in print, does not apply on Facebook. It’s a completely new, and transformational medium. It took our ancestors many years, at times decades, to understand the new technology that faced them. Let’s not make the same mistake. Don’t apply how you work with existing media to a new transformational medium. “ Full article here: Why Marketers Misunderstand Facebook 

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Michelle Corteggiano

Facebook is Going to Start Charging...OH - MY - GOD!

All I can say to this latest Facebook rumor (again) is ...

Bwahahahahaha!!!!

Come on people...they don't need to charge us. They have such an amazing business model as it is that they would never mess with it and chance a big uproar. I mean...just look at what this small, untrue rumor is creating, then look at the picture below (by the way, this message is not new, it has been on their login page for over a year). Mark Zuckerberg is WAY too smart to mess with his HUGE network!

"It's Free and Always Will Be"

So, if you see the latest "Facebook is going to charge" rumor pop up on your facebook page you might want to share this photo with the person who posted it without doing their research. Here is the post circulating:

"FACEBOOK JUST RELEASED THEIR PRICE GRID FOR MEMBERSHIP. $9.99 PER MONTH FOR GOLD MEMBER SERVICES, $6.99 PER MONTH FOR SILVER MEMBER SERVICES, $3.99 PER MONTH FOR BRONZE MEMBER SERVICES, FREE IF YOU COPY AND PASTE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. WHEN YOU SIGN ON TOMORROW MORNING YOU WILL BE PROMPTED FOR PAYMENT INFO...IT IS OFFICIAL IT WAS EVEN ON THE NEWS. FACEBOOK WILL START CHARGING DUE TO THE NEW PROFILE CHANGES. IF YOU COPY THIS ON YOUR WALL YOUR ICON WILL TURN BLUE AND FACEBOOK WILL BE FREE FOR YOU"

What they meant to say was:

"On September 30th, 2011 Facebook will start charging you for your account. To avoid this, you MUST get NAKED, stand on your dining room table and do the Macarena, all the while singing ”I Will Survive”. After filming and posting it to your Facebook wall and YouTube, then, and only then, will Mark Zuckerberg come down your chimney to tell you that your account will stay free. Pass it on, it must be true because someone on Facebook I hardly know told me.." (thanks Dave Ulloa for the humor)

Who knows what prompts a rumor like this to go viral . Maybe all of the new and upcoming changes Facebook is rolling out.

By the way... the new Facebook timeline is OUTSTANDING!!!! Check it out

Thoughts?

Michelle Corteggiano

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Facebook Timeline Beginners Tour

I LOVE the new Facebook Timeline! Basically it's a scrapbook of your entire facebook account since the day you joined.

Today is BIG!! I just got access to the new Facebook Timeline. Most of you will have this soon as Facebook plans to roll it out beginning Sept 30th. If you don't have it and want it now you can follow the instructions in the following link and have it up and running in about 3 minutes!

How to Enable the New Facebook Timeline NOW

In this article, I am going to cover the tour you get when you acquire the new timeline:

Step 1: Cover - Your cover appears above your profile picture, and it's the first thing people see when they visit your timeline (sunset in pic below). You can choose a unique photo to feature on your cover and change it as often as you like.

Basically, in website terminology, this is the header for your profile page. Sizing is: 851W X 315H (pixels). If your image is too big you will be able to drag it and choose the perfect cropping of the image. If your image is too small there will be borders placed around it.

Step 2: Views - See everything in one place. This is where you'll find your info, photos, likes, apps and other stuff all in one central place.

Friends and photos are self explanatory. The "map" section basically shows where your posts occurred. Such as life events, photos, public places, restaurants and entertainment. The "likes" section hosts your hobbies & interests along with the pages you have liked.

Step 3: Activity Log - View all of your activity. Your activity log lists all your posts and activity, from today back to the beginning. Go here to change the privacy for individual stories, delete posts and more. This is YOUR private resource - no one else can see YOUR activity log.

Your activity will be organized by year and month. You also have multiple choices of how you view the activity such as photos, posts, comments etc...

Step 4: Stories - Rediscover your top stories. This is your timeline. It shows all of your top photos, stories and life events, from the little things you do each day to your most important moments. Scroll back to the beginning or jump to a specific time by clicking the dates along the right side of your timeline.

Notice that the timeline alters back and forth from left to right as new posts occur.

Step 5: Star or Hide - Highlight what's important. Hover over a story and click the star to expand it to widescreen. Or click the pencil to hide or delete the post.

When you choose to "star" a post, it will show up widescreen in your timeline:

Step 6: Life Events - Click on the life events menu to add missing stories

1. Work & Education

2. Family and Relationships

3. Living

4. Health & Wellness

5. Milestones & Experiences

That's it for a beginners tour. Stay tuned as more and more updates will be posted!

PLEASE let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. Let's blow this up!

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Facebook Smart Lists Features

A Facebook account without lists is like a filing cabinet with no folders in it…a BIG mess! Let's fix that

You may or may not already be using Facebook lists. If you have not, it’s time to begin, if you have…there are a few changes happening. Is this Facebook’s answer to Google + circles? The buzz is, there are going to be some amazing things happening with lists so pay attention to them.

Smart Lists are here! So, what’s a smart list? Here is Facebook’s definition:

Facebook says: “Smart lists use the information you’ve added to the Education and Work and Current City sections of your profile. So if you list San Francisco as your current city, you’ll have a list with all of your friends who also list San Francisco as their current city. Smart lists update for you based on what your friends put on their profiles. You can also edit smart lists.

Note: Smart lists respect your privacy settings, so if you only have your current city visible to a few friends, those are the only friends who can have you listed on their current city list. Use the audience selector to choose who you share your profile information with.”

In addition to the lists Facebook creates with their smart lists, you can pretty much add a friend to a list any time. The 3 places I will discuss are; when you friend request them, when they friend request you and adding friends you already have to a list.

When someone adds you as a friend:

In the quick friend request section once you accept the new friend you have the option to add to a list. By accepting them, it will automatically show friend with a checkmark next to it. Hover over that and your lists will pop up.

Please note 3 things:

1. You may have to click show more to see all of your lists
2. If the list isn’t there that you want this person in scroll all the way to the bottom of your lists and a “new list”
3. You can add people to multiple lists!

Notice the first 2 in the drop down, close friends and acquaintances. Even this small organizational skill will help you clean things up a bit in your friends lists.

 When you friend request someone:

As soon as you hit the friend request button the friends list will show and they can be added then. This way, as soon as they accept your request they will be placed in the proper lists. Side note: At the time of this post, I also noticed that you cannot add a message with friend requests anymore. I do recommend reaching over and clicking the message button when you friend request so they know why you want to be friends if they won’t readily recognize you.

 Adding to or changing a list after you are already friends:

 

On your personal profile page you can click the friends link below your profile picture. This will pull all of your friends, and each one will have the lists options to the right.

 Also, you can go directly to their profile and add them to a list now (new feature)

There you have it! an organizational tool that can not be ignored. Have fun listing!! Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comment section below

Michelle Corteggiano

HINT: To manage your lists click here: Facebook Lists

The New Facebook Subscribe Button

Facebook just launched a new feature called “Subscribe”. In a nutshell, it is designed to allow Facebook users to subscribe to the updates of a specific person whether you are friends or not. It also allows you to choose which types of updates you want to show up in your newsfeed from these subscriptions, such as posts, photos, games, other activities etc…

Possible “subscription” usage:

• Subscribe to a user that you are not, or don’t want to be, friends with but still want some sort of info they share
• Subscribe to a user who has too many friends to accept more
• Subscribe to someone and only see photos, games or updates etc…
• Or, in a situation where your are already friends with a user, you can choose not to receive any of their updates. Use this when you want to physically visit their page to see what they have been up to

Where to Begin: You can only subscribe to users who allow subscriptions (you are automatically subscribed to anyone you are friends with). In addition, you need to turn your subscription access on in order for others to be able to subscribe. To do so you can simply click on the option that should be showing at the top of your news feed on your home page that looks like this:

If for some reason this is not showing on the top of your home page feed, go to the info page on Facebook about Facebook Subscribe and you will see an option in the top right corner to activate it.

When you choose to allow subscribers to your account you will be asked 2 things:

1. Comments: On or Off – This will allow people who are subscribed (friends or not) to comment on your updates. If you have this turned off, only friends & friends of friends can comment. If you have it on, anyone subscribed can comment. The default Facebook setting for this is “off” - change if you want others to comment.
2. Notifications: This is where you decide which subscriptions you will be notified of via email or text (however you have your notifications set up). If you choose no one, you will still be able to see who has subscribed another way. I will touch on this later

            

When you subscribe to someone else’s profile you will be able to choose which updates you want (also note that you will be able to edit subscription settings for every friend you are already connected with). Default settings shown here:

To customize subscription settings with your current friends go to their profile page and click on the subscribed button. You can also unsubscribe here

Once you have all of your personal subscription settings just how you want them, you can click on the “subscribers” button to see who is subscribed as a friend (friend subscribers) or subscribed as a non-friend (public subscribers).  

Also, on the subscribers tab, you will have an edit settings button on the top right where you can go in to change your personal subscription settings whenever you want.

Here is a helpful Facebook link to the “about page” for subscriptions if you want more info: http://www.facebook.com/about/subscribe 

Hope this helps! I am excited about this new feature…what do you think? Feel free to ask questions below or let us know what you think of this new feature.

Michelle Corteggiano

New in Facebook: Photo Tagging and Picture Bar

Things are changing in Facebook and I keep getting questions on how this picture tagging and photo bar works... so here goes:

If you have more questions about photos and tagging please post questions and comments below : )

Michelle Corteggiano

New in Facebook: Personal Profile "Status Update" Changes

Facebook has something NEW! The status update area in your personal profile has some fun changes! Check it out:

Feel free to share thoughts or questions in the comment area below :)

Michelle Corteggiano

How To: Create and Add Facebook, Twitter and YouTube Background Images

Backgrounds or profile images are something I view as social billboard space, a place to share a graphic and some contact/connecting information.  Please note, these are just graphics and none of them are clickable BUT, you can still utilize them to give your brand a fun, fresh look in the social world.

Two questions come to mind…

How do I create this image and how do I add the image to my sites? Creating the image is easy with editing software like Photoshop or similar. Design the image, save as a jpeg and it’s ready to upload (sizing for each shown below). Here is how you go abut uploading your new image to each of the sites:

Facebook – 180 X 540 pixels

• Hover over the image and click change picture on the top right of the image.
• Upload new image
• Below image click edit thumbnail and adjust thumbnail to the best option and click save

Twitter – 1600 X 850 pixels

• Click on the dropdown on the top right of the screen hat has your username and choose settings
• Click design
• Scroll down and choose change background image (towards bottom on left)
• Upload new image
• Click save changes

YouTube - 2000 X 1300 pixels

• Click on the dropdown on the top right under your username
• Choose channel
• Click themes and colors (top bar, 3^rd tab)
• Click on show advances options
• Under background image, click delete image
• Now upload new image

That’s all she wrote! Simple but very important to helping your brand stand out in the sea of businesses quickly jumping onto these sites.

When yours is done, comment here…I would LOVE to see it!

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