Google Places and your business
Getting into Google PlacesSo, you've got a shiny new website that looks the business. All you need to do now is sit back and wait for the orders to roll in, right? Well no, not quite. You've got to give Google a compelling reason to return your website when someone searches for the phrases (the keyphrases) that best describe your product or service. Your site needs optimising. It's called Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). And it's NOT just a case of sticking in some keywords and waiting to be the top of page 1 in Google.
The interesting bit...
There is a trick that'll get you into local Google searches, quickly, and for FREE! It's called Google Places (née Google Local Business) and it allows you to upload a profile of your business so when someone searches for (say) bouncy castles in Skipton, your Skipton Bouncy Castles business comes up, top of the page (and not Skipton Castle instead). This article deals with claiming your free Google Places Listing and how to sign up for an account in Google - it's free and it'll really help you get local traffic to your website. Obviously, it's hard to understand all the detailed inner workings of Google Places if you have not been able to find your business and claim it.
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Getting started with twitter
Using twitter to promote your business
Twitter is a free online ‘micro-blogging’ platform that enables you to send punchy messages (‘tweets’) to other Twitter users. Messages are limited to just 140 characters and can be read by anybody else on Twitter (depending on your settings), even if they are initially directed at members of your personal network (your ‘followers’). It is, for the most part, a public forum.
Like all forms of social media, Twitter began as a way for people to communicate socially, but businesses have been quick to adopt it as a cost-free method to send controlled business messages to people who are interested in their product, service or sector.
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Using twitter in your business
Before you start
Using Twitter effectively as a business tool will come with practice. But there are some key things to keep in mind from the outset:
- Everything you say is public (unless you use the ‘Direct Message’ function to communicate privately with someone in your network).
- You only have up to 140 characters to use per tweet
- If you incorporate a website link within a message, save space by shortening it using a service like bit.ly. Not only will this save you characters in a tweet, you can also track how many people have clicked the links you have tweeted.
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Nine New Apps from Google
The Google Apps Marketplace
Google have recently announced that nine new apps have been added to the Google Apps Marketplace. The above video describes each of the nine and provides information for how they could help your business grow.
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