A while back we told you about how businesses like Comcast are using the micro-blogging site Twitter–both for publicity and to expand customer service. But did you know that hospitals are also getting in on the act? That’s right, hospitals. In order to attract new patients and generate interest in medicine, health and medical techniques, hospitals have turned to social media. This week The New York Times reported that according to one media researcher, over 250 hospitals make use of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and blogs. This expert went on to note that some of the more conservative-leaning hospitals are among that number. So this newfangled notion of using social media for promotion had caught on in even rather reserved circles.

These hospitals know that they must increase their online visibility in order to remain viable. Sure, everyone knows what kind of services that hospitals provide, so it is not as it people are unaware of the medical field as a whole. Still, when it comes to making the choice for where to go for medical care, this is where social media can make a difference. Some hospitals as letting observing residents use Twitter to provide information during surgery. One hospital found that using social media engendered what is called “the halo effect,” where people felt that if a hospital could do a good job with a complicated procedure, such as a heart transplant, then that same medical facility would be a good choice for surgery that carried fewer risks.

Hospitals are also search social media outlets like Twitter and blogs to see what the public is saying about them, and then responding when it is appropriate.

If hospitals are doing what they can to make the most of their presence on the web, shouldn’t you do the same? As we said, people know what hospitals do, but if you are in a field that is not so obvious, you need to get the word out there. And as the case of hospitals proves, you can be a business that is well-defined, but you will still need to differentiate yourself from the pack. Increase Visibility can help you do this. Call us today at 877-SEO-ADVICE (877-736-2384) to learn more about our SEO plans and how we can help you to harness the power of social media.

Without even trying the micro-blogging site Twitter found that getting the endorsement of some celebrities helps Increase Visibility.

We’ve mentioned before that Twitter and social media can expand your reach, and as if to prove this celebrities have signed on in a big way. If you hadn’t heard, actor Ashton Kutcher is on Twitter, and at one point he challenged CNN to see who could get up to one million followers the fastest. Now of course Mr. Kutcher was not out to gain attention for Twitter or even for CNN; he is a celebrity and businessperson who knows there is a need to feed the publicity machine to keep his name out there. The actor won, as you may have guessed (if you didn’t already know–hey, even Ashton Kutcher can’t reach everyone).

 
Twitter is a micro-blogging site where you are limited to writing just 140 characters for each post. Now someone may thing that you cannot say much in 140 words, but people are exchanging useful information and making important business connections via these short communications.  Those of you who are intimidated by the thought of writing blog posts that consist of complete paragraphs should consider Twitter, where communication is quite brief.

 
Twitter has received endorsements and lots of press because of celebs that Oprah and Diddy, as well as from everyday citizens who use this micro-blogging service. And as we mentioned before, (as far as we know), Twitter did not pay for or go out and seek these endorsements. Twitter made its presence known and soon word spread, until the mainstream media caught Twitter mania. Now articles about Twitter pop up in newspapers, magazines, online–everywhere.

 
You may not be able to get a Hollywood star to spontaneously endorse your business or product, so you will probably have to be a little more deliberate about increasing your visibility online. One way for you to do this is to engage in Reciprocal Link Exchange. When you seek our help to increase link popularity, this will greatly aid in boosting your natural positions and give you some targeted traffic from other sites of interest. This will drastically improve your PR and search engine position over a period of time if used correctly.  With the assistance and guidance of Increase Visibility, your link exchange campaign can help to make your site a winner. Building a good set of reciprocal link exchange partners can be a long task, which is why our service is competitively priced.

 
We have 4 different link monthly packages, they can be purchased separately or are also included as part of our full SEO packages.

Earlier in the week we talked about how sometimes when it comes to SEO, service providers may feel left out of the game. The notion that optimizing your website matters little because you are not online selling a product that people can order and have shipped to them is incorrect. As a service provider, you are selling your expertise. Even though it does not come in a box, you still want to make sure that your website does more than list your address and phone number. You want your website to project your professionalism and authority. And if it already does that–great! Now you need to get the word out to the masses so that you can increase your client base.

 
One medical consortium found that making the most of their website was a boon to their online traffic. After implementing search engine optimization techniques to get people to the site, they use social networking to further strengthen the connection and to stay on search engines’ radar. By having doctors who are part of the consortium blog on the site, they were able to increase the site’s original content, something that search engines value. They also were able to reach out to existing and potential patients who were able to get to know more about the doctors that work for them.

 
Their increased web visibility certainly helped more new patients find them. And it also helped potential employees find them also. Doctors, nurses and other professionals who were looking to work for a forward-thinking medical group are likely to be impressed when they see an up-to-date website.

 
The Social Media Marketing component that you get when you choose one of Increase Visibility’s SEO plans includes:

 
• Blog Commenting – in an effort to build link popularity and drive direct traffic to your site, we will find blogs with relative content and post comments about your products and/or services.
• Social Bookmarking – in addition to posting blog comments, we will also promote any mention of you in blogs, articles, news releases, etc. in social bookmarking sites which will help drive traffic to your site.
• Article Marketing – if you have any articles that you have written about your company, products or services, we will submit those to top article marketing sites, blogs and social bookmarking sites.

All of us know that things from the past can come back to haunt us. And this seems to be especially true in the internet age. If something embarrassing does not appear for the first time on the web, then someone has gone back to find it somewhere else and post it online.

On the social networking site Facebook, I have found that some high school friend have a fondness for posting less-than-flattering pictures. None of what has been posted would be considered criminal or horrible, but these pictures are simply not as polished as I would like them to be. And when it comes to your image, you want to be in control. In those cases, I can simply un-tag myself or politely ask that the pictures me taken down.

With all of the worry and concern about unflattering pictures and other things that can appear on the web, we often forget about the positive aspects of having a rich web cache. If your company website has a lot of pertinent links, good information and well-crafted press releases, then you have a distinct advantage.

Sometimes organizations are so afraid of having the wrong thing up on the web, that they do not put enough information up on the web. You want to put things up on the web so that people who are looking for information related to your industry can find you–be it tomorrow or a few months from now.

All of the work to build key-word rich pages, set up reciprocal links and get your website listed in pertinent directories is much more beneficial when internet users are lead to your website and find that it is filled with useful information.

Increase Visibility can help. We will work with your development team to optimize source code, text content, heading, titles, descriptions, keywords and more. And we can also help you with press releases and social media marketing options such as a blog that will provide relevant, updated information on a continual basis.

You want your presence on the web to be full and rich. With great content, you can make sure that you are getting your message out in the way that you want to. Do not let others dictate what is said about your industry and your company on the web. Take control and craft the information that internet users read about you.

So now that we have gone over the basic function of inbound links, you may be wondering just how to get them. After all, if they are kind of like a gift, how can you get lots of the right people to give you these gifts. Do you demand them? Do you make friends and send out invites to your birthday party, hoping they will give the gift that you really, really want? What do you do?

There was a time when anyone asked everyone to link to their site. But now that we as an internet-crazed society have become a little more sophisticated, it is less acceptable to make these requests without some consideration.

 It doesn’t hurt to ask (the right people)

Ask someone to link to your site after you have done your homework and know that they have a quality website. You may not want to link to a direct competitor, but rather someone whose site is related to yours, although maybe not directly. If you already are friendly, ask. If you do not know the people behind the website, then maybe it is time to pick up the phone. Yes, we are all very tech-savvy, but as one internet marketing guru advises, you probably need to state your case first. After all, the other company’s reputation is on the line. And inbound link is in many ways, an endorsement. People are not likely to endorse you if you and your company are unknown to them.

A little flattery never hurt either

Another strategy for getting inbound links is to use flattery. When you have researched certain sites and know that you might benefit from being linked to them, link to those site yourself. Mention them in a blog post you are doing or highlight an article about them in a Twitter update. To give is to receive and they will often be so flattered (and grateful) for the publicity that they will link right back to you. Now this is not guaranteed to work. Even if the company does not return the favor, you still look generous because you are willing to share the spotlight.

These tactics work for garnering a few inbound links here and there, but if you are looking for volume, you will likely need to get some backup. Let Increase Visibility do some of this heavy lifting for you. We are a happy to research websites that are complementary to yours. Our experienced team may find companies in fields or areas that you never even considered.

When we talk about doing all you can to reach as many customers as possible, we are talking about marketing and the efforts that you make to reach out to people. You have to have good, quality content on your website and blog and make sure that your Twitter updates are giving out a good mix of information as well. However, there is another way that you can increase your visibility online that involves not giving, but receiving–and that is through inbound links.

Here is how they work: An inbound link describes one kind of hyperlink that can be inbound or outbound, depending on whether you are the giver or recipient. If you are the recipient of a link (in other words, someone links to your site), then it is an inbound link. On the other hand, if you are the person linking to someone else’s website, then you are the giver and the link is outbound. When someone else links to your site, then are possible sending people away from their own site, so in a way an inbound link is a gift.

There was a time when links were one of the few ways that people could find their way around the internet. When there were no search engines to accept even the most specific queries, it was very necessary that other websites point internet users your way.

You definitely want inbound links from reputable sites coming into your website. Some will say that these links are not as important as they used to be, but this is really not the case. True, we do not rely on inbound links the way we did before there were search engines, but they are still vital to a successful internet marketing campaign. Now inbound links work two ways: they (of course) bring more web users to your site and at the same time they that this is happening, your search engine rankings improve. So as you can see, quality inbound links are a win-win.

It takes A LOT of inbound links to really get your website noticed, but this is only one tactic that you can use. Still, you probably do not have the time to forge relationships that ensure that your site has a steady flow of inbound links. That is okay because that is why Increase Visibility is here. Let us do that work for you. Call us today at 877 SEO ADVICE (877-736-2384).

And come back on Thursday to read more about inbound links and how to get them.

As proof that one person really can make a difference, we present Frank Eliason, the Director of Digital Care for Comcast. Visit his twitter page at http://twitter.comcastcares for a case study in how one company has harnessed the power of Twitter and other social media to improve customer service. Eliason started out trying to reach out to customers through social media on his own; now he has a department.

Comcast not only talks about itself online, it talks back when customers discuss the company online. If you are a customer of Comcast and you write about Comcast in a blog or on Twitter, there is a good chance that you will get an online response. Perhaps an answer to a query, response to a statement of frustration or a simple “Can I help?”

By setting up alerts so that they know when someone has written about them online, Comcast is able to respond quickly. They still have call centers where customers can call to with complaints and ask for tech support and repair services. But for a fast-moving, tweeting and texting customer, getting a quick reply falls right in line with the on-the-go lifestyle. It is important to meet customers where they are. And it likely keeps some of these customers from making an easy jump over to the competition because they are not satisfied.

These quick responses also help to humanize a company. In a New York Times article on the topic one woman noted that she “softened” her tone when she saw that she was dealing with an actual human and not hurling rage at a machine or a huge inhuman conglomerate.

If social media is one aspect of your marketing plan that has been neglected, you can count on Increase Visibility to get you right into the thick of things. Using blogs and services like Twitter is great for establishing one-on-one relationships with a number of customers and their friends and family because they are certain to discuss some aspect of their interaction with your company with someone.

And much in the same way that individuals discuss their experiences, search engines will also be looking at your increased web presence due to your appearance in more social media outlets and they will make note of it as well. You can optimize your search engine status and your ranking with customers at the same time.

We have mentioned Twitter on this blog and no matter how many good things you may have heard about it, perhaps you are still not ready to make that move and plunge into those Twitter-y waters.

 Using Twitter for business is not the same a using Twitter to keep up with friends and find out where everyone will be hanging out tonight.  Here are some tips on using Twitter to increase page rank and grow your business:

Lure people into the conversation
Someone once told me that logging on to Twitter is kind of like listening in at a water cooler–you will hear different bits of conversation, some interesting, some not. You do not get to hear the entire conversation unless you approach someone and join in. And that is what you want to get your customers to do–join in. So you tweets need to be interesting enough to lure people into an extended conversation and hopefully they will look for you even after they leave the Twitter water cooler.

Don’t be a broken record
If you only talk about your business and your products, only your most ardent supporters will stick around. When you Twitter you need to balance things out because no one like a showoff. So twitter about your industry and things that connect to your products and services. Show that you run a business, but that it is staffed by approachable human beings–mention great thing that staff members do like volunteer work or hobbies.

Don’t rely on one person
Speaking of staff members–it is advisable to have more than one staff member using Twitter to promote your business. Your followers on Twitter will appreciate the different voices, for one thing. And, relying on one person means that if that person gets sick, goes on vacation, gets swamped with a big project or leaves the company, then you face silence on Twitter. Twitter is all about keeping the conversation going, so you want to have a continual presence there.

Ask and you will receive
Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions on Twitter. This is an interactive medium and you can get replies. It will not replace your research and marketing department, but you may be surprised what you will learn.

Follow the leader…to more customers
And don’t forget that in order to be followed, you have to follow. Follow people who have interesting things to say and who have a good number of followers themselves. When you connect to lively Twitter users, you get closer to even more potential customers.

Surely you have heard someone say that they wish they could clone themselves in order to do all that they need to do. In the 21st century, you really do need to be in more than one place at a time and accomplishing this is possible in the virtual world, although it is not possible in the physical world (at least not yet).

Perhaps you have already set down your goals for next year and these goals include ramping up your marketing efforts. Even as you wrote them down, you probably knew in the back of your mind that your goals were lofty. You probably wondered how you were going to get some of this done with all of the other things you have to do. Did you include “get more help” or “delegate certain tasks” as one of your goals? If not, it is not too late to include that in your plans.

The great thing about hiring a firm such as Increase Visibility to assist you with SEO and your efforts to improve organic search placement is that you really can be in several places at once. The real you can take care of the day-to-day tasks that are a part of running your business, while the virtual you can be active in various online communities and showing up in the places where you need to be to reach your current and potential customers.

You can work on your own behalf, even while you are sleeping, taking a well-deserved vacation or chatting with a client by participating in:

-Facebook
-Twitter
-Digg
-StumbleUpon
-LinkedIn
-MySpace
-YouTube

In addition to this, you can also create promotional videos that you can put on your website and promote in the avenues mentioned above.

Although you may want to choose a certain aspect of your online marketing campaign that you want to maintain personally, Increase Visibility is there to help with the rest. We are also here to offer advice on just how to shape your online presence.

Professional search engine placement will help you gain more national and international exposure, generate “hot” leads, and ensure that your marketing campaign is effective and brings the return on investment that you seek.

The digital world is changing the way we communicate. Poor readership is forcing newspapers to dwindle in size and number. The once-storied heft of the Sunday New York Times no longer requires a weightlifter’s physique. In a harbinger of things to come, the Detroit Free Press recently announced it will end daily home delivery in March and shift its resources to an online edition. The media conglomerate Tribune Co., publishers of some of the nation’s most respected newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun, has filed for bankruptcy. Even the Tribune’s 23 television stations couldn’t save it from doom. Ratings figures are down across the board on national television news programs, and even local news broadcasts are suffering from poor viewership. Book sales are at all-time lows, forcing struggling book publishers to close divisions and cut e-book deals with digital publishers like iPhone and eBook. 

Led by the up-and-coming digital natives, wired-in teens and 20-somethings who have grown up with computers, cell phones, Nintendo, Xboxes and iPods, communication is becoming increasingly digital. When people need information today, they Google it. You get exactly the information you want and you get it instantly. And with the advent of wireless technology, Blackberries and smart phones like Apple’s iPhone, you’re no longer tied to a computer terminal. Information is available on the go — anywhere, any time.

The downside of this digital revolution is the loss of face-to-face human interaction that has been the basis for human communication for the past two thousand years. As discussed in last Friday’s post, UCLA psychiatrist Dr. Gary Small is among a growing number of scientists who fear that the next generation’s penchant for instant messaging (IM) and text messaging is degrading our ability to read and understand facial cues and body language. While there is sure to be some initial fallout, over the next decade business will continue to change to accommodate our increasing reliance on all things digital. A growing number of workers already work remotely, connecting to customers and the home office via the internet and phone. Digital conferencing, web cams and screen-sharing technology make it increasingly unnecessary to meet face-to-face. It won’t be long before we spend most of our time in a virtual world.

For business owners, the challenge will be to embrace the digital world of up-and-coming consumers while maintaining a connection to older, less tech-savvy customers through traditional communication paths. Because industry experts expect communication to be nearly all-digital within a decade, it will be critical to monitor your communication balance and shift resources and emphasis accordingly. With an increasing portion of business coming from digital channels, the foresight and flexibility to take advantage of new communication opportunities like Facebook, You Tube and Twitter will drive business success. On Friday, we’ll talk about how search engine optimization can maximize your ability to succeed in the digital world.