Download - Social Media Marketing for the Lean Startup
Eric KrockCo-Founder, Voximate
http://twitter.com/#!/voximatehttp://www.voximate.com/blog/
What We’ll CoverTrademarkingBlogging: Tools, Tips, SEOBasic Search Engine Optimization (SEO)twitter: Tools, TipsFilming Low Cost VideoYouTube Video Search Engine Optimization
(VSEO)Facebook PagesSite and Blog Promotion Tips
Why Would You Listen to Me?What Where Notes
Co-Founder, Voximate
http://www.voximate.com/ Solution for Agile project management & collaboration in private beta – ask for invite!
Blogger http://www.voximate.com/blog/
Tweep (twitter user)
@voximate@WeAreSaidMusa@WeAreShoaib@AIDSvideos
1600 followers / 7 mo.580 followers / 2 mo.872 followers / 1 mo.390 followers / 1 mo.
Not-for-profit Vlogger
http://www.AIDSvideos.org/http://www.youtube.com/AIDSvideos
2.4M views for 106 videos. Cost: $33k all-in including video HW, SW, creation, travel, translation
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllSaidMusa
http://www.facebook.com/WeAreAllShoaib
Trademarking Your Company NameNolo Trademark PDF eBook for $23.99:
http://www.nolo.com/products/trademark-TRD.html
Do your own initial searches:http://tess2.uspto.gov/
Have trademark attorney finalize your best candidates:Price for formal search: $750 / mark searchedAdditional price for handling official USPTO
application: $1250International trademark filings cost extra per
region & country
Why Blog?Raise awareness of company and offeringEstablish credibility in target audienceDraw traffic via organic search engine resultsRaise relevance ranking of your domain on
GoogleAttract prospects who may convert and
become customers
General Blogging TipsWrite well!
Read book: “Elements of Style” by Strunk & White
Share useful knowledgeGain audience by teaching
Use a catchy title; it must be a “hook!”Humor and irony work well
Publish new articles frequently
Use Wordpress to BlogWhy Wordpress?
Leading blog softwareFree and open sourceSupports Search Engine Optimization wellExtensible via large plug-in library
Your choices:Hosted: Wordpress.comSelf-Hosted: own site, plus Wordpress.org
softwareRead book: “Wordpress in Depth”
Customizing Look of WordpressUse a theme
I use: ThemeHybrid from http://themehybrid.com Outstanding web support membership only
$25/year!
Customize your theme with a “child theme”Lets you update parent theme laterSee: http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
Recommended Plug-insPlug-in Purpose
Akismet Spam filter: $5/mo. single site, http://akismet.com/
All-In-One SEO Pack
Optimize Search Engine Optimization of blog
cbnet Ping Optimizer
Prevent duplicate pinging of blog syndication feeds
Google XML Sitemaps
Automatically generate map of site for Google
Widget Logic Enable conditional content in sidebar
Enable Media Replace
Enable easy inline updating of images
• Get plug-ins from http://www.wordpress.org/extend/plugins/• Back up your Wordpress installation (HTML files) and database instance before installing or upgrading any plug-in!
URL Best PracticesAll-lowercase file namesSeparate words with hyphens (-), not
underscores (_)End URL with a / (not .php, .asx, etc.) so can
switch CMSes later if wish toKeep page name short enough that Google
won’t split page name when it compresses the URL for display
Ideally, keep total URL 68-74 characters (less important now due to Google URL compression)
Other Wordpress Configurations
Have static company home page, put blog at YourDomain/blog/
http://codex.wordpress.org/Creating_a_Static_Front_Page
Pretty permalinks http://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Permalinks
Show only excerpt from post on blog home page to avoid duplicating content
http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/show-only-excerpt-in-homepage
http://themehybrid.com/themes/structurePut link to post at end of excerpt http://themehybrid.com/support/topic/how-to-change-at-end-of-post-and-make-it-an-active-linkHardening security. (Update both
Wordpress & plug-ins promptly!!!)
http://codex.wordpress.org/Hardening_WordPress
Blog Social Media Integrationhttp://feedburner.google.com/
Wraps your RSS feed in easy-to-use URLHave your blog’s RSS icon point at FeedBurner
URLUse royalty-free icons for RSS Subscribe and
twitter Follow linksAddThis.com to provide social media Share
link
Search Engine OptimizationYou are writing blog posts & web pages for
TWO readers:Human beingsGooglebot
Goal: Enable Googlebot to understand page’s content and focus without annoying human readers
Target Keywords & Key PhrasesCreate list of keywords / phrases you want to
rank well for in search results. Tools:Google AdWords (free)Google Analytics (free) – where’s traffic from?SEOmoz.org Keyword Tools ($70/month
membership)Targeting niche keywords with less
competition may be more successful.
Where to Use Keywords?Domain nameAccount names on twitter, YouTube, FacebookBlog title, category names, tag namesPage URL (68-74 characters)Page TITLE (60 characters), Description (160
characters), ExcerptH1 – H6Image file name & ALT textFirst sentence of paragraphBullet itemsStrong / emphasized text
Avoid “Duplicate Content”There is no “Google penalty,” but if same content
is on two pages, they divide links, clicks, and “page equity.” Single page will rank higher in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) than two separate pages.
Ideal: one piece of content = one page = one URLBlog post lives at pretty permalink URLBlog home page, category page, tag pages show
excerpt only and link to full blog post at permalink URL
If syndicate articles, ensure each syndicated copy includes link back to original
Put Images in Blog PostsPosts with images rank higher than posts
without themUse stock.xchng (sxc.hu) for royalty-free
imagesUse image editor (e.g. Mac Paintbrush) to
compress image to small JPEG so don’t increase page load time
Give image SEOed file name, SEOed ALT text
Inbound Link CampaignGet other relevant sites to link to your web
siteHave them use targeted keywords in their
link textGOOD: project management solutionBAD: click here to see a project management
solution
twitter TipsGreat tool for:
Listening and learning from othersFinding your audienceEngaging with customers, prospects, othersPromoting blog postsPosting shorter comments
twitter BasicsUse bit.ly to shorten URLsUse search.twitter.com to identify hash tags used
by your audience: #agile, #pmot, #prodmgmt …Keep tweets less than 120 characters so others
can re-tweet easilyEmbed relevant hash tags within your tweetsUse HootSuite to schedule tweets in advance and
follow relevant hashtagsFollow people with similar interests & see if they
follow you back; give them time to decideTweet Tue – Thu between 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Pacific
Time
Key twitter RulesNo “aggressive following”No “mass unfollows”Don’t follow the same person repeatedlyCan follow maximum of 2000 people; after
that, can only follow 10% more people than follow you back
No inappropriate (spammy) use of hash tagsNo excessive @username tweetingAvoid extremely high ratio of follows to
followers
Unofficial twitter Good PracticesNot official rules, but:
Only follow people likely to be interested in your feed!
Don’t follow more than 125 people per dayGive people 7 days to follow you back before
unfollowingShould get at least 1 new follower for every 4
follows if you are targeting correctlyDon’t “autofollow” followers!Don’t send an automated thank you message to
new followers unless it’s a substantive call to action.
Unofficial twitter Good PracticesNot official rules, but:
Not all tweets should be blog postsRetweet more than you tweetThank people for retweetsCreate useful lists to categorize users on
How to Find Potential Followers?Follow opinion leaders, who they follow, their
followers, and users on their relevant listssearch.twitter.com: who’s posting using your
target hash tags?WeFollow.comTlists.com
Blog Post + tweet SequencePick blog post page nameCreate draft blog post in WordpressUse bit.ly to shorten URLDraft 120 character tweet, including hash tags &
shortened URLWrite postFind relevant image, retitle it, upload it, make it
featured image for the postUse Wordpress to schedule post for next day @ 9
a.m.Use HootSuite to schedule tweet for next day @
9:15
Filming Low-Cost Video: Equipment$350: Consumer HD camcorder with Flash memory
and audio input port$19.95 Radio Shack lavaliere microphone, or $1000
Sennheiser wireless microphone / receiver set$837 Lowel Rifa eX 44 Pro, TO-83 Hard Case
lighting kit (two lights, plus hard carrying case)$1099 PrompterPeople.com Flex Series
Teleprompter$162 Libec T68 75mm 2-Stage Aluminum TripodMacintosh computerFinal Cut Studio (or even Express) for video editing
Notes on Filming VideoGood lighting is critical for making people look
good.Good audio is MUCH harder than good video!Film in room with closed door.Use lavaliere microphone! Make sure microphone is turned on & battery is
charged!Won’t look like Francis Ford Coppola filmed it.
Doesn’t have to; costs much less!!Be Agile. Film and publish many videos cheaply,
see what draws interest, and iterate!
Video Search Engine OptimizationWhat to SEO?
YouTube account nameVideo title (50 characters to display without
break)Video description (make long and detailed, and
include links to your site!)Video tag list (up to 500 characters total)Script for video (upload as a caption file;
YouTube will automatically synchronize English caption file to video)
Playlist titles
More Video TipsPromotion
Make your videos replies to other popular related videos
Create playlists including your videos and other popular related videos
Use YouTube animations to cross-link videosSyndication
Use TubeMogul.com to syndicate videos to multiple sites
Facebook PagesMany corporate sites have few “Likes” and
are fairly uselessReserve Facebook Page with your trademark
name earlyConsider making it live later on when you
have enough interestHave a strategy for your Facebook Page, not
just a page for the sake of having a page
Site & Blog Promotion TipsRegister your blog in technoratiLink LinkedIn profile to twitter feed so your
tweets are automatically copied to your LinkedIn feed
Remember to cross-post your blog posts to Facebook
Comment on relevant blogs & include a link back to your own site (won’t affect PageRank because of NoFollows, but humans will see and click links)