This is one of my favorite blogging tricks and regardless of whether you’re running out of ideas or not, this little tip is great wayto re-kindle some traffic and re-inspire using your most popular posts. That said, let’s get right to it.

Start by logging into your Google Analytics account and going to Traffic Sources > Sources > Search > Organic.

If you’re looking at statistics for just your blog, then you’ll probably already see some great ideas for blogposts. Regardless, change the number of rows shown to the maximum number (500), then continue scrolling down for more keyword ideas.

You’ll start to see limited searches for the same term (1, 2, maybe even 3). These longtail search terms are the perfect start for additional blogposts. Sure, people already use these to find you, but why not use what works? Here’s a quick snapshot:

I might take some of these keyword phrases and create posts like:

• The 100 Most Like Pages on Facebook (similar to this post)
• Alt Tags and Image Descriptions in Facebook (similar to this post)
• How do Alt Tags Help with Google Image Search? (similar to this post)
• What’s the Difference Between an Alt Tag, Image Title, Description, and Caption? (similar to this post)
• Analytics Decreasing? Here’s Why.
• My Bounce Rate is Really High. I think… (similar to this post)

This is part three in a four part series on the The Marketer’s Guide To Twitter.

So, now you know what to tweet and who to follow, so now lets try to grow your following through promotion of your Twitter account and then learn how to manage that following.

First, lets talk about off page twitter promotion.  This means putting your twitter handle and URL on any and all printed materials you have, mentioning it in radio advertising, placing an image on a TV ad, having it in your email signature etc. Any place that you already are spending time advertising or spreading the word should include your twitter info.

Second, is using twitter and twitter tools to help promote and manage your account.

Getting Retweeted: The best way to get retweeted is to tweet out good, let me rephrase that, GREAT content.  People will retweet you when you give them something news worthy, different, humorous, or interesting.  Make sure that you are mixing up your tweets as far as what types of messages and content you are promoting but also you can tweet pics and video that are interesting.

Here are a few reasons to try and get retweeted…

• It’s Flattering
• It’s an independent endorsement
• It Virally spreads your message
• Attracts new followers

Types of things that will get Retweeted:

• Headlines
• Valuable knowledge (breaking news, tutorials/how tos, free stuff, contests)
• Calls to action (help me…, vote for…)
• Adding “Please RT” – for contests, deals etc.

One last thing to note is that you need to leave room for RT’s (meaning don’t take up all 140 characters), this gives people the ability to comment or respond in their retweet.

Managing Your Twitter Profile: Staying in the Loop

Many folks talk about how when you start following  a lot of people and vice versa how it gets a little overwhelming as far as keeping up with everything and having conversations.  Twitter has a lists option that helps with this and Tweetdeck makes using and viewing the lists even easier.

Say that you have a list of people from Maine that you follow so you can strictly talk about what’s going on in Maine.  All you have to do is create a new column in Tweetdeck and import your list to that column.  That way it’s separated out from the crowed of “All Friends” and when you are in the mood to talk Maine, it’s right there for you.

You can also separate out your mentions and direct messages so that you can see these more readily.  This tool essentially makes it easier for you to have actual conversations on Twitter and not get bogged down by constantly having to search through tweets to see what people are saying.

Search: Next you may want to see what people are saying about your company, product or service but you may not be following them, or they may not be following you.  Using Twitter Search and Advanced Twitter Search can allow you to search for specific terms and words, as well as local tweets so that you can respond and promote your company or service.

Alerts: Setting up Alerts like “social mention” and google alerts is also a good method to help keep track of what people are saying so that you can respond, help and engage in conversation with others on Twitter.  These are simple to use and come right into your email inbox.

Cross Promoting Your Twitter Feed

Just like adding your twitter url/twitter logo on all your printed and traditional materials you should also add it to your other online profiles, blogs and websites.  This cross promotion allows people who normally visit your blog or website to discover you on Twitter easily.  And, chances are if they are already interested in your other online material they will be interested enough to follow you as well.

Measuring Your Impact

• Create custom landing page for only Twitter traffic, then use customer URL  this helps to measure traffic to your site from Twitter.
• Shorten and Track URLs: Most URL of the tools that you use to shorten URLs also come with an ability to track analytics.  Bit.ly is a favorite as it has great insights as well being the shortest URL you can get.

An important thing to note is that only about 10% of tweets come from twitter.com, the rest come from other Twitter management devices and smartphones.  So, your measurements will always be a little skewed.

Hashtags: helping you find interesting Tweets

• People use the hashtag symbol # before relevant keywords in their Tweet to categorize those Tweets to show more easily in Twitter Search.
• Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.
• Hashtags can occur anywhere in the Tweet.
• Hashtagged words that become very popular are often Trending Topics.

Using hashtags

• If Tweet with a hashtag on a public account, anyone who does a search for that hashtag may find your Tweet.
• Don’t #spam #with #hashtags. Don’t over-tag a single Tweet. (Best practices recommend using no more than 3 hashtags per Tweet.)
• Use hashtags only on Tweets relevant to the topic.

Stay tuned for part 4 of the Marketer’s Guide to Twitter.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Whether you are celebrating it’s arrival or wishing it away because you don’t want to keep track of yet another social network, Google Plus is here.  We will soon find out whether it is here to stay or a quick fad, but my guess is that this is the real deal.  If you haven’t had the chance to join yet make sure to go check it out.  And, If you are like me and you are thinking HOLY COW there is so much to learn and read.. Here are a few resources I found helpful gathered all in one place.

What is Google Plus and How Do I Use It:

How to Get Started With Google Plus: This is a great guide to getting started on Google + it gives great info and screenshots, but it’s a little less overwhelming than the Google Plus Collaborative Doc (below).

Google Plus a Collaborative Document: This is literally a guide to using Google Plus.  The Table of Contents lays out the document so that you can jump around and learn about the areas that you need help with.  This is probably the most in depth and useful guide I have come across.

The Google Plus Cheat Sheet: Exactly what it sounds like, a cheat sheet or glossary of terms on how to use Google Plus and what things mean…So, in case you don’t have the time (or patience) to go through the doc above.

10 Awesome Video Tips for Getting More out of Google + Don’t like to read? Check out these quick video tips!

How to: Get Your Own Google+ Vanity URL: Since Google Plus doesn’t offer vanity URL’s as of now for fear of spammers figuring out millions of Google+ users email account information, gplus.to has created a small app that makes it easy to create your own Vanity URL to make it easy to share your Google Plus Profile with your friends.

How to Get Google+ On My Phone:

Get Google+ On Your iPhone! And iOS App was released today making it possible for iPhone users to get Google Plus on their iPhones.  It’s been available since the beginning on Android phones and all you need to do is go to the Droid Market, to download your Google+ app for Free.

How To Use Google Plus for Business/Marketing:

10 Things CMOs Need to Know About Google+ Chris Brogan compares Google+ to the launch of Facebook and the leap people made from Myspace to Facebook.  Giving reasons such as Google is the King of Search so they will probably have their social network affect search, they are starting up business pages, it’s connections with gmail and other Google tools you already use and it’s fast growth in it’s first two weeks of it’s launch he thinks it’s the next BIG thing!

3 Ways to Use Google Plus in Your Content Marketing Efforts A lot of great tips here on Google Plus for content marketing as well as  a great list of related articles about Google Plus, such as “Can Google+ Rival Facebook and Twitter? Some Initial Thoughts” and “Top 6 Articles On Google Plus to help you Get the Most Out of Your Experience.”

Google + Now Part of Google Analytics: You can now track your social interaction as well on your Google Analytics by adding a bit of code to your sites.  Currently this tracks Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.  There isn’t a code yet to track LinkedIn interactions.

More On Google +:

5 Ways Journalists are Using Google Plus
5 Chrome Extensions that Improve Google+
What Your Business Needs To Know About Google+
How does the Google +1 Button Affect Search

The more I research, explore, play and use Google + the more I like it.  It’s incredibly connected, dynamic and the uses are endless. For example…

It recognizes when I take a picture with my Android, and then without me uploading or doing anything it is already in my photos on Google Plus asking me if I want to share it.

My new Tag line: Google Plus… It’s So Smart, It’s Spooky!

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Although Online graders, especially free ones are not completely accurate, they are still worth a peek. It can give you some good ideas on how to improve your sites and where you stand at present. So, without further ado here they are…

1. Facebook EdgeRank Checker: This one is probably my favorite so far just because it’s so new.  In my post, “Facebook EdgeRank: What Is It and Why Should you Care?”, I talk a little bit about what EdgeRank is and how the formula works.  This free online grader allows you to quickly check your page’s rank and gives you tips on how you can improve it.  Make sure to check often as recency is part of the formula, so your EdgeRank can change as your posts age.

2.Hubspot Website Grader According to Hubspot their “algorithm uses a proprietary blend of over 50 different variables, including search engine data , website structure, approximate traffic, site performance, and others.”  The Flyte New Media website got a 97!

The website grader bases it’s formula on many different factors including whether or not your site has a blog, indexed web pages, SEO, MozRank, linking domains, Social Media Links, traffic and more.  Check it out for your score today!

3. Hubspot Blog Grader Hubspot Blog Grader gave The Maine SEO blog a score of 92! Which means we ranked ranked 54,207 out of the approximately 757,812 other blogs that they’ve graded.  Not bad.  The blog grader bases it’s grade off of many different factors, it looks at RSS subscriptions, email subscriptions, twitter  and Facebook links.  It also analyzes your blog posts focusing on frequency of posts, average post length, average number of links and images in posts, how many comments you received, tweets and retweets, Facebook likes and sharing abilities. Although it may not be 100% accurate it does give you a great idea of what you can do to make your blog more SEO and user friendly.

4. PageRank Checker Your page rank is a numeric value that Google associates with your page based on links to your page.  Every link in Google’s mind is a vote for your page and the more votes the more important or your web page is considered, therefore giving you a high ranking.  Also, the rank of or importance of the site that is referring you plays a role in how much weight that vote has.  This is important because Page Rank is one of the factors used to determine where you will rank is search results. This Page Rank checker allows you to find out where you stand simply by entering your URL.

5. Online Video Grader The Pixability Online Video Grader measures how you use video on your website, how you rank on Google and other video search engines, and how effective your YouTube channel is.

And, Twitter Grader is kinda fun, although not in my top 5.  What Twitter Grader is trying to measure is the power, reach and authority of a twitter account.  In other words, when you tweet, what kind of an impact does it have? It’s not in my top simply because it doesn’t really give you a great idea of what to do to improve, however it gives you a score and some tips, I just don’t feel they have much of an impact.

My advice would be to not get too hung up on different numbers and grades that you receive.  As I said before these graders are by no means 100% accurate but they are a fun tool to get an idea of some ways you can improve.  If you have any different graders that you use and would like to share let us know in the comments section.

Joan Woodbrey Crocker
Maine SEO

Nicki Hicks
Florida SEO