Should You Pay for Social Media Marketing ?

 Social media marketing has changed the way that businesses advertise online. Many marketing departments now include a social media manager. Campaigns include updates and postings to social websites that drive customers towards products or services. The initial costs of entering into the social media marketing arena are very low. The ongoing cost of maintaining the campaign, however, can increase over time. There are several reasons why a business should invest in social media marketing.

Companies that communicate with customers through social media are able to engage in a very unique way. Existing and potential customers can feel as if the business is speaking on a very personal and informal level. The answers to questions like ‘what is the best credit card‘ will seem much more genuine when coming through interactions with a business through a social channel. The mechanism of social media also provides customers with a ready outlet to respond directly to the company.

The return on investment from social media marketing is usually positive. The underlying costs of maintaining a profile or website is generally very low. Marketing campaigns that overlap into the social realm are developed in tandem with existing marketing efforts so there is no added cost. People online might also tend to gravitate towards the social page of a business without any active marketing effort simply as a result of an experience with the company elsewhere.

The marketing content that is developed for a social media page can be of great value because it is persistent once it has been posted online. This type of reusable content has a higher return on investment than an email campaign that is sent out to customers once and then fades into the archives. Persistent content can also become important if a video, posting or image happens to spark a viral response. This can then draw attention to the business for no cost at all.

Advertising programs that are offered by social media companies can be far more effective than other types of traditional campaigns. The media company already has customers segmented by a number of different variables. A credit card company has a good chance of being able to target marketing efforts directly at users who have been looking for a business credit card offer. This type of marketing power is unique considering the low cost of entry into the field.

The importance of maintaining and promoting a social media presence online can be seen with search engine rankings. Cultivating a good relationship with customers can lead to a proliferation of links that can drive up the ranking of a business within search engines. Investing time and money in social media marketing will also inevitably benefit companies as new technologies and online services emerge in the future.

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How To Create a Custom Error 404 Page For WordPress

This article will guide you how to create an error 404 page for your WordPress powered site or blog. This guide will work for self-hosted blogs, not for free ones on WordPress.com like (xyz.wordpress.com) ! An error 404 page is when you try to access a page that does not exist.

What is the error 404?

The error 404 is a message shows up if you click on a link that doesn’t work (anymore) or if you typed wrong Url. This is default in WordPress but some themes don’t come with a 404.php file.

Basic Error 404 Template

If you do not have default 404.php page, you can create it. Create a 404.php file with the below code..

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h2>Error 404 - Page Not Found.</h2>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

The above code would give a simple “Error 404 – Page Not Found.” as ouptput, which is mentioned within in h2 tag. You need to modify header, sidebar & footer as per your theme structure.

404 page with Search Form

Want to add search form to help users stick around instead of leaving. By this way visitors have the option of searching your site, even if lands on your 404 page. If you want to add search form for your 404 page, add the below code..

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h2>Error 404 - Page Not Found.</h2>

<p>Search:</p>

<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH . "/searchform.php"); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

404 page redirect to home page

If you want to just redirect 404 page to home page then add the below code in 404.php

<?php

header( 'HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently' );

header( 'Location: '.home_url( '/' ) );

?>

Make it more dynamic

If you want to create a more dynamic error 404 page you can use this way so that the visitor only sees the brief error and, then gets redirected to your home page. This page can be made to be somewhat SEO friendly. For this you need to edit the header.php file of your template. Within the meta tags at the top of your header.php file add the below code ..

header.php

<?php

if (is_404()) {

*$redirectHome = get_option('home'); ?>

<?php echo $redirectHome; ?>

After added it into header.php file, you need to edit your 404.php file to look like this:

404.php

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h1>Error 404 - File Not Found.</h1>

<h3>Please <a href="<?php bloginfo('home' Or 'template_url'); ?>" Click here</a> to return home page, or you can wait to be redirected in 15 seconds.</h3>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

This above example will allow the user to land on your 404 error page and then automatically take them to the home page. This will also help users stick around instead of them being left confused and leaving your website. Please make sure to replace home or template url with the exact link where it should redirect.

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Stop Blogger Blogs Redirection To Country Specific Domains

Most Bloggers knew that recently Google redirects blogger blogs their respective Country code TLD’s. Like if you are browsing a blog from Australia, it will be redirecting .com to .com.au domain. For instance, if you open xyz.blogspot.com in your browser, you will be redirected to xyz.blogspot.com.au if you are browsing from Australia.

Why Google redirects Blogger Blogs to Country Specific?

Google implemented this blogger blog redirection because of censorship on Internet and hide unwanted content. They started categorizing the content based on the writer & the reader’s country. A site with having unwanted contents, will be block in some countries but still have it displayed in the others.

Disadvantages of Country Specific Redirection

There are many problems with country specific domain redirection, from SEO to social share count, List of disadvantages ...

•  Social shares will be changed with country specific domains.If your blog xyz.blogspot.com has 5 tweets it will be changed with xyz. blogspot.com.au .
•  No of backlinks will be different for each of the country specific domains and your blog will lose alexa rankings.
•  It might problem with some applications and widgets.

How To Stop redirects Blogger Blogs to Country Specific?

You can stop this country specific redirection for your blogger blog by using a JavaScript code.  Once added this code in your template your blog will simply redirects blogspot.com instead of redirecting to the country-specific domain names.

Steps to place JavaScript code:

1. Log In to Blogger account and visit your dashboard

2. Click on design of your Blog

3. Click on Edit HTML

<script type="text/javascript">
var str= window.location.href.toString();
if ((str.indexOf('.com/'))=='-1') {
var str1=str.substring(str.lastIndexOf(".blogspot."));
if (str1.indexOf('/')=='-1') {
var str2=str1;
}
else {
var str2=str1.substring(0,str1.indexOf('/')+1);
}
window.location.href =window.location.href.toString().replace(str2,'.blogspot.com/ncr/');
}
</script>

4. Now copy the above code and search this line on your blogger template.

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>

5.  Paste the java script code below that line and save your template.

Now your visitors from anywhere in the world can see your blogspot.com domain only.


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How To See If Someone UnFriend You On Facebook ?

Facebook, the popular social networking site, is a grand opportunity to get in touch with your old friends. Messages and notifications flow into your account every now and then. Whenever you are added as a friend, you get a notification. Logging into your Facebook account, you get to see an entire list of your friends added in your friend’s list. But what, when someone unfriends you from the list? When you are removed from anyone’s friend list, you are not notified nor does any message enter your account.

However, gone are those days when you remind in dark as to who unfriended you. Unfriend Finder – the new browser script enables you to find out who has eliminated you from his list. Not only about unfriend, this browser script will let you know  you the people to whom you have sent a friend request, the persons who have denied your request, the person who have removed you from the list and also about the Facebook user who has deactivated his account.

All the recent web browsers Opera Apple Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and others support this new Unfriend Finder application. Are you wondering how this function will work for you? Well, this browser script makes use of Facebook notifications for alerting you of the aforesaid events.

Want to get this new app right on your PC now? Go to the site of Unfriend Finder and install this once you have downloaded. Once you have installed this browser script, it will store for you Facebook friend list, requests and other information in the web browser. Just as you receive notification when anybody sends you a friend request, in the like manner now you will also get a notification when you are unfriended in the same Facebook style.

Facebook interface and Unfriend Finder mixes perfectly with each other. Now, you will receive alerts whenever your friend request is ignored or rejected. Stop wondering why your list of Facebook friends getting shorter day by day. Set up Unfriend Finder and start receiving notifications regarding all events related to your Facebook friends!

How to Enable Facebook Timeline Now!

Facebook has finally unlocked the floodgates of “Open Graph” with its Timeline Apps. “Facebook Timeline” is the new feature offering you a leap from its persisting multimedia integration. Small and large developers can now submit their apps with Facebook. What does this mean? In essence, you are likely to see a new bunch of activities of your Facebook friends. You will now experience much more than the usual ‘likes’ you have been using all these days.

This popular social network has opened up new options to enhance your fun to an advanced stage. Shopping, ravel, fitness, food and more than 60 ‘lifestyle’ apps have made Facebook much more amazing than before. These apps enable you to share your activities and hobbies automatically. Potentially thousands of other apps are to come in Facebook in the recent past.

But how to know which apps are worth using in Facebook Timeline? Don’t fret! Some selective apps are provided to suit with the new Facebook Timeline feature. You do not have to waste any time or take the trouble of choosing the right app. Whether you admire knitting, hiking, gardening or snowboarding or any other activity, there is an app for all.

Greater details of your news, posts, activities from its initial stage to the current date will on feature now with this new Facebook app. Your settings, activities, photos and posts will get a new layout altogether. The best part is that all these astounding apps are totally free! Enjoy the stunning feature without shelling out a single penny! Install Facebook Timeline and give a new look to your Facebook profile. Grab the Timeline Feature right away!

Steps to do it:

• Log into Facebook.
• Visit Facebook Developer App to set off the app.
• Click Create a New App on the page’s top right corner.
• Give a name to your app, like Timeline and also a namespace, like Your name.
• Simply follow the onscreen instruction.
• Click on Open Graph link at the left side of the page and then click Get Started With Open Graph.
• Fill up the two blanks suiting your needs and then press the Get Started button.
• Several settings page will be displayed. You can make changes to the settings or keep to its default as you desire.
• Now go to the homepage of your Facebook. There you will find the activation at the top of the page reading “Introducing Timeline…..” Click on Get It Now and have fun with the new Facebook features.

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How Google Search Plus Your World is Changing SEO

In its simplest form, search engine optimization (SEO) used to be about three things - making your content crawlable, linkable, and usable. Gaining greater visibility on search engine results pages was relatively easy. Depending on your business model, it was also much easier said than done.

Nimble smaller businesses routinely outmaneuvered larger enterprises when it came to securing specific query-relevant rankings in the search engines, especially in Google. Ultimately, relevancy had to be redefined by shifting algorithmic weightings toward trust and authority, and away from feigned popularity and repurposed content.

Now, SEO needs to be as conversational as it is contextually relevant, in order to be well represented in Google's most recent algorithmic shifts. True to form, enterprise level SEO initiatives will have to play a game of catch-up this year in order to reap new opportunities from social search results.

Recent Developments

Google’s search results have been influenced by some measure of social signals for years. It’s only now that the social signals can wholly resonate through Google’s Search Plus Your World release earlier this month.

Google Plus Buttons made their debut in June last year. At the time, experts gave it a bit of a “so what” nod as yet another “me too” social experience. Recently Larry Page announced that 90 million users have signed up to Google Plus since launch. Those Plus buttons are growing in importance.

Google Search Plus Your World is the next evolutionary step in determining what is relevant to personalized search queries in that individuals search results are greatly influenced by their circles of friends.

In Google Search Plus Your World, your friends’ online experiences are more relevant to your personal search results than links and domain authority. This is a game changer from what we all knew and understood about perceived relevancy of public web search results. When you’re signed in to Google all you need do is toggle between the two very different, yet seemingly relevant, search results.

Presumably if you find that your personalized search results in Google Search Plus Your World lack relevancy, you be well advised to start finding some new friends. Not to worry. Google’s been thinking about that too.

Last week Google rolled out yet another new feature for Google Plus that lets searchers start a conversation directly from search results, and contribute to the relevant conversation by way of the Google Plus stream.

It’s not only easier to find people, personalities and pages in Google Plus personalized search results, you can readily expand your circle of influence by adding these people to your circle of friends – and vice versa. All you need do is find the “share box” in your search results and you'll be presented with an opportunity to "join the discussion" about whatever you've searched for.

In Google Search Plus Your World, there is no search without social. Your search queries resonate social signals through personalized search.

Better be careful for what you search for. Oh, snap! That’s right. No one will know what search phrase you used, except you and Google, because your Search Plus Your World results are hidden behind https:// and no keywords will be linked to your search in any analytics programs.

Points to Ponder

While Google Search Plus Your World evolves into a centralized social hub of activity that connects search results with social functions, we must be cognizant of the fact that the search engine will likely be testing algorithms that introduce weighted social search signals into Google's public web search results.

Google search has historically been about finding the best results for the many. Google Search Plus Your World is about finding the best results for you. Now, “you” are the enterprise. That is to say, each individual that uses Google Plus represents a new opportunity to have digital content produced by or about your enterprise discovered and shared among immeasurable circles of friends.

SEO in 2012, be it public or personal, is all about providing content that is worthy of being shared, by links or by circles. Now that the context of the search query is the conversation, relevancy is truly in the eye of the beholder … as long as the people or the publication is beholden to Google+.

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10 Google Algorithm Changes That Affect Your Ranking

Matt Cutts written Google makes about 500 changes to its search algorithm every year. This summer Google published a video that gives a glimpse into their overall process, and on 14th Nov they shared a flavor of specific algorithm changes by publishing a highlight list of many of the improvements made over the past couple weeks. List of ten improvements from the past couple weeks by Google:

•  Cross-language information retrieval updates: For queries in languages where limited web content is available (Afrikaans, Malay, Slovak, Swahili, Hindi, Norwegian, Serbian, Catalan, Maltese, Macedonian, Albanian, Slovenian, Welsh, Icelandic), we will now translate relevant English web pages and display the translated titles directly below the English titles in the search results. This feature was available previously in Korean, but only at the bottom of the page. Clicking on the translated titles will take you to pages translated from English into the query language. 
•  Snippets with more page content and less header/menu content: This change helps us choose more relevant text to use in snippets. As we improve our understanding of web page structure, we are now more likely to pick text from the actual page content, and less likely to use text that is part of a header or menu.
•  Better page titles in search results by de-duplicating boilerplate anchors: We look at a number of signals when generating a page’s title. One signal is the anchor text in links pointing to the page. We found that boilerplate links with duplicated anchor text are not as relevant, so we are putting less emphasis on these. The result is more relevant titles that are specific to the page’s content.
•  Length-based autocomplete predictions in Russian: This improvement reduces the number of long, sometimes arbitrary query predictions in Russian. We will not make predictions that are very long in comparison either to the partial query or to the other predictions for that partial query. This is already our practice in English.
•  Extending application rich snippets: We recently announced rich snippets for applications. This enables people who are searching for software applications to see details, like cost and user reviews, within their search results. This change extends the coverage of application rich snippets, so they will be available more often.
•  Retiring a signal in Image search: As the web evolves, we often revisit signals that we launched in the past that no longer appear to have a significant impact. In this case, we decided to retire a signal in Image Search related to images that had references from multiple documents on the web.
•  Fresher, more recent results: As we announced just over a week ago, we’ve made a significant improvement to how we rank fresh content. This change impacts roughly 35 percent of total searches (around 6-10% of search results to a noticeable degree) and better determines the appropriate level of freshness for a given query.
•  Refining official page detection: We try hard to give our users the most relevant and authoritative results. With this change, we adjusted how we attempt to determine which pages are official. This will tend to rank official websites even higher in our ranking.
•  Improvements to date-restricted queries: We changed how we handle result freshness for queries where a user has chosen a specific date range. This helps ensure that users get the results that are most relevant for the date range that they specify.
•   Prediction fix for IME queries: This change improves how Autocomplete handles IME queries (queries which contain non-Latin characters). Autocomplete was previously storing the intermediate keystrokes needed to type each character, which would sometimes result in gibberish predictions for Hebrew, Russian and Arabic.