Social Networking Alienation: Are We Becoming Disconnected?

Social media is lauded as the one digital channel that truly revolves around the idea of bringing people together. While this is of course true, analysts and users are finding that its popularity can also be connected to a growing trend of alienation and loneliness. The fact that social media can be responsible for loneliness seems bizarre and counterintuitive at first, but a deeper understanding of the medium and the role it is playing in people's lives makes this fact easier to believe. So, if online social networks are proving to be a negative influence in the lives of some people, how can and should the medium be used by people and brands, if at all?

Social media rising

Claiming that social media is the root cause of alienation experienced by millions of people can be a little misleading. However, there is certainly a trend that indicates that the epidemic of loneliness and the rise of social media correlate in chronological terms. As more and more people became part of ever-expanding social networks, so key elements of human interaction started to drop away. Personal interaction was traded for online, abstract interaction. Verbal communication continues to decrease as more people now communicate with shorter texts or even indirectly. In a way, it appears that the mere awareness of being super-connected to a social network at all times, made constant communication unnecessary. Because you are already aware of what is currently happening in the life of a friend, it seems redundant to contact that person in order to connect and find out more about their life.

Indirect communication and alienation

Social networking may have started out as an idea to connect people to each other, but its evolution has seen it become more of a broadcasting platform where direct interaction with others is not actually required. Instead of using online channels to actively build our social connections by talking to or making contact with people, many users now operate in isolation - merely publishing content and updates that reflect their current situation. While this kind of 'posting' often elicits some form of engagement such as a quick comment or the curt 'like' - this is meagre social exchange that could be likened to greeting a friend as he or she passes in the street.

Connections lost and gained

While social media alienation is certainly a troubling symptom of the digital age and its impact on human interaction and behaviour, it also boasts many stories that contradict the findings of lonely social media users. Social networking has helped many people connect to more people than they may have otherwise done, while also allowing people maintain contact with friends and family that live far away. All in all, much about the social media experience is what users make it. Those that are susceptible to social anxiety and isolation will probably experience an increase in these feelings through social media usage, while those who are naturally inclined to socialise will find the platform useful as a supplement to their social life.

Social media has changed the way people interact with each other and with brands, and companies that are aware of these subtle changes will fare better than their competitors. Understanding how to use social media as a tool rather than a substitute for human connection is the key to a positive experience that can be enriching, useful and fun.

About Digital Fire

Digital Fire, an email marketing and digital media specialist with a head office in Cape Town. Digital Fire specializes in full service opt-in email marketing, email data rental, email database management, social media consultancy and management as well as Search Engine Optimisation. We provide cutting edge digital marketing and advertising solutions for our clients locally and abroad. Contact us today for digital marketing success http://www.digitalfire.co.za/contact/

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Live Chat Software - Convert Site Visitors to Customers

As an online marketer you would definitely have spent a lot of effort to get visitors to your site. However, are you doing anything to retain them and convert them to customers? Do not commit the mistake that many marketers are guilt of - doing nothing to retain visitors. One of the simplest ways you could engage their attention is by using live chat. In fact, you can use live chat software to get this done with a surprising degree of ease.

You might already be using email marketing software to send personalized messages and newsletters to your existing and potential customers. Live chat software is equally easy to use and it is as important for your business.

It is indeed very important to get many visitors to your site, but not all of them will stay there. You do need to ensure that you have high quality content that will be interesting to them or else they will exit the site. At the same time, if you have a chat box you will be giving your customers the opportunity to get their questions answered quickly and with the least possible fuss. You risk losing your customers to another website if you cannot answer their questions to their satisfaction.

There is another advantage to using this software. You will also be able to analyse exactly how your customers use it, thereby enabling you to use it more effectively. For instance, you can get reports on exactly what your customers are requesting when they come on chat. You can also find out when they are most active so that you can devote more resources to that particular time slot. You can also track all the pages that your visitors view when they come to your website. All this data will enable you to customize your services better so that you can induce visitors to buy your product or service.

You need to ensure that you buy the best possible live chat software in order to get the greatest results from it. Be sure to buy your software from a reliable company that will give you as much customer service as you need as well as lifetime upgrades. As a matter of fact, you should buy your software from the same company that provides you with email marketing software and other business solutions so that you can integrate them fully for the best results.

Find out how you can convert visitors to customers with the help of live chat software. Use this and email marketing software to do business more efficiently.

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Blogging For Your Business

Why blogging is important for your business. While blogging can seem like a daunting task, you don't need to worry - it's easy once you get the hang of it.

The internet has revolutionized the world and blogging has done the same for the online world.

A lot of businesses have turned to social media to engage their customers on a more personal level. When you think of social media, you think about social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, but there's another engagement platform, perhaps the most important: blogging.

Blogs are crucial because:

• Your competition is using it. In fact, over 40% of businesses are using blogs for their marketing purposes.
• Blogging gets you 55% more website visitors than you would if you didn't blog. More traffic, more customers.
• Companies with more than 50 blogs increased average monthly leads by 77%. The more you blog, the more leads you get.

Your customers are reading blogs every day. Sometimes, more than once. This is an opportunity to reach (not preach) your clients!

Blogging is a good way to keep your website relevant and current. A blog is a great way to get your business information out, current or future sales or events you may be hosting.

With a blog you get a chance to get feedback from people. By leaving a comment, they can let you know how you may be helping them or they can maybe give you ideas on future blogs.

With blogs you can also respond to them which gives you an opportunity to build a relationship with them before ever even talking to them! In the same time you are building your reputation as a leader.

While Facebook and Twitter are important social platforms, the best social medial campaigns go the extra mile and look at other options to firmly establish a strong online presence. 

Engaging with your customers is one of the most important things you can do for your business.

Countless blogs are updated everyday and more people are using this as an essential marketing tool. Adding articles on information on you business can pique a lot of people's interest if done right. If they like your content, they will become curious about you and go to your social networks.

A well-established blog can help influence an audience. You can get people talking. Get the buzz going. That will draw people in.

Blogs are a great way to become a leading authority. Use them to create content which will attract like-minded people.

Here is to successful blogging!

Nicki

Learn more secrets on how you can run your business online 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Nicki Jennings is always looking for ways to help people run a very successful business without spending tons of money. If you want to learn more on how to run your Online Business Systems business online click http://www.athomebusinessmom.com/mlmtraining.php to receive your FREE Network Marketing Success Secrets now.

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Good Website SEO With Meta Title and Description Tags

Many people put a great deal of effort into the sales text and content on their web pages and then fill out the off page meta title and description tags as an afterthought. Or maybe don't fill them out at all. In other cases they are left blank and filled out by the website developer just before the website is put live.

In these cases, they are making a very big mistake. Good website SEO knowledge will teach you that every meta title and description tag is extremely important, for both the search engines and the website visitors.

Writing for Website Users

When a user carries out a search on the internet they will scan through the list of titles and descriptions that are displayed on the search engine results pages (SERPs) and click the result that is most relevant to their query. If the keyword is contained in the description and title it will be shown in bold text in the results.

Sometimes the search engines won't show the meta description that is written in the tags (preferring their own interpretation), but in cases where good website SEO has been applied; this shouldn't be an issue.

So, when your title and description meta tags have both been shown in SERPs together, what exactly do you want them to say? You are in complete control here and this is where you persuade users to click on your link instead of any of the others.

Your title and description tags should be descriptive, unique and contain the keyword that you have targeted for that particular page.

Users viewing the results will want to know exactly what they'll get by clicking on your link and a good understanding of website SEO will help you write a concise and original description that either includes a promise or has a tempting call to action.

Done correctly, a well written title and description will get someone clicking on your search engine listing that is sitting in fourth place on the page rather than a poorly written result positioned at number one.

Writing for Search Engines

Search engines have got very clever at analysing web pages and understanding what they are about. Good website SEO can help the websites to be better understood by search engine algorithms. The contents of an individual web page should be restricted to just one topic and that will allow you to write better page titles and descriptions. Better meta tags will make it easier for search engines to make sense of your pages and identify your targeted keywords.

The engines are just like human users in this respect, they are looking for clues to correctly identify the content and relevancy of a single web page when compared to a particular keyword or phrase. Always keep that in mind when you are writing your meta title and description tags.

There is no conflict between what a search engine and a human visitor is ultimately looking for; they are both looking for transparency and clarity. It is just that the search engines are not human and will draw their conclusions from the words and phrases that are used on the individual page.

On the other hand, people do have feelings and will be drawn to your listing by a clever call to action or a promise.

Think like You're Writing an Advert

It is very puzzling that people will employ website SEO marketing experts to write headlines and content and invest vast amounts of time and money on their online pay-per-click adverts. But when it comes to organic search listings that appear on the very same pages as the adverts, they will just scrawl down a few very ill thought out sentences or leave them to be added by the IT guys.

But never forget just how important they actually are...

HROC are website SEO experts with years of practical, hands on experience in the online marketing workplace. If you would like to know how to promote you website on the world-wide-web in an ethical way that guarantees results, contact us by clicking here, you won't be disappointed.

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Benefits of SEO Outsourcing Services

SEO Services provide the Measure Your Website Profitability by providing an improved and significant presence on the Internet with a website that is optimized and attains increased performance through algorithmic changes and the utilization of many Internet tools to maximize marketing.

SEO Is the only way your Website will get known

SEO services are the only way to popularize your website and expose your business to the world of opportunities the Internet provides. SEO helps your website secure much higher search engine rankings; most importantly it creates the means for your potential customers to track you. It depends on several factors, and coordinating these factors is important for the success of your business. The professional SEO specialist has the expertise in many aspects that make up SEO and can coordinate all the aspects.

SEO Professional Services are fundamental to the success of any Business Website

SEO Professional services offered by companies are today comprehensive and cost-effective. Importantly, SEO companies maintain the latest search engine algorithmic changes and modifications to user search trends, they have insight into new developments and requirements set by search engines.

The right SEO strategy for your Business

SEO Professional services can plan the right strategy for your Business providing ongoing testing and a developed strategy with the use of advanced tools to keep delivering the results with the aim and Goal always to be on the first Page of the search engine with the best keywords for your Business.

SEO Professional Services Create and Developed the best Solutions

Businesses requirements are varied and the nature and scale of their business is a consideration, and SEO services are developed to ensure the target customers are reached. Professional SEO services are offered by trained and experienced content writers, with vast social networking & blogging experience, combined with ecommerce and Internet marketing expertise with a deep insight into all aspects of SEO developments and that understand the requirements and objectives offering a complete solution that is specifically designed for your Business.

Search Engine Optimization Services

SEO Professional Services provide SEO Solutions including:

• Local SEO
• Small business SEO
• Metrics analysis and analytics
• Reputation management
• PPC ads • Social media marketing
• Link building
• Conversion optimization
• Press release and article submissions
• Email campaigns

SEO Services provide, white hat techniques that deliver the results.

They initially analyze what your website and Internet marketing strategies lack. The Plan is then crafted to specifically achieve those identified targets. Most cases a complete overhaul is needed, accompanied by a fresh website or major optimization. SEO services offers it through cost-effective plans.

SEO services are a must and advantageous if understanding the exact state of your business, SEO ensures the Business has the opportunity of been profitable for you in the long run.

SEO services at Online best web traffic is a large team of experienced webmasters, web users, site owners and company leaders here to help you - webmasters of the future with all of your SEO services

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20 Tips for Successful Blogging

Everyone should have a blog, it's your most important site. Call it your authority site if you like, as this is the place where people come and find out all about you. It's not really where you should be selling directly, although some would disagree with this.

Your blog helps your readers and subscribers to connect with you, your central hub!

It also helps you promote your products and services, not other peoples. This is all about what you can provide to your readers in the way of information or help.

You can also build a list from your blog. This is ESSENTIAL! You need to build a list of people to follow you and want to learn from you.

If you don't have a blog make this a top priority.

Here are my top 20 tips for a successful blog:

1. Make your blog as attractive as possible - obvious really, if it looks hideous nobody will want to look at it, let alone read it!

2. A nice theme and professional graphics are a must

3. Have an opt-in form and/or pop up on your home page - there are simple plugins to get your sign up page on a blog for autoresponders like Aweber, so there is no excuse. Use a pop up too if you think people are going to leave without signing up.

4. Less is more, avoid bells and whistles - Don't clutter the site with unnecessary nonsense

5. Make your content the best you possibly can - spend time writing your posts to make them interesting and useful.

6. Make sure all the content is 100% original (no PLR) - Don't fill your site with articles taken from somebody elses site. The exception to this is using articles from ezine directorys. If you do this make sure there is still more of your own content on there, and always, always include the author's bio box with a live link to show where you got it from. You have been warned!!

7. Encourage comments - This took a while for me to pick up on, but of course a site with no comments is a dead site. Always put a call to action at the end of your post, even if it just for a comment.

8. Write for people, not search engines - So many people out there try writing their posts by keyword stuffing to try and outwit the search engines - Don't bother, it's a waste of time. If it reads like rubbish the search engines will read it as rubbish too.

9. Be yourself - People like people. If you write your posts with some human elements in it, like humour, those reading it will probably want to read more. Isn't that the point, to have lots of raving fans keep coming back for more?

10. Proofread your posts before they go live - there's nothing that annoys readers more than spelling mistakes. The odd one is okay, but I've read many articles that are littered with them. It's not necessary, use a spellcheck!

11. Add images to your posts - Always good to make your blog look interesting, but keep them relevant to the topic subject.

12. Make sure images are legal - Please don't take images from 'Google images' as these belong to other people and are therefore illegal. There are many photographic sites out there, such as fotolia or photobucket where you can get great images for about $1. Anyone can afford that, so keep your site legal.

13. Consider guest posts - Try finding other experts in your niche and asking if they'd like to write a guest post on a particular subject. If you don't ask, you don't get, and besides, it's more exposure for them too.

14. Try to post at least once per week - I'm not good at this, I know, life gets in the way, but do try and keep some consistency otherwise your readers won't come back.

15. Try to link to other related posts - There's a great plugin that will help here called Zemanta. It gives you the option to link to other related posts that you've written or others pulled from the internet complete with thumnail. It's great to use at bottom of post and Google loves it!

16. Inform your subscribers of new posts - Everytime I post I send an email to my subscribers. Great for keeping in contact with them, but without them thinking you're selling something all the time.

17. Share your post on Facebook - There are plugins to help with this too. The one I use is onlywire. When you submit your post, it also sends a link to Twitter, Facebook and about 20 other social media and bookmarking sites, as long as you've signed up to them first.

18. Reply to comments made - This is just being curteous, and makes your readers feel there is a real person behind your blog.

19. Use social media tools to help your content go viral - As above really, but if you're going to all this trouble to create great content, you want to tell everyone about it, don't you?

20. Ask readers to like and share your content and they will - You must ASK readers to like or share your content. If you don't, they won't, it's as simple as that.

Phew, this is quite a comprehensive list of things to remember, most of which are obvious and straightforward. Don't panic though, you won't get penalised for forgetting something, but if you do make your blog the best you can, the search engines will love you for it, and so will your readers.

About the Author

To discover more information on internet marketing and blogging and how I can help you for FREE,

please visit my blog and sign up to my newsletter, you'll be glad you did.

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How To Find Sites To Guest Blog

Over the last few years, guest blogging has been all the rage for it's ability to build high quality links and drive traffic to a website. Article directories were once all the rage and the next step in the progression was guest posting. As effective as guest posting can be, the problem is that everyone goes to the biggest sites in the industry with a request which is terribly ineffective. The large sites are very selective in which guest post they select and only accept a few in a given time period. This leads to many wasting their time awaiting responses from the large sites when their time could have been used more effectively on sites that would love to have their guest post.

The best way to find sites that are looking for your content is to use Google. Most of the sites that allow guest posting use the same page titles for submissions that makes it easy to find them. Simply go to Google and search for the terms "guest posting submissions" or "guest posting guidelines." The quotation marks must be included in the search query to work effectively. The quotation marks are a search modifier that Google allows to indicate that the word within the quotation marks need to be found in that order. This eliminates a lot of the bad search results and narrows down the list of sites that are of decent quality. I would also recommend using some industry keywords with the above search terms to further target relevant sites. This will increase the likelihood that your posts will be accepted.

It is also very important to thoroughly read the guidelines for each site. You will waste your time if you do not take the time to familiarize yourself with the content of the site and the best topics before submitting a request. This will immediately indicate to the site owner that you have not read the content of the site and have not taken the time to show you really care. This is really just glorified spam when the proper effort is not put forth. To show the site owner that you will provide value, send a list of proposed post titles with your request and some people recommend sending the entire post at the start. This approach will be more effective than a canned letter that is the same for every request that is made. The extra effort is worth it and will be rewarded with acceptance.

This article was written by Brian May who has done extensive research on successful guest blogging and guest posting strategies.

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How to promote your Blog

How to promote your blog on Facebook!

I believe Facebook can be a big time sucking, attention-grabbing whirlwind, that most new entrepreneurs get caught up in. It deters them from really building their business and promoting their blogs properly. Notice I said NEW entrepreneurs, here's why:

While it may be a great place for the "established" marketers to promote and build their business, it can often be a major distraction to those who are just trying to find their way. Sometimes Facebook can appear to be like those High School years, 

all social and no work. Your friends are there watching your every move. Some may be interested in your business opportunity but for the most part they are there to socialize, while you're trying to build a business.

But What About Business Groups And Community?

There is a tendency to pay too much attention to the success stories others in the community are posting in the group. While the sharing of success stories can be very encouraging at times, it can cause the new person to lose track of their task at hand and even question proven strategies.

What About The Ads... ?

The overwhelming number of very effective ads and copy can side track you. Think about it, you're trying to learn how to write a compelling blog post and there is an ad selling you strategies on how to write compelling blogs. Or, your desire to generate more sales kicks in and there is an ad on how to generate 50,000,000 leads in one day. You're promoting your blog and there is blog post from me on how to promote your blog.

There is no way a person new to Internet Marketing can succeed if they don't rid themselves of the distracting noise and shiny objects in their space. Success in any business requires a tremendous amount of focus and discipline to accomplish consistency in business. That means, a tight leash must be placed on all possible distractions. That includes Facebook.

My Approach To Promoting My Blog On Facebook:

• I spend a maximum of 15 minutes combined, including activities in my groups
• Post my content with the page link.
• I post updates on my page.
• Leave comments and congrats in my groups.
• Answer any questions or friend request.
• Then I'm out... 15 minutes flat.

If I stay any longer I am tapping into time that I should be using to create content for my market. I also submit my post in order to promote my blog. The usual suspects are:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Google plus
• Orkut
• Bebo

You can also bookmark your site at: 

• Reddit
• StumbleUpon
• BlogEngage
• Digg
• Delicious

My theory is, if your content is valuable, well targeted and syndicated, the right person will find you. Spend more time providing value to your market and less time chasing the market.

Liked this article by Curt Worrell? Check out this one http://curtworrell.com/bisness-building-stratergies/robe-fore-with-some-crazy-seo-basics/ where he discusses how to rank your blog posts.

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Search Engine Optimization Techniques for Blogs

Fact, keywords when properly used in the content of your website have exponential power. They are the most magnetic force to attract the search engines. Most of Google's annual $25 billion in revenue is keyword based. These simple little magnifying words are the life-blood of every SEO ranked website.

Read on... ,

The way you word your article and how your conversation flows with injections of "magnetic keyword juice" will determine your ranking with Google.

Here's something to think about and keep at the tip of your pen as you craft your powerful article.

Think about the offline world, words are also magnetic. Words do incredible things to all of us. They are the most influential form of conversion man has ever known.

We are like search engine snipers seeking out those nuggets of wisdom. We are searching for words that satisfies our wants and needs in a free-flowing gravitating way.

Read on... ,

The search engines do the same in the online world. If a potential customer types in the search bar, "family lawyer in Billings", the search engines seek out those very words and shows the visitors pages of lawyers with those keywords in their content. The top ranked sites suits the Google criteria and are the ones that satisfies the snipers most.

Now bear with me for the icing on the cake for you when you create your content for your website. It doesn't matter if you are a dentist in Alabama, a nurse in Hawaii, a mechanic in Arkansas, a plumber in Timbuctoo, the power of magnetic keywords for SEO remains the same.

Google and search engine snipers are clever. They will seek out your website and determine if your content is worthy for their searchers. They are looking for free-flowing, informative sites with images and videos.

Listed below are some things to keep in mind:

• No duplicate content, do not copy from another online source.

• Over exaggerated with the same keywords. (1 to 2 % of keywords for every 500 words is ample)

• Avoid poor content, make it a good article for your readers to get quality information.

• Use synonyms instead of keywords, eg: for the word lawyer, attorney or professional law consultant.

• Keep your anchor text varied, eg: linking to quality outside sources and linking within your website to other pages of worthy content for your reader.

A great example of a website with expert internal linking is Wikipedia. This is one of the reasons they are extremely well liked by Google and are one of their top ranked websites.

Google wants your reader to have a great informative experience when they visit your website. They want to rank you high because the visitor likes what you have to offer and continues to return to it.

Just like you and I, Google and all the other search engines are also in business to keep happy returning customers. They offer you all the tools and want you to understand and implement the concept of proper SEO and the magnetism of keywords.

Do you need help with your website and getting customers through the door? I invite you to click on the link to get this proven system for free! http://webconsultingdepot.com

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