Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

2607.10

We build and write blogs in Exeter . . . oh yes we do!

Posted by Optix in Company News, Design, News, Social Media

3 blogsThere’s no denying that one of the biggest shifts online in recent years has been the uptake of Social Media. In fact, it’s estimated that 1 in 6 minutes online is spent on Social Media Sites. Blogs are a fantastic part of the Social Media landscape. They are an invaluable tool for forward-thinking organisations looking to attract new interest in their products and/or services.

 Interested in a blog?

We’ve put together the following packages to make the process of setting up a blog as quick and easy as possible. Each package is powered by the state-of-the-art publishing platform WordPress, which is renowned for its focus on aesthetics, web standards and usability.

 Standard Features on all blogs by Optix

  • Multiple author support – allowing multiple contributors to add content (including photos and videos to enhance the user experience) to the blog. This can be restricted so some users are unable to post blogs without an administrator’s approval.
  • Ability to categorise posts – allowing new visitors to easily find post relevant to their needs.
  • Comments – visitors to your site can leave comments on individual entries and, through Trackback or Pingback, can comment on their own site. You can enable or disable comments on a per-post basis.
  • Users – WordPress has a built-in user registration system that (if you choose) can allow people to register and maintain profiles and leave authenticated comments on your blog. You can optionally close comments for non-registered users.
  • “widget” which blocks spam comments and trackbacks managed by Disqus
  • Blog stats – letting you see how your blog is being accessed and used
  • Disqus comments – allows you to manage and reply to comments on your blog and for users to track comments via email
  • Share & Facebook button – allowing visitors to share your posts on their social networks

 

Standard Design Option

This entry level solution will see you have upto 2 hours for theme personalisation – this is generally taking a current free theme and working with this.  We can provide you with a selection of sites to choose your theme from, if needed.

 Professional Design Option

Let our award winning design team create a custom design for your blog, ensuring the overall look and feel is in keeping with your Brand. A member of our design team will meet with you to ascertain what you would like to achieve with the design and provide you with a proposed look and feel for the site. Up to two design alterations (if required) are included.

Additional Services

We can help in other areas too…

Social Media integration

A blog should just be a part of your social media plan; we can work with and design Twitter, YouTube and other social media profiles. We have some great examples, so please just ask.

Copywriting 

We have a dedicated copywriter who can provide, edit or write full articles for your business, he is a professional journalist who has written for many of the Nationals including the Guardian.

Email Marketing 

With our proprietary Email Marketing System, you can quickly create professionally branded and personalised emails, manage your contacts, target distribution, and evaluate campaign success through an intuitive interface. We have a plugin that can integrate data collection from your blog.

Blog Admin Training

Learn how to get the most out of your blog with our Blog Admin Training course. Taking place in Exeter, your trainer will talk you through how to add, edit and remove blogs, schedule posts and administrate comments. You will also be provided with practical tips and advice for getting the most out of your blog and how to attract and retain a following.

Get Started Today!

Call us now on 01392 667766 or email info@optixsolutions.co.uk

2207.10

5 things you can do to help yourself today

Posted by Dan Cave in E-Commerce, Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media

Of all the areas covered where people can have the most impact and input, SEO is the one where time can be spent to maximum benefit.

This list contains 5 simple things you as a site owner can do yourself, to easily help your site rank well without needing a drop of technical knowledge. All it will cost is a little of your time, and you might even enjoy it!

1)  Go to Yahoo Answers and answer as many simple questions as you can. Cite your website as the source.

2) Sign up to forums in your niche area. Provide information to users, be charming, answer their questions and put a link in the footer to your site.

3) Submit your site to niche directories, add your link and information to them.

4) Write, write and write some more. You are an expert in your field and the web is full of people looking for knowledge. Build it and they will come (and buy).

5) Promote that content via Social Media and by contacting people to let them know it’s there. Having good content is not enough. Make it easy for people to share this info by posting it on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and any other platforms you use.

Conclusion

The beauty of these techniques is you do not need to be a genius programmer to take action on them. All you need is to get into gear and do them. Then you can sit back and see the rewards as your site ranks higher, your reputation becomes more credible and you increase your sales.

1407.10

How Social Media can save your ‘SEO Bacon’!

Posted by Dan Cave in SEO, Social Media

Today I came across an unfortunate soul (Ed. Not one of our clients) who had been naughty and got him/herself dropped from the Google results completely. In fairness it may have been a competitor knocking them out of the results with an SEO attack, or perhaps something they had done by mistake but all the same, their main website was nowhere to be seen.

To most companies this would have been a disaster and could ruin the investment in their website.

Social Media Love

However, despite the lack of the main company website in the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages) they were still dominating Google due to the vast number of social media profiles they have out there. Of the top 10 results every last one was a positive mention of the brand with a link to them – not bad I think you’ll agree.

That got me thinking, while it’s not an ideal situation, isn’t that so much better than just disappearing overnight? That is what would have happened otherwise, without the social stuff like competitions, reviews, blogs, Facebook, linkedIn & Twitter etc…

Our director, Alastair Banks wrote about the importance of having a ‘social footprint‘ a few months ago on his blog which covers this point as well.

So there you go, another reason to engage in social media. As if you needed one!


Update:

The site in question took my advise and submitted a reconsideration request via the Google Webmaster tools and is now back in action.