In one of our earliest posts – we asked; ‘ if your content lacks good, strong keywords then how do you expect others to find you? ‘  This lead us to chatting about Keywords. I am still getting so many questions about this subject, I wanted to just reiterate the basics. Keywords are the words that your customer/client would type into  Google  to find you.  If you were a catering company, I would take a guess that ‘catering hire’, book caterer’, ‘party food’ and ‘event catering

I believe, backlinks are a crucial part of online SEO.  Obviously this has to be in tandem with everything else  SEO-wise but it really is worth taking the time out to do this as your time will most definitely not be wasted. Set aside 30 minutes a day and make a plan of who you will contact and who you need to link to your site.  Don’t just hink major players either, sometimes, if you start at the bottom, there is only one way to go.  Up!  I have written 8 easy steps you can

What are promoted Tweets I hears you cry? Well, a promoted Tweet is an ordinary Tweet that has been purchased by advertisers who want to reach a wider audience or to engage with their existing followers. They are clearly labeled as ‘Promoted’ so you know which ones are being paid for and the ones that aren’t. They can be retweeted, replied to, favorited and so on.  With the same concept of the Facebook ads as mentioned in my post last week, it helps you to reach out to target

At last! we Google is catching up!  Evolving all the time, the new Google + features bring it bang up to date and much easier to navigate.  It certainly is a platform to get into and I can see this developing into an essential social media channel for business in the very near future. Here’s the low down on the new features! 1.First of all there is a brand new header image and profile photo option that makes your page stand out and gives Facebook a run for its money. I have m

Ok – so we now know how to set up an ad campaign on Facbeook. But where to drive them is just as important. Driving fans to a page that contains a “ Reveal Tab ” hiding exclusive Fan content is the most effective way to convert visitors to fans.  And now Facebook has evolved somewhat, we can now add custom tabs and pages and tailor make them so only fans who have ‘liked’ your page can see certain content.  Genius! Therefore, it would be a waste of an opportunity if you just d

Monday I spoke about split testing your ads. You get that now!? Then comes the content part. It is integral for you to think clearly about what you want to say on your ad. Firstly you have to recognise what you want to achieve from it. Sales? Promotion? Click throughs? Redirection? News? What do you want people to do when they have read it? Where do you want to take them? Now, have you looked at your keywords recently? If you have answered ‘No!’ then thats next on the age

Happy Monday people. This week we are going to chat about Facebook’s advertising platform and how to run a brilliant campaign that will increase sales, likes, click throughs etc.  We cover the basics here on the OPT blog so Novices, this is for you! So, why run a Facebook ad? The biggest plus? You can target specific demographics and the targeting options are wide.  You can really pinpoint who you want to hit as people share all kinds of information with Facebook about what t

Happy Friday people, So, you have a nice big juicy database to utilise right? Great! todays post is all about writing that perfect newsletter and reaching out to that database on a regular basis (not too regularly though!).  Whether in the form of an email subscription, a simple blog or a tangible letter through the post, these are important. Its another way to deliver content to your audience and although ‘the newsletter’ has had bad press over the years, I believe that they

Those not familiar with Facebook Insights here’s a brief explanation.They are analytics that give you better insight into what your community wants from your pages.  It centres around interaction and development of fans. Its the perfect way to measure your social media performance.  Up on the left sidebar underneath your profile pic, you will find  Insights . Here are the definitions of the main Facebook Insights . 1.  Main Insights:  Here you can view every post you have wr

What Actually Motivates Us To Share? We covered a few points on the motivation of sharing last week.  Here are a few more tips… 1.Interesting or Insightful Material. People share material because they have find it useful or think others might find it interesting in some way shape or form. We are motivated to show others the stuff we think they will love. Alternatively,  people might share content which is relevant to them only,  but not necessarily the recipient -showing off

Following on from Monday’s post about getting your content read, we have learnt that the psychology of a certain subject is key. We have also learnt that exposure, awareness and motivation drives people to share. Your audience is looking for validation. Some things haven’t changed since primary school. We are want our mates to think we are brilliant.  The way we do that online is through the content we share. 68% of The New York Times study participants said they share conten

Ever wonder how to get your content read in a plethora of online information? I want to break down what makes people engage and help understand why your audience shares some something. Every parent knows that sharing is one of the first things to teach a child.  Some take to it like a duck to water, others need a bit more of a push. With online copy and promotion content, obviously you have to write stuff that stands out from the competition but there is a  science to sharing

Happy Monday people! Hope you’re weekend was a restful one. I thought a nice colourful subject to ease us into the week was the order of the day.  We all know that colour is important, especially when choosing the right one for your company, brand and promo material.  In one instance it could change someones perception of what you do and how you do it.  That is why you should take time and either think or re-evaluate what schemes you are using right now. According to KISSMetr

We all want a memorable landing page on our sites right? But a well designed front page has so many elements to consider, not just the colours, graphics & images. Unfortunately. Here’s my top 10 musts for a fabulous landing page: A good looking headline. Seems obvious? well you’d be amazed at how many people are trying to be too clever here. Do some research and ask people if they GET it? Also – if you are running Adwords, make sure the keywords are consistent. The headlin

Such a complex subject right? Don’t be scared! It’s pretty easy to understand the basics of SEO, search engine optimisation .  Its a local, sometimes mathematical way of aiding your sites ranking on Google and other search engines. A hugely important step that’s overlooked many a time by beginners. Think of it as two separate roads.  On and Offline. With Online SEO , search engines need to know what your website is about in order to rank it properly.  Although Google admitted

Not another social media site to learn, sign up for and manage (just in case it gets big) I hear you cry!! Well, unfortunately, I am about to give it a big old hand wave! Coming from my online pr angle, its a fabulously easy way of sharing.  A few optimised words and lots of lovely pictures… In a nutshell, you ‘pin’ pictures up on a board on your wall for others to see and share. Pinterest is great on so many levels but for example; if you are a stylist/photographer/artist/tr

So you realise you have to be online right?  Whatever it is you do, you need an online presence.  It’s essential in today’s economy. Here’s 5 easy ways to make sure you are doing all you can! Choose a USERNAME that you can use throughout all your social media channels, blogs and sites. It really makes life simple when sharing your content. The same goes for images.  Make sure you use the same one throughout.  And, if possible, try to use a face rather than a logo.  People res

To start churning out eye grabbing content is an art.  I don’t care what anyone else says.  Whether you are a small business, an individual or a brand. It simply HAS to hold peoples attention.  It makes your brand distinctive and creates a loyal fan base, which will eventually become productive and drive sales. Now whether you are creating content to bring people back to your site, or whether you are building a brand online the ultimate goal is to make money from whatever it

People..listen up! We are living in an economy of ideas. Thank the blooming Lord! it wasn’t until I spoke with my number 1 geek friend the other day that I put 2 and 2 together.  Yes! it’s my time! You know, that time when all the stars aline and you feel something big is going to happen in your water. Well, not so much your water, more like your gut.  Anyway, It’s a time where a good idea and well planned implementation thrive.  An era where little old me (AND YOU) can make

Tweets that are filled with hashtags get 5% fewer click-throughs than those without hashtags. Say  Social Media B2B .  So why use them? I hear you cry.  Well, I can only take from this that you have to use them sparingly and at the right time.  Hashtags, when talking about a specific subject or event obviously help you join in the conversation and network with people that are talking about the same thing, but if you are using them loosely, for example, #ireland #typical #gras