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You can make your #blog attractive to #search#engines by making it attractive to potential readers. That means adding keywords but not too many.  Stuffing your blog or article with keywords is like wearing too much makeup.

Along with keywords, you want to maintain a conversational flow. That could mean starting your paragraphs with strong transitional sentences, offering links to other resources, or engaging your readers in conversation by asking questions.

Here are ten more tips:

1. Include keywords in the title that draw readers in and allow search bots to categorize Web pages better.

2. Use short paragraphs, lists, bullet points, or other devices that allow readers to skim.

3. Link to blogs, articles, or other online resources that offer valuable content and/or resources.

4. Don’t offer information 500 other bloggers offer.

5. Your description (this appears in search engines below the title) should pose a question or challenge, offer something free, or otherwise draw people in.

6. Use black font on a white or light background. No white font on a black background.

7. Use Arial, New Times Roman, or another easy to read font.

8. If you use a CMS such as WordPress or Drupal add something personal, link to other blogs, and allow people to comment. Unless you’re Seth Godin, your content alone won’t grab people’s attention.

9. Spell and grammar check with a tool like PaperRater. You’re going to misspell words and use improper grammar. Don’t lose sleep over it.

10. Embolden or underline important text to let readers and search engines know what information you consider the most important.

Can you think of any other tips to give blogs sex appeal?

Stay social my friends,

Erick

Last Friday, I alluded to selfish tweeters. Not long ago I tweeted a question to someone about a product of theirs. They replied to my tweet within an hour.

Over the next several weeks, I responded to several of their conversational tweets, including ones that talked about places they went to and foods they tried. They never responded to any of those other tweets.

In one of their tweets, they tweeted that their connection to social media included the latest technology. They went on to tweet that if they didn’t respond to someone’s tweet, that person could consider themselves ignored. That makes me feel special. Actually, it explains the recent decline in their Klout score.

If you’re only conversing through Twitter and other social media with people whom you know will or might effect your bottom line, such as clients and potential customers, you might want to redraw your bottom line.

Think about it this way, when you walk into a store that sells fancy items like jewelry, you expect the employees to treat you the same as any other customer regardless of what you look like or how you dress.

With mediums like Facebook and Twitter, the customer service experience doesn’t begin when a person walks into a store. It begins when that person tries to interact with you using social media.

If you’re social media bottom line must always bring profit to your company or include the high probability of leading to profit, you just don’t get social media. If your social media bottom line does not include fostering relationships with people who try to interact with you, regardless of their business relationship to you, or potential thereof, you just don’t get social media.

That doesn’t mean you have to respond to every tweet. It does mean every Tweet you respond to should tell your customers and potential customers that you care about them and not just the money they can or cannot bring to your company.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

Of my 18 Twitter lists, there are only 20 people on my Conversationalists list. Below are the five I engage with the most:

@AlexTuthill88 – Alex is a riot. She likes to talk about Mafia pigeons, juggling chimpanzees, her dedication to Souplantation, and more.

@40Deuce – Sheldon Levine started the conversation when he commented that he enjoyed my Playing the Social Media Market blog.

@jimgrayonline – One of Jim Gray’s guys designed my site. I’ve made additions, including apps and more; but if you enjoy my site, Mr. Gray is the man to talk to.

@MichelleSedas – Michelle is an author, today is her daughter’s first day of kindergarten, and she is my newest friend on GoodReads.com

@IamFeliciaSmith – Felicia and I started talking because we have similar tastes in music.

It amazes me when a person tweets ‘Good morning, World. How are you?’ or other conversational tweet, but does not reply when I tweet back with a ‘hello’ and question asking how they are. It confounds me when a person or company calls themselves a social media expert, but only talks about themselves, only talks to their clients, or doesn’t try to engage. It baffles me how often people don’t tweet “@ErickWrites Thanks for the retweet” when I retweet something they tweeted.

I’m always on the lookout for people to engage with. I purposely say ‘good morning’ to people when they say good morning. I intentionally answer random questions. And I retweet what looks retweetable.

The average Klout score is 11. Do you know yours? Do you care? You should. Let’s engage.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

In this scenario, Facebook is Tiffany—the popular cheerleader—and the new Facebook “Send” button is what it’s wearing. Klout is that nerdy student who knows everything about everyone. Klout knows who’s talking to whom, what they’re talking about, and who’s listening.

Yesterday, a day after Facebook introduced the new “Send” button, Klout rolled out the beta version of the New Klout. Google “Facebook’s new send button,” and you’ll get more than 10 million results. Google “Klout Redesign,” and you get less than One million.

For those caught up in the gossip of Facebook’s new “Send” button, you may have missed the news about Klout’s redesign.

Here are some new Klout fatures:

Perks – Influencers will be invited to take part in special offers they can then tweet about or share on their Facebook pages. Though, one’s acceptance of those offers or decision to talk about those offers does not effect one’s Klout score.

Lists – Create lists of people to better watch their Klout scores.

Influencers – See what topics anyone is influential about, who influences whom, who influences you, and whom you influence. (This is one Klout needs to work on, as a person is not necessarily influenced by a person just because they thank them for a mention or a retweet.)

Comparison – Compare your Klout score to anyone else’s or even those of two other people to give you a chance to study how to raise your Klout score.

They’ll roll-out more features, and they’re open to receiving feedback, so check out their blog and chime in.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

#QR#Codes connect print media to digital media by allowing smart phone users to scan them like bar codes that send them to a Web page. When programming them, consider your audience’s whereabouts and needs. They’re most likely not at home or near a computer. They’re probably at a bookstore, library, book reading, or coffeehouse.

Ideas of how to use your QR Code:

1. Offer online coupons.

2. Send thank you message for attending an event and offer coupons for their next purchase.

3. Offer coupons only applicable for purchases at that event.

4. Post a video or podcast about you, your book, or places or characters in your book.

5. Post a book trailer.

6. Send an SMS message thanking readers for buying your book.

7. Set-up a Web scavenger hunt or other mobile game.

8. Set-up an app that updates readers about upcoming speaking engagements, book signings, or other events.

9. Offer coupons to restaurants, movies, or other places.

10. Point them to your Facebook fan page, Twitter feed, or other social media site.

11. Embed them throughout your book. Point them to longer URL in your footnotes or endnotes.

12. Point them to quotes or short reviews.

13. Help potential readers purchase your book online.

14. Preset it to go to a video of an event you’re at, and upload a video later.

15. Offer a recommended reading list.

16. Offer your newsletter.

17. Offer video interviews about you.

18. Embed your contact information. Ask readers to send comments or questions.

19. Set-up an augmented reality webcam of a weekly book chat.

20. Set-up your own social networking site.

21. Set-up a survey and offer coupons for completing it.

22. Set-up a questions page and answer questions in upcoming video chats.

23. Set-up a photo sharing site and upload photos from an event.

24. Allow your readers to sign-up for group messaging and schedule group chats.

25. Offer Groupons for purchasing your book.

Can you think of other book marketing ideas for QR codes?

Stay social my friends,

Erick

In order to understand the future of social media, one must understand the future of technology. Check out this video, which shows how Pranav Mistry’s SixthSense integrates the digital and physical worlds.

Using SixthSense, I foresee we will point to an article in a magazine and “Like” it. Two people will “friend” each other on Facebook or follow each other on Twitter by shaking hands. People will converse, one will mention they enjoy Italian food, the other will mention a great Italian restaurant three blocks away, and the first will “Like” it by smiling.

The aesthetic value of social media (interdependent value based on physical interactions) has existed since the world’s first social interaction. Current technologies (Facebook’s “Like” button and Google’s +1 button) rely on an augmented value of social media (value based on the use of artificial intelligence). SixthSense will integrate these two values by encouraging people to exchange ideas and emotions through human interactions they can further exchange in the digital world.

Think of it this way, when investing money, it is better to invest in that which gives the greater return over the longer period of time. Apply that to relationships. There is usually greater emotional return in developing relationships with people we interact with in the physical world. For that reason, one should invest more time in the aesthetic value of social media than in the augmented value of social media.

In other words, get out there, shake some hands, and smile.  You’ll add greater value to your life and the lives of those around you.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

It’s not how many people read your blog, hear you speak at a conference, become your Facebook friends/fans or Twitter followers, or anything else. The basic element of social media is that element of social media that allows social media to exist. Or at least to function properly.

If you meet someone, tell that person where you work or what you do, see that person a week later, and they forget what you told them, are you offended? Probably not. If you meet someone, tell that person where you went to college or the name of your favorite sports team, see that person a week later, and they forget what you told them, are you offended? Probably not. If you meet someone, tell them your name, see them a week later, and they forget your name, are you offended? Not necessarily. However, if that person forgets your name more than once, you might get the impression that if the basic element of your identity (your name) doesn’t matter to that person, you don’t matter to that person.

The ability to identify with one another’s likes, interests, personalities, and more allows us to build relationships. A person’s name is the basic element of a person’s identity. Therefore, since social media is about building relationships, names are the basic element of social media.

Tips to help you remember names:

• Ask them to repeat it.
• Ask them to spell it.
• Repeat it.
• Spell it out loud.
• If it’s an unusual name, ask them to pronounce it. Then, repeat it until you pronounce it correctly.
• Listen actively. (Don’t think about what you’re going to say. Maintain eye contact, nod, and repeat what they say to yourself.)
• Develop a pneumonic device.
• If it’s a client/customer, look at something with their name on it (credit card, document they signed, etc.) and make a mental note of it.
• If all else fails, and you do forget, ask them.
• If you’re uncomfortable asking them, ask someone else.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

Twitter tools come and go. There are some worth using and others worth no more than a cursory glance.  Throughout the last few years, we’ve said goodbye to several Twitter tools, and we’ve said hello to new ones.  Here’s a top ten list of great Twitter tools worth checking out:

ManageFlitter – (Paid/Free) Find out who on your list doesn’t follow you, hasn’t tweeted in 30 days or more, and more.

The Archivist – Enter a keyword or username to discover stats on top users, tweet vs. retweet, top words, top URL, and source.

Back Tweets – (Paid) Discover how influential a Twitter user is, how influential a certain message or keyword is, and more.

TweetStats – Enter a username, click “Graph my Tweets,” and discover how often a person tweets, the time of day they tweet, whom they interact with, and more.

TwitterCal – Add events to your Google calendar just by sending a direct message to @gcal.

Trendsmap – See a real time map of popular terms on Twitter according to location.

Twingr – Create a micro-blogging community for you and your friends, co-workers, or like-minded tweeters.

SocialOomph – (Paid/Free) Schedule tweets, track keywords, view mentions and retweets, create a Twitter search engine, and more.

Hootsuite – (Paid/Free) A social media dashboard that integrates Twitter, Facebook, Linked and more (includes analytics).

Klout – Enter a Twitter username to discover how influential that person is, what kind of a tweeter they are, the topics they tweet about the most, and more.

Are there any other Twitter tools you would add to this list?  I’d love to know.

Stay social my friends,

Erick

Think of social media monitoring tools like garages where you can store social media boxes (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). You no longer need to worry about outside elements, but the social media garage does not take away the social media clutter.

Let me explain. When I move, which is sometimes more often than Jason Bourne, I often think I should list specific items in those boxes. I never do. Even though my boxes are in a garage, their location does not solve the problem of needing to dig through them to find specific items. The location of the boxes just makes the boxes easier to find.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a huge proponent of social media monitoring tools. If you would have asked me a year ago about the future of social media, I would have said social media monitoring sites need to offer ways for people to listen and respond. While that is still true, another component of the future of social media is apps for smart phones that use voice recognition technology to allow people to update their social media status by talking.

If I wanted to go George Orwell on you, I’d blog about technology that allows people to update their status just by thinking. That technology will happen. For now and the foreseeable future, apps that allow people to update their Facebook, Twitter, and other social media statuses by talking is the future of social media.

Voice recognition technology has been around for at least 25 years, companies have integrated it with the World Wide Web for at least the past ten years, and those and other companies have integrated that technology with smart phones and social media sites for the past few years.

So, why do I say this technology is the future of social media instead of just telling you it exists? Because while that technology exists, other technologies, including social media sites, social media aggregation sites, and social media monitoring sites should integrate with those voice recognition apps to offer more seamless ways for people to listen, respond, and integrate with social media.

Voice recognition apps that integrate with smart phones and social media sites:

Optimus 7 by LG Shoutout by Promptu Vlingo Lighthouse SQ7 MID IM+ by Shapeservices

Blogs I’ve written on social media monitoring:

The Omission Factor of Social Media Monitoring Branding Your Identity with Integrity

Playing the Social Media Market Identifying Your Audience’s Common Denominator

The Value of Monitoring the Social Web: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4

Monitoring the ROI of Social Media Marketing

Using Google Analytics as a Social Media Monitoring Tool

Listening to the Conversational Web Techrigy Allows You to Play e-God (Techrigy’s Alterian)

Stay social my friends,

Erick