Facebook Likes Suck, Focus On Authentic Customers Not Likes

Are you a small business that is mind boggled by dozens of social media sites vying for your time?

It feels like everyday there is a new social media App or website that wants your businesses attention and that of your clients. Let’s focus on Facebook specifically, this lesson is applicable to other social networks too.

Facebook page posts are not being show as much today as they did in years past. Your fan ROI is dropping off a cliff.

Are you spending time asking  people, existing customers or potential customers to “Like Us” on Facebook? You are not alone, for years Facebook has attracted businesses to their platform with the intention of letting the business access their huge user base. Facebook has over 1.4 billion registered accounts in 2015, it’s a market that can’t be ignored.

The idea, build a fanpage, promote your page and they will come. That was awesome for Facebook, with every business in town promoting Facebook, and their fan page. Many compaies ran TV commercials and only promoted Facebook, neglecting to show their website (Toyota.com). This was an effort for businesses to grow their Facebook page and then post about their products and reap the future “free views”.

Nothing in life is free.

You have full control of YourBusiness.com. If you have 1000 or 100,000 Facebook fans, tomorrow those could be obsolete.  Think AOL or Myspace, gone. After each platform comes and goes, but you still have the website that your business revolves around. Client list and email subscribers are owned by your business, not Facebook.

In 2015 organic (unpaid) Facebook posts continue a downward path to zero, showing up less and less in users newsfeed.

FULL Report HERE at Ogilvy 

Facebook is a publicly traded company (FB), so they need to return a profit to their investors. The Facebook algorithm that delivers posts in your news feed needs to create revenue. Paid posts by companies continue to receive a higher share of space compared to unpaid organic posts from the Facebook pages you like.

It’s that simple, paid posts are given VIP access, organic posts are fading away. Maybe extinct?

What can you do?

1. Pay for ads and ultimately point them to your website and convert them to a sale. Grow you brand and nurture leads at your website. If people really care, they can follow you on Facebook, but the priority is providing value and selling them your goods.
2. Don’t neglect your business site. Social media complements your business, so don’t let it become the center of your business and cry with an algorithm changes, killing your organic social media posts overnight.

ALWAYS build your business website, publish great content, collect emails and nurture leads. Convert buyers into fans because they love your product, that’s authentic, versus buying likes without a defined goal.

All of the social networks are feeders, so leverage their user base to build your business audience. You should always focus on refinement of converting website visitors into buyers/customers.

Last Minute Note as this post was getting posted.

Facebook is testing fully integrated purchases within their platform. You need to sell where customers are, but keep your branding in mind (READ). You want customers to remember the product is your brand, not some “facebook” generic purchase.

The main take away!

You do not own Facebook and those fans/likes. Your business website is then center of your business universe, not a social network that can change and you lose your followers overnight. You OWN YOUR WEBSITE so take control of it.

If you need business consulting and a social media strategy, contact Next Channel Media today.

Increase Social Media Views, The Best Days and Time To Post

What is the best social media post time? Okay, just take the following infographics with a grain of salt and think about it being a starting point of your strategy, not a bible.

Know your users and where they view your content. Demographic; Tech guy or gal, upper 20s, try Twitter. If your buyers are girls, 18 to 22, look at Instagram. If you want to target 32 to 48 year old mothers, hop on the Pinterest train. Doing local SEO marketing for your business, use Google+ for the location benefit. Professionals, use LinkedIn. Each network is a bit different.

This is all part of your social media strategy.

It might be free to post on social media, but it takes time, which is money. Or your business pays a company to manage your social media efforts. So is it really free? Hell no. Get a strategy.

Many brands will find that 80% of their social network posts should be focused on the 1-3 networks that produce the best results.

Nike is on all of the social networks, but the local Japanese restaurant might to focus solely on their Facebook Page and Twitter, since their time and budget is a lot more limited.

Also note, organic Facebook Fan Page posts are being shown less and less. Why? Facebook is stuffing users feeds with more sponsored posts, leaving less room for your free posted fan page promotions. Remember all that work building “Fans and Likes” on Facebook, they are becoming worth less and less. You have control of your business website, always keep that in mind. 

Here are a few info graphics of when to post for the best results compiled by Fast Company magazine.

WARNING!!!  This is a starting block ONLY, refine and move your business posts to match what works. Nike and Ito Neighborhood Sushi have different goals and offers. Marketing engagement is a constant analysis of information and adjustment. Maybe late afternoon before making dinner plans is the best time to post for Ito Sushi.

The Take Away

1. Identify Your Users, Buyer Persona (age, income, gender, etc)
2. Target The Social Media Sites They Frequent
3. Craft A Posting Strategy (Frequency, Time Of Day)
4. Think About How To Convert “Fans, Follower, Friends” Into Buyers. Test, Test, Test!

Call us if you have questions about your companies goals and strategy 619-758-3847. Don’t waste time building fans or posting only to realize none of the work is converting to actual sales.

Social Media Post Times Part 1

Best time to Post Part 2

Full article and Graphics Here at Fast Company

Contact Next Channel Media with questions about your website.

3+ Fantastic Lessons For Choosing The Best Domain Name

Domain Name Selection Basics

September 2015, there are 296 million registered domain names! That’s equivalent to one domain per every man, woman and child in the USA.

Hola, the first domain I bought was in 2000 for $45 bucks. That was during high school to flip and or maybe develop. I tried to flip the domain with a posted AD on the site and got zero bucks for the domain,  BabesOfTemtationIsland.com.  Hey I was 20 and thought I was part of the 2000 domain buy and flip market.

Twenty years later there is TMZ.com, Eoline.com and a bigger market for pseudo-reality stars. At that point, Temptation Island was a short-lived pioneer in Reality TV. At that time even fewer people used the web as we know it today. AOL was the internet then, for much of America.  I was ahead of the market trends. WWW.com came to life soon after people realized there was more beyond AOL.

I have owned over 112 domains during the last 18 years. Damn, I am old. Best domain flip was $12 and sold for $7,200 in late 2007 (confidential NDA signed). My goal was to development the business, selling the domain was by chance, from an unsolicited offer I couldn’t refuse.

Back in 2000-09 you had more domain options available for purchase. Today there are fewer options for a .com that matches your business name and keywords. Hey Kurtis, why don’t I just get a .co, .biz, .info, .org or .nyc? The general public has been conditioned to assume your website is a .com domain. If not, you better have a lot of money to market your dot “something else”.

Dot.com domains rule.  Dot.com domains rule. Dot.com domains rule. There may be 99+ dot options, but the rule still remains Dot.com domains rule.  If you have a multimillion dollar budget for marketing, try .biz, .space, .xyz OR if you deal with a tech crowd, you can get away with marketing SuperRad.co.

As of 2015 there dozens of new domain name extention options. They will probably get more popular over the next few years! Today, try for .com, but maybe you will want a .tattoo, .sexy or .diet in the future. Who knows!

Let’s look at the journey of picking a domain name. It is still an experience today with clients and my own web properties. Think before your buy is the main advice.

Identify your business goals, business name, keywords and options in the .com realm.

If you are a tech startup with $895,000 in the first round of funding, you may have a bit of money for  marketing a “SuperRad .co, .rich, .net” domain name. If you are a restaurant, photographer, DJ, mechanic, or local business, get a .com domain. Your clients know .com and your budget will be used wisely on product, staff, construction and web design. Not wasted on extra marketing for a less known domain extension.

Opps, I may be wrong, I am sure you have seen multiple .restaurant domains…. Yep, that’s some hot shit domain extension you just discovered. hahaha.

Why would you use a 10 letter domain extension, “YourPizzaJoint.Restaurant”?

Stick to the .com  Also imagine the email address,” Jonny@YourPizzaJoint.Resturant”. Try fitting that on your business card, or hoping someone will remember it during a conversation.

– 1 Picking Your Domain Dame / URL

So you are starting a new business OR finally getting a website for an old business because you need more clients to pay your bills. You are not alone! It’s surprising how many businesses have no website or an outdated website that looks very 1999.

First option is to use your business name for your domain name/URL, like this site, “NextChannelMedia.com”. That is if your domain (SuperCompany.com)  is available.

Keeping your URL, business cards and actual business name consistent, is the best way to build your brand.

Did you just say, “DAMN, my URL has been taken already”. Don’t worry.

Second Option. Modify your business name. Sometimes you can’t get your business name URL. For example, MoMoneyAuto.com is taken, because it was registered by a business 7 states away. That is OK.

If you are a local business like MoMoneyAuto.com, you can add something like your city to the domain. Try MoMoneyAutoSanDiego.com OR just the city initials to make it shorter MoMoneyAutoSD.com. If you need to add your city, for example, it can help for your Search Engine Optimization, as an added bonus. Adding a city is OK for local business, not a national business.

You have the option to make your URL descriptive, such as “SanDiegoWebHosting.com” OR you can use your business name SDWH.com. It depends on how you want to market your business and do Search Engine Optimization. This is where your business strategy comes in, which can be an entire article on its own. Domain Redirects are an option too, owning two or more domains for marketing purposes. Technically you can have as many domains as you want direct to a single name.

– 2 Short, Catchy And Easy To Spell

If you are building a brand, make the URL short and to the point.  Think, YouTube, Tumblr, Amazon, Facebook, and others are short names. With millions of domains not available sometimes made up words become an option, Tumblr, Digg and others went with made up or altered words.

Made up short names can be a bit harder to promote. New word equals more money to market a made up name. Sometimes it’s an only option for some companies.

Don’t be confusing. Numbers can be spelled or a number, dashes are not advised and .com is the first choice. Sometimes businesses buy the .net, .biz, .co, and several other variations. This can be a waste of money, especially if you are a small to medium sized business.

If your business name was First Class Limo, you should try to buy first and 1st Class Limo dot com. This ensures the customer gets to your website either way and that your competition doesn’t buy the alternative spelling.

You should always point alternative spelled or misspelled domains you own to your main domain.

– 3 Is Your Domain Name Available?

Wait, how do I know if my URL is available? Use a WHOIS tool.

http://www.internic.net/whois.html This will tell you if the URL you choose is available or already owned, and by whom. Internic.net is a safe way to look up your URL. It is a 3^rd party Whois tool to look up information, but does not sell Domains and is a part of the U.S Department of Commerce. This removes any conflict of interest or distracting sales pages while researching your domain.

Warning! Some WHOIS URL lookup tools on domain registers may be a little shady and steal your domain.

Years ago I searched a URL and saw it was available for purchase. The next day I went to my favorite domain register to purchase the domain. Not Available! It was purchased earlier in the day. After doing a WHOIS search, I saw that the owner of the URL I wanted was the company that I used to search its availability the prior day. I was pissed off.

They now offered to sell this domain to me for a markup. I called the company, accused them of shady business practices, and to my surprise they admitted this practice and released the domain name.  I then purchased the URL with my regular registrar 1and1.com.

If your domain is available?  Buy it and setup up your website today. If you need help with setting up your WordPress site for business, give us a call. Good luck in the wild wild west.

There are tons of Domain Registration Companies. Just Google it up.

• 1and1.com – Competitive domain pricing and my pick.
• GoDaddy.com They are fine. A lot of up selling during checkout.

Conclusion

OK  This is a damn process. It’s NOT just picking the first domain that has your business name, plus your city in it. It helps, but you should also think about the long-term strategy of your business.  Local, national or international?

This is the moment when you need to study, think, and  most importantly strategize about your domain selection.

If you want to get the best domain, research the options. If you want the most search engine friendly domain along with you business name, research more. Yes, this can be a process, but is your business worth the time? You will gain more clients because you have a memorable domain, that’s easy to reach domain and well-researched.

Put in the work, get the results you want. Let’s talk if you have questions. Happy domain name hunting.

Contact Next Channel Media with questions about your website.

2 Powerful Plugins You Need For Your WordPress Website

2 Great Plugins Your Wordpress Website Needs!

Simple rule, if you don't need a plugin, delete it. Your mom was right about cleaning your room, same goes from your website. Ask yourself if you get value from a plugin or if the user sees the value. If not, delete it. You can always install it again in the future after improvements have been made. There are so many Wordpress plugins out there and if you started installing them willy-nilly, your Wordpress site speed would drop to a crawl. Same idea with your PC, Mac or Smart Phone, avoid software bloating.

Contact Form 7

Contact Form 7 is an easy to use free contact form. This simple and lightweight plugin has an option to add spam filtering to it too. Small plugin size is always a plus since adding too many plugins can slow down any website over time.  You can make several custom forms to use across your website depending on the applications.

You may want to build a short form to engage a user with minimal resistance. Sometimes I will go as simple as "Name" and "Email", then a "Contact Me" button. The form can be setup with a note so you know the which page the user took particular interest in.

On the other hand, you might want a long-form with several leading questions to narrow down what your perspective client really wants or weed out tire kickers. Getting additional information about them in advance can help you quickly craft your line of questioning  prior to a phone call, saving time and closing the deal sooner.  

BONUS note: Follow up with leads as soon as possible. Data shows super fresh leads convert better since the client is currently in an active information seeking mode. Minutes, not a day or 5 later, will convert many times better.   Download Here, Contact Form 7.

Yoast Wordpress SEO

Take control of your SEO and content. Yoast SEO is a long time favorite and hasn't let me down over the years. It is one of the first plugins added to any Wordpress client site I work on. If your website can't be found, install Yoast and let your wildest website traffic dreams come true (almost).

1.  Plan page topic

2. Pick focus keywords ( What Clients Will Search and Find Your Page)

3. Craft keywords naturally into page content. Keyword stuffing is dead, make it readable to your user.

4. Craft Page Title and Page Description. This is really cool because you get to preview actual search results from Google, allowing you to see how your page will look when a client searches for your business.

Yoast SEO makes you focus on your page and, specific keywords. This process keeps you on track with your content creation and the "Page Analysis" tab points out more  improvements that can be made. All of these items help for better user experience. Hours can be spent really crafting a page to feel natural, be Google search friendly and keep the users attention.

This is the simple version of how Yoast SEO works, but there are a lot of details that go beyond the basics. This is one of several plugins we configure and add to all of our websites. 

Yoast SEO is Free, but has paid support and other paid plugins you may want to look at if you like this one.

The screenshot below is the interface below each post or page you make.  Download Here, Yoast Wordpress SEO.

Contact Next Channel Media with questions about your website.