The Secret to Networking Successfully

October 8, 2015 GDI Corporate Leave a comment

We’ve shared many times on this blog about the power of networking. If you’re like many people, you may read these blog postings and shudder a bit because you don’t like networking with people or it doesn’t come naturally to you. Have no fear, you’re not alone, many people don’t like networking.

Now that you know you’re not alone, you still have to network! But now you can use the fact that others don’t like it either in your favor. Here’s how you can use that little secret to begin networking successfully:

Move Forward

Not many people enjoy networking, now that you know that, move forward. You still have to network to make important connections. Make light of how awkward networking can be when you make connections, then move on and talk about your life, your work, what you have in common. The beginning of the conversation is the worst part, so know that, own it and move on.

Make Others Feel at Ease

If most people around you feel just as uncomfortable as you, try to put them at ease. Reach out to the people in the room who look anxious and ask them about themselves and their work. These people have lots to offer but are just as shy as you. Take the chance and get to know the person in the room who is not so talkative, you never know what kind of ideas they have.

Hang Out in the Right Places

At conferences and events, there are natural places where people congregate, like the food lines, the bar lines or the cocktail tables. If you’re nervous about going up to someone first, stake claim at one of these places. As rooms fill up and so do lines, people will most likely begin talking to you and if not, its the perfect place to break the ice and comment on the long lines or great food.

Nothing to Lose

Though networking isn’t fun to start with, what’s the worst that could happen? If you don’t connect with people, you won’t build your network. If you do connect with people, chances are you’ll get a business card and someone to reach out to. So take a chance and start a conversation!

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Social Media

How to Create the Best Facebook Page for Your Business

October 1, 2015 GDI Corporate Leave a comment

Facebook is great marketing tool for any business. But not just any Facebook page will drive traffic to your website and boost your business. Your Facebook page needs to be built in the right way to attract fans that turn into customers or rewards current customers. Here are a few tips to help you create the best Facebook page for your business.

Choose the Right Name

The name of your Facebook page isn’t permanent, you can edit it whenever you need to. However, constantly changing the name of your page can be confusing for your customers and cause you to lose fans, so you want to make sure you get it right the first time. What should your Facebook business page name be? Keep it simple and to the point. If you are an affiliate, include your first and last name and your role with the business. This format should be “First Last Business Affiliate.” This is important because people interested in your business might not have a direct link to your Facebook page. When they type things they know about you, like your name and business name, this will ensure your page comes up in search results. If you have your own business, use your business name as your Facebook page. Worried there are other businesses with the same name on Facebook? Just be sure to fill out your location information and people will be able to find the business they are looking for.

Invite the Right People

If you’re like most Facebook users, there has been a time where you’ve gotten an invite to like a business page you knew nothing about. Chances are you didn’t like this page, and if you did, do you ever visit it? Inviting people to like your page to boost your numbers seems like a good idea, but if these people aren’t interested in your business, does this really make sense? Go through your friends list and identify who would benefit from your business or be most likely to share your page and your good work. Invite these people to fan your page and if possible send them a note explaining why they should like your page. This helps to build the right relationship and give others the information they need to decide if being a fan is right for them.

Promote on Your Website

Aside from inviting new fans from within Facebook, use your website to drive traffic to your Facebook page. At the bottom of each page of your website, include a link to your Facebook page with the suggestion to become a fan. Facebook and many website offer a Facebook icon that you can easily add to your website and hyperlink. Another way to get people thinking about Facebook while on your website is to enable commenting through Facebook on your blog. There are many plugins offered through WordPress to allow you to do this. This allows commenters to engage with your website without having to create a new username and also shows you who they are on Facebook, allowing you to easily reach out to them and invite them to like your page to connect in a new way.

Post at the Right Time

One your page has been up and running for a few weeks, it’s time to take a look at the Insights Facebook offers. Insights are Facebook’s analytics that tell you more about your fans and post activity. While Insights offers tons of information, one thing you should look at first is when people are on your fan page. What time are people most active on your page? This is when you should be posting. If this time is when you’re at work or when you can’t post, simply schedule posts for that time. Scheduling posts for when the majority of your fans are online helps to drive organic reach and get your content seen by more people.

Photos, Video, Links

Another Insight offering is one that shows your what types of content perform best on your page and reach the most people. These types of posts are broken down into links, status updates, photos and videos. Which type of posts do people like the most? These are the posts you should use most frequently.

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SEO

Search Engine Optimization and Your gTLDs

September 24, 2015 GDI Corporate Leave a comment

Compared to more traditional domains, gTLDs are cost effective, great for branding and in many cases easy to remember. These are just a few of the advantages that gTLDs have over domains. What are the disadvantages? A myth that has persisted for quite a while the gTLDs are not indexed in search engines the same way more traditional domains are, but Google recently came out saying that this just isn’t true. Whether you’ve go a .com or a .lol, Google will treat them the same when it comes to search results. Unfortunately, this means that your keyworded gTLD won’t necessarily bump your site up in search results. So how do you get an advantage in search engine optimization over those .com websites? Apply traditional SEO skills to your website.

Here are a just a few:

Content

Keywords are probably the biggest factor when it comes to search engine optimization. When someone types a search string into Google, you want your website to come as close to possible to matching that string in your content. How do you do this? With the right content and lots of it. Say your website is promoting your domain portfolio of gTLDs. Try to think of the common questions people have about gTLDs (ones you probably had at one point!) and answer them on your website. Have sections on your website like “What do gTLDs cost” or “How do gTLDs differ from ccTLDs?” answer these questions thoroughly and with keywords like domain and TLD repeating in the content wherever possible and logical. No matter your industry, keep your content relevant to your keywords in your business.

Referrals

Referrals means websites linking to your website. Search engines believe when a website is linked to by other sources, this makes that original site more legitimate and worthy of being high in search results. This can be accomplished by offering guest blog posts to other in return for a link from your website to theirs. It can also be helped by posting your content and social media. These social links to your site help to boost your SEO.

Quality

The quality of the content on your website is very important to SEO. Using the right keywords all over your site is great, but is your site delivering when people visit? Keywords will only get you so far if your site is hard to navigate and doesn’t offer the answers it promises. Make sure your content is well written, spell-checked and necessary to your website and your business.

Mobile

One factor that is relatively new to search engine optimization is the ability for a site to be accessed on mobile device. Many website builders offer the option of creating a mobile friendly site and it’s important that you use it. Not only does this increase yoursearch engine optimization, but it insures you don’t lose customers who try to access your site from a mobile device. Unsure if your site is mobile friendly? Grab your phone and visit your site, if you can fully access your site with ease, you’re good to go. If you’re scrolling and struggling to get to the navigation menu, you’ve got work to do.

While .com and gTLDs are treated the same in search, there are many SEO tactics you can use to ensure your gTLD website keeps bumping up to the top of search results. Consider using a few of these tactics or all of them to get your site found quickly.

GDI Affiliate Blog