How to Craft the Perfect Social Post [Infographic] | Entrepreneur.com.
Users of different Social Media have different expectations. This infographic pulls data about what succeeds and how to tailor your content to each of nine different sites, even drilling down into details like the best and worst times to post to maximize the social value.
In the short attention span world of the internet, images are a way to grab a readers attention and invite them to read the post. The oft quoted, "A picture is worth a thousand words," describes how well an image can introduce or sum up meaning. Images break up text and allow the eye to flow through the post. But there is also a caution with using images on the internet. It is all too easy to borrow images that aren't actually free to use. Especially if you are business blogging, you need to know how to ensure that if you do not already own the images you are using, you are using images that are intended for royalty-free usage. These days, it is getting easier and easier to find and use Creative Commons licensed images. Not every image licensed under Creative Commons will be acceptable for commercial use, but it is usually only a second checkbox away to filter for business. Also, remember to cite proper attribution for the images.
Everyone is familiar with Google Image search. Recently, Google has added another Search Tool to filter for Usage Rights. The options are listed from most open to most restrictive.
Creative Commons Search is a portal to search for Creative Commons images from your choice of several locations. Unfortunately, you can only search one location at a time, but it also provides a convenient filter checkbox for Commercial Use right under the main search bar.
Searching the Flickr library for Creative Commons images is slightly more complicated. Enter your search terms in the search bar, then you can filter the results according to the options you need. Click Advanced Search on the far right top corner, just above the results. At the bottom of this page you will be able to filter for only Creative Commons content.
The Getty is the source of some of the world's finest images, used in mainstream media magazines, newspapers and television. The Getty has just announced an Open Content Program to allow their images to be used without restrictions or conditions, but an attribution is expected. Blogging tools like Wordpress.com even have a simple embed process to enable Getty Image use.
Still haven't found the perfect image? There are many other websites devoted to user submitted images that allow for free usage. Read the terms of use at each site to become familiar with their process and expectations for use. A few options:
Entrepreneur.com lays out the foundational questions to explore before deciding on your new blog's topic:
Start by brainstorming several possible topics you might like to use, then consider the following:
- Who's the audience for the topic? As the blogger, will you be able to cater to that audience and write or produce content in a way the audience will relate to?
- Does the topic have long-term appeal? Will it be relevant in six months, a year, two years or five years from now?
- How large is the target audience for the topic? How will you reach the intended audience to inform them about your blog?
- Will there be enough to write about the topic in the future? Off the top of your head, can you write down at least 25 things you'd blog about in future entries? Will you be able to come up with new things to blog about and keep your content fresh over the long term?
- How much competition is there based on your topic? Consider other blogs, websites, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, vlogs, TV shows, radio shows, podcasts, YouTube channels, Facebook pages and other content that's out there and already targeting your audience.
- What will you do differently to make your content more appealing, engaging, entertaining or interactive?
via How to Choose a Profitable Topic for Your Blog | Entrepreneur.com.
Many of these questions are the very same questions that should be explored when considering the launch of a new business. If you are blogging as a means to expand your business, some of these answers may be clear cut. You know your market, and you may have a wealth of information about their needs already captured in tools you use to monitor your websites success. Using this information, you can refine your topics to enhance the success of the website and create a more educated clientele who appreciates your unique expertise.
Your blog's topic will relate in some way to your business. But will your blog be directed at developing new customers, supporting current customers, or elevating your expertise within the industry? Customize your blog posts to meet the needs of the audience you have selected.
If you are a relatively new business, you have decided that your industry is growing and not dying, or you wouldn't have jumped into the market, but if you are in an older business, are you staying current with trends? You can use your blog to influence the longevity of your market by engaging your customers and educating them.
Brainstorming topics can double as search engine optimization research; using tools that help discover keywords, you can better understand what relevant topics people are searching for and provide them with content to meet their needs.
When building your brand, you determined what your Unique Selling Proposition would entail. Your unique blog voice should be an extension of that perspective that sets you and your business apart from all the other voices in the crowd.
So, launching your blog to benefit your business may be easier than you think. You've already covered a lot of the groundwork and now can spin that information to provide relevant content to increase your credibility, your customer's confidence in your expertise and improve your website's page ranking.
Via Forbes.com:
Analytics firm Flurry has published data on mobile usage by US consumers during Q1 2014. While users are spending more time on their devices (an average of 2 hours and 42 minutes per day, up four minutes on the same period last year), how they use that time has changed as well. Only 22 minutes per day are spent in the browser, with the balance of time focused on applications.Looking at breakdown of that time, users are living in their smartphone’s applications. That gaming requires apps is a given, but almost every other area provides the user with a choice – go for an app to access the data or go to the web.
While this is an interesting graphic articulating the usage statistics of mobile device users, the commentary that accompanies it misses the mark. While overall, it is demonstrable that device users spend much more time in apps, what the commentator ignores is the user's purpose. It is clear that users are primarily relying on apps for entertainment and social purposes. What this graphic does not show is that users are turning to apps to replace learning and shopping behaviors. In fact, news apps account for only three percent of usage in this graphic. The fact that mobile browser usage rivals Facebook app usage indicates that users are highly engaged with their mobile browsers.
When considering whether to develop an app or to mobilize a company's website, there are more relevant factors to consider. Would the app merely be serving the same information as the website? If so, the company is not only adding the cost of app development but also multiplying maintenance and marketing costs. All the investment that a company has put into their web presence, including search engine marketing, will carry over to a mobilized site, while developing an app is starting again at ground zero. The app marketplace is competitive, and if a company is not oriented toward social or entertainment purposes, it is competing for a very slim segment of app usage. And it can't be ignored that a single app won't do; there is an ever increasing number of device platforms and marketplaces to support. Most businesses are better served by optimizing their existing website for mobile devices with a responsive design before making the leap to develop an app.
Update: Daring Fireball offers another perspective on the Mobile Web.
When was the last time you browsed your bookmark folders? How many of those bookmarks haven't been accessed since the day they were created? If you're like me, that would be anything below the bookmarks bar level. My problem is, there isn't enough information in a few characters of text to remind my why I bookmarked a link in the first place. Wouldn't a screenshot be better?
Pinterest has become my new solution for bookmarking; boards can be organized to any degree you like, accessed anywhere with an internet access, and shared with others. Boards can also be kept private, if you'd prefer. Using the Pinterest extension, you can easily bookmark almost any page. Occasionally a page will lack any pinnable image, but there's a workaround for that.
Often a quick Google image search will reveal that someone has already conveniently created a screenshot of the page you are attempting to pin. If not, choose an image that closely relates to the page topic. Open the image up into a new tab and pin it, updating the description to a relevant description of the page. When you save the pin, open it back up using the link in the pop up window. If you miss the opportunity and the window disappears, navigate to the board and open the edit option on the pin. While in edit mode, you can remove the existing website source link to the image and update it with the link to the page to which you intend the link to go. One caution, be sure the image relates to the website that you are linking to. Pins can be flagged by users as spam if the image is unrelated to the pin destination.
