Being in the industry – in fact growing up in today’s world of Smartphone’s and tablets, it’s not hard to realise that the Internet, and more specifically, social interaction influences us heavily in everyday life.

From tweeting on the fly, to checking-in at fascinating venues around the world, to liking a video or image that has gone viral, social interaction in here to stay in a big way, and is only get stronger and stronger.  If you are a business owner you want to, and really should, squeeze every opportunity and jump on the social bandwagon.

Here at AsOne, a day doesn’t go by when we’re not discussing social media and integration. In fact earlier on this year we wrote a piece on five reasons to use social media for business, it’s benefits and the many doors it can potentially open in helping market your company.

But a question that rears its head now and then is “Does social interaction help improve page rank to my website?” – i.e. does it help my website climb up the Google ladder.

Yes and No. Confused?

The No 

Without engrossing you too much in the jargon that is SEO and losing you at this point, if you have a website that receives incoming links from other reputable websites, it influences the page-rank (PR) of your website.  Links via social networks like twitter or Facebook do not, because it is automatically tagged up as a no follow (rel=”nofollow”) link. This is to inevitably stop spamdexing.

The Yes

However, observers in the SEO field believe there is a direct correlation between Google ranking your website and the amount of people that communicate on social networks.  Google scans and indexes billions of pages across the Internet, notices trend and will appropriately reward websites that are being mentioned on social networks.

With surrounding content, if people want to appropriately link back to your website via blogs, forums and social networks, Google will see that as being genuine and think – “…well, exampledomain.co.uk is mentioned a lot here, here and here so lets increase their page rank…”

At AsOne, our approach is to set-up a Facebook/twitter account no matter what – something we do very well as part of our Innovation Club. The reason is not primarily for SEO purposes, but to create a community to help interact with your customers and fans which will inevitably divert traffic to your website – which is what you want.

Making use of keywords is one of the most important and high return activities in the search-marketing field.  Whether this is a hot topic of yours or something that is relatively new, keywords (or key terms) is a must, and is really important in helping you optimise your website either with PPC campaigns or updating webpage content.

Keyword research can help you predict shifts in demand, respond to changing market conditions and produce content that your potential customers are already actively seeking.  So when a customer does a search for a particular brand or service you provide, you want your site to appear – and the ultimate aim is to have your website occupy the #1 spot.

Next time you have a few minutes spare, look at your website or blog and consider tweaking and adjusting your content in ways that may cause it to rank higher.  Have a look at your website and think to yourself – when was the last time I refreshed my web page content? When did I write my last blog article? What phrases do I want my website to be found for? What am I currently being found for? Where do I rank in Google searches if I search using these words?

Would you benefit from having an expert advising you on all of these things and more every month? Talk to us about Innovation Club from AsOne starting at only £39/month.

With Christmas here before you can say Jack Robinson, here are ten things you can do to increase your sales potential and boost your figures for a Merry Christmas.

• Remember Your Customers
• Reward Loyalty
• Incentivise
• Up Sell
• Samples
• Social Networking
• Newsletters
• eCommerce
• Delivery
• Understanding Your Numbers

1. Remember Your Customers

Many businesses think that a sure way of increasing sales is to entice new customers.  This is all well and good, but what about your current clientele?  The ones that have helped place you on the map?  Shift your sales focus from attracting new customers to enticing your proven customers to buy again. The best sales prospect is a prospect that’s already converted – in other words, one of your current customers. Done right your existing happy customers can do your marketing for you … read on.

2. Reward Loyalty 

Customer reward programs are a great way to help build customer loyalty and increase sales.  Although familiar with large businesses, small ones can get involved too! It can be something simple like a discount or as complex as a point’s scheme.  Done right, rewards customer loyalty can help increase sales.

3. Incentivise

As a business owner, you may have the answer that could send your sales sky high.  But how can you translate that to your sales staff, and get them as enthusiastic as you are?  A good start is to introduce a sales incentive to give your sales staff a reason to get out there and sell.  Offering staff rewards and discounts works, which is why so many businesses rely on them to drive sales.

4. Up Sell

Up-selling is a great way to increase your sales figures, attracting new customers with a try before you buy approach. However this isn’t just a case of thrusting products under a customer’s nose, in the hope of them possibly buying it.  No, to up-sell successfully, the customer has to be persuaded of the benefit.

5. Samples

People love to try before they buy.  With this is mind; customers can only think good things of you.  By offering a small sample for free, you are giving the customer an opportunity to possibly buy more of that product.

6. Social Networking

Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace and Foursquare may help you sell your products, but more importantly, if that’s where your customers hang out, maybe you should too.  Social Networking is a major player in the media world these days, and the blogs on these sites can help retailers keep in touch with shoppers, make announcements or feature new merchandise and promotions.

7. Newsletters

Newsletter and email marketing is key in keeping in touch with the customers you’ve managed to get in your store or on your website. You’ve done the hard work in gaining a customer, so do all you can to help them buy again.  With a newsletter, you can keep your customers informed with what going on, share a specific a topic or promote a product or service.  With many people having access to email, you could create an e-newsletter, which would save on costs and make buying from you again easier.

8. eCommerce

Develop a website to actually sell your products or services. Once you allow people to buy online you again make it easier for them to buy from you. Combine this with social networking and you have a recipe for growth and increased margins.

9. Delivery

Customers love free shipping! However as a small business, you’ll have to work out and see if the potential increase in Christmas sales is affordable, what with the cost of shipping. Much will depend on exactly what your products are and how much it costs to deliver them to the customer.

10. Understand Your Numbers

By understanding where your customers come from, how they interact with you and what helps to convert a sale, you can capitalse on your winning strategies. Track how customers use your site, find out why they came, what they were looking for and how they found you. With this information you can react faster to the needs of your customers and put more effort into marketing that is working.

A great way to leapfrog your competition is to join AsOne’s Innovation Club, a proactive marketing and analysis program that works for your business.

Let AsOne look after you with [link innovationclub site] Innovation Club [/link], our proactive members only club that gives you confidence and support for your business and your website.

What is Innovation Club?

Innovation Club is piece of mind.  Piece of mind that your website, product or service is in good hands with the attention and expertise only 10 years of success can bring. Innovation Club is an exclusive membership, which supports and consults you in this ever-changing digital world. 

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