It is also quite interesting that in this era of modern, grunge, jazzy Web 2.0 type fonts Helvetica still survives and not only survives but maintains it’s poise. It has been able to remain one of the most popular and sought out font till now. I am sure there are any graphic designers who have not used the Helvetica font or one of its alternative till now.

Helvetica has a long history to it. Helvetica has completed 52 years till now and also has a film based on itself. By the age, we can say it is a classic. The Helvetica typeface was developed(or I may say designed) by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann in 1957. It was designed to compete with Akzidenz-Grotesk (another simple, clean and classic font) in the Swiss market at that time. I think at that time it was named something else ( something with the name Grotesk along with it) afterwards in 1960 it was changed to Helvetica. They are many variants to the Helvetica family some of which are Helvetica Narrow,Helvetica Compressed, Helvetica Light etc.

The main problem comes here, Helvetica fonts are expensive. But designers (and web browsers) love the simplicity of Helvetica. So they simply use the free alternatives that look quite similar to Helvetica. These alternatives to Helvetica may not be better than the original font but still do come quite close.

Here are some Helvetica look-alike fonts that you may want to use in your next project:

Anson | Download

Aaargh, Normal | Download

Brie Light | Download

Castorgate | Download

Cicle Fina | Download

Coolvetica | Download

Cyrvetica | Download

FolksDecoon-Light | Download

Fudd | Download

GemFont One | Download

GeosansLight | Download

Goulong | Download

HeldustryFT Regular | Download

Josef Pro | Download

Junien | Download

LondonMM | Download

Luzern | Download

Mank Sans | Download

Nova Regular | Download

Oceania | Download

Print Clearly | Download

Quicksand | Download

Redring 1969 | Download

Sansation Regular | Download

Strait | Download

Street – Plain | Download

Vegur Regular | Download

Walkway Bold | Download

X360 by Redge | Download

Zag | Download

You may also notice that Arial is also an alternative of Helvetica.

P.S: All the font links have been updated since we had got complaints that all the font links were directing to the same file. We apologize for the inconvenience

With so many websites (new and existing) screaming “Find Me”, how do you stand out from them when it comes to getting search engines like Google to notice your website? Fortunately, there are some things that you can do to quicken Googlebot’s crawl.

What’s Googlebot?

Googlebot is just a fancy name for Google’s automated program (aka spider) whose main job is to discover and fetch (crawl to) new and updated pages from websites. Once they have done so, the page will be indexed for searches by Google’s users. Sounds easy enough? Well, it’s slightly more complicated than that… but let’s leave the details for a later day.

What you need to know is that Google does not always index all the pages they crawl to and often, it takes awhile before a website is indexed. This then brings us to the question of how to escalate the indexing of your website.

Can That Be Done? How?

Yes, it is possible to get Google to index your website quickly. Here are some effective ways which you may want to give it a try.

Tip #1: Submit URLs to Google with Fetch as Googlebot

Google has a cool feature that allow you to submit new and updated URLs to Google for indexing. According to Google, your new site or page would usually be crawled to within 24 hours, should you use this method.

How it works?

Step 1:
Signup for a Webmaster Tools account and get it to add and verify your website.

Step 2:
Click on “Fetch as Googlebot” and request Googlebot to fetch your site.

Step 3:
If Googlebot is able to fetch your site, then you can proceed to Submit to Google Index.

Note that Google does not guarantee that your URL would definitely be indexed though. Should your site falls into this minority group, there are always other methods, which we will discuss shortly.

Tip #2: Create Sitemap

A sitemap is an XML file which lists down all the pages of your website. Kind of like a contents page if you will. It is viewed as fairly important because it informs Google about the changes you made to your website. This is especially so if you were to make frequent changes eg adding new products and posting new articles daily.

Creating a sitemap is easy peasy these days with sitemap plugins. One such plugin is the Google XML Sitemaps. Downloaded over 8 million times, this popular plugin helps generates and updates an XML sitemap of your website automatically.

Tip #3: Take Advantage of Social Media

With social media being the craze these days, you should jump onto the social media bandwagon too. Open a new account or update your existing account with links to your website. Create a presence on Facebook and Twitter, share your contents on Google+, pin images of some of your posts onto your Pinterest account, upload an introductory video to YouTube and so on.

Remember to link to your website. The more links you have, the more awareness you generate and the faster Google (and other search engines) crawl to your website!

Tip #4: Blog Submissions

Try submitting your feed to blog directories like Technorati. It will expose your blog to a wider audience. But of course, you need to keep those articles coming on your blog!

You can also submit your blog to blog communities like Blog Catalog. Not only will you find other web owners who share your thoughts and ideas but you also get a traffic boost from the community. Just remember to tag your blog with all relevant tags.

So there you go, a simple and hopefully informative insight on how to jump start your Google indexing. Perhaps you have a new blog that you wanted to appear on Google’s search results page faster. Or maybe you had just clean up the mess resulted from a malware attack which left your website removed from Google’s index and now wished to have your website re-indexed. Whatever reasons it is, I do hope that the above tips are of great help. Do share your thoughts.

However, a recent blog post from Peep Laja at ConversionXL calls into question the effectiveness of using sliders and carousels for gaining conversions, and claims that they can have a significant detrimental effect on conversion rates. Peep is not alone in this opinion, and quotes a number of designers who agree.
Two of the most significant problems with using sliders are banner blindness and the temporal rather than spatial presentation of information. It’s worth having a deeper look at these two factors.

Most web designers should be familiar with the concept of banner blindness. It’s an effect that plagues online advertising and results in the extremely low click-through rate that modern advertisers see when compared to the rates they obtained in the early days of the Web. Banner blindness is an instance of what psychologists call habituation. Habituation is the decrease in an expected (and, in this case, desired) behavior in response to a repeated stimulus. In a marketer’s ideal world, banner ads would consistently claim the attention of a site’s visitors, but for either conscious or subconscious reasons, they do not. Visitors often pay no attention at all to banner ads, even when they are contextually relevant.

Visitors to a website very rarely start reading at the top and systematically scroll down a site (check out the heat maps), examining and consuming all the information presented. They are looking for specific information or links, and tend to reject anything that is “banner-like” as an unlikely source of salient information. Carousels and sliders match the pattern of a banner ad, and are therefore ignored.

The second factor is the temporal presentation of information. That is, information presented across time, rather than across space, as with static images and text. Visitors tend to scroll around and hunt for what they need; they do not sit and look at a particular point on a page while it changes. They will see one or two of the slides, maybe. If you think of your own browsing experience, how often do you use a slider’s navigation to click through each of the items in search of information?

These two effects may contribute to sliders being an ineffective method of presenting information, especially when that information is intended to elicit particular actions from visitors, like a click or a purchase.

What do you think? Does Peep Laja have it right? Or do you have evidence that banners are an effective way of converting visitors? Let us know in the comments below.

About Graeme Caldwell — Graeme works as an inbound marketer for Nexcess, a leading provider of Magento and WordPress hosting. Follow Nexcess on Twitter at @nexcess, Like them on Facebook and check out their tech/hosting blog, http://blog.nexcess.net/.

With “Search, plus Your World,” logged-in Google+ users will be able to see relevant public or shared posts from their Google+ friends as well as prominent Google+ users every time they perform a search. Personalized results are marked with a blue silhouette and given preference over non-personalized results from the listing of search results to suggested search terms in auto-complete. Given Google’s popularity as a search engine and people’s propensity to stay logged in to their accounts, especially when using private computers, “Search, plus Your World” places brands and websites with Google+ pages at a significant advantage over those who have yet to join.

To improve your likelihood of appearing well positioned in a personalized search, you have to actively maintain your Google+ profile, just like you maintain your Facebook or Twitter. This means regularly updating your profile with detailed posts that use important keywords; uploading photos with actual titles and not just the standard camera-given alphanumeric name; joining as many circles as possible, especially of individuals that are prominent within your area of focus; and, most importantly, being a person with thoughts and interests rather than an uninspired page of links. Google+  is most interested in accelerating the growth of its community, so it places users with sizable followings who frequently discuss specific topics under the People and Pages section on the right side of the page to promote connections and conversations. By becoming an active participant in the world of Google+, you’ll increase your chances of appearing under the section which will allow those outside of your circles to learn more about you and add you to their circles, further expanding your reach.

Speaking of circles, Google+’s most notable feature lets users organize people into different, customizable circles, allowing users to share content tailored to the specific relationships they have with each of their circles. Circles mimic real world interactions by recognizing the nuances that relationships have in terms of subject matter and saturation points; for example, if you have a food blog, you can place vegetarians in one circle, chefs in another circl, and farmers market vendors in a separate circle, so the vegetarians don’t have to read about that rack of lamb you made last night and people aren’t inundated with posts that are irrelevant to their interests. You can further enhance your relationship with members of your circles by participating in hangouts; these multi-person video chats allow you to interact directly and in real-time with people and are significantly better than Facebook’s temperamental chat feature.

Another way to garner more visibility for your Google+ profile, and ultimately your website, is to guest blog. Guest blogging is a great way to introduce yourself to a new audience while building relationships with other bloggers and sites. If you do  write a guest blog, integrate Google+ into your piece by having the site include rel=”author” with a link to your profile. When a logged-in Google+ user searches for a term related to your blog, your piece, which is now linked with Google+, has a better chance of appearing near the top, and your profile picture will accompany the link, helping it stand out from the rest of the results.

The idea behind “Search, plus Your World” is that a personalized search experience is an ideal search experience. Creating and maintaining a well-rounded Google+ profile will help you establish yourself as a person worth getting to know, and as your circles continue to grow, so will your influence.

Joshua John currently works in community relations for the University of Southern California’s Virtual Master of Social Work program, which provides social workers the opportunity to earn an online social work degree and apply for a social work license. He also loves gadgets, movies, and all things Batman. Follow him on twitter: @joshuavjohn.

No Article Spinning

This, again, is nothing new. Spinning articles (slightly rewording an article to get it reaccepted) has never been an acceptable way of guest blogging and getting links. Not only are you hurting your link building campaign, but you are also hurting the sites that you post on. This not only will get your links unnoticed by Google, but you are also running the risk of of getting your links penalized. Furthermore, if you spin articles, places will not want you to post on their site. This will kill your guest posting quicker than anything else; not having a site to write for.

Avoid Low Word Count Articles

This is another tactic that will hurt your guest posting very quickly. Google sees really short articles as simply link bait, and does not give your link credits.The fact is there are article “farms” out there that spin out these articles to simply put links out there. If you want to differentiate yourself from these writers, then you have to make sure that your articles are substantial. There are certain topics that are inherently short in nature, and in that case you have to make sure you exhaust the topic. Most blogs have word limits anyways, but even if they don’t, or have low word limitations, make sure you go above and beyond the limits.

High Quality

This also seems like a no-brainer, but you have to make sure that you put full effort into your articles. This means that if it takes some time and rewrites, make sure you are putting out the best quality you can. With the newer Google updates, the crawlers have gotten better about picking up on content. Part of this is in an effort to make sure that your content is relevant to any links in the body. It is also a way to try and qualify what is in your article. This has made it even more important to make sure you churn out the best content you can, and to get all the benefits from your writing.

So in short, guest blogging is not dead, but it has become a lot tougher to pull off. In a way, this is a good thing for us quality guest writers. With all the other stuff out of the way, our content comes to shine, and credit is given where it is deserved. There will always be benefits for guest blogging if you put in your time and effort. With crackdowns like this though, it’s good to know that what we see online has become more legitimate.

BIll Thomas is an SEO blogger and content creator for Aspire Direct. He enjoys writing, and always emphasizes the importance of quality content.

I have been blogging for quite a few years now and have about a dozen active blogs. It can be a challenge to keep up with them all, but I find that I get best results when I follow a certain routine. Specifically, I write about 10 blog posts per day on my blogs. I recommend you try this if you have a blog and see what happens.

If you’re just starting out, or have a blog you’ve been neglecting, 10 blog posts every day might seem like a difficult goal. Yet if you approach it the right way, it’s not really very hard at all. Let me share some of my favorite tips for sticking to a schedule of 10 blog posts per day.

1. Stay Informed

You should have easy access to the latest information related to your niche. Bookmark any leading websites or news sites that discuss what’s going on. Get Google Alerts on any topics of special interest to you. This will give you a steady supply of topics to blog about.

2. Borrow the Curation Model

Curation means posting links to relevant stories on your own blog. The best method is to find a story from an authority site, make a few comments about it and post the link. It doesn’t always have to be an authority site, but it should be a quality site. When you do this, you don’t have to do much writing except for giving a basic description of the story.

3. Review Products

Reviews are always a good type of blog post. If you’re an affiliate, this can also help you earn money if you’re recommending a good product to your readers. Products can be books, physical products, digital products or whatever is relevant to your blog’s topic.

Make your reviews honest. Only recommend products that you think will be truly helpful to people. There’s nothing wrong with posting negative reviews for inferior products either. You can see a lot of web hosting reviews and such related articles on my blog 100Webhosting.com.

4. Post Videos

Videos can provide you with good content for your blog. It’s great to make your own videos, but you don’t have to do this all the time. Search YouTube and find relevant videos that you can embed on your site. This is really a type of curation, as you’re using other people’s content (in an ethical way). Make some comments about the video so your blog post has some original content.

5. Rewriting Articles From Directories

You can search article directories such as Ezinearticles.com (there are many others as well) to get relevant content for your blog. I wouldn’t recommend using these for most of your blog posts, as you want original content on your site as well. However, there’s nothing wrong with rewriting some articles that are on topics your readers will appreciate.

When rewriting articles, always remember to write in your own words and include your own thoughts to make the article original.

6. Break Down Long Articles Into Shorter Blog Posts

When you find a topic to write about, you can write a long article and then break it down into shorter blog posts. Many people who visit blogs prefer to read shorter articles, so it’s often better to include shorter blog posts. Of course, it can also be good to have some long articles as single posts as well.

7. Have a Consistent Schedule for Blogging

If you’re going to be consistent about posting 10 posts every day, you should set up a regular schedule. Whether you will be writing the entire post yourself or rewriting someone else’s content, you need a set time for blogging. If you just post to your blog when you feel like it, or when it occurs to you, you will not be able to maintain the kind of output you need to succeed.

Sit down at a certain time every day and do nothing else but blog. Don’t check email, Facebook or talk on the phone. You’ll soon be surprised at how much you can get accomplished in an hour or two.

8. Make Some Personal And Lighthearted Posts

Each one of your blog posts doesn’t have to reveal amazing, breakthrough information on your topic! Some of your posts can be personal anecdotes, or even your opinion about something unrelated to your niche.

You have to maintain a certain balance here. Naturally, you want to make sure you are giving readers the kind of content they are coming to your blog to get. But if you’re a blogger who posts multiple times per day, you can afford to veer off topic every so often.

Making comments about your personal life, about a movie you saw or the antics of your dog can even help you bond with your audience. This implies, though, that you’re also making plenty of useful, relevant blog posts as well.

9. Pick Topics You Care About

In order to write 10 blog posts every day, you should be knowledgeable about your niche and enjoy writing about it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the thing you most love in the world, but it shouldn’t be something that bores you either. Otherwise, you will have a hard time blogging consistently about it.

So think of this before starting a new blog. If you already have a blog, or blogs on topics that don’t inspire you at all, you should consider shifting gears. It’s much easier to write consistently when you actually care about your topic!

Yes, You Can Write 10 Blog Posts Per Day!

This may sound like a challenging goal, but if you’re organized about it you’ll find that it’s quite possible. If you can do this, you’ll find that you gain an important edge over your competition. This type of output will greatly enhance your SEO and traffic generation efforts. As the search engines index more and more of your posts, that’s lots of potential traffic. In just a month you’ll have several hundred new blog posts!

Windows Live Messenger was introduced to the world in 1999 and has been highly popular since that time. It began as MSN Messenger and was quite basic. In time, it added several features to include photo delivery, video chat, and games. Its increasing popularity led to hundreds of millions of users, even up to just a few years ago. In fact, WLM actually still had double the number of users than Skype at the beginning of this year. In recent months, however, that number has dropped significantly and Skype’s user base has increased dramatically as well. This increase in Skype users is partly due to the release of Skype 6.0 in October of this year. Skype 6.0 is for Mac and Windows users.

While some may wonder why Microsoft is giving WLM the “boot” rather than just keeping both programs, to others it may seem quite obvious. The fact is that with competing programs, it is difficult to efficiently and effectively market both. No company wants to take sales from one area and give it to another. They would much rather focus on one program and work to significantly increase use of that one program. For this reason, Skype is going to be the main video chat program for Microsoft.

For those WLM users who are worried about the switch, they can relax and be rest assured that it will be easier than they expect. Microsoft is offering a tool that allows users to effectively transfer their contacts from WLM to Skype without much headache or confusion. They will be able to sign into the latest version of the program with a Microsoft account and easily transfer them over.

Tony Bates, the president of Skype, wrote “”We want to focus our efforts on making things simpler for our users while continuously improving the overall experience.” One way Skype is an easier communication choice than Messenger is the fact that it is now connected with Facebook. Facebook has one billion users, so it’s certainly a smart business move. It is also nice for the users, as they can connect to others with Skype via a social media site they already use on a daily basis. Bates also wrote “We think you will enjoy using Skype, and encourage you to download the latest version, sign in with your Microsoft account, and experience it for yourself.”

Bates also gives instructions on how to merge your two accounts, both Messenger and Skype, and easily connect with your contacts. He posted these instructions here.

In addition to the Facebook connection, Skype will offer several new perks to users. Skype can be used from a computer, but it can also be set up on a television set. The great advantage of this is that you can have group chats, where everyone in the room can easily see the screen and the person on the other end. In addition, Skype will be boasting some other new features as well. Skype users will be able to instant message and call landlines and cell phones. It will also allow users to place video calls on mobile phones and use social media sites such as Facebook for video calls.

With this change in communication on Microsoft, some may be concerned. However, it looks like they will have a lot more options with the introduction of Skype as the main program of communication for Mac and Windows users. The fact that it can be used over social media sites (Facebook) is a huge bonus. And as mentioned before, Skype can be used in a variety of settings, whether on the computer, in the living room on the big screen, or on a tablet. The company’s willingness to help users easily and painlessly transfer their contacts will also help smooth out the transition. All in all, it doesn’t seem like too bad of a deal and will most likely please most users.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rick Delgado is a freelance writer for koyotesoft.com. KoyoteSoft offers easy-to-use software downloads, including ISO burners, video converters, mp3 converters, and more.

Change Passwords

At a maximum of a 72-day interval, change your server administrator password and the passwords of all the accounts on your server. Sometimes, you can ask your webhost to configure a forced password change if you can’t do it yourself.

Clean Directories

Like any other file directory—digital or physical—a WordPress file directory will get bloated over time. Go through it now and then and delete any content you don’t need. One way to reduce the amount of clutter on your server is to adopt a cloud storage strategy for elements such as pictures and video.

Update Everything

Unless you’re on a dedicated server, your web host will likely update all the server operating software for you. You’ll have to update your WordPress installation, however. This is a two-step process it can be taken care of through the admin panels.

• Update your WordPress installation
• Update your theme

If you have additional technologies on your server, you may have to update them manually. Remember that some WordPress plug-ins will also have their own, separate updates. Shopping cart plug-ins, for example, are oftentimes updated to improve their security.

Validate Your Code

If you work on the source files for your theme or your install, make sure you validate them after you may any changes. This is just being smart. If you’ve introduced an error into your code, it will be a lot easier to fix it if you check for it right away instead of having to troubleshoot your way back to it later. You can validate the code at several different sites.

Backups

These will usually be handled by your webhost. You may want to back up your WordPress installation, however, to make sure that you have a version that you can revert back to if you make changes you didn’t mean to implement on the site.

There are two things, at least, that you’ll need to back up: your database and your WordPress install. These backups can create very large files but, if your site isn’t that big, you probably won’t have any trouble with file sizes. Make sure you ask your webhost who often they backup their servers and get an idea of what’s involved if you have them restore your server. You can come up with an emergency plan better if you know what the recovery process will actually involve.

Make sure to check with your host to see if they have tools available to help you with backup tasks. If you have a commercial WordPress theme, make sure you back it up before you apply any updates. This way, you create the equivalent of a restore point on your computer for your WordPress theme. If the update turns out to be a problem, you’ll be able to reload the old version.

Irene Perlog is a dedicated writer at VPNServices.net, where she writes vpn reviews on providers like Hidemyass (only objective and original reviews).

Sounds harsh, doesn’t it?

Now, what I actually mean here. This is not about stopping to believe that your blog can be successful, or that you can attract massive traffic and gain big – even mainstream – popularity. No, this is still possible.

I’m talking about smaller things. The things that happen when you read some post presenting yet another piece of advice on how to achieve this or do that in blogging.

Let me explain what the nature of the problem is. Most (quality) blogging advice being published these days is a result of solid research, testing, and tweaking various strategies until they’re finally starting to work.

The amount of time it takes to reach to a given level of expertise in order to be able to make truly good use of a specific technique can be significant.

And once a blogger wants to explain such a technique in a single blog post, inevitably, carrying it out will seem much easier than it actually is.

This is the core of the problem, believing that what has worked for others will work for you too, and that it will work overnight.

Now, I don’t want to focus on the “overnight” thing, as I’m sure everyone here realizes that there’s no such thing as overnight success. Even if your success becomes apparent overnight, it’s always a result of constant, ongoing work that has started long before “that” night.

Moreover, everyone’s situation is different. There’s just so many factors that determine our blogging success that it’s virtually impossible to point out some specific actions that have worked for a given person. It’s always a perfectly put together combination of things.

What to do, then, since we should stop believing?

First of all, I’m not the biggest authority on blogging out there, so feel free to disagree, but the approach I’ve developed over the years (and the one I’m about to show you) has helped me get a lot more clarity in what I’m doing, and allowed me to adapt each advice I stumbled upon to my own situation.

Stop listening to the same advice

Or should I say stop listening to the same advice with the same pair of ears.

The thing is, if you take a moment to look at a standard piece of blogging advice these days, you’ll find that everyone kind of says the same stuff…

Write quality content. Engage with your audience. Guest post. Be careful with SEO. And so on…

At some point, it starts to get boring, but only if you don’t pay close attention. For me, every advice you get is not about the what or the how. It’s more about why and what for.

What and how only gives you instruction on how to replicate a given strategy or method, regardless of the fact how much actual sense it has in your situation.

Why and what for gives you a broad look at the purpose of a given method, and it allows you to tweak it to match the distinct scenario you’re in. Only then you can focus on how to put it in practice.

In a nutshell: Focus on finding the purpose before taking action.

Don’t do the same things hoping for a different outcome

Was it Einstein who first advised not to do this? I can’t remember… Anyways.

When we take a look at this issue from a distant perspective, we can clearly understand that doing the same stuff over and over again, yet hoping for a different outcome is simply not an approach that can work.

However, once we get a bit closer, we often realize that we’re guilty of following such a mindset ourselves.

Don’t believe me? How often do you send promotional tweets to get people to visit your blog? Are you monitoring this to know if it’s actually working? How’s that guest posting going along? You’re getting 50 visitors from a guest post on average, does this mean that your campaign is working? What if you could get 1,000 visitors? And so on.

I know that simply saying something like “don’t do the same things hoping for a different outcome” is a cheap shot if I don’t follow it up with some additional advice, so here goes.

For me, the key here is to track whatever you’re doing. If you’re using Twitter as a promotional tool, track your performance down to a single tweet. If you’re guest posting, not only track your visitors, but also provide them with custom landing pages depending on the source they’re coming from.

These are just two examples, but the main message is this: You can only hope for a different outcome if you track what you’re doing and tweak along the way.

Don’t believe in a single way of doing something

Just because someone points out a given technique that seems to be sensible, it doesn’t mean that you have to replicate it entirely.

For instance, there are many ways to win a basketball game, right? Same thing with blogging. You shouldn’t search for a magic-pill solution. Instead, try to tweak every method you stumble upon, and (most importantly) question everything.

Be suspicious, be skeptical, but at the same time be humble and willing to test things out on your own.

I think that the best way to summarize this step is this: The advice you get shouldn’t be treated like tutorials. Treat it like inspiration.

Give it some time

Patience you must have (hope I’m doing my Master Yoda speech right).

Anyway, this is something you’re surely aware of, but I just want to remind it to you.

Nothing happens overnight, and that’s probably one of the main difficulties in determining a given technique’s success or failure. You never fully know what has worked and what hasn’t.

However, if you are willing to try new things, put in some dedicated work, and remain consistent for the long haul then I’m sure even you will be amazed at how many things you can achieve in the next 5 years.

What’s your take on this whole approach? Do you think that challenging the advice you get is a good way to build your success?

About the author

Karol K. (@carlosinho) is a freelance writer and blogger. If you want to learn how to get started freelance writing yourself, visit him at YoungPrePro.

(image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dasqfamily/348368964/)

Find the Angle

Even if your business isn’t particularly glamorous you still need to make it appealing. With this in mind you need to find an angle that is likely to make it interesting to your readers. If you’re an insurance company for example then you may want to think about running a competition with a prize for the winner. Whatever it is, find an angle to make your business fun.

Use Social Media for its Primary Purpose

 As Social Media sites such as Twitter and Facebook grow, it becomes all too easy to forget the main purpose of these sites. That is a platform upon which people can interact and engage in a social fashion. What it isn’t is a platform to advertise business. Social media users simply hate to be sold to, so you need to reach out to them from a social perspective rather than a selling one.

Be a Face Behind the Name

 Many companies, both large and small often hide behind logos, and when you are marketing using social media it needs to be about real people interacting with real people. This is how social media relationships are really formed, so make yourself visible to your target demographic.

Building Trust Takes Time

It’s clear that effective marketing through social media channels takes time and many businesses make the mistake of failing to estimate the amount needed to put a plan into action. As a result an experienced web copywriter or marketing company often has to pick up the pieces of a marketing campaign that’s gone wrong and this can be a little tricky. A planned social media strategy will be far more successful if results are measured and tweaked accordingly. There have been numerous studies to show that a reader or follower has to be exposed to your business on numerous occasions before they consider parting with their cold hard cash. Therefore, this exposure has to be built gradually.

So there you have it, four great tips on how businesses can make a real connection using social marketing.