Real relationships still rule.

An email is nice – A FaceBook message is cool – Conference calls are cost effective – Getting a direct message on Twitter is awesome – Shouting out on FourSquare is chic – A new connection on LinkedIn might even be profitable someday…in a nutshell…social media is really cool, very effective, and highly productive.  Heck – we make our living with it.

Having said that…

Real relationships still rule. Yep.  Even for the geeks of the world – it’s nice to sit down in front of someone eyeball to eyeball rather than fire off a message from the iPhone.  It’s much more fun to attend a birthday party in real life rather than send a cute little message on Twitter.  You can banter back and forth on FaceBook about a business deal or a strategic alliance – but it can’t hold a candle to shaking hands and really getting to know one another.  Real relationships still rule.

So – does social media detract from this or does it enhance it?

I would submit that based on my personal situation and many, many other people that I personally know – it enhances relationships more than anything in history.  Social media can be the foundation and stepping stone to fantastic business partnerships, romances, lifelong friendships, and relationships with extended family members that would have never blossomed were it not for the ability to connect via social media.

Don’t limit yourself.  Accept those friend requests.  Go to those networking events.  Have a couple of lunches each month with someone on your FaceBook Fan Page.  This technology allows us to develop relationships – whether they are serious and long term or superficial and short term – at the speed of an Intel chip.  There is no excuse for not having a huge network of people you can call friends or a massive network business associates – it’s just too easy to do these days.

Wanna go to lunch?

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• My Favorite 6 Social Media Sites for B2B Social Media Marketing (windmillnetworking.com)
• My Favorite 6 Social Media Sites for B2B Social Media Marketing (customerthink.com)
• Social Media Dudes

Google Checkout or Paypal

Ab Fab Internet Marketing and Web Design of Plymouth recommend Google Checkout – we use it often.  We also use PayPal but only for eBay.

Having choices in great! When there’s competition between companies, consumers will always benefit by getting better and cheaper products.

This post however is not about consumer products and cheap cell phone plans, don’t worry. It is about taking payments online. If you have a personal website or a blog, you’ve probably heard about PayPal. If not, PayPal is the faster, safer way to pay and get paid online. The service allows members to send money without sharing financial information, with the flexibility to pay using their account balances, bank accounts, credit cards or promotional financing. Up until a year or so ago PayPal was pretty much the only choice for someone who wanted to accept payments online in a matter of minutes, without dealing with merchant banks, payment gateways etc.

Today, PayPal has a competition from Google with their Google Checkout service. It is just as easy to setup, and even faster (based on my experience) to pay for a product or a service. In fact, one of Google’s requirements is to let your visitors buy something on your site or pay for a service with one click of a button! We all know Google makes great, solid products and services, and you can rest assured Google Checkout is just as good as any other Google product. Again it’s all about choices, so if you’re already accepting PayPal on your site, why not add Google Checkout and present your visitors with a choice? Who knows, maybe you’ll increase your sales by gaining a share of Google Checkout fans.

Another benefit of Google Checkout is the ability to link it to your AdWords account, and any time you run your AdWords it will display Google Checkout logo making your Ad stand out from other sites that don’t accept Google payments on their website or a blog. It also adds trust and recognition to your site, which is a must for any e-commerce site.

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• Google’s Take On Mobile Payments Is A Wash (thenextweb.com)
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Google Local Plymouth

Call For Help – (01752) 784262 or (07538) 199694

You can be forgiven if you are already exhausted just thinking about how much work it will be to truly optimise your Google Places

Google Tips Plymouth

listing. The seemingly simple task of filling out the form for the basic set up of Google Places may be enough to end some plans to get this job done right.

Here then are the simple  basic, quick helps for Google Places that will at least take care of the obvious and maybe get you on the outside MAP in easy cities for easy keywords:

1.  Don’t mess around with the name.  Google wants the real name of your company.  Add one or two keywords if your company name has no keywords in it.  (eg.  Jack’s Plymouth Solicitors  is the real name and you are a Plymouth Solicitor.  Use Jack’s Plymouth Solicitors

2.  Google Places wants your real address and they will check to make sure it is the same everywhere it appears on the web.  Put the address on the front page of your website and on every page is best.

3.  Google Places prefers a local phone number, not and 0845 number, and  it needs to be the same number that appears on the front page of your website and elsewhere on the web…just like the name and address.

4.  The first category for your company should be one that Google suggests for the top category.  The other four may be chosen from Google suggestions or you can make up your own.

5.  Use pictures.  The first one should be a picture that will look good as a thumbnail picture. It will appear on your listing as part of  the inside maps

6.  Add one or more videos.  Google Places wants completeness.

7.  Come up with lots of additional information for the boxes at the bottom of the listing form.  The cool thing is that you  can use links in these boxes to your blog, menu’s, reservation forms, etc.

8.  Create a Coupon.  It really can’t hurt and people love coupons and offers

9.  Set up a new Google Account for your business.  Don’t use your personal Google Account, or another business Google Account, or even a 3rd party vendor’s Google Account.

10.  Get your customers to give you reviews.

This is only the beginning of doing a great job on Google Places Listings.  If you are in a difficult category or a competitive city, and if you want to rank on the Google Places Map,  either read and completely follow the instructions elsewhere on this blog or hire me to do it for you

Ab Fab Internet Marketing
Plymouth – Devon
(01752) 784262
(07538) 199694
E Mail David

Web Design Plymouth

Google Ranking Success and Why I’m Good At It!

Hi – I’m David of Ab Fab Internet Marketing and Web Design – this by the way is a blog!

I often get asked why I’m so fast and rank websites and blogs easily with Google and other search engines.

After 13 years working on SEO (slightly before Google became great) I had a small business designing websites in San Francisco.

All sites I designed ranked well and I wondered why! I sort of worked it out and kept implementing tips for ranking that were on the alt web groups plus whatever I thought was the right way to rank.

I’ve been doing this SEO thing ever since.

SUCCESS! With rankings on Google are not that difficult. You really must be on the ball and get it right from the beginning though.

Things change so fast in the world of Google that it excites me!

Why? Well the changes are usually in small readable chunks which suit me as I’m certain I have ADHD – SO I have turned a small business into a small, really small business success here in Plymouth.

JUST! Because Google changes and evolves fast – like my mind!

Ab Fab Internet Marketing and Web Design
(01752) 784262 or best (07538) 199694
86 Echo Crescent, Manadon Park
Plymouth, Devon PL5 3UQ

Facebook Marketing Plymouth

• Facebook marketing for online business – create a business page instead of a group page.
• Fan pages get ranked in Google.
• Group pages don’t.

Local SEO and Web Marketing Forum

Call (01752) 784262 or (07583) 199694

E Mail David at Ab Fab Media

Google Tips and SEO Plymouth

• SEO? It’s so easy!

I only work in and around Plymouth these days.

Trust, honesty, motivation and getting personally involved is the ONLY way forward.

Top 10 on Google or your money back – Guaranteed!

• BUT! You must embrace my methods, honesty and general high ranking tips!
• You can do really well on Google – or not – Listen to me and you will

Plymouth, Devon Internet Marketing, Web Design and SEO – Affordable local service with absolutely no huge stories or lies!

Ab Fab Web Marketing and SEO

(01752) 784262

(07583) 199694

abfabseo@gmail.com

Member of the Association of Barbican Businesses – Trusted Local Professional SEO and Google Expert

Ab Fab Internet Marketing
Web Design | SEO | Google adWords

Plymouth | Ivybridge | Saltash
Totnes | Exeter | Dartmouth

(01752) 784262

Showing up on search engines is one of the most critical ways to increase website traffic and expose your content, product or service to people who might be interested in what you have to offer. Most of the major search engines utilize an algorithm to determine where a website ranks. The search engines have set up specific criteria that a website must meet to get to the top of the list. The criteria are different for every engine, but all engines share several commonalities.

It all boils down to the type and amount of content provided on a given website, the level of optimization done on the site, and the popularity of the website (link popularity/PageRank). Tailoring your website for improved search engine rankings is also known widely as search engine optimization, or SEO.

Plymouth News

What Is Search Engine Optimisation?

Defined properly, but still somewhat narrowly, SEO is the practice of helping publishers bring new traffic and customers to their Web site, by building and promoting high quality Web sites using technology that the search engines can parse. That need isn’t going away anytime soon.

Good, strong SEO is a multi faceted method of making sure a website ranks well on search engines using various honest methods.

WE CAN DO IT!

Ab Fab Internet Marketing and Website Design
Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom

(01752) 784262

(07583) 199694

david@abfabmedia.com