There is no denying the importance that social media has on certain businesses. However, while some companies are still just using social media to simply build a page and connect with a few people they know, there is a much larger area for potential to increase your presence with social media. It can also connect you quickly with industry influencers, bloggers, and partners. And considering the better your social media presence is, the more reputable you will look to your customers, you should be shooting for the stars to maximize your social media network reach to find potential customers. I run a photo lab in Phoenix, and social media has really helped me build a customer following. Here are some tips how you can make the most of your online presence and reach customers in ways you never before imagined.
Find The Right Keywords and tags
It doesn’t make any sense to start setting up your online presence, if you don’t know what people are looking for. The best way to start preparing to increase your keyword presence is to find out exactly what people are looking for. This works a lot like SEO through search engines and the keywords that are most relevant will be those that come up when people search for certain information. You want to assure that you are in the results that show up when they do those searches, so find out what people are searching for. If you are having a hard time finding these out, brainstorm some keywords that you would use to describe your own practice, or you can even check with your competition to see what they are using.
For example, because I run a Photo Lab in Phoenix, I would use keywords like, “Photo Lab in Phoenix” or “Photo printing in phoenix”. Other keywords I used were words that describe what services I offer, like “Canvas printing” or “photo framing”. It has really helped me grow a network of customers on the web, and a lot of people have begun to find my business through my website.
Posting Photos and Status Updates
Once you have the keywords figured out, it’s time to start putting them in places that will draw people in. One place you can do this is with your status updates. Posting status updates that include your keywords help categorize them. Hashtags on Facebook and Google+ help filter your status to what people are searching for.
Another place to put keywords is in photo descriptions. Because I own a photo lab, it’s important that I share photographs and images from around the world. Using these hashtags and filters, I have been able to connect with people in my area to talk about my services.
Tag Other Sites
If you are trying to push your customers from social media to another website or personal page, then you should consider posting these links with keywords. You can use short links and tagged links to keep your statuses short, which is helpful on Twitter, which leaves you enough room to also include your keyword descriptions. Having links and keywords in the same status makes for a great approach to get traffic from people who search for a variety of different things.
Include Keywords In Your Profile Info
One of the top ways to solidify yourself to assure that you come up whenever someone searches for a keyword is to simply add the phrase to your headline or ‘about’ section. These are places that stay on your website and by adding the keywords, you can assure that people will be drawn directly to your site. Unlike statuses and photos that can get pushed back in timelines due to continual feeds of new information, the content you put directly on your headline or ‘about’ section is there to stay.
There are many different ways to make it easier for customers to find you on social media. However, one of the top choices is through the use of keywords. These keywords often describe your industry and are the first things that come to people’s mind when searching for your services. And when you are the top option that comes up, you can guarantee that your traffic and presence will greatly increase.
Spammy Keywords
Although it is important to have keywords mixed in with your status updates, photos, and profile, it’s important that you do not overdo the amount of keywords in them. Not every status update or photo will need a keyword. If you add too many keywords it may just seem like you’re trying to push and sell things to people. It may be your goal, but you don’t want people to stop reading your content or following you because you don’t have any quality.
In the end, be genuine to your followers and others you meet on social media. If they show interest in your shares, show interest in theirs. Social media can be a huge marketing platform for your business. Use it wisely.
About the Author:
Dieter Schaefer is the owner of Phoenix Photo Lab. Phoenix Photo Lab specializes in photo printing, image restoration and editing, framing and scanning. He also offers custom art framing in Phoenix. Outside of mastering craft in photo printing, Schaefer spends his time with his family.
