Two of the most important factors for any growing online business are SEO and social media marketing. But is one more important than the other? Should you put more time and energy into one and not the other? Which can make a bigger difference on your bottom line?

Let’s explore some of these questions.

SEO Is More Important for Raw Traffic

SEO will get you more traffic up front than social media will. Though social media is gaining more and more traction every day, they still don’t come close to what a number one ranking can do for your site in terms of raw traffic.

On the other hand, top search rankings are hard to achieve. They can often take months, even years. They take a lot of time investment and often a lot of monetary investment as well.

SEO is a longer-term strategy than social media. You might get more traffic overall than social media, but it takes more effort and has a randomness factor as well. You don’t know if it’ll actually work.

Social Media is More Important for Reputation

On the other hand, social media is free. It’s easy to manage and doesn’t take months before you see results. That said, you won’t see the same kind of traffic that you’d get from a number one ranking search listing.

Social media has a lot of side benefits that go beyond the raw traffic stats. Prominent social media figures build a strong reputation in a space, which often increases their conversion rates because of their reputation. Likewise, they’re more likely to get invited to speaking engagements, where many profitable business deals can be made.

The key to good social media marketing is to provide something your users want, consistently. If that’s a weekly how-to video, then make sure you provide that video every week, without fail.

The Two Are Merging

Most SEO experts agree that search engines are taking many social media factors into account when ranking pages. In other words, instead of just looking at backlinks and PageRank, the search engines now look at your Facebook likes and reposts as well to help determine rankings.

When it comes down to it, the secret to successful SEO and social media are really the same. Provide good content, consistently. It’s what people tend to pass on and it’s what the search engines are looking for.

One may be more or less effective for specific businesses, but if you focus 90% of your efforts on creating a great user experience and 10% on marketing techniques, you’ll have a great chance of succeeding with both.

Is one more important than the other? “Yes,” in the sense that one may work better than the other for your business in the short term. “No,” in the sense that in the long run, they’re more or less the same.

Do you enjoy using the internet as a source of education and entertainment? If you do, there is a good chance that you know what YouTube is. In fact, you may even be an active member of the YouTube community. With so many YouTube members and site visitors, there are many individuals who wonder what exactly it is about YouTube that makes it so popular. If you are one of those individuals, you will want to read on to figure out why.

Perhaps, the greatest reason why YouTube is so popular is because of all that you can do on the website. For instance, if are looking for entertainment, you can choose from an unlimited number of YouTube videos, many of which you are sure to love. If you want to do more than just watch YouTube videos, you can even make your own. YouTube allows all registered member to post an unlimited number of videos on their website. Whether you want to create a video blog, a comedy skit, or an educational video, you can easily do so.

Another one of the many reasons why YouTube is so popular is because it is free to use. Any internet user can simply visit the YouTube website and start viewing videos. Although it is advised that you register for a free YouTube account, this isn’t required to watch YouTube videos. With that in mind, if you would like to rate videos, leave comments or upload your own videos to YouTube, you will need to register for an account. Registering for a YouTube account is free and it only takes a few minutes.

When it comes to uploading videos onto YouTube, it is relatively easy to do. That is another one of the many reasons why YouTube is so popular. Even those with a minimal amount of computer experience can make and share videos. All you really need is a video recording device, such as a cell phone with video recording capabilities, a camcorder, or webcam. Most computers already have movie editing software programs installed, but you only need to use movie editing software if you would like to edit your video before sharing it within the YouTube community. When it comes time to upload your videos, you just need to follow YouTube’s uploading instructions and then your videos should be available for viewing within minutes.

As for watching videos on YouTube, it was stated above that you have an unlimited number of videos to choose from. This is another one of the many reasons why YouTube is such a popular platform. No matter what you like, whether it is romance, comedy, or educational pieces, you should be able to find whatever you are looking for. Popular YouTube videos include video blogs and comedy skits. Finding videos to watch is easy as well. YouTube allows you to browse through all of their videos or you can perform a search to find something in particular.

Goggle Buzz is one of the newer social networking sites today, and it’s rapidly becoming more popular all the time. One reason, of course, is the Google name that is attached to it. However, it’s not just popular because of this. There is plenty of substance to back it up.

How do you access it?

It’s entirely located within your Gmail account, and it’s free. All you need is a Gmail account.

Who would benefit from using it?

Anybody just looking to catch up with friends could use it. However, it’s especially effective for businesses.

It is inspired by Facebook, Twitter and other popular social sites, as it takes on aspects of each. For instance, it enables you to upload pictures and videos. And you can easily have a conversation with other users. All of this enables you to give your business personality.

So how can your business benefit from it? Here are five reasons you might want to start using it:

Post wherever you are

One of the strengths of Google Buzz is that it works great with mobile devices. This allows you to post wherever you want, quickly and easily.

It even has a feature that enables you to speak into the phone, and it will automatically convert your words into a post. In other words, you don’t even have to write. This only works with certain applications, but it can be very convenient.

And you can let others know where you are posting from, if you want. This could be useful if you want to give your posts more personality.

Convenient

It links with the more established social sites. Therefore, you can see other people’s activity on Facebook and Twitter without even having to leave Google Buzz. This means you can view other people’s tweets right from the Buzz platform.

Segment your posts

One of the unique features about Google Buzz is that you can choose who you are posting to. For instance, you can just post to a certain group of contacts, or the entire Buzz network. It all depends on who you want to see your post.

This is especially useful for businesses. For instance, if you have a list of proven customers, you can do a post only they can see. And you can then write a message for those who haven’t bought from you yet. Therefore, you can tailor your posts to your audience, much like segmenting an email list.

Blog compatible

You can link your Buzz account to your blog. Therefore, whenever you update your blog, it will update your Buzz account. If you have a lot of followers, this could translate into a lot of money provided you have good blog content.

Filter

If you are subscribing to others’ RSS feeds, the Buzz has a filter that eliminates posts that wouldn’t be of interest to you. You just tell it what to block. This saves you time, because you don’t have to sort through hundreds of posts you don’t care about.

The bottom line is, you would be smart to use the Google Buzz, because it gives your business personality. While it will require time and effort, the Buzz can be very profitable for you.

Are you ready to give Google Buzz a go? If so, Follow Me on Google Buzz

It’s no secret that getting younger customers is critical. It’s important, because you could potentially have a client for life if you handle the relationship correctly.

So how do you attract them? Here are few tips to make it happen:

Know where young consumers hang out

One of the obvious places they go to is social media sites. The biggest age group using the popular social networking sites is the eighteen to twenty-four bracket. YouTube, Twitter, and MySpace are all examples of social sites that offer a huge amount of profit opportunity.

Know who your customer is

Trying to target all young people is not going to work because it’s not specific enough. You will want to narrow it down to a certain age and gender to be more effective. This will enable you to speak exactly to your customer, instead of trying to design some generic advertising that appeals to everyone.

Get in a conversation

More and more, young people are doing business with companies they trust. Trust is one of the most important words today for business.

How do you build trust?

You have to show you care about their needs, and can help them. If you ram one advertising message after another down their throats, they will know you just want the money.

So you first have to identify their needs, and show that you have a solution for them. You want to engage your target market in a conversation and answer their questions.

This will establish you as an expert. So you first have to give them a lot of great free information. If your free information isn’t that good, they will assume that what you are selling isn’t that valuable either.

Ask them questions. This will show them you care about what they want. After you’ve done this, you can explain how your product would meet their needs.

Use video

As mentioned above, video social networking sites are really taking off. Video is one of the best ways to engage your customer. This is because people can comment on them, much like a blog.

From the comments, you will be able to see the needs that your customers have. Then you can design you product to better meet those needs.

Emphasize benefits

More than ever, young people don’t care about how long you’ve been in business. They are interested in what you can do for them. Your credentials aren’t as critical as the benefits you provide to them.

So don’t talk about yourself, talk about what you can do for your customer. It might be useful to mention you are an expert, but the main focus should be on the benefits.

Remember, you are in the business of helping people. That’s the only way to make money. So engaging your customers, finding out their needs, and meeting those needs is how to attract younger customers.

When it comes to making your business known, there are a lot of ways to establish yourself online and off.  Businesses are becoming successful using social networking and blogging, but Yelp is a somewhat less known, but powerful way to make yourself known online and expand your business.

Yelp is a newer website, but the concept behind it has been around as long as businesses have.

Yelp has several different webpages, all for different cities.  It’s a listing of businesses, but it also includes the ability to rate and review the businesses.

When it comes down to it, word-of-mouth advertising is generally better than an everyday, average advertising campaign.  The reason?  Anyone can make a claim about their business.  But no matter how good that claim is, there’s no real guarantee that it’s true because the business owner is making it themselves.  With word-of-mouth advertising, someone else is telling the consumer that the claim is true.

Whether it’s someone they trust, or simply someone who doesn’t profit from what they’re saying (or even if they do), this is taken as a much more trustworthy source.  This way, you’re not only getting your name out there, you’re also getting your reputation out there.

So how can you use Yelp to your advantage?  First, make sure your business is in there.  That way, even if there are no reviews, at least you’ve got your name out.  You can then use your Yelp page to add details, pictures, and even updates, and special offers about your business.

That way, new customers know what to expect, and have some extra incentive to come in along with previous customers’ experiences that assure them they’re getting what you advertise.

Once you’re listed, make sure you’ve got quality reviews.  While some people may get family and friends to plant positive reviews, these are often easy to spot to the trained eye.  Why not just encourage customers to go online and write a review?

Yelp is not only good for finding new customers, you can also use it to communicate with current customers to keep them coming back.  You can talk to them privately, or communicate with them publicly so other customers can not only get answers, but also see that you take care of your customers even after you’re done providing services.

Another advantage of Yelp is that it allows you to recommend other businesses and more importantly, allows them to recommend you.  You can offer reciprocal links to local businesses, or provide them some other incentive for promoting you.  The more successful the other businesses, the better the links you’ll get from them.

The best part about Yelp is that once you set up your listing, it’s fairly easy to maintain.  You’ll need to update when you make business changes and keep up communication, but it only takes a few minutes and is well worth the benefit.

One sure-fire way to get your business known is by using press releases. A press release is written material that announces a news type event. Television networks, radio stations, magazines, and newspapers as well as online resources will publish the announcement if your news story peaks interest.

People are interested in the news and are always looking for a good story. Business owners can use press releases to give them those good stories while making a name for their company. The best way to do that is to make sure the release is a story and not simply an advertisement for your business.

Press Releases Provide Powerful Benefits to Small and Big Business Owners Alike

Press Releases are the most popular means of providing publicity online and offline. They have many advantages that both small and big business owners can profit from. Some of those are:

More traffic to your site – The press release that gets published on one of the media outlets will have your website link provided within it. Those who have reviewed your release and want more information will click through the link or check out the website.

Build a brand – What better way to get your business name into the minds of your target audience or anyone who happens to read your press releases. The more a consumer sees your business name being mentioned the more likely they will remember it the next time they, or someone they know, is in need of your products.

Inexpensive way to get free publicity – Getting an effective press release written will cost you some money. Some will include the costs of submitting it for you, so the cost of getting the free publicity will be inexpensive.

Gain Credibility - The press release can also help to get your business more credibility. Potential consumers will start to see you as an expert in your field and think that you should be the one to go to when they need the products you offer.

What News Items You Can Create to Make an Effective Release

By no means should you wait around for something newsworthy to happen within your business before you can start benefiting from news releases. Why wait? Start now.

Create news stories from what’s already going on. Here are some things that could be turned into news stories for your news release:

• Special Discounts/Sales
• Fundraising events your business is helping with
• Offering Free Items
• Any Awards your business has won
• Any contests that you’re planning
• Starting your business
• Getting more products to sell

Some of these stories can not only be newsworthy items but also show what a humanitarian you or your business is. Credibility comes into play again and we all know that credibility helps to build rapport with your target audience and gains you a higher “expert” level.

Press releases are one of the most powerful publicity tools available today for all business owners. Use it to your advantage and join all the other successful internet marketers who have use press releases many times in the past with very positive results.

Becki Noles is the virtual business manager and online marketing dynamo of the Virtual Accuracy Companies. She and her associates work with the top business and marketing coaches in the United States and the world over providing SEO, Pay Per Click, website development and technical virtual assistant services. Get the free 9 part series “How to Market Your Business” by visiting The Selon Group (a division of the Virtual Accuracy Companies).

Micro-blogging is a good thing and using Twitter makes it even better. However, Twitter will never take the place of a blog. The bottom line is that Twitter is not a full fledge blog, nor was it intended to be. It is simply a way for you to get your words out to the masses in a more expedient manner. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons Twitter will never replace a blog.

The number one reason why Twitter can never replace a blog is because you can only post up to 140 characters at any one time. There is just no way to squeeze 1200 words into such a small space. Not to mention, trying to send 8.57 tweets back to back, may not go over well with your followers. There is nothing like a person who tweets excessively. Doing so will cause you to lose followers and your goal with Twitter is to gain a friends not turn people away. You want Twitter to be tool that leads to your platform – your blog – the place where you share your story, product, or business.

Another reason why you can never replace your blog with simple tweets is because you just don’t have the same control to customize. Sure you can create a “pretty” profile that says something about you but not the way you can with your blog. With a blog you can customize the whole kit and caboodle. You can add tools, plug-ins, and even more networking opportunities through your blog. You just can’t do all that with Twitter.

Then take into consideration the website name issue. You can’t attach a domain to twitter. For example, on twitter I will always be www.twitter.com/beckinoles and that is it. Your username or extension is how people will recognize you on Twitter, but it’s not the same as a domain name for an entire website. In essence, Twitter owns your profile, not you. But your domain name – now that is all yours.

Don’t try to replace your own blog or website with twittering. Instead, learn to use Twitter as an effective tool or application that makes people want to learn more about you. Your blog is where you get down to the nitty-gritty and allow people to become more knowledgeable about your life, your product, service or whatever it is you are promoting.

Becki Noles is the virtual business manager and online marketing dynamo of the Virtual Accuracy Companies. She and her associates work with the top business and marketing coaches in the United States and the world over providing SEO, Pay Per Click, website development and technical virtual assistant services. Get the free 9 part series “How to Market Your Business” by visiting The Selon Group (a division of the Virtual Accuracy Companies).

One of the newer social networking sites is Twitter. It sounds like a movement birds make. In fact it is a quick way to send messages to your favorite people via the Internet. Due to its popularity with people all over the world, many entrepreneurs wonder if Twitter can actually help them grow their business.

In order to answer that question we first need to find out what exactly Twitter is? It is a social networking site which allows people to keep in touch with friends, family, and others. Through a series of short posts, important information is sent to a person’s followers. Those short posts are called “tweets.”

Twitter has been used by people to send messages to their friends. The posts can be 140 characters long at most, which allows for quick, precise exchanges of information. If you wanted to let your family know that the reunion this year is in Harrisburg, PA and they needed to volunteer to do something, it would be easy to send them all a tweet at one time. When someone logs into their Twitter account or views your Twitter profile page, they would then see the message. They can then respond to you by posting a tweet of their own.

Twitter is real time communication for people who need to contact others right away. Some wondered if Twitter was just a fancy way of texting someone on the computer. Send a tweet to your husband to say dinner is moved to 7:30. Tell a girlfriend you’ve just bought that blouse you saw last week. If you only want to allow certain people to see the messages you are sending, you can easily mark your profile and updates as private.

Although many use Twitter as a more personal way to communicate, even more treat it as a virtual water cooler to connect with all types of people the world over. It seems as if tweeting would get boring after a while. Not so. With talkative friends you could be tweeted to death in a matter of days. Many actually find themselves losing precious time in their day chit-chatting with those with similar interests.

For the skeptical folks who want to know if tweeting will eventually tank, businesses have found a use for the social network that can increase their utilization and visibility on the Internet. First, let’s say that you have an office of fifty employees. Sending a memo every time there is a big announcement creates a lot of paper to file or leave for the trash man.

Businesses can now use protected Twitter messages to keep employees updated on departmental changes as well as company wide agendas. Employees can subscribe to the company feed set up on Twitter. Whenever there is something important posted, they will be notified.

The same goes for small one-owner and Internet businesses and their customers. Customers can subscribe to the company feed to learn about new products and other useful information. New businesses can create interesting tweets that produce interest and can be re-posted by others to help get the business or owner noticed.

Twitter fills a niche in the social networking sector and is here to stay. Businesses have found a way to make Twitter work to their advantage, whether they are work at home moms longing for adult interaction or reaching out to a broader audience to increase profit.

Becki Noles is the virtual business manager and online marketing dynamo of the Virtual Accuracy Companies. She and her associates work with the top business and marketing coaches in the United States and the world over providing online marketing, SEO, PPC, website development and technical virtual assistant services. Get the free 9 part series “How to Market Your Business” by visiting The Selon Group (a division of the Virtual Accuracy Companies).