LotusJump Blog

Some LotusJump users have asked questions such as “Are certain task types are more important than others?” or “Should I focus my efforts on any single task?”. While such a questions are hard to answer with precision,  generally it’s best to mix things up and do a little bit of everything, that way you can monitor your incoming traffic (with Google Analytics) and see which techniques are bringing in greater amounts of traffic. [However, as a side note, this does not mean that because a certain link on a page is not bringing in traffic that it does not serve a purpose. Some links do not directly bring in traffic, but they can still help boost website visitors indirectly by helping to improve your keyword rankings in search engines]. So, with that being said, here are some reasons as to why you should balance your SEO tasks and put in time for each of the following tasks:

1) Content/Article Tasks - As the popular search marketing saying goes - “Content is king!” - so it’s extremely important that you dedicate time to creating new content that appeals to readers. The article/content generation tasks generally provide greater benefit (than other task types) to your search engine rankings, assuming that you can write a quality article that is unique and grammatically correct. Search engines love fresh content and since most article submission sites give writers the ability to choose customized anchor text (with a link back to your website), it makes this a win/win situation. Yes, articles can be painful to write and do take some time, but the value they provide for your website and search engine rankings is far too great to pass over.

2) Buzz Tasks - Buzz tasks are great tasks to work on because they direct you to blogs that are talking about your products/services in real time (almost). Aside from leaving a relevant comment with a link to your site on these blogs, you also have the opportunity to interact with the blog owner and potentially develop a relationship that could lead to bigger and better things, such as a guest post or even sidebar link. You’d be surprised as to how many bloggers out there that are willing to help people out, granted you show them some respect/praise and add value to their site.

3) Q&A Tasks - The Q&A tasks are probably one of the best tasks that can lead to conversions. People have questions about certain products & services and if you can point them in the right direction and offer them some useful advice, they are usually more inclined to make a purchase or, at the very least, investigate what your company has to offer. Since most Q&A tasks are time-sensitive, be sure to stay on top of these and answer them as soon as you can, especially if it’s to prevent other competitors from stealing potential clients.

4) Social Profile Tasks - Social media tasks are very important in these latter time since this is the new direction taken by modern day communication. More and more people are getting involved on sites like Facebook, Linked-In, etc. and there are just too many eyeballs to pass up by not creating things such as a company Facebook page. Social profile tasks may not provide the best SEO juice, but they do help promote branding and can even go viral, particularly with comical material or generous giveaways.

5) Directories - Directory tasks are nice because they hardly take any time to complete and some of the more prominent directories (such as Yahoo’s & BotW) can help boost search engine rankings. Even though there aren’t a lot of people who use directories nowadays, they are still worth spending a few minutes to knock them out and help increase your online visibility.

A BIG thanks to Consupo, a hip up-and-coming consumer reviews site, for today’s Tuesday Tip!

As a site that provides an outlet for consumers’ voices to be heard, we understand the power that comes from customer reviews - both positive and negative.  All companies, whether big or small, should understand the significance that customer reviews can play in increasing your customer base, boosting sales, and as a marketing tool in general.  By encouraging customers to voice their opinions on your company’s customer service, products, and experience, you will gain a great insight into how your business is run, it’s strengths, and its weaknesses.  When it comes to negative customer reviews, don’t be so quick to take measures to get them taken down.  Negative customer reviews can sometimes be just as effective as positive reviews in that they give you a chance to learn valuable lessons, increase customer loyalty, and can actually lead to future sales.

Never underestimate the power of customer reviews.  By responding appropriately you will not only help build your company’s online reputation, but word of mouth buzz will increase and you’ll not only earn the loyalty of existing customers, but you’ll earn the loyalty of future customers as well.

Thanks Consupo for your awesome insight into the significance of customer reviews.  If you’ve got a great marketing tip, leave a comment with your tip and we’ll consider publishing it with a link to your website in future Tuesday Tip editions!

A special thanks to Qualtrics Online Survey Software for today’s Tuesday Tip!

If you haven’t heard of Squidoo or created your own Squidoo lens, do so today!  For those not familiar with Squidoo, this site is the brainchild of world famous marketer Seth Godin, the father of both Permission and Viral Marketing and former CMO of Coke USA.   Squidoo is a a FREE social networking site that encourages you to market yourself as you build lenses about your business, special interests, etc.  Lenses are interactive, and can contain Flickr photos, Google maps, blogs, Amazon items, eBay auctions, YouTube videos, polls, slideshows, and other links.  If you keep your Squidoo lens updated and and loaded with great content you’ll probably see traffic to your lens increase and maybe even make a few bucks off of the items that you can choose to advertise on your lens.  Over time your Squidoo lens can achieve Page Rank and we’ve even seen some lenses rank on the first page of Google for their keywords.  You can check out our Squidoo lens or make your own Squidoo lens today!

Want to get your brilliant marketing tip published? Leave a comment with your tip and we’ll consider publishing it with a link to your website in future Tuesday Tip editions!

A special thanks to WISEOZ.com for today’s Tuesday Tip.  WISEOZ is a free contest-based social community where people win prizes, collaborate, socialize, and connect through moderated play-as-you-please games called “WiseWits”.

Last week we talked about how social media is for everyone and this week we’d like to highlight how WiseOz has successfully used social media as a way to market their company.

WISEOZ has accounts on several of the big hitting social community sites and we do what we can to push our content out to those sites as frequent as possible. Everytime we release a new clue or award a winner, we Twitter. Everytime we publish a new WiseWit, we blog and bulletin it to MySpace and Facebook and dig it to Digg. Additionally, we have a SHARE feature on our WiseWit pages that easily allows users to do the same. We’ve gotten many new members from this approach and it keeps viral engine running.

Figuring out your own social media schedule may seem like a daunting task, but the benefits will far outweigh the hassle!  Start by joining all of the major social media networks and start building your profiles one by one.  As you familiarize yourself with each one, you feel more comfortable putting yourself out there and getting involved.

Leave a comment with your tip and we’ll consider publishing it with a link to your website in future Tuesday Tip editions!

Today’s tip comes to us thanks to Lynette Chandler from BlogEnergizer.com:

Guest blogging is a great way to reach more people and build credibility with your target market.  Start looking for opportunities to become a guest blogger by searching for blogs related to your company.   It doesn’t have to be an A-List blog (although the bigger the better!), but any blog that is related and relevant to your company who has a decent following works well.  Once you’ve found a relevant blog, send the site administrator an email complimenting them on their stellar blog and then offer them original, creative and exclusive content that would be of interest to their readers.  (Note: If at first you don’t succeed… don’t give up! Rejections and non-responses are quite normal and you’re going to have to solicit to more than one blogger before you find someone who is interested!)  Not only does this give you free exposure, but you’ll also get to interact with the audience of that blog and build valuable relationships.  Add a link to your site within the blog post and eventually the readers might become regular visitors to your own site.

Leave a comment with your tip and we’ll consider publishing it with a link to your website in future Tuesday Tip editions!