Ingredients:

• Internet

• PC or Laptop

• Facebook Account

• Login Details

Duration: 20 min

Preparation:
Log in to your Facebook account. On the home page there is a button on the right hand side of the screen that says Account – click on it. A drop down box will then appear. Now click on Privacy Settings. There are different aspects you need to set when it comes to setting your privacy. They will now appear on your page. They are: Profile Information, Contact Information, Applications and Websites, Search and Block list.

Step 1:
Let’s start with setting up your profile settings. Click on Profile Information. You will find a list of everything that appears on your profile. You can set each one according to your own taste. Decide whether you want everyone to see your personal information, Facebook posts or would you prefer only your friends to see it? Customize refers to a setting which allows you to hide your profile from specific people. So, dice through these and season to taste. You can also edit you photo albums settings. This refers to who can see your photos. You could set it to Only friends, friends of friends or everyone.

Step 2:
Next, you need to set your contact information. This part is crucial. So, click on Back to Privacy and then click on Contact Information. Once again, whip through these and season according to your own taste.

Quick Tip: I would suggest that you set most on the list of information as Only Friends. One’s you can set as Everyone would be the last 5 areas on your list. It is a good idea to set your website as public information so everyone can see your website. It could improve your online visibility.

Step 3:
Now you set your application and websites settings. Click on Applications and Websites. Now things get a little bit messy. What you share means that when you visit a Facebook-enhanced application or website, it may access any information you’ve made publicly available. This is why it is important to set your profile settings so that all your information is not publically available.

Also, tick what information your friends can share about you through applications and websites. Set things according to taste. The third setting on the list would show you the applications you have blocked on Facebook and the fourth setting, Ignore application invitations, allow you to ignore application invitations from certain friends. Lastly, set who can see your activity in the Friends’ Recent Activity, Friends’ Applications and Friends’ Games sections of these pages.

Step 4:
It is now time to set who can see your search result on Facebook and in search engines. Click on Search. I would suggest setting Facebook Search Results as Everyone so people who are looking for your on Facebook can find you. When it comes to Public search results I also set it as allow. Test it and click see preview. If you do not like having this public you can remove the action.

Step 5:
The last setting on your list of privacy settings is Block List. People you have blocked will not be able to interact with you on Facebook. Any Facebook friendships or relationships you currently have with that person will be broken. Simply add their name and email address and it’s done.

Now that you have completed our 5 step recipe to a secure Facebook profile click the Preview my Profile button in the right hand corner of your screen to view your dish. Also, if there is anything you are not satisfied with just go back to that setting and redo the step. Happy Cooking!

1) Growing your authority on a particular topic
2) Links to your site
3) Targeted traffic

For more usability and web marketing tips (thrown in with a little football musings) feel free to follow me on Twitter.

Walking into my first day at WWC as the new intern, I knew very little about the world of eMarketing that I was diving headlong into.  My recently acquired degree in Business Administration, from back home in the States, certainly did not cover web analytics, link building, or SEO.  Though nervous as I was, relief came quickly as I soon realized it was Ok that I was just learning.  It became clear to me that learning is a large part of what eMarketing is, and that even the most experienced veterans in the office are still learning new things on a regular basis.  World Wide Creative’s very own Heavy Chef Project is a shining example of how everyone here is constantly craving new information and developing new ideas to become better at what they do, to become the all knowing and ever trustworthy Heavy Chef.

As I was introduced to the team I started feeling at home already, the relaxed atmosphere of the office seems to make everyone enjoy their time here.  While there is certainly much work to be done and there are many deadlines to keep up with, there is still time for a friendly conversation or a quick joke, which makes the work much more enjoyable.  Mike pulled me aside and gave me a quick run through on what World Wide Creative was all about, and specifically where I would be fitting into the equation, in the area of Web Marketing.  He then put me to work right away, doing one of the less exciting, but possibly most important aspects of marketing, that being research.  As I sat down at my desk, laptop in front of me, I wasn’t really sure how the research I was doing would be of any benefit.  I was simply searching Wikipedia for content related to one of WWC’s client sites. What I soon learned however, which is contrary to what every professor said to me in university, is that Wikipedia is in fact a highly respectable site, at least as far as Google is concerned.  By searching for related content in Wikipedia I was making it possible for us to put links in Wikipedia that would go to the client’s site.  By doing so, Google will realize that the client site has a lot of relevant and important information, therefore ranking it higher on related searches. Though my research was somewhat tedious at first, it led to some important link building opportunities that will help our client’s site to rank higher on Google searches.   I had just had my very first lesson in link building and search engine optimization.

On only my second day in the office I had the privilege to go and see Mike give a lecture to graduate students at Old Mutual.  How privileged I felt to be interning with WWC after seeing how well received we were at a graduate school, even despite Mike’s long and dry lecture… just kidding, the lecture was actually very interesting and clearly benefitted not only the graduate students, but me as well.   I returned to the office that afternoon and did some more link building research for a few other clients.  I also had my first taste of web analytics while doing some keyword research for various clients.  I think the coolest thing about eMarketing is our ability to measure its success in such detail.  No other form of marketing can give you such an accurate idea of your return on investment (ROI).  By far the highlight of my first week at WWC was being on the set of the Property Ninja’s third video shooting.  Property Ninjas is a viral marketing campaign WWC is doing for a realty client, we have two ninjas running around doing crazy ninja moves and fighting throughout various properties.  It is a really great way to showpiece the properties while making it entertaining as well.  It is the kind of thing you might send to your friends to give them something to laugh about.  I think it is going to be very successful at getting the clients name out there and I invite you to check out the Property Ninjas on your own to see just how fun it has been for yourself.  Property Ninjas Link:  http://www.facebook.com/inbox/?ref=mb#/propertyninjas?ref=ts.  That is all for me this week, I’m off to the Garden Route this weekend to get a taste of South Africa outside of Cape Town.

Its actually quite simple and quick to do. Scan through the “Top Content” section in your analytics and see what the most popular blog posts are on your site. Spot the trends between them and write content related to that. For added effect do the same process with blog aggregators and see what are the most popular posts on the web. Use this as inspiration.

Note: I use the the term “Google” quite freely throughout the talk, when in realty I mean “search engines”. Especially when I talk about the early days before Google even existed:-)

1. Recruitment
Head and shoulders, my favourite reason for using Twitter. The last few recruits within our digital marketing agency, World Wide Creative, have been directly or indirectly from Twitter. Since we started building our Twitter community, we’ve subsequently saved thousands on recruitment agency costs by spreading the word through the ‘verse.*

2. Resources
My second favourite use of Twitter; as a statistics and case studies resource it’s unparalleled. This is particularly pertinent at the end of a long day when I’m tired, grumpy and my patience for refining searches in Google is wearing thin. I can ask my audience something like “Anyone got something relevant on the impact of circus dwarves drinking alchohol in advertising campaigns?” and I’ll get a response within minutes. Guaranteed.

3. News
No doubt, if it’s newsworthy, it ends up on Twitter quicker than you can say “scoop”. People are tweeting about plane crashes from the plane, for Heaven’s sake. Nowadays, of course, the line defining what’s actually “News” is somewhat blurred. And so, you’ll have to filter through pics of Demi’s bum before you get to the stuff that you need to know – but, believe me, if you want to know stuff first, Twitter’s your tool.

4. Knowledge and Inspiration
Someone say “@smashingmag”.

5. Entertainment
Yep. It’s not all serious around here. I’ve got a bunch of folk I follow purely because they provide me with a break from my busy, complicated life. They’re funny as hell and God bless ‘em for it. Side note: Christopher Walken, Twitter was designed by the Creator as your personal mouthpiece. Come on board.

What now? We’re busy formalising the Heavy Chef Twitter strategy, but in the meantime follow me @Fred_Roed, or other chefs @Louis_JvR and @Lands23 (or follow us in advance @heavychef if you feel inclined). We want to figure out something that will be a little different from the normal “check out our latest post” approach. Watch this space.

*It is policy at World Wide Creative that if you use phrases like “Twitterverse” or “Tweeps” you are summarily assigned to be mauled by a snarling, rampaging pack of programmers. We’re not kidding.

But I think it’s time to put a stake in the ground and do some research into Twitter’s pervasiveness in South Africa… this is what I could find:

1. According to research company, Sysomos, South African Twitter users make up 0.85% of total Twitter users (that is the 10th largest usership in the world!)
2. According to Nielsen Wire Twitter receives an estimate 55 million visits per month (7 mil unique visits)

Based on this, I can make an assumption that SA Twitter users generate 467,500 visits per month (59,500 unique visits).

Taking into account that these stats seem to exclude access via mobile apps, these numbers are sure to be somewhat higher as well.

Right, how does this compare to some of SA’s other sites (unique visits):

• SABCnews.com (60,730)
• GoTravel24 (60,505)
• Premier Soccer League (59,629)
• IOL Property (57,190)
• SAReunited.com (55,834)
• The Times Multimedia (55,587)
• The Herald (54,578)
• Thunda.com (52,590)
• Sake24 (52,544)

(Source: Online Publishers’ Association of South Africa)

Now, I know that these calculations aren’t 100% statistically sound (and guys like RWW also admits this) but from this point forward, it’s my stake in the ground.

How relevant is Twitter in South Africa?

Well, with 467,500+ visits per month, a steady growth curve and very, very unique opportunities to interact/engage with an affluent audience…

How relevant is Twitter in SA you ask…

seo

Today, search engines work much like a phone book directory used to – just on a much larger scale. How your company’s site is found can be difficult with so many options available. To single out you company’s website from the mass of information on the web, it is vital to make use Search Engine Optimization (or SEO).

People have made a shift towards using the Internet to help them in their daily activities. Search engine optimization helps you to get higher rankings in search engines and so, guide more traffic towards your website. In short it can be said that search engine optimization’s goal is to make a website appear on the first pages, if not the very first page of a search done through the search engine.

The Internet Digest provides us with 3 fundamental stages of optimizing your website. The first stage is to choose the right keywords. The right keywords are those that “clearly describe the purpose and content of your site, and allow your site to show up as close to the first results page as possible”. Secondly, you need to optimize your pages for your selected keywords. On all the pages of your website you need to position your keywords in strategic locations. The last stage is to make sure that you get linked from the best directories and from lots of quality sites with a related topic.

It seems that the last stage really is the most important. For Mike Perk, Co-founder of the energetic web marketing company World Wide Creative, the most important thing is relevant links pointing back to your site. Mike explains linking in Google terms: “Google is looking for the centre of authority on a particular topic or search term. It does this by looking at where all the links point to and seeing who has the most relevant to that topic/search term. That’s the one that goes to the top.” So from my understanding, linking is basically a case of the site with the most links that refer back to them will have the highest ranking.

Gabriel Weinberg runs a search engine called Duck Duck Go. For Gabriel, it is important to have attractive URL’s and page titles but the thing that matters most is external link texts. “Google often repeats that they use more than 200 ranking factors. In my experience, external link texts matter way more than anything else. That is, the actual words in the links back to your sites and pages.”

But now, SEO might already be expanding to other fields and evolving. According to Mike “what has become extremely interesting in the last year and something that will continue to grow, is the type of content Google is indexing and rating highly. Video, images, mapping, etc are finding their way to the top of the search a lot more easily than new text content.” We should pay close attention to this expansion into multimedia fields. It could mean more ways to SEO than simply text-based content and URL’s.