Google Plus Video

Google Plus, or Google+, can be a great tool. But how do you use it to help drive website hits to your organizations webpage? If you odn’t use it, did you know than more than 100,000,000 do?

Here’s a video from Movie Mondays, a free weekly video on fundraising, that addresses this issue. Specifically, Marc Pittman, noted author and speaker on nonprofits and technology, shares how Google Plus can benefit your organization. Marc wrote the book, Google Plus for Nonprofits.

Please watch the short video and tell us what you think – link to the video: Google Plus for Nonprofits

How do you use Google Plus? Please share in the comments.

Searching Just Got Social for NPOs

This week Google announced that they were going to add information from Google+ pages into their search algorithms so that they can create a more personalized result when you search. Sounds great, right?

But hold one for a second. What does this mean for you and your agency? It means Google+ pages now impact the result people see when they use a search engine like Google to find you. To make sure that your agency’s programs and agency name continue to be top 10 results in Google, you’ll want to start a Google+ page if you already haven’t done so yet. On this page, you’ll want to make sure to include keywords and terms that are similar to your agency website’s content.

Here are a couple of resources, that I usually turn to with social media questions, that should help you create and maintain a Google+ page.

• Beth Kanter
• Google’s Blog
• Google for Nonprofits Discussion Group
• John Haydon
• Socialbrite
• Search Engine Land

What are some of the Google+ resources that you’ve found that are helpful?

Top Ten for 2011

It would be the end of the year without another Top Ten list. NCE Social Media is no exception.

Here are the top 10 posts from the past year.

10. Google+
9. Social Media Etiquette
8. 10 Commandments of Posting Online
7. Facebook’s EdgeRank
6. Megaphones
5. Social Media as a Fundraising Tool for 2011
4. Setting Up Facebook Fan Pages
3. New Facebook Groups
2. Share Buttons and Bars
1. Is YouTube Making You Money?

What were your favorites?

Plus 1 Buttons and How to Subscribe to Facebook Pages

Google has a great web page on how to add +1 buttons for your website. If you’re already using Google+ you really should consider adding these to your website, too.

Facebook changed things up a bit in the past few weeks. You now don’t have to ‘like’ something to be able to comment on a page. The subscribe button allows you to be part of a page’s conversation without being previously connected to the page. John Haydon has a great run down on how the changes and specifically the subscribe button helps nonprofits.

What are your thoughts on the changes? Please feel free to share them in the comments box below.

Google+

Google+ (Google Plus) is Google’s newest foray into social media. The service is about a month old and is still being rolled out on an invitation only basis. It took me a few weeks before I received an invitation for it. It’s now over 20 million users. I, like most others, are kicking the tires to see what it really does. Some think it might be a Facebook killer. Others think it will be the new form du jour of blogging.

I like how you can place people into Circles. Google+ Circles are similar to categorizing your Facebook friends with labels. Hangouts are where you can do group video chats. Google+ integrates your Google tools, like Picasa, into its service.

Marc Pitman has a nice write up why your nonprofit should consider Google+. Here is a cheat sheet with Google+ tips. Mashable has a Complete Google+ guide that is helpful, too.

Here’s a video from Google about the service.

Is Google Plus a Facebook killer? I don’t know yet. Are you using it? Let us know your reaction.

Update (3 p.m. 7/25/11): I came across an additional Google+ best practices resource for nonprofits that I needed to share with you.

Friday Run Down – 3 for the Road

1) A new free calender widget allows you to set up a calendar page, and has a social component. When people sign up to attend it also will post the attendance to Facebook. People can upload photos and comment on the event.

2) Google now allows you to manage your online reputation. Called “Me on the Web” it allows you to set up alerts when someone has posted information about you online. Google also provides tools on how to manage your online identity and how to remove unwanted content. This will be interesting to see how it may be tweaked to manage your organization’s reputation.

3) Here is an infographic on the real cost of social media from Column Five Media. It compares things such as sales to Facebook fans vs sales to people not signed up as a fan. How are you measuring your sales, donations, referrals, etc. from your constituents who are connected to you via social media?

YouTube Search Stories

During the Superbowl, YouTube ran their first ever TV commercial. Google, which owns YouTube, has allowed us, the public, to create similar videos. And it’s Free! You can easily do one for your own agency and use it in your own marketing efforts. You just need to click here to get started.

Here is one I did for the NCE Social Media blog. Enjoy

Deals with Twitter, Facebook and Search Engines

This week there has been quite a flurry of news for Twitter and Facebook. Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, announced a deal with the two social media tools to include their feeds in search results. That means in the future if you blog or post or tweet about your agency, those blog posts and tweets will appear in Bing’s results.

Also, Google just announced a new social media search feature. This will allow you to search social media profiles from your friends on social media networks connected to your Google profile. Check it out when it launches for public use in a few weeks.

Have you started thinking strategically about the information you post for your agency? What you say in 140 characters are now even more important than ever.

Bing, Facebook and Twitter now together

SEO – What it means to your organization

Did you ever wonder why your agency doesn’t pop to the top of search results when you use Google, Yahoo, Bing or Ask.com?

Perhaps it is because you haven’t optimized your site for search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the term people use to describe the study and enhancement of websites to help them gain page rankings in search engines, i.e. so they appear at the top of the search results for each search engine. Being one of the top three links listed when people search for you can be important. Less than 5% of people who use search engines look at or click links after the third one on the results page. That means if your competitor is ranked higher, their link will be clicked on first.

So you want to incorporate SEO into your website but don’t know where to start? You can visit SEOmoz, which is a website with free (and buy up) tools that are very helpful.

Previously, I’ve also described tools that each of the major search engines offer for webmasters. You should review these. Outside of a few web directories local to your organization, I wouldn’t recommend working on search engines other than the top four search engines because they account for more than 96% of all web searches. If you analyze your own web sites statistics you can see which search engines people use to find your agency. Focus on these engines.

I bet you’re asking why I’m talking about SEO on a site for social media. Quite simply, your content in social media can enhance your page ranking in search engines. For example, if you type my name, Dave Tinker, in Google you will find my Facebook link as the #1 result and my Twitter page as the #3 result.

As search engines continuously change their search algorithms to improve their search rankings, you will want to follow those changes to ensure that your site remains at the top of the search results page.

SEO Tools

Here are links to the top 4 search engine’s guidelines for webmasters. These explain how to get your website listed and can help you get a higher search results ranking.

Google
Bing (Microsoft)
Yahoo
Ask.com