Google+ Traffic Increases: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

Google+ Increases Traffic by 55%: Experian Hitwise shares statistics for Google+ that show a significant increase in December 2011 compared to November 2011.

hitwise tweet

Experian Hitwise tweets about Google+ growth.

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30 Social Media Predictions for 2012 From the Pros

social media viewpointsHow will social media impact businesses in 2012?

We sought expert opinions from a wide range of pros you’re likely familiar with.

We are grateful for the dozens of social media professionals who have written over 600 articles for us since we started Social Media Examiner in October 2009.

To give you a glimpse of what we can expect in the next 12 months, we decided to tap their knowledge and expertise. Here are their predictions of where social media is headed in the next 12 months.

#1: Businesses consolidate social media activities

Michael Stelzner

Michael Stelzner @mike_stelzner

As the social media landscape becomes more crowded in 2012, businesses will pick their battles and dig in. What used to be simply Facebook and Twitter is now Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter (and who knows what’s next). On top of this, you have many specialty networks like Foursquare, Yelp and Instagram.

The old mantra of “be everywhere” will quickly be replaced with “be where it matters to our business.”

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Ranking Tools: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New?

Multiple Google+ Page Managers Now Possible: There are a few new features on Google+ Pages including multiple admins, or page managers.  You can now have up to 50 page managers for your business page.  There are also notifications for page managers to stay in the loop.

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12 Google+ Marketing Tips From the Pros

social media toolsAre you struggling to figure out how to market your business with Google+? Looking for some tips and ideas? You’ve come to the right place.

We asked 12 experienced social media professionals to share their best tips on Google+ for business with you.

Here are 12 ways you can use Google+ to promote and market your business.

#1: Personalize your page URL

Ben Pickering

Ben Pickering @bpicks

Carly Simon’s 70′s hit “You’re So Vain” gave vanity a bad name. But using a so-called “vanity URL” can be a smart move when it comes to your online presence.

While Facebook allows page owners to create vanity URLs of the structure facebook.com/YourName, Google does not currently do the same.

By default, Google+ page URLs look like this: https://plus.google.com/103145815507039304597/posts. It seems likely that at some point Google will allow for personalized page URLs, but until they do, there is a service that can help.

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LinkedIn Polls: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

LinkedIn Makes It Easy To Publish Polls In LinkedIn Groups: With this latest upgrade, the LinkedIn Polls application is the the first application rolling out within LinkedIn Groups.

linkedin polls

"Voting on polls now provides the same quick convenience of clicking “Like”, but with also the richer point of view of a comment."

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Social Media Platforms Get Facelifts: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

Twitter Starts Rolling Out New Design: And there are new ways to embed tweets. Be sure to check out the new enhanced profile pages which are currently only available for 21 advertising partners. These new profile pages will slowly roll out to a wider audience of brands in the coming months. Learn more in the video below.

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Nominate Your Favorite Social Media Blog: 3rd Annual Top 10 Social Media Blog Contest

social media reviewsIt’s time to open up nominations for our 3rd annual Top 10 Social Media Blogs contest—the blogosphere’s biggest contest for social media blogs.

We’re looking for your nomination for the Top 10 Social Media Blogs. The winners will be promoted in our 120,000-reader newsletter and announced on Social Media Examiner.

How to Nominate

Please make a single nomination of your favorite social media blog by commenting below and including why you like the blog (only your first nomination counts). Be sure to include a link to the blog.

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8 Small Business Social Media Tips From the Pros

social media how toAre you looking for some social media tips to grow your small business?

We asked eight small business pros for their hottest social media tips.

Here’s their advice for you to take your business to the next level.

#1: Show Them the “Real You”

ed gandia

Ed Gandia

Use Facebook to show prospects, clients and customers the “real you.” Sure, provide the occasional business tip. Or link to your new blog post. But that’s what everyone else is doing. So why not show them you’re a real person by posting updates about things you’re passionate about?

I love to cook, so I’ve been known to post pictures of my grilled masterpieces. Or I’ll quote something one of my silly kids just said. Or I’ll pose a question, such as “How can we encourage more young entrepreneurs?” Either way, I try to keep it interesting, humorous and different. And always authentic.

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YouTube Analytics: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

YouTube Releases YouTube Analytics: YouTube Analytics now gives you a quick overview and more detailed reports for tracking your audience building and retention statistics.  Be sure to check out the updated YouTube Creator Playbook to learn how to take full advantage of the new YouTube Analytics features.

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Facebook Revamps Insights: This Week in Social Media

social media researchWelcome to our weekly edition of what’s hot in social media news. To help you stay up-to-date with social media, here are some of the news items that caught our attention.

What’s New This Week?

Facebook Launches Revamped Insights Tool for Business Pages: Facebook page admins now have a new improved Insights tool for better Facebook marketing.

  • Admins can find this new Insights tool in the left navigation sidebar once they opt in.

    facebook new insights

    Check out the new Facebook Insights tool.

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