What You Will Need:

1. Paper (Letterhead, time-sheets or any other important documents work best)
2. Good Eye/Hand co-ordination
3. Imagination and a sense of fun

Now you give it a try and be surprised how good it’ll make you feel!

Below are 7 simple tips for writing effective content or updating the pre-existing:

1. Content Must Be Easy To Read!

When writing online content, less is nearly always more! Write for the impatient, online reader whose attention span is very small. Below are some helpful guidelines:

Headings: 8 words or less
Sentences: 15 – 20 words
Paragraphs: 40 – 70 words
Page word count: 250+ words

Try to avoid pompous words and fancy phrases as effective online writing is not about impressing the reader with your vocabulary, it’s about communicating. Use short, simple words. Get to the point, then stop. An effective summary is who, what, when, where & how; it’s about getting the information across in 50 words or less and make sure the content encourages your reader keep reading. Make your first sentence grab your reader’s attention or they’ll move on.

2. Write From Me To You

It is extremely important to write for your reader in a personal, friendly, conversational tone! Get to know your audience; is there a common style you need to use to reach them? Don’t forget that they have come to your website to do something, eg. make a purchase, obtain information, sign up for a subscription. Make sure every word that you write moves them towards a solution.

3. Write For How People Search

If you want your site to be found when people search the web, use words your target readers use might use when searching. Think carefully about the keywords you’re going to use as it can affect whether you site will appear or not, then just as importantly weave those same words and phrases into your copy. Below are two Web sites that can help you find the right keywords and phrases for your individual site.

1. www.overture.com
2. www.wordtracker.com

4. Create Effective Headings

The heading is the most important piece of content you’ll write. Why?? Well Internet users scan read and the first thing they read is your heading. If it doesn’t grab their attention, they’ll leave. An effective heading can also used to improve search engine optimisation which is extremely important. Finally, the heading can be placed on your home page as a link into certain content creating consistency.

When writing headings remember to:

• Include important keywords
• Avoid the use of adjectives and prepositions (and, a, the, of).
• Most importantly, be clear and concise. Avoid wordy, complex phrases.

5. Write How You Would Want to Read

The simplest content checker we recommend! Easy to use, To the point & will help filter down your text! Check it out here: www.blablameter.com

6. Sell Benefits NOT Features

If your Website is designed to sell products or services you should write about the benefits, not the features. Features basically describe your product or service for example, what it is made of. A benefit is what the will user gain from using your product or service. Don’t say, “Our duvets are warm and comfortable,” say “You’ll be warm and comfortable in one of our duvets.” Tell your clients how it will make them happier, sexier, healthier, wealthier. Other words, focus on making sure every line of your content is dedicated to what’s in it for them!

7. Edit, Edit, Edit, Then Edit Again!

Mistakes in online content are easily fixed, but by the time you’ve noticed your errors it is possible that hundreds of other people. Always get two or three people to proofread your text and then make sure you check it yourself! Look for consistency in grammar, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations etc and finally if your feeling adventurous, read it backwards you might be surprised how many errors you will spot.

Even if you take away the little red alert icons, flashing title bars, or beeping chat boxes, Facebook can be a huge distraction. This may not always matter, but disabling some of these notifications can help keep you on track later if you don’t want to close the tab. Disabling sound notifications can be done in just a few steps:

Step 1:

Go to the far right of your account and look for the cog icon. Click on it to open the Settings menu. This menu will display various pages that you are an admin of etc.

Step 2:

Hover down the list and select Account Settings as shown on the right to get re-directed to the inner gummings of your Facebook Account.

Step 3:

Next, simply find the Notifications option in the menu on the left-hand side. There may be many different tabs to look through, however the one you will need for this exercise generally be near the top. When you have found it, click to open!

Step 4:

Clicking on this tab will open the subsection “How You Get Notifications”. This subsection will hold all notification options that you can setup for your account and change at will. At the top will be the option “On Facebook” as seen below, click again to open.

Step 5:

The final step is easy! Just untick the box that says, “Play a sound when each new notification is received”. Then save your changes and click on the Facebook logo in the top left to get home!

That’s it, no more annoying notification beeps!

So why not have a mobile site that looks and works almost like an app!!?

Here are some interesting stats:

• Smartphone shipments to top 1 Billion by 2015″ – iSuppli
• Mobile internet to overtake PCs by 2014″ – Gartner
• Mobile search quadrupled last year” – Aust. Bureau of Statistics

Regular websites just dont seem to work on Mobile Devices!

• They can be very slow to load
• Very hard to read
• Too much scrolling
• Flash won’t work

Your business cannot afford to ignore the mobile users, over 80% are now browsing on the move, wanting information fast, free and decisions can be highly influenced based on user experience!

How we can help you get a mobile web site:

• Tell us about your business
• Send your website address if any
• We will create your site in consultation with you
• Your website is installed
• If the user visits your website from a Desktop your regular website loads

Our package includes everything from design to installation so, you don’t have to worry about the technical stuff.

Mediamojo Mobile Websites Feature:

Call 07 5455 5058

With free apps available such as Shoebox, available for both iPhone and Android, you can quickly scan your printed photos or documents, archive them and share with your social media or email contacts. It won’t replicate the same quality as a high res scanner but with high quality mobile cameras such as the iPhone 4s or Samsung Galaxy S 111 you can get a great result.

To Get Started

What you will need:

1. Shoebox App
2. A microfiber cloth or alcohol-based cleaning wipes
3. A well-lit area with lots of natural filtered light and few shadows
4. Your Smartphone

Step 1: If you haven’t already, download the Shoebox app and sign up/sign in. You can also log in with Facebook.

Step 2: Prep your photos; using the microfiber cloth dust off your photos and for stubborn finger prints wipe gently with your alcohol-based cleaning wipes (do not use wipes on paper documents).

Step 3: Launch your Shoebox app and press the red camera button. With your photo placed flat lying down in your well-lit area, position your phone parallel to the photo / document, tap the screen to focus and press the shutter button.

Step 4: You can now crop the photo by dragging the crop lines into the sides of the photo. Shoebox will automatically fix the perspective of the photo based on how you crop the image.

Step 5: You can then adjust the brightness and saturation to closely match the original. You will then be prompted to put the image in a Shoebox (much like an album) if you wish.

Step 6: Finally add important information to your photo such as the year the photo was taken, of whom and where.

Repeat the process for all additional photos and you’re done. All scanned photos will be saved directly to your mobile camera roll and be made available online via the link provided at the bottom of your app’s upload tab.

Check out these useful How To Videos

We hope you enjoyed this months‘How To’, keep your eyes peeled for next.

Original article located here

Is your website optimized for mobile? Is your site easy to navigate on a smartphone or other mobile devices? Are you easily able to tap links and find what you need in the blink of an eye? If you answered NO to any of these questions, it is time to go mobile and target the ever increasing number of smart phone users Australia-wide.

In a recent study almost 83% of all mobile phones in the Australia are smartphones, as of February 2012. Having a mobile-optimized site is crucial, since over half of the Australian population carries a smartphone with them every day and use it regularly to go online. In a retail product research scenario, smartphone owners primarily use their phone to access the internet instead of their home computer. The fact that consumers now want information on the go is a safe bet they have tried to access your website on their phone or device just before making a decision.

An average smartphone screen is only between 3 to 6 inches. Now, imagine that you’re on a smartphone browsing a non-optimized site – yes, you could possibly zoom in, but the other half of the site would be missing from your screen. Can you stand having to do that? The last thing you want is to leave your customers with a bad user experience because you weren’t prepared for their devices.

73% of all mobile users expect sites to load fast

33% go elsewhere if your site does not provide an easy solution

46% leave unsatisfied and never return to your business

For an easy solution, many businesses are using responsive design or opting for an ‘app like’ mobile version of their website. Here is a recent example for one of our clients, a dentist in Noosaville, check it out  on your mobile device:

m.riversidedental.com.au

Mediamojo is happy to produce a mobile site for you that works, contact us today to see what we can do!!

WE CAN SIMPLIFY -  Keeping your site as simple as possible is the way to go for mobile (cluttering up your user’s screen is a BAD idea). Also, keep in mind that your mobile site should complement your site on desktops.

WE CAN SET THE LAYOUT – Having an easy to navigate mobile site will encourage customers to come back to your site. Make sure it is easy for the user to locate popular items/products with a simple touch on their screen.

PHOTOS – Using images to enhance your mobile site is a great idea for the eye of the consumer, but having too many images will slow down the load time of your site.

Having a mobile site will definitely make a huge difference for smartphone users on-the-go. It will load a lot faster than an actual site and will be easier to view. No smartphone user would want to go on a site that is not mobile-optimized for easy viewing, navigating and completing a transaction. If you don’t already have a mobile-optimized site, be part of the growing trend, NOW is the time! Mediamojo is happy to produce a mobile site for you that works, contact us today to see what we can do!!

Below are 5 steps to help kick start your blogging success:

Step 1:

Unique, Engaging Content found among the masses on the internet will always attract an audience because it is information that they don’t already know. Maybe the subject has already been discussed but you have a different take on it, but keep in mind that repeat content is boring and therefore unlikely to attract interest. Useful content is always being sourced, take your client questions for example, most likely they aren’t the only ones asking the question, taking inspiration from these could be a be a great approach to writing engaging and informative content. Keep it industry related as opposed to your company, people won’t read your posts if they feel like their being sold to. So what do you write about? Industry updates, news, how to’s and important general information relating to your services and or products that your consumers/clients need/want to know.

Step 2:

Updating your Social Media such as Facebook of Twitter is also very important and helps drive traffic to your blog. By updating your blog posts to your social media platforms it reminds your followers, people who are interested in your business/company of new entries/content. You can also add social media share links/buttons to the bottom of each post allowing people to share your posts within their own social media networks spreading the word amongst their own friends and followers.

Step 3:

Frequent updating is vital in order for your blog to be successful. By publishing posts about 2-3 times a week, content is kept fresh, attracting readers and search engine robots for SEO. By maintaining an active blog you show your audience that you are a professional in your industry keeping up to date with current trends. This allows you to create followers by allowing readers to subscribe via RSS feed and receive direct updates when you post to your blog.

Step 4:

Including relevant keywords (industry and topic) in your posts is a great way to make sure your posts are found in search engine results by users looking for that particular topic. Developing a list of keywords for each post and using these words as often as possible while still engaging your readers can be challenging, however these keywords will assist with ranking on search engine results and increase traffic for your website.

Step 5:

Allowing comments on each of your posts allows readers to give feedback, reply or create a discussion about your post. Many Companies are hesitant to allow comments due to negative feedback that may arise. However, negative comments can be an opportunity to speak directly with that person and offer suggestions, advice and solutions. Address them by name and reply in a way that shows you value their opinion or feedback. For businesses that are still very hesitant, you have the option to moderate comments before they are posted publicly, or delete if necessary.

Need help setting up a blog? Talk to the team at Mediamojo about how we can guide you on the path to successful blogging.

So what does this mean for you?

The Facebook Timeline interface is designed to improve consumer interaction with brands and companies, which so far, according to the studies, facebook is living up to that promise. With larger image and video areas you can now achieve a more “website” appearance which is winning much favour. This means more control available over the look and feel of the content along with the large tab images to navigate users to other pages giving greater control of how the user interacts with your information.

Customise your Timeline Visuals / Brand

Timeline pages as mentioned previously are now more visual based and consist of a large cover photo, profile picture, photographs and videos to express your identity.

Cover Photos capture the essence of your brand and showcase your products or services. However, Facebook terms state that, under no circumstance should your cover image include any call to actions (e.g. ‘Like’ our page, 40% off, phone numbers etc.) or any information intended for your pages about section. Cover image dimensions are: 851px wide and 315px high however you can just put a larger image in place and crop.

Profile Pictures should be used for your logo or an icon related to your logo or company. The profile picture follows your business on Facebook as a thumbnail image in news feed stories, ads and sponsored stories, making it an element people associate to your brand/company. Profile picture dimensions are: 180px wide and 180px high scaling to 32 x 32px.

With large visual tabs now found at the top of the page under your cover photo, your photos, events and custom apps are now easier for your visitors to find.

The About Section now allows up to 130 characters to show on the timeline page, that a great improvement on the original 2-3 lines showed in the old layout. Including your website URL in this section is also a great idea as it will automatically hyperlink.

Landing Pages, Tabs & Apps

One of the biggest changes to facebook is your custom landing pages, tabs and apps as these are no longer able to be set to your default landing page. When people visit your facebook page the timeline is now your landing page, however your old landing pages are still accessible through the tabs under your cover photo. This doesn’t mean that tabs are now useless, you can now access your tabs from the top of the timeline similar to how you would pages on a website it actually gives these pages more credibility. Using these pages/tabs as promotional pages, rss feed pages and contact forms create the feel of a mini website and the new tabs are larger allowing up to 810px width to engage your users with.

All custom app pages are now easier to find, being placed alongside the photo, likes and event tabs. These can be re-arranged with the photos tab being the only exception showing in the first spot. So be sure to arrange your tabs/apps in order to what matters most. You can now display up to 12 apps in this area with a handy dropdown feature located to the right.

Other Great Features

Pinning Posts, this is a great feature allowing you to anchor your most important stories to the top of your timeline page for up to 7 days. To pin an update, select the pencil icon in the upper-right corner of your post, followed by “Pin to top” in the drop down menu. Keep in mind though that new content will always be more engaging.

Fan Messaging is an optional new feature which allows you to add a message button to the top of the page for your visitors to contact you directly.

The New Administrator Panel allows you to keep track of your activity (new likes, posts and tags) on your page from the admin panel. Respond to posts on your timeline wall, and view your latest insights.

Highlight important stories with the new star button featured at the top right of you posts. This feature allows you to take a post and make it full width across your timeline.

Milestones allows you to define your key moments throughout time e.g. Opened your first store, Sold your first product or expanded.

// Download the Facebook Page Overview PDF here

Email Newsletter sign up form with colourful headline – eg Get Free Updates Straight to your Email!!

Adding a Email Newsletter sign up form to your website is a fantastic way to collect a client database, but how do you get people to actually sign up? When it comes to handing over their personal details most people are very resistant,  however this doesn’t mean it’s impossible, enticing your clients with free updates, news, specials and sometimes free merchandise can really work in your favour!

Your Newsletter sign up form can also be added to your Facebook Business Page with all sign up details going to the same database as your website Newsletter form. Need your database for other projects? You can also download your list database as an excel file directly from your E-Newsletter account.  (Mediamojo uses Mailchimp preferred E-Newlsetter software)

Promotional mail out, direct marketing with call to action

Maybe you want to target specific businesses or corporate companies. Sending out a flyer promotion can be a great marketing strategy. Advertise your business while offering something in return. For example: if they fill out the flyer form and return by mail or visit your website to sign up for your email newsletter  receive a FREE key ring!

Blog/ Post Feed sign up

If you are a frequent blogger, suggest your readers subscribe to your blog to receive your news and updates directly into their inbox. This is a great way to collect the details of those who you may not have usually marketed to, and yet be the ones most likely to read what you’re sending them. Blogs also attract more traffic to your website, so therefore brings more customer opportunities.

So with some very well planned strategies and a little patience collecting a client database can be very simple. Need help setting up any of the options above contact the Mediamojo team to discuss your best approach and how we can get you started.

Google Adwords is a type of internet search marketing where ads appear next to Google search results and the advertiser pays an amount every time their ad is clicked by a prospect. It allows your ads to connect with your customers at the precise moment when they’re looking for your products or services, and you only pay when the customer clicks on your ad and connects to your website. You don’t pay to list your ad, you only pay for clicks, hence the terms Pay Per Click (PPC) and Cost Per Click (CPC). This differs to traditional Newspaper and Magazine advertising where you are required to outlay valuable marketing capital to promote your business to people that have no interest in your message.

Why use Google Adwords?

Google Adwords may possibly be the most powerful marketing tool ever developed. With Adwords, you can reach a global audience of over 800 million internet users, or target local cutomer areas and acquire new customers from as little as $0.05 per acquisition. Online searches for products and services are at an all-time high and will only ever increase. If you don’t advertise on the web you are greatly limiting your business growth and potential sales.

However setting up an effective Adwords campaign is not a simple process, and requires time, dedication and most important of all, a high level of expertise. That’s where we come in. Mediamojo will not only set up a Google Adword campaign for you, but also monitor and maintain it, ensuring optimal results and effective costs per click. We’ll keep you informed and explain to you in layman terms what is happening with your campaign. Contact us for an ongoing maintenance package that will suit your online marketing needs and experience the power of Google Marketing.

Download a sign up form here.