Top Social Media Monitoring Tools

by Senior Editor on May 16, 2013

Twitter

Many companies today are using social media to promote their product or service and drive more traffic to their websites.  It is a good marketing practice to be present where your consumers are.  That is why it makes sense to be very active on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube because consumers often make it a point to log in at least once a day.  Many even make it a point to be always logged in. And when people are online, so their friends too. Directly market to them and they may share instantly your products or brands for faster spread of word of mouth.

But how effective is social media in promoting your brand?

Is it really as good as people say it is or are all the reviews overrated?  Numbers do not lie.  While one can make a qualitative analysis as to the efficacy of the social media page, it is always best to go back to the numbers and this is made possible by social media monitoring tools. Do remember there has been no known 1 for all tracking and analysis for social media success and return of investment, the platforms and the web itself is just too loose and too open to be track.

Of course, not all social media monitoring tools are made equal.

Some are simply better than others.  These are the top social media monitoring tools based on the reviews of people who have used it and is still currently using it.

Viralheat claims that they have the ability to simplify social media.  It is a fairly sophisticated way to monitor your social media at a very reasonable price.  Hence, it does not matter if you have a small budget or a huge one, for a price that goes as low as 50 dollars, you can avail of the services of Viralheat that support all the major social media platforms namely Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Google+ and some blogs as well as forums.  One of the reasons why users like this platform is that it enables you to track competing products and what your potential market have to say about it.  It is a great way to constantly be in the know about the latest social buzz.  The data are shown in a chart or a graph for easy viewing and analysis.

Spreadfast is another social media monitoring tool that supports the major platforms.  It may not be as sophisticated as Viralheat when it comes to monitoring competition but it is a great way to organize the content of your social media page.  It is perfect if you have more than one social media manager on your team. With Spreadfast, you can make sure that there is no duplication of content and that the workflow is efficient.

Sysomos claims that they provide “business intelligence for social media” and true enough, it is the preferred social media monitoring tool for bigger companies.  The great thing about it is that not only can it effectively track your social media activity but it also has a function that allows you to manage your own social media pages such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Google+ and many more.  It also allows the user to easily access Google’s analytical data so you can see how effective your social media campaign is in one glance.  It has a feature called “buzzgraph” that allows you to monitor the core of conversations that are relevant to your brand.

There are many others, but the ones that are included in this article are the top gainers and are well known to be used by most people.

photo by: JefferyTurner

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How to Find a Low Cost SEO Company

by Senior Editor on May 16, 2013

Google Chrome

You may have a really awesome website but if nobody knows it exists, then what’s the point?  Having a website, even the best one just is not enough.  You need to drive traffic to your site for it to matter and aside from placing ads on Google, one of the best ways is by hiring an SEO company.

So what is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization.  When you search for certain words in Google, there are websites that start appearing on the page when you press enter.  That did not happen by accident.  The websites are there because of certain keywords placed by an SEO company.  Keywords are carefully chosen words that are most relevant to your site.  Good SEO companies make sure that your website is at the very least on the first page of the search when a person types it in the search engine.  We all know that those that do not make it and are on the succeeding pages hardly get noticed. Before diving into outsourcing your needs to others, first make sure you yourself have enough basic knowledge about SEO in the first place. By this, you will not end up shooting blanks and just purchase any available low cost offers or SEO out there.

Finding the SEO company of your dreams

Now when you are looking for an SEO company, you will notice that their rates vary a lot.  So are the expensive ones automatically the best?  Not really.  There are low cost SEO companies out there that can give you the results that you want.  The big question is how in the world can you find them.

Well, you can start by asking around.  Perhaps you know friends who have worked with a low cost SEO company in the past and are happy with the results.  Get their referrals.  That way, you know that the work of the SEO company is tried and tested.  Hence, you are not hoping that they can deliver everything that they say because you know for a fact that they can.  In today’s competitive marketing world, there will be someone in your friends list that has experience with 1 or 2 of these companies.

Let’s say that you do not know anyone who has worked with an SEO company before, that is totally fine.  They are after all about search engines so they should have a website.  So just Google for SEO companies online and check the first ones that appear.  If they are any good at what they do, then their website should be on the first page of your search.  From there, check the services that they offer along with the rates.  However, it is always best to talk to past clients that they have already had.  You can either read up on the reviews or ask them to give numbers of their clients so you can check what they have to say.  This requires a bit more research but it will be ultimately worth it.

What makes it a low cost company?

If you want to cut down more on the cost, you can read up on the services offered by the low cost SEO company that you are considering.  Make it more like a “tick list”.  Check the services that you need and cross out those that are not necessary.  That way, you can haggle for a lower fee since you are not availing of all the services that they offer. Most of them are really looking to have clients, they will be more than happy to respond to your inquiries, emails or support tickets, so don’t hesitate to reach out to them.

photo by: thms.nl

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