Saturday, March 9, 2013

Creating a Click-Worthy Profile Description: Social Media For Business

social media for businessWhen people are searching social media one of the first things they will see is your profile description. Whether it?s LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media site, this short description is the discriminating factor on whether or not someone will click on your profile or continue on to your website to learn more.

If you?re using social media for business, and you have shown up in a search, you definitely want these people to click on your profile. Your profile descriptions need to be intriguing enough to get their attention, but professional enough to represent your brand.

So what can you do to create a great description that makes people click through? Here are some tips for each major social media site.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the top social network for business and search results for keywords often produce tens of thousands of results. Your description is public to all LinkedIn members, so you want this to stand out from everyone else in the list. This short description, called a Headline, appears immediately under your name. LinkedIn defaults this to your current job title but we are not defined by our job titles, so why should our profiles be? You can easily edit this field and write something more descriptive of your professional background.?social media for businessWhat to do:

  • Carefully select 2 or 3 keywords that describe who you are and what you do
  • The headline cannot exceed 120 characters
  • Word the headline to reflect your personality. If you?re quirky, make it quirky.
  • Find a good combination of fun & professional ? but remember it is a professional networking site

What not to do:

  • Don?t make your headline rude or offensive
  • Don?t make it a list of keywords
  • Don?t use hashtags

Twitter

Twitter is great for developing brand awareness. Here you get to represent your brand, but you get to be a real person, sharing real information and real experiences. Even if you?re using Twitter under the name of your company, you will be expected to engage as an individual. Twitter displays your description beneath your profile picture, name and Twitter handle. Twitter will not automatically fill in this section for you. You?re not anonymous, so don?t let the Twitterverse think you are. Even when used for business purposes, Twitter is about real, honest engagement and your description should reflect this.social media for businessWhat to do:

  • Select 4 or 5 keywords or areas of expertise that define you
  • The description cannot exceed 140 characters
  • Make it fun & unique to you. If you are passionate about something, put it out there!
  • Tell people why you?re here
  • Include your website or blog link so people can connect with you further

What not to do:

  • If you use hashtags, don?t overuse them. 1 or 2 is sufficient
  • Don?t write the description in the 3rd person narrative. If it doesn?t sound like you?re the one here, why should we follow you?

Facebook

Facebook is another popular site in social media for businesses. With the majority of social media users operating Facebook accounts, this is a great platform for engaging with your customers. Facebook Business pages provide a small section beneath the profile photo that shows the ?About? information for your company. If your company is associated with a physical address or place, that information will be listed here. If you are not associated with a physical address, the ?About? description is a 3 line description of your business. This is the first textual description that viewers will see of your company/brand so make sure it?s effective!?social media for business

What to do:

  • Choose a descriptive title for your business that reflects the best aspects of your business
  • The About description will display up to 225 characters
  • Add your website link here to gain higher click-through rates to your site

What not to do:

  • Don?t use hashtags
  • Don?t let the text end mid-sentence. When writing the ?About? text, you can exceed 225 characters but only the first 225 will display on the profile page. The rest will only be visible by clicking on ?About?.

Google+

While still considered new to the social media world, Google+ is gaining traction. Business profiles look the same as personal profiles up front so use your description to define what your company does. Google+ uses what they call a Tagline underneath your name to describe more about you. This is a short one sentence description. If you don?t fill this in, Google+ will leave it blank. Many people and businesses leave this blank so you?ll stand out if you fill in this feature. social media for businessWhat to do:

  • Choose 2 or 3 keywords that describe you
  • There is no defined length listed for Google+ taglines, but I recommend you keep it to less than 80 characters.
  • Make it fun and descriptive and reflective of your personality

What not to do:

  • Don?t use hashtags
  • Don?t use a string of keywords

I also suggest changing each of your descriptions every 6 months. Doing this keeps it fresh. It also gives you the opportunity to try out different tactics to see what garners the best results. Try being whimsical, then go more serious, then bring in a motivational aspect, etc. Whatever helps enhance your brand and bring awareness of who you are.

It is important to remember that when it comes to social media for business, these brief descriptions are often the 3-5 seconds that it takes for someone to decide if they want to connect with you or not. By making the descriptions entertaining and informative, you will ensure that you stand out from all the other boring ones out there!

Source: http://topdogsocialmedia.com/social-media-for-business-increase-clicks/

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