7 examples on how to integrate social media into your online presence

The integration of social media into your online channels does not limit to simply including social media widgets on your website. Although, that is a good start.

True integration of social media occurs when you utilise the principle of social online interaction in the way that serves the purpose beyond just sharing your content for others to see. 

It is also important that you think of your website, Facebook, Google+ or Twitter not in isolation, as separate platforms, but as integrated media which only when combined together will really maximise your audience reach and ultimately conversion. Sometimes we forget that in the good old World Wide Web everything is interlinked. 

If you have a website and are present on Facebook and/or other social media platform then each one of those online channels should promote the other.

3 steps to planning your website design or re-design

Before you start developing a new site for your business or re-designing a current one, there are three steps you should consider before the actual development of your website commences. Step one is creating user personas; step two is identifying the possible scenarios of the way the users will interact with your website; step three is creating the wireframes for your website which is nothing other than a skeleton of your website's layout, pages, and sections that reflects the online journey of your website's visitors. Once you've completed this process you will have created the foundation for your website so strong, that its actual development should be smooth and see no major drawbacks.

To illustrate this step by step approach let's plan a 'fake' website for an online art gallery.

Simon Cowell launches first global audition online, but still has no website of his own

Simon Cowell has launched the first global audition on YouTube, +The You Generation. It gives the opportunity for anyone to enter by simply uploading a video and showing off their talents. The competition changes every two weeks from tv presenting through cooking to singing and is set to run for a year. When you think about it, it's only a natural next step from the way YouTube has been a break through platform for the likes of +JustinBieber.

Hearing about it for the first time, I thought Simon has finally realised the existence of the internet! Why? When writing Is Celebrity Online Presence Reflective of Their Celebrity Status? I researched few of the most powerful celebrities and so far, there has been no sign of neither Simon Cowell's own official website, nor his company's Syco Entertainment which he formed as a joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment.

Victoria Beckham's new website - Review

Victoria Beckham has recently released a brand new e-commerce website victoriabeckham.com. The design, look and feel of the website is stylish, fashion oriented, and minimalistic. Victoria herself calls is 'true to her own vision' (Grazia, 1st April 2013).

The website is split into two sections: 'Shop' and 'Look' presenting the user with two options as soon as they enter the site. It's clean, self-explanatory and immediately directs you to the two major goals that you are meant to accomplish here.

The e-commerce (Shop) part of the website has clear categorisation of items to buy and the presentation of the items is informative and accompanied with very good quality photography. The purchase process itself, including the 'Add to bag' functionality, is smooth and user-friendly.

8 Google+ cover images you should take an example from

The new dimensions of Google+ cover image, open up new possibilities for companies to make a first impression that really sticks in your mind and stands out from the crowd. It's a hugely powerful tool which businesses can utilise in the almost never ending number of ways. Here are some of the best uses of Google+ cover images, and why you should make yours informative, promotional, bold, current, and regularly updated.

Forget social networks, get ready for the social web!

Google+ is often compared to Facebook. It is also treated by many as just another social network. Well, it is not like Facebook and it is not just another social network. It can be, however, the beginning of the social internet.

It is not about Google+ features, but about the implications that Google+ has beyond the social network platform as we know it.

Social network platform could be defined as an online destination, a service to which users 'go to' usually by logging in. If YOU want to interact with ME then we both log in and view, share, post, comment, and like each other's content. Purely looking at interaction between the users within Google+ platform, on the surface, the differences between Google+ and Facebook are minor. Both offer wall-posting capabilities, with the opportunity to like, share, and comment. You could ask why use Google+ if you already keep connected to your friends on Facebook? How much more connected can you be or want to be, right? The thing is that Google+ reaches far beyond the social network itself. It allows you to have a social experience regardless of what you do on the web, whether it's search, email, creating documents, or collaborating with your co-workers via Google Drive.

How I re-designed my blog with no skills and no money!

If you've been struggling with your blog's design, and like me have no  graphic design or web development skills and, let's be honest, no money either, then I've discovered few simple ways you can spice up your blog's design for free. I tried to apply some ready-made templates that Blogger offers, however am just not comfortable with simply applying them to my blog without customizing it here or there. It makes it look lazy, unprofessional, and there is always a chance of coming across somebody else's blog looking exactly like yours. Ouch!

But then, a miracle happened and I came across this Hubspot article: 13 Free Design Tools for Visual Marketers on a Budget. The tools listed cover everything from Google Fonts, where you can choose from hundreds of font styles to various colour and photo editing tools. My immediate attention was drawn to two of the listed sources: Vecteezy and ColourLovers.

5 reasons why Google+ can help you communicate at work

If anyone wants to REALLY understand Google+ they REALLY need to stop thinking about it as just another social network. There is much more to Google+ than that. And if you're not convinced to Google+ yet, listen to this very interesting podcast on SocialMediaExaminer.com. In this podcast +Michael Stelzner interviews +Jesse Stay, the author of Google+ for Dummies and Google+ Marketing for Dummies. Jesse has a very holistic approach to the platform. He explains how Google+ creates CRM experience for anyone using any of Google products such as Gmail, Google Events, Google Calendar, YouTube, and more.

"Google+ is like a glue that connects all Google products together, socially." 

Apart from its social features, its effect on search engine ranking, and integration with other Google products, Google+ can be an easy-to-use, efficient, and collaborative tool for any business, big or small.

Is celebrity online presence reflective of their celebrity status?

Forbes has recently released its 2012 list of top 100 The World's Most Powerful Celebrities with Jennifer Lopez, Oprah Winfrey, and Justin Bieber taking first, second and third place, respectively.

Forbes bases its annual ranking of the most powerful celebrities on their earnings, TV/radio, press, web, and social media presence. However, when you have a closer look at some of the main criteria - earnings, web ranking, and the overall place on the list - they demonstrate significant discrepancies. For example, Jennifer Lopez who's No.1 on the list, earned $52m last year (poor girl!) and took 13th place in the web ranking. Oprah, the No.2 on the list, was the highest earner with $165m and 19th place in web ranking. The first place in web ranking belongs to Johnny Depp, 56th on the list overall. Having investigated the web ranking a little, it appears that it is based on the number of celebrity mentions online. Hence, the more a particular celebrity is mentioned on the web, the greater their online exposure. Forbes, for example, measures celebrity online exposure using Google blogs and never even looks at the fact whether a celebrity has an official website or not. Johnny Depp doesn't. 

What is particularly interesting for moi! in all this, therefore, is how the celebrity status translates onto their online presence. And by that I mean the online presence that is managed, controlled or contracted to external parties by the celebrity. That will include celebrity's official website, social media presence, e-commerce, and any other online activity used by celebrities whether it is to connect with their fans, to channel their image, to promote their brands or to communicate any messages that are important to them. Does the celebrity's online presence match their status? And, how does it relate to their web ranking on Forbes' list?

For that purpose let's have a look at the way celebrities, in this case chosen by moi!, manage their online presence and see if we can answer the above questions.