By Robert Lockard

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but according to one blogger, the key to getting more website traffic from your Twitter account is to tweet less frequently. Of course, Dan Zarrella is not just any blogger – he’s a self-proclaimed social media and viral marketing scientist. That’s a pretty cool title.

In his blog entry, “Want More Clicks? Tweet Less,” Zarrella made the bold statement, “If you want your Tweet to get noticed and ReTweeted, you should slow down your posting rate.” Twitter is all about speed, though. It’s an instant message service. Why would a smart blogger suggest you slow down your tweeting?

According to this study, Twitter users who only tweet one link an hour have a much higher rate of getting that link retweeted than those who post two, three or 13 links an hour. The same is true for days. One link a day gets a better click-through rate and more retweets than multiple links a day.

What does all this mean? I’ll try to interpret. I think it means Twitter users can tell the difference between people sharing genuinely interesting news, ideas or offers and robots or marketers who are just trying to sell their products through Twitter. Twitter users like people who listen as well as share. That’s called a conversation, and it’s what customers expect more and more from ecommerce companies in our current marketplace.

What does this mean for your Internet-marketing strategies? I think it means you should be just as eager to talk about your company as you are to talk about your customers’ needs, industry trends and other things outside of your company. Twitter may not be easy to navigate when you first start out, but as you learn what you’re doing you should try not to focus too much on yourself. Sharing one link or one promotion a day can be more effective than sending a barrage of offers in a short period of time.

Think about your audience. Think about how you respond to tweets. Sometimes it seems like there are way too many to ever keep track of, just from the people you follow. Keep that in mind as you formulate your Twitter strategy. Keep the line of communication open, and try not to jam the line with too many messages.

This blog entry is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog post, “Successful Twitter strategy: Tweet less.” The photo of the birds on a fence is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Sister72.

By Robert Lockard

I read an article on Entrepreneur.com a while back, entitled, “Rev up the Search Engines.” It gives a helpful rundown of solid SEO principles for small businesses, which don’t have a whole lot of money to spare but need to start generating results from ecommerce.

This article gives six tips for a small business to get the most bang for its buck, when it comes to search engine optimization. They are attributed to Steve Wiideman, a fairly renowned SEO expert. I already talked about most of these in my SEO series in the eHarbor Blog, back in February and March of 2009. But I think a refresher is healthy.

Here are some of the highlights I took from these tips:

- Search engines are getting smarter. Don’t expect Google, Bing or Yahoo to fall for the same old SEO tricks. Bloggers and other content generators used to focus on their keyword-to-content ratio, but now search engines recognize when you use the same keyword too many times in the same post. Use relevant keywords prudently. If you use keyword-stuffing tactics, don’t expect much success.

- Google should be the focus of your SEO strategy. I thought this one was interesting because, while Google is certainly the king of search engines at the moment, things can change fairly quickly in the digital age. Of course, Google is constantly changing its algorithm for search results and it’s even changing its search engine completely with new products like Google Wave, Google Caffeine and a focus on social media, images and music. But that’s the topic of a whole other blog entry.

- If an SEO consulting company guarantees No. 1 placement on Google or any other search engine, don’t believe them. Google is the only that can absolutely guarantee top placement on its results pages, and every other company has to do its best to influence Google, but none can absolutely guarantee success. Keep that in mind when you come across SEO companies’ marketing messages.

Having said that, I’ll note Submit Solution is a good SEO resource for you. Submit Solution has more than 13 years of experience working on Internet marketing, which includes search engine optimization. It’s a great resource because it has helped many companies like yours reach customers online through its efforts. Like I said, they can’t guarantee No. 1 placement for competitive search terms, but you can expect dramatic improvements in your search-engine rankings for specific keywords in the months after they start implementing their SEO strategies on your behalf.

Keep coming back to the Submit Solution SEO Blog for the latest updates on major search-engine trends. This is a complete version of the eHarbor Blog entry, “Top SEO tactics for small businesses.” The photo of the flying bicyclist is from Flickr, and it is the copyright of Tom Grundy Photo.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Writing a paid search or PPC ad is almost an art form: it takes practice, constant effort and preparation.  This, of course, is assuming that you want your ad to be successful.  If you’re not a stickler for getting the most out of your paid search ads, then by all means, follow the guidelines stated here, in a list of how to write stinky PPC ads.  However, if you do want to use PPC ads successfully to aggressively drive traffic to your website and become an internet marketing genius, then avoid these tips at all costs!

1)  Do not do keyword research.

One of the keys to a stinky PPC ad is a lack of keyword research.  Just bid on whatever words you think are relevant to your site and hope for the best!

2)  Stay away from attention-grabbing calls-to-action.

Go ahead and describe your product or service, but do not by any means ask the reader to do anything!  Just to be sure, stay away from any words in verb form.

3)  Try not to give the reader a reason to click on your ad.

When writing your paid search ad, do not ask yourself, “Why should someone click on this ad?”  Make sure that your ad is merely informational and does not solve a problem or provide an interesting service.

4)  Avoid numbers and eye-attracting words.

If at all possible, try to spell out your numbers to make sure that nobody is attracted to your ad.  For example, instead of the extremely attractive “$.05 / month,” try “five cents per month” instead!

5)  Do not consider running your ads at certain times of day or testing your ads.

If you’ve followed all the previous steps outlined above, you shouldn’t have to worry about which of your PPC ads are successful, because none of them will be.  Just run them when you want to run them!  Do not consider holidays, time changes, or when your biggest competitors will most likely run their ads.

So… do you get the point?

Sadly, many online business owners are actually running their paid search campaigns in this manner.  However, you can be one of the lucky ones who actually knows better!  Congratulations.

By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Social media’s power has been fueled by an intense growth of users and popularity, which has given free speech extraordinary weight in the online community. What does this mean for your business? Anyone who has come into contact with your company is able to voice their satisfaction, or lack thereof, to millions of readers across the world. Every company with an online presence should create a thorough social media marketing plan to control their online reputation and harness the incredible power of social media.

Here are some of the greatest ways to make sure social media doesn’t drag your online reputation under:

Resolve Complaints

1. Ripoff Report: When customers have a terrible experience, they like to vent their frustrations to anyone who will listen. Ripoff Report allows anyone to file complaints against companies who have “ripped them off” and helps warn other customers of poor business operations. Try searching for your company name and see if any complaints have been filed against you. Resolve these issues by posting your rebuttal and explanation of the problem. These issues are usually misunderstandings of some sort and clearing up the problem, while trying to lobby your interests, will help control negative feedback.

2. Get Satisfaction: In a similar manner to Ripoff Report, Get Satisfaction allows you to create a network around your business. Customers can interact with employees of your company, ask questions and post complaints. This is a great way to provide customer service and resolve issues that would otherwise negatively affect your reputation.

Build a Community

3. Twitter: By creating a Twitter account for your brand that you regularly update, you can conveniently connect with your customers and others in the community. One of the greatest resources that Twitter offers is the ability to connect your blogs and forums to individual Twitter accounts. This way, visitors will be able to “sign in” to your site through their existing Twitter account to post their thoughts, answer and ask questions and become generally connected to your community. This is a great way to create a following for your brand!

4. Facebook: Facebook is another great way to create interest in your brand. Through Facebook Connect, you can also allow visitors to “sign in” to your site with their Facebook credentials. This way, your customers will be able to interact with you through their favorite social networking tools. Your visitors will be able to update their status and publish their comments made on your site, giving your brand instant advertising.

Connect with Professionals

5. Industry-Related Networks: Social media is all about connecting with others who have interests similar to yours. When you join a network as a business entity, this still applies! There are many social networks geared towards specific industries, which allows you to become an active voice in your related field. Here are some examples of the industry-specific social networks: Active Rain (for real estate agents) and Sphinn (for marketing and advertising professionals.)

6. Linked In: Linked In is a social network for professionals in all fields. With a Linked In account, you can connect with business contacts, department chairs, professionals in your industry and customers. This account will help build your corporate rapport among professionals just as social media helps build brand awareness among your customer base.

While this is a great overview for beginning social media marketers, the real key to success here is in management. Once your company profiles are created in these networks, they need to be constantly nurtured with frequent updates, interacting with your peers and quick response times to inquiries and issues. This will tell your followers, fans or other readers that your company is well-managed and thorough.