An advanced new feature is being rolled out across LinkedIn now! An essential tool for any Company Page on LinkedIn will be ‘Targeted Updates’.

Put simply this new feature will allow company updates from Page’s to be tailored and targeted to specific demographics or groups of followers, which you control and define.

From the Company Page and within the Share an Update window, there will be an option to “Share With”. Here you select ‘All Followers’ or ‘Targeted Audience’. If the second option is selected you then have the following parameters or options available to you:

• Include or exclude company employees linked to the Company Page
• Target Followers by Company Size (select a max of ten options). For example 11-50 employees, 51- 200 employees, 1001 – 5000 employees and 10,001+ employees
• Target Followers by Industry Type (up to a maximum of 100 industry and sub industry types)
• Target Followers by Function (job function up to a maximum of 10)
• Target Followers by Seniority (Director, VP, Owner etc.)
• Target Followers by Geography (country, region etc. up to a maximum of 10)

The ability to share, promote and broadcast messages to specific followers is a brilliant sales and marketing opportunity for Company Page’s that are engaging and have cultivated Followers. This can and will only enhance the engagement and loyalty to that Company, Business or Brand.

Measuring the success and reach of your targeted update is also an enhancement to LinkedIn. Within Page Statistics (formerly Analytics) you will be able to view impressions and engagement metrics for each ‘Targeted Update’. Reviewing what targeted measures were most successful, by the targeted criteria of Followers you set. A sales and marketing tool that is essential and incredibly valuable for your digital marketing strategy!

Please don’t confuse or assume that this new feature is a mirror image of Circles within Google+, where you can share specific messages to a defined group, where you control the visibility and sharing options. All ‘Targeted Updates’ are displayed publically on the Company Page. The benefit and intentions of this feature is to tailor relevant or specific messages that are appropriate or relevant to a specific group of Followers, with the specific or relevant company update appearing on their LinkedIn Home Page

To learn more about LinkedIn just speak with your account manager, book a place on the LinkedIn training workshop I run, or follow me here on this blog or via Twitter or Google+ for latest updates, tips and techniques related to LinkedIn.

As digital marketing agency Intergage’s LinkedIn expert it is my role to keep you informed and updated for all LinkedIn features and functionality.

If you don’t have Google Webmaster tools enabled on your site then unfortunately you are missing out on a huge wealth of information that could help to reduce your Web marketing costs and increase your conversion rates. This is a totally free service offered by Google and can help Webmasters to gain an in-depth understanding of how their site is viewed by this massive search engine. There are many many exciting features on offer with Webmaster tools – here are just four simple features that we frequently use at digital marketing agency Intergage.

Firstly, Google Webmaster Tools will show all sorts of errors within a site such as broken links and also links that are driving traffic to an invalid page on your site. Furthermore, Google kindly tells Webmasters which pages it is aware of but have actually been restricted from crawling.

A second incredibly useful feature of Webmaster tools is the option to set site defaults. You can request Google to show pages with or without the www, set geographic targets or even select whether you would like your site images to show up in the enhance image search – Google Image Labeler. Webmasters can also set a custom crawl rate which is incredibly useful if you are keen for certain pages to be visited more frequently.

If you are keen to spring clean your meta descriptions and title tags then Google will helpfully provide a list of URLs that have duplicate title tags or meta descriptions while stating if these pages have too long, or too short titles/descriptions.

If your site has two additional columns of links beneath its natural listings on Google then these can be intricately managed in Google Webmaster tools. Although it is impossible to request which pages you do actually want to add to this section, it is certainly possible to ask that the search engine does not use a sitelink that has already been created.

Sounds good? If you are not already using Google Webmaster Tools then create an account today or simply access it through an existing Google account. If you would like to know more please do not hesitate to call our friendly team today on 0845 456 1022.

Google+ has, and will continue to fuel many a debate, discussion and opinion. With one of the main objections or concerns raised being “….not another social media channel for me to manage…”

This is an all too familiar opinion or concern I hear from Intergage clients. Whether their enquiry relates to should they attend the Google+ training workshop, or at their regular website review meeting with their account manager.

 “I’ve just managed to understand and use Facebook/ LinkedIn/ Twitter, now I need to consider and use Google+ as well!” they exclaim in exasperation.

The good news is once they have attended the Google+ training workshop, or read the Intergage blog, or come to an Intergage seminar; then their reservations are quickly dissolved to be replaced by a new found enthusiasm for the importance and value of the latest player in the social web!

Social media management tools are many, with Hootsuite being a popular choice. These software tools allow the simple management and control of the majority of your social media profiles and pages from one interface, offering the ability to broadcast a single message across your chosen social media platforms.

An enhanced new feature within Google+ and Google Chrome is the ability to share public posts on Google+ to a whole plethora of social media platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Stumbleupon, Digg, Blogger and Live Journal to name but a few, with many other options for more niche social sharing options available also. As you will notice on the image below, within my Google+ Stream I have chosen to have share options to Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Digg and Pinterest.

Additionally other options or choices within Google Chrome allow you to add a ‘Reply to Author’ button so you can directly engage and comment with the author of the post. Or add a ‘Reply’ link next to comments you post.

Notifications (comments, shares, +1’s etc.) can be displayed within your browser, within Google+ and now additionally as desktop notifications.

So with the many benefits and options available, plus Google+ being the fastest growing social media platform, enhancements like Extended Share can only make the user experience better and better.

Here at digital marketing agency Intergage, we continue to monitor advice and suggest best uses on Google+. If you want to find out more about Google+

• Book a place on the Intergage Google+ workshop
• Subscribe to this blog to keep up to date with Google+ developments
• Follow me on Google+, Twitter or LinkedIn for regular updates.

The generous folk at Google have decided to do global good with their powerful brand and recently announced Google Public Alerts which is a platform designed to alert Google map users to severe weather conditions heading their way.

The Web has always been a great place to find the most up to date weather information but it can now be located in just one map! Simple clickable tabs located on Google maps will allow users to find information about the latest weather conditions heading for their home area – or area of interest. People will quickly be able to see where and when an extreme weather event will strike and the level of its severity.

As well as alerting users to the approach of a storm, the Google Crisis Response team also wants to alert users to what emergency resources will be available to them.

Having joined forces with several weather, public safety, and national foundations such as the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Weather Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Google will ensure that all their vital data can be accessible on Google maps the moment it hits any one of their sites.

For example, if you Google the term “flood” combined with a geographical area that is under risk, this will trigger a Flood Warning Google Maps alert, which appears above all the other map information on the page. By clicking “more info” you will then be shown a page which gives details about everything concerning the flood warning alert together will all other information that Google has about the event.

This is a giant step forward for providing life saving information in real time. At digital marketing agency Intergage, we are delighted to see that Google is providing such valuable information to the public and harnessing the power of their global brand to do good.

If you would like to know more about the other services offered by Google or any aspect of Web marketing, do not hesitate to call our friendly team today on 0845 456 1022.

Here are just a few tips and tricks for using Google+  for business more efficiently and effectively:

Formatting Text

• Bold: type a * symbol (asterisk) at the start and end of the word or sentence. E.g. *example* would then appear as example or *example sentence with spaces* would then appear as example sentence with spaces.
• Italic: type a _ symbol (underscore) at the start and end of the word or sentence. E.g. _example_ would then appear as example or _example sentence with spaces_ would then appear as example sentence with spaces.
• Strikethrough: type a – symbol (hyphen) at the start and end of the word of sentence. E.g. –example- would then appear as example or -example sentence with spaces- would then appear as example sentence with spaces.
• Bold Italic: type a combination _* symbol (underscore and asterisk) at the start and end of the word of sentence. E.g. _*example_* would then appear as example or _*example sentence with spaces_* would then appear as example sentence with spaces.

Make your Stream Post Standout

• Make and use a title for your post: use the * symbol at the start and end of title text to make it bold, then hit <enter> for new line.
• Try and always add a Picture, Video or Link to make your Post stand-out
• Make the content as engaging as possible to encourage sharing, comments and +1’s
• Consider mentions of People or Pages using the + symbol
• Consider using or creating a hash tag using the # symbol

Circles – Control

• Re-order your Circles to work for you. Drag and drop them within Circles to view or change the order you can view and use them within your Stream.
• Use the + or – symbols in the Circle view to make your Circles view bigger or smaller. Allowing you to view more or less Circles on your screen without the need to scroll.

Quick Navigation to the top of the Stream

• Double click the Google+ logo in the top right corner of your Stream, returns you to the top of your Stream

Keyboard Shortcuts

Here at digital marketing agency Intergage, we continue to monitor advice and suggest best uses on Google+. If you want to find out more about Google+

• Book a place on the Intergage Google+ workshop
• Subscribe to this blog to keep up to date with Google+ developments
• Follow me on Google+, Twitter or LinkedIn for regular updates.