Category: Social Media

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What Size Images Do You Need for Facebook, Twitter and Google+

Get the low down on the image sizes you'll need for your social media.
Get the low down on the image sizes you’ll need for your social media.

I came across this great infographic and wanted to share it with you. It highlights all the sizes you need for the various social platforms. View it now.

To make it easy for you, I have broken it down so you can print this page as a very easy tip card.

Facebook
Profile image: 180 pixels wide by 180 pixels tall
Cover (big image for the header): 851 pixels wide by 315 pixels tall
Images you share in the content should be 1200 pixels wide by 900 pixels tall (width is most important)

Twitter
Profile image: 400 pixels wide by 400 pixels tall
Cover (big header image): 1500 pixels wide by 500 pixels tall
Images you share in the content should be 440 pixels wide by 220 pixels tall (width is most important)

Google+
Profile image: 250 pixels wide by 250 pixels tall
Cover (big header image): 1080 pixels wide by 608 pixels tall
Images you share in the content should be 497 pixels wide by 373 pixels tall

Note: on the images you share in content, I would not resize my images to fit these dimensions, but if you are buying images for use, you need to buy big enough versions so buy the 1200 pixel wide version as when you load the image to Twitter and Google+ it will be resized to fit properly but too small of an image will look bad in your content or may not even be able to be loaded.

For Pinterest, Tumblr and other social media sites make sure to check the infographic.

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Myth – Don’t Use HootSuite As You Will Get Dinged With Your SEO

HootSuite will not damage your SEO rankings!
HootSuite will not damage your SEO rankings!

Okay, this is a myth! I have now heard from two different webmasters that “Oh no, you can’t use HootSuite for social media updates, the URL that HootSuite uses and the branding tag they add will impact your SEO efforts in a negative way.”

Hmm, my firm uses the HootSuite Pro control panel for our social media work. We employ 10 writers and do a significant amount of work for clients in the social media space. I have never seen any clients take a nose dive because of our social efforts or the use of HootSuite.

However, to be fair to the naysayers, I did some research for this post to find out just where has this myth come from. First, by default we, personally, use the ow.ly link shortener in the HootSuite control panel for our clients. It appears that for some using the ow.li link shortener that an additional behind the scenes 302 redirect is done. This may be where some have grabbed onto this concept of SEO damage and smeared HootSuite as an agent of that can crash your SEO results.

Here’s what I’ve found, first, use the ow.ly link shortener by clicking the gear button next to the link shrinking field in HootSuite. What happens when you link is shrunk is that a 301 redirect is done pointing to the real URL. As a 301 redirect passes link juice and is not penalized by Google, there is no damage to your rankings.

For more information on this important topic here is some background information that you can read to understand more in-depth.

http://moz.com/community/q/myth-or-fact-social-media-dashboards-bad-for-seo
http://moz.com/blog/url-shortener-owl-li-indexed-in-google
http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204

I personally love HootSuite and have been using the portal for years to grow our social media business and that of clients. I find it easy to use and have three social media specialists and 10 writers using it for a wide variety of clients. I have never had a client’s site or rankings be damaged by using this excellent tool that helps us to be productive and on-time for clients.

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Google Pushes Google My Business Forcing Google+ Pages

The Google+ Carrot and Stick in AdWords.
The Google+ Carrot and Stick in AdWords.

Google will simply not give up on Google+. They have tried over the years to push individuals and businesses into Google+ and now have take the original GMail model to try one more time to build growth in this social media network that simply has not caught on.

Google’s most recent push started in October using the AdWords platform to require participation on a Google+ page in order to use their AdWords location extensions. Here’s how they are doing it:

1. If you did not already have a Google+ location page tied to your same Google AdWords login or used manual address extensions, Google stated that you would not be able to use location extensions anymore.

2. Google then auto-created a Google+ page for every Google AdWords login and automatically tied it to Google AdWords. Too bad if you already had a Google+ page under a different user name, for it to show in AdWords the page had to be tied to your AdWords login. Welcome to your new page.

3. What is even more complicated is that actually Google has auto-created two pages for every AdWords account; a location page with map that points to your website and is pointed to from your AdWords ads AND a new Google+ page that they are hoping will become a new social media portal for your business and a central location for your online reviews.

This heavy handed approach shows how serious that Google is about growing Google+ pages and location identification for local advertising. Google took the exact same model when GMail came out. Google required that to use GMail, you had to set up a Google account forcing everyone to open a GMail account. They are doing it again to force businesses to utilize location specificity via Google+ via AdWords.

If Google thinks Google+ is so important you may want to reconsider if you should consider it important too. We offer minimally priced options to have content created to keep your Google+ page updated. Just a consideration if you are going to embrace what Google thinks is key to them.

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Social Media Services

Social Media Addressed in a Smart Way by McCord Web Services.
Social Media Addressed in a Smart Way by McCord Web Services.

Social Media has now become an important part of every business’ overall marketing program. Search engines and site visitors consider social media activity important and are site visitors are using the ability to share content with others using these platforms; making participation in social networks more meaningful for businesses. As a result to keep up with current trends, our social media programs are being improved to serve your needs better.

We have hired special social media specialists to curate the content that is used for social media and have employed specialized content writers to write your updates. When you work with us, we think that you will find that the content for your social media networks is improved to is more meaningful and targeted for your own audience. For Facebook, our content is standardized to show around 50 to 60 words in each update.

We’ve listened carefully to what our clients want and need when it comes to social media. Here’s what our clients tell us.

1. I understand social media and its value to my business. I want regular updates and I have the budget to spend to support quality writing and a cohesive strategy across all my properties including blogging. (Consider our Gold and Silver Plans.)

2. I need to not spend more money, in fact I need to spend less when it comes to social media. Although I have not seen leads from social media, I know I’ve read that it is important and I want to make sure I am doing a little there but don’t really want to spend a chunk of change on it. (Consider our Bronze Plan.)

3. Although I don’t see business from social media, I have the icons on my website and do not want to be embarrassed by client’s clicking these links and seeing that I have not updated that platform since December 2013. I just want a little bit of work to keep my toe in and make sure I appear up-to-date. (Consider our Mini Plan or our Minimalist Plan.)

For each special customer, we now have programs that cater to your specific needs and budget constraints. You’ll find that we provide a range of services with quality writing that will target social media in a smart way without breaking your budget. Visit our social media page to find out more.