A Guide to URL Shorteners

April 7, 2009

There are a few reasons why you might need to use a URL shortener. If you use Twitter™, which only gives you 140 characters to use in your posts, URL shorteners are necessary for posting otherwise-lengthy links. Short URLs are usually more aesthetically pleasing than long URLs, especially when you’re dealing with a link that takes up more than one line of text. And if you’d like to track the traffic that your posted URLs are receiving, there are even shortening services that allow you to see when and from where someone clicked on your URL.

A shortened URL is perfect for use in a variety of places. I mentioned Twitter™, where shortened URLs are basically a must, but they’re also great for including in blog posts, Facebook® posts, using in blog or forum correspondence, linking to information in articles, and so forth. Over at Black Web 2.0, Rahsheen Porter posted an article that discusses some of the more popular URL shortening services that are available today. Porter goes into detail on what each link shortening service does for its users, and he also weighs the pros and cons of each.

To find the perfect URL shortener for your particular needs, read Porter’s full article at http://www.blackweb20.com/2009/04/06/7-url-shorteners-and-why-you-might-use-them.

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Twitter™ Webinar Follow-Up

April 3, 2009

I hope you had a chance to attend the TwitterTM webinar we’ve been discussing here at the ThinkLocal® Blog. If you were able to see it, what did you think? Did you learn anything new? Personally, I thought it was one of the more informative webinars on Twitter that I’ve attended. The presenters focused on using Twitter as a business tool, which included the following tips:

  • Utilize your profile. Post a link to your business’s Web site, describe who you are and what your business does, and include your location.
  • Follow your followers back. It’s the polite thing to do, and it increases the reach of your tweets. Also be sure to pay attention to your following to follower ratio. Keeping it around 1:1 shows that you actually follow your followers back; if Twitter users see that you follow way less than follow you, they will be deterred from following you.
  • Start discussions with Twitter. Instead of just sending out messages about your business, post links to topics relevant to your whole industry. Don’t just broadcast; engage your followers by posting information that many will find interesting and/or relevant.
  • Take advantage of Twitter’s search function. It’s the easiest way to find people in your area, as well as industry experts who are sure to provide useful information through their tweets. You can also search keywords that are relevant to your business. Follow those that are using these keywords in their tweets; odds are, they’ll want to hear what you have to say.
  • See that start that shows up tweets? If you click on that, it’ll save that tweet as one of your favorites. It’s a great way to keep track of tweets that contained helpful information, and it’s a great way to make note of users that you’d like to converse with later.
  • Balance the line between personal and business. Twitter is great for networking on a more personal level, but if you’re using Twitter for your business, try to keep your tweets relevant to your industry.
  • Ask your followers to retweet your Twitter posts. Adding phrases like “Please retweet” or “Please RT” to your tweets is very effective-just make sure you include “please” in your request!

If you use TwitterTM, what are some tips you have for using it as a business networking device?

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Reminder: Informative Webinar on Twitter™ is Tomorrow

March 30, 2009

Tomorrow we will be attending the “How to Use Twitter for Business Webinar.” For those of you who have already signed up, you’re one step closer to learning how Twitter can help your business. If you haven’t registered yet, don’t worry—you still have time. Visit our previous blog post on this event for more information, and then click here to sign up.

“See” you there!

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Need Help Using Twitter™ as a Business Tool?

March 19, 2009

We recently came across a webinar on one of our favorite subjects, Twitter™. The “How to Use Twitter for Business Webinar” promises to be a good one. Not only will all attendees gather valuable information from industry experts, but we’ll also have access to a complimentary eBook that covers the reasons and methods behind using Twitter as a business application. The webinar is at 1:00 PM EST on Tuesday, March 31, so you still have plenty of time to sign up. Don’t pass up this free learning opportunity—you and your business will surely benefit from the presenters’ wealth of knowledge.

To sign up for this event, please visit:

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=137569&sessionid=1&key=D6205F9DF0C3A755F678D9183D690020&sourcepage=register

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Find Local Businesses Through Twitter™

March 18, 2009

Here at ThinkLocal®, we’re huge fans of Twitter™. We use Twitter to find new articles pertaining to local search; share information that can be beneficial to our followers; explore hot discussion topics via the Twitter Trends function; and get ideas on how we can make ThinkLocal a bigger and better local search directory. Twitter is also great for finding local businesses in your area. With their search function, you can enter a phrase like “St. Louis restaurant” to view tweets (posts from Twitter members) that contain those keywords. Your results will vary: One person might be notifying his followers that he is going to eat at his favorite St. Louis restaurant, while another Twitter user might be spreading the word about the new sushi restaurant she just opened in downtown St. Louis. You’ll also find posts that contain reviews of St. Louis restaurants, as well as tweets asking for restaurant recommendations from other Twitter users.

Next time you’re looking for a local business, point your browser to Twitter and take advantage of the information you can discover through a simple search. Once you’ve found a local business, visit http://www.ThinkLocal.com to view its online business listing, read reviews, find directions, and much more.

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