Add a Facebook Fan Page Widget

You may know that you can create what is known as a Facebook fan page. An example is the fan page for this site here. The benefits of a fan page are many. As Facebook is the largest social site online you have access to the biggest possible audience. Obviously it is easier to go where the people are then to attempt to bring them all to you.

Facebook Fan Page
Many people prefer to get their information through their favorite sites such as Facebook. Therefore take your site and information to them through a Facebook Fan Page. Other benefits are the features the Fan page provides such as a discussion area and more. Individuals find your page within Facebook, however what if they come to your site? Preferably you want to retain visitors and this is done by offering them your content via an RSS feed, email newsletter and why not have them join your Fan page. To do this placing a Fan widget on your site is an easy excellent way to accomplish it.

Facebook Fan Page Widget
To understand what a Fan Page Widget is, see the sidebar on the right of this site. You will see a square box with a small image, the name of the page in facebook “Online Business” and a group of 10 fans. Those images are individuals that have become fans of this site on Facebook and their Facebook images.

How to Add the Facebook Fan Page Widget
Once you have a Fan page and are logged into Facebook simply go to this link here. You will see two simple steps.

First you choose your Fan page name from the drop down box. If you only have one page you will only see one page. Next you can choose to include the stream which is the most recent information shared on the page and the fans which are the images of your fans. The widget on the right on this site has the fans only.

Second step, you choose they type of site you have to add the code to. Unless you have Blogger or Typepad you simply click the other button. There is code to copy and paste. You paste the code where you want the widget to appear. The default settings are just as you see on this site. It is a width of 300 pixels and it shows 10 people. If you use WordPress you can edit the sidebar.php file to add it to your sidebar or many simply use the widgets. If you use the widgets in WordPress then add a text widget and paste the code there.

Modifying the Fan Box Widget
The most popular items to modify are the width and the number of fans to show. The height will automatically be adjusted based on the number of fans you choose to show. To adjust the width you will see this in the code you paste width=”300″, if after you paste the code it does not fit in your sidebar you can change the width to be smaller or larger. You can also modify the number of fans to appear by modifying this connections=”10″. Play with the number to add more or less. There are additional options to modify such as the font size and you can find more modification details here on the Facebook wiki.


Social Media Domain, Blog, Twitter Account and Facebook Page

Blog, Twitter, Facebook
These are a great way to start your social media setup. Particularly with WordPress as the blog, a Twitter account connected, and a Facebook page. Twitter and Facebook have such a large audience it makes good sense to start with them. Of course the realm of possible social media sites to participate in grows daily.

Getting Started
Getting started with a strong social media foundation typically begins with a blog, hosting, a unique domain, Twitter account and Facebook page all linked together.

It is suggested to obtain a unique domain right at the start so all the links in you work hard to obtain. As a blog WordPress is free, easy to use, and incredibly powerful due to all the plugins created for it. Obtain a hosting account from a provider such as GoDaddy which provides a WordPress hosting account, your domain and your off and running.

Consistent Naming
For branding purposes it is wise to obtain a domain name, Twitter account and Facebook page with the same name, such as longest.com for a domain and twitter.com/longest for a twitter account.

Social Brand Search provides a quick search of domains, Twitter names, and Facebook Pages. Go to Social Brand Search Here (it is free) and start choosing a name, then get your hosting and you are off and running. Social Brand Search searches for you and let’s you know which names are available.


Twitter is the Fastest Growing Social Network Site in 2008

According to Nielsens blog, Twitter had the largest growth rate of the top social network sites in 2008.

Sample Size
To be fair to the others on the list, Nielsen did mark both Twitter and Ning with an asterik stating that these two sites do not meet the minimum sample size standards which means their measures of these two can fluctuate greatly month to month.

Top Growth Social Networks
Other growth social network sites were Tagged, Ning, LinkedIn, Last.fm, Facebook and others. It is interesting that Twitter is considered a social network. I am not sure what their definition of a social network is, but I am guessing since you can follow others it meets their criteria, as opposed to a micro-blog.

Official Nielsen Release
Their official press release can be found here (it is a pdf file). Their blog is a great read also.

Give Twitter a Try
To understand how Twitter works, and why it is so powerful, give it a try. Go to Twitter and sign up for a free account. My suggestion is you use the web interface until you understand how it works, the replies, the direct messages, following etc. You can follow me to test by going here @longest and clicking the follow button.

Twitter Applications and Tools
Once you get the hang of it you may want to use twitter on your mobile phone, add an application to your desktop such as Tweetdeck. Here is my list of the top twitter tools.

Update Twitter with your Blog Posts Automatically

If you are using WordPress and looking to make your life easier, here is a plugin I just started using. Twitter Updater automatically updates your twitter account by creating a tweet with your message and a link to your most recent post.

There are a couple reasons I like this. It is my preference to make each of my latest posts available to those that follow me. If I did not use this plugin I would do it manually, however I also desired for those who follow me to know the difference from my personal random updates and my articles. Using this plugin you can have a consistent message before the link to your site. In other words you can pre-append something such as “Longest.com latest post” then your post title and a link is provided.

I only use one of the options of the plugin, which is to only create a tweet when I have created a new post and published it. The options available with this plugin are:

  • New post created – when a post is saved, not published
  • New post edited – when you re-save a post, still not published
  • New post published – when you publish the post
  • Existing posts – when you edit a post and re-save

In my opinion, too many tweets about the same article, even when just edited and saved is too often. I personally choose only the New post published option.

You can find the plugin author, download it, and the instructions for installation are here for Twitter Updater .

Wordtracker Free Trial and Videos

WordTracker is an amazing tool. Whether you spend your time on search engine optimization or search engine marketing, picking the right keywords is essential.

With a Wordtracker subscription, you will be able to:

  • Optimize your website content by using the most popular keywords for your product and services
  • Generate thousands of relevant keywords to improve your organic and PPC search campaigns
  • Research online markets, find niche opportunities and exploit them before your competitors






Wordtracker is offering a 7 day free trial of the keyword tool and 7 videos to assist, always worth a try. Click the banner above.




Top Twitter Tools

Twitter Tools
Below is a list of various tools for twitter, there are many many more. Please add your comments with tools you use. This list is meant to cover as many utilities as possible. A special thank you to the twitter users that gave me their recommendations, a list is at the end.

Table of Contents

Desktop Applications for Twitter
twitter seesmic Seesmic

allows monitoring of multiple accounts, both on Twitter and Facebook.

twitter twhirl Twhirl

allows monitoring of multiple Twitter accounts.

twitter snitter Snitter

Snitter is an application for twittering. It is built on the Adobe AIR platform. Features such as easily viewing recent items, replies, direct messages, views, filtering information and more. Snitter works on both Mac OSX and Windows.

twitterific Twitterriffic

For Mac OS.

MadTwitter MadTwitter

MadTwitter is an application that run on Windows. MadTwitter is based on Twitterrific, which lets you publish your own twits and read twits written by your friends. The best part about MadTwitter is that it is very easy to use. All you have to do is just register an account at Twitter and download MadTwitter.

Spaz Spaz

Spaz is an interesting social media tool that has been written using Javascript, HTML and CSS.
As of now the desktop’s source code is hosted at GitHub and you might not want to use the issue tracker anymore,
but instead file your issues at help.getspaz.com. If you are a developer then you can file issues at spaz.lighthouseapp.com.

TweetDeck Tweetdeck

TweetDeck is a Twitter application that interfaces with the Twitter API to allow those who are logged in not only send and receive tweets, but also view other profiles. TweetDeck when compared to other Twitter applications, it is one of the most popular Twitter application.
TweetDeck was bought by Twitter on May 25, 2011.

Twitter Organization
TweetDeck Tweet
Deck

TweetDeck is a Twitter application that interfaces with the Twitter API to allow those who are logged in not only send and receive tweets, but also view other profiles. TweetDeck when compared to other Twitter applications, it is one of the most popular Twitter application.
TweetDeck was bought by Twitter on May 25, 2011.

TweetMixx TweetMixx

UberMedia has of now acquired TweetMixx. UberMedia is a parent company to social media tools like Echofon, UberSocial, and Twidroyd. UberMedia is run by rock stars who are determined to help
keep rock music live on the planet. As you know TweetMixx is evolving, Mixx Classic has been taken off the internet for some time.

Twitscoop Twitscoop

Twitscoop is a Twitter application that allows users not only to send and receive tweets, but perform multiple real time searches simultaneously.
The advantage of having Twitscoop is that it detects the growing trends and monitors specific keywords along with graphs on Twitter. The social media tool also provides an API for third party applications like Tweetdeck.

Manage Multiple Twitter Accounts
Splitweet Splitweet

Splitweet is a Twitter application tool that aids those who use Twitters having multiple Twitter accounts and monitor their blogs.
This in turn allows Twitter users to manage their accounts easily. Those who are from the corporate world will find this social media tool easy to use.

Twitter for Companies
CoTweet CoTweet

CoTweet is a social media management tool that can help mid size companies track and analyze what others think about their company brand on both Facebook and Twitter.
Their is two kinds of CoTweet namely CoTweet Enterprise Edition and CoTweet Standard Edition.
As of now CoTweet has been purchased by ExactTarget in March 2010, and now operates the ExactTarget Social Media Lab based in San Francisco.

Twibs Twibs

Twibs is an ideal place to businesses on twitter. Consumers would find it easy to find the business that they are looking for both on a local and national level.
Since Twibs collects information from Twitter, information of Twitter users will get updated.

GroupTweet GroupTweet

GroupTweet allows Twitter users to form like minded groups so that users can communicate with like minded individuals. Using the direct message feature that is already present in Twitter, users can send a private message to another user.
GroupTweet is best used for link sharing groups and taxi cab driver networks.

Firefox Plugins
Twitbin Twitbin

Twitbin allows uses to keep their Twitter conversations on their browser sidebar. Right from send messages, receive messages, share links, and others can be kept and accessed easily thanks to Twitbin.
Twitbin is a firefox extension which means it is more convenient for users to work on.

Twitterfox Twitterfox

Twitter users can use TwitterFox to update their twitter status even while browsing and is an extension for Mozilla FireFox browser. Not to mention that you can also reply, favorites and retweet without must fuss. This social media tool lets users get links of the webpage currently being browsed.
Users can add multiple twitter accounts and toggle between them easily on Twitterfox.

Send to Twitter using Voice
Twitter Fone Twitter Fone

TwitterFone can be accessed from mobile phones easily to update Twitter feeds using the user’s voice. This tool is a unique service as users can send tweets by talking directly on the mobile phone.
The message is sent as a Tweet. The best part about this social media tool is that one need not have only a smart phone to access TwitterFone, it can be done from any mobile phone.

Blackberry Client
TwitterBerry TwitterBerry

TwitterBerry is a mobile client that can help users post updates on BlackBerry mobile phones. Those of you who own BlackBerry mobile phones can have more fun using this useful media tool. If you are a hardcore Twitter user, then this social media tool is a must have and it is simple to learn.

iPhone Twitter Apps
Tweetie for iPhone Tweetie for iPhone

Tweetie can be accessed by those who own the iPhone and iPod Touch. This Twitter application has interesting features that allows registering with multiple applications. Once logged in, users can use the tweets, replies, messages, and favorites to access what they want to. Tweetie’s current version for iPhone is Twitter 3.0.

Twinkle for iPhone Twinkle for iPhone

Twinkle for iPhone is a social application for iPod Touch and iPhone which comes with the
game Tap Tap Revenge. Twinkle can be found on Installer.app. Twinkle lets users to add the iPhone’s location on their tweets using the ‘near me’ feature that can show tweets from individuals within few miles.

Twitter for iPhone Twitter for iPhone

According to statistics, after Twitter.com and mobile.twitter.com, Twitter for iPhone is the third popular application. With features like uploading photos using the camera button in the toolbar, finding friends on Twitter can be found out through contacts on the iPhone, sharing links, and improved speed and accuracy.

Hahlo Hahlo

Click on sign in with twitter to open the halo application

Pocket Tweets Pocket Tweets

Pocket Tweets is a web based Twitter client that can be used on iPhone to view the latest tweets from contacts or update the user’s status remotely. This Windows mobile application helps users update their Twitter account using data connection. The following can be done using this social media tool:

• Twitpic support
• Saving tweets
• Friend view
• Replies
• Account settings

Tweet Deck Tweet Deck

TweetDeck is a Twitter application that interfaces with the Twitter API to allow those who are logged in not only send and receive tweets, but also view other profiles. TweetDeck when compared to other Twitter applications, it is one of the most popular Twitter application.
TweetDeck was bought by Twitter on May 25, 2011.

Twitter on any Mobile device
tinytwitter Tiny Twitter

Those who like tweeting from their mobile devices would like to use Tiny Twitter. Usually when tweeting with mobile phones, users get stuck during updates with the continuously arriving SMS. This is Java enabled phone support that can work on any Windows mobile pocket or Smart phone. This social media tool allows users to change fonts and update intervals.

Twitter Mobile Twitter Mobile

Twitter Mobile is the latest version of Twitter for iPhone. This software uses HTML5 and the latest web technologies which can be found on Android and iOS applications. Users can check their Twitter feed and direct messages through the top of the screen.

iTweet iTweet

iTweet helps users to access the internet using the twitter web interface auto refresh. With the auto refresh function, users can perform functions that include built in auto refresh, view user bio, find locations, URL in line with tweets, view conversations with ‘in reply to’ links, integrated Twitter Search in the sidebar, update profile information, shortens URL, and re tweet option.

twibble twibble

Twibble is a Java based S60 client which keeps track of the posting and aids create own posts from the mobile phone. The data connection can be in the form of GPRS, 3G or Wifi. Users can choose to update whenever they want to. Twibble can be selected through the menu and messages can be posted.

Twitter on Windows Mobile
Pocket Twit Pocket Twit

The software uses standard windows mobile notifications can give new messages and new friend status updates. PocketTwit uses the standard notification system to inform the user of changes in pocket PC devices. Users need to choose settings from the Windows mobile start menu, click the sounds & notifications, and click on the notifications tab.
Two kinds of notifications can be done using Pocket Twit that includes PockeTwit Friends Updates and Pocket Twit Messages. Both the notifications allow you to send messages in different settings.

Post via Mobile
Twitterscan Twitterscan

Through TwitterMail users can get email updates from their friends and be able to post directly to their Twitter email account. Once registered users will get a secret email address to send messages to Twitter. They will have to make sure to leave the subject line blank so that they can regularly post.
Interested features include posting updates to Twitter account using via email and receive messages from Twitter followers via email.

Send via eMail
Twittermail Twittermail

Through TwitterMail users can get email updates from their friends and be able to post directly to their Twitter email account. Once registered users will get a secret email address to send messages to Twitter. They will have to make sure to leave the subject line blank so that they can regularly post. Interested features include posting updates to Twitter account using via email and receive messages from Twitter followers via email.

Counter to show followers
Twitter Counter Twitter Counter

TwitterCounter is a software that can track users and provides statistics to interested individuals. A button that displays the number of followers of users can be displayed on Twitter. The TwitterCounter button links user’s personal statistics page on Twittercounter.com.

Enhance your Tweets
Twitter Keys Twitter Keys

With TwitterKeys, users can bring in the expressive characters and unicode symbols which can be included in emails and blog posts. Operating systems like Mac and Windows provide access to character pallette on Mac and character map on Windows. TwitterKeys is a browser bookmarket that can help users to find characters for quick Twitter messages.

Follow Tools (unFollow, Recommend, etc.)
Twitter Snooze Twitter Snooze
Qwitter Qwitter

Qwitter is software that can track tweeps that unfollow Twitter users. User’s followers are monitored using Qwitter, which then sends users email notifications when they find others trying to follow them. Some of the Twitter related applications include TweetSaver and Floxee.
Velocis has acquired Qwitter.com.

Twitterless Twitterless
Friend or Follow Friend or Follow

Using the Friend or Follow social media tool, users can manage their Twitter contacts. The Twitter screen name has to be submitted to find who is following that is not following back and who’s following that users are not following back. This software enables users to manage their twitter contacts.

Mr. Tweet Mr. Tweet

Recommendations

Tweepler Tweepler

Tweepler is an exciting Twitter application where users can decide on their followers. When Twitter users find it difficult to finalize their followers, Tweepler provides them an interface that divides followers into unprocessed followers. Twitter users can divide their followers into two lists as ‘Follow’ or ‘Ignore’ list.

Top Twitter Lists
Twitter Counter Top 100 List Twitter Counter Top 100 List

Not a social medial tool.

twInfluence Top 50 List twInfluence Top 50 List
Visual Map of Twitter Posts
Twitter Vision Twitter Vision

Twittervision is an application program interface that helps Twitter users to publish. This application aids people to work using Twittervision and Twittermap with the location based information that is available.

Share Files, Pictures & Videos
Tweetcube Tweetcube

Files

Twitpic Twitpic

TwitPic is a social media tool that helps users post pictures easily on their accounts. This interesting social media service is mostly used by journalists to upload pictures almost simultaneously when the sport or event is taking place. As of now Photobucket is in partnership with Twitter as the photo sharing application.

Visual Twitter Visual Twitter

Pics

Twixxer Twixxer

Not a social medial tool

Share Info from Webpages
Tweet All About It Tweet All About It
Monitor for Keywords & Whats Hot
PeopleBrowsr PeopleBrowsr

Filter, Sort, Follow, Post, Repeat

Tweet Grid

With TweetGrid helps users with instant real-time searching which is what many people want. This software arranges real time searches as a customizable grid and the best part about TweetGrid is that users don’t have to log in to access search boxes. This is a free service which requires users to only login through the TweetGrid dashboard.

Monitter Monitter

Monitter is a search engine that operates on Twitter. It is similar to that of TweetDeck as the software displays three constantly updated keyword searches parallel to each other. This helps the users to keep track of what they are searching on Twitter.

Twitscoop Twitscoop
Flaptor Twitter Search Flaptor Twitter Search
Twitspy Twitspy

Twitspy or Twit SPY is an application program interface that shows tweets in real time. Users would love the fact that the tweets are marked on a Google Map which shows the location of the tweet. One could call this a Twitter public Google maps in real time.

Tweetscan Tweetscan

TweetScan helps Twitter users to search for information. It is also an ideal method to find out whether other users have written something similar. Using this software, users can also keep a check on the keywords they choose which will be emailed regularly. Users who like to join groups would find Tweet Scan useful as one can easily find other users with similar interests.

CityTweets CityTweets

CityTweets is a network of individual pages that track real time activity on Twitter in cities. The software is useful for listing Tweets about that area. Users can utilize this tool to find out how much activity is going on Twitter using CityTweets.

Tweet Cloud Tweet Cloud

Tweet Cloud is a social media service that helps users to bring out exciting looking words which can be tweeted. This application shows users major words that have being used in recent tweets by users. The beauty about Tweet Cloud is that it a 3D rotating bag of tweets that helps users learn new words or phrases.

Tweetbeep Tweetbeep

Tweetbeep notifies Twitter users through e mail when their name, company name or website gets tweeted. Though users use TinyURL, which shortens the website, this free service can identify it. Users can get an RSS feed for each alert. If users want better service, then they upgrade their account.

Monitor Conversations
Tweet 2 Tweet Tweet 2 Tweet
Twitalks Twitalks

Find out what two users are saying about you

Monitor Trends
Twist Twist

Not a social medial tool

Tweet Cloud Tweet Cloud

Tweet Cloud is a social media service that helps users to bring out exciting looking words which can be tweeted. This application shows users major words that have being used in recent tweets by users. The beauty about Tweet Cloud is that it a 3D rotating bag of tweets that helps users learn new words or phrases.

Autoresponder & Automatic Tweets
Tweet Later Tweet Later

TweetLater lets users send tweets on schedule, but also has included the ability to automate reciprocal follows. If users are following someone else, then that someone else can follow those users automatically. As of now TweetLater.com is SocialOomph.com.

Future Tweets Future Tweets

FutureTweets.com lets users schedule their messages on Twitter. They can send it at a specific time like daily, weekly or even monthly. This is a nice way to remember something or wish somebody on their birthday. Users use Future Tweets because they can send status updates to Twitter even when they are away from their computers, automatically wish friends a good day, and remind users every Friday to quit work early.

Autopost your Blog entries to Twitter
Twitterfeed Twitterfeed

The Twitter feed is a Word Press plugin that lets users output others Tweets into their own Word Press blog. Twitterfeed can be installed through the following steps:
• The plugin can be downloaded directly from the Plugin page
• The plugin folder must be downloaded to the webpage /wp-content/plugins/ folder
• Access the plugin page and activate
• Finally the shortcode must be inserted

Evaluate your Twitter Profile
Twitter Grader Twitter Grader

Twitter Grader is a Twitter ranking tool that measures the influence of a social media website for both serious and casual users. This ranking tool is not only useful for users, but also useful for Twitter. It helps users know the rankings of various programs on Twitter.

Twitter Ratio Twitter Ratio

Twitter Ratio is a free service that determines what kind of person you are just by the number of followers you have. Though many users on Twitter have thousands of followers, it need not indicate that the individual is intelligent than users who have few hundred followers. This service provides you results based on the quality of your followers.

Tweet Value Tweet Value

Tweet Value values your Twitter page based on your profile. It decides that on what you have posted on your Twitter profile page by breaking down locations and information. Based on this the score is calculated.

Twitter Statistics and Graphs
Tweetstats

Tweetstats provides users statistics on your Twitter usage. Heavy Twitter users might find this tool useful as they can find out how many tweets they send per hour, how many tweets they send per month, their tweet timeline, and reply statistics. All the tweets come in the form of graphs.

Twitgraph Twitgraph

Twit Graph provides users a graph on their activities on Twitter. It provides users with total number of tweets users have written in one week, a list of users mentioned, and the applications that were used by the user to tweet like TweetDeck or Tweetmeme.

Twitter Dictionary
Twittords Twittords
Twitter Directory
Twellow Twellow

Twellow is a free search tool that enables users to find what they are looking for in a simple manner. Twellow filters through the tweets on Twitter and then categorizes them accordingly which can narrow down searching the words that users want to know about. Users need to enter the search terms which list the interest of others and find the results.

Twibs Twibs

Twibs contains a directory of businesses and applications that are available on Twitter. This is an ideal way for users to find and interact with other business by specifying their nature of search. The search can be a categorized or on a product level. With Twibs, users can use Twitter as listening tool too.

How to Use Reddit

What is Reddit?
Reddit is a social news site, and bookmarking site, that users can post links to web pages and everyone can vote the articles up or down. (Wikipedia on Reddit). You can join quickly and add bookmarklets to your browser. Once you find a site or article you would like to share you simply click a button in your browser to vote it up / down or save it.

What Does it Look Like?
You will see Reddit buttons on articles like these:







The first thing you will see, before anyone submits is that the Reddit graphic prompts a user to submit this link: , once it is submitted the balance of positive votes vs. negative votes is displayed.

How Can Reddit Help Me?
Many users, myself included, find it a great way to locate content since the top stories, those that have been voted the highest, have already been filtered by thousands of people.

As a blogger and content publisher you can reach a greater audience with your content by having it submitted to sites like Reddit. You can submit the story yourself or let another submit it for you. Once submitted as individuals read your article on your site they can vote it up and more people will find your article via Reddit. Reddit can be a great way to find a broader audience and visitors to your site. An excellent reward for well written/informative content.

Another bonus is that you have additional links in to your site from Reddit and to your article. Also as others find you they may comment and/or link to you. Considering all you have to do is add a simple piece of code to each article, the benefits definitely outweigh the effort.

How to Add The Reddit Voting

Manually. To add the code manually take a look at the Reddit button page which as the three buttons above and code to cut and paste. Simply insert the title of your article and the URL to your article and your done.

Automatically. If you use WordPress, my favorite WordPress plugin is called reddZ-Et and found here at WordPress.org. Simply follow the instructions and the Reddit button, of your choice, will be automatically placed on every article for you.

This is one of many plugins and social bookmarking/news tools to help broaden your reach. Enjoy!


Just to be sure, it is best to have your own domain name and you may as well get it before you start bookmarking using services like Reddit, to get a great discount at GoDaddy for a domain name use these secret GoDaddy codes.

Ultimately, to get the best discounts from brand names watch this coupon site, as they also have offers such as these GoDaddy coupons for domain name registration, and more.