Facebook Privacy – Who Can See Your Personal Information?

October 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Facebook Privacy

Who Can See My Facebook Posts?

This is a question I often get from clients regarding Facebook Privacy. The answer is “that all depends”.

  • How have you set your privacy settings for your Facebook profile and/or page;
  • When you created the wall post did you leave the default of “everyone”, or did you change it to friends of friends, only friends, or a specific list of people before hitting the share button.

You might be asking at this point — how do I do either of the above? Also, what if I want to change the default Facebook Privacy from “everyone” to “friends only”?

Then, I’m glad you’re reading this because setting the appropriate Facebook Privacy on your profile, and sending messages to the appropriate target audience, are important.

Protecting your personal information is extremely important on the internet. The “everyone” default means absolutely everyone on the internet has access to that particular information. Check out the Facebook tutorial videos for information on how to control your privacy on Facebook, and understand how to control who sees your posts. These videos are available to everyone via Facebook’s Help Centre. If you still require assistance, call us at Original Ginger for some social media training.

This is one article in a series of articles on Facebook for Businesses. Interested in other articles from ‘Fresh Ginger’? Subscribe now to receive topics of interest delivered straight to your inbox.

Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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Why WordPress – Do It Yourself Website Design?

July 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

Is WordPress the Answer?

Why WordPress?

People often ask if WordPress is an easy solution that they could use to build their own website AND maintain it all by themselves. Honestly, that is a loaded question. One of the reasons that we love WordPress is that it makes it possible for developers to deliver a website to our clients that is user friendly from a content management perspective. For the first time in history non-techie business owners can access the back end of their website and update things like text content, blog posts, featured image areas and contact information — they don’t have to pay a website administrator to do it for them unless time is a factor and they have money in their budget for it. This can turn into a huge cost saving.

There is a Technical Side to Consider

Having said that, when it comes to actually building a site there IS a technical side – like understanding CSS, HTML, and potentially PHP that can be factors during development. At some point you will want to brand a colour or element on the site that will require this technical expertise. Also, there is cross browser functionality and mobile devices to consider.  Even if you find a template that appears to make things a “no-brainer” you still need to make sure it is fully supported, in English, and that support will be available for the life of your site.

How many times have we received calls from people who used a free template only to discover that it stopped working after a WordPress or plugin update?!  One such call involved a WordPress update that prevented the user from posting anything!  As it turned out, the theme developer was Ukrainian and all the online support materials were in Ukrainian.  He had also moved on to other projects and was no longer providing current support. Uh oh. Now what?!

Of course, there are “do-it-yourself” platforms out there (most of them proprietary in nature). BUT be careful what you’re getting yourself into. You may want to refer to our previous article entitled “The Pitfalls of Building Your Own Website?” for those pros and cons.

What You Can Expect From a WordPress Maintenance Perspective

Once your WordPress website is up and running, the wonderful folks at WordPress will send occasional Emails notifying you of updates, usually in response to changes made by major browsers, new security features, or because they’ve added new functionality.

It’s important to make the update. BUT, once you do, you need to check to make sure that your website is still running smoothly afterwards. Changes in the WordPress version can sometimes affect plugins and theme code. Always make sure you perform a backup of your site before carrying out updates of any kind. Also, it probably goes without saying that YOU need to know how to recover your website from the backup if anything goes awry. Largely popular platforms like WordPress can be targets for spammers so you’ll need to do your research on how to prepare against website comment and forms spam. These are all areas where it can come in handy to opt for professional website development and maintenance.

What to Expect from Plugin Updates

We mentioned that updates to WordPress can affect plugins and theme code. With a WordPress website, plugins are a vital part of how your website functions and how certain areas interact with others. Occasionally, you will see that an update is available for specific plugins you are using. Once you ascertain what the plugin update is all about you may choose to go ahead with it. Check afterwards that it has not adversely affected your website. If it has, you may want to either revert back to the previous version of the plugin or deactivate it alltogether until you can troubleshoot the issue. Finding an alternative plugin may become necessary. If you used a theme template, hopefully it is supported and they can offer you suggestions. Again, a really great reason to hire a professional for development and maintenance.

So your question again — is WordPress an easy solution that will allow you to build your own website AND maintain it all by yourself?

From a content management perspective; ABSOLUTELY!  You can still save money by managing content yourself on a daily basis. Just be smart about your cost saving measures when it comes to designing and building the site. What is a successful online presence worth to your business?!  Only you know how tech savvy your online capabilities are. AFTER you run into trouble may be too late to avoid learning costly mistakes!

This is the second article in a series about Websites for Small Business Owners.

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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Twitter – How to Get Started

June 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Twitter - Only a Tweet Away From Success

How To Get Started With Twitter

Twitter is a FREE promotional and networking opportunity for your business. If you want to engage new customers YOU need to be where they are. So if you haven’t already — set up a Twitter account.  But then what?!  What do you do once you’ve got your account, added your logo, and chosen your branded url?

We highly recommend that you add a short bio to your Twitter profile. You’ll need to keep it short but with enough information that people  know exactly what your service offerings are. List your official website address. If you don’t include a bio, there are people on Twitter who will not follow you back. Remember this is social media — people interact with people who have similar interests and who are interested in actively participating. This is your chance to show your brand personality and have a little fun while you’re at it!

Before you start tweeting, we’ve listed a few KEY points and KEY commands you’ll need to know:

  • Since Twitter limits all of your tweets to only 140 characters you will need to be creative about typing messages. For some tweets you may want to leave a little room for others to add a word or two and retweet your message.
  • Use the RT (retweet) function to re-share tweets by others with your own followers. The original person who tweeted will see the RT and they are likely to do the same for you.
  • When you want to send a personal message to someone in private, go to their profile and click on the message button.
  • @username plus your message directs your tweet to a specific person and displays on the @Mentions Tab in their profile. It singles out that the message was directed specifically to them. All of your other followers will still see the message on their wall as well. They may even decide to join the conversation.
  • On Fridays Twitter has a tradition where users can give a “shout out” on behalf of their favourite twitter followers. How do you get involved? Create a list of @username’s for people you already know on Twitter. Preface the list with the #FollowFriday or #FF hashtag, and a short message recommending them to others.
  • The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keywords or topics in a Tweet. It was created organically by Twitter users as a way to categorize messages and link common interests. You’ll see hashtags listed under Trends right on your profile. Clicking on a hashtagged word in any message shows you all other Tweets in that category.

Helpful Tools to Use With Twitter

  • Twilert = a free web app that enables you to receive updates via Email on tweets containing your brand, name, product, or specific keywords specified by you.
  • ManageFlitter.com = a free web app that cleans up and manages who you follow, who follows you back, which accounts are now inactive, and links google+ to your Twitter account.
  • Buffer = an app for sharing interesting content with your followers but staggering the release of information throughout the day.
  • Twable separates into lists: people you follow who DON’T follow you back; people you follow who ALSO follow you back; AND people who follow you, but who you DON’T follow back.
  • Refollow = a web app that allows you to manage your followers, establish relationships, block users, sort by importance and much more.
  • Tweetdeck = an app to view and manage your tweets in a personalized user-friendly dashboard. It allows you to arrange and schedule tweets and much more.
  • TweetLevel = An app you can use to search and analyze hashtags or order topics by popularity, engagement, and trust.
  • Schmap.it = is a tool that helps you share Places, Events and Photos on Twitter for FREE. In addition to posting it on your own profile, it also adds your event listing to regional event listing profiles.

This is by no means a complete list of all of the tools available for use with managing your Twitter account; but, it’s a great place to start. Have fun, and happy online networking!!

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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What Does It Mean to Like A Facebook Page?

May 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On Facebook when you “Like” someone’s page, you will now receive status messages in your newsfeed from that page, be notified when they post new photos, and receive invitations to their events. You may also receive “Updates”. It will show in your recent activity on your wall that you “liked” that page. If you “Liked” it when acting as your personal profile, a link to their page will appear in your Activities and Interests area on the info section of your personal profile.

By the same token, when someone “Likes” YOUR business page, it means that they will receive YOUR status messages in their newsfeed, be notified when YOU post new photos, and YOU can easily send them invitations to YOUR events. You can also send them “Updates” easily. YOUR page will show on their wall under recent activity. When their friends see it they may take an interest and do the same.

How To Like a Facebook Page

When on a Timeline Page that interests you, click “Like”, which is displayed just above their views and apps boxes. You can Search for Pages by visiting the Facebook Pages Directory. OR search for a term or name on Facebook. Facebook  filters the results to show Pages, Apps, etc. Select the page that interests you.

How To Unlike a Page

You can unlike a Page by taking the following steps:

  • Find the post in your profile that states you like the Page or find a post from the Page in your News Feed
  • Click the “x” located in the top right hand side of the post
  • From the drop-down menu, click “Unlike Page.”

You can also navigate to the Page by entering its name into the search bar in the upper right corner, and click the “Unlike” link located inside the messages dropdown labelled unlike. The messages dropdown is located directly underneath the Timeline cover image.

Where do the Pages I’ve “Liked” display on my profile?

The Pages that you Like will be displayed in the views or apps boxes below your cover image. They may also be displayed in the right hand side of the newsfeed on your Facebook Timeline profile. You can hide the likes box in the newsfeed if you want to by selecting the edit pencil and selecting “hide from Timeline”.

How Do I Know How Effective My Facebook Business Page Is?

On your business page, in the top right corner next to the cover image you will see a button that says Admin Panel. Select this button and open your admin panel to “View Insights”. Insights provides Facebook Page owners with helpful statistics regarding page content. This will help you better understand how to improve your interaction and engagement with others on Facebook.

Only YOU, as the Page administrator can view the insights.  This is a FREE service for all Facebook Pages.

Promoting Your Facebook Business Page

Invite people to engage with your Facebook business page, promote your Page via Email Marketing Campaigns, include a link to your Facebook Business Page in your email signature, and promote your Facebook presence on Twitter. There are so many ways you could be promoting your page!

This is one of several articles in a series on Facebook and Small Businesses.

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Original Ginger is a Digital Agency located in the heart of historic Fort Langley, a hip and artistic suburb of Vancouver BC.

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