YouTube Killed TV [INFOGRAPHIC] is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

We have compiled a list with top 15 most popular social networking sites. Together with unique monthly visitors and biggest traffic ranking sites, this list will give you a pretty good overview into the life of Social Networking sites.

Last updated: December 6, 2011

1. Facebook - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors – 700,000,000  | 3 - Compete Rank | 2 - Quantcast Rank | 2 - Alexa Rank.
2. Twitter - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors – 200,000,000  | 30 - Compete Rank | 5 - Quantcast Rank | 9 - Alexa Rank.
3. LinkedIn - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors – 100,000,000 | 57 - Compete Rank | 26 - Quantcast Rank | 17 - Alexa Rank.
4. MySpace - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors – 80,500,000 | 26 - Compete Rank | 44 - Quantcast Rank | 79 - Alexa Rank.
5. Ning - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 60,000,000 | 180 - Compete Rank | 120 - Quantcast Rank | 128 - Alexa Rank.
6. Google Plus+ - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors – 32,000,000 | *NA* - Compete Rank | *NA* - Quantcast Rank | *NA* - Alexa Rank.
7. Tagged - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 25,000,000 | 382 - Compete Rank | 151 - Quantcast Rank | 141 - Alexa Rank.
8. orkut - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 15,500,000 | *570* - Compete Rank | *540* - Quantcast Rank | 93 - Alexa Rank.
9. hi5 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 11,500,000 | 983 - Compete Rank | 392 - Quantcast Rank | 62 - Alexa Rank.
10. myyearbook - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 7,450,000 | 522 - Compete Rank | 293 - Quantcast Rank | 1,036 - Alexa Rank.
11. Meetup - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 7,200,000 | 644 - Compete Rank | 732 - Quantcast Rank | 528 - Alexa Rank.
12. Badoo - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 7,100,000 | 1,346 - Compete Rank | 489 - Quantcast Rank | 125 - Alexa Rank.
13. bebo - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 7,000,000 | 944 - Compete Rank | 434 - Quantcast Rank | 588 - Alexa Rank.
14. MyLife - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 5,400,000 | 118 - Compete Rank | 688 - Quantcast Rank | 1,789 - Alexa Rank.
15. friendster - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors - 4,900,000 | 1,920 - Compete Rank | 643 - Quantcast Rank | 301 - Alexa Rank.

Statistics from: Compete | Quantcast | Alexa | eBizMBA

Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

Here you have several options for your new Google+ page. The first three are most relevant to businesses.

Local Business or Place

For local businesses Google offers to locate your company through a primary phone number. Results depend on what Google knows about your business.

Results are based on the phone number.

If the results contain your company, select it and finalize.

Company, Product or Brand

If the location information is not important then you can select one of the two available options. The required fields are essentially the same. Type in the page name, website address (optional), select your field of business, select who can see your page and you are ready to go.

Now enter the tagline for your page and profile image. The image is a square, make sure that you have something that will look great in that format.

Next Google+ asks you to spread the word.

Finalize the Settings

Your new Google+ page is now ready for action. Edit your profile by filling out the About tab. Add the pictures that will be featured in the header of your page to make it really stand out. You can find a step-by-step guide here.

The next steps are laid out for you. Start the conversation by posting first content on your Google+ page. Connect your website to Google+ by adding a badge to your site.

Tell the world by sharing the link to your page. Distribute everywhere you communicate online, to encourage people to add your page to their circles so your posts will appear in their stream. This link is not meant for humans and looks something like this https://plus.google.com/108272247597805842125. I wonder if there will be nicer links like in Facebook http://facebook.com/dreamgrow.

Build your circles. Once people add your page to their circles, you can add them back. Use your circles to get the right message to the right people.

For some pages there’s Google+ Direct Connect. Google+ Direct Connect lets you quickly navigate to a Google+ page (and even add that page to your circles) when using Google Search. For example, if you searched for the query ‘+youtube’ or ‘+pepsi,’ you could be immediately taken to the YouTube Google+ page, or the Pepsi Google+ page, and given the option to add the page to your circles. Here’s what Google has to say about your pages eligibility for this:

A page’s eligibility for Google+ Direct Connect is determined algorithmically, based on certain signals we use to help understand your page’s relevancy and popularity. In addition to this analysis, we look for a link between your Google+ page and your website. To help Google associate this content, be sure to connect your Google+ page and your website using the Google+ badge, or by adding a snippet of code to your site, in addition to adding your website link to your page. — Google Help Pages

This is it! Now you can go and play around with your Google+ page. Here’s Google’s promo clip about the business pages:

How to Create a Google+ Page for Your Brand is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

Read How to Create a Google+ Page for Your Brand.

You can see if your account has pages enabled here.

Read the full article Google+ Launches Pages, Opens Floodgates For Brands (And Everything Else) | TechCrunch.

Google+ Launches Pages For Brands is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

they will generally drive more mobile traffic at a lower cost.

More from Google Mobile Ads Blog:

Mobile website optimization now factors into mobile search ads quality.

Mobile website optimization will now get you lower cost per click is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

Look at the whole thing Google Wallet: First Impressions.

Google Wallet: First Impressions is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

The heart of the new Google+ service are “Circles” that users can add friends to. Rather than lumping all your friends together like Facebook, Google+ allows users to organize their contacts into several different categories. Friends, colleagues and family can be grouped separately for easy organization. For those concerned with privacy, any content posted to Google+ can be shared strictly with just one Circle. This means any potentially embarrassing content can be shared strictly with family, and business discussions can be shared only with colleagues. Adding contacts to Circles is easy as well, due to the way Google integrates all of their services into Google+. All of your Gmail contacts, for example, can be imported to your Google+ Circles.

Google+ also introduces a unique feature called “Google Hangouts” that users can use to connect with friends in their Circles. Hangouts utilize video chatting to allow up to 10 people to chat at once. While 10 people talking at once could get confusing, the Hangout service will always move the person currently speaking to the center of the screen. This is in an attempt to make following conversations easier. Additionally, users can also post YouTube videos to the Hangout. With this feature, Google hopes to connect users in a way that Facebook currently cannot.

Google+ is also able to integrate many of Google’s other services to provide content for the service. The Sparks feature, for instance, uses Google’s search functionality and YouTube integration to tailor new content to a user’s interests. If you say you like “funny cats” for instance, the Sparks feature of Google+ will provides news items and videos about funny cats. In addition to integrating their YouTube and Gmail services with Google+, other services such as Picasa photo albums are available for users to import content from. Google’s Android platform has already received a mobile Google+ app that allows users to use the service on the go.

Other features of the service will be very familiar to Facebook users

• The Stream section of Google+ culls together information from friends in much the same way as the Facebook News Feed.
• Google+ has a “+1” feature that functions in the same way as the “Like” feature on Facebook.
• Users also fill out a profile (complete with profile picture) that is very similar to Facebook’s existing design.

While Google+ definitely offers many fresh ideas, only time will tell whether it can overcome Facebook as the social networking king. While the similarity between the two could be a selling point for some, it could also put off those looking for an entirely new alternative. When Google+ goes public later this year, users can find out for themselves.

This is a guest post by John Smith who is an avid blogger and experienced broker with 8 years of experience in the insurance industry: If you are wondering about which insurance providers offer cheap insurance in Ontario for your particular vehicle, then you should consider going online to compare quotes. Comparing quotes online at Kanetix is the easiest and most efficient way to reduce the amount you pay on car insurance as a comparison only takes a couple of minutes and is completely free of charge to all users.

First Impressions of Google+ and How it Hopes to Trump Facebook is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

Google Plus 50

If you’re curious about Google+, the new social network platform from Google, you’re not alone. It sparks my attention from several angles: marketing, technology, community, media, mobile, advertising, and more. To that end, I wrote down 50 things to think about with regards to Google+.

Google+: The Pros & Cons

We’ve already written a review about Google+, but we were curious about what early Google+ users thought about it. So we decided to ask a circle on Google+ about what they believe is good and bad about Google+. And they delivered: we got more than 100 responses about the pros and cons of Google’s new social layer.

The New Google Social Network – Google+

Last night I got my first look at Google+, I spent just over three hours diving in and playing with all the features they have to offer. For those of you who already have access, please share your thoughts in the comments and those without access, enjoy this preview and share your thoughts on what this new social network could mean for SEO.

Google+ cost an estimated $585 million

Forbes’ Bruce Upbin posted a few interesting calculations that add up the cost of the work put into Google’s new social network to a whopping $585 million dollar bill. Upbin points out that number is eerily close to what News Corp paid for MySpace all those years ago, which was $580 million in 2005.

Why yo momma won’t use Google+ (and why that thrills me to no end)

In just the few days that it’s been released I’ve followed 2,723 people, written many dozens of posts there, and have thoroughly used the product. I’ve also tried to get some normal users into the product, starting with my wife (we argued for 45 minutes about it) and I’ve come to some conclusions.

I really wanted to hate Google Plus

The last thing I need is a new social network. So when I got a coveted invite to Google Plus, I really wanted to take a look, find out all the reasons why it sucks and then walk away. But I can’t walk away. Because I like it.

What MySpace’s Tom Anderson Thinks of Google+

Anderson thinks Google has the opportunity to truly realize his original vision. “Google+ really seems to be primed to make good on that original premise — that everything gets better when it’s social. And unlike [Facebook], Twitter, or anyone else, Google already has the most advanced set of products. And if I can clearly see where this is headed, then I think what we are getting is a much better Google.”

Get Ready for Google+ Games

The references to game invites and Google+ Games seem pretty clear. And while Google could always choose to scrap a Google+ Games product before its launch, we don’t think that’s what will happen here. The reason being Zynga, the creator of FarmVille, CityVille and many more social games.

Social Media Weekend: All You Need to Know About Google+ is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

BBB Can I be your friend? Ever thought how odd your online life is? Ever thought what could go wrong? This film looks forward to ENO’s production of Nico Muhly’s new opera ‘Two Boys’.

The Twitter Paradox. For all intents and purposes, Twitter shouldn’t work, yet 200 million people (and bots) have created accounts in this thriving information egosystem. Now, news no longer breaks, it Tweets. Celebrities use it daily to connect directly with fans and also augment their income streams. Politicians and governments use Twitter to communicate with constituents and one another. Everyday people rely on Twitter to find information and share experiences.

YouTube Introduces A Logoless Player. The announcement came earlier this week. Kevin Wilson, a software engineer at YouTube writes, “Many of you have asked us for a version of the YouTube player without a YouTube logo, so the video plays without any branding nearby.” If you want to embed a YouTube video on your blog or website without the logo, you just have to make a simple tweak to the embed code.

Dear YouTube – You Broke My Heart – An Open Letter to @YouTube. Today I was ‘suspended’ from YouTube with no warning and no explanation of why. Where my videos once appeared on this site a message appears that tarnishes my reputation. As a result I’ve followed the procedure to ask for reconsideration that YouTube give and have written this open letter to YouTube.

60 Minutes To Become A Smarter Marketer. This is the question that I am most often asked about these new media channels. When do I find the time? The truth is that it doesn’t take that much time at all. In fact, if you’re looking to get up to speed, here’s what you can do in 60 minutes to jumpstart your Social Media engagement…

HOW TO: Use Social Media for Recruiting. Finding the right candidate for a job is like finding a new apartment: timing, finances and quality all have to align just right. And somehow, the pool of options always seems to feel both prohibitively large and prohibitively limited at the same time.

Social Media Weekend: Become a Better Marketer, Recruiting, Social Media in Real Life is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media

In our website we estimate that more than half of visits from Twitter are shown as direct traffic. As you can see from the image, when we had a peak in Twitter then direct traffic grew more than referrals and we saw only 8 percent of visitors coming from Twitter. To find out more about this read Thomas Baekdal’s Don’t Trust Your Social Referral Data.

However there’s a way to register those visits as non-direct if you add special Google Analytics tags to the original link. Below is the link tagging tool that lets you tag all the links you put into social channels. This ensures that you know where visitors are coming from.

Here’s a step by step guide how to tag your links for social media sites (this can also be used for other sites and email).

Additional information about the fields

Media Channel (utm_source)
Required field. utm_source tag defines the channel where you put the link. Media channel can be various social networking sites, web portals, email, etc. You can see the results of this tag in Traffic Sources report. Example: utm_source=Facebook, utm_source=Twitter, utm_source=OurNewsletter

Media Type (utm_medium)
Required field. utm_medium tag lets you define in what form the link is presented. Media Type can be statusupdate, tweet, email, etc. The default media types in Google Analytics are organic and referral. Example: utm_medium=tweet, utm_medium=textad, utm_medium=email

Keyword (utm_term)
Not required. Use utm_term if you want to differentiate between links that are shown in searches for specific keywords. Google Adwords does this automatically. This tag is needed for search advertising where the search engine itself does not tag the links. Example: utm_term=product1, utm_term=service2

Content (utm_content)
Not required. Use utm_content for different links that are in the same media channel. If you tag links for Twitter then the channel and type are always the same but the content changes. You can see what content generates the most clicks from Google Analytics Traffic Sources > Ad Versions report. Example: utm_content=GAtweet, utm_content=FBtweet

Campaign Name (utm_campaign)
Required field. Use utm_campaign tag for different campaigns to give you a better overview of what media channels and types are related to your different activities. A campaign can be Blogging, Newsletter001, FacebookPromo, etc. You can see how your campaigns are doing in Google Analytics Traffic Sources > Campaigns report. Example: utm_campaign=Spring11, utm_campaign=RegularBlogging, utm_campaign=Email01

HOW-TO: Tag Social Media Links for Google Analytics is a post from: DreamGrow Social Media