Should You Pay for Social Media Marketing ?

 Social media marketing has changed the way that businesses advertise online. Many marketing departments now include a social media manager. Campaigns include updates and postings to social websites that drive customers towards products or services. The initial costs of entering into the social media marketing arena are very low. The ongoing cost of maintaining the campaign, however, can increase over time. There are several reasons why a business should invest in social media marketing.

Companies that communicate with customers through social media are able to engage in a very unique way. Existing and potential customers can feel as if the business is speaking on a very personal and informal level. The answers to questions like ‘what is the best credit card‘ will seem much more genuine when coming through interactions with a business through a social channel. The mechanism of social media also provides customers with a ready outlet to respond directly to the company.

The return on investment from social media marketing is usually positive. The underlying costs of maintaining a profile or website is generally very low. Marketing campaigns that overlap into the social realm are developed in tandem with existing marketing efforts so there is no added cost. People online might also tend to gravitate towards the social page of a business without any active marketing effort simply as a result of an experience with the company elsewhere.

The marketing content that is developed for a social media page can be of great value because it is persistent once it has been posted online. This type of reusable content has a higher return on investment than an email campaign that is sent out to customers once and then fades into the archives. Persistent content can also become important if a video, posting or image happens to spark a viral response. This can then draw attention to the business for no cost at all.

Advertising programs that are offered by social media companies can be far more effective than other types of traditional campaigns. The media company already has customers segmented by a number of different variables. A credit card company has a good chance of being able to target marketing efforts directly at users who have been looking for a business credit card offer. This type of marketing power is unique considering the low cost of entry into the field.

The importance of maintaining and promoting a social media presence online can be seen with search engine rankings. Cultivating a good relationship with customers can lead to a proliferation of links that can drive up the ranking of a business within search engines. Investing time and money in social media marketing will also inevitably benefit companies as new technologies and online services emerge in the future.

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How To Create a Custom Error 404 Page For WordPress

This article will guide you how to create an error 404 page for your WordPress powered site or blog. This guide will work for self-hosted blogs, not for free ones on WordPress.com like (xyz.wordpress.com) ! An error 404 page is when you try to access a page that does not exist.

What is the error 404?

The error 404 is a message shows up if you click on a link that doesn’t work (anymore) or if you typed wrong Url. This is default in WordPress but some themes don’t come with a 404.php file.

Basic Error 404 Template

If you do not have default 404.php page, you can create it. Create a 404.php file with the below code..

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h2>Error 404 - Page Not Found.</h2>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

The above code would give a simple “Error 404 – Page Not Found.” as ouptput, which is mentioned within in h2 tag. You need to modify header, sidebar & footer as per your theme structure.

404 page with Search Form

Want to add search form to help users stick around instead of leaving. By this way visitors have the option of searching your site, even if lands on your 404 page. If you want to add search form for your 404 page, add the below code..

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h2>Error 404 - Page Not Found.</h2>

<p>Search:</p>

<?php include(TEMPLATEPATH . "/searchform.php"); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

404 page redirect to home page

If you want to just redirect 404 page to home page then add the below code in 404.php

<?php

header( 'HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently' );

header( 'Location: '.home_url( '/' ) );

?>

Make it more dynamic

If you want to create a more dynamic error 404 page you can use this way so that the visitor only sees the brief error and, then gets redirected to your home page. This page can be made to be somewhat SEO friendly. For this you need to edit the header.php file of your template. Within the meta tags at the top of your header.php file add the below code ..

header.php

<?php

if (is_404()) {

*$redirectHome = get_option('home'); ?>

<?php echo $redirectHome; ?>

After added it into header.php file, you need to edit your 404.php file to look like this:

404.php

<?php get_header(); ?>

<?php get_sidebars('left'); ?>

<h1>Error 404 - File Not Found.</h1>

<h3>Please <a href="<?php bloginfo('home' Or 'template_url'); ?>" Click here</a> to return home page, or you can wait to be redirected in 15 seconds.</h3>

<?php get_sidebars('right'); ?>

<?php get_footer(); ?>

This above example will allow the user to land on your 404 error page and then automatically take them to the home page. This will also help users stick around instead of them being left confused and leaving your website. Please make sure to replace home or template url with the exact link where it should redirect.

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