Response to Pam: Duplicate Content, Facebook, and Twitter

I love being able to import items from my Etsy shop to my ArtFire shop, but do I have to be worried about duplicate content and being penalized in Google searches?


I have a personal Facebook page and also my Fan page, although not all of my friends are also fans. What is the proper protocol for posting business related items...post to the fan page then post a link to the first post from my personal page? I don't want to "spam" my friends, but they might be interested in my art, also.


I also have a Twitter account. What should I be Tweeting? How often?


Pam Geisel
For Quilts Sake
www.forquiltssake.com
www.forquiltssake.artfire.com


Pam,

Wow, those are a lot of good questions! I’ll try my best to answer them all in turn.

Question 1: Duplicate Content
While the listing pages for ArtFire and Etsy are very different, there is still the possibility of running into trouble with duplicate content. However, this can easily taken care of by using making a few changes to your imported item’s title and description. You don’t have to redo the listing, just make a few small changes. Making these changes can also be a helpful way to test which title or description works best for your listing so far as SEO (search engine optimization) goes. ArtFire has a guide for after you import you can check out to find more ways to tweak your listings.

Question 2: Facebook
This is really a personal preference, and really depends on your fans and friends. Some people will post every update they have for their fan page onto their personal profile, while others will keep their fan page and personal profile completely separate. You could try only posting important news to both your fan page and personal profile (for example, if you normally post every time you list a new item, only post it to your fan page, while for big sales and events, post to both accounts). You could also try just “liking” your fan page posts from your profile, as this will also show up on your friend’s news feeds without showing the full post. But again, it’s up to you to determine the right amount of promotion with your Facebook account. There really is no proper protocol, so it’s up to you to determine what works best!


Question 3: Twitter
I could probably devote any entire novel this to question, but I’ll try to keep it brief. With your Twitter account, you want to create the right balance of fun, personal updates, as well as business updates. I go over this in greater detail on my Twitter 101 Guide. You’ll want to try and incorporate Twitter into your daily promotional practices to get the best results from it. Start with about 3-10 tweets spaced out over a period of time throughout the day. To a new user this might sound like a lot, but you’ll be surprised how easy it can be once you’re used to it!

I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sara
Sell Handmade Crafts Online