WebiMax Blog

We have touched on Google+, its worth, applicability, and where it will likely go in the future a good amount lately, and most recently in a blog post by JWersits. Google+ is firmly carving out its own dimension within social media and will not likely look like the archetypal social media platform that we've come accustomed to seeing (not that one true standard exists, but a site that allows users to share and engage with each other in the basic ways that Facebook and others offer). With that said, it will most-likely continue to grow and increase its relevance for personal users and businesses alike, especially given its relevance for Google Search Plus Your World results.

A week ago I wrote on businesses that use Pinterest as a great social media and SEO marketing tool for their products and services, citing several great examples. However, you don't need to be a for-profit organization to take advantage of the promotional services that Pinterest provides. There are more than a few non-profits that are jumping onto the social media site to spread the message about their organizations, inspiring others while bringing well-needed attention to their causes. And the attention is definitely coming, if you can take recent articles by Mashable and The Huffington Post on non-profits' Pinterest boards as evidence.

When it comes to social media and SEO, I've discussed two major players so far: Twitter and the up-and-coming Pinterest. Here is yet one more: Foursquare. This is primarily a mobile app for smartphones, but it can be so much more for businesses that know how to utilize it for promotional and marketing activity. Foursquare trades on the currency of fun, but the app and social media tool can produce tangibly profitable results if businesses use it in just the right way.

With Google's new privacy changes rolling out today, March 1, push pack from users, analysts, and now regulation authorities has been firm. On Tuesday, though, the resistance gained traction in Europe as well. Negative feedback in Europe came in the form of statements from the National Commission for Computing and Civil Liberties (CNIL), the French data protection authority. The agency issued a letter to Larry Page, Google's co-founder and CEO, contending that the policy changes cloud the actual ways the company uses private user information. This data is of course what Google uses to sell targeted advertising, one of the primary revenue-generators for the company and areas of competition between them and Facebook.

Facebook announced yesterday that adverts will appear on the 425m mobile devices used to access the social network.  The move follows the roll-out of adverts on users' news feeds, which began in early January. This means that brands you’ve endorsed by hitting the ‘like’ button will now be able to push deals and other updates right into the news feeds that show your friends' updates, photos and links.  Read more

Social media may be great for your personal life, but its benefits may not be as great for your work life. According to new research reported on Philly.com, a quick review of a job candidate's Facebook page can predict future job success.  Read more

Research out from Google this past week sheds light on the most recent behavior regarding mobile search and activity. Google conducted a small survey of 1,000 individuals in the US, UK, France, Spain, Germany, and Japan. We have discussed here on this blog before about the explosion of smartphone use and by extension general internet usage and search on smartphones. Now, Google reports that mobile search is just shy of 100% in terms of adoption with smartphone users, with the majority searching at least one time per week. For a look across the studied countries, Japan showed the highest usage of search engines on smartphones in general at 99% of users, followed by the UK and Spain at 96%, then the US and France showed 95% usage, and 92% for Germany.

There many marketers out there who may have heard about Tumblr, but are struggling to grasp its true worth regarding search engine optimization. This unique form microblogging site actually contains a great deal of SEO potential that, if utilized properly, can really help boost a business or a brand. If you need any examples, just take a good long look The New York Times and its recently launched Tumblr blog, titled "The Lively Morgue" as reported by Mashable.

Are you winning with your PR pitches or missing the mark, like an inexperienced pitcher from the California penal league?  Remember Rick 'Wild Thing' Vaughn from Major League?   You may know him from his present-day role as Charlie Sheen (but I digress).  Rick had the 'heat' behind his hurls but his approach needed tweaking.  A customized pair of Clark-Kent glasses and a music-filled montage of highlights later, Vaughn comes around, rallying the once-trailing Indians behind him.

By now it is likely that you have read tons of articles and literature on the importance of social media in search engine optimization, as well as in a brand's general advertising initiatives. Even with all of this information, it may hard to truly visualize just how essential social media is to a company's marketing strategy. You may still be wondering, is it really worth investing your precious time and money into something that seems like an esoteric, new-fangled fad?

Is your brand producing at a faster and better pace?  It seems to be a growing trend, especially in the tech-related industries.  Apple understands the rate of competition.  As Reuters reports, the Apple brand is hosting an event next week, showing its faster and better iPad tablet to the world.  Apple's event is invite only, including reporters Apple asks to see and "touch" the brand's latest creation.

I don't' have a high-def monitor; is it me or does your homepage look a bit dusty?  Is it time for a spring clean?  When was the last time you considered giving your brand's online face-page a scrub down?  If you've been following search engine optimization tips over the years, it's likely you've introduced, attended to, neglected, and eighty-sixed a number of implementations.

Since the launch of the iPhone, Apple has enjoyed a large percentage of the US smartphone market continually setting new heights in the sale of the product in this market. Just this past quarter, they sold 37 million iPhones, which is over twice the number a year prior. Like much of Apple's products, the iPhone has garnered a great deal of attention from consumers and media alike and has cultivated a dedicated fan-base.

Facebook on Wednesday is set to stage its biggest-ever ad event, where it's expected to unveil an ad platform overhaul just two months before its IPO. The company's future might depend on how well advertisers are able to parlay the dominant social network's 845 million users into building buzz and branding — and more sales. Read more

While 90 million users have logged onto Google+ since its June launch, not many are spending much time there, according to research by comScore. In Take on Tech, WebiMax founder and CEO Ken Wisnefski talks about the platform's future possibilities.  Hear more

Have you ever considered live-tweeting an event? In the past few years, this has turned into a widespread, popularized activity included in the SEO campaigns of businesses and organizations. Now, live-tweeting has entered the world of healthcare as well, as two doctors in a Texas hospital live-tweeted an open heart surgery for the first time ever on Tuesday, February 21, 2012.

I wonder if Picasso threw paintings away after one day.  That's what happens to a lot of writers' online works.  Content is not physically "trashed"; yet, if it's not evergreen (and even in those cases at times) the content kind of rests there, eternally at peace.  It's a sin we let content pass on in such a way.  Shouldn't we facilitate a longer existence?  After all, copywriting professionals put in time and energy; we'd like to see our creations curated, raging against the dying of the light.

Facebook disclosed an eye-opening fact this month when it filed its plan to go public: 425 million members access the social network on smartphones and tablets.  The disclosure sent up red flags for analysts, because the company also said it does not “currently directly generate any meaningful revenue from the use of Facebook mobile products, and our ability to do so successfully is unproven.”  Read more

In Friday's post, I started this look at the expansion of Google's Get Your Business Online initiative into emerging markets in India and Africa. I contended in the post that the potential economic impact is immense here. Consider the numbers. Of an estimated 8 million small businesses operating in India, there are roughly 400,000 or 5% that have websites, according to the official Google India Blog. There is obviously considerable opportunity for many more companies to get online and grow their businesses.

For all of you SEO marketers who think that the mobile app Instagram is just another fun, silly recreational activity, think again. Like its social media predecessors, a la Twitter and Facebook, this popular photo-sharing service has recently proven its clout as an effective marketing tool with a great deal of promise and potential. The evidence comes from Ford's use of the app to promote its Ford Fiesta throughout Europe this past fall, in a recent report by Mashable.

How are you (informally/professionally) using social sites these days?  In the beginning of the online party, there was sparse professional participation.  MySpace and Friendster were more or less social sites, platforms where friends could connect in informal fashions.

The success of Jeremy Lin as a brand cannot be understated. We are introduced to a man who was released by two NBA rosters, only to be given a chance by the New York Knicks. His instant rise-to-fame as the starting point guard of the Knicks proves more to consumers than simply a lesson in professional sports.  Read more

Google's Get Your Business Online initiative is having far-reaching impacts beyond simply getting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the developed world online that do not already have a web presence. The initiative has been implemented in emerging markets as well, bringing online capability, SEO potential, and economic opportunity to specific countries in the developing world, particularly in Africa and Central Asia. I discussed Google's Get Your Business Online initiative in an International Business Times piece yesterday where I described the background of the initiative, its offerings, and the opportunity for SEO for the many new businesses that will find themselves online in these developed markets. Now, with its expansion into emerging markets, it is a promising development for several other reasons.

The success of Jeremy Lin as a brand cannot be understated.  We are introduced to a man who was released by two NBA rosters, only to be given a chance by the New York Knicks.  His instant rise-to-fame as the starting point guard of the Knicks proves more to consumers than simply a lesson in professional sports.

For several blog entries now I have reiterated how great and powerful a tool Twitter is for any business that is implementing a successful SEO marketing campaign. However, in the same way that Twitter can significantly help your company, brand, product or service, it can seriously harm you as well.

The SEO and social landscapes continue to evolve, and this reality will never change. What does change though is the how - how social users connect with one another and how that can be leveraged for SEO gain. As a result, regarding this relationship SEO evolution usually, but not always, comes in response to changes in the social space. Once new platforms are used and understood, marketing potential is realized and put into action. Enter Pinwheel, the new soon-to-be-launched map-based social networking site that has gotten people talking this week. In his blog post today on SEOServices.com, JWersits introduces the site, its basics, and gives us a look at the sponsorship system that Pinwheel is looking to use for companies to gain exposure through the platform. Here, I'll continue where he left off and look at how SEO companies could potentially use the platform for marketing gain once it emerges from beta and is fully rolled out both domestically and internationally.

What's the importance of a business' personality?  That might seem like an odd question; isn't your business a thing, not a person?  Sure, but creating associations to your company is a large part of branding, a process not to be ignored.  I referenced personification this week in a post about getting consumer attention.  Maybe for some, it's easier to regard your business as a person; entrepreneurs are a suitable population to personify.  The group has a lot in common with aspiring businesses.

Even when an online retailer wins out on price, the cost to ship it to your home might erase the price advantage, which is especially true of heavy items such as televisions.  “You’ll see sites that have a good price, but they’re trying to get it to the East Coast from Arizona, and a lot of the time ... it might be better to go to Best Buy,” Wisnefski says.  Read more

Along with other bloggers and copywriters, I love to write.  That's what I do.  What do you do professionally?  Search engine optimization providers partner with businesspeople in a variety of industries: medical, industrial, automotive, legal, and so on.  Each client has their own respective areas of expertise, which may or may not overlap with my own.  For instance, while lawyers are likely good writers, they may not have the time to invest in online marketing pursuits throughout their day; rather than write a blog post for their site, they'll approach SEO copywriting professionals, who can help with search engine optimization objectives.

It has already been stated time and time again how socially powerful the micro-blogging site Twitter can be in the non-virtual world, and how important it must be to all SEO campaigns. Here's another inspiring story from the Associated Press on how Twitter is being utilized to impact a community in a positive way.