WebiMax Blog

Social Media is expected to play an important role in this year’s NCAA March Madness tournament, where 68 College Basketball teams compete to determine the 2011 National Champion. March 17th 2011 kicks off the first round with games being played as early as 12:15ET. Since this is during working hours, experts believe people will be logged in to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube since not everyone will be able to access a television during working hours.

Social Media continues to evolve into new roles. What started out as a way to send short updates to your friends where you’re going on campus, has recently made its presence on the world and economic stages. The crisis in Egypt last month and the earthquake and tsunami in Japan at the end of last week prove just how vital social media is as news correspondence.

So far in 2011, we have learned so much. Oil is surging over Middle East conflict, Charlie Sheen is winning with TigerBlood, and social media is being used in a whole new way by advertisers (see our blog titled “Social Media – The New Marketing”). One more thing learned is the strong start to the year that WebiMax is off to, illustrated through 3rd party ranking organizations and their recent coverage in media outlets.

Reputation Management is one of the most important components of owning a business in today’s fast-paced environment. With the explosion of social media, more and more people have platforms to discuss experiences they have had with businesses, products, and services. With this comes the requirement for reputation management or social media companies to become involved and manage a campaign.

Is Charlie Sheen really “winning”? Some would say he is, while others would disagree, but no one can deny the fact Sheen has exploded his visibility through the utilization of Social Media. Social Media expert and Founder/CEO of WebiMax, Kenneth C. Wisnefski is one who has been awed by Sheen’s ability to gain so much traction so quickly. “What has transpired over the past week with Charlie Sheen has been nothing short of amazing”, discussed Wisnefski. “From having essentially no Social Media presence to becoming the biggest factor in Social Media today, is something we have never seen before. His strategy has been brilliant”.

The Labor Department announced today that the nation’s unemployment rate for February was 8.9%, down from 9.0% just a month earlier. This is also the lowest it has been in two years. 192,000 jobs were added in the month, mainly all of them coming in the private sector. In an interview with FOX Business last month, Founder and CEO of WebiMax, Kenneth C. Wisnefski, regarded as an industry expert in small business and job growth, stated that “I believe there are companies interested in hiring but are having a difficult time finding people with the specific skill level their looking for”. Wisnefski also stated that “small businesses should find more creative ways of hiring, such as taking candidates and training them to become the type of employees they need. That’s exactly what we’ve done and has been tremendously successful”.

As any one of us could have imagined, the first announcement last week by Google on their “Content Farm Update” would not have been the first and only news we would have heard about this. In a report released yesterday (March 2, 2011), Google’s Amit Singhal announced that they are further “tweaking the algorithm to make sure it is 100% accurate”. This further reinforces their commitment to only delivering high-quality websites to users. After all, “search results” is the main product in their portfolio.

At any time of the day, buyers and critics can be reviewing your products and brand. They can be discussing their buying experience, offering feedback, or profiling your products on consumer report websites. Since this can be taking place at any time, it is extremely critical to manage reviews to ensure that the best things are being said, and if they’re not, how to address them appropriately.

As the first couple months of 2011 come to a close, some very important changes have happened this year already to the world of search engine results, notably Google’s commitment to reestablishing the days of “quality content”. We in the industry have been observing major algorithm changes by the search engine titan that have penalized and eliminated websites that use fraudulent tactics to satisfy the algorithms so their websites appear high in page rank.

Amid all of the recent news that has been hitting newspapers, online blogs and forums, Google continues their campaign on useless websites. Announced yesterday (Thursday, February 24, 2011), Content Farms are the most recent casualties, affecting 12% of websites. Content farms are websites (and companies) that have a lot of textual content, aimed at pleasing search algorithms, so their website appears high in search engine results. They typically lack useful data however.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, Founder and CEO of WebiMax, the nation’s #1 rated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firm, and an expert in the field of online marketing, discusses an important trend in the evolution of Google’s search engine policies. Wisnefski explains that companies need to adapt their search engine strategies to ethically and effectively stay ahead of the changing landscape if they want to enjoy success in SEO.

We keep hearing about Social Media. Chances are, at least twice today you’ve heard “. . . social media . . .” from either a co-worker or the deliveryman that brought lunch. Not only are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube used every day by just about everyone, they are starting to replace costly marketing campaigns that have forever been used in the past. Businesses are slowly but surely making the switch to more than just tweeting what newspaper they were featured in.

Google continues their strict crackdown on illegitimate SEO tactics; “Content farms” is the new target. In a recent announcement on Google’s official Blog, they are adding an extension to their Chrome web browser that allows people to block out certain websites from showing on their search results. Not only does the end-user get the chance to block out these spammy websites, Google gets a list of which sites people are blocking.

Recent News Highlights the “Dark Side” of SEO

Social monitoring is extremely important because you want to be able to see what others are saying about you on social media sites Facebook, Twitter, LinkenIn, and YouTube. If you are a small business owner and you are managing the company’s social media sites, it is all the more important to keep an eye on your pages.

In an article in today’s New York Times, retailer J.C. Penney gets flagged for their search engine optimization firm using “dirty” tactics to achieve high search results. Just like in any other business, there are questionable and borderline unethical ways to achieve positive results. In major league baseball in particular, we have been hearing so much recently about the use of performance enhancing drugs. Stock brokers participate in “insider trading”. In the SEO industry, there is “performance enhancing drugs” that exists there too!

Reputation Management is one of the most important components with maintaining a website. From small web-based businesses, to nationally recognized companies, their online reputation can influence many buyers. It is therefore extremely critical to properly manage your businesses online reputation. With the advent of the internet and its abilities to reach everywhere in the world, buyers can comment and post on their experience or offer a statement on your products. It can take a matter of minutes for your world-renowned company to go from the top of the charts to the bottom.

As social media and online interactions continue to set the landscape for the “new era in marketing”, companies both small and large should start to incorporate their online assets into their television advertisements. As Super Bowl XLV set a new record for ratings with 111 million viewers on FOX Network, companies certainly had the set stage to show buyers they have new products and $3 million to advertise them with.

Are you debating as to whether to approach an SEO firm for help? There is plenty of literature available on the Web that both celebrates and condemns search engine optimization (SEO) and the companies that provide the service. The truth is, like any other business, there are good, bad, and all businesses in between. Years ago, Vidal Sassoon originated the marketing message, “If you don’t look good, we don’t look good,” in reference to his hair styling products. The message makes sense; to reiterate another marketing quip, ‘the proof is in the pudding.’

Google Inc. claimed last week that rival Microsoft’s search engine Bing stole their search results. A report surfaced last Tuesday, February 1, when Google claimed they ran a trap operation to test if Bing had in fact stolen their results. And of course, what happened? The mouse got caught! Google changed their search algorithms to display fictitious website in their search results for bogus words such as “hiybbprqag” and “mbzrxpgjys”. When they used Bing to search for these scrambled words that would have made Noah Webster have a heart attack, the same exact search results populated on Bing and they did Google.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, (10 days away), look for your local restaurants to start heavy advertising at the beginning of next week. Most restaurants do it all the same, they offer “2 for 1” dinners, free champagne or sparkling wine, or they even throw in a free dessert. With all of the Valentine’s Day restaurant deals, it always is more economical to stay in and cook at home.

One of the first things people do that look at your e-mail address is build an image of you. In today’s competitive environment in which we live in, one of the best things you can do for yourself is give a good first impression. This holds true for a job interview, for an email you send to people that you want to take you seriously, and even for Facebook. It is therefore important to know this; if you are someone who has a funky email address such as “PartyAnimal85”, consider creating a new one so people don’t receive an email from “PartyAnimal” asking them to accept a press release on your company.

The most integral component of any relationship, whether it is personal, business, or buyer-seller is communication. Ask yourself, where would we be today if we were unable to communicate to our family, colleagues, or clients? In the business setting, the quality of communication that transpires between the buyer and seller typically does not appear in explicit detail in the contract. Clear communication is the added value that builds long-term customer relationships and client retention. Ever heard of “outstanding communications” being listed as a core competency?

Corporate culture may be the biggest small thing in a business that has less than 100 employees. Typically with a small business, whether it is a family owned restaurant, landscaping and hardscaping LLC, law practice, or internet marking company, the corporate culture is a reflection of the Founder. It is core values, beliefs, and behaviors that set the foundation for how the company will become a success from the inside out. Large companies and corporations that have existed for many years tend to have a culture that is better known than that of a small business.

Small businesses are most successful when the whole team is motivated by each other, gets along at work, and knows how to have a little bit of fun at the same time. So imagine, you’re a small business owner and your company is plagued by what seems to be never-ending snowstorms. It’s the middle of winter and employees come to work upset that they had to dig their cars out at 6:30am. They arrive to work late, and worry all day about the effects of the snowstorm on their personal lives. How do small business owners maintain employee morale during the dark, snowy days of winter? Use this time of year as an opportunity to motivate your best kept assets (your employees)! Is there anything wrong with conducting team-building initiatives while on the clock?

As the much anticipated Super Bowl XLV draws nearer and nearer and the pressure on Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, and Packers Head Coach Mike McCarthy heats up, there is another pressure looming in the air; the Chief Marketing Officers of organizations that have decided to spend $3 million for a :30 second clip on Fox Network. Fox has confirmed that 100% of ad space has been sold, with the big game a bit over a week away. Reports issued by online marketing research companies tell us that the usual companies will make an appearance…E*Trade, General Motors, BMW, Doritos, and Budweiser.