No, I'm not suggesting spending your local store's dollars in exchange for "protection," but urging local owners to facilitate more inspection by local consumers.  The dynamic of a local owner is interesting.  On one hand, the disadvantage of a limited budget and larger competition is apparent.  However, local owners have the ability to secure lasting relationships with members of their target market, who live in the store's vicinity.

I joined the leagues of late-bloomer shoppers this week at local malls.  I know - what irony, an online marketing person neglecting cyber shopping for brick-and-mortar crowds!  I was standing in line at an electronics store and overheard a conversation taking place between two friends who were purchasing a game system for a third friend.  I thought that was a pretty cool sentiment and shared it with the two gents.  One quipped that the gift "wasn't just for him [the friend]" but for all of them to enjoy.  While it's commendable to be completely selfless this holiday season, small businesses, desiring to give consumers a little something this year, should remember some gifts give back, yielding positive returns.

I found myself traveling this week.  Wanting to maintain appearances for my dear mother, I strolled into a local, haircut chain establishment.  Coincidentally, my "stylist" was the owner, a man who bought into the franchise.  As one must divulge personal matters to hair stylists, I mentioned my interest in all things online marketing and inquired about his stores' efforts.  By the end of the ordeal, I was looking fresh and ready for a "Yelping in my Beemer" video as well as filled with a few thoughts regarding online marketing and tailored, consulting services.  As many marketers but few clients understand, online, one size does not fit all.

What's the broad-term-search competition like in your industry?  In most, it's intense.  Broad terms lose some luster for successful brands that have "made it," though ironically, the more popular a brand within an industry, the more likely it ranks well for broad terms of the industry, at the same time lessening its internal, marketing dependence on broad terms for traffic.  For instance, most, desiring the brand's product, would conduct an "iPhone" or "Apple" search rather than one for "cell phone" (though it's likely the brand's long-term engagement in online marketing has secured it good rankings regarding its respective industry's broad, search terms).

Would it be benefit your brand if consumers traded places with its executives?  I don't literally expect executives to become consumers of their own brand; but, I encourage them to think like customers often and much.  Empathy is the ability to relate to another person as if you're "walking in their shoes."  Ensure your marketing objectives spawn from empathetic sentiments.

Search engine optimization has always attracted outsider interest regarding the dichotomy of black and white-hat SEO specialists, the former party delivering unethical and SE-questionable practices.  As industry literature explains, black-hat practitioners give the industry a bad name, helping clients "game" the search engines.  Black hats help "game" the system; but I think mutually ethically questionable brands, using the unethical black hats are ultimately getting gamed and getting well-deserved desserts.

Mark Twain once quipped, "Clothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society."  Today, the humorous quote came to mind regarding on-site optimization.  Search engine optimization expands all the time; as SEs change algorithms, the definition and scope of search engine optimization services remains malleable.

I read an article yesterday in the NY Times discussing YouTube's new design and the wave of reactions, mostly negative, on the Web.  Relevant to the times and various "occupy" movements established throughout the country, people, specifically online consumers, are finding power in numbers, in some cases, making an influence, getting "heard."  Actually, I believe the amount of information sharing, and the little time needed to do so, changes the way brands make decisions.

Should your local business rely on search engine optimization or engage in social media optimization?  Both are strong, online marketing initiatives, but data released by the Pew Internet & American Life Foundation show this may influence some local businesses to deemphasize SMO.  It seems consumers, interviewed by land and cell phone lines, reported levering social media only 1% of the time to find information about local business, ostensibly making social media an ineffective marketing tool.

Cyrus Shephard posted over at SEOmoz regarding the origins of Google's Freshness Update, providing illustrations of how variations of "fresh" content influence rankings.  The article provides great insights fed in an easy-to-digest fashion.

Prior to Google+ entering the social media market, businesses (both large and small) had 4 major platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to market their business.  The release of Google+ for business gives marketers and advertisers some additional features that are not available on other social media platforms.  Noteworthy features include Circles, +1 integration, and Analytics.  Here’s a look inside the new features and why they are beneficial:

Creating SEO campaigns for small businesses can be tricky considering locality as well as competition of keywords. Many small businesses look to an SEO to be rain makers or miracle workers in establishing online and foot traffic. So how does an SEO really manage expectations of small businesses and provide results for these opportunities?

Google released details on their official blog that the company has developed interactive ads compatible on smartphones and tablets.  The new rich media ads are designed to engage the user and create a deeper experience.

Today, Todd Wasserman wrote a post upon Twitter's news of launching its new branding pages. The news ushers more online marketing and branding opportunities for businesses seeking to broaden consumer awareness regarding products, services, and company brands.

Reports surfaced that Verizon (with other major wireless carriers expected to follow suite) has blocked Google Wallet from being used on their devices including the new Galaxy Nexus.  The wireless company stated security concerns over the ecommerce system caused them to make the devices incompatible with Google Wallet.

Lately, we’ve been covering pay per click and paid search topics as reports illustrate the surge in demand for these advertising services.  Amongst the data that have recently been published, new data released today by ZenithOptimedia (advertising and communications firm), states Google owns 44 percent of the global advertising market.  That number represents a 10 percent increase over the past 5 years.  Not only does Google own the majority of this market, but the industry titan also accounts for 85 percent of all searches.

Paid search has more or less taken over as one of the leading forms of advertising on the internet.  Traditional techniques including mass-media (newspaper, television, radio, etc.) have been suffering over the past couple years as challenging economic times have caused advertisers and marketers to be cautious and even abandon their marketing initiatives. A recent report by the Newspaper Association of America projects newspapers will achieve a new low in advertising sales in 2011.  The Association expects ad revenue to be $24 billion, almost 50 percent less than its peak of $49 billion in 2005.  While this sharp decline in newspaper advertising certainly includes concerns over the economy, at the same time, cost-efficient advertising including paid search has been surging.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, Entrepreneur and founder / CEO of WebiMax, the leader in search engine optimization, announced “2012 can be a rebound year for SMBs if business owners commit to innovating and focusing on client-retention.”  Wisnefski furthers “most business owners are reluctant to move forward due to pressing economic concerns including the financial markets, credit ratings and unemployment; however, it’s the lack of focus on key internal areas that are keeping them in a hover pattern.”

Inside Search is Google's way of sharing critical search algorithm changes with the SEO community. The latest Google algorithm changes highlights some exciting changes that many SEOs have been waiting anticipating for months, if not longer.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO of WebiMax, announced today that Forbes has named the search engine optimization company one of America’s Most Promising Companies.  Forbes‘ list of America’s Most Promising Companies features 100 privately held up-and-comers with compelling business models, strong management teams, notable customers, strategic partners and precious investment capital.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski (founder and CEO) and Kevin O’Brien (Vice President) of WebiMax, the leading search engine optimization firm, were featured today on CBS 3 Philadelphia.  The newscast, hosted by industry veterans Pat Ciarrocchi and Ukee Washington featured WebiMax for their recent Best Places to Work award received by the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Google, Inc. is expected to release another important update to their Panda algorithm that was originally released in early 2011.  Todd Bailey, Vice President of Digital Strategy at WebiMax, the leading search engine optimization firm, discusses the evolution of the “Panda” and further discusses its importance to the integrity of the search engine marketing industry.

A search engine optimization company representative will report Google does a good job playing both sides.  On one hand, search engines are for the public, providing a wealth of information.  Engines facilitate the sentiment by modifying algorithms (read about Panda updates) with an end goal of increasing user experience and convenience.  Google remains the preferred engine of most browsers.  On the other hand, Google knows businesses use the platform to generate revenue, hence paid advertising.  Google also does a sufficient job supplying tools to online businesses through Google Analytics.  Occasional updates make the Analytics tool even better.  However, a novice may not utilize the data to its fullest potential.  That's where a search engine optimization company provides assistance.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, online marketing expert and founder / CEO of WebiMax, announces how the evolution of the internet has changed the way merchants and consumers navigate the holiday season.  Components including E-commerce, reputation management, reviews and social media have supported the online marketplace that acts to end the traditional shopping experience people have enjoyed for many years.

I recently posted a "SEO 2011 Year in Review" article on Search Engine Journal, which sited many of the exciting algorithmn updates this past year as well as other items supporting the proclomation of Mobile and Social being key SEO performance mediums this year.

WebiMax is pleased to announce that it has been selected as the Web Hosting Search - Best Web Design recipient.  This is in direct response to WebiMax's all-in-house design team providing award winning custom designs for clients ranging in size from small biz to Fortune.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO of the top rated search engine optimization firm, announced that “social media will play an integral role in this year’s black-Friday shopping day”. Black-Friday is the traditional kick-off to the holiday shopping season. This year, as more and more companies have adapted to the upsurge in social media demand, Wisnefski expects both retailers and consumers to communicate through the versatile platforms including Facebook and Twitter.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO of WebiMax, the top rated SEO company, was interviewed today on Newzar.com. Newzar (New York, NY), founded in 2010 by Entrepreneur and former CBS News Executive Zev Shalev, provides breaking video news on the go.  Newzar is the first of its kind, delivering news to the 87% of Americans who access the internet daily on their mobile devices.

ComScore released their search engine market share report for October. The numbers continue to illustrate how powerful Google search is, while Microsoft’s own search engine, Bing, gained very minor percentage points, and Yahoo search fell. This latest report also shows more than 18 billion searches were conducted during the month. Google’s dominance is clear, representing close to 12 billion searches.

Wisnefski, a seasoned Entrepreneur and the founder / CEO of WebiMax, announced that merchants and consumers will rely heavily on social media platforms during this year’s black-Friday mad dash. As 2011 is projected by analysts to be the most successful black-Friday yet, information is king when trying to take advantage of the most deals possible.