SEO Search Engine Optimization

Is Google Plus (G+) the key in the transition to Web 3.0

July 27, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

A Google account has become the most powerful tool that any entrepreneur or small business owner could ever hope for. While Google’s general public brand has been tied to Search, Google has been building a monopoly that can and will change the shape of business, politics, and education forever. In fact, Google is Web 3.0!

Google has many, many tools and products in its offering, most of which are free! If you have not taken the time to look around I suggest you spend a few minutes and start to familiarize yourself with them, they will save or make you A LOT OF MONEY!!!

Google recently made a few updates, but the top bar has been around for longer than most realize, it is in this bar that Google is writing the book on Web 3.0.

What is it that makes Google such a force? Why is Google Plus or G+ such a big deal?

As seen above, Google has captured the “cloud” era ahead of schedule. Without even looking at the advanced features or Google Apps, one can create and store documents on their google account, set appointments organize and share a calendar, find new information and search for products, solutions, books, or even watch a movie or a how to video.

Social Media has changed the way that people interact and use the web, in fact web 2.0 was all about social media. Websites, software and plug-in updates that allowed people to interact with one another and turned a one directional internet into a multi directional web. In web 2.0 not only can you talk back to the media or information source, you could share it or pass it around. The individual web user could claim the brand of a company for better or worse. Dell had individuals that were not related or employed by the company providing customer support in the forums, and Milton’s Scrabble lost thousands, arguably millions in its brand because two other developers claimed the brand in Facebook.

Web 3.0 has been branded the “cloud” era where information, both public and personal is stored on the world wide web and accessed via data plans, Wifi or traditional cable and dial up. This includes massive files for things like high definition media, entire company databases, etc. This is really not something that is new, just look at how startups like Patch Media use google to simulate a traditional IT infostructure or Saleforce.com to organize track and distribute leads, sales and work. With only one main hub in NYC, Patch Media delivers people and content without traditional overhead in over 800 communities around the United States.

Google Plus bridges the gap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

In Google Hangout people interact in a real time public space. Others now have to rethink how they look, speak and the body language or facial features that they use. (The innovative marketers and advertisers will need to think how to get a coke can on the desk during that hangout, how to get a new movie poster on the wall behind that person on the hangout etc.)

Google Hangouts has a game changing advantage for those that know how to present, speak and are truly genuine in public. Users should be aware that this new social tool is a lot like “Larry King Live” and you better be prepared for questions that you may not want to answer.

Google Plus has an A symmetrical sharing system, which means that we can send to others but not get a share in return. G+ from its creation allows users to separate professional and personal lives and even organize beyond the largest separation issue that has plagues social users. This interface along with many other features makes Google Plus the most advanced social media site/tool/software that has ever been created, but all that pales in comparison to why Google is so powerful in web 3.0.

If you are in a space where you are using social in a way that allows you to network and share both your personal life and professional life, what could be better than the Google suite of products? You can share and update documents in real time, video conference, make appointments, develop leads, search out information, shop and buy products, services and so on…

A small business now has an IT Dept. in one place. They can seek out support, generate leads, share reports, organize their schedule, promote their business with video, learn from other videos, advertise in Search, not to mention capture the power of social or viral activity. The digital business can now provide face to face support in a familiar environment something that many still crave.

A teacher or tutor can instruct a class or group from half way around the world, share documents, collect home work in real time. A educator or small college can now reach millions and take online learning into a space that captures the best of brick and mortar with distance learning once only done through text based posts.

A politician can capture and organize moral entrepreneurs, organizations and supporters from an account that brands who they are, what they are doing and interact with them with little or no technical experience or knowledge.

The shift in the world economy has come from millions of individuals competing with large corporations and brands that once held a monopoly on professional marketing, networking and talent. Thanks to a Google account you can now work with the best talent, develop a impressive network and generate a brand that is professional, technologically competitive and organized.

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Google Throws Down the Gauntlet at Facebook in Social Network Struggle

June 29, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

Google’s last two shots at storming the social networks, Google Buzz and Google Wave, met an early, and not entirely unexpected, demise. However, +1 may contain a few vital elements that make it far less likely to go unnoticed.

Custom Filtering

Being able to filter your contacts into groups and determine who can and cannot see your specific +1 preferences provides users with a bit more privacy than a Facebook ‘Like’ since Facebook currently only offers very basic privacy options, Friends or Everyone.

Huddles and Hangouts

Group instant messaging and multi-users video conferencing could make Google quite the competitor in more than just the social network industry. Users who have long bemoaned some of Skype’s capabilities, or lack of, may find themselves fans of Google Hangouts soon. Huddle can also be used on mobile devices via an app for the Android platform.

Google +1 Limited

The current version of the Google +1 system has only been released to a limited number of users but Google reps have stated that it hopes to make the entire scale of social network options available to the millions of consumers who use many of their other features every day.

Google denies that plus is a competitor with Facebook and emphasizes in so many words that they are not ‘out to get’ Zuckerberg’s social network, but rather focusing on what their users need to ease any element of their digital requirements, one of which has definitely become social networking.

Google +1 Goes Live with Adwords

June 29, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

Google Experimental Labs has been testing its +1 feature, similar to a Facebook “Like” for a few months now. For those participating in the experiment, a +1 box at the end of each website’s title on a search engine query display allowed them to give their digital stamp of approval to sites they enjoy.

So far, the Google +1 experiment has fared reasonably well during its beta term. When participating in the experiment any user viewing a search engine query display can see where anyone in their network has given their virtual thumbs up on a site.

Adwords +1

Now however, Google has plans to add the +1 feature to their Adwords advertisements. This means that if your business has an Adwords campaign, any viewing this ad can choose to give it their approval with a +1 click. This also means that anyone in that persons network who sees the same ad, will see that their friend has also given the ad their approval.

How could this be beneficial to your business? If, for instance, you are in the travel business and are using a Google Adwords campaign to advertise your seaside hotel in Florida, and a group of office workers in Illinois are planning a visit to your area, likely many will take to the net.

If office worker A’s daughter took a trip to the same area last year, loved your resort, and gave the Adwords display a +1 click to show her approval, perhaps office worker A, will also give it a click, check into your resorts amenities, and decide upon you for their impending stay.

This worker also likely has their co-workers in their network, so as their co-workers do their own searches, and see your ad, they could see the same ad, +1’d by their trusty co-workers, and now you have several who are on the way to your resort as quickly as they can get there.

+1 Your Landing Page

Business owners will now also want to take advantage of adding the Google +1 option to their landing pages, right next Twitter and Facebook most likely. Adding this will give viewers the ability to +1 your site from the inside, and not just from their displayed search engine results.

This gives those who are fans of your website the ability to share with their friends without intrusive interaction. They will simply be able to see whether or not any of their friends connections would choose your site out of a list of sites, or advertisements, when queried.

Early critiques attack the need to be logged into a google account to particiapte or see the results, but prticiaption issues exist with facebook too. Even more intereting is that the latest trend in sharing seems to be LinkedIn. While the +1 has done well in the early beta stages, only time will tell how google’s answer to the facebook “like” will playout over time.

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The Pros and Cons of Article Base Sites

June 16, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

The Pros and Cons of Article Base Sites

Although many small business and subsequently website owners may have their content creation options well in hand, others can struggle when it comes to supplying their websites or blogs with fresh topics and themes. Though the concept of article bases are far from new, they are certainly increasing in popularity as small businesses spring up all over the net daily.

How Can an Article Base Benefit a Small Business?

If you asked most website owners if they would like free content for their sites or blogs, you would be likely to get an odd look, a sly smile, and questioned on what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve. However, article bases really are a cut-and-dried option in many aspects.

Users can sign up to most article base sites for no cost
Small businesses owners can browse topics, read over articles, and choose those they enjoy for their own sites
Most sites have no limit on how many articles or blogs a user can choose to utilize from their available content

Article base sites sound pretty lucrative for a business owner so far, but what are the direct benefits for a company’s bottom line and their web presence or brand awareness?

Article Base Pros

Money that would be used to pay for content can be used in another needy facet of a small businesses marketing campaign
Business owners who create their own content can save their valuable time by using free content from article base sites
Browsing article sites can give a business owner ideas about new aspects or elements of their business that may attract the general public
Business owners may gain more insight as to what they can expect when and if they do pay for their content in the future
Using article base sites may help a small business website owner to find a content creation employee at an affordable price

With all of those pros, exactly why isn’t every business owner on the net clamoring to get the best articles from base sites daily? It may be due to a few of the important cons that can come with the usage of them.

Article Base Cons

Many business owners forego the usage of article bases for a few reasons.

Proper Crediting

Most often articles on article bases will come with either an excerpt at the bottom of the article, or even a patch of HTML code to paste under the content once it is placed on the businesses site. This is part of the give and take element that article bases promote. Web site owners get free content, content creators receive free exposure and even great back links to their own sites in their credited excerpt.

Having citations or credits at the bottom of content fairly eliminates it as a website content option and secludes it fairly well to the realm of blogs.

Conflict of Interests

Many of those who supply free content to article aggregate sites are doing so in effort to promote their own small businesses. So while it may not be immensely harmful to your profitability if a shoe store in California is linked to your Maine-based offline business, a user who runs his marketing business online, will not benefit, and indeed may suffer if they use article base content that leads to another marketing specialists website.

Stale, Outdated, and Copied

It may be in the eye of the beholder (and Google) whether or not an article is worth using if it has been used elsewhere , but commonly it is bad practice to use content that is not 100% original. This rule can be ignored, but only in the case of truly spectacular, highly-viewed content. Case-in-point, if you find an article on an article base that does not make you want to do a little dance, pump your fists in the air, and share with all of your friends, chances are, it will not give Google the warm fuzzies either. No one wants the cold shoulder from the Big G.

So Who Is Using Article Bases, and How?

Many business do use article base content, however, using them under the notion that even copied or stale content is better than no content is the absolute polar opposite of correct. Your site will fare much better with one of those fist pumping, celebratory articles than thirty overused, stale, and wildly credited ones.

Fortunately, there has been one glaringly large benefit for many users. Guest blogging is widely recognized, utilized, and has proven a successful option in content management, so using article base content in this manner may be the perfect option for a few reasons.

High-quality content that isn’t copied to a long list of other sites, but a short list of high-ranking ones, can be beneficial to the blog by adding outgoing links and regular content for your viewers.
Adding them to a running blog, instead of static web content, can help to avoid the no-no’s that can cause the Googlebot to flag your site negatively.
Using the content of the content creator who is intent on promoting themselves, their product or services, or other opportunities will likely cause the content to be shared on the authors website and social medias as well. This can in essence be a form of free social media marketing, although, not without the previously mentioned risk of diverting your customers to someone else’s business if you are not careful about the aspects of the author content you choose.

Article bases do have their pros and cons, but can always be at least minutely beneficial as long as the website owner uses caution and strategic planning when choosing which authors, and their related links, will be of benefit, or at least not detrimental to your own brand awareness.

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Yext: Pay Per Action Advertising

May 31, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

Combining Internet advertising and local businesses is what Yext is all about. The company, founded in 2006 and operating out of New York City, offers local advertising technology to local businesses in the form of Pay-Per-Action phone calls, Yext Rep, and Yext Tags – a way to highlight listing on local sites.

With a seed money of $25,000, and 2 rounds of funding, one in 2008 ($3.5 million) and another in 2009 ($25 million), the site was launched in its present configuration in Sep, 2009. The company earned $20 million on 2009, their first year of operation.

Poised to replace Yellow Pages with online ads that result in phone calls instead of clicks, each ad has a tracking number that allows the company’s software to analyze the information. When a business signs up with them, Yext places their ads across the internet in local directories and search engines. Each customer gets his own inbox for calls, a transcript of every call and a full audio file that can be played back. When certain keywords appear in the conversation (they use speech recognition software licensed from IBM), the customer gets charged for it. Marketing calls, wrong numbers, job seekers and calls from outside the agreed geographical area are put in a junk folder and are not charged.

Yext has MapQuest, Yelp and Citysearch on board. In order to combat Google Places, which can prioritize listing the way they see fit for $25 a month, Yext launched Tags, which allows them to highlight your business in the lists. They also offer Reputation Management which enables you to stay informed about your business’s online reputation from one spot.

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Main Stream Social Media: Foursquare, Twitter and the NYC Mayor

May 11, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

If you needed proof to how much social media is becoming the mainstream media, here’s a little tale:

Mayor Bloomberg, of New York City, made April 16 the official “Foursquare Day” in the city of New York.

Foursquare.com, a location based application that offers its subscribers the ability to “check in” through their smartphones and text messages, into an establishment to tell their friends where they are at the moment. By doing so users get prizes, collect virtual badges and redeem them for free stuff. They can also meet other users whom they don’t personally know but are at the location at the same time, and, as they say, let serendipity take its course. Foursquare has more than 8 million users.

So Mayor Bloomberg visited the Manhattan office of Foursquare, a social media platform, and made a proclamation through Twitter: “I’ve officially declared 4/16 @Foursquare Day in NYC #4sqday,” he tweeted and posted on Facebook as well. Together he reached at least 100,000 followers (70,680 on Twitter and 30,660 on Facebook).

Why this date? 4/16 – four squared. And the company is trying to get other cities around the world to declare it so for next year.

What a way for a mayor to boost his city’s economy.

A day later we learned the results: 3 million people checked -in in New York City alone and a lot of activity in charities they support. Foursquare events collected food, donated money to Japan disaster victims, supported the Red Cross, Humane society and more. On their blog they write “We love the fact that 4sqday helped contribute to these causes in a spontaneous, grassroots way” Mayor Bloomberg.

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Small Business Solutions: Sponsored Reviews

May 5, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

Statistic shows that the first page on Google search results brings about 40% click through rate. The sponsored links bring about 50% of the remaining clicks. It is said that most people will change their keyword search rather than go to the second page of the search results.

So, it is very important to try and rank on the first page of Google. One of the methods used to get a higher ranking is the SEO, having articles and posts posted on the internet that contain the keywords you are aiming for, to create more links and rank higher.

Since the Social Media has become a major player in influencing the ranking on Google, many have been searching for a way to increase their presence. One of the ways is to be mentioned on blogs and other social media platforms, but you can’t do it all yourself and sometimes help is available in places you haven’t thought about.

One of the newest trends are companies that will connect you with blog owners so you can pay them to write a review about your product or service, and link back to your site.

One such company is Buyblogreviews.Com which “brings advertisers and bloggers together for reviews on products and services”. They offer to connect the business owner with blog owners that specialize in that niche and get reviewed by professionals, semi-professionals and ordinary bloggers. The connection with the bloggers is done through their site and the bloggers bid for the opportunity to review the product. The site charges 30% of the deal.

Another company is Payperpost.com, which is owned by IZEA Innovation. “Think of it like eBay for sponsored blog posts” they say on their website. Advertisers offer opportunities for blog owners to connect with you, write a review and post it in their blog.

PayU2blog.com is yet another company that offers the same service. Theirs in the only site that says positive reviews are not guaranteed.

Socialspark.com offers an array of services, from connecting the advertiser with the blogger, set link the advertiser wants embedded in the post, choose which blog they want it posted on and measure the effectiveness of the campaign. They work with some Fortune 500 companies as GoDaddy.com, Overstock.com, AmericanGreetings.com and will create a whole campaign for the advertiser around the subject he want to enhance.

A new survey conducted by BlogHer and Ketchum.com found that 20% of women who used social media are motivated to try products bloggers wrote about and 53% of them have bought a product based on blog recommendation. The top three typed of products people look for personal recommendations are consumer electronics, computer hardware and software and movies. Almost half of blog readers read blogs to find new trends or ideas.

Is it legal? Yes. Is it Ethical? Yes, as long as the bloggers posts at the top of the article that this is a sponsored post and the opinions of the blogger are 100% his.

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Demand Studios and the Impact from Google’s Algorithm Change

April 30, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

There seems to be some serious back-and-forth about the state of Demand Studios since the Google algorithm alteration. Initial impact indicated that they may have lost ground on the search driven traffic of some of their sites. Citing eHow.com as one of the locations where the change may have triggered a down-turn, Demand Studios initial statement indeed, indicated that even they knew that the new algorithm may have relatively lasting impact on their page views.

Demand Relies on SEO

Demand Media does rely heavily on search engine optimization to boost traffic to their content which is created by over 13,000 freelancers worldwide. So Google’s announcement that its change would impact almost 12 percent of search engine queries, was definitely destined to negatively affect Demands current page views by sheer numbers alone.

With sites like eHow being a large part of their company’s content, often ranking high on search engine queries before the change, and afterwards, there can be little doubt that the effect was in fact, a minor one for them. However, falling stock values are also a cause for concern for Demand. Some searches even provide Demand Studios content ranking higher than before the change.

Google Panda

Continued updates, codenamed Panda, have provided a different viewpoint altogether. Just over a week ago Google enacted the Pandora update worldwide. This time stating that two percent of Google queries in the U.S. would be affected.

Sistrix, a site that had previously released the results of impact on content farms after the first update, also released new information on the Panda change and how it has definitely affected the page views of eHow content. Although in general, the second update was not as search engine query altering as the second, or Panda update, it did land on eHow this time, even though it is rumored that it was actually one of the targets of the first update in February 2011.

Demand Demands Acknowledgement

While admitting a slight decline in search engine traffic on eHow sites due to the recent changed, Demand still insists that the Sistrix numbers are way off. Citing a predicted 2/3rds decline in eHow traffic, Demand reps responded that the numbers were greatly so grossly overstated that they must comment.

Demand CEO Richard Rosenblatt shared with MediaMemo that the relationship it shared with Google was a highly valued and mutually generous one.

They stated their relationship with Google made much sense for many reasons.

That they help to fill gaps in Google’s content when other high quality content is not available.
That they are the largest suppliers of YouTube videos.
That they are a huge Google Adsense partner.

Stating that the current losses are projected to cause them to suffer around 10 million dollars in lost revenue, they are assured that with projected sales this year reaching around $311 million, they do not consider it a substantial, nor a 2/3rds percent loss.

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Did Google Panda Change the Playing Field?

April 29, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

From time to time, when Google identifies a ‘gaming’ of their search engine results, its engineers open up the algorithms and tweak them, sending shudders in the world of e commerce and Internet advertising. Speculations run rampart until Google launches it to the world.

One such tweak happened lately; in February 2011, Google launched such a change and named it Panda. They called the tweak “A High Quality Sites Algorithms”. It came in reaction to what they call “Content Farms” and the blogosphere immediately filled in the name of one of the biggest player – Demand Media, who was gaining top listings with copied content.

In order to cut on the clutter of results you get from a query, Google is trying to root out the low quality sites either by checking content, enabling users (through a Chrome extension) to block sites from their searches, or by lowering the ranking of copies material. “The net effect is that searchers are more likely to see the sites that wrote the original content rather than a site that scraped or copied the original site’s content.” Said Google’s Matt Cutts.

This changed impacted US sites only until April 11, 2011, when Google rolled this change to all English language queries and made a few changes. Their statistics show the change has impacted 12% of the queries in the United States. Most impacted were Mahalo.com, Wisegeek.com followed by Ezinearticles.com, Hubpages.com, Suite101.com, Superpages.com and spike.com. The gainers were news sources like Reuters.com, LATimes.com, CBSnews.com and information sites like Techcrunch.com, Blogpost.com, Mashable.com and even YouTube.

The new adjustment was meant to take care of a gap in their program that enables a site like eHow.com not only slide down but gain in ranking. Demand Media, the owner of eHow, was immediately impacted.

Some small businesses might have seen a change in their ranking. Google is said to be open to complaints that will be implemented, if found correct.

Online Publisher Association estimated that $1 Billion will be redistributed across the online publishing industry as a result of this change.

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Google Tags Calls it Quits

April 28, 2011 by Basil Puglisi Leave a Comment

It seems as if April 29th will be the last day of existence for Google Tags. If you have ever used Google Maps or Places, you have likely seen the red tags that represent an ad campaign launched by Google in a testing phase about a year ago. This marketing attempt was created to allow business owners to enhance the representation of their businesses on any Google Maps or Places searches. If a viewer was browsing areas near the businesses location, this handy tag not only designated a landmark, but also provided a more detailed look at that business.

What Are Google Tags?

Once clicked on the tag can display a variety of information including:

Directions to and from
Zoom in and out
Street view
Save to map options

And even the options to send the tag information via email, GPS, and other car systems. In addition, when viewing Google Maps or Places in full screen, other options on the left-side panel also provide another great looking manner of business advertising by showing users:

Thumbnail photos of the location
Other nearby landmarks
Related Ads to nearby options that directly support the advertised business. I.E. resort sites are likely to show ads for lodging and travel nearby.

While some users appear to be feeling let down by Google for eliminating this advertising option, others are not so sure that they truly benefitted from it in relation to its cost per month of $25 USD to maintain.

Success Stories More Localized

Google had previously provided a video extolling all of the virtues, benefits, and advertising opportunities within their Tag system. Users, most especially those who live in extremely urban areas report that in a very competitive local war with other businesses offering the same services, Google Tags has helped to direct those most locally to their business once users locate their Google Tag on the map.

Why are Google Tags Going Extinct?

Google execs cite the extinction of Tags due in large part to the fact that it was mostly an advertising experiment to begin with. Back in September 2010, it was reported that Google was aggressively pushing their Tag system for advertising. However, in October, they then pulled their ability to utilize the website URL tag option, which suddenly rendered the system a lot less useful. So, in this past week, Google has announced an end to the Tag system.

Google developers then stated ,”We’ve made a decision to shift our efforts toward other present and future product offerings for local businesses, and will be discontinuing this trial. To that end, we’ve now halted new signups and will be working with existing participating businesses over the coming weeks to help them meet their marketing needs with other Google products where possible.”

They also acknowledged that they had learned quite a bit from the Tags trial and that knowledge and understanding would be carried on with them as they strive to find the most accommodating ways to server their users as well as small and local businesses.

We’ve learned a lot from our Tags trial and will take that knowledge into account as we continue to find the best ways to serve users and local businesses alike. Lastly, we want to thank all of the businesses that were part of our Tags trial, and we hope we can meet their advertising needs with one of our existing products.

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