From the category archives:

Google

Biznology: 2 Huge Search Marketing Risks in 2012—And What To Do About Them

by Tim on December 16, 2011

Most of the businesses I talk to increasingly have shifted their media spend towards paid search. And given its growth, who could blame them?

But, between the growing importance of alternative information channels and the possibility of serious antitrust oversight, next year will challenge Google with the largest threats in its history.

How can you be sure that this doesn’t turn into the worst possible time to start search marketing for your business? My latest post on Mike Moran’s Biznology blog, “2 Huge Search Marketing Risks in 2012—And What To Do About Them” seeks to answer just that question.

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Technorati Tags: Google, google, Google +1, google adwords, Google antitrust, Google+, Google+ Pages, marketing best practices, marketing predictions, mike moran, search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, sem, seo, strategy, success, 2012 predictions

Tagged as: Google, google adwords, google antitrust, search engine, search engine guide, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, search marketing, search strategy, sem, SEO

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Are You Still Talking About the “Mobile” Web?

by Tim on November 16, 2011

in Google, Mobile, Strategy

One of the reasons the Internet is so powerful, both as a way to put your story in front of customers and as a way to drive action, is its increasing ubiquity. The Internet isn’t a place anymore. You don’t “go online.” You are online, all the time.

Consider this:

Google projects that 15% of all searches conducted this coming Black Friday will come from mobile devices.
40% of all mobile owners use the internet on their devices.
70% of smartphone users—some 63 million people—use their device while shopping in a store.

So, why is it that only 1 in 3 companies advertising on the web have a mobile optimized website?

Mobile isn’t as hard as it seems. You just have to have a plan.

Ask yourself: “Is my site mobile enough?“
Look at whether apps make sense for your business.
Learn from what others are doing.

But, whatever you do, don’t sit on the sidelines. As I’ve said before, we’re not talking about the mobile web anymore; we’re talking about the web, period. The question is, are you talking about it at all?

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Technorati Tags: android, E-commerce, E-commerce strategy, mobile

Tagged as: android, google search, ipad, iphone, m-commerce, mobile commerce, mobile device, mobile ecommerce, mobile internet, mobile marketing, mobile phone, mobile search, mobile strategy, mobile web

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Google+ and the war on SEO

by Tim on November 8, 2011

in E-commerce, Google, SEO, Search, social strategy

A few months ago, I confidently asserted that no way, no how, does Google+ kill SEO. Now, while I’m not backpedaling, I am curious about what the introduction of Google+ Pages means for SEO practices.

For instance, Google offers this “shiny, happy people” video, showing that business (and social, really), is all about people:

But, they’ve also got this one, showing how you can connect directly to a brand’s Google+ Page from Google Search:

Notice here, when I search for Amazon using the query “+Amazon”:

Now, I’m not clear how many customers will use this new approach—I suspect not many for the foreseeable future. But, this is a fairly major change to Google’s search behavior and one—much like Place Pages—that leads the customer to Google, not to your own site. SEO experts work hard to ensure that the right pages show up first. Will Google bypass this and just have the Google+ Page return first, instead?

In any case, I recommend getting yourself a Google+ Place page both as an additional part of your web presence and, as I expect we’ll find out, an important part of your SEO strategy, too. This may not mean war on the SEO community. But it might be an opening shot.

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Technorati Tags: E-commerce, E-commerce strategy, Google, Google +1, Google Place Page, Google Plus, Google+, search, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, sem, seo, SEO is dead, social, social commerce, social marketing, social media, social media predictions, social search, social strategy, strategy, Google+ Pages