Each month we take a look back to reflect on recent news in the search and social media industries. It’s that time again! The last few weeks have been hopping with news all throughout the tech industry, from Facebook’s F8 conference to the sad passing of Steve Jobs. Let’s turn our attention to some of the social media and search news you might have heard about, and some stories that might have gotten lost in the mix.
1. New Facebook Features Launched — Timeline, Subscriptions, Friend Lists
Some of the most talked about changes in the social media world recently have been Facebook’s new features. For example, Facebook overhauled friend lists to give users Google Plus’ Circle-like features — the [...]
Basics of the Largest Social Network
Facebook touts itself as a “social utility that connects you to the people around you.” The service is based on friendship and networking. Finding friends and making new acquaintances is easy. Find Friends gives you the option to import names from your email contacts, search by school and workplace, or browse by name. When you send a friend request that person has the opportunity to review your request. He or she can accept, deny, or ignore your request. New friends can recommend additional friends to each other, add names to lists (to distinguish between friends and family, for example), or send messages to each other.
How Facebook and Social Media has Changed our Daily Lives
Friends on social [...]
When Google Plus launched several weeks ago most of the buzz I noticed around it came from the professional social media community, for obvious reasons. As the user numbers climbed people started wondering who was using Google Plus. There were reports that “male geeks from the US” dominated the G+ network early on. But that wasn’t what I saw in my own networks, both personal and professional.
Of course user bases change, especially during strong growth periods like Google Plus experienced over the last month or so. And they can vary quite a lot from one person’s network to another. In the end, the only user base that matters is the one you’re connecting with. For me that’s a pretty [...]
Near the start of each month we bring you a look back on the last few weeks in the search and social media industries. Here’s some of the social media and search engine news that caught our attention.
1. Eric Schmidt on the Google+ Real Name Policy
Google’s real name policy for Google Plus has been controversial since its start. And yet again we’re getting contradictory information from Google’s head honchos as Eric Schmidt basically says use your real name or don’t use the service.
That’s in contrast to past assertions that real-sounding names were fine (as opposed to generic handles). But according to Schmidt, G+ isn’t really a social network. It’s an “identity service.” And for whose benefit was [...]
Beyond target market, beyond word of mouth, influence marketing.
When your marketing efforts focus on very specific individuals, individuals that have influence over buyers – you’ll see impressive results. Because the general public is so desensitized to traditional marketing, businesses need to work harder at pursuing people. Targeting influencers counteracts the tendency to ignore traditional marketing.
Who are Influencers?
Influencers may be buyers. They may be retailers or manufacturers. They may be journalists, analysts, advisers, or people with an impressive number of Twitter followers. Social influence rests on those who have the power to persuade.
It doesn’t mean these people are salesmen or coerce others. They subtly shape a consumer’s purchasing decision. So subtly, in fact, that the influenced [...]
When website projects involve web designers and SEO’s, it’s almost a sure fire recipe for conflict. However, it doesn’t have to be that way if both sides are willing to communicate and understand each other’s point of view. In an effort to help designers, I’ve written down some of the most important and easiest to implement aspects of SEO that all web designers should know about and use in their projects and work flow.
Social media is truly one of the most powerful and most popular tools in the arsenal of every site owner, publisher, and Internet marketer today. In fact, I recently wrote a post about developing a holistic social media strategy. However, with every positive, there is a negative. Social media may be hot right now, and I don’t think it will ever disappear completely, but at some point it will diminish in popularity. Its traffic-generating potential will shrink as well. The question you need to ask yourself is what are you doing to prepare yourself for that day.
It’s that time again where we take a look back at the previous few weeks to see what’s going on in search and social media. While the social media news has calmed down a bit after the recent launch of Google+, there’s still a lot going on from new travel search tools to features and brand names being retired by Google.
Here are some interesting tid bits from the last month in search and social media news. We have a lot of news coming out of Google lately, so let’s start there:
For many website owners, the Panda Update has come as a wake up call that they need to make changes to their websites. While the Panda algorithm will change and fine tune over time, the signals it looks for will always focus around quality. There are two important points to understand about the goals of the Panda update: 1. Google is looking to remove lower quality websites and 2. many of the ranking factors computed for Panda are done “offline” and “over a long period of time.” What this means is that, if you want to come back, the sooner you start identifying problems and fixing them, the sooner your traffic and rankings will return. But enough theory. What are some actionable [...]
How do you choose people or businesses to follow on Twitter? Do you submerge yourself in a comfortable echo chamber, only conversing with likeminded individuals? Do you look for lively debates? Do you simply want to follow someone to see what they say next, or do you choose to follow people who will engage in real conversations with you?
There are many different reasons you might choose to follow someone on Twitter. Let’s take a look at five examples that might help you find new interesting people to connect with.
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