Website Promotion is not Voodoo

It looks like Facebook isn’t going to take Google’s attack lying down, and they’ve got Foursquare in their sights as well. They’ve just announced a new mobile application called Places, which allows users to check-in at various businesses they visit. Businesses can also claim their listings and post additional information. Does all this sound familiar? It’s essentially nothing more than a combination of Google Places and Foursquare.

We’re back with another thrilling installment of our bi-monthly series: Top 10 for the Weekend! Keep reading to find out tips and tricks, as well as what’s new in the world of SEO

Great Apps to Customize Your Facebook Fan Page

Facebook recently hit a new milestone: 500 million users! With this high volume it is a perfect platform for marketing, and people are already taking advantage of this opportunity. Here is a list of great apps that allow you to customize your fan page to its fullest potential.

It seems like every other blog post I write has something to do with Google’s latest attempt to takeover the information superhighway. I guess it’s a testament to their ability to always evolve and never stagnate. The latest news from the Internet gossip train is here and it’s a pretty big undertaking on Google’s part. This time they’re setting their sights on Facebook with their own social marketing project tentatively titled Google Me.

There hasn’t been an official announcement from Google yet, but according to Facebook former CTO, Adam D’Angelo, it’s a top priority and it’s definitely coming. The news was first leaked by Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, in a tweet that Google immediately requested he take down. Scandalous…

Last night I was ousted as Foursquare mayor of my new favorite watering hole by the owner.  Is this fair?

I think not. The red flag that popped in my head when I got the news via e-mail was not that my pride was hurt by losing my title, but that this is likely an issue across the board for Foursquare advertisers.

If you aren’t familiar with the concept of Foursquare or would like more information about how to conduct local business marketing on Foursquare, check out our previous blog post on the subject. The basic gist of mayorship is that a Foursquare user becomes mayor of an establishment by “checking in” more than anyone else in the previous 60 days.

When I was in elementary school I hated my school uniform. The yellow shirt, brown tweed jacket, blue slacks, and that awful little tie. I remember questioning the school taste level and being matter-of-factly told the uniforms made us focus on school rather than each other. I hate those uniforms because of their lack of personality. I initially had the same feelings towards Facebook. Despite it many features and (annoying) applications, everyone’s accounts looked the same. Sure this was FB’s way to avoid the flashing gif walls and neon colors of Myspace profiles but it took away people’s individuality. Anyone who is into social media marketing can tell you, if you want the community following you gotta stand out. Thankfully Facebook understood this and gave developers Facebook Markup Language.

Next week’s SMX Advanced Conference in Seattle is sure to prove itself a valuable experience for all in attendance. On June 8 and 9, some of the brightest minds in search marketing will gather in Seattle for a conference that has come to be know as a must-attend for those interested in gathering high level actionable information to apply to their strategies.

1. Why Local Businesses Can No Longer Ignore Foursquare

For some reason businesses are hesitant to jump on the social media bandwagon. It’ll never make sense to me because even if you don’t believe in its power, your customers do!  By simply adding a little prize for the mayor or a special for just checking in, you are almost guaranteed loyal repeat customers looking to catch a deal. It’s a game for these people! Make your business the board!

2. The Rise of SMB Reputation Management

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about over-saturating the market with online business communication. While in the last post we gave you tips on how to tell if you are indeed over-saturating the market, we promised we’d do a follow up with some steps to take to help avoid it and to put out effective online marketing messages.

Search Influence is proud to be taking part in the first ever Foursquare Advertiser Survey with 3 other companies focused on local search and social media.

Over the next 2 weeks, leading up to SMX Advanced, we will be polling businesses using Foursquares promotions tools to get the word out about their businesses.

If you are one of the advertisers we’ve contacted, please be assured we are very interested in your feedback and are excited to share the data we compile.

Foursquare is an exciting new media type bringing together local search, couponing and loyalty / retention programs around a game -based location-centric service.

No one likes SPAM! I’m not talking about the canned meat product. I happen to like the stuff myself. It reminds me of camping when I was a kid. What I am talking about is that which clogs our inboxes, dilutes and degrades the integrity and usefulness of … well, pretty much every new form of communication that arises.

In Twitter’s blog post “State of Twitter Spam” they identify

Twitter SPAM as “behaviors that range from insidious to annoying. Posting harmful links to phishing or malware sites, repeatedly posting duplicate tweets, and aggressively following and un-following accounts to attract attention”