[SI Social is a monthly series from Search Influence that looks at what's going on in the social media world.]

It’s true that most of us may have had a MySpace profile some year ago, but if you’re anything like me, you probably only maintain one major social media profile at a time. So when Facebook got big enough, I pretty much forgot MySpace existed. Then they tried to rebrand and made that ridiculous new logo and you couldn’t help but feel a bit bad for the days when they were king of the social media space. After all, it’s gotta be weird to look back and wonder what changed, right?

Still, when you get the right people in place, they may even have the power to revive old social media giants. Take celeb Justin Timberlake, who is also the co-owner of MySpace. At this year’s CES, Timberlake kicked off the event Monday with some information about how the website is rebranding to include online discussion and real time television. The latter will be called MySpace TV, and it will encompass the site’s 42 million songs and 100,000 music videos. In other words, like a little YouTube right inside MySpace.

Why should you care, you ask? Well, Timberlake says television combined with social networking is the best big thing. “Why text or email your friends to talk about your favorite programs after they’ve aired when you could be sharing the experience with real-time interactivity from anywhere across the globe?” he says.

So the idea is to chat and interact while you watch TV, which in turn means you’ll pay less attention to the actual program and be more distracted than ever. No offense, Justin, but in this world of constant distraction, I hardly think we need more. Still, surely there will be some people who won’t let the glittery loud memories of MySpace weigh them down and give it a shot.

When it comes to social media, it seems it’s less about what features your site offers and more about where your friends are. For instance, with last year’s Google+ launch, many users seemed excited by the prospects of the new system and to give it a shot over Facebook. However, a few months after the launch, most people were still sitting on Facebook. Why? Not necessarily because it provides the superior networking service, but because their friends were still there — and they want to be where their friends are.

What do you think of interacting with friends via social media while you watch a show? Do you want that option? Would you rather just send a text? Or do you want to be drowned in all the social media you can handle and more?

A few tips for putting Pinterest to work for your brand:

• Add the “Pin It” button to your product pages or blog posts. It’s easy to do and you can add the button along with your other social media sharing buttons.
• Create a Pinterest account for the brand itself and reach out to “visual influencers” on Pinterest for help getting your images re-pinned. Pinterest allows any user to follow any other user without requiring a follow-back. You may also tag other users in your pins, comment on pins and re-pin (the Pinterest version of a retweet) others’ content.
• Create boards beyond your own products and brand, but relevant to your location and industry.
• Utilize the description fields when creating Pins by adding keywords and geo-modifiers. Not only is this SEO 101, but Pinterest addicts often use the search feature to find relevant pins.
• Keep pinning!  The search results and Pin feeds change up-to-the-minute, much like the Twitter feed and Facebook Ticker. Maintain a steady flow of Pins to ensure your products are staying top-of-mind.

For SEO linkbuilding purposes, the benefits of Pinterest are pretty self-evident. Some basic info on Pinterest links:

• Each and every Pin links back to the original source site or the file location (depending on where it was originally pinned from). Unless you’re purposely optimizing for image seach, a product page or site link is probably better.
  

  Standard pins provide links to the source site in two locations.

• A Pin provides do-follow links in multiple places. The image itself acts as a link in addition to the “From:” link in the top right-hand-corner.
• A pin comes with embed code for syndication to other sites like Facebook and Twitter, helping to develop backlinks to the Pin itself.
• Pins are editable! You can edit your own Pins with updated URLs or reach out to Pinners who may have pinned your images from an unfavorable source site. Pins are easy to edit and the new URL you provide does not need to host the image, though I don’t recommend you use a link without the original image.
• Because of the visual nature of Pinterest, it is a great way to promote infographics. Make sure they are Pinned to appropriate boards and contain relevant descriptions to ensure they are shared.
• You can even add a Pin It button to your company’s blog pages by using the WordPress plug-in.

Thanks to the intuitive nature of Pinterest’s interface, I think the best way to get going is to request an invite and just dive in. Remember, sign-up is currently via invitation-only, so ask a friend to invite you or request one from the site (it doesn’t take long). Let me know what you think about these tips in the comments, and if my screenshots piqued your interest, follow me on Pinterest!

The holidays are upon us, and many businesses local and nationwide are gearing up for the Black Friday sales frenzy. Be a savvy shopper and utilize these handy applications in order to find the best deals, compare prices, check to see where your desired item is on sale in your area and more!

How Groundbreaking Thinkers Spread Their Ideas — Inc.com

If you’re an entrepreneur or just a savvy businessperson, you know that knowing how to think critically in order to generate out-of-the-box ideas is a vital skill. However, once you’ve come up with your brilliant pitch, how to you get your audience to come to you? Inc.com’s Jeff Haden has some key concepts to share about the simple logistics of getting your concepts out there and your audience engaged with the message.

Photos Draw Most Facebook Interactions, Links Draw the Least — Small Business SEM

When you’re busily engaging with your fans on Facebook and promoting your online presence, it seems that putting up photos will elicit the most response and engagement on your fans’ parts. Sharing links, however, is the weakest option and comparatively offers very little reward for the effort. The theory makes sense: visual stimulation is always a plus for getting attention, and with the new Facebook UI users can simply click on a posted picture to expand a gallery-style mini-window, eliminating the need to leave Facebook itself. Will you be putting more effort into curating your business’s photo gallery now?

Google+ Rolls Out Trending Topics — Mashable

With Google+ making huge strides in recovering their previously-drooping user base and opening up to the business sphere, it seems evident that they’ve taken a good, hard look at what other social networks are doing well. The introduction of trending topics, a list of the most popular and oft-discussed items on the social network, offers users an effortless peek into the most relevant news of the moment. Several other UI tweaks have been made as well — head over to Mashable to check it out!

8 Tips to Maximize Your Branded Presence in the Google Local Search Results — Bluemnthals

With the recent hubbub over a plethora of Google service redesigns, some may be wondering where to go from here with regard to getting themselves noticed in the local search sphere. Never fear! This handy guide is an excellent overview to making sure your business is front-and-center when searchers are looking for you.

Are we not men?

The new kid on the block has opened itself to businesses in two principal ways. Unlike Facebook, which focuses on admin-managed pages, and Twitter, which couldn’t care less if a person, place, or animal is represented in a feed, Google initially maintained its focus on people in its business-level implementation of its social network, not announcing any kind of branded pages. Then Monday’s announcement of Facebook-style business pages opened a new avenue for marketers, if only those in selected niches. Both new tools allow for the implementation of the “authority” metrics hinted at in numerous Google quality documents.

But should a business even have a Google+ presence? Facebook of course is ubiquitous, and Twitter has proven itself to be a direct customer relations tool. Google+, however, has languished as Robert Scoble’s main soapbox and Android users’ photo repository. Google+ isn’t a lead generator, lacking the customization of Facebook tabs, and it isn’t a customer service tool, lacking the plurality userbase (8% of the US) Twitter enjoys.

Applications of Google+ for Business

But it’s not just those on the social network who will benefit from business applications of Google+. Integration with search and the use of the network as an authority metric seem to be major advantages of Google+ for businesses. Once set up correctly, a robust Google+ profile can give authority to local ranking and regular integrated SERP rank depending on page type. Unsurprisingly, this leaves the active maintenance lacking; however, even that aspect can be worthwhile in the right niches.

Internally, Hangouts combined with Google Docs allows decentralized businesses a face-to-face online collaboration tool. Users can avoid the loss of communication from short text comments in edits, enriching group writing and design. This use of Docs can help a variety of businesses, both for internal meetings and for work with clients. The possibilities previously hinted at are relatively endless, and make Google+ a must-have for remote businesses, some design firms, and any company needing to build something in front of a customer or each other without being in the same room.

But most companies don’t need that kind of ability for real-time document editing. For them, Hangouts provide a simple way to start webinars, live shows, and other almost TV-styled content. Something like SEOmoz’s Whiteboard Friday could be live broadcast with question-and-answer, recorded locally, and quickly uploaded to YouTube or another video site, then added to a website for further life out of the content. If live videos would take too much effort, even a simple video exclusive to Google+ can help drive uses both to your Plus Page and create user interaction. This kind of direct, personal, and instant communication with users and the ease of creating something for all visitors is nearly unprecedented in social media.

How Your Employees

Keeping with the focus on both users and non-users of the network, Google+ offers ways to interact with customers outside of the realm of the social network — being the only outlet for rel=”author” and introducing rel=”publisher”, the best way to get your personal face and name ad your company’s image in the SERPs. Reinforcing the authority metrics hinted at in Panda and the related effects, Google+ is the gatekeeper for bridging the gap between semantic and visible authorship in the SERPs, and the exposure and connection of a face and name to a business can humanize and connect with customers in a way that couldn’t be done for someone who isn’t just signed into Facebook. “The face in the SERPs” is perfect for any company with a regularly maintained blog or article section. Similarly, a company might see its logo next to its web site when rel=”publisher” is implemented.

Using Google+ to Put Your Face in the SERPs

Happily, WordPress sites have a relatively simple solution for implementing a multi-person rel=”author”. It does the first step for you, linking to the author page with rel=”author”. Then, add your canonical Plus account url to the Website field in Your Profile under Users:

Place your canonical Google+ url in this field under User > Your profile

Then, you need to edit the theme, adding this to the body of either your main template, or the author template, author.php, omitting the if-statement:

<?php if (is_author()) {
$curauth = (isset($_GET['author_name'])) ? get_user_by('slug', $author_name) :
get_userdata(intval($author));
?>
<a rel="me" href="<?php echo $curauth->user_url; ?>">
Visit me on Google+
</a>
<?php } ?>

This will get the author name if it’s set, then get all of the user data, then display the url from that author in a link with the all-important rel=”me”.

Oops! Not what you'd like to see...

Similarly, to set up rel=”publisher”, just a link tag on all pages without rel=”author” on it will connect your site with your company Google+ Page. Why only on those pages? Because as Search Engine Land’s rich snippet test shows, Google will prioritize author over publisher.

<?php if (!is_single()) { ?>
<link href="https://plus.google.com/113323125805722144061/" rel="publisher" />
<?php } ?>

Once it’s all set up, check your url in that same Rich Snippet Tester tool, making sure it shows your face and name. The wait time on recognition from Google is inconsistent, but such connections are key to establishing authority.

Google+ Establishes Thought Leaders

A secondary effect of individual commercial Google+ profiles is that giving a face to a URL can create a sense of thought leadership, pulling in longer-term researchers with high quality informative articles and blogs. Having one author connected to your name will heavily associate the one person with the site; having multiple writers will strengthen the authority of each writer as an individual source of quality knowledge. A logo, if well-chosen, transforms the SERPs into display ads. Through either, one positions their employees as experts and their company as prominent: certainly an admirable position.

Google+ might not be for every business, even businesses that rely on their current Apps as the underpinning for their online productivity. However, for businesses with the specific needs for which Google+ provides killer apps, Google+ is a perfect addition to the social media profile of your business. Furthermore, it’s ease of setup provides deep support beyond social interaction, leaving much utility even for more straightforward businesses.

…And hey, maybe one of your employees can criticize you while still garnering support for the company in a precarious time…

Image Courtesy Cambodia4KidsOrg.

It’s obvious that my attention span on the Internet can be severely limited at times. And why not? There’s barely any reason for one to even type in words, just a lot of pretty pictures to click on. Heaven forbid I forgot the name of some obscure reality television star, but if I do the answer is instantaneously at my fingertips. The Internet experience of today is different than it’s ever been before. Websites create a far more intimate and immersive experience than just 2 years ago, and are in a completely different arena than 10 years ago. Pictures are worth a thousand words, and they need to be when one only has 140 characters to elaborate on major personal news and global current events.

While many years of information are archived in cyberspace, much of its utility is focused on the right now. Breaking news happens and a network of millions set to debate, coming to instantaneous conclusions. The people unite and use their freedom of speech to make a stand, but is this a good thing? Can the immediate evaluations made by web junkies actually be harmful?

In the case of Netflix, popular web opinions have been shown to have a powerful influence over the productivity of the company. In July, the California-based company raised the prices for their various streaming and DVD rental plans. Since the price increase went into effect, July 13th, Netflix’s stock (NFLX) has decreased 36% and has lost 800,000 of their nearly 24 million customers. Aside from the tangible effects, Netflix has suffered far worse in the court of public opinion. Users across the net threw their arms up in a rage when Netflix announced that it would be dividing its business into two entities, one specifically for streaming and the other, Qwickster, for DVD’s by mail. The plan to split the company has since been scrapped due to the public outcry.

Is what has happened to Netflix in the last four months a good thing? Netflix is a tech company and should rightfully be judged by its tech savvy clientele, but technological Darwinism is a shaky field to venture into as a for-profit company. Is the customer always right? Sorry America, but the answer is no. While the almighty dollar may empower individuals to sway decisions of major companies, it does not mean that consumer pressure always leads to the right outcome. In the case of Netflix it is entirely possible that a month from now the once-glorified media company could be trading for pennies on the dollar and begging Hulu or Amazon to buy them, and everyone could dub Netflix a failure. This is all possible, but it would not necessarily make the actions of Netflix wrong. The immediate conclusions of the Internet-savvy can severely hinder companies’ ability to make improvements to their product, because one or two of those alterations rubs consumers the wrong way. My advice to consumers: take a breath, don’t jump to conclusions, quit sweating the technique and just give products wiggle room to evolve. Who knows — you might even like it.

After Google’s big “Freshness update” was announced yesterday, the SEO world has been in quite a tizzy. But for those of us who aren’t technically-minded, what does this update actually entail? Justin Briggs, an SEO expert and Big Fish Games marketing champion, gives us this exhaustive set of data analyses to come up with a comprehensive guide to link freshness, including handy data on how to think critically about your site’s “Freshrank.”

How to Properly Use Facebook’s Advertising Features — ProNet Advertising

Targeted Facebook ads are a bread-and-butter item of the SEO community, with FB’s enormous user base offering a nearly unlimited source of demographic information and marketing potential. However, they’re not without flaws; in order to maximize your ads’ potential, you’ll need to put some research into the best practices and what you can do to make sure that targeting translates to eyeballs and clicks. Sonia Tracy of PsPrint offers up these five basic tips that will get you on the road to a well-maintained, efficient Facebook ad campaign.

Euclid Offers “Google Analytics For The Real World” — Search Engine Land

Now here’s an idea: Euclid Elements, a brand-new startup from some of the innovators behind Google Analytics, promises to create an Analytics-like experience — for brick and mortar locations. Through the installation of small sensors in-store, Euclid can help business owners track repeat shoppers, identify consumer patterns, and gauge seemingly subjective metrics such as foot traffic appeal and customer loyalty. As SEL notes, this isn’t an entirely new concept, but Euclid is certainly the first service of its type to apply an Analytics-like sophistication to this kind of metric tracking, and can potentially be invaluable to savvy small business owners who want to “optimize” their physical location.

Which Brain Is Your Website Selling To? — ClickZ

A fascinating look at Internet marketing from an evolutionary psychology standpoint. ClickZ’s Tim Ash evaluates the different aspects of what goes on in your brain when you look at a webpage, and offers some tips on what you can do to make sure your site hits all the marks to be effective!

250,000 Ninjas Chop Fruit Every 60 seconds on Mobile [Infographic] — Social Times

Did you know that over 23k apps are downloaded every minute? The mobile world is expanding at an alarming rate, and Mobclix is here to give you the scoop on the pings, taps, requests and, yes, even tiny ninjas that are whizzing around us every second of the day. The numbers are impressive — I don’t know about you, but I’m rethinking giving up that Angry Birds habit.

StumbleUpon is one of the most powerful sharing vector services out there, allowing users to “stumble” to your page based on their set of stated interests. This Social Times infographic provides some valuable data on how sharing your content via stumbling can work for you, from hard numbers on how much social media traffic the service actually drives to comparisons of the “half-life” of links distributed via different venues (Twitter, Facebook, et cetera).

Microsoft Wants You to Search the Web Like Miley Cyrus — Search Engine Watch

Microsoft has applied for a patent on the “persona” model of search results, essentially allowing users to search as their favorite celebrity. Read on to learn about some of the potential ramifications of this new system and the advantages it can lend to everyday searchers.
How Much Money Do Viral YouTube Videos Make? — Social Times

As much as we may deride the uninspired lyrics of Rebecca Black or giggle at the uncoordinated antics of Afro Ninja, there’s no denying that the viral video phenomenon can net its stars some serious notoriety. But how about fortune to go along with the fame? Social Times takes a look at the cold hard cash generated by these Internet phenomena.

How Big is Your Long Tail? – Whiteboard Friday — SEOMoz

Optimizing for “long tail” or ultra-specific keywords can be rough, and the individualism in the way people search for things (according to Google, an astounding 20% of search queries at any given time are completely unique) is fascinating. Understanding the art of the long-tail keyword is key, and Rand is here to enlighten you on the basics of this integral part of product-specific SEO.

8 More Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers — CopyBlogger

As a follow-up to her previous set of good blogging practices, CopyBlogger’s Annabel Candy offers up yet another group of tips on how to make your content the belle of the blog.

Business Cat approves of your online conduct.

Let’s face it: social media marketing jargon can sound like a different language, especially if you’re wrestling with the eternal question of “What do my Facebook fans want to see? How do I keep them happy?” You know your brand inside and out, so it can be helpful to think of your social media content in the same way you think about your business. Unless you’re a professional trapeze artist, chances are the day-to-day grind of your job can sometimes leave you bored to tears. The same applies to online communities in terms of marketing and promotion. For many of the 800+ million active Facebook users, logging on is habitual and something they’re doing multiple times per day. Facebookers who follow your page don’t want to see the same type of content over and over. That’s the fastest way to turn them off from interacting with your page in a positive way, or at all. The most successful Facebook pages have a give-and-take relationship with their fans. Three things to remember for growing and motivating your online communities:

• Show them you care, you really care! Ensure your newest followers feel valued, appreciated and motivated to interact with your page. Welcome new fans personally, like you would a new co-worker, by tagging them in a welcome message or sending a quick and friendly (non-spammy, of course) direct message.
• Beware of the disgruntled fan. When considering a Facebook contest as a way to gain likes, it’s important to keep in mind the resulting new “Fans” can easily turn on you should they be promised something that is not delivered. These are not the fans you want to attract to your page, as the wreckage they often leave can be detrimental to your brand’s reputation. Many a Facebook page has suffered when the competition gets ugly due to misunderstood rules. Fans can become aggressively competitive, rallying other fans around them. Remember, any competition on Facebook should comply with Facebook’s Promotion Guidelines, or you run the risk of having your page removed entirely. Don’t get me wrong, free stuff is awesome. Offering ‘added value’ as a way to gain more followers has proven successful in the past, but the lines between friendly competition and cut-throat rivalry can be blurred very quickly. There are tons of alternative ways to engage with people, and getting creative with your content doesn’t have to cost money but can work wonders for motivating your online community.

Image macro rewards such as this "Cyber High-5!" seem simple, but can be a great way to motivate interaction and connect with your audience.

• Creative content is king. Organically grow your fan base my keeping existing fans engaged with your page. Think about how you might get your co-workers motivated in the office and apply the same tactics to your Facebook fans. In terms of contests, sometimes the big ticket prize items will only spark jealousy and animosity among the group. Often a much smaller scale pat on the back will do the trick. Consider running a weekly trivia contest with a funny, motivating and free (for you) prize like a “cyber high-5” or an original Internet meme. Instead of gaining a bunch of superficial ‘Likes,’ your fans will engage, comment and even share your content with their own friends.

Lighthearted, fun content will ensure you and your Facebook fans’ interactions are positive and mutually beneficial. Keep the fans you have engaged and your number of ‘Likes’ is bound to keep climbing.

The SI Blog sends a special thanks to Lauren Litwinka for her insight and contribution to this post. Lauren is an Account Manager at aimClear where she’s pretty awesome at online community management.

Working with outside web developers is an integral part of SEO, but some of us less technically-minded folk may be confused as to where to start. Technical SEO, defined by Paddy Moogan of distilled as “elements of a page that the user can’t see without looking at the source code,” can be a tricky field to master. In this article, Moogan elucidates some of the most important things to know about this aspect of optimization, including how to keep an eye on your site speed and get a firm grasp on crawler access.

Non-Profits: How to Get More Online Donations — Outspoken Media

While “save the whales” isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of search engine optimization, it’s vitally important for nonprofits to maintain an online presence in order to gain maximum exposure and precious monetary donations. Michelle Lowery, a copywriting professional and volunteer SEO master for her local animal shelter, shares some tips for online do-gooders to optimize their fundraising campaigns, make donations easy and publicize their cause.

Content Marketing In The Echo Chamber — Content Marketing Institute

The Internet has opened up a whole new world of possibility for the independent, the unestablished and the avant-garde to spread their ideas far and wide. However, the downside has been an “echo chamber” of sorts, where those who can speak the jargon pass themselves off as a social media expert, professional marketer or even the dreaded “guru” without any real experience or expertise to back it up. Here, Content Marketing Institute’s Keith Blanchard provides you with five handy points to “kick the tires” of your potential content marketing service and make sure you’re getting the bang for your buck.

Don’t be afraid of fake reviews — Search Engine Guide

While Yelp, Places and other review engines are excellent resources to learn more about the local world around you, fake reviews are the bane of every Yelp establishment’s public wall. In this informative SEG article, you’ll learn about the fake review phenomenon, how to respond to a rating you suspect is duplicitous and the possibility that, in the future, we won’t even have to worry about it at all.

Evidence: Print Is Not Dead — B2B Bloggers

While we may bemoan the diminishment of traditional publishing models, there’s no reason to be writing a funeral dirge for the printed book just yet. In a recent media usages study by Readex Research, a whopping 74% of the 2,095 professionals surveyed said that they regularly use print publications. Print as a medium is still a relevant and important part of the mix: the study seems to indicate that, instead of favoring one form of media over another, people are consuming more and more of all different kinds. Interesting stuff!

If you’ve been on the Internet for any length of time, you’ve probably seen a colorful or visually engaging 404 page that pops up when you’ve reached an invalid page on a website. What you may not know, though, is that these pages have SEO potential and should be optimized for ease of use by your viewers. Check out this article to find out the four most important elements of a user-friendly 404 page, along with a bevy of other tips.

How to Use 3 New Facebook Features for Better Social Media Marketing — CopyBlogger

Facebook’s recent roll-out of the Timeline has many marketers worried that display ads and other traditional forms of Facebook marketing are kaput. Fortunately, CopyBlogger is here to show you how to adapt to these strange new waters and give your ‘book campaigns the updated punch they need to stay fresh and effective.

Essential Checklist for Writing Guest Blogs — Pronet Advertising

Being asked to guest blog is quite an honor, and it’s important to do it right. Jennifer Moline of PsPrint Blog elucidates some of the best practices for guest-blogging, including tips on how to be respectful of your host, engage your audience and format like a champ. (Speaking of guest blogging, have you read Influencer Colette Bennett‘s piece on the SEM Group Bad-Ass Blogger Contest? Check it out here — But I Don’t Have Enough Klout: How To Be Good At Social Media By Not Being A Jerk.)

Are Google’s Local Efforts in Trouble? — Marketing Pilgrim

As our own Joseph Henson blogged about earlier, Google’s new Place page policy is taking its cue from the “asking for forgiveness is easier than permission model,” updating page information with user-submitted information and allowing business owners to give input on the changes only after the fact. Marketing Pilgrim’s Frank Reed dissects some of the more troubling implications of this switch and throws out some thoughts on the potential future of Google’s local system.

Speedy Site Prospecting Using Social Metrics & Natural Language Processing — SEOMoz

With natural language processing, it’s now possible for an application to browse a website and algorithmically determine any given page’s topic and help humans determine what’s worthwhile and what’s not — effectively taking the elbow grease out of site prospecting. SEO Moz takes you through this exciting new capability and shows step-by-step how you can apply the concepts to your own campaigns.