5 for Friday — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

May 11th, 2012 by Search Influence Alumni

1. Mapping the Mobile Future, Apple To Drop Google Maps for In-House Creation — Marketing Pilgrim

A permanent split between Apple and Google is on the horizon. In a key test of the company’s post-Jobs era leadership, Apple is planning to do away with Google Maps on their devices to make way for an in-house project. They’ve vowed to stick with the familiar “cleaner, faster, and more reliable” design strategy, but there are bound to be some surprises — check out this article for all the information that’s available right now.

2. How to Get Your Site Indexed Before it is Even Launched — Search Engine Journal

There many excellent reasons to get your site indexed before it goes live, but it takes a skillset to make sure you’ve built traffic, buzz and email marketing lists before launch. Don’t take a hit in the search engine rankings because your site is brand-new: follow the advice in this post to hit the ground running.

3. Time is on Your Side — Bitly

A social network has complex, unpredictable behavior patterns by its very nature, but the folks at Bitly are starting to uncover some interesting trends when it comes to viral events. They set out to determine the best time to publish content that is intended for viral distribution and have come to some fascinating conclusions, so read on before you start your next campaign.

4. Are You Setting Up WordPress For SEO Success? — SEOMoz

Optimizing WordPress pages can be a frustrating chore. Plugin and theme crashes can set anyone back, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your effort. This blog post delves deep into WordPress to give you some tips on how to optimize your site effectively.

5. 8 Common Twitter Questions from Small Business Owners — Small Business SEM

Any small business can benefit from Twitter, even if you don’t think your customers are on social networks. Connecting with bloggers, journalists and other influencers can help raise your exposure and search rankings. Here are answers to eight common questions that small business owners have about Twitter.