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

May 10th, 2013 by Search Influence Alumni

2068779988_4422f1bf5e_b1. Dusting The Website For Spring: Optimization and SEO Cleaning — SEOmoz

How long has it been since you spent some time cleaning up your website? I’m sure for many of us, it’s been far too long. In this post, Scott Wyden Kivowitz gives some great tips for dusting on-site and off. A cleanup might be exactly what you need to increase your web presence. A good deal of the post focuses on social media and the benefits of linking your website to your various accounts. When it comes to off-site initiatives, social media is important once again, as you want to make sure you’re active on your accounts. Overall, this article has a lot of great advice when it comes to the little things you can do to get your website out there!

2. Facebook To Add More Support For Emoji Within Status Updates, Comments — AllFacebook

According to AllFacebook, the “Unofficial Facebook Blog,” the social media giant is fully embracing the popularity of Emojis. I’m sure you’ve noticed the recent addition to your status bar, where Facebook now asks how you are feeling. Apparently this was only the first step. Comments are now Emoji-laden as well, and Facebook is adding new support for the animated addition. Unlike most Facebook changes, the presence of Emojis seems popular with users, who are apparently grateful for an additional way to express themselves—especially such an adorable way. I’m sure you can all expect to see many more cartoon cats on your newsfeed in the upcoming weeks.

3. Hipstamatic Battles Instagram With Oggl iPhone App — PC Mag

Apparently Hipstamatic is making attempting to regain lost popularity with a new product called Oggl. Could this possibly be enough to replace Instagram in our hearts? As a latecomer to the iPhone, I’ve never used Hipstamatic, as Instagram was already the go-to photo app by the time I switched from Droid. Maybe this makes me biased toward Instagram, but I don’t foresee a big shift. Apparently Oggl allows you to edit photos after you’ve already taken them. The same filters and lenses from Hipstamatic are still available, though. According to this post, it seems like the makers are marketing the new venture as a more art-focused app (Oggl is NOT for selfies!). I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if edgy marketing can overtake Instagram’s immense popularity.

4. Instagram Now Lets Anyone Tag You [Or Brands] In Photos, Adds Them To “Photos Of You” Profile Section — TechCrunch

In case you missed, it, last week Instagram launched photo tagging. I know what you’re thinking: “It’s about time!” There’s now even a Photos Of You section, so you can keep track of pictures you’ve been tagged in. I’m still trying to decide if I like this switch, as I kind of enjoyed Instagram’s focus on photos rather than people. In this post, TechCruch’s Josh Constantine explains how this signals a new emphasis on identity for Instagram. (He has another interesting blog post linked on this page that further examines the issue.) He also tells you exactly how to use it, in case you’re interested!

5. Google Removes Related Searches – Blind Five Year Old

For those who haven’t noticed, Google has removed the Related Searches feature from Search. For many of us, this was an important tool when it came to keyword research and will be sorely missed. In this post, Blind Five Year Old owner AJ Kohn, who’s pretty upset about the change, laments Google’s neglect of SEOs. It’s really interesting to hear his take on why Internet marketing matters, and how individuals working in SEO actually benefit Google. According to the post, it’s SEOs that are “demystifying search,” to help websites, which helps Google in turn. In fact, spurning SEO may end up hurting Google in the long run.