Google Local New Presentation in Organic

admin | No Comments »

Is Google making another change?

Last week while logged into my Google account I witness a new presentation to the Google’s organic search result.

It looks like they are testing to see if people prefer the Google Local combined with Organic results. My first thought is “I hate it” – not because its change (I welcome change) but knowing that Google still has issues with the algorithm for Local. Combining the two just doesn’t seem right in today search results.

But after a few days I did realize Google’s true intent here is simple – they are pushing “Google Local” to become the “Worlds Best” online phone directory. Let face it Yellow Pages and Yellow Book (if there is a difference) are dying dinosaurs. I have for years advise clients to stay clear of both because they promise but never deliver compare to a professional search company. In fact (after talking to sales people in these companies) they go after the people who are lacking web sites because they know they are uninformed about the web. How many times do you see in your Organic results a listing from one of these directories? You don’t and with this change Google will make sure you will never see them again!

Get to know Google Adwords and Analytics.

admin | No Comments »

If you are a small to medium business owner you need to understand Google Adwords and Google Analytics. In the past 3 years I have found that business owners that understand both have greater success on the web. Owners that are in tune with the Internet market can also use the powerful reports to make informed changes to web and traditional marketing channels.

In the past 6 months I have seen a client go from little knowledge about the web to become a leader in internet marketing for his product line.

Knowing where you have been on the web, seeing the trends for today will guide you in the right path for tomorrow!

B-to-B Marketing and Internet Marketing

admin | No Comments »

Where is the market for 2010? B-to-B and internet marketing!

Recently Google and research firm OTX produced a study that showed 59% of companies cut their marketing budgets for 2010.  We all know that budget cuts mean usually mean traditional marketing took a big hit.  With today’s internet world you can connect to more with less.  Having your company with an effective social media connection and a strong email / PPC campaign will show you great results then traditional print.

If you are not looking into SEO, PPC and Social media marketing you are already running 3rd or 4th in line for your next opportunity.

Google to Stop Support for Internet Explorer 6

admin | No Comments »

Well its about time.

I am tired of companies using Internet Explorer 6 due to lazy-ass tech on site.  All the rumors of IE 7 or 8 being unsafe or the crazy point that Firefox is trash finally get discredited by Google.

“Dear Google Apps admin,

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010.  After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.  We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience.  We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.”

So, in a nut shell, if you are a tech at a company and you still don’t want to move all your computers from an 11-year old platform, your dated excuses are weeeak!

Google, you are my hero and I am forwarding this to all my clients!

Google displaying Local Results on National Terms!

admin | No Comments »

google-local-resultsKeep your eye on your keywords over the next few months.  We uncovered a few isolated incidents where local businesses started appearing for national organic  keyword results (test completed in Indiana and also Columbus Ohio).  These sites were not in the top 100 and are now number 2 or 3 in the organic section. To try the test, type “ford automotive” in your Google search.