Facebook, Bing, Google, Google Plus, potayto, potahto…
It’s really amazing when you watch the intense strategic competition between the search engines online. What do Bing and Google both have in common (besides both being search engines, smartypants)?
Social media.
Are you taking social media into account in your web development and web design efforts for your business?
You should…because social media is becoming more and more powerful and personalized searches are becoming the norm.
Think about it…Bing teamed up with Facebook to integrate the “like” button, etc. into their algorithm to provide personalized searches back in late 2010 (read about it here). Shortly after, Google tried to partner with Facebook in similar fashion and were allegedly rejected.
Hmmm…
So it was just a few months later that Google unveiled Google Plus and began incorporating the “+1″ button into its searches to make them more personalized. In January of this year, Google’s integration of search results with its Google Plus social media platform set off quite an uproar. It was basically their answer to what Bing was doing with their Facebook partnership.
See the correlation?
All that said, what this means to you in your business is that if you don’t have those “like” and “+1″ buttons readily visible on your website, you need to get them on there ASAP. Social bookmarks, too. These are the easiest ways for visitors to share your site with others. And with the advent of personalized searches, those “likes” and “+1′s” mean that you will be showing up in the search results of the friends of those visitors to your site.
Make sure your web development and web design team have your site current with these features. It’s all about sharing and it’s important that your website is as easy to share as possible:)
Ok, we know it’s not the New Year yet and resolutions don’t really matter unless they’re serious commitments, but we have a New Year’s Resolution challenge for you and your business.
Look at how your business is represented online through your web development and web design strategy and make this simple commitment: I Will Care.
I Will Care enough to put thought into my website and how it represents my business online.
I Will Care that my website doesn’t look or feel like an afterthought.
I Will Care enough to put some of my own thought, time and energy into my website so it truly represents me and my business.
I Will Care to envision my website as an interactive forum with legitimate, current and valuable information people can use because I know this is what will create the “top of mind awareness” that I need.
I Will Care to seek out legitimate SEO and Internet marketing and NOT seek out the magic pills that tell me what I want to hear but ultimately don’t deliver.
I Will Care enough to be patient with my SEO if I’m just starting with it and active with my SEO to be sure it remains Google-friendly.
I Will Care enough to work with my web development and web design team on creative and valid new material to keep my site fresh.
Your site will be as successful as you want it to be…and that requires your input because no one knows your business better than you. Communicate clearly with your development and design team and with your SEO/Internet marketing specialist, as this connection is what results in the best and most powerful websites online:)
No doubt many of you have seen the little Google +1 button (shown to your right in loving enlargement) on websites and blogs you have visited. Some of you understand it and some of you may think it’s one more distraction.
Two words with regard to your website: Get One.
It’s an important part of your long term plan for web development and web design.
In an age of Internet marketing/viral marketing becoming marketing on steroids, Google put in their two cents…which is worth WAY more than two measly cents to your business. The Google +1 button sits there next to the Facebook “like” button, Digg button, StumbleUpon button and whatever other social media sharing buttons are on a web page. All of those buttons are very valuable in getting your website viewed by a much wider audience and building your following online. The Google +1 button might just be the most valuable of all, as it can affect where you appear in the search engine results of people who click on it.
The way it works is when a visitor has a Google account and clicks on the +1, it will give them a little message that says “You publicly +1′d this as (their name here).” From that point forward, whenever they do a search for your kind of business you will rank higher in their search because they publicly +1′d your site. Basically, Google takes the fact that they gave your site (or a page on your site) a “thumbs up” in the Google platform and factors that into the algorithm of their personal search.
More and more, this kind of “personalized” searching is becoming the norm. It only figures that Google will work their own offerings (i.e. Google Places, Google Plus) into the algorithms and reward those of us who are smart enough to use them. Google is by far the largest search engine with 75% – 80% market share. Don’t take that lightly.
Get the button, and if you don’t know how your web development and web design team should be able to easily take care of it for you:)
As people move towards a more web-based life you find that many tips and ideas are still spread by the most common way; word of mouth. Only this time “word of mouth” is actually something that is posted or shared on a social network and not at the water cooler. As a Web Development Company that handles Web Design in Lancaster we often browse message boards like ones found on LinkedIn and Facebook. What we read sometime, however, is a little scary and somewhat demonstrates how word of mouth can sometimes be a detriment rather than a benefit.
Many companies tout their experience on their sites. “We’ve been designing websites since 19 something and something”… “1,000 years of experience from immortal website designers”! All kinds of grand claims… heck, even we do it! There is nothing wrong with that, however, there is something to be said about staying current. Sure, you’re company has been around for years — does your website show that? How many sites have you been to that say, “Designing Websites for 15 Years” and their site LOOKS 15 years old? How many times do you click on a portfolio link and see the same basic design elements repeated over and over? What about the site that takes for god-awfully-long to load and then it’s just a big picture with a couple links? This is the problem with being an old web designer.
How does one avoid this problem? Answer: you must stay current!
Web design and web development are two ares where technology constantly changes the landscape. Specifically for development; newer updated codes and scripts allow you to do more with less strain on browsers. Are you one of those people who “needs Flash” on their website? Did you know you can do the same effects with just a script? You’d also save space making the site load faster AND it could potentially still be searchable where Flash is not. In order to keep going in this business you need to know what people want and how to best deliver it to them. With new scripts and programs coming out everyday it’s important to keep up — and keep on it! Web design typically follows trends but one trend that will never cease is clean design. A few years ago grungy graphics and websites were cool. A few years before that flash and shockwave were the rage. Before that there were animated GIFs and scrolling text… They all have their place in time however these trends are well passed their prime and probably should be put away with other childish things 
In short, you can tout your web presence and your experience all you want. However, if your website is out-dated, old, or just doesn’t work right — how does that make you as a company look? How current is your web team?
In case you haven’t heard, Google has recently launched Google+, their social networking site that is trying to succeed where previous efforts have failed.
You remember…Google Buzz and Google Wave?
Yyyyyeah, they didn’t work out so well for Google. Truth is, Facebook has really become to social networks what Google is to search engines, which is a hard thing for even Google to compete with. To you and most business people trying to make the best use of their web development and web design efforts, the main question is what features does Google+ have that Facebook doesn’t?
More importantly, do those features really matter to you and your business enough for you to add yet another social media forum to your network?
Here are some of the new features that are getting some buzz:
Hangouts: Probably the biggest element Google+ has that Facebook doesn’t is a feature called “Hangouts” that gives users a way to join group video chats. It’s basically a chat room with video. Any user can create a Hangout and others can then join. As well as video chatting, users can also watch YouTube videos as a group.
Sparks: Sparks is the Google+ newsfeed, and it’s different from the Facebook news feed in that it’s focused on specific topics and on news: you won’t find information on where your friend was today or what they had for dinner, but you will find highlights from blogs, newspapers, and other media outlets sorted by topic.
What Strangers Are Saying: Whereas on Facebook the only posts and status updates that appear in your news feed come from people you’re friends with, Google+ lets you see posts and updates from people you aren’t yet following, but who are following you. You can follow them if you choose by putting them into one of your “circles”.
Chat with Strangers: Facebook Chat requires you to be friends with someone before you can chat with them. Google Hangouts, for better or for worse, are much more open: up to ten people can join a Hangout video chat, and they need not be in each others’ Circles to do so. Maybe nothing negative will come of this, but you’ve got to admit Google is taking a risk with a really loaded Pandora’s Box here.
So what’s the bottom line?
Bottom line is that yes…there is another social media forum to be considered for your Internet marketing and web development/web design efforts. Is it absolutely necessary? Functionally speaking, probably not, but the initial word is that you will do well to have a presence on Google Plus and the Google+ box (the equivalent of the Facebook “like” box) on your website will help you greatly in the search engines.
