Posts Tagged ‘google’

Nov

Google + For Business – Top 5 Reasons To Join

Posted by: Gary Wagnon in Ninja Marketing, search engine optimization, web design

Google+ for business is now open. “Oh great,” I can hear you say, “another social network I have to keep up with.” Yes, I know the traffic is not on Google + like it is on Facebook. And I don’t expect a mass exodus from Facebook. But, here are my top 5 reasons you should be on Google +.

5. It’s easy to sign up. To signup, you enter your business name and phone number. Google + then matches that to your Google Places Page. (You DO have a Google Places page, don’t you?)

4. Sharing is Easy – Others can share your business page either through the Share Page button or by +1′ing the page. Either way, it increases the chances of virally spreading your page.

3. No Finding Friends – With business pages, you don’t have to go hunting for friends. You share your page and post the page link to your web site and the traffic comes to you.

2. Build a Following and Improve Your Traffic – Because Google customizes the search function when you are logged in to a Google product (Gmail, Google +, Google Reader, etc.) the results you see are based, in part, on your connections. For example, if someone in one of your circles has +1′d a page, and you do a search on a keyword that related to that page, Google is going to show you that page higher up in the search results than normal.

The bottom line for a business is to have as large a following as possible, so when a follower searches for your catagory, your site will show up much higher.

1. Faster Indexing in Google – The number 1 reason to create a Google + page is speed up the process of getting content indexed in the Google search results. When content is shared in Google +, Google sees the content much quicker and as a result will add it to the search results page, based on the content.

I have seen this first hand within my blog articles. I created a blog article with the title Ninja Marketing Tips. Within 3 days of sharing the article in Google +, it was ranking at the top of an incognito Google search for the term, Ninja Marketing Tips.

Judge for yourself. What is your marketing strategy? Would improved search engine visibility be a plus? I welcome your thoughts.

Gary Wagnon is the owner of 800biz Ninja Marketing Strategies and the Ninja Marketing Dojo, a program designed to help businesses master all aspects of online marketing. The goal of the Ninja Marketing Dojo is to improve search engine rankings, increase web site traffic and convert more browsers into buyers.

Tags: google, ninja marketing, search engine optimization, SEO

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Jun

Google Plus 1

Posted by: Gary Wagnon in search engine optimization, Social Media Marketing, web design

Goliath has started its latest foray into the social media arena. Google this week announced the launching of its +1 feature, its answer to the Facebook Like and LinkedIin Share buttons. While previous attempts in social media (like Google Wave and even Google Buzz) have not had the level of success they expected, +1 could well be the social media success Google has been searching for.

What is Google +1? +1 allows Web surfers, while logged in to their Google account, to share sites they like or recommend within the Google search. The plus one button can be added to any webpage or blog with a few simple steps (which we will describe below.)

When do you see the Google +1? To begin, you must have a Google profile or a Google account such as Gmail. To find your Google profile, go to http://profiles.Google.com/yourname. If nothing comes up for you, then you may not have created a profile or you could have it private, in which case you may need to create a public profile (do a Google search for details how to do that.)

Once you’ve logged in to your profile and do any search, you will see, at the end of the top line of the search results, the greyed out +1 button. Simply click the +1 button and it turns to full-color, leaving a trail for your Google contacts to see. When one of your Google contacts does a similar search, they will see your +1 link recommendation. There is also talk that in the near future the link will be visible to your Twitter and Flickr contacts as well.

Google publicly says that +1 activity will be used to show more relevant ads on non-Google base sites, however, you do have the ability to disable that feature within the +1 settings in your Google account.

But what’s the real value of the Google +1? From the initial announcement of +1, speculation has centered around the effect it will have on search results and search engine ranking. Google has long had, as part of their algorithm, the relevancy and popularity of a website. By adding +1 to a website, the webmaster/owner may potentially have a positive impact on their search engine rankings. How big an effect is yet to be seen but with more and more emphasis being placed on social media and the social aspects of the web, logic says this can have a significant impact.

How you add the Google +1 button? The process is a very simple one. You will need FTP access to your website to complete the process or you will need to have your webmaster complete the process. Below are the four steps:

Go to Google +1 page
Choose your button size and language. The advanced options allow you to include the +1′d count and include the target URL you want attached to the +1
Copy the first section of the code and paste it just above the closing body tag of the page
Copy the second section of the code and paste it where you want the button to appear

That’s all it takes. I hope you found this blog useful. If so, +1 me.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz.com Online Marketing Solutions specializes in helping small to medium size businesses to drive traffic to their door through web site design, search engine optimization, text message marketing and social media marketing and coaching. Gary is also the co-founder of SocialMediaLab, an online education and training program to help business owners master social media.

Tags: google, search engine optimization, Social Media Marketing

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Mar

Facebook Surpasses Google As Most Visited Site

Posted by: Gary Wagnon in search engine optimization, Social Media Marketing

The mighty giant has fallen. Well at least fallen to #2 for this week.

According to Hitwise, Facebook managed received more visits than Google during the week of March 7th through March 13th, making it the most visited website in the U.S. for the week.

While this in no way sounds an alarm about the Google search dominance, it does reinforce the idea that social media, like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are important elements of an online marketing program. With Facebook and YouTube as the numbers 2 and 4 overall sites on the web (according to Alexa.com), can you afford to ignore that kind of traffic.

Another thought-provoking stat – The average visitor to Google spends about 9 minutes a day on the site. The average visitor to Facebook spends almost 40 minutes a day and the average YouTube browsers spends over 22 minutes a day. This is like having a billboard on the freeway with traffic whizzing by at 70 miles per hours or having the same billboard on a busy street during rush hour where a driver is creeping along and has time to look around and actually read the billboard.

Google is for hunters on a mission. Bag the site your searching for and move on. Social media sites are more like home – prop your feet up and relax.

If you aren’t using social media or are totally confused by it, take heart. There are painless ways to ease into it without taking the head first plunge into the abyss.

Gary Wagnon and 800biz.com specialize in website design, hosting, search engine optimization and social media marketing for small and medium businesses.

Tags: facebook, google, social media

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