Is Google making strategic partnerships and drawing a land in the sand in preparation for a war with Apple? What will the impact of Google vs. Apple be for marketing & business? Quick News – Multitasking, James Cameron, Purchases. Web Strategy & Marketing News & Tips.
Mar
31
2010
Sazcast Episode 24: Is Google Stockpiling for a War Against Apple?
Mar
30
2010
Using Social Media to have a Conversations over the Counter
Small businesses excel at forming connections with their customers and network. Well before the Internet and online social networks, small businesses had real life social networks where they probably knew just about everyone in their town or village. Being part of a community is still important for any small business, but the Internet and online social media allow the reach to be extended to customers and partners that would never have been reached otherwise.
I grew up in a small town. My dad owned a saloon. I’ve been thinking a lot about his social networks and how they relate to what I do online. Truth is what my dad did with his cash register I do with my computer … the biggest difference is the speed and reach of the Internet. And I believe that entrepreneurial view is what gives every small biz an advantage in establishing a web presence using social media tools – Why Small Town Small Biz Has an Advantage at Using Social Media Tools (Small Biz Survival)
Mar
26
2010
Balancing Good Design with Needed Functionality
When designing a website or online service, companies often have a whole slew of great ideas for functionality. When is enough enough? Can a simple design suffice? How do you make choices about what features to incorporate?
Even the simplest of interfaces, Twitter, has begun to add more complexity with new retweet features, lists, trending topics, and more. Aesthetically, “good design” means design that is appealing to the eye, and is easily navigated visually. With this idea, it is important that complex interfaces are well designed so that the users who prefer simplicity do not feel overwhelmed. – Finding the Balance of Design and Functionality (ReadWriteStart)
Mar
25
2010
Google gets a little Creepy in Quest for Ad Performance
Consumers don’t always buy something the minute they show interest in it. They may search for information, ask for recommendations, and browse around the web before making their decision to purchase. This is not that different either online or offline. It takes quite a few touchpoints with each customer before they actually buy from you. Since you’re not likely to buy something the first time you see an ad, Google is increasing the chances that you’ll click through on an ad by having those ads follow you around the web… which is a bit creepy.
If someone sees an ad on one site, Google can now show the same ad or a follow-up ad to just that person when they visit another site which shows Google ads. Since there are millions of sites in the Google Content Network, chances are Google will see them again. The program has been in beta since March, but it is now being rolled out to all AdWords customers. – Google Ads Will Now Follow You Across The Web (TechCrunch)
Mar
24
2010
Small Businesses Using Social Media for Real Results
Many small businesses want to use social media, but they may be unsure of how to best use it. Most examples of businesses successfully using social media tend to be large companies with entire departments dedicated to campaigns. Seeing some examples of small businesses using social media may be helpful:
The most obvious benefits are increased customer loyalty and engagement. Less obvious but just as important: Your business will gain exposure not through your own advertisements, but through folks who’ve already been patrons. We’re more likely to trust a Facebook update or Yelp review from a friend than from the business itself. – How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media for Real Results (Mashable)
Mar
23
2010
More Twitter Followers Isn’t Necessarily Better
We’ve all seen those Twitter accounts – they’re following 24,506 people and have 24,302 followers. They’re in a mad rush to get as many followers as possible by following so many people every day and removing those that don’t follow them back. Having more followers isn’t necessarily a good thing, and the results of a new research project has the data to show it:
To reach this conclusion, the researchers examined the Twitter accounts of over 54 million active users, out of some 80 million accounts crawled by their servers. They then went on to measure various statistics about these accounts, including audience size, retweet influence and mention influence. The conclusion? Those with the largest number of followers may be “popular” Twitterers, but that’s not necessarily related to their influence. High follower counts don’t always mean someone is being retweeted or mentioned in any meaningful ways. – The Million Follower Fallacy: Audience Size Doesn’t Prove Influence on Twitter (ReadWriteWeb)
Mar
23
2010
Google has a Self-Centered Need for Speed
Google has been pushing everything on the web to be faster, faster. Is this all for the greater good? Or does Google have a more self-serving intention?
Google’s need for speed boils down to one very simple thing: money. It realized long ago that every millisecond improvement in pageload times on its search engine resulted in more searches, and thus more search ads served and clicked on. The opposite is also true. Google once did a study
showing that delays of 100 to 400 millisecond in showing search results translated into up to 0.6 percent searches. Multiply that across the billions of searches done on Google and it starts to add up to real money, perhaps tens of millions of dollars per quarter. – Google’s Need For Speed Is About Making You Search More (TechCrunch)
Mar
22
2010
Sazcast Episode 23 – Yelp: For or Against Business?
Yelp – For or Against Business? Yelp is almost a necessity for businesses who rely on local customers. How are recent lawsuits affecting Yelp’s trustworthiness? Quick News – Palm, Novell, South by Southwest. Web Strategy & Marketing News & Tips.
Mar
22
2010
Facebook sends more Traffic to News Sites than Google News
All along newspapers have been struggling with Google and how it “uses” their content to fill search results, both on Google News and Google.com. Well, consumer usage of news has shifted:
Hitwise data indicate that visitors from Facebook.com are more loyal to News and Media websites than are visitors from News.Google.com. In particular, among the top 5 Print Media websites in the week ending March 6, 2010, 78% of Facebook.com users were returning visitors compared to 67% from Google News. The figures are almost identical for Broadcast Media, with a 77% returning rate for Facebook.com compared to 64% for Google News. - Facebook Visitors Come Back Again and Again (HitWise)
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