Social Media is Fun

You know, things like …

• Digg
• Reddit
• StumbleUpon
• Squidoo
• Del.icio.us
• Technorati
• Sphinn (for search and Internet marketers)
• and the list goes on …

Here is a useful article about the basics of Social Media, written by a guy in Cape Town, South Africa. (I heard that because of the sun’s angle in Cape Town, lots of production companies fly there to shoot. The money they save on lighting makes up for the cost of flying there, and everyone lives happily ever after.) I especially enjoyed this bit of advice:

Search Engine Land: 15 Fundamental Truths About Social Media

Create something that is honest. Sony was famously outed online when the company created a fake blog called All I Want For Xmas Is A PSP (no longer live), where two people were trying to get others to promote their wish for a PSP. Turns out these people were actors. Sony subsequently was subjected to a backlash of brand bashing which really highlights the risk involved in a dishonest marketing campaign.

Did you click the PSP link in the above article? Haagen-Dazs bought it!

Oh, Internet. You are so funny sometimes.

Love Wins. Case Study: Santa Claus

This article gets to the truth of what makes great businesses and their websites so exceptional. I don’t really know why they love Santa Claus so much, but I’m glad that they do.

Link Building Case Study: Santa Claus – Search Engine Watch

Why would people work so hard to create the best Santa Claus Web site year after year and likely make little to no money?The only answer can be love. They love Christmas and they love Santa.

Because they love it so much, what seems like an insurmountable obstacle for all of us in the business world is done without a second thought for the people at northpole.com.

Squidoo

Squidoo is just one of the fascinating things I learned about today, meeting with the fabulous Ted Cantu, of Search Quest.

More on this soon!

Berline Advertising

There is an advertising agency called Berline, located at 70E. Long Lake Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

When I looked them up and arrived at my first interview back in January, I found myself at their old location. It was the only address available on the internet.

(In case you’re on your way there now…)

Anyway, when I met Mr. Berline, I asked him why on earth they didn’t have a website. His reply was something like, “We don’t have time to make one, and we’re not worried about it.” I raised my eyebrows.

It’s a busy place…

Every business needs a great website!  People are on the internet… a lot. It’s how everyone finds information, these days. (Yellowpages are dead, really.) I’m sure they will get their site up and running eventually, but wanted to make a point.

Update 10/27/07: They have a site under construction.

Maybe they could just get a WordPress blog, update it every once in a while, and watch their rank rise?

Websites May Require Visually Impaired Access In California

Which is funny, because that’s been a requirement of savvy web folks for a while. The internet is blind! That’s what alt attributes were originally created for, and now they’re important in search engine optimization.

The Register- California Court Tilts Towards Mandating Web Accessibility

California law may require websites to be accessible to disabled internet users, according to a ruling in a case against retail giant Target.

Creating Alt Attributes for the blind falls under the umbrella of valuable things I learned at the Websitetology Seminar.

Google Using AdWords / AdSense Data in Ranking Organic Results?

Whether rumor, truth or accident, if paid accounts are actually influencing natural search results…

Marketing Pilgrim article

Yahoo! Search Upgrades

Media Biz Yahoo gets serious about search «

Tuesday, Yahoo implemented a few upgrades to its search engine.

Oddly enough, Tuesday also marked the first day I’ve used the engine since I can remember. I did notice the Search Assist feature, but didn’t know it was brand new. And I wonder…

Is the feature neutral? It’s a little helpful, but what if they sell keywords for Search Assist? Will “Uncle Buck’s Cherry Pickers” jump out at me, next time I search for “Cherry”?

No, I doubt it. And you can turn the feature off. But otherwise, it’s just catching up with Google.

I hadn’t used Yahoo! Search because, well, Google rocks. But, now that I’m training to be an expert in Search Engine Optimization and Online Marketing (which will definitely make me a more valuable friend of the advertising world), I’m spending entire days on Yahoo. There’s a lot to learn about it, but the great thing is that all of the information you could ever need is online.

There’s also a Search Engine College, started by a very smart Australian woman.