We are thankful not to see any dramatic changes in ranking for any of our clients. Nor can we say we have seen an increase in any of there positioning in the last 48 hours either. Google said that only 3% of websites would have seen a change although there are rumors saying up to 12% of all index across the Google platform has changed. It is also rumored that Google has change it keyword density to 1.5% rather than its previous 2% – 3% percent. Other things you may want to pay attention to our your title tags, make sure there is no over stuffing of keywords. Ultimiately this appears to attack all of the on-page seo so if your rankings have dropped you should start there with your new seo efforts. One thing is certain this wont be the last of the changes that Google makes this year. So buckle up and enjoy the ride on trying to keep up, or make it easy on your self and let us play the Google Game for you. Contact our offices today to meet with one of our SEO experts.

Recently some other interesting facts about Facebook’s advertising platform was shared. According to The University of Cambridge Pyschometrics Centre recent studies showed that Facebook’s largest advertising agency had seen a increase in the CPM by nearly 41% and 23% increase in the CPC. These studies show that advertising is becoming more and more expensive on Facebook than in the past. Great for Facebook, not so good for advertisers. Also in this study Facebook also showed a 8% decrease in the US for the CTR. Meaning less people are now taking action on clicking the ads displayed to them. Facebook skyrocketing growth also appears to finally be leveling off according to the study. So what does all this mean for advertisers? Get ready to get in a bidding war to reach your customer, like Google’s Adwords you’ll end up paying more for your PPC and seeing less of a profit per customer.

Instagram launched in October of 2010 with only 80 users. By December of 2010 Instagram introduced its on the Foursquare platform and reached over 1 million users. July of last year the app had jumped to over 6 million users and over 100 million photos being shared. Instagram has continued to grow with its daily user base growing by nearly 50,000 users a day. Last Novemeber there were reports that the company was nearing a 20 million dollar valuation. Which if you are not familiar with the tech community valuation track record that means your just getting started. By this past January Instagram hit over 15 million registered users. Did we mention this was all just users with iphones!

So here is where the straw broke the camels back! Last week Instagram for Andriod launched. The app instantly acquired another 1 million users within the first 24 hours of the launch and is reported to be on its way to 50 million users very shortly. That’s when Facebook (Zuckerberg) stepped in and made the aggressive acquisition for 1 Billion dollars in cash and stock options! So the next time someone start to say “A picture worth a ……..”, go ahead and fill it in for them and say 1 BILLION dollars!

1. Spend time with your families.

2. Sunday mass.

3. Go to brunch with friends.

4. Have a Easter egg hunt.

5. Watch the Masters.

6. Eat chocolate.

7. Have a BBQ.

8. Play golf.

9. Spring cleaning.

10. Nothing, just enjoy the day!

That rounds out our top 10 things to do this Easter Sunday. From everyone
at Innvio, Happy Easter!

Also keep your eye out for the new Apple TV which is expected to be released March 17th! Our advice if you are in the market for either of these two products, order them online from Apple, really who wants to deal with typical Apple product release lines.

Mari Smith has a new book out entitled, The New Relationship Marketing: How to Build a Large, Loyal and Profitable Network Using the Social Web.”  In it, she discusses 9 steps to using social media for business and how to connect with your customers on a personal level and humanize your brand. Smith says that the former B2B (business to business) or B2C (business to consumer) marketing theories are being pushed aside by the new P2P (person to person) marketing. With that she means that social media allows us all to share personal information about ourselves and therefore businesses can use that data to get to know us and understand better the products and services we want. In turn, businesses can also see what we don’t like through comments, blogging and social feedback.

Smith has said in interviews that it doesn’t matter if you are a small business or a large corporation, you need to engage in relationship marketing by getting to know your customers, engaging them through comments and social discussions boards and provide quality content to be deemed a valuable resource within your industry. A major part of this type of marketing is making sure you have consistency in your brand messaging and clarity in your businesses purpose. Smith mentions that she has business pages that she “likes” on Facebook yet has no idea what the business is about or what they sell. You can provide a mixture of relevant content to your business that you wrote as well as refer customers to content from other sources as well. Social media and relationship marketing isn’t always about promoting your product or service, but creating a loyal following that will be customers for life because they like the people behind the brand.

In December 2011, over 7 million unique visitors joined Pinterest. Around 1.6 million joined in September so the site is definitely gaining momentum. Unlike other social media sites, Pinterest is exclusively visual, aside from image descriptions and comments.  So, businesses that have products and services in image format on the web can create another “catalog” of products on their Pinterest boards. The site also offers a unique way to conduct research and development on almost any topic or product. You can see what the most popular “pins” are and get an idea of what users are “repining” as well. Pinterest is a site to share and gain ideas for home decorating, cooking, gardening, books to read, business, technology gadgets and so much more.

One of the main drawbacks to Pinterest, for a business, is the fact that it is mainly a visual site. Finding ways to visually showcase your talents and products can be hard for financial services, legal help, etc. So, the site will work better to promote physical products, rather than services, unless you have pictures of your work posted on your website. When a user clicks on an image that has been pinned, it takes them to the website where the image was posted. So, businesses are seeing a real benefit in the increased link building and traffic driving capabilities of Pinterest. You can even visit Innvio’s profile at Pinterest.com/Innvio. Let us know if you’d like an invite and happy pinning!

Littlemonsters.com has been around for about 4 weeks, created by a startup company Backplane with some collaboration from Gaga herself.  It is in a Beta testing phase now but you can request an invite on the site to be allowed a profile. The site’s format is similar to Pinterest in its scrapbook style look where users can post anything related to the user’s love of Gaga on a home page and other users can rate the content as well as take the content for their own profiles. It is a site geared toward sharing mainly visual content as well as inspiration, obsession and anything Gaga.

The CEO of Backplane notes that the site was created with a mission to “unite people around interests, affinities and movements.” Users can post on the home page as well as their own profiles, showcasing an ever changing home page bulletin board like collage. Users can tag people, things and credit inspiration with the “inspired by” tag option. The site also has editing software so users can manipulate images before uploading, if they wish.

Users interact through a messaging system in which each profile is given a @littlemonsters.com email address. An Events tab highlights Lady Gaga concerts as well other publicity information for the artist. Will this be the first of its kind in a social network based on the support and inspiration of one person? Will this site gain credibility with all fans of Lady Gaga or just the ones that need an outlet for their Gaga obsession? With the rise of the general social media interaction and participation, will this platform be a staple for information as well as promotion?

It appears that mobile search is not only here to stay but growing faster than most anticipated. In a study conducted by mobiThinking at the end of 2011, they reported that there are 6 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide. Also, maybe not as shocking, is the fact that these mobile subscriptions outnumber fixed, land lines 5:1. We’re a mobile society with busy schedules and the need for constant contact and accessibility to information. Therefore, more now than ever, your business’s mobile web strategy is going to be more important than your PC web strategy for long term growth.

Recently, a company named Mediative conducted a study on the new Google Places app for Iphone as a follow up to their earlier eye-and-click tracking study. Basically, the study monitored 12 users, ages 21-45, while they used their Iphones to locate tattoo parlors in various Canadian cities. While mobile sites can be an extension of a PC-based website, it is important to note that mobile site users are looking for quick and accurate information on the go. Most times, a mobile site will host the most used features of a PC-based website. However, this study found that reviews and images were key factors in getting the 12 users to click on a site listing. Sites that were higher on the list but didn’t have any or few reviews as well as no pictures of the business were not as popular with our users.

Social Signals

Now, images and reviews tend to help full websites as well but mobile users are especially keen to these features as they are most likely on the go and looking for restaurants, services, etc. When you don’t have a lot of time to research these business like you might on PC-based website, customer reviews and images could be the deciding factor in getting business over your competitors. And, regarding images, it’s important to make sure the images you upload will work well when reduced on a mobile device like a phone.

Innvio understands this growing need for mobile sites and wants to help your business get a piece of the mobile web traffic pie. It is expected that by the year 2015, mobile search will overtake PC based search. So, if you already understand how important a great PC site, know that mobile is becoming just as important. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you gain customers…on-the-go.

The landscape of the internet and search engines, the main avenue users employ to find information, is changing every day. While most of us know how to use Google, Yahoo and Bing search bars, do we really understand the information that is produced from these search querys? Below is a screen shot of a Google search engine being used to find a glass repair company in Las Vegas. As you can see, the queried information is in orange. From there, the listings shown are split into 3 categories: Organic (un-paid listings), Paid ads, and businesses on Google Maps.

Pay Per Click

The red boxes show the Paid Ads. These will appear at the top and right sides of the screen. These sites are showing up because those companies have paid to appear for certain keywords (including the ones we entered “las vegas glass repair.”) So, every time you click on a Paid Ad, the business is charged a fee, which is why these are called “pay-per-click” ads. The owner can be charged by impressions (every time their ad appears on a webpage) or by clicks (every time a user actually clicks on the ad.) Research shows that less than 15% of users click on the paid ads, maybe because they don’t always match the intentions for the search terms.

Search Engine Optimization

The Organic listings are listings that have not been paid for, rather the search engine took the words or phrases you put in the search bar and decided that these sites were the most relevant to your search. Search engine optimization is a process of increasing the visibility of your site in search engines based on the keywords you want to target, how much relevant information you have in relation to the keywords, how many links throughout the web lead to your site, etc. Organic listings are regarded as “recommendations” so they get 5-6 times more traffic than paid ads.

Google Maps

Google Maps listings have recently been added to the top of the list as well. These listings are also “un-paid” but give important contact and location information for the businesses that are relevant to your search. So, it is extremely important to claim your business on these maps as it is free and can push you to the top of search engines.

Partnering with an experienced SEO company like Innvio can increase your web traffic and therefore, your business. We have the skills and expertise to research the keywords you should be targeting for your businesses, evaluating the competition within your industry and getting you the most for your money. We know that having a nice website is nice, but if no one ever finds it, how are you going to make money? Call today for a free quote and site analysis.