This infographic, from Mint Leaf Studio, outlines 12 "Christmas Gifts" to give your website.  Did you give any of these gifts to your site this Christmas?  Even small changes to your website can make a big difference in the user experience.  Please give us a call or e-mail if we can help you with any of these:

 

Source: BusinessMBA.org

In our last post, we talked about some of the latest innovations to Google AdWords.  In this post we will outline Google AdWords Extensions.  Whether you have used them before, or never heard of them before, this guide will provide you with all the information you need to optimize your Google AdWords campaign.

You probably are already aware of the gem that is Google Adwords. Google Adwords is Google’s pay per click (PPC) advertising platform that delivers advertisements across its search engine. When you do a Google search, the first few entries are shaded slightly and are actually advertisements. It is called pay per click because no matter how many times your ad is viewed, you only pay when someone actually clicks on the ad. This is done on a bidding process, and depending on the demand for the search term, it can range from $1 - $5 per click.

A basic Google Adwords campaign is a great start for your business, but it is only the beginning of how you can leverage the world’s most popular search engine, and most popular website to grow your business. Did you know that there are 34,000 Google searches per second?

Source: http://www.technobombs.com

Facebook has been taking some hits lately.  A recent study showed a massive decline in Facebook use.  Google came out with their own social network 12 weeks ago, Google Plus.  In closed beta since that time, today they opened it up to the general public.  Facebook made some news of their own today though, as they announced a redesigned news feed, featuring a twitter style ticker.

When Google Plus launched in closed beta a few weeks ago, it represented a threat to Facebook.  Would Google be able to peel off some of the Facebook users and grow into the next big thing?  It is too early to declare a winner, but on Tuesday Facebook hit back, rolling out a new round of revisions.

As communication technology continues to evolve, so does political strategy.  Before mass media, political communication consisted of largely one on one communication or speaking in front of small community groups.

This is clearly still part of an effective political campaign, but in and of itself will not allow you to reach enough people in a broad election.  For that, you need to take your message to mass media including television, radio, print, and online.

Mass communications such as these allow you to reach a large audience quickly.  Unfortunately, what you lose is the ability to tailor a message to a particular audience or even a specific person.  In the masmedia world, you have to be everything to everybody, which is very hard to do.

Great infographic from WordStream showing which Google keywords cost the most. 

Great Inforgraphic from our friends at visual.ly.

It is no secret that television advertising is not what it used to be. The “Tivo” effect has resulted in many television viewers avoiding commercials all together. 40% of households now have a DVR. Other options for commercial-free viewing including online streaming through Hulu or Netflix, On Demand programming, and whole seasons of programming available on DVD.

With all of these viewers avoiding commercials, advertisers are not willing to pay the big dollars for advertisements that no one will see.  If, as a network, you are able to convince viewers to watch your show live (and thus the commercials) you will be able to command top dollars.  With less legitimate advertising slots available advertising rates for live events have risen dramatically.  The best example of this is the Super Bowl.  While television advertising rates have steadily declined, the rates for the Super Bowl have experienced a dramatic rise.

Last week Google rolled out Google Plus in limited release.  I was one of those that it was released to, and had the opportunity to take it for a test drive.  If you are interested in an invite please send me an e-mail at James@AltosMarketing.com.

Google Plus is not open to business pages yet, but plans are in the works for later this year.  Christian Oestlien put out the official message in an unlisted YouTube video that can be viewed here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at_azOmh69A&feature=player_embedded

As a business owner, you already know that your online brand is very important. Is it the face of your company in the digital world. An important element to your online brand is your Facebook business page. This is a place where your customers and fans can interact with you. They can learn about you and what you represent, and hopefully become ambassadors for your brand.

Earlier this year, many were shocked when Google offered to buy Groupon for $6 billion.  Even more were surprised when Groupon turned them down.  Groupon did so because they saw themselves as the leader in a marketplace that was ready to explode.  What Groupon offered was a no-risk way for companies to promote themselves.  Groupon had built up a database of over 70 million users that had opted in to being sold to.

The Royal Wedding of William & Kate is this Friday. It is hard to escape this news as it has seemingly had 24 hour coverage on all new channels over the past week. Below is a guide to how to follow the event through social media, whether you have your alarm set for 4 AM on Friday or the Chicken Dance gives you nightmares.
The Royal Channel: The official YouTube channel of the British Monarchy, The Royal Wedding will be live streamed over YouTube. In addition to viewing the ceremony, you can also see a map of the procession, view the wedding book, and upload your videos.