One common mistake businesses tend to make when creating their landing pages is creating a spam-like page that is stuffed with keywords.  Yes, of course, you want your landing page to be noticed by Google and ranked well, so you believe that the more related keywords you use, the higher your SEO ranking will be.  Unfortunately, you’re wrong, and you’re actually hurting your SEO ranking by doing this.  When you stuff your landing page with repetitive keywords you start to appear like spam, and this is something that both consumers and Google does not like or appreciate.  For everyone’s sake, including your own, it’s better to write in a natural manner that includes your keywords in a reasonable amount throughout.  What you’re writing should make sense, flow well, and still get your point across, so if your landing page does anything but this, it’s time to reevaluate.

Here is a sample landing page from Dr. Jon Frankel's website

Speaking of bad repetitive keywords, it’s also thought to be bad or harmful to use any repetitive information at all.  Duplicate content is both annoying for customers to read, and a huge red flag for Google to recognize.  Often times duplicate content means plagiarism or just sheer laziness, so instead of making the common mistake of copying and pasting product information or simply using the description given by the manufacturer, think about writing your own descriptions that are unique, clever, and alluring.  You should know your products, and even if you believe the manufacturer description is dead on, you should still be able take a spin off of it and create a better, well-worded description.

Finally, one last mistake that businesses often make is getting impatient, frustrated, or complacent with their attempts at achieving a higher landing page SEO.  Achieving a high ranking SEO is a process that takes time, effort, and patience, so before you even create a new landing page, you have to understand that you’re going on a journey with this page, and it may take time to achieve the results you want.  Don’t forget to stick with it, and even if you do end up reaching the results you wanted, don’t become complacent with your efforts; your number one ranking spot can be taken away in an instant if you’re lazy.  Avoid this mistake along with the others and you’ll be well on your way to having a landing page that ranks well and pushes those conversions for you.

These bots and cookies are both used for multiple things, but one of their key functions is to gather information which can be used to market to you more effectively. Say you’d recently visited a number of film-related sites. Then, you went to another site, one which focused on another topic entirely, and you saw an ad for Netflix in the sidebar. Changes are this wasn’t a coincidence. Most likely, site you’re on now was able to use previously gathered information about you to know what type of advertisement you might be interested in. While this is an invasion of privacy to some degree, you should know that the previously described situation is pretty much your “worst-case scenario.” These cookies and bots aren’t trying to steal the idea for your screenplay or share your search history with the world, they’re just trying to make the advertisements you see more relevant. That really is about the extent of it. So yes, a good percentage of what you do online is monitored, but that information is not being used in a nefarious way.

Just about the worst thing you could say about practices such as these is that they’re somewhat manipulative, but all advertising is to one extent or another. You could even say that about media in general. Being manipulated into doing something you like and actually want to do isn’t an especially bad fate anyway. Still, while a good TV marketer knows how to identify and zero in on their target audience, all that really means is that an ad for an auto repair shop might play during an episode of Top Gear. Online marketers have an advantage in this regard. Whereas most marketing is fairly passive, just sitting around waiting for you to notice it, online marketing is often interactive. It’s not based on the actions of a group, but of an individual: you. Some people appreciate this. After all, we can all admit that it’s sometimes nice to see an ad for something you legitimately like and have an interest in sitting on the side of whatever page you’re reading. On the other hand, some people see advertising which they feel to be suspiciously relevant to their recent online activities and freak out. “If they know that about me,” they say, “what else do they know?” The honest answer: not much. They may know your basic location. They may know about a few pages you’ve visited recently. They’re not out to get you, and they’re not going to tell your family.

Visiting Time Magazine's website after visiting BigStockPhoto.com

That being said, if you’re actually attempting to do some online marketing of your own you should carefully consider the prevalent attitudes related to anonymity. The most important of these is that people want to be anonymous online more or less all of the time. Even when they’re speaking with friends, an activity which is not anonymous at all but which is in fact wholly determined by openly revealing your identity and intentions, they still want to be invisible to the larger world. The internet is supposed to be a sanctum, a place where we can go to hide. It’s supposed to be a place where one can wear many metaphorical hats, where they can be anyone they want to be, and where no one knows how lame you really are. What a lot of people don’t  realize is that the internet was not built with anonymity in mind. The web was created to share information, not to hide it. As such, it’s not a very good place to hide yourself. And yes, there are nefarious agents as well. Most online “invasions of privacy” involve a brainless bot reading and cataloging what you type into your search engine of choice,  but sometimes information really does get stolen. Accounts are hacked, credit card numbers are taken, identities are stolen… these things happen, and with a fairly alarming regularity. This contributes to the feeling of nervousness which springs up in the hearts of some users when a random advertisement they’ve never seen before tells them where they can buy video games in Organ Pipe, AZ, their exact place of residence.

As far as marketing is concerned, there’s no tool more powerful than simply getting the right advertisement to the right person. If you’re not successfully able to market to the people who would most appreciate your wares or services then chances are your campaign will prove unsuccessful. In this way, the kind of information gathered by cookies and bots can be incredibly useful. Such information can contain, in a format unreadable by human eyes, what a certain person likes, what their interests are, where they live and more, all very useful information to any marketer. Using such information is perfectly reasonable, and doesn’t even come close to being immoral in the least. After all, you’re simply attempting to provide a relevant service, to help others so that they, in turn, can help you. That being said, there are some people who feel differently, who are very upset about even the most innocent and minor invasion of their privacy, and for this reason you’ll need to find a way to use the information you’ve gathered for the purposes of marketing while still respecting your prospective user’s need for anonymity. Here are some suggestions.

1. Make your content immediately engaging. Of course, if you’re attempting to have a successful marketing campaign you’ve hopefully done this already, but the more engaging a piece of content is the less time your more paranoid customers will be thinking about how that ad got there. The quicker you are able to fulfill one of their needs the sooner the transaction will be able to proceed.
2. Don’t get too specific. Of course, you want to market to people who live in a location relevant to your business, but don’t mention that location in your add. When it comes to advertising, there’s no better way to make someone nervous than to reveal that you’ve gathered personal information about them, no matter how it basic it might be. Target your potential clients using their location, but don’t make it obvious.
3. Don’t spam anyone. If you’re going to go to all of the trouble of targeting a potential client, try to avoid making them resent you from the start. Be respectful when it comes to your advertising. Don’t come on too strong, and don’t show up too often. Despite the many unfortunate advertising methods that utilize the motion, people simply don’t like to feel pressured. It’s not a good motivator. If a potential client clicks on your ad, that’s great. If they don’t, that’s a shame. Leave it at that.

We of the modern era are a people obsessed with sharing. On sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ we share our feelings, our interests, moments of our lives both special and banal. We share so much of ourselves, almost compulsively at times, and yet we still cling to this desire for anonymity. We seek to be incredibly public and private all at the same time. Unbeknownst to us, we sometimes share information about ourselves without our knowledge, but this information is never as damaging or worrisome as much of the information we share openly. Unlike a poorly chosen photo or an ill advised Facebook status, the information “secretly” gathered by bots is not used to hurt us or inconvenience us in any way. It is simply used to gauge our interest, to perhaps make our lives a bit more convenient and to help relevant advertisers reach us. Some people have trouble with this concept. Some call it an invasion, while others simply ignore it. The fact remains that this information is useful, that collecting it hurts no one, and that its potential as a marketing tool is unmatched

• They’re quick. It’s much quicker and easier to peruse an infographic than to read an entire page of normally-structured content.
• They’re user-friendly. The use of graphics and other visual aids helps illuminate your words and make their message clearer.
• They’re very sharable. Whereas your clients are unlikely to simply pass around a page of content, unless it’s particularly engaging, an infographic provides a fun visual alternative that’s infinitely more sharable. Be sure to put your company name, logo and web address somewhere on the infographic so that it’s easily traceable back to you.  Of course, the more people who are sharing your pages and the content therein the more your SEO improves.
• They cut to the chase. Infographics force you to trim away the fat. There’s no room for unnecessary information within such a tight framework, and as such you might be left with more directly informative content than you would have had otherwise.
• They test your creativity. Not an obvious plus perhaps, but a plus nonetheless. Creativity is an area which is often neglected in work-related projects when it is in fact something that should be nurtured. Working on a project like an infographic can reawaken the creative drive of your employees, and once you’re thinking creatively you’ll find that more and more options will begin to materialize, seemingly out of thin air. A successful marketing team is one that knows how to utilize creativity effectively, not deny it completely as some do.

Of course, when it comes to an infographic, or just about any marketing plan for that matter, you can only get out what you put in. Just because an infographic is easy to read doesn’t mean they’re simple to make. On the contrary, an effective example takes a great deal of effort:

• Aesthetics: When it comes to infographics, first impressions are everything. Your model must look compelling enough to draw the reader in on its own, whether or not they are even aware of the information they’re about to receive. A well designed infographic is not overly complex: a bit of text, a few graphics, an intuitive flow. Keep your color palate minimal, maybe 3-4 options. Don’t overload the viewer. At the same time, make your infographic look unique. Make it stand out, either through the use of the visuals you’ve chosen or your design scheme. Models can be basic, like a more compelling version of a standard list, or more intricate, like a flowchart. Regardless of the options you choose know this: if your infographic is not aesthetically compelling its potential will be severely limited.
• Text: As stated above, don’t overload the viewer. With any visual medium (an infographic, a comic strip, a painting) you’ll want to keep text to a minimum. You’ll have limited space after all, and you certainly don’t want to shortchange your visual element. This may seem somewhat counterintuitive as the content is essentially the point. It’s what you want people to take away from their experience with your flowchart. They’re there to learn. However, you can be minimal and informative simultaneously. Treat this as a challenge: how concentrated can you make your content. What are the least amount of words you can boil it down to. What is the most direct way of saying what you need to say? You clients will appreciate this directness. And hey, even if you don’t get to say everything which you feel needs to be said the infographic is just there to draw clients in. Once they’re on board you can hit them with more traditional content containing much more in depth information.
• Research: Though you might not expect it, an infographic will really test your mettle. Take a scene from your favorite play. Pick a part and read it over, considering each line carefully. Now imagine performing that same scene with a quarter of the lines. At first this might seem like a relief (after all you’d have far less to memorize), but you’ll quickly find that relaying the same information in significantly fewer words is far more challenging, an even greater test of your skill. Make no mistake, boiling down your content to a few short sentences is an exceedingly difficult prospect. One easy and effective way to do this is through the use of statistics. They’re a great way of making a point, and they lend themselves nicely to the layout of an infographic. For this reason and others, do your research carefully. Find out all there is to know about your topic, or as much as you can anyway. With fewer words to hide behind your expertise or lack thereof will be more obvious than ever. You need to be prepared.

Though they are currently somewhat undervalued, infographics can be a fantastic marketing tool. They are a great way of spreading information, introducing an element of fun while ensuring that your content is far easier to process. They also test your employees, forcing them to think critically and display their true knowledge of your field. Basically, infographics are good for everyone. They take a great deal of effort to perfect, but so does any effective marketing strategy. So the next time you need to get information out there or get potential clients on board, consider infographics.

The videos on the Doritos channel have been viewed a remarkable 10,100,000 times.

Firstly, let’s back up a bit and define some terminology. There are three main types of relationships which all businesses take part in:

•  B2B: Communications from one business to another, such as when two companies band together to offer combined or complementary services, or when one company must depend on another for assets.
• B2E: Communications between a business and its employees. This can be anything from the president of a company chastising a mailroom worker to a flier advertising that Friday will be “Dress Like a Cowboy Day.”
• B2C: Communications between businesses and customers. It may involve continued communication with past customers or attempted communication with potential customers (aka marketing).

All three of these types are incredibly important. Without B2E communication businesses could not function. Everyone would be lost, rudderless, and nothing would ever be accomplished. Without B2B interaction many companies would be left wanting, drifting through the free market alone without helpful hand in sight. Finally, without B2C communications no money would be made. Without customers, a business cannot function. All of this is fairly obvious, but the real question is this: once we know all of this basic information, where do we go from there? What methods and techniques should we utilize to properly and effectively converse across all of these diverse planes. All three communication methods are certainly worth exploring, though as far as this post is concerned B2B and B2E will have to wait for another time. Herein we will be focusing upon B2C, the marketing side of the equation. However, you probably should not follow my lead and engage with B2C related matters first. Before you begin marketing assets should be established and teams should be in construction. You don’t want to make promises you can’t keep. But, for our purposes, let’s assume you’ve already done all of that. You’ve created your business, you’ve planted your roots and now you’re looking for financial support. Here’s what comes next.

B2C communications are generally accomplished through a combination of visual stimuli and written content. The image draws the client in and the content informs them as to what you are offering and why they should accept. It’s a good plan, the bedrock of any successful online marketing campaign, but there’s more to B2C then some words next to a picture or two. In fact, that’s often not enough. For example, the click-through rate for banner adds is approximately .1%. Increase the size of the banner and the number of click-throughs will rise, but the difference will essentially be negligible. On the other hand 60% of users who come across an online video ad will watch it. Why? Well, that’s an interesting question.

•  It’s easier. Put simply, it takes less effort to watch a video than to read text.
• It’s more fun. A great many people do enjoy interacting with their media. They don’t want the relationship to be entirely one-sided, with the user doing all the work as far as making the connection happen. Users want to be wooed.
• It’s less of a time commitment. Going to a webpage and reading through mountains of content can eat up a great deal of time. A video of only a few minutes can accomplish most of the same goals the content can in a more compact way.

It can showcase your personality and humanize your company. One way to undermine your B2C video work is to not make your product engaging. You want to project two things with your video: that you’re extremely knowledgeable and that you’re somewhat relatable as a team of human beings. Humor and personality does not necessarily invalidate claims of professionalism and expertise if both sides are played off each other delicately. If you let too much of your personality through your video will lose its credibility, let too little through and it will not be engaging and unique enough to hold the interest of all but the most committed viewers. Mix these two sides together carefully. Be informative, but also include a bit of humor, a bit of humanity, and your video will be far more popular than it otherwise would have been.

Considering the pluses of video usage, it’s no wonder that nearly 50% of the most successful online retail companies out there utilize the platform as a key aspect of their marketing plans, and there’s no reason that you shouldn’t follow their lead. Sure, a video can be a bit time consuming to put together, but it can really pay off in spades if you devote enough attention and care to it. Create a miniature film which is informative enough to show off your talent and knowledge but human enough to draw in viewers, and you might be amazed as to how big of a difference a little video can make. There are, of course, plenty of other B2C methods to utilize, everything from games to fliers, but video has proven to be a hugely successful means of drawing in clients. Right now its ROI rate is second only to written content, and it’s gaining more popularity as a marketing platform with every quarter that passes. Don’t ignore it, use it.

An example of PPC Advertising

PPC revolves around the sensible notion that you should only have to pay for advertising if it’s effective. Previously, with the “cost per impression” system, you would have to pay every time someone saw your ad, but PPC is much more fair than that. Under this alternative system, clients only have to pay if their ads are actually clicked on. Generally, a flat rate will be decided upon in advance, and every time the add gets a click that rate will be paid to the advertising firm. This is an improvement over “cost per impression” for several reasons. For one thing, it’s more affordable, as presumably many more people will see your add than click on it. That being said, the rate charged per impression is usually less than the rate charged per click, so it’s kind of a toss up in that regard. But regardless of the pricing, there are plenty more advantages as well.

• It’s fair: A subjective notion I know, but look at it this way: if you’re not getting a lot of clicks you shouldn’t have to pay a lot of money. That would be a waste after all. If you are getting a lot of clicks you’re probably paying a fair amount back, but the amount of publicity you’re getting should pay for that in no time.

• It’s informative: The mark of an effective advertisement is whether or not it legitimately interests and/or compels the potential consumer. If it does, the add is a success. If not, it must be revised. Under the “cost per impression” system it was nigh on impossible to tell whether or not an add was truly effective. You just knew whether or not they’d seen it, not if they liked it. Pay per click solves that problem. Using this system, you can actually tell whether or not your add is interesting potential customers. In this way you can optimize your campaign much more effectively.

• It’s Highly Customizable: One of the greatest features of PPC is how tightly you can narrow down your target audience. One major aspect of the plan is the usage of keywords. Ideally, customers whose online activity corresponds closely to said keywords will be the ones who see your ads.  But there’s plenty more to this process than simply selecting some keywords. You can also select what keywords you don’t want associated with your product. If you only work within a defined area you can limit the amount of people who can see your ads to those within certain area codes. You can even target your advertising to a certain time of day. These features, and many more like them, are a big part of what makes PPC such an attractive option.

Of course, you can only get as much out of PPC as you put in. You can’t just plug in some data and watch it do all the work. If you want your ad campaign to be a success then you still need to take an active role. For example, I mentioned above how PPC can be used to measure the appeal and overall effectiveness of your ads. Use that information. If an ad’s not working then come up with something you think is better and try that. Keep experimenting and you’re bound to find something special. PPC grants you that freedom and flexibility. Use it. Ideally, you’ll want to start your campaign with several ads. This will probably cost a bit more money, but it’ll pay off in the long run. Make the ads diverse and try a few different strategies. Target each ad to a different keyword. After that, all you have to do is wait. In a little while, check back in. See which ads were successful and which ones floundered and use this information to strengthen your ad campaign. The lessons you learn carrying out an experiment like this can be incredibly beneficial in the future.

However, before you even put an ad out there you need to decide who exactly you want to see it. Ask yourself some questions before committing to a project:

• What keywords best summarize my product or service?
• What age group or gender would my service most appeal to?
• What geographic location do I want to target?
• What season or time of day best represents my service?
• And so on…

As with any successful ad campaign, you’ll want to narrow down your target audience as much as possible. The more exact your aim the better the chance you’ll hit after all. Answer the above questions, and any other like them, with a great deal of care. Remember that you can narrow down your audience not only with positive keywords but negative ones as well. For these ads to be optimally effective you’ll want them to reach the right people just about every time. Be sure not to use “broad match” keywords, which can get your ads sent to places only tangentially related to the keywords you selected. And if your ad keeps getting sent to the wrong place add some items to your list of negative keywords to compensate. Watch your traffic carefully. False clicks do you no good. They just cost you money.

Also, while we’re talking about areas of caution, watch out for fraud. PPC is a very easy system to exploit. Since the advertising company of your choice gets paid every time your ad gets clicked there’s naturally a desire among some of them to earn some easy money buy creating automated scripts to click on your ads over and over and over. Sometimes they simply just click on them themselves. Click fraud, as it is known, is hard to prove. Those perpetrating it can even use public computers to make matters that much more difficult. Every system has flaws, ways that it can be used nefariously, and PPC is no exception. I’m not saying it’s reason enough to abandon the system. Not at all. However, proceeding with some degree of caution is wise when embroiled in any sort of business dealings.

Once you’ve decided on your target audience you’ll need to bring them in. As stated above (and as could be assumed through the power of common sense) you’ll need a compelling ad to do this. What makes a ad compelling is not an exact science. The first thing that people will notice about your ad is the aesthetic element, so you’re going to want to make it stand out, either by using an effective design scheme (nothing garish or too loud but not boring or overly familiar either), an attention-grabbing graphic or perhaps a bit of humor. You might even want to include something a promotion, a promise of a small free item or maybe a limited time giveaway. Don’t make them feel pressured, but a little enticement never hurt. Once you have their attention you need to decide what will happen when they click on your add, basically where their action will take them next. You have three options here:

• An Unrelated Page: This is an option you should absolutely not utilize. Essentially, if you don’t link a page to your ad then the click will take you to an unrelated landing page, thus killing the viewer’s interest, disrupting their attention and perhaps even creating a bit of resentment.
• Your Actual Homepage: A decent option. That’s why they clicked on the ad after all. This is what they’ve come to see. They’re interested in your service, and as such sending them to the page where they can procure it isn’t a terrible idea.
• A Landing Page: This is the best option in my opinion. Capturing the interest of a user is not enough. You have to sustain that interest until they’ve learned enough about your business to consider you. A landing page can accomplish this beautifully. Immediately plopping a person who knows very little about your business beyond a slogan and perhaps a logo down on your homepage can be an overwhelming experience, perhaps enough so to turn them off entirely. A landing page can be utilize to teach potential customers the basics without supplying them with too much information. Here you can lay out the basics, all of the reasons they should consider you, and at the bottom you can place a link to your full site should they be interested. It’s a great way to sustain interest and inform your potential customers without coming on too strong.

In the end, PPC has its flaws. After all, just because someone clicks on your ad doesn’t mean that you’re going to make a dime off it. However, if that occurs you’re probably at least somewhat to blame. Though it does simplify matters considerably when it comes to web advertising, PPC still largely depends on you. Your actions alone can determine whether or not a PPC campaign is a success or a failure. Don’t assume that it’ll do all or even most of the work for you. Use it carefully, stay alert and diligent, and you may find that a PPC plan is exactly what you need.

The site’s interface is somewhat refreshingly simple. On the top of the page it lists the current number of jobs available. When they began there were more than 1,700,00. Now that number has risen to almost two million. You begin by typing in a keyword and your location. Next, you select the distance you are willing to travel from a dropdown menu. Choose the category of job you’re currently seeking and a second menu, one headlined “subcategory,” will fill with options. Select one of those as well and press search jobs. Now, below you’ll be able to see any and all job results which come close to matching your guidelines. The results are divided into those collected by four different popular job-hunting sites: BranchOut, Work4Labs, US.jobs, Jobvite and Monster. The results from each site can only be looked at one at a time rather than all of the results being collected together into one list.

If you see a job that catches your eye then there are a few different ways you can proceed. You can, for example, like the job posting for some reason, though the thought of why you would want to is somewhat perplexing to me. If you see a job you think would be well suited to a friend, or if you just want to give yourself an extra reminder, you can also send a message announcing the existence of the listing to anyone you wish, provided they have a Facebook page of course. But say you’ve had enough of liking things and sending messages and now it’s time for decisive action, so you clink the link and prepare to apply for the job. At this point, a button will appear offering you the option of heading to the site though which you have filtered your search results, Monster or BranchOut for example, and applying there. All of these sites already have preexisting Facebook apps, so clicking on one will not cause you to leave the site altogether. Rather, you will be taken to a page within the confines of whichever app you have chosen with more information on the job. If you’re still intrigued then you are free to head to the bottom of the page and click the large “Apply” button. Once you do, you will finally leave Facebook behind entirely and head to the job-hunting site of your choice itself.

What really intrigues and surprises me about the Social Jobs Partnership app is how unambitious it is. That being said, I don’t want to give the wrong impression. I’m not knocking this app. I actually think it’s quite neat, solely because of the convenience it offers. It’s appeal is very simple and basic: by putting results from all of these jobs sites in one place it saves you the time and hassle of going to each one individually. Basically, you get the benefits of all five sites by traveling to one. Honestly, I don’t know why someone didn’t think of this idea sooner. It’s a crowdpleaser certainly, and I get expect it will be used by a great many people. It would be disingenuous of me to complain too much about an app this pleasant and functional, so I won’t. I really have nothing much to complain about honestly. Social Jobs Partnerships is trying to do very little, and it’s definitely succeeding. That being said, if you were expecting something exciting, something revolutionary, you’re going to be disappointed.

So, is the Social Jobs Partnerships app up to taking down LinkedIn? The prospect certainly had the sites investors nervous, as the company’s stock dropped 2% on the day the app was released. It was an automatic, fear-based reaction, and they needn’t have bothered getting so worked up. In its present state, SJP has nothing on LinkedIn. That site is highly interactive, offering you not only the tools to apply for jobs but to make connections and spread your resume and gather interest for your work. By comparison, Facebook’s app is just a search engine, a convenient little tool. It offers none of the connectivity of LinkedIn, and far fewer options.

But some will be quite happy with SJP, and I feel it is important to point out that both of these sites will fill pretty disparate niches. For all of the media’s posturing of this app as a potential competitor to LinkedIn, I don’t see it that way at all, and I’m not sure that was even Facebook’s goal. The services provided by the two sites are similar in that both are job aggregators, but the comparisons end there. The sites are so radically different in their scope, their approach and their intent that I am not at all convinced that Facebook was even trying to offer an alternative to LinkedIn. Both have their place, and both could co-exist forever in total harmony if they both chose to do so. Do you want a more immersive experience, a place where you can network, make connections, spread the word and attempt to further your ambitions? Then sign up for LinkedIn. On the other hand, if you’re just some guy looking for a job, I think Social Jobs Partnerships is a very nice resource, and one which could prove quite useful. Different kinds of people with different goals and intents will favor one or the other, but both will serve their role.

So that’s about it, for now, but I have a feeling things aren’t going to stay this basic for long. The reason I was so surprised by the simplicity of SJP is that Facebook has the potential to do so much more, and while this recent app has not enhanced that potential, it has certainly not diminished it. The big Facebook jobs board that’s been rumored for so long? I believe that’s still coming somewhere down the line. I can almost guarantee that is not the end result, just a small experiment along the way. Facebook has always been about refinement. Before they arrived on the current Timeline setup Facebook went through frequent design updates. Every time a little bit more got changed, and since the institution of Timeline this trend has not stopped, as they continue to make minor tweaks now and then. Therefore, I don’t view SJP as anything more than a stepping stone towards something bigger and more impressive. Fifty percent of employers say that they already use Facebook to look for new employees and this trend seems to be gaining more power and support all the time.

So, to recap: Facebook has a huge audience, one billion members, they have the faith of potential users, the trust of a great deal of companies (both major and minor) and alliances with some of the most popular job aggregators online. They clearly have the resources and the support to take this job board concept MUCH further than they already have. I could easily see Facebook becoming a major competitor to LinkedIn and maybe even beating them at their own game. However, they’re certainly not there yet. That’s no reason to assume they never will be, but while we’re waiting, let’s cool down with all of the LinkedIn comparisons, all of this rivalry talk. Save it for later.

There are two popular solutions to the smartphone/tablet problem. The first is “adaptive web design.” This involves creating a differently sized site for each platform, usually small, medium and large models. This answer seems obvious, but it assumes that every platform on which these sites are visited will correspond to one of these three options, something which simply cannot be said with confidence in this day and age. With the rapid advancement of technology and the constantly increasing number of devices the web can be viewed upon (including the rumored Google watch), it doesn’t make sense to invest all of your faith in such a confined, limited solution. The more reliable solution is to employ highly adaptable “responsive web design,” a system through which sites can instantly (or near instantly) adapt to the size of any screen. Through the usage of this technology, the same site can be comfortably viewed on a PC and an iPod without difficulty. It certainly seems to be the answer.

Basically, responsive web design works like this. As soon as a site is visited, media queries immediately inform the site as to the resolution of the screen on which the site is being viewed. Based upon this information, the site alters the size of the fluid grid upon which it is built to match the realties of the data it has been given. Rather than utilizing pixels, a fluid grid relies upon less fixed units like ems. As such, it is more freely adaptable than the typical site. If the website has been built correctly the change should happen with remarkable speed. All pictures will change in size to match the size of the text. Often the text will wrap around the pictures or appear beneath them to correspond to the new positions the visuals have taken. A site which is three or four columns across on a PC may shrink down to one or two columns. Essentially, the site will be reorganized to make it easily readable on the smaller screen, its functionality will not be jeopardized and the user will be happy.

Many sites already utilize responsive web design. The Boston Globe created one of the first large sites to use RWD, but since their project was completed a great many others have adopted the format as well, including Disney, Time Magazine, Harvard University, Sony, Starbucks and Microsoft. More and more sites continue to adopt it. Still, a great many hold out. Why? Well, some just don’t want to put in the time and effort to make the transition. Others don’t give alternative platforms enough credit, thinking them to simply be a fad that will die out in time or underestimating the sheer number of people who use them. However, there are also a number of reasons why even a forward thinking, technologically savvy company might consider not jumping on the responsive web design train. Here are a few of them:

• It would cost too much money to make the transition.
• It would take up too much time. This concern would be particularly applicable to smaller companies which would fall behind during such a transition.
• Your content would suffer. RWD is largely about simplification. Some content may have to be eliminated or pushed to the side to make your site more streamlined. If you just can’t let any of it go, consider not making the switch at all. Yes, your site may not be accessible from a tablet or smartphone, but if you feel the sacrifices you’d have to make would outweigh the benefits of the transition then you don’t have to make it. This problem is more common among sites utilizing adaptive web design.
• You’ve already spent time developing a perfectly good web app. Responsive web design is a fairly recent innovation, and the fact of the matter is that you might have already attempted to adapt to the prevalence of alternative platforms through the creation of a web app. Considering that this app might very well have taken up a decent amount of time and money you may not want to make a similar commitment to responsive web design. In my opinion that’s absolutely fine. You’ve given your customers another option, and while it might not be the most convenient one it’s certainly good enough for most people. Just be sure your customers know about the work you’ve already done.

In the end, responsive web design will probably only increase in popularity as the years go on. It’s already being adopted by some of the largest, most popular sites out there, and for good reason. RWD really does simplify things for your customers, allowing them easy access to your site on any device, regardless of its size. This in turn benefits you, as a happy customer is the most fantastic resource a business can have. However, before you switch over to RWD weigh the pros and cons. Is it really worth it? Can you really spend the money and the time to make it happen? If the answer is yes, consider making the change to responsive web design. Your clients will thank you.

Well the wait is over… Facebook pulled back the curtain unveiling their latest and greatest feature called Graph Search.  So what exactly is Facebook Graph Search and how does it work?

Before I get too far, you should know that Facebook Graph Search is still in beta so it will not be available to the masses just yet.  You can sign up for the Waiting List on the Facebook website.

What is Graph Search and How Does it Work?

Graph Search is Facebook’s very own search engine (powered by Bing) that allows users to navigate the Internet though use of all the data that Facebook users have shared (text, photos, likes, check-ins…) while using the site.  More simply put, it will consider the things that you like, talked about, posted or commented on to deliver you search results that are more tailored to you personally rather than the best optimized web page.  So if you are searching for a great restaurant to go to, you could receive results based on what your Facebook friends like the most.

Just in case you were wondering (like I was), Graph Search is aware of privacy settings so all that content you’ve uploaded will only be used by those that you’ve granted access to view on Facebook per your privacy settings.

Should Google Be Scared?

Google is planted firmly as the #1 choice for search engine by the majority of searching consumers and are constantly challenged by the latest and greatest.  I do not see Graph Search posing a threat in the short term but only time will tell on how this feature could change our methods for searching online.

Google’s late entry into the social media game with Google+ does show that they do recognize the power and importance of social media in consumer’s everyday lives.  The big problem that Google faces is not everyone owns a Google+ account and many of those that do are not logging in nearly as often as they do with Facebook.

Problems Facebook Graph Search Faces

Many Facebook users are aware and use their privacy settings to keep their information from being public.  Graph Search’s limits to using the content that you share through your privacy settings will be very restricting to how much of that personal experience it can deliver in it’s results.  For example, let’s say you want to conduct a search for financial advise on getting out of debt.  Unless this is a topic that you and your friends frequently discuss on Facebook, there is little substance for Graph Search to provide that will deliver the promised personal results based upon your preferences.

Another problem that Facebook faces is getting users to use the Facebook platform for something other than a social platform.  While I’m not saying that habits cannot be broken, the majority of Facebook users like to use Facebook as a social media platform and not as a search engine.

What Do You Think?

I’d be interested in hearing what your thoughts are on this new feature.

Become Aware

Step One would be to sign up for alert systems like Google Alert, Yahoo! Alert, Social Mention, Trackle, or LinkedIn Signal.  All of these sites (plus many more) have been created in order to discover and track what people are saying about you through all mediums available.  Sign up and enter a variety of keywords that you’d like the systems to track.  Remember to include not only your company’s name, but also the industry you’re in and names of some of the important people who work there.  It’s a good idea to include common misspellings of all of the above too to ensure that you’re receiving all possible results.  Most of these sites have a daily evaluation that can be sent to your email with results.  Remember to keep track of these and to check your sites at least once a week.  It’s not enough to just know it’s happening; you also have to take action.

Reach Out

If you don’t like what someone is saying or has said about you, tell them!  Reaching out to the person who wrote the information about you and telling them that you think it’s hurtful, unjust, or untrue can be the simple resolution to all of your problems.  Try to work things out with the person; perhaps apologize and try to fix whatever it is they think you did wrong.  Chances are they will appreciate you reaching out to them and you two may be able to work out a deal.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.  Sometimes you’re not able to reach the person who wrote this content about you, or worse, they’re not willing to take it down.  Don’t worry, you do have another option.  You can contact the web site and calmly and tactfully ask for them to take down the information.  Explain your situation to them and enlighten them on why you think it should be removed.  The website may have the jurisdiction to remove the content, and if you plead your case well enough this could work; however, sometimes they might not be able to remove this content or are just unwilling to do so.  While this is upsetting, don’t dwell on it; you’re not going to be able to convince them.

Yelp, like most business review services, will not remove bad/false reviews. It is best to try to resolve this publicly on Yelp with the reviewer.

Create New

If Step Two fails, it’s time to move on to Step Three: Creating new, positive information about yourself that will drown out the negative.  Create a company blog where you showcase positive aspects of what the company has done or is doing.  Create company Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest pages to gain the customers attention in a new way.  Give them new and intriguing information to read and learn from, or perhaps create YouTube tutorials on your newer products/ services.  Showcase any press releases that your company has issued lately, and make sure to remind people of any awards or achievements you’ve earned.  By creating all of this new content you’re able to bury the old, hurtful information with the new, exciting stuff.   It’s also important to remember that even if people do find the old information, chances are they probably will have already read all the new and exciting facts about you, so the bad news will seem like a small blurb amongst a sea of greatness.

After you remove (or at least attempt to) the harmful information and then start to create new and positive information about yourself, your reputation should start growing tremendously in an affirmative way.  Remember to keep a steady eye, though, and keep monitoring on a weekly basis; you never know when someone could strike again.

[Related Article: 7 Reasons to Update Your Website]