An Internet marketing summit featuring the best talent from the Chicago and Milwaukee areas, and which focuses particularly on search marketing and social media, is poised to become one of the most talked-about events in Wisconsin this February. Dubbed “Think Tank Live!”, the summit brings together several of the most dynamic and talented Internet marketers this side of America, as well as C-level executives, small and medium-size business owners, top branding and communications professionals, and IT and web design experts. “Think Tank Live” will be held February 23 at Country Springs Hotel, Waukesha, WI. Sponsored by Biz Times Media and Mashable and organized by I.M. Think Tank (a collective group of integrated marketing professionals in Chicago and Milwaukee areas), the summit will focus on educating people on utilizing today’s best Internet marketing and social media practices to strategically drive business results, increase profits, and lower costs. “Think Tank Live!” will have a track on Internet marketing strategies that align businesses – Read the full article
Just as Microsoft is trying to gain greater foothold in the search engine wars, which Google dominates, Google is trying to do the same in the Windows-controlled OS market. Yes, you heard that right. The company is launching its own operating system early next year: the Google Chrome OS. Google recently previewed Chrome OS, which is an open-source, lightweight system that is based off Google Chrome, the company’s web browser. While the company already has a mobile OS in Android, Chrome OS is primarily targeted at netbooks, at least initially. And why not? Netbooks are enjoying increasing popularity today, as more and more users push for innovation in their mobile computing devices. Google emphasizes that Speed, Simplicity, and Security are the pillars of the Chrome OS. Speed Google is taking out every unnecessary process and optimizing operations and running everything possible in parallel. The goal? To turn on the computer and surf the web in a matter of a few – Read the full article
At the recent PubCon in Las Vegas, Matt Cutts from Google delivered a presentation on what to expect in the year 2010. One of the bullet points discussed how, over at Google, there has been strong lobbying to introduce a new ranking factor into the algorithm: site speed. Soon, Cutt said, site or page speed may be a factor in the organic ranking algorithm. It can happen as early as next year, although we believe Google has been testing this as part of the algorithm for some time. This is a new insight to how Google determines page rankings. How fast a page loads is already a factor in the AdWords quality score; making it matter in the organic ranking algorithm should reward sites with fast load times, and which use fast servers. Right now there are over 200 ranking factors in the algorithm, each of them weighted differently. And while adding page loading speed to the mix won’t dramatically – Read the full article
Google recently announced its acquisition of AdMob, a leading mobile network that covers the Apple iPhone and other mobile platforms, including Android. The deal was worth $750 million in stock and serves to validate the continued growth of mobile marketing and advertising. Google said that the acquisition of AdMob gives the company more expertise in a market that is expected to grow rapidly over the next several years. Apart from that, however, it solidifies the entry of a major player in mobile marketing, the power, reach, and value of which more and more industry experts are beginning to recognize. After all, despite today’s difficult economic climate, mobile platforms continue to grow. With the move, Google demonstrates how committed and serious the company really is about the mobile advertising and marketing industry. What are other implications of this acquisition? One is the potential money that lies in mobile applications. iPhone, which has an app for almost anything, can encourage developers to – Read the full article
Google is giving a new voice to small businesses – using their existing phone numbers. The company announced recently that Google Voice (formerly GrandCentral), the telecommunications service developed by the company, now comes equipped with a new feature, one that could entice more small business owners to use it. While previously, Google Voice can only be used by getting a new Google number (a criticism on Google Voice, since not everyone wants to start over with a new number), now it is possible for users to sign up for the service with their own existing phone numbers. This new capability gives small business owners plenty of reasons to use Google Voice as a sort of online PBX (private bank exchange), and a free one at that. The voicemail feature, for example, lets Google Voice users access voicemail not just from their phones but also through a computer; messages are transcribed automatically into text and can be read on a Gmail-like – Read the full article
The keywords people search for the most on search engines in your niche or industry are not always the most profitable keywords to focus on for your business. This is at the heart of Chris Anderson’s concept of ”the Long Tail” from his groundbreaking 2004 Wired article and his book of the same title released in 2006. The Long Tail was originally meant to discuss an emerging trend where online retailers like Amazon, Netflix & Rhapsody found success increasing the depth of their inventory and selling less of more in an internet driven environment but it has had implications far beyond its initial insight. Nowhere was this more apparent than with Search Engine Marketing. Understanding “the long tail” and applying strategies to leverage it for SEO has proven time and again over the last few years to be one of the highest value activities in search marketing. To many this is not something new, but it is surely worth revisiting. – Read the full article
Google Analytics, the free web analytics solution that generates detailed statistics and reports about visitors to a website, recently announced a set of powerful new features that build on last year’s enterprise-class launch. Google says that the features – which will gradually be incorporated into Google Analytics accounts over the coming weeks – focus on three key areas: Intelligence: Google has made significant changes that enable users to understand their data better. It has launched the first phase of an algorithm-driven engine – Analytics Intelligence – that provides users with automatic alerts whenever significant changes happen in their data patterns (metric or dimension). Moreover, users can customize these alerts, so that they can tell Google Analytics what to watch for. The automatically combed data saves users time and brings to light traffic insights that users may find most crucial. Powerful options: One previous limitation of Google Analytics involved collecting visitor information for websites browsed through mobile phones. This was due – Read the full article
We recently joined the Local First Chicago, a great local membership organization of local owned companies in Chicago. Local First Chicago’s mission is to educate the public on the importance of choosing locally owned, independent businesses. We work primarily through public education, business support, and advocacy. Local First Chicago is a network of locally owned, independent businesses and community organizations joined together to keep money and character in our neighborhoods and build a thriving local living economy. In doing so, we hope to promote the overall social, economic, and environmental health of our economy and communities. Here are 10 Reasons to Shop and Support Chicago businesses like Lakeshore Branding. #1. Keep money in the neighborhood. A recent study in Chicago showed that locally owned, independent businesses put 70% more money back into the local community than chain stores, per square foot occupied. A space filled with a local business rather than a chain puts more dollars back in your neighborhood. – Read the full article
