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
As a small business owner you may be on a job that is usually reserved for two people or more – and you may be running around more than you ought to. (Doesn’t everyone feel that way?) If only you can split yourself in two! Well, spare yourself with these helpful apps. If you have a mobile smartphone like the iPhone or the Android, you can make use of the tools and applications to improve your workflow. After all, these phones are made for more than checking your E-mail, you know. To-Do Lists Outlook Mobile has a nice, task-syncing feature for your smartphone that lets you send meeting requests, track attendance, received detailed responses, and much more. If you’re using an iPhone, there’s the very flexible Toodledo, which synchronizes your tasks without requiring Internet connection. For Android users, use Astrid, a simple task recording dashboard for mobile that lists and tracks your To-Do list. Like the two previous tools, it’s – Read the full article
YouTube recently introduced new features that give generations of video content creators new ways to connect with billions of viewers every day. The first is YouTube Direct, an open-source tool that lets users embed the upload functionality of YouTube directly into their own sites. YouTube Direct is designed to bridge closer connections between individual users and news, media, and business organizations. Image via Now Public “Almost any event that takes place today has a chance of being captured on camera,” a statement reads on the Google blog. “As YouTube has become a global platform for sharing the news, media organizations have been looking for a good way to connect directly with citizen reporters on our site….” That’s why YouTube direct lets users upload videos directly into the application, such that others can request, review, verify, and rebroadcast their clips. Of course, these videos stay live on YouTube, so that users can reach other viewers while getting a chance for broader – Read the full article
Hard-pressed for time and money? That doesn’t excuse you from doing SEO. Now that small and medium businesses all over the world are learning the nuances of search engine optimization and paying greater attention to search marketing, you can’t let yourself fall behind. You’ve got to work hard – and work smart. Don’t make these common SEO mistakes that usually cost a lot of time and money. Image via SEO Tips Targeting Too Many Keywords in One Page SEO is not about stuffing; it’s about sharpening your focus. When creating new pages or publishing new content, remember that – while targeting a lot of keywords is a noble intention – targeting a lot of keywords and trying to hit them all with a single dart is not necessary. Create unique content-rich pages, and make each of them target unique keywords. That way, you consolidate the focus of your SEO efforts. And you build the foundation of an optimized site whose – Read the full article
Looking to stretch your advertising dollars? Try implementing a PPC (pay per click) campaign. It’s cheap. It’s ideal for small businesses. It’s not as costly as producing a full-blown advertising or Internet marketing campaign. It’s also can be very effective if executed correctly. Getting your money’s worth on PPC advertising means coming up first with a good strategy. A lot of people think that a PPC campaign can be hastily thrown together – “okay, I’ve chosen my keywords – I’m done!” – and they are the ones who are most prone to making costly mistakes. So, before you go about launching your own PPC campaign, take a look first at these helpful tips. They won’t just help you save money; it will also maximize your money and, subsequently, your sales potential. Keyword Selection Choose keywords wisely, and cast your net broadly. Of course you want a high PPC ranking. But that doesn’t mean you have to get the most popular – Read the full article
Looking to boost local traffic to your site? It’s a must these days, especially if you’re a small business. Getting listed puts you on the online map. Optimizing that listing lets your customers and potentials know where and how to find you. Local SEO: it’s all about getting local consumers in the door and the phone ringing. Here are 6 things that you absolutely must do when optimizing your local business listing. We say ‘must do’; you don’t want to lose out on higher rankings, do you? 1. Claim and submit. List your business at Google Maps. This, you should know already. But it doesn’t end there. Take advantage of other search engines. Claim your listing at Yahoo! Local, Bing Local and Best of the Web. They’re free to submit your information. On top of that, submit your information to major data providers like InfoUSA, Acxiom, and Localeze. The more listings you have in more local business directories, the more – Read the full article
Website analytics is the collection, analysis, and reporting of your website data. There are plenty of methods and technologies to help you do this, but you don’t have to know all the nuances of the language of the Web in order to obtain the most important information. Why us? The answer is simple. We don’t just give you the information, no. We help you incorporate analytics into your marketing strategy, content creation, and business plans. More than figuring your website stats – like hits, clicks, frequencies, session durations, bounce rates – we help you manage information to drive the decisions that make a business impact on your organization. Our team of web analytics consultants analyzes the data collected to identify issues and potential growth opportunities in your website. Our team has had extensive training, with various certifications in Google Analytics, Omniture, AW Stats, and GetClicky. You don’t have to do this by yourself. With Lakeshore Branding’s web analytics solutions, you – Read the full article
Recently, Google rolled out another one of its search engine innovations: the Google Social Search. The announcement was made in conjunction with the company’s new partnership with social networking giant Twitter, which should help users find more up-to-the-minute, real-time data – including tweets – in Google search results. Google Social Search, however, is something independent from the Google-Twitter collaboration. Contrary to what some people might think, Social Search is not real-time search. What the new service does do is help users find content published by people in their social circle – and then see this kind of content included in search results. “Most people on the web today make social connections and publish web content in many different ways, including blogs, status updates, and tweets,” as explained by Google in the official blog entry announcing Social Search. “This translates to a public social web of content that has special relevance to each person.” It is this relevant, social web of – Read the full article
