I remember when Arthur C. Clarke’s “2010 – The Year We Make Contact” came out in 1982. 2010 seemed so far away. Now it’s here and while we haven’t made contact with an alien species, so much has changed since then.

Computers have developed in ways that even sci fi writers couldn’t have imagined (Mapquest, anyone?)

In any case, 2010 presents opportunities and challenges that Clarke never dreamed of. I, for one, am eager to meet the new year and all it has to offer.

Happy new year everyone!

Social media usage is going to be a HUGE part of the updated Google Caffeine Search Engine that launches in January. Here’s some tips on how to make Twitter work for your business:

1.) Build an account and start to us Twitter Search to track comments about your business – listen before you Tweet).
2.) Add a picture because people want to see you.
3.) Point out things that are happening in your industry – not just to you.
4.) Have more than one twitter at your company. If someone quits, you don’t want to lose your visibility.
5.) When you talk about your own products and services, make it interesting.
6.) Share the human side of your company. Remember Twitter is about providing value for human connections.
7.) Remember that you don’t have to read every Tweet and you don’t have to answer every Tweet directed at you.
8.) Learn to use URL shortening tools like TinyURL to clean up your Tweets
9.) Twitter works great as an opinion poll
10.) Twitter can augment customer service.

Google has a new search algorithm called Caffeine coming online in early 2010. How will this affect Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

While users are unlikely to find the search result experience much different, people with websites are likely to see their placement results climb or fall based on changes made for Caffeine.

Some of the factors that influence Caffeine include:

• Frequency of updates to site
• Load time for website
• Broken links – a big no no
• Links out to relevant websites – a big yes
• Social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc) updates will be listed high in Google

If you want help planning your SEO strategy to take advantage of the changes with Google Caffeine, give Stacy Fox a call today at (909) 809-8566.

Google’s now automatically captioning videos on the popular YouTube video site. The primary purpose is to allow deaf people to enjoy the videos. But, a secondary impact is that the videos will become Search Engine (SEO) friendly. The service is in its infancy, but the video scripts will soon allow YouTube to have a stronger online content presence.

The transcript of the videos is huge for SEO. The targeted text on the page will help the video rank in the search engines for specific searches.

Some videos come pre-captioned for the web. But, most have audio only or if text is available, it is embedded in the video where search engines cannot “capture” the information.

For instance, in a video for a plumber, the page will now have words like “leaky pipe” or “Riverside Plumbing.” This will help Google know what the video is about which, in turn, helps it to get ranked.

As a result of these changes, it will become increasingly important to have videos placed on YouTube (and to a lesser extent, other video sites) which drive visitors to your website.

What You Should Be Doing NOW to Make Sure Your SEO is In Place for 2010.

There are some things you should be doing at the end of 2009 to make sure that your Search Engine Optimization is in place for 2010.

The first thing you should be doing is planning a strategy for frequent updating of your pages.

Increasingly, search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo are placing a premium on fresh, new content. A blog on your site is a great way to keep the Search Engines coming back.

Next, you should make sure that as much information as possible is included in your home page. Keep data like opening hours, address, phone number, etc. available. Google is increasingly including this information in the search results.

Another thing you should do is make sure that you have analytics installed and are tracking all of your data. The best thing about your web presence is that – if implemented correctly – it is a trackable resource for you.

Finally, you should make sure that your business is listed in all of the relevant local online directories. Almost all of these are free. And, what is best, Google uses these directories to help it determine your place in the Google Local (also known as Google Maps) listings.

Take some time at the end of this year to make sure your website is optimized for the new year.