Jun 09

Red & Black vs. Black & White: Yelp Publicity Story for Small Businesses

by | June 9th, 2010 | Posted in Blogging, Social Media | Comments Off on Red & Black vs. Black & White: Yelp Publicity Story for Small Businesses

The Red & Black Cafe - Portland, OR

The Red & Black Cafe - Portland, OR

The Red & Black Cafรฉ is a worker owned, collectively managed, anarchist friendly, vegan coffee shop and restaurant located here in Portland, Oregon. A curiosity in some parts of the country, but here in the Northwest just another place to get a vegan meal and a cup of coffeeโ€ฆ unless that is; youโ€™re a Portland Police officer.

Recently the Red & Black cafรฉ made national news when they asked a uniformed Officer to leave the premises because his presence reportedly made some of the other patrons uncomfortable. See, the Red & Black has a Safer Space policy, and according to reports, one of the โ€œownersโ€ asked the officer to leave (after they sold him his cup of coffee) because a good number of their patrons donโ€™t feel safe around the police.

May 25

3 Social Media Guidelines for Keeping Your Private Parts Private

by | May 25th, 2010 | Posted in Social Media | Comments (4)

Are your private parts private on your social media accounts?

Are your private parts private on your social media accounts?

There has been a lot of discussion as of late regarding Facebook and their new โ€œYour Information is not as private as you might have thought it wasโ€ privacy policy. While I really donโ€™t have anything new to add directly to this conversation that hasnโ€™t already been said, it does lead to a discussion about the importance of filtering your social media presence for both your personal and professional personas.

By keeping the following simple guidelines in mind you can hopefully avoid those awkward โ€œI canโ€™t believe my Mom now knows I party like thatโ€ moments.

May 21

Google Celebrates PAC-MAN’s 30th Anniversary with an Interactive Video Game Logo

by | May 21st, 2010 | Posted in Search Engines | Comments (1)

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 marks the 30 year anniversary of when the Pac-Man video game was released. To celebrate this phenominal interactive computing milestone, Google has changed their homepage logo to an interactive one that you can play the Pacman game live, online and right from Google.com. Pretty Cool!

Google PAC-MAN 30th Anniversary Interactive Video Game Logo

Google PAC-MAN 30th Anniversary Interactive Video Game Logo

 
Watch a video of me wasting time playing Field Testing this interactive search engine feature:

May 14

Local Search Marketing Takeaways from the Twin Cities Local U

Local Search Marketing Seminar in the Twin Cities

The recent Local University marketing workshop held here in the Twin Cities had a line up of local search marketing speakers that was by far and away the most proficient local SEM panel ever assembled. Ever. Being a search engine marketer myself, whom works on many local and small business campaigns, I thought I would share some of the little local gems and actionable items that I took away from the event.

WebRanking helps Local University in a small way at the seminar in Minnesota - David Mihm on right

WebRanking loves getting involved with great organizations like Local University

Disclaimer: The following is not intended to supplement or replace the information that can be gathered by attending a Local U workshop in person. It is only a small sampling of what can be gained from this event. If you are an SEO/SEM and not currently enrolled in an upcoming Local U seminar, you are here by advised to do so at the earliest opportunity.

May 07

Twin Cities Local University Workshop Free Ticket Contest

by | May 7th, 2010 | Posted in Conferences and Seminars, Local Marketing, Minnesota Events | Comments Off on Twin Cities Local University Workshop Free Ticket Contest
Local Search Marketing Seminar coming to Minneapolis Minnesota

WebRanking has 2 tickets to the morning session of the Twin Cities Local University Workshop on Thursday, May 13th in Edina, Minnesota that we are giving away in a contest. If you are interested, just fill out the entry form below for your chance to win.

All entries must be in by Tuesday, May 11th at Noon (12:00pm CST)

The free ticket contest is now closed. Thanks for all the submissions! And the winner isโ€ฆ

May 06

Google Officially Launches New Logo and Search Page Layout

by | May 6th, 2010 | Posted in Search Engines | Comments (10)

Google New SERPs Navigation

Google New SERPs Navigation


 
It’s official! Google has officially launched their new search engine result pages (SERPs) format and also an updated and cleaner looking logo.

We first noticed Google testing their new SERPs format back in April.

Since then we have been left to wonder if and when the new search page layout would go live ad if there were any changes that would be made to their format as well.

It appears that the only thing missing from the early tests is the “Not Entirely Unlike” section.

From “Not Entirely Unlike” to “Something Different”

Google SERP Test: "Not Entirely Unlike"

Test SERP: Not Entirely Unlike

New SERPs: Something Different

New SERPs: Something Different

Google Logos – Then and Now

Googles Original Logo

Google's Original TM Logo

Google's New Logo

New Cleaner Looking Google Logo

Apr 29

Mother’s Day Search & Marketing on the Rise, Too Late for SEO, PPC & SMO?

by | April 29th, 2010 | Posted in Search Engine Marketing | Comments Off on Mother’s Day Search & Marketing on the Rise, Too Late for SEO, PPC & SMO?

The Internet ads have been spotted, etailers have posted their shopping guides, social trends are getting hot, and search queries are rising sharply.

It’s official, Mother’s Day Marketing Season is in full bloom along with the tulips!

Bing.com Shopping Promo for Mother's Day 2010

Bing.com Shopping Promo for Mother's Day 2010

Bing.com Homepage Link to Mother's Day 2010 Favorite Gifts

Bing.com Homepage Text Ad to Mother's Day Gift Guide »»»


 
Yahoo Homepage Mothers Day Target Ad for Kodak Camera

Yahoo Homepage Ad

With interest and search volume on the rise (and still rising), and time running out, you will need to consider moving quickly to tap into the remaining Mother’s Day season for SEO, PPC and Social Media.

Google Trends Mother's Day 2010 - 30 Days Comparison

Google Trends Mother's Day 2010 - April 30 Day Search Trend

Apr 06

Yelp Increases Transparency and Eliminates Favorite Review Feature

by | April 6th, 2010 | Posted in Local Marketing, Social Media | Comments (1)

Yelp LogoYelp has been getting a lot of attention recently and none of it is for being funny, useful or cool. With multiple lawsuits in the works, and claims of extortion and review manipulation being bantered around daily, the integrity of Yelpโ€™s has been up for debate. In an attempt to quell those complaints and add more transparency to the process of how reviews are filtered, Yelp announced today on their official blog two major changes to the way they do business.

The first change, and one that has been requested by reviewers and business owners alike, is the ability to see the reviews that get caught in the oh so secretive review algorithm. Thatโ€™s right, all of those reviews deemed to be from disgruntled ex employees, revenge seeking former lovers, unethical competitors, robots, the business ownerโ€™s family and the solicited 5 star customer are now available for all to see.

Want to discover reviews for your favorite restaurant or even your own business that didnโ€™t make the cut to prime time? Hereโ€™s how you do it:

Apr 02

Google Testing New Format in Search Engine Result Pages?

by | April 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Search Engines | Comments (4)

 
Kudos to Paul Kragthorpe for spotting what is either a Good Friday (long weekend) test or a limited/controlled release of a new format for Google’s search engine result pages (SERP’s).

 

Google New SERP for Test

Google New SERP for TEST

Always a clever one to notice similarities, Paul remarks seem to be on point:

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