Twitter may lack the numbers that Facebook has, but it has quietly become the main way people converse. When Tim Tebow threw a touchdown in overtime there were 9,420 tweets per second discussing the event. This shattered the previous record for a sport related Tweet, but I don’t expect it to last. When there is a Bulls game, or the Lakers are playing fans of all type are interacting about the play on the floor.

Yet, sports is just one type of conversation going on in Twitter. And Hollywood and the media are starting to do what it can to encourage conversation on their product. It seems as if every major show begins with a hashtag related to the series. There is even a top ten list every week. When the President spoke last night, ABC had a hashtag prominently displayed during the speech and the follow up remarks by Republican rebuttal.

Webinars, seminars, and conferences usually display hashtags so that participants can interact about the event and post questions.

Advertising on Twitter is still in its infancy, but its bound to increase. When Paranormal Activity 3 was released on DVD a few days ago, it was listed in the trends as a promoted trend. Whether it impacted sales has yet to be seen, but it was sure to encourage discussion. And even if Twitter still struggles to find a way to make money from their popularity, its already become an integral part of many advertising campaigns.

For your business Facebook and Google+ may be the flashy mediums to develop your brand. But if your going to interact with prospects and current customers, Twitter may be more effective. And to interact it doesn’t mean just Tweeting about your services and products, it means giving them something meaningful or valuable so they’ll follow you. Follow the example of Hollywood and find a way to encourage discussion.

Today Matt Cutts, Google’s most well known spokesman made a video is intended to be mailed to bosses or clients who worry about rankings for a “trophy” phrase. Cutts does a good job of showing why its important that visitor convert and that this might not be the case with the chosen phrase. I would have liked him to expand more about rankings and how they vary from person to person, but I do like this. Well worth watching.

Last year JC Penny made headlines when it was found that its search marketing firm was using unethical methods to get the site ranked for thousands of terms. The result was that Google penalized the site and it dropped from the rankings for an extensive period of time. This potentially cost the company millions of dollars in sales. This is one of the more extreme examples of a company putting its faith in a company while not being aware of what they are doing. Yet it happens surprisingly often.

I was approached by a company recently that had been working with a search marketing firm for a year and were concerned they were not getting anything of value from the company. I did a brief assessment of the site and their marketing program and could find little to justify the firm’s monthly expense. I also found that much of what they did was to put out press releases that contained nothing newsworthy. In fact, the press releases were so poorly written that even if used, they would have embarrassed the company.

This is one sample paragraph.

“It is like luring your prospective customers, yet you would not be chasing them away. When it comes to projecting yourself and your business you would trust no one else but yourself. In order to improve your visibility and reinstate your current image in your customers’ mind on hold message is a great tool to implement.”

Does this paragraph make sense to anyone. Does it encourage visitors to click on the link in the release? No. In fact, the data from their analytics demonstrated this. When I forwarded the press releases to the client he was aghast. He never even knew it was being done. Yet, a search of their company named revealed 4 of the top listings for their name was this and similarly written releases.

Sometimes it easy to spot a suspect SEO firm. On a forum on LinkedIn a business owner was looking for a search marketing firm to assist him. One of the responses was “hello sir, i am work seo for freelancer. you me contract ….” It’s easy to dismiss this firm. Yet, no matter what company you work with, always know what is going on. It’s your business and what they are doing impacts it. Nearly all ethical search marketing firms and specialist will be glad to educate you on what they are doing. If not, maybe it’s time to rethink the relationship before something occurs that could negatively impact your brand reputation.

When you are doing a blog, make sure your writing to your audience. Too many business owners use insider terminology without realizing their clients or prospects aren’t familiar with them. I was going over a blog with a client today and we were looking at his past entries. One had a title with a word I didn’t recognize; he looked at it and admitted it might have been a misspelling. I started reading the entry, however, and realized it was an abbreviation he used in the entry. The story concerned something his market would definitely be interested in. But the title and accompanying story used terms that he and others in the business would understand, but not the man or woman on the street.

When you write a blog or content of any kind for your business make sure it’s understandable. You don’t have to dumb it down, but put it in terms they’ll understand. One of the ways to do this is look at your emails from prospects or clients. When they mention one of your services or have a question about some products, how do they phrase it? Look at the analytics if your site has them. Look at how they search for your business and found it. Not only then do you ensure that your copy connects with them, it will help your site rank for these phrases.

Although my New Year’s resolutions seldom make it a month into the New Year, my goal this year is to be more social. Not in the hitting the bar scene more or playing card games with friends type of social. But in the social mediums that are becoming so important to businesses. Now as someone who has been in SEO for a while, I’ve obviously known this and encourage my clients to leverage its potential. The problem is that I don’t do what I preach. I enjoy Twitter and do that frequently, but for the most part that is the extent of my social experience. My blog I do when I have time, but since I work independently I simply don’t have the time to do it regularly. After all, where do I take the time from, working with my clients, keeping up on the latest in SEO, or spending time with my family?

My dilemma is probably similar to many entrepreneurs. Where to find time. Yet, this is a dilemma they always face. The restaurant owner who has to come out once in a while to interact with guests, the executive who golfs with his biggest clients, or the chiropractor who hosts a holiday gathering for her best clients. The social aspect has always been there. It’s simply taken on a new dimension. The problem with social mediums, however, is if you feel obligated to do it, it won’t be long before it becomes a chore. You start posting things on your Facebook page on a regular interval whether it’s of interest or not. You aren’t really interacting anymore your just preaching.

For me, my goal to be more social on the internet won’t always involve my platforms. Much of it is responding to people’s posts on LinkedIn or something I come across on Twitter. For me I know a Facebook page isn’t of much value, simply because I don’t even meet most of my clients. Google+ for me will be a way to learn more about my business and still have the potential to meet prospects.

If you can’t do social sites on your own then look to your employees or bring in someone to help. This is part of your brand identity and if you tweets are boring or Facebook updates of no value, then you’re diluting your brand. If you can’t turn to others then don’t spread yourself too thin. Focus on one or two mediums and learn to develop your voice. Eventually you can interweave the different mediums into others and expand your reach. This is what I intend to do. I may never develop a following on Facebook, but I can still be social with others in my field and with potential clients.

Pay per click is one of the easiest advertising platforms out there. You write your ad, pick some keywords and fund your account. Then in minutes your ad can be reaching relevant prospects. The problem, however, is that pay per click can quickly drain your marketing budget, especially if your not running your campaign properly. One of the best ways to curb spending and reach your targeted market is to think negatively.

One way to begin to think negatively is think who isn’t your market. If you sell upscale products than if people are typing in cheap widgets or inexpensive widgets, then use cheap or inexpensive as negative words. Then when people use these words, your ad won’t appear. Other words to consider are free, or trial or any other phrase that a tire kicker might be using. You want someone clicking on your ad who is actively interested in what you sell and can afford it.
Also think about your product and decide if it could be mistaken for other products. Consider a company that sells pet apparel. If you sell shirts for dogs, you won’t want people clicking on your ad looking for shirts with dogs on them. Make sure what you sell and who you sell to, is fully evident in your add.

Finally one of the best source to find negative words or meanings is to consistently examine the phrase that people use to find your ads, especially if you are using broad match.

One way to cut down on clicks is to put prices in your ads. Again this will help eliminate those that can’t afford your products or services. Or if prices are one of your strengths it could encourage clicks.

Finally if there are people you don’t serve, make sure they aren’t seeing your ads. I’ve seen ads that explicitly state they don’t ship to particular locations, yet still run ads there. Make sure your ads only run in your the locales you serve.

It’s still a month off, but eCommerce sites should prepare as early as possible for the holiday season. The main thing you should do is look at your product pages. If you are using the description furnished by the manufacturers, begin to get away from this. The problem is that there could be a lot of sites using the same description. This is one reason so many sites were impacted by the Panda update. Go through the description and make it your own. It could be as simple as changing the words used or looking for synonyms. If your business has a specific identity, however, then develop a tone with your descriptions. And keep in mind that you should be considering keyword phrases as you write. Do a quick check on Google Adwords to find phrases that might be of value.

It amazes me how with all the marketing power at their disposal, major corporations make mistakes many would anticipate from the beginning. There was Netflix and its decision first to raise prices, then to divide the company into two. The public didn’t like either of these and the company backed off. Then it was Overstock.com. They had great brand identity and their name summed up what made them different. Maybe they thought it wasn’t edgy enough, but they decided to become the O. Then to be o.co. The problem is that many thought it was o.com, which I thought would Oprah’s site, but apparently isn’t that either. Now after six months of marketing and with O.co on signs at baseball games, they are backing off. So now both names are out there. That shouldn’t create any confusion.

In a new report released by Efficient Frontier (EFF) and Macquarie Capital it is projected that US mobile paid search spending (including tablets) could account for up to 22% of total search revenues by the end of 2012. They admit it could be 16%, but even this is a significant number. If your business is related to a service industry, such as car rentals, hotels, etc. this number could be even higher. The best option is to look at your market and determine if they would be likely to purchase or utilize your service on their smartphone. It should be noted that Google is the main marketing platform for mobile phones.

IBM is predicting that 15% of all visitors to retail sites this holiday season will be accessing them through their smartphones. A good percentage of these will likely be people waiting in line at some retail outlet. Think about it. People are looking for the best buys and if they are not sure about an item they’ve come across, their cell phone can let them compare prices. Or what about when they come up empty handed and need to find the item at another store or location. Stores are going to have to expect that people are going to use their phones more and more as part of their shopping experience. And what of the impact of people using their phones to purchase items. This holiday season may be the start of a flood of traffic from mobile phones.