It’s commonly known in the search marketing world that Bing has partnerships with Facebook and Twitter and integrates them into relevant search results.

Starting this week though, Google is rolling out a transformative switch that will integrate pictures and posts from Google+ in with search results. Those of us signed into Google will be able to simultaneously search the broader web and our own Google+ networks at the same time.

This latest update from Google is dubbed “Search Across your World.” Jack Menzel, Google’s product management director, explains that members will be able to “…search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web.”

While they will be clearly noted, Google+ results will be blended in with traditional ‘authoritative results.’

Let’s say you’re researching your next vacation to the Grand Canyon and type that into a search. Besides sites showcasing the park, any tours and attractions, you will also see a post one of your friends wrote in Google+ about their trip. However, it will only appear if the post or picture has been shared with you or if it’s public (…in order to alleviate privacy concerns).

And that’s an important thing to remember – this new integration with Google+ and regular search will include images as well. Therefore, if you use Google Image search, pictures from your friends will appear alongside results from the broader web.

From Google’s perspective, this integration of personal, private, public and social will ensure you’re getting more relevant results because this is the information and the people you choose to connect with.

These new features will only work if you’re signed into Google though (…another move to allay privacy concerns). And to allow more flexibility, icons will appear at the top of the page – one allowing you to include social results and the other allowing you to strictly see standard, non-personalized results.

Amit Singhal, who oversees Google’s algorithms, comments that “The social search algorithm, and the personal search algorithm, and the personalized search algorithm are actually one algorithm now, and we are merging it in a way that is very pleasant and useful.”

Think of this is as another integration of different searches into one place. In the good ol’ days, you had to do separate searches for news, images and so forth. For a while now though, these results have been integrated with regular searches. Google is now simply including social in that mix as well.

How will this affect business’ search engine optimization efforts?

Only time will tell. One thing is absolutely certain though – we will report on these effects as they become available to us.

In the meantime, see this quick summary from Google below and take a look at these expert reviews from Mashable and Search Engine Land to learn more about these revolutionary changes.

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

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Google+ – What is it and how will it integrate into your marketing strategy?

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Over the last few weeks of 2011, we took a break to assess the state of search engine optimization and where things were headed going into 2012. We do this in order to help our clients (…and readers of this blog) better understand where they should focus their online marketing efforts.

After reflecting on where we’ve been and where we’re going, we quickly realized that the lines between different types of search – namely organic, local, mobile and social – are now being blurred more than ever. Rather than web search strictly being the center of activity online, social is increasingly becoming the focus.

According to an exclusive web tutorial from Planet Ocean, web search was the sun and other types of search (…or planets) revolved around it. Now, instead of web search being the sun, social is quickly becoming the center of the universe with other types of search (…or planets) revolving around it.

As we’ve said here many times over the last year, being social is a critical strategy to being successful online – this will become even more critical in the coming year. A cursory review of search results for a variety of terms shows social mentions and engagement alongside traditional webpages.

Social is being aggressively integrated in Bing, who has partnerships with Facebook, Skype and Twitter. Google has basically bet the farm on its new social network Google +.

From these arrangements and others, we can ascertain that social sharing will increasingly integrate with web search. Going forward, social shares or votes will increasingly be the new links.

How many have liked, +1’d or otherwise made a comment regarding content on your site?

So how can I ensure my site continues to rank high in 2012?

Dominating your market online in the new year will require some tried and true methods mixed with some new ways of engaging your audience online.

Since the web has become increasingly social, it’s become increasingly democratized as well. Users will more and more be the driving force in determining which social networking platforms you ultimately adopt.

The key to all of this though is content – as in years past, successful online marketing will be driven by your ability to create reference grade content that helps the reader. In turn, this can lead to true engagement that builds trust and value.

Rather than a few pages earning links, success online will hinge more on how socially engaging your content is.

The more likes, +1s and buzz your content has, the better your business will do.

Besides content itself, freshness will also be a driving factor in maintaining and building high search rankings. It’s increasingly become clear that Google and others are placing a high value on ‘fresh’ content. Just in the last two months, we’ve seen Google make updates to its algorithms to reward sites with fresh content, especially in areas that are always changing.

This update though has sadly penalized some sites with great ‘evergreen’ content that’s been around awhile but still valuable. Repurposing this content will help you get around this ‘freshness’ problem, especially if you experienced a drop in rankings due to this latest update.

Also in 2012, expect to see more firms using social media tools for product development and testing as well as technical support.

What about mobile-based search? Will it continue to grow in 2012?

An emphatic yes!! It’s projected that by 2015, more users in the U.S. will access the Internet through their smartphones or tablets than a regular computer.

Mobile search is deeply tied into local search with over 40% of searches on a mobile device being for something local like a restaurant, doctor’s office or brick and mortar store. According to Google, 44% of searches from a mobile device in the 2011 holiday shopping season were for store locations and last-minute gifts.

With mobile devices, users can seamlessly float between mobile, local and product search as well as their social media activities.

In 2012, it’s imperative that local business establish their presence on places like Bing Local, Google Places, Foursquare and others. Don’t be hesitant to allow reviews – customer reviews give you an opportunity to address grievances and open yourself up to new ways of engaging customers.

So there you have it – things will continue to move at wharp speed in this new year – social and mobile is most certainly revolutionizing how people interact and find things they need.

Stay tuned to our search engine optimization blog as we slice and dice the trends and developments in the search marketing world. Most of all relax and have fun with the possibilities the online sphere will bring in 2012.

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

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Preparing for the Mobile Revolution – Part I

Preparing for the Mobile Revolution – Part II

3 Ways Social Media, SEO and Content Marketing Work Together

Reputation Management – Maintaining & Enhancing your Company’s Good Name

In our last post discussing mobile smartphones, we listed some astounding statistics on how rapid this technology is being adopted and how many users are projected to access the Internet through a smartphone in the coming years.

Many of the facts and figures we found (…some of which listed in Part I) certainly provided compelling reasons to begin thinking about smartphone technology and its role in your online marketing strategy.

In Part II, we’re going to delve in and examine the ‘how’ of building a website compatible for smartphone’ display…as far as marketing goes, it’s hard to say what works and what doesn’t. For now, let’s focus on making sure your site(s) can display on a mobile device and are properly optimized.

To start, one point from a HubSpot article on mastering mobile marketing pointed this out – “…the answer to how lies in not thinking about mobile as another PC but another limb for busy, active customers.”

That’s right – don’t look at mobile smartphones as yet another item on your long to-do list. Rather, think of it as another way customers can interact with your brand. Being accessible both through a computer and smartphone will most assuredly put you at the apex of businesses marketing online.

So getting started – the first step is for you to evaluate your users. Find out how many people visit your current site through a mobile device and which devices (I-Phone, Android, Blackberry) they use. Set realistic goals by optimizing popular content from your website for smartphones.

Next step is to understand mobile’s limitations and leverage its capabilities to your best advantage.

One of the most important things to remember is screen size and making sure your page(s) are viewable on the smaller smartphone screens. Images need to be sized properly to ensure they display and load quickly (…if images are so large they take up huge amounts of bandwidth, visitors are less likely to come back). Include ‘alt image’ descriptive copy that can display in lieu of an actual picture.

Also, if you have forms, keep them short. Studies have shown that users will not spend lots of time filling out a request form, especially on a smartphone. This goes for clicks too – don’t make your users click too many times to get to your content. The more clicks visitors have to make, the fewer of them who will stick around.

If you have a storefront for instance, including click-to-call functionality on your mobile site is an important component to have. Functionality for directions (…Google Maps) are invaluable in these cases as well.

And although mobile browsing should be more streamlined than desktop browsing, you shouldn’t neglect your calls-to-action.

One more important point – be sure you test your mobile site and content on different devices, just like you test regular web content on different browsers. Some will display certain things differently. It’s best to find this out in the beginning so you can make any necessary adjustments.

These items are just a few basic things to get you started. As we said earlier, mobile ‘marketing’ is still pretty new so there’s not much to report on what truly works. You can always consider developing an ‘app’ for I-Phones and I-Pads but it’s generally recommended you get the site down first. Apps are more for mid-level prospects anyway.

One of the best ways to learn what may work is to think about your experience using mobile smartphones. Let us know about some good mobile sites you’ve seen in the comments below.

While that stat shocked me at first, it isn’t entirely surprising once you think about. Today, you can get a cutting-edge smartphone for $200 on up. Back in the day as some of us like to say (the ‘90s), it could cost anywhere from $600 on up to get online with a PC…and that’s a conservative estimate!!

Projections indicate that within the next 2 years, over a billion people will have access to the Internet through their mobile phones. Some say Internet usage through a mobile device will exceed that of laptops by 2015…presently, 25% of Internet users in the U.S. have opted for smartphones completely. In some places, people are completely bypassing the laptop and going straight for a mobile device.

Suffice it to say, businesses will have to (1) be sure their websites are compatible with mobile smartphones and (2) think about marketing strategies for reaching this burgeoning audience.

Those who do will definitely be ahead of the curve, especially considering the fact that only 6% of businesses are engaging in the medium according to Michael Tasner (…via HubSpot). Of small businesses, only 0.5% are doing any kind of mobile optimization and marketing.

Which brings us to our first reason for thinking about smartphones and your business – timing. Since so few businesses are employing mobile marketing at this time, you will certainly gain an edge before it becomes too cluttered. If you’re already marketing online, the costs though are fortunately relatively low.

Here are some other stats to consider (…courtesy of Google):

• 67% of smartphone users research an item on their phone then buy it in a store
• 53% of users purchase something as a result of their smartphone search
• 89% of users do their searches with some degree of urgency

Considering its projected there will be over 100 million smartphone users in the U.S. by 2014, any business with a serious, integrated marketing strategy has to consider mobile. Forget about (…not completely) Google+ or other new things we’ve mentioned lately – mobile smartphones are growing at a very quick pace.

As Michael Tasner says “Mobile is growing faster than any other online-marketing method, tactic, or technique.”  Why wouldn’t you start thinking about how your websites and marketing strategies play into this?

Check back with us in a few days on a brief summary of how to make sure your website(s) are mobile compatible and a few marketing techniques to consider. Since it’s so new, marketers are still figuring out the best techniques. We’ll keep our readers updated as new practices emerge.

In the meantime, check back with us later in the week for more of the how rather than the why on marketing through mobile smartphones.

This is just the latest in a round of intros from the search giant, the first being its +1 button unveiled over the summer. Many websites have now added this latest ‘share’ button to their pages.

The new Google + brand pages look very similar to personal profiles with the exception of a little square icon that sets it apart from an individual’s page. Individuals with Google + profiles can connect to their favorite brands on the new network.

Fox News, CNN, Angry Birds, Muppets and Pepsi are just a few of the names who’ve been ahead of the curve. In fact, many brands were so eager to get into Google + that they setup pages as personal profiles much to company’s dismay. This in turn prompted Google to rollout brand pages much sooner than they otherwise would have.

Our friends at Sprout Content have been proactive in building their Google + page (…we’re still working on ours though).

Google VP Vic Gondrata commented in a blog post “So far Google+ has focused on connecting people with other people. But we want to make sure you can build relationships with all the things you care about—from local businesses to global brands—so today we’re rolling out Google+ Pages worldwide.”

If you’re setting up a Google + page for your business or brand, you have to choose one of five categories, which include:

1.     Local Business or Place – for hotels, restaurants, brick & mortar stores – any type of business that serves a local area

2.     Products or Brands – for those who specialize in certain items (i.e. clothing, electronics, vehicles, financial services)

3.     Company, Institution or Organization – for companies, institutions, organizations and non-profits

4. Arts, Entertainment and Sports – for bands, books, movies, sports teams, etc.

5.     Other – for any who don’t fit into the first 3 categories

Of course with all of this news coming out about Google’s new social network, Facebook has made some major changes to its platform (…some of which mimic Google Plus’ circles feature and so forth). For brand pages though, there’s not a whole lot of difference between Facebook and Google + for now.

Facebook has more experience in this realm though so you can expect Google to be continuously rolling out new features.

Are you considering a Google + profile for your brand? Or are you going to wait and see how it all works out before jumping in?

Justifying the virtue of content marketing over traditional advertising can be difficult for some.

How can an online marketing professional effectively convince executives within their company (as part of a marketing team) or prospective clients (outside executives) of the value of developing informative content?

Content Marketing Institute recently compiled some tips from some of the best content marketers around on how to do this.

Here’s a couple of their responses to the question – “Content marketing can be a new way of thinking for some marketing teams. How would you explain the value of content marketing to a manager or executive who is primarily familiar with traditional advertising approaches?”

“Content Marketing has significant value in a few different ways.  For one, the content you create and distribute on the web has a much longer shelf life at a lower cost then any traditional campaigns you will run.  Each object of content you create can add the the total poll of content that represents your brand and works to get your customers talking back to you.  Over time when your collection of content grows larger, you will notice increases in online traffic and engagement.  A bigger collection attracts more interest.” Nate Riggs

“The value of content marketing lies in the engagement between the customer and your company. Traditional advertising shouts at prospect customers whereas content marketing talks with them. Essentially, it is about the creation and participation in meaningful conversations and development of relationships. Content marketing can benefit your company by increasing sales leads and positioning your company/brand as a thought leader, in addition to increasing the number of visitors to your website.” Amanda Maksymiw

Nate and Amanda hit on probably the two biggest advantages of content marketing over traditional advertising. One being cost – which one commenter says is one of the best ways to talk to someone clung to traditional advertising – and the other being the fact traditional advertising is not about the customer but about you.

As Amanda says, traditional advertising shouts while content marketing pulls up a chair and talks.

Other reasons you can provide your superiors or prospective clients include:

• Draw customers in through relevant content rather than one-size fits all materials
• More dynamic, easier to change
• Has a longer shelf life
• Easier to measure, more metrics and tools available
• Fewer risks and costs
• Reaches a wider audience
• …and more

Besides discussing the benefits of content marketing over traditional advertising, we also get a glimpse into some of the ways you can show your boss or prospective client the advantages of building content rather than using traditional advertising.

This is where testing comes in – nothing is more convincing than data to backup your claims of increased traffic, conversions and revenues. Show your prospect data from previously successful content marketing campaigns, provide word-of-mouth referrals and more.

Traditional advertising has been on a consistent downward trend for quite some time now. There are still some instances where it can work but as CMI and others say, there’s only one way to measure progress and that’s sales.

Providing these reasons along with some data to back it up will go a long way toward convincing your bosses or prospective clients that content marketing is an effective way to spend their marketing dollar.

Other Posts You May Be Interested In

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In today’s fast-paced online world, negative press can spread like wildfire – and decimate your business in the process. This principle applies not only to online businesses, but brick & mortar outlets as well since many people research a business online before making purchasing decisions.

Just think about when you’re looking for products and services – would you trade with someone who has a lot of negative comments prominently displayed online?

Probably not…

So whether negative comments are legitimate or not, they can do great harm to your reputation and by extension, your business. That’s why adopting a comprehensive online reputation management strategy is an important, but often overlooked part of marketing a business.

Online reputation management can be broken down into two types – proactive and reactive

Proactive is just that…you go out and find where people are discussing issues relevant to your industry. You add to the conversation through blog comments, forum & social media discussions and targeted content to other sites. Syndicating content helps build your company as a thought leader in your industry, which builds trust and credibility among prospective buyers. Participating in the online discussion signals to prospective customers that you care, and are available to address their concerns.

In addition being a positive for your online reputation, participating in the discussion and adding unique content to external sites yields better search rankings for your firm.

Reactive reputation management is just the opposite. When someone posts a negative comment or complaint about your firm, you address their concerns promptly. Many of these comments though may be initiated by your competition, in which case you can contact the forum or blog and ask the comment be removed.

It doesn’t matter where negative comments come from – the effects are devastating just the same if they’re not addressed.

Promptly addressing complaints accomplishes two goals – one, it shows others that you’re prompt in addressing any concerns. Customers can rest easy knowing you’re there to help if anything goes wrong.

The other benefit to responding to negative comments is to dilute the negative press in search rankings. It’s commonly known that the vast majority of web searchers pay no attention to results past page 1, and especially past page 2.

If page 1 results for terms related to your firm are packed with negative publicity, that’s all anyone is likely to see about your firm. Responding to negative criticism and taking proactive steps outlined above pushes these negative reviews past page 2.

You may be asking…reputation management seems awfully similar to SEO?

In a big way it is. You’re trying to ensure that top results pose your company in a positive light. Proactive reputation management reinforces your on-site efforts to ensure you not only reach the top of the rankings, but stay there as well.

Check back often as we discuss different tools and methods for effectively managing your company’s online reputation.

SEO Buzz Marketing services from SEO Advantage help companies like yours harness these tools to effectively manage your online reputation. Check with us today to see how you can save money, enhance revenues and build a long-term basis for future growth.

While some of these changes are relatively minor (i.e. different organization of news feeds), there are a few that will completely revolutionize how members use the social network and how they interact with their friends. Many of these changes have been dubbed by many as Facebook’s response to Google+, with some changes mirroring prominent features on that social network.

Changes to Facebook’s platform were announced by CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the f8 Conference in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Some of the following changes have already rolled out but others are yet to come. When the transition is complete, your experience on Facebook will be much different (…as will the strategy you employ to market your business online).

So what are the big changes?

The first big feature is the “Subscribe” button, which allows users to subscribe to a person or business without having to be friends with them. Similar features can be found on Google+ and Twitter. Adding a feature like this does raise privacy concerns among many users. Facebook however is addressing that by giving users a lot of control over the ‘Subscribe’ feature.

You can only allow friends to subscribe to your page or you can completely disable the subscription feature – it’s up to you. If you do allow people to subscribe, you can control what they see right down to a single picture.

Users can also have more control over which friends see what, which leads us into Facebook’s next big change….

Smart Lists are another new feature that’s considered by many to be a direct response to Google+’s Circles feature. This feature essentially allows you to divide friends into Restricted, Acquaintances and Close Friends. From there, you will be able to separate who sees what on your Facebook profile. Conversely, your friends will be able to filter what they see about you.

Timelines are perhaps the biggest change to come out of Facebook. The timeline is essentially a visual history and highlight of a person’s past.  This feature will help users map out their life for friends and allows people with the proper permissions to see a sort of life history through pictures, video and more.

Facebook describes the personal timelines as “All your Stories, All your Apps, a new way to express who you are.”

Personal timelines though, when they’re implemented, will radically change how the interface looks. But due to a lawsuit by Timelines.com claiming the new feature threatens their business, Facebook has delayed implementation.

How will Facebook’s changes affect social marketing?

Now for what you’ve been waiting for…how will all of these changes affect my business?

Of course, much of that remains to be seen but from a preliminary view, these changes are sure to have a big impact.

First is the ‘Subscribe’ feature and how it will affect the current ‘Like’ button. In the new regimen, the ‘Like’ button will have a reduced role. In essence, Facebook will now be about branding actions rather than getting people to ‘like’ your brand. Meaning, it’s now about “…getting people to take social actions enabled by your brand” according to David Berkowitz, senior director of emerging media and innovation for 360i.

One example from Berkowitz – say you’re a runner and post that you’ve just went for a three mile run. This is a prime opportunity for Nike, even if you wear Adidas since Nike has now become a part of your story. Adidas will have to find out something else ‘social’ to become part of your story.

With the added user controls, Facebook will automatically edit feeds based on users’ actions. Brands with boring or irrelevant updates will now have lower visibility. Your brand has to essentially capture someone’s attention and motivate them to interact. If they don’t, your updates will never appear in their news feeds.

McCann Digital VP Nir Refuah says with Facebook’s redesign, “…consumers will be creating a ‘digital autobiography’ in which brands will have to integrate themselves.”

All of this re-design by Facebook extends the metaphor of “…thinking of marketing as storytelling” to a whole other level. Marketers will now have to work that much harder to earn spot in users’ News Feeds.

As these changes rollout, the impact they will have on marketing your brand will become more apparent. One thing is for sure – Facebook’s changes will require new thinking, especially for those whose goal has been simply to accumulate as many fans and ‘Likes’ as possible.

What do you think of these new changes? Have you thought about how you will integrate your social media marketing strategy?

If so, leave us a comment and tell us more about what you’re thinking.

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Informative and timely content serves to answer questions, reduce doubts and works to assure customers that your business can fill their needs. Since they’re not visiting you at a storefront and able to speak with you face-to-face, web content in the form of blogs, white papers and articles helps to build this rapport and trust.

But with so many options online, where should I be focusing my efforts to develop useful content for my customers?

An understandable question indeed – with web and social media marketing tools changing all the time it seems, it can be a difficult challenge to know how you should communicate your knowledge to customers through your website.

Continue reading for the top 10 ways to connect with your customers through content as identified by the Content Marketing Institute. There are many other options beyond these 10 but according CMI and their users, the following are the most tried and true methods for connecting with customers. To see all 42 and some real-world examples of each, check out their presentation online.

Top 10 Ways for Connecting with Your Customers through Content

1. Blogs

Short for ‘weblog,’ a blog provides an easy way to share quick bits of things interesting to your readers. Easy to use, good blogging platforms like WordPress provide easy ways to syndicate what you put online (RSS, social media ‘share’ and so forth). They’re also great for facilitating conversation through comments.

You should also be open to including negative comments…much about you and your company can be determined from how you handle negative feedback. And to really make blogging work, comment on other blogs and perhaps keep a ‘top-10’ list of places you visit for your readers to see.

2. E-newsletter

A means of regular communication with both current and future customers, an e-newsletter is usually distributed weekly or monthly. E-newsletters are generally delivered through email but you can also keep an archived list on your website. Both current and future customers can opt to receive your e-newsletter through a quick signup from your homepage or blog.

The e-newsletter itself can include both full-length articles and brief descriptions with links to more on your site. And they can serve as a vehicle to announce other content found on your site.

DON’T SPAM – GET PERMISSION BEFORE DISTRIBUTING AND OFFER AN OPT-OUT

3. White Papers

Generally around 8-12 pages long, white papers cover issues that require a lot of explanation. They’re great for communicating thought leadership on a particular topic important for your buyers to know. White papers can also be referred to as a ‘research report’ or ‘technical brief.’

White papers can also be available to readers in different formats – electronic PDF, print or even digital magazines.

4. Article

Flexible in both length and format, articles can provide opportunity for you to address issues, trends and concerns of interest to your intended audience. Coupled with other online mediums and in-person speaking, articles are a very traditional tool for establishing thought leadership in any particular industry.

But you have to be consistent and plan on a series of articles to create a meaningful impact. And you should also look for additional ways to spread your article around, either through print media, online syndication sites and even your blog.

5. E-book

Anywhere from 12-40 pages in length, e-books are useful for presenting very complex subjects in a very reader friendly fashion. Content is both informative and entertaining. E-books should also have a collegial tone and be formatted to facilitate skimming and scanning. You should in fact make liberal use of bullets, callouts, sidebars, graphs and so on.

And include a good call-to-action at the end and let your readers know what they should do next.

6. Case Study

Case studies are great for communicating how your products or services help a real world customer. They’re generally 1-2 pages in length and combine both the value of a customer testimonial and a story at the same time. Most follow a simple 3-stage format – challenge, solution and results.

Use direct quotes, especially in the results area, to re-enforce the story.

7. Testimonials

Boasting about ourselves doesn’t yield near the interest as a testimonial from a real-world customer does. These quick quotes from a customer or client provide a trustworthy insight that builds credibility and helps overcome skepticism.

Create a process for obtaining testimonials from your clients. Some marketers are finding LinkedIn to be a great source for obtaining these. And pepper testimonials throughout your site – don’t overwhelm your visitor with a long page of quotes.

8. Microblogging (a.k.a Twitter)

Limited to 140 characters in length, a microblog like Twitter severely limits content. But the reach and speed of microblogging provides the opportunity to converse with prospects in close to real time.  Search tools on Twitter allow you to search for hot topics and address emerging concerns.

Use Twitter as a listening post to see what people are saying about you and your industry. It’s practically impossible for you to be in control so don’t invest much time in trying to shape the conversation. Tools like TweetDeck and others can help you manage your engagements on Twitter.

9. Webinar/Webcast

An online equivalent to a live presentation, a webinar (audio and slides) or webcast (audio, video and slides) delivers content visually slide by slide. Users can either sign-up to see a live version or download the presentation and watch it at their leisure.

Webinars should also include a good call-to-action at the end and links to relevant e-books, articles and other content on your site. You should also promote your webinar aggressively in other areas of your website and blog.

10. Video

Once difficult, innovative sites like YouTube and Vimeo has made uploading and sharing videos much easier. Embed codes allow you to place the video directly on your site and social sharing tools on YouTube and others makes it easier for your video to go viral.

If you’ve given a presentation at a conference, upload the video and embed it on your blog and website. Or create a series of videos on topics interesting to your target audience. Don’t obsess over perfection but do take a few minutes to make edits and make your video look more professional. iMovie and Final Cut are two inexpensive tools to help you easily make more professional looking videos.

As you can see, options for generating web content vary far and wide. There are other methods too that we didn’t discuss here but these top 10 are recognized as both some of the easiest and most effective methods for building content for your site.

Remember, it’s about much more than just satisfying search engines. You also have to present valuable information that answers questions, addresses concerns and overcomes skepticism.

We’ve always extolled (…and still do) the value of generating a steady flow of press releases announcing news at your company – a new product, new hire or a professional award or recognition – are just a few newsworthy topics you can announce through a press release.

Considering the fact that 92% of journalists use search engine feeds like Google News or Yahoo! News to find newsworthy topics (…daily for 81% of journalists according to research firm Marketing Sherpa), not developing a steady schedule of press releases can put you at extreme disadvantage.

And recent research from TEKGroup International analyzing journalists on media relations practices found over 70% journalists read one or more blogs daily…just under 30% regularly use social media in their jobs and approximately 37% subscribe to RSS feeds…50% regularly visit Google News.

We can even glean more information from the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from the Social Media Examiner. Over 80% of respondents in this survey say they plan to either increase press release frequency or keep it the same.  Of those respondents who say they will increase their frequency of press releases (43%), approximately 52% were small business owners while only 24% were larger companies.

Another interesting fact from the report – when asked to rank all types of marketing they were using or planning to implement, respondents ranked press releases at #4 at 57%, just below event marketing.

Despite the fact Google’s Panda update somewhat diminished the value of links from distribution sites, we can see still see the inherent value of developing newsworthy press releases.

Remember one important point – write press releases with both the search engines and social media networks in mind.

Doing so will ensure you reach both your target audience and hungry journalists looking for a great news topic.

Proper press release optimization and targeting not only helps you rank high in Google News and other outlets, they help you engage both your audience and journalists. Eventhough the link value has diminished somewhat, be sure you still include press releases in your online marketing strategy.

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