Posts Tagged ‘ Search ’

Google+ Pages Yay or Nay?

November 10, 2011

As announced on Monday Google have opened up their Google+ pages to businesses of all sizes, brands and celebrities in the hope to trump the already existing social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Their aim is to help build deeper relationships between any kind of businesses and their clients by allowing them to share their thoughts, links, photos and promotions.

 

Much like Facebook, Google Plus pages allows commercial names to interact with their fans and critics as well as being able to broadcast recent news, there is even the chance to get live, face-to-face feedback from customers by holding video chats!

 

In order to help you get started Google have formed an online guide to show you how to create a page, promote it and then evaluate its success. It covers how to publish posts, launch hangouts and manage circles. 

 

One important factor is that Google have now integrated Plus into its search engine. This means that searches can insert a ‘+’ symbol before their enquiry and be directed straight to the business’s Google+ page. For example type “+YouTube” in the search box and you will be taken straight to YouTube’s Plus page.

 

To many people Google+ pages is just Google’s own version of Facebook, but once you get started you will soon see there is a lot more to the story.

To discuss your social media optimisation further contact studio8search on 01865 842525

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Facebook Places service has now finished

August 30, 2011

Facebook has removed Facebook Places, an app for location-based offers, almost one year after it was released, due to the fact that the service was not being used as much as Facebook had originally expected. On the other hand, now Facebook is re-focusing its efforts on the Check-in service.

Facebook is currently upgrading its “check in” tool; this will mean that you will be directed to your status, where adding content is possible. With this upgrade, Facebook’s intentions are to add more user content and relevant discussions, letting its users to be more socially interactive instead of only informing where they are.

Although Facebook Places and Facebook Deals has ended, businesses will still be allowed to offer deals (coupons and discounts) through the “Check In” tool.

To learn more about how Social Media and Facebook can help your business contact Studio8Search on 01865 842525.

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Facebook removes Daily Facebook Deals

August 30, 2011

Facebook Deals were released in April 2011 as a trial programme. Facebook’s main objective was to offer online discounts and coupons from local business across five American cities: Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco (and recently Charlotte, Minneapolis and St. Louis were added).

After testing Facebook Deals for four months, it was announced last week that Facebook will not be continuing to offer this service. Earlier in the same week another setback was announced: the killing of Facebook Places.

A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement: “We think there is a lot of power in a social approach to driving people into local businesses. We remain committed to building products to help local businesses connect with people, like Ads, Pages, Sponsored Stories, and Check-in Deals. We’ve learned a lot from our test and we’ll continue to evaluate how to best serve local businesses”.

To other online discount industry leaders such as Groupon and LivingSocial this has come as good news as it reduces significantly the extra pressure the social network giant was putting in their business.

Daily Facebook Deals should not be confused with Check-in Deals, which are, at least for now, alive, although changed to survive to the removal of Facebook places. Announced in November 2010 to work with Facebook Places it allowed you to find and check-in from bars, coffee shops, restaurants and supermarkets through an app in exchange of free items, coupons and discounts etc.

To learn more about how Social Media and Facebook can help your business contact Studio8Search on 01865 842525.

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The benefits of QR codes

August 25, 2011

QR Code is an abbreviation for Quick Response Code. It is 2-dimentional barcode, created by Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota in 1994. Originally designed to track parts of the car manufacturing industry, this technology has now been incorporated into many offline and online marketing campaigns.

When read by a QR code reader on a smartphone, the phone’s browser will be directed to the programmed information embedded within the QR code. This information can be a web address, a phone number, a business card, or a video. You may also want to use a QR code for a special promotion or viral campaign through your offline marketing such as signs, magazines, displays etc.

For marketers, this is a huge opportunity to attract customers to their business fast through online and offline channels. Mobile tagging of QR codes is considered the fastest way at present to link tangible items to the digital world. Sharing business information has never been so easy!

The good news is that the use of QR codes is free to everyone and easy to use. O generate your own free QR code visit http://studio-8.co.uk/search/qrcodes/ or talk to the team on 01865 842525.

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Facebook Aims to Replace Texting!

August 16, 2011

The world’s largest social media site, Facebook has released an instant messaging application for iPhone and Android service that permits users to exchange messages with a single friend or even a group, and has the option to send the message via SMS. The app also offers the option to send location information. So far Facebook’s mobile messenger is only available in the United States, but it is expected to eventually roll out in other countries.

This app comes just about a month before Apple release a similar product, built-in the Apple’s new iOS 5.

However, the advantage of this app is that unlike Apple’s new feature that is only available on products such as the iPhone to iPhone and BlackBerry to BlackBerry, the Facebook app be created for other mobile operational systems, like Google’s Android.

Now we just have to wait for a Google+ messaging app and you can be sure that soon or later it will comes too!

To discuss your website and how to improve the amount of traffic and sales you gain through it, talk to Studio8Search. We focus on Social Media, SEO, PPC and more. Call us today on 01865 842525.

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Google+ Users Soar Amid Social Network Clash

July 19, 2011

The battle for social network users is heating up with research estimating the number of Google Plus users is rocketing.

A study released this year found that the new service could have almost five million users in the US alone – up from 1.7 million users a week ago.

Google is currently limiting the number of people who can use the service, as it tries to fix any bugs within the system.

The search engine’s product allows users to limit which friends information and updates are shared by allowing you to group your friends in “Circles”.

However, Google has a great deal of catching up to do if it is to match Facebook, which last week revealed it had reached 750 million active users.

To discuss your own social media strategies contact Studio8 today on 01865 842525.

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Need a Local Business? Well Search officially Rules!

July 14, 2011

When Internet users look for a local business, search is the winner according to research from Local Search Association.

The majority of 18 to 34 preferred search, as did those aged 35 to 54.  Among older users of 55+, yellow pages

are still used as the first point of call to find a local business rather than search engines like Google. However,
this statistic is likely to decrease as more and more older users become internet savvy.

Studio 8’s SEO team can optimise your website for Google Places and local online search results.
Why not contact us for more help and advice on local search optimisation.

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Googles top ranking factors

June 7, 2011


SEO professionals from around the world participated in a poll to vote on what they consider to be the 5 most important factors the Google algorithm considers when ranking a site.

Using your keywords as the anchor text from external links (73%)

We always knew that using your keywords as the anchor text is important but didn’t realise that so many other online marketing experts felt this to be the most important factor.

External link popularity (71%)

This was voted to be the second most important ranking factor. Your link popularity refers to the quantity and quality of the back links.

Diversity of link sources (67%)

This is a very important area to focus on. It is no good just to get back links from directory sites or blog comments – you really need to diversify your back links methods. Use the many 2.0 sites – article sites – high profile sites – rss promotions – blog comments etc.

Keyword use anywhere in the title tag (66%)

The title tags are a very important area for your onsite optimisation.

Trustworthiness of the domain based on link distance from trusted domains (66%)

This is the fifth most important ranking factor. It means that Google “trust” your domain in order to get higher rankings.

To discuss optimising your website with Studio8Search call 01865 842525

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Launch of another Mobile Website!

May 19, 2011

We’ve just launched another  mobile sites for MB Locksmiths of Kidlington –  http://www.oxfordlocksmiths.com/

If you’ve ever tried to view a website on your smartphone you’ll know how frustrating it can be constantly rotating your phone, zooming in and out on pages and trying to find the information you need.

There are now an estimated 2 billion mobile phones in the world and smart phones are now outselling PC’s! We truely do live in a Mobile World and it is that reason that businesses now understand that a mobile website is vital to compliment your pc/laptop website and ensure your audience stays with you at all times.

Mobile websites are unique to Apps in that they do not rely on different operating systems in order to function correctly – therefore if you have one customer using Android and another using Apple’s operating system – they will both be able to access your information.

Go mobile now for new business and revenue possibilities.

We from studio8search would be happy to discuss you mobile website.

01865 842525

Info@studio8search.com

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The Times Newspaper writes an article on why Online Marketing is key to businesses

May 10, 2011

How to give Google a run for its money

Last week the Times newspaper published an article about SEO and why businesses should look to invest in their Online Marketing. To read more on this article visit their site. write an article on SEO and Online Marketing

It seems that SEO and Online Marketing strategies are becoming more and more popular and are a must for small to medium sized businesses nowadays.

You can create a great website with great products but if no one can find it then there is no point!

Statistical analysis shows that websites that appear in the top three places of a search engine’s results attract 98% of all traffic on the web.

But how exactly can you increase traffic to your site through the art of SEO/Online Marketing? Studio8Search can talk you through the key areas you should focus on and can provide you with a no obligation audit on your site to get you started.

We are currently working with a range of customers to optimise their sites, increase rankings in the search results and ultimately improve sales and traffic.

To discuss your requirements with Studio8Search call 01865 842525

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