Happy with the advent of the iPad, although I’m still pounding away on a rapidly aging laptop, it’s great when things come together as something truly useful to all.  Google+ puts together all those tools I’ve pulled together myself to run a business and digital lifestyle.

Facebook too, both have great features. To me they aren’t competitors, both are feature ads for my clients…win win, use both.

Sometimes you have one of those “ah-ha “ moments when you read something on the news. Today was mine, as I read a story about Verizon getting permission to get rid of the white pages in their California phone books. It seems that they have found that the white pages listings of all residential information is non-profitable. To support the request they actually posted pictures of people dumping phone books. I personally found it funny how they missed the point that they were dumping the entire book, not just the white pages.

Just like other planned obsolesce plans that look at the “green” aspects of getting rid of paper bags, plastic bags, etc, it really seems to come down to economics. Stores have figured out a way to get you aware enough to bring you own bags, and better yet get you to purchase those from them with their logo stamped on the side. Wow what a way to get cost effective advertising, while turning a profit.

It looks like the phone industry is headed the same direction. It was not that many years ago that you could easily find a phone booth and a phone book at most business and almost every corner. Phone booths started going away and the cell phone market increased. We are indeed in the midst of another giant change as we watch more and more companies adopt a model of having a company website and use that along with social media to drive information. There was a time that only big business needed these tools, however as life shifts more and more to being “virtual” then it becomes more critical that midsize and small business join the information age. As that shift continues to happen it is more important to make sure your website is really working for you.

USA Today reports. People can pretty much get the information they need on the Internet now.

As we shift to more and more information being available on the Internet verses the model that is advertising on paper, it becomes more important to review how your website is working for you. Is it attracting the customer market that you want? Always keep in mind that it is an ongoing process to develop and maintain a great website and that SEO ( Search Engine Optimization) is not a one time only “magic bullet”. It is important to review the content, links, keywords and the rank of the most common search engines and review the messages that customers see.

To survive and thrive, you must continue to adopt measures that enhance your site’s ranking to steadily increase targeted traffic to your site.

So we need a bit of noise cancellation…this is what the Metro-SEO Customer Advocates are all about.  By listening closely, explaining patiently, and reporting often we cut through the noise.  Then we apply best-practices to guide our clients to make the best web marketing decision given their exact situation.  We’ve boiled down our [Metro-SEO] services to performance…always asking how your web presence ranks and is it on the first page of Google when their customers search.

We don’t care if your business has a webmaster, a team of web designers, or had their site designed by an 8th grader…we get it sorted and under your control.

I can only imagine how utterly insane The Hunt would be if the organizers had the Internet and SmartPhones to add to the puzzles…

http://www.thehunt.org/1991/91art3.htm

Actually, most of our clients prefer to continue with  a maintenance program or additional keyword campaigns.  The last thing we want to do is keep folks in the dark.  We all but demand we meet and explain in detail our process and set expectations  in writing.  We are a team of professionals with long careers and bring a high level  of confidence…we don’t waste a lot of time,  we tell it straight, we get your web presence straight, and empower you to keep it straight.

We don’t sell ads, all work is contracted, and we ONLY represent you and your company.  Come by our office,  if you have come by, please let us know how you felt about us  or our services…

Thanks!

Facebook allegedly hired PR firm Burson-Marsteller to push negative stories about Google in the press, according to reports.

The argument is pretty classic — what Google sees as a smear campaign, facebook sees as a public service.  Their response is that the public needs to be made aware (some more.  again) of privacy concerns arising from the collection and use of their personal information.

The sad fact is, that while people are quick to click Gmail’s “Create Account” button, very few actually read though the Terms of Service as they are legally swearing by that action.  So, boo hoo that you agreed to share your personal info with the world in return for free phone calls and a terrabyte of email storage.   You got what you paid for; there is no such thing as a free lunch.

If facebook paid a PR agency to shine a spotlight on this issue, that was probably money well spent.  As I tell one of my clients, it’s only a smear if it’s a lie.

But doesn’t facebook collect a lot of the same information, and suffer from similar privacy issues?  The panes of this glass house are looking pretty muddy…
http://www.nma.co.uk/3026387.article?cmpid=NMAE09&cmptype=newsletter&email=true

John, author of Floating to Space, is best known for space balloons. This picture was taken as the balloon was on it’s way to orbit. Lindsay and I, being huge geeks and scifi buffs are over-the-moon.  We have over 400 images from take off to orbit, which I haven’t even seen yet. When John got back from last weekends mission he shot me a this one and a couple of others…just to tease me I think.

Metro-SEO goes global…or just above it.

John has two blogs: JP Aerospace and Sand Brick