I “Like” Facebook

CNN posted an article by Pete Cashmore this morning called, “Google's Nightmare: Facebook 'Like' Replaces Links,” and I would like to give my 2 cents about the article.

Unless you’ve been living under a bridge you’re probably aware of Facebook’s new social platform using the “Like” button. Websites that are willing to put a small snippet of code on their pages can now drive traffic from Facebook with the simple click of the “Like” button from one of their visitors. The “Like” shows up on the user’s Facebook page and more importantly their wall.

“Facebook announced Likes as a form of "social links" -- better than a link because it's related to a specific user. If Like buttons take off, that's really bad news for Google, since its algorithm uses links between sites to determine their order in search results,” said Pete Cashmore

I’m not sure how this is bad news for Google. I think the Like button will take off for certain segments of the web. For example, ecommerce sites and news sites have to be falling over themselves trying to get the code implemented. One of my colleagues brought up a good point about the Like button this morning. For the typical business website is a “Like” button really useful? I cannot see many people clicking on the Like button for an “about us” page.

“Facebook seeks to replace this open system of links between pages with the "social links" (or Likes) that it controls. Google and other search engines won't have full access to all these Likes, so the company best positioned to rank the Web will be Facebook,” explained Pete Cashmore

I can see certain segments of the web where Facebook could be in a better position to rank the web but as I said above the majority of sites as of today will benefit very little by Facebook’s new social platform.

Here’s something else to think about: Will all the “Likes” have the same “Like Juice”? LOL, I think I just coined a new term. Will a user who has one friend have the same juice as somebody that has say 300 friends? What about if they have influential friends such as Steve Jobs? What if they’re members of certain groups and pages? So much to think about…

Using CoTweet For Engaging With Users & Tweet Scheduling

I found a really cool Twitter tool this week called CoTweet, which is useful for businesses who want to use Twitter in a customer service way. CoTweet is a free service that helps companies reach Twitter users and engage customers. Many companies already use CoTweet such as Starbucks, JetBlue, Dell and Coca Cola. Using CoTweet, you can also schedule tweets in advance, which could be useful for upcoming events, or promotions.

I think CoTweet is great for helping customers or potential customers through Twitter. CoTweet sorts all the tweets that reply to you and put it in one place so you can easily go through them. There is even a feature that allows more than one person to access a Twitter account so replies are answered in a more timely manner. I find companies like JetBlue and Southwest to be great examples since flights can change due to weather, or answering customer’s general inquiries.

It’s currently in Beta, so the tool has growth potential. Also, since it's free, it definitely doesn’t hurt to try it out.

3 Tips for Optimizing & Improving Your LinkedIn Presence

LinkedIn has grown to over 65 million members in over 200 countries. Are you making the most out of your LinkedIn presence?

Aside from the basic housekeeping tasks such as keeping your profile as up to date as possible, continually establishing connections and filling out your profile in its entirety – there are many additional tasks you can perform to ensure you make the most out of your LinkedIn presence.

Below are three tips for you to apply to your LinkedIn profile:

1. Customize Your URL. This is one of the first steps to take when creating a profile. LinkedIn provides you with the opportunity to customize your URL, so for example, my URL is http://www.linkedin.com/in/erikabarbosa. Aside from the aesthetic benefits to a personalized URL, this will give you another chance to own more search engine real estate. Google sees LinkedIn in high regards and when performing a Google search for your name, a customized URL will most likely show as a result.

2. Weave In Keywords Within Your Profile. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to include anchor text within the website section of your profile, so take advantage of it. Google not only gives you an opportunity to rank for these keywords, but also for keywords woven into your profile.

3. Answer Questions. Establish yourself as a thought leader or expert in your field by answering questions. Potentially earn the star of expertise by simply answering questions [via public responses]. You will then gain a point of expertise each time the questioner picks your answer as the best or most helpful. In turn, the more points you earn of expertise, the higher your profile will appear on lists of experts.

LinkedIn provides a lot of flexibility for optimizing your profile, but don’t feel overwhelmed. It is unfortunate that many create an account but then don’t really leverage their presence to its fullest potential. Set attainable goals for yourself to optimize your profile little by little. LinkedIn is not only a great place to network but it is also an excellent platform to help others within their own professional careers.

image credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bagaball/ / CC BY 2.0

Handling The Trailing Slash in Your urls

It has long been a topic of concern as to what effect having a trailing slash on urls (i.e. http://www.tengoldenrules.com vs. http://www.tengoldenrules.com/) has on search engine optimization. Although it is possible to have different content on both the url with a trailing slash and the same url without a trailing slash, this can be very confusing to users. Therefore, from a user perspective, it is not recommended to have pages with different content in which the only difference in url of those pages is including a trailing slash.

Now lets look at this from a search engine perspective. Having the same content on a trailing slash and a non-trailing slash version of a url can become a duplicate content issue. Search engines can see this as two separate pages, flagging one of the pages as duplicate content. This can, however be remedied fairly simply.

According to Google's Webmaster Central Blog, the best remedy to having duplicate content on trailing slash and non-trailing slash urls is to first choose a preferred version. Let's say we prefer the trailing slash version. Next, you will want to make sure that all links within your website and sitemap point to the preferred version of the urls (in this example it will be the version with the trailing slash). Finally, perform a 301 redirect from the non-trailing slash urls to those urls with a trailing slash.

InternetMarketingClub.org Presents 10 Golden Rules for Building Your Personal Brand

Join Jay Berkowitz, Author of The Ten Golden Rules of Online Marketing Workbook, as he presents 10 Golden Rules for Building Your Personal Brand.

This presentation will explain the following topics:

- What is a Personal Brand? How can I obtain one?
- What is the best approach for selecting your brand focus?
- How to become well known and stay top of mind
- Tips for Speaking, Networking and Writing
- Strategies for utilizing various Social Networks to build brand awareness and powerful connections

This free webinar will take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 12:30pmEST – 1:30pmEST. To register and for more information please visit: 10 Golden Rules for Building Your Personal Brand

URL Destination Goal Tracking in Google Analytics

Google Analytics offers three types of goals you can setup to track what visitors do on your site. For today’s post I’m going to focus on URL Destination goals. A URL Destination goal lets you specify a page with its “own URL” as a goal.

Google Analytics offers three different match types for URL Destination Goals. You will be able to determine which one to use based on how your site was built:

1. Exact Match: An exact match is a match on every exact character in your URL without exception from beginning to end. Use this when your URLs for your site are easy to read and do not vary.
   For example, if your goal is http://www.domain.com/shopping/thanks.html, enter /shopping/thanks.html as your goal.
2. Head Match: A head match matches identical characters starting from the beginning of the string up to and including the last character in the string you specify. Use this option when your page URLs are generally unvarying but when they include additional parameters at the end that you want to exclude.
   For example, a URL visited by a particular visitor might be http://www.example.com/checkout.cgi?page=1&id=9982251615. In this case, the id varies for every other user. You could still match this page by using http://www.example.com/checkout.cgi?page=1 as the URL and selecting Head Match as your Match Type.
3. Regular Expression Match: A regular expression uses special characters to enable wildcard and flexible matching. This is useful when the stem, trailing parameters, or both, can vary in the URLs for the same website page.
   For example, if a user could be coming from one of many subdomains, and your URLs use session identifiers, you could use a regular expressions to define the constant element of your URL. For example, checkout.cgi\?page=1 will match http://sports.example.com/checkout.cgi?page=1&id=002 as well as http://fishing.example.com/checkout.cgi?page=1&language=fr&id=119

One of the three match types listed above will offer you a solution to setting up a goal to track a URL. Remember, the page you’re tracking can be static, dynamic, or even on a subdomain.

Earth Day Applications For The iPhone

Earth Day shouldn’t just be for one day, we should respect the planet year round. Here are nice FREE apps that can help you do that. I only select 9, because I wonder what you think the 10th should be?

iRecycle
Earth911’s iRecycle iPhone app allows people to locate the nearest recycle facility specific to their items.

Coupon Sherpa
Want to forget about cutting coupons for the year? Shoppers can access in-store coupons through the phones without cutting or printing any paper.

GoodGuide
This app helps you find safe healthy food while shopping. Simply scan the bar code and get detailed rating for health, environment and social responsibility.

Carbon Calc
Want to know your carbon footprint? How much do you consume with your home, car, traveling? It may not be accurate, but it sure gives you an idea of how much energy you use. It also allows you to purchase carbon credits if you are using too much.

Cruelty Free
This is your guide to cruelty-free cosmetics, personal care and household products.

Greenpeace Tissue Guide
This free app gives you the power to make an informed decision when purchasing tissue paper. Experts rate products from "recommended," "could do better" and "avoid!"

Seafood Watch
Do you know where the seafood you eat is coming from? With the Seafood Watch app, you’rea able to tell the origination point of what you’re about to eat at grocery stores and restaurants.

iLocavore
Your community has people that are updating information about eating local foods. From events and products, you can receive notifications of local formers markets, gardening tips and more community functions.

Animal-Free
If you’re trying to become a vegan or part time vegetarian, than this app is for you. It will help you make smart decisions on what to eat and demystify what you thought you once knew about animals being in everyday foods.