Ultimately, as we have discussed in this space many times, it is great content that will help your site stand out and engage  users. Google recommends websites only place ad units on pages that are rich in original content, and to definitely keep the user experience in mind as you think about where you place these ads.

Below are some best practices guidelines to consider when integrating AdSense ads with quality content.  (Part II of this post next week will cover both technical and quality guidelines).

Take a look at the Google video below before diving in to The ROI Factor’s design and content guidelines.

Design and Content Guidelines

Show them the way. Providing a sitemap is extremely beneficial to users and will make sure important sections of your website are visited.

 Know who the boss is. Of course, a site with a clear hierarchy and text links is important. Make sure each page is reachable from at least one static text link.

Maintain order! Don’t put too many links on one page. It becomes unruly and will inhibit overall functionality.

Think like the user. Try to image what words users would type to find your pages and then use them in those words on specific pages.

Be useful and prosper. Design a useful, information-rich site that clearly and accurately describes your content.

I feel like a broken record, here.  Continually check for broken links and correct HTML.

 Save the photos, give them words.  Pictures are great, but use text instead of images to display important names, content or links. The all-important Google crawler won’t recognize text contained in images. Hint:  If you have your heart set on using an image for textual content, consider using the “ALT” attribute to include a few words of descriptive text.

Top titles. <title> elements and ALT attributes MUST be descriptive and accurate.

Dynamic isn’t always so dynamic. If you decide to use dynamic pages, be aware that not every search engine spider crawls dynamic pages as well as static pages. It helps to keep the parameters short and the number of them few.

It’s not often 111 million people turn their attention to the same thing at once, but come Sunday a good chunk of America will tune in and watch the New York Giants smack down the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl for the second time in four years.

Of course, many will be more interested in the commercials than the actual game, and with 30 second slots costing an exorbitant $3.5 million, advertisers will be looking to make the most of their spend. And as any savvy marketing pro on Madison Avenue knows this means spreading the messages socially long after their the TV spot concludes.

This year the method will be particularly effective because 60 percent of viewers are expected to be connected to a “second screen,” a smartphone or tablet, where they’ll text or interact with friends on Twitter or Facebook.

More than 70 commercials will air during the Super Bowl making competition fierce, so many have already released their ads on YouTube sparking viral reactions. For the first time ever USA Today’s Ad Meter will allow viewers to vote for their favorite commercial via Facebook. As fans anxiously await the rematch between the Giants and Patriots, one thing that is certain – it’s expected to be a “second-screen” Super Bowl.

Coca-Cola 

This year Coca-Cola plans to introduce the world to their new brand ambassadors, computer animated polar bears. Following their ad, the bears will come to life on Twitter, Facebook and Coke’s own dedicated bear site CokePolarBowl.com. They’ll watch the game in real-time, comment on the half time show and even respond to fans via their Twitter hashtag #GameDayPolarBears. They’re also expected to remark on other advertisements it’ll be interesting to hear their responses to competitor’s commercials.

Pepsi

Not to be outdone by their polar bear counterparts, Pepsi has plans to prompt viewers to interact with their advertisements. The company’s commercials will feature a performance by “X Factor USA” winner Melanie Amaro. During it, viewers will be prompted to “Shazam” (capture audio from the commercial) her song for an opportunity to download the video for free.

Audi 

Perhaps feeling the pressure to answer Volkswagen’s celebrated Darth Vader themed spot from last year, Audi’s commercial for Super Bowl XLVI is Twilight inspired. The company will highlight the force of Audi’s LED headlight technology which has dire consequences on a pack of young partying vampires. The company hopes to keep the buzz alive through the unveiling of its Twitter hashtag #SoLongVampires.

Chevy

The release of Chevy’s smartphone Game Time app is already causing a social stir. Individuals can play on their phones, tablets or even through their site: chevy.com/gametime for a chance to win prizes courtesy of Chevy, Bridgestone and Motorola. Those who download and register before February 6 will receive a code; if it matches one of the license plates in Chevy’s ads during the game, they’ll win one of 20 vehicles being given away.

When it comes to the online space, content is indeed King. What you say is the driving force behind the reason people continue to visit your website. The social online world tends to afford its content providers more creativity in the name of sharing, so when it comes to social content, a picture can truly be worth a thousand words. Two online sharing properties are now proving this to be true in branding: Instagram and Pinterest and both are beginning to reap the benefits of popularity in business.

Say Cheese

Instagram has been known as a favorite photo sharing site of iPhone enthusiasts since 2010 allowing people to take a flick, throw on a filter and share through the most popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. With brands looking for ways to “humanize” themselves, various company representatives took to preparing their own close-ups—tagging their product experiences encapsulated in any relevant moment in time—and the relationship has not stopped there.

Recently, luxe brand Tiffany & Co. enlisted the help of photography to go along with an important part of their What Makes Love True campaign. By using relatable, street-style imagery and a specially designed Tiffany’s filter, the blue box and the contents within retain their importance and exclusivity while becoming more reachable and attainable.

Pin the tail on the…

Pinterest is the new site on the social block and has brought the mood board to virtual life. The boards organize your thoughts, dreams, desires, or products for other users to like, share (re-pin) and comment. Simply put up a picture and a short blurb and people are sure to begin engaging with you when they find your pins interesting.

These boards also work as a wonderful way to create and hold contests, gain opinions and, most importantly, begin to build communities online, thus segmenting and organizing your friends, or customers, into customized groups. Retailer Lands’ End used many of these procedures in their Pin It To Win It campaign where users were encouraged to browse the Lands’ End site and create pins of the items they liked the most. This goes to show how a simple conversation that’s firmly ensconced in community building, helps a brand portray their personality—one of the most important qualities to any customer base.

Take Your Pic

What channels you use in your marketing mix, as with any business decision, should be based in your strategy. There are sure to be campaigns where both methods above make sense, times to only use one technique and instances when neither should be used. We should remember that, in business, there is always a social component. Mutual communication is imperative to your business if it deals with anyone besides you.  However, if your business has any sort of inherent visual aspect, your pictures are sure to help and sharing them effectively is important to keep people interested and connected.

However, I’m not here to debate the merits of Twitter with you.  If you’re reading this post, I assume you’ve already come to your own conclusions about Twitter.

So, without further ado, here are nine tactics your brand can use to up its presence on Twitter.

Tactic # 1 Include industry key terms in your bio.

Don’t fill your bio with a bunch of corporate speak and generic mission statements. Instead, fill it with meat:  contact details, sales pitches, and, most importantly, industry key terms. Use all of these details to tell your brand’s story in 160 characters or less.  Doing this will increase your Twitter searchabilty and tells potential customers why they should care about your brand.

Tactic # 2 Make a custom background with contact info.

While you’re limited to only160 characters that the bio offers, your brand’s story isn’t. Create a customized Twitter background and give more information or pictures that can help tell the tale.

If you’re a pizza shop, include pictures of how the shop looked ten years ago and how it looks today. If you’re a shoe retailer, like zappos, include extra contact info such as your email address, Facebook page, or telephone number.  And extra points for anyone who uses a QR code in their background, as @socialmouths does in their custom background.

Tactic # 3 Retweet the experts in your industry with @theirname.

This tactic is particularly useful for brands in the B2B space. When someone comes to your Twitter  page, your bio and custom background aren’t the only things on display—visitors will also be paying a great deal of attention to your individual tweets.

Your tweets – the kind of information you provide, what types of relationships you’ve developed and how much you value customer feedback - tell a lot about what you value as a brand.

So when you tweet make sure to mention experts in your industry and include their @twittername. This not only shows visitors that you are knowledgeable in your field, but it also gets the attention of the experts—who will then retweet your tweets, essentially widening your engagement loop.

Tactic  # 4 Include Images of your team and events in your tweets.

This is a new ability on Twitter, which may explain why it’s so underutilized.  Adding images to your tweets is a great way to project a human element to your Twitter feed. Show company employees cutting lose at functions, show successes, show customer interactions.

All tweets that include pictures show up in the recent images tab, so if there’s an old picture you want to stay up there, you’ll have to keep retweeting it.

Also, one warning: don’t post one dimensional, “safe” pictures (i.e. just staged pictures or generic pictures).  Your followers will sniff out the fake as soon as it’s up.

Tactic # 5 Find industry contacts through Follower Wonk.

Follower Wonk is amazing. Unlike the Twitter search box, which just searches recent tweets, Follower Wonk can dig through the millions and millions of Twitter user profiles, searching for relevant key terms listed in the bio.

If your brand is looking to connect with more people within the Advertising industry, just do a Follower Wonk search for “advertising”, or make it even more specific by searching for “IAB” (Interactive Advertising Bureau).  And, best of all, you can follow all of these users in app (saving you a boat load of “loading time”), and you can sort the list by relevancy or follower/following ratio.  It’s a quick way to find the social media influencers in your industry.  A must have for B2B companies.

Tactic  # 6 Find more experts/similar companies by following lists.

After locating an industry contact through Follower Wonk, check to see if they are on any relevant lists.  More than likely other users have searched for the same type of social media influencers, and have created a list of similar Twitter accounts.  For instance, if I were looking for a recruiter or job site’s with Twitter accounts, I would check out the lists that @CareerBuilder is listed on.  And if I’m a distributor of ice cream hardware products, I would check out lists that @cherrygarcia (Ben and Jerry) is included on.

Tactic # 7 Join established industry chats…or start your own.

Of course, joining an established chat is a great way to network and establish your expertise within a given industry.  Each chat is checked by using a hashtag (i.e #eventprofs), and those comments which include this feature are read by everyone participating in the chat. To find relevant chats within your industry, search for industry keywords on Hashtags.org.

Tactic  # 8 Join WeFollow.

Want Tweeps to find you?  WeFollow has a large network of Twitter people, expands across a number of categories, and is free for anyone to sign up.  Many people use WeFollow to search for industry contacts, so sign up for this free service to increase your Twitter presence.

Tactic  # 9 Create a Publishing Schedule through Hootsuite.

Having consistent content on your twitter feed increases the chances that customers will continue to return.  And one way to do this is to schedule tweets through a publishing platform, such as Hootsuite.  With Hootsuite, you can set-up tweets days, weeks, even months in advance, ensuring your feed is always filled with content.  Industry related tips or quotes is a good piece of content to schedule out in this fashion, as I’ve done with @Exec_comm’s tweets in the picture above.

And for those worried about over flooding your followers feeds—don’t be.  Read the study by  Kiss Metrics for a full explanation.  But as a general rule of thumb, schedule no more than 4 tweets per hour.

Any tips tactics that I missed?  What has your company done to increase it’s presence on Twitter?  Please let us know in the comments section.

Siri, which can do everything from taking dictation for text messages to writing emails and scheduling meetings, has left digital marketers wondering how it will change online search behavior and what, if any, effect it will have on traditional SEO techniques.

The issue will only be compounded further in the coming years as mobile searches are expected to increase from nine percent to 20 percent of total queries by 2012, according to recent report from researchers at RBC Capital Markets. As mobile searches and voice recognition technologies gain popularity, the following marketing strategies can help companies increase the likelihood of ranking at the top of mobile search results:

Optimize social profiles

In some instances, Siri’s search results have nothing to do with a company’s current organic and pay-per-click rankings. For example, when searching for a venue, Siri’s search results are based upon a searcher’s physical location and data from Yelp. Because of this Siri won’t be sending customers your way even if your business ranks number one for “best local food.”

Advice: To better your chances of becoming one of Siri’s suggested answers focus efforts on strengthening content on geographically-based applications such as Foursquare, Facebook Places, Google Reviews and Yelp.  As Yelp recommendations are embedded within Siri’s current software, it’s recommended that companies optimize these profiles in order to target to mobile searchers.

Interact with customers

Simply setting up a profile on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks isn’t enough to spark communication in today’s digital age. Rather, businesses need to provide open communication with customers to establish an online presence.  Apple is reportedly working on Siri’s application programming interface, which will ultimately be the  protocol through which Siri would interact with other services (ie. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) and apps. Be ready!

Advice: Research the applications your competitors use to interact with their audience and ensure you have a strong representation on these because soon Siri will be operating just about everywhere. Following this, be sure to monitor the activity your social networks receive and respond to customer feedback – both positive and negative.

Earn customer reviews

Companies looking to rank high on mobile search results should focus on acquiring genuine reviews by building an online fan base. Offer customers reasons to use your services through special discounts, incentives and most importantly, high-quality customer service.

Advice: Encourage customers to review your services online. While this is the most time consuming marketing tactic, it is also the most influential to Siri SEO. Review-based websites such as Yelp and Urban Spoon have installed monitoring systems to block businesses from posting spam or stuffing inauthentic reviews on profile pages.

Create a mobile site

 This isn’t newsworthy advice, yet many companies have withheld developing a mobile version of their website for one odd reason or another. But as mobile searches are expected to grow exponentially in the upcoming years, the clock is ticking. Thankfully, creating a mobile site is quick and easy with publishing platforms such as WordPress and Drupal.

Advice: When designing the site, clearly feature your business’s contact information and operating hours directly from the homepage. This will improve Siri’s chances of locating the pertinent information to deliver to its searchers, and in turn help deliver customers to your doorstep.

Claim your business listing

The quickest and simplest way to enhance your rankings in mobile search (and online) is to list your business through the main search engines: Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Advice: Registering is free and some allow companies to add photos and videos to help personalize their advertisements.

With everything on the Internet pointing towards mobile in some form or fashion, it only seems logical for online properties to find ways to provide geo-location services. A number of companies such as Gowalla, Loopt and even Facebook with “Places” threw their proverbial hats into this arena recently with limited success but when the smoke cleared, two popular services took control of the space: Foursquare and Yelp.

Interestingly enough, while Foursquare and Yelp started in different directions – the former starting as a geo-location with a side of gamification and the latter as a review service – but as time passed these companies’ services have become quite similar. This recent connection between the two has led to a rivalry of sorts. Since we’re about unity in this space, and with both having their pros and cons, we will explore how each in their present states can live harmoniously in today’s world.

Is checking-in a one-trick pony?

This is a notion I’ve read in some posts online. There is obviously some value in checking-in. If there wasn’t, I doubt that so many companies (such as Yelp) would have added the feature, or want to add it or at the very least are trying to add it. Notwithstanding this point, providing a service where checking-in is the only enforceable action will most likely shorten your company’s life cycle to that similar of a fruit fly. There must be something more.

For example, when Foursquare launched they added a point system which added a level of competition—perfect for today’s hyper-connected and competitive society. Yelp decided to emulate (copy is probably  more accurate) this model with the introduction of their check-in service in January of 2010. In addition, both give users the ability to attach pictures, share with Facebook friends and Twitter followers, post tips and gain mayor status and other honorary badges. Given this, I’d suggest Foursquare gets a slight edge in regards to checking-in: 1) for making it popular and “cool” and 2) for extending check-in and its subsequent “rewards” into a product line extending its “cool” factor.

Business perspective: Providing something value added will continue to be a key component for any location-based services.

 The Mobile UX

Finding multiple channels to market to is a great tactic and, in turn, I would advise against a mobile-only experience. For now, at least. Nonetheless, geo-location is inherently mobile—unless you’re planning to walk around with a laptop or a desktop all day. When it comes to the majority of Foursquare’s user experience, it has to be mobile.

(Above: Mobile Growth Hitting All Segments)

While Yelp’s mobile experience is, as we mentioned earlier, very similar to that of Foursquare, it does allow you to draft a review of any venue you visited or search online at home and then migrate to mobile as you move about. Some users, however, may feel that not being able to finalize their thoughts from a mobile device is a missed opportunity, especially since reviews are Yelp’s claim to fame. Drafting a review does allow you to get your thoughts on virtual paper though, and you’re less likely to forget anything, good or bad, that took place at the venue. In this case, for its purpose, Yelp will get a slight nod.

Business perspective: The best (and cheapest) advertising your business can find is through current clients. A platform that allows consumers to share their experience will drive even more through your doors.

What’s the Deal?

To quickly go back to the idea of checking-in for a moment, let’s think of this situation: I’ve checked in, got my points, got my badge and even possibly became a regular or a mayor. Now what? Why should I continue to check-in besides trying to beat my friends in this game?

Both companies have overlaid deal structures with their services: Yelp with their own branded deals; and Foursquare partnering with the likes of Groupon and American Express, most notably on Small Business Saturday. These deals have certainly helped both entities grow. The ability to save a couple of dollars by simply checking into a restaurant, retail store or other place is a more than fair trade off and opens the opportunity to breed brand ambassadorship.

Business perspective: In the deal category, it is Foursquare’s aptness to work with both the venue and third parties to form deals for the user that presents a small advantage.

Content provides engagement and long-term value

There’s no denying this fact—particularly when you’re talking about social media. We all know that engagement is a big deal. Yelp’s platform gives people a chance to submit detailed reviews and, obviously, people can then respond. Furthermore, Yelp’s rating system also extends user engagement thus giving it a leg up on Foursquare in the content realm. Foursquare provides its engagement at a much more mobile level. Although there is no rating system, users can still make comments on venues, leave tips and also comment on people’s check-ins—all forms of engagement that make sense on their platform. Yelp, by design, is the winner in this category. It was built on content, with content and through content.

Business perspective: User engagement is the cornerstone of online and mobile business. The more content you provide the more likely consumers will interact with you. The more they interact, the more likely they are to become customers. Period!

The moral of the story is: Finding what works best for you is what’s most important. Yes, Foursquare and yelp may share much of the same audience, but both sites still have their own unique spaces even though they might not be as disparate as other competitors in other industries. Once you’ve gained the knowledge of both, your decision simply boils down to choice. I use both. How about you?

Santa’s Google Search Tips Rap

Siri: The Holiday Horror Movie (Trailer)

FedEx Guy Throwing My Computer Monitor

MTV – Sex is no Accident – Flying Girl

Some stories this week you many have missed:

Tech
The best and worst tweets of the year
Steve Jobs Wins Posthumous Grammy Award
Will Computers Be Able To Read Your Mind in Five Years? IBM Thinks So.
Google, Mozilla Renew Firefox Search Deal For 3 More Years

Search and Social
Bud Light Searches Facebook For a “Correspondent” to Cover Super Bowl
Global Happiness Is Declining… At Least On Twitter
Hitwise: For The Third Year In A Row, Facebook Was The Top-Searched Term In The U.S.
Brand Google+ Pages Showing up in Search Results (SERPs)

According to research firm Gartner, there will be a  mobile device for every person on the planet by 2015, approximately 8 billion. And as the  number of devices continues to rise, usage is expected to skyrocket exponentially. In the past year alone, mobile searches have increased 400 percent.

That means that every day more users are looking for your content from somewhere other than a desktop. So do you really want to deliver a mobile experience that at best replicates the desktop version?

Before you answer consider: You’ll be dealing with an unforgiving bunch. Sixty-one percent of mobile Web users say they aren’t likely to return to a site that that isn’t mobile friendly.

And if you want to compete in business you need to provide a user-friendly experience. It’s important to remember that even if users can see a website on a smartphone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the site is mobile-friendly and easy to navigate.

If you’re planning to do business using the mobile Web it’s time to start paying attention. Start with these not-so-obvious tips for creating a better mobile-friendly website.

1. Cut the links, cut the clutter

A simple way to reduce clutter and increase clarity is to keep mobile links to a minimum.

• Use seven links or less for each page of navigation.
• Links with three to five words are easier to click than one-word links.
• Make  clickable area around links a little larger, make buttons bigger, and use more space between links.

While it might be difficult to identify a Web geek at first glance,  luring one into a conversation and listening for key phrases such as, “#fail” (the hashtag is silent, but implied), “honey badger don’t care,” or “check my feed”  is often enough for positive identification.

These are the same people who spend most of their time when hanging out at restaurants or bars checking in and posting reviews to all their geolocation apps. They may or may not start weeping every time they see Comic Sans used on a menu or a sign. If it sounds like your friend is speaking in short, disjointed sentences, it’s because they’ve begun to think in 140 characters or less.  This is normal (for the average Web geek) but be wary. If they start to say “smiley face” instead of actually smiling, you may have a real problem on your hands.

Despite all of their crazy, you love your Web geek, so show them you care this holiday season by getting them something that will make it seem like you actually follow their Twitter feed.

1. Like/Dislike Stamp Set – $9.99
For the true Facebook devotee, this stamp set will be a life changer. Although the Dislike button is unrealistic (much to the chagrin of the Facebook critic), your social media enthusiast will appreciate the opportunity to use this universal symbol of approval IRL.

2. BODY tag T-Shirt - $16.99
If you’re lucky enough to have a computer person in your life, you know how useful they can be. Even though they get mad every time they find out you haven’t tried restarting it yet. Let them know you actually just love them for their <body> with this simple, but funny tee.

3. “The Insanely Great History of Apple” print – $25
The day Steve Jobs passed away was a dark one at Blue Fountain Media, and I’m sure it was the same at Web design and online marketing firms around the world. Appreciate Jobs’ legacy in style with this detailed print.

4. Spotify Premium account - $9.99/month
Spotify teased US-based Wb geeks for years by getting awesomer and awesomer in the U.K., while stubbornly refusing to launch in the U.S. Until now that is. Give your friend a Spotify Premium account, which gets them unlimited music, online and offline, with no ads. On top of that, they will finally feel cool again for the first time since Napster.

5. EgoBook - $29.50
This one is for that friend who is on Facebook so much their vision is going bad. Give their eyes a break and their ego a check by taking their Facebook history offline with a creepy but hilarious EgoBook.

6. Custom designed status symbols – $49.95
Your friends like to broadcast their status 24/7, but what happens when they’re on the subway or out in the woods and have no service?! Help them avoid disaster by getting them a status update they can wear.

7. ’80s Cell Phone Case – $20.00
As fun as modern technology is, retro stuff will always be cooler. Make a fancy new iPhone look like a piece of junk from this ‘80s with this jumbo cell phone case.

8. The Creative Sleep pillows - $15.00 each
Your designer friends will sleep easier knowing their heads are being cushioned by the Adobe suite.

9. Helvetica t-shirt – $20.00
When a typography enthusiast opens this tee, be prepared to dodge a punch. But once they get over the anger, they will love it and wear it all the time. Hopefully.

10. USB Drink Chiller and Warmer - $18.95
There’s one thing all Web geeks have in common and it’s that they spend way too much time in front of a computer. Be a good friend and keep your geek comfortably hydrated.

Didn’t know that could happen? Well, according to Google the company must comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), under which children younger than 13 must provide the permission of a parent or guardian before giving out personal information online.

In a letter tittled ” Google, thanks for making my daughter cry” posted on Reddit, the girl’s father blasted Google for not clearly stating the age restrictions during the sign up process. ”I set up a gmail account for my daughter so she could send email to her grandparents,” he wrote.

The decision has sparked a bit of controversy and also reopened a long dormant debate over how young is too young for the Internet.

Google’s decision is a bit strange especially when you consider the “Dear Sophie” campagin they ran last year.

Two can play that game. Kremlin wants protestors to Like them.

After a tumultuous year in which many uprisings around the world were waged through social media, it appears Russian officials  are trying to quell anti-government sentiment by posting heart-felt messages on Facebook regarding possible violations at polling stations during the December 4 election of President Dmitry Medvedev.

The British newspaper “The Telegraph” first reported the post and the continued subtle dialogue being waged by the president across his official Facebook page.

“People have the right to express their views which is what they did yesterday,” wrote Mr Medvedev. “I don’t agree with the slogans or the declaration that rang out at the meetings. Nevertheless, instructions have been given by me to check all information from polling stations regarding compliance with the legislation on elections.”

Bad news for Moscow: The vast majority of comments were negative.

Russians play rough over Twitter

In other Russian social media news, the BBC reported that hijacked PCs may have helped drown out online chat about Russian election protest. Trend Micro researcher Maxim Goncharov discovered pro-Kremlin Twitter messages were being auto-generated by computers, spamming conversations and pushing down the voice of dissent. The bots used the protesters’ hashtag #триумфальная (Triumfalnaya) to drown conversations, while posting up to 10 messages per second, according to the report.

If at first you don’t succeed, try something underhanded and illegal.