People are searching for you. Yes, YOU. They are searching for YOUR business and what YOU offer. You'd be PERFECT for them.... if only they could find you online. With the overwhelming amount of content on the web, it's hard for them to find you (the needle) amongst all the noise (haystack). 

That's where some awesome SEO comes into play. Search Engine Optimization. People type something into Google, et voila! There you are. 

So, you've heard that SEO is a waste of time/money/energy. It can be, especially if you have the wrong people doing it for you, or those that don't know the best ways to make your website work FOR you. Our friends over at Search Engine Journal recently posted an article of stellar SEO statistics that paint a lovely picture of why you need to make SEO part of your marketing plan. Here are a few of those statistics:

75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. 

70-80% of users ignore the paid ads, focusing on the organic results.

Search and e-mail are the top two internet activities.

Companies that blog have 434% more indexed pages. And companies with more indexed pages get far more leads.

SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (such as direct mail or print advertising) have a 1.7% close rate. 

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. 

MarketingCharts reports that over 39% of customers come from search.

Source: Search Engine Journal

SEO is only a waste of time if you're not doing it right. A brilliant SEO strategy requires focus and an intentionality that only a professional can provide. Our SEO solutions are hassle free and proven to bring more people to your website. More leads, more connections, more conversions. It's as simple as that. 

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It's easier than you realize to do too much. However, it's also tempting to turn your head and not do enough. More and more of our clients come to us because their websites aren't working for them. We strive to achieve the perfect balance of  doing just enough to help them have a stellar, world-class website that does what it is supposed to do without being the annoying over-achiever. 

We really liked this infographic from SEOBook. It compares the many ways SEO can go, and how to get it "just right". They've called it "Goldilocks SEO". 

We've discussed before the difference between White Hat and Black Hat SEO and how we are committed to a strictly White Hat operation here at Immerseme. Another promise we can make is that we will always strive to find that perfect balance for our clients as we optimize their websites. We won't be the annoying kid in class that tries too hard, but we also won't do the bare minimum. We use tools and analytics to make educated decisions and strategic choices for our clients. We see great results and will continue to learn more about the ever changing SEO landscape as we advance your message to your audience. 

There are times when it is tactful to just keep your  mouth shut, but there are times that it is appropriate to help out a friend.

Your friend has a business or a ministry or a church or an organization. And they have a website. You went to this website and it is, um.... well, it's just.... not conveying the message that you know they are trying to convey. 

So, why keep it to yourself? Maybe your friend doesn't realize that it looks like a 7th grader made their website. 

Maybe your friend doesn't know that half the links you click on do not work. 

Perhaps they don't realize that if your whole website is an image and there are no words, no links to click on, Google doesn't really know that you exist. 

It's quite possible that your friend doesn't realize that having a bad website can be more harmful than having no website at all.

When people are searching for a new church to go to, they will check out the church's website. BELIEVE US, they will not visit a church if the website gives them the vibe that this church has not made any progress since 1996. Especially if the church website still is talking about the Easter service from 2002. 

Color matters. Content matters. Placement matters. Links matter. Wording matters.

Your website is supposed to communicate your message, not just facts and information. You're saying who you are, what you believe in, and how you operate. Your website is like your virtual window display. You don't want someone to drive up, see the front of your store, and then drive away because it doesn't look like the kind of place they want to visit. 

Tell your friend. Do it. You're doing them a disservice by letting them think that all websites are created equal.

Contact us for more questions or if you don't know how to tell them gently. We'll help you out. :)

We stumbled upon some analytics that detail where consumers are spending their time and comparing that to the ad spending in those places. 

The Mobile Ad spending gap is astounding. 

Source: Flurry

According to this information, Web and Mobile are the only places where the amount of time the consumer spends per media is greater than the ad spending per media. Your money is more wisely spent on ads seen via New Media. Web content, mobile ads, social media... all of these are highly viewed by your audience, yet the price of advertising is lower. 

Smartphones are becoming the primary internet access point for people across the globe. Wherever your people are, you need to be visible in those places. Fortunately for you, those places are well priced when it comes to advertising. Aside from our turnkey Message Management services, we have now launched ImmersemeMobile for all things related to pushing out your content to smartphone users. 

Want more info? Contact us. 

Here is an interesting infographic on why and how to use Google+ as a marketing tool.  At Immerseme, we believe so strongly in Google+ that we include it in our SEO strategy at all levels. As we like to say, "If you are not doing Google+, you are not doing SEO." 

Ah, yes. The ever-changing Google logo. We wrote an article about it a few months ago about why it changes and who does it. Maybe some young artist in some elementary school wants to grow up to be a team member for the Google Doodles! 

This was just too funny not to share! 

The Wall Street Journal recently released an article saying that Google will be getting a makeover over the next few months that will change the way we see search results, as well as the kind of results we will be seeing. Unlike the usual changes to the keyword search functions, we are now going to see changes to the type of search results you will see. One of the top search executives at Google, Amit Singhal, explains that the changes could take up to a year to fully take affect. 

What Google is trying to do is make their search engine more like a human, more comprehensive. They want to give you the result right there, without you having to click on links to find your answer. The article explains it this way:

"Under the shift, people who search for "Lake Tahoe" will see key "attributes" that the search engine knows about the lake, such as its location, altitude, average temperature or salt content. In contrast, those who search for "Lake Tahoe" today would get only links to the lake's visitor bureau website, its dedicated page on Wikipedia.com, and a link to a relevant map.

For a more complex question such as, "What are the 10 largest lakes in California?" Google might provide the answer instead of just links to other sites."

They are trying to launch a "new generation of search" while also keeping up with changes to how people seek out information. This is a great advancement in the industry and one that we are excited to see take off. This "semantic search" - associating certain words with each other -is absolutely going to change the way Google operates. 

So what does this mean for the business owner?

It means that, once again, Google is changing its methodology.

It means that, once again, what worked today may not work tomorrow.

It means that, once again, you might have to learn what changes need to be made to your website to make it findable for Google.

Google wants their product to be the best. They are achieving that goal, largely in part to their ever-evolving way of doing things. Unfortunately for our customers, this means that they could have the best website in the world that is on the top of Google rankings in January, but somehow at the bottom of the pack by March. You have to stay on top of it, pay attention to these changes, no matter how minor or major they may be, and make the proper adjustments. 

Our Message Management services take away that headache for our clients. Our team "speaks Google". We understand the changes, what they affect, and what changes you need to make to comply with the updates. Then, we update everything for you. We work as partners with you to take your message and push it out using new media in the most effective and innovative ways. This turnkey service is proactive and takes Search Engine Optimization to a new level. Feel free to contact us to learn more about how we could help your company. 

"If it works, it must be ok." That is has been the philosophy of many search engine optimizers for years.  However, not everything that works is good or will continue to work.  Google, for example, makes over 500 changes to their ranking algorithm every year.  Over 40 changes were made in February, 2012 alone.  One of those changes from last month involved turning off a ranking signal related to links. Google has not provided details about this change. Some SEO's have speculated that it has to do with anchor text in backlinks. 

Google used to rely heavily on backlinks as a signal of a website's importance or authority.  Many SEO's figured out how to game the system by throwing a bunch of links at targeted websites.  Often, this practice would result in noticeable increases in search engine rankings. Sometimes these links were purchased or exchanged from bloggers on private blog networks. Usually these bloggers would purchase text copy from low-quality writing services that cranked out content that looked like this:

"If you live in Denver and are looking to buy a used car, try the Denver used car specialists at Denver used cars.  Buying a Denver used car can save you money if you buy from the right Denver used car lot in Denver.  Everyone in Denver knows that a great looking used car can save you money and make you look good.  Saving money in Denver is easy if you buy a used car from the best used car lot in Denver."

The underlined text above would point you a used car website for a local lot  in Denver. SEO's used these techniques because they worked. But, they failed to realize that they make the business look spammy and non-credible. Thank goodness Google is plugging some holes and these techniques are not working any more.  Now, if you are the Denver car lot owner, you are starting to see your rankings, web traffic and car sales drop.  Unless the owner did the spammy SEO work himself, he or she may have no idea why sales are dropping and has no idea how to save the business. 

At Immerseme, we don't do "whatever works." We partner with your business for long-term growth and profitability. We focus on increasing your website conversions, which may be measured as web-generated phone calls, online form submissions, appointments, downloads, etc. We measure our success by your bottom line.  We don't use spammy or "black hat" SEO strategies that may hurt your business in the long run. You can trust us to be up-front and transparent in all that we do.  Feel free to contact us to learn more about developing a digital media strategic partnership with Immerseme. 

Let's say you have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, or any other platform. Each of these are different from one another, serve different purposes, and are entirely separate from each other. So how do you connect them back to your website? How do you tie them all together with a pretty bow and bring them to one place for your clients to find?

Before we dig in to HOW we should connect them, let's make sure we understand the WHY. A writer over at Search Engine Land said it best: 

"Every time I read about social media these days, I end up hearing about how social sharing metrics are becoming a bigger factor in everything from organic rankings to driving additional clicks from visitors already on your site. And it makes total sense.

If Google sees that a blog post has a ton of Likes, +1’s and Twitter mentions, Google is probably going to think that the blog post is relevant and authoritative as well as a valuable contribution to the respective topic discussed in the post.

Even if Google wasn’t using those metrics in their organic algorithm(s), having high numbers in those little buttons on a blog post can really have an impact on getting extra clicks from people who would have not necessarily clicked on the link to the story. It’s like a testimonial. I mean, if 875 people have Liked that post, I should probably check it out, too, right? It’s called ‘social proof’ – and social sharing buttons can help you build it for your brand."

These buttons have become integral to search rankings, and we are firm believers in making sure they have a presence on your website. When people come to your website, they will immediately have an avenue to keep up with you and what you're doing. All they have to do is click a button. This brings all of your social channels to one place. 

Want them to follow you on LinkedIn? There's a button for that.

Want them to like you on Facebook? There's a button for that.

Want them to add you to their circles on Google+? You guessed it.... there's a button for that!

Here's a few examples of Social Media buttons on some big time websites:

Mashable:

Good Housekeeping:

Fox News:

Chili's: 

However, placement of these social buttons is more important than you think. Are your buttons waaaay at the bottom where no one can find them? Some companies even go as far as to put their social buttons on every page of their website so no one can miss it. Are you placing them on the homepage? On the sidebar? There's a method to the madness. 

Then again, maybe you've got bigger fish to fry on your website and you're needing help with more than just social media buttons. Either way, we're here to help you know what to put on your website, where to put it, and how to "Speak Google" so that it can find you and direct other people to you. 

Watch anchors of The Today Show in 1994 discuss whether the @ symbol means "at" or "about", and try to understand what the internet actually is. 

The problem is, your local customers are changing the ways they search for what they need. Rather than driving around or looking in the yellow pages, they're googling what they are looking for. And they're doing it from their smartphones. Our last blog explained how smartphones are going to be the primary internet access point in the year 2012. People are using search engines like crazy from inside their car or when they are on the go. So what does this mean for the local business owner? 

It means a lot.

Search Engine Land reports that 61% of smartphone users conduct local searches on their phone. Chances are, you do it a lot to. Don't you think your customers are doing the same? 

Let's think a few steps ahead here. Let's say they type "Day Spa, Katy, Texas" (or enter your neighborhood of choice here) and they find your local business. Google provides them with a link to your website. Then they click on it, from their smartphone. Hooray! They've found you! But.... what does it look like?

The way your website looks on a computer is VERY different form the way it looks on a phone. It may not even load properly. Maybe they can't see any pictures. Maybe the font is super tiny and they can't read anything. And maybe they will just back out and find somewhere else because they can't access you from their smartphone. It happens. 

A 2011 study shows that 71% of mobile users EXPECT a mobile site to load just as quickly as a site seen on their desktop. Is your mobile site not user-friendly? 57% of mobile users wouldn't recommend your local business based on that fact alone. 

This same study shows that 1 out of 5 local searches from a smartphone result in an immediate phone call to your business. 

Source: Search Engine Land

Here's what you need to ask yourself:

1. If someone searches for your type of local business from their smartphone, what comes up?

2. If they do find you, what does your website look like from an iPhone? What about from an Android?

3. How can you make this better?

Our team is highly focused on Search Engine Optimization from desktop computers, iPads, smartphones, and any other entry point for internet usage. Mobile search is skyrocketing and it's incredibly important that local businesses are keeping up with the new methods that their customers are utilizing. 

For more about what we offer to help local businesses, check out ImmersemeMobile. 

Logically, it makes sense. It's so much easier to pull out our phone than it is to lug out the laptop. It's easy access and can be easily slipped back into your pocket when it is time to get off the shuttle. We've taken the "crackberry" to a whole new level and businesses are starting to notice. 

Search Engine Land is reporting that in the year 2012, 1 Billion people will use their smartphone as their primary internet access point. According to Google's most recent study on mobile devices, we've also learned a few more fun facts about the smartphone user:

• They notice mobile ads
• They are crazy about apps
• They watch a lot of online videos
• They are frequent users of social networks
• They seek local information
• After they find the local info they are looking for, they take action

There is so much more that we have learned from these studies, and we can continue to dive into these areas in the future, but now more than ever we are picking up on the fact that businesses need to use new media to speak to their target audience and meet them where they are. And where they are is on their smartphones. 

Immerseme has launched our ImmersemeMobile division for this very reason. We are here to help businesses use smartphones and tablets to advance their message to the smartphone users. Consumers are on the go and are accessing the internet while they are out and about. Are you reaching them where they are?

The thing is, as simple as Google's set-up is, there is actually a wrong way to Google. And by "wrong" we mean "you're less likely to get the result you're looking for". One of the cardinal rules of Googling is to never ask Google for information in the form of a question. ("What are the Mardi Gras parade routes in New Orleans today?") This ain't Siri on your iPhone, people! 

The website HackCollege put together a super-informative infographic geared towards college students as they work on research papers across the country. It's lengthy, but full of handy tricks and tips:

Source: HackCollege

Seriously, send this to every college student or researcher that you know! No one wants to go through 8 pages of search results! You want what you're looking for to be at the very top. The WRONG WAY to use Google is to talk to it like it's a human. The RIGHT WAY to use Google is simply to manipulate it so it gives you exactly what you're looking for.

Not convinced? Check out this infographic we found that shows the color choices of the biggest companies out there:

Isn't it interesting how the vast majority of these brands fall into two main color families? We're not saying you have to go blue or red, but we are saying that there is a method behind the design madness. 

Why did you choose the design you currently have for your business? How did you come up with the concept? Our graphic designers and branding experts are well-versed and qualified to help your company come up with a brand that appeals to your audience and advances your message. There is a process that we go through to pick the look, the color, the font, EVERYTHING that goes into the design. Don't let clip art happen to you! 

There are 3 WAYS TO VOTE:

Facebook 

On our Facebook page, you will find 2 photos. One says New Beginnings Church, one says My Life Youth & Family Services. You need to LIKE the photo of the organization that you’re voting for. HOWEVER, you MUST like our Facebook PAGE (www.facebook.com/immerseme) for your vote to count.

Twitter

Send us a Tweet (just mention @ImmersemeWebDev) and tell us who you want to vote for! Again, you have to FOLLOW us for your tweet vote to count! (You can vote on Twitter up to 3 times per day!) Find our Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/immersemewebdev.

Website

Yep, we have a one-button-click voting setup here on our website. Just click HERE to go to the form. 

GOOD LUCK to our finalists and be sure to SPREAD THE WORD!!

Drum Roll Please.......

Finalist #1: MyLife Youth & Family Services

MyLife Youth & Family Services is a non-profit counseling and psychological treatment center for substance abuse in Downey, California. They provide education, prevention, and intervention services to youth and at-risk families in their community. Their staff is made up of unpaid volunteers who provide group and in-home counseling at no cost. MyLife is currently without a website. With an official, informative and easy to navigate website, they feel they could reach more people in their community. Learn more about MyLife at www.facebook.com/mylifenonprofit

Finalist #2: New Beginnings Church

New Beginnings Church is a growing congregation located in Covington, Louisiana. It's a newer church with a big heart. The church is only about a year old, but they are vibrant and growing in their community. Their motto is "Reach and Teach". They want their church members to not only KNOW, but to GROW! While New Beginnings has a website up and running, they feel that their vision is not communicated as effectively as they would like for it to be.  Learn more about New Beginnings at www.nbchurchnorth.com.

So... what now?

We've selected the finalists. The voting will open on Monday, January 9, and close Monday, January 31. Until then, be sure that you've LIKED us on Facebook and FOLLOWED us on Twitter! We'll be sharing more information about these finalists and how they have impacted their communities. We're honored to share their stories. 

Happy Voting, and Good Luck to the Finalists!

When we started Immerseme back in 2000, much of our focus was on churches and ministries. As the world was transitioning to online platforms, many churches had no idea how to start, where to go, or what to do to create a dynamic website that would connect with their congregation and community. We’re now in 2012, and while we now create websites for so much more than churches, we still are passionate about church websites and how to advance their message.

Because of this, we are honored and beyond excited to acquire MinistryWebsites.biz. MinistryWebsites.biz has partnered with churches, ministries, missionaries and more for more than 3 years. This company shares so much of our vision. Their goal was to bring ministry online in a format that is effective, relevant, clear, and creative. The values of MinistryWebsites.biz and Immerseme closely aligned, making the acquisition a no-brainer.

MinistryWebsites.biz is a well-built company that fits perfectly into our goals. The founder, Tim Schmoyer, will help us transition as we learn about the great people that use the services of MinistryWebsites.biz. We’re honored to take on the new challenges presented by their clients as we adopt them into our Immerseme family. From the client perspective, not much is changing. We will continue to provide the clients of MinistryWebsites.Biz excellent service and creative solutions to make their website the best we possibly can.

We’re excited to begin work on these great websites and continue doing what we do best: We’re using our skills to help you be seen, heard, and connected with your audience. Reaching people using digital technology. Advancing your message through new media.

Welcome, MinistryWebsites.biz. Let’s get to work!

This week, Business Insider released some great images showing all the things that happen on the internet every 60 seconds. These easy to understand, colorful illustrations are quite fascinating! 

And here's another one showing even MORE:

Source: Business Insider

695,000 status updates on Facebook. 950 purchases on eBay, with 180 of those purchases being made using a mobile device. 100 new LinkedIn accounts. 98,000 tweets. $219,000 payments thru PayPal, (with $10,000 paid via a Smartphone.) 

New Media is here, traditional media has subsided. We are digital. With every minute that ticks by, we are becoming MORE digital. Our Smartphones are being used as computers and our computers are being used as phones. 

Like I said, we're quite busy with our online activity!

According to the Google Doodles page, the team at Google has been doodling since the birth of the company! 

"In 1998, before the company was even incorporated, the concept of the doodle was born when Google founders Larry and Sergey played with the corporate logo to indicate their attendance at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. They placed a stick figure drawing behind the 2nd "o" in the word Google, and the revised logo was intended as a comical message to Google users that the founders were "out of office". While the first doodle was relatively simple, the idea of decorating the company logo to celebrate notable events was born.

Over time, the demand for doodles has risen in the US and internationally. Creating doodles is now the responsibility of a team of talented illustrators (we call them doodlers) and engineers. For them, creating doodles has become a group effort to enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of Google users around the world." Source: Google Doodles

I thought we'd share some of our favorite doodles. 

November 30, 2011: Mark Twain's 176th Birthday

October 8, 2010: John Lennon's 70th Birthday

July 29, 2008: 50th Anniversary of NASA

January 17, 2011: Dr. Martin Luther King Day

November 10, 2009: 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street

Those are just a few... the list goes all the way back through 1998. What a fun and creative way to celebrate so many things in our world. We've gotta admit... being a Google Doodler would be a pretty awesome job!

We thought we'd share some of our recent findings with you here on our blog. Ladies and gentlemen, straight from the experts at Christmas Tree Market, we give you: The History of the Christmas Tree:

See? Don't you feel smarter? 

According to Search Engine Land, the Google Maps feature will now include interior maps of airports, major malls, and major retailers in the U.S. and Japan. See the photo below of the map of the Mall of America, both interior and exterior:

We predict that this will start to become "the norm" for major retailers. Have you checked out our Immerseme Mobile services?

Click the image for a larger view. 

The following graphic from SEOMoz shows the factors that are likely to have the greatest impact on website ranking in search engines in the near future.  This is according to a panel of 132 search engine optimization experts.  The graphic lists ranking factors in order of influence. The ones listed near the top will have the greatest influence with diminishing influence as you go down the list.  

To summarize, well-written, high value content that is freely shared across social media will have the greatest impact.  Social signals will be relied upon more heavily to determine domain and page authority as linking factors decrease. Usage data, including bounce rate from the landing page back to the search engine, will be a big ranking factor. This indicates whether or not a searcher found what they were looking for. A high bounce rate may indicate that the landing page did not capture the interest of the searcher.  Furthermore, a click to a competitor from that same SERP could be an indicator of greater relevancy to the original search query.  And as always, good web design is important.  Diminishing factors include link anchor text, paid links, and keywords in the domain name. 

At Immerseme, we are constantly aware of how search engines are changing and the impact that has on your organization's website. We are practicing SEO in ways that impact search results today and tomorrow.  

Over the past two weeks we began to notice that Google was experimenting with Google Places placement on Google's search result pages.  We discussed this internally, but could not confirm our hypothesis that Google+ location pages would some day replace Google Places.  (After all, Google seems to be getting rid of services that are not a good fit with Google+ while integrating just about all of their other web properties with Google+).

Today, Mike Blumenthal discovered that Google is starting to render search result pages with Google+ local pages integrated into Google Places universal search. See an example below for the search query "transmission servicing lexington ky".

What does this mean for you?  Simply, that if you have a physical address for your business, you should consider adding Google+ to your digital marketing strategy.  See my previous post for a list of Google+ best practices for businesses.  It is complicated, but we've already been down that road and back.  Talk to Immersme and let us help you get ahead of your competition. 

"Link building" is an  SEO strategy that is as old as Google itself.  Once webmasters realized that Google's PageRank viewed backlinks as votes in determining authority, many scrambled to get as many links in any fashion as they could. In it's simplest form, link building is as easy as asking webmasters to link to your website because you have a legitimate relationship with their company or organization.  This includes chambers of commerce, trade associations, vendors, distributors, etc. 

In a more complicated form, link building involves paying webmasters to link to your site.  This is considered a "black hat" technique that got companies like J.C. Penny, Forbes and Overstock.com in hot water with Google earlier this year.  Whether paid or not, massive link-building campaigns are considered unnatural and manipulative by Google. 

According to Google's quality guidelines:

The best way to get other sites to create relevant links to yours is to create unique, relevant content that can quickly gain popularity in the Internet community. The more useful content you have, the greater the chances someone else will find that content valuable to their readers and link to it. Before making any single decision, you should ask yourself the question: Is this going to be beneficial for my page's visitors?

Google has always encouraged webmasters to engage in social media.  Creating conversations via blogs and engaging other bloggers has always been considered a legitimate way to create content and to develop backlinks.  These conversations need to be natural, non-spammy, and engaging authentic conversation. 

Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking websites have quickly become excellent platforms for creating social conversations about brands.  Late last year, Google confirmed that "social signals" from Twitter and Facebook have become a factor in their ranking algorithm.  Google believes so strongly that social signals are a better way of determining website authority than PageRank, that they developed their own social network in 2011.  With the launch of Google +, Google is adding the human element to their ranking algorithm.  A central element of Google+ is the +1button .  

This little gem allows individuals to cast a vote for website content that they consider to be meaningful or helpful. These votes can be seen by people in their social circles and can actually alter website positions as rendered on the Google search engine results pages. Google is now using social signals to develop authority clues for websites.  With the recent launch of Google+ pages for business, brands now have a place to aggregate their social authority from +1 votes, paid ads, and the brand's website.  Best practices for gaining social authority for brands now include:

1. Create a personal profile on Google+
2. Create multiple pages on Google+ pages for product lines, services, locations, etc. 
3. Become eligible for Google+ Direct Connect by linking each Google+ page to the brand's website and placing a Google+ badge on your website for each Google+ page created. 
4. Link your Google AdWords campaigns to your Google+ pages.

Following these practices will help to verify that your Google+ pages are legitimate and will help you to start earning social rank.  But that is not enough, you must be willing to invest the time in creating social content, responding to comments, and creating conversations of your own.  

Better than link-building is the practice of engaging in online conversation via social media with individuals who are considered to be authoritative, are widely followed and likely to have strong social rank. None of this is easy.  It is very time consuming, but can be very rewarding.  Immerseme.com is here to help you navigate the social media jungle. We want you to know that we are on top of the latest SEO strategies and we are always scanning the horizon to find the most effective and ethical ways to promote your business online.  You need a digital guide to get you through this and we want to assure you that we are the most equipped company to accomplish you digital marketing goals.  

What are we giving away?

We're giving away a custom website and Internet Marketing valued at over $5,000 to a qualified non-profit organization. The donation includes a fully custom website design by Immerseme's world-class designers, plus, one year of free hosting on ImmerseEdit CMS, our easy-to-use content manageme software.

The end results will be world-class websites with content that the organizations can manage themselves with easy-to-use tools. Each site includes advanced features like blogs, podcasts, videos, forms, donations, payments, calendars and more.

Who is eligible? 

Any registered, non-profit organization with operations based in the United States is eligible to receive the website donation.

How do you nominate?

By filling out this nomination form, silly goose!

Got more questions?

Visit the details page!

Nominate! Submit! One day left!!

Here's the gist of it: There's apparently a Top-Secret lab in the Bay Area of California where they are coming up with crazy-cool inventions that will potentially make their way into our homes. The lab is called Google X and the details are being held behind sealed lips. 

A few concepts mentioned in the article are enough to blow my mind. A robot goes to the office for you. Your refrigerator is connected to the internet. Cars drive themselves. Lightbulbs in your home that you could turn on from your smartphone.

"Although most of the ideas on the list are in the conceptual stage, nowhere near reality, two people briefed on the project said one product would be released by the end of the year, although they would not say what it was." Source: New York Times

Please, let it be the robots. 

Let's get some basics out of the way: The Google algorithm is the way Google finds it's search results. You type in your search criteria, Google's algorithm "does its thang" and then, voila, you have search results. Google is a little bit of an overachiever and wants to make sure you have the best results. The most relevant results. So it is CONSTANTLY (like, several times a day) changing the algorithm to be the best little algorithm there ever was. (And let's be frank, the algorithm ain't little.) 

(We're using a lot of parenthesis today.)

Why does this apply to you? If you have a website, and you want Google to put your website in search results, than it is best to make sure your website is in-line with Google's search criteria. In other words, if Google said "our new algorithm will only bring up web pages that have puppies on them", then you would want to make sure your web page had some pretty cute puppies. Get it? 

So, we were reading a super duper article from Search Engine Land detailing the 10 new Google algorithm changes. I know, I know, it's overwhelming. You don't have to get all of it, but this is just a basic idea of some of the changes:

• Improved Snippets
• Rich Snippets, More Often
• Better Page Titles By Using Anchor Text Less
• Auto-Complete Fix for IME Queries
• Cross-language Information Retrieval
• Better "Official" Page-Detection and Boosting
• Image Search Loses a Ranking Signal
• Better Date-Based Search Results
• Fresher Results

The article  has a significantly higher amount of detail, but these bullet points should give you an idea of what you need to change on your website to fit the Google algorithm criteria. Right? Wait.... you're confused? Yeah, we're SEO experts and even we feel like this is a lot to do. Let's be honest, it is a lot to keep up with. However, the good thing is, our clients who use us for on-going, turnkey message advancement don't have to worry about all this. They know we're handling it for them. We'll make adjustments to their websites to make sure they're getting a good ranking in Google. 

For more on our (awesome) proactive turnkey message management, check out Our Services. 

Forget about the number of members that Google+ has vs Facebook.  Google+ is a platform for publishing to the Google search engine result pages. Your Google+ posts may get indexed and displayed in real time. 

Checkout this short video by Rand Fishkin on 5 Ways to Get Immediate Value Using Google+ and then take a look at the new Immerseme Google + Page.