Google has been rolling out changes one after another, with a new (but not that different) homepage design, the +1 button, and a social network in the trial phase. Here’s a quick, easy-to-digest breakdown of what these search engine and social media updates are all about:

+1 Button

This little button is yet another factor in search engine optimization, bringing more recommended sites higher in the search results. If someone you are connected to in your Google account recommends a site with the +1 button, you’ll see that they did. This is simply a tool to tally recommendations, and that’s it. The social aspect is just that you can see which of your friends have recommended a site. You should definitely be leveraging the +1 button in your search engine optimization and online marketing strategy.

Google+

In plain English, Google+ is Google’s new social network (although they’re not saying that). It’s in a trial phase right now, and isn’t open to everyone just yet. Here are its key features:

• Circles: Similar to Facebook Groups, Circles let you put different people in different circles, allowing you to interact and share with each circle separately.
• Sparks: This is a feed of content based on specific interests you have selected. From Sparks, it’s easy to share with Circles, and create a thread of conversation around a piece of content.
• Hangouts: Video chat with multiple friends at a time.
• Mobile: There are a couple features that will be available for what Google calls a “pocket computer,” or mobile. Instant uploads let you instantly upload photos from your phone, and Huddles creates a chat-room style text conversation with friends.

What people are saying

They’re saying a lot…Facebook already meets these needs…If Buzz didn’t have great success, why would Google+?…And while it’s nice to have our world tailored to our interests, don’t we need something to balance us? Something to remind us that there are alternative viewpoints we should consider, and our world isn’t the only world that matters? Eli Pariser raised some of these concerns this past February in a talk about The Filter Bubble.

The gates through which we enter the Internet are changing. It will be exciting to see what happens in the not so far off future. And of course, we’ll keep you up-to-date on how it will effect your search engine optimization and social media strategy.

The idea of Google advertising on TV is a little weird to me. They’re a search engine, and the leader in their industry…what do they need to advertise for? But when I saw the first commercial in their “Search Stories” campaign, I was very impressed. They took something as quick and trivial as a 20-second search, and demonstrated the monumental impact that it has on a person’s life.

Before learning search engine optimization and working at an interactive marketing agency, I never really understood the importance of search engines. But in today’s world, Google is the first place that most people turn for literally every decision they make. If you have a question, odds are that Google can answer it. And that is a really important thing. Because in doing so, Google, a search engine that is mathematically pulling data based on relevance, obtains a persona and a voice. It’s your trusted advice-giver, resource, and industry-expert for everything life throws your way.

And it knows me so well! Today, I found this fun little tool that lets you create your own Google Search Story. I built a quick one about a user’s first experience with Sandstorm Design. Check it out, and please share your stories with us too!

I love taking tests. Sounds weird, I know, but I love learning, and tests are a quick way for me to discover what I don’t know and immediately pinpoints an area or two that I can improve on. And I found a website SEO tool that tests your website and gives you a grade. Sandstorm Design got 99/100!

When it comes to SEO and marketing your website, the high level concepts don’t often change (write strong original content, continue to add to that content, attract quality links, etc). What does change are all the new things you can do to increase your odds that people will come back to your website and promote your content, which in turn drives more traffic. Of all the website SEO tools, I like Website Grader. (and no, they didn’t pay for that link). When I find a tool I like, I share it. And what I like most is that Website Grader put together in a very organized fashion what they look for in the analysis, what you can do to improve your website, and if you want more help, where to go. And it’s free.

If you want to build organic SEO traffic, the traffic you don’t need to pay for each time someone clicks on your link, then you need to build marketing content everywhere. I’m talking on your web site, adding press releases, adding articles, writing regularly on your blog. And you need to build content elsewhere on the web by submitting your press releases, writing marketing articles, and commenting on blogs. And here’s the real deal – it has to be unique content. You won’t get the same results copying and pasting the same content everywhere.

My personal favorite for adding articles is with Ezine Articles. For submitting press releases, try i-newswire or PRlog.

When it comes to investing, it is often recommended to “ride out the market” to achieve the most rewarding results. History has shown that patient investors are often the most profitable, not to mention the least stressed out.

Now think of SEO as an investment…for your business. But unlike mutual funds and other financial investments, an SEO marketing investment will require a significant amount of work – not just time. (the work can be done by yourself, your staff or an SEO marketing consultant). But before you get started on all that content, you need an SEO marketing strategy.

Your SEO marketing strategy will help you define:

• who you want to attract
• what web site goals you want to achieve
• which keyword phrases you need to work for
• which keyword phrases are easy wins
• how competitive your SEO landscape is
• what tactics you will need to achieve your results
• which baseline web analytics are important
• what kind of maintenance and support you’ll need to retain your rankings

After your strategy has been refined, you are ready to work on marketing and refining your web site. Then you’ll most likely find out that a few of the keyword phrases you felt were exactly the right fit, are actually driving traffic, but the wrong kind. It’s funny how marketing works. Sometimes you have to be careful what you ask for :)

Ok. I admit it. I am stalling today. I have three proposals to write and I am blogging instead. I tell myself that blogging is marketing and it’s part of our social media and SEO strategy so it’s just as important, but I know in my gut that I should be writing those proposals. I should be grateful that I have proposals to write (and they are really cool ones from facebook application ideas to some web site interfaces utilizing our user-centered methodology) but I am struggling to actually write them. So how does one find inspiration in writing proposals? I already ate my bag of skittles.

According to wikipedia, user interface design is the design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications, and websites with the focus on the user’s experience and interaction. Utilizing the same source, web design is the skill of creating presentations of content that is delivered though the web.

I searched google to see if I could find anyone debating the two terms as they are used often interchangeably, but I don’t necessarily agree that they are one in the same.

Our agency is a user interface design firm that utilizes a user-centered design approach to improve the user experience in a creative and conceptual way. Google searches done today are looking for a web design firm in Chicago, but are they really? Hmmm…

To the average google researcher, the two key word phrases ‘web design chicago‘ and ‘web design firm chicago‘ may seem like the same thing so you would assume you would get the same results, but it’s not entirely true. Interestingly enough, google considers Sandstorm Design an incredible find for a web design firm (maybe because we’re a full service interactive agency?), but for the average web design search, we’re not. In my next life I would enjoy being a google algorithm strategist.