Beginning in March, a small percentage of US Google Search users began seeing the +1 button appear in their search result pages. The +1 button is extremely similar to that of Facebook’s Like button or the Twitter Tweet It button.

In order to +1 a site, your Google profile needs to be public. All of your +1s will be stored in a new tab within your profile. The goal of Google’s +1 button is to help you as a user get recommendations for sites that interest you, based off of sites that your friends +1’ed.

Earlier this week, Google developers gave a sneak peak of how the Google +1 button is implemented within sites, the stats that it will display and a rollout timeline. Below are a few takeaways.

Implementing your +1 button: The buttons are available in a range of sizes. Using a simple code generator, you can specify the particular size and count features you would like to associate with your +1 button.

Reporting +1 statistics: Through Google Webmaster Central, you will have the ability to report statistics based on overall +1 activity, demographics and location.

Rollout timeline: “Weeks” out per Google.

Do you plan to use the +1 button or implement it on your website? Let us know! Stay tuned as our internet marketing team will continue to keep you up-to-date on the upcoming rollout.

Earlier this week, Google began testing their new Voice Search feature, which is a voice activated search that recognizes several different languages and different speech patterns. This feature has been available for some time now on the Android platform phones, but until now has never been tested for your home and office computers. When the voice feature recognizes your microphone settings, it includes a “Speak Now” button located next to the search bar.  And the search doesn’t just stop there; the new voice feature allows you to speak commands as well. For example, if I speak “Directions to Sage Island Marketing Agency” it will pull up the Google Maps tab and provide the directions that I had asked for. I can also say “Listen to Lady Gaga” and it will pull up the appropriate program, such as Pandora, and begin playing the station that you had asked for.

Some may believe that this feature is not as helpful in settings like the office, but for the people that can speak much faster than they can type, this feature could be fully utilized. A voice search desktop widget could also be in the works for this product. Google has given no statement that they plan to permanently include this feature on their site, but for now it is released to a select amount of users.

What do you think about Google Voice Search?

Today, the Google Analytics team decided to share the new version of Google Analytics with a small group of Analytics users. Luckily, Sage Island was chosen as one of them.  We are here to tell you that the future of Google Analytics is looking AMAZING and more intuitive than ever.  The functionality of this new version makes the site easier to navigate through than ever. You can look at several different analytical variables at one time, under one interface, which is incredibly helpful when comparing your site data.  The Google Analytics team has made it much easier and faster to get to the site data that you’re looking for through the enhanced Analytics platform. You can also view information about your site visitors by new dynamics such as demographics, behavior and technology.  With this new version comes a whole new updated Google Analytics Help Center and Report Finder.  There is also a section in the Help Forum for you to ask questions and discuss topics with other Analytics users.  You can sign up to be considered for this Google Analytics test run at the beta sign-up page.    If you have any questions or do not have Google Analytics set up for your site, please contact us at Sage Island.

Since Google has introduced Realtime Search, it has become ever-so-important to understand social media feeds and the value behind posting on Twitter. Below are a few best practices that our team at Sage Island follows, that may be beneficial to your business as well.

1) Establish trust:

To be successful on Twitter, you have to build a reputation for being a trusted source. You must become your industries leading source for up-to-date and timely information. This will help you build a strong following on Twitter. You can establish this trust by referencing articles and links about the bigger picture as it relates to your business.

2) Link to your website:

Integrate your current Twitter URL into your website by placing a button or call to action on all pages within your website. When tweeting, provide back links that redirect to your site to help gain traffic to your site. Make sure that when promoting your company’s URL, that you have provided added value once they arrive. Both integrating your Twitter URL and linking to your site – will help drive your Twitter URL up in the search engines.

3) Be responsive and reward followers:

You won’t win over the twitter population if you only use twitter as a self-promoting platform. While providing one way marketing messages about your product is okay, it is preferred if you instead ask questions and engage followers in a more casual, conversational approach. Share other peoples content in order to let the “Twitter-sphere” know that you are participating in the conversation. Engaging followers, thanking followers for following and responding in real time will help you build your customer engagement.

4) Don’t forget about your keywords and character limit:

When possible, write keyword rich tweets. Beginning your tweets with a primary keyword will allow you to leverage the realtime and long-term index relevance across search engines. Also, make sure your tweet’s character limits allow for “retweetability.” It is best to keep your tweet under 120 characters in order for your followers to easily add your RT@name in front of their tweet.

5) Measure and monitor what people are saying:

Utilizing tools such as HootSuite and Radian6 will allow you to monitor, track and gain insights regarding your Twitter traffic. Similar to Google Analytics for your website, these sites provide data regarding your Twitter visits, demographics, referring site visits and specifics on individual tweets that you have sent.

Understanding these 5 Twitter tips is only the beginning. Knowing who to follow and the important hashtags for your industry are important as well. Keep your eyes out for more insightful Twitter and social media tips to come in the next week. If you have any questions, or want information regarding other social media opportunities, please contact Sage Island today.

Google AdWords is deemed one of the fastest, easiest and most cost-effective ways to advertise your product/service online. According to the Google Help Center, Google’s Network reaches 80% of the 170 million people that use the Internet in the U.S., and it doesn’t stop there. You can advertise in approximately 250 countries in 38 different languages. Below are the top 5 reasons why Google AdWords could benefit you:

1. Cost & Flexibility
AdWords allows you to choose between two different pricing models: Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Cost-Per-Impression (CPM). This allows you to have an increased level of control with your advertising campaigns. You can also set a maximum daily budget and maximum CPC or CPM bids to completely manage your advertising costs.

2. Targeting & Scheduling Capabilities
Within your Google AdWords account you can specifically target ads to a city, region, state, metro area or any specific location you define for yourself. You can also target any of the provided 38 languages. Ad Scheduling can be extremely important to the performance of your advertising campaigns. With AdWords you can customize which days of the week and hours of the day you would like for your ads to run.

3. Ad Extensions
AdWords provide 4 different ad extensions in Google Search: Location Extension, Phone Extension, Ad Sitelinks and Product Extensions. Ad Extensions expand your standard text ad with additional information such as a product listing or image, address and phone number, click-to-call phone number, or additional links to your site. These extensions help users more easily find out about your business, product or service.

4. Conversion Optimizer
By using your conversion tracking data, AdWords features two ways to get you more conversions at a lower cost. The Conversion Optimizer keyword bidding option optimizes your ad placement in each ad auction for increased likelihood of conversion and avoidance of unprofitable clicks. You can set your maximum cost-per-acquisition (the most you’re willing to pay per conversion) and this feature will automatically choose the optimal CPC for each ad auction. The second feature is the “Optimize for conversions” ad rotation option. This feature shows the ads that are expected to provide more conversions more often.

5. The Google Network
Google is split into 2 networks; the Search Network, which includes Google and other search sites and the Display Network, which includes Gmail, YouTube and sites like the New York Times. The Search Network uses keywords to target text ads on search results pages. The Display Network reaches prospects at different points of the buying cycle through contextual targeting. Here you can run text/rich media ads, image or video ads depending on the site. Display ads serve as an effective media choice for both branding and direct response goals.

If you have any questions about Google AdWords, or if you think PPC advertising could be the marketing choice for you, please contact Sage Island to begin your marketing success.

“Remember the day you first discovered Google search. Now, think back to what search was like before, using Altavista and Lycos. It was pretty painful stuff. Google, with its plain-vanilla HTML interface, simple black text, blue links and one sole graphic did nothing but revolutionize my search experience, and judging by the brand it has built since, I don’t suspect I’m the only one.

In fact, many of us can’t imagine life without Google, despite the valiant contender efforts of Bing and the old faves of Yahoo and AOL. That is until you head East. When we first adopted Google we were all on dial-up and time waiting for graphic-rich content was secondary to getting data results — fast! Yet, in a culture where consumers have always had high-speed broadband from day one, such as South Korea, who has the world’s deepest penetration of internet users, those rules just never applied. In fact, for them, search has always been an entirely different affair.” read more at adage.com