The Promo Direct Blog

Facebook has once again delighted its users with yet another feature. Last year Oct, Facebook had introduced “Groups” button. It has already led to more than 50 million groups. Austin Haugen, the honored Product Manager for Facebook, has renovated this giant social – network, with a new “Send” button, on Monday the 25th of April 2011.

Google\’s new +1 buttonGoogle has taken its commitment to making its searches user-friendly to another level with the introduction of a new “+1” feature that is currently in the experimental mode. Appearing in quick succession after the implementation of their “website blocking” service, this one (similar to the Facebook “like” button) is their first step in the world of social media on their search engine platform.

“Today we’re taking that a step further, enabling you to share recommendations with the world right in Google’s search results. It’s called +1—the digital shorthand for ‘this is pretty cool.’ To recommend something, all you have to do is click +1 on a webpage or ad you find useful,” says an insider from Google.

To check out this feature, you need to sign in to your Google account and sign up for their “experimental search site.” Once you do that, you will get to see the “+1” tab next to the search result. Then you can recommend a particular website to others on your Google “contacts” list by simply hitting the +1 sign. For instance, if you have +1’ed  www.promodirect.com after signing into your account, whenever anyone in your contacts is looking for promotional products on the net, Promo Direct will show “+1 like” from you and consequently will be recommend to your friends and contacts.

Google spokesman says, “The beauty of +1’s is their relevance—you get the right recommendations (because they come from people who matter to you), at the right time (when you are actually looking for information about that topic) and in the right format (your search results).”

So we want to know what this means for online businesses. Here is how it will impact them:

• User power and website ranking: With the +1 feature and easy means to block the website, Google has given power over the fate of online businesses to its users. If your website is not preferred by users, you run the risk of getting blocked or not getting a much-coveted +1 preference, thereby affecting traffic and sales.

• +1, a part of Google Algorithm: Google plans to make +1 feature a part of their algorithm. They believe that if the users like a particular website, it gives them a good reason to rank it higher than others. So one more thing to keep you on your toes while worrying about where you rank in Google searches.

Google’s +1 feature promises to create a great user experience for its loyalists, though websites and businesses might have another take on it! Let’s wait and watch…

Apart from introducing the new criteria of “relevant content” in its algorithm, Google has come up with a new feature that will enable users to block websites they don’t want, in their search results. The feature has already been implemented and will soon be available for usage worldwide. Try it out sometime! A spokesman on the official blog of Google says, “…you’ll start seeing a new option to block particular domains from your future search results. Now when you click a result and then return to Google, you’ll find a new link next to ‘Cached’” that reads “’Block all example.com results”.”
You now have the power to decide if a particular search is relevant to what you are looking for. Aimed to bring convenience to users, this feature will prevent websites with irrelevant content from appearing on top rank searches that you do in Google.

So, how exactly will this impact online businesses and “content farms”?

Google says, “We’re adding this feature because we believe giving you control over the results you find will provide an even more personalized and enjoyable experience on Google. In addition, while we’re not currently using the domains people block as a signal in ranking, we’ll look at the data and see whether it would be useful as we continue to evaluate and improve our search results in the future.” What this implies is that if Google finds a particular website being blocked by a significant number of users, they might consider banning it in the future altogether from their search results.

With this announcement by the search engine giant, it’s time we pull up our socks and ensure that websites are not optimized for irrelevant keywords. So the prime focus of an online business should be to create relevant and unique content that the reader will find useful, engaging and interesting. Make your keywords relevant to your products/services so that a small business searching for that particular product/ service sees it listed amongst the top searches in Google. The other thing you can do is add unique facts related to your niche on your website by way of articles, so that you engage readers. By making the content relevant in this way, you are unlikely to be blocked by users and thereby by Google.

To conclude, a wise business strategyis to keep your audiences happy by providing them with content that is relevant to their searches. This also ensures a brownie points in the form of repeat visits from interested customers and a consequent higher page rank.

Facebook, is testing a new business platform that will help it to venture into business deals with local small businesses in selected cities. Earlier in the month, the social networking giant wrote on its wall, “We’re testing a new Deals feature that brings you offers from nearby businesses, which you can share with your friends”. This feature is currently being test run in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco.

Former to this systematic targeting to increase businesses on its platform, Facebook allowed small businesses to have a dedicated “business page” where they could advertise their offers and schemes. However, users who wanted to know more about these offers had to visit those specific pages. This new application by Facebook will remove the need to visit specific pages and make receiving offers and deals more convenient. Similar in functioning to “Groupon”, this application however, will bring offers right on the walls of the users. Once a local business makes a deal with Facebook, it will be able to publish the details of their offers on the homepage of users.

The development of this feature is a boon for small businesses especially those planning new online business ideas. For local businesses, the opportunity to publish offers on a platform as popular as Facebook is sure to   boost sales. Businesses can innovate promotional ideas which will promote their businesses without too much added cost. Analysts believe this marketing strategy could prove to be as successful as the use of promotional products in generating business for small, local businesses.

When Facebook pioneered itself as a social networking site, it brought a lot of long lost friends together. Its wonderful business page, brought success to several businesses as they could understand and interact with their clientele and market their new business ideas to them, directly. With the advent of this new business application, this giant is all set to bring a new revolution in business strategy and change the course of online marketing.