In a nutshell, if you are signed into your Google account, your search results will be stirred up and will now include content such as links, images and videos that have been shared by friends in your Google + social network, as well as the traditional search results. If this is new to you, please visit here for more info.

In this article I want to talk about how this new feature will affect your search engine results …

Search Results Visibility

The biggest and most obvious impact on search results is visibility. Let’s pretend I am the user in the official video here to compare the potential results.
The results from SPYW are definitely more visually appealing with more product images and thumbnails from people in my Google+ circles that have shared content on this subject. It is also more entertaining than the usual results, as it is full of opinions from people in my circles. So if I want to be entertained, and get a review of a product or service by people who are more likely to influence my decision, then Google SPYW is great.

However, SPYW is only as powerful to you as the people you have in your Google+ circles. If we use the example in the video, the people in my circles have shared content and opinions on paperclips in the past, making SPYW really useful to me for that particular search term.

Let’s say I want to research new shoes. I go to Google and find more traditional search results, but a lack of SPYW results for this query is making my purchase decision a little more difficult. It would be easy to conclude that SPYW could not be that relevant for e-commerce SEO. But that premise is based on my interactions on Google + so far, which will determine the deeply personalized results I receive on SPYW.

For a start, most people in my Google+ circles are web developers, or are in the SEO industry, so opinions on shoes are not on their radar. Most of these people are also on Facebook and Twitter, and if they were ever going to offer their opinion on shoes, it would most likely be there. Also, I haven’t +1’d any shoe brands. All of these factors specific to my interactions in Google+  limit Google’s SPYW usefulness in an e-commerce query for “shoes.” So my mission is to transfer more of my friends on Facebook and Twitter — who are more varied — onto Google+, which will build the strength of my circles, giving me more informed SPYW results.

So How Can E-commerce Sites Benefit From SPYW?

You are an e-commerce site battling it out there with the competition in the SERPS. How can you improve your visibility using SPYW?
Here are a few points to get you started:

• If you don’t already have a Google+ business page, set one up.

• Share content on Google+ regularly. This means sharing product images, videos, news and updates, and of course links to products — maybe even some personal opinions.

• Build your network. It does you no good to post content if you don’t have a group of followers to share it with. One way to do this is by adding a Google+ link to your website that links to your Google+ page. In addition, add the +1 button to product pages, which will enable people to recommend your products and services. Once people add your page to their Circles, add them back.

Top Tip

• Make it easy for fans to +1 content on your e-commerce site.

Arming an e-commerce site with sharing buttons is quite like outsourcing your social media to your customers. A marketing team can only share so much content on its own, and quite often that content sounds just like marketing. Potential customers can spot this content a mile away, which makes opinions by customers (especially good ones) critical to your social success. This could have a big affect on your bottom line.

Dominic Lidgett is a blogger who writes about a variety of different online marketing topics. Check out more of his work at seo hull.

1. How often do you blog?
2. How often do you plan to send your newsletter?
3. Do you have enough time to consistently produce this amount of content at your scheduled time?

Your answers to these questions will help you narrow down whether a newsletter is right for you. Remember, a newsletter is a way to gain the trust of your readers and potential customers. If you stick to a consistent schedule, regularly sending quality content, a newsletter will work in your favor. But if you rarely e-mail your subscribers, and the bulk of your newsletters are promotional and/or not beneficial, you’re wasting your time.

It takes a bit of trust for someone to sign up for your newsletter to begin with. So when someone does sign up, he is essentially shining a spotlight on himself saying, “I’m interested in your business and what you do.” Treat subscribers’ trust with respect, and deliver the kind of value you promised when they signed up.

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So, to recap, how long should your blog posts be?

1. As long as they need to be. Don’t write purely for word count. If you can get your point across in 300 words, but cram in a bunch of unnecessary fluff to write 600 words, you’re not doing yourself or anyone else any favors.
2. Generally speaking, the simpler the article, the better. This refers directly to the topic of the above video. Because we’re all so busy and information overloaded, most people appreciate brevity. Don’t you?

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to your online content. Here are more ideas for how you can easily leverage your time.

Other Ways to Create and Reuse Online Content

• A juicy tidbit from an old e-mail newsletter might serve as a social media blurb.
• Gather a collection of your best social media tips, and create a white paper around those ideas. Don’t know what a white paper is? It’s a freebie information product — typically a PDF. Offer a white paper on your website as a way to build your e-newsletter subscription list.
• Record yourself speaking at events. Show clips of your speech, or have it transcribed and use it as blog posts or a white paper.
• Get permission from your client(s) to record yourself giving a consultation. Package the videos or audios as an e-product for sale.
• Record yourself being interviewed and release the clips as blog posts.

If you liked these blogging tips, and want to learn more, sign up for exclusive tips here.

For small business owners or advertisers who are new to online marketing, pay per click ads (PPC) can be very useful tools to test the effectiveness of your site, using a budget you are comfortable with. If traffic from PPC proves successful, then businesses can invest more and grow. PPC can also be used as a tool to test keywords that an advertiser may be considering investing budget in for search engine optimization. Online marketing is all about testing, evolving and improving. The better your site is at reaching its goals, the more successful your online marketing will be.

How to Win a Game of PPC

Recently I watched the football match between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the Copa Del Rey Spanish Cup. These two teams have a rivalry as intense as ever. Barcelona has had an edge over Real Madrid and many of Europe’s top teams over the recent years, claiming multiple trophies along the way. However, Real Madrid has an outstanding team and coach capable of beating Barcelona on any given day.

The outcome of the game left me disappointed after a great start with an early goal from Real Madrid. The tactics that Real Madrid used were a defensive 4-3-3 formation making superstar Ronaldo track back to join the back line in midfield. Once Real Madrid got the early goal, they were happy to sit back and hardly crossed the half-way line for the rest of the game. The result? 3-1 to Barcelona.

So what has this got to do with PPC? In PPC, I view the page fold as the half-way line on a football pitch with the top ads been the penalty area. In PPC, you are always looking to be in one of the premium positions (penalty area) whenever possible to convert (score a goal) – not ruling out that it’s still possible to score in the side positions. Having said that, you won’t win the game if you don’t cross the half-way line.

Conservative Bids

If you are new to PPC, you may be tempted to set low bids in order to test the channel and not spend much money. This may seem like a good idea, but it will not get you near the half-way line. The reason has to do with what Google calls the “quality score.” Many factors determine how Google establishes an advertisers’ quality score, but one metric new advertisers need to pay attention to is the click through rate (CTR).

The CTR is probably the most important factor in finding your quality score algorithm. It is vital that a good CTR is gained from the start. It’s logical to think that if searchers can’t see your ad, then they are not going to click on them. Low bids place your ads in your own half and can ruin your chances of getting clicks. I would suggest taking some risk early on. Although you should not bid more than you’re comfortable paying, it’s important to set bids high enough to get your ads over the half-way line. Once a decent quality score is gained, you can start to lower your bids gradually, which can keep your ads above the half-way line whilst reducing costs.

Conservative Daily Campaign Budgets

So, you have followed the advice, and your bids are at a decent level. With high bids, you can limit your success with a low daily budget. It’s not uncommon in self-managed PPC to see bids being set high (say at $4.75) and then have a campaign daily budget of (for example) $9.50. Taking it back to football, if a striker gets only two passes per game, you’ll never find out how good they are. Similar to bids, don’t set budget caps you are not comfortable with. But with a new campaign, it’s better to set the budgets as high as you can so you can assess the potential traffic for the campaign.

Establishing a Lead

Like the Liverpool team of the 80s, manager Kenny Dalglish would always tell his team to come out strong early in the game and establish a lead. When you are a few goals ahead you can start to play the game more conservatively to keep your lead, making it hard for your opponents to fight back and win. In PPC, make sure your bids are set to a point where you can cross the half-way line as quickly as possible, then analyze and adjust your campaign to a place you’re comfortable with. By getting the early lead, you might even win the league.

About the Author

Dominic Lidgett is a new blogger who works on PPC accounts for clients on a full time basis at agency level. Check out more of his work at adwords management.

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How Do You Blog?

1. Decide to focus your content on one main topic, as it relates to your expertise. You don’t want it to be so narrow that you’ll run out of things to write in a half year, but you do want it to be a focused topic. The topics of self-improvement, or becoming a better writer are good examples.
2. Make a list of the blog posts you might write pertaining to your topic. Ask yourself what questions people have about your expertise. This will help you decide what to write. The narrower the focus of your blog posts, the more you’ll have to write about months and years down the road. Plus, most of your readers will appreciate it if you condense the information into smaller chunks of information, as opposed to thousand-word long articles.
3. Narrow down the best blog post topics on your list, and add them to a calendar. Refer often to your calendar, using it to keep you on a regular posting schedule.

If you found this video and blog post helpful, you can get more blogging tips by signing up for my newsletter, On the Rise *Business Blogging Tips That Get Results.* Click here to sign up.

As you know, I typically only post once per week here at the blog, but this is a special occasion in honor of me adding a new web content writing service to my offerings.

And I’d like to celebrate this launch by giving you another tip for the week. Here it is: Outsource when you can. Hire stuff out.

Why Outsource?

We small business owners are an overworked bunch with lots on our to-do lists. As individuals, we are great at some things, and some tasks we love to do. Now consider the jobs that make you want to pull your hair out, and the ones you’re not so great at. These are the things to hire out. It doesn’t matter if you’re outsourcing business tasks or checking things off your personal list. By outsourcing some of the work, you’re leveraging your time so you can do the high-impact work you excel at.

It Doesn’t Have to Cost Much

Now I can just hear you thinking, “But I’m bootstrapping right now. I don’t have the money to outsource.” I beg to differ. You just have to look for those good opportunities. For example, if you’re a fellow Austinite, there’s this great new website called Twentopia where you can hire people to do all kinds of things for you for only $20. Some of the things I’ve seen listed there include getting two pairs of pants hemmed, getting a professional logo made by a graphic designer and even getting your lawn trimmed for $20. Not bad! On the flip side, if you have a product or service to offer, you can get on board at Twentopia and be a seller, which is a good opportunity for more exposure.

If you don’t live in Austin, I’m sorry. Just kidding! There’s bound to be a service like this in your area. Scan Craigslist, and check the search engines for low-cost services. Once you hire the work out, focus your attention on high-impact projects and watch your business grow as a result.

Today’s post comes from a Skype interview I did early this month with Jane Hinchey, of Ace Insiders Club. I shared on the subject of profitable blogging, which Jane had some truly juicy questions about. If you’ve ever wondered how to get your website on Google, watch this video. It will give you the basics of search engine optimization. These basic SEO tips are worth implementing into your blogging routine, so when you’re done watching, do some keyword research and install that WordPress plugin I mention. If you don’t use WordPress, just do the first half of these SEO blog tips.

To get the entire Profitable Blogging interview, go to Ace Insiders Club and become a member. As the founder of the Ace Insiders Club, Jane is on a mission to connect small business owners with experts like myself who want to share their knowledge without a heavy sales pitch. If you’ve ever trolled the Internet looking for comprehensive answers to your business related questions, Jane’s Ace Insider’s Club, of which I’m a member and featured expert, is a great resource. She does targeted interview sessions with experts of diverse skill sets. Oooh! I love a good info-packed interview, and Jane delivers.

Click to read the rest of this post in plain text.

So what will you do for your loyal newsletter subscribers? Have you sent perks for loyalty before, and how did it work out for you? Leave a comment below.

The podcast below covers:

• What you can do for your subscribers.
• A way to find out what they want.
• How to deliver.

A Safe Online Image is a Bad Strategy

Do you ever feel like you’re playing it safe with how you portray your business online? In today’s video blog post, I’ll tell you exactly why playing it safe with your online image is one of the worst mistakes you can make. It’s a really simple reason that has huge implications for the success of your business online.

If you’d like to shake things up a bit and get out of your comfort zone, try adding some pizzazz to the copy on your website. And if you video blog, be your goofy, silly, loud, spastic self. Whatever your quirks are, let them shine. Watch the video to find out why this is all so important for your online image.