Excellent infographic from KISS Metrics showing global Google analytics metrics and usage trends. Compare your website metrics to these statistics – how does your site measure up? Click to view full size.

Original post appeared on WhatDidEricSay.com

Be sure to check out the new release of Location Based Marketing for Dummies, written by Aaron Strout, one of the DrivingSales Executive Summit keynote speakers! 

If you're still scratching your head about location based marketing, get this book. It'll quickly bring you up to speed about the tools, strategies & overall understanding of this segment.

(And also cool to see a CarZar mention in the book as well!)

Congrats to Aaron and his co-author, Mike Schneider. 

Google Authorship Attribute: The authorship attribute is a new element within the recent Panda update. This another way Google is prioritizing content from published authors within the search engine results pages. It's a nice solution for content experts as it helps build greater awareness while demonstrating authority in their respective field.

Authors and blog owners can now display their profile images in the right margin of Google's search results by following a few simple steps.

• Create a Google Profile. These are wrapped within Google Plus. Need one? Get one here.
• The new attribute needed is rel = author
• Add two new plugins using the plugin search tool within your blog; search "Google Author" & add the 1st two results: BAW Google Author & Allow REL= and HTML in Author Bios (WP strips out rel attributes on some themes, the 2nd plugin allows them to remain)
• Add your blog link to the right column of your Google Profile.
• Add the Google Profile Button to your blog. (The circular loop between your Google profile & your blog needs to be completed)

I've also added my G+ profile link to my blog profile's biographical info field (admin section) to be sure it gets found, however I'm not 100% this is necessary yet.

My elements have been in place for a couple of weeks, but my profile image isn't appearing yet. Google's reply is simply "Be patient." So far, only select profiles are published, more will follow. Here's one example of the how it looks within the results pages when searching for Matt Cutts:

Have you added the rel=author attribute yet? If so, is your profile image being displayed?

Why is this significant? Google+ business solutions will be out soone enough. Will you be prepared?

The 10 Commandments of Link Building

Courtesy of KliKKi search engine optimization.

Get ready for a new round of changes within the social/digital marketing spaces. Google+ opened it's doors with a limited launch last week. After using it for a few days, I can tell this will shake things up.

Google+ is Google's answer to Facebook and how they believe social activity should be done. Google knows social is all about sharing. They also know that not everything we share online is enjoyed by all of our friends. Their solution: Circles. Add people to your own custom circle to ensure the content shared fits a common or shared interest.

Want deeper connections? Create a Hangout for your contacts and everyone can join you in a video chat.

Content sharing is even made easier with Sparks, a content delivery/curation system providing you the topics you select. For example, I chose topics such as sports cars, tech news, website design, location based marketing and iPad apps.

Photos, videos, and even web content you have clicked the +1 button on can be seen within your public Google profile. (Which you'll need to use Google+) 

It's still early and more Google products are slated to be bolted on - Docs, Photos, Music, Apps, etc. Most anticipated will be their version of business pages. Noticeably absent are all forms of advertisements. One theory I have is that we won't see ads until the public launch and users have created their circles. Our circles could help Google create a new, hyper-targeted ad platform.

Google doesn't necessarily need to create a social networking platform that overtakes Facebook in size, they just need to create one that makes a ton of shareholder value. Even if they grab every Gmail user, that's still under 200mm users. However, once you start to add users who only use stand alone Google products, those numbers start to approach the massive numbers Facebook commands.

I like what I see so far; Google+ should be a disruptive force to twitter as well as Facebook. More sharing options (+1 button) and the ways in which this shared content functions within Google's Panda update will be another item to watch. 

Public launch is said to be within six weeks. More invites are rumored to be available soon. If you're interested, leave your Gmail address below & I'll send out as many as possible.

POST UPDATE: Google+ Business Pages should now be available within two weeks.

Google is raising the bar for local listing results again by introducing a new method of serving results within Google Maps. (Not web listings - just when Google Maps is selected as the source)

Google is experimenting with serving results which best matches the descriptive terms used to describe those establishements.

What's the best place for these "descriptive terms" to come from? Your customer reviews! So, conceivably, our customers now have the ability to help improve our local listings and lend a hand with our SEO efforts when they write their reviews. 

Just another reason why it's so important to consider the experience you're creating for your guests; their reviews may now hold even more weight. 

For more info, check out Google's Small Business Blog Post. 

During a recent conversation, I memtioned three items I felt were the most useful to post on Facebook Pages. Ironicaly, those items also created a less than fortunate, yet memorable acronym: C.R.A.P. 

• Coupons
• Reviews
• (and)
• Pictures

In my opinion, anything else is just...crap. 

Anyone have a consistent formula they're using to post successful content on their Facebook pages? How are you gauging it's success? Comments, likes, data from your insights?

Everyone wants a fair online review for their business. The probem is, where's the best place to get a fair review? We've all seen the ranges of reviews, from raving fans to ranting lunatics.

According to a recent study which looked at the activity within CitySearch, Yahoo Local & Yelp - (Online Market for Reviews, Z Wang.) Yelp is the best place for fair and balanced online reviews.

The reason? Yelp's social community dynamic. User profiles are prominently displayed, profiles can be followed and easily connected to other social platforms. Plus, Yelp's users are simply more active than CitySearch and Yahoo Local. Active users want to be seen as credible sources.

71% of CitySearch's users have only posted one review; 51% of Yahoo Local's users are in the same boat. Yet only 9% of Yelp's users have posted just one review. They're active and they're more balanced - providing more 2,3 & 4 star ratings than the other platforms.

Google Places reviews isn't mentioned, but you have to imagine this is the next biggest competitor to provide an environment for fair and balanced reviews as their social efforts continue to grow. Also interesting is the fact AutoTrader.com selected Yelp as the review site of choice to link to dealer detail pages.

Yelp's community goes beyond reviews by offering location based check-in services, rewards and even an augmented reality feature called Monacle. (If you haven't tried it, check it out, pretty slick)

Which review site do you prefer? Why?

Google just announced their newest feature enhancement to Google Places: Google Business Photos. 

Marissa Mayer gave the scoop at today's Social-Loco event in San Fran moments ago.

Very simply, Google will shoot panoramic photos of businesses and include them within Google Places Pages. Limited rollout though; apply here & see the list of the initial locations available.

Location continues it's evolution.