Is Google Turning Into Social Engine?

There are subtle and rumored signs as well as obvious signs that Google is rapidly becoming a social engine. It will be the biggest social engine of all when everything falls into place.

If you are involved in or interested in internet marketing, it’s important for you to read on. If you haven’t read my post Social Engine Optimization-Social Media Search Engine Optimization-SMEO do so now. Then come back here to read about the obvious signs, the subtle and rumored signs of Google going social and get a few tips on internet marketing interaction and a hot Facebook and Google+ course.

Obvious Signs of Google Turning Social

The obvious signs are both fairly old – YouTube and fairly new – Google+. YouTube and Google+ are social platforms. While YouTube has been around for years it has recently started changing it’s look and tens of millions of dollars are going into making it even more social and interconnected with other social media sites. Google+ is still very new but it has already forced Facebook to be more proactive and even a little bit more pro business.

Subtle, Rumored Signs of Google Going Social

The internal and hidden workings of Google have always been kept secret and mysterious and perhaps rightly so. Things like the algorithm keep on changing to make it virtually impossible to fool the system.

But smart people don’t want to fool Google. Smart people want to do what works.

What works is sticking to the rules, honesty, good content and increasingly, this is the rumored part, interaction.

It seems that Google is now placing a lot more value on your interaction with your readers. In the past it had some value in Google’s eyes and it usually meant comments on your site or blog.

The value of comments is now much higher but that’s not all.

It appears that Google now also values highly your interaction through social media like Google+, YouTube and Facebook as they are connected to your site or blog.

Nobody is going to be able to conclusively prove this unless Google goes out of their way and makes a statement confirming it. They may never do that.

When you look at the signs mentioned above and how Google is in the process of integrating things like Google+ and YouTube with it’s new design into the mix you can’t but conclude that things are getting more social.

Update January 11, 2012: Yesterday a blog post appeared on Google’s blog that is announcing Google Search Plus. That is as obvious a sign of Google going social as you can get. It’s now even more important for you to keep on reading and clicking on one of the links that mention Facebook course or Google+ course or Social Media Course or anything similar.

Internet Marketing Interaction Tips

Engaging your readers and your audience has always been a good idea and it has always worked.

Now there are more ways of doing it than ever before.

Comments on your blog are very important and will always be. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise. The importance of comments is growing steadily. One tip about comments that many ignore is that in order to interact through comments you need to reply to comments your readers post and keep the conversation going.

Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Twitter and other social media interaction is getting more important and valuable each day now.

Have you been resisting using Google+, Facebook etc. ?

If you use them, do you know how to use them fully, taking advantage of everything they can do for you?

I couldn’t believe it when I read a comment somewhere in which a person was astonished that there are actually courses on Facebook and Google+. To them chit chatting needs no instruction.

There’s a lot more that can be done with social media than chit chatting, of course.

Is every possible way of using them for your business, whether you are an internet marketer or a conventional brick and mortar operation, clear to you?

Unless you’ve devoted a lot of your time to figuring everything out for yourself and keep at it to stay up to date, it’s very unlikely that you know how to use Facebook, Google+ and other social media to their maximum potential.

This is why courses are popping up all the time, especially on Facebook, fan pages and so on.

People need help to be able to use them quickly, properly and fully for their businesses.  Most of these courses are helpful but I find that they are usually leaving out some important  things and sometimes too many. Most of the courses aren’t being updated and often are obsolete as soon as they come out.

There is one course on Facebook and Google+ that is complete and ongoing with constant updates. This course covers Facebook completely and Google+ increasingly. I’m taking the course myself and I’m recommending it to everybody. It’s the best  Facebook and Google+ course that I’ve seen so far.

Click on any of the two links just above or click here to check it out.

Are you currently taking a social media course or thinking about doing so?

What’s your opinion about Google turning into a social media engine?

Respond in the comments section and then like this post on Facebook, Google+ it and tweet the post to share it with others. Be social media and social engine friendly.

P.S. I’ve used a different text spacing for the Internet Marketing Interaction Tips part of the post. You are kindly requested to comment about which spacing you prefer after you answer the questions above. Does the larger spacing make it so much easier for you to read the text that you don’t mind having to do the extra scrolling? I listen, read and pay attention to what my readers prefer to see on my blog so please make your preference known.

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Authored by Vance Sova

Which internet browser should you use in general and for internet marketing in particular? Using the best browser available can make a difference in productivity.

Chrome versus Firefox-the Browser Wars

Until not so long ago most people involved in internet marketing in one form or another, including those learning it, were predominantly using the Firefox browser.

It was heavily recommended in different internet gurus courses and it was an undisputed winner.

It worked very well and had a large number of useful plug ins available for it.

When the Chrome came on the scene it seemed like most people didn’t pay that much attention to it at first. I certainly didn’t pay too much attention even though I downloaded and installed it in order to have an idea of what it was like.

But I continued using Firefox most of the time and exclusively for posting new posts on my blog.

Then one day when I was writing a blog post and adding videos to it something strange and weird happened. Without me doing anything to cause it the browser bar from the top of Firefox appeared inside of my new blog post and I couldn’t get rid of it without deleting the whole post. I tried several times to do everything else but the bar kept on reappearing.

So finally I  tried using the Chrome browser, for the first time, to write a post on my blog and it went smoothly. No unwanted bar appeared and my trust in Chrome started growing just as my trust in Firefox was shaken.

As many of you may know a few weeks ago the Google Bar stopped working on Firefox browser because Google won’t support it anymore there.

It looks like a browser war to me. It may or may not be but the fact is that Firefox’s appeal will suffer because of it.

If I were a lone internet marketer who does no live networking I’d be crushed by events like this.

How Live Internet Marketing Networking Helps 

Luckily, doing a lot of live internet marketing networking with local bloggers and marketers I’m able to handle things much better.

You can find out more about the importance of live internet marketing networking in the many posts I wrote about it on this blog starting with 5 Reasons For IM Networking and Meeting People Live.

Another good post to read is Internet Marketing Event Networking that even includes a short interview I did with one of the best known and most successful internet marketers in the UK, Lee McIntyre.

Choosing the Best Internet Marketing Tools is Easier When Discussed Live

As you will see in the video below, it helps to be able to discuss things with fellow marketers. Choosing a browser, for example, is easier when you talk to others and hear what their experience with different browsers is.

Since that discussion shown in the video above, Firefox 4 is no longer the newest version. The browser is already several versions up at Firefox 7.  Update January 11, 2012: Today I updated to Firefox 9.0.1 after strong and repeated urging from them. As usual something is not working as well as it did in the previous version, in my case it was Firefox 8 (one version up from when I first wrote this post). With the newest version, Firefox 9.0.1 the icons in my bookmarks are not showing. Basic stuff. It makes me wonder why they don’t check things are working before pushing it down people’s throats.

Changing versions so frequently is one of the things that I personally don’t like about Firefox. Sometimes the plug ins stop working when you install the newest version.

And when you happen to have an older computer that doesn’t support the newer Firefox version they keep on bugging you to install it anyway for months or even years.

You may be interested to know that John Chow for example doesn’t use Firefox browser at all anymore.

How about you?

What is your favorite browser, is it Firefox or Chrome? Is there a browser other than the two mentioned that you prefer?

Please comment on these things in the comments section and then tweet and bookmark this post to engage others.

How are you doing with social media like Facebook and Google+ ?

You may want to check out my favorite course on Facebook which also has a section on Google+ . All materials are continually being updated as things change so there’s no need to worry that things will become obsolete.

So do check it out.

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Authored by Vance Sova

Last Saturday internet marketing gurus talked about the Android and iPhone smart phones and beer as they gathered for a networking lunch for bloggers we call Dot Com Pho to which everybody interested in internet marketing and blogging is welcome.

While I’m not counting myself as a full blown guru, my meeting with these guys and getting to know them and what they do and how they do it is certainly helping.

The top blogging guru that was present was John Chow.

This is a continuation of what is now turning out to be my blog posts series on internet marketing live networking. Reading all my posts on this subject would be an excellent idea.

To start with read these two: Internet Marketing Networking, Facebook and Succeed Online by Networking.

As time goes on I write less and less about the obvious virtues of doing live internet marketing networking and more about what actually happens at the ones I’m attending.

Even better than just writing about it is posting some videos from there. In this post you can find and view three of them.

The first one is about John Chow’s friend Michael Kwan who went to the dark side or joined the ranks of the forces of the light, depending on whether you prefer the iPhone or the Android and which of them you think is destined to win the battle of the smart phones.

Watch Michael Kwan talk about the Android phone whose ranks he joined right below

It is amazing to me that 5 or 6 regular Dot Com Pho attendees are now carrying the Android. They are now in majority.

But not all is lost to the cosmic sounding phone. The iPhone still has its fans and the top gun, John Chow, is not jumping the ship.

John Chow let it be known that he is going to get the iPhone 5 when it becomes available in October.

Watch and listen to John Chow talk about the iPhone 5 just below

Are Dot Com Pho lunches all about business and no fun? I’d say the opposite is true. And to prove it I made a video for you of us talking about beer.

It is important to know what one is ingesting and have an idea where it originated and where it’s made. To no one’s surprise things aren’t necessarily made where they originated from anymore.

Thus not all Japanese beer or Czech beer is brewed in those countries.

Where was the Japanese Asahi beer John Chow ordered and drank brewed?

Was it Japan, the Philippines or where?

Watch the video below to find out where John Chow’s Asahi beer was brewed and more

Now it’s time for you to post your comment.

Tell me which smart phone you prefer and own or are going to get.

Will Android continue to take away market share from iPhone?

Which is your favorite beer and do you care where it’s made?

Are you networking live with other bloggers, if not are you inclined to do so soon?

Post your comments and tweet and bookmark the post to enable others to participate in the discussion.

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Authored by Vance Sova