As Google looks to solidify it's place in the social world, it's clear that the network is evolving into a powerful business tool. Unlike Facebook, that most use for socializing or Twitter for sharing links, Google+ has the added advantage of providing valuable SEO incentives to businesses represented on their network.

Google’s algorithm provides Google+ users a greater impact on search results. We're already seeing examples of Facebook page's ranking lower on Google than Google+ pages. But the real power comes from links from Google+ to your webpage, blog posts. Those links will provide a higher search rank and more relevant traffic than those from Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.

These fundamental elements are drawing business attention to Google+ Pages. If you're willing to invest time into social media, you should consider the network that provides an SEO boost to drive your marketing efforts.

If you’re a small business owner and you’re not using online review sites like Google Places and Yelp, you’re doing yourself an enormous disservice! Many businesses are not only changing the way they market to include these sites, they are transforming their businesses by doing so. Consumers are flocking to these sites and relying on them heavily to choose where they spend their money. I run into at least a handful of small business owners daily who can’t stop talking about what online reviews have done for their business. By 10:00 this morning, I had already listened to a local dentist preach about Yelp bringing him 2-3 new customers per week and a car repair shop praise Yelp and Google Places for getting a better return on any other marketing they had done in the past 20 years!

So how do you get started? If you’re somewhat internet savvy, you can easily set up a business profile on these sites and the best part is… they’re free! Now, if you are too busy to do a little research and set them up yourself, you can always hire a company like BrightWire Media to do so. The basic setup is inexpensive and well worth the potential gain. Beyond basic setup, managing these review sites, as well as your overall internet presence, is much more time intensive and the cost to hire someone to manage them for you can vary depending on what you’re looking to accomplish and how many sites you need managed. Either way, get started today… you’ll be glad you did.

BrightWire Media would like to congratulate Gary Stone, Landscape Architect, on their new website! After over 20 years of word of mouth referrals and happy client testimonials bringing in the majority of their business, Gary Stone decided that a strong internet presence might boost that referral base by making it easier for business associates and clients to share the firm's exceptional work.