What We Are Reading

What We’re Reading | Week of October 24

October 26, 2011 | Posted by FSC Interactive

This week’s collection of Internet marketing articles compiled by the FSC team consists of some useful resources for building a presence on Twitter, how Google is restructuring through Adwords and how traditional newsrooms are continually adapting and embracing social media, even by hiring staff social media editors. Delve in to our reading list this week and feed those inquisitive minds!

Andy: China to Step Up Social Media Censorship – Living in a place where freedom of speech is a born right protected by the First Amendment, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around such extreme censorship of that which China has. China has one of the highest levels of censorship and control over content of any country and they are vowing to make it stronger and harder due to the increase of microblogging in the country. According to this article from The Guardian, China has seen a boom in social networking, particularly on microblogging sites in the last year. This increase in microblogging – which already has content restrictions – is making it hard for censors “to match the speed at which news can spread on microblogs or the way that users evade controls, such as by using euphemisms or homophones to refer to sensitive issues.” Makes me think, what does this boom in microblogging mean for China’s censorship? And, will they ever be able to fully control the content and the mediums through which they are spread?

Burke: Are you browsing happy?  Some of you who use WordPress 3.2 as a web platform have seen a message inside of the dashboard that reads “Your Browser is Out of Date.”  Because WordPress no longer wastes time trying to be compatible with Internet Explorer 6, this is a helpful hint that is supplied by the folks at Automattic to help you improve your web browsing experience. There is also a website dedicated to this cause.  To find out if you are browsing happy go to browsehappy.com.

Kristin: The Future of AdWords: No More Keywords? – Google officially announced what it calls “a whole new approach” to paid search advertising with the new Dynamic Search Ads, now in a limited beta test. With the new system, Google will dynamically create ad copy based on website copy. These ads will also not be triggered by keyword lists, but from keywords on landing pages.  For e-commerce advertisers, this could help prevent clicks leading to out of inventory products. So far, testing of Dynamic Search Ads has increased relevance in searches; Google has seen a 5- 10% rise in clicks and conversions in pilot testing. This could be a great add-on for your AdWords campaigns and another reminder to keep landing pages well designed and keyword relevant.

Adele: Google: Local Now 40 Percent Of Mobile, Physical Distance Becomes A Ranking Variable For AdWords – In keeping with the theme of Kristin’s post above, Google has been doing lots of changes to the structure, functionality and offerings through their AdWords programs. Another recent alteration includes increasing the impact of how mobile friendly your site is no matter if you pay for the click or not. For those who are managing their own paid placement campaigns in Google, this may mean you are going to pay more per click if you haven’t adjusted your PPC campaign to exclude ads from showing on mobile devices – OR you could be one of the few who have made the effort to make your site mobile friendly – meaning you will reap the reward (of a lower CPC and likely a conversion). For the rest of you, keeping up with all of these changes is a full-time gig, if you already have one of those, it may be time to call in a Google Certified AdWords Pro to help keep things under control.

Sally: Why Women Make Excellent Entrepreneurs in the Digital Age – Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, a very successful corporation and LLC consulting company, wrote this article about how women are thriving in the workforce despite outcomes of the financial recession because of logical, rational thinking that leads to smart, low-risk endeavors. Social media management, Internet marketing, content development and pretty much any web-based service is one of those low-risk, proven practices. Women excel in a social and interactive work environment because of their strong abilities to communicate, “read” clients, listen and willingness to collaborate. Girl power!

Noelle: 11 Ways To Get More Twitter Followers – Looking for more Twitter followers? In the loud and crowded Twitterverse it’s hard to gauge what peaks the interest of others but Jay Heinrichs, author of WORD HERO: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines that Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever, has a few brilliant suggestions. My personal favorite is, well all of them. Check it out and start Tweeting better.

Ashley: From experienced marketing pros to business owners taking their first steps into the social media world, everyone can benefit from quick tips and helpful hints. These 17 Twitter marketing tips break down some quick and easy ways to boost your Twitter engagement and encourage growth.

Brooke: Mashable recently held a live Q & A - The Evolving Role of Social Media in News Organizations – where a few key social media folks from Reuters, The Washington Post and Mashable got together to discuss and attempt to define the role of the “social media editor” in the newsroom, and how the roll has changed from the beginning. Prefaced with how uncertain news organizations were to become social, all participants discuss how those uncertainties are irrelevant now.