Deciding what online marketing efforts are right for your business can be tough - and probably one of the toughest is Facebook because while Google is like the Yellow Pages, where people go to find what and who they need, Facebook is like a Coffee Shop Bulletin Board. So how do you know if you should alot any of your marketing budget to Facebook and if it's right for you and your business?

Think about it. People who search Google are in "think mode" because they are focused on searching and finding something they need - people go to Facebook are NOT in "think mode" because they are there to relax and communicate with friends and family - does this accurately describe your own Facebook activity? And if so, could your marketing efforts there actually be right for you and your business?

It very well could be!

Here's a quick and easy way to find out. Simply go to: http://www.isfbforme.com/ and take 20 seconds to answer the questions. If you score a 5 or below, you should probably look at other avenues of Online Marketing. But if your score is between 5 and 7 you might want to consider it. And if your score is 8 or higher, you need to be there.

And as always, if you need any help in developing, creating and managing your Google or Facebook online marketing campaigns, InfinityOC is here to help. :)

If you are thinking of creating a website for your business you could have a site up live in a matter of minutes if you install WordPress

WordPress is a blogging platform that is open source, meaning it is free!

Once installed you are ready to start adding content. You see it is not just a blogging platform, you can add pages (as many as you like) to create an excellent “Content Management System” or “CMS” as it is known.

Here are 7 benefits to using the WordPress platform

1. Quick and easy installation – Most hosting companies use a third party to manage different applications in your control panel. CpanelX is one example. Within that is an application called Fantastico DeLux. When you click on the FD icon it opens up the application and this is where with a few steps you can install WordPress on your hosting space.

2. Massive choice of themes – WordPress comes with two default themes (themes control the look and feel of your site) already installed which are quite basic, however with the release of WordPress 2.9 you can now search, upload & install themes from your WordPress dashboard. There are thousands of free themes available. You can also go further and install premium themes which typically sell for anywhere between $50 and $150.

3. Fantastic functionality – You don’t need to be a programmer or know any php coding to adjust your WordPress installation, everything you need to do can be done via the dashboard. Create posts, pages, image galleries, audio, and video and so on.

4. Extendibility with thousands of plug ins – There are nearly 8,000 plugins available that you can install to enhance the usability and functionality of WordPress. Again these are easily searched, installed & activated via your dashboard. Some popular plug in additions, improve seo, enhance blog comment functions, page orders, twitter tools, xml sitemap creators, pinging, rotating tag clouds… the list is endless.

5. Automatic updating – Once you have installed the WordPress software, a theme and all the plug ins you need, you will need to upgrade them from time to time. With the release of 2.9 these upgrades can all be done by more or less one click of your mouse. WordPress notifies you when the upgrades become available and then suggest that you upgrade immediately by clicking the upgrade button. You click it then your done!

6. SEO friendly – The structure of the WordPress is such that it is optimised for search engines “out of the box”. The mere process of blogging and creating fresh content is something the search engines love. However with the installation of one plug in “All In One SEO Plug In” the site will be fully optimised, taking away the mystery of SEO which is so often made to look so much more complicated than it actually is.

7. Security – Keeping your WordPress installation bang up to date eliminates any security worries. The nature and popularity of WordPress makes it a target for hackers who like to mess with other people’s lives for no apparent reason. It is important to back up regularly and often. Keeping WordPress up to date with the latest release is the best way to keep it secure.

InfinityOC (that’s us) offers a Google Place Page with each of our SEM packages. Google Place Page results take time and searches that cause your listing to rise to the top – but there are SOME things that can be done to optimize them more quickly – a service we include to all of our clients. Below is an interesting article that touches on these things.

Since Google’s launch of Place Search—a special new display for business listings appearing when users submit search queries related to local businesses—I’ve seen a discernible spike in interest on various websites and forums in how to appear higher on the results pages. A number of small business owners particularly seem to have awakened to realize a need for local search engine optimization (“local SEO”).

This a brief overview of how to do Local SEO for your businesses/websites. However, you should also be warned that search engine optimization has varying degrees of complexity, depending upon your type of business and city. If you have few competitors or if your competitors are relatively unsophisticated at their online promotion work, it may be easy to perform a few tweaks using straightforward strategies and get ranking advantage. However, if you’re in a highly competitive market area and/or you’re in a hotly-contested business category (such as hotels, florists or locksmiths), then you have to perform progressively more difficult and often, subtle, optimizations to pull ahead of the pack.

If you’re seeking a quick and easy fix, you should know that this doesn’t exist. Local marketing optimization requires an investment in resources and should be considered to be a serious promotional channel which must be developed consistently over time in order to be effective. As you can see from this brief primer, the stuff involved is not rocket science. However, you’re going to be expending some resources to accomplish it whether you’re a do-it-yourselfer or if you decide to hire an experienced local search optimization professional.

Google’s Place Search is still a new and emerging paradigm which we are still studying, but we can be fairly sure that many of the already-established local ranking factors are still likely in effect and influencing rankings in Place Search, even if we may find that the degrees of influence may have been adjusted up or down.

Claim Your Listing In Google Places

Similar to optimizing your citations in major online directories, you should do the same thing for your listing in Yahoo! Local, Bing Maps, and Google Places. Claiming your business in Google gives them higher confidence in the content and lets them know that the business is active. Enhancing your Places page with more info and content about you increases your opportunities to persuade potential customers to come to your store. Best of all, merely claiming your Google Places page may be a ranking factor.

Provide Images, Videos & Coupons

Increasing engagement with your business listing in Google Places often translates into increased conversions. It may be that the more time a consumer invests in looking at your business’s collateral materials, the more likely they are to be persuaded to shop at your store.

Including images, videos and coupons with your listing is mostly not a ranking criteria. However, in some Place Search result pages, virtually all the listings shown on page one have thumbnail icons accompanying them. In those types of business searches and locations, having images included with your Google Place page may be part of the determination of whether your listing appears or not—and you certainly don’t want to be the less-appealing listing with insufficient bling compared with your competitors.

One thing seems certain to me—images and videos associated with your listing provide additional opportunities to associate more keyword-relevant content with your business, so this aspect alone could provide additional chances for your company to appear in search results.

During the past couple of years of economic recession, coupons have also risen to the top as things which can grab consumers’ attention, if not search share.

David Segal’s story in The New York Times earlier this month about the virtual closing of local businesses on Google Places and the significant and negative impact it has had on some real-world businesses – is the latest warning that losing control of your business’ online presence can have a detrimental effect on your ability to attract and keep customers.

While Google has said it is working to fix the issue, the fact that local businesses’ presence can so quickly and effectively be compromised online raises a lot of questions aboutwhat businesses should be doing to preempt, identify and effectively mitigate threats to their online presence.

It’s time to leverage areas you control to build a positive and accurate portrayal of your business online, use opportunities with respected third-parties to reinforce those claims, and be at-the-ready to respond to reputational threats outside your grasp.

Here are four tips to take ownership of your online presence:

1. Send A Clear Message: We’re In Business & We’re Ready To Help

Your business has tools available to reinforce to current and potential customers that it’s prepared to address their needs.

Your website is a living and breathing representation of your real-world business, and the most important online tool available to you that is completely within your control. By keeping it updated and current, you indicate to visitors that you are open, available and can be trusted to handle their requests.

In addition to the basics of outlining your business’ services and contact information, add new content on at least a weekly basis – feature a new product, special, or customer testimonial right on the homepage. Just like you’d change the storefront for each season, update the content and graphics on your site to match the time of year.

Include social media widgets on the homepage to illustrate activity and interest in your business, as well as blog headlines to showcase thought leadership in your local marketplace.

Your blog and social media channels allow you to share real-time information with both current and potential customers. By updating these platforms on a near-daily basis, you indicate to readers and followers that you are not only open, but also active, invested, and up-to-date on the latest trends in your field. Your quick responses to comments or complaints left on these channels show that you care about your customers and have the means to make things right.

As the New York Times story showed, accurate online business listings are critical to your online presence. Use the story as a wakeup call to take advantage of any and all tools available to take ownership of your listings sites like Yelp, CitySearch, YP.com and others. Most of these sites require owner verification when making changes to contact information and services, so make sure you’re registered as the point person for your business.

2. Build Relationships With Local Media & Influencers To Create A Strong Reputation

Do your fair share of PR so you have local allies and conversation in favor of your business.

Is your business opening new locations? Is it the first to sell a new product in its market? Does it have a major anniversary of its opening coming up?

Take advantage of newsworthy opportunities to reach out to local media and influencers to get your business’ name in the press and in blogs and social media. Not only will the third-party support help generate increase awareness and confidence in your company, but local media stories featuring your business will appear high in search rankings – a big plus when current and potential customers search for you directly or indirectly.

The relationships you build with local media and influencers can come in handy should you face online reputational issues like negative blog posts or comments about your business.

By laying the groundwork in advance, you can more easily reach out to and rely on your relationships to help come to your defense, or at least consider your perspective should they write about those complaints. Building trust between you and those who write about you locally is key to helping mitigate both online and offline reputational issues.

3. Have A Response Strategy In Place

Whether it’s an unauthorized change to your online business listing, a negative review, or a competitive SEM campaign that’s drowning out your placements in search, have a response strategy in place so you know exactly what to do if your online reputation is hit hard fast.

Have a list of your online business listings –including profile URLs, login information, confirmation e-mails, etc. – at the ready in case you learn of false updates to your online business listing. Know how to update the sites and know the process for contacting the sites in case an issue with your listing arises.

Draft template responses to the typical complaints you receive both in the real-world and online from your customers. The responses should be drafted for use in response to media inquiries, as well as online forums, blog comments and social media updates (e.g., a post on your business’ Facebook wall, a tweet that includes your Twitter handle, etc.).

Have the blueprint of an SEM response campaign ready to go on Google, Bing and local sites in case a new or existing competitor launches a campaign to overshadow your search results. You should have the most important keywords selected and set aside some funds to pay for it should the need arise.

4. Monitor Online Conversations & Be Ready To Respond At A Moment’s Notice

As the Google Places story showed, affected businesses saw devastating drops in demand for their services as a result of their businesses being erroneously closed online – and some didn’t even know it happened for weeks!

Monitoring is the only way to completely ensure that you’re not caught off-guard by changes to your business’ online presence, and that you can take the steps necessary to respond in a timely manner.

Conduct daily searches of what is being said about your business in social media by viewing your Facebook page and scanning Twitter, and search Google, Bing and the major local sites on a regular basis, to evaluate and respond to changes in your profiles and search rankings, customer reviews, and comments.

Also take advantage of Tweetdeck, Google Alerts, and other free tools to make sure you receive the latest on what’s being said about your business online.