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The trends they are changing. With more and more businesses of all shapes and sizes realizing how important it is to have visibility on the world wide web the case for more targeted way of web site optimization has gotten stronger. This year at one of the major industry expos all the buzz was on Local Optimization and what it can do for business. While this has been a goal of Search Engine Optimization for some time its only recently become a true possibility.

Local business can benefit in many ways from Local Optimization efforts and going with an online marketing firm that truly specializes in this type of service is to your benefit. Many SEO companies focus their efforts on national brands and gaining rankings for their clients on a very broad level. This leaves small business out in the cold trying to figure out how they can get in the game efficiently and effectively without incurring the costs of national online marketing campaign .

So you might be wondering what’s the difference and why should I consider going local?

Well these are valid questions that often come up with many of our clients.  The fact is that if your a business that relies on local clients and customers you dont need to spend your marketing dollar on attracting online searches from across the country. You want to be featured in relevant search engines that drive local traffic to your site. For example, your a local restaurant that wants to make sure that when people search for a great place to eat in your area you come up as a top listing. It would not be relevant to your business for someone in another state to find you when searching for a local eatery. While you may want to be listed in national directories for people traveling the bulk of your business will be local traffic.  Local Optimization targets is efforts on providing your business visibility on a local level first to drive traffic to your website and more business to your door.

Online statistics show that consumers are going local at a rapid pace. More and more searches are done looking for local business’s that are relevant to consumers as they look for goods and services online. Making sure your optimized locally is the key to growth for your business and if you haven’t considered a presence online until now then maybe its time you take a look.

So with all the focus on the deteriorating financial markets it seems that the biggest deal in history has slowly but silently fallen off the radar. Microsoft’s play for Yahoo! is still going strong and believe it or not it looks like it very well may happen.

Yahoo has spent the last month trying everything it can to poison the deal, make alliances with other companies or try to get Microsoft to sweeten the pot but to Microsoft’s credit it has yet to blink.

While most articles talk about the synergies or lack thereof that the merger will produce I wanted to quickly highlight some points that will be beneficial to online marketers, publishers, and advertisers.

1. Better click through percentages in Paid Search – Yahoo! generally has better conversion rates than Google does even though Google supplies most of the traffic. I think a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft team in this highly competitive market will give Google a run for its money. Microsoft has spent a lot of resources on developing some really great analytics for its adcenter network and this should pay off
2. More advertising revenue – Yes, I know if you combine both companies this becomes an obvious thing but theres more to it than just the combined revenue that is already there. With better visibility, greater market share, and the ability to reach a much wider audience through both Yahoo!s and Microsoft’s web properties they combined company can stand to earn top dollar for premium placements.
3. Let their be Search – In search Google is obviously king. While Yahoo has been developing a better search component for a long time now there hasn’t been anything of great substance that has come out. With a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft team they can devote better resources to develop on the Live Search system that Microsoft has spent tremendous resources to build. While its still not as good as Google, the potential is their to make it a great alternative.
4. Why its good for Online Marketers- If your currently doing SEO, SEM, or any other type of online optimization and marketing you currently have to optimize first for Google and then worry about the rest. With a combined Yahoo!/Microsoft you may have a little more work ahead of you as you may have to actually optimize for both Search Engines but the pay offs for your clients should be much greater.
5. Video, Social Media, and More – Both Yahoo!& Microsoft have been playing catch up in the world of Social Media, and Multimedia. While both of them have made significant strides they are not the leaders in any of these fields. Google got a break when it bought Youtube. What these companies need to do is take the best of breed from both of them, combine them, and make them better. Yahoo’s Buzz is one example of late to the game but getting it right. Initial stats show impressive traffic to sites that have had articles pop up on the front page.

Every point I have made of course depends on a combined, efficient, culture friendly company forming. While some things will come to fruition very early, as a combined company they will have some real growing pains. If they can overcome these all I have to say is watch out Google.

Well,

Everyone at Softline Solutions would like to welcome you to our new blog. In the coming days, weeks, month, etc, ( I guess I could go on forever here ) you should expect some great information and articles that should keep you up to date with online marketing trends, what you should be focusing on, and how to get your marketing into gear for 2008.

While I take great pride in writing original content sometimes I come across some great articles that just dont need to be rewritten. You should expect to see these here to, as I will always give credit where credit is due.

We have our comments section live but initially will require review before we post to the site. This is just so that we can monitor spam and make sure everything is up and running!

Thanks to our wonderful clients, and to everyone who will help make this blog a great resource.