Situated Research's Blog

These days, everyone is struggling to catch up on digital marketing.  In the rush, too much of the thinking is often left to impressive young web developers who seem to know a lot about all of the new technologies however they lack experience in functionality.

Your business on the web is far too important to leave to a bunch of techie people.  In their quest to show off their dazzling skills, the web developers often forget that your digital strategy needs to fit into overall strategy.  The result is usually wasted money and missed opportunities.

Here are a few simple rules that will help you get the most out of your web development and digital strategy. Read more »

A lot of small business owners feel that there’s a cringe-factor associated with marketing; some resistance, avoidance and dread. It is possible, though, to create buzz-worthy promotional events around your business that not only get you in front of your target audience, but might even be fun to coordinate. Here are a few ideas for generating buzz for your business. Read more »

Research published by analyst firm Access Markets International Partners shows that almost 70 percent of small and medium businesses actively use social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to promote their companies. But simply posting what your CEO had for lunch isn’t going to do much to help move your business forward. Smart companies are tactically using social media tools to increase their exposure to potential customers.

We’ve compiled ten of the most compelling reasons that you should consider using social media tools to promote your business. Read more »

Is your company really ready to interact with customers–and critics–online?

Greenpeace’s organized brandjacking of Nestle SA’s Facebook page is making CMOs afraid of social media. There is good reason for this: The power has clearly turned to those that participate, and now detractors are starting to organize using the same organized marketing campaigns that companies create. Read more »

This video is a refresh of the original video with new and updated social media & mobile statistics that are hard to ignore. Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman.

The use of social media as a marketing tool has become prominent in the modern business world because it is an extremely effective way to promote products and services to a targeted audience. While standard websites serve as a one-way monologue, social media opens up dynamic dialogue with customers: creating interaction and personal connection. Read more »

Think a tweet is just 140 characters of text? Think again. To developers building tools on top of the Twitter platform, they know tweets contain far more information than just whatever brief, passing thought you felt the urge to share with your friends via the microblogging network.

A tweet is filled with metadata – information about when it was sent, by who, using what Twitter application and so on.

Now, thanks to Raffi Krikorian, a developer on Twitter’s API/Platform team, you can see what a tweet looks like, in all its data-rich detail. Read more »

Twitter is a great tool for conversations, building community, finding brand advocates and reading the latest news. That’s why celebrities, athletes, your competitors—and hopefully you—are on Twitter.

The growth and usage of Twitter is not surprising. Compete.com estimates approximately 21 million unique monthly visitors, and a quick search on Twitter yields a variety of conversations from music, sports, politics, events and products.

For business however, there’s an art to using Twitter, and the most successful at it follow an unwritten set of rules. The following are 5 important tips to follow on Twitter; all lessons that I have learned while working for companies like HP, Yahoo! and Intel.  Read more »

LinkedIn is all about connecting, but before we connect, we look for what we have in common. That’s the key to putting together a profile that jump-starts conversation. Think of your profile as a way to promote your brand—a professional permalink, a fixed point on the web to promote your skills, your knowledge, your personality. Brands build trust by using an authentic voice and telling a credible story. Here are ten tips to help you do the same. Read more »

The importance of search engine optimization is well known to most business owners. What is equally well known is the fact that good optimization advice does not come cheap and bad advice comes cheap but costs a lot in the long run (think websites getting banned on Google).

While targeting the most popular keywords in competitive sectors might no longer be feasible for most new businesses on a tight budget, there are still numerous options available to such businesses.

A lot of the opportunities arise from Google’s Universal Search concept, where regular organic listings are mixed in with other search results such as images, videos, maps and so on. Read more »

A look at the top technology tools and trends to keep an eye on in the coming year

With technology evolving at the speed of light, and everyone looking to benefit from the latest, greatest hardware and software, keeping up can be challenging for educators, administrators, and school districts themselves. To help, THE Journal spoke with a handful of technology experts and came up with a short list of top tech trends you’ll want to watch in the new year. Read more »

So many people tend to really over think SEO when they start to realize that they need it. It is not a magic pill or a secret potion it is simply a different type of marketing approach to get internet traffic to find your website. Marketing does not come with a set of rules or guidelines. Search engine optimization is new and fresh and it is going through many various changes but it is important to grab a hold of it sooner than later to help promote your business. Read more »

Recently, I’ve had former colleagues from a couple of my old employers ask me about social media. Specifically, how to get started in it from a professional perspective. They’re aware that social media can be powerful, but it can be daunting to figure out an entrance point and what you’re supposed to do with it.

Now I’m no Chris Brogan, but I do have hands-on experience. Specifically, I’ve been doing product marketing for a while now, with both Connect beam and BEA Systems. BEA Systems was great for traditional product marketing work. Connect beam is great for social media-oriented product marketing work. I’ve learned some things that work for me. Read more »

Whether you’re an employee or a consultant, it sometimes falls to you to drag an organization into the 21st century—and that often means convincing a company to adopt social media. Someone might even be asking you about some new web tool their son or daughter is using.

“Any individual or organization that sells products or offers services should value open communication as a goal. If your client or company does not have an existing communications plan, or even a mission statement that includes nods to openness or transparency, a social media strategy might be a good starting point for developing one.” Read more »

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In a recent blog post discussing the importance of link building for search engine optimization, I asked people to share how they build links to their website. I recommend you go read the responses. I also recommend you read that article so you know how to construct inbound links so they affect your search rankings for individual keywords that you want to rank for. Read more »