Yes they do.  Here are just some factors considered while deciding where to rank your website on the Search Results pages.

• Sites that users block get points counted against them. This was taken from the Google Webmaster Central Blog.  If users block websites there must be a reason.  Google is now counting these sites as having poor quality content and they are getting discounted.
• Links from Social Media followers have influence ; if they are from quality users.  Google can determine if a follower is by a bot or automated.  Real followers or fans that are linking to your content give you a positive lift in the rankings.  Matt Cutts (from Google) talks about Social Media links in this video ~
  
• Why Social Media Marketing will help your Google rankings (according to Matt Cutts)
  
• Connecting your website to a Google + pagecan increase your rankings drastically.
• Personal Search – this is the concept that Google will deliver content from people you know before content from people you do not know.  It does this from evaluating the people in your Social Media circles, fans, and followers.  Google assumes you will trust people that you know and interact with before random people.  This could be content created, shared, or bookmarked by these people.  What this means for you ~ no 2 people are going to be seeing your information the same.  The more people you know and interact with the more often your content will be seen on the first page (for these people).  Example pictured below for the search “social media and search rankings” 

If you are still on the fence about using Social Media to influence search rankings now would be a good time to pull your head out of the sand and get a grip on reality.

Facebook just added a Daily Offer feature to FanPages.  You can have a Special each day (if you want) and pin it to the top of your FanPage.  When someone gets your offer Facebook emails them a certificate to present to your business for redemption.  They also include a way to share the offer to their friends.

I created this offer today to see how the system works.  It was very easy and just 2 steps – add and image and write the offer.  I can think of several uses for this off the top of my head:

• Daily Specials
• Restaurants or Coffee Shops offering a Leader to bring in customers
• Specials for your Fans

How would you use this feature?  Leave your ideas below in the comment area.

Dotty

Do you know?  Klout is a website that measures Social Media Influence.  It is a scale from 0-100 with 100 being the best.  The average Klout score is 20.  It gets exponentially harder to increase your Klout score as you move up the scale.  Klout uses an algorithm that takes into consideration things like:

• The number of people in your social media connections
• If your messages are ReTweeted or Shared
• If your messages get comments
• How many comments or shares
• Who is sharing your content
• And more

I do not look at Klout as a number for status or to compare with other people.  I look at it as a guide for improving what you are doing in the social media arena. Go ahead and register and connect up your social media accounts that you are using.  See what your Klout number is then use it to see if you are gaining influence with your social media activity.  If you are not then start to tweak what you are doing – why do something if it is not going to get you results?

Do you know your Klout number?  Mine is currently a 43.  Feel free to put your in the comments below.

• Hoot Suite
• Nimble

To read the article go to Dr.Shannon Reece’s website.

Timeline is Facebook’s new format, as of March 2012, all Facebook Fanpage users will be automatically switched over to Timeline.  Timeline is a completely new way of organizing  posts in chronological fashion, and you can literally go back to the day your business started and fill in all the important events, add pictures, and highlight important business milestones.  Timeline is like a detailed, digital scrapbook of your business growth.

Picture Viewer

The way you view pictures on Facebook has undergone some major changes.  Now, when you click on a picture, it pulls up the picture viewer feature.  This allows you to flip through albums, make comments, and check off what you like without leaving the page you are on.  When you are done, simply close the viewer and you are right back where you started.

Custom Tabs

Welcome pages are gone – but custom tabs have not gone away.  The access point has been moved to the icons below your Cover image.  These icons are customizable so put some compelling message in the image.  You can also link directly to the tab for any promotion purposes.

You already know that.  Many small business owners know they need to market, but are lost as to how.  They are often given a tool, but do not really understand the power of that tool and give up on it before it really has a chance to help.  This is how I feel about Google +.

Google Plus is an Awesome Tool

Google is integrating Search with Google +.  What does that really mean for your business?  If you have people in your Circles (even if you are really sure who they are) and those people do a search for something you have written or posted about then your post comes up in their search results (if they are logged in).  Think about that for a moment…

If I was looking to make a purchase of a product or service, and I saw someone that I know form my Circles talking about that product or service then I would be way more likely to click on that Search Result and read the post.  I already trust this person so I give that piece of information way more credibility than the next one that is by someone I don’t know and will likely not build a relationship with.

I just did a search for Ipad4 and received 60 personal results – all from people in my circles that I highly trust.  Thinking of this from a business owners point of view – this is the most powerful search tool ever released.

We buy from people we know, like, and trust!

With Google combining Search and Google Plus ~ this has suddenly become a tool that cannot be turned down if you are a business owner.

Google + Offers Free Hangouts

This is a feature you will not find anywhere else.  A Hangout is a Video Conferencing System where up to 10 computers can “Hangout” together and discuss, learn, train, etc.  The uses are limitless.  Just yesterday I watched a recoded Hangout that taught how Klout is useful for small businesses.  I have participated in Hangouts where people in my circles are providing valuable, free information.  How can you use Hangouts to market your business?  Leave your ideas and thoughts in the comments below.

When your Fanpage changes to Timeline you will need a new cover image.  This is the large graphic at the top of your Fanpage.  I am running a special through March 30th 2012 to create a Cover Graphic for you for $40.00.  You need to supply whatever image you want used and the text that is wanted on the graphic as well.  Here are some samples of ones completed recently:

Ideally you want your cover to represent your business and highlight what you do.

Facebook will be changing all FanPages to the Timeline  layout on March 30th 2012.

What does this mean for you?

1. We will now have the opportunity to have a large image at the top of our pages – 851px X 350px.  This is good for:
• Building your Brand
• Advertising Events or Classes
• Highlighting Products or Services
2. Welcome Tabs will no longer work.  Custom Tabs will remain and be available for viewing as they are now.
3. You will be able to Pin a notice at the top of the Timeline
4. You can highlight posts so they stretch all the way across the 2 columns of the Timeline.

These are the highlights of the changes coming.  Make sure you are ready and have your Page updated before March 30th.  You will not like how your page displays if you wait for Facebook to make the changes for you on March 30th.

Facebook Cover Example

You may not see them yet – but they are coming.  Over the next few months Twitter is rolling out  business branding pages for our use.  They will be better for marketing your business on Twitter.

• The header graphic will be larger (835px X 90px)
• Featured Content: Ability to stick a specific Tweet at the top
• Tweets with Video or Image links will show a preview
• Promote with @AskDotty (use your handle)
• More ways to make your brand stand out

Here is the official announcement from Twitter enhanced profile pages.

I will be checking often to see when it is available for me to use.  As soon as it is available look for a video tour of the new look on my Ask Dotty website.

As a business owner we do not care what other people eat for breakfast.  Twitter can be very noisy with irrelevant topics.  How can you really use Twitter to get results?

Twitter Followers

If you have no Followers then no one will see you messages!

How To Get Followers

You don’t want just anybody – you want people in your target market to follow you.  One of the best ways to get the right kind of followers is to follow them first.  Most people will follow back!  If you are a local business do a search on Twitter for other people that live in your city.  If you know that you are looking for other business owners (you are a B2B business) then look for other local businesses on Twitter.  If your target market are Gardeners then search for gardeners on Twitter.  Find the people that are going to CARE about what you have to say.

Once you have targeted people following you – look at their followers and you will usually find a gold mine of people to follow (who will likely follow you back).  Spend some time building up your Followers.  This might be a project for an employee, the marketing department, or spouse.

Twitter Messages

Twitter messages are short – only 140 charters.  Consider what your followers would like to hear from you -  make your messages short but interesting.  Word them to elicit responses and ReTweets! Retweets are when a Follower re-posts your same message to their Followers.  It is what you want to have happen.

Put links into your Tweets.  Get people more engaged in your other online content – blog posts, articles, and your website.  You can tell how many people click your links by either using a shorten service like Bit.ly or having analytics connected to your website and analyzing your inbound traffic.

Twitter Benefits

Twitter has many benefits:

• Engaging your audience
• Creating a Following
• Driving traffic to your other web properties
• Getting blog posts indexed instantly
• Finding people with your same interests
• Creating online relationships
• Building your business

Twitter is worth learning – to ignore it is to do damage to your online business.  Twitter is not going away!

Dotty Scott