There have been rumors flying around for a while now that Mark Zuckerberg and his very own “team awesome” have been working on a Facebook “search engine”. Well, it is here and its name is Graph Search: certainly an interesting utilisation of the social media platform.

Available, at the moment, only to English (US) audiences, this social search engine was not developed to index the web. Instead, Facebook is indexing their map which is growing by close on 1Million new profiles daily. Data such as images, videos and connections are used in searches to provide an accurate result. This offers Facebook users the chance to dive deeper into their network.

How do I use Graph Search?

The search may be done in the search bar at the top of your Facebook window. Facebook users will be able to search for anything from photos to people and even interests. For example: if you are interested in forming a running group in your area, you would search, “People interested in jogging in Rivonia”. Graph Search will then pull all related profiles from within your profile that match your search request. The search result will provide results in order of “friends” closest to you, right down to mutual friends and connections.
Having been built up as a “database of people’s lives” Facebook allows lives to cross and the world to become more open. Graph Search has been designed to provide users the tools they need to make the most of their close and extended network.

Why is it useful?

Facebook predicts that this search platform will become a useful tool. From recruiting right through to forming niche groups, doing market research and even dating, Graph Search has allowed us access to valuable information, at our fingertips.

What was once an online platform to interact with friends and family, Facebook is now an empire that in many ways has become an integrated part of both our personal and business lives.
When to expect Graph Search…

Facebook has announced that they will slowly roll Graph Search out and as it becomes a more commonly used tool, they will certainly expand on its functionalities.
Once again we are left with the question, “What is next, Facebook?”.

Many SEO’s know that a link from a Social Media site has value when it comes to ranking, more so of late with Google adding social results to Search Engine result Pages (SERP’S).  There are many things to consider when we talk about how pages are ranked but Social Media and SEO should definitely be working together to affect page ranks.  Social Media is related to search results as Social Networking sites and the activity on them shows what content is favoured by people, it also drives queries and it is those very queries that influence ranking.  For that reason alone it has become increasingly important for companies to have a presence on social networks.

As we know a large part SEO is all about links, the better the links the better your content will rank in SERP’s.   Links from Social sites like Google+, Twitter and Facebook will help you get to the top of Google quicker as they carry authority.   Placing social sharing icons such as “+1’s” and “Likes” on content is important as social sharing affects SEO in that sharing carries weight when it comes to the Google Algorithm.  Sharing is important because it encourages interaction and the more interaction there is the more traffic the content will receive. This hopefully will result in an increase in direct relevant links.

Any inbound links to your website count as a vote, the same applies to social shares. The more people who like and share your content the more likely it is that Google will return it to the SERP’s.  Makes sense doesn’t it?

Google+ should not be ignored by companies just because it is not as popular as Facebook and Twitter.  Google Plus carries weight because Google owns it, obviously, which makes it very easy for them to track and measure social signals unlike on Twitter and Facebook.   Google has given their +1 a big advantage, if you are not adding +1’s to your content you will me missing out on a very precious ranking factor.  Google Plus certainly does affect your rankings. You need to be utilising it as part of your SEO in order to rank better.

The new design will allow companies to highlight important posts through the new Featured Update option, which promotes posts to the top of their updates stream.  The featured update function is a better and easier way for companies to highlight, new products and services being offered. It will also highlight any important company news and job opportunities and will aid with driving word of mouth.

The new pages will simplify how users explore companies that interest them. It will also keep them in the loop with any hot topics and any news from their respective industries.

Check out the new pages here

Spread your word in a more effective manner…

LinkedIn has always been a network for professionals and company pages have primarily been used to introduce your company and start spreading company messages.  The new LinkedIn Company pages will allow companies to do this in a more effective way.  Companies can now showcase new products and services and catch the ever elusive prospective customer’s eye more effectively.

Catching Up With Social Media…

Facebook was the first social network to adopt a highly visual layout with their timelines. In the ever changing world of Social Networking, LinkedIn has had to adapt to stay current and not be left behind.  On average companies don’t spend as much time optimising and maintaining their LinkedIn profiles as they do on other networks. It is important to remember that LinkedIn is still a public entity that clients and employees will view before they make a decision about your business.

LinkedIn may not be the leader in Social Networking but when they make changes such as the redesigned company pages it is worth taking the time to update your company profile, stay relevant, and present your company in the best way possible.

How to verify your Pinterest account

1. Visit “Settings”
2. Click on the “Verify Website”

You will then be directed to the following page: (This is what I saw while verifying Talooma)

If 1 and 2 in the above picture are too tricky for you to do, get hold of  your company computer go-to guy to assist you.

Currently Pinterest only supports top-level domains but they are working on supporting more options in the future.

When your website is verified ,  people will see a checkmark next to your registered domain (e.g. next to www.talooma.com) in search results.

Pinterest has always been open to asking for help from the community and even have a “Top Ideas and Featured Requests” option on their support site, where users can provide suggestions and improvements they would like to see on the site. This is a feature that neither Facebook nor Twitter can say they have – Pinterest has asked fellow pinners for any suggestions for different way to verify accounts.  This definitely means that the process will become more user friendly in the future. It’s great to see a social network making use of crowd sourcing to improve their service and their offering for the long run.  Nice one, Pinterest!

The term Social Media is being thrown around a lot lately and it is sometimes tricky to actually define what it exactly is.  To keep it simple, Social Media is people having conversations online and generating content through interacting with one another and with brands.

There are many ways that users of Social Media can interact with one another ranging from easy, such as commenting on blogs, allowing voting on articles, liking a status update and replying to a tweet to the more complex Social Media platforms such as recommending movies on Flixster.

Many companies are sceptical about using Social Media but the reality of the situation is companies need to embrace Social Media.  Customers are adapting and using Social Media to look for information about products and services in the form of recommendations and first hand feedback from other uses instead of using traditional media

How can Social Media help your business?

Gone are the days when having a website was considered good enough as an online presence.  As a generation we thrive on instant gratification, which is why Social Media is so important to stay ahead of the game.

There is good news though especially for smaller companies trying to compete in the market; Social Media is relatively cost effective and allows large and small companies to compete on a level playing field.

Social Media also allows a company to find out what consumers think of your product or service, which at times can be a scary, but when issues are dealt with efficiently and effectively, can help improve the way companies are viewed by consumers. This also assists in increasing brand equity.  Interacting with your customers, finding out about their wants and needs as well as how you can cater to them, is critical to Social Media. More so, it allows companies to improve their service and better satisfy customer needs.  Interaction is key to Social Media and companies can make use of it on different platforms to improve their business and its offerings to better satisfy needs.

What Social Media Sites should you consider and why?

There are new Social Media sites popping up every day, and although having a presence on every single one would be ideal it’s just not realistic in terms of management.  Companies should have their company profile on the major Social networking sites namely Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Wikipedia.

Social Media sites especially Facebook allow you to position your advertising efforts directly at your target market to attract customers, and they allow you to do this at a significantly cheaper price than traditional media.

With Facebook recently reaching 1 Billion users, and a 106% increase in users following brands that they like, the question that companies need to ask themselves is, can they afford to not be a part of the Social Media pie?

In the traditional process of getting ready for your work day, everything seems to takes longer, and is way more challenging in winter. Whether it be the relentless release of the electric blanket, the folding back of the covers, the placing of bare feet onto cold tiles, or that first exposure of skin to the less than satisfactory air temperature. All these factors vastly increased in winter, and are largely an increased hindrance to the effective welcoming of a successful business day.

That said, once you are on the go, with those items a distant memory, provided you have dressed accordingly for the weather, your day continues just like any other.

So here’s the real question:

In Summer, when we are preparing for our day, do we ever pause, and give a thought back to when the conditions were a lot less favorable, or do we proceed quicker, in the nature of habit, oblivious, until the next time when winter comes around?

As we all know when it comes to advertising nobody plays the ‘parody card’ quite as well as Nandos does. From the “Mugabe Last Dictator Standing” to “Julius Malema Demanding Change”, Nandos has always been at the forefront (some may say abreast) of political satire and satire in general.

Well, Nandos has done it again with the Santam ad with Ben Kingsley at the bar. If you haven’t seen Nandos’s latest parody commercial, you can see it here, it is well worth watching. It came as no surprise though.

The Nandos ad is funny and clever as are all of their parody ads only that this time the “victim”, Santam has played them at their own game with something that is equally witty and even, some may say, honourable. You can view Santam’s response ad to Nandos dubbed “Back at ya” hereif you haven’t already seen it.

Santam’s response has most of us really curious to see what Nandos will come back with, because thus far its 1-0 to Santam. Whether or not this is a planned stunt by both Nandos and Santam, we think it is absolutely brilliant advertising!

The big question is will Nandos deliver Santam’s order to the Johannesburg Children’s Home at 4pm on Thursday as requested in the “Back at ya” response. Well, we’ll wait and see!

If you are still using Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system perhaps it’s time to let go because Microsoft has announced that it will no longer continue supporting the beloved programme by 2014. The announcement was made by the company in a post on Monday on the Windows Team Blog reminding it’s users of the two-year countdown until it will terminate all support for Windows XP. In fact the countdown actually began on Saturday, April 7.

What does this mean for those using Windows XP?

The announcement is not going to be a trainsmash for the 144 million users of Windows XP. “If you still have some PC’s running Windows XP and Office 2003 in your organisation, now would be a good time to start migrating them to Windows 7 and Office 2010”, Microsoft said in a statement on their blog.

Marketing director of the US software titan, Stella Chernyak says the end-of-life means Microsoft will kill off all security updates, non-security hot-fixes and technical support after the due date, April 7^th 2014 to be exact.

Microsoft has always supported a policy of a minimum of 10 years support and has given Windows XP extra time despite the release of Vista, Windows 7 and soon, Windows 8.

The see through iPhone could potentially be fashioned from two pieces of glass bonded together, or from a single hollow glass tube.

Advantages of a glass iPhone

The advantage of an all-glass iPhone would be the fact that it’s hermetically sealed and therefore water resistant, more so than being treated with Liquipel, the water repellent coating which has been rumoured for the iPhone 5. Glass is radio transparent so hopefully that would mean improved reception.

Naturally, an all-glass iPhone would look sleek and sexy. There’s no underestimating the extra zing it would give to an already much-admired gadget.

Disadvantages of a glass iPhone

The major worry would be how tough a glass iPhone would be, but Apple is certainly talking tough enough in the patent application. The company notes: “Some of the reasons for using glass over other materials are that glass is strong, stiff, and radio transparent.”

Many critics argue that even if potential breakage and strength isn’t an issue, there’s also the danger of scratches to contend with. Another point is if the device is hermetically sealed and waterproof, what about the port openings?

The question is: is your glass half full or half empty? Whatever it is Apple still has plenty of research and work to do to pull this one off. We have all limbs crossed as we wait in anticipation.

Publishers can now offer select content to iPad users in a new and engaging layout via Flipboard Pages. For example, when an article is shared on Twitter or Facebook, a Flipboard Pages user can simply press “Read Article” to read that article laid out in easy to print read magazine-style. Flipboard Pages preserve that pleasant traditional print magazine reading experience online. Many publishers are already offering their content via Flipboard Pages including:

• ABC News
• All Things Digital
• Bon Appetit
• Lonely Planet
• SB Nation
• SF Gate
• Uncrate
• The Washington Post Magazine

How do I benefit from Flipboard Pages?

As a publisher or writer you will be glad to know that Flipboard Pages has attracted a valuable and high-growth audience of social influencers and enthusiastic readers. The more appealing and reader friendly the layout , the more viewership will result and as a result of this, information will be retweeted, shared and “liked” more so than it otherwise would. Flipboard Pages will ultimately offer you the opportunity to cash in on your content by providing better layout.

How do I adjust how my article’s look on Flipboard Pages?

You can contact Flipboard Pages and they will be happy to work with you to show the level of text and images that you are comfortable with.

Get in touch at publishers@flipboard.com

Remember Flipboard Pages is absolutely free. All that is required is about 10 minutes, to design and construct the templates.

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