Instagram Reaches Top 10 in Smartphone App Use

Instagram ranked 10th in smartphone apps used from August to October 2013 with a total of 25.5% reach among adult iOS and Android app users according to the latest report from comScore.  Instagram enjoyed larger reach than Twitter’s app  at 21.8% although Facebook’s mobile app reached 75.7% of adult iOS and Android app users.

The closest competitor to Facebook in the smartphone app popularity contest is Google Play, with its 54% which is significantly less. Google Search had 52.2% usage followed by Pandora Radio at 48.2% and YouTube at 48% rounding out the top 5 apps.  Smartphone use continues to rise, up 0.5% points from the previous month to reach 62.5% of the mobile market. At this time last year, use was at 51.9% and the year before 38.5% – underscoring just how fast smartphone use has grown.

Android’s 52.2% share of the smartphone market was up from its 51.8% share during the 3 month average ending in July. Apple’s share also inched up by a hair, adding 0.2% points to 40.6%. With that 40.6% share, Apple maintained its considerable lead over Samsung among equipment manufacturer's, despite the Samsung's 1.3% point increase to 25.4% market share. HTC moved 1.3% points down to 6.7% share.   Instagram continues to see growth and must be incorporated as part of any successful Social Marketing and SEO solution.  

Contact the social marketing experts at Internet Builder Consulting for an expert online marketing package, optimization and training from only $350 online or call 816-842-7774

The SEO Benefits of Social Networking with Facebook and Google+

The best way to rank higher on a Search Engine is to build a BETTER website since SEO is not something you do 'to' a website it is how the website is built.  Strong valid content, proper META, TITLE and ALT Tags, formatting of pages and links all lead to higher rankings.  There are direct benefits from social networking since a key aspect of the Search Engine algorithms has always been 'how many links from other sites go to your website' and what is the value of those other sites.

Facebook is still the leader online with 300 times more daily traffic than Google.  Google is attempting to draw some of the user base back with Google+ social network.  Google+ is built to be Search Engine friendly with the following key attributes:

• Content is crawled nearly instantly (it IS Google) unlike Twitter and Facebook
• Each post has a unique URL (the first 45-50 characters of the post are the title tag)
• Google indexes the text of every post and creates hash tags based on top keywords
• Any links to external websites are indexed and crawled which may lead to higher page rank
• Posts that are shared, interacted with and +1'd are seen as more important

There seems to be a correlation between highly followed and interacted 'Authors' or 'Pages' with higher value for posts made from more popular profiles or pages.  This means that an author (profile) who posts links to external websites with strong well written text that receives multiple interactions is valued higher than posts made by other profiles with little to no interaction.  

The image above shows how Google+ automatically pulls and displays the title of the post or page that was shared.  It also illustrates the 'Likes' and 'shares noted in the numeric values (+20 people and 1 share on the left and +33 people and 4 shares on the right).  Google does not directly follow the links to external URL's (website addresses) from posts but the people using Google+ do so so there is a benefit.  

The key is interaction not just posts, the value comes from connections of the connections creating exponentially vast networks who see your information as each new person '+' or shares your post.  Google owns Google+ so ALL content posted on Google+ is instantly indexed.  One study attributes Google+1's as having a slightly higher value than Facebook interaction although it is .30 for +1's and .27 for Facebook so it is a narrow margin.  

The top factor remains the quality of the web page or web site content which is where SEO is invaluable.  Building a proper website in the proper architecture with the proper content has always been the best way to rank higher on search engines.  The Internet Experts at Internet Builder Consulting have been teaching the values of Google+ for years and now the proof is in the SEO results!  If your company needs a better built website with SEO and Social Marketing for a complete solution contact the experts at Internet Builder Consulting today 816-842-7774

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet & Technology Expert
Internet Builder Consulting - Building BETTER Websites, SEO and Social Marketing Solutions since 1995

Traditional Media Remains Strong, Print Advertising Reduces and Internet Marketing Shows the Highest Increase

Traditional media continue to dominate global advertising spending, and most show no signs of falling off for the time being, according to new data released by Nielsen. TV, which commands the lion’s share of global ad budgets, saw a 4.3% increase in expenditures for the year, reaching $350 billion. Cinema (movie theaters), radio, and outdoor advertising saw growth rate above the 3.2% overall average, up 5.8%, 6.1%, and 7.7%, respectively. Other mediums such as magazines (-1.6%) and newspapers (-0.2%) saw slight declines in spending, they still accounted for more than one-quarter of global spending.

Online ad revenues, recently reported to have increased by 15.2% in the US, predictably was the fastest-growing advertising medium on a global basis, up by 9.9%. Online ad measurement was limited to the display format, though. In the US, display ad revenues grew by 13.4%.

At 62.8% of revenues, TV accounted for easily the largest portion of global advertising spend, followed by newspapers (19.5%) and magazines (8%). Radio (5.2%) and outdoor (2.3%) each also grabbed a higher portion of spend than the internet (1.9%). The internet’s share of the pie seems quite low, and it’s unclear if that’s because it was measured in a smaller subset of markets.

Other Findings:

• At 0.3% of spending, cinema accounted for the smallest share of advertising dollars.
• Display ad spend in Latin America grew by 21.2%, while rising 7.2% in Europe.
• Asia-Pacific (10.3%) and Europe (7.4%) saw above-average increases in cinema advertising.

For an expert online marketing consultation contact Internet Builder Consulting - Building BETTER Websites, SEO, Social Marketing and Online Advertising Solutions since 1995

816-842-7774 Office

Facebook Graph Search 'Search Engine' now Competing with Google for Top Search Results with Social Networking User Data

Google has dominated the search engines for over 10 years now leaving Yahoo, Bing, AskJeeves, AOL and everyone else far behind.  Internet Builder Consulting has been saying it since 2009 when Facebook began showing 'search results' outside of Facebook using Microsoft Bing that it was only a matter of time before Facebook became it's own 'Search Engine'.  The time has come and past and now the Billions of Facebook Users will never have to leave Facebook to search on Google, Yahoo or Bing again.  The first version of Facebook Graph Search works on the most valuable aspect of Facebook, your friends, what they are doing, where they have been and what they like.

People use Facebook because it instantly connects them with like minded individuals, people 'like ME' which is common in society.  Facebook Graph Search provides levels of detail no other search engine can provide enabling you to search for 'friends' who like Pizza or have visited Spain or even locate someone you may have met at a store that helped you and you wanted to thank.

Interesting enough this works quite well since the latest professional to join the Internet Builder Consulting team, Jennifer was found through Facebook after some exceptional service at the pharmacy.  I used Facebook to narrow down a list of people names Jennifer that worked at a pharmacy in Kansas City and ended friends with our latest hard working team member!

The first version of Facebook Graph Search is focused on primarily searching 'friends' and connections   As the system progresses it will include Business Pages and Fan Pages eventually encompassing all aspects and INFORMATION stored on Facebook.  The image below is the new Facebook Graph Search menu with a few 'suggested' search options although you can search for ANYTHING!

No other search engine database has such a deep level of information to search through since Facebook knows who you are, where you live, who you are friends with, where you went on vacation, to lunch, what kinds of cars or hobbies you enjoy and MUCH more.  Facebook claims that only the information you share with friends is going to be searchable (most everything) although the Facebook Terms of Use everyone agrees to when they create an account clearly states Facebook owns all the data and can do whatever they want with it :)  What Graph Search means is companies are going to have to pickup the pace with Social Marketing.  There are more users on Facebook than Google every day and now that Facebook has Graph Search there is little reason to ever leave...


Google has its first real challenger here while Microsoft is going to see a boost in traffic on Bing.  When Graph Search doesn't find the results you are looking for, you will also get a list of Bing web results within Facebook.  This also dramatically increases the value in Social Marketing Optimization (SMO) as part of any effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) program.  It is NOT about the 'likes' a Facebook page has, it is about how it is setup, optimized and connected just like SEO is for a website.

Mark Zuckerberg said the main difference is Graph Search's ability to deliver 'answers' rather than 'links to answers' makes it clear that Facebook and Bing are on the same page: The Bing team has long been working on a search solution that eschews "blue links" in favor of a search engine where people are as important as pages.

Bing Director Stefan Weitz recently stated that the majority of people doing research on the internet, for a new product, or a potential vacation, won't rely on search engine page alone. They will turn to friends and experts to get additional input before making a decision. The more Bing enhances its social sidebarwith increasing amounts of social data, the less you are likely to jump around to other sources.


If you would like to know more about how to setup, optimize, market and manage your business, products or services online contact The Experts at Internet Builder Consulting for a consultation 816-842-7774 - we helped create social marketing with 18 years experience building BETTER Websites, SEO and Social Marketing solutions.  Having a Facebook page with effective, optimized social marketing, has never been more important for the success of your business.

It's not about the likes, it's about the leads.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet & Technology Expert
816-842-7774 Office

Friends with Benefits

All knowledgeable website and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) firms include Social Marketing as an intricate part of any website solution.  A website that is not properly Search Engine Optimized is useless and any Search Engine Optimization campaign is incomplete without Social Marketing.  The key aspect of Social Marketing is communicating 'socially' to engage, entice and interact with others rather than simply pushing a message out through a one sided conversation.

Online or offline it is important to connect and make 'friends' with others of similar interests, in the same industries and market to the proper prospective customers.  In either situation a one sided conversation will result in lack of results and likely loss of friends or connections.  The key to success is making 'friends with benefits' who will connect, communicate and produce online success.  Facebook separated the 'News' and 'Most Recent' last year to determine which items are considered important while others are simply 'updates'.  The reason Facebook changed this was to determine what information will be fed to Search Engines and what information is simply shared with only the people directly connected to each other.

Facebook is the # 1 source of referrals on the Internet today with more daily usage than all other websites and search engines including Google.  Search Engines have adopted their criteria and ranking algorithms to include information from social networking websites and online classifieds such as Craigslist in search results in real time.   The way information posted on Facebook is determined to be NEWS or just a Recent Update is determined by a simple hierarchy of criteria with the basic principles being:

1. How many friends or connections you have
2. How much interaction your friends or connections have with what you post
3. How much interaction do your friends or connections have with others
4. Is the post made on a Personal account or properly setup Page
5. The format and content of what was posted is important

This means that no matter how much you post on facebook it will not matter unless your 'friends' interact with what is posted.  If you have one 'friend' who constantly comments or likes your post it will dilute the interaction leading to lack of results thus you must have several 'friends' who interact on a regular basis to see real benefits.  Everything posted must be properly formatted and ideally done through a Page setup for your business, product or service.  Pages receive higher value ratings than personal accounts do and how the Page is setup affects how well it will rank when people search.

Facebook is the # 1 source of referrals today, buyers are using Facebook to connect with sellers but the most important aspect is the effect on Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Content and posts from Facebook will show up on Search Engines when setup and marketed properly providing a double benefit if you have the right friends.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting - Building BETTER Websites, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Marketing and Virtual Tours since 1995
816-842-7774 Office

Marketers Are Watching Social Networks & Reading Your Posts!

Tech Savvy marketers are using Social Networking for targeted advertising.  With Facebook you can target ads for Facebook users based on job, income, location, hobbies and a wide range of other criteria for the Pay Per Click ad campaigns.  Another unique 'feature' we found some marketing companies use is a 'sniffer' that automatically browses facebook posts for specific keywords or phrases to include users who match the criteria in targeted marketing campaigns.

This only works if the Facebook user has privacy settings shared for their email address and 'wall posts' otherwise there is no way an automated program could capture the proper information.  To verify our suspicions we had two of our website experts login to separate Facebook accounts to post status updates about interest in seeing the new TRON movie released December 17th 2010.  Both accounts are setup to share contact information, wall posts and interests and both accounts ended up receiving direct emails (via email, not through Facebook) from the same company advertising TRON movie night tickets.

The advertisement on the left was from a theater in 'East Taunton, MA' that sent direct emails to BOTH Facebook user's email addresses listed on the individual accounts after they posted interest in the TRON movie within 1 day of the post.  It would have been a genius method of targeted marketing had the additional qualifier of LOCATION been added to the mix since neither website developer in Kansas City plans on flying out to Massachusetts to see the movie!

What this illustrates is the power of targeted marketing using Social Networking and the Internet in general.  No other advertising medium provides the same potential and nowhere but the Internet do users share such a wide range of personal (and purchase) information.  Any company providing Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Marketing should be studying trends, algorithms, interactions and usage to properly plan and implement solutions for customers. 

The SEO, SEM and Social Marketing Experts at Internet Builder Consulting have led the way innovating and teaching online marketing since 1999 with constant research to keep our customers ahead of the competition!

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting - Building BETTER Websites, Social Marketing and Online Solutions since 1995
816-842-7774 Office

Social Networking is the Most Increased Online Activity in 2010

US online adults were most likely to say they have increased their viewing of friends’ photos and information on social networks out of a wide variety of online activities during the past year, according to results of a new Harris Poll.
1/3 of Online Users Have Increased Social Network Viewing
About one-third (34%) of online US adults say they have increased their viewing of friends’ photos and information on social networks either significantly or somewhat in the past year. This was the highest percentage combined response for increasing any of the eight activities presented to respondents (multiple answers were accepted).

Reading newspapers/current events followed at a distant second with a combined 26% saying they have increased this online activity either significantly or somewhat in the past year. However, somewhat mitigating this low rate of increased online activity is an often lower rate of decreased online activity.

For example, only a combined 8% of online adults say they have decreased their viewing of friends’ photos and information on social networks either significantly or somewhat in the past year. A full 23% say this activity is not applicable and 34% say it has not changed.

Results are similar for most other activities, with the not changed rate of many hovering above 50%. Shopping had the highest combined rate of decrease (17%).  Interestingly, a leading 55% of respondents say posting information on their own blogs is not applicable, and 43% say posting or commenting on friends’ blogs is not applicable, reflecting the shrinking popularity of blogs among US online users.


Young, Educated Social Networking Users are More Likely to Increase Online Activity
Almost across the board, social media users, younger and better educated respondents are more likely to say they have increased an online activity in the past year. The difference between social media users and non-social media users is most pronounced in rates of viewing friends’ photos and information on social networks, posting and commenting information on friends’ or own blogs, and posting comments/reviews about brands, products or services.

Conversely, non-social media users were more likely than social media users to have increased reading newspapers/current events, the only online activity where they surpassed social media users.

Blogging, reading newspapers and review posting were the only areas where increase rates were not highest among 18-to-34-year-olds. Posting information on your own blog, reading newspapers and posting comments/reviews had the highest rates of increase among 35-to-44-year-olds, posting/commenting on friends’ blogs had the highest rate of increase among 45-to-54-year-olds.

While there was some variety among what age brackets were the second-most-likely to have increased an online activity, 55-plus respondents had the lowest response rate in any area except shopping, where their increase rate of 22% beat 45-to-54-year-olds (20%) and tied 35-to-44-year-olds.

Meanwhile, respondents with a high school education or less were the least likely to have increased all eight online activities. Those with a college degree or more had higher increase rates than those with some college in every activity except posting comments on friends’

3 in 10 Use Social Netwotks for Product Reviews
Only a combined 28% of online adults say they have used social media to rant or rave about a company, brand or product. However, a combined 80% of respondents agree strongly or somewhat they give up part of their privacy by participating in social media, and a combined 73% agree strongly or somewhat social media only reveals a snapshot, rather than a full portrait, of who they are.

Nearly 60% of Social Networking Users Feel More Connected

Six in 10 (59%) of social network users say they feel more connected to people now than previously, according to another recent Harris Poll. That figure is highest among 18-to-34-year-olds (63%) and females (61%). Similar percentages (58% overall, 63% of 18-to-34-year-olds, 60% of females) say they keep in touch with friends more now than in the past.

Social network users say this even as majorities admit they recently have had less face-to-face contact with friends (55%) and know what’s going on with many of their friends and acquaintances, but don’t interact with them personally or individually (60%). Negative emotional impact of this loss of personal contact appears small, as only 32% of social network users feel lonelier now than previously.

The trends are clear, Social Networking is an effective method of reaching buyers, maintaining your brand and improving Search Engine Optimization for any business, product, service or website.  Contact the Social Network Marketing Experts at Social Marketing Builders today for a consultation or to improve your Social Marketing!

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
Internet Builder Consulting - Building Better Websites and Online Marketing since 1995
Social Marketing Builders - Building Expert Social Networking Solutions for Business
816-842-7774 Corporate Office

Facebook Changes Feeds for Users & Search Engines

October 2009 facebook entered into agreements with search engines to provide content from user posts (information users submit on profiles, groups or pages) which coincided with changes to seperate what facebook considers NEWS from users LIVE FEED. The Live Feed contains all information or posts from all connected members, groups or pages while NEWS FEED is filtered by what facebook considers to be 'news worthy' information.

The NEWS feeds are sent to search engines while LIVE Feeds are only seen by connected parties on facebook. There is no guarantee that NEWS feeds will be listed on a search engine (it depends on how relevant the post is considered by each search engine). Facebook shares the following information as to the new change between NEWS and LIVE Feeds:

What is the difference between News Feed and Live Feed?
News Feed aggregates the most interesting content that your friends are posting, while Live Feed shows you all the actions your friends are making in real-time.

How does News Feed determine which content is most interesting?
The News Feed algorithm bases this on a few factors: how many friends are commenting on a certain piece of content, who posted the content, and what type of content it is (e.g. photo, video, or status update).

The most effective way to ensure posts are included in NEWS feeds (facebook also set the default view for all user home pages to NEWS Feed) is to post the most relevant engaging information, images or content. This means the people or companies who simply throw anything on social networking website just to have content will be excluded from NEWS Feeds for the most part. Others who share interesting viable information that engages other users will see much better results.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
BuilderConsulting.com - Building Better Websites and Online Marketing Solutions since 1995
BuilderSocialMedia.com - Building Social Media Marketing Solutions for Business
913-814-8844 Office

Social Media Marketing is Now More Than Links - Posts to Show in Search Results

Google and Microsoft have signed deals with Twitter and Microsoft has also signed an agreement with Facebook to integrate Twitter and Facebook updates into Bing search results. Google will be integrating tweets in search results.
Google's Marissa Mayer says, " We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information."



I expect that Google will be making a similar deal with Facebook to integrate Facebook posts in search results similar to the new deal signed with Twitter.  This means that social media marketing is more than simply adding 'link weight' to websites, Tweets and posts will be shown in real time to users on Google.com and Bing.com search engines.

Contact Builder Social Media by Builder Consulting for expert social media marketing and website solutions for your business.

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
BuilderConsulting.com - Building Better Websites and Social Media Marketing Solutions
913-814-8844

Social Networking Top Users Age 35-49 followed by 50-64 Year Olds

Also it is common knowledge in the online marketing world that social media reach has long grown beyond the younger demographic. As social networks become more popular and mainstream the audience has become broader and older.

Facebook originally started as a college only social network, but now boasts the greatest membership growth rate from 35-49 year olds at 24 million new members from Dec 2007 to Dec 2008. Facebook also is adding twice as many 50-64 year olds at 13.6 million than those under 18. Their current base is one-thirds 35-49 years of age and one-quarter over 50 years old. The way social networks are used is being continually defined by the changing demographics.

Build your social networking with the experts at Builder Consulting and view examples online at www.BuilderSocialMedia.com

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
BuilderConsulting.com - Building Successful Solutions Online since 1995
913-814-8844 Office

Social Networking Overtakes Email

A new study released by Nielsen has shown that Social Networking has overtaken email as the most popular internet activity. As popular social networks like Facebook and MySpace have features built to stay in communication with friends and connections many people are utilizing those communication mediums to “email” or “chat” or “post” with one another.

Nielsen reports that “member communities” exceeds email participation 67% to 65%. This is in conjunction with the fact that social networking and blogging is growing twice as fast as other drivers of users such as email, search and portals. Two-thirds of internet users visited a social networking site in 2008. Social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace account for nearly 10% of all internet time. Facebook continues to lead the way by accounting for 30% of all internet users in the largest global markets.

Learn how Social Networking and Social Media Marketing can help your business reach more buyers www.BuilderSocialMedia.com or call us 913-814-8844

Robert 'Dot Com' Jackson
BuilderConsulting.com - Building Better Websites & Social Marketing since 1995