There’s been a slew of articles published the last few weeks about alternatives to Google search and traditional SEO.  Potential search replacements are being motivated by user behavior and the desire for more relevant solutions. Consider, “social search”, how businesses may be found, for example on Facebook, based on the number of people who like them (fans/relationships) vs. a Google algorithm.

In this article, entitled “Why We Desperately Need a New (and Better) Google“, the author said, “Google has become a jungle: a tropical paradise for spammers and marketers.”  The article goes on to say that most Google searches now take you to sites that will make them money or to sites created by unscrupulous companies that know how to manipulate Google’s page-ranking system …

What does this mean for the future of your web marketing? It doesn’t mean you abandon your current online strategy if it’s working for you.  At this moment, Google search is still king—although the throne is being scrutinized and spurred.  Hopefully Google will take note of the evolving wants and needs of more sophisticated web searchers.

In the meantime, establish and grow your online communities where people are spending more time (Why You Must Focus on ROR ‘Return on Relationships’ in 2011).

How important is it to market in social media and will it really work? …  Below is an excerpt from an article I provided for the forward-thinking Apex digital publication which addresses these questions:

A second shift is (as much as we love the web) the way we consume information has changed.  In the August 2010 Wired Magazine article entitled The Web Is Dead.  Long Live the Internet, the author shares examples of how we awake to news on our iPads …  We no longer search Google for news, rather we browse Facebook, Twitter, and check our RSS (blog) feeds.  The article goes on to share how we spend the day on the Internet, yet not on the web.  Quite profound.

Read the entire Apex article (page 8), which includes metrics you can use to definitively track how your social marketing efforts are paying off.

Be sure to subscribe to Apex as well:  http://www.apexezine.com/category/subscribe.

“Talking Social Media…” a video interview by Kevin Henry, managing editor of Dental Economics and Dentistry IQ blogger, alongside Teresa Duncan, author of TheDentalImplantBlog … Outside the ADA meeting in beautiful Hawaii.

Aloha! Just spent the last week in Honolulu at the Academy of Dental Management Consultants (ADMC) annual meeting and visited the ADA meeting as well.

Despite the economy, I saw many dental teams in attendance. It was great to see dentists investing in enhancing their own, and their team’s, skills to continue to grow and flourish.

Many exciting changes occuring in dentistry. More later … Aloha for now!

A recent Denver Business Journal article Study: Stay-at-home moms dominate social media stated that more than 60 percent of stay-at-home moms are more likely to use Facebook, compared to average adults at 50%.

The article also said, “Nearly 94 percent of the moms surveyed said they seek advice before buying products or services and more than 97 percent said they give advice on products or services purchased”.   This article is a timely reminder of where potential new patients are–online and interacting on social media.

Are you, or is your practice, participating in these online conversations?

This video by Erick Qualman on his term, Socialnomics, is informative– a bit fast, so don’t hesitate to hit the pause button if you miss something.  Of particular interest is the comparison of time it has taken for various mediums like radio and TV to reach 50 million users when compared to today’s mediums.  These stats are representative of the viralness of Social Media.

Consider then the benefits (and risks) of this amplified word of mouth for you and your dental practice …

Say goodbye to TV commercials (as we know them), phone books, yellow pages and advertisements and newspapers made from dead trees …

Check out Wired Magazine’s 100 Things Your Kids May Never Know About. Interesting article.