Google and Twitter recently struck a deal that will help Google surface relevant Tweets in searches. As a result, Twitter gains valuable free traffic and Google gains valuable real-time content.

Why should you care? You can spend significant time on SEO to gain access to FREE traffic. The same is true for Tweets and social media. Tweets that appear in Google increase exposure to your brand. So how do you increase the odds that your Tweets get indexed? Let’s get started.

The deal between Google and Twitter is early but Danny Sullivan, a widely cited authority on SEO, believes that Google will stick to its guns and value the criteria to surface Tweets that it uses to surface other content. Furthermore, Stone Temple Consulting did a preliminary dive into factors that improve a Tweets indexability.

via How to Improve the SEO of your Tweets.

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via IFTTT

In casual conversation, the terms “keyword” and “query” mean roughly the same thing. We know what someone is saying (or writing) when we see the word “query” where it should be the word “keyword.”

But there is a difference between the two. A query is different from a keyword.

This seems like a semantic and rather annoying little difference. In some ways, it is. But as search professionals, it helps to be informed about the difference, so we can better communicate with our clients, our service providers, and our team members. What’s more, knowing the difference between queries and keywords helps us to become better at our jobs as SEOs.

via Know The Difference Between Queries And Keywords | SEJ.

As a marketing manager, I talk alot about becoming a ‘trusted source’ but what does that really mean? Consider this:

Putting in place a new settlement on trust will not be easy. It will take time, commitment, hard work and investment. It will require a new perspective on the relationship between business and society, the responsibility of corporations, and the norms that govern behavior. But we trust the effort will pay off.

Get the rest of the article here: How Can Businesses Build Trust? | Cynthia Hansen.

My phone was driving me CRAZY this morning…

via How to achieve instant peace of mind – YouTube.

Hmmm.

Imagine that after a routine medical exam your doctor delivers some devastating news: Since your last checkup your cognitive performance has plummeted. Your ability to connect with others has eroded. And your memory for everyday events is no longer operating as it once did. As it turns out, there is a cure and it won’t cost you a penny. The treatment is simple. All that’s required is that you put away your smartphone. Few of us will have this conversation with our doctors. But perhaps we should. Over the last few years, scientists have begun studying the way cell phones affect the human experience. Early results are alarming.

via Is Your Smartphone Making You Dumb? | Psychology Today.

Is this still true? I think not in light of more recent research.

Microsoft researchers haven’t perfected the genie, but they’ve found a tool that can increase your productivity by 9 to 50 percent and make your work day easier. And you can begin using it right away. The researchers conducted user studies that proved the effectiveness of adding a second or even third monitor to your workstation, creating a wide-screen effect. In addition, they found out how the operating system needs to change to accommodate a larger screen area.

via Two Screens Are Better Than One – Microsoft Research.

In my personal path, I went from one, to two and even three monitors before returning to two and settling on a single 27″ monitor. You get some of the benefits of the ‘wide-screen’ effect without much of the productivity killing distraction.