Most likely no matter what your interest in Social media you would have heard of the recent purchase of Instagram by Facebook. I suspect the biggest reason we all heard about it was the actual buying price – one billion dollars (Somehow I could imagine Dr. Evil stating that price!).

What is Instagram? – Here is their explanation taken from their home page:

“Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented.”

Instagram has no reported income to date but it has become very popular very quickly – approximately 15 million users since conception in 2010. Without being a user of this product I believe the filtering options is one of the big reasons it is so popular helping make a digital photo taken on a mobile device better. It offers filters that you select once you have taken the photo to improve (and finalize) the shot. Then it’s ready to share.

So back to our big question – Why did Facebook buy this?

The answer I believe is simple – we now communicate thru photos.

On average we design around 30 new custom websites each year and this year we have really seen the demand go up for slideshows, photo galleries, and photo integration into articles with our new developments. The story and message is now a photo (and not just words). And those photos help us interpret the story in a very different way than when we read and most importantly in a much quicker fashion.

And it is very possible that that future story or message will be sent directly from the field as a finished product – to a website or social media site. And this is where I hear a very loud message from Facebook’s purchase –“We believe this is how people will communicate in the future”….

In 2010 I was visiting Australia and was sending my fiancé Vicki Payne photos of my trip from my Blackberry. This was highlighted as I spent a day in Sydney including walking across the Sydney Harbor Bridge. The actual reason I was not using a camera was for convenience and time – I could take the photo – add some “inspiring caption” – and SEND. At the time I did think it was rather magic in particular sending photos directly from the Sydney Harbor Bridge as I was experiencing the views.

But you are probably wondering how good the photos were? Were they keepers or did they have a 5 minute inbox life span? No doubt a tool that would clean up the photo at the point it was shot and then allow me to select an appropriate filter or theme and send it to my loved ones, my commercial website or social media may truly make a keeper.

So why did Facebook spend one billion dollars on buying Instragram?

Maybe they just recognized the evolution of that next “Kodak Moment”!

Recently I had a prospect ask me to focus (almost exclusively) on improving their Google Search Engine positioning based on key words and phrases. The belief of the prospect was that you can manipulate results on Google easily and quickly and that regardless of your website (and its design) this methodology (known as Search Engine Optimization) could be implemented very easily.

Of course this information had been passed on to our prospect by a “Search Engine Optimization” expert selling their services, ranging in cost anywhere from $100.00 – $500.00 a month, maybe a lot higher. Regardless of the price, the premise itself should be considered and understood by every website owner. In a nutshell, if a company could “manipulate” the results of Google Search Engine it is obvious that Google would lose business (as the best websites would not come up on a search, only the best manipulated websites.). Google clarifies clearly on its website that no one can manipulate these results. They also identify that companies can help you with this process but it should start at the design phase. If you want to have the best search engine results you have to have a website that has great content. (PERIOD)….

Here is what Google Stats about companies offering number 1 ranking search engine results – http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35291 .

Big and bold this article states “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” So with that in mind, there is a service offered by Google where you can ensure placement on a search engine. It is called AdWords.

Here is a basic introduction to AdWords from Google’s Website:

With Google AdWords, you can create and run ads for your business, quickly and simply. Run your ads on Google and our advertising network, no matter what your budget, you’ll only pay when people click your ads.

AdWords ads are displayed along with search results when someone searches Google using one of your keywords. Ads appear under ‘Sponsored links’ in the side column of a search page, and may also appear in additional positions above the free search results. That way, you’ll be advertising to an audience that’s already interested in your business. You can also choose to display your ads on Display Network sites in the growing Google Network. Also you can choose the exact Display Network placements where you’d like your ad to appear, or you can let contextual targeting match your keywords to content.

You can choose from a variety of ad formats, including text, image, and video ads, and easily track your ad performance using the reports available in your account. There’s no minimum monthly charge with Ad Words, just a nominal activation fee. Learn more about the cost of advertising with Google AdWords.

Based on the requirements of our prospect, we have now offered the service of implementing an Ad Words Campaign. Bear Web Design itself has engaged in a month long AdWords Campaign primarily to get a better understanding of how it works and what work is involved in implementing a successful program. One of the major benefits in running an Ad Words Campaign is that you really can hone in on what your customers are searching for (which gives you a great deal of direction from both an AdWords Campaign and SEO)…

Keep in mind there are 3 faces of Google that are relevant to a business today – Adwords (which we discussed here), Google Places (which is tied heavily to location and type of business), and then organic search – which is pure content that google ranks websites on (along with many other parameters). And if you ever wondered how Google makes so much money the answer is their Adwords program.

I will be covering both Google Places and Organic Search in upcoming blogs. Having a good understanding of these can really help a small business make good decisions and direction in terms of their internet marketing plans.