Ben Finklea's blog

Social media has reached highly competitive heights and everyone wants to be on the top. It is the new, non-traditional platform for strategic messaging where consumers have the control, picking and choosing what marketing they subject themselves to. Do you feel like you are not in control of your social media efforts?

Recent research efforts have found that an overwhelming 86% of businesses will spend more money in 2010 on social media. Brands and businesses now battle with viral videos, sticky websites, and engaging content for the attention of socially optimistic and cautiously conversion-oriented consumers.

The biggest advantage any business running a social campaign can have this year is good old-fashioned data. Does your company’s CEO need definitive evidence for why he is paying a couple of Millennials to surf the web? Data gives you something to hold on to, and if you can start to control the numbers, its a win for everyone.

In terms of web-years, pageview tracking is no longer up to snuff when it comes to social media metrics. With companies like Facebook and Slide spending tons of their budget surpluses on building internal analytical tools, there are improved and evolving measurements that can help your businesses’ social life grow and improve while you take control. Read more »

In case you missed it, Drupal 7 Alpha was recently released for testing. That means all Drupal developers who want to get involved in fixing bugs and kinks can help out with making Drupal 7 the best release to date. If you are interested in helping the greater good, visit www.drupalgardens.com for more details.

Our friends over at learnbythedrop.com have put together a preview of Drupal 7 Alpha in the video below. Enjoy!

One of the most debatable and misunderstood topics in SEO, that which can divide a country and sound the battle horns, is the role that copywriting plays in an SEO campaign. Is it truly necessary to write targeted SEO content? Are on- and off-page SEO copywriting techniques truly effective? Isn’t SEO copywriting just glorified spam? I can already hear swords being drawn...

I am hear today to tell you that not only is SEO copywriting effective, it is an essential key to any successful SEO campaign, when implemented appropriately. If you are search engine-optimizing the rest of your website without producing optimized content on a regular basis, you're in hot water. Get a copywriter or three in your arsenal quickly, before you wake the dragon.

There are four main types of copy that will benefit your rankings, in what we like to call “Copywriting’s Four-Headed Dragon” around these parts. Two are strictly on-page copywriting, while the other two are off-page copywriting. All four, if done appropriately, will benefit you, your web site, and your company's bottom line immensely. But just like the Knights of the Round Table, SEO copywriting takes time, effort, and practice, in order to properly slay any dragon, not to mention one with four heads. In preparation for the next damsel in distress, please consult your guide to slaying the four-headed dragon, after the jump. Read more »

Real-time search, if you don’t already know, fuses social media content and search engine results in ways no one could have imagined two years ago.. except Google – who is quietly but feverishly giggling amongst themselves over this masterful move like Japanese schoolgirls sneaking into a Cheap Trick concert.


Twitter and Facebook feeds are now streaming into Google’s search results page, challenging valuable real estate that businesses and brands have fought diligently for. Some businesses see this new search feature as a threat, while others an opportunity. For companies like Apple, you can see how the iPad will follow in the iPod's footsteps to success, if their branding message continues to grow, sans the hygiene joke.

But as more and more of the Web operates in real-time, businesses need to keep up with the digital Joneses and compress this lump of opportunity coal into a diamond field of brand messaging and mastery. Wipe that frown off your face, Mr. Second-Cup-of-Coffee, and let’s look at the upside of real-time search after the jump.. Read more »

Yesterday, Dries Buytaert announced the upcoming Drupal Association 2010 election on his personal blog. On March 1st, 2010, elections will be held for new Permanent Members to the General Assembly (Applications are due by February 22nd). The General Assembly will then select the Board of Directors, who are responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations. More information on who the Drupal Association is, what they do, and why you should care, are after the jump. Read more »

Last October, Google rolled out a new experimental feature from their ‘Labs’ called Social Search that brings together relevant web content from your entire online social circle (on Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, LinkedIn, etc.) and puts it in your search results. The experimental conclusion? Success. Social Search is now available with improvements in beta at www.google.com for all signed-in users. Check out your new-and-improved online social life after the jump. Read more »