by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don’t have to. From changes to Google AdWords’ Quality Score to hyperlocal search to back to school viral videos, find out the six articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

  • Carrie Hill puts together a nice post called “SEM Success in 10 Minutes a Day” over at Search Engine Watch. Carrie taps into the small business time challenge and points out ten different things you can do in just ten minutes a day that will help improve your site. It’s a good reminder that SEO isn’t a job you have to do all at once. Schedule a little time each day and you WILL see improvement.
  • There’s an article in the Washington Post this week that looks at how companies of all sizes are utilizing the Blogosphere. From corporations as large as Marriott to small businesses the size of a local ice cream shop…blogs are being creatively used to build brand loyalty and to tap a small customer base for ideas. Well worth the read. (Hat Tip to Matt McGee over at SEM Clubhouse.)
  • Miriam Ellis plays up to the tinfoil hat tendancies of us all with a post suggesting you Google-proof your house by erecting camera blocking hedges. Having just discovered my own house in my very small town now has a “street view” I can tell you, I’m with her. The post is tongue in cheek, but only to an extent. Does leaving me wondering just how far this will go before the world finally tells Google to back the heck off.
  • Matt McGee, the man of a million blogs, has launched a new five-part series on his Hyperlocal Blog about writing….hyperlocal blogs. Follow Matt’s thought process as he explains how he’s helping his wife launch multiple local blogs as a marketing tactic for her real estate business.
  • John Jantsch has a great post on Office Max’s back to school viral video series “Penny Pranks.” If you haven’t seen them yet, check this one out and then click through to YouTube to watch the series. Yes, this one was done by a big business, but it’s yet another great example of a viral attempt that could have been pulled off by almost anyone.
  • Google is once again updating the AdWords Quality Score system and your accounts may be affected. John over at PPC Hero offers up the scoop on the removal of the minimum bid feature and shares his thoughts on how it might impact AdWords advertiers.

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