by Jennifer Laycock

I scan hundreds of feeds and read dozens of articles each day so you don’t have to. From hyperlocal blogging to Google AdWords “Automatic Match” to new ways to use Twitter and LinkedIn, find out the six articles I dubbed as must-read for the small business crowd today.

  • If you enjoyed Matt McGee’s post on Hyperlocal Blogging earlier this week, you’ll be pleased to hear he’s back with more. Part Two focuses on choosing a domain and setting up your blog. Part Three talks about developing a content focus and Part Four offers tips on marketing the blogs. Matt wraps up the series today with Part Five, an overview of what’s worked and what hasn’t. Overall, it’s an excellent series for anyone looking to use blogs as part of a local search strategy.
  • Frank Reid offers up a good reminder on the need to be committed to search marketing if you want to reap the benefits. Frank offers up his advice over at Biznology and points out how difficult it can be for small and medium businesses to either learn enough or trust a partner enough to get their search engine optimization and search engine marketing up and running.
  • SEO Copywriting guru Karon Thackston reminds site owners of the need to get their selling points front and center in their web site copy. According to Karon, it’s not just about creating a mood and using your keywords, it’s about differentiating yourself.
  • If you’re a fan of Twitter and are looking for ways to maximize it’s use, you’ll want to check out a helpful list of Twitter tools over at Home Office Warrior. There were several in there I hadn’t tried yet, and quite a few I find essential to good Tweeting. On a similar vein, check out “Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn That You Never Thought Of” over at MBA Explorer.
  • Thinking about taking advantage of Google AdWords’ Automatic Match feature to expand your paid search campaigns? If so, you may want to read the results of some testing done by Jim Gilbert and Mike Churchill over at the SEM Clubhouse blog.
  • Barry provides links to a discussion in Google Groups that talks about whether Flash is still a problem with search engine optimization. While it’s true the engines have announced they’re making strides toward reading and properly indexing the content in Flash files, a former Googler issues a smart reminder of why Flash should still be used with caution.

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