The big news this week was, of course, Google+.  And no, we don’t have any invites to kick down…just like you, we’re like Deadheads outside a show with our fingers in the air, waiting patiently for someone to miracle us.  But, there was plenty of other search & social news to discuss:

PPC

• “Mobil”-ize Your Business With Google Sites – Google is now offering free, no-coding-required mobile landing pages through Google Sites. Pretty bare-bones, but a great option if building a custom mobile site isn’t in the cards.
• New LinkedIn Ads Leverage Recommendations & Follows – LinkedIn recently introduced new ad formats that integrate member activities into advertising.  The changes include the Facebook-like inclusion of relevant connections in your network in banner ads.

SEO

• How to View Un-Personalized Search Results – Search engines are designed to show search results tailored to every user, so no two people will ever see the exact same results. But you can follow these steps to get unbiased results.
• How User Data May Re-Order Rankings – Think SEO is the only thing impacting your rankings? Think again. Google may be looking at organic CTR, bounce rates, & more.

Analytics

• GA Improvements in Mobile Reporting Released – Reports now include a quick breakdown between mobile/non-mobile traffic, and device report includes a snapshot of what the phone looks like, and input selector (touchscreen, clickwheel etc.).

Social Media

• Google Launches Google+ To Battle Facebook – Google finally unveiled its next attempt to crack the social nut. It is going to be rolled out over the next few months and currently is invite only.
• How to Measure the ROI on Social Media Contests – Suggests questions to ask and ways to plan your social media contests. The article wraps up with three case studies that used the tactics laid out.
• Take A Twitter Audit – Chris Brogan article that has you answer 10 questions about your Twitter usage.
• Create “Gated” Facebook Pages – Social Media app start-up Involver has partnered with Klout to allow brands to tailor their Facebook content depending on the fan’s Klout score.  Audi is the first brand to test this new service.
• Wildfire Adds Full Social Media Suite – Previously known for their tool that helps brands create viral contests on Facebook and Twitter, Wildifre now offers a full suite of paid social media tools including a Facebook Page builder with templates and analytics dashboard.

Local Search Engine Optimization

• Google Places and Maps Takes On A New Look – As Google+ is introduced Places and Maps gets a sleek new look.
• Google Launches “What Do You Love” Searches, To Find Google Services – Aggregates searches for what you enter including nearest businesses (https://www.wdyl.com)
• New: Google Now Showing Local +1 Counts – Google seems to be testing showing location based +1 counts.

Conversion Optimization

• 5 Ways to Create Social Landing Pages that Convert – Social landing pages are not the same as regular old landing pages.

Web Design

• 8 tips to securing WordPress – Lock down your WordPress site from dangerous code and potential threats with these tips.
• Convert SWF’s to HTML5 Easily – Google creates a simple tool to convert your outdated flash swf’s to html5.

Mobile

• Mobile Activities Rival PC for Smartphone Owners – Social networking and online video viewing are increasing in countries around the world, and are becoming especially important in developing countries.
• Consumers Don’t Want Tablets, They Want iPads – The same way Apple came to dominate the MP3 player market they have done with the tablet market.  If you want to develop an tablet app or website, make sure it works on iPads.
• How Small Business Are Using Mobile – Smartphones have become essential to daily operations for SMBs. This infographic outlines recent stats of mobile usage, including 26% that use their phone for social media marketing.