The Hello Friend Ads are from Bright House Networks based off my research. After posting this article, my blog received a large number of visitors from search engines. Using our website analytics, I was able to break down the traffic by state and city. I found that most of my traffic was coming from a few specific areas and was not nationwide. Most of the traffic was from the Central Florida area. The other highest traffic were from Detriot, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Bakersfield, California and Atlanta, Georgia. If you compare the those locations to the areas that Bright House serves, you will see that those are almost all of their locations. The only outlier is the Hello Friend ads in Atlanta, Georgia. My guess is that Bright House may be moving into that territory in the near future.

You have seen it on a billboard, you have heard them on the radio and you have seen them on TV. What are these “Hello Friend” advertisements all about? Well, I am the kind of friend that will try to tell you what these ads are, even if I do not actually know for sure. But I am the type of friend that will show you the different theories around the web on these, just because, well that is the kind of friend I am. Hello Friend.

The Hello Friend TV Ads

I have looked around YouTube and came across a two “Hello Friend” TV commercials. Here they are below:

In the Orlando area, I have found many of these ads to be on during local programming, such as the news. This would normally lead me to believe that this is not a national campaign but a local one. There have been a few reports of other locations seeing these same ads.

Hello Friend Billboards and Radio Commercials

Hello Friend Billboards

I first saw these ads on TV, however, just a few days later I started to notice billboards that said “Hello Friend” and even a billboard that stated “We would give you dibs on the last slice of pizza” written in white on a blue background with the yellow Hello Friend swoosh under it.

I will work on taking some photos of the known billboards this week and post them on this article.

Hello Friend Radio Commercials

These are similar to the TV advertisements. In these, they explain an awkward situation then state that they are the kind of friend that will help you or that will be there for you. The commercials end with that iconic male voice saying, “Hello Friend”.

The Theories of the Hello Friend Ad Campaign

There are may theories running wild on the web about these advertisements. My theory is that these advertisements are lead/teaser ads for a product or service that will be launched in the near future. With the Superbowl only a few weeks away, it is possible that these ads are leading the way for the announcement of this product or service. Superbowl ads are some of the most watch tv ads all year. This would be the best time to reveal what Hello Friend is all about.

The Bright House Networks Hello Friend Theory (Most Likely Confirmed)

This is an interesting theory that is by far the most popular one out there. Many have come to believe that these ads are for Bright House Networks or a Bright House Networks service based on the colors. One person even stated that he called Bright House Networks asking about the Hello Friend ads and the Brighthouse marketing department confirmed it. If the idea is to keep everyone talking, no marketing department would confirm or own up to these ads. You also have a few people that state on Yahoo Answers that they work for Bright House Networks and they state it is true. I mean, really, I believe everyone on the internet is who they say they are, don’t you?

The colors alone are not enough proof to go off for me. I have done my own research and based of the locations that these Hello Friend ads are being shown tell me that this is most likely true. See my update at the top of this page.

The Mormon Church Hello Friend Theory

A few theories were running around that it was the Mormon church stirring up some buzz. Again, no proof to this.

Amazon, Vonage, Florida Tourism even Aliens!

So the swoosh reminds some of the Amazon smile logo. The colors remind some of the Vonage logo along with the words being the first thing you may say in a telephone call, “Hello, friend”. The inviting nature of the ads lead some to even believe that these Hello Friend ads are for Florida tourism.

No True Facts

We can all guess at what we think Hello Friend really means, but the truth is, only a few know and they will not be talking. The rest of us, well were left talking about this until it is revealed to us.

Where Is Hello Friend Being Advertised?

Part of this mystery is trying to find out where people have been spotting these Hello Friend advertisements. Although not scientific, I can tell you where traffic to this page is coming from. My assumption is that most that visit this page are seeing these Hello Friend ads and asking what they are. That is what brought you to this page, correct?

As of the 11:30 AM EST on January 29th, 74.65% of the visitors to this page are from Florida. That is followed by 5.53% from Michigan, 4.61% in Georgia and 3.23% in California. This data shows that most of the people that are seeing these ads are most likely in Florida.

Please let us know in the comments below where you are seeing the Hello Friend ads. There have been rumors that the Hello Friend ads are being shown in California as well.

Other Hello Friend Sources

Here are other places that are talking about the Hello Friend advertisements:

Hellofriend commercials?
so i always see these commercials that say nothing but a short video of something then it has the words “hellofriend”. what is the commercial of? i tried to look it up but nothing came up!

See Yahoo Question 

What the heck are all these “Hello Friend” ads FOR?I live in central Florida and lately there have been these short TV ad spots having some random person (a little girl hanging upside down on monkey bars, a guy making pizza) saying “hello friend”. Then the screen turns blue and there’s a logo that simply says “hellofriend” in white text with some kind of tiny swoosh mark under it.

I tried Googling and came up with pretty much zilch. I’d check Wikipedia, but, ha, SOPA/PIPA protest, so, that’s out (not to mention, the cached snippets that turned up in the Google search didn’t look promising anyway).

See Yahoo Question 

What is the commercial “Hello.Friend” about?
It doesn’t specify anywhere on the commercial what it’s about, and has an eerie whistleing at the end of the commercial. Anybody know? Coudn’t find anything online about it at all.

See Yahoo Question 

Why Would Someone Spend Money To Not Advertise A Product

This is a big question I have seen floating around. There is no doubt that this Hello Friend commercial, the Hello Friend billboards and the Hello Friend radio commercials are costing someone a fortune to run. Many are wondering why a company would send this type of money and not let you know what the ad is.

Well, the answer is simple. You took notice of this ad. I know you took notice because you have came to my website most likely through a search engine. You either saw a Hello Friend commercial on TV, heard a Hello Friend radio ad or you drove by a Hello Friend billboard on your way to work this morning. Think of all the advertising you have seen today. Will you be talking about it at work? Are you Googling those advertisements? Are you wanting to know more about those products? My guess is no.

The Hello Friend ad campaign is a great form of marketing. By flooding the market with ads that leave you guessing, many are paying closer attention, trying to figure out this product or service. Once Hello Friend does their big reveal, you will pay attention to that product or service.

Take a look at the iPhone 5. Do you notice Apple never reveals much information about product until it just about ready to go on sale? They do this to build the hype. Everyone wants to know what it is so they start searching the internet high and low. Hello Friend has done just that. This will be an ad campaign that you will be talking to your friends and co-workers about until a few weeks after the big Hello Friend reveal.

To the marketing team or ad agency that came up with this Hello Friend campaign, Congratulations. You built product awareness perfectly. I just hope your product or service is worth all the hype.

Help Us Figure This Out!

In the comments section below, share your theories of what you think these Hello Friend advertisements are all about.

As the 2012 political season approaches, many candidates are turning to technology to campaign this year. With 1 in 2 Americans having smartphones, using QR codes for political campaigns is picking up.

What Are QR Codes?

QR code is short for “Quick Response” code. A QR code is a unique looking barcode (pictured at the right) that can be scanned with a camera or mobile phone and translated into a website address, text, contact information, etc. QR code readers can be downloaded to most phones including Android, iPhone and Blackberries. What makes QR codes different than a normal barcode is the fact that a normal barcode can only hold up to 20 digits and a QR code can hold over 7,000 characters and digits.

How to Make A QR Code For Political Campaings

Create a Mobile Friendly Campaign Landing Page

When you scan a QR code, you have several options such as displaying a block of text, showing a vCard or sending users to a website. In most cases, you will choose to send them to a website. The first step in setting up your campaign QR code is to create a mobile friendly landing page for the code to take users to.

For your campaign landing page, you will want to provide all the details of your political campaign in a layout optimized for small mobile phone screens. Sending people to your full website is not recommended as it will be difficult for them to navigate and read your site. Be sure to include your social media like and follow buttons as well as signup sections for your email newsletter. The key is to create a connection to your site visitors.

Check out my article on creating a mobile friendly landing page for more details and some great tools.

Create the QR Code

Creating your QR code is quick, simple and free. Just visit http://goqr.me/ and select what you would like to create. For most, you will be using URL or vCard if your creating a QR code business card. When using a URL, you will need to specify the web address, which should be the page you created above. You can also link to a YouTube URL if you would like to have a video play on their mobile device.

Where to Use QR Codes For Political Campaigns

There are many great ideas for using QR codes for political campaigns. I will go over a few simple ideas below.

QR Codes on Campaign Yard Signs and Other Signs

A great place to start printing your QR codes is on your campaign yard signs, bilboards and any other campaign signage. For best results, place the QR codes on signs that will either receive a lot of foot traffic or at a location where vehicles will be in a stopped postion. This is because you wouldn’t want your voters running off the road trying to drive and scan your sign. Use these codes to send them to your mobile friendly QR code landing page where you can explain your platform and pass along your message.

Be sure to have a proper sized QR code so that your intended audience will be able to read this. If your QR code is on a sign that will be seen for a distance, make sure it can be scanned at the distance.

QR Codes on Political Mailers and Flyers

Another great use of QR codes would be on your mailers and flyers. Use QR codes to take them to a website with more information on the subject of that particular document. Be sure to use a call to action to encourage the reader to scan the QR code. This can easily be done by using a statement such as, “scan to find out more about x subject”.

QR Codes on Political Television Advertisements

Placing QR codes on your political television ads can be tricky but effective if done right. What makes this tricky is the fact that televisions come in all shapes, sizes and resolutions. The key is to size your QR code so that it can be scanned from an average sized television. You will need to be sure to test this ahead of time to make sure it scans correctly. Be sure to use short web addresses for these QR codes in order to keep the size and complexity of the QR code low. Also, timing is a key factor. The QR code should be displayed through the entirety of the advertisement. This gives a viewer the time to pull out their phone and scan your code.

Use these QR codes to point viewers to facts stated in your political ad. This is a great way to provide more details to the viewers without spending extra cash on more airtime.

Ask not what you can do for your SEO software, but what your SEO software can do for you.

Why? Money.

Proper SEO can be a huge financial advantage for any business, especially a small business. SEO tools can help you optimize your website and increase its performance much more efficiently than doing all the work yourself.

In Google’s Internet, an Internet where search results can be measured in dollar signs, your page rank is your status. A high page rank drives traffic, customers and monetization. If Google has assigned a low page rank, your traffic, profits, and company will suffer.

Making sure your internal SEO is as Google-friendly as possible is the first step to ranking higher.  If you make it difficult for Google to crawl your site or have other common problems like broken links or HTML syntax errors, then fixing these should be a first priority.

SEO software includes site analysis features to ensure that your site presents Google with the best, error free internal structure and keyword features that allow you to optimize your outreach campaigns while keeping an eye on your competitors.  You need SEO software that has the right features to do the job.

Some key features to look for are:

Keyword Targeting Assistance: Instead of doing all the tiresome keyword research on your own, SEO software can do extensive research with faster and more in-depth results.  These features include keyword density analysis, Return on Investment (ROI) prioritization, and keyword rank tracking.

Competition Analysis: Discovering competitors, especially new ones in your niche is an important feature.  Furthermore, the best software will help you analyze these competitors’ SEO strategies including the keywords they are targeting and their site architecture.

Bad Link Removal and HTML Validation: Dead links and HTML errors can hurt your page rank.  The proper software will allow you to find these throughout your site.  Once again, internal optimization is key and should be a priority for any website.

Website Auditing: To go a step further in internal SEO, a site audit will look through your site and propose suggestions to help you increase your rankings.  This is a great way to discover new opportunities to improve your site.

By finding software with these features, you will be able to ensure that your website is error free and as Google-friendly as possible.  You will also be able to target the right keywords to reach your intended audience and use your competitions’ strategy to help you position yourself advantageously.

Getting your website properly oriented to Google’s Internet is key to a successful online venture. Always look for the best SEO software that will scale with the size of your business and that includes the features you need most.  With proper basic SEO practices, you’ll be on your way to more traffic, customers, and monetization.

For other software to make your small business a little more manageable, be sure to check out more unbiased and data-driven comparisons of accounting software, project management software, and CRM software at FindTheBest.

What can social media platforms bring to your SEO?

Platforms such as twitter offer you the perfect way to connect with other bloggers on a flexible basis. Not only can you follow professionals in your field via twitter and receive inspiration for your own site from their tweets, but you can also connect with colleagues with ease. Twitter functions as a great platform to assist the development of your content and if you want to use your followers as a sounding board for your ideas then this is a great way to interact with your colleagues. If you are producing quality content on your blog on a regular basis, then make sure to auto-tweet your articles to maximize their reach, the better the article, the more chance that it is shared by followers on Facebook or re-tweeted on twitter. This “hype” ensures more backlinks to the original source of the article – your website.

But the key to SEO success on twitter is reciprocity. You absolutely need to re-tweet articles from your followers and engage with their debates, questions or polls. Social SEO is a two-way street after all.

How can Social Media improve the quality of your backlinks?

This may sound strange, but if you procure a guest author spot on a prestigious online magazine within your field, then with social media you can actually improve the quality of any backlinks that you have placed within your article or within your author profile. Articles placed on high ranking blogs will be indexed faster, and backlinks that receive a high level of traffic will also bring you more link juice than backlinks that are not actively clicked on. So how can you increase traffic to your guest articles easily? Well through social media of course! By pushing through social media any high-quality guest articles you acquire, then the growth in traffic (and increased number of clicks on your backlinks) will maximise the link juice that you receive from these backlinks. The Google Panda update now actively searches for links that are clicked many times, because it takes this increased traffic as a sign of confidence and quality in your website, thus increasing your SERP results.

Using social media to find guest blogging opportunities

With twitter, there are many ways in which you can gain knowledge about your chosen field and follow the most authoritative blogs. However, with tweet-deck you can easily set-up some specific twitter channels in order to find blogs that you would like to procure a guest author spot on. You can find interesting content and negotiate with the blogger in question if they would be open to receiving some more unique and fresh content from you. Some blogs will actively seek out guest authors in order to diversify their content, so you should make a note to follow any channels with the hash tags #guest author or #guest blogs.

The effect of Google Plus

Up until last year tweets were integrated into Google search results thus enhancing the SEO worth of using twitter. However, with the break between Google and twitter back in August, Google +1 now plays an increasing role in the determination of your SERP results. If you integrate a Google +1 button onto your blog articles then this allows readers to share your content, thus ensuring that your pages rank higher in search results. This is because Google is actively ranking webpages higher if they have a large number of Google +1’s and will also artificially show these pages to a web-user in their search result if the contacts and fellow Google + users of this web-user have “plussed” this page.

This is a just a collection of tips and tricks that should help you best utilize your existing and future social media efforts for SEO. If you’re focused on creating top-notch content for readers and visitors to your page, then learn to make the best of your content and boost your SERP results with an effective social media push.

Author: I’m Robert from twago, Europe’s largest online platform for freelancers working on projects in the fields of SEO, programming, web design, graphic design and copywriting. I’m a long-boarding enthusiast from Berlin who believes in spreading the word about the benefits that social media interaction and authoritative content can bring to your SEO.

Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The concept: Start focusing on blogs

The first step to developing a combined successful writing/SEO strategy is to choose a specific keyword that your website or services revolve around and start researching for bloggers who are writing on this topic. From a simple Google search, to doing a search on twitter or Google Plus and following the advice of colleagues in your field, there are many ways to find blogs with which you can start collaborating. The main point is that Google loves blogs due to their sociability, unique content and personal touch. The better the blog is, the higher the likelihood that many people have linked to it based on the strength of its content thus its value as a place to grant you a backlink increases. Focusing on blogs is also great because you do not have to generate hundreds of backlinks before you start seeing some results, typically you can start seeing a rise in your SERP results after a few dozen links from quality blogs. Plus with every article you write, you’re giving yourself a PR boost by marketing your services and skills through the sharing of your expertise.

The crucial point: Being open and collaborative

You may think that targeting blogs for links is A, simple and B, stuffing links into an article. What many people don’t realise is that your primary motivation for being in contact with other bloggers is to provide interesting, thought-provoking and unique content to the readers of other blogs through entertaining and well-written guest articles. Any SEO benefit that you can get should be an after-thought. Nevertheless, there are a couple of do’s and don’ts that you should always keep in mind:

Do’s;

• Do your research – look at the topics on the site and make sure to pitch an article that you know is likely to be well-received by the readers of the blog.
• Collaborate with the blogger on the exact topic and be open to any feedback and changes that they suggest
• Write original, fresh and punchy content.
• Explore any opportunities for the blogger in question to feature on your blog as a guest writer. Remember that guest writing is a partnership and it always pays to return the favour!
• Be social, follow the blogger in question via other social media channels such as Facebook and twitter in order to keep up to date with their output.
• Engage and stay connected: make sure you maintain the relationship, come back and put comments on other articles, share the bloggers articles.

Don’ts;

• Don’t write an advertising piece that waxes lyrical about how great your service/product is.
• Do not stuff your article with tens of links to your website. If you write a quality piece then most bloggers would be happy to allow you a link or two back to your website.
• Don’t write a boring 4 page essay; keep your article precise and easy to digest.

Guest articles: The human side of SEO

The best thing about a White-Hat SEO strategy such as writing guest articles is that it gives you the perfect opportunity to share your experience and knowledge with others. It can give you a real buzz to know that your articles are giving advice to other freelancers or professionals in your field, and you never know, maybe your musings will lead them down a new path they might never have thought of before. It’s pretty hard to beat that kind of feeling. Plus, through blogging collaborations you actually interact with real people, this beats sitting in a cramped office all day leaving hundreds of anonymous blog comments!

It’s always important to keep in mind that Google is placing a stronger emphasis on content and has been cracking down on spurious linking practices for years. So please avoid websites that offer hundreds and thousands of links like the plague. Inject some pride into your SEO and start sharing your thoughts and talents through guest articles, by building up a reputation for yourself and acquiring some genuine backlinks along the way based on the quality of your content. Plus, you’ll enjoy yourself much more knowing your SERP results will rise based on above-the-board, social methods!

Author: Robert from twago, a musician, writer and long-boarding enthusiast from Berlin who specialises in spreading the word about the human side of SEO.

Image: vegadsl / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The new sticker will looks like this:

This move by the TDA is a great step forward in Government finally starting to adopt the use of QR codes. Currently, only H-E-B stations in Houston and Dallas are being required to to post these stickers, however upon a successful pilot program, all gas stations state wide will be required to post these stickers.

I just hope they have removed the stickers that state no cellphones should be used while at the gas pump as that would defeat the purpose of these QR code stickers.

I can explain it to you, however, I feel in this case I will let the pictures do the talking for me.

I have to say, if I were walking around and saw an ad like this, It would be almost impossible for me to pass by and not scan it. This is by far one of the more unique yet cool ideas I have seen for QR codes in recent time.

To scan these QR codes, all a person needs is a smartphone equiped with a QR code reader installed.

QR codes can be easily created by companies using a QR code generator and normally at no cost. This technology is growing at a rapid rate due to the ease of creating them as well as how low the cost is on making them, most times being free. If you are a business and looking to start using QR codes in your business, see how easy it is to start using QR codes in your company’s marketing efforts. Get creative just as Victoria’s Secret has!

Now for a simple poll for the comments below. Would you scan it? 

What Are You Wanting To Promote?

First, decide what you are looking to promote. QR codes are a great way to take someone from print in an advertisement, sign, business card or any other “real world” item and bring it into the “digital world” via their mobile device. Here are some ideas:

• Your mobile website or mobile landing page
• Your contact details on your business card
• Your YouTube video of your latest promotions
• Your latest specials
• Your social media information
• And plenty of other items

How To Make Your QR Code

Now that you have an idea of what your are looking to promote with your QR code, it is time to create your QR code. Check out this list of QR code generators that you can use to create your QR code. From that list, pick your favorite QR code generator and insert the information you are looking to promote.

If you are wanting to create a QR code mobile landing page, you can either create one your self or use a free tool such as QRMobilize to create one for you.

Publish/Print Your QR Code

Proper Sizing

There is no set in stone size for your QR code to be. The key is, you want it to be readable from whatever distance your customer will be scanning it from. In my article, How Big Shold I Make My QR Code, I talk about the best way to determine the proper size for your QR code.

QR code Design

Make your QR code stand out. This can be through creating a custom design for your QR code or by designing around your QR code. For creating a custom design for your QR code, I recommend the guys over at QRlicious who create some great designs and do not charge an arm, leg and your first born to do it.

The other key factor to include in any QR code design is some instructions. Be sure to put a message or graphic instructing others to scan the QR code with their mobile phone. This will help your customers understand what this crazy looking symbol really is.

Here are 22 great examples of QR code business cards and here are some examples of how others have used QR codes around the world.

Test and Test Again

Be sure to test your QR code with several different QR code readers to make sure it works. In the testing, you want to not only make sure your QR code is scan-able but that it actually opens up the proper landing page, video, SMS info, contact info, etc. You don’t want to get stuck with 2,500 printed copies that have a bad QR code on them.

Send To Print

Send your promotional material with your QR codes to print. Since there is nothing special that needs to be done, you can send your design to the print company of your choosing. At 708 Media, I use UPrinting as their price normally comes out the lowest for a variety of different products. You can also print the items off your business printer should you choose to make just a few copies.

Other Ideas

I am going to use this space to list out some ideas of ways to use your QR codes for different industries. Some will be linked to articles that will give you more details.

• Unique Uses of QR Codes
• How to Use QR Codes in Real Estate
• QR Code Usage in Theme and Amusement Parks
• QR Code Usage in Restaurants
• QR Code Usage in Government
• QR code that links to a mobile coupon or special offers
• “Secret Message” or “What Happens Next”
• Sign up for a mailing list
• Play promotional video
• More info about your company
• Detailed product information

Please post below in the comments section other ideas you have for using QR codes for your business. I would love to hear how you are using QR codes in your company.

Build Your Marketing Plan For Most

I wanted to push this chart out to showcase one of the biggest mistakes I see businesses making in their mobile marketing plan. You see it everyday with your favorite brands. What is this I am talking about? The launch of the mobile app. Many times, you find your favorite brand launching a mobile app on the iPhone. They do this because they assume that the iPhone has the greatest market share and they will be able to hit most of the customers by doing this. The problem is, most companies have an app developed only for the iPhone.

The chart above shows that even though the iPhone it self does hold the largest market share as a product, it does not hold the largest market share for mobile operating systems. Currently, Android holds that place at 39% and continues to grow. That 39% is mostly divided amongst 3 major manufactures as well as some smaller ones that are not listed. This would be why nobody ever realizes how much Android holds. Even though it is divided, all of those devices are running a version of Android.

Failure to recognize that there are other smartphones out there than the iPhone can seriously limit your marketing potential. I am not saying you need to have your app for ALL mobile operating systems, however, you should at least talk to your developer about what it would take to make it work with the two hottest devices at the start.

The Easy Way – A Mobile Site That Works Like An App

With the latest in jQuery, building a mobile landing page or mobile site is much easier than building out a full blown app. Using modern programming, you can create a great looking page that looks and functions similar to an app. One system that works great is the free jQuery mobile. This gives you many abilities to make your page look like a true app.

The best part about building out a mobile site that works like an app is that you make it once and it will work with most of the above smartphone operating systems. This means you make it once and your all set. The other great part is management will be easy. You make one change and its changed for all devices.

Test You Mobile Site and Mobile Landing Page

If you have a mobile website or a QR code that leads to a mobile landing page, be sure to test it on all the major mobile devices. I worked on a project recently where we found that just because our site looked great on the iPhone, it had several bugs on the Android default browser, despite using mobile jQuery which states it works great in both Android and iOS.

What Phone Do You Use?

I would love to find out what phones everyone uses below. Please post a comment stating which phone you use and how you like it. Please, lets not turn this into a flame war though. Respect others as everyone has a reason they use the phone they use.

Google rolled out +1 a few months ago, but many Google users have yet to see the feature. Here’s how you can get started using +1 to promote your business.

Step 1: Make sure you can see the +1 button in search results

The +1 button typically appears in search results to the right of a link, but only if you are signed in to your Google account. If you have a Google account, sign in (or create one if you don’t). Then, try a search in Google and you should see the +1 icon like this:

Step 2:  Use the +1 button to “like” good links

The +1 button functions similarly to the “like” button on Facebook. Clicking the button says, “This is a good website.”

Google will track all of your +1s, and you’ll be able to go back and refer to them.

NOTE: Before you can +1 a site, you have to create a public Google Profile. If you try to +1 something without one, you’ll get a dialog box that will prompt you to create one.

In addition, your Google contacts will be more likely to see a link that their friends, including you, have +1’d than if they hadn’t.  This is important to understand in a minute, when we’ll talk more about how to market your business using +1.

Step 3: Add the +1 button to your website

The challenge of the +1 is that often, a user has to get to your website to decide that it’s worthy of the +1. But what are the chances that they’ll go back to the Google search results page and hit the button? The way around it: install the Google +1 button on your website.

Google’s simple code generator will help you choose what you want your button to look like and automatically create the code you need to insert on your website to allow your web visitors to +1 your site while they are on your site. This is a great way to help promote blog posts, products and more that your customers love.

Making sure that this +1 button is easy to find is a great start in getting your customers to help promote your website for you.

What does Google +1 do for your business?

While it’s still in the early stages, Google has already said that data from +1 will impact search results. So, if you’ve got a hundred people who give your site the +1 thumbs up, you’re more likely to get web traffic than your competitors.

Dave Gruen leads the consulting division for BolderImage, a full-service web marketing and mobile development agency with offices near Chicago. A developer and IT manager by trade, he now leads design, development and strategic marketing efforts for businesses and non-profits nationwide. Check out the BolderImage website for an example of +1 in action.