However, the numbers should not be all that surprising. For recent grads (particularly those who graduated before 2011) LinkedIn was not a preferred social network among college students. In the same way that Facebook used to not be open to the general public, LinkedIn was more used only between professionals who wished to build their networks and display their credentials online.

Today, LinkedIn has well over 200 Million members, is available in several languages and is one of the most popular networks among professionals at all levels. So why is there still hesitancy to get on the network? One thing we have seen over these past few years is, “If you don’t have a digital footprint, you don’t exist”. So it’s essential in this case to have one that can speak to your strengths.

In an effort to encourage young adults to get on LinkedIn, we’d like to lay out a few reasons as to why you should be using LinkedIn more frequently:

1. Build yourself a network:

Unlike Facebook, building a network on LinkedIn filled with fellow alumni of your alma mater is one way for people to remember you and to also stay in the sights of potential employers. A strong network from your Alma Mater as well as people you meet in professional veins can form some of the best connections imaginable.  You don’t even need to have been friends in school but it can lead to other kinds of relationships later on.

2. You can ask questions and learn more about your industry or even someone else’s:

Chances are, even if you have a degree/ related degree in a field you want to be employed in, you don’t know everything about it. But that’s not unique to college students/recent grads. LinkedIn, when used as a conversational tool is great way to both share and receive information. Especially with regard to new trends, it helps to speak up and ask the people in your community about things that you want to know without being shy.

Bonus: You can learn something about another industry that also interests you. You’d be surprised what you can learn and later use.

 3. It is the most surefire way to find a job:

People who are lucky enough to have connections, get their jobs through doing so. Everyone else: uses LinkedIn to find theirs. Did you know that 70% of job postings today are posted on LinkedIn? At those rates you’re bound to find something in the field where you’re searching to develop yourself professionally. It also happens to be the social media resource that recruiters check most.

 4. Continue to build your network!

Network building in the digital age is not a one-time shot. Rather it is a continually developing process that serves for as long as you use it.  Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn allows you to stay current in what’s going on across industries at a professional level. There is little confusion about what the network is designed for unlike others where the lines of usage are somewhat more ambiguous.

In this day and age it is imperative to use the digital tools around us to stay not only abreast of what’s going on in our respective professions but, to also be sure to be visible to the people in our networks.  Whether it be direct, through an Alma Mater or even an actual friend whom you know, developing and connecting with your network(s) on a professional level is a safe way for you to remain visible and more importantly, when the time comes for you to call upon those networks you will be more than a familiar face.

What is Google Tag Manager and Why is it Helpful?

Google tag manager is implemented with the purpose of collection data on the activity of visitors to a webpage. Google Tag Manager is a set of data collection tags which collect data on the visitor’s behalf. In online search and SEO there are many java script snippets, tracking codes, or programs like Google Analytics or Marin Software that are used to collect specific data off of a site.  Google Tag Manager is convenient because it allows website manager to put in the java script code, to fill what is like an “empty container” with whichever data you want. Instead of asking your clients to make changes to millions of pages on a site, you can simply implement this one tag manager. This tag manager allows you to remotely go into the site and inject the program you want to extract the information that you need. This makes things easier for developers and programmers who are taking care of the site.

Stay tuned for the next episode of Path TV.

The NY Business Expo & Summit 2013 will be taking place at the Altman Building on June 20^th from 10am-6pm. The NY Business EXPO focuses on bringing together c-level executives, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the tri-state area.

Speakers include Dave Kerpen, Vinicius Vacant, Mark Graham, Mark Peter Davis, Ari Rabban, Tim Davis, Mary Agnes Antonopolous and Path Interactive’s very own Ruben Quinones. Ruben will be giving a talk on Facebook marketing called “Going Beyond the “Like”. This session explores the importance of performance and its impact on brand visibility within Facebook while identifying metrics that will provide meaningful data including audience affinity, posting schedule, content marketing performance, and acquisition and nurturing tactics. This session will help those in attendance walk away with actionable steps that can help you to immediately diagnose the performance of your Facebook marketing campaign.

To register for the NY Business Expo & Summit 2013 click here.

About Ruben Quinones

Ruben Quinones, as Director of New Media at New York Based Search and Social marketing agency Path Interactive, leads the action and development of social media marketing and oversees strategic campaigns for major clients. Ruben also serves as an adjunct professor at New York University teaching several Digital Marketing courses. In addition, Ruben is the founder of www.socialtofu.com, a Facebook analytics tracking platform that provides valuable insights into the performance of Facebook marketing campaigns.

About Path Interactive

Path Interactive is a leading New York search engine marketing agency providing results targeted at campaigns for national, regional & local business brands. Path employs a unique approach to paid search management, organic site optimization, and social media marketing. Our team draws its strength from a diverse mix of media professionals, whose expertise spans both the traditional and new media as well as experience in both local and national markets.

On this episode of Path TV , Ruben Quinones and Avinash Conda, of Path Interactive, an NYC SEO Agency, discuss  the latest version of Google’s Penguin update, which will more effectively target “spammy links” through the web.

If you haven’t already heard from Matt Cutts’ latest video, Google has already rolled out the second version of Penguin, called Penguin 2.0. Penguin 2.0 will focus on penalizing spammy links which show up in search results. Examples of “spammy links” include paid links, selling links, spam inquiries, links to making money online, and links to free stuff. Spammy links hurt search results because they are unnatural and manufactured so it leads to the dilution of the quality of content your search results will retrieve.

Ruben, Director of New Media Relations comments, there’s work you can do on your website and work you can do off your website that send signals to Google. These signals allow Google to come the conclusion of whether or not your site is worthy of ranking for a specific keyword or category. With that, there are black and white hat practices used when deploying an SEO strategy, and precisely a link building strategy. Especially with this Penguin 2.0 roll-out, you want to make sure that you’re not linking to any spammy sites and similarly, not receiving links from spammy sites.

Looking to enhance your company’s Search Marketing presence? Contact us to speak with one of our Search Engine Marketing Specialists.

50 Billion App Store Downloads

Apple has revealed that the App Store has just surpassed 50 billion downloads and is expected to round out to about 75 billion before the end of this year. To celebrate the milestone, Apple awarded the customer who made the 50 billionth download with a $10,000 gift card and fifty more gift cards of $500 to the next 50 following individuals. According to Apple’s numbers, lately the App Store is averaging around 78 million download a day.

The Google Play store is coming up right behind the Apple store with 48 billion downloads so far. It suspected that Google may take first place before next year considering they have not been around as long as the Apple App store but are producing similar numbers.

Facebook App for Google Glass

Google has announced at its I/O conference that there will be an official App for Facebook on Google Glass. The app will allow users to share photos to their Facebook accounts via Google Glass.

Facebook’s mobile product manager, Erick Tseng, had this to comment:

“I’m really excited to announce today’s launch of Facebook for Google Glass. Built by Facebook, this app allows you to upload photos from Google Glass directly to your Facebook Timeline. You can also add an optional photo description, just by speaking it. We look forward to exploring Facebook experiences across new types of mobile devices. This is only a first step. You can find out more about our app here: facebook.com/help/googleglass, and about Google Glass here: google.com/glass. “

To see some pictures of people wearing Google Glass, check out this humorous Tumblr page.

Tagged Instagram Photos Of You Are Now Visible To Friends

Previously, when someone would tag you in a photo on Instagram it wouldn’t go into your own profile. But all has changed, now anyone who searches your username can see all the pictures that have been tagged of you and there is no option that lets you un-tag. If this bothers you, you can take steps to reducing their exposure by changing your privacy settings so that the tagged photos won’t show up in the photos of you section, unless you approve them first. From there, if someone tags you, you can choose whether or not to show it on your profile. However, this feature is only available on the most recent version of Instagram on iOS and Android. Read more here.

Image Credit: cyprusnewsreport.com

Facebook Giving More Scholarship Opportunities To Women

Facebook is awarding two more scholarships for women, the Facebook Grace Hopper Scholarship and the Facebook Moms in Tech Sponsorship. Sheryl Sandberg, author of best-selling book Lean In, and Facebook’s chief operating officer, is looking to provide more resources and opportunities for women in the tech industry. The Grace Hooper Scholarship is open to women all over the world who are currently enrolled full-time at a college or university anywhere in the world with majors in computer science, computer engineering, or other tech related disciplines. Applications must be submitted by May 31^st.

The Facebook Moms in Tech Sponsorship has partnered with the Hackbright Academy to pay the full tuition for a mom to attend the college. Hackbright Academy specializes in computer-science and software development and is a school exclusively for women.

To learn more about these opportunities click here.

LinkedIn Most Popular Social Media Site For Finance Professionals

For those in the finance industry LinkedIn ranked as the most popular social networking site with a 90 percent penetration rate and is used by 33 percent of this industry for business purposes. In second, is Twitter but with only a 3 percent usage rate. Facebook and blogs only had a 2 percent usage rate among this group. One fifth of finance profession rated LinkedIn as their favorite for both social and business networking but when it comes to strictly personal use, Facebook seemed to be the preference with 55 percent of this group stating it as their favorite. Read more on this here.

Vine Releases The Top 100 Vines Videos

Vine was rolled out 100 days ago and in that time millions of Vine videos have been posted via Twitter. Collectively, users are said to be putting out 5 Vine videos every second. The most videos were released on April 15 between 3 and 4 pm EDT, right after the Boston marathon bombing. Generally, the weekends have the highest number of video sharing, between 10:00 am and 11:00 am EDT. The most shared Vine video, which was tweeted for 47,000 times, was from One Direction’s Harry Styles. To see the rest of the top 100 videos in Vine’s first 100 days click here.

Image Credit: MyCleverAgency.com

Facebook is allowing users to appoint a list of “Trusted Contacts” who can verify your identity when you have lost or forgotten your password.  They will be sent an access code which they can forward to you, you will use this to get back into your account and reset your password. Trusted Contacts would be people you select who you trust and can be reached offline. You can add or modify your Trusted Contacts as often as you like through your Facebook account’s security setting.

Facebook originally introduced “Trusted Friends” in 2011 but has announced that they are improving their service by rolling it out globally as “Trusted Contacts”. Read more here.

What Kind of Digital Marketer Are You?

Media Bistro’s AllTwitter has published an article which pinpoints the “7 Breeds of Digital Marketers”. Optify, a Seattle-based marketing software provider breaks them down into 7 different kinds.

1)      The Data Whiz

1)      The E-Artist

2)      The Social Media Master

3)      The Old School Advertiser

4)      The Snarky Marketer

Read more here to find out which type of digital marketer you are.

YouTube Soars to 6 Billion Hours of Video Watched Monthly

Youtube has just announced that users are now watching 6 billion hours of video a month, a number that has doubled since last year’s. The Google owned video service released this statement on their blog:

“We recently announced that YouTube hit an incredible milestone of 1 billion unique monthly visitors, connecting 15 percent of the planet to the videos they love. And those global fan communities are watching more than 6 billion hours of video each month on YouTube; almost an hour a month for every person on Earth and 50 percent more this year than last.”

Developing and optimizing a video on YouTube may be more important than ever right now. Looking for pointers on how to optimize a video on Youtube? Check out this article: Video optimization 101.

Image Credit: Edudemic.com, Previewnetworks.com, AllFacebook.com

The course is called Search Engine Optimization and is designed for website developers, online marketers, content managers and entrepreneurs. Over the course of this program, students will learn about the relationship between search engine optimization and search engine marketing and how to be more visible in search results. SEO is an important part of digital media marketing to increase campaign results and rankings for websites.

Ruben Quinones is the Director of New Media at Path Interactive where he provides forward thinking leadership including strategic consulting, key project management for client digital strategy and execution including paid media, web development, search optimization, social marketing, and content marketing projects.

Michael Stearne is  VP of Technology & Development at Path Interactive. An expert in traffic analytics, application development and scalability, Michael has developed business processes and systems that contribute to the aggressive revenue growth of Path Interactive. Michael’s core responsibilities include managing the search platform architecture, client development and providing strategic insights and management to the Search Engine Optimization team.

About Path Interactive

Path Interactive is a leading New York City SEO and Social Media marketing agency aimed at providing results for a wide breadth of clientele anywhere from national to regional to local business brands. Path employs a unique approach to paid search management, organic site optimizations and social media marketing.  Path’s diverse team of media professionals encompass an expertise which extends from traditional marketing methods to new media as well as experience in both local and national markets.

What Are People Googling?

There are certain topics that seem to attract the most search bar inquiries. Here are the most commonly viewed autocomplete results:

1. Wiki
2. Bio
3. Salary
4. Facebook
5. Net Worth

What Makes This Information Circulate?

There are many reasons that affect Google to reveal such information you wished to keep a secret. The three main variables are:

1. Search Volume (defined by the number of people looking up specific word combinations)
2. Mentions on Social Networking Sites
3. Content (general mentions of your name throughout the web)

What You Can Do About It

Is it possible to replace the negative results with positive information? The answer is Yes. There are several ways to increase the visibility of positive rankings.

First of all, if do not have a Facebook account, create one. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are hugely popular today and allow you to monitor what people are saying about you or your brand.  Add some positive and neutral information about yourself or perhaps, ask your friends or loyal customers for recommendations. Twitter can also help you shine; just use those 140 characters wisely.

Second, if you want to discover what information is being delivered from different geographical regions, search under a Google Incognito page.  You can also install this SEO chrome extension, which allows you to see search results from other countries.You can also get your friends involved in managing your reputation by asking them to search for your name + positive adjectives. After all, the numbers of search queries count!

Also, writing a blog about yourself can also help push negative results down on Google. You can also edit and update the information on Wikipedia if your name or company has a page, submitting an article to one of the popular article directories and if you can, get some positive comments that would help to boost your reputation organically.

Take Care When It Comes To Your Image Online

If you have been wronged by Google Autocomplete`s suggested results and it has harmed your image in some way, take charge of your online reputation now!

Are you looking to hire a Digital Media Specialist  to help manage your reputation on Google? If so, contact one of our SEO specialists at Path interactive.

Path Interactive, Inc., a NYC-based search engine marketing agency, is looking for a Search Engine Optimization Manager to join our growing team in our Flatiron district office.

Job Description

The SEO Manager will be leading a team of up-and-coming SEO & Social Media Specialists and be responsible for their day-to-day management and development.

Requirements

• 3+ years experience working in online marketing, with project management experience in SEO and Social Media
• 2+ years SEO experience is mandatory
• Bachelor’s degree in marketing, advertising, communications or a related area, graduate or advance degree preferred
• Intimate with Web 2.0 technologies and immersive web experience
• Strong written and verbal client communication skills
• Blogging and web-based content writing experience
• Knowledge of HTML code; experience with JavaScript and PHP a plus
• Advanced Google Analytics and familiarity with other web analytics packages

This is an incredible opportunity for an individual with SEO and digital account management experience looking to conceptualize and implement strategies on a larger level, help grow a phenomenal team at a dynamic company, and be an integral part of channel developments.

Compensation

• An opportunity to further enhance your skills and refine your talent
• Competitive base based on experience
• Full medical benefits
• 401 (K) plan with company match
• Great work environment – we have fun!
• Accessible and open-minded leadership

Desired Skills & Experience

Responsibilities include:

• Translating client objectives into Search & Social Media Marketing strategy
• Manage client relationships for SEO and Social Media projects
• Lead team of Specialists in successful executions of campaigns
• Spearhead consistent review of project delivery and execution
• Aide in the development of proposals, pitches, and new business opportunities
• Advise on and help define website content needs and oversee its development with proper SEO methodologies
• Keyword research
• Support client blogging efforts and Social Media content strategy
• Implement link building strategies
• Project management duties including client meetings, reporting, and tracking client results
• Keep abreast of industry developments and research and participate in the SEM/SEO/Social community online
• Contribute to the company blog and contribute socially to evangelize company messaging