Within social media marketing circles, there is a growing chorus of Google doomsayers. They believe that Google's demise as the leading search engine is imminent. Why? For starters, Facebook has more than 500 million active users who spend over 700 billion minutes per month on the social network. Add to this the influence that Facebook is having on web marketing, such as the proliferation of "like" buttons on sites and business Facebook pages, and social media marketers get downright giddy about the idea of Facebook becoming the new search tool of choice.

Not to rain on their parade, but there are a few problems with this conclusion. Facebook is not designed to be a search engine. It is designed to be a social network. The experience you're looking for on Facebook is to connect with friends and family and share photos, conversation, funny videos, must-read articles and the like. If you visit a business's Facebook page, it's most likely to take advantage of a specific Facebook promotion. By contrast, you go on a search engine to do research, learn about a topic or make a purchase.

In addition, you can't - and shouldn't - replace Google with a closed system. The beauty of the Internet (at least in free societies) is its vast openness. Google is a portal to it all. Facebook, on the other hand, is limited to the people or organizations that have decided to become members. And while more than 500 million users is a lot, it's not everyone. Imagine there's no Wikipedia. I wonder if you can.

And finally, realistically you just couldn't replicate all of the web content out there within the framework of Facebook. Practically speaking, there's no way for that to work.

So here's what I think: Facebook has a place in many organizations' marketing mix -- especially those that are B2C marketers. However, if you put all of your eggs in the Facebook basket, you're likely to end up with egg on your face.

Google has once again tweaked the algorithm that determines search results. This is nothing new. According to the March 14th issue of Time magazine, it does this some 500 times a year. However, some changes are more seismic than others.

This particular change is designed to improve the search experience by giving the top spots to sites with substantial high-quality content and conferred authority through inbound links from high-quality, high-traffic sites. The change punishes sites that have:

• scant content
• little content surrounded by a lot of advertising
• content copied from elsewhere
• multiple inbound links from questionable, low-quality sites

This is worth noting because too many SEO service providers "help" clients by doing a lot of dodgy link-building. This strategy is now officially unhelpful.

In fact, this change reinforces what reputable SEO service providers have been preaching all along: Create relevant content that is helpful to your users on an ongoing basis and work over time to get links from reputable, high-traffic sites. This strategy may be time-consuming and not very sexy, but for all of the algorithm changes that occur over time, it is the one thing that remains constant.

The next time you're inclined to "strengthen" your marketing messages with superlatives, make sure they are accurate and supportable. Otherwise, you can end up doing something unfortunate like this:

Enough said.

In the absence of orienting landmarks, humans naturally walk in circles. That's the finding of German psychologist, Jan Souman, in a study conducted in 2009.

With a visual cue such as the sun as a reference point, humans can navigate reasonably well. But without landmarks, we simply walk in circles. It appears rather inexplicable, but even when we believe we are walking a straight path, without a point of orientation, we inevitably end up going in circles.

I think there's a parallel in business. When we engage in marketing initiatives, we believe we are moving forward. But, without a landmark, such as a clear business objective, we often go in circles.

Think about it. How often have you decided to create a brochure, run an ad or even put up a website without asking the question, "What objective are we going to meet by doing this?" We tend to make default choices without evaluating whether the choices are optimal. On the flipside, it is easy to dismiss spending money on marketing because "we don't see the value in it." If you haven't tied your initiatives to specific objectives, how can you measure their value?

A good practice is to start with your business objectives (e.g., generate X many online leads in the first quarter or establish thought leadership in the area of X over the next three years) and then brainstorm ideas for how best to achieve those objectives. Develop a strategy. Then select tools to implement that strategy that fit your time frame, culture and budget.

The value of this approach is that it provides an objective means by which to select and evaluate marketing initiatives. It frees you from doing the same old thing because it's what you've always done. It also protects you from doing the cool new thing because it's what everyone's doing. I'm not arguing against the tried and true or the new and sexy as long as your choice is tied to a business objective and measured by it.

Let your business objectives be your landmarks and your marketing initiatives will move you forward instead of keeping you going in circles.

The importance of a website to business marketing is indisputable today. However, there are still plenty of businesses that don't know how to use their websites to maximum effect. Many assume that once the website is built and deployed, their work is done. Unfortunately, they're wasting a valuable resource.

Unlike print marketing materials, a website allows you to continuously adapt and enhance your message. It also enables you to quickly and easily promote events, share news and advertise job openings. All for a fraction of the cost of print marketing.

Aside from the cost benefits, there's another compelling reason to update your site. Web visitors seek fresh information, and Google rewards sites that provide it. Along with other search engine optimization best practices (which will be the subject of another day's post), new, relevant content will help your website find its way to the top of the search results.

Finally, a website offers unmatched opportunities to influence potential customers both before and after a sales call. Case studies, testimonials, white papers and articles all help build credibility. When you don't post this sort of information, you waste a chance to promote your strengths.

So, make it a habit to post something new - and relevant - on a regular basis to take advantage of the marketing opportunities your website provides.