The annual arrival of a new Apple iPhone is always welcomed with much speculation, fanfare and media attention. New features and capabilities, design and expected sales are rumored and discussed online ad nauseum. Once released, expect an avalanche of unboxings, hands-on reviews and complaints, the usual.

But I don’t want to talk about any of that; it’s already overkill. What I do want to talk about now that the iPhone 5 has officially been announced, are what impacts the new phone may have to search marketers and small business owners. At quick glance, you might not think very much. But, there are a few items worth looking at.

*Some of these are really iOS 6 updates, but the iPhone 5 will be the first device to run iOS 6 out of the box, and iOS 6 will be available for iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S (as well as fourth-gen iPod touch and the most recent iPad).

The Exclusion of Google Maps as Native Map App

Apple kicked out Google Maps as their native map application for iOS 6, replacing it with their own mapping app. Users should still be able to download a Google Maps app separately, but I would imagine most people will not notice much of a difference and use the Apple app exclusively. Apple also claimed to have over 100 million locations opposed to Google’s recent claim of 80 million. If users are aware that Apple contains more locations in their app, they may decide not to switch back to Google. However, Apple won’t have public transit data available, which could have people going back to the Google app. Time will tell, but I anticipate Apple adding this data in the near future.

So why does this matter? For one, Apple will be getting their business listing information from Axciom (and a few others), instead of Google. For search marketers and small businesses, having your information updated and correct in Axciom and other online yellow page directories will be crucial. Nothing ruins your brand like an incorrect address or phone number, or even worse; having no listing at all.

Additionally, Apple is using Yelp to populate ratings and reviews for locations (more on Yelp in a bit). If you’re a business of any kind with a physical location, I am convinced you need to have an accurate and updated presence on Yelp. People can argue about the merits of Yelp reviews, but the fact is millions of people trust the site for reviews. Reviews can make or break restaurants, and integration into various mobile apps is making Yelp a can’t-miss.

Local Business info in Apple Maps

Additional Siri Usage and Capabilities

Siri has been improved, adding all sorts of new capabilities, but the one restaurants in particular should keep an eye on is the ability to make reservations via Open Table on Siri. If you’re a restaurant that takes reservations, you should probably be integrated with Open Table by now, but if not, this should get you over the hump. Siri will pull information about your restaurant from Open Table when the user attempts to make a reservation. Make sure that information is accurate.

Back to Yelp – if you’re asking Siri about nearby places to eat or to find a car wash, Siri will search through Yelp and return ratings and reviews to help you make a decision. This is where having reviews, and quality reviews on Yelp will be beneficial. Most likely, these users are mobile and will settle on a decision very quickly, so you’ll need to have an accurate and updated profile, attractive photos of your location and your product or service, and favorable reviews. None of what I’m saying is particularly new; it’s just more important than ever.

Open Table reservations via Siri

More Momentum Towards Adoption of Mobile Wallet

Passbook is a new native app included in iOS 6 providing a mobile solution for various gift cards, loyalty programs and even boarding passes. It’s not quite a full mobile wallet that connects to your credit and debit accounts and allows full payment solutions, BUT it’s going to help push the masses into similar behaviors, such as using a phone to pay with gift cards.

The implications here should be obvious; if you’re a retail business or have clients with point of sale locations, consumers are going to start demanding alternative payment solutions. We’re seeing similar solutions pop up, like rewards app Belly, and mobile payment app LevelUp. Adoption is not widespread yet, but both are gaining traction and investment. While cash is always great, and physical cards aren’t going anywhere, businesses will need to become tech savvy enough to implement some sort of mobile payment option in the coming years. The amount of customer analytics and targeted marketing potential for retailers is huge and should help convince business owners to adapt.

Apple’s Passbook app

More Smartphone Users

Despite everything I just rambled off, more than half of the US population still don’t have smartphones. But this group will continue to get smaller and smaller as smartphone penetration continues. Apple also announced consumers can get the iPhone 4 FOR FREE with a two year contract through a carrier. This could be huge in getting people into smartphones that have resisted thus far. More smartphone users mean more of everything I mentioned above, and also means more mobile searches, mobile visits to your websites, etc.

The writing has been on the wall for some time now, but with each new phone and operating system released that adds new functionality and convenience, mobile continues to grow in usage and importance to businesses of all sizes. There’s still time to adapt and catch the mobile wave, but it’s time to get going.

We’re big fans of LinkedIn here at Loud, and if you own a business or do any sort of marketing for a company, you should probably have a business page on LinkedIn. Until now, they weren’t really all that special or attractive. That’s all changing, however, as they’ve announced a significant overhaul of the business pages, which are going live for select companies today. The rollout for the rest of us will be coming “later this year.”

What to Look For

Probably the most notable change is the addition of a large image, similar to Facebook or Google+’s cover photo. Also similar is the news feed column, which businesses can share updates and job opportunities with followers. Part of the makeover is to make information and resources more prominent and accessible for members.

Summed up by LinkedIn’s Mike Grishaver:

For members, this means easier access to the information you want about the companies you care about. For companies, this means a more powerful way to build relationships with your target audience on LinkedIn.

What do you think of the redesign? Will this push you to utilize LinkedIn more?

Redesigned LinkedIn Company Pages

After Panda and particularly Penguin, legitimate, Google-friendly link building really got narrowed. Blog networks got blown up, low-quality directory and comment links got completely de-valued, etc. This was rather expected, but word of infographics and even guest blogging getting suggested as being less than ideal link building? That came as a bit of a surprise.

But it’s good marketing, right?

Forget about search engines for a minute. Guest blogging (whether it involves you blogging on someone else’s blog, or letting someone blog on yours) is good marketing. If you’re guest blogging somewhere, you get to present your knowledge or product or service, or whatever, to another audience. You (hopefully) get their feedback via comments. You should also get a solid, relevant link back to your website that can obviously drive interest, traffic, and perhaps new customers. Even letting someone blog on your site is smart, because that person or company is going to promote that post via their audience, giving your site social shares and mentions, more awareness, traffic, and links. What’s not to like?

So, what should you do?

The issue here is that like most forms of link building, guest blogging has been abused, and can be seen as a version of buying links. There are entire networks and platforms for buying and selling guest blogging opportunities, so Google may be deciding that guest blogging isn’t quite what it once was (or should be). Rand Fishkin’s blog post has a good discussion going in the comments about guest blogging and link building in general. It’s worth a look to follow-up from this post.

For my money, if you are smart about…

• The websites you’re trying to post on
• The content you’re going to share there
• The people or companies you let onto your site
• The content they’re going to provide on your site

… then I think you should be fine. For the reasons mentioned above, guest blogging is just smart marketing (when done right). Don’t over-optimize your anchor text links, don’t over-promote; make sure the content is a relevant, value-add to the audience (theirs or yours), and/or provide expert advice or insight.

The Loud team decided to enter the SEOmoz YouTube Video Contest, and we’re sure glad that we did. SEOmoz just announced that Loud Interactive (in a 3-way tie) has won in the social media category!

Being from Chicago, we have a lot of local pride, and also a love for the 80s. We decided to combine the two and came up with the Social Media Shuffle – our parody version of the popular Super Bowl Shuffle. Due to time constraints, we decided to dub our lyrics over the existing ‘Shuffle’ video, which I think makes it just that much more comical.

Win or lose, the team had a lot of fun brainstorming a few ideas, writing the lyrics, and of course, recording the verses.

We owe a big THANK YOU to our super-talented SEO Developer, John Droese, who also has video and audio editing skills that we didn’t realize until this contest.

Without further ado, here is the winning video, followed by the impeccably written lyrics.

The Social Media Shuffle
by Loud Interactive

Chorus-
We are the Loud Shuffl’n crew
Surfing the web
Googling it for you
We’ll use social to get you good
Ranking your site like we know we could
Posting your blog is not just for fun
Get your rank up, impress everyone
We are not here to start no trouble
We are just here to do the Social Media Shuffle

Walter Payton-(Sarah McMillin)
They call me hash tag and I’m on Twitter
Tweeting your words even if they are bitter
Well give you 140 characters ramp
Trending you as the blue bird champ
Get your twitter handle and BE HEARD
Engage and retweet to get the last word
Don’t get your feathers in a ruffle
Follow along to the Social Media Shuffle

Jim McMahon-(Tyler Bartholomew)
I’m the baddest FB, AKA Facebook
When I throw up a post all my friends take a look
The better the content the more the likes
It all adds up to a traffic spike
We will help you win to get more shares
Brought to you by the ’85 Bears
If you’re not on Facebook get there on the double
To see Loud do the Social Media Shuffle

Willie Gault-(Brandon Zeman)
You’re hearing about Pins, it must be the rookie
Pinterest’s on fire, go give it a lookie
Instagram filters on all your pics
Share on Google+ to get more clicks
Linkedin’s still the place for you to lurk
To grow some Klout and build up your network

REPEAT CHORUS-
We are the Loud Shuffl’n crew
Surfing the web
Googling it for you
We’ll use social to get you good
Ranking your site like we know we could
Posting your blog is not just for fun
Get your rank up, impress everyone
We are not here to start no trouble
We are just here to do the Social Media Shuffle

Let me just preface this post by saying that I am NOT a user experience expert, and my entire knowledge on the subject has come from reading various blogs or having conversations with other marketers that have dealt with UX. However, I am currently reading ‘The Elements of User Experience‘, so things are getting serious.

I’ve been thinking a lot about user experience (UX) lately; what it really means, why it’s important, how much time and emphasis to place on it, and more.

User Experience Online

In The Elements of User Experience, the author discusses how user experience principles and decisions can and should be made at every level of the development process. This applies for any type of website or application, whether functional in form (think e-commerce or customer services) or more content focused (think news sites or blogs).

A lot of people might have only considered user experience when looking at an existing website, saying ‘How can we improve the experience here’, with the goal of improving conversions. While this is important, and definitely ties into conversion optimization, it’s important to recognize that user experience should be considered from the very beginning of a project; from the initial strategy discussion, to putting final touches on the finished product.

Considering User Experience Offline

The concept of user experience is really popular right now, and rightly so. But have you thought about taking those principles outside of a website or app? Clearly, popular companies such as Apple and Starbucks carefully consider almost every possible customer interaction, not just online, but in their retail stores, where customers interact with employees and (hopefully) make purchases. Apple is obvious; with an impeccable store design and layout, numerous floor models to test, plenty of ‘Geniuses’ on hand to help, all equipped to take your purchase anywhere in the store.

A little more thought may be required when considering Starbucks. Most of us immediately think of the store design and the cozy atmosphere. It’s no coincidence that people hang out or work there all day. Have you ever considered other factors, such as the condiment bar, where you can choose the milk or sweetener you want, and how much goes in? Personally, this is why I choose Starbucks. I like skim milk in my coffee and not a lot, either. Asking an employee at Dunkin Donuts for ‘just a little skim milk’ is like playing coffee roulette, and I usually lose. It might not seem like a big deal, but being able to create my coffee EXACTLY how I like it is big. I can also pay with my phone and earn rewards, sure, but why pay for coffee elsewhere if I can’t get it exactly how I want it?

User Experience is For Everyone

The best part of UX is you don’t have to be a huge company to consider these little steps that can transform occasional visitors into loyal customers. If you’re a local coffee shop, let the customer fix their drink to their liking, and give more options than just half and half (I’m looking at you, Intelligentsia). Own a restaurant? Be flexible with how you take payment; let groups split up the bill so they don’t have to worry about who has cash, who has to pay back who, etc.

Cut down as many barriers to purchase or satisfaction as feasibly possible, be empathetic to the customer, and follow the elements of user experience. Caring about your customers doesn’t have a size requirement.