Without a doubt 2012 was a big year for digital marketing. There were several new advances to search alone, including the ability to get facts quicker with Google’s Knowledge Graph and the implementation of Google’s “Search Plus Your World,” which brought social into search results. Bing kept up by adding a social sidebar and their Snapshot feature, similar to the Knowledge Graph. The introduction of high-impact algorithms with cute animal names are also on a mission to improve the quality of Google’s search results.

While these items have had a significant impact on the evolution of search, one of the biggest changes to search in 2012 was the increased focus on local search. Local search will be a huge focus for every digital marketer in 2013. In order to get a head start on local search this year, here are some key things you need to know.

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Over the last several months, Twitter has been beefing up its focus on search engine optimization (SEO) in an effort to provide searchers with easier access to information. While Twitter is showing much more dedication to improving its search features and online visibility than many of its top rivals, how effective are these changes actually going to be?

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With all the changes and updates Google has recently made to its Places pages and local search (such as the integration with Google+), optimizing and updating company data within Google’s local platforms remains crucial for your ranking results. 

The question of which browser truly reigns supreme depends on whom you ask and what metrics you’re using to measure superiority.  Why is this in question? After all, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has had little in the way of a serious competitor. In light of recent reports claiming Google’s Chrome had finally taken the majority in market share, it seems appropriate to dig a little deeper.  Even though Chrome is still a relative infant in browser terms (it started in 2008), it has some distinct advantages. Chrome is featured on the most popular website in the world (its parent, Google), and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from its users. While these characteristics have made it a force to be reckoned with, one has to wonder if it’s enough to launch it over the browser that is preloaded on every PC and has thus become the default choice for nearly all computer users.

Remember when Ask Jeeves rolled out in the late 90’s? There was something very exciting and almost mindboggling about the concept of asking a computer a question and receiving an answer. As we all know, Jeeves did not always provide the best answers to questions, which likely lead to his “retirement” in 2005, when the search engine transformed into Ask.com.