Google unleashed a Super Bowl ad, and it was a gem.

It entails a simple and easy to understand story. It engages people emotionally. And it demonstrates how people can navigate through life and find opportunities through Internet search.

Moreover, no Hollywood faces, or big, expensive effects and production. Just brilliant creativity.

It was Google’s first major television ad. The company’s blog stated: “Our goal was simply to create a series of short online videos about our products and our users, and how they interact.” This particular video, called Parisian Love, had such a positive reaction on YouTube, they decided to share it with a wider audience. Cross-promotions on a grand scale.

See: Google Super Bowl ad.

Today someone in the printing business suggested to me websites are “overrated.” I was blown away. A website is not just a piece of the marketing pie; it’s the actual marketing hub that connects all the strategies and tactics, online and offline.

Regardless what business or industry you’re in, websites have evolved into the base of operations, where prospects and clients inevitably go to gain product, service, and company information.

Of course, other marketing elements play a role: postcards, e-mails, PR, commercials and much more. But these sources frequently push people to a website. Even TV commercials are trading in 1-800 numbers for website addresses.

That’s because websites can do more than inform. They can also allow online transactions, from simple enquiry requests, through change of detail processing to full-on purchases.

To be sure, when properly planned and developed, websites can become virtual ambassadors.

The article Web copy motivators notes fear is a powerful influential factor on and off the Web. But, as Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive notes, it can also be counter-productive.

Research has demonstrated that fear-arousing communications usually stimulate the audience to take action to reduce the threat. However, Author Robert Cialdini explained, “When the fear producing message describes danger but the audience is not told a clear, specific, effective means of reducing the danger, they may deal with the fear by ‘blocking out’ the message or denying it applies to them.”

As a result, they may be paralyzed into taking no action at all.

How to avoid this denial? Help people see behavioral means for ridding themselves of fear by including a clear, specific, easy-to-follow plan.

Marketing intelligence is important, but so is practical intelligence.

Marketing intelligence comes from gathering information on business and competition. This intelligence helps businesses understand a market, so it can develop sound strategies and develop customer relationships.

You’ve gained valuable knowledge. You’ve got a high IQ. Fantastic! But what you do with it relies on practical intelligence.

In Malcom Gladwell’s Outliers, Phychologist Robert Sternberg explains practical intelligence is: “Knowing what to say to whom, knowing when to say it, and knowing how to say it for maximum effect.”

That how is integral to any business. An organization might be brilliant. But if it says things the wrong way, that general intelligence might as well not even exist.

That’s why well-versed designers and copywriters are integral to any branding or marketing campaign. They get the how to say it.

Google will soon be unveiling a new search architecture called Google Caffeine, which promises to be faster, and bring users social media updates in real time.

From an SEO perspective, it will reportedly inject a new ranking factor into the algorithm – website speed. As a result, Google will be pushing faster sites higher in the search results, whereas slower sites will find it harder to rank.

On that front, here’s an insightful article you might want to check out: Website Performance: What To Know and What You Can Do.

Harrison Hot Springs has invited Colbert Nation’s Stephen Colbert to embark on an official search for the Sasquatch during his upcoming trip to British Columbia for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Harrison Hot Springs, a 90-minute drive from the Vancouver International Airport and the Richmond Olympic Oval, has been the focal point of the mysterious ape-like creature, also called Bigfoot, for more than a century.

If Colbert accepts the invitation, he will be provided transportation, accommodations and special training (which could include spa treatment) to help him prepare both physically and mentally.

This Sasquatch search would be timely and fitting, given:

• One of the 2010 Olympic Games mascots is a Sasquatch named Quatchi.
• Colbert has a much publicized fear of bears, and the Sasquatch is considered a predator of the bear, making them perfect allies.

The search would be led by Sasquatch Investigator Bill Miller, who began researching the creature in the early 1990s. Colbert and the Sasquatch Investigator would “analyze any evidence on numerous factors, including: track depth; soil conditions; toe movement; pad flattening; mid-tarsal breaks; weight distribution; stride; and track alignment.”

In late 2009, after calling Canadians “syrup-sucking Canadian ice holes” for reportedly denying the American speed skating team ice time, Colbert accepted Richmond, B.C.’s invitation to become the official Richmond Olympic Oval ombudsman during the 2010 Winter Games.

“Harrison Hot Springs hopes Mr. Colbert will accept our invite to locate and make contact with the Sasquatch, which could be a historic event for Canadians and Americans alike,” said Stephanie Key, Executive Director, Tourism Harrison.

Tourism Harrison is in direct contact with Colbert’s team, and will make an announcement as soon as possible. You can check for updates on the Tourism Harrison blog, or check back here on what could be a fun event to track.

See original release.

Different visitors invest in products and services for different reasons. Hitting these ‘trigger points’ translates to higher conversion rates.

It’s integral to consider who you are communicating to, and why you’re communicating to them.

To sell effectively, you need to pinpoint why visitors buy things. Here are a few possible motivators.

• To be popular
• To feel important
• To make money
• To save money
• To be attractive
• To be secure
• To be happy
• To be healthy
• Fear
• Greed
• Guilt

If a person is buying a luxury sports car, is he buying reliable transportation to get from A to B, or status. While a person would rarely admit it (or even realize it), likely the latter. Successful web copy addresses such motivators.

For more information on web copywriting, and to touch on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, check out Web writing: The good, bad and ugly.

Good web copy layers details via links to help visitors easily access information relevant to their needs.

Links help visitors scan pages. Properly developed links stand out from normal text, and provide strong cues as to what the page is about.

When naming links, the more specific, the more useful. Don’t just give visitors a hint — give them the necessary information they require to act, right then and there.

A key is to use descriptive keywords. For instance, a link like web copy provides little explanation on what the visitor can expect to find — information about writing web copy, before and after samples, or hiring a web copywriter?

An explanatory link like 5 Simple Ways to Improve Your Web Copy provides clarity and insight, and promotes positive online experiences. A link makes a promise, and needs to deliver.

Google’s Vice-President for Search Products and User Experience, Marissa Mayer, recently shared her insights into the future of Internet search engines.

Mayer says the ideal will be to get access to your friends’ updates in search. There may be increased privacy concerns and complaints from publishers, but Mayer and Google likely won’t be deterred.

Look out! An omniscient, omnivorous Google is coming, and it knows what you want — even if you don’t.

Read: Marissa Mayer: An omnivorous Google is coming

Comment spammers should stop their shenanigans, suggests Google.

Comment spammers abuse comment fields of innocent websites, like blogs and forums, to get inbound links in an attempt to improve their website’s organic search ranking.

In line with its objective to provide Internet users the most relevant and valuable results, Google has algorithmic ways of discovering those alterations and tackling them.

Google’s advice: “At best, a link spammer might spend hours doing spammy linkdrops which would count for little or nothing because Google is pretty good at devaluing these types of links. Think of all the more productive things one could do with that time and energy that would provide much more value for one’s site in the long run.”

We agree. Post quality content on your website, and the links will come naturally.

Read: Hard facts about comments spam