Check out the complete list of the top 10 most-visited U.S. bases websites of 2011:

The information presented in the study goes to show just how important it is for local businesses to be found in Google. It’s not only the most visited website; it’s the most popular search engine, dominating the industry with 67.5% of the visits share according to Experian Hitwise. Local Splash can get your business on the first page of Google. Explore our services here.

Study: Reviews and Images Drive Clicks in Mobile
According to a study conducted by Mediative, a Canadian digital agency, images and reviews are very important to people using the Google app on their mobile phones.

Google, Yahoo Form Group to Tackle Phishing
The top search engines, Google, Yahoo!, Bing and AOL recently joined forces to create DMARC.org, an organization to battle phishing.

Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers
Pinterest, the social bookmarketing website that lets users share photos they like online is driving a significant amount of traffic to retailers’ websites. The site’s popularity is quickly growing and the traffic Pinterest is sending out to other places on the web is steadily increasing.

Yahoo! Shutters 10 Mobile Apps
Yahoo! recently announced that 10 of its apps will no longer be supported on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Report: Twitter Will Begin Enhanced Profile Roll-Out in February
According to BusinessInsider, Twitter’s enhanced profile pages for brands may launch as early as February 1.

1. Use Circles to target your audience. One of the key features of Google+ is Circles. You can use Circles to separate your followers into categories then choose who to share with. This helps you share information only with people who will find it interesting, rather than just everyone who follows you on the social network. It will help keep people (i.e. customers, prospects and employees) more engaged so they will be less likely to un-follow you.

2. Create multimedia posts. Google+ is integrated with YouTube as well as Picasa, which means you can easily incorporate videos and photos into your posts. Using videos and photos in your posts makes them more interesting for your followers.

3. Use Google Hangouts to connect with customers. With Google Hangouts you can video chat with up to 10 people, allowing brands to start chats with customers. This could potentially allow brands to use Google+ for customer service purposes. Google is also currently testing it’s “On Air” feature which will allow brands to broadcast video messages out to their followers on Google+.

It’s extremely beneficial for your business to be found on Google+ with the incorporation of information from the social network in the Google search results. The more interesting you make your content; the more users will follow you. Then when users are searching for information related to your business on the most popular search engine, Google, they will be likely to come across your Google+ page.

PIPA and SOPA inspired approximately 75,000 websites to “blackout” or protest on January 18 in order to draw attention to the issues and encourage Congress to vote “no” on the bills. Google, Wikipedia, WordPress, Reddit and Tumblr were among the many websites that joined the fight against PIPA and SOPA.

“Members of Congress are trying to do the right thing by going after pirates and counterfeiters but SOPA and PIPA are the wrong way to do it,” said Google on their Take Action page.

Check out these SOPA/PIPA strike statistics from SOPAStrike.com to see exactly how large the outcry against the bills were yesterday. Voting begins on January 24, where do you stand on these issues?

1. Pick an SEO-friendly Twitter name. When you set up a Twitter account, you’re asked to give your real name or the name of your company as well as provide a screen name. When you’re figuring out what to use here, think about what your customers will search for to find you. Using your real company name as your Twitter screen name is the best idea. If your company name is too long, use abbreviations but keep the most relevant, important word unabbreviated.

2. Always include a link. Although Twitter links don’t hold any special SEO purpose, they do send users to your website and encourage additional research using search engines.

3. Use keywords in your tweets. When you’re tweeting on behalf of your company it’s important to keep your content professional, meaning you should leave personal observations out of it. Also use hash tags (#) with keywords so Twitter users will be able to search and find your content.

When you’re tweeting, it’s important to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. What is interesting to them? What keywords will they search for to find your content? Which pages will they find most helpful or intriguing on your website? Take all of these things into consideration and you’ll be able to help your search rankings rise one tweet at a time.

According to Google’s official blog, Googe is “transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content but also people and relationships.”

The new features of Search, plus Your World include:

1. Personal Results that let you find information that’s customized just for you like Google+ photos and posts from you and your friends.
2. Profiles in Search that help you quickly find the people you know as well as the people you don’t know but may want to follow.
3. People and Pages that help you find Google+ pages and profiles related to a certain subject or interest and follow them quickly and easily.

Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan is calling this recent Google change “their most radical transformation ever.” What do you think about the new Google Search plus Your World?

Google+ Sees Massive Membership Growth
Google+ recently had it’s best month ever according to Mashable. The site had 49 million U.S. visitors in the month of December which is up 55% since November. According to the article, Google+ how has over 62 million members, which is a highly significant growth rate.

Reddit Sees 2x Growth In 2011, Now Serving 2 Billion Pageviews A Month
One of the most popular social news communities, Reddit recently hit record numbers. The website had over 2 billion pageviews in the month of December, which is up 1 billion views since February 2011.

6 Mobile Search Optimization Trends for 2012
Find out the top mobile marketing trends for this year from Search Engine Land.

Google Announces “Megasitelinks,” Image Search Improvements and Better Byline Dates
Google recently announced a new project it calls “Megasitelinks” as well as some improvements to the image search tool and a few other updates.

Google Chrome Beta Released, Now Even Faster and More Secure
According to the official Google Chrome blog, a new beta version of the web browser was recently released that improves security and increases speed.

According to the official Yahoo! press release, as the PayPal President, Thompson helped drive customer engagement and expand PayPal’s user base from 50 million to over 104 million active users in 190 countries worldwide.

Thompson will be facing many challenges to help stabilize Yahoo!, a company that has been struggling since Facebook and Google began dominating the display advertising segment of the online ad market. What do you think? Can Scott Thompson help bring Yahoo back to the industry leader it once was?

According to Crunchbase, WebVisible, a leading name in local online advertising, was based in Southern California. Its advertising products were powered by its Geneva software, which bought advertising space across a variety of media to make sure customers (mainly small businesses) received effective local targeting advertising.

If you were a WebVisible customer and are looking for a company to take over your Local Search initiatives, Local Splash can assist. Local Splash can pick up where WebVisible left off, using our proprietary technology to get your local business found on the first page of the top search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Local Splash puts an emphasis on local search, which is more cost effective when compared to local PPC, WebVisible’s concentration. Learn more about our services here and call today to speak to one of our dedicated customer service team members to help you make the transition to Local Splash. Don’t wait; make sure your business continues to be found by potential customers online today.

According to the information, Rebecca Black was the number one fastest-rising search term globally, followed by Google+ and Ryan Dunn. In the U.S., Rebecca Black was still the fastest-rising search term, followed by Google+ and Hurricane Irene.

The data also showed that in the U.S. the fastest-rising for Google Maps was International Airport, followed by Ikea and Wells Fargo.

Check out this video from Google for a recap of the most popular searches of 2011.