Mobile phones and location-based platforms continue to catapult local information about businesses into the spotlight. On Tuesday, Google announced Map Maker for the United States. The tool enables users to add their knowledge about a location to the map through this online tool. Google will review each edit to confirm accuracy, and once approved, user contributions will appear in Google Maps, and then in Google Maps API Premier and Google Earth Pro. Think of the tool as a Wikipedia for maps.

Jessica Rooney explains how search queries tell a company about its site visitors. Rooney calls them WTQs -- "What The Query?!" She tells us her favorite types are those that make no sense alone or when compared to the connected ad group. Rooney gives us the top five that are not connected to any ad group, as well as the top seven strangest search queries. The No. 1 strangest query: "argeneau vampire family tree how to contact by phone emergency."

Marketers now can get to the new help center for the recently launched version of Google Analytics through links that appear throughout the user interface. Patricia Boswell tells us that Google reorganized content on the site, offering five main topics. Each addresses a key need and reduces content duplication through the sections related to Analytics.

Charlie Tupman explains how to save time by addressing fundamental differences between Google and Bing before importing an account from the former into adCenter. Since adCenter handles keywords differently than Google, Tupman uses screen shots to show us how to apply broad and exact matches to negative keywords, and use broad match modifiers. Not knowing these tips can cost marketers impressions, he writes.

Danny Wong tells us four ways to optimize the SEO funnel for long-tail keywords. He explains how adding email captures at the end of blog posts or strategic internal links in posts can optimize the marketing funnel to attract site visitors who find the blog posts through search engines. Wong believes these tactics will help capture more leads that convert into sales.

There's never enough time in the day to do everything, even when SEO professions know the problem and how to fix it. Tom Critchlow provides a wealth of insights on how to "avoid stagnation" when it comes to optimizing Web sites for better rankings and content. Some may seem like common sense. For starters, stop generating long and lengthy 50-page reports. It wastes time. Make sure the report convinces someone that change needs to happen. And focus on how to get it done. People need to know how to make the processes actionable.

Duran Duran fans might want to tune into YouTube this afternoon. Google's video site will broadcast a Q&A from YouTube headquarters. The band will discuss their "pioneering role" in the early days of music videos, talk about personal favorites on YouTube, and answer questions. For those who cannot make the live broadcast, the band plans to upload the video to -- yes -- YouTube.

Munaz Anjum believes click-through rates (CTRs) will become Google's next metric for AdWords. After spending about a month observing organic rankings, he tells us the recently announced changes in a Google algorithm could alter results. Anjum serves up real-world client examples of why marketers need to check CTRs, and offers advice on continuously monitoring primary keywords.

Less than 1% of Web site visits come directly from social media sites such as Facebook, according to Cynthia Boris, citing a report from ForeSee. In the study, "18% of site visitors reported being influenced by social media, which would mean that 17% of those folks visited the site in some way other than clicking on a social media link," writes Boris. Perhaps through search engines? Boris also tells us bout the Social Media Value Benchmark ForeSee developed. It ranks several criteria such as how visitors found the site and whether they're likely to return.

Mark Watkins believes the check-in craze will die in 2011, and take Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt and others with it. Watkins, the founder of Goby, a search engine for finding fun things to do, tells us why. He also tells us what motivates people to check in, and how check-in services build a following.