Happy New Year! I hope 2013 has started well for you. My year is going swimmingly.

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who encountered lots of change last year, something to do with planets, energy and er, stuff. This year I’m hoping that the world is a bit more stable, so far so good but we are only eight days in!

While I can still get away with talking about the new year, here are my predictions for the next 12 months:

1. The Rise and Rise of Social Media (and Google+)

Hardly original I know but I think that social media will continue to spread and more and more people will use it whether in their personal or professional lives. Certain platforms will disappear as people grow bored with them or things move on but overall we will all carry on being glued to our mobiles, tablets and laptops as we update the world on every momentous occurrence in our lives and businesses.

Please don’t choke on your latte when I predict that Google+ (yes, you read it right) is going to be HUGE. Seriously. Google hasn’t taken over the world of search and become a verb only to produce an over-complicated, sterile engagement platform that no one uses.

This year we will all start using Google+, I’m just not exactly sure how yet. But trust me, by the end of the year you’ll be calling me Mystic Meg.

2. A Brave New World

Which leads me nicely onto my second prediction, which is a bit left field. At some point, maybe this year, maybe next, who knows, the whole method of searching for websites will change.

Think about it. If someone had designed the web in a holistic ‘this is how it’s gonna be’ way from the start, rather than it being an iterative process of bits changing and being added to here and there, SEO wouldn’t exist.

SEO is the equivalent of producing a phone directory and saying:

“We have arranged this directory in an order… but we’re not going to tell you what order. We will give you some pointers and let you know the important factors for arranging the information but the rest is a secret. You must search the directory to find what you are looking for. Then, at irregular intervals, we will give you a new directory with everything in a different order and you’ll have to work that out too”.

There has to be another way.

Google has said that it’s all about quality content and Copyblogger predicts that 2013 will be the year of the online writer, so I think Google will come up with a way of grading websites according to their content. Maybe testimonials and reviews will be extrapolated so that not only will searches come back with the best and most relevant website, they’ll come back with the best product or service provider.

I swear I’m onto something.

3. The Year of the Online Writer

OK, I’ve lifted that headline directly from Copyblogger but it remains true, this is my year! A good website is all about excellent writing, having a great blog and giving site visitors what they want. Other things are important too but make sure your writing – or your copywriter – is brilliant and you won’t go wrong.

4. Small Companies Rule

I wrote a post called The Best Things Come in Small Packages last year and my belief that the world economy’s crash and our frustration with mega-companies, arrogant CEOs and ridiculous bonuses means that now is the time for small businesses to thrive.

It was all about money money money for a while but now we want to mix business and values. We want to receive good service, to feel valued by the people we spend our hard-earned money with, to support local communities and connect with people and to look after the environment. It isn’t all self-interested profit-making any more and small businesses are the perfect way of making money and caring about more than just ourselves.

What do you reckon? Do you agree with me? And what are your predictions for 2013?

Thanks for reading.

Sally

P.S. Yes that was the dinner I cooked on NYE!