SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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What to expect in SEO in the coming months

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

Matt Cutts

13 May 2013 | 9:17 am

We just recently taped a new round of webmaster videos, and I thought this video deserved a full-fledged blog post. This is my rough estimate (as of early May 2013) of what search engine optimizers (SEOs) and webmasters should expect in the next few months: Bear in mind that this is a very rough estimate, because priorities, projects, and timing can change based on a lot of different factors. But I hope this gives folks a ballpark idea of what to expect in the coming months as far as what my team is working on.
Penguin 2.0 rolled out today

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO

Matt Cutts

22 May 2013 | 5:34 pm

We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more webspam will see more impact. This is the fourth Penguin-related launch Google has done, but because this is an updated algorithm (not just a data refresh), we’ve been referring to this change as Penguin 2.0 internally.
Ecommerce Title Tags: Top 5 Ways to Increase Clicks

Search Engine Watch

Amanda Massello

24 May 2013 | 6:30 am

The first steps of commerce take place within the search results. Give consumers a better sense of offers and pricing with your title tags. By exposing more information up front, sites can better align with the right consumer and get more clicks.
How to Perform Simple SEO Competitive Intelligence

PanGalatic Digital » Blog

Jared Reed

10 Apr 2013 | 7:31 am

Suffice to say that I’m a data junkie. Currently I’m tracking my sleep via my FitBit. I look at how many steps I take each day, and I keep a journal of foods my kids like juxtaposed with their age.… The post How to Perform Simple SEO Competitive Intelligence appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.
Jennifer Lopez Launches Viva Movil for Latino Audience

ClickZ News

24 May 2013 | 1:14 pm

Jennifer Lopez launched a new mobile brand aimed at the Latino market that she describes as the first social shopping and social commerce environment in wireless.

Search Engine Watch
Ecommerce Title Tags: Top 5 Ways to Increase Clicks

Amanda Massello

24 May 2013 | 6:30 am

The first steps of commerce take place within the search results. Give consumers a better sense of offers and pricing with your title tags. By exposing more information up front, sites can better align with the right consumer and get more clicks.
Guest Blogging vs. Guest Posting – Imagine A World Without Links

Andy Betts

24 May 2013 | 5:30 am

For months, debate has raged about the merits of guest posting, the relationship between content and links, backlinks, publishers and signature links, guest posting, and comments. It's time to shed a little clarity on the subject in a simple format.
5 Content Lessons & SEO Opportunities From Bloomingdale's

Christina Zila

24 May 2013 | 4:30 am

Bloomingdale's is a leader in fashion in the brick and mortar world. But how does a store with history back to the 1800s adapt to the new online world? Let's look at a few tactics Bloomingdale's uses in content marketing and a few SEO opportunities.
Google Talks Back: Conversational Search Available on New Version of Chrome

Jessica Lee

23 May 2013 | 1:30 pm

Google conversational search rolled out on the new version of Chrome this week. While the “OK Google” search prompt we heard about at the I/O event is not yet available, Google is attempting to have relevant conversations with users.
Google's Top Charts Offer Engaging Visuals for Popular Searches Over Time

Jessica Lee

23 May 2013 | 11:45 am

Google has added a new visual feature in Google Trends that allows users to explore trending people, places, and things over time, back to 2004. Interactive charts are sharable, allowing users to highlights data that’s interesting to them.

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog
Penguin 2.0/4 - Were You Jarred and/or Jolted?

Dr. Pete

24 May 2013 | 6:07 am

Posted by Dr. Pete The long-awaited Penguin 2.0 (also called "Penguin 4") rolled out on Wednesday, May 22nd. Rumor has been brewing for a while that the next Penguin update would be big, and include significant algorithm changes, and Matt Cutts has suggested more than once that major changes are in the works. We wanted to give the dust a day to settle, but this post will review data from our MozCast Google weather stations to see if Penguin 2.0 really lives up to the hype. Short-Term MozCast Data First things first - the recorded temperature (algorithm "flux") for May 22nd…
Conducting Market Research Before Investing in Tactical Execution - Whiteboard Friday

randfish

23 May 2013 | 1:19 pm

Posted by randfish The phrase "look before you leap" has never been more true! Before you start investing in tactics, it's important to do your market research. Many businesses are tempted to dive into the details before answering the bigger questions, like who their customers are, how those customers make purchase decisions, where their potential users are on the web, and how customers may choose between similar companies and offerings. In today's Whiteboard Friday, Rand discusses why building out a research-based roadmap before you start you building your…
10 Lessons from a 100k Pageview Post

SteKenwright

23 May 2013 | 2:38 am

Posted by SteKenwrightThis post was originally in YouMoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. This kind of thing might happen to Rand all the time, but it’s not often that a digital marketing company based in Leeds gets 100,000+ people reading anything it does (at least on its own site). That’s what unexpectedly happened to us on www.branded3.com a few weeks ago – what essentially started as a rant from some guy having a…
Mozscape in the Wild: How The API is (and Could be) Used

Ryan_Watson

22 May 2013 | 7:52 pm

Posted by Ryan_Watson Did you know that there are over 90 billion URLs are packed into our Mozscape API? That’s a lot of links. So many links, in fact, that it can be daunting to dream up all of the many ways that you could put those links to good use. When we originally built Linkscape (the predecessor to Mozscape), we mainly had one thing in mind... SEO and backlinks. But there’s a whole lot more than that. Links are only the beginning, it’s what those links can tell us that’s so darn interesting. Which is why I wanted to call out all of the amazing ways that…
Decoding Google's Referral String (or, how I surviVED Secure Search)

timresnik

21 May 2013 | 7:42 pm

Posted by timresnik Last week, I held a Mozinar outlining a method to extract SERP vertical -- called Universal Search by Google --- from Google referral strings. Since the Mozinar concluded, the number of people who have reached out with their own theories and ideas has been impressive. I want to post everything that I know here and then leave it up to you folks in the SEOmoz community to start hacking and sharing your insight. For those of you who did not see the Mozinar, you can access it here (voiceover included). You can also download or view the slides without VO on Slideshare here.

Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 24, 2013

Barry Schwartz

24 May 2013 | 12:59 pm

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the Web. From Search Engine Land: Google Glass Diary, Part 4: Local Search & Navigation Remember that first Google Glass video? It was published a little more than a year ago and gave the... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google Glass Diary, Part 4: Local Search & Navigation

Matt McGee

24 May 2013 | 9:32 am

Remember that first Google Glass video? It was published a little more than a year ago and gave the world its first glimpse at what Google had in mind for Glass. Even though Google described it as “an early concept video,” you can clearly see that local search and navigation was a key... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Search In Pics: Google Robots With Lightsaber‎s, Bloomberg Cutting Google Cake & The Simpsons Street View

Barry Schwartz

24 May 2013 | 9:03 am

In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the Web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more. Android Bathroom Signs: Source: Google+ Bike To Work Day At Google Germany:... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Google Voice Search Coming To iOS, Chrome For Android Gets An Update

Ginny Marvin

24 May 2013 | 7:57 am

Google released a couple of new UI features with the latest Chrome update for Android yesterday and announced that voice search will be coming to Chrome for iOS “soon”. Android Updates With the Android update, the long search URL box is gone and search queries in Chrome display in the... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
5 Excel Skills Every Marketer Should Know

Annie Cushing

24 May 2013 | 6:30 am

One question I get asked a lot is this: what Excel skills are most important for marketers to learn? I have whittled that interminable list down to five skills that I believe are absolutely essential for marketers to know, presented below in order of importance. Table Formatting I believe that... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

SEO Book
Why the Yahoo! Search Revenue Gap Won't Close

Aaron Wall

14 May 2013 | 5:51 am

In spite of Yahoo! accepting revenue guarantees for another year from Microsoft, recently there has been speculation that Yahoo! might want to get out of their search ad deal with Microsoft. I am uncertain if the back channeled story is used as leverage to secure ongoing minimum revenue agreements, or if Yahoo! is trying to set the pretext narrative to later be able to push through a Google deal that might otherwise get blocked by regulators. When mentioning Yahoo!'s relative under-performance on search, it would be helpful to point out the absurd amount of their "search" traffic from the…
Link Madness

PeterD

14 May 2013 | 5:24 am

Link paranoia is off the scale. As the “unnatural link notifications” fly, the normally jittery SEO industry has moved deep into new territory, of late. I have started to wonder if some of these links (there are hundreds since the site is large) may be hurting my site in the Google Algo. I am considering changing most of my outbound links to rel="nofollow". It is not something I want to do but ... “ We’ve got site owners falling to their knees, confessing to be link spammers, and begging for forgiveness. Even when they do, many sites don’t return. Some sites have been returned, but…
Measuring Social Media

PeterD

2 May 2013 | 5:08 am

Measuring PPC and SEO is relatively straightforward. But how do we go about credibly measuring social media campaigns, and wider public relations and audience awareness campaigns? As the hype level of social media starts to fall, then more questions are asked about return on investment. During the early days of anything, the hype of the new is enough to sustain an endeavor. People don't want to miss out. If their competitors are doing it, that's often seen as good enough reason to do it, too. You may be familiar with this graph. It's called the hype cycle and is typically used to demonstrate…
Getting Granular With User Generated Content

Aaron Wall

23 Apr 2013 | 5:11 pm

The stock market had a flash crash today after someone hacked the AP account & made a fake announcement about bombs going off at the White House. Recently Twitter's search functionality has grown so inundated with spam that I don't even look at the brand related searches much anymore. While you can block individual users, it doesn't block them from showing up in search results, so there are various affiliate bots that spam just about any semi-branded search. Of course, for as spammy as the service is now, it was worse during the explosive growth period, when Twitter had fewer than 10…
Experiment Driven Web Publishing

PeterD

8 Apr 2013 | 10:22 pm

Do users find big headlines more relevant? Does using long text lead to more, or less, visitor engagement? Is that latest change to the shopping cart going to make things worse? Are your links just the right shade of blue? If you want to put an end to tiresome subjective arguments about page length, or the merits of your clients latest idea, which is to turn their website pink, then adopting an experimental process for web publishing can be a good option. If you don’t currently use an experiment-driven publishing approach, then this article is for you. We’ll look at ways to bake…

Search Engine Journal
Why Offline Businesses Need Online Marketing by @BrandMeAU

Eric Thomas

25 May 2013 | 7:00 am

You have a local based brick and mortar business, so no reason to invest in online marketing, right? Location based businesses couldn’t be more wrong. Do not miss out on sales and customers by ignoring or avoiding online marketing. One of the key principles of business is to be where your target audience is looking [...]Author informationEric ThomasEric Thomas is blogger and Brand Manager for Brandme.com.au, a promotional gifts supplier in Australia. He enjoys sharing business and marketing tips.TwitterFacebookThe post Why Offline Businesses Need Online Marketing by @BrandMeAU appeared…
The Inconvenient Truth About SEO

Krystian Włodarczyk

24 May 2013 | 1:00 pm

Matt Cutts published a video with a very interesting topic recently. He discussed the question, if a legitimate and customer appreciated business can compete in gaining high rankings in the search engines with companies that specialize in traffic acquisition. Can they? As stated in the video, the Internet leveled the chances of big and small [...]Author informationKrystian WłodarczykKrystian is an Internet Marketing Manager at Positionly. He is also a contributor to the Positionly Blog. Positionly is user-friendly SEO software designed to track and analyze search engine rankings.The post…
This Week in Search: Penguin 2.0 Video Update by @johnrampton

John Rampton

24 May 2013 | 10:20 am

This week in search we talk about everything to deal with Penguin 2.0. We cover everything you need to know to keep you and your site up to date. If you missed, last week we talked about Bing Search. Penguin 2.0, here is everything you need to know. Our goal with these videos is to help our [...]Author informationJohn RamptonManaging Editor John Rampton is an entrepreneur, full-time computer nerd, PPC guru at Maple North and founder at PPC.org.TwitterFacebookGoogle+LinkedInThe post This Week in Search: Penguin 2.0 Video Update by @johnrampton appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
The Best Free SEO Tools for Competitive Intelligence by @MarcPurtell

Marc Purtell

24 May 2013 | 6:00 am

Knowing what your competitors are doing and how they perform is key to developing a strategy to surpass them in organic search. By doing a bit of digging, one can uncover a great deal of learning from competitors who have already tested different elements of their SEO campaigns. In previous posts in this series, I [...]Author informationMarc PurtellHead of SEO at MediaWhizMarc Purtell is director of SEO at performance marketing agency Media Whiz and its SEO ingredient service, TLA. He can be reached at mpurtell@mediawhiz.com.TwitterGoogle+The post The Best Free SEO Tools for Competitive…
5 Things You Need to Know About AdWords’ New Keyword Planner by @LarryKim

Larry Kim

23 May 2013 | 1:00 pm

Google’s AdWords Keyword Tool has been the standard for AdWords keyword research for over a decade, but there’s a new sheriff in town: the AdWords Keyword Planner. This new keyword tool combines the functionality of the existing Google Keyword Tool as well as AdWords Traffic Estimator into a single integrated workflow to help advertisers find [...]Author informationLarry KimLarry Kim is the Founder/CTO of WordStream, a provider of PPC Management Tools.Google+The post 5 Things You Need to Know About AdWords’ New Keyword Planner by @LarryKim appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

ClickZ News
Jennifer Lopez Launches Viva Movil for Latino Audience

24 May 2013 | 1:14 pm

Jennifer Lopez launched a new mobile brand aimed at the Latino market that she describes as the first social shopping and social commerce environment in wireless.
AT&T Readies Trove of Data for Cross-Channel Ad Targeting

24 May 2013 | 11:30 am

AT&T AdWorks, a burgeoning advertising network that reaches across mobile, online, and television, is entering the next phase in cross-channel ad targeting.
Google Lets Brands Instantly Benchmark Ads

24 May 2013 | 10:25 am

Google says that the new benchmarking tool will help marketers build context around their display ads and compare their own performance to relevant data points.
Responsys Interact Provides Cross-Channel Profiles, Prefs

24 May 2013 | 7:00 am

Responsys has announced Interact Marketing Cloud, a platform aimed at letting companies stay in touch with customers as they move across digital channels.
Walmart Taps Mobile to 'Reinvent Capabilities With Mass Appeal'

24 May 2013 | 5:00 am

Walmart is using mobile to transform the entire retail shopping experience from pre-trip planning and shopping lists to the eventual shopping trip and checkout process.

Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO
Penguin 2.0 rolled out today

Matt Cutts

22 May 2013 | 5:34 pm

We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more webspam will see more impact. This is the fourth Penguin-related launch Google has done, but because this is an updated algorithm (not just a data refresh), we’ve been referring to this change as Penguin 2.0 internally.
What to expect in SEO in the coming months

Matt Cutts

13 May 2013 | 9:17 am

We just recently taped a new round of webmaster videos, and I thought this video deserved a full-fledged blog post. This is my rough estimate (as of early May 2013) of what search engine optimizers (SEOs) and webmasters should expect in the next few months: Bear in mind that this is a very rough estimate, because priorities, projects, and timing can change based on a lot of different factors. But I hope this gives folks a ballpark idea of what to expect in the coming months as far as what my team is working on.
Email backlog

Matt Cutts

12 May 2013 | 11:59 pm

This is a “hairball” post you can ignore. However, this post does trace my thinking about how to scale webmaster communication. Part of me wants to start answering questions I get via email by stripping out the identifying information and then replying with a blog post. Instead of one person getting a single reply, everybody could see what the answer is. I spent most of the past week tackling my horrendous email backlog. At the start of the weekend, I was just touching 500 unread emails. I got it down to 218 unread emails and 264 total emails in my inbox. Of course, the ones that…
The dangers of productivity porn

Matt Cutts

12 May 2013 | 11:58 pm

A quick “hairball” post about how sometimes it’s better to just go with the flow. I like how xkcd made this point with a chart of whether it’s worth the time to fix something that’s bugging you. I have a friend who is mechanical engineer. A few years ago he took me for a tour of his workplace that ended in his office. As I looked at his workstation, something leapt out at me. My friend had never changed his background screen. Whatever the computer came with by default, that’s what he was using. With this simple act of indifference, my friend taught me an…
My wife keeps me grounded

Matt Cutts

12 May 2013 | 11:51 pm

This is a harmless “hairball” post I had as a draft. Me: Hey, they added me to popurls.com! My wife: Never heard of it. (pause) Had you heard of it before? Me: Yeah. Wife: Really? Me: Yeah! Wife: (with an extra helping of sarcasm) Really? Me: Yes! Wife: (dripping with condescension) You’re a very important man.

Bruce Clay Blog
How to Do Keyword Research: A 6-Point Checklist

Chelsea Adams

24 May 2013 | 11:30 am

How to Do Keyword Research: A 6-Point Checklist was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.Open a landing page on your website. Describe what it offers in three to five words. If you are able to think of not one, but several dozen different three- to five-word combinations that work equally well to describe your landing page and are not sure which one is the best choice, you’re not alone. Words have synonyms. “How do I…” and “How to…” are painfully similar. How do you choose whether to call it “Backpacking Europe,”…
SEO Newsletter May 2013: Rolling out the Red Carpet Edition

Kristi Kellogg

23 May 2013 | 12:06 pm

SEO Newsletter May 2013: Rolling out the Red Carpet Edition was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.This month’s SEO Newsletter: The Red Carpet Edition celebrates some of the top performers in the category of Internet marketing optimization. Among the stars were quality content creation and keyword research. Quality Content In the feature article, Quality Content Delivers Stellar Performance, I take a look at the role quality content plays in all the genres of internet marketing. Advertising, public relations, communications, brand…
Tips for Blog and Social Media Maintenance While on Vacation? Get Out of Town!

Kristi Kellogg

21 May 2013 | 9:00 am

Tips for Blog and Social Media Maintenance While on Vacation? Get Out of Town! was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.Blog and social media maintenance can’t fall through the cracks when you go on vacation. Let the plants die and newspapers stack up if you must, but make sure you don’t neglect your blog and social media platforms; they need to continue providing the quality content that your clients/customers/fans have (hopefully) come to expect. Keep that notebook shut! A best practice for vacationing is to write your blog ahead…
How to Build a Google Analytics Tracking Code

Chelsea Adams

16 May 2013 | 3:11 pm

How to Build a Google Analytics Tracking Code was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips. Need more input? As an optimizer who is regularly looking to learn more about how my recipients are interacting with content, I find myself regularly consuming analytics reports filled with Google Analytics tracking code data like Johnny Number 5 eats the Encyclopedia Britannica in the above clip from the 1986 gem Short Circuit. Google Analytics tracking codes — also know as custom campaigns or UTM codes — are custom tracking parameters that…
How to Make a Graphic-Text Mash-up to Promote Blog Content on Facebook

Virginia Nussey

15 May 2013 | 9:55 am

How to Make a Graphic-Text Mash-up to Promote Blog Content on Facebook was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.I’m in a few Google+ groups focused on SEO, social media and content marketing. The question of what stock photo service to use and where to get free images has come up a couple times. It got me thinking about the process I use to find, modify and use images in my day-to-day. As a community manager and a blogger, I have 2 main needs for images: Including them in BCI blog posts to break up text and add visual interest Posting…

Free Weekly Search Engine Optimization SEO News
Official Google information: what to expect from Google in the coming months

21 May 2013 | 7:36 am

Spammers beware! This summer, Google is going after black-hat and link spammers. Google’s Matt Cutts announced 9 things that Google will do within the next months. How do these changes affect the position of your web pages in Google’s search results and what can you do to protect your rankings?
Why linking to other websites can help your Google rankings

14 May 2013 | 7:36 am

Many people are not aware that links to other websites can have a positive influence on the rankings of their web pages on Google. Understanding this ranking factor will help you to improve the position of your pages on Google's search result pages.
Google: the top 5 SEO mistakes that webmasters make

7 May 2013 | 7:36 am

In an online video, Google's Matt Cutts revealed the most common SEO mistakes that webmasters make. Avoid these mistakes if you want to get high rankings on Google.
Web page optimization tip: don't fall for fake Google results

30 Apr 2013 | 7:36 am

Do you sometimes get search results that are unexpected and hard to explain? The reason for that might be that Google displays fake search results to fool spammers. This has a major influence on how you should optimize your web pages.
A new search engine challenges Google

23 Apr 2013 | 7:36 am

A new search engine tries to challenge Google. It doesn't rely on backlinks and it actually delivers good results. Could this be a real alternative to Google? How can you make sure that your website will be found in this search engine?

SEO by the Sea
How Google May Rank Web Sites Based on Quality Ratings

Bill Slawski

15 May 2013 | 8:34 pm

Google was granted a patent this week that describes how web sites might be given quality ratings, based upon a model that looks at human ratings for a sample set of sites, and web site signals from those sites. The patent tells us that the advantage of such an approach would be to: Provide [...]The post How Google May Rank Web Sites Based on Quality Ratings appeared first on SEO by the Sea.
Avoiding Misinformation While Learning from Search Related Patents

Bill Slawski

12 May 2013 | 1:24 pm

On May 1st, Google’s Head of Webspam Matt Cutts published a video in his series of Google Webmaster Help videos, answering the question, “What’s the latest SEO misconception that you would like to put to rest?” For some reason, Matt decided to focus upon patents, with a video about people possibly placing too much faith [...]The post Avoiding Misinformation While Learning from Search Related Patents appeared first on SEO by the Sea.
How Google Decides What to Know in Knowledge Graph Results

Bill Slawski

9 May 2013 | 3:15 am

A transformation was triggered at Google with their announcement of the Knowledge Graph in the Official Google Blog post, Introducing the Knowledge Graph: things, not strings. That transformation was one less concerned with matching keywords, and more concerned with matching concepts, understanding entities, and bringing knowledge about entities to searchers in knowledge panels next to [...]The post How Google Decides What to Know in Knowledge Graph Results appeared first on SEO by the Sea.
With Wavii, Did Google Acquire the Future of Web Search?

Bill Slawski

6 May 2013 | 10:06 pm

Google acquired the company Wavii for a little more than $ 30 Million in April. There was some speculation that Wavii was an effort to match Yahoo’s purchase of Summly, which summarizes news from the Web. A Wavii app did do just that – acquired and summarized news from the Web. When Wavii [...]The post With Wavii, Did Google Acquire the Future of Web Search? appeared first on SEO by the Sea.
Google Acquires More Wearable Computing Glasses Patents

Bill Slawski

4 May 2013 | 6:05 pm

One of the more interesting discussions about Google Glass I’ve seen recently was in a forum where one of the participants was describing his own homemade version of Google Glass, which he named “Flass” (if someone at Google happens to be reading this, you should send him a pair of Google Glass, just because.) What [...]The post Google Acquires More Wearable Computing Glasses Patents appeared first on SEO by the Sea.

Coconut Headphones
The Perfect Landing Page – Found on the Back of a U-Haul Truck

Ted Ives

20 May 2013 | 9:20 am

I was driving back from New Hampshire yesterday after hiking to the top of Mt. Jackson with a Scout Troop, when I saw a U-haul truck with a very interesting advertisement on the back. You can click on the picture to enlarge it – it’s an ad for a partner of U-Haul called “eMove”…the URL...»
Help Make ‘The Best SEO News Site On The Planet’ Even Better!

Ted Ives

23 Apr 2013 | 6:05 am

Help Me Make The Best SEO News Site On The Planet Even Better!
Thoughtful Commenting for SEO: The Complete Guide

Ted Ives

8 Dec 2012 | 9:19 am

Commenting in a thoughtful manner can be a great way to engage with your audience and peers, build links, and even garner click-through traffic. I’m *not* talking here about spamming WordPress blogs with thousands of auto-generated comments using automated tools. “Thoughtful” commenting, as I call it, adds value to the conversation, and makes the internet...»
Website Redesign Considerations for SEO and PPC

Ted Ives

15 Aug 2012 | 8:36 pm

Many of my clients tend to start out an engagement by making various website changes, and often they are even already in the middle of, or about to embark on, a complete website redesign. There are numerous articles and books about how to optimize website designs, but for SEO and Paid Search, there seem to...»
How to Set Up Your Very Own Cloud Windows Server for SEO

Ted Ives

11 Jun 2012 | 12:50 pm

SEO Tools, particularly website audit ones like Xenu Link Sleuth or PowerMapper SortSite, can sometimes take a long time to run when examining particularly large websites. Occasionally you may even need to reboot your machine for some other reason, which then ruins some particular run of these tools, forcing you to start over. I recently...»

Cre8pc, by Kim Krause Berg, Usability & User Interface Analyst, Internet Marketing Ninjas
No. I Will NOT Respond to Your Disavow Link Paranoia. Bug Off!

cre8pc

10 May 2013 | 10:22 am

Google has created a circus of sad-faced SEO clowns jumping through hoops trying to get rid of “bad” links to their web sites. This is why I never ever chose to be a slave to search engines and chose the human side of the web experience over the algorithm changing lead-line approach where every site owner is pulled along under the threat of low rank, poor PR scores and penalization. The first disavow link removal request I got was a “mistake”. They messed with the wrong woman. This one has me stumped. You have the following links on your website that points to a page…
Andy Beal Interviews Kim Krause Berg, Usability Analyst for Internet Marketing Ninjas

cre8pc

6 Apr 2013 | 3:19 pm

The new series, The Beal Deal, features interviews by Andy Beal that are run on Saturday’s for a relaxing read. Today’s post features my interview. Andy has known me for most of my career. We’ve “grown up” in this biz together. In fact, Andy was one of the handful of people in the search marketing industry who understood the benefit of offering usability and user experience practices along with online marketing services. Twelve years ago, I could count on about seven SEO’s to support my holistic approach to client work. The interview covers my…
UserTesting.com Adds Kim Krause Berg to Forms Treasure Trove

cre8pc

5 Apr 2013 | 4:27 pm

Forms on websites are one of the usability conversions topics I write about and one of my favorite areas to test because they always have issues. From understandability to readability to ease of use, online forms are famously frustrating to use and easy to spam. Designers will love this new resource from my friends at UserTesting.com And yes, they even added one of my how-to pieces for forms design. The Form Usability Treasure Trove: 42 Top Resources Web Site Usability For Improving Online Forms Beat Your Competition – Ask for User Interface Conversions Testing I also write for…
Conversions and Gurus Rant

cre8pc

5 Apr 2013 | 10:35 am

It’s time for me to back away from the Internet again. The things that some SEO’s say and do are as obnoxious as the situation was during the birth of the public Internet. Give us a break! Gurus If you are to believe the claims, there are at least 2 billion SEO self-proclaimed “guru” SEO’s on the planet. This means that 2 billion SEO’s know everything there is to know about search engine marketing, past – present – future. They’ll make you rich, powerful, famous and do all that for cheap and by using every possible spam technique…
Web Site Usability Rant

cre8pc

4 Apr 2013 | 7:01 pm

Sooner or later the one last hope for a successful web site design is slashed by managers who, frankly, have no freaking idea what they’re doing. People don’t use web sites. Bots do! And with visions of search engine bots dancing in their heads, they ride into budget meetings like Knights fighting for Camelot, swearing allegiance to shareholders and the mighty King CEO. Because, you see, throwing money on PPC campaigns is sorta like sprinkling fairy dust across the land and expecting riches, the loyalty of the peasant web site users and a brand with such achievements and…

Search Engine Watch - Latest
Ecommerce Title Tags: Top 5 Ways to Increase Clicks

Amanda Massello

24 May 2013 | 6:30 am

The first steps of commerce take place within the search results. Give consumers a better sense of offers and pricing with your title tags. By exposing more information up front, sites can better align with the right consumer and get more clicks.
Guest Blogging vs. Guest Posting – Imagine A World Without Links

Andy Betts

24 May 2013 | 5:30 am

For months, debate has raged about the merits of guest posting, the relationship between content and links, backlinks, publishers and signature links, guest posting, and comments. It's time to shed a little clarity on the subject in a simple format.
5 Content Lessons & SEO Opportunities From Bloomingdale's

Christina Zila

24 May 2013 | 4:30 am

Bloomingdale's is a leader in fashion in the brick and mortar world. But how does a store with history back to the 1800s adapt to the new online world? Let's look at a few tactics Bloomingdale's uses in content marketing and a few SEO opportunities.
Google Talks Back: Conversational Search Available on New Version of Chrome

Jessica Lee

23 May 2013 | 1:30 pm

Google conversational search rolled out on the new version of Chrome this week. While the “OK Google” search prompt we heard about at the I/O event is not yet available, Google is attempting to have relevant conversations with users.
Google's Top Charts Offer Engaging Visuals for Popular Searches Over Time

Jessica Lee

23 May 2013 | 11:45 am

Google has added a new visual feature in Google Trends that allows users to explore trending people, places, and things over time, back to 2004. Interactive charts are sharable, allowing users to highlights data that’s interesting to them.

SEO Theory
Why Google Cannot Stop You From Spamming Search Engines

Michael Martinez

15 May 2013 | 5:00 am

As the Web marketing world braces for the onslaught of new Google anti-spam measures newly published research into economics has provided some interesting insights into why the arms race between search engines and Web marketers will never end. We will begin with a report from Alpha Galileo. Digital Piracy is More Widespread Than Previously Believed According to the study, millions of machines scattered across the world are involved in widespread digital piracy on a scale previously unimagined. The authors chose to focus only on downloadable computer games, as that market is large but still…
Link Building Strategies for 2013

Michael Martinez

6 May 2013 | 5:00 am

You are offered a position with a great company that pays well, has a fantastic health plan, incredible bonuses and personal time options, and it’s conveniently located close to home so you don’t have to suffer through long commutes in crowded traffic. The only catch is that you have to promote a Website without links. In fact, you are expected to bring in 1,000,000+ visitors a month without using links. “Links” is defined as “any hypertext link that would normally be used by a search engine to find and rank content within its index for one or more…
The Problem With Search Engine Optimization: It Scales Too Easily

Michael Martinez

3 May 2013 | 5:00 am

Someone once told me that venture capitalists don’t want to invest in traditional SEO agencies because “SEO doesn’t scale”. If The Wall Street Journal is to be believed, 3 out of 4 start ups (companies seeking venture capital at some point) fail. In a follow-up to the WSJ article
How to Design a Competitive Intelligence Dashboard I Would Use

Michael Martinez

2 May 2013 | 5:00 am

Did you know that the original meaning of oxymoron was “pointedly foolish”? The word’s roots are Greek: oxys “sharp” and moros “stupid”. In search engine marketing, Competitive intelligence is an oxymoron. Competitive intelligence is a strategic game. Once you start playing that game you risk losing all your advantage by sharing what you do. We like to say there are no secrets in search engine optimization. You have your on page stuff and your off page stuff and then there is the search engine guidelines stuff. But the truth is that analysis is the…
Which SEO Tools Should You Use and When?

Michael Martinez

29 Apr 2013 | 5:00 am

SEO tools are the much beloved First Children of the search engine optimization industry. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have a favorite tool, a list of favorite tools, or who doesn’t have some anecdote about some SEO tool. Sooner or later everyone tries one or more tools. Many people fall in love with them. We turn to tools to save time, money, and frustration. Every tool vendor tells you they are solving a problem and giving you a critical advantage. Every tool tutorial is trying to sell you something. It’s the tutorials, reviews, and recommendations you have…

The Search Agents
Grant’s Rants – Penguin 2.0

Taylor deDiego

23 May 2013 | 3:40 pm

We are excited to introduce a new blog series called “Grant’s Rants”, where The Search Agency’s Director of SEO, Grant Simmons, rants and raves about the current search marketing landscape. You can expect short videos about Google’s algorithm updates, search marketing conference recaps, search marketing news, and some British humor on a weekly basis. This week, Grant rants about Penguin 2.0 from the comfort of his car. Here are his thoughts on Google’s recent algorithm update and the effect of Penguin on marketers.
Gmail Money Transfers: One You Won’t Want Going to the Spam Folder

Nathan Mikami

22 May 2013 | 9:47 am

Having moved to the UK from the US four years ago I can say with confidence that the most difficult part has been trying to completely understand the foreign culture. There have been many conversations that I’ve just simply not had the ability to stay involved in; I got lost on the word “knackered” and I didn’t understand who these “punters” were at the local pub – did they just go around kicking things? But eventually it all began to make more sense; I remembered to look the other way when crossing the road and randomly started to greet people by saying “Hiya” (this is…
Insights from the SMX Twitter Stream – 140 Character Bites from SMX London

Grant Simmons

21 May 2013 | 11:01 am

I spent last week at SMX London, a gathering of European search marketers and brands, learning and contributing to the development of better search and social practices and process. The conference was abuzz with Google news, due to Matt Cutts’ (Google web spam team lead) announcements and the Google I/O conference taking place halfway around the world. And as an active participant in Twitter, I thought it would be valuable to share some of these live tweets to give insights into the presentation themes, all in bite–sized twitter chunks! Note: I ended up being the most prolific of…
Search Marketing for Subscription Businesses

Alec Green

15 May 2013 | 10:40 am

The recurring-revenue business model is certainly not a new one. Newspapers, magazines, country clubs, cable television, and the infamous Columbia House Music Club (12 CDs for the price of 1!) have all used various forms of subscriptions to earn a steady, predictable revenue stream from their customer base. And the allure of this pricing structure is rather obvious. Companies can significantly reduce their total marketing expenditure if they don’t have to acquire, and then re-acquire the same customers to make the same purchase. Customers that are willing to commit to a…
5 Takeaways from the iMedia Agency Summit

Delia Perez

14 May 2013 | 12:06 pm

Last week I attended iMedia’s Agency Summit, where agency professionals gathered to discuss agency evolution and media progression. With a focus on big data and the balance between strategy and media technology, this year’s summit presentations and panel discussions were grounded in a conversation around the integration (or lack thereof) between creativity and data. Presenters highlighted the thesis that there is still a long way to go before we can call the marriage of data and creative a success, and offered recommendations/predictions of how the two will successfully come together…

stuntdubl.com
7 Awesome Reasons to Go to the Interactivity Digital Conference Next Week

Stuntdubl SEO

7 May 2013 | 3:48 pm

1. Pubcon SFIMA is the day before!!!! 2. There’s a boat ride on the biscayne lady involved – thanks to Jon and crew. 3. Melissa will make fun of me for talking about fishing, and I will talk about links. 4. Rand Fishkin – the president of SEOMOZ…SEO…Inbound marketing….Moz.com will be telling us all about secret marketing awesome sauce (it’s what he eats.) If you’re really lucky, you may even meet Geraldine. 5. Marty, Peter, Simon, Alan, Annie, Andy, Larry, Mark, Greg, Loren, Mike, Victoria, and many more great folks will be there. 6. The…
Interview w/ Jennifer Evans Cario on Pinterest and Social Media

JennCario

27 Feb 2013 | 9:38 am

1. What are your favorite free or low-cost social media monitoring tools? The truth is, there are tons and tons of great tools out there available at free or close to free. The only way to really know what will work well for you is to test them. I’ve long been a fan of SocialMention.com for getting a quick overview of the conversation and of Google Alerts for getting quick and easy updates on new spidered social content. The problem is these still don’t give you a full picture. You need to also spend time learning about the tools that apply directly to your channels of choice. For…
Interview w/ Brett Tabke, CEO Pubcon on IA and Site Organization

Brett Tabke

5 Feb 2013 | 9:56 am

1. What are the most important considerations when creating a website information architecture? First, don’t reinvent the wheel. Spend the most amount of time looking at the software you are going to use to produce your site. Look for a good off-the-shelf Content Management System (CMS). Almost all of the modern CMS’s contain good URL layout structure with associated keyword usage by design. Those packages and their design features are well understood by the search engines. For the actual nuts-and-bolts layout of the site, I would think in terms of the classic Theme…
Link Building Is Like…

Stuntdubl SEO

29 Jan 2013 | 9:55 am

I’ve always used the analogy that link building is a bit like fishing. This has been for a handful of reasons: You need reliable hooks and good bait You have to understand the climate/ weather A great team catches together If you want quality, it takes time and practice Experience is the best teacher Strategy evolves with experience I’ve even went as far as to build the “P.E.S.C.A.R Process” for teaching link building at MarketMotive. PESCAR is Spanish for “to fish”, as well as a handy acronym for teaching these concepts: Process Strategy Equity Education Site Prospecting Strategy…
Interview w/ Chris Boggs of SEMPO on Hiring Ad Agencies

Chris Boggs

23 Jan 2013 | 7:06 am

1. What questions should a company ask their SEO Agency? As organizations continue to see the value in SEO, many are using agencies or consultants to support those goals, due to lack of strong internal acumen, or simply the resource and time requirements to strategize and implement proper ongoing SEO program. I would split this answer into two categories, but you shouldn’t be afraid to ask from each bucket. Of course many customized questions arise as related to the industry or particular situation. I will assume that the basics will be asked, in terms of SEO processes, focus areas between…

Powered By Search
Search Tips of the Week: Nudge, SEO, and Market Research

Alex Rascanu

24 May 2013 | 12:54 pm

This post has been syndicated from Powered by Search, a Toronto SEO & Inbound Marketing agency. This week’s search tips of the week cover the latest Google Algorithm update, the power of nudges, modern technical SEO, a guide to advanced search operators, and the relevance of market research. Penguin Spam Report - If you see a spam site that is still ranking after the latest Penguin webspam algorithm, here’s where you can tell Google about it. The Power of The Nudge: How to Convert Visitors Into Customers - Words have a lot of power. An addition of a word or a removal of one can…
5 Quick Ways to Build a Better Business Blog

Brittney Stephenson

24 May 2013 | 8:00 am

This post has been syndicated from Powered by Search, a Toronto SEO & Inbound Marketing agency. You heard about the benefits of business blogging and decided to create one for your own company, but now you’re not seeing the results you wanted. Don’t take this as a sign that you should abandon the project altogether! Blogging takes time and dedication (no blog is going to become a success overnight), and whether you’ve been at it for a few weeks, or a few years, there are number of things you can do to help get the most out of your blog. Here are 5 actionable tips you can…
Creating Content People Love: Content Marketing Ideas Perfect For Your Audience [INFOGRAPHIC]

Karen Yu

23 May 2013 | 8:30 am

This post has been syndicated from Powered by Search, a Toronto SEO & Inbound Marketing agency. It’s no doubt that businesses from any sector could use some content marketing magic. If you still believe that your business is in an industry that could only benefit from traditional marketing- think again. What the Statistics Say “91% of B2B companies use content marketing. 86% of B2C companies use content marketing.” (Content Marketing Institute) A majority of both B2B and B2C companies are devoting time and resources into content marketing. This essentially means that…
How to Run a Successful Video Conference: Featuring Google Hangout and GoToWebinar

Chris Perreira Jardine

22 May 2013 | 8:30 am

This post has been syndicated from Powered by Search, a Toronto SEO & Inbound Marketing agency. Hello? Can you hear me? I can’t hear you! Hello… Hello? I can see your mouth moving … no audio…I’m having some technical difficulties..one moment…is this better?.. hello?…hello? Does this sound remotely familiar? I am willing to bet that everyone has encountered this highly irritating occurrence at some point in their professional careers. Regardless, if you have been on the receiving or broadcasting end of communication; this catastrophe has proven to…
#InboundTO Meetup Recap: Generate Demand and Nurture Leads Solving the Riddle

Chris Perreira Jardine

21 May 2013 | 12:04 pm

This post has been syndicated from Powered by Search, a Toronto SEO & Inbound Marketing agency. Last Thursday May 16th, the 5th Inbound Marketing Toronto meetup provided us with a wealth of valuable marketing knowledge. Marc Nashaat, an Inbound Marketing Consultant at Powered by Search, spoke about conversion rate optimization. Arun Kamoji, an Email Marketing Manager at salesforce.com showed us the in’s and out’s of email marketing. Dan Radu, Marketing Automation Consultant for Macromator, did a remarkable job discussing marketing automation. Around fifty digital marketing…

Marketing Pilgrim - Internet News and Opinion
Infographic Shows People Are Two-Timing on Their TV Sets

Cynthia Boris

24 May 2013 | 2:29 pm

Memorial Day means the start of the summer blockbuster movie season. This weekend, we’ll all be getting Fast and Furious again along with another Hangover. Next month, Superman returns to the big screen and in July the Lone Ranger rides again. But if you prefer not to fight the crowds, you can also stay home and watch some of the best movies (or the worst if that’s your thing) on your PC or mobile device. In honor of this holiday weekend, here’s a look at how men and women stream from M-Go. What a terrible blow for TV sets all over America. They probably have no idea how…
What and When Do Social Moms Share

Cynthia Boris

24 May 2013 | 1:28 pm

One of the great truths of social media is that moms like to share and they’re powerful influencers when they get behind (or are annoyed by) a brand. We know it’s true but we keep studying it to make sure the world hasn’t slipped sideways. The latest fact checkers are ShareThis and Digitas. They surveyed 200,000 moms (that’s a nice sampling, don’t you think?) to find out how they interact with social. The packed their results into a slide show called “Wired for Sharing” and now I’d like to share a couple of key slides. Think moms are all about…
Jon Stewart on Apple Tax ‘Hearing’

Frank Reed

24 May 2013 | 5:00 am

As Jon Stewart starts to get much less partisan in his skewering of the day’s news he is getting funnier than ever. Here is his take on the Apple tax ‘issue’ in which the company is using legitimate tax loopholes to pay nothing on $44 billion in income. (NOTE: If video window does not show completely at first refresh browser and ‘Poof!’ there it is) The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Tax Men – Apple www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Indecision Political Humor The Daily Show on Facebook
Google Reportedly Facing FTC Probe on Display Advertising Tactics

Frank Reed

24 May 2013 | 4:35 am

Google looks like it will probably be hiring yet again in their legal department. Well, there is no announcement to that effect but considering the number of countries stepping up to the plate to take a swing at the company for search and display tactics they are probably going to need the help. Bloomberg is reporting that the FTC is looking into Google’s way of promoting its DoubleClick platform vs the other display ad platform options that exist. Once again there seems to be this idea that Google is a public utility even though it is a private company but anyway. From Bloomberg we get…
Facebook Users Watched 740 Million Videos in April. . And Only Came in Second

Cynthia Boris

23 May 2013 | 3:36 pm

If you think 740 million video views sounds like a lot, prepare yourself for a shock. According to the latest comScore Video Metrix’s report, YouTube visitors (in combination with other Google properties) watched 13 billion videos in April. Yes, billion with a ‘b’. What’s really fascinating is the rate of the climb. Look at these charts for April and February. In three months, the list, particularly in number of videos viewed is incredible. In February, Facebook had just crossed the half a million mark. Now, they’re almost at 750 million. The difference in the…

Search Engine People Blog
What Chris Hadfield Did Right (And You Can Too!)

Carla Barker

24 May 2013 | 10:25 am

As television was to the man walking on the moon in 1969, Social Media is to Commander Chris Hadfield's 5-month stint on the International Space Station (ISS). Evan and Kyle Hadfield, Chris' sons, began preaching the merits of Social Media at a family gathering in 2009 and again when it was announced that Dad would be on the 5-month mission to the ISS. It all began by setting up two social profiles, one on Twitter, the other on Facebook. In January 2011 he had 1,000 Twitter followers and 600 Facebook friends. Today, Chris Hadfield has garnered almost a million followers on Twitter…
Using Buzzstream's BuzzBar With Link Prospector

Wayne Barker

24 May 2013 | 6:25 am

BuzzStream has always been a great tool for collecting and organising your link prospecting and outreach. It did, however, suffer a little in the fact that you had to navigate away from it to qualify the sites that you had on your list. This resulted in a lot of back and forth as you checked the sites and then returned to Buzzstream to pop in your newly discovered information. This was addressed in March when the guys added a new tool in the BuzzBar allowing you to qualify possible outreach prospects without leaving the Buzzstream interface. This short tutorial shows you how to integrate the…
"Use It Anywhere, Anytime" Web Design : The 5 Power Trends

Nigel Ayow

23 May 2013 | 10:25 am

We no longer create websites that have fixed size layouts of 960px wide. With an ever-growing range and variety of different screen sizes we now create websites that visually look great no matter what device they are viewed on: Responsive Design. What are the current trends in web design that would give your website the edge amongst your competitors? Here is a collection of new web trends we can expect to be on the rise: 1. Landing Page Tweaks A hero shot, product benefits, rich content, social media functionality, and above the fold, clear call-to-actions are effective ways of…
How to Write Content for Trending Topics without Being Spammy

Pratik Dholakiya

23 May 2013 | 6:25 am

Businesses will frantically look around for new consumer behavior trends. Will the mobile be the future of the web? How will mobile consumption patterns evolve? What products and services are making it to the top of the consumer mind share? How do you explain eco-trends, more-ism, emerging markets, and new technologies? Or as Trend Watching nudges us to think: what's the full-frontal mega-trend of transparency? What are App-scriptions? Trends are a sure way to latch your content development work on. This kind of content is sure to grab attention, cover new stories, give an interesting…
How To Really Use Twitter Hashtags

Jessica Davis

22 May 2013 | 10:43 am

Twitter users originally used hashtags to categorize and identify their tweets. It became so popular that Twitter decided to integrate it into their platform and improve upon it. Hashtags are now used to categorize tweets, to help twitter users find tweets on certain topics, and to identify trending themes. They are also a great way to get your tweets noticed. If you didn't know yet, a hashtag is a word or phrase that is written without any spaces and prefixed with a '#' symbol. Like so: #example With hashtags used in almost every tweet how do you make sure your tweets stand…

Sugarrae aka Rae Hoffman
It’s Time for Facebook to Start Assuming More Social Responsibilty

Rae Hoffman

22 May 2013 | 12:36 pm

This is a personal rant I feel compelled to share. This morning I came across an Amber Alert on Facebook that was shared by someone I’m connected to in my newsfeed. It was a heartbreaking notice of a (local to me) 18 month old child who was abducted after his father allegedly assaulted his mother and then made threats about taking not only his own life, but that of his innocent son as well (*Update – he has since been – thankfully – found safe). I shared it on my wall and thought “why the hell isn’t Facebook doing more”? Why was this official, police…
The 2013 Sugarrae Reader Survey

Rae Hoffman

21 May 2013 | 6:33 am

It’s time for the (now) annual reader survey. This is your chance to tell me a little about you, what you like about the blog, what you don’t like about the blog and what you’d like to see more of (both on the Sugarrae site and on its social presences). Some of the questions appeared on last year’s survey, but several of them are new as well. So I’m asking for five minutes of your time to answer a brief survey and give me your opinions. No identifiable information about you is requested in the survey and I’ve also chosen not to save the IP addresses used to…
Content Marketing is the “Escort” of Online Marketing

Rae Hoffman

13 May 2013 | 8:19 am

Content Marketing. It’s the new buzz word flowing around the Internet marketing community for the last year or so. I’ve been doing this online marketing “thing” for over a decade. When I first heard the phrase “content marketing” I was a little confused. WTF is that? I read the posts explaining it, but it left me even more confused. Why? Because content marketing isn’t a new strategy, it’s merely a new word. Why the fuck do we as an industry feel the need to invent a new buzz word for the same services every few years? We’ve been doing…
Women, Tech Conferences and the BullSh!t Surrounding It

Rae Hoffman

15 Apr 2013 | 9:17 am

Damn it. I try so hard these days to resist doing things that don’t make me money. I really do. But sometimes I make an exception and today is going to be one of those days. Today Debra Mastaler tweeted a link to an article in The Atlantic about the latest up in arms cause in the tech industry – the “bias” against women speakers at tech related conferences. For the record, I love Debra Mastaler. She’s been on SEO conference panels since before there were dozens upon dozens of conferences surrounding the topic and well before anyone started insisting that…
11 Things My Son Taught Me about Life & Business

Rae Hoffman

4 Apr 2013 | 1:29 pm

Yesterday I came across the Complete Guide to Not Giving a Fuck by Julien. I found myself nodding in agreement with each point he made. These were lessons I learned long ago thanks to the most courageous person I’ve ever known – my son CJ. He’s been gone for four months now. But the impact he had – and has – on my life is visible every day in who I am as a person and who I am as an entrepreneur. I learned more from him than I’ve ever learned from anyone and I thought I’d share some of the lessons he taught me below. #11 Not everything in life will go…

Posts about Search Marketing - Organic/Natural (SEO) from the Econsultancy blog
Penguin 2.0: where does SEO go from here?

Kristian Bannister

24 May 2013 | 1:40 am

Matt Cutts announced this week that Google update ‘Penguin 2.0’ has been rolled out and has affected about 2.3% of English-US queries. With Google so keen to cut down on webspam, where does SEO go from here?This is a major update and will likely have an impact on the Google rankings for an abundance of sites. The reason Google is calling this ‘2.0’ when there have in fact been four Penguin updates is because this is the first update of Penguin that has changed the algorithm, instead of a refresh. Matt Cutts: It's a brand new generation of algorithms. The previous iteration of…
Seven core principles digital marketers forget

Pratik Dholakiya

23 May 2013 | 9:11 am

Guy Kawasaki once said: 'If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing. If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing'. We’d like to think that no matter what you have, money or brains or both, inbound marketing is the only kind of marketing that works today. Inbound marketing, by the way, has a lot to do with digital marketing. If you are a digital marketer, you are probably forgetting a few marketing principles. Here are some of them...If you aren’t doing anything remarkable, don’t show up Seth Godin wrote an entire book…
A day in the life of a… Head of Multilingual Search Marketing

Chris Lake

23 May 2013 | 4:30 am

Ed Langley is Head Of Multilingual Search Marketing at Search Laboratory. Here he explains what he does in an average working day. If you're on the hunt for a new challenge - or want to start a career - in search, then do check out the search marketing jobs on the Econsultancy jobs site.Please describe your job! What does a Head Of Multilingual Search Marketing actually do? I head up the multilingual team at Search Laboratory which is made up of 35 mother-tongue linguists from everywhere from China to Denmark to Russia, all working on campaigns in over 35 languages across 18 countries. I am…
The essential small business website checklist

Chris Gilchrist

23 May 2013 | 2:44 am

This checklist is intended to assist small business owners. It outlines the must have elements for your website so you can ensure it has the best chance of succeeding online. This is the first in a short series which aims primarily to benefit small businesses with regards to their websites and online success. Consequently it might also help if you’re a web designer building small sites for businesses on a budget. This small business website checklist will be most relevant for small sites or simple ecommerce sites because it’s a general checklist, but it’s amazing how many bigger (and…
Why your brand needs 'organisation markup'

Andrew Isidoro

23 May 2013 | 2:14 am

Google recently released a blog post outlining how Schema.org organisation mark-up can be used as a way for publishers to tell Google which preferred logo they’d like to appear against their search results. This had previously been available to brands on Google+ but its availability has been extended following a shift in behaviour by the search engines to try and display this information in a completely new way.Organisation mark-up is part of the Schema.org vocabulary which has given us rich snippets such as reviews and event data within the search engines’ results pages. However, Google…

Search Engine Guide : Small Business Search Marketing
How to Recover from Penguin 2.0

23 May 2013 | 9:42 am

by Jayson DeMers Penguin 2.0 has just rolled out. Brace for impact. For the approximate 2.3% regular US-English queries that it affects, many SEOs have been waiting to see if the traffic to their website will be negatively affected. While many black-hat practitioners that were affected by Penguin 1.0 can only hope their rankings don't plunge further into the depths of obscurity, the rest of us are crossing our fingers and hoping that we made it through relatively unscathed. However, if your website was affected by Penguin 2.0, there are a few things you can do to ensure that your website gets…
4 Untapped Link Building Opportunities for Startups

21 May 2013 | 9:40 am

by Brian Dean If you're like most start ups, link building is at the bottom of your overflowing to-do list. Fortunately, you don't need a full-time hire or a pricey SEO firm to bring your site the search engine traffic it needs to thrive. In fact, you only need to set aside a few hours of work per month to take advantage of these these quick and dirty link building opportunities. 1. Turn Brand Mentions Into Links You'd be surprised how often bloggers and media sites mention your site without actually linking to your website. While a mention can help get your name out there, you'll land…
Local SEO - "Rank Factors: Review Sites"

20 May 2013 | 2:35 pm

by Chris Warden Local Search Ranking Factors Review Sites This is an area that is often overlooked by small business owners, but its importance can't be understated. One of the main ranking factors for local listings is reviews, and in order to achieve high rankings you not only have to be on these sites, you have to monitor your reputation there. Bad reviews sink sites. The difference between a "3" star review on Yelp and a "3.5" star review is a 63-percent increase in business. That's just half of a point! Want to increase your business by 60-percent or more with no additional work? Get and…
SEO Principles From Volkswagen: How They Made It Cool Again

16 May 2013 | 11:38 am

by Jayson DeMers Volkswagen has embarked on a new bid to capture an even larger piece of the pie in the American auto marketplace, and Internet marketing techniques are playing a big role in that campaign. Let's face it, if your company was founded by Hitler, you start off with a public relations deficit that to most of us might seem insurmountable. But Volkswagen (German, "people's car") did a spectacular job of erasing that deficit with the Beetle in the 50s and 60s. The company dealt with a threatened slump in the 70s with new models such as the Passat, the Golf, and the Jetta.
Local SEO - "Rank Factors: Places Listing and Social Media"

15 May 2013 | 2:13 pm

by Chris Warden Local Search Ranking Factors Google Places Listing One of the main ranking factors in local search is an optimized listing using some of Google's own properties, most notably Google Places Fill out the standard information first, such as: Business nameAddressPhone numberHours of operationContact emailWebsite address Fill out all the information required. An incomplete profile certainly isn't doing you any favors. Your goal, above all else, is to earn trust from Google so that they rank your site favorably in their local listings. When selecting your business name, don't use…

Online Marketing Blog
Online Marketing News: Biggr Flickr, Kmart Strikes Again, Yahoo Takes A Tumblr, Twitter Cards, Penguin 2 & SEO FUD

Lee Odden

24 May 2013 | 4:02 am

Kmart is at it again with a clever follow up to their highly popular video “Ship My Pants” that has had over 17 million views. The play on words this time is “Big Gas Savings” with over 1 million views in 2 days. Like the Old Spice videos that went ballistic, the question remains: They’re very creative and popular, but will these videos get shoppers in stores and buying at Kmart? Flickr is Biggr. Users now get 1 terabyte of storage. I’ve been a pro Flickr user for many years and during Yahoo’s pre Marissa Mayer days, it had an uncertain future. Now…
In Search of Voodoo: Empathize to Optimize Your Customer’s Journey on the Search & Social Web

Lee Odden

23 May 2013 | 4:06 am

I get to meet a lot of professionals in the marketing, advertising, communications and public relations industries where topics of conversation often revolve around content. Concerns about where to start, what tactics work best, how to plan, produce and promote all come into play right along with staffing, integration with other channels and measurement. Of course, if you try hard enough you can worry yourself out of a job when it comes to developing a solid approach with content marketing. On the one hand, there’s a temptation to spend a lot of time and resources developing “the…
7 Steps to SEO at Scale: How to Ramp Up Your Search Engine Optimization Strategy

Miranda Miller

22 May 2013 | 4:00 am

comScore reports that in April 2013 there were over 20 billion search queries and of the 13 billion+ handled by Google, 16% of daily searches have never been seen before. Each of those attempts represents buyers looking for solutions at the moment of need. Online marketers that take advantage of modern, scalable search engine optimization best practices as part of their overall digital marketing mix can gain a significant advantage over competitors to become “the best answer” when it matters most. Understanding the basics of search engine optimization can be challenging given…
Top 5 Social Media Questions Marketers Want Answered

Lee Odden

21 May 2013 | 7:08 am

What if you could tap into the minds of 3,000 marketers to find out where they stand when it comes to social media marketing? How valuable would it be to know how your peers are handing the time commitments, social media platforms and measurement? Lucky you and lucky me, the answers to those questions are found in today’s 2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report from Michael Stelzner and Social Media Examiner. A few of this year’s social media statistics: 86% of marketers say social media is important for their business 69% plan to increase their use of YouTube 58% of…
Integrating Digital Marketing & PR – Breaking Down Silos Through Content

Lee Odden

20 May 2013 | 5:11 am

For a recent presentation at a corporate communications and PR conference, I polled my network of digital marketing and PR pros working client-side about the most pressing questions they’re dealing with when it comes to integrating Marketing and Public Relations. Since we’ve been working in the digital marketing and PR space at TopRank Marketing for well over 10 years, it was interesting to see the diverse feedback from companies of various sizes and industries. But several themes revealed themselves that I think our readers will relate to. Thanks to feedback from Digital and…

John Battelle's Search Blog
Yahoo! And Tumblr: It’s About Display, Streams & Native at Scale

jbat

19 May 2013 | 4:22 pm

The post Yahoo! And Tumblr: It’s About Display, Streams & Native at Scale appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog.The world is atwitter about Tumblr’s big exit to Yahoo!, and from what I can tell it seems this one is going to really happen (ATD is covering it well). There are plenty of smart and appropriate takes on why this move makes sense (see GigaOm) but I think a lot of it boils down to the trends driving Yahoo’s massive display business. If there’s one thing we all know, it’s that a new form of native advertising is spreading…
Behind the Banner, A Visualization of the Adtech Ecosystem

jbat

13 May 2013 | 7:41 pm

The post Behind the Banner, A Visualization of the Adtech Ecosystem appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog. I’m very proud to announce “Behind the Banner“, a visualization I’ve been producing with Jer Thorp and his team from The Office for Creative Research, underwritten by Adobe as part of the upcoming CM Summit next week. You can read more about it in this release, but the real story of this project starts with my own quest to understand the world of programmatic trading of advertising inventory – a world that at times feels rather like a hot mess,…
These Companies Are Denting the Universe In NY

jbat

10 May 2013 | 7:47 am

The post These Companies Are Denting the Universe In NY appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog. OpenCo NY is just ten or so days away – the opening plenary (for Backstage pass holders and VIPs) is Weds evening, May 22, and the full day of open sessions inside 130+ innovative NY-based companies is the following day, May 23. Consider this post a “curtain raiser” of sorts, with all the information you might need to grok the event and, I hope, participate if you happen to find yourself in NYC for InternetWeek. General admission registration is still open, and I plan…
On Google Glass and OpenCo NYC

jbat

9 May 2013 | 9:12 am

The post On Google Glass and OpenCo NYC appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog.In case you have any interest, here’s a short clip of me opining on Google Glass and the upcoming OpenCoNYC, which is going to be HOT. More on that soon. The post On Google Glass and OpenCo NYC appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog.
Hold Hands or Die Apart

jbat

5 May 2013 | 9:30 pm

The post Hold Hands or Die Apart appeared first on John Battelle's Search Blog.I’ve been a bit slow to update this site lately, as my return to Federated Media, and preparation for the CM Summit and OpenCo NYC, have pretty much eaten up all my time lately. But I did want to repost a few things I have written elsewhere, starting with this article in Ad Age, written two weeks ago. Titled Publishers, Ad-Tech Firms, Marketers Need to Connect, Build Trust (no, I didn’t write that headline, if I was in charge, it might have been “Hold Hands or Die Apart” –…

SMS
Five For Friday — May 20-24, 2013

Frances Mary Krug

24 May 2013 | 11:33 am

Here are five of this week’s most interesting and informative posts and news items for this week: 1. Google’s Penguin Update 2.0: Loser analysis — Of course the big news this week is the announcement of the release of Penguin 2.0 by Google. Early results show that big losers are gaming and porn sites and Searchmetrics has the stats to prove it. 2. Introducing More Useful Pins — the Pinterest blog has details of recent changes that will let you add more info to your boards as well as pin from mobile. For business, the really interesting part is “rich…
5 Trends Of The Burgeoning Ecommerce Revolution

Daryl Logullo

23 May 2013 | 12:32 pm

We’re in the midst of another revolution in online commerce. Much like the first round of dot-com innovation from 1997-2000, another societal shift is happening related to devices, portability, and mobile commerce. Here are five major trends I am seeing, with memes or catchphrase I’ve named. Unlike the dot-com bubble of last decade, these trends are highly unlikely to ever burst. Trend #1: Mobipersonal The mass revolution we’re experiencing everywhere of constant connectivity could be coined a “mobile personal” experience. Devices are portable, go where we go, and provide…
Enhanced Campaigns On Google AdWords: Three Noteworthy Additions

Rebecca Appleton

20 May 2013 | 11:50 am

Earlier this year Google announced that AdWords advertisers would be treated to a much wider range of advertising options and capability. Now available to all, enhanced campaigns are a great way to make PPC dollars work that much harder and more intuitively. Becoming accustomed to enhanced campaigns can take some getting used to. Strategically speaking, they are a little more complex than simply creating an ad group, adding keywords and writing an ad text, but the payoffs are much bigger in terms of relevance, return, and overall performance. So what are enhanced campaigns and what are…
Five For Friday — May 13-17, 2013

Frances Mary Krug

17 May 2013 | 5:41 pm

Here are five of this week’s most interesting and important news and articles centered on online marketing: 1. How to Move Rankings Up On Older, Existing Content – Whiteboard Friday — SEOmoz’s Whiteboard Fridays are almost always worth looking at, but this week’s is particularly useful for anyone who has an older website and has seen their rankings slowly decline. 2. What to expect in SEO in the coming months — You may have only heard about Matt Cutts of Google’s Web Spam team, but you need to listen to him when he talks about what is…
Untangling Google+, Google Profile, And Google Authorship – Part 1

Rebecca Appleton

15 May 2013 | 2:08 pm

Google Plus may be one of the fastest growing social networks ever but it hasn’t been without its problems. One of the biggest complaints leveled at it, certainly from a business perspective, is that it’s quite difficult to get to grips with. It’s surprising because Google Plus actually has quite a lot in common with Facebook – you can have a personal profile, just as you can a personal Facebook account. And you can have a Google Plus business page, just as you can have a Facebook page. There’s also the +1 button which performs much the same function as the Facebook like…

Ask Kalena
40 Tips for Stress-Free Public Speaking

Kalena Jordan

24 May 2013 | 4:19 am

No matter what kind of job you have, or what business you’re in, there comes a time when you are asked to give a presentation in front of a group of people. Now public speaking is something that doesn’t come naturally to most of us and in fact a survey not too long ago found that many people are more terrified of speaking in public than they are of death itself. When asked to choose between death and public speaking, death was the preferred option! Crazy, right? But for those of us with social anxiety, public speaking, even to small groups, can fill us with dread. As an educator…
Search Industry Job of the Week – SEO/SEM Specialist

Sarah Parker

16 May 2013 | 4:21 pm

Job Title: SEO/SEM Specialist Job Reference: Unknown Position Type: Full-Time (on-premise) Name of employer: IGM Creative Group Location: Lincoln Park, NJ Date Posted: 11 May 2013 Position description: IGM Creative Group are an interactive marketing and advertising agency in Lincoln Park. They are in search of a specialist skilled in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Campaigns, and Content Marketing. The ideal candidate will be able to work full-time on-premise and has 2 years professional experience working within an Ad Agency. Essential Duties and Responsibilities 1. Social Media…
Fast Five in Search – Week 20, 2013

Sarah Parker

15 May 2013 | 10:53 pm

We’ve got several perspectives for this week’s Fast Five – including Mum’s! 1) How My Mum Thinks Search Engines Work by Rob Toledo This is a good fun post to help us remember the broader perspective of common internet usage. Thanks Rob and thanks Rob’s Mum! 2) How to Integrate Google+ into Your Online Marketing Initiative by Jayson DeMers By the end of last year, only eighteen months after it was launched, Google+ had 343 million active users. It is the world’s…
What to Include in a Web Site Audit

Kalena Jordan

10 May 2013 | 4:36 am

The other day, I found the very first web site audit that I ever performed for a client’s site, way back in 2000. The page load times were hilarious! But it got me thinking about how things have changed over the years and how sophisticated web site audits need to be these days. From the conversations I’ve had, there is still some confusion over what should be included in a web site audit. This prompted me to write an article What to Include in a Web Site Audit which has been published over at SiteProNews. Let me know what you think!
Fast Five in Search – Week 19, 2013

Sarah Parker

9 May 2013 | 3:31 am

The SEO industry is changing, but it’s expanding too. This week’s fast five discusses subtle and not-so-subtle industry changes, new frontiers and how to make the most of emerging opportunities. 1) Why We Just Can’t Be SEOs Anymore – Whiteboard Friday by Rand Fishkin In this post Rand takes the bull by the horns and asks where the trend to rebrand SEO into ‘inbound marketing’, ‘online marketing’, or ‘web marketing’ has come from? 2) Case Study: How Content Marketing Saved this Brick-and-Mortar Business by Beth…

aimClear® Blog
Zenith Social Media Conference! Behind The Scenes With Joanna Lord, Keynoter

Lauren Litwinka

22 May 2013 | 8:54 am

Joanna Lord. What can you say about her? She’s pretty much one of the smartest, sweetest, sassiest gals this side of the Interwebz. Currently serving as CMO of BigDoor, a Seattle startup, her résumé also includes things like independent consultant, entrepreneur, innovator, creator, analyzer, coffee enthusiast (that’s putting it mildly), and borderline insomniac (perhaps attributable to the previous line-item). She’s steeped in the full spectrum of digital marketing, from PPC to SEO, PR to Social, and everything in between. Toldja. Smart. The city of Duluth is jazzed to…
How to Spot an Old School PR Agency

Lindsay Schleisman

21 May 2013 | 10:26 am

aimClear has long embraced an online marketing model in which public relations is a core component. Among our staff of 22, 6 have deep experience in public relations. If the value PR brings to online marketing is not painfully obvious by now, you haven’t been paying attention. The opposite is also true. Online marketing tactics add so many facets to public relations programs that, frankly, agencies that aren’t implementing them are dating themselves and limiting the effectiveness of the campaigns they undertake. Reading the PR trades, you get a distinct sense that there are two breeds of…
SEO Link Building ALERT! Paid-Organic Social Content Distribution Is The Future

Marty Weintraub

20 May 2013 | 4:46 am

In case you haven’t noticed the SEO buzz kill, it’s practically Armageddon out there, at least for some last gen marketers. For SEO practitioners who don’t know what they’re doing anymore 2013 SEO is brutal man, just brutal. Google’s veritable Jihad against link spammers and outdated link building tactics is finally working to a greater extent. Search engines in general are building better bullsh*t detectors than ever before. Search engine results pages mirror the real world more now and real brands have real advantages. Marketers can complain all they want…
Bookmark It! Handy #Facebook Partner Categories Visual Guide

Merry Morud

15 May 2013 | 12:58 pm

Reason number 87 we love Facebook’s Power Editor: It’s the source to access the latest, greatest targeting options… Facebook Partner Categories! The release and excitement of Facebook’s Partner Category targeting, Datalogix, Acxiom, and Epsilon, has been widely covered. Here, we’re laying out the new Facebook targeting visually because: 1) It’s been requested, and 2) Seeing the category targeting laid out is downright HANDY for Facebook advertisers. It makes choosing the targeting much easier than with Facebook’s threaded drop-down within Power…
@TheEllenShow! 17 Incredibly Beautiful Ways Duluth, MN LOVES Ellen DeGeneres

Marty Weintraub

14 May 2013 | 8:38 am

In Pilates class last week, our accomplished instructor Karen shared that she had some SRSLY awesome photos and wanted to share them in social media. It seems that when Ellen DeGeneres announced her underwear photo contest, Karen was disappointed that women were not included. Karen suggested to a few close friends that they should have their own Ellen underwear photo shoot to demonstrate that women everywhere should be proud of their bodies regardless of their age, shape or size. Sixteen of her fabulous, fit friends were up for the challenge. This amazing group of ladies range in age from…

Branded3
Social Media Round-up: Twitter shows us its cards and Pinterest goes big

Georgia Halston

24 May 2013 | 10:04 am

The social scene was busy across the board this week with buyouts, upgrades, new functions and even a chance for a little social media flutter. Here’s our round-up of the social highlights from the last 7 days: Yahoo! buys Tumblr Details – Interactive blog platform Tumblr has been bought out by multi facated web giant Yahoo! What does this mean? – There is a lot behind the move in terms of revenue for Yahooo! You can read more about the acquisition in our full blog post from Tuesday. Ladbrokes gives odds on the next Yahoo! buy out Details – In a toungue in cheek entry, UK…
Donate now! We’re running the #Leeds10k for the Jane Tomlinson Appeal

Felicity Crouch

24 May 2013 | 4:16 am

That’s right; those of us brave enough in B3 Towers are taking on the challenge of the Leeds 10k on Sunday 14th July to raise money for a local cause, the Jane Tomlinson Appeal. We love a good challenge here and with just seven weeks to go until the big day; we’re getting healthy at the office and donning our running shoes. Nineteen members of the team have signed up to the run so far, and with your support and donations; you could spur us on to complete the full 10k. Plus, your money will go towards a fantastic cause. The Jane Tomlinson Appeal was set up by the late amateur athlete and…
Early thoughts on Penguin 2.0

Tim Grice

23 May 2013 | 8:11 am

So the web spam team at Google have finally pulled their finger out and unleashed a world of hurt on link spammers with Penguin 2.0. I was in two minds when thinking about putting this post together, a) because it’s too early to fully understand the impact, and b) I didn’t want to regurgitate the same thing as everybody else out there. If you have been living on a desert island for the past two years and know nothing about Penguin, you can read up on it here and here. The main takeaways: 1 – The new version of Penguin is more aggressive 2 – It targets lower level pages of a site and…
5 myths about manual penalty recovery

Emma Barnes

22 May 2013 | 8:43 am

Have you ever seen this message in your Google webmaster tools? If you have, you’ll know about the panic that ensues. Maybe you know you’ve done some link-building in the past that’s outside of Google’s guidelines, or perhaps you hired an SEO firm which wasn’t honest with their link-building tactics. Either way, these links have to come down. In the last six months we’ve helped over 40 clients recover from manual spam actions. In that time, I’ve read a lot of literature about the process. The amount of posts about this process might be overwhelming…
Google gets more aggressive with link devaluation

Patrick Altoft

22 May 2013 | 2:47 am

We’ve talked before about link devaluation and from what we can see the pattern is still going strong five months later. Pretty much every week since the end of November, Google has devalued large numbers of links of one type or another resulting in brands losing positions gradually week after week for months. One of the biggest devaluations Google has done was last week, shortly after Matt Cutts tweeted about taking action on a major link seller network. In fact, we took action on several thousand linksellers in a paid-link-that-passes-PageRank network earlier today. — Matt Cutts…

Performancing
5 Free Photo Editors For Viral Image Creation

Kelsey

24 May 2013 | 10:50 am

Thanks to the exploding popularity of sites like Pinterest and Wanelo have shown that creating visual interpretations of content (like infographic creation), as well as substituting images for the written word itself, can have a big impact. As the web gets larger and larger, it seems like its users are looking toward a more beautifully-design Internet that both inspires and educates them. Photo manipulation has grown from correction to more of an art form, allowing anyone with an iPhone and the Instagram app to create edited photos with filters applied, easily and in a matter of seconds. This…
Why Good Laws Go Bad

jonathan

15 May 2013 | 7:48 am

In Florida, the state legislature wanted to crack down on what it felt was a growing problem of Internet cafe gambling. To do so, it felt that the best way was to place steep restrictions on the types of machines that would be considered legal in the state for gambling-like activities. As a result, they passed a new law that such said machines had to comply with three different rules: All machines had to be coin operated, no dollar bills, credit cards, etc. All games had to involve an element of skill, not just be pure chance No machine could offer a cash prise, only merchandise, and only of…
How to Promote Your Guest Blog Posts on Social Media

Kelsey

10 May 2013 | 5:00 am

Social media and guest blogging were meant to be together– they both can increase your exposure, allow you to meet new people, and make it easy to share your ideas with the world. Whether you are the blog needing guest posts or the blogger who has posts that you would like to publish, guest blogging can be more successful if social media is involved during the entire journey. Setting Up Expectations Before even getting actual guest posts, be sure to set up the expectations from either the writer or the website. Besides setting up the guidelines for the content of the post itself, it is…
The 3 Dumbest Ways to Get in Legal Trouble Online

jonathan

1 May 2013 | 8:34 am

Though the law may never fully catch up to the pace of innovation on the Internet, it certainly is trying and there are a lot of ways you can find yourself in legal trouble on the Web. Many of the ways are obscure, complex and difficult to avoid. Is using that passage from a site a copyright infringement? Is that comment about another person defamation? Is the action you want to take a violation of a terms of service? These are often tough questions that can be difficult even for legal experts to answer. But then there are the ways in which idiots find themselves getting in trouble online.
How to Utilize Google Analytics for Social Media

Kelsey

30 Apr 2013 | 1:11 pm

The recent updates to Google Analytics has made it possible for SEO professionals and webmasters to evaluate their social media presence and how it translates into actual user traffic and activity. Google Analytic’s new upgraded platform offers an exclusive social media section that wasn’t available in previous versions. The social media section is a customized report that is located under Traffic Sources on the sidebar once a user logs into a specific website in Google Analytics. Under this report, users can track social media referrals, landing pages, trackbacks, conversions,…

High Rankings Advisor Newsletter Feed
What Does Social Media Have to Do With SEO?

22 May 2013 | 9:06 am

Nothing and Everything
High Rankings Question of the Week

22 May 2013 | 9:06 am

Do you think Google is currently using social signals to help determine which pages to show in search results?
Advanced SEO Forum Thread of the Week

22 May 2013 | 9:05 am

Canonical Tag Questions
HRA 358: Wrap-up

22 May 2013 | 9:05 am

That's all for today!
Jill's SEO Tools and Extensions

8 May 2013 | 7:05 am

Here are the tools I use regularly to help with my SEO consulting services.

Pubcon
Pubcon Las Vegas 2013 Conference Hotel : Hard Rock Hotel and Casino

Lane R. Ellis

23 May 2013 | 9:00 am

Pubcon, the search marketing event of the year, is happy to announce Hard Rock Hotel & Casino as the officially recommended conference hotel for Pubcon Las Vegas 2013, which takes place at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Hard Rock Hotel & Casino is one of the most exciting full-featured resorts in Las Vegas, offering [...]
Speaking Opportunities Filling Fast For Pubcon Las Vegas 2013

Lane R. Ellis

22 May 2013 | 7:30 am

Speaking opportunities are filling fast for Pubcon Las Vegas 2013, the search marketing event of the year, since we began accepting proposals from prospective speakers at the beginning of April, however there’s still time left to submit your own proposal if you act soon. We are still accepting speaking proposals for Pubcon Las Vegas [...]
Pubcon Las Vegas 2013 Registration Opens

Lane R. Ellis

20 May 2013 | 7:30 am

Registration is now open for Pubcon Las Vegas 2013, the search marketing event of the year, which will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, including at least one full day of a new Pubcon Masters Group professional intensive training program. Expected to be one of the biggest, busiest and best weeks of [...]
Simon Heseltine Pubcon SFIMA Summit Session Coverage

Erika Thomas

15 May 2013 | 9:37 am

The Convergence of Content, Social and Search with AOL Director Simon Heseltine. As the web continues to evolve, content strategies, social media, and the search engines have become intertwined in the grand scheme of building an online presence. So what does Google think about SEO? In recent Google updates, we saw Google Panda take [...]
Melanie Mitchell Pubcon SFIMA Summit Keynote Coverage

Erika Thomas

14 May 2013 | 12:30 pm

Melanie Mitchell – Optimization in a Modern World. Melanie teaches us about learning how to overcome challenges and attract, engage, and convert customers. So what are common challenges for businesses today? The organizational structure might not be up to date, consumer behavior has changed, and too much data is collected and analyzed without paying [...]

Yoast
How to cloak your affiliate links

Joost de Valk

21 May 2013 | 1:43 pm

We regularly review sites that monetize, in part, with affiliate links. I’ve always said and will continue to say that affiliate links should be redirected through a redirect script, but when we tried to help a client by linking to a proper explanation and example script, we couldn’t find one. So, in true Yoast style, I wrote a script and decided to write this article that outlines exactly how and why to use it. Why should I cloak my affiliate links? If you search online for it, there are tons of reasons for people to redirect their affiliate links. The “historical”…
WordPress SEO Community & Roadmap

Joost de Valk

14 May 2013 | 3:58 am

Our WordPress SEO plugin has been getting more and more downloads, bringing it to the top of the most downloaded plugin chart on WordPress.org fairly regularly. With that comes more interest from other developers as well, which is something we absolutely love, but is kind of impossible to manage properly on WordPress.org. Which is why we’ve now decided to fully move to Github. New developer Recently there were some unfortunate events in the US which caused BlueGlass, a company lots of my friends worked at, to go bust. As with all negatives, there was a good thing that came out of this,…
Why we moved to all email support

Joost de Valk

17 Apr 2013 | 1:18 pm

When we started doing premium WordPress plugins, we also added a support forum to yoast.com. Many people liked this but I was, to be honest, skeptic. My experience with the WordPress.org forums are … Poor, at best. I just don’t think forums work very well, in large part because there is an ever continuing tendency for people to comment on someone else’s thread, saying they have the same issue, when in fact the two are entirely unrelated. We gave it our best shot though, we used bbPress, combined it with several of Pippin’s fantastic plugins and used the EDD Product…
The future of SEO plugins for WordPress

Joost de Valk

8 Apr 2013 | 1:18 am

I find myself becoming more and more defensive of WordPress SEO plugins, my own in particular. When people make jokes about them I tend to get angry, which is perhaps a stupid reaction, but it made me think: why would people make jokes about them, are they that stupid? What does the future hold for those plugins and what do they really do? So I went and installed and played with a ton of SEO plugins. My conclusion: hardly any of the new ones are original or truly add value, but they all promise heaven. The more well known free SEO plugins, including my own, have mostly overlapping feature…
Why Google won’t display the right page title

Joost de Valk

26 Mar 2013 | 7:04 am

Lately we’ve been inundated, literally, with support requests for WordPress SEO and its premium add-ons, all asking one “simple” thing: why isn’t Google picking up my page title? People who changed their page title and see that the search results still show their old title are bound to think Google didn’t “get” the new title yet and of course they blame their SEO plugin (sigh). Well, this time, it’s not our fault… Google does all sorts of things to your title. It sometimes replaces it with parts of your URL, but it’s also known to…

Bing Ads Blog
Pro Binging Now Available in French, German and Portuguese

Aurea Astro - MSFT

24 May 2013 | 12:47 pm

The number of Pro Bingers and aspiring Pro Bingers is exploding! In response to demand for our Bing Ads Accredited Professional Program , we are pleased to announce the launch of the program in three new languages: French , German , and Brazilian Portuguese...(read more)
Bing Ads Academy – Using Device Targeting on your accounts

Katrina Morris - MSFT

24 May 2013 | 6:46 am

To ensure your account receives as much traffic as possible, Bing Ads will automatically show your accounts ads on all three device types Desktops and Laptops Smartphones and other mobile devices with full browsers Tablets With the targeting...(read more)
Bing Ads and You: Reference Context to Improve Landing Page Relevance and User Experience

Arshad Kunju - MSFT

23 May 2013 | 11:30 am

In my last post , I provided an overview of how to better guide your customers through their purchase journey and shared optimization tips to help you better engage the same customers with Bing Ads along the way. To review, there are five phases in the...(read more)
PPC Back to Basics – Find and Add the Right Negative Keywords to Increase Your CTR and ROI

Simone Schuurer - MSFT

23 May 2013 | 6:43 am

As we mentioned in this blog post we’re working on a ‘PPC Back to Basics’ series to help those new to PPC, new to Bing Ads and those who like to be reminded of PPC best practices. Some weeks ago we wrote about how to find the right keywords...(read more)
Give Some Roar to your SEO to perform in the Bing Organic Results - SMX London

Simone Schuurer - MSFT

21 May 2013 | 5:10 pm

Much to the dislike of my husband who is an Eagle my job somehow tends to take me to the homes of more high profile football clubs. Late last year work took me to Arsenal’s Emirates stadium and last week SMX London summoned me -along with plenty...(read more)

Get Elastic Ecommerce Blog
Social Commerce Revenue By Industry [Infographic]

Linda Bustos

24 May 2013 | 1:05 am

There’s a lot of mystery around the revenue driving potential of social media marketing. This week’s infographic comes from AddShoppers, which keeps tabs on social conversion data across networks for over 10,000 online retailers. The data can also be segmented by industry, cool stuff.Do the numbers surprise you? They did me. Please chime in in the comments what you think, and tweet your favorite stats.TweetablesThe average social share for commercial products produces $2.04 in value Tweet thisThe average email share (friend to friend) is worth $17.93 in revenue Tweet thisThe…
Optimization Testing Within Branding Constraints

Linda Bustos

23 May 2013 | 8:26 am

Last post Chris Goward, author of You Should Test That joined us to answer the tough questions on A/B testing. In his book, Chris also shares a landing page case study from B2B software vendor SAP that’s a great example of working within branding constraints that are often imposed on testing programs.With A/B and multivariate testing, the biggest gains are often achieved by making big changes, like “breaking” page layouts, testing contrasting colors on calls to action, using radically different imagery (or removing images altogether) and slicing-and-dicing form fields. While you…
Ten Conversion Testing Questions Answered

Linda Bustos

20 May 2013 | 1:03 am

We talk a lot about conversion optimization tactics on Get Elastic. While they may be backed up by research, case studies or even what may be considered common sense, they can always be punctuated by one phrase: “You should test that.”I recently asked Chris Goward, author of You Should Test That some hard-hitting conversion optimization testing questions — answers below. Chris is a pioneer of conversion rate and landing page optimization and the founder of WiderFunnel, a testing consultancy that’s worked with ecommerce brands like Google, Electronic Arts, SAP,…
The Web Usage Habits of Europeans [Infographic]

Linda Bustos

17 May 2013 | 1:03 am

This week’s infographic is courtesy of MintTwist, looking at the web usage habits of Europeans.TweetablesEuropeans make up 12% of the global population, and 21% of the online population Tweet thisIceland and Scandanavia have the highest Internet penetration in Europe Tweet thisOnly 59% of Europeans shop online Tweet thisRomanians, Bulgarians and Italians are least likely Europeans to shop online Tweet this92% of Europeans prefer Google as a search engine Tweet this49% of Europeans use social networks daily, 1/3 of them are Russians Tweet thisThere are 131.5 million smartphones in Europe…
Facebook Satire Reflects Real Attitudes About the Web

Linda Bustos

15 May 2013 | 2:48 pm

This satirical vignette titled A Facebook Update in Real Life reflects some real-life attitudes towards the number one social network and the web experience in general.Enough with the constant updates! With Facebook, web applications and even some ecommerce sites, the only constant is change. As soon as a user catches up with the old experience, some creative decides to jumble everything around or add and remove major features. The benefit of adding a new shiny object could be outweighed by user frustration. And unless you’re as indispensable as Facebook, it could cause defection from…

QualityScores
QualityScores.com – Under new ownership & management!

jameszol

7 May 2013 | 5:51 am

This moment is bittersweet. I have sold QualityScores.com to the amazing crew at GetFoundFirst.com! I had a big hairy audacious goal for advertisement quality scoring, measurement and improvement here at QualityScores.com. The analytics side of the product was in the pre alpha stages and definitely showing promise. That product was housed here…and it is still here at QualityScores.com. It is simply under new ownership and management. I couldn’t have asked for a more win/win/win situation than this. I’m incredibly blessed to be where I am right now but it is always hard to have to…
Quick Update: Fine Tuning Reports and the pre-Alpha UI

jameszol

17 Aug 2012 | 10:04 am

We’re pushing hard to release a pre-alpha version of QualityScores.com’s app by the end of August but it might be delayed into early September. Rest assured, however, that we’re working on something awesome. The pre-alpha version of the app will be a “qualitative ppc management dashboard”. Qualitative PPC Management Dashboard At a glance, you should be able to visualize and drill down into your AdWords account from a quality score perspective. The goal is to help you identify quality problems in an account so you can address them as needed or according to your…
Truly Automated PPC Management Solutions

jameszol

1 May 2012 | 7:16 pm

I wrote a couple controversial posts a year or two ago. Then, like scumbag Steve, I didn’t tell you what I recommended for truly automated solutions in the bid management space even though I promised I would. A lot has changed since I wrote those blog posts. One thing that hasn’t is my opinion that certain things should be largely automated by machines. We just aren’t as smart or as fast as machines can be when managing thousands of keywords…there’s no way around that. Your argument is already invalid. A few of the changes that occurred since I promised to write…
Ad Rotation Options in Google AdWords – Do NOT Choose ‘Rotate’

jameszol

30 Apr 2012 | 7:11 pm

You have a few ad rotation settings to choose from in a Google AdWords campaign. 1) Optimize for clicks: show ads expected to provide more clicks (this is the default setting for new campaigns) 2) Optimize for conversions: Show ads expected to provide more conversions 3) Rotate: Show ads more evenly You can get to these settings in AdWords under any Campaign -> Settings -> Advanced Settings section -> Ad Delivery: Ad rotation, frequency capping -> Ad rotation (click “Edit” and you should see something similar to the picture below. Click the picture for a bigger…
#EpicDinnerSJ at SMX West 2012

jameszol

20 Feb 2012 | 9:37 pm

Edit: Tweet me @jameszol or email me james@qualityw00tscores.com to get on the reservation list asap! Alan Bleiweiss gave me permission to put together an Epic Dinner at SMX West 2012 because he won’t make the show this season. We’ll miss him! We’ll try to make it EPIC w/out him! Here are the details that I have so far: We’re continuing the tradition started by Alan last year, holding the dinner at Morton’s The Steakhouse. 1.5 blocks away from the Convention Center. Time: 6:30pm Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 The price is $100. You get to choose 1 item from…

Compete Blog
The Weekly Compete Pulse

Carro Halpin

25 May 2013 | 1:50 pm

The marketing team here at Compete compiled a list of the most popular digital marketing stories online this week. Enjoy and happy competing, marketers! 67% of smartphone users would rather see advertisements than pay for premium content. A new study revealed that consumers are willing to exchange personal information for free digital content. The percentage is even higher for tablet users: 70%. The most popular content people will view digital ads for is paperback books. How to use content for sales enablement, lead nurturing and retention. As marketers, we often think of content as…
Reaching Consumers Through Mobile Marketing: Tweets from #mmaf2013

Tyson Goodridge

23 May 2013 | 10:39 am

As digital marketers, our new frontier is mobile and mobile marketing. Two weeks ago, the Mobile Marketing Association hosted its annual NY forum with the theme “Mobile’s Role in Closing the Loop Along the Path to Purchase.” We identified three discussion points from the forum and some fresh new statistics to highlight the role of mobile use in the consumer path to purchase. All sources are from #mmaf2013. Pervasiveness of mobile: 91% of smartphone users have their phone within reach 24/7 Americans spend 119 minutes a day on mobile devices We check our phones every 6.5 minutes (150…
Brand Tweets Drive Automotive Shopping Action

Natalie Gauthier

21 May 2013 | 3:02 pm

Following the exciting automotive year-end shopping season, Compete and Twitter partnered together to understand the impact that Tweets posted by automotive companies have on the consumers who see them. Specifically, we wanted to know whether Tweets influence consumer behavior; are people exposed to an automotive Tweet more likely to visit the manufacturer’s website and take action by locating a dealer, looking at offers or building their own car. To answer these questions, Compete observed 3,289 U.S.-based Internet consumers and 593U.K.-based Internet consumers who saw Tweets from over…
Optimize Digital Touchpoints: Attribution or Path to Purchase?

Yaakov Kimelfeld

20 May 2013 | 11:50 am

Image from: Digital Touch / Shutterstock Attribution modeling vs. path to purchase analysis: What’s the difference between the two? Which model is better? The purpose of both models is to establish optimal touchpoints for consumer interaction with the brand and to achieve the best cost savings and customer experience. Attribution is ad-centric; path to purchase is consumer-centric. Attribution modeling is prompt; path to purchase modeling is deep. In attribution modeling, marketers use the data generated from tagging ad placements to understand the degree of influence each ad has on the…
Sunday Series: Traffic Rises to Political Blogs

Carro Halpin

19 May 2013 | 8:30 am

Image from: Political Parties / shutterstock News and political blogs grew 11% in April with over 14 million Unique Visitors (UVs)–making it the one of the Top 20 fastest growing categories (according to Compete PRO). It was a busy news month–reflected in the second fastest growing site online: CNN.com. Below are ten of the news and political blogs with the largest increases in monthly UVs. The list naturally split almost evenly along party lines: six lean left and four lean right. The top two sites in the category both made the list: The Blaze, with over four million UVs…

Small Business Search Marketing
What Small Business Owners Should Know About Google Glass

Matt McGee

24 May 2013 | 10:23 am

The main thing to know: Glass is a pretty powerful device when it comes to finding local businesses. The next-main thing: You’re in great shape if you rank No. 1 in a Google local listings 3-pack or 7-pack. Google Glass is new, still very much a beta (or alpha) product, and is likely to develop and change over time. But if you’re a local business owner, and you want to get a glimpse of how local search works now, I just wrote an in-depth article on Search Engine Land: Google Glass Diary, Part 4: Local Search & Navigation And the first three articles in the series are here:…
How Often Should I Blog?

Matt McGee

21 May 2013 | 8:11 am

The tweetable answer to the “How often should I blog?” question is this: Blog as often as possible, as long as you’re writing content that offers value to readers. But obviously there’s more nuance involved in answering this question, so let’s dive a little deeper into the benefits of regular blogging. My Usual Advice: Two Posts per Week When I began working with Dr. Cynthia Bailey way back in 2008/09, I encouraged her to aim for at least two posts per week. With the exception of a few vacation breaks, she’s done that and her skin care blog is now driving…
A Tour of the New Google Maps [15 Screenshots]

Matt McGee

19 May 2013 | 10:50 am

Google announced an overhaul to Google Maps at last week’s Google I/O conference and, judging from what I saw on screen during the keynote, it looked very spiffy. It also looked like a pretty substantial change from the existing Google Maps, so I’ve been anxious to find time to sit down and give it a test drive. That’s what I’m doing in this post: Kicking the tires and making some notes on what it looks like, what it does, and what it might mean to small businesses. The first important thing to emphasize is that this is an overhaul strictly of maps.google.com; it…
Google Finally Starts to Kill Zagat Scores

Matt McGee

17 May 2013 | 8:27 am

I wish you could’ve seen my face on Wednesday during the keynote at Google I/O. My eyes lit up big and bold and I’m sure my mouth opened wide while I wondered, “Did I just really see and hear them kill Zagat scores?” Indeed, I did. Google even announced it on their blog, too. This, you may know, is something I’ve been advocating for time and time again, so it was nice to see that Google finally realized the error of a 30-point rating scale. That said, Zagat scores aren’t completely dead. In the new Google Maps, some business listings will continue to…
Call Tracking: The Risks & Advice from Professor Maps

Matt McGee

14 May 2013 | 9:26 am

Call tracking is a topic that comes up at every Local U workshop that we put on and, in most cases, it’s because call tracking has caused all kinds of problems for the local business that’s doing it. Professor Maps, AKA Mike Blumenthal, has written an easy-to-understand overview of the risks involved in call tracking, along with his advice for when and where it might be okay to do it and not hurt your local search visibility. He covers the use of call tracking phone numbers in four areas: offline (“you would be better off tracking incoming calls manually”) Google+…

ReveNews
Who Needs a Hand Up to Go to Affiliate Summit East 2013?

Shawn Collins

24 May 2013 | 3:16 pm

Here at Affiliate Summit, we want to help as many people as possible get introduced to the world of affiliate marketing. We fully understand that attending Affiliate Summit East 2013 is outside of the budget of some aspiring marketers, so we will be sponsoring up to fifty Affiliate Summit Pay It Forward Scholarships for affiliates to attend the conference for the first time. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is Friday, June 7, 2013. The goal of our Pay It Forward program is to make the education and networking experience of Affiliate Summit available to affiliates who might not…
AffStat 2013 Affiliate Marketing Statistics Report Now Available for Free

Shawn Collins

23 May 2013 | 9:59 am

The 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report is now available for free at AffStat.com. The report can be viewed online or downloaded. More than sixteen-hundred affiliates were surveyed on their methods, preferences, and strategies for the 2013 Affiliate Summit AffStat Report. The report features dozens of charts of data, based on the responses from the participating affiliates on affiliate marketing, social media, search marketing, blogs, email, and demographics of affiliates. Feel free to use material from the report in blog posts, presentations, etc. Just reference that the information came…
Second Hotel Added for Affiliate Summit East 2013

Shawn Collins

21 May 2013 | 7:27 pm

The Philadelphia Marriott Downtown sold out on the group block for Affiliate Summit East 2013 earlier this week. If you missed out on booking a room at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, we have some good news for you. We have secured rooms at the same $169 a night group rate at the Philadelphia Downtown Courtyard by Marriott – book a room now before they are sold out, too. Also, we are trying to get more rooms at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown, but no luck so far. The Philadelphia Downtown Courtyard by Marriott is right around the corner from the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown and…
Affiliate Summit Weekly Recap, May 20th 2013

Todd Farmer

20 May 2013 | 1:28 pm

New Affiliate Summit Ambassador, Todd Farmer shares the latest Affiliate Summit News in this video. Since this is his first video with lots of topics to discuss, it’s a bit lengthier than our normal video. (Expect future weekly wrap-ups to be much shorter.) Topics discussed: Affiliate Summit’s “Pay it Forward” Scholarship to attend Affiliate Summit East 2013, and the Affiliate Summit College Scholarship. Exhibitor and Meet Market Maps and the Agenda for Affiliate Summit East 2013 are now available. Feedfront magazine is now accepting article proposals for the August…
5 Tools for Your Pinterest Business Account

Katie Elizabeth

20 May 2013 | 1:00 pm

Pinterest is the fastest growing social network on the web. Many companies have already hopped on the bandwagon with a Pinterest business account. And they are now reaping the benefits of the first social network that for once is all about products. The eCommerce world itself couldn’t come up with a more perfect and popular site to encourage people to buy. If Pinterest is right for your business, there are a few tools you need to use to better manage your time and optimize your Pinterest strategy. Pinterest Business Account Of course, this had to be the first tool discussed because…

Understanding Google Places & Local Search
Yelp Successfully Sued in Small Claims Court

Mike Blumenthal

25 May 2013 | 8:12 am

According to the Wall Street Journal, a bankruptcy lawyer took Yelp to small claims court in San Diego and won a judgement of $2700. ….the judge describing Yelp’s advertising contract as “the modern-day version of the mafia going to stores and saying, “You wanna not be bothered?” The case will be taken to a higher court on appeal. The McMillan Law Group, which brought the claim against Yelp, agreed to an advertising deal with the site after it had become “a good source of new clients for us,” said attorney Julian McMillan, representing his firm in the court. The deal…
Google Starting to Convert Existing Dashboards to the New Places for Business Dashboard

Mike Blumenthal

21 May 2013 | 11:42 am

Google just announced in the forums that they were starting the process of converting existing Dashboard users to the new Placed for Business Dashboard. Here is the post: As of May 21, some existing Places users will begin to see the new Google Places for Business dashboard. The transition will happen automatically, and all existing users should continue to manage listings at http://places.google.com. Please keep in mind that the new dashboard is still gradually being rolled out, so not all existing users will see the change right now. What happened to the custom categories I had using the…
Google Glass: Metaphor for the Future of Local or a Turkey?

Mike Blumenthal

17 May 2013 | 6:13 am

At the Philadelphia Local U last week I had a chance to touch Matt McGee’s Glass. It was exhilarating, disturbing, interesting, disorienting and a number of other adjectives. Everyone at the table was anxious to try it and see what it did and how it works. I was struck by its awkwardness and obtrusiveness as a wearable device and it is clear why it has already engendered a new noun: Glasshole. But I was also amazed at the power that an always on, always present, always connected device has and its obvious impact on local. Despite my inability to bond with the device it raised the…
Google Local Adds New Troubleshooter to Move Reviews When a Business Relocates

Mike Blumenthal

16 May 2013 | 3:15 pm

Google has announced in the forums their ability and willingness to now move reviews when a business has moved locations and to remove reviews with significant brand changes for a given location. The request by the business to do so is done via a new troubleshooter. The guidelines that will apply to requests to move reviews can be summarized as follows: same business at a new location, reviews will be moved; New business at the same location reviews will be removed. This new (and welcome) capability in no way affects the policy or procedure around removing inappropriate individual reviews…
How Many Reviews Are Needed to Show Stars in the New Map List View?

Mike Blumenthal

16 May 2013 | 9:23 am

Peter Troast of EnergyCircle.com asked a great question in the comments to my post about the new visuals for the (now named) Maps List View -aka Places Search- result: Also seems like the # of reviews threshold is shifting for display. For zero reviews, “Be the first to review” appears right under company name. From 1-__, it looks as if nothing appears at all (in contrast to the old “3 Google Reviews.” I’ve seen a couple 5 review listings that displayed the new stars (yeah!), and several 8′s and 9′s, so it appears the 10 review threshold is coming…

Stephen Espinosa
test

8 May 2013 | 11:26 am

test
"It’s Really Complex To Make Something Simple."

9 Aug 2012 | 12:37 pm

“It’s Really Complex To Make Something Simple.” - Jack Dorsey

LocalBizBits
How Mobile Is Changing Store Shopping

Larry

23 May 2013 | 6:48 am

Created by VoucherCodesPro
ReachLocal to Present at Upcoming Investor Conferences

Larry

8 May 2013 | 6:03 am

WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., May 8, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ReachLocal, Inc. (Nasdaq:RLOC), a leader in local online marketing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced that members of the senior management team will present to the investment community at the following investor conferences: JMP Securities – 12th Annual Research Conference Date: May 13, 2013 Time: 8:30am PT (company presentation) Location: The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, CA J.P. Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom Conference Date: May 15, 2013 Time: 2:10pm ET (fireside…
M-ize: Owning Both Sides of a Brand’s Social Reputation

Larry

7 May 2013 | 3:19 pm

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bruce Burke, CMO of M-ize. That’s m-ize like monetize, and mobilize which is exactly what m-ize does with its social media platform. The focus of m-ize is on specific product categories and expertise so that reviews and posts are more relevant to what a consumer is seeking, and offering more targeted leads for businesses that interact on the social and mobile platform. According to m-ize“The mission of the company is to bring smarter consumers all together to connect to products, community, advice and customer support.” For consumers, they…
Where Could Yelp Be Going Next?

Larry

6 May 2013 | 2:01 pm

Last week, we made the prediction that Yelp will buy build or partner to bring Vine-like functionality to its mobile products. ?This comes in the wake of Yelp’s positive Q1 earnings, and moves by Facebook and Foursquare to compete more directly. So we’re getting lots of questions about Yelp. There’s a lot to talk about here and we have a longer report in the works. For now, I outlined some of our current thinking on Yelp….
BLiNQ-ShopLocal Facebook Campaign Delivers Big Offline Sales Uplift

Larry

6 May 2013 | 2:01 pm

Last year Gannett acquired BLiNQ Media, which is essentially a Facebook Ads tools/services provider. Gannett also owns ShopLocal, which has itself transitioned into a digital, multi-channel advertising services company for retailers. Late last year the two divisions of Gannett collaborated on a campaign involving a national office supply retailer (the identity wasn’t disclosed to me). The objective was to drive in-store visits. BLiNQ and ShopLocal used the latter’s circular data together with a full range of Facebook…

Hobo
Website Lost Rankings in Google? Say Hello to Penguin 2.

Shaun Anderson

23 May 2013 | 7:25 am

We started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin webspam algorithm this afternoon (May 22, 2013), and the rollout is now complete. About 2.3% of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, [...]
How To Put Your Company Logo On Google SERPS

Shaun Anderson

15 May 2013 | 6:02 pm

You can now put your company logo on search results using simple code, placed on the home page of your website: Today, we’re launching support for the schema.org markup for organization logos, a way to connect your site with an iconic image. We want you to be able to specify which image we use as [...]
Free Rank Checker

Shaun Anderson

10 Apr 2013 | 9:26 pm

This is a simple and fairly accurate online free rank checker tool for Google, Yahoo and Bing – and you can check up to 100 keywords per url for free. I’ve been playing about with it and it is very simple to use. Using this rank checker is very easy and you can track up to [...]
NEW – Export Up TO 5000 Rows in Google Analytics Dashboard

Shaun Anderson

9 Apr 2013 | 8:51 pm

I’m not sure when this happened – but today at least now you can export up to 5000 rows in Google Analytics dashboard. This is a welcome change, though there have been other ways of doing this in the past (I’ve included this below) How To display and export more than 5000 rows in Google [...]
Operation: Finding & Removing Unnatural Links

Shaun Anderson

1 Apr 2013 | 9:10 pm

This blog is mostly about seo for genuine small businesses and beginners to seo. Although I have touched on other areas that interest me and not specifically seo, I don’t usually blog about all the algorithm changes Google pushes out that are discussed on other blogs. For that, I follow Search Engine Land, mainly. For [...]

The Search Engine Optimization Blog @ MoreVisibility
Best Practices for Image Optimization

Michael Bergbauer

21 May 2013 | 5:41 am

When it comes to website optimization, images are sometimes an afterthought. Copy, design, and coding all play important roles in an optimized website, but images can also increase your visibility in image based searches. Optimizing images is easy do if you follow these best practice guidelines: Utilize image compression and file type: Maintaining fast load [...]
Natural vs. Aggressive SEO Strategies: Part 2

Michael Bergbauer

20 May 2013 | 5:37 am

In a previous blog post, we discussed the disadvantages that come with certain “aggressive” SEO strategies. Aggressive strategies try to find ways around search engine algorithms and guidelines to gain an advantage. This results in shortcuts that deliver quick results yet aren’t actually against the rules. As we showed, those types of strategies are usually [...]
Natural vs. Aggressive SEO Strategies: Part 1

Michael Bergbauer

17 May 2013 | 5:27 am

As the saying goes, “good things come to those who wait.” In certain aspects of quality SEO programs, there’s a lot of truth to that statement. Time and time again, we explain to clients that results from an SEO program are not quantifiable overnight. SEO efforts are most effective when they follow a natural philosophy. [...]
Content Marketing & SEO

Michael Bergbauer

9 May 2013 | 6:05 am

Across the Internet marketing landscape, you’ve probably seen other blog posts with titles along the lines of “Content Marketing vs. SEO.” At some point (perhaps after some algorithm updates), people made SEO into some bugaboo – when it’s actually a potent ally to content marketers everywhere. Thinking of SEO as a bad thing is a [...]
Evaluating Your Website for Usability

Lauren Owens

16 Apr 2013 | 10:46 am

Website usability is the key to a healthy, productive website and happy customers. Because a site that lacks focus, uniformity and usability can undermine the main goal of your website, it’s important to take a step back every now and again and ask yourself whether or not your website is truly working. To do this, [...]

Volume 9, Inc.
We Are Oklahoma

Jen Alsip

21 May 2013 | 10:29 am

Truth be told, I couldn’t wait to leave Oklahoma. I grew up there and I always knew I was leaving. As soon as I was done with school, I headed west for Colorado and didn’t really look back. I encouraged … Continue reading →
New SEO Reporting at Volume 9

Sarah Jennings

2 May 2013 | 9:22 am

At Volume 9, we are always looking for ways to improve our service offerings for our clients, including how we communicate results. This month we are excited to announce that we have begun to implent important changes to our monthly … Continue reading →
Facebook Really Encouraging Over-Sharing

Carly Webber

9 Apr 2013 | 2:10 pm

Facebook just rolled out another change to personal profiles – a new way to share exactly what you’re feeling or doing. Their goal? To get people to give more information about their lives so they can add those facts into … Continue reading →
The Many Hats of a Community Manager

Carly Webber

8 Apr 2013 | 8:11 am

It’s abundantly clear in the business world that at every job, at some point, you have to wear different hats – whether it’s the ‘refill the water’ hat or the ‘TPS report cover sheet analyst’ hat, we all have temporarily … Continue reading →
Volume 9 Welcomes Bissell Dental Group as a Client

Volume 9

4 Apr 2013 | 12:42 pm

We are excited to announce a new Volume 9 client, Bissell Dental Group! Bissell Dental is a Denver-based dental office located here in our building at 1660 S. Albion St! They have partnered with Volume 9 to help establish their … Continue reading →

Organic SEO Copywriting | Level343
Meet Aleyda Solis

Level343 Team

24 May 2013 | 12:00 am

Twitter | Google + | Website This Friday’s special Top SEO Woman is another International nominee. It thrills me to introduce this young lady. I have been following her since she first came on the SEO scene. With her International capabilities and a command of several languages she’s a smart choice for any global company that wants to work with her. But as you will read she’s busy sharing her awesomeness…therefore, without further ado let me introduce Aleyda. 1. What’s your personal elevator pitch? What should we know about who you are and what you do?
Who Do you Need to Hire?

Gabriella Sannino

22 May 2013 | 12:00 am

Building Trust When you reach the point where you realize (or admit) that you need help in order to improve your website’s performance, where do you go? That’s a difficult question to answer, unless you really know exactly what parts of your site’s performance and promotion need help. We’ll assume for the moment that you haven’t received a penalty notice, but have just realized that business has fallen off, and you’re not sure why. You’re doing the same things you’ve always done, but traffic and/or sales are down drastically, and you don’t…
Look out – it’s another Brain Dump!

Jennifer Horowitz

20 May 2013 | 12:00 am

Time for another brain dump! I have various random thoughts in mind and wanted to share them all with you. Don’t spend any time looking for the connection – there isn’t one! It’s just a bunch of stuff I thought you should know related to SEO and social media and growing your business online. I’d love to see your brain dump too, so be sure to share your comments with us. Spring is a time of renewal, new growth, the need to clean and air things out and start planning for the coming warmer months. It’s that time for your business as well. Look back and what isn’t…
Meet Dana Lookadoo

Level343 Team

17 May 2013 | 12:00 am

Twitter | Google + | Website I met Dana a few years ago during PubCon Las Vegas. Who would have thought there would be so much dynamite in such a small package? Needless to say, she knew almost everyone at this conference. Keeping up with her was a task all in by itself. Aside from being a popular networking diva, running her own agency, speaking at various conferences, I found something genuinely honest and sweet about her. She’s thoughtful, super smart, ethical, professional and most of all cares about sharing the right information with people. 1. What’s your personal…
Tips for Achieving your Business Goals

Doc Sheldon

15 May 2013 | 12:00 am

There are a lot of self-improvement tips that focus on helping you achieve your goals. Some of them make some pretty good points, and some of them are just a lot of fluff. I thought I’d share some tips that I know can help in many different areas, because I’ve used them myself. Have you ever hopped in the car and taken off, intent on getting someplace, without having any idea where you wanted to go? Not likely, and if you did, it probably didn’t work out too well. Achieving a goal is the same way… if you don’t know your destination, you’re not likely to…

simplefuzz.com
Single Family Home For Sale at Texas, 2204 Bluebonnet Ln Austin

Kirsty Maden

23 May 2013 | 4:38 pm

Single Family Home For Sale at Texas 2204 Bluebonnet Ln Austin with Parking Spaces: 2,Price: $500‚000,2 Bathrooms
Condo For Sale at Texas, 1702 S Lamar Blvd #3 Austin

Rosie Almonde

23 May 2013 | 3:28 pm

Condo For Sale at Texas 1702 S Lamar Blvd #3 Austin with For Sale At Texas,2 Bedrooms,Zip: 78704
Condo For Sale at Texas, 1504 Collier St #1 Austin

Kirsty Maden

23 May 2013 | 1:43 pm

Condo For Sale at Texas 1504 Collier St #1 Austin with For Sale At Texas,For Sale At Austin Zilker,Pool
Single Family Home For Sale at Texas, 1529 Barton Springs Rd #8 Austin

Meegan Marais

23 May 2013 | 10:48 am

Single Family Home For Sale at Texas 1529 Barton Springs Rd #8 Austin with 4 Bathrooms,Neighborhood: Zilker,Zip: 78704
Single Family Home For Sale at Texas, 2113 Oxford Ave Austin

Meegan Marais

23 May 2013 | 9:03 am

Single Family Home For Sale at Texas 2113 Oxford Ave Austin with Single-Family Home,Floors: Wood,Vaulted Ceiling

SEO Unique
Guest Blog Posting – Post Penguin 2.0

Matt Ridout

13 May 2013 | 6:06 am

Firstly I just want to start by saying this is NOT another blog post preaching that simply good content is the answer to guest blog posting, it’s really much more than just that. What I want to talk about is how I’ve seen a shift in what works and what doesn’t when using guest blog posting and hopefully those insights will help others deliver better results and not waste time in methods that no longer work. With Google’s next big Penguin Update 2.0 on the horizon its going to be essential that these tips are implemented into your strategy otherwise you run the…
Google Update “Similar Searches” Changing in SERP

admin

22 Mar 2013 | 3:51 am

Just a small observation this morning in the United Kingdom – if you conduct a search with a “name” + “company name / website” you will get a new similar searches layout in the search results: As you can see there is now a line break towards the end of the page separating a new set of results – notice the line “more results for” – with a strike through of the company name. Depending on how many organic search results there are for each person seems to dictate how high up the page break appears; i’ve seen it appear as high a position…
Linklove Link Building Takeaways

admin

15 Mar 2013 | 2:51 am

Hey guys, I’ll be updating some of the highlights from #linklove 2013 during the day: Will Reynolds There is no finish line when it comes to link building Use your out of office to let people know what you do, Will’s wife received £1k donation Nudges – small actions can lead to bigger goals Use newsletter subscribers to help build social followers, after they signup point them to your twitter, Google+ Links don’t make companies money, the actions that those links lead to do, Will then suggested Distilled rename linklove to revenuelove Will tweeted about Rackspace…
Advertorials Still Appearing After Interflora Links Scandal

admin

26 Feb 2013 | 2:01 am

As the majority of the SEO community now knows and too the now presumably unemployed agency/in-house team of Interflora – advertorials and link networks will cause you great problems in organic search. If you want to read the two best articles on why Interflora lost rankings for a number of high value keywords (including their brand terms) then these pieces by Martin Macdonald and Chris C Cemper are the best around – and both right in my opinion. What I found more interesting was Aaron Wall’s blog post on how Google themselves had done the same, promoting some of the core…
Google Plus Changing in SERPS

Matt Ridout

15 Jan 2013 | 1:12 am

So it seems that Google is currently in the process of updating how Google+ brand/business pages are being displayed in the SERPS. Besides the new thumbnails showing the old brand logos has reduced in size and the business description now removed. At the moment (9am GMT) the thumbnails are not showing fully in the UK but they are on google.com – most likely because it’s rolling out now. What else is interesting is that Google now seems to be cutting off posts after 24 hours, probably in a bid to keep results fresh: You can see that in the UK for a number of brands that do…

10 Golden Rules Internet Marketing Strategy Blog
Optimize Your Display Network Campaigns with New Tools & Reports

Erika Barbosa

24 May 2013 | 12:04 pm

Google recently launched the Google Display Planner for Display Network campaigns. This tool provides suggestions based on the data you enter including impression and cookie estimates, age and gender reporting and historical cost-per-click (CPC) information. Along with this rollout, two new reports will be available: Demographic Performance and Placement Performance. Now with more powerful insights, you have the ability to optimize your campaigns to be more relevant to your targeted audience. For example, the Demographic Performance report gives you performance data by gender and age…
5/22 Webinar: Free Reviews of Your Social Media Accounts & Websites!

Matt Wooddy

21 May 2013 | 12:40 am

It seems as if everyday, the social and online landscapes change to better fit their surroundings. Consumers are always in search of a better product than yesterday, so it's up to brands to stay committed and relevant to their core audience. Because of this, social marketers must stay actively in touch with other businesses in order to not only grow, but to succeed in general. We're currently offering free reviews of social media accounts and websites to better help you align your marketing vision. Get real insight and tips into how you can change your online spaces for the better,…
Understanding the Relationship Between Various Marketing Channels

Erika Barbosa

16 May 2013 | 9:23 am

In a previous blog post, we covered the value in multi-channel funnels reports. Digging in deeper into the value of this type of reporting, let’s look at the types of channels and insights that are leveraged in these reports. You can think of this type of reporting similar to how a basketball team works together. Sure we all know who made the winning shot, but think about how that winning shot would’ve never happened if his teammate didn’t make the perfect pass to him. Each team member plays a part in their victory. Similarly, a channel can play the role of first interaction, assist…
The Modern Marketer: Part Artist, Part Scientist

Matt Wooddy

15 May 2013 | 12:24 pm

Today's guest blogger is Matt Wesson, a Marketing Content Specialist at Pardot. The marketing profession is changing. The Mad Men-style era of marketing, which prized creativity above all, has evolved as technology provides new opportunities to track performance and create data-driven marketing campaigns. While many view this shift from creativity to data as a battle between two distinct and separate ideologies, the truth is that marketers can’t afford to pick sides. The modern marketer needs to be multifaceted, with one foot planted in art and the other in science. The…
This week's webinar with @MWooddy - New Instagram Secrets for Better Brand Recognition

Matt Wooddy

13 May 2013 | 9:03 am

Instagram has become a household name and leader among social networking apps in the last couple years, but how did it come so far in such little time? Launched in 2010 for the iPhone and introduced to the Android market in April 2012, Instagram's unique photo-sharing capabilities have enabled the startup to reach an audience of more than 100 million users. Because the photo app has garnered such an enthusiastic following over the last 2.5 years, software giants like Facebook and Twitter have taken notice -- the former purchasing the app for developmental purposes. But like all social apps,…

SEO.com » Blog
SEO & PPC: Working Together To Maximize Returns

Shay Wright

16 May 2013 | 5:01 am

SEO & PPC: Working Together To Maximize Returns is a post by SEO expert Shay Wright. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog. SEO & PPC. Friends or foes? And which one really is more effective in an online marketing campaign? The truth is that they are not only friends but “coworkers” as well, and one is not necessarily more effective than the other. They serve different purposes but working together they create a synergy not possible as two independent parts. PPC is great because you can be up and running in a matter of…
Why Your Business Should Be On Foursquare Now!

Darin Berntson

6 May 2013 | 5:03 am

Why Your Business Should Be On Foursquare Now! is a post by SEO expert Darin Berntson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.This is not your parents Foursquare. Remember the days playing this in school? Foursquare means business now! Nor is this another rendition of Kick-The-Can! This, ladies and gentlemen, is one of my favorite SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile) apps out there, and as a business it should be one of yours too! Let me ask you something… Do you have a local business that thrives on needing new walk-in customers, and a…
How Your Small Business Can Find Time For Social Media

Matt Nickle

2 May 2013 | 5:20 am

How Your Small Business Can Find Time For Social Media is a post by SEO expert Matt Nickle. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.The title of this article could also be “How WILL Your Small Business MAKE Time for Social Media?”, but I thought I would keep it how it is to prove a point. With social media growing exponentially and becoming more popular for businesses (and for staying in touch with your BFFs) you can’t afford not to take advantage of it as a small business owner. Here are several reasons why you need to jump on…
Image Optimization Tips For Online Stores

Andrew Johnson

30 Apr 2013 | 5:30 am

Image Optimization Tips For Online Stores is a post by SEO expert Andrew Johnson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.Image optimization is an important part of running a successful eCommerce website. Since people usually begin their search for a product online, your products will have as good of a chance as any to end up in front of a customer, as long as your images are optimized. Here are some tips for getting your images to display in Google’s image search: 1. Optimize image names If you have hundreds (or thousands) of…
Prove The Value of SEO With These Free Google Analytics Dashboards

Andrew Johnson

25 Apr 2013 | 5:23 am

Prove The Value of SEO With These Free Google Analytics Dashboards is a post by SEO expert Andrew Johnson. For information about our SEO services or more great SEO tips and tricks, visit the SEO.com blog.Every once in a while, you come across a piece of information that revolutionizes the way you perform. I had that epiphany the other day in Google Analytics as I was experimenting with custom dashboards, and I want to share these downloads with you. Hopefully you can glean some information about the performance of your website through these custom dashboards that you…

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Al Getler and Online Reputation Management

Phil Buckley

16 May 2013 | 1:42 pm

I had an interesting opportunity today, Al Getler asked me to participate in his latest venture – Lead or be led. We talked about what SEO is, what it isn’t and where it’s going. One question that he asked is a common one from people who have made a living making decisions, “what about when [...]
Casey Movers’ continues to feel the wrath of the Streisand Effect

Phil Buckley

26 Jan 2013 | 7:46 am

Casey Movers threatened me with a lawsuit for a bad review a few months ago, now the Better Business Bureau has pulled their accreditation and rated them an F for their past actions.
Graduating from Enthusiast to Professional

Phil Buckley

20 Jan 2013 | 7:55 pm

Moving from giving it away for free to charging people is a delicate maneuver.
Casey Movers Threatens To Sue Me Over Bad Review

Phil Buckley

10 Nov 2012 | 6:39 pm

Casey Movers sent a letter threatening legal action if my wife doesn't remove a negative review on Yelp.
Your Missed Opportunity on Meetup.com

Phil Buckley

4 Nov 2012 | 3:29 pm

If you skipped over filling out your Meetup.com profile page, log in right now and follow these tips.

Hyper Dog Denver SEO Blog | Colorado SEO Firm
Hyper Dog Media receives Partner of the Year Award from Adams County Education Consortium

Jim

3 May 2013 | 10:50 am

- For Immediate Release - Hyper Dog Media receives Partner of the Year Award from Adams County Education Consortium Louisville, CO. (April 26, 2013) — Hyper Dog Media, a metro Denver area search engine optimization and website analytics company, was named Adams County Education Consortium (ACEC) Partner of the Year at an April 25th luncheon. [...]
Hyper Dog Media, a Sponsor of the 2013 BMA of Colorado Gold Key Awards

Jim

27 Apr 2013 | 9:59 am

- For Immediate Release - Hyper Dog Media Sponsor of the 2013 BMA of Colorado Gold Key Awards Louisville, CO. (April 26, 2013) — Hyper Dog Media, a metro Denver area search engine optimization and website analytics company, was a sponsor of the 2013 Business Marketing Association of Colorado Gold Key Awards. The BMA Gold [...]
Summary of Search, February 2013

Jim

15 Mar 2013 | 1:25 pm

Some SEOs speculated a Panda update was in the works a couple of weeks ago, but none has been confirmed by Google. It’s actually been a pretty calm month in the world of Organic SEO. What does Google want these days?! Overall trends and our collaboration with other SEOs reveal four important trends: 1. Google [...]
Summary of Search, January 2013

Jim

11 Feb 2013 | 1:00 pm

Summary of Search, January 2013 It’s almost been 2 years since the first Google Panda update, and it looks like there is a new update about every 4 weeks now. Update 24 was released on Jan 22nd, impacting 1.2% of English queries. Branding and Content Other updates have included a “brand signal update” on the [...]
Summary of Search November 2012

Jim

14 Jan 2013 | 10:05 am

November 2012 saw 2 Panda Updates from Google: They usually are not that close together. The two updates were: #21 – November 5 #22 – November 21 The Panda updates are looking to penalize websites with low value content. This includes scraped content, thin content that isn’t unique, other forms of duplicate content, and really [...]

periscopeUP
Help Me Step Up

Dan Kaplan

22 May 2013 | 1:35 pm

Friends, Who do you know that has had breast cancer? Your mom, sister, spouse, co-worker? This horrible disease has affected us all. My own mother is a 20-year survivor. (yay mom!) Do you want to feel like you’re helping? This summer, I am raising money for breast cancer research. Please help me reach my goal of $3,000. No joke, I am literally climbing a mountain to this lofty goal. Dan & Eric going UP! I am teaming up with Jodi’s Climb for Hope, an organization that in six years has helped over 100 climbers to summit mountains on 4 continents, while raising over $600,000 towards…
SEO Guidelines For Obtaining Reviews on Google+ Business Listings

Dan Kaplan

15 May 2013 | 7:26 pm

This article does not address reputation management or responding to negative reviews. Reviews on Google+ Business Listings (formerly Google Places) are one of many factors that help push local businesses higher in pin map listings. Google has been known to import reviews from third party review sites, and obtaining reviews on these sites can sometimes help boost rankings as well. Make Sure You Have Validated Your Google+ Business Listing If you have not yet created (or claimed your existing) Google+ Business Listing, either create one here, or find for your company’s Google+ Business…
Dan Kaplan Published in the Baltimore Business Journal

Dan Kaplan

26 Dec 2012 | 10:05 am

periscopeUP’s CoFounder Dan Kaplan was published today in the Baltimore Business Journal. The article is titled The Top Ten Mistakes Business Owners Make With Their Websites, And What Do Do About It, and you can view it here. In the article, Dan discusses the 10 most common mistakes he has found business leaders make when it comes to their websites, along with concrete steps they can take to ensure your website becomes a 24/7 salesperson that doesn’t sleep.
What is Engaging Content?

Dan Kaplan

18 Dec 2012 | 4:13 pm

This 6:36 minute video defines “engaging content,” what we at periscopeUP belive will be rewarded by Google. The transcription is available here. You can also scroll down for a regular blog post version. What Kind Of Content Does Google Reward? from Dan Kaplan on Vimeo. What does Google mean by “good quality content” and how might we implement it on a website? As with everything we do, the direction for this comes from Google’s own words. We go to the source when trying to understand Google’s definitions. The information for this post is coming from a few statements in this Google…
What To Do About Google’s Over-Optimization Update

Dan Kaplan

10 Oct 2012 | 7:41 am

Background In mid March 2012, Matt Cutts made the following comment at South By Southwest: “…the idea is basically to try and level the playing ground a little bit. So all those people who have sort of been doing, for lack of a better word, “over optimization” or “overly” doing their SEO, compared to the people who are just making great content and trying to make a fantastic site, we want to sort of make that playing field a little bit more level.” In some ways this is a continuation of what we’ve seen in Panda (originally rolled out in February 2011, and updated in November…

Fathom
Marketing Automation Tips: Segmenting Your Customer Database

Jenni Ramminger

24 May 2013 | 11:26 am

Did you know that targeted email programs have been proven to reduce advertising costs and increase ROI percentages to as much as 3000%? Sophisticated segmentation sounds intimidating. And in the past, it may have been, though most marketers can agree segmentation almost always drives better results. The art of splicing and dicing your database, creating messages for each target group, and making sense of all the “big data” is a big job. But, with the help of marketing automation tools like Marketo or Act-on, the segmentation game has changed for the better.… Read the restThe…
Healthcare Blog Dilemma Part 1: Beating Blogger’s Block

Haley Hite

23 May 2013 | 9:19 am

Are you dealing with blogger’s block? You know – the blogger’s form of writer’s block? It’s the kind of dilemma where your brain feels like mush and you’ve run out of engaging ideas. Whatever you do, don’t cop out. Having relevant, fresh content on your blog is crucial to its success. Among 37 percent of marketers, blog posts are the most valuable type of content for marketing. If you run out of ideas and stop updating your blog (or skip having one altogether), you’re missing out on increased visibility and wider reach, which are two important aspects of your online…
Healthcare Marketing Stats To Ponder, Plus 100 Leaders

Paul Richlovsky

23 May 2013 | 3:18 am

Some new stats came out recently about how healthcare consumers use mobile health apps and navigate the Web for health-related information. Both sets of numbers are telling in how they illustrate consumer tendencies toward using technology and the specific kinds of websites they go to for tracking and finding health information. Consumer Preferences in Mobile Health Apps First, let’s look at mobile: A new Ruder Finn “mHealth Report” (PDF) shows 49% of U.S. consumers who use mobile health apps say they use one for healthy eating.… Read the restThe post Healthcare…
Understanding How Patients Use Search

Melissa Mathews

22 May 2013 | 6:58 am

How are your current and prospective patients using online search to find your healthcare organization? As PEW Internet Research found earlier this year, online search is one of the first places patients start looking for health information. In fact, 8 in 10 online health inquiries start at a search engine. While search engines are the foundation for many patients’ health research, the use of search continues throughout the patient relationship with the organization, from research to scheduling an appointment to becoming a returning patient and brand advocate.… Read the restThe post…
Why Jargon Could Be Your Worst Enemy

Caroline Bogart

21 May 2013 | 6:30 am

Copywriters, marketers and brand ambassadors of the world, listen up. Jargon might just be your worst enemy. We think using industry terminology or jargon makes us look smarter, but sometimes it can have completely opposite effects and make even the most well-written piece ineffective. In fact, Merriam-Webster defines jargon as “confused, unintelligible language.” Even the dictionary isn’t too keen on it! But there are other reasons why using too much jargon can backfire. Not everyone knows what you’re talking about: Even if you’re dealing with highly technical subject matter, not…

Adam Sherk
Top Link Building Tactics for Publishers

Adam Sherk

14 May 2013 | 5:00 am

When it comes to link building publishers have a significant advantage because editorial content, be it hard news or evergreen content, lends itself naturally to linking and sharing. In addition producing quality content on a daily basis creates a steady stream of new opportunities. It is one of the many reasons that content marketing has become so popular, as brands in other industries put an emphasis on content development and promotion and essentially become publishers themselves. For traditional publishers, link building typically falls within the third main bucket of a comprehensive SEO…
The Best Free (or Cheap) Tools for Blogger and Influencer Outreach

Adam Sherk

30 Apr 2013 | 5:07 am

Blogger and influencer outreach is an area with strong crossover between PR, audience development and link building. For publishers it typically involves identifying users that are sharing, discussing and linking to content from your brands and their competitors, and about specific topics. Then building relationships with those users over time and coming up with ideas for outreach, content development and promotion. But the same general approach applies to any industry. Social monitoring tools like Radian6 and PR suites like Vocus and Cision offer the greatest range of functionality for…
SEO Tips for Infinite Scrolling

Adam Sherk

16 Apr 2013 | 5:15 am

Infinite scrolling has been growing in popularity with various forms being utilized on a variety of sites. While there are pros and cons from both a technical and usability perspective, and it hasn’t worked for everyone, in the right situation it can be a good fit. Social sites use infinite scrolling as a way to offer a never-ending stream of new content, and it has appeal for sites that want to offer a seamless browsing experience for large groups of items. Publishers are starting to use it more often too on their home and channel pages. Don’t Forget SEO In reviewing infinite…
SEO Guidelines for Sponsored Content and Partner Links

Adam Sherk

3 Apr 2013 | 5:27 am

Sponsored content or “native advertising” in various forms is growing in popularity as publishers seek additional sources of revenue. Done well it can be a good fit for both publishers and advertisers, and dare I say even add value for users. However in any implementation it is important to comply with search engine guidelines to avoid negative repercussions for SEO. This topic has been in the news recently with Google first issuing a reminder that any links within sponsored content should not pass PageRank. This stemmed from the incident in which Interflora and some UK newspapers…
Has Search Interest in Celebrity Gossip Peaked?

Adam Sherk

26 Mar 2013 | 7:37 am

Are searchers less interested in celebrity gossip than they used to be? According to Google Trends, yes. While doing some research I was surprised to see that search interest in the keyword phrase [celebrity gossip] peaked around 2009. Despite occasional spikes it has been declining ever since: By comparison [celebrity news] has been more consistent over the years but it has always trailed behind. However according to Google Trends it overtook [celebrity gossip] for the first time in October 2012: In the Google AdWords Keyword Tool [celebrity gossip] still has more than twice the average…

G-SEO Community
The Best Ways to Attract Quality Traffic to Your Website

RyanHolman

16 May 2013 | 10:27 am

There are so many online businesses and one would expect all of them to be earning a profit. However, this is not the case, as majority of online businesses are unaware how to attract quality traffic to their websites. The quality of visitors is important, as without targeted visitors, who are interested in what you are selling or offering, you will not be able to achieve much. All of these fallacies can hurt a business badly. It is imperative that an online business knows the art of attracting the right set of visitors. Here are some great tips to attract quality visitors to your website and…
How Online Contests, Sweepstakes and Giveaways Drive Traffic

Josh Nadeau

7 May 2013 | 12:40 pm

You’ve done everything right from the start — developed a solid business plan, secured website hosting in the cloud and even created a Facebook page. Now that, you’ve created a social-networking presence, use the right marketing tools to drive traffic to your site and establish a strong presence in the social marketplace. People love free, so one effective tool is to host online contests and giveaways. “Win” and “Prize” are buzz words that capture people’s attention, drawing them to your e-commerce site and blog. Subsequently you “Win”…
Relevant vs. Irrelevant Link Building | How Linking Strategies Influence Internet Usability

Clay Christeson

2 May 2013 | 9:17 am

The internet is a giant network of information constructed of links. Just as a house is built more soundly with higher quality materials, the World Wide Web is fundamentally similar. The network as a whole makes more sense and has much higher efficiency when quality links are present. Individual webmasters and businesses around the world, along with specialized SEO firms, use link building as a strategy to optimize certain content and increase search engine visibility. Like any other benefit-reaping strategy, some people take advantage of the system. This is called irrelevant link building.
Magento Ecommerce Support Services for Optimizing Your Website

Josh Nadeau

29 Apr 2013 | 11:33 am

Magento ecommerce provides a great web application that is frequently used in websites today. It is a free source application or open source application which came into existence on March 31, 2008. Now, there are different types of support and assistance that are rendered by Magento programmers and the development team. Magento is mostly used for storing data and the entity attribute value is implemented for this app. It is basically a set of e-commerce modules that can be tailored according to your e-commerce needs. You will need support when you are thinking about using the app for your…
Becoming An Entrepreneur | 4 Lessons Learned From ‘Shark Tank’

Josh Nadeau

18 Apr 2013 | 11:41 am

ABC’s “Shark Tank,” a reality TV show on becoming an entrepreneur featuring famous investors like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who hear out individuals looking for money for their business, is quickly becoming one of the most popular reality shows in primetime. According to Cable.tv, tenured competition shows like “Survivor” and “Amazing Race” still hold the top spots in the ratings, but business and career competition shows such as “Apprentice” and “Shark Tank” are rising fast. It’s not all just fun and games,…

Blog
Bandwagonesque: Do you deserve to be on the content train?

markhenshall

30 Apr 2013 | 1:54 am

Bandwagonesque: Do you deserve to be on the content train?Mark Henshall30/04/2013Integrating search, social and conversion can create a brand resonance with relevant, engaging and recommendable content. It helps build an awareness to advocacy model that has cohesion and consistency, and no cognitive or social dissonance. We think Google’s Zero Moment of Truth is driven by investing in the talent and expertise to achieve these aims.Read more
Drop the Dead Donkey: The Supermarkets’ Zero Moment of Truth?

markhenshall

20 Feb 2013 | 12:44 am

Drop the Dead Donkey: The Supermarkets’ Zero Moment of Truth?Mark Henshall20/02/2013ZMOT rings true and is at work across all industries now (from travel to fashion to B2B). In the current crisis, supermarkets have a way to go yet in this area, which is as much about transparency as what goes into a product. It all starts with the customer. Listen and you’ll hear it - straight from the horse’s mouth.Read more
Do grounded aircraft inspire us to travel?

markhenshall

28 Jan 2013 | 7:15 am

Do grounded aircraft inspire us to travel?Mark Henshall28/01/2013Seeing the plane network stop moving kicks us out of our habitual behaviour and gives us some perspective. Travel often happens on the edges of the subconscious, at the deep end. It defies easy definition or meaning. But experiencing it and sharing it pulls us further together. The story of the 787 lithium-ion battery is one story. But there’s millions more waiting to be told.Read more
Stories from the city, stories from the sea: how to supercharge your holiday mojo

markhenshall

29 Sep 2012 | 7:40 am

Stories from the city, stories from the sea: how to supercharge your holiday mojoMark Henshall29/09/2012Content wasn’t just king but “kingmaker” according to one speaker a couple of weeks ago, as digital types from London and beyond joined us coast-huggers at the annual Brighton SEO, to get some perspective by the pier and share stories on what’s next in the search world.Read more
If content is king, which kingdom are we talking about?

stefanhull

24 Aug 2012 | 6:41 am

If content is king, which kingdom are we talking about?Stefan Hull24/08/2012If I had a pound for every time I’ve heard or read recently that content is king I’d be living the life of a king and not writing a blog post about what content really is.Read more

Rembrandt Communications® - SEO and Small Business Public Relations
Silence is Not Golden in Business

Melanie Rembrandt, www.rembrandtwrites.com

23 May 2013 | 2:52 pm

Communication is the Key to Business Success You have a great idea for an upcoming, marketing campaign and pitch it to your client. Silence. You need information to finish a project and send out an email, call and text. Silence. You call your client and leave a message to get some information for a looming [...]
Time for Fresh SEO, Sales and PR!

Melanie Rembrandt, www.rembrandtwrites.com

16 May 2013 | 4:20 pm

What are you going to do to build buzz? Spring is here, and that means it’s the perfect time to start new projects and reach out to potential new clients, media-members and advertisers. Whether you are looking to get a story in the news or boost sales, here are a few tips to help you [...]
Are You A Trained, SEO Copywriter?

Melanie Rembrandt, www.rembrandtwrites.com

8 May 2013 | 2:38 pm

If not, please stop writing your company’s content! By Melanie Rembrandt If you are writing your own copy for all of your marketing needs, but you are not a trained, SEO (search engine optimization) copywriter, stop! You may think you are saving time and money, but you are actually losing out on dramatically increased sales [...]
What is content marketing?

Melanie Rembrandt, www.rembrandtwrites.com

2 May 2013 | 9:20 am

Does your business need content marketing? There is a lot of buzz out there about “content marketing” and how it can make your business successful. But what is content marketing, anyway? It’s just a fancy name for using content to market to customers. And as I’ve said many times before, by providing value to your [...]

danlew.com
What’s the ‘BEST NICHE’ for ‘ME’?

Daniel Lew

24 May 2013 | 3:45 am

How to Choose an Online Marketing Niche That Makes You Most Money Dating, finance, fitness, parenting or weight loss? Is that something that you keep asking yourself over and over again? Well, you’re not alone. There are a lot of people, among those who want to start an online blog or business, who have this [...]
Authority Sites and Misconceptions

Daniel Lew

16 May 2013 | 9:28 pm

Is Google Still Worrying You? Find out more about Authority Sites and Misconceptions. Join myself and Marty Ware on Google Hangouts People get a bit caught up with the misconceptions of authority and they should get wiki style sites and that’s it, but I think its a matter of getting a good mixture of links [...]
SEO Gladiators – Link Drip Feeding Service

Daniel Lew

16 May 2013 | 5:00 am

We have had SEO Gladiators opened up to the public for a little over a month now and I must say the results have been amazing! Everyone knows getting authority links and quality link via social signals and a mixture of web 2.0′s wiki sites, press release sites videos and as many natural links as [...]
Emperor Social Bonus – $980 Value

Daniel Lew

15 May 2013 | 4:02 am

Emperor Social Is Open (Get My $980 Bonus FREE) This product would have to be one of the best Facebook marketing solutions you will ever find when it comes to creating viral traffic for you or your clients campaigns. Martin Crumlish the creator is very well known for creating quality products and Emperor Social is [...]
Sorry, Your Contact Form is Too Annoying!

Daniel Lew

9 May 2013 | 10:26 pm

Is your contact form created in a way that engages users or built to drive them away? A harsh truth or fact about contact forms is that most of the people hate them. It really sucks when people are told to enter details like name, email, name of company, telephone no, subject etc. Most of [...]

Daily SEO Tip
What Other Marketing Firms Want You To Believe – That Isn’t True

DST Contributor

24 May 2013 | 10:02 am

Have You Ever Wondered How Others Really Rank High For Keywords Quickly And Claim White Hat? My name is Matthew Boley and I would like to talk about what to look for when you’re talking to an SEO expert and the tactics working right now. How many times have you heard, content is king, content is everything, make sure you have your alt tags right, make sure your on-page SEO is perfect or you won’t rank. I have also heard “make sure you don’t have duplicate content on your site or it’s just not possible to rank, because you will get penalized so bad you won’t rank good at all”.
Digital Marketing Trends for 2013

Tanya

16 May 2013 | 6:00 am

In the year 2013, marketers are looking forward to increase their digital marketing activity. And through the use of information gathered in the past year, there are hoping to make their mark on the online world with the use of these interesting marketing trends. Mobile Marketing As per 2012, the global traffic of internet by people via mobile has gone to 13%. This means they are sorting other different means of going online other than the traditional way which is using the PC. So now marketing strategist are increasing their efforts to be able to advertise to their mobile customers whether…
Survival Guide to Multilingual SEO

DST Contributor

14 May 2013 | 6:00 am

The following survival guide to multilingual SEO will take you through the 3 key stages of tactical international SEO implementation, complete with tried and tested first-hand experience in what really works. I will introduce some of the great tools available (some free) that allow you to research and implement your own international SEO strategy. Although I advise professional management in certain parts, much of the investigative work and conceptualization can be done by yourself, making the process cheaper and giving you control over the scope and direction of the project.Let’s get…
Five Killer Link Bait Tips That Can Provide You With ‘Passive Marketing’

DST Contributor

11 May 2013 | 5:18 pm

When it comes to powerful SEO techniques, there are few that are more effective than link baiting. The idea behind link baiting is that you don’t try to force Google to recognize your site by building tons of links yourself and working for hours, but rather write your content in such a way that your visitors do that for you. The idea is that you write articles that will be so catchy and so interesting that people will spot them immediately and then want to share them with their friends as soon as they’ve read them. Here we will look at what you need to create such effective…
5 US SEO Events to Visit to Spend a One Month Vacation with Purpose

DST Contributor

9 May 2013 | 5:07 pm

It may be a part of the “new world,” but the United States has grown to become one of the most dominant and fascinating countries on Earth, making it a treat to explore for Americans and those from abroad alike. With countless vacation spots and business opportunities existing simultaneously around this great nation, turning your vacation into a work-friendly endeavor is as easy as pie! Combine work and play in a way that lets you enjoy life, even while you push forward through its economic complexities; here are five U.S. SEO events to visit in order to take a one month vacation…

HubSpot's Inbound Marketing Blog
How to Host a Facebook Chat

24 May 2013 | 11:00 am

When Facebook rolled out the ability to reply to comments on Facebook, my immediate reaction was ... indifferent. Actually, I thought it was more likely it would complicate conversations and give spammers additional ways to pollute comment sections. But then I changed my tune when I saw the potential for a fun marketing activity -- Facebook Chats! Similar to a Twitter Chat, a Facebook Chat is a scheduled time to, well, "chat" with a group of people about a particular topic on Facebook. With the introduction of the new Facebook reply feature, users could actually have conversations in the…
The Most Magical Moments From the Arrested Development Launch Campaign

24 May 2013 | 6:01 am

If you had to market a final season premiere of a TV cult classic that wouldn't appear on television, how would you do it? With billboards, print ads, and primetime slots on TV? Probably not. You’d have to buckle down and get creative to reach such a niche, digital audience. Well, that’s exactly what Arrested Development did. After Netflix brought the show back to life for a final season that would only be available through the Netflix streaming service, the show launched one of the most creative integrated inbound marketing campaigns we’ve ever seen, using content across…
What a Real Relationship in Social Media Should Look Like [INFOGRAPHIC]

23 May 2013 | 1:00 pm

The promise of social media was once "one-to-one engagement" and "relationship building" ... but somehow "building a relationship" in social media has morphed into blasting messages at as many people as possible and hoping someone is attracted. How the heck did this happen? In the "offline" world, the "spray and pray" approach never works. Imagine if Romeo went up to Juliet at that first party and just started shouting why he was perfect for her and that they needed to get married before it was too late. What if Gatsby blasted Daisy’s house with letter after letter about how…
What the Future Holds for Business Blogging

23 May 2013 | 9:30 am

Lately, the whole marketing community is abuzz about content. And rightfully so. Content is a necessity for any successful inbound marketing strategy, and with more and more marketers creating it, it's becoming increasingly difficult to stand out from the barrage of content out there -- a lot of which is, well .... subpar (to put it nicely). If you haven't yet flipped through Velocity Partners' SlideShare deck, "Crap. The Content Marketing Deluge," it's definitely worth a look (we've embedded it below). It's no wonder the 2013 State of Inbound Marketing report revealed…
Where Do Marketers Get Customers? [Data]

23 May 2013 | 6:00 am

Time and time again, we get asked for benchmark data, particularly about customer generation. Well, you may remember we recently launched our 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Research Report, and we used the mounds of research there to try to, you know, "give the people what they want." And the people want benchmark data. I broke down survey responses about customer generation through the lense of simple demographic information -- B2B versus B2C, industry, company size, and company location. If you don't see your business type or industry represented below, though, let us know -- we did our…

Local SEO Guide
Why You Should Be Open With Your Business’ Meta Data

Andrew Shotland

22 May 2013 | 12:17 pm

Yesterday I talked about my initial thoughts on Google’s new Local Business Data Highlighter. Tyler Bell of Factual was quick to point out an important point: [View the story "Cheeky Google" on Storify] If you want to have the best chance of ranking for local queries in Google, you should definitely use the tools they [...]The post Why You Should Be Open With Your Business’ Meta Data appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
How To Use Google’s Local Business Data Highlighter…So Far

Andrew Shotland

21 May 2013 | 12:28 pm

Google’s new Data Highlighter for Local Businesses is definitely worth checking out for anyone trying to goose their local rankings. I have found it to be a bit buggy and it’s a new tool, so proceed with caution. Here are some basics on how to use it along with some tricks I have figured out [...]The post How To Use Google’s Local Business Data Highlighter…So Far appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
Google Alerts Tip – Works Better If You Have a Time Machine

Andrew Shotland

10 May 2013 | 9:40 am

And in other breaking CitySearch news, Darren Waddell of RadiusIntel just sent me this awesome Google Alert he received this morning: It links to this article from 2007. For all of you marketers recommending that your clients use Google Alerts to monitor what people are saying, be sure to include that it works better if [...]The post Google Alerts Tip – Works Better If You Have a Time Machine appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
What Happened To CitySearch’s Business?

Andrew Shotland

9 May 2013 | 2:52 pm

Today Greg Sterling asked What’s Going On At CityGrid?: “Here’s my paraphrase of some of the things I was told: CityGrid and Citysearch are struggling (to retain and deliver value to advertisers) Citysearch was characterized to me as having lost so much momentum that it was effectively “dead” CityGrid and associated properties (InsiderPages, Citysearch, Urbanspoon) [...]The post What Happened To CitySearch’s Business? appeared first on Local SEO Guide.
Yext Sync for Facebook: Is Every Product Destined To Become a Feature?

Andrew Shotland

2 May 2013 | 8:36 am

Today Yext announced Sync, a service that lets you sync a business’ location data to Facebook along with “enhanced” data such as menus, offers, photos and status updates. While there are plenty of social media management tools that allow you to control content on a Facebook Page, the two big differences with Yext’s service are [...]The post Yext Sync for Facebook: Is Every Product Destined To Become a Feature? appeared first on Local SEO Guide.

Occam's Razor by Avinash Kaushik
Excellent Analytics Tip #24: Obsess About Real Business Profitability

Avinash Kaushik

20 May 2013 | 3:05 am

The art of analysis often fails to deliver ginarmous success simply because of how limited our worldview is when we go about identifying bottom-line impacting insights. Hence, this is a post on a simple concept that will drag you out of your current "what is happening on my website?" comfort zone, and out of your Google Analytics, Site Catalyst, WebTrends worldview silo. Sounds like fun? It is. And you end up becoming rich and famous. Not too shabby, right? Macro Business Context: The Big Deal Digital is an obsession for almost everyone who reads this blog. Part of the reason is…
Eight Silly Data Myths Marketing People Believe That Get Them Fired.

Avinash Kaushik

29 Apr 2013 | 2:40 am

It turns out that Marketers, especially Digital Marketers, make really silly mistakes when it comes to data. Big data. Small data. Any data. In the last couple months I've spent a lot of time with senior level marketers on three different continents. Some of them are quite successful, but sadly many of them were not. In the latter group I discovered two common themes: 1 Some absolutely did not use data to do their digital jobs. This group should be fired immediately, so I'm not going to talk about them. [A benchmark for you: If you are not spending 30% of your time in 2013 with…
The Lean Analytics Cycle: Metrics > Hypothesis > Experiment > Act

Avinash Kaushik

8 Apr 2013 | 2:17 am

This should not be news to you. To win in business you need to follow this process: Metrics > Hypothesis > Experiment > Act. Online, offline or nonline. Yet this structure rarely exists in companies. We are far too enamored with data collection and reporting the standard metrics we love because others love them because someone else said they were nice so many years ago. Sometimes, we escape the clutches of this sub optimal existence and do pick good metrics or engage in simple A/B testing. But it is not routine. So, how do we fix this problem? This thought was in my mind as I was…
Excellent Analytics Tip #23: Align Hits, Sessions, Metrics, Dimensions!

Avinash Kaushik

18 Mar 2013 | 2:24 am

Web Analytics tools have become pretty feature rich, and the future promises to bring even more goodies (Universal Analytics anyone?). But these features bring with them new problems that we hadn't imagined before. Mostly because the limitations in the tools meant we were unable to make these mistakes. Today's post is about a new problem I'm starting to notice, which only exists because our tools have become so much cooler and handed us so much power: constant mismatching of hit- and session-level metrics and dimensions. This particular problem exists primarily because…
Excellent Analytics Tip #22: Calculate Return On Analytics Investment!

Avinash Kaushik

25 Feb 2013 | 2:02 am

Analysts: Put up or shut up time! This blog is centered around creating incredible digital experiences powered by qualitative and quantitative data insights. Every post is about unleashing the power of digital analytics (the potent combination of data, systems, software and people). But we've never stopped to consider this question: What is the return on investment (ROI) of digital analytics? What is the incremental revenue impact on the company's bottom-line for the investment in data, systems and people? Isn't it amazing? We've not pointed the sexy arrow of…

SEO Chat
Google Penguin 2.0 Update Discussion Threads

Jamesp

23 May 2013 | 7:12 pm

Now that Google’s Penguin 2.0 Update is out, there has been an explosion of conversation across the web, including here at our own network of sites. Below, I highlight some of those conversations so you can get in on the chatter! First, at our very own SEO Chat forums, we have this thread, where our SEO gurus discuss the effects they are seeing and what you can expect from this latest update.After that, head on over to Cre8asite Forums where a similar conversation is being held.Threadwatch.org also has some interesting threads as well – two in particular. This one, listing the top…
How to Take Part In a Twitter Chat

Ann Smarty

22 May 2013 | 12:30 pm

Everyone wants to know how to put on a Twitter chat these days. Not that I am surprised; tweet chats are a great way to engage users, have a discussion and enjoy a conversation with others of similar interests. When you have a large follower base on Twitter, it only makes sense to begin utilizing this tool to communicate with it. What you don’t see as often is a guide to participating in one. Twitter chats are still a relatively new concept, and knowing the ‘rules’ to follow when taking part can be difficult. Not all chats have etiquette they expect to be followed, and those…
In Simple Words: How Facebook EdgeRank Works

Ann Smarty

15 May 2013 | 7:40 am

Over the various updates Facebook has moved from a simple communication tool to something much larger, allowing users to have more control over their accounts. This includes their friends feed, which only shows a certain number of posts from friends that you can specify. All of this is worked out using EdgeRank, a site-specific algorithm that filters through posts to decide whether or not they are important enough to match the specifications you have given each user or page. It is the reason that certain updates make it onto your friends feed, and others don’t. How Does EdgeRank Work?
Best Google Jokes

Ann Smarty

7 May 2013 | 8:15 am

I make a lot of jokes about Bing, I have to admit it. The gist is that it is a wannabe search engine that will never make it as the number one choice. Unfair? Probably, but I would argue that 1) I don’t care, and 2) It is still the truth. Besides, it is not like Bing will ever see this…it couldn’t find it! See what I did there? But it is really only right of me to give Google the same shots. After all, it is at the top and there is no way to resist lobbing up a couple of rotten tomatoes to hit the big guy in the face. So here are some of the best Google jokes I have seen…
Social Media and Society: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Ann Smarty

1 May 2013 | 5:50 am

Social media sites have taken over our lives. It’s hard to even imagine that 10 years ago there was no Facebook or Twitter! 15 years ago people were actually waiting to hear from each other because even email wasn’t that common. How did social media actually influenced our life and the society in general? In my opinion (and I am an early adopter) it has had a positive impact. I am all for the widening of the world we live in, and easy communication around the world. Social media has definitely made us closer to other parts of the world – as someone who used to do the…

SEOptimise » blog
8 Great Tools to use with Google Analytics

Daniel Bianchini

24 May 2013 | 8:43 am

We hear so much about great SEO tools that we should be using, but we rarely see much written about tools to help you with your Google Analytics data. Over the past year I have been using more and more tools to help with Google Analytics data, from API extraction to data visualisation, and I wanted to share them with you. Below are just 8 tools that I used for Google Analytics on a regular basis that save me a lot of time. ScreamingFrog Who has come across GA traffic disappearing and it being down to some GA code being removed? How long has that taken you to find the pages that no longer has…
Plugging the link leaks, part 2 – site canonicalisation

Charlie Williams

22 May 2013 | 1:39 am

A couple of months ago we took a look at how you can reclaim links that you are simply throwing away. For the second look at how to fix common link leaks, we’re going to look at issues around site canonicalisation, and how easy it is to lose link authority through simple duplicate URLs. As before, this is a simple way many sites lose valuable links without even realising. By plugging these leaks, we’ve helped clients gain an instant boost in link authority, without irking anyone on Google’s anti-spam team. The many faces of a homepage The best place to start when digging for link…
SMX London 2013 – Top Takeaways from the Paid Search and SMX Advanced Tracks

Tamsin Mehew

17 May 2013 | 3:13 am

We’ve had a great couple of days at SMX London – here’s what we learnt from the Paid Search track from day 1 and the SMX Advanced track from day 2! Day 1 – Paid Search Track Amazing Paid Search Tactics & Tools Ann Stanley, Co-Founder and MD of Anicca Digital (@annstanley) Ecommerce advertising has changed quite a bit recently: Google Shopping transitioned from free to paid last month in the UK, and Google have just announced that they’re getting rid of product extensions. That means having product listing ads is more important for ecommerce. Having a PLA ad…
217 Takeaways from the SEO, Search and Social Track – SMX London 2013

Daniel Bianchini

17 May 2013 | 3:13 am

SEOptimise attended this year’s SMX London, and came away with a number of amazing tips and takeaways. I have provided a list of all the takeaways that I took from the SEO, Search and Social Track. Day 1 – From Authorship To Authority: Why Claiming Your Identity Matters The first session on the SEO track saw Chelsea Blacker, Grant Simmons, Jim Boykin and Google’s Maile Ohye talk about Authorship and how to enhance your authority in an industry. The main draw to the session was as you would expect Maile Ohye, with the hope she would give away some inside information.
The ultimate content audit checklist

Rachel McCombie

15 May 2013 | 2:30 am

I think it would be fair to say that Google’s major algorithm updates in the last couple of years have seen us all asking ourselves some tough questions about the quality of what we’re putting on the web. This soul-searching has seen many reform their link building habits, while others have seen Google’s clamp-downs on web spam as an endorsement of the high-quality link building they’d been doing all along. But the focus hasn’t just been on links: the Panda update in its various iterations has shown that high-quality on-site content is paramount. This has seen the necessary rise of…

SEO 2.0
Reshare This if You Love Your Mother!

Tadeusz Szewczyk

17 May 2013 | 7:45 am

I know I'm a bit late for Mother's Day. I love my mother every day though. Do you? In case you love your mother reshare this! Now, who will say "no" and refrain from resharing? Many people will feel compelled to do so. Today I will show you a few little social engineering tricks that pretty much everybody and their mom is using out there on social media. In SEO we had the ever-present dark side of black hat SEO but what many overlook is the downright manipulation of people within social media. Indeed social media by itself is a kind of manipulation where corporations earn money by making you…
How Microsoft Made the Web Ugly & What to Do About it

Tadeusz Szewczyk

10 May 2013 | 6:24 am

This is a sad story with a happy ending about the way Microsoft has made the Web ugly and what to do about it. You have to act now though or you lose readers and customers. In a more descriptive way it deals with body text readability in the age of default font smoothing. The typography of many sites is literally broken without their respective owners' knowledge it seems. You can't ignore the fact anymore that your copy is fuzzy and difficult to read. You simply turn away visitors from your site! Have you heard the term anti-aliasing? Most people probably haven't unless they are graphic…
Where Did All The Search Traffic Go?

Tadeusz Szewczyk

3 May 2013 | 6:40 am

BuzzFeed reports that "Traffic from Google to digital publishers dropped 30% over the past eight months." based on traffic statistics from over 200 major media properties, among them BuzzFeed Time Huffington Post Rolling Stone Sports Illustrated Overall social media traffic to publishers, even Facebook traffic by itself amounts to more than Google search traffic for quite a while by now, 3 months in a row. Danny Sullivan stopped right in claiming that it's all so called "not provided" traffic that doesn't get shown. That's not true though. That's only a small fraction. Where did all the…
The Best Acronyms to Replace SEO

Tadeusz Szewczyk

26 Apr 2013 | 4:10 am

You have to admit: it didn't work out! Your quest to replace the stigma of SEO was futile until now! You wanted to practice internet marketing to no avail, you still just did keyword research, onsite optimization and link building. Then you tried to become an inbound marketer but were sending out all these cold outreach messages to unsuspecting bloggers. Lastly you jumped on the content marketing bandwagon by publishing more and better content than the keyword-stuffed gibberish you did earlier just to get hated by real content marketers who have done that for a decade. You are still an SEO.
Simplicity

Tadeusz Szewczyk

15 Apr 2013 | 6:32 am

Simplicity is the ultimate (form of) sophistication - Leonardo da Vinci When it comes to design or self improvement - two topics I follow in my free time - simplicity is widely accepted as the path to success. When it comes to blogs, social media or search many people still tend to overlook it. Just think of the biggest successes in all three areas: When Google introduced the clean and simple search box homepage instead of the cluttered portals of the 20th century they had an amazing success. Of course many aspects fuelled it, the better results, the young sympathetic team, the playful…

ReelSEO Video Marketing
Superman, Star Wars, and Zombies: Fun Video Friday

Chris Atkinson

24 May 2013 | 8:25 am

Did you ever want to see what would happen if Superman kicked a man in the balls? Did you really want to see Patton Oswalt's Star Wars filibuster from Parks & Recreation to come to life? Did you ever want to see a zombie feed on brains in a drive thru? Look no further.
April 2013 comScore: Ads Continue to Explode

Chris Atkinson

23 May 2013 | 12:50 pm

comScore released their April Video Metrix and the ad boom continues, as we saw yet another record amount of ads last month. Virtually everything stays the same from March in total videos viewed, unique viewers, and so on.
Video and Alcohol: What Beer, Wines, and Spirits Need to Keep In Mind

Chris Atkinson

23 May 2013 | 11:00 am

Unruly has found some interesting things out about video and the alcohol industry. Namely, they should be using it a lot more. Only four ads make up 97 percent of the entire social video market. Many brands are missing out on some great opportunities.
6 Types of Video Marketing and How They Work [Creator's Tip #92}

Tim Schmoyer

23 May 2013 | 9:35 am

There are six types of video marketing that a business can use when attracting interest in a product. Which one works best for you? Do all of them work best for you? Are you that kind of video junkie? Read on, and discover a marketing strategy that works.
Revision3, Discovery Launch TestTube Digital Network

Chris Atkinson

23 May 2013 | 8:24 am

Revision3 and Discovery are launching a new digital network called TestTube. It has all the types of shows you'd expect from the geeky/nerdy set that help us learn more about our world and maybe even laugh in the process.

SEO Blog by Dave Naylor - SEO Tools, Tips & News
Google Penguin 2.0 Has Landed – War on Spam Continues

Alex Graves

23 May 2013 | 2:28 am

The much anticipated Google Penguin update has finally become a reality following confirmation that the latest generation of the algorithm update has been rolled out throughout their search engine results pages and it seems to be causing a stir. Last night it was revealed that the off-page update was finally switched on following weeks of [...]
Link Risk Analysis Process Made Easy With Link Detox

Alex Graves

16 May 2013 | 9:16 am

With the Google Penguin update (branded as 2.0 or 4 depending on the scoring you are following) hanging over the world of SEO and being set to roll out within the next 8 days, the need to take a step back from the promotion of your website in order to take action on the foundation [...]
Speaking at SMX London – May 15th 2013

David Naylor

13 May 2013 | 8:03 am

On Wednesday I will be heading back to Chelsea Football Club to speak at SMX London. As a Leeds United fan I used to go to Chelsea’s ground many years ago for away matches, but lots has changed since those days I’m speaking on a panel with the topic, “Is Link Building Still Crucial, Or [...]
Google Penguin to go to War with SENuke Style Link Building

Alex Graves

13 May 2013 | 3:52 am

With the prospect of the latest addition of Google Penguin to become a reality within the next few weeks, it seems that many SEO’s and site owners are speculating towards what could be included into the previous focus of the update in order to warrant the upcoming update being called a “new generation” of Google [...]
Spreadsheets for SEO: Filtering Google Webmaster Tools Data by Domain

David Whitehouse

2 May 2013 | 7:41 am

Hey all, I tend to be the guy everyone comes to for Excel help at Bronco, so I thought I’d start doing posts on solving some of the most common issues I find popup being an SEO. This may well have been talked about before by other bloggers, but it may be new to a [...]

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Socially Finance

Nishi Shah

21 May 2013 | 2:28 am

No industry escapes Social Media. However niche the industry is, a business needs to have a presence on social media. A financial firm also has its own benefits when it has its presence on Social Media. The challenge with finance firms here is that they offer the same products, only the kind of service that they offer is different. So how does a finance firm make its presence felt on Social Media? A recent study says that financial advisory firms are becoming popular on LinkedIn. This is particularly due to its professional context and growing audience of valuable financially-aware customers.
Web Scraping Reduced to an Excel Formula

Pratik Majumdar

14 May 2013 | 2:54 am

A conventional web scraping approach would be to use a regular expression or Xpath based scraping tool that would allow you to conveniently select an HTML element via a browser interface, capture its Xpath and then configure the scraper to extract all elements which match this Xpath for an input set of URLs. Along with Xpath, most of these tools also provide an alternate scraping mechanism wherein users enter the regular expression which is to be matched with the source codes of each individual URL from the input set of pages. These pages can either be derived from a third party crawler which…
Social Media Insight Tools

Rohit Onkar

24 Apr 2013 | 10:11 am

Have you ever wondered how valuable social media insight tools are? Do they give you a proper ROI estimate? Let’s take a look. Freebies by Simplify Measured An analytical tool which gives you free analytics to help analyze any brand page across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Google+. LinkedIn and Pinterest profile data is yet to roll out. Here’s a sample Twitter Report - https://app.simplymeasured.com/viewer/acpsb7gp68xdpxnb2sufahdtvmfcmu/357342 Row Feeder If you host Tweetinars or hashtag contests, you definitely need to know the people who have participated in them so…
How marketers and PR professionals can contribute to Wikipedia – Part 2

Manan Shah

12 Apr 2013 | 6:46 am

Important don'ts for marketing and public relations professionals to practice on Wikipedia. This is the second part of a three-part series by Manan Shah, on important refrains for public relations professionals and marketers contributing to Wikipedia. The first part covered basic guidelines and the third would cover important dos. The Wikipedia community usually has apprehensions about marketing and PR professionals contributing to Wikipedia as their motives are in conflict with the basic principle of neutrality. Here are a few wiki-etiquettes — guidelines for marketing…
SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICALLY

Nashit Vakil

10 Apr 2013 | 9:02 am

Social media was non-existent till 1996 but then in 1997 a site named SixDegrees.com started off as the first major social media site and at its apex, SixDegrees had around 100 employees, and the site had around 1,000,000 fully registered members. It ran its course in 2001 though it has been recently restarted for the previously existing members. This site exposed the world to a future revolution in social media. Visionaries took up many projects and multiple social media sites started coming up such as Friendster (2002), MySpace (2003), Facebook (2004),…

Denver SEO & Internet Marketing Company | JEMSU™
Google+ Hangout On-Air Now Offers Features Like Your DVR, Better Mobile Streaming, and Instant Processing

Luis Metzger

9 May 2013 | 1:40 pm

Google+ Hangout On-Air has been a great way to stream live broadcastings to its users. But, up until now it has worked much like an old television: You could only watch what is happening at that time and there wasn’t a feature that allowed you to go back, rewind, and see what you missed. Or, you came into a situation where you just missed the video and wanted to watch it, but had to wait a long time for it to process. Well, this is now a thing of the past. Google Hangout is now able to offer you the same services much like your DVR. With great new features like rewind, quick…
Google Revamping Its Maps Interface Ahead of I/O

Luis Metzger

8 May 2013 | 9:58 am

Rumors are circulating that Google will be making a major change to its Maps Interface ahead of the big I/O convention. Unofficial News from trusted sites have pronounced that the Web giant is said to be rolling out an update that takes away sidebars and navigational buttons and concentrates more on one big interactive map. The same sites have also posted images of what the new Maps interface will look like. With no Sidebar, different colors, and new icons on a larger Maps screen, we will be seeing an array of new features in the coming days. Another supposed change is that search…
Google+ Hangout now offers a Remote Desktop Application.

Luis Metzger

1 May 2013 | 3:40 pm

Think Google has already thought of everything? How bout live chat on Google+ Hangout and having someone take over your computer remotely? Google’s new Hangout Remote Desktop app allows you to help friends and family run diagnostics, open apps, change settings, or even turn on your Spotify. Google engineer Daniel Caiafa said that one of the benefits of Hangout Remote Desktop is you will be able to see what the other person is doing on your desktop cause that person or you are hosting the a Hangout. Permission is needed from either party being accessed to be able to use the application…
HTML5 and its SEO Benefits

Luis Metzger

1 May 2013 | 8:24 am

For over 10 years now HTML 4.01 has been the standard for coders around the world, but since the release of HTML5 users web experience has been taken to a whole other level of functionality. Web browsers like Safari, Chrome, IE and Firefox have taken advantage of this new web standard and have implemented many of their features with it. Because HTML5 has many advantages for SEO companies, not many know exactly what does advantages are and how to really take advantage of all the latest features. Here are some simple key elements of HTML5 that will help your SEO: 1. Updated Semantic Tags…
Google Now is available for the iOS … But is it worth it?

Luis Metzger

29 Apr 2013 | 2:32 pm

Finally, one of the most popular applications for Android will now be available for the iOS. It’s called Google Now, and iOS users will find it inside the Google Search app. Google Now will become your new best friend and personal assistant. Locking into your geolocation and your Google accounts, Google will be able to find out more about your and give you personalized information. For example, it will keep you alarmed of traffic delays, your favorite sports teams, and even tell you how long it took you to get home. The Android version has has a few more features than the…

Blogging Tips on How to Make Money Blogging - Donny Gamble
Tools to Help Generate Blog Content Ideas

Donny

14 May 2013 | 5:22 am

For generating the blog content ideas, you have to search the different sources on the internet and the non-internet sources as well. The reason is that you have to look out for the new ideas from the different sources. Actually, the new ideas generate from the current trend and the present situation of the society. So, in this direction, you have to keep your eyes open to it always and also you have to watch the people’s conversations which are chirping around your surroundings. Moreover, you can get the ideas through your keen observation around your surroundings as well. Google…
Why you’re Marketing Suuucks!

Donny

4 Apr 2013 | 6:02 am

Marketing is done by everyone. There are many things that suck marketing efforts. Marketing sucks money like a vacuum cleaner. There are many problems related to marketing. One must invest money in marketing in a fruitful manner so that marketing sucks less money. Marketing should not be done in a boring manner. Marketing must be done in such a manner that it saves money and give a chance to purchase better things at a low price. One should be very conscious and should have a proper knowledge about the marketing plans to perform well in the marketing. Improper planning in marketing It is…
Online Tools for Checking Plagiarism in Blog Writing

Donny

26 Mar 2013 | 7:39 am

The growth of the blogging has brought about the problem of plagiarism that can damage not only your reputation as a writer, but also the rankings of your site. Plagiarism is a serious offense in the world of writing and warrants disciplinary actions against persons proved guilty. In many cases it is also possible that a blog writer may inadvertently use words or phrases in his blog writing that have already been used numerous times on other websites. So the best way to avoid any such mishaps would be to subject all blog writings to some best online plagiarism checking tools. While there are…
Hot Social Media Tools for 2013

Donny

19 Mar 2013 | 7:59 am

Social media has been growing fast in the recent past. Although Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the current heavy hitters, Pininterest has fast caught up and is the fourth most popular after them. Concerning use of social media in business processes, creating strategy, guided by deep insights into the users can achieve greater, larger and profitable audiences. The following hot social media tools are the best you need in 2013. #1. Plagiarism checker It’s becoming very important to ensure that the content you publish on social media is unique and original. Plagtracker is a tool that…
Multivariate Testing 101: Purpose and Instructions

Donny

12 Mar 2013 | 7:59 am

In the fast-paced world of the web, change is constant. It’s not enough to have a web presence, you must constantly be refining to bring it up to the standards and expectations of your audience. Regardless of how much time and money was put towards your website, it may become obsolete in a few years without implementing some changes here and there. Before you get your hands dirty changing the content and design of your site, you’ll be better equipped going forward by running some tests to identify key elements of your site that may be lacking. It’s through these multivariate tests that…

360i Blog
5 Startups That Are Empowering Content Curation

360i

23 May 2013 | 12:49 pm

Today, we’re releasing the tenth edition of our Startup Outlook series, 360i’s guide for helping brands better evaluate emerging technologies and platforms. This report features five startups that are enabling brands and consumers to automatically or manually curate content. Download this report and all past Startup Outlook reports at www.startupoutlook.com. Several of the startups featured in this edition (see below) recently joined us for a panel discussion in a special Internet Week rendition of Startup Outlook. The Curation Nation panel included Sam Epstein, VP of Platform at…
Equifax Names 360i Its Lead Agency

360i

22 May 2013 | 8:44 am

We’re excited to announce today our new partnership with Equifax, a leading credit reporting firm, which has named us its Lead Agency following an internal review. As an innovative marketer successfully navigating an ever-changing landscape, Equifax is reinforcing its commitment to making digital and data cornerstones of its growth trajectory. Terry Griffin, senior marketing executive for Equifax Personal Solutions, told Ad Age, “We needed to accelerate our growth and we needed to partner with someone who would advance the strategy for acquiring valuable long-term customers.” In our…
Hey Yahoo!, Here Are 3 Ways You Can Keep Your Promise to Tumblr

Maggie Walsh

20 May 2013 | 3:16 pm

How did Yahoo! announce its $1.1 billion deal to acquire Tumblr? With a GIF, of course. In a blog post promising not to “screw up” Tumblr, Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer announced that her company would be acquiring the platform, home to more than 100 million millennial creators, GIFs and adorable animals. The web is buzzing about whether Yahoo! will be able to keep its promise to maintain the integrity of the Tumblr user experience – but what about the positives the media giant could bring to the platform? As ‘A-List’ partners with Tumblr and big fans of the platform ourselves, we’re…
Kraft Cheese Inspires Summer Cookouts with ‘Pin to Win’ Promotion

Kara Passarelli

20 May 2013 | 8:33 am

Kraft Singles is helping fans gear up for summer through a Pinterest contest aimed at inspiring summer grilling and creating good times among family and friends. Recently launched, the sweeps encourages fans to “pin to win” the necessary essentials for spicing up their backyard barbeque spread—that is, ooey, gooey Kraft Cheese-inspired creations in the hopes of winning a Weber Grill, among other prizes. Over the next 12 weeks, Kraft Cheese is creating themed pinboards that will include up to 15 inspiring grilling essentials and be comprised of recipes, theme decorations, grilling…
Debunking 5 Myths of Programmatic Buying

Kolin Kleveno

16 May 2013 | 10:53 am

At last week’s iMedia Agency Summit, I spoke on a panel called ‘Demystifying Programmatic Inventory.’ The entire session was geared toward helping marketers better understand the somewhat murky world of programmatic buying. As someone who lives and breathes in this space everyday, I’m often surprised by the number of misconceptions that exist about this subset of marketing. It is my belief that the lack of clarity on programmatic buying is a big part of our industry’s general ambivalence toward it: Whereas some advertisers are reticent to accept programmatic buying as a viable…

GSEO.net - SEO Community
Local Site Mobile Traffic is On the Rise!

6 May 2013 | 4:29 am

<p>If you are a smart internet business owne...
Avoid Adding Too Many Pages Too Quickly!

22 Apr 2013 | 9:38 pm

<p>Google has always remained a conundrum in...
Drop in Traffic from Google Image Search?

16 Apr 2013 | 12:49 am

<p>As you know, Google has recently updated ...
Google Places for Business Gets an Upgrade

10 Apr 2013 | 2:51 am

<p>A few days, Google made an announcement a...
Does a Link Seller Link to Your Website?

4 Apr 2013 | 6:19 am

<p>A couple of months back, I wrote an artic...

Holistic Search Marketing
High Court awards Interflora damages in Google AdWords trademark row

Peter Young

21 May 2013 | 6:22 am

In a case that seems to have gone on forever – it seems that the high court have taken the dramatic step of awarding Interflora damages in the long running case against Marks and Spencers – something that may have wider repurcussions for Google and the wider paid landscape as a whole. Justice Arnold ruled [...]
Google extends footprint into RTB display – launches Open Bidder RTB platform

Peter Young

21 May 2013 | 4:30 am

Its interesting to see history almost repeating itself, within the display market as the Search Engine behemoths Google, Yahoo and Microsoft continue their war in other areas. Despite the fact that display advertising certainly pre-dates search, the continued growth of the search engines in this marketplace continues unabated with real-time bidding being one of the [...]
Case Study: Fergie Time from Talksport.

Peter Young

10 May 2013 | 1:00 am

Obviously being a big Liverpool fan, I can’t say I was hugely disappointed to see Alex Ferguson leave Manchester United. After all they have been the bane of my life football wise for as far back as I can remember. On the counter side, I received an interesting infographic from the folk over at Talksport [...]
X-default HREFLANG – making localisation so much simpler

Peter Young

10 Apr 2013 | 3:03 am

Very interested to read this morning that Google have announced that the HREFLANG framework has been expanded to include a fallback default in situations which is supported by both Google and Yandex. If we take the following example - sitex.com – Default Country Selector page - sitex.com/gb/en – For users in the UK speaking English [...]
Reykjavik Internet Marketing Conference – #RIMC13 Day 2

Dan Bell

22 Mar 2013 | 1:57 am

Dennis Mortensen - CEO of Predictive Analytics company Photo Credit Web Analysts Dennis opened with a story about going into New York to purchase a mobile phone and how he was approached by someone looking to buy some cocaine. He was talking about how an algorithm would have been unable to predict a series of events that [...]

SEO Blog of Link-Assistant.Com
Friday Cartoon: a quick decision

info@link-assistant.com

24 May 2013 | 6:07 am
Penguin 2.0 is out: key facts and further steps to protect your sites’ rankings

info@link-assistant.com

23 May 2013 | 2:43 am

Here we go! Penguin 2.0 was out about 12 hours ago: This tweet goes along with a short explanatory article on Matt Cutts' blog: Read More
25+ top internet marketing and SEO forums to join [as of May 2013]

info@link-assistant.com

18 May 2013 | 4:24 am

If you're in SEO and internet marketing niche, where do you promote your business and talk to industry peers? Sure thing, there're lots of social media places where web promoters hang out, including Google+ communities, Quora, Facebook groups and such. Yet there are good old forums that are also worth signing up to. In this post, you'll find Detailed description of top 5 SEO forums, with stats and a drilldown of marketing options Exclusive official blurb from one of the top forum owners A broader list of SEO forums, including non-English boards Top 5 SEO forums and how I've chosen them I'll…
Friday cartoon: no guarantees

info@link-assistant.com

17 May 2013 | 6:07 am
Penguin 2.0 Google update: what to expect and what to do

info@link-assistant.com

15 May 2013 | 7:13 am

Over the last week, there has been one hot discussion in the SEO world: the coming Google update. It all started with a Matt Cutts' tweet last week to announce Penguin 2.0 and continued in a video explaining what webmasters should expect from Google in the coming months: Read More

SEO News & Tips
8 Takeaways from “SEO for Startups”

Marvin Russell

22 May 2013 | 7:35 am

Last night I attended “SEO for Startups: Best Practices”, an SEO event organized by Stella Fayman and Tim Jahn of Entrepreneurs Unplugged. I must say the event was pretty damn good. The Chopin Theatre was the perfect venue. I loved the decor and the atmosphere. I’m a little embarrassed to say that I had never been in that theatre before having lived and worked about a block away for 2 years. Read More
20 Signs Your Web Designer is Terrible

Marvin Russell

13 May 2013 | 2:24 pm

It’s been 10+ years since I built a website for my first client and I’m not ashamed to say that back then I was a terrible web designer. I was terrible for many years and for many different reasons. In fact, everything you’ll see below, I was guilty of. However, I eventually learned how to perfect the web designing process the hard way, through determination, research and lots of experience. Read More
5 Ways to Optimize Your Face in Google

Marvin Russell

20 Apr 2013 | 8:40 am

Whether you are building your personal brand or just feeding your ego, this article is perfect for you. Below, I’ve put together 5 simple ways you can become a more recognizable thought leader and build the value of your personal brand. But, don’t send your web developer or SEO team this post just yet, these are all things you can do yourself, and with limited or no html experience. Read More
The Super Simple Sitemap Guideline

Marvin Russell

9 Apr 2013 | 7:59 am

This Super Simple Sitemap Guideline for your website contains or links to everything you need to know about creating a sitemap for your website. Rest assured, it follows all protocols rules and regulations according to major search engines like Google. Save this guideline, share it with others, and re-visit it any time you need to create a sitemap for a website. Read More
Keep It Simple, Stupid! Content Guidelines for Websites

Theresa Boruta

16 Mar 2013 | 6:06 am

You are wasting your time writing content no one will read. As obvious as my advice sounds, people continue to stuff web pages with text. There’s this fear that we might leave something out someone needs. And using big words makes us look intelligent, right? Not so much. You will not impress your visitors with long paragraphs or big words. More often than not you will confuse and deter. Read More

SEO Aware
Presentation How to Unleash Your Inner Tiger: How to Succeed in Content Marketing

Melissa

16 May 2013 | 11:03 am

I gave a presentation today in South Beach at Interactivity Digital. The presentation below is How to Unleash Your Inner Tiger: How to Succeed in Content Marketing. I also had an article I wrote to support some of the concepts I discussed in the presentation called A Guide to Discover the Right Terminology to Reach Your Audiences. So please look the presentation and if you have any questions you can ask me here in a comment or ping me on Twitter @SEOAware. Unleash Your Inner Tiger in Content Marketing from MelissaFach
Can a Person Be More Blessed? Working with SEOmoz (& CopyPress & Authority Labs)

Melissa

11 Mar 2013 | 11:26 am

I was inspired to write this article after a great phone conversation with Alan Bleiweiss. Sometimes people forget to say what they appreciate, but they don’t forget to complain. I don’t ever want to be the person that forgets to appreciate. SEOmoz I have worked as an associate for SEOmoz for the last two months. I haven’t been there long, but already I am in a bit of shock because I am not use to being treated with this much kindness and support. The staff at SEOmoz is full of a unique group of people. They are unique because each and every person I have interacted with…
Guaranteed SEO Results Don’t Exist

Nick Stamoulis

11 Mar 2013 | 6:15 am

When a website owner first gets started with SEO they are excited at the prospect of getting their site ranked highly in the search engines. A common question that SEO client prospects often ask is, “So when can I get to number 1 in Google?” Unfortunately, there is no way to answer that question especially since some websites simply will never be able to get to number one for reasons that are completely out of their control. Namely, if competitors have already been doing a great job at SEO for a very long time. SEO client prospects don’t like to be told that there are no…
Don’t Focus on Rank to Measure SEO Success

Nick Stamoulis

11 Feb 2013 | 8:33 am

When website owners get into the SEO game they tend to have one goal in mind- to get to the top in a Google search. While there is obviously value in ranking in the top spot in Google, rank isn’t the only way to measure the success of your efforts. If after 6 months of on site optimization and link building efforts you haven’t yet claimed the number one position, that doesn’t mean that your SEO campaign is a failure. Here are 3 reasons why rank is the wrong metric to pay attention to when measuring SEO success: Search is Personalized As the search engines continue to get more and…
How to Improve Your SERP Presence

Nick Stamoulis

7 Jan 2013 | 7:57 am

When looking for information about just about anything, the first place that many people turn to is a search engine, and that search engine is most likely Google. While it’s important to get your website listed in a prominent place on the SERP (search engine results page), ideally you want web properties that represent your business to appear multiple times. This is especially true for branded search. If you don’t have a strong online presence, there’s a greater chance that your competition will show up for a search query that you should be dominating. In order to ensure that…

CanuckSEO
FabFriday: An SEO Thanks to Google!

Jim Rudnick

24 May 2013 | 6:02 am

Friday is the end of the week….so I thought that to wrap up the week, I’d pass along a couple of things that impressed me big time and to begin with, my hat’s off to Google! Huh? Google? Well, yes….a large part – well in fact just about every hour or so, I am running web searches for clients, on clients, on client products, on channel partners, on just about every single thing that you can imagine. And when you do that, when you run search after search, using everything from the Google tool bar to google.ca to tools that wring those results from the Google…
The Right Angle:Social Media with Process & Purpose

Jim Rudnick

22 May 2013 | 2:18 pm

It was my pleasure yesterday to have attended a great marketing session entitled “The Right Angle:SHAPE UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA WITH PROCESS + PURPOSE” at our beautiful Art Gallery of Hamilton for the whole morning – and was it a great event, eh! And I mean that and would think that as they sold out the audience seats, I wasn’t alone in those thoughts – especially as we were all well entertained by Scott Stratten of Un-Marketing who spoke for almost an hour on his thoughts and practices on marketing – Social Media marketing best practices if you will! And I…
BubBye Zagat Restaurant Reviews:Hello Stars!

Jim Rudnick

17 May 2013 | 7:43 am

Okay, you may not have heard of the Zagat review system for restaurants in the US (learn more here) and the fact that this firm was bought by Google back in the fall of 2011 to be used it was stated “to aid it’s local search rankings” and that seemed to hold some promise for the veracity of same. What I thought back then (blog link here) was that as Zagat had some real authority in the restaurant review world, that when Google bought same, it could only work well for those rankings and at the same time spin away from Yelp et al and the plethora of phony reviews. At least…
SEO: Your On Page Optimization Checklist!

Jim Rudnick

13 May 2013 | 5:23 pm

Okay, you’re an SMB who is trying to get your own website optimized for better keyword rankings for your new potential leads. You have read a lot on same, you understand your challenges and lastly, you think you have it covered. You can be using any kind of a CMS (content management system) like WordPress or Joomla or you are using simpler editing by making page by page changes to the basic HTML. No matter but what the issue will be for you to consider is – did you get all the items done in order and in full. Of course there’s no way to know – or for me to comment 0n – whether…
On Responsive Design: A Idea has Legs

Jim Rudnick

10 May 2013 | 10:43 am

Okay, I’m one of the first to admit that I like tables. I do not like CSS. The reason for same is that at my age the old adage about “old dog and new tricks” may have some bearing but for the most part, I believe that when you find something that works perfectly, you use it. In other words, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Hence, my reliance on tables for site page layouts and CSS only for formatting fo fonts etc…. A few years back I was hired to be a part of the team that did the canada.com website re-design and development – a set of tasks that I…

A Responsive Blog
SEO is Dying? Yes, It Is! –Part II

Munaz Anjum

20 May 2013 | 7:13 am

Image Courtesy: Blog TomorrowFirst off, I thank people for posting valuable feedback on my previous post Is SEO dying? Yes, It Is I see a big thread of comments across various SEO relevant groups on LinkedIn. Many of us still think that SEO will not die but it continues to evolve and embrace new stream such as social media.I have already shared my observations on how mobile, technology, social media, user, and Google are killing SEO. While all these factors continue to exert a significant amount of influence on search results, there is a strong urge now that…
Is SEO Dying? Yes, It Is!

Munaz Anjum

17 May 2013 | 1:38 am

Image Courtesy: Donhalbert.comIt’s good to see a post from Mani Karthik on Search Engine Land following an article published in SiliconIndia saying that SEO is one of the skillsets that will no more get you job.I first disagree, and then agree with what Silicon India publishes. Similarly, I first agree, and then I disagree with what Mani puts his opinion forward. I have published my opinion on the comment section of Search Engine Land, and I also feel that I need to extend this discussion further. Hence, I decided to publish a full post on my blog. Mobile Is Killing…
Big Data – A Game Changer for Web Analytics Professionals

Munaz Anjum

3 May 2013 | 6:52 am

Image courtesy: Data Interactive-WiproThese days, the digital world is abuzz with big data, and real time analytics (RTA). As the days pass by, the talk on big data is getting big and bigger that has recently drawn the attention of biggies across the globe. They see a wide un-tapped…
Falling Revenue from Branded Keywords for Organic Search in GA | Mystery Solved

Munaz Anjum

26 Apr 2013 | 12:07 pm

Image Courtesy: Silicon AngleIs Revenue from Organic Branded Keywords Negative in Google Analytics? It’s time to solve the mystery.For most of the established stores, major percentage of sales comes from their branded keywords (Br-KWs) from both organic and AdWords sources. Lately, there has been a growing concern among retailers that they are seeing a fall in revenue from branded keywords from organic sources.What they see is the data they filter using custom segmentation in GA for branded keywords. Result – negative revenue in YoY comparison. On the contrary, when they see overall…
A Professional Rivalry -SEO, Developer and Designer!

Munaz Anjum

25 Mar 2013 | 2:38 am

Image Courtesy: FlyerTalkHistorically, web designers, developers and SEO professional enjoy a shrewish relationship. This could be due to several reasons such as lack of understanding the best practice of designing and developing a website, improper inter-department coordination, knowledge gap, process deviation, and a high degree of micro-management. The cantankerous is possibly due to the nature of their jobs, and core area of focus. A designer looks at a website from color’s perspective, a developer looks at a website from coding and functionality…

Home Based Business Resources
Tips for Attracting Companies to Your Review Blog

Megan Totka

24 May 2013 | 5:10 am

If you review products or services on your blog, the ultimate goal is to have companies and vendors send you free stuff in exchange for an honest review. But you may have already realized that it’s not that easy—simply creating a review blog doesn’t guarantee a steady stream of packages showing up at your door. The good news is that you can attract companies, even big ones, to your blog and have them send you free products for review. It will take hard work and dedication to bring your blog up to the next level—but once you’ve built up your reputation and a healthy flow of traffic,…
OMG, My Traffic Is Down. Did I Got Hit By Penguin 2.0? Not Necessarily…

DiTesco

23 May 2013 | 5:18 am

By now you may have noticed that the “buzz” early today is all about the “Penguin 2.0″ that was rolled out late yesterday. This may actually be a bit of a surprise to you as Matt Cutts on a recent video mentioned that some SEO changes where going to be rolled out within the next few weeks. Although expected, the Penguin came in earlier. So there you go, the Penguin 2.0 has struck and according to Matt, this roll out is a major and next generation update that targets websites engaging in “not so ethical” forms of SEO, e.g., spammy sites and spammy…
Pushing Through the Struggles of Being an Entrepreneur

Omar Negron

21 May 2013 | 6:27 am

The road to being a successful entrepreneur is no walk in the park. You deal with all pain, failures and uncertainty. You go through the rough roads and it’s a never ending fight to survive in a world where only the tough ones can possibly make it. So, what is so great about being an entrepreneur when at times it can feel like an endless struggle? To quote Winston Churchill… “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” When you are focused on achieving your goal, you see and think no difficulties but only good things…
Social Media Bonanza, Top SEO Forums, List Of Google Products, Speedlink 20:2013

DiTesco

18 May 2013 | 8:11 am

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great and productive week. This week, a lot has been going on in the social media landscape. From Google+ redesign and new features, to Pinterest doing some minor tweaks on their platform, every major social network in form or another are making changes to further captivate users. SocialMediaExaminer.com has a pretty good roundup of what happened this week on social media. Despite all that, I am of the opinion that Google+ changes stands out among the others. The redesign has a complete and different new look, and while it resembles that of…
The Growing Influence and New Features of Google+, Plus Cheat Sheet

Ben Walker

16 May 2013 | 4:22 am

After slow initial take up, Google+ has become one of the most widely used global social media tools. Following its June 2011 launch, where interest was low, the search engine giant’s social network has witnessed significant increases in user numbers over the past few months. According to a recent report by BusinessInsider.com, Google Plus’s growth is up 33 percent from 269 million users at the end of June 2012 to 359 million active users, suddenly outpacing Twitter, to be the second largest social network. Their continuing efforts to make the platform more appealing to users is…

Ross Hudgens
Early Lessons From Building a Consulting Company

Ross Hudgens

20 May 2013 | 8:47 am

Nine months ago I quit my job to start my first company, Siege Media. Three months later, I talked about the mysticism of entrepreneurship, “taking the jump” and how the process was remarkably easy – and also, something I probably should have done earlier. It was and it is, but that doesn’t make building a company an absolutely smooth ride. Running a consulting business in a state of mediocrity is relatively simple – the demand for SEO services is great and if you’re at all active online, client inquiries come rather easily. However, growing said company is a different beast…
How to Quickly Find Content That Shouldn’t Be Indexed

Ross Hudgens

28 Mar 2013 | 6:00 am

Duplicate/thin content is almost always bad, and it’s sometimes difficult to find it on our websites, especially the bigger ones. Lots of different advanced operators and code searches can bring up some bad content, but there’s another method I haven’t seen discussed that can also do a lot of good towards finding content we can deindex from the search engines: deep diving in Google Analytics. In particular, what you should do first is open up a date range short enough to not capture tons of changes you might have already to page indexation based on a site audit or whatever,…
How I Improved My Public Speaking

Ross Hudgens

12 Dec 2012 | 6:00 am

In mid 2011, I had what was really my first speaking gig, at SMX Advanced, about link building. I had done a link building clinic before 10 or so people before, but this was the first serious thing I had done – talking before 200-300 some odd internet marketers in Seattle. I was an introvert, and my friends replied to the news of me talking at SMX with a “YOU’RE speaking at a conference?! I can’t see that” in reference, and I really hadn’t done much to prove them wrong. I went up to give the 15-minute talk on local link building, and mid-talk, I realized the slides I had sent to…
Introducing Siege Media

Ross Hudgens

29 Nov 2012 | 6:00 am

Today is the official launch of Siege Media, my digital marketing consultancy. Check out the blog for the official announcement post. For those wondering what the launching of the blog there means for the state of RossHudgens.com, it’s safe to say that most digital-marketing-centric “tactics” will find themselves on SiegeMedia.com, and the more entrepreneurship/personal/entertainment type pieces will still get posted here. I promise that the content won’t change, although the site hosting it will. Thanks to everyone who has read/subscribed/supported this blog so far…
Digital Marketing Keyword Interest Over Time

Ross Hudgens

27 Nov 2012 | 6:00 am

Google’s Keyword Trends tool is extremely interesting to me. Here, we can see if businesses, tactics, and more are in free fall, growth, or stagnation. We can potentially identify stock opportunities or similarly, when we should eject or short a company. We can see the interest levels in our competitor. Below, I identified several searches that were top of mind in terms of interest level. And of course, it should be noted that these searches are not 1:1 indicators of a companies health – they are simply measures of the direct traffic to their sites through the search engines.

Link Building Best Practices
Crowd Funding: An Analysis of Various Platforms [INFOGRAPHIC]

Erin Pritchard

22 May 2013 | 5:30 am

Crowd funding seems to be the latest trend nowadays. Projects like “The Veronica Mars Movie Project” received half of its funding in 4 hours on Kickstarter and musicians have shaken up the industry by relying on fans to finance their next albums. Crowd funding could be the newest way anyone can invest in projects or causes they care about, in addition to being a powerful and often viral marketing tool. Crowd funding not only opens the gates of creativity and innovation, but some projects can also change peoples lives, helping those in need who otherwise wouldn’t have access…
Automotive Content Marketing in 2013

Lloyd Faulk

21 May 2013 | 9:11 am

I’m back again with another best of content marketing for the automotive industry and if you weren’t able to catch the first one I did, you can find that here. As you may have noticed, many car manufacturers are increasingly using their marketing budgets in new and creative ways in order to entice potential customers into purchasing one of the myriad of products they offer. The automotive marketers use of social media, SEO, and other avenues of online distribution in their campaigns and I have compiled a list of the best automotive content marketing examples in this post.
How To Improve Your Website Speed

Ben Holland

15 May 2013 | 5:30 am

An important part of search engine optimization is how fast your website loads and functions. It’s not just important for the ease of use of your website visitor, but it is actually used as a signal for search engine rankings. Watch this video to find a few quick tips that you can start to implement now to speed up your website and make sure it has the best chance of ranking well. Transcription Hi. I’m Ben Holland, and I’m an Account Manager here at Vertical Measures. Today we’re going to answer a question that we get a lot around here: “How do you improve your…
Data Driven Content Marketing Strategies in Higher Education

Kaila Strong

14 May 2013 | 5:30 am

Marketers today have access to more data on website visitors, e-mail subscribers, leads and social media fans than ever before. Leveraging this data, in addition to demographic data, helps to ensure marketers can produce the best content for prospective customers. That is, when it’s actually examined and used properly. Many brands are new to content marketing and use of data, and properly laid out strategies often fall to the wayside. Harvard Business Review reports an estimated 89% of marketers make customer related decisions based on factors other than analytics. It’s imperative to…
Content Curation for Your Website [VIDEO]

Arnie Kuenn

8 May 2013 | 5:30 am

Content curation on your website can be a very powerful tool. Curation can create brand authority and awareness, all the while connecting your company to outside sources that can help to improve your blog presence. I sat down to chat with Pawan Deshpande of Curata and Bill Flitter of Dlvr.it to talk about curation’s benefits for businesses and the best tools to use to get the most out of your effort. Transcription Arnie: Hello, everyone. I’m Arnie Kuenn, with Vertical Measures. Welcome back to another Google Hangout. Today’s topic is going to be ‘Content Curation for…

Clear Simple Marketing
2013 Awards: Top 20 Small Business Coaches

Heidi

24 May 2013 | 8:38 am

So, what is Business Coaching anyway? In his book , Solution-focused Coaching: Managing People in a Complex World, Anthony M. Grant describes it this way: “Coaching is a collaborative, solution-focused, result-oriented and systematic process in which the coach facilitates the enhancement of work performance, life experience, self-directed learning and personal growth of individuals…” … While [...]
Attention Spa Salon Owners! Here’s How to TRIPLE Your Revenue

Heidi

27 Apr 2013 | 6:16 pm

Do you own or manage a spa or salon or know someone who does? If yes, you’ll want to check out this brand new on-demand workshop for spa and salon owners: The 3-step System for TRIPLING Your Revenue in Under Six Months This workshop would normally sell for $197, but since it’s brand new, it’s [...]
5 Common Sales Page Mistakes that Are Easy to Fix

Heidi

2 Apr 2013 | 7:59 am

And when fixed, will immediately increase your sales! In this video I’ll show you the five common mistakes and exactly how to fix them. How to Fix These Common Sales Page Mistakes 1. Eliminate distractions on the page 2. Format the page so that it’s skimmable and easy to digest 3. Add relevant photos [...]
How to Stop Worrying & Be Superhuman Productive

Heidi

19 Feb 2013 | 9:31 am

Worry does not empty tomorrow of it’s sorrow, it empties today of it’s strength. – Corrie ten Bloom I came across that quote last week and thought – isn’t that the truth! To tweet that quote, click here. My mother is a self-proclaimed “worry wart”. My whole life I’ve watched the toll it has taken [...]
My B-School Bonus + Free Training Video Series

Heidi

18 Feb 2013 | 3:53 pm

Have you been devouring the incredible FREE training videos that Marie Forleo released? If not, go check them out right NOW. She’s taking them down soon. If you decide to join her B-School program this year, use my link (below) to enroll. Email me a copy of your receipt and I will give you a [...]

The Brainchild Group - SEO & Social Media Agency
Tips for Getting More Followers on Instagram

Aaron Schoenberger

30 Apr 2013 | 3:40 pm

So you've created an Instagram account and you're dying to get more followers. You're hunting for the secret sauce, but just haven't found it yet. Well, welcome to the club!
Brainchild Update: New Website, New Clients, New Ideas

The Brainchild Group

26 Apr 2013 | 1:52 pm

Another sunny Friday in Los Angeles and we're more excited than ever! Not only is the weather perfect, but we have a ton of cool stuff in the works.
Social Media Consulting Rates Remain Steady, Overall Cost Rises

Aaron Schoenberger

25 Mar 2013 | 9:56 am

Following up to an article I wrote sometime back on social media consulting rates, I've noticed that hourly and monthly rates have remained steady for the past 6 months, however costs have increased overall.
Instagram: The Best Online Dating Site

Aaron Schoenberger

25 Feb 2013 | 10:37 am

Instagram is chugging forward like a loaded freight train and stealing market share left and right. It has become popular among foodies, fashionistas, and just about everyone else. Now, people are finding love on the revolutionary photo-sharing service.
Blogging Tip: Guest Posts Can Damage Credibility

Aaron Schoenberger

4 Feb 2013 | 9:56 am

There are many things in life that work one way, but absolutely fail in another. For example, racing tires are perfect for the track, but will send you into a tree if used in the snow. When it comes to guest blog posts, they're not always a good thing.

Single Grain Blog
The New Link Building Mindset

Sujan Patel

22 May 2013 | 5:46 am

The word on the street is that a new Google Penguin update will be rolling out within the next few weeks – and by all indications, the impact of this particular refresh could be huge. Matt Cutts – the head of Google’s Web Spam team – recently confirmed the forthcoming Penguin release on Twitter, in response to a question regarding whether or not a new update had already occurred: As to the update’s scale, a May 13th, 2013 video released by Cutts explained that update “will go deeper and have more of an impact than the first version of the Penguin update.” Considering that the…
We’re Looking For A Content Marketing Intern

Jason Delodovici

10 May 2013 | 11:05 am

Single Grain is looking for a Content Marketing Intern to join our team for the summer of 2013 in our San Francisco office. During this time you will gain experience in creative direction, editorial planning, client management, and digital writing, editing and publishing. This person should be a strong writer with excellent communication skills. They can handle and prioritize a diverse workload to meet any and all deadlines and are quick on their feet when it comes to sudden changes in plans. This person should be passionate about the world of digital marketing/content creation and should…
6 Common Content Marketing Mistakes

Jason Delodovici

1 May 2013 | 11:58 pm

Did you know that interesting content is one of the top 3 reasons why people follow brands on social media? In fact, according to content+, 6 in 10 Twitter or Facebook users are more likely to recommend a brand they follow to their family and friends. If this is anything to go by, it isn’t hard to see why content marketing is all the rage nowadays. However, there is a right way to do it and a wrong way and in this article I will be highlighting 6 of the most common content marketing mistakes that even the pros make. So let’s jump right into to it. 1. Trying to do everything by yourself If…
Google Penguin Changes are Coming: Will Your Site be Affected?

Sujan Patel

17 Apr 2013 | 5:01 am

The SEO rumor mills are at it again… At this year’s SMX West conference, Matt Cutts – head of Google’s Web Spam team – announced that webmasters can expect to see the latest version of the Penguin algorithm rolled out sometime during 2013. Of course, Cutts wouldn’t clarify exactly what types of sites or activities the update would target, nor how big of an impact the rollout would potentially have. But that hasn’t stopped some SEO pundits from speculating that this could be another “big one” in the vein of the original Panda and Penguin algorithm changes. Currently, the…
The Art of Ethical Content Stealing

AJ Kumar

10 Apr 2013 | 6:47 am

If you’ve been reading along with us here on the Single Grain blog, you know that we’re all about creating high value content that engages readers and drives traffic as a method of website promotion. So it might surprise you to know that we’re also highly in favor of stealing content – as long as it’s done ethically. No, we’re not saying that you should go out and claim the work of others as your own. That’s plagiarism, and it should be avoided like the plague. Instead, what you have to recognize is that there are very few truly original ideas out there. According to a…

Insights
April Tablet Update: Samsung Galaxy Tablets Show Continued Growth

Chitika Insights

24 May 2013 | 3:55 pm

In the three years since Apple’s iPad became the first modern web tablet available in the US, the tablet market has continued a steady growth. Tablets have worked themselves into the daily lives of both workplace and casual web browsing, and while the iPad has remained king since its launch, other devices have been gaining in popularity among users.
Job Searching: Impact of Browsers Across the U.S.

Chitika Insights

22 May 2013 | 8:31 am

Employment and job searching have long been hot topics in our world, and more and more jobs are being found and acquired through online searches. It has been found that the unemployed persons who look for work online are reemployed 25 percent faster than the comparable workers who do not search online. Leveraging its extensive network of online sites, Chitika wanted to analyze how job searching rates varied by location, as well as if a person’s likelihood to search for jobs online was influenced by their browser choice.
Adoption Comparison: HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S IV

Chitika Insights

8 May 2013 | 6:38 am

With rave reviews of HTC’s newest smartphone, the HTC One, continuing to populate the Web, some analysts are predicting the device will dramatically improve the company’s long-term prospects after several years of receding market share. HTC’s most prominent competitor within the North American Android marketplace, Samsung, also recently released its own new smartphone model, the Samsung Galaxy S IV. With both Samsung and HTC largely eyeing the same target market, Chitika Insights looked to explore the initial adoption rates of both devices to quantify the early market progress of each…
6-Month Comparison: iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab Web Usage Rates

Chitika Insights

26 Apr 2013 | 2:35 am

Samsung Electronics held its earnings call on Friday, April 26th, 2013. The Korean manufacturer had already posted its earnings guidance in advance of the call, sporting a quarter-over-quarter 50% growth in operating profit, and $40 billion growth in revenues since last year – both beating analyst estimates. With the tablet market being a high growth sector for both Samsung and chief rival Apple going forward, Chitika Insights looked to compare each company’s share of the overall marketplace over the past six months.
March Tablet Update: iPad Usage Share Rises for First Time Since December, Now at 81.9%

Chitika Insights

18 Apr 2013 | 11:48 am

The mobile marketplace continues to grow as tablets become increasingly popular for their functionality, convenience, and portability. As part of its monthly update on the subject, Chitika Insights examined the current distribution of Web usage among leading tablet devices at the conclusion of March 2013. For comparative purposes, tablet usage shares are all mapped against shares observed over the previous three months.

AuroIN Blog
Yahoo Buys Tumblr For $1.1 Billion, Promises “Not To Screw It Up”

admin

24 May 2013 | 5:09 am

Tumblr has 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 sign-ups every day, with about 900 posts a second. But as much traffic as it generates, not all the content is ideal for advertisers. “Tumblr does not insist on knowing the … Continue reading →The post Yahoo Buys Tumblr For $1.1 Billion, Promises “Not To Screw It Up” appeared first on AuroIN Blog.
Pinterest- The New and Best way to promote your Business

admin

22 May 2013 | 5:40 am

Looking for better ranking, position and traffic for your company website? Want to attract a lot of traffic to your website? Want to make your website Search Engine friendly? Pinterest does all the action. Pinterest is one of the hottest … Continue reading →The post Pinterest- The New and Best way to promote your Business appeared first on AuroIN Blog.
What Search Engine Optimization Services Can Do For You

admin

9 Apr 2013 | 2:34 am

When you have an online business, you will probably be looking for different ways to increase the traffic on your site. Many of these will fall under the category of Search Engine Optimization services. SEO services are those which are … Continue reading →The post What Search Engine Optimization Services Can Do For You appeared first on AuroIN Blog.
Why It’s Critical To Have The Best SEO Plan For A Successful Website

admin

8 Apr 2013 | 2:11 am

Creating a business website online takes a lot of hard work and can cost your business a lot of money to do right, so you probably felt a sense of relief when you got yours up and running. Now that … Continue reading →The post Why It’s Critical To Have The Best SEO Plan For A Successful Website appeared first on AuroIN Blog.
Choosing the Right SEO Company for You

admin

5 Jun 2012 | 12:52 am

If you have a website or blog with the intention to gain Web traffic, then you understand the importance of search engine optimization or SEO. This the process of creating your site or articles around specific keywords garnered to help … Continue reading →The post Choosing the Right SEO Company for You appeared first on AuroIN Blog.

SEO Copywriting
Of Penguins, linkbait, and the user experience: #SEO best practices

Laura Crest

23 May 2013 | 3:00 am

Did you hear that? It’s the sound of Google finally dropping the other shoe. Google distinguished engineer and head of web spam, Matt Cutts, announced yesterday that Google’s much-anticipated Penguin 2.0 has arrived. In his blog post, Cutts said “…the rollout is now complete…” and that “[a]bout 2.3% of English-US queries are affected…” Cutts went on to say that the Penguin update has also finished rolling out for other languages worldwide. For those SEOs, webmasters, and site owners that had taken heed and cleaned up their site content and backlink profiles beforehand, this…
SEO content marketing roundup, week ending May 22nd

Laura Crest

22 May 2013 | 3:00 am

In this week’s latest and greatest online marketing news, it’s all about Google, Google, Google…with Yahoo coming in a close second via its purchase of Tumblr. Social media marketers are buzzing about “the new Google+, a stream with style and smarts” and its 41 new features. Other discussions in the forefront include Social Media Examiner’s 2013 industry report, Facebook’s continued status as the social network of choice after surviving its first year post-IPO, reputation management, and social media strategies. And of course, the SEO and search community is focused on all that…
Scalable content generation strategy: The online marketer’s formula for success

Lyena Solomon

21 May 2013 | 3:00 am

When you are a large company or an agency, generating large volumes of good content can be quite a challenge. It can get expensive pretty quickly. It is also time-consuming. And in the end, high quality content is not a guarantee of explosive attention and viral sharing. In order for your content generation to be sustainable, it needs to be scalable. The formula for success is using fewer resources to generate more high quality content. In addition, your content needs to provide an excellent user experience and convey a consistent brand message, in compliance with brand standards. Yes, I…
Penguin 2.0: Should you rewrite your evergreen site copy?

Laura Crest

20 May 2013 | 3:00 am

Welcome back! In this video of the SEO Copywriting Checklist series, Heather discusses the impending Google Penguin 2.0 update and what it means for site owners and evergreen web content. Matt Cutts, a distinguished engineer from Google, recently released a video announcing the next wave of Google algorithm updates. He specifically discussed Penguin 2.0, saying it will roll out this summer. So Google is giving site owners a big heads up! Also, on last weeks’ SEO Copywriting Certification call with Bruce Clay, he discussed Penguin 2.0 and what it means for site content. So Heather thought…
How to fire a vendor (and still feel OK after doing it.)

Heather Lloyd-Martin

16 May 2013 | 3:00 am

I had to fire a vendor today. When it comes to giving someone the ax, I am a far cry from Donald Trump. Did I get pleasure from the experience? Heck no. Did I lose sleep over the decision? Sure. Did it need to be done? Yes. Fortunately, I’ve (finally) learned when to fire someone – and how to do it well. Chances are, you’ll have to fire someone someday. The writer who misses deadlines. The accountant who doesn’t return your calls. The consultant that isn’t teaching you anything new. It’s never easy – no matter why you have to let them go. Looking…

Jump Start Your Sales
Worth the Read. Best SEO and Marketing Articles

Mike Bayes

9 May 2013 | 7:09 am

A collection of great articles and Blogs over the last few months. When I read an exceptional blog I put it in my pocket to read or reference later. I thought it might be a good idea to share some of the better ones here. Some are SEO related, some are content marketing (same thing right?) and then just good marketing. SEO: http://justinbriggs.org/sometimes-seo-is-just-seo Just one of the best and simple SEO articles in years. Can it really be as simple as he makes it sound? Yes. Read this if you get stuck on an SEO project. Content Marketing: Well, more like content distribution.
Marketing Plans. If you Don’t Have One You’re Acting Dumb.

Administrator

27 Apr 2013 | 9:12 am

Marketing Planning. Quick… grab your marketing plan. Okay… for those of you who have nothing to grab, I am going to tell you something you may not want to hear. Your behavior is dumb. You’re not dumb, but not having a marketing plan is. I communicate with a bunch of small business owners every week. You know the number one question that gets asked about, in one form or another, it’s about how do I sell my stuff. Lot’s of businesses ask about and are interested in social media to develop new relationships and leads. Some are looking at email as a tactic. Lot’s…
Google Plus for SEO. A Fellini Movie Set in Algorithms.

Administrator

14 Apr 2013 | 8:43 am

Google + for SEO. A Fellini Movie Set in Algorithms. SEO practitioners are, by their very nature, curious. I think this is the main reason they continue to research and track and measure in a business area where there are no “right answers, or at least, not that stay right for very long. SEO is a changing landscape like no other I’ve experienced in business. It’s more analogous to a game of chess where the rules change every three moves. The queen becomes the pawn, the pawn becomes a soccer ball. Its a Fellini movie set in algorithms. According to wikipedia.org “Curiosity…
Local SEO. The One Fix to Jump Start Your Rankings

Administrator

9 Apr 2013 | 12:41 pm

Local SEO. The One Fix to Jump Start Your Rankings A few months ago a new prospect who has been using several different SEO type companies asked me why their site still couldn’t be found online. This is a good question as they have spent thousands of dollars, in a slow and painful trickle, to SEO and Internet marketing people via a $350.00 monthly payment over several years. (That’s like 8K total) So, I like any professional give the standard SEO guy answer, let me look at it. The first tactic I use to figure out what is going wrong in a Local Business ranking is to see where they are…
White Label SEO For Web Design Firms and SEO’s

Administrator

4 Apr 2013 | 2:51 pm

White Label SEO For Web Design Firms and SEO’s Next to digital marketing companies, web design firms probably get more inquires into SEO than any other industry. It just makes sense. A business has trusted a web design firm to develop their online image so they would naturally ask them about promoting the web site. The fact is many web design firms offer a form of, or complete SEO programs based on these requests. Many do an excellent job of on site SEO, which is the foundation of all search engine rankings. But SEO has changed a great deal over the last 18 months, and getting a client…

Kaiserthesage
How to Increase Conversions through Brand Strengthening

Kaiserthesage

20 May 2013 | 3:15 pm

I remember being asked about the single best piece of advice I can give for improving conversions on a group interview on Crazy Egg late last year. Although there are a lot of factors that can really influence site conversions, I chose the one which I believe has the biggest impact – branding. The truth is, it’s easier to sell things when people (especially your target consumers) are already aware and fascinated by what your brand is putting out on the web (think Amazon, Zappos and Shopify).
How to become an Influencer through Content and Relationship Marketing

Kaiserthesage

8 May 2013 | 6:18 pm

Being an influencer has a lot of perks. Aside from being respected in your industry, it also opens a lot of opportunities for business/professional growth. Prominence or an influential status is very important in online marketing, since it can almost always speed up the process of getting your audience/customers’ trust.
44 Creative and Innovative Link Building Experts and Their Strategies

Kaiserthesage

29 Apr 2013 | 7:41 am

With the constant advancements that occur on various search engines’ algorithms, it is certain that the search and link game will be harder in the days/months/years to come compared to what it was like a decade ago. Search users’ behaviors tend to grow and change as these developments arise and being employed by search engines, which makes the online marketing space more competitive, especially when it comes to link building.
80/20 Link Building Tactics

Kaiserthesage

18 Apr 2013 | 4:42 pm

I’ve been practicing the Pareto Principle or the 80-20 rule since the start of this year, which is basically focusing on tasks that can actually get more results, but will only require minimum amount of efforts. This rule is pretty much applicable in link building as well, even in online marketing as a whole (as explained very well on a recent blog post by Dan Shure) – wherein you can just allocate more of your time on implementing processes that can help maximize the efforts you exert through the results they can generate.
5 Inbound Marketing Methods that can Drive Traffic and Conversions

Kaiserthesage

2 Apr 2013 | 4:25 pm

Inbound marketing – or combining different online marketing processes such as SEO, content marketing, social media and conversions – has been one of the most effective ways to hit a site’s various business goals in one go, like driving more specifically targeted traffic, improving revenue and/or building a stronger brand mind share. Aside from involving practices that is measurable, utilizing inbound marketing as an approach to reach a business’ target audience (without disrupting their online activities) has proven itself to be very effective in terms of scaling and growing…

Cliq Media And Marketing | Website Design Ireland | SEO Ireland | Web Design Cork | SEO Services Cork
Commander Chris Hadfield Singing David Bowie’s Space Oddity From The International Space Station

Mark Flavin

13 May 2013 | 2:54 am

As a child I always had a fascination with space & it continues today with my interest in flight and if you combine that with a love for music then the video below is just an out right spacegasm! The video below is Commander Chris Hadfield of the international space station doing a version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity & includes some majestic shots of our little planet just to remind us how insignificant we really are. It’s a beautifully done video, a great song & a great send off from a man who’s time as commander of the ISS will have peaked peoples…
Increase Website Traffic With Content Marketing

Mark Flavin

12 May 2013 | 10:49 am

Content marketing is a great way to build traffic to your site & increase your search engine rankings. Producing quality content that is linked to & shared around the web can also build your businesses reputation. If done properly, it is regarded as one of the best ways to build trust among clients and nurture leads. Another great way of attracting and engaging customers is through social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Combining the power of both Content Marketing & Social Media can result in increased website traffic & leads. Here are a few tips on how to use the…
3 Free SEO Software Tools You Can Use To Help Your Google Ranking

Mark Flavin

9 May 2013 | 8:31 am

Defining one SEO strategy that works as a standard technique for all websites is not possible as every website has a different scenarios & levels of optimisation and hence, it requires strategies to deal with issues specific to that website. In addition to this, search engine optimization is not a one time job, it’s a continuous process and requires monitoring, upgrading, content creation & link building. Website owners who think doing SEO as a once off will bring traffic and stable high rankings may see traffic for a while but will inevitably end up losing traffic &…
Facebook Are Changing The Way We Give Gifts With Facebook Gifts

Mark Flavin

6 May 2013 | 11:55 am

Facebook is the most powerful social networking site available on the internet today with over a billion users. With this massive user base, Facebook recently launched ‘Facebook Gifts’ which allows users to give a gift to another friend on family member on Facebook. The giving of the gift appears as another message on the receivers Facebook page. This message is visible to all the friends of the receiver which you can imagine in a birthday, wedding or any other gift giving situation will influence others to purchase gifts for the receiver. So giving a gift has changed from a private…
10 Things You Can Do With Google Now You Might Not Know About

Mark Flavin

30 Apr 2013 | 1:01 pm

Google is by far the most popular search engine available today and has been so for many years. Google has been studying the search patterns of people and used that to create a very powerful personal assistant called Google Now for the Android and IOS platforms. Google Now was named the “Innovation of the Year” 2012 by Popular Science. It analyses the common operations that the user does and presents this information in the form of cards. There are many functions but the 10 Things you can do with Google Now you might not know about are listed below. 1. Next Appointment – busy executives…

Receptional News & Blogs RSS Feed
Majestic SEO Course: Linkable Assets just keep bringing you links without asking

Zoe-Lee Skelton

24 May 2013 | 8:32 am

Link building is essential to SEO success but to most people it's a difficult job to do - and likely to get harder in the future. read more
10 traffic-driving link building methods you cannot ignore

Barrie Smith

24 May 2013 | 7:40 am

Looking for more traffic and exposure for your website's content? You've come to the right place. Let me guide you through 10 methods of how I effectively d read more
Adwords Enhanced Campaigns: The Pros and Cons

Hayley Coutinho

23 May 2013 | 7:49 am

Google introduced ‘Enhanced Campaigns’ in February this year in what has been the biggest change to Adwords in recent history. read more
Rich Snippets: Use them or lose visits!

Zoe-Lee Skelton

20 May 2013 | 6:57 am

The days of boring, plain text organic search results are over. read more
Receptional's weekly digital news round up (week ending 17 May, 2013)

Zoe-Lee Skelton

17 May 2013 | 4:32 am

Once again, Receptional have scoured the web for the latest happenings in the land of digital. Think of us as your friendly, neighbourhood digital newsreel. read more

Ker Communications
Google’s Penguin 2.0 Update Is Now Live

Nick Ker

22 May 2013 | 6:12 pm

Google’s new Penguin 2.0 update rolled out today, May 22, 2013. The new version of the web-spam fighting algorithm update supposedly has new improved capabilities to stop link spam. The original Penguin, which was launched April 24, 2012, mostly targeted overoptimized websites that used link spam from lower quality sites, often over-using keywords as the anchor text of the links to try to improve search engine rankings. It is generally assumed that Penguin 2.0 will be more of the same, but hopefully more effective and more accurate. In a video about what to expect from Google in the…
Does Hiring Multiple SEO Companies Make It Work Faster?

Nick Ker

15 May 2013 | 3:20 am

This is part 5 of 5 in the series More Is Not Always BetterProbably not. “Too many cooks spoil the broth.” Sometimes a client will ask if it will be helpful to hire an additional SEO company, or a few extra individual SEOs, to help with all the work. This usually means we have failed to educate the client on how it all works, or we have not had that conversation yet. Much of the “work” involved with SEO is analysis, and strategy development. Unless your multiple SEO services are working closely together, the chances of any two coming up with the exact same strategy or…
Is Having Several Websites with Keywords in the Domain Names a Good Strategy?

Nick Ker

14 May 2013 | 1:20 pm

This is part 4 of 5 in the series More Is Not Always BetterA few years ago, a common but spammy practice was to buy as many domains as possible that contain your keywords. The idea was that you could then have many sites showing up in the search results since it was often easy to rank high for “favorite keyword” with an Exact Match Domain (EMD) like “favoritekeyword.com”. If that didn’t work out, you could have the extra domains redirect to your real site and still get some of the benefit. And by owning every possible keyword matched domain, you could avoid…
Is It Good to Get Lots of Fake Social Media Followers?

Nick Ker

14 May 2013 | 1:20 am

This is part 3 of 5 in the series More Is Not Always BetterLots of Followers, Likes, +1′s, Circlers, Retweets and Pins are indeed good – as long as they are real. Don’t fall into the trap of forgetting there are real people looking at you, not just search engines and social platforms. Buying social media endorsements like Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers or Tweets makes you look deceptive, and the social media platforms and search engines are wise to this scheme. If you have a small business that is not likely to serve more than a handful of people a year and your site…
Links Are Like Votes. Should I Get As Many As I Can?

Nick Ker

13 May 2013 | 7:40 pm

This is part 2 of 5 in the series More Is Not Always BetterMore is sometimes better, but better is worth more. When Google rolled out the Penguin algorithm update which filtered out sites that were benefiting from a high number of manipulative, spammy backlinks, it really called attention to the fact that the “more is better” myth is still strong in SEO link building. Sure, you can still bring a website much closer to the top of the search results by posting hundreds of “nice post” blog comments, buying a bunch of spam blog guest posts or a variety of other ways of…

distilled » Blog
Why Webmasters Make Great Consultants

Jacob Klein

22 May 2013 | 5:00 pm

When I started at Distilled almost two years ago I had exactly zero real-world business consulting experience. What I did have, though was a portfolio of personal web development projects of which I was the sole proprietor, creator and webmaster. While some of these ventures were more successful than others the experience, understanding and scrappy marketing tricks I picked up along the way have continued to serve me well throughout my tenure here at Distilled. Now you’re probably taking a second glance at the title of this article and thinking: “So is this just 1200 words of…
SearchLove Boston 2013 – Day Two

Shannon Skinner

22 May 2013 | 3:13 pm

Welcome back to SearchLove Boston! After some beer pong competition, we’re back and getting some input from folks inside AND out of SEO, talking about how to really get hands dirty and get things done, starting with very pragmatic explanation of getting your team to work better together and organize to make an impact. Today, we’ve got some take-home bullet points from the presentations for those of you who weren’t able to be there in person, or if you just want to review, as well as links to the SlideShare decks for more details. Mackenzie Fogelson: How to use Content, SEO & Social…
SearchLove Boston 2013 – Day One Recap

Julianne Staino

21 May 2013 | 6:55 am

It’s that time of year again! Flowers are budding, kids are counting down the days to the end of the school year, and SEOs are flocking to Boston for Distilled’s Spring SearchLove conference. Like years past, we had a killer lineup to kick the conference off. For those who weren’t able to attend (this time ) you can follow along with the hashtag #SearchLove. In addition to help surmise the Twitter chatter I’ve put together the main takeaways from each presentation in 140 characters or less! Neil Patel Consulting Lessons from the Frontline Annie Cushing Take Credit…
Content Marketing DOs and DON’Ts

Adria Saracino

15 May 2013 | 11:00 pm

While everyone’s definition of content marketing is a little different, the execution side of this marketing channel has much more definitive best practices. Whether you are new to content marketing or just looking for validation that your program is running smoothly, here are some of the most important (and often overlooked) DOs and DON’Ts of content marketing. Market Research Best Practices DO: Create a road map with specific deadlines and deliverables. I would argue that content marketing is almost more about managing expectations than anything else in the beginning. When…
How To Start Using The Lean Startup SEO Style

Tim Allen

14 May 2013 | 7:00 am

Do you remember the very first day in your office? The first moment of walking into the office as the newbie? That’s exactly what I recall doing not too long ago here at Distilled. As well as being greeted by all the smiley happy faces, there was my desk space complete with laptop, monitor and a Kindle. Loaded to that Kindle, an armoury of recommended reading materials including The Lean Startup. Working my way through The Lean Startup got me asking, why would Distilled ask me to read this and how does it apply to SEO? What Is The Lean Startup? The Lean Startup is a book written by…

Web Savvy Marketing
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads from the Week of May 24th

WSM Staff

24 May 2013 | 9:15 am

It’s that time again. Time for another weekly roundup! Each week we roundup some of the best posts for the week on the topics of WordPress, web design, SEO and more. This week we have a little bit of website inspiration, useful WordPress plugins, and what you need to know about the latest Penguin update from Google. Get ready to dig in! Here we go… WordPress and Web Design 6 New WooCommerce Extensions and Updates – You will find 6 new extensions and updates on 2 popular extensions on this post. WordPress Plugin Prices Are Too Low – Programmers are charging too low for…
Website Content: Addressing the Elephant in the Room

Rebecca Gill

22 May 2013 | 4:22 am

Whether you’ve just spent thousands of dollars on a custom website build or you’re using an off the shelf stock WordPress theme, you’ll ultimately have to address the elephant in the room. Your elephant, my friend, is website content. The one thing (aka monumental task) that stands in the way of your pretty new website going live. For many of our clients content becomes the project bottleneck, the roadblock, the ultimate showstopper. For those of you who think I am being overdramatic, let me give you insight into a few active (if you can call them that) projects that have stalled over…
Congratulations Jo Hamlin!

Rebecca Gill

17 May 2013 | 10:18 am

The Web Savvy Marketing team would like to congratulate Jo Hamlin, our scholarship winner for 2013. Jo is a graduate of Grayling High School and will be attending college in the fall and pursing a career in criminal justice. I started the scholarship and chose my hometown in northern Michigan because I wanted to give back to the village that raised me. I had not expected that the students applying would be decedents of those within my village. Jo’s grandparents were very special to me and I spent a great deal of time at their house during my high school years. Her aunt was one of my best…
Friday’s Marketing Roundup: Good Reads from the Week of May 17th

WSM Staff

17 May 2013 | 9:19 am

Welcome back to another weekly roundup post. We come across many great posts throughout the week and this is our way of letting you know about them. This week you will find “need to know” information on WordPress security, the deal on SEO plugins for WordPress, how to rank in the search engines, how to perform a competitive analysis and more. Ready to dig in? Let’s go! WordPress and Web Design How To Move Your Site From Joomla to WordPress – Use this easy tutorial if you need to move your site from Joomla to WordPress. Brad Williams on Secure WordPress Development…
Website Navigation: The Who, What, and Why of You

Rebecca Gill

14 May 2013 | 10:00 am

The other day I was grocery shopping at Meijer. While waiting in line to check out I found my eye wondering across their ceiling and reading the department locators they have placed around the store. In my usual geek way, my mind wondered to my professional life and I started thinking about website navigation. Navigating Through the Grocery Store is the Same as Navigating Through a Website I’ve been shopping at this particular Meijer every week for about seven years. I know where the groceries and products are located and I could probably walk blindfolded to many things I commonly buy.

Point Blank SEO
The Modern Mentality of Link Builders in Competitive Niches

Jon Cooper

13 May 2013 | 7:14 am

If you’re a consultant or an agency, you’ve undoubtedly dealt with clients in tough verticals. We’ve all been there. The amount of quality link prospects is saddening, and on slow days, it’s hard not to think twice about joining the dark side. But after working in verticals like this more intensely over the last few years, I’ve realized the thing that I need to change most is my mentality. That doesn’t sound like the answer most, if not all, of you are looking for, but you’d be surprised by some of the things I’ve recently discovered. Before we go too far… Let’s define…
Ecommerce Forum Link Building with Don Rhoades (Part 2)

Jon Cooper

22 Apr 2013 | 7:23 am

About 7 months ago Don Rhoades wrote up a fantastic post on Downtown Ecommerce about building links with forums for ecommerce websites. If you’re in Ecommerce and you haven’t read it yet, I suggest you do before you go any further. A month or two ago I got a chance to meet up with Don in person, and I caught myself asking a few different questions that weren’t answered in his post. I realized that I didn’t want any of you guys to miss out on some of the answers he gave, so I decided to do a followup interview to that post right here on Point Blank SEO. Before I start…
The Second Most Creative Link Building Post Ever

Jon Cooper

17 Apr 2013 | 1:22 am

In November I asked a group of ~50 SEOs one simple question: “What was the most creative way you, or someone you know, got a link?” This was personally one of my favorite posts because there was so much awesome, actionable, and insightful responses. But it looks like I wasn’t alone – it’s now the #1 all time post on Inbound.org. After it was published, I got a lot of SEOs wanting to contribute as well, but very few people actually noticed the updated additions. That’s why I decided it was time for round 2, just because each response is just as awesome as…
4 Outside-the-Box Link Building Tactics

Brian Dean

15 Apr 2013 | 9:30 am

This is a guest post by Brian Dean from Backlinko. If you’re like most SEOs, you’re as confused as the cast of Jersey Shore at a TED Talk… …because it seems that the second you master a new link building strategy, Google cracks down on it. In fact, there’s a lot of buzz that guest posting (guest posting!) may be the target of a future Google update. It can leave you wanting to scream: “what’s left!?“. Fortunately, there’s still a handful of powerful link building strategies that still work over the long-term. And as someone that’s…
Questions & Checklist for New SEO Clients: A Collaboration

Jon Cooper

9 Apr 2013 | 1:25 am

Ever wonder what are the right questions you should be asking new SEO clients? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. That’s why I decided to hunt down a few of the biz dev SEOs at one of the leading companies in our space: SEER Interactive. This post is a collaboration between David Cohen, Shawn Cohen, John-Henry Scherck, Saurav Rimal and I. We created a Word Doc (.docx download, .doc download, Google Drive) of the questions so it’s as easy as just hitting “Send” in your inbox to get the client info you need. Enjoy! Questions Step #1: Get to know the client The first thing you need to…

SEER Interactive
How Small Wins Can Help Build Trust

sauravr@seerinteractive.com

24 May 2013 | 12:53 pm

Gaining the trust of your clients can be very difficult, especially if the client has worked with an unethical SEO company in the past. I want to share a story on how we got the client approval process down to 5-7 days from 4-8 weeks by having some small wins and building trust with the client. How do you build that trust and make the relationship with clients stronger? We work in an industry where we experiment different strategies (onsite and offsite) to continually improve and efficiently drive results. And to achieve those results we need approval on the strategies we provide to our…
Understanding the “Why” in SEO

joshw@seerinteractive.com

24 May 2013 | 7:09 am

One of my favorite TED talks is “How Great Leaders Inspire Action” by Simon Sinek. In the presentation he describes the concept of the Golden Circle which consists of three rings: What, How, and Why. Sinek explains that conventional thought works from the outside in. People and organizations think about What they want to do and How they do it, but many don’t consider Why they do the things they do (beyond making money, of course.) In contrast, the most successful and inspirational companies and individuals work from the inside out. They start with Why and let that steer…
Mastering PPC: How to Integrate PPC with Web Analytics & CRM Systems

Harris Neifield

23 May 2013 | 1:33 pm

Congratulations: you’ve created an account, set up billing and avoided account alerts. Now it’s time to integrate your PPC activities with web analytics and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. If you’re not using web analytics or CRM systems already, I’d encourage you to do some research on them and see if you have the time, money and skills to implement them. These tools are invaluable. Web analytics tools can Identify on-site activities Provide information to help you improve conversion rates Let you know which pages are most visited, or…
Breaking News – New Twitter Lead Generation Card

Harris Neifield

22 May 2013 | 1:24 pm

Ay caramba! We can now get email addresses from Twitter with the new Lead Generation Card. This is a new feature; Twitter has done some testing but is now rolling it out to all advertisers with reps who use the managed interface. When a user expands your Tweet, they see an image and description of your offer, and a call to action. Their name, @username and email address are already pre-filled within the Card—they simply click a button to send this information directly to you. This could be a major development from Twitter. Instead of having social media access to followers only, names…
Mastering PPC: Red Alert! Search Engine Alerts & Notifications

Chris LaRoche

16 May 2013 | 8:00 am

Publishing this blog post the day before the release of the new Star Trek Into Darkness movie is pure coincidence totally planned from the start. In the Star Trek universe, if a crewman isn’t standing on the bridge, face to face with an enemy torpedo barrage, a red or yellow alert message coming over the comm is the first indication that something’s wrong. Similarly, the alerts and notifications in AdWords and Bing Ads will often be the first indication that something is amiss in your account. So, set phasers to stun, raise shields, and let’s take a look at some…

Gain Higher Ground
List Building – Questions & Answer Style

Rob

7 May 2013 | 4:47 am

Are you sick of hearing the phrase, “The money is in the list”. To be honest, I am. But I have to say that unlike many of the urban myths that are peddled by some in this business, it is completely and utterly true. So let’s take a look at the list building topic in a straightforward question and answer style! Q: Why is building a list so important? Because the list of prospects and customers is the most valuable asset in an online business. Actually, there often aren’t that many other assets in web-businesses. They don’t (usually) have much in the way of fixed…
You’re NOT The Only One…

Rob

24 Apr 2013 | 4:50 am

The road in setting up any business – online or offline – is very bumpy indeed. What I’ve learned since I started out in my 3 years online is that yes there are easy ways and shortcuts and it is worth investing some of your time and money in learning and receiving good advice from those who have gone before you. However, it’s just impossible to eliminate all difficulties from your life and whatever you do these bumps in the road will still keep “coming at you”. For many people starting out I’ve noticed they can get severely diseffected and demoralised…
7 Things I Was Baffled By When I Started Online

Rob

29 Mar 2013 | 3:55 am

I’d like to share some of the problems that prevented me making any money whatsoever for around 7-8 months after I began online almost exactly 3 years ago. I’ll also explain how I overcame them by giving some recommendations for each. It’s quite interesting for me to see how my thinking and understanding of how to start and build a successful web business has changed over time. But more importantly I hope you’ll be able to get a lot out of this because from talking to others I’ve learned that most people face the same challenges that I’ve experienced.
How To Create a Website Header Using a Brilliant Free Online Tool

Rob

21 Mar 2013 | 2:27 am

Here’s a superb tool I wanted to make you aware of! Photoshop (the professional standard graphics software) costs hundred of dollars. On the other hand this is super powerful and totally FREE! In the video I show you how to use it to create a header for your website. Please Click PLAY Below: Did you enjoy this? If so, please LIKE and TWEET. Drop a comment below too – your thoughts are always welcome! Cheers, Rob
The Good Old Days?

Rob

12 Mar 2013 | 5:35 am

As you know the internet changes rapidly. Many profitable strategies that worked 5 years ago no longer work today. Equally, what works today may not be viable in 1-2 years time. I’ve noticed this can cause a lot of anxiety and worries for many people, especially those that are starting out with their online businesses. Actually, when I began in 2010 I also worried about whether I’d “missed the boat” and if it was really possible to achieve success. Today, I am fortunate to have the benefit of hindsight so let’s explode the myth of the “Good Old Days”…

SEOgadget
3 Examples of Great Content Marketing in Competitive Verticals

Laura Lippay

20 May 2013 | 1:37 pm

Let’s get right to it. Great content marketing is more than just plopping an infographic on your site. Great content marketing is knowing what an audience wants, what stirs up emotion, what gets those people excited, and dangling whatever that is in front of their noses, sometimes for weeks or months before they can attain it. And being successful at this in competitive verticals like travel and finance and entertainment online takes a bit of ingenuity and creative thinking. At SMX Munich this year I showed four different examples of content marketing that are all different types of…
John Maeda and his Electric Dots

Laura Lippay

10 May 2013 | 9:36 am

“During the day, on a completely black surface, a white dot appears like a bright star of hope. As night falls, attempts to resuscitate the star with liberal amounts of white paint inevitably lose to the will of nature. The light of fire enables us to see after the sun has hidden, but its roar and crackle continually warn us of its immediate hunger for fuel. Our uneasiness has been resolved for the present by removing the flame from plain sight, fire, heat, and fission translate to electrical power. Transported through a giant maze of mostly hidden cables, it eventually reaches us…
Content Strategy beyond Top 10s – SEOgadget Webinar

JonQuinton

9 May 2013 | 9:29 am

We’ve all been there – you’ve poured your heart and soul into a piece of content and for various reasons it just hasn’t worked out as planned. There’s nothing worse than experience a ‘flop’; but with proper planning and the right approach it’s possible to dramatically reduce the chances of this happening. Starting with a good understanding of your goals and what exactly it is you’d like to achieve, and then finding out what really gets your audience fired up is a good first step. But going from there to the finished result can be a challenge. If these are challenges you…
Great Marketing Often Misses the Mark on SEO

Jenneva Vargas

1 May 2013 | 9:40 am

Traditional Marketing and SEO have often been on the opposite ends of the marketing spectrum. Content Marketing is the vehicle in which SEOs are dipping their toes into the Traditional Marketing realm. As SEOs, our goal for Content Marketing is to gain links, search share and visibility through the great content we put out. But traditional marketers often still are not leveraging SEO as well as they could. Case in Point: Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches Today, let’s take a look at the Real Beauty Sketches campaign that just launched from Dove on April 14th, 2013. This campaign…
Creativity Is The Real King

JeannaH

29 Apr 2013 | 2:15 am

They say content is king and I do believe in this, but for me creativity is the real King. Creativity for me is the core of each product and company success, creating something new and of value but marketing it in such a way that it captures the hearts of its people which can in turn go viral through the love for that product or place. There are many things in life that can help creativity emerge or drive your creativity forward. I believe that stress and fear is one factor in life that can block the creative mind but with a positive and open mind ideas will start to flow beautifully. It…

Success Is A ChoiceSuccess Is A Choice
My Gmail Account Was Hacked. This is How i Regained It

andy

8 May 2013 | 6:58 am

I had a terrible time when i realized that my Gmail Account had been hacked. I can not tell you how i was hacked but i just found my self unable to login into my Gmail account. I had changed …Read more »
How to become a CEO

andy

21 Apr 2013 | 11:13 pm

To become a Chief Executive Officer, the position on the top of the corporate ladder comes with a lot of privileges, a higher salary than other employees, an opportunity of handling greater but fulfilling tasks of an organization among other …Read more »
Sorry Your username and password do not match – Android Phone Problem Fix

andy

8 Apr 2013 | 1:13 am

There are so many people who get problems when they try to link the Google accounts to their phones. In most cases, smartphone users who use Android OS get an error which reads “ Sorry…Your username and password do not …Read more »
Title Tag Optimization Tips For SEO

andy

27 Feb 2013 | 1:13 am

A title tag in any webpage is generally used o define the title of the concerned web document or page. The subject of the webpage can be best understood by the title tag. The relevance of the title tag can …Read more »
Adbrite is Closing – Yes, Adbrite has Closed

andy

3 Feb 2013 | 10:58 am

I did not believe it at first when i read an email from Adbrite telling me that they were closing. I checked the address many times just to mail sure it was the right Adbrite email. This was one of …Read more »

SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing
Judging the Quality of a Link

Nick Stamoulis

8 May 2013 | 5:00 am

The Google Penguin update has site owners running scared from link building. But just because Google is cracking down on webspam that doesn’t mean you can afford to abandon your link building campaign; you just have to be smarter about it. And getting smarter about your link building means making sure you are only building [...]The post Judging the Quality of a Link appeared first on SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.
Are Your Priority Keyword Choices Ruining Your SEO?

Nick Stamoulis

17 Apr 2013 | 6:00 am

A former B2B SEO client of mine was adamant that the only thing they really cared about when it came to SEO was getting on page 1 and improving visitors from a short list of priority keywords (about 15 or so of them). While there is nothing wrong with prioritizing your keywords, it’s practically impossible [...]The post Are Your Priority Keyword Choices Ruining Your SEO? appeared first on SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.
Evergreen Content 101: What Small Businesses Need to Know

SEO Journal

17 Apr 2013 | 1:00 am

This is a guest post by Amanda DiSilvestro of HigherVisibility. The term “evergreen content” has been around the Internet for quite some time; however many businesses still don’t stop to consider how it works. It’s not only important for businesses to understand what evergreen content is, but it’s important to understand why it matters and [...]The post Evergreen Content 101: What Small Businesses Need to Know appeared first on SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.
Don’t Copy the Competition’s SEO

Nick Stamoulis

27 Mar 2013 | 5:00 am

One of the most frustrating (and frequent) comments I hear from my SEO clients is “Well, the completion is doing it so why can’t we?” “It” can be any one of a number of black hat SEO tactics including link schemes, keyword stuffing, buying links, article spinning and so forth. As a business owner myself [...]The post Don’t Copy the Competition’s SEO appeared first on SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.
Easy Win Links You Might Be Missing

Nick Stamoulis

13 Mar 2013 | 5:30 am

Site owners are always on the lookout for “easy wins” when it comes to link building—minimal investment for maximum output. You’ll quickly find that truly valuable easy win links are few and far between, especially once you’ve been at it for a while, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t sitting on a potential goldmine of [...]The post Easy Win Links You Might Be Missing appeared first on SEO Journal by Nick Stamoulis of Brick Marketing.

Webtise
This Week in Digital Marketing, 20-26 May – Twitter Updates, Google Algorithms and More…

Kirstie

24 May 2013 | 3:59 am

What a week this has been for digital marketing – some of the biggest names in technology have made some bold moves and updated their services; for better or for worse? That’s for you to decide. Lets review: Matt Cutts …
Penguin 2.0 Goes Live – What does it mean for SEO?

Kirstie

23 May 2013 | 4:14 am

Image Source Penguin 2.0 is upon us. Is it time to start sobbing uncontrollably, or is this the dawn of a new era in SEO? The intention of the update is to combat web spam; the previous incarnations of the penguin …
Infographic Case Study – The History of Superman

Kirstie

22 May 2013 | 2:36 am

You know a lot about our ecommerce web design services and our content marketing, but did you know we also produce some incredible infographics? This History of Superman infographic we made for our client 8-Ball, makers of movie inspired t-shirts, is …
An Infographic of Sir Alex Ferguson: Celebrating 26 Years of Footballing Greatness

Kirstie

21 May 2013 | 2:35 am

We’re on the ball; on the foot-ball – because as soon as we heard legendary football manager of Manchester United Alex Ferguson was retiring, we knew the time was right to make an infographic of his life and his achievements. We like …
3 Unlikely companies that nailed online marketing

Holly

20 May 2013 | 5:10 pm

When it comes to online marketing it can be difficult to know where to start, particularly if you are a small business that doesn’t have the resources to cover all possible platforms. Becoming an online presence that people can rely …

Streamline Metrics
Streamline Metrics Achieves Authority Status on SEOmoz

admin

16 May 2013 | 4:08 pm

We are proud to announce that Streamline Metrics has achieved “Authority” status on SEOmoz, which is widely considered the most popular and influential website in the SEO industry. In order to achieve Authority status, one must accumulate 1,000+ mozPoints by writing high quality blog posts, making insightful comments on blog posts and/or providing useful answers to various SEO related questions on the SEOmoz Q&A Forum. The mozPoints are awarded by other members of the SEOmoz community for content they deem to be helpful. At the time of writing this blog post, Streamline…
Anyone Can Cook – Comparing Web Design Companies That Claim They Do SEO with Actual Search Engine Marketing Firms That Really Do

admin

15 Aug 2011 | 10:55 am

So during a recent meeting with a potential client, they brought up that their current web company, who both designed their new website and was doing “SEO” for them, was sending them annual SEO reports that detailed their progress in their ten chosen keywords. Yes, you read that correctly. Annual reports. Now, far be it from me to question the business practices of another company, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do anyways. SEO is an ongoing process that requires regular work on a monthly basis. Things can change at a moments notice, with competitors making…
Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Bid on Your Company Name or Brand Name in Google AdWords

admin

3 Aug 2011 | 9:13 pm

Should you bid on your company name or brand name on Google AdWords? I am asked this same question all the time from many of our clients and it’s a logical question that I’m glad to answer. The short answer is yes, I strongly recommend bidding on your brand name in Google AdWords for several reasons: 1. You will be able to control more space on the screen and more importantly, space that is above the fold. Even if you rank number one for your brand name, having a sponsored pay-per-click listing above it ensures that anyone searching for you has to scroll a lot further to find…
Streamline Metrics is Looking to Hire an SEO Specialist in Richmond, Virginia

admin

16 Jun 2011 | 2:31 pm

That’s right, Streamline Metrics is hiring! In order to accommodate our rapidly growing client base, we are looking to hire an SEO Specialist to join our team. Below is the official job description that we’ve posted across the web: ————————————————– SEO Specialist in Richmond, Virginia A local search engine marketing company based in downtown Richmond, Virginia is looking to add an SEO Specialist to assist the SEO Manager in accommodating our rapidly growing client base. The ideal…
How to Track Website Leads – Closing the Loop Between Web Analytics Data and Sales Data

admin

6 May 2011 | 2:49 pm

A lot of the work we do on a daily basis involves generating leads for service-based businesses. That is, we drive highly targeted traffic to fill out a contact form on a company’s website requesting their services. It is then up to the company to follow up with the lead and finish the sales process by closing the deal. Previously, many search engine marketing companies have gotten rich solely off increasing rankings in the search engines without demonstrating any tangible value to their client. However, as more and more companies are becoming aware of search engine marketing, the novelty…

SEO Eblog by SEO Advantage, Inc.
Penguin 4 (aka Penguin 2.0) is Now Live

Stephen Bradley

22 May 2013 | 6:11 pm

In today’s episode of This Week in Google (episode # 199) Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s webspam department, announced that the latest spam-fighting algorithm update to Google – nicknamed Penguin 2.0 – would be going live “within the next few hours”. What the new penguin update means for everyone is not yet completely clear, but we have a pretty good picture of what Google is looking for. What is Penguin? Google sometimes makes changes to it’s algorithm, or the software that makes the search happen, in order to fight what is known as…
Don’t be That Company on Facebook

Michelle Key

21 May 2013 | 9:54 am

When you receive a new follower on Facebook, you’re being allowed into someone’s social space. You have, in essence, been invited to the party. How you behave will dictate whether you are invited back next time, which in Facebook currency means whether your followers will stay followers, and whether they will interact with you and share your content with others. Just like no one wants to invite “That Guy” to the party, no one wants to interact with “That Company” on Facebook. Marketing on social media – and on Facebook in particular – sits more in the realm of public…
Directory Submission Dos and Don’ts

Stone Reuning

3 May 2013 | 11:23 am

As with just about every SEO and online marketing method ever developed, the practice of directory submission has seen its share of controversy. Unsurprisingly, this controversy started with the black hats. The practice of directory submission developed organically the way things do when the internet hive mind is involved. People started making lists of their favorite websites on personal pages, then companies started building these sorts of pages as a service to visitors. Then, the less scrupulous among the SEO and online marketing world joined the fray, buying and selling directory links…
It’s Not Really SEO That You Hate

Michelle Key

26 Apr 2013 | 11:59 am

I had an interesting experience the other day while doing some online research. I ran across a website discussing why writers and content marketers hate SEO. As a writer myself, that was news to me. Hoping it was a lone opinion I did some searching. I discovered pages upon pages of discussions about how SEO forces writers to create bad content and punishes those who write well. Now, I know I don’t hate SEO, so I asked our Senior Copywriter Nathan Williams, who leads content marketing initiatives for clients in a wide range of industries, for his feelings on the subject. Here’s what he had…
Copywriting and White Space – Making Readable Web Content

Nathan Williams

9 Apr 2013 | 9:19 am

If you’re a company trying to build an online presence, you’ve certainly heard how important developing content is. Blog posts, buying guides and keyword landing pages are just a few examples… Content not only helps you build rankings in the search engines, it also helps you build credibility for your brand and a loyal following. When people see you’re developing engaging, informative content, they’ll remember you as someone who’s willing to listen and take initiative to help customers better understand important points about what you’re offering. Likewise, search engines will…

Professional SEO Solutions
Online Branding for Book Authors

Ghazal Alvi

30 Apr 2013 | 11:49 am

A big hello to all authors…. As I am lucky enough to work with some of the best renowned Authors, Coaches and Speakers, I know these people are well versed with their stuff… but as they are always short on time, the only thing they lag is to brand themselves correctly in order to reach [...] Related posts: Overcoming the FEAR of Starting an Online Business You are a small business owner, an author, speaker, coach... Online Marketing Consultation Free Via Skype Know your online marketing strategy to gain maximum exposure and... 25 Ways to Promote Your Online Event International Women’s…
Facebook News Feed aka Facebook EdgeRank…

Ghazal Alvi

31 Mar 2013 | 12:52 pm

Send to Facebook No related posts.
25 Ways to Promote Your Online Event

Ghazal Alvi

28 Feb 2013 | 7:00 pm

International Women’s Day is approaching and I’m sure lots of us are going to promote this event in a very big way. So, if you’re planning to promote your online event, please look at these 25 powerful ways to promote your online event. 1. Facebook business page 2. Facebook event 3. Utilize your existing Facebook [...] Related posts: 7 Social Media Mistakes Your Business Can’t Afford to Make Social media platforms made it so easy to stay in... Overcoming the FEAR of Starting an Online Business You are a small business owner, an author, speaker, coach... Related posts brought to…
Online Marketing Trends 2013

Ghazal Alvi

31 Jan 2013 | 11:21 am

Send to Facebook Related posts: Online Marketing Consultation Free Via Skype Know your online marketing strategy to gain maximum exposure and... Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Spiritual Cashflow Giveaway Contest

Ghazal Alvi

30 Dec 2012 | 4:00 am

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Commerce Kitchen
Entrepreneurship as a Team Sport

Natalie Winslow

21 May 2013 | 3:13 pm

If you’re in the Denver area this evening, join the Commerce Kitchen partners (Michelle, Tynan, Jamie, and me) at the StartUp Denver Female Entrepreneurs meetup! We’ll be discussing how we approach business building with a collection of very different personalities, and why in many ways this diversity in thought processes helps us create exactly the kind of business that works. For more information, check out the event here.
An Intro to Sprites in Adobe Illustrator

Alex Hoffman

21 May 2013 | 2:01 pm

For my first Lightning Talk at Commerce Kitchen, I presented how to use some essential tools in Adobe Illustrator and how to setup a sprite, the right way. I thought this would be a good introduction to Illustrator because not only did my co-workers get to learn some of the basics of the program, but it also gave them some insight on the workflows within the software. The other main goals for this presentation was to show everyone some real nifty pro-tips inside Illustrator. What is a Sprite? Sprites have a somewhat long history and do different things depending on the platform. In terms of…
The Love Affair With Big Data

Natalie Winslow

13 May 2013 | 10:06 am

This year at SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive), a tech festival that brings together marketers, entrepreneurs, startups, designers, and programmers, Big Data was everywhere. Panelists discussed harnessing data; Nate Silver presented on his methods for gathering Big Data and making predictions accordingly; startups are producing apps to help companies organize and act on Big Data. Everybody’s hot for numbers. I get that. We need information, data, to support our processes, to guide us into making intelligent decisions for our organizations. But the artist, the Humanities nerd, the…
Interview with Superhero Brian Gryth of OpenColorado

Natalie Winslow

26 Apr 2013 | 8:46 am

CK superhero Jamie Hollier interviewed Brian Gryth from OpenColorado about his work with the state of Colorado. Here’s what he has to say. So what does OpenColorado do? OpenColorado is an organization founded with the idea that government is on the cusp of a transformation that can lead to significant positive change. That change aims to create a govt that is easy-to-use, simple, and beautiful with compelling resources and tools. OpenColorado supports that work with two core missions: 1) Enable open access to government information (eg crime, health, GIS, and transit data). 2) Host,…
Google Tag Manager Is For More Than Just Marketers

Leslie James

24 Apr 2013 | 2:53 pm

Google’s Universal Analytics platform launched to the whole wide world of analytics users today! The beta version launched to a select few back in October 2012…sadly, I was not one of them. Maybe next time… In my research of this new functionality and some troubleshooting on how we could apply Universal Analytics across our clients’ sites, I once again stumbled across Google Tag Manager. I’d seen this last platform year, but since I’m a reasonably tech savvy marketer who can write limited HTML and edit template files, I figured I didn’t need to use…

SEO Positive » Blog
‘More Results Near…’ Disappears!

Hannah

8 May 2013 | 2:20 am

Google has made more small changes to its search results by removing the ‘more results near’ feature in the local search results. The feature gave the searcher the opportunity to view more results in the local area as well as natural and organic results. For example, if a user was to search for pizza in Chelmsford, the search results would display pizza outlets and sellers in Chelmsford as well as addresses, telephone numbers and maps. In addition when Google showed local listings in the organic and natural search results, Google would also display a link that the user could click to show…
Google Now to Launch on Apple iOS

Stacey Cosens

30 Apr 2013 | 9:24 am

Google has announced that it will soon be launching its Google Now Service for Apple iPhones and iPads, after previously being limited to devices running Google’s own Android system. Google Now will work with Google’s search app on the iPhone and iPad, offering users ‘cards’ filled with information designed to be useful to a smart device user without them needing to type a search request. It works by assessing the machine’s location data and analysing the contents of the owner’s Gmail and Google calendar, as well as using past Google searches. The service could offer information…
Goodbye to Google Instant

Hannah

29 Apr 2013 | 6:46 am

Google has officially stopped instant previews from search results. The cancellation of the feature is said to be the result of low usage by searchers. Instant previews launched in November 2010 and were incorporated with AdWords Instant Preview and Sitelinks Instant Previews. Website owners could even see how their site looked and monitor instant previews through Webmaster Tool. The original concept was to save time for users browsing the internet enabling them to take a quick sneak peak at a web page before clicking through and visiting the web site page. Such low usage by consumers clearly…
Google Adwords Introduces Upgrade Centre

Stacey Cosens

25 Apr 2013 | 9:42 am

It wasn’t too long ago that AdWords introduced Enhanced Campaigns, allowing marketers to target their campaigns more accordingly. Their aim? For advertisers to be able to target people based on the time of the day, location and device they’re using. Now they’ve introduced an upgrade centre alongside to make upgrading easier for marketers with lots of campaigns to manage. Users will be able to upgrade several campaigns at a time, or merge campaigns in a few steps. The new centre will allow marketers two options for using the upgrade centre. Google explains: “1. Bulk upgrade This option…
Smartphone is Cheaper than Desktop!

Hannah

23 Apr 2013 | 7:30 am

New figures from Kenshoo have found that the price of cost per click on smartphone is less than on desktop. Smartphone cost per click were on average 46 percent cheaper priced at $0.30 than desktop which was $0.56. Figures also showed that the average cost per click for tablets was around 18 percent lower than desktop priced at $0.46. The figures have come as a pleasant surprise for business that are looking to reach large audiences at a cut of the cost. Mobile internet browsing has experienced phenomenal success in the last few years with a huge surge in the amount of smartphone…

Skyrocket SEO
A Guide to Producing World-Class Infographics & Leveraging Them for Online Success

James Agate

10 May 2013 | 1:52 am

The following is a complete guide to devising, researching, producing and promoting an infographic. I wrote a topic on this guide just over a year ago so I decided it was time to give it a bit of a refresh… We’ll be talking how to acquire trusted, powerful links to drive search engine rankings. Increase [...]
The Skyrocket Guide to Seasonal Link Building Campaigns

James Agate

8 Apr 2013 | 9:26 am

One of our internally operated web properties at Skyrocket SEO is a gift guide which targets the UK & US market and focuses primarily on the last minute shoppers helping them to track down retailers that offer same day or next day delivery. It’s given us quite an interesting insight into the peaks and troughs [...]
Link Building Gone Gonzo – Part II of Don Rhoades LBTV Interview

Anthony Pensabene

2 Apr 2013 | 4:33 am

Welcome, LinkBuilding.TV viewers! Did you see the first-half of Don Rhoades’ interview? We got your Gonzo right here. Here’s part two!
Search Operators for Better Online Marketing

Anthony Pensabene

15 Mar 2013 | 10:20 am

Hey, SkyrocketSEO readers. We often leverage search operators, along with online tools like Garrett’s Link Prospector, to analyze in-house and client-related opportunities. I recently hosted the below URLs on our Skyrocket Google Plus page, It was a good one.. AJ Kohn says so.. but the post was negated, likely due to the number links. [...]
32.5 Insights of Paddy – Homage by Search Operators

Anthony Pensabene

26 Feb 2013 | 3:49 am

(Gives salute) Welcome, Skyrocketeers Thank you for lending your eyes to our marketing prose. Let’s start this social piece with a confession of transparency. I done messed up. I’ve been hosting segments on newly-branded LinkBuilding.TV, loving the opportunity to discuss online marketing in a different format as well as expanding my skill set, learning video [...]

SEO Hacker Blog - Internet Marketing in the Philippines
3 Skills of a Successful Link Builder

Clay Christeson

21 May 2013 | 11:02 pm

Link building, when done correctly, is advantageous. Not only does it build connections that lead to higher rankings in major search engines, but it also makes the internet a more navigable system. However, due to Google’s continued evolution and progress, link building as an SEO strategy is becoming increasingly dependent on quality over quantity. Webmaster’s note: This is a guest post by Clay Christeson A link builder needs to be calculated and genuine. The methods of spray and pray have been replaced by relevancy-first tactics. To acquire a link that impresses Google’s algorithms…
Writing for a World of 36-Hours-a-Day Readers

Sean

17 May 2013 | 2:13 am

The world is certainly not how it used to be. The internet eats up chunks of hours in our everyday lives. We spend at least 1 hour online each day. There isn’t a mall without a Wifi hotspot. Life is getting faster and faster and we all have to keep up. So how do you write for a world of 36-hours-a-day readers? This entry is part of the Breaking Down Content Marketing Series. How the World is Today Fast food, instant coffee, you name it. Everything’s quick. In the internet, things move even quicker. People give you a few handful of seconds for you to present something that would…
Guest Blogging: Google’s Next Target?

Jarrod Wright

10 May 2013 | 10:31 pm

Google’s has been very clear about their feelings regarding unnatural links. Their recent actions resounded deeply within the SEO community and have inspired a higher level of discourse around things like content, quality and scalability. In the wake of Penguin, most SEOs have abandoned their efforts with public blog networks, article galleries, link purchases, directory submissions and automated tools. Most SEO advice now includes concepts like “link earning” and focuses on “content marketing” as the preferred method of acquiring links. Upon closer evaluation, however, these…
Co-Author Rank: Centering Rankings on the Best of the Web

Sean

4 May 2013 | 1:16 am

AuthorRank has been the talk of the town. It’s gotten the attention of all SEOs from content creators, all the way to linkbuilders. Google Authorship is here to stay and has populated the search engines with faces of old and new writers who have been evangelized to AuthorRank believers. Here’s the thing, can there be such a thing as Co-AuthorRank? A Little Background Google is trying make search results more relevant. Afterall, that’s the reason why they’re the number 1 search engine today. The short story is: In light of all the crap that’s going around in the…
5 Simple Landing Page Optimization Tips

Alicia Lawrence

24 Apr 2013 | 10:34 pm

Eight seconds. That is all the time you have to capture a person’s attention, according to The Associated Press. Busy schedules and non-stop media barrage are quickly taking up your potential customers’ attention. You have just eight seconds to make a solid impression and get them to your next step. In the digital world, this super, most important first impression is called your landing page. Webmaster’s Note: This is a guest post by Alicia Lawrence What is a landing page and why do I need one A landing page is a tailored webpage that appears after a user has clicked on an…

Ontolo blogs
If You Want to Be a More Creative Marketer, Make Your "Nothing Time"

admin

16 May 2013 | 3:50 pm

In some way, shape, or form, I've studied "productivity" since reading The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People in middle school. A couple years ago, I was drinking no less than 12 shots of espresso every day. It helped me get more work done. Faster. I could stay up later and I could get working immediately after waking up. Get more done. Faster. The key to productivity. The key to success. The key to great accomplishments. The key to a great life... However, as I began to pursue more creative endeavors (writing, programming, etc), I realized that "do more, faster" wasn't working. I'd sit…
NEW TOOL: 10,000 Prospects + Contacts in

admin

2 Apr 2013 | 2:39 am

Yes. You can now run huge Instant Prospector reports for less than $0.12 per report on our highest level plan. It's only $0.19 per report on our new service level at $47/mo. We also upgraded free accounts to get 25 Instant Prospector reports. This can easily get you over 100,000 or 200,000 customized link prospects, prioritized, with contact information. For free. Yep. It's all FancyPants McGee up in here 'n stuff. Read on... Major Instant Prospector Update The biggest update is to the Instant Prospector, which now exports 37 data points per link prospect we find for you, including seven…
New Ontolo Feature: Exclude Low-Quality Domains from Link Prospecting & Searching

admin

19 Feb 2013 | 12:19 am

One of the main features that has been requested recently is the ability to exclude domains from your link prospect database searches. Taking it a couple steps further than your requests, we released the following features today. Domain Exclusions for Campaigns read more
SEO & Link Building Experts List Updated! Plus, Suggest Your Favorite Expert!

admin

30 Jan 2013 | 12:57 am

We've gone ahead and updated our SEO & Link Building Experts list, which now has 326 expert, their Twitter accounts, website, and RSS feeds all easily accessible. We've also made it easy to let us know of changes or to suggest new experts, including yourself. Just fill out the form below to let us know of any suggestions and/or changes! Ben & Andy Loading...
Want to be Interviewed on the Ontolo Blog? Here's How.

admin

29 Jan 2013 | 1:42 pm

As we wrapped up 2012 and have geared up for 2013, we've decided to commit to helping the SEO and link building community as much as possible. We look around the industry and see so many up-and-coming marketers, people moving from in-house to consulting, etc. And as we've shifted our focus at Ontolo away from agency services and toward building tools almost two years ago, we're better at building marketing tools than we are at marketing websites. So this is where you come in and where we want to help. We'd love to help promote you and/or your business by interviewing you on the ontolo blog.

Hallam Internet
Team Hallam Celebrates AdWords Exam Success

Susan Hallam

24 May 2013 | 1:47 am

Digital marketing agency Hallam Internet is celebrating after three more members of the team passed their Google AdWords Certified Partner exams. Sean Burton, Chris Gage and Ben Wood have all passed the exam with flying colours, each achieving well over the minimum 85% pass rate. The Hallam team already features 6 Google Analytics qualified individuals, and as a company Hallam Internet is a Google AdWords Certified Partner. Sean Burton, Digital Marketing Executive, said “We deliver great pay per click results for our customers. For one client, I achieved a 30% conversion to lead rate…
Get the latest digital marketing tips from Susan Hallam at a networking event in Nottingham

Susan Hallam

23 May 2013 | 9:27 am

Susan Hallam will be presenting the very popular half day workshop “50 Ways to Promote Your Business” at Trent Bridge – Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club – on 26 June 2013. Come along, and get some inspiration for your own digital marketing, enjoy some networking in Nottingham, and partake in a lovely buffet lunch. Click here to see the full workshop details in the Events section of our website, or better yet pop over to the NCCC site to book your place now. 50 Ways to Promote Your Business on the Internet In this fun, fast paced and entertaining half…
International SEO: Structural Considerations

Ben Wood

23 May 2013 | 9:05 am

If your business sells products or services outside of the UK, you will need to pay close attention to the structure of your website if you’re attempting to market your products via search engines in other countries. The following International SEO Considerations outline how to structure your website correctly to effectively target searchers in other countries. Why does International SEO Matter? When it comes to marketing your website abroad, there are a number of different options. Often, the most effective way of targeting a website for local audiences in other countries is…
What is New for SEO – May 2013

Susan Hallam

21 May 2013 | 11:39 pm

Matt Cutts (“The Google Guy”) has recently produced a “What’s New for SEO this summer” covering the changes that are currently in the Google web spam team pipeline. Matt identifies a number of interesting changes in the video, and I thought I would highlight 4 of the particular issues that are particularly relevant to the UK, or that I found most interesting. There are no surprises in the announcement that Google is rolling out another version of the Penguin update, imaginatively called Penguin 2.0, that will continue to address black hat web…
How to see who’s visiting your website – How I use A1 Webstats

Abra Millar

21 May 2013 | 2:05 pm

Do you want to know which companies have been visiting your website but are worried that you wouldn’t even know what to do with the data? Here’s a guide to how to generate leads from your website visitor data. A1 Webstats is website visitor analytics software and, more importantly, it’s the one that we choose to use There is a whole host of different things that can be done in A1 Webstats but I’m going to tell you how I use it to find out who’s been visiting our website. Firstly, the way you are going to get the best results here is to set a day or time every week or month…

nickleroy.com
Announcing My Amazon Associates Niche Site Experiment

Nick LeRoy

13 May 2013 | 11:47 am

Last month I talked about launching my second niche site challenge involving Amazon Associates. I’ll admit, I was really excited to start this challenge and as time went on, I got distracted with other websites and other stuff that’s been keeping me busy. My goal, in addition to publicly sharing this niche site is that it will keep me motivated to continue working on the site. Let’s face it, Amazon starts with a 4% commission rate and caps out at 8.5%. This information is courtesy of Amazon directly. I’m hoping this website will produce enough sales per month…
Niche Website Month 4 Income Report

Nick LeRoy

1 May 2013 | 1:38 pm

Before I even get into the details I really should have named this post Month 4: What Happens What You Become Content. While I still made what I consider a good bit of coin off a niche website it was less then the previous months earning. I’ll go into detail a bit further down in this post. Niche Site Experiment Month 4 Earnings In the month of April this niche website digressed a bit but still earned a respectable $335.00. You can click on the photos below to see more details. income broken down daily for April Month 4 Traffic Report Traffic dropped from 4910 last month to 4405…
My Second Niche Website Experiment – Amazon Associates

Nick LeRoy

18 Apr 2013 | 12:45 pm

The niche website experiment I started a few months ago utilizing AdSense has been a huge success. Last month I made nearly $500 and the site is well on its way to replicating that income this month. I’ve now decided to publicly document another niche website. This time I want to be even more transparent so i’ll plan on utilizing the Amazon affiliate network. This will allow me to share the exact domain, niche and the rest of the details without having to worry about someone finding and replicating any of my other sites already bringing in solid income via the Adsense…
Proof That Website POTENTIAL Aint Worth $H!T

Nick LeRoy

13 Apr 2013 | 5:01 pm

Last week I ran a test. I auctioned off a domain with what I thought had major potential on Flippa (my first mistake). Long story short, I lost money and basically gave away the domain name. This post is not an anti Flippa post nor a poor me rant. It was a good learning experience that i’m open to sharing with all of you interested in building and monetizing websites. Why The Sweet 16 Dress Niche Offers Major Potential The domain name sweet16dresses.net was one that I picked up several months ago. The keyword phrase ‘Sweet 16 Dresses’ has an exact match local search…
Start Your Own Niche Site: Selling Sweet16Dresses.net

Nick LeRoy

7 Apr 2013 | 6:04 pm

Have you been reading my series of posts on niche websites? Always wanted to start a site but never had the tools or time to research a good domain to start with? Good news. I’m selling one domain that I have been holding on to and finally came to realization that i’ll never get around to developing it. The domain Sweet16Dresses.net is now up for the highest bid on flippa. You can see the auction details over here: What Can You Do With an 18K Exact Match Domain? Why read when pictures will say so much more. I’m sure after you see some of these photos you might…

Online Marketing Blog
Google Introduces Schema.org Markup for Organization Logo

George

16 May 2013 | 1:45 am

Have you ever wondered how to display your organization’s official logo when you search for your organization in Google? Actually it is one of the best things to have for your company website and very handful of companies do have their logos displayed in search results. But the good news is that Google has made it possible for the webmasters to display their company logo in the search results. In its latest development, Google has launched support for the schema.org markup for organization logos. With the introduction of schema.org markup, you can easily connect your website with an…
How To Design Online Marketing Strategies in Tight Budget

George

13 May 2013 | 8:43 am

Many companies can’t afford to invest on advertising, but you can still market your business in a digital world using the right online marketing strategies. These creative and inexpensive strategies also help you afford to use a web design company to redesign your website. Define your budget First of all you need to plan your budget. Find out how much you can afford and then stay within the limits of your budget. Also, make sure to add how much you’re paying your employees and for what duration they are working on your online marketing strategies. Use Social Media Social media is one of…
What is the Power Of Online Marketing?

George

9 May 2013 | 8:21 am

The popularity of internet has gone up by all leaps and bounds. Thanks to its easy accessibility in cities and towns all across the world. Considering this fact, it is now regarded as one of the best place to carry out online business promotion and marketing activities. The fact is the web has transformed the way business is promoted. It gives all the opportunity to easily reach your target audience and convert them into your customers. If you are able to chalk out a tangible kind of online marketing strategies, you are bound to reap rich dividends for your business. The best part is that you…
Top tips to become a better Facebook Community Manager

George

6 May 2013 | 9:00 am

IMAGE SOURCE If you are looking to have a thriving Facebook community and vision yourself as a community manager—par excellence, you might just love these tips: Know your company’s voice Branding on social media is rather a necessity. However, what you must know is: only when your voice is in sync with the brands philosophy, will you be able to get the first step right. Answer these: Are you the serious sort or a littlelike to add humor to your posts? Do you just talk about business or interesting stuff that excites you? Is stirring-up things your forte, or remaining neutral is what…
4 Tips For Successfully Using Your Blog For Marketing

George

30 Apr 2013 | 7:01 pm

If you are trying to run a business, then running a blog is an absolute must. Although many people don’t realise this, blogging can be highly beneficial, when it comes to marketing. However, you will only reap the rewards from your blog if you go about it in the right way. Here are four tips that will help you to successfully use your blog to market your business. 1. Ensure You Use SEO Throughout If you want to successfully use your blog to market your business, then SEO is an absolute must. Search Engine Optimisation is marketing technique that will drive traffic to your…

Mercurythread » blog
What is great content? #infographic

Michael Briggs

22 May 2013 | 3:33 pm
How to resize a webpage to fill an iframe

Michael Briggs

3 May 2013 | 8:11 am

My coding skills are a bit out of practice these days – I hack about in PHP a fair bit but in terms of CSS I need to brush up. So when someone said to me – can we resize a webpage into an iframe so we syndicate the content I thought no prob. And TBH its so easy even I worked it out in under 10 minutes, using no JavaScript, with only Google for assistance. You know when I say that I had to cobble together stuff from Google as TBH I didnt really like the responses I was getting. So the code below is what I’ve came up with… <iframe style=”transform: scale(0.4);…
My Life on Twitter

Michael Briggs

20 Nov 2012 | 12:01 pm
Stop Ranking for Keywords and Start Ranking for People

Michael Briggs

20 Sep 2012 | 2:25 pm

It sounds trite. It sounds almost Fishkian in nature. That if you want to get high quality traffic through natural search you should stop thinking about your audience and not yourself. I left one of my early SEO jobs purely because of this beliefs : ranking for keywords is how we get people in (it’s the what in the equation) but we’re really looking to make sales (the why in our little equation), rankings are merely how we drive people. Think of it from a client perspective when they employ you as an SEO agency/contractor. What do they care about? Really think about it. What are…
SEO WARS : Retro SEO Satire Flashback Video

Michael Briggs

16 Sep 2012 | 2:36 pm

This just made me roflcopter : had forgotten all about it. Fantomaster Vs Rand Fishkin My Favourite part : Rand Fishkin : “I use interesting content to generate links” Fantomaster : “you are not my child”

Haden Interactive
Giving Facebook a Kick

Rebecca Haden

24 May 2013 | 7:45 am

Most companies need to be on Facebook now. Not only will people look for you — your company may also have a blank page set up automatically by Facebook, so you look completely lame when they find you. In general, success with Facebook (and each company will have a different definition for that) will come for companies with a consistent, responsive, interesting presence there. That’s the long term strategy. What happens when you decide to give your company Facebook page a kick in the pants? Here are three examples of the short-term effects of a Facebook initiative. The first…
Icons for Your Website

Rebecca Haden

23 May 2013 | 6:35 am

Icons, on the web, are little images that provide information. Some common places where we see them: social media icons are clickable buttons that take you to the site owner’s social media accounts. Here we see Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn icons in colors that complement the website’s overall design: Clickable icons can also be used for calls to action. Here we see custom icons for a variety of actions the site owner wants website visitors to take: Icons can also be used to draw attention to and clarify information, as in infographics. While infographics like the one below…
Marketing Successfully to Teens — Ur Doin It Wrong

admin

22 May 2013 | 6:00 am

Teens in America have serious purchasing power. Most keep their money from babysitting or after school jobs, few contribute to their household economy, and many receive allowances or payments for chores throughout their teen years. They also have a lot of influence over household buying decisions. Parents not only listen to kids’ preferences in order the get the products their children like, but also because they believe their teens are more in tune with modern trends than they are. Unlike adults, who remember online ads twice as well as TV ads, teens find TV ads more memorable than…
Likeable Business, by Dave Kerpen: A Review

Rebecca Haden

21 May 2013 | 6:00 am

Likeable Business: Why Today’s Consumers Demand More and How Leaders Can Deliver is a followup to Kerpens’ Likeable Social Media. This book is not primarily about online marketing, though Kerpen is an expert on social media. The book is about making your business likeable to customers and to your team, so your marketing will be welcomed by consumers and your staff will stay with you and be happy. This is, in fact, a book about management and customer service, as well as marketing. I don’t usually review general business management books here — that’s not what we…
Black Hat Temptations

Rebecca Haden

20 May 2013 | 6:00 am

How do you get good results with a website? You create a steady flow of good content, communicate well with search engines, make sure you offer a high level of usability for your visitors, and of course maintain an excellent product and top quality customer service. Add strategic use of fastidious linkbuilding and effective social media to help drive traffic. Over time, your website will provide excellent results for you. Not exciting, is it? Not nearly as exciting as special secret moves that will get you #1 rankings in ten days or your money back! We don’t talk as much about black…

Oban RSS Feed
Oban Multilingual’s exclusive talk at the EAIE Academy

30 Apr 2013 | 7:04 am

Oban Multilingual’s exclusive talk at the EAIE Academy Oban Multilingual, gave an exhilarating talk on Global SEO at the bi-annual European Association for International Education (EAIE) Academy event, held at Birmingham University. Headed up by Oban Multilingual’s Account Director, Jon Murphy, the 90 minute workshop illustrated how education establishments can attract prospective, overseas students using Multilingual SEO as part of their digital marketing strategy. Over the years, the global online landscape has seen a rapid rise in internet infrastructure and usage, due to increased…
Rich Snippets, what are they? Do we really care? And why we should

29 Apr 2013 | 3:04 am

Rich Snippets, what are they? Do we really care? And why we should Ranking on page one for organic search engine results can be a laborious investment of time, taking months before seeing any real results on SERPs. Strategic planning can’t always beat the fierce competition for this prime ‘real estate’ either. But what if you could implement a tactic to make your search result stand out from the crowd? Or visually differentiate your brand from the competition and increase CTR? Well, Rich Snippets could be your saving grace. If you’ve not heard of Rich Snippets before, Google’s,…
Oban Multilingual at the Internet Retailing Expo 2013

26 Mar 2013 | 7:42 am

Oban Multilingual at the Internet Retailing Expo 2013 Image credit: Internet Retailing Expo Oban Multilingual and partner brand GlobalMaxer recently attended the Internet Retailing Expo at the NEC, Birmingham. Held over two days, the event was a fantastic opportunity to see us in person to chat about international search and cultural conversion opportunities With a range of team specialists on hand, our exhibition was specifically designed to help businesses understand what potential markets and optimisation methods could boost their online presence in the global landscape. GlobalMaxer’s…
Google and the Interflora fiasco

26 Mar 2013 | 2:25 am

Google and the Interflora fiasco Image credit: Interflora Interflora is best known as one of the UK’s most popular florists, not for getting into trouble with online regulations. Recent escapades revealed by, Google, portrayed a very different light. If you’re not familiar with the incident, Interflora practically disappeared from Google’s SERPs, losing ranking for hundreds of brand and non brand search terms ‘Black hat’ link building conducted by Interflora’s SEO agency created headline news nationwide and a Google penalty to boot. Although, the official standpoint from Google…
Russia’s online revolution - search and online trends

18 Mar 2013 | 9:45 am

Russia’s online revolution - search and online trends Image credit: Russian Rulers The first step to mastering SEO in Russia is to shake off any preconceptions and approach it from a localised perspective. This enormous and upwardly mobile country has one of the most active online populations in the world. ComScore estimated user figures to be around 62 million in 2012 – that's 44.3% of the total population[1]. This figure shows huge potential for targeting e-commerce consumers in Russia; something your business should possibly be taking advantage of. Oban Multilingual, strongly believe…

Zazzle Media
Infographics Are Dead – What’s the Next Killer Content Type?

Josh Brown

24 May 2013 | 5:50 am

For a long time infographics have been the forefront of large scale pieces of big bang content and data visualisation. Done well they can still deliver great reach. However, this time is coming to an end. In fact there are multiple reasons why infographics are no longer the ‘in’ thing in content marketing. Let’s go through them quickly. Firstly, they’re becoming spammy. Quickly scraped together by some overseas designers or interns who have little design experience such ‘misuse’ has devalued them as content to deliver ‘wow’ factor. This spammy behaviour is…
How To Monetize Your Social Media Presence

Ben Harper

20 May 2013 | 1:39 am

There are plenty of naysayers in our industry who claim that social media is still almost impossible to monetize. We don’t just believe you can monetize social, we are actively doing it right now, so have written a useful guide that can be roughly applied to any vertical. Getting Your Social Platforms Ready We talk a lot about making sure your website is technically fit for purpose on the content marketing side of our business, and this is a similar step that needs to be taken when planning for social media monetization. First up, make sure you have the basics right such as whether your…
20 Ways To Better Project Manage Your ‘Big Bang’ Content Campaigns

Mark Leech

15 May 2013 | 6:49 am

The Big Bang Theory > Maths, science, history, unravelling the mystery… all great subject matters for big content marketing pieces! The Zazzle blog is a place of expertise and insight, looking out into our wider industry from a (hopefully) objective viewpoint. Often we discuss the latest SEO developments or content marketing techniques, but in this post I intend to retreat back behind the scenes and talk about how we manage the delivery of content campaigns, in particular ‘big bang’ content; the peaks in the flow of our client editorial calendars. Whilst the mainstay of any content…
The End Of An Era: What Social Can Tell Us About The Next Manchester United Manager

Ben Harper

8 May 2013 | 2:19 am

Sir Alex Ferguson has announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United today after 26 years & 38 trophies. He has undoubtedly been the most successful manager in recent British history. The announcement of his departure has been very 21st century with the Manchester United press office announcing his decision to step down on Twitter and introducing a simple hashtag #thankyousiralex which is flying right now. However, for all football fans (especially if you love or hate United) the question now is who will take the reigns at the countries most successful club? We’ve done…
On Social, Where Should eCommerce Brands Focus?

Ben Harper

7 May 2013 | 1:04 am

Ecommerce is booming. Recent figures from the US suggest that by 2016 we’ll be spending $327 billion a year online, while in China annual internet retail spending now tops $190 billion; that’s up 66% year-on-year. There can be little doubt then of its continued dominance. The problem is that with so much opportunity investment in the space will accelerate faster than ever, raising the barrier to entry for those looking to gain a larger piece of the pie. Search marketing is the defacteo route to market for the vast majority of retailers attempting to grow revenues. The question is,…

Fresh Egg SEO Blog
Friday Social Round Up: New Slickr Flickr, Yahoo! Acquire Tumblr, Pinterest’s New Features and Twitter Two-Step Authentication

Susie Cox

24 May 2013 | 3:50 am

The round up this week centres around the activity of one very busy and keen-to-be-seen-down-with-the kids search engine, Yahoo! What with their update of Flickr, acquisition of Tumblr, and integration of Twitter there’s no wonder Marissa Mayer didn’t...
Gareth Williams – Football-Loving Foodie

Ella

22 May 2013 | 6:00 am

Gareth Williams joined the team as a project manager last month, and has been making himself incredibly useful ever since. Before joining Fresh Egg, Gareth was project coordinator at CWT Digital in Brighton and worked mainly on dynamic packaging and cruise...
Digital Marketing News Round Up: Cutts Warns of Impending SEO Changes, Updates for Schema Markup, Knowledge Graph and Analytics

Nathan

20 May 2013 | 1:25 am

Last week was Google I/O, the search giant’s annual developer conference. Digital professionals have a love/hate relationship with the event: many of Google’s most exciting innovations tend to come out of it, but an equal number of future headaches...
Friday Social Round Up: #GooglePlusUpdate, Amy’s Baking Company, Facebook Emoticons and Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal

Susie Cox

17 May 2013 | 3:44 am

Social Media Strategist wanted We are looking for an experienced Social media strategist to join our team. You must have proven experience of devising and implementing successful digital marketing campaigns, have a high degree of understanding of social...
Digital Marketing News Round Up: Klout Integration in Bing Results, Google Maps Design Overhaul, One Organic SERP on iPads and Do Press Releases Count in Google?

Mark Longhurst

13 May 2013 | 6:00 am

This week’s instalment of digital marketing news sees the introduction of Klout Experts and a couple of notable changes in Google. Let’s get stuck in. Klout integration in Bing results Having previously announced a strategic partnership with Bing...

State of Search
Friday Talk: Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen About “The New Digital Age”

Bas van den Beld

24 May 2013 | 7:05 am

Eric Schmidt wrote a book, together with Jared Cohen. The book, called “The New Digital Age”, looks at the future and gives us a nice insight into the mind of one of the most powerful people in digital and even the world. In this talk Schmidt and Cohen discuss things which are in the book. He doesn’t say too many ‘strange things’ as he sometimes can do, but it’s a very interesting talk nonetheless. Post from Bas van den Beld on State of Search Friday Talk: Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen About “The New Digital Age” Keep reading: Friday Talk: Eric…
What Are You Telling Facebook Apps?

Bas van den Beld

24 May 2013 | 12:57 am

Earlier this week Sam wrote an excellent piece on Facebook’s photo privacy settings. Something everybody using Facebook should look into. But there is so much more going on there when it comes to privacy. Do you for example know what all the Facebook Apps you use take away from you when it comes to information? Think about that next time you play “Candy Crush Saga”. via My Permissions Post from Bas van den Beld on State of Search What Are You Telling Facebook Apps? Keep reading: Google vs Facebook On Privacy and Security Google vs Facebook: the Privacy Battle Facebook is now…
The Importance of Site Structure Maintenance

Kate Morris

23 May 2013 | 7:29 am

This week I am at SearchLove Boston and we always have a give it up session. No tweets, just the best tips. Well I am breaking the rules and telling you one of them … my tip. It’s in no way dark or shady, it’s actually a housekeeping tip that very few companies actually do consistently. Tip: Every 6 months, recrawl your site and fix broken links and internal redirects. Seems easy right? Right. Then why in the world is this a big deal? I hear some of you now. Don’t close the window just yet (unless you are doing this already, if so, have a great day!). The rest of…
Gianluca Fiorelli’s Super Search Update – May edition

Gianluca Fiorelli

23 May 2013 | 5:29 am

These last 30 days have been über rich with great posts. Sincerely, my Twitter favorites column was never ending when I was scrolling to find the note “30 days old”. Therefore, for the first time, I won’t write a “distillation” kind of curated post, but will go for a more classical list one, and I ask you to forgive me if you won’t like it… but – seriously – this post would have become even longer and, sincerely, the quality of the posts deserves to make them visible the best I can. I have classified the posts and decks into recognizable categories, the same ones I use when…
On Avoiding Penalties and Increasing Conversions

Claire Thompson

23 May 2013 | 1:11 am

The media is in a real state of change, and in my opinion we are nowhere near reaching a plateau. Change is still to come. Who knows if it will ever even out? One thing is for sure: we are in a multi-platform environment. But where the old ‘big media’ was for some time a little like a startled rabbit in the headlights, not really knowing which way to run, most publishers have now at least a strategy, and it includes digital. Which doesn’t just mean online. Does it matter? I wish I had a pound for every time someone – usually an SEO professional – repeated that old mantra, “It…

SEO and Inbound Marketing Agency in Sydney
Top 5 Social Media Stories 27th May 2013

Niemluu

24 May 2013 | 5:45 am

By NiemluuFind last weeks top reads about Social Media and how changes and innovations can help or affect your business. We look forward to your comments and feedback Important Factor 1) Penguin 2.0: What Likely Changed and How to Recover Why it matters: Have you heard of the Penguin 2.0 update? During March, Matt Cutts, Google’s Distinguished Engineer announced that there would be next Penguin update that got most of Marketers and SEO experts like sitting on fire. Eventually, last Wednesday 22nd May, it was officially announced. Though there are number of new changes in this…
Top 5 Social Media Stories 20th May 2013

Niemluu

19 May 2013 | 2:00 pm

By Niemluu Find last weeks top reads about Social Media and how changes and innovations can help or affect your business. We look forward to your comments and feedback Important Factor 1) The Crossroads of Influence Marketing Why it matters: Influence Marketing is at a crossroad. Nowadays, influence marketing is defined by different waves of influence such as celebrity endorsements, Social scoring and business of influence. Along with that there are number of facts why businesses considering investing in influence marketing. Important level: 7/10 2) Google+ Adds 41 New Features,…
Top 5 Social Media Stories – 13th May 2013

Niemluu

12 May 2013 | 6:01 pm

By NiemluuFind last weeks top reads about Social Media and how changes and innovations can help or affect your business. We look forward to your comments and feedback Important Factor 1) Why Social Media Software Platforms Fail Why it matters: It is important when the marketers understand and know exactly their product/service is about and markets it to the right target. For the companies, they need to non-stop renovating and hiring the right people to develop their social media in the right way. Importance level: 7/10 2) Email and Social Media, Why Marketers Need Both Why it…
Top 5 Social Media Stories – 6th May 2013

Niemluu

6 May 2013 | 6:33 am

By Niemluu Find last weeks top reads about Social Media and how changes and innovations can help or affect your business. We look forward to your comments and feedback Important Factor 1) 7 Updates To Make To Google Analytics After Coffee To-day! Why it matters: the new day-to-day updates of Google Analytics where you can get more benefit from it. Important Level: 7/10 2) Google Author Rank and Authorship: What We Know So Far Why it matters: the definitions of authorship and author rank. The connection between these two and how they work individually and together. Important…
Top 5 Social Media Stoties – 29th April 2013

Niemluu

27 Apr 2013 | 5:08 am

By NiemluuFind last weeks top reads about Social Media and how changes and innovations can help or affect your business. We look forward to your comments and feedback Important Factor 1) 4 Ways to Measure Your ROI on Content Marketing Why it matters: This article explains the important of ROI and how it benefits for your business. Along with that, the inforgraphic “online marketing funnel” gives you a clear idea how the online world works and puts it into context. Important Level: 7/10 2) How to Monitor Searches in Your Website Using Google Analytics Why it…

RankSurge
Damn Right I’m an SEO Mercenary

Paul

21 May 2013 | 4:15 am

Damn Right I’m an SEO Mercenary Here’s a hard truth that no one mentions in talking to a client. When you hire me, you are hiring me to care. As soon as you stop paying, I no longer care. I’ll confess that sometimes letting a client go is a FANTASTIC feeling. Not having to worry about someone else’s problems relieves a ton of stress. I love the conversations where a potential SEO client tells me that “once I prove myself” that they will spend more money. BULL-FUCKING-SHIT! Let’s see, that has happened exactly TWICE in over the 500 clients I’ve…
Social Currency doesn’t Pay the Bills

Paul

7 May 2013 | 4:32 am

Social Currency doesn’t Pay the Bills We’re all guilty. You been posting, tweeting, liking, subscribing, following, adding to your circles and handing out plus one votes. Then one day, a post of yours gets some attention. Maybe someone well known in your industry links to your article. Maybe some internet influencers like your post. You might even get some people to comment on whatever it is you composed. Feels good, right? But does that help with your groceries or utility payment? I can already hear those who would take this social activity as a way to earn brandability,…
Good SEO Don’t Come with Short Cuts

Paul

3 May 2013 | 5:42 am

Good SEO Don’t Come with Short Cuts Yeah, that’s right, I purposely used improper English. But it got you here, and so the story begins. If you listen closely to those spammy emails you get from India, it would be hard to think that getting ranked takes any effort. According to those compelling emails, for a small amount of moeny every month, your site will soon be soaring to the top of the search rankings. They promise to get you directory lsitings, create compelling articles and get links at a guaranteed rate that is absolutely startling for what they charge. And to think, here…
You’re Too Cheap to Afford Good SEO

Paul

15 Apr 2013 | 6:48 am

You’re Too Cheap to Afford Good SEO You know who you are. The one who thinks all those Indian SEO companies can get you links that are worth anything. The one who thinks the next WSO will “finally” crack that elusive ranking that you want. The one who thinks that spending $500 a month is enough to get you ranked, paying someone to do all your work. The one who thinks that a top ranking in Google will be all you need, nevermind the low quality of your site. The one who thinks that “likes” and “followers” have a real ROI. The one who thinks that all you…
Transparent with my SEO Strategies? Bullshit!

Paul

11 Apr 2013 | 5:32 am

Transparent with my SEO Strategies? Bullshit! I saw an article that says that one of the qualifications of a “real” SEO firm is to be transparent with all their activities that they take part in. This also means sharing any knowledge with respected SEO communities. By doing this, I am now part of the “good” group of SEOs. F THAT. I have a technique that I’ve been using for about seven months now that gets my site on the first page of Google with every post. Do you think I am going to SHARE that with the world? Just so that they can use it and knock me and my…

PanGalatic Digital » Blog
SEO 101: On-Page Vs. Off-Page SEO

Jared Reed

16 May 2013 | 5:34 am

A big part of every client relationship we have at Pan Galactic centers around education. Search Engine Optimization is intangible, highly technical, and just downright confusing to many people. Our 101 posts are a response to this situation. Whenever we… The post SEO 101: On-Page Vs. Off-Page SEO appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.
How to Perform Simple SEO Competitive Intelligence

Jared Reed

10 Apr 2013 | 7:31 am

Suffice to say that I’m a data junkie. Currently I’m tracking my sleep via my FitBit. I look at how many steps I take each day, and I keep a journal of foods my kids like juxtaposed with their age.… The post How to Perform Simple SEO Competitive Intelligence appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.
5 Reasons Responsive Design is Good for Mobile SEO

Jared Reed

8 Apr 2013 | 7:19 am

1. Recommended by Google Last year, Google came out on the Google Developers blog and laid it all on the line by recommending that “webmasters follow the industry best practice of using responsive web design”. You really can’t get… The post 5 Reasons Responsive Design is Good for Mobile SEO appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.
Desktop Advertising is Over. Long Live Mobile Marketing!

Jared Reed

3 Apr 2013 | 6:52 am

We’ve been hearing that this is the year of Mobile since at least 2003, but we can definitely say that 2014 will be the final Year of Mobile. From then on out, when we think Internet, we’ll think Mobile. Mobile… The post Desktop Advertising is Over. Long Live Mobile Marketing! appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.
How to Create Custom URLs with Google Analytics

Jared Reed

2 Apr 2013 | 7:11 am

You’ve decided to really get major league with your website marketing for 2013. That’s great! You’ve installed Google Analytics. You’ve set up Goals, and maybe you’ve even created a custom dashboard or two. If you really want to take it… The post How to Create Custom URLs with Google Analytics appeared first on PanGalatic Digital.

John Doherty | SEO, Marketer, Photographer, Traveler
Get Executive Management to Approve Anything

Ryan McLaughlin

18 May 2013 | 7:41 am

*Note from John: Today’s guest post comes from Ryan McLaughlin, who is the Director of Marketing at Clarity Ventures. He lives in Austin, TX and can be found on Twitter @recalibrate. Back in the spring of 2011 I decided to step away from the boutique internet marketing agency that I co-founded, move to Austin, and join the core team of a growing software company named Clarity Ventures to lead its marketing initiatives. That time represented a lot of changes for me professionally, but one of the biggest adjustments I had to make was moving from a book of small business clients to one…
Marketing Your Startup With Founder Interviews

John Doherty

23 Apr 2013 | 7:00 am

Who or what is the most recognizable face in your company or startup? This is an important question to ask yourself because often it can betray how others view your company. I talk with many early stage startups (everyone in New York City is building an app) who tell me “If I just create a great product, users will come and love it.” Sound familiar? If you’re in marketing it should, because it’s the old “Build it and they will come” fallacy which we all know is not true. Dan Martell talked about this in my interview with him While building a great product…
Interview with Entrepreneur David Hassell, CEO of 15Five

John Doherty

17 Apr 2013 | 10:30 am

Entrepreneurs are some of the most interesting people in the world. I recently had the pleasure of interviewing David Hassell, who is the CEO and Founder of 15Five, a product built to better enable managers and employees to give and receive quality feedback in less time. Throughout this conversation we talk about not only entrepreneurship, but also productivity, the power of why, and the driving force behind what he does. Have a listen/read! Here is David’s official biography, and you can read their blog here (including an interview with Simon Sinek on The Power of Why): David Hassell…
Validating Your Product Idea With Existential Questioning

John Doherty

10 Apr 2013 | 7:00 am

I have interviewed a few well-regarded entrepreneurs in the past couple of months, and out of those have come the common vein of “Is the problem you are solving worth your life?” Entrepreneurs are ideas people. We think a lot, we try to optimize our lives to find better ways of being. We are known for being eccentric, disciplined, and sometimes a bit unsatisfied with life. This way of being has very real challenges and benefits. One challenge is that we can set out to build something that will potentially make us money, but at the end of the day we are not passionate about it and…
Data Driven Content Marketing – iAcquire Meetup

John Doherty

20 Mar 2013 | 3:45 pm

Tonight (March 20th) Distilled NYC is co-hosting a meetup in conjunction with iAcquire, another search agency here in New York City. The topic is Content Marketing vs Content Strategy. My talk is on data driven content marketing. We believe that in order to know what content to create, you need to first know: What content you have; How that content is performing What content your competitors have How their content is performing I will post the slidedeck this evening once the event has finished and I get back to my computer, but I built out a spreadsheet to give away to everyone. I figure…

SEO News And SEM
6 First Class Link Building Tips to Drive Massive Traffic [Outside Of The Box Thinking]

SEMandSEO

24 May 2013 | 6:31 am

Everyone is searching for link building techniques and tips, right? Yeah! That’s correct. Link building is an essential part of SEO and of course important for SEO purposes. But make sure you getting links from good sources but it is not necessary that you get easily. After Panda and Penguin, there are numerous techniques which were examine like article re-writing, purchase links and blog/forum comment spamming, all of them are dead. So now companies or SEO should not go for link building services as few quality link services guarantee to provide instant links at affordable rate but really…
Google Site Command Is Clustering

SEMandSEO

24 May 2013 | 3:36 am

Google Site Command Temporary Issue Due To Domain Clustering Today, I have seen that, the site command might be a little bit buggy for you and of course me currently and may be solve out for about a couple of week. In brief, few SEOs and webmaster started observing that conducting a site command in Google for bigger sites would only call back 30 results. My friend also tweeted the problem on Twitter and he just mentioned the core problem while searching site command and then I also tried that command over Google and yes, he was right and I also taken the screen shot on that. Kindly check it…
Conducting Market Investigation Before Putting on Tactical Execution - Strategyboard Friday

SEMandSEO

24 May 2013 | 1:16 am

The key phrase "look before you leap" has hardly ever been more accurate ! Before starting putting on tactics , it's essential to do your market investigation . Numerous businesses are influenced to embark upon the details before replying the greater inquiries , like who their customers are , how those customers make purchase judgments , where their potential consumers are on the web , and precisely how customers may pick between same firms and offerings. Read Full Story »»
Save time with Social Media Shortcuts -– infographics

SEMandSEO

23 May 2013 | 4:32 am

So many people are browsing through social media networking sites like Facebook , Twitter , YouTube and Google Plus everyday . Yet are you feeling tired up because he whole lott on these kinds of platforms feels so sluggish and you would like to accelerate your exploring? Just as many folks don’t be familiar with , all these four social media platforms are all containing some great keyboard shortcuts . With these shortcuts you may flow faster , more leisurely and just choose the level . We teach you how they do the job . Navigate by Facebook & co . like a significant pro ! Read Full…
How to Earn Money Through Fiverr

SEMandSEO

23 May 2013 | 3:04 am

There are a lot of approaches to generate income by using your internet but most people are not aware with regard to these techniques. Meanwhile , small bit of folks have a frame of mind that they can’t truly generate income via the internet as well as those people who are making are simply just dishonesty around the neck . I am going to tell you that Fiverr .com is amongst the website which has the opportunities to get you $5-$20 daily. Off course, you should be a little bit productive in presenting your offers. Below in this article, I’ll be explaining how you can earn money via Fiverr…

Marketingchip
New Google Analytics onclick Link Tracker Required for New Script

Marcos

22 May 2013 | 10:01 am

If you’re using the new latest version of the Google Analytics tracking script which looks like the following: <script> (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-XXXXXXX-X', 'marketingchip.com'); ga('send', 'pageview'); </script> You will need to change the onclick tracking code if you…
Google Analytics Improves In Page Analytics

Marcos

11 Nov 2012 | 10:34 am

Google Analytics Improves In Page Analytics In page analytics displays a visual representation of where users click on your website. The problem with it – and the reason no one uses it – is that it only shows the percentage of clicks to a given link independent of the position of the link itself. In other words, if you have a header navigation link to your contact page as well as a footer link to the contact page Analytics shows the same click percentage for both. This new Analytics update changes this allowing you to see the actual click percentage on each link or button on your…
How to add your author picture to wordpress – the easy way

Marcos

28 Oct 2012 | 1:54 pm

Adding your image to your author bio in wordpress is incredibly easy. All you have to do is create a Gravatar account and make sure you use the same email address that you used in your author profile. Once you have made the gravatar account and uploaded your image it will automatically appear in your author profile on your blog (can take about 5 minutes). It’s beautifully that simple. 1) Make your author profile in wordpress 2) Make your gravatar account on gravatar.com using the same email address you used for your author profile 3) Upload your picture on Gravatar.com and complete the…
Blekko SEO tools is now paid only

Marcos

16 Aug 2012 | 4:12 am

Blekko has finally started charging for their SEO information. SJQWVJEGKCTB
‘English Person’ C-Word was NOT a Google Bomb – Explained

Marcos

17 Jun 2012 | 11:28 am

Was the Google result for “english person” a prank or was it simply an error in the Google algorithm? Read on to find out why many, including The Huffington Post, were wrong about this one. This is an update to my original post which can be found here. Google has now manually removed the Wikipedia result. One June 15th if you Googled “english person” the result would be pretty bad. But this wasn´t a Google bomb. This post explains why. There have been many manipulations of Google search results by pranksters and of course SEO is at it´s core an intentional manual…

DKS Systems
Easy Wins with Pinterest

Courtney Petty

7 May 2013 | 3:07 am

Have you looked at your social network referral sources, lately? You might be surprised at some of the data. For most of the different websites that we work on, we notice Pinterest to be a creeping trend in referral traffic- even if the website isn’t “optimized” for Pinterest. Why not make get the most out of this popular referral source? 4 Easy Wins with Pinterest 1. Add the “Pin It” button to your pages. These can be added to your blog posts, product pages or any page with a visual that users might want to Pin (or have already Pinned). The “Pin It”…
Measurable Social Media KPI’s

Courtney Petty

16 Apr 2013 | 3:19 am

Social media strategies should align with business goals and work closely with other online marketing initiatives. When you’re in the process of creating a social media strategy for your brand or business, you should outline your Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) to measure your efforts. KPI’s need to be measurable. Generally, you should have at least three specific and measurable objectives/KPI’s. Measurable KPI’s for Social Media Campaigns Outlined below are the three main social media campaigns and examples of measurable objectives for each. Objectives for…
Tips You Need for a Local AdWords Campaign

Courtney Petty

2 Apr 2013 | 3:53 am

Google AdWords can be a great tool to bring in immediate and productive traffic to your website. With the new upgrade to Enhanced Campaigns, there are some new features that pair perfectly with location targeting. 5 Important AdWords Settings for Local Campaigns 1. Location settings. You can add and/or exclude locations based on radius or city/town (or both). There is a lot of flexibility with the locations you can target for your campaigns. If you have a big list of locations or postal codes, for example, you can add those too. 2. Location extensions. Add location extensions from a…
Facebook Graph Search – Tips for Businesses

Courtney Petty

26 Mar 2013 | 3:40 am

We’ve covered the basics of Facebook Graph Search, and now we’re back with tips for Businesses. If you aren’t sure what Facebook Graph Search is about, you can read more here. You can also sign up to try Facebook Graph Search before it’s rolled out to all users. 10 Tips to Optimize Business Pages for Facebook Graph Search 1. Create/implement a social media strategy that focuses on user-engagement and interaction. 2. Add your address and hours. 3. Optimize your “About” section, as it’s one of the primary sections of information that’s…
NEW: Facebook Graph Search

Courtney Petty

19 Mar 2013 | 5:43 am

Facebook is rolling out a new social search feature: Facebook Graph Search. The potential for brands and businesses on Facebook is HUGE. While the search is being rolled out to users, brands and marketers can prepare their profiles. We plan on writing a separate post with tips for businesses soon- so stay tuned. How does it work? Facebook Graph Search is a social search feature. Graph Search is particularly good for search related to connections, local and vertical searches and media/entertainment search. You get a basic drop down list of generic searches – let’s go with…

01100111011001010110010101101011.co.uk
9,800 New Guest Post Opps in 10 Minutes

011100110110010

16 May 2013 | 4:53 am

So it appears that SEO’s have decided that with Penguin 2.0 looming large it’s a good idea to cover the bases by stating that anything and everything to do with link building could lead to a penalisation of some sort. Great! Where does this leave the paralysed masses? The frozen, battered and fearful, afraid of creating a link for their client just in case this one breaks the camels back? Even the holiest of holy is being questioned - Guest posts? Dear God they’re not getting fucked too?! I guess you better stop doing the only thing that SEO’s have felt comfortable…
Monitoring Rankings For Large SEO Brands

011100110110010

30 Apr 2013 | 10:07 am

I’ve been toying around with the idea of monitoring keyword behaviour for the largest SEO brands. This isn’t for a malicious reason but merely out of interest. I’m interested in finding out how the bigger boys are doing? What do they rank for? What do they want to rank for? Oh and also to see whether any of them get penalised… To be honest I’m surprised that no-one thought of it earlier a bit like a team of the week, seeding or class rankings (maybe they did and thought it was a shit idea – ed) Well when I saying toying around with, I’ve been tracking…
So, You Wanna Be A Brand Huh?

011100110110010

25 Apr 2013 | 5:04 am

BRAND SIGNALS!! They’re everywhere! It appears that the SEO world in 2013 is about creating a brand (fake it til you make it), standing out within your industry (creating original, interesting, link worthy content) and user metrics (CTR, time on site, returning visitors. You know, all that good stuff) Oh yeah, maybe also a bit of social goodness as well. Today we are going to discuss BRANDS and what makes them so brandy. All of our clients want to be large brands and lets face it the majority of them will never be but how could we look to make them look a little shinier in the eye of…
Find Places To Add Banner Ads/Links

011100110110010

17 Apr 2013 | 3:36 am

Small idea. Might work for you, might not. Probably more likely to might work than might not. Add competitor(s) site into OSE / Your link God of choice. Filter results for most possible links (external, to all pages on the root domain) Run report, wait. Perhaps do a sudoku? Or maybe read this? Regardez un lien naturel! Export report and put it in order of anchor text. Scroll down to ‘img alt’ You now have a list of sites that could accept image based links for your brand. Some of these sites will no doubt be owned by your competitors so do your research or at least think about…
10 ways to Build Back links!

011100110110010

17 Apr 2013 | 2:23 am

Making high quality inbound links from web sites is an important task in the search engine optimization process. It is off-page optimization service to boost traffic to the site in advertising, brand books, strengthen links and blogses, and presentations from the forum, all lead indirectly and effective links to web content. Although unique and relevant content continues to be a key factor in site to site search in the engine results page (SERP), the popularity and visitor traffic are also key issues that affect the distribution. It also serves as a measure of the ease of use of the content…

rob hammond
Who cares about Europe?

rob

15 May 2013 | 12:56 am

Certain people in certain political parties seem obsessed with the UK’s relationship with Europe and our position within the EU. But how much do the UK electorate actually care about Europe as an issue? Does the rise of the single-issue party Ukip actually have anything to do with their one policy goal? There’s some interesting [...]The post Who cares about Europe? appeared first on rob hammond.
Open sourcing bkmrx

rob

15 Mar 2013 | 7:06 am

I’ve spent the last year or so of my daily commute building a social bookmarking site that for me has now replaced my use of delicious, and I think offers more than other services such as diigo, Google Bookmarks et al. Now with a new job on the horizon, I want to spend less time [...]The post Open sourcing bkmrx appeared first on rob hammond.
Historical use of keywords in URLs in Google’s results

rob

25 Jan 2013 | 5:59 am

I was just going through some old work files and came across some research I did in 2010 and 2011 but completely forgot about until now. It was a fairly straightforward analysis of the occurrence of keywords in domains, sub-domains and URL paths in Google’s top 100 results for the term [broadband]. Given the effects [...]The post Historical use of keywords in URLs in Google’s results appeared first on rob hammond.
MozFest 2012 round-up

rob

12 Nov 2012 | 5:56 am

I spent last weekend at the Mozilla Festival in London – the first conference I’ve been to in a while which wasn’t search or usability related. I was initially unsure about going, as I’m not a hardcore programmer, nor an expert on JavaScript, and not hugely interested in web gaming. However I was curious enough [...]The post MozFest 2012 round-up appeared first on rob hammond.
CSS Path tester

rob

2 Nov 2012 | 6:37 am

These days most crawling and scraping tools use XPath or increasingly CSS3 selectors to parse HTML rather than the lengthy & obtuse regular expressions of old. However unlike regexes, there’s not much in the way of online testing tools for CSS3 selectors (ie none that I could find), so using the excellent CSS selector support [...]The post CSS Path tester appeared first on rob hammond.

Click-finders.com
Conversion Funnel Optimization to Maximize Website Driven Revenue

Michael Glover

29 Apr 2013 | 6:06 pm

TweetConversion Optimization Part 3 In this article, we’re going to cover how to guide your visitors through your website or landing page and point them to a further action. As we have talked about before, it does no good to have the best, coolest looking web site in the world if you are not turning any of your visitors into paying customers. The first steps of course Building Trust and Aligning Your Website and Business Goals, covers the basic of website design and flow needed in order to attract and hold your visitor attention. Now let’s discuss the science of getting them to buy…
Conversion Optimization Part 2 – Website Visitors into Customers

Michael Glover

8 Apr 2013 | 6:47 pm

TweetAligning Your Website With Your Business Goals Turning Website Visitors into Customers! In Conversion Optimization Part 1 – Website Visitors Into Customers – We covered “Building Trust” with your website. In this article, we’re going to cover how to align your website with your business goals. After all, what good is it if you build a great website, build trust instantly with your visitor and get them to request more information…but it’s more information about something you don’t sell?!?!?! Not good right? So let’s take a look at how we can align our business…
Conversion Optimization Part 1 – Website Visitors Into Customers

Michael Glover

25 Mar 2013 | 2:12 pm

TweetThat’s the real question isn’t it? What good is a website or even traffic to your website if once they get there they don’t buy something or at a minimum, request more information from you about the product or service you offer (otherwise known as a “conversion”). As a small business, there is nothing as important as making sales. You have to think about those sales, strategize for more sales and constantly test for improvement on your complete sales cycle and processes every minute of every day, if you hope to succeed. Why would your website be any different?
Defining Affordable SEO Services for Small Business

Michael Glover

21 Jan 2013 | 5:15 pm

TweetAs a small business owner, the term affordable in any marketing piece always makes me either laugh a little or cringe. Depending on the piece, I can almost tell instantly whether or not I can afford to participate or not. When it comes to SEO (Search Engine Optimization) though, the term is not always so transparent. When the marketing piece you have to make a decision on often looks like a standard Search Engine Results Page (SERP) entry, how are you supposed to know who brings value and who does not? The answer is simple, you don’t! You have to actually click through the…
How to Get Started With SEO Services and Content Creation

Michael Glover

16 Jul 2012 | 12:22 pm

TweetQuality Content is the Heart of any good SEO program! At click-finders, we like to think that the entire process of online promotions – with SEO related activities being the majority of our core work – is like the working machinery of a clock tower (or any time piece for that matter): the gears move all the time and the machinery is forever in motion, whether you see the gears turning or not. Of course, all websites can’t afford to be as nonchalant as actual clock towers are, can they? When lively hoods and jobs depend on sales and when the website is counted on for all of, or…

SEOP Blog
Are You Ready for Penguin 2.0?

SEOP Blog Team

22 May 2013 | 8:00 am

The SEO industry has been abuzz in the past couple of weeks, particularly with the announcement by Matt Cutts, the head of Google's Webspam team, about the upcoming release of Penguin 2.0. With the upcoming rollout of Penguin 2.0, you need to make sure that your site is ready, and that you're able to quickly respond to changes in your search rankings.
Harnessing the Power of Discussion for Backlink Building

SEOP Blog Team

20 May 2013 | 8:00 am

For many people, the internet is not just a treasure trove of information. It's also a center for different minds to share thoughts and ideas. While venues for online discussion such as blog posts and forums are often left alone by online marketers, they may provide a great opportunity for building quality backlinks.
Facebook Interaction: Another Reason to Improve SEO for Bing

SEOP Blog Team

17 May 2013 | 8:00 am

Bing has deepened its ties with Facebook by allowing interaction with posts and comments made in the social networking giant's site right from the SERPs. This new feature allows searchers to interact with friends and experts who are talking about your business without leaving the search pages, making way for better brand exposure.
8 Ways to Enhance Your WordPress Blog’s SEO

SEOP Blog Team

15 May 2013 | 8:00 am

WordPress popularity as a blogging tool and a content management system comes from its ease-of-use, versatility, and wealth of plug-ins that enable a host of features. Though it is not originally optimized for SEO, it can be with a few enhancements.
Why SEO Campaigns Can Take Some Time to Show Results

SEOP Blog Team

13 May 2013 | 8:00 am

"Why is search engine optimization such a time-consuming process?" is a valid question that rarely gets a fitting answer. Many companies, organizations, and business owners often become frustrated and anxious as they wait for the results of their SEO campaigns, and for good reason. However, the long and arduous process involved in managing an SEO campaign promises that your investment is well spent and put into good use.

SEO Blog by Dave Naylor - SEO Tools, Tips & News
Google Penguin 2.0 Has Landed – War on Spam Continues

Alex Graves

23 May 2013 | 2:28 am

The much anticipated Google Penguin update has finally become a reality following confirmation that the latest generation of the algorithm update has been rolled out throughout their search engine results pages and it seems to be causing a stir. Last night it was revealed that the off-page update was finally switched on following weeks of [...]
Link Risk Analysis Process Made Easy With Link Detox

Alex Graves

16 May 2013 | 9:16 am

With the Google Penguin update (branded as 2.0 or 4 depending on the scoring you are following) hanging over the world of SEO and being set to roll out within the next 8 days, the need to take a step back from the promotion of your website in order to take action on the foundation [...]
Speaking at SMX London – May 15th 2013

David Naylor

13 May 2013 | 8:03 am

On Wednesday I will be heading back to Chelsea Football Club to speak at SMX London. As a Leeds United fan I used to go to Chelsea’s ground many years ago for away matches, but lots has changed since those days I’m speaking on a panel with the topic, “Is Link Building Still Crucial, Or [...]
Google Penguin to go to War with SENuke Style Link Building

Alex Graves

13 May 2013 | 3:52 am

With the prospect of the latest addition of Google Penguin to become a reality within the next few weeks, it seems that many SEO’s and site owners are speculating towards what could be included into the previous focus of the update in order to warrant the upcoming update being called a “new generation” of Google [...]
Spreadsheets for SEO: Filtering Google Webmaster Tools Data by Domain

David Whitehouse

2 May 2013 | 7:41 am

Hey all, I tend to be the guy everyone comes to for Excel help at Bronco, so I thought I’d start doing posts on solving some of the most common issues I find popup being an SEO. This may well have been talked about before by other bloggers, but it may be new to a [...]

The Wpromoter
Client Infographic: American Trainco

Anne Brady

24 May 2013 | 3:30 pm

The world of engineering is a constantly evolving field. All types of gadgets from science fiction are quickly becoming a reality. Watches, telephones, computers and cameras have morphed into a single instrument; the cell phone. There is a lot of work that goes into creating new technology, and some new creations seem too fantastical to be real. American Trainco’s new Infographic, ‘Spectacular Feats of Modern Engineering’ takes a look at some structures that blur the line between science fiction and reality. Check out the Infographic in its entirety to see what it took to…
Google Will Make This A Summer You Will Never Forget

Jenna Scaglione

22 May 2013 | 12:59 pm

When we think of summer, we envision children playing in pools, beach BBQs and much-needed family vacations. But, for webmasters, the summer may become anything but bright, sun-filled and cheery. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s webspam team, released a video that details what Google is planning for the next few months. And although some of these changes may boost webmasters’ sites, anytime Google makes BIG changes, someone inadvertently loses their shirt. Should you be worried? According to Cutts, what he often states in many media outlets… if you create high quality content and a…
A Smattering of SEO News: 5/20/13

Brian Rubin

20 May 2013 | 9:31 am

Hello, and welcome to the Smattering of SEO News for the week ending May 17th! There was even more than the usual amount of Google news in the last week, due to both the I/O conference and other newsworthy happenings, as well as some good news for Bing. Let’s get to it. Google News Matt Cutts Details Upcoming Google Algorithm Changes – In a recent video, Matt Cutts detailed ten changes we would be seeing from Google in the coming months that would seriously affect SEO efforts. These include the next major version of Penguin (being labeled Penguin 2.0), a stronger stance against…
Photoshop Portrait Retouching – 5 Tips For Beginners

Jenny Pauley

17 May 2013 | 3:54 pm

Lately, as Wpromote’s lead graphic designer, I’ve gotten a lot of requests from coworkers to teach them how to remove a pimple, wrinkle or under eye circle in Photoshop. While generally I don’t like to change someone’s unique and distinguishing features, there are a few easy methods that will make your photo (and your face) shine just a little bit brighter. I’m starting with this photo of a woman: I don’t know her name or who she is but she looks like an Emily to me. She’s got a few issues here: piercing scars, a little acne, some under eye circles and some fine…
3 SEO Takeaways from SMX West 2013

Brian Flores

15 May 2013 | 4:46 pm

This last week saw the 2013 Search Marketing Expo come and go. With speakers like Matt Cutts and Duane Forester, you can be sure there were a multitude of interesting forums that covered pertinent industry updates. While there is a wealth of information to be gleaned from a conference as prominent as SMX West, here are three major game changers that can contribute to the overall success of a website. 1. MARKUP MATTERS In 2011, I urged that you must not ignore Schema.org and that early adopters would see the biggest return. Well it’s been nearly two years since Schema.org’s big debut…

WebpageFX Blog
Penguin 2.0 Update: Google blending local results with organic?

Trevin Shirey

24 May 2013 | 7:24 am

As the Penguin 2.0 update rolled out on Wednesday night, we began to notice some massive changes in how Google treats and handles local results. Penguin 2.0 was expected to be a more robust update of Penguin, which launched last spring. That update was deeply rooted in flushing out sites benefiting from link spam from [...]
Google launches Penguin 2.0 update

Trevin Shirey

22 May 2013 | 5:01 pm

Google has launched Penguin 2.0 (also known as Penguin 4) earlier this evening. Matt Cutts made the announcement on This Week in Google. The update, which is targeted at link spam, comes at no surprise as Cutts and other members of Google’s Search team have provided more than a few hints at the largest iteration [...]
Tips and Tools for Using Google Docs for Online Marketing

Colton Gerhart

22 May 2013 | 11:13 am

Google Docs is a free to use, Web-based word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and data storage service offered by Google. It can be used for personal tracking or working within your company. Today we are going to tell you how you can use Google Docs to better capitalize on your marketing strategy and make your business [...]
How to Effectively Market Using Twitter

Amanda

15 May 2013 | 10:58 am

Marketing can make or break a business. In today’s world of social networking, businesses can easily take advantage of interacting with current and future clients through the use of social media. With Twitter now having over two hundred million users (and growing each day), businesses can communicate and promote in 140 characters or less. Your [...]
Why your business needs to be on Google+

Alicia Lawrence

8 May 2013 | 11:25 am

If you’ve been on Google+ you know it’s a better SEO tool than social network. Google integrated many factors into their social platform that play a role in their search engine algorithm. Vic Gundotra, the Senior VP at Google, explained that Google+ is “the unification of all of Google’s services, with a common social layer.” [...]

Search Engine News,SEO,SEM,SMO,Backlinks | SearchEngineBrief.com
Matt Cutts: Google Updated Penguin 2.0 Webspam Algorithm 2013

Guest Author

22 May 2013 | 11:50 pm

Google Penguin 2.0 Update Matt Cutts said we started rolling out the next generation of the Penguin web spam algorithm on 22 May 2013 and the rollout is now complete. That update affects 2.3% of English-US a regular user might notice. The change has also finished rolling out for other languages world-wide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more web spam will see more impact. Cutts added more details on Penguin 2.0, saying that the rollout is now complete and affects 2.3 percent of English-U.S. queries, and that it affects non-English queries as well. This is the…
Google and Yandex Support New tag hreflang

Pavan Rai

11 Apr 2013 | 5:41 am

Google posted a post on the Google Webmaster Blog and Pierre Far referencing on Google Plus that is supporting new tag that is called hreflang. That post is telling about different between home pages that use the Accept-Language HTTP header. Google support a new tag for sites that are multinational and multilingual websites and redirect or change the content of the pages for those users. This new tag helps Google understand those redirects and content. Example: http://example.com/en-in: For English-speaking users in the INDIA http://example.com/en-us: For English-speaking users in the USA…
Google April Fool YouTube Shutting Down

Pavan Rai

1 Apr 2013 | 6:55 am

Google is going to shutdown the YouTube. Google posted a 3 min. video on Sunday that’s saying YouTube going to closed. Jokingly announced that the site is shutting down tomorrow 1 April 2013 and that the eight-year competition to find the best video is over. So that called Google April Fool. YouTube started in 2005 and currently become Top 3rd site in the web. The video explaining the shut down and competition is pretty much brilliant — it features several YouTube stars from over the years, including Antoine Dodson, David Devore Jr. — the dazed post-dental appointment boy, Judson…
Google have updated their News quality guidelines

Pavan Rai

28 Mar 2013 | 8:47 am

The Google posted a News guideline in our blog. Google have updated their news quality guidelines. They told to all News publishers sites they follow google guidelines that if you violate their guidelines they can deindex your whole site from Google News. Google told Google News is not a affiliate, promotional, advertorial and marketing driven service. Google said “Google News is not a marketing service, and we consider articles that employ these types of promotional tactics to be in violation of our quality guidelines.” If you do that, block the articles from being indexed or…
BBC News a Bit Penalty from Google

Pavan Rai

18 Mar 2013 | 6:47 am

BBC news is world top News organization that receives an unnatural link warning from Google that very bad for any online website. BBC is a trusted Brand if there link quality is very bad so that is very big problem for BBC. BBC received unnatural links notification from Google through Webmasters. Google’s John Mueller said: “Looking into the details here, what happened was that we found unnatural links to an individual article, and took a granular action based on that. This is not negatively affecting the rest of your website on a whole.” Google penalize one page not whole…

Web Magazin
5 Profitable No SEO Needed Adsense Techniques

angelina

20 May 2013 | 12:39 am

We talk a lot about getting natural search traffic, doing SEO and also about PPC like adwords. But there are other easy ways to get traffic for your adsense sites. I have listed the top...
Brainy E-mail Tips to Ensure Effective Online Marketing for Your Business

angelina

17 May 2013 | 2:58 am

E-mail marketing is one of the primary branches of Internet marketing, and that its success truly depends on the probability of opening the e-mail by the recipients. There is no point in sending e-mails if...
Importance of the Use of Accounting Software Objectives

angelina

16 May 2013 | 5:40 am

In a society like that exists today is important for companies using technology and software accounting among other things help to know the necessary information in a more rapid decision making with a company to...
Bidding Farewell to Duplicate Content for Escaping Google Update Smash

angelina

14 May 2013 | 11:57 pm

Having duplicate content is the top reason why Google hates your site. This is because Google never come to know which page version is supposed to be rank. Bothering Google in this way can smash...
Cloud Computing Never Tasted So Good

Eldin

30 Apr 2013 | 1:06 pm

As business owners, the last item on your To-Do lists is to find a personal patch of grass and stare up at the clouds. There is staff to manage, deadlines to meet, clients to recruit,...

Ethical SEO Consulting
3 Simple and Easy Local SEO Tips

Frank Scharnell

20 May 2013 | 9:24 am

Since I’ve been spending time honing my local SEO game recently, I wanted to share a few actionable tips and tools you can use to help your local optimization efforts go faster and further. As some of you may know there are many factors to ranking locally. I’m going to focus these tips towards some [...]
Did Google’s EMD Update Really Work? A Rant

Casey Meraz

8 May 2013 | 11:02 am

In September 2012, Google launched an Exact Match Domain filter. According to Search Engine Land, the reason was to “prevent poor quality sites from ranking well simply because they had words that match search terms in their domain names.” Before this update, many websites could easily rank for a keyword by purchasing a domain with [...]
“Why Does SEO Matter?” & Other Common Questions Answered

Jon

29 Apr 2013 | 11:07 am

I was on Google the other day and I entered the words “Why does SEO” and the four most common searches that start with those words auto-filled in the drop-down. When I saw this I decided that maybe I need to take a little time to help people better answer these 4 questions that Google [...]
Local SEO Case Study Coming Soon

Casey Meraz

12 Apr 2013 | 10:50 am

As a Local SEO fanatic it’s easy for me to breathe local SEO. Everyday I follow some of the major local blogs, forums, and news so that I can always be up to date on what’s changed. Although there are a lot of bits and pieces out there on the internet about how to optimize [...]
How to Create a Customized Short URL with Bit.ly

Jon

2 Apr 2013 | 7:30 am

If you’re anything like me then you don’t like to click on generic short links that you find strewn across social media feeds. As I was thinking about why I don’t like to click on these type of links I realized it’s because just by looking at the link without any description I have no [...]

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The Top-Secret Of A Successful Business: Excellent Web Design Company

Robe

24 May 2013 | 12:01 am

Digital Organics - SEO & Digital Marketing The Top-Secret Of A Successful Business: Excellent Web Design CompanyOwning and running a business is no easy job especially if you are really keen on reaching the top to compensate for all your efforts and investments. To do this, it requires you to have the best and excellent knowledge in terms of producing and manufacturing your own products and how to introduce this to…The Top-Secret Of A Successful Business: Excellent Web Design Company is a post from: - Grow You Business Online with Digital MarketingThe Top-Secret Of A Successful…
Why Fall In-love With WordPress

Robe

21 May 2013 | 9:05 pm

Digital Organics - SEO & Digital Marketing Why Fall In-love With WordPressWordpress is currently the most popular blogging system and as time went by it became the most powerful content management system or CMS. It has grown through time; it was just used before as blog platform but now it can also be used for website applications. It features a lot of unique functionalities like plugins…Why Fall In-love With WordPress is a post from: - Grow You Business Online with Digital MarketingWhy Fall In-love With WordPress was first posted on May 22, 2013 at 2:05 pm.©2013 "". Use of this feed…
Optimizing Your Mobile Website, Maximising Traffic In Easy Steps

Digital Organics

8 May 2013 | 9:17 pm

Digital Organics - SEO & Digital Marketing Optimizing Your Mobile Website, Maximising Traffic In Easy StepsIf you optimize your mobile website, you will really get the best benefits. Your site may rank higher in search results which will mean increase traffic and of course click-through. Mobile internet users will likely to be in your website when they do a search. This way, they can ultimately increase your profit or even…Optimizing Your Mobile Website, Maximising Traffic In Easy Steps is a post from: - Grow You Business Online with Digital MarketingOptimizing Your Mobile Website,…
Some Easy Tips for Effective Local Business Web Design

Digital Organics

7 May 2013 | 7:42 am

Digital Organics - SEO & Digital Marketing Some Easy Tips for Effective Local Business Web DesignYou may own a local business, but you do not really know about local business website design. You probably know what you like and don’t like though. Have you ever experienced visiting a website that made you shrink and you immediately clicked the close button vowing not to return again? It is very essential to…Some Easy Tips for Effective Local Business Web Design is a post from: - Grow You Business Online with Digital MarketingSome Easy Tips for Effective Local Business Web Design was…
Knowing What Google Wants

Digital Organics

10 Apr 2013 | 7:42 am

Digital Organics - SEO & Digital Marketing Knowing What Google WantsWinning SEO Pointers To Remember It’s the question a lot of people ask, what does really Google want? Actually, this is a question no one really knows the answer. You have to think that Google is considering around 200 different things with its algorithm and no one has ever figured that out. If it was…Knowing What Google Wants is a post from: - Grow You Business Online with Digital MarketingKnowing What Google Wants was first posted on April 11, 2013 at 12:42 am.©2013 "". Use of this feed is for personal…

Small Business Growth Strategies
10 Killer Content Resources For Writers and Creative Writing You Must Get

jon rognerud

23 May 2013 | 8:11 pm

As an author, it’s always a challenge to create new, innovative ideas and angles to stories, articles, books and generally speaking… great materials for public consumption (I realize many write for themselves too.) Btw, I’m talking about creating quality content and differentiation that inspires you, your audience and non-humans (like search engines). Everybody and everything keeps coming back to your websites when the magic of “quality content” happens. It’s called “stickability”. It’s what we all want. And, it builds trust and…
What Are The Best Twitter Productivity Tools? (Save Time With Social Media)

jon rognerud

16 May 2013 | 3:04 pm

This short video explains how you can get more productivity using Twitter. Actually…by NOT using Twitter, but the power tools that you can download and install for free in your browser. We are talking about Hootsuite, Tweetdeck and BufferApp. Have you tried them? You may start with the native Twitter.com interface, but after you get comfortable with it – there’s no reason for you to use that anymore. Consider using smarter tools to support your social media and Twitter work. And, you can use them on the road with portable devices too. As always, tools are only part of the…
SEO Website Redesign Issues – Chamber Of Commerce Website (What To Avoid)

jon rognerud

25 Apr 2013 | 10:42 am

In this 5 minute video, I’ll show you some examples of practices that you should avoid when designing for users and search engines. They are both important to “get right”. In this case, I looked at the the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce (great organization, by the way). The web designers did what they do best: created nice graphics and interesting layouts with no consideration for search engines and the overall experience from the searchable click … to the resulting page. While not all visitors will go through search, Google looks at overall ‘health’…
The Poor Man’s Analytics Tracking Tool For Social Media

jon rognerud

24 Apr 2013 | 10:27 am

The saying goes: “what gets measured, gets done” (reference). That means in effect – you can make an impact on your business activity and results by adjusting to what is working. On the flip-side don’t spend time or energy on the things that don’t. But, how do you know what to focus on from you existing work, content posts and user engagement? This short 2 minute video shows you a way to create actionable intelligence from that work. When it comes to tracking your content and URL/web addresses online, there are many tools available. One of these tools is…
Why Do Small Businesses Fail? (Small Business Failure Rate Statistics Infographic)

jon rognerud

15 Apr 2013 | 2:21 pm

You’ve heard it before: Half of all small businesses are doomed to fail before their first year is out. You’d think this statistic would put people off of opening small companies – especially high risk ones like restaurants and retail stores – but this doesn’t seem to be the case. When it comes to functionality, the general statistics are equally dire. Statistics only get more discouraging as time goes on: 95 percent of small businesses are doomed to fail within five years. (Complete infographic below…) Of all the small businesses out there, we see: only 40 percent…

Local Search Marketing and Google+ Local SEO
How to Understand If a Listing is Claimed or Not (Part 1)

Nyagoslav Zhekov

22 May 2013 | 5:34 am

In my daily citation building work I encounter a lot of different cases. Sometimes, the business I work with has absolutely no online presence other than a 1-page website. In other cases, the business is found literally everywhere – from Google and Yahoo, through Facebook and Twitter, to smallestrandombusinessdirectory.net. Most of the cases are, of course, somewhere in the middle. In some of them (rather rarely) the client kept neat record of where they enlisted their business and what usernames and passwords they used. In the majority though, clients have set up tens of accounts by…
Google Places Email Support in Other Languages

Nyagoslav Zhekov

15 May 2013 | 10:46 pm

As previously noted by Mike Blumenthal, Google effectively closed their Places support forums in all languages other than English. Obviously this situation is not perfect for users around the world, so since yesterday Google started offering email support for Places/+Local issues for users in the following languages: Spanish German Portuguese Dutch Russian French Italian Polish Japanese And apparently the ones in Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) are still under construction. I haven’t tested those myself yet, so I currently have no information on how much the response time is.
Why I Am So Inactive Recently

Nyagoslav Zhekov

13 May 2013 | 1:21 am

Probably most of the regular readers of my blog have noticed that I am unusually inactive recently. With only 1 post since 27 February, this is by far the worst period for me in terms of writing productivity. The reasons for this are complex, but I want to stress on one in particular that is so significant that it is practically affecting my entire business – the Internet. My wife and me moved to a new condo about 6 months ago. Although I have office space that I rent monthly, I go there very occasionally for meetings and training with my team, and there isn’t even constant…
How Google’s Local Search Results Will Look in Europe

Nyagoslav Zhekov

26 Apr 2013 | 4:09 am

Google has been the subject of antitrust investigations in Europe for some time now. The reason has been allegations from competitors about some anti-competitive practices of Google, especially related to vertical search. While a similar case has been settled in Google’s favor by the FTC in the US, the European Commission, claiming that Google’s market share in Europe is much more significant, has “pushed” the company to change their search results for some specialized verticals. The verticals included are Google Shopping, Google Places, Google Hotel Finder, Google…
Citation Building Guide – Why You Should Get It

Nyagoslav Zhekov

27 Feb 2013 | 5:42 am

Since I wrote my first (and only, up to now) e-book (Citation Building Guide) about 3 months ago I’ve been having a lot of requests for additions and I’ve been receiving questions related to topics that for one reason or another are not covered in the current version of the e-book. That is why I decided to prepare a “second edition” of a sort. This second edition is scheduled to be issued on 18 March. What will change and what will be added Besides some changes to the structure of the content, there will be the following additions and updates: 1. Information about…

SEO Training
Google Penguin 2.0 goes live

Ian Wortley

23 May 2013 | 9:20 am

The first major update to the Google search algorithm in over a year has just gone live (In the middle of last night for those of us in Ireland and the UK. Labelled Penguin 2.0 by Google, it is the fourth update to the original Penguin update back in April of 2012. Google say that it will affect 2.3% of websites (English – U.S). That may seem like a small number, but it’s really not. Here is Matt Cutts of Google talking about what could be expected a few weeks before the release of Penguin 2.0. What’s new in Penguin 2.0? Essentially it’s really more of the…
Google Disavow Links Tool

Ian Wortley

18 Oct 2012 | 7:53 am

The tool that many webmasters have been waiting for is finally here. The Disavow links tool lets you tell Google that you don’t want specific links or even entire sites to count as part of their assessment of your link profile. This allows for recovery from unnatural links warnings as well as negative SEO attacks. In this video Matt Cutts explains the intended use of the tool. Watch it and then continue reading for more in-depth analysis of what the new tool means for SEO from this point on. Who should use the Disavow Links Tool? As Matt mentioned in his video, the tool is mainly aimed…
Google Penguin From Birth to 1.1

Ian Wortley

29 May 2012 | 6:43 pm

Google Penguin Update. Google say it targets webspam. A lot of SEO's aren't so sure about that. Apologies to Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz for using his face to represent SEO - it's a compliment Rand - honest. On the 24th April a lot of websites got hit by Googles latest action against Webspam. The then unnamed Penguin update had rolled out across the globe. Matt Cutts, head of Googles Webspam team had warned of the upcoming update weeks before in San Francisco. At this stage it was being referred to as an “Over – Optimisation Penalty” since it had no actual name.
The Dangers of Outsourcing Your SEO

Ian Wortley

9 Mar 2012 | 8:43 am

Backlink Fail of the Year! The backlink fail of the year award goes to EDIT: I have since been in contact with the company in question. It seems they were unaware how SEO work was being conducted on their behalf by a “reputable Irish company” . Accordingly, I have removed their name from this post. I would have no problem naming and shaming if I was convinced it was willful, but on this occasion it appears the blunder was foisted upon them rather than directly created by them. Business’s make mistakes, just like all of us. Something tells me they should have read…
SEO vs User Experience

Ian Wortley

21 Oct 2011 | 5:45 am

It can seem like an impossible choice. SEO or Usability. Where is the compromise? SEO is vital to the success of any website. After all, if you can’t get found, then you can’t give your message. However, once you have been found, it would be nice if people actually stayed on your site and read some of your content instead of clicking off somewhere else within seconds. Content writing skills are extremely important. Why are SEO and User Experience often opposites? It all comes down to how the human mind works and how algorithms work. Take pictures for example. Google…

Boomtown Internet Group
Using Bootstrap and Frameworks for More Efficient Web Design

Jim McCrossin

10 May 2013 | 7:14 am

If you haven’t already done so, you’ll want to check out Twitter Bootstrap. Bootstrap is the latest improvement on website development and design. It’s an open source framework developed by the guys who brought us Twitter with a handful of instruments in its toolbox for fast and easy web creation. Bootstrap is great for programmers or non-programmers, novices or experts who want to put a website together quickly and easily. It’s as simple as selecting the chunk of code you want and plugging it into the website you’re building. It’s great for those who aren’t code-savvy and…
How to Pitch Content Marketing to a Client, Company (or Yourself) Part 1

Andrew Lazaunikas

30 Apr 2013 | 5:00 am

While talking to a prospective client last week, I was asked a question: “How do I get my business to care about content marketing?” My answer was that in any type of business, those who are overseeing a project or undertaking have to be quasi-pitch men to be successful. If you see something as valuable, you have to pound the table for it. But how do you do that for pitching content marketing? Well the first thing that needs to be accomplished is to pitch it correctly. Remember to never pitch the product itself, you have to pitch the idea behind it. It’s basically the plot of Inception,…
Live Webinar: Bootstrap and Frameworks For Quicker Project Start Times

Matt Ross

18 Apr 2013 | 1:34 pm

Click below to see our pre-recorded webinar on using Twitter Bootstrap and other development frameworks to cut time off your projects and hit the ground running. Using web development frameworks, whether on the client or server side can pay dividends in getting a project off the ground. In the video, we give a brief overview of some of the key options and benefits of doing so and try to answer a couple questions on the topic. We obviously couldn’t cover every fine detail in the video, so please, feel free to keep the conversation going and leave us a comment where we may be able…
Google Algorithm News – Something May Have Been Rolled Out…But What?

Andrew Lazaunikas

12 Apr 2013 | 9:37 am

Each year, April Fools’ is a big day for the internet. Fake news stories pop up, some sites turn their homepages upside, and everyone gets sick of it within 20 minutes. However it seems that Google had their own gag on the first of April; rolling out a new below-the-radar shift to their search results. What’s the punchline? No one can put their finger on what exactly was rolled-out. Was this Google Algorithm shift a Penguin update? How about Author Rank? Oh! Oh! Is this one of those big brand focused changes we keep hearing about? Honestly, this one is a big game of search engine…
A Brand Monitoring Tool Better Than Google Alerts: Mention

Caitlin Connors

8 Apr 2013 | 8:27 am

They’re saying it’s Google Alerts on steroids. French startup Mention claims to be the next great thing in social media marketing and brand monitoring (and with half a million users already, its looking to fulfill that prophecy). And Google Alerts, a service that has not been updated or touched by Google since 2003) right now does not have the best PR given it has recently announced Google Reader is no more and various press have reported that Google Alerts is broken. The future of Google Alerts is Mention, a service that can get as much data on your brand as Google Alerts can, but can…

Pole Position Marketing's E-Marketing Performance Blog
Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 24

Max Speed

24 May 2013 | 8:32 am

The Pole Position Marketing crew facilitated a blogging seminar yesterday for IABC in Cleveland. I picked up a few important things from the crew. Even though Deb has an affinity for Coach purses, she has just as much of an affinity for Klingons. Stoney has been known to spend hours looking at Star Trek... Now Read This: Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 3 Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 10 Final Lap: Top Reads for Week Ending March 1
Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 17

Kathy Gray

17 May 2013 | 2:30 am

Ah, YouTube. You never know what you’re going to find! This week I discovered a little treasure from the 60′s featuring my boy Leonard, the original Spock. Everyone is aware of Captain Kirk’s vocal abilities, but Spock released a few albums as well. Take a break and watch Leonard sing the Ballad of Bilbo Baggins... Now Read This: Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 10 Final Lap: Top Reads for Week Ending March 1 Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 3
Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 10

Max Speed

10 May 2013 | 5:57 am

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted on the EMP blog. I’ve been busy catching up on episodes of Shark Tank and counting down to the release of Star Trek Into the Darkness. If you don’t remember who I am, I’m Max Speed, the guy on the Pole Position Marketing team who says things other team... Now Read This: Final Lap: Top Reads for Week Ending March 1 Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 3 Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending January 18
Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending May 3

Kathy Gray

3 May 2013 | 7:09 am

Here in Ohio, we’ve had a nice week of sunny weather in the mid-70′s, and it’s amazing how a week of sunshine makes you feel! It’s made us feel so good, that part of the crew has made a resolution to start working off that winter weight with an afternoon plank break. I’m realizing just... Now Read This: Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending March 15 Final Lap: Good Reads for the Week Ending April 26 Final Lap: Top Reads for Week Ending Feb. 1
Get a Sense of How Your PPC Ad Compares to Your Competitor’s

Mike Fleming

1 May 2013 | 5:26 am

You’ve written what you perceive to be a good ad (or let’s hope you wouldn’t have written it). But, what you perceive doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter to the search engine (Google in this example), and it doesn’t matter to the searchers. What matters is what the searchers think of your ad compared to the... Now Read This: Can You Make Sense Of Match Types? Making Sense of Keyword Matching Why You Should Never Duplicate Your Competitor's SEO Strategies

Wikimotive Blog
Wikimotive’s New Facebook Page!

Daniel Hinds

25 May 2013 | 1:00 am

The post Wikimotive’s New Facebook Page! appeared first on Wikimotive Blog.
Google Penguin 2.0 Early Losers

Timothy Martell

24 May 2013 | 2:00 am

The post Google Penguin 2.0 Early Losers appeared first on Wikimotive Blog.
Google Penguin 2.0 Officially Hits

Timothy Martell

23 May 2013 | 2:00 am

The post Google Penguin 2.0 Officially Hits appeared first on Wikimotive Blog.
Social Media Marketing Losing its Way (Infographic)

Daniel Hinds

22 May 2013 | 2:00 am

The post Social Media Marketing Losing its Way (Infographic) appeared first on Wikimotive Blog.
YouTube Turns 8

Zach Billings

21 May 2013 | 2:00 am

The post YouTube Turns 8 appeared first on Wikimotive Blog.

Seo Sandwitch Blog
Penguin 2.0 Recovery Guide- Get Back the Lost Rankings and Traffic!

Joydeep Bhattacharya

25 May 2013 | 9:12 am

Google launched the Penguin update 2.0 on May 22nd, 2013. Many webmasters who have followed a spammy link building strategy building links from low quality article directories, free blog hosting sites, low quality directories have been penalized by this update. Other factors which Penguin considered includes- similar anchor text backlinks, less brand related anchor text and less authority backlinks. If your website has been penalized by Google in this recent Penguin 2.0, then here is a quick guide to Google Penguin 2.0 recovery.How to Recover Your Website from Penguin 2.0…
Penguin 2.0 Update Rolls Out Affecting 2.3% English-US Queries

Joydeep Bhattacharya

23 May 2013 | 9:54 am

Google rolled out the new generation comprehensive Penguin 2.0 (version 4) update on May 22nd, 2013 affecting 2.3 English US queries. This was announced by Google Web Spam engineer, Matt Cutts in his blog.Here are some previous posts related to Penguin update on Seosandwitch -Penguin into work again! (Image credit:- midphase)Are you ready for the next generation Penguin 2.0?Google Webspam Team is Working on Penguin 2.0Brief Outlines of Penguin 2.0Sites selling links are affected negatively.Sites lacking natural backlinks are affected.Too many results from the same domain have…
New Google Ranking Factors for 2013 - Star Ratings, Plus Ones, Authorship, Citation Flow, Social Signals etc.

Joydeep Bhattacharya

19 May 2013 | 10:26 am

Google has moved to a more human based ranking approach rather than being a machine based system. This human based approach of ranking web pages although depends upon machines but uses sophisticated algorithms that are geared towards measuring the popularity and relevance of a web page based on factors that are more or less related to a way as to how humans would judge them. Among the top priority Google ranking factors for 2013, the major ones are star ratings, user reviews, plus ones, citation flow (that involves highly cited referrals from already cited sources), social signals, overall…
Common SEO Mistakes Most Bloggers Make

Joydeep Bhattacharya

18 May 2013 | 11:03 am

With the increasing platforms available for social blogging, people can't resist the temptation for owning and maintaining their own personal blog. But, unknowingly most of the bloggers make the most common seo mistakes that ruins their effort of ranking well on the search engines. Every web log owner must understand the seo process and implement the seo algorithm in the blogs in the righteous of the manner. With the cut throat competition emerging in the blogging arena, a single seo mistake is capable of bringing doom for the blogger. Thus it becomes essential to keep a tab on the changes…
Are You Ready for the New Generation Penguin 2.0?

Joydeep Bhattacharya

17 May 2013 | 9:12 am

Penguin 2.0 is coming! Webmasters who have used spammy link building strategies or used link building software should get beware and clean up their link profiles as soon as possible. A cleaner and natural link profile would help to keep your site in good terms with Google.Penguin 2.0- Discussions Have Started to Happen!Here are a few quick updates on what discussions are going around in the web marketing community -Penguin 2.0 - How Guest Blogging will be affected?Google Penguin to go War with SENuke Style Link BuildingWhat to Expect from Google's Next Search Update?Google Penguin Update Gets…

Above the Fold & Socially Acceptable
Correctly Track Your Mobile SEO Traffic

Kyle Misencik

23 May 2013 | 9:05 am

In October of 2012 many sites including Search Engine Land uncovered that not only was Google hiding keyword data within the dreaded “(not provided)” keyword set, but Google was totally missing the boat on recording organic traffic from Safari iOS users as well. The reason behind this shift was the fact that the default browser for the iPhone is Safari. Google searches being done on the mobile Safari browser started generating secure search result. Not only were these searches secure, but they weren’t passing any referrer data at all. One of our clients, the Cleveland Clinic,…
Getting Mobile SEO Right: SMX Advanced 2013 Preview

Erik Dafforn

22 May 2013 | 8:59 am

If you’re going to SMX Advanced in Seattle next month (June 11-12), you’re in for a treat. And even if you’re not going (it’s sold out!), there are plenty of ways to see recaps and summaries of the panels you’ll miss. I’m speaking on the “Getting Mobile SEO Right” panel, and the speakers are an impressive lot. While we’ve not yet compared formal notes on our specific presentations, here’s a general overview of what you can expect from the panelists: Michael Martin of Covario. Michael has a firm grasp of the numbers behind the numbers…
Is Employee Development a Priority for Your Company?

Crystal Schauf

15 May 2013 | 8:49 am

In an industry such as ours (online marketing, in case you’re new around here), the rules are constantly changing and it is vital that we stay on top of these changes. As the industry evolves, so too will your workforce. That is where Employee Development comes in. A lot of people seem to think that Employee Development means “getting this guy ready to steal my job one day.” Not true. What it means to me is enhancing your employee’s work experience so that he feels valued and appreciated, and is given opportunities for growth. Some companies undervalue the importance of an…
A Solid Link Building Plan from Start to finish in 2013 Part IV – Researching Your Competition

Bobby Pham

3 May 2013 | 12:19 pm

Keyword Research, check, on-page optimization, check, link building fundamentals, check. Now it’s time to research our competition. We’re looking to find what we can gain and learn from our competitors. Are there things that they’re doing that we need to be doing? And are there things that they’re doing that we want to avoid doing? These are the concepts to consider as you research your competition. Of course, you must first establish who you’re up against. Identifying the Competition If you’re in the SEO agency business, it is a common tendency to simply ask a new…
Facebook Engagement is Killing Your Strategy

Annalise Kaylor

23 Apr 2013 | 8:43 am

I loathe the word “engagement” as it is used in the social media world. As I said at both SMX and PubCon earlier this year, “engagement is the new ‘synergy’.” It’s obnoxious. It’s a buzzword. It’s annoying to hear. It’s even more annoying to say. The other thing about engagement? It’s likely affecting your social media strategy and you don’t even know it. The last two times I’ve been a part of the SMX conferences, I’ve spoken about this very thing and the response has been incredible. The point I am…

Eyeflow Internet Marketing
How to Start Diagnosing Penguin 2.0

Chris Hornak

24 May 2013 | 11:37 am

Matt Cutts of Google announced on his blog that they rolled out Penguin 2.0 and about a week before that he talked about what to expect. Since then there has been a lot of chatter in the SEO community. Some SEOs are just happy that they didn’t get wiped out and others are disappointed that they are still seeing spammy websites at the top of Google’s search results for some competitive phrases. Many of you will be curious about what has really changed, we’ve put together a list of resources to help you diagnose what has changed. Check SERP Analysis Tools These tools…
How SEO Recently Changed and What You Should Know

Chris Hornak

21 May 2013 | 7:13 am

If you’re looking to hire an SEO company, whether it’s for the first time or second, you should take some time to get to know what’s going on in the SEO industry. An industry that is in constant evolution… Google has been quoted saying they make approximately 1 update per day if not more to their search algorithm. This post was developed to give you the information you need to choose your next SEO agency. How Was SEO Traditionally Done? Up until 2011/2012 the majority of SEO strategies were focused on creating keyword-focused content for your website and generating as many links…
How to Get a Job as a Social Media Marketer

Phil Laboon

20 May 2013 | 11:12 am

With the social media and search engine optimization industries booming, businesses are continuing to explore and further develop social media marketing strategies. Sometimes, businesses have their own in-house social media team, however, other companies choose to hire out and consult a professional social media marketing company, such as Eyeflow. To get work in the social media industry, an individual can take a few measures: Stay informed-this is simple. Social Media and SEO are constantly evolving fields, so staying up to date on your knowledge is important and will be taken seriously…
5 Tips for Enhancing Email Etiquette

Abby Keil

14 May 2013 | 9:33 am

With more and more communication taking place on the internet and via digital devices it important to remember that there are certain standards of etiquette for emails. Just as in writing a handwritten letter, there are various ways to word your correspondence in order for it to come across with the right message. 1. Start your email with a greeting. Setting the tone of your email with a polite and courteous greeting helps you get off on the right foot. Whether you are emailing a new client or an old friend, the use of greeting is a good idea. 2. You can be informal without being sloppy. An…
SWOT Analysis of Pinterest

Phil Laboon

9 May 2013 | 7:25 am

Pinterest is becoming the next big thing in the social media world. It is constantly being hyped up as a wonderful platform for both personal and business use. But nothing is perfect, right? This month, Eyeflow is looking at a closer look of the site and determining it’s SWOT factors: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Strengths: Reaches a wide range of users Boards can be made to suit everyone’s likes and needs. For this reason, the site appeals to folks with a wide variety of interests. Pictures are eye-catching. Innovative environment: Pinterest offers its users unique…

Vizion Interactive
Latest on Webspam Combat from Google

Dario Ruff, Sr

22 May 2013 | 12:56 pm

Google is at it again – threatening and punishing sites or networks that sale or distribute paid links. It’s the same ole song over and over again from Matt Cutts and Google’s Webspam team. Google, via Matt Cutts, has issued numerous warnings about an upcoming crackdown on sites and networks that sale links and attempt to pass page rank, but it seems like their starting to bite instead of just barking. On Monday, May 13th Cutts released a video titled “What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO for Google?” In this video Cutts touched on 10 key areas,…
2013 Atlanta Digital Summit Rocked!

Josh McCoy

15 May 2013 | 10:05 pm

It has been an absolutely great time here in Atlanta at the Digital Summit. Vizion stayed busy sponsoring a booth and speaking with several attendees. This year’s content was great as well. From SEO to video marketing and email marketing to social media strategy, attendees looked like they were having a great time, as were we! Below are some takeaways observed when we had a chance to step into some of the great sessions at Atlanta Digital Summit: Keynote: How to Not Suck at MarketingAlexis OhanianCo-Founder, Reddit -Your worst enemy online is the “Back” button. if you…
A Content Creator’s Guide to Effective Time Management

Joshua Titsworth

9 May 2013 | 7:51 am

Time is something that can slip away from you pretty quickly. It doesn’t matter if you’re building links, writing content or auditing a site. When you’ve got “x” amount of time allotted for a project and you get focused on it, it’s easy to go over. Or if you keep checking the clock to make sure you’re not going over, the work itself can be compromised. So how do you stay on top of a massive to-do list while pumping out quality work for your clients? Make a schedule and stick to it: This seems like a no-brainer (and should be) for many; but once you’ve made a schedule it…
Top 10 Stats on the Current State of Social Media Marketing

Natalie Revell

1 May 2013 | 8:08 am

As inbound marketers, we’ve all scratched our heads at times wondering just how effective social media marketing is. We understand that it’s about priceless brand exposure. We can never get enough of that. We also understand about how invaluable it is to have an engaged community and increased footage as a trusted resource in our niche industries. But sometimes relating our social media efforts to exact bottom line dollars can make us scratch our heads. We know social media is pull marketing, soft sales and assisted conversions (not direct conversions). But it’d be nice to…
PPC To Strengthen and Support Social Media

Natalie Revell

24 Apr 2013 | 7:19 am

Pay-per-click (PPC) and social media are very diverse digital marketing approaches. While pay-per-click (PPC) is based on immediate calls-to-action via push marketing, social media is based on brand awareness via pull marketing. Use this to your advantage. Utilize paid search data and metrics to strengthen and support social media marketing efforts. In this sense, they really do work hand-in-hand. First, remember to stick to the 80/20 rule when creating content for social media channels. This content should be 80% thought leadership, tips, industry news, resource shares, etc., while…

BuzzStream
How to Approach Blogger Outreach in a New Market

Guest Author

23 May 2013 | 4:53 am

Todays’s post come from one of our favorite customers, Lexi Mills. Lexi has six years experience in online marketing and communications and spent 2 and a half years at an International SEO Agency becoming an SEO PR specialist. She now heads up digital for Dynamo PR. She has designed and implemented PR, SEO link building, and social campaigns in the UK and USA for B2B and B2C clients. Her client experience covers everything from the music industry to debt, insurance, travel, tech, and luxury goods for both small start-ups and big brands. Outreach is a tricky game, if you promote…
How to Combine Industry Events with Videos for Link Building Results

Guest Author

14 May 2013 | 5:28 am

Today’s guest post comes from BuzzStream customer Tristan Pelligrino. Tristan is the co-owner of 522 Productions and Marketing Director for 522 Digital. He enjoys writing about the intersection of video and the web and connecting with peers online. I’ve always enjoyed attending industry events. They’re an important part of growth on both a personal and organizational level. Even though it can be difﬁcult to squeeze in a 2-day conference, events unlock many opportunities. Major events provide access to industry leaders and peers while shedding light on trends related…
Outreach Now Available in the BuzzBar

mattgratt

7 May 2013 | 5:34 am

The BuzzBar keeps getting better. This week, we added Outreach capabilities to the BuzzBar. Now you can connect with bloggers and influencers, without ever leaving their site. Outreach in Action Enough of my carrying on – go open your BuzzStream account and see how much more effective the BuzzBar can make you. (If by some tragic oversight you do not yet have a BuzzStream account, you can sign up for one here.) Start by selecting some contacts, and opening them in the BuzzBar. Find a site you’d like to reach out to – maybe for a guest post, a product review, or perhaps to say thank…
Mining Current Events for Content Marketing Home Runs

dantynski

2 May 2013 | 4:55 am

Pitching content and doing blogger outreach isn’t rocket science. At its most basic level, securing placements for great content is all about understanding what publishers want. More often than not, writers, editors and bloggers are looking for content that is useful, fresh, timely, and will provide their readers with something nobody else can give them. As an agency specializing in viral content creation and promotion, we’ve written and spoken quite a bit about the emotional drivers that enhance virality and that increase the chances for content to be linked to. …
Create Content, Not Clutter, By Changing Your Marketing Habits

Guest Author

25 Apr 2013 | 5:00 am

Today’s post comes from Britt Klontz. Britt is a New Media brand journalist who believes that a successful marketing campaign is rooted in the interests and emotions of the target audience. She constantly strives to develop content ideas and campaign strategies that integrate collaboration from online influencers and truly serve a purpose to those who matter most, the audience that the campaign was created for. As the popularity of infographics grew and were created in an abundance, so did the number of pitches sent to the inboxes of influential bloggers everywhere. Companies…

SEO PAL » Blog
Using Social Networks For Marketing

SEO Pal

15 May 2013 | 11:42 pm

The primary reason some ad campaigns have been so successful is they were placed where consumers could see them. Social media is quickly becoming the most effective tool for reaching consumers where they spend their time. For example, Facebook users average 1400 minutes per month. This is about 46 minutes per day, which equates to about 5% of a person’s waking hours. With over 900 million users, a Facebook ad has the potential to reach one in eight people in the world. When compared to traditional venues such as television and radio ads, social marketing offers some unique advantages.
Best video blog wordpress themes

SEO Pal

2 May 2013 | 6:03 am

Video blogging is becoming increasingly popular and it is more and important to design your video blog properly. We took some time to make a list with the best video blog wordpress themes we found on one of the largest online marketplaces themeforest.com. Azione – WordPress Video Blogging Theme If you are looking for clean video blog wordpress themes, Azione might be a suitable choice. The theme comes in minimalistic design, suitable for almost any taste. Additionally, the Azione theme is fully customizable and comes with multiple page templates to choose from. See the Azione in…
5 Top Paid WordPress Themes

SEO Pal

30 Apr 2013 | 5:28 am

The paid WordPress themes can help you get access to a lot more functionalities and improve the visitor experience on your website, usually without any coding skills. Here are some of the top paid WordPress themes to choose from: The Professional WordPress Theme $40 The Professional WordPress theme is one of the top paid WordPress themes on Themeforest.com. It allows you to create responsive portfolio, change the layout as per your needs and requirements to wow everyone, who sees it. The theme was crafted with portfolio/blog sites in mind so you can showcase your work online in an…
How to select wordpress theme with video?

SEO Pal

29 Apr 2013 | 4:48 am

Almost every WordPress theme today supports videos. This makes choosing wordpress theme with video very hard and quite confusing for most webmasters. Here is what to look for when searching for wordpress theme with video : The theme should support custom video integration in its slider The theme should support custom post types working as videos The theme should support embedding code from popular video websites like YouTube and Vimeo These are just the basic guidelines for choosing wordpress theme with video, because this depends on the exact nature of your project. This is why, we decided…
Top 10 Advantages Of Contextual Link Building

SEO Pal

28 Apr 2013 | 4:17 am

What is contextual link building? Contextual link building is the process whereby you include a link to a relevant site within the body of the text you are writing. Google and other search engines note the presence of such links and use them to rank your site or page. Pages with contextual links will rank higher on Google than pages without such links. The keywords or words that you wish to link to other sites should be surrounded by text on either side. Most important is to link to sites that are relevant to yours, since Google places great value on relevancy. Types of contextual links: When…

SEO Hints
Adsense Preview Tool To Increase the Earning

siva kumar

27 Apr 2013 | 12:12 pm

Preview Tool from Adsense is an extremely useful and essential tool for all the ads publishers. It enables you to take a look what sort of advertisements will be displayed with corresponding site. Very often, owing to intense curiosity, many adsense clicks on their own ads and wish to know what is behind their ads. No! Stop it! You are now allowed to do so under Adsense TOS. You should use Adsense Preview Tool to learn more about your ads. Do not try to click your advertisements!! To install: - Click the link below and select Save Target As... Save the registry file (.reg) to your desktop.
Code To Disable Right Click in Blogger Blogs to Protect Source Code

siva kumar

21 Apr 2013 | 4:55 am

Disable mouse right click button function in blogger pertaining to secure you image or source file. You may have seen in some webpage whenever you click right button of mouse an alert message box show message “function disable” and right button click not show function (Option) like copy past etc… You can also Disable right click function within your blog or website you just need a little “javascript” which is below given. How to web page disable right click function (Option) in blogger’s Blog: Just follow below step for Disable mouse right click function (Option). 1)Sign in - in…
Utilize Google Plus Comment System in the Blogger Blog Websites

siva kumar

21 Apr 2013 | 3:21 am

Google have got improved countless things in the Blogger and a week ago they have updated the Edit Html therefore the bloggers can potentially customize their blogger template and yesterday they have updated the Blogger comment system with the Google plus comment box and the Google plus comment box have many amazing attributes! we can in addition share our comment in your Google plus profile and we can also set the privacy that who can see our comment in the Google plus profile. As we have discussed earlier it have many awesome characteristics like we are able to access the comments by top…
Google have Updated Blogger "Edit Html" Section to a Attractive Screen

siva kumar

16 Apr 2013 | 9:41 am

Blogger is an amazing place for the novice to learn blogging and Google have improved many things in the blogger before Google have change the whole interface of the blogger after which they have added the Search Preference, 404 page error and many more stuff they have added in the 2013. and also recently they have updated their Edit html. Earlier i was using notepad++ to customize my blogger template because the older Edit Html was quit boarding plus it was too hard to find the bugs in the template so i was making use of Notepad++, in Notepad++…
Increasing Twitter traffic by 200% [VIDEO]

siva kumar

26 Nov 2012 | 11:03 am

How to Get Traffic from Twitter: There are a lot of hep cats out there in the not online world, but they may be a bit quiet about discussing what they like with other folks. Luckily for us, you will discover huge flocks of rad birds online! Tweeting birds, actually. The type thatlove to tweet all day about how exactly many worm-selling websites they have ranking in the SERPs and enjoy retweeting the silly videos their bird friends sing about.It turns out that after a while, those bird friends might be pretty hard to get to join your flock! Please share your comments about the "Twitter…

Resonance Online
What’s new at Google? Lots!

Rebecca Caldwell

15 May 2013 | 7:55 pm

Google’s annual developer’s conference, Google I/O started yesterday with buzz that things were going to be shaken up a little around the web. While there was no news about Google Glass or Ingress, the new tools and interfaces that were presented at the 3 hour keynote speech were definitely welcome to most Google fans. What’s the gist? While statistics were thrown around about Android mobile apps and the Chrome project being huge players online today, the biggest changes were to it’s flagship social network, Google Plus. Around 40 new or improved features were announced that will…
Do Big Brands Need SEO?

Rebecca Caldwell

28 Feb 2013 | 7:15 pm

A lot of people ask me whether they need SEO for their website or online business. I say yes in 99% of cases, because no matter what your business, if you want visibility then it’s simple; you need to optimise your site, and then market it as much as you can. Even big businesses that are household names need SEO. For branding? Not always, but it does have it’s place. Take electronics and furniture giant, Harvey Norman. They do great deals for items, but they depend mostly on newspaper advertising and television. Google “LCD screen TV Perth” and what happens? They are on page 2, way…
How Has Search Changed Marketing?

Rebecca Caldwell

7 Feb 2013 | 6:24 pm

How marketing has changed. I don’t mean overnight but if you think about user and shopper behaviour, traditional marketing methods versus the internet have been in an all-out war for the last number of years. Some ‘traditional’ marketing ways have also been co-opted by ‘The Internet’, making distribution of your message cheaper, faster and more accurate. Newspaper When was the last time you bought one? And I mean to read, not to line your budgie cage or clean the BBQ. Even now that many newspapers are in full colour, it seems silly to some to buy a paper with ‘yesterday’s…
Malware and SEO: The Effect, Cure & Preventative Measures

Zach Kinsley

10 Jan 2013 | 4:25 am

The astonishing growth in the amount of malware around these days is a cause for concern to many Internet users and webmasters. Back in the old days the majority of viruses and worms were designed to annoy, to gain fame for the designer or to amuse but there are now some very serious reasons why people distribute this kind of malicious software. With so much malware around it is impossible to describe it all but we can say that the intention is almost always to get hold of sensitive information such as bank details or else to control the computer or the website which is infected and fill it…
Cut This Crap From Your Online Marketing Mix in 2013

Zach Kinsley

20 Dec 2012 | 6:07 am

It’s that time of year that we start thinking of New Year’s resolutions. You know, where we promise ourselves we’ll do much better in the next 12 months than in the previous. So, what better time to review and trim the fat from your online marketing strategy? (These are resolutions you’ll want to stick to!) Here’s 4 outdated and potentially dangerous online marketing tactics you should discontinue ASAP: Low Quality Link Building Many webmasters are still stuck in the ‘more is better’ link building mindset. This is reflected in: ANY kind of automated…

@northcuttSEO
How to Go Viral in 60 Minutes, 5 Steps

Carter Bowles

23 May 2013 | 11:51 am

Let’s not waste time, shall we? We went in depth over at KISSmetrics. Today we just want you to pump out something that could put you in front of hundreds of thousands of people within half an hour. And…go. 1. Pick Your Headline Viral content is: Surprising – So mix and match subjects that don’t go together Interesting – So ask intriguing questions Intense – So choose an emotional subject Positive – So don’t be a downer Awe Inspiring – So harness insights from other fields Actionable – So give the user something they can use You want to convey as much of that as possible…
How "Hybrid" is Inbound Marketing? Something Amiss from #SearchLove 2013

Corey Northcutt

21 May 2013 | 10:05 am

The SEO industry has a problem. Actually, it's easy to find fault with all kinds of facets of this industry, but here I'd like to heckle just one. It begins with one tweet that I saw today from SearchLove. It involves two people that I've actually been fortunate enough to see speak, and even recommend that our staff watch their videos of as a part of their orientation. If you're seeing long green bars, 2 issues: your server is slow or latency problem. Latency is on the user side. @willcritchlow #searchlove — Annie Cushing (@AnnieCushing) May 21, 2013 Repeat after me: latency is hardly a…
Creating Killer Content For Your Site

Katherine Stott

20 May 2013 | 12:05 pm

It’s not uncommon that you hear of people belittling copywriters, as though they serve no real purpose. Every educated person can write, so what’s the use in having copywriters? You’re just paying them to write, right? Yes, but they can write well for starters and they’re trained in picking up on common inconsistencies and errors, unlike the average non-professional writer. Many non-professional writers tend to go about writing their website content themselves, filling in the blank pages with spelling offenses and grammatical nightmares. While this is not ideal and certainly makes a…
Why You Should Start Paying Micro-Celebrities Today

Carter Bowles

16 May 2013 | 12:30 pm

Let me clarify something unambiguously before we move on. I am not asking you to pay micro-celebrities to say something dishonest, to let you guest post on their blog, or to put a link up. I am asking you to pay a micro-celebrity to write a guest post, or do whatever they do best, on your blog. I feel like I'm on repeat with this, but the message keeps failing to stick. Pay people who always get natural links, and you will get natural links. Would it earn you links and attention if Rand Fishkin wrote a post on your blog? Would you pay for that kind of attention? Yes? Then why aren't you…
Using Content Marketing to Beef Up Your Event

Katherine Stott

13 May 2013 | 12:57 pm

Events (provided they’re not insurance conventions) offer up the perfect subject matter for captivating content. Whether you’re an event planner or are looking to host an event for your company, bolstering the big day with a sound content marketing strategy can help you build necessary hype and keep it going long after the event is over. Creating the bond between offline events and online marketing properties opens you up to a world of possibility that is present well before the big day even arrives. Create Your Framework Before you even begin, create a solid base from which to work. If…

Maven Websites » SEO Blog
Non WWW to WWW

Jason Noel

10 May 2013 | 3:02 pm

What is the difference between having a website being linked to as www.MavenWebsites.com and MavenWebsites.com? The differences is that search engines can think that they are two different websites; which is a problem for multiple reasons including SEO. First and foremost for SEO purposes, you don’t want your link juice going to two different pages that ARE [...]
Virtuemart Custom Field Price Doubles Original Price

Jason Noel

8 May 2013 | 8:10 am

My Issue: On my Landscape Photography website that I’m building, I’m trying to sell fine art prints through Virtuemart where I have Custom Fields setup for each print size (Example: 8×10 – $85, 11×16- $120 etc). However, I have to have a base price setup in the product information tab in order to have the [...]
301 Redirect Htaccess

Jason Noel

22 Apr 2013 | 1:25 pm

Real quick, what is the purpose of a 301 redirect .htaccess? The purpose is to let search engines know that a particular page has purmenantly moved to another location. This is pretty common when you update your website or webpage and you need to transfer all previous links to it’s new location. 301 htaccess Redirect [...]
Guest Posting Guidelines

Jason Noel

9 Apr 2013 | 12:11 pm

Maven Websites Guest Posting Guidelines: Maven Websites is a locally owned Fort Collins Web Design and SEO Company and as such, we are looking for exceptional authors who would like to add their creative thoughts to our blog within the topics listed below. So, with that said, don’t even think about submitting a blog outside [...]
Buzz Bundle Review

Jason Noel

4 Apr 2013 | 1:51 pm

Link Assist’s Buzz Bundle Review Are you in the market for a Social Media Management software? Being the owner of a local Fort Collins SEO company, I have been looking for a SMM tool could handle all aspect of SMM under one interface. Sure there were phone apps that claim to do so, but I couldn’t find [...]

Silverbean
The Top 5 Pay Per Click Tools

silverbean

21 May 2013 | 3:19 am

If you’re in the business of researching, manipulating and exhausting lists of words within an inch of their life then you’ll know the value of having a useful tool to do the lion’s share of the work for you. Gone are the days of notepads, spread-sheets and repetitive strain injuries as now there are pay per click tools out there that will bend over backwards whilst enabling you to put your feet up on your desk and fiddle with your iPad until your heart’s content – well, sort of. Ok, well the day that PPC tools do the whole job of keyword research for us aren’t totally here yet,…
The 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report – Key Stats

katyfrazer

14 May 2013 | 2:58 am

As an inbound marketer and a Hubspot user, I spend a lot of time absorbing the content that Hubspot produce, however in April, they released their 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report which I personally to consider to be the most anticipated piece of research of the year. Now the report examines the findings from over 3300 interviews that they carried out with a wide range of marketing professionals from 128 different countries around the globe, only 9% of which are actually Hubspot customers. The main conclusion: inbound marketing is here, and it’s here to stay. If you aren’t doing it,…
How Asda Uses Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

katyfrazer

13 May 2013 | 7:48 am

Asda is one of the largest companies in the UK and so it makes sense that they have a high social media presence on the most popular social networking sites. Facebook Asda has over 850,000 likes on its Facebook page and posts an update at least once every day, although some days there can be many more and there are even posts on weekends with relevant topics to get their audience into discussion. Almost every update contains an image. This could be because they have been gearing up for the new Facebook update, but it also makes their share-able content more interesting. Updates vary from…
Three Great Examples of Companies Using LinkedIn for Business

katyfrazer

2 May 2013 | 2:25 am

You may think that LinkedIn is only for wannabe job seekers who are keen to promote their CV and make contact with the movers and shakers of their particular industry and, to be fair, you’d be right. However, there are also plenty of companies out there who are using the social networking site for their own devices too and here are a couple of reasons why: LinkedIn is the biggest professional site for networking on the planet and has a global user list of over 150 million. Members of LinkedIn are going to be (in theory) more affluent and they’ll also have more sway in the business world.
The Top Five SEO Forums

katyfrazer

1 May 2013 | 1:50 am

The chances are that no matter how much knowledge or passion you have about a particular topic, there is always someone out there who is going to know that added extra detail and care just that little bit more. Of course, you won’t have any idea about your nemesis if you never knew that they existed, but where would be the fun in that? Chatting, reading, watching and listening to likeminded people online is pretty much essential for anyone interested in SEO, and if you haven’t got your own particular forum where you can debate, rant and enthuse about a particular topic then it’s…

Have Results SEM Blog
SEO in 2013: The Year of the Consumer

Mina Adly Younan

24 May 2013 | 10:44 am

In 2013, SEO will shift from optimizing websites for search engines to optimizing content for users. So, you have many things to do and a lot others to avoid. Here them all in this exciting infographic: Source: ticsyformacion.com via Alexandra on Pinterest
Community Managers Bible (Another Infographic)

Mina Adly Younan

24 May 2013 | 10:40 am

How about one infographic (colorful illustration) with all the basic Rules you need to know as a Social Media Marketer or Community Manager.
Google Analytics in 1 InfoGraphic

Mina Adly Younan

24 May 2013 | 10:35 am

I stumbled upon this infographic about Decoding Google Analytics on OpenForum.com and would love to share it with you.
Social Media Cheat Sheet - Infographic

Mina Adly Younan

24 May 2013 | 10:32 am

Source: marketingtechblog.com via Alexandra on Pinterest
Reddit Secret Plan for World Domination - Presentation

Mina Adly Younan

24 May 2013 | 10:30 am

It's amazing to see how the Ugly looking Social Media Cat "reddit" is getting 5 Billion Visitors in 2013. Being the fastest growing social space in America, it's also one of the most influential. Enjoy! this SlideShare Presentation

RankPop.com
The SEO Industry is Experiencing Positive Growth in 2013

RankPop Team

23 May 2013 | 5:09 am

In SEO, reputation is everything And for the most part, the entire SEO industry (including top SEO companies) is seeing the benefit that comes from a more positive reputation. From individual practitioners working as a local SEO company to big name SEO marketing companies, reports are coming in of increases in business and projections of even better business in the year to come. For a while now SEO company services have had a pretty nasty reputation – this was especially true in the past few years amidst some of the major Google algorithm changes that occurred during this time…
Marrying PPC and Organic Search for Maximum Benefit

RankPop Team

18 May 2013 | 1:33 pm

The Great Debate Rages On There is always a lot of debate in the SEO / internet marketing community as to which is “better”, PPC (Pay Per Click) advertising, or organic SEO. We have better in quotation marks because the two are barely comparable – think of bananas and mangoes. Not much similarity there, except they’re both tropical fruits…but put them in a blender together and get ready for an amazing smoothie! This is the idea when it comes to relating PPC advertising to organic SEO. There is some common ground and this is enough to allow the two to…
What Google+ Can Do For Your SEO

RankPop Team

13 May 2013 | 7:52 am

Google+ is far more than just another social network Is it yet another addition to the multitude of social channels that have sprung up and gained strength in the past few years? Yes. But is that all there is to it? Nope! How to create a Google Plus page for your business, and why it matters If you are asking questions like “How to create a Google Plus account for my business for best results”, or “How to create a Google Plus page for my business to get the best rankings” then you’ve come to the right place! We can tell you all of the best reasons that you…
Find Out How Google Ranks Your Website

RankPop Team

11 May 2013 | 6:28 am

Have you ever wondered exactly how Google determines where your website should rank? Out of the hundreds of millions of other websites out there, how does Google know where your site stands? While we can’t give you a precise list of the over 200 different ranking factors taken into account by Google’s algorithm, we can tell you about some of the factors we are aware of and show you a few ways that you can work with them to give your website a fighting chance! As an organic SEO services company, we know a little bit about organic SEO services and how we can help our clients…
Why #1 Rankings Matter

RankPop Team

9 May 2013 | 7:52 am

There’s more to being #1 than meets the eye You might be thinking that a Google ranking of #1 is a reward in and of itself, after all, it means you beat out everyone else who was aiming for that top spot! Seeing your website’s Google rank at #1 for your keywords can be a pretty heady experience, so much so that you might not be thinking much beyond it. There is however, more to Google rankings than bragging rights…in truth, it’s all about the traffic. Look out below The #1 Google page ranking is seen by most clients as the holy grail of SEO. If they can just…

Fast SEO Tips
Google Penguin 2.0 Update Rolled Out

Rahul A Nair

23 May 2013 | 8:02 am

As Matt Cutts mentioned before, Google Penguin 2.0 Update is rolled out on 23 May 2013. This time penguin update affected 2.3% of English-US queries. It is also affected other languages and scope of Penguin varies by language. This is fourth time Google refreshing penguin. It was released on April 24 2012. And after that, two more updates happened on May and October of the year 2012. First update of this year 2013, it is big update. This update also named as next generation penguin. So Google will detect more web spam activities on this and next updates. Have a look at the history of Google…
Build Backlinks Naturally – Recover From Google Penguin Update

Rahul A Nair

2 May 2013 | 11:59 pm

The main reason for losing ranking after Google penguin update is low quality backlinks. One low quality backlink is enough to hurt your site’s rank and bring down your site in rankings. SEO is like a game, one mistake can get you out of the track. If you get penalize, it may not be easy to recover. Google does not need spam links, they need only quality, relevant backlinks. The natural backlinks are Google actually looking for. What are natural backlinks? Natural backlinks are back-links that create by others, not by you. Such backlinks are not placing by forcing or requesting.
12 Best Premium WordPress Themes 2013

Rahul A Nair

30 Apr 2013 | 8:49 pm

Theme selection can be more easy while checking its reviews and rating. These Premium WordPress Themes are picked from themeforest and elegantthemes. These premium themes are responsive themes so it can give great view for the users who are accessing site from smartphones, iPhone, tablets and other mobile devices. This premium collection includes themes for blogging / magazine, photography, business, portfolio, personal, music and shopping. I hope the price will be fair for you. Premium Responsive WordPress Themes For 2013 Journal Journal is a fully responsive theme which is perfect for…
Long tail Vs Short tail Keywords

Rahul A Nair

20 Apr 2013 | 1:00 am

Selecting appropriate keyword is the first step of Search engine optimization. Keywords are necessary thing in SEO. Without targeting right keywords, internet business will be waste. Before writing any blog or content you should have a proper idea of your keywords. This step is much simple. Based on length, keywords are divided into short tail and long tail. Long tail keywords will be three or more words while short tail will be one or two. The long tail can be a question or it can be target specific country, year or anything like that. For example : Consider your website is about SEO…
18 Free SEO Tools Online

Rahul A Nair

26 Mar 2013 | 11:26 pm

SEO tools are a necessary thing for webmasters. Using these tools, it is easily to identify the profile of a website among the web. Here are 18 free SEO Tools for 6 different uses. SEO Analysis Tools 1. Google Analytics Google analytics is one of the best free analytics tool. Google analytics will track your daily visitors and the source they are coming from, visitors country, time on site, organic search queries, social activities and more. You can add as many website in a single account. You need is just copy paste some code from Google analytics to your website. Note – This code is…

Website Traffic Increaser Guy
Is Guest Posting Dead?

Dan Vuksanovich

20 May 2013 | 9:08 am

Attack of the Pandas and Penguins There’s been lots of fear-mongering, teeth-gnashing and hand-wringing in the months since Google released its Panda and Penguin algorithm updates. Marketing, web design and SEO firms all over the world are all claiming to be experts on how to navigate the website marketing waters which are now supposedly extra-perilous due to Google’s increased scrutiny of content farms and spammy link profiles. Perhaps the scariest effect of these algorithm updates for small businesses is in the area of guest posting of articles on other sites and blogs. The…
A Review of Screaming Frog’s SEO Spider Tool

Dan Vuksanovich

13 May 2013 | 8:05 am

One of my pet peeves with Google Webmaster Tools is that it will let you know how many pages are in their index, but they won’t show you the URLs for those pages. This can make it very difficult to sniff out duplicate content problems and get them fixed. Enter the Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool. Just install the tool, point it at your site, and it will crawl through your website’s pages the same way that the search engines do. The great thing about using the Screaming Frog SEO Spider is that within a couple of minutes you’ll have a grid of every URL on your site. This is a…
How To Let Google Do Your Keyword Research For You

Dan Vuksanovich

1 May 2013 | 12:17 pm

Conventional Wisdom About Keyword Research Conventional wisdom about content generation suggests that significant keyword research should always be done before generating content in order to gain the maximum amount of organic search traffic possible. The logic is that by using the keyword research as your guide, you can have an understanding of market demand for the content that you are about to create, and thus your content will be “market optimized” as well as keyword and key phrase optimized. There’s nothing wrong with generating content this way, but it’s extremely…
Canonical URL Problems – The Worst Kind Of Duplicate Content

Dan Vuksanovich

29 Apr 2013 | 10:14 am

Duplicate Content? Aaaaarrrrgggghhh! A few weeks ago I wrote about duplicate content and how it can torpedo your site’s search rankings. Today I’d like to specifically cover best practices for avoiding (or recovering from) duplicate content related to canonical URL problems. First and foremost… what’s a canonical URL? A canonical URL is the one that is preferred if a given page on your website can be accessed via multiple URLs. For example, your homepage might be available at: http://mydomain.com http://www.mydomain.com https://mydomain.com https://www.mydomain.com…
Dealing With WordPress Comment Spam

Dan Vuksanovich

15 Apr 2013 | 8:52 am

A few years ago, email spam was the topic du jour for anyone who wanted to gripe about the things they hated most. These days email spam filters are highly evolved and catch 99%+ of spammy emails. Unfortunately spammers evolve as well, and now they have a new target: your WordPress comments. Comment spam is even more insidious than email spam. Email spam clutters up your inbox, but you’re the only one who see’s it. Comment spam can affect how people perceive your site since the spam is publicly visible. If enough of it gets through, the comments sections of your pages and blog…

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

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