Google has paved their way through the crowd of search engines by doing everything that they can to ensure that their searchers are getting quality results. They’re able to do this by continuously updating their algorithms to eliminate low quality sites from the SERPs. The latest update that Google rolled out is known as the Google Panda update. This particular one has caused a lot of controversy among the World Wide Web and many large websites (like eHow) have been knocked down in their search engine rankings. You can either look at this as the end of the Internet or you can look at it as a learning experience. For those who want to run away scared, please do so now. This article is for those who want to learn more about how they can prevent being one of the websites deemed as a ranking disaster in the SEO world. What the Google Panda Update Implemented This update was just – Read the full article
According to Greg Makuch, an 18-year proprietor of a Canadian hosting service web company, blogging has become a very important means of marketing products and services these days. Along with that, it is also effective for building your niche in the marketplace. Out of the many blogging platforms out there, WordPress has made a name for itself as being a very reliable and highly customizable means of creating an SEO-friendly blog. Here are some steps you can take to help improve your marketing endeavors with WordPress and increase the effectiveness of your search engine optimization efforts: Make sure that your meta information is correct for the best search engine optimization. WordPress is set to a default for meta titles that is not fully optimized for search engines. By downloading the All in One SEO Pack plugin for WordPress it is simple to customize all the meta titles so that they include the keywords you are marketing right up front. Be sure – Read the full article
The face of one of the most innovative companies in history is their ever-changing, extremely memorable logo. While Google leads innovation in many verticals and constantly “brands” that simplistic colorful logo in our brains, there is a lot behind this work of art and its purpose is not merely to line the walls or logo mats of the Google complex. Way back in 1998, Google created the basis for what we still see today: a simple wordmark logo utilizing 3 main colors and the oddball green on the “l”. The rebellious green goes against the pattern of the main colors in a symbolic gesture that “Google doesn’t always follow the rules.” Since 1998, the main logo has only changed twice with simple changes to the gradient and letter shadowing. The colors and the font are still recognizable across all three with the Google Logo font coming from the German designer, Gustav Jaeger, entitled “Catull BQ”. What is truly inspiring about – Read the full article
A few days ago we talked about how important local search / SEO has become – and what you can do to enhance your local search performance and Internet marketing efforts. Well, as we conducted our research for that story, we stumbled upon a number of neat local search engine optimization tools. And, knowing how much readers love lists (our competitive intelligence tools post is one definitely worth checking out), we made another one – this time, to help you in your search for tools that are designed to give you an edge over local competitors. Enjoy! Local Search Toolkit This is one of our favorite local SEO tools right now. The invention of seOverflow’s Mike Belasco and Mary Bowling, the Local Search Toolkit features a Google Places Results Analyzer which generates competitive analysis and data from search results in Google Places. With the Local Search Toolkit, you can download, analyze, and review citation sources – and sort seamlessly through – Read the full article
I recently entered a contest to win a free ticket to the BlueGlass conference and I got really excited with the opportunity. As part of the comment I made a photoshopped image which shows Google telling them that I should be selected was the winner. So who deserves that ticket to the upcoming Blueglass TPA? I think I do and I want to tell you why and a little about myself. I met the AL team just a few months ago at Gangplank in Chandler, while in town for Startup Weekend. Chase sat down with for at least an hour to explain all the cool stuff the AL team was working on, explain how they were able to get accurate rankings and the fact that I have been a customer for a year, will make me a great brand ambassador while I am down in Florida. I would love the rep the AL while I am down there. I am – Read the full article
It’s great to drive traffic – online and offline – from all corners of the world. But if you’re a smart marketer, you’ll realize you don’t have to be so international – at least not when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Thanks to local search, businesses don’t have to squander resources on attracting customers and visitors that are beyond their geographic reach anyway. One can instead focus on catering to the heart of the locals. Want to find out how? Here’s a list of 17 great local SEO and local search tips, tricks, and tools to help you get started. Claim. Claim your local listing on Google Places. While you’re at it, go to Bing Local and Yahoo Local and claim your listings there, too. Apply best practices. Read our guide on Google Places to put yourself closer to the center of the map. Submit your info to the online yellow pages. Sign up in online directories and – Read the full article
In lieu of the recent news about the Facebook smear campaign against Google, it seems that Google may be poised to remain the top dog in online ad spend this year. Last week, the story regarding Facebook hiring PR firm Burson Marsteller to spread lies about Google’s new “Social Circle” went viral. The war over the social graph, a data set of information about the social networks users are connected to, is in full force. However, Google isn’t even flinching. According to Fortune, Google’s Eric Schmidt insisted that Microsoft, not Facebook, was the true competitor to Google. He said, “Facebook users tend to use Google Search. Facebook’s ads business does not displace our advertising. I’m somewhat perplexed by the obsession because I don’t think the facts support it. Things are going great for Google.” The facts may support that businesses prefer to use Facebook and Google simultaneously; however, the percentage in which they invest their marketing budgets may be a – Read the full article
WordPress is arguably today’s most popular blogging platform – for reasons that the most brilliant Web programmers and developers or novice bloggers and startup business marketers can appreciate. Actually, WordPress is popular for reasons that even search engine giant Google can appreciate. Matt Cutts – the well-known SEO guru and Webmaster behind Google (which, by the way, has Blogger as its own blogging platform) – even went so far as to praise WordPress, saying that: “WordPress takes care of 80 to 90 percent of (the mechanics of) Search Engine Optimization (SEO).” But we’re getting ahead of ourselves – let’s go into more detail about SEO later. For now, let’s go through the list of highlights of WordPress as a blogging platform. Getting Started The process of signing up for WordPress is simple and easy enough. The most awesome part? It’s free. WordPress is open-source software, which means that you don’t have to pay any license fees to use the core – Read the full article
