Saturday, February 26, 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Google with Recipe View



Recipes, Google Search, Rich Snippet and Google Food Gourmet Recipes.
Enhanced by Zemanta

Google Rich Snippets Tips and Tricks - a collection by Google Rich Snippets


Test your markup with the Rich Snippets Testing Tool

Use this tool to check your markup and make sure that Google can extract the structured data from your page. This tool will display the markup found on a specific web page, as well as a preview of how that page might appear in Google search results.

Note that the tool will only display extracted information that is officially supported for Rich Snippets (Reviews, People, Products, and Businesses and Organizations). Microformats or RDFa data that isn't supported generally won't be shown in the tool. Supported RDFa attributes are xmlns, typeof, property, rel, and content.

Google Rich Snippets Tips and Tricks - a collection by Google Rich Snippets
Enhanced by Zemanta

I'm Ranking, So Where's My Traffic


It's an old story – Boy meets Girl, Girl promises top rankings, rankings finally arrive, and Boy suddenly realizes he has no traffic. Wait, that's not quite it. Replace "Girl" with "SEO company" and "Boy" with "client" - yeah, there we go. In SEO, nothing is quite as frustrating as pouring time and money into your chosen keyword and finally breaking into the Top 10, only find that you still have no visitors.
There are a number of possible causes for ranking without traffic - I'm going to divide them up into 3 groups:
  1. You're Not Really Ranking
  2. Your Keywords Don't Deliver
  3. Your Results Don't Get Clicked
Isolating the problem is the best first step toward a solution and to making sure that your SEO efforts haven't been wasted.


I'm Ranking, So Where's My Traffic?! | SEOmoz
Enhanced by Zemanta

Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics - WSJ.com


Google Inc. is penalizing Overstock.com Inc. in its search results after the retailer ran afoul of Google policies that prohibit companies from artificially boosting their ranking in the Internet giant's search engine.
Overstock's pages had recently ranked near the top of results for dozens of common searches, including "vacuum cleaners" and "laptop computers." But links to Overstock on Tuesday dropped to the fifth or sixth pages of Google results for many of those categories, greatly reducing the chances that a user would click on its links.
The incident, according to Overstock, stemmed in part from its practice of encouraging websites of colleges and universities to post links to Overstock pages so that students and faculty could receive discounts on the shopping site. Overstock said it discontinued the program on Feb. 10, before hearing from Google, but said some university webmasters have been slow to remove the links.



Google Penalizes Overstock for Search Tactics - WSJ.com
Enhanced by Zemanta

Bing expands Facebook “Liked Results”


A few months ago, we announced an exciting partnership with Facebook to make search more social. As part of that work, we introduced Liked Results, which promotes links your friends have publicly liked or shared via Facebook. Today we are extending Liked Results to annotate any of the URLs returned by our algorithmic search results to all users in the US.
While we are very excited to talk about our next development, we’re all aware that it’s all part of a longer journey. This is the first time in human history that people are leaving social traces that machines can read and learn from, and present enhanced online experiences based on those traces. As people spend more time online and integrate their offline and online worlds, they will want their friends’ social activity and their social data to help them in making better decisions. Integrating with Twitter data 16 months ago was one step, and exploring Facebook’s rich streams is another.
Bing Bing expands Facebook “Liked Results” - Search Blog - Site Blogs - Bing Community
Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Twitter Promoted Tweets & Accounts


Promoted tweets are quite simple: Twitter gives advertisers the ability to promote an existing standard tweet to an audience of your choice. These tweets used to only show up in the search results, which meant limited exposure.
But Twitter recently announced that Promoted Tweets that get the "resonating" mention will be inserted in the timelines of people who fit the targeted interests, which should make a huge difference in the volume of engagements.
Promoted accounts are basically a way to buy targeted followers for your Twitter account. You set the price you're willing to pay for followers, provide some keywords to help target the right people, and your Twitter follower count will start increasing steadily.
Promoted trends help advertisers with deep pockets insert a promoted trend at the top of the trends that are displayed to their audience. This product isn't available in Twitter's beta self-serve ad platform, though they do provide a link to contact sales directly on this topic.
Twitter Promoted Tweets & Accounts: A Preview - Search Engine Watch (SEW)
Enhanced by Zemanta

Mapping Search Strategy to the Buy Cycle

Understanding the user's likely purchase state depending on the nature of the query arms advertisers with a tremendous competitive and strategic advantage. Below is a breakdown of the four major stages of a buy cycle accompanied by opportunities in which search marketing can be incorporated.

Mapping Search Strategy to the Buy Cycle - Search Engine Watch (SEW)
Enhanced by Zemanta

How to Choose Between Android and the iPhone

mobile timeline
"When considering a choice between one mobile platform and another, there are a lot more factors to consider than your carrier will mention. Sure, they’ll tell you one platform is taking off and the other isn’t. They’ll try to lure you in with processor speeds and storage capacity and even bring you the latest batch of gibberish about screen size. These are important factors, but sometimes it’s what isn’t said that makes a difference."
Enhanced by Zemanta

The three laws of display advertising physics


The three laws of display advertising physics

1. The Theory of Relativity: What’s better, a demand side platform, or an ad network? It depends

Our clients often ask us if they should use our DSP (Invite Media), or our network (the Google Display Network), especially as the distinction between the two platforms blurs. We often answer with an analogy from the world of stock investing (it’s not perfect, but it’s a first step). The first question is whether to buy and sell yourself, or engage someone else to manage your portfolio:
  • The online broker model: For buyers looking to manage the details of their ad buying and use their own technology and data, a DSP like Invite Media is often the best option. This is similar to an online broker that lets you log in and closely manage your investments (and, as with Invite Media, get access to special trading features, market intelligence and expert advice).
  • The stockbroker model: Some marketers have a desired campaign result (such as a target reach for a new car campaign, or a number of conversions for a sporting tickets campaign). They want to outsource the details and have a customized, transparent media solution designed for their campaign. The Google Display Network most often fits this bill—it’s like having a stock broker manage your portfolio to meet your investment goals.
Both platforms enable access to huge pools of ad space, deliver the same types of ad formats and facilitate similar ways of targeting ads. Again, it’s like buying stocks—whether you choose an online broker or stockbroker, you can select from thousands of types of stocks, markets and investment products.

2. Fusion Theory: Why contextual and audience buying release more energy when combined

Some have suggested that audience buying (delivering ads based on users’ interests) and contextual advertising (targeting ads to content) is an either/or proposition. However, we believe it’s the combination of the two that is most powerful.
  • With effective contextual advertising, you can get the maximum reach while delivering your message in highly relevant locations—like news articles related to your products—in the precise moment a person indicates interest. Contextual advertising is vital to building brand awareness and reaching new prospects at relevant moments.
  • Audience buying—such as remarketing—enables marketers to reach people who have already shown an interest in a particular topic or brand. This is especially effective for re-engaging consumers.
Marketers combining these types of buying can reach a broad range of people, then hone their messages to particularly good prospects to maximize the impact of their campaigns. We’ve seen that this approach drives better campaign performance; third party studies back it up.

3. The Law of Perpetual Motion: Why marketers should embrace a rapidly moving industry

Display advertising is in a state of constant motion, caused by the acceleration of online media consumption and the explosion in new technologies.
  • The industry is literally moving faster as media buyers start to increase their use of real-time bidding (RTB) technology, which allows them to evaluate and bid on ad space on an impression-by-impression basis. We recently undertook an industry study with Digiday, surveying more than 300 digital media buyers, agencies and intermediaries about their thoughts on RTB in the year ahead. Some revealing findings:
  • 88% of buyers plan to buy via RTB in 2011, up from 75% last year.
  • 47% of media buyers say that the benefits or RTB will increase their overall digital advertising budget this year (16% said it would not, 37% were unsure).
  • Spending on RTB is quickly moving out of the "test budget" range: 79% of buyers estimate that more than 10% of their digital display budgets will go to RTB in 2011. 33% estimate that 50% or more of their digital display budget will go to RTB. And 7% estimate 90-100% of their digital display budget will go to RTB.
  • 29% of media intermediaries (such as DSPs, ad networks, and exchanges) anticipate their volume of real-time bidding will increase by 100% or more versus last year. 19% believe it will go up by at least 200%.
  • More formats are moving to RTB: 34% of buyers say they are extremely or very likely to purchase rich media ads via RTB this year, 32% are extremely or very likely to purchase dynamic creative ads via RTB, 20% are extremely or very likely to purchase mobile display ads via RTB, 18% are extremely or very likely to purchase in-stream video via RTB and 14% are extremely or very likely to purchase mobile rich media via RTB.
  • Nearly half (48%) of publishers surveyed say they plan to increase the amount of inventory they will make available via RTB. 28% are still deciding. Only 24% said they were not planning to increase RTB inventory.

AdWords Agency Blog: The three laws of display advertising physics
Enhanced by Zemanta

Does Google still recommend 100 links or fewer per page?



SEO, Content Strategy, Links on page, website design
Enhanced by Zemanta

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Does Google use data from social sites in ranking?



twitter, social media, google uses social signals
Enhanced by Zemanta

Does indexing a mobile website create a duplicate content issues?


mobile website design, seo for mobile search
Enhanced by Zemanta

Monday, February 21, 2011

Site Removed from Google. What Do You Do?


Google Search Penalties... When are they lifted?
Depends on how far you went over the line.. the farther.. the longer time.. and may be permanently removed..

Is there any advice that you want to change from what you've said in the...



Matt Cutts asks Matt Cutts if there is anything he wpould like the change.. - Google Propaganda and out of date advice, what is google using to rank pages today?

notes..
Safe Search has been upgraded.. IMPORTANT for B2B...

Updates to Matt Cutts, edicts... Google now spiders Twitter.
USER SOCIAL SIGNALS actually work? (private joke)



Enhanced by Zemanta

Which is better: an HTML site map or XML Sitemap?



html sitemaps, XML sitemaps, which is better for Google SEO?

Enhanced by Zemanta

Shoppers Shun Credit to Pay with Digital Dollars

As the digital age marches forward and online shopping further threatens brick-and-mortar dominance, shoppers are making a deliberate move back to an old standard of the storefront register: Cold, hard cash.
Major players in the virtual realm tout alternative payment methods in the name of convenience, security and privacy, giving debt-weary consumers numerous ways to pay with cash.
By championing the safety of such systems -- little personal info is exchanged and money is often pulled directly from a bank -- merchants are tapping into a new pool of customers previously turned off by the idea of exchanging info online. In fact, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance, 64 percent of Americans have abandoned an online purchase because of concerns over privacy.

Shoppers Shun Credit to Pay with Digital Dollars
Enhanced by Zemanta

Understanding Visitor Behavior – Do They Like Your Content?

Okay, so you know you’re getting visitors, but do you know what they’re doing when they get to your site? You obviously hope they’re getting along with the business of visiting – reading content, clicking to other pages, spending time, book marking, buying, what have you –, but are they?

Understanding Visitor Behavior – Do They Like Your Content?
Enhanced by Zemanta

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Internet Down in Libya

In what is being called a “day of rage,” tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets to prompt the ouster of Muammar al-Gaddafi, who has been the de facto leader of Libya since a military coup d’état in 1969 and whose rule has been marked by assassination attempts and protests since at least 1993. The “day of rage” marks the anniversary of 2006 protests that also turned bloody and, for 30 Libyans and foreign citizens, fatal.
Internet Down in Libya As “Day of Rage” Fatalities Mount


Enhanced by Zemanta

Friday, February 18, 2011

Why SEO Certification is a horrible idea


Similar to psychology (although many psychologists will disagree with me on this), SEO is an ever changing art and pseudo-science. If you look at counseling, there are many theories and approaches – some of which are in complete conflict with each other. The dirty little secret in counseling is that most popular theories and approaches are no better or worse than the others. Success depends on the skill of the counselor, and if the counseling approach fits the personality and needs of the client. The same is true with SEO. There are approaches and techniques that will only work well for certain sites, or can only be successfully executed by certain people. Those techniques may offer more or less risk, but the end result is results.
A certification for SEO would require an exclusive board to decide what is good SEO and what is badSEO. How will these people be chosen? What will make their SEO strategies better than someone who wasn’t accepted to be on their board? How will they decide what is ethical, or even moral? Once this board is created, who will control it? Would there eventually come a time where people couldn’t get anSEO related job without paying for the SEOE?

Why SEO Certification is a horrible idea
Enhanced by Zemanta

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Google Social Search Update

Google Social Search Update

Google Social Search Update

Cyber attacks 'acts of war' - Sir Richard Mottram


A cyber attack by one state on another could be considered an "act of war", Tony Blair's former top national security adviser has said.
Sir Richard Mottram told a House of Lords inquiry new "laws of war" were needed to cope with such a threat.
He also criticised the EU after the multi-million pound theft of carbon credits, saying its apparent lack of cyber security "took my breath away".
It comes amid claims the threat of cyber war is being exaggerated.
BBC News - Cyber attacks 'acts of war' - Sir Richard Mottram
Enhanced by Zemanta

Google: Forbes Busted For Selling Links


Forbes.com, the extremely popular magazine web site, has been notified by Google that they have been penalized for selling links on their web site.
Denis Pinsky, the Digital Marketing Manager at Forbes.com, posted a Google Webmaster Help thread with the notification warning. As some of you know, Google now email site owners when they are participating in unnatural links and Forbes.com just received their email from Google.

Google: Forbes Busted For Selling Links
Enhanced by Zemanta

4 Point Local Listings List

Putting your site at the top of local SERPs can be just as labor intensive and equally as competitive as regular SEO activities; you need high quality content and backlinks.

But because Local is far more important to small businesses than national or international ones there are specific, different tactics.

If you're just starting out promoting your business online then listing yourself on somewhere like Google Places is a great place to begin. It delivers features such as action tracking which allows you to see how many times a user has been interested in your business listing, how often they've clicked for more info on maps, directions or directly on your page.


4 Point Local Listings List | Search Engine People | Toronto

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Google SEO resources for beginners

Want to eat healthier and exercise more in 2010? That's tough! Want to learn about search engine optimization (SEO) so you can disregard the rumors and know what's important? That's easy! Here's how to gain SEO knowledge as you go about your new start to 2010:
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Google SEO resources for beginners
Enhanced by Zemanta

Strauss' Hierarchy of Influence : What Achieves the Results You Need?

"If we can agree that influence is some word or deed that changes behavior. Then plenty of influence occurred in the story I just related. I suspect that had I been privy to the whole scene in the kitchen I would have found that that single story included examples of confrontation, persuasion, conversion, participation, and collaboration. The only thing missing in this family scene would be true antagonism. Six different approaches to influence which lead to entirely different outcomes.


I’ve been reading about, thinking about, and talking to people about influence for months, because influence and trust are integral understanding to loyalty relationships. Let’s take a look at six of the usual forms of influence and the outcomes that result from them."
Enhanced by Zemanta

Google Analytics Custom Reports for SEO

One of the hardest parts of SEO is knowing what to change. People beginning to optimize their website can often get stuck simply because they don't know where to start. Today I'm going through a pretty basic (but rich) custom report that provides a series of data comparisons that you can use to start optimizing your website. This report allows you to compare a handful SEO metrics across several segments in order to understand in detail how various portions of your SEO campaign are performing.

Newbie SEO Part 1: Google Analytics Custom Reports for SEO - VKI Studios Blog
Enhanced by Zemanta