The Enterprise SEO column made its debut on Search Engine Land midway through 2011, as large companies and big brands were faced with new challenges and massive opportunities in the search world. In 2012, we saw mega-sized content sites lose visibility in search results due to Panda, while the Penguin updates squashed those who gambled their brand credibility with poor link building strategies, both leading to wildly changing SERPs that were only impacted further by Google+ and new features such as authorship markup. Meanwhile, the attention focused social media threatened to take away b [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Enterprise SEO

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Search Engine Land’s Most Read Stories Of 2012: Google Places Goes Google+, Panda, Penguin & MoreWhat were our most popular stories on Search Engine Land over the past year? Below, the news stories that were published in 2012 that were read the most: Google Places Is Over, Company Makes Google+ The Center Of Gravity For Local Search (May) Google’s Jaw-Dropping Sponsored Post Campaign For Chrome (January) Google’s Results Get More Personal W [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

What were our most popular stories on Search Engine Land over the past year? Below, the news stories that were published in 2012 that were read the most: Google Places Is Over, Company Makes Google+ The Center Of Gravity For Local Search (May) Google’s Jaw-Dropping Sponsored Post Campaign For Chrome (January) Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World” (January) How Rick Santorum Is Making His “Google Problem” Worse (January) The Top Heavy Update: Pages With Too Many Ads Above The Fold Now Penalized By Google’s “Page Layout” Algorithm (J [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Most Popular Stories | Top News

One of the least-tapped areas of local business website optimization continues to be semantic markup. Semantic markup can increase chances that information from your website will be highlighted in search engine results pages via rich snippets, attracting greater attention and clickthroughs. So, read on and use this checklist to see if you're exploiting all elements possible for your local business website. While special markup likely may not directly improve your rankings in search, it does apparently increase clickthrough rate or "CTR," as consumers are more drawn to your site's listings. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Local Search | Schema.org

Last month, I touched on several ways that businesses could use apps as an alternate channel to reach mobile searchers. Online retailers have a couple opportunities to use apps in this way, by tapping into the eBay and Amazon marketplaces. Let's take a closer look at eBay, and some strategies for using it to extend the reach of your existing catalog. Starting At The Desktop Before mobile was part of the equation, there was a well-established practice for leveraging eBay for online retail. Of course, it goes without saying that many retailers use eBay as their sole storefront, taking advantag [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: Mobile Marketing | Mobile Search | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Search Engines: Shopping Search Engines | Search Marketing: Mobile | Search Marketing: Shopping Search Marketing | SEO: Mobile Search

CPA Bidding in Google AdWords allows you to set a CPA bid, and then Google will do all the bidding for you. When it works, its fantastic, as you don’t have to spend all day trying to set bids inside the account. Instead, you can focus you time on more permanent improvements, such as testing your ads and landing pages. When CPA bidding first rolled out in 2007, you needed at least 300 conversions in the past month for it to work. Over the years, Google has improved the algorithms to the point in 2010 that you only needed 15 conversions in a campaign over the past 30 days to enable this set [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Paid Search

We know that the number of DMCA requests have risen since Google introduced its Pirate Update, a penalty against sites that have an unusual number of legitimate DMCA requests filed against them. But what's the count? TorrentFreak.com did the math and counted that Google took down over 50 million search results or URLs in 2012 alone. To be exact, Google removed 51,395,353 links from their search engine in 2012, and 7,816,766 of those were issued by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), which led the number of requests and taken downs. Here is the chart showing the s [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Pirate Update | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search | Top News

If you visit Google today, New Years Eve, you will see a very busy Google logo. The logo makes up many of the best Google Doodles created in 2012. In a sense, it is a Google Doodle of Google Doodles. The Google Logo links to the specific Google Doodles directly in the Google Doodle Directory. For example, if you click on the Star Trek icon at the top left, it takes you to the Star Trek Doodle. Websonic.nl put together a diagram labeling all the Doodles: Happy New Years everyone! Other Google Logos: The Thinker Google Doodle For Auguste Rodin’s Birthday Google & [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Logos

Do a search on Google Finance for the word "sell," and Google returns the stock chart for Apple. Why? Some thought Google had rigged this as an "Easter Egg" or joke. However, Google says this isn't so. In the first edition of this story, I could see no good reason why this was happening, something spotted by PFhub and which has since been noted by The Next Web and also a discussion on Reddit. I'd seen a few comments that this was due to the Reuters-description that Google Finance shows for Apple having the word "sell" in it several times. Google tells us that is indeed the case, sen [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Google: Easter Eggs | Top News

As we head into the holidays, we're looking back at our own metrics for top posts of the year, and we wanted to share a recap of the most read stories in several categories on Search Engine Land. In the Search & Analytics column, our experts cover everything from the basic installation of tracking codes and tags, to advanced statistical analysis to measure the success of your organic SEO activities, paid search campaigns, social media efforts and everything in between. In 2012, search marketers were also faced with some bigger topics related to data analysis - with 'big data' being a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Analytics | Search & Analytics

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Facebook Is Wikipedia’s Most Popular Article Of 2012: Hot Topic Or Confused Searchers?What was the most viewed article on Wikipedia this year? The one about Facebook. Is Facebook really that popular of a Wikipedia topic? Perhaps, but more likely, confused searchers are getting to the Wikipedia page rather than Facebook itself. Yesterday on Toolserver.org, a service of Wikipedia Germany, lists of the Top 100 most viewed articles [...] Searc [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

In this guide you will learn how to identify, and hire, the right digital agency for your business. It will help you determine if your company needs a digital agency and what type of agency would be the best fit. Step by step, this guide walks you through the process of choosing an agency and how to prepare an RFP. Download Now » [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

What was the most viewed article on Wikipedia this year? The one about Facebook. Is Facebook really that popular of a Wikipedia topic? Perhaps, but more likely, confused searchers are getting to the Wikipedia page rather than Facebook itself. Yesterday on Toolserver.org, a service of Wikipedia Germany, lists of  the Top 100 most viewed articles for 2012 were released. The data mining was done by Johan Gunnarsson, a computer science student in Sweden. Rankings for 35 different Wikipedias (by language) are available. You can find all of the lists here. Here's a look at the Top 10 most v [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Strategy | Search Engines: Wikipedia | Stats: Popularity | Top News

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. Wooden Google Room: Source: Facebook Google Ingress Comic: Source: Google+ Google's Holiday Gift To Employees: Source: Google+ [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Search In Pictures

It's started, the top lists of 2012! Over the next few days, we'll be posting a series of these, including the most read Search Engine Land stories, the most tweeted ones and the ones most liked on Facebook. But to kick it off, the stories with the most +1's on Google+. How did we collect this data? Search Engine Land columnist Annie Cushing suggested we use Social Crawlytics, a tool that easily crawls the site and reports on the social activity for each URL. If you haven't checked it out, go do so. It's free to get started. A few observations while aggregating list: Seventeen of t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Features: Analysis | Most Popular Stories | Top News

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: What’s In Your 2013 SEO Playbook?I’ve thought about writing my 2013 SEO game plan since I hit the submit button for last year’s version. The problem is, since when my review of 2012 came out last month, I’ve read numerous SEO in 2013 articles, and many of them are quite good or complete. I have to give special kudos to [...] How To Build A Better B2B SEO Strategy In 2013It’s the last week of 2012. If you’re rea [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | SearchCap

This guide reviews: How Adobe fights cart abandonment Adobe’s redesigned checkout page that drove a 40% increase in sales How to make relevant content findable for your visitors Download now » [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Sponsor Messages

I've thought about writing my 2013 SEO game plan since I hit the submit button for last year's version. The problem is, since when my review of 2012 came out last month, I've read numerous SEO in 2013 articles, and many of them are quite good or complete. I have to give special kudos to Paul Bruemmer's Which Top SEO Tactics Will You Focus On In 2013? That is a tough act to follow. I don't want to be redundant, so I am taking a different tact this year. While there is no way to make this wholly unique, here's what's on my mind. Change How You Think About Search Engines Search engine optimi [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO

It's the last week of 2012. If you're reading this column, you are forsaking at least a bit of much needed rest for some serious B2B SEO planning in 2013. For me, the few days ahead are about research, preparation, and getting milestones in place for client initiatives (and probably finishing one or two or three outstanding commitments as well). The tactics designed to support your B2B SEO plan most likely include content marketing, third-party link outreach, and social media development, as well as a few enhancements related to Web development. It's one thing to know these are the importan [...]

Related Topics: B2B Search Marketing | Channel: SEO

Yahoo appears to be testing a new home page design. Techno-Net captured it on a video and posted that video on YouTube for all to see. Here are the changes I noticed in this new design test: Cleaner User Interface Search Bar Sticks At The Top Left Menu Bar Is Static Remove Story Blocks In One Click Top News Image More Fluid In Transitions Of Stories Middle Content Section Scrolls Middle Content Section Has News Filters Marissa Mayer is very into user interface design and we are expecting a change to the Yahoo home page. Here is that video: [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Consumer | Yahoo: User Interface