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How To Get More Granular With Hyperlocal And Vertical Site Listings

Dec 16, 2010 at 9:20am ET by Hanan Lifshitz

Most small businesses understand that they should be listed on major national search engines such as Google and Bing, but how do they know which local and vertical sites are important for improving their overall SEO performance? For example, if you’re a plumber in Boston looking for local sites to post your business listing on, you could look at the listings of other Boston businesses, by running a query for "Boston Plumbing" to find other local sites: If you want to find vertical sites, you could look at the listings of other dentists, such as Tribeca Dental Associates in New York [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | Small Is Beautiful

Microsoft Tags: A Compelling Alternative To QR Code Hyperlinks

Nov 3, 2010 at 11:37am ET by Mark Sprague

Search marketers are interested in print-based hyperlinks: traffic to my QR Codes: Are You Ready For Paper-Based Hyperlinks? post remains strong. So here's an in-depth look at Microsoft’s entry into the 2D code wars, called Microsoft Tags. Microsoft Tags is based on a homegrown technology known as high-capacity color barcode (HCCB). The Microsoft Tag is definitely distinctive in nature, and has an American southwestern look about it. The platform allows you to use two, four or eight colored triangle in a grid matrix. The first tag, which is based on four colors and a five by ten grid matrix, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO

Multinational SEO That Doesn’t Break The Bank

Oct 28, 2010 at 3:36pm ET by Chris Liversidge

So, you've patiently built your brand as a local market .com TLD (in the UK, Germany or elsewhere) and, over the last couple of years, built a great reputation for service quality and hitting delivery deadlines with your niche products. Well done! Requests for your company's products have gone through the roof in your local market and you're looking to expand. Unfortunately, your local market is also now saturated and you need to reach out to new countries to maintain your growth—particularly the US, as you can easily extend distribution and it's a huge market. However, budget is l [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | Multinational Search

A Tactical Guide To Becoming An SEO Ubergeek

Oct 14, 2010 at 11:52am ET by David Harry

So you're sitting there thinking: how can I take my SEO chops to the next level? Well, I am sure hoping you are, or have at some time along the path. But where to start? To me an SEO that doesn't understand information retrieval (IR) is like the web developer that doesn't know HTML. You really should know how a search engine works. No, I am serious... it is 2/3rd of the initialism for cryin' out loud. You should be proud to say: Hi there. My name is Dave and I am an algoholic. For my first post here on Search Engine Land I want to bring you into my world. A glimpse into what type [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO

Close-Up With Google’s New QR Code Generator

Oct 7, 2010 at 2:05pm ET by Mark Sprague

At first blush, generating a QR code while shortening a URL seems like a great idea. If you need to generate unique QR Codes for your printed or mobile advertising strategy this is one way to get the job done. The process is straightforward. You simply type or paste a URL into the text box, press the shorten button, and your new short/long URL is displayed at the top of your URL list. You then have the option to track click activity for each of the shortened URLs that you have created. To access the QR Code you will need to click on the details link to get to the following display. Y [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: URL Shortener | How To: SEO

Video Is Now A Must-Have Feature For Competitive SEO

Aug 3, 2010 at 6:00am ET by Shmulik Weller

This is the year in which we will see video grow from a "frill" some businesses occasionally include on their websites, to an essential, competitive differentiator that drives SEO and increases brand identification. Knowledgeable companies have already embraced this shift and made video a central part of their online offerings. The most advanced have found ways to create high-quality video that is automatically updated across their websites on the fly, using existing web content. At this point, it's possible to create endless numbers of professional videos with no human intervention, and th [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | SEO: Video Search

What Keywords Am I Missing?

Jul 29, 2010 at 8:42am ET by Hanan Lifshitz

The typical process that an SMB will go through when building an online marketing campaign usually begins with defining their target audience, performing keyword research, analyzing which words bring the most traffic and conversions, and utilizing keyword research tools such as Keyword Discovery. Upon taking these steps, SMB owners will wait to see their results on search engines, make the necessary tweaks, and eventually reach a higher position in online search results. If you do your homework, the process seems fairly straightforward. Here’s an example of a plumber in Chico, CA who c [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEM | How To: SEO | Small Is Beautiful

Creating And Maintaining An SEO Timeline

Jun 30, 2010 at 9:16am ET by Aaron Bradley

Nothing is more certain in the world of SEO than the fact that things will change over time. Rankings, search traffic, search algorithms and your website’s structure and content are all mutable. In order to maximize the value of your optimization efforts, it is important to know not only the nature of any given change, but when it occurred. At a fundamental level, it is impossible to make a relationship between cause and effect without knowing the sequence of events. To this end, it is useful for SEO to plot relevant events and data against a timeline. This is especially true for in-house [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | In House Search Marketing

8 Easy Ways To Monitor The SEO Your Competition Is Doing

Jun 24, 2010 at 1:49pm ET by Damien Bianchi

If you’re a marketer and you’re currently tied up with other initiatives (campaigns, new site launch, etc.), or a search professional bogged down with doing keyword research, a technical audit, or staying up with the latest trends, remember to come up for air every now and then (at least once a month if not more) to take a look at what your competition is doing. Here’s some tips on how to effectively go about this. To start, take a look at your existing keyword landscape and identify your "Top 10" Keywords. These are terms that you have deemed business critical to have a top ranking p [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | How To: SEO | SEM Tools

How To Use E-mail To Benefit SEO

Apr 29, 2010 at 11:55am ET by Damien Bianchi

Most of you reading this headline will probably think I’m crazy. We all know that search engines do not crawl or index e-mail. What we forget is that you do have the option to view a copy of the e-mail you receive in a browser. Usually this is reserved for e-mails that are sent from brands to people that have registered for a newsletter, etc. This copy of the e-mail is usually just a simple HTML page that can be crawled and indexed by the search engines, and, if you play your cards right, could benefit your SEO efforts. If you’re a Marketer, most of the E-mail you send out to your audie [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | How To: SEO

The New Mobile SEO: What You Need To Know

Apr 15, 2010 at 4:55pm ET by Cindy Krum

Mobile search engines have different bots and algorithms than those used for traditional web search. They evaluate your website as if it was being rendered on a mobile phone, and they rank results partially based on how well the page will render on the type of phone that submitted the query. If you look in your log files, you can even see that Googlebot-Mobile has different user agents that spoof different phones, like a Samsung phone, an iPhone or an Erickson phone. In some cases, different handsets will have different search results based on the evaluations that Google makes with the differe [...]

Overlooked But Beneficial On-Page SEO Elements

Mar 18, 2010 at 3:38pm ET by Tony Soric

In my previous article I described the value of meta tags in driving organic rankings. In this article, I will review some other secondary "on-page" elements that—if used properly—may contribute to your site ranking more effectively in organic search results. It's important to note that these on-page elements actually play a very important role in creating a great user experience. This is not by coincidence: Google rewards sites that are able to convey their site's content in a simple and concise manner. Let's take a closer look at the individual elements you can use for both SEO and [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | How To: SEO

Anatomy Of A Google Snippet

Mar 18, 2010 at 2:05pm ET by Stephan Spencer

Let's deconstruct the Google snippet in all its glory -- from the Posts/Authors/Last Post line, to the document date, to the Keywords in Context ("KWIC"), to the ellipses, to the inside-the-snippet anchor links. But before we do, it would probably be a good idea to define the term snippet. Google defines a snippet as "a description of or an excerpt from the webpage" that follows the title and precedes the URL and Cached link. Simply put, the snippet refers to the description portion of a Google search listing. It doesn't include the title, nor does it include the URL. Google engineer Matt C [...]

Related Topics: All Things SEO | Channel: SEO | How To: SEO

Unloved, But Still Important: How To Leverage Meta Tags

Feb 10, 2010 at 6:02pm ET by Tony Soric

I've put together a multipart series covering important aspects of SEO. If you are new to SEO, these tips will help you build a strong foundation for obtaining SEO traffic. For those of you who are more advanced in SEO, my hope is that you’ll pick up a tip or strategy that you aren't currently employing in your own SEO campaign. In the first part of the series I'll take a look at important on-page HTML elements that can influence your SEO rankings. Unloved, but very important META tags The META tags are arguably among the most important on-page HTML elements when it comes to SEO. ME [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | How To: SEO

How To Take Keyword Research To The Next Level

Feb 4, 2010 at 8:41am ET by Damien Bianchi

There are a lot of different ways to conduct keyword research. Too often, companies will focus on words that show good demand, even if that word from an intent standpoint does not map to their products and services. Even worse, some companies will just want to rank high for a high-volume keyword, even though they’re really a fish out of water. Search marketing has been called the database of intent. Here are some tips that will help you look beyond just the monthly demand, but also at the "intent" behind a search. Your traditional keyword research model probably looks something like this: [...]

Google May Be Crawling AJAX Now – How To Best Take Advantage Of It

Jan 28, 2010 at 11:31pm ET by Vanessa Fox

In October 2009, Google proposed a new standard for implementing AJAX on web sites that would help search engines extract the content. Now, there's evidence this proposal is either live or is about to be. Read on for more details on the proposal, how it works, and why it might be past the proposal stage. The Trouble With AJAX Historically, search engines have had trouble accessing AJAX-based content and this proposal would enable Google (and presumably other search engines that adopted the standard) to index more of the web. The standard SEO advice for AJAX implementations has traditiona [...]

Some SEO Advice For Bill Gates

Jan 25, 2010 at 2:09am ET by Danny Sullivan

What do you get for Bill Gates, the richest person in the world? How about a little free SEO advice for his new blog? It could use some. Bill, I went looking for your blog today on Google. Sorry, like many people, I have a habit of using that search engine first. What did I find for bill gates blog? Good, you're there in the top 10 results, listed fourth. And your official page at Microsoft shows at number one. But your blog could be so much better. Look at all those fake parody blogs! One of them is out ranking you. Some simply seem real because they have titles that actually say "B [...]

PageRank Sculpting Leaves NoFollowed Tags Behind

Jan 21, 2010 at 2:23pm ET by Scott Smigler

Six months ago, Google's Matt Cutts confirmed that NoFollowed tags no longer work as a tool for sculpting PageRank and that he would not recommend PageRank sculpting in general. Despite the passage of time and much discussion in forums and on blogs, many website owners are still confused about the importance of optimizing how PageRank flows throughout their site. My personal opinion, based on experience we've had working with client sites, is that it can still be important to optimize PageRank flow through a site. In this article, I'll explain why, along with recommendations on how to do [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | How To: Links | How To: SEO

A Roundup Of 2009′s Best SEO Books

Dec 1, 2009 at 3:57pm ET by Chris Sherman

Time was when someone asked me to recommend a good book on search marketing, there were only a few available—Search Engine Visibility, by Shari Thurow, Winning Results with Google AdWords, by Andrew Goodman, Search Engine Marketing, Inc., by Mike Moran and Bill Hunt, and a few others. These books have mostly stood up to the test of time (and all have been relatively recently updated with second editions), but search marketing techniques and tactics change quickly, so it's always good to be on the lookout for new publications. This year we've seen a significant increase in the number o [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: Book Reviews | How To: SEO

Under The Hood: Google News & Ranking Stories

Nov 24, 2009 at 9:00am ET by Danny Sullivan

Forget PageRank, at least if you're a news publisher looking to do well in Google News. Google's news service doesn't rely on the same algorithm used by "regular" Google, of which PageRank is a part of. Instead, Google News taps into its own unique ranking signals, which include user clicks, the estimated authority of a publication in a particular topic, freshness, geography and more. In this, the third part of a wide-ranging interview I held with Josh Cohen, business product manager of Google News, a look into how Google News ranks content. Also be sure to read the first two install [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Features: General | Google: News | How To: SEO | Top News

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