SearchCap: The Day In Search, November 8, 2011

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’s Zuckerberg To Charlie Rose: “We Just Do One Thing”

  Asked to reflect on the cultural differences between Google and Facebook, current Facebook COO and former Googler Sheryl Sandberg told Charlie Rose that “Google is fundamentally about algorithms and machine learning . . . We start from a totally different place. We start from an individual: Who are you? What do you want to do? What do […]
• The Alphabet of Google+ Direct Connect

  A new feature of Google+ is Google+ Direct Connect, where typing the name of a company preceded by a + symbol will make that company’s Google+ Page appear as a suggestion in the search box, in the right circumstances. Who are the lucky few, so far? Here’s an alphabetical rundown, which reveals a number of […]

• Updated: Google+ Pages For Businesses: The AdWords Impact

  Google’s introduction yesterday of Google+ Pages for businesses will likely have a dramatic impact on +1s in AdWords. When businesses create a Page on Google+, they can link the page to their web site URLs and also to their AdWords account. When that’s done, +1s for any of the linked URLs — on web sites […]

• Content Marketing Essentials: Tactical Advice From A To Z

  From boardrooms to blogs, mainstream marketers are fixated on “Content marketing” and why it’s so important these days. In reality, savvy advertisers, PR pros, brand evangelists, SEOs, in-house and agencies have been leveraging content’s intrinsic power since the dawn of organized marketing activities. Wielded properly in the hands of masters, there are few tactics more […]

• Learn To Control Your Message With Social Sharing & Open Graph

  Whether it’s optimizing a website, running a commercial or managing a Twitter Feed, controlling your brand’s message is crucial to ensure your audience hears what you intend. TheInternet has evolved and controlling your brand’s message is more important than ever in the advent of a social Web. Site Audit: Search For Social Before I begin […]

• Is Pinterest The Next Great Place To Get Links & Social Mentions?

  Even if you’re one of the few people who say they love link building, it’s still the most tedious aspect to being an SEO. It seems like new sites pop up weekly, if not daily, as “yet another great way to get links.” While the creative part of you may be motivated from a new, […]

• A Look At Google+ Direct Connect For Google+ Pages

  Along with the big announcement of Google+ pages yesterday, a search-specific feature called “Google+ Direct Connect” was also announced. The Google+ Direct Connect functionality will help to give Google+ pages more visibility in the search engine results pages when custom operators are used. What Exactly Is Direct Connect? Last month, Google retired the “+” operator, most likely in anticipation of […]

• 5 Ways To Improve Your International SEO Strategy

  If North American-based businesses are to reach the rapidly expanding, increasingly sophisticated international Internet audience, they must get smarter about international search engine optimization. Just like domestic SEO, the international version boosts the likelihood that a particular website will rise to the top of search results, thereby enabling increased conversion rates. The challenge internationally is […]

• Majestic OpenApps – An Easier Way To Access Majestic SEO Data

  Majestic SEO announced a new way to access data from the Majestic SEO tool. In short, it provides an easier way to get data from the tool over using the their API. Majestic SEO is a popular tool used by SEOs for competitive link analysis. The main alternatives to the tool include SEOmoz’s LinkScape, RankAbove’s […]

• Bing Central: Bing’s New Self-Promotional User Hub

  Bing has just launched a new service called Bing Central that ostensibly exists to serve as a hub for Bing users, but unfortunately has too much self-promotion and too little utility in this first version. Although Bing Central offers links and access to several Bing account- and search-related tools, as you can see above, the […]

• Up Close With Creating & Managing Google+ Pages

  Today, Google launched Google+ Pages, allowing businesses to take part in its social network. Here’s a walk-through on how to create and manage these pages: Creating A Page Within two days or sooner, everyone is supposed to be able to make pages by using the Create A Page tool. Availability is rolling out now, so if you get an […]

Search News From Around The Web:

Applications & Portal Features

• Google’s Edmond Halley Logo Has A Typo, Search Engine Roundtable

Business Issues

• Head of Google’s Public Policy Operations Resigns, New York Times
• Top Google Lobbyist Leaving the Search Giant, Influence Alley
• Google chairman says will not favor Motorola, Reuters
• Yelp Moves Toward IPO, Hires Bankers, Wall Street Journal

Local, Maps & Mobile

• Google Places: More UGC, Mike Blumenthal

SEM Industry

• SEO Training Dojo celebrates 2 years of kicking search ass!, Search News Central

SEO & SEM

• 3 Critical Title Tag SEO Best Practices [Video], biquitous.com
• 4 content optimization tips for e-commerce websites, SEO Copywriting
• 4 Graphics to Help Illustrate On-Page SEO, SEOmoz
• 4 Ways Greater Media Integration Could Improve SEO (Or How to Let Content Really Be King), Search Engine People
• Bing/Yahoo! Search Partnership | Update on Bing Webmaster Tools and adCenter Feature Set at PubCon 2011 #pubcon, adCenter Blog
• Google ‘Sources’: a publisher’s worst nightmare?, Econsultancy
• Google PageRank Update : November 2011, Search Engine Roundtable
• Live Blogging for Publicity and Brand Building, dailyseotip.com

Social Media

• It’s as easy as d.me, AVOS
• What Encourages Facebook Engagement?, eMarketer
• Why a Google+ Brand Page Could Be More Important Than Your Facebook Page, www.peterstringer.com

Web Analytics

• Advanced Goal Funnel Tracking with Google Analytics, Search Engine People
• Tag & Track Your Way to Analytics Nirvana, periscopix.co.uk

Recent Hot Items From Sphinn, Our Social News Sharing Site:

• Discussion: What could Google do to make Google+ actually work? – It seems like every update to Google+ is underdeveloped, buggy, and inefficient. Their recent business page rollout has been underwhelming, and despite their frequent flops, they're continuing to strongarm searchers into using it with ever-increasing search integrations (author pages, +1 counts, circle links, etc).What are they doing wrong? Are you going to use Google+ just for the search benefits? What can they do to pull themselves out of the hole? Do you think Google+ will be around for long? A bunch of questions rattling around in my head, want to see what the rest of the SEO/SM community thinks.
• Why a Google+ Brand Page Could Be More Important Than Your Facebook Page – Peter Stringer (social media guy for the Boston Celtics) makes a salient point about the new Google+ pages and why they matter. A lot.
• So, Have Infographics Worn Out Their Welcome? NO, and Here’s Why – Is the the infographic being produced today is a trend that is finished? To all the naysayers out there, I have one simple response: the evolving infographic trend has just begun.
• Are You Creeping Out Your Customers With Remarketing? – Brad Geddes: If you can’t control your ads, you may no longer be reaching your customers — you might be driving them away. The biggest culprit is remarketing ads. While remarketing ads are fantastic when used correctly, they can be harmful to your brand if not controlled. If you are buying CPM from someone besides Google, make sure to set frequency cap. If you don’t, you could buy 1,000 impressions and reach a total of one person, which then becomes your enemy for life and beyond.