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Newsletter Archive
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Monday, 30 August 2010 11:15 |
Lead Story
Google Realtime get's a new home!
While I was torn between this and Blekko, I decided to go this way. Why? Well for quite some time now I have all but discounted Google's RTS, (real time search) from not only an SEO standpoint, but as a user as well. There really just doesn't seem to be enough value as a search tool and was nothing more than fluff added to the universal SERP landscape.
Last week though, Google decided to give Realtime (all one word in this iteration) it's own home. Yes, it is now a standalone vertical (you know, those little icons such as 'Video' 'Images' 'News' etc..). Is this a huge move? Not really.
It might be a second chance because of it being little more than a distraction as mentioned alread? Is it because focus testing showed people wanted it as such? That much I have no clue. But it is what it is.
For those that missed it, here's some good coverage on Google's blog, Search Engine Land and of course, my own on the Trail.
The short version is that there really isn't anything overly innovative here. But, at the same time, there is a reason it was broken out. Is it one of the aforementioned ones? Or maybe part of some master plan involveing the rumoured social strike; Google Me? Time will tell. But as a search geek I will at least be keeping an eye on it just in case.
If you have thoughts on it, I'd love to here from you!
The myth of the Tool Bar PageRank - was just me going a little wingy, (over on the SEOBS blog). But seriously, I get so frustrated when peeps confuse TBPR and the actual PageRank stuff. Can't we keep it sorted? At least so noobs don't get confused? Thanks.
Search Engine Visibility As a Metric – Richard Baxter, (my nomination for search geek of the year) had an interesting piece on search visibility metrics. It was well done and covers the obvious weaknesses, but did miss an important one; SERP flux. All in all a good post though
Can Link Building Give You or Your Client a Bad Reputation?- wow, the answer to this one is simple. Of COURSE it can. Kristi does go on to give some good examples. If you consider links to be marketing/promotion, then it should be a no-brainer as far as the potential damage that can be done.
When to Say Goodbye to a SEO Client- was a good post highlighting something that every SEO should understand as far as cutting problem clients loose. Something that I have written about myself in the past. Good stuff for sure.
Some Clues On Making Unique Content From Google – was some interesting chatter Barry reported on as far as ecommerce SEO. It was a thread JohnMu chimed in on about manufactuers being outranked by their distributors. A must read.
How user’s intention influence behavior in Search Results, - was some VERY interesting eye tracking research that seems to show the importance of well written meta descriptions/snippets in the SERPs. I'd check this one out if you haven't already.
You are a Certified Sucker - our newest writer on SEOBS highlighted some fun he's had looking for new staffers and a very cool certification program, that is good for a few laughs.
The Death of SEO- Was a post from Barry Adams that puts for the suposition that 'applification' will be the future and that SEOs will need to adapt or die. I don't personally subscribe to the view, but it seems to have started some interesting dialogue.
Selling SEO Services: A Consultative Approach- was (yet another) great post over on SEObook which is near and dear to my heart as I do mostly consulting these days.
Four Ways Bloggers Can Use Google Insights to Brainstorm- yea, these one's tend to be in the 'Weapons' section, but Google insights is by far one of my fav tools in the arsenal. Thus I bumped it up top here. |
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Monday, 23 August 2010 18:59 |
Lead Story
Andy Beard is BACK!
No seriously. You might not think it is an actual bit of news, never mind a TOP story. You might think, “oh that's just nepotistic crap”. Well, then yer just too young to remember. For the sake of the nitwits that need 'transparency' I have known Andy for a number of years. So what. Of all the people I have met over the years he's one person that was 'as advertised'. Nuff said.
The reason he's my choice is because he's been less than active for more than a year in the industry (he's even back on Sphinn, see here). A few weeks back he returned from the (self imposed) sabbatical and started writing like a man possessed. Putting together this week's edition I was faced with not one, but two posts I thought were worth highlighting. Turns out, both are from Andy.
So enjoy these;
First one, interestingly enough, Andy was talking to the (SEO Dojo) gang about well before the actual story ever broke out in the sphere. We wrestled (and I lost) over what to call it and Andy, being the fella he is, chose to research before simply posting and others got the drop in him. I can guarantee you, being the reporter I am, he was on this early. It is an interesting development, fodder for another day.
The second one.. well, what can I say. Just bloody hilarious. We had also been talking a fair bit about RDFa/Microrofmats last week and when he found those ones, it was just smashing. I am privy to the sites in question and it never ceases to amaze the level of sites that swim to ignorance island.
And so I decided, while they are both interesting stories from last week, for me, having Andy back writing is the REAL story here. Great to have him back... ya'll don't know what you were missing.
Oh and for the geeky side of the 'implicit site search' mechanism, see Bill's post
And on with the show we go....
5 Reasons Why I Won’t Link to Your Website - was an insightful, if not slightly tongue in cheek, post from Wiep. I am personally often guilty of #2, fortunately he's not held that against me in the past.
Tracking Seasonal Search Behavior - with the holidays fast approaching I figured this one was a good addition this week. Beyond that, more and more these days behavioural targeting is worth knowing more about. A worthy addition.
Market Research for Link Building; Who You Can Get Links From – While I have never heard of Paddy Moogan (luvn' the name tho) this post was actually a fairly good one (via SEOmoz blog). Anything new and earth shaking? Well, no. But it is a nice collection of ideas all in one place.
Five Myths About Link Building – the WordStream gang put out a good (little) post on some common mis-perceptions in the SEO space when it comes to links. The interesting one is the 'link begging one'. What I think they might have missed is that outreach is about forming relationships, to spamming out of the blue to ask for a link... ya know?
Could a Consumer Advocacy Group Help the Reputation of the SEO Industry? - was Matthews first post on the Trail and he wasted no time stirring things up. I suppose we haven't heard from the 'regulatory/standards' gang in a while so it is almost fitting. The comments are entertaining as well... give it a read!
YouTube video with EMBED tag – John has a nice little tutorial on RDFa for video which was quite handy for us (at the Dojo) as we were talking about RDFa/Microformats last week...this one is worth bookmarking. If you aren't up on micro-formats and video, you should be.
Search Engine Traffic Drops: How to Diagnose and Fix the Problem - these are always interesting and worthy. From penalties to outright banning, knowing how to walk the fine line is deffo important. Kudos to the LA gang for a strong post that covers much of it. I'd like to see more in the 'fix' dept tho.
Why 'Spam' is Everywhere & Why That Means Nothing! - Aaron picked up the conversation started by Rand and looks at the evolution of spam, Google's take and adds his usual flavour of tin foil and fun. Luv it!
SEO Metrics: Proving Value With Research, Data And Tact - coming up with quantitative/qualitative data for clients and C-level folks can be daunting on a good day. Tony (Adams) looks at some of the challanges and points of interest in this piece. A good read for freelancers, agency execs and managers alike.
SEO Turned on Its Ear – Sheldon, (aka Doc) decided to weigh in on the whole, 'Google evolution' which has made the rounds over the last while, (including yours truly). He seems to be of the mind that a move from the dominance of links in the ranking weights is on the horizon. What say you?
Google Search Results Dominated By One Domain - is SEL's entry into the oddities that we reported off the top. While I don't generally put multiple coverage, Matt was probably the 3rd person to notice it and did manage a response from Google. So it is worth noting on this rather important story.
SEO Dojo Radio episode 6 – this week the regulars chatted up including siloing and industry standards while Richard Baxter joined us in the second half to talk microformats. All in all another great show! |
/end SOSG session
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Tuesday, 17 August 2010 09:41 |
Lead Story
Google shows crazy ass local SERP!
Late last week I came across a very interesting post which was highlighting a Google (localized) SERP that had absolutely NO organic listings... forget the 3 pack. The seven pack is soooo last year... this is a bloody 10 pack and takes up the entire freakin first page. Here have a look (click to see full sized original);
Now, what this means depends on how U think about it. First off, it was a hard core localization and from what I know folks outside of NYC weren't getting it. Secondly, despite the whining from SEOs, it is actually a pretty damned good SERP from a user end standpoint. I mean if yer looking for car rentals, what more can U ask for?
It is also interesting, and telling, that there are a lot of reviews and 'place pages' in there as well. At the end of the day this is apparently a test and we'll have to wait and see what becomes of it. It does, once more, show us the value of being intimate with your query spaces and having all of your universal search duckies in a row IMO.
Have you seen any of these types of SERPs? Or other interesting/odd anomalies? Please to let me know as I am always interested in the various forms of SERP evolution.
And away we go... on with the show!
Google tests credit card serps again – 4th entry inserted on ppc results - I have been seeing more and more of these lately and it can be a tad concerning as they are slowly pushing the organic results further below the fold. A top organic ranking just ain't what it used to be huh?
It Isn’t “Old School SEO” If It’s Just Nonsense SEO – an entertaining post from Stoney and more 'Princess Bride' references... a Win Win if ya ask me. Hopefully we never hear about 'keyword density' again!
An In-Depth Look at Search Auto-Suggestions- I have covered some patents in the past on Google's suggest and it is always good n' geeky to see others getting into the act. A good post from Ann fer sure.
Link Building: It’s All In the Details- I couldn't agree more with Wiep as far as people looking for 'secrets' when it comes to link building. A good post of bullet points to sharpen you link building prowess. A deff keeper here.
Searching For Apples? Good Luck!- This one was funny enough to actually find it's way into last week's SEO Dojo Radio show. Barry found some pretty odd results that the quality peeps at Google just might want to look into. Query analysis gone mad!
Onsite SEO Interview with Dave Harry – yea, it's me. But I thought I'd include it because I am always amazed when anyone thinks talking to me is post worthy. A big thanks to the VM gang for having me on. Always appreciated.
50 Reasons To Cloak Links (& reasons not to) - is it just me or has Andy (Beard) been on a tear lately? Great to see him back blogging and this one is why. If you didn't catch it last week, I do suggest you wander on over and give 'er a read. Welcome back Andy!
46 new link building resources – WHAT??? Speaking of knocking them out of the park, Garrett (French) had a great round up for geeks of all persuasions.
Simple Testing Strategy for Microformats Implementation – was another good post from Richard on SEO Gadget. For those not paying attention, this is an area we've highlighted more than a few times here. Be sure to start getting yer chops up on this, m'kay?
3 Misunderstood SEO Best Practices- Terry VanHorne dropped a good post on the Trail last week on some commmonly misunderstood SEO practices. It was well recieved, so I thought to give it some more luv!
Do You Want To Rank For Large Fish?- Seriously, with a title like that how can we not include it? A good post from Julie over on the SEO Chicks blog. Apparently she's getting too much spam and .... well... lost it. (is that pic Photoshopped or what?)
SEO Dojo Radio - Local SEO and more!- And last but not least was the most recent entry on SEO Dojo Radio. Last week we yakked some recent search news and had a special guest, Darren Shaw, drop in to talk about his new local citations tool. All in all, another great show if I do say so. |
/end SOSG session
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Wednesday, 11 August 2010 06:56 |
Lead Story
Sensationalist crap in media
OK, no top story per se... just me whining and bitching. A while back Danny (Sullivan) went on a bit of a tirade over other news sources stealing graphic without attribution or otherwise giving credit for a story he broke/wrote.
It seriously does PISS ME OFF sometimes... case and point. I wrote about a recent patent from Goole on SEJ; Google Dynamic Linking.
It was some fun tin-foil-laden goodiness that I felt would likely get a few peeps talking. I personally didn't get too excited, but thought it would make good media. Then the folks over at eConsultancy grabbed it up... with NO ATTRIBUTION... as such; Is Google Planning to Kill SEO?
Holy shit! Not only did they not give attribution where they found the story, but they decided to somehow make it more glorified with a seriously abominated title (and back story). Though, of interest, it was the 'Social Media Producer' that wrote it, not an actual SEO industry type. And yes, there is NO WAY they found the patent on their own (little lone actually read the entire thing). The patent was awarded months ago, they find it the same day as my post? Methinks not.
It does bug me because others do pick up on the story from there (such as this one) and then the crap spreads. The lack of accreditation doesn't bug me nearly as much as the distortion does. Point being that if they had attributed, people might be able to read a more balanced version of it. Ya know... ? I have covered their posts in this offering in the past, I will be hard pressed to do so in the future.
Anyway, enough of that, on with the show!
What to Look For in a Link Builder - is yet another entry into the 'are link builders really SEOs' debate. It also goes beyond it and highlights some of the elements one should be looking for in a good link builder.
6 Ways to Increase Your Influence and Persuasion - Friend of the FireHorse, Gabriella Saninno had an interesting post on SEJ looking at building influence. Certainly some interesting stuff, though my own journey was more a fluke than a thought out approach... go figure.
Understanding The SEO Challenges Of Language Detection - I did enjoy this one as we really don't see enough of the good geekiness out there these days. The other aspect is that we really need to be working more on geo-location as it's one of the cornerstones of modern personalization. A good read...
The Bad Ass SEO Guest Blogging Contest - ok sure, it isn't exactly 'news' but I did want to highlight this particular contest as we at the SEO Dojo are one of the many sponsors... deffo worth checking out. Best of luck to all that enter.
Google Shows You How to Talk Out of Both Sides of Your Mouth (BETA) - seems everyone's favourite masked avenger, Aaron Wall, was back at it again last week. This week's topic? Paid links... One really does have to laugh at the state of the modern link graph oui? You bet.
Five Things I've Learned About Paid Links - Speaking of paid links, Melanie also was writing about them last week (via SEP) with her own guidlines/tips for those that participate in the world of text link advertising.
Panama Hat SEO - ok, I have no idea what Tad was smoking at the time. I equally doubt it was meant to be humourus, but I did find my self giggling in a WTF moment reading this one. So why not add it and confuse the rest of you? Hee hee...
Google Power User Tips: Query Operators - yep, nothing spectacularly new here, but ANY self respecting search geek needs to know their chops with 'Google hacking' and this is the place to start. So, it makes this week's edition for that alone.
Where Is Search Going? Surf Canyon’s Mark Cramer - I wanted to include this one because it is an interview with one of the uber geeks behind Surf Canyon. Of all the folks (IR, SEO et al) over the years, these guys were some of the smartest folks I have had the pleasure of talking to.
32 New Link Building Resources: the Local Link Building Edition – And last but not least for highlights this week, was a great round up from the folks over at Ontolo. Some handy stuff and good reading all around. I am not much of a 'list' guy, but when they're as usefull as this one, it's worth passing along to you. |
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Tuesday, 20 July 2010 10:21 |
Lead Story
Search just ain't nuetral
This week I wanted to touch on a bit of a controversy Google was having with the NYT again...lol... like that is some shocking news. Essentially they flew the concept out there that Google, being the behemoth it is, should somehow be regulated. Or if one goes by extension, search itself. That there should be some sort of neutrality to it.
For the record? They really do gotta stop feeding the columnists crack over there.... REALLY. Search algorithms are tweaked by the companies that own them to give the editorial slant that they believe is best for users. And this isn't just willy-nilly here. They have plenty of qualitative testing going on and are constantly looking to tweak them.
Details;
Some have even suggested that Google makes public the details of their algorithms... which to be to the delight of spammers as Marissa Mayer had mentioned during this little fiasco.
Yes, what Google decides to rank 1st or last can make the difference of success or failure to many an enterprise. Yes, they can be 'king makers' with their algos. But does that mean it should be open to public scrutiny? Should the government step in to put their own stamp of approval on it? I don't bloody think so my friends. It is a business and if they want to screw things up, let the market decide.
Search will NEVER be nuetral. The algorithms are created by humans who are themselves, by nature, biased in one way or the other. Even the humans working at news papers and in the Government. Ya know?
On with the show
Facebook and SEO; should you care? - was a post on the Trail from everyone's favourite search gypsy (ok, I am the only one, but that's beside the point). I was curious is the recent hype about Facebook and SEO was just that, hype. Want to know what we found? Your gonna have to read it.
Creating a Custom Content Strategy: Content Audit and Analysis- was a grooovy little post over on SEP about one of my favourite topics; content programs/strategy. If you aren't already fluid in this area, I humbly suggest you get on it NOW.
Link Building With Widgets – Debra had a post that not only looks at a good link building/marketing tactic, but also the value of private boards/communities (something I am also a fan of...for obvious reasons)
The Challenges of Measuring SEO Success, Part 1 - Search Engine Watch put up an interesting post that looks at the troubling area of measurements and benchmarks.
Link Building: It’s a Popularity Game- it's funny that we used to refer to it as 'link popularity' and that links aren't really as much a vote as they are a sign of good promotion and popularity. So I loved the title. Past that? It is a GREAT bit of link bait (graphic) from our pal Wiep Knol. Most deffo worth checking out!
Top SEOs Analyze Glorified Scraper Sites After May Day - another one I may not entirely agree with, but none-the-less there are some more data points for those still trying to get a handle on it all.
How to Know When Your Site Needs SEO Before Social Media - I am often asked about search and social as head-to-head competitors, which I think is silly. But sometimes, when the budget doesn't allow, one must choose one over the other. This article looks at just that... and does a good job of it too!
Google's Brand Debacle Backfires- well, I am pretty sure I don't even have to tell you who wrote this one do I? The title lone should give that away. While I may not see things the same way as he does, I am always entertained. A worthy addition!
Are We Over-Engineering the Link Graph? - friend of the Fire Horse and groovy search geekin' gal, Nichola Stott begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting, had another great post at her new hang-out, Search Engine Watch. She looks at some case studies to see just how important links are in this day and age. Want to know what she found? You'll just have to read it!
Google Caffeine vs. Google Mayday — SEM Synergy Extras- While I didn't fully agree with the analysis, it is always good to see some folks geeking out and trying make sense of the recent changes at Google. So a deffo 'B for effort' on this one. Besides, Vanessa rocks... hee hee.. (geek crush?)
Site Navigation & Information Architecture Fundamentals For SEOs - much like the content strategy mentioned off the top, another area I am bullish on is architectural aspects of SEO. It is massively important and something I will never cease to promote.... this SEL article is no different. A worthy read.
Google vs Bing (Part II) the link graph - Tony Verre dropped by the Trail with the second part in his series comparing the two engines still left standing. Some interesting stuff and he will be on SEO Dojo Radio this week to discuss his finding further. Great stuff fer sure. (you can get the entire series and data here)
The evolution of ranking signals; Google is getting past the link - was a post from yours truly over on the WordStream blog last week. I was making a case for where we may be headed in search. Please do drop by and leave yer own 2c on the matter.
SEO Dojo Radio #2 - in our newly started podcast we looked at FaceBook SEO, Google ME and some interesting developments in video SERPs. In the second half we were joined by ex-Yahoodler and public relations guru Nichola Stott. Have a listen and we hope you enjoy the show... i
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