Just how important is it to rank first? Studies show that the divide between first and second place can be huge. Specifically, a page that ranks first has a 53% click rate, while a page that rank second drops to just 15%. In today’s competitive market, it’s imperative to gain that extra advantage. Particularly, if you’re a small business. There’s no guarantee that you will catapult to the top, but if your ranking has been stuck in neutral, give these approaches a try. Below are … Continue reading →

Google Search Guru Matt Cutts recently released a new video as part of his Webmaster Video series that helps to clarify ‘What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO for Google?” The video provides insight into a number of algorithm changes, penguin updates and Webmaster Tools improvements that are likely to be rolled out in the coming months. Here are 8 takeaways that Matt addressed in the video: 1. Penguin Updates Tentatively named Penguin 2.0, the latest version of Penguin … Continue reading →

We’ve referenced the semantic web several times in the past, and how its creation will forever alter our experience with the Internet. Within the past year, Google has made significant strides in making the future of search a thing of the present. Available as a mobile application for both the Android and iOS operating systems, “Google Now” operates as an intelligent personal assistant – predicting and delivering the information that it believes is relevant to your needs, interests and current condition. How It Works Google Now … Continue reading →

Signs relay the information we need to arrive to our destination. Those signs tell us which direction to go, how fast we can drive and when we need to take caution. In your quest to build website traffic, you won’t see something as obvious and glaring as a big, red STOP sign, so here are some subtle signs to look for when you’re trying to navigate the highway of SEO. YOUR SEO WON’T SHARE INFO? APPROACH WITH CAUTION  So, you’ve hired a company to do … Continue reading →

Social Media and the Sales Cycle According to “The Future of Selling” by Ogilvy and Mather, 65% of the most successful salespeople believe social media is essential in their success. It’s hard to argue with the results (which we’ll discuss in just a second). Social media can do many things for your business, including shortening the sales cycle. Let’s define the sales cycle in these steps: Prospecting customers Planning the sale Approaching the customer Assessing the needs of the customer Presentation Negotiating and meeting objections … Continue reading →

There’s marketing…and then there’s “remarketing.” Google didn’t invent the idea but they are reinventing the way it’s done online. The basic concept of remarketing is simple. Remarketing involves promoting your products to individuals who have visited your website before and showed interest in a particular area of your website (ie. Viewing your Electronics page for over a minute). Rather than forget about them or ignore them entirely, remarketing allows business owners to stay engaged with potential customers. Google’s solution to remarketing is particularly clever. If … Continue reading →

Almost like clockwork, every decade brings us a new development in cell phone technology. Take a look at this timeline: 1973: Motorola unveils the DYNA-TAC, a 2.5 pound prototype cell phone. 1983: Motorola receives approval from the FCC for commercial cellular use and introduces the first cell phone for everyday consumer use. The Motorola DynaTAC 8000X is available for just $3,995. December 1992 (nearly a decade later): A test engineer for the Sema Group in the UK uses his personal computer to send a text … Continue reading →

In November of 2012, Google announced the eventual roll out of a new feature designed to improve In-Page Analytics. Google calls it Enhanced Link Attribution. It was an exciting announcement for Search Engine Optimization professionals as well as page designers.  Now, it’s ready for use. What is Enhanced Link Attribution? The upgrade addresses one of the major complaints of the SEO world. Before the update, Google Analytics could not distinguish multiple links on one page that led to identical destinations. For instance, if you had … Continue reading →

Search, as an industry, has seen its fair share of change over the past couple of decades. In its infancy, Yahoo was considered the dominant force in search. By the year 2000, a little California start-up called Google surpassed Yahoo as the dominant search engine. And in 2004, Microsoft launched their new search engine, Bing. Since Bing’s entrance in 2004, the search industry has been relatively stagnant. While Yahoo, Google and Bing have all made major improvements to their algorithms, it has been some time … Continue reading →

Content marketing is the term we use to describe efforts to reach an online audience using engaging, valuable and interesting information. Not only is it an effective means of reaching potential customers, it’s also a powerful way to increase your visibility in Google’s search engine results page (SERP), thanks to Google’s changing algorithms. We want your website to not just attract customers, but also to keep them on your site. The best way to do that is to give your visitors compelling content that encourages … Continue reading →

We’re closing in on a new year and, for many of us, the resetting of the calendar presents the opportunity to reset or adjust our personal and professional goals. Those New Year’s resolutions may seem cliché, but what better time to seriously consider what’s essential to you and your business? As far as personal goals are concerned, that’s up to the individual. But, if your aim is to build your business in the next year, online marketing should be at the top of your list … Continue reading →

Raven Tools, a popular search engine optimization and PPC metrics tool provider recently announced that it will be discontinuing its rank checker tool. The decision by Raven Tools to stop displaying SERPs rankings and keywords within its tool set, was made in favor of staying on Google’s good side and retaining access to the AdWords API. Many within the industry rely heavily on tools such as the one provided by Raven Tools to gain insight and perspective on their SEO efforts. By analyzing ranking data … Continue reading →

Drupal is not as SEO friendly out-of-the-box as it’s counterpart, WordPress.  However, you can easily optimize a Drupal site for search engines using a combination (or all) of the modules described below.   The modules mentioned in this article are listed among Drupal’s most popular modules, and have been supported and maintained for years. Page Title The <title> tag has a significant impact on a web page’s SEO.  Since every piece of content in Drupal has a title, Drupal uses that title and the site’s name … Continue reading →

For more than four decades, search has been about matching keywords to queries. Search engines have never had a way of understanding the subtle idiosyncrasies that exist in language. English, as a language is particularly peculiar, with words often having double or triple meanings. To a search engine, there is no distinction between the word [bat] — as in the hairy, flying mammal, or [bat] — as in a Louisville Slugger. A new feature of Google, called the Knowledge Graph, attempts to remedy this inadequacy … Continue reading →

Your ecommerce website is up and running. You’re now just waiting for all those visitors to see your products and order them for holiday gifts. So how’s your m-commerce site looking? Is it ready? Does it even exist yet? If not, consider this: according to a survey from Javelin Strategy and Research, shoppers spent nearly $21 billion last year using mobile devices. With new technologies on the horizon that service the M-commerce industry (such as Google Wallet) and with an ever-growing list of first-time smart … Continue reading →

In the real world, a business, a performer, or anyone looking for a following must spend time, effort and resources to build a base. In the Twittersphere, there are companies who offer to do that for you for a few dollars and zero sweat on your end. But how effective is purchasing Twitter followers? It’s certainly a gray area in social media marketing and it’s a subject that is divisive among marketing experts. The Arguments The “Pro Purchasers” believe adding a base of followers (whether … Continue reading →

We’ve heard for some time now that Google employs the help of actual humans to assess the quality of websites in their index, but we’ve never known what specific criteria they used to do so. A recent leak of Google’s guidelines earlier this week has changed all that. The leaked guidelines are actually part of a larger leak, which happened to also include screenshots of the actual pages that the quality raters use to perform their duties. The Google Raters Quality Scoring Guidelines Raters are … Continue reading →

Google often stresses the importance of testing your designs when referencing online marketing best practices. The ability to test and then tweak your designs based on actual results is what truly differentiates web design from traditional print design.  As a company that emphasizes the concept of testing so emphatically, it shouldn’t come as much of a shock that Google is currently in the process of “testing” big changes to the appearance of their own search results page. Instead of the 10 results per page we … Continue reading →

Google’s algorithm has typically ranked a website based on how many other sites link to the particular site, on the assumption that sites that get more links are more trustworthy and thus more useful to end users. However, it’s well known that Google also regularly tweaks its algorithm to reflect new and current circumstances regarding the state of the Internet. Last years, panda update is a great example of a large tweak created in part because Google considered content farms to be a bad thing. … Continue reading →

Approximately 70% of the factors used to rank a website are related to off-page factors. We use this statistic quite often in this blog, but we do so for a reason – off-page factors, such as external links to your website are completely out of your control, and are therefore considered by Google to be more indicative of your website’s apparent authority than on-page factors, which you can manipulate. Although external links get a majority of the attention, a comprehensive internal linking structure should not … Continue reading →

The basic premise of search engine optimization hasn’t changed much since its inception. Websites that obtain links from authoritative websites are viewed as also being authoritative, simply by matter of association. Websites are ranked based on the quantity and quality of these backlinks. Where SEO today differs from SEO in years past, is that there seems to be an increased emphasis on quality. Google has always frowned upon manipulative linking schemes like paid directories, but historically SEO professionals have thought these links were discounted — … Continue reading →

In last week’s blog post, we discussed the appropriate procedure and relevant considerations when choosing an email marketing provider. Many of these considerations dealt with the breadth of the features list and the sophistication of the user interface. That being said, a gorgeous user interface and expansive feature list means little, if you don’t possess the necessary skills to use them. As the Internet evolves, so too has the sophistication of email marketing platforms. Below, we’ve included a list of what we consider to be … Continue reading →

Implementing effective Email Marketing is essential if you’re going to successfully promote your business. After a sticky website, an email newsletter should be the next weapon in your marketing arsenal. At some point, your email marketing list will reach a point where you are unable to manage it efficiently through mail services like Gmail or Outlook. So, rather than waiting for that day to come be proactive and find a commercial email marketing service. There are a large number of email marketing providers available and … Continue reading →

Google has long been accused of offering contradicting opinions in regards to mobile SEO. Those contradictions were recently put to rest during the iSEO panel at SMX Advanced, when Pierre Far of Google announced guidelines and recommendations for web design in regards to mobile SEO. The primary takeaway from the announcement was that Google recommends a responsive design when feasible; but advises individuals to use device-specific HTML if necessary.  Below, we will evaluate Google’s recommendations and try and distill what this means for you as … Continue reading →

The Basics – What Is a Hashtag? A hashtag is a symbol (#) developed by Twitter that allows individuals to categorize or follow a topic used in tweets. There are only a few guidelines to using hashtags – they must begin with the # symbol (#example) and they cannot contain any spaces. You can select from existing hashtags (Hashtags.org offers an overview of popular hashtags used on Twitter), or you can choose to create your own, such as Stephen Colbert’s recent creation, #ArtificialSwedener. Hashtags that … Continue reading →

In January, Google released Search Plus Your World, a type of customized search that allows Google + users to receive personalized results and profiles of people they know and follow. Microsoft made news recently when they entered into the social scene with Bing’s Social Features.  The two search engines are attempting to become more social by integrating search results with users’ social networks. In the case of Google, users have the option to switch between personalized and unpersonalized results by clicking either the person or … Continue reading →

Google recently launched their knowledge graph, which is an intelligent model that understands real-world entities and their relationships to one another. You might notice a visible change in the search results, which feature panels that have  snippets of information. Previously, search was about matching words with content. Now, the knowledge graph connects related concepts and ideas to provide better results and easier access to information. The knowledge graph contains more than 500 million objects, as well as over 3.5 billion facts about the objects, and … Continue reading →

Social media scoring is the practice of measuring people’s online influence, which is calculated using data from social networks. There are a few popular social scoring tools, including Peerindex and Kred, but the most popular and widely used is Klout. Like Google, which ranks the relevance and authority of websites using a proprietary algorithm, Klout ranks the influence and authority of people online using an algorithm. Klout gives users a score that “measures influence based on your ability to drive action.” The Klout score is … Continue reading →

Negative SEO is the malicious intention to decrease or penalize a site’s visibility and rankings in the search results. It is considered to be a “black hat”, or unethical technique- as opposed to “white hat”, ethical SEO.  While this practice is highly frowned upon, it is good to understand these techniques as a precaution to prevent your site from being manipulated. Businesses need to know what to avoid, but also how poorly performing competitors are outranking their site.  A high search ranking can depend on … Continue reading →

Google’s Matt Cutts announced a new algorithm change at the SXSW conference when responding to a question about regular websites competing with over optimized sites. The algorithm change was described by Cutts as one that will penalize sites that are over optimized, and level the playing field in the results. SEO can go beyond making sure pages are as useful as possible for the target audience and that the site is crawlable by search engines- that is what this change is targeting. This algorithm change … Continue reading →

Recent reports suggest that marketers intend to spend 10.8% of their budget on social media this year. To justify this significant investment in social media, CMO’s will without a doubt rely on reporting tools to assess the effectiveness of their social media campaigns. The ability for online marketers to assess social media campaigns does not come without its fair share of challenges. Even though social media is no longer a new frontier, measuring the effectiveness of a social media campaign still represents one of the … Continue reading →

Since its launch in June 2011, Google+ has attracted over 90 million users (about 10% of the amount of Facebook’s active users). Despite the preliminary fast growth, (Google+ gained 20 million users in the first 3 weeks) numbers imply that users aren’t spending much time on Google+. Wall Street Journal recently called Google+ a “virtual ghost town” in its article the Mounting Minuses at Google +. Google+ has an average use of just 3 minutes per month- lower than MySpace! Without active engagement, Google+ is … Continue reading →

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you’ve likely heard of Pinterest — the latest and greatest craze sweeping the Internet. To put it’s rapid growth into perspective, one must only look to it’s closest competition. Throughout the history of the Internet, the only website that has grown at a faster rate than Pinterest is a little website by the name of Facebook. If that isn’t impressive enough, consider this fact. Pinterest is not a novel idea. Why has Pinterest … Continue reading →

The need for businesses to invest in a proper mobile website has never been stronger. Recent statistics suggest that businesses who choose to forego this advice may quickly see their market share diminish. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, 61% of customers who visit a mobile unfriendly site are likely to go to a competitor’s site. With mobile Internet usage scheduled to surpass desktop Internet usage by 2014, businesses must consider implementing a mobile site to continue to be relevant. But the ways in which … Continue reading →

Over the past couple of years, we’ve witnessed social networking becoming increasingly important for businesses. Updates on social networks can be indexed by the search engines, and found by someone searching for your services. Friends of your fans can be exposed to your brand through their news feed. The vast number of ways that social networks empower your organization are too great to list. One social networking tool in particular that is really important is Google +.  Google made a change in January, and added … Continue reading →

As a full-service interactive agency, we are expected to understand all facets of the web. When a client comes to us with a question, it is our job to steer them in the right direction, and away from any situations that could harm their reputation. Recently, we were confronted with a question that to most would seem harmless enough. To jump-start a new campaign, a client was considering purchasing an email list. The allure of purchasing an email list is often hard for some businesses … Continue reading →

Think Google’s algorithm changes are determined only by a mathematical equation run by a gigantic computer? Think again! Since at least 2004, Google has utilized the services of third party companies to hire search quality evaluators- actual humans who help rate the quality of results and test potential algorithm configurations to see if they work as planned to improve results. I recently learned about Search Quality Evaluators from a Search Engine Land interview with one. Evaluators are asked to test algorithms or potential algorithm changes … Continue reading →

Google is always looking for the opportunity to upgrade search quality. Just about every month, Google makes one significant update to the search algorithm, but for every one major change there are many tens of minor changes. The amount of updates last year was reportedly over 600, To help simplify the hundreds of changes that happen each year, Google typically assigns a catchy codename to each major algorithm change. Algorithm changes with codenames such as Panda and Freshness should stand out in your memory as … Continue reading →

Year of the Share, not to be confused with Year of the Cher! Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg coined “the law of sharing” a few years back, where he predicted the amount of information shared digitally will double each year. Social media growth and adaptation logged some impressive numbers in 2011: Active Facebook users topped 800 million, and increased over 50% in daily users Foursquare hit 10 million members LinkedIn has grown over 100% since 2010, with over 100 million users worldwide Google + debuted, and is … Continue reading →

The implementation of a corporate Contact Us to schedule a time we can further discuss social media consulting.

With all of the new and emerging ways to get in touch with someone, it is easy to forget how valuable a simple email can be. Email marketing has become big business in recent years due to its ability to enhance the merchant/customer relationship and encourage repeat business. When compared with other marketing channels, email tops the list in regards to return on investment, rivaled only by search marketing as the most effective online marketing tactic. With monthly newsletters, reminders about sales, and so on, … Continue reading →

As we enter the brand new month of November, we can look back upon some important changes in the world of Internet marketing that occurred in October. Here is a re-cap of some notable events to keep you up to date in the world of online marketing. 1. Panda Update Google confirmed “minor” updates and tweaks to the Panda update that took place on October 9th and 13th, which is being referred to as Panda 2.52. According to a survey from SEO Round Table, 80% … Continue reading →

As we enter the brand new month of November, we can look back upon some important changes in the world of Internet marketing that occurred in October. Here is a re-cap of some notable events to keep you up to date in the world of online marketing. 1. Panda Update Google confirmed “minor” updates and tweaks to the Panda update that took place on October 9th and 13th, which is being referred to as Panda 2.52. According to a survey from SEO Round Table, 80% … Continue reading →

Online marketers who use Google Analytics as their reporting tool of choice may find a new addition to their keyword reports this month in the form of a “(not provided)” token. The origin of this relatively unhelpful token stems from a drastic change to the way Google tracks (or rather, chooses to not track) users signed in to their Google Account. The Change: Encrypted Search and Referrer Data In the past, it’s been a common characteristic of web browsers to report “referrer” data when someone … Continue reading →

Online marketers who use Google Analytics as their reporting tool of choice may find a new addition to their keyword reports this month in the form of a “(not provided)” token. The origin of this relatively unhelpful token stems from a drastic change to the way Google tracks (or rather, chooses to not track) users signed in to their Google Account. The Change: Encrypted Search and Referrer Data In the past, it’s been a common characteristic of web browsers to report “referrer” data when someone … Continue reading →

In 2007, the campaign for Barack Obama recognized the potential of the Internet, and made it a core element of the campaign. Regardless of the politics involved, Obama beat out McCain on the online marketing front and it made a significant impact on the election in 2008. With the 2012 Presidential elections quickly approaching, there is no doubt that this year’s candidates will take a hard look at their online presence. Looking back at 2008, however, why did it work so well? Other candidates had … Continue reading →

In 2007, the campaign for Barack Obama recognized the potential of the Internet, and made it a core element of the campaign. Regardless of the politics involved, Obama beat out McCain on the online marketing front and it made a significant impact on the election in 2008. With the 2012 Presidential elections quickly approaching, there is no doubt that this year’s candidates will take a hard look at their online presence. Looking back at 2008, however, why did it work so well? Other candidates had … Continue reading →

Of all characteristics that online shoppers use when evaluating a website, trust is paramount. Individuals who choose to conduct business with untrustworthy sites can expect several things to happen, none of which are good. Viruses and spyware can be covertly installed on your computer, slowing its performance and secretly logging your private information. Websites with security holes can also inadvertently leak your private information to outside parties. Both scenarios likely lead to the same grim conclusion – Identity Theft. To help defend against these malicious … Continue reading →

Of all characteristics that online shoppers use when evaluating a website, trust is paramount. Individuals who choose to conduct business with untrustworthy sites can expect several things to happen, none of which are good. Viruses and spyware can be covertly installed on your computer, slowing its performance and secretly logging your private information. Websites with security holes can also inadvertently leak your private information to outside parties. Both scenarios likely lead to the same grim conclusion – Identity Theft. To help defend against these malicious … Continue reading →

Sticking with their strategy of always innovating, Google recently introduced a new feature into Google Analytics called Multi-Channel funnels. To understand what a Multi-Channel Funnel is and why Google created them, let’s surmise this hypothetical situation. You own a manufacturing company and sell your products online through your website. We will call your company Brand A. You’ve recently developed a new product (We’ll call this new product, Widgets). A visitor comes to your website to research the benefits your Widgets offer. They arrive at your … Continue reading →

Sticking with their strategy of always innovating, Google recently introduced a new feature into Google Analytics called Multi-Channel funnels. To understand what a Multi-Channel Funnel is and why Google created them, let’s surmise this hypothetical situation. You own a manufacturing company and sell your products online through your website. We will call your company Brand A. You’ve recently developed a new product (We’ll call this new product, Widgets). A visitor comes to your website to research the benefits your Widgets offer. They arrive at your … Continue reading →

DBS>Interactive announces the launch of the newly redesigned Evergreen AES website. Evergreen AES offers a variety of environmental remediation and environmental consulting services. Evergreen’s mission is to maintain the delicate balance of humans and the environment by assisting clients, through the use of science and engineering, in managing environmental and OSHA risks while ensuring regulatory compliance with local, state, and federal agencies. DBS>Interactive redesigned their website to fully showcase their array of services and locations, making it easy for visitors to view Evergreen’s capabilities. An … Continue reading →

DBS>Interactive announces the launch of the newly redesigned Evergreen AES website. Evergreen AES offers a variety of environmental remediation and environmental consulting services. Evergreen’s mission is to maintain the delicate balance of humans and the environment by assisting clients, through the use of science and engineering, in managing environmental and OSHA risks while ensuring regulatory compliance with local, state, and federal agencies. DBS>Interactive redesigned their website to fully showcase their array of services and locations, making it easy for visitors to view Evergreen’s capabilities. An … Continue reading →

After months of searching for a proper suitor, the restaurant survey giant, Zagat Ratings has finally been purchased — and for most, it shouldn’t be shocking which organization opened their checkbook. I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with bugle. Google has developed a reputation for acquiring companies that stand in their way of world domination (j/k……..sort of). Whether the acquisition is an attempt to build new revenue streams or to cut competing revenue streams, Google seems to only acquire the best of the best. … Continue reading →

You’ve got your super awesome infographic with an eye catching design and bite size facts on your subject of choice. You want to introduce your creation to the whole wide world and get hundreds of links. Now what? We’ve compiled some suggestions to implement a successful infographic linkbuilding campaign. Be sure to check out our previous post about best practices for creating infographics. Taking the following steps will help your infographic build links and benefit your internet marketing campaign. Make it Easy to Share Ideally, … Continue reading →

Pre launch I was very excited about the G+ concept.  A chance to share more intimately with certain circles or niche sharing with others.   However as I participate I continue to realize G+ has the potential to do to social media what  air-conditioning did to the front porch. I come from a generation where everything was compartmentalized.    We had a work self, a family self, a sports self, a dancing self and on it goes ad infinitum.  Needless to say it created a lot of barriers and a lot to … Continue reading →

In the past, this blog has covered the vast majority of Google’s algorithm ranking factors. From link metrics like domain authority to on-page factors such as keyword density, our hope was that by explaining each you gain a better understanding of the ever-mysterious Google algorithm. But understanding an algorithm with over 200 ranking factors does not come without its fair share of challenges. On February 24, search engine professionals were thrown a new curveball to consider in their SEO efforts with the integration of Panda … Continue reading →

Shortly after launching the Google+ field trial, many web professionals (including myself) started to speculate as to how small to medium sized businesses  (SMB’s) could utilize Google+ pages in their online marketing strategy. Although Google+ as it currently exists is intended to be used only as personal profile pages, that hasn’t stopped many SMBs from jumping the gun and creating a personal page tailored to their organization. One of the earliest offenders, Mashable, a popular web publication, actually owns the title of the 9th most … Continue reading →

When Google Buzz launched in February of 2010, it was Google’s first real foray into social networking. Slammed for privacy violations, however, it was not without its fair share of criticism. Google Wave was Google’s next attempt at doing something social, but it ultimately washed out when Google stopped development in August of 2010 due to inadequate user adoption. Hoping to enhance online sharing Google’s next social experiment, Google+, is looking to stop the streak of social failures. Google+ is Google’s attempt to make sharing … Continue reading →

For many local and regional companies, the Yellow Pages were the predominant advertising medium of the 20th century. Created in 1886 by Reuben H. Donnelley (10 years after Alexander Graham Bell patented the phone), the Yellow Pages revolutionized advertising by offering individuals the ability to search for contact information of local businesses for the first time in history. With the proliferation of the Internet in the 1990’s, Yellow Pages were suddenly confronted with a competing product.  Flipping through pages in a book was no longer … Continue reading →

It has been an eventful week in the world of Near Field Technologies (NFC), which allow two devices to interact and share information by bringing them close together. Near Field Communications work by transmitting radio frequencies at a short distance (within 1.5 inches) from one device to another. NFC enabled devices can read information from embedded smart tags, like on posters, stickers, and other products as well. First Ever Public NFC Marketing Campaign Released in UK- 5/23 The first ever NFC public marketing campaign was … Continue reading →

As the saying goes, “An image tells a thousand words.” No trend literally spells this out more effectively than infographics. They’re used to teach children, college students, and CEOs alike, expressing statistics and knowledge with a graphic representation and making it easy to digest and quick to deliver. Infographics have been all the rage in recent years. They are used to the point where designers will create an infographic about infographics. But what’s the marketing value of using an infographic as a part of your … Continue reading →

Facebook made headlines earlier this week when they announced the development of a second daily deals program, which they will call “Social Deals”. The original “Facebook Deals” will change its name to “Check-in Deals” to distinguish it from the new program. Restricted currently to a Beta launch test market in 5 cities — Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, San Diego and San Francisco — “Social Deals” will feature a Groupon-like experience with offers that are meant to be experienced with others. Users can pay for the deals … Continue reading →

Google is always adapting its algorithm to improve search quality and deliver the most relevant and customized results to its users. The latest feature that strives to provide this is the +1 feature, the newest experimental lab that integrates search and social within the results page. Social media has become an important factor in the Google algorithm within the past year, and the ultimate goal of this latest feature is to allow users to provide input and share sites with others by +1ing sites right … Continue reading →

Originally dubbed the Farmer Update by Search Engine Land, Google’s latest algorithm shake-up (It was later found that Google Employees referred to it internally as the Panda Update) was clearly targeted to resolve many of the issues with low-value content farms invading the search results. As a result of the changes, many websites that utilized these content farms in their online marketing are crying foul. Some websites, such as healthcastle.com saw their search traffic decline as much as 40% in one day. Mahalo, an actual … Continue reading →

Individuals just beginning to learn about search engine optimization often perceive it as this great mystery, like the Bermuda triangle of the Internet. A lot of the mystery derives from the very nature of the industry. The search engines don’t want online marketers to know what factors are most important because there will always be a small percentage of individuals who exploit and abuse the system for their capital gain. Regardless of the search engine’s reasons, we realize your position in the search engines is … Continue reading →