Search Engine Marketing
Ouch! 2013 Traffic Bleeds 22% for Internet Yellowpages (IYP) Websites
Remember sites like Yellowpages.com and Mapquest, before you Googled everything? Internet Yellowpages (IYPs) are “business search engines” that categorize businesses by type. Users search by biz name or type, and then see basic results showing phone number, website URL and physical address. In the Internet’s formative years, people turned to these websites as an alternative to … Continued
Social Media Week Chicago 2013
I had the privilege of attending Social Media Week Chicago 2013 two weeks ago and was overwhelmed by the forward thinking, informed leaders in the social media and digital marketing community with whom I made connections. #SMW is a mostly free conference held over 5 days on 4 different continents and features professionals and industry … Continued
Google Releases the “Hummingbird” in 2013
Late last month, on their 15th anniversary, Google announced a major change to its search algorithm, dubbed Hummingbird, which had actually been active for over a month. Unlike the recent Panda and Penguin updates that affected a relatively small number of search results, Hummingbird may impact up to 90% of searches! So, what is Google … Continued
The Importance of Site Usability
Site usability is a very important facet of web development, perhaps one of the most important. No matter how well your website ranks in the search engines, if using your website is confusing, your visitors will not use your website. There are a number of things to consider when discussing site usability, such as browser … Continued
Fishing with the right bait makes all the difference… A post on Link Bait.
For a lot of businesses, marketing in the local waters of lakes and streams comes easily over time. You know what bait to use, in the right season, to really drive the fish, i.e., the customers, into your boat. The nice thing about the local lakes and streams is there is always someone on the … Continued
Speed It Up!
Back in 2010, Google announced that it would be incorporating site speed as one of over 200 signals that are used in determining search rankings. Site speed reflects how quickly a website responds to web requests. Speeding up websites is crucial, not just for owners but for users alike. In fact, hundreds of studies have … Continued
Pieces of the Marketing Puzzle
(Check out my latest!) I love the challenge of figuring out how everything fits together. Maybe it’s the inner child in me, but I LOVE to build Lego sets. In the last couple years, I’ve probably built about fifteen Lego sets ranging from airplanes, to a classic VW to a shopping mall. It’s a challenge (most … Continued
Tips for Quality Content
We hear it all the time, quality content is essential for successful websites. As Google places a higher degree of significance on website user value in its algorithm updates, worthwhile and informative content is being rewarded with higher search rankings. So what does this mean to webmasters and marketers who are looking to improve website … Continued
Content + SEO = Higher Rankings
The newest iteration of Penguin, identified by Google as Penguin 2.0, was officially released on May 22. Earlier in May, Google team leader, Matt Cutts described the upcoming changes, explaining that the newest Penguin update would focus on identifying and addressing black hat webspam. In the effort to penalize sites that use spammy tactics, Google hopes … Continued
Google SEO : What Updates Are Ahead in 2013
In a May 13 blog post, Google’s Matt Cutts posted a video on what web developers should expect in the next few months in terms of updates to the way Google ranks sites. A lot of these changes will have an impact on webmasters and the SEO community. Some of the changes are a continuation … Continued