Google decided earlier this week to change the way it provides local business listings. When searching for local business info, previously you would have seen this: You got a little map with a list of nearby local businesses matching your search. Since this map consistently showed up above regular search results, some businesses could rank […]
If they still seem somewhat of a mystery, I recommend the “How Internet Search Engines Work” article over at howStuffWorks.com. Although the engines deliberately keep some parts of their operation secret, the basics of how they work are public knowledge. And some of this information can be used to determine how search engine-friendly your website […]
We haven’t put out a reaction to Google Instant, that has some in our industry pulling their hair out and others sitting back and laughing. Some think it’s the death of SEO while others think it will be ultimately discarded as a failed experiment. The reality is somewhere in between. Until it’s been around for […]
As of yesterday, Yahoo has completed the switch over to Bing’s search engine results. This completes part of a larger process that was started last year when Microsoft inked a deal with Yahoo to power their regular search results (paid/sponsored results are not moved, yet). What does this mean for your website? Well, one less […]
Twitter became even more ubiquitous on the web with its launch of a “Tweet” button earlier this month, that can be placed on any web page. If you come across a news article you want to share on Twitter, simply click the “Tweet” button, assuming the author has provided it, and a pop-up window is […]
Google is now allowing businesses who have registered with Google Places (formerly Google Local Business Center) to respond to negative reviews that appear with a business listed on Google Maps. This is good news as it allows for dialog enabling businesses to represent themselves. A business owner can now answer their detractor’s complaints (and hopefully […]
By now you may have heard of Google’s latest update, dubbed “Caffeine.” It’s been on the horizon since the end of last year but now is fully propagated throughout Google’s system. You may have also heard that it can affect your website’s ranking unless you do something to counter that. Well I’m glad to tell […]
Lon Safko: Social Media, The Big Picture This video (click the link above to view) is provided by Lon Safko from a presentation he did going through the topics he covers in his book The Social Media Bible. While I disagree with some of the things he promotes (advertising inside of the massive online game […]
Last Friday, before the big Memorial Day weekend, Google released its list of the 1,000 most-visited websites. Guess who is the #1 website, reaching over 35% of internet users? Facebook.com. It shouldn’t be a surprise to any business, Facebook has twice in the last several months seen more visitors than even Google, which is the […]
Challenge The Kite Store is the U.S. branch of the first company in Europe to sell kites online beginning in 1995. Starting in July of 2007, the company sought to dramatically increase its online presence in America via improved organic search engine placement. Solution To increase positioning for keyword phrases that encompass the wide range […]