Search Engine Weekly Round-up #27

Posted on May 24, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

The Search Engine Weekly Round-up is where I look at the finest articles, talking points and news from the week, all from the worlds of SEO, Marketing, Social Media, etc. This week looks at the latest Penguin update, utilising remarketing, how somebody lost 80% of organic traffic, and link building for your blog.

Penguin 4, With Penguin 2.0 Generation Spam-Fighting, Is Now Live
Barry Schwartz
Follow @rustybrick
Well, here it is ladies and gents – the latest penguin update has been rolled out. Matt Cutts announced the release of this update on the 22^nd of May via his blog, stating that 2.3% of English-US enquiries have been affected, and that Penguin 2.0 has been fully rolled out in other languages as well.
One extra item to note is that there is now a Penguin Spam Report, where you can report Spammy sites that this update hasn’t noticed.
If you want to find out more about what may have been affected in this 2^nd algorithm change, we’ve got that covered here. So, have you noticed anything in your rankings after this update? Feel free to leave your comments below.
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What is an Advertorial and How Can It Be Used?

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

An advertorial is, simply put, an advertisement under the guise of an editorial piece. They are designed to promote and advertise a product/service/brand, whilst doing so in the layout of other content on the website.

Advertorials have been around for quite some time, originally used in newspapers/print media, dating back to the 1940’s, eventually transitioning over to the web. This post will look into why advertorials are used, past controversies and what should be taken into account if you plan on running an advertorial campaign.

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Search Engine Weekly Round-up #26

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

The Search Engine Weekly Round-up is where I look at the finest articles, talking points and general news from the week, all from the worlds of SEO, Marketing, Social Media, etc. This week features blogs about converting from 404 pages, viral email marketing, speaking to non-technical clients, and breaking the news of Penguin 2.0 to your clients.

Valuable 404 Pages
Ben Cook
Follow @Skitzzo
I’m sure that we’ve all seen 404 pages that are entertaining, creative or funny, but you seldom see 404 pages that can convert, which is what this post is all about.
Ben Cook ended up implementing a contact form into the 404 pages of his client’s website, which also contained a small apology, stating that the user can send an email and receive a link/file in regards to what they were looking for originally.This can help create a rapport with the user, whilst showing a fine level of customer service.

Ben’s idea ended up proving profitable, as said rapport opened further talks, which eventually led to sales. This is a fantastic post, offering a very simple, actionable idea which can be a huge boon for your company.

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Google’s Penguin 2.0 Update: What We Can Expect

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Matthew Barby

It’s been just over a year since the first Penguin update and many websites are still shaking at the sound of the word. The Penguin update affected a huge number of websites, including some high-profile brands that were engaging in all sorts of spammy link building techniques. Matt Cutts has now confirmed on Twitter that Penguin 2.0 will hit the search engines within the next two weeks:

@mrjamiedodd we do expect to roll out Penguin 2.0 (next generation of Penguin) sometime in the next few weeks though.

— Matt Cutts (@mattcutts) May 10, 2013

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WordPress SEO Tips: Get the Most Out of Your WordPress Blogs

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

With over 40 million new posts created every month, and with it holding host to the likes of CNN, UPS, Reuters, et al, it’s safe to say that WordPress is the premier platform for you to build your site upon.

On top of using it as a content management system/blogging platform, it can be massive in your SEO strategy.

A vanilla WordPress site can be well optimised for search engines, but there are an absolute plethora of methods and plugins out there which can vastly improve your WordPress SEO, and help get the most out of your site.

This post will run through a list of methods that you can introduce to your WordPress website/blog, and as well as that, I’ll also mention various plugins which can play a big part.

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Search Engine Weekly Roundup #22

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

The Search Engine Weekly Roundup is where I give you a list of the finest blogs from the week, revolving around SEO, Social Media, CRO, Marketing, et al. This week, we look at creative link building and link building resources, as well as what to think about when building a landing page, and how to build an online community.

The Second Most Creative Link Building Post Ever
Jon Cooper
Follow @PointBlankSEO
The Most Creative Link Building Post Ever was one of the most popular posts of the past few months, and is currently the highest rated article on Inbound.org. Jon Cooper of Point Blank SEO asked a group of SEOs “What was the most creative way you, or someone you know, got a link?”, and listed their responses in the aforementioned post. This post is a follow up to that, due to the sheer flurry of responses that he got, and the popularity of the post. This is a fantastic read, which contains very creative, inventive link building methods from some of the finest SEOs around.
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Search Engine Weekly Roundup #21

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

The Search Engine Weekly Roundup is where I give you a list of the finest blogs from the week, revolving around SEO, Social Media, CRO, Marketing, et al. This week looks at building Google+ authority, social media strategies, link building and seasonal campaigns.

Being an Authority on Google+ Directly Impacts Search Results
Jeff Sauer
Follow @jeffsauer
Starting things off this week, Jeff Sauer has constructed a case study based on the importance of Google+ to SEO (spoiler: it’s rather important). Jeff’s study is the culmination of a 3 week test, where he looked at the impact of Google+ on a set of new websites, by isolating it from all other factors, by only using Google+ promotion. The post details the entire process of what he did and what happened, and is all wrapped up with 8 key points to take away from the whole situation. Essentially, the crux of the matter is: Google+ can have a huge effect, and can help a site rank quickly and indeed help retain those rankings.
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The End of Google Reader: 3 Alternatives

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Liam McCarthy

Recently, Google announced that they were retiring Google Reader, nearly 8 years after its inception. The reasoning behind this is provided by Alan Green, a software engineer, via the Google Reader blog:

“There are two simple reasons for this: usage of Google Reader has declined, and as a company we’re pouring all of our energy into fewer products. We think that kind of focus will make for a better user experience”

Although, Brian Shih, a former Google Reader Product Manager, has said that its downfall may have stemmed from Google+. More on that can be found here.

It’s going to be completely gone from July 1^st, with Google giving us a few months to say our goodbyes, and of course, find an alternative feed reader. In light of this, I’ve been researching and using a plethora of RSS readers recently, and I’ve chosen three Google Reader alternatives.

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