Google Web Algorithm Update

Matt Cutts, the head of Google's webspam team, announced that Google has begun rolling out version 2 of it's Penguin search algorithm. According to his blog post, this algorithm update was completed today (5/22/13). This means that Google is updating the way it ranks the websites in it's database. It also means that some websites might see their search engine placement change.

Video Overview

For More Information

The Google Webmaster blog includes more information about how Google Penguin changes affect how sites are ranked. Of course, if you have any questions you should feel free to leave a comment below or contact us.

Permalink | Posted: May 22, 2013

In the digital age, many companies and agencies are using social media venues, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, to reach out to their clientele. But when does social media marketing flop? As it turns out, a lot of businesses are failing to accomplish one simple thing: in order for your client base to interact with your social media campaign, you first have to bring them to it.

Marketing Basics Still Apply

Social media is great: it’s free used by a lot of people. But just like in all your previous marketing strategies, you need to be aware of the most fundamental basics of marketing.

Consider your customers. Ask questions: who are they? What do they want and what are they expecting from your company? What kind of social media networks are they using? These are the most foundational elements of a successful marketing strategy. If you aren’t engaging potential customers and clients, they will quickly lose interest.

Engage Your Followers

A major aspect of social media marketing is that the major focus should be on keeping your already devoted clientele. Social media works like the online version of word-of-mouth. If you have a following, let them know you care about them. When you post a photo of your product on Facebook, accompany it with a question – many will want to answer in the comment box.

Another extremely important aspect of social media marketing is to make sure your customers know that you’re doing it. If customers don’t know you’re updating your Facebook or Twitter page, they won’t see it. So make sure they know what you’re doing: link to your Twitter account or Facebook page from your website or use a combination of social media and outbound marketing to get the word out.

Social Media Marketing Content

Social media marketing is not magical, even if it is an important piece of a well-developed marketing strategy. Perhaps the most crucial aspect of all is to use good content. The best part of social media is its interactive nature – so use it to the fullest. Instigate discussions between your followers by asking questions and letting them respond both to you and to each other. If your followers ask questions, make sure you respond to them too!

Ultimately, social media marketing is not the be-all end-all of any marketing strategy, but it does offer a platform to show your followers that you care about them. In return, you will find that your clientele is much more devoted and interested in your product or service.

Permalink | Posted: May 21, 2013

Matt Cutts, the head of Google's Web Spam team, posted an informational video about Cloaking today. The video is below and we've summarized the main points for you. Cloaking is basically showing content to users that is different than the content you show to Google. We see (and hear questions about) this all the time. People are always asking us whether they can just include a ton of keywords in the code and hide it from the user - this is cloaking. Watch the video for more information.

Google's Definitive Cloaking Video

Main Points Of This Video

• Cloaking is showing different content to users than GoogleBot
• Cloaking Violation of Quality Guidelines
• Cloaking is High Risk - it might lead Google to punish your site by lowering your search rankings.
• It Is Often Used For Deceptive Reasons

We hope this short video helps to clear up some common questions about a search engine optimization technique that used to be common, but now can really hurt your placement in the search engines.

Permalink | Posted: Nov 02, 2011

Google Places is Google's local business directory service. This service allows you to list your business in the Google Places directory and appear when people search for businesses like yours in your area. It is a very powerful way to highlight the location of your business, verify information about your business with Google so you can be found, allow your customers to connect with your business online and keep track of how people are using your listing so you can make informed marketing decisions. The best part - it is free.

You have probably seen Google Places search results when you have searched for businesses in your area. The screenshot below shows what the Google Places results look like for the search "pizza boston". The Google Places results appear at the top of the search results page, right below the search box and above the normal search results. This means that if you business listing performs well in Google Places, it could perform better than all of the other search results for the search terms you are targeting.

The Google Places search results include your contact information and they show your business on a map with other similar businesses in your area. The results also include a link to your website and a link to your Google Places page. The Google Places page includes additional information about your business including your hours of operation, services offering, parking information, coupons, customer reviews and more.

How To Get Started

To get started, visit http://www.google.com/places and sign up for a free account. If you already have a Google Account you can use that to login. If not, you can create a free Google account in a few minutes and you will be able to sign up to start creating your business listing. Once you create your account, you will see a big button labeled "List Your Business". Just click on this button and Google will walk you through the process of creating your new business listing.

How To Optimize Your Listing

Once you have created a listing, you will want as many people to see it as possible. Here are some tips to help you optimize your listing and improve your visibility.

• Only include your business name in the business title field - It is tempting to include extra keywords, your phone number or other descriptive text with your business name, but Google Places has guidelines that forbid this practice. You should only include your actual business name in the "Company" field. (source)
• Make sure you have a physical location - Google Places is only for businesses that have a physical location. Google does verify your submission data, so if you don't have a physical location in a specific area don't try to cheat the system. Google Places does allow you to indicate your service areas. If you are located in Town A, but also provide service in Town B, just create a listing for your actual address in Town A and use Google's tools to indicate your service area. (source)
• Add useful descriptions and choose the right category for your listing - Including useful information in the "description" field and choosing relevant categories for your business will help improve your visibility. In addition, this information will make the listing more useful to potential customers who are searching for your services. (source)

Advertising Your Listing

Everything we have described so far is free, but if you want to be more aggressive about promoting your business with Google Places you can use their new advertising service Google Boost.

Google Boost will help you create an advertisement for your business based on the information you provide in your Google Places listing. They provide suggestions regarding ad text, categories, keywords and monthly advertising budget. Once you setup your advertisement and confirm the settings with Google Boost, your advertisement will begin to display almost immediately. The advertisements are pay-per-click ads, so you will only pay when someone clicks on your ad. If no one clicks your ad, you don't pay anything.

Contact Us To Get Started

You can do everything we have described above yourself, but we know you have a business to run. If you need help setting up your Google Places account, please contact us. If you have questions, or if you want to share more about how you are using Google Places, please leave a comment.

Permalink | Posted: Mar 10, 2011

In a new report from Statcounter, a free online visitor stats tool, the company breaks down marketshare for the major search engines. The report includes a few significant facts.

Worldwide Search Traffic

Bing is now more popular than Yahoo!. According to the press release, Bing overtook Yahoo! as the second most popular search tool worldwide. 4.37% of global search traffic goes to Bing. Yahoo! gets 3.93% of global search traffic.

The clear winner in this is Google with 89.94% of global search engine traffic.

United States Search Traffic

In the United States Yahoo! at 9.74% still retains its lead over Bing at 9.03%. Google's share in the US is 79.63%.

The full press release can be found on the Statcounter website.

Permalink | Posted: Mar 02, 2011