Find Backlinks Using HOT New Tool: Ahrefs

When Yahoo! Site Explorer shut down I was pretty bummed because there weren’t many functioning alternatives available. That was primarily due to the fact that most of the backlink analysis tools relied on Yahoo! Site Explorer’s link data. At the time the only two worthwhile data sources left were OpenSiteExplorer and MajesticSEO.

However, shortly after Yahoo Site Explorer shutdown I stumbled across this awesome new competitive intelligence tool I’ve been meaning to tell you about: Ahrefs Site Explorer.
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5 Steps to Ranking Higher in the Search Engines

Search engines deliver most websites anywhere from 50% up to 90% of their overall traffic, and for many companies search engines deliver 75-90% of their online revenues. But if you want to get this kind of traffic and revenues from search engines, you need to rank on the first page, and probably in the top 3 positions.

But search engines in 2012 are getting more competitive than ever. Niches that once had next to no competition are now dominated by companies spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on SEO packages each month.
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Using Authorship to Stand out in Google SERPs

Over the past year or so you’ve probably noticed a lot of author profiles showing up in Google’s search results. That’s because Google launched authorship in search, which allows bloggers like myself to gain notoriety for sharing our knowledge and expertise. But, an authorship listing in Google’s search results isn’t guaranteed for everyone, and you have to set up your site properly to get it to work.

So a little while back I decided to implement it on this site to see if I could get it accepted.
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5 CHEAP Ways to Brand Your Website Today

Does your website give off a branded vibe, or does it fail here? I hope it’s not falling short, because I think you already have an idea how important branding is to any business, online or off. But if that’s not enough, I’m here to tell you now’s an extremely crucial time to establish it for SEO purposes too.

Here’s just a couple of major reasons why.

1. A few years ago Google rolled out an algorithm change known as the “Brand Update”, which affected numerous sites world-wide. Google officially named it “Vince”, but most SEOs refer to it as the Brand Update, after seeing how dramatically the search results changed in favor of brand names.
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Making The Most of Meta Descriptions

There is an ongoing debate as to whether search engines use keywords in meta descriptions to rank a web page. One thing is certain though, Google sometimes (but not always) uses the description as a snippet when it presents search results to a user on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Generally if the user is searching for a URL this is the case.

The main point here is that you are in control of what your meta description states and a well crafted statement about the page can increase your clickthrough rate.
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Last-Minute Tips for Christmas Optimization Success

So it’s Christmastime again, and you’re not quite sure how to get Christmas shoppers to your site from the search engines. Or perhaps you’re just wondering if it’s even worth your time optimizing for.

Actually, it’s really easy to get your site in front of millions Christmas shoppers within just a few minutes, even if you’re not offering any Christmas specials this year.

For some of you it may be too late to search engine optimize your website for Christmas, but it’s definitely not too late to create a page for New Years and other Holidays in the future.
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Top 10 SEO Apps for iPad

Search Engine Optimization is one of the best ways to get your website or blog ranked within the search engines. And if you have an Apple iPad with mobile broadband you can perform SEO tasks right through your device, from just about anywhere, using one of these top search engine marketing apps:

Google Analytics for iPad

Google Analytics is the premier web analyzer for blogs and other websites. If you need an app that will give you up to date stats on your blog or website, Google Analytics is the app for you. This app will give you charts and stats through reports to the iPad’s full screen mode. The standard version will give you ten data rows. If you want more, you can upgrade to the fully featured version at around 7 dollars. [...more]

Benefiting from the Google Freshness Update

On November 3, 2011 Google implemented its latest update to the Caffeine algorithm appropriately named The Google Freshness Update.

This update to the search algorithm focuses on rewarding websites that offer fresh content. Not surprisingly news websites did very well, some better than others but we will get to that later.

News Sites and Other Winners

News sites generally update their content by the day, hour and some by the minute. Celebrity news and gossip sites have also done well by the same reasoning.
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Getting Slapped by a Google Panda Update

If you’ve been running a website for any length of time then you’re probably getting used to watching your search engine rankings fluctuate slightly, day in and day out.

But have you ever had your rankings fall off the grid after major Google update? Or even worse yet – had a web site penalized before?

Well I have!

And unfortunately it can happen to you too…

So I’m gonna share my experience with you in hopes it will help you avoid getting hit negatively by a Google Panda update and fix your site if you do. [...more]

Simplify Your SEO Business

Well the results are in and it’s clear I’m not the only who’s struggled with time-management issues while running an SEO business online. Luckily, there are a ton of resources and tools to make our lives easier. I’m gonna share a few of the things that REALLY helped free up time and take my business to the next level.

Don’t worry, I’ll keep the recommend resource list light because the last thing I want to do is [...more]