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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by Frank Curtin
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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by Wesley LeFebvre
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]
by Guest
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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by Frank Curtin
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]
by Wesley LeFebvre
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]
by Wesley LeFebvre
OMG – I feel like a new man and I’m not really sure what to do with myself. Because over the past several years I’ve gotten extremely good at spreading myself too thin. 16 hour days have been the norm. I’ve worked on numerous projects and, in all honesty, never fully-completed any of them.
Not in a way that I would have liked to anyway.
Well today that all changes!
Yes, I know it’s Friday, but who said anything about taking the weekends off – I still don’t know how to do that yet.
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by Wesley LeFebvre
Last week there was major buzz going around about the latest Google Panda update 2.5. And as usual, there was plenty of controversy. One of the most controversial items discussed over the weekend and last week was YouTube topping the list of winners AGAIN.
Yep, that’s right. Youtube, as well Google’s Android.com and partner AOL, all topped the list – earning some of the biggest gains from Google Panda 2.5. Along with several mainstream news media sites.
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by Wesley LeFebvre
Have you checked your company website or personal blog for link errors recently? If not, I bet you’d be surprised of how many issues you find using one of these handy free tools.
Regardless if you run a blog, small static website, or a large corporate site; finding and fixing broken site links is extremely important for user-experience, proper indexation, and better search engine rankings.
One way to do this would be to go through your site and test each hyperlink by clicking on them one at a time, but that’s not really feasible for most websites. Especially when most of us are already strapped for time. You could also verify your site with [...more]
by Wesley LeFebvre
The following is a guest post by Mark Barry from Integrity SEO Experts.
Since the notorious Google Panda/Farmer update in February 2011 there has been considerable speculation about what the updated algorithm means in the long term.
Going back a bit, Google’s algorithm was set to determine what type of content a website was offering. Moving more up to date, it began to include factors such as user interaction with any given site. [...more]
by Guest
