Chipper Nicodemus say, “It wasn`t too long ago, (a year or so) that nearly everyone working in the field of search engine optimization (SEO) would suggest using “high quality” guest blogging as part of a link buildingstrategy. Well, in January of this year, Matt Cutts, Head of Webspam at Google, put a dagger in the heart of guest bloggers, calling it, “the decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO.” In March, Google took action against several guest blogging sites in the form of a manual penalty. In June at SMX Advanced, Cutts said again, “some people still don`t get it [that... [...]

Bryson Meunier says, “No one applauded louder than I did when Google introduced their warning in search results forfaulty redirects in June of this year, and then, warnings for Flash earlier this month. It’s definitely a step in the right direction for Google — and for searchers, who have had to endure less than usable mobile search results in Google for years. In 2011, I took a random sample of popular queries and their Google search results and found that only a small percentage of them were usable on mobile devices according to standards defined by the W3C, and the great majority... [...]

Elaine Yavorcik says, “On the day of your birthday you may expect the dozens of happy birthday texts, calls and Facebook messages from your friends and family. What you may not expect, are the many personalized birthday emails and offers you receive from your favorite brands. Because birthday emails are inherently sentimental and delightful to customers, they are a quick and easy win for any brand looking to enhance customer relationships. In fact, in a recent Experian Marketing Services audit of birthday email campaigns, we found that sending birthday emails is one of the most effective... [...]

SEO has many nuances that have some effect on your results, but one of the primary factors in a high rating is backlinks. And the most useful backinks are “do follow” links from influential sites. Finding authoritative sites that will give you backlinks is no small task, particularly “do follow” links. For example, IM NewsWatch marks its links to products for sale “no follow”. David Henry‘s software, Comment Commander Pro Plus 1, finds influential websites in your niche that allow “do follow” backlinks and helps you place backlinks on them. Finding... [...]

Erez Zundy says, “Most companies spend thousands (and thousands) of dollars looking to give their Web designers the tools they need to do their jobs efficiently and successfully, but are they spending their money on the right tools? There are some staples in every designer’s toolbox that should stay and some others that deserve a first look. Here are nine crucial tools for Web designers. 1. GITHUB Both individuals and teams can benefit from the features offered by GitHub. Sometimes you are not exactly sure how to integrate your next design idea, so asking for independent”. 9... [...]

Kunle Campbell says, “On June 11, Google Places became Google My Business. More than an exercise in rebranding, the name change heralded several important changes. Google+ integration has been improved. Google My Business (GMB) has been integrated with Google+ Local, the business listing that used to appear for local”. Google My Business: What You Need to Know Web Marketing Today  [...]

Courtney Eckerle says, “All of the content Infochimps had prior to this inbound marketing funnel transformation “wasn’t really relative anymore. We started, really, from scratch,” Amanda McGuckin Hager, Director of Marketing, Infochimps, said. “They specifically brought me in and said, ‘This is what we have. This is the deal,'” she added. This article will cover how the marketing team at Infochimps built an inbound marketing structure that could support their new venture, and enable the sales team to grow business into the Fortune 1000“. Inbound... [...]

Paul Nicholls uses solo ads to run his business. He consistently makes a profit from his ads, earning 2-3 times what he spent on the ad, or even more. In a world where many solo ads don’t earn any profit at all, and often result in a loss, Nicholls is an exception, someone who has learned to use solo ads the right way, the profitable way. Now he is sharing his solo ad strategy with us in Solo Ad Professor. He wasn’t always this successful; his first ads reaped no sales at all, but, as he tells the story, “I stumbled across a Powerful Solo Ad Formula that Changed Everything.” Not... [...]

John Tackett says, “Responsive design, like any new technology or technique, does not necessarily increase conversion. This is because when practicing Web optimization, you are not simply optimizing a design; you are optimizing a customer’s thought sequence. In this experiment, we discovered the impact responsive design has on friction experienced by the customer. Background: A large news media organization trying to determine whether it should invest in responsive mobile design. Goal: To increase free trial signups. Research Question: Which design will generate the highest rate of free... [...]

Peterd says, “For those new to optimizing clients sites, or those seeking a refresher, we thought we’d put together a guide to step you through it, along with some selected deeper reading on each topic area. Every SEO has different ways of doing things, but we’ll cover the aspects that you’ll find common to most client projects. Few Rules The best rule I know about SEO is there are few absolutes in SEO. Google is a black box, so complete data sets will never be available to you. Therefore, it can be difficult to pin down cause and effect, so there will always be a lot of experimentation... [...]