There’s no doubt that, in the last few months, Pinterest has become the social media darling du jour. In March, Experian Hitwise data indicated that Pinterest was the third most popular social media platform in the U.S. with 104 million visit...

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It's officially 10 days until Europe's much talked about ‘law' comes into play doing its best to restrict and control the way site owners use cookies within their sites. The law sounds scary and there are rumors flying about how it will ‘kill European marketing'.

However the truth as we see it is that it's just a pain in the ass to have to stop what you're doing in order to comply. Then once you've complied you're getting in the way of your visitor's user experience with annoying pop-ups and warning messages. So, let's cover what this law is, what you need to actually change on your site AND how to do it gracefully without chasing your visitors away.

Understand The Law

Legislation states that on May 25th 2012, all sites within the Member States of the European Union AND sites that are outside of that area which are specifically targeting visitors within the Member States will be required to be sure that...

"...users be provided with clear and comprehensive information when engaging in any activity which could result in such storage or gaining of access. The methods of providing information and offering the right to refuse should be as user-friendly as possible."

Yes, it is written in a way that is vague and well...kind of nice. There aren't any solid restrictions and plain spoken language within the legislature that lays down the exact details which can be both good and bad. Good because it will allow you to find your own way to comply to this new law and bad because it leaves itself open to a lot of abuse. Then in turn (because of all the abuse and difficulty enforcing the law) those in charge will be forced to continue to update it with addendums in order to make it realistic. Here are just a few HUGE loopholes within the document as cited in Gigaom:

"It's not really a law yet. The document states that each member state should enact their own legislation in this area in order to harmonize with each other, but each country gets to apply it in its own way. Britain's government will have no impact on the French; the Spanish solution may be very different from the Italian, and so forth.

It doesn't ban cookies. It just asks that those sites which use cookies to track user behavior off site (usually to serve targeted ads) tell users that they're doing so. Login cookies and shopping carts would be exempt."

The Actions You Need to Take

Your site now needs to be transparent about how you are using cookies, detailing exactly what information each cookie holds and how long it will be held. Then you need to request permission from your visitors before cookies can be used. Yeah I know it's all still vague so here are 3 steps to compliance.

1. 1. Audit Your Site's Use of Cookies. Get rid of what you don't need and document how you're using them. Ask questions like: can they be linked to personal data like email address, applying to just this visit or future visits, how long they last, and are they 1st, 2nd or 3rd party?
2. 2. Update your Privacy Policy with exact details on how you're using the cookies and why. Use plain spoken terms. This law also dictates that you make your privacy policy more prominent. This can be easily done by adding it to your site's footer.

3. 3. Gain Consent. This is the part that you have a lot of room to figure out. From what we've read and researched there is any number of ways to get this part handled. The first thing you need to understand is the different types of consent.

   • Settings based consent
     This involves gaining consent when a user makes a change that affects how the site works for them. For example, this could mean asking the user if they want the website to remember a particular language setting and gaining consent for cookies to be used for this purpose.
   • Feature based consent
     This applies in instances where cookies are used to remember what content a user viewed the last time they visited the site, to enable content to be tailored to them – for example, remembering what videos they viewed last time they visited. In such cases, your site should make clear to the user that taking a particular action will result in a cookie being used. This could mean, for instance, highlighting cookie use when a user turns on a particular feature and requiring consent before the change is applied.
   • Consent for functional/analytical cookie use
     Cookies used to collect anonymous information about how visitors use your site still need user consent. This is relatively straightforward if a user has to log into your site, but more complicated where they do not. You'll need to make absolutely clear to users what cookies are being used, what they're being used for, and asking for consent.

   When it comes to how you gain consent from visitors be creative. To get you started here are some ideas that were officially released from the Information Commissioner' Office.

   • JavaScript pop-up box - explaining cookie use and offering 'yes' and 'no' options for consent. This is a good idea but popups can turn people off to your site and most browsers block them automatically.
   • Splash page - yeah maybe 5 years ago. This has proven to stop visitors in their tracks and is terrible for your optimisation.
   • Banner - shown along the top of the page to first time visitors with a tick box to allow users to consent, with cookies disabled until the visitor ticks to indicate consent.
   • Footer bar - similar to the banner concept, this would be displayed along the bottom. And here's the great part - if they do not click yes or no, but continue to use the site, consent can be inferred because they have seen a clear message but are still continuing to use the site. Then a smaller message could be maintained throughout the site in such instances, to remind users of the fact that the site is using cookies.
   • Remember preferences - When a user clicks to change a preference on your site they should get a check box that tells them that cookies are required in order to have the use of 'remember preferences'. When they click yes or I agree then you're good.
   • Flag changes to terms and conditions - This is an option where users have to log into their account on your site. They will need to see all changes and updates to your terms and conditions as they happen and re-agree to them. Consent cannot be assumed just by changing the terms and conditions they agreed to when they signed up. You'll need to get a positive indication that consent is granted, as they log in and before they are able to proceed to their account.

   The above changes are a pain yes, but the end to marketing as we know it - NO. Even with only 10 days left on the original deadline you don't need to be in a panic. Yes, make it a priority to get the above completed but do expect a little flexibility. On the 25th every site in non-compliance isn't going to suddenly disappear or be fined. It's completely unrealistic for them to attempt action so quickly.

   Sometime in the future, when the law is more enforceable, there may be some sites pulled out of the mix and fined as warnings to everyone. So, make the changes to your site and keep your ear to the ground for the exact details for your area when they're released.

   The most important thing you can take away from all this is to *always* keep your site user in mind when making the necessary changes. Keep things simple and don't give into the panic that seems to be sweeping Europe. This may be the first wave of restrictions of this kind, but it's doubtful to be the last.

   Kristi Hagen - President Planet Ocean® Communications, Inc.

The new Places Help Forum is buzzing with problems. There are either some serious bugs in Places, another "unknown" guideline of some kind is in force or the enforcement of one or more known guidelines has been stepped up considerably - or all of the above. Just when you think Google Places can’t get any more confusing for small business owners, it does.

Rich snippet spam becomes a household word, at least in houses with SEOs. It’s mainly coming in the form of false rating stars appearing in the Search results, but it’s so easy to make happen and the positive effect is so strong and so immedia...

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Writing and maintaining a company blog isn’t typically high on a small business owner’s to-do list. Yet despite the ongoing debate that rages about whether or not blogging (and especially corporate blogging) is dead, consistently creating blog content as a part of your business’ ...

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Google has finally rolled out their over-optimization/webspam algorithm update that they officially named the Penguin Update after Webmasters were up in arms at being labeled "spammers" hit by a "webspam update". After the Panda Update we're really starting to wonder what their attachment to animals is over at the Google Plex.

Does naming these updates that are destroying people's rankings (sometimes on pure accident) after an animal make it more okay?

Clever bloggers and webmasters alike are already expressing their dislike of the update by representing it with dark images of the well known villain 'The Penguin' we all know and love from the classic Batman comics.

On a more serious note, when it was officially announced on April 24th, Google stated that the update would be rolled out "in the next few days". Like Panda, this was predominantly a quality content update. The goal of this update was to REWARD higher-quality sites and PUNISH pages that were spamming (in their opinion) Google. Sites that were affected were guilty of some or all (or none) of the following:

• "spun content",
• low-quality content,
• thin affiliate content,
• questionable linking practices,
• cross-domain link schemes,
• keyword stuffing,
• excessive on-page optimization,
• or just "being evil."

Google also announced that the Penguin update will be rolled out in all languages simultaneously, and it will affect an estimated 3.1% of queries in English search. To compare, the Panda update affected around 12%. However, remember that Google was eager to tell us that Panda would only affect around 3% when rolled out initially and look at how that turned out.

Like Panda, Penguin is an Algorithmic Update. Reconsideration requests won't work. You must remove the SPAM, clean-up your site and then wait for a "data refresh" and a recrawl which could be weeks.

Next, make sure you realize that Penguin is like the Big Brother to Panda. Penguin is after VERY noticeable WebSpam AND sites that were engaging in manipulative linking schemes to game their rankings. So the standard is higher. Panda on the other hand targets "low-quality content" so if you weren't affected by Penguin, that doesn't mean you won't suffer under a future Panda Update (Panda 3.5 was run by Google on 4/19 very close to Penguin, customers could have been affected by either).

Google's advice is the same it's always been - create higher quality pages and focus on an enjoyable user experience instead of aggressive webspam tactics.

However, if you feel that your site was caught in the filter innocently (and it does happen), Google has a form you can fill-out. It's also a smart move to check your Google Webmaster Tools account (for any messages). This is something you may want to continue to do because the general consensus so far is that NO messages on this were sent. It was also suggested you use the Google Webmaster Help Forum to inquire about your site. However, since you are usually required to post your URL, this is a double edged sword. You may want to either pass on this advice OR use a bit.ly shortener to "disguise" your URL before submitting and asking for blunt feedback.

Generally, this update DID NOT affect big brands AND actually increased their traffic/rankings. These sites uniformly share the following: high name recognition, a "stickiness" factor that results in longer average visits and lower bounce rates, general high quality content, tons of social signals, a naturally built inbound linking profile.

Here's Some General Advice If You were Hit:

• Conduct an on-site audit: is your content high-quality, does it serve a purpose, is it unique?
• Conduct a backlink site audit: is your link profile natural, does it contain a ton of exact match anchor text links, affiliate links, or cross-links from sites you control?
• Review your site with Google Analytics to benchmark specific pages/keywords and their traffic, both now and one month ago.
• Put up higher-quality content and then promote that content socially to generate on-page social signals.
• Review your current bounce rate (higher than 40%, lower it), average site visits (3+ minutes is good), and your site speed (do you load fully in less than 3 seconds?).
• Review your social presence? Are you generating both on-page and off-page social signals, shares and community interactions with your customers/fans? If not, why not?

Not affected yet, things that WILL trigger a hit:

• Review your on-page optimization, use a plug-in like SEOQuake and compare it to the sites ranking above you in Google, adjust accordingly.
• Look at your ratio of exact match keyword backlinks, especially footers, sitewides and blogrolls, decrease it.
• If you have SPUN or gibberish content on your site, REMOVE IT.
• If you've been using SPUN or gibberish content via article marketing or blog posts, STOP DOING IT.
• If you are linking to affiliate or "thin-content sites" especially ones you control, remove those links.
• The power of exact match domains, which we have told people was coming (back in this April, 2011 article), has been downgraded by Penguin, adjust accordingly.
• If your bounce rate is NORTH of 50% and your average site visit is less than 2:00 min, you need to increase these metrics...fast!

Finally, if you've lost your rankings and you're looking for some professional SEO help remember that we're here for you. You always have the option to schedule a Full SEO Consultation & Site Review with us through your SEO Services tab. We can easily run the site audit for you and give you a complete checklist of potential issues so that you can have something to work from when battling these updates.

Regardless of what actions you decide to take the most important thing we can stress is that you do NOT wait to do something. The sites that are hit the worst overall are the ones that wait months to correct issues. Don't make that same mistake. And before you ask...signing the petition does not count as taking action in the sense that we mean.

We've been receiving an increased influx of questions into our online support system from current subscribers who have received a Google Unnatural Link Warning through their verified Webmasters account in 2012. This type of notification is a recent change by Google (we first noted it back in August 2011) and marks a new shift in the level of communication that now exists between site owners and the Google Search Quality Team.

Historically, one of the most vocal complaints that site owners had with Google was their notorious tight-lipped demeanor in communicating Google penalties or "slaps" when these were handed down. As we've covered in our Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Google Penalties, as late as April 2011, the norm by Google was to provide NO notice that a site had triggered a penalty (either manual or algorithmic).

Instead, site owners usually woke-up to find a drop in rankings and traffic and then had to spend hours identifying possible causes, correcting perceived issues, then submitting a reconsideration request with the "hope" that they had guessed correctly and fixed the right issues. Needless to say, this was not user-friendly and usually resulted in the site owner either having to seek professional assistance or submit MULTIPLE reconsideration requests to address all possible penalty triggers.

Fortunately, this recent change by Google is a WELCOME and much needed shift in transparency and has been a long-time coming. But first, if you haven't yet received one of these "unnatural link warnings" in your own account (good for you!) here's what they look like:

Now, if you have received one of these in your account then clearly you want to take it seriously. Google obviously found something in your backlink profile that was so curious to them that they felt the need to send out this notice. Your first step should be to conduct a detailed backlink audit and identify any possible link penalty triggers. Specifically, you want to work at identifying the following:

• Excessive home page or blogroll links from low-quality or questionable blogs.
  
• Links from high PageRank sites that may not be thematically-themed to your site.
  
• Links from private blog networks that Google has gone after in 2012.
  
• Reciprocal links with highly repetitive anchor texts that would qualify as a link scheme.
  
• Other links that visually would not pass the sniff test from a Google quality rater.
  

I recommend that you conduct this link audit by using both the link data that Google provides for you within your Webmaster Tools account, and a commercial tool like Majestic SEO, Web CEO, or the Open Site Explorer. The more link data you can pull for comparison purposes, the better.

Once you've identified any questionable links make sure to both remove them and note them individually where possible within your reconsideration request. For tips on how to word your reconsideration request and what to include within it please review the How Do I Ensure a Successful Reconsideration Request section within my Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Google Penalties article.

Finally, it is worth noting that we've had reports from clients who have received this Unnatural Links Warning and yet have noted no drops in rankings or traffic, even after several weeks. This could imply that many of these reports are automatically generated OR sent as warnings that action "may" be taken in the future. In other words, this was a wake-up call from Google that they have you on their radar!

Nevertheless, it is our advice that ALL these warnings should be taken seriously and that you use the opportunity to conduct a link audit or alter any current "questionable" link practice that would fall under Google's definition of link schemes.

I'm a link builder by trade. Sure, I do on-page optimization, social media promotion, reputation management, local search marketing, and cover nearly every SEO-topic under the sun, but my passion is link building. Links are still the MAIN currency of the Internet. When you absolutely, positively must move a site competitively in Google, links are what get it done.

As a link builder I'm always on the look-out for the latest and greatest in link building strategies, tips, and link opportunities that I can use to best leverage my sites and the sites of my clients. With link building, there is a huge quantity vs quality disconnect that results in a lot of "noise" being generated that can make finding the truly best, most actionable information very difficult.

Fortunately, thanks to my own trial-and-error dealings, I've done the hard work for you and can give you one thing I didn't have starting out: the best and ONLY link building blogs you need to be reading in 2012.

• 1. Stuntdubl Blog (Todd Malicoat): I met Todd for the first time back in February at the Pubcon Paradise conference in Hawaii. If you do anything with link building you've probably heard his name. Todd's a well-known link building personality who's been quoted everywhere from Inc to the NY Post. Todd's blog covers a ton of the hottest link building and general SEO issues that affect traffic acquisition in general, and is a must-visit resource for the everyday link builder.
  
• 2. Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog (Jim Boykin & Ann Smarty): Jim Boykin has been a well-known expert in the SEO field since 1999. Through his company Internet Marketing Ninjas (formally We Build Pages), Jim and his 100+ staff of link "ninjas" boast some of the top brands in the world as clients. Recently, he added well-known blogger Ann Smarty as a guest contributor to his blog which continues to provide some of the industry's BEST link building and general SEO-related content available anywhere.
  
• 3. Graywolf Blog (Michael Gray): Michael was another link builder I had the pleasure of meeting at the Pubcon Paradise conference this past February after reading his blog content for years. Michael's been involved in website development and marketing since 1998 and is a moderator at Webmaster World and Sphinn. Michael's posts cover the hottest topics in SEO and link building and provide real-world actionable advice link builders can use to separate the truth from the bulls**t.
  
• 4. Ross Hudgens Blog: Ross is a well-known Seattle-based link builder that writes regularly for both Search Engine Land and Search Engine Journal. Ross' blog is a great resource to not only follow the latest in link building strategies and case studies, but also to read recent interviews with noted search personalities. If you aren't familiar with Ross' work check out this great post on How to Link Build with Google Alerts that I still have bookmarked from when I first read it in 2010.
  
• 5. LinkMoses Private (Eric Ward): Eric Ward is THE definitive authority on link building and has been lauded as such by everyone from Matt Cutts with Google to Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land. Eric founded the Internet's FIRST online promotion service, URLwire back in 1994 and was the first to announce Amazon.com to the masses in 1995. Since then Eric has consulted with everyone from Warner Brothers, to PBS to the NY Times on link building. He publishes a subscription-only LinkMoses private link building newsletter that is a MUST-READ to anyone serious about finding the best links for their clients.
  

If your schedule is anything like mine, your time is very limited. By subscribing to the RSS feeds of the blogs and private subscription networks above, I've been able to gain some incredible link building insights, tips and strategies that take me minutes a day to process and review. This is who I read regularly and who I confidently recommend you start following as well. You won't be disappointed.

Transcript of the Video

All right, hi everyone and welcome to our Search Engine News SEO Q&A. My name is Casey Markee and I'm the Lead SEO Consultant and Head of on-line support with Search Engine News and Planet Ocean. If you've used our paid Fast Track Service or submitted a request for SEO assistance, or even scheduled a professional consultation with Search Engine News you've probably had some contact with myself or my learned associate, John Heard.

We get some pretty interesting questions asked of us from time to time both during the course of SEO support or doing client SEO consultations or just what we've run across in our daily dealings, and one of our long-time subscribers, Al, actually recently submitted a question which we thought was pretty interesting and so we're going to go ahead and answer that for you today, do something a little bit different, put it on video and see what you guys think.

Al asks, "I have three competitors who are currently outranking me in Google. All three of them are just above me and I can't seem to unseed them. One of the few threads that connect them to each other is that they all advertise on Google AdWords and I don't. Are they getting an Organic ranking boost from being a Google advertiser?"

This is a pretty interesting question and it's one that we actually get asked often. I just recently attended the Pubcon Paradise. This was something that a lot of people asked. This was also something that we occasionally get asked by other SEO's and of course on-line support like with Al here.

I think we can definitively say that advertising with Google does not give you any direct organic ranking benefit. However, I'm going to preface that by saying that with most things with SEO there is a however, and we're going to get into the 'however' part of that later on in the answer.

But basically Google does not give you any direct Organic ranking benefit from advertising with Google AdWords. Google goes to great lengths to keep the paid and the Organic sides of their business entirely separate and this is to ensure that there is no funny business involved at all, period.

And if you think about it, be it Al or anyone else listening on the call, even the hint of a connection here of impropriety would be a major integrity fracture that would kill not only Google's share price as a publicly-traded company and bring them some very unwanted attention, be it from government regulators or the public in general, but I don't think that it's something they want to mess with.

I mean they've got enough irons in the fire and if the whole point of them is to provide the best unwarranted, unbiased relevant search results as possible you can't have any sort of a bleed between the two sides of the search business, be it the paid or the organic side.

It's also important to note that with AdWords it's based on a complicated quality score. I'm sure that most of you listening to this call know or have heard the term, 'quality score'. And quality score is a complicated and completely independent mechanism, completely separate from Organic ranking consideration.

In fact most of the factors that make up quality score would have no effect on Organic ranking anyway, and vice-versa. Thus sites that work well in Google AdWords and Organic may not necessarily rank well in the other mechanisms.

So quality scores fluctuate tremendously both from ad group to ad group, so applying that as a rule that you can apply uniformly to your entire Organic rankings, it really would seem to be cumbersome and unrealistic. Now with most things in SEO, as I said, when I started the question we want to preface it by saying that there is a however involved and that is the case with your question, Al, or anyone else who might have -- curious about this.

There may exist some indirect benefit from advertising with Google AdWords, specifically in the areas of click-through, bounce rate and time on site metrics, and these are three areas that we've covered significantly, especially over the last nine months with Google Panda, the Google freshness updates and now in 2012 with the full roll-out of the Google Search plus your world personalized search enhancements. Those three metrics are becoming more and more important.

So look at it this way. If your advertising is Google AdWords you're gonna drive a good amount of traffic. At least that's the whole - that's the goal. This increased traffic can lead to increased conversion rates which can lead to longer site visits, which can lead to lower bounce rates, and finally higher rankings because it's a chain, and if you are able to manipulate some of those metrics in the chain it's gonna cause your rankings to go up in unison.

So it's certainly possible that advertising with Google AdWords can help you rank higher but, again, these would be indirect benefits, not necessarily apply applicable to every Google AdWords advertiser out there.

As always in our advice here at Search Engine News, be it on this subject or any other for that matter, it's important not to concentrate too much on one metric to the exclusion of other data. Sure your competitors may be outranking you and they may all share the fact that they're Google AdWords advertisers but they could also have more incoming links or better quality links or lower average bounce rates or faster-loading pages or it could be a lot of areas. It could be a lot of issues.

Maybe they're generating more on-page social signals or had better general on-site optimization. Make sure to conduct a full site audit before making any long-term conclusions or jumping to something like, "Hey, they're all on Google AdWords, that must be the explanation."

So basically that's the answer to your question, Al. Hopefully it's not surprising, or it may not necessarily be what you hear but that's certainly our professional opinion. If you disagree or if anyone else has any thoughts please make sure to direct those to our on-line support and we're always looking to hear what you have to say, and so on behalf of Search Engine News and everyone here, Al, thanks for the question and good luck with your competitive analysis in the future.

Thanks again, everyone. We'll talk to you again soon.

Many small businesses can benefit considerably from Google AdWords advertising if their ads are seen by the right searchers.

The first thing to take into account is whether to set up a managed account or to use AdWords Express. Express used to be called Google Boost. I think of it as automatic AdWords.

AdWords Express

This product was a brilliant way for Google to get more small businesses to advertise online and gives SMBs a quick and easy way to participate in ppc advertising without having to learn how to use AdWords, which becomes more complex all the time. With Express, all of the advertising budget ...

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We start seeing the results of the Venice update settle in to the SERPs:

• Personalization is now baked right in unless you purposely take action to prevent it-not being signed into a Google account is not enough.
• More true Local businesses appear in the organic results and higher up in the results, even when a geographic term is not included in the query.
• Local directories seem to have been given a boost in the rankings
• Organic and Local results are less distinct to the average searcher and are woven together in the results.
• One Boxes are back- big time!
• Descriptions disappeared from the Local packs-at first this was thought to be a bug, but it looks like it’s sticking.

Consolidation of all things Google continues in Google Accounts, but Places is still not integrated. In fact, it's sometimes hard to even find a link to your Places dashboard anymore.

You are reminded to update your Local Search Ecosystem charts from David Mihm to the newest version, which can be found here. If the charts you are now using have a white back ground, those are the old ones. The updated ones have a gray background. If you are not familiar with these awesome infographics, don't just view them, study them, print them out and keep them close by. They will make it much easier for you to correct NAP inconsistencies across the website by seeing who provides data to which sites online. The explanations that go with them are priceless, as well.

Google+ and Google Places can now be successfully married together to get the author's photo to show in a local result.

How important will schemas will become in Search? Anthony Long publishes a great article on schemas that explains that for us. If you're not yet sold on the idea of using them on your site, you need to read it! Then, start using schema ASAP.

Maps Guide Vanessagene tells us about the amount of time we should expect it to take for updates we make to our Place pages to go live. Unfortunately, I haven't really found most of it to be true at least with the listings I deal with. Perhaps the most frustrating problems – duplicate and merged listings – still take what seems like forever to be resolved.

The ability to make posts to your Places page breaks and is repaired - quickly.

Bizable publishes a Local ranking factors study. This company has little to no reputation as one with Local Search expertise, experience or success, but there are some interesting aspects, so take a look at it. They say it's a 5 part study but I have only been able to find Part 1. Where's the rest?

Google Places publishes a new Business Listing Quality Guideline. Apparently, they began enforcing this before they ever published it and then didn't really bother to tell anyone about it. Seriously? Service businesses that don't conduct face to face powpows with customers at their location must hide their addresses. Google has already revised this new guideline once to help clarify it:

If you don't conduct face-to-face business at your location, you must select the "Do not show my business address on my Maps listing" option within your dashboard. If you don't hide your address, your listing may be removed from Google Maps.

Microsoft AdCenter is removing your ability to geotarget 10,000 cities in Canada and the US. Why? The AdCenter blog says:

Because these cities have seen no measurable traffic, this change will have no negative impact on the performance of your campaigns.

So if you have a hyperlocal business in say, Haddon Hills NJ, Adcenter now wants you to change your targeting to Philadelphia. In another example, advertisers currently targeting a small town in the valley where I live, El Jebel, are being advise to change their geotargeting to Denver, which is 160 miles east and over two mountain passes. I think I'm safe in thinking that no one in Denver is going to be interested in what movies are playing at the El Jebel movie theatre and that not many people in Philadelphia will drive to Haddon Hills for local products or services. That sure sounds good and very profitable for Microsoft, but not so good or profitable for the local advertiser. Better check your AdCenter accounts now!

Interesting Factoid about Maps taken out of context:

…Google Maps remains dominant; the (New York) Times says that 71 percent of the nearly 92 million people who viewed a map online in February were using Google Maps.

Most of you are aware that Googlers use Street View Google maps when calling to check up on the existence of business locations. Google it gives us a confirmation of this (the bolding is mine) here:

We’re currently running an experiment in which characters from Street View images are appearing in CAPTCHAs. We often extract data such as street names and traffic signs from Street View imagery to improve Google Maps with useful information like business addresses and locations. Based on the data and results of these reCaptcha tests, we’ll determine if using imagery might also be an effective way to further refine our tools for fighting machine and bot-related abuse online.

Check your Map points and correct them if necessary. Place the marker either at the building's main entrance or centered on the top of the structure. Zoom way in on street view to help you get this right. If your clients are not in an area you are intimately familiar with, get them on a screen share with you, enlist their local knowledge and place their map marker with pinpoint accuracy.

The Google Places Help Forum was shut down and replaced with a new one. Mike Blumenthal scraped much of what was there before it was shut down and it can now be found on his site. The new Places Help Forum can be found here.

Philadelphia, PA and Dublin, Ireland get their own Community Managers, Cheldin Barlatt Rumer and Brian Herron, respectively. You can follow them on Twitter as @GooglePhilly and @GoogleDublin.

The Local packs keep shifting in sizes. Blended and pure Maps listings appear together in the Local packs. Rankings bounce around A LOT! We appear to be in the middle of another update of some kind.

Geo Sitemap support is retired at Google, so if you're getting an error in Google Webmaster Tools on yours, that's why. KML files are still fully supported and should still be used to show your Map points to Google Earth.

Google City Pages have not expanded beyond 6 cities. What's up with that? Maybe now that they own Zagats, they don't have to imitate Zagats?

Google releases an app to help you map indoor spaces for Google Android use. If you have large buildings, like malls, office buildings, convention centers, etc. this should save you a lot of time and make it much easier for searchers to find what they are looking for within your place.

Universal Business Listings seals a deal with Yext for real time (or near real-time) listing updates across various local portals. Real-time updating is very good. I've experimented with Yext Powerlistings and it works! The UBL offering is Powerlistings plus other features and costs $100 more. I have not had very good experiences with UBL's customer service lately, so I wouldn't go whole hog until you test it out and make sure you can get the support you need.

Help Desk Hangouts are launched in Google+ . To participate, you must first be on Google+ and add Google+ for Business to a circle. Nothing like hanging out with Googler's and asking them questions! I watched a Hangout on Air on Google Places It was worthwhile since it's always good to hear what Googler's say (and don't say) about particular issues. Hangouts on Air are different from the regular Hangouts in that only 10 people can participate. Others can chat in, but you don't have full interactivity. Fortunately, the Hangouts are recorded so that you can access them on YouTube at your convenience.

Data providers Localeze and Locationary have joined forces to share business data via a cloud service dubbed Saturn, which will enable them to cleanse and match up data in real time.

Twitter reaches out to SMBs by publishing a guide for small businesses in conjunction with it's launch of small business advertising products. You can download it here.

Google is testing a new loyalty rewards program within Offers in San Francisco.

For digital marketers, the news that Facebook’s Timeline for Pages has arrived is old. Yet leveraging the new look and features of Timeline as part of a Facebook marketing strategy is still, in many respects, uncharted digital territory.

Aside from a new, more visual layout and the elimination of custom landing pages, Timeline offers a deeper, more narrative experience that, when used correctly, can help brands not only tell their stories in a more meaningful way, but provide a more detailed layer of interaction with an audience.

And Timeline apps are a critical part of that experience. Facebook recently announced a slew of apps designed to bring a new level of transparency to Facebook sharing. Instead of merely liking an update, a product or a photo, these new social apps allow users to share what they’re eating, wearing, seeing and wanting.

This sort of social experience is quickly catching on. During the initial announcement, Facebook introduced more than 60 apps. In just weeks, that number has shot up to over 3,000. Brands ranging from Pinterest and Path to Nike and Netflix have all created custom apps that users can add to their Facebook profiles.

The ability for brands to create these new, custom apps comes courtesy of Open Graph, what Facebook calls “an extension of the social graph to include third party web sites and pages that people liked throughout the web. We are now extending the Open Graph to include arbitrary actions and objects created by 3^rd party apps and enabling these apps to integrate deeply into the Facebook experience.”

These apps represent a huge opportunity not just for individual brands, but for Facebook, too. Facebook’s developers are creating a site that is more intuitive. Based on what you’ve shared in the past, Facebook’s algorithm will determine placement of that activity on your profile page. If you have brand advocates on Facebook that are frequently interacting with your app and content, then that activity will feature more prominently on their profiles, introducing your brand to their network of Facebook friends.

Timeline apps also have positive potential as referral engines. Companies like Pinterest and Foodspotting.com have reported a large spike in traffic from Facebook, as well as an increased number of sign-ups. And that’s an important result. After all, few brands use Facebook for their sole presence. Instead, Facebook is used in conjunction with other social networks to reach a larger audience and help drive traffic back to the company’s website, which serves as the hub of the brand’s online operations.

“We’re now seeing new content discovery and increases in traffic and engagement happening more broadly for companies of all sizes,” as written on Facebook’s developer blog. “Open Graph has driven a lot of discovery and growth, allowing many companies to double the size of their user base in weeks.”

Should you opt to create an Open Graph app for your brand, Timeline for Pages allows you to include the app thumbnail in the top info bar of your page, as pictured below on Macy’s Timeline.

Each brand has the ability to feature three apps (and photos, which can’t be moved from the default placement). That way, you can prominently feature your custom app as one of the primary elements of your Timeline. And once a user clicks on the app thumbnail, the app appears on the screen, along with a comment stream that allows users to converse about the app.

Now that the wheels are turning and you have app ideas filling your head, why not dive in? Facebook offers a step-by-step Open Graph tutorial, if you’re feeling brave. Otherwise, I’d recommend contacting a developer to help you navigate the process.

Of course, you can’t create an app as quickly as you can build a photo album or post content. Yet if an Open Graph app fits your brand or business, it’s certainly worth considering to not only take advantage of new Timeline functionality, but also to give your brand an additional way to leverage your Facebook presence as a referral engine to your website.

Does your company have plans to create an Open Graph app? Or are you a few steps behind and still deciding on a Timeline cover photo? No matter where you are in the process, I’d love to hear about your experience.

If you haven’t yet heard of Pinterest, you might want to verify that your Internet connection is working. The site, which is a virtual and collaborative pinboard, has exploded in growth, recently exceeding 10 million registered users.

The biggest question I hear about Pinterest (aside from “What is it?”), is “How can I use Pinterest for my business or brand?” And as someone who spends my days immersed in digital marketing, it’s been fascinating to watch how quickly Pinterest has evolved from a largely personal site to one that offers a home to both individuals and brands.

Considering adding Pinterest to the tools in your company’s digital marketing strategy? Let’s delve into some specifics at the site, as well as some factors to consider before jumping onto the Pinterest bandwagon.

Pinterest 101

As I mentioned earlier, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard site on which users pin pieces of information (typically photos) onto pinboards that they create for various categories like recipes, home décor, DIY projects, etc. To add to pinboards, users can upload images from their computers, add a URL or install the Pin It! bookmarklet to directly add content to various boards. Plus, if you’re on the go, you guessed it—there’s an app for that, too.

Here’s a look at a recent version of Pinterest’s home page, which constantly evolves to reflect current user activity.

Despite its impressive growth, Pinterest remains an invitation-only site, although invitations are becoming easier to get, whether through the site or through people you know who have an extra.

Pinterest is also appealing because of its interactive nature. Just as you can reblog posts on Tumblr, Pinterest users can repin items from other boards to their own. You can also like or comment on a pin, making Pinterest both a sharing and a conversation forum.

Who uses Pinterest?

The vast majority of Pinterest users are female—80 percent, to be exact, according to Ignite Social Media. Most users are between the ages of 25 and 54 and are more likely to live in the Midwest.

The largely female demographic has led to some misconceptions that Pinterest is only for women. And that’s just silly. I know plenty of men who are interested in the site, not to mention a number of brands who target both genders when it comes to marketing their goods or services.

Still, if you’re a data and stats junkie like me, I find it fascinating to see who’s using Pinterest, and what that demographic information says about the site. For example, according to Google Ad Planner, the majority of Pinterest users have a household income that ranges between $25,000 and $74,999.

These stats are invaluable when it comes to deciding if your brand or business should jump on the Pinterest train—and in fact, that’s exactly what we’re about to discuss.

Is Pinterest Right For My Brand?

Despite its popularity, the bottom line is that Pinterest may not be right for your brand or business. After all, the true mark of a successful digital marketing strategy is knowing which platforms will be most effective in helping you deliver your message and meet your marketing goals. Social media networks aren’t one-size-fits-all for every single brand or business. One company may thrive on Twitter and Tumblr but find less success on LinkedIn and Google+, for example.

Treat Pinterest like you would any other social media tool and do your research before you dive into the site. Consider the demographics that I mentioned earlier. Do these align with your brand’s audience? And can you curate and create content for your pinboards that makes sense? You don’t want to be on Pinterest just because everyone else is there. Creating and building a Pinterest presence is time-consuming, just as it is on any other social network. And you want to make sure the investment of your time and resources is a wise one.

Speaking of resource investment, keep in mind that Pinterest requires monitoring and engagement, just like any other network. You can’t add a bunch of pins and then walk away, expecting your pinboards to have any sort of impact. Instead, you need to pin regularly, and also comment on other pins, interact with users and make your presence known. At its heart, Pinterest is a fast-moving social stream, just like what you’d see on Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+, to name a few.

Pinterest for Professionals

When it comes to Pinterest for professional use, there are several ways you can use the site, according to ReadWriteWeb: promote a lifestyle, use it as a focus group, drive sales, crowdsource and run contests.

Consider AMC Theatres, headquartered in my hometown of Kansas City. AMC has created pinboards to promote upcoming movies, which seems like a no-brainer. Yet they’ve taken a more creative approach when it comes to creating other pinboards such as “Award Shows,” “The Fashion of Film,” and “Cool Move Stuff,” to name a few.

And that’s what’s great about Pinterest. It’s an ideal tool with which to showcase a different side of your brand and show Pinterest users your world. Think of it like a behind-the-scenes peek not just of your products and services, but what inspires and motivates your business. Although all social networks are built on sharing and conversation, Pinterest seems to evoke a more human touch—and by tapping into that perception, you may find that you not only reach a new audience, but also give those familiar with your brand or business an entirely different perspective.

If you opt to create a professional Pinterest presence (say that three times fast), be sure you promote your pinboards by including a link to your profile on your other social channels. You can add a Pin It button to your blog, too, making it easier for readers to share your content on their pinboards.

Plus, you can also see what images and information are being pinned from your own website. As Ann Smarty writes for Mashable, you can use the URL http://pinterest.com/sources/YourWebsite.com to monitor Pinterest activity from your site.

If periodically checking the aforementioned URL isn’t as convenient as you’d like, you can create an RSS feed with the same information by using a tool like Feed43. Ann offers step-by-step instructions regarding how to set up Feed43 for Pinterest, so be sure to check out her post if you’re interested. Once you’ve established the feed, you can add it to your reader to keep track of your site’s Pinterest activity, a good reminder to frequently visit the site not only to interact with pins and comments from your own site, but other pinboards, too.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, I’m interested in your take on Pinterest. Have you made it a part of your digital marketing strategy? Or do you remain skeptical as to if the site is a good fit for your business? Feel free to share your Pinterest perspective.

GroupM recently did a study that highlighted the lack of proper execution by national advertisers to achieve success at the local level. According to the survey, only 40% are actively managing local business listings like Google Places. You can see the full study here.

Anyone who has actually dealt with large, national retailers or service providers regarding local search is probably not surprised. I regularly see evidence of a crippl...

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Bill Slawski analyzes a 2004 Google patent regarding geographic location that gives us more clues as to how to structure a website for local search. This talks about your rankings being help by having a location within a cluster of like businesses that's well worth reading.

There's an online uproar regarding Bruce Clay's Paid Inclusion announcement and quite a bit of speculation regarding what it was/is exactly. I think it was/is something akin to the Yext Power Listings, which seem to be enhanced local listings that are distributed to partner sites. We still don't know for sure, but here'...

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Navigating Google Places can make even the most sophisticated and patient SEO want to pull their hair out. Face it - it's confusing, slow moving and chock-full of contradictions.

With that in mind, we asked our local search expert Mary Bowling, to do a private recording of her recent SMX West presentation for our SearchEngineNews.com Pro members. Within this presentation Mary uses a real client as a case study to show how she navigates through the common pitfalls that every local search optimizer will run into at some point.

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What Google has termed the Venice update quietly rolled out over the course of a month beginning in late January 2012. There was no one big change we saw happen on any specific date. Instead, we watched intermittent changes in rankings and in the way Local Search results were displayed over that time period. The SEO community attributed some of it to testing and some of it as signs that an update was eminent.

Then, on February 27, Google outlined 40 changes it had made in the past 30 days, including a Local Search update it had named Venice. Not much other information was given, just thes...

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No one needs an excuse to go to Hawaii but I was recently privileged enough to attend the Pubcon Paradise Webmaster SEO conference that was held in beautiful Honolulu in February. For those in the know, Pubcon is a premier SEO, social media, and online optimization conference that has been held annually since 2000 and is sponsored by noted web technology forum WebmasterWorld.com.

Usually held in TX and Las Vegas twice a year, Pubcon recently expanded to Hawaii to meet the demands of the increasingly large Asian and West Coast new media and optimization learning crowd. Since Search Engine News is based on the Main Island, it was a veritable no-brainer that we would attend the conference and continue our quest to present you, our subscribers, with the VERY best and up-to-date knowledge possible from noted experts in the field.

And boy do we have some knowledge nuggets for you today! Thanks to a lot of live Twittering done both by myself (@MediaWyse) and fellow Pubcon attendees, we have several gems to share. From reputation management, to link building and link research, to where to go for the Island's BEST Karaoke, we did all the work, so you don't have to.

So without further ado, here are my Top Five Best Twitter Takeaways from Pubcon Paradise 2012:

• Paradise Takeaway #1 - Reputation Management needs to be a priority in 2012!

Andy Beal (@andybeal) President of reputation management firm Trackur.com got the ball rolling on Monday in his great seminar entitled Reputation Management: 50 Tactics, in 50 Minutes, for the 50th States. Among some of his better takeaways where the following:

"Brand monitoring and tools are great for reputation management. But nothing beats humility and sincerity when you screw up. #pubcon" - @scottcowley

"Social media. Know where your audience is, be there. Own your name everywhere possible. #ORM #pubcon @andybeal" - @ErinJones

Andy had a great discussion on the importance of performing an internal audit and recognizing where you may have issues. He also expanded on the need to have a Press Room where you could control the message by providing detailed resources on everything you do WELL for the community and your customers.

The best takeaway though was his pushing of online branding service KnowEM.com to "lock-up" all your social media profiles which will generate NEW branded content search engines can then rank. If this sounds familiar it's something we covered OVER A YEAR AGO in this SE Byte:

Lock-up ALL your social media profiles with KnowEm.com!

And again in this Reputation Management SE Byte published last June:

8 Reputation Management Tips to Dominate Google Results!

In fact, several of the items covered in the byte above were covered by Andy and other Pubcon presenters in this week which lead me to send out this Tweet myself during the first day:

"Great see most of @andybeal rep management tips are what we've covered in detail w #SearchEngineNews. #pubcon #seo" - @MediaWyse

• Paradise Takeaway #2 - If you are using Twitter for Marketing You're Probably Doing it Wrong!

One of the better seminars during Pubcon Paradise was the Twitter marketing seminar put together by noted Viral Marketing Scientist Dan Zarrella of HubSpot (@danzarrella). Dan had some great takeaways on social media in general and Twitter specifically, including:

"Twitter myth: engaging in the conversation is the most important thing. So true! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Scarce knowledge is power. Recognize information voids...fill them! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Social proof works in concert w/novelty! People want to share NEW content 1st, as opposed to being the 700th tweeter! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Do you want more RTs on Twitter ask "Please ReTweet." RT this if it worked. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

We've covered the importance of Twitter marketing a lot in Search Engine News and many of the ideas above are NOT new to you if you've been reading our monthly newsletters. In fact, several of Dan's above presentation takeaways are what we covered recently in these SE Bytes:

Want to go Viral on Twitter? Use these Five Strategies!

Need more Twitter Followers? Ten Strategies that Work!

If you are struggling on how to BEST use Twitter for your marketing efforts make sure to read the SEN resources above and take-to-heart Dan's noted knowledge nuggets!

• Paradise Takeaway #3 - Link Building Doesn't Happen in a Vacuum...and it's Hard!

Link building is always a popular topic regardless of whether the conference is a Pubcon, SMX, Wappow! Search & Social, or SES in nature. In fact, with off-page factors being absolutely INDISPENSIBLE in getting your site to rank competitively, competent link building is a must for the average site owner.

Fortunately, Pubcon Paradise had some of the world's BEST link builders in attendance including; Todd Malicoat (@stuntdubl), Michael Gray (@graywolf), Jim Boykin (@jimboykin) and Roger Montti (@martinibuster).

Although it would be impossible to list all the awesome knowledge bombs these guys dropped, here are a couple of great takeaways that are worth noting:

"Sites need to provide a reason to gain links (USP,content, resources, link bait, etc.). Otherwise, you have to buy them! #pubcon @stuntdubl" - @MediaWyse

"Getting a link is like talking to a girl in a bar. Every approach may be different. Become a backlink pick-up artist! #pubcon @graywolf" - @MediaWyse

"Nice @jimboykin link building takeaway: build-in links to existing links to your site, i.e. .edu domains, to make them stronger. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Pro Tip: Did you get an awesome backlink? Tweet about it. Drive social signals to the new link. #pubcon @jimboykin" - @MediaWyse

"Competitor backlink research = a Proctol exam. You need to REALLY get up in there the best data. Ouch! #pubcon @graywolf" - @MediaWyse

To summarize: link building is something you can NEVER do enough. Make sure to check out some of our better, complete, link building resources recently featured in Search Engine News:

Not all Links are Created Equal. Do you Know what to Look for?

How to Promote your Link Bait: 10 Strategies that Work!

15 Tips to Evaluate a Blog for a Blog Post or Link Buy

• Paradise Takeaway #4 - Linkedin is a POWERFUL Business Generation Tool!

Many of you reading this are probably already on Linkedin (feel free to connect with me here). But a majority of you, myself included, are definitely not leveraging it to its upmost potential. Fortunately, Pubcon Paradise had one the world's premier Linkedin experts, Marty Weintraub (@aimclear), present some incredible do's AND don'ts to best leverage the platform.

Some of the more interesting takeaways from Marty's presentation included the following:

"Make use of free filters on Linkedin for competitive research. Easy to implement. Great branding opportunity. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Optimize your Linkedin activity feed. Commonly overlooked problem. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Linkedin groups are valuable but not for participation. But for a degree of contact so you can friend them easier on the platform. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Custom friend request emails IMPERATIVE to Linkedin success. Remember to say "please." #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Linkedin pearl of wisdom: "Don't make friends with idiots." Don't say "we've done business together" to game a connection. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"Use paid Linkedin DMs and regular DMs as engagement channels. But as a "walk down the hill." Not a run. #pubcon" - @MediaWyse"

You can feel free to "try" to connect with Martin on Linkedin. However, make sure you review the above CLOSELY to increase your chance of success. You've been warned.

• Paradise Takeaway #5 - Scott Stratten of UnMarketing can give a Keynote!

The general consensus from most who attended Pubcon Paradise was that the highlight of the show was Scott Stratten's (@unmarketing) keynote on Wednesday morning.

Scott's a well-known viral and social marketing expert who's company Unmarketing caters to some of the most well-known brands in the world including; PepsiCo, Adobe, the Red Cross, and Saks Fifth Avenue. His book "UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging" is an Amazon best-seller and a MUST-READ for any social media marketer out there.

Here are some of the major takeaways from his speech that set Twitter abuzz during and after his presentation:

"Don't ask me the ROI of a #Pinterest Pin or I will punch you in the mouth. -Scott Stratten. Awesome! #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"When you create awesome, people link to it. Viral is the opposite of SEO #pubcon @unmarketing" - @brian_mcdowell

"It's okay to trip on the sidewalk of social media as long as you get back-up. People are forgiving by nature. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @MediaWyse

"When it hits the fan, it's not time to hide behind the fan. This is your chance to make your brand better. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @andybeal

"If you hate people don't do social media. @unmarketing #pubcon" - @ChrisChurchill

"Twitter is a conversation not a dictation @unmarketing #pubcon" - @SheilaBeal

"I've seen QR codes used wrong. Everytime you do, you are killing a kitten, stop killing kittens. They're on billboards. WHAT? #pubcon" - @katemorris

There are many, many others but you get the picture. If you aren't following Scott on Twitter, correct that today!

• " BONUS Paradise Takeaway - Karaoke is the REAL reason Pubcon came to Oahu!

Special shout-out to Leslie Drechsler (@ppcbuyers) who helped Search Engine News organize its kick-ass sponsored Karaoke party at the world-famous Wang Chung's. See the awesomeness in Twitter real-time below:

As you can see, if you were "on-the-fence" about attending a Pubcon (Vegas is next up in October) then hopefully the above article will encourage you to give it a try in the near future.

Finally, I'll conclude with a much-deserved hat tip to Brett Tabke (@btabke) and Lane Ellis (@lanerellis) for their FANTASTIC work at putting on this conference. It was truly one of the best I've attended (at least what I can remember of it, damn Mai Tais!). Thanks guys! It was a pleasure meeting you both!

YouTube recently underwent a fairly comprehensive redesign that not only upgraded the site’s design, but also unveiled a new home page and revamped several YouTube features, including analytics.

Change can be tough, especially if you’ve grown acclimated to YouTube’s previous design and functionality. Yet the improvements have resulted in a more robust experience and even more important, might just deliver better results, so take a few minutes to orient yourself to the changes that you can implement in your existing or new video channels.

Your Introduction to You...

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If you are a link builder or a site owner who has experience with link building you've probably heard the term Link Wheel. Link wheels are not new and during the Wild West SEO days of the late 2000's link wheels were a widely used and relatively valid approach to drive traffic, links and higher rankings to target sites.

Link wheels work through the creation of multiple web properties, called hub sites or "spokes," that are arranged around a central main or "wheel" site. These sites would in-turn share various linking interconnections that would provide the appearance (really illusion) that the main wheel site was an authority it its niche. An exam...

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The Local Search scandal of the month includes Bruce Clay and Universal Business Listing and a paid inclusion model for top rankings in Google, Bing and Yahoo. Everyone involved is either backpedalling and/or keeping quiet on the topic. However, it's something you should familiarize yourself with and this teaser quote from Bruce Clay should make your ears perk up:

“What seems to be forming is the ability to create a premium, local entity, much like a Places type page,except across the various engines – their own respective ‘Places’ if you will. And that you create a premium account, and that the premium account would allow you to appear at the top o...

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Those that know me know that I've been an avid crossfitter since 2008. Over the last three plus years I've used it as my main means of staying active and in shape and have accumulated some incredible friends, experienced some life-changing moments and accomplished physical tasks that as a 37yr old I had thought were far behind me. More importantly though, many of the lessons I've learned doing Crossfit have also made me a better SEO and have greatly influenced how I approach client projects and my own professional education in the real world.

First though, for the uninitiated, Crossfit is a fitness discipline that seeks to provide REAL-WORLD fitness. In a nutshell, Crossfit strives to make the average person better at life. I run, row, jump rope, lift weights, and generally train myself to move heavy loads quickly over long distances. I also follow a recommended Paleolithic type of diet (one which I still struggle with daily) that involves the consumption of meats veggies, nuts, seeds and very little or no sugar. Unfortunately, beer is NOT paleo-friendly and that's one of my biggest weaknesses. It thus prevents me from taking my diet, and thus my performance, to the best possible next level.

Many of you reading this may have been exposed to Crossfit through the Reebok sponsored Crossfit Games that premiered on ESPN last September. The games, which are conducted in July of each year at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, is the culmination of a worldwide competition that involves tens of thousands of crossfitters from thousands of participating affiliates that compete in set workouts-of-the-day (called WODs). Participants are ranked worldwide with the top performing athletes advancing out of the qualifying rounds to one of 17 regional competitions. Regional qualifiers are then whittled down to around 100 of the fittest men and women in the world who compete in the games for the title of fittest man and woman on the planet and an increasingly large cash prize (last year it was $250,000 for each winner).

On February 22nd I'll be joining many in my own box (what we call our Crossfit gyms) in competing in the 2012 Crossfit Games Qualifiers. Unfortunately, because I can't handstand walk more than 3ft and have a TON of other holes in my overall Crossfit arsenal, I won't need to worry about making plans past the qualifiers. However, as I compete, I'll be continuing the lessons I've learned through blood, sweat, and tears, and which I've been applying successfully to my own SEO career on a daily basis. These are some of those lessons I'd like to share with you today.

Lesson #1 - If it's easy, you probably aren't doing it right. Crossfit WODs are by their nature difficult. We have WODs that are so kick-ass that even experienced crossfitters still can't perform them as RX'd (as prescribed) without being scaled.

One such WOD, "King Kong" looks like this:

3 Rounds for Time (as fast as possible)

1 Deadlift 455#
2 Muscle Ups
3 Squat Cleans 250#
4 Handstand Pushups

That's pretty daunting and as someone who still can't perform either a Muscle-Up (example here) or successive Handstand Pushups (example here) this isn't a WOD I'm going to be performing anytime soon. Nevertheless, it can be scaled. I can also do substitutions as needed to complete the work.

As an SEO, this is a strategy that I routinely apply to link building. Finding links for client sites, on average, is actually pretty easy. Finding the RIGHT kind of links that will move a site competitively is something else entirely. Make sure you understand link evaluation and what a good link looks like. If link building is becoming "easy" for you, most likely you aren't doing it right.

Lesson #2 - There are no excuses in Crossfit; just results. Crossfit is for everyone. But not everyone is made for Crossfit. You can talk a great game in the gym but if you hit a WOD and fail spectacularly your weaknesses (like my overhead squat) are on full display for everyone. In contrast, if you continually believe you CAN'T do something in Crossfit, odds are you won't be able to do it down the road. A common repeated mantra in Crossfit is the following:

"When you begin with what you can't do, you diminish what you are able to do." - CrossFit Chick

Just like in SEO, you are only as good as your last campaign. If you continually provide excuses to a client regarding why their campaigns aren't performing or are slow to adapt to other campaign alternatives then you can expect less business going forward. Making yourself AND your SEO approach accountable is just common sense. I perform professional audits with my clients on an ongoing basis. If there is a specific class of link not working, I adjust accordingly. The same goes with on-page or technical site updates. If I make a change to a website and it doesn't go as planned I admit my mistake and make another change.

Lesson #3 - The best plan won't survive a poor diet. I admit that I am still a TERRIBLE eater. I still drink more beer than I should, and I love sugar and bread to a fault. But I'm getting much, much better. Nevertheless, no matter how many WODs I hit a week or how many PRs (personal records) I may set in a month, I can't exercise my way to washboard abs. The only way to do that is through a proper diet of meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts/seeds, and little or no grains and sugar.

The same is true for SEO. I can't wish a site to the top of Google if the site owner won't listen to my advice or if the content of the site is not top-quality, or if link building is not considered a top-priority. The same goes with social media optimization: if you can't convince your clients to add a blog and start connecting with their customers through Twitter, Facebook and Google+ then they won't perform as well as they could, period.

Lesson #4 - Tracking your results is the KEY to success. Most of the crossfitters in my box (myself included) are very good about tracking their Crossfit WOD milestones/achievements in either a journal or phone app. Crossfit has dozens of "named" WODs that we perform at random intervals. When these WODs come up we record how we do and compare them to the last time we did the WOD. Sometimes we improve, sometimes we don't. But the record allows us to quickly and visually track progress over time. This is a fundamental tenant of Crossfit.

In comparison, SEO is also all about results: how to measure results, track results, and record results over time and space. I do not start an SEO campaign, any SEO campaign, without benchmarking. Where is the client ranking? What is the current traffic level of the target site? How many social subscribers does the site/brand have before we begin our marketing? These are all trackable metrics. Failing to perform benchmarking is an absolute disgrace on your own part as an SEO and worse, on the part of your clients.

Lesson #5 - You can cry, just don't be a whining baby! Now personally, I'm not much of a crier. In fact, on the rare occasion that water did froth forth from my eyes it most likely was just a little bit of my sheer awesomeness leaking out. But if anything can bring my 6' 2" 240lb frame to shed a tear it would be the horrors I routinely experience on the pull-up bar, or doing wall balls, or running the 5 and 10Ks that seem to be coming up more-and-more regularly in our daily programming.

Nevertheless, as with life, Crossfit has taught me that pain and being "uncomfortable" is only temporary. As the trainers at my box are always quick to say: you need to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

The same goes for SEO in general: it's okay to bemoan Google or your competitors or even bad luck. What's not okay is for you to continue whining about things you can't change (algorithmic updates, new competitors entering the market, a smaller ad budget) and ignoring the things you CAN change (better content, site speed, more social interaction, and continued education). Don't be a baby! Your clients deserve better.

These are just a few lesson snapshots. There are many more and you'll most likely seem them in a future post. But for now, take the lessons above learned from my own blood, sweat and tears to heart. They work for me; I'm willing to bet they'll work for you.

We recently had a question from a long-time Search Engine News subscriber concerning the use of in-house review stations to facilitate the generation of Google Places reviews by customers. Businesses looking to increase their local review numbers would provide customers with access to a public computer or an ipad/tablet station where they could leave direct reviews on the specific company's local review profile.

This isn't a new idea and as you can guess, it's a pretty controversial idea. First, this practice seems RIPE for exploitation by business owners: write a review and get a free donut, service, or a discount...

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Google announces plans to map the indoors and releases the capability in Google Maps 6.0 for Android. A person using this latest version of Maps on their mobile device can see detailed floor plans of some airports, malls, train stations, large stores and other public buildings. Building owners are encouraged to upload their own floor plans here. This is obviously an off shoot of the MapMaker projects and is yet another way to get users to create content for Google. Who know what evil ways spammers will be able to use it to harm their competitors, as being logged into a Google account seems to be the only requirement to create and submit floor plans.

Improvements to TalkBin are announced and a new tutorial on how to interact with your customers is posted. Sign Builder software is included (certainly inspired by Bing's Business Portal offerings) to create instore collateral to prompt customers to participate. I wonder if and when reviews, ratings and comments from TalkBin might start appearing on Place pages and in Google+ ?

On Air HangOuts expand to include more public figures. It is likely only a matter of time before this record and broadcast feature is available to everyone on Google+. The service is free and is completely self managed. In addition, Google turns On Air Hangouts into videos and uploads them to your YouTube account. While it's possible to make these videos private, it appears to be just another way Google can use content created by others to benefit itself.

The number of Android apps that have been downloaded topped 10 billion in December!

A smart-phone specific bot, Googlebot Mobile, is unleashed by Google. This new bot eliminates the need for a redirect to route visitors to the mobile version of a website and lands users on the smartphone-optimized pages of any site more quickly. This is yet another reason to start getting your mobile website up and running.

Vanessagene, a super-hero Googler, apologizes in the Places help forum for the persistent problem with verified sites showing the error message "We currently do not support the location" in Places. Then, she gives us clear step-by-step instructions for working around the problem. I have had to use this workaround recently and found it to be a quick and relatively painless solution to a persistent Places bug. If it doesn't work immediately, give it 10 minutes and check it again.

No new Google City Pages have appeared for quite some time and the inclusion of new categories have stalled out, as well. When will professional services appear? Who knows, but that seems to be the next logical progression.

Google rolls out Troubleshooter for Places! It's a part software and part human support system for SMB's trying to resolve problems with their listings. For some issues, the corrections are amazingly swift and accurate. For others, you can't even get into the area where you can describe the problem you're having. Any improvements in support for Places are welcomed and we can only hope Troubleshooter will grow to handle more types of problems, since the Report a problem feature is just as iffy as it has always been.

Google's Get Your Business Online promotion has now expanded to Canada, Great Britain and India. It's also experimenting with reserved, private help sessions for business owners as part of this project.

BrightLocal releases their findings on the top 50 citation sites for local businesses in the US and in the UK (2 separate lists). I must caution you that their results are based strictly on the number of times these sites showed up as citations for businesses in Google Places and do not take the quality or impact of the citation source into account. You'll probably find a few you hadn't run across before. To review and analyze them for your own purposes, download the lists here.

Philadelphia gets a Google Places Community Manager, Carrie Estok. You can keep up with her and the Google events in the Philly area by following her on Twitter @GooglePhilly

Boston also get a Places Community Manager, Adri Cowan who you'll find on Twitter @GoogleBoston . Are you getting any ideas about name squatting your city on Twitter, yet?

A new version of Google MapMaker was released aimed at making things a little easier for non-techies. As a side note, I'm seeing evidence that becoming an active editor in MapMaker may give you some very valuable clout. Unfortunately, that's true even for spammers. Do not get lured into any of these "we'll get your listing verified in an hour" deals. Google is becoming aware that MapMaker influence is being sold and will put an end to it - eventually.

Fake review services are becoming rampant and Google needs to find a way to shut them down before their reviews and ratings lose all credibility. In its enthusiastic quest to get more reviews than any other site on the web, Google could possibly be accused of enabling and/or encouraging these fake reviews. Some internet marketers are now using Report a problem to "out" competitors involved in this illegal practice.

The Places support forum reveals a change in the way we are supposed to handle listings for businesses that change locations. It is now recommended that the old location should be marked as closed within your dashboard and a new listing should be created and verified. I have not tried this yet because I fear losing all of the details, photos and reviews associated with the old location by closing it. Instead, I've continued to change the info in the existing listing and have not experienced any problems – yet. We'll see how it goes.

Yext has taken a huge step toward revolutionizing business data management! It has essentially become a major online data provider with its latest iteration of Power Listings, leap-frogging over all of the well-know big boys. Their Power Listings products update information about businesses on a multitude of websites either instantly or within a day or two. This capability leaves everyone else deep in the dust, especially Google, where it can take 6 weeks or so before you can see some of the updates to your Places listing go live. The cost of this product is $500 per business location for complete distribution. You can choose lesser packages with much more limited distribution at a lower cost. They are all annual plans billed monthly. I advise caution and testing before going whole hog with Yext. It has a rather sketchy reputation in the Local Search industry. I haven't tried it, yet, so please share any experiences you may have with Yext Power Listings here or in the pro forum.

7 tutorial videos are posted on YouTube about how to use Rich Snippets These instructions by the Webmaster Tools team "strongly encourage" the use of Schema.org microdata formats over all others. Included is a tutorial on review Rich Snippets and how to include ratings in them.

The best statistic to come out of the BIA/Kelsey west coast conference: only 13% of small businesses include their local phone number on their website's home page. That sure smells like an easy opportunity for local marketers to me!

A study was released on where people get information and news about local businesses by Pew Internet and American Life Project. The internet was the clear winner, with the Search Engines topping all other sources. Among internet sources, specialty websites like Yelp and Urban Spoon came in a distant second and strictly social sites, like Twitter accounted for only a small percentage. So, as fun and sexy as social media can be, it's still critical to make certain your SEO shines for success in Local Search.

Google's new expanded location targeting, which includes areas outside of the ones the advertiser specifies, is criticized by some PPC experts as forcing advertisers to target wider areas and causing more bad clicks. You can no longer create shapes customized to your target area, but must use preset shapes or a radius of no less than 10 miles. That can be pretty broad for a hyperlocal business, like a coffee shop, dry cleaner or a bank in an urban area! Check your location targeting in AdWords today to see how this might be effecting your advertising.

Building a blogger outreach program isn't only a priority for those in PR. If your business or brand has news and/or products to share, maintaining an updated blogger database—as well as active relationships—is a vital component of your outreach and information-sharing strategy.

Yet before you blast a pitch or press release to a group of randomly selected bloggers, stop! There's far more to implementing successful blogger outreach than the occasional email blast, which, let's face it—is downright spammy. Instead, let's look at some steps to building your blog network—and subsequently creating relationships that will make your sharing exponentially more effective. After that, we'll examine why blogger outreach is so important. If bloggers aren't already on your media and PR radar, I guarantee that your mindset will change once you've finished this post!

Creating A Successful Blogger Outreach Program

Not sure where to start in terms of finding a target blogger audience? Good news—there are a slew of tools that can help. Several of them, including Vocus, Cision, BlogDash and Traackr, are paid tools. If you're looking for a free service, try Technorati, Klout or PeerIndex. And don't forget Google Blogsearch – yet another free (and amazing) source.

Once you've decided on a tool (or are sampling a few), you'll want to create your blogger list based on a specific topic. Maybe it's your target industry, or a type of product. Regardless of your niche, it's important to define it—and pursue a relevant audience. Many bloggers complain of receiving impersonal pitches that have nothing to do with what they write—and that's one of the fastest ways to not only burn a blogger bridge, but also run the risk of sparking negative word-of-mouth.

Now that you've identified a group of bloggers, it's time to do a little research. Use sites like Klout and PeerIndex to note each blogger's influence. You can also experiment with Kred , Twitalyzer or TweetLevel, some other interesting tools. You will definitely want to make a note of their scores so that you can keep track of if and how those scores change over time. Keep in mind that these sorts of ranking tools aren't the be all, end all of online influence. They can be easy to manipulate and don't reflect the entire range of a person's digital experience. Yet as a basic, baseline guide, they work—and more importantly, you can put them to work for you.

At this point in the process, it's time to buckle down because you've got some work ahead. Divide your blogger list into easy-to-manage segments and spend time reading each blogger's site. Often. Every day, in fact. In addition to reading, you'll want to frequently comment. Your goal is to begin to build a relationship with each blogger. So many people (and PR companies) make the mistake of firing off a generic pitch to a blogger they've never talked to, thereby decreasing the blogger's incentive to take further action. Think about it this way: would you be more likely to promote a good friend or a random stranger?

This is the part of blogger outreach that becomes daunting because it's no doubt time-consuming—and difficult to fit into your busy schedule. Yet if blogger outreach is a priority for you (and it very well should be), this initial investment of your time will pay off down the road. Just as it takes time to build a business, a Facebook fan page or a Twitter following, it takes time to build a blogger outreach network. But once you have that network in place, it becomes an invaluable part of your digital outreach strategy.

After you've established relationships with some of your target bloggers, feel free to reach out with a blog pitch. Before you send it, take time to ensure your pitch is thoughtfully written. Also, be strategic. Tailor your pitch to the blogger you're reaching out to and you'll be amazed at the results you can see.

I love the example cited by Danny Brown, who was approached by Alexandra Kirsch, Social Media Coordinator for Planned Television Arts, as part of a blogger outreach to promote an upcoming book.

Danny received Alexandra's pitch, which was specificall tailored to Danny's experience. Part of Alexandra's strategy was to encourage individual chapter reviews and, based on a particular blogger's expertise, would send a chapter that aligned with their interest and preferred subject matter. It's a brilliant strategy that immediately showed Danny that Alexandra had done her homework. She didn't send a blanket book pitch, or a form letter requesting a book review. Instead, she focused on easier-to-digest chapters and matched those chapters with each blogger's experience, giving the blogger a greater incentive to complete the review.

Regardless of whether you're pitching a book or anything else, follow Alexandra's lead and customize your pitch to each blogger. Mention why that person is at the top of your list and why you think the information you're sharing is a good fit not just for the blog, but for the blogger's audience, too. Taking the time to individually craft each pitch will greatly increase your chances for coverage, and it also establishes a positive precedent between you and the blogger, further developing your relationship.

Why Is Blogger Outreach Important?

According to, BlogPulse there are close to 180 million blogs on the Internet. And although the vast majority of these are hobby blogs, the power and reach of the blogosphere as a whole has become undeniable.

Consider large corporations like Ford, Lowe's and Delta Faucet, all of whom have made significant investments in implementing and maintaining blogger outreach. Bloggers are now seen as powerful and influential sources of information, some rivaling even the largest media companies.

Imagine tapping into a fraction of this reach to help broadcast your company's message. Sure, blogger outreach is time-consuming, but when you consider that the largest investment is your time, you can likely reap more significant results than you would through more traditional channels of marketing or advertising.

After all, that's one of the greatest advantages of social media and digital marketing—the ability to expand your network and exponentially enlarge your reach, whether you're thinking regionally or globally. Tapping into the powerful and active blogosphere is an ideal way with which to not only utilize prime channels of communication, but also a smart strategy when it comes to creating and maintaining relationships that could be fruitful for years to come.

If you've already created a blogger outreach program, I'd love to hear any success stories you have. And if you're just getting started, let me know how that goes, too!

Call them what you want: forecasts, prophecies, prognoses, intimations, or even strongly worded suggestions. The good thing about "predictions" is that anyone can have them. As we mark the end of 2011 and look ahead to 2012 it's always a good idea to write down and expound upon some possible trends and ideas that may drive your marketing efforts in the coming year.

Whether it is the state of search, the progression of social media or the continued evolution of SEO techniques, pontificating about what may and may not come to pass in the New Year can be both liberating and enlightening. And, with the world possibly ending on December 21, 2012 anyway, I personally plan to make 2012 the very BEST year possible both for myself and my clients.

To that end, if you are looking for some specific areas or trends to closely watch in 2012, here's where I plan to invest MOST of my time and resources:

• 1. SEO is Not Dead! Regardless of Leo Laporte's declaration that "SEO is Dead" back at PubCon 2011, I see a bright and shiny future for sound SEO practitioners in 2012. I predict what you will see in 2012 is a DECREASE in the value of exact match domains and footer links (seriously Google, it's a long time coming), a rise in the importance of quality thematic backlinks, and an understanding that a quality SEO campaign takes into account PPC, social media, and on-page optimization techniques. SEO professionals who recognize the value of a fast-loading site, the importance of a blog for new & regular content creation, and understand Google's Freshness Update (and its effect on date-specific content) will be well-positioned for success in 2012!
  
• 2. Foursquare is going to blow-up! With Gowalla's acquisition late this year by Facebook, Foursquare has effectively WON the geo-locational marketing space! I've been bullish on Foursquare for awhile as a way to save money on everything from my recent dentist appointment to getting free wings or an appetizer every time I visit my local Hooters. But with Foursquare recently partnering with NBC to track Campaign 2012 and its clear status as a prime acquisition target by both Bing and Google to counter Facebook, it's apparent to me as an SEO that if you are NOT leveraging Foursquare with your existing client base, you are just leaving money on the table.
  
• 3. Amazon will DOMINATE the Offers Space! GroupOn may have been the big kid on the offers block in 2011 but it has been hemorrhaging money, and taking a lot of flak for its questionable accounting practices; its stock is down 50% post-IPO. This has left a big opening for others in the space, namely LivingSocial. Not only is LivingSocial better run but it already has a close relationship with Amazon due to a $175 million investment made last December by the world's biggest online retailer. I predict LivingSocial will be bought by Amazon and folded right into a NEW Amazon Offers beast which will completely eat-the-lunch of GroupOn before the end of 2012. Google Offers "may" limp along for awhile but its customer targeting is still abysmal and I don't see it making any serious gains in marketing share in 2012.
  
• 4. Author Markups go Mainstream! We've been pushing the value of author markups and Rich Snippets in Search Engine News for awhile. This is because they are going to be HUGE in 2012! Google is now implementing author markups fully into Google+. We expect these will be fully rolled out into both Google News and Google Web Search in 2012. This means claiming your content is going to be SUPER important. Why? Because the addition of a picture adds relevancy and validity to search results. We are "wired" to click-on results with attractive photos. Claiming your content is the BEST way to spruce up anonymous content and increase click-thru rates in 2012. Read our article above and get this done in the New Year!
  
• 5. Siri will CHANGE Local Forever! If you did not read our Future of Search is Siri article, go do that now. I'll wait...are you back, good! Siri is definitely a game changer in local search (and in marriage as well according to this video) and you need to be ready for it! Because Siri will provide what it feels is the best answer in real-time you need to make sure you work HARD to drive as many reviews, citations, and local signals to your business as possible. Doing so will help you encourage Siri to pull your result over a competitor. We are still playing around with it here in-house. As we get more information on optimization techniques with Siri we'll be sharing those accordingly!
  
• 6. Quantity vs Quality in Content: We covered the Google Freshness update above briefly. However, what may be one of the more underreported takeaways from the update is the belief that "quantity of results may result in lower quality of content." In other words, Google may be very quick to rank NEWER content FASTER even if that content is of lower-quality. In fact, I've already seen this in some results for my own clients. As we move into 2012, YOU NEED TO MAKE DAILY CONTENT CREATION A PRIORITY. The more content you publish the better chance that content is going to be served competitively by Google. Do yourself a favor in 2012...GET A BLOG!
  
• 7. Social Networks are still a Big Deal! Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are ONLY going to get bigger in 2012. Facebook will pass 1 billion registered users by later 2012. Google+ will continue to expand its base and Twitter Promoted Tweets are going to go mainstream! Social signals ARE already being used for algorithmic ranking purposes; that is ONLY going to increase in 2012. You need to be on these networks AND you need to start thinking of these networks like search engines and integrating social activities into your daily timeline. Finally, go check-out new social networks Favo.rs and Pinterest. I'm predicting these two sites to go BIG in 2012. Favo.rs works by matching founders and professionals together for mutual business gain. Pinterest works as a virtual social sharing "pin board" that allows users to share photos of items, places or hot products that in turn LINK DIRECTLY back to the photo's associated webpage. Both are pretty cool sites, have gained a TON of initial interest, and can lead to new links, increased sales & traffic, and connections for your business. Check them out now!

My personal Magic 8-Ball says that signs point to yes concerning the above seven specific 2011 predictions. Some may happen, some may not, but that's where I'll be concentrating most of my time and resources before the world is consumed in fire and brimstone at the end of the year.

Have a great New Year's and good luck in 2012!

Flickr isn't just a photo-sharing site – it's a valuable tool with which you can drive traffic to your website and increase your brand's recognition.

Compared to some of the other social media platforms in existence seems like a dark horse – or at least a vastly under-utilized tool. With more than 50 million registered members, Flickr maintains a consistent level of activity that includes thousands of photos uploaded every minute, and nearly 4.5 million uploads daily.

As with other social media sites, using Flickr takes time – and to make it an effective part of your

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There's no denying that Tumblr is the new darling of the blogging world. Founded four years ago, the microblogging platform's popularity has skyrocketed this year thanks to a number of businesses and brands that have flocked to the site as a way to broaden their audience and extend the reach of their content.

In June, Mashable reported that Tumblr had become a blogger's preferred platform. The number of Tumblr blogs surpassed those created on WordPress, a compelling statistic that illustrates Tumblr's flourishing popularity.

Here's the million-dollar question: should your brand or business start a Tumblr blog? As with any other social media tool, you should take some time to familiarize yourself with Tumblr, and create a plan for what you want to do with the site. And that's where I come in. Let's take a look at some of the pros and cons of Tumblr, and after that, I'll share some examples of businesses that are innovatively using the platform.

Tumblr: The Pros

One of the biggest appeals of Tumblr is that it's simple. If you've navigated Blogger or Wordpress, you'll likely find Tumblr even easier to use.

If you find yourself blogging on the go, Tumblr might be the best choice. You can post to Tumblr from a variety of sources, including a mobile phone, browser or desktop. Posts typically tend to be visual and include photo or video, as opposed to a large amount of text that you might see on other blogging platforms. Keep in mind, however, that just because your Tumblr posts may be brief or highly visual, you still want to ensure you're sharing quality content that appeals to your audience and aligns with your brand or business strategy.

Engagement is an important part of any social media presence, and Tumblr makes it relatively easy for brands and companies to connect with their followers. You can opt to open your Tumblr blog to user submissions. One of my favorites? Unhappy Hipsters, which is always good for a laugh.

Tumblr's structure is inherently social, too. Consider these attributes as outlined by Social Media Examiner: “Users choose to follow other Tumblr blogs that appear in their dashboards much like an RSS feed. They can then ‘reblog' to their own Tumblr feed. This reblog feature encourages the redistribution of content, which can spread quickly if it's interesting.”

Tumblr: The Cons

As great as it is, Tumblr isn't for everyone. Keep in mind that a typical Tumblr audience skews younger than that of other social media platforms, so if your brand or business won't be relevant to this group, you may want to focus your attention elsewhere.

And because Tumblr posts tend to be highly visual, you'll want to ensure you have an adequate supply of high-quality photos and/or videos before you start posting. Apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic are making it easier to take eye-catching, artful photos and post them across a variety of platforms, including Tumblr. Research your options and think about what you'll want to post before you start so that you can ensure Tumblr is the best fit when it comes to executing your overall digital strategy.

Tumblr may be easy-to-use, but you'll have less control when it comes to site customization. If you know HTML (or know someone who does), you can modify existing Tumblr themes by adding widgets and other features, but you won't have the flexibility and array of themes available on a site like WordPress. And Tumblr blogs can't be self-hosted, meaning you're at the mercy of the site—and it's somewhat frequent outages.

Tumblr Success Stories

What do Kate Spade, Barack Obama, the Los Angeles Times, Huggies and Doctors Without Borders have in common? They all maintain successful Tumblr blogs that share a variety of content in order to spread each brand's message and engage a wider audience.

When you start to explore Tumblr, the opportunities are virtually endless. Tumblr is an ideal outlet for creative content that can help share a new side of your brand or business, convey a message, encourage the sharing of viral content and more.

Erika Bearman, director of communications for Oscar de la Renta, started a Tumblr under the same name as her Twitter handle: OscarPRgirl. According to a look at fashion's top brands on Tumblr by Mashable, “…Bearman uses Tumblr as an extension of Twitter, but with greater emphasis on images – mainly vintage photographs of Oscar de la Renta and women wearing his designs – with the occasional short caption or quotation.”

At first glance, one would assume that the purpose of a Tumblr for a luxury brand like Oscar de la Renta would be to sell clothing and accessories. Yet because the brand's price point is prohibitive to many of its fans, the Tumblr blog takes a different approach.

“The goal of Oscar PR Girl's Tumblr, he [Richard Tong, Tumblr fashion director] said, is to give the community something to aspire to, to make Oscar de la Renta ‘present and persistent in their minds' so that if and when they can afford a dress or a prized accessory, it's one of Mr. de la Renta's,” according to Mashable.

And that's a perfect example of what a Tumblr blog can be. You may not necessarily need to immediately convert your audience to purchases, but instead focus on building brand recognition and loyalty so that your brand or business is at the forefront of someone's mind should they decide to buy from you or engage your services.

Doctors Without Borders is another example of a successful Tumblr blog. The international medical humanitarian organization posts a mix of quotes, photos and longer posts that detail specific treatments, therapies and outreach efforts, such as providing those in impoverished countries with HIV/AIDS medications. Not only does DWB's Tumblr show a look at the organization's efforts and who they help, but also brings attention to worldwide health problems while encouraging activism, whether through volunteer work, donations or other methods.

These two different examples only begin to highlight the versatility of Tumblr and how you might use it to develop your own brand or business. It may be tempting to dive right in, but taking some time to think through your Tumblr strategy and plan out your first few posts will ensure you're using the platform to its full potential—and making it work for your company.

Have you decided to use Tumblr for your business? If so, I'd love to hear your experience so far, as well as your content strategy.

Some of the tests we've seen with the display of Google's local results in the SERPs become standard across most of the country. This includes gray map points that turn red or blue as you scroll over them, an altered Map on the results page, a change in the look of one-boxes and other changes that seem minor when considered on their own. However, the sum total of these changes furthers the standardization of the Search Results that we were promised about a year ago. I find the flyout previews to be a rather significant– it's quick way for Google to show more local information without eating up more real estate on the page and to high...

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When you first start blogging, it’s easy to see your blog as an entity that’s completely separate from your other social presences like Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook. Lots of words in one place, not so many words in another, right? But what you might not realize is that all of your social presences, blogs included, can work together to boost your audience’s participation in your brand and help carry your message far and wide. After all, what we’re really doing with any social presence is encouraging others to participate in our brands – so why don’t we look at some tips that make it easy for your audience to share?

Make it easy to share your blog posts: When you read a fabulous blog po...

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In September 2011, Google bought Zagat, a well-respected review guide for the hospitality industry. Most of Google's other acquisitions have focused on gaining technology, but with the Zagat purchase, it clearly goes beyond scraping content and becomes a bonafide publisher. This is a role that Yahoo has played well, yet it hasn't helped it much as far as search is concerned. It's also a role Google has avoided up until now.

Zagat curates individual reviews and pulls snippets from them to create a big picture of an establishment. It also provides an "editorial review" about a place and enables people to sort the opinions by the attributes...

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When you publish a blog post, do you ever feel like it’s lost in the ether within an hour or so after tweeting it or posting on your Facebook page or LinkedIn profile? It’s not surprising to feel that way, especially when Sysomos published a study last year demonstrating that 92% of retweets happen within the first hour. So once a tweet’s been sent and you’ve posted your blog or article everywhere, how can you get even more mileage out of your content?

Email marketing is the answer.

It’s a three-step process to reuse and recycle all of the great pieces you’ve created for your blog: identify, schedule, push. Let..

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On November 3 Google announced the introduction of a new update to their Caffeine web indexing system that was originally pushed out in June 2010. This most recent update, affecting roughly 35% of searches, has become known as the Freshness Update due to its stated goal of delivering fresher, more recent search results.

In short, the goal of the update was to rank NEWER content HIGHER in the search results for most queries. To see this in action, just visit these sample results in Google for the queries

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When you set out to enter the blogosphere, odds are you’re going to be sharing what you write across various other channels. Every place from LinkedIn to Facebook and Twitter (and now, Google+) are potential outlets for sharing your blog posts – so how do you make sure that you’re getting the most bang for your blogging buck?

Each social media outlet has its own nuances – things you can customize, character restrictions and the like. The most important thing to remember, however, is that your audiences most likely vary quite a bit between the channels. In today’s post, I want to go over the three most pop...

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Google Analytics offers a paid option for businesses willing to pay more for guaranteed uptime and support and a dedicated account manager to provide consultation and auditing. Small business owners often complain that they would be willing to pay for Places support. This is an example that Google may, at some point, be willing to take their money for providing support, as well.

Improvement in support for Places users is proudly announced by Google. However, once you dig into it, it's not really much of an improvement at all. It's just another illusion of customer service, but it does improve slightly as the month rolls on.

Google updates the user inte...

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As one of the instructors in Planet Ocean’s Mastermind’s series, I’m delighted that they’ve asked me to contribute to the new blog! For those of you who haven’t met me, I’ll give you the guided tour.

I’m the Head Redhead at RHW Media, a niche marketing consultancy based in Denver, Colorado. We specialize in digital strategy, which essentially translates to we keep companies from looking like idiots online. Our primary work is in developing social strategies for brands, helping them establish plans that will:

• Communicate who they are and what they do with a distinct personality in social outlets.
• Build relationships with their audience bases to in turn, help them build bette...

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There's been a seismic shift in the landscape of online reviews that those involved in promoting local business should keep an eye on.

The most significant change in online reviews took place in July 2011 with Google's removal of the review snippets from third party websites on Google Place pages and in the Search Engine Results Pages. These were once very prominent and then disappeared overnight.

This was not entirely unexpected since Google's relationship with several highly influential review sites has been repeatedly strained and downright hostile at times. Yelp and Trip Advisor both did some angry fist shaking at Google for t...

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Recently we received a question from a new SEO. They wanted to get our opinion on how to most effectively charge for SEO services. Specifically, they were asking for insight on how I and other Planet Ocean SEO experts here approached client pricing. This is a great question and one that I know will be of interest to most of you reading this post.

SEO pricing is an interesting topic because there are a number of cost pricing approaches out there. Whether you are a private individual SEO consultant or part of a larger firm, how you promote and bundle your pricing services can make or break your success....

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Place page owner descriptions went missing for a while. Now they're back, along with the Wikipedia descriptions that replaced the owner descriptions on some listings.

Are Wikipedia descriptions just being used as placeholders? I don't know, but a citation from Wikipedia is likely to be a strong trust signal, even if you can't include a link to your website. If it makes sense for your business to be included in Wikipedia in any way, I'd try to make it happen.

Google acquires Zagat, a we...

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What's New in Local Search September 2011?

Google's AdWords Express was officially released although it has been around since October 2010 under the name Boost. This addresses the need of small businesses to get ppc ads online quickly and easily without having to learn how to use the increasingly complicated AdWords interface. I've experimented with these. The numbers are nowhere near as good as those from professionally managed accounts. However, their profitability doesn't need to support the cost of professional management, either.

The newest version of Maps for Android enables you to upload photos to Place pages, add new Places as you check in to them on ...

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A common question we get here at Search Engine News is from blog owners who are looking to grow their audience. Usually the discussion turns to one of income with the goal of the blog owner being to eventually make some sort of living from their blog either in the form of advertising or affiliate income.

Unfortunately, making the jump from a part-time or recreational blogger to one who hopes to make an income isn't easy. It takes patience, hard work and a solid understanding of your audience.

Most importantly though, blogging is all about one thing: CONTENT! If you are passionate about what you are writing, know what you are blogging about, AND can position yourself

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Unless you live under a rock (hey, I don't judge), you've probably heard about Google+. And if you're a tech freak like me, you've been creating circles and huddling and sparking for the last few weeks. Google announced at the beginning of August that Google+ already reached 25 million users, creating a pace that may make Google+ the fastest-growing website in history.

So what's with all the hype about Google+? Is it really a Facebook killer? Twitter's worst enemy? The new blogging platform? A supremely well-designed...

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This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

One of the most common questions we hear from search engine marketing professionals these days is How much SEO advice should I give away for free?

This is a great question and a VERY popular dilemma with SEOs in general, both for those hanging out their shingle as private SEO consultants, as well as those working within the confines of larger SEO firms. This is something we've even had to grapple with ourselves here at Search Engine News through our own online support SEO help system (where submitted tickets have increased 250% over the last two years).

Most of you reading this have probably experienced a situation where you have re...

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This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.

• Google needs to step up its customer service for Google Places. Yeah, this can't happen too soon!
• 40% of Google Maps usage comes from Mobile devices. Are you ready for those users?
• 6 million Place pages have been claimed by business owners. Huge opportunity still exists!

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This is a resource for seoinsites.com members only. Contact us to find out more.