SEO Newsletter - Vol 86 - Video SEO, Year in Review, 20 SEO Guidelines

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SEO Newsletter | Vol 86 | December 22, 2010 BruceClay.com   FEATURE: Trends in SEO for 2010 BACK TO BASICS: Videos, YouTube and Being Found Online, Part 2 INTERNATIONAL: 20 Key items to ensure a successful SEO project THE USUAL: Coverage of this month's hot topics, shuffles, sound bytes, shindigs, attaboys and word on the wire.   FEATURE: Trends in SEO for 2010 Author: Susan Esparza   As the year closes, it's time to look back at the major trends that affected search, social and Internet marketing in 2010 . Surprisingly, this action-packed year was centered around a few key areas of development. This year the key to success was being light-weight, nimble and surgically targeted on the user. Next month, Bruce Clay will bring us his predictions for 2011 but first, let's take a look back at the year that was.   BACK TO BASICS: Videos, YouTube and Being Found Online, Part 2 Author: Jessica Lee   Online video is not going away. Before you dismiss it as part of your marketing efforts, consider the facts: Video can increase the chances your business will be found on the Web. Video consumption is ever-increasing; YouTube reports more than 2 billion videos watched per day. In last month's video-focused Back to Basics, we covered important items such as understanding the impact video is having on the search engine results pages (SERPs), overcoming common roadblocks to video production, getting started with videos and optimizing videos for search. This month, we'll go into keyword research for videos, YouTube's algorithm and conversion tips for videos.   INTERNATIONAL: 20 Key items to ensure a successful SEO project Author: Martin Orliac, Bruce Clay Australia   Based on our years of experience in SEO projects of all sizes, we have determined that the key items to ensure a successful SEO project in a large complex business can be broken down into twenty points. Understanding and undertaking each of these points will put your organisation's search engine marketing strategy on the path to ultimate victory.   Hot Topics Social Media Increasingly Impacting Search There's been a lot of talk lately about the social movement in search. As a business, it's a topic worth taking a serious look at. With all the new developments that make search social, it means there's some real changes now and on the horizon that can severely impact a business' online presence. In last month's feature article, Bruce Clay asked if "likes" are the new links. In his article, he points out that some of the factors that Google used to use to rank websites online could be replaced by social cues. Some research at Bruce Clay, Inc. suggests that even local ranking factors in Google take reviews - a social aspect - into account when serving up business results. Bruce's idea about likes being the new links was echoed by Satya Nadella, a senior vice president at Microsoft, who said at the December 15 Bing Search Summit last week that social will change search fundamentally. And that it's still at the beginning stages and could be as big as linking was to search. The Facebook-Bing partnership that was announced in October revealed itself in a showcase at the Bing Search event, including the integration of "likes" on the search engine results page (SERP), showing which friends a person has on Facebook "like" the website or business. Even though Bing only owns about 12 percent of the search market according to comScore reports released December 15, Microsoft reported at the event it has more than 90 million users. Google has also been testing out social search with a Yelp-like service called Google Hotpot, which customizes a SERP based on community reviews when signed into it. Google released a video explaining HotPot. YouTube (owned by Google) also rolled out a more personalized interface this month as well. In addition, there have been rumors circulating of Google creating a Facebook-like community called "Google Me" - but according to a November 11 report by TechCrunch, Google denies Google Me rumors. But, there's still no denying Google is looking at more ways to be social, as it has made several moves and statements confirming its belief in social as a recipe for success moving forward. What does this mean to you? As a business, it's time to start taking control of your social media presence across the board. Important actions items include Facebook presence and review communities (such as Yelp and Google Places). Start thinking in terms of social media optimization, instead of just SEO. These recent developments and more show how search and social are merging to create a brand new online experience.     Shuffles Yahoo! conducts massive layoffs and closes several services including AltaVista, MyBlogLog, Yahoo! Bookmarks and more. Bookmarking service Delicious will be spun off, though the exact future of the service is unclear. Outspoken Media's Rae Hoffman-Dolan stepped down as CEO of the online marketing firm. CEO responsibilities are now passed to co-founder Rhea Drysdale. Hoffman-Dolan is CEO of MFE Interactive. Cuil co-founder and former Googler, Anna Patterson, heads back to Google to be director of Google research. Google will be retiring their Base API and replacing it with two shopping services. Google Base will close forever on June 1, 2011. Stepping down as CEO of IAC/InteractiveCorp is Barry Diller, who will remain as chairman and senior executive. Former Match.com CEO, Gregg Blatt, takes Diller's place. Two search engine startups, Blekko and DuckDuckGo, announced a partnership this month that further expands on a mission to cut spam from the search results.     Sound Bytes If you like what you've read in the SEO Newsletter, there's more Internet marketing expertise where that came from. Check out SEM Synergy every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific on WebmasterRadio.fm. Bruce Clay and the other hosts discuss industry news, SEO tactics and marketing trends, while expert guests share their insights on methods, best practices and upcoming events. Check out the show schedule below for a look at recent shows and upcoming topics. Air Date Segment One Segment Two Segment Three December 1 RERUN December 8 RERUN December 15 (Listen Now) Local Search Tony Adam Developing Community December 22 (Coming Soon) TBA TBA TBA Got something to say? Contact the SEM Synergy team by email or on Twitter @SEMSynergy and share your thoughts, comments and questions. You might even hear your question answered on the show.     Shindigs SMX West in March is still accepting speaking pitches, closing on January 20. Search geeks who want to attend SMX West should enter the Biggest Search Geek Contest sponsored by Marin Software. The contest is open to U.S. and U.K. residents. If you're not throwing your hat in the ring, you can always register to attend using our 10% discount code: smx10bruceclay. Remember, the earlier you register, the lower your total cost will be. Now is also the time to plan your speaker pitches for SES New York (first round ends January 21). Gear up after New Year celebrations for Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas January 9 to January 11. In the U.S., the newly updated SEOToolSet® standard and advanced training and certification dates for 2011 have been announced. The first West Coast course begins January 17, with several others thoughout the year. Take your pick of 8 courses across the United States: California Training 2011 January 17-21 March 14-18 May 16-20 July 11-15 September 19-23 November 14-18 The dates for NY Training 2011 will be announced later this year. East coast students will be able to chose from two sessions during the year. Bruce Clay Australia will be holding the next 3 Day SEO Training in Sydney: April 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011 One Day Training dates for 2011 have also been announced: Sydney - February 23rd, 2011 Melbourne - March 2nd, 2011 Sydney - June 15th, 2011     Attaboys Facebook founder and wunderkind Mark Zuckerberg has had a very good month, being named TIME Magazine's Person of the Year. Zuckerberg also recieved kudos for pledging much of his personal fortune to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet's "Giving Pledge" initiative. Gates and Buffet's project has been joined by 57 of the world's wealthiest people thus far. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's Facebook continues to reign surpreme as the current king of social networks. Google is going to start labeling possibly compromised sites in their search results, making the Web a little safer for users.     Word on the Wire Wikileaks, a wiki-style site for leaked secure documents, became the focus of a media storm followin the US diplomatic cables leak. In response to pressure from the US government, Amazon and Paypal closed Wikileak's associated accounts, cutting off server space and funding. Google TV, launched only two months ago, has been sidelined for the time being following a lukewarm reception. Take a look back at the year via Google Zeitgeist 2010. For the first time, the zeitgeist is presented in HTML 5, itself a product of the year gone by. Google offered social coupon site, Groupon, a whopping 6 billion dollars for acquistion. Groupon shocked everyone by turning down the huge payday, citing a yearly revenue of nearly $2 billion. Online search to dominate over the next five years. According to reports, online search is set to experience a 16% growth per year over the next five years, according to a new report by Frost & Sullivan. Aussies are resistant to mobile search. 61% of Australians said they have not used their mobile phone to search, according to a new report.   If you have any questions or comments on any of the above Internet marketing news items or if you would like to suggest topics for future search engine optimization articles, please contact us at Bruce Clay, Inc. Print the full SEO Newsletter

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IMS #198 - The Biggest Mistake Marketers Make - December 10 2010

Internet Marketing Secrets
IMS #198 - December 10 2010
The Biggest Mistake Marketers Make

Peter,

First off I just wanted to apologize.
There's hasn't been a newsletter for
several weeks. Sorry about that.

This time of year is always hectic, as I
help my private site members tweak their
sites and maximize conversions. Plus,
there's the last minute marketing push, to
capture buyer attention for the holidays.

It looks like its going to be an
outstanding year for the membership.
I'm happy and pumped about that.

If your site isn't converting like it
should, or if your advertising isn't
bringing in the traffic you want, I might
be able to help you change that. Email
me askmichael@me.com, or visit my
private site at dynamicmedia.com for
more information.

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How to Triple Your Conversion Rates

Did you download the Ultimate Heatmap
yet? It shows you the hottest locations on
your web pages in terms of clicks and eye
fixation. You'll know exactly where to put
your ads, forms, and calls to action, so
you can maximize conversions.

In addition to the templates, there's a
section that reveals what types of ads get
clicked on most. Plus, there's a listing
of all the standard ad sizes, fresh Google
AdSense tips and more. This gift is yours
for the taking. Download it here.

http://www.dynamicmedia.com/ultimate-heatmap/

I only ask that you share it. Please pass
it along to your friends, coworkers,
classmates, and anyone else that you
think might enjoy it. Thank you.

- - - - -

The Biggest Mistake Marketers Make

Are you permission marketing? In other
words, are you sending email to people
who've asked to receive it? There are
still a few of you - you know who you
are - that don't get signups from people
visiting your site.

At the very least, I hope the following
numbers inspire you. The average reader
is worth four dollars per year, as long as
they stay subscribed. Some markets are
worth more, others less. This is just
the average.

So if you built a readership of 10,000,
that's worth an extra 40,000 dollars per
year. That's over and above any website
revenues. Does that inspire you?

Some complain permission marketing is
hard to learn. I disagree.

Permission marketing is easier than ever.
It's not like the old days when you had to
figure it out for yourself. Now there's
all sorts of video tutorials and 'how-to'
guides online.

Some complain that they don't like
writing. Usually it's a small minority of
folks, in niches they know nothing about.
To them writing seems like a job.

You know what? If you don't like what
you're doing... quit and get out. Time is
the one thing in life you cannot get back.
Life is too short to be trading it, for
something you don't enjoy doing.

On the other hand, if you love what you
do, you never get talker's block. So why
on earth would you get writer's block?
If you don't like to write, jot down a few
notes, then open a video camera and talk.

What if you're camera shy? There
are alternatives.

You can report on what's happened and
just summarize what's already been
written. You could source a Youtube
video of the week, or the day. Maybe
source a quote of the day, a recipe of the
day, or even a product recall of the day.

You can subscribe to the blogs and
newsletters in your niche. This is
especially important for affiliate
marketers, because most major
manufacturers have newsletters.
You can know ahead of time, about
new product releases, and have your
advertising ready to go, the minute
they hit the stores.

You could do interviews with experts
and have them transcribed through
castingwords.com. (That's how they
maintain their position as leaders and
experts. They make themselves available
for interviews and other media coverage.)

You can subscribe to Google Alerts
and Twitter feeds, (AKA the Goobert
conversational marketing method
http://www.gogoobert.com). Then choose
the best content you've read and aggregate
it back out. You can paraphrase the mood,
or comments, interject your own opinion,
and fire it back out into the blogosphere.

As a last resort you can invite, or use,
guest articles and posts. Or if you really
must, outsource your writing to freelance
talent on elance.com or odesk.com.

So in the end, it doesn't matter what you
send. The important thing is to get
started... right now... today.

And when you're ready to start, you can
join me through AWeber, because that way,
if you ever need help, I can give you a
hand. I've been using them to send this
newsletter for over 11 years.

Aweber: http://www.dynamicmedia.com/aweber

If you're not permission marketing. You're
eating the appetizer, but leaving the meal
on the table. This is the biggest mistake
marketers make.

Promise yourself - starting tomorrow -
that you'll make permission marketing a
priority. Make it commitment. Write it on
a sticky note and paste it on your monitor
right now. Do it!

And no matter what the economy decides to
do, next year will be your personal best.

take care,

Michael

P.S.

Did you know that there's over 175 words
and phrases that you cannot say in email,
or risk having your communications nuked
by the spam filters?

The filters assign a spam score to your
email, based on how many "bad" words
are in it. If you exceed the threshold,
your email will get flagged, and end up
in the junk bin.

Worse yet, your mail won't get delivered
at all. You'll get blocked. They may even
ban your website, or IP address.

Don't let this happen to you.

Right now, you can download my
complete list of Email Spam Triggers.
It's 175 Things You Cannot Say in Email.
It took me over 10 years to compile it.

Members of my private site already have
access to it. If you'd like to get your
mitts on it, come take DynamicMedia.com
for a 30 day test drive, and keep your
email arriving safely.

There's no further commitment, forced
continuity, hype, spin, or silliness. You
can get that nonsense anywhere.

What you'll find inside is good actionable
marketing advice, that you can use right
away. Come join us won't you?

Get the Email Spam Trigger Report,
1 on 1 private coaching, and dozens of
other bonuses when you subscribe to
Michael Campbell's private site at
DynamicMedia.com.

Start Here: http://www.dynamicmedia.com

Copyright 2010 Dynamic Media Corporation
Terms: http://www.internetmarketingsecrets.com/about/
141-6200 MCKAY AVE, UNIT 663
BURNABY BC CANADA V5H 4M9

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EzSEO Newsletter # 300

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EzSEO Newsletter # 300

Andy Williams

http://ezseonews.com

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Hi Peter

This is the 300th issue of my newsletter! That's quite a
milestone, and one I probably never really expected to reach when I
first started out all those years ago. I remember writing my first
newsletter to a list of around 15 people!

The first few newsletters grew into an SEO course that became my
free eBook - Battle for the Top 10. I was reminded of that this
week when someone found a link to that book which no longer worked.
The reason being, its no longer available. It eventually because
the Affiliate Site Blueprint that you can download for free on my
site (look in the top menu bar).

Things really have changed a lot over the years. People have come
and gone, but a few of the very best teachers have stayed around
and are still producing excellent quality publications - Michael
Campbell, Neil Shearing & Martin Avis to name a few that I follow.

Over the years, products have come and gone, and so has a lot of
wasted time and money spent buying and reading / using many of
those products. I bet those of you who have been marketers for a
few years will have been through the same kind of stuff.

In today's newsletter, I have a free report you might be interested
in. It was not written by me, but I recommend you read it.

In this issue:

1. Are You Using Elance?

2. Exact Match Domains? Not me!

3. Amazonian Profit Plan (review)

You can read this issue online here:

http://ezseonews.com/internet-marketing-tips/ezseo-newsletter-300/

(You may need to copy and paste the whole URL into your browser).
Any problems, just go to:

http://ezseonews.com

.. and follow the link to issue #300.

As always, you can leave your comments and thoughts at the bottom
of that page.

all the best

Andy Williams
http://ezseonews.com
http://webcontentstudio.com
http://www.keywordresearchlab.com/
http://affiliate-minder.com
http://improdigy.com

#######################################################
Visit the subscriber Bonus page for fr.ee reports and other
subscriber-only:

http://www.ezseonews.com/nls

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to your
friends. Also if you have any tips of your own, questions or
comments, please leave a comment at the online version of this
newsletter: http://ezseonews.com

Any tips or questions & answers I print in this newsletter will
also be put up on the web version of the newsletter with a link to
your site if you want it. That's extra free traffic for your site
as well as an incoming link to your site.

The products reviewed in this newsletter are often affiliate
products, and as such, if you buy through my link, I may receive a
commission.

The contents of this newsletter is copyright 2010 Andrew Williams.
If you want to republish any of the articles, you must get
permission from the author.

This newsletter disclaims all responsibility for the advertising
copy or the product advertised. You cannot rely on the fact that
the newsletter has examined the product or recommends or endorses
the product, unless it clearly says that it has, when you make your
decision whether or not to purchase the product or interact with
the advertiser. You are advised to do your own investigation before
buying.

#######################################################

Correos 4
38410 Los Realejos
Tenerife
Spain

To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
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re:

I just netted $513 in five days doing easy things! I love this site - http://x.co/Kn2T Dont forget to thank me!

EzSEO Newsletter # 299

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EzSEO Newsletter # 299

Andy Williams

http://ezseonews.com

#######################################################

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IMPORTANT: You are receiving this email because you 0pted in to it.
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Hi Peter

This is not so much a newsletter as simply a heads up on a couple
of "Black Friday" Savings that are available only for today.

Before we do that though, I know my post last week about my latest
themeing experiments had a lot of people scratching their heads.
If you were confused but would like to learn more, I have updated
my free themeing introduction course to include some of the later
videos I have done which are generally a lot easier to follow.

In this issue:

1. Black Friday Savings

You can read this issue online here:

http://ezseonews.com/internet-marketing-tips/ezseo-newsletter-299/

(You may need to copy and paste the whole URL into your browser).
Any problems, just go to:

http://ezseonews.com

.. and follow the link to issue #299.

As always, you can leave your comments and thoughts at the bottom
of that page.

all the best

Andy Williams
http://ezseonews.com
http://webcontentstudio.com
http://www.keywordresearchlab.com/
http://affiliate-minder.com
http://improdigy.com

#######################################################
Visit the subscriber Bonus page for fr.ee reports and other
subscriber-only:

http://www.ezseonews.com/nls

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to your
friends. Also if you have any tips of your own, questions or
comments, please leave a comment at the online version of this
newsletter: http://ezseonews.com

Any tips or questions & answers I print in this newsletter will
also be put up on the web version of the newsletter with a link to
your site if you want it. That's extra free traffic for your site
as well as an incoming link to your site.

The products reviewed in this newsletter are often affiliate
products, and as such, if you buy through my link, I may receive a
commission.

The contents of this newsletter is copyright 2010 Andrew Williams.
If you want to republish any of the articles, you must get
permission from the author.

This newsletter disclaims all responsibility for the advertising
copy or the product advertised. You cannot rely on the fact that
the newsletter has examined the product or recommends or endorses
the product, unless it clearly says that it has, when you make your
decision whether or not to purchase the product or interact with
the advertiser. You are advised to do your own investigation before
buying.

#######################################################

Peter

Correos 4
38410 Los Realejos
Tenerife
Spain

To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TIwszBxMtKyMjMxsTOyctEa0HCwMjOysrA==

EzSEO Newsletter # 298

#######################################################

EzSEO Newsletter # 298

Andy Williams

http://ezseonews.com

#######################################################

-------------------------------------------------------
IMPORTANT: You are receiving this email because you 0pted in to it.
If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, click on the
unsubscribe link at the end, and you will not get it again.
-------------------------------------------------------

Hi Peter

The main part of today's newsletter is an answer to a
comment/question left on the newsletter post from last week by a
guy called Dave.

Funny thing is, I had these same doubts/questions as Dave back in
2007 when I first started researching how themeing can help a web
page rank.

Of course, I did some experiments back then that showed I was on
the right track, but what amazes me is that no-one has asked these
same questions before, so hat's off to Dave for spotting a
potential flaw in my methods.

Also in today's newsletter is a rant about mailing lists and
unscrupulous marketers.

In this issue:

1. A Flaw In My Methods?

2. Mailing Lists Rant

3. Adrian Lings Offer

You can read this issue online here:

http://ezseonews.com/internet-marketing-tips/ezseo-newsletter-298/

(You may need to copy and paste the whole URL into your browser).
Any problems, just go to:

http://ezseonews.com

.. and follow the link to issue #298.

As always, you can leave your comments and thoughts at the bottom
of that page.

all the best

Andy Williams
http://ezseonews.com
http://webcontentstudio.com
http://www.keywordresearchlab.com/
http://affiliate-minder.com
http://improdigy.com

#######################################################
Visit the subscriber Bonus page for fr.ee reports and other
subscriber-only:

http://www.ezseonews.com/nls

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please recommend it to your
friends. Also if you have any tips of your own, questions or
comments, please leave a comment at the online version of this
newsletter: http://ezseonews.com

Any tips or questions & answers I print in this newsletter will
also be put up on the web version of the newsletter with a link to
your site if you want it. That's extra free traffic for your site
as well as an incoming link to your site.

The products reviewed in this newsletter are often affiliate
products, and as such, if you buy through my link, I may receive a
commission.

The contents of this newsletter is copyright 2010 Andrew Williams.
If you want to republish any of the articles, you must get
permission from the author.

This newsletter disclaims all responsibility for the advertising
copy or the product advertised. You cannot rely on the fact that
the newsletter has examined the product or recommends or endorses
the product, unless it clearly says that it has, when you make your
decision whether or not to purchase the product or interact with
the advertiser. You are advised to do your own investigation before
buying.

#######################################################

Correos 4
38410 Los Realejos
Tenerife
Spain

To unsubscribe or change subscriber options visit:
http://www.aweber.com/z/r/?TIwszBxMtKyMjMxsTOyctEa0HMysTIwsbA==

SEO Newsletter - Vol 85 - Video SEO, Likes replace Links and Google Places ruins everything

Read this newsletter in your browser.

SEO Newsletter | Vol 85 | November 19, 2010 BruceClay.com   FEATURE: Are Likes the New Links? BACK TO BASICS: Videos, YouTube and Being Found Online INTERNATIONAL: Calculating the ROI of SEO THE USUAL: Coverage of this month's hot topics, shuffles, sound bytes, shindigs, attaboys and word on the wire.   FEATURE: Are Likes the New Links? Author: Bruce Clay   There is a change coming that mimics search as it existed in the early days. In the very beginning, search was developed to find answers and there were more people with questions than truly authoritative sites with answers. Authorities were identified by a combination of competent, well-constructed content and testimonial-grade inbound links (essentially a trusted testimonial system). This led to a culture of link-building and eventually deceptive link spamming which eroded and eventually undermined the concept of trusted links. It is really difficult to identify a purchased link from an earned testimonial-grade link. Simply put, spammer link camouflage is just too good. With link spam winning, search engines are turning to signals received from trusted friends (Facebook Likes), reviews appearing in the LocalPack (7-pack local maps), and in referrals and sharing within social media as new sources for testimonials. By substituting what a user's actual friends like in the place of spammy links, ultimately what we see today as link spam will lose its impact.   BACK TO BASICS: Videos, YouTube and Being Found Online Author: Jessica Lee   If you're not already using videos as part of your Internet marketing strategy, it's time to start considering it for two very important reasons: Universal Search and YouTube. With videos being a standard blend in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world behind its parent company, Google, people are looking to videos as a new way of obtaining the information they seek. Don't know much about video? You're not alone. Like most new online developments, it takes time for them to go from industry to mainstream. It may seem like an exhausted issue by now to Internet marketers, but for many businesses - small or large - it's still unchartered territory.   INTERNATIONAL: Calculating the ROI of SEO Author: Des Odell, Bruce Clay Australia   As search marketers, one of the most common questions we get asked is: How do you calculate the return on investment (ROI) from a search engine optimisation (SEO) project? These questions come from a number of sources including those looking to: Justify spend on a new SEO project. Increase spend on an existing SEO project. Transfer funds from other marketing channels to SEO. Reduce their spend on paid search and increase spend on SEO. It is great when we are asked this question, as generally the ROI for an SEO project is high and out-performs other marketing channels. We believe that all marketing channels should be subject to detailed scrutiny and we encourage rigorous ROI analysis where all available strategies are evaluated on a level and transparent playing field. In this article, I will outline how we approach the ROI calculation and identify some of the common pitfalls in the process.   Hot Topics Local Search and Google Places Author: Nasim Jafarzadeh Late in October, Google made a major transformation in the way Search Engine Results were displayed for searches with a local intent. The result of this change was that the Google Local 7 Pack is no longer always in the SERPs in the way that it used to be. Instead, Google has begun to integrate the local results within organic results and provided more prominent presence for local results on the SERP, while pushing the Web results below the fold. As a result, the significance of being number one in the organic results has lost its meaning dramatically. At the same time, due to the competitiveness of the local space, obtaining and maintaining a Google first page results has become even more difficult; therefore local businesses should claim and ensure their presence in local before it is too late. Google's update places more emphasis on Google Places Page. It seems what is on the place page can be as important for the Local results than what is on the website. That said, the following are a few important things that you should consider: If you are local, it is imperative to claim your Google Place Page. The more information on your Place Page, the better. Our research shows the top local results all have very complete place pages (address, phone number, hours of operations, pictures, reviews and so on). Google is committed to user experience and shows listings that can provide thorough information and therefore enhances overall user experience. Google put emphasis in Place Page reviews to the point that they are showing reviews not only from Google users, but also from other review sites like Yelp.com, so don't underestimate the importance of Reviews in its impact on local ranking. But please Avoid Fake and Untruthful Reviews! As a local service provider, your reputation and client's trust is worth far more. Try to optimize your place pages for your keywords. Categories listed on Place Page influence your Place Page's ability to rank in local results directly, so it is imperative to have the right category on the Place Page. For example, if you own a local Mexican restaurant, make sure to use "Mexican restaurant" as your category as opposed to just the generic business category "restaurant". Acquiring listings in local directories which verify your local presence can also help your local search rankings. Last, but definitely not least, traffic, click-through and your overall Place Page's popularity are important, so make sure your Place Page is built with users in mind. Bruce Clay mentioned in his interview with WebProNews at PubCon, "You should either figure out how to play in the local space ... or you are not going to get the clicks even if you are number one." This is just a start, stay tuned to see how Google Place search will evolve and what is next.     Shuffles Broadcasting live from its headquarters, Facebook discussed its new messaging system. Following, some claimed this was just one of many attacks in the ongoing Facebook-Google war. Google Place Search rolled out this month as one more giant shift in the way search works. Locations of users are now auto-logged by IP address, and if Google believes users are looking for something geotargeted, organic listings are now pushed below the fold in favor of local results. Also in Google launches, Boutiques.com was released in beta as a hybrid shopping-fashion portal that generates leads for participating merchants. YouTube introduces a program called On the Rise, giving up-and-coming channels the opportunity to grace the YouTube home page. Channels that have less than 100,000 subscribers with accelerated subscriptions in a 30-day period are put into the pot, and viewers vote on a handful of finalists to create one lucky winner. New search engine blekko hit the scene, causing a stir this month. Key features include "slashtag" search and lots of data served up to anyone for Internet marketing research. While many speculate whether or not it will replace Google, blekko asserts that's not the point. RockMelt, a new Web browser, also became the talk of the town this month with the social-centric Web browsing experience it's offering to its clients. Despite selling off its search property to Microsoft, Yahoo is continuing to develop search tools. The new Yahoo Rich Assist gives Google Instant-like functionality to users of the Yahoo interface.     Sound Bytes If you like what you've read in the SEO Newsletter, there's more Internet marketing expertise where that came from. Check out SEM Synergy every Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern and noon Pacific on WebmasterRadio.fm. Bruce Clay and the other hosts discuss industry news, SEO tactics and marketing trends, while expert guests share their insights on methods, best practices and upcoming events. Check out the show schedule below for a look at recent shows and upcoming topics. Air Date Segment One Segment Two Segment Three November 3 (Listen Now) Google Place Search Crosby Noricks Blogging Basics November 10 RERUN November 17 RERUN November 24 (Coming Soon) TBA TBA TBA Got something to say? Contact the SEM Synergy team by email or on Twitter @SEMSynergy and share your thoughts, comments and questions. You might even hear your question answered on the show.     Shindigs Last month: SES Chicago took place October 18-22. November 2-4 saw two different but awesome conferences: BlueGlass conferences in Florida, and in the north, ad:tech New York. Pubcon Vegas was a smash hit November 8-11. The big conferences are taking a break for the next couple of months. Enjoy the holidays and plan your speaker pitches for SMX West (first round ends December 10) and SES New York (first round ends January 21). In the U.S., the newly updated SEOToolSet® standard and advanced training and certification dates for 2011 have been announced. Take your pick of 8 courses throughout the year and across the United States: California Training 2011 January 17-21 March 14-18 May 16-20 July 11-15 September 19-23 November 14-18 The dates for NY Training 2011 will be announced later this year. East coast students will be able to chose from two sessions during the year. Bruce Clay Australia has just announced the date for the next 3 Day SEO Training in Sydney: 3 Day SEO Training in Sydney -- April 4th, 5th and 6th, 2011     Attaboys Google opened up Google Person Finder to the community, inviting developers to help improve the tool that's been useful in aiding natural disaster response. In other Google news, employees received word that a companywide 10 percent raise will take effect in 2011 and that everyone is collecting a $1,000 holiday cash bonus. Causes, an app that allows Facebook users to give money to charity, raised $9 million and begins selling gift cards in supermarkets. Google still most popular Aussie site - Google is still Australia's most popular web property, garnering more than 12.7m unique visitors in the past quarter Australians love to tweet - Australia can lay claim to the third highest per capita Twitter usage in the world, according to co-creator Dom Sagolla.     Word on the Wire Myspace and Facebook announced a non-financial partnership on Nov. 18 with MySpace's Mashup with Facebook, which imports "like" data from Facebook accounts and then personalizes entertainment for that MySpace user. Facebook and Google played nice, sort of, for the Web 2.0 Summit that took place on Nov. 15 to Nov. 17. Moderators asked Google's Eric Schmidt and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg direct questions about what each company wanted from the other and garnered vague responses. Yahoo! Clues in beta, announced Nov. 17, provides trends and demographic information for any given search query. Could be just in time as Google makes changes to its keyword tool, making it less useful to search marketers. Google is experimenting with two new Meta tags that help identify the original sources of content online, called "syndication source" and "original source". In other Google news, Google Shoppershows mobile phone users stores nearby that carry the item they are looking for and if it's in stock via an Android app that uses GPS. Rumor has it that a launch for Twitter Analytics is imminent, with some invites already having gone out to select accounts. Online can boost TV effectiveness - Supplementing TV ads with online and print activity can increase purchase intent by up to 300%. Bing testing to end mid 2010 - Microsoft's search engine Bing is set to come out of its testing phase by mid next year in Australia as it attempts to dent the dominance of Google.   If you have any questions or comments on any of the above Internet marketing news items or if you would like to suggest topics for future search engine optimization articles, please contact us at Bruce Clay, Inc. Print the full SEO Newsletter Forward email This email was sent to peterhanson198@gmail.com by newsletter@bruceclay.com. Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Email Marketing by Bruce Clay Inc | 207 W. 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