Well, this is interesting. Or embarrassing. Apparently, somehow Square is associating me, of all people, with boosting Domain Authority. I mean, according to Square, who sent me a marketing piece in the mail, I run a company called To Boost Domain Authority. Does this indicate that you can use Square to Boost Domain Authority? Take a look at what Square just sent me: [Read more…]
An interesting trademark filing has been done by a company owner who originally got bad advice. Specifically, this website owner claims that they got bad keyword advice from Trademark.com and LegalZoom.com. They had originally advised the company owner to insert keywords into the name of the trademark such as Best Flavored Funnel Cakes in the World rather than the company name, which is Carnival Food Year Round. [Read more…]
After actively doing SEO since the mid 1990s, and not just talking and speaking about SEO but actually doing it, I consider myself to be an SEO Expert. But, I have to admit that there are times when even this search engine optimization expert needs some advice. Back when SEO was “easy” (was it ever really easy?), one could use more of a formulaic approach to SEO and be fairly successful with any website that you were optimizing. But, as the search engines have become smarter, and those programming the algorithms have cracked down on spam more and more, there are times where you’re at a loss as to why a website is not ranking as well as it should. It’s in these times when only a truly professional SEO expert can “suck it up” and admit that you need help. [Read more…]
I’ve been using LinkedIn for at least 10 years now. And it’s been a great platform for connecting with business contacts, and networking. But to be honest with you, ever since LinkedIn’s IPO, there have been a lot of changes. I really like the fact that you can publish articles on LinkedIn. I’ve heard reports that LinkedIn is great for generating sales leads. I don’t do that, but I do get my share of sales pitches. It’s this most recent sales pitch that I just had to laugh at. This is, by far, the biggest epic LinkedIn sales fail that I have ever seen, though. [Read more…]
Well, have you ever actually thought about it? What technically happens, “behind the scenes” so to speak, when you use your keyboard, type Google.com into your web browser, and hit the enter (return) key? Have you ever thought about it? Well, someone over at GitHub has actually posed that question. And thanks to lots of people’s contributions, we actually are close to having the correct answer: [Read more…]
Google Cache Date a Month Old Now, Google Rolled Out Mobile Friendly Tag, and State of Search conference Last Week. There are a few significant updates this past week, including the Google Cache Dates, and the new Mobile Friendly Tag.
Google Cache Dates
Last week several people, including myself, noticed that the Google cache date on pages is about a month old. Typically, for most websites, the Google cache date is normally about a day old or maybe a few days old. But I checked several websites and it appears that the cache date is about a month old. This might be an indication that Google is up to something, like another major algorithm update coming soon. Whatever the case, it’s not normal. More info on my blog post. I also show you how to check your cache date, as well. [Read more…]
This past week, I’ve been busy speaking at the PubCon conference in Las Vegas, so there weren’t a lot of posts and updates this week. But, notably the TopSEOs website appears to have been banned in Google. I also posted about speakers I wanted to see at the PubCon conference, which was a great success. In case you’ve missed it, you might want to check out SocialCentiv, a really cool new Twitter marketing software product. [Read more…]
Less than 10 links to your site? You could still get a Manual Penalty in Google Webmaster Tools. Google Knowledge Graph and How to Get In–and a report on the results of my .Com vs. gTLD Domain Name tests.
This past week, there are really two interesting new developments and posts worth noting. One involves Google Webmaster Tools and manual penalties because of bad links to your site. Turns out that I have a client that has a website with less than 10 links. But Google still gave the site a manual penalty for “inorganic links” pointing to the site. Turns out that there are bad links, but I didn’t think that Google would give a site a manual penalty because they had less than 10 links. Read the details in my post: [Read more…]
This past week, I really have only two updates: an update on moving to HTTPS from HTTP, and some info on viewing links in Google Webmaster Tools.
This week marks 4 weeks after I moved the site from HTTP to HTTPS. There have been a lot of talk in the search community about this being a total waste of time, that it doesn’t increase or help search engine rankings. There is even one search company who did “a study” and claim that it’s basically a waste to move your site from HTTP to HTTPs. Well, I certainly have had quite the opposite experience, to say the least. [Read more…]
As you might recall, about three weeks ago I moved this site from HTTP to HTTPS after Google officially came out and said that HTTPS is a search engine ranking factor. Well, I’d like to report how it’s going so far, and from what I can tell, based on Google Analytics data, I’m very happy that I moved the site from HTTP to HTTPS.
I moved the site on August 8th and 9th, and there were some initial issues that me and my web host had to deal with. But we got it all fixed by the night of the 9th. After 3 weeks, it looks like the site is doing a lot better than it did previously: [Read more…]
Well, it certainly pays to have someone proofread the logos that web designers create for your website. It’s especially important if that proofreader is someone who speaks English (if your website is in English). In the case of 101domain.com, apparently one of their logos (images) that was created wasn’t proofread properly:
This logo (as of the writing of this post) still appears on their New TLDs page. On that page, they show the New gTLDs that are currently in Landrush: [Read more…]
Wow, what a week! There has been a lot going on, and I wanted to catch you up with the latest in search, domains names, and social media. If you haven’t signed up yet for my weekly update newsletter, you might want to do so, as I send it weekly with added tips and tricks from time to time.
Secure Websites and Search Engine Rankings
Probably the biggest news of the week and the biggest news that will effect your website’s search engine rankings, is the fact that Google officially announced that https is a search engine ranking factor. What does this mean? If your website is https (uses a secure certificate) for all its content, then you could see better search engine rankings. Google wants us to have secure sites now, even if you don’t sell stuff online. I just finished moving my website to https for all its content, and will be doing so with other websites. I recommend considering a move to https. Notice that all of my links to my articles are now https URLs and not http like they were in the past? More on my post here: [Read more…]
Did you know that you can use the social media websites to get the attention of the news media? Well, I’ve been using Twitter for quite some time now to get the attention of the news media–by pointing out possible stories after I’ve networked with them on the social sites. [Read more…]
Google has filed a trademark application on the word glass. The Wall Street Journal first reported that a trademark application has been filed. [Read more…]
Didit, a digital advertising and marketing company based in Mineola, New York, has acquired LVM Group, a Manhattan-based public relations firm. Didit has been leading digital marketing agency since 1996, and has been providing full-service online advertising and marketing services for just as long. Didit was co-founded by Kevin Lee, one of the SEMPO founding board member and CEO of Didit. [Read more…]
Lead generation software is one of the crazes of the marketing industry in online-based businesses. Every entrepreneur is on the lookout for the best lead generation tool. However, finding just the right lead gen tool is never a walk in the park, especially when everyone seems to be selling them. You want a lead generation tool that will help you keep up with the trends that affect your business’ operation.
There are several qualities that you need to look out for when shopping for the right lead generation software for your business. Here are some of them. [Read more…]
Three Thousand Years of Marketing in Three Paragraphs
Marketing is not new. There is evidence to suggest that at least as early as the Phoenician traders – over 3000 years ago – there was activity that we might class as marketing – Phoenician traders drew pictures on stones portraying their goods. We’re a little more advanced in our marketing techniques these days, but we’re still doing the same thing as those Phoenician traders: communicating with potential customers. A key aspect of marketing is very much about communication. Modern day marketers have a wide range of media available to allow them to communicate with customers and potential customers – and it’s important to say that communication is a two way street. And when it comes to communication SMS marketing comes into its own. [Read more…]
Whilst long lambasted as unsophisticated in both technique and patter, personally I think we have a lot to learn from the humble barrow boy.
If unsophisticated is substituted for simple, I think we can all agree that one thing the barrow boy or girl does well, is effectively communicate their message to their customer base. In the days when weekly markets were the hub of the community, you knew exactly where to find everything from groceries to meat, because barrow boys and girls would shout their wares and their prices from the top of their lungs, occupying the same stall week in, week out whatever the weather. [Read more…]
Gmail went down today for a short period of time. I recall it being less than 30 minutes, like 20 minutes tops. But it was in the middle of the work day. So, what happened when Gmail went down? Apparently we all turned to Twitter to complain.
First, we had to check our routers to see if the router was having a problem:
The Dallas chapter of the Social Media Club, Social Media Club Dallas, is has decided to distance itself or disassociate itself from the national chapter of the Social Media Club. The Dallas organization will soon rebrand under a new name and new logo. [Read more…]
