February 2014 Google Webmaster Report
Here is the monthly recap for all Google webmaster related topics for the past month. January was a pretty wild month with a pretty big update happening on January 8th and 9th, which Google did not confirm…
6 Usability Mistakes That Kill Conversions
Bad usability kills otherwise pleasant website experiences and makes customers angry. Angry customers don’t buy things. Eliminate these six common usability roadblocks to improve your customers’ experience and your bottom line.
Authority Is The New Links: Reading Between The Lines Of Matt Cutts’ Guest Post Critique
The SEO industry has been all aflutter over the last few weeks, ever since Matt Cutts stated that guest blogging is dead. In The decay and fall of guest blogging for SEO — a headline that is a particularly strong statement from Google’s Head of Webspam — Cutts essentially said…
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Google Requiring Some Business To Reverify Their Listings Or Be Removed From Google Maps
Some business owners are receiving emails from Google requiring them to reverify their listings within three-weeks or their listings will be removed from Google Maps and Google+ Local. The emails contain the subject, “Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places…
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Two New Link Analysis Tools Available: OpenLinkProfiler.org & WebMeUp.com
There are two new link tools available for those looking to analysis their own links or their competitor links. The new tools come from OpenLinkProfiler.org & WebMeUp.com. OpenLinkProfiler.org is a free tool, while WebMeUp.com is also currently free but they may charge in the future. This adds…
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Google+ Local Pages Now Show To User Before Pin Verification
Google’s Jade Wang posted an announcement in the Google Business Help forum thread that they are changing how Google+ local pages work for business owners.
Now…
Google & EU Settle Antitrust Claims Over Competitor Links
Yesterday, news broke via Bloomberg that Google and the European Union have settled over the anti-trust probe regarding rival links in the search results.
Google will dodge EU fines and any finding that it discriminated against competing sites…
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Google’s Ingress Coming To iOS?
There is some speculation that the incredibly addictive and obsessive Ingress app for Android, designed by Google years ago, is coming to iOS.
Brandon Badger from Google, the Niantic Labs at Google…
Google Giving Some Business Owners 3 Weeks To Save Their Google Place Listing
Some business owners are reporting getting emails from Google and are asking if this is legit in the Google Business Help forums.
The emails are legit and coming from Google and the subject line is…
7 Ways to Get More Links From Every Piece of Content You Produce
Some amazing pieces of content have been created over the years that failed to gain links. Don’t let this happen to you. Here’s how to effectively plan your promotion strategy, put the content in front of the right audience, and increase reach.
4 Tactics to Drive Incremental Local SEO Performance
After you’ve covered all the local SEO basics, explore these additional opportunities to enhance the program and further improve results: Google+ verification, optimization, and promotion; Yelp optimization; and video production and optimization.
Live @ SMX West: Big Company/Big Brand Success Case Studies
Big companies and brands have big advantages, e.g. large budgets, staffs and data resources. They also have big challenges, like coordinating the assets of big departments with ownership of various marketing disciplines. Consider these findings that em…
Wow! See How Much Screen Real Estate Google Is Giving Rivals In Its EU Antitrust Settlement
Google’s finally reached a proposed agreement with the European Union over antitrust charges. Judging from screenshots the EU has released, it will give Google rivals unprecedented positioning in Google’s results, sometimes for free, sometimes for a fee. Consider how the EU is saying…
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Yelp Reports $233 Million In Revenue For 2013, Up 69 Percent From 2012
Yelp released its 4Q 2013 financial results today, reporting end of year net revenue at $233 million, representing 69 percent year-over-year growth from 2012. While delivering the earnings report call, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said, “It was a phenomenal year for Yelp.” Yelp’s…
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With Susan Wojcicki Heading YouTube, Google SVP Sridhar Ramaswamy Takes The Reigns Of Ads And Commerce
With today’s news that Google ads veteran Susan Wojcicki has is now heading YouTube, Google tells Search Engine Land that Sridhar Ramaswamy will lead the ads and commerce team. Ramaswamy and Wojcicki, who’ve both shared the title of SVP, Ads & Commerce, have been jointly running the…
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SearchCap: The Day In Search, February 5, 2014
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: “When Do The Olympics Opening Ceremonies Start?” Whatever You Do, Don’t Ask Yahoo Who knew a simple question would be so hard to answer?…
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Google Gives More Prominence to First Playable Music Video Search Result
Searching for a music video on Google? Maybe “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars or “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk? Now Google highlights the first playable video in the search results to push searchers to YouTube or other sources to view that video.
“When Do The Olympics Opening Ceremonies Start?” You May Be Surprised Which Search Engine Has The Best Answer
I didn’t realize how hard it would be, but yesterday I wanted to find out more about the Olympic opening ceremonies and when they would start. NBC, which is broadcasting the games in the U.S., appears to have nothing on its official website about the ceremonies or what time they’ll air…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.
Telenav Thinks Scout Can Take On Google Maps
Last week Telenav acquired Skobbler for roughly $24 million in cash and stock. Skobbler is based in Berlin, Germany and is to OpenStreetMap (OSM) what Red Hat is to Linux according to Ryan Peterson of Telenav. For those not aware, OSM is the Wikipedia of digital mapping. It relies on a global force…
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Google Adds 1,000+ New Categories to Places Dashboard
Google is making some new changes to Google’s Places for Business in order to make it easier for users to find businesses in international countries. Google is adding more than 1,000 categories globally into the Places dashboard.