How “Not Provided” May Make BuzzFeed Think Google’s Search Traffic To News Sites Is Down

Well look at that! Search traffic to news sites has dropped over the past eight months, according to how BuzzFeed tracks referrals to sites within its network. A change of user behavior? Or perhaps more the result of “Dark Google” and “Not Provided?” Come on, I’ll…

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Google’s Matt Cutts: Holding A Patent Doesn’t Mean We Use That Patent In Search Quality

Google’s head of search spam, Matt Cutts, posted a YouTube video talking about a recent SEO misconception that he would like the SEO and webmaster world to “put to rest.” Matt said, just because Google has a search quality or ranking patent it does not mean that the patent was or…

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This Year’s Doodle 4 Google Winner To Receive $30,000 College Scholarship

Beginning today and lasting through May 10, Google is asking users to vote for the best Doodle submitted by elementary and secondary school students from across the country. According to Google’s announcement, more than 130,000 submissions were received with fifty state winners selected as…

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Five Ways To Flip Your Copywriting For Higher Conversion Rates

When faced with creating a conversion-focused SEO landing page, what should our copy focus on? There are so many things we can do — so many directions we can go — that it becomes hard to know what to choose. Do I go with statistics or stories? Facts or feelings? Data or discounts? If…

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Data: The Digital Common Denominator

In April 2013, the IAB released a report that revealed double-digit growth for both search and display. Additionally, within digital, video was named the fastest-growing sector, reaching $2.3 billion. I spoke with three industry experts in display, sea…

7 Takeaways From The Local Search Association Annual Conference

Earlier this month, local search marketing leaders from the U.S., Canada and 12 other countries gathered in Las Vegas for the Local Search Association’s 2013 annual conference, “Search Starts Here.” Over several days, attendees engaged in informative discussions about the numerous…

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Which Finds The First-Ever Website Better, Google Or Bing?

For the 20th anniversary of CERN making Web technology available to anyone royalty-free, the European science lab has restored the very first website to its original location. Could today’s search engines of Google and Bing, which didn’t exist when the site was first posted, find it…

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When Google Gets It Wrong By Changing The Titles Of Web Pages

Google doesn’t always use the HTML title tag of a web page, choosing instead to make its own title for a page, if it thinks it can do a better job. Here’s an example of it getting this completely wrong. I was searching for Dana Point Jet Ski, which is a real business in Dana […]

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Google News Sources Grow 15% In 2012 & Continue To Climb With Patch.com In The Lead

After seeing a 15 percent increase in Google News sources last year, a recent study conducted by SearchMetrics discovered that a majority of the News integrations displayed in Google Universal Search results are coming from AOL-owned Patch.com. After a…

Google Rewards App Developers Using Google+ Sign-In With Better Visibility On Google Search

What are the most popular activities done or content consumed by apps? Google’s now bringing that information to its search results, assuming the app developer makes use Google+ Sign-In, that is. Google+ Sign-in was launched in February as an easy way to let anyone sign into a site or app…

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Samsung, Intel Invest In “Anticipatory Search” Startup Expect Labs

Expect Labs, which is a small startup in the San Francisco Bay Area, has a very impressive list of investors. Today the company announced a new funding round, though the figures weren’t disclosed. Investors are the venture or investment arms of Intel, Samsung and Telefonica. Telefonica is the…

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How To Get Links By Writing About Other People

People usually love talking about themselves, and most people are naturally interested in the intricacies of others, whether it’s business or personal. When you do an interview or put together a crowdsourced piece (and yes, I know many of you hate that term!) you’re linking to the…

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Is Multinational SEO Dead? No, But It’s Changing…

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the term “SEO” and what it really means today. After a record run of attending conferences ranging from San Jose, Toronto, London and Leeds (soon to be joined by Seattle and Riga), I’ve become very conscious of a cloud of what can only…

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Avoiding The Keyword Research Checkmate

Chasing after one specific keyword set can not only be frustrating, but also inefficient. The marriage of keyword research and content can result in strong, targeted pages that perform, reach the ideal demographic, and result in conversions — if you’re willing to test and think…

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Take Our Survey & Help Update The Periodic Table Of SEO

The only constant in search is change. The Periodic Table of SEO was created in 2011 to summarize the major factors that comprise search engine optimization. But, it’s time to update the table to review those ranking factors and make sure we’ve got the right combination. This year,…

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Live @ SMX Advanced: Top Social Tactics For The Search Marketer

As search marketers, we’re used to operating “behind the scenes,” crafting great content and engaging in one-on-one link building efforts and other subtleties to build out a comprehensive SEO strategy. Or, we spend hours with our AdWords editor or other paid search tools building…

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