Trademark Productions SEO Web Talk Radio Show

When you go to search for something on the web, there’s roughly a 67 percent chance that you’ll use Google to find your answer. If Microsoft had its way, though, you’d be using Bing. The software giant has renewed its “Bing it On” campaign with vigor over the past few weeks and that’s what we’ll be talking about in this edition of our SEO Web Talk Radio Show. Bring it, Google Since its release in 2009, Bing has been playing second fiddle to Google. Microsoft first heralded the new search engine as a “people-first” engine that would provide results that people wanted, but no matter how hard Microsoft tried, Bing couldn’t catch up. In an effort to increase on its 16.5 percent of the search market, Bing is revitalizing the “Bing it On” challenge in hopes of drawing more everyday users. For those unfamiliar, “Bing it On” is essentially the Pepsi Challenge of search engines. You’ll search five different keywords or keyword phrases and Microsoft supplies you with Bing’s results side-by-side with Google’s. It’s up to you to decide which you prefer. After completing your five searches, the site will generate a score displaying which search engine you liked most. Experience matters Your familiarity with the world of search is absolutely essential in predicting how you’re going to score. If you’re like us and live within the search realm, then you’re probably going to choose Google. And honestly, part of that is because we are so familiar with Google. We can spot their results pretty easily. The average user, though, might not be able to. It’s that user who Microsoft is trying to convert. The question is whether or not the company can do it. Visual aesthetics There is one thing Bing does have on Google when looking at both of their search results pages–images. Bing displays images in a much more visually appealing way, which makes it a more pleasant search experience for the average searcher. If I’m interested in searching for pictures of kittens, I want to those little feline fur balls presented to me immediately and beautifully. Bing does that, Google does not. Don’t let us tell you where to search! Take the challenge for yourself and make sure to tell us in the comments which search engine you preferred. We promise we won’t be upset if you don’t pick our favorite. Also, don’t forget to listen to the podcast for more information about Bing it On and other hot SEO topics!

Hello there, everyone! It’s been a little while since we recorded a podcast for you to listen to, but as usual, things have been pretty busy in the world of social, search and link building. In this week’s edition of the TM SEO Web Talk Radio, we dig deep into Facebook Home and how to use links within Google+. Facebook’s new ‘Home’ For the past few weeks, Facebook has teased the world that it would soon introduce its “new home on Android.” This new home is a new Facebook app that fully integrates with Android’s homescreen, immediately putting the social network at users’ fingertips. In essence, Facebook Home turns the Android homescreen into an interactive News Feed that also has chat capabilities. For those who are attached to their Facebook at the hip, this could be very useful and fun, but it is to obtrusive for the average user. Quantity or quality? Anyone who has used the Facebook iOS and Android apps knows that they’re not only slow, but buggy and frustrating to use on occasion. This makes us curious as to whether or not Facebook Home will suffer from the same lag and annoyance that the company’s other apps do. Only time will tell, but it’s hard to imagine Facebook wouldn’t learn from its previous mobile mistakes. An insatiable hunger for data While the social network has stated that there won’t be any advertisements on Facebook Home to start, they’re surely to come in the near future. We’ve arrived at an age in which data farming and collecting is an unbelievably lucrative industry and Facebook is very good at selling ad space based on users’ information. Facebook Home just gives them one more avenue for ad revenue. How to use links in Google+ While not totally confirmed, it’s suspected that Google favors content and links in Google+ over content found elsewhere on the web. Because of this, it’s important to know how to use links within Google’s social network. There are two ways to add a link to a Google+ post. You can either paste it into the post itself and it will automatically animate below or you can use the link tool, which will give you the same visual effect as the first method. We recommend that you use the second way for one reason: links put through the link tool are follow links, meaning search engines literally follow up and take that link into account when ranking a page. Links are as important as ever, which is why it’s crucial that you use the link tool to give your link “juice.” This is just another reason why using Google+ is essential to your SEO, social and link building strategies. Learn more! Are you interested in learning more about Facebook Home, Google+ links and other social and SEO topics? Listen to our podcast! And don’t forget, if you have questions or comments, tell us below!

It’s been said a craftsman is nothing without his tools, which while not entirely true, has some merit. In order to truly build a great table, a carpenter needs high quality wood and tools to do the job. The same can be said about online marketing. Make sure to listen to this week’s Trademark Productions SEO Web Talk Radio Show to learn more about what tools can help your with your internet marketing endeavors. We’ll also tell you what you need to know about Google Penguin and Panda. Tools of the trade When it comes to doing SEO, it’s crucial to have a good arsenal of tools at your disposal. Here are some of our favorites: Majestic SEO The Majestic SEO Open Site Explorer is one of those tools that provides you with a wealth of useful information. This includes a full backlink profile, history and map, as well as many other helpful tidbits. If you’re looking to dig deep into your site’s links and backlinks, Majestic SEO is the tool to use. Übersuggest This is one of those tools that is great for keyword research. Übersuggest allows you to see a greater variety of keywords related to your original query, which makes it easier to get more creative and granular with your selection. Seriously, just give it a try to see what we love it so much! Panda and Penguin are changing We’ve gotten so used to monthly Google Panda updates, that it’s been relatively easy to see if a website has been hit with a penalty resulting from Google Panda. But now, things are going to be different. According to Google’s King of Webspam, after Google Panda 25 (which around March 16) the Panda algorithm is being integrated with the search engine’s standard search algorithm. This is a pretty big deal for primarily one reason — now it won’t be as easy to detect if a penalty has been levied against a site. Google is once again, putting the onus on webmasters to ensure they are creating useful, engaging content that’s relevant to users. In today’s internet, you’re behind the game if your site doesn’t have well-presented content. There’s also news about some changes with Google Penguin, but it’s not in the same vein as Panda. Unlike Panda, Penguin will not be merged with Google’s standard algorithm. It will instead still come in sporadic updates. Those updates, are also getting more strict as time goes on according to a study by Portent. This means, that if you’ve engaged in less-than-stellar link building campaigns, you might want to get those links removed, because the chances are, Google will penalize you. Listen for more! Want to know about great SEO tools or Google’s algorithm updates? Listen to our podcast below! Thanks for listening!  

Social media marketing is not a one-size-fits-all industry. Every company or person has different needs and goals, which is why the same strategy doesn’t work for everyone. In this week’s edition of the SEO Web Talk Radio Show, we talk to digital marketer Brent Csutoras about social media marketing and what some of the misconceptions are. Three social media mistakes made by companies Brent Csutoras When it comes to social media, companies (and people) sometimes tend to jump in without doing the proper research. Here are three of the most common mistakes Brent has seen companies make when they start using social media. 1. Not understanding goals or purpose Jumping headfirst into social media without evaluating your company’s needs is a big no-no. Not identifying what your company’s social goals are will result in an unfocused, unpolished and amateur social strategy. For instance, if your company’s goal is to create a community around your product, your strategy would be different than someone trying to solely bring more traffic to their company’s site. Once you have identified what goals your company have, it’s important to develop a strategy focusing on those goals. If Facebook works better for you than Twitter does, focus on it until you have reached your goals. Then move on to Twitter. Which leads to the second mistake businesses often make. 2. Doing too much at a time While it’s crucial that you own space in all the major social networks, it’s not always necessary to be overly active on them all. According to Brent, it’s often more effective to focus on building one network at a time. The world of social media is often like the map in the game Risk. If you spread your armies too thin, you won’t be effective and will be overtaken. Social media is similar, if you spread your presence too thin, you won’t be impactful enough to reach your overall goals. It’s important to aim your sights on one or two networks at the start and then slowly move into others. 3. Too much focus on direct ROI If there’s anything that’s forgotten about social media, it’s that like SEO, it doesn’t often supply an immediate return on investment. It takes time to build a vibrant community around your product, brand or company. Social media is often about planting a seed in prospective customers’ heads so they think of your product first when it’s time for them to make a purchase. Companies also tend to forget that the lessons we’ve learned in real-world communication apply to our interactions online, too. Remember, social media is about people, not about things. Listen for more! Want to hear more about what Brent has to say about the use of social and digital marketing? Listen to our podcast below for more information about Brent’s social media marketing techniques. If you’re looking to contact Brent, check out Kairay Media.

Aside from the occasional troll on the web, what would you consider the most annoying thing about the internet to be? For many people, including us, it’s the dreaded CAPTCHA. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s the obnoxious security measure comprised of jumbled letters and numbers smushed together to verify whether or not you’re actually a human. Detroit startup Are You A Human is trying to put an end to these frustrating exercises by replacing them with something else; a PlayThru game. To learn more about this, we discuss how to end the CAPTCHA madness with Are You A Human Co-Founder Reid Tatoris in this week’s TM Podcast. Killing bots one game at a time Example of a CAPTCHA Are You A Human believes the purpose of the CAPTCHA, while noble, is not the right way to authenticate an internet user’s humanity. Instead, after an unsuccessful attempt to buy Hannah Montana tickets due to bots buying them all (true story!), AYAH founder Tyler Paxton decided  something needed to be done. What Paxton, along with Tatoris did was develop the idea for their CAPTCHA alternative. The solution developed by AYAH was a simple game for users to play instead of having to decipher illegible letters, numbers and symbols. According to Tatoris, websites that switch to PlayThru games from CAPTCHAs see a 40 percent increase in conversions. He said that the company has done studies on how users perceive Playthru games versus CAPTCHAs and while both take about the same amount of time, users feel like the latter takes longer. This is why many sites see a drop off on pages featuring the old school security measure. Another benefit of using AYAH’s games is that they are more secure and defend against bots better than the standard CAPTCHA. The startup actually tracks how users play its games and if it realizes a bot has made it through, AYAH updates its algorithm to improve the games’ security. The Are You A Human games are also compatible with nearly all websites, which makes adding it to your site a breeze.  Listen for more! Want to know more about Are You A Human and the Detroit startup scene as well as the latest news in SEO and social media? Listen to our podcast below!

There’s no such thing as a slow week in the world of search and social media. Especially when Facebook and Google are vying for the time of users. This week, we saw Google throw another Panda update at us with Panda 24.  The search giant also improved its Analytics dashboard and we also saw Twitter take brevity to a whole new level with Vine. Listen to our latest TM Podcast for more information about these topics in addition to some funny search results from Facebook Graph Search. Panda 24 has arrived Almost exactly one month after it’s last Panda update, Google gave us Panda 24 on Tuesday, Jan. 22. As you already know, Google Panda primarily affects websites that have poor or “low quality” content, it appears that this update, as well as Panda 23, might also be affecting exact match domains. If we know anything about Google, it’s that the company likes to keep its cards close to the chest. It never reveals too much about the exact parameters of what makes a “good site,” but based on the last few updates we know what makes a “bad site.” We also know that in order to stay on Panda’s good side, it’s important to keep content relevant, consistent and that it gets updated regularly. Don’t stuff your site with keywords, you will get caught. Analytics gets a small facelift Anyone who spends a lot of time buried in Google Analytics can tell you that while it’s one of the best tools on the web, there’s room for improvement. And the latest revamp is definitely improvement for those thirsty for more data. As you can see to the right, Google has added Shortcuts to the sidebar, which allow you to analyze data in real time. The dashboard has also been updated. Now, users can add new widgets like devices, maps and more to better determine who is coming to your site and how they are getting there. That’s not even the best part, though. Custom dashboards are now able to be shared and exported, making sharing reports easier than ever. Well done, Google. Well done. Facebook Graph Search gets weird If you’re like us, you haven’t been granted access to Facebook Graph Search yet. But luckily for us, Tom Scott does have access and used the product in a phenomenal way and he created a Tumblr to illustrate how goofy Graph Search can be. Scott searched things like “Mothers of Jews who like bacon” and “Married people who like prostitutes” and got back search results with profiles matching those specific queries. Seriously, head to his Tumblr for some laughs. Listen and learn more! Want to know more about Panda 24, Google Analytics or Facebook Graph Search? Just listen to our podcast below! And don’t forget, if you have something to say, let us know in the comments.

It was only a matter of time, but Facebook has officially entered the search game. This week, Facebook announced Graph Search, it’s new search for users to “Find more of what you’re looking for through your friends and connections.” How Facebook Graph Search will affect Google, Bing or the SEO world remains to be seen, but it’s the topic of this week’s SEO Web Talk Radio Show. Not a Google-killer Just how Google+ wasn’t a Facebook-killer, Graph Search won’t kill Google. Both are serving entirely different functions. The SEO world went a little bonkers with the announcement of Graph Search, and reasonably so, but now that things have settled down, it’s a good idea to take an objective look at what it really means for SEO. First, unlike Google, Graph Search will not be indexing content from outside its own ecosphere. What it will be doing, though, is providing users with search results based on a few things: information created and shared by businesses, the searcher’s connections and the searchers’ and his or her friends’ activity (Likes, check-ins, comments etc.). Much like how Google decides whether or not a Google+ post is worthy of showing up on the front page, relevance will be determined by real, measurable interaction. If you’re not active, start exercising For some businesses, getting into the habit of being actively involved in their social networks is a lot like exercising. It takes time to get into the habit and it can be easy to get off track, but trust us, it’s worth it. If Facebook is going to be determining search relevance in part by the amount of interaction on your page, it’s time to get moving. It’s also important to note that pages with consistent, steady growth will carry the most weight in Graph Search. Marketers’ best friend Facebook is taking a big leap with Graph Search. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is even calling it the “third pillar” of the Facebook product, alongside Timeline and the Newsfeed. The future will tell if this new pillar will be what users have been wanting, but one thing is certain, marketers are salivating at the amount of data that will come with Graph Search. At its core, Facebook is about making money from its users, which is why Graph Search is so important. Not only will it give even more data to Facebook, but give advertisers a whole new place to insert their ads. We’re willing to bet that shortly after its full launch, users will begin to see ads show up in their Graph Search results. Take a listen! For more about Facebook Graph Search and its implications for SEO, listen to our podcast below. If you have comments or questions, don’t hesitate to let us know!

When it comes to internet marketing, there are few bigger names that Jeremy Schoemaker, though most people know him as “ShoeMoney.” This week, we had the opportunity to speak with ShoeMoney about his book, “Nothing’s Changed But My Change: The ShoeMoney Story.” Dwight Zahringer and ShoeMoney If you’re unfamiliar with ShoeMoney or his story, a good place to start would be an infamous picture of himself with a $132,994.97 check from Google. As he discusses in his book, he has achieved everything in his life because of his ability to a)  see angles, b) work harder than his competition and c) do what others might not be willing to do. These three things make up the motif in “Nothing’s Changed But My Change,” and consistently prove to be what has set ShoeMoney apart from the rest of the internet marking crowd for nearly a decade. Our conversation with ShoeMoney–like his book–was energetic, engaging and sporadic. His book is littered with “ADD Side Notes,” which are just what they seem and add yet another human dimension to the tome. We discussed a multitude of topics including the fact that while working harder than his competition and doing what others might not be willing to do are matters of work ethic, the ability to see angles is a gift. He said that he got that from his father, a hard-working blue-collar man. By combining this gift along with his intense work ethic, ShoeMoney was able to make not only a name for himself, but quite a bit of money as well. Another aspect of the book worth noting is his ability to admit his faults and mistakes. An avid mixed martial arts (MMA) fan, ShoeMoney bought the URL fighters.com for around the cost of $60,000 because he wanted to make one of his interests profitable. Things didn’t turn out the way he intended, so he ended up selling the company centered on fighters.com, nearly breaking even on the deal. All-in-all, the biggest takeaway from “Nothing Changed But My Change” is the belief that “having money isn’t everything, but not having it is.” Anyone can tell you that being broke and out of money is one of the worst situations someone can be in, but as ShoeMoney points out, it’s not about how much money you have, it’s about being able to live comfortably. And if that check from Google illustrates anything, it’s that ShoeMoney is living pretty comfortably these days. If you’re at all interested in “The ShoeMoney Story,” we highly recommend picking up a copy of the book on Amazon. ShoeMoney tells a funny, engaging, inspiring and sporadic story about what it takes to make it in the world. Also, make sure to listen to our interview with ShoeMoney below! Tell us what you think in the comments!

The end of the year is always a time for reflection and prediction. Last year, we predicted 2012 would be a big year for SEO, and we were right. And this year, we’re predicting the same thing, but for different reasons. It’s our 2013 predictions that are the topic of 2012′s final TM podcast. Where is link building going? With the advent of Google Penguin, the old standard of link building was thought to have come to a screeching halt. Gone were the days of link directories and reciprocal links, in are the days of “natural” authoritative links. And while that was the goal of Penguin, SEOs are seeing that some of the older methods are still working. One such example is guest blogging. Many people in the industry seem to think that guest blogging is dead and no longer useful, this isn’t exactly true. In his end-of-the-year column, Search Engine Land’s Eric Ward discusses this very topic (and other link building myths). This is what he wrote about guest blogging: My dad used to tell me you are known by the company you keep, and this is true in the guest blog posting world as well. So, the way to use this tactic effectively is to think of it not as a mass shotgun approach, but a laser target approach. And that means a highly selective approach. I’ve heard some folks say that if a blog has the words “blog for us” or “be a guest blogger” that it means the site is worthless. This is another sub-myth of the guest blogging myth. It’s clear that while things are changing, older methods like guest blogging are still very effective when done correctly. What to watch for in 2013 We all know what SEO stands for–search engine optimization–but unlike a few years ago, it no longer just applies to optimizing a website’s title tags, meta description or content. Now, SEO is the umbrella term for the general optimization of your web presence, which means it’s more than just your title tags. The importance of Google Authorship cannot be understated and 2013 is going to be the year of Google Authors. Not only are we going to see more weight added to articles and pages with Authorship set up, but we’re also going to be seeing Authorship Analytics rolled out to everyone. And speaking of Google, if you have a local business and you’re not on Google+, you’re behind the curve already. Local search has been a hot topic for a while now, within the next 12 months, it’s going to be even bigger. Google+ will also be getting it’s own Analytics for brand/company pages, so managers will be able to track the performance of their pages. All-in-all, it’s going to be a big year. Tell us in the comments what you think is coming in 2013, we’d love to hear from you! Happy New Year, everyone!

For many people, the end of the year is a hodgepodge of too much to do without the necessary time to do it, and sometimes things get a little sloppy in the process. That was certainly the case earlier this week when Instagram announced that its new terms of service would take effect on Jan. 16, 2013. The photo-sharing network’s TOS was not well-received by users, though. That backlash, along with some interesting Facebook news, is what we discuss in this week’s TM podcast. Can Instagram really sell your photos? In short, yes they can. Like Facebook, Google and any other free online service, users relinquish true ownership of any and all content they upload, primarily because these are free services. The question shouldn’t be whether Instagram can sell your photos to advertisers, but if they should be able to sell your photos. When Instagram announced its new TOS, The New York Times was the first to uncover the fact that users’ photos were now available for sale. And to add salt to the wound, Instagram wasn’t even going to pay its users for photos it sold to advertisers. Here is the controversial language: You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you … Just like Netflix’s Quickster debacle, this was met with heavy resistance and promises to leave from some of the network’s most popular users. It was only a few days before Instagram’s co-founder Kevin Systrom announced in a blog post that the network was making an about-face and would no longer be selling users’ content. He wrote: Our intention in updating the terms was to communicate that we’d like to experiment with innovative advertising that feels appropriate on Instagram. Instead it was interpreted by many that we were going to sell your photos to others without any compensation. This is not true and it is our mistake that this language is confusing. To be clear: it is not our intention to sell your photos. We are working on updated language in the terms to make sure this is clear. While it’s comforting to see that Instagram is taking actions to right its wrong, it’s unclear as to whether its misstep was intentional or a gaffe. There is one thing we do know, though–this is a very good time for Flickr’s new iOS app. Facebook’s new ‘Nearby’ search There have been rumors for a while that Facebook is trying to get into the search game and it seems that it finally took a step toward that goal. This week, Facebook refreshed its mobile “Nearby” search results to show more than just your friends who are close by, but also businesses. This could be potentially be huge for small local businesses on Facebook and could get them exposed to audiences that might not otherwise know about them. There is one thing that we think is missing from Facebook brand pages, though, and that’s the ability to have multiple locations without creating more than one page. Until then, if you manage a brand page, make sure the page is optimized with the current address, phone number and other contact information and is updated regularly, this will give you a better chance at getting found. Want to learn more about these topics as well as what we think is in store for LinkedIn in 2013? Listen to our podcast below! Have a great holiday, everyone!

Wow. 2012 has been a big year for SEO. We’ve seen Penguins roll into town and tear SERPs up, over-optimization penalties and more Panda updates than I want to count. It’s these “big” changes that TM Social Media Manager Michael L. Hoffman and I are discussing in this week’s TM podcast, including new Link Building techniques, Google’s top 10 search queries for the year, and a little Facebook along the way. SEO 2012 in Review Google is notoriously quiet about what will get one site better search rankings than another, but this year’s updates are giving us a few more clues. The most significant of all the big changes to search engine optimization this year was Google’s Penguin update. Google Penguin Like 2011′s Panda, Penguin was aimed at providing users with higher quality search results, but instead of taking aim at on-page optimization, it focused on external aspects–links. For years, many people relied on less than savory tactics to get their sites the rankings they thought they deserved. One of those tactics was obtaining links by either purchasing them or offering reciprocal links. It’s these techniques that Google is using Penguin to combat, thought as we know, people will always find a way around Google’s armor. Messages to webmasters People say that in order for any relationship to be successful, there needs to be an ample amount of communication, which is exactly what Google did when it started sending messages to webmasters that vaguely outlined problems with their websites. About halfway through the year, Google began sending notes to webmasters after sites were penalized informing them of their wrongdoings. The only problem was that the search giant did what it does best with regard to SEO techniques–be evasive. It didn’t spell out exactly what a specific website’s problem was, just that it had a poor link profile or that it was over-optimized, etc. What it did, though, was wake a lot of webmasters up and get them thinking about better, more kosher SEO tactics. The future of link building As mentioned above, it used to be common practice to buy links in order to boost a site’s SEO value. Now that Penguin has turned that into a near obsolete strategy, it’s unclear what the future will hold for link builders. Search Engine Land’s Julie Joyce thinks that paid links might make a resurgence in 2013. Joyce writes that while buying links is still frowned upon, it’s still important to have a diverse backlink profile (which might include low-quality links). She also points out that because of all the changes Google has implemented over the last year or so, there’s no telling exactly where links will go. The only thing we know is that they’re still important. Google’s top 10 US search queries It’s always interesting to learn what the average Google user is searching for. According to Google’s Zeitgeist 2012, the list is as follows: Whitney Houston Hurricane Sandy Election 2012 Hunger Games Jeremy Lin Olympics 2012 Amanda Todd Gangnam Style Michael Clarke Duncan Kony 2012 The most surprising ones on the list to us are Whitney Houston, Michael Clarke Duncan and Hurricane Sandy. While searching for actors after they die isn’t uncommon, the fact that the late Whitney Houston beat out both Hurricane Sandy and Election 2012 is pretty astonishing. We were also a little taken aback that Hurricane Sandy beat out Election 2012 for the No. 2 spot. Not because it was a less significant thing, but because it happened at the end of October, the election was something going on all year long. Want to know more about what we think about these topics and a few others? Listen to our podcast below. Don’t forget to leave us a comment if you want to share your two cents!

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about Pinterest in past podcasts and blog posts, but there’s another social platform that is becoming increasingly important–Google+. Talking (and writing) about Google+ sometimes feels like we’re beating a dead horse. “It’s so important!” We say. “But no one uses it!” You respond. We get that. Google has had a hard time getting people to use their social platform alongside all the others available, but the company is seeing more and more people adopt its service, albeit slowly. That’s what we’re discussing this this edition of the Trademark Productions SEO Web Talk Radio Show. Half a billion users On Thursday, Dec. 6, the search behemoth released Google+ usage statistics and the numbers were a little surprising. As it currently stands, Google has had more than 500 million people “upgrade” to a Google+ platform. Essentially that means that many people just went through the signup process, nothing more. What was surprising, is that out of that 500 million only 235 million (47 percent) of them are what Google classifies as “active” users. An active user is someone who is “+1′ing apps in Google Play, hanging out in Gmail, connecting with friends in Search, etc.” Notice that doesn’t include those actually using the G+ stream. That number is lower–a lot lower. Of that half a billion users, only 27 percent (135 million) are using the platform’s social stream. While that improvement from a year, or even six months ago, we’re pretty positive that Google was hoping to take more of the social networking market share than it has. But Google’s not stupid, and it’s taking steps to try to get more and more people involved in G+. Google+ Communities In an effort to create the best social networking experience on the Web, Google has had to mimic Facebook in the past and this time it might have hit the nail on the head. Along with G+ usage statistics, Google also announced a new addition to the Google+ suite–Communities. Google+ Communities are an alternative to Facebook Groups. They are designed to provide the following: Public or private membership to support all kinds of groups—from topics and interests to local neighborhoods to regular poker nights Discussion categories to find the conversations you care about most The option to start hangouts and plan events with community members The ability to share with your community from any +1 button across the web It remains to be seen how much impact or weight Google+ Communities will have SEO-wise, but if we know anything, it’s that being active in them definitely won’t hurt. The purpose of using social networks as a brand is to create an air of authority in your industry. Communities could potentially be a great way to do just that. To learn more about what else is happening in the Google+ sphere, listen to our newest podcast below! And as always, if you have questions or comments on this topic, feel free to leave it for us.

In our last podcast, we discussed new Pinterest business profiles and how marketing on the photo-sharing network is going to change. Now, in the latest SEO Web Talk Radio Show, TM President Dwight Zahringer and myself discuss how to optimize that fancy new Pinterest business profile. Think about Pinterest in SEO terms A website without proper optimization isn’t going to do a company much good, and the same applies to Pinterest profiles. In order to get the best results within the Pinterest realm, you have to make sure you’re naturally including your targeted keywords or keyword phrases into descriptions and titles. It’s important to remember to keep it brief in your pictures’ descriptions, though. Pinterest users aren’t on the site to read in-depth articles, they use it to window shop. It’s best to treat your image’s descriptions as you would a webpage’s meta description: keep it brief and concise, as well as relevant to your business. Don’t forget about high-quality images Because users are browsing for things to catch their eye, it’s just as important to have good images, otherwise all the optimization you’ve done is useless. Modern camera technology has given nearly anyone with a half-decent smartphone the ability to produce good images, all it takes are a steady hand and a little practice. And with respect to your company’s images, make sure you’re naming them appropriately. Most cameras spit images out with something similar to “IMG_12012012,” which holds no search value. If you have a photo about vegan chocolate chip cookies, name it something like “vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies.” Your goal is to make your images attractive to users as well as Pinterest’s robots. Google Panda 22 is here Though it went formally unannounced, Google confirmed on Nov. 30 that the company released a refresh of its Panda algorithm on Nov. 21. This update, Google Panda 22, affects approximately 0.8 percent of all English search queries, though Search Engine Land did note that some regular users might have noticed a difference. While there’s no new big news about Google Panda, it’s important to remember the purpose of this adorable black and white punisher: to provide users with higher-quality content that is meaningful and relevant to their queries. So if you’re still operating a site with shoddy content, we suggest taking the time to improve it and get back into Panda’s good graces. Twitter gave Dwight $1,000! Well, sort of. If you look to the right, you’ll see that it’s actually $1,000 in free advertising, which while not as awesome as cold, hard cash, is still pretty cool. Dwight will be testing out Twitter’s advertising system over the course of the next few weeks and months. We’re not entirely sure how effective the micro-blogging network is as an advertising platform, but we’re going to find out. Don’t worry, though, we’ll report back with our findings. Until then, though, take a few minutes to listen to our podcast about these topics, as well as a few others! If you have questions or comments about anything written here or in the podcast, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!

Yet again, the web industry has proven itself to be extraordinarily fluid. There are few industries that regularly face the paradigm-shifting changes we do on what seems like a weekly basis. This week we saw two big changes in the Web, SEO and social world: Pinterest business accounts and Google Authorship Analytics being integrated into Google+. It’s these two topics that I discuss with TM Social Media Manager Michael L. Hoffman in this week’s SEO Web Talk Radio Show. Pinterest for Business The photo-sharing social network Pinterest finally did something that’s been coming for a long time: officially opened its doors to businesses. On its blog, Pinterest announced that it now has pages that are specifically designed and dedicated for businesses. Pinterest’s new business pages arrived with a slew of information for businesses to make the most of them. For example, the social network has been beta testing these pages with a few brands like Etsy, Jetsetter and others to create case studies of how these brands use the new platform. It’s clear that Pinterest is trying to capitalize on how powerful businesses have been on the network already, and it’s allowing businesses to verify their website (for authenticity purposes) as well as offering personalized widgets. What does this mean? This is huge news for the social network. Now that Pinterest has been bifurcated into personal and business profiles, the companies that are on the network can more effectively use it. It also means that many businesses will have to adjust their strategy for how they use Pinterest. But again, the network’s bigwigs have us covered; they created a best practices page that explains what works and what doesn’t for business versus personal pages. Authorship Analytics in Google+ Time and time again, we’ve talked about the importance of Google+ and how it really is here to stay. The integration of Authorship Analytics into Google+ is just one more signal that the search giant’s “social layer” isn’t going anywhere any time soon. Authorship Analytics, which were previously only available via Webmaster Tools, give Google+ users with Authorship set up insight to valuable data about the content they are linked with. Users can see impressions, click-through-rate and clicks all from their Google+ profile, making it an easy one-stop-shop for that gooey data all us SEO people pine for. For more about both Authorship Analytics and Pinterest business profiles, please listen to the latest TM SEO Web Talk Radio Show! Oh, did I mention that we’re on iTunes?

When it comes to social marketing, Facebook is often seen as the best place to start, and for years it was. This might not be the case anymore, though, and that’s the topic of this week’s TM SEO Web Talk Radio Show. In May 2012, Facebook announced the release of Promoted Posts for brand pages, which was the beginning of this whole mess. What the announcement did, was allow brand pages to pay Facebook to broadcast a specific post to a wider audience, giving the post (and page) greater reach. This sounded like a great idea, especially if there was a specific piece of content that a company wanted to get the word out about. But Promoted Posts are much more nefarious than that. Richard Metzger, of Dangerous Minds, wrote what could be called a manifesto about Facebook Promoted Posts, and what he saw as a very disturbing reality. What Metzger realized was that when Facebook started to allow brands to buy reach on the network, it also did something else: it tightened up the natural or organic reach of all those same brand pages. In essence, Facebook turned the volume down on posts to the point where the posts by brand pages were only reaching a small percentage of the audience they previously did. Therein lies the problem: Facebook took away something it was originally giving to pages (and individual users) for free. The math In Metzger’s post, he did the math to see how much it would cost Dangerous Minds to promote every post they published on Facebook, and the total is astronomical. Here’s what it turns out to be: To reach 100% of of our 50k+ Facebook fans they’d charge us $200 per post. That would cost us between $2000 and $3200 per day—but let’s go with the lower, easier to multiply number. We post seven days a week, that would be about $14,000 per week, $56,000 per month… a grand total of $672,000 for what we got for free before Facebook started turning the traffic spigot down in Spring of this year—wouldn’t you know it—right around the time of their badly managed IPO. We also did the math for one of our clients as well and this is how the cost breaks down forn that client: Per post: $75 Per day: $225 Per week: $1,125 Per month $4,875 Per year: $58,500 If you’re like our client, Metzger and most other businesses, you probably can’t afford to shell out nearly $60,000 per year just to have your content on Facebook reach everyone it already should be reaching. What’s the solution? The solution is simple: post interesting, engaging material. It’s something we’ve talked about time and time again, but the most important thing you can do for your brand, Facebook page, website, etc. is to consistently churn out unique content that is relevant to your users. If you’re not doing that, you’re already missing out. Content is King and always will be. For more on Facebook Promoted Posts and some other great SEO information, make sure to listen to our podcast below. If you have questions, concerns, love or hate, leave us a comment below! Images courtesy of Dangerous Minds.