Internet Marketing Strategy 2.0

While SEO experts keep saying that "search engine optimization" is not dead, it's only changing, I am quite happy to see that more and more of the SEO techniques that have been promoted as the "smart" way to make anyone web site more visible, are finally crumbling down one by one.

In this excellent article, Neil Patel, identifies five of them, that carry more big risks than benefits for anyone web publisher still adopting them. These are:

1) Guest Blogging (spammy kind)

2) Incoming Links with Optimized Anchor Text

3) Low quality inbound links

4) Using lots of relevant keywords inside your content

5) Relying more on building inbound links than on creating high-value content

Excellent recommendations for anyone publishing online. It's time for those who have quality ideas and content to regain their due value and visibility, stolen for so long by those who, without either one, invested fanatically in content marketing and search engine optimizing without ever creating real value. 

Useful. Informative. 8/10

Full article: http://www.quicksprout.com/2014/03/28/5-seo-techniques-you-should-stop-using-immediately/

Excellent article by Ammon Johns explaining clearly what the new Google algorithm Hummingbird does and how it really affects the world of search.

Contrary to what has been written by many, Hummingbird changes deeply how Google interprets search queries, especially, long, detailed ones, not the search results directly. This is also why no-one has really seen major changes to web site traffic after Google has introduced the new algo quietly in August.

In simple words, what Google Hummingbird does, in the words of Ammon Johns is: "...making the very concept of many long-tail searches go the same way as referral data.

Google is trying to get away from exact wording to understanding the concepts.

So no matter how verbose or roundabout your search for pizza restaurant in Denver may be, the search it runs is exactly the same as “Denver Pizza Restaurant”, “Pizza Restaurant Denver”, etc."

Read the full article and the examples provided and you will get a good gist of it.

Very interesting. Useful. 8/10

Read the full article here: http://www.isoosi.com/blog/hummingbird-the-opposite-of-long-tail-search.html 

If you have long been wondering which are the most important factors that affect how your web site is ranked inside Google search results (SERPs), here is a very comprehensive infographic by Search Engine Journal which visually summarizes the top 200 variables that likely affect your Google ranking.

The factors are generally derived by referring to Google official guidelines and announcements and even more on pragmatical analysis, testing and voting by SEO experts, like in the case of SEOMoz famous "Ranking Factors" online resource.

In this case the author of the infographic (Brian Dean) unfortunately does not disclose how and from where he has pulled together the information he has so nicely curated into this infographic.

The over 200 factors presented are aptly grouped in ten areas:

1. Domain Factors
2. Page-Level Factors
3. Site-Level factors
4. Backlink Factors
5. User Interaction
6. Social Signals
7. Brand Signals
8. On-site Webspam factors
9. Off-pag Webspam factors
10. Special Algo Rules

These factors have been changing quite significantly over the last two years and they are continuously being improved and refined, with old ones being gradually de-emphasized, and new ones being added and increasing in importance.

Useful reference. 7/10

Full infographic: http://www.searchenginejournal.com/infographic-googles-200-ranking-factors/64316/

Google Story Builder is a great and very easy-to-use tool that allows you to create video clips that playback a story you have built between two or more characters with simple text phrases.

The final video can be shared directly on Google+ on shared as a link anywhere you like (unfortunately, no preview or thumbnail is shown when I have tried to share a video created with StoryBuilder on Facebook).

A great tool.

Free to use. (it looks like you don't have even have to register or log in to use it).

Try it out now: http://docsstorybuilder.appspot.com/

My personal belief is this: in the near future, if you want to stand out in your niche, get a serious following of passionate fans and build a strong credibility for yourself, you will need to do something better than just writing blog posts (however good they may be).

"Recently Martin Laetsch, Act-On’s Director of Online Marketing, presented a webinar covering the 10 most important rules for successful search engine optimization.Not all of them are 100% new, but they’re all critical keys to success. ...You can catch up with the whole on-demand session here."

In this article the focus is specifically on rule n.1: Create content with your audience in mind.

Rekha Mohan writes: "The main point to all this is: create content people want to share. People like sharing interesting information; it builds credibility, creating the image that the sharer is in the know, and consistently sharing good information increases your audience.

Good information also helps visitors and increases your authority on a subject – use white papers, case studies, fun facts, educational material, research results, thought-provoking blog posts, how-to articles, top 10 lists, and more to share your information in innovative and easy-to-read ways."

Very good reminders for anyone having doubts about what's best to do in the near future, to gain extra visibility and reputation, on any content web site.

Rightful. 7/10

Full article: http://www.business2community.com/seo/the-10-new-rules-for-seo-0518641

Patrizia Pappalardo, a young Italian startupper, just reminded me of a useful Google web service, especially for those in the US and Canada, which has gone unnoticed for many for over a year.

Called Google Consumer Surveys it allows you to run customer surveys on just about any topic you want in a unique and innovative approach.

It works like this:

a) You create online surveys to gain consumer insight

b) People complete questions to access premium content

c) Publishers get paid as their visitors answer

d) You get nicely aggregated and analyzed data

Google automatically aggregates and analyzes responses, providing the data back to you through a simple online interface. Results appear as they come in, not days or weeks later.

In addition to raw data, charts summarize responses and insights highlight interesting differences. Using the DoubleClick cookie and the respondent’s IP address, Google Consumer Surveys infers demographic and geographic information for each response so you can easily segment by age, gender, location and more.

Check this white paper: Comparing the Accuracy of Google Consumer Surveys to Existing Probability and Non-Probability Based Internet and Telephone Surveys. (PDF, 631 KB)

FAQ: http://support.google.com/consumersurveys/answer/2753080

Pricing: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/pricing

Examples: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/examples

Case Studies: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/case_studies

Find out more: http://www.google.com/insights/consumersurveys/home