Tag Archives: Search engine optimization

Elissa Giroux

Google Cuts Keyword Data from Analytics: What This Change Means for You

Last week, as Google celebrated its 15th birthday, the search giant made two announcements that caught many by surprise.

One was that Google quietly switched to a new algorithm called “Hummingbird” about a month ago. This was a significant change that had (perhaps surprisingly) little fallout, so we’ll save that for another blog post and refer you here to learn more.

The other announcement that drew attention—and a big reaction from the SEO community—is that Google will soon be encrypting all search data in the widely used Google Analytics reporting platform. This means that detailed data about what organic search keywords were used to deliver visitors to your website will no longer be available.

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Union Street Media News

Avoiding Thin Content on Your Site

Ever since Google’s Panda Update last year, many website owners have become concerned about duplicate content–which they should be, but there is more to it than that.

At the heart of what Google does, is ensure that quality results are shown for searchers. Part of the drive behind the Panda Update was to eliminate not only duplicate content but also “thin content” that has little or no value.

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Search Engine Deciding Which Page to Choose
Union Street Media News

Mysteries of the Title Tag

In this post I wanted to turn my attention to an oft-misunderstood basic SEO practice—and one that I get a lot of questions about: the title tag.

What Is It and Where Is It Found?

The title tag is one of if not THE most important piece of text information that search engines look at as a signal of relevance on a web page. These innocuous words and phrases appear at the top of your browser. They also appear in search results and sometimes as link anchor text, from external links.

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Google's Cliche Whiteboard
Union Street Media News

SEO Cliches – Do They Hold True?

Every now and again, we always need to be proactive with our skill set and check we are up to speed with best practices. From a 30,000 feet level, we try to make sure everyone is on the same page without reinventing the wheel. At the end of the day, if we can think outside of the box, throw a few things at the wall and see what sticks, it’s a win-win.

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Union Street Media News

Good Netiquette in a Multi-Channel World

Recent events in politics testify to the blurring of lines between the off-line and online world.

Despite the rapid adoption of new modes of communication, the old rules of etiquette still apply. I would argue it’s as important as ever, with even more social pitfalls coupled with actual less human interaction as a ballast.

Like me, most of you reading bounce between personal and business social media , email accounts, blog comments and website feedback. In addition, we have off-line communications to have to negotiate on top of that. That’s a lot of communication with their own nuances to get right and one size does not fit all.

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John Merse

Yahoo! Search Direct Takes On Google Instant

Last week Yahoo announced an update to their search functionality. This new update is being called Yahoo! Search Direct and has been in testing for the last year. Yahoo’s CTO Blake Irving described Search Direct as “Yahoo’s version of Google’s Instant Search but with richer content.” Irving also reminded everyone at the press event that Yahoo had developed a version of Google’s Instant Search years before – though they dropped the project rather abruptly.

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John Merse

Website Construction: Internet Marketing For Real Estate Agents

Part 2: Search Engine Optimization Strategies 101

“This blog series is intended to be a walkthrough for setting up a lead-generating website. My goal is to get you thinking about ways to improve your site and enhance its performance. Each blog post will be centered on a specific part of website development that will help you grow your online business. Some posts will be more specific and advanced, while others will be more general and introductory.  Taken together, the posts in this series will offer valuable tips, regardless of where you are with the maturity of your website.”

Can SEO be measured, and can my site place in search engines even if it never has? The simple answer to this question is yes.  To get a more detailed answer, you first need to ask, “for what terms?” Not all terms are created equal, and the terms that are most achievable for you and will return the best placement aren’t necessarily the ones that you think they are.

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John Merse

Website Construction: Internet Marketing for Real Estate Agents

Part 1: Real Estate Website Design and Functionality 101

“This blog series is intended to be a walk-through for setting up a lead generating website. My goal is to get you thinking about ways to improve your site and enhance its performance. Each blog post will be centered on a specific part of website development that will help you grow your online business. Some posts will be more specific and advanced, while others will be more general and introductory.  Taken together, the posts in this series will offer valuable tips, regardless of where you are with the maturity of your website.”

Design is an important element in website development. In the past the thought was to create animated, Flash-heavy websites that dazzled Internet searchers. Today, Internet Marketers say that Flash websites daze and confuse consumers, who have become more sophisticated at searching for websites thanks to companies like Google.

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