Month: April 2013

Posted on

Google’s New Keep Note App

For smartphone Android users there’s a nice new note-taking app called “Keep” by Google. Keep is a neat new way to keep your lists easily accessible. For your Chromebook or for your Google Chrome browser you can add the Goto Google Keep app, which will allow you to see all your notes online in one place (on Google Drive).

These notes are stored online but can be added to from any of your devices: phone, tablet, browser. You can type in, take photos, handwrite, and even speak in your quick jots.

Here are a few ways you can use Keep to have fun and organize your online life.

  1. Write or talk in new topics for your blog anytime anywhere.
  2. Add reminders to yourself of things to pick up at the store on your way home from the office.
  3. Add photos to your notes if typing or talking is just too hard or takes too long. Need new shoes? click the camera icon to snap a shot of your shoes to remind you you’ll need to go shopping.
  4. Click the check box icon and add a check off list instead of a plain old list.

For more great details on Keep you’ll want to read this article at CNet.

 

Posted on

Why I am Watching Co-Citation

I get asked all the time, “what are you watching, what’s new and exciting, what trends to you see happening?” Right now, I’m watching co-citation.Google has made really sweeping changes to how it rates websites and what used to work for years to garner organic placement is not considered spammy by Google and may even run into a placement smackdown filter. This is why I am very carefully and intensely watching co-citation.

Watching co-citation.
Watching co-citation.

Here are a few articles about co-citation that you may want to read:

SEOMoz take on co-citation

Jim Boykin’s take on co-citation

In lay terms, co-citation is close to link bait and article marketing but with natural growth. Both authors state that Google and Bing as so smart now that they do not have to be fed keyword phrases, they will decide on their own based on the content that links to you. But, here’s the change it is not the link text that they are weighing, but rather the jist of the content where the link to your website is embedded. In fact, the page that links to you may not even link to your service and may not even contain keywords on which you want to place. Instead it is an “authority” factor.

So here’s what I understand so far…

Google and Bing spider the web, they read incidents of mentions of your name and content, they spider your own website and get a picture of the services you provide, then they review how what people say about you and the authority of the site that links to your site talks about you. They then use this in their algorithm to place you in importance to being an authority on a specific topic. Way Cool!

Although I don’t think that anyone in my industry really knows yet what works for organic placement in this new world on Google and Bing, but it is clear that content, the sharing of your content will be a very strong impact for organic placement.

Posted on

Footer and Link Use Google Penalizes

Red Flag Warning
Red Flag Warning

In the changing world of earning placement on Google.com, Google has been fairly forthright in regards to what it now does not like and will actually penalize a website for doing. What is important to understand is that what Google does not now like was a mainstream SEO and commonly used tactic.When you see a site that has things like this in the footer:

lemon lawyer Columbus Ohio, lemon lawyer Cleveland Ohio, lemon lawyer Akron Ohio, lemon lawyer Dayton Ohio, lemon lawyer Dublin Ohio, lemon lawyer Wabash Ohio, lemon lawyer Siteville Ohio, lemon lawyer Cincinnati Ohio, lemon lawyer Hamilton Ohio, lemon lawyer Arlington Ohio

AND each one of those phrases is linked to a page on that topic which has very little unique content other than a city location change in the content. You should know that Google has specifically said they DO NOT LIKE content or links formatted or used in this way.

Here is a site to review that is using this type of tactic as an illustration of what not to do.

Google is not penalizing for navigational links in your footer that look like this:

Home | About Us | Web Visibility | Google AdWords Services | Blog Writing

Google understands that you may need to repeat your navigation at the bottom to aid readers to travel your site, but it is the repetitive use of keywords, locations and search phrases that Google is disavowing and penalizing websites for using.

Here are a few sites that I have found that are really bending the rules on Google and may already be receiving a penalty for over optimization:

Make sure to read this great article over at SiteProNews for other great examples of what NOT to do.

Posted on

Improving SEO Results

It's easy to get started with videos.
It’s easy to get started with videos.

The key to increasing Search Engine Optimization results for a company already doing well is to look at more channels besides blog posts and keyword rich home pages to augment results. The explosion of sites like YouTube can be a good place to start when you want to branch out in other areas to keep your search engine results where they belong.  The proof that branching out into other areas of online advertising can really work is evident when looking at what Google does to grow their own business.

SEO and page rank expert Matt Cutts is a big proponent of using video to help increase SEO and draw more attention to a business.  A YouTube video can be especially helpful to get the word out about new products you are offering. Demonstrating a machine you sell or posting a how to video on a product to the DIY crowd can yield far more hits for your site than just manual instructions. An added bonus could come from those “do it yourselfers” going back and revisiting the demonstration which will help increase organic search results.

Have you brainstormed how you can use video to help position your website in the organic search results? It’s not hard to get started, in fact you can even start with a whiteboard and a digital camera and then post the same day YouTube.

Posted on

Don’t let Things Get Lost in Translation

Reach a wider market with translation services.
Reach a wider market with translation services.

Any business that is operating on the web has to find ways to expand their customer base. One way to do that can be to appeal to those living in other countries. This is something that can certainly be considered but there may be something that is currently holding you back.This is where it helps to spend some time and money on a translation management system. There are some businesses that may be able to try crowd sourcing for a one time translation project for a specific product or as a way to enter only one market at a time. You could also consider choosing a vendor; evaluating them by checking references, looking at their client list and experience and making sure that translation management is at the heart of their business.

You may even want to try some free translation tools first before you pay to have your whole website translated and localized. I like to use Google Translate. You can click the icons in my left sidebar to automatically translate this blog post. Although automated tools don’t always give the best translation, using them allows you to test at a very low cost to see if website translation is a workable approach for your needs.

Posted on

Tips for Designing Websites That Look Good on Tablets

Test your site on tablets.
Test your site on tablets.

People don’t just use their tablets – they love ‘em. The portable, powerful little devices entertain, inform and connect, so it’s no surprise that businesses by the thousands are optimizing their websites to accommodate tablet trends.It’s not just a matter of shrinking the page to the tablet’s vertical/horizontal ratios. Tablet layout is an art unto itself.

Web-to-Tablet Basics
Test. Use a common browser, like Firefox or Safari, on a tablet to see how your current site appears. Does text run off the sides, or images look compressed? The answers will help your designer create a tablet-ready site.

Simplify. A crowded homepage isn’t ideal even on a PC, but it can spell disaster on a tablet. Strip out the non-essentials – the stock photos, the testimonials, the ads – and focus on the most important information and links to get users on their way.

Enlarge. Make live areas like call-to-action buttons large enough to see quickly and finger-sized so that only one touch is necessary.

Un-Flash. The mega-popular iPad is notably resistant to Flash applications, so keep them off your tablet-ready site. Android tablets are advertised as supporting Flash, but early response has had it labeled a disappointment. Interactive elements in HTML5 or JavaScript can recreate the Flash experience without the risk.