Sonia Simone says, “You may have seen last week that Google abruptly — and almost offhandedly — announced it was terminating a key element of its future strategy for ranking content. The Authorship program, which would let Google rank content according to the authority of the person who created it, was nuked on Thursday afternoon at the end of the business day on a Google+ thread. It’s not really new behavior. Google is abrupt, secretive, and dismissive of the time and energy it encourages its users to put into its various programs”. The Right Way to Think About Google ‘Copyblogger’... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google publishers using the Google Publisher Toolbar can now see Google Analytics data directly in the toolbar. The toolbar is available for those using AdSense, Ad Exchange or DoubleClick for Publishers. Rather than having to open Google Analytics separately, the Toolbar window provides analytics about that page, including visitors, pageviews, bounce rate and average time on page during a specific time period“. Google Brings Analytics To Chrome Toolbar For AdSense And Other Google Publishers Marketing Land  [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Having removed author photos from the SERPs in June, Google has now gone the whole hog and removed authorship altogether. Under the authorship scheme, writers could add the rel=author markup to their bylines, linking them to Google+ pages. Indeed, this is probably the only reason why some people joined Google+, as the carrot of improved CTR and perhaps rankings was dangled in front of them. Google’s John Mueller gives the reason that this author information wasn’t so useful for users, and even distracted from those results (?)”. Google drops authorship... [...]

Chow says, “Everyone who runs a website has the same thought going through their minds at some point every day – how do I generate more traffic to my site?? Especially when it comes to a small business with a tight SEO/marketing budget! There are a few options that cost money – ie SEO, PPC and banner ads – however there are a few ways to generate traffic without spending any extra money. Let’s review those options! After all, why spend money when you don’t have to?”. Increasing Web Traffic – The How To’s John Chow’s Blog  [...]

Barry Schwartz says, “Google has officially dropped authorship bylines from within the search results. In addition, Google will stop tracking content written by authors as tied by the author’s authorship profile. John Mueller of Google said on Google+: I’ve been involved since we first started testing authorship markup and displaying it in search results. We’ve gotten lots of useful feedback from all kinds of webmasters and users, and we’ve tweaked, updated, and honed recognition and displaying of authorship information”. Official: Google Ends Authorship For Search Results Marketing... [...]

Chow says, “I remember a few years back taking my first job as a web analyst – it seemed pretty easy at the time. I mean, how hard was it to read some Google Analytics reports and explain what was going on to the clients. Little did I know how deep I would explore the world of analytics, and how this data has such a big impact on how businesses both big and small can use it to mold so many facets of their business. Studying the teachings of super-smart guys like Avinash Kaushik taught me the art of interpreting data, and how data may be more than meets the eye”. How To Understand Google... [...]

Jason Bowden says, “Integrating analytics to your search engine optimization campaigns is a major step that you can take in order to magnify the results of your SEO digital marketing system. Among the most valuable analytic tools in the industry today is the Google Webmaster Tool that has become the apple of the eye among the SEO pro and newbie alike. Not only is the tool very comprehensive in its SEO analytic features, it is also a free analytic package perfect for any digital marketer who has the goal of optimizing their search results campaigns. Here are the basic and valuable features of... [...]

Robert Fisher says, “What if you owned a paid directory site and every day you received emails upon emails stating that someone wants links removed. As they stacked up in your inbox, whether they were pleasant or they were sternly demanding you cease and desist, would you just want to give up? What would you do to stop the barrage of emails if you thought the requests were just too overwhelming? How could you make it all go away, or at least the majority of it? First, a bit of background We had a new, important client come aboard on April 1, 2013 with a lot of work needed going forward. They... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Are you doing what’s best, or simply seeking the protection of the herd? It’s an enticing idea: ‘Best practice’. It suggests a clearly defined path to success; a recipe for perfectly honed websites, trouble-free projects, delighted users; a silver bullet. But what is ‘best practice’? I don’t mean best practice for UX design, or best practice for SEO, or best practice for project execution. But the concept of ‘best practice’ itself.  Where do best practices come from? How do we recognise them? How do we adopt them?”. The... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “In its latest move to prove the value of its AdWords advertising platform, Google haslaunched Website Call Conversions. The new conversion type tracks phone calls that happen after a user lands on a website from an AdWords ad. By adding code to their sites, advertisers can track whether calls are made by users who click on a phone number or dial the number from their phones. When a user arrives at the site after clicking an ad, Google dynamically generates a unique phone number that can display for up to 90 days. Reporting shows which keyword and ad generated a call. Google... [...]