Search Engine Optimization Blog Posts

Getting your new website indexed in the search engines doesn’t have to be difficult. The last thing you want to get stuck with is launching a new website and having to wait a month before the search engines even pick it up! Get indexed as quickly as possible using the 5 methods I’ve outlined below:

I can’t say that I’m really surprised, but Google just announced that the meta keyword and meta description tags of websites have absolutely no bearing on search ranking via their Webmaster Blog. Google’s hand was forced on this announcement, as there are whispers that some lawsuits were arising as a result of companies using competitor’s brand names in meta keywords. So how should this news alter our daily routines?

Part of the reason Google has been able to remain on top of the search world for most of the decade is their relentless dedication to improving the quality of their search results. In the past, Google has kept quiet about updates, leaving most of the SEO/SEM folks to only guess that some system wide change had been made. Often, we search nerds are given confirmation of an algorithm change eventually, as was the case with some of the previous updates, but now for the first time, Google is opening the doors early to their next algorithm shift, called “Caffeine”.

Read on for a link to the sandbox version, and some early thoughts on how it might affect your rankings.

I’ve put together a list of the top SEO plugins for Wordpress for those of you who are looking to increase organic traffic and help organize your SEO efforts. These SEO plugins give you every advantage necessary to start achieving top rankings for your Wordpress site, so check ‘em out!

What an amazing three days last week in Austin, Texas for the inaugural PubCon South. Billed as a regional internet marketing show, PubCon was sold out prior to the event. Not too shabby for a first time show.  With a great turnout and some great minds the only negative was the weather, which was 40 degrees and rainy.

Photo by Lee Odden

One of the programs that has been in the Google labs for some time is Google Search Wiki. The idea is that users can personalize their search results by voting sites up the results page, or even removing sites that aren’t particularly useful. Well, Google Search Wiki has graduated from the lab and now finds itself as the default behavior for anyone that is logged into Google.

The big question? What effect does this have on natural search results? Read on for more.

Guaranteed number one ranking is a farce. If you don’t know that by now, its time to learn.

Matt from over at e-Moxie was kind enough to invite me to speak at his Web Design & Development Meetup on Monday October 27th about SEO and Web Design. I’ll be touching on some topics like the web standards – seo connection and why to start your project out on the right foot.

The Meetup starts around 6:30 with pizza and beer/soda. Hope to see you all there.

Click here for more info and to RSVP:
http://www.meetup.com/webdevelopment/calendar/8938327/

Introducing a brand new feature to the Groove eCommerce Blog: Free Link Friday! Free Link Friday is named after one of the best employee perks of Groove Commerce, Free Lunch Friday. FLF will be a weekly installment of some of the most important and thought provoking links from around the web in the field of SEO/SEM (and maybe a few wildcards!) Read on for the inaugural edition.

After nearly 4 years in the “lab”, Google Suggest has graduated.  For those unfamiliar, Google Suggest is a service not unlike Yahoo! Search Assist, which offers to complete a user’s query in real time based on some of the most popular searches.  The change could have more of an effect on some eCommerce Sites than they’d think: