Unless you have: been living under a rock, don’t use Google, or were just born, you should have heard about the recent changes that were made to the Google product suite. The changes were announced at the sixth annual Google I/O Keynote. Google I/O is an event where Google offers insight into their products and services as well as giving previews of things to come. These conferences are usually the first time the public is given the chance to see the latest developments to come from behind the curtain.

The spirit of Google I/O is to help developers and webmasters understand how Google is working to help them 1) integrate Google services into there websites, applications and technology and 2) how these changes or developments can be used to make profit, better their (developers) creations while sharing details on how to do so. Even if you are not a web developer or application builder, there is tons of great user-based products, information and news. Along with product releases and announcements, Google I/O is a method for sharing information about Google’s progress.

Some of the interesting facts released during first section of the three-hour keynote were:

• Focus of product development has been centered on Android and Chrome.
• New activations of Android: 100 Million (2011) to 400 Million (2012) activations of Android. Currently at 900 Million.

These interesting tidbits where shared in the opening of I/O by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President of Google.

Following Vic, Sundar Pichai the Senior Vice President of Product Development discussed the two primary focuses of Google in regard to the search giant’s product-side of the business. During his segment, Sundar mentioned how only 7 years ago (or so), it was only desktops that connected us the way we wanted/needed, smart phones took us to the next level of technology (and other ‘mobile’ computing devices).

Google Android and Chrome

This is the reason that Google focuses on 2 platforms: Android and Chrome. Android’s mission and purpose is meant to be a method for developers to innovate using open standards that are robust yet simple. The platform is build on the concept of community, that everyone contribute to the growth of the whole through individual contributions.

Chrome, both the browser and operating system, are also built around the idea that the technology can only get better if more heads are on the ‘job,’ figuring out better ways of approaching data management, computing methods, functions, user experiences and browsing. Browsing is a method of connecting users with information or experiences they are longing for, Chrome (the browser) should be easy to use and efficient way to navigate the web we, as an internet community, have created.

The keynote was then handed over to Hugo Barra, VP of Product Development for Android, who discussed new developer tools along with statistics about application creation and installs. As of the date of the Google I/O event (5/15/2013), there has been 48 billion app installs on Android enabled devices, more than any other application platform.

With such high demands and a sense of open community, Hugo stated that Google listened to the request and insight of the developers of those apps and focused on a few common request. As a result Google was introducing some new app focused elements:

• 3 new location apis
  1. Fused Location Provider (Wifi, GPS, Cell)
  2. Geofencing (define a geographic area for apps)
  3. Activity recognition (accelerator data for movement and distance tracking)

• Cross platform single-sign on. Sign in on Google (uses the Google+ system) allows for integration across apps and properties. (Actually effects all Google Properties)
• GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) – Used to support apps and system. Introducing synced notifications [finally!!] With synced notifications, acknowledging the notification on one device removes the notification across all devices and/or services.
• Google Play Game Services – will use the users’ Circles to help engage his/her’s friends to make the experience more personal. Also use of API will allow cross platform use.

(Are you a developer or interested in getting started? Check out Google Android Studio, the interface is pretty sweet and the have made creating apps for Google Play pretty easy, with a little understanding of the coding language of course.)

Google Pixel Chromebook

All this talk of devices and Chrome led into a little, granted welcomed, product placement. Sundar brought up the latest desktop product, the Google Pixel. Pixel has been out for a little over a year, following the creation of the Google netbook aka ChromeBook. But, as Sundar said, “[we've been] investing a lot in these area this year.” He was referring to Chrome and Pixel. It was also stating that the purpose of Chrome was Speed, Simplicity, and Security.

At which point he said that everyone in attendance would be receiving a ‘free’ Google Pixel! Free is relative I suppose. Google I/O tickets ran for $900 for general admission and $300 for accademic admission. Depending on the size of the harddrive, Google Pixels can retail for $1299 to $1449 in the Google Play Store. Not a bad trade off.

Major Changes in Google+

Vic Gundotra then went into Google Plus. The big announcement for this area was the introduction of 41 new features that would be releases that very afternoon, following the keynote. Vic focused on three areas: Stream, Hangouts, and Photos.

Vic Gundotra discussing The New Google+ Streams.

After Google pushed the changes live, my Stream looked like this.

With the Google+ Streams, the major changes were: a new Stream layout (streamlined and focused on content management) and auto-generated Related hash tags. Making it easier to find associated content.

Hangouts have been pulled out of the Google+ platform as a simple application and is now a stand-alone service. Now, on mobile devices, tablets and online, Google Hangout can be downloaded and installed separate from Google+. Along with this major change, Hangouts was updated to offer:

The stand-alone Google Hangout application on mobile looks amazing!

• Circle planning (circles are set up to reflect true life situations not just “friends” or “not friends” like ‘other’ networks.)
• A technology that facilitates connections not hindering it, you shouldn’t need to find a way to contact people on their level.
• Group video at the touch of a button, without a charge.

Pictures have also had a major overhaul in the Google+ platform. It appears that this area of the system was a big focus this year and as such, a lot of the changes focused on quality of the images and recognizing important elements in uploaded photos.

• Camera with Cloud (automatically correcting and editing)
• Using the Google Datacenter for backup/storage (started at 5 GB, now to 15 GB free) “Some memories aren’t meant to be downsized.”
• Photo analyzation to make ‘highlights’ on search and image galleries.
• Auto Enhance (Algorithm understands human nuances.)
• “Auto Awesome” burst mode to generate gifs for you.
• Facial recognition to construct happy smiling faces for collages, gifs and more.

The End of Search

“The end of search as we know it” by Amit Singhal (thanks for the heart attack sir)

Yup, that is how Amit Singhal introduced his section of the Keynote concerning the element of Google that started it all. After a mild heart attack and running around the office saying the sky was falling, I sat down and intently listened as he explained why search, as we knew it, was not going to be the same.

The end of search:

1. Knowledge Graph – Answering questions before a user leaves the search.
2. Statistics coming soon to the SERPs near you.
3. Anticipations of next questions (comparisons, associated content, statistics, etc.)
4. Extremely personalized results depending on your information, care of Google+ and assorted device data.
5. “Search is meant to be a conversation not a string of of keywords”: introducing Conversational Search and Hot-Wording (no interface, just say ‘Okay Google’)
6. Answers, Converse, Anticipate – the focus of Google search in the new age of search.

To explain more about the conversational search and hot wording used in Google Now, the Vice President of Search/Mobile Johanna Wright took the stage. She discussed that the recently released Knowledge Graph is linked to Conversational/Hot Wording search systems. This link gives the voice recognition system an authoritative and robust database to pull information from. Currently, Conversational Search is only on Chrome and Chrome OS. Johanna briefly previewed Reminders, which allow users to speak vocal commands that setup quick reminders to alert individuals of events.

Google Maps

The section on Maps was a little more function based and abstract. The gist was that the Google Maps system was updated to incorporate 3-D renderings of buildings and places. They also expanded into locations that were ‘less traveled,’ such as oceans, interiors and landmarks.

Here are the high points concerning Google Maps:

Brian McClendon, VP Google Maps
- Over 1 Million websites using Google Maps

Daniel Graf, Director
Mobile Maps
- No more Zaggat
- Dynamic rerouting using changes in road conditions
- Explore feature allows you to find location attraction

Droid Life actually has an article concerning the updates that are in the pipeline for Maps. As we all know, things change so we are apprehensive about making any announcements or conclusions concerning what we can expect or the way businesses or users will use the system in the near future.

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/14/new-google-maps-sign-up-page-goes-live-briefly-reveals-some-new-details/

Quotable from the conclusion of Google I/O Keynote:

“A law can’t be right if it’s 50 years old, before the Internet.” – Larry Page

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Change is really hard to accept for most, and it seems like every time we log on to Google (and many other web platforms) there are a ton of updates, changes, alterations or new services. Some changes are innately bad, others are really great! In either case we all, especially web technologist and marketers, should see them as opportunities. Opportunities to learn something new. Opportunities to develop the next level of our craft, a client’s marketing strategy, or a better way to connect to the internet community.

Never loose sight of the fact that just twenty years ago you didn’t have access to the whole of human knowledge in your pocket. Everyday we move forward with technology is another day towards achieving the dreams we share of creating a better world. The picture may change but the gallery remains. Google is just a method for achieving something you (or the people you work with) hold as important or necessary to your daily, weekly, short-term or long-term goals. What really matters most is what those goals are. Google has “improved” it’s products, the tools have changed, how you wield them is up to you; feel empowered by these opportunities-stop whining!

In anticipation of this year’s PodCamp, I attended the SpeakerUp meeting the organizers hold for individuals interested in presenting a session. At the event, I helped explain and elaborate on some of the concepts past speakers were discussing with a nice gentleman sitting next to me. At the end of the meeting, I distributed a few business cards with individuals, including the man sitting next to me. The week following the meeting I received a nice matte card in the mail at my day job with cj Advertising, the card was from the nice gent I was conversing with, a Tennessee state representative.

Panelists Dave Beronja, Laura Creekmore, Joe Smith and Liz Denning provided valuable tips for potential speakers. Click the image to view the video.

Every opportunity to connect with others is important. No matter the size of the event or the location; anytime there is a chance to network, it should be taken. Every industry has it’s own form of technical conference. Some are meant to connect businesses with customers others connect businesses with other businesses that can augment the methods an organization uses to service their clientele. In search and online marketing, there are a number of events that help industry professionals share knowledge, develop strategy, identify changes and create new valuable relationships. There is no college or certificate program for search marketing. The knowledge SEOs/SEMs/Analysts and other web technologists use to perform our duties comes from monitoring search engine signals, paying attention to news or releases, industry events and networking with others.

I’m a Speaker at PodCamp Nashville 2013!

One of the first networking events I attended was PodCamp Nashville in 2010. Aside from getting out and talking shop at the Cadillac Ranch in downtown Nashville, the event opened my mind to the fact that not all knowledge is contained in a book or behind some velvet rope. Many gurus and experts have obtained these statuses from developing their networks and following other specialists as they develop their own methods for problem solving.

As my father often told me growing up, “if you’re gonna walk through a minefield, follow someone.”

True experts, regardless of the industry, know when they have reached the end of their knowledge base. The ‘expert’ has the wisdom to ask for help; either from friends or people with the know-how to find the solutions. This ‘wisdom’ requires knowing who you can turn to; hence the importance of networking. If you are questioning whether 2013′s PodCamp Nashville is worth your time, ask yourself one question: how valuable is your network?

After attending SMX West in 2012, I found that creating real-world connections was important to my professional success. Just as a website needs visitors, your marketing/advertising success requires that someone take an interest in or at the least, know about you. You may have Earth-shattering ideas or concepts; but if no one hears your voice it doesn’t matter.

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Now for a worthwhile plug! This year’s PodCamp is free to attend and they’re are some great speakers offering up important information, including myself! At this event you can:

• Network with professionals from around Nashville (not just marketers and advertisers either).
• Learn more about some of the big names in the Music City: Emma, Horton, Raven and so many more!
• Enjoy learning about several digital areas: web marketing, self-publishing, content creation, Google, etc.

So, register and start signing up for sessions (make sure to sign up for mine: Becoming THE Authority on Google). The only thing you’ll need to pay for is the gas to get to the Hotel Preston, your lunch ($15) and any drinks you may want to lubricate your palate with. You have nothing stopping you from succeeding but yourself.

UPDATE:

Following PodCamp, there are a number of networking opportunities that allow PodCampers and others to link up. If you could or could not make it out to the event, there are still tons of opportunities to meet up with speakers or event goers. Find these individuals on Twitter (#PCN13) or visit PodCamp’s website for follow up blogs and posts: http://www.podcampnashville.org/pcn13/news/pcn13-rewind-blog-tour

Here is my slide deck from my presentation.

Bing Webmaster Tools Overview from A. Chris Turner

Google is everywhere! Most people know that fact. Google is dominating search, piloting free internet service, on mobile devices and taking over small islands in the Sea of Gibraltar. Alright, that last one wasn’t true but you get the point. Now, it may just be time for a Nashville refresh but there have been increased sightings of Google Map mobiles throughout the metro area. According to other keen-eyed Tennesseans, the Google Map camera-equipped Subarus have been sighted in Green Hills, The Gulch, East Nashville and a few other locations. I came across the vehicle below while driving through Brentwood.

These vehicles are used in a number of ways by the Google Maps section of Google, Inc. The mapping system reportedly collects a number of data points aside from just the street-view images and global position satellite (GPS) coordinates. In an article published in the Guardian, an audit requested by the German data protection agency revealed that Google was collecting Wi-Fi information at the least. Other data that could be collected by these vehicles could be anything from device MAC addresses and IP addresses to cellular networks signals, who knows but Google.

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Call me ‘star struck’ but this happened to be my first encounter with the Google Maps crew. Have you captured a Google Map mobile or spotted one? We’re interested in seeing your pictures or hearing your stories about where you spotted them. Maybe there is a general refresh going on or maybe this is Nashville-centric; only time and the Maps will tell.

Matt McGee tweeted a blog article that alerted us to the latest news about Google Places for Business; it is finally getting an update! Google Places for Business was once the portal business owners and managers had to access to make changes to their listing that appeared on Google Maps. With the introduction of Google+, and later Google+ Local, Places for Business took a back seat in terms of it’s usefulness in managing listings.

In the forums that were barraged with questions (and anger in many cases) from business owners trying to get a handle on their business listings after the launch of Google+ Local Pages, Jade Wang first directed many to use Places unless they had setup Google+ Pages. Later on, Jade would direct everyone in a forum post to setup Google+ Pages for Local, stating:

Don’t edit your page using Google Places for Business. The only reason to log in to Google Places for Business would be to check analytics.

On April 2nd, Qasar Younis, Senior Product Manager (via Vanessa Schneider) announced the new look for the dashboard for Google Places for Business. And as you may guess, many of us thought Places would someday redirect to a portal or administrative panel within Google+, but it appears it will stand alone.

http://googleandyourbusiness.blogspot.com/2013/04/improving-look-and-feel-of-google_2.html

In the announcement Google offers these highlights about the update to Google Places:

• Easier to use – Which is very true. From the screenshots, it appears to be the interface many webmasters are familiar with from managing Google+ Pages for Local.
• Edits go live faster – Supposedly, updates will be live within 48 hours! Of course, there is the disclaimer that Google reserves the right to manually moderate changes to ensure quality.
• Better integration with other Google products – The dashboard will allow access to the linked Google+ Page for the location, AdWords Express (if used) and Google Offers.

The update is suppose to roll out over the next couple of weeks, but there is an option available to request to be ‘pushed’ live sooner.

By visiting https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=3038693&p=coming_soon you can learn a little more about the changes and ask to be upgraded earlier.

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Finally! We have very high hopes for this update. It sounds like Google has worked on this update for awhile in an effort to streamline the management of business listings. The concerns we have, as with any new release by the search masters, is that this will lead to a new wave of technical issues/quirks that will make it difficult to make verified business listings accessible as has been experience with the release of Google+ Local. As we await the roll out we are among the webmaster with fingers crossed; success with this update means success to millions of business owners.

Notifications are being sent to several hundred individuals that they now owe Google, Inc. $1,500 US + applicable taxes. What for?! Google Glass. Those being notified have actually been selected to join a small group of aptly named ‘Explorers’ (#GlassExplorers) that tweeted Google’s Project Glass twitter account (@ProjectGlass) with the hashtag, #IfIHadGlass. Google started notifying selected participants late Wednesday with messages like:

Google Glass: The Explorer Edition

Towards the end of February, Google announced that Project Glass would be looking for select individuals to test out the new product, in real world settings, to provide useful feedback. The announcement was made in association with an introductory video featuring footage of what it is like to use Glass along with a website containing the details of entry into the participation program, www.google.com/glass.

According to a tweet from Project Glass, the participants are being notified over the next couple of days and in coming weeks the details of the Explorer Program will be released via direct message (DM) using Twitter. The selection process has been done using Twitter and Google+, showing that Google is aware of where their target audience and suitable participants are.

Meaning, that if you wanted to participate and were not notified in the first batch, there may still be a chance you may be selected.

The results of #ifihadglass are in. We’ll be inviting people to join the Explorer Program over the next few days. goo.gl/DgJ4x

— Project Glass (@projectglass) March 26, 2013

Of course, no contest happens without it’s share of disqualified participants:

@wutabril Unfortunately your application didn’t comply with our terms, and has been disqualified. We’re sorry for the confusion.

— Project Glass (@projectglass) March 28, 2013

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If you were selected, congratulations!! Dust off your traveling shoes and blog, count out your cash money and get ready to be famous; Google Glass is calling. The Explorer Edition is the first version of the product and it can be assumed that as time passes there will be different versions of the Glass product, hopefully with varying functions and price tags.

You may be interested to learn that there is such a thing as negative SEO. Along with black hat techniques, there are techniques competitors *may* use to influence your rankings; and not in a good way. Before getting into that, it should be noted that it is always, always, ALWAYS more worthwhile to invest in your own assets and optimization rather than waste time working on attacking your competition in some of the ways listed below or engaging in black hat tactics. The results are often short lived, time consuming and frankly, a waste of resources.

Black Hat SEO

Black hat for the uninitiated is the use of techniques that violate Google, Bing, Yahoo and other web indexes’ (and some social networks’) quality guidelines but offer limited improvements in rankings. In the past this may have been the oh-so-popular keyword stuffing; in which webmasters would fill the keyword tag (deprecated, please ignore) with their target keywords and variations. Or the popular, circa 2002, block of exact-match links in the footer. Often with a color profile to match the background.

Prior to Panda, it was cloaking and link wheels/circles that were the trick. In these schemes, ranking manipulation would come by means of serving search engine robots one set or type of content while offering users something different (cloaking). There is some debate about what cloaking in 2013 looks like but that is another debate all together.

Link wheels and link networks (circles) were used to provide instantaneous or quick value to website via blog, micro-sites or similar web properties that would point to either a target website or a tertiary site that would then pass on the gathered value to yet another site. This was particularly hard to catch because the networks often contained some valuable information or maintained ‘quality’ in the eyes of engine robots. I mentioned some of the details of how Google handled these in this previous post.

Negative SEO

For obvious reasons, you can see why it is called black hat. It’s the dark side of the Force. However, there is another element that some businesses have begun to investigate as a method for handling ‘complicated’ situations. Instead of tempting fate by trying to game the search engines using one’s own site, why not attack your competitor(s); either indirectly or via some hidden method?

This is the essence of negative SEO. These types of stupid business practices have existed, and been practiced by some, for a while. My first experience with this was in handling negative press releases (remember when those were great for SEO?!) published via PR.com, PRWeb.com and a few others. On the PPC side there is click fraud. I, and many others, have experienced click fraud. Click fraud is seen when you or an agency is running some type of paid campaign and receive an abnormal amount of clicks on your ad(s). Google got wise to these attacks early on and often ignored the clicks after a while, if certain conditions were met, resulting in a refund of the click or impression charge. This type of attack impacts not only the funds in a campaign, but if unchecked, it can impact the quality score; all of which will make it harder for your true audience to see you.

While working on some of our clients’ sites and checking the index statuses recently, I started noticing slips in the number of indexed pages. Upon further investigation, I found this notice at the bottom of a search for one of the keyword phrases:

The first link takes you to Google’s view of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which falls under the U.S. Copyright Office and is meant to protect intellectual property that appears online. Along with this link there is a second link that contains the reported violation, the reporting individual or group and all identified “infringing” URLs (example: http://www.chillingeffects.org/notice.cgi?sID=409433).

In most cases, the use of this opportunity would be great when infringement is legitimate, like this one. However, this becomes another case where the system can be easily abused. The process takes weeks, if not months just to obtain the proper information needed to respond and counter. Furthermore, due to the nature of these types of complaints, which Google is not fast to rectify, the issues often go unresolved. All the while quality content remains excluded.

In the chillingeffects.org example above, the infringing URLs contain content taken from public sites, such as the Social Security Administration which allows for republication and syndication, but the original work was the first to ‘claim’ infringement.

Ajaz Mirza offers a short list of what to look out for, aside from blatant complaints when it comes to negative SEO:

1. Backlink Profile Drops
2. Scrapped Content
3. Site Load Time
4. Irrelevant Keywords Appearing in Google Analytics
5. and the always popular: Fake Reviews

Google’s view of Negative SEO and the Disavow tool

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Negative SEO and black hat tactics will always be around, just as long as there is SEO of course. But as technology and methods change there are more ways to protect yourself from these tactics. Although it is not their responsibility to ensure the safety of a website or your online reputation, Google offers a number of tools to help fix/identify issues that black hat tactics create, such as the disavow tool. While Bing Webmaster Central will notify you when malware is detected or some negative issue has been identified.

If you maintain a steady eye on your data, you will normally see the oddness these attacks create and can quickly remedy them before they get out of hand. If you are involved in a highly competitive space it is important to invest in your web presence, otherwise you run the risk of letting the world create your online presence for you; worser still, your competitors.

If you are using Google Adwords or planning to, there are some changes that are being rolled out over the course of the next few months. The change impacts how ads are segmented in the system. In times past, it was important to separate your ad campaigns not only in terms of categories or products, but also by medium. Enhanced Campaigns is meant to streamline and improve this. For some “in the weeds” views of this change and what it means for your clients, cj’s Abby Woodcock wrote a great post on the change.

From the Horse’s Mouth:

Introducing enhanced campaigns

Hello,
We recently announced improvements to AdWords called enhanced campaigns. Today’s consumers are constantly connected and using many different devices, so we’ve developed enhanced campaigns to help you reach them more easily and effectively.

We’re writing to let you know that enhanced campaigns are now available in your account. All new campaigns that you create will be enhanced campaigns by default, but you can choose the older campaign style for a few more months. Starting in June 2013, we plan to upgrade all AdWords campaigns to enhanced campaigns. You can log in and begin upgrading your existing campaigns now to take advantage of the useful improvements.

About enhanced campaigns

Today, people are constantly connected and searching from all kinds of devices. Enhanced campaigns let you more easily adjust your ads and bids depending on your customers’ location, device and time of day—all within a single campaign. This means better ads for your customers and better results for you.

Important changes

Along with the useful new features, there are some important changes to be aware of with enhanced campaigns.

• Mobile bidding control. Currently, with your campaigns that run ads across both desktop and mobile devices, your mobile bids are adjusted automatically. With an enhanced campaign, you can choose a mobile bid adjustment yourself. This gives you more control over your ad position, clicks and cost on mobile devices. Depending on your business, it might make sense to bid lower, the same or higher for mobile clicks than desktop clicks.
• Targeting options. Enhanced campaigns with search ads will no longer support targeting by devices or wireless carriers. Campaigns running only display ads will continue to support targeting specific device models and wireless carriers.
• Call extensions. Call extensions have made it easy for customers to tap your ad and call your business from a smartphone. With an enhanced campaign, now you’ll also be able to show your business phone number with ads on computers and tablets. And there’s no per-call fee for manually dialed calls from these devices.
• Shorter sitelinks. For improved appearance and performance across devices, new sitelinks in an enhanced campaign have a 25-character limit. But existing sitelinks of any length will continue to work even after you upgrade to an enhanced campaign.

Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team

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Google, Google, GOOGLE!! ‘Nuff said.

Photo Credit: agentkramer

Link building has it’s ups and downs in terms of the attitude towards it. Customers often believe it is equal to content in it’s importance and should therefore be the focus of all SEO work because SEOs don’t know content (yea, right). While some SEOs see it as a necessary evil and an even bigger pain in the rear than keyword research.

Last year saw a lot of changes with the updates Search Plus Your World (SPYW, nice acronym Google…), Penguin, and EMD. As a result, the link landscape changed dramatically. Throughout the year many sites were made aware of issues with “unnatural” links being detected by Google, accusations and penalties for buying links, and even the annihilation of entire business models because of algorithm changes.

2012 in review:

• Above The Fold update was released to reduce the value of sites with too many ads or non topic links above the fold as determined by the display area of the page in a browser window.
• During the year, Google updates the change known as Panda, frequently. The updates are meant to ‘clean up’ the SERPs. The focus of the updates are to reduce the number of spammy, useless listings showing organically. It is also believed that the algo change “leveled the playing field” per a comment made by Matt Cutts during a SMX conference. From research it is believed that Panda leveled the field by devaluing site’s that were considered to be ‘over optimized.’ In April, Google releases Penguin which devalued all sites using clear ‘black hat’ tactics. Black hat tactics as defined by Google’s Quality & Webmaster Guidelines.
• JC Penney is ‘outed’ by the New York Times in the article, The Dirty Little Secrets of Search, for buying links which violates Google’s Quality Guidelines. Subsequently, JC Penney falls of the SERPs for a few keywords.
• During a season of outing and focus on paid links, the interactive marketing agency iAquire was allegedly banned by Google for buying links for its clients. According to an article in Search Engine Journal, this was one of the first times that an agency’s website was penalized for it’s work on other websites.
• BuildMyRank.com (BMR) is devastated when Google devalues blog networks and link wheels in March. They close their doors with a very sad, “It’s been a good run” blog post. (Note* The service and name has been changed/linked to a new service call HP Backlinks)

With all of the turmoil of 2012, it can be kind of scary facing the world of 2013 with a feeling of hope and expectancy when it comes to links. The biggest thing to remember is that links should come naturally and the term link building doesn’t necessarily mean physically building links. What?! But Chris, then what is link building!? I can hear you say.

What Is Link Building (in 2013 Terms)?

The consensus of what the term ‘link building‘ means is: a method for garnering the attention of users with web assets, Internet locations and properties that results in the placement of an embedded link from said property to the desired property. It is probably best to define what it is not (at least, what it shouldn’t be) in 2013.

Link building is not spam. And this means email spam, forum spam, spam-spam, and social spam. Link building is not some dark secret niche of SEO that takes years to master. It is a means to an end; in which users ultimately find what they’re looking for, clients obtain valuable recognition for quality content, and the search engines obtain more data that can help them give users the best answers to their questions.

I have always defined it in a timeless, simple way: link building is like sharing a book about a given topic, let’s say cars. You find others interested in that type of car or the components of the car and give them a copy of the book. As time goes on, you will find more people interested in the book and they will share the book naturally with others they think will be interested. This is natural link building. You are actively sharing content, not as a method of gaming the system (the libraries of the world), but as a method of helping people find something they’re looking for.

Social indicators are more important than they have ever been. Some would agree with Duane Forrester when he stated in a webinar, social will be more important than design, link building, and “SEO.” Some, including myself, see social as a way of link building but in a different way. Social indicators provide a way for search engines and users to confirm the importance provided via links, in defining a link as being authentic. If a site has thousands of links but no one is ‘talking’ about it, are those links natural and really valuable to the online community? Maybe, maybe not. Social helps shine more light on the value others see in a given site; it takes some of the ambiguity out of web credibility.

Key Steps in Adding and Building Links

1. Cover the basics – focus first on the content you want to publicize and build for. Bad press isn’t good press with links, unlike Hollywood. Having a great link profile is for naught if the site the links point to is spam/ad/malware filled or just a mess. If the spiders see a problem with your site, they aren’t gonna worry about links. Check your homepage!
2. Determine your links purpose – aside from keyword research, link research is more important. What are the reasons you are building the links?
   • Increase traffic
   • Expand influence
   • Increase notoriety
   • Publicize a particular focus
   • Improve credibility
3. Mix it up! In her post for newbies at link building, Maggie Walsh offers some strategies for building a worthwhile link profile. One key way is to vary the anchor text used and another is to vary the placement of link(s) in the content.
4. Follow up and follow through – use a service or system to monitor your links; ones you’ve built, ones your building, and ones your planning to build. I use Raven primarily, but also maintain a spreadsheet (redundancy is your friend).

Okay, I did that. Now What?!

Well then, next up, step your game up playa! Some SEOs augment all link building strategies with some ‘advanced’ techniques outside of link outreach. That’s what that whole first part is talking about. It’s reaching out to like minded blogs, websites, directories, and services. Authentic link building as it were. Here are some ‘Scalable’ link building strategies, like those Matthew Green offers.

• Broken links – Identifying sites attempting to link to a resource that is no longer working (404), not where they thought it was (302, 301), or deprecated. This is important in the new year, as credibility becomes ever more important. Content is only as verifiable as the sources and resources supporting it.
• Blog posts and commenting – Aside from guest posting, in which the payment (honestly) for the link on another site, is the content; commenting is not a bad thing. No matter what you’ve heard. It isn’t a game changer but it shows there is a human behind the website—for the most part…
• Expanding established links – in Google Webmaster Tools (GWT), you can identify pages that are already linking to you. Often these sites are owned by  individuals of a ‘like minded nature’ or even in control of a network of sites. By first looking at GWT then using Whois.Domaintools.Com or another investigative service, you can find business owners interest in 1) your topic 2) your insight 3) adding links and/or content.
• Share the limelight – Leverage social by tagging others in your social postings. Once a post or page is created, webmasters will typically share the post on a social network. The article may contain references or links to other postings, tagging the authors of those post will make them aware of your content. If they like what you said they just might link to your article or at least share it with their audience.

@rachelh_seo If you’re gonna walk through a minefield, follow someone. :0) There are good examples of what-to-do out there like @rustybrick

— AChrisTurner (@AChrisTurner) January 3, 2013

Leads To:

An article tweet and mention results in a valuable link.

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Environments change, climates are altered, and strategies are developed. What never changes is human nature. Always remember that fact, and start there when investigating marketing avenues. Link building is what you make of it, really. It begins by remembering that users and search engines want authentic information, links are references. Building new links should represent the value a site offers to the world, justification for the site’s existence.

The examples at the beginning of this post prove that when a link building strategy deviates from being authentic, the result is the same; bad press, bad results, and unsuccessful link sculpting. There is no master strategy. There is no golden ticket. There is only time, effort and quality. In the past it was believed that quantity trumpeted quality. However, quality has been and will be the focus of the search engines’ updates and should be the focus of any white hat SEOs.

Image Credit: Disney Films

Quality link building starts with a focus on users and end with users; like Tron said (being a user protection application) “I fight, for the user!” When that is the moto behind what you’re doing, strategy is second nature−because you will find ways to promote your client, product, and website in places that make sense for the mission.

Authorship is not optional, it is a necessity. As most in the search marketing industry knows, when Google offers something new, it usually means it is something necessary for success in search. Well, authorship just received an official statement of it’s impact on search ranking. This is nothing to balk at, the quality technicians and spam managers of Google rarely make anything “set in stone” when it comes to the SERPs. Coming from the top brass at the search giant, this announcement from Eric Schmidt means that authorship has to be a part of any online strategy.

“Within search results, information tied to verified online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification, which will result in most users naturally clicking on the top (verified) results. The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.” – Eric Schmidt, Google former CEO.

If you are unfamiliar with Google authorship, I made a post about it and how to implement it. In short, it is an official Google link in the markup that connects the content with a specific author. The author’s information, such as number of Google Plus Circles and articles, will appear in some selected SERP results along with the author’s image.

Having some type of rich snippet has been shown to improve click through on organic results by 30% as far back as 2011 according to a Search Engine Land article. Along with the rich snippet integration in the SERPs, Knowledge Graph pulls in additional information about the author, his or her posts, and much more.

All of this goes along with what Search Engine Watch’s Thom Craver details with the statement, “Google+ has been designed to be an identity verification network.” Google+ has been built, not only as Google’s answer to Facebook, but as a product for gathering user data to be used as a revenue source and authentication system for content within the index.

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There you have it. Concrete statements of fact that ambiguity is slowly being eradicated from the internet by those in power. It is becoming increasingly harder to hide your identity online, but to continue to enjoy this time of free online services, it is a necessary evil. Authorship is a method for creating credibility, not only for a content creator but for the results Google produces in response to a query.

During my time in my Masters course work, it was frequently conveyed to me that Wikipedia was not a reliable source; primarily because it allows anyone to edit entries. And although Wikipedia tracks the IP address and profile of those that edit entries, it can be hard to establish credibility for an entry. In the case of Google Authorship, organic results contain so much metadata that credibility for an entry can be determined quickly, without leaving the SERP in many cases. With this confirmation comes nearly 100% assurity that the first page is back in the limelight and many businesses will again focus on rankings versus conversions.

The Return of Categories… Maybe

During this week, I have had the opportunity to verify four locations via the Google+ Local system. If you are not familiar with the new verification process for Google+ Pages, let me give you a quick run down. Similar to the way the system worked before in Google Places, you complete a listing (in this case a +Page designated during the setup as a “local business”), click the verify this business button and wait for a Google PIN post card to arrive at the location specified in the Google+ Page listing. Once the PIN arrives, you visit your management screen or navigate to www.google.com/local/verify/ and enter the PIN.

What seems to have changed recently is the return of categories. Categories were available throughout the original Places and Local systems until Google+. In the screenshot below, you’ll see the screen that popped up on 2 out of the 4 listings I verified.

Is this a test of a new set of options available after verification? Possibly, or just an A/B test of possible changes. The categories haven’t shown up on the front-end (public side) of these listings so it is unclear what Google is doing with Google+ Local and categories.

This is just another change that small businesses will have to make the most of. It could be a good thing seeing that there aren’t a lot of useful categories when setting up a Google+ Page for a business that doesn’t fit the few options currently in the setup. Still frustrating though…

Speaking of local businesses — have you heard the news?

Reviews and You.

Without getting into too much technical talk, Google has made it clear; they want authentic data reviewers and their reviews. In the past businesses have tried to meet clients where they were, meaning in the office and collecting paper reviews then posting by proxy these authentic reviews for clients that were technology declined or unwilling to digitize their review. Enter the post in the Google forum and review algorithm change outlined in the statement below:

For SEOs:

If a business accepts paper comment cards it might be tempting to collect them and “digitize” them by posting the reviews on Google+ Local. We ask that all reviews come from first hand experience and do not allow posting reviews on behalf of others.

- Care of “Dasha“, Google Employee.

Additional Resources:

• http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2241393/Google-Warns-SEO-Businesses-to-Avoid-Fake-Reviews
• http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2622994&topic=2624941&ctx=topic

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*In my 3-6 Mafia voice* Google is making it hard for everyone. From reviews to the verification, there seems to be a new change every five seconds (not literal). As interesting and entertaining as it maybe to have business owners dancing on hot coals, SEOs pulling their hair out, and users giving all types of data, these types of hurdles make it harder for everyone to reach the goal that is at the core of the search giant; the answer to a question. Reviews offer insight into the experience of others that, most likely used, the Google megaplex to answer their query. To complicate the process of exemplifying good businesses makes no sense because it creates a lack of confidence in the system that starts at users and continues through businesses all the way to Google’s bottom-line in the end.

There are a number of solutions they could implement versus complicating the review process. One simply being requiring a secondary email or phone number. Payday loan places don’t make it this hard to get cash in hand, why is Google requiring blood for a review?!

Mike Ramsey has a great infographic that makes a lot of sense of the non-sense.

http://niftymarketing.com/why-small-businesses-hate-google-plus-local/