Google Looking to Review Under-Performing Small Business Websites

submit siteGoogle is giving small business owners a chance to have their sites personally reviewed by engineers on Google’s webspam team. If you have a smaller site that you think should be ranking better against your larger competitors, this is your chance to plead you case.

Distinguished Engineer Matt Cutts put out the call on Twitter for owners of smaller websites to submit their information via a simple…

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How to use negative space to enhance user experience

white-spaceOne of the challenges of website design is combining many disparate items like text, pictures, links and illustrations into a harmonious page. If a layout is not well thought out, even the most beautiful design elements will suffer from poor display.

Some websites succumb to the misconception that visitors must be given as much information as possible as soon as they land on a page, which leads to an attempt to…

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Nine types of blog entries to help generate good topic ideas

bloggingMarketers have been telling attorneys to blog for years, since it became obvious that content would rule the online marketing world. Scheduled blogging makes your website relevant to visitors, gives people a reason to trust your expertise and provides a consistent stream of content that is helpful when building organic links to your site.

Good blog entries take time. If you are blogging on a regular schedule, it can seem…

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Branding is more than a buzzword, it could influence your search ranking

handmade brandingGoogle has had an active summer, much to the chagrin of many, from a high-profile Penguin update to changes to its link scheme guidelines. But, as Eric Enge pointed out in an article about Google’s quality control process, the search giant doesn’t really care whether it ranks your site accurately. Google is interested in increasing overall search quality, not in small, individual cases. The best way to…

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Four Ways Gmail Inbox Tabs Could Be a Positive Development for Email Marketing

emailThose who use Gmail have, by this point, probably started to see their inboxes organized into tabs. Google began rolling out the new tabbed layout on May 29, and users have, over the past several months, been logging in to find the new filtering system in place for them.

Gmail now divides emails into three categories: Primary, Social and Promotions. Two additional tabs, Updates and Forums, can be added using…

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Changes to Search Algorithms are Constant. Don’t Panic.

panicRecent changes to Google’s guidelines coupled with statements from Matt Cutts, the head of Google’s Webspam team, that disparage the usefulness of press releases have made many firms nervous about their rankings and the future of their search marketing efforts. Just as everyone is adapting to summertime Penguin updates, additional modifications are forcing marketers to once again reconsider what the best strategies are for their clients.

Rule number one when facing…

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How to Write Content that Captures Your Readers’ Attention, Part 2: Email

This is part 2 in a series of posts about how to write content that people actually want to read and share. Part 1, which you can read here, focused on legal marketing article titles.

email subjectMarketers have been trying to invent new ways to get people’s attention since the invention of the profession. This is particularly true online, where visitors’ already short attention spans are even shorter. Email marketing is…

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7 Ways to Enhance Your Local Search Marketing Efforts

localWith the release of Penguin 2.0 in May, Google made it apparent that, among other things, a business’s location would play a little more heavily in search results. You may have noticed over the last few months that businesses near you are getting preferential placement in results for non-geo-specific terms like “sushi” or “veterinarian.” Your firm can take advantage of this development by adding a targeted local strategy to your…

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How to Write Content that Captures Your Readers’ Attention, Part 1 – Headlines

typewriterThis is part 1 in a series of posts about how to write content that people actually want to read.

Some tried and true marketing tactics are no longer effective, especially when speaking to online viewers. People have been hit with so much hyperbole, so many empty, information-free articles, and so many offers that seem – and are – too good to be true that they have simply begun ignoring…

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