There are a few things you can search, including people, photos and places. Searches are going to be along the lines of “people who like bikes in Brooklyn” and “cities my friends have visited.” What this means is that the “like” and “checkin” are big factors in Graph Search. Therefore, getting likes and checkins is even more important for brands.

To get more likes, SEOs should prioritize implementing highly visible Facebook buttons instead of those third-party sharing widgets (e.g. sharethis) which some consider old hat with Like, Tweet, Pin “verbing the web.”

To get more checkins, marketers should think about ways of increasing in-store engagement and rewarding checkins.

Lastly, SEOs should promote the use of open graph protocols for greater control over content that is shared to Facebook from client’s sites.

SEOs have been paying attention to Google and how social makes its way into search results and may even be a factor in relevancy and/or freshness. With this move, Facebook could take the short term lead. But, social search is in its nascent stages so it’s too early to declare either company a winner.

Read the original Tumblr post here.

The post Facebook Graph Search appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

Option #1

Webmaster Tools

Use Google Webmaster tools and spot check shady looking links. GWT will only give you a list of sites linking back to you, and how many links on that site point to you, and from how many pages. From the homepage, select the site you want, navigate to Traffic > Links to Your Site > Who links the most > More, then click one of the download buttons. This file lists pages that link to your site. If you click “Download latest links,” you’ll see dates as well. This is the easiest/least scientific approach.

Option #2

SEOMoz’s Open Site Explorer

With Open Site Explorer you can generate a backlink profile report. To get started, filter by “all” from “only external” to “pages on this domain.” For more filters, use the Advanced Reports tab. When reporting on an international version of a site that uses a folders to segment country-specific sites (e.g. www.site.com/fr) I used “Any” type of links that come from “External linking page” “Any IP address or C-block” links that link to “Any page in this subfolder” (/fr). This will output an Excel file with the referring URL, target URL, anchor text, page authority, etc that you can analyze. However, note that it won’t give you the date the link was acquired which could be helpful in tying backlink acquisition to specific link-building campaigns.

Option #3

MajesticSEO

MajesticSEO combines the best of both worlds by providing both the value of the links and the history of acquisition. While using SEOMoz’s metrics is fine, I personally consider PageRank to be the best indicator of quality. With Majestic SEO integrated into BrightEdge, you get just this. IMO using MajesticSEO/BrightEdge reporting backlink data with PageRank gets you closer to identifying the backlinks that Google deems low-quality.

What to do if I find bad backlinks in my profile?

If you discover many low quality links that may be harming the site’s ranking, you can use the new disavow tool in Google Webmaster Tools. Although Google says it will generally ignore links that are disavowed, keep in mind that, much like the canonical tag, this is more of a hint to Google than a directive.

The post 3 Ways to Analyze Your Backlink Profile appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

This infographic by Mavenlink shows that 66% of marketers surveyed said their budgets for SEO have grown, and more than a quarter reported growth by more than 25% in 2012. They also reported that in the past year, the headcount of their natural search teams increased 45% and the end of 2013 will see an expected increase of 33%.

This is good news for the SEO industry. It shows that businesses value SEO and believe its disciples can navigate them to success in the ever-evolving digital media terrain. For SEOs to live up to the expectation, we’ll need to be adept at optimizing for emerging media factors including social and mobile.

Businesses will need to decide whether to have a desktop site and a separate mobile site, move to a single responsively or adaptively designed website, or chuck the mobile website altogether for a pure mobile app. This puts Schema.org and HTML5 in general squarely in the wheelhouse of SEOs to build expertise around. Businesses will also need to seriously get on board with social beyond launching a Facebook page or Twitter profile and posting an update here or there. This makes it every SEOs imperative to understand everything from social search results to the benefits of optimizing open graph meta tags among many other factors.

Businesses will look to SEOs for guidance on the when, where and why, which means SEOs can’t rest on quick hits any longer. In a word, it’s about strategy. Having the right tools to reveal deep user insights and being able to demonstrate tangible successes in a way that is clear and transparent is paramount for SEOs to build upon current industry momentum. This means investments must be made in research, specifically behavioral analysis to determine user intent, as well as content development to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time.

Businesses are putting the money on the table and they have big expectations. As SEO contracts and teams increase in size, SEO practitioners everywhere need to think very seriously about measurement; ensuring that the proper benchmarks are set in place so at the end of the day they are able to prove their worth.

SEO, Boy!

The post SEO Takes Center Stage as Businesses Demand Greater Online Visibility appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

Historically, an EMD was a boon for webmasters and particularly affiliate marketers seeking an easy way of reaching the top of SERPs on target keywords. It made it possible for a domain like purses.org to go head to head with Amazon and Zappos on the keyword “purses” in search results. Now, webmasters will need more than a hot domain name to rank. They’ll have to back it up with quality content, back links, and no spammy tactics, or risk penalization like purses.org which fell from #3 behind Amazon.com and Zappos.com to #32 within 24 hours of the update.

Though it’s difficult to pinpoint Google’s definition of low quality – take purses.org, which does in fact sell purses (ironically fulfilled by Amazon) – what we know for sure is Google’s algorithm detects patterns. So when Google says a website is low quality it means it exhibits patterns commonly identified with spammers. This includes aggressive keyword usage, low-authority and spammy link-building. Aggressive keyword usage, however, is a complex indicator when you consider legitimate cases where a particular keyword would be used naturally in back links. For example, when a brand name is also a keyword, like Canada Drugs.

This complexity may explain why low quality EMDs avoided “Pandalization” to begin with. In 2011 Google announced an algorithm update called Panda aimed at lowering the rank of low quality or “thin” sites. It’s conceivable that EMDs were excluded to protect legitimate brands that have keywords in their name and in the bulk share of their back links. Cutts also stated that this update was not related to either Panda or Penguin. But this recent change suggests that Google was not satisfied with the results and that an EMD targeted update was needed.

Microsites are another target of the EMD update. A long hallmark of affiliate marketing, the microsite is typically an EMD site built around a highly specific term (like sweaters) that often derives revenue from some form of PPC advertising. Many brands that do not rely on microsites for advertising revenue use them to drive relevant traffic from the topically focused mircosite to their branded ecommerce website. But because Google is tilting the field towards unique branded domain names, consistent social signals, original content and a large portfolio of back links from high-PageRank sites, it could be that the era of microsites is over.

The end game is this: websites that overly-rely on an EMD to rank are being cleared away so that more reputable brands like Zappos, Target, Coach and Amazon can assume top billing in SERPs. While there’s no indication that an EMD alone is bad for SEO – brands should use their brand name for their domain name, whether it’s an EMD or not – building SEO strategy on an EMD is an SEO no-no.

The post Google Exact Match Domain (EMD) Update: Brands vs. Affiliate Marketers appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

Now, with its new Facebook Exchange, Facebook evolves into a very large source of inventory for display advertisers.  In short, the new RTB (real-time-bidding) service will allow advertisers to reach users on the social network based on their browsing history, not just what they “Like” or list as their interests. This means that users who visit third-party websites can later be shown ads related to their web browsing when they return to Facebook, which is also known as retargeting. Clearly it brings in a new and potentially huge revenue source. But is it worth forgetting the fact that most people consider display advertising on a social networking website completely uncool?

Cool or not, the move makes sense because although Facebook already leads the overall US display advertising market which totaled $12.4 billion in 2011, with the social network’s share of market revenue growing to 14% in 2011 from 11.5% in 2010, it can take an even larger slice of the pie. If Facebook Exchange gains traction, Facebook could beat eMarketer’s estimate that Facebook’s share will grow to 16.8% of the predicted $15.39 billion market in 2012. This move pretty much guarantees that growth.

According to 360i, “…for direct marketers, Facebook ads have been a harder sell. With the advent of Facebook Exchange, this perception could dramatically change. By opening its inventory up to DSPs for retargeting purposes, Facebook is adding the lower portion display marketing funnel, making it complete.”

How Facebook Exchange works.

(provided by TechCrunch)

1. A user visits a travel site that’s hired a DSP rigged up with Facebook Exchange
2. A cookie is dropped on that user’s computer, typically when they’ve shown purchase intent
3. If the user fails to make a purchase, or the advertiser wants to market to them more, the DSP contacts Facebook and gives them the user they wish to target’s anonymous User ID
4. The advertiser pre-loads creative for ads that would target that user
5. When the user visits Facebook it recognizes the cookie dropped by the DSP
6. The DSP is notified and allowed to make a real-time bid to show the user ads
7. The DSPs with the highest bids get their highly-targeted ads shown to the user
8. If the user disapproves of being shown the ad and ‘X’s it out, they’re shown a link to the DSP where they can opt out of future Facebook Exchange ads

Although some argue that this could lead to more relevant advertisements being shown to users, you get the feeling that the company is just trying to rationalize short-term financial gains that it will reap from this move. Because clearly social marketing is thought of by many as the next evolution in advertising, and companies like Facebook helped create that belief. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn out to be Facebook’s long term strategy.

Feedback from the blogosphere.

Kori Handy (Sr. UX/UI designer at Hotwire)

“Everyone is forgetting something here….Ads are not cool…and Facebook is a social network to connect with friends and family, not get spammed with ads…Google however is a search engine with the normal users expectation to see relevant ads in search results..When I am chatting with friends and family on FB, seeing ads and getting “cached” is not viable or relevant to users because we don’t use FB to find products or get sold on something…And bribing users to watch videos with FB credits is not scalable and will not last, as the poor conversions will tell the truth.. Don’t get me wrong I love FB but I don’t like adbook…”

Henrik Hagglund (Works at Enrio)

“I think that you are seriously wrong. You could argue that ads are not cool but to say that search is all different from social is a misstake. Both ride on the interest graph and as long as ads not dominating the display and is percieved as relevant to the user, clicks will definitly happen and …cha ching! money will be made”

Sarah Wulfeck

““Some people just dislike being targeted.”

File that one under “duh.”

Also, maybe having worked in digital media for years, I’m too close to this, but haven’t we all decided that display advertising is dying fast?

I know, I know, the data says that lots of people are still clicking on banners and ad placements. (Punch the monkey, punch the monkey, punch the monkey!)

But as none of my “early-adopter” friends nor I do, isn’t it obvious that the mainstream will continue to follow a similar behavioral pattern?

Why are we still fixated on an old marketing model, and when are people going to start putting serious dollars into innovative brand experiences and content strategies?”

What do you think, is this a good move or a bad move for Facebook?

The post New Facebook Exchange lets advertisers show targeted ads based on user browsing history. appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

The Google search URL has changed over time. Parameters have been added and taken away (or encrypted) to keep pace with the increasing complexity of the search product, the Google interface and the integration of verticals. RankPanel provided this exercise below to demonstrate the difference between the complex Google search URL and the search URL of another search engine.

Try this:

1. Go directly to Google and search for your name. Look at the URL.
2. Go directly to DuckDuckGo and perform the same search. Look at the URL.

You will see that while DuckDuckGo has only one search parameter, your query, Google uses a much more cryptic and complex construct. However, the same does not apply on Mobile devices.

Here is a table to explain the different parameters used by Google. The cd= is among the most relevant for SEOs.

Normal Search – all you really need

DuckDuckGo shows us all we really need when searching, a “search?” initializer followed by the query. When sharing Google searches online you might want to limit the URL to only this single one parameter.

Parameter (with example)Descriptionq=your+queryPrimary Google search parameter containing your query. Usually appears directly after the search? initiator. When you search directly via the Google website you don’t see the search? initiator anymore. But searches from e.g. Browser toolbars still have it.

Advanced search operators

Google offers many ways to filter results. Knowing the advanced search operators can enhance your productivity when working with Google. Try combining the different values to get the results you are really looking for.

Parameter (with example)Descriptionas_q=should+containThe results should contain all of the words entered, same as normal searchas_epq=must+includeIt’s the exact phrase that you’re looking for. It can also be entered in brackets like “must include”as_oq=any+of+theseThe results should contain any of these words, the search operator isORas_eq=none+of+theseThe results should contain none of these words, the search operator is-as_dt=eWhat as_eq is for queries as_dt is for operators, as_dt=e excludes the following operator, as_dt=i includes it, e.g. as_dt=e&as_filetype=pdf returns results excluding pdfs, can also be entered using the - in front of the operatoras_filetype=pdfReturns results of a certain filetype, e.g. pdf, can be entered into queryfiletype:as_lqReturns a sample of links to any site, also usable via the link:commandas_sitesearchSearch a specified site, you can also use the operator site:as_rqShows a sample of related websites, also addressable using related:as_occt=anySpecify where keywords shall occur on the page

• any
• title
• body
• url
• links

as_nlo=1Numbers range starts with 1as_nhi=44Numbers range ends with 44 a range. It can be typed into the search bar using 2 full stops .. between the first and last numberas_rights=cc_attributeThis attribute limits the search results to pages that have certain rights. It is quite useful for things like image or graphics search. The possible attributes are:

• cc_publicdomain
• cc_attribute
• cc_sharealike
• cc_noncommercial
• cc_nonderived

You can combine all of these attributes in one query putting them in brackets and combining them via the | character.

num=100Sets the number of results per page. It can only be used if Google Instant results are turned off. Instant limits results to 10 per page.

Country and language

Google uses certain country codes and language names in its search. For more localized results you can even enter certain cities or provinces.

Parameter (with example)Descriptionhl=enLanguage settings passed down by your browser, here Englishlr=lang_csThe language the results should be in, here in Czechcr=countryZAThe region the results should come from, here South Africagl=caCan be used to find results as if the search was conducted in a specified location, here Canada. However, given the fact that Google uses many cues for determining your actual location the results can be unreliable. Try turning off localization as much as possible to increase accuracy. gr=US-NYJust as gl shows you how results look in a specified country, gr limits the results to a certain region, here New Yorkgcs=PittsburgLimits results to a certain city, you can also use latitude and longitudegpc=1020547Limits results to a certain zip code, here agin Pittsburggm=619Limits results to a certain metropolitan region, here Springfield MOie=utf-8input encodingoe=utf-8output encoding

Google’s advanced search tools

Parameter (with example)Descriptiontbs=rl%3A1%2Crls%3A0Reading level: only basic resultstbs=rl%3A1%2Crls%3A1Reading level: only intermediate resultstbs=rl%3A1%2Crls%3A2Reading level: only advanced resultstbs=rl%3A1Reading level: annotate reading leveltbs=dfn:1Dictionary: definition of a wordtbs=img:1Sites with imagestbs=sts:1More texttbs=clir:1Translated foreign pagestbs=li:1Verbatim resultstbs=vid:1Video resultstbs=nws:1Google news resultstbs=rltm:1Google realtime resultstbs=qdrYou can specify different time periods

• tbs=qdr:s – previous second
• tbs=qdr:n – previous minute
• tbs=qdr:h – previous hour
• tbs=qdr:d – previous day
• tbs=qdr:w – previous week
• tbs=qdr:m – previous month
• tbs=qdr:y – previous year
• specify filter results by time frame, by appending it with ,sbd:1, such as tbs=qdr:m,sbd:1 you get search results sorted by date

oi=video_resultThe “oi” parameter is used for universal search results. You can use it in Google analytics filter to understand when people come to your site via the universal search results. Different universal search categories have their own parameters, here video results. Other notable categories are:

• Revisions_inline – related searches
• image_result – image results
• spell – spelling suggestion
• Blogsearch_group – blog search results

Other factors

This section contains some of the most important Google parameters. You will learn how to turn off personalization and about the diverse filters that are applied by default.

Parameter (with example)Descriptionpws=0Parameter that allows you to turn offcd=2Passes down the keyword rank clicked. In analytics suites this can come in handy if you’d like to track the keyword rank. filter=0Include omitted resultscomplete=0Turn auto-suggest on or offnfpr=1Turn off auto-correction of spellingncr=1No country redirect: Allows you to set the Google country engine you would like to use despite your current geographic location. Though it works best if no Google cookie has been set yet.safe=onTurns the adult content filter on or offbiw=1920Browser inner width, here 1920pxbih=832Browser inner height, here 832pxstart=30Show results rankings from this number, so 30 is page three for 10 results per pagesa=User search behavior parameter

• sa=N – User searched
• sa=X – User clicked on related searches in the SERP

btnG=”Search”Text that appears on the search button (customization option for including search on one’s own site), here “Search”newwindow=1Open the results in a new windownavclient/client/sourceid=ie7Where the search originated from, e.g.:

• navclient – Google toolbar
• navclient-ff – Google search toolbar for Firefox
• firefox-a – Firefox search box
• chrome

rls=org.mozilla:en-US:officialSource of query with version of the client and language set.source=univGoogle navigational parameter specifying where you came from, here universal searchtbo=1Always show search tools in the left sidebarprmd=Parameter that determines which of Google’s vertical search engines are suggested in the left sidebar besides web, they can be combined, the most important ones are:

• prmd=a – only applications
• prmd=b – only books
• prmd=c – only places
• prmd=d – only discussions
• prmd=i – only images
• prmd=n – only news
• prmd=s – only shopping
• prmd=p – only patents
• prmd=u – none (only web)
• prmd=v – only video

The post The Complicated Nature of Google URLs appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

In its latest move to get small businesses on board with Google+, Google has updated many of its online network’s features and begun replacing Google Places in search results. 

According to Google’s Marissa Mayer, the company has already replaced 80 million Google Places pages with Google+ Local pages, and many more replacements are expected within the next few days.

While it may rub some business owners and SEOs the wrong way at first, there are other advantages to the new Google+ Local pages. Here are a few:

• Integration with other Google features – like Google Properties, Maps, Mobile, Search and other features. 
• Integration with Google+ “Circles” will allow users to find recommendations by family and other connections, making reviews more honest and accurate and minimizing the existence of false reviews.
• Since Google+ Local pages are indexed by Google it makes optimization easier which may lead to better search engine rankings and more customers in the long run.
• A user’s Google Places page is converted into a Google+ Page automatically so in the long view it will make internet marketing and social media marketing more integrated and perhaps easier.

The post Google Plus Local to replace Google Places appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

We all know that the Penguin and Panda updates are designed to push Webmasters away from relying on SEO tricks and towards creating more relevant content. So if Google is de-indexing free directories that SEOs and webmasters have often used to artificially build links, it would not come as much surprise. Google has made it clear that it does SEO and does not want anyone else trying to beat it at its own game. But that’s not the endgame. SEO is evolving and the best SEOs already know they have to change their approaches or fade away.

A bit of research.

The following research (using the term research loosely) was performed by Search News Central.

Updated at 3:40 PM EST on May 15, 2012

“We ran 423 mid-range directories (TBPR1-3) and found 22 not indexed. The spreadsheet download has been updated. So here’s what we have so far;

• Vetted list of top directories (66); 1.3% not indexed
• 423 mid-range directories; 5.2% not indexed
• 468 low end directories; 15.76% not indexed

Again, we don’t know how many of these were previously in the index, but it does give a sense of the quality factor involved.”

At first glance, one might be compelled to worry, especially if relying on free directories as a primary source of backlinks. But it’s a bit like chicken little, the sky is not really falling. We do not have all the data to say definitively at this point whether Google is really de-indexing free directories, but it seems many types of low quality sites are being classified as dead zones. A comment posted by Steve Gerencscer takes a more scientific point of view.

“There are quite literally tens of thousands of directory websites out there and to claim that they are being de-indexed with a sample of “5” or even 100 is not terribly scientific. Even at 1,000 being checked we are still only getting anecdotal information because I doubt too many people were tracking them to begin with.

I keep a refreshed list of about 1,000 directories for a lot of reasons…even that list sees about a 5% de-indexed or simply closed/shut down website percentage. between refreshes. 

Until someone takes the time to track a statistically relevant number of sites over a period of time longer than ‘right now’ no one can claim anything.”

Well when you put it like that it’s hard to disagree with Steve’s logic. But the truth is in SEO you do have to speculate a lot of the time. Google makes changes so rapidly, and our clients feel compelled to react one way or another. We have to try to make sense of what’s happening and advise clients the best course of action. 

The take away.

You should not rely on these directories for your link building strategy. If you provide SEO services, you have to focus on creating quality relevant content and optimizing it for social media. If you have relied a lot on directories for link building in the past, you may want to focus less on that and instead focus more on creating relevant content and getting quality links from more diversified and relevant sources. 

Finally, from a user-experience perspective, not showing free directories in search results is probably a good thing. There’s not much helpful information to be gained from those sites, they are almost strictly used by SEOs and webmasters to build links, not to provide any benefit to general audiences. Further, I doubt that most businesses would want a listing in a free directory as a top search result for their  brand.

The post Is Google Really De-indexing Free Directories? appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

Well, except PageRank. But PageRank and history are intertwined of course. Still most businesses will never achieve PageRank 9 status, nor have a PageRank 9 page confer its authority upon them. In short, unless you’re the likes of Facebook, Apple and other big timers and can easily confer your existing authority to a new website, you should consider your website history one of its most valuable assets and protect your authority pages. 

This may be something that Jeffrey Braverman of the Newark Nut Company forgot in his quest to obtain the holy grail of domains for his company, Nuts.com. Although Braverman’s existing website, NutsOnline.com, was averaging more than 30,000 visits each week from organic Google searches with traffic rising 5 to 10 percent per month, his desire for Nuts.com wouldn’t let up.  

In 2011 after years of waiting, Braverman finally purchased Nuts.com for several hundred thousand dollars. Here’s what happened next, according to The New York Times:

“His tech team cleaned out extraneous and duplicate pages and set up 301 redirects to send NutsOnline.com visitors to the corresponding pages on Nuts.com. Then on Jan. 6, he reopened his company on the new site. But despite his high hopes and careful planning, the site’s traffic took a dive. Traffic had been averaging more than 30,000 visits each week from nonpaid Google searches, but it fell 70 percent two weeks after the switch. Almost three months later, it was still down by more than 50 percent. The decline, Mr. Braverman said, cost the company at least 100 to 150 orders a day.”

The likely culprit was deleting pages that the company felt were extraneous or were duplicate. Those pages may have had unknown value; 301 redirecting them and including canonical URLs for the new page locations would have been the best approach. Deleting NutsOnline.com altogether and not 301 redirecting all the pages is the equivalent of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Certainly in time Nuts.com will rebound. Hopefully Braverman has the capital to whether the interim loses. Seeing as how Newark Nut Company has grown from a small family operation to an industry leading company with 80 employees and an annual revenue of $20 Million with Braverman at the helm, I imagine the company will survive. Though this story will forever serve as a testament to the value of website history in search engine optimization.

Read the full blog in The New York Times. 

The post In SEO, nothing is more valuable than history appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.

Implementing canonical links on your website is important for SEO. Specifying the canonical link for a webpage lets Google know which version of a page and specifically which URL is preferred. It’s not quite a directive, but it’s a very strong hint that Google tends to honor in terms of which page you want to be indexed for specific content. 

Google defines the canonical tag as follows:

“A format that allows you to publicly specify your preferred version of a URL. If your site has identical or vastly similar content that’s accessible through multiple URLs, this format provides you with more control over the URL returned in search results. It also helps to make sure that properties such as link popularity are consolidated to your preferred version.”

Here’s Google’s original post on the subject.

The Google news for Drupal users is that Drupal 7 supports canonical links out the box. However, the canonical links are relative and not absolute. If you want to change that, or tweak your canonical URLs to some custom destination, you may want to use a contributed module such as Meta tags to make it easier. Inside Meta tags module’s configuration page you can set the canonical URL pattern to be absolute and include tokens of your choosing. Finally you should use the global redirect module to handle duplicate links because of system urls (e.g. node/nid).

The post Tips for implementing Canonical links in Drupal 7 appeared first on REVA Digital Media LLC.