Apparently, I do.
I sift through trillions (well, hundreds) of announcements, articles, and blog posts to find the ones that you might want to be aware of, especially if I feel they could impact your online business traffic generation.
This week, I not only read everything I could about the latest happenings in online marketing, but also traveled gazillion hours to visit my family in Russia (yes, I was born and raised in Russia, in case you didn’t know).
Thank you to all of you who wished me safe travel on Google+ and Facebook – we made it safely, and trying to get over the 11-hour time change, lack of sleep, and bad instant coffee.
In the spotlight this week:
- more 2013 SEO Ranking Factors – from Moz.com;
- guest blogging and SEO;
- Eric Enge interviews Matt Cutts;
- if Hitler were Google CEO;
- update on the new +1 function on G+;
- Instagram introduced embeddable photos;
- the best post on WordPress security;
- 3 more states adopted affiliate nexus tax laws;
- and more.
Let’s start with the news from Traffic Generation Café.
At TrafficGenerationCafe.com
Free Blog Post Images: Where to Find Them, How to Use Them
There’s no such thing as free bacon and there’s no such thing as free image.
Yet, images are what might make or break our efforts to capture visitors’ attention in the first few seconds of their visit.
Learn where I find all the images I use at Traffic Generation Café and to my Slideshare presentations, plug how to add them correctly to your posts.
SEO
2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors from Moz.com
In the previous Marketing Skinny, we talked about 2013 Search Engine Ranking Studies from SearchMetrics and Netmark.com (they are quite different, I might add).
Now, we have the preview of what Moz.com 2013 Search Engine Ranking Factors report might look like (will probably be published in the next month or so).
According to 120 SEO professional Moz.com surveyed, here is how Google’s overall algorithm breaks down:
We see:
- Links are still believed to be the most important part of the algorithm (approximately 40%).
- Keyword usage on the page is still fundamental, and other than links is thought to be the most important type of factor.
- SEOs do not think social factors are important in the 2013 algorithm (only 7%), in contrast to the high correlations.
Looking into the future, SEOs see a shift away from traditional ranking factors (anchor text, exact match domains, etc.) to deeper analysis of a site’s perceived value to users, authorship, structured data, and social signals:
Link Building Is Not Illegal (or Inherently Bad) with Matt Cutts
Eric Enge posted an interview he did with Matt Cutts. Topic: link building.
I like the way Barry Schwartz summed it up:
- Link Building Is Not Bad: Just don’t try to get the link first, have compelling content people want to link to instead.
- Press Releases Links: They still “probably not count” but your goal should not be the link but the exposure the press release gives you to editors who may read them and cover your story.
- Content Syndication: If your content is being syndicated on other sites, give Google signals to know you are the original source. Make sure you publish well before others, possibly use rel=canonical, link to main source of content, and maybe use authorship.
- Problem With Guest Posts: A large number of people are doing it the wrong way, guest posts have become more like article directories or article banks these days.
- Links: Links are still “the best way” to rank content.
Rankings Won’t Drop If Site Goes Down For Short Period Of Time
It seems like Matt Cutts speaks and we hang on every word coming out of his mouth.
This video has made the rounds this week, but the gist of it is this: if a site that temporarily goes offline for a short period of time, such as less than 24 hours, should be fine. Bu a site that goes offline for an extended period of time, such as 48 hours or more, you may see your site delisted from Google’s search results – at least temporarily.
Guest Blogging and SEO
Somehow, guest blogging has made it back to the spotlight (or has it every left?).
The culprits: Eric Enge’s interview with Matt Cutts mentioned above and Barry Schwartz’ Google: Guest Blogging For Links? You Better Nofollow Those Links at Search Engine Land.
In short, if you are guest blogging just to get links, then to be safe, nofollow the link. If you write something without the intent of improving your Google Rankings and the link is really natural, then there is no reason to nofollow the link.
As Barry Schwartz writes:
“Truth is, guest blogging and writing although started for a good purpose, has been abused like many other real marketing tactics. Now, Google does have to take a closer look and also take action when they believe the intent is to manipulate their search results.”
If you’d like to learn more on the subject of guest blogging and SEO, I suggest you check out this post at WebProNews where Chris Crum does a very good job listing all related sources that have recently talked about the subject in chronological order.
If Hitler Were Google CEO
Apparently, this was not the first time Hitler had addressed the subject of Google’s controversial algorithm update, but it was the first one for me.
Samer from FreewareGenius.com told WebProNews, “Panda killed my site, but at least I got to make a Hitler video about it entitled ‘Hitler as Google CEO’”.
By the way, if you’d like to make your own Hitler video, here’s how.
Social Media
Update on the New Google+ +1 Function
Odds are that if you liked a specific post on Google+, your friends may like it as well. A new Google+ feature will now help make that sharing possible.
Here’s how it works:
1. When someone whom you have circled +1′s a post, Google is going to algorithmically determine whether or not the post is something you would be interested in as well.
If it determines the +1′d post to be of interest to you, it will show in your home feed.
2. If someone who’s circled you +1′d your post, their followers might see it in their home stream.
Example:
+Ileane Smith is in my circles; the two people who originally shared/reshared the post are not.
Ileane +1′d the post, so it showed up in my home feed – Google+ thought I might like this post based on everything it knows about me.
Also note that G+ suggested I add +Randy Hilarski who’s previously shared this post, to add to my circles – a feature I haven’t seen with any other types of posts on G+.
It’s not the same as Facebook “Like” button. It’s actually much better.
Read more about this update in +Dustin W. Stout‘s post.
Photo Embed on Instagram
Instagram has just announced that they are now allowing photo and video embeds.
Now, anyone wishing to embed a photo or video in an article on their blog or website will be able to do so with an automatically generated embed code.
This might actually be a good addition to my post about finding free images for your blog posts.
The New Facebook Insights
Looks like Facebook is in the process of doing a big update for FB Insights.
The reason I say “in the process” is because not everyone is seeing it yet (I don’t), but here’s a walk-through by Jon Loomer on what the new Insights dashboard looks like:
The New Facebook Insights: What’s New, What’s Awesome and What Sucks
WordPress
The Definitive Guide to WordPress Security
The Definitive Guide to WordPress Security by Sam McRoberts at Moz.com is exactly what it says it is – the most thorough guide on WP security, starting from hosting provider to WP installation to themes to plugins.
A definite must-read/must-bookmark post.
Keep Up With WordPress News and Updates
How would you know if one of the plugins installed on your blog had a security breach and it’s vital for you to update/deactivate it?
How would you know if WordPress just released the best thing since sliced bread and you definitely have to have it on your blog?
Here are a couple of resources to stay with everything WordPress-related (I’d suggest to add them to your RSS Reader; I use Feedly for that):
- John Saddington’s WPDaily.co
Or, for a reader’s digest version of everything WordPress, keep up with MaAnna Stephenson’s Tips Tuesdays over at BlogAid.net.
Affiliate Marketing
Maine, Minnesota and Missouri Jump on the Affiliate Tax Bandwagon
The newest states that have passed affiliate nexus tax laws are Missouri, Maine, and Minnesota — all three in the course of June-July 2013.
The full list of the 13 U.S. states that have passed the law is now as follows:
- Arkansas (2011)
- California (2011)
- Connecticut (2011)
- Georgia (2012)
- Illinois (2011)
- Kansas (2013)
- Maine (2013)
- Minnesota (2013)
- Missouri (2013)
- New York (2008)
- North Carolina (2009)
- Pennsylvania (2011)
- Rhode Island (2009)
(source)
Thank You
To all of you who mentioned Traffic Generation Café in any share or form in the past week, my whole-hearted THANK YOU.
Traffic Generation Café would NOT be what it is today without you.
Here are just some of the mentions I came across in the past week:
Tips Tuesday – WP Security, Plugins for Videos, Contact Form 7, Musicians, and MailChimp, Plus the Browser War Winner – MaAnna Stephenson at blogaid.net
20 Google+ Pages That Your Business Should Follow (Part I) – John Anyasor at upcity.com
Social Media Content Marketing Roundup Issue 02:2013 – Kim Castleberry at just-ask-kim.com
I’m Writing A New Series for Bloggers on FamousBloggers.net – Vernessa Taylor at localbusinesscoachonline.com
Ana Hoffman – TrafficGenerationCafe.com – Pst. Blessing at successfulfamousbloggers.blogspot.ru
TWL #33 Hyperlink Optimization, Blog Post Blunders and Billy Beane’s Problem – Leo Dimilo at drunkonlife.net
Why Social Engagement Is More Important Than SEO? – Reginald at reginaldchan.net
Also, a huge THANK YOU to my Triberr “Other People’s Influence” Automatic tribe for sharing my newly published posts with your Twitter followers.
These awesome folks automatically share Traffic Generation Café blog posts via Triberr, helping me reach more people than I could ever reach on my own while providing their Twitter followers with quality content and, by doing that, commanding respect in their respective niches AND getting even more followers as a result.
Win-win, I’d say.
Have I missed your mention? Let me know in the comments!
Want to see your name here? Mention Traffic Generation Café in your next blog post!
To an even better next week,
