Well, 2011 is just about over. Thank you to all our clients, colleagues, and friends for making it one fantastic year! Our offices will be closed on Monday January 2nd, and we will be back into the full swing of things on Tuesday Jan 03 to kick off another great year. We at StepForth want to wish everyone a very safe and happy New Year! Happy New Year! is a post from: StepForth Web Marketing Inc.

I dont usually write about scams, but had a fun phone call this morning and thought I would just put out a warning for the 1 or 2 readers out there who may fall victum to such a scam. I got a phone call from an unknown-name, unknown number. Well, actually my wife answered the call, and when I overheard the conversation I quickly asked for the phone before she hung up - I knew immediately what the call was about and I wanted to have some fun.

If your site collects data from your site visitors and you do not have a privacy policy then you definitely want to read this post. It doesn't matter what the data is that you collect. If you simply have a basic form for a mailing list subscription, contact us form, forum, or a comprehensive shopping system, if you collect ANY data, be sure your privacy policy is fully up to date with FULL details about how you plan to use this data.

In parts 1 & 2 I have already discussed much of the onsite SEO factors, as well as some off site stuff such as inbound links and algorithmic updates. Here are some factors that are only slightly contributing today, but show a very strong probability of being major aspects tomorrow. If Google rankings are important to you, these are a few items you will want to consider seriously. Social Media and its Impact on Organic A few weeks into the new year,

Well, its official. You can now add the Google Plus One button onto your website. Back in March after rolling out the Plus one into Google Search Results, it was much anticipated that the functionality to add the same button directly onto your site would be added - and now it has. Why should you pay any attention to this? If they have not already began, Google will be using this plus one data as a ranking signal in their algorythim.

Are you seeing Google Analytics data that is all messed up and makes no sense? We are! The issue was reported briefly yesterday at the Google Analytics Blog , and Google is hard at work trying to resolve the issue. As of yesterday, for the majority of April, 0 visits are being reported when this is just not the case. If you check your Analytics data, don't panic! Google will )I assume( get this fixed soon. What is happening? If I check for statistics for the month of April,

In Part one of How To Optimize for Google , I discussed some of the fundamental on-site SEO aspects and how they have changed over the past few years. This article focuses on a few algorithmic updates as well as some updates in the inbound link landscape. Google Algorithm Updates Caffeine Update The Caffeine Update came out in2010. While it does not directly impact your search rankings, it does speed up the entire optimization process.

It has been nearly 3 years since I wrote my original 3 part series on " How to Optimize for Google ". Since writing that article some things have certainly changed, while others have remained exactly the same. Here is a redux adjusted to follow some more recent changes over at Google. Note that this is by no means a full-out comprehensive list, That would take a book, not an article. I Part 1, I will discuss the basic SEO & on-site elements.

This news is a little dated now as Matt Cutts reported on it in mid-December, but I felt it was worth sharing for those who have not yet seen it. It seems that now, it is official that Google does use Twitter and Facebook links as a ranking signal for organic results. Google takes into consideration the reputation of the author on twitter and Facebook to help determine if the link posted is relevant and of value. If it is, it can contribute to your organic search rankings.

Well, this post is a little late for "Happy Holidays" but here at StepForth we hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season! Also, we would like to wish everyone a fantastic New Years! All the best for 2011. May the new year bring you much prosperity! Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! is a post from: StepForth Web Marketing Inc. No related posts.

Most savvy site owners have either Google Analytics or some other advanced tracking solution installed on their sites. Google Analytics offers extensive data about your visitors behavior for free which helps explain its immense popularity. One feature of Google Analytics that is often over looked is Event Tracking. Event Tracking allows webmasters to easily track things such as file downloads, the clicking of external links and video views.

For most sites, increasing your inbound link counts is important. But one aspect of link building that is often overlooked is not actually link building, it is making the most of the links you already have. Have you ever stepped back and taken a look at your links? Often times when we do site audits we find opportunities to significantly improve the value of links that are already in place. Improving the quality of your existing links usually takes some time,

In case you haven't heard the news, Ross Dunn is on his way to Florida to speak at AffCon 2010 . He'll be broadcasting live on Webmaster Radi o on Dec 10 at 11am EST. At first I was quite jealous. Here he is, off to escape sub-zero temperatures of a Canadian winter to go bask in the sun and put on a nice tan bring back home, while I sit here in my slippers trying to keep warm. I have to say his timing is perfect.

If you find your self attending AffCon 2010 in Miami Florida next week be sure to stop by and say hello to our very own Ross Dunn )here is Ross's LinkedIn profile (. Don't Miss the LIVE Show of SEO 101 at WebmasterRadio.FM You can catch Ross and his SEO 101 Co-Host John Carcutt at 11:00 am on Friday Dec 10 in the Grand Ballroom 3 for the SEO 101 Search Roundtable. Listen to the Show Live on Your Computer! This episode of SEO 101 on WebmasterRadio.

Okay, this is very old news. The meta keyword tag has been dead in terms of SEO for some time. Some speculate that it was never alive in the first place, but regardless of if it was ever anything, these days it is definitely dead. Why am I writing about this ancient topic? Doesn't everyone know this tag is useless? Well, apparently not. I still get asked by clients, and even random people who as me what I do for a living, about the keyword meta tag.

The Google URL shortener was originally launched back in December as a tool primarily for use by Google itself. Well, today Google announced in their blog that the tool has been launched and made available to everyone! You do not need a Google account to use goo.gl . That said, if you want to know the analytics and history of your shortened URL, you will need to log into Google account to hang onto that statistical data.

For many years now AOL search results, both organic and paid, were powered by Google. Now with a deal announced by AOL - none of that is going to change. This morning AOL announced the renewal and expansion of their global partnership. The five-year renewal will include a broad range of features to both improve and expand the products and services. The following is a snippet from the press release issued earlier today, it summarizes some of the core aspects of this deal.

I wish I had found this myself, but a friend of mine sent me an instant message today with a link to a "fail" over at FailBlog. I tried the Google search myself and sure enough the error is in fact real. I thought I would share it with all our readers who need a quick laugh. I only wish I had discovered this myself but I seldom have a reason to Google "hotmail" - it's up there with Googling Google. )and no, Googling Google does not present any fails - oh well.

It's taken a little while but Twitter has jumped on the bandwagon and launched an official "tweet" button for your social icon set. Twitter made the announcement yesterday on their official blog . While this is not the first "tweet" button made available, it is the first official button put out by Twitter directly. You can use the tweet button builder to create the look that best suits your needs.

If you are looking for a fun Friday Afternoon read, check out the latest article by Danny Sullivan over at Search Engine Land. Danny pokes into the many attempts Google has made in products that didn't quite make the cut. Google has had some massive success with a number of their initatives, but with that success there are always those that don't quite make it. The most recent product to have its plug pulled is Google Wave.