While there are plenty of great articles on the Search Engine Journal website that dissect current SEO best practices and provide excellent recommendations to current webmasters, all the advice in the world won't make a difference in your website's success if you don't understand the terminology that's being used in the first place! So if .

With the recent launch of Google's "Penguin" algorithm change - which aims to cut webspam detected through a number of different avenues including low value backlinks and keyword stuffing - deploying proper keyword optimization across your websites will become more important than ever. Now, when I say "proper keyword optimization," I don't mean, "pick a .

Traditional marketing and PR are dead. Instead of the one-way "marketer to prospect" street that existed in the past, consumers are now able to communicate directly with one another on the internet - making online brand reputation management an absolute must. If you haven't ever conducted an online brand reputation audit before, don't worry - .

The web is awash with articles about how "social shares" )aka - mentions and link sharing on popular social networking sites( will be the "next big thing" in the world of link building. But do you really think that Google's going to be gamed by the thousands of "+1" votes or hundreds of automated followers .

If you've ever opened your website analytics account and found a significant and surprising drop in search engine referral traffic, you know just how devastating a search engine penalty can be. But don't panic! Not all search engine penalties are permanent, and with a little detective work and remedial action, you should be able to .

Google+ has been around for almost a year now and - shockingly enough - despite industry professionals rambling on and on about how "intuitive" and "user-friendly" the platform is, it has yet to make even the smallest dent in social networking stranglehold controlled by Facebook and Twitter. But although the fledgling network's only users are .

Google+ has been around for almost a year now and - shockingly enough - despite industry professionals rambling on and on about how "intuitive" and "user-friendly" the platform is, it has yet to make even the smallest dent in social networking stranglehold controlled by Facebook and Twitter. But although the fledgling network's only users are .

On the Single Grain blog, we've talked a lot about the power of Google Analytics in general terms with the following posts: Google Analytics for Startups Comprehensive Guide to the New Google Analytics What to Do with Your Google Analytics Data But today, I want to take a look at a more specific application .

Sure, any old chump can follow SEO best practices and achieve the high SERPs rankings that lead to sustained business growth and profits. But do you have what it takes to trash years of hard work by flagrantly abusing Google's policies? Here's what you need to do: Tip #1 - Cloak your site If you .

  Yes, prospecting for link building opportunities and reaching out to webmasters to drive new links back to your website can be done for free - but there are plenty of great tools out there that can make the process much easier and much faster! Check out any of the following options if you need a kick .

There's no doubt now that your social media presence influences your rankings within the search engine results pages. However, what is up for debate is the specific mechanisms by which social media signals influence your site's SEO. In lieu of a definitive answer from Google )which we're not exactly crossing our fingers for!(, we've compiled the existing .

Image: DonkeyHotey There's no arguing with the fact that social media played a major role in Obama's 2008 presidential victory. While the McCain campaign relied on traditional voter mobilization methods, the Obama team was able to leverage an unprecedented social networking campaign in order to engage with younger demographics and ultimately clinch the win. It's .

There's nothing I hate more than rehashed, regurgitated content - and unfortunately, the SEO world is full of advice that's been repeated so often that the only thing it's good for is wasting your time. In my last article - 13 Unconventional Link Building Strategies - I broke this mold by showing you a few .

When you first launch a new website, it's a blank slate in the eyes of Google and the other search engines. Sure, the search engine spiders are able to glean some information about your site from the content and keywords that are present, but at first, they aren't able to effectively measure the authority of .

eCommerce sites are some of the largest in the world. With thousands or even millions of products come thousands or millions of links, which means that implementing and managing a SEO strategy for an eCommerce site is extremely difficult and time consuming. Having optimized content on product description pages is one of the most important .

Need to build links to your websites in order to increase your traffic and improve your rankings? Well, there's article marketing, social bookmarking, and - blah, blah, blah' Let's face it - you've probably heard the same old link building strategies repeated ad nauseum around the net. So if you're ready to try something new .

Pinterest - the web's latest social media craze, is a great way to build awareness for your blog or website. But as with most social media promotion techniques, your ability to influence others through your Pinterest presence is limited if you don't have that many people following you in the first place. So today, we'll .

Growing the number of "Likes" on your company's Facebook page isn't just a matter of pride. In fact, the social proof generated by an active fan page can be incredibly powerful in building your brand's authority and engagement. However, earning these votes of confidence isn't as simple as just asking people to click "Like" on .

To most PPC marketers, the Facebook paid ads program represents an ideal marketing opportunity. Finally, you aren't limited to targeting your ads based on geographic location and time of day alone )I'm looking at you, Google Adwords!(. In fact, if you wanted to run a campaign targeting 16 year old boys in San Francisco who .

Twitter and Facebook aren't just for wasting time chatting with your friends anymore - they can also be vital sources of information to be mined when writing your PPC ads! Here's how these social sites can help you create compelling ad copy: Technique #1 - Use Social Sites to Conduct Market Research One of the best .