Links still matter for SEO. Not low-quality links, not reciprocal links, not the kind of links you can buy in bulk for cheap from some sketchy source in the third world, but real, valid, quality links.

So—how do you build those high-quality links? What types of links should you be seeking exactly? What are the best link-building strategies in a post-Panda world? What “red flag” linking practices and other common linking mistakes you should avoid? How can you leverage business relationships and giveaways to quickly build quality backlinks?

Discover the answers to those questions and more here in 18 of the best SEO link building guides of the past year.

Finding Potential Link Partners by Search Engine Watch

Jennifer Van Iderstyne details three advanced techniques for finding link partners, like OPL (other people’s links): “One of the best and most productive ways to find new links is to mine other people’s. There’s nothing inspired about digging through your competitors backlinks to see which ones you can pillage; most link campaigns involve using that kind of intel. But competitors aren’t the only group whose backlinks hold possibilities…it’s always worth looking at the backlinks of any website, or single page, that is relevant to your topic. There are multitudes of question-and-answer or informational sites online with backlinks that could prove viable.”

Ten SEO Link Building Strategies by AboutCrawler.com

A helpful collection of link-building tips primarily for newbies, such as syndicating articles online, submitting your blog to blog directories and syndication sites, and posting comments on relevant industry blogs.

6 Types of Backlinks to Get For Your Website by Quick Online Tips

Lee Dobbins outlines six types or sources of backlinks to pursue, culminating with guest blogging, which “will give you the highest quality backlinks and it’s all because of two words ‘editorial discretion’…in order to get a post published on a blog in your industry, a human has to approve it. The search engines know this so naturally that link is more valuable than one from an article directory or rss feed that you can easily get on your own.”

Smart Linkbuilding Queries For Any Industry by SEER Interactive

Adam Melson identifies eight types of search queries that are useful for finding potential link partners, such as “free business profile” followed by a specific keyword or phrase: “While profile linking across hundreds of sites can be spammy, finding business profiles that are related to your business, getting the profile link, and participating on those sites could be huge.”

The Panda Reaps – Is Article Marketing Still Viable? by WebProNews

Noting that “Article Marketing was a reliable way to build quality links and drive significant traffic to web properties. It was a perfect way to augment most any SEO campaign, that is until the Google Farmer/Panda update,” Dan DeRoeck delves into how the landscape has changed for this tactic and provides ten tips to pursue this strategy successfully in the post-Panda world.

8 Tactics to Try as Google Tinkers with its Ranking Algorithm by MarketingVOX

Craig Macdonald offers eight suggestions for coping with Google’s recent Farmer/Panda algorithm changes, among them: “Integrate links across the value chain. The brand advertisers tend to have highly regarded sites, Covario says. Build out key connectivity to the product suppliers and downstream partners within the advertiser ecosystem.”

Do You Practice Safe Link Building? by Performics

Reporting that “The first quarter of 2011 provided some of the most dramatic news in recent search engine marketing memory. Major retailers and publishers were punished, particularly by Google, for a variety of link building and content-related guideline violations,” Jonah A. Berger and Jason Walker take a close look and discover that a significant percentage of major retailers are violating more than one of five “red flag” SEO practices that are best avoided.

10 Ethical Ways to Buy Links by Kaiserthesage

Jason Acidre details 10 “ethical” methods of paying for links, though a few of his recommendations such as sponsored reviews stretch the definition of that term. Still, it’s a helpful list and it attracted a sizable number of comments, some from names you’ll probably recognize in the SEO world.

Actionable Link Building Strategies by The Daily SEO Blog

Paddy Moogan outlines four promising link-building strategies for those with the time/budget to pursue them, some of which involve the use of SEO tools like Screaming Frog. His final tip is write weekly or monthly roundups of industry news, about which he writes “This is a very simple one and can be very effective as a consistent way of getting good quality links as well as social shares.” It occasionally even works for annual “best of” roundups as well.

25 Ways to Get Another Site to Link to Yours by WebProNews

Ken McGaffin and Susan Payton serve up a big list of more than two dozen useful link-building tactics, among them joining a trade association, agreeing to be the subject of a vendor case study, becoming a resource for journalists, giving an expert interview, and posting videos on YouTube.

The Five Linking Mistakes You Didn’t Know You Were Making by The Daily SEO Blog

Josh Gill presents five common mistakes to avoid when building links, such as judging a site’s authority by PageRank alone (“Don’t completely ignore pagerank but be aware of its limitations and use additional factors to measure a sites authority…look at how humans view a site, start by looking over the comments, user ratings or anything else that will tell you how internet users judge the site”) and analyzing backlinks for your real-world competitors rather than the sites that actually rank highly for your target keywords (they are often different).

3 link building tactics you shouldn’t rely on by iMedia Connection

Trung Ngo advises link builders to avoid these three tactics that “are short-sighted and potentially a huge waste of time”—profiles on social media sites where you never plan to actively participate, submitting to every directory that’s marginally related to your industry and network article syndication.

10 Tips on How to Improve Your Link Building by Thewebcitizen

Alex Petrovic offers ten tips for better link building, from planning first (“Do thorough research, check out your prospective link partners, and even see where your competition is getting links) to guest blogging, giveaways, videos, and charity sponsorships.

99 Ways to Build Links by Giving Stuff Away (and Improve Your Brand Too) by The Daily SEO Blog

Mike Essex provides 99 quick tips “to gain links by giving stuff away,” among them: let people/bloggers test your product for free before release, build a free website plugin or widget, offer a free app that complements your brand, offer a free trial, and—wow, here’s a potentially dangerous idea: “Ask people to sing a song about your product—Offer a prize to the most viewed video and host them on your website. People will then link to their video to get it more views, and you get extra traffic and links.”

13 SEO Link Building Secrets You Must Know by Kuno Creative

Chad Pollitt shares an online presentation that details 13 link-building techniques; most aren’t really “secret” but they are for the most part practical and do-able, ranging from writing guest blog posts and distributing search-optimized news releases to contributing to online forums and getting listed in relevant national directories.

12 ways to speed up your Link Building by SEO Takeaways

Himanshu Sharma outlines a dozen link-building tactics along with the estimated required time to execute each, for example: “Leverage business relationships of your client. Get contact details of all the vendors, suppliers and dealers with whom your client does business. These are the first people you should outreach for links…Estimated time: 2-5 days.”

How to Create and Promote a Link-Worthy Resource List by The YouMoz Blog

Tom Demers walks through the benefits of resource lists (e.g., “They’re Useful—There is so much ‘noisy’ content being produced on the Web that even Google is struggling to come up with algorithmic solutions for finding high quality answers from highly reputable sources. Human curation, as a result, is ‘making a comeback’ as people seek out trusted information from quality sources”), how to create one, and how to make the most out of the resource list once it’s been developed.

Pinterest: Link Building & SEO Strategies by Search Engine Journal

Starting out by by noting that “I’ve seen more SEO interest in Pinterest in the last month than the rest of the image bookmarking site’s life. One day, I saw multiple veteran SEOs ask for an invite and I’m pretty sure they’re not going for cute animal pictures and interior decorating ideas,” Scott Cowley explains how Pinterest links work, what kinds of companies are best positioned to take advantage of the site, how to ask another user to change a Pinterest link (if they are using one of your images but not linking to you) and thoughts on reaching “visual influencers.”

While the web is worldwide, search is often local. An enterprise software developer may want its website to show up in relevant searches virtually anywhere on the globe, but a restaurant, retail shop, marketing agency or IT services firm is generally much more concerned about showing up in searches from its own backyard than from Bangladesh or Turkmenistan.

Optimizing for local search has its own unique content and link-building considerations. Which SEO tools are most useful in supporting local SEO efforts? What are the most important local search directories? How can you take advantage of Google Places to increase your local search visibility? What techniques and tricks are most useful for local search?

Find the answers to these questions and more here in some of the most helpful guides to local search success of the past year.

10 Local Search Tools I Simply Can’t Live Without by Search Engine Journal

Writing that “There are PPC tools, SEO tools, Social Media tools, and even construction tools… but local search seems to have been the fat kid picked last in gym class,” Mike Ramsey notes that the situation has improved in the past year and shares his list of essential tools, from the SeOverflow Local Search Tool Kit (the “the bomb diggity for checking out competitors on a key phrase”) to Mike’s own MapTracker tool.

What Are the Top Local Search Directories? by AllBusiness
***** 5 STARS

Kevin Stirtz identifies some of the top local directories for SEO and provides an extensive and provides an extensive list of additional resources for local SEO expertise including Top 10 Local Search Directories By Importance by GrowMap and The 20 Best Local SEO Citation Sources for The United States by Dev Basu.

Google Places Citations: 5 More Tactics to Earn Links for Your Local Business by The Daily SEO Blog

Rand Fishkin outlines “five unique and useful ways to boost the visibility of your local site on the web,” such as using Google’s “discussion search” feature, local events calendars and “localizing” your social profiles.

How to optimize your business for local search by iMedia Connection

Jason Kreidman offers detailed tips and tactics for optimizing local business presence on Google (e.g., “Google now has its own section for reviews and is focusing attention on getting users to write reviews. The new place page displays several bold and prominent “write a review” buttons in various locations”), Yahoo and Bing local search, along with a list of additional important local directories for listing.

SEO for Local Search: Advanced Tricks by Coconut Headphones

Ted Ives follows up on his own SEO for Local Search: The Complete Guide with this post outlining 14 advanced local SEO techniques, such as using postcard verification with Google Places (“It will take longer, but your data will likely be considered by Google to be slightly more reliable…by sending a postcard with a confirmation code on it to the location, Google can be 100% sure that you’re actually located there”), getting a dedicated IP address, including your type of business in your company name (e.g., “Joe’s Barber Shop”) and updating your listing monthly (to take advantage of Google’s preference for fresh information).

Optimizing Your Google Places Page by The Daily SEO Blog

Geoff Kenyon provides a helpful guide to making the most of a Google Places page, covering five key areas: creating a complete and consistent profile, optimizing keywords, defining your service area, encouraging reviews, and performing bulk uploads (e.g., for multi-location or franchise businesses).

SEO is a blend of art and science. The “art” side relies on knowledge, intuition and creativity. The “science” side can be made more effective and more efficient by using tools like the ones highlighted here—enabling SEO practitioners to focus more on the art part.

Need to analyze the optimization status of an existing website? Identify promising keywords? Analyze competitors’ backlinking strategies? Evaluate the impact of social media activities on search results? Create XML sitemaps for multiple search engines?

You’ll find tools to aid with all of those tasks and more in this collection of useful and cool SEO tools.

SEO Analysis and Reporting Tools

2 Free Tools to Find and Analyze SERP Dominators (for Competitor Research) by Search Engine Journal

Frequent best-of honoree Ann Smarty reviews WhoICompete and Andrew Griffiths’ search marketing tool, two tools that, in her words, “let you generate the list of domains that get ranked high for several related search queries (we call them ‘SERP dominators’)”–in other words, the companies that are successfully utilizing web presence optimization (WPO) around these search phrases.

8 Cool Free SEO Website Tools by Abnormal Marketing

Fiona McEachran looks at eight helpful free SEO toos, ranging from the widely used (e.g., HubSpot, Alexa, and Backlink Watch, which is one of my favorites) to the lesser-known but interesting like iWebTool—a suite of tools including a Backlink Checker, Google PageRank Prediction and Keyword Density Checker—and Best SEO Tools, another intriguing suite.

5 Free Web SEO Analysis Tools by Blogging News Technology

The English is a bit rough but the information useful in this post reviewing free web analysis tools, including WebSEOAnalytics, SEOWorkers and SEOrush.

What’s In Your SEO Toolbox? by SEO Book
***** 5 STARS

Writing that “From a cost and time standpoint I’ve found it really helpful to pick a core set of tools and stick with them rather than bouncing around to get an extra feature or two,” Eric Covino reviews his favorites in this outstanding post. He helpfully divides his list of tools, most of which are market leaders, into five categories: keyword research, on-page criteria, rank checkers, competitive link research tools, and link monitoring tools.

Tools every SEO specialist and marketer should use by iMedia Connection

Jason Hennessey offers mini-reviews of half-a-dozen useful SEO tools, including Majestic SEO, Raven Tools and SEMRush. This is a solid list for newbies, but experienced SEO professionals and digital marketers will likely already be using these (or their own favorite alternatives).

Challenges in Automated Traffic Reporting by The Daily SEO Blog

Benjamin Estes examines five tools for monitoring and reporting on organic traffic data, from the most basic (Google Analytics) through some more exotic options like Geckoboard and GinzaMetrics. He summarizes the capabilities, pros and cons of each tool, but doesn’t declare a “winner” as each client’s requirements are, after all, somewhat different.

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Chrome SEO Extensions by Search Engine Journal

In this concise and easy to digest post, Benjamin Beck serves up quick, bullet-point reviews of “good” SEO extensions for Chrome (among them: the SEO MOZ Bar, Buffer App and Check My Links) as well as “bad” and “ugly” extensions that either aren’t particularly useful or well-designed.

Single-Tool Reviews

Review: Bruce Clay’s Latest SEOToolSet by Coconut Headphones

Ted Ives extols the virtues of Bruce Clay’s SEOToolSet, which includes tools for working through the SEO process in six main areas: keyword strategy, linking strategy, architecture best practices, content optimization, traffic analysis and monetization (determining click value). Ted’s conclusion: “Bruce’s product is very broad and comprehensive and covers more bases…(than) other tools…and is well worth trying out.”

A Complete Review of Wordtracker’s Link Builder by SEO Book

Eric Covino (again) provides a thoughtful comprehensive review, this time of Wordtracker’s Link Builder tool. He steps through the process of setting up a campaign, researching competitor link profiles, link analysis, finding contacts, reporting, and using the Firefox extension. Eric closes the post with a helpful summary of the features he likes as well as areas he feels could be improved upon.

Why Optify Got Down To SEO Basics by MediaPost SearchBlog

Laurie Sullivan reports on the Basic edition of Optify, a tool designed to help marketers and business owners not only “understand SEO, but also how social media influences search engine query results.” The tool offers some nice features, such as keyword suggestions and a one-click tracking plugin for WordPress, but it’s not clear if it covers all of the bases of WPO as well as an something like gShift Labs.

Google (and Yahoo!) Sitemap Generator for Windows – GSiteCrawler

This free Windows-based tool generates XML sitemaps for Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Keyword Research Tools

12 Popular Keyword Organization Tips & Tools by SEO Book

Aaron Wall reviews “a dozen different tips and tools to help you organize your keywords,” including Ad Group Filter, SpyFu Keyword Groupie, Rank Checker, Xenu Link Sleuth and Screaming Frog.

6 Free Steps to Practical SEM Keyword Development by Target Marketing Magazine

Michel Leconte explains how to develop target keyword lists for SEO and SEM using common, popular tools like Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Google Webmaster Tools, Google Instant and Alexa, and concludes, “How do you know when you have not spent enough time doing keyword identification? Chances are that if you don’t need to develop any new content and/or re-organize your website to fuel and align with the strategy at the end of this process, you’re missing something.”

SEO remains the most cost-effective way to drive website traffic. B2B websites often receive anywhere from 30%-60% from organic search, with 50% or more sometimes coming from Google alone.

But SEO is changing. Directory links are worth less, social links worth more, site performance is increasing in importance, site age is decreasing…how is a digital marketer to keep up?

Discover how to use Google Analytics data, technical tweaks, website audits, keyword research, fresh content, social media activities and more for SEO success here in 20 more of the best SEO guides of 2011, a follow-up to 40 of the Best SEO Guides, Tips and Insights of 2011 (So Far) published last November.

7 Sure-Fire Signs Your SEO Sucks by HubSpot Blog

Corey Eridon presents signs that your SEO efforts may be headed down the wrong path, along with guidance for fixing each issue. Example: “2.) Content sounds like it was written by an SEO expert from 1999. There are lots of things from the 90s that are still quite magical in 2011: alternative music, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, boy band choreography. 90s SEO is not on that list.”

Using Data to Drive SEO Results by Search Engine Watch

Ray “Catfish” Comstock explains how to divide the SEO data analytics process into three main phases–performance reporting, opportunity identification (e.g., identifying new keywords, internal and external linking opportunities) and prioritization–what data to consider in each phase, and what actions to take based on this analysis.

18 things you need to know about SEO by Bing Webmaster Center Blog

Duane Forrester steps through the major search factors for Bing (though most apply more broadly), including crawlability (e.g., use a simple URL structure, avoid session variables or docIDs, include an XML sitemap and a robots.txt file), content hierarchy and on-page factors, as well as “black hat” tactics to avoid.

301 Redirects: Implementing Your SEO ‘Change of Address’ Card by MediaPost Search Insider

Explaining that “301 redirects are like a ‘change of address’ card for the search engines — they indicate that an existing page URL has moved and where the search engine can find it,” Janet Driscoll Miller shows how to create these vital page redirects on Linux and IIS servers.

10 Concepts Critical for Aligning SEO to B2B Marketing Strategy by Search Engine Watch

Derek Edmond asks 10 B2B marketers—including Dianna Huff, Stephanie Tilton, Elizabeth Sosnow (“SEOs have an opportunity to become better storytellers, instead of appearing to be simply ‘link-builders’ in the eyes of some of their clients”), and HubSpot’s Kipp Bodnar—for their thoughts on how “SEOs can better align with strategic marketing.”

Understanding Google’s new sitelinks by Pure Visibility

Eric Wortman explains what Google sitelinks are, how they work, when Google displays them, what this means for your company website, and what you can do to take advantage of this expanded real estate now available on page one of Google results.

Search Engine Speculation: Predicting Future Ranking Factors by SEOmoz

Understanding key search engine ranking factors is vital for SEO success, and Google keeps this challenge interesting with its continual algorithm changes. Rather than focus on the current top ranking factors here though, Dan Deceuster speculates about the future and divides what he believes will become more critical ranking factors into six “v” categories: value, validity, variety, vision, volume and visitors.

The First 7 Items On Your SEO Audit To-Do List by Search Engine Watch

Frequent best-of honoree Eric Enge steps through the seven most important tasks for a one-day SEO site audit, starting with looking at Google Webmaster Tools information for the site and working through site stats, crawl issues and competitive backlink comparisons.

HOW TO: Guide to Performing Website Audits by Techipedia

Harrison Jones walks through a mix of art (content optimization, meta tags, website design) and science (canonicalization, microdata, website architecture, and use of the insidious nofollow tag) techniques for auditing and optimizing a website.

Bringing Down the House: How SEO is Like Blackjack by Content Marketing Institute

Brendan Cournoyer compares SEO to blackjack, with Google as the dealer (the “house”) and SEO practitioners as the various players at the table, some relying on skill and others trying less savory tactics to win the game—tactics that sometimes produce short-term wins but at the risk large losses in the end.

10 SEO Metrics you can’t live without by SEO Takeaways

In solid thought though slightly broken English, Himanshu Sharma details the three most important dimensions and ten most critical metrics to track within Google Analytics for SEO purposes, concluding that “These are the only 10 metrics you need to quickly and accurately track the performance of any traffic source or dimension.”

An SEO Checklist for New Sites – Whiteboard Friday by The Daily SEO Blog

Frequent best-of honoree Rand Fishkin steps through his recommended SEO checklist for optimizing new websites, beginning with accessibility and keyword targeting and progressing through considerations like content quality, design, usability and link building.

8 Durable SEO Elements by Search Engine Watch

How should SEOs cope with Google’s constantly changing algorithms, which can cause wild short-term gyrations in rankings? (Other than with alcohol?) Erez Barak believes that these eight elements remain durable through the Google chaos, including basic on-page optimization, quality inbound links, positive user experience (e.g. page load speed) and content freshness.

Ten things you didn’t know about SEO by The Globe and Mail

Noting that SEO is more difficult to control than email marketing or paid search because “Tracking, measuring and reporting results has become increasingly complicated, especially since factors affecting SEO change on a daily basis,” Krista LaRiviere of gShift Labs identifies 10 key concepts to understand for SEO success, among them keyword research, legitimate backlinks, quality content and social signals.

Are you placing too big of a bet on social media’s direct impact on SEO rankings? by ZDNet Whistleblower Blog

Stephen Chapman contends that social signals don’t play as large a role in Google rankings many people believe they do, as they should, and as they likely eventually will. Using data on several well-regarded and unknown SEO companies, he shows that keyword links, even as part of an unnatural link profile, still play an outsized role in rankings.

The 10 Google Panda ranking factors by The Web Citizen

Ilias Chelidonis presents an infographic showing the key ranking factors post-Panda, such as overall website quality and trust, brand indicators and social signals, as well as a timeline of the Panda rollout and updates.

How to Optimize PDFs and Documents for Search by Link-Assistant.com

PDFs are a challenge for SEO: they are the ideal method to present certain types of content (e.g. long reports), but offer few options for optimization. Olga Gabdulkhakova identifies five tactics that can be used to improve search rankings for PDF documents, such as including keywords in titles, making sure the text is indexed, and building links just as one would to HTML content.

Beyond SEO: Retaining the Visitor by Search Engine Land

Josh McCoy advises focusing on the user experience as much as SEO; it’s not enough just to get visitors to your site, what adds value is keeping them there and, ultimately, getting them to convert. Among his recommendations: quit using (or minimize the use of) PDFs; make sure links to external sites (e.g. your social profiles) open in a new window so you aren’t sending visitors away; and my favorite, “provide me with a main navigation that gives me a roadmap to an end goal that makes us both happy. There is nothing interesting about navigation queues like Home, Services, Careers, and About Us.”

Introducing the Controversial Theory of “Peak SEO” by Coconut Headphones

***** 5 STARS
Ted Ives compares keywords to crude oil, an analogy that makes some sense as the supply of both is fixed. Beginning with “Each keyword is like a tiny oil well, that will always give up some oil, but only with increasing effort over time.  Eventually the keyword becomes too expensive to bother with, so you must move on. But what happens when there are no more keywords to move on to?” he notes that the situation is actually worse than that, as SERPS become increasingly cluttered with maps and the like, and more people try to get into the search field. Fortunately, Ted also notes several potential paths out of this conundrum.

Preparing For A New Era Of B2B SEO by Search Engine Land

***** 5 STARS
Writing that “as we move into 2012 and beyond, quality SEO is about having your marketing assets findable when customers are searching across the dimensions of the pre-, present, and future stages of the purchase cycle,” Brad Neelan outlines SEO strategy and execution for B2B marketers, including an outstanding B2B SEO Framework diagram suitable for presentations and posting on cubicle walls.

Sure, teenagers spend a lot of time on YouTube, but did you know that three-quarters of business executives watch work-related online videos weekly? Or that 73% of U.S. companies now use social media for marketing (though the figure varies widely based on size of company)? Or which four cities rank ahead of Seattle and San Francisco as the “most networked?” Or that49% of B2B journalists write blogs, and 84% are on Twiter? Or that a third (or more, depending on which study you believe) of all clicks go to the top result on a search engine query?

Get the details behind these stats and many, many more here in more than 40 of the best articles and blog posts about social media, search, budgeting and digital marketing research, facts and statistics of 2011 so far.

Social Media Stats, Facts and Research

Does Facebook Need To Build A Search Engine? by MediaPost SearchBlog

Social media sites now drive more traffic to many popular sites—including Comedy Central, NFL.com and Netflix—than Google does. Citing these and other statistics, Laurie Sullivan ponders the meaning of the term “search engine.” She quotes Wedbush Equity Analyst Lou Kerner, who has called Facebook “‘the second Internet,’ with time spent on Facebook and page views surpassing Google search.” Facebook has become the (far more successful) second coming of what AOL was back in the early 90s. As Mark Twain allegedly quipped, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

Executives & Online Video [CHARTS] by eStrategy After Hours

David Erickson shares eMarketer findings about the popularity of online video among business executives. Among the findings: “Three-quarters of all executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, and more than half did the same on YouTube.” Nearly a quarter prefer video content to text. And nearly two out of three executives have visited a vendor’s website after viewing an online video elsewhere.

Content Sharing Trends in 2010 [Infographic] by Pamorama

Pam Dyer reports on data from AddThis showing the top methods for sharing information from more than 300 options. Not too surprisingly, Facebook is the #1 method for passing along content, followed by email and then Twitter. Gmail and StumbleUpon are the fastest growing methods, however.

B2B marketers: give us inbound, social, e-mail, marketing automation and content by Conversion Marketing Forum

After pondering some of the differences between B2B and B2C marketing, J-P De Clerck shares data from MarketingSherpa showing that lead generation is (by far) the top priority for B2B marketers (with 78% saying that generating high-quality leads is their top priority) while budget increases are going overwhelmingly to inbound marketing tactics (with 60%+ spending more on content, social media and SEO).

Pew: Republicans, Democrats Use Social Media Equally by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Mark Walsh summarizes research findings from a Pew survey revealing that “22% (of) online adults used Twitter or other social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace in the months leading up to the November 2010 elections…Among social network users, 40% of Republican voters and 38% of Democratic voters used these sites to become involved politically.” At least something is bipartisan.

Social Media 2010, The Fastest Growth Ever by MyCorporateMedia

Randy Schrum supplies some interesting social media statistics, such as: Twitter users post more than 65 million tweets per day. Over 2 billion videos are viewed every day on YouTube. And 73% of U.S. companies now use social media for marketing.

16 social media statistics that might surprise you by Communications Conversations

Arik Hanson lists social media stats from various sources showing that 75% of brand ‘Likes’ on Facebook come from advertisements. 22% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing blog that has at least one post in the past 12 months. Fridays at 4 p.m. eastern time (U.S.) are the most retweetable day/time of the week, per Dan Zarella of HubSpot. (I don’t buy that one, as in my experience, Twitter pretty much dies between noon on Friday and early Saturday morning.) 48% of Twitter users say they rarely or never check Twitter. (That I believe.)

Report: CMOs Eager To Integrate Social Tools by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Gavin O’Malley reports that chief marketing officers have embraced social media: “From Facebook to Twitter, a full 90% of chief marketing officers now participate in an average of three or more social media activities.” And 93% planned to use some form of user-generated content in their marketing efforts this year, including customer stories, product suggestions or ideas, and customer reviews.

65 Terrific Social Media Infographics by Pamorama

Writing that “These snapshots communicate essential information to help marketers make sense of the social networking space and how people are using it in their everyday lives to communicate and share information and ideas,” Pam Dyer shares a huge collection of infographics on everything from the history of social networking to how marketers are using social media to the meteoric rise of Twitter to how people are using social media on mobile devices.

Is a Blog Still Important in 2011? by Edelman Digital

Noting that “a blog is a focal point and acts as a base of operations for communications,” Jonny Bentwood details the benefits of business blogging as well as the growth stats: 39% of U.S. companies are currently using blogs for marketing purposes, up from 29% in 2009 and just 16% in 2007.

Minneapolis is 4th-Most Socially Networked City by Twin Cities Business

Congrats to my fellow Minneapolitans! According to the TCB article,”If you live or work in Minneapolis, chances are good that you have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, and/or a LinkedIn page. The city ranked fourth on Men’s Health magazine’s just-released list of the ‘most socially networked cities.’ Minnesota’s most populous city earned an A+ grade and ranked just behind Washington, D.C.; Atlanta, Georgia; and Denver, Colorado.” Minneapolis ranked ahead of Seattle (#5), San Francisco (#6) and Boston (#9). Oh yeah.

Social Ads Spur Big Engagement Opportunities by iMedia Connection

According to research from social media advertising firm appssavvy, social activity ads (e.g., “an item in a social game or appear after a social network user fills out an online poll”) significantly outperform rich media ads, performing roughly twice as well. Paid search ads, however, still outperform both.

Social Media Statistics by The B2B Guide to Social Media
***** 5 Stars

This is one of the most amazing and comprehensive sources of social media statistics anywhere (other than the Webbiquity blog marketing research section, of course). Among the multitude of stats you can find here about blogging, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, video, social gaming and more:

• • 49% of B2B journalists have blogs. 14% of all blogs are about technology and internet marketing.
• • Only 20% of blogs attract 10,000 or more unique visitors per month; 48% draw less than 1,000 readers each month.
• • 70% of marketers planned to increase their social media budgets by 10% or more in 2011.
• • 85% of B2B journalists are on Facebook. Almost one-third of all Facebook posts are created from mobile devices.
• • The number of monthly active users on Twitter increased 82% from January to September 2011.
• • 84% of journalists are on Twitter.
• • 58% of people said “they unfollowed someone because their tweets appeared automated” while 34% said the same because the offenders tweeted about themselves too much.
• • 66% unfollowed someone due to excessive tweeting (35 tweets per day is considered, on average, the upper limited of acceptable tweeting).
• • And much more.

The Winners & Losers of Social Networking [INFOGRAPHIC] by Mashable Social Media

Observing that “social networking as a whole might be leveling off,” Jolie O’Dell explains which networks are still on the rise (e.g., Tumblr, StumbleUpon, LinkedIn) and which are declining (MySpace – there’s a shock, Friendster, Ning and Hi5) as well as sharing details about the demographics of several top social networks (e.g. Habbo users are the youngest, Plaxo’s the oldest, and LinkedIn’s the wealthiest).

Under 1 Percent of Web Visits Comes from Social Media by Marketing Pilgrim

Cynthia Boris shares research findings from ForeSee Results indicating that, across a cross-section of websites, less than 1% of visits come directly from a social media URL, though an additional 17% of visits are “influenced” by social media. That sounded low to me, so I checked some of the B2B technology client sites I manage. Their social media traffic ranged from 4% to 9% of total traffic. And nearly 15% of visits to this blog come from social media sources (including other blogs). So, check your own stats; your mileage may vary.

Study: 93% of B2B Marketers Use Social Media Marketing by Social Media B2B

The always insightful Adam Holden-Bache reports that according to research from BtoB Magazine, “B2B marketers overwhelmingly favor ‘the big 3′ social media channels, with LinkedIn being the most-used channel (72%). Facebook (71%) and Twitter (67%) are close behind…Other channels used by B2B marketers include YouTube (48%), blogging (44%) and online communities (22%).” Although B2B marketers are increasingly using social media channels in their marketing and PR efforts, however, Adam notes that “75% of B2B marketers who conduct social marketing say they do not measure the ROI of their social marketing programs.”

Report: Where Marketers are Focusing in Social Media by Social Marketing Forum

Jim Ducharme demonstrates the increasing importance of social media for marketers based on the amount of time spent on such efforts. 58% of marketers devote six hours or more each week to social media, while 15% spend more than half their time with it. The amount of time spent tends to increase with experience. Preferences also shift: while Facebook is the top network of choice for those with one to three years of social media marketing experience, Twitter is the favorite tool of those who are more seasoned.

Report: Future Plans for Focus in Social Marketing by Social Marketing Forum

In a follow-up piece to the post above, Jim Ducharme discusses social media marketers’ future plans. The largest percentage (77% overall, 82% in large enterprises) plan to invest more in YouTube and online video in the coming year. 75% intend to increase efforts on Facebook and blogging, 73% on Twitter, and 71% on LinkedIn. Just 19% plan to increase efforts with GroupOn.

Social Media 2011 Just The Stats by Reciprocate

Karen Emanuelson shares research from HubSpot showing that there are 10.3 billion searches on Google each month; one-third of U.S. consumers spend at least three hours per day online; 9 out of 10 internet users visited a social networking monthly last year; more than half of all internet users read blogs at least monthly; and many more fascinating and useful statistics.

Marketers: Content Sharing Fuels Social-Media Boom by MediaPost Online Media Daily

Gavin O’Malley delves into the differing social media habits of men and women. “While women outnumber men online — 53% vs. 47% — males are more likely to share digital media content — 51% vs. 49%.” Men are more likely to share information that they feel is important and helpful to others (such as how-to tutorials) while women are slightly more likely to share information about “common interests like politics, art and parenting.” One other interesting finding: “60% of content shared on social platforms includes a link to an external site.”

Study: Marketers Reporting Social Media ROI of 100, 200, Even 1,000 Percent by Forbes

Lisa Arthur nets out research from MarketingSherpa showing that “the overall average social media ROI reported by CMOs who are measuring it is a whopping 95 percent. What’s more, nearly one-third (30 percent) of those in the survey reported a ROI of at least 150 percent!” Still, 54% of survey respondents identified “achieving or increasing measurable ROI from social marketing programs” as a top challenge, while 55% said the same for developing an effective social media strategy and 45% converting social media followers into paying customers. Most importantly, Lisa shares the study’s conclusion that “marketers who are new to social media tend to focus on “fast and easy” tactics…rather than on those that show a much higher level of effectiveness (blogger relations, SEO, e.g.). More advanced social media marketers work from a strategic plan and know that often the most difficult and time-consuming tactics are worth the extra effort because they are the most effective.”

What Marketers Can Learn from Consumers’ Sharing Habits by eMarketer

According to an AOL/Neilsen report, “93% of internet users turn to email to share content, while 89% use social networks and 82% use blogs.” Sharing habits differ based on the group being shared with, however, as “Social networks are the top method for sharing content with friends (92%)…In sharing online content with the general public, consumers prefer to use message boards (51%) or blogs (41%).” 60% of shared information contains links to published content (online publications, blogs, etc.); just 4% contains links to non-blog corporate website content.

Infographic: What the Largest Social Media Companies Are Worth by The Atlantic

Is there another tech bubble forming? Hard to say, but draw your own conclusion after taking a look at these possibly “over the top” valuations from Derek Thompson. Facebook was valued at $15 billion in 2007, but is expected to go public next year at a valuation of close to $100 billion. Valuation timelines and stats are also shown for Skype, delicious, Groupon, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Large Enterprise Social Media Research, Facts and Statistics

Inc. 500 Social Media Success by e-StratgyBlog.com

Stats guru David Erickson compiles figures for the popularity and year-over-year change of several social media marketing tactics among Inc. 500 companies. 93% now consider online message boards successful, while 86% say the same for blogging and 81% for Twitter; all figures similar to the previous year. Online video and Facebook increased in popularity while podcasting fell somewhat.

Fortune Global 100 Social-Media Savvy, Getting Savvier by MarketingProfs

According to research from Burson-Marsteller, 77% of Fortune Global 100 companies now have Twitter accounts (up from 65% in 2010), 61% are on Facebook (up from 54%), 57% have YouTube channels and 36% maintain blogs. Geographically, 83% of large companies in Europe are on Twitter, versus 72% in the U.S. and 67% in the Asia-Pacific region. However, Asic-Pac companies tend to be more engaged than their large firm counterparts elsewhere, as measured by average number of Twitter followers, Twitter @ mentions and Facebook page “likes.”

Most Fortune 50 Brands Still Hiding Their Social Media by AdAge Digital

The delightful B.L. Ochman breaks the news that “Only 44% of the Fortune 50 have any social media icons on their home pages, and 60% hide their Twitter streams. Call Inspector Clouseau if you want to find the rest. Kind of amazing considering the prevalence of social buttons of all types all over the web.” Just 30% include a Facebook icon on their home pages, and only 4% provide a blog link there. Most of these companies do include their social media links somewhere on their websites, but these are often buried on “about,” “contact” or investor pages.

10 Reasons Brands Need a Social Media AOR by iMedia Connection

Asking, “now that social has crossed the chasm, do brands need a dedicated social media agency?,” Avi Savar answers “yes” and explains why. What’s most interesting here though are the statistics showing the disconnect between why companies think consumers follow them in social media and why consumers actually interact with brands through social networks. The biggest disconnect: consumers say that discounts and purchases are their top reasons, while businesses place these at the bottom of the pecking order. 64% of businesses believe consumers follow them to “feel connected” to the brand, and 61% say it is to be part of a community. Just 33% and 22%, respectively, of consumers say they follow brands for those reasons.

Small Business Search and Social Media Statistics, Facts and Research

Small Business Owners Still Don’t Get Search Marketing by MediaPost SearchBlog

Despite findings that show “56% of small businesses that plan to allocate marketing budgets toward search or social media advertising in 2011 admit they need help with some part of their campaigns,” nearly three-quarters try to manage their search campaigns internally, and more than one in five “have a staff member handling SEM in addition to other responsibilities,” (e.g. a non-specialist) reports Laurie Sullivan. In short, while small business owners increasingly understand the importance of digital marketing, most aren’t taking advantage of tools and outside expertise that could improve their results.

Social-Media Study Teasers Unveiled by InformationWeek SMB

Michele Warren reveals that “the most widely used social media channel for small and midsize businesses are company pages on Facebook (and) SMBs are ditching e-mail marketing in favor of social media advertising.” According to research from the SMB Group, 32% of small businesses have Facebook pages though just 18% use free tools like TweetDeck and only 3% are utilizing fee-based social media tools.

Small Businesses Online Marketing [CHART] by eStrategy After Hours

The prolific David Erickson passes along stats from eMarketer showing that “More than a third (35%) of US small businesses reported using online social networking for marketing, up from 15% in fall 2009. In addition, 12% of respondents were using blogs as a social tactic, nearly double the figure from fall 2009.” Somewhat surprisingly, just 36% of small businesses said they are doing SEO on their websites, and only 17% are using paid search advertising. Over half (56%) say they don’t use social media.

Search and SEO Facts, Statistics and Research

20+ stats you might not know about user search behaviour by Econsultancy

Jake Hird shares some interesting findings about web searchers, such as: 37% of people don’t know the difference between paid and organic search results (including 20% of 20-somethings). 20% of people say they click on paid search results “always” or “frequently;” 37% said “rarely” or “never.” 6% said they rarely or never click on organic search results (so why are they searching?!). 48% said that they click on a company or brand if it appears multiple times in the SERPs (which is why web presence optimization is so important) while 28% are more likely to click on results that include a video.” And contrary to results you may have seen elsewhere, “79% will go through multiple pages of results, if their query isn’t answered in the first page.”

The Value Of SEO [CHART] by eStrategy After Hours

How important is a (very) high ranking in the search results? Rounding these numbers from David Erickson, roughly one-third of clicks go to the top result in search; another third go to results two through five; and most of the remaining third click on results six through 20.

Google Click Distribution – How Important is Number One? by Internet Marketing Blog

A study from Cornell University found results different from David’s in the post above. According to this study, more than half of all clicks go to the top link on Google, and almost 90% go to the first five spots. Interestingly, being at #8 or #10 generates slightly more clicks than showing up at #7 or #9.

Search Behavior Shines Spotlight on Organic Results by eMarketer

eMarketer reports several interesting statistics from recent eye-tracking and click studies on Google and Bing. First, paid ads are 3-4 times as likely to be seen if they appear at the top of the organic results as opposed to the right side. Second, 81% of searches on Bing result in a click, versus just 66% on Google (Bing results are more relevant?). And third, “internet users were 22 percentage points less likely in 2010 to rely on search engines to find websites than they were in 2004,” due to both increasing sophistication of internet users as well as greater reliance on social media.

SERPs: The Benefits of Being No. 1 by MarketingProfs

Yet another study on clicks-by-search-rank, this one from Optify, concludes that the top spot in search generates 36% of all clicks, and the top three places combined account for 60%; but appearing at the top of page 2 is actually slightly more productive than being at the bottom of page 1. What’s most notable in these results, however, is the difference in performance of multi-word long-tail terms versus shorter head terms: for long-tail terms, being in the top spot in much less important, as click-throughs are higher in the lower spots on page 1. And in SEM, relatively low-cost long-tail terms (being more specific than head terms) generate significantly higher CTRs than expensive head terms.

SEMPO: Social PPC is Giving Google Adwords a Run for Its Money by MediaPost Search Insider

Rob Garner reports that “Facebook has rapidly become a top PPC advertising vehicle,” and that advertising on LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube–while still small compared with search advertising–is growing rapidly. In addition, “Three-quarters (74%) of North American agencies say their clients run PPC campaigns on Facebook.  Three-fourths of companies (75%) use Twitter for brand promotion, and more than a quarter (27%) of companies now use LinkedIn specifically for PPC campaigns.” Note that these results are skewed toward larger enterprises and B2C advertisers. Social media advertising is still a relatively rare tactic among B2B vendors and in the SMB space.

Marketing Budget Trends, Statistics and Figures

Online gets bulk of increased marketing budgets by BtoB Magazine

Kate Maddox reports that after two years of budget cutting, 52% of marketers planned increased spending for this year. Customer acquisition is the top goal (69%) followed distantly by increasing brand awareness (18%). 79% of marketers planned increased spending on online marketing this year, far more than for any other tactical area. Breaking that out, 71% planned higher spending on their websites, followed by 68% on email, 63% on social media, 57% on search and 51% on web video. 69% of b2b companies now say they are using social media for marketing.

Social Media Marketing Budgets by e-StrategyBlog.com

“In 2010, 53% of social media marketing budgets were spent on Facebook,” according to statistics compiled by David Erickson, while 8% was spent on games and apps and just 3% on Twitter. However, among the Global Fortune 100 firms, 65% use Twitter compared to 54% maintaining Facebook fan pages, 50% having YouTube channels and 33% writing blogs.

B2B Inbound Marketing: Top tactics for social media, SEO, PPC and optimization by MarketingSherpa Blog
***** 5 Stars

Adam T. Sutton summarizes MarketingSherpa survey results showing that website design and optimization is the top budget priority this year, cited by 69% of respondents as an area of increasing investment. Social media is a very close second, followed by virtual events / webinars, SEO, email marketing and paid search. The post also identifies the most effective tactic in each area: for example, the top tactic in SEO is on-page content optimization, while blogging is the most effective social media tactic.

‘Advanced’ Companies’ Spend On Social Media, Nets by MediaPost Online Media Daily

What separates the cutting-edge companies in social media use from other businesses? According to Mark Walsh, reporting on research from Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group, “they have formalized programs, dedicated teams, line-item budgets, and have been at it for more than two-and-a-half years,” among other characteristics. Budgets are a major factor: advanced companies spend nearly twice as much as their more average counterparts on social media generally, and almost 70% more on social-marketing teams specifically.

Other Marketing Research and Statistics

Who Do You Trust? Industry Analysts Reign Supreme by IT Marketing World

Tom Pisello shares findings from SiriusDecisions research showing that industry analysts are viewed as the most trusted source of information by buyers during the B2B IT buying cycle, followed closely by peers. Vendors are viewed as the least credible source (ouch!). However, the “most-trusted sources” vary by stage of the buying cycle. In addition, the study found that “The most favored sources of content during the early stages of IT decision-making are white papers (64.4%), peer referrals (51.1%), webinars (48.9%), trials or demos (42.2%) and analyst reports (37.8%).”

12 Mind-Blowing Statistics Every Marketer Should Know by HubSpot

Marta Kagan shares a dozen interesting marketing stats, among them: “78% of Internet users conduct product research online,” (seems low). A similar number check email on their mobile devices. Blogging is really important–57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog, and businesses with blogs generate 55% higher web traffic. And my favorite: “200 Million Americans have registered on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list. That’s 2/3 of the country’s citizens. The other 1/3, I’m guessing, probably don’t have a home phone anymore.”

Is Working From Home Becoming the Norm? [SURVEY] by Mashable Business

Jolie O’Dell brings to light some interesting findings on the state of working from home today, such as: 62% of businesses now allow at least part-time remote work (this varies by business size, with 77% of the largest organizations permitting this). The ability to work from home is rated by employees as the third-most important determinant of job satisfaction. And 56% of decision makers believe that remote workers are more productive.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a key component in designing and developing an effective website, as well as the core of web presence optimization (WPO). And with continual algorithm changes by the search engines and the emerging importance of social signals and content, SEO ranking signals, responsibilities and best practices continue to evolve.

How to keep up? Here’s a good place to start: 40 of the best SEO guides to strategy, tactics, considerations, common mistakes to avoid and more from some of the best SEO bloggers and writers around.

SEO Guidance and Tactics

Dropping In To See What Condition Your Condition Is In – Part I by Search Engine Guide

Stoney deGeyter details five guidelines for establishing credibility for a site with search engines, such as making it “easy to verify the accuracy of the information on your site” (for example,through citations and references) and making it easy to contact you (i.e., by providing a phone number, physical address and email address).

Rules for beating Google at SEO by iMedia Connection
***** 5 STARS

Brandt Dainow lists 173 positive and negative ranking factors compiled from members of the Search Engine Land group on LinkedIn and believed to influence Google rankings. This is one outstanding checklist.

4 Reasons Why SEO is Underfunded by Search Engine Watch

Noting that “Google has confirmed that CPC costs are trending above inflation year over year. This combination of factors makes SEO risk mitigation, diversification, and an investment in ensuring affordable long-term traffic,” John Lynch presents four common challenges to properly funding SEO efforts and how to successfully address each.

Without CRO & On-Site Optimization, It’s Tempting to Abandon SEO by The Daily SEO Blog

In an excellent complement to the post above, this piece demonstrates, through charts and narrative, how conversion rate opimization (CRO) is arguably more important than SEO–but ideally, both practices will be incorporated in a coordinated fashion to drive business results.

Why SEOs Shouldn’t Fixate on Keyword Rankings by Search Engine Watch

Rob Chant contends that “focusing on position, especially for a small group of keywords—and especially to the detriment of other factors—is a terrible idea. It’s usually isn’t best investment in a campaign or a good indicator of the overall health of a campaign,” then explains why this strategy is difficult, and what to do instead.

Why Rank Checking is Still Useful by SEO Book

Arguing against “the school of thought which postulates that ranking reports or ranking data is either essentially dead, useless, or pointless” (perhaps Rob’s post above?), Eric Covino makes a compelling case for the continuing value of ranking reports, along with interesting stats on the typical percentage of clicks for each search position.

20 SEO Tips You Either Forgot or Didn’t Know! by SEO Design Solutions

Many of these tips are commonly known, but some will be helpful reminders for experts and new information for others, such as “Primary pages should have 750 words or more (preferably with unique content free of excessive stop words)” and “If you cannot create enough unique content for a page to (a) rank on its own or (b) act as a stable supporting page, then consider using the robots meta tag to add a noindex, follow command (don’t index the page, but follow the links).”

The Responsibilities of SEO Have Been Upgraded by The Daily SEO Blog

Rand Fishkin how the role of an SEO consultant/expert has evolved over time from primarily tactics duties (e.g. basic keyword research, HTML sitemaps, on-page keyword targeting) to significantly more strategic priorities (reputation tracking, social media promotion, content strategy).

SEO Tactics Chart: Creating content is the most-effective tactic — here’s how to get started by MarketingSherpa Blog

Adam T. Sutton reports on research showing that content creation is viewed as most effective tactic for increasing search traffic–but is also viewed as the second-most difficult (behind link building). Then,noting that “Even though creating content is the most effective SEO tactic, it comes in sixth in terms of popularity with 60% of marketers using it. This disconnection could be due to the difficulty of creating content,” he presents some quick case study-based guidance on how to plan and execute a productive content development strategy.

Content Optimization Tutorial: How to SEO your Content for Rankings by Search Engine Guide

Acknowledging that “Copywriters are resistant to having to use particular words to get their point across and, rightfully, don’t want their content cluttered with dumb sounding ‘keyword’ phrases,” Stoney deGeyter outlines the “correct” way to optimize content for SEO using core terms, supporting phrases, related words, page headings, internal hyperlinks and meta tags.

Our Online Reputation Management Playbook by The Daily SEO Blog

Brian Patterson supplies a case study and example of an aggressive plan to assist a client whose name was appearing alongside “scam” in Google Suggest. The techniques outlined are helpful for promoting any type of content, but crucial in a crisis reputation management situation.

Search and Social Media

What Social Signals Might Search Engines Use by Graywolf’s SEO Blog

Michael Gray speculates on how Google may incorporate social media signals into search results, and provides guidance on how to capitalize on these signals for optimization such as “Strive to build up as much trust, authority, and reach as possible with your accounts.”

Social PR: 6 New (+ Old) Ways to Win Friends and Influence Search by Search Engine Watch

Noting that “both Google and Bing continue to use social signals to help rank regular search results (and) studies show friends are more likely to follow friends in search results,” Lisa Buyer supplies a half-dozen tips and techniques for increasing both your social influence and search rankings.

Social Media & SEO at Search Congress Barcelona by TopRank Online Marketing Blog

Observing that “Search is increasingly social with the incorporation content from social sources (video, blogs, images) into standard search results..(and) all major search engines take data feeds from Twitter and Facebook,” Lee Odden provides two tactical approaches (nicely illustrated with diagrams) for incorporating social media efforts into SEO processes.

How Google+ Affected Social Shares and +1 Adoption Rates by The Daily SEO Blog

John Doherty demonstrates in rich detail how Google’s release of +1 has impacted social signals and Facebook content sharing, and concludes by recommending that webmasters–particularly in technology (my realm), opinion and celebrity gossip–should implement a +1 button on their sites.

YouTube Video Optimization from A to Z by Search Engine Journal

Harrison Jones explores why online video has become so popular, then steps through how to optimize a YouTube channel and individual videos, and how to promote videos through social networks, social bookmarking sites and blogs.

SEO Ranking Factors

The Next Generation of Ranking Signals by The Daily SEO Blog

Rand Fishkin illustrates how key SEO ranking signals for the search engines have evolved and become more complex over time, then offers details about and strategies for optimizing on “the next generation of ranking signals (that) will rely on three relatively new groups of metrics.”

Introducing: The Periodic Table Of SEO Ranking Factors by Search Engine Land
***** 5 STARS

Danny Sullivan presents a must-have infographic for SEO pros that graphically shows the key on-page and off-page SEO ranking factors and techniques, along with black-hat tactics to avoid. This is a great illustration to print and keep handy.

2011 Search Engine Ranking Factors by SEOmoz

Rand Fishkin (again) uses a series of graphics to illustrate the key SEO ranking factors based on research, as well as another graphic on the future of search which attempts to predict which ranking factors are likely to become more or less important in the coming year.

30 (New) Google Ranking Factors You May Over- or Underestimate by SEOptimise

Tad Chef supplies his updated list of “new or current ranking factors that get underestimated by webmasters and neglected,” including site speed, outbound links, branding, search CTR (write compelling meta description tags!), page age and link decay (broken outbound links).

SEO Post-Google Panda

4 Profound Google Changes and What They Mean for Industrial Marketers by The Industrial Marketer

This post briefly reviews the four major updates to Google’s search algorithm since April 2010 (Places, Mayday, Caffiene, and Farmer/Panda) along with “opportunities” for dealing with each change.

5 New Tactics For SEO Post-Panda by Search Engine Land

Adam Audette reviews recent Google algorithm updates and how each one affected search, then provides five tips for success in the post-Panda world, including link building via social media efforts and building internal links, along with some more technical recommendations.

More Guidance on Building High Quality Sites by Google Webmaster Central Blog

Who better to ask than Google about to improve rankings after the Panda debacle? Amit Singhal lists 23 questions webmasters can ask themselves to determine if they have high quality content (as Google defines it). such as “Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?,” “For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?” and “Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?”

Lessons from brands that were spanked by Google by iMedia Connection

Observing that “it’s best to learn from the mistakes of other marketers than to learn these lessons on our own, let’s take a look at what we can glean from past black-hat scandals,” Ramsay Crooks details the best-to-avoid-less-than-white-hat techniques that have gotten some big-name websites into hot water with Google, including link farming (J.C. Penney), low-quality content (WiseGeek.com) and cloaking (BMW).

How Google’s Panda Update Changed SEO Best Practices Forever – Whiteboard Friday by The Daily SEO Blog

Aaron Wheeler and Rand Fishkin review some of the history behind Google’s Panda update, how Google’s algorithm attempts to evaluate the “quality” of a site, and which ranking factors are most important in the post-Panda world. Along the way, Rand notes that “It is almost like the job of SEO has been upgraded from SEO to web strategist. Virtually everything you do on the Internet with your website can impact SEO today.”

Avoiding Common SEO Mistakes

7 tragic SEO oversights by iMedia Connection

Ramsay Crooks explores seven common SEO errors and their solutions, among them excessive use of dynamic content, failing to consider SEO during the new website design phase, and not leveraging internal site search data for keyword research.

Common URL Related SEO Mistakes by The YOUmoz Blog

Paul Martin outlines 11 mistakes commonly made in URL structure (who knew there were that many?) including lack of keywords, improper directory structure, use of session IDs and “the trailing slash conundrum,” and provides fixes for each (several of which involve 301 redirects).

The 10 most common website SEO mistakes by iMedia Connection

The brilliant Rebecca Lieb recounts an experience reviewing a website that was “attractive and functional, but also a textbook example of the 10 most common errors seen among non-SEO friendly website builds.” Among these ten mistakes: no keyword research, duplicate (and un-optimized) meta page title tags, and vague copy.

Common SEO assumptions that are actually incorrect by iMedia Connection (yes, again)

Erez Barak reports results from an Optify study which contradicted several commonly held beliefs, such as “it’s always best to be on page 1 of the search results.” Optify found that, actually, “The CTR of result 11 (top of page two) is actually greater than result 10 (bottom of page one).” Terms with a lower cost per click in paid search generally got higher CTRs than keywords with a high CPC value. And more.

SEO and Competitive Research

Enterprise Level Competitive Keyword Research by SEO Himanshu

This post provides a detailed six-step process for researching competitors’ keywords that can work for even very large websites in under 60 minutes.

SEO Competitive Analysis: Your Roadmap to Ranking #1 On Google by Search Engine Journal
***** 5 STARS

Zeke Camusio outlines a dozen key factors in competitive SEO analysis (e.g., number of incoming links, quality of inbound links, number of indexed pages) and tactics for success in a succinct “Why It Matters,” “How to Check” and “What to Do About This” format.

Defining Your True Competitors by The Daily SEO Blog

Explaining that “competitive research can show you which of your potential strategies is most likely to provide your site unique value, value that your competitors will probably have a harder time getting or which they seem to have neglected so far,” Benjamin Estes details a process for competitive SEO assessment and strategy development. The post gets a bit technical, delving into statistical analysis and Excel pivot tables, but may be helpful for those working on enterprise SEO projects.

Mobile Search and Local SEO

What’s the Future of Mobile Search and SEO? by The Daily SEO Blog

Pointing out that “search – the process, the intent, the results -  just isn’t that different on mobile devices vs. laptops and desktops,” Rand Fishkin (yet again) explains what SEO pros need to do—and more importantly, don’t need to do—in order to optimize sites for search on mobile devices.

How To Optimize Your Website for Local Search by Entrepreneur Magazine
***** 5 STARS

Noting that “Local search is essential to small businesses. In 2010, Google revealed that the proportion of Google result pages that show a map is one in 13,” Jon Rognerud provides a five-step process for local search optimization, along with helpful lists of local directories and niche marketplaces as well as links to local SEO resources.

SEO and Google Webmaster Tools

Top Seven Reasons Search Marketers Should Use Google Webmaster Tools by MediaPost Search Insider

Janet Driscoll Miller details her top seven reasons why webmasters (and SEO practitioners) should use Google Webmaster Tools, including identifying top search queries, impacting sitelinks, and analyzing inbound links.

Google Webmaster Tools – 6 Key Pieces of Information by StayOnSearch

Kristi Hines explains how to set up Google Webmaster tools, walks through some of the key features, and provides guidance on analyzing the results reported.

Technical SEO

What Makes A SEO Friendly Web Design And Why You Need It by Link-Assistant.com

Alan Rosinski concisely explains three key elements of SEO-friendly website design (such as using Divs in place of tables) and why each element is important.

The Canonical Tag Can Save You from the Duplicate Content Monster by Search Engine Watch

Ray “Catfish” Comstock explains why duplicate content is a problem in search, then details the circumstances in which the canonical tag is a better option than a 301 redirect for correcting duplicate content issues.

301 Redirects: Formatting Bulk Redirects In Four Quick Steps by MediaPost Search Insider

Janet Driscoll Miller outlines what she terms “an easy way to quickly format your 301 redirect mapping for non-dynamic pages to match .htaccess formatting.” As oxymoronic as that sentence is, this process is just about as simple and straightforward as this complex task can be.

Rich Snippets Update: Introducing Schema.org by MediaPost Search Insider

One final post from Janet Driscoll Miller. In this one, she writes that “Google, Bing and Yahoo have teamed up to develop a standardized microdata format that the three engines will use to better understand the content contained on Web pages” and explains what this means for promoting specific types of content (e.g., reviews, products, events, TV listings) and how to use rich snippets in accordance with Google’s guidelines.

While search engines use hundreds of signals to determine how any particular web page should rank for a given search phrase query, all of those signals feed into two primary measures: relevance and authority.

Relevance is principally determined by content and other site-wide or on-page factors. For example, on a search for information about a specific breed of dog, a page devoted to that breed would typically be deemed more relevant than a page about dogs in general. And a page on site solely focused on dogs would likely be judged by the search engines to be more relevant than a page on a site about domestic pets, or animals in general.

Authority is predominantly determined by the quantity and quality of external links to a site. One common technique for building links in the past was to submit a website to hundreds of general online directories. The major search engines have now caught on to this tactic, however, and discount links from low-quality directories to the point where they are nearly worthless.

It’s still helpful to be listed in a few of the well-respected, higher-quality online business directories, but the focus of link building is now through social media, content sharing and online PR activities. In short, links can’t be bought (at least not without risk) and they can’t be spammed—they have to be earned by producing great content and exposing it to key influencers in your industry.

On-page search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques for making it clear to the search engines what each page, and your website overall, is about. Think of these signals like the dust jacket of a book; you can discern quite a bit about what a book is about just by the cover, promotional blurbs and table of contents. Similarly, the search engines use meta tags, page headings and other signals to assess the relevancy of your site for given search phrases.

Each page on your site should have one main search phrase assigned to it, though often the page will also rank well for associated phrases (in the example below, the page optimized for records management software may also rank well for phrases such as “records management software system” and “records management software solution”).

Here are eight ways to utilize that key phrase on a page to help search engines understand what your site is about.

1. In the body text. The target search phrase should appear at least twice in the body text of the page, and more than twice for long content pages. There’s no need to overdo this, however, and search engines may actually penalize your site for “keyword stuffing”—using the same phrase with unnatural frequency. The text should always read well to a human visitor. Mix in synonymous phrases as well, such as, in this case, phrases like “records management system” or “RM software.”

2. In page headings and subheads. Not every word on a page has equal value. Putting the main idea (your target key search phrase) in headings and subheads emphasizes its important.

3. In the meta title tag. This is one of the most important single elements for SEO, akin to the title of a book. You have (depending on who you believe) somewhere between 65 and 85 characters to tell the search engines what is most important about this page. Use them carefully, wisely and judiciously. You can find more detailed guidance on writing effective title tags here and here.

4. In the site navigation menus. Too often, websites use generic menu text like “Products” and “Services.” Using specific phrases instead is more meaningful both to site visitors and to search engines.

5. In the page file name (end of the URL). Except for the home page on your site (which has to named either Index, Home or Default), you have complete freedom (within reasonable number-of-character limits) to name pages whatever you like. Using a specific phrase helps with SEO, and also makes your page stand out in the search results.

6. In the page meta tags (description and keywords). The description title tag isn’t specifically used by search engines, but it’s value lies in “selling” your page to searchers. It should give searchers a compelling reason to click on your link. Including the key search phrase in the description tag isn’t strictly required, but can help demonstrate the relevance of your page to searchers.

The keywords meta tag is optional. The major search engines no longer use this tag in formulating their rankings (or at least they say they don’t). On the plus side, the tag may still be used by some of the smaller search engines, and it’s helpful internally for organizing SEO efforts. On the downside, it takes time to craft, and it shows your competitors which search terms you are focused on (not that they couldn’t figure this out using other methods). In short, this tag probably doesn’t help much, but it doesn’t hurt either.

7. In image file names and alt tags. These attributes help with image searches as well as regular search. Instead of naming an image file IMG02134.jpg or something similarly meaningless, use a search-friendly file name like electric-blue-widget.jpg (or whatever is relevant for your product, service or topic). Also include a descriptive image alt tag; this  is the text that appears in a browser with images turned off and also used for accessibility (e.g. speech browsers for the visually impaired). But the tag is also used be search engines to categorize your image, since search engines can’t “read” the content of the image itself.

8. In internal text links. Let’s say you have one page on your site completely dedicated to “electric blue widgets,” but you use that phrase in passing on other pages of the site as well. From those pages, link the phrase “electric blue widgets” (or variations of it, such as “blue electric widgets”) to the main page on that topic. Again, these links serve as signals to both human readers and search engines that they can find more detailed information about that topic on the target page.

The most fundamental element for on-site optimization is high-quality original content. Strive to write the “ultimate page” for someone searching on that particular topic. Then use these eight techniques to provide helpful guideposts for both human readers and search engines to draw them to that compelling information.

There’s no question PR (and online distribution of news releases in particular) is beneficial to search engine rankings. Links are SEO fuel and well-crafted and placed news releases can provide text-specific links from high-authority news sites.  While there is some debate about how recent changes to search engine algorithms may have affected the value of these links, there is no question that they remain important. So which online press release distribution sites are best for SEO purposes?

Before answering that, a quick review of a few PR+SEO best practices:

• • Write high-quality, “newsworthy” news releases. Never write news releases only for SEO purposes. High-quality releases are more likely to catch the attention of your market, get picked up by high-authority news outlets, enhance your brand image and provide valuable backlinks than keyword-stuffed fluff.
• • Include text links within releases. In this press release for example, notice how the phrase records management software points back to a highly relevant web page for that term. This may seem obvious, but never use a press release distribution service that strips out these links. There are plenty of alternatives that will leave your links intact.
• • Use at least one paid service. While it doesn’t hurt to use free services as well, journalists tend to pay more attention to news releases from trusted, paid sources than to the free ones and paid services generally provide better placement.

Okay, so which sites are best? Answers vary depending on who you ask.

In How to Select the Best Wire Service to Distribute Your News Release, Robert Beadle places PRWeb and PR Newswire (following upgrades to its website) at the top of his list for most organizations. He notes that Business Wire is also very strong, but is the most expensive of the “big four,” is most suitable for large, publicly-traded companies and the PR firms who serve them. He places MarketWire at the bottom of his list, though it is reasonably priced and has strong distribution for more localized and IT-related news releases.

Ted Weismann, in What Do You Know About Your Wire Service’s SEO Practices?, notes that PR Newswire initially took a search traffic hit from Google’s Panda update, but has since made changes to its site to regain lost ground. Business Wire has also addressed Panda. It’s not clear what other PR distribution sites have done to respond.

Search guru Lee Odden, in the SlideShare presention SEO + PR Tactics and Measurement (which also contains some excellent general guidance on optimizing news releases for SEO benefit), favors PR Newswire, though he notes that all of the big four provide SEO value. UPDATE: Lee actually endorses PRWeb for SEO. See the comments below.

This Press Release Wire Service Comparison from Clarity Quest ranks PR Web on top, and echoes Robert Beadle’s conclusion that MarketWire is a viable alternative for budget-conscious local firms. Unlike Beadle, however, the team at Clarity Quest doesn’t view Business Wire as an expensive, big-company-only alternative, stating that “Through their partnership with PR Web, you can get one of the best deals on the Web…For smaller B2B companies and startups, we use the BusinessWire package with PR Web.” The post goes hard on PR Newswire, but it’s not clear if this opinion reflects the recent changes PR Newswire has made to address SEO issues.

Based on traffic trends from both ComScore and Experian, PR Newswire leads all of the service in search engine referral traffic, followed closely by PRWeb, then in order Business Wire and MarketWire. Globe Newswire comes in the bottom of both graphs.

So much for the experts. What do actual PR practitioners think? According to this LinkedIn discussion on What is the best Press Release Service for results? Free or Paid, PRWeb (owned by PR monitoring firm Vocus) is the clear winner, followed by PR Newswire. Business Wire and MarketWire get honorable mentions, as do a few other lesser-known fee-based and some free PR distribution sites.

The bottom line? All of the big four do a pretty good job at helping with news release links for SEO. Which is the “best” service depends on your particular situation. PRWeb seems worth checking out for almost any company, and is a no-brainer for those already using Vocus. PR Newswire is another strong service, though slightly more expensive. Business Wire is likely the best choice for large firms with correspondingly large PR budgets, though its package with PRWeb is worth investigating for smaller B2B vendors as well. MarketWire appears best for budget-conscious companies and those primarily concerned with local news release distribution (and is also effective at reaching targeted industry publications).

Have a different opinion, experience or perspective? Comments are welcome.

There’s no question that search has dramatically altered the marketing landscape; the traditional yellow pages are now viewed as a colossal waste of paper as 70% (and climbing) of consumers go online to find local businesses and more than 90% of B2B purchase cycles start on the web. But is it reasonable to say that search has changed everything?

That’s the contention of Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy by Vanessa Fox, formerly Google’s search engine spokesperson responsible for communicating how Google’s search algorithm works to website owners.

This is not just another “how to do SEO” book for practitioners. (There are plenty of excellent works in that category, including Website Optimization by Andrew King and The Truth About Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb.) Rather, this is highly informative, strategic overview of search written for executives who need to understand the business impact of search without unnecessary detail about the mechanics.

Fox makes a strong, meticulously researched case for the centrality of search to business strategy right out of the gate, noting that:

• • “86% of searchers start at a major search engine when shopping and 70% of those product-related queries are  for categories, such as digital cameras.”
• • “Online advertising triggers $6 to be spent offline for every dollar spent online and the in-store sales boost from search is three times greater than online display advertising.”
• • “In a WebVisible/Nielson survey, 82% of respondents said that they’ve used the internet to find local businesses; 80% say they’ve researched a product or service online before buying it locally. Yet, only 44% of small businesses even have a website.” (!) While those figures are now a couple of years old, it’s astounding that as recently as early 2009, more than half of small businesses still lacked a basic web presence.
• • “Most prepurchase activity involves generic terms and…brand searches tend to happen only close to purchase.”

Fox also makes a compelling case for using paid search (PPC advertising) and organic SEO in tandem:

• • “56% of Google queries show no paid ads at all, so if you’re counting on paid search to provide all of your visibility in searches, you could be missing half your audience.”
• • “When a brand appears in both the organic and paid results, the searcher clicked on that brand 92% of the time, compared to 60% of clicks when the brand appeared in only one location.” That’s why it’s important to buy branded terms in PPC campaigns—it increases clicks, plus the cost is generally low and the conversion rate high.

She points out that the largest expense associated with organic search is in developing original, relevant and useful content for your customers and prospects. This of course is not only helpful for increasing search traffic, but also helps your site visitors, builds your credibility as an industry expert, and ultimately increases sales.

Fox is a noted speaker and expert on the strategic use of search, and provides a wealth of insights in this book such as an outstanding taxonomy of search types (navigational, commercial/transactional, informational/research, prepurchase research and action); how smaller companies can capitalize on the use of Google Search Suggest to find popular but less competitive search phrases for targeting SEO efforts; how search engine users process search results (and why a well-written meta description tag is critical); and, quantitatively, how important first-page rankings are to driving search traffic.

Beyond making the business case for search, Fox explains—in high-level, non-nerdy terms—how to implement a search strategy, how to get your business strategy and SEO technology in sync, how to separate actionable information from the mass of search and web traffic data generated by analytics tools, how social media marketing affects search results, and key search trends on the horizon.

Her writing style is straightforward but engaging; there’s no flowery prose or cutesyness. Fox keeps the narrative moving along briskly, deftly navigating between being too superficial to add value and too technical for her executive business audience. She explains how search engines rank results, without getting too geeky about algorithms. She warns against black-hat SEO “professionals” who try to use manipulative tactics to game search results (as sites like J.C. Penny and wiseGEEK have recently discovered). She emphasizes the role of high-quality, original content for search success and how to evaluate searcher behavior and goals in order to develop valuable content.

Fox notes that “Marketing, social media and public relations can help your link profile considerably,” which is a core tenet of web presence optimization (and our agency’s approach to SEO and online marketing). Her clecklists for hiring SEO talent, whether in-house or through an agency, are helpful guides to the key criteria to consider (and what to avoid, such as “guarantees”). Her take on which metrics are unimportant in SEO reporting is questionable (the percentage of overall site traffic driven by search isn’t important?!), but what’s more critical is simply doing actionable reporting: according to Fox, “only 23% of sites have an analytics package installed, and only 1% are doing A/B or multivariate testing.”

There’s much more, on how to use social media effectively, how to use articles and forums to expand you web presence beyond your website, how online video affects search results, and Google’s plans for the future of search.

Fox has written a highly readable and informative book that can benefit several different audiences. SEO practitioners will gain strategic business perspective on the importance of their work. Marketers not directly involved in search will understand how they can contribute to the firm’s online visibility. Executives will find logical arguments and sound data on the importance of understanding search, at a high level, as a key component of overall business direction.  To return to Vanessa’s contention on the book’s cover: has search really changed everything? Read Marketing in the Age of Google: Your Online Strategy IS Your Business Strategy and decide for yourself.

The SeoQuake team, the group behind the SEMRush tools for SEO and keyword research, recently released a new tool to help SEM consultants and agencies find local clients. SEMRush Geo displays Google AdWords advertisers on a Google Maps background, enabling users to identify the businesses within any geographic area who are running AdWords campaigns.

Clicking on any businesses opens a small pop-out with additional information (which is also displayed in the left sidebar). Clicking the SEMRush icon within the pop-out or sidebar opens a new window displaying the keywords bid on by that company, and for each keyword the average cost per click, destination URL, percentage of AdWords traffic driven, percentage of AdWords costs and more. The free link displays only partial data; a Pro subscription to SEMRush (at $50 per month) is required to view all of the AdWords data, plus organic keywords, history and export capabilities.

For companies using AdWords, it may seem almost a bit creepy that there is this level of detail about their SEM activities available publicly. But it’s a good reminder for all of us that what we online is, usually,  there for the world to see if one knows where to look. For SEM agencies and consultants, the SEMRush Geo tool is a prospecting goldmine. Used properly, the tool can help agencies generate new business and advertisers improve the effectiveness of their AdWords campaigns. For consultants and agencies that provide SEM services, this is definitely worth checking out.

FTC Disclosure: SEMRush provided access to their tools to assist in conducting this evaluation but did not provide any direct compensation for writing this post.