So Google+ has been available to everyone for awhile now and I thought I would take a look at our clients and the impact having a Google+ presence is having on their rankings.

As we know Google has been upfront that a +1 (like) is a signal in their ranking algorithm. In their Webmaster Help files they state the following: “This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality.” The theory is very simple, if one of your friends has +1′d a piece of content and you are searching for something relating to that content your trust in your friends opinion on that piece is of more value to you than from someone you don’t know or an “regular” search result. In essence you will more than likely click on a friends result and another and the more +1’s a piece of content has the more trust it has earned and as such should rank higher than a piece than has less +1’s.

What I have found is it is true. Google does reward content with more +1’s with higher rankings than those without. Our clients that have developed a Google+ profile and integrated those profiles into their websites have seen a 85% increase in rankings versus those who have not yet developed a Google+ profile. Further more these increases started to occur on average within the first two weeks of creating a profile and integrating it into their websites. The clients that then continued to build their Google+ circles and were active in Google+ have seen quicker crawl times and faster indexing than those who just created the profile and integrated it.

So does this mean the way to achieve top exposure for your keywords is to develop a Google+ profile and go crazy with it? Absolutely not, what I have failed to mention before this is we continued normal SEO activity for those clients which touches all kinds of social media. However it is not a stretch to say the addition of Google+ did have a positive impact on their visibility.

While Google+ is still a step child in the social media world, it does continue to grow slow and steady and appears to have long legs.

Raspberry Pi launched their new $35 computer. Yes you read correctly $35 for a computer. Before you get too excited as you would expect there is a catch, well sort of. First it comes with no monitor or keyboard. Second, it really is meant to teach kids to write programs. Raspberry Pi noticed that every year less and less students were applying with them and those that did had very little skills beyond writing a webpage. Hence the idea was born. Raspberry Pi is hoping developers will take to the concept and develop programs which will allow children to write their own software programs. Great idea!

Do you yearn for the old school Atari games? Of course you can download an app or find a version online to play but some of the fun playing those games was using the joystick and buttons, right? Well yearn no more a docking station for the iPad puts the Atari games of old back in your hands. Old schoolers can start reliving their days of glory for only $59.

2011 had a number of changes come down the road, not like every year I’ve seen since 1998. The search industry is evolving on a daily basis. With that in mind here are a few things we might expect to see in 2012.

1. Continued privacy/tracking issues - With the rollout of SSL in Google (allowing those users logged into their Google account to encrypt their search queries) it would be reasonable to expect more movement to protect the surfer at the expense of those trying to track queries to their website.
2. Social integration - With Google+ clearly being used as a signal in Google results and the partnership between Facebook and Bing, 2012 will surely show more integration between social and search.
3. Mobile, Mobile, Mobile - We saw exponential growth in 2011 and would be shocked if we didn’t see the same in 2012.

I may not have gone out on a limb here but it’s my two cents for 2012, Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas and all the best in 2012!

” My Christmas Baby ” (1947, Los Angeles)

Smokey Hogg (Guitar & Vocal)
Hadda Brooks (Piano)
Bill Davis (Bass)
Al “Cake” Wichard (Drums)

I know I’ve landed on more than a handful in my years of surfing, those “fake” sites that use a brand name in the domain to lure you in and once there it’s obvious the product is not licensed product. Well it appears the fight to remove those domains and others associated with counterfeit products might have some legs to it. A recent ruling by District Judge Kent J. Dawson in favor of Chanel orders search engines to de-index a number of sites selling counterfeit Chanel product. While this ruling includes websites whose domain do not include any Chanel brand terms, it does address those that do.

Over the years I’ve had plenty of clients ask what can be done about people buying domain names that include their brand and until now there has been little recourse, maybe that is all changing.

Google’s latest algorithm update is called Fresh and from what we’ve seen it appears to be yet another tweak to reward websites that offer fresh content on a regular basis. If you are writing content on a regular basis you want to make sure your articles are included in Google News and that you are properly time stamping each article. Simple changes like those appear to have an impact with this new update.

So for all of the craziness going on in SEO forums, Twitter and such once again the basics of SEO matter, in this case create relevant content on a regular basis.

It appears Microsoft’s feelings weren’t hurt too bad when Yahoo spurned their overtures in ‘08. So says the WSJ reporting the software giant, who has repeatedly stumbled in the paid search arena, is putting together a proposal to buy the once dominate internet property.

One could assume the motivation is simple, instead of partnering to achieve the second largest search marketing outlet online, buying would allow Microsoft to obviously hold all of the cards, not only in profit but business strategy as well. Considering the missteps Microsoft has made over the years in trying to “crack the code” as it relates to a viable, sustainable search marketing business, the purchase of Yahoo would only guarantee they get a established presence.

I used to love playing the game Operation. I’m sure my memory is deceiving me as I seem to remember being pretty good at it but if you put the game in front of me today I suspect I would tap out fairly quickly. That being said I may have to re-engage with the new version of that classic, Operation R2D2!

Yes, fanatics of Star Wars can now take their obsession to another level with the release of this game. And the rest of us can just enjoy playing Operation with a twist.