SEO can be easy, and it can be free. Use Google Webmaster Tools (it’s free) and follow this guide. It’s great for beginners, and will get you familiar with common SEO elements you can track over time.

The guide includes the following: Read entire guide here: http://selnd.com/web-tool-tips

1. Go Looking For Trouble
2. Find Duplicates Duplicates
3. Find Crawl Depth Problems
4. Check Your Relevance
5. Look At Rankings
6. Gain Insight Into Link Strategy
7. Check Your Site’s Structure
8. Check Messages
9. Check ‘Fetch As Googlebot’
10. Wait for Changes to take effect

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Earlier this week, the New York Times spotlighted how a merchant with bad reviews nonetheless was ranked well in Google. Today, Google has announced that changes to its ranking system are in place to prevent such things from happening again.

What does this mean? Well, if you own a business you ought to verify your business listings & manage them Even though Google Places, Yelp, Trip Adviser etc. don’t like a company blatantly soliciting reviews, there are ways to do it subtly.  And today we see that it can be those subtle hints that will get your business on the top of Google.

Read full story here: http://searchengineland.com/google-now-using-online-merchant-reviews-as-ranking-signal-57445

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Download Google SEO Guide

Two years ago Google published their first SEO guide. It was the first search engine to do such a thing. Since then it has been transcribed into 40 languages. Needless to say, it’s been received quite well among the online publishing community.

I like the images they add throughout the guide. It makes those visual learners super happy. Everyone should print this 40 page ebook and slap it on the desk of everyone in the company.

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Get prepared for more competition in the online advertising space in the next several years. Of course, this is not surprise to all those currently participation. However, this will mean a higher barrier to entry for competitive markets who have not shifted ad budgets to have increased as spending as of late. View the complete article on Techcrunch here.

Online video adverising is booming. See the graph below and the whole story here.

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Affcon 2010 was a good beginner conference to the world of affiliate marketing in Denver the past few days. It was a good networking event and I finally met the crew responsible for running WebmasterRadio.fm … Brasco, SEGuru, Brandy. Thanks for a great event.

Great to meet gurus James Martell & Jim Hedger as well.

Shoemoney speaks, day 2 keynote discussion with Aaron Baker.

Shoemoney and I chat after his keynote. (I’m trying to convince he and his crew to come snowboarding in Vail. Thanks for the pic Tigh. And, Matt – the next time snowboarding will be less bruising. I promise.)

Download

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Ben and Karl from conversion rate experts have published a new site that compares the leading multivariate testing solutions out there today. It’s really informative & quite cool.

Their new site offers the following:

• see the differences between 15 different multivariate testing software solutions (including Google Website Optimizer).
• read reviews from existing users (happy ones and unhappy ones), so you can see the truth behind the sales pitches.
• get a better understanding of what you’re missing out on.

Check it out at Whichmvt.com

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According to a June 2009 Forbes survey, 92% of senior marketing executives plan to maintain or increase their search engine optimization (SEO) budgets over the next 6 months. As companies continue to invest more in SEO, they are seeking better ways to quantify and improve their return on investment (ROI). This is where advanced SEO measurement, optimization & conversion testing comes into play.

2009 Forbes Ad Effectiveness Survey highlights:

Above highlights aken from the official survey. Download the complete Forbes Ad Effectiveness survey here.

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Talking and thinking about land page optimization. Look at this paragraph. It’s hilarious … can you read it? Turns out, when we read, all our brain needs is to know the first and last letters of the word to make sense of it. Thanks to Webshare’s Google Optimizer Seminar in Denver for this snippit.

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It happened at a Italian pasta joint – a speakeasy of sorts. You had to know the knock at the door to get in … and the place had a red glow to it. The company was as mysterious as the restaurant, but the food was great. Thanks Aaron & Giovanna for a wonderful meal.

Here are a few random pictures of the first (I believe) SEOBook Community dinner. How many faces do you recognize?

Be the winner of two lift tickets to any Vail Ski Resort
Two half priced lift tickets to any Vail Ski/Snowboard Resort (Vail, Beaver Creek, Breckenridge, Keystone, Heavenly Valley) for the person who can identify the most (or first to name all) of the people in these 5 photos. Twelve people total.

1) Some beautiful and familar faces. Can you name all 5?

2) I see some heavy hitters in this one, can you id them?

4) Hello mystery people. Did you have the calamari?

5) Hey smiley at the end of the table.

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Click play on the above recording. Time about 25 minutes.

Jonah Stein is the founder of ItsTheROI.com, a San Francisco Search Engine Marketing Company that specializes in ROI driven SEO and SEM initiatives. It’s the ROI (stupid) recognized that all marketing efforts need to produce return on investment.  This simple philosophy focuses clients on conversion, an event that takes place at the intersection of search intent, content and user experience.

In 2007 he coined the term Virtual Blight and started VirtualBlight.com.  He is active in fostering collaboration and strategies for web publishers to protect themselves and their users against users whose personal agenda is in conflict with the aim of the community, such as spammer, scammers, griefers, trolls and hackers as well as advertisers and affiliates programs which are misleading or unethical.

During the first wave of internet business expansion, Jonah was a partner in adventmedia.com, with responsibilities for account management, search engine optimization and conceptual lead for  clients ranging from venture funded startups to a division of Fortune 100 companies.  In an era when venture capitalists were pouring money like chum into the feeding frenzy of the dotcom boom, adventmedia focused on functional websites with clear revenue models and measurable ROI from concept to completion.

As the bubble burst in 2001, Jonah joined one of his most profitable clients, PsPrint, where he and spent the next five years as the Director of Online Marketing and Business Development.  During his tenure, the company grew from $3 million in revenue in 2001 to $25 million in 2006 and was named by San Francisco Magazine as one of the 50 fastest growing companies three consecutive years. After leaving PsPrint, he became the managing director of Alchemist Media,  a San Francisco based SEO consulting firm.  In March, 2008 he parted company with Alchemist to focus on ItsTheROI Inc.

I had the pleasure to hang out with Jonah a bit at Webmaster Worlds Pubcon conference this year and at a SEObook’s dinner miles away from the convension in a cool little speakeasy type joint. He’s hands down one of the most cordial SEOs in the space today. I suggest you pay attention to Jonah if you have not alreay, this boy has mad skills.

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