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Archive for the ‘Google’ Category
How To Make A Mobile Friendly Website
Marcy Zuendel | November 28th, 2011
Ever wonder how your website looks on a mobile phone? Well Google was asked this question many times and created a website – HowToGoMo.com – dedicated to showing users how their websites look and perform on mobile phones. On this site Google promotes it’s new initiative “GoMo” or “GoingMobile”, providing viewers a one-stop resource to learn about the importance of going mobile, information on mobile trends and best practices, case studies on optimizing sites for mobile, and tools to help make your site mobile friendly. The coolest feature of the site by far is the GoMoMeter, a tool that allows you to type in your website address and view what your site looks like on a smartphone. We did a sample test on our site, and here is how we faired: After submitting your site, the GoMoMeter provides a quick snapshot of how your site looks and performs on a smartphone. A comprehensive report is also available to download, giving you more in-depth information on what is working on your site and what areas need improvement in order to make it more mobile compatible. The report covers mobile issues such as page loading time, navigating without scrolling, thumb-friendly links, and more. It also provides actionable tips to help you with the areas that your site is lacking in, and lists vendors that can help you with building a mobile friendly site. Mobile has become the fastest growing field online and users are expecting to have their mobile experience as good Continue reading…
Murdering People: The Google-Safe Way
Dom | October 5th, 2011
To be clear, Wpromote is in no way saying that murder is acceptable or something one should do. Also, the views expressed in this post are solely those of Dom. While usually this statement is supplied in the cases when people are offended, so that those people know who to send their disapproval towards, the previous statement is also there so you know who to send your praise towards. Quick recap: if you hate it, let him know (that bastard); if you love it, let him know (that delightful rapscallion). On September 29th The Guardian, a UK News source, reported that a family was sentence to prison (and various youth facilities) for plotting to kill their grandfather. Investigators recovered past searches, on Google, that the family made while plotting against their 89 year-old grandfather. Reportedly the searched phrases included: “how to kill someone” “10 easy ways to kill someone with no trace” “can you kill someone with a punch?” “easiest ways to kill old person” “if you hit someone across the back of the head with a brick will they die or just get a bruise?” Worst. Family. Ever. Now, maybe it’s because I am in the search based industry, and the internet is basically my job provider, I couldn’t help but think…idiots! Don’t people know what not to do when planning a crime, and in particular, planning a murder? Apparently not. And that is why I have decided to put together… 5 Things to Avoid Doing on the Internet Continue reading…
Tags: Dom Gazzuolo, google search, murdering people, search history
Posted in Blogging, Google, Internet News | 5 Comments
Fun With Google Search By Image
Michael Block | June 24th, 2011
Google has a new Search by Image function and, if you haven’t used it yet, you’ve got to give it a try. If you haven’t heard about it yet, I’ll let this soothing, disembodied female voice explain it for me: Get it? Okay, now that you’ve been given a crash course, let’s have some fun with Wpromote’s executive head shots. Below, I’ve matched up the Wpromoter with the first result in Google’s search by image. Let’s start with the big dog, Michael Mothner, Wpromote’s CEO: It appears that Mothner has more in common with former Turkish National Soccer Team goalkeeper, Rüştü Reçber, than just his tenacious will to win. According to Google Search by Image, they share dashing good looks as well! No, you’re not seeing double. On the left is our Controller, Ali Quinn-Angel, and on the right is renowned Romanian professor of history, Dr. Gelu Neamţu. They actually are not related in any way but, according to Google Search by Image, they’re practically twinsies! Our Director of Marketing, Jamie Lane, is right at home putting together decks for potential clients, organizing the sales team for conferences and getting the word out about Wpromote’s services. In Google’s opinion, she might also find herself at home on the high seas as Captain of the infamous Black Pearl. By the way, Google, if you’re wondering, telling a woman that she looks like a hand-drawn Chinese poster for one of the Pirates movies is not as big of a compliment as you might think. Continue reading…
Tags: Google, google search by image, Wpromote
Posted in Google, Internet News, Wpromote | 2 Comments
Site Speed Report Now Available In Google Analytics
John Vantine | May 6th, 2011
On Wednesday, May 4th, Google rolled out a new Analytics feature: Site Speed reporting. If you’re an Analytics nerd/data junkie like myself, this is exciting news. Back in 2010 (on April 9th, to be specific) Google announced what many of us had already suspected – that site speed is a factor in their algorithm, and can have a direct affect on your rankings. From that point on, more and more webmasters started to take load time seriously. The weight of page speed (as a signal) in the overall scheme of things was ripe for debate. Some SEOs seemed to feel that it wasn’t very significant, but this was mostly speculation. Regardless, it was established that it was something that people needed to pay attention to. Now that Google has implemented speed reporting directly into Analytics… Well, it’s pretty clear that everyone should be paying attention. Webmasters can use the Site Speed report to measure load times across their sites. So how is this useful? Well, beyond the obvious benefit of having this useful data conveniently available in your analytics account, you can now view it in the context of other analytics data. A few ideas: View load time by page type Compare load time by geographic location Compare load time by ISP Compare load time by browser/operating system Compare load times of different mobile devices Compare load time of users that have logged in vs those that have not logged in View load time of your top pages – especially Continue reading…
Tags: google analytics, google analytics beta, gtmetrix, page speed, site performance, site speed
Posted in Analytics, Google | No Comments
PubCon South 2011: Local Search and Hyperlocal
John Vantine | April 13th, 2011
Why has there been so much interest in local search lately? Well, for starters, 70% of users look for local information online first, and 20% of all searches are location related. Google has outbound call centers for local listing verification, so you can tell that they care. Local Search Algorithm Continues To Evolve As local seach continues to grow, Google’s local algorithm is changing rapidly. According to Brian Combs, the local algorithm now includes major pieces of the traditional (non local) algorithm because Matt Cutt’s webspam team was doing a better job at fighting spam than the local search team was. Google’s Support For Local Leaves Something To Be Desired Brian Combs said that the “report” feature in Google Places has been broken since February 21st. Reviews come and go – they disappear from the place pages completely sometimes. The “respond to review” functionality is temperamental at best. Some businesses have disappeared entirely from the listings with no explanation. I wasn’t aware of any of these issues, but it sounds like Google Places has a long way to go. What will it take to get Google to focus on support? Brian pointed out that the University of Colorado has the wrong number listed for campus security. He jokingly asked if someone would have to die in order to get Google’s attention. He said that the best way to get help at this point is to talk to a Google Tags sales rep. Good to know. The 3 Methods Of Advertising Continue reading…
Tags: Bing, Google maps, google places, hyperlocal, local search, yelp
Posted in Google, Local Search | 2 Comments
PubCon South 2011: The Lost Takeaways
John Vantine | April 11th, 2011
After writing my first two PubCon South 2011 posts (#1, #2), I still had a lot of notes left over. There was a considerable amount of good info that didn’t make it into the first 2 posts because it didn’t fit the “theme” of either. I’m going to do my best to put all of that information into some sort of digestable form here. Keyword Research Sometimes it’s good to go back to basics and see what core tools/methods other people are using. The same core elements are always revisited, but seeing as how this stuff is at the core of what we do as SEOs, it’s important to revisit and re-evaluate day-to-day strategies. Let’s start off with keyword research. This is (or should be) one of the first steps in any new SEO campaign, so it’s probably a good starting point. Michael Black reminds us that every optimization effort should still begin with keyword research. What does your keyword research routine look like? Perhaps you’ve overlooked one of the following: Client Input – This is a great place to start. Clients may not always be right but its important to get their opinion. Analytics – Find out which keywords are currently sending traffic. Even though they might not be the best keywords to optimize for, they can still provide some insight. Google Webmaster Tools – Some of the data provided by GWT is similar to what can be found in Analytics, but you can also look at things like Continue reading…
Tags: analytics, hyperlocal, local search, onsite seo, pubcon, seo advice
Posted in Conference Recaps, Google, Internet News, SEO, Yahoo! | No Comments
