American Trainco’s new Infographic, ‘Spectacular Feats of Modern Engineering’ takes a look at some structures that blur the line between science fiction and reality.

Check out the Infographic in its entirety to see what it took to successfully create these amazing structures.

The post Client Infographic: American Trainco appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Matt Cutts, head of Google’s webspam team, released a video that details what Google is planning for the next few months. And although some of these changes may boost webmasters’ sites, anytime Google makes BIG changes, someone inadvertently loses their shirt.

Should you be worried?

According to Cutts, what he often states in many media outlets… if you create high quality content and a valuable user experience for visitors, you shouldn’t really be focused on Google’s changes and how they can impact your site.

But, I am sure the thousands of webmasters who lost their rankings and their income after Panda and Penguin would beg to differ.

The primary question asked of Cutts was, “What should we expect in the next few months in terms of SEO for Google?”

Here is a rundown of the changes as summarized by Matt Cutts…

Penguin 2.0

Penguin 1.0 was the “macdaddy” of all Google updates. It sent thousands of webmasters into a panicked state.

If you were a fly on the wall of the Google forums around April to July of last year, you will recall the surge of people complaining about their lost rankings as a result of Google Penguin. It was like an all out war on Google.

To summarize, Penguin dealt specifically with over-optimization, whether on site or in links. It downgraded sites for over-optimizing link anchor text and using any other technique to manipulate Google rankings.

Penguin 2.0 is on its way and it will rival Penguin 1.0. According to Cutts, Penguin 2.0 will be more comprehensive and it will go deeper than Penguin 1.0 which means it will impact more sites.

The silver lining? 

Some sites experienced an increase in their rankings after Google Penguin. You don’t hear about these sites often because who would want to wave a piece of meat in front of a den of hungry lions? Would you gloat about your positive boost in a forum of complaining webmasters out to sue Google?

If you follow Google’s webmaster guidelines, there is a good chance you will notice a positive boost in your rankings once Penguin 2.0 launches. Someone has to fill the spots of the websites that lose rankings… and it might as well be you.

Advertorials

Cutts spoke specifically about advertorials that violate Google’s quality guidelines.

If you pay for ads, they should not pass PageRank. Whenever you advertise, your links should be nofollow so you do not float PageRank or earn any organic ranking success from the links. If you do, Google could penalize you—no matter how popular you are.

The well-known flower delivery website in the UK, Interflora, was penalized in February for doing some form of this and they lost their page one rankings instantly once Google discovered their “suspect” practices.

According to Cutts, you cannot pay for rankings. They are earned. They should also have clear disclosure that they are paid ads so users realize they are not editorial in nature.

Better Spam Detection

Google is getting more serious about detecting spammy queries. In the video, Cutts offered the example keyword “payday loans” and mentioned pornographic searches. Because of the input Google receives from webmasters who complain about these types of queries, Google has made a decision to take a closer look.

Link spammers beware! It seems like Google is getting even more sophisticated at detecting spammy links. I predict that by the end of the summer many existing blog networks that have remained under the radar will feel the sting of a new Google paradigm.

Cutts said Google is working on improving their link analysis and it is in the early stages of developing a more sophisticated system for link analysis. Though this system is still in the early stages, we will continue to see more changes as Google dedicates its time to deterring link spammers and devaluing spammy and low quality, forced links.

Tip: Never use automated tools to acquire links. These tools most likely take advantage of blog or site networks and if you use them, you will have no control over your link profile. Nothing good can come of this—especially since Google is getting smarter. Acquire links naturally via creating link-worthy content and reaching out to partner with organizations and blogs who want to publish your valuable content.

The Last Shall Be First?

Google is shifting its focus on what Cutts calls “regular webmasters.”

These webmasters may run a site that is not necessarily a large budget brand, but it is an authority in its industry. According to Cutts, Google is doing a better job of detecting when someone is an authority in a space and trying to rank those sites a little higher. The changes coming will help small/medium businesses as well as “regular webmasters” gain a little more ground in the rankings.

Panda Recovery

Were you hit by Panda? Still haven’t fully recovered? There may be hope for you.

If your site falls into what Cutts calls the “gray area,” you may see a boost in rankings during the next few months. These “gray area” sites have been affected by Panda, but they also display additional signs of quality. For these sites, the changes coming will soften the effects of Panda and help those previously affected.

Additional Changes

Cutts also mentioned better detection for hacked sites and an increase in communication transparency between Google and webmasters. Also, Google will work on improving the search pages as it relates to clusters of results. If you see a cluster of results from one site, you would be less likely to see results from that same site as you search deeper into the next pages.

Are these changes set in stone?

Not at all. Cutts said this is just a rough snapshot of what is to come but Google can change the plans at any time. In fact, he said to take them with a “grain of salt.” How’s that for a disclaimer?

If I were a betting woman (and I’m not), I would put my money on Penguin 2.0 as being a sure thing—to be launched sooner, rather than later. And then the obliteration of more link networks will soon follow.

What do you think? Are you concerned/curious about the next round of Google changes?

The post Google Will Make This A Summer You Will Never Forget appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Google News

• Matt Cutts Details Upcoming Google Algorithm Changes – In a  recent video, Matt Cutts detailed ten changes we would be seeing from Google in the coming months that would seriously affect SEO efforts. These include the next major version of Penguin (being labeled Penguin 2.0), a stronger stance against advertorials, stronger targeting of link spammers and a softening of Panda. We will definitely have to keep an eye out on these changes in the coming months.
• Polls Claim Only Small Number of Sites Recovered from Penguin – In an informal poll taken on Search Engine Roundtable, respondents were asked if their site had recovered from the big Penguin update which hit a year ago. Out of over 500 responses, only 9% of respondents claimed to have a full recovery, while 61% recorded no recovery, 18% said they partially recovered and 12% said they
  weren’t affected at all.
• Google Wants to Understand Multiple Types of Authorship – During a panel at a recent SMX conference, engineer Matt Cutts was asked if Google planned to expand authorship beyond written content. Cutts responded by saying while most content is written, Google does want to understand other types of content for which authorship applies. For example, the author of the article at Search Engine Land found that authorship applies to PDF files now, so with the growth of services like YouTube and Pinterest, might videos and pictures be next?
• Google Takes Manual Action Against Several Thousand Linksellers – In a recent tweet by Matt Cutts, he said, “In fact, we took action on several thousand linksellers in a paid-link-that-passes-PageRank network earlier today.” The link network wasn’t specified, and while this was a manual action, it would not be surprising if upcoming algorithm changes also targeted these kinds of linksellers.
• German Court Orders Google to Block Libelous Words in Autocomplete Searches – In an odd turn of events, a German court overturned the ruling of two lower courts and says Google now must block autocomplete entries that could be seen as libelous. The owner of an unnamed nutritional supplements company, for which autocomplete entries for this company included words such as “fraud” and “Scientology”, brought this case. A Google spokesperson said it’s “incomprehensible” that Google should be held accountable for the searches of its users, which they can’t control.
• Google to Launch Conversational Voice Search called “OK Google” – At Google I/O, it debuted the next version of its voice search called “OK Google”. This update will allow you to have a conversation of sorts with Google. For example, if you say, “OK Google, what’s the weather like in San Francisco?”, it will vocally tell you. If you then ask, “How far is it from here?”, it will tell you the distance to San Francisco from where you are, as it understands where “here” is contextually. This will be available on the desktop and mobile devices eventually.
• Google Reports 82% of In-Store Shoppers Use Mobile Search to Make Buying Decisions – In a recent report, Google stated that 82% of users use mobile search to begin the process of buying a product, rather than using shopping apps or going to a brand’s website. The survey said 1 in 3 respondents also used mobile search rather than speaking to a store’s sales associate, and 53% of users use search to make price comparisons before a purchase. This data is similar to that in other recent reports showing a higher use of mobile search while making purchasing decisions.

In other SEO news…

• Bing Rises Above 17% of Search Market Share in April for First Time – According to comScore’s April 2013 qSearch report, they reported that Bing’s share of the search market grew to 17.3% (up from 16.9% in March), passing 17% for the first time. Google’s share of the market dropped to 66.5% in April from 67.1% in March. Yahoo also saw a slight increase, up to 12% from 11.8% in March.
• Delaware Least Likely State to Use Google, Yahoo Used More in Southern & Midwestern States – In a recent study by WebpageFX, it studied 35 million queries across all fifty states and found Google had a +70% market share in every state except Delaware, where it had a 69.49% market share. Google was used most in Hawaii, Oregon, Massachusetts, Washington D.C. and Colorado. Bing was used most in North Dakota, with 14.68% of the market share there. Arkansas was the state that used Yahoo most, with 11.69% market share, and was followed by Oklahoma, West Virginia and Ohio.

Did you hear any other SEO news that you thought was relevant last week? Feel free to comment below. And I’ll see you again next week!

The post A Smattering of SEO News: 5/20/13 appeared first on The Wpromoter.

I’m starting with this photo of a woman:

I don’t know her name or who she is but she looks like an Emily to me.  She’s got a few issues here: piercing scars, a little acne, some under eye circles and some fine wrinkles.  First things first, duplicate the background layer and work off of the copy. Now lets get to it!

1. Spot Healing Brush

This tool is awesome for beginners; its easy to use and the results are great. Find the tool that looks like a Band-Aid, just make sure it says “Spot Healing Brush Tool” when you hover over it, or use the keyboard shortcut J. Adjust the brush size by right clicking or opening up the panel at the top left of the screen. You will generally want to set your brush about the size of the elements you are removing.

Use the brush to click and paint over your blemishes… yeah, it’s really that easy! If you need to zoom in to see more detail, use the command + and command – shortcuts for zooming. I try not to get too carried away; I like to leave freckles and moles so I don’t change the person’s appearance completely. After you finish healing your pimples… feel free to “heal” any other things that stand out to you.  I’m going to go in now and remove those extra eyebrow hairs sprouting up, fine lines and some of the larger pores on her nose with the same method. And like magic, Emily’s face is clear!

2. Dodge Tool

I use this tool to quickly brighten the whites of the eyes and whiten any yellow or discolored teeth. Don’t go overboard (like everything else in this post), or she’ll start looking artificial. Choose the Dodge tool, which is the one that looks kind of like a lollipop. Once you have this selected, make sure to set your Range to Midtones and your Exposure to 10% at the top left of the screen.  You can adjust your brush size by right clicking or changing it using the panel at the top left of the screen as well. Paint over the whites of the eye. Now, Emily has a pretty big brown spot in her eye that the dodge tool couldn’t brighten enough. This is when the Spot Healing Brush comes in handy again. Your photo should now look something like this:

3. Clone Stamp Tool

This tool is a little trickier, but worth it once you see the outcome.  Since Emily has some dark circles under her eyes, we’re going to want to lighten these. Select your Clone Stamp Tool – it looks like a hand stamp. Adjust the settings for size (right click) and you’ll want your brush size close to the size of her pupil, make sure your hardness is somewhere between 20-60% and set your opacity around 10%. Lastly, set the Mode to Lighten. Now it gets a bit tricky. Choose an area on her cheek that has a nice skin tone, hold down option and click on that area. Now move your brush directly up to her under eye and start painting.  Repeat with the 2^nd eye, now your photo should look something like this:

4. Burn Tool

The burn tool is great for bringing more contrast back into the photo by darkening things that might have gotten too light in the process. I usually like to use it subtly on the lips and eyebrows. Select your burn tool. It is in the same area as the Dodge tool, click on the icon for a second or two and the Burn tool should drop down as an option – it looks like a hand making an “O” shape. Set the Range to Midtones and your Exposure to 10%. Start painting the lips, especially if the lips are not well defined, make sure to get the outlines good. Again, I notice a small blemish on her lip, so I’ll use the Spot Healing Brush to fix it.  Do the same burning on her eyebrows until it looks good.  I might even go in and darken up her lash line since we lost a little definition when we got rid of the eye circles. After seeing her lips darkened a bit, I decided to go back in with the Dodge tool to bring in a highlight on the lower lip, leaving the image like this:

5. Blur Tool

The blur tool is great for those tiny finishing touches that aren’t necessarily a blemish or wrinkle but have a little more texture than you’d like.  Choose the blur tool, which is the one that looks like a little rain drop and make sure your Mode is on Normal and set the Strength to around 20%. Adjust the size of your brush depending on the size of the area you’re working on and start blurring.

There you go! You should have ended up with a natural looking, retouched photo. She still looks like herself, don’t you think? Feel free to ask any questions in the comment area below or if you have any unique retouching methods feel free to share!

The post Photoshop Portrait Retouching – 5 Tips For Beginners appeared first on The Wpromoter.

1.  MARKUP MATTERS 

In 2011, I urged that you must not ignore Schema.org and that early adopters would see the biggest return.  Well it’s been nearly two years since Schema.org’s big debut at SMX Advanced 2011 and guess what…it’s is only becoming more evolved, more powerful, and a more important tactic to having content stand out effectively in search results.  Here are some really cool types of schema markups that are being used by savvy SEO-minded webmasters:

Recipes with Reviews:

Music Events:

Authorship (AOL Ranking for “Getting a Job at Google”):

In the past, there were many conflicting markups, vocabularies, and syntaxes when it came to microdata. Google and Bing are making a coordinated effort to use Schema.org as the uniform markup language, syntax and vocabulary. The good news is that Good Relations, which is a notable markup vocabulary used on many ecommerce sites, is planning to fully integrate to the Schema.org core so there shouldn’t be any need to do a massive overhaul of any previously implemented markup.

2.  (NOT PROVIDED) DATA IS ONLY GOING TO INCREASE 

Up until October of 2011, SEOs were basically spoon-fed invaluable data from Google Analytics. That all changed when Google decided they were going to “protect” the data of users signed into their Gmail accounts and Google+ accounts.  As a result, Not Provided began appearing in our Google Analytics data.  While it was a mildly roadblock for us SEOs, most of us weren’t kicking up too much of a fuss, mostly because we were still getting more than enough data to make educated decisions on which keywords to use when optimizing sites.

Then in 2012, Google extended their “privacy protection policy” to all users of the Google search toolbar, regardless if they were signed into a Google account.  Not Provided data began to skyrocket.  Many SEO’s have been faced with the challenge of finding the necessary information in order to be effective.

This ever-increasing loss of data was an undeniably very humbling moment for us SEOs. One adjustment suggested was to begin taking steps away from using ranking reports.  A an SEO at an agency, I really don’t know how we can ever fully get away from ranking reports altogether.  Clients might not need them, but they definitely utilize and want them.  So how do you minimize the importance of ranking reports, which for so long have been the building block upon which we rationalize the need for our services? One good idea thrown out there was to make keyword strategy less about non-branded keywords and more about developing a brand that identifies with a product type or service.  Zappos does this with shoes.  Jacuzzi does this with spas. Pampers with baby diapers. The wonderful thing is that even if you’re a company with a small advertising budget for branding, you can make use of your social media profiles to get your content and name out there, which segues me to my last takeaway – REL=Authorship and Social Media.

3.  REL=AUTHORSHIP & RESPONSIVE WEB DESIGN 

Matt Cutts, the head of Webspam at Google, and his counterpart at Bing, Duane Forrester, both consented that their respective search engines are really studying how search results are affected by authoritative and influential person’s/brands/communities content.  The rel=author tags are important for two reasons.  First, It allows companies to verify all their Google+, which gives Google better insight to the communities you are part of and where you exist online.  Secondly, the tag creates off portal to all a user’s previously written content (see below).  Based on the social mentions that your content receives and its connection to various branded social profiles, Google can begin to really understand how authoritative you are to your various circles.

“Responsive Web Design” was another buzzword regularly spoken by these two panelists.  With the advent of smartphones and tablets, search is being conducted on many non-desktop devices.  Having a site that can respond to the various devices will be crucial to improving behavioral metrics (time spent on a page, bounce rate, conversions) associated with improved rankings.

 Here’s an example of Wpromote when the site is opened on a desktop browser.  Now see how it’s design layout changes as you make the browser window the size of mobile browser.

The post 3 SEO Takeaways from SMX West 2013 appeared first on The Wpromoter.

In other words, any capable professional in any specific business has one or two tricks up their sleeve that enable them to make their jobs (and thus, their lives) easier. And being a search marketer is not any different. In fact one of the first things any good marketer who works in the SEO or content marketing space should familiarize themselves with is the use of basic Google operators so they can drill down into a website with a minimal amount of third party tools.

For example: if you wanted to quickly and easily tell a person how many pages of their website are in the google index and how they are being displayed you would simply punch this simple command into google:

site:wpromote.com

and Google would hand you back something like so:

A working knowledge of Google operators is useful for everyone who operates in the online space. From public relations professionals looking for specific journalists, to SEO professionals checking indexation, to content marketers looking to take inventory of how big a conversation is online, these are extremly useful little commands and they can make your life a lot easier if you know how to use them.

It was for just that reason that we’ve put together a cheat sheet of our favorite Google operators that we use on a day-to-day basis here at Wpromote, and even some real world applications that you can apply to your business or marketing efforts if you are so inclined.

Like this? Why bother bookmarking it? Seriously, just copy this code and put it on your own site.

<a href="http://www.wpromote.com/blog/seo/google-operators-infographic/"><img src="http://www.wpromote.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Operators-Cheat-Sheet-Branded-5-7-2013.png" alt="Google Operators cheat Sheet infographic, from Wpromote" height="3273" width="600" border="0" /></a><br />Presented By <a href="http://www.wpromote.com/">Wpromote</a>
 
 
 

The post A Content Marketers Guide to Google Operators (Cheat Sheet) appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Google News

• Google Analytics Now Offers Real-Time Goal Conversion Report – Google Analytics now offers the ability to see real-time conversion goals, and can be sorted by number of conversions and drilled down to specific segments. Computed engagement goals aren’t available in real-time, however, and are still found in the standard reports.

• Possible Google Update Underway – According to webmasters on Webmaster World and elsewhere, they’re noticing significant shifts in the SERPS for their tracked keywords, denoting an update might be underway. Hopefully we’ll learn more in the coming days.
• Don’t Worry Too Much about Google Patents, Says Cutts – In a recent video, Matt Cutts said that there are “a lot of interesting ideas” in regards to patents, and while there is a lot of stuff in patents usually acquired by Google, “don’t take it as an automatic golden truth that we are doing any particular thing mentioned in a patent.”
• YouTube Could Launch Premium Channels – According to a report in the Financial Times, YouTube will soon launch premium channels requiring a monthly subscription that could start at $1.99 a month. In response to the report, YouTube told Mashable that they are indeed “looking into creating a subscription platform that could bring even more great content to YouTube for our users.” No word on when this service will launch, however.
• Press Release Links Do Work in Google, According to Test – According to a story on Search Engine Land, Daniel Tan created a press release with a link pointing to Matt Cutts’ blog using the anchor text, “leasreepressmm”, to test Cutts’ notion that press release links don’t work. A few days later, Cutts’ blog indeed did show up in a search for that particular term, putting to question the notion that those links aren’t worthwhile.
• Google Wins in German Antitrust Case – In a case brought on by German weather group Verband Deutscher Wetterdienstleister, in which it claimed Google placed its own weather results well above that of the group’s in search listings, the group argued many of the same search bias complaints brought on by other groups in recent months. The court rejected those arguments, saying the group was using the court case as a shield against market competition. This could have an impact in other, similar cases across Europe and the rest of the world.

Yahoo News

• Microsoft Extends Revenue Guarantee to Yahoo for One More Year – Microsoft has extended it’s revenue guarantee for Yahoo involving U.S. search for one more year, marking Yahoo’s first new agreement since CEO Marissa Mayer took over in July of last year.
• Yahoo Attempting to End Search Deal with Microsoft – In 2010, Microsoft and Yahoo entered into a ten-year search deal. However, according to Bloomberg, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been striving to end the deal, even meeting with former employer Google to discuss an alternate search partnership. However, the partnership can only be called off if Microsoft sells or closes Bing, or if Yahoo’s search revenue falls below 40% of Google’s.

In other SEO news…

• Tool Uses Twitter Data to Measure Mood of U.S. – A tool entitled Hedonometer.org measures what’s being said on Twitter to monitor the mood of the United States using the prevalence of specific words in people’s Tweets. It checks 500 words to test happiness or sadness, and goes back to 2008. The happiest days have been Christmas for the last four years, while the saddest day was this past April 15th, which was the day that the Boston Marathon bombings occurred.

The post A Smattering of SEO News – 5/13/13 appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Your local news station? Twitter and Facebook?

If you polled a cross-section of today’s “everyday” social media user, many would tell you that they hear about breaking news in one of two ways…

1. Twitter Feeds or Trending Stories – Twitter displays the top stories as they occur, or the stories that become the most popular whether via tweeting or re-tweeting.

Here is a look at Twitter’s current trending topics as of 8:40 PST, May 7, 2013:

Users watch this info intently waiting for popular topics to surface.

2.  Facebook News Feed – Facebook users read news from their friends’ posts in their newsfeeds. A quick “share” can spread this information rather quickly.

Remember these top headlines?

Quite a few headlines broke on social media sites before popular offline media outlets could even put pen to paper.

• Whitney Houston’s Death – Broke on Twitter 27 minutes before press
• Osama Bin Laden’s Death – A next door neighbor tweeted about the noise and didn’t realize it was the raid on Osama bin Laden
• Hudson River Plane Crash – Broke on Twitter
• Announcement of the Royal Wedding – Broke on Twitter

While social media serves as a platform for people to receive trending news—and fast—it can also become a double-edged sword.

The recent devastation that occurred in Boston had people rapidly sharing the news on Facebook and Twitter within seconds of the explosions. According to a Pew Research Center study, more than half of a subgroup made up of 18 to 29-year-old young adults turned to social media to find out more information about this catastrophic event.

Think about it… it’s kind of hard not to discover breaking news on social sites, especially if you frequent Facebook or Twitter daily from your desktop or mobile device. Avid social media users check the sites more than a few times a day and some are constant lurkers.

So what’s wrong with social media sites breaking news first?

Misinformation

Though social media can break news faster than any popular news outlet, it can also be the bearer of false information, and even worse, be used as a source for popular news outlets.

According to an article in USA Today, both the Associated Press and CNN reported false information gathered from social sites about the Boston bombing suspects being in custody. Seeing AP report the news, a local news station in Boston, along with other media outlets also re-tweeted the false information and it spread virally.

And yet another incident…

How would you like it if your missing son was accused of the bombings even though he was innocent?

Reddit had to apologize to the family after publishing information that a missing Brown University student was a bombing suspect. The misinformation prompted online searches and cast speculation, all because of one tweet that could have been thwarted with a few more minutes of research. The family had to cease their efforts of finding their son because so many people had accused him of being one of the Boston bombing suspects.

The Race

In a race to be the first to disseminate information, it seems as if the “need to be the forerunner” has taken precedence over facts. Because breaking information spreads so fast on social media sites, news outlets cannot compete, and as a result, some publish false information and do more harm than good.

This misinformation is also dangerous for law enforcement who are using social content to help their efforts.

The Boston Police Department relied heavily on Twitter during the investigation and even tweeted the capture of suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as it occurred in real time.

According to CNET senior editor, Dan Ackerman, “When you have a developing news story you look to Twitter because you can get a lot of information from different sources at the same time,” he explained. “You have a real-time feed of TV, local stations, and newspapers.”

On the flip side, Ackerman also realizes the risk involved when people “in high places” use Twitter to source information that can affect the outcome of an investigation.

Ackerman explains days after the bombing, “There’s a huge risk. We saw that earlier this week when we had some wrong people identified and people on the internet thought they were doing the right thing, but then you end up with somebody with their face on the New York Post and it’s not the right guy and you’re losing time and damaging people who are totally innocent.”

The Silver Lining

Though social media can prompt news outlets to publish false information, the sites have also become a platform for people to share their stories in hopes of gaining support from others.

I find it so amazing when I hear how ordinary people who have never even met can unite for a cause greater than themselves. Social sites have given people the opportunity to band together across race, nationality and social status, and fight for a common cause… the good of humanity.

Meet the Corcoran Family…

I read an article this week that touched me deeply. It was about the Corcoran family who was tragically affected by the Boston bombings. Celeste and Sydney Corcoran were cousins who had planned to meet an aunt as she crossed the finish line. The bombs exploded a few feet from where they were standing and as a result, the cousins suffered major injuries. Sydney experienced massive blood loss and injuries to her legs and Celeste had both legs amputated.

The family banded together and started a fundraiser to raise money for the girls’ medical journey ahead. A cousin started an account on GoFundMe, hoping to raise $20,000. She shared it on Facebook and since then the account has exploded to $725,315.00.

These courageous women have more medical treatment ahead but the love and generosity from complete strangers has astounded them and put smiles on their faces.

The world may be getting bigger, but with the aid of social media sites and the good old human heart of compassion, the power of human touch is making the world much smaller, a place where meaningful connection is no more than a tweet away.

See this page for information on the online fundraising events for the Boston bombing victims: 8 Campaigns Helping Boston Victims and Their Families

Do you trust the “facts” the news outlets publish? Where did you first find out about the Boston bombing?

The post Extra! Extra! Read All About It… On Twitter? appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Wedding Bug’s most recent Infographic takes a look at the interesting customs and traditions found in wedding ceremonies all over the world. Take a look and find out why it’s common practice to carry the bride over the threshold, or which color is the most popular for wedding dresses!

Check out the Infographic in its entirety, and feel free to share it with your family and friends.

The post Client Infographic: Wedding Bug appeared first on The Wpromoter.

Google News:

• Google Hires Chief Game Designer – GamesIndustry discovered a new title on the LinkedIn page of Noah Falstein – who formerly worked for Parker Brothers, Williams and LucasArts – entitled “Chief Game Designer” at Google. It’s not clear as of yet why Google needs a Chief Game Designer, but hopefully we will find out soon.
• Google Acquires News Summation Service Wavii – Following a similar move by Yahoo — who purchased news summation service Summly in March — Google has purchased news summation service Wavii for $30 million, roughly the same price of the Summly purchase. According to the company, they will be “using our natural language research at Google in ways that may be useful to millions of people around the world”. This natural language processing allows multiple news stories to be distilled into specific topics users care about most.
• Google News Sources Grow 15% in 2012 – According to a study by SearchMetrics, they found that the amount of sources used by Google News grew by 15% in 2012, and this growth was lead by Patch.com and HuffingtonPost, both of which appeared in news results several thousand times throughout the study.
• App Developers Using Google+ Sign In Rewarded with More Visible Results – After launching a new Sign In service for app developers to allow users to sign into their app using Google+, Google is now integrating results from specific apps into search results if that user is signed in through Google+. The example shown in the article of Fandango shows much more information if a user is signed in through Google+ than if they aren’t.
• Google Allows Wider Geotargeting of Top Level Domains & Recognizes Generic Offshoots – Google now allows webmasters more options when geotargeting sites for specific regions. This is because the prevalence of once country-specific domains that are now used for more generic sites – such as .co, which once simply represented Columbia and is now being sold – is increasing, and some users who purchased .co sites, for example, would only rank in Columbia. These new features strive to alleviate that problem.

In other SEO news…

• Facebook Offers In-Depth Look at Natural Language Technology in Graph Search – In a post on their Engineering blog, Facebook went into detail discussing the natural language technology being used in Graph Search which allows for exact searches across an enormous amount of data. Facebook chose this method of more traditional keyword or augmented systems as they felt these systems were too limiting, and natural language technology offers more precise, targeted queries.
• According to Study, 46% of Searchers Use Mobile Search Exclusively – According to a joint study by firms Telmetrics and xAd, they found that 46% of respondents are using mobile exclusively to complete the entire search process (i.e. a search to a sale). The study noted that 50% of respondents used mobile search to begin the search process, but not to finish it. Furthermore, 60% of respondents expect businesses listed in local search to be within walking or local driving distance from where they’re searching.
• Twitter Self-Serve Add Program Open to Everyone (in U.S.) – Previously, Twitter’s self-serve promoted Tweet system was available only to invited users, but not anymore as of May 1, 2013. Twitter has also added enhanced tools to better analyze and manage their campaigns and allow for better targeting.
• Snickers Ad Campaign Targets Misspellings – In a creative move, Snickers is now targeting misspelled words and inserting their ad copy into paid results. For example, typing in “buisness” might show an ad saying, “Yu cant spel properlie wen hungrie Grab Yourself a Snickers”. Other words this works for include “vacum”, “amazin”, “wether” and several others.

The post A Smattering of SEO News: 5/6/13 appeared first on The Wpromoter.