Updating social media profile avatars, backgrounds and images is a basic necessity of managing either your personal or professional brand. Unfortunately it’s also the biggest pain; just when you think you’re all set, another social platform changes their design and your images simply don’t fit the new layout. (Yes, this applies to you, the OCD reader)

So, hopefully this nice infographic will keep you looking good. The helpful folks over at Raidious (Go figure, they help build brands) covers all the bases for you with the latest sizes and dimensions for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn & YouTube channels. Why these channels? That’s all you really need to help with your objectives and also keep it manageable.

Now go check your images and get something cool and unique in place.

Huge news day for Google and the search marketing world. Google announced their new algorithm called Hummingbird. The name obviously conjures up images of the small, swift bird that is impossible to catch. It's also a distant departure from the classic "black & white" themes of Panda and Penguin. 

Also interesting to note, these are not merely updates like Panda and Penguin were, rather it's an entirely new computing engine. A massive overhaul to the inner workings of Google's search technology.

This is historic in that now all the talk about creating exceptional content and unique experiences will finally be put to the test. This is no longer about pure keyword suggestions and inserting them in the right places. While on-page and off-page optimization techniques will still continue to be included in the calculations to determine rank, there are newer, other high importance factors included as well.

Hummingbird will help usher in a new lexicon within the search segment with terms such as conversational search, rich data, schema.org, The Internet of Things and the widely popular (yet misunderstood) semantic web. This is where things will get interesting for website vendors, dealerships and marketing agencies. 

Typical keyword insertion techniques on your webpages and link building activities outside of your website help Internet users find things based on the phrases used in the content. Nothing special needs to happen in your content - just keyword placement. Your organic ranking is the end result of the efforts made on your site, your competitors trying to rank for the same terms, the number of results indexed and other factors. 

Hummingbird's algorithm will now help apply the core principal of the semantic web to the text on your pages: Meaning. This algorithm is going to look for the meaning, or the context, of the words on the page and their relationship to each other. (And even their relation to other factors such as people - think Google Author attribute) 

For example, instead of just searching for Chicago used cars a shopper can use more natural, conversational search phrases such as, "Where can I buy a Dodge Viper for the best price? or "Which dealership can I finance a new car at the lowest rate? Google will now be able to apply meanings - or connections - between the words within the search query. Associating words such as buy, purchase and finance with words such as car, dealer and dealership it can determine what we mean, what our intent is and plus, they already know our location. Being able to do this enables Google to deliver us even more accurate content. Content that matches our specific desire and intent. That's the start of the semantic web. (Now do you see why it has been so important to get your website organized and optimized?) ​

This is where the challenge comes into the play. Say goodbye to the default, stale page copy your website comes filled with from the website vendors. It's needs to be so much better than that!

We use conversational search in our daily dialogue when we ask friends questions. We're also using it on social media. And Google wants our search activities to be just as natural and they want these type of questions to be answered with better content - creating an even better search experience regardless of the device we use or if it happens to be a voice search.

I believe this will be one of the hottest topics for the rest of the year and throughout 2014 as Hummingbird continues to improve and mature. Watch these developments closely - I plan on staying very close to this topic and intend to be a major advocate of this change. It's a safe bet we'll hear Danny Sullivan cover this topic at DSES next month as well. 

Stay tuned. SEO, social and content marketing - or as I like to refer to it - Integrated Search Marketing is going to become really fun again. 

Huge news day for Google and the search marketing world. Google announced their new algorithm called Hummingbird. The name obviously conjures up images of the small, swift bird that is impossible to catch. It's also a distant departure from the classic "black & white" themes of Panda and Penguin. 

Also interesting to note, these are not merely updates like Panda and Penguin were, rather it's an entirely new computing engine. A massive overhaul to the inner workings of Google's search technology.

This is historic in that now all the talk about creating exceptional content and unique experiences will finally be put to the test. This is no longer about pure keyword suggestions and inserting them in the right places. While on-page and off-page optimization techniques will still continue to be included in the calculations to determine rank, there are newer, other high importance factors included as well.

Hummingbird will help usher in a new lexicon within the search segment with terms such as conversational search, rich data, schema.org, The Internet of Things and the widely popular (yet misunderstood) semantic web. This is where things will get interesting for website vendors, dealerships and marketing agencies. 

Typical keyword insertion techniques on your webpages and link building activities outside of your website help Internet users find things based on the phrases used in the content. Nothing special needs to happen in your content - just keyword placement. Your organic ranking is the end result of the efforts made on your site, your competitors trying to rank for the same terms, the number of results indexed and other factors. 

Hummingbird's algorithm will now help apply the core principal of the semantic web to the text on your pages: Meaning. This algorithm is going to look for the meaning, or the context, of the words on the page and their relationship to each other. (And even their relation to other factors such as people - think Google Author attribute) 

For example, instead of just searching for Chicago used cars a shopper can use more natural, conversational search phrases such as, "Where can I buy a Dodge Viper for the best price? or "Which dealership can I finance a new car at the lowest rate? Google will now be able to apply meanings - or connections - between the words within the search query. Associating words such as buy, purchase and finance with words such as car, dealer and dealership it can determine what we mean, what our intent is and plus, they already know our location. Being able to do this enables Google to deliver us even more accurate content. Content that matches our specific desire and intent. That's the start of the semantic web. (Now do you see why it has been so important to get your website organized and optimized?) ​

This is where the challenge comes into the play. Say goodbye to the default, stale page copy your website comes filled with from the website vendors. It's needs to be so much better than that!

We use conversational search in our daily dialogue when we ask friends questions. We're also using it on social media. And Google wants our search activities to be just as natural and they want these type of questions to be answered with better content - creating an even better search experience regardless of the device we use or if it happens to be a voice search.

I believe this will be one of the hottest topics for the rest of the year and throughout 2014 as Hummingbird continues to improve and mature. Watch these developments closely - I plan on staying very close to this topic and intend to be a major advocate of this change. It's a safe bet we'll hear Danny Sullivan cover this topic at DSES next month as well. 

Stay tuned. SEO, social and content marketing - or as I like to refer to it - Integrated Search Marketing is going to become really fun again. 

Well, it's finally happening. Google has announced that it will stop passing along organic keyword values to Google Analytics. The values will not flow through as users are being directed to the secure version of Google. Even if you type in http://Google.com your browser will redirect you to the secure version. (https)

Why are they doing this?

Basically this does two things. It keeps the SEO's guessing and more importantly it puts the focus squarely on content. Google wants websites to be important with regards to the quality of their content rather than just the quality of the marketing ability. 

Some may argue a Google-conspiracy theory at work in that this will just push more activity to Google Adwords (Adwords keyword data will still flow through to analytics) and therefore help drive revenue. Hooray for shareholders if that's the case; Booo for website owners and those just relying on organic activity.

Keyword data will still flow for Yahoo and Bing - and I believe there is a huge opportunity for many sites to grab valuable long tail traffic from those search engines as well.

So. What should you do?

My first thought is to make sure you have your pages cleaned up and organized. Get rid of duplicate titles and description. Organize your organic efforts and be sure you're tracking your keywords and their respective pages within your software - regardless of who is managing the efforts. You need to know where you rank, what the long term performance of that page is and how it performs.

Are you creating individual content for that page? Do you have something different (something different than the thousands of other pages that have been created by your website vendor for the other dealers on the same platform?) 

Are you tracking the performance of the pages and their content? Here's an example of a custom Google analytics report you can use to easily track how your pages are performing: Content Efficiency Analysis. Be sure to set up your goal conversion tracking to track the form activity. 

Do you have custom tracking numbers on your pages? Track as much as possible. 

And lastly - Merchandise as best as possible. You're still going to drive valuable traffic to your site, so make it all worthwhile for the visitors. You know the drill: 35+ photos real videos, price, location, phone number, history reports, etc. And make sure sure the photos are high quality, in a photo booth if possible with great lighting. This all comes together like a puzzle to drive results. 

Nobody knows for sure where the analytics reporting is headed, but we've known this day was coming. Maybe Google is done giving this product away for free. They have plenty of data; paid analytics could be the next step. (I've also said it for a while - this is the beginning of the Semantic Web/Structured Data...more on that in another post)

Don't be left behind and neglect the best practices for on-page optimization, usability and tracking keyword ranking with helpful search programs.

How do you see this changing your activities?  

Well, it's finally happening. Google has announced that it will stop passing along organic keyword values to Google Analytics. The values will not flow through as users are being directed to the secure version of Google. Even if you type in http://Google.com your browser will redirect you to the secure version. (https)

Why are they doing this?

Basically this does two things. It keeps the SEO's guessing and more importantly it puts the focus squarely on content. Google wants websites to be important with regards to the quality of their content rather than just the quality of the marketing ability. 

Some may argue a Google-conspiracy theory at work in that this will just push more activity to Google Adwords (Adwords keyword data will still flow through to analytics) and therefore help drive revenue. Hooray for shareholders if that's the case; Booo for website owners and those just relying on organic activity.

Keyword data will still flow for Yahoo and Bing - and I believe there is a huge opportunity for many sites to grab valuable long tail traffic from those search engines as well.

So. What should you do?

My first thought is to make sure you have your pages cleaned up and organized. Get rid of duplicate titles and description. Organize your organic efforts and be sure you're tracking your keywords and their respective pages within your software - regardless of who is managing the efforts. You need to know where you rank, what the long term performance of that page is and how it performs.

Are you creating individual content for that page? Do you have something different (something different than the thousands of other pages that have been created by your website vendor for the other dealers on the same platform?) 

Are you tracking the performance of the pages and their content? Here's an example of a custom Google analytics report you can use to easily track how your pages are performing: Content Efficiency Analysis. Be sure to set up your goal conversion tracking to track the form activity. 

Do you have custom tracking numbers on your pages? Track as much as possible. 

And lastly - Merchandise as best as possible. You're still going to drive valuable traffic to your site, so make it all worthwhile for the visitors. You know the drill: 35+ photos real videos, price, location, phone number, history reports, etc. And make sure sure the photos are high quality, in a photo booth if possible with great lighting. This all comes together like a puzzle to drive results. 

Nobody knows for sure where the analytics reporting is headed, but we've known this day was coming. Maybe Google is done giving this product away for free. They have plenty of data; paid analytics could be the next step. (I've also said it for a while - this is the beginning of the Semantic Web/Structured Data...more on that in another post)

Don't be left behind and neglect the best practices for on-page optimization, usability and tracking keyword ranking with helpful search programs.

How do you see this changing your activities?  

Most people may simply look at the headline and proclaim Facebook as the winner based on size and user base. Don't be so quick to judge without taking a good look at the key characteristics of both platforms. Grasping the differences can help shape your content strategy as well as the tactics used to connect with users. 

Notice, and understand, the differences with regards to the how users behave within these networks. Facebook has become a personal escape for many; checking in on your friends' activities, benign updates about their daily rituals and a seemingly never ending stream of game invites. Google+ has almost positioned itself as a place to escape Facebook and connect people with more related interests with their ability to easily build your Circles. 

The demographics also tells an interesting story. Facebook has more females and a younger user base while G+ skews towards older males. 

Oddly, the infographic below doesn't mention Google+'s Knowledge Graph, but it does reference Facebook's Graph Search. Both are keys elements of the semantic web, the future of search as it relates to adding more meaning to content and connecting personas with content for improveed search results. Still early stage stuff, but important enough to be aware of as it develops and user behavior slowly shifts.

Ultimately both platforms offer tremendous opportunities for dealers. Marketers need to continue creating experiences that enable social users to explore and connect within a deeper layer of the social exploration spectrum. 

Infographic credit: SocialAnex 

Most people may simply look at the headline and proclaim Facebook as the winner based on size and user base. Don't be so quick to judge without taking a good look at the key characteristics of both platforms. Grasping the differences can help shape your content strategy as well as the tactics used to connect with users. 

Notice, and understand, the differences with regards to the how users behave within these networks. Facebook has become a personal escape for many; checking in on your friends' activities, benign updates about their daily rituals and a seemingly never ending stream of game invites. Google+ has almost positioned itself as a place to escape Facebook and connect people with more related interests with their ability to easily build your Circles. 

The demographics also tells an interesting story. Facebook has more females and a younger user base while G+ skews towards older males. 

Oddly, the infographic below doesn't mention Google+'s Knowledge Graph, but it does reference Facebook's Graph Search. Both are keys elements of the semantic web, the future of search as it relates to adding more meaning to content and connecting personas with content for improveed search results. Still early stage stuff, but important enough to be aware of as it develops and user behavior slowly shifts.

Ultimately both platforms offer tremendous opportunities for dealers. Marketers need to continue creating experiences that enable social users to explore and connect within a deeper layer of the social exploration spectrum. 

Infographic credit: SocialAnex 

Backlinks are still a core element of any organic search results strategy. The key to mastering this activity is knowing the quality factors Google is looking for when they're evaluating the links they scan every day. 

Even if you're not actively building your own backlinks, it's still a wise move to understand the guidelines Google has created. Maybe you're looking to hire an outside agency to assist with your organic search results. If so, you need to be prepared to ask about their methodology to protect your dealership's website. 

Here's a list of 11 backlink types Google doesn't want to see. And if they do discover any of these activities happening within your website, you could either be penalized or even worse - stripped from the organic listings altogether. 

1. Google does not like paid links

Buying and/or selling links that pass PageRank can negatively impact your website's ranking in search results. This includes exchanging money for links, or posts that contain links; exchanging goods or services for links; or sending someone a 'free' product in exchange for them writing about it and including a link.

Do not buy or sell backlinks if you don't want to risk your website or blog rankings.

2. Google does not like excessive link exchanges

Exchanging links with other websites is fine. It happens all the time between websites. So, websites about electric or green cars can cross-link to other websites about electric or green cars and not worry about getting in trouble.

If the cross-linking looks unnatural (the electric cars websites links to a bike store and vice versa), Google might think that you're trying to build unnatural links.

Use common sense when exchanging links with other sites. If the link exchange makes sense for a human website visitor, everyone will .

3. Google does not like large-scale article marketing or guest posting campaigns

It's okay to publish your articles and guest posts on other websites as long as you don't do it in bulk. If you do guest posts just to get keyword rich backlinks, your website might get penalized.

Only publish articles and guest posts on other websites if you really want to contribute a valuable article.

4. Google does not like automated programs or services that create backlinks to your site

You've probably seen the ads for tools and services that promise hundreds (if not thousands) of backlinks with very little work. Don't use them. Ever. 

Avoid tools and services that automatically build backlinks to your website. Google is very, very smart. If you (or your vendor) found them, Google already knows about them as well. 

5. Google does not like text ads that pass PageRank

If you place a text ad on another website, be sure the ad uses the rel=nofollow attribute in the link. Google sees these as a manipulative backlink. 

6. Google does not like advertorials and ads that include links that pass PageRank

Simple rule: Always use links with the rel=nofollow attribute if you pay for an article or an ad. If the ad includes a paid link that passes PageRank, it might trigger a penalty.

7. Google does not like links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases

If your article contains paragraphs that look like the following, you might invite Google's spam algorithm to take a closer look at your website:

"With so many automotive parts stores on the market, if you want to have buy online parts, you can visit the best online parts store in the region. You can find the automotive parts you're looking for easily at our website's eCommerce parts store."

8. Google does not like links from low quality directories or bookmark sites

If you're submitting your website to hundreds of Internet directories that will never send you a single visitor, don't waste your time as most of them will be classified . These links won't help your Google rankings.

If a directory sends your website visitors, it's worth getting the link. You can ignore other lower quality directories. (Keep in mind, a high quality directory that doesn't send traffic to your site is still worth the effort) 

9. Google does not like widely distributed links in the footers of various websites

Some websites put keyword rich links to other websites in their footers. These links are always paid links and you should not use them to promote your website.

This doesn't apply to 'About us' or 'Privacy policy' footer links but to backlinks such as 'buy insurance' or 'buy automotive parts.' This is simply a no-no today. It worked years ago but won't float today. (It was also a great way to earn extra income from your website - I did it on my blog until the algorithm updates warned against it) 

10. Google does not like links that are embedded in widgets that are distributed across various sites

Some widget developers offer free widgets that contain links to other websites: "Visitors to this page: 4,723 - buy car parts"

If a widget developer offers you a widget to advertise on your blog, just make sure the links use the nofollow attribute. But you also need to consider the utility of the widget as well - is it really something someone needs? Or are you simply doing it to help boost rankings and/or earn a payout on it?  

11. Google does not like forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature

There are automated post commenting tools that can be used in forums - Google isn't a fan of these as well. The efforts need to resemble natural human efforts - not something that is going to generate 7,000 low quality links in 48 hours. That's simply not possible by even the most dedicated and focused employee.

"That's an awesome blog post with great information! Thanks so much lot!
Randy
buy online automotive parts buy car parts best aftermarket car parts"

Just don't do this. Google hates this. Avoid tools that automatically post your links to forums. It's really simple: Google does not like bulk links and they also don't like artificial links.