I recently scheduled a visit to the eye doctor; I can't see two feet beyond without corrective lenses but I behold some insight regarding human nature and "customer" service.  I sought the services of the eye doctor because I had a need, yet the service provider exhibited horrific customer service, "misplacing" my records, making me wait over forty-five minutes (I arrived ten minutes before my scheduled appt) then wait another fifteen minutes in an inner-office room (the second waiting room), ultimately offering no sentiment of apology or recognition of the value of my time and as a patient (consumer), as if I was inextricably under the mercy of my circumstances.  I'm not; I changed doctors after my experience.

Nonprofit organizations rely heavily on donations, and online giving has been steadily on the rise in recent years, and still trending upward according to the latest figures available from Blackbaud Index. Online giving rose by over 10% in both of the 3 month periods ending in September and October 2011, in comparison to the same time-frame in 2010. Thus, online giving is beginning to demand more attention from nonprofit leaders, and it is only picking up steam.

Yesterday, I urged you to snippet good.  Today, I want you to realize the potential of abuse; try to detect and neglect it.  Not too long ago, great posts on improved snippets and implementing them using Schema.org were posted.  Perhaps many Web masters took heed, realizing it was not very difficult to implement rich ones, using a variety of available formats.  Google encourages the use of rich snippets, as they aid browsers in securing desired information.

The situation is well reported now. This past Friday, Mocality, an online Kenyan business directory, issued weighty allegations that Google scraped their database of businesses and attempted to sell their competing "Getting Kenyan Businesses Online" program to those companies they found while also claiming to be Mocality partners. Mocality founder, Stefan Magdalinski , alleged this poaching of customers and false claims of partnership in a blog post on Friday that immediately received attention across the web.

Do you host a large site, one with a multitude of products and services?  Are you a review provider?  Is yours a business-to-business site, offering listings to a host of vendors?  If so, it's likely there are many pages within your Web site.  That's great news, inviting more opportunities for commerce.  However, you want to ensure each page is getting deserved attention.

Kenneth C. Wisnefski, founder and CEO of WebiMax is pleased to announce that the company has entered in to a strategic partnership with AspDotNetStorefront, a leading e-commerce shopping cart platform.

The entire SEO community, along with everyone else on the Internet, has been awaiting the outcome of the Protect-IP and SOPA situation.  The controversial nature of the two bills have sparked debate that has been ongoing since their proposal and both opponents and supporters continue to wait until the final decision is made to either veto them or pass them into law.  In the meantime, any news regarding either Protect-IP or SOPA instantly becomes a hot topic amongst developers and the most recent word on Protect-IP could change one very important aspect of the proposed act.

The use of mobile phones, and by extension, the use of mobile internet is on the rise globally. International SEO experts are recognizing the increased potential for optimization in new markets with the rapid expansion of the mobile web. More and more people are using their smartphones to surf the web and thus creating more of a need for optimized content on companies' mobile and standard websites. New research offers insight into mobile internet use across 30 different countries, and I'll touch on the highlights for Asia, a region we haven't discussed much as of late.

Should my brand be using Google+?  That is a question posed to many SEO and online marketing professionals by business owners who are novices to online practices.  Coincidentally, I read a post this morning, calling social's benefit to business into question.  Google's social media platform is still very young; the passing of time will help us better assess its true value, but immediately, considering the platform allows for brand pages, it's another source for online marketing in the least. 

A new opportunity for SEO developers may be emerging through Foursquare.  The company has made some changes lately as part of their redesigned website and the all-new "Explore" function has potential to benefit advertisers, marketers and users alike.

Some people, outside of the online industry, shun particular gadgets and platforms, whether it's due to a technologically-inept understanding or a refusal to partake, to keep "private" matters private.  One can unabashedly share information (information ultimately available to whom?) or try to maintain a modicum of privacy in an age where people use the Internet as a canvas to illustrate everyday thoughts, emotions, plans, actions, etc.

Are you on team Edward or team Jacob?  Oops wrong drama; I meant, are you on team Google or team Twitter?  I'm on team "user experience" myself; I always had to blaze my own trails.  If you have been vacationing on Mars the last few days, there's been some talk in the SEO world regarding Google's modification to its Google+ social platform.  There's no need to reiterate a multitude of Google+/Twitter information you can read on the topic popping up here, there, and everywhere on the Web.  What I would like to call attention to is my disappointment as a user.

Low-cost high-speed internet is a recent development in France as communications company Iliad popularized the service through their cost-effective packages making inexpensive broadband a reality for many. Iliad has their eyes set on doing the same thing again, only now for the mobile industry. The new service, called Free, centers on a €19.99 plan that includes unlimited domestic and international calling, text messages, and data.

One of your new, enthusiastic SEO clients, especially one who owns a local business, searches Google for one of his keywords only to see one of his pages ranking very well. Only a week into his campaign, he frantically calls his project manager to relay the awesome news only to learn the truth: his search results are just that, his.

In recent months, Google has been running a series on their blog relating to search improvements they make every month. The latest installment carries 30 improvements, from more rich snippets to better spam detection with Image Search. Todd touched on several of the updates, particularly the "Megasitelinks" improvement, how it delivers more relevant sitelinks based on location, and how that impacts SEO in his post on Monday. Here I want to touch on the improvements that have further location-specific implications and are international in nature thus having significant international SEO implications that are important for developers to be aware of.

Google, Google, Google!  Are you trying to dominate the SERPs on such major search engines as...well, Google?!  There's been a lot of talk about the brand lately.  Buying links, being unfriendly to Twitter, hiding owner reviews…despite best intentions, some brand behaviors have been weighed and measured…

It's been an interesting season for online marketing and the search engine optimization industry.  As SEO practitioners closely follow the evolution of search, it’s becoming more apparent personal trends and social media engagement are making way into the SERPs.  Google, the most coveted of SEs, suffered a blow to its ego in 2010, a year Facebook received more visitors.  2011 stats read a bit differently, yet at this point, Google can't ignore the sight of Facebook.  Perhaps G knew it was time to engineer a "move."  Google did move into the social media stratosphere, offering Google+, its own social service, but now it's a lot more…

Following yesterday's post, I continue today discussing the specifics of Forrester Research's recent study on the difference in social media use throughout the world. As we'll see there are very real implications for international SEO and marketing efforts as a whole. I'll present information reported by Forrester according to the three main takeaway points outlined yesterday.

The news of Google's self-penalization for violating their own TOS has been making headlines both in and outside the SEO community, but despite the negative press the search engine giant has generated on its own behalf, there is good news on the horizon for Google.

I read a good post today related to clients and their respective search engine optimization providers.  The author raises a good point, pointing focus to a sometimes-divide in understanding taking place between clients and SEO providers, especially regarding "results."  Both parties have responsibilities to foster understanding.  Providers must illustrate the usefulness and effectiveness of services and clients must clearly relay expectations and areas of need.  Of course, it's an ongoing process; regular communication is always paramount in any kind of marketing campaign. 

Social media is both a domestic and intercultural phenomena as individuals not only communicate with others from within their same borders but with those from other countries as well. The fact that the reach of social media platforms extends throughout the entire world is one of its greatest leverage points. Internet users in North America only make up a fraction (13%) of the total users online throughout the world. As a result, there is much more web landscape beyond our borders than within, and the more in tune with what is happening in these markets, the better off companies will be.

If you’re currently executing an online marketing strategy to get the word out about your business, you’ve probably signed up for a Facebook or Twitter account in order to increase your reach. You’ve no doubt heard from many different sources that you absolutely must have a social media presence these days in order to reach potential customers. And while having a Facebook page and a Twitter account is certainly recommended, it takes a little know-how in order to run an effective social media campaign.

We don't hear too much about Web 2.0 anymore, so are we in a post-Web 2.0 era then? Well, it never really went away, only infused its principles and characteristics into the everyday functioning of the internet. Privileging participation and information-sharing, Web 2.0 proclaimed that users are the drivers, creating the content and directing the online landscape.

A lot of major brands are making noise of late.  Facebook is expected to release its IPO.  Go Daddy changed company heads and its mind.  Google penalized itself.  Now, Yahoo has made a new pal, Scott Thompson, the president of PayPal, as its chief executive.

At the core of any SEO campaign, there are keyword analyses that produce a firm understanding of the terms that all efforts are geared around. This is essential and always completed early in campaigns usually after client identity and objectives have been established. This process, however, takes on a whole new look, and degree of relevance, when dealing with international SEO. As companies continually expand their presence into new markets internationally, they encounter a whole host of new challenges getting across their message.

I read a good post the other day presenting a copywriting sentiment; great content does not guarantee links and exposure.  It doesn't, unfortunately, despite the time, energy, and hopes of some scribers.  But, solid content is still solid content; there's use for it.  Content production facilitates search engine optimization campaign successes, but you can do more with your information.  If you are a currently discontent with your content, consider composing a strategic plan of attack regarding ongoing production.

Search engine optimization and overall online marketing create exposure for your brand.  As online opportunities increase, savvy brands make appropriate decisions and implementations. For instance, if this was five to ten years ago, I would be unwaveringly blogging, beseeching EVERY business owner to develop a Web site.  That sentiment is old news; (I hope your brand has the main site!) today, I am passionately asking business owners to consider orchestrating mobile Web sites.

Do you think Facebook and Google+ would befriend one another on social sites? Google does a lot of things well; its search engine and paid ad platform are obvious examples. Google has enjoyed a lot of popularity and exposure in this century. Do you need to look something up online? Google it; Wait, ("Google" it?) isn't Google the brand name of the provided search engine, how did we make it into a verb? Google's savvy marketing is one reason.