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Why You Should Use Google Trends To Pinpoint Search Trends

Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

Since most keyword tools just provide average month search volumes, seasonal variations in search volume are too often overlooked. The Google Adwords keyword tool can be adjusted to show search volume by month, but Google Trends offers an easier and more dynamic way to view search volume trends.

These screenshots show how dramatic the difference in keyword search volume can be from month to month.

white elephant party
Search index goes from 0 to 30+ every December

boating
Search index approximately doubles each summer

candles
Search volume dramatically increases in Nov/Dec each year

chocolate
More searches around Christmas and Valentine’s

florida vacation rentals
Search volume jumps at the start of each year (peak snowbird and winter getaway season) then tapers off

Bottom line: Don’t forget to check a keyword’s seasonal trends and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly!

7 Free, High-Quality Magazine-Style WordPress Themes

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

While free WordPress themes are a dime-a-dozen, finding high quality themes that aren’t a standard blog layout can be tough.

One of my recent projects required me to find a magazine-style theme, which I found surprisingly difficult. Most themes were either low-quality, outdated, or not free. Hence I decided to create a post listing some of the better themes I found. These themes are characterized by homepages that utilize post images and present content in a way that shows more than just the most recent post at the top of the page, such as carousels or category displays.

Visoko
Uses a carousel to present featured articles. Featured Image ready.

GazpoMag
Great magazine-style theme with a custom rotator, homepage category displays, and post image support.

Pure Magazine
A highly flexible theme with options to display a news feed, carousel, featured posts, and/or widgets on the homepage.

Snips
Supports a featured content carousel and post thumbnails.

DotNews
Has a featured content carousel and supports post thumbnails.

IsoTherm

Elegant News
Homepage carousel. Feature Image ready.

Which are your favorite magazine/news style wordpress themes?

Are fake +1′s and likes the next generation of SEO spam?

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

First it was buying links. Now it’s buying “likes”.

Fake social media likes have existed for awhile, but since the launch of Google +1, such services seem to be more common. One company (who shall go unnamed, but here is my source) sells 2,000 +1′s for $169.99.

My favorite part of the entire scheme, though, is this little claim: “Buying Plus Ones can help your site out by showing Google that the content featured on it or the page being Plussed is of value to real people and not spammy.”

Let me get this straight. Buying spammy, fake +1′s shows that your content “is of value to real people and not spammy”?

Don’t make me laugh.

Is this the next generation of SEO spam? How well will Google be able to deal with it?

What is wrong with Google’s +1 button?

Monday, July 25th, 2011

Just read a thought-provoking post over at ClickFire titled Is the Google +1 Button Set to Fail?. The article presents some basic data showing that users are simply not using the +1 button.

I believe that this is because the +1 button simply doesn’t do enough for users. Users click the Facebook Like button and the Tweet This button because it allows them to easily share content (and their own comments) with their friends/followers.

The Google +1 button just “shares” the link to the +1s tab on your Google Profile, which I suspect only a very few users ever use/see. If the Google +1 button is going to be widely adopted and used, I think Google needs to make two basic changes:

  • Show +1 button shares in your Stream on Google+
  • Allow you to add a comment when you +1 something (as the Facebook Like button does now)

How do you think the Google +1 button is performing? Do you think Google should make changes?

Job Opening: Web Designer / Developer

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

We are seeking a committed web design professional to add to our team on a part time or full time basis. We are looking for an individual with strong design and coding skills.

About Us:

We are a young, small but growing marketing agency that is committed to offering great service and solid results to our clients. If you would enjoy working with an enthusiastic team in a rapidly growing industry (online marketing) this job may be a great fit for you.

Job Description:

You will be fully responsible for executing website design projects, including creating design concepts, communicating with clients, editing designs, coding webpages, and building out and uploading websites. You will be responsible for the design and coding portions of conversion rate optimization and other marketing projects, working with our copywriter and other marketing staff to implement changes and improvements to existing websites.

You will work from a home office (as does the rest of our team), communicating by phone, email, Skype and GoToMeeting with other team members.

Job Requirements:

To qualify for this job you should:

  • Have strong website and graphic design skills
  • Be experienced with Adobe Photoshop
  • Be proficient coding webpages in HTML/XHTML and CSS
  • Experience with Javascript a big plus
  • Experience with PHP a plus
  • Be able to communicate clearly, simply, and professionally with clients
  • Be able to work independently and meet deadlines
  • Have a strong web design and development portfolio
  • Detailed oriented

Preference will be given to candidates living in the state of Virginia, due to added complexities of hiring employees across state lines.

Compensation:

  • Competitive salary
  • Health benefits

Click on the link below to fill out our online job application.

Apply Now