Discover how Google Authorship can give your content a search engine boost in this basic SEO tips guide from professional SEO services vendor, The Search Guru.

You’ve probably already noticed search engine results snippets that look like this, where a picture of the author appears alongside an article or blog post that he or she has written:

This is achievable via Google’s Authorship markup. Markup is code that you add to your articles and blog posts that links content you create to your Google+ profile.

The benefits of Authorship are:

• Visual dominance: content that uses Authorship tends to “stick out” in the search engine results pages, which can increase clickthrough rate.
• Authority: content that uses Authorship sends signals to Google that you are a real person writing real content and not a computer program uploading content en masse.
• Buzz: content that uses Authorship can link to other content you’ve written in the snippet, which can build buzz, authority and increase traffic to not just your current article or blog post, but all content you’ve written that includes Authorship markup.

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Extend the reach of your message: blog writing tips that help you get double duty out of your efforts.

Let’s assume that, by now, you know what types of content your target market(s) want to read, perhaps by:

• Conducting surveys
• Monitoring the quantity and quality of comments on posts
• Measuring social sharing of the content

So, what’s next? How can you get even more out of your blog? This post shares two relevant blog writing tips and strategies.

First, add quarterly pillar posts that are timeless in nature to your editorial calendar, timeless being defined as: just as valuable next year and the year after that as they are today. Pillar posts should:

• Provide an in-depth amount of valuable information
• Be non-promotional
• Highlight your unique expertise

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Discover which five things your homepage needs now in this basic SEO tips guide from professional SEO services vendor, The Search Guru.

Your homepage probably doesn’t get the right kind of attention. In many cases, homepages are designed and optimized for the wrong audience.

As the most viewed page on your site, the way your homepage looks, acts and feels is critical to winning leads and sales. But how do you know you have everything you need? Continue reading to find out!

Refuse design direction and basic SEO tips / strategy from a H.I.P.P.O.

H.I.P.P.O is an acronym for Highest Paid Person’s Opinion. Too often, homepages are designed in accordance with the company president’s likes and dislikes instead of the likes and dislikes of business prospects and current customers. If you don’t already know what your customers want to see on your homepage, ask! Here are more specifics:

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Search engine usage statistics show a whole lot of searching going on!

Did you know that more than 200 million Americans will use a search engine this year? And that 84% of those will use a search engine at least monthly?

That’s according to an interesting report from eMarketer.

The report also concluded that two of out of every three Americans will take advantage of search engines by 2015. While search engine activity is close to reaching the saturation point, the report said that “search is one of the most basic and necessary online activities.”

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One of the new Facebook features integrates online and offline ad targeting. What does this mean for you?

Let’s say it’s a Saturday morning. You’re out running errands.

Along the way, you buy groceries, fill up your gas tank, shop at a department store and grab a quick lunch. At each spot, you use a loyalty card from that merchant.

Don’t be surprised if, the next time you log onto your Facebook account, you’re greeted with ads from those merchants. That’s because Facebook can now track your offline spending, too.

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Does using title tags well on your site make a difference in rankings any more?

Recently, The Search Guru did an in-depth analysis of top ranking pages in a particular client’s industry. As part of the analysis, we determined:

• which pages from our client’s site were ranking well for highly sought-after keyphrases
• which pages from its main competitors’ sites were ranking well for highly sought-after keyphrases

We then looked at those top-ranking pages in depth to determine what was optimized well on them – and, in 100% of the cases, the title tags contained the keyphrase being analyzed, in full or in part. So, this analysis supports the continued use of optimized title tags as part of an effective search engine optimization strategy, overall.

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Blog comment posting: how many times has someone told you that “it’s not what you said…but the way you said it?”

Turns out that at least one research study backs up that sentiment. And its findings can have serious consequences for businesses that allow customers to post messages on a company’s blog or Facebook page.

For the investigative Internet research study, a group of about 1,200 individuals were asked to read a news story about a new technology. It was posted on a fictitious blog, accompanied by fake reader comments.

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You’re struggling to grow your Internet business. Consider asking yourself what online business opportunities are right within your reach.

Perhaps it’s the economy… or where you are in the growth cycle of your industry… or the emergence of a new competitor. All you know is that your business isn’t growing as fast as you’d like. Read on for three ideas about potential missed opportunities and how you might capitalize on them.

Missed opportunity #1) Are you taking advantage of the ways in which people are willing to spend?

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As often stated by The Search Guru, Google rewards quality content. What is your online content strategy? You may be missing something important.

What exactly is “quality content” and what is your strategy to ensure that what you create is quality? Clearly, the best online content provides answers to questions the target market has and/or otherwise entertains, informs and/or engages its audience. It’s okay to have fun writing this content! It is original and clearly written – and that brings us to the main point of this post.

The best online content – and best content overall – is supported by a logical writing structure. This is true whether you are writing a step by step how-to piece on building a bookcase or a personal essay sharing the challenges and rewards you experienced as a caregiver for someone with a serious illness.
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Google algorithm change: Computerworld uncovers the patent for an update on the algorithm of Google News. How can this help your site?

Google News, launched in 2002, is now the largest news source online. This collection of news articles from around the world is 100% computer generated – in other words, completely reliant upon a Google algorithm that determines what news stories to feature, how to rank them and how prominently to show them.

According to The Atlantic, in Google News at 10: How the Algorithm Won Over the News Industry, Google News:

• gathers info from more than 50,000 news sources in 30 languages for 72 editions
• is viewed by approximately 1 billion people each week/4 billion per month, with 25% coming from people visiting Google News directly and 75% through web search

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