SEOmoz - The best one-stop-shop for all your SEO needs!

Over the last few years, the field of search engine optimization has come a very long way. While I do not specialize in the field of SEO, I feel that I have gained a strong knowledge of the subject matter through work on various online marketing strategies and personal interest. One thing I quickly realized, is that you have to be up-to-date and on the cutting-edge at all times due to the constant evolution of search engine algorithms, programming languages, CMS software, social media networks and a multitude of other factors. To stay ahead of the game I subscribe to numerous SEO feeds for the latest news, however I have always been a fan of one-stop-shops. That being said, I never really found an SEO software solution that I really liked, what I did find was SEOmoz.org.

This website could not be any easier to use. They offer a plethora of FREE tools for quick SEO audits, keyword research and web visibility analysis. While I realize they are not perfect and are a far cry from an in-depth SEO expert analysis, these tools are a great time-saving aid for beginners and experts alike. In fact, I gained so much time efficiencies using these tools that I decided to give their Premium Membership a test-run to gain access to some of their more advanced tools. I love them even more! Most of you however, will be perfectly content with the FREE tools offered to everyone. Try them out on your organization’s website to see how you rank and what areas you can improve on!

Why is this important to marketers?

I shouldn’t really have to answer this for you. No matter how good you are and what your reputation is offline, an online presence has become mandatory for success. It has become increasingly difficult to break out of the clutter, hence why SEO has become a standard practice for many organizations. For those of you that cannot afford an expert for whatever reason or simply have a small project of your own, I think SEOmoz is a great place to start.

Facebook “profile search” now open to the public and soon to all major search enignes!

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Individual Facebook profiles will now appear in search results.

What does this mean to you?

If you have your own Facebook profile, then you can piggy back on the high search visibility of the “www.facebook.com” domain to control your personal online brand. If I type my name into Google right now, my blog entires and LinkedIn profile dominate the results (other than the other Mike Kujawski who purchased www.mikekujawski.com years ago to make a C-class website with pics of himself, his dog, and his wife–he appears #1). Now my Facebook profile will be joining these results. So make sure your profile pics are accurate and up to date; and get ready for an onslaught of people requesting to add you as friends!

Google’s "Universal Search" and its implications for your website

In my opinion, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the toughest online consulting fields to be in right now because of the constant need to adapt to search engine algorithms. Just when an SEO firm thinks it has a good process/template in place to gain efficiencies from multiple clients , Google releases the Universal Search Algorithm and companies are going back to the drawing boards due to unhappy clients suddenly losing that prestige Top 10 spot for a particular keyword/keyphrase. Put simply, Google Universal Search is when a search query (using Google) brings back results that encompass not only Web pages but also videos, blogs, images, news articles, and other media available online.

I came across this article by Scott Buresh yesterday in which he explains what Universal Search is all about (the positives and the negatives):Search Engine Optimization for Google’s Universal Search: Back to Square One?

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It will be interesting to see how this evolves over the next few months, in the meantime, try the new Universal Search on Google for yourselves (be sure to clear your Google cache), let me know what you think!