The world of SEO Las Vegas and SEM are constantly evolving and changing. Just like any industry, businesses must adapt to keep up with this changing market. One change Google has made in the past few years is adding a Google certification test. This Google Certification test tests individuals over a vast base of knowledge that is necessary to create intriguing and beneficial Adword campaigns.

I have recently taken the first test, and let me tell you it was not an easy task. I was not sure what to expect when taking the fundamentals test. I printed off a study guide, which turned out to be around 100 pages long. Even after studying and thinking I knew Adwords inside and out, the test was not easy. Nor should it be.  Google as a company is burdened with keeping a great reputation, and therefore needs to make sure they are only certifying qualified professionals in their services.

I have passed the first test and started on my trip to getting myself and my company Google certified.  Through the process I have learned an immense amount about Adwords and how to make the most out of campaigns, ad groups and display advertising for clients.  The program is formulated to inform and educate, and it does exactly like that. I now have an even larger bag of tools to help create innovative Adwords campaigns for future clients that will help them produce the greatest ROI . Las Vegas online marketing is constantly evolving and this is just one way Advise Media is keeping up with the changing market.

The non-profit foundation said it had “negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement” with Google for the next three years.

Some analysts had predicted Google would back out of the deal as it tries to grow the market share of its Chrome browser.

Mozilla relies heavily on the income generated by search partnerships.

“Under this multi-year agreement, Google Search will continue to be the default search provider for hundreds of millions of Firefox users around the world,” said Gary Kovacs, Mozilla’s chief executive.

Alan Eustace, Google’s senior vice-president of search, said: “Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come.”

The foundation said the exact terms of the deal would not be disclosed.

In its accounts for 2010, the Mozilla Foundation said it earned $121.1m (£77m) from agreements with Google, Microsoft and others. The Google agreement was thought to make up about 85% of that amount.

The previous deal, which ran out in November, was signed before Google’s Chrome browser had gained a presence in the so-called “browser war”.

Some internet monitoring organisations suggest Chrome has overtaken Firefox to become the world’s second most widely used browser, behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Many put this down to lavish advertising campaigns undertaken by the search giant across the world.

Chrome’s launch and subsequent growth has now put it in direct competition with Firefox, yet Google remains financially responsible for Mozilla’s survival.

But Whit Andrews, an analyst for Gartner, was not at all surprised by Google’s decision to continue backing the browser.

“What Google really wants is more advertising on the internet. It’s very simple. If it drives more ads on the internet, they’re into it.

“Google want the shelf space. There’s a shelf sitting there and they’ve got a product. The fact that the shelf is with a competitor, they don’t really care. The alternative is that another competitor gets the shelf.”

Firefox 9, the Mozilla browser’s latest incarnation, was launched on Tuesday. Mozilla said it was “30% faster” than previous versions – a problem that has been cited by many users switching to Chrome.

AC

By Kellen Kautzman

Google unleashed fury in the form of a…panda.

The Panda Updates, which are Google’s way of cleaning house and providing the most relevant rankings, have made it increasingly difficult for unethical SEO companies to rank sites well. Old, spammy link building techniques are providing less and less return. Ethical SEO companies turn to well done content, whereas unethical SEO companies turn to randomizing content.

Building links back to sites, whether those links are anchor text, Facebook likes, or the site’s URL, remains the integral piece of the Google rankings puzzle, yet Google has made it very clear that duplicate content does push rankings up effectively. There are two opposing strategies that companies are employing now to get their sites ranked in lieu of the Panda updates.

Spinning (Randomizing) Content

Low level links, those being links from randomized articles, duplicate content, and profiles, show the least traction. However, when done in masse, these randomized articles provide a short term bump, which allows many SEO’s the boost they need to show clients some traction. Spinning, however, creates soul-less content that really has no long term shelf life, which is ultimately its downfall.

Sites that rank well are those that clearly carve out a niche and are supported by off site pages that draw the attention of visitors by entertaining and informing them. Randomized articles rarely do this.

Quality with Video

Creating justifiably entertaining, informative, and media rich content, which by its own merit, draws the attention of the web visitor is the ideal method. Using social media sites like StumbleUpon and Digg to measure the entertainment value of a piece of content is essential, as is incorporating video into content.

Quality used to be a measure of the written word, now quality is measured by the combined impact of the media on a page. The words, more often than not, are simply the frame of the video. Incorporating the written word with video is the most intelligent and forward thinking solution to ensure high quality rankings and should always be associated with unique content to ensure that it indexes.

Taking one extraordinarily effective page and distributing that page via multiple social media platforms is the predominate way that white hat SEO is realized. It requires creativity, intelligence, and time.

Unique Content and Panda

The take home message is that the Panda updates are simply Google’s way of pleading with users to “make better pages”. The quality and popularity of the page (I.E. how many Facebook likes it is likely to get) is a solid indication of a pages likelihood of raising the rankings of the site it links to.

Powered by Las Vegas internet marketing company: ADviseMedia Group

Ethics: At Advise Media Group, our motto is Proven. Measured. Results. We’re not in the business of short-term returns. Our goal is to get your name and your business right at the fingertips of the people who need it, without resorting to the kind of “black hat” tactics such as spamming and Google-bombing that some unscrupulous companies might. Our track record and emphasis on ethical, honest practices has made us the leader in internet marketing, not just for Las Vegas businesses, but for businesses of every size, shape, and description nationwide, from Florida to Seattle.

Straight Talk: Advise Media Group isn’t going to bury you under jargon to make what we do sound bigger or more important than what it is. We tell you in plain English what we do and how and why we do it, and we value client input. Your business is just as important to us as it is to you, and putting you at the forefront of the marketing spectrum is what we do. We do this with targeted or “niche” keywords to make sure that your company is as well-represented on the Internet as possible, drawing potential customers with a real need for your services right to your door.

Professionalism: At Advise Media Group, our professional group of web content designers and writers is among the best in the industry. We even employ professional authors to ensure that your content is as clear, exciting, and well-written as possible. Our client retention rate, at 93% since our inception in 1998, proves that we place a high premium on professionalism and client satisfaction. This has made us the firm for SEO Las Vegas businesses rely on to get themselves in front of their customers.

So now that you know how to find a great SEO company to market your business, there’s only one name you need to know. We don’t deal in gibberish and we don’t make promises we can’t keep. The same things that matter to you matter to us, which is why we offer Proven. Measured. Results.

Advise Media Group is the answer for Las Vegas search engine marketing. Our skilled team of marketing professionals can not only get your business to the top of the charts, but we work to keep you there using targeted keywords that put your business right in front of the people most likely to benefit from what you do.

We also employ professional, published authors as bloggers. Who has time to sit down and tell everyone why their business is the one to choose? You’re too busy making sure your product speaks for itself and providing great customer service. Advise Media Group can help your business stand out with professionally-executed blogs that look great and are packed with information about your business and its benefits.

Advise Media Group also sets the standard for Las Vegas internet marketing with strict adherence to and belief in ethical business practices. An advertising campaign that spams potential customers can not only have a very negative effect on your business, but can put you right out of the market if the major search engines ban your business. Our carefully directed and targeted Search Engine Optimization (SEO) approach helps prevent this by putting you right in the eye of the people who are looking for your services.

When you need help to successfully and ethically market your business on the Internet, Advise Media Group has a reputation that is second to none. We work hard to ensure that you’re satisfied with the results, and we don’t make empty promises. Instead, we give you Proven. Measured. Results. Anyone can say it; at Advise Media Group, we’re out to prove it.

That’s where Advise Media Group comes in. We’re the Las Vegas SEO firm that businesses locally and nationwide have come to know as the premier search engine optimization and search engine management company on the Internet. We offer targeted SEO/SEM solutions to get your business in front of people who are actively looking for what your business has to offer, and help keep your business at the forefront of the crowded and extremely competitive Internet advertising landscape. Search engine optimization and search engine marketing are two critical pieces of your business’s online profile.

Our innovative approach includes an intensive knowledge and understanding of Internet  search parameters and how to get your company as close to the top of the search lists as possible, including the use of targeted keywords and “niche” advertising. With so much information to wade through, your customers may get frustrated and go somewhere else without ever knowing that your business exists or what it has to offer. We cater to all sizes of business and can give you an effective Internet marketing strategy for a fraction of the cost of a traditional advertising campaign, specifically crafted and designed to suit your business’s unique needs.

What won’t Advise Media Group do? We’re not in the spam business. Unlike a lot of other companies that will promise you everything you want and either not deliver it at all or deliver it in a way that ensures you’ll eventually be banned from the major search engines, we don’t make promises we can’t deliver, and it’s this uncompromising commitment to ethical marketing that has made Advise Media Group the leader in Las Vegas SEM for every size and kind of business.

So when you’re looking for a firm to manage your Las Vegas SEO/SEM strategy, don’t take chances with a cut-rate company that makes great-sounding promises that they can’t keep without subjecting YOU to unethical business practices. Let Advise Media Group show you the difference with Proven. Measured. Results.

At Advise Media Group, we’re an entirely different type of agency. We offer ethical search engine optimization, allowing you to target Internet advertising where it will do the most good without the spam. Our professional staff knows how to maximize your Internet options to get your message to people who are actively looking for them, rather than throwing spam into the ether and hoping to get a bite like a lot of agencies.

Our staff is comprised of Internet professionals who know and understand the Internet’s search patterns and algorithms and can optimize your company’s presence in the Blue Nowhere. We offer a variety of services, from incorporating consumer-targeted tags that people are likely to look for to high-quality blog copy written by publishing-industry professionals, to make sure that your business rises to the top of the search engine lists and stays there. We’ve been in business since 1998, and we can boast a client retention rate of 93%, better than any other Las Vegas SEO company.

We don’t like spam any better than anyone else. It clutters up our inboxes and makes it harder for people to conduct their day-to-day business. At Advise Media Group, we care about results, but we also care about making sure that the results you get are obtained ethically.

So when you’re looking to increase your Internet presence without the questionable practices some other firms engage in, don’t take chances. Not all Las Vegas SEO companies are spam artists, but no one else can demonstrate the proven track record and high quality of the results you’ll get like Advise Media Group. To learn more about us and how we’re different from the competition, call, click, or come by, and use your Internet advertising dollars to their best advantage, while leaving the spam in the can.

A few days ago I wrote what I thought was a tame, informational post. The post centered on SEO Best Practices for Restaurants & Eateries, which has been a topic heavily on my mind thanks to some new businesses opening up in Troy, NY with less-than-stellar Web presences. The post covered common areas where restaurant Web sites fail and some tips on what users are really interested in when they land on your site. We saw a good discussion break out here on Outspoken Media and on some other sites that were kind enough to pick it up. It was all very nice and lovely.

Then the conversation took a nose dive.

In the comments of one site we were lambasted (or…I guess I was lambasted) for our use of the phrase “SEO” in the post title. The argument was that if we really cared about business owners, we would have used a different term since “regular people” don’t use words like “SEO”. Okay, I thought. That’s valid. I can take that.

Only the issues didn’t stop there.

• We also received harsh criticism from a restaurant employee who let it be known that people who are actually working in a restaurant are too busy to worry about search engine optimization.
• We heard that SEO exists only to ensure its own existence.
• That SEO people need to get off their elitist pedestals.
• That you don’t have to be a magician to find a business without a Web site.
• That I’ve lost my mind offering these recommendations and that I should stick to using Twitter to talk about Twitter and leave the food establishments alone.
• That, once again, the post was just about my ginormous ego.

More and more it felt like these commenters weren’t just unaware about the place of SEO in business, they were actually angry with SEO and the thought that it mattered to real people.
Watching the conversation in the comments fall deeper and deeper into the gutter, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond. I know how to explain the importance of SEO to people who aren’t exposed to it. To people who simply don’t have the information to know why it’s so vital.

But how do you defend SEO to people who hate you and what you do? How do you prove SEO matters to people who want to scream that it doesn’t?

I’m curious to hear your responses. For me, I thought maybe I’d break down some of their issues. Maybe we can change the conversation that way?

“Real business owners don’t have time for SEO…they’re too busy running a business!”

If you’re not investing in SEO, you’re not running your business. You’re wasting it. Small business owners have always been notoriously busy. But somehow they found time to be listed in the Yellow Pages, to sponsor little league teams, to create flyers to promote upcoming events. They found time because they had to in order to market themselves. Without these promotions, they were invisible to their community. SEO allows SMBs to be visible to a larger community and social media allows them to do it faster.

Creating a well-structured Web site, claiming your Google Place/Yelp/FourSquare listing, and using social media to hit the virtual streets have been vital in promoting a small business. To not have a Google Place Page in 2011 is like not appearing in the Yellow Pages 15 years ago. Studies show that 76 percent of consumers use search engines to find local content, 56 percent of social networkers look for social company pages, and those numbers are on the rise. If you’re not there, you’re not in the game. We can’t eat at restaurants we don’t know about, magician or not.

“SEO is just people spamming Google”

With all the bad press SEO gets regularly, I understand why you may be holding onto this, but it’s not true. Best practice search engine optimization is not about tricks or manipulating users or engines. It’s simply about creating usable Web sites that real people can and will want to interact with. Regardless of how good the food is, small business owners still need a Web site to market it. SEO’ing that sites means making sure the site is set up correctly, that people understand where you’re located, that there’s content describing your services, and that people are able to complete the goal they had when they landed on your site. SEO isn’t black magic; it’s more and more marketing and usability. It’s what allows users to find what they’re looking for in a crowded sea of mostly junk. Do you want to be found by your audience or do you want to leave it to chance that they walk by your storefront?

“SEO ruined the Web”

No, it hasn’t. See above. It’s the shallow content and funny cat videos that have ruined the Web. SEO is what’s helping to restore order and to make sure your SMB is found alongside big brands. SEO is visibility in a crowded market.

“SEO means fixing an HTML meta tag and making people pay for it”

Yes, and being a doctor means handing someone a lollipop and smacking them on the butt on the way out the door. ARE YOU FOR REAL?

“I’ve seen SEO’d sites…they all look like dirty spam!”

Hey, if as a normal user you’ve landed on a site and been hit over the head with their SEO attempt – you probably were looking at someone who spammed their way in. Because a properly SEO’d site is like a piece of content that’s been properly edited – you’re not going to notice it. Nothing will stand out or look out of place. It will all simply flow and make sense that everything is appearing the way that it should be. When you notice SEO start to notice SEO is when there are too many variations of that keyword in the body content, when that headline looks like it was twisted and pulled to fit, or when you’re being pushed through a site instead of being allowed to walk through it. And if that’s the case, yes, that’s not SEO. That’s spam. And there is a difference.

“SEO doesn’t matter…”

SEO only doesn’t matter if driving customers to your business does not matter. If you don’t want to be found, if you don’t want to learn more about your customer’s needs, if you don’t want to cater to anyone other than the people who live on your street, if you don’t care if people know about your business. If you do and if you want that wider audience, then you need to invest in SEO and market your business. Otherwise, what are you doing?

For me, it’s frustrating to see people ignore their businesses by refusing to market it. It’s like blogging without understanding promotion. If you care about something, then, I think, you do everything you can in your power to make it successful. And in this digital age, that includes SEO. It’s also difficult to listen to people cut down what you do, simply because they think it’s something different than what it truly is (aka spam).

But that’s me. How do you defend SEO to people who think it’s unimportant and self-serving? I’d love to hear it.

Do you want to work in an office with dynamic, smart, very funny people? So did I! Here I am at Advise Media Group, and loving going to work, every day. More importantly, don’t you want to partner with skilled, intelligent people who will help you design a Las Vegas SEO campaign that pops?

I’ve worked in advertising and media over a decade. I’ve worked in “big” ad agencies, as well as taking a position as an in-house marketer for a large travel aggregator for five years. I’ve run email campaigns, done direct marketing, written employment classifieds, helped with the design of bus wraps and movie commercials, but my true love is always online. Creating targeted Las Vegas SEO and SEM programs is fun, and there is nothing like proving Advise Media Group can get the job done. Do you remember the first time a client told you “Thank you! Everything you are doing for us is working!”? I do, and I love being a part of a team who feel exactly as I do.

More background? I’m officially a transplanted Maine-iac (unfortunate name for people from Maine, but definitely preferable to the name for people from Massachusetts), but have lived and traveled many different places.  I’ve been to places like Uruguay, Turkey, South Africa, and Greece.  My major regret currently is not going to Montreal for one of the only two Formula One races in North America. I’ve been to 49 of the 50 states, and several U.S. territories as well. I speak a smattering of French, Italian, Dutch, Afrikaans and a little more Spanish.

Internet marketing is my passion, and I know firsthand how powerful a marketing tool it is. Choosing the right SEO & SEM company is key, and my goal is to grow business for every client we have. Online marketing is fun, effective, and we can show you verifiable analytics (you’ll have to provide your own opinion of whether you’re having fun or not.) If you are interested in working with a proven marketing strategy, and a company who can deliver results, call us today at 702-951-7581.

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Vitaly Borker, the New York business owner who became notorious last year when he claimed that outrageous behavior toward customers was helping his website rank higher in Google, faces up to six-and-a-half years in jail after pleading guilty Thursday to several counts against him.

According to the New York Times, Borker — owner of DecorMyEyes.com — pleaded guilty in Federal District Court to two counts of sending threatening communications, one count of mail fraud and one count of wire fraud. He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 16. Prosecutors say he should spend between five and six-and-a-half years in jail, but Borker’s lawyer expects the sentence to be 12-18 months.

Borker gained notoriety in late November when the New York Times exposed his online business practices, which included threatening customers and inciting them to talk negatively about his business because he believed it helped his website rank higher in Google’s search results.

Days later, Google announced an “algorithmic solution” that targeted DecorMyEyes.com and “other merchants that, in our opinion, provide a extremely poor user experience.”

Borker was arrested about two weeks after the original New York Times article exposed his abusive treatment of customers.

In court Thursday, Borker said that he “lost control of what I was saying at times,” and apologized “to everyone I hurt in connection with my actions, especially those people I threatened.”

If you are ever unsure about the standard of techniques that your SEO company is using, you should start asking questions. There are no “guarantees” in the SEO world due to the complexity of the search engine algorithm, so this is a big red flag for you to investigate your SEO provider if you have been guaranteed specific results. At Advise Media Group, we do offer free audits to ensure that your SEO company is performing at the level they should be, and that they are  using white hat, legal techniques. You can contact us at info@advisemediagroup.com or call 702-951-7581.

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