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By Ann Smarty – SEJ

Google Wave was officially launched in beta a couple of weeks ago and already plenty of people realize its potential usefulness.

I guess most of people reading SEJ have joined the party so far (tip: I got my invite by asking on Twitter, you can do the same if you haven’t yet), so I decided to start sharing my tips on how to get the most of Google Wave.

Today’s post is about using Google Wave for finding discussions related to your topic to gather more information, get inspired and track trends:

1. Public Wave Search

[with:public]

The first operator you should be aware of: not only it is helpful for discovering new discussions to follow, but also it is a must to use in combination with other search operators listed below:

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By Ann Smarty @ SE Journal

Have you ever heard about microformats? If you still need someone to clearly explain what it is about, check out Joe Hall’s post on development trends that will impact SEO.

Microformats look for a new way to format markup languages. Essentially, they offer a new standard for identifying important information.

There’s one really nice FireFox addon that uses Microformats to analyze the page content: “Operator” is an extension for Firefox that adds the ability to interact with semantic data on web pages, including microformats, RDFa and eRDF. It can turn really useful for spotting the essential microformats used on the page.

Once you install it, you’ll be able to see the toolbar that can be toggled using View > Toolbars > Operator Toolbar. (Useful tip: To make the tool hassle-free, find the checkbox in Options that causes the toolbar to auto-hide when there is no data on the page).

The toolbar breaks data found on a page into the following sections:

• Contacts;
• Events;
• Locations;
• Tagspaces;
• Bookmarks;
• Resources.

Here are a few examples of what each section stands for:

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Creating new landing pages for testing is getting cheaper. And scalable.

So there are fewer and fewer reasons for SMBs not to be testing their landing pages and sites to optimize conversion rates.

Testing landing pages has long been a preoccupation of mine, particularly because of the traditionally prohibitive costs.

Even if you use a design contest at a place like 99Designs.com, you’re still paying $300 – $500 for a good graphic look and feel. Plus you often need to pay about $100 for a competent graphics slicing shop to handle your job.

(Yes, others can do this for less, but you’re taking a few risks:

• Unreliable people vanishing with your money
• Getting crap code and being unable to evaluate that
• Getting an ugly, non-functional design)

And that’s just the first landing page – you need alternatives so you can test! A simple A/B/C split test (eg with three variations) could thus run you $1,200 -  $1,800 for graphics and code. (Assuming you start with completely different designs; if you just split test headlines or hero shots or calls to action, you’ll probably be able to do it for “just” $400.) ::Full content::

By Ann Smarty @ SE Journal

I already listed a couple of great Greasemonkey scripts combining Bing with Twitter:

This time I am following up with more cool Greasemonkey scripts for early Bing adopters: ::Full content::

By Sherice Jacob @ SE Journal

You’ve had your domain for a long time and it has served you well.  Today, though, you’re looking to expand your online business and the old domain just won’t do the trick.  You need something new, fresh and exciting and perhaps you’ve already registered the ideal name.

There’s just one problem.

Your old site has earned a good search engine ranking for your best keywords.  You’ve got tons of “link juice” to both give and receive – and you don’t want to lose that.

Keep in mind, we’re not just moving files or folders here – but moving an entire site to a new domain name without it affecting your ranking.  To do this, you’ll need two tools – .htaccess and mod_rewrite.

The following tips will work on a Linux/Unix server running Apache – which most web hosting companies use.  Before you start, check with your respective web host to ensure they support the mod_rewrite module and .htaccess. ::Full content::

Today, Microsoft released IIS SEO Toolkit Beta – downloadable for free through the Microsoft Web Platform. The IIS Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Toolkit helps Web developers, hosting providers, and Web server administrators increase the number of visitors to their Web site by making the site content more search engine-friendly.

This release is another piece of the larger Microsoft Web Platform strategy, which enables developers and end-users to build great websites, experiences, and achieve success in the Web ecosystem.

The IIS SEO Toolkit includes three components: Site Analysis module, Robots Exclusion module, & Sitemaps and Site Indexes module.

The components allow you to perform detailed analysis, and offer recommendations and editing tools for managing your Robots and Sitemaps files.

The IIS SEO Toolkit Beta will:

• Improve the volume and quality of traffic to your Web site from search engines
• Control how search engines access and display Web content
• Inform search engines about locations that are available for indexing

You can download the IIS SEO Toolkit by visiting the IIS Website.

Additional Links:

• Microsoft Web Platform Portal
• Scott Guthrie’s Blog
• Lauren Cooney’s Blog

So this question has been on my mind for a while now, “Are you willing to be Consistent?”  I mean really ask yourself this question.  If you are not willing to be consistent in your Marketing, SEO, and Social Media efforts, then you need to reevaluate your career or success.  Consistency, in my mind, is the key in life and especially in your marketing strategies.

So many times I hear people saying that they tried everything they could.  The truth is they probably were on the right track or at least on the path, but they gave up early and were not steady in their efforts.

Anything worthwhile and lasting with online marketing takes time and effort. Can we get results in a day or even a couple of hours?  Sure, but will these results be to our benefit and be there for the long haul, most likely not.

Just because I am writing this article about consistency doesn’t mean that I am perfectly consistent, in fact I am not.  But I have found in the aspects of my life that I am consistent I am very successful.  I, therefore, strive daily to be as consistent as I can be. ::Full content::

Firebug is one of the best FireFox addons I am aware of. While it is primarily meant for tech-savvy web developers, SEOs can also benefit from the tool and here are just a few tips:

Disable CSS style (via CSS tab) selectively: make sure search bots and people browsing your site with CSS disabled can access / see any page element. With Firebug as you mouse over each property, you’ll see a little circular icon on the left. Clicking that will disable the property, and clicking it again will turn it back on:

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Organic search engine optimization (SEO) is not a one time project, it’s a process. Similar to a garden, you must tend to it. Sometimes you have an existing garden where the weeds have grown over or nothing is growing. Sometimes you just have a section of yard you are going to rope off, till, then plant stuff in. Like a garden, organic SEO takes time and attention. It may be as simple as setting a timer to water or as complex as starting from scratch. Organic SEO is like a garden – if you don’t water it, it dies.

Soil Considerations

What is the history of the things that have been done to your website for SEO purposes?

Do you have pages chock full of links to websites unrelated to your company, where some of the website no longer exist or even some link to an “adult” website? Did someone hide a bunch of keywords the same color as your background at the bottom of the page? Maybe the site you are going to work on has commented out a bunch of keywords in the HTML code?(I know this is 2009, but some company, somewhere, has this on its Web site, right now.)

Sunlight, Rainfall and Other Factors

Traffic Analysis – Are there metrics on the company’s website? What kind of information can you gather from the statistics on what is going on with keywords, referrers, exit pages, entry pages, bounce rate, etc.? What metrics program does your company use? ::Full content::

Today, I’m going to show you how to rank for your localized keywords in Google maps in 3 easy steps. Aside from the obvious fact that you are ABOVE the SERP results, there are other advantages to ranking well in Google maps. Potential customers can instantly get detailed information about your company, and your contact information is easily accessible for those looking to take action now.

Note: If your business is already listed in Google maps, you can simply login to the local business center or your Google account and go straight to step 2.

Step 1—If you’re not already in Google maps, you can accomplish this by creating a new listing at the Google Local Business Center

Step 2—While creating your listing, you’ll have the opportunity to list relevant local keywords you wish to rank for. You may list them in up to five categories. You can choose from preselected categories, or you can manually enter your own categories.

The trick is to simply type in your local keywords so that you can better control the terms you rank under. Once you enter the keywords, you’ll be asked to complete a few more sections (business hours, payments accepted, user photo, etc.)

Step 3—Now, all you have to do is verify your new listing. You can do this either by mail or via telephone. Since the snail mail method takes up to 2 weeks, I recommend using phone verification. You’ll receive a call within a few minutes; just enter the code given to you, and your listing will be activated! (note: step 3 is only necessary if you are setting up Google Maps for the first time.)

Once you’ve verified your listing, you’re good to go. Just give Google some time to update. I’ve seen this update take anywhere from a few seconds to several days. Of course, Google doesn’t always show maps for every search. However, I’ve had a 100% success rate for ranking for my keywords whenever Google’s algorithm does choose to show the maps listing at the top. It’s a fast, easy way to get top search engine placement for highly targeted keywords.

Gerald Weber is President and Founder of Search Engine Marketing Group, a leading search engine marketing and web development firm in Houston TX. He also maintains an SEO & Social Media blog.

Author: Gerald Weber on Search Engine Journal