Now I know a lot of our readers are hyped for this post after I promised in Part 1 that I would reveal search queries that would help you find .edu and .gov backlinks as well as dofollow blogs that you can comment on.

Well, after much debate I realized that I can’t exactly just give away all the secrets in the toolbox. As a result, the goal of this post is to open your eyes to the power of search queries by training your mind to focus on finding authoritative sites that are do-follow and will accept your comments. It’s now come time to unleash the power of search queries! Link builders of the world: Get ready, set, go!

In last week’s post I mentioned that good link builders had to consistently add new strategies to their link building mix. I was really surprised, however, to find out that a lot of people (especially clients) have very little knowledge about link building PERIOD; if at all. Even more puzzling was that this response wasn’t an anomaly!

It ALMOST seems like a standard in the industry…the mysterious link builder…hiding behind closed doors…where do they get all those quality links? How can I get some of those much sought after links for my client?

Ce qui suit est une traduction en français de l’article publié par Tom Tsinas: Google Vs Yellow Pages

Cette bataille est plus proche que vous ne le pensez. J’entends constamment que Les Pages Jaunes se meurent et qu’elles n’ont aucune valeur. Pendant que plusieurs croient que je jette un regard biaisé sur la chose parce que j’ai travaillé durant des années dans cette industrie, la même chose ne peu s’appliquer lorsqu’il s’agit de Google Analytics.

Google Analytics ne peut mentir, cela ne peut être biaisé et, merci mon Dieu, Les Pages Jaunes nous offrent un portrait différent de celui que nous présentent les soi-disant experts. Vous n’avez qu’à savoir ce que vous cherchez.

Are links your nemisis rather than a powerful tool?

In last week’s post I talk about 4 alternative uses of social media. Point #2 I mentioned in that piece talked about “generating direct backlinks”, though I wasn’t able to elaborate as much as I would have liked to.

Obviously there are many ways to get links from social media. One such technique is to establish profiles on various social media, and link from your profile on those sites, back to your web site. The key obviously is in knowing which social media sites permit links, and which permit DoFollow links.

I’m a stats junkie. I just love surveys, research papers and opinion polls, so its no accident that I enjoy sharing my finds with the our readers. I look for ways to use the information in order to assist our clients by incorporating relevant trends into our their online marketing initiatives. This is why I loved this new Burst Media Survey on consumer recall of advertising with a green message.

Essentially, the survey shows consumer recall of advertising with “green” messaging is high, with 37.1% saying they frequently recall green messaging, however they remain very skeptical about claims� made.

For more than 7 years now, I’ve been working with websites based on popular applications such as WordPress, Vbulletin and PHPnuke. When dealing with such popular applications, words like ‘hacking’ or ’security hole’ will become something that you’ll get use to either dealing with or worrying about.

In the last 2 years, there have been some major developing concerns. Today, Hackers are much more familiar with the importance of links and, since some may be SEO’s, are using hacking as a link building strategy or as a negative link building tactic targeting the ranking of their competitors. Regardless of the intention of the Hacker, your website’s ranking may be damaged to some degree.

Image courtesy of rapidsharecinema.blogspot.com

According to the ComScore figures, growth in paid-search clicks happens to be slowing down.  Is it because of the economy?  Is it because of the “R” word that is being used in the United States?  Don’t know, but there was still growth in Google.  Certainly it may not have been huge growth like the numbers we are used to being reported, but still almost 3% growth year over year is substantial compared to the losses evidenced by the competitors Yahoo and MSN.  Yahoo paid clicks went down by about 3% year over year and MSN went even further in the wrong direction by a note-worthy 12%.  It all really does make that 3% growth in Google clicks stand out that much more, and lends that much more credibility to their reputation.

I have Yellow Pages on Google alert and with the Yellow Pages annual conference titled “YP Industry Pledges Counteroffensive.” last week in Las Vegas, it’s no wonder my inbox was overflowing with stats, figures and opinions on its future.

According to the latest Industry Usage Study from the Yellow Pages Association, they are certainly aiming to overcome some of the mis-perceptions we have about who uses print Yellow Pages, how often and why. The most surprising news was that residents and businesses in many of the top U.S. Designated Market Areas (DMA’s) rely heavily on the Yellow Pages.

In his January video marketing piece, Tom Tsinas reminded us of the importance of incorporating images, audio, and video into our content. He wrote: “As search engine marketers, we all know that content is king and that content is more than just text. Images, video and audio each represent a fantastic opportunity to drive traffic to our client’s sites.” In this post, I’d like to share two examples that demonstrate how important that statement is.

It was my intention to blog on something else today until I chanced upon this article from SearchEngineWatch.com: 48 Practical Questions to Qualify Prospective Search Marketing Vendors by Marty Weintraub.

The 48 questions in question are both enlightening and informative.

And frankly, they should be information volunteered, not solicited. Run the questions around your agency/office and everyone from the receptionist to the CEO should be able to answer any one of them.