Have you ever thought about what happens to that lovely ‘contact us’ form you carefully placed on a website? You know, the one that you use for claiming a ‘conversion’ in analytics. I’d urge you to periodically review what’s happening to it, and become your clients’ best friend. (more…)
Some use the term ‘March Madness’ and when you look at State of Search, that could very well fit the description of our month. We’ve had the Tools Week, we’ve had events like Linklove, SMX, SES and RIMC and we’ve had brilliant posts by our authors.
That makes this months overview of best read and most shared posts on State of Search very interesting. Because there is so much to choose from! Looking at the top ten best read posts you will recognise a lot from Tools Week but looking more in depth to the most shared posts gives you some other interesting angles as well.
So without further ado: here is your reading list for this weekend 
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Google is a dominant force in the online world, we know that. It really is everywhere. With Google Streetview it is even getting in our streets and who knows where it will go.
Streetview is something which has lead to a lot of discussion around the globe. There are the funny images we get to see and there are the privacy issues for example. But Streetview is also an example.
In The Netherlands Streetview was an example for a project last September for the University of Wageningen. There over a 1000 freshmen made their own Streetview during their introduction week, using 500 smartphones. The result is “Student Streetview”, entirely made by students. (more…)
It’s the last day of the year. Wow this year has really been a quick one! But lots of it happened. In two and a half minutes Google Zeitgeist gives you an overview of 2012. Which leaves us with just the words:
Quite a few people of late have asked me what it’s like to branch out on your own and run a search agency. To me it’s very similar to playing several games of chess concurrently. You need to keep a constant eye on all things from finance and marketing to production, R&D and HR. The ever changing nature of search adds a level of complexity to it all that’s really quite challenging.
Now I have made a hell of a lot of mistakes along the way. Some people I backed way too much for too long and others I probably failed by not communicating effectively enough with them. Most of the mistakes I learned from (I hope!) and, as a result, tried things differently the next time the situation cropped up. I am a big believer that the right decision is a series of small decisions rather than one massive one as you learn things along the way that change your perspective.
Can you believe this, we started in February 2011 as a side project, a place where a few of us could ‘drop’ the content they wanted and now, in October 2012, State of Search is not only an award winning blog, it has reached the impressive number of 2000 blogposts. 2000!
Most of the 2000 posts are also not just any post, they are high quality content, content which helps the reader forward, helps the reader understand and helps the reader get a grip on their search and social strategies.
With now an actual editorial team in place and a total of 34 bloggers and counting this blog really has become a website to keep an eye on!
To ‘celebrate’ the 2000nd post I thought I would share some interesting stats and facts with you. (more…)
Time for a quick update on the development of State of Search! As you may have noticed in the past few years we have grown quite fast, both in traffic, number of bloggers, content and popularity. We have even won an award!
Now it is time to take the next step. And today I am proud to announce that State of Search now, next to a great team of bloggers, officially has an ‘editorial team‘! (more…)
Whatever you want to call it – task management, time management, productivity – sorting out the million niggly jobs that need doing both in work and in our personal lives can sometimes be overwhelming. This has been a huge issue for me recently as I am currently preparing to move to Sydney in a month while also helping recruit for a number of new positions on the OMD SEO team, sorting out my handover, making time for friends and family, getting excited about the Olympics and generally tearing my hair out. (more…)
Last night at the European Searchawards there were 15 prizes to be given away. One of them being the prize for best European Search Blog. The winner there: STATE OF SEARCH!!!
We are off course very proud of this award as it is a recognition from the industry for all the things we are doing. It is also a recognition for all the great bloggers who are on this site, so the big applause goes to the blogging team: Jackie Hole, Barry Adams, Louis Venter, Annabel Hodges, Nichola Stott, Sam Murray, Evert Veldhuijzen, Bastian Grimm, Kelvin Newman, Peter Young, Jeroen van Eck, Sam Crocker, Martijn Beijk, Claire Carlisle, Marcus Taylor, Claire Thompson, Carla Marshall, Jon Quinton, Michel Wester, Bryant Dunivan, Paddy Moogan, Ben Holbrook, James Murray, Aleyda Solis, Gianluca Fiorelli, Agnete Pedersen and Lisa Myers!
All the winners you can find below. We are partying this weekend 
. Next year the event will be organized in Barcelona, no doubt we are looking forward to being there as well! (more…)
As both a writer and reader of all kinds of blogs, I’ve been thinking a lot of late about the quantity and quality of posts that are out there, particularly within the search marketing realm. I’ve spoken a lot about the feeling of drowning in content with friends and collegues, who are experiencing the same sense of growing disinterest.
As connoisseurs of the SEO/digital industry, I think we all recognise that there is a ridiculous, possibly simply excessive amount of content being pushed out on a daily basis. And alas, all too ironically, a fair amount of it is written not because the subject matter is interesting but because people are just out hunting for links using tried and tested content methods. (more…)
There are many great posts on State of Search each month. So many you might have missed one! That’s why below you can find the best read and most popular posts on State of Search this month!
Technical SEO requires the right tools. Here are a 11 tools Paddy Moogan is suggesting you, you can use with description of what they are and do.
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Great post by Sam Noble looking at ways you can manage your brands reputations from within Google Analytics including the new Social Graphs.
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In this interview by our guest blogger Andy Betts Michael King of iAquire shares his thoughts on the ‘outing’ issues recently and the future of Search.
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Penguin has come and gone, and you are still wondering what do I do. You may be unsure where to target your link building efforts, as you are afraid that any links you may build can make your situation worse. Bryant Dunivan gives 10 of the maxims to use in future link-building efforts.
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Clarissa Sajbl takes us on a route looking at the psychology of online users to gain an understanding (in the deeper sense) why someone is visiting your website and what the motivations are for doing so.
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There is a lot of negativity going around in the world of search at the moment. Annabel Hodges has had enough and puts things in perspective. At the end of the day, we’re all in business. What we need to do is adapt, learn, have a mini rant and move and focus on the ££/$$/€€. Some seem to be forgetting them. Annabel sets us straight.
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Which are the fundamental criteria to take into consideration when you start thinking about creating a new version of your site to target another country or language? Our newest addition to the team Aleyda Solis tells you.
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Delving into the world of exact match anchor texts to work out what link builders are supposed to do post Penguin update.
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There are many many rankingfactors. This infographic clusters rankingfactors (not all of them, but quite a few) in major topics: Social, Backlinks, Author/Brand and On page.
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Google launches “Google+ Local” where you can find information and recommendations on local places around you.
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Google seems to be testing direct answers and sources in the SERPS showing all sorts of information. Another blow for websites? This resulted in the launch of Knowlegde Graph.
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Majestic SEO launches a new way of looking at trust on sites: flow metrics, which can replace metrics like Pagerank and Mozrank.
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Again the search industry is once again in uproar. Why? Because somewhere somebody took a wrong turn, someone else saw it and told Google. And now Google is upset.
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Happy New Year State of Searchers! I hope 2011 was a successful year for you all and sincerely wish greater success for all in 2012. May it be prosperous and filled with fortune.
Now.. onto the body of this post. My initial thought for this blog post did centre on New Year and Resolutions. Pipped at the post by a winning top ten list by Jackie Hole, I had to give my post a little more thought. It occurred to me that my resolutions are always less about change and more about doing things ‘the right way’. Think a ‘classic’ coat rather than an ‘on trend’ coat. There is something to be said for learning what works and sticking to something that will last! Think Audrey Hepburn rather than Paris Hilton. </Fashionspeak>
I’m not saying that change isn’t going to happen, nor should it ever be ignored. The opposite, however, is also true. Principles that work, techniques that make a difference, day-to-day methods should not be dropped after the latest hysteria or in order to keep up with the trends. My thoughts: (more…)
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