Twitter and the new RTs

You can now re-tweet without losing your limited response space. Twitter’s new feature enables you to display the RT, but retain your own character space. This will enable you to be more social with your users (and those your re-tweet). Adding a comment,...

Pay Close Attention to Google’s Mobile Friendly Alert

Have your received a ‘warning’ from Google letting you know about the mobile usability of your website? If you haven’t, then check out this blog post. If you have a Google Webmaster’s account then you may have received a notice from them over...

Google to Increase Mobile Ranking Signals

Pay attention to an important announcement from Google Webmaster Central. The key ranking signals will be adjusted in a month’s time to reflect the growing prominence of mobile friendly websites. Of worthy note: 1. More mobile-friendly websites in search results...

Banning semalt and buttons-for-websites via .htaccess

If you’re tired of seeing faux results in your Analytics reports and have been looking for a solution to ban the Semalt and buttons-for-websites referrals then here is the .htaccess code I used that worked to completely eliminate bot visits. # Block all http and...

Keyword Research – Choose Words Your Customers Use

Search engine optimization has long been the red herring of the web marketing industry. In itself it serves a haphazard function. Robust SEO strategies are carefully developed tactics executed within well thought out business plans.  One of the tactics within SEO is...

Measurement Key for Local Online Success

A number of local (and even international) businesses can’t connect the dots between marketing dollars and sales. That’s important to know, whether or not you’re making money, and how much. If you can’t measure your outputs (probably some form...

How Does Google Determine Content Quality Without Many Links?

Unfortunately, this video does not describe what its description suggests, “How can content be ranked if there aren’t many links to it?” We all know that Google is going away from using web links as the primary indicator of page strength (or at least...

Processing New Business Ideas

Everyone has the ‘next big idea’. But if you’ve ever watched Dragon’s Den (Shark Tank for US readers) you’ll notice a trend (or a truth). Ideas are worthless. Anybody can have an idea, but the application, turning idea into reality, is...

The Story of a tumblr Post and Wordsworth Bookstore

If you’re a small business owner and you don’t believe in the power of social media then here’s a quick story. There are few quaint bookstores with eccentric bookstore owners left in our city of Calgary. One of the last hole in the walls in the...