Google Breaks Unwritten Rule of "No Updates Around Holiday Season"

Since Google released its Florida update in 2003, they have kept an unofficial rule that they would not release any big updates like Panda or Penguin around the holiday season. However, that run ended this year with a series of Penguin updates.

The first round of Penguin was released October 17, 2014; however, since then, Google has released four more updates. On Nov. 27, Dec 2, 5, and 6, the world saw updates from Google for its Penguin filter. The releases in December have not officially been mentioned by Google but publisher reports make it pretty clear.

The Google Penguin update is Google's filter on spam. When a website is slammed by the update, it has to clean up its spam and wait until the next Penguin update is released to have a chance at freedom. If the site did what it was supposed to, then Google will lift the penalties.

In the past, Google has blatantly mentioned their path for avoiding releases like these at this time of year, however, someone decided that the move would be abolished… at least in 2014.

This certainly can have a scare on those who are not confident in the SEO abilities but there are no reasons to be afraid as long as you use common sense, make sure you stay on top of what is known about "Google approved" practices, and you take care of things.

Do you want to be ranked on Google with search engine optimization? Then chat with Integraphix and see how our white-hat SEO techniques are going to help your business be seen on the web. 

We are a Chicago SEO firm and have Los Angeles SEO firm, New York SEO company, Phoenix SEO company, and Charlotte SEO firm offices.

Square Has Made Big Splashes in Mobile Payment World & They Impact Business

Mobile payments are really gaining some footing here with marketers in 2014 and expectedly in 2015. With moves such as Apple Pay and partnerships with payment companies, mobile payment options are showing the business world they are worth taking a look at.

How does this relate to SEO? Square is becoming a main competitor for keywords such as mobile payment and digital money.

A leader in the mobile payment world, Square, is leading the charge and make a serious name for itself. What has the company done in the past few weeks to be so dangerous?

Square helped create vanishing money. No, not like a robbery but rather money transfers via Snapchat. Square partnered with Snapchat to launch mobile payments, called "Snapcash", which lets users keep debit card info within the app so they can send money between friends. As to the popularity of this feature, we are not sure since it launched very recently and understandably, there is skepticism about the safety with users.

Becoming buddies with Apple. In the past, it was seen that Square and Apple would be competitors since Apple Pay requires different payment systems than Square; however, that alleged feud has turned into a friendship. However, Dorsey, of Square, wants to build a payment device that can house all kinds of payment in one.

Going back to school, er, old school. One thing that is holding up the immense takeoff of mobile payments is the habit of swiping a card that consumers are still used to. Due to this, Square has decided to let its merchant clients sell gift cards to consumers; for only $1.50, merchants can customize gift cards to sell to their consumers. Why gift cards? Well, gift cards are still an incredibly lucrative option for businesses to invest in.

While Square may not be doing search engine optimization for keywords such as "mobile payment" or  "digital payments", they are certainly known for them and rank well for them, regardless. If you want to be known for words and phrases like Square is for those words and phrases, then hire Integraphix-- a digital marketing firm and be remembered!

How Does Your Timing Impact Your SEO?

So you've written a great blog for SEO and now you published it… the next step is to gain that massive rush of web visitors because of the post, right? Yes. However, what do you do when they don't arrive?

Well, my friend, it might have to do with the timing of your post. Yes, this does include at what time of day you hit "Publish" but it is also more than that.

1. Publish when your target audience will see it. Your target audience will have times of day when they will be more active online and thus, will see your post. In general, the weekday morning will be a better time for people to catch blog posts but that is not standard for all demographics. It depends on the sort of lives they lead, the work they do, the time zone they're in/you're in, etc. Content marketing is about having good content and displaying it when people will see it most.

2. Should you pay for promoted posts? When you post your blogs, it is always a good idea to share the link to them and promote them on your social media accounts. Some believe that you should also dabble with paid posts so more people see them. This can be a good move if your demographic allows it to be but it can also be a waste of money. If your post is happening on a time that is more dead for readers, then deciding on the timing of a paid post might come in handy (in addition to organic finds).

3. Utilizing your network of peers. You just wrote a blog about something and you mentioned some influencers in your industry. A great idea is to mention to
them that they can be found in your latest blog post; however, it can be ruined when you don't remember to do this until the last minute. Remember to give them a heads up! "Hey, I'm writing a blog in a couple days and you'll be in it." You know, something along those lines.

4. Backlinks. The timing of your backlinks will make a big splash or flop too.  This is not when you put in a backlinks according to a clock but how frequently you put them in your post. For one thing, a reader will not like it as much but neither will search engine optimization crawlers. If you put too many links in the post, then you run the risk of stuffing, which is no good.

The idea of running a good blog can be too much for some. Just take a deep breath and relax. If you have a blog and need assistance making it better, then contact Integraphix. We have excellent professional copywriters who can assist you.