Dear seo news,
Over the past few weeks we have been thrilled to see many new sign ups for the StepForth Web Marketing Newsletter so I would like to welcome the new readers personally. I hope you find our newsletter worthy of reading everytime you receive it.
This week we are doing something a little different for the feature article. Instead of a tutorial or heady discussion on new tactics we are celebrating a milestone of 1000 postings on our SEO blog and we wanted to share with you our favorite articles over the past few years.
For those just interested in keeping up to date on search engines we comphensated by adding a third major player article (the articles that appear after the feature).
Thank you for reading and we hope you enjoy!
Sincerely,
Ross Dunn
| | | StepForth Celebrates its 1000th SEO Blog Post
Last year StepForth celebrated its 10th year anniversary as a company and today we get to celebrate another auspicious event; the 1000th post in the StepForth SEO Blog!
 Since 2002 the StepForth staff has been writing newsletters, articles, and white papers which if totalled would accumulate to far more than 1000 pieces of content but the StepForth's SEO Blog's inaugural post was published on August 20th, 2003; "Yahoo and MSN Continue to Grab for Google's Gold" by our previous in-house writer Jim Hedger. Not long after, on August 27th I wrote an article about the advantages of having a blog called "A Marketing Tool that is Difficult to Ignore." I was pretty excited about the whole concept of blogging and the obvious marketing benefits inherent to the medium. But little did I know we would actually see the day where we would break the 1000 postings barrier.
It has taken me a while to tell the world about our little milestone because I was in the middle of dealing with a newborn (a milestone of a different kind) so the SEO Blog is now a bit past the 1000th post mark.
Since our website has no way of publicly presenting the number of postings here is a snapshot of our Blogger interface with the current posting count:
Reflection is Inevitable
When thinking about how to write this post I quickly got lost in reflection when it occurred to me this was a great opportunity to ask our most active past and current authors what they felt about the SEO Blog. Let's start with our old friend Jim Hedger:
Ross Dunn: "Looking back what posts are you most proud of on the StepForth SEO Blog?"
 Jim Hedger: "The posts surrounding the Florida Update, SARS Emergency, and the posts about that May 2005 Google patent are the ones I think I am most proud of. It's really hard to say. There were so many and it was such a heady time."
Ross Dunn: "Do you have anything you would like to add on this auspicious occasion? :-)"
Jim Hedger: "The StepForth SEO Blog is one of the most frequently read and cited blogs in the search marketing industry. It is the venue in which I learned I could write and one to which I feel an enormous sense of gratitude and loyalty. I owe it and StepForth my career, a debt I shall never forget and can only hope to one day repay. I am proud my name is associated with the history of the StepForth SEO Blog and very proud of StepForth's accomplishments over the years.
"Congratulations Ross. I'm not sure you realize the debt the SEO industry owes you and the amazing SEO shop you've built. StepForth has consistently provided reliable and honest information to a sector that is in constant evolution. One thousand posts later, you're still at it. I wish you several thousand more."
Jim is always very gracious (overly in this case I think) and I would like to thank him for his many years at StepForth and his continued promotion of our web marketing services. Jim - you rock!
It is now time for Scott Van Achte to get put on the spot; Scott is the Senior SEO at StepForth and an invaluable contributor to the StepForth SEO Blog.
Ross Dunn: "Of the posts you have contributed what post comes to mind as your fondest?"
 Scott Van Achte: "Over the last several years I have enjoyed contributing to the StepForth Blog. I am not sure I can pick a single favorite post, but one of my most recent posts, "How to Optimize for Google" has received quite a bit of positive feedback and attention, which is rewarding. I think my favorites would have to be those that provide information that is truly helpful for readers, although the most fun to write are the strange and unusual such as the "Boring / Google Lawsuit" or when "Google successfully answered a question I had on the first try!"
Ross Dunn: "What would you like to say about this auspicious milestone?"
Scott Van Achte: "Its great to see that we have reached the 1000 mark for blog posts. Lately we have been putting much more effort into our news blog and its really starting to show. Having our resource reach this point with such a solid reader base is definitely make it an exciting milestone."
Ross Dunn: "In a year from now what do you think the StepForth Blog will be writing about?"
Scott Van Achte: "As we move forward into 2009 and beyond, I think the StepForth blog will only change in a minor way. We will likely still have all the same tutorial type articles, and latest search engine news, but we will probably have more content on areas such as social media and analytics. While we touch on these topics now, they will likely take up more of the spotlight into the future."
 Now for My Two Bits
To finish things off I would like to share the postings I wrote which I am most fond of:
- The 10 Minute Optimization was a huge hit when it came out in 2003 and helped a number of our readers get the rankings they need... that always feels good. I put out the updated version in 2006 (linked above).
- In the comments area of my Feb 2007 article "Yahoo Reinvents an Old Wheel: Paid Inclusion Gets a Facelift" Ask.com's then CEO, Jim Lanzone gave Yahoo a solid ribbing on the search engine's controversial re-introduction of paid inclusion. Not long after receiving his excellent and thorough comment I recreated it into a posting that felt very satisfying; "Ask.com's CEO Reconfirms His Opinions on Yahoo Paid Inclusion." After all, to this day I think paid inclusion should be a way of the past and it was wonderful to see someone with Jim's credibility stepping up and publicly criticizing Yahoo's questionable decisions... hmm Yahoo seems full of those are they not? ;-)
There are many more that come to mind but those articles above are definitely memorable. Other than articles, I think the most fun has come from working with a great team and experiencing the pros and cons that come with a readership; I had to learn quickly there was no way to make everyone happy.
Next Step... the 2000th Blog Posting
The StepForth SEO Blog has experienced a lot of wonderful growth over the years thanks to the talent and dedication of its writers and support staff so it does not seem a stretch to imagine a 2000th blog posting occurring sooner than later. All we need now is a new look and a fresh approach... after all, there is always room for improvement. On that note, this September StepForth will be starting its 11th year of business and in conjunction with that we will be launching our new website which will include a new blog format along with new services we have yet to post on our current site.
The future looks bright especially if the SEO Blog can keep the attention of its readers like yourself; which we will continue to try hard to do. Thank you for your support! We look forward to serving you fresh unique content long into the future.
| | Yahoo! and Olympic Medal Standings
Today is the first day of the 2008 Olympics from Beijing China and Yahoo has made it incredibly easy for us to track the medal standings. Now, when you perform a search in Yahoo for "Olympic medals" at the top of the search result pages you'll see the standings for the top 5 countries along with a "more" link to see the full results.
This year there will be no need to surf and hunt through various news and olympic sites as the medal standings have never been easier to find.
by Scott Van Achte, Senior SEO
| | Google Offers Free Music in China
Looking for free music online in China just got a lot easier - and its legal! Google recently launched Music Onebox over at Google.cn to try and grab a larger percentage of the search market over in China according to the LA Times. Currently Baidu is the Chinese leader in search - one of its strongest features is music, however, most if which is illegal. By providing a legal alternative Google hopes to snag some additional market share. According to a Google spokesperson: "We are launching Music Onebox to give users an easy and legal way to find the music they're looking for, and to give music labels and publishers a new channel to distribute, promote and make money off of their valuable music content." When visitors at Google.cn perform a search for music they are directed to top100.cn where they can download and stream music. Ad revenue on the site is split between top100 and the record labels and publishers. Baidu is currently under pressure due to music piracy issues, which gives Google the perfect opportunity to swoop in a grab what they can. by Scott Van Achte, Senior SEO | | Google AOL Investment Not Worth It
 About three years ago Google took on a 5% stake at AOL for a whopping $1 Billion. Today Google is not so sure that the investment was a good choice.
While they are not saying the value they believe the investment is worth, they are certainly not pleased by the past decision.
"Based on our review, we believe our investment in AOL may be impaired. After consideration of the duration of the impairment, as well as the reasons for any decline in value and the potential recovery period, we do not believe that such impairment is 'other-than-temporary'." Google noted in their lengthy 10-Q on June 30, 2008.
AOL apparently has also been looking for potential buyers - Certainly MSN and Yahoo have been in consideration, but one must wonder, that even if they think their $1billon investment may have been a bad idea, would they be willing to buy out AOL to keep it out of Yahoo and Microsoft's hands? Time will tell.
by Scott Van Achte, Senior SEO | The Net Reality: Brayden's Net Travels
In our industry (or any other for that matter), news about Google is usually worth noting. Considering that the search engine giant is now almost 70% of all search in the US (87% in UK), it's fair to say that what goes on at Google is 'what's going on'.
Yet, never one to rest on their laurels, Google is always looking for new rackets (aka markets) to tap into. Recently, they offered a $10 million challenge for developers to create the best Android application; one that will take some of the mobile communications market away from Apple's successful iPhone.
That's not all. Google Maps is now being offered to users on the move; and, Wikipedia's reign is about to be contested by Google.
What does Google have to fear you ask? Not much it seems. Though, they might be concerned about some Cuil search technology that is on the way.
In other tech news:
There is debate over how much life the mouse has left (psst 6.3 years); Esquire celebrates with E-Ink (don't you?) and then double dog dares hackers to break it; Firefox gets more social with Yoono; Microsoft launches a new search home page and offers more details on their mysterious globe shaped device, Sphere; texting jumps up the list of potentially hazardous activities while walking; YouTube is getting sued by Italians (mama mia!); and, it's almost time for the release of social network connector, Twine.
That is all for this week.
By Brayden Reger, Sales Associate | | Why is Summer so darned busy? I find it endlessly ironic that the most warmest time of year happens to be one of the busiest. After all, who wants to be inside when it is beautiful out!?!
Anyway, true to form StepForth has been burning the candles at both ends. Here are a few of the major happenings:
- We received a pay-per-click testimonial that will knock the socks off anyone willing to read it... think 600% improvement in ROI! And it just starts there! Great work Tim! We will be sending out a press release soon.
- Ross (that's me) is off to San Jose, California for the Search Engine Strategies Conference for video interviews with Ralph Wilson and the Big Google Dance. I will also be covering the show as a press attendee and hope to have some interesting news to share with you all.
- I just found out I am off to Florida in October to speak at the Scary SEO conference in Boca Raton; this will be a fantastic show. It is meant to be supremely accessible for all business owners - and the $200 fee for the entire 2 day conference does a great job of accomplishing that!
- StepForth is presenting free weekly web marketing workshops at our offices. At this time it is in person only but I hope to offer some free or low cost web courses soon as well. If you are local and want to enjoy free web marketing training give Brayden Reger a call at 250-385-1190 to sign up.
So there we are. There is more to share but I think our horn is getting a bit tired of being blown in this issue. Thank you for listening to a proud company and we hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter.
| | Sincerely, 
Ross Dunn, CEO
StepForth Web Marketing Inc. | | | | | | Top Web Marketing Articles from StepForth
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