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Search Engine News Roundup #1

This is the first instalment of our new feature, the Search Engine News Roundup. This is where we will bring you the finest articles/blogs, talking points and the latest news from the world of SEO and all related areas.

Your Guide to Google’s EMD Algorithm Update
Jayson DeMers – Search Engine Journal

To kick things off, we have one of the most notable events in SEO recently, the Google EMD (exact match domain) update, in conjunction with the Panda and Penguin updates, hitting some websites very hard indeed *cough* some of ours *cough*. Jayson DeMers of Search Engine Journal has written a full guide on the matter, including sites that were affected, and helpful tips on how you can prevent your website taking the full force of this update.

Google Link Disavow Tool: The Complete Guide
Dan Petrovic – Dejan SEO

Next we have new Link Disavow Tool, a new feature from Google giving you the option to disregard any links to your website that you believe are harmful to your ranking. Some are pleased with this tool and think that it is a great step forward, but some aren’t happy with it. It has been described as “creating a neighbourhood watch committee”, and giving Google less work when it comes to removing spam sites. Anyway, you can form your own opinion with Dan Petrovic’s take on the new tool, properly describing what it is, as well as how to use it.

10 Dead Simple Tips to Take Advantage of Google+ for SEO
Cyrus Shepard – SEOmoz

Straying away from the world of pandas, penguins and watch committees, Cyrus Shepard has written a helpful guide on just how to take advantage of the SEO opportunities available with Google+.  It’s basically essential to have an active Google+ account ( feel free to follow us on there, of course), due to Google showing more of its content in results, plus the fact that, as mentioned in the blog post, other social media platforms blocking access to content that Google+ doesn’t. The blog contains 10 tips for you to take into account, and use on your account, including optimising your tags, checking your circle rank, and networking with others.

What Industries Contributed to Google’s $37.9 Billion in 2011 Revenues
Larry Kim – WordStream

This next post, by Larry Kim of WordStream, showcases how much Google makes from Adwords and the incredible amounts that so many companies, and indeed industries in general, are spending on them. The biggest spenders were within the finance and insurance industry, which spent the princely sum of $4 Billion on Google ads. This post contains a truly superb infographic, fully detailing the biggest spenders, as well as the most popular keywords, along with their cost.

20 Stats That Explain Why Marketers Still Struggle to Measure Social Media ROI
Meghan Keaney Anderson – HubSpot

To wrap up this edition, we have the familiar world of social media. In this instance, it’s how marketers just can’t grasp how to measure or report the value of social media, or indeed it’s return on investment. Meghan Keaney Anderson of HubSpot breaks all of this down, and provides 20 statistics, as well as her opinions and views on the matter, all in this blog post.

So that’s your lot for the inaugural Search Engine News Roundup  I thoroughly hope you enjoyed and found the linked articles intriguing. If you enjoyed this post, feel free to share it through whichever medium you like. Twitter, Google+, carrier pigeon, we’re thankful regardless.