Although most people never stop to think about it, YouTube is one of the largest search engines in the world, providing millions upon millions of video results spanning almost every topic imaginable. Just like content listed on any other search engine, YouTube videos need to be optimized in order to rank highly in search results. SEO on YouTube primarily centers …

Google’s newest search algorithm, Penguin 4.0, had SEO professionals talking, panicking, and speculating when it went live on September 23. The update has two major components that will affect SEO: scope, timing, and automation. Here’s what the changes mean for you and how you can play nicely with Penguin 4.0: The point of Penguin Penguin is Google’s initiative to combat …

Local advertising has now progressed far beyond the Yellow Pages advertising of years past. If your website isn’t bringing in new customers for your business, then perhaps you need to rethink your local advertising strategies. Increasing your search visibility in Google is one such option, but Adwords or link building campaigns may not attract enough customers to justify the cost. …

Google Keyword Planner is essential for ensuring your website ranks as high as possible in Google’s search engine results. It offers an array of tools that help you identify popular keywords and keyword phrases, allowing you to focus your SEO efforts. In addition, Google Keyword Planner will filter keyword research results to weed out poorly performing keywords. It can also …

Towards the end of last year, and during UAE Innovation Week, I presented about the future of search. One of the areas I covered was Google’s “RankBrain“‬. Google has confirmed that RankBrain is one of the top three ranking factors for search engine results placement. The first and second most important, not in order, are content and links. The third …

We’re excited to announce that as of today, the Sandstorm Digital content platform is officially AMP compliant. Over the weekend we’ve added support for the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) Project, which is a Google-led open source initiative that aims to provide mobile optimized content that can load instantly everywhere. As of today, all posts on our website now have dynamically generated …

When it comes to SEO, everyone is looking for a tip or tactic that could improve their search ranking. If your competitors are following best practices, optimizing their content, and gaining backlinks, small changes can be enough to secure a prominent position. Local SEO, whether for yourself or a client, is one area where simple tweaks can make all the …

In December Google announced that it would use HTTPS as part of its quality signals for ranking algorithms. Most people made the switch even though Google said it was a minor boost. Now, if you have both HTTP and HTTPS indexed in the search engine, the algorithms will default to HTTPS. Here are some of the rules to consider. Make Sure …

Last month Google announced the launch of their Google My Business API which supports brand developers in automating the management of their Google My Business listings via the new API. Manage locations for your business The API allows owners of multiple stores to manage their business locations on Google so that customers can find them, no matter what device they’re using. …

Google tries to be as vigilant as it can be in weeding out black hat SEO practitioners, which is one of the reasons why they update their algorithm on such a regular basis and also why they will penalize websites caught using black hat tactics, such as keyword stuffing or link farming. Black hat SEO is defined as any tactic …