Google provides an abundance of products and services that simplify owning or managing a website. In addition, they have also made available several resources for learning how to use their products to the maximum potential. I’m going to break down my favorites and why.

“Google’s mission: Organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Google Analytics

There are two great resources for learning to become a Google Analytics power user, Google’s IQ Lessons and Google Analytics YouTube Channel.

Google’s IQ Lessons provide short, easy to follow videos using screen shots of the Google Analytics dashboard. It’s a comprehensive look at Analytics beginning with an introduction and moving on to more detailed features like creating admins, interpreting reports, and concluding with in-depth videos for more advanced features like advanced segments and event tracking. If you watch this complete series of training videos, you will be well on your way to being an advanced Google Analytics user.

Google Analytics YouTube Channel hosts a variety of videos ranging from 30 seconds to an hour long, including Q & A’s hosted by famed analytics guru Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski, a series of videos called ‘Analytics for Agencies’, new features and more. This is a great resource for both beginners to Google Analytics and experts.

Google Webmaster Tools

If video tutorials are how you like to learn, then you can learn all about Google Webmaster Tools here. The entire video is about 20 minutes long and it covers the basics like submitting your site, title tags and meta descriptions and also provides other resources for webmasters, this is a great place to find additional helpful Google forums, articles and more.

Google Webmaster Tools are useful for finding any errors in your website, seeing which search queries are showing your web page as results and more. Google’s Quick Start Guide breaks down what you will see when you log in to your Webmaster Tools account and offer a brief explanation and then a “Learn More” link taking you to an in-depth explanation of the chosen topic. I like how they have set this up because it is a nice refresher for those who have used Google Webmaster Tools before and it is also great for the complete beginner because you can run through the Quick Start Guide, and then go back to the beginning and go through each of the Learn More sections and gain a solid foundation in how to use Google Webmaster Tools more effectively.

Other Google Resources

Matt Cutts walks through some of the “hidden gems” of Google resources in this two minute video. He talks about where to find “Tech Talk” videos, all of Google’s Tech Talks from Google IO that have been digitized and uploaded, and “Reporter Center” which features short videos by reporters with tips on interviewing and tips on reporting of any kind.

For some insider info, subscribe to Google’s own anti-spam software engineer Matt Cutts’ blog. He maintains a blog rich with information and has also made countless helpful videos on YouTube.

Rebecca Derdoski is a search engine marketer for Internet Exposure, a Minneapolis SEO agency specializing in web development, web design and digital marketing.

To download this free SEO app, just search SERP into the app store and it is the application with the purple line graph. It only takes a few seconds to download and install, depending on your web connection. When you first access the app, you will be taken to a domains section. This is where you add your domain(s) that you wish to check the rankings for. Make certain that you enter the full domain and spell it correctly as this will affect the results given.

The next step is to add the keywords for your domains, you can have as many keywords as you want. The only problem with this (similar to many SERP checkers, is that a few mistakes are made, thus the results will not be accurate. From further investigation I have found that when searching for a result on Google (computer search) map results and so on will appear, this shows up as maps.google.co.uk. On top of that, there are a few occasions where domains will be repeated. This obviously affects the results, however the duplicates are shown next to each other and all that is required is to make a note of how many repeats there are and then take the off of the position which the app shows you.

Because of the mistakes that are present in this app, some may feel it is worthless and takes just as much time as counting your positions from Google’s results. This may be true on a desktop however the positions displayed on a mobile device are different to what a desktop computer would be. That being said, it is more accurate to find any repetitions instead of counting results that would be different on a computer.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, a reliable SERP checker has not been found yet. Although a close second is available on a mobile device, saying that, it is the users choice whether they use this app is it can provide uncertain results. It is a good alternative to checking SERP’s on a smart phone.

The tool is called SEO Site Tools and can be found here . This tool organises all of the information you could need and pulls the data from different, reliable sources. The different factors that are covered are as follows: External Page Data, Page Elements, Social Media, Page Terms, Server/Domain info and Suggestions.

To really get a feel of this extension you will have to use it for yourself, but I must say that ample information is provided and it is worth switching over to Chrome if your only concern is SEO tools because Google has those tools and browsing speed that Firefox can’t compete with.

Google has released a tool called Swiffy, which may be because it requires a SWF file to convert. Swiffy takes the SWF file you have uploaded and then the tool converts the file. It shows you the coding and the flash file next to each other so you can compare the two.

At the bottom of the page there is a link which sends you to your uploaded flash file in HTML, all you then have to do is view the source code and copy the script, your code is now ready to upload to any site you want.

I have already tested the HTML 5 conversions on a mobile device (iPhone 3 GS) and they do work, even the games that Google provide, I have also uploaded my own flash files. Flash games do work when converted but the more complex the game is, then the laggier the html version is for mobile devices. This may not be the case for phones such as the iPhone 4s, but unfortunately I have not had the opportunity to test this. Converted flash animations are quite fast and are only a little slower than what is displayed on a PC.

All in all, Swiffy is going to be of great use to all web design and animators, now their work will be easily displayed on not only computers but also mobile devices. It is only a matter of time before Swiffy becomes more popular and all flash files become converted into HTML for speed, SEO reasons and across the board usability.

We were all told that Yahoo site explorer was going to be closed down at some point, but it has come to a shock to all SEO’s of the world. Such a massively used and reliable tool is now no more.

Yahoo have said that Yahoo search has been merged with Bings’ Webmaster tools. For many toolbars such as SEO Book, this has caused a massive problem. Beforehand, we had the ease of viewing the amount of backlinks a page had, without even having to open up another browser.

What Is Next?

It is fair to say that Yahoo! Are finished and this site explorer integration to Bing was the last step. SEO’s will have to find a new source of information to base their research on, this will prove to be a difficult task, especially because Yahoo was free and provided excellent results. This could lead to many SEO companies having to go down the route of purchasing software which was once not needed but could now be an essential factor of any SEO business.

The integration into Bings’ Webmaster tools could prove to be a good thing, however this may not completely take off because it may be unable to include into a toolbar like it was for Yahoo site explorer. Fingers cross that there is something that can be done on the situation, because SEO’s will be feeling the burn of an essential tool being snatched away.

Twylah is an ingenious idea that has been long awaited. The site pulls all of your content from Twitter and organises it into topics which is based on keywords in the mini blogs. Twylah also shows what topics are trending with each user. According to Twylah, my trending topics are: SEO, Google, Facebook, Brand, Social Media and Google +. That sounds fairly accurate to me.

Besides Twylahs’ clever trending feature, it has much higher potential. I myself guest blog quite frequently, and have made a constant effort to link build to my Twylah page to help increase the worth of that site in Googles’ eyes. My Twylah page has a PR of 1, however I have also been link building to SEO Positive’s Twylah page and they have a PR of 3! This must be due to where the links are coming from because the SEO Positive page has a few links going to the page where as my laustinseo Twylah page currently has none. This must be due to SEO Positives PR of 5.

So if your Twylah page does have a relatively high PR, then you can begin to use it. The first and most obvious would be to link to pages that need more attention in terms of search engine optimisation, this is what would naturally happen, but also you could begin to sell a link going from your Twylah page, to someone elses and it can become an outgoing link service, all from your Twitter feed. There are a lot of possibilities with Twylah, and as your page progresses, its’ worth will increase.

How does it work?

If you want to enter then you must sign up for an account at both Search Engine Marketing Group (to submit your article) and Blokube.com (to help promote your article)When you have made both accounts you’ll need to write a bad ass article just for the contest, it also needs to be relevant to the blogging community, so any topics like: SEO, link building, social media or anything else that is similar as long as it is on topic.

Basic Rules

There are a couple of rules that must be followed if you’re truly bad ass. First off, all posts must be at least 500 words long. Your profile picture will be picked up through Gravatar so if you don’t have an account, go get one. You can have as many links as you want within your posts, but make sure they’re all relevant to your topic and no affiliate links. If you article is a link grab, it will be declined. Finally, on the day your article is submitted you must post an article, similar to this, on your blog, containing all of the sponsor links and so on. For more information on the contest, visit : http://sem-group.net/search-engine-optimization-blog/2nd-annual-bad-ass-seo-guest-blogging-contest/

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Browsers tend to come and go, but here is a list of those who seem to be staying put throughout this year: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari. All of these browsers have been around for a few years and have been upgraded quite a few times by their developers.

Google Chrome

Let’s take a look at Google Chrome. Chrome was first released September 2008, developed and released by Google Inc. Now in comparison to other browsers, Chrome is, metaphorically speaking, just a child. Children however, tend to have a lot of energy, and also tend to be more on trend than their elders. This reflects on Google’s creation perfectly. Chrome has the quickest page load speeds and in version 13, instant page loads are possible. A page that loads instantly is, in my opinion, astonishing, it really just goes to show how far technology has come along, remember when pages loaded from top to bottom at a snail’s pace? One row at a time, well Chrome is showing that in can load these pages instantly, in comparison there has been a lot of progress ma

de. In relation to it being trendy, Chrome has a very sleek interface and an expanding amount of themes, all easily changeable by the user depending on personal preference.

Mozilla Firefox

November 2004 was when Firefox first hit the scene, possibly the best time for any browser to join, as there were only a few real competitors in that time. Some of its features include tabbed browsing, spell checking, incremental find, live bookmarking, a download manager, private browsing, location-aware browsing. However a lot of these features are quite typical in browsers now. The only thing, I think, that makes Firefox stand out is its tools. Seen as Firefox has been around for quite a while, it’s had more time to develop tools and so on, so it is understandable why it has so many. A massive SEO tool would be SEOBook, this is an example of a tool that is exclusive to Firefox, this is one contributing factor that could lead to users.

Internet Explorer

Explorer debuted August, 1995. IE is the oldest web browser still running today. It is a typical web browser and has the same amount of features as any other. However Microsoft does own this browser and naturally it is set as any PC’s default browser. Additionally, Internet Explorer has a very simplistic feel. I don’t mean this in a negative way – it just seems as if what isn’t necessary isn’t there.

Opera

The Opera browser is also one of the oldest browsers (not as old as IE though!), released in December, 1996. Again like most web browsers it has the tabbed browsing, and other popular features, like private browsing, a bookmarking bar and so on. However something unique about Opera is its speed dial feature. For those who are not familiar with this tool, users have the ability to add up to around 25 links, this makes access to your favourite and most used sites easier than some other browsers, and this speed dial feature opens every time the browser or a new tab is opened up. Chrome has a similar feature however it gives off a completely different feel and experience, due to the layout and general processes that are used.

Safari

Apple runs the Safari browser, and to no surprise it follows the same layout and schemes as their other software. This platform is very similar to Internet Explorer, the only real variance between them being the obvious differences between a mac and a PC – just a few minor tweaks here and there and also, of course, visual differences.

The SEO point of view

Being a part of SEO Positive obviously makes it easy to gauge an SEO opinion on browsers. I’ve found that all of my colleagues are using Firefox. In all fairness, Firefox is not particularly slow, and it does have tools that are essential to the work of SEO consultants. SEOBook is the main tool that my colleagues use, the reason for this is that it shows the vital statistics of each site visited, ie page ranking, different types of page links to the site and the page you are on, as well as other handy elements such as Alexa ranking. All of these things are vital for those who use SEO.

The Social Media Marketing point of view

I personally deal with Social Media Marketing quite intensely. Aspects of SEO and other variants of SEM do come in to my field from time to time, but my main focus would be on Social Media integration. Now the time that a webpage takes to load is very important for me; I use the internet about 75% of the time I work which is why I need a fast browser. If a page is loading slowly, then it cuts into my productivity. Also I use multiple sites for bookmarking, networking and blogging. So a toolbar that clearly displays each website is vital and will help me navigate through the sites that I am active on. For these reasons I have chosen to use Chrome. It matches what I require and I have never experienced a problem.

The public’s opinion

I know that there are a lot of polls and so on regarding this topic. I have conducted my own using Twitter, Warrior Forum and Linkedin. What I have found is that the majority are using Chrome and the rest are on Firefox. Chrome is being used mainly for things like the speed of the browser and its instant Google Search option, along with the bookmarks toolbar and the general appeal of the layout. Firefox users tend to be drawn in by the multitude of tools, the rest of the features are quite typical but this factor will sway them. Also I have found a lot of people don’t like to use Google due to their algorithms, it seems people have developed paranoia about Google “watching” them. I disagree with this; it is fair to say algorithms are used to show targeted ads for the user. However it is a program that pretty much picks up keywords, it is not a case of an actual person sitting and reading your mail or reviewing your history. Google doesn’t scare me in that sense.

Global Usage

Statcounter’s statistics, show that Internet explorer is the most used browser, worldwide, followed by Firefox then Chrome, then Safari and lastly Opera. However the only browser that is receiving an increase in users is Chrome. Firefox and Internet Explorer are decreasing significantly, whereas Opera and Safari have had the same amount of users for at least 3 years.

Conclusion

It seems that, for now, Internet Explorer and Firefox remain at the top of the tree. However, in the foreseeable future, I imagine users of all current browsers converting to Chrome. Meaning that the amount of people using Chrome will increase, and as a result of this all competing browsers will suffer a decrease.

Twitter Followers

I start with the example of Twitter, possibly my favourite to defend my view. The whole point of Twitter is to share information with others (your followers) and receive information (from the people you’re following), that is fairly self-explanatory. So if you pay for thousands of followers this could mean your status updates are being received by people who don’t actually care what you have to say, or you as a tweeter, have no interest in them. This clearly defeats the object of Twitter, plus, it is not like you can gain any SEO advantage from purely using Twitter, as all the links are no follows, so they provide no advantage to you. The only benefit I can see from purchasing followers is it looks impressive, however if someone was to look at the followers list, then it is clear to see that they are all fake, probably down to the fact all the pictures are all eggs and they have not tweeted much. So even the fact that you have a colossal amount of followers could well serve to be a downfall as it is obvious when companies have paid for followers.

Facebook Likes

With regards to Facebook Likes, the system is very similar to Twitter. Facebook Likes only make your page appear to be more developed than it already is, but again if some research is done into the  page, then you can tell from how many other pages that they have liked that is has obviously been paid for.

Google +1′s

Finally I come to Google’s +1 feature. Currently you cannot see who has +1’d a page, however in the future once Google + is fully operational this will no longer be a concern. On a positive note, the +1 button does have some SEO factors and it does help with SERPs. It is expected that the magnitude of the +1 button regarding SEO will increase.

In conclusion, the money you will end up spending on followers, likes and +1’s is definitely not worth the benefit of having a higher number displayed under your name or page, it could be completely pointless and could do more bad than good. A suggestion would be to put as much effort into your social networking pages as you would money for real results.