You’ve done your research, analyzed the architecture of your site, researched high volume, low competition keywords, created fresh new content and fully optimized your site—now for the link building.  It’s the unglamorous side of such an up-and-coming profession. Spending tedious hours with minimal results can be more than frustrating. So, what is important to the new-era link builder? (more…)

The latest news surrounding Google has been the subpoenas sent by the Federal Trade Commission to investigate antitrust issues with the global giant. This comes as no surprise to many, as Google has been amassing an empire of various services since its inception. However, the most interesting part of the investigation is what is at its center: Google’s search engine results. (more…)

We often get asked about the culture here at Rise Interactive. So, I thought with our explosive growth and all of the interviewing we have done lately that it would be appropriate to give everyone a better taste of our culture according to a Rise Search Nerd. (more…)

For many SEO-ers, video and dynamic content has always been a pain in the neck. Many sites contain videos, Flash, and JavaSCript content that is virtually unreadable by the search engines. For the most part, improving this content for search consists of transcribing the videos and replacing the Flash with other content, both timely and not optimal solutions. This, however, will soon be changing for the better. (more…)

This week, there has been much discussion about the possible impact and success of the newly released Google Chromebook. Some think that it will fail completely because it’s not much better than a netbook and is in the same price range. Some believe it’s a great product and will take off. In any case, if we make the assumption that the Chromebook becomes commonplace in homes around the world, the way the internet and interactive marketing are approached will change vastly. (more…)

Recently, The International Corporation for Assigned Names made one of the largest changes to The Internet Domain Name System. This new update allows domains, which formerly had to end with specific extensions after the “dot”, to create their own extension after the “dot”. For example, www.riseinteractive.com now has the ability to purchase www.riseinteractive.interactivemarketing (replacing the com with our word of choice). (more…)

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to test out a unique music service that attempts to combine social behavior (not just social media) into streaming music.  While other services offer the ability to post items you might be listening to or run a mock radio station, Turntable.fm (currently in beta) actually provides you with the opportunity to act as a DJ and try to rock a crowd with your music selection.  If you prefer a more passive role, you can be a listener and let the DJs know whether the song is “lame” or “awesome”.  Get too many lame votes, and the current song gets skipped.  On the other side, with crowd approval, you get points, which send you on your way to DJ greatness.

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Link Building is a very important aspect of Search Engine Optimization.  External links (links on other sites that point to your site) are vital to any SEO efforts, after all it is one big popularity contest. Internal links (links on your site pointing to your own site) are often looked over, even though they also serve an important function. (more…)

One significant bit of news this week surrounds the testing of click counts in Google AdWords paid search (PPC) advertising (on a very limited basis).  This move reinforces Google’s general intent to integrate social media tactics into its existing platforms.  Just as users are becoming accustomed to seeing their social network’s “likes” and “shares” appearing in the natural search results (via Google Social Search), Google is now taking another cue from Facebook – introducing a viral feel to PPC advertising.  The concept is simple – if people believe the “crowd” is very interested in a particular ad, it will increase the likelihood that they’ll click through to the advertiser’s website.  (more…)

In the past few months, I have had the opportunity to work with one of our clients on several of their email marketing campaigns. While this is a channel that most of us receive and view on a daily basis, there are many companies out there whose email marketing practices are questionable or ineffective. There is a lot of power in email messaging, if it is sent and received properly. Here are some tips to those email marketers out there based on my own personal experiences. (more…)