Now, with the rather massive changes that Google has rolled out with the initial Panda / Farmer update and more recent update to PageRank, the knowledge gap has expanded for most of us. Just this week I was chatting with a couple of SEO folks here in Austin, and they had completely missed when Google updated its PageRank formula not once, but twice in the past two months. [Read more about the PageRank update and other recent Google changes on WebProNews, one of our recommended blogs in the list below.]

The most common question I get is, “What are your favorite online resources for me to learn more about SEO?” Typically, I rattle off a couple of my favorites, but it is due time that I take a moment to share a more thorough list here on Return On Now.

The following list is meant to be a starting point. I did not take the time to rank them, as each of these blogs offers solid content that has proven useful to me in one area or another. And of course, I start with the SEO king of Google himself…

Top Blogs Covering Search Engine Optimization

1. Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google, and SEO
2. The Daily SEO Blog (SEOmoz)
3. SEO Blog (SEO Book)
4. Search Engine Land
5. Search Engine Watch: SEO Category
6. Search Engine Journal: SEO Category
7. Graywolf’s SEO Blog (by Michael Gray)
8. Search Engine Roundtable
9. Search Engine Guide
10. TopRank Online Marketing Blog (Lee Odden)
11. WebProNews
12. SEOptimise
13. SEO Scientist (possibly a best kept secret in the SEO industry)
14. Search Engine Optimization Journal
15. Website Magazine (tag=SEO)
16. GoogleCache (SEO Research and Ramblings)
17. Search Marketing Wisdom
18. SEO 2.0 SEO Blog

There you have it, my list of the top resources I turn to when looking for industry news and analysis about search engine optimization.

What did I miss?

Please recommend any other great resources that I may have overlooked below in the comments. I’ll go back and update the post to add more if you come up with some solid finds that our readers would enjoy as well.

For those of you who know me personally, you can attest to the fact that everything I do is on the “up and up”. I’ve been called honest to a fault on numerous occasions. I value my reputation like I value those I love and cherish. In the spirit of honesty and transparency, I present the following.

Google Panda and an SEO Experiment

Several months ago, I first learned that Google was working on a algorithm update that was meant to penalize low quality and duplicate content online (now known as “Panda“). Needless to say, I was intrigued. As an SEO and online marketing practitioner professionally, I had witnessed sites like eHow manage to leap to the top of the rankings for nearly any search term you might enter into Google. On the other hand, I had syndicated blog posts from friends and colleagues here on Return On Now… content that would now be considered “duplicate” by Google. I was worried my SEO would take a negative impact, so I kicked off an experiment to test just how hard the update would affect me.

Structuring the Experiment

To perform an SEO experiment, you need content. In this case, I needed duplicate content. But I wanted to see just how aggressively Panda would penalize it. So I decided to design two test sites, one with essentially all duplicate content, and another with a handful of original pages plus some duplicate content as well. Since this was to be a short term trial, I built two WordPress sites using freely available standard templates and found a plugin that let’s you create posts from RSS feeds. Bingo! My experiment was ready to go.

Then I started thinking about what topic areas might be rich with RSS feeds to run the experiment.

I had already purchased “supplymyhobby.com” for an etail business idea I kicked around in 2010, and it was sitting there unused, so I chose it for the first site. Obviously, hobby content is widely available on the web, so I decided to make it the “all duplicate” site.

I also selected a new domain focused on back pain, an ailment I’ve suffered from since a car accident in 1994. I figured, since I am in the demographic of who would want to read this sort of content, I could hack together several pages of original content to supplement the duplicate material. In this way, I could test whether Google Panda would “slap” a site harder based on how much of the content is duplicate.

On both sites, I wanted to be sure Google indexed them as real sites and not experiments, so I did add some more promotional content. One asked for what hobbies readers want to see on the site. The other had a few pages of product reviews for back relief remedies.

Populating the sites

I built both sites first, and then configured the autoposting plugin. At this point, I actually had second thoughts and nearly scrapped the whole idea, but I figured that this was a short-term trial. I could set it up, get the sites live, ensure they are indexed in Google, and then watch the traffic trends until a few weeks after the Panda rollout. Then I could draw conclusions, turn it off, and integrate the learnings into my ongoing SEO work. The key phrase here is “turn it off”, which is where it gets hairy.

Now, I understand the slippery slope of using content from other blogs, There have been many debates about what a copyright means online vs. in print, what rights authors have, and what attributions are required for copied/shared content. As you’ve seen here on RON many times, I frown heavily upon stealing content for personal gain or other financial reasons. I would never, ever steal someone else’s high quality content for the sole purpose of taking credit for it or making money in a shady fashion. This is an important point, and one I will come back to shortly.

To get the sites indexed in Google, I had to connect it to some RSS feeds. Since I needed to get the site live as fast as possible to build a little momentum pre-Panda, I hurried to connect some RSS feeds that were serving up quality on-topic content and turned the sites on. I also set the content autoposting plugin to append two things on each post, the official name of the source blog and a link to the original content. I figured, at least I’m establishing backlinks which wouldn’t have hurt the original sites in any way pre-Panda, and I’m being upfront about what sites actually created the content. I did this because I am no content thief, and I would never do such a thing otherwise.

In this process, I did overlook one important thing on the WP template – I didn’t change it at all. That was an outright mistake, because they came with verbiage claiming that all material on the site was copyrighted by the site itself. Shame on me for the oversight, because I knew full well that some or all of the content would be written by others on their own sites. It has been suggested that I should have simply asked for permission, and I can’t argue that point. In my haste to make the experiment happen, thinking no one would even notice, I did not do so. Again, shame on me.

Once the sites were live, I did not promote them aggressively. Upon launch, I did link to them from another website or two, ping Google directly, and bookmark a handful of pages and posts. Basically, just enough to get them indexed. My goal was not to build traffic, grow the sites, or create some sort of business. It was purely academic, and once indexed, only organic search traffic needed be measured to draw any conclusions.

Drawing Conclusions

Let’s keep this part short. What did I learn about Google Panda in this experiment?

1. As we saw across a variety of sites, the penalty for duplicate content was swift and severe. Traffic essentially fell off a cliff back in February when it went live.
2. There was a marked difference in negative impact between the two sites. The faucet was nearly turned off completely on the hobby site, while it merely took a downturn of >50% on the other site.

The second observation was especially enlightening, because it showed that Google weights its rankings according to amount of duplicate content, not an across-the-board slap for having any of it. This is exactly what I was hoping to see, because now I don’t have to worry about my organic traffic completely drying up on Return On Now.

Great, experiment over. Back to business….Not so fast buddy.

Finish What You Start

I made a crucial mistake at that time. I neglected to turn off the sites as planned.

I could spew a littany of excuses including adding a new client for my SEO business, rolling out a major new website for a local tech company, and having to deal with some personal stuff that distracted me elsewhere.

But bottom line: the sites lived on.

Earlier this week, a Google Alert came to my In-Box that really caught my attention. One of the bloggers whose content I used in the experiment (In Stitches) had seen SupplyMyHobby and was rightfully upset. I knew immediately that leaving up the site had backfired, and that I now had created a mess for myself. The old adage “finish what you started” came to mind, and I realized I had completely dropped the ball.

You see, In Stitches is a GREAT blog. They have a good quorum of regular participants on the blog, and the author (Pam MacKenzie) has built a wonderful online presence within the knitting community. I respect her work with the highest regard, which is part of the reason I used the content in the first place. I feel the same way about every one of the blogs that populated SMH during this experiment.

Immediate Remediation

This Google Alert pushed me to immediate action. After reading her scathing blog posts directly, seeing words such as “plagiarize” and “stealing”, I immediately opened my hosting FTP account and deleted the two sites completely. Of course, this was over 2 months too late, but I removed them from the web without delay and also deleted the Google Analytics accounts I used to track the experiment. I wanted no semblance of these websites to remain live online for any reason.

As I mentioned earlier, I am 100% dedicated to honesty, transparency, and taking responsibility for my own actions. The next step I took was to send an email directly to Pam with a full apology and an attempt to explain what I was doing. But you can only say so much in an email, which is why I am posting this live on my REAL blog for the whole world to see. Nothing to hide here.

Picking Up the Pieces

Ms. MacKenzie continues to think I am a scammer.

While I can understand why she might think so, I implore you to take this into account – if I were actually stealing content and taking credit for it, why in the world would I have attached it to a hosting account that lists my real name? Just search for me online and you’ll get a whole page of links to my various blogs and social media profiles. I bare myself to the world in full color, without editing or filtering. I am who you see online, in person, and in writing.

It’s known that scammers make up fake IDs, names, and contact information so that you can never actually trace their footprints. Do the math for yourself, and you’ll see that this is a severe misunderstanding that blew up in my face in the worst way possible.

I screwed up, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart to every one of the bloggers whose work I used in my experiment without asking for advanced permission. It was wrong, and I’m done fielding isolated SEO experiments altogether. It’s far too risky to touch again.

Lesson learned. I hope you can understand. Namaste.

Image via Wikipedia

For those of you with whom I’m connected on Facebook or Twitter, you have likely noticed that I recently launched a new WordPress-based blog, the Fretless Bass Guitar Hub. The site is intended to serve as THE community for the fretless bass playing audience, and so far, response has been very positive.

I have always wanted to make it a true hub, a place where this audience can go to converse, read tips and tricks, learn about playing bass, read about some of the most impressive players in the world, etc. To achieve that vision, my initial thought was that it needed a forum. So off I went to investigate software packages and plug-ins for that purpose.

Of course, in that effort, BuddyPress quickly emerged as the front runner. Not only are a multitude of sites using it (and raving about it), but trusted colleagues who know WordPress even better than I do all pointed toward BuddyPress.

So I investigated, only to learn that it requires a “BuddyPress-ready template”. Guess what…mine is not. I picked this template carefully and am completely unwilling to move to a new layout, so suffice it to say “FAIL”!

Back to the Drawing Board

After realizing this was the case, I went back to the research mill. Several options appeared suitable (e.g. SimplePress, BBpress), but then I came across WP-Symposium. After reading the details about what it does, it almost seemed to good to be true.

The skeptical mind that I am, the next step was a trip to their website. There I perused user feedback, commentary about the beta software (they just pre-released it, which means that all features are tested and validated except for a couple of new alterations), and their support area for more information. Finally, I did a quick Google Search to see what other bloggers and forums were saying.

One thing was immediately clear – users were loving this plug-in. So I decided to give it a whirl.

Even Better Than Expected

As with most WordPress plug-ins, installation was a snap. To locate it from right within your Admin Control Panel, go to Plug-ins, click “Add New”, and search for “WP-Symposium”.

Once you install it, you’ll notice that there are actually several plug-ins to activate. One of the nice things about WP-Symposium is that the whole app is modular. You turn on the features you want.

Here are the modules that are available:

1. WP-Symposium Core: required if you use any of the plug-ins
2. Forum: in typical message board format
3. Mail / Private Messaging: similar to the messaging features on Twitter or Facebook
4. Notification Bar: global access to login and logout from any page on the site
5. Members Directory: searchable directory of all site members
6. Login: connects WP-Symposium login to the existing WordPress database and login system for single login
7. Register: replaces the standard WordPress registration form with WP-Symposium version

In addition to all of these great features, you can also set up a custom profile page for users, adding or removing profile fields rather freely. Users can set their status similar to a tweet stream, as shown in the following screenshot.

Did I mention that it offers extensive control over CSS (colors, fonts, etc) as well? Meaning, you can use ANY WordPress Theme and color scheme, and you should be able to find a look and feel that will work on your site. For those of us who are less technical, this plug-in is simply the best I’ve found for incorporating forums and other social networking features on your existing WordPress site and theme.

Summary

All-in-all, this plug-in has every one of the key features I would have put on my wish list for a basic social network. If you want to check it out for yourself, feel free to stop by the Fretless Bass Guitar Hub, or check with the WP-Symposium website for references to other sites to see how others are using it.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with WP-Symposium other than the fact I use it on my own blog. These opinions are mine and unaffected by compensation or other influences.

Related articles

• BuddyPress Alternative WP Symposium is Fast Approaching a Release Candidate (pressography.com)
• Introducing WP Symposium: An Exciting BuddyPress Alternative (pressography.com)
• The Most Important Plug-Ins for Small Business WordPress Websites (brighthub.com)
• How to Create Your Own Social Networking Community (socialmediaexaminer.com)
• Why You Should Use WordPress Plug-ins (ronmedlin.com)

This week, Return On Now has the privilege of sharing with you a guest post by Aaron Strout, CMO of Powered Inc. right here in Austin, TX. In addition to running marketing, he also serves as a key “social voice” for the company.  In that capacity, Aaron continues with his speaking, blogging, podcasting, and social networking activities with an eye toward creating awareness and lead generation for the company. Aaron co-hosts the Quick-n-Dirty weekly podcast with Jennifer Leggio, he maintains a social media blog titled Citizen Marketer 2.1, and he is well-known as a thought leader in online and social media marketing.

For today’s post, Aaron has agreed to give his overview on B2B and how social media can actually be used to benefit the business. With all of the discussion surrounding concerns about measuring impact to the bottom line, I felt that this would be an important topic for all to hear.

__________________________

Why is it that, when it comes to conversation about social media, business-to-business (B2B) seems to get the short end of the stick every single time? As someone who does a lot of webcasts, blog posts, and speaking gigs, the question/comment that always comes up is, “what about B2B examples.” Fortunately for me, I’m able to mention companies like BreakingPoint Systems and Hubspot that do a great job tapping into the power of social media, but I often wish there were more examples (with public results) that I could discuss.

In thinking about this topic, one of the main reasons that B2B has taken a little longer to adopt social media into its marketing mix is that it’s harder to do effectively. It’s also feels risky because there is less control then  in other channels. With that said, I personally believe that B2B companies stand to benefit the most from social media because they live and die based on the strength of their customer relationships. On top of that, many B2B companies actually know exactly who their prospective customers are, so seeking those folks out in a meaningful way and creating relationships with them can have a huge impact on the bottom line.

Given that I’m a prescriptive kind of guy, I’d feel remiss if I didn’t offer up some tips about how companies can start thinking about putting social media into practice. There are obviously tons of ways, but here are a few (including a diagram that provides more color commentary on item number three):

1. Start listening. This is easier to do than you think. Set up a Google alert for your company’s name, your competitors’ names, and keywords for your industry. If you’re already doing this, consider hiring a “listening” service like Techrigy, Radian6, or Meltwater Buzz. This will help you find where all the relevant conversations in your space are happening.
2. Create a Twitter account for your business. However, resist the urge to put up links to press releases, product specs, and links to press that are singing your business’s praises (at least out of the gate). Instead, talk about things that people in your industry care about. For instance, if you create bill payment software, talk about the needs of small-to-medium sized businesses across the financial spectrum (payroll, credit, vendor management, etc.) Link to reports and industry analysis. Point out other peoples’ blog posts and magazine articles.
3. Set up a blog. Before you do this, though, make sure you have someone (ideally internal) who is willing to commit to posting at least 5-6 times/month. This can be someone on your marketing, product, or PR teams, or even better, one of your executives. Think about creating an editorial calendar to help guide your topics. Most importantly, spend time looking at other industry related blogs — in fact, you should spend at least a month doing this before you set up your own blog. Be sure to comment on those blogs (talk about the topic, not your company). This will help with getting to know the relevant “social” people in the space.
4. Create an online community. Once you’ve gotten comfortable with items 1-3, start thinking about an online community. Ideally, this is for both current and prospective customers. Some businesses feel more comfortable about creating private communities where customers can talk to one another. The key in either case is to hire a great community manager and let them help you create relevant content via webinars, blog posts, and conference calls (see diagram below). A community manager will also help you draw out your customers and ensure that conversations stay relevant and productive.
5. Measure, measure, measure. This is less difficult than you might imagine. This really should start with looking at your current goals — i.e. new customers, greater retention, larger share of wallet, referrals, etc. Then make sure you benchmark (i.e. look at your webstats and current KPI’s) before you launch your social efforts. Then, look at how you’re moving the bar over time. A key place to look is your web analytics, to see what kind of traffic and engagement your Twitter feed and/or blog efforts are driving. Also, it doesn’t hurt to survey customers and ask them if your efforts are impacting their loyalty to your company.

I won’t lie to you; everything I mentioned above takes effort. But it’s worth trying, especially when it’s done right, because it will yield results. One thing that I failed to mention is the importance of integrating the recommendations above with your existing marketing/channel activity. Social media doesn’t live in a vacuum, and if nobody can find the fruit of your efforts, you may as well not have exerted the time and resources.

Am I missing anything? You bet I am. But that’s where you come in. What types of social media have you tried? What’s worked? Please feel free to share in the comments section below.

First, many thanks to the folks who submitted me as a potential award candidate, particularly my good friends @FranciscoG3 and @KurtMW. They both not only nominated me, but shared their kind words with their followers on Twitter.

Second, please take a moment to add a comment on my nomination page. Whether I win or not, it sure would be nice to make the upcoming top 25 list. Feel free to share specific blog posts, tweets, or anything you think would be helpful to the judges. Or just say what you think of my work. Whatever you do, be genuine and honest and all will be best in the end.

I’m not one to spend much time patting myself on the back, so I’ll leave it at that. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on topics or commentary you’d like to see included here on Return On Now. Please add a comment below with your thoughts and I’ll consider it for inclusion in the coming weeks and months.

Thanks for your gracious time and attention.

As a result, if you are not taking part in the following communities, it’s officially time to start thinking about it. Your upside depends on it.

NOTE: to get a better view of  the below screenshots, you can click them to see a full-screen version of each image.

Twitter

1. Twitter - I must admit it; I’ve become a verified Twitter addict (as if you couldn’t tell by my weekly Twitter digest on here). After having been part of various social media services over the past 10+ years, I really didn’t get the power of Twitter on first glance. But boy do I now. If you can’t afford or won’t pay for PR, then you absolutely need to get on Twitter and start engaging with folks. All it takes is your time and effort.

LinkedIn

2. LinkedIn – This is the premier business-to-business networking site, and it’s not just an online resume like some have accused it of being. Don’t just set up a profile on there and forget it. Connect with other professionals in your field and your locale. Join some groups and contribute to the overall discussion of the groups. [This is also a great place to promote your own blog or news.] Spend a little time answering questions when you can. You can even connect your LinkedIn account to several applications and social media sites/profiles now.  I have personally made important business and personal contacts on LinkedIn, so consider me a believer in their model.

Yelp

3. Yelp – Holding true to the idea of word-of-mouth, this site lists local businesses and allows patrons to submit ratings and reviews of the businesses. This is particularly useful for retail, restaurant, or other similar standalone operations. Yelp is a great way to reach tourists who are visiting your city, but just be sure you are good enough to garner positive ratings on the site. The risk is that poor ratings are available to everyone as well. Go test it out as a user first to see how your competitors show up [ and to see if you've made it in there in spite of yourself]. Look for your favorite restaurant as another example. If you see it will offer value for what you do, get on it stat.

PitchEngine

4. PitchEngine – A trusted colleague of mine turned me on to PitchEngine over a year ago, and I’m a bonafide fan of their model. The offer a “social media press release” service for free, which is syndicated to Google via an RSS feed after the releases go live. You can also embed images and multimedia files in the releases. I’ve used the service multiple times for various employers and clients, and have gotten better coverage than with paid releases!! But of course there is one catch: PitchEngine will only archive releases for 30 days on the free plan. You can pay a monthly fee to have them store indefinitely. Just do what you can afford and what is right for your business, and you can save hundreds of dollars vs. using a PR service. [Update as of December 2011 - Pitchengine has removed the expiration on free releases per their founder, Jason Kintzlervia Twitter: "Was just sharing your post that included PitchEngine (from January) Wanted to let you know, we've updated and pitches no longer expire! "]

YouTube

5. YouTube – Video isn’t just for media and television companies any more; everyone is doing it now. There are so many benefits to using multimedia like video to market yourself, from SEO to backlinks from YouTube to engaging a more visually-cognitive audience. Be sure you tag all videos with keywords you want to rank high in when posting to YouTube. I also recommend you post another copy of the same video on your web server, embedded into the home page or another location on your website. That way, you get the SEO benefit from backlinking from YouTube and you also get a shot at ranking highly on your own right. Video is most certainly on my to-do list for new features to add on Return On Now, and it really should be for your business as well.

What other social media services do you see as must-haves for small businesses and entrepreneurs? Catch me up on any great ones that I’m missing here!