SEO - what's next?

As it is almost the end of the year, I thought it would be worth sharing this great article on The Most Popular SEO Posts Of 2011 from Search Engine Land.
2011 has been an extremely busy year for SEO's with the multiple panda algorithm updates, the freshness update, the rise of Google + and the ever growing importance of social networks and tools in link building.

Now more than ever it is crucial for businesses to not only understand onsite optimisation but also integrate all their link building and social activities into a complete search strategy.
In my view it is also vital for brands and companies to realise that SEO in itself is worthless if it doesn't bring traffic and revenue, and without having a clear understanding of what optimisation is bringing to the game, then results will be limited.

So here are my key terms/themes for SEO in 2012:

- Link building / Social media optimisation
- Conversion optimisation
- Advanced analytics

Happy new year and see you all in 2012

The evolution of search explained by Google

For all the SEO fans out there (and those who'd like to know how things changed over time), a 6 minute video from Google including all the key search milestones since 1996.

If you work in SEO and need to explain to people on a regular basis how the search landscape has changed over time, then this video is for you.

Time to Wave goodbye

It's official, Google's first attempt at social media, Google Wave (Google Wave Blog), will be officially stopped on April 30,2012.

While this tool never got any support from users, I'm sure it gave Google a lot of great insights into social media and allowed them to develop Google+.

Now let's just hope that Google+ doesn't suffer the same fate, but judging by the news today that Britney Spears is now the most popular person on G+ in front of Larry Page, I think there's no reason to worry (or maybe worry about why people would follow Britney in the first place!).

So long Wave