About 17 months ago or so, it was my pleasure to “bump” into the owners of uncorkedventures.com – an online wine store from California that was a request to do a guest blog on our CanuckSEO site about their own SEO campaign – and I passed on that offer.

Why? Because as I explained it in a blog piece way back then, they were using the tactic of writing articles, and submitting them to various online directories (names not named to protect the innocent, eh!) and that while he’d climbed the serps somewhat via the do-follow links, he had no idea really on the efficacy nor efficiency of that tactic.

But I do — and telling our readers that such outmoded and outdated tactics work, is less than a good business practice and a full read of that original blog piece by me will explain better than I can here…so I turned down the guest blog offer…

But, I did however take the time to write back to them with a long email on what I thought was wrong with their current DIY SEO campaign and how I thought that they could help same. Over the next 5 or so months, I answered some emails for them, sent them some links to learn more and generally tried to help enough to get them some serp rankings, and I then reported on their growing rankings here in August of last year. And yes, I did continue over the time since, when asked, to help them both develop and create their own DIY SEO campaign as best I could from both the distance and the ability to devote some time for same. It wasn’t easy…and a part of what I did try to do was not to just say “nah, that won’t work, do this instead…” but instead I tried to teach via online URLS and links and testing as to what they needed to learn on their own. And, that seemed to work as their serps did rise and they were following my mentoring too as I blogged about here.

We have since been emailing back and forth on a large variety of SEO topics; from buying text links to getting a citation on Wikipedia; from how to approach a Community College to try to gain links to your wine library to addding a blog to their own site to get fresh new content out there and from suggesting some local SEO firms in their area to talk to when they do decide to “ramp up” their SEO Campaign too. We’ve tried to help and the advice has been both questioned, vetted and then followed for the most part, I’m happy to say.

So…why the post today? Well, one thing that they did decide to do, was to look for a local web developer and get their whole site re-designed – an idea that happens to most firms after a year or two….i.e. as marketing gets more involved. So the link above goes to the brand new site….and I’m more than pleased with the new look & feel…but it’s not perfect from an SEO POV….and I’ll be emailing them on some changes for their on-page optimization.

But I also ran serps too for the new site – and I’m more than grinning at their new rankings…here’s the latest just run this week on Google alone -

 As you can see, google.com reports that they have no #1 entries yet, but they do rank in the Top 5 for their chosen keywords for all of them! It’s not an easy channel, the wine store one and the nicest thing of all, is that even though there are some “big gorillas” in the room, Uncorked is ranking nicely so far!

Why? Well that’s the question that there is really no empirical answer for – but after 13 years in SEO, I’ve got some ideas for sure…and we’ve been sharing them tween Uncorked and us I mean for a year and a half.

But what do you think? Why has the site gone from being not in the first 30 serp rankngs for their chosen keywords, to now being nicely up on page 1 and above the fold? And why, do I think that they’re not yet anywhere near their peak? Can you tell?

Hope so….as I’d ask anyone to take a look/see and answer here….if you can, eh! SEO Campaigns are not easy to mount and further, they’re so very hard to sustain…..it’s a constant battle to try to stay at the leading edge….but it looks to me that both Mark Aselstine and Matt Krause are coming along nicely! I understand that sales are up, members of their wine club continue to grow….and the best part of all is that they are living their dreams!

Now how’s that for passion and e-Commercer rolled into one!

And looks like Google itself agrees with you, cause as of this morning, they just bought Zagat the well known, respected, review machine that’s been around for more than 30 years.

Here’s how Zagat themselves spoke about their own raison d’etre –

“Zagat Survey® is a business based on a simple premise – that the shared opinions of thousands of avid consumers with real experiences are inherently more accurate than the opinions of just one or two critics. Through our guides, we give people the power of a collective voice and the information to make smart decisions…”

As you can see from the screenshot clip here below, this is what was just announced for the world to see….layered on top of course of the Google sculpture at their campus in California…

Okay, so what, right? I mean Google buys up firms all the time, right? Well here’s how it was stated by Google via a post on their own blog…and well…yes…I hear you…but here’s how I see this spin!

Google bases it’s Local Search rankings in part on reviews. Reviews are what folks write about restaurants, dry cleaners, auto body shops, locksmiths….all the companies and businesses that people use every day. And that database of reviews, 30+ years of reviews, is now Googles. To use as they see fit and to add to the Local Search rankings algo as they see fit.

So…see what I mean here? Google will undoubtedly give much much more “weight & heft” to the new Zagat reviews as it incorporates same into the ranking algo – and by doing so, it will rank it’s own Zagat reviews higher – in my opinion – than anyone elses reviews, except perhaps for it’s ex-HotPot generated ones & it’s Google+ ones too. Google has, with it’s checkbook, bought the reviews that it needed to spin away from the recent talks with YELP to buy them and their reviews. Google also recently bought into the travel channel too via it’s acquisition of ITA.

Big checkbooks buy the competition – it’s always been known to be a strong player in M&A circles, and now by buying Zagat, Google has it’s 30+ years of reviews to now use to rank it’s Local Search channel…good in fact for the review channel itself….and yup, I too had the same thought. Gotta change some biz names to match what exists already in the Zagat guide, and see if that kind of SEO spam might work!

That said, I thought that I’d recapture a couple of great infographics that appeared in the last couple of days that I think are pretty sppt-on when it comes to SEO and they are not only great looking but as usual, they impart knowledge that is easy to fall into….and learn quickly about the whole premise.

First up, is a great infographic from the keyword research mavens over at Wordstream…..on how Google makes it’s Adsense revenues and on which top keywords the big money comes from — and I love this one!

Wordstream has captured the top 20 keywords that bring Google more than $30 billion bucks….and displays same in a piechart that lists each and everyone of same….and the thing is, it’s not that surprising at least to me for some of the terms.

Insurance. Everyone uses and has to have insurance, so it’s no surprise that this is the #1 keyword in AdSense and it brings – are you ready for this number – $54+ dollars a click for over 24% of the whole revenue stream. What is surprising for me tho, is that there are no healthcare terms…doctor or carpal tunnel syndrome or orthodontist…yet there are some that do seem odd tho — like donations, rehab and even “cord blood” ???

Cord blood? It took me a wikipedia look and read to even understand what that term means….and then all I could do was to shake my head….folks pay $$$ for that kind of link? Beyond me…but hey, so is much of online quirkyness, eh!

Internet speeds and costs are important to any business, and this blog piece by Byron Holland over at CIRA, offers up an unsettling conclusion on just how “bad” we Canucks now fare when it comes to both.

In 2001, Canada was a leader in broadband technology, being right up at the top of the with regards to speed and costs. Not so anymore, only a decade later, Canada has fallen to now be 23rd in the world! Our average connection speed is now 21 MBPS at an averge cost of $4.15 for each MB….with the new leader being Japan at 81 MBPS at a cost of only $0.40 cents….hows that for a competitive advantage that can’t be explained. We have fallen behind, when we used to lead….and I understand from Byron, that the CRTC is going to be releasing our latest Digital Economy Strategy position as it opens up new public discourse on same next week. We need to get back up to the top of that list, eh! And I can’t be alone in that thinking either….and this infographic shows thew world’s top countries and their various speed/costs….& we are way way back in the pack….sigh.

David Crow is a very well know, reputable startup type guy who champions local startups and I read his own blog here as well as StartUpNorth too every day, and his mention today of a new infographic on B2B marketing done by the folks over at KissMetrics was a great lead to follow!

A quick look, then a detailed study shows me that online marketers are moving more towards online budgets; that 8 out of the top 10 best performing marketing channels are digital ones; that trade shows remain important with 85% of marketers investing in event marketing and that’s a growing number too. If you’re in the B2B space, I’d surely get over to Kissmetrics and take a good look at same…lotsa interesting stats there that can help you drive your own upcoming marketing plan for Canadian SEO plans for the next year, eh!

First, Google+. I just don’t know. I’ve read tons of well respected blogs and postings on this new “social” Google tool. I’ve played myself with it a bit and I still do not know if this is the “FaceBook killer” that it appears to have been already judged to be by others. That said, it’s interesting that this new social tool was launched in the manner that it was, i.e. by invite only and that it has rolled out so well….that’s not been my experience for the “stealth-to-launch” type of process, but then again this is Google, right?

If you want to know more right now, I’d suggest that you hit any of the links I’ve added here below to read other’s – well known SEO practitioners – who have opinions on this here –

• Mike Blumenthal here…on Google+ and Local…
• And Mike again here…on Google+ and Business Pages…
• Matt McGee’s great piece over at Search Engine Land is here…
• Finally, Danny Sullivan’s seminal look at the launch of Google+ here…

Me? Don’t know yet…am still trying to formulate some further testing of same….and will blog about this at a later date when I’ve arrived at some conclusions on the “Canuck” POV of same….

Lab42 is a new firm to me….I’ve never heard of them before, but judging by their latest infographic on LinkedIN and their profile with online business use, I’ll be back to their site often! The infographic can be found here - and it shows that Lab42  surveyed 500 Americans who were registered LinkedIn users to discover how they utilized their profile and to see if they valued LinkedIn as a professional networking tool. Do visit to see this one, and learn about professional networking and the process of same, eh!

Lastly on the potpourri list today, is a link to a great VC blog, written by a Fred Wilson who is the Managing Partner of two New York city based VC firms, Flatiron Partners and Union Square Ventures….his blog is here. But I wanted to share with you that he is in the early stages of writing a complete series of blog posts about financing startups and today’s post on “Convertible Debt” is a real solid look at same for those of us involved with startups! Do go and look over that posting and his “MBA Monday” series where all these startup financing posts are archived too! Thanks Fred…muchly appreciated and I will send thru those links to others we deal with who are looking for that kind of information/knowledge on this kind of startup financing too!

First, credit here is due to a Jim Lecinski, a Google Chief Evangelist for ZMOT, who is also their U. S. Managing Director, Sales & Service and that alone says much to me.

He writes well and succinctly too, for deep theoreticals that speak directly to what marketing is to a new lead/client/customer and I sat and read the whole printed out tome…and thought to myself “geez, I gotta let that sit overnight and then read it again….” and I did just that. In fact I’ve just finished my third run-thru with a couple of highlighters and there is much to ponder and learn…and I’d HIGHLY recommend that you go and get this marketing e-Book right here…

That said, what’s it about? Well, here’s how Google themselves explains the rationale behind the creation of same on their own blog here –

“Once upon a time, marketers believed that shoppers made up their mind about a product in about the time it takes to read this sentence.

The three to seven seconds a shopper considered a product on a store shelf, it was claimed, was a critical moment — what P&G termed the “First Moment of Truth,” or FMOT (“eff-mot”) — the moment when all the advertising a consumer has seen for a brand will either pay off with a purchase, or not.

Since then, FMOT has become one of those ideas, like “tipping point” and “purple cow,” that we all know (at least by name). It’s one of three widely-accepted “moments of truth” for a product — the other two being when the consumer sees an ad for the product (the stimulus) and when she uses it for the first time (the experience).

These concepts still hold true today; they may be even more relevant given the continued emergence of strong store brands. But thanks to the web, we’re seeing the rise of an additional class of critical brand interactions — a new “MOT” — the Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), which occurs after the consumer sees an ad for a product but before a purchase is made in store. Precisely, it occurs at the moment when a shopper goes online to research a product and decides whether to make a purchase…”

Jennifer Stoddart, the Canadian Privacy  Commissioner has asked Google to undergo an independent, third-party audit of its policies after her office found the Internet giant’s lack of privacy programs led it to wrongly collect and hold confidential information of Canadians.

“Stoddart’s investigation found Google had inadvertently collected scores of private information — complete e-mails, user names and passwords, home telephone numbers and even the medical conditions of some people — from unsecured wireless networks in homes and businesses as site developers for Google Street View drove around the country in 2009 collecting photos of streetscapes for the mapping program.

But while they were collecting photos, their equipment also downloaded the personal information.”

And Google? How did they respond to this? With this statement – “As we have said before, we are sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted networks,” said a Google spokesman in a statement; “we have worked with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner throughout their investigation.”

Google has begun, they notified her office, to delete and purge all of the personal data that it collected in Canada and until it can be totally deleted, it swears that the data is fully secure and protected and is not accessible.

What this may mean for the recently launched Plus+1 button, which as you now may also know means that as Google Buzz and the new Plus+1 button are tied…no one knows, but it may also be monitored as well….

Further notice from the Commissioner pointed out that they will continue to monitor the process and ask Google to undergo an independent, third-party audit of its privacy programs within a year and share the results with her office. It’s the first time Canada’s privacy commissioner has asked a private company undergo an independent audit.

The statement from Google did not say whether it would agree to an independent privacy audit…but we all await news on this….

And why with “great pleasure?” Simple….big smile here…because this year for the first time, I was asked to participate in same, eh!

First, while I’m pouring thru the various factors and reading how each was graded by 33 of the best known and most well respected SEO bloggers and consultants on the globe, you should do the same. Hit that link above and go and read how we all scored/graded the various factors that we think contribute to serps….and there’s comments there too that in many cases help define each of them!

Here’s the whole rationale behind this too, in David’s own words –

“This survey remains an attempt to make sense of at least one small sliver of the digital marketing space: how to improve your ranking in Google Places. While Yahoo Local and Bing Local remain important areas of visibility for any business owner, based on responses from previous surveys, none of the experts felt there were any specific techniques to rank in either of these two search engines that differed from those used to rank in Google’s Local results.

It is my hope that this study will help small business owners confused by Local Search, or those strapped for time, to prioritize their marketing efforts.

And boy, did Google’s Local results get complex this year– specifically in October 2010 with the launch of “Blended” Place Search, which shows a hybrid of Place-related and website-related snippets on the search engine result page. Based on the responses from this year’s survey, it appears that beyond just the difference in interface, the weighting of signals Google uses for these Blended results differs significantly from the that of it more traditional Local results (the so-called “7-Pack” or “3-Pack”). For more on why Google might choose to show a Blended vs. a Pure Result, see this addendum…”

And the top 10 factors, as judged by us all were here fyi and do YOU have all these items completed? If not….then your serps may be lacking in positions, eh!

If you’re thinking about last years results and how things “might” have changed, then go here too….but do note that while it’s still possible to compare the relative change in the importance of individual factors from year-to-year, there are no longer any absolute values to assign to each factor due to the new method used this year to track the values.

So go, and read….learn….hypothesize based on your own site…and then test and analyze those results….it’s “how we fly” when it comes to SEO and judging by the vast knowlege of this group, it’s of paramount importance to see what we thinks “works” and “why” it does so….

And an aside here…being included is one of the best things that’s happened to me as an SEO practitioner ever, eh….so Kudos to David for that, eh!

Well, keeping up with Google is a real chore at times and a new, just launched program entitled

First, do go to that link and look over the video that explains what it is Google is attempting to “do” by instituting such a new method for those of us who wish to “review” a site, can do so. When you’re done that, come on back….

Back? Okay, so, what’d you learn? Did you hear the comment that “when you click +1, you’re telling your friends etc, that this is something you should check out!” In other words, you’re reviewing the link and offering up a postive review…least that’s how I read this….it’s a method for Google to collect reviews for web result links.

Here’s a quick sceenshot of what I see when I’m “in” the test program and have made a search…i.e. the new +1 button is now there — click to enlarge…

Here’s a quick screenshot of what I get (after enrolling in this test and making a click or two) here — click to enlarge…

Okay, so what you ask? Yes I do see the new bluish +1 buttons there on the far left hand side of the web results URLs…and I note that below it says “You +1′d this”…but so? IMHO, the addition of this is a “nice try” for Google, but I also think that there are already folks out there trying to “game” this new social ranking tool and that’s a worry always. I’ll wait and see, of course…but will be watching carefully, eh….as should all SMBs out there!

Well, let’s go a step further shall we? Google says this about this new program…”we will record information about your +1 activity in order to provide you and other users with a better experience on Google services…”

Oh, by the way, this whole area, i.e. the +1 reviews is all controlled by your own Google Profile area…here’s my own for instance for you to see what I’ve setup and your own will be similar of course…you can not keep those reviews a secret either, as the program is totally open to the web results searcher. Anything you therefore review by clicking on the +1 icon in a web results page WILL be indexed by Google and WILL be available for all others to see if that URL comes up again in a later search.

So, your comments are open for all to see….which, if you think about it, is a good thing, eh! Which gets me back to my point here….which is

• Sign up here — Experimental Google Labs
• More details here — +1 Details
• Your Profile details here — Profile Info
• Privacy Info here – Your +1 privacy
• Tons of user comments here — Google Blog

So….think about using this…it’s an attempt as I said for Google to “move” into the social stratosphere…and from my own tinkering with same over the past couple of days, it’s interesting to say the least!

And my own thinking, based on actual trial and error testing, appears to be vetted by many many other SEO practitioners on the web…folks whose thoughts and blogs and counsel I follow religiously. Most of us think and agree, that using Flash is a serious mistake in the SEO ranking world. It adds too too many obstacles to what should be a solid process and it makes you use work-arounds to get anything done. It’s time time time and that as you all know by now, is that costs dollars and that is why we take on no new clients who insist on a full Flash site. Oh, eye-candy navigation is fine…we SEO around that, but a single HTML page holidng a monolithic Flash .swf? Nope…not for us!

On point, here’s a link to a recent post on her blog, by Jill Whalen of HighRankings.com, a noted SEO practitioner from Massachusetts that she also sent out on her blog too (here’s a link for the signup) and she noted as I’ve always done too, that Flash is a non-starter!

And she tested for same, using real-world methodology. She went and found keyphrases in the Flash content of a test Flash website page, plugged same into Google and searched….and almost all were not found. The couple that were, used both the Meta description tag or had those keywords placed below the Flash embed itself to try to help. And Jills comment here is very apropos –

“While that’s a good alternative, the info they had was very different from the info contained in their Flash. That’s a bit of a dangerous game to play with the search engines, if you ask me. If that info is good enough for search engines and iPhones, why isn’t it good enough for your most important users?”

You should go and read that piece, and see what else she tested for, what the results were too…all solid counsel from a great SEO practitioner, eh!

My Canadian SEO disclaimer: we have only 1 client (a graphic designer shop) who uses a full Flash site, ie not just for some eye-candy navigation, but for the whole site. And so far how are they doing? Well like most designers, the look and feel is beautiful….but like most Flash folks it was built in one monolithic Flash file that sat on 1 single HTML page…..ie very very bad SEO!

But they listened and then reworked all of their 25+ pages by breaking them all down into single HTML pages, that we can use for seperate title tags, H1′s, image alt’s, H2′s, keyword placements, footer tags, outbound links…etc. etc. They listened, as I said, and they’re slowly climbing their rankings in this region….it’s still Flash, yes….but indexing is happening and link building too….it’s all about work-arounds and time time time…sigh….but yes, they are ranking in spite of Flash, and not because of it, eh!

So, Flash and SEO? Is this a marriage that we seek? Nope, not even a little….your mileage of course may vary, but if you want SEO serps, you need to get indexed to rank….and until Flash is transparent to googlebots, it’s not happening here!

And Forbes themselves here, asked how-come! Read and bookmark this post to follow along on this, eh! Course as Barry points out, it appears this is NOT the first time they’ve been caught, eh!

And whew….looks like Google has just found out how to tell when the BIG online players are trying to “finagle” the serps, eh! Just like J.C. Penny was too!

WooHoo….I’m in shock but pleasantly….there just may be a trend here, eh lads!