The Future of Search & Social

Ever wonder what’s behind the merging of social signals into search?  Not too long ago, all SEOs had to worry about were the old standbys: title tags, links, content, etc.  Today, and in the future, social signals play a larger part in ranking, so what’s an SEO to do? Why it’s happening This is fairly easy to explain.  While most folks like to point to the rise of Facebook and Twitter (and other social sources) and...
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Looking back on 2011

2011 is almost in the history books, so now seems like a great time to take a look back over the year and remember what we’ve been up to here at Bing Webmaster Tools.  First hand it’s easy to see how quickly a year can slip by.  Being inside a search engine is an amazing place, and this year saw solid growth for our Webmaster program.  We covered a lot of ground attending conferences all around the US, met a ton of folks...
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9 Things You Need to Control

When building or managing a website, it almost goes without saying that you need to be in control.  You need to be able to make changes to certain elements if you home to optimize the website properly. Let’s take a look at nine items you should be sure are firmly within your control when you start optimizing a website. And we’re not just talking search engine optimization here.  Think broader than that.  Think of truly...
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Getting flagged as malware? Some insights.

Malware.  Just mention the word and watch people cringe in fear.  No one likes it and most seek to even avoid saying the word out loud, lest they be stricken by something nefarious.  The topic should not be taken lightly, as getting infected with malware can have dire consequences.  From your brand being tarnished to identity theft, nothing involving malware is a joke. Which is why it’s taken so seriously by the search...
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Bing Webmaster Tools Fall Updates

We've spent the better part of a year now hitting the shows, running surveys and holding focus groups. Along with the information we captured direct from the webmaster community through those sources, there is the daily flow of inbound suggestions and, yes, items needing to be fixed, that we can draw insights from. Today we're rolling out the latest features and updates, most of which come directly from user feedback.  You spoke...
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Want to be an authority? Here’s how…

Everyone wants to be an authority.  Everyone wants to be acknowledged for their, well, knowledge.  Everyone wants the increased ranking and traffic that comes when an engine sees you as an authoritative resource.  But so few actually plan a path to success, thinking instead that blasting everything they find across Twitter and auto-following everyone will boost their numbers and get them recognized as an authority. Let’s take...
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Articles and syndicated content - help or hindrance?

Dictionary.com shares this meaning of “syndication”  (see #8) when used as a verb: to publish simultaneously, or supply for simultaneous publication, in a number of newspapers or other periodicals in different places: Her column is syndicated in 120 papers. In most cases, being syndicated is seen as a positive thing.  You’ve hit the big time, you’re in demand, people what to hear from you.  All good signs you...
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Managing redirects – 301s, 302s and canonicals

Almost every website will reach a point when they need to implement redirects.  Whether it’s because you moved content around, or you’re moving to a new domain, redirects can help you keep the traffic flowing, pass the value URLs have been assigned by the engines and help keep bookmarks working for your loyal visitors. You don’t need to fear implementing redirects, but you should understand which is best to use and their...
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How to build a social following

With social playing such an important role today in your overall online marketing efforts, it’s important to get things right the first time.  As the old saying goes, first impressions matter.  Getting a do-over in today’s face-paced online business environment is tough, especially when everything you do is recorded, archived and essentially available to anyone willing to search almost forever. Now you might be tempted to...
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Link farms and Like farms – don’t be tempted

With our very busy lives, it’s easy to be tempted to engage in tactics that would seem to create efficiencies for us.  Signing up for, or paying for services which appear to take the pain out of critical tasks like managing your social program properly, or building links to your content may seem like a smart move, but be warned.  You may be setting yourself up to fail in the long run. What is a link farm? Simply put, a link farm is...
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