The Week in Review

The Accuracy of Visitor Data: Alexa, Compete, Google Trends, DoubleClick and Quantcast

SEOmoz knows its stats from 2011, so they decided to compare them with numbers from third parties: Alexa, Compete, Google Trends for Websites, DoubleClick and Quantcast. Unsurprisingly, they’re off. (SEOmoz)

How Facebook Comments Impact Google Search Rankings

"Google’s November 2011 changes to its web crawler have created new opportunities and liabilities for all websites implementing Facebook Comments, with important implications for SEO." Webmasters who don’t properly prevent and manage spam could see their rankings plummet. (Inside Facebook)

10 Jolting Link-Building Tactics to Boost Your Rankings

Once you’ve got the basics of link baiting down, take a look at these 10 link-building techniques. Among them are collecting and sharing content, getting business links and redesigning your website with a good CSS design. (Quick Sprout)

Google Personalizes Search With ‘Search Plus Your World’

"Search Plus Your World" is Google’s new search format, and it could be the most radical change yet. Personalized search from Google will now serve up results from your Google+ network. Obviously, there’s a lot to this. (Search Engine Land, ReadWriteWeb)

Private Ad Exchanges Show the Maturity of Mobile Advertising

The launch of new private ad exchanges that bring together publishers and brand advertisers shows the maturation of the mobile advertising market. "It’s going to be some time before mobile advertising catches up to online, but as mobile absorbs the lessons of its predecessor, it is accelerating the growth process." (GigaOM)

145 PPC Must-Do’s for 2012

The header says it all. Here’s a no-frills list of 145 tips, tricks and must-do’s for PPC in 2012. Included in the list are: better testing, speeding up your site, smarter competition, remarketing and listening to webinars instead of music while at work. (PPC Hero)

6 Mobile Search Optimization Trends for 2012

Here are some things mobile and search marketers should be aware of when preparing for the continued rise of mobile this year: 1) social local mobile marketing (SoLoMo); mobile visual search optimization; mobile search results diverging; separate content for smartphones, tablets and feature phones; mobile searchers influencing core search; and marketers continuing to optimize sites and apps. (Search Engine Land)

51% of Mobile Users Are OK With Ads So Long as They Get Free Content

According to a Nielsen report, 51 percent of consumers who use smartphones and tablets are fine with advertising on their devices if it means they can access content for free. “Free apps are preferred by mobile consumers, though many opt for a combination of both free and paid apps to include in their collection, which usually averages 33 apps total.” (Nielsen)

The Top 7 Online Marketing Trends for 2012

Among the top seven online marketing trends in 2012 are: consumers being device-indifferent; social media marketing growing up and moving out of marketing; and real-time mattering more than ever. Data and charts back up each trend. (ClickZ)

9 Email-Related Companies to Watch in 2012

Enough of the predictions: Here is a list of nine email-related companies (that aren’t service providers) you should be keep an eye on this year. Among them are 8 Seconds, Connection Engine, GroupVine and SeeWhy. (MediaPost)

6 SEO Tactics to Use Before Turning to the Dark Side

If you’re an “SEO Jedi,” you’re probably tempted by black-hat tactics pretty often – but before you give in to the dark side, give these six white-hat techniques a try: 1) universal search optimization, 2) clever link bait, 3) user-generated content, 4) microdata annotations and rich snippets, 5) social media optimization, and 6) SEO “social networking.” (Search Engine Watch)

6 On-Page SEO Strategies to Boost Your Rankings

On-page SEO optimization goes beyond making sure your meta tags are filled out. Best of all, these deeper tactics don’t require veteran skills. Search for synonyms using Google, link to high-authority sites and pay attention to sentiment search signals – these are among the six on-page strategies to use to boost your rankings. (Quick Sprout)

The Difference Between Good Links and Great Links

Some links count more than others. Here’s a discussion of page authority and high-quality backlinks. “Good links can come from anywhere – someone might link to you in a private e-mail or on a blog post, or call attention to your site in a forum – but great links come from relevant sites with high rankings in ‘good neighborhoods’ that send traffic.” (Search Engine People)

Yahoo’s New Chief Rallies the Troops

Scott Thompson, Yahoo’s new chief executive, is rallying his company. At his first all-hands meeting, he shared that the company needed to spend a significant portion of its resources on new services that wouldn’t lead to immediate financial rewards, but could lead to big gains in the future. (WSJ.com)

5 Landing-Page Lessons From Real-Life Examples

Here’s a list of five great landing pages from ModCloth, Salesforce, YouSendIt, Jetsetter and SEOmoz. Along with each landing page is a brief look at how they can improve even further. (HubSpot)

50 Pages and People Every SEO Should Have in Their Google+ Circles

If you’re an SEO, you should make sure to have these 50 pages and people in your circles to gain knowledge and insight into the industry. Among them are SEOmoz, SEO Book, Dejan SEO, Rand Fishkin, Aaron Wall, Avinash Kaushik and Bill Slawski. (Point Blank SEO)

The Crucial Role of Psychology-Driven SEO

“Your ‘landing page’ is the first step a visitor takes into your online universe. But that page is actually the last step in your strategic plan to attract those visitors.” What comes before the landing page matters more than what’s on it. (Search Engine Land)

Tips for Creating Better Display Ads

This infographic shows seven best practices for building a smarter display ad: 1) use video for higher engagement, 2) initiate your video automatically, 3) surround the ad with relevant content, 4) richer formats prolong attention, 5) synced ads get more attention, 6) take advantage of dynamic creative optimization and 7) integrate exchanges into the media buy. (Econsultancy)

5 Email Marketing Predictions for 2012

Here’s what to expect for email marketing in 2012: 1) far from dying, email marketing will continue to thrive; 2) more email marketers will embrace behavioral segmentation; 3) cross-channel attribution and scrutiny of success measures will dominate attention; 4) security, breaches and legislation will grow in 2012; and 5) marketers will understand the penalty of mailing to dormant email addresses. (ClickZ)

How to Get the Most out of Google Analytics

Google Analytics has a lot to offer, but where do you start? Here’s an overview of three core metrics: acquisition, engagement and outcome. (Mashable)

A Checklist for Local SEO in 2012

This is the year you either start on your local SEO schemes or build on ones you already have in place. Either way, here’s a must-do checklist: 1) invest real money in your site, 2) read the Google Places quality guidelines, 3) read the Google Places review guidelines, 4) follow the guidelines closely, 5) use the Google Places help forum, 6) don’t forget the non-Google opportunities, 7) read Mike Blumenthal’s blog, 8) be sociable, 9) realize you’ve entered the publishing business, and 1) do something not on this list. (Search Engine Guide)

Apple Hires Adobe Executive to Head up iAd

Todd Teresi from Adobe has been hired by Apple to lead its iAd team. Apple’s mobile ad product has yet to make a big impact. (GigaOM)

Using Social Buttons to Enhance SEO

Social signals are more important than ever for SEO, but e-commerce sites are struggling to encourage their customers to behave socially with their brands. Enter social buttons: “Including social buttons in the right pages and at the right stages of the conversion funnel is key to increasing consumers’ social behavior.” (Practical eCommerce)

16 Simples Changes to Your Blog to Improve Content-Marketing Results

If you have a blog, your goal should be to make “content aesthetically pleasing, easily consumable, and simple to share.” Here are 16 simples tweaks to make, ranging from the blog layout to columns to content layout, and beyond. (BlueGlass)

4 PPC Misconceptions of AdWords Keywords

Here are four PPC misconceptions cleared up for you: 1) You can’t use keyword-level destination URLs on the Display Network; 2) An average position of No. 1 means you are showing in the top spot above the organic results; 3) Once you delete a keyword, it loses its account history and you can’t reactivate it; 4) When you add a new keyword into your account, its Quality Score reflects how well it’s performing in your account. (PPC Hero)