Bill Hartzer – Updates Prior to May 2014

Here’s an archive of my updates (that were on my site’s home page). These are the updates, continued from the front page of my site.

July 16, 2014 – I spoke at the monthly DFWSEM.org meeting, an organization I founded way back in 2003. The topic was “Google Algorithm Update: Pandas, Penguins, and Recovering from Penalties” and total we had about 150 people in attendance. My presentation is over on slideshare.

June 28, 2014 – I spoke at the 2014 DBRFF Conference, held in Dana Point, California. I spoke about SEO and social media and what’s going on in 2014. Here’s my presentation from the conference, over on slideshare.

I also helped with the Domainer’s Choice Awards, which were held the evening of June 28, 2014 at the Dana Point Yacht Club. I was the “official photographer” for the event, and have a set of photos on my Flickr.com account.

I also presented the following during the SEO Basics session:

2014 SEO Basics – Pubcon SFIMA 2014

March 20, 2014 – I spoke this week at the Pubcon conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. My main presentation was during the Algo Chaos session, which covered Google Penguin, Google Panda, the other algorithm changes that have occurred within the past few years. I also spoke about what’s coming up, and what types of algorithm changes we’re going to see soon. I’ve embedded by presentation below, and you can also download it or view it on slideshare.

February 28, 2014 – This past, unlike last week, has been really busy. There was an announcement yesterday by Matt Cutts of Google who tweeted about a new way to tell Google about sites who are ranking better than you–where that site has scraped your content. Then, there were some interesting domain acquisitions by Disney and Facebook. And Didit.com acquired LVM Group, a PR agency in Manhattan.

February 15, 2014 – This past week has been fairly busy, with a few posts on the blog related to the new gTLD domains. What’s concerning to me is that Twitter doesn’t recognize the gTLDs, while Facebook and Google Plus recognizes them.

At Globe Runner, we’re looking to hire an SEO and Content Marketing Specialist, based in our Lewisville, Texas office (Dallas Texas area). Feel free to contact me if you’d like more information about this position or would like to send your resume.

February 8, 2014 – I’ve been really busy blogging lately if you haven’t noticed. I’d actually like to say I’m writing articles and news posts, but that’s what I think they are: you might think they’re just blog posts. Anyhow, I’ve written about Apple owning several mysterious domain names. I don’t know what they’re up to, but it could just be internal testing. I’ve also written about Google hosting low quality articles on a site they own. How can we be expected to remove our links from sites that Google owns? There’s no contact information available.

Want to get your site on Google’s front page of search results? Well, don’t hire someone who send you an unsolicited email. That’s one of my pet peeves right now, and it’s a shame that people still hire low quality services. Read my post about it and see how I really feel.

There is a big effort now to get low quality links to your website removed if you’ve been penalized by Google in the past year. It’s a shame that some companies feel as if they have to make you pay to remove a link.

January 28, 2014 – At the Pubcon conference held in Austin, Texas, I presented on Social Signals and SEO along with Eric Enge from Stone Temple Consulting. The following is my presentation from the conference:

November 18, 2013 – At the State of Search conference, I received the Churchill Award from the DFWSEM organization that I help start back about 10 years ago. The Churchill Award recognizes the top Search Marketer in the Dallas, Texas area. I spoke at the State of Search conference in Dallas, Texas about Local SEO. Below is a copy of my presentation.

October 28, 2013 – At the Pubcon Conference in Las Vegas, I presented on the latest Google algorithms and filters, and how to recover from a Google Penguin penalty or the Google Panda algorithm. I also talked about the Google Hummingbird algorithm, as well. Below is my Google algorithm presentation:

Also at the Pubcon Conference in Las Vegas, I presented on the convergence of search and social (media) and how you can combine SEO with social media marketing in order to properly promote your content. In the presentation, I give a few really great tips, including how to increase your followers on the Google Plus social network. Below is my presentation:

August 12, 2013 – Media Shower interviewed me in a post called “10,000 Hours in 10 Minutes”. In this interview I reveal a lot about my background in SEO, and even some tactics for the future.

May 1, 2013 – I was quoted in Forbes talking about Exact Match Domain Names. David Teten wrote the article titled “Should A Startup Spend VC Funding On A Domain Name?”.

Notable Blog Posts

Read My Latest Notable Blog Posts
As a writer and SEO professional, I am always writing and blogging about the latest news and gossip in the search engine optimization, domain name, and social media industries. I have to admit–there’s never a dull moment if you’re one of my regular blog readers. The information and knowledge that I can dig up in these industries is unprecedented. Here are a few of my latest blog posts and pages:

September 24, 2013 – Google made a very significant change, and has decided to secure all Google searches. This means that website owners won’t get the keyword data that they’ve been using for so long. Read this post to learn why I think this is an industry-changing event for the SEO industry.

September 10, 2013 – This latest post, about How Google Finds and Penalizes Advertorials is a follow-up post to one I wrote about advertorials recently. This post looks at how Google might identify advertorials, just like they have identified paid text link ads in the past. There is a footprint, and there are “signs” that point to whether the article is an advertorial or not. And, I might add that an advertorial doesn’t necessarily have to have money change hands in order to be considered an advertorial.

August 13, 2013 – In my latest blog post, I talk about natural link building and really how it would be difficult for you to hire someone to do link building and have those links be considered “natural”. You didn’t naturally get those links to your site, you hired someone to get those links for you. They’re not natural, really. Take a look at what some sleazy SEO firm is sending out to try to get you to hire them.

July 19, 2013 – Want to know when you should post on social media sites? There is research out there that shows when the best times are to post. Certain social networks are used at certain times of the day. Follow these tips when posting and you’ll be more successful.

July 8, 2013 – Altavista, one of my old-time favorite search engines is gone. I used to do SEO for companies wanting to be listed on Altavista. Now, Altavista redirects to a page on Yahoo! but they’re using a 302 redirect–not recommended.

July 5, 2013 – Twitter has banned auto following. This is actually a big deal. Really. No longer can you use an automated tool or software or app or website to auto follow users on Twitter. Read more about Twitter Banning Auto Following, and how you can make sure that you don’t lose your Twitter account.

July 3, 2013 – According to a sensitive but unclassified report, the Bureau of International Information Programs, a part of the United States State Department, has paid $630,000 of U.S taxpayer dollars on two separate social media campaigns: to increase the number of Facebook Likes on their Facebook page. What’s even worse, is that these two social media campaigns were complete flops, with less than 2 percent actually engaging with their posts. Read my post about how the U.S State Department Wasted Taxpayer Dollars by paying for Facebook Likes.

June 30, 2013 – ICANN is the organization that regulates domain names. The ICANN board has accepted a new list of regulations. Amongst them is the new rule for registrars: domain names must be verified by email or phone when purchased.

June 25, 2013 – The FTC originally issued guidance to the search engines in 2002 about distinguishing between paid ads and natural search results. Today, the FTC sent letters to the major search engines plus 17 more search engines issuing more guidance on disclosure of paid ads. Here’s my analysis of the disclosure of paid ads by search engines.

June 23, 2013 – From time to time I review various SEO tools that I really like–and actually use. This is my second SEM Rush Review that I’ve posted on my site. Updated for 2013.

June 14, 2013 – Old blog posts just don’t have the same “oomph” as they did when you first posted that blog post. Did you know that you can use this “trick” to make your old blog posts “rock” in the search results? There’s actually a way to make your old blog posts rock in the search results.

June 12, 2013 – Are hashtags spam? Are hashtags going to go the way of the meta keywords tag eventually? The problem is that people decide which tags to put on their own posts: which is really an issue because so many people abuse it. Facebook is going to start soon allowing hashtags on their system. This is a mistake. Here is why hashtags are spam.

June 8, 2013 – Do domain names make good investments? Well, in short, yes, they do. Domain names are the real estate of the internet. In my post, What is the Value of a Domain Name?, I explain that the value of domains are going up–and talk about Frank Schilling’s new site redesign of DomainNameSales.com.

June 5, 2013 – After talking to a few bloggers, I realized that there is a rumor going around that says that it’s bad to link out to other websites. They claim that your website’s search engine rankings can be hurt if you link out. So, they’re not linking out (naturally) to other websites. That’s just ridiculous. In fact, it’s unnatural if you don’t link out. Read more about why it is still okay to link out in a Post Google Penguin World.

May 22, 2013 – From the combined efforts of Domain Boardroom (of which I am a proud member), Escrow.com, and myself, along with my buddy Elliot, victims of recent Oklahoma Tornado tragedy will benefit from money raised during an online auction. Several prominent members of Domain Boardroom have donated several very good domain names, Escrow.com has graciously donated their services, and I have decided to provide a full Search Engine Optimization Audit, as well.

May 13, 2013 – Penalized or Banned in Google? Don’t Issue a Press Release Like IGXE Internet Gaming Exchange – If your website is banned in the Google search engine or if your website is penalized, then I don’t recommend writing and distributing a press release about it. Especially if all you’re going to do is blame someone else (other than your own company employees) for buying links and getting your website penalized by Google. And if you’re going to hire someone to write a press release, make sure they have a good handle of the English language.

May 8, 2013 – It is Still Possible to Spam the Google Search Results. Even though Google is doing a lot to stop search engine spam, sites like the one I describe are still able to rank well in the search engines using spammy, low quality content. This blog post made it into the Search Engine Land SearchCap for the day.

May 7, 2013 – Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center ADNDRC Publishes UDRP Findings; Includes Complainant’s Credit Card Number – The Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center ADNDRC today published their findings on a UDRP Domain Name Dispute for the domain name 6543.com, which was reportedly a stolen domain. In the process, they had a total disregard for the complainant’s financial safety and security. In the findings documents, the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center scolded Godaddy but went on to publish the complainant’s credit card number.

May 1, 2013 – Google to Start Showing Company Logos in Search Results? – Based on what I am seeing using the Google Rich Snippets Tool, it looks like Google is going to be soon showing your company logo in the search results, just like they’re currently doing with Google Authorship.

April 29, 2013 – SEO Agency Launches Google AdWords Campaign Targeting Blueglass – Vizion Interactive, an SEO Agency, has launched a Google AdWords campaign where they are specifically targeting searches for a competitor’s brand name. But, in this case it’s Blueglass, an interactive marketing agency that has had its share of controversy in the past few weeks.

April 27, 2013 – Do Not Rely on a Bot to Do Your Online Marketing and SEO – Whatever you do, don’t rely on a bot (a robot) to handle your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). 10 years ago, when the search engines weren’t as sophisticated as they are now, you might have gotten away with using automated programs to create links to your website and to add social bookmarks and create auto-generated content and “articles”.

April 23, 2013 – This is Not How You Should Perform Link Cleanups and Link Removals For Your Website – A UK-based agency named datadial recently received a threatening letter (a Cease and Desist letter) from Fox Williams LLP demanding that a link on their website be removed. The link in question was pointing to Shopzilla’s website.

April 18, 2013 – Never Use a Hyphen in Your Domain Name – Yes, I know the title of this post sounds harsh. But to be honest with you, that is my conclusion now that I have seen this. It’s solid proof that the right keyword rich domain name will out-rank a hyphenated domain name in the search results every time..

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