A majority of social actions on your blog/website will be either a Tweet or Facebook share. Many of the available plug-ins use the Tweetmeme button which can be inaccurate. Twitter has now released an official button for websites much along the lines of the recent Facebook Like button.

There are three plug-ins worth installing through the WordPress Dashboard, namely:

Original Tweet Button – Adds the button at the end of each post.
Original Tweet Button Shortcode – Adds the button wherever you add the shortcode in posts or pages.
Digg Digg – This is the plug-in I use. It has just been updated to use the official button instead of Tweetmeme.

There is another plug-in by Mohanjith which can be downloaded here. I haven’t tested it, but I know Mohanjith’s work and I trust it.

Now to go and find a plug-in for the Facebook like button.

Google have released a Beta version of App Inventor for us, the great unwashed, to play with. Previously it has been tested only in schools – some say as a way of forcing Android to be the default option for the next generation.

I’ve been looking for something like this for a while and having been put off by the negative feedback frenzy some “advert monetised” apps; such as Genwi Apps, have created, I’ve been thinking about going to a specialist app developer – indeed I have been in conflab with one only recently.

And get this – the new tool is WYSYWG too. You can find it here. Well, hopefully. In this first roll-out stage, you will have to apply and wait for your invite. Shouldn’t be too long.

I will most definitely be spending some time playing with this and will report back.

Google Wave launched in 2009 and was mooted to be the next big thing. Google described it as how they would have invented email if email had not already been invented, however, they forgot to integrate it into gmail. A large error if you ask me.

I sat through the entire hour long video on how Wave works and watched the real life examples but I still didn’t understand it. I couldn’t for the life of me think of a use for it.

Well, it seems I wasn’t alone. Come to think of it, I’m not entirely sure I know what Buzz is all about either.

Will Buzz – touted as a Twitter killer (by me) – be next?

Firstly, let me briefly explain why backlinks are required. There are two main elements to the Google ranking algorithm:

1. Relevance – on page factors
2. Authority – off page factors

Relevance is dictated in general by the page content and can easily be controlled by the webmaster or SEO. For this reason the relevance is known as the on page factors. Self explanatory really!

Authority is a little more complex. In very simple terms, Google counts the number of backlinks to a website and uses this score to work out the importance or authority the web page or website exhibits. This explanation really is very simplified and many more factors than just the number of links is taken into account. Suffice to say that the quality of the backlink is more important than the number of said backlinks.

For instance a backlink to this site from the BBC website would be seen as a high quality link.

Many links from irrelevant websites are easily spotted by Google and penalties are freely issued because it is seen as an attempt to manipulate the rankings – something which is against Google’s TOS.

Some quick dos and don’ts:

• Do – submit your website to respected directories.
• Do – submit your website to pertinent directories.
• Do – get involved in discussions in blogs and forums pertinent to your vertical.
• Do – make sure your website has good quality content (or controversial content) that other webmasters will want to link to.

• Don’t – buy links from other websites
• Don’t – get involved in FFA (Free For All)  link sites
• Don’t – get involved in link exchanges

Below, you will find a research tool you can use to find prospective backlinks. Simply type in a keyword relevant to your website and check through the results.

Do not submit your link if the website asks for one in return and do not submit your link if the page appears to have many off topic links.

In short. Be careful – make sure the site looks professional and is completely on-topic.

Here’s the tool – enjoy.

In this new blog category, I will go over each tool to show you how it works, the significance of the findings, and general usage tips i.e. what to look out for and traps to avoid.

So, don’t forget to subscribe to our feed, follow us on Twitter or like our new Facebook page to follow this exciting SEO tools thread.

Facebook have been smouldering away in the background and having rebuffed several multi-billion-dollar attempts by Google to purchase them outright have decided to take Google on in their own backyard – search.

Have you noticed Facebook “like” buttons appearing over the web? Have you also noticed these coming up in your feed when a friend likes an external website? Well, this is part of the algorithm directly competing with the Google Page Rank algorithm. Whereas Google counts and rates the number and quality of inbound links to a website as a measure of website’s importance importance, Facebook will use the “like” button. Simple really and purely democratic.

Over the last few years, marketers and spammers have been concentrating on links in order to manipulate their own rankings, but now these efforts will be moving from links to likes. The phrase we ethical search engine optimisers use is currently “Link bait” and I expect the phrase “like bait” to come into popular use soon. In fact, I have noticed this starting already. The Hyatt hotel in Cambridge is offering free WiFi for your stay if you hit the like button on their website. This is a fee waive of £11.75 per day. That’s the value they are placing on like bait. The Second Cup coffee chain in America are doing a similar thing.

The technology behind this new search engine is called Open Graph and I will go into that in more detail in my next post so stay connected as this is going to be huge.

Online marketers need to move now, this is SO important not to get left behind. Hey, good job I’m a progressive SEO eh?

To summarise:

Facebook is launching a social semantic search engine and it WILL change the way you reach out online. SEO is different now. Gulp.

Google has put together a deal with property search companies in order to stream their data to Google Maps. The companies I have seen using this service so far are:

Zoopla, Zoomf, Ezylet, Property Pal, Net Movers, and SmartNewHomes with glaring omissions being Rightmove and PrimeLocation.

In general, the companies pushing the listings are companies already providing software solutions to estate agents. Maybe that’s the reason for the omission of the big two property search companies? They already take feeds from the afore mentioned software providers and perhaps they either think they’re too bog to join in? Or are being purposefully bypassed by Google in an attempt to set up a head-to-head battle – the latter being the most likely.

Having recently refreshed and Search Engine Optimised a website for a property letting agency in Cardiff, I will do a little research to see if I can get his properties into the maps by using a feed into Google Base.

Watch this space for my findings.

BTW – It is also rumoured that Tesco is considering entering the estate agency market with fixed price sales. Rumour has it that it will be a fixed fee of £199.00 to advertise and a house for sale, payable on completion. if that is true, it’s time for the agents to be afraid – very afraid.

Try the property search here.

I had a meeting with a client this morning and we were both quite surprised to see some major changes to the established rankings. Some long-term number 1 performers dropped and some we were pushing suddenly in. On my return to the office a quick check of client accounts confirmed that irregularities are widespread.

My first inkling that something was afoot was yesterday 20th April 2010. The search phrase I had been targetting for this website popped up in the number 1 position with the long term incumbent in position 2, but still with site links. Obviously, site links should only be expected in position 1 so this was an obvious ranking anomaly.

Now, whether you have won or lost in the update, here’s my advice based on my experiences with previous major updates:

1. Winners – Don’t celebrate too soon. It could be temporary. Wait at least 1 month before you start celebrating. Many of the sites that have lost out will, bounce back again.
2. Losers – Don’t panic. Unless you have been taking part in any techniques now outlawed by Google, you will most likely bounce back again. Again, wait 1 month before panicking.

That said, it would be worth auditing your current SEO plan so as to ascertain whether techniques being used may result in your position remaining lowered. For instance, have you bought any links? Have you sold any links? Have you entered into link exchanges? It’s not all about links but this is known to be an area Google wants to clean up.

If you need help with this, please contact me by email.

One of the companies I came across is Genwi (or iSites in the USA). Their prices looked reasonable and their ethos looked good, however, it appears that Genwi apps are getting a very bad name for being simple wrapper apps that are ad driven.

Genwi themselves state:

Don’t create vanity apps or attempt to transfer personal blogs, static photo albums, flyers, or static business websites into an app.

That warning is never going to be enough. And; alas, the Android Marketplace has been swamped with poor quality apps and spam apps. Some of the prominent Android directories have now dropped all Genwi apps and the Genwi website is down stating:

We are working on releasing a new version…please stay tuned.

The whole open source thing with Android and Android apps, which I have already stated needs to be regulated, has created an environment where developers love to hang out and where spam is vehemently disliked.

Have a look at some the venomous comments Genwi is attracting.

Right now – for the sake of reputation – I’ll be steering clear of Genwi and employing a proper developer through Elance.