Apologies for my first post in many months being about an advanced SEO course I’m instructing. But if you’re on the hunt for advanced SEO training then this may be for you. The course is running on July 7 & 8 in Dublin, and I’m hoping it will offer people some really good insight into applying advanced SEO techniques. Read on if this tickles your fancy.

I’ve never spent much time looking at the travel niche here in Ireland, but amidst all the doom and gloom I see fantastic opportunities for Irish travel agents who are willing to embrace technology to build strong online relationships with their prospects and customers.

Maybe it’s just me, but when I saw these video comments it opened my eyes to how the future will likely look – high fidelity communications where nuance between parties increases exponentially. Not to mention a very valuable insight into how Google might use phone numbers to determine website owners…

Two weeks ago I recorded my second Podcast on Search Engine Optimisation for Enterprise Ireland. This time myself and John Ring discussed SEO for SMEs in Ireland, and how businesses can use SEO to increase traffic and sales.

Interesting case study by Michael Wall showing that the rel=”canonical” tag is not panacea some would suggest. Take care or you might see the same outcomes as Michael…

Small, but still significant change to Google Local search results – Google now return 7 Local results rather than the 10 they had previously.

A new SERP result layout that really delivers massive real estate to sites getting these types of listings in Google’s search results.

Very interesting video from Google explaining duplicate content and multiple site issues. Some great information for entry-level and advanced webmasters.

An interesting change I just noticed where Google is showing sitelinks for sites ranked lower than #1. The sitelinks point at 4 related forum threads, and include the post date.

Here’s a case of a very small change in Google that will likely be noticed by lots and lots of Irish sites.

Rant about Houston Search Engine Optimization and how certain morons use inane comment spam to promote their own service. In this case someone left comments promoting a site at thehoustonseo.com, but of course I cant say that it was indeed this company that left the comment spam.

Today GoCompare no longer rank for their own brand. Interesting turn, and maybe completely unrelated to the emails they are sending around offering free link-bearing content to webmasters.

If you’re an Irish site owner, and you’d like to see how conversion optimisation testing can significantly improve your conversion rate without paying a single cent, then you have until Friday April 17 to apply for the free offer. More details inside.

How to recruit in-house SEOs – questions to ask, expectations to set, and salaries to offer.

I had the great pleasure of instructing the Digital Marketing Institute course this past Thursday, and I have to admit I had a great time delivering the Website Architecture session twice on the day. I was worried that I’d run out of steam – delivering the same presentation over concerned me. It turned out very […]

Latest research showing how Irish users are utilising Search Engines, which search engines they favour and how they perceive and use PPC ads in search results.

This is pretty big in my opinion. Google has announced two changes to SERPs, the first being an update to Search Refinements, but for me the bigger change is to the snippet display: When you enter a longer query, with more than three words, regular-length snippets may not give you enough information and context. In […]

Links are important. Everyone knows this. So when a directory I paid money to moves my links from gTLD to UK ccTLD I’m a little miffed. But when the same directory also seems to subjugate Ireland under the UK it ruffles more than a few feathers. If you curious then please read on…

An interesting case of how simple mistakes can lead to your site dropping out of Search Engine indices. And

What I think will happen to SEO/SEM in 2009.

A look at how Google can sometimes be its own worst enemy, and how universal search doesn’t always bring benefits to users.

My slides from a recent lecture given at the Fitzwilliam Institute, Dublin Ireland.

An acknowledgement from Google that IFRAME content is used by spam classifiers. Well in this isolated case anyhow…

Search engines want to index as much content as possible. It’s not unheard of for Google to come knocking within minutes of launching a new site. And yet we still have “SEO’s” offering Search Engine Submission as a paid service.

Google has recently released some interesting videos via its Google Technology RoundTable series. All the videos are embedded inside the post, and if you’re into SEO then the first video is well worth a watch.

People who know me would, I hope, consider me to be straight-talking – I call it as I see it. But I can say hand-on-heart that self-interest doesn’t particularly drive me, so I hope people read my general commentaries in that light. But back to calling at I see it. I’m not completely bereft of […]

Another look at Irish Times, but with a alrge tangent – ireland.com. No hat-tips for SEO I’m afraid, and are they breaking Google’s TOS with hidden text?

I’ve been meaning to blog about a few inside tidbits I picked up at PubCon last December.

This one is particularly important for virtually all webmasters as it concerns the new Geo Targeting Tool within Goolge Webmaster Console, and something that Google hasn’t even told you about the tool yet. Learn more by reading on…

Just how much does architecture play a role in SEO? In my experience good internal architecture can be the difference between lots of traffic and none at all.

And what should you do if your messaging is built for conversions? Why test of course…

Google Local Business listings have been available for quite some time in many of the Google country properties.

It appears that Ireland is set to also enjoy Google Local – Ireland is now covered within Google Local Business Center. We might be about to get some quite cool OneBox listings on Google.ie…

Website redesigns are a great way to improve the user experience. Everyone likes to use a site which engages their senses and delivers a great experience.

And if you manage the migration well you should find that Search Engines quickly pick up that you have a new site, and continue to send you the traffic you enjoyed previously. If…

Ripe.ie don’t do dresses – not in my book anyhow.

Would you pay €1950 + VAT for 6 backlinks from ripe.ie? Poor dresses.ie apparently did…

Many people complain about Wikipedia being all over Google SERPs.

Is Ebay the Wikipedia of Google.ie ‘pages from Ireland’?

When you purchase SEO you want to know that your provider is going to deliver a quality service.

Do you perform any due diligence of your SEO provider’s service? Perhaps you should…

Google is updating its index with increasing speed and frequency.

But odly wnough the cache seems to be no longer representative of what Google knows about your pages…

Flash Replacement can be an excellent addition to your website. When implemented correctly it offers a great win-win outcome – your users have an improved visitor experience, and the Search Engines can index the complete content of your page.

But implemented poorly and your site could be on the receiving end of a penalty, or worse still – an outright ban.

What happens when an SEO provider promotes multiple competing websites? Is there an ethical dimension to this issue that requires discussion?

Now add into the mix PPC management – just how large can the conflicts of interest get?

This goes against all good business practices – never dump on your competition.

But the only way to ensure that Ireland’s SEO industry delivers real value is to name and shame those companies who ‘talk the talk’ but don’t ‘walk the walk’.

Sometimes even the big sites who invest huge sums of money into their online properties can get things wrong.

But I do have to wonder how the most basic SEO 101 type issues are let creep into websites that are hugely dependant on Search Engine traffic (thinking recently re-launched national newspaper site here)….

What happens when Google just wont pick up your site?

The first thing to check is whether Googlebot can actually access your content.