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The next SEOToolSet Training course will be held February 15-19 in Simi Valley, CA, with both the standard course and advanced certification course being offered.

As Bruce says, everyday is a new day in the SEO industry. Don’t get left behind. Register for SEOToolSet Training today.

Learn SEO from the Expert was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services company.

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Learn SEO from the Expert

2010 has just burst onto the scene like a squishy new baby —full of love and excitement and endless possibility, and at the same time terrifying, screaming for your attention and about to consume your life. In order to prepare that bouncing newborn for the rest of her life and to set a foundation for a positive and construction relationship in the future, there are things you can do today to get ready for challenges to come. [In related news, my niece is due in 10 days! --Susan]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/billtex48/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Likewise, there are steps we can take to set ourselves up for SEO accomplishments in the new year, sharpen our skill sets, and fine-tune our strategies. I don’t know about you, but the New Year always infuses me with a renewed sense of urgency, of determination, and of a desire to reach the peak of my potential.

Ushering in a new year means reevaluating priorities, refocusing strategy and rejuvenating the internal drive that will propel me for the next 365 days. And with this rediscovered power follows the responsibility to take on the challenge and mentally prepare for the upcoming obstacles standing in the way of my success.

In the SEO industry, everyone is looking for a way to get ahead of the game, which makes your ability to do so that much more critical to staying competitive. Luckily, there are some incredible opportunities coming up that offer just the knowledge and understanding needed at this milestone.

This month Bruce Clay, Inc. kicks off the new year with the Standard SEO training course being presented January 11-13 and the Advanced course being offered January 14 and 15.

The start of a new year is a fitting time to attend an SEO training course as we transfer our renewed energy to improving our craft and setting a strong foundation. But if that’s not enough, here are five reasons to start 2010 with SEOToolSet Training.

5. Get a knowledge refresh on SEO best practices

If last year you were head-down in a complex SEO project, it’s possible that techniques and strategies not used in that campaign have collected some rust. Plus it never hurts to take a refresher course when in an industry as fast moving and sensitive as search engine optimization.

4. Get updates on the changes in the search industry

Likewise, busy SEOs oftentimes don’t have the option of staying up-to-date on all the shifts and shake-ups on the search and Internet landscapes. SEOToolSet Training is continuously updated to reflect changing search engine guidelines, recommendations from search engine reps, and the findings of ongoing tests and SEO intelligence.

3. Get your questions answered from a leading SEO expert

Bruce Clay is one of the world’s foremost experts in search engine optimization, and spending face-to-face time with Bruce provides a valuable opportunity to pick his brain during Q&A time. Bruce opens the floor to any question, including ingredients in the secret sauce of Bruce’s time-proven white hat methodology.

2. Be recognized as an expert with SEOToolSet certification

SEO is finally being recognized by the mainstream business community as a requirement of business in the world today. SEOToolSet Certification is generally recognized among industry insiders and those in the know as a sign of an SEO’s high standards for ethics, expertise and abilities. When speaking with a potential employer or client, point to SEOToolSet Certification as proof of your knowledge and skills in SEO.

1. Receive a free, year-long subscription to Bruce Clay’s SEO tools

The SEOToolSet is a fully integrated, fully supported, high performance suite of search engine optimization tools. By attending SEOToolSet Training, receive a year subscription to the SEOToolSet, including a variety of ranking monitors, the Check Server Tool and the Competitive Link Analysis tool, among others.

So what are you waiting for? Register for SEOToolSet Training in January and prepare yourself for a rocking new year of SEO.

Upcoming SEOToolSet Training dates:

• Standard and Advanced SEOToolSet Training in Simi Valley, CA, happening Jan. 11-15.
• Standard and Advanced SEOToolSet Training in Simi Valley, CA, happening Feb. 15-19.
• Standard and Advanced SEOToolSet Training in Simi Valley, CA, happening Mar. 15-19.
• Standard and Advanced SEOToolSet Training in Sydney, Australia, happening Mar. 10-12.
• Standard and Advanced SEOToolSet Training in Long Island, NY, happening May 3-5.

One-day conference concurrent SEO training dates:

• Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, CA, happening Feb. 22-26, with Bruce Clay’s SEO training on Feb. 26. Use the discount code BRUCE30 to receive 30 percent off the cost of registration.
• SMX West in Santa Clara, CA, happening Mar. 2-5, with Bruce Clay’s SEO training on Mar. 5. Use the discount code smx10bruceclay for 10 percent off the cost of registration.
• SES New York in New York City, NY, happening Mar. 22-26, with Bruce Clay’s SEO training on Mar. 5. Use the discount code 20BRU for 20 percent off the cost of registration.

5 Reasons to Launch 2010 with SEO Training was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services company.

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5 Reasons to Launch 2010 with SEO Training

As a quick update to my post over the weekend about Aweber’s system being compromised and spam emails being sent out to those that subscribe to Aweber lists – Aweber have today released a statement acknowledging the problem and talking about what they have done as a result of it.

A quick summary:

• They’re putting it down to vulnerabilities in two third party software systems that they use.
• They’re saying that the hack was limited to areas where subscriber email addresses were stored.
• They believe that the attack was done but an ‘overseas organised group’.
• They state that no other information was taken including information about customers accounts or affiliates accounts.
• They say that Aweber’s system was not used in the spamming and as a result deliverability rates have not been impacted
• They’ve closed the vulnerabilities.

Of course the reality is that while Aweber customers own details and information have not been compromised (this is a relief) – our lists have. While there’s nothing that Aweber can do about this now – the reality is that we as their customers do have to live with the knowledge that our readers, those who trust us with their details, are now getting spammed and that this spam could continue indefinitely.

While I understand Aweber’s statement, feel sorry that they went through this, am happy that it’s not as bad as it could have been and know this stuff happens – I do have some mixed feelings on this:

• Firstly I’ve got over 333,000 subscribers who have potentially been receiving spam in the last few days. This makes me feel ill and embarrassed. I’ve fielded many many emails in the last few days from angry and confused readers. While not all will realize why they’re being spammed now some who have set up specific addresses for my newsletters have – and they’re now angry and have a damaged view of my brand (and some have unsubscribed*). If you’re one of these subscribers – I’m truly sorry – I wish there were something that I could do except suggest you mark the spam as spam and/or resubscribe with a new email address.
• Secondly I’ve been actively recommending Aweber for a year or two here on ProBlogger. I personally want to apologise to my readers who have acted on that recommendation who have been impacted by this. While by no means is it my fault that there was this flaw in Aweber’s system I acknowledge that my genuine recommendation has led to these implications.

I think Aweber has an amazing service. They’ve become an integral part of my own business, have always given me amazing service and I will continue to use them. However I guess I wanted to also acknowledge to others hurt by this that I’m sorry for my part in it (indirect or not).

While Aweber does not apologise in their statement (I guess the lawyers might have had a part in that) I certainly want to express my sorrow for this event to those of you impacted by it.

Update: Aweber have since updated their statement to express that they’re sorry.

There is no perfect system. Over the years my own sites have been hacked (as have many many successful businesses). It is just a pity that this particular instance has impacted so many people.

* as I’m about to hit publish on this I thought I’d check out how many of my subscribers have in fact unsubscribed over the last few days. What I found in the reports section was very odd – for the last 3 days Aweber is reporting that not a single person has unsubscribed from my lists. The blue part of the chart is the unsubscribers – you’ll see in the last three days it is not there at all).

This is bizarre – in the last month of the stats there has not been a single day that I’ve not had someone unsubscribe – in fact I can’t remember a day that there wasn’t at least 10 for much longer than that (it’s just a natural part of having a list of the size that I do) – to have 3 days in a row with no unsubscribers is very very odd. Hopefully it’s just a glitch!

Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.

Aweber Makes a Statement About Their Data Being Compromised

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Aweber Makes a Statement About Their Data Being Compromised

Happy Friday! This has been one of the longest, craziest weeks I’ve had in some time, and I know I’m not alone.

Not that I’m complaining. Being busy is better than being bored any day, especially when the busyness is due to a preponderance of fun! In just a few days, we decorated the office in festive fashion, laughed and played at the office holiday party, and experienced the spiritual awakening known as the bacon explosion. Join in on our holiday fun!

Earlier this week the BCI team headed out to the nearby go kart racetrack for this year’s holiday party! These pics tell the story…

Maryann, me, Dawn, Nasim, Steffani, Paula and Pam wait for the flag to start our heat:

And we’re off! Paula and I were monsters on the track! Who’m I kidding? Paula was a perfect gentlewoman. However, if you catch me in your rearview…

Sure, it looks like fun and games, but the competition was fierce!

In the end, it was a numbers game, and only a select few could claim the top spots. Congrats to the BCI winners’ circle!

Christopher Hart is in town this week from our office in New York and he treated the group to a homemade Bacon Explosion 2.0. The original Bacon Explosion™ from BBQ Addicts is one of the most beloved meat treats among the SEM community and Chris showed us why. BCI programmer Michael Terry summed it up nicely:

[12/17/2009 5:08:27 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: let me put it this way
[12/17/2009 5:08:36 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: ususally when you play something up
[12/17/2009 5:08:42 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: people are disappointed
[12/17/2009 5:08:44 PM] BCI-Virginia Nussey: right
[12/17/2009 5:08:52 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: because you set expectations high
[12/17/2009 5:08:58 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: but bacon explosion is like michael jordan
[12/17/2009 5:09:05 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: no matter high the expectations are set
[12/17/2009 5:09:09 PM] BCI-Michael Terry: they still exceed them

Here’s something that exceeded my expectations this week. A video of a cat saying “nom nom nom” as it slurps up some tasty sour cream. Truly adorable! Like nuns in a snowball fight and puppies dipped in cupcake batter.

Those last two links were found through the social media power network Twitter. (Thanks @phillian and @LisaBarone!) The Huffington Post announced that it would start using Twitter as a monetization stream by allowing advertisers to place paid tweets among the live Twitter feeds on the site.

Google has added some advanced results to the Suggest feature of its search. The new Suggest includes weather, flight status, local time, definitions, currency and unit conversions and more. On the other side of the fence, online marketer Michael Gray pointed out some problems with Google Suggest.

Know what I have a problem with? Cheaters. Now, I always knew that food commercials weren’t that up front — after all, the cake is a lie — but it was rather fun and surprising to see the make-up artist routine food goes through before being camera ready. Plus the fact that this video is straight out of the 80s gives it an extra special sparkle.

If you’re looking for a laugh, I’ll tell ya, I was rolling on the floor throughout this podcast from SES Chicago. I know this isn’t a story from the last week, but if you’re a search marketer and you missed it, well, miss it no more. Behold the SEO Old Timers Roundtable, starring Bruce Clay, Rae Hoffman, Dave Naylor, Todd Friesen, Disa Johnson and host Daron Babin.

On a more somber note, the Cincinnati Bengal’s wide receiver Chris Henry passed away this week after an accident. However, rumors of his death were spreading through the interwebz before he had passed away. In the aftermath we’re left wondering how an irresponsible use of social media may have contributed to an irreverent frenzy.

I want to send a congratulatory shout out to WordStream for two new free keyword suggestion tools debuting this week. Check out the keyword niche finder and the keyword grouper and simplify your keyword research process.

Having powerful tools at your disposal is always a good thing, as is having powerful insights. Trendwatching.com’s monthly briefing is about 10 crucial consumer trends for 2010. Are you ready for urbany, fluxury and profile myning? [I think my trend for 2010 will be refusing to use the "word" myning. --Susan]

Puzzle loving movie buffs will get a kick out of the Name That Movie series. In it, illustration sequences tell the story of films, and you’ve got to figure out what the flick is. Is your film fanaticism is up to snuff? Thanks to our tipster, Mrs. Esparza! [See, Mom? I do so pass the links you send me on. --Susan]

Half of the fun of the holidays is dressing everything up in tinsel and lights. Everything’s just happier when it twinkles. Making paper snowflakes is fun part of the decorating tradition here at Bruce Clay, Inc., so we drew incredible inspiration from these amazingly intricate paper snowflakes.

Then we tried our own hand at them. With adrenaline and bacon fat coursing through our veins, we reveled in decking the office halls. And then we squished all that love into a little video to share with you!

Friday Recap: Special Snowflake Edition was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services company.

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Friday Recap: Special Snowflake Edition

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to sit in the Bruce Clay, Inc. writers’ room for a week, wonder no more.

After receiving a wake-up call about what’s really valued here at the BCI blog (Thanks, Kim!), I’m going to take a different approach to today’s end-of-week recap. Today you get to be like a fly on the wall of the BCI writers’ Skype chat. Reader, beware. Susan, Paula and I come across some weird things, and you never know what’s going to happen in there. [Yes, we skype even though we're all in the same room. You would too. Don't judge. --Susan]

It started with the mourning of the CrunchPad, Michael Arrington’s touch-screen Web browser. The story of the demise of the CrunchPad brought a chill to my blood as I considered how it could possibly be that the product was stolen away from its determined creator. As I wrote in the chat:

[11/30/2009 8:36:08 AM] BCI-Virginia Nussey: wow. such high hopes dashed

Then Paula alerted us to some of the exciting technology heading our way in 2010. Games that are controlled by the mind are closer than I thought. Early next year, the Epoc headset will be available, along with games to play on it. The Epoc works by reading the electric information that the brain broadcasts on the inside of the skull. It can even read emotional states like anxiety, frustration and excitement. The writers’ reactions?

[11/30/2009 1:00:36 PM] BCI-Paula Allen: Whoa

Susan opened our eyes to the economics of the holidays by showing us just how expensive the 12 days of Christmas are. How come the cost of French hens went up 50 percent when it says the reason for the drop in swan prices is the falling price of fowl? [And how much does it suck to be a maid a-milking? --Susan]

Making the rounds on Twitter this week was a list of the world’s snowiest places. I’m super proud to have lived in a city on this list. Betcha never knew I was that tough, huh? Grrr… [Does anyone else think that naming Canada as one of the places is totally cheating? --Susan]

So this next one needs no explanation. Puppies, kittens and babies really are among our most favoritist items to share.

If you’re in a giving mood, check out Paula’s pick for a way to make a difference for an American soldier this year. But act quickly. December 7 is the cut-off date for warm letters to our military heroes.

[12/1/2009 3:49:55 PM] BCI-Paula Allen: This is so cool! (per @jackgraycnn)
http://www.redcross.org/holidaymail

The next day, I ran across a familiar holiday convention, with an unexpected twist.

[12/2/2009 9:24:42 AM] BCI-Virginia Nussey: an advent calendar that makes you learn and doesn’t have chocolate? http://24ways.org/

At 24ways.org you’ll find daily lessons for Web geeks on design and development issues. To be fair, the site’s content more than makes up for its lack of chocolate. In other holiday count-down news, Amazon is offering 25 days of free Christmas music.

Another eye opener this week was CNN’s look at analysts’ expectations of Apple’s iPhone in the months leading up to launch. I guess I wasn’t paying much attention at the time, but did you realize just about everyone thought the iPhone was going to be a big fat fail?

Both my brother and sister are in college right now and I’m constantly amazed that they can cope with the stress they’re mainlining on a daily basis. So when Susan pointed out that California’s Chapman University will be bringing in puppies for students to hug during finals week, I immediately forwarded the story on to my siblings. My sister’s response: “OBVIOUSLY THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!”

What’s not such a great idea?

[12/2/2009 2:54:46 PM] BCI-Susan Esparza: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/now-you-see-it-now-you-dont.html Fade in? Really? This was necessary?

Yes, Google’s big change to the search engine’s user interface is a fade in. Dude, it’s either the spotless home page or the link-filled home page. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. And, no, it doesn’t matter that you have enough money to hoard all the cake in the world.

Which, of course, seems like the perfect segue to a priceless story about pie… charts. What happens when you abuse the trust and generosity of a freelance graphic designer? He returns the favor with hilarious pie charts about how little patience he has left for your fussing about.

If you’ve visited these parts before, you know that the writers have a fondness for cupcakes. A very special cupcake go-carts hybrid can be purchased from Neiman Marcus for the basement bargain price of $25,000.

When Susan sent over this next one I was initially shocked by what, on paper, looked plainly ridiculous. But after watching, I was in stitches with everyone else.

[12/3/2009 8:42:14 AM] BCI-Susan Esparza: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSkT5XykJzo Guy updates his relationship status at the altar.

I feel I may have maxed out the videos I’m allowed to embed in a single post, but definitely check out this video comparing the size of stars. The perspective you get paired with the rockin’ music is totally out of this world.

On Twitter this week I’ve noticed the holiday-themed avatars rolling back on the scene. I put up my favorite holiday snapshot of me as I chomp on a candy cane, but once December’s over, I’m strongly considering using one of these awesome Twitter avatars:

[12/3/2009 8:47:42 AM] BCI-Virginia Nussey: these are nifty http://www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/sets/72157622662466829/

Finally, Susan is heading East to liveblog SES Chicago next week. So next week these pages will be filled with coverage of the conference. If you’re just not that into liveblogging, there’s a non-liveblogging RSS feed just for you. (And thanks to everyone for helping her find the perfect cold-weather gear for the trip!) [Here's hoping I don't freeze in spite of it. --Susan]

Friday Recap – Writers’ Room Fly on the Wall Edition was originally published on BruceClay.com, an SEO services company.

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Friday Recap – Writers’ Room Fly on the Wall Edition

Here’s my roundup of the best search/marketing posts I found and read during June. If you’re new to this blog, this is a monthly feature that began way back in 2007. You can find earlier “Best Of”s for each month in the archives: 2008 Best Posts and 2007 Best Posts. I never include my own posts in these end-of-month recaps.

Small Business

• Don Campbell/Expand2Web: Google Voice – An Opportunity for Small Business Owners
• Janet Meiners Thaeler/Small Biz Trends: Practices of Top SEO Companies for Small Businesses
• David Mihm/SEL: Do-It-Yourself SEO Advice For SMBs

Local Search

• Ash Nallawalla & Fabienne Rabbiosi/Mihmorandum: The Guide to Australian Citations for Local Search
• David Mihm: The Guide to UK Citations for Local Search
• David Mihm: The Guide to Canadian Citations for Local Search
• Miriam Ellis/SEO Igloo: The Great Wall Of Google – A Short Essay On Communication
• Eric Enge/SEL: Clean Up Your Local Data!
• David Mihm: Requests for New & Improved Google Maps Features

SEO

• Russ Jones/Google Cache: The Triviality of On-Page HTML Tag Optimization
• Aaron Wall/SEOBook: SEM Training: Do You Make These 14 Common SEM Errors?

PPC

• Andrew Goodman/SEL: The Long Tail of Paid Search Account Effort
• Brad Geddes/SEL: Beginners Guide To Creating Mobile AdWords Campaigns

Links & Link Building

• Ann Smarty/SEJ: Link Building Worksheets – Organize Your Campaign

Social Media

• Lisa Barone/Small Biz Trends: 8 Ways To Find Relevant Followers On Twitter
• Brian Carter/Search Engine People: The 6 Spheres of Social Media Marketing
• Callan Green/Mashable: Killer Facebook Fan Pages: 5 Inspiring Case Studies

Blogs & Blogging

• Steve Sherron/Blogger Lens: How To Make It Easier For Google To Find Your Hyperlocal Blog
• Darren Rowse/Problogger: 13 Tips for Marketing Your Business With Your Blog
• Jim Cronin/Real Estate Tomato: The Easiest Way To Write 30 Real Estate Blog Articles Every 30 days

Rants

• Lisa Barone/Outspoken Media: Google Openly Profiles SEOs As Criminals
• Michael Gray/Wolf-Howl: How Google Profiles SEO’s

Advertisement: Improve your website rankings and traffic in just 15 mins/day! LotusJump will show you how to do your own professional-grade SEO. Find Out How Today!

This is a post from Matt McGee’s blog, Small Business Search Marketing.

June ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts

Related posts:

1. May ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts
2. January ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts
3. February ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts

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June ‘09: Best Search/Marketing Posts