Web traffic analytics firm Experian Hitwise reports that Facebook was the most visited website in the U.S. during the week ending March 13, surpassing Google in what has become an increasingly frequent occurrence in recent months.

So Facebook is now the #1 most visited website. Well, that may be true, but for internet marketing purposes, many people on Facebook are still just playing games and catching up with their pals. They aren’t necessarily in the “buying” mood. So it might be difficult (actually it IS difficult – I’ve tested this to a limited extent) to market stuff on Facebook.

Think about it… if you are actively looking to buy something (whether offline or online), do you visit Facebook or Google?

Dynamic content can be a boon to a site. It allows you to address individual user needs, keep your content fresh-looking, and basically do a lot that static content just can’t do. The major problem dynamic content presents for most sites is that the URLs produced for dynamic content are not friendly to the search engines. This can seriously drag your pages back in the results pages.

When do you know when you have a problem with a dynamic URL? Basically, you know because it features on your site. SEO experts habitually change any dynamic or dynamic-looking URL during optimisation so that it at least looks static. Many do their best to discourage clients from using dynamic URLs at all on their site, as this makes SEO much easier. This means that any URL with ‘?’ or ‘&’ featured may need to be changed.

This is a great article on dynamic content and SEO. Dynamic content is really a very pesky issue for on-page optimization. If not handled properly, you might end up with hundreds (if not thousands) of duplicate pages in the search engine index with different dynamic URLs. Any professional SEO definitely needs to know how to handle dynamic URLs well.

To fill the void, this post offers wary small business owners, CMOs and marketing managers a 30,000 guerrilla vendor gut-check litmus test. Use these 20 procedures as first-line-of-defense screenings to evaluate whether your experts have kept current or are messing with your livelihood.  You may be surprised by the results.

Good post and checklist on how to differentiate a real SEO expert from those SEOs who are just using outdated techniques to get by. Must read if you are contemplating hiring an SEO.

Being on the front page of some of the top-rated search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo! is no joke as it can skyrocket your business online. With too many websites trying to cover the same content with only a difference in presentation and optimization and making their portals more search-friendly, the competition is stiff indeed. However, that doesn’t mean you should take a backseat.

Despite what some consultants will tell you, SEO isn’t complicated and it is easier than it was ten years ago based on the number of tools that are available today. Sure there is more competition, but getting from Point A to Point B has never been easier. Here are a few tips that I will share with you:

Sound SEO expert advice from one of the most well respected SEOs in the industry.

Point #1 resonates with me in particular – creating the structure of the website. I’m amazed at how some people totally ignore the structure of their website. Some even design it totally in flash, which is not an evil in itself, but it’s definitely something you should not do if you want your site to be indexed by the search engines.

In addition, while SEO is a wonderful set of techniques which can help bring the traffic levels of your website, what will your visitors do when they get there?

It’s important to also have a well-designed website that works well to achieve your purpose. This might be to get more sales leads or to get your potential customers to take some action, for example.

What do you get for Bill Gates, the richest person in the world? How about a little free SEO advice for his new blog? It could use some.

Bill, I went looking for your blog today on Google. Sorry, like many people, I have a habit of using that search engine first. What did I find for bill gates blog?

One of the more interesting posts in the SEO space for a long long time. All the points in this post are excellent. However, does somebody like Bill Gates need SEO? Especially for his personal blog which is totally non-commercial in nature. I don’t do any SEO on my personal blog. And I don’t see why anybody would want to, even if you are an SEO expert, I’m sure you have better things to do.

As the New Year has come, what better way to celebrate than with some Search Engine Optimizing Tips:

1) If you use JavaScript drop down menus or image links, be sure to place text links on the page for the search engine spiders to follow.? Placing them in the footer is fine. Also, make sure these pages are in your XML sitemap as well to promote spidering.

2) Don’t be fooled by the “Content is King” saying. Content matters little if there is not a compelling offer to go along with it. You must have good MARKETABLE content if you are going to be successful online. Ask for the order. Your job online is not just to educate the public on the best option for them, it is also to sell. That is how you make your living and don’t ever forget it.

Jerry West is definitely an SEO expert and the advice he gives in the above post is pure gold.

While SEO can benefit all websites, the world-wide approach won’t work for all businesses. A garden centre, for example, is unlikely to want to attract traffic from another county, much less than another country. Local businesses require a local search engine optimisation focus.

The two approaches are very different, but use similar techniques. The main difference lies in the focus of your SEO campaign. While an across-the-board SEO strategy will necessarily have its own geographical focus, local search involves different search techniques to general search. It has its own limitations, but it has its own advantages as well. There are also broad areas of cross-over.

Local SEO is definitely the way to go for local businesses. Consult your local SEO expert for more

However, as with most things that sound too good to be true, it is. Whenever the word ‘guarantee’ is used in relation to SEO services you should stay well away. Search engine rankings can never be guaranteed, and no ethical SEO company would ever offer guaranteed search engine rankings.

Totally agree. SEO can’t be guaranteed. But sometimes it’s difficult because many potential clients have been conditioned by some SEO expert that results can be guaranteed. It’s difficult to compete against that especially if you are new.

One aspect of moving from one domain to another is transferring website traffic from the old domain to the new one. Many webmasters implement a redirect from the homepage, which is an easy way to transfer traffic. However, Google recommends a permanent redirect, which is labeled a 301 redirection.

Sometimes I am quite shocked that some who claim to do SEO or be an SEO expert does not know how to configure 301 redirects properly. I agree that sometimes this may be a pain on Windows servers, but 301 redirects is something that should not be ignored for great usability as well as for SEO purposes.