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October 2012 Newsletter
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In this Month’s Newsletter…

* Google Updates
* Featured Client: edenbrothers.com
* From the Blog…

Google Updates

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In the past year and a half, your site has likely been affected by some changes made by Google to their search results algorithm. Google Panda, first released in February 2011 aimed to lower the rank assigned to “low quality” sites, but unfortunately the update caused undesired results for many legitimate sites. This article from our blog has more information on the topic:

Google’s Latest Update and its Effect on Ecommerce Stores
http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2011/03/google-panda-update-and-ecommerce/

To read some helpful Panda Update recovery tips, reference:

Google Panda Update Recovery
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2072084/Google-Panda-Update-Recovery

The newer Google algorithm update, called Google Penguin, was first announced in April of 2012. This update aimed at decreasing the ranking of websites that try to deliberately manipulate search engines by keyword stuffing, cloaking, link schemes, duplicate content, etc. As with any update, this could have affected legitimate sites negatively depending on how the algorithm characterized your site.

If your site was affected by Google Penguin, or if you want to read more about the update, the following links have good information in them:

Two Weeks In, Google Talks Penguin Update, Ways to Recover & Negative SEO
http://searchengineland.com/google-talks-penguin-update-recover-negative-seo-120463

How to Remove Link Spam for Google Penguin Recovery
http://www.bruceclay.com/blog/2012/05/penguin-recovery-link-pruning/

Recovering from an Over Optimization Penalty – A True Story
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/recovering-from-the-penguin-update-a-true-story

Post-Google Penguin Update Content Tips Endorsed by Matt Cutts
http://www.webpronews.com/post-google-penguin-update-content-tips-endorsed-by-matt-cutts-2012-05

How Pandas & Penguins Change Your Link Building Strategy
http://searchengineland.com/how-pandas-penguins-change-your-link-building-strategy-126604

How to Recover from Google’s Penguin Update
http://www.highervisibility.com/blog/how-to-recover-from-googles-penguin-update/

If your site was specifically characterized as having unnatural links to your site, Google now offers a way to remove them fairly easily. Reference:

A new tool to disavow links
http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2012/10/a-new-tool-to-disavow-links.html

An excellent, must read, resource regarding using this disavow tool is:

Google’s Disavow Tool – Take a Deep Breath
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/googles-disavow-tool-take-a-deep-breath

Aside from bad linking removal, ad placement is also relevant for sites that display them. Specifically, you need to be sure that you have content above ads as Google recently announced that websites with too many ads above website content would be penalized and downgraded.

Google is also warning that there will be an upcoming Exact Match Domain (EMD) algorithm change. The change is designed to reduce the amount of low quality exact match domains in search results, where an exact match is defined as a site that contains words exactly matching the search query. The goal is so that given two different domains, it wouldn’t necessarily be advantageous to have a domain with a bunch of keywords in it.

Things that are recommended these days include:

* Unique descriptions and content for products
* Mix in video and multiple images where appropriate
* Keep the content fresh – update descriptions periodically
* A blog where you discuss relevant topics
* Make use of Google+ and Pinterest for indexable social media interactions.

Here are some excellent references detailing things you should be doing for Search Engine Optimization:

Webmaster Guidelines
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

The Beginners Guide to SEO
http://www.seomoz.org/beginners-guide-to-seo

Website Optimization Basics
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2184207/Website-Optimization-Basics

SEO, Why You Are Doing it Wrong
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2178489/SEO-Why-You-Are-Doing-it-Wrong

7 Achievable Steps For Great SEO After The Penguin Update
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/7-achievable-steps-for-great-seo-after-the-penguin-update

Featured Client: edenbrothers.com

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This month’s featured client is edenbrothers.com. Eden Brothers is one of the premier online suppliers of quality seeds and flower bulbs in the United States today.

http://www.edenbrothers.com/

For more detailed information on this month’s featured client as well as a listing of all past featured clients, please go to:

Featured Client Forum
http://support.lexiconn.com/news/viewforum.php?f=4

From the Blog…

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Here are some recent posts from The LexiConn Blog:

Make Your Site Faster With Two Easy Steps
http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2012/09/make-your-site-faster-with-two-easy-steps/
- Faster is better when it comes to websites.

Tracking Google Shopping Referrals & Conversions With Google Analytics
http://www.lexiconn.com/blog/2012/10/tracking-google-shopping-referrals-conversions-with-google-analytics/
- If you’re using GA on your store, there’s an easy change you can make to show the referrals and sales coming from Google Shopping.

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As always, feel free to contact us with any questions you may have. Complete contact and support options can be found at:
http://www.lexiconn.com/support.html

Sincerely,
- The LexiConn Team