2012 was an interesting year for the digital marketing industry with the continued rise of Facebook despite a shakey IPO and a concerted, but perhaps doomed fightback from Microsoft’s Bing. And let’s not forget the interesting new platform of Google+, who celebrated its first birthday in June this year. It may not have caught the public’s attention but certainly promises to be very influential in the future of search.

The continued impact of Google’s Penguin and Panda has certainly re-shaped the search and SEO industry. Brands of all shapes and sizes have had to learn how to adapt to more ‘white-hat’ tactics to ensure they won’t be penalised by Google’s algorithm updates which targets webspam.  Read more »

So, we approach one-year since the introduction of Google+. Inevitably, we have witnessed discussions about the success, or lack of it, of this new social platform.

Many suggest it has triumphed, while others argue that the service equates more to a failure like Buzz than a success, like Gmail for instance. For SEOs though, it doesn’t matter.

It’s hard to argue that the site is the runaway success the team at Mountain View might have hoped for. However there is no question that it is a viable service, and one which I fully expect to continue to rise in popularity with marketers – especially if you’re interested in performing better in the natural search results. I know personally that as a marketer, it’s a missed opportunity if I’m ignoring Google+. Read more »