SEO Roundup: August 8, 2014

Updated: December 22, 2015

The fallout from Google’s Authorship changes continues to reverberate around the SEO world. Moz has a case study that includes some interesting theories about what might have been behind the change, but in the meantime it was discovered that Authorship stats have gone the way of photos. Then, someone noticed that Google+ posts themselves still show up in SERPS, with photos intact. It’s enough to make an online marketer a little dizzy!

The consensus among the SEO community, however, seems to be that for the moment Authorship is still valid and worthwhile.

Now let’s look at what else has happened in SEO and online marketing this week . . .

ECommerce

• Product recommendations are a prime up-sell opportunity. Here’s some excellent advice on A/B testing to optimize your recommendations.
• Learn how to make the most of Google Analytics‘ Enhanced ECommerce features.

Google

• Two big updates from the Google Webmaster Blog this week. First, they introduced Google News Publisher Center, which appears to have a lot of potential for the right websites.
• Then we learned that https will now be used as a ranking signal.

Link Building

• If I didn’t have a roundup to finish I’d be working my way through this tutorial right now. Not only is the process a really fantastic way to prioritize link opportunities, but the author introduces some really excellent tools. If you’re looking for something to dig into on a Friday afternoon, this is a great option.
• While you’re in process mode, you can also improve your outreach process with this excellent advice.

General SEO and Online Marketing

• Great advice from multiple experts on setting achievable goals for your marketing campaigns.
• And more great, practical advice on keyword research.
• Scalability is one of the most important aspects of developing  a great content strategy, and these tips will help you make your successful tactics repeatable.

That’s all for this week’s links. I’ll be sharing Roundup duties starting this month, so be ready to meet a new author next week. In the meantime you can still send me tips via Google+ or Twitter and I’ll pass them along.