Introducing SEM Synergy Extras

Long before signing on to the blog, I was in charge of another bit of media here at Bruce Clay, Inc. — the WebmasterRadio.FM show SEM Synergy. It’s long been a goal to tie the two formats together but, before now, I thought I had enough going on without regularly writing blog posts. What did I know?

SEM Synergy is a weekly radio show broadcast through our friends at WebmasterRadio.FM and available to stream from SEMSynergy.com. WebmasterRadio also makes the show available for podcast shortly after the initial airing on Wednesdays at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, noon Pacific. With Bruce at the helm, the hosts (including yours truly) talk about organic search optimization, paid search optimization, branding, design, analytics, industry news and events — you name it. We cover them all, along with the places they intersect, due to our belief that the most successful Internet marketing campaigns are a result of a multi-faceted strategy in which a variety of mediums come together for a synergistic effect. SEM Synergy. Get it? (Sometimes I should really stop while I’m ahead…)

Over the course of programming the show, I pull together a number of resources on the topics of that week’s show, and many of these will often go by the wayside during the actual recording. Not that they aren’t necessarily interesting or useful, but thirty minutes goes by fast. It’s just not possible to cover all the happenings of a week, talk to an expert guest, and come up with mind-rattling analogies (i.e., this week’s canasta reference) in that short time. [Much better than my usual analogies. Why don’t you stop me when I start talking crazy? –Susan] Because it’s so entertaining!

So rather than watch some of the more notable finds dribble down the drain, I’ll be posting them on the blog instead! Here we go.

StumbleUpon updates algorithm to prevent spam

This week’s show focused on social media. Social media optimization requires that those involved get their content to the social networks, bookmarking sites, blogs and profile sites relevant to the industry. In what appears to be an effort to hinder those intent on self-promotion, popular bookmarking site StumbleUpon seems to have updated its algorithm.

The update seemed to penalize the stumble authority of users who were submitting content from their own sites with the intention of increased traffic. There was evidence that the SU users believed to be manipulating the system were receiving little or no stumble authority, making their thumbs-ups and reviews less valuable. It was good to see StumbleUpon attempting to close up some of the loopholes, but I’m inclined to think that if the stumbled content was inherently valueless, the content would be sifted out by the community. Regardless, they felt the need to do something and it looks like they did. Scummy stumblers beware.

IBM opens Center for Social Software

Riding the wave of social, IBM announced they are opening a center aimed at studying the adoption of non-business social software and applying these technologies to help global organizations communicate. The researchers will study social networks and Web 2.0 communities to develop collaboration solutions for companies working in multiple locations. Wait, companies don’t want to just communicate with their employees through MySpace? Weird.

Internet Marketers Charity Party at SMX East to support Ronald McDonald House

And speaking of social, what if I told you that you could hang out with some of your favorite Internet marketers and contribute to a good cause at the same time? You heard me right. The Internet Marketer’s Charity Party will be next Monday night in New York City, following the first day of SMX East. Your $50 donation will go to the Ronald McDonald House charity and will get you into Social Bar, where an open bar and a group of generous marketers await you. Buy your tickets ahead of time or at the door, but remember that tickets are selling quick. [If you’re not going to SMX East like me, that doesn’t mean you can’t donate still. Just saying. –Susan]

Virginia Nussey is the director of content marketing at MobileMonkey. Prior to joining this startup in 2018, Virginia was the operations and content manager at Bruce Clay Inc., having joined the company in 2008 as a writer and blogger.

See Virginia's author page for links to connect on social media.