Bruce Clay and Jessica Lee are in Las Vegas this week attending, blogging, speaking at and having a good time at PubCon. Maryann Robbins, Aaron Landerkin and Virginia Nussey take over the podcast in their absence, analyzing the conference news and information as covered by blogs and reports on Twitter. Overall “site quality” is a buzz phrase from the conference, and by aiming for a high-quality site as a whole, SEOs can avoid scrutiny by Google. Site quality includes relevance and timeliness of content, site architecture and more.

Calling into the show from Las Vegas is Michael Dorausch, chiropractor at ADIO Chiropractic in Los Angeles, and a well-known SEO and webmaster and frequent speaker on local search. He shares points from his presentation on local search rankings, including tips for gleaning data from your in-store customers that can be leveraged in online marketing. He also talks about dealing with negative reviews and how Internet users interpret reviews.

Finally, the hosts devote time to Google’s social network Google+ and news surrounding it. Newly offered business pages and available with categories of local businesses and places, products or brands, companies or organizations, and arts, entertainment or sports. And it looks like +1s are officially expected to play a role in ranking results in search and in AdWords. An article by Bruce Clay Australia introduces businesses to the opportunities of Google+ business pages and their affect on search marketing.

The search engine industry is nothing if not fast moving. And as leaders and losers jockey for power, Bruce, Jessica and Virginia start the show by looking at what’s happening at Google, Bing and Yahoo lately. Google is rumored to be willing to help finance the purchase of Yahoo, which raises questions of what Google’s ulterior motive might be. The hosts also discuss Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s comments about Bing’s search quality, namely, that Bing and Google are the same 70% of the time.

The critical role link building plays in SEO efforts for any search engine is clear. Julie Joyce, co-founder of link building and social media marketing company Link Fish Media, Link Week columnist at Search Engine Land and blogger at SEO Chicks. Julie talks about tactics for link building on a budget, the lasting effect of a good reputation, and how to deal with the long life cycle of link building when clients expect results.

Then Aaron, Jessica and Virginia look at the ongoing tech war between the Web’s superpowers: Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. Google has its hands in just about everything from hardware to software to services and beyond. Amazon’s moves into the hardware space can be traced directly back to a wish to enable consumers to use the shopping service. Whether these companies are losing sight of what they’re good at or putting themselves in dominant positions remains to be seen.

Google takes front and center on today’s show. First Bruce, Jessica and Virginia explore what it’s like to compete against Google properties for search real estate. While it may be an ethically questionable for Google to directly use the knowledge of the ranking algorithm to help its own properties rank in search results, beliefs about what makes a quality website may infuse the organization, leading to indirect ranking benefits.

This week Google got the attention of SEOs by announcing organic search encryption. SEOs have been quick to call out Google for reducing search referral data. Another far-reaching implication of encrypted organic search, as Bruce explains, is an increased level of personalization. Google is able to build a detailed picture of individual signed-in users’ search and click behavior, and can leverage this data for increased ad targeting and enhanced personalization of search results.

Then Jessica, Michael and Virginia discuss between Google+ and Facebook’s social networks and sharing features. The expectations of online privacy are changing, and Google and Facebook attempt to keep up with what users will allow by introducing new features and settings.

Today’s show examines the importance of SEO awareness in business. Starting the show, Bruce explains the value of the SEO site audit or assessment. The first step in improving a site is identifying issues to figure out what’s right and what’s wrong. Along with Jessica Lee and Virginia Nussey, Bruce looks at when it makes sense to assess a site yourself and when it’s best to have an agency or consultant evaluate the site. Assessments are frequently provided to large brands that ask for an annual upkeep review, as well as those seeking an independent third-party opinion. Assessments also make sense for small businesses requiring SEO knowledge to make intelligent decisions about ways to improve the site.

Bruce presented SEO training in India in August, meeting a great demand for SEO education there. Siddharth Lal, managing director of Bruce Clay India, has practiced SEO in Australia and India and talks to Virginia about SEO best practices there. He’s found that spam tactics common in India are likely the result of lacking training and awareness. At the SEO training course, teams from AOL and Ibibo and more came to learn about practices not favored by search engines. He shares a rundown of the country’s popular social networks and search engines and looks at the effect of the Panda Update among companies in India.

Then Virginia talks to SEOToolSet training attendees at September’s course in Simi Valley, CA. She talks to Stirling Flynn, director of technology at Living on the Edge; Chase Anderson, marketing analyst at Belcaro Group Inc.; and Allison Kulage and Rebecca Huber, president and director of client services at Bare Knuckle Marketing. From an SEO beginner’s perspective, Stirling explains he’s learned stuff he can use right away. At his organization they’re finding that rebuilding a site is a great opportunity to have SEO involved at the outset. As an experienced SEO, Chase comes to maintain the dialogue around SEO at his organization, which recognizes the importance of buy-in at all levels addressing the many agendas at play. And Allison and Rebecca use SEO education to inform their clients about how to indicate a site’s authority.

Today’s show features Bruce’s new SEO and Web development offering for local businesses, a conversation with Jonah Stein about website security threats, and user concerns over social network privacy.

Starting off the show, Bruce, freshly returned from Affiliate Summit East, talks to Jessica and Virginia about the unique demands of affiliate marketers and their laser-focused concern with driving traffic. It’s an objective shared by many doing business online, and a challenge for smaller businesses with fewer resources available to devote to optimizing an online presence. As Jessica says during the show: “It’s not supposed to be in the small business owner’s skillset to do this stuff. This is stuff that people who work at agencies do every day, keeping on top of changes.” Enter Localware, an all-in-one program for local businesses, including a SEO, content development, social media management from Bruce Clay, Inc.

Then Jonah Stein, speaks with Virginia about efforts to make the Web a safer place. After noticing a plague wipe out online communities, turning them into “ghost ships flying through cyberspace,” Jonah started encouraging conversations to combat “virtual blight.” What followed in the years to come was a realization that businesses online don’t have solutions in place to protect them from malicious hackers, some aiming to distribute malware, some planting black hat links, and others simply stealing traffic. The consequences of becoming a victim to hackers can be mitigated with the help of CodeGuard, a website backup, monitoring and reporting system.

And wrapping up the show, Susan Esparza makes a special appearance to talk with Aaron Landerkin and Virginia about privacy expectations on social networks. Since they had that discussion, Google+ began requiring users use their actual names on the service. Eric Schmidt even referred to the network as an “identity service,” highlighting the platforms utility for Google as a data mine. Facebook seems to be moving in the right direction as far as giving users more granular privacy control with enhanced sharing features.

In this week’s SEM Synergy, we’re joined by Mark Knowles, president and CEO of Pixelsilk, a company providing an SEO-friendly content management system for websites. Bruce talks about the conference mayhem this time of year in the first segment, and then we sit down with some Bruce Clay, Inc. analysts to talk about recent changes to the Google AdWords keyword tool, and what that means for search marketers.

In the first segment, Bruce talk about his recent appearances at some of the more popular conferences this time of year: SMX East and SES Chicago, and his upcoming trips to ad:tech NY and PubCon. Jessica and Bruce chat about all the great feedback Bruce Clay, Inc. has been receiving on its one-day SEO training at the conferences, and then they wrap up with some special discount codes for listeners.

The second segment welcomes Mark Knowles of Pixelsilk. Mark just wrapped up Bend WebCAM in Bend, Ore., which is another newer industry conference that he was very instrumental in putting together. Now in its second year, Bend WebCAM is already attracting VIP speakers and guests. Mark tells us some of the reasons why an SEO-ready CMS for websites is so important to use in conjunction with SEO efforts. He talks about the freedom that Pixelsilk offers in its design functionality, and who is best suited for this product. In the hilarious last couple minutes of the segment, Mark tells the story of being locked out of Pixelsilk’s Twitter account, and offers a $100 gift card to Apple or Amazon to anyone who can help!

The last segment features Bruce Clay staff Susan, Scott Fowles, SEO analyst, and Bradley Leese, senior SEO analyst, discussing recent changes to the Google keyword tool. Recent changes to the tool strips the traditional data available to search marketers. Scott, Susan and Bradley discuss the impact this might have on search marketers and what other options for keyword research exist.

SES San Francisco is taking place this week and the conference is expected to draw 8,000 attendees. Many of them will be learning about SEO for the first time. The search space is very different today than it was when I started decades ago. So, is it harder to get to the top of the SERPs today, and how bad will it become? Bruce, Susan and Virginia consider how personalization, blended search, changing technology, and increased competition have changed the search marketing industry.

Joshua Titsworth, digital marketing specialist at science search engine Innovadex, talks to Virginia about his experience with personal branding and influence generation among the search marketing industry. His story is a model for anyone looking to make a name for themselves or get noticed in a niche. He began by learning about the industry, then began blogging for JoshuaTitsworth.com and other blogs to get his name out, and then became an active participant of communities including Twitter, Seriously Obsessed Search Geeks, and a Search Engine Journal contributor. Then Joshua made a big scene by entering a contest for a ticket to the BlueGlass LA conference and then posting a video of himself proving just how much he wanted to attend the conference. By building up levels of engagement and then getting noticed in a big way, Joshua increased his reach and influence.

Maryann, Susan and Virginia round out the show with a look at how failure is a helpful tool in the journey toward success. Google is recognized as the search powerhouse and a technology giant, however the company hasn’t been without its fair share of failures. Of course, flops are an accepted side effect of innovation and trial-and-error, however, Susan thinks that one of Google’s weaknesses is that the company lets the ball drop on acquisitions.

With SES San Francisco just a week away, Bruce and Susan, who will be attending the conference, talk about what they’re looking forward to. The conference is taking place in San Francisco for the first time, and will be part of Connected Marketing Week, a weeklong festival of educational events and workshops for the digital marketing industry. Bruce will present SEO training class on Monday, a demo of the new SEOToolSet v. 5 on Tuesday, and the SEO 101 session on Wednesday. Receive a 20 percent discount on conference registration with the code BRU20.

Jessica Bowman, founder of SEMinhouse.com and in-house SEO consultant talks to Virginia at the BlueGlass LA conference. Jessica shares creative ways to generate organization-wide excitement about SEO initiatives, signals to recognize when enthusiasm is fading, and ways to return to the dreamy honeymoon phase where spirits are high and SEO has a foothold. Jessica is a driving force in bringing together the in-house SEO community, helping provide support, events and vision in the challenging field.

Maryann, Susan and Virginia then discuss the implications of the Verizon-Google proposal for a legislative framework for net neutrality, a principle of not restricting access to the Internet regardless of ISP, platform, or equipment. However, the proposal by Verizon and Google is being criticized as not in the public’s best interest. At question are treatment of wireless broadband, the proposition of private Internet and the companies’ motives.

To celebrate this 100th episode of SEM Synergy, Bruce Clay, Susan Esparza and Virginia Nussey host the show live! During the live show, we hope that friends and listeners will call in to talk to Bruce and the crew, to ask questions, and to share stories.

Here are some ways you can get in touch with Bruce, Susan and Virginia during the show.

• Call WebmasterRadio on the phone at 866-916-3423
• Call WebmasterRadio on Skype at webmasterradio.fm
• Join the WebmasterRadio chat room
• Send a Twitter message or reply to @SEMSynergy

With Bruce in Australia teaching SEO training, Christopher Hart, Bruce Clay, Inc.’s director of Eastern region operations, joins Susan and Virginia on the show. Following up on SMX West, they discuss several major highlights from the search marketing conference. Page speed, the Microsoft-Yahoo! partnership and new online advertising platforms played a big role in the SMX West conversation. You can find all the conference coverage and on-site interviews in the SMX West special edition of the SEO Newsletter.

Then the hosts talk about a number of upcoming training opportunities being presented by Bruce Clay, Inc. Bruce teams up with Dr. Ralph Wilson on March 25 to host a live Search Marketing Now webcast about the 10 Most Important Things to Know About SEO in 2010. The team will also be teaching one-day SEO training classes in conjunction with conferences including SES New York, ad:tech San Francisco, SES Toronto and SMX Advanced. Standard and advanced SEOToolSet training will be offered in Long Island May 3-7 and in California May 10-14. Bruce Clay Australia will be teaching one-day SEO training in Brisbane on April 7, in Melbourne on May 12 and in Sydney on June 9.

Wrapping up the show, Chris, Susan and Virginia look at recent search news. Google published a assessment of its properties’ SEO proficiency and the results are pretty surprising. Also, a battle has developed among U.S. cities campaigning to become Google’s test community for the ultra-high speed Internet connection, Google Fiber. And according to a recent study by Pew Research Center, more and more Americans are using social media to find and share news stories. At the same time, 70 percent of Americans are overwhelmed by the amount of news and news sources available today.