Hey there Dave here. I just wanted to give a quick head's up to our members that we've resumed the Friday fun after a few months off over the summer. If you're a new member, you may not have even known about 'em!

Each Friday we get together and talk varied specific topics and even have the odd guest come into visit. It was originally just a text chat, but some of the members wanted to do a live voice chat, so we tried that as well. It's seems some folks liked one platform, some liked the other. So, we're going to try both. Yup, you can just hang in the chat room and text, or you can hop on voice and hang as well.

Where we headed?

Another format change we're making is in the content. Over the course of each month we'll be doing the following;

• 2 weeks each month on topical areas (local SEO, link building etc..)
• 2 weeks each month on latest news and happenings.

This is also a bit of a format change that was developed talking to the membership on the boards. This way we can stay on top of breaking news and stories while still dedicating some time topic areas of SEO.

This week we're going to be talking some Local SEO, in light of the recent SGS podcast with Mike Blumenthal, Darren Shaw and Mike Wilton.

• When; Friday September 07 11am-1pm EST (TODAY!)
• Where; super secret private chat on Skype
• How; not in the chat room already? Track me down. User name; huomah

Can't make it today? No worries we'll be rocking these every week and keeping transcripts on the boards. I look forward to seeing ya'll out in force again!

Not a member? Oh my... well, sign up then

A while ago we announced that we had started categorizing the various Google search quality highlights for ya'll to play with. It was just a one-stop collection for the geek types to play with (was just for Dojo members). We have since decided to expand on that some and make the whole damned thing public.

Welcome to; Google Updates

The story

My pal and fellow geek, Dr Pete, decided to start collecting various Google updates, via the Moz. It's a great reference for keeping up with the algorithm changes at Google as well as a bit of a history lesson, (my fav part). Kudos on that.

Then a few things happened...

• Whenever we were looking for a quick reference of P2 (Panda and Penguin) dates for research purposes (on consulting gigs) there really wasn't anything. So we had to wade through the good Doctor's guide each time. Enough of that. We decided to create a simple list for ourselves. The rest is kind of an evolution at this point (tracking resources related to Panda and Penguin).
• Me being the geek that I am, collect patents and categorize them each year. When I started looking at the Search Quality Highlights and associated project names, it was a no brainer to decide on actually categorizing and tracking those as well.

And that was about it. Something we had wanted as part of the daily life of being an SEO (geek). I had originally wanted to just keep them to ourselves, cheeky fella that I am, but Terry pushed that we share it with everyone. So fine. We made it all public, (ya happy now? Better be). I still have a bunch of work to do as far as better categorization of the SQ updates, and adding more resources to the P2 stuff. So keep checking back.

Here's the new pages;

• Main page
• Panda and Penguin dates
  • Penguin updates page
  • Panda updates page
• Search Quality Highlights main page

Oh, and if you have a good resource (post, podcast, webinar, video) on Google Penguin or Panda, drop it in the comments and we shall review and add.

Hey gang, I wanted to give everyone a quick heads-up about a new section we recently added to the Dojo , (for members). Likely more interesting to the geeky among you.

Google Updates

Each month the folks at Google have been posting the various updates they make via the Inside Research blog. Being a bit of a patent hound, it seemed only natural that I should also be following these.

They are generally listed by 'project codename' and 'launch codename' so we decided to categorize them and list the same way. There are some interesting insights to be had by looking at this evolution. This isn't the same as the Moz version folks, that one merely lists the SQ updates (Pete does a great job with those btw) . We wanted to take it a step further and actually break the various bits of it into categories and common project names as well.

This is of course, in addition to the section we added earlier this year for Google patents. By looking at these in aggregate we can certainly start to get a better sense of what's going on over at Google.

We'll also be adding Panda/Penguin areas to this section of the site as well, since the 'dates' on these are critical in establishing if you've an issue with it.

Anyway, be sure to drop by and check it out for yourself. Hopefully you'll find it as interesting as I do.

Today we're thrilled to announce the addition of another great sponsor; Search Metrics.

They gained some prominence last year tracking winners and losers with Google Panda (also tracked 'freshness' update). Remember that? Some awesome tools of data deconstruction to be sure. Later in the year when Terry was speaking at SES (Toronto), he had a chance to sit and talk with them some. We all got along and a new relationship was forged.

As part of our working with Search Metrics the SEO Training Dojo premium members (those signed up for 6-12 months) will get full access to their tool set for two weeks. As always we have set up a dedicated forum for them, so if you have any questions, we have a direct line.

We never take on a sponsor that doesn't kick ass. End.Of.Story. You see, we don't make a dime from them. We simply negotiate a price break for members on tools or products we believe in. Search Metrics rocks. M'kay?

To learn more about Search Metrics and our other sponsors, be sure to check out the Sponsors Page. We offer more than $1000 in savings to our premium members. Still on the outside looking in? Join Today!

As you were....