The Web in 2011

A Look Back at 2011

Let Me Explain..

I hate scrambling to remember everything of note as the year draws to a close. So this year I’m starting my ‘farewell to 2011′ post in the middle of October. I will continue to update the post over the coming weeks so that as the New Year advances, I will have a post worthy of 2011 already up.

Expectations–Did 2011 Live up to Them?

2011 has not been the year we all hoped it would be. But then can any year live up to the hopes and expectations we experience as we sail through January 1st? We have seen a lot of banks go south, quite a few businesses have closed their doors, but paradoxically, the Internet marketing field, or Digital Marketing as I think it’s better to call it, has blossomed. I will get to that later. Let’s take a look at the big news of the year:

• As far as the Web is concerned, I think the passing of Steve Jobs was probably the main event of the entire year. He will be missed–brilliant guy.
• Of course the Panda updates have been the main focus of SEO folks this year. We even talk about being ‘Pandalized’! I wonder what the 2012 updates to Google’s algorithms will be called?
• Sweeping changes have occurred all over the world, from the Arab Spring which is chasing out a lot of bloodthirsty old dictators, to Occupy Wall Street which threatens to unseat the Western system of capitalism that has reigned supreme for hundreds of years. Interesting times indeed.

Update December 25, 2011:

• Panda seems to have stabilized somewhat over the past couple of months. Some sites have reverted to earlier ranking, despite doing nothing at all–not even posting. And some have even improved their ranking. Others remain lower than their pre-Panda position and I think it’s true to say that Panda has established a very definite priority for great content. It is now difficult, if not impossible to rank for your targeted keyphrases if you do not provide valuable content for your readers.