SEO Scribe Just Got a Whole Lot Better
I'm so excited about this, I had to write and tell you about it right away!
SEO Scribe, a plugin for WordPress, which was created by Brian Clarke of Copyblogger just got 100% better! Seriously.
From the start, SEO Scribe analyzes every post you make for search goodness. It examines your linking, the length of your post, your keyword density, and gives you a score between 0 and 100%. You can continue to edit the post until your score is 100%, which is very cool and why I like to use it. I really like that it gives you tons of tags for each post that you probably never thought of, too. I've been in love with it for a few months just for that alone. Many of my posts have hit Google in minutes because of it.
But…
Today, SEO Scribe just got better! Now, it will allow you to do keyword research from your blog, AND, after the post is written, will give you opportunities for linking! It finds other blogs that have similar content Read the rest of this entry »
SEO: Google’s New Linking Patent
Is Google up to something?
A new patent, "Determining Quality of Linked Documents," was granted on August 24, though I'm guessing that Google has been employing this tactic right along. They filed for the patent way back in 2004, and it clearly illustrates that your backlinks are important, but more important is where they're coming from.
Not really news. We have known for some time that links back from what Google considers to be "bad neighborhoods" can hurt your page rank. So, what does this patent prove?
One thing is that Google views links from one of your sites to another of your sites rather "all in the family." They won't weigh links from your own sites linking back to you as heavily as they will links coming into your site from outsiders.
In order to circumvent that, you could probably set up hosting on separate "c" class servers and register domains under separate accounts under different names. PFFFT!!! That's way too much trouble, and it's not terribly productive, but it can work.
It's also how all the highly-touted "link wheels" work. You can set up a ring of buffer sites, feed them links from outside, and have the buffer sites doing all kinds of non-Google friendly things that spread the link juice to your money site without fear of retribution. These take a long time to set up, and you have to be careful. Read the rest of this entry »
Jodi:1; Mustache 0
Tellman is always trying to mess with people's heads. He wears strange things like kilts with patent leather top hats, grows his hair and beard long like Forrest Gump, and well… you really never know what hat he'll have on what particular day. In this particular video… Jodi wins, hands down. Who needs to kiss hair anyway?
Though the message is presented in an amusing way, it's valid as all get out. If you're half-assing things, you'll never succeed. Get in there and do things the right way, no matter what it takes, and you're sure to see better success!
SEO Positioning Survival Guide
I read lots of blogs about SEO and am always interested in tips on SEO positioning. I also get newsletters about Internet marketing and search every day. Usually, I'm able to write about what I learn that's new and pass the information along to you. However, back in July, I read a great article in Axandra's newsletter, which I totally look for every single week and read every time I get it instantly. (If you haven't signed up, here's a link for you: http://easyseotricks.com/axandra.) Somehow, I was busy and the email got pushed to the bottom of my "ideas" folder. I'm resurrecting it today, and giving you my input on their 6 Things You Should Know about SEO .
Who doesn't want free, organic, targeted traffic? To get it, you need a solid strategy for SEO positioning for any web pages or blogs or whatever you want to rank for in the search engines. Here's a list of the six things you need to know:
- SEO doesn't work all that quickly.
Brad Fallon is fond of saying that, "SEO is a marathon, not a sprint," and it's a perfect analogy. Think about what you're doing — writing articles, blog posts, and press releases, getting backlinks from blog commenting, adding posts to a forum, and on and on. Aside from having a good on- page strategy, off-page factors are just as important. It takes time to build your reputation and when you do… it lasts a long, long time. If you continue to follow good practices for optimal SEO positioning, you'll be getting search engine love for.ever. Don't forget that. Everything you do has a cumulative effect.
- You need to refresh and update and include keywords you want to rank for on your pages
You really should begin preparing your pages with SEO positioning in mind. Keyword research should come FIRST so that you can set your pages up properly. Plus… Read the rest of this entry »
Google Algorithm Change that Could Be Costly
Last week, Google announced that they had changed their algorithm — again. They say it's to help users, "…find a large number of results from a single site." So, for example, if you search for something from the Smithsonian, you might get a whole page of listings for different pages on the Smithsonian website. This won't happen all the time, but if someone typed in "new exhibits at the Smithsonian," that would trigger the algorithmic response.
What's that mean to you?
Well, if you have a site with tons of pages and people are specifically looking for something on your website, it could be beneficial. Where you used to show one search, you could now be showing multiple searches.
To test this out, I searched for "new exhibits at the Smithsonian" today and seven of 10 results were directly related. But when I type in "new york museum of natural history exhibits" only the first four are for the American Museum of Natural History, and the other listings are for tickets, Wikipedia, and sightseeing. So, I'm guessing it all depends on the search terms you type in and what's available.
Google's spiders are very smart, and they're really focusing more on the searcher's intent than ever before. However, if your site is being beaten out by Wikipedia or another authority site with more clout that yours, some search terms might be overrun with their content.
So, you'll have to be a bit marketer and a bit psychologist when selecting keywords. When considering the competition for each keyword, also assess how many authority listings are on the page when you plug it into Google.
This won't affect every term that people search for, but it's obvious that for some terms, you just won't be able to compete — at least for first page status.
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WordPress Heads Up: Check Your Versions
I found something interesting today, and it probably won't affect most of you, but…
The developers at WordPress said today that they won't be supporting earlier version of either PHP or MySQL, both of which are very important to WordPress. They say that if your web hosting company isn't running PHP, version 5.2 or higher and MySQL, version 5.0.15, you won't be able to upgrade to WordPress 3.2, which is due out before the end of this year.
So, how do you know?
Log into cPanel and look for "Program Versions." If you're with HostGator, where I have two accounts and totally love the service, you will find this in the lower left-hand corner of your dashboard. AND, you're in luck because HostGator is running PHP 5.2.4 and MySQL 5.1.48. You're good to go.
But if you have a smaller hosting company that doesn't do upgrades all that quickly, you may want to consider alternative hosting before WordPress 3.2 comes out.
I love HostGator for so many reasons, but the biggest is that my site is almost NEVER down. I've seen other hosting companies, Read the rest of this entry »
Mobile Marketing: Cash Cow or Just Another Fad?
I just went through a fantastic course on Mobile Marketing called "Mobile Monopoly" by Adam Horowitz, and I'm very impressed. I don't know what I expected, but I really thought it would be a lot harder to get into this new mode of advertising. I didn't have a smart phone, so I wasn't sure why mobile marketing was even important.
But wow!
I bought a new Android phone, as I mentioned last week just so that I could stop being a cell phone Luddite and get myself into the 21st century. I've always been an early adapter of technology, but I just never used my cell phone that much. All it did was act like a phone, take some pictures, and play music. But here's the thing…
Ever been to an away conference? Yeah? Then, you know what a pain in the ass it is to have a huge laptop to haul along with you. First, there's the airport and then, lugging it all around. I mean, I'd had it up to my eyeballs with that last summer. So, I got a netbook. EHHHHH… too slow. So, I've been wondering what to do.
Let's face it, I don't really do any solid work at a conference, not usually. I definitely need access to email and would like to take some photos, videos, upload them, Tweet, send a Facebook update or two and just not have to lug that dam-ned laptop along. This Androd phone is the perfect solution.
Even more interesting to me is the fact that you can buy stuff on your cell phone. Last week, I heard that Bank of America is working out something with their credit cards and mobile phones, and well.. just everyone is getting into this stuff.
And just as I'm becoming interested in the topic… Read the rest of this entry »
