Friday, November 21, 2008

SEOBook - The Art Of The SEO Proposal

Concise article providing tips and advice on creating an SEO proposal for clients and maintaining ongoing work with the client:
The Art Of The SEO Proposal

Search Engine Journal - 4 Tools Visualizing Domain Backlinks

Nice post about graph based tools you can use to investigate competitor backlinks:
4 Tools Visualizing Domain Backlinks

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Search Engine Journal - FireFox Addons to Explore Backlinks in Google Webmaster Tools

List of good addon tools to use to explore and identify links for your link building campaign:
FireFox Addons to Explore Backlinks in Google Webmaster Tools

Search Engine Journal - Link Building Reports That Make Your Client Happy

Article listing a number of methods you can use to produce a link building report for your clients:
Link Building Reports That Make Your Client Happy

Wordtracker - Father of Link Building, Eric Ward, Reveals His Link Building Secrets

Eric Ward provides a detailed link building interview, some real gems of advice are included:
Father of Link Building, Eric Ward, Reveals His Link Building Secrets

Friday, November 7, 2008

Link Building Best Practices - An SEO is Not a Link Builder

Interesting viewpoint of the differences SEOs and link builders have in terms of personality types:
An SEO is Not a Link Builder

Search Engine Journal - Backlink Research : Essential Checklist

Another great link building article by Ann Smarty of Search Engine Journal. Gives some good guidelines and tool links for examining your competitor's external links:
Backlink Research : Essential Checklist

SEOptimise - Are Google Now Penalising “Free Gift” Blog Reviews?

Interesting take on the possibly that Google is now penalizing some sites that set up gifts for reviews with links. Since this is one of the oldest traditional marketing techniques adapted online it seems like a penalty that would be a hand edit not automated by Google. How difficult would it be to decide what is a gift review? Time will tell:
Are Google Now Penalising “Free Gift” Blog Reviews?

Friday, October 31, 2008

SEO 2.0 Blog - The 7 Simplest Ways To Lower Your Bounce Rate and Get More Conversions

List of seven ways to help your bounce rate lower and increase conversions:
The 7 Simplest Ways To Lower Your Bounce Rate and Get More Conversions

That Pam Chick Blog - Scary SEO 2008 Presentation: Dealing with Unhappy Clients

Good outline of specific steps to take when dealing with an unhappy client:
Scary SEO 2008 Presentation: Dealing with Unhappy Clients

Get Elastic The Ecommerce Blog and Adviso Blog - New Features of Google Analytics

Detailed accounts of the new Enterprise Class features offered by Google Analytics, the Get Elastic post has video instructions included:

Get Elastic The Ecommerce Blog - New Google Analytics Segmentation Feature Rocks for Ecommerce
New Google Analytics Segmentation Feature Rocks for Ecommerce

Adviso Blog - Google Analytics rolls out Enterprise Class Features
Google Analytics rolls out Enterprise Class Features target="_blank"

Friday, October 17, 2008

Friday, October 10, 2008

Search Engine Guide - A Case Study of SEM Campaign Failure and Client Refunds

Interesting case study of unhappy clients in two separate PPC campaigns and how they were resolved:
A Case Study of SEM Campaign Failure and Client Refunds

SEOMozBlog - Link Forensics: Finding Shady Links Before Taking on New Clients

Good article on checking the previous SEO for prospective clients, some good advice on links checks and discovery of cloaking techniques:
Link Forensics: Finding Shady Links Before Taking on New Clients

Friday, October 3, 2008

Search Engine Land - Linked, Tagged, Tweeted, and Feeded - Three Real Time Link Trackers

Eric Ward discusses the techniques he uses to track newly created links for his clients:
Linked, Tagged, Tweeted, and Feeded - Three Real Time Link Trackers

BlogWell - Telstra’s BigPond Team on Twitter - Big Twits

Interesting case study on the wrong way for a corporate company to use Twitter:
Telstra’s BigPond Team on Twitter - Big Twits

Friday, September 26, 2008

Fantomas - Search Result Hand Jobs: The SEO Implications

Analysis of the role Google raters may have in Google's search engine results:
Search Result Hand Jobs: The SEO Implications

High Rankings - SEO Is Not a Last-Ditch Effort

Nice overview of the time it takes for SEO to work suggesting businesses not rely on SEO only as a fast save for their business suffering from current economical problems:
SEO Is Not a Last-Ditch Effort

Friday, September 19, 2008

Entrepreneur.com - The Inner Secret To Social Media With Guru Brent Csutoras

Great interview with social media expert Brent Csutoras, some real gems available in this interview:
The Inner Secret To Social Media With Guru Brent Csutoras
I'm including a Search Engine Land article by Brent Csutoras with a list of tools for social media work as well:
Search Engine Land - Tools For Engaging In Social Media

Webmaster World - More Details on Google's Human Evaluators

Interesting Webmaster World thread on Google's human evaluators and how this affects the search engine results for SEOs:
More Details on Google's Human Evaluators
I'm also including a link to Google's blog with a post about Google's use of evaluators:
Search evaluation at Google

Dave Naylor Blog - Are Blogs a waste of time in Google now

Discussion about blogs and how they are faring from the link wars in Google search engine results:
Are Blogs a waste of time in Google now

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Entrepreneur.com - SEO Mastermind Aaron Wall Brings Bad News

Good interview with Aaron Wall by Jon Rognerud, covers quite a bit of advanced SEO information and advice:
SEO Mastermind Aaron Wall Brings Bad News

Search Engine Journal - Div ID=”Header” Different SEO Tactics

Good information about yet another tactic some SEOs use to add in keywords for value:
Div ID=”Header” Different SEO Tactics

High Rankings Advisor - Measuring Success Beyond the Search Engines

Good article by Jill Whalen covering specifics of Google Analytics and Google Webmaster tools. This is one of my favorite tools, you don't see enough articles covering Google Analytics and Webmaster tools so this is refreshing to see:
Measuring Success Beyond the Search Engines

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Search Engine Journal - 5 FireFox Extensions to Enhance Link Analysis in Yahoo

Good list of FireFox extensions for use in link building work including Yahoo information:
5 FireFox Extensions to Enhance Link Analysis in Yahoo

Search Engine Guide - An End To Ranking Reports Is An End to Analysis

The debate of ranking reports and their value based on the most recent blocking of Web Position Gold on Google:
An End To Ranking Reports Is An End to Analysis

Friday, August 15, 2008

Search Engine Journal - The Huge Collection of Google Analytics Tips

Good number of Google Analytic tool tips, including source code to add to your pages to create specfic results in the analytics program:
The Huge Collection of Google Analytics Tips

Sphinn - Knol Does Indeed Give Pages A Google Ranking Advantage

Very interesting discussion of the new Knol website, similar to Wikipedia, that is Google's new creation. Quite a few back and forths are included between Danny Sullivan and Matt Cutts:
Knol Does Indeed Give Pages A Google Ranking Advantage

Search Engine Land - How To Get New Web Sites To Rank Quickly

Article by Aaron Wall (SEOBook) with some good tips on ranking new websites using long tail keyword phrases to gain traffic competitors are missing:
How To Get New Web Sites To Rank Quickly

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Search Engine Land - The Link Building Kiss of Death

Eric Ward provides some tips regarding contacting websites for links:
The Link Building Kiss of Death

Bruce Clay / The Foush Blog - SES and SMX Advanced 2008

Two interesting takes on the recent SMX Advanced "Give it Up" and SES "Social Media Success" sessions discussing among other things the use of fake profiles for link building and information on grey/black hat techniques used in the industry:

Bruce Clay Blog
SMX Advanced 2008: Give It Up

The Foush Blog
SES & Social Media Strategy: what happened to ethics?! (A rant)

Friday, July 18, 2008

Johnon.com - Google Barters Backlinks to Show The Way

Good article I missed a while back on the nofollow debate and how Google is using posters to their help forums to help themselves:
Google Barters Backlinks to Show The Way

SEOMoz - White Hat Cloaking: It Exists. It's Permitted. It's Useful.

Interesting post and discussion about the levels of cloaking and Google's response to cloaking. Matt Cutts gets involved in the discussion as well:
White Hat Cloaking: It Exists. It's Permitted. It's Useful.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Bruce Clay - Bruce's Guide to Appropriate Use of Flash

Detailed article by Bruce Clay on the good and bad to be found with the new search engine capabilities of understanding Flash technology:
Bruce's Guide to Appropriate Use of Flash

Search Engine Journal - Explore Your Competitors’ Backlinks Beyond Yahoo Site Explorer

Ann Smarty has yet another link article with good info, this one provides two other search engines to use in your link building work beyond Yahoo Site Explorer:
Explore Your Competitors’ Backlinks Beyond Yahoo Site Explorer

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Graywolf Blog - Google’s Two Tiered Internet World Sinks to a New Low

Another debate on the Graywolf blog. This one centers on the new Google Trends for Websites tool showing your visitor trends compared to your competitors. This is a touchy subject for business owners and the fact that Google websites are not included in the information has made it even more controversial:
Google’s Two Tiered Internet World Sinks to a New Low

Search Engine Land - So, You Think You're A Search Engine Optimization Expert?

Well written article by Shari Thurow on what makes an advanced SEO. I like the comparisons between what the industry might view as the only way to be advanced (IT, programming background) vs the creative side (SEO copywriting, SEO skills) and the reality of multitasking that often means multiple people for multiple disciplines to get the job done:
So, You Think You're A Search Engine Optimization Expert?

Search Engine Land - Search Engine Land

In case you hadn't heard as of yet, Yahoo discontinued the Overture keyword tool. It appears they want you to use their Site Explorer tools instead:
Yahoo Officially Discontinued The Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Graywolf Blog - Hey Matt Cutts Be Fair if You Are Going After Paid Links

Really interesting debate on Google's take of payment or product influence for blogger reviews. The debate revolves around items such as comp stays for travel reviews and free products for review vs paying a blogger up front for a review and link:

Hey Matt Cutts Be Fair if You Are Going After Paid Links

Bruce Clay - Advanced SEO is Traditional White Hat SEO

Lisa Barone's article on how traditional SEO still matters. I have to agree, but I also use different link building methods along with traditional and I think both can work. You just choose wisely and test to see what works long term:
Advanced SEO is Traditional White Hat SEO

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Stone Temple Consulting - Matt Cutts Interviewed by Eric Enge

Interesting interview with Matt Cutts with some info on what he views as reasonable linking techniques:
Matt Cutts Interviewed by Eric Enge

WebmasterWorld Supporters Forum - Significant Traffic Declines For Short Search Terms

Good thread on changes in Google for short term searches, the suggestion is that longer keyword phrases will work better compared to two keyword phrases (paid supporters forum):
Significant Traffic Declines For Short Search Terms

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Link Juicy - Advanced Link Building - An Interview With Fantomaster

Excellent two-part interview with Fantomaster on advanced link building, don't miss this one:

Part One: Advanced Link Building - An Interview With Fantomaster

AND

Part Two: Advanced Linking Interview With Fantomaster

Yoast - WordPress: The Definitive Guide to High Rankings for Your Blog

Detailed guideline for getting the most out of your WordPress blog visibility online:
WordPress: The Definitive Guide to High Rankings for Your Blog

Search Engine People - 22 DoFollow Social Media Sites Offering Profile Links

Another good article listing social media sites you can use to for profile link building:
22 DoFollow Social Media Sites Offering Profile Links

Thursday, June 5, 2008

SEMJ.org - Search Engine Marketing Journal

SEMJ.org is a search engine marketing journal accepting white papers for publication in their print journal to be distributed at various search engine conferences. I am an editor for SEMJ.org and have written a paper on link building for the first publication. There are a number of high profile search engine marketers who are editors of this organization. Look for the print version of SEMJ at SES San Jose in August 2008:
SEMJ.org - Search Engine Marketing Journal

Search Engine Guide - Deep Links: Web Users Want What They Want And They Want I Now!

Another great link building article from Jennifer Laycock of Search Engine Guide, this article is about the importance of gaining backlinks to deep links on your website:
Deep Links: Web Users Want What They Want And They Want I Now!

Word of Mouth Marketing Blog - Negative Comment About Your Brand? What To Do!

Good article about online reputation management with detailed steps to follow to combat negative comments:
Negative Comment About Your Brand? What To Do!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Jim Boykin's Blog - The Achilles Heel of Free and Natural Links

Good article on the problems associated with free links and how important anchor text is to good link building:
The Achilles Heel of Free and Natural Links

Search Engine Land - Representing Your Business on the Social Web

Bill Slawski's article on social media and small businesses. Very interesting take on how small businesses can connect successfully online with their customers:
Representing Your Business on the Social Web

Hamlet Batista dot Com - Do we follow? A Look At The Notorious Nofollow Attribute

Article covering the debate about Google's rules regarding the nofollow attribute for paid links and PageRank sculpting:
Do we follow? A Look At The Notorious Nofollow Attribute

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Search Engine Land - Eight Keyword Research Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

Excellent article on keyword selection. I especially liked the information about thinking like the search user, checking your competition and the competitiveness of keywords. You shouldn't rely only on keyword tools to make your decisions on the keyword phrases you use:
Eight Keyword Research Mistakes That Are Costing You Money

Search Engine People - 50+ Sites To Help You Bury Negative Posts About You or Your Company!

Long list of techniques to bury negative online reputation problems:
50+ Sites To Help You Bury Negative Posts About You or Your Company!

Small Business SEM - How to Put Your Flickr Photos into Yahoo News

Good article describing how to gain traffic by Geotagging your Flickr photos, which may then be picked up by Yahoo News:
How to Put Your Flickr Photos into Yahoo News

Thursday, May 15, 2008

SearchRank - When Submitting to Social News Sites is a Complete Waste of Time

David Wallace provides a good outline of the correct way to submit to social news sites:
When Submitting to Social News Sites is a Complete Waste of Time

Social Networking Articles Blog - Wordpress Stats and Analytics Plugins & Statistics Programs List for Your WP Blog

Long list of helpful WordPress stats and analytics plugins for use with your WordPress blogs:
Wordpress Stats and Analytics Plugins & Statistics Programs List for Your WP Blog

ViperChill - What is Online Reputation Management?

Detailed article explaining what online reputation is, nicely done:
What is Online Reputation Management?

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Search Engine Guide - Targeting Conversions and Traffic with Long Tail Writing

Another great article from Search Engine Guide with the topic of long tail writing:
Targeting Conversions and Traffic with Long Tail Writing

Search Engine Land - Tools For Engaging In Social Media

Detailed post on tools helpful for tracking your social media marketing campaign:
Tools For Engaging In Social Media

SEM PDX - Think Outside the Link

Clever article detailing different ways to think outside the box when it comes to link building:
Think Outside the Link

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Smackdown - Sitelinks at #60 - A Warning Shot From Google

Very interesting Google info shared here relating to a -60 penalty for paid links in Google's search results:
Sitelinks at #60 - A Warning Shot From Google

Slightly Shady SEO - 7 Tips for the Paranoid SEO: Masking Your Intentions

Always interesting to see SEO from a different vantage point. Even if you don't use certain techniques it is good to know about them and learn from them:
7 Tips for the Paranoid SEO: Masking Your Intentions

Marketing Pilgrim - 16 Great Ways To Approach Social Media Marketing - A Beginner’s Guide

Good beginner's guide for SMM. I haven't dived totally into SMM and still have an affinity for good old fashioned link building, but the tips here are helpful:
16 Great Ways To Approach Social Media Marketing - A Beginner’s Guide

Friday, April 25, 2008

HamletBatista.com - Link Mass: How To Determine How Much Effort It Takes To Rank For Any Particular Keyword Phrase

Another very detailed link building post from Hamlet Batista, a great deal of good link building information in included in this article:
Link Mass: How To Determine How Much Effort It Takes To Rank For Any Particular Keyword Phrase

Google Webmaster Central Blog - Best Practices When Moving Your Site

Post covers Google's best practices for moving your website, some helpful tips included here:
Best Practices When Moving Your Site

Search Engine Journal - 55 Quick SEO Tips Even Your Mother Would Love

Good reminder list of known optimization tips. Probably a few I don't totally agree with and many I do agree with. That i what is interesting in the search marketing world, we all see things in a different way:
55 Quick SEO Tips Even Your Mother Would Love

Friday, April 18, 2008

SEOBook - Rank Checker Tool for Firefox

Handy open source rank checking tool created by SEOBook, access from your Firefox browser. Check out the advanced features available:
Rank Checker Tool for Firefox

SEOlogs.com - View Public Stats for Thousands of Web Sites

The author shares his search techniques for finding Statcounter statistics online:
View Public Stats for Thousands of Web Sites

Netconcepts - SEO Title Tag 2.1.3 for WordPress

Nifty plugin tool to SEO your title tags in WordPress:
SEO Title Tag 2.1.3 for WordPress

Friday, April 11, 2008

SEOmeter.com - What Determines Search Engine’s Crawl Rate?

Good info in this post on what factors are involved in determining search engine crawl rates:
What Determines Search Engine’s Crawl Rate?

Search Engine Journal - Six Explosive Organic & Paid Link Building Tips

Good link building tips, especially liked the relevancy paragraph and his take on finding different related verticals through directory structure:
Six Explosive Organic & Paid Link Building Tips

Marketing Pilgrim - 12 Reputations Every Company Should Monitor Online

Interesting article on reputation with some ideas on how to manage the good and bad of your company or client reputation online:
12 Reputations Every Company Should Monitor Online

Friday, April 4, 2008

Nick Wilsdon - Reputation Management Explosion in 3…2…1…

Interesting discussion of the new SEMCompare website allowing customers of search engine marketing companies to rate their services:
Reputation Management Explosion in 3…2…1…

Google Analytics Data Sharing

If you are using Google Analytics and haven't done so already you might want to set your data sharing setting. I believe the default on this is to share your analytics information. Go to your analytics dashboard, click on the dashboard analytics sharing link (Edit Account and Data Sharing Settings) and choose "do not share" if you do not want your analytics information shared with Google. There is also an option to share with Google benchmarking and Google products or Google products only.

Google's Analytics Data Sharing Options FAQ states it will limit some of the tools that are available if you choose not to share your analytics information:
>>If you select "do not share my Google Analytics data" in your data sharing settings, you will not be able to use benchmarking and may not have access to specific ads-related features such as Conversion Optimizer.

Here's more info on how the data sharing works:
Google Analytics Data Sharing Options

Friday, March 28, 2008

Bruce Clay - Local Search Engine Optimization Doesn’t Exist

Great take on using local optimization for your web pages. Lisa Barone's article seems like a no brainer. You should always include local information in your web pages to gain local search engine traffic, and I agree, it should be part of what you do for any search engine optimization project:
Local Search Engine Optimization Doesn’t Exist

Search Engine Guide - 8 Factors to Cover in a Competitive Analysis

Good article covering areas to focus on for competitive analysis of your online competitors:
8 Factors to Cover in a Competitive Analysis

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Palmer Web Marketing - 25 Ways to Optimize for Local Search

Informative post on local search with some good tips for localized SEO:
Palmer Web Marketing - 25 Ways to Optimize for Local Search

Wordpress Crawl Rate Tracker Plugin and SEO Meter Tools

Hamlet Batista passed along these cool tools for tracking crawl rates:
BlogStorm - Wordpress Crawl Rate Tracker Plugin
and
SEO Meter

Search Engine Journal - Niche Marketing and Link Building Resources

Well written article with tangible ideas on niche link building:
Niche Marketing and Link Building Resources

Friday, March 14, 2008

SEOBook - Spying on Google: What is Spam? What is Relevant? Read This to Find Out

Aaron Wall discusses the Google Rater spam guidelines document found by an SEO Blackhat website member:
Spying on Google: What is Spam? What is Relevant? Read This to Find Out

Google Analytics Blog - Benchmarking now available plus additional opt-in settings

Google Analytics now has benchmarking available along with some opt-in settings:
Benchmarking now available plus additional opt-in settings

SEO Chicks - Yoda’s Ultimate Tool List Part 1: Competitive Research

Good article about tools used for competitive research:
Yoda’s Ultimate Tool List Part 1: Competitive Research

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Pole Position Marketing - Link Building Secrets Revealed

Pole Position Marketing has a very good article from experts in the link building industry. A good read with great tips:
Link Building Secrets Revealed

Hamlet Batista dot Com - Long tail vs fat head optimization strategies

Good series by Hamlet Batista about optimization strategies, interesting stuff:

Long tail vs fat head optimization strategies – Part 1

Long tail vs fat head optimization strategies – Part 2

Long tail vs fat head optimization strategies – Part 3

Thursday, February 21, 2008

10e20 Blog - Analytics on the Cheap: Six Free Stats Packages for the Startup or Small-Business Owner

Good compilation of free stats packages available for small businesses:
Analytics on the Cheap: Six Free Stats Packages for the Startup or Small-Business Owner

Top Rank Online Marketing Blog - The Fallacy of SEO Celebrity

Lee Odden starts the first of many conversations on SEO celebrity and what it means in the industry:
The Fallacy of SEO Celebrity

Small Business SEM - How to Market on Flickr

Detailed post on how to use Flickr for marketing your website:
How to Market on Flickr

Friday, February 15, 2008

TopRank Online Marketing Blog - 5 Lesser Known Google Analytics Features

The post covers five areas of Google Analytics reporting that you may not know about:
5 Lesser Known Google Analytics Features

Blah Blah Technology Blog - Improve SEO with Google Webmaster Tools

Interesting article focusing in on a few areas of Google Webmaster reports providing detailed information that may be useful to marketers and webmasters:
Improve SEO with Google Webmaster Tools

Wiep.net - Link Value Factors

17 respected link builders share their knowledge on 40 factors that possibly influence the value of a link:
Link Value Factors

Search Engine Land - When Linking Experts Go Underground

Eric Ward article about the link building industry and its need for decreasing the amount of public link building information:
When Linking Experts Go Underground

Friday, February 8, 2008

BlogStorm - Google Analytics Tutorials

Two part tutorial for advanced users of Google Analytics:
Advanced use of Google Analytics and the new interface

Google Analytics Tutorial Part 2

Sugarrae - 11 Experts on Link Development Speak Out

Excellent article containing link building advice from 11 experts, a must read:
11 Experts on Link Development Speak Out

Search Engine Land - A Bad Month For SEO's Reputation

Danny Sullivan covers the topic of SEO reputation along with a great list of posts and articles on the subject:
A Bad Month For SEO's Reputation

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Small Business Trends - Top Experts Dish with their Best Kept Marketing Secrets

Good list of marketing secrets helpful to SEO's and webmasters:
Small Business Trends - Top Experts Dish with their Best Kept Marketing Secrets

Gord Collins - In House SEO

Fascinating detailed article by Gord Collins on in house SEO vs professional SEO services for businesses. One of the better SEM articles I've read about our industry in a long time:
Gord Collins - In House SEO

Friday, January 25, 2008

WMW Paid Supporters Forum - When Employees Leave For Competitors

Discussion at Webmaster World Paid Supporters Forum. Thread talks about search engine marketing employees leaving companies after training and finding ways to keep trained employees on staff:
When Employees Leave For Competitors

Jim Boykin Blog - Link Buying: Reviewed and not Guaranteed is the line in the sand

Post on paid directories and guidelines suggested by Google:
Link Buying: Reviewed and not Guaranteed is the line in the sand

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Junta42 - Leveraging Social Media Sites for Search Engine Placement - Get Content Found

Solid info on how to get the most of social media blog posts for optimization purposes:
Leveraging Social Media Sites for Search Engine Placement - Get Content Found

Search Engine Land - When Small Businesses Shouldn't Act Like A Small Business

Good article about small businesses and their small business mindset about online visibility:
When Small Businesses Shouldn't Act Like A Small Business

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

SEO by the SEA - Google Patent on Anchor Text and Different Crawling Rates

Very detailed account of the anchor text patent by Bill Slawski:
Google Patent on Anchor Text and Different Crawling Rates

Search Engine Land - Google Hiring Investigator / Threat Analyst For Safety & Security

Barry Schwartz has a very interesting post at Search Engine Land about a new job position at Google which may entail some online reputation management:
Google Hiring Investigator / Threat Analyst For Safety & Security