march 2008

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Ok, so someone was making a bit of a hoop-la about Guy Kawasaki’s new aggregator site; allTop (http://alltop.com/) (hee hee Hiya K (http://www.ask-kalena.com/seo/guy-kawasakis-latest-venture-showcases-38-seo-blogs/)). I went over to have a look and well…. seeing the ‘SEO Category (http://seo.alltop.com/)’ - some problems with it jump right out at me; Michael Martinez (http://www.seo-theory.com/), Weip Knoll (http://wiep.net/), Debra Mastaler (http://thelinkspiel.blogspot.com/), Jill Whalen (http://www.highrankings.com/)…U get the idea... I'd trade in some of the above for those fine folks.(now added see below) My point is that while some of them are debate-able, there are omissions more worthy than some of those on the list. So while it is a nice list there Guy, I’d be looking at a few of the suspect choices as it comes off as the usual popularity contest more than a true desire to deliver quality resources. Also, maybe re-name it to SEM if you want to keep the cross over...

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The other day I was talking about qualitative marketing research (http://www.huomah.com/Internet-Marketing/Social-Media-Marketing/Qualitative-research-and-Social-Media-Marketing.html) and its potential relation to the social media marketing mix. One way that has been utilized is private communities that can be mined for a variety of data, while gauging the larger public communities has remained often elusive. While snooping my reader Marshall Sponder (http://theanalyticsguru.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/social-media-measurement-video/) turned me onto an interesting video involving SeaWorld San Antonio whom have approached it from a unique angle as far as incorporating qualitative research as well as quantitative with existing networks. By harnessing the power of online roller coaster enthusiast sites and offline means (in-park and exit surveys) they were able to better target development and build buzz. Check out this video; Care of; FastCompany (http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/measurement-makes-a-splash-seaworld)and the Analytics Guru (http://theanalyticsguru.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/social-media-measurement-video/) If you haven’t also read Qualitative Research and Social Media Marketing (http://www.huomah.com/Internet-Marketing/Social-Media-Marketing/Qualitative-research-and-Social-Media-Marketing.html)...

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Don’t @ #! on my porchI was re-reading all the posts and comments about this week’s hot topic (once more) – SEO Standards. At one point there was mention about talking to clients about what an SEO firm is willing or unwilling to do as far as methodologies for reaching results. You know what I mean, so-called; grey and black hat tactics. Thus with my penchant for distraction I wandered off and thought to myself, ‘why do I provide services in the manner that I do?’ Why is it that I play fairly close to the belt and not engage in shenanigans that I am all too familiar with? Not technically disadvantaged from at least, I understand the colors of the rainbow with the search opportunist hats that one can wear. Why do I do what I do, the way that I do, not the other way of doing...

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the Wisdom of the Masses …..In my quest to find meaning in the warm and fuzzy world of social media marketing I touched on the fact that quite possibly valuations from other disciplines should be a consideration. That is to say part of the ultimate value in SMM are not being fully realized. For example it easily crosses over with areas such as;SEO – there are some inherent link building advantages among others from a SMM campaign.CRM – customer service and relations are obviously benefited by an integrated program.R D – the research and development teams can also be enhaced through your efforts.These are very important considerations for those of you looking to quantify social media marketing in terms of (engagement) metrics and conversions. By optimally leveraging the cross-over disciplines you can offset some of the actual costs via budgetary diversity. What also avails itself is an entirely new view...

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Young Guns of SEO - Brian Chappell Lets face it Google has been around for a while now. They have enough sites indexed to serve quality results for just about anything you type in. If you are like me and have been optimizing for a while now you have noticed a trend with highly competitive niches and phrases, where taking over top ranking sites can be like destroying the great wall of china.Main src http://www.flickr.com/photos/saseki/170355000/ Google doesn't need your new site, nor mine for its index. You have got to give them a good reason to rank your site high. There is something I have noticed over the years with regards to moving up the rankings in hyper-competitive niches that I thought I would share with you.

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TIPIS - The Influential Persons Identification SystemIn an attempt to harness the power of Word of Mouth, or Viral Marketing – Microsoft has been looking at processes that seek to identify influencers within social networks to attain the greatest reach for marketing efforts. By reaching the core influencers in a social networks an advertiser;“…creates the potential for exponential growth of the marketing message, as an individual passes on the message to his friends, those friends pass it on to their friends, and so on. Viral marking, so called because it spreads similar to a virus epidemic, exploits pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness. Viral marketing harnesses the network effect of the Internet.”To that end, let’s look at a recent Microsoft Patent titled; IDENTIFYING INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN A SOCIAL NETWORK (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20080070209.PGNR.&OS=DN/20080070209RS=DN/20080070209)

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Warning heavy search geek content - bring caffieneWhile I am on the topic of patents (/Search-Engines/Algorithm-Matters/Lost-Google-Patent-Resurfaces.html) I figured I would put up a list of the patents from the first quarter of 2008 that I found of interest. I am limiting the list to the Big 3 for the moment (Google, Yahoo and Microsoft). Sure, it ain’t sexy, but if yer a search freak/geek or addict, then might just be something of interest. Also on the topic of patents, it is Bill Slawski’s birthday (http://www.seobythesea.com/) and on behalf of all technical search junkies I want to wish him many, many more returns and best wishes for a great day today!Now here’s the list;

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Query Deserves Freshness – Are you Fresh, Stale or Spamming?Way back in 2005 there was a patent release that had the SEO world scooting around as if they had just discovered the fountain of truth (see related discussions on SEO Chat (http://forums.seochat.com/google-optimization-7/information-retrieval-based-on-historical-data-sandbox-explanation-aging-delay-27478.html), Cre8asite (http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23234), High Rankings Board (http://www.highrankings.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=13511&hl=) and Search Engine Watch Forums (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=4978)). It was a very in-depth and revealing glimpse into the mind of Google search engineers. It even had a sibling in; Systems and methods for determining document freshness (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220050144193%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20050144193&RS=DN/20050144193) (filed June 2003 – published June 2005). And then, a strange thing happened; it disappeared. As you can see in related coverage at locales such as Jim Boykin’s Blog (http://www.jimboykin.com/the-historical-importance-of-backlinks/), Search Engine Watch (http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060508-235246) or Bill Slawski on Search Engine Land (http://searchengineland.com/070426-111517.php) or his Blog (http://www.seobythesea.com/?p=586) (and above Forum posts) – the links are now a pointing to a different patent; ENTITY DISPLAY PRIORITY IN A DISTRIBUTED...

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Talking to the ExpertsAre you looking to understand Social Media and where it fits into the marketing mixx? Not sure if it’s for you? Want to pick the brains of a bunch of professional social media marketers?Well, I was seeking to understand and that’s exactly what I did…. The Journey Continues…. A few weeks ago I wrote about my ongoing curiosities with Social Media marketing (/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing/the-value-of-social-media-marketing.html) from a business perspective. You see, regardless of what the proponents pimping the social goodiness tell me, my business contacts and fellow marketers are often not altogether sure of it's purpose, goal setting processes, metrics and valuations. This time out, I’m going to try and shed further light into the darkness of understanding the Value of Social Media Marketing (/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing/the-value-of-social-media-marketing.html) . In this installment we'll look at some feedback I was able to get from some of the brighter minds in the SMM...

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Why worrying about shady SEO can be pointless.This is a little story about how the world is unfair – grow up and get used to it. I am going to explain some realities that many website owners may not be all that thrilled with. I am gonna bitch slap those of you that don’t ‘get it’ until you start to drift back to sweet mother earth instead of languishing in the clouds. We’re gonna get one thing straight – there is nothing FAIR about how the world of SEO works.I was doing some blog wandering and noticed a rant by Matt over at SEO Unique (http://www.seounique.com/blog/blackhat-equals-idiot/) that echoes sentiments I have heard far and wide from bloggers, forums flies and comment junkies alike. What is with those spammy shit sites in Google’s index?“….. and started my analysis of the site (the next day). The site had keyword stuffing all...

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Lessons in how NOT to pimp your products... You know I am a pathetic marketer at times… I just get so busy with clients projects that my own endeavours suffer. It is like the anecdote about the shoe maker's kids having tattered shoes, I find it hard to commit the time for my own stuff. A good example is my little eBook; the SEO Handbook. (http://www.the-seo-handbook.com/)Jeff (http://www.searchenginepeople.com/) apparently ‘stumbled upon’ it around 4am and seemed to think it was news worthy (http://sphinn.com/story/32689) and dropped in on IM to congratulate me on the launch. WOW… talk about a soft launch. I actually released the 2008 version (in its second incarnation now) back in early February and outside of some of my normal promotional channels, didn’t make much of a stink about it. And I run a marketing blog – man, I do suck huh?Ok, so for those that are interested...

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Lessons in how NOT to pimp your products... You know I am a pathetic marketer at times… I just get so busy with clients projects that my own endeavours suffer. It is like the anecdote about the shoe maker's kids having tattered shoes, I find it hard to commit the time for my own stuff. A good example is my little eBook; the SEO Handbook. (http://www.the-seo-handbook.com/)Jeff (http://www.searchenginepeople.com/) apparently ‘stumbled upon’ it around 4am and seemed to think it was news worthy (http://sphinn.com/story/32689) and dropped in on IM to congratulate me on the launch. WOW… talk about a soft launch. I actually released the 2008 version (in its second incarnation now) back in early February and outside of some of my normal promotional channels, didn’t make much of a stink about it. And I run a marketing blog – man, I do suck huh?Ok, so for those that are interested...

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Social Media Marketing; 108 Sites that don't suckA while ago as part of my research into Social Media Marketing, I rooted through some lists of various social sites to really see what there was out there. If you remember the recent, Value of SMM post (/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing/the-value-of-social-media-marketing.html), one of my concerns is the ability of SMM to be universal in it's application. Now there are obviously thousands of social sites out there of all shapes and sizes... problem is that many are sparsely populated and unlikely to be of much value to user and marketer alike. So I decided to start a master list of Social Media/Networking type sites that seemed to have some life happening. Once I was looking at it I thought I might as well share it with ya'll, (isn't sharing the best part about being social?) ..... This list is by no means exhaustive, but I had...

This post is from from my other blog here

Social Media Marketing; 108 Sites that don't suckA while ago as part of my research into Social Media Marketing, I rooted through some lists of various social sites to really see what there was out there. If you remember the recent, Value of SMM post (/internet-marketing/social-media-marketing/the-value-of-social-media-marketing.html), one of my concerns is the ability of SMM to be universal in it's application. Now there are obviously thousands of social sites out there of all shapes and sizes... problem is that many are sparsely populated and unlikely to be of much value to user and marketer alike. So I decided to start a master list of Social Media/Networking type sites that seemed to have some life happening. Once I was looking at it I thought I might as well share it with ya'll, (isn't sharing the best part about being social?) ..... This list is by no means exhaustive, but I had...