January 22nd, 2007,
A discussion of different possible ways in which Google may rerank it’s results after an initial search querey. This is a great article for anyone trying to understand the behavior of Google’s results and why different types of seraches bring up different kinds of websites. One example is a “commercial intent” filter, simliar to Yahoo Mindset, Google may rerank the results to favor or downgrade commercial results depending on what the query was.
read more | digg story
Technorati Tags: search engine optimization, google rankings, SERPS
January 22nd, 2007,
An in-depth 1700+ word article on how to get free publicity for your business. It’s authored by SS PR firm, which represents clients in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal among others - Good advice on how to get publicity without spending anything.
read more | digg story
Technorati Tags: pr tips, publicity, public relations
January 19th, 2007,
With all the emphasis latley in the SEO world on the benefit of social media sites (Like digg) for link building, traffic and general brand awareness, it makes sense that VERY strong anti-promotional sentiments are springing up in heated debates (or insult exchanges depending on the maturity of the commenter) on the ethics involved in authors submitting stories themselves from which they will in some way gain from the promotion.
For a GREAT example of this check out the comments on this article “187 Amazingly designed sites to see before you die.” The author made an ok very long list of all the sites he thought looked the best. He submitted this list and on other pages of his site he sells text links.
I didn’t digg the article and I say ok, because although most of the sites on the list are very pretty their usability is so terrible (meaning it’s difficult to tell how they are, what they do and navigate around) I consider most of them failures as anything more then GREAT eye candy and perharps valuable fodder for a viral marketing (or the new term link bait) campagin from people saying “Woah look at this.”
The article nevertheless recieved a lot of diggs and people in the comments blasted him, why? Because he submitted the site himself and he may / will financially gain for the exposure it recieves on digg. Other people came to his defense saying it didn’t matter if he makes money or not, it’s all about where the users like the content. I tend to agree with that atitude, but I expect to see even harsher examples of “anti promotionalism.” springing up as more and more people attempt to “abuse” the system.
What the future of social media and it’s effect on advertisers is still up for debate.
Technorati Tags: social media, digg, anti-promotionalism
January 17th, 2007,
I’m about to launch a niche social media site myself so I’ve been looking closley at the history and some of the problems and potential exploits for digg. This article is way too long, but gives some interesting stats about digg users and the potential traffic and power they can manipulate. It’s also worth reading, because the author is one of digg’s top submitter and he talks about ethics and self-promotion.
read more | digg story
Technorati Tags: digg, social media
January 17th, 2007,
Take a look at this story about the power of certain digg users and how digg may not be as democratic as some people believe, it’s a good read. It’s also interesting that the story itself recieved 873 diggs, but aparently never hit the front page, it appears that from my inital scan that a moderator didn’t allow the story to go to make it to the front page.
read more | digg story
Technorati Tags: digg, social media
January 16th, 2007,
I’ve been reading a lot about this new Wiki search engine, I tested it out and while it doesn’t work as well as I would have liked, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on it and using it to search Wikipedia and take a look at the improvement. The cool thing about Wikiseek is that it only bring up results from Wikipedia AND THE SITES THAT WIKIPEDIA LINKS TO. So if you’re looking for a quick reference it seems to be a good choice, although I still find the regular Google results absolutely wonderfully relevant most of the time.
read more | digg story
Technorati Tags: wikipedia, wikiseek, wikipedia search engine
January 16th, 2007,
With most of the web still consisting of text based content (as of today all of my blogs are text and images based, but I’m going video soon too) the sites that take the inital step to producing video content designed for online consumption have a unique advantage. It’s interesting to see what people you may have read online actually sound and speak like on video. Webpronews (which syndicates the Stir Crazy Search Engine Marketing Blog I co-author at Acclivity, Inc) has an interesting video blog that interviews some of the search engine marketing world’s biggest stars.
The information the videos contain is pretty basic and not anywhere near as valuable as what you would find in text-based blogs, but I imagine that will change in time. If you ever wanted to hear some SEO geeks on video here’s your chance. I definitley found it amusing. I hope they expand their video blog to tackle some deeper issues, although I may be out of their target audience.
Technorati Tags: seo video blog, seo geeks
December 31st, 2006,
Via Acclivitymarketing.com Article examines if dmoz will survive or if their return from being down just prolongs their slow demise. Includes examples of what works on the site and what’s still down.
Technorati Tags: dmoz, odp
December 31st, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com ) A discussion about the term user generated content and why it’s not an insult to independent content publishers.
Technorati Tags: user generated content, user-generated content
December 10th, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com ) A list of 10 ideas of how DMOZ could change it’s image, become more modern and gain a new audience. What could the future bring for the Open Directory Project?
Technorati Tags: dmoz, odp, open directory project
December 10th, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com ) Article giving an update on the status of dmoz and what it’s future holds with the info taken from a locked editor forum. What’s going to happen to the ODP?
Technorati Tags: dmoz, aol search business unit, odp, open directory project
December 9th, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com ) The internet is filled with websites here and there offering reciprocal linking services, management, or automated software that handles your reciprocals for you. A lot of individual webmasters and SEO consultants spend hundreds of hours, and by that acco…
Technorati Tags: reciprocal linking services, reciprocal links
December 9th, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com )
Should SEO / SEM companies publicly display case studies and what would be the potential ramifications for doing so?
Most SEO companies currently don’t list their clients or if they do its years after the work has been completed or in a non-informati…
Technorati Tags: seo case studies
December 4th, 2006,
( Via Acclivitymarketing.com ) From a user’s perspective, quality (or my preferred term, valuable) content, whatever the medium, is characterized by one essential factor: it fulfills the user’s needs at the time they’re looking for it.
Technorati Tags: website content, writing
November 3rd, 2006,
What are the steps to purchasing a website?
One of the biggest mistakes people make when looking for a web design firm is not coming to the table with a loose plan or idea for their website. There are some factors to think about before you start the search for a web designer or web design firm that will ultimately make it easier for you to get the right quote.
The more information you can provide, the more accurate the quote, and the easier time you’ll have wading through your options. Additionally, having an idea about what you’re looking for will save you from being up sold on a whole plethora of options you may not really need.
To that end, here are some tips and questions to ask yourself in order to achieve a more accurate quote and save yourself time and a large headache:
One, figure out what you want; this doesn’t have to be specific, it just entails that you have a general idea of what you want your website to do, your target audience and what features you want the most. What do you want to accomplish with your website and what is your first priority? (Top 4 answers: produce sales leads, sell products directly, promote a physical service or retail location and provide support/information for existing customers)
Two, do you want e-commerce functionality? If so, how many products or services do you want to sell? This doesn’t have to be a specific number, just an approximation.
Read the rest of this entry »
