SEO Bloggers Parade Their Best
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: SEO blog
May 9,2008
I really have the goods for you today! If you just read through this post and follow the links, you will be arming yourself with knowledge from true experts in their field. If you use it, the Internet community better watch out!
There is no better way to learn than to keep up with the best blogs in the business. With this in mind I’ve decided to pull together the best ever SEO blog post from a number of really cool blogs.
First up is Barry Welford with his Headlines are for Humans, Titles are for Robots. Barry’s right. The first thing you need with any web page or article is a really superb title. It has to grab the attention of the reader, who may be scanning a list, and it has to impress the search engines with relevant keywords too.
Donna Fontenot chose her Search Marketing and the Persuasion Principles where she discusses
Still on the subject of copywriting, which is a priority with good SEO, Chuck Masterson sent me his hottest post on the subject, which is The Discovery Library. There are gems in here so be sure to read it.
Yura has already made a great compilation about all aspects of a succesful site that he says is his most successful post: Learn How to Write Titles to Get Traffic and Links: The Ultimate Guide.
OK, we’ve had a lot about what we should be doing for good SEO: Now let’s look at a tongue-in-cheek account of what we shouldn’t be doing as SEOs. Judith ‘deCabbit’ Lewis from SEOchicks nominated The Seven Deadly Sins of SEO as her most successful SEO post.
Julie Joyce nominated another SEO Chicks post: Could a Chimp Do SEO? Heck Yes!
The Gypsy nominated this post by Aaron Wall: How much is a Page #1 Google Ranking Worth? It’s a very long article: amounts to a complete commercial appraisal of whether or not a coveted #1 ranking on Google is what you really need.
Link building specialist Debra Mastaler suggested I include a post from the Semmys.org. well, if you can choose between these then you have better powers of deduction than I do, so go see for yourself!
If you are not familiar with the name Todd Mintz, you should make a point of paying attention to him. He doesn’t blow his own trumpet, but he’s quietly very knowledgeable about SEO. Without further ado, I give you his post SEO, Surrealism and Salvador Dali!
Here’s my personal favorite from all the posts mentioned here: Why Do the (Good) SEOs Cost So %&*# Much?Nominated by Will Scott, this struck a chord with me for many reasons, and I’m sure it will with just about every other SEO too. The average client just can’t see what’s the big deal about SEO until he’s not ranking. And once we do our job and a site is doing much better, that same client tend to think their success is due to a lot of other factors too, thereby stealing our thunder. Sigh.
Let me bring up the rear with my favorite from my own posts, Top SEO Expert Aaron Wall Speaks Out. This was a hugely successful post for me, thanks to Aaron who gave such informative answers to my questions. Interestingly (well to me anyway) this only got about 70 percent of the traffic that came to my other most popular post, 17 Habits of Highly Popular Bloggers. That has 30 percent more traffic, but judging by how long people stayed on the page, that traffic was less highly targeted. I had far more interaction with the Aaron Wall post.
How to Create Landing Pages that Perform
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Organic Search Engine Optmization
May 4,2008
From time to time I come across a product that’s worth talking about. Recently I checked out a new report on landing page optimization available over at Invesp Consulting.
The opening words of any information product are often enough to tell you if you’re reading quality material. And certainly, after only a few paragraphs you’ll know if you have in your hands a report that’s backed by true knowledge and industry experience. Quite categorically Landing Page Optimization: The Complete Guide is a quality report; it promised me a good read right from the beginning.
Even to the end I wasn’t disappointed. The words demonstrate the author’s thorough knowledge and experience of his subject. More than that, the author cites a great deal of research conducted by Invesp Consulting.
The report clearly defines the reasons why you must optimize your landing pages. You’ll learn how to increase profits by 75 percent or more, without increasing your advertising budget by a cent. Follow the step-by-step suggestions to tweak your landing pages for super-effective performance.
While including a lot of basic, commonsense marketing information, Invesp also includes some great advanced selling tips; even your copywriting will find a fresh, revitalized direction. It’s in language that we can all understand too, which is somewhat of a novelty in the tech world—and there’s even a glossary at the end.
You will learn exactly what’s required and how you can make the grade for a super-successful landing page: great usability, trust and more importantly, results.
One of the things I particularly like about this report was the exhortation to not target landing pages for absolutely everyone. It’s great advice to focus your target market so that you’re more successful with those who really matter. You cannot be all things to all people no matter how hard you try.
I am also impressed by the detailed help you get with usability definitions. Most reports on this subject talk about the need for good usability standards without actually going into detail on how to achieve it.
The report points out how many companies make huge marketing mistakes, like tying themselves up in knots with highly complicated testing. The author offers concrete alternatives that will help readers get results in no time flat!
In short, this report shows you, step-by-step how to get your landing page optimized for maximum conversions in the shortest time possible. Highly recommended.
Digg Users please make sure you’re not doing these things…
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Social Media
Apr 30,2008
1. You cannot expect me or any other serious Digg user to accept your shouts if you have set your profile to not receive shouts in return. Are you kidding?
2. Wherever possible, serious Digg users will always respond to a shout. But just occasionally, the article in question will be offensive, or will be diametrically opposed to our personal beliefs. Even if you send us 10 shouts we won’t be voting for it, so take it easy.
3. And while we’re on that topic, here’s one I think I may be slightly guilty of. Don’t keep sending shouts about the same topic to everyone. Please try and keep track of who you’ve shouted, so they don’t get 100 shouts about the same item.
4. Do not make offensive comments about what we are Digging. If you don’t like it, simply unfriend us and that’s the end of the story. That’s how social media works.
5. When you send a shout, do it if possible through the Share icon. If you do it through your friend’s page, put the link to your Digg item, and not the actual source URL. That is an infuriating waste of time, and some of us are very busy.
6. Don’t use SMS-speak when you’re sending shouts. Some of us hate it and don’t have time to decipher it all. Unless you would like me to reply in Arabic (cos I might), then use plain English that everyone can understand.
7. If you’re sending us an old story, it just better be riveting. We don’t have time for twenty day-old stuff that no one paid attention to anyway.
That’s it. Not too difficult, but doing it right can make a world of difference to how you’re viewed in the Digg universe.
If you follow these guidelines you will have a much easier time of it, and who knows, people might like you enough to actually help you become a Digg power user. Good luck. 
Organic Search Engine Optimization and Organic Gardening Have a Lot in Common
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Organic Search Engine Optmization
Apr 23,2008
Organic search engine optimization methods are used to achieve solid and dependable search engine rankings that won’t desert you, or fluctuate wildly with every bleep in the Google radar. Going organic is going for a permanent and powerful presence online.
Organic SEO people rely on methods that have been well-tested in the field. More than that, they are the absolute antithesis of Black Hat. If you can’t get a website to rank without Black Hat then you’re no good at what you do. (She stands back and waits for the torrent of abuse…)
You’d be surprised just how many similarities there are between organic search engine optimization and the organic gardening-farming practices for which it was named. 
- While you might have to work harder initially, you’ll be handsomely rewarded for your work if you’re patient.
- Organic practices won’t come back to bite you in the behind at a later date–when you’ve forgotten all about it.
- One thing you will have to guard against is getting smug and complacent just because you’re being more publicly-responsible than your non-organic counterparts.
- Organic methods embrace a diversity of techniques not usually found with other methods.
- Those who are heavily into non-organic methods bad-mouth organic SEO all the time. Go and look at their long-term results for confirmation that organic is the way to go.
- While you’re there, notice the unprofessional language that commonly adorns negative diatribe on the use of organic SEO techniques (such as c-r-a-p for example).
I was going to link to some of those who attack organic SEO, but decided that, having just recovered from the flu, I don’t have the energy for arguing with them. I’m sure I’ll get enough flack for this post anyway.
Wow, Blogger Appreciation Day!
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Blogging for Business
Apr 14,2008
I’m late with this today. All the other bloggers taking part in Blogger Appreciation Day seem to have gone live hours ago. I have the flu, so excuse me for bringing up the rear on this.
It’s about time devoted bloggers got a bit of appreciation! The whole idea was born out of a flash of inspiration Darren Rowse had this morning, but seems to have caught on like lightning–It was in full rage when I woke up, which was nighttime still in the US.
I’m going to list all the great bloggers I admire, and especially those I have learned the most from or network with.
Chris Garrett the Business of Blogging and New Media
Of course, there are loads more really excellent bloggers out there. To all of you I wish a wonderful Blogger Appreciation Day, and an enhanced online presence!
Top SEO Expert Aaron Wall Speaks Out About SEO’s Bleeding Edge
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: SEO blog
Apr 12,2008
Table of contents for Interviews With Serious SEOs
- Interview with Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz
- Top SEO Expert Aaron Wall Speaks Out About SEO’s Bleeding Edge
There are a number of ‘hot topics’ that regularly perplex even the most knowledgeable SEOs. Either that, or discussion rages so hot that the restof us don’t know what to believe. Whenever possible I love to get bleeding-edge insights from someone at the top of his game. Aaron Wall is just such an SEO expert, and boy did he give me some straight answers to questions I put to him.
This is the second in my series of interviews with SEO scions, and it is considerably overdue. Anyway, better late than never, and I think you’ll agree it was definitely well worth waiting for. Aaron exceeded my expectations in true industry-leading style. Notice how stars in any field are always jaw-droppingly generous with their knowledge?
So, on with the good stuff!
Marketmou: OK, let’s start with the question that everyone always wants to know: How did you get into SEO and to what do you attribute your astounding success in this new industry at such an early age?
My first website was a rant website. I had no money and wanted exposure. From there organic search was a natural path to take.
As I am nearing 30, I don’t really feel so young anymore…after all 30 is the hill, until I am there…and then maybe the hill moves to 40. As far as why I did well I think it comes down to having a lot of great friends, working long and hard, learning a lot, and helping lots of people. No one thing makes or breaks you, but if you work hard and give for an extended period of time it eventually comes back to you many times over.
Marketmou: Aaron, you’re probably the most highly respected SEO of all time, and you’ve accomplished so much, so you have to be the best person to ask: Where do you see the SEO industry headed? It has refined and consolidated since the early days of the Web, do you think we’re going to see many more changes?
I think the best SEOs are generally not selling too much consulting these days (we don’t do much and we probably still do a bit too much). The field of SEO is largely becoming a game of brand building and relationship building. If you have to do all that marketing work it is not much more effort to create products and a company around it. In other words, I think many of the best SEOs are becoming publishers who lead their respective marketplaces. Many are in high paying areas like finance, while others are in many areas of high personal interest like photography.
Marketmou: Do you see any benefits in the introduction of industry standards and certification? And if so, what form do you think they should take? There are a few places online where you can get SEO certification and some of them are even ISO-backed, but are they any good?
Well…if you share REALLY effective highly profitable tips on your blog a Google engineer *may* burn your website in retribution. Given that sort of market activity and the constant evolution of search, any industry-wide certification would probably be promoting watered down techniques.
Many of the attempts at achieving industry standards in many industries represent attempted power grabs by greedy self promotional charlatans. When I read a 3 part series about how you *can’t* learn SEO from a book by a guy associated with SEMPO that only confirmed my earlier perceptions of that organization.
Marketmou: OK, here comes the big one: What’s your stance on paid links? Some of the big SEOs are going against the tide and still dealing in paid links, while others are leaving it well alone. What do you advise anyone wanting to get some good links fast?
Google clearly barters for links and so do many other people. Many of the best links come as a proxy of conversation or market participation. Those links tend to be of lower risk and higher ROI than most paid links because if someone recommends you that drives direct value as well as any search related value.
Having said all that, if you put in all the effort you feel like putting in, and are a few spots short of the top, sometimes buying a couple nice links is all it takes to put your site at the top. If you can afford the risk and think the ROI is there then go for it.
Marketmou: What about reciprocal links? Do you still think it’s worth pursuing reciprocal links, or is it safer to look for incoming one-way links?
If you do nothing but reciprocal then that is no good. A few select reciprocals makes sense. Also if you are doing natural cross promotion and in community linking that is good. No man is an island after all, and if you don’t promote others it is a lot harder to get others to help promote you. Ideally the best links represent relationships…person X trusts person Y.
Marketmou: Do you think that too much emphasis is placed on link-building when really people should be thinking about building a website that’s as SEO-compliant as they can get it and providing content that other webmasters will want to link to? Or do you think that links can make up for shortcomings in other areas of SEO?
I have seen PageRank 2 blogs with 500 blog posts. Clearly those people need to work on link building. I have seen PageRank 5 and PageRank 6 sites that had little content on them. Clearly those people need to work on content development. The balance can be off in either direction.
But if you think that you will win just by content quality it is simply untrue. You have to build a brand and/or social relationships in your marketplace such that people appreciate what you have to say. Perceived content quality (based on your status and relationships) is often far more important than actual content quality.
One of my favorite quotes on this front comes from Abraham Lincoln, “With public sentiment, nothing can fail.”
Marketmou: What’s your advice to someone starting a website from scratch? What’s the most important aspect of SEO to attend to for a new website?
I would say to spend a good bit of time doing market research before launching your site. Start using a good domain name if you can afford one…and honestly most people can because if they are limited on cash but passionate usually there is more than enough creativity to come up with a good name.
If you plan on selling consulting or advertising or some other model based largely on intellectual property and spreading ideas I like the idea of putting a blog on your homepage off the start, and blogging every day. Cultivate relationships and share real value with your site visitors. If enough people like your sites then eventually the search engines will too.
Marketmou: Google has refined its algorithms and continues to do so. Can you go out on a limb for us and predict any big changes coming soon? Or do you think that—in the near future at least—changes will be far less significant than say the Florida Update, or Big Daddy?
It is hard to say when big changes will occur. I think there has been an obvious shift toward branded websites over the past couple years. And I think the leaked Google review documents do a lot to show which direction Google desires to shift their results in and what they are looking for.
Google has a lot of usage data, and links are quite gamed because so many people know they have value. Eventually Google may move to integrate more usage data in their relevancy algorithms and lower their weighting on links a bit. As the web continues to age I would suspect that Google would stop counting domain age as a sign of quality as much as they have or they will create a stale web, where the only pages that rank are mainstream media stories, large corporate authority sites, blog posts on authoritative blogs, and dirt old websites.
Marketmou: What have been your most valuable sources for the amazing body of knowledge you’ve accumulated, and which now constitutes your SEO Book Training Program?
Our SEO Training Program was not built from any one source, but out of working on hundreds of websites, reading hundreds of books, and thousands of customer interactions.
Our site’s About page lists many of the inspirations, including Tim Berners-Lee, Seth Godin, Danny Sullivan, and NFFC.
Marketmou: For anyone wanting to get into SEO but who can’t afford your course yet, what books would you recommend they read? And what else can they do to make sure they learn the right stuff?
For books I suggest every web publisher read
- Don’t Make Me Think - Steve Krug on usability
- The Purple Cow - Seth Godin on how to be remarkable
- The Cluetrain Manifesto - numerous authors on how markets are conversations
- The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell on how ideas spread
Some other key articles worth reading to understand the fundamental structure and competitive nature of the web are the article about cumulative advantage by Duncan Watts and The Tragedy of the Commons by Garrett Hardin.
The other tip I would have is to not spend a lot of money on automated SEO tools or packages that lock you into recurring fees with the provider. Buy a domain and host your site, but other than that do not get locked into someone else’s system unless you feel you can afford it and it adds value to you. Many of the best content management programs (like Wordpress and Drupal) are free and open source. Many of the best SEO tools are free.
Marketmou: Finally: Do you think that Black Hat SEO has a place in the industry? Or do you think it’s just unethical to try and fool the search engines? Would you agree with the concept that Black Hat operators are just making it all more difficult for everyone in the long run because they’re triggering more updates to the algorithms?
I still think some of the search engineers have a bit of a maniacal power trip doing their job…many of them are no better than the worst “spammers.” And as a company, they often fail to follow their own guidelines. At one point in time Google had their ads syndicated on Warez sites.
And they (and other search engines) fund a lot of copyright violations via their ad programs. If you read the 2007 Google remote quality rater documents they state that lyrics sites can not even be rated as spam - that shows Google’s blatant disrespect for copyright more fully than anything else I have read to date.
Their rule sets keep shifting. Nofollow was supposed to prevent blog comment spamming, and then suddenly at some point in time you are viewed as a spammer if you do not use it on any paid links. They changed how they viewed the web to fit their own business needs. Just look at how many scammy monthly search engine submission ads they still promote via AdWords. They know those ads rip people off and they do not care because they are getting the money.
The rules and guidelines keep changing. Ultimately if you want to create a real sustainable business your value add should be far beyond the lower threshold of whatever the engines aim to clean up. And if usage data becomes more important, then you really need to build a brand and solid relationships to compete.
Marketmou: I tried to ask questions that will make this interview as useful as possible to readers. Did I miss out anything important?
I think you did a good job. cheers
Thank you Aaron, I’m thrilled to have so much great information to pass on.
The Entire SEO Industry: One Big Scam?
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: SEO blog
Apr 11,2008
I’m sure I speak for a lot of fellow-SEO people when I tell you that reading how some (far too many) regard SEO as a scam fairly makes me bristle.
Why? Because I adhere to a very strict personal code, and uphold my principles consistently. I know plenty of other SEOs who take their ethics seriously too. We would never entertain the thought of making a living at something regarded as a criminal activity, or even ’shady’ for that matter.
I acknowledge that there are people in our industry whose ethics leave a lot to be desired, and who definitely do not offer value for money. But hey, you’ll find that in any industry. When an accountant shows up in the news having fiddled thousands out of their life savings, do you get news flashes trashing the entire accounting industry? Of course not, so why single us out for this dubious honor?
It was actually gratifying for me to read over at Search Engine Watch that one particular SEO company that had been found to be scamming clients finally got its come-uppance.
For some time this question has been discussed again and again: Are SEOs capable of sustaining self-imposed standards that negate the necessity for formal and legal industry standards? Or should we go the formal route?
While I accept the majority opinion (example here) that it would be impossible, and even counter-productive to try and impose standards on the SEO industry, it was because I don’t want to be associated with scammers in any way that I broached the subject of standards in my interview with Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz back in August, 2007.
But my opinion was swayed just the other day by Michael Gray. I accept his argument that perhaps standards wouldn’t be good either for us or for the industry. He likens SEO standards to the notable failure of the No Child Left Behind plan.
As I’m writing this post, Search Engine World came out with some news that maybe the debate among SEOs on whether or not we need industry standards is about to be solved: It seems the FTC is considering imposing standards industry-wide whether we all like it or not.
Whatever happens, along with hundreds of other SEOs, I will continue my work, committed to the very highest standards that I can impose on myself:
My strategies for reassuring clients are as follows:
- I spend countless hours reading up on the industry to make sure that I’m using the best and latest techniques for optimization.
- I never make wild claims for my work or anyone else’s.
- I never, ever use any knowledge that may, even as a remote possibility, attach any hint of controversy to a client’s site.
- I don’t just avoid sites that are questionable and are associated with questionable practices–I avoid their owners too.
- I always work hard to get the best possible results for my clients, whether I’m optimizing their site, writing first-class content, or creating link-bait. It’s hard work and it requires a great deal of background knowledge.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if I’ve left out something important here, so if you’re an SEO or you follow the industry closely and you can think of important strategies I’ve left out here, please add them in a comment.
The Ethics of Using ‘Black Hat’ SEO to Bring Down a Website’s Competition
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Black Hat SEO Strategies To Avoid
Apr 8,2008
If you’re here hoping to hear any word of approval from me about using SEO to directly harm a competitor–you’d better scoot on out and don’t bother to come back!
It’s no exaggeration to say that I was horrified when I saw this post earlier, on SEO Roundtable. I wouldn’t call myself naive, but I’m truly shocked that anyone calling themselves an SEO consultant would have the temerity to admit to this kind of behavior–publicly at that.
Of course it was an anonymous admission, but now we all know that at least some SEOs are using these underhand tactics to get their clients ranking well. This is tantamount to theft in my opinion–theft of someone else’s rightful search engine positioning. I’m a great believer in ‘what goes around comes around.’ Call it karma–call it what you will. I can only think that engaging in such Black Hat practices will ultimately reflect badly on SEOs as a whole, and quite rightly too.
If you can’t get your client to rank better for chosen keywords using your skill and better judgment, then I’d say you’re patently in the wrong business. You would clearly be better off making a living as a card sharp in Las Vegas–at least then you’d be up against your own kind.
Hopefully, it’s only a matter of time before someone comes up with a formula for exposing these techniques, and then we can all publish a list of names of people who are guilty of betraying the rest of us, who work hard and honest for a living.
And if you happen to be someone in the market for SEO who thinks it’d be great to get someone like this working for you, you should be aware that on countless occasions business owners have woken up one morning to see their sites and domain names banned forever for Black Hat practices. Thousands of dollars wasted, not to mention time and reputation. It takes a great deal of time and money to recover your brand-credibility once you’ve been tainted online. In fact plenty of honest SEOs are making a killing putting right what Black Hatters have destroyed in a bid to do it faster and cheaper than anyone else.
Organic SEO may be slow and sometimes tedious, but it undoubtedly pays off in the long-run. It’s permanent and it outstrips all the Black Hat techniques eventually. Karma: what goes around really does come back round again.
The Essential Guide to Managing Your Reputation While Social Networking
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Social Media
Mar 30,2008
Rumblings of discomfort are being felt by some web users who have found to their cost that someone, somewhere sees what you do online. The social media sites are great networking tools, and can be useful for business. But if you don’t take steps to guard your reputation there can be repercussions.
Most recently Twitter has come in for some close scrutiny because every micro-post by members can potentially be indexed by the search engines, and therefore could appear in a search. From reading the ‘tweets’ posted by members, I can imagine that some could find their twitter activity potentially embarrassing, and even a threat to their business credibility.
Another social media site that has been exposed for serious security gaps exposing users to all kinds of private leaks is MySpace. Here’s a Google search of just some of the ways MySpace has been in the news recently for privacy issues.
Although personal interaction does not go out for public consumption on most social media sites, your profile is indexed by many, including Facebook, Flikr, YouTube, Wikipedia, Digg, LinkedIn, Xing, FriendFeed and as we mentioned, Twitter.
Here’s a list of what NOT to do if you value your online reputation:
- Never insult, accuse, or otherwise denigrate anyone on a social media site of any kind, unless you don’t care if it comes back to bite you.
- Never write anything about yourself anywhere online that you wouldn’t want your boss, mother, husband or friend to know about you. Someone is bound to draw their attention to it sooner or later.
- Never announce your intention to divorce your husband, fire your boss, crash your car to claim the insurance, or set fire to your neighbor’s cat anywhere online either, for the same reasons noted above.
- Unless you feel it won’t make a difference, don’t use bad language that could affect how other people think about you.
- Think very carefully before indulging in online venting of your feelings about someone who has done something bad to you, because they might decide to repay the compliment.
On the other hand, you can also use these same mechanisms for avoiding bad situations and even turning them to your advantage. It is relatively easy to create a good reputation or a positive effect using your everyday online activities. For example, let’s suppose you want to get promoted. First you want to start posting flattering comments (make them believable–no obvious boot-licking here) about your boss or your superiors. Make it conversational. You may, or may not, want to mention somewhere your ambitions: depends on the job and the situation. Then make sure that the existence of these posts is ‘discovered’ by at least one critical person who you think might take the bait and pass it on.
This won’t work by itself of course. You have to have done your homework in the real world too.
Managing Your Online Reputation When Things Have Gone Bad
Now supposing someone has written something really bad about you online, or you’ve done the deed to yourself in a moment of weakness. How then do you make this nastiness go away? The first thing to do is the most obvious: go to whoever is in charge of the website and ask them nicely to please take it down.
If that doesn’t work, and chances are it won’t, then you’ll have to go the long route. You need to make sure that lots of positive information about you is posted on the web, and that it appears on pages that are considered an ‘authority.’ The idea is to produce lots of other Google entries mentioning you in a positive light, so that the bad stuff gets buried deep within a search. The deeper the better.
One quick and easy way is to sign up with all the social media sites you can find and make sure that all the good stuff is included. The professional networking site, LinkedIn is particularly good for getting a positive profile indexed. Your own website (if possible with your name in the URL) is a perfect medium for controlling what gets said about you. If you have a blog, that’s good too. But you need to work hard to get it noticed. Commenting on other good blogs is a fast way to get your information indexed.
An alternative to this (it can be pretty time-consuming) is to hire someone to do it for you. It won’t be cheap–but how much is your reputation worth? Some celebrities are rumored to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure bad news is buried. The good news is that reputation management for the average Joe Bloggs will probably be a lot less expensive!
Here are a few celebrities who have recently paid to make bad news about them ‘go away.’ Kate Moss Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Madonna, and many, many more.
Some high profile companies who have found reputation management a dire necessity include Halliburton, Enron, and Hewlett Packard. Note that these results don’t come up in a straightforward search for the company name. Type into a search (for example) ‘Halliburton accused.’
But for the most part you won’t read about this kind of reputation management online or in the news. Quite simply, most SEOs and reputation management experts sign non-disclosure agreements with their clients so they don’t spill the beans. After all, no matter how deep dirt is buried, if they know it’s there, lots of people will dig for it (no pun intended).
A word of consolation if something unpleasant has surfaced about you on the Internet: Most of us are nowhere near as interesting as celebrities or big-name companies, so not only is it easy to bury negative information, not many people will be interested or notice it while it’s coming at the top of a search. If you proactively employ reputation management strategies as outlined, you can very quickly forget about bad publicity.
Don’t Sign Up for a Traffic Program Without Reading This
- Author: Patricia Skinner
- Filed under: Increase Web Traffic
Mar 23,2008
Building traffic is a critical goal for any website, blog or otherwise. Without traffic there is, in essence, no point in existing. That’s why every now and then someone comes up with a free or paid traffic tool that initially creates a lot of buzz, but eventually falls flat. This scenario has been played out again and again since the beginning of the World Wide Web.
All of these programs are highly-acclaimed traffic tools to begin with, but they nearly all end up being not what you would expect.
There are literally hundreds–and probably thousands–of traffic programs. I’m only going to talk about one briefly for now, but if you want to take a look at them (can’t imagine why) here’s a Google Search.
I’ve tried a few and not been at all impressed, but when BlogRush was launched I allowed myself to get talked into trying it. To begin with it was touted by many to be the holy grail for those seeking an effortless increase in traffic. As far as I’m concerned BlogRush is just another failure. I removed it today since in the past couple of months I’ve received the grand total of seven visitors as a result of carrying the BlogRush widget on my blog. It’s not worth the space, sadly.
Upon reflection, what happens with most of these traffic tools, BlogRush included, is that we spend time and effort building traffic while the people who own them and their cliques enjoy the fruits of our labor. I’m convinced that traffic that should rightfully be ours is channeled into their sites. Anyone contend with that?
So what do you do to build traffic effectively? I have to tell you if you want the easy answer–there isn’t one. It takes time, effort and patience:
- Create content that your visitors want to read. If you don’t have time, hire someone.
- Create a linking strategy to get quality links coming into your site.
- Spend time creating social networking contacts on all the major sites.
- Take the time to comment on other people’s blogs–it’s really good source of quality links.
- Investigate Stumbleupon which can yield staggering amounts of traffic–if you take the time to reciprocate. Newsflash: you won’t get traffic if you don’t stumble. (Here’s my page–connect up!)
- Give something away or create a viral promotion such as a free report.
And by the way, forget link-swapping as a traffic strategy. It may improve your ranking but it does nothing for traffic flow. What you need is quality links from huge websites. I get quite a lot of traffic from SEOmoz, Sphinn and a few others but only because they’re huge and their pages often turn up in searches on Google.
For more great traffic tips, SEObook is about as good as it gets. Dave Taylor also has a great page on building traffic as does Copyblogger.
One huge advantage to building organic traffic like this is that it’s permanent. After the initial effort, apart from adding regular content, you’ll get traffic truly with little effort. With a traffic program if you stop using it the traffic stops too.
Finally, for a little bit of fun, here’s Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim with his parody, Top Ten Ways to Build Blog Traffic.