It’s Important But Not The End

PageRank is probably one of the first signs your site has landed. Established a user base, good content, and most importantly is legitimate. Unfortunately Google has done a bit of flip flopping. Page rank info has been removed from the web master tools. So why?

Well pagerank is not as important as first thought. While it’s important, it should not be the central focus when building a new site. So content > design > PR? Just another part of the battle between SEO experts and search engines as they attempt to capture more of the advertising revenue. While it still holds an important status page rank is no different.

So the bottom line is: build a good site and page rank, search ranking, and money will naturally follow. Don’t let the SEO game slow you down and remember PageRank is just a number.

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Changes in store for blogging disclosure

Uh oh. Things are about to change for fellow SEO consultants. Fresh changes to FTC guidelines may put the brakes on this lucrative business. Review, endorsements, even the “sponsored post” may soon be under the scrutiny of the FTC. So called misleading consumer reviews and positive product placement should shake things up in the industry. So many questions to follow. Will the changes be retroactive? Will I have to go back and change every comment, post, review, query, statement I’ve ever made both positive and negative about products or services? What happens to those who get caught? How strictly will it be enforced? Are we going to have “net police” tracking down the bad apples? Sounds like the FTC is biting off more than it can chew. I’m guessing they will end up passing the responsibility on to service providers and content managers. Think of it as a major “make work” project. Enjoy.

Be wary of SEO “experts”

A few things to know when going the SEO consultant route, there are many fish in the sea however, few of them are actually sharks. Be wary of who you decide to go with. Red flags should be catch phrases as “#1 ranking” and “guaranteed results”. Nobody can stand up to those claims without knowing the search battleground for the keywords your specific company is competing on. Some markets are more competitive than others. For example the arena for “viagara” is probably much more difficult to invade than say “pumpkin farm”. Yes, extreme examples but this is what I’m talking about. A true SEO consultant needs to ask some qualifying questions & do some research before giving you a proposal and projected results.

Don’t be fooled by big promises because the SEO game is constantly in flux. What works today most definitely will not work tomorrow.

Get Paid While You Can

The jig may soon be up for sponsored blogging. The Federal Trade Commission is looking into the business of sponsored blogging. Which means the way you get paid for doing your SEO magic might soon end. The practice has seen increased activity as of late but the economy sucks, you gotta do, what you gotta do. So your hands get a little greased when you give a favorable review for a product, big deal. Since when did that become a crime? It might come down to a simple disclosure statement. Something like “I got paid to write this review”. In any event, it’s a huge market to try to police, and if the FTC has it’s way, it will be delegated to a 3rd party to do the dirty deeds. So get paid while you can!

SEO and Terrorism

Think SEO is just for the private sector? The British government is putting SEO tactic to help fight terrorism. A lot is misunderstood about the religion of Islam the British counter terrorism is working to flood the Internet with positive information. It’s the new battle ground against radical religions attempting to recruit new members.

Climbing the Google charts to rank ahead of the sites in question in an effort to sway those sitting on the fence. The SEO tactics aim to manipulate Google algorithm traditionally utilized by online marketers. However the success of the new age method is still in question. Whether convincing impressionable youths to take the least destructive path.

Hmm, suicide bomber or moderate Islamist … the virgins do sound tempting …
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Interesting items of 2008

Google launches a browser: Chrome. After a bit of hype people return to Internet Explorer and Firefox.

A new search engine pops up: Cuil touted because of the mere presence of a former Google employee, quickly crashes and burns. People return to Google, some go to Yahoo and Microsoft. Does anyone still use Ask?

Adsense gets suckier. Yes, we all made less money while Google made even more. Any predictions for this year?

Twitter explodes (literally) people are using this thing left and right. I say, “What’s the point? It’s totally lame!”

Facebook, MySpace, and Digg still the main portals for a lot of people. Except for those dummies signed up with AOL. Hello! McFly!

Blogging is bigger than ever. SEO and search is messed up even more by Google’s tactics. Mobile search isn’t making a wave yet. Google earth, maps, street view is awesome on the iPhone. GPS is absolutely necessary, even if you know where you’re going.

The Internet is even more crowded than ever.

Holidays a great time to review

While you’re enjoying your time off it’s a great time to reflect on your SEO strategies. Have you fully implemented your SEO plan? How’s it going so far? What aspects were effective? Which need to change? SEO tactics are constantly evolving and what worked last year isn’t going to work next year. Talking with your consultant in the new year is a good idea. Refresh old ideas, talk strategy, reaffirm goals, and continue to develop relationships. Although it may be unpopular you might have to end some longtime relationships which have not reaped benefits for your website.

Change is never an easy thing but often can inject new life into your website. Keep those ideas coming. Don’t be so quick to brush off, potentially great ideas. There’s going to be a diamond in the rough sooner or later, you just got to keep plugging along. Good content will always attract attention. Focus on your SEO strategies for the upcoming year and you will enjoy online success. Happy Holidays!

Don’t be a Digg-whore

Social media site Digg can be incredibly useful and entertaining. However it is important to remember that it is not MySpace or Facebook. Having tons of friends does not make you a superstar. More often than not Digg is increasingly becoming a marketing tool to push traffic to sites for SEO purposes. Part of the problem is blind diggers.

Users who digg articles without reading them simply because one of their ‘digg friends’ sent them a shout asking them to digg something. The value of a single digg is nothing, however harnessed a few hundred by an SEO company and you have front page material.

Don’t be a digg-whore! Be careful who you decide to friend. If you get a few dozen shouts every day. You might want to un-friend that user. Only you can keep digg unpolluted.

The first part’s easy

In the beginning SEO strategies work very well. Taking a brand new site and building link velocity and ranking for content gets you all excited about SEO again. The basics have real time (almost) effects and gains. Content gets indexed within hours, Analytic data shows traffic for keywords. Everything is off to a rocking start.

Then the real work begins. Initial gains have to be maintained. Now you have something to lose. All the work you’ve put in has set the standard for your new site. It becomes a grind to get to the next level. This is the part when many amateurs give up the game. This is why you see so many consultants advertising their wares. Real pros grind out the details of SEO and are able to get web sites to the next level. Unfortunately there’s no cookie cutter formula that works for every site. The hard part requires some creativity and problem solving.

So remember the first part’s easy. After that real SEO experts earn their money.

Shady SEO companies and their practices

Recently Visible.net, Captures.com and WebMarketingSource.com. Made headlines for their shady business practices and got themselves sued. The State of Washington contends that these companies have ripped off their customers by misrepresenting their services. We’ve all seen these pitches before. Promises of page 1 Google rankings, increased traffic, impressive client rosters, and more. A few red flags should be up front fees, 30 day or 60 day cancellation notice requirements, unreturned calls, basically anything that sounds too good to be true.

This could set precedents for SEO marketing firms on how they advertise their services. Expect to see fine print disclaimers to protect themselves against lawsuits like these. Companies like this make the SEO biz look bad.