Posts Tagged ‘SEOmoz’
77 (of the) Best SEO Blog Posts and Articles of 2009
Monday, March 8th, 2010Search engine optimization (SEO) can sometime seem like the province of quick-buck hucksters, particularly when well-regarded technology writers like John Dvorak refer to SEO proponents as “snake oil salesmen” (wrong as he is). This is particularly so for those on Twitter, which is infested with scammers and spammers: “Buy my miracle internet marketing kit and get thousands of clicks overnight!” Ugh. The advice I gave in Just Say No to Bad SEO still applies.
But while the sleazeballs are out there, most companies seeking SEO assistance understand that it’s a long-term investment, and most practitioners are honest, competent sorts doing their best to produce results through a mix of art, science and established, non-manipulative techniques. For that majority just trying to produce quality content and get it fairly ranked through legitimate practices, here are some of the best articles and blog posts from last year on various aspects of SEO.
The posts and articles are divided into six categories: SEO Guides, Tips and Tactics; SEO Tools; SEO Link Building; SEO Keyword Research; SEO Keyword Tools; and Local Search Tips, Tactics and Tools.
SEO Guides, Tips and Tactics
Learn the Basics Before You Try Anything Fancy! by SEO.com
Dan Patterson
Performance-based Pricing for SEO won’t work by Conversation Marketing
Ian Lurie
SEOmoz’s Biennial Ranking Factors 2009 Released by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin
Top Ten Ways To Get Banned From Google by High Position
Tobias Bowman
Top 5 Ranking Factors by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin
Tips and tools for measuring your SEO strength by iMedia Connection
Grant Simmons
TopRank BIGLIST of 100+ Search Marketing Resources by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
Google Caffeine Update: “Real-Time” Indexing Favors Fresh Content by All Virtual Marketing
Rebecca Murtagh
What should I do if I don’t know why I’m penalized? by YouTube
Matt Cutts (video)
Why Your Company Needs a Google Profile by Search Marketing Sage
Tad Miller
25 Link Building Tactics to Improve Blog Search Engine Rankings by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
The Ultimate Fast Guide to SEO + Flash by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Rachel Moran
Social media offers SEO opportunities for dominating top 10 search terms by Brafton
The Importance of Business Blogging by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
List of Best and Worst practices for designing a high traffic website by webconfs.com
The Truth About SEO by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Lee Odden
Do It Yourself SEO by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
SEO Tools
List of Free and Paid SEO Tools on the Internet by SEO & PPC Expert UK
Xenu’s Link Sleuth – Find broken links on web sites
Google Base Opens Up New Doors for Internet Marketers by Best Rank Search Engine Marketing
Ryan Frank
Crawl Your Site for Broken Links, Errors and Duplicate Content by Daily SEO Tips
Loren Baker
Google Insights for Search Just Got More Insightful by Find Resolution
Erica Barth
WordStream: Keywords Management Made Easy by Search Engine Journal
Mihaela Lica
BuzzStream – Link Building Tool
Google AdWords Traffic Estimator
101 Free SEO Tools by Investintech.com
Covario (formerly netconcepts) SEO Tools
Compare domain backlink history by Majestic SEO
KPMRS – Free Website Ranking Monitoring SEO Tool
Backlink Watch Free Backlink Checker
How to Do Keyword Research with OneLook Wildcard Search by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
21 Free Keyword Density Analyzer tools to optimize your website by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
List of Great Firefox Plugins for SEO by SEO.com
Dan Patterson
LinkExaminer: SEO Friendly Link Scanning Utility by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
Free SEO Tools : 12 Absolutely Free Keyword Suggestion tools, Keyword Popularity tools by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
Web Page Analyzer – 0.98 – from Website Optimization by Website Optimization
Small Business Guide to Tools that Help Your SEM by Search Engine Watch
Carrie Hill
Best Keyword Ranking Tools for SEO by WordStream Internet Marketing Blog
Ken Lyons
BLVD Status – Live Stats, Keyword Vitals Ranking Report and Custom Alerts
Analyze Link Popularity : 20 Free Backlink Checker Tools by Kittu K
Aakanksha Kekan
SEMRush – Advanced Keywords and Competitors Research Tool
SEO Link Building
Link Bartering by Search Engine People
Donna Fontenot
Link Building 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch (February)
Ron Jones
5 Ways to Optimize Your Existing Links for Maximum SEO Benefit by Winning The Web
Gyutae Park
The Perfect Link Request Email Template by Wiep.net
Wiep Knol
Online Forums: Marketing Muscle and SEO Strength by E-Commerce Times
Brandon Leibowitz
Link Building for Small eCommerce Sites by SEOmoz
Rob Ousbey
Linktive tries to end the SEO gaming with a social network for site links byTechCrunch Europe
Mike Butcher
Link Building from A to Z by SEOmoz
Wiep Knol
Link Building Tactics 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch (August)
Ron Jones
SEO Keyword Research
Peering into Match-Types: The Hidden Info Advantage of the Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool by The Acquisio Blog
Naoise Osborne
What Parts of Marketing Can’t be Automated? by SEO Book
Aaron Wall
SEO Keyword Tools
Do more with less – Part 3 of 3 by Indside AdWords
Amanda Kelly
An Insider’s Look At Google’s Search Based Keyword Tool by Search Engine Land
Josh Dreller
Free Keyword Suggestion Tools by Marketing ROI or Die
Rebekah Paul
Use Multiple Keyword Research Services with KeywordSmash by Search Engine Journal
Ann Smarty
4 tools for measuring your keyword strength by iMedia Connection
Bob Alperin
Improving Keyword Research by SEO Wizardry
Pete Hollier
Local Search Tips, Tactics and Tools
Search Engine Confidence Score Has A Google-Like Feel by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
Gettin’ to Know GetListed.org by SEOmoz
Rebecca Kelley
3 Keys To Success For Local Search SEO by Search Engine Journal
Ryan Caldwell
How Citations Help with Local Search by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Leveraging Reverse Search For Local SEO by Search Engine Land
Chris Silver Smith
A Framework for Thinking About Local Search Campaigns by Mihmorandum
David Mihm
Local Search Strengthens Move To Maps, Reviews by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
Tools for Local Search by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Local Search 101, Part 2 by Search Engine Watch
Ron Jones
A Closer Look At Local Search Ranking Factors by Search Engine Land
David Mihm
I Think Yahoo Neighbors Could Be Huge by Small Business Search Marketing
Matt McGee
Local Listing: An Attempt to Understand Rank Factors by SEOmoz
Tim Sorweid
Despite Assurances, Google Place Pages Now Showing In Search Results by Search EngineLand
Greg Sterling
Citysearch Rolls Out Twitter Integration On Business Listing Page by MediaPost Online Media Daily
Laurie Sullivan
When All Search Is Local by ClickZ
Mary Bowling
Best of 2009: SEO Tips and Tactics, Part 2
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010Is it really impossible to optimize a Flash website? How can social media profiles help with SEO? Is your website optimized for the way search engines work now, or are your SEO efforts still focused on yesterday’s ranking factors? Which best practices and advanced SEO techniques should you be taking advantage of? What characteristics and skills are most important for SEO? How much should SEO really cost, and how can you avoid hiring an SEO consultant who is incompetent (or worse)? Which helpful tools may be missing from, or underutilized in your SEO toolkit?
Find the answers to these questions and many others here in more of the best SEO articles and blog posts from 2009.
How to SEO Flash by Hochman Consultants
Jonathan Hochman writes that “Flash gets a bad rap” for optimization, and explains in detail how to SEO a Flash website. Another great post on this topic is The Ultimate Fast Guide to SEO + Flash by MediaPost Online Media Daily, in which Rachel Moran prescribes mixing HTML and Flash, using optimization tools and other techniques for enhacing search results for Flash sites.
10 Ways to Be a Great SEO by Search Engine Journal
Matt Leonard advises that to be a great SEO, the key is to simply “get things done,” including using a variety of keyword tools, being a team player, and valuing goals beyond rankings. Another fantastic post from Matt is The ABCs of a Great SEO Leader in which he walks through the alphabet of attributes critical to SEO leadership, from A (analytical) to Z (zero mistakes).
How Social Media Profiles Help with Search Engine Optimization by Social Media Today
Jim Tobin shows how individuals can use tools like blogging, social media profiles and podcasts to rank highly for their own name.
10 Things You Can Do To Optimize for Image Search by Search Engine Journal
Saptarshi Roy Chaudhury demonstrates how to use image files names, alt tags, surrounding text and other atrributes to show up well in image searches. In another key post for SEOs, 9 Reasons Your Website Can Have a High Bounce Rate by Search Engine Journal, Saptarishi explains how a high bounce rate can diminish the effect of SEO efforts, and how to make websites not only more attractive to visitors but also more sticky.
4 ways to make long-tail search deliver by iMedia Connection
Craig Greenfield makes the case that “long-tail strategies…can create healthy, long-term growth for search marketers” and provides a four-step plan for long-tail search.
The Search Taxonomy: Getting Inside the Mind of the Searcher by SEO Book
In this long and detailed post, Peter Da Vanzo covers a tremendous amount of ground, from eye-tracking studies and understanding search demographics to recognizing commercial intent in searches and analytics.
Is Everything You Know About SEO Wrong? by aimClear Blog
Maybe not everything, but Matt Peterson here reviews the results of a panel discussion on SEO Ranking Factors in 2009 from the SMX Advanced 2009 event, with commentary on what works now for SEO-as opposed to what used to work-from experts like Rand Fishkin, Marty Weintraub and Danny Sullivan.
SEO Ranking Factors for 2009 by WebProNews
Mike McDonald provides his own take on SMX Advanced 2009 here, outlining the most important current ranking factors with title tags and anchor text at the top of the list. You may be surprised by what’s no longer as important as it used to be for SEO.
30+ Advanced SEO Tactics, Techniques and Resources (55+ Links) by SEOptimise
Tad Chef offers up an outstanding list of SEO tactics and techniques for website design, anlaytics, content creation, link acquisition, social media outreach and more.
SEO Best Practices: SEOmoz’s New Policies Based on Updated Correlation Data by SEOmoz
Using hard data, Danny Dover analyzes key factors for ranking and provides best practices for each along with the reasoning behind each recommendation.
Small Business SEO: Costs, Expectations & Realities by Small Business Search Marketing
Matt McGee details five key points to help small business owners understand more about SEO, pricing, and services.
The 12 Skills That Have Served Me Best in My SEO Career by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin shares the skills that have made him a recognized leader in the field of search engine optimization, from having an analytical mindset and some technical knowledge of how the Internet works to writing proficiency and (possibly most important), “a thick skin.”
SEO Predators: Willing to Decieve For Business by aimClear Blog
Reminiscent of my post on SEOmoz, Just Say No to Bad SEO, Marty Weintraub here warns prospective SEO buyers about the danger of shady, johnny-come-lately SEO wannabes, writing “the latest generation of predatory SEO creeps proffer blatantly false information camouflaged by pretty reports. Deceptively branded reports aside, buyer beware when the snakes come to call. Here’s some hard facts to dispel this week’s crap-ass haze of myths and misinformation.”
The Ultimate List of Basic SEO Resources for a Kick-Ass Start by Search Engine Journal
The brilliant Ann Smarty shares her list of high-quality resources for those new (and even not so new) to SEO, ranging from the SEObook Glossary and the SEO Cheat Sheet by SEOmoz to Matt McGee’s SEO Checklist.
Demystifying Google Webmaster Tools Reports, Part 2 by ClickZ
Erik Dafforn provides an excellent walk-through of the functions and capabilities of Google’s Webmaster tools.
Best of 2009: SEO Tips, Part 1
Sunday, January 10th, 2010Which factors are really most important in search engine rankings? How do search engines treat different forms of keywords? How can you get the most of out of Google’s free webmaster tools to improve rankings? What other tools are worth checking out for keywords, linking and website analysis?
Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best SEO blog posts from this year.
Guide to Search Engine Ranking Factors by HuoMah SEO Blog
The brilliant—and entertaining—David Harry provides an exhaustive list of the primary and secondary factors affecting search engine rank, from link-related factors (link text, relevance, PageRank) and header data through trust-related factors (domain history, outbound links) and “dampening factors” (poor coding, duplicate content and URL issues).
Q&A: A Few Things You Need to Know About Keyword Usage by Search Engine Guide
Stoney deGuyter offers valuable insights on how search engines treat keywords, such as that capitalization (usually) doesn’t matter, keywords have more weight if they are used in a title or header tag or are bolded, and search engines are getting better at recognizing forms of a word (e.g. sites including “kayaks” or “kayaking” will show up on a search for “kayak”). On that last point though, keep in mind that for popular search phrases, even a single character can make a big difference. For example, one website shows up at #2 on Google for “business services management,” but at #23 for business service management.
Build A Great B2B Search Engine Marketing Campaign by The Milwaukee SEO
This post combines useful information about setting up b2b SEO and SEM campaigns (such as getting the website information architecture right to start with, choosing keywords carefully with an eye toward the long tail, using PPC advertising effectively, and targeting local search) with humor—at least to those of us who live and breathe b2b marketing, and are amused by how perplexing it can be to b2c marketing agencies. Another noteworthy post from this blog is Get Keyword Rank Data from Google Webmaster Tools, provides detailed step-by-step instructions for analyzing website performance using Google’s webmaster tools. This is geekier than even most search marketers will go, but can supply valuable insights.
SEO Basics: 6 Tips for Google Webmaster Tools by TopRank Online Marketing Blog
Thomas McMahon serves up more tips for using Google’s webmaster tools, including how to spot site errors such as broken links, analyze meta and title tags, and identify a site’s top keyword search queries.
Domain Name Forwarding and Search Engines by Best Domain Names
Dan LeFree explains how properly set up forwarding for multiple domain names to a single website without being penalized by the search engines for duplicate content. The site looks a little spammy, but the article is a helpful, quick read.
Five Tips for Avoiding Deceptive SEO Companies by Small Business Trends
An excellent piece from Janet Meiners Thaeler on manipulative practices to watch out for when hiring an SEO firm, such as “guaranteed” rankings, use of hidden links, and duplicate content on multiple domains or subdomains. For more on this topic, see Just Say No to Bad SEO on SEOmoz.
SEO Tools 101, Part 1 by Search Engine Watch
Ron Jones reviews several keyword, site grader and linking tools. His favorite keyword tool is the SEO Book Keyword Suggestion Tool; as Ron explains, “I like this one because it links to most of the other existing keyword tools, such as Wordtracker, Keyword Discovery, and tools from Google, MSN, and Yahoo. This one tool lets you explore many others.”
B2B Marketers: Setting Expectations For Your SEO Campaign by Search Engine Land
What’s the magic formula for SEO success? Julie Shumaker writes that “Setting realistic goals, measuring the right thing, and establishing a baseline” are all key parts of the process. She emphasizes that SEO is a long-term project, that getting on page one of Google isn’t always realistic (at least in the short term), and that ultimately, traffic and conversions are what matters—not just rankings. Another excellent SEO post from Search Engine Land is The Evolving State Of Social Media & SEO. Eric Enge notes that “social media will be a major source of ranking signals for the search engines in the future,” both due to its link-building potential and the emergence of real-time search.
Setting Expectations for Search Engine Optimization by Search Engine Watch
Following on the same theme as the post above, Mark Jackson writes a case study on setting realistic expectations with SEO clients. It’s very difficult for small websites to outrank large ones, particularly for highly competitive phrases. Among his conclusions: more content helps. Blogging helps. Social media works. Link buying isn’t supposed to help, but it does, and some large companies spend big bucks on this, which is difficult for smaller firms to compete with. Focusing on longer-tail terms can provide respectable traffic and conversions without huge costs.
Why it Makes Sense to Target Longtail Keywords First by SEO Book
Aaron Wall explains that because new or small sites without a large number of external links pointing to them are unlikely to rank well for highly competitive search phrases, it’s better to focus on longtail terms first, building up trust, links and traffic gradually. This post includes a couple of excellent graphics showing the differences in how search engine algorithms treat highly competitive terms from more specific longtail phrases.
12 Easy Mistakes That Plague Newcomers to the SEO Field by SEOmoz
For those new to SEO, Rand Fishkin provides some excellent advice on mistakes to avoid including reciprocal linking (it doesn’t work, and it looks spammy), targeting the same keyword on multiple pages, and not using XML sitemaps. My only quibble would be with his advice to use the nofollow attribute for PageRank sculpting; the nofollow tag is insidious and the value questionable.
SEO Quality Indicators & The Heap Paradox by Search Engine Journal
Ryan Caldwell ventures from the philosopical to the practical in this post, providing 10 key indicators of website SEO quality, from “lean code and meaty content” along with proper tag usage to listing a physical address and toll-free phone number. Another notable post from Search Engine Journal is There Is No Secret Sauce in SEO! , in which James Morris debunks several common SEO myths, such as that there is “mystical secret formula” or “complicated scientific method” to achieving SEO success. He closes with advice on where to begin, and the missions of an SEO including a clear understanding of goals up front and collaborating with developers and writers to optimize content.
Blog SEO: 5 Tips To Improve Ranking and Increase Traffic by PCWorld
Mike Keller offers a helpful set of tips for new bloggers to optimize their blogs for search, covering basics such as variable title tags in Blogger (note: this won’t work with all templates), meta tags and setting up RSS feeds.
Blog SEO Tips: Top SEO Mistakes to Avoid by Blogsessive
Alex Cristache details five common SEO mistakes bloggers make that cause their sites to fare more poorly than necessary in search engine rankings. Among the mistakes are ignoring (or improper use of) h1, h2 etc. title tags, and viewing SEO as a one-time process rather than an ongoing discipline.
5 Client Pitch Tips That Score Contracts by Search Engine Journal
Dev Basu provides five tips to SEO consultants on how to successfully sell their services, such as asking good questions, focusing on solving client problems, and identifying exactly what the prospective client needs to know (and then not wasting time by telling them everything under the sun). Great tips for SEOs who know their craft but may struggle with business development.
SEO Trends and the Future of SEO by SEO Theory
In this extensive and thoughtful post, Michael Martinez discusses the impact of trends such as personalized search, universal search and social media, and advises SEO professionals to focus on optimizing for query spaces (all the queries and content relevant to a specific topic) in order to capture traffic for long tail keywords.
The Answer To All Your SEO Questions! by Search Engine Land
Jill Whalen exposes the simple two-word answer that applies to nearly any question about SEO, including how quickly Google indexes new pages, what to do if your search position suddenly drops, the benefit of including keywords in URLs and more.
How to do a 301 redirect for a website by Revenue Robot
This post, which belongs in every SEO consultant’s bookmarks on technical topics, explains how to create a 301 redirect for PHP, ASP .Net, Java, ColdFusion and other environments.
6 cures for common SEO mistakes by iMedia Connection
Brian Easter runs down six common SEO mistakes—such as ugly URLs, duplicate content, and a disconnect between SEO and PR—and explains how to correct or avoid them.
Canonical URL Tag – The Most Important Advancement in SEO Practices Since Sitemaps by SEOmoz
Rand Fishkin extols the virtues of and details the process for using the cannonical rel parameter to resolve duplicate content issues with less technical muss and fuss than implementing a 301 redirect. He outlines the tag’s purpose, operation, and treatment by search engines as well as answering common questions. The incredible number of comments this post generated is a testament to the tag’s importance in the SEO toolbag.
Minor Miracles And Major Feats of First-Page Rankings by MediaPost Search Insider
David Berkowitz reports on how critical video is to attaining a first-page ranking on Google, reporting on a study showing that “Videos are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than text pages.” He also quotes a finding from Nate Elliot of Forrester that there are “an average of 4.7 million text pages competing for a place on results pages with an average of just 9.4 text results—giving each text page about a 500,000-to-1 chance of appearing on the first page of results.” Every SEO who’s ever achieved this feat should be proud.
Rewriting the Beginner’s Guide Part VIII: Search Engine Tools and Services by SEOmoz
Danny Dover updates one of the most indispensable guides to the SEO craft anywhere. Though written for beginners, even fairly experienced SEOs are likely to find at least a few new ideas, and helpful reminders, in this detailed guide to the robots.txt file, search engine tools and more.
Check Your Search Engine Rankings, Why Your Competitors in Organic Search Might Not Always Be Who You Think They Are by The Internet Marketing Driver
In this extensive post, Glenn Gabe points out that the competitors for a keyword in SEO are often quite different from a company’s real world competitors; they can include reference sites, blogs, publications, review sites, directories and other websites that a business owner wouldn’t normally identify as “competition.” To support his point, Glenn uses example searches for flat screen TVs (only two manufacturers listed in the top 10 sites), HD video cameras (only Canon at #4), cabernet sauvignon and fuel efficient cars (no makers listed in the top search results).
Understand Google’s Guidelines by Alibaba
Jon Rognerud reveals what matters to Google when indexing and ranking pages, and what doesn’t. He provides tips on design (how to get Google’s spider to read your text before your menu links), how to get your site indexed in 24 hours or less (though you need to be careful with this technique), and what Google ignores (e.g. the meta keywords tag, duplicate links, and graphics—except for the alt tag assigned to them).
6 SEO steps for a website redesign by eVision Online Marketing Blog
George Aspland offers an excellent primer on incorporating SEO considerations from the start when doing a website redesign, from the initial site audit and keyword research through navigation, linking and URL structure changes.
Dirty SEO tricks you should avoid by iMedia Connection
Rich Cherecwich delves into the details of two “gray hat” SEO practices that are best avoided: link buying and domain buying. He also gives advice on what to do if your site does somehow get blacklisted by the search engines.
Why do SEOs forget about REAL marketing? by HuoMah SEO Blog
In this long guest post, Ben McKay starts off with the contention that “with market research, planning, implementation, creative flare, and an ongoing feedback loop of course, you can do just that –(SEO to draw the right kind of traffic) the same way you attempt to carry-out more traditional marketing campaigns.” He then goes on to discuss the art vs. science of SEO, ROI measurement, what SEO practitioners can learn from traditional marketing, before concluding “A more fulfilling and professional online presence could be found from thinking along structured lines—both in the way you operate with clients and also the way you achieve your SEO goals.”
DoFollow Links vs. NoFollow Links by The Minority Report
Supporting my recent post on the insidious nofollow attribute, this post notes that “the entire Internet is built on the premise of hyperlinking and as The Pasty Muncher says it here: ‘Links form the chain that holds the web together.’” The writer notes that WordPress blogs are nofollow by default, but again you can fix that with the dofollow WordPress plugin. Just say “no” to nofollow.
How Yahoo Might Automate SEO by SEO by the Sea
In this controversial post (just read the comments!), Bill Slawski reports on a patent from Yahoo! that seems to suggest the search engine can “optimize” pages automatically. Bill outlines what’s in the patent, then points out a number of obvious flaws in any such approach, including “A site owner might want to target less popular search terms on pages that are a few directory levels deep in their site and have those pages rank well for searches that their audience will conduct rather than target more popular terms with those pages, and rank very poorly.”
Best of 2008: Amusing, Creative and Just Plain Odd
Monday, January 4th, 2010Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang running an ad agency. How Internet marketing is like a ruptured disc. Bizarre yet real images on the web. Ads that never should have seen the light of an LCD screen.
What do all of these things have in common? They’re all here in the final best of funny, creative and just plain strange blog posts from the past year. So put on your headphones, make sure the boss isn’t nearby, and check these out.
The Peanuts gang strives dysfunctionally to design an agency holiday greeting card in this clever and outrageous spoof. Contains some off-color language and sexual references, so be careful watching this at work, but it’s very funny.
10 Ways Internet Marketing Is Like a Ruptured Disc by Conversation Marketing
Serial best-of contributor Ian Lurie explains, in his imitable fashion, the similarities between Internet marketing and his own unfortunate back injury, such as “if you ignore it, you’ll pee your pants in public, or something equally embarrassing” and “everyone thinks they have the solution, but very few do.” In another noteworthy post, Ian presciently warns readers about 11 Internet Marketing Trends To Ignore in 2009, such as “Vertical Search. I hate to kick that dead dog again, but it sucked in 2007, it sucked in 2008, and it’ll continue to suck wind in 2009.”
15 MORE Images You Won’t Believe Aren’t Photoshopped by Cracked.com
Joe Russo presents an amazing collection of unlikely but real images: giant bunnies, phallic icebergs, unfortunate translation errors, a trailer house skyscraper and more. Some of the images and language are a tad risqué, so be careful with this one at work.
Seven Things That Reality Could Borrow From The Internet by SEOmoz
Jane Copland lists several ways she’d like the offline world to be more like the online, such as automatic redirection of phone numbers, a mechanism to simplify street addresses, and “Unplugging and re-plugging-in anything that doesn’t work properly should immediately result in it working again.” In another notable post from SEOmoz, Rebecca Kelley catalogs 10 Different Types of Clients that may be recognizable to experienced SEO consultants, such as the Jessie Spano client (for Saved by the Bell fans): “A Jessie Spano Client is someone who initially is ‘so excited’ to work with you but ultimately gets overwhelmed by all the changes that you recommend and has a massive freakout from the stress of having to do a complete site overhaul.”
The Freakiest Ads of 2008, Final 4 by AdFreak
Exploding heads, zombie dads, shrinking heads, growing noses, pet slugs—you’ll find them all (if you really want to) in Tim Nudd’s collection of the most bizarre ads from last year.
Stupid marketing copy mistakes by iMedia Connection
Christopher Richards provides an amusing tour of common mistakes made when ad copy strays, under categories such as “sloppy copy” and “beyond cliché.” Example: “Another ad brags about a car that takes you ‘beyond your destination.’ Why would anyone want that? Surely it’s something of a problem. What do you have to do? Catch the bus back?”
The Steven Wright Guide to Content Marketing by Copyblogger
Brian Clark uses a series of one-liners from the inimitable comedian Steven Wright to illustrate his thesis that copy matters when writing blog posts, white papers, web copy or anything else you hope will be read and acted upon. Example: “’The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.’ Content marketing within the realm of social media is extremely powerful, but it does have a downside. Any time people are involved, there’s room for ugliness and stupidity.”
Top 21 Signs You Need a Break From SEO (2008 version) by Small Business Search Marketing
The prolific Matt McGee offers his annual list of signs you may be spending too much time in the SEO world, such as “While telling your son about your favorite childhood books, you wax poetic about the ‘Wikipedia Brown’ series. You never correct yourself. He doesn’t, either.” Geek humor at its best.
Poking Fun at Web 2.0 Naming Conventions: Pot Calling Kettle Black by The Officially Official Blog of Searchles
The folks at social bookmarking site Searchles have some fun with web 2.0 naming style, such as dropped e’s (Socializr, Yappd) and “give me an X” (Blinkx, Fixya).
Don McMillan’s classic instructional how-not-to video. If you haven’t seen it&mash;extremely funny. If you have, watch it again anyway. It’s still funny.
Geeks + alcohol + rap = something you just have to see. It defies my powers of description.
True geek humor. This site is a collection of real help desk tickets compiled over time by a technician who had the misfortune to work with an IT minion identified here only as “George.” So who is George? “George is, quite simply, the worst helpdesk technician ever. His grasp on the written word is shakier than a canoe full of epileptics. His knowledge of computers is thinner than a Vegas dancer’s chiffon underpants. He is, by all standards of intelligence, a rock. While we worked together, George was responsible for turning out some of the most mangled, garbled, and just plain screwed up help desk tickets ever before seen by mortal man.”
Best of 2008: SEO Keyword Tips & Tools
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010The posts below, some of the best of 2008 on the topic of keyword research for SEO, provide guidance and reviews of efficacious tools to help throughout the process of generating a comprehensive keyword list; analyzing the competition; and prioritizing keywords to generate maximum ROI from SEO efforts.
Using pay-per-click guinea pigs: How to leverage PPC for more successful SEO campaigns by Hamlet Batista
Search guru Hamlet Batista presents a detailed yet concise guide to using Google AdWords data to maximize the ROI of your natural search efforts, by focusing on those terms that convert most effectively rather than merely the phrases with highest monthly search volume.
Building Bricks: Keyword Discovery Process for Small Businesses by SEOmoz
This clearly written post describes a short process that an SEO practitioner can work through with a client (or internal management) to very efficiently develop a comprehensive list of generic, longtail, alternative, complementary, brand and competitive keywords and variations to prioritize for a website.
Keyword Research: Wordpot Rivals KeywordDiscovery, Wordtracker by Practical eCommerce
Online marketer Jeff Muendel provides an in-depth review of Wordpot, a free keyword research tool which displays, for any query, both Exact Daily (searches for the exact term) and Total Daily (searches that contain the search term) figures, as well as synonyms, related words, and associated words.
Advanced Keyword Research Tactics by Bruce Clay, Inc.
Writing from the fall 2008 SMX East conference, Virginia Nussey relays the advice of several search experts—including Christine Churchill, Ariel Bardin and Marty Weintraub—on the next steps to take beyond basic keyword research. Among the ideas: looking at terms used by visitors in your site search box, gathering terms from offline conversations with customers and prospects, and checking tags clouds on social media sites.
Top 10 Free Keyword Tools by Internet Marketing Blog
As the title of his post suggests, Frank Levert offers brief, informative summaries of his favorite keyword research tools here. While several are familiar to almost anyone who does SEO (the Google Insights for Search, Wordtracker, Trillian), there are a few suprises on the list worth investigating.
Google AdWords Free Keyword Tool
The free version of Google’s AdWords keyword tool, once little more than a barely useful toy, has been beefed up to provide the power of the real AdWords keyword tool to non-advertisers. This is one tool that belongs on every SEO pro’s list.
Keyword Research for Search Engine Optimization by Search Engine Watch
Mark Jackson presents a concise yet very helpful process outline for performing basic keyword research, using keyword tools, and analyzing the competitiveness of terms to prioritize your list for SEO efforts.
Free Keyword Research Tools – the Ultimate Guide by Search Engine Journal
Following up on her excellent 5 Tools for Keyword Brainstorming post from the spring of last year, Ann Smarty has compiled here a list that lives up to the title, with tools divided into categories including: synonym search (Thesaurus.com belongs here BTW), competitor analysis, social media, keyword suggestion tools, analytics, and related posts.
