Interesting SEO Links...
Roger Montti offers an insightful post on link building for new websites in 2008. If you have no traction you need to find a way to buy/beg/borrow/steal attention. Use that exposure to spread content that turns people on / gets them excited / evokes an emotional response / ties in with their worldview and identity...and watch the links flow like wine.
Debra mentioned how she sometimes has a hard time telling people that their sites will not get links because they are boring. I actually enjoy doing that because it forces them to take some ownership over their own success (it is hard to drag a company across the finish line if you are an outside consultant - much easier to win if they are at least willingly walking in the right direction).
The way I teach people that concept is I remove them for their ownership role. I ask "If you did not own this website why would you tell other people about and/or want to visit it at least once a week?" Once they can answer that question honestly with something that is inline with their market it means they have something worth marketing.
Steve, an all around great guy and moderator of our forums, made a great thread in our local website marketing forums worth checking out if you are a subscriber.
Predictably Irrational (great blog/book name) has a great post on the power of defaults in emotional transactions.
Google is hyping image pattern recognition technology they call VisualRank in the media. Either they are about to improve their image search or they want us to think they have the most sophisticated technology.
Here is a cool example of a nice image script that helps build links.
Brief synopsis of how AdWords has changed over the past couple years - killing off many of the bottom feeder advertisers. The long tail of SEO keeps growing, but PPC is a winner take most game...from head to tail.
Brent Csutoras shared his social media marketing presentation online.
Firewall Script - a tool used to help keep sites secure, mentioned by DaveN so it is probably pretty good.
SEW published an article about analyzing log files to audit redirects.
The Problogger Book is out. Congrats Darren and Chris. :)
Danny Sullivan has a nice recap of the Microsoft Yahoo fiasco. His forward to Philipp Lessen's new book - Google Apps Hacks is also a great read. Congrats to Philipp on finishing the book. :)
Breaking the Digg Code - free guide to getting the most out of Digg, though if you market an SEO site it is not worth marketing it on Digg. The average small-minded short-sighted Digg user thinks all SEO is spam - they are a reflection of the dumbest and loudest parts of society.
Use Intwition to see what posts from a site got the most Twitter links.
Why whitehats need to know blackhat SEO - as noted in the comments "nothing wrong with having a well rounded education."
Seed Keywords is a cool tool which allows you to pass a question on to friends or customers and ask them what they would search for to solve a particular problem.
Comments
Nice list, I noticed firewall script as well, definitely looks interesting.
I totally agree with your point on interesting content. Without it a person is sunk. With it the difference is made.
Even better is interesting topically related content. When I approach a new target I always want to give them everything. Ever so slowly I am learning that focusing on a specific niche makes all the difference in the world.
Thanks for sharing.
Guy Siverson
I have been experimenting with good content to drive traffic the last month or so. I have been getting many visitors.
However, I dont' understand how to direct that traffic to the real landing pages that I want indexed? I have been putting anchor text in the articles to internal pages. Is that the idea?
That is one way...and another is that site authority (gained from inbound links) boosts the rankings of all pages on a site.
Aaron, IDK if you saw it, but I wrote a post at Youmoz highlighting Google's patent marketing. If you ask me, that's what the image recognition bit is all about. Their next big public relations coup after making everyone buy into the "Google is a democracy" [bc links are votes] myth.
What is the emerging e-merchant/ to do?
I am opening a new website and have little experience in online marketing. I have hired a large company to handle my SEM and have spent several thousand dollars with them, yet have received very little attention in return. I am going to stick with them for a while and see what they can do for me but I want to take matters into my own hands. There seems to be so much I can handle on my own that I can’t help but to feel taken advantage of. I was really bullied into thinking by a few companies, that SEO was so specialized and complicated that only a full-time professional with years of experience could possibly help me. These “Professionals” haven’t mentioned a fraction of the techniques discussed here. How many months should I continue to pay professionals without seeing results? What can I do to help myself? What is black or white hat SEM? Should I begin a blog? Should I develop my own unique content? If so, should I stockpile until I have enough articles that I can release at once?
How can I become my own in-house SEO?
We offer an online training program you can join if you trust us. If not there are other learning options like SEO conferences.
That's a really neat image script. Such a simple idea and yet so powerful. Wish I'd thought of it.
Your comments on Digg people had me laughing out loud. So much so that my wife just checked to make sure I was actually working!
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