I’m back!
Yes, it’s been too long since I blogged at DSM, and I’m honest when I say “I’ve missed it…”
I’m re-motivated to share ideas, ask questions, and even call people (and companies) out on their online business stupidity.
I’ll start, though, with a sincere SEO question:
Is reading a BOOK really helpful to an SEO Firm (or freelancer or wanna be)?
To make sure I’ve clarified – a BOOK is just that: paper back, hard-bound, library issued or purchased on Amazon. I’m not referring to an eBook, a list of blog articles or your habitual RSS Reader.
Books – you know – the things that Borders can’t seem to sell anymore. Do real books even exist these days?
Questions about Reading Books
- What’s the last real book you read?
- What real book(s) are you currently reading?
Business, SEO
SEO
This is gonna be a quick post of some of the most common site errors I still see to date. Crazy thing to think about IMO is that it’s the middle of the year in 2011, and we are STILL seeing some of these. Now I know SEO died many years ago, but its just crazy to think these basic onsite SEO issues are not being handled like they should be with business owners. Heh, maybe we still ARE needed. What gets me is that even some of the most basic changes can bring about huge differences in traffic and rankings – and of course, sales and making money … which is why you are doing this right? To make money?
As I ran quickly through a few sites last week (for potential new clients) these were the common problems found:
SEO
common seo mistakes, SEO
I saw this question posted yesterday by Jay Thompson on a post he’s trying to get removed from Google:
“I don’t know how long it will take Google to de-index the post, but it should get de-indexed at some point (and if an SEO wizard is reading this, tell me what, if anything, else I can do to get it de-indexed). Below is a screen shot of my WordPress backend showing the post is set to noindex/nofollow.”
It is in reference to this page: http://www.phoenixrealestateguy.com/a-follow-up-to-my-lones-group-v-rothamel-article/
Since I know a thing or two about SEO, I thought I would help this guy out, and answer his question. I have used the nofollow command in the robots.txt to remove as well as going into my Google webmaster account (removal request tool) and removed pages that way (a site got hacked and I had to request a ton of pages get moved – so trust me, I know it works)
Google
Google, SEO
Pretty sweet graphic put out by the fellas over at Authority Labs today. It shows the billion dollar reach of Demand Media. Pretty impressive graphic, but even more impressive numbers. Check it out!
From the AuthorityLabs blog
Marketing
demand media, SEO
I have been asked this question by more than 1000 different business owners (at least) over the last several years, and I am finally ready to talk (post) about it (and attempt to give my answer). It is probably one of the most annoying and frustrating questions that anyone could ever ask me. It is the question itself, and not the asker that is frustrating and annoying though. Anyone in this industry knows that there is not just a simple answer, or a one “save all” solution, and I mean “legit” industry people.
The Secret (wait for it…..)
In real estate, the secret to success is always being associated with location, location, location. So what’s the big secret to successful Internet marketing? It is all about testing, testing & more testing. Any true successful Internet business owner that I have met (or know) has already done (and doing) what they are preaching. There is nothing better then learning from a real person who has “been there & done that”.
Marketing
Internet Marketing, SEO
A Thanks To SEO
SEO has been GOOD to me. SEO has been GOOD to my clients. I have been doing this since the late 90s, and still no complaints…from anyone, not one.
Don’t compare us to lawyers, don’t try to tell us we are selling snake oil, and especially – I mean especially, don’t try to tell us our industry is dead (have you heard of Google?). We have heard it all before, and to be quite honest, we are getting bored of it. Seriously figure out something else to talk about in 2010. Please? Go link bait your agenda in some other industry.
SEO
online marketing, SEO, SEO is dead, SEO is not dead
About a month ago I had a conversation with an old school mate that found me via Facebook. It has been about 14 – 15 years since I last spoke/saw/did anything with this guy. We mostly just talked about what I do for a living, but it was interesting for me to hear his thoughts and ideas about our industry (and how he thought he did the same thing for a living). I have to admit the conversation was a bit irritating, and I ended up having to tell my old friend I had to . I can’t remember the reason I gave him, but the real reason was I was two seconds away from losing it and really giving him a piece of my mind!
SEO
Internet Marketing, Marketing, online marketing, SEO
Brandon Buttars
A long time friend of mine, who also happens to be a web developer recently took some time to answer some questions for me. He and I have noticed there is a huge communication gap between most web developers and SEOs/Internet marketers. We feel that the web developer thinks that they know how to build the site “good enough” without talking to an SEO, and the SEOs assume the developers don’t have a clue about marketing online. Both are wrong. You each bring something amazing to the table and need each other. I think we need to have some better communication from the very start and to kick things off, and get you thinking differently – here is my interview of Brandon Buttars, web developer.
SEO
Brandon Buttars, Internet Marketing, SEO, web developer
Do It Yourself Site Review
I complete a lot of site reviews. Often times, I give the same exact advice to each customer. Therefore, I thought I would just go ahead and share the 12 most common things that are wrong or need fixed with most sites – from an SEO/marketing standpoint. I usually conduct these site reviews during my initial site audit for client or potential client. I know I posted about the 5 Minute SEO Audit Checklist a while back on Search Engine People, but I wanted to expand on that article with a few other things to look for:
- URL canonicalization and 301s need to be set in place because on 100% of the sites I review they are not.
- Custom 404s – I have seen catchy ones, crazy ones, ones that let you search, but at this point having anything is better then an ugly “this page does not exist” result that takes customers away from your site itself, thereby giving you less credibility.
SEO
SEO, seo audit, site audits, site reviews
I had a great conversation with a client last night that lasted until 10 PM. I usually don’t schedule meetings that late (or like them) but in this situation I had no other choice. It turns out that it ended up being a good meeting that involved a lot of listening. It got me thinking about the way we listen to our clients.
Often times we (Internet marketing/SEO folks) talk with smart, capable business owners who don’t understand what we do, and we end up doing all the talking, and get use to doing all the talking. Sometimes we do so much talking we don’t take the time to listen to what our clients are saying, or what they really need from us. I know I have been guilty of this in the past!
SEO
clients, SEO
