Posted by randfishTomorrow morning starts my 8 hours of presenting for our first SEOmoz training seminar. As such, I have very limited time for blogging tonight, but I wanted to share this hard-to-believe piece of data:
After conducting a closed test of its new online ad exchange, Right Media and DoubleClick Exchange competitor Traffiq opened its marketplace to all buyers and sellers this week. The company’s aim is to give media buyers a great deal of transparency into all media that’s on sale, including competing bid information, a graphical view of the ad position that’s on the block, and historical pricing data for individual publishers.
Female-focused publishers are really good at co-opting each other’s ideas. It wasn’t long after Glam Media became the first notable smaller publisher to represent an extended network of sites that iVillage began doing the same. And this week, with the acquisition of “social shopping” site ShopStyle, Sugar Publishing has obtained new e-commerce and product discovery capabilities of the sort both iVillage and Glam offer.
Posted by FluxxThis week, Rand talks about moving websites. Aside from the usual 301′ing of URLs, there are a few more steps one should take to make sure that all of their SEO efforts aren’t lost when the move is made.
Microsoft knows it’s running in third place behind Google and Yahoo in the battle for search, and at its Silicon Valley offices today the company showed off its latest efforts in improving its Live Search service for its current users, and to bring more users to its system. Separately, the company also changed the manner in which it will place ads on its MSN Video by providing them to users based on how long they’re viewing the player, and not at the start of each clip no matter the length.
Posted by gillianINTRO FROM RAND: Despite pouring in 80+ hour weeks over the last month, Gillian managed to find some time to write her first content-based post for SEOmoz. Thanks, mom - you rock.
Posted by randfishMy post yesterday caused a bit of confusion about internal linking practices and I figured it would be wise to clear it up with a handy visual representation.
Posted by randfishI think that sometimes, we in the field of search marketing try to make the concept of ranking more difficult than it really is. True - there are hundreds of ways to build a link, an infinite number of keywords, thousands of unique sources to drive traffic along with analytics, design, usability, code structure, conversion testing, etc. However, when it comes to the very specific question of how to rank well for a particular keyword in standard organic results at the engines, you’re really only talking about a few big key components.
#1 - Keyword Usage & Content Relevance
Posted by randfishThis week we’re diving into the hiring game - trying to find the people who will help us make both the free and premium content on the site even more valuable over the weeks and months to come. Jane’s in charge of hiring our new customer service / office manager and Jeff’s doing double-duty, seeking out both a web developer and a GUI designer. We’ve already received one resume that’s so incredibly cool, I’ve just got to share:
Brockway Sampson Applies to SEOmoz (for those who aren’t aware, Brock is a bodyguard character from the ingenius animated series, the Venture Bros.)
Despite the stiff competition, I’d love it if you checked out and shared our open positions on Craigslist (after all, the best people almost always come through community referrals):
Posted by CredoPaulNOTE from Rand: This post was contributed by the winner of our landing page competition, Paul Robb. Here’s Paul’s winning page, which drew both surprise and controversy. Paul offered to write two posts on the results of his page and his strategy for persuasive copywriting - this is the first of those posts. Enjoy!
We’re now one full week on from the results of the SEOmoz "Landing Page Contest," and I’ve printed out all of your comments… sat down… read through them twice… I’ve highlighted, I’ve underlined, and I’ve thought very carefully. The result? I’ve decided I’m going to write a couple of posts for "YOUmoz" (this is the first).
Before I get started, I want to take a moment to quickly “tip my hat” to all of you readers here at SEOmoz… for two reasons. First because… as my high-school French teacher used to say… "Flattery will get you everywhere, Paul". And second because I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the way you’ve welcomed me with open arms and hearty congratulations - despite my somewhat “alien” appearance. I can feel the love! Well, sort of. So… Landing Page Competition… what was THAT all about?
“I have to say - the winner totally shocked me. Those long form sales letters are not my style, but it’s hard to argue with results.” - Rand Fishkin, Sphinn.com (Mon 17th Sept)
Yes, Rand, my all seeing eye can spy you… even all the way over there at Sphinn. There is no escape. Now, what are we to do about this “shock,” this “trauma,” this “feeling in the pit of your stomach,” which I know many readers share?
Well, the way I see things, there are only two possible reactions.The first is what I will call the “SEOmoz Response.” The SEOmoz Response is characterised by a desire to learn something of value, which perhaps can be applied to future endeavours to the benefit and increased profitability of everyone involved. The second is what I will call the “Ostrich Response.” The Ostrich Response is characterised by the desire to bury one’s head in the sand and reject anything that does not conform to one’s own personal belief systems and view about the way the world “should” be. If you are an Ostrich, or anything that resembles one, then this post is definitely not for you. I’m sorry I’ve wasted 30 seconds of your time making you read this far. I really am. But, it’s over now. You can shuffle off and normal service will be resumed in your feed reader shortly. Move along people… Please? Thank you.
Now… those of you still reading… did you know that an ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain? Well, I kid yee not. It’s a true story - look it up - just not until you are done with SEOmoz for the day! Onwards. Having tipped my hat to all of you "mozzers," it’s only right I do the same to my "mentors." So here goes: I worship at the church of Gary Halbert (R.I.P), Claude Hopkins (R.I.P), Robert Collier (R.I.P), John Carlton, Gary Bencivenga, Tony Robbins, Joel Bauer, Brian Tracy, Richard Bandler, John Caples, and many other master persuaders. These men have taught me a great deal about life (albeit, I’ve never studied under any of them face-to-face). I owe them a debt of gratitude, and I’ll upload a list of all the titles in my library to a page on my website - www.crediblecopy.org - so you can check them out (if you want to). Most of what I know about persuasion, selling, and influence I owe to the names you’ve just read. I freely give them FULL credit for my knowledge, because…as a baby…I was not born with an ability to persuade people in print (quite the opposite, in fact). We all learn from our predecessors though, don’t we, so this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
And I’m not trying to pass myself of as a “guru” here; in truth, I feel a little “uncomfortable” putting myself out there in front of the sharks of the world - and the sharks are out there, keeping their eyes on SEOmoz (you’d be surprised by some of the names in my inbox). What is this post all about then? I want to share with you a little of what I’ve learned during a “You need to get out more, Paul” amount of my life studying the works of these masters, because I personally feel like I have really learned a lot from you guys (and girls) here at SEOmoz, and now I feel like I can give you a little something of value back in return in this post. But, you’re right…who am I kidding…it’s not all "give give give" here. I get to "showcase" myself a little bit, too. Also, on a final personal note, I feel it’s now time for me to get and stay out of my own comfort zone.
I’m sure there will be those who shout me down and heckle and make wild unfounded accusations. One person thinks I’m an MLM scam artist running a “get rich quick” scheme, for example. Bizarre - very bizarre. But, in my experience (and I do have a little), it really scares people when they encounter a young person who possesses enormous substance. It makes them “uncomfortable.” Some people just don’t seem to know how to react, sadly, which, think about it, leads me to a point I don’t have time to cover here: the most interesting study of life, in my opinion, is the way things actually ARE, not they way things “should be.”
Anyway, enough of this "jibber-jabber." When you start to talk about “persuasion” or “selling” or “influence,” a whole horde of people instantly get all excited and scream MANIPULATION. Are they right to do so? Well, here is how I personally make the distinction: