STFU about Jason Calacanis

If anyone wants to check out how to really leverage SEO, just watch Jason Calacanis in action.
Somewhere, somehow, the guy just knows how to bait people. No pun indeed, but he is one talented master baiter.
I’ve read before that link baiters are themselves some of the easiest people to bait, and Jason know how to [...]

Passion - the great asset online

If I look at my sites, the most successful are those where I’ve had a real passion. Not simply for the subject matter, but also in promoting them.
The least successful are those where I feel little enthusiasm and make only token promotional efforts.
The best websites I think communicate that passion from the start - in [...]

Paid blog posts - a closing window of opportunity

I’ve tested out the ReviewMe service previously, but after they opened their campaign marketplace I’ve been tempted to try them again and run a few campaigns - especially after Shoemoney’s recommendation and decent quality of some of the paid for reviews.
Anyway, results have come in from the weekend - so far variable as expected.
There’s a [...]

Paid links - no argument, just dealing with it

Matt Cutts is asking for spam reports on link selling, and doesn’t receive a warm welcome from SEO’s regarding Google’s newest economic policy.
Let’s look at what Matt’s actually saying:
1. Google thinks paid links really impact Google
2. Google is testing at least two new algos to spot and devalue paid links
3. Matt wants reports on live [...]

ReviewMe: Benefits, hazards, and overall use

ReviewMe is one of a number of services that pays bloggers to review websites. Simple.
The aim is to try and generate some kind of buzz for sites leveraging the blogosphere, and there has certainly been no shortage of nervous comments about the potential for commercial corruption of the blogosphere.
Anyway, when Aaron announced discounts on the [...]

Fight complacency: make your websites even better

It’s easy to feel comfortable when a website is successful, but this is an illusion created by a sense of complacency.
Every time you raise a site’s profile and rankings, you are pushing others down. SEO is a zero sum game - winners do so at the expense of losers.
Many SEO’s will look at their client [...]

Opportunities in a multi-tiered internet

With the growth of social media has come a massive fragmentation of the internet into individual tiers which in themselves are microcosms of a larger whole.
These microcosms aren’t necessarily small - YouTube, Digg, Flickr - are all structures built into the internet which are mini-internets unto themselves.
Similar rules apply, similar opportunities apply.
I already knew this [...]

Quality content indicators for human users

I’ve posted before about possible quality indicators for Google, so now we’re going to look at a couple of quality indicators for human users.
Michael Gray posts a nice set of indicators for providing value content for human users:
1. Create a Glossary
2. Use Video and Podcasts
3. Do Interviews
4. Provide Conference Coverage
5. Cover News and Emerging Trends
In [...]

Resources for improving conversions

While looking for information on PPC management, I’ve found an interesting number of resources about improving conversions.
While many of these are focused on the PPC market, the organic SEO’s like myself ignore these at our peril.

Four Steps To Better Business Leads From Search
Podcast: Use Feedback to Boost Lead Generation
Do You Recognize the 4 Warning Signs [...]

Aged domains vs branding new ones

One of the big mistakes I’ve made recently is to take some older domains and try to launch new content on them for news portals.
Even though the domains are like 3+ years old, they haven’t had much of a search history on Google. The result is that they are effectively being treated the same as [...]

Need links? Follow the breadcrumbs

I posted before that I was going to follow the breadcrumbs another SEO had left for searching for cheap links in a certain sector.
However, something I’ve always done when pushed is to follow the breadcrumbs for links left around from SEO activity.
For example:
1. Following advertisers
If you see a site selling links in your vertical, do [...]

Using SEO to fight scams

I had someone turn up at Platinax, warm themselves up to members - and then invite others to be “mentored” by him - by paying $1k to join what appears by all accounts to be a pyramid scheme.
The scheme is entirely based on reselling rights to resell rights for a bunch of junk ebooks and/or [...]

Would be nice if you could select UK sources in Google News UK

On Google.co.uk search, you can opt for “Web” or “UK” only results.
Wouldn’t be nice if you could do the same on Google.co.uk’s News section?
That way, if I’m searching the news by keyword - ie, “Ford” - I would be more likely to find something about Ford cars and the UK car industry relating to “Ford” [...]

Getting free tips from a SEO dumbass

Some dumbass from a big name SEO company just emailed my contact address at one of my sites. He’s looking to build links to targeted pages for websites owned by one of the UK’s biggest banks.
Sure, I don’t mind a link purchase approach - but I don’t expect fucking pennies for links on an aged [...]

Invest in site inventory for future use

One of the great things about having clients is that they provide a financial platform you can use to reinvest in different areas.
That means building and promoting sites in your target vertical - but also reinvesting some of the cash into building and promoting sites into other verticals you may want to get involved with [...]

How to make a Call To Action work better

The number of links a user has to click between visiting a site and fulfilling an action can have a serious impact on conversions.
I don’t have any live stats on this, though I expect the PPC stats trackers are keenly aware of this.
The difference is that it’s all too easily overlooked in SEO.
For example, when [...]

Link building and link profile building tips for Google

Okay, I know I don’t have many blog readers, and I don’t usually throw too many tips out, so here’s a little treat on which links work at present and link profiling:
Different types of links
1. Sitewides
Google appears to naturally distrust sitewides, so these work best if the target site has a lot of trust already. [...]

Quality indicators for Google SEO

I’m looking to push some of my own sites more seriously, in terms of adding value and raising traffic.
Here’s some of the potential quality indicators that can be used for Google rankings:
1. Unique IP
2. SSL cert
3. Privacy policy
4. Full contact details - email, postal, & phone
5. 10 year domain registration
6. robots.txt
7. W3C validation
It’s fair to [...]

Ouch! Delisted from SEOmoz!

[EDIT: It was only temporay, due to the changes being implemented, such as the introduction of YouMoz and similar. Either way, no offence or disrespect intended by Rand, and he's been happy to ensure Britecorp were back on the SEOmoz recommended list. :) ]
Rand previously had my company Britecorp on his list of recommended SEO’s.
After [...]

Adding value for monetising websites

Today I got to thinking a lot more seriously about revenue generation options for monetising websites.
Although I’ve pretty much doubled my Adsense earnings over the past month, it’s still not a huge amount.
And today it really hit me how meagre the revenues are relative to other earning options.
The main reason I have websites is to [...]