Archives for February 2007

5 Tips for Content Distribution Networks

In the past I’ve written about the content versus links debate where SEOs seem to fall on one side or the other when assigning the majority of importance for search engine rankings. What’s missing from that conversation is the need for a distribution network.

There are many that believe the key to a successful link building campaign is to create content worth linking to. However, if you create great content and no one knows about it to send a link, then there’s a lot lost on the effort. “Build it and they will come” is not the reality with search marketing despite the hype from SEO nay-sayers.

5 Tips for Content Distribution Networks

Watch TV And Make Your Blog A Superstar

It’s no secret, those with the scoop have a tendency to get all the traffic. If a newspaper gets an inside story, they sell more copies. If a news channel has that one special interview, then they get the viewers. With blogging it’s no different.

Case in point, on one of my other blogs, I sometimes blog about American Idol. When a contestant made a sneaky remark about Simon Cowel and Telletubbies, I found it interesting and so I posted about it. Threw in some research I did on the truth behind the comment and made sure to tag the post as well with the relevant keywords. Posted it, pinged it, then I went to bed.

Big Stats Jump The next day I checked out the stats and site visitors were up by about 1500%. It seems that my little post, was on fire.

Watch TV And Make Your Blog A Superstar

New SEMPO Board Named

SEMPO sent out an announcement email this morning announcing the new board of directors for 2007. There were 37 nominees on the ballot and this year there was a 100% increase in the number of voters.Â Congrats to all!

Chris Boggs – Search Strategist, Avenue A/Razorfish
Massimo Burgio – Global Search Expert, Global Search Interactive
Fionn Downhill – President/CEO, Elixir Systems
Dave Fall – VP Product Management – Search Technology, DoubleClick, Inc.
Duane Forrester – Manger – Search Marketing, Sports Direct
Sara Holoubek – Free Agent
Gord Hotchkiss – CEO/President, Enquiro Search Solutions, Inc.
Bill Hunt – CEO, Global Strategies International
Kevin Lee – Executive Chairman/Co-Founder, Did-it.com, LLC
Jeffrey Pruitt – President of Search Operations, iCrossing
Tanya Rietze – Global SEO Program Manager, Hewlett Packard
Dana Todd – Co-Founder/Principal, SiteLab
Dave Williams – Chief Strategist/Co-Founder, 360i, LLC

New SEMPO Board Named

Most Popular Blog Posts vs RSS

Since we have about 30% more site visitors and RSS subscribers over the past 2 months (post digg malarkey too) I thought I’d update the list of most popular blog posts for Online Marketing Blog. Such a roundup can be a great way to reveal interesting content to readers that are new or who haven’t been long time readers of a blog.

Most popular web page posts according to web stats – past 12 months excluding home page:

Most Popular Blog Posts vs RSS

My Pros and Cons of WordPress 2.1

Wordpress Thumbs Up - Thumbs Down After installing WordPress 2.1 my experiences have been both good and bad. There are a few things I LOVE about the updated blogging software, but there are also a few things that bug me.

Stuff That Bugs Me

No ‘Previwe Post’ link when writing a post. This really gets me as I preview my post quite often. Granted the functionality is still there, you just have to scroll down to see it.
No Firefox spell check. Seeing as my spelling isn’t the best, I rely on Firefox’s spell check quite often. However, the new WYSIWYG editor doesn’t work with Firefox’s spell check and no red-underlined words makes me think I spelt everything correctly. Now I have to make a point to hitting the spell check button.

My Pros and Cons of WordPress 2.1

Blogging Tips from Britney Spears

One of the things any good blogger knows is that titles are an important part of your blog post. When I saw “6 Lessons Britney Spears Can Teach You About Blogging” I couldn’t help but click through to read it. Not only is it a great title, it’s a good post too.

My favorite is “If you hang around with trash, you may be considered to be trash as well.“

Blogging Tips from Britney Spears

Sourcing Content for Business Blogs

Blogs are useful for many marketing and communication purposes. They’re also useful simply as software that manages content. Businesses can use blogs to communicate a corporate vision, to build thought leadership corporate-wide or for subject matter experts. Blogs can be very useful in support of public and media relations efforts and they are certainly excellent tools for making a site more search friendly with fresh content that attracts incoming links.

One of the best resources for blog content comes out of interactions with prospects and customers. If an organization can tap into the flow of dialog that happens between front line employees such as sales people and customer support there is an abundance of valuable content available. If customers and potential customers have questions about certain topics, then it’s pretty likely that many others will too.

Sourcing Content for Business Blogs

Moderate More Spam

Recently the blogs I monitor have been getting hit with a lot of spam that Akismet doesn’t seem to catch. Here is an example:

Author: used auto detroit

Comment: used auto detroit

Info about used auto detroit.

The good news is I’ve come up with a simple solution. Just go into your blogs admin, click on options and then on discussion. In the comments moderation area, add /strong to the list. Next time one of these comments make it through, they’ll be held for moderation instead of going live.

Notice, I didn’t say that this was a fix. You could add /strong to the comment blacklist area but you may filter out good comments too. Seeing as strong tags are OK to use in WordPress comments, a real visitor could use it. Plus, some blogs tell users that they can use basic formatting. That’s why we throw it into moderation and not just throw it away.

Moderate More Spam

The Power of Social Media, Blogs and Online PR

When you attend conferences, read blogs or popular search marketing sites you’ll find plenty of subject matter experts in search marketing tactics ranging from search engine optimization to pay per click to local marketing and social media. It’s great to get those specific perspectives, but I get a lot of feedback from businesses that appreciate a more holistic approach to marketing online.

Recently, I was able to do an interview on the online radio show, Online Marketing with RSS Ray talking about an overallÂ approach to using social media, blogs and online public relations.

Below are links to the audio segments from the interview. All of the tactics discussed provide benefits for search engine optimization as well.

The Power of Social Media, Blogs and Online PR

Minneapolis High Rankings Seminar

If you’re one of the bazillion people thatÂ get Jill Whalen’s High Rankings Advisor newsletter, then you already know, but in case you don’t, here’s the scoop in the upcoming High Rankings Seminar coming to Minneapolis next month:

Since there hasn’t been a “how to” SEO/SEM seminar in Minneapolis anytime recently, we wanted to make sure everyone in the Twin Cities web development and marketing community had the chance to hear about and sign up for the High Rankings Seminar.Â So Jill has agreed to extend the early bird discount ($200 off) for registrations placed by February 22nd.

We’ve reached out and connected with a variety of local organizations to promote the event including:Â MIMA, local AMA, local DMA, IABC, MHTA, JJ Hill Library, NAWBO and several others with a great response.

Minneapolis High Rankings Seminar