Have I suddenly discovered the best SEO strategies ever through revelation?  No, I have not.  Moreover, I probably wouldn’t tell you if I did (can you say trade secret?).  I do have a thing or two to say, however, about this quest we marketers are on to formulate the best, most flexible SEO strategies and link building campaigns; that is, generalizing our tactics so that they are useful in every situation.  Having a handy-dandy formula may make us confident and give us a sense of security when addressing a new client, but it is ultimately not for the best.  Here is why. 

SEO Is About Being Practical and Adaptive, Not Rigid and Certain

‘Essence-seeking’ is a wonderful habit we humans have, but it becomes a problem when we follow it slavishly during our SEO efforts.  Link building is something of a science, yet it is a science whose theories dance to the tunes of individuals who determine what the phenomena being studied are (i.e. the nature of search engine algorithms).  Imagine living in a polytheistic world in which the gods frequently ‘update’ physics for whatever reason.  Being a traditional physicist in this type of universe would most certainly suck, majorly. 

However, if the experts understood that their knowledge should be formed on a case by case basis and not generalized due to a lack of consistency (which is something we do not lack in this universe, fortunately), they would be in better shape not only to handle changes, but also understand the universe at the moment for a particular situation.  Those who focus on universals will find themselves bogged down in a continuous need to update and recategorize their findings.  A similar situation seems to apply to link building and general SEO as well:  We have to focus on action and results only, not endless theorizing about where the existence of and where we can find our Philosopher’s Stone.  Of course we need to pick up advice here and there to get us on the right track, but not much of this information is worth being enshrined and clung to—we have no idea which direction the track will turn. 

In short, what I believe to be key to every SEO/link building undertaking is to get with the current program (some idea of it, at least), exploit it, and then move on when the changes are significant enough to merit doing so; there is no need to construct a superstructure of data that constantly needs maintenance and/or stores outmoded strategies, for you will soon feel more like an archivist than an actual SEO or link builder out on the front lines getting your job done.

In the immortal words of Nike, just do it. 

Link Building Secrets: The Intangible Element

Here’s what you probably already know about the link building process…

We set forth creating unique valuable content on a site and start building relevant links to promote this content in order to bring more traffic to your site.  Throughout the link building process, we incorporate elements of SEO in order to make it easier for visitors and search engines to find you.

Here’s what you may not know about the link building process:

Oftentimes we forget that there is an intangible aspect to the link building process.  It is this incorporeal element that can be considered the secret to link building…

Concepts from The Secret To Better Understand Link Building

Using ideas from the best-selling book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, here are some link building secrets that you may not have been aware of…before now.

“We are like magnets – like attract like. You become AND attract what you think.”

Seek out communities that share the same passion as you do when link building.  Upon entering these communities, your thoughts should be to get to know the community members and share your enthusiasm for what you do.  By doing this, you will be adding value to the community and you’ll be attracting people to you and your site.

“People think about what they don’t want and attract more of the same.”

There was a story in the book Groundswell about a blog post that revealed the HD-DVD processing key, which made it possible to watch HD-DVD movies in Linux.  This post eventually became so popular that it made its way to the top of Digg who was then forced to take it down by the owners of this intellectual property who didn’t want this code to be made public for obvious reasons.  But instead, it backfired.  The result was that people found out about this story and the code became even more popular.  So the moral of the story is, think and act affirmatively not covertly.

“It’s OK that thoughts don’t manifest into reality immediately (if we saw a picture of an elephant and it instantly appeared, that would be too soon).”

The image used in The Secret is of a flower that is just below the surface.  We’ve been watering it and taking good care of it, but sometimes just before it is about to bloom, we get discouraged and so we stop.  The link building process is similar to this in that results usually occur after some time.  However, there are ways to speed up the process…

“You might get an inspired thought or idea to help you move towards what you want faster.”

One of the most effective link building tactics hands-down is to create a viral campaign for your site.  This means having the inspiration or the idea to develop some type of viral content to promote that will eventually gather its own momentum.  Making this part of the link building process is one way to move towards your goal faster.

“Shift your awareness.”

Do you see the glass as half empty of half full?  Knowing what you know now about the secrets of link building, I hope you’d see the glass as half full.  By shifting your awareness in this way, you’ll be constantly nourishing your link building garden with new quality link building ideas.  And eventually, you’ll notice the first signs of life and then you’ll know that you’ve experienced first-hand The Link Building Secret!

Or disturbing, depending on your view of online advertising and the technological metropolis that gave rise to it.  According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation, children ages 8 to 18 spend most of their day (7.5+ hours) utilizing a smart phone, a computer, and, of course, a television.  This means a number of things for those who have a message or product to deliver/present to the public, and indicates that the field of Internet Marketing has a very healthy future ahead—assuming nothing happens that either takes us back to the stone age, puts our fate in the hands (or jaws) of zombies, or both (which would really suck; who wants to fight zombies without guns or chainsaws?).

The Non-Apocalyptic (and Zombieless) Future of Internet Marketing

With so much time being devoted to being ‘connected’ in one way or another, SEO and SMM, though rapidly changing as the years pass, will likely take on an even larger role for businesses and organizations.  Not having a website for an enterprise, or any kind of online presence for that matter, might turn out to be the equivalent of not having either a physical sign or nominal brand as far as this new generation is concerned; thus whatever that enterprise is doing or wants to do will neither be heard nor spoken of by a target audience with a ton of potential—you know, $$$$. 

And here comes an almighty bulleted list for the future:

• It’s a cliché by now, but good content will matter more than ever – As I implied in a previous blog post, when you have an audience that is continuously overwhelmed by the information and options presented to them, you better be sure that what you have to offer—i.e. your brief appearance in the chaotic limelight—is relevant and, most importantly, exceptional.  When there are, say, over one hundred other websites competing for the same spot, you really have no other choice. 
• Be open to the change in strategy that is inevitable when it comes to online engagement — Change does not have to be a difficult thing by any means, especially if all signs point toward its getting you more $ (or exposure—people get into marketing/advertising/etc for many reasons).  As more studies similar to the one mentioned above become more accessible and obtain a place in the public consciousness, the need for innovative online marketing should slowly rise to the status of no-brainer in due course.
• Finally, let people find you – Of course you have to be aggressive with your marketing tactics, but that doesn’t mean you have to be officious (your audience can always go to someone less annoying).  There are a lot more customers than there are businesses, and the Internet is structured more around the former than the latter nowadays.

Here’s to a connected, zombie-free future.

Sadly, we SEOs do not have enough in terms of insider jokes that we can be proud of, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a special batch of us who aren’t trying!  Let’s face it:  When you’re in any industry long enough, you become engrossed in all kinds of new concepts and jargon that you can create humorous relationships among.  Of course, only certain people will understand these abstruse, short, but clean jokes, yet that fact is where half the humor lies; for you are then certain of your being an elite SEO nerd.

There exist some clever websites which contribute valiantly to the SEO funny joke cause and this post is by no means an effort to regurgitate or compete with their valuable input.  I am going to strike out on my own and create a list of utterly preposterous jokes that attempt to bridge the gap between the worlds of SEO and non-SEO humor.

SEO Jokes for Everyone

You ready?  Here we go:

“Knock, knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“White hat.”

“White hat who?”

“White hat SEO.”

~cricket~

“What?”

 What do you call a conversation with someone that doesn’t influence your opinion of him/her in any way?  A nofollow conversation!

 What do you call a word or phrase which directly links to a certain thought(s) in your mind?  Anchor text!

 “Don’t Guy Kawasaki me bro.” (Thanks Andrew)

“So I hear you do SEO.”

“That’s right.  As a matter of fact, I’ve been in the field for over a decade.”

“You must know a lot about Google then.”

“Google?”

Now that you see what the standard is, definitely do not be shy about suggesting your own in the comments.  I believe you will be hard pressed to come up with jokes that set the bar even lower; but then again, maybe you can.

If only it were that simple....

Nope, this is not another rundown for how businesses can/should use social media to their advantage, nor is it an additional expose about how useful social media is for link-building efforts and reputation management.  I do not know how much has been written regarding what social media means for you (me, us, etc.) as a person-or of what quality what has been written is-but I intend to make something of a reflective stab at the matter before our New Year sets in.  Note that when I say person, I mean the person you are when you’re away from work and less socially wary; that is, yourself in a more ‘fundamental’ form, more or less.

Social Media and You:  More Eyes on you-that’s The Dilemma

My social medium of choice is Facebook (I find Twitter to be a less interesting, blander version of Facebook, in all honesty), and many of us Facebook users know that, by our very participation, we are instantly connected to many others who, with our permission, observe and interact with us-and vice versa (yes, the same applies to Twitter users as well, of course).  For those who plan on keeping their connections limited to, say, family members and close friends, the dilemma of social media will likely not hit them as hard.  For those who have a penchant for expanding their networks through social media-and there is a lot of us-the situation is a bit different, and therein lies the dilemma.  As we acquire more and more ‘viewers’ (hey, that’s what they are in many respects), the ramifications of our behavior through the social medium become more significant. 

Who do you want to connect with...?

This can be a good thing if you need assistance (or, yes, are a business) or just need to get a message out, but it is also a breeding ground for potential conflict, especially if your personal page is also, in part, your professional page.  Fortunately, the new privacy settings on Facebook make this less of a problem; if there is something quite hilarious that I really wish to share with one group of people, and that I don’t believe is the business of or relevant to another group of people (the whole “nothing to hide” ideal is, to me, quite bogus-not all your friends/followers on Facebook or Twitter are equal), it is easy to keep the jest in the appropriate circle.  However, having many listeners/viewers/whatever you want to call em does temper one’s virtual personality a bit, and the following question arises:  How much of yourself do you want to temper for the sake of the people you are connected to?  Social media is frequently depicted as being about you and for you (business, organization, and individual alike), but this important feature is compromised for the individual when both personal and professional networks mix on the same social medium.  The dilemma boils down to where and how one draws the line.

Whole, but separate.

In a perfect world, human identity would be this nice integrated whole that would show the same face to everyone all the time and thereby eliminate the issues that form from the use of social media, among other things.  Alas, the world is not perfect and human identity is not so simple.  The best way, I believe, for an individual to utilize social media for both professional and personal ends is to have, seriously, two identities on two different networks which both contain one ‘half’ of the essential aspects of who one is (i.e. the professional side and the personal side).  There is a network for professionals and a network for friends-just as there is a time for work and a time for play (Facebook and Linkedin and you’re golden J ).  This dichotomy, although not always straightforward to implement, is a very effective means to keeping one’s sanity and is much easier than an attempt at merging the two.  The latter is indeed possible, but what frequently emerges is a compromise that, strangely, eventually leaves each side feeling they received the short end of the stick.

Beginner’s Guide to Travelling Solo

Solo travel sites are transforming the travel world. I was recently inspired after attending a lecture with Cathy Law, who has travelled to 53 countries from Laos to Yelapa, as a female solo traveler.   It got me thinking about solo travel and putting together a beginner’s guide to the best solo travel sites.  Seeing as solo travel is usually tied with budget travel, many of these sites are also good places to find cheap travel destinations and accommodations as well as fellow solo travelers.

First-Time Solo Traveler Sites

Below are solo travel sites that may hopefully inspire you to move forward if you have dreams of traveling solo or simply open our eyes to the power of social networking.

LonelyPlanet.com is not only an excellent place to obtain practical information and travel guides, but it also has a Going Solo forum.  I just checked it and saw this exchange below:

If you’ve ever backpacked, you know that the relationships you form with fellow travelers are often for a lifetime.  And sometimes, the relationships you form online can be even deeper than those formed in person when there is a common bond and more openness.

CouchSurfing.com and Hospex.net are great solo travel sites when budget is also a concern.  Both these sites were actually recommended by my idol, Cathy, and considering her experience as a solo traveler, I think these are a pretty safe bet.  If you’re still apprehensive, the CouchSurfing site has  a review section called Interesting Statistics that is worth checking out.

SoloTravel.org has some several interesting articles for the analytical thinkers among us.  Solo travel may come more naturally for those of us who are more spontaneous; however SoloTravel.org does a good job of offering useful tips on everything from safety to meeting other travelers.

BootsnAll.com can be pretty overwhelming at first, since there is a lot of information but it’s actually organized pretty logically.  Considering the goal of this site is to be the “ultimate resource for the independent traveler”, you can be sure to find some great information here.  Plus, there is a focus building an interactive community so it’s a good place to connect with other solo travelers.

Vagabonding.com is THE site to go to for solo travel inspiration.  As mentioned in this previous post on Social Media Travel Websites , travel writer Ralph Potts certainly practices what he preaches and his writing is both interesting and insightful.

Sites to Find Other Solo Travelers

Solo Travelers may consider meeting with others online – you could save money or just have someone to share the experience with.  As mentioned above LonelyPlanet.com is an example of one site where you can potentially find other people who are going to be traveling solo.  Other sites include TravBuddy.com, TravChums.com and CSTN.org or Connecting Solo Travel Network.

Twistorcenter.com is an interesting concept.  Basically it is a site that brings together local tourism tweeters.  This enables travelers to get up-to-the-minute information on destinations.  Even if you’re not carrying a phone with you while solo travelling, there are internet cafes in practically every little town and city on the planet…as Cathy said, you’d be surprised!

This will blow your mind....

What intrigues me is that there is an interesting and very intelligent comparison of postmodernism and SEO on another blog (and it is a mere two weeks older!).  I thought this post would be something of a first of its kind.  Nonetheless, I intend on going into the true nature-assuming there is one-of Postmodern SEO, and not just a simple exposition.  What the postmodern approach means for the entire SEO enterprise will be made quite clear in the following.

And do not worry; there is a moral at the end of this extremely strange story which shows both SEO and relativism/postmodern philosophy at their worst.

SEO of the Future Must Transcend All Theory, Objectivity, and, ultimately, Meaning to be Postmodern

We SEOs all want to optimize our clients for certain keywords and phrases, and of course develop link-building campaigns based around these optimization efforts.  In essence, we always want the content to be relevant to the search query; that is the cornerstone of many SEO efforts.

But these efforts are deeply flawed.  They depend on hostile, oppressive, and incomplete notions of relevance and meaning.  In short, neither clients nor SEOs can ever truly know which words are relevant for which pages, what search engines want and what they don’t want, or what their goals really are.  Traditional SEO approaches are doomed to suffer from inchoate and insidious concepts.

Here is what you as an SEO can do to get around all this…

Let’s say you have a client who wants, or believes they want, to be number 1 for the phrase “tennis shoes” because they believe they sell things that can be adequately captured by the term ‘shoes’.  Since all words are equal in the grand scheme of things-that is, in nothing-it is imperative to start your research with a list akin to the following:

Steam            

Hat

Carrots

Precisely

Sky

Screen

However

All are equal and valid.

Be sure to stay away from anything to do with shoes; doing otherwise is politically and philosophically unacceptable.  Now, after generating your list (it need not be any definite length-nothing is definite), you can additional modifiers that are the furthest thing away from what people would normally associate with the words you generated for your beginning list:

Blue Steam Rabbits

The Hat Good

In Carrots Whatever

Precisely Cars Cheese

Sky A Wall

Rise Down Screen

However Cookie Wonder

Once you have this arsenal of words that no longer have meaning or relevance (a sure sign of their transcendence), you are ready to begin working with your client.  Let them know that there will be no goals, no demonstrable results, and no overall progress.  Each page of their website will be acceptable for many, many kinds of queries, and will not foolhardily assume that there is a need for focus and accuracy.  Your SEO is now ready for both the future and the post-future, and is ‘truly’ postmodern.  The fact that an entire business is lost in the process is unimportant.

SEO and (a parody of) Postmodernism Don’t Really Mix, and Here Is the Moral

I hope a few SEOs who are also part-time recovering philosophy majors (or any combination thereof) like me can empathize with the above absurdities that, inevitably, had to be encountered during one’s quest for truth.  And what every SEO and client needs to keep in mind is this:  Although the playing field of advice for getting a website (and, of course, the business itself) to the top is a bit chaotic, difficult to navigate, and considerably complicated, there is no need to run from the challenges and throw SEO efforts, as well as the potential for innovative techniques in this regard, to the dogs.  Meeting the overwhelming factors head on is indispensable for an organization’s survival in this day and age; and you do not want to run away from it all and, quite possibly, fall into the realm of postmodernism….

Effective Search Engine Optimization Explained Using Simple Tao Principles

Effective SEO like Taoism involves getting back to basics.  Tao simplicity also incorporates nature.  And it just so happens that search engine optimization deals with “natural” or “organic” search results.  We begin our discussion on the Tao of effective SEO looking at how to improve the quality and quantity of traffic to your site based on some simple Tao principles….

Tao

Literally translated, the word Tao means “way”, “path” or “route”.  It can be thought of as a natural flow to all of the energy and life of the universe.  Heavy stuff…  But for our purposes, let’s consider for a moment that your site is part of this great big cosmos that we call the internet.  And this universe (aka the internet) is dynamically evolving.  So how do you find your place in this every-changing situation?  The Tao of SEO says that you must first recognize your site’s strengths.

De

De involves actively cultivating Tao.  It means “moral character”, “virtue” and “integrity”.  Perhaps the easiest way to think of this principle is white hat SEO as opposed to black hat.  Several tactics that were considered effective search engine optimization methods a few years back are now seen as black hat SEO.  This is because the search engines and viewers eventually realized that these methods did not organically evolve with the natural flow of the internet.

Wu Wei

This term’s literal translation is without action, but a better way to think of this concept is effortless action.  This concept can be illustrated with a river.  Instead of swimming upstream, find a way to go along with the river.  In terms of effective search engine optimization, this means allowing our actions to be natural.  One example is that viewers and search engines award “natural links” that support the online community as a whole.  Spamming and artificial links do not achieve this purpose.

Pu

Simplicity or “pu” is a good motto when looking at effective SEO.  Think of it this way – if you were a search engine spider and you had over 1 trillion unique URLs to index, wouldn’t you be happy if you came across a site that was simple and optimized just the way you like?  I thought so.  Pu can also be thought of as a state of pure potential.

In order to achieve effective search engine optimization, we must first consider the foundation of a site.  It is this “uncarved block” that has great potential to become anything you’d like.  The foundation serves as a base for future optimization and site promotion efforts.  Being aware of how to build a strong base for a site that will be able to adapt to the internet’s natural evolution is what distinguishes professional SEO services and it is the basis of effective search engine optimization.

She may be beautiful, but she can't help you with your SEO.

The SEO guarantees that follow this section must be read with your tongue firmly planted in your cheek.  Again, the SEO guarantees that follow this section must be read with your tongue firmly planted in your cheek (this means they are unforgivably sarcastic).  Now that that’s out of the way, I now can say that the real point of this post is to poke fun at the grandiose claims some SEO firms make for their clients, and to hopefully reinforce the clients’ right to investigate the quality of the organization they are considering.  Here is a pair of simple rules for businesses who are ready and willing to make the wise move of incorporating SEO into their strategy for success:  investigate everything about your potential business partner and draw your conclusions.

With that said, what follows is a number of claims I would love to be able to make for myself regarding SEO but never would and, furthermore, hope no one would ever believe.  What’s somewhat frightening is that, if you look at some of these uncouth SEO firms, the deliberately inane things I am going to say are not all that far off from what is actually claimed (well, sometimes).

Genius SEO Advertisements That Are Ridiculous

That 'S' doesn't stand for SEO.

Is your tongue in your cheek yet?  Alright…

I can get you on Google’s (and Bing’s) first page in 1 hour, regardless of your site’s present rank:  Oh yes, you heard that correctly.  The link-building strategies I have mastered, among many others, are so supreme that Google, Bing, and many countries’ governments are struggling to understand just how incredible they are.  And if you want to do PPC, I’ll guarantee that Google starts paying you for your ads in less than a week (less than 24 hours in most cases!!).  Bing will start paying you too, even if you’ve never done any business with them!

In 2 weeks I will ensure that, for any keyword, your site will fill the entire first page of every search engine in existence:  How does this work?  Aren’t there blatant logical inconsistencies present in this kind of claim?  No, and I see it as extremely unprofessional to press the issue.  As far as for how it all works, the short story is magic; the longer story is really good magic; and the full story involves secrets that you just weren’t meant to either have or discover.

My SEO methods are also effective healthy-living methods:  While you see the money and traffic pour in from the effects of techniques you couldn’t possibly understand, you will also notice a significant improvement in the health of everyone at your office.  I have reports confirming the phenomenon of reverse-aging caused by my SEO techniques, and will never deign to explain how this is done either.  As with everything else I have claimed so far, you just have to take my word for it-it is a very fine word to take.

Finally, all I need is your credit card number (and SSN while we’re at it) so that these amazing things can happen:  Sounds like a pretty sweet deal, doesn’t it?  All you have to do is give me a ring-or drop me an email-with a string of numbers at the tip of your tongue (or fingertips) and, in return, miracles shall happen not just for your website, but for your life.

I think that’s enough nonsense for now…

SEO Is an Ongoing, Evolving, Complicated Process-Do Not Be Convinced Otherwise

Anyone who promises anything even remotely as absurd as the above is lying to you, plain and simple.  Very rarely are there quick fixes to problems as complicated as the ones SEO deals with, and someone offering you fast and  solutions as opposed to the correct ones, which require time, is doing you a grave disservice. 

It would be nice, though, if the first outrageous could actually be done, right?

5 Tips for Creating Valuable Website Content

So we’ve all heard the about the importance of “creating valuable website content”.  But what exactly does this mean and how does one go about doing it?  A logical starting point for developing good website content is to figure out:

• Who are you creating your web content for?
• What are the needs of this audience?
• What is your central message?

Answering the questions in this order helps to maintain the focus on your audience first.  If this is your first time considering these questions, consider brainstorming all your ideas on paper and then picking out central themes.  Developing good website content involves maintaining a strong focus.  The reason is this helps to keep your web content relevant, which means your visitors’ expectations will be fulfilled when they find exactly what they’re looking for.

Now you can begin creating good website content – here are 5 tips to help you get started.

1. Think of What You Can Do Differently in Your Area of Expertise

The next step in developing online content that is actually valuable to the online community is to determine what unique aspect you can contribute in your area of expertise.  Perhaps you are an expert in the Art of Ultimate Frisbee.  Do a quick search for ultimate Frisbee and see where you may be able to offer unique online content.   Perhaps your site can offer a social Ultimate Frisbee community.  Visitors can create profiles and get to know each other; maybe even sign up for local pick-up games directly on your site.

2. Figure Out Your Talent

Sometimes this is easier said than done.  Perhaps it’s easier to consider your passion first.  Let’s say you have a passion for hiking.  Chances are you’re seeing some amazing scenery along the way – capture these in the form of images for your site.  So often a person’s passion brings out a talent that we never even knew existed!  Talents may consist of everything from writing to photography to technical expertise to being a social diva!

3. Determine Which Tools You’ll Use to Distribute Your Website Content

Once you’ve determined your talent, the next step is deciding how you will showcase it.  You may consider using several tools.  A blog is an easy way to create fresh website content that may feature pictures or videos also.  If your area of expertise is more technical and you’d like to write an article a certain topic, also think of how you will promote.  Installing a widget could increase the chances that more people may find your website content and stay updated.

Good website content is only valuable to those who can find it.

This is where site promotion and Search Engine marketing help to bring your target audience to you.

4. Create a Time Schedule for Fresh Content

One important factor in creating valuable online content is to have website content that will encourage return visitors.  This means meeting your visitors’ expectations.  There is no magic number as to the frequency of fresh content, but consistency is key.  Creating a schedule of fresh online content for your site will help ensure that these updates occur.

5. Hone Your Talent

Last but not least, it’s important to keep up to date with your area of expertise so that you can continue to develop valuable website content.  Although our passions may come easy enough, sometimes our talents are less easy to perfect…but certainly not impossible.  Your audience will appreciate your efforts to create website content that is both unique and valuable.  And they’ll be more willing to pass it on and that is the Holy Grail factor signifying you’ve created good website content.