I’m Going to Out These Guys to Matt Cutts

February 17, 2010 By 21 Comments

I know people hate it when people out others, but I have to do this. I ran across a site that:

1) Creates multiple pages with substantially duplicated content.

2) Has “doorway” pages created just for adsense programs with little or no original content.

3) Has already been caught buying links for one of its international sites

4) Creating pages with malicious behavior

Matt should shut this obvious blackhat down.

Matt you can find the site at Google.com (you will note that I nofollowed the links to them to avoid a penalty from being in a bad neighborhood)

Filed Under: Search Engines

Winter Winds of Change and the Lessons they Hold

December 17, 2008 By 9 Comments

Adaptation.

If anyone were to ask me what I will be focusing on in 2009 it would be that concept.

I am adapting in both my personal life and professional.

Recently the Snyder family moved from South Florida, our long time home, to Utah.

This was a change of monumental proportions for us. The reasons the change is so big are obvious, and probably do not need to be stated, but I feel the reasons for the move do, and tie back into my overall focus as I head into 2009.

The move to Utah was for both professional and personal reasons.

I had hit a wall.

I had become stagnant.

My days began to bleed into each other. It effected my work. Worse it effected my family.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Search Engines, Search Marketing

The Reason Behind Changes to Google Base Display

October 12, 2008 By 4 Comments

I found yet another change in the way Google hands Universal search interesting today.

These changes actually were originally noticed in Spring of this year with the inclusion of thumbnail pics.

I am seeing mixture of the standard OneBox for Google Products with three links to various retailers and links separating the products in Google Base by cost. This will force users into Google Base instead of letting them click from the SERP to the retailer.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Search Engines

Google Changes Universal Search

September 29, 2008 By 14 Comments

Universal Search has changed the way we view search engines and even the act of searching.

Now Google has changed the way video shows up in the Universal Search results.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Search Engines

Live Results Becoming More Relevant Than Google?

September 18, 2008 By 14 Comments

So I was doing some research yesterday, and was noticing a drastic difference in the quality of the Live search results.

I decided to do comparative analysis, and was stunned to begin finding that Live’s results were actually trumping Google’s in terms of relevance.

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Filed Under: Search Engines, SEO

Be an Internet Glass Chewer, not a Glass Jaw

July 15, 2008 By 17 Comments

This post will seem like a rant in spots, but if you stick with it I think some of you will be inspired enough in your efforts to fill your pockets with a little extra coin; the only result that matters in our industry.

I read a post by Lisa Barone at BruceClay.com entitled Don’t Be Popular. Be Useful. , and got to thinking about how some of those same concepts translate past blogging into the actual fabric of the industry.

The ratio of self-promoting perpetrators in our industry to actual talent seems to be ever increasing.

The former is soft and glass jawed, the later is a mean spirited glass chewer.

The former has a limited value based mostly on a segmented time line, the later will be an innovator in our industry as long as there is one.

You shouldn’t really need to have me tell you which one of these two schools you fall into, but I love allegory so let me tell you a tale to help you understand what the heart of a glass chewer is made of.

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Filed Under: Analytics, Copy and Content, Search Engines, Search Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Tools and Tips, Uncategorized

The Usability of SEO

June 27, 2008 By 18 Comments

It is the chicken before the egg of the online industry.

Which comes first usability or SEO?

Designers and developers often take one stance on the issue, and SEOs another. I am not sure there is a right or wrong answer. Despite how many in our industry present information the only way we can quantify any degree of success in what we do is by measuring how profitable a web property is (I know not all websites operate for revenue, but who cares about them?).

Profitable sites have been built without sound search engine optimization.

Profitable sites have been built with poor usability.

Neither of these points can be argued.

But in a fantasy land of project perfection, sound SEO can lead to high quality usability. Here the two concepts can dance in a green meadow beneath a candy rainbow; also known as Canada (SES Toronto trip showed me how majestic it is North of border)

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Filed Under: Search Engines, Search Marketing, SEO

Clean Up Your Rankings for Conversion

June 25, 2008 By 1 Comment

I am a slave to writing about things that I see and do in my everyday SEO efforts or searching.

To me theory often fails to show value in terms of dollars. And I am in this business to make dollars.

I have been doing a lot of eCommerce searching lately since my birthday is coming up next weekend, and I need to figure out what I want. What I have found are a ton of search results that are too specific. They go beyond the generic term I am looking for, and send me to pages with very specific products that are not what I am looking for. This fact can mean death for an eCommerce site, which should be leading generic terms to non-product, more category oriented terms.

Let’s use the example of a website that sells televisions.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Search Engines, Search Marketing, SEO
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