Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
I am an avid fan of Donald Trump’s The Apprentice, and I think there are some lessons to be taken from the show that apply to SEO/SEM in some twisted way. So every week after I watch it, I’ll make some kind of crazy connection between The Apprentice and the crazy world of search marketing.
Episode 1 Lessons â Having Passion & SEO Training Courses
Ok, Ok – here goes the first guy to get “Fired.” Martin Han Clarke upon being asked why he should be the next apprentice said:
“As an attorney and professor, I have the experience, leadership and technical know-how to run any of Trump’s companies and projects.”
His African proverbs were long on theory and short on getting things done. He was all talk.
Notice, getting things done is not part of his self-described talents. Ultimately his inability to roll up his sleeves and do what needs to get done got him fired. He doesn’t mention drive, desire, or anything that shows passion. Get outta here, you’re FIRED! “Frankie Suits” has the fire and passion but seems a little overbearing; lets see how long he lasts. I have a blog post ready for his firing already.
In SEO, doing the dirty work is a part of “The Job.” Success in SEO is usually the result of the culmination of a bunch of small tasks done well. One of the things that makes a great SEO is passion for SEO. Without it, you are screwed. Lately there has been a lot of chatter on SEO certifications (Bruce Clay and SEMPO [no longer active] to name a few).
Unless someone taking a SEO Training course can take a session on Passion for SEO, the people that take them are doomed to be beginners in an industry where room for success is thin (top 20). The people who I look to as kind of leading this space Rand & Rebecca, Aaron, Danny, Stuntdbl, Shoemoney, Scott, and many many more are hard to compete with. If you are totally new with your certification in SEO, congrats. I hope your boss has realistic expectations. Because if your space is remotely competitive, the things you learned in class were WRITTEN / Authored by the people above and those like them. (more…)
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Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
A recent article in businessweek details the development of a new search engine from Wikipedia entitled Wikiasari, which is intended to launch early this year. The concept is to make an engine that delivers a better user experience by opening up various aspects of the system to the community. The two ways in which Wikiasari intends to do this are by utilizing open source code and a user rating system for search value.
Opening the algorithm for developers is a great idea. This allows the code to be improved by an exponentially larger number of contributors. The quality of an open source search algorithm can only improve by granting more users access to it, and because profit driven or self benefiting volunteer code changes would be refused by other community developers, the primary goal of improving user search experience is protected. This should eliminate any concern that a user could succeed in manipulating source code negatively. The open source system of checks and balances has been tested time and time again, and would function no differently here.
People may try to find flaws and exploit the algorithm for its weaknesses to benefit themselves in some way. For Wikiasari, developers may dissect the code to find an unintended means to rank their sites higher. However, exploits usually become publicized, and once they do, they’re corrected by the community. Historically, people have been repeatedly exploiting Apache’s HTTP server since its debut. As a result, the flaws have been continually addressed and corrected; subsequently, it has become the most popular server of its type across the Internet. Opposing the option of opening source, and keeping code closed does not mean its flaws are any more
protected than that of open sourced code. For example, most of Microsoft’s products are closed source, and are famously known for being security liabilities. In short, opening source has produced some of the most secure and widely used programs on the Internet. (more…)
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Friday, January 5th, 2007
Until recently I worked in the marketing department at a major e-commerce firm where we handled the development of websites for major blue chip companies. Unfortunately marketing was never involved in the development of these sites. That disconnect between our e-commerce management and marketing services management would later haunt me for my 2 year tenure at said company. The question that would haunt me was “Why don’t I appear number 1 for “X” in Natural search?”
Because our management teams never thought to consult one another on the development and marketing of our new partner’s websites we were completely ill- equipped to handle their needs regarding SEO. We had major indexing problems with search engines due to duplicate content. Our company was using the same website template, product information, content management system, and pricing for over 23 partners.
Before I could completely appreciate the above issue I was forced to educate myself on a few basic principals regarding Natural Search Engine Optimization. It was essential that I learned these so I could handle question after question from my partners regarding their Natural Results. I would need this info to educate my partners so that they were equipped to go back to their executives and explain why they weren’t showing up for specific keywords.
So where is a person to go when they know zilch about SEO? You would think that someone employed at a company that specializes in interactive marketing would have internal resources to lean on. But after some digging I came to learn, except for one person, that everyone within my company knew as much as I did. Which was? You guessed itâ¦absolutely nothing. So I figured why not start with the two men who utterly revolutionized Search as we know it, Sergy Brin and Lawrence Page. While researching SEO I came across an absolute gem, their thesis from Stanford for Google! (more…)
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