First, Happy 4th of July to all my US readers. There are many people talking about the death of SEO. Yeah, I know, you are contemplating closing this post. Stay with me. Well, if you are a seasoned search marketing veteran, you are free to go. There is nothing here that is going to be earth shattering. But I have seen too much recently to not say something. SEO is not going anywhere but it has changed. Long gone are the days of "tricks" ...

For the most part, when I come across an issue on a site, I just search for the solution and someone has previously identified the solution. Last week I came across a problem that I didn't know how to deal with and neither did anyone else. Issue: In optimizing a client's website, I came across some images that might seem unsuitable for children. Not vulgar or crude, and were there in a health care sense, but were still not suitable for ...

Update Feb 28: The folks at XO have joined in the conversation and cleared up many of the issues I was having. I still think they need to clarify these things in their backend system, but it seems as if there is a way to do redirects, just no way to get help if something goes wrong. Feb 23 - I have moved the client to HostGator. Every once in a while an SEM consultant will come across a gem of a client. One that understands enough ...

Twitter can produce the most off the wall thoughts and conversations sometimes. Just what I need for inspiration. I went to SMX Advanced in 2008 and Michael Dorausch posted to SEOmoz about SEO's favorite Starbucks Orders. So fun to read. No real point, but why does everything we read have to be work related? Taylor Pratt asked if cereal was allowed as a mid-afternoon snack today. A resounding yes was heard from what I saw, and that sparked my ...

You answer "They work on the Internet ..." when asked what your child does. Since that narrows it down. You ask them for help with your computer when it breaks. As if we know what is wrong with your computer at all times. You send all of your friends to your child when their computer breaks. See #2. We just problem solve. You think they can design anyone a website. Repeat after me. Web designers aren't SEOs, and SEOs aren't web ...

There has been a theory floating around for a long time: Google hates SEOs. That is just one article from Bruce Clay former writer Lisa Barone, referencing something from Jill Whalen. Matt Cutts responded with what we all know: Google doesn't hate SEOs, just the bad ones that give us all bad names. It's like lawyers ... yes I just went there. But now there seems to be a trend (and it could be because I live in my little hole called SEO) ...

I am a Texas girl. Born and raised. I am a liberal for the most part. I vote fairly regularly. But I really don't get into the depths of politics. That is until it meets the SEO world. And today it did. I got a call from the Austin American Statesman wanting to know my opinion on a site supposedly put up by the Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson campaign called http://www.standbykay.com My first reaction? No redirect from non-www to www ...

About this time last year, I signed up for the networking system of SMX Advanced. I came across another Austinite and decided to meet up with him for coffee. I had spent the year before at SMX meeting very few people, so this year that was going to change. Jeremy Bencken and I met up at Starbucks and he told me the story of this new idea he was exploring, and I was floored. It was an idea that no one had come up with yet, but it was so ...

So people ask me all the time about what tools I use for keyword research, bid management, SEO, you name it. And I have always said I am not a big tool fan. That was until I came across a few gems. One of my absolute favorites is the Raven Internet Marketing Tools. (aff link btw) RavenTools is a smattering of just about every SEO tool you might want. Just to name some of my favorite features: Social Media Mentions tracking (think ...

One of the most heated topics in Internet Marketing is paid links. Bringing it up when you first meet someone in the industry is like talking about abortion and the death penalty on a first date. It starts heated discussions, and sometimes feelings and egos get hurt. Google has guidelines that they sometimes enforce, and sometimes don't. It seems so unfair when you see a site that is clearly violating those guidelines, but Google does ...