luni, 30 august 2010

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

7 Different Visualisations of Link Profiles

Posted: 29 Aug 2010 03:12 PM PDT

Posted by Tom_C

We all love backlinks. We all love visualisation. Boom! Let's mash those two things together. In this post I've collected a bunch of different techniques for visualising your link data. Some of these are useful for analysis, some are useful for management and some are useful for keeping Dr. Pete entertained...... :-)

Which Are My Top Folders

The top pages function of OSE is one of the most useful features ever. Ever since I saw the first incarnation in labs I've been a heavy user of this tool but Rich Baxter has taken things one step further yet again and given us a way to see the top linked to folders on a site. Here are the most linked to sub-folders and pages on www.google.com:

Get the step by step walkthrough to creating your own version of this over on seogadget.

Creating Geo Link Maps

Yes, I know that this involves a competitor. But the graphs are too super cool not to share! Take a look at the geomap of Distilled's backlinks:

Anyone would think we have a presence in the US or something! To learn how to make your own version of this go check out Wiep's wonderful article. You never know, one day this feature might be native to either OSE or Majestic.... I can but dream :-)

Pretty Tag clouds

Ok, we can probably file this one under "not management friendly" but you never know. If you do SEO for a dinosaur website....

These are the top anchor texts for SEOmoz visualised as a keywordasaurus. Hat tip to Dr Pete and SeanWF for this tool: http://www.tagxedo.com/app.html which let's you make the pretty pictures.

Visualising Directory Links

When quickly scanning a site's backlink profile there's a few different things that I look for more or less straight away. One of those is the split between quality links and umm non-quality links. It's not that the non-quality links don't work (depends how bad they are!) but the quality links are almost always the more interesting ones to analyse. These are the ones you really want to copy from your competitors. If you download an Open Site Explorer report into excel and then create a new column and paste the following formula in:

=IF(IFERROR(FIND("directory",A2),IFERROR(FIND("directory",B2),IFERROR(FIND("Directory",B2),0)))>0,"Y","N")

This formula is a little messy but basically just looks to see if either the URL or page title contains "directory". While this doesn't catch everything I've found that it get's you a long way there very easily. That will then let you create a nice little pie chart like this:

Venn Diagrams

Kelvin recently wrote a very interesting piece on creating venn diagrams between your links and competitor's links that looks a bit like this:

Kelvin has a nice handy video that walks you through how to create these charts (which I think are super management friendly!) over here.

Broken Links

I know this tool has been written about before and it's not technically a visualisation as such, more of a visual representation of your links but I love how quickly you can see which of your links no longer exist using Carter Cole's chrome extension "SEO site tools":

Of course, with yahoo site explorer not hanging around for much longer it's useful that this tool also works with Google Webmaster Tools:

I like this view, especially when I'm looking at a particular page as it gives me an indication of how many actual links might be pointing at the page and how many might have dropped off recently.

SEOmoz Labs

While this tool has been around for ages some of you might not know about it and especially some of you might not know how awesome this is for sales and non-technical people! Our sales team uses these kinds of charts all the time to quickly and easily get an overview comparison of a brand new website that they might be on the phone to:

Get your own one of these over in SEOmoz labs.

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Tomorrow Evening

Good evening,

Tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. EDT, I will address the nation from the Oval Office about the end of the war in Iraq.

We are at a truly historic moment in our nation’s history. After more than seven years, our combat mission in Iraq will end tomorrow.

As both a candidate and President, I promised to bring the war in Iraq to a responsible end. Now, we are taking an important step forward in delivering on that promise. Since I took office, we’ve brought nearly 100,000 U.S. troops home from Iraq, millions of pieces of equipment have been removed, and hundreds of bases have been closed or transferred to Iraqi Security Forces.

Our combat mission in Iraq is ending, but our commitment to an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant continues. As our mission in Iraq changes, 50,000 U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to advise and assist the Iraqi Security Forces as they assume full responsibility for the security of their country on September 1. We will forge a strong partnership with an Iraq that still faces enduring challenges.

For nearly a decade, we have been a nation at war. The war in Iraq has at times divided us. But one thing I think all Americans can agree on is that our brave men and women in uniform are truly America’s finest. They have put their lives on the line and endured long separations from their family and loved ones.

All Americans owe our troops, veterans and military families a debt of gratitude for their outstanding service to our nation. Over the past few days, thousands of Americans have taken part in our Saluting Service in Iraq effort on WhiteHouse.gov, sending their messages of thanks and support to our troops.

Take a minute right now to see what your fellow Americans have to say and add a message of your own:

Supporting our troops and military families is the responsibility of all Americans. My Administration is doing everything in its power to ensure that our troops, veterans and their families have the support they need as they serve, and the care and opportunities they need to realize their dreams when they return home.

I hope you will join me in welcoming our troops home and showing your gratitude for their heroic service.

Sincerely,

President Barack Obama

This email was sent to e0nstar1.blog@gmail.com.
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The White House • 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW • Washington, DC 20500 • 202-456-1111

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Conversion Webinar Recording

Getting traffic is good. Getting sales is better.

Listen to our recorded webinar and learn how to increase your website leads.

Josh Summerhays, Conversion Optimization Manager at SEO.com, discusses:

What is conversion optimization and why should I want it?
Why aren’t your high organic search rankings working as well for you as they should?
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To listen to the recorded webinar, click here.

Seth's Blog : Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

If you want something done, perhaps you would ask a professional to do it. Someone who costs a lot but is worth more than they charge. Someone who shows up even when she doesn't feel like it. Someone who stands behind her work, gets better over time and is quite serious indeed about the transaction.

Or perhaps you could hire a passionate amateur. That's a forum leader doing it for love, not money. An obsessive in love with the craft. A talented person willing to trade income for the chance to do what he loves, with freedom.

Please, though, don't hire someone who just thinks it's a job. This category represents the majority of your options, and this category is what gives work a bad name.

• Email to a friend •

•

Charlie Crist, a Typical Politically Expedient Independent … Clarifying his Position Again on Obamacare

Charlie Crist, a Typical Politically Expedient Independent … Clarifying his Position Again on Obamacare: "

Crist is not an Independent, he is gutless.

Once again so-called independent US Senate candidate from Florida Charlie Crist is looking to clarify his position on Obamacare. What’s the matter, the first two times did not do the trick? Crist is having as much trouble clarifying his position on Obamacare as Barack Obama has had trying to sell the health care scam to the American people.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, running as an independent for the U.S. Senate, sought again to clarify his position on the healthcare overhaul, saying he would have voted against it but does not want a full repeal.

Does Crist really want to be allying himself with Obama in the Sunshine state?

In an interview on CNN, Crist said: “What we need to do is fix it.” Crist is running as an independent in a tough three-way race for the Florida Senate seat against Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) and Marco Rubio (R).

Crist, a Republican until early this year, came under fire last week for telling a Florida television station that he would have voted in favor of the Democratic healthcare bill had he been a sitting senator. He then walked back those comments, saying he “misspoke.”

Crist is proof positive why the American voter should never waste their time and vote for a gutless so-called independent who is merely doing and saying anything that he feels will get him elected. First Crist says that he will only run as a Republican for US Senate, LIAR. That was until he fell so far behind Marco Rubio in the polls. Suddenly, Crist becomes the independent man. Then Crist claims he is for Obamacare, only to backtrack this week and state that he misspoke. Now Crist says that he would not have voted for Obamacare but would not repeal it in full. Interestingly enough, 60% of Americans want Obamacare repealed entirely and 36% are opposed.

Crist also declined to say on CNN which party he would caucus with if elected. Oh really, even though he has hinted that he was open to caucus with democrats. Crist and his lack of transparency to the voters should be a red flag for Republicans and Democrats to never vote for this political opportunist.

“I’m going to go the way that is best for them,” Crist said, referring to Florida voters. “I don’t have to say I’m going to caucus with the Democrats or the Republicans.”

CRIST, YOU GUTLESS POLITICIAN … GET OFF THE FENCE AND MAKE A CHOICE. CRIST IS THE POSTER CHILD FOR POLITICIANS WHO WANT IT ALL WAYS, NEVER MAKE A STAND SO THAT HE THINKS ALL THE VOTERS WILL LIKE HIM.

Presently, Republican Maro Rubio has a 10% point lead over Crist, Rubio (R) 40%, Crist (I) 30%, Meek (D) 21%.

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Billie Jean James Missing For Four Months in Las Vegas, NV Found Under Pile of Garbage in Own Home

Billie Jean James Missing For Four Months in Las Vegas, NV Found Under Pile of Garbage in Own Home: "

File this one under, … Hoarding can be hazardous to your health.

67 year old Billie Jean James had been missing for four months in Las Vegas, Nevada. James had been missing since April 22, 2010 after she vanished from her home near Silverado Ranch and the ‘M’ Resort. Friends and family were offering a $10,000 reward. However, police had no clues and stated that it would be a difficult case to solve.

Well, there was a reason why police had no clues and why no one had seen her leave her home or go off and any direction. Because she never left her home.

“We don’t have anyone that actually saw her leave or go in a certain direction. We just know she was here at home and that she disappeared from her house,” said Sgt. Peter Ferranti.

Since her disappearance, there’s been an outpouring of support from close friends who’ve helped raise a $10,000 reward. They’ve also circulated Billie’s picture across the valley and as far south as Barstow California.

Four nonths after her disappearance Billie Jean James remains were found in her home under a ceiling high pile of garbage. Yes, that is correct … Billie Jean was a hoarder, the house was a complete pig stigh and no one knew including the woman’s husband that she had died in the house and her body was buried under a mountain of trash. Can you only imagine what this house smelled like that the odor or rotting flesh could not be detected? Her body was discovered by her husband when he was cleaning a back room. They clean?

Body of Las Vegas woman found in clutter at home. Can you believe that the police searched the home with search dogs and found nothing. In some cases the garbage was so extensive in the home that it made it impassable even to search dogs.

A four-month search for a missing Las Vegas woman came to a ghastly end this week when her husband found her corpse in their home amid a labyrinth of squalor that had been impassable even to search dogs.

Bill James apparently had no idea that the body of his pack-rat wife, Billie Jean, was under the same roof as he helped police scour the home and the Nevada desert for any sign of her. Then he spotted the feet of the body poking out of a floor-to-ceiling pile of junk Wednesday, revealing in shocking detail the woman’s penchant for hoarding.

Police say they searched the home several times — even using dogs from a unit that helped locate bodies at ground zero after Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. But they were unable to find the body of amid the piles of clothes, knickknacks, trash and other junk.

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duminică, 29 august 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Physicians, Others Chime in on Who's to Blame for Rising Healthcare Costs
Sunday Funnies 2010-08-29 Double Dipping
Email From "Morally Conflicted" One Year Later After Walking Away

Physicians, Others Chime in on Who's to Blame for Rising Healthcare Costs

Posted: 29 Aug 2010 08:23 PM PDT

I received a lot of emails in response to Who's to Blame for Rising Healthcare Costs? Some reader suggestions might save you some money.

Overpaying for Generics

"Dr. P" a front line working family physician for 30 years writes ....

Hello Mish

Thank you for exposing some of the many scams on health care insurance. Here is another example of industry wide ripoffs:

Many generic medications now cost $4.00 for 30 days or $10.00 for 90 days without insurance. Sadly, many mail in companies require patients to pay a $15.00 - 30.00 dollar co-pay for 90 days for the same drugs.

Just this week one of the mail in companies informed a patient of mine that they will be only filling the prescriptions for 30 days and will require a $15.00 co-pay monthly for a medication which is only $4.00 per month.

My patients were surprised when I told them to just go to a local pharmacy and not use their insurance. One patient had 4 medications he was paying more than double for. In the most flagrant example, a patient paid $60.00 per month for his medications that he could get for 90 days for $40.00 if he did not use his employer paid insurance. That is $180 instead of $40!

The insurance company walks away with the money on the back of the patient in all of these instances. I find this way over the top in the ethics department.

To your health,

Dr P.

Drugs from Canada

"CB" writes ...

Hello Mish

Keep up the good fight.

I want to let you know, however, that Americans can buy drugs from Canada - as individuals. No bulk purchasing for resale is allowed, but to get one's own drugs at a big discount (like I do), the place to check out is called Canada Meds. Their phone number is 1 877 542 3330. I save 50%. I pay directly for them, so trying to buy from Canada under an insurance plan might not be possible. I don't know.

The drugs I get from Canada Meds come from other countries, and are usually made in India, but they are the exact same thing and I've been taking them for years now with no ill effects.

CB

I cannot and do not vouch for the above claims nor do I deny them. I simply do not know. Moreover, I do not know if buying drugs from Canada is against any state laws. I did check and I do not see complaints against Canada Meds, so that is a good sign.

Another physician Chimes In

"MB" MD writes ....

Hello Mish

I am a long time reader and have written previously. I am also a physician.

Your post regarding health care costs hits close to home but I think you have missed the real crux of the issue. I will not pretend that I can offer a comprehensive review in a short email. There is more than enough blame to go around. Who shares the blame? Insurers, the Congressmen they've bought and the Americans who can look only at the fact that they can get mostly free care (Medicare and Medicaid recipients, government employees and a decreasing number of lucky beneficiaries of large corporate policies) and many of my peers who are paid per service regardless of need, benefit or outcome.

One need only look at the enormous amount of waste in the system in regards to gross and repeated over-testing to no patient benefit. I could write pages about over-testing.

I have a little aphorism that I believe sums up the failure of American health care: 30% of health care delivered was never necessary and 30% of necessary health care is never delivered.

"MB"

Cost of Illegal Aliens

"JC" writes ...

I know a nurse in a major metro area and she deals with the illegal immigrants flooding into her hospital emergency room every day. They come with their diagnosis in hand from the country they left. Major metro hospitals are magnates for illegal aliens coming to the US for free medical treatments.

In my post of who is to blame I came up with this list.

So Who's To Blame?
Obama
Congressional Republicans
Democrats
Insurers
Public Unions
State Government

President Obama just wanted a bill. He did not really give a damn what was in it, as long as it did not upset public unions. Moreover, Obama sold the youth vote right down the river. There is nothing but pain for them.

Public unions do not give a damn about healthcare costs because they and their families pay next to nothing with deductibles that are next to nothing. Taxpayers pick up the cost.

Democrats also did not want to upset the unions.

Republicans refused to allow competition between states or cheaper drugs coming in from Canada.

State governments pander to unions and also act to restrict competition.

The insurers bribed both parties to get what they wanted out of the legislation.

Other Notables

Lobbyists for pharmaceutical companies, lobbyists for insurers, lobbyists for lawyers so tort reform is not passed, etc.
Local Governments for pandering to unions.
Fear Mongers who talk of "death squads" every time a discussion comes up regarding health care rationing.
Organized religion for fighting to keep brain-dead zombie patients alive at enormous expense. A nurse friend of mine told me how hard it is to "pull the plug".
The public at large for obesity, poor eating habits, smoking, etc.

Case for Rationing

At some point the system just has to say no. Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to extend someone's life by three months is simply not rational. Nor is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars when the odds of success are slim. Yet every time the discussion comes up, political hacks start screaming about "death squads".

Other than the public at large, everyone has a vested interest in not fixing the system. It is pretty tough to get reform when nearly every major industry group is against anything and everything that is likely to do any good.

If additional comments come in, worthy of posting, I will add an addendum.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Sunday Funnies 2010-08-29 Double Dipping

Posted: 29 Aug 2010 12:05 PM PDT

Here is a funny clip from Seinfeld on double dipping. Embedding disabled.

What We Call The News - Jib Jab

In case you missed it, please take a look at Nonsense from NBER on Odds of Double-Dip.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

Email From "Morally Conflicted" One Year Later After Walking Away

Posted: 29 Aug 2010 01:57 AM PDT

Slightly over one year ago, I received an email from "Morally Conflicted in Arizona" who at the time was considering "Walking Away". I responded to his email on August 18, 2009 in Bright Side of Falling Home Prices

It turns out "Morally Conflicted" did indeed walk away. Here is a followup email I received a few days ago, about his experience.

End of the Line

"Morally Conflicted" writes ...

Hello Mish,

It's been over a year since I asked for your opinion about how long it would take for the housing market to "recover," which was about the same time that I stopped paying my mortgage and decided to walk away.

Well, the game is finally over. I moved out last week, and the trustee's sale occurred last Thursday.

After thinking repeatedly about it recently, the end results look something like this:

After purchasing the house in 2005 for about $740K with only $40K down, if you count my mortgage payments as "rent," in a sense, I recovered my down payment over the past year by living "rent" free over the past year.

The current value of the house is most likely around $400K. Thus, I was able to "get out from under" a $300K loss by walking away.

After a bit of looking over the past couple of months, found a two-bedroom house I can rent for $1200/month. The rental is in Scottsdale, just a few miles from my old house. It's definitely smaller and not as nice, but it's more than adequate.

Given my new rent payment, I am estimating that I will be saving at least $1500/month by renting the new house vs. staying in the old house, even with a modified payment (and yes, I am accounting for the tax break on my old property.

Therefore, as things currently stand, I believe I will "save" $150K over the next 100 months - assuming of course that my rent doesn't change and/or I don't move again.

Thus, I believe I can conservatively estimate that my decision to walk on the house will essentially increase my net worth by approximately $300K over the next 100 months had I struggled in the existing loan. Moreover, that assumes the old house increases in value in that timeframe. If not, the number may be more like $450K.

On top of everything, just this week, I was contacted by the real estate agency that will be selling the house for the new owner (i.e., the bank - it looks like they bought the house "from themselves" at the trustee's sale), and I am being offered $2500 to leave the appliances, etc., in the old house.

The only real downside I see at this point is that my credit is shot. I guess I'll have a foreclosure on my "record" for the rest of my life.

However, the irony is that if there has ever been a time in my life when I do not want to borrow any money for anything, it is now.

I'm not trying to make light of the situation. This is not something that I'm proud of. However, it does feel good to have it over with, and looking at the math, it really seems like the right thing to do. Sure, I "could" have been paying my mortgage over the past year, but given the hit my income took last year and the first part of this year, I would essentially be living paycheck to paycheck right now.

As always, I appreciate your work. Please keep it up.

Thank you,
Morally Conflicted in AZ

P.S. I did consult with an attorney before making the final decision to walk away.

Glad I could Help

Thanks "Morally Conflicted" I am glad I could help.

For more on the morals and ethics of "Walking Away" please see

Seek Legal Counsel

That "P.S." line above regarding consulting an attorney is very important. I did advise"Morally Conflicted" to do just that.

For more on the needs to seek proper legal advice, please see ...

There are many potential snags to consider if you go it alone. Don't do it!

Walking Away Goes Mainstream

The moral stigma regarding "Walking Away" is now pretty much gone. That it ever existed in the first place is quite hypocritical.

Henry Blodget and Aaron Task discuss the hypocrisy a few days ago in It's Okay To Walk Away: Let's End The "Morality" Double-Standard On Mortgage Defaults

I was way out in front of this issue, almost two years ago.

If "Walking Away" is in your best financial interest, there is nothing wrong with doing just that.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
Click Here To Scroll Thru My Recent Post List

luni, 30 august 2010

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

Which Are My Top Folders

Creating Geo Link Maps

Pretty Tag clouds

Visualising Directory Links

Venn Diagrams

Broken Links

SEOmoz Labs

Tomorrow Evening

Turn Your Website Traffic Into Customers: Listen to our Recorded Webinar

Conversion Webinar Recording

Seth's Blog : Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

Professionals, amateurs and the great unwashed

More Recent Articles

Charlie Crist, a Typical Politically Expedient Independent … Clarifying his Position Again on Obamacare

Billie Jean James Missing For Four Months in Las Vegas, NV Found Under Pile of Garbage in Own Home

duminică, 29 august 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

luni, 30 august 2010

Which Are My Top Folders

Creating Geo Link Maps

Pretty Tag clouds

Visualising Directory Links

Venn Diagrams

Broken Links

SEOmoz Labs

More Recent Articles

duminică, 29 august 2010

Pagini

Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

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