miercuri, 6 octombrie 2010

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog


6 Technical SEO Strategy Tips for Better Traffic and Rankings [Site Architecture]

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 01:57 PM PDT

Posted by richardbaxterseo

If you think about it, search engines are more or less constantly driving us SEO people to keep our technical SEO strategy in a state of constant refinement. This “evolution” of the marketing environment we thrive in is a great thing, it challenges us to come up with new ways to improve our traffic generating capabilities, user experience and the overall agility of our websites.

Here are a few ideas (6, to be exact) based on issues I’ve encountered in QA or on our recent client work that I hope will provide a little food for thought the next time you’re planning SEO enhancements to your site.

1)      Leverage UGC (review content) beyond the product page

UGC is brilliant, particularly on product, content thin or affiliate sites. Making it easy for users to leave a review is powerful stuff, but are you making the most of your precious user generated comments? Consider this scenario. So many users leave product reviews on your pages that you decide to limit the number of reviews visible for that product. You could cherry pick some UGC for category listings pages, adding to the uniqueness of those otherwise content-thin pages too.

the power of UGC

2)      Use “other users found this document for”

I know Tom loves this trick, and rightly so. You can turn insightful recent searches data into valuable on-page uniqueness. Internal search and external referrals are great, but how about extending the process to make it easy for users to evaluate, extend, tag or remove terms they feel are irrelevant to the page?

This simple example shows how users of a forum site may have found that thread. I think there’s a whole lot more you can do with this trick, but it’s a start:

users found this page for these keywords

3)      Consider delivering search engine friendly URLs in your internal site search results

I know how “out there” this might initially sound, but why settle for search engine unfriendly URLs on your internal site search pages? I have seen lots of examples of links being awarded to unfriendly, internal site search URLS. Why do we spend so much time carefully crafting our external URLs, only to completely forget our internal search URLs? A little extra development work to apply a meaningful pattern to your search result page URLs today could lead to the construction of an entirely new content type down the line.

Look at how folks are linking to these search query pages, and note the first example (where instead of a URL rewrite, this site is using breadcrumbs to make their ranking page URL appear more friendly):

interesting search results pages with links

4)      Microformats are really gaining traction – be creative with them

What we’ve found with Microformats is that webmasters tend to apply the markup to web pages hosting the content, but  that’s where they stop. Imagine you have a website that sells tickets. Do you add hCalendar to your event page and walk away? No! You can nest other Microformats such as hProduct and hReview, and syndicate your formatted data to other internal pages, snippets on your homepage and category pages. Any mention of an event, a link to a product or a review snippet should use the appropriate mark-up, consistently across your website.

5)      Work hard to resolve errors and improve site speed

Think about how Google have placed site performance at the top of their agenda. I genuinely believe that a site riddled with performance issues and errors is tolerated less today by search engines than ever before. Websites with platform issues can raise serious problems for SEO, users, conversion and repeat visits. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools (including SEOmoz Pro, IIS Toolkit, Pingdom Tools and Webmaster Tools from Bing and Google) to help you identify and tackle these issues head on. Go and set aside some performance maintenance time, if you haven’t done for a while.

6)      Watch your homepage title in Google’s SERPs

Google can be pretty aggressive when it comes to choosing the most appropriate text to appear in your title snippets. Sometimes, you might disagree with Google's choice! Our tests so far indicate that the NOODP meta tag (used to prevent Google using the DMOZ description from displaying in your SERPS) can prevent Google from doing this, even if you have no DMOZ listing.

From this;

Without ODP

To this:

better title display in serps

That “penny drop” moment when a new technical SEO strategy idea presents itself has to be my favourite part of SEO work. I'm glad that technical strategy has to evolve as search engines develop. I really can't see a time in the near future when that will change.

If you’d like to hear more tips, I’ll be speaking at next week’s A4Uexpo in London on exactly this topic. If you’re there, be sure to drop by and say hello. My buddy Dave Naylor will be introducing me (I have no idea what he’s going to say) and hopefully there’s going to be some time to do a preview of the session over on his blog soon.


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Michael Gray - Graywolf's SEO Blog

Michael Gray - Graywolf's SEO Blog


Shoeboxed.com Review – Receipt Scanning & Business Card Scanning

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 08:09 AM PDT

Post image for Shoeboxed.com Review – Receipt Scanning & Business Card Scanning

The following is a review of Shoeboxed.com, a receipt scanning and business card scanning service.

receipt scanning and business card scanning … organized online … and it’s completely painless …
To be honest keeping receipts, accounting, or any book keeping work is pretty much something I hate. I can’t tell you how many times I’d be talking with the accountant, she’d ask for some receipt I wouldn’t have, and I’d have to go digging for it. I was talking with my friend Merrick at PRLeap earlier this year, and he mentioned a service he was using to scan receipts and then organize the receipts online. I gave it a try and liked the service and eventually got around to writing up this review.

Here’s the way Shoeboxed works: they send you two envelopes in the mail, you put your receipts in the envelopes, and you send them to Shoeboxed. About a week or so later you get an email. Your scanned receipts are now organized and available online.  They are organized/broken down by store, purchase category, and credit card. Need a copy of a receipt? No problem. Just log in, search by the amount, and you can print out a copy on the spot.

One of the best things about about Shoeboxed is that it’s painless to use. I just put my receipts in the envelope every day and mail it in at the end of the month. I also have a rule in my inbox that forwards incoming receipts to a secret email address and it goes right into my account. I can also use my iphone to take a picture of a bill and email it in … in a few seconds, my receipts are organized online.

They have a few different plan options. If you are only going to use an iphone, it’s free. If you want to mail in receipts, it starts at $9.95 and goes up to 49.95 a month. The more receipts you need to send the higher the cost. If you want the physical copies back you’ll need to be at the “classic level” or $19.95 a month (that’s what I use).

Two of the other services that they offer are business card scanning and document scanning. Include  important documents and business cards in your envelope and they are scanned and in your account. It’s all pretty painless.

While this is a great service there are some questions you should be asking yourself. I contacted Shoeboxed and spoke with Sonny Byrd who was actually happy to answer these questions:

I’m sending you a lot of confidential information such as complete name, address, social security number, credit card numbers and so on. What sort of precautions are you taking to make sure my information isn’t used inappropriately, or that I don’t become a victim of of identity theft.

This is not actually quite accurate. Receipts by law cannot contain credit card numbers (other than the last four digits which is not a confidentiality threat) or social security numbers. Receipts do not contain addresses other than that of the vendor. Bills, invoices, and statements may have more detailed personal information, and fortunately we are completely equipped to protect our users from data loss or theft. We use the exact same SSL encryption practices as online banks and medical information providers. We are also a TrustE certified site. We protect your physical hard copy documents very intensely when they are in our possession. Our state-of-the-art operations facility is tightly held under lock and key including 24/7 video surveillance and secure key card access. All of our employees are rigorously trained and vetted including undergoing full criminal background checks. We are proud to have a long track record of keeping our users’ data secure and will continue to do so.

What are some tips you can give people to make sure they are getting the most out your service?

Be sure that you keep up with your usage! It’s easy to send in an envelope or two, or use Shoeboxed Mobile for a couple of business trips, then let your paper clutter go back into disarray. Just be diligent with your usage, and be sure to keep the submissions coming into your Shoeboxed account. That way you’ll always be safe and sound for your taxes, bookkeeping, and in case of IRS audit.

Every company has customers who find uses for their products they never would have thought of. Have you had that happen yet, and can you share it with us.

Sure! While Shoeboxed is known for processing receipts and business cards, you can actually send virtually any paper document in to us for processing to your account. This opens us up to receiving a lot of very unusual things. We have had users sending photographs to us, mathematical papers, and have even received the occasional sock!

Thanks Sonny.

I’ve been a Shoeboxed customer since March and love the service. For $20 a month I get receipt scanning, receipt organizing, business card scanning and document scanning, with almost zero extra effort. I can 100% recommend them as a service I use. You can give them a try with a free introduction. I think you’ll find it’s an extremely helpful service that lets you get on with the more important tasks in your life.
Creative Commons License photo credit: Carly & Art

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis WordPress Theme review.

Shoeboxed.com Review – Receipt Scanning & Business Card Scanning

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Daily Snapshot: Conspicuous Gallantry

The White House Your Daily Snapshot for
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
 

Photo of the Day

Photo of the Day

President Barack Obama greets Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Apostolic Nuncio, during the Diplomatic Corps reception in the Blue Room of the White House, Oct. 5, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Today's Schedule

Today, the President will award Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry.  Staff Sergeant Miller will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in Afghanistan on January 25, 2008.  He displayed immeasurable courage and uncommon valor - eventually sacrificing his own life to save the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers. Staff Sergeant Miller’s parents, Phil and Maureen Miller, will join the President at the White House to commemorate their son’s selfless service and sacrifice.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time

11:15 AM: The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

11:30 AM: The Vice President chairs a regular meeting of senior officials to assess progress in Iraq

11:45 AM: The President receives the Economic Daily Briefing

12:30 PM: The President and the Vice President have lunch

1:45 PM: The President awards Staff Sergeant Robert J. Miller, U.S. Army, the Medal of Honor; the Vice President and the First Lady also attend WhiteHouse.gov/live

3:00 PM: The President meets with senior advisors

4:25 PM: The President departs the White House en route Andrews Air Force Base

4:40 PM: The President departs Andrews Air Force Base en route Newark, New Jersey

5:30 PM: The President arrives in Newark, New Jersey

6:00 PM: The President attends a DNC dinner

7:45 PM: The President departs Newark, New Jersey en route Andrews Air Force Base

8:35 PM: The President arrives at Andrews Air Force Base

8:50 PM: The President arrives at the White House

WhiteHouse.gov/live  Indicates Events that will be livestreamed on WhiteHouse.gov/live.

In Case You Missed It

Here are some of the top stories from the White House blog

Commitment to Lead: Solar on the White House
At the first annual GreenGov Symposium, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley announce plans to install solar panels on the roof of the White House Residence.

Community Colleges: “America’s Best Kept Secret”
President Obama and Dr. Jill Biden speak at the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges.

An Awe-Inspiring Chapter of America's History
The President signs legislation to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II.

Get Updates

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Seth's Blog : Next!

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

Next!

The assembly-line mindset is a natural defense mechanism for the work we're asked to do all day.

One more form to fill out. Six more articles to write. Yet another soundcheck for yet another band playing at the venue where you work. You know there were hundreds before, there's one now, and there will be another soon, perhaps in just a few minutes.

So you sit down to remaster a classic album and you can't help but phone it in. There's another around the corner. You sit down to write another blog post and perhaps you cut yourself a little slack, because another one is due soon. This sales call? Don't worry so much, the call list is endless...

Next!

You might have already guessed the problems (there are at least two.) The first is that this is no way to do your work, your art, your chosen craft. Averaging the work down, achieving the least, getting it done--that's no way to spend your day. You deserve more than that.

The other problem is that you have competition. And for them, perhaps even this time, it's not just another in a long line of tasks. It's the one. The one that matters. The competition will bring more to the table than you do, and you suffer.

Perhaps the alternative is instead of thinking, "next!", we can think, "last!"

This might be the last time I get to do this.

If I do it that way, it increases the chances that it won't.

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marți, 5 octombrie 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Global Competitive Debasement; Currency Wars Begin; Message of Gold

Posted: 05 Oct 2010 04:37 PM PDT

The Bank of Japan is leading the way to new measures of stimulus insanity with a plan to buy a wide variety of assets including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and asset backed commercial paper (ABCP).

Please consider Factbox: BOJ to set up fund to buy JGBs, corporate debt
The Bank of Japan on Tuesday decided to set up, as a temporary measure, a 5 trillion yen ($59.9 billion) pool of funds to buy assets ranging from government bonds to corporate bonds.

Following are key points about the new measure:

-- The programme will consist of a fund totaling 5 trillion yen to buy assets anew as well as the existing 30-trillion-yen fixed-rate fund-supply tool that will hold designated assets as collateral.

-- The programme is a temporary measure aimed at encouraging declines in long-term interest rates and risk premiums.

-- The fund is designed to cover Japanese government bonds, treasury bills, commercial paper (CP), asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), corporate bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and Japanese real estate investment trusts (J-REITs).

-- The BOJ will not apply its self-imposed ceiling on its outright JGB buying to the JGBs to be purchased with the new fund.

-- The BOJ will aim to bring the balance of assets purchased using the new fund to 5 trillion yen in one year, with about 3.5 trillion yen assigned for JGBs and treasury bills and about one trillion yen for CP, ABCP and corporate bonds.
What About Paintings and Shellfish?

Why not paintings, equities, and shellfish? Given enough time, perhaps it comes to that.

Meanwhile, I am pleased to report that the global recovery has gained so much traction that numerous countries feel obliged to join the US/Japan sponsored stimulus party.

Global Competitive Debasement

Bloomberg reports BOJ May Have Acted First in Renewed Round of Action

The unexpected decision by the Japanese central bank yesterday to drop its interest rate to "virtually zero" and expand its balance sheet follows the U.S. Federal Reserve's move toward more unconventional easing. Bank of England officials will consider further stimulus tomorrow, while the central banks of Australia, Canada and New Zealand are among those now holding fire on further interest-rate increases.

The renewed push for easier monetary policy comes as the International Monetary Fund warns growth in advanced economies is falling short of its forecasts ahead of its annual meetings in Washington this week. The dilemma for policy makers is that their actions may do little to revive growth and end up roiling currency markets.

Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa may not be alone for long in taking action and Daiwa Institute of Research argues he's now engaged in a "vicious spiral" of monetary easing with the Fed as both compete to bolster their economies.

"The irony is that the Fed is creating all this liquidity with the hope that it will revive the U.S. economy. It is doing nothing for the U.S. economy and causing chaos for the rest of the world," Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning professor at New York's Columbia University, said today in New York.

The ECB will be forced to postpone tighter policy as European exports fade and investors continue to fret about peripheral euro-area economies such as Portugal and Ireland, said Silvio Peruzzo, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Inc. in London.

"The ECB's exit strategy is fully on, but the business cycle will turn against them," said Peruzzo. "The communication will then be adjusted to consider downside risks greater than what they have anticipated."

The ECB last week stepped up its government bond purchases as the cost of insuring against default on Portuguese government debt surged to a record and Irish bond spreads soared to euro- era highs.

Another risk is that the use of unconventional monetary policy is viewed as an effort to weaken currencies to boost exports, rising competitive devaluations and protectionist responses, said Eric Chaney, chief economist at AXA Group in Paris. Japan, Switzerland and Brazil are among the countries that have already intervened in markets to restrain their exchange rates.

"This is close to a currency war," said Chaney, a former official at the French France Ministry. "It's not through exchange-rate manipulation, but through monetary policies."
Currency Wars

This is not "close to a currency war" this IS a currency war.

While I have had numerous differences of opinion with Joseph Stiglitz, he is absolutely correct when he says "The irony is that the Fed is creating all this liquidity with the hope that it will revive the U.S. economy. It is doing nothing for the U.S. economy and causing chaos for the rest of the world."

Moreover what Stiglitz says about Bernanke and the Fed, applies equally to the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, and the central banks of Canada and Australia as well.

Message of Gold

The competitive currency debasement can be seen in the price of gold and silver.

None of these central bank measures are doing a damn thing for the real economy (in the US or anywhere else), but it sure has ignited a fire in gold and silver.

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


Bernanke says Lawmakers Should Consider Rules on Fiscal Limits; Expect Hissy Fit from Krugman; Bernanke Pisses in the Wind

Posted: 04 Oct 2010 11:25 PM PDT

Proving that he far more of a Monetarist clown than a Keynesian clown, Bernanke Calls on Lawmakers to Consider Rules on Fiscal Limits
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke called on U.S. lawmakers to consider rules limiting federal spending, annual deficits or accumulated debt to curtail the risk of a fiscal crisis.

"Well-designed rules can help promote improved fiscal performance," Bernanke said today in a speech in Providence, Rhode Island. A rule "could provide an important signal to the public that the Congress is serious about achieving long-term fiscal sustainability, which itself would be good for confidence," he said.

Bernanke provided one of his most detailed prescriptions yet for reducing the record federal budget deficit. He said in congressional testimony in June that unless the U.S. makes a "strong commitment to fiscal responsibility," the country in the long run will have neither economic growth nor fiscal stability.

"It is crucially important that we put U.S. fiscal policy on a sustainable path," Bernanke said at the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council's annual dinner, where he was invited to speak by Senator Jack Reed, a Democrat from Rhode Island and member of the banking committee.

"The only real question" is whether adjustments to taxes and spending will come from a "careful and deliberative process" or from a "rapid and painful response to a looming or actual fiscal crisis," Bernanke said.

Bernanke cited Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands, Canada and Chile as countries that improved their budgetary performance by using fiscal rules. He didn't elaborate on what kinds of spending, deficit or debt limits would be best.

"I do think that the additional purchases -- although we don't have precise numbers for how big the effects are -- I do think they have the ability to ease financial conditions," Bernanke told the students.
Fiscal Sustainability and Fiscal Rules

The above excerpts are from a speech Bernanke gave at the Annual Meeting of the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council, Providence, Rhode Island.

The speech was on Fiscal Sustainability and Fiscal Rules

Expect Hissy Fit From Krugman

Paul Krugman, flag bearer for the Keynesian clowns, is without a doubt having a hissy fit at the thought of any step, no matter how small, regarding Bernanke's statement "It is crucially important that we put U.S. fiscal policy on a sustainable path."

Krugman might object to that characterization, by claiming he is all in favor of fiscal prudence, but only after Keynesian stimulus leads to a full recovery.

The reality is Keynesian clowns in Congress and Monetarist clowns at the Fed have both wrecked the economy to a point that severe pain is not avoidable. Indeed, the unemployment rate and bank lending both say the economy is following a path of severe pain.

Monetarist Nonsense

Bernanke claims Quantitative Easing will "ease financial conditions." Forgive me for asking the obvious, but what the hell needs easing?

Mortgage rates are at all time lows in spite of the fact that housing itself is in the gutter and risk of default is high, junk bonds are back to par, and the ability for corporations to get financing for total garbage is at or near historic highs.

If anything, Bernanke has ignited a bubble in junk bonds. The one thing Bernanke has not done is ignite bank lending.

Bernanke Pisses In Wind

The problem Bernanke faces is low rates will not stimulate bank lending. I discussed why at great length in QE Engine Revs, Car Goes Nowhere.
The economy is stuck in neutral so stepping on the QE gas pedal is highly unlikely to accomplish much except increase the noise level. Yet, the philosophy at the Fed seems to be, if gas doesn't work, give the engine more gas.

Providing unneeded liquidity may or may not help asset prices (please see Sure Thing?! for a discussion) but if quantitative easing helped the real economy, at some point yields would stop falling.

Clearly the Fed has no clue as to what to do, but it wants to "do something". The only thing the Fed can think of doing (or is willing to do) is have another round of quantitative easing, so the Fed eases whether it makes any sense or not.

The simple fact of the matter is increased borrowing power or lower interest will not cause business businesses to expand. I have discussed this point at length in


Here are a few charts from NFIB Small Business Trends for September.

Prices Received



Actual Price Changes



Single Most Important Problem



The single most important problem is lack of customers. Access to credit is not even on the list. Small businesses don't want loans because they don't have any customers and prices they receive are falling like a rock.

This is deflation in action, and it is crucifying small businesses.

Floods Everywhere

The response from the Fed is to provide more liquidity. Hell, water is everywhere already. The action in corporate bonds alone proves it. Some think that liquidity will continue to flow into equities.

However, with junk bonds already at parity, it seems to me that gold and treasuries are a better bet.

Regardless, please note how Bernanke's policies have robbed those living on fixed income, now earning 0% on their savings.
Yet, here we go again, with another round of QE, another round that cannot possibly do anything positive for the real economy, but try we must because Bernanke does not want to appear like the powerless charlatan that he is.

Bernanke now attempts to distance himself from the Keynesian clowns, secure in the knowledge that Congress is highly unlikely to show any real prudence.

Calculated Risk Blasts Bernanke

It is very rare to see Calculated Risk take a hard swipe at anyone, let alone the Fed, but Bernanke managed to cross the line.

Please consider Calculated Risk's post Bernanke breaks promise, discusses fiscal issues
This speech isn't worth reading for substance (Ben Bernanke is clueless on budget issues), but it reveals something about Bernanke.

Bernanke never mentioned "PAYGO" when he was head of the Council of Economic Advisors in 2005. In fact Bernanke barely mentioned the deficit in 2005 - except in postive terms - even though the structural deficit was in place and the cyclical deficit was coming (because of the housing bubble).

Today he said:

Our fiscal challenges are especially daunting because they are mostly the product of powerful underlying trends, not short-term or temporary factors. Two of the most important driving forces are the aging of the U.S. population, the pace of which will intensify over the next couple of decades as the baby-boom generation retires, and rapidly rising health-care costs.

Weren't the baby boomers going to get older in 2005? Oh my ...

This is an issue that 1) is outside of Bernanke's area of responsibility, 2) he has promised not to discuss, and 3) he has zero credibility on. Enough said.
No Credibility on Anything

While Calculated Risk points out Bernanke has no credibility on fiscal issues, I point out that Bernanke has no credibility on anything.

Bernanke certainly did not see the housing bubble, he did not think the unemployment rate would get above 8.5%, he did not see a credit collapse, he never admitted the Fed's role in this mess, and he calls himself a student of the great depression but does not have a clue as to why it happened. I could go on, but I won't.

Instead I will point out that he is diving into fiscal issues when he said he wouldn't. That makes him a liar as well.

The irony in Bernanke's speech is that Congress really does need limits on spending.

The correct place to start would be a balanced budget amendment. That would stop needless warmongering and other stupidities like bank bailouts right up front before they even started.

Why Now?

In regards to Bernanke's new-found fiscal conservativeness, Calculated Risk asks "I wonder why? Well, he missed the housing bubble completely - but what about the structural deficit?"

The answer should be pretty easy to spot.

Bernanke, knows full well Congress is unlikely to act in any meaningful way. When they don't, and when a global currency crisis is well underway, Bernanke will point his finger and blame Congress.

Thus, Bernanke's statements are not about fiscal prudence, but rather all about absolving the Fed in general, and Bernanke in particular for the upcoming global financial collapse.

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