marți, 8 noiembrie 2011

Damn Cool Pics

Damn Cool Pics


Tree Tunnel, Ukraine

Posted: 08 Nov 2011 01:45 PM PST

This beautiful train tree tunnel is located in Kleven, Ukraine. It's called the Tunnel of Love.

Photo by Oleg Gordienko, original caption by the photographer is Green Mile.


Buying a Car Via Classifieds [infographic]

Posted: 08 Nov 2011 01:04 PM PST



These days there are many ways that you can buy your next vehicle, but have you ever thought about buying one through a classifieds ad? Buying a car through classifieds is a bit different than going to a car dealership, so there are different steps that you should take when considering this route. We have put together some tips for you to keep in mind when buying a car through classifieds.

Click on Image to Enlarge.

Source: ebayclassifieds


French Bulldog And NYPD Horse Become Friends

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 09:11 PM PST



Enjoy this adorable video of a French bulldog in a sweater becoming fast friends with a police horse on Wall Street? As the videographer notes the scene makes "a nice contrast to the perception everyone has of the NYPD in the area due to the Occupy Wall Street camp nearby." If there is one thing that can bring people together, it is the power of the cute.


4 Graphics to Help Illustrate On-Page SEO

4 Graphics to Help Illustrate On-Page SEO


4 Graphics to Help Illustrate On-Page SEO

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 03:11 PM PST

Posted by randfish

For many SEO professionals, on-page optimization is back to basics. But sadly, there seem to be a lot of us who still make some very basic mistakes. In this post, I'll try to add on to my previous writing on perfecting on-page optimization by sharing some visuals that can hopefully help to hammer key points of the practice home.

#1: The Value of Optimization and the Danger of Overdoing It

I generally abide by the 80/20 rule when it comes to keyword use. 80% of the value to be had comes from 20% of the effort. Nail the title, the headline and make sure the phrase is on the page (and the page is actually on the subject of the keyword) and you've done your job. The additional impact on rankings to be gained from perfectly calculating the number of repetitions or ensuring every paragraph fits into the "theme" of the keyword and document is likely to be a waste of time better spent on other priorities. That's what this graph tries to illustrate:

Value of Keyword Use

Nothing in the on-page world is going to provide exceptional ranking influence, but getting perfect is often only marginally better than just nailing the title and headline. If you're spending a ton of bandwidth on the last 80% of work (providing 20% of value), I might re-consider your to-do list.

#2: On-Page SEO is More than Keywords

 When I first got into SEO in the early 2000's, the search engines seemed to have a fairly naive algorithm for content analysis, which led to SEOs adopting equally naive tactics for on-page optimization. Years later, these tendencies, sadly, still persist.

Yes, it's essential to effectively target your keywords in your page titles, headlines (or early in the body copy), URLs, etc. But content analysis has become far more sophisticated with engines "reading" pages almost the way humans do and pattern-matching good content, design, layout and usability. There may even be some elements of on-page analysis that look at the authenticity and passion of the written word (or something that approximates it).

In the graphics below, I've tried to illustrate this: 

View of On-Page SEO

I'm not suggesting one shouldn't optimize for keywords or that using terms and phrases that stay relevant and on-topic won't help. I'm merely noting that optimizing for the experience real, human users have and the value they derive from your work can produce outsized returns to simple, classic on-page optimization.

#3: How Search Engines Can Measure a Page's Value

This one's less of an illustration and more of a text-based diagram. I wanted to help explain all the signals Google can measure from their many sources of information, and how this can potentially affect SEO:

Some of Google's Data Sources and the Information They Extract

Google's tremendous reach across the Internet, measuring nearly everything and every way people interact with web pages brings with it powerful data. That data is likely used to improve the quality of search results by helping the stuff that appears authentic, editorial and high quality to rise up while the junk falls to the bottom (at least when the data+algorithms work properly).

For on-page optimization, this means we can't merely focus on keyword targeting. We need truly great content.

#4: Consolidation vs. Multi-Page Targeting

The question of whether to target two keyword terms/phrases on the same page or build individual pages for each seems to be a consistent struggle for SEOs. I field a question like this almost every week, and in 9/10 cases, the following flowchart would provide the right answer:

Splitting Keyword-Targeted URLs

It's not complex - and that's the beauty. When targeting similar phrases or phrases that can work together and target the same intent for most users, a single page should suffice. When the phrases cannot logically work together in a title/headline or when the intents don't have a high liklihood for overlap, it's time to build different pages and target the keywords separately. 


Feel free to use these in your presentations, websites and internal/client documents (though a source credit is much appreciated). And best of luck with your keyword targeting + on-page efforts!


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Our Children Deserve a Head Start

The White House Your Daily Snapshot for
Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011
 

Our Children Deserve a Head Start

Today President Obama is announcing important new steps to improve Head Start services, which will give more young children the same basic opportunities that we all want for our kids.

These changes will increase quality and add unprecedented accountability to Head Start, which helps from low-income families achieve their full potential by providing comprehensive child care services. Our children deserve opportunity and we can’t wait for Congress.

Be sure to watch the President's remarks on WhiteHouse.gov/Live at 11:45 a.m. EST.

Photo of the Day

President Barack Obama greets representatives from leading veterans’ service organizations in the Oval Office before delivering remarks on the American Jobs Act in the Rose Garden, Nov. 7, 2011. The President spoke about about tax credits included in the American Jobs Act and new executive actions that will help get veterans back to work. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) 

In Case You Missed It

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

How To Use the Veteran's Job Bank
The new tool launched today by the Obama Administration makes it easy for veterans to find career opportunities with just a few clicks.

How the Recovery Act Lifted Millions from Poverty
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities released a new report based on new data from the Census Bureau which found that provisions passed as part of the Recovery Act directly lifted nearly 7 million Americans out of poverty in 2010 and reduced poverty for 32 million more.

Open Innovation for Heroes – Introducing the Veterans Job Bank
Today, the Obama Administration launched the Veterans Job Bank, a new search tool designed to help connect veterans with employers.

Today's Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EST).

9:50 AM: The President departs the South Lawn en route Joint Base Andrews

10:05 AM: The President departs Joint Base Andrews en route Philadelphia, PA

10:50 AM: The President arrives Philadelphia, PA

11:20 AM: The President tours a classroom

11:45 AM: The President delivers remarks WhiteHouse.gov/live

12:35 PM: The President departs Philadelphia, PA en route Joint Base Andrews

1:20 PM: The President arrives Joint Base Andrews

1:35 PM: The President arrives at the White House

 

WhiteHouse.gov/live Indicates events that will be live streamed on WhiteHouse.gov/Live

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SEOptimise

SEOptimise


SearchLove 2011: Top Trends

Posted: 07 Nov 2011 02:46 AM PST

Ok so the "Top 20,001 takeaways" type posts have already been done, so I wanted to make this more of a general view of the themes emerging from this year's SearchLove conference. I suspect that summarising general trends in what was discussed might be a pretty good reflection of where the SEO industry is now and where it's heading.

I'll start off by saying that I enjoyed SearchLove a whole lot more than the other SEO conferences I've been to, and not just because of the great food and excellent Monday night party! I felt there was a great deal of enthusiasm among those present, and I came away from the conference feeling inspired and eager to try out the new ideas I heard.

The word "awesome" is being used a lot at this conference. Just saying. #searchlove
@RachelsWritings
Rachel McCombie

So, in no particular order, here are some of the main themes emerging from SearchLove this year…

Good content is more important now than ever before
In the light of several iterations of the Panda update, it came as little surprise to hear the importance of great content emphasised by a number of speakers, with Tom Critchlow even advocating the role of 'Chief Content Officer' to manage content strategy effectively. Having a strong content strategy in place, he argued, turbo charges your SEO efforts. Low-quality content harms the whole site – whether it's bad writing (couldn't agree more with this one!), too many ads or duplicate content.

Giving your users a great experience
The first session of the conference was Rand Fishkin speaking about developing online communities. For a community to be successful, he argued, it has to benefit the users way more than it benefits you. So why is it worth your while? Because users can build your content and do your SEO for you (forums are particularly good for long-tail optimisation). The importance of giving your users a great experience applies to your website as a whole, of course (not just the community element), a point also covered by Richard Baxter's talk on 'gamification' (below).

'Gamification' – or the art of getting people to do what you want
I wondered at the time whether I was the only one who hadn't ever heard this term before, but by the end of the conference it seemed felt normal, as it was referred to a lot. Richard Baxter gave a very interesting talk on it, looking at how you can reward your users for learning more about your brand by using elements such as leaderboards, points systems and other competitive elements usually found in games. You can apply this to a wide range of things to help you achieve your business goals, whether it's completing a profile or generating reviews. The upshot is that people are motivated by status, and you can use this to encourage people to take the actions you want them to.

Building online and real-life relationships is good for link building
Blogger outreach should be all about building relationships. Don't contact people out of the blue asking if they want to feature a blog post – engage with them by following them on Twitter and mentioning/retweeting them, and commenting on their blog; only then should you try approaching them about guest blogging. Though more time consuming, your success will be greater because you'll be a familiar and friendly name, and you'll have the added advantage of approaching them with a deeper understanding of what they're trying to achieve with their blog.

LinkedIn is a surprisingly useful (stalking) asset
SEOMoz's Joanna Lord pointed out that LinkedIn can be great for sussing out the strategies being taken by your competitors (or those of your clients). Checking out who's been hired and who's left can show what competitors are doing and strategies they're taking in terms of what areas of the business they're putting their budget in. LinkedIn can also be a good medium for approaching people regarding linking opportunities.

The Dislike button won't happen
It's Facebook's most frequently requested feature apparently, but Mat Clayton argued that it won't ever be implemented because negativity kills sharing. And whether you're in SEO or social media, we want people to share! If people think that others will react negatively to something they share (i.e. by 'disliking' it), they'll be less likely to share.

Infographics can still work
The phrase "infographics are so 2009" was bandied about a bit, but ultimately the conclusion seemed to be that they can work if you approach it in the right way. The infectiously enthusiastic Wil Reynolds advised having a marketing plan in place and finding relevant audiences by finding out who's commented on popular long posts along similar lines. If you use HTML 5 they're more likely to get shared, as it's new and there aren't many examples of it – meaning it'll appeal to HTML 5 geeks as well as your target audience. And don't forget to use Google Image search to find naughty people who've used your infographic without crediting you – they'll usually be willing to link back if you ask nicely.

Have I missed out any important themes? Leave a comment below and let me know!

© SEOptimise - Download our free business guide to blogging whitepaper and sign-up for the SEOptimise monthly newsletter. SearchLove 2011: Top Trends

Related posts:

  1. 30​ Web Trends You Have to Know About in 2011
  2. What is your favourite UK search conference?
  3. Get 15% Off Conversion Conference London 2011

Seth's Blog : There's nothing wrong with having a plan

There's nothing wrong with having a plan

Plans are great.

But missions are better. Missions survive when plans fail, and plans almost always fail.

 

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