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miercuri, 27 octombrie 2010

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

The PRO SEO London Face-Off: Rand vs. Will (2010)

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 09:40 PM PDT

This week, Distilled's Will Critchlow and I held our 4th "presentation-off" battle against one another as the final session of the London PRO SEO Training Seminar. We both put plenty of blood, sweat and tears into our decks and I think it shows. Enjoy:

A few notes from Rand's Talk:

The Excel spreadsheet that I invite you to build off, expand and use to help predict the ranking elements for a given SERP can be downloaded here.

SEO Analysis Bar Chart

The full slide deck from my talk can be found online at Slideshare here.
While this process isn't foolproof, it allows any SEO to form their own opinions about the metrics and components that matter, then apply math to get a "best fit" based on that data. This methodology isn't foolproof, but for experienced SEOs who are deep in the analysis field and need to provide a roadmap of how to "beat the competition" and "earn top rankings" for particular keyphrases, it should be very effective.
Yes - we are looking into building a tool inside the PRO Web App to do this for you (though it's likely a few months off at best)
In my talk, I referenced Hubspot's growth. Dharmesh Shah wrote a blog post about it here, and you can find their Inbound Marketing Book here.

I hope you enjoy the talks and the Q+A. Feel free to cast your own votes in the comments, though, technically, I've already lost to Will by a fair margin in audience voting. I'll have to work harder next time!

Notes from Will

Firstly, I am never again going to try anything as crazy as auto-advancing slides for a 20-minute talk. It nearly killed me. I got the idea from the O'Reilly Ignite talks which I think are awesome - theirs are 5 minutes long with 15s slides - I went for 25s slides because I had some pretty complex stuff to get across.

Secondly, huge thanks to everyone who came, everyone who voted for me (those who voted for Rand; I saw who you were...), Rand for repeatedly being a great opponent and everyone who had a hand in the organisation (especially Lynsey - our superb events manager at Distilled). It'd probably also be remiss of me not to mention the awesome (and mildly NSFW) exclusive discount code from Christmas gifts site prezzybox.

Here are a couple of quick notes from my talk and the slides on our slideboom account:

The slidedeck
The Brylcreem ad in all its glory
The OK Go music video I meant to mention
The (now closed) Hacker News thread about fixing open source bugs that is the beginning of our soft-launch of our Hire Marshal web app for hiring (more on that soon)

Finally, we are going to be running more events including 1 day linkbuilding training sessions in London and the US. We'll have more information coming soon, but if you'd like to make sure you are the first to hear about these and our web training sessions, just drop your email address here:

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Daily Snapshot: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence, Ending the Cycle of Abuse

Your Daily Snapshot for
Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Photo of the Day

First Lady Michelle Obama waits backstage to speak before the Women's Conference in Long Beach, Calif., Oct. 26, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

Today's Schedule

In the afternoon, the President will deliver remarks at an event in the East Room marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The President will highlight the unprecedented coordination and cooperation across the entire government to protect victims of domestic and sexual violence and enable survivors to break the cycle of abuse. The Vice President will also attend.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time

9:30 AM: The President receives the Presidential Daily Briefing

10:00 AM: The President receives the Economic Daily Briefing

11:00 AM: The Vice President delivers remarks at a rally for Congressional candidate Bryan Lentz

4:00 PM: The President delivers remarks at a Violence Against Women event; the Vice President also attends

5:35 PM: The President tapes an interview for the Daily Show with Jon Stewart

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

Seth's Blog : I spread your idea because...

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

I spread your idea because...

Ideas spread when people to choose to spread them. Here are some reasons why:

I spread your idea because it makes me feel generous.
...because I feel smart alerting others to what I discovered.
...because I care about the outcome and want you (the creator of the idea) to succeed.
...because I have no choice. Every time I use your product, I spread the idea (Hotmail, iPad, a tattoo).
...because there's a financial benefit directly to me (Amazon affiliates, mlm).
...because it's funny and laughing alone is no fun.
...because I'm lonely and sharing an idea solves that problem, at least for a while.
...because I'm angry and I want to enlist others in my outrage (or in shutting you down).
...because both my friend and I will benefit if I share the idea (Groupon).
...because you asked me to, and it's hard to say no to you.
...because I can use the idea to introduce people to one another, and making a match is both fun in the short run and community-building.
...because your service works better if all my friends use it (email, Facebook).
...because if everyone knew this idea, I'd be happier.
...because your idea says something that I have trouble saying directly (AA, a blog post, a book).
...because I care about someone and this idea will make them happier or healthier.
...because it's fun to make another teen snicker about prurient stuff we're not supposed to see.
...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to avoid an external threat.
...because the tribe needs to know about this if we're going to maintain internal order.
...because it's my job.
I spread your idea because I'm in awe of your art and the only way I can repay you is to share that art with others.

• Email to a friend •

•

marți, 26 octombrie 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Thanks to Fed, Bubble Builds in Junk Bonds; We Know How Bubbles End
Economic Stimulus on Whiteboard; Good News on the Political Front in WA6
BofA, JPM get Texas Subpoenas; Class Action Suit Against BofA; "Pit Bull" vs. BofA in Mortgage BuyBack Battle

Thanks to Fed, Bubble Builds in Junk Bonds; We Know How Bubbles End

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 12:34 PM PDT

The Fed's misguided policies have not done a thing for small businesses, the unemployment rate, or the real economy in general but they have induced a mad dash for yield in junk bonds, easily in a bubble state right now.

Byran Keogh writing for Bloomberg says Fed-Induced Rally Makes Riskiest Debt Priciest

The lowest-rated junk bonds are the most expensive corporate debt following a Federal Reserve- induced rally in high-risk assets, adding to concern fixed- income securities are overvalued.

The extra yield investors demand to hold global bonds rated CCC or lower instead of government debt is about 10.1 percentage points, or 3.4 percentage points narrower than the average over the past 12 years, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. Debt with B ratings is the only other part of the market trading tighter than its historical average.

The rally in the lowest-rated company bonds has sparked a surge in issuance. MGM Resorts International, the biggest casino operator on the Las Vegas Strip, Energy Future Holdings Corp. and other companies have sold $6.5 billion of bonds this month rated CCC+ or lower by Standard & Poor's or Caa1 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Goldman Sachs plans to sell $1.3 billion of 50-year debt at a 6.125 percent yield as soon as today, according to a person familiar with the transaction. The offering may include bonds with a face value of $25 that can't be called for five years, the person said.

The cost of protecting bonds from default in the U.S. held near the lowest level since May. The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, which investors use to hedge against losses on corporate debt or to speculate on creditworthiness, increased 0.1 basis point to a mid-price of 93.5 basis points as of 12:21 p.m. in New York, according to index administrator Markit Group Ltd.

Goldman Sachs said bonds rated CCC+ and lower by S&P or Caa1 by Moody's were "expensive" given expectations for economic growth, and recommended clients buy higher-ranked company bonds instead. John Lipsky, the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund, said last month that global economic growth in the second half of the year will fall short of the fund's forecast of 3.75 percent on an annualized basis.

"You don't want to stand in the way of the search for yield," said Alberto Gallo, a global credit strategist at Goldman Sachs in New York. "But on the other hand it is a very volatile part of the market. And it can be particularly sensitive to a further slowdown in the economy."

Yields on U.S. investment-grade debt fell to a record low of 3.55 percent this month, the lowest borrowing cost on record in data going back to October 1986, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch index data. For CCC bonds and lower, yields dropped to 11.63 percent yesterday, the lowest level since November 2007, the data show.

We Know How Bubbles End

As long as there is a strong bid for junk, the stock market is unlikely to crack hard. Yet, we know how bubbles end.

The Greenspan Fed ignored the dot-com bubble, even encouraged it because of misguided Y2K fears and belief in productivity miracles. When that bubble burst, the Fed promptly embarked on creating a second, far bigger bubble in housing and debt.

Now the Fed is actively promoting still more bubbles as a solution to god knows what, since the Fed's policies are not helping the real economy one iota.

In fact, the Fed's policies are helping neither the real nor unreal economies unless you consider creating another opportunity for Goldman Sachs and select hedge funds to short at the opportune time, appropriate "help".

Fed Uncertainty Principle in Action

Long-time readers will quickly spot the Fed's actions as Fed Uncertainty Principle Corollary Number Three

Don't expect the Fed to learn from past mistakes. Instead, expect the Fed to repeat them with bigger and bigger doses of exactly what created the initial problem.

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

Economic Stimulus on Whiteboard; Good News on the Political Front in WA6

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 11:14 AM PDT

This is a political post but a video clip from Dough Cloud also shows rather well how Congress works.

In addition to the above video, I have good news to report in the campaign front. Doug Cloud, a Ron Paul type candidate, has pulled into the lead in his race for his race in Washington District 6.

Doug writes ...

Dear Mish,

I have not updated you on our campaign for some time. We have some very good news! The most recent poll on my race for Congress in Washington's Sixth District shows me leading by 48% to 44%. This poll was completed on Thursday, Oct. 21. Our race is now very much in play.

The incumbent is ensnared in a variety of influence peddling and corruption scandals involving earmarks for political sponsors, friends and family.

There is no question in my mind that we will see a historical turning of the page this election, with dozens of incumbents being removed from office. My race is one where a long time incumbent who has done nothing but vote the big government party line for all of his 34 years in Congress is in serious trouble, precisely because of his votes in favor of TARP, the various bailouts, and his vote for Obamacare.

Please, alert your readers to our race and the real possibility that another long time incumbent will finally bite the dust of history.

Doug Cloud

Race Washington Overlooked

The National Review asks Could There Be One More Competitive House Race in Washington, Completely Overlooked?

Congressman Norm Dicks: 17-term incumbent Democrat in Washington. Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee. Represents a D+5 district that includes parts of Tacoma and Bremerton and Port Angeles. Obama carried 57 percent of the vote; Dicks usually wins with 60some percent of the vote and hit above 70 percent a few times.

Doug Cloud is deputy prosecutor of Kitsap County.

As of October 13, Dicks had more than $511,000 cash on hand.

Cloud has $2,909 cash on hand.

And yet, here is this poll, suggesting the race stands at Cloud 48 percent, Dicks 44 percent.

I don't think anyone has this district on their watch list…

They Do Now!

What To Do - How You Can Help

Just yesterday a reader with some money to contribute asked how to make the best use of it. My answer was to donate to campaigns now considered tossups. Since one poll is not necessarily accurate, certainly Doug Cloud's campaign is worthy as well.

Please see my endorsement Doug Cloud for Washington District 6 - Tacoma. The post contains information on how to volunteer time and money.

Battle for House and Senate

On a national level, Real Clear Politics shows an election map with all the tossup races in play in Battle for the House.

Here is a map depicting the Battle for the Senate

There are many candidates worthy of your support, and Doug Cloud is a standout.

It is not often one gets the chance to elect a Ron Paul type candidate against a corrupt long-term opponent on the take. Do not let these chances slip away.

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

BofA, JPM get Texas Subpoenas; Class Action Suit Against BofA; "Pit Bull" vs. BofA in Mortgage BuyBack Battle

Posted: 26 Oct 2010 02:15 AM PDT

The mortgage mess gets more complicated every day. Here are a sampling of stories that shows how.

Bank of America, JPMorgan Get Texas Subpoenas on Foreclosures

Bloomberg reports Bank of America, JPMorgan Get Texas Subpoenas on Foreclosures

Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and seven other banks or loan servicers were subpoenaed by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott for information about their foreclosure practices, a spokesman said.

"The state is subpoenaing information and documents," Jerry Strickland, the spokesman, said yesterday in an interview. He didn't elaborate. The state also subpoenaed Ally Financial Inc., CitiMortgage Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co

The Texas subpoenas followed letters sent by Abbott's office to 30 loan servicers on Oct. 4, asking them to halt foreclosures in the state pending a review of their practices.

Abbott asked banks then to identify employees who filed faulty affidavits or other documents in the state and identify foreclosures that used such documents. He also asked lenders and servicers to halt all sales of properties previously foreclosed upon and stop all evictions.

Twenty-six of those companies responded to the letters, according to a spreadsheet of answers sent yesterday by Strickland.

Class Action Filed Against Bank of America For Foreclosure Fraud

Law.Com reports Bank of America Sued in Class Action Over Flouting of Foreclosure Rules

Bank of America has been hit with a class action on behalf of homeowners seeking damages for alleged disregard of foreclosure process rules.

The suit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Newark, N.J., accuses Bank of America and two subsidiaries, LaSalle Bank and BAC Home Loans Servicing, of "an undisciplined rush to seize homes" through "pervasive and willful disregard of knowledge, facts and statutes."

Bank of America has filed foreclosure proceedings on many mortgages in New Jersey without holding the necessary rights as the mortgagee or assignee at the time of foreclosure, the suit says.

"Many thousands of foreclosures are plainly void under statute and settled New Jersey case law. Many borrowers never obtain statutorily required notices, and many foreclosure suits are filed entirely based in inaccurate recitations concerning ownership of the mortgage, the note, or the assignment," the suit says.

The suit was brought by Lawrence Friscia, head of a Newark firm that counsels distressed homeowners, and his associate, Jonathan Minkove, who say they've found that Bank of America regularly negotiates binding agreements to modify mortgage terms and then fails to honor the terms.

Fed's 'Pit Bull' Takes on Bank of America in BuyBack Battle

Bloomberg reports Fed's 'Pit Bull' Takes on Bank of America in BuyBack Battle

Kathy D. Patrick is a Houston lawyer who spends her Sundays teaching children about God. The rest of the week, according to one attorney who knows her, she can be "as frightening as a pit bull on steroids."

Her law firm, Gibbs & Bruns LLP, is a 30-lawyer outfit that says it specializes in "bet the company" litigation. This month, it reached a settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of Montreal stemming from an alleged fraud at a Canadian gold company. Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG settled with the firm over the sale of $550 million in mortgage-backed securities. Patrick reached that settlement on behalf of her clients just two months after filing suit.

Patrick, 50, is "fearless and tenacious," said Dan Cogdell, a Houston criminal-defense lawyer who said she is capable of pit bull-like aggressiveness "if the need be." If she succeeds in getting Bank of America to settle, it may trigger more calls for buybacks in the $1.4 trillion market for so-called non-agency mortgage securities, which lack government backing.

Bank costs from repurchasing mortgages in such securities may total as much as $179.2 billion, including expenses related to suits against bond underwriters, Chris Gamaitoni, a Compass Point Research and Trading LLC analyst, estimated in August.

Bair Says Regulators Will Uncover More Flaws in Foreclosures

The understatement of the month award goes to Sheila Bair at the FDIC who says Regulators Will Uncover More Flaws in Foreclosures

Regulators are likely to discover more problems related to loan servicing by some of the biggest banks as they probe claims that documents were mishandled, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said.

"We are going to get into more and more problems with the issues that are surfacing now on servicing," Bair said today at a housing conference in Arlington, Virginia. Resulting litigation could "ultimately be very damaging to our housing markets if it ends up prolonging those foreclosures that are necessary and justified," she said. Bair didn't provide details on what other problems she thought might arise.

"Ultimately this problem will require some type of global solution," she said. "In developing that solution, I would suggest that all interested parties consider some type of triage on foreclosures" such as safe harbor relief for vacant properties or interest-rate reductions for borrowers.

Bair said she doesn't think congressional legislation will be needed to address the issue.

If you get the idea foreclosure fraud is going to trigger a tangled mess of lawsuits and countersuits, you have the right idea.

This can easily drag on for years unless (and perhaps even if) Congress gets involved.

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

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

Find the Question to your Yahoo Answers!

Posted: 25 Oct 2010 02:10 PM PDT

Posted by Martin81Vette

This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc.

Have you considered using Yahoo Answers to try and drive some traffic to your website / blog? Yahoo Answers has become a very popular network for knowledge thirsty question askers and knowledge soaked answer-meisters, and they are all potential visitors for your site. This article aims to provide a detailed look at some tips / tricks for becoming the glowing Yahoo Answers guru you've always wanted to be!

I was inspired back in January by Nathan Libbeys excellent blog post about generating traffic using Yahoo Answers. After reading Nathan's post I registered with Yahoo Answers and started answering questions, mainly in the environment category, and I quickly became semi-obsessed with "Yahanswering" (Sounds Swedish!).

Now the key to using Yahoo Answers is to actually provide some meaningful answers. Yahoo awards points for answering questions and you get a bunch of points if someone picks your answer as the best;

Answer a question = 2 points
Log in to Yahoo! Answers Once daily = 1 point
Vote for an answer = 1 point
Get voted as "Best Answer" = 10 points

You get 100 points just for registering but the holy grail of Yahanswering is to reach 250 points, at that point you can actually include live links in your answers!

OK, we can assume you have registered, answered with some great answers and reached 250 points, let's explore a few ways to improve your chances of getting those prized "Best Answers" and boost your site traffic at the same time.

A great way to improve your climb up the Yahoo Answers leader board is to take a look at your site and find a great answer. Have you written an article or a blog post which was super informative, educational and unique? Chances are that if your article provides a great answer to a common problem then there will be some unanswered questions to match it!

Yahoo Answers has an "Advanced Search" feature which allows a question slaying web ninja to find suitable questions which will be a perfect match for his/her awesome answer;

Yahoo Answers Advanced Search Function

For example, my site has a great article about setting up a tumbling composter and there might be throngs of people on Yahoo Answers desperate to learn more about my tumbling composter!

This is where we can make the Advanced Search feature really work for us, for this example I have chose the keyword "compost" along with any one of the following "tumbler,tumbling,rotating,composting,bin";

Yahoo Answers Advanced Search Feature

You will also notice that I have selected to search only for a Keyword match in "Questions" and the Question Status of "Open Questions".

The all important final stage is to save this advanced search so that you can easily run it every time you log in to Yahoo Answers;

Save Your Advanced Search

And there you have it, a repeatable and highly focused search that will link you to people desperate to find the answers you already possess!

In my above example the results yielded a find straight away;

We've Struck Yahoo Answering Gold!

I can clearly see that "Donna" needs to read my awesome article about setting up a tumbler composter and I can now click on here question and provide that answer.

I wrote my reply to Donna and can now sit back with fingers crossed and hope that I get that elusive 10 points for a "Best Answer"

My Yahoo Answer Posted

Using techniques such as the saved Advanced Searches have built my Yahoo Answers portfolio into a veritable link farm. I have enjoyed the challenge of answering peoples questions and it's very rewarding to get that 10 point Best Answer from a happy question asker.

I have tracked my traffic direct from Yahoo Answers this year and it isn't huge but it's well worth the effort;

Tracking my Answerlytics

As you can see from my stats I've recently taken a break from Yahanswering, mainly to focus on writing articles like this one, but I plan to get my answering hat back on soon and keep climbing my way up that Yahoo Answers leaderboard.

So there you have it, you now have the tools and the knowledge to venture forth and become a Yahoo Answer grand master, let me know your experiences using the Advanced Search features and whether you have seen any spikes in traffic from some crafty Yahanswering!

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36 Billion Gallons of Biofuels and Cleaner Trucks, Vans and Buses

Energy and Climate Agenda
Tuesday, October 26, 2010

The Week in Energy and Climate

Yesterday, the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposal for the first national standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency for medium and heavy-duty trucks, vans, and buses. This step is a win for the environment, energy independence and our economy.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved the largest solar energy project ever to be built on U.S. public lands. When constructed, the Blythe Solar Power Project will produce up to 1,000 megawatts of solar power, or enough to power 300,000 – 750,000 homes.

On Thursday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack outlined the steps that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is taking to reach a national goal of producing 36 billion gallons of biofuel a year in the United States by 2022, with 21 billion gallons coming from advanced biofuel production.

Learn more about other Obama Administration events in commemoration of National Energy Month, a national effort to underscore how energy is central to our national prosperity, security, and environmental well-being, here.

Highlights

DOT, EPA Propose Nation's First-Ever Emissions, Fuel-Efficiency Standards for Trucks and Buses
October 25, 2010
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announce a proposal for the first national standards for greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency for medium and heavy-duty trucks, vans, and buses.

Boosting Advanced Biofuel Production and Creating Jobs
October 22, 2010
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack explains that the Administration's vision for rural America combines new technologies and new markets with better use of our natural resources -- more home grown biofuels and renewable energy.

A Discussion on Clean Energy in Missoula
October 22, 2010
White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley travels to Missoula, Montana, to discuss America's energy future at the 20th Annual Conference for the Society of Environmental Journalists.

Leading by Example: VA Funds Solar Energy Projects at Hospitals, Clinics, Cemeteries
October 22, 2010
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awards $78 million in contracts to build solar photovoltaic (PV) systems at VA facilities nationwide.

Iowa Conservation Partnerships
October 21, 2010
Jess Maher, Associate Director for Legislative Affairs at the White House Council on Environmental Quality, travels to Iowa to learn about partnership-based efforts to support natural resource conservation.

Building Stronger, Sustainable Communities Through Strategic Coordination
October 21, 2010
The Obama Administration announces a combined $742 million in grants and assistance to support the creation of more livable and sustainable communities across the country.

Empowering Defense Through Energy Security
October 18, 2010
The Department of Defense (DoD) hosts an Energy Security Forum as part of National Energy Awareness Month to discuss how the Department of Defense can turn energy use from a strategic and operational challenge to a key strength for the warfighter.

Blog Action Day: Protecting America’s Waters Today
October 15, 2010
As part Change.org's Blog Action Day, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson reflects on the importance of protecting America's clean water supply.

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miercuri, 27 octombrie 2010

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

Notes from Will

Daily Snapshot: Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence, Ending the Cycle of Abuse

Seth's Blog : I spread your idea because...

I spread your idea because...

More Recent Articles

marți, 26 octombrie 2010

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

SEOmoz Daily SEO Blog

36 Billion Gallons of Biofuels and Cleaner Trucks, Vans and Buses

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Persoane interesate

Arhivă blog

miercuri, 27 octombrie 2010

Notes from Will

More Recent Articles

marți, 26 octombrie 2010

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