Posts made in February, 2011

I’ve learned in my time as an SEO consultant, SEO technician, and SEO copywriter, that there is no learning substitute for hands on work. SEO is not something that I’m sure can even be taught all that well because there’s a certain level of intellectual curiosity and engagement you have to have to stay with it. It takes so many hours to learn to do good SEO work and a lot of it is trial and error. Let me show you what I mean. The Real Work of SEO I have a client I picked up a few months ago who was doing fairly well in rankings for certain keywords. The client does large architecture and construction projects. Looking at their Google Analytics, I saw that they were getting found mostly on keyword variations of their company name. That’s not bad but if most of the keywords in your Analytics account are variations of your company name, you’re mostly getting Googled by people who already know about you. I see this so often when I first look at a client’s Analytics. Most clients don’t stop to think about the fact that if their company name is not generic, they’re probably going to rank well for their business name. Keyword Krazyness When I first started SEO, I would have been at a loss to know what to optimize for to replace, for example, the Title tags that had little more than the client’s company name. I would have been guessing or I might use Wordtracker but I didn’t have a solid sense about what I should be using for keywords. My keyword strategy evolved quickly out of necessity but, my god, it took a lot of experimenting and then trying the keywords out on the pages. And it took a lot of experimenting to find out what worked in terms of changing tags, body copy, creating certain kinds of links, registering with directories, article marketing. Your SEO Toolbox is Unique So over time, you end up with a set of tools that are unique to you as an SEO. Someone else might use similar tools but I find that my process is unique in the way I analyze and execute an SEO strategy for any specific website. For me, that’s a lot of the fun and this is where the intellectual engagement comes in. When I find a new way to do something, I get very excited to duplicate it across several websites to see the effect. When it moves the ranking needle, it’s very exciting (and fun to tell clients about). What Was I Talking About? But back to the...

Cairo, Egypt Tuesday, February 1, 2011 “I used to call them the spoiled brats of the internet,” one Cairo woman confessed. “Now I kiss their feet,” she said, referring to young men who broke the Egyptians long record of endurance under a dictatorial regime. Today, the seventh day of the revolt against President Mubarak and for democracy in Egypt, 2 million people are said protesting in Cairo.  Some have estimated 8 million nationwide; that’s 10% of the population and that, technically speaking, is a revolution. In Alexandria, the people are standing shoulder to shoulder from one end of that long city to the other. It’s not the usual protestors; everyone knows them – like the Kifaya party (Enough) and the April 6 movement people. No. This is everyone: we see huge clusters of women in their bright colored scarf’s – like a meadow in spring – and the men don’t even flirt with them because the ethic of protest is respect. Crowds open up for people in wheelchairs and assist those walking with canes. The people, once assured that the Army’s interest was in protecting them, fell into easy cooperation.  Troops and people parade side by side,  Egyptian flags raised.  They work together to check people for weapons. People who live near Tahrir Square cook for the protestors.  In Helwan, south of the city, supplies of cooking gas ran out.  Some of the young men in the area located supplies in a neighboring area and delivered them back to Helwan, door-to-door. In the upsurge of pride, some protesters have pulled framed photos of Gamal Abdel Nasser, president of Egypt from 1954 to , off the walls of their homes and wave them above the heads of crowd – reminding their fellow Egyptians of the last time, during the pan-Arab movement, when they felt such self-respect and promise. Everyone uses the same words of protest.  Everyone is on message. There is no doubt that Mubarak is leaving. Power of the Army. It’s true that the army has tremendous economic power in Egypt and that they may be thinking of their own interests as well as those of the people in allying with the protesters.  But, in this country, the army is highly respected; it’s considered the institution of last resort and so far, they are deserving of that respect. Furthermore, from a realistic standpoint, a revolution without their blessing wouldn’t succeed, if only because they hold that tremendous economic power. Muslim Brotherhood, not. The Brotherhood will not assume leadership.  Contrary to what many westerners believe, they don’t have that influence – fact seriously distorted by President Mubarak, who wanted to...