I’m kind of all over the place today as I’ve been given the day off for Xmas shopping by my great boss (it would never have happened in some of my past workplaces so big thanks to Steve) and as usual I’ve built up a nice set of tabs all containing things I really need to get around to reading, so instead of adding bookmarks onto bookmarks I will dump them here
Google Translated information on Eyetracking studies for the new Click 4 Beds design
I desparately try not to re-post things here but the way Ikea used Facebook to market the opening of a new store using stock features we use every day is simply inspiring. Anyway, enough from me, the video explains it all.
Thought of the day: If citation is becoming ever more important in SEO as a way of boosting your brands visability on Google then doesn’t this mean that things like descriptive text in directory listings, forum footer posts, articles/pr and social bookmarking will become popular as a Google SERPS boosting element?
In short – start including your brand name in any non-linking text that you have control of as part of your link building, blog commenting etc efforts.
Did I go to PubCon 2009… no I didn’t (damned it) but I have been closely monitoring the live blog posts that discuss some of the amazing tips from some of PubCon 2009′s guest speakers. There’s plenty for you to go at here and I’ve ordered the posts into easy to follow topics (credits at the foot of the post).
One thing I’d like to point out is that a lot of the topics listed below are out of context so its going to take some time to fathom the details out of each one however, as a signpost, theyre worth studying.
Top Tips for PubCon 2009:
Social Media Tools
beatblogging.org – build a social distribution list
wefollow.com – twitter user directory
twellow.com – twitter user directory
getlisted.org – local search resource
trackur.com – Social Media reputation management
radiant6.com – Social Media reputation management
visibletechnologies.com – Social Media reputation management
brandseye.com – Social Media reputation management
Work harder at Googles Universal Search. If you’re not exploiting images and video searches then you’re missing a massive opportunity
Put call to actions above the fold and keep forms as short as possible
80% of searches are fact finding, make sure you lead them to where you want them to go
Capitalise on Thank You pages for cross/up selling and link development (social media)
80% of visitors will fill out the ‘optional information’ on a contact form after completing a call to action
Most visitors will not watch more than the 1st image on a rotating banner
Buttons should never be labelled ‘Submit’ instead try ‘Download Now’, ‘Start Free Trial’ or ‘Request More Information’
Shopping cart buttons should be labelled ‘Add to Basket’ not ‘Buy Now’ as this gives the illusion of commitment which is scary for online shoppers
Text links within content carry more weight than image ALT attributes
If you have a page with multiple links to a target page and you nofollow one of them they will all be treated as nofollow
No-folloing a link now evaporates PageRank where as before it re purposed it – don’t nofollow links! there’s no point any more use robots.txt to control internal juice instead. Regarding nofollowing external links, again, there’s no point any more as it doesn’t let you hoard juice
Put your best anchor text as the first link on a page
Google is planning to OCR text from image content so optimise your graphical text content
Google is planning to strip dialogue from videos so optimise your scripts
Vary footer link anchor texts to avoid block link analysis
Structure Website Optimization Tips
Use footer links sparingly, don’t waste PageRank linking to ‘worthless’ content
Keep 1st level navigation to under 7 topics as more reduced impact
Don’t use a trailing slash in urls for directories
Check pages that are getting links but no traffic and re-direct them
Don’t use the anchor ‘Home’
Google adding page load time to the something so speed up your site presentation
Keyword Research Tips
Use Google Trends to make sure your keyword focus isn’t on the decline
Remember to re-check your keyword focus as this changes over time
Internet Marketing Tips
Align your new, as yet unbranded products with existing products to capitalise on association
3% – 5% conversion is good
A 30% bounce rate is good, 50% is ok, 70% needs work
Offer incentives for reviews
Link Development Tips
Give your links differing life expectancies i.e. don’t just buy annual links
Try the new Raven SEO Tool to help manage your link building efforts etc
In-content links have 10x the power of peripheral links
Link build using reviews – even negative reviews can help your raking – its all about numbers
Majestic SEO has ‘temporal’ link analysis
Find a site search that is being indexed and link to your search result
Check your reputation and those of your link targets with linkvendor.com/seo-tools/domains-from-ip.html
Find niche forums on boardreader.com
Befriend people who are submitting your competitors content to Stumbled Upon and Digg etc
I’m proud to announce the re-design of the Distinctive Chesterfields website as performed by both Adam (php genius) and myself.
It was a great challenge as we had to keep all of the content and site structure the same and had to work around a rather archaic CMS produced by the previous creator.
Some of the features of the new Distinctive Chesterfields website include:
Improved product information pages
Removal of some sales workflow barriers
Combined brochure and swatch request pages
Refocused international page contents
The new Distinctive Chesterfields site has been online for a few weeks now during soft launch and with only a few minor niggles, I’m glad to say the company has had its best month of sales to date, a fact that I’d like to attribute partially to the new design.
I’ve been looking around on various big name magazine websites for advertising opportunities for a few of my clients and I’ve come to the conclusion that they just dont get it.
What I’m not looking for are banners or content links that pass through tracking page redirects, or adverts that drop out to internal contact forms… but thats all these people seem to sell.
Its frustrating because using onClick it would be really easy to provide a valueable web link and retain the sites ability to track the traffic.
The Internet is built on links so IMHO advertising should easily fall into this bracket.
Another issue is their inscescent use of paginated articles and/or ‘Read More’ links. C’mon guys, get a grip of things, the internet has moved on since 2001!
I’ve been asked by my GF to buy her some iPod dock / speakers for Christmas and have spent considerable time researching the best iPod dock for under £100. A few days ago she says shes changed her mind and decided to get a phono cable connecting her iPod to her hi-fi instead so I thought I’d document my research, final choice and recommendations below for anyone who’s looking for the best value, highest audio quality iPod dock system this Christmas.
The Market Leaders
Before I start, If you want the best sounding iPod dock and youve got around £500 to spare then there are really only two contenders, both provide amazing sound quality and all of the bells and whistles
you’d associate with a high end audio system. These are:
It’s also worth mentioning that all high end systems suffer the same issue. Should low quality MP3′s be played through them then you can audibly hear the distortion due to compression.
iPod Dock Selection Criteria
My criteria for choice is:
The iPod dock must cost around £100
The iPod dock must provide the best sound quality
The iPod dock must be loud!
The iPod dock most appeal to the female sense of aesthetic
The iPod dock must be independently reviewed and recommended i.e. not from shop reviews
iPod Dock Review Sources
I’m an internet research shopper and as such I know how to fathom out the best priced deals on the net, however finding reviews for iPod docks from credible sources was hard as the item is called many things including iPod speakers, Portable iPod speakers (portable? Really?) and a host of other terms. In the end I tried Richer Sounds, CNet, Which, the Gadget Show and a few other review sites on which to base my purchasing decision.
My Recommendations for the top five iPod docks for under (or around) £100
“A truly outstanding speaker setup for its price, and with the build quality we’d expect of a system twice the price. While the lack of features may put off some, iPod owners who simply want an attractive and powerful set of speakers should seriously consider the Griffin Amplifi iPod dock”
Macworld Review – 5 Stars
“The Amplifi is a high-quality music playback system that competes well on music playback with other more expensive systems available. Combine that with the system’s pleasing design and eye-catching looks and Griffin has a winner on its hands. Budget-conscious iPod users who want good music playback twinned with an extremely simple system need look no further.”
Audioholics Review
“for the money I don’t see how you can beat the Amplifi. The Bose SoundDock is twice the price and the Altec Lansing IM7 is also considerably more. I hope that the sound and construction quality of the Amplifi bodes well for the upcoming wireless iPod speakers that Griffin is introducing this fall.”
I'm now SEO Manager at the award winning Leeds based SEO Services company, Blueclaw. If you would like to hire my team for your SEO project or would simply like an over the table discussion about how your businesses SEO can be improved please email mark@blueclaw.co.uk with your questions, expectations and project details.
