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A New Mission for the Bots

The bot navigated quickly to its intended destination after receiving its orders from the Supreme Commander. There were ample distractions along the way, but it was impervious to them all, as it wove its way single-mindedly along, occasionally using a shortcut here, a bypass there.

Digital passageIts mission was a special one, but not really all that different from the millions of missions being carried out at this moment by other bots it passed on its way. This bot had simply been modified slightly to enable it to perform this very special task – one which would enable the Supreme Commander to extend its tentacles to much greater boundaries, in a way that would go totally unnoticed. This was the mission assigned to Ping, the first of its kind to be so enabled, but certainly not the last. Continue reading

Dressing for a Google Party

If you want to throw a party on your blog, and you found a way to get Google to attend, how would you dress – casual, semi-formal or formal? Let’s take a look at what that means, so you can decide.

First of all, we’ll just assume that you’ve written a great piece of content, sure to be shared, and you now just want to be sure that your party is memorable, that everyone has a good time and tells all their friends how great it was. Now we just pretend for a moment that we’re throwing a party, just to give a different perspective. All you really have to do now is decide what sort of atmosphere you want, given that Google is on the guest list. So bear with me for a bit.

Casual

casualHere, you do things the way you always do. Make your guests feel welcome, provide good food and drink, music, entertainment… whatever your shtick is. You meet your guests at the door, spend some time circulating among them and when they’re ready to leave, you thank them for coming and wish them a good evening and a safe drive home. You’re a good host. Continue reading

Monetizing Entities – a Flanking Maneuver by Google?

Now and then, I see comments from people expressing their doubt that Google Plus will survive long-term. Some of that’s driven, I imagine, by Google’s early failures in successfully building anything even remotely social. Maybe a little of it’s just sour grapes, too. But it got me thinking, which is generally a good thing. And this is what I came up with. Some of you may think it’s a crackpot theory… and you may be right. But it makes enough sense that I think it’s worth some discussion. So crackpot or no, here’s what I came up with.

Thngs aren't always what they seemFirst, think about this: Google is all about connections – and not just on G+, either. Search is about connections, too. From a top level, that boils down to how entities and attributes may relate to each other. Continue reading

It’s Been Too Long…

Okay, I admit it – I’ve neglected this blog. Badly!

I’ve been chasing the dollars, trying to meet many commitments and deadlines, but that’s no excuse! Guilty as charged!

I have to admit, though, I’ve been having a lot of fun. I got involved in a couple of new projects which, while they may have taken up too much of my time, are exciting. My SEO consulting, audits and copywriting keep me busy enough, so I don’t know why I felt compelled to add to the load, but what can I say? I have no willpower!

Once in a while, a new opportunity appears, and you just know at first glance that it’s something you can’t pass up, because it’s just too good to let slip through your fingers. That’s happened to me before, and when I follow my instincts, it usually works out well. So, I’ve done it again.

Twice, in fact. Continue reading

The Evolution of HTML5 as a Doorway to the Open Web

On Monday, Dec. 17th, the W3C released the complete definition of the suggested HTML5 (along with Canvas2D) specifications, submitting them as candidates for approval down the road. While that doesn’t mean that the proposed specifications might not change or even be rejected, past history would indicate that what we can see today is probably what we’ll eventually get.

A lot of time and effort went into the preparation of HTML5, the fifth major revision to HTML. Major focuses of the upgrade apple to authorship and user agents. This version displays considerable advances since the earliest HTML some of us may remember, and will greatly facilitate development of the Open Web Platform. Continue reading

Stop Playing Games, Google!

Or at least, stop dealing from the bottom of the deck.

I’m helping a friend help out another friend, in his attempt to regain his site’s rankings after a double whammy for OOP and Penguin. He had some very substantial traffic and conversion numbers until January, when he suddenly noticed he’d fallen from his #1 slot to around #6 and #7 for his major terms. Investigation revealed that he’d suddenly accumulated another 23,000 links or so… from some very questionable sources. Bottom line, he knew he didn’t do anything, so while it couldn’t be proven, it looked as though he’d been nailed by some negative SEO.

Photo by Philipp Klinger(Photo credit: Philipp Klinger)

Continue reading

This Comprehensive Bible on Copywriting Could be yours, FREE

“Comprehensive bible on copywriting”? Really? Isn’t that a bit pretentious?

For the ultimate guide to link bait, I don’t think so, but I suppose it’s only fair that I explain why not.

the ultimate guide to link baitA dear friend (not just to me… I’ve yet to meet anyone that knows Angie Nikoleychuk, the lovely owner of Angie’s Copywriting, that doesn’t think the world of her), recently gifted me a copy of her new ebook, Copywriting Master Class: Creating Successful Link Bait. And by way of disclosure, it was a gift. There was no solicitation or expectation whatsoever of a review in return. This was entirely my idea – I was impressed. Continue reading

7 Reasons NOT to Use a Professional SEO Copywriting Service

Why would anyone want to pay a professional SEO copywriting service to provide their webcopy?

At this point, you may or may not believe that you should engage a professional SEO copywriter to produce your copy. You probably don’t know me from Adam, and as one of the owners here, it’s fair to say I have an axe to grind. That’s fine. I would urge you, though… at least keep an open mind as you read this.

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SEO Copywriting Continue reading

What Makes you Unique? | Your USP!

Finding your Golden Egg

Your USP is your unique selling proposition. It’s what makes your product or service preferable to the competitions’. It may be your price, quality, service, fast delivery… or any of a number of other characteristics of your offering.

And everything has at least one thing that can make it special.

Unfortunately, everyone doesn’t capitalize on their USP. Some people have never even given it a thought. And unless you happen to be the ONLY source for what you offer, you can’t afford to wait one more day to identify your USP and start pushing your offering on the merits of that proposition. Continue reading



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