Today, after listening to the gorgeous and incredibly intelligent, Sarah Bird, General Counsel for SEOmoz, on Webcology at WebmasterRadio, I decided to file an official notice of opposition (NOO) against the poor schmuck that’s trying to trademark SEO. That’s right, someone is trying to trademark our beloved acronym, SEO!

Sarah discovered the evil plan a few weeks back after updating some SEOmoz trademarks. To her and the greater SEO communities’ dismay, Jason Gambert, unsuccessfully filed for trademark registration of SEO in May of 2007, but in January of 2008 he convinced a no-doubt weary judge to approve his application. Today was the last day to file a Notice of Opposition before publication. Eek!
continue reading "SEO Trademark - Notice of Opposition"

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I had no clue what to write about, so I turned to my husband, Brad, for inspiration. I grilled him on the fundamentals of SEO in hopes that my insight would have rubbed off on him proving that I’m an amazing teacher. Sadly, he barely passed, but it’s an amusing look at out how the outside world views SEO (if they know about it), websites and search engines.

Check it out here.

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The recently engaged search engine marketer and blogger, Karl Ribas (also of Search Marketing Gurus fame), tagged me to share 4 Ways to Improve My Blog.

As I was busy getting married to Brad Cornelius, I had to put the topic on hold until today. So, I’ve changed the title a bit to reflect how I truly feel about my blog, “4 Ways Rhea’s Blog Could NOT Suck” rather than “4 Ways to Improve My Blog.” Yes, I think my blog sucks. No, I’m probably not going to take my own advice anytime soon. It’s difficult for me to justify optimizing my own blog. I feel like that’s time better spent working for my company, Modis Professional Staffing, chairing First Coast Surfrider, spending time with family and friends, or contributing to Search Engine Journal (something I haven’t done for months now!).

But, if I did take my own advice it would be…

1. STOP BEING HYPOCRITICAL!

I spend hours each day telling businesses what to avoid and embrace. Why is it so difficult to apply that knowledge to my own dinky little blog? Fix canonicalization issues, fix the broken template, put the blog in the root folder (again), optimize the old URLs and start shuffling some link juice, site map and cohesive folder structures (…um, hello?), optimized 404 page, actually do something constructive with the robots.txt… The list goes on and on. I’m sure you’ve also seen half a dozen other areas for “improvement” just in the first minute of visiting.

So, why don’t I get off my butt and just do it Nike style? Well, I’m busy and it’s easy to make this a non-priority. However, I think this is also an issue of self-doubt. I worry that I don’t have all of the answers, so it’s easier to have none and accept failure than get a 98% knowing I wasn’t perfect. I could go into detail about why I have that philosophy, but I’d rather refrain from a thorough psycho-analysis of Rhea just before the holiday. Fortunately, recognizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right?

2. HAVE A PLAN

Any journey is much simpler with a clear road map to follow. Ideally, I’d establish goals for myself, have a time line, a calendar for posts, etc. Beyond the simple stuff I’d manage bigger projects that would expand the site beyond just a blog and into profitable venture territory. Sadly, fear and uncertainty paralyze me. I do better in a semi-structured environment where I can act alone, but with some push from above setting deadlines and saying, “yeah, you’re not crazy, that could actually work!”

3. FOLLOW THROUGH

Why are most people successful? I’m sure there are a few that fall into it by chance, others through brilliance or talent and others through connections (some because of all three). However, I would wager that the vast majority of successful people are such because they seized opportunities. They might not be the best person for the job, but they were ready, willing and able to get the job done while the better man was patiently waiting his turn. What good is an idea that’s never shared? Or an invention that never makes it past the drawing board? My father once said ideas should have a shelf life. I agree wholeheartedly. So, I need to stop coming up with really cool ideas that never make it past rough drafts and post-it notes. Sit down, commit and follow through!

(Edit: I just Googled “Follow Through” to confirm its spelling and found this post on follow through from Seth Godin that discusses the concept as a slippery slope. Good read.)

4. FOLLOW-UP

Once I figure out how to stop being hypocritical, I establish a plan and I learn to follow through, the last step is to follow-up! How many missed opportunities have there been because I didn’t take the time to market an idea, respond to a comment, answer an email or post a response? Not to mention the more notable forms of SEO follow-up like establishing some solid tracking, press releases, interviews and backlink solicitation and optimization?

Now that I’m thoroughly depressed, thanks Karl, I want to hear from others. So, I tag Carolyn Shelby (sporting a new template!), The SEO Chicks, David Mihm (looks like your last post was my previous tag! I expect a response before 2009), Dazzlin Donna (would love to hear some expert thoughts) and Mark Laymon.

I apologize if you already responded to this, I’ve been out of the loop lately.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and see ya at Pubcon!

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I just had a strange experience on the UK search marketing blog, Apple Pie & Custard (the Site Visibility corporate blog). I clicked on their article, The Top 10 Sphinn Avatars, and Why from Sphinn’s homepage hoping to see my rocking avatar. Alas, my face was not among the winners. In spite of this serious affront, I enjoyed the article and gave it a Sphinn. I even commented on Eloi’s confusion of the Bartimus avatar, which he incorrectly labeled, “either a sock puppet or a Labyrinth character.” Any self-respecting biology freak would have easily identified the avatar as an ostrich, though the compression made me think it could have also been an emu or rhea bird.

Three largest, flightless birds…

Bartimus’ avatar aka an Ostrich:

An Emu:

A Rhea bird:

So, after I commented, I went back to Sphinn to see if there were any other amusing and informative articles. Less than two minutes later, Trillian informs me that I have a new message in my Yahoo account:

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Title: Thanks for the comment on Apple Pie & Custard
From: Kelvin Newman

Hey

Thanks for stopping bye and commenting on our blog. In a shameless attempt to get you to sign up to our rss feed I thought I would send you a quick email with the url http://feeds.feedburner.com/ApplePieCustard

nudge nudge

Cheers in advance

Kelvin

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Now this might sound like shameless self-promotion to some of you, but as Stuntdubl recently informed me, that’s simply the nature of an SEO, especially a good one. Can I fault a marketer for being an opportunist? No, in fact, I applaud the Apple Pie & Custard team: Damon Lightley, Eloi Casali and Kelvin Newman. This is genius! Maybe it’s my southern background, but I love good manners.What makes this email so awesome? They’re being:

1. Polite - A rarity in the sea of anonymous and noisy blogging douche bags.
2. Timely - If you’re going to ask a visitor for a favor, hit them up immediately after they’ve been to your site! They’re much more willing to listen now (while you’re still on their mind) than tomorrow when they have a report due, twelve emails to answer and a meeting in five minutes.
3. Smart - Customer retention is a pain online. Face to face rejection is much more difficult, so any opportunity you have to personalize a visitor’s experience will increase your chance of them remaining a loyal reader or customer.

So, that’s why I hereby present to Apple Pie & Custard, the completely fake award: Miss Congeniality of Search Marketing Blogs!

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Note to Google: None of the links were paid for though I do take cash, checks and free stuff if those I link to are in a thankful mood.

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SEO Dream Team - The SEO game for those in entrenched in the industry! Not to be confused with Search Engine Smackdown or this spam game with Matt Cutts as referee. To be honest, this isn’t much of a game at all, it’s one of those annoying blog tag posts, but it’s cooler than anything else you’ve done. Of course this one might hurt your brain, so I challenge you to take the time and respond with a well-considered post.

The Inspiration:

A few weeks ago I played a friendly, adult game of kickball. Yes, kickball! A co-worker asked me to join and being the mature grownup I am, I participated in a terrific hour long game. I was a bit nervous because I had terrifying flashbacks to the school yard days of fifth grade. Fortunately, I was a bit of tomboy, so I never had to worry about getting chosen last, still all adolescent flashbacks are frightening. And then my mind drifted to SEO (like it always does… I’m a blast at parties) and that led me to now.

The Rules:

1. No one talks about SEO Dream Team.

Just kidding. For real now…

1. You can choose up to seven team members, but are not required to have seven (are you ballsy enough to say you only need yourself?).
2. You can simply list member names or assign fictitious positions; the process is entirely up to you, so get creative!
3. After you’ve listed your team members, please tag three other SEOs.
4. You need to be tagged before you respond (unless you’re obnoxious).

And to get the ball rolling, here’s my SEO Dream Team:
Please note, I chose people based purely on my knowledge of their work, admiration for their thoughts and their overall presentation at conferences or on blogs and forums. I’ve never worked well with close friends, apparently I’m an aggressive worker and I do best in a professional environment of highly motivated, type A personalities. Not to say that my SEO friends wouldn’t fit this description, but I didn’t want to play a nice game, I wanted to brutally slaughter any and all competition. That’s just how I play, when you’re tagged you can play nice if you prefer!

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CEO, Danny Sullivan
I think Danny needs no explanation. However, he wasn’t on my original list because I was thinking more about the nitty gritty details. After a conversation with Brent Csutoras, I realized I needed a leader and there was no better man for the job. Danny has vision, grace, an amazing track record and a sense of humor. What more could ask for?

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Research and Development, Gord Hotchkiss
For some reason, Gord was the first person I wanted on my team. I’m a sucker for numbers and behavioral studies and those are never in short supply when Gord’s in the room. I’ve never had the courage to introduce myself, but I’m head over heels for his research methods and would be starstruck working with him.

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PR Puppet Master, Matt Cutts
Matt has only worked his PR and reputation management magic on Google, but I have a feeling he’d be a genius wherever life took him. I’d definitely want him on my team rather than a competitor’s.

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Social Media Wizard, Cameron Olthuis
I’ve admired Cameron’s work for a long time, but his recent presentation at SES San Jose really won me over. He’s young, but incredibly driven, grounded and intelligent. When it comes to social media he knows it inside and out and doesn’t feed you a line of bull because he genuinely lives for this stuff.

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Creative Director/Web Developer, Matt Inman
I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that attended SES San Jose that I’m quite smitten with Matt, of course not nearly as much as Tamar. So, this is a personal choice because he wore a He-Man shirt and a professional one because I’m amazed by his abilities at the ripe old age of 24. He’s an incredible designer, developer, writer, marketer and business person. I’m scared to think of what he will accomplish by the time he’s thirty and in my fake little world he’s an excellent addition to my SEO Dream Team.

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Analytics and Reporting, Avinash Kaushik
What bothers me most about analytics? Making a decision based on inaccurate or poorly interpreted data. I’ve been reading Occam’s Razor for awhile now, but my brain only associates names with visuals, so I didn’t hold onto his name, until my copy of Web Analytics: An Hour A Day showed up. Now, I’m an annoying fan.

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I couldn’t decide on my last person, so it would either be: Stephan Spencer (a man after my own scientific heart), Michael Gray, Rae Hoffman or Greg Boser. I’m most familiar with Michael thanks to Facebook, but have always adored every presentation and post made by each of those individuals. All four seem highly intelligent and to the point, a must for any team to run efficiently!So, that’s my SEO Dream Team! What’s yours? I tag Brent, Simon and Carolyn.NOTE: Nobody tag Tamar (per her request).

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Cannibalized page rank - one of the least recognized mistakes in online marketing.

For tips on how to recognize this mistake or technical error, read my post on Search Engine Journal.

I explain the concept of page rank, paths and how to both detect and correct issues.

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Everyone is piping up about Sphinn and some articles made me think about what it takes to get to the top and how it can be used.

Sphinn in 60 Seconds

• What it is: Danny Sullivan’s brand new (launched July 12, 2007) SEM social network setup like digg, but exclusively for search engine marketers. The site lets you submit articles, vote “sphinn it” and comment on them. You can also “stalk” users to see what they’ve posted, befriend them, message users, view the most robust profile I’ve ever seen, add events to a community calendar (great way to find out what’s happening locally/nationally!), sort users (nice for the SMOs searching for top users) and subscribe to various feeds (comments, inbox and more coming soon).
• Sphinn is not the first site of its kind, but is by far the most user-friendly and widely adopted network though still in its infancy.
• This is a great way to sort through RSS feed noise and comment without losing track of everything.
• This is also a great way to make a name for yourself in the industry and network. As Neil Patel has mentioned on countless occasions, personal branding is huge and worth your time. I was putting much of his advice into action without knowing it, because a lot of it is common sense! Use the same avatar across multiple sites and have a unique voice. The Sphinn profile is massive and an amazing networking and self-promotion tool, not to mention the ease with which you can track comments on other’s posts and submit your own quality articles.

[back to my rant]

Contrary to the masses, I could care less about who is on Hot Today (currently the Sphinn homepage), instead I focus on what. Many have argued that Sphinn is a popularity contest, but maybe I’m too unpopular to notice? When I visit the site I scroll through the homepage to see if there’s anything that peaks my interest either for educational, informative or entertaining purposes. Sometimes I see ridiculous stories from “big names” and great stories from “no names” and vice versa, the point is, I’m looking at the article names not the avatars!

I don’t even see why this is an issue, the big names are such because they’ve obviously done something right whether it was befriending well-connected SEOs, providing great reviews, being the first to break news stories or simply knowing how to sell something. Either way, they only remain a big name because they continue to do the “right” thing and for that they DO deserve a little more attention. They’re making it easier for me to learn from their hard work. Either way, everyday someone new is getting a little bigger themselves, but it probably won’t happen overnight with a single post on Sphinn… so quit whining and write something worth reading!

[rant over]

Note - I wouldn’t have posted this at all, but it was too large for a comment and would have been submitted to several places. Here’s hoping I caught their attention!

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Google updated the webmaster guidelines, following a comment Pat of Feedthebot.com made during the You & A with Matt Cutts at SMX Advanced in Seattle this week.

This comes a few months after Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable discovered a new guideline back in March.

What was the new Google webmaster guideline?
Use robots.txt to prevent crawling of search results pages or other auto-generated pages that don’t add much value for users coming from search engines.

This is really interesting to me, because I’ve heard Google mention the poor quality of search result pages on several occasions. It looks like what’s good for the user is NOT always good for the engines. Still, I get the point, the last thing someone wants when they’re searching for something is to search again once they think they’ve found what they were originally searching for. Like always, there are exceptions to the rule. If the search results pages have unique content and strong categories or other added value, they might actually rank well, so take everything (even the guidelines) with a grain of salt.

What sparked the most recent Google webmaster guidelines update?
Clarification of the guidelines stemmed from Pat’s question: Why are Google guidelines so brief and what does the future hold? Matt Cutts’ response quickly lost the audience by referencing piano’s axioms and group theory in mathematics. The bottom line, Google’s philosophy is to only provide a minimal set of information to enable users to make educated inferences based on their unique situation. Concise guidelines also provides greater flexibility for Google as they do not have to micro-manage each item.

Obviously, Google felt they could throw the SEOs a bone and flushed the guidelines out just a bit more.

For those that were really curious about Piano axioms (or maybe that was just me):

“The seven Piano axioms of integer arithmetic correctly describe an infinite cardinality of integers. Only the integers that are beyond infinity fall in the collection of under specified integers. If we are willing to limit ourselves to an infinite number of integers that are less than infinity, we can establish the requirements for integer arithmetic in a finite manor. Though the requirements may not theoretically describe that system, the coverage may be quite satisfactory.”

(Ronald LeRoi Burback, Stanford University)

For complete coverage of the organic sessions check out my posts on Search Engine Journal.

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