February 2009 Archives
The Magic Number If you have ever had any interest in the art of graphic design, chances are you have heard of the golden ratio. Throughout history, artists, mathematicians and musicians alike have studied this peculiar number. Some say that it is the most aesthetically pleasing of all proportions, while others contend that this has merely been ingrained into our collective consciousness through centuries of overuse. It is said that Leonardo Da Vinci used the golden ratio to construct his masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. It can be found in subjects as diverse as seashells, hurricanes, galaxies, and even the path
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Continue reading The Golden Rule of Graphic Design
I’ve taken great pains to explain exactly what my internet marketing company does, but folks don’t always get it. So here’s my take on what we do, in priority order: Pull it all together. You’re dealing with the web designer, the developer, the search expert and the writer. We pull it all together into a real-live strategy. Optimize. We perform three kinds of optimization: Search engine optimization (moving you up in the unpaid search rankings); ad spend optimization (making sure the dollars you spend on pay per click, banners and such are generating a return); and site optimization (improving conversion
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Continue reading What Does an Internet Marketing Company Do?
I’m speaking at SEMPDX Searchfest next month. In the mean time, Todd Mintz asked me a few questions about client relationships and ‘tough love’. If you work with me, you won’t be surprised: Searchfest 2009 Interview w/ Ian Lurie
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Continue reading Tough Love For Clients
I just wrote a skeptical piece about the search engines’ new rel=canonical standard. I am, after all, a skeptic. But, if you’re a large publication with a massive site, you’ve got canonicalization problems, and this could be the solution you’ve been looking for. In a nutshell: You can use rel=canonical in the HEAD element of pages you don’t want indexed, and search engines will list the URL you indicate, instead. No guarantees on whether this will actually help with search engine optimization, but given how difficult it is to clean up these kinds of problems on larger sites, it’s worth
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Continue reading Calling All Publications: Rel=canonical Is Worth A Look
Are long tail keywords dying? I’m just asking? I started using long tail keyword strategies well before Chris Anderson’s book arrived on the scene. Back then I called them embedded keywords. And yes, for the sarcastic readers, this was long before the Iraq war too. I coined this phrase because a more popular keyword was embedded into the longer search query. Fast forward to the present. Each year it seems a little more difficult to crack into the top rankings for long tail keywords. The traffic doesn’t appear as strong either. I have a few ideas about this: The Internet
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Continue reading Are Long Tail Keywords Dead?
