Okay, so, wow. Matt Cutts seemingly admitted something new recently by saying in Forbes that it is possible to negatively affect another website's rankings within the Google SERPs.
But let's be honest...this isn't earth-shattering news, is it? I mean, we knew this already, right?
Sure, I was in Las Vegas last November at Pubcon, too, and I'd swear I heard him explicitly say that there was nothing you could do to negatively impact another website's rankings.
But don't you kinda have to take that with a grain of salt? I mean, what else is the guy gonna say when asked in front of a bunch of people? "Actually, there is a way to game our engine by being evil...."
Nah. And I can't say I blame him. He's just a loyal guy toeing the company line.
Now, to keep things fair, my memory might not be serving too well. We did some drinkin', that's for sure. And that was the trip that a long-time client and I both had LinkWorth logos inked on us...so I wasn't necessarily at my sharpest during the sessions. But I'm still fairly certain that I heard what I think I heard.
Do I care? Nope. Am I shocked? Not at all. Do I feel betrayed? Negative.
I've heard a lot of chatter about it today so I wanted to mention it. I'm also really familiar with one of the "sources" from the Forbes article and he's certainly more than credible.
So what do I think? Nothing really. Just another topic of conversation on another normal day in SEM.
Well, except that I think Threadwatch is really closing down. :(
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Watching Threadwatch
First of all, I'm bummed about TW's announcement that its' e-doors are closin'. I mentioned it on our blog today, too.
I'm just gonna say this. Aaron Wall, next time I see you at a conference I'm going to introduce myself and shake your hand...finally. I'm a fan of yours. I see you at all the shows...just haven't come forth and said hello before. That kinda sucks.
The closing of Threadwatch, if it's really done...86....finito, is kind of a sentimental kick in the nuts for me because I've always loved that site. I should've contributed more, but when I first started going there and hardly knew shit about SEO, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of all you guys who had all the answers.
Bad excuse, but you're with me, right?
Anyway, it was awesome. You could get the information you needed laced with heavy sarcasm. Greatness.
So, although I haven't done my part and am one of the lazy ones that Mr. Dubl referred to in his comment on the announcement thread, I still feel bad. And I feel worse because Todd is absolutely right. I won't put on the dress blues or anything, but it's a shame.
Alright. So for now I'll just continue the watch. It's 10:45pm on Wednesday. I guess I should know in 25 1/2 hours if I should delete this post.
(Nah....screw that. I don't post enough on this site to delete anything.)
I'm just gonna say this. Aaron Wall, next time I see you at a conference I'm going to introduce myself and shake your hand...finally. I'm a fan of yours. I see you at all the shows...just haven't come forth and said hello before. That kinda sucks.
The closing of Threadwatch, if it's really done...86....finito, is kind of a sentimental kick in the nuts for me because I've always loved that site. I should've contributed more, but when I first started going there and hardly knew shit about SEO, I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of all you guys who had all the answers.
Bad excuse, but you're with me, right?
Anyway, it was awesome. You could get the information you needed laced with heavy sarcasm. Greatness.
So, although I haven't done my part and am one of the lazy ones that Mr. Dubl referred to in his comment on the announcement thread, I still feel bad. And I feel worse because Todd is absolutely right. I won't put on the dress blues or anything, but it's a shame.
Alright. So for now I'll just continue the watch. It's 10:45pm on Wednesday. I guess I should know in 25 1/2 hours if I should delete this post.
(Nah....screw that. I don't post enough on this site to delete anything.)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
UFC & SEO: A Good Match?
Probably not. But whatever.
Since this blog isn't confined to SEM, I thought I'd send a quick shout-out to BJ Penn who just bitched Jens Pulver tonight. NICELY DONE, BJ!!
Don't know how many people that read this are fans of UFC, but us LinkWorthers are...bigtime.
It's been a long 5 years, but I'm sure this redemption is well worth the wait. A tap-out, no less. Beautiful.
Anyone see Jens' hair? That's why he lost. Why the hell would you do that to yourself? And especially before a nationally televised event? Stupid. (I mean, Jens would whip my ass and all....but screw it, I'd out-SEO him in a heartbeat!)
For the non-interested folk, ignore this post. It's all good. But for the record, I went 6 for 6 in my picks on tonight's card and I'm happy about it. (Made a little cash, too. )
Rock on, rockers....nighty night.
Since this blog isn't confined to SEM, I thought I'd send a quick shout-out to BJ Penn who just bitched Jens Pulver tonight. NICELY DONE, BJ!!
Don't know how many people that read this are fans of UFC, but us LinkWorthers are...bigtime.
It's been a long 5 years, but I'm sure this redemption is well worth the wait. A tap-out, no less. Beautiful.
Anyone see Jens' hair? That's why he lost. Why the hell would you do that to yourself? And especially before a nationally televised event? Stupid. (I mean, Jens would whip my ass and all....but screw it, I'd out-SEO him in a heartbeat!)
For the non-interested folk, ignore this post. It's all good. But for the record, I went 6 for 6 in my picks on tonight's card and I'm happy about it. (Made a little cash, too. )
Rock on, rockers....nighty night.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Calling all SEO's
Need a full-time job? Maybe just some extra income? Let's talk.
If you're a talented SEO, a newbie looking to grow a career in SEO, or a displaced marketing/sales professional with a great personality and communication skills who's coachable, please contact me now! I might have just the job for you. Email me....matt at linkworth dot com.
You don't have to be local to Dallas, but you'd have to be willing to come down for a few days (on us, of course) to get 'knowledgified."
We're bursting at the seams and I need some help...STAT!
The pay is good...full bennies....the opportunity is phenomenal...and the LinkWorth environment is really cool. Let me hear from ya!
If you're a talented SEO, a newbie looking to grow a career in SEO, or a displaced marketing/sales professional with a great personality and communication skills who's coachable, please contact me now! I might have just the job for you. Email me....matt at linkworth dot com.
You don't have to be local to Dallas, but you'd have to be willing to come down for a few days (on us, of course) to get 'knowledgified."
We're bursting at the seams and I need some help...STAT!
The pay is good...full bennies....the opportunity is phenomenal...and the LinkWorth environment is really cool. Let me hear from ya!
Friday, June 15, 2007
Being Bored Is Boring
Is that alliteration? Maybe Matt made mustard. What?
I better explain myself real quick: I had knee surgery yesterday so I'm sitting at home today all hopped-up on vicodin and I'm going stir crazy. What should be a nice relaxing day of recovery - especially since the wife and kids have been gone all day - has turned into this bizarre passing of time.
Sitting in front of my TV, I've got my laptop, leg's propped up, pretty much everything I need is within arm's reach. It seems like I should be loving this but I'm bored out of my mind. And sick of sitting here.
I keep thinking that I'll get some work done. Yeah, that'd be a great idea except for one thing: I'm not sober. 2 vicodin every 4 hours, as the doctor prescribed, has turned me into a fuzzy, scatter-brained, giggling zombie that is best suited staying away from any matters that could be deemed important. I mean, it's kinda fun and I'm enjoying the ride for what it's worth, but damn...this kinda sucks, too.
I've been reading lots of blogs today and noticed that SearchEngineLand was nice enough to link to my SMX vs. SES post. That'll be the best inbound link this blog ever gets, I'm sure! HAA!! This blog SO sucks...but I embrace that. The suckness has actually made me want to post more lately, too. Ironic, isn't it?
So this post, as you have probably guessed by now, contains nothing of value. It's merely a way for me to kill some time. And the title of this site has never seemed more appropriate than right now. And as ambiguous as it is, I'm still not really sure what exactly it is on my mind, but there's something there for sure.
(Am I drunk? Wait, I haven't had anything to drink other than water. I guess not. Wow.)
I feel like I should go put on Dark Side of the Moon and watch The Wizard of Oz with the volume turned down. Or listen to some Beatles backwards on the ol' record player.
I'm giggling again. Let's all say it together: "Train-wreck"
But for anyone that cares, the surgery went great. They removed a bunch of cartilage but didn't have to do the lateral release...so there's no drain in my leg. I'm happy about that. Look out, Iron-Man, here I come! OK....we'll start with the half-Iron, but now that my knee is fixed I can get back to training.
OK, I'm tapping-out. As f*cked up as I am right now, even I can't listen to this incoherent babble any longer. I can only imagine what someone else reading this might think. But I don't really have to worry much about that.
Giggling again...
I better explain myself real quick: I had knee surgery yesterday so I'm sitting at home today all hopped-up on vicodin and I'm going stir crazy. What should be a nice relaxing day of recovery - especially since the wife and kids have been gone all day - has turned into this bizarre passing of time.
Sitting in front of my TV, I've got my laptop, leg's propped up, pretty much everything I need is within arm's reach. It seems like I should be loving this but I'm bored out of my mind. And sick of sitting here.
I keep thinking that I'll get some work done. Yeah, that'd be a great idea except for one thing: I'm not sober. 2 vicodin every 4 hours, as the doctor prescribed, has turned me into a fuzzy, scatter-brained, giggling zombie that is best suited staying away from any matters that could be deemed important. I mean, it's kinda fun and I'm enjoying the ride for what it's worth, but damn...this kinda sucks, too.
I've been reading lots of blogs today and noticed that SearchEngineLand was nice enough to link to my SMX vs. SES post. That'll be the best inbound link this blog ever gets, I'm sure! HAA!! This blog SO sucks...but I embrace that. The suckness has actually made me want to post more lately, too. Ironic, isn't it?
So this post, as you have probably guessed by now, contains nothing of value. It's merely a way for me to kill some time. And the title of this site has never seemed more appropriate than right now. And as ambiguous as it is, I'm still not really sure what exactly it is on my mind, but there's something there for sure.
(Am I drunk? Wait, I haven't had anything to drink other than water. I guess not. Wow.)
I feel like I should go put on Dark Side of the Moon and watch The Wizard of Oz with the volume turned down. Or listen to some Beatles backwards on the ol' record player.
I'm giggling again. Let's all say it together: "Train-wreck"
But for anyone that cares, the surgery went great. They removed a bunch of cartilage but didn't have to do the lateral release...so there's no drain in my leg. I'm happy about that. Look out, Iron-Man, here I come! OK....we'll start with the half-Iron, but now that my knee is fixed I can get back to training.
OK, I'm tapping-out. As f*cked up as I am right now, even I can't listen to this incoherent babble any longer. I can only imagine what someone else reading this might think. But I don't really have to worry much about that.
Giggling again...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Picasa is cool
So I just got hip to Picasa today and man, let me tell you, that's a cool piece of photo management software. I'd heard of it before but just assumed it was another Flickr or something. This is a lot better as far as I'm concerned. And again, I'm the one who is like the last guy to give Google props, but this is rad.I'm having almost as much fun playing around with it as I was having this weekend in my 70's getup for Harrelson's 40th birthday bash. (Almost being the operative term. I mean, check out Yvette in my lap here...good times!)
It instantly catalogues every image on your hard drive (or whatever folders you allow) and it's really quick. The biggest pain in the ass to me is always the searching for pictures, having to have several windows open to know what pictures I want to move where, flan, flan, flan. Picasa is different.
Beyond that, you're free to edit all of your pictures and add whatever cool effects you like. Crop, tint, add captions....whatever. Organize and edit all of it right there. And as soon as you upload new pics, it's got 'em in chronological order (or whatever order you prefer, I suppose). So for me...the horrible, lazy, apathetic picture-sharer this is the bomb.
I'm gonna get back to it. I just couldn't resist when I saw the "Blog This!" option...I had to give it a quick spin.
That's all, folks...
Friday, June 8, 2007
SMX vs. SES
I'll announce the winner quickly: SMX beats the crap out of SES.
I'm not going to bore anyone (not that anybody reads this awful blog) by summarizing all the session info or anything like that. I'm just going to tell you why I dug this show. Matt Stoddart style.
I was really curious to see how SMX Advanced in Seattle was going to stack up against the established alpha male of the SEO conference circuit, SES, and I was pleasantly surprised right from the get-go. I assumed that it'd be good and my hat's off to Danny Sullivan. SMX Advanced is the best conference that I've been to.
Not the most fun...no. But the best? Yep.
But why? There were no new names...few new topics. So what was the big difference?
Lots of reasons. In no particular order, here they are:
Session Format
Unlike SES or Pubcon, SMX Advanced didn't have the same regurgitated presentations that everyone's already seen twice. No, Danny made it a point to keep it as interactive as possible by dedicating at least half the time to Q&A. And that's where you really get useful information. From real world scenarios, not squeaky-clean dreamworld scenarios where everything is always perfect on paper...or PC, that is.
Also, it just seemed more intimate. There were a lot fewer people there than what I'm used to and I even heard that it sold out. (Whether or not that's true, I have no idea.) And the panels were very laid back thanks to Danny. He did a great job of keeping it light and was actually a lot funnier than I thought he could be. Sorry, bro, but it's all good!
The Food
I'm big into the creature-comforts of these things because I think it's a pretty big deal. I mean, you shell out all this money to get your passes/airfare/accommodations and you get there only to have the most mediocre sustenance known to man - the box lunch.
SMX? Two words - carving stations.
It might sound shitty, but it went a long way with me....both lunches were fantastic. Salad bar, buffet with pasta, seafood, chicken and yes...carving stations. Roast beef on Monday and turkey breast on Tuesday.
The refreshments in between were awesome, too. I'm a chocolate guy and at 3 in the afternoon when the food-coma from lunch has officially kicked in, I need some coffee and sum'n sweet to eat and SMX delivered. Gourmet malted-milk balls, endless bags of Peanut M&M's, cookies, Cracker Jacks, you name it. I was in heaven and I'm pretty sure Ron was, too.
The Receptions
The search engines will typically host cocktail receptions at the end of the day that feature cheese, crackers, beer and wine. Well, Yahoo stepped up big with a full-on open bar and nice hors d' oeuvres. And being a whiskey drinker, this was great news for me.
The Google Dance was cool, too. They ponied up a couple drink tickets and also had the option of a cash bar beyond that. At first I thought we walked right into a rave. There were glow-sticks, people flailing all around to Bon-Jovi retro dance mixes, and sweat flyin' all over the place like everyone there but me was on a hit of old-school ecstasy.
Pretty cool.
And it was there that I was really able to meet some people and talk to some others that I'd been wanting to catch up with. Quick shout-out to Rand Fishkin, Todd Malicoat, Rudy DeDominicis, and the bartender with the gigantic fucking tongue! WOW. Anyone else see that shit? I think Ron has a picture that he'll put up on the LinkWorth blog, so check that out if you're interested.
The Shwag Bag
Forget about the horrible canvas bag that you're flat-out embarrassed to carry around because it feels like you're carrying a purse, SMX came strong with the sling type, one strap backpacks. It's kinda cool and something you can at least use. I have a feeling mine will be toting my gym gear to Lifetime Fitness every morning.
Lola - Not SMX-related, but kinda
We have a really good friend that works at Lola, one of Tom Douglas' top-notch restaurants. So we went in and had absolutely the best dinner I've had in a long, long time. (There I go on food again). Hanger steak, giant prawns, octopus, dungeonous crab, Copper River salmon, roasted potatoes, asparagus, and for dessert - homemade donuts and coconut cream pie....wow. Truly amazing.
And while we were there, we happened to notice that Matt Cutts and Tim Meyer were having dinner together with their wives at another table. So we bought their wine but left before our buddy (the manager) dropped the check. Hope that all worked out!
So there it is, kiddos. A simple man's view of SMX Advanced and why I think it puts SES in a rear-naked choke.
I'm not going to bore anyone (not that anybody reads this awful blog) by summarizing all the session info or anything like that. I'm just going to tell you why I dug this show. Matt Stoddart style.
I was really curious to see how SMX Advanced in Seattle was going to stack up against the established alpha male of the SEO conference circuit, SES, and I was pleasantly surprised right from the get-go. I assumed that it'd be good and my hat's off to Danny Sullivan. SMX Advanced is the best conference that I've been to.
Not the most fun...no. But the best? Yep.
But why? There were no new names...few new topics. So what was the big difference?
Lots of reasons. In no particular order, here they are:
Session Format
Unlike SES or Pubcon, SMX Advanced didn't have the same regurgitated presentations that everyone's already seen twice. No, Danny made it a point to keep it as interactive as possible by dedicating at least half the time to Q&A. And that's where you really get useful information. From real world scenarios, not squeaky-clean dreamworld scenarios where everything is always perfect on paper...or PC, that is.
Also, it just seemed more intimate. There were a lot fewer people there than what I'm used to and I even heard that it sold out. (Whether or not that's true, I have no idea.) And the panels were very laid back thanks to Danny. He did a great job of keeping it light and was actually a lot funnier than I thought he could be. Sorry, bro, but it's all good!
The Food
I'm big into the creature-comforts of these things because I think it's a pretty big deal. I mean, you shell out all this money to get your passes/airfare/accommodations and you get there only to have the most mediocre sustenance known to man - the box lunch.
SMX? Two words - carving stations.
It might sound shitty, but it went a long way with me....both lunches were fantastic. Salad bar, buffet with pasta, seafood, chicken and yes...carving stations. Roast beef on Monday and turkey breast on Tuesday.
The refreshments in between were awesome, too. I'm a chocolate guy and at 3 in the afternoon when the food-coma from lunch has officially kicked in, I need some coffee and sum'n sweet to eat and SMX delivered. Gourmet malted-milk balls, endless bags of Peanut M&M's, cookies, Cracker Jacks, you name it. I was in heaven and I'm pretty sure Ron was, too.
The Receptions
The search engines will typically host cocktail receptions at the end of the day that feature cheese, crackers, beer and wine. Well, Yahoo stepped up big with a full-on open bar and nice hors d' oeuvres. And being a whiskey drinker, this was great news for me.
The Google Dance was cool, too. They ponied up a couple drink tickets and also had the option of a cash bar beyond that. At first I thought we walked right into a rave. There were glow-sticks, people flailing all around to Bon-Jovi retro dance mixes, and sweat flyin' all over the place like everyone there but me was on a hit of old-school ecstasy.
Pretty cool.
And it was there that I was really able to meet some people and talk to some others that I'd been wanting to catch up with. Quick shout-out to Rand Fishkin, Todd Malicoat, Rudy DeDominicis, and the bartender with the gigantic fucking tongue! WOW. Anyone else see that shit? I think Ron has a picture that he'll put up on the LinkWorth blog, so check that out if you're interested.
The Shwag Bag
Forget about the horrible canvas bag that you're flat-out embarrassed to carry around because it feels like you're carrying a purse, SMX came strong with the sling type, one strap backpacks. It's kinda cool and something you can at least use. I have a feeling mine will be toting my gym gear to Lifetime Fitness every morning.
Lola - Not SMX-related, but kinda
We have a really good friend that works at Lola, one of Tom Douglas' top-notch restaurants. So we went in and had absolutely the best dinner I've had in a long, long time. (There I go on food again). Hanger steak, giant prawns, octopus, dungeonous crab, Copper River salmon, roasted potatoes, asparagus, and for dessert - homemade donuts and coconut cream pie....wow. Truly amazing.
And while we were there, we happened to notice that Matt Cutts and Tim Meyer were having dinner together with their wives at another table. So we bought their wine but left before our buddy (the manager) dropped the check. Hope that all worked out!
So there it is, kiddos. A simple man's view of SMX Advanced and why I think it puts SES in a rear-naked choke.
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