Caydel’s SEO Blog

Someone I met on the forum at eWealth got me somewhat interested in his ‘Bum Marketing Method”. Travis, the creator, noticed that most of the best conversions come from extremely specialized phrases and searches which have relatively low competition. Anyways, he came up with the idea that if you could place an article related to the phrase you were targeting, it would typically end up near the top of the search results, due to the low competition. This article would get roughly the same CTR as an adwords ad on the same page, but it would be free.

Well, I tried it, and we will see how well this method works. I created an article, and uploaded it to goarticles.com. Within the next few days, it should hopefully become visible within Google’s index by Monday. Then I will be curious to see how much traffic/sales etc. I get through it. The phrase I targetted had 31 results. This is great, because on Wordtracker it shows that the phrase gets 100-200 searched per day. Yee-haw! If I can get 50-60 of those? I’m laughing… even if I get only 10 clicks per day, that is 1 sale per month. If I can make about 30 other articles this way, well, that seems like a health y affiliate income. Plus, the articles don’t expire, so the profits only increase!

Wow - I like that… I hope my optimism is justified. Travis has released his method as a free e-course which you can take. I would definately recommend going through it - it’s alot more detailed and in-depth than the little that I have written here. Without any more ado, here is a like to the Bum Marketing Method!

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So, the last day or two I have been working on developing a new website for my employer. I am basing the website upon the Drupal CMS, with the Acidfree pugin providing the necessary gallery functionality to show off all of their products.

So, it is getting ready, and looking pretty good, but there is a bug in the CSS which makes it so that when the window is shrunk below 1024×768, the table which holds the images begins to overlap with the sidebar. The pages all look and work fine when the resolution is 1024×768 or higher, but if it is lower, it begins to look pretty bad.

The annoying part is that I have hunted and hunted and just cannot find that bug… Maybe someone else can do better? If you can find the bug, you will earn my eternal gratitude:

http://www.outfrontps.com/drupal/albums/merchandise_display/bouqet_display

The issue appears when you shrink your screen to less than approx. 750 pixels wide. Other than that, man, I enjoy web design. Whle I take somewhat the easy route by using a CMS, i tend to find that the results are somewhat more professional that way. Besides, the interface is extremely user friendly, which is nice, because the site will be regularily updated by our sales guys, who, well, don’t need a complicated interface.

Moving on….

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Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 is now available for download via links on the Mozilla.com website. Some of the differences between the current 1.5 series of Firefox and the new 2.0 Firefox include:

• spellchecking and suggestions when filling forms
• each tab now has a seperate close button
• improved *snap* and quickness in browsing operations
• better handling of RSS
• Search suggestions in the search bar
• and many more great features

If you want to try the new Firefox, here are the links:

• Windows: http://www.mozilla.com/products/download.html?product=firefox-2.0b1&os=win&lang=en-US
• Linux: http://www.mozilla.com/products/download.html?product=firefox-2.0b1&os=linux&lang=en-US

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Because of my high interest in advertising and marketing over the last couple of months, I have begun to pay more attention to commercials I hear on the radio, more than ever. I have been evaluating them in my head based on content, and pull that exists in their message.

There is one company that I hear advertisements from just about every morning, that I would say are among some of the best advertising I’ve heard. Korry’s Clothiers to Gentlemen has a very simple format for advertising. The advertisement is simple. Saul, the proprietor, obvious records his message simply, over the phone. He will tell an interesting story about something that has happened in the store, and then proceed to inform you of whatever promotion he is running, whether it is suits for 1/2 price, or a store wide clearance.

It’s very simple, and to the point. There is no dressing it up. No trying to make it sound like something it’s not. Just a storeowner informing you of his latest sale.

Because of it’s uniqueness, it stands out from all the rest of the ads. You find yourself listening, because the speaker sounds very earnest, without hiding all kinds of term and conditions and legal information in the commercial.

Here is the transcription of one of their recent ads:

“We’ve got a lot of smart ideas here at 569 DANFORTH AVENUE, just west of Pape – starting with the Smart ForTwo car on display in our front window. Many thanks to rep Eric Eisen and our friends at Mercedes–Benz for the loan–out. Hopefully, you can see the little two–seater under all the soccer balls we’ve added in tribute to World Cup mania…

We’ll see another form of craziness at KORRY’S today, as people storm the store searching for last–minute Father’s Day gifts. We have some smart ideas there too, such as a knit polo or woven sports shirt from one of our terrific designer collections (try going for a colour Dad doesn’t already own; I bet you’ll both be impressed with the change of scene) or a selection of three private–label Roberto dress shirts for only $198 (one of the best deals in town, if I do modestly say so myself).

As for all you traditionalists, we have a great grouping of snappy Italian silk ties, from such names as Boss, Canali, and our latest addition, the wonderful Brit designer Ted Baker. And, of course, you can always present Dad with a KORRY’S gift certificate, so he can make a few choices of his own. Given the fact that most men’s stores, including mine, go on sale right after Father’s Day, this might be the best option yet.

It’s a good idea too if you have a new grad in the family: What better way to suit a young man up for the business world than giving him an engraved invitation, as it were, to one of Toronto’s finest fashion emporiums?…

A round of applause, please, for all our golfing buddies who attended last Monday’s Scarborough Golf & Country Club tournament in aid of the Toronto East General Hospital. The day was a great success, made even greater by the generous auction items supplied by the Canadian clothing industry. And yet another round for Robert Lee, winner of our $670 golfing package, and Robert Ezer, winner of our Grand Prize Draw of a $2,400 golf weekend, both a courtesy of Taboo Golf Resort & Spa. “

Excellent advertising. Effective, and smart.

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Digg.com is a service used by us all. For some of its users, it is a quick way to promote the news that concerns them . For some, it is a way to promote products. For others, it is a way to quickly achieve a large burst of traffic, if the can make it to the front page.

The best thing about it is, it is free!

But what does that really mean? How can that be interpreted in light of the ‘Open Source/Free Software’ ideal expressed by such organizations as the Free Software Foundation?

‘Free’ as a term can be understood in two ways, each best described in the statement taken from the Free Software Foundation website:

‘Free Software is a matter of liberty not price. To understand this concept, you should think of ‘free’ as in ‘free speech’, and not as in ‘free beer’!”

It can be argued without a doubt that the digg.com service is free in terms of ‘free beer’, in that you pay nothing for the privilege of using the service. But is it free as in ‘free speech’?

Digg allows you to use it’s service, regardless of your motivation. Digg does not really care about your politics, or your religion, or your social and ethical views. You may use the service whoever you are, and you may promote whichever news items you would like to see on the front page. Of course, this is subject to their terms and conditions which generally say, ‘Don’t break the law, and don’t do anything that could get you, or us, sued, or arrested’.

Of course, there have been issues with people using digg to promote their stories using tracking software, and forming groups to mass promote Digg stories of members. This kind of activity has been punished by Digg.

But is it really within the ‘free speech’ methodology to ban users for use which you disagree with? I won’t argue that it was Digg’s right to ban such users. But does it fit with ‘free speech’?

I would argue that it makes sense with managing a proper community. But, I do not think it can be reconciled with ‘free speech’. Order is necessary, especially when dealing with a website which has over 250,000 accounts. If Digg were not to retain order by banning individuals who do not work towards the continuance of the site.

I would argue that there is nothing wrong with submitting a story on your own site for some Diggs, and the chance to become popular. This is a way for webmasters who have really good ideas to break out. If the story is good, it will become popular. If it isn’t, it will fall, and no harm done.

Of course, it galls a little to see users cheating the system. But I cannot condemn them. If free speech is supported, then they are also allowed to promote what they wish to promote, regardless of their motivation. If they group together to game the system, it is a shame. But in terms of free speech, I would not be able to condemn them.

That is the root of why Digg could never exist as an Open system. In order to maintain it’s own existence, Digg is forced to lay restrictions and enforce policies on it’s users. And banning users for what they say and/or do is not reconcilable to free speech.

So is there any system or place where free speech the way it should be interpreted is to be found? I would argue that there isn’t.

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First, before you read this article, I would suggest you read my first post on the subject, and this article.

So now you know what MVC is. You know why it is important when designing web apps, and why is is considered essential in Rails coding.

Rails disciplines you into using MVC. I have been programming with Rails for about 2 weeks. Through the process, and being forced into using MVC, I have also begun to think in MVC terms. In fact, the Model-View-Controller design pattern has become almost second nature to me. I can’t think of a clearer way to design a web application.

This is amazing to me, because I used to be, and in many ways still am, a sloppy programmer. I ran by the seat of my pants, without much over-arching architecture, and little true design. My code always worked, and well too, but was a nightmare of a tangle to read and maintain. I am amazed at the clarity and simplicity that is presented when using Ruby on Rails. I can actually make sensible UML diagrams of my work, without it looking like Medusa’s hair.

That is why I would push for every programmer to build at least one project in Ruby on Rails. Not only will you find that your coding time is cut down, due to the quick nature of Ruby on Rails, but you will also be forced into using good style. Well, maybe not, but you will be forced into using design patterns. That is a great advantage in the long run.

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A couple of months ago, George Boone wrote an interesting piece on the Irrelevancy of SEO. I just read it, and it has made me think a bit. I think I may try the same tack he mentioned in his article with this blog. I am not going to worry about search engine traffic. I am just going to work with links, word of mouth, and other tactics, to see what kind of traffic I get.

Anyone interested in SEO, marketing, and traffic building should read that article - it’s one of the better ones I’ve read in a while.

edit: I didn’t see that article on digg anywhere, so I went to submit it. I got a message back: URL is on the ban list. I wonder why?

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