WebConnoisseur

For those attending the DomainRoundTable conference in Seattle, be sure introduce yourself (throw your name in the comments and I’ll keep an eye out for you). I’ll be speaking in the SEO sessions. I’m excited to attend because I think domainers & SEOs could gain & learn a lot from each other.

The combination of a domainer’s assets with the skills of an SEO could be very lucrative for both parties. Why settle for $1,000 of ad revenue a month in direct type-in traffic, when you could build an SEO-friendly content site that will eventually pull in $1,000,000 a month?

Jay has been listing many of the very interesting domains that will be auctioned off on the domaintools blog.

In terms of dealing with data, many companies struggle with seasonal fluctuations.

Some of the most common seasonal fluctuations I’ve seen are due to:

• Holidays - like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Labor Day, etc.
• Hallmark Holidays - like Valentines day, Mother’s day, etc.
• Traditions - like New Year’s resolutions, etc.
• School-related events - like spring & summer breaks, football season, homecoming, proms, school year starts, graduations, reunions, etc.
• Actual Seasonal changes - like the coldness of winter, summer heat, rainy season, etc.

While some people see seasonality as the bane of their existence, I see it another way. For me…

SEASONALITY = OPPORTUNITY

They way I see it, the more complex something gets, the bigger the opportunity for those who are able to deal with it because the barrier to entry is high and the number of savvy companies that can figure out how to properly deal with it properly are low.

Seasonality mucks up data. Companies that don’t learn to deal with it correctly will make bad decisions. Not realizing that Easter falls in March next year could cause you to mimic activity from this year 2-3 weeks late, but not realizing that Easter was the cause of your increased sales this year is an even bigger missed opportunity.

To best tackle seasonality, mine your data and mine external industry data. Look for monthly, weekly and even daily fluctuations. Keep tabs on w/w, m/m and y/y growth rates. Also, keep a calendar of events that may cause fluctuations in data (site redesign), so you don’t mistakenly attribute that fluctuation to something else. And when you can identify a source for the seasonality, make an action plan for next year.

Understanding your seasonality is the first part. Acting upon the intelligence is the second. For example, if a weight loss company discovers that summer high school graduations cause a burst of new customers in June, target your late May to June advertising to reunion planning sites like facebook, classmates, yahoo groups, reunions.com or bidding on long-tail local reunion terms like “ehs 2007 reunion” (note: not a single advertiser has figured this one out yet) or “roosevelt high school 1994 class reunion”. Even consider creating a special plan targeted to those customers (Rapid Reunion Weight-Loss Program).

To be fair, many companies, especially retail, have seasonality built into their veins, but even these types of companies could easily improve if they understood what exactly is driving people’s interest and the exact timing of it.

If you are in a business affected by seasonality, be happy that your data has a pulse:

instead of a a flat line like this (call life support, we’ve got a flatliner):

Just found out Andy Beal has created a free SEO eBook based off two years of scholarship entries. There were some educational entries and some funny entries. My entry was all about humor and was shoved near the bottom of the book, despite its popularity because it probably embarassed Andy a bit - heck, I called him a “Master Baiter”. Kudos to Andy for working hard to make the scholarship contest more valuable.

The ebook is availble for a free download here (2.1mb pdf)

In related news, I was recently quoted on Omniture’s iPerceptions integration.

Danny Sullivan just launched a cool social networking site for search marketers called Sphinn. I decided to take Sphinn for a spin and must say it looks promising. It has Digg-like search news voting features, profiles that allow lots of great links to other social sites & personal blog RSS pulls, a shared events calendar, and some cool networking components.

The service just launched, so expect lots of bugs and some spam at first, but from what I can tell, Sphinn will be a great place to keep up on search news that matters and a place to connect and keep track of your fellow search peers.

I just added my 200th LinkedIn connection and I must say it feels good. I’m proud of it because it is an indicator of my networking skills and general likeability, especially considering I’ve always worked for very small companies, have never hired a consultant, rarely consult others, and rarely get to go to conferences. 98% of my network consists of people I’ve had several in-person discussions with and the other 2% are people I share common interest or situations with (more on this topic below).

According to LinkedSEO, I’m the 2nd most well-connected SEO in the Greater Seattle area. I’m sure my buddy Rand will catch up to me soon, but for now Dana Melick is the only person listed above me and it appears that Dana Melick is more of a salesman of SEO services than an SEO practitioner.

LinkedIn is definitely hitting critical mass. In the past couple months, I’ve seen tons of people jumping on the service. Social networking for business seems to have caught on. LinkedIn is doing a great job of staying focused on launching features that compliment their core focus. LinkedIn Answers is working well, groups are cool, recommendations make complete sense and the ability to find unbiased references when hiring people is awesome.

My tips for anyone looking to grow their LinkedIn network:

• Connect with only people you know or trust. This isn’t like myspace where having tons of friends makes you look cool. People are weary of connecting with people with large networks and recommendations from a stranger are essentially worthless.
• If you have a good conversation with someone and get their business card, send a LinkedIn request within 3 days and remind them exactly who you are. Don’t wait to long because you may forget who they are and they may forget who you are, which greatly reduces the likelyhood of a connection.
• Use LinkedIn as your rolodex. It is where you keep all your important contacts.
• Don’t recommend people you don’t believe in. I haven’t done it, but I am confident it will come back to bite you.
• Avoid linking up with recruiters unless you want to scare your boss or co-workers.
• Don’t be afraid to connect with a competitor. Being connected to them allows you to see who they are working with based off their new connections. Besides, you never know when a competitor will become an ally when tackling an issue that affects you both.
• If you participate in Answers, know what you are talking about. Stupid answers (or even questions) can leave a scar on your entire career. No pressure .
• Help people out in your network.

And, of course, if you know me or think you should know me, definately check out my LinkedIn profile and send me a request. My email is my [first name]@[the website address you are visiting].com. Here’s a link to my profile:

SEJ is one of the leading search engine publications - one that I always keep in the top 10 of my RSS reader list. Jessica Bowman interviewed me for her In-House Spotlight column. Take a look at the interview:

In-house Spotlight : AllRecipes.com’s SEO Dustin Woodard

I was really pleased with the article - Jessica did a great job. I encourage you to read the whole thing (it is a bit long). Some of the best stuff, in my opinion, is near bottom of the article. It gives good insight into what I do for Allrecipes.

It seems a bit premature to have tips for the Search Marketing Expo considering the first-ever SMX doesn’t take place until next week, but it is taking place in my hometown and I’ve been to enough search conferences to know how to make the most of them.

Below are my tips for those who are new to search conferences and those who aren’t new to search conferences but are new to SMX (should be the rest of us). If you are new to search, I think you are at the wrong conference (SMX Seattle is geared towards advanced search marketers).

New to Search Conferences:

• Some of the best search information is gained outside of the conference rooms – in hallways, at the parties and in the bars. Danny realizes this, and has set up three networking events. Attend them all.
• Many of the brightest minds in search will be at this conference (both search engine employees and those whose lifeblood is tied to search). Listen and remember, not all experts will have a microphone in front of them, some will be sitting right next to you.
• No matter how brilliant or “famous” the people at the conference may seem to you, don’t let that deter you from introducing yourself. I’ve found people in our industry to be incredibly welcoming. Remember, these people aren’t famous outside this industry and they are as much of a geek as you and I are.

New to SMX:

• After being beautiful and in the 80s all week, the weather is expected to flip completely to rain on Monday and Tuesday. It’s really a conspiracy. Seattle wants out-of-towners to tell everyone it rains here all the time. Regardless, we’ll probably be spending most of our time indoors anyways.
• The Bell Harbor conference center rocks. Great views and good location. Wifi is free, so bring a laptop so you can connect to the web during a conversation to show people what you are talking about.
• Andy Beal claims he’ll be videotaping everything. Jump on camera if you’ve got a spare moment, but shoo him away if the camera is taming down your corner conversation. Don’t forget about the WebProNews guys either.
• If you want to try a local favorite beer, ask for a Mac and Jacks (it’s only available on tap).

Other people excited about the upcoming SMX Seattle Conference:
Google Webmaster Central
SEOMoz
Karl Ribas
Todd Mintz
Scott Clark
SEO Chicks
Adam Killam
Matt Cutts

Sometimes being so entrenched in the search industry, it is easy to forget how skewed people’s thoughts are regarding search engines. Even people who work for Web companies that rely on SEO & word-of-mouth for all their new traffic. Here’s a great example from my work the other day when discussing article titles:

“There is also a difference between writing for a search engine crawler and a real person. What is attractive to the search engine may not be the same thing as what is engaging to a person.”

I have a feeling she is not alone. Some people think of the search engine as literally an engine or a robot or an appliance. They have trouble understanding why we spend so much time worrying about it and probably hate this non-human thing that rules so many decisions.

Here’s what I told her:

• In my 10+ years of doing SEO, I’ve never written an article for a search crawler.
• Don’t think of a search engine as an appliance or device. Think of it as real people. For example, if you called me on the phone, I wouldn’t think of that conversation as a conversation with a telephone wire – it was a conversation with you!
• There’s no better indicator of what people want, then what they search for and the words they use.

It’s true that SEOs will format a page or architect a site a certain way to aid in search crawlability, but when writing an article, good SEO’s think more about the user, the ways users think about and search for the content (keywords), and then various factors that play into ranking algorithms (which includes engagement more and more each day).

People scan headlines or titles. Titles should include the keywords, concisely tell the user what they are about to read and be attractive enough to draw them in. You can sometimes get away with creative headlines (especially when teamed with images), but in order for an article to have legs (last beyond the one-time editorial push) they should be SEO-friendly and click-through friendly.

The title of this post is a bit silly. Search engines aren’t human. But they do represent humans. Hundreds of millions of them. There’s no better indicator of how humans think or what they are looking for then the searches executed on these “engines.”

Those who watched TV in the early 80’s might remember a show that aired for three years called the “Greatest American Hero.” The show’s theme song, “Believe it or Not” remains one of the most popular theme songs to this day, having been prominently featured in the Seinfeld TV show and even one of my favorite movies of 2005, 40 Year Old Virgin.

Who’s walking on air now? Stephen Colbert, of course. His mass popularity among bloggers has prompted a linking campaign, naming him the Greatest Living American.

Let’s take a moment to decide whether or not this is true. In 2005, the Discovery Channel ran a feature series called “Greatest American“. Going through their list one-by-one, I searched for the top-rated living American:
1) Ronald Reagan (dead)
2) Abraham Lincoln (dead)
3) Martin Luther King, Jr. (dead)
4) George Washington (dead)
5) Ben Franklin (dead)
6) George W. Bush
..
What? Dubya? You gotta be kidding me. Stephen Colbert makes a much better Greatest Living American. Only Colbert knows how to drop bombs (Google Bombs) while maintaining the popular vote (links) among web savvy Americans. If Dubya really used “The Google“, he’d understand what makes him a “miserable failure” and why is being named the “Greatest Living American.”

Note: Just a couple days after the linking began, Colbert ranked #1 in Google for Greatest Living American. Google’s link bombing algorithm has failed to catch this one so far. Two more Colbert bombs to watch are Giant Brass Balls and Truthiness.

Okay, I took the bait and entered Andy Beal’s SEM scholarship contest. I decided to have fun with it and wrote this entry:

The 10 Biggest Master Baiters in the Search Industry

Inside you will find who in the search industry I find to be the master link baiters. These are the people who are so good at this craft, even expert link baiters themselves can’t help but link to them. It was difficult to pick just ten, especially when there are more prominent figures that attract links by the thousands. Those who break news (think Danny Sullivan and Barry Schwartz) or are in prominent positions (think Matt Cutts or Jeremy Zawodny) are at an unfair advantage. I’m sure they would admit linkbaiting isn’t their primary skill (though I bet they are still experts in this area) and are probably happy to escape the list of having their name attached with “master baiter.”

So, please visit my entry and join the conversation. Who are the biggest master baiters? Also feel free to link to my entry and give the guys on the list a bad time:
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/04/10-biggest-master-baiters-in-the-search-industry.html