Backlink Smackdown Part 2
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Several people have asked me about researching backlinks and if there has been any change since my last review of backlink checkers. Since I am an idiot, I decided to spend my time and money yet again to give some free information back to SEO community. Continue reading →
Why Google is Creepier than a Nosy Neighbor
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I know I am in the minority here but Google is creepier to me than a nosy neighbor.
How could I have such a crazy opinion about Google? Let me explain.
Google is tracking and recording just about every bit of personal usage data they can get. It does not matter if you have a Google user account or not. Even if you have never logged into Google, they have been smart enough to create a unique account to store your personal usage data.
The personal user accounts that Google maintains for every person can keep track of what computer you use, your geographic location, what you have searched for, what websites you like to visit and much more. They can store this data even on people who have never created a Google account and think they are using Google anonymously.
- Do you remember when you researched your child’s lice problem? Google does
- Do you remember last Valentine’s day when you searched for some private adult items? Google does
- Do you remember which months you search for diets aids and which ones you search for chocolate? Google does
- Do you remember searching for a local Alcoholics Anonymous meeting? Google does
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Why Google Allows Target.com to Spam Results
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Please Note – I did not want to expose Target’s flaws but I feel it is very unfair how they are being rewarded by Google at the expense of the mom & pop retailer stores.
If you have ever worked on improving a website’s ranking Google you know that there are rules you must follow. If you break any of Google’s rules (either intentionally or accidentally) you run the risk of your website being penalized or possibly even banned from Google. Since Google has a quasi monopoly over online search most people would never dream of doing anything that might attract the wrath of Google. Target, one of the biggest retailers in the U.S. does not share that point of view.
Target.com is currently flooding the Google search results with millions of near identical error pages.
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Understanding Search Engineers
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Here is a crazy idea – the better you understand search engines the you better you will be able to interact with them. I am not talking about the mathematical algorithms of the search engines I am talking in more general terms. What does the company want? What are the employees trying to achieve? What is the motivation driving them?
Before we can get all freudian and psychoanalyze this lets get clear about some things:
-Search engines are made up of many, many teams.
-Each team has many, many individuals.
-Each person is an individual with their own personal ideas
Basically search engines are just like every other company and their employees are just like you and your coworkers. Ready for my incredible wisdom? Get ready to be shocked by my “Master of the Obvious” observations.
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Press Releases Don’t Suck, You Do!
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I had a great time meeting alot of new people this week at SMX East and at Jane and Robots Summit. Several things became very apparent from my brief time stepping out of my cave and mingling with others. I noticed that newbies are still making newbie mistakes (some things will never change). More experienced people were always making newbie mistakes.
My forehead really hurts from the repeated times I smacked my forehead after listening to a semi-experienced webmaster running a profitable websites and totally misunderstanding a basic concept. One common feeling that I found was that press releases suck and are worthless for internet marketing. As you could probably tell from my blog title, I disagree with this.
I (and many of my colleagues) regularly use press releases for internet marketing and PROFIT from it.
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