Rejection Therapy Podcast
SEO. GTD. LDS. FTW.
Author of Zero to Superhero and Economtricks.
Designed a game called Rejection Therapy.
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Connect with me on LinkedIn. Use the email rinkjustice @ gmail.com
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9 Ways SEO Can "Best" Google Instant
I've been lounging around the apartment all day, nursing a bad head cold, but being too sick to concentrate on client stuff has given me time to take a gander at the new Google Instant and ponder the implications to SEO and search behaviour.
Some pundits are already declaring Google Instant an SEO killer, but I doubt it. I haven't had much exposure to it, but off the top of my nasally congested stuffed up head I see at least nine ways SEO can bypass the potential negative impact of Google Instant.
1. Be in the SERP's top 5 for Google.com. My experience has been that when you dominate a top 5 spot on the international Google.com, you have a good chance of ranking first page on other geographically-based English speaking versions of Google (and even Bing). Google.ca in particular.
Small businesses competing against big brand names should keep in mind Google gives preference to big brands in the SERPs now, so your work will be cut out for you.
2. On the web, contextual relevance beats out branding almost every time, but now branding will play a more important role on the internet. Small brands need to get in the prospect's evoked set before their fingers even hit the keyboard, and I suggest going blue ocean with your branding strategy. What that means is be creative, innovative and unique.
As an example, unique personal brands ShoeMoney and (ahem) rinkjustice have an advantage over more "common place" brand names because they're memorable and there's less search competition. The stickier the brand name, the easier it will be to remember, and the less you'll need to build brand awareness.
3. Word of Mouth has always been the best form of advertising, so use it. Interface in meatspace and convert customers into brand advocates. Your brand advocates will talk up your brand, online and off.
4. Learn Google Instant's auto-complete terms and the syntax it uses to generate queries and optimize for it. Also (and I'm going out on a limb here) optimize for natural language queries. Google has been pushing semantic search technology for awhile, and we might see it reflected in GI's queries.
5. Linkbait on high traffic websites (I'm using linkbait as a verb here). If your content is tasty and relevant to that reader demographic - and your website converts the traffic well - you'll be too busy counting customer orders to worry about SERPs.
6. "You can't control user flow" says Alltop founder Guy Kawasaki, and he's right, but you can expand your net and increase your website's user flow by leveraging social media platforms and developing more of your own web assets (not just websites - videos, infographics etc). The backlinks and traffic will make up any traffic lost on Google Instant.
7. Leverage local search rankings. Google Instant users need to be logged into their Google accounts to use this feature, and most Google accounts are already opted in to personalized search. Among other preferences, Personalized search results factor in geo local information on the user. Register your business with Google Places, even if you don't have a website.
8. Master the long tail. My guess is Google Instant will make people better searchers. Instead of people struggling with hopelessly broad search terms, Google's predictive suggestions will help users become more specific with their queries. This means with Google Instant, long tail searches will become more popular, not less.
9. Finally, I suggest search engine marketers lean on tactics and less on long view strategies. Google changes the game too much to plan long term.
P.S. I recently launched iPhone Apps for SEO Experts, an ebook that reveals my secret arsenal of powerful, little-known internet marketing apps. Remote Control SEO is the future.
Broken Theme / "Stylesheet Missing" Error in Wordpress
Ever get that stupid "Stylesheet Missing" error when you try and install a theme in Wordpress? It's usually late at night when you should already be asleep.
Is this what brings you to my blog? Hopefully I can help you out. First, take another look at the files of the Wordpress theme you uploaded. You can do this easily via your ftp client. Do you see a lot of files ending with php? If so, you may need to delete the files online and upload the "Theme_Name" folder within the "Theme_Name" folder so the following directory structure prevails: /wp-content/themes/Theme_Name/stylesheet.css If you do NOT see any php files in the root folder, you may have uploaded a website css template, which will not work as a Wordpress theme. I've experienced this error several times myself, and it's because css website templates accidentally get listed among Wordpress themes. To use the css website template, remove the Wordpress installation via Fantastico or whatever you've got working in the backend of your CMS. Hope this helps. Now get some sleep :)
TENSO. Portuguese Internet Meme
Tenso is Portuguese for "Tense". It's also the name of a hilarious
internet meme. Images from TENSO.tumblr.com
This Is Me
No, it's not me on the video. What I mean is Randy Komisar perfectly described how I operate. I try not to overthink things. I just do it and figure it out as I go along. Kind of like a novelist would start a story without mapping out the plot beforehand.
Don't bother trying to get it right the first time. You won't.
Cracking my knuckles. Getting ready to write copy for another startup idea that I hope to launch soon. Maybe even today.
I just finished BookmarkBroker.com, and I'm ready for something different. Bookmark Broker will go on, and I'll be behind it 100%, but I'll let it grow organically. No big SEO marketing campaigns on this one. The concept can survive and thrive on it's own merits.
Or maybe not.
But here's what I wanted to say to entrepreneurs who are grasping for the perfect internet business idea:
Don't bother trying to get it right the first time. You won't.
Don't try and protect yourself from failure, or mistakes, or wasted time. You can't.
Stop thinking and asking questions and doing research and formulating the perfect domain name. Make your move.
And It Will Be Wrong.
Hey, don't sweat it. It's the cost of being agile.
But here is the good part. When you discover what is wrong, and you face the ugly realization the beautiful new startup you built with many lonely hours and sweat equity sits there like a pile of rubble at your feet, use it as a stepping stone to move up and onward.
If you climb over enough failures, you will eventually be high enough where you can see the panoramic business landscape. You will be at a unique vantage point where you can see above others, and see where the opportunities really are.
Be courageous. Continue failing, and climbing higher and higher.
See you at the top.
Masters Of The Blogosphere: Explode Your Blog's Potential [ FREE PDF ]
These killer articles from were compiled awhile back as a free PDF for my Economtricks readership (back when the blog supporting the book was in existence), and I thought you might benefit from some of the advice within. Please enjoy.
You can also download the PDF here: Masters Of The Blogosphere: Explode Your Blog's Potential
Have "The Cap'n" Over For Christmas
I'm going to plug my Dad's new hardcover collection of Captain Canuck (my father being co-creator, writer and co-illustrator of Canada's iconic superhero, along with the incredible George Freeman).
The epic follows the story of Tom Evans, a Canadian secret agent who gains superhuman strength from alien visitors. Flying dropkicks and bad guy buttkicking ensues.
The two books completely re-mastered the coloring from the original comic books. The "first" book showcases issues #4-10, as well as the never-before-printed Captain Canuck newspaper strip. Issues #1-3 will be released later. Stay tuned for deets.
For a history on Captain Canuck, try the Captain Canuck Wikipedia Page.
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