Paid Links: An Unknowing Webmaster Speaks Out

There has been an eruption of debate regarding Google actively promoting their stance that paid links are against Google’s quality guidelines and will be algorithmically (or manually) devalued wherever possible. Furthermore, there is clear evidence of toolbar PageRank being lowered in reaction to sites that are selling links. We’re not talking about link […]

6 March 2008 | Google, SEO, links | 2 Comments

Google’s “Refine Results for…” Links

In Google Health, a first look, Marissa Mayer provides an overview of what Google Health is all about:
“Google Health aims to solve an urgent need that dovetails with our overall mission of organizing patient information and making it accessible and useful. Through our health offering, our users will be empowered to collect, store, and manage […]

5 March 2008 | Google, Search | 2 Comments

Speeding Up Your Site

Caught up with SEO Revolution’s blog, where Jerry West picked up on a forum post from Webmaster World. Yahoo’s Steve Souders gives fourteen best practices (worth working through this page) to speed up webpages from Yahoo’s research. The findings focus on client-side Web development and making page load times faster to real […]

2 March 2008 | Yahoo, usability | No Comments

Sort It Out Amazon!

Amazon’s design is a stalwart, one that has stood the test of time and remained largely unchanged, excepting several usability and A9 Search refinements throughout the years. I like Amazon’s design and the tabbed navigation is iconic. Why then, is there no ALT text present? This is a pure schoolboy error and […]

28 February 2008 | usability | No Comments

Has Anyone Read E-Consultancy’s SEO Best Practice Guide?

Was looking into how to get E-Consultancy’s “Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Best Practice Guide 2007″. I wasn’t interested in paying £150 for the guide (although I’m considering paying £195 for the year).
Here’s the blurb:
“This comprehensive SEO Best Practice Guide will help you understand search marketing like never before! At over 200 […]

10 February 2008 | Keyword Research, SEO | No Comments

An Excellent Multi-Page Checkout

It is amazing how many otherwise well-designed sites fall down during the checkout process. HMV.co.uk wouldn’t accept my - or a colleague’s - debit card details!
I’ve long been an advocate of the “one page checkout” system, as they’re easier to use and encourage higher conversion rates. Many visitors get bored, confused, or disinterested […]

9 February 2008 | usability | No Comments

Cheeky bigmouthmedia Redirect

http://www.bigmouthmedia.eu/ redirects to http://www.threadwatch.org/node/6276.
Cheeky cheeky!

7 February 2008 | URLs, agencies | 1 Comment

Bob Marley: Top Rankin’

They don’t want to see us unite:
All they want us to do is keep on fussing and fighting.
They don’t want to see us live together:
All they want us to do is keep on killing one another.
Top rankin’, top rankin’:
Are you skankin’ (skankin’, skankin’)?
Are you skankin’ (skankin’, skankin’)?
Wo-ho, top rankin’ (top rankin’), ‘Ow, did you mean […]

7 February 2008 | fun & games | No Comments

Magento: One Sweet CMS

Someone was asking my advice the other day regarding SEO friendly e-commerce content management systems (CMS). I recommended Magento, an open source CMS that is SEO friendly straight out of the box. Minimal programming knowledge is required to get the most out of the system, indeed, Magento is ideal for people who […]

7 February 2008 | SEO, content management | No Comments

Who Wants To Optimise Their Own Website?

Part One: Keyword Research
Many people with personal websites or young start-up companies cannot afford Web marketing services. Others may have gained a recent interest in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) but are a bit overwhelmed by how complex it can appear.
This is not a guide into the nuts and bolts of SEO, but attempts to […]

3 September 2007 | Keyword Research, SEO, Who Wants To Optimise Their Own Website? | 4 Comments