What does a good online marketer do when stuck for topic ideas these days? Go to Twitter, what else! I asked my followers to hit me with their burning SEO questions and they didn't disappoint. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Is it true that, in general, .edu domains get ranked higher than .com? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If you could only ask 10 general (non-industry-specific) questions of your new SEO customers, what would they be and why would their answers help you help them? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What questions do you ask a new SEO client, and why? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

You know you're supposed to get on Twitter to somehow promote your website. So you start randomly tweeting out links to a product or service page on your website. But who is going to care? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Should Blog Reviews Use NoFollow Links? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

How do you measure the success of your SEO work? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Similar to weight loss being a poor main goal for your health and fitness regime, where your pages rank for specific keyword phrases is also a poor main goal.

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Learn why many websites that were making their owners tons of money in the past through traditional SEO, no longer work as well "post Panda." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Once my site is ready, I'll be approaching owners within the niche. So I really don't want people to find me for the first few months. My thought was that I would not add my new keyword-rich titles, headings, links, etc., until after a month or so, to keep people from finding me too soon... Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I was wondering if you had any advice about which option is better SEO wise…buying a domain for a microsite or adding the information to your website as additional content? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Is there any harm in going in adding a Google Analytics account ID and getting rid of the Omniture info in the code? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Can I use a splash page to direct two different target markets to the appropriate sections of my website? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

When building links or doing other search marketing tasks, it necessary to lie? Isn't that sort of thing exactly what gives marketers in general (not just search marketers) a bad reputation? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Are dishonesty, stretching the truth, or white lies necessary to be a good marketer? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What's the first thing you think of when writing with keywords? Probably one of the first is that keywords and phrases are descriptive of the products and/or services you're writing about. But what happens in those circumstances where you can't (or don't really want to) use your chosen keyphrases descriptively? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What are your quick words of wisdom for a business owner just starting out with SEO for their site? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Not a week goes by where a reader or a client doesn't ask me a question based on some bad SEO advice they heard or read somewhere. In this article, I try to figure out where it's coming from and why it gets spread. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

One of our connections came across a horrible website that copied our homepage and used it for their "About Us" page. What can we do about it? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Do you recommend bidding on competitors' brand keywords in your paid search campaigns? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

10 Ways I've Used Twitter This Month Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Is there a way to tell Google which states the site is relevant for? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I have a client who was called by [one of those online Yellow Pages–type companies] that would build him a website for $39 a month, which he wants to look into. What could I tell him that would convince him to go with me? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

In an effort to keep you from spending your precious time on supposed SEO tactics that will have absolutely no effect on your rankings, search engine visitors, conversions or sales, I present you with 16 SEO tactics that you can remove from your personal knowledge base and/or SEO toolbox as being in any way related to SEO. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

How Much Info Do You Give Up Front To A Client? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If your company wants people to actually understand what you do when they come to your website, how does playing with the spinning balls further this goal? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Do you get work done during vacations? OR do you even try? OR do you even take vacations? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Hi, my name is Jill, and I’m a %#@$ stirrer! Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Is it too late to save SEO and its reputation from those who have made SEO = spam? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Jill writes about why Google wants their organic search results to "suck just enough." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have You Been Affected by the Economy or Competition? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Where Have All The Advertisers Gone? Is AdWords dying? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What do you think of the new SERP display for local listings in Google? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What can someone charge for selling a link on their site? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Our CEO is looking for a specific goal in site traffic generated by organic search, based on our implementing SEO recommendations. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What's your measure of a successful SEO implementation? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Jill Whalen writes an open letter to Google lamenting the amount of spam still found in their search results. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

...If you don't keep your SEO abreast of website changes.
...If you think your SEO can work independently and not need (a lot of) your help.
...If you know enough SEO to be dangerous.
Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What's the biggest reason you've seen for SEO failure with clients? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

When you review the keywords from which people clicked to your site, are they only peripherally related to what you offer? If so, your website is likely suffering from BlindWebsititis! Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

ROI Is Greater Than Traffic Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I'm considering starting my own SEO company and working with local businesses and I was wondering if you could offer any advice. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If you're a small-business owner, you know you need a website in order to compete online. But I sometimes wonder how many owners know they don't just need a website, but one that's been developed with SEO baked in from the start. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If you're a website designer, do you work with SEOs? If you're an SEO, do you work with developers? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

For the past few weeks I've been tasked with reviewing a few different sites that have seen a loss in traffic – their owners hoped to find out why... I can usually make some educated guesses based on what I dig up in Google Analytics. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have you seen sites obviously penalized by Google and, if so, what was the cause? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "KemoSabe" wanted to mask a keyword-rich domain with a more memorable one for humans. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "flarbas" posted that they were frustrated because their boss suggested crazy changes to the company website. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

In last week's newsletter you mentioned appending email signature links with campaign tracking codes. Can you please detail how to do this? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Why does one of our websites come up #5 on Google under the keywords "our keyword phrase Los Angeles" when the keywords "Los Angeles" are nowhere to be found on our pages? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Help Choose: Subdomain or Directory? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I've had the opportunity to work with a variety of businesses through the years – from tiny one-person small businesses to huge international companies. While there are many similarities in working with different sized companies, there are also important differences. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

If you had an extra 20 hours a week, what would you do with them? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

New Affordable SEO Small-Business Package. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have Big Companies Taken Over the Internet? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I was wondering what the differences are between SEM and SEO. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What (if anything) will you be doing differently with your SEO strategy this year? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I've been SEO'ing websites long before the 21st century began. Sometimes I feel I've been touting the same SEO processes and procedures for the past 10 years. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What has changed most in Search Marketing since 2000? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

You need to address a number of SEO tactics before you get too deep into your website redesign. The reason you need to keep SEO front and center during this time is twofold: so that you do not lose your previous traffic, but also so that you can gain additional targeted search engine visitors when the new site goes live. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

How often do you think most websites should be redesigned? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have you heard about Google's new project called "SideWiki" yet? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Today we have another guest article from SEO copywriter and trainer Karon Thackston. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

The Twitter Question for this week was: "What good biz or marketing books have you read recently?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

My plan is to move all the home decor products from the old site to the new one AND change the products of the old one back to selling the jewelry, perfume, wallets, etc. – that is, the "gifty" stuff. What is the best way to make this change? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I have a corporate client that is planning to purchase a company in Switzerland and they are wondering if I can do the SEO. But then it dawned on me, checking their rankings with a U.S.-based IP address might deliver different search results…do you think? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I am new to SEO. I am writing my first website and would like to get a better understanding of building a great website that will attract my target market to my site. Can you suggest any good books that can help me achieve this goal? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

The Twitter Question of the Week is: "Do you give 'ballpark' SEO quotes to companies if/when they won't tell you what the website is? It's kinda necessary, no?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Have you seen "BlindSearch" yet? It's a page with Google, Bing and Yahoo search all together, but with no branding. You make a search, see three sets of results and choose the one you feel provided the best results. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

A lot of companies get so confused when attempting to hire an SEO firm that they simply give up altogether and don't hire anyone. Part of the problem is that they simply don't know whom to trust for this service. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I asked my Twitter peeps, "What are you not doing on your own website that you often recommend your clients should do?" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Recently, an individual asked us to solve a problem for him. A member of his family had dealt with a certain company and, he said, was harmed as a result. This individual wanted to know how he could get high rankings for his blog when someone typed in the company's brand name. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "taterchips" (great name!) is interested in tackling a specific niche within their profession and was looking at the most effective way to play to that niche. Their question has to do with whether they should add a new page or section to their existing website or start a new website for this particular niche. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

We are being contacted more and more by companies asking if we will add to our websites and/or clients' websites a short paragraph of text that includes a link to one of their clients' sites – i.e., a text advertisement. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Thought you might be interested in my TalentZoo column from last week entitled: "The Time for SEO Is Before You Need It!" Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Do you think a positioning video has value on a website, or does it interfere with the structure and architecture of the website? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

We want to put a calendar of events on our website. Google Calendar appears to be a great product but since it is not hosted on our website the long-tail SEO value (which is one of the main reasons we want to do the calendar) is lost. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

A couple of weeks ago, I received the following request from an email address in India:

"sir/madam.i want to start SEO(search engine optimization)business.but before that i want to know about SEO.how to intitate this?can u please help me?"

Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Today's guest article comes to us from Dianna Huff, Principal of DH Communications, Inc. Dianna specializes in B2B marketing communications consulting and copywriting, and is an all-around nice person. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

My question is, how should SEO services be evaluated? In other words, what measurable objectives beyond landing above the fold are appropriate? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I would like to ask a question too, please. Our website is geared to sell GPS equipment. Many of the products have a life of about 6 months to a year. Google indexes these very well, and we rank highly. However, some searches display discontinued products (I guess because they have been around the longest). Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

What do you think about a potential SEO client who asks you to agree not to work with any related company for 2 years after the conclusion of the business relationship? Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Are you an in-house search marketer? If so, please take a few minutes to fill out SEMPO's Second Annual In-House Salary. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "Say Yebo" was putting together an SEO proposal for a potential client who wanted to know if the project would be different because they had already done some SEO stuff. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

In 2005, when I originally wrote the article below, I thought by the time 2009 approached, things would have changed. Yet many businesses continue to have unrealistic expectations of what an SEO campaign is all about. We've had a number of calls to our office recently from companies who continue to be hung up over one specific keyword phrase, with no interest in branching out to others. Surprisingly, I changed very little of the content of this article because the message is still as valid as the day I wrote it. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

"I'm just about to launch a new site. It should really be 3 sites but the client talked me into making it one or the deal was off. It's for private sales of cars, property and boats. It also has a business directory for each section. The sections are in subdirectories rather than domains for easy maintenance." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I work for a nonprofit that since 2000 has been operating an e-commerce website to provide emerging artists with a web presence. It has earned a toolbar PageRank of 5, thanks to some decent inbound links. Due to a variety of things, the parent company of the website has decided it's time to shut the site down. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I wanted to let you know about a free webinar that I'm doing with MarketingSherpa called "New Research Findings: Search Marketing Tips, Tactics and Trends." Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Sales are down for many businesses due to the slow economy. Business owners and CEOs are looking for that one thing that can pull them through the hard times and keep them afloat. When times get tough, many turn to SEO, hoping that it will be the ticket to increased sales. While SEO is almost always a good idea, if you're counting on it to save a failing business, you may want to rethink things. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I admit it. I'm a Google Analytics junkie. I try to stay away, but every now and then I hear it calling my name and I break down and log in. I feel the familiar rush of excitement running through my veins almost instantly. And I know anything else I may have planned to do that day won't get done because I'll be in my own world for hours. My analytics world. Just me and my stats. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a number of online marketing folks and thought you might enjoy learning more about me and my thoughts on a plethora of search marketing issues.
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Today's guest article comes to us from my friend and long-time HRA subscriber Jim Spencer, founder of JBS Partners  – a website design and marketing firm in Winchester, MA, that serves small business and solo entrepreneurs. I met Jim in person at a SEMNE (Search Engine Marketing New England) event.   Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Forum member "doogie88" was looking for a website where he could do a reverse DNS lookup. 

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This is your last chance to save a few hundred bucks on MarketingSherpa's B2B Lead Gen BigBook...erm Handbook ;). Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

Over the past few weeks, I've had a few run-ins with plagiarism in various forms and thought I'd take the opportunity to have a little rant about it. My hope is that by discussing it, people will become more educated about the issue and perhaps it will become a little less rampant online. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>

MarketingSherpa has recently come out with an amazing handbook for B2B marketers. While they call it a "handbook" that's really not a good description of it, as it's basically too huge to hold in your hands for very long! 
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Today's article is a bit off-topic as it talks about how the little things you do can make a big difference in obtaining and keeping your search marketing clients. Read More >> Related Forum Posts >>