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Feb
5
Two of My Favorite Things About Twitter
Filed Under Twitter, Video | 8 Comments
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Dec
21
Should You Always Design With SEO In Mind?
Filed Under Online Marketing, SEO, Video | 2 Comments
And a quickie version for those of you sitting in cubes who can’t watch because you’re pretending your working:
This video is in response to a post by Jill Whalen on Search Engine Land this week following up on a debate in the High Rankings Forum about whether SEO is an extra skill or a prerequisite to being a website designer or developer. A lot of the conversation seems to center around what is best for the client or what the designers responsibility is to educate the client about SEO. I would argue however that the focus of the conversation should be what is best for your business as a web designer or developer. If you are not already offering SEO, you will be in the future. If you already offer SEO services but the client chooses not to invest in SEO at the time you design their site, they probably will invest in it later. If you were good at what you did for your client, they will most likely return to you for their future web services so you should make it easier on yourself when they do want SEO.
When you are designing and coding any new site, you should already be keeping basic principles of conversion, usability and code standards in mind anyway. So if you develop the site properly from the start, whether they are your SEO client or not, if they do become your SEO client you’ll have an easier time doing the optimization. And even if they do go to another company for their SEO services, you will want that company to see that you provided a top notch product to your client or you may quickly get a name for being a poor web designer. Anyway you look at it, keeping SEO in mind when developing websites for clients is a good idea for you and for your business.
Nov
29
The Girlie Girl’s SEO Conference Guide
Filed Under Conferences, Video | 7 Comments
And a “close-enough” transcript for those who still prefer to read:
Just because the SEO industry is dominated by men doesn’t mean the women in the industry need to dress like men. So this is my girlie girl’s conference survival guide.
Make a list of the activities you will need outfits for then choose an outfit for each activity. Then find shoes that will work with multiple outfits. Try to avoid bringing an outfit that needs a pair of shoes that you can’t wear with anything else.
If you are used to wearing heels, wear them. But I recommend wearing flats during the day to sessions to save your feet for nighttime. I carry a purse that is big enough that I can keep flip flops in them and put my heels in them late at night when I need to give my feet a rest.
To save more space when packing, only bring a coat if you are going to somewhere really cold. Also, if you are sharing a room, coordinate with your roommate to see what items you can share such as a hair dryer or curling iron. There are also plenty of websites about smart packing and avoiding wrinkles. Give those a read if you aren’t an experienced packer.
Once you get to the conference, find two places: a grocery store and the nearest greasy breakfast spot. Ask the locals. They will recommend the best places that you might not otherwise find.
Head to the grocery store and buy snacks, tons of water and some booze for your room to pre-party or make to-go drinks. Make sure you have enough to share so you can invite people to your room before going out.
When you are out, if you see someone you want to get to know, pay attention to what he or she is drinking and bring him/her a drink. Don’t bother asking if you can buy him or her a drink since the answer will usually be yes. So just do it.
As for what you drink, stick to what you know. Don’t mix a lot of alcohols and avoid shots. This is a conference, not spring break. You don’t want to end up in an SEO Girls Gone Wild video.
On the morning after, get up and go to the breakfast spot you found the day before. Order the greasiest thing on the menu and eat as much as you can to diminish your hangover.
Have fun, meet people and know that people will remember what you did when you were drunk much longer than they will remember anything else about you so be smart.
Nov
27
A quick video about how to market non-viral videos online
And the transcript for those of you who don’t like to watch 
TechCrunch recently had an article about the strategies behind viral videos with great tips about how to make your viral videos successful once you upload them. But what if your videos aren’t viral? What if they are simply informative or educational? What if you are a video blogger? How do you make non-viral videos successful?
First, don’t expect that you will get the views that the most recent skateboarding accident or kicked in the nuts video got. Understand who your target audience is and how big it is so you have reasonable expectations.
Next, treat your videos just as you would if you were writing the post. Use your target keywords in your video and talk about topics relevant to your market. Once you upload your videos you will want to include a compelling title, relevant keywords and ideally a transcript of the video where possible.
You should also promote your videos just as you would any other blog post. After all, in this instance, your video is just a spoken blog post. Embed your videos in your website with relevant surrounding text, share your videos with friends and colleagues, and most importantly be active in the communities you are promoting in. Friend people on YouTube just as you would on Digg or Stumble Upon. You’ll get social karma and exposure by subscribing to channels, commenting and rating videos.
It takes time to develop an audience for videos just as it does for a website. Be patient, keep producing quality content and promote promote, promote. Video is a great addition to any strategy and will pay off in the end.