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David Dellanave did a post today titled How Much Would You Pay To Use Google where he showed his Google Web Activity Calendar for January in an attempt to show how valuable Google is to him. However, that calendar is a representation of all web activity while logged into your Google account, not just a representation of your search activity, as shown below.

Here is my web activity calendar for January:

As you can see, the 29th falls in the 51-100 group. Looking at my web history, I had just over 90 items. Of these 90, only 12 were searches (which are designated in your history with “Searched For” and then the phrase you searched). For those that need proof, see my web history for the 29th here. And yes, I did search “send shit” and “send elephant shit”.

If the Calendar was only representative of the searches I did in a day, the 29th would fall in the 1-25 group and would be more of a light 70’s appliances green than the darker green it is now (Google obviously doesn’t care about the red/green color blind folks out there, eh?). So, that and the fact that the calendar is titled Web Activity, not Search Activity leads me to believe that the calendar shows overall web usage. Therefore, in order to really prove how valuable Google is in this sense, we’d need to analyze actual search volume, not overall activity. I think that having the option to just display search activity on the calendar would be a great addition and great way for people to see the value of Google in their daily lives.

I started writing a follow up to this How I Network on Social Sites post when a noticed a trend with my social networking contacts that is in contrast with most people I know online. I have accounts on numerous networking sites, including niche sites for foodies and various other vices. On those niche sites I friend everyone except people that are overtly creepy. But, I am much more selective on “the majors”. I only add people I actually know in person, or have friends in common with. Let’s just take Facebook and MySpace for instance.

With a quick glance at my Facebook graph you’ll see that it’s mostly industry people, colleagues…overall it’s people in a professional capacity, even if they are also friends.

MySpace is clearly less professional for me, as it is for most. You can see a higher percentage of friends, a category for Entertainment which includes famous people, bands, TV shows, and whatnot that I am a fan of. And yes you can even see that I have a few animals as friends.

Now what I discovered while doing this exercise is the lack of contacts that I have from school as compared to many other people I know. This is not because I don’t keep in contact with people from school. In fact, I am still quite close with many of them. The difference is that I grew up, and went to college, in square states.

I think that on the coasts, and in our industry, we take for granted that everyone is online to the extent that we are. However, a large majority of the people from the Midwest in my generation still only use the internet for email, basic information gathering and of course porn. I know it is different for the generation after mine since I see them all in the groups for my schools. But the late 20’s to late 30’s crowd is severely underrepresented.

It’s not for lack of trying or lack of information that my fellow square staters aren’t on social media sites. I invite them on a regular basis. Some have even joined but only logged in a few times. I think they are just in a different mindset. Many of them *gasp* don’t even have jobs where they are on a computer all day long! I’m going to kick up my efforts to get them online and report my success, or lack thereof, in a few months.

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.

Last week Yahoo! announced the release of the Shortcuts Plug-in for Wordpress which will automatically offer relevant popups to Yahoo related resources such as maps, Yahoo! Shopping and Flickr among others. As the publisher, you have the ability to choose which links you use and which you don’t. I can see this being helpful in some cases, such as linking to information on a company’s stock, an obscure location or a word you think you’re audience doesn’t know.

However, I don’t think that truly creative bloggers who frequently link out from their posts should use this tool much, if at all. One of my favorite things about Lisa Barone’s posts, other than her writing style of course, is her creative linking. If I don’t have time to read her entire post I like to scan her link text for a laugh or two. People using the Yahoo! Shortcuts tool may get lazy and resort to referencing exactly what the other gazillion people who inevitably typed the same word referenced.

Naturally, my question is when advertisers will be able to start paying for placement on keywords of their choice in Shortcuts or buy advertising inside the Shortcuts popups, making this another way to monetize your blog.

I will probably download the plug-in to test and keep an eye on it, but since I prefer writers who put a little thought into their links, I can only return the favor by not taking too many “Shortcuts”.

Back in November, we saw the “is” disappear from the Facebook status for a very short period of time. This morning it is gone again and it seems to be official. Most people had resigned to just ignoring the is or being creative with their status messages to accommodate it. Now we have one less thing to bitch about today. But I bet we’ll find something new soon enough.

After being at PubCon all last week, I am getting back into the swing of things at home and working on catching up on email. But, I wanted to take a minute to thank a few people that made last week great.

First, of course, Pat Sexton for sponsoring me in the poker tournament even though there was some argument about whether my shirt qualified as low cut. You decide:

The BOTW guys, especially Greg and Brian/”Baldwin”, for all the laughs. David Klein and all the sponsors of the poker tournament. Thursday was my favorite night there, even if I did spend 4 hours just watching Shoemoney take 2nd place.

Thanks to Steve the bartender at Wynn that insisted we were talking about topless bars, not tapas bars, making our conversation much more interesting. And thanks to Chris “You F***ing Twat” Snape for putting up with us drunk chicks on Friday night.

And now, my apology to Tamar for never seeing you and your schwag. If you find yourself in San Diego, dinner is on me! But only if it’s at a topless tapas bar.

Pat Sexton over at SEOish.com is sponsoring 3 players in the Purposeinc.com SEO Texas Hold Em’ charity tournament at PubCon and I am one of the lucky winners.  I am sure I will lose fairly quickly when I go all in on my 2-7 off suit.  But, it’s all in the name of charity and fun.  I look forward to losing Pat’s money to those that are participating.  If you aren’t, you can still donate to the charities by visiting the SEM charity poker tournament page.

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.

Cyber Monday is over and the results are in.  It’s no surprise that Nielsen reported a 10% increase over 2006 in shopping traffic and comScore reported a 21% increase in online sales.

So what does this mean for you?  It means if you are selling a consumer product online the future’s so bright you’ve got to wear shades…if you’re facing the right direction.  Sure, Cyber Monday 2007 has passed but there is plenty of holiday shopping to be done.  And all of 2008 on the horizon so get moving.

There is a lot of information about how to sell consumer products online via eBay and Amazon, as an affiliate and more.  But what if you have your own unique product?

If you have a unique product that may not be known to the public, but you know they just won’t be able to live without it once they hear about it, you will need to get creative with your online marketing to get the word out.  Build it and they will come only goes so far.  Develop content on your website that will get people interested and promote it on relevant niche networking sites.

For instance, let’s say you are selling solar powered dancing lawn gnomes (you know you want one now).  You could post photos on your site of the gnomes dancing in unexpected places.  You could place the gnomes somewhere that unexpected passers by will be stunned by their presence and film their reactions.  Or take the sex angle and get bikini models to dance with the gnomes.  Have fun with your products and don’t take yourself too seriously.  But be thoughtful with your efforts.  Try to find an angle that will create interest and be memorable but will drive interest in your product so you will actually convert some of the traffic you generate.

And don’t waste all of that effort.  Make sure that it is very easy for users to convert from your buzz content without making it seem too commercial.  Don’t force BUY NOW links down the visitors’ throats or you won’t make it far.  Offer opportunities to learn more about your product with easy ordering after they choose to get more information.  Be creative, be smart and be successful.

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.

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