Wingnut SEO

As most of you know I have done freelance SEO for a long time and just recently started a Denver/Boulder SEO company of my very own.  It’s going really well and I’m trying my hardest to make time and write on both blogs all while working a 40-hour agency job and  then spending the rest of my time working on building a new company.

That said I started a Twitter account for my new company @10kthings (I’m @Wingnut by the way).

Before I started the company Twitter account it I asked my follwers to see if everyone thought it was a good/bad/lame idea or not - the resounding answer was DO IT.  So far it’s been a great idea.  I really can’t be more happy with it (well, I wish my partners would use it more… but they started to today) With me and 4 other people tweeting (using it the real way and not just shameless self promotion) it’s been fun.  We have a few followers and it’s just nice to know that we have the support out there.  For all the time it takes chatting with people - it’s all well worth it.  It keeps us motivated knowing that there are people watching what we are up to and willing to help support us.

All and all starting a Twitter account for your company is a GOOD THING.  It opens your company up to a whole new range of being social and lets you know that there are people out there that actually do care and wish you the best…. It also it’s awesome free advertising and public relations!

I am pleased to announce the recently registered LLC 10k Things. After being canned from my last job (even after getting a great job 2 hours later) I started to really take things more seriously. The SEM world is always changing and clients come and go – how secure is my new job?

So I did what any Freelancer turned Agency Worker doing side freelance work would do – Took it up a notch with my freelance work. I have always worked with designers and PPC consultants to help with my freelance clients – but now it’s official a company. The launch of the new internet marketing company site, 10kThings.com, should happen later this evening.

It’s pretty cool. We have been working together for a while now and interestingly enough we can do the exact same things any large agency can but for a much lower cost – As we have ZERO overhead.

We will see how things go – we have a few proposals out and a couple clients already signed. Who knows this thing could get huge… here’s to hoping.

To those wondering I will be keeping my full time job - and they were cool that I was working side work when they hired me as they encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. I am really happy where I am with this company and 10k Things will not be a direct competitor with where I am now. The current company I am with is much more large scale than anything 10k Things will be for quite some time.

Right now it’s just a fun project to bring in a little extra money with taking on a few clients and try something new.

Living in Denver and working in Boulder I see a lot of homeless people every day. As an SEO who lives and breathes and dreams search engines I had an interesting thought today inspired by my co-worker Nathan Joynt - What if the homeless needed SEO but just couldn’t afford it? I think it would really be helpful to everyone if I took the time and did my part for the homeless - Free homeless SEO

Lets look at some examples:

Exhibit A

This is the kind of sign that probably worked really well about 10 years ago. This man has been on the streets a long time but has lost touch with what works and doesn’t. He should really consider a redesign as the usability is just horrible, the information is jumbled and the font choices could be better. I’d also suggest that a he write better, less spammy copy - This would not only help usability but he might even be able to get higher SERP positions bringing in more traffic and ad revenue.

Exhibit B

This is a great example of good design but sadly they are not going to get the traffic they deserve. First of all the keyword density is lacking not to mention the fact that “work” and “food” are highly competitive keywords - ranking for these is going to be nearly impossible. With just a little keyword research we see that “Homeless Vet will work 4 food” would be a better choice - You can still get your message across and you find you will get a lot of traffic by putting yourself against less competition.

Another problem with this sign is that it’s out there so much - It’s duplicate content. Just changing the “for” to a “4″ isn’t enough to make the spiders think it is different. I’d suggest adding more words and maybe breaking up the content with bullets and H1’s. Even something as simple as changing “work” to “manual labor” would be helpful.

Exhibit C

Clearly this homeless man has some SEO experience. This man knew that he would get hurt in the SERPs if he used spam tactics or duplicate content. This is a great example of how great content will always be linked to and get a lot of traffic. Not only is this a link baiting sign it is a great example of niche marketing. He knew that ninjas are a big market and by by positioning himself for what people are searching for he gets the traffic. Not only that his copy writing and design skills are great. He gets his point across quickly and makes the reader want to buy.

This AGREEMENT is dated and in effect as of the Month Day, Year, between “Company Name” hereafter referred to as “Consultant” and “Client Name”, hereafter referred to as “Client.” This agreement is with respect to the Search Engine Optimization of Company website, hereinafter referred to as the “Work.” Whereas, Consultant is a professional of Search Engine Optimization of good standing; Whereas, Client wishes Consultant to create certain Work described more fully herein; and Whereas, Consultant wishes to create such Work; Now, therefore, in consideration of the foregoing premises and the mutual covenants hereinafter set forth and other valuable considerations, the parties hereto agree as follows:

CONFIDENTIALITY:

The Client and Consultant may disclose confidential information one to the other to facilitate work under this Agreement. Such information shall be so identified in writing at the time of its transmittal, and shall be safeguarded and not disclosed to third parties by the receiving party. Confidential information shall not include information that:

1. is already known to the party to which it is disclosed;
2. is or becomes part of the public domain without breach of this Agreement;
3. is obtained from third parties, which have no obligations to keep confidential to the parties to this Agreement.

DESCRIPTION OF WORK:

A separate Proposal will describe the Work that is required of Consultant for the Client.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

The full length of this contract is as follows:

Starting date is Month Day, Year. and estimated completion Month Day, Year for the total amount of $X per month. Payment is due on the 1^st of every month.

DUE DATES:

Consultant agrees to deliver optimization suggestions on dates as agreed upon in the Proposal. Consultant will make every effort to meet agreed upon due dates. The Client should be aware that failure to submit required information or materials may cause subsequent delays in the production. Client delays could result in significant delays in delivery of finished work. The Client also agrees to make any SEO changes suggested immediately and to not second guess the Consultant. The Client acknowledges the fact that he/she knows nothing about SEO and will keep his/her personal opinions to themselves.

FEES & ADDITIONAL SERVICES:

Changes in client input or direction or excessive changes will be charged at $X an hour for any work the Client wishes Consultant to create, which is not specified in the DESCRIPTION section of this agreement, or in the attached Proposal will be considered an additional service. Such Work shall require a separate Agreement and payment separate from and above that specified in this Agreement. If the Client wishes to do nothing with the suggestions and changes offered but still expects his/her rankings to increase the Client accepts that he/she shall allow the Consultant to punch the Client in the throat.

ASSIGNMENT OF WORK:

Consultant reserves the right to assign other designers or subcontractors to the Work to ensure quality and on-time completion.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS:

All rights not expressly granted hereunder are reserved to Consultant, including but not limited to all rights in sketches, comps, or other preliminary materials.

PERMISSIONS AND RELEASES:

The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Consultant against any and all claims, costs, and expenses, including attorney’s fees, due to materials included in the Work at the request of the Client for which no copyright permission or previous release was requested or uses which exceed the uses allowed pursuant to a permission or release.

PUBLICATION:

The Client may publish or disclose information regarding the Work and shall acknowledge the support of Consultant in all such publications. The Client will not use the name of Consultant, in any advertising or publicity without the prior written approval from the Consultant. The Consultant will not use the name of Client, in any advertising or publicity without the prior written approval from the Client.

Termination:

Either party may terminate this Agreement by giving 30 days written notice to the other of such termination. In the event that Work is postponed or terminated at the request of the Client, Consultant shall have the right to bill pro rata for work completed through the date of that request, while reserving all rights under this Agreement. If additional payment is due, this shall be payable within thirty days of the Client’s written notification to stop work. In the event of termination, the Client shall also pay any expenses incurred by Consultant and the Consultant shall own all rights to the Work. The Client shall assume responsibility for all collection of legal fees necessitated by default in payment.

The Client and Consultant are independent parties and nothing in this Agreement shall constitute either party as the employer, principal or partner of or joint venture with the other party. Neither the Client nor Consultant has any authority to assume or create any obligation or liability, either express or implied, on behalf of the other.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of STATE applicable therein.

The undersigned agrees to the terms of this agreement on behalf of his or her organization or business.

On behalf of the Client: _________________________________ Date _____________

On behalf of Consultant: __________________________________ Date ____________

So this isn’t what I was going to write about today.  I was going to write a piece on “Social Media Karma and how down voting your friends that you ask to vote you up is a bad idea” so as I do, I go out to find a fun image to edit slightly and then throw up as my little teaser image.  I get on Google and search images for the word “karma” at least 4 of the images that showed up on the first page were porn.  Not just classy stuff either - I’m talking hard core porn.

Where the hell was this when I was 14.  Finding free porn on the internet was a difficult thing… now all you have to do is type in any word on the Google and blam… Plenty of high quality free porn.  There is no “are you 18″ buttons to click, no credit card info to give away…  This has got to be illegal… Right?  Or since there is the preferences section… it isn’t?

On one hand it’s great - Freedom of search of something - things not being censored… On the other hand THINK OF THE CHILDREN!

Maybe there is a way to lock this on your computer… I’m not seeing one.  All a horny teenager has to do is sign up for gmail… sign in… go back to search and he has his own preferences to set.  Good times.  I hear there are some 3rd party things out there that can lock it… but what average parent/gardian is going to know about these, or know even what to search for?

There is some talk about “SEO Fame” going around started off by Lee Odden and then continued today with a post over on SEOmoz by Rand Fishkin - they both seem to be saying the same thing… It’s not an end in and of itself. Well, yeah, duh… But it sure doesn’t hurt… Both Odden and Fishkin are “famous” - How many people do they have reading every word that they write? Well, just looking at subscriber stats 40k+ between the two of them. How much ad money is brought in, how many clients actually find them because they are famous? Sure does make sales a little more simple when people are searching for you by name.

They do make a good point though - Fame is not your end game. So then, why chase it? For me it is not fame I’m seeking but just powerful networking. The fruits of my social media and SEO network labor are already starting to pay off.

Case in point: I was downsized last Monday from my agency job - Two hours later I had a better paying agency job and started Tuesday thanks to my interviewers knowing who I was because they had seen my blog on Sphinn a few times. Awesome. I’m totally famous, well… not really. BUT I AM KNOWN BY SOME. Cool.

Example 2 of my awesome power of networking: I’m looking to buy some kind of rad 4×4 for escapes to back country mountain camp sites. I get on Twitter and ask “Anyone know what car is good to get for offroading? I’m thinking about a Jeep Wrangler” A couple hours later Dan Perry who works SEO and Online Marketing for Cars.com calls me up and gives me a rundown on what’s good and what’s not - Now that is just straight up cool… I’ll be getting an FJ Cruiser, by the way - Thanks Dan

Becoming “famous” is really just a side bonus of networking. The more people you are nice to and know… the more people will be nice to and know you. That’s what SEO fame is good for. It’s so helpful being known by all the other great SEO’s out there - being friends with - friends help friends out - they will answer questions and help you meet other people… Social networkers are social people… social people are generally good to have on your side.

Well, that’s all I have to say about that. Fame would be nice to have - Do I want it? Sure, who doesn’t. If it helps me reach my goal of not being someones grunt and either running my own agency or just being happy doing freelance because I’m known great… You just have to understand what Lee and Rand both said - Fame is not an end game in and of itself, but it’s one hell of a helpful thing for any career.

As I sit here naked, before I go to bed, I look down and wonder what every man asks… Is my StumbleUpon profile long enough? Sure, it’s O.K. Every time I stumble my girlfriend’s sites she loves it. It totally brings her to about 300-700 more readers. It’s also larger than 60 people, it’s above average… But I want it massive. I want it so large as soon as I pull it out and use it servers fall to their knees. I want small websites to cower in fear before it.

I just wish I knew about the power of Stumble sooner. I have had it for years, been addicted… But I didn’t actively seek friends until about 3 months ago when I made this account… to follow along with the Wingnut brand.

So much sudden traffic for days!!!… Sigh, I just need to go to sleep… But… after just one more stumble!

As we all do on our free time, I was discussing PPC over lunch with someone.  Her claim was that bidding on branded terms was illegal and unethical.  While I respect her opinion as she is highly regarded in the search marketing world - I disagree.

Lets look at the first statement:  Illegal - Nope, Google is not the law… It may be against the GoogleAds TOS, but this does not make it illegal.  Until such time that The Oracle (aka Google) assumes control of the legal system and imposes a curfew and mandatory internet search time - The legality of this is not questioned - It is perfectly legal.  Not only that all it takes to shut down someone bidding on your branded terms is a simple phone call to Google… If you’re not paying attention that’s your companies fault.

Her second point is slightly more ambiguous.  Is bidding on someones branded keywords ethical?  I’m going to have to say it is perfectly ethical - and here’s why:

PPC and SEO are not a game - They are a war.  You are in constant struggle with your competition for top rankings.  Sure, you can play nice and make it a friendly battle… but at the end of the day you are in it to win it.  If you are not in the top of the SERPs you have lost the day - and more importantly -  lost valuable traffic.

You do whatever it takes to drive that traffic to your site.  If that’s pushing the boundaries of SEO or bidding on your competitions branded terms for your PPC campaigns - SO BE IT.

If you don’t look at SEO/PPC as a fierce competition then you are going to lose the war and end up falling behind.

So you go to your favorite social media site, you try and be active, you try to get your stories to the front page, but it rarely happens because no one knows who you are… you are not a power user, you don’t know how to write catchy titles… Hell, you don’t know the first thing about using social media effectively… and even if you do know how you just don’t have the time it takes to become well known.

You know that social media can give you a ton of traffic overnight but YOU just can’t do it. What do you do then? Make friends of course!

From my own experience the social site power users are generally very friendly, all it takes is a little time to get to know them. Then when you do write that killer article you direct their attention to it and if they like it - since they are power users and like submitting things - they just might submit your article/page/what-have-you.

Depending on the reputation/relationship you build with these power users - you can even go so far as ASKING them for a submit. This tactic can work but I generally don’t like doing it, it always feels like begging. I have done this before, today actually, but it is a rare thing for me to do. I’d rather just show people great content that they feel should be submitted.

How do you go about building a friendship with these power users? There are several ways that I like to use:

• Be their friend on the social site - vote for their submits and comment on submits
• Joining their MyBlogLog community and saying hello
• Following them on twitter, being friendly and making a connection with them
• Reading their blogs, subscribe to the RSS feeds, and make intelligent comments or ask questions
• Get their contact info (generally found in their social profiles) and send them an instant message a friendly hello, how’s it going, love your blog (insert question about them here)

Sure there are a ton more ways but the above are some that have worked very well for me. It just goes to show you that a little bit of time spent being nice/friendly can go a long way.

I have now had Rubicon Project Ads running on 4 sites for 7 days - And I have to tell you, so far, I’m impressed. The sites I have this on are as follows:

• http://PrettyMuchAwesome.org - terrible click through rate but where 95% of my impressions came from
  
• http://BuySomeHappiness.com - Good click through rate - 95% of clicks came from here
  
• http://OutThereAds.com - terrible click through rate
  
• And of course right here at WingnutSEO -Clickthroughs poor

Impressions - 62,673
Clicks - 169
Revenue - 54.72 - Really not bad for 7 days and only having it on 4 sites.  As the goal for any site should be to make more money than it costs to run.