Ok so i have started reading SEO Book (by Aaron Wall) so I know what every body else knows about seo
I’ve printed it out, pulled myself away from Sphinn and SEOmoz, and decided to take a chapter in every night or so. If I can be arsed I’ll update my blog regularily with my views and any tidbits of interest (to me!). (more…)

I had to laugh the other day. I normally check up on who’s ranking for the top terms in Google for keywords I’m interested in and you see plenty of companies doing the following:

• search engine optimisation glasgow - Page 1
• search engine optimization glasgow - Page 2
• search engine optimisation scotland - Page 1
• search engine optimization scotland - Page 2
• seo company glasgow - Page 1
• seo company scotland - Page3

Yes! Just listing these keywords, as above, so Google picks them up (it’s an old seo trick) and so the site now ranks for these terms (if the domain / page is strong enough).

Yeah I know, I’ve just joined them, but it’s lazy seo, probably not “the best way” of doing things, but it sure works at the moment! (more…)

My site is only a toddler. It’s only a month old, that’s why I’ve not got any Google Page Rank. Many people look at a potential link opportunities on blogs and only consider the Google Green, totally forgetting about Neighbourhood and Page Strength generated by other sites linking to it.

Don’t these people know that Google Page Rank is months behind REAL page rank? Sometimes a link from a PR 0 site can see your serps improve. (more…)

If 5 + 6 make eleven, the optimal keyword density is 6.3%. If two tomatoes and one cucumber make 56, the optimal keyword density is 42. What am I on about?

Fuck knows but it reminds me of Keyword Density. What is the optimal keyword density for your web page? Exactly what is the % of keywords to normal text allowed on a page to get to Number 1 in Google? (more…)

I was recently approached to offer advice on improving someone’s online “reputation” in search engines (called quite simply “search engine reputation management“. A SEO company in Scotland said it couldn’t be done. Pah! I’d done it with my own name a few years back using quite ethical means (yes I am a megalomaniac - at one time, when you typed in Shaun Anderson, I had control over every listing on page 1 of Google & MSN (Yahoo never played ball) - I’m over that now, thankfully). And online reputation management seems to be all of a sudden a big thing, these days, so i bet that incompetent seo company is aware of it now! You see, the company in question had some bad / unfair / critical / unsavoury (delete as necessary) competition for their brand name, and this featured right below their own website listing in Google. In fact looking at the top ten, they had quite a few articles they didn’t want the brand associated with.

The business itself was in no way unethical, just in a controversial area that drew even my Granda’s opinion on the subject, so i offered some advice. Naturally when someone is investigating your business using nothing but Google, they might only check a few of the top ten listings. This means there is a chance you can control this.

What can you do? You can’t delete the offending article, you need to beat it down in the serps! even better, why not try and “own” that whole google serp? (more…)

This article is a bit all over the place. It’s thoughts I have, nothing more, based on my limited experience.

Google Page Rank is just one of 100s of signals / calculations that Google uses to evaluate your site. A high PR does not guarantee high levels of traffic, nor does it lead to good search engine positions.

Example - I have a PR 6 site that gets 20 visitors a day! I have PR 4 sites that get 70 - 100 visitors a day (from Google). The reason? The PR 6 site was a test, without any really decent content, and I haven’t earned any real “trust” in Google’s eyes with this site. One day I will add good content to it, when I have the time, and it is aged a bit (another good signal to Google), but at the moment, the site doesn’t have enough good content to it to make it really “trusted”. (more…)

From my observations, if you have a few sites, interlinking them isn’t a bad thing. But what about a lot site-wide links between sites? (more…)

Yup, Brandon’s done it to me too. Both my sites (I don’t think he knows all of the rest yet). (more…)

Yep. I’m a professional search engine optimiser in Scotland (Greenock, in fact). This blog is going to be a log of my journey as I learn more and more about the wonderful and creative art of seo (search engine optimization), which as you might know, I’m obsessed with. I’ll be sharing some tips I learn from experts, and through my own analysis, and try my best to be as open and transparent as possible. (more…)

I can’t take it any more! At first I thought SEOMoz’s was pretty, and Sitepoint’s clever, but after seeing it for the fucking umteenth time I wish I could hack my way in there and remove those fucking pop up/under adverts (on sitepoint at least!)!

On Sitepoint a few moments ago I think 2 keystrokes caused 3 pop ups. Fuck off! If I wanted a free this and that I would fucking search Google for it (well, delicious, actually). (more…)

I’m going to start price point testing for PPP (Price Per Post). After visiting a few blogs and seeing people for offer their skills (for, I think, as low as $10 dollars) I thought I’d have a look at it.

I started wondering though - will people start thinking a blog is of a lower quality than the next if this cost is set too low?

I know I certainly did - 5 seconds in. (more…)

Jim, you’re not a ninja, you’re a “Link Pimp”

Work those b**ch*s !

LOL - I checked my Akismet Spam killer today to see if I have managed to attract any scum spammer yet. The blog was only launched at the weekend, so I expected a few. (more…)

This is exactly the reason i have this blog. So’s I can speak my confused mind. Digg’s a “social” site, right? Everybody wants to be a darling of Digg these days because successful exposure in Digg means a traffic bonanza. (more…)

I’ve been having a wee look about at the best Wordpress Plugins I can add to this site to make it a bit more visitor and search engine friendly. I want to do this but not go over board.

I kicked off of course with spam killer Akismet (pre-installed these days) and thought I would give Snapshots a try too (although I’m a bit concerned it might be a bit to distracting for the user long term). Subscribe to Comments of course was another no-brainer as the Americans say.

For a bit more help I looked in Delicious & Google (guess which one returned better results) and found these:

1. Andy Beard Top Wordpress Plugins April
   
2. DesigBit Excellent Wordpress Plugins
3. Jon Chow: My Top 10 Wordpress Plug Ins
4. PingMag - Top Wordpress Plugins
5. Top 30 Plug-ins For Wordpress - Staska
6. Top Wordpress Plugins - TheBlogJoint

Advertisements? I’m having a look at AuctionAds after listening to an excellent interview with John Reese had with Shoemoney, but that’s not really the aim of this blog for now. I also like the “sound” of the audio plugin (but only for use my first post)

I also like the look of Related Posts. I’ll need to get my Feedburner RSS / Subscription plugin up and running to for all those future readers (but as yet I don’t have much a clue about the subscription device I used subscribing to Andy Beard’s site recently - but I definitely want one).

By BlogLog Community Roll and Bumpzee buttons will need to go in as well at some point.

Any help anyone?

Jim I will pay you $720 in free ads…..if the first time we meet, you strike the pose for me that’s greeted me every time I visit your solo album
Shaun

OK now my blog is set up. I chose to use Wordpress which is free and simple to use. I used my trusty host at Rochen and using a script it took me about 5 minutes to install the whole thing.

Add a couple of hours configuring the template I nicked from the corporate site and modified. Throw in 5 hours staring at the screen wondering what to do next and hey presto - live and launched to the world.

First thing first. I want to get my new blog into Google, Yahoo and MSN. How will I do this? Actually it’s very easy.

I could submit my content to Google but I would prefer G to FIND my site rather than me telling it anything (old habits die hard). Google finds your site by links - so I will get a few links from sites I know are in Google’s index.

Firstly Wordpress makes it easy by “pinging” a lot of services which are in fact on Google’s menu so Google might very well know about my site right now with these first posts.

Second I’ll add one or two posts to a few bookmarking sites: Stumble, Delicious and Furl will do for now. Google also has a look at these pages too so it gives G another way to find my new site.

Lastly I’ve asked a few pals to drop me a couple of links from their site. Doing just these few things ensures I should be picked up by Google within a week or so.

Good. That’s taken care of.

My first post on my new blog took a bit of time thinking on it and then I thought fuck it I’ll put some of my favourite Stone Roses lyrics down. They are the coolest band I can think of on my 11,000 song ipod - I don’t have a clue as to what to write about for that first post. The lyrics I chose because i just well like them. (more…)

This is my second post on my blog and my first actual proper post (i’ll explain that in my next post!). I’m the co-founder of Hobo, a toddler of an internet marketing company we set up last year in Greenock, Scotland, UK - but some posts over there recently have, (ahem) meant that my MD asked me nicely to move that shit (I can swear!) off the Hobo site to my own blog.

Fuck the Hobo (Internet Marketing Glasgow) site is a GooglePage Rank 7 (5) and we’re snowed under with leads from organic search, so I think I can give it a rest. I’ll post there of course to improve search engine positions and generate leads but most of my actual thoughts, musings and fight-picking will be appearing here from now on.

I’m a bit flakey and don’t pay much attention to a lot, my grammar is well, shady, to say the best but, you know what, Fuck it! (I’m already enjoying this!). I think I have a touch of OCD so you’ll probably see posts and posts one week and fuck all next week (I do have clients to work for after all!).

So that’s the reason for the blog. I’m addicted. To Blogging. To SEO. The reason for this blog? To put my thoughts and notes down and to generate a bit of traffic and cash.

Feel free to abuse me in any way you wish (on this site please) because I proudly DoFollow!

Soak me to my skin
Will you drown me in your sea
Submission ends and I begin

Choke me smoke the air
In this citrus sucking sunshine
I don’t care you’re not all there….