Craig's List Spammers

We all need to vent things out into the light of day from time to time, and today I want to say a thing or two about the people who do what they can to ruin Craig's List.

I am an altruistic sort and have always proposed ways that society could improve to anyone who would listen, but I have usually been told that most people would take advantage of any system that required integrity. They say that any "take what you need" kind of collective would fail because people are greedy and could never be counted on to act with integrity. It's depressing to accept that this is true, but when you see Craig's List, it sure does seem as though anything that is free will be abused and people will try to use it to their own gain.

I have a legitimate business as an Internet content provider. I am registered on Craig's List, and I use the "services offered" section to...well, to offer my web content services, what else? I have gotten some business through this channel, and I really appreciate the opportunity to reach potential clients that Craig's List provides.

But lately, when I post, I get many replies from scammer/spammers asking things like "are you behind of your mortgage?" and "looking for a job?" and I find it to be extremely rude and annoying. So much so that it makes me think twice before using this great resource that is such a good thing when it is not abused.

I guess that we live in a tough, dog-eat-dog world and it extends everywhere, but it is really a drag to see what these cretins do (and I know that's not the worst of it). It definitely makes me reconsider what is possible in terms of a better future.

SEO Tip: Google Adwords Keyword Tool

I know that there are many tools out there for analyzing keywords, but imho you need to look for terms that get a reasonable number of searches but have low competition. Tools that list relevant keywords without regard to competition are of limited value. Google Adwords Keyword Tool gives you advertiser competition ratings, which are key if you want to buy PPC, but this piece of information is very important for organic search as well.

A site that is not placing for particular popular keywords is not going to leapfrog over the competition somehow. For instance, if you started selling shoes online today, and you made the term "shoes" your primary focus, you would fail. PPC would be way too expensive, and there are a million companies way ahead of you before you start.

So, you would have to find what the automated tools miss...if you were to use Google Adwords Keyword Tool, you would find that the term "brands+shoes" had a local search volume of over 40,000 in May, and there is very low competition for it.

In terms of organic on-page content, the terms that are obviously relevant but crowded, like "shoes" in the above example (and various types and brands of shoes) are all going to be used on your site quite naturally as a matter of course. The bots will know that you sell shoes.

So this is just a little tip for the people I say peace to: don't think that Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool can't be useful just because it is readily available and totally free.

10 Link Building Tips

10.) Use an SEO tool that identifies "no follow" links.

Links that are not being followed by Google bots may get you some clicks, but that is not necessarily the primary purpose of link building. For example, if you think you can create a few hundred Twitter identities to build links...even if you could get away with it, they're "no follow" so you would be wasting your time.

9.) Legitimately use Twitter.

Twitter is a great way to network very quickly and efficiently. You never know who might visit your site via your Twitter profile or click on a post that you are linking to, and the right hook-up could lead to very good things.

8.) Comment constructively on Do-Follow Blogs.

If you search for "Do Follow Lists" you will find them, and it is up to you to sort them out and gain an understanding of what "do follow" is and how it can help you. I have found that devoting real time to visiting these blogs not only builds links when you comment, but it also teaches you something. That having been said, not all of the blogs on the lists are worth commenting on, so it is a mixed bag.

7.) Post frequently.

The more often you post on your blog, the more relevant it appears to the bots in terms of being an active hub of information, and that is good for SEO. Plus, it's a number game; the more posts you have, the possibility of someone linking to one or more of them increases.

6.) Network among family, friends, acquaintances, and associates.

Asking your peeps to do you a solid can't hurt, and links add up.

5.) Don't post anything that is totally wack ("whack" is a different story).

If you publish posts that are of no real value, not even as entertainment, you dilute your blogs as whole, plus, you waste the potential of that day's post.



4.) Build relationships.

If you are anything like me, you are busy producing work and not always sitting around wondering what you can do to build links. So it can be tough to budget time for giving of yourself to others, but it is a good way to build links, network, and even make friends!

3.) Post now and then highlighting a player in your field and ask them to read it.

Hey, a little kissing up might get you a sweet link, and there is nothing wrong with giving a sincere shout to someone you respect.

2.) Get yourself listed in directories.

This one speaks for itself. It takes some legwork, but links are probably not going to fall from the sky.

1.) Give out free Jolly Ranchers!

It always works for me!!

SEO Tip: Follow Google Webmaster Quality Guidelines

When you endeavor to learn SEO trends and techniques in an effort to work on your own as an Internet entrepreneur, it takes patience, humility, commitment, and an open mind if you are going to succeed in the long run.

• You need patience because you are not going to succeed overnight.

• You need humility because you will make mistakes, but you will learn from them.

• You need commitment because a "no turning back" attitude is the key to success.

• You need an open mind because things are always changing.

Search engine optimization...hmmm...that term has taken on a life of its own. But let's use the K.I.S.S. method and look at the first two words: search engine. Here are round numbers for search engine market share for June of 2009 (Thanks to SEOConsultants.com):

Google: 74.50 %
Yahoo: 15.64 %
Bing (MSN Search redirects to Bing): 3.86%
Ask: 3.49%

So, it looks like if you want to optimize for search engines, you want to please Google, and to a lesser extent, Yahoo, right?

There are hundreds of "SEO" entities out there that promise you immediate success by circumventing or cheating Google. This is called "black hat" or "grey hat" SEO. This kind of stuff worked a while ago, but Google is all over this now and it is a sure recipe for failure. Keeping it clean and working smart and within Google's quality guidelines is tantamount if you are going to be a successful Internet entrepreneur.

I first starting learning about SEO when I was offered a job in quality control for a company that sold links on blogs. They assembled a network of bloggers and sold link packages to clients and in essence spammed the Internet, creating the niche for endless duplications of "Seinfeldian" blogs (blogs about nothing). I was naive and was told that "this was how it was done, this is SEO 'these days,'" and maybe it worked then, but it sure doesn't work now.

I do think that there is always room for a new publication in any medium, and after all, blogs are publications. And publications, by their nature, sell advertising as their sole source of revenue. So this is all a thin line. But my interpretation of the line is that every blog should provide some type of unique value to the Internet. If it exists purely as a linking vehicle, or an advertising vehicle, it is violating Google's quality guidelines.

Anyway, if you keep it simple, organic SEO is about one thing: making sure your site or blog is authoritative according to Google's algorithms and palatable to their spam team. So our Popularity Link SEO tip of the day is to Keep It Simple, Stupid: Google is the search engine you are trying to optimize for, so it might be a good idea to follow their guidelines.

Free SEO Tool: Google Analytics

When you are into search engine optimization you need to understand the free SEO tools that are out there. Why? Because other people do, and they are competing for the same visitors that you are. Personally, I think that it is fun to find new SEO tools and learn new search engine optimization techniques, and to be honest, I am always learning. That is why I like working in the field as an SEO content provider--because there is always something to new to learn and search engine optimization is fascinating to me. Okay, I'm an SEO nerd, what can I say?

Anyway, many people may think that the way you find free SEO tools is to dig around the 'net looking for some obscure, arcane source that only the sage search engine gurus are hip to. You may find a pot o' gold under the SEO rainbow, I suppose, but there are also really good free SEO tools right under everyone's noses, and Google Analytics is one of those.

All you have to do to use the Google Analytics free SEO tool is sign into your Google account (or create one if you haven't) and click the link for "Analytics." Once you're there it is self explanatory. You upload your sites into the tool and it then tracks your traffic and gives you a number of different stats that you can analyze to help you understand how much traffic you're getting, where the traffic is coming from, what pages they're visiting, how long they are staying, and more.



So if you are looking for free SEO tools, tips, and techniques, start in the most obvious place: Google.

SEO For Firefox

SEO tools are integral for anyone who wants to see web sites the way that the Google bots see them. People who are into search engine optimization and search engine marketing want to know Google Page Rank and Alexa rankings and there are tool bars for this. However, there is a very useful tool that I found through SEOBook.com, which is a very good resource for SEO tips, techniques, and general information. It's called SEO for Firefox, and using it is like getting a pair of glasses and suddenly seeing things much more clearly.



The video does a great job of explaining this useful SEO tool. With SEO for Firefox you can see the Google Page rank and Alexa rankings, but you can also customize the tool in a number of ways to display the information that you are interested in. You can see all the links that are "no follow" on a given page, for instance, and when you activate SEO for Firefox while conducting a search you see a number of details about the sites that come up, including page rank and link popularity.