Business Management Consultant - Stuntdubl Search and Marketing Consulting

There are several quick easy ways to establish some trust for your domain. There are really no excuses to not have most of this stuff for any legitimate business website. It’s so easy and the opportunity cost is extremely low compared to the potential benefits. Read: Yes, this is speculative - but it’s also relatively easy, shouldn’t take you long, and MOST LIKELY will combine for better results. You can probably argue each one of these - but why bother when you could be out working on more sites to test it on?

1. Privacy Policy
2. Contact page with physical address and phone number
3. Submit to local listings (assists with above)
4. Extended period domain registration
5. Get a half dozen trusted links (if I told you they’d no longer be trusted)
6. Legit WHOIS data that matches other records
7. Dedicated IP* - recently mentioned by Jim.
8. Adding a FEW trusted outbound authority links - wikipedia, industry associations, etc.
9. Valid code (or close to anyhow) - you can argue this all day, but on a massive scale better code = higher quality
10. Fast server response time*
11. No 404’s
12. Extremely limited downtime*

*If you can afford more for a better host, you’re more likely to be in it for the long run, and likely to be of higher quality. Don’t believe me? Would you be more trusting buying a car from someone with three cars on the side of the road, or a dealership that had been in business 20 years and had a nice location? Why do you think big banks are located in high rent downtown districts and have marble floors?

Pay attention to what is credible to both users AND someone with a search relevance quality mindset. Everyone says optimize for users - try optimizing your site for to convince a savvy threadwatch readin’, affiliate site buildin’ fickle user that you are credible, and it will probably help your SEO efforts these days.

These are the easy ways - you have to work them together and THINK about what would indicate quality on a mass level. Seriously folks, quality indicators = trust. It’s not about keyword stuffing and link bombing anymore…SEO is about proving you’re trustworthy - it makes it even easier when you actually ARE - but even if you ARE - you have to know how to SHOW that you are. Let the damn dog sniff your hand!

Inspired by Michael’s recent post on Google using WHOIS data.
From GrayWolf:
So how would one go about providing that strong indication of quality in the absence of actual quality?

Yes. Sometimes you gotta fake the funk when you’re an affiliate. That’s why affiliates know how to display and identify ACTUAL trust when it’s present. That’s also why affiliate types are fickle shoppers and know how to look for credibility on a website (kinda like evaluating reviews and ratings on ebay). SE’s don’t hate affiliates - they hate low quality, non-trustworthy sites. They’re just gonna “play the odds” with indicators of quality.

Trust is a big piece of the equation right now. There’s too many GOOD sites for engines to worry too much about collateral damage. If you don’t know how to PROVE you’re trustworthy, then you definitely won’t be.

More reading

• Andy on quality indicators
• G-dub on the infamous google patent

Danny is the ___________ of search.
1. Godfather
2. Shaq
3. Dali Lama
4. Rock star
5. Maven
6. Pioneer
7. Barbara Eden
8. Founding father
9. True voice
10. Guru

Found from perusing Barry’s List - This was found skimming through about half of them.

Yea, I think the man has some clout, and you can see how many people he’s had an impact on. Mainly from being a standup guy for over a decade in the search community - You won’t find too many people that NO ONE will say a bad word about. We’re all curious and anxious to see what cool project he’ll tackle next, or at very least hoping the blogosphere backlash was a wakeup call to Incisive. My guess is Danny is spending about 1/2 of the next two weeks respectfully declining job offers. I wasn’t aware that Danny hates top 10 lists until I read this one that was pretty funny, but still couldn’t resist.

Is there ANY chance you missed this?

**Editor Notes
Karl Ribas is currently the Project Manager over at All Web Promotion, and on the side runs his own search engine marketing Blog and consultant website. I’ve had the pleasure of chatting with Karl back and forth online, and finally got to meet him (along with CK aka Kid Disco) at SES in San Jose a few weeks ago. Karl has put together a nice list of how to’s for finding a good SEO consultant.

I think this is definitely a topic worth revisiting. I have discussed it in the past with, hiring and seo company or consultant, and 10 things to ask your seo company. One thing to remember that came from those discussions is that individual consultants are often busy and they may have some questions for you as well, and are use to “tire kickers” and may be reluctant to give out too much information unless the prospect was referred through a trusted associate.

How to Hire an SEO Consultant

by: Karl Ribas

In my experience and opinion most website owners’ priority is to get top search engine positioning for their selected search terms; and who can blame them?! They, as many, understand the importance and the benefits in having a highly ranked website. However, what’s not so clear, is that there are many dangers that exist when practicing with the wrong SEO techniques and strategies.

Regardless of one’s opinion on “White-Hat” versus “Black-Hat” SEO, it can be said that some techniques and strategies fit a project, while others simply do not. Understanding the differences and when to use them is what being an SEO is all about. Subsequently, this is why so many Internet companies choose to work with SEOs.

Think of a website optimizer as a veteran carpenter or plumber. Similar to the two handymen, a great SEO has their own tools, experience, education, and industry know-how needed for each and every project. When given a project, a great SEO must decide on which tools, techniques, and strategies are the most appropriate for the task at hand. In addition, and even more important, a great SEO must also decipher which of the tools, techniques, and strategies they should avoid using for fear of jeopardizing long term success.

With this being said, the main question is how exactly does a website owner choose the right SEO company or consultant, and how will they know that the strategies and techniques that are chosen are safe and most appropriate for a long-term campaign? The following tips are very beneficial to those looking to hire an SEO, and are helpful in separating one type of SEO from another.

Request and Review References – It is perfectly appropriate for companies, those looking to hire an SEO Firm or consultant, to request references before agreeing to move forward in the early stages of an SEO campaign. References will most likely highlight the SEO’s success rate, work ethic, customer service efforts, strategies and techniques, and many other traits needed to gain a better understanding of an SEO. If an SEO’s current and past clients won’t vouch for the company… who can?

“Google” (Search) the SEO Company – Searching an SEO’s name and URL can provide several types of information about the company that might otherwise be unknown.

When searching an SEO, weave through the top few listings, assuming that they belong to the actual company, and focus on those that appear on the second half of the first page all the way through the third. Typically, this is where comments, reviews, press releases, articles, affiliations, and so many other informative resources regarding the company can be found. This is great because it aids in understanding how others, both inside and out, interact with and perceive the SEO Company or consultant.

Request and Search Their Keywords – This may seem to be seen an awkward request, however, the benefits in researching are insightful and rewarding.

For your information, simply by searching the company’s key search-terms and viewing how well they rank will be a direct indicator as to how your company will be ranked / handled. It is important to understand that not all great SEO’s are going to rank high for terms such as “Search Engine Optimization” or “SEO Consultant”… simply because there are too many SEO companies and only 10 first-page positions. However, focus on how well the SEO ranks for the keywords they were brave enough to provide and see first hand just how good the SEO is at SEO.

Talk With More Than One Representative – Obviously this tip is only beneficial when feeling out SEO companies and not one-man operations, but the idea itself is simple and informational. It is natural for an SEO Company to have all potential clients funneled through a sales-department or people who are capable of talking-up their services. It is very rare that a company will communicate directly to the SEO team responsible for optimizing their website.

To avoid the corporate runaround associated with speaking to a company’s sales-team, simply request a second phone call, but this time request one with a member of their SEO team. An SEO will typically provide more realistic answers to questions regarding strategies and techniques as well as those related to success rates and overall expectations.

Request and Review Affiliates – You can verify that a SEO is indeed a great SEO by reviewing those organizations that they associate themselves with. Questions to ask yourself are: Is the SEO Company associated with industry organizations such as SEMPO or SMA-NA? Does the company use 3rd party service providers, and if so are they highly reputable? These are appropriate questions you should be asking before hiring an SEO company or consultant.

Also ask yourself the question, if an SEO Company or consultant is unable to provide adequate industry-related affiliates, what does that suggest about their involvement in the Search Engine Optimization industry?

In conclusion, deciding on which SEO Company or consultant to move forward with is a very difficult task. Companies should base their decision on whether or not they believe an SEO possess the necessary resources and understanding to rank a website, as well as a better understanding of how to keep a website listed within a search engine’s index and off of their banned list.

Every SEO company and consultant will naturally vary in their views and opinions about search engine optimization, as well as which techniques and strategies are best. Utilizing the five tips highlighted above, a company should have little trouble deciphering through their list of possible SEOs, and finding one that best compliments the ideas and goals of the specific project at hand.

Bio Information:
Karl Ribas is the Project Manager at All Web Promotion, and on the side runs his own search engine marketing Blog and consultant website. He has been designing websites since 2001, and began his involvement with search engine marketing in September of 2003. As both, Project Manager at All Web Promotion and owner of his own website, Karl provides up-to-date, valuable, and effect Search Engine Marketing and design services to a wide range of small to medium sized online businesses.

CrazyEgg.com has just recently launched their really promising looking service. You can follow their progress on their blog, or signup with them to try it out. I’ve met the gentleman behind this service, and in addition to being extremely smart, they’re nice guys as well. I expect nothing but the best from this service in the long run, and it’s pretty damn cool.

A heatmap of where folks clicked:

An overlay of how many clicks occurred on each spot

A list of where

Coolest features

This whole thing is pretty cool. It’s a fantastic idea, and it offers a lot of the same usability research as eyetracking at a fraction of the cost. It is, of course, not going to be as in depth, or an exact science, but it does offer some really nice possibilities for studying users.

A few suggestions

• Offer a standalone version - If this is possible without givin’ away the goose, it would probably help with the intense server loads you’re bound to have
• Mouse cursor tracking - Okay, it’s a pipe dream, but I thought that’s kind of what it was originally - If you can make that a part of the software it would make the research data even more valuable.

Great stuff guys, keep up the good work. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing this product evolve.

Download the show. Got a chance to talk with Greg, and Todd on SEORockstars

We talked a bit about consultancy work, and answered some of the questions that were asked in advance, including old sites, auctioned domains, social networking, and more.

I even got ‘em to spin my cheesy old intro, made one day out of boredome, when I had my decks setup in my old house.

Thanks for havin’ me guys.

Download the podcast here

Ever since I’ve heard the flashy million dollar college term: “transactive memory system”, which I first read in The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell, I’ve been fascinated by the concept. My interpretation of a transactive memory system (TMS) is something that is used to retain larger amounts of information, by using a simple to remember trigger of where the information is stored.
transactive knowledge means knowledge that is somehow available or possible because of transactions that take place between people. Transactive Memory theory examines the process by which individuals determine who knows what and who knows who knows what. - according to Manoj Sati

I think it’s based on HUMANS being the gateway for additional memory, but I think silicon-based intelligance could be used as well. It dawned on me today just how much I use my laptop as this type of extensive memory system, and that I embrace the fact that I know longer need to KNOW everything like a Jeopardy savant, but only that I am able to effeciently harness the wisdom of the internet’s collective intelligence by using an effective understanding of the tools that are available to filter and utilize the best information.

The example used the Tipping Point, was that when someone gets divorced they feel like they’ve lost part of their memory - mainly because they count on their partner to remember certain things that they don’t feel are important for them to remember (because their partner will remember). A recent personal example was when I was discussing national parks with a nice gentleman on my flight to San Jose. I couldn’t for the life of me remember the name of Mariposa Park in Yosemite, and it drove me crazy (I had to break out my laptop just to recall the name and let it go).

Another personal example is the TERM - transactive memory - I couldn’t remember it exactly, but I remembered exactly where to find the concept within my blog by remembering what book it was from. I knew at some point I would want to go back and revisit the idea, and today was that day. By using this memory system, I was able to find the term, research it further, and add my thoughts on it.

Managing Information Overload - Harnessing Collective Intelligence

I must confess. I’ve never been an extremely brilliant person like I am sometimes given credit. I would classify myself as a “lazy thinker” - meaning I’m always looking for ways to make things easier, faster, and more efficient. I’ve always tried to find ways to learn QUICKER and easier. I’ve always lived by the motto, “think smarter, not harder”. In this case, I was thinking about the MOUNTAINS of information I try to sift through on a daily basis, and how to get through it all and retain something worthwhile. Several years ago I started obsessively bookmarking for this reason. Now there are much better tools for this with social bookmarking much more prevelant, but I still retain pretty extensive local bookmarks, because it’s one of few things I don’t have a complete abundance mentality about. I definitely share my precious bookmarks, but I think the organization, retention, and thought process that went into them holds pretty strong inherent value.

It tend to get information overload on a near daily basis (I’m kind of like the competitive eater Takeru Kobayashi - who constantly stuffs his stomach to maximum capacity that way - as I am constantly pressing my own limits of information overload and feeling like it will probably start to leak out my ears). While researching this post, I stumbled accross some information on information processing theory, which is pretty interesting. The best piece of information from it was a concept taught to me by my high school psych teacher, Mr. Cataline, - “…the idea that short-term memory could only hold 5-9 chunks of information (seven plus or minus two) where a chunk is any meaningful unit. A chunk could refer to digits, words, chess positions, or people’s faces. The concept of chunking and the limited capacity of short term memory became a basic element of all subsequent theories of memory.”

Psychological principles of memory and cognition are pretty fascinating when applied to search marketing. I am pretty out of my element here for the most part, but I try to spend some time and dive in for research purposes on occassion. The lesson for today, however, is to use the other tools at your disposal to HELP you to remember things, rather than to always worry about remembering them. There are plenty of tools both on your laptop, and online to help you embrace ADD (and even use it to your advantage), by helping you to scan and disseminate information and sort it to places you can easily find it later if you actually may need it.

Examples of How I Use My Laptop or Informational Archives as a Transactional Memory System

• The books/off topic category - There’s no way I could remember all the quotes from any book I’ve ever read, so I archive the best ones in case I ever want to reference them again. I can’t remember them, but I can remember which books I’ve read, and where to find the quote if I think of a concept that I want to use for an article. I then hit the archives, find the “quote from dog eared pages”, and I can find the exact quote that I’m thinking of.
• My best posts and SEM tools pages - I generally use one or both of these at least once a day to find something I’m looking for, or provide a point of reference for someone. They have become a jumping off point for personal FAQ’s for me. In fact, I sometimes find myself talking with someone, and ending part of the conversation early because I can’t remember all of the talking points I’d like to touch, and I just tell them to remind me to send them the post I have done on that topic.
• Anal retentive bookmarks - See the two screenshots below - I use my bookmarks toolbar in firefox mainly for folders so I can have quick access to hundreds of bookmarks. In total, I probably have thousands. Organization is the key - you will notice “ww” and “off” - then dozens of subfolders under those - this is “webmasterworld” and “other forums and blogs” then divided by topic matter. This is extremely helpful in finding good information on a given subject, and doesn’t force me to REMEMBER everything, or learn everything right away - when I think it’s getting important, I can go back and re-read something that I bookmarked and find it easily.

Bookmark Screenshots:
My bookmarks toolbar:

A brief look at my thousands of bookmarks organized by topic

I’m sure there are other examples of how I have used my laptop as a TMS. I started being obsessive about bookmark organization before social bookmarking really hit the big time, so most of my storage is done locally.

What other ways do you use your laptop or websites as a transactive memory tool?

Transactive Memory System Tools

• Rollyo - Roll your own search using the sites you enjoy most. I wish I could dump more into a single index, but it allows for “chunking” within your favorite group of sites
• Bloglines - I’ve finally started to organize a little bit, though I’ve got a long ways to go. RSS aggregation has allowed me to disseminate MUCH more information in a given day, has improved my skimming skills, and has also raised the likelihood I’ll waste an entire day reading.

Social Bookmarking Sites

• Del.icio.us
• Netscape
• Digg

Social networking sites also fall into this category I think - myspace, facebook, linkedin, etc. help to keep track of personal or business relationships through the relationships with others.

Do you have any tools that you use in this category?

Resources:

• Aaron talks about memex
• Is your attention span getting shorter?
• Transactive memory theory
• This gentleman had some similar ideas stemming from the Tipping Point
• Daniel Wegner Research Papers
• Transactive knowledge

Been meaning to do a revisit of the types of links that I discussed from “Balancing the Link Equation”, which is based on the thought process from a couple Pubcon presentations. Andy and Aaron just put out an excellent guide of 101 link building tips, and it kicked me in the butt to get it done, so I could give their article the proper link love it deserved.

Types of links and how to get them

Using a arbitrary ficticious example of an informational site about real estate law. **I do not currently work with any sites of this type.

In this example, we have two specific themes to dive deeper into that are relevant to our search - real estate and law. Starting at this level gives us hundreds of thousands, if not millions of sites to start to filter from (not to mention the backlinks of THOSE sites), and sites that share similar themes.

1. Authority links
How to obtain them: Start with your related category in the Google Directory
What to look for:
-Top rankings for big terms - city or state + real estate, vertical category + lawyers
-Sites that currently offer links out
-Sites that would benefit from offering users your content
Examples: real estate law
Other Notes: Authority links are an absolute must for improving your trust score these days. This is a MUST for a new site, and should be where you start your efforts, and always be dedicating SOME time. Suck it up, and take the time it takes to get some quality, trusted links. The existence of trusted authority links will make or break your site. Find the 800 lb. gorillas in your field, and **find a way to get on a dozen or so of them. Failing that, hunt their backlinks, and find a way to get on some of those pages. Use some creative queries with the combination tool. Give the tattler a shot.

**Find a way - How? - Buy, borrow, beg, and barter.

2. Directory links
How to obtain them: Pony up some cash
What to look for: Generally easy to find niche directories, don’t go overboard with more than a few directories per month, quarter, etc.
Examples:law directories, real estate directories
Other Notes: My gut feel is that too many directories triggers a filter. I wouldn’t go over 10 - 15% of my total link ratio on my own sites for my own sites at any given time. Start with a few highly trusted directories. (Yahoo dir, business.com, MSN SBD, BOTW), and add some others after you have many more links added to your profile.

3. Reciprocal links
How to obtain them: Make some friends - Don’t go overboard
What to look for: Strong links that are complementary to your site.
Examples: Private investigators may be useful to a client that is in need of information on real estate law. Focus on content for your niche, and use your resources to build strategic linking partnerships.
Other Notes: Reciprocal links are NOT dead - relying on reciprocal links is. They are not a magic bullet anymore, but they do occur “naturally”. They are a piece of the equation - use them to your advantage but don’t get carried away. Using a number out of the sky (read: untested) - I would say under 10% of most sites links should be reciprocal - make them count.

4. Run of site links
How to obtain them: Easy to buy
What to look for: Sites that are highly on topic to you.
Examples: You’re on your own on this one - not outing anybody - sorry.
Other Notes: ROS links can spell trouble, but they can also help to balance your equation. If MOST of your links are from unique IP’s/domains - you can get add a couple, and get some great anchor text easily. Make sure to use some specific 2nd tier keyphrases that you might be able to hit some rankings for. Caveat: ROS links can really hurt a site’s link profile if not used wisely. Use with caution.

5. One way links from friends or related sites.
How to obtain them: Go to conferences and tradeshows, e-mail folks and make friends, offer something useful in return.
What to look for: People in complementary niches
Examples:Blogrolls
Other Notes: Don’t link ALL your sites together and stay on topic.

6. Edu and .Gov links
How to obtain them: Be nice to future interns. Offer some career assistance and/or advice.
What to look for: .edus and .gov TLD extensions - Da ‘hoo recently changed some things to use siteexplorer, so most the good tools broke (sorry, I’m not a developer), but you can still used advanced search to restrict searches to these TLD types.
Examples: real estate law resources
Other Notes: There are plenty of ways to encourage .edu and .gov folks to link to you (mainly good content or resources). It should be noted that there is most likely NOT special weight on these TLD’s, but they generally have much more trust score associated with them because they are generally of higher quality.

7. Radio station, television, magazine, or newspaper links
How to obtain them: Buy ‘em, or find a journalist
What to look for: Local news or someone looking to write a story.
Examples: real estate law news
Other Notes: Do some traditional media advertising, and negotiate for some extra special link love.

8. Press release links
How to obtain them: Find sites that offer press release submission services and submit your NEWS (*note - this does not mean any crap you just want to link stuff)
What to look for: People in your niche who want news as content.
Examples: PR.com, PRWeb.com, and many more
Other Notes:Press releases are generally NOT a great way to get links, but you can pick up some that may be of value. Every little bit helps, and remember (again) this is only a small part of your overall link profile.

9. Article bio links
How to obtain them: Write a few articles, or have some written for you. Rinse, repeat.
What to look for: Industry authority sites that accept submissions from guest writers
Examples: “real estate law” + “submit articles”
Other Notes:
This can be a GREAT way to get some good authority links from high profile sites. They’ll appreciate (or demand) great content in return for the exposure and link pop you’ll receive. The better the site is, the higher quality content they will require. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

10. RSS/ Blog aggregated links
How to obtain them: Pretty easy - start your blog and aggregate - also known as scraper links.
What to look for: Blog and RSS directories to submit to, and tagging sites.
Examples:
Other Notes: Not worth a whole lot, but you’ll pick up a whole bunch of links this way. They’re “power” is minimal at best and highly debated. There are, however, plenty of legitimate sites that aggregate content where you may pick up some decent links.

11. Comment and Profile Links
How to obtain them: Contribute to others websites - yes, REAL contributions.
Examples: Look for sites that don’t use the nofollow tag and show up in other folks backlinks.
How to obtain them: Contribute something worthwhile to a community or blog. Stick around awhile - don’t be a jerk and jus’ spam sites, you’ll probably get turned off or blocked anyhow.
What to look for: Sites without nofollow tags or redirects.
Examples: Sorry, you’re on your own, this is not hard.
Other notes: Not much to add, people have been using forum links, comment links, and profile links for a long time. Again, these links’ value is marginal, and only a very small piece of the puzzle.

12. Presell Page Links
How to obtain them: Obtaining presell pages takes link negotiations to a whole new level. Good luck outsourcing this. There are opportunities to purchase presell pages.
What to look for: Sites open to advertising that aren’t going crazy with it. Look for the happy medium.
Examples: You’ll have to write a page of good content. Create a whole webpage based around the target sites template. Make it as little work as possible for the person you’re requesting a presell page from (they’re already doing you a big favor).
Other Notes:Welcome to link builder zen. Get as many as you can possibly get. They offer direct traffic and rankings as well as highly targeted link pop.

Balance is the key term in a link profile. If you tip the scales too far on near any type of link you are going to setoff alarm bells to the algos. Don’t be dumb. Use all the tools at your disposal to achieve balance in your link equation. My guess is that link juice for rankings these days is pretty close to the pareto principle 80% of your “power” is going to come from the top 20% of your links.

**Added - Courtesy of Cameron, I found Neil’s real nice 5 piece series on getting links.

This post has even been translated into German!