scratch that niche!
Finally, I’ve managed to put together a little video on using Twitter. Sorry for all the false starts, my first attempts were made using a PC. I know, what was I thinking, right? I eventually got back to my beloved MacBook Pro, and voila, easy as pie. Shot the screencast, did some quick edits, uploaded, done.
But that whole “Mac is for people who actually want to get things done” thing is a post for another day.
Jacob Morgan, a social media consultant, is trading links for a few minutes of social media consulting.
Personally, I like the idea that he’s doing this–if for nothing else, he’s thinking on his feet and marshaling his resources (in this case, his native expertise) to get something else he wants: traffic and rankings.
Think about doing it in your own business. And hey, if you want some free advice, click the link above and then follow his instructions.
Here’s an oldie but goodie but from XKCD, a webcomic about “romance, sarcasm, math, and language.” Check it out to get an inside peek at how a geek’s brain works. I love the recursive humor in this piece called Marketing Interview. I’ve felt like this many, many, many times: get called to the prospective client, get grilled, then get asked to make a pitch. Hey, you called me, right?
Marketing Interview
One question I get asked a lot is, “How do you conduct research online?”
Truth be told, there are plenty of ways to do research online, some that will cost you a fortune and others that will only cost you time and energy. Some are qualitative (rich with details) and some are quantitative (i.e., more measurable).
Here is a random sample of research methods I use when I’m looking into a new opportunity.
Hallelujah, amen, and glory onto Google. They’ve finally addresses the issue of duplicate (or extremely similar) content with a rel attribute for the <link> tag.
Okay, okay, I’m backing up to explain. Let’s say that you have some content that is available via multiple URLs. Let’s say that you have example.com/page.php?id=123 that displays a review of a restaurant (or something similar). However, because most dynamic sites might also allow different sort and display options, this exact same content might also be available via:
example.com/page.php?id=123&catid=4
example.com/page.php?id=123&catid=4&authorid=3
Furthermore, the same content might be reached as example.com/reviews/restaurant/el-taco-loco. In the old days, Google, having discovered all these URLs, would simply assume that you’re up to no good by duplicating content. Whoosh, there goes you page ranking.
Starting this morning, you can add a <link> tag to the <head> section of your “duplicate” content, providing a canonical URL that Google will then treat accordingly.
<link rel=’canonical’ href=’http://www.example.com/reviews/restaurant/el-taco-loco’/>
Need more info? Check out the original posting over at Official Google Webmaster.
Thomas Myer is a consultant, author, and speaker. He's also on a quest. No, it doesn't involve armor, dragons, white horses, or riddles. Ask him about it if you see him.
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