How do you get a Free Sunday Blog Review on my Pink Internet Marketing blog? Comment on my blog. I will pick 5 blogs from new commenters for a mini-review here every Sunday. Just my way of saying “Thanks for stopping by” and to encourage comments from other bloggers. BTW, please notice my brand new Sunday Reviews Header which is super sleek, and super cute! Of course, this was made by the talented graphic artist Hernan.

The Top Rank Online Marketing Blog is one of my favourite blogs to read. They have a lot of diversity in their topics, and they have posts by many different bloggers and professionals in the internet marketing field. This blog is maintained by Lee Odden of Top Rank Results. I try to visit this blog every few days, and in particular this blog features the BigList of Search Marketing Blogs, and if you scroll down to the “P” section… ;)

The Habitation of Justice is a blog by Lincoln Adams, and is a decidedly funny blog about dating, truth and justice. It’s a nice blog to stop by to read Lincoln’s chuckle-inducing commentary on the world around him. He is currently holding a blog contest you may want to enter. You get the opportunity to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate!

Ronald Yau’s blog deals with various affiliate marketing and internet marketing topics, and includes lots of tips for making money online with affiliate sales. And I may be wrong, but I think Ronald will soon be exploring the wonderful world of podcasting.

Profectio is a blog that seeks to connect the connected Canadian community. With a variety of posts dealing with internet marketing, making money online, WEB 2.0 and Canadian events, this blog would be an important stop for Canadian bloggers in particular.

Okay, just 4 this week. Later gators.

Posted: October 8th, 2007 under Sunday Reviews.
Comments: 5

It’s Thanksgiving weekend in Canada! I love turkey and stuffing and garlic roasted mashed potatoes and gravy - so today is a good day for me! I am just cooking up a storm, and thought I would give a shout out to all Canadians celebrating Turkey Weekend, and hopefully the person cooking for you is as good of a cook as me. :)

Posted: October 7th, 2007 under Personal.
Comments: 5

Well, when I decided to learn everything and then continue relearning everything day after day in the search marketing industry, I knew that there was no definitive school building or school of thought. Generally, most SEOs learn from others before them and then by testing. Then one day you can say to yourself: Yeah, this is something I could repeat on any site. I could do this for a living. But there is really nowhere to learn how to create your own SEO site analysis. There is no tried and true way of doing this, and very few are really willing to teach you (cause that’s their money).

This is the basic route I took for figuring out how to do proper SEO site analysis:

• Check out SEO company sites. They will give a rundown of what they include in their SEO site analysis. Check out at least 20 of these more reputable companies and compile a list.
• Search for sample SEO site  analysis’ on the web. They are countless out there, just very hard to find. Keep searching and find a bunch of them. Add what they include to your list.
• From this, you can compile your SEO site analysis template. Spend a great deal of time on this, and really try to consider everything that might affect search engine ranking on site and off site.
• Practice compiling SEO site analysis’ on random websites on the net, do this for friends or family who might benefit as well. Practice, practice, practice.

If you know as much about SEO as you say you do, it should not be too hard to notice all the problems and solutions. An SEO site analysis is common sense if you understand the nature of the beast, but it is good to always check out how others doing this professionally before launching out into your first SEO analysis.

Posted: October 6th, 2007 under SEO.
Comments: 3

GrokDotCom recently:

suggested to fellow bloggers that, if rank meant everything…
. . . every blogger who’s had even one link documented by Technorati could rejoice more than they already are after being accidentally ranked #1 today — thanks to a glitch.If rank meant everything, you wouldn’t have to create fresh, original content.

If rank meant everything, blogs wouldn’t be worth reading.

Everyone would be baiting links (like I am).

Like money, when rank means everything, it means nothing.

Do blog readers really care about rank?

Would content by any other number smell as sweet?

And recently, he asked again while discussing the Techmeme Leaderboard… so I would to “share my thoughts” as he asked.

While I can understand that really, rank in ALL cases is something that can be inflated and distorted and manipulated. Wherever there is a system, someone will find a way to get around it enhance their own results.

Take for example My Blog and SEOmoz.org. I have 23 fans, they have 28. Clearly my blog is much much less popular than the other one. But my I have lots more fans because generally I am the fan of all my fans. And SEOmoz.org has only 2.5x the amount of links in Technorati as my friend Mike. (Now, Mike, I am not denying your awesomeness because I am sure you are reading this with the linkback.) But it still surprised me. I mean, they have teams of bloggers and it is an SEO blog. You would think that they would have crazy good Technorati rank, right?

I guess, at first at least, I was going to try to prove that rank mattered, but I guess I showed it does not. SEOmoz.org is making mad cash and they are a very popular site. But their Technorati rank is not that impressive considering. Because Technorati rank does not matter. I have almost as many fans, and Mike will probably match them in Technorati links in a few more months, and I don’t think either of us will get a paid content section anytime soon.

And about the Techmeme leaderboard. No comment. I don’t even want to talk about it or think about it. I am just going to pretend it’s not there until it goes away.

Posted: October 4th, 2007 under Blogging.
Comments: 11

I am sure that this has happened to every search user: you search for a product and you get a site that would never, ever under any circumstances you would provide them with your credit card number. Why? Because the website looks like they really need money in a bad way from the look of their site. So press the back button in your browser and on to the next result to purchase something from a site that clearly that does not need your money and clearly has the class and professionalism that you expect from an internet retailer. According to a DoubleClick survey [PDF], the most important factor in making an online purchase decision is the website, so this is no doubt a reoccuring phenomena.

I am not advocating make your site an all flash, all dynamic website with no actual text. That is the other way in the wrong direction. But adding some dynamic, rich media capabilities to your site is a very easy step in the right direction. For example, you have no idea how many comments I have about my feed reader button made by Hernan, and this is just a creative little .gif button with some movement. This does not mean you have to spend tons of money. Why not try to employ some of the web design students at the local college to help you create your site? But either way, you must be willing to invest in the look of your website. Rich media elements increase user engagement and are a great way to extend a company’s branding efforts, and are key to success these days. People like being wowed by their web experience, and internet retailers are not exempt from this fact.

The internet affords new retailers the opportunity to gain a footing in previously monopolized verticals. By investing not only in some great search marketing, but also in an impressive site that is dynamic and rich with media, these new retailers now really compete with larger companies in the this new “monopoly-free commerce”.

Posted: October 4th, 2007 under SEO, Internet Marketing.
Comments: 1

I often see search engine optimization opportunities in other towns, but never mine. So what’s a girl to do? Relocate to follow my dreams? Or give up? Well, relocating is not going to happen, nor is me giving up… Actual solution: Suck it up and somehow find some way to gain a monopoly on the search engine optimization game in London Ontario.

The first thing I notice about this sometimes low-tech and always very conservative city that I live in: SEO is not included in the regional vernacular. It was bad enough telling people I studied anthropology (what’s that?) and now when I try to explain this SEO thing, people are still puzzled (what’s that?). First roadblock: Nobody know was search engine optimization can do, or what online marketing has to offer.

I am not a pillar of the business community and I don’t have that many networking opportunities available to me, I don’t have a great online marketing mentor like Lee Odden (I wish!) and so there is no on to steer me in the right direction. Second roadblock: I am new to the world of business and no one knows me.

Two fairly major roadblocks to me achieving that which I aspire to. But for me, it’s nothing. My solution: Use my big mouth. I talk about search engine optimization with everyone who is willing to listen, which means I may not be fun at a party but damn will you learn something. But seriously, while I may not gab at a party about this, I generally try to mention it to most people I speak to. I give them a glimpse of how it works, and of the potential of engaging search and the internet as part of one’s marketing efforts. Does this work? Heck ya! Not only am I building a buzz about what I can do, but I am also helping people understand (locally) what SEO and internet marketing can mean for their business. Many webmasters are still waiting for traffic to arrive, not knowing that it may not happen without help. When they hear about this SEO thing from one of my now informed unknowing minions, they might think… hmm this may be my solution.

It’s a good start, and it has given me a few lucky opportunities. And as I get more, I can begin to up the ante… maybe even use internet marketing to promote my internet marketing skills. Novel idea, I know.

Posted: October 2nd, 2007 under SEO, Internet Marketing.
Comments: 6