Yearly Archives: 2009
Ian Lurie8 Apr, 2009
Book Review: Me 2.0 – Building a Personal Brand
I just finished reading Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success. Usually, when a book title includes things like ‘brand’ and ‘success’ or a book deals with a topic like ‘personal branding’ I buy the book based on its ability to act as a doorstop. But I’ve been reading Dan Schawbel’s blog… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie7 Apr, 2009
Link Loopy, Part 2: 3 Competitive Link Research Tools
Yesterday I talked about my passionate hatred of link-building. I also pointed out that I still do it, because it’s important. In this, part 2 of my little 5-part series on link building, I’m going to outline the tools I use. It’s important to keep yesterday’s post in mind. I do not like link building.… Read More
Random Ian Lurie7 Apr, 2009
About Twitter, Clients, and Everything
Someone correctly pointed out to me today that my Twitter posts might seem a bit, uh, grumpy at times. And some of those posts might seem directed at clients. I want to point out, super-clearly: I am a selfish SOB. I only work with clients I truly can support and that I enjoy helping. So… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie6 Apr, 2009
Link Loopy, Part 1: Why Link Building Sucks
This is part of a 5-part series I’m writing about link building. I’ve not written much about it up to now. This first article gets to the heart of why I hate link building, but do it anyway. I hate building links. I mean I hate it. It’s either: Begging for a link. Begging for… Read More
Ian Lurie6 Apr, 2009
CTO-SEO Conversations: Be A Fly On The Wall
At SEMPDX Searchfest last month I sat on the Hot Seat panel with Danny Sullivan, Vanessa Fox and Adam Audette. If you don’t know, the Hot Seat allows site owners to get their web site reviewed by a panel of SEO and web geeks. One of the reviewees had follow up questions, which turned into… Read More
Random Ian Lurie1 Apr, 2009
If I Were Evil…
I figured since it’s April 1, there’s no chance of a substantive post being heard through the thousands of comedic wannabes. So I went with stream of consciousness instead. I’d buy a lot more links. Really, I should. It seems to work anyway. I’d own a lot more internet access accounts, so I could spam… Read More
Ian Lurie31 Mar, 2009
Web Analytics: 10 Ways to Poison the Well
Web analytics are hard. They make internet marketing complicated, introducing annoying stuff like facts and feedback. Why waste your time? While you may understand this, it’s possible there are clear thinkers in your organization who insist on collecting all this needless data. Here’s how you drive them utterly batty: Change everything. All the time. Rename… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie30 Mar, 2009
ZOMG! Writing for Twitter
Brevity is good. OK, I’ve always wanted to do that. But I do have some real advice for writing on Twitter. I get a lot of of new Tweeple (That’s Twitter slang for ‘people’. See? You’re already becoming One of Us.) asking me: “What should I write?” or “How should I write?” Here are my… Read More
Ian Lurie30 Mar, 2009
For Design, Focus Groups Suck
Don’t take my word for it. Jakob Nielsen said it best in 2001. Of course you can try a focus group. Do your design. Then put 10 strangers in a small box, give them free candy, point 10 cameras at them and start firing questions. Oh, and don’t forget to make sure there’s a painfully… Read More
Random Ian Lurie28 Mar, 2009
Please Review My Book (If you read it)
If you’ve read the new Web Marketing All In One Desk Reference for Dummies, please review it here. Thanks!
Featured Ian Lurie26 Mar, 2009
Using TweetDeck to Make Twitter Sane
Twitter is the web’s water cooler. Lots of people hang out and chat. I’ll talk about the business uses another time. For now, understand this: Twitter is insane. Get a few hundred friends and their tweets racing past you like ants heading for a picnic. There are a lot of tools out there to help… Read More
Ian Lurie25 Mar, 2009
Are we journalists, or marketing professionals?
I read a great post today about a tricky link-building technique. The technique is totally legit, builds links from a major domain, and is pure gold. Of course, now that’s it’s been published, 150,000 other people will immediately run out, abuse the hell out of it, make Google take notice, and flush the entire technique… Read More
SEO Ian Lurie24 Mar, 2009
Book Review: The Truth About Search Engine Optimization
I just finished reading The Truth About Search Engine Optimization. In short, it rocks. I only have one bone to pick with Rebecca Lieb, the author, but I’ll get to that in a second. The book is divided up into short, neat sections. Each section is a ‘truth’, such as: Wag the long tail. A… Read More
Featured Ian Lurie20 Mar, 2009
SEO Abroad: Ranking in other countries
Selling stuff in another country? Surprise! Google, Yahoo! and Live don’t just transfer your .com rankings worldwide. You might keep the same position abroad. But if you want to compete in the rankings on, say Google.ca or Google.de, you’ll probably need to take some steps: Create a separate site. Oh my god you say. Ian,… Read More
Analytics Ian Lurie18 Mar, 2009
Keyword Analytics In Google Analytics: 5 Minute Video
My second installment of the 5-minute tutorial series is Keyword Analytics in Google Analytics. Harrison, my son, had his video podcast debut. Alas, he spent at least 1/2 the podcast making faces and trying to get me to crack up, which he’s far too good at. So if I sound a bit distracted, blame him.… Read More