Articles by Ian Lurie

I’ve been trying advertising through BuySellAds.com – it’s been very effective. But I’d like to switch to a sponsorship structure, instead. It gives a lot more value for the sponsor, and it frankly lets me earn a bit more money. It’s also a morale boost. I put about 15 hours/week into Conversation Marketing, minimum. Getting [...]

The short version: Learn to use the TRIM() command in whatever programming language you’re using, so you remove spaces that some poor soul accidentally includes in a data they enter via web form. The TRIM() command Every programming language has some version of the TRIM() command. TRIM() removes leading and trailing spaces from any alphanumeric [...]

I presented yesterday at the SEOMOZ Pro Seminar. I had the incredible misfortune of going right after Rand Fishkin, aka SEO Rockstar, aka He of the Fashionable Wardrobe. But it was still a blast. It was one of a bunch of great moments at my first Mozinar. I heartily recommend it to anyone looking to [...]

This post expands on one of the ten blogging tips I presented at the SEOMOZ pro seminar yesterday. I’ll be writing about the others over the next few weeks, and will tie them all together when they’re done. I’m not a video guy. I know I use screencasts a lot, but the idea of having [...]

One easy way to recover lost link authority is to 301 redirect broken external links to relevant pages. But, if you’ve got a site with hundreds or thousands of URLs, and dozens of broken external links, doing that correction can be a real headache. Enter Levenshtein Distance. That’s a fancy name for a simple concept: [...]

It’s true. As egos go, mine is a bit small, damp and non-resilient. So, when I search for my own name on the web, it’s mostly to see who’s writing mean things about me and making ready to defend myself. Years ago, I set up a page on Wikipedia, so that someone I knew in [...]

I’ve heard it sooo many times: “But I didn’t know!!!!” That comes shrieking forth shortly after this chain of events: CEO hires a Guru to develop their web marketing plan. Guru comes in, collects check and nods sagely while saying stuff “Engage your audience”. Guru writes down a plan with steps like “Get good links”. [...]

Lisa Barone’s post today about a tax on business bloggers, and the squawking and flapping that ensued thereafter, got me thinking about ‘fair’ versus ‘honest’. Especially in the world of marketing. In marketing, ‘fair’ doesn’t exist I find that when folks start talking about ‘fair’, what they mean is ‘fair for me and mine.’ Or [...]

Google just announced a change to their algorithm: They’re now going to show more pages from a single domain for certain queries. You’re tempted to run out into the street, strip naked with sheer joy and yell OMG all our troubles are over reputation management now a cinch!!! Wrooooong. Stay inside. Keep yer clothes on. [...]

Heather Lloyd-Martin knows SEO copywriting like I know sarcasm. She’s coming to Seattle September 15, 2010 to teach her SEO Copywriting Training course – if you’ve already read my SEO copywriting e-book and want a full day of hands-on, in-depth training, you need to go to this seminar. The specifics: When: September 15, 2010, 9-4 [...]