Link building is all about risk management. There are lots of ways to build links. But search engines do not like to be manipulated. They work constantly, with lots of really smart people, to find ways to filter out links secured purely for SEO purposes. That makes many forms of link building risky, because: Search [...]
Articles by Ian Lurie
Ian Lurie is founder and CEO of Portent Inc., an internet marketing agency that has provided internet marketing, including PPC, SEO, social and analytics services, since 1995. more >
SEO worst practices: The content duplication toilet bowl of death
50% of SEO (search engine optimization, in case you live under a big rock, or you’ve never been to this blog before) is staying out of the way, staying out of trouble, and letting search engines find everything on your web site. It should be easy, but people seem to constantly create new ways to [...]
It’s plagiarism day! Part 2: An agency steals everything
Per my post of a few minutes ago, I can laugh at simple-minded content thieves. But, as I’ve said in the past, so-called ‘professional marketers’ who steal other agencies’ sites and copy need to go to a special circle of Hell. Today, I bring you Caerus Digital, an agency apparently located in New Jersey, not [...]
It’s plagiarism day!
I love people who steal my stuff. Sometimes, I can’t think of any clever blogging ideas. So I go to Google, do a quick search and wham, some idiot not only stole my article but also hotlinked directly to my images. So, I use my handy anti-plagiarism 3-step process and replace an image or two, [...]
Writing a Python site map generator: Part 1
This is part 1 in a short series about my attempt to learn a new programming language. 'Cause, you know, it's what nerds do. The journey begins: My site map generator I wanted to build a decent site map generator. To me, 'decent' means: It can crawl and parse pages, grabbing links, without generating an [...]
Rel = canonical: Refuge for the weak-minded? You make the call
My SearchEngineLand.com column this month is titled “Why I still Hate rel=canonical“. It’s because, see, I used to hate it. And I still do. Because it’s stupid. Don’t flame me here, though. You can go ahead and do it right on Search Engine Land, and get lots more support: Why I still Hate rel=canonical
New Fat Free Guide section: Advanced Link Building
Just published 6 new modules on The Fat Free Guide’s SEO training section. Collectively, they cover Advanced Link Building. If you’re already a subscriber, thanks! Go check out the new stuff and let me know what questions you have. If you’re not already a subscriber, you can sign up for $7/month. But I’m nearly done [...]
10 more ideas for blog posts
I spend a lot of time worrying about writer’s block, and an equal amount of time coming up with ideas for blog posts and articles. Here are 10 more I’ve used a few times: Write about the latest silly thing a celebrity did. If Mel Gibson just stuck his foot in his mouth again, write [...]
Monday laziness: What’s old is new again
I swear my 11-hour work day just went by in 2 hours. I got here at 6:30 AM. It’s now 4:40 PM, and I haven’t gotten to my day’s todo list yet. Argh. In the interest of my sanity, here’s a list of my favorite Conversation Marketing article series – multiple-post articles that delve deep [...]
Pull, by Keith Chambers: Don’t judge a book by its cover
I’m always reading one marketing book or another. My typical M.O. is to read it a chapter at a time, switching to my favorite fiction/science fiction for a break in between. That’s because most marketing books have the personality of a Michael Bay Transformers remake. Right now that marketing book is Pull: Marketing Secrets the [...]
