Tag Archives: tutorials
SEO Blog Posts Jared Amyakar // 10 Feb, 2016
SEO: The Quick & Dirty Google Index Diagnostic
A Quick & Dirty Google Index Diagnostic This article outlines a simple diagnostic technique to assess the health of your site architecture. For all the current attention being paid to Content (caps intentional), our ability to generate organic traffic still depends heavily on that content being found and indexed by a search engine’s crawlers. … Read More
SEO Blog Posts Matthew Henry // 2 Feb, 2016
Field Guide to Spider Traps: An SEO’s Companion
If search engines can’t crawl your site, SEO efforts do not amount to much. One of the problems I see most often are ‘spider traps’. Traps kill crawls and hurt indexation. Here’s how you find and fix them: What is a spider trap? A spider trap is a structural issue that causes a web crawler… Read More
Internet Marketing Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 1 Feb, 2012
Webinar video now available
All I ask in exchange is your soul. Well. Actually just your e-mail address, if you don’t mind. Click here to sign up and watch the video of the first webinar, ‘Internet marketing 101’. I won’t spam you. Much.
Ian Lurie // 28 Apr, 2011
Linkscape + Google Spreadsheets. Together, at last.
First, a brief interlude: AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGHHH OK. I’m good now. Primal scream complete. The documentation for Google App Scripts is… less than perfect. So I have to start by thanking Tom Critchlow of Distilled. He sent me the initial script that made Google Spreadsheets play well with the LinkScape API. Otherwise, I’d be in a small,… Read More
Ian Lurie // 7 Dec, 2010
Conversation Marketing, The E-book: Now on sale
Back in 2001, I sat down at my blazing fast Pentium computer and started writing a book about internet marketing. Brainstorming it with John Cass, we realized “Hey, the internet is kind of two-way, like a conversation…” and that led to the title Conversation Marketing. Little things like babies slowed me down a bit, but… Read More
Ian Lurie // 19 Nov, 2010
5 response codes you gotta know: Learn to speak server
Whether you’re an internet marketing wonk, a top IT geek or an SEO pro, you need to know how to speak web server. Not fluently, of course. If you can do the equivalent of asking where the bathroom is, you’ll be in good shape. That’s what I’m going to go over now. When you visit… Read More
Featured Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 13 Aug, 2010
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… Read More
Ian Lurie // 29 Apr, 2010
Super-fast string handling in ColdFusion – Geekery
OK, getting VERY geeky here. You only want to read this post if: You program in ColdFusion. I’ve been using CF since the late 90s. It’s far and away my favorite programming language. You get happy tingly feelings when you make an application run 60-70% faster. You’re a nerd. If you’re still here, this is… Read More
Design & Development Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 13 Jan, 2010
HTML Basics Lesson 5: Using WordPress
This one’s an experiment: I’m going to spend this and the next few HTML Basics lessons showing you how to use WordPress to apply the HTML stuff you’ve learned in the last 4 lessons. An introduction to using WordPress to add and edit content on the web. Please let me know what you think –… Read More
SEO Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 2 Oct, 2009
SEO and Your Business Model: Site Review of eHubPensacola.com
For this week’s site review, I took a look at eHubPensacola.com. My advice: Build a search-optimized home page. Focus on the business model. You’re offering coupons and discounts. Make sure folks can get access to them quickly and easily. Then use that to build a relationship and get visitors to purchase membership. SEO and Business… Read More
Random Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 23 Sep, 2009
Google Sidewiki Hacks
Already found two useful hacks in Google Sidewiki, although I still wonder why it’s around. Make links work If you create a link in a Sidewiki entry, Google adds on some annoying extra stuff, so that: www.portentinteractive.com/services.htm becomes www.portentinteractive.com/services.htm&sa=D&sntz=1 That’s an invalid link, and it’ll give you a 404 error every time. The fix is… Read More
Featured Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 17 Sep, 2009
The plague that is Powerpoint
I’m striking out against the grand tradition of Powerpoint-as-outline, aka Powerlines. They’re a fatal illness breaking out at conventions, conferences and in board meetings across the country. The authorities would like you to think this is all under control. But trust me, THEY WON’T DO ANYTHING until it’s TOO LATE, and we’re all barricaded in… Read More
SEO Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 4 Sep, 2009
SEO 101: Does the Description Tag Matter?
Short answer: Not to your rankings. The description tag is one of those ‘meta’ tags you hear about a lot. If you clicked view >> source in your web browser, it’d look like this: It’s a bit of text that summarizes the page. There’s no real limit on length. Most search engines will show the… Read More
Featured Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 17 Aug, 2009
Video Site Review 1: Improve Subscription Rates
Just recorded our first video site review. This one’s American Parkour. Biggest problem on the site: No clear subscription model. You can subscribe for newsletters, etc., but they’re not front-and-center. And this site’s subscription list is clearly the biggest asset they can have. So, here’s the video: Tips for American Parkour to improve their online… Read More
Featured Blog Posts Ian Lurie // 12 Aug, 2009
Free e-book: Social Media Monitoring w/ Google Reader
I’ve been kind of a jerk lately, even by my standards. My guilt is your gain, though – I just finished writing an e-book, and I’m making it available free, no strings attached: The Fat-Free Guide to Conversation Monitoring shows you how to monitor what folks say about you in social media using Google Reader… Read More