Symetri Blog

On December 17, 2007, created a lovely post about Ocelot Grooming in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The purpose, of course, was to offer a tangible example to anyone involved in SEO or someone looking to hire a company to do SEO as to the importance and weight of blogs. The post was slightly heavily peppered with keyphrasing, variations, and misspellings, but without being flagrant, egregious, or irrelevant; I stated my purpose directly in the post itself. Included was an image with the proper attribute "alt" tag. [Not directly used, but a further step would be to make use of the built-in blog tags to take advantage of even more levels of relevance.]

I am pleased to say that within about a week, a Google search for ocelot grooming places pages in this blog at #1 and #2. Similar results show by adding Greensboro to the mix, and that single post lists us 2nd only to the NC Zoo for "ocelot greensboro." That would be a case in point.

However, the first quagmire that I enter with such a post is that by writing about the results of a blog post and its effects on rankings in another blog post and using the same keyphrases as the original post, I risk altering those results, immediately rendering them null and this blog post inaccurate.

Yes, you read that correctly: by writing this blog post I am entering information into the interwebs that - by its very existence - may void the information within the post itself. As Keanu Reeves and Joey Lawrence one day need to say in unison: Woah. [And, no, that's nothing like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle; read your particle physics book again, please.]

The second issue, of course, is that some neckbeard living in Mom's basement will stumble upon this post between marathon sessions of WoW and myChickBot CAD revisions, interpret modest bravado as a personal affront, and seek only to own the phrase "ocelot grooming," which, being unemployed, he will successfully accomplish within two weeks time. This will also nullify the information in this post.

So as a single day comes and goes, never to occur again, let us enjoy the ephemeral SERP listing, and stand in awe at the fickle nature of Google, our Fortuna.

Labels: blogging, social marketing, symetri

Have you heard of Second Life? Chances are, if you have, it was a brief media blurb about some company or another spending the time and money to create a virtual world in the Second Life platform. Then again, depending on how deeply you are entrenched in the online world, you may spend your free time there.

For the uninitiated (in this case, consider yourselves "innocents" as opposed to "naive" until you read the rest of this post), Second Life is a 3D online environment in which you create an avatar - or representative character - to interact with other users via their avatars. There is no directive, no mission, and no winning; it is truly a second life, a place for you to meet friends, go clubbing, or enjoy a park setting, all while enjoying the computer screen glare and not actually interacting with humanity in any way.

You can hang out in Second life for free like a stylish vagabond that never needs a hot meal or you can get a paid membership, some land, and an allowance of Linden Dollars. In the "sandbox" you can learn to create anything from a beach ball to a castle and keep it on your land or, perhaps, sell it. The interesting thing is that Linden Dollars have a direct conversion to real currency and vice versa; there is a viable community to be had, and a handful of users make a good deal of money selling their creations to other users.

But to ask the real question posited in the title: is it cool?

Second Life was launched in 2003 but didn't start popping into the mainstream media until sometime in 2006. Some examples include GM opening shop in SL selling cars for a few bucks back in '06, an Ohio University replica making its debut in February '07, and most recently CNN creating a virtual I-Report hub.

So what's the problem? Unfortunately, these businesses pop up only occasionally. Unfortunately, Second Life is a microcosm of the real internet, which is to say that it is largely populated by pornography, with an inflated representation - due to customizable avatars - by those who dress up in animal suits, i.e., furries. And that's just creepy.

So what's the problem? Is Second Life cool? Sure, it's cool, for a while. Is it a viable platform for a virtual business? I'd say no. Consider the following scenario:

One day while speaking to a client, I mention that I have a virtual place on Second Life. She says she's heard of it and might look me up sometime. Later that week, my client signs up for a free account, plays with the controls, makes it through the tutorial, and - unable to find my land directly - decides to wander. Before you know it a professional relationship is suddenly strained because while searching for my business, our client stumbles upon a club full of humanoid caricatures of woodland creatures doing things humanoid woodland creatures should never do.

Bottom line: until businesses decide to populate Second Life to a ubiquitous level and the navigation of the world becomes intuitive enough to easily avoid said "furries," people who are seeking you out because of their lack of tech experience have no business seeking you out in the moral minefield that is Second Life, and you have no business leading them there. Unless, of course, furry sadism is your business.

That said, I empathetically weep for the intern tasked with reviewing the virtual world "news" that comes across SL's CNN desk. The real news is worrisome enough.

Labels: Second Life, symetri

Symetri has some very exciting news in the world of SEO: Search Engine Watch has picked us up as a regular contributor to discuss the finer points of SEO education as it pertains to both those coming in to the field and those trying to keep up with the ebb and flow of technology, companies, and algorithms.

Check out our premiere, SEO.edu: Can You Learn SEO From a Book? and keep on with us - it's going to be a brilliant ride.

Labels: blogging, education, internets, Search Engine Watch, symetri

In the 2006 wrap up, I wrote about how Yahoo and MSN jumped onboard (yay!) to support the Google Standard of sitemap joy. They both came out, but MSN isn't quite playing yet. Still, there is no official interface (like Google and Yahoo) with which to submit your sitemaps.

And so while awaiting such an instrument, autodiscovery comes to the forefront at SES NY. Autodiscovery is what they're calling the ability to place a single line of code (e.g., Sitemap: http://www.symetri.com/sitemap.xml) in the robots.txt, and everyone can read it.

So that's why MSN's been sitting on their hands.

And who's there to show them up? Ask! No, silly, the computer can't hear you. I mean Ask.com. And not only do they support the simplicity of this wonderful idea, they even have a secondary measure: you can submit XML sitemaps directly to them using their sitemap submission link. Aww, snap.

So how does this affect us in SEM Land? It's another piece of armor to strap on; we're not replacing the chain mail with the full plate, but layering. We've got a "we support this" from the Big 4 (after this move by Ask, they deserve it), but no numbers backing how it will all sort out. Maintain the Yahoo and Google accounts, keep your feeds up to date, and add that extra line of code to the robots.txt.

But layer appropriately, fair traveller. If you reach your weight limit and the onyx sword is revealed, it's of no use if you can't even pick it up.



Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Labels: ask, big 4, google, microsoft, symetri, yahoo

It's coming; are you ready?

Thanks to the ingenuity of the United States Congress, March 11, 2007 (yes, that's three days away) is our new Daylight Savings Time start date for the year. What's the issue? Any computer system dealing with time and scheduling will be affected by this. While you personally may end up late for a meeting, you're not conducting thousands of take-offs and landings from an antiquated computer system at your local airport.

Some people are mumbling Y2K under their breath. They're mumbling because Y2K turned out to be such a bust. People were stocking doomsday supplies and building bunkers. And nothing happened.

But the lack of audible, street-corner, sandwich board rhetoric has had the reverse effect. In seven years, the necessary volume of what we pay attention to has gone way up. Media has multiplied and things that don't matter are being blasted from every available megaphone (see Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, etc.). So when the meek, tenderfoot voice comes up to us, tugs at our shirtsleeve, and says "Um, you might want to download this patch," our unnecessary Microsoft-Necessary-addled eyes, our ears ringing with mp3's, mp3 lawsuits, and other ringtones go blind, go deaf.

Clearly and straight: Pay attention, but don't build a bunker. Microsoft Support has your back. But not without problems. That link will address both Windows and Outlook. Here's some love for the salt-of-the-Earth Linux folks.

That should fix it.

And remember: skepticism and planning are key to avoiding little pitfalls like this. And foil hats. You might want to have those ready too.



Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Labels: linux, microsoft, symetri

Here at Symetri, we're very aware of the importance of social networking, particularly blogs. Any business or writer or entity in general should have a blog out there delivering relevant content, whether it's industry news or attitudes about Britney Spears new do. About seven years ago, the crucial component to a business was a face on the web in the form of a site. Even if you weren't selling anything online, a presence on teh interwebs linked a human to a phone number or information about a business.

What sites were then blogs are now. A website is analogous to the brick and mortar; a blog is the smiling customer service rep. The blog is the voice, the human component to so much steam-cleaned copy, the lightning bolt to Johnny 5.

So why am I pining romantic about blogging? Why point out the importance? Because of the impotence. Because a blog is never more noticeable than when it is missing. It all has to do with the iPhone.

If you'll recall, the day after Apple announced it, Cisco sued over copyright infringement of the name. Speculation exploded on both sides and then slowly came to a low rumble. Trying to search out the details amid a blog-flood of opinions, Slashdot sent me to Cisco's blog. That was the voice of reason - the VP - pointing out what was going on. But that's Cisco's blog, and looking for another horse's mouth, I was surprised (well, not really) to find it missing.

Cisco has a blog that concerns news and industry information, yada yada. But when the rubber met the road, when fans, detractors, and the general public were startled by the upheaval and looking for the comfort and honesty that comes from a human voice, Cisco responded. Apple did not. Their blog reflects that nothing has happened negatively concerning the iPhone (and that Vista's a wannabe Mac OS).

Another example of silence: Jet Blue's "blog." (The first problem is: while it's cute to call it a "flight log," nobody's looking for a flight log. They're looking for a blog. Some conventions are conventions for a reason. Second problem: Tlog or Flog?) Last week, during the horrifying weather, Jet Blue canceled about 1/4 of their flights over 11 airports nationwide, stranding people in airports and on tarmacs. They have since rectified the issue (in part) by taking full responsibility and are unveiling a Customer Bill of Rights.

This was the perfect opportunity for a voice of comfort in a time of despair, accountability in a time of chaos, to be followed by a lauding of this Bill of Rights (here's the problem, we're sorry, here's how we're going to fix it). But the last post was on Feb. 1.

And there is your lesson: Have a voice. Make it loud. Make it timely. And smile. People are watching.


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Labels: blogging, social marketing, symetri

As many SEO Specialists are aware, Google's reporting of links back to a site (link:symetri.com) have been like the fruit to Tantalus; we can see some of them, we know Google has the information, but we just...can't...reach.

Until now.

Google is now adding a more robust Link Discovery to their Webmaster Tools. Webmasters who have verified their ownership of the site will get a much more comprehensive list and even split it into internal and external links. This is great stuff. You still won't be able to see any backlinks that hit supplemental pages. It could be helpful to see those links, but Google's throwing us a bone here and thrilled giddy about the new car. Whining about it not having a GPS standard? Too Veruca for me.

Google's official blog entry is here, and is pretty extensive. Search Engine Land has rendered it down some.

Yay backlinks!


Category: Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Labels: backlinks, google, symetri, webmaster