Sam Tilston | Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Expert London » Content

List of All Google Products

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:55:51 +0000

Here is a full list of all the products Google have done, there is a lot, nearly 550 in total. Interesting to note that only a few of them have actually made money.

View it here : Google Products List

Or download it here – Download Google Products List

I hope big G can come up with some serious revenue streams other than Adwords soon.

Enjoy.

How To Write Linkbait

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:25:45 +0000

Over the years I’ve produced countless pieces of ‘linkbait’ for an array of different clients, and as a result have gradually developed a successful and trusty routine by which to work. Below are what I believe to be the most important steps to follow in order to supply your client with a piece of work which is effective enough to signify that your services are invaluable.

Know your client

To most people this would be filed under ‘Common Sense’ but believe me, there are some who wouldn’t even consider such a step. How do you expect to produce a unique and link-worthy article related to your client’s business if you don’t understand what they do? Even when working with existing clients – for whom I’ve written previously – the very first thing I do before starting work is become acquainted/re-acquainted with the client’s product and/or industry. Start by exploring the client’s own website. Do they have a News section related to the industry? If so, read it. Do they have an existing blog containing previous linkbait? Read that too. In fact, read the whole website and you’ll be surprised at how worthwhile such an elementary task can be.

Research, research, research

Although Wikipedia can’t always be trusted, it happens to be a great starting point when researching a topic. For example, if your client operates in the travel industry one of your first stops should be the Tourism page at Wikipedia where you’ll find a wealth of knowledge related to your client’s work that could prove invaluable when writing content. To illustrate my point: a quick glance at that very page will provide you with information about the history of tourism, niche forms of tourism, recent developments in the world of tourism…all subjects on which – with some tweaking and further investigation – a piece of linkbait could be written. Speaking of recent developments, another fantastic place to frequent is Google News. A quick search for “insurance industry” results in a goldmine of extremely recent information related to your new insurance client from which you can pull a trending topic to write about. While you’re at it, use those same search terms at websites like Digg, Reddit, Metafilter, Delicious and even Flickr, and sort the results according to popularity. This will all serve as inspiration whilst also making you aware of articles and photos that have already set the online world alight.

Tread on fresh ground

Following on nicely from the last point: once you’ve discovered those stories which have already gone viral, make it a priority to avoid re-hashing the same material. It’s wholly unlikely that a re-jigged version of a popular article will go viral for a second time so, unless you really have something new and of additional value to bring to the table, avoid touching it like the plague otherwise it will look lazy, you’ll have wasted valuable time and could even attract negative feedback from the very online community you’re hoping to engage with. Instead, use these stories to discover the type of article people have been drawn to and use that as inspiration.

Stop obsessing about lists

Although it’s true that list-based articles are easy to digest, don’t interpret that as a reason to arrange everything you write into bullet-points at the expense of a simpler but just as interesting piece. The old adage ‘Quality not Quantity’ still applies when writing linkbait and a short, traditional article about a bizarre hotel that’s rarely been seen before can result in just as much traffic and links – if not more – than an enormous list of less interesting hotels which have already done the rounds. Your client is hopefully paying you to bring in links and exposure, not to regularly fill the company blog with Top 10 lists that rarely perform. Another question worth asking yourself is this: if each stretch of sand on that ‘Top 10 Unique Beaches’ list is fascinating in its own right, why not buck the trend and instead post one beach each week as part of a series? Readers returning each week to see the latest addition to a fascinating series is an extremely valuable occurrence and will do your client’s website no harm at all.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Humans are suckers for visual stimulation, and for that reason a photograph of the world’s most expensive office chair will, without doubt, attract more attention and links than a thousand word description of the same seat. My point is this: don’t be afraid to use photographs when writing linkbait. In fact, make it your mission to include at least one picture. Also, don’t be afraid to use large, high quality ones as there’s nothing worse than reading an article online which relies on a photograph, only to find yourself squinting to appreciate it due to its size and/or quality. If you’re worried about bandwidth, host your pictures at Flickr. It’s free.

Keep it simple

Remember that the objective of writing linkbait is to attract as wide a readership as possible. Using the word ‘pusillanimous’ when you could have used ‘courageous’ is a surefire way to alienate a large percentage of your potential audience, so speak in a voice that the majority of people will understand without needing to check a dictionary, or else risk losing readers unnecessarily.

Cite your sources

As well as being good practice, citing sources for both the information within the linkbait and any photographs used will build trust amongst your readership, which will in turn make them more likely to link to your article. I can’t think of any website owner who would happily send their readers to an article that suspiciously lacks any source links. Further, sending readers to external websites by way of source links is a great way to make others aware of your work when they check their traffic logs.

Keep the title snappy

We’re all told not to judge a book by its cover but, in all honesty, it’s something the majority of us will continue to do throughout life. First impressions do matter and it’s the same with linkbait titles, so to spend two days writing an article for a client only to fall at the last hurdle by naming it ‘10 very awesome beds that I would love to lie on’ is inexcusably bad form. Keep the title short, punchy, even intriguing. Ask a question that begs to be answered. Even include a carefully chosen pun if you have to, but most of all, before you hand it over to the client, imagine yourself coming face-to-face with that very title for the first time. Would you carry on reading? If not, try again.

New Google Fast Flip

admin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:36:34 +0000

Google has recently launched a new news application called Google Fast Flip, you can take a look. It allows you to leaf and flip through different new sites enabling you to take a quick look at a range of news sources. These sources are shown by a range of categories such as most recent, most popular, topics etc. There is even a mobile version.

Enjoy.

Importance of META Descriptions for higher CTR

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 14:53:30 +0000

META Descriptions are very similar to PPC ads. Ensuring you have the best description which is tailored to your landing page can help increase click through rates and improve sales. Here are some examples which can be used to dynamically generate unique descriptions across your site.

Buy best value $keyword here. Low prices and highly $keyword.
Buy $keyword from $sitename for the best possible prices and highest quality $keyword.
$keyword information and products. Don’t buy cheap knock-offs, get the best quality $keyword from $sitename.
Wide range of $keyword. Fast 99p deliver. Buy now from a trusted source.
$sitename guarantees low pricing on $keyword and other $category products.
Interested in buying $keyword online? Check out our great selection of $keyword for sale.
Do you want the best $keyword since ever? Check out our great $keyword deals.
Why do so many people shop at $sitename? Find out now and browse our $keyword deals.
Want the best deals on $keyword online including, $keyword2, $category and more? $sitename has the best range.

Enjoy.

How to SEO YouTube Videos

admin — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:18:13 +0000

1. Create tags around your target keyword
2. Create a channel using your target keyword. This will enable you to have your keyword in the URL.
3. Video should be short and to the point.
4. Video should be funny, entertaining or educational. Tutorial, how-to, boopers, etc
5. Make a playlist with other funny/entertaining videos.
7. YouTube Bulletins.
8. Leave comments with URL on popular videos.

Enjoy.

Swine Flu – Why Risk It?

admin — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:44 +0000

On The Plane

admin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:26:16 +0000

Amazing Judo Trick

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:31:48 +0000

Streaming Documentaries

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:24:43 +0000

This site has a huge amount of excellent documentaries that I had not seen before. If you like documentaries then I recommend you check it out.

http://journeyman.booserver.com/

Enjoy.

Things always even out

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:24:35 +0000

Things tend to even out. Religion, some people say, has caused wars and fighting. Yes, but it’s also boring to sit through a church service, so it evens out. One moment you’re depressed because your doctor tells you that you have alcoholism. But then you cheer up when you go home and find a hidden bottle of vodka you had forgotten about.

Things are evening out all the time, if you take time to notice, like I do. Let’s say you want a big cupcake, with lots of icing, so you go buy one and eat it. But then you realize, I don’t have the cupcake anymore. Or maybe you take a bite of salsa that’s labelled “HOT,” and it doesn’t seem that hot, but then about a second later it seems really hot.

You might hear that some guy you know is having a party, so you call him up, but he says there’s no party. But then you call back, using a different voice, and suddenly there is a party.

One day, you ask people to take a look at a skin rash you have. Then, a few days later, you’re looking at their rashes. You send someone a death threat and then, mysteriously, the police come to your house and threaten you.

Maybe you find a nice flat pebble on a riverbank, and when you pick it up and throw it it skips across the water several times. But then the next pebble you can’t even pry loose because, what is this, glue mud? You notice an ant drifting away on a leaf in the water. Then you look up to see your aunt drifting away in a rowboat.

Eventually, I believe, everything evens out. Long ago, an asteroid hit our planet and killed our dinosaurs. But, in the future, maybe we’ll go to another planet and kill their dinosaurs.

Even in the afterlife things probably even out, although I can’t imagine how.

Still don’t believe that things even out? Try this simple test: flip a coin, over and over again, calling out “Heads!” or “Tails!” after each flip. Half the time people will ask you to please stop.

Once you realize that things even out, it’s like a light being turned on in your head, then being turned off, then being turned to “dim.”

Probably the perfect example of things evening out happened to me just last month. I was walking to the post office to mail a death threat. It was a beautiful day. I was happily singing away in my super-loud singing voice. I didn’t step on any chewing gum, like I usually do, and when I threw my gum down it didn’t stick to my fingertips. As I rounded the corner, there was a bum begging for change. I was feeling pretty good, so I gave him a five-dollar bill. At first I tried to make him do a little dance for the five dollars, but he wouldn’t do it, so I gave him the five dollars anyway.

* from the issue
* cartoon bank
* e-mail this

Not long after that, I was reading the paper, and there was a picture of the bum. He had won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry! He had a little bigger nose and straighter teeth, but I’m pretty sure it was him. So, my five dollars had made him change his ways and become a chemistry guy.

A few days later, I was walking by the corner again, and there was the bum, back begging. So, things had evened out. He had gotten the Nobel Prize, but now he was a bum again. I asked him for the five dollars back, but he started saying weird stuff that I guess was chemistry formulas or something.

I told my friend Don the story, but he said it wasn’t an example of things evening out so much as just a stupid story. That’s interesting, Don, because you saying that evens out what I said to your mother that time.

I have a lot of stories about things evening out, but I think the one about the Nobel Prize-winning bum is the best. I’d say it would take about three of my other stories to even out that one. ♦

Source : The New Yorker