Why I Banned Google on my Blog
I banned Google on my blog in 2012. Why? Isn’t it ironic for a self proclaimed SEO (as in “search engine optimization”) blog to ban Google? Let me tell you the whole story below! The enthusiastic start of this blog…
Why Peer-to-Peer SEO Beats Influencer Ass Kissing
* In the past I have written repeatedly about the need to find your peers and to work together with them for the benefit of all parties involved. On the Web it’s not about competing with 7 billions of people….
Google Newspeak Glossary: Manual Action in Commercial Relationships
Many words hide things! In linguistics we call such terms euphemisms. Euphemisms are often made up words that are meant to hide the real (in most cases negative) meaning of existing terms. Often the terms used are also real words…
How Successful Blogging for Money Actually Works
* Does blogging success mean you have to become a superstar? Do you need millions of followers? Is this how successful blogging for money actually works? Is it about fame or notoriety? Not really. The superstar blogging approach may have…
Words that Damage Trust in Your Blog
These words may be correct English but nonetheless they make you appear like an idiot when you use them on your blog. Why? They have obviously negative or hidden meaning that influences your readers. Thus they damage trust in you…
Are Category Keywords in the URL a Significant Ranking Signal?
Google has more than 200 ranking signals or factors that determine the fate of websites on their search results. One day I was trying to assess the impact of stolen and otherwise copied content on my rankings here on the…
Google Buys Links with Hidden Anchor Text
I was awestruck today when I noticed that the perhaps most important German blogging conference re:publica sells high PageRank links. Paid links are forbidden by the Google Webmaster Guidelines since 2007 and Google has repeatedly asked webmasters to report paid…
Science vs Reality: Do Not Obey Scientists – Practice What Works
* More than once I had a lively “science” discussion on Twitter with sometimes very opinionated individuals. In some cases they were rather dogmatic. Some people treat science like a religion and blindly believe in it while they treat those…
Lead or Follow?
One of the most important factors of success is not being satisfied with merely following. When you are just following orders following trends following people instead of being yourself and doing what’s best for you you won’t succeed. It’s not…
Do Usability Experts Still Fail Themselves on World Usability Day?
* In 2008 I celebrated my first world usability day by pointing out usability mistakes usability experts commit. Fast forward to 2010 and what did I see? They still failed. Now it’s another 5 years later and finally… they get…
‘SEO is Dead’ is Dead
Diamond Skull by Damien Hirst.* One fine day I checked Twitter and saw to my dismay that a post titled “How SEO is breaking the web (and killing Google)” [sic!] has garnered almost 200 tweets. While I assume that many of…
Internet Legends You Should Know
You certainly know urban legends already. Stories, misconceptions and myths that sound enticing and thus get spread through gossip all over the place. Urban legends mostly proliferate where people use to meet for small talk, thus “urban”. The Internet is…
Panama Hat SEO
I confess: I’ve been dishonest all these years! I didn’t wear a white sombrero like my avatar did. What else? I wore all kinds of hats. Some were even all black. Yet those were the exception. Usually I wore a…
Quick & Dirty SEO or Quality Optimization?
* One day I went to the barber. Actually she’s a female barber so should I say hairdresser then? I paid 25 Euro for approx. 45 minutes. That’s quite but not very expensive. A haircut for a man costs 10…
SEO is a Craft not a Science
* There has been a backlash in the search engine optimization industry against what is deemed to be a non-scientific approach when it comes to SEO testing or collecting statistical data. Some people argue that you have to treat SEO…
Stop Social Media Hopping Now to Save Your Business Later
Social Media: paradise or prison? Are you social media hopping? Have you been on Friendster then on MySpace and finally on Facebook for a few years just to consider moving on? The social media site game is over I’ve…
Are You An Online Zombie? Do Make These Stupid Mistakes?
Does social media make you feel stupid? Do you make stupid mistakes online? Me too! I’ve spent 15+ years on Twitter (Now X), participating almost daily there! While at it I have noticed a gradual change in user behavior. It…
SEO 3.0 – Hanging Out With the Hipsters
It has been already many years ago when I started the SEO 2.0 blog. SEO 2.0 is stale by now. There is business as usual by now. At least when it comes to SEO 2.0! No innovation. No next big…
SEO Test: How Does Personalized Search Work on Google?
For about three weeks I have performed a very simple SEO test to determine the influence of the newly introduced personalized search on Google. It allegedly works with cookies only and it personalizes your search results by default even when…
Speed Up Firefox the No Bullshit Way
Over the years I’ve tried numerous ways of speeding up Firefox. Most posts on that topic make you change some hidden preferences and such. I say: That’s bullshit! I’ve never experienced much of an improvement after making some voodoo tweaks….
