Gregarius » Sugarrae aka Rae Hoffman » August 2008

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• 

  A Review of the Thesis Wordpress Theme

  Fetched: August 29th, 2008, 2:01am CDT

  Before I go any further in this post, I’d like to make a few things crystal clear. I was not given a “review copy” of Thesis. I bought the theme. I forget where I’d first heard about it, but I believe it was a tweet by copyblogger.

  I saw it, liked it, bought it, tweaked it and played with it. I like the theme… thus why I am using it, went back and bought a developers license so I can use it on other sites and you’re damn right I am linking to it with affiliate links.
  
  Ok, with that out of the way, I really think thesis is the best “in the box” Wordpress theme I’ve ever come across, though I still have a few wants on my wish list for future upgrades.

  For someone who doesn’t get a lot of php and hacks their way through Wordpress themes, Thesis will give them a lot of functionality they wouldn’t be able to obtain for themselves otherwise by being able to make changes via a simple control panel instead of having to alter any actual Wordpress code (click the images below to see larger versions).

  

  

  You can tick a box that allows you to use either the default css theme or your own custom css file and you can also “tell Thesis” to replace all of the generic links to your rss feed in Wordpress with your Feedburner one (though I totally admit to hacking this in by hand myself because I am weird like that).

  Thesis also allows you to pick and choose which “pages” you display instead of utilizing a code that simply displays anything you designate as a page. It also allows you to mix and match pages and blog categories in the top navigation header and even allows you to add links to outside sites. If you want to remove the author name or dates of your postings from the template, add tags to your template or anything else along those lines, you can simply un-tick the box. you can even insert your Google Analytics or Mint tracking code… all right from the control panel, complete with a “big ass save button” - no, really.

  My favorite part of the Thesis theme is the Multimedia Box (see the top of this page where the 300X250 Thesis ad is), which you can change to rotate between pictures, embed video or even include custom code for all those folks that want to show advertising in that area.

  Big deal… most themes have spots for advertisements. Yeah, but what made Thesis stand out to me is that I can change what appears in that area on a page by page basis if I want to. For example, you’ll notice my homepage has an ad for SEOBook.com, while this page has an ad for Thesis. Since my guide to small business SEO gets a lot of traffic from small business owners, that page shows an ad for Yahoo Search Marketing.

  I’m able to override the base choice I’ve made of what to show in that area for the majority of my site pages/posts in the Thesis control panel, all without ever having to touch a drop of code in the Wordpress templates by utilizing the custom key option on the specific page or post.

  

  If you view the photo above, you’ll see I was able to select the “custom” key I defined in the Thesis control panel and “override it”and insert specific code to replace the normal “custom” key, only for this post. This allows me to target my advertising on specific pages, especially higher traffic ones.

  Imagine you own an SEO blog but get a lot of traffic from people searching for routers due to a one off post you did… with Thesis, you can change your advertising on that single page to be router related without forcing you to rely on webmaster welfare to do it for you.

  Can you use custom fields without Thesis? But of course. You can do everything Thesis does without putting down any money buying the theme. Hell, you could also do this with wordpress if you knew how to (yes, no shit).

  Now, you might be someone who can do all this without buying Thesis.

  However, I am not. So I bought Thesis.

  Now, is Thesis all unicorns and rainbows? No.

  I have a few gripes and a wish list for future upgrades I’d like to see added to the theme, including:

  1. The default template doesn’t include the category that the post was made in and doesn’t have a simple control panel check box to enable on. If a user lands on one of my Facebook posts from Google, I’d like them to be able to see the post is in a Facebook category so they can see all my Facebook posts should they choose (yes, I get that it is still in the sidebar, don’t care).

  2. You can’t access the custom style sheet through the Wordpress theme editor. So, if you use the custom css (rather than the default one), which I’d imagine most professional bloggers would, you actually have to edit it offline and then ftp it back to the server to make any changes to it. I’d much rather edit it the same way I do everything else relating to the theme.

  3. While the design and theme are very SEO friendly, and I might even go as far to say it is the most SEO friendly theme I’ve ever seen “in a box”, it is not perfect and it does lean a little heavy in implying it is doesn’t need anything “extra” in regards to plugins or the like for SEO reasons. So, if you do buy and use Thesis, I’d recommend the following “enhancements” (at minimum) to Thesis’s great base for SEO friendliness to turn it into SEO excellence:

  • SEO title tag (Thesis lets you change post/page title tags without this plugin, but it doesn’t let you change titles of category pages)
  • RSS footer
  • Permalink redirect
  • Custom query string
  • Wordpress breadcrumbs
  • SEO slugs
  • Robots meta

  4. I’d like to see an option to enable/show social media buttons in the Thesis control panel. I’d love to tick off Digg, Delicious and Stumbleupon boxes and have the graphics (or text links) show up nicely and properly coded to work. An option to check off a box to enable a div to make the Digg plugin (or something like it) nicely align with your text (like it does here) without having to actually touch the design template (installing a plugin and checking a box is so much easier).

  5. The ability to create a nice contact form for yourself without actually having to know any code would also be awesome.

  6. Adding things to the sidebar is a breeze since the theme is widget enabled. However, the widgets do not accept any php. So if you have something utilizing php in your sidebar, you’ll either have to hack the template in the code or go without it. I’d like to see this become a non-issue in the next release.

  7. I’d like the ability to specify a specific advertisement to a category or archive page, not just individual posts and pages.

  However, even with my gripes and wish list, I still think Thesis is the best out of the box solution I’ve seen in regards to a blog theme. Easy to use, pretty damn customizable and when you see them say over and over on the Thesis sales page that the support is awesome, they ain’t lyin’. And all future upgrades/releases of the theme are free.

  So if you kick ass at php and can do all this customization yourself by utilizing your mad coding skillz, rock on. If you’re like me and well, can’t, then Thesis might be a solution. The ad targeting features alone for the professional (or semi-professional) blogger should easily make up the cost of buying the theme to begin with if you’re getting any decent traffic.

  Edited to add: Let me know if you guys like the product reviews. I sometimes find good stuff (like Thesis) among all the flat out crap I try (and buy, sigh). I’ll share more of the good stuff if you’d like.

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  A Review of the Thesis Wordpress Theme

  
• 

  Interviewing a Potential Link Developer

  Fetched: August 29th, 2008, 2:01am CDT

  One of the most common questions I get, especially from those who know I do all my own link development in-house, is what someone should look for in a potential link developer and how to go about finding them.

  I used to give a presentation on the topic at PubCon before I retired from presentation based speaking at large, live-blogged conferences. Plus, I never have enough time to say everything I’d like on the topic in ten minutes anyway.
  
  First things first, none of the folks who work for me that work at developing links for our sites are called “link developers”. Link development has long moved past being a monotonous, boring, “any monkey can do it” task. I don’t hire link developers… I hire Marketing Specialists in the rough - with the goal being to teach them to market a website - through link development, social media and really, any other means at our disposal. They aren’t some cog in a boring process… they think, they develop relationships, they innovate, they brand.

  Now, you might be picturing I mean to hire some kid, fresh from college with his marketing degree. But, I don’t. I’ve found over the years that it is easier to teach an internet savvy individual to be a marketer than it is to teach a marketer to be internet savvy.

  That said, you need someone on staff who knows what they’re doing to actually teach them. If you’re looking to hire someone who can handle all of your website marketing without direction, you’ll need to hire a senior Internet marketer and not an entry level “link developer”. An entry level marketing specialist will usually only achieve the success they are taught and led to achieve.

  All of that said, I am looking for several things when interviewing someone for a position as an entry level marketing specialist:

  1. Someone smart, who picks things up easily
  2. Someone fairly internet savvy and who can use a search engine well
  3. Someone self motivated
  4. Someone who takes pride in themselves and their work
  5. Someone who wants to learn and move up
  6. Someone who fits our work culture (i.e. if you’re uptight, you won’t last a week in my office)

  Upon bringing in prospects for interviews, I’ve found that I ask the same questions every time. Below is a listing of the questions followed by an explanation of why I ask each. In no particular order:

  1. How familiar are you with the Internet?
  2. What is your favorite search engine and why?
  3. Can you name three search engines?
  4. Do you know what a blog is?
  5. Do you know what a message board is?
  6. Do you know what Digg is?
  7. Do you know what a link is?
  8. What are your three favorite websites and why?
  9. Do you use instant messenger?
  10. If you came across an adult website accidentally during your work, how would you react?
  11. Do you know any HTML?
  12. What email client do you use and why?
  13. Are you on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace?
  14. Do you prefer Facebook of MySpace? Why?
  15. What browser do you use and why?
  16. Do you worry about privacy issues on the internet?
  17. If you wanted to try and find an old friend you hadn’t seen in years via the internet, what are some of the things you might do?
  18. Can you find me a Canon Powershot SD850 digital camera I can BUY?

  How familiar are you with the Internet?

  I’m looking for several things by asking each of the above. By asking how familiar they are with the Internet, you’ll usually get a sense of their general knowledge on the topic. You’ll also find out based on their answers to the rest of the questions whether they answered #1 honestly, overestimated their knowledge, etc.

  What is your favorite search engine and why?

  They usually have no problem naming off their favorite search engine (and yes, it is usually Google) but having them explain why usually gives me a good gage of if they have a top level understanding of what makes a search engine “good”.

  Can you name three search engines?

  I’m honestly simply looking to see if they can name three at all. Funny thing is, outside of Google, Dogpile is the one I hear most.

  Do you know what a blog is?
  Do you know what a message board is?
  Do you know what Digg is?

  I’m trying to gather how “into” the net they really are. It also helps to ask if they can name any blogs to see if they understand that a blog isn’t always a “diary”. If the answer is yes on the forums, I’ll usually follow up with asking if they have ever participated in one and how often. If they know what Digg is, or better yet, can actually explain what Digg is, they get bonus points. If not, I explain what it is and look for signs of understanding. Again, I am looking to see how already familiar they are with the things they’ll be doing/becoming involved in as part of their work.

  Do you know what a link is?

  I simply want to know they understand, what I consider to be, the most basic fact they need to know for this line of work. Plus, hearing people try and over-complicate the definition to sound more in the know usually has some comical results.

  What are your three favorite websites and why?

  I’m hoping to see some variety here and get a sense of what they use the internet for. I also like to see if they have any favorite websites that aren’t completely mainstream.

  Do you use instant messenger?

  I actually want someone who uses instant messenger. If they use it, I’ll also ask which one they use and why. Not so much because there is a right or wrong, but because I want to simply get a gage for their understanding of internet culture and forms of internet communication.

  If you came across an adult website accidentally during your work, how would you react?

  Needed question for me. Anyone in internet marketing will eventually click on a link that used to be a baby stroller website that now is owned by a porn affiliate. I’d like to know if they going to run screaming from the room or laugh and move on.

  Do you know any HTML?

  In my opinion, anyone doing internet marketing work needs to know HTML. Yes, there are plugins for almost everything today. Plugins are like calculators to me. Fine to use, but you should still be able to do math without it. This is NOT a dealbreaker though. If they don’t know HTML, I ask if they’d be willing to learn. Ed2Go offers a class online for a little over 100 bucks they can do in six weeks in their spare time.

  What email client do you use and why?

  In all honesty, I’m only curious as to whether or not they know what an email client is. Goes to the whole familiarity thing again.

  Are you on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace?
  Do you prefer Facebook of MySpace? Why?

  If they say yes to being members, I’ll often ask if they know why they are called social networking sites. I will also ask if they have any guesses as to how sites like that make enough money to afford to keep the sites afloat.

  What browser do you use and why?

  Same as with the email client… I want to know if they even know the word browser. If they use anything other than IE, to me, it likely shows they know enough to seek improved things out on the internet.

  Do you worry about privacy issues on the internet?

  I want to see if they understand how much information internet sites can really get about you. I also find it interesting to hear their theories/opinions on the topic and also whether or not they have “fears” on the topic. As an internet marketer, you’ll probably be more exposed online than the general population.

  If you wanted to try and find an old friend you hadn’t seen in years via the internet, what are some of the things you might do?

  This really gives you some insight to their ability to be resourceful and research on the internet, prior to receiving any training by you.

  Can you find me a Canon Powershot SD850 digital camera I can BUY?

  I turn a laptop towards the candidate immediately upon asking this with a blank desktop (I want to see if they know to click start to find the browser). The purpose is to see what they type into the box, how familiar they are with using a search engine and also to see if they can recognize a commercial site from an informational one (this is why I say “that I can BUY”). If they can’t pass this test, they likely will require too much time and effort to get up to speed on the internet alone, much less becoming a marketer within its landscape.

  As an added tip, I’m also sure to let the applicants know that I actually expect them to get some of these answers wrong. I explain that anyone who knows every answer is overqualified for the position. It helps them relax a little bit and not get frustrated at not being able to give a correct answer.

  After seeing their application, their familiarity with the internet, their personality and their ability to think on their feet, you should have a good idea whether they are someone you see having the potential to learn what you have to teach them.

  So, that is what I look for and the questions I ask when interviewing an entry level marketing specialist (aka a link developer). Hope it helps some of you out when making your next (or first) hires.

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  Interviewing a Potential Link Developer

  
• 

  Pimping Your Wordpress Theme for Humans

  Fetched: August 29th, 2008, 2:01am CDT

  When we talk about “pimping” a Wordpress theme, at least in this industry, we’re often talking about making it more SEO friendly.

  When I upgraded my site to the Thesis theme, I wasn’t simply looking for a “new design” (my old one was awesome). I was looking more to “step up” my blog a bit in many aspects (as well as update things a bit… as great as it was, the previous theme was over two years old).

  I’ve spent some time over the last week pimping the already fantastic Thesis and thought I’d share some of the things that I’ve done to this blog (which can really be done on any theme) in the past week, as well as over the last two years. These are things with a user focus and not an “SEO one” (Yoast wrote the book on that already).
  
  1. Complete RSS
  The full or partial feed debate is much like the chicken and egg debate. Everyone has their reasons… a lot of people are of the mindset that partial feeds drive higher click thru rates, even though the VP of Publishing Services at Feedburner says there is no evidence to support the theory. I’m of the mindset that full feeds mean people actually read more of my posts and the end result for me, my readers and my blog, is better. Since I use the “more tag” for SEO purposes, Complete RSS lets me have the best of both worlds.

  2. User photo
  This plugin allows you to display photos of post authors and users who comment. Now, there is also the Gravatar plugin, but the problem was, no matter what I did, I couldn’t get it to work the post author portion to work.

  Because the avatars were being called from off site, they also slowed down loading time a tiny bit. So, I went the user photo plugin route, which allows me to host the user photos on my own site and works with the post author section.

  Additionally, it also is needed to use tip #7 below. I personally feel the photos make it feel more personal around here and definitely makes me feel more connected to them then text alone does.

  3. Themed login and register
  There are other plugins that allow you to customize the Wordpress registration/login box, but this one actually lets you put the required fields right into your own template. It makes it seamless with my site.

  I think this helps users who may not recognize what Wordpress is… preventing them from getting confused by being taken to a completely different looking site to register (and since registration is required to comment on my blog now, everyone who comments sees the registration screen). Additionally, it simply looks cool.

  This plugin also will help you change and customize your new user registration email, however, since I was already using another plugin for that (see tip #5) I haven’t tried that feature of this particular plugin and cannot attest to it’s performance.

  4. What would Seth Godin do
  The first time you came to my site (or maybe this is your first time), you might have noticed a box at the top of the page that welcomed you to the site:

  If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my feed or subscribe to me on Twitter, which is updated on a more frequent - and more meaningless - basis.

  The point of this plugin, for me, is to try and convert a user from a casual drop by who might forget to come back again to a feed subscriber or a Twitter follower. You have the option to put the box before or after the post (I chose before, but have no testing behind that to say if it works better - play with it) as well as the option of how many times a visitor will be shown the box (I show it once, again, no testing behind it yet… see what works for you).

  5. New user email setup
  One of the problems i experienced when I went to registered comments only was that users weren’t being directed to fill out their profile upon signing up. So, I went in search of a way to customize the bland email sent to a user when they register and found this. Works like a charm. Now when people register for my site, they get the following email:

  Subject: Thanks for Registering at Sugarrae.com

  Thank you for registering as a member of the Sugarrae.com community. Please note your username and password below for future reference:

  Username: [their username here]
  Password: [their password here]

  I’d also like to invite you to take the time to customize your profile at the Sugarrae.com website. To do so, simply log in here: [login url goes here] with the above username and password to add a link to your website, change the way your name shows on the site and add other contact information if you’d like. You can also upload a picture so it will display next to your name when you comment.

  Please note that while we welcome you to link to your website, out of place keyword usage in the anchor/display name (think “designer shoes” as your “display name”) is not and we reserve the right to delete your user account in the event you abuse our comment policy which you can find here: http://www.sugarrae.com/commentpolicy/

  Thanks for registering, and don’t forget to subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.sugarrae.com/sugarrae and follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/sugarrae

  Thanks,
  Rae

  It seems more personal, lets users get more out of commenting on my site (links, they are more noticeable in a long string of comments, etc) and also serves to serve the same goals as tip #4.

  6. iStockPhoto
  Smart people have been touting the importance of and advantages to the use of images when blogging for quite a while now. And I’ve never skimped on the pictures when it comes to professional linkbait for my commercial sites. But, with Sugarrae and especially with “everyday posts”, I’ve been lazy. With the help of iStockPhoto, that stops here. Bottom line is, if the post isn’t worth spending a few bucks on a picture or two, I have no business writing it, publishing it or boring the shit out of you with it.

  7. Guest post author box
  Thanks to graywolf forwarding me his copy of the Yoast mailing list that I idiotically had not be subscribed to until then (severe mistake now corrected), I have a kick ass box that shows at the bottom of the posts on my blog done by guest posters (see the bottom of this post for an example) - and it shows up automatically.

  I got one time permission from Joost (who has created most of the wordpress plugins i use for SEO reasons on this site) to post a hack he put in his newsletter, which you need to sign up for, right now, so you don’t miss further newsletter exclusive pimpage:

  Template hack for guest posts
  ==
  Sometimes you’ll want to allow guest posts on your blog, and one of
  the reasons why people would want to guest post is because they can
  gain some extra exposure. A cool way of doing this is using the
  built-in author functions with some extra’s to add a “Guest post
  by” block to your template. I’ve done this on yoast.com, and you
  can find an example here.

  How I did this? Well first, I installed the UserPhoto plugin.

  This plugin allows users to upload a photo which is added to their
  profile, and then adds template tags you can use. I then added the
  following code to my theme, I’ve annotated all lines, you should be
  able to copy paste and modify:

  // If it’s not written by me, it’s a guest post, hence check for
  that:
  <?php
  if (get_the_author_login() != “admin”) {
  ?>

  // It’s a guest post, show the appropriate block
  <div class=”guestauthor” id=”<?php the_author_login(); ?>”>

  // If there’s a user photo that’s uploaded and has been approved,
  show it:
  <?php if ( function_exists(’userphoto_the_author_photo’) ) {
  userphoto_the_author_photo(”, ”,
  array(’style’ => ‘float:right; margin: 5px;’,
  ‘class’ => ‘guestauthorphoto’) );
  } ?>

  // Show the author’s information
  <h3>Guest post by: <?php the_author(); ?></h3>
  <p><?php the_author_description(); ?></p>
  </div>
  <?php
  }
  ?>

  The last thing is that, in order for HTML to be allowed in user
  profiles, you need to add the following line to your theme’s
  functions.php:

  // Allow HTML in user profiles
  remove_filter(’pre_user_description’, ‘wp_filter_kses’);

  That’s it! You now have cool “Guest post by” blocks on your site!

  See what you almost missed? Now, if you don’t want to miss any more FREE tips like this, I highly suggest you subscribe to his list. Thanks to this plugin, users can clearly see the post was written by a guest poster without them having to do an awkward intro in the actual post itself or constantly add (and format) their own bio line if they guest post often.

  8. Samsarin PHP widget plugin
  If you’re using a theme that doesn’t support PHP in its sidebar widgets (which would be most of them in my experience), you might find yourself in the situation that I did when I switched to the Thesis theme. I use the randomize plugin to rotate between certain pictures in my flickr account on my sidebar so that people can “caption” the photos for fun. The Thesis widgets didn’t support PHP, so it looked like I might have to go without that feature until someone commented on my blog (they didn’t leave a site link, or I would have linked to them) about the Samsarin plugin, which I added and made PHP work in my widgets like a charm. Now I get my sexy theme and my PHP, which I use to make the blog a little bit more interactive.

  So there ya go… eight quick ways you can make your blog a bit more appealing, strictly from a human standpoint. And since I’ve now helped you make your blog hotter, head on over and vote for me in the hot blogger competition (long list, control +F Sugarrae). ;-)

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  Pimping Your Wordpress Theme for Humans

  
• 

  Is Twitter Cloaking Their Site to Show Adsense Ads in Their Cache?

  Fetched: August 17th, 2008, 10:54am CDT

  Ok, so, I have been doing a little redesigning on Sugarrae as you all have probably noticed and I added the user photo plugin. The plugin will show pictures for commenters and authors - and since I have a lot of guest posts, I went to grab some photos of my guest posters from Twitter so all the posts would show author photos.

  But, the “green brigade” has invaded Twitter (which means everyone tinted their photos green today) and I went to view the Google cache of Reese’s twitter page, hoping to find the non green picture of her to use for her profile picture here on Sugarrae. And I was beyond confused at what I saw (click images to see large versions):
  
  

  Yep. It is what it looks like. When you view the Google cache of many individual status messages, the Twitter users picture and name are laid right on top of a Google AdSense ad. [sarcasm] Wow, the advertisers must be loving the quality of that traffic! [/sarcasm]

  So I click back and check the actual page thinking, “maybe Twitter is trying to monetize!” but nope. No ad on the actual page.

  

  Only on the cache. And again, not clearly displayed, but only under the photo/name of the person. I check a few more and find the same thing.

  

  

  I checked to see if it was a Firefox bug, but nope, it is happening in IE too. You know, it is already against the Google guidelines in my interpretation to be feeding Google millions of one line status messages:

  Use robots.txt to prevent crawling of search results pages or other auto-generated pages that don’t add much value for users coming from search engines.

  But being a bigger company, they seem to get away with it. But I wonder how Google will feel about them doing what looks like them not only cloaking (which is against their organic search guidelines, at least for this purpose!), but cloaking to serve Adsense ads on a cache with something laid on top of it.

  Maybe this is a glitch of some kind? I don’t know what kind of “glitch” could cause this though - any ideas? And if it turns out Twitter was indeed cloaking Adsense ads, do you think Google will actually punish a big brand instead of slapping them on the wrist per usual?

  Edited to add: As has been discussed in the thread at Sphinn on this post, the ads appear to not be clickable due to the photo/username laying on top of them. But, as I commented in the Sphinn post:

  Even if it isn’t clickable to the point of costing advertisers money, it adds to their impressions and drops their click through rates - which affects their bid prices.

  Edited to add again: I finally found a clickable one thanks to a suggestion by bunltd to look for shorter user names. This cache of a status of streko is finally clickable all the way to the right side of the ad title since streko’s username is short and the ad I was shown at the time had a long title. I wonder how this company (where the ad took me) feels about the quality of my click. Since the ad I got was for “Liposuction in New Jersey” I am guessing it cost a pretty penny.

  Edited to add a third time: Thanks to xDFuNK, we now know that Twitter has AdSense code on the page if you’re not logged into Twitter - which Googlebot wouldn’t be. Not just in the cache. But, the AdSense only shows visibly in the cache. If you view the page regularly while logged out, the Adsense ads are hidden. Googlebot can actually SEE the ads, but humans can’t, except for in the cache. Why only actually show the Adsense to Googlebot? Does anyone know if the code being on the page counts towards advertiser impressions and click thru rates even if only visible on the cache?

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  Is Twitter Cloaking Their Site to Show Adsense Ads in Their Cache?

  
• 

  Some Sugarrae.com Updates

  Fetched: August 9th, 2008, 5:38pm CDT

  As you can see, there is a new design for the Sugarrae site. It is a customization of the awesome Thesis wordpress theme (and you’re damn right that’s an affiliate link… I obviously thought it was good enough to actually pay for it). It has some fantastic options to it and since I am not PHP inclined, it was a very smart purchase for me.
  
  I’ve updated my consulting page to show that I offer special community discounts in regards to Guelph SEO and Guelph PPC because I love the place (and also live there and have based one of my companies there) and am all about helping its economy flourish. I also see some shady ass companies currently showing for the terms and don’t want my fellow community members being ripped off by asshat SEO companies.

  Third, we have switched over to only allowing comments from registered users of the site. I’m tired of deleting spam comments, Akismet is losing its new car smell and I’m tired of trying to discern if a commenter is real or a very good automated spammer.

  Fourth, the comment policy has been updated. The two most notable additions are that even the best comment in the world will be deleted if the name of the commenter is “rolex watches” or “atlanta seo firm” and that if the best you can muster is “great post”, please save your breath. I am tired of figuring out the bots from the humans.

  Lastly, it appears my lack of blogging (I’ve posted once since March) has caused the self proclaimed Sugarrae fanboy to start having withdrawls. I am working on a post now that is more than administrative updates and it should be published later today.

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  Some Sugarrae.com Updates

  
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  An Actual “Non Big Brand” Twitter Case Study

  Fetched: August 9th, 2008, 5:38pm CDT

  Anytime someone asks how a business can use Twitter effectively, most people point to the twitter accounts of big brands like Comcast and Zappos.

  While both companies are definitely standout examples of how you can use Twitter for business, you probably aren’t marketing a household name and have a hard time seeing how your small merchant site or information site can use Twitter effectively. And by now, you’re probably sick of the “top ways” people guess or hypothesize that a commercial website could use Twitter to their advantage.
  
  Luckily for us all, I’m not going to guess or suggest, but rather show you a specific example (a step by step guide and Twitter case study all rolled into one if you will) of a non “big brand”, commercial website utilizing Twitter to further its brand, get traffic and gain backlinks. I wouldn’t call it the “ultimate guide” because Twitter is too new a medium for anyone to be an “expert” at it. But, hopefully it helps people see the potential of Twitter as more than a time waster.

  Anyone who follows me on Twitter has likely figured out by now that my company owns a BlackBerry related website. BBGeeks has had a Twitter account for around eight months now and has grown from zero to over 500 followers in that time. Not bad for a website targeting a very niche market in less than eight months. So how did we do it? And what has it gotten us?

  The Fumbled Beginning:

  We weren’t really sure what to do for a commercial account when we first signed up for Twitter in December 2007. We changed the background to match out site colors and put up our basic logo (which was a poor dimension to use as a twitter background we later found).

  We followed a few of our personal friends and put a link in the sidebar of our website along with some other social profile links. We made a few tweets of conversation here and there. I also tweeted about the @bbgeeks account on my personal account since I have a four figure following. We added our Twitter account to the “first time visitor” plug-in we use on the site. We utilized the TwitterTools plug-in to “auto tweet” our posts on the site to Twitter as they published (and unfortunately, as we later found out, were edited).

  We gained about 100 followers in the first month, with very little purpose, use or direction, and we sat there status quo for about four more months. Some may have dubbed Twitter a time waster for a small brand commercial site. But I decided to do a little research, talk to a few friends and try again.

  The Second Coming:

  Our second attempt was a bit more organized and began in April of 2008.

  1. One of the BBGeeks.com staff was assigned to become the voice of @bbgeeks on Twitter.
  2. We decided that our goal should be for him to become a BlackBerry trouble shooter (.i.e. help people) first, promotional evangelist (i.e. drop links) for BBGeeks.com second.
  3. We pimped the background with a more Twitter friendly design.

     

  4. We decided not to have our posts auto tweet and instead decided to take the same approach with dropping links into Twitter that we did years ago with link requests – make it obvious that we were taking the time to do it personally.
  5. Thanks to a tip from @graywolf, we learned about Summize (which was later bought by Twitter) and used it to find BlackBerry users (we’d search for “BlackBerry”, “8330″ etc.). We’d follow those users and hope that they’d visit our Twitter homepage, see what a great resource we were, and follow us back. And even if they didn’t follow us back on first glance, we hoped we would catch their BlackBerry related questions by following them and earn their following if we could help solve it with an @reply.
  6. The employee running @bbgeeks (to be clear, he is not dedicated to Twitter and spends about 30 minutes a day on it) was encouraged to also post off topic here and there and to join in the conversation with our followers and people we were following even if it wasn’t always BlackBerry related (i.e. we wanted him to get involved).
  7. We participated in a group effort to post and cross promote guides on Twitter related tools and created a guide to TwitterBerry (the Twitter application for BlackBerry users).
  8. Completely of his own idea, the employee running @bbgeeks started doing small giveaways here and there of branded T-shirts and stickers to followers (note: I recommend you get your boss’s permission BEFORE doing this). ;-)
  9. We run occasional “twitter only” discounts at our software and accessories store

  Our second attempt proved to be a bit more successful. Over the next three+ months, we were able to increase our following by 400 people and find some actual uses and benefits from our time Twittering.

  What the Results Were:

  When talking about the benefits of commercial Twittering, here is what we have seen in regards to the @bbgeeks account specifically:

  1. We have 500+ people who want to hear what we have to say listening on Twitter – and they may not have found our site had it not been for that Twitter account and efforts.
  2. We receive several hundred visits to our site each month from Twitter that adds to our traffic and page views in regards to CPM ads.

     

  3. Those several hundred visits a month add to the toolbar data Google gobbles up that shows that people actually visit and spend time on our site.
  4. We have 500+ people, who we know are interested in our site topic, that we can promote social media stories too (such as Digg attempts, Stumble attempts, etc) and get help in getting not only votes, but viral spread of great stories.
  5. Our site receives free brand exposure on Twitter by our followers who pass around our links and tell friends with BlackBerry issues to hit up our site or Twitter account to find an answer.
  6. We’re able to get instant feedback from our followers by using informal Twitter polls and keep our site going in the direction our readers want it to continue heading.
  7. We get tons of content ideas from the various questions and problems we see our followers and the people we are following experiencing.
  8. We have made friends via the @bbgeeks Twitter account that have resulted in things like us getting into exclusive press conferences during our CTIA conference coverage (Thanks @mobilediner) and have also received promotion of things like our podcast as a result of people responding to guest requests on Twitter (a thanks to @shoemoney). And these are simply two of many potential examples we have of content and links we’ve received as a direct result of our Twitter usage.

  For the BBGeeks.com website, Twitter has been a valuable tool – both from a branding standpoint, a content development standpoint, a traffic standpoint (we hope to see it continue to increase), a revenue generation standpoint (people purchasing as a direct result special Twitter sales and/or discounts) and a backlink generation and promotional standpoint.

  Twitter won’t be productive for every site, but for many sites, ignoring Twitter as a B2C or even a B2B tool, especially if a competitor isn’t, could make your website miss out on some of the benefits of branding with Twitter that we’ve experienced above.

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  An Actual “Non Big Brand” Twitter Case Study

  
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  Dear SEO Community, It’s Not Me, It’s You

  Fetched: August 9th, 2008, 5:38pm CDT

  Let me start off by summing up this entire post in one sentence for those of you busy actually doing some productive shit today (which I usually am):

  This “community” is fucked and way too wrapped up in its own communal and deluded level of self importance and needs to get a life.

  For those of you who have been asking, here is the truth on why I haven’t blogged lately… I don’t want to be known as an “SEO blogger” or as an “SEO rockstar” because frankly, being associated with the SEO “community” these days is an embarrassment at best and a liability at worst.
  
  The back-biting, the personal laundry being aired in what is now laughably supposed to be a professional environment, the regurgitation, the constant top list reruns no one gives a shit about but everyone aimlessly “Sphinns”. It’s a joke. It’s sad. I’m bored out of my mind.

  I don’t care what the ratio of female speakers - or male speakers - at the latest conference is. I don’t care what the latest Cuttlet rage is (Matt has canonical errors! Matt said paid links are bad! Matt commented on my blog! Matt pissed at 10:32 a.m. PST!). I don’t want to know the top twelve ways to bore the living shit out of an experienced SEO/marketer. And I certainly don’t care who your boyfriend is fucking (or who you think is trying to fuck him).

  If you want the truth, I will give you the truth. Three quarters of the people you idolize and want to grow up to be like barely make a living on their own or couldn’t at all. Most of the people you read regularly are smoke and mirrors. Some speakers are given subsidies to speak at conferences, not because they refuse to come without it, but because they can’t afford to without it.

  Some of the top bloggers spend their days showing clients success reports that show they’ve moved from #22 to #18 for “custom baby stroller wheels” because they can’t handle clients in the high dollar, high competition sectors (and unlike those with real talent they don’t refuse to take clients on in those topics because they could [and do] make more in those sectors as affiliates/on their own).

  But there you are - wasting your day following the latest drama from a what is mainly a bunch of talentless hacks. Why the hell should I waste my time outlining my affiliate business plan (which I didn’t guess on, but actually implement with success) to people who won’t even read the whole thing, but will vote it up on Sphinn and then never act on it.

  Most people don’t experiment anymore. Most people don’t innovate anymore. And even if they do, they get less attention then the drama king in desperate need to regain the self worth that was taken from him in high school when he was picked last for dodge ball and was purposely tripped in the lunch room and uses you to feel good about himself. In one small, insignificant sector of the blogosphere he’s (or she’s) important. And they live for it. They need it. The define themselves with it. And the convince you to waste your time feeding it.

  I’m done with the industry drama. If I want baby mama drama, I’ll watch Maury. Most of the rest of this “community” seems to be content being the Drama King’s (or Queen’s) bitch. Rock on… it leaves less real competition for me.

  This post originated at the Sugarrae internet marketing blog, home to internet marketing consultant Rae Hoffman.

  Dear SEO Community, It’s Not Me, It’s You