by Alex Becker on June 9, 2009
A little after noon today, Facebook announced on their blog that they will be allowing users to create facebook usernames to allow their friends, family, and co-workers to easily find their profiles on the social networking site.
According to the post, on Friday, June 12th at 9:01pm people will be able to create custom URLs directly to their Facebook page. For example, the current direct link to my page is http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6801481, on June 12th I will be able to create a custom username for facebook. I will more than likely make my URL http://www.facebook.com/alex-becker/ or the like link directly to my Facebook profile. Here is an example of what users will see on June 12th when they login to FB: 
This was one of the only remaining strengths of MySpace, the top Facebook competitor and former Social Media Giant, in that users have been allowed to create direct links to their myspace pages. For example, my current myspace URL is as follows: http://myspace.com/beckshow
My question is that since we are now allowed to create custom facebook URLs can we go after keywords that are often times nearly impossible to rank for? If I create a facebook profile with a second email and create the following URL: http://www.facebook.com/diets/ am I going to have the ability to rank for diets? I think that this is an exciting time for Social Media Marketers such as myself – this could literally open up doors that were previously locked tight.
by Alex Becker on May 27, 2009
Today Google updated PageRank which was exciting for me as I have about 50 web properties that were in desperate need of some PR. Since Google updated PR here are 3 reasons why your PageRank matters:
Google Really Cares About PR
PageRank is determined by the quantity and quality of back links pointing back to your site. Think about it like this, your pagerank is Google’s way of classifying how important or relevant your site or article in question is. The higher your PR the more “expert” google considers your site.
Your site has a better quality score
If you are purchasing traffic via Adwords or the like, there are factors that are taken into account when ads are to be displayed. If you have a page with high PR and try to purchase traffic to the page you are more likely to get a higher position in the ad results and you will be rewarded by paying less than you normally would to get such a position. Why? All because google considers your ad relevant because the content is relevant.
It’s easier to rank for higher competition keywords
If Google grants your site a high PR this will make your life easier trying to rank for higher searched, more competitive keywords in your niche. This will ultimately lead to more traffic which should increase sales, clicks, & conversions.
This is a quick overview of why pagerank is important, however, there are plenty more reasons why you should focus on getting your pagerank up and more back links to your site(s). What are some of your tricks to getting your PR up quickly?
by Alex Becker on May 19, 2009
This is an excellent post about SEO for Dummies. If you are new to SEO or want to gain a stronger understanding this is the best place for you to start your quest. There are hundreds of helpful posts, tips, and tricks that are meant to help the novice SEO Dummy. If you are curious to learn more about SEO for beginners or the like please check out SEO Noobs for much more information!
by Alex Becker on May 3, 2009
There are literally thousands of websites on the internet all dedicated to helping you find work. My personal website has gotten me the most quality job leads by far, but Craigslist is definitely a close number two. Some job com sites are better than others but that goes with any website out there. Here are 6 job search websites out there reviewed to help you find jobs in , :
1) Personal Site
In my profession, I’m supposed to be able to get websites ranking for relevant keywords — what better way to show that I’m knowledgeable in SEO then by ranking for relevant keywords myself. I was contacted 4-5 times from people who found my website from searching google for keywords such as: Chicago SEO Expert, SEO Wordpress Expert, Chicago SEO Wordpress, Best SEO Expert Chicago. A personal website is also a really nice addition to add to your resume and also a very effective way to differentiate yourself from competitors.
2) Craigslist
I found a job on Craigslist that really opened quite a few doors for me. Not only is Craigslist a great place to buy, sell, and bartor for goods and services, it also is a great way to find quality work. The key is knowing what to look for and what not to look for. There is no doubt that Craigslist is crawling with spammers and people phishing for your information — just make sure your protect yourself and if it doesn’t feel legit it more than likely isn’t.
3) Monster
Monster has been a decent job locating website for me. Although I never landed a job directly from the site I did find quite a few quality leads. In addition, I have had some quality companies contact me based upon my resume which is a nice treat. Although this site has helped thousands of people find work I did get quite a few “spammy” job offers that I had absolutely no interest in. Furthermore, be expected to get contacted by recruiters who, 9 times out of ten, really don’t help minus an initial push.
4) LinkedIn
I have made a few quality contacts from LinkedIn but never really had any luck in finding work. It was a great way to reach out to your social networking pool and tap them for any connections they had for potential work. Personally, nothing really has ever come from LinkedIn — I did get invited to the Official SEO Group for LinkedIn which is pretty cool. There are a bunch of talented SEO, SEM, and Social Media Marketing minds in there and it’s a pretty active group which makes staying up to date on the latest SEO news pretty easy.
5) Facebook
What? A social networking site can get me a job? Yes, absolutely. You have heard a whole bunch of horror stories about people losing jobs because of this now household name. Although some people have lost jobs there is no reason you can’t use it to help you find a job. Contact all your friends and let them know what you do and what you are looking for — you never know who will contact you back. Besides getting in touch with people make sure you keep your profile on the “classy” side of things.
6) CareerBuilder
I do not like this site. I never got one good lead from this site nor did I hear from any worthwhile companies minus spammy sales job offers and contact from recruiters who are a dime a dozen. The only thing consistent about CareerBuilder was the amount of spammy emails they would send me about new jobs that “matched with me”. Right…
Bottom line: There is a job out there for you, hopefully this list of job search websites will help you find work!
by Alex Becker on April 28, 2009
We all are looking for quick and easy ways for us to improve search engine rankings efficiently and effectively and I’m going to share with you some secrets that I have learned over the years. Before I begin, let me make it clear to you that these are a set of practices that I follow to improve search engine rankings. What does that mean? That means that you can easily take one or two parts of my search engine rankings improvement plan and use it as you see fit with your practices or some other organic ranking practices you see fit. There is no one set way to improve rankings, however, if you follow this set of practices you will be well on your way.
Get Visitors First, Then Worry About Site Appearance
Too many people worry about the look of their site and not on visitor acquisition. Who cares how pretty your site is if you are the only one who is looking at it? Exactly. Start posting content regularly then worry about the aesthetics of your site. Content is king.
Have Attainable Search Engine Ranking Goals
I wrote an Affiliate Marketing Guide post that has been pretty embraced by most of the Internet Marketing community that breaks down exactly what this means. This is the most important part to improve search engine rankings quickly and will also save you time that you would more than likely otherwise be wasting.
Post to Social Media Sites
This is one of the easiest things to do. Search web sites like Yahoo Answers and similar niche related forums and blogs and start posting relevant comments, posts, and links to your pages. Don’t shamelessly plug your site, rather, offer some valuable insight to the conversation and make the link secondary, this is how people will click through to your site.
Write your own original content
People do not realize that if you copy someones site you simply will NOT appear in search engines let alone improve your rankings in search engines. Search engines like Google hate duplicate content and will not index your pages if they contain such content. Write up your own content and man up even though it takes a minute.
If you take the time to follow these simple steps you will be well on your way to improve search engine rankings. If you have any questions or would like a little more insight please don’t hesitate to ask.
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