Sep 25, 2007
It occurred to me today that I don't visit SEO forums very often anymore, but spend much more time on SEO blogs. After giving this some thought, I came up with 2 reasons why I prefer SEO blogs.Signal to noise ratio
Here's a couple of typical conversations you might find on a SEO forum...The "been said a million times how to get links" thread
User 1: Hey, does any1 know how to get more links? my site is only a PR2 and it needs more links. Any help appreciated.User 2: You should do some reciprocal links with other quality websites. And submit your site to free directories too, they will list you and your PR will increese. And check out my new link cloud website, you can buy a link for only a dollarr, it's PR3 already and only 2 months old :)
User 3: Great list, some really goodd ideas there. I'm off to do some recips.
User 1: Thanx.
The "guy who knows all about PR" thread
User 1: Hay, does anyone know how PR works? I added a new page to my PR 3 blog, but the page is still PR0?????User 2: Google only does a PR update every three months. The PR you see in the toolbar is not actually the real PR, and it could be quite out of date... bla bla bla ...just wait and your page will get PR when the next update happens.
The "please review my not-even-remotely-finished site" thread
User 1: Hey guys, can you please review my new web development website, www.domain.com??? I have just finished it and need yours feedback seeing as I have gone live today. Thanx in advance.User 2: Dude, you should validate your code on a web development website, I can see 137 validation errors with all those missing alt tags etc. Might want to look into that. And the menu is pretty screwed in Safari too.
User 3: Not a bad effort, great work.
User 4: Ummmm, yeah, about those 4x adsense blocks on the page above the fold - maybe you should build some traffic before trying to monetize your site, those ads look pretty ugly. Just my honest opinion. Also, your link to your admin section has no password protection so anyone can get in there. And all the links on your portfolio page are broken too.
User 1: OK, thanks for all the feedback. The site isn't finished and I know about all these problems. I'm going to validate the site but I had to fix a SQL injection issue and I lost half my database too. Also I havent tested on Safari or any other browser than IE7 so im not sure how it looks but it should be ok.
User 2: Dude, that menu is totally fucked in safari.
The "SEO Expert asking dumb questions" thread
User 1: Hi my whole site is in the supplemental index and I have no idea why. Also does anyone know how to get good links from "SEO" related websites? know anyt good directorys I can submit my site too. My website is www.seo-expert-number-one.com - if u could have a look I would be very thankful.User 2: Hi, you should submit your site to directorys and only do one way links that are related to yours. Also you should do reciprocal links with other seo sites. Good luck!
Signal to noise
I'm pretty sure nobody reading this actually read the above fictional tripe that I just made up, but you see where I'm going with this. A lot of SEO forums get pretty tired pretty quick with the same questions being asked by the same people. There are some real gems of content in there, but you have to wade through countless threads on PR, people who ask questions without using the search feature, and posts that add no value whatsoever. My personal favourite ones are the SEO experts asking stoopid questions, and I'll be the first to admin that I have done this before.RSS feeds
Not really a complaint, but RSS feeds are just so damn cool when it comes to keeping up with blog content. No longer do I have to bother remembering to check your blog for new content, it just happens. Some forums have RSS feeds for topics or forums, but once again it's all about signal to noise. I especially don't want Thunderbird to popup with a little envelope because some random user has posted some random comment on some random forum. No thanks.I guess that it comes down to the value of your time. I have barely enough time to read the good posts from the big players in this industry, plus a little time to wander the web looking for interesting snippets from other people like myself. Once my RSS reader is showing "no unread posts", I might find time to stop by at the local SEO forums again.
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Comments
Harvey - Sep 26, 2007
hehe, yeah I found some of my admin pages indexed in Google a few years back, that kinda sucked.
I had moved the site to a new server and there was some difference in the PHP/Apache config which caused the login script to fail silently.
Nasty!
I had moved the site to a new server and there was some difference in the PHP/Apache config which caused the login script to fail silently.
Nasty!
Michael Brandon - Search Engine Optimisation - Oct 4, 2007
I am finding the same thing. I got tired of adding amazing replies to threads, giving away information for free, and not really learning anything myself.
Tired of wading through so many threads of nothingness.
Then Harvey has begun introducing me to some SEO blogs. Seasoned experts like Harvey writing about some of their findings and experiences.
I have enjoyed several from consultants talking about how they have managed to cope with their volume of work. I have learnt a lot - now to put it into practice, not the easiest part of the equation.
With time limited, since I have so many emails, and then clients to actually do the work for, I become very selective about whose websites I read. But if you don't read a few, you can easily get behind in the latest SEO developments.
Tired of wading through so many threads of nothingness.
Then Harvey has begun introducing me to some SEO blogs. Seasoned experts like Harvey writing about some of their findings and experiences.
I have enjoyed several from consultants talking about how they have managed to cope with their volume of work. I have learnt a lot - now to put it into practice, not the easiest part of the equation.
With time limited, since I have so many emails, and then clients to actually do the work for, I become very selective about whose websites I read. But if you don't read a few, you can easily get behind in the latest SEO developments.
Aidan Rogers - Inkode - Oct 10, 2007
LMAO!!!!
I though I was actually on digital point or something!!
That is gold. Consider it dugg!
I though I was actually on digital point or something!!
That is gold. Consider it dugg!
Sergiu Birzu - Oct 21, 2007
I think people tend to monetize their sites very fast or at least they want to...
And about asking the "experts" well i think it's crap, ok you could learn a lot if you are a beginner but i think it's better if you use your own head and come up with the solutions.
Best wishes mola.
And about asking the "experts" well i think it's crap, ok you could learn a lot if you are a beginner but i think it's better if you use your own head and come up with the solutions.
Best wishes mola.
Rot Weiss Essen - Nov 2, 2007
I'm still learning this business and I'm finding blogs much more informative - apart from yours :)
I even believe that google gives a bit of link love to commentators on blogs - especially the better blogs who have comment moderations.
I even believe that google gives a bit of link love to commentators on blogs - especially the better blogs who have comment moderations.
Matt - Mar 11, 2008
Fantastic history :) hehe good work
Jen - May 9, 2008
Interesting post. I have also notice that almost everyday question is repeated all over again and again. Which sometimes reply to post become scripted.
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Sean - Sep 26, 2007
Great post.
"...I have gone live today."
"..admin section has no password protection "