Michael Gray - Graywolf's SEO Blog » Ideas

Crunchbait … or How to Be a Sucker on the Internet

Michael Gray — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 09:17:33 +0000

It’s hard to imagine that if you’ve been involved in internet marketing for any length of time, that you aren’t familiar with the concept of linkbait. Since most of you are part of the Generation X/Generation Y crowd, and supposedly aren’t easily fooled by “the media”, it’s inconceivable that so many of you took the bait and fell the latest bit of crunchbait aka “the time has come to regulate SEO” (yea I no-followed that)

First off linkbait isn’t in and of itself bad, it serves a purpose that every internet marketer should be aware of (getting links and getting traffic) and have in their toolbox. However that’s the very reason this is all so disappointing. You are supposed to have some level of expertise in this area, yet many of you feel for it, hook line and sinker. To make an analogy it’s like Bernie Madoff swindling people out of their money and then losing it to a 3 card monty dealer.

Do I know for a fact that Techcrunch has traffic quotas, or page view bonuses like Gawker media just re-instituted … no. I do know that Techcrunch dropped federated media and is now running it’s own network. I also know that techcrunch engages in the ethically debatable action of generating “extra” page views. Think I’m making that up look at the homepage and see this neat little bit of javascript that causes the homepage to reload periodically:

<body id="techcrunch" onLoad="setTimeout('location.reload(true)',1200000);">

You could make the argument that it’s a usability function that refreshes the page so people who are on techcrunch all day are exposed to new stories. However I’d tell you if techcrunch users are too stupid to figure out how to hit the refresh button by themselves they are idiots.

Now if you cover SEO news, then carry on, your coverage of this story is fully warranted. However if you’re not in that group, and you wasted any more than 5 minutes of your day on it, you need to get your priorities in order. When something like this comes up, here’s what you need to think about:

Is getting involved going to help me make money today or in the future?
Is getting involved going to help me make affiliate sales or land paying clients today or in the near term future?
Is this a field I am an acknowledged expert in, and my non participation would be detrimental to my expert status?
Is getting involved going to secure me any new links?
Is getting involved going to bring me any significant traffic?

Unless you can answer yes to one or more of those questions, it’s simply not worth your time getting involved.

Did I not break my own rules by spending more than 5 minutes writing this blog post … yep you got me … but my goal here is hopefully to teach you something (some people say I have a high school teacher complex). If putting your time into something isn’t going to put money in your bank account, keep money flowing into your bank account, get you something of non monetary value that is hard to otherwise secure, or teach you something, it’s probably not worth wasting your “work time” on.
photo credit: norwichnuts

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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Crunchbait … or How to Be a Sucker on the Internet

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Lane Hartwell, Reputation Management and Your Google Permanent Record

Michael Gray — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 02:44:00 +0000

There’s a big debate in the blogosphere right now involving a parody video from Richter Scales and photographer Lane Hartwell. A photograph Lane took was used without her permission, she was not credited and not compensated. Richter Scales feels this falls under the fair usage act. I’m not going to take sides in the copyright issue, however what I do want to look at is the reputation management angle.

Let’s look at the best case scenario for Lane Hartwell, let’s say the issue goes to trial and Lane is victorious. The court decides in her favor and award damages in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. According to Richter Scales they are a non profit group and to date have sold a total of 8 CD’s. Even if you want to say they are under reporting their sales by a factor of 100 it’s unlikely there will be any assets left after any legal expenses. Lane Hartwell’s victory will be an empty one, but then she and her friends will probably say it was never about the money anyway, it was really the principal that was important, and this is a moral victory which brings important attention to the issue of image theft on the internet. She’ll be right and her friends will congratulate her on the victory, but at the end of the day she’ll be left holding the bag, and that bag is the permanent record that is your Google SERP.

When we were all children in school we were told not to do bad things because they would follow us around on our “permanent record”. In reality usually by the time we reached high school we figured out there really was no such thing as a permanent record, and it was just some bogey man used to scare us into compliance. However in the digital age of vanishing privacy there is a permanent record and it’s what the internet has to say about you.

Right now things aren’t too bad, they don’t start to turn dicey until the wired results and she holds a respectable 2 indented listings. However in few days I expect to see this article from techcrunch, this article from CNet, along with a host of other articles linked to from Techmeme. In short Lane Hartwell will have created her own reputation management nightmare.

One of the consulting services I offer is reputation management and one of the first questions I have for potential clients is, Have you picked up the phone and tried to work this out with the people in question? The simple truth is if more people did this there would be less billable work for me. Not that I don’t want the work, but as a professional consultant if I don’t recommend the solution that’s best for the client, whether it’s the best option for me, I am doing this clients a disservice. I’d rather have a happy person who never turns into a reputation management client than an upset one who does.

What’s the downside, when Lane is talking with prospective clients about new work in the future, more and more of them are going to “Google” her to see what they see. When you research a person you are potentially going to do business with, having a disproportionate number of litigious SERP’s (good or bad) is probably not something most people want to see. It’s no different than if you were hiring a potential employee and you learned they had “issues” and “drama” at her last job.

My recommendation to Lane Hartwell and her lawyer Terry Gross. Get in touch with Richter Scales. Agree to drop all charges if they produce a short PSA style video about how stealing images on the internet is not only wrong but illegal. They seem like a creative bunch of funny guys so let them have a little fun with it. Lane Hartwell comes off not looking like a villan, Richter Scales comes out looking OK and they get more press, and the issue of image copyrights on the internet gets attention, in short everybody wins, except the lawyers who get less billable hours.

In the immortal words of Rosie Perez, “sometimes when you win you really lose, and sometimes when you lose you really win”.

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This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Lane Hartwell, Reputation Management and Your Google Permanent Record

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I Need to go 3G

Michael Gray — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 22:19:04 +0000

Ok I’ve resisted the call of crackberry long enough and I need to go 3G. I’ve sidestepped the lure of the iPhone I’m just not a Mac kind of guy, but I’m totally lusting after the big screen. I need a keyboard and I have to be able to connect it to the laptop to do the internet thingy. So my minimum requirements are decent sized screen, full keyboard and laptop connection.

So lets hear it readers what are you using that love? What are you using that you hate?

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

I Need to go 3G

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How do You Edit Your Documents

Michael Gray — Sat, 26 May 2007 08:08:06 +0000

I’m working with some outside writers on some projects and having some real issues finding a WYSWIG that works in an HTML programmer free blog world.

Microsoft Word: – The best grammar, and spelling correction around. The worst, no one else is even in it’s universe, as far screwing formating up when converting to HTML. Non existent blog interface compatibility. Local storage and backups pretty much a wash there. Document collaboration pretty much impossible.

Google Documents – Spelling correction is adequate, but no grammar checking. Takes a little getting used to but formatting is really pretty clean when converting to HTML. Single blog interface capability (what I’m only allowed one blog?) Online storage, backups, and accessibility rock, as long as you’re in an always on wifi connected world. The best in the bunch as far as collaboration.

Blog Desk: Spelling correction adequate, again no grammar checking. HTML Formatting is really clean, built in image editing rocks the house! You can connect to as many blogs as you want, interact with categories, and future date publications, again rockin’ the house. Documents stored locally in some bizarre format backups cumbersome and clunky. No collaboration built in, and workarounds clunky and cumbersome.

I like the interface for Google docs and can deal with it’s minor formatting issues, but the one blog restriction, lack of categories, lack of pre-dating, and primitive image editing leaves me feeling like I settled for second best. Blog Desk kicks ass with images and blog interfacing, crappy backups and proprietary formating suck. And let’s be honest I really need a good spelling and grammar checker, so how do you get from word processor to published blog?

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

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How Easy Do You Make it to Consume Your Content

Michael Gray — Fri, 25 May 2007 08:13:00 +0000

I was reading Small is the New Big by Seth Godin, and I came up wit the following question, “how easy do you make it to consume your content”?

When you build your websites, and publish you content chances are you are pushing out HTML (php, asp and all that other jazz are pushing out HTML), and your probably do some cross browser and platform checking to make sure it renders reasonably similar, or at least degrades gracefully across these platforms, but are you taking it to the next level?

Have you ever tried to view your website on a cell phone? Sure the screen sizes are all different and render a little differently, but have you even tried to look? There are enough Blackberries on the market that you should be checking to see what your website looks like on it. I’ve been with a crackberry addict and had this go wrong, and can tell you it’s important. Want to really be leading edge go XML with device dependant style sheets and you’ll be a few steps ahead of everyone else.

Do you let people get updates via email, how about email updates for comments, despite my initial protests I’m very happy with the results. We live in a world that’s more and more RSS friendly do you give people that format, or are you like a “big” company, who should know better, do you ignore it, more than once? Stop worrying about who’s going to take advantage of you, and be more concerned about who’s going to notice you’re doing something right.

How about video are you giving people an option to subscribe to your videos? With universal search, I’m already seeing results. How about audio, you know there are programs that strip video down to audio with no skill level required and in less than 5 minutes of time invested? Maybe your instructional videos don’t translate into audio only, is there some other content you can provide in that format that does? Remember no one can subscribe to a podcast you aren’t putting out.

For almost every field there isn’t a clearly established leader yet for every medium, you can still make a move and make something happen and create a name for yourself. Stop living in fear of what can go wrong, and just do it.

The easier you make it to consume the data you are publishing by offering it in multiple formats, the more people you are going to have looking to you content in whatever way is convenient for them. In short the more content distribution options you offer the larger audience you can reach.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

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Competing for Attention or You’ll Never be Paris Hilton if You Aren’t Good Looking, Rich and Famous

Michael Gray — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:05:00 +0000

Recently I was reading a book that a friend sent me (thanks Greg) and although it has absolutely nothing to do with the internet or marketing, it grabbed an open piece of mental Velcro.

The interesting bit of information was:

Kids today spend 6.5 hours per day with media.

26% of the time they are using more than one device, which amounts to 8.5 hours of media time in a 6.5 hour period.

If you want to go read the whole report venture over to Kaiser Family Foundation and download the monstrous 150+ page report (PDF).

Answer this question, are you getting everything done in a day that you want? Are you not getting it done because you’re some type A personality who won’t settle for second best? Or is more likely are there too many demands on your time and for your attention.

Are you reading your feeds over your morning breakfast? Very few people actually read anything anymore, most of us scan headlines, skim posts, and breeze through emails to try and catch up, and not fall behind with the unending barrage of information thrown at us on a daily basis. When’s the last time you went on vacation or took a few days off, unplugged and went off the net. Did you feel guilty or regret it when you came back and saw several hundred emails? Just like time, attention is becoming a precious commodity.

I don’t have the solution to fix the too much information problem, however I think you need to understand that you are competing for attention and “step up” your game if you’re going to remain a player. Realize you aren’t just competing for keywords or links, you’re competing for mind share and attention first. You need to get in touch with your inner Paris Hilton and stand out from the crowd. Maybe you dislike the spotlight and the attention, but remember the Linkerati aren’t always linking to best resources, but they are linking to the good ones that get their attention. Since I know someone skimmed over that post or read what they wanted to see, I’ll repeat it, you need good content to back up that attention grabbing headline, because you’ll never be Paris Hilton if you aren’t good looking, rich and famous.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

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MyBlogLog Does the Right Thing

Michael Gray — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 01:41:19 +0000

The MyBlogLog Blog: Everybody hurts… sometimes This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review. MyBlogLog Does the Right Thing 12345678 No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

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Ajax What’s it Good For

Michael Gray — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:03:00 +0000

OK can anybody please tell the advantage of Ajax aside from the eye-candy and the ability to say it’s “Ajax”? Ajax pages don’t load faster, in fact I think they load incredibly slower. Maybe that’s because I design my pages with CSS to load and move like a greased pig and not bloated down with nested tables and javascript (this blog is not an example of that) I notice the hang time. I don’t get any extra functionality from it, in fact it works less efficiently since it breaks the back button and other established web conventions. So I ask you Ajax what’s it good for?

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Ajax What’s it Good For

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LinkedIn Needs a Blocking Feature

Michael Gray — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 09:27:00 +0000

Before the days of the interconnected web 2.0 world things were easy you could always disappear, but now things are different.

Many moons ago I was a respectable suit and tie wearing individual. I was trustworthy enough to be promoted to “executive” status and have folks working under me. Sometimes employees do silly things, self destructive things, or bad, bad things. I had one such employee and we had to fire him.

He would turn up every so often but nothing ever came of it. Eventually he started to get more noticeable. He had gone over a year without being able to find more than the odd job here and there, but nothing steady, and nothing in his career field. He started sending strange notes in the mail and by email. He hadn’t crossed into restraining order territory, but both feet were firmly planted in scary downtown stalkerville. It had gotten to the point where the company blocked his IP. Fortunately I left the company around that time and hadn’t heard or thought much about him since.

Yesterday I logged into LinkedIn and saw two people from my old employer had joined. When I dug down I saw one of them was him. Looking around I saw he is two or three people away from me in the linkedin network, so if he’s a curious chap he’ll find me. It’s been over 5 years since the incident happened, and I’d like to think that as people get older the mature and move past the silly things they did in their youth. However sometimes people are funny, and do silly things. I wish linkedin had the ability to let me block my profile in whole or part from individuals. I can’t imagine I’m the first person who wants to remain hidden.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

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Finding Your Inner Jerry McGuire

Michael Gray — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 09:21:00 +0000

Publishing a blog on a regular basis teaches you many things, you experience the highs, and you also often become the victim of people who try to take pot shots at you and bring you down, however in the end it depends on how well you can channel your inner Jerry McGuire.

What is it that separates a those who succeed from those who fail? It’s the willingness to sacrifice and take a chance on that idea that keeps nagging at you in the back of your head. The one that won’t let you sleep, the one that you think of over and over again, in the shower, in the car, while you’re walking the dog, while your standing in line at DMV, the idea that’s like that little annoying cousin at a family picnic who just won’t go away.

Sometimes we just get caught up on the conveyor belt of life, we push something “out the door” to meet a deadline real or imagined. We sacrifice greatness and quality because we’re lazy or unmotivated. We settle for mediocrity because we’re afraid to grow, afraid to try something new, and most importantly we’re afraid to fail. Not everything we do has to be great some things just have to be good enough to get the job done. However sometimes we fool ourselves we settle for second best because it’s easier, we push it out and hope that no one notices it’s crap. I’m lucky, I have friends who will challenge me (sometimes in private, sometimes in public) and when I publish something that doesn’t posses that suigeneris MG quality and flavor, I get called out on it, and that’s good, because it sucks being seen as a disappointment.

What’s the take-away here, if you’re going to do something do it with gusto. if you’re going to be a filthy rotten low down no good dirty spammer, then by gosh do it right! Crank up your auto-gen bots and churn and burn through domains like Sherman burned through Georgia. if you’re going to go the content route spend the time build it right, do the research, stomp all over the person who holds the spot ahead of you. They have one page you have three, they have ten pages you have thirty, don’t settle for second. Don’t whine and complain that nobody pays attention or links to you. You want links, you want attention, stand up and do something hard, do something exceptional, do something amazing, do something note worthy, do something impossible to ignore, do anything other than being a crybaby. Stop lamenting over your lack of green pixels and worrying about quadrilateral link exchanges with foreign TLD’s, because other than being another SEO news blog that’s about the least outstanding thing you could possibly do.

Lastly stop settling for average. Instead of creating sites that suck ass and are nothing more than retread web 2.0 BS, create something new and different, take the risk, take the chance, go the distance. You don’t get to be an SEO Rockstar sitting on your kiester trying to be a B player. The only thing that will do is make you that guy sitting alone in the bar at pubcon wondering why nobody talks to you, and then coming back home and crying about it on your blog.

This post may have pissed off a few people, and you know what … good. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to take it lying down, or are you going to prove that you have what it takes to be a player. Telling me I’m wrong in the comments doesn’t prove anything, going off and creating something great on your blog, website or forum, now that will prove something, and just maybe you’ll have found your own Jerry McGuire while doing it.

This post originally came from Michael Gray who is an SEO Consultant. Be sure not to miss the Thesis Wordpress Theme review.

Finding Your Inner Jerry McGuire

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