SexySEO - My New Favorite Googbie

Alright call me shallow... call me a dirty old man... call me whatever you want....

But, this Googbie that goes by "SexySEO" is as smart as she is gorgeous. Why do I say she's smart? For leveraging her good looks to get the eyeballs initially focused on her to quickly move onto the content on her website. Once I was there on her site I found most of her posts chock full of good advice.

So check out SexySEO and feast your eyes on beautiful SEO tips and advice.

Listen up Googbies - Simple Rules for Online Success

With all of the cyber-whining going on in blogs, webmaster forums, and at virtual water coolers all over the net I thought it might be helpful to post some of the highlights from an excellent post I discovered from Ahmed Bilal entitled '10 Simple Rules for Online Success':

Rule #1. Stop Whining
My translation:
Your whining about things you can't control and I can't help you control isn't helpful to you, me, or anyone else. So stop yer bitchin'!

Rule #2. Channel Your Energies
My translation:
IF you have a setback, or someone pisses you off, don't expend a lot of negative energy dwelling on it. Deal with it. If it's something you can correct go about correcting it. If it's water under the damn, wave goodbye to it and move on. Focus your energies on positive things and actions that will move you towards where you want to go.

Rule #3. Focus
My translation:
Focus on the tasks you need to focus on to succeed in reaching your goals. What separates highly successful people from those who never achieve their goals is in part their ability to focus on accomplishing the tasks necessary to succeed. Stop letting distractions interfere with progress. Stop letting friends, online and offline, throw you off course. We all want to be happy and enjoy our friendships, but you need to control your own time and be sure to invest enough of it towards meeting your goals.

Rule #4. Find Yourself and Your Target
My translation:
Identify appropriate targets to aim for. Know your strengths and talents and be sure they're harmonious with your business objectives. Set goals. How much do you want to earn a month? What do you need to do to reach your goals? Do what you need to do to reach your goals.

Rule #5. Self Discipline
My translation:
Success requires work. Work takes time. Yes, I've heard that working smart is better then working hard, but even working smart takes time. Set a schedule for your work (smart work or otherwise) and stick to it. If you prefer to "be your own boss" then start bossing!

Rule #6. Consistent Effort
My translation:
If you're confident your goals and targeted objectives are spot on then keep working towards succeeding in getting the job done. Don't give up. Don't get thrown off course. Keep plugging away.

Rule #7. Other People's Resources
My translation:
As much as we all want to get things 'just right' by doing them ourselves we need to learn to outsource certain tasks to people who can do them better, faster, or cheaper. Don't spend $50 an hour time doing $5 an hour work. Don't do design if your design talent is non-existent.

Rule #8. Always Improve
My translation:
Constantly trying to improve, even small improvements, is necessary to succeed in life, business, and relationships. Sure some of the 'improvements' will be steps backwards, but overall constant efforts to improve will be recognized by those who matter and will be rewarded.

Rule #9. Share
My translation:
Share what you know, your opinions, your ideas. This can also be called networking and it's invaluable to succeeding.

Rule #10. Act Now
My translation:
Act now!

Rule #11. Read #1 again!

Blogosphere News

Came across this site and found it pretty useful. Blogosphere News offers links to articles covering topics dear to Googbie hearts like page rank, design, internet marketing, etc....

I followed one link to the article 'The Significance of Page Rank' and found it particularly interesting.

As most Googbies are aware there are a lot of blogs out there with page rank that they're envious of. Well it seems the recent Google attack on sites' page rank wasn't limited to just web directories, the attack was part of a web-wide assault on all types of sites including blogs. Apparently a lot of blogs got whacked by Google every bit as hard as web directories like Alive Directory, Aviva Directory and my very own Big Guide and Web Directory got whacked.

On a side note I was quite surprised that a blog of mine that I had all but forgotten actually had it's page rank go UP. I have no idea why, but the PR of my Security Software Stop blog went from a PR2 to PR3. While it's like finding a $20 bill in a winter coat not worn for 8 months what I dislike about the change is not having any clue what caused it to increase! Seems the way to get page rank is to place a site in a dark closet and completely forget about it.

Web Directory Owners are Gardeners

Starting a web directory and growing it is a lot like gardening. First, you have to have a plot of land. Whether a general or niche topic directory you'll need a domain (location), web host (sun light), script (soil), and a category structure (layout).

Once the site (garden) is open for business you'll need to choose which websites to add (seeds). Choosing quality websites (seeds) is critical for the long term success of the site (or health of the garden). Selecting quality sites and writing decent descriptions will give the listings (plants) the best chance for success (healthy growth).

Like seeds, website listings need water and fertilizer to grow. Think of these as traffic (water) and promotion (fertilizer). The more of these the seeds receive the bigger they'll grow. The healthier the web directory (garden) becomes the larger it will grow. Over time people will be happy to pay you to list their websites in your directory (plant their seeds in your garden).

So if you're a directory owner be sure you select good seed stock, water often, and fertilize on a regular schedule. Some of us have green thumbs and some don't.

If you're looking for quality directories to submit to don't overlook the future prize winners. If you spot a careful and conscientious gardener plant your seed there as it'll grow along with the garden giving you a good return on your investment.

For some quality directories run by excellent gardeners visit All Top Directories and BigGuide's Web directories section.

The Last Tribe of Cannibals

Like the last tribe of Cannibals to cross paths with "civilization", Googbies are not sure what to make of the new way of life forced onto them at gunpoint by Google. No more frenzied buying of links to drive a website higher in the rankings and pagerank? But, that's the way we've been doing it for years! Google wanted links... we bought links!!! What's the problem!?

Like cannibalism the link buying orgy of the recent past began to have a serious affect on the entire Googbie population. As search engine results became increasingly peppered with sites that weren't there because a lot of other sites voluntarily linked to them (i.e. they had quality content), but rather because they had paid other sites to link to them in order to fake popularity.

So no more eating your neighbor when you have a disagreement? Now we Googbies will have to resort to playing on a more level playing field where the higher the quality of your site(s) the better rankings in the search engine results (SERPs).

Damn. I call for a meeting. We need to find new ways to feed ourselves!

The End of the Web Directory Game

We bid farewell to the "web directory game".

For most of this year it seems there were umpteen directories being launched daily. Thousands and thousands of web directories from general to niche, from free to paid, and more recently a huge number of "bidding" directories came to be.

Well, it appears that Google has concluded that the "web directory game" (i.e. practice of gaming the search engines by adding hundreds of links to a website in web directories) had to end. The search engines use, in part, the number of links pointing to a site to determine the popularity, and therefore, quality of a website. With more webmasters artificially inflating this number via web directories Google really had no option, but to do something to protect the integrity of their search results.

So they finally did something. After months of speculation it is finally clear that Google is devaluing the links from most web directories to websites. The evidence is all over, but the clearest evidence can be found by looking at the drastic reductions in the numbers of back links it recognizes that are pointing to the top web directories. Rand Fishkin's post on SEOmoz.org sums the damage done to the top directories well.

As I've said in a previous post I understand their need to maintain "search results integrity". So even though many web directories exercise "editorial integrity" resulting in a directory of quality sites the practice of disguising a websites popularity by submitting to hundreds of web directories appears to be coming to an abrupt end.

Adding insult to injury Google's stock hit an all-time high today and it was announced that Google now represents 54% of all web searches, up 50% from last year. Yahoo! is a distant 2nd at 20% and MSN a distant 3rd with 13%.

Clearly the biggest beneficiary of this move to close down the "web directory game" is Google. Now if a webmaster wants to move to the top of the search results they'll have to either produce a quality site and wait a long while to get there OR they'll have to buy some Google Adwords to get there instantly. As my pals in the Guiness commercials would say... BRILLIANT!.

The Best Web Directories

Every day someone new asks which web directories are the best to submit to and there is no right or wrong answer. This post in the BigGuide Webmaster Resource Blog sums up how I feel about it and is worth reading.

Another resource not listed in that post is Aviva's Strongest Web Directories list.

Smart Googbies invest in listings when they run across an opportunity where the cost/benefit ratio is favorable so they typically invest in listings over time after any initial or upfront investment has long passed. In addition, search engines are said to prefer gradually increasing backlink strategy over the "big bang" upfront orgy of link buying.

This Googbie still believes our very own BigGuide Internet Directory offers as strong a cost/benefit ratio at $7 for a review fee for a permanent listing as any other web directory out there. Of course we're biased but, we really do believe it's a great long term value for any webmaster. With over 6,000 quality websites listed, including many editor-added "gems", the visitor experience is far better than most directories offer and should insure the already strong traffic continues to grow over time.

Of course there are hundreds of other directories worth every penny of their review fee and you'll find more information on them in the post in the BigGuide blog.