There comes a time in every link builder’s career when a technique comes to mind that just seems too good to be true. It may seem so damn simple you can hardly keep it contained.
If it seems a little suspect though, it probably is, and it won’t end well. Just yesterday, Search Engine Land posted about Google “releasing a new search algorithm it hopes will better catch people who spam its search results or purposely do things to rank better.” So let’s hope your brilliant idea isn’t the SEO tramp stamp!
What is the SEO tramp stamp?
Links back to your site in your client’s footer. It’s shameless self-promotion, and speaks volumes about the types of links you’ll shoot for in client campaigns. The SEO tramp stamp is link spam of the sketchy variety, and here’s why we say no to it. [read the full post…]
It’s Monday and that means it’s time to get fired up about the week. What better way to kick things off than with a quick conversation about robots?!
Yes, ROBOTS!
Not our friendly bot in the picture though, I’m talking about your robots.txt file. Wait, don’t panic! It’s ok if you don’t know what the heck I’m talking about. We’ll start slow and by the end of this post you will know exactly what a robots.txt file is. I want you to be able to throw down in some serious web geek conversations. Why would you want to do that? Because the robots.txt file controls how search engines and other bots see your site. You probably spend a LOT of time carefully crafting your brand and content, but what’s the point if search engines aren’t viewing your content or are seeing too much of it? Let’s fix that. [read the full post…]
Maybe you’ve been distracted lately by Tupac’s hologram stealing the show at Coachella, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to turn the conversation to content marketing for a moment. Okay, maybe a few moments—get comfy. From the bold strategy Coca-Cola shared with the public, to debates over whether content marketing sucks, content marketing has captured quite a bit of Internet attention, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up.
But one thing I’ve noticed is most people are focusing on the marketing part, and not so much on the content part. The general consensus is that quality content is the way to high rankings, traffic, and conversions. But while I’ve read a lot of posts that say you need quality content, I haven’t seen many that outline exactly how to create it. There seems to be a disconnect between copywriting advice, and content marketing how-tos. So let’s connect those dots. [read the full post…]
As Internet marketing consultants, I’m sure we’d all agree SEO is a vital part of a successful marketing strategy. Online visibility is essential for both branding and conversions. But I think because we are passionate about what we do (and therefore, perhaps a bit biased,) we can lose sight of the fact that SEO and Internet marketing are not the only ingredients in our client’s marketing mix. Print advertising, radio and TV commercials, e-mail marketing, direct mail – for most businesses, these forms of marketing are still heavily used.
And really, in many cases, they should be. We might all like to think that online is the single best way to reach our client’s audience, but depending on their product or service, that might not always be the case. My job as a Marketing Coordinator in real estate taught me the value of multi-channel marketing, and how different channels spoke to different demographics. Was online an important part of our marketing strategy? Absolutely! But print advertising, direct mail, and local sponsorships were also very effective for us, and if we had put all of our eggs into the online basket, we would have missed out on reaching entire groups of potential customers. [read the full post…]
We do it in public. We do it in our sleep. We even do it at family gatherings.
SEO audits. As SEOs, we can’t help ourselves. When we see a site in need of optimization, our thoughts go into overdrive (tip of the day: always exercise caution when asking an SEO, “What do you think of my new site?”). Behind our critique is a passion for helping businesses reach the right audience and deliver the most value. At Outspoken Media, we’ve decided to take out some of that pent up drive and help out the community through micro-SEO audits.
Members of the Outspoken Media team will perform a three-minute SEO audit of your site that can cover areas such as site architecture, index issues, crawl issues, content strategy, backlink profiles, and much more. There’s no way to thoroughly audit a website in three minutes, but we’ll give you actionable feedback to help you address the most pressing problem. [read the full post…]
Yesterday, Lisa announced her resignation from Outspoken Media and we hope you join us in wishing her the best of luck on the road ahead. With an undeniable talent, and a voice as strong as hers, we are excited to see where she goes next. It’s been three amazing years, and we couldn’t have gotten to this point without her.
Lisa’s brand has been intangibly tied to Outspoken Media as the voice of this blog and our community. We recognize Lisa’s a tough act to follow and we can never replace her, but we have great talent that’s ready for the opportunity to take more of a leadership role with the brand. I promise we will not let this community fade. We owe that to you and ourselves.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without your continued support, readership, and communication. You—our readers, friends, and colleagues—make Outspoken Media what it is, and we are going to continue to bring you the same honest, sometimes in-your-face content you’ve come to expect from us.
A few weeks ago I let the team know of my decision to resign from Outspoken Media, the company I helped found and build over the past three years. Now it’s time to let everyone else know, as well.
One thing is for sure – I couldn’t have asked for a better learning environment. Outspoken Media was started because of our desire to do better, to be better, and to create something we didn’t think existed in the market. And three years later, I truly believe that we have. We’ve created something that serves clients, serves our industry, and that provides an extraordinary amount of value. I’m incredibly proud of it and the team that we’ve assembled here, people who believe in the same high standards we do and who strive to not just meet them, but surpass them, every day.
Outside of just growing a great company, the past three years have treated me to an amazing degree of personal growth. I’ve never loved or fought for anything as hard as I’ve loved and fought for Outspoken Media. And I wouldn’t change any of it. But it’s time for me to make a move. A friend tweeted not long ago that time and how we spend it is our most precious commodity. Each choice is an investment in our future. I’ve never believed that as strongly as I do today. That your priorities are the things you do, not the things you say you do. And how you spend your time matters. It defines you. [read the full post…]
Want something free that will help your link building?
Great, because we put together something we’re proud of and want to share it. Here’s a quick video on what exactly the link building strategies spreadsheet is:
Oh, hey! It’s been a while since I’ve stopped by around here. Last time I stepped in to tell you about 10 Terrible Tweet Types. But a lot’s changed since then. I quit my job, I made my Twitter public, and I developed super powers. Well, fine, not super powers. But I did develop an uncanny ability to counsel people who are afraid or wary about social media as a worthwhile pursuit.
Sadly, I can’t touch the lives of every business in the capitalist world. So that means there is a surfeit of businesses–even as you’re reading this!– demonstrating their reluctant acceptance of social media by trolling Craigslist for part-time and unpaid social media interns.
Happy weekend! Or, for some, happy holiday weekend! Whether you get to enjoy some extended play or if you’re just looking to get as much as you can from the two days you have, this is shaping up to be a gorgeous weekend for many of us. The weatherman says Upstate, NY is going to be touching 60. Wahooo! But before you go run out and play in the grass, take a few minutes to unwind with our weekend coffee links. They’re just what your soul is asking for. [read the full post…]
There comes a time in every link builder’s career when a technique comes to mind that just seems too good to be true. It may seem so damn simple you can hardly keep it contained. 
It’s Monday and that means it’s time to get fired up about the week. What better way to kick things off than with a quick conversation about robots?!
Maybe you’ve been distracted lately by Tupac’s hologram stealing the show at Coachella, but if you’ll allow me, I’d like to turn the conversation to content marketing for a moment. Okay, maybe a few moments—get comfy. From the 
As Internet marketing consultants, I’m sure we’d all agree SEO is a vital part of a successful marketing strategy. Online visibility is essential for both branding and conversions. But I think because we are passionate about what we do (and therefore, perhaps a bit biased,) we can lose sight of the fact that SEO and Internet marketing are not the only ingredients in our client’s marketing mix. Print advertising, radio and TV commercials, e-mail marketing, direct mail – for most businesses, these forms of marketing are still heavily used.
We do it in public. We do it in our sleep. We even do it at family gatherings.
Oh, hey! It’s been a while since I’ve stopped by around here. Last time I stepped in to tell you about 
