The Mark Dykeman Web Niche

SEO is one of the most popular terms used in blogs these days, along with “web 2.0″, “facebook”, “paris hilton”, “ron paul” (actually, that’s just on the social news sites and it’s mainly wishful thinking), “impeach bush”, “make money blogging”, “successful like john chow”, “apple/iphone/ipod/too cool”, and “google ‘rules the world’”.

A “fishy” metaphor for SEO 

SEO stands for search engine optimization and wow, it’s big today.  SEO is an important part of content design.  The best way that I can describe SEO to the uninitiated is to imagine two fishermen in two different oceans.  Both fishermen are trying to catch fish but they use very different methods. 

The first fisherman uses a simple fishing rod with one kind of bait and hopes to catch some fish.  If he’s lucky, he’ll catch a couple of fish by the end of the day.  Maybe he’ll try to use more than one fishing line or a net at the same time.  Occasionally, he’ll try fishing in a different spot.  This fisherman, webmaster, or blogger, is not using SEO, he’s just doing his thing.

The second fisherman is also trying to catch fish, but she’s using hundreds of different fishing lines, each in different locations and at different depths.  She uses different kinds of bait to catch different kinds of fish.  In addition, she’s using nets, lobster traps, and she’s dragging along the bottom of the ocean to pick up the stuff that won’t come after her bait. 

The second fisherman has been adding to her fishing gear over time.  Now she’s got some spear fishers and clam diggers working for her as well.  Finally, on top of all that, if she’s really clever and she’s got a large operation, she’s fishing in more than one ocean - and she’s starting to think in terms of hunting on land and in the air, not just in the water.  Theoretically, this lady is going to catch many, many, many more fish that the first fisherman.  She is practicing the fishing equivalent of SEO.

So, if the blogger/writer/webmaster is the fisherman, then the fish are your potential readers and clients.  The fishing lines and bait are the lures or the attention getters that will attach those critical curious entities known as search engines.  Done properly, the fishing lines and bait (primarily key words and key phrases that search engines index) can pull readers towards your posts and articles.

For a somewhat more reliable definition of SEO, there’s always Old Faithful, Wikipedia.

SEO is big - it’s really, really big - to some people

Sounds great, doesn’t it?  SEO is a big thing to bloggers and webmasters because these two groups of people are trying to attract readers for two main reasons:

a)  to entertain, inform, or educate

b) to sell advertising or products, which might include the writer/blogger/webmaster

There’s an industry around SEO that is very important to a number of people because it pays their salaries and makes some of them wealthy.  I should be so lucky!

Danger - boredom and curiosity collide 

There are a lot of people that talk about this SEO practice.  After awhile, I started to get tired of reading about this stuff.  Then I thought, hm, let’s see how silly this whole thing is getting.  Be warned, you’re either going to find this extremely entertaining or extremely boring.  Numbers will be a prominent feature in this post.

Bascially, I did 256 searches on Google using an exact phrase match for the word “seo” and a different word.  Yes, it was a bit tedious.  I think I missed some important plot points during a Battlestar Galactica episode while I was doing this important research, but it was a small price to pay for advancing human knowledge.  The entire list of terms has been placed at the end of the post (see Appendix).

Most popular matches

Here are the top ten matches of the exact phrase “seo + another word“, including the number of hits that the phrase found:

king 140000
expert 74880
newbie 65300
master 63000
guru 59000
analyst 26400
comic 25000
agent 11200
nun 7830
coach 7340

 Yes, I was surprised at how well the terms “comic” and “nun” did, too.

The terms that yielded zero (0) matches (seo + “term”)

Now, this set of 91 searches did not yield any matches at all:

barbarian hobgoblin pervert sergeant supergirl
bedwetter homey pig servant superhero
boner jellyfish plebe sheep swami
buttload jerkoff policeman shogun swindler
cabbie kobold pope sifu tadpole
clownfish lardass priest sister toad
cornhole lobster psychic skeleton toothpick
councillor man-o-war psycho sneeze uncle
detritus microserf puke sniper vampire
drooler mooch pusher snob villain
dumpster nebbish quarterback snot vomit
excrement nuker referee sod wanker
goober nutball reverend sorceror warlock
gramma nutjob saboteur spaz watcher
grammie orc sailor stormtrooper watchmen
grampie padwan samurai striker whale
grampy pappy sausage succubus whore
grandmother pastor scout superboy yogi
guppy

But maybe there’s more to this.  Could someone be hiding something?

So, just for fun, I took this group of 91 terms and I performed an additional search for both words, but without an exact phrase match.  This would show me the number of times that these two words appeared in the same document.  Maybe, just maybe, there would be a relationship between these two words.

First of all, here’s the bottom 11 matches.  These words occurred together on with less than 100 matches:

hobgoblin 89
kobold 77
buttload 67
lardass 49
drooler 30
nutball 17
grampy 9
nebbish 6
grampie 4
grammie 2
microserf 2

OK, here’s where the real fun begins.  Now I’m going postulate a bunch of semi-serious ideas based on these results:

1)  Hobgoblins and kobolds are underrepresented in the SEO space.  Their orc, goblin, and ogre brethern are a few steps further up the ladder.  (Note:  forgot to check on the bugbears and the owlbears.  Shame about that).  Hobgoblins and kobolds, you need to sharpen your wits if you want to survive in this Web 2.0 world!  Come out of the dark ages!

2)  Buttload, lardass, drooler, nebbish, nutball - these terms all fared rather poorly.  I think that’s a good thing!

3)  Grammie, Grampie, Grampy - near the bottom.  Possible ageism here, although I think that the grandmothers, grandfathers, and other terms are keeping them afloat.

4)  SEO and microserf came dead last.  I don’t know what to make of that either.  I forgot to check for Unix and Linus and Apple associations.  Shucks.

The hidden connections - revealed!

OK, now we have the real gems!  Here are the words that didn’t seem to go together, but it appears there’s more going on here that we might have thought….

sister 31100
reverend 20300
whore 18400
nuker 16500
samurai 13700
sniper 12800
pig 12300
pope 12000
uncle 10900
scout 8950

And now, here’s some more highly-questionable analysis:

 1)  Hidden religious currents in the  SEO world:  witness the associations with pope, sister, and reverend.

2)  Subtle family ties in the SEO world:  witness uncle and sister.

3)  Violent characters in the SEO world:  witness samurai, nuker, sniper, scout.  Oddly enough, SEO ninjas (which you would think to be rather stealthy) are much more visible than the samurai.  Kind of dangerous:  don’t the samurai have better armor or something?

4)  Vile connections in the SEO world:  witness whore and pig.

Obvious the “SEO kings” are pretty sneaky.  Who knows what more searching might reveal?   

Random surprises

Here’s a few other tidbits for those of you who are still reading curious about these searches: 

• “SEO queen” received 305 matches, compared to 140000 matches for “SEO king”.  Ladies, stop letting the men steal your spotlight!
• “SEO jedi” only received 250 matches.  I think the Sith are up to something.
• “SEO maven” got less than 100 matches.  Seems rather low.
• “SEO funkmaster” only got 16 matches.  Man, somebody’s gotta make something happen there!
• “SEO sensei” only got 2 matches.  I smell opportunity!
• On the expanded searches, there was clearly more “SEO vomit” than “SEO puke”

Well, there you have it.  There’s a fair amount of SEO chatter out there.  I guess it is important after all.  If I were you, though, I’d spend my time looking for a SEO king - it’s your best guarantee for a match! 

Incidentally, “Britney Spears” yielded 2.8 million hits while “Paris Hilton” only yielded 2.2 million.  And “Lindsay Lohan” got less than 1.0 million!  Damnit, what’s wrong with this world?

Appendix:  256 words that go with SEO, or not

So, this is the complete list of terms that I queried with an exact phrase match search using the word “seo” and each of these terms below:

agent ceo drone grandmother mackerel nutjob samurai superhero
ambassador champion drooler grandpa madam ogre sausage superman
analyst chancellor dumpster grasshopper mage orc scout superstar
ape chef dunce guard magician padwan seal surfer
apprentice chief dweeb guardian major papa sensei swami
ass chimp error guppy man-o-war pappy sergeant swindler
asshole cio excavator guru marine pastor servant tadpole
assistant clam excrement head master pervert shark teacher
aunt clone expert hero maven pig sheep therapist
baker clownfish fairy herring mayor pimp shogun toad
barbarian coach father ho mechanic plebe sifu toothpick
bartender colonel fiend hobgoblin microserf policeman sister tutor
bedwetter comic fish homeboy miner pope skeleton uncle
bishop commander flasher homey mixer president sleuth vampire
boatload cook flunky horse mofo priest smoke victim
bomb cop funkmaster iceberg monk prince sneeze victor
bomber cornhole gangsta illusion monkey princess sniper villain
bone councillor gangster imp mooch principal snob vomit
boner cow ghoul jedi moron professor snot wanker
boob crab gimp jellyfish mother psychic sod warlock
bookie crack goblin jerk n00b psycho soldier watcher
brainiac crackpot godfather jerkoff nanny puke sorceror watchdog
brat crap goober junk nebbish punk spammer watchmen
brother criminal googler king nerd pusher spaz weakness
bugger cto goon kobold newb quarterback specialist whale
butler detritus gramma lackey newbie queen spider whore
butthead dick grammie lad ninja rabbit squid winner
butthole dickhead grammy lardass noob referee stormtrooper witch
buttload doctor grampie lass nuker reverend striker wizard
cabbie dog grampy leech nun rockstar succubus wolf
captain dope grandfather lobster nut saboteur superboy yogi
cat drip grandma loonie nutball sailor supergirl zombie

In the spirit of trying something new, I’ve signed up for a new service called rssHugger.  I don’t know a lot about it, but here’s what I can tell you so far:

• It includes a top 100 section
• It allows you to check out a random blog that’s part of the network
• It lists new RSS feeds that have recently been added to the network
• It features a directory that you can use to search for blogs by category (I’m set up in the writing category)
• You can list multiple blogs within their network

 Basically the site allows you to view the RSS feeds of the network’s members.

It’s an interesting idea, somewhat similar in concept to Technorati, but smaller, so it might be easier to get noticed.

I’ll be checking this out over time.  Take a look yourself!

IPSM

Welcome to a regular feature at The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog called Featured on Fridays.  Every Friday I will introduce you to one or more of the blogs and bloggers that fill my newsreader.  These are blogs that I genuinely enjoy and read regularly.  In this installment I’m featuring a female blogger who probably makes a lot of people say “mama mia…”

Meleah Rebecca Hawthorne publishes several blogs, including her “main” blog Momma Mia, Mea Culpa, her TV-themed blog Melevision TV Junkie, and…  OMG, there’s more there than I can count on two hands!  Although I think a few of those sites in her sidebar are photo-related… um, anyway.   Well, what can I say?  Meleah…  Meleah is a beautiful lady inside and out, unless she’s got a photo double, but I’m assuming that the smiling woman in the pics is really her.  She’s a vibrant and passionate person who obviously loves her friends and family.  She writes glowingly about her son (JCH, don’t know his first name), her parents, and other family and friends.  She has such a distinctive voice and personality that within two sentences, you know she’s the one writing.  There’s no doubt that Meleah has faced many challenges in her past and she continues to do so, but she’s a survivor and a fighter - you can just tell.  Aw, quit reading this darn review and go read her blog, will ya?

PS:  I was tempted to write one of my signature “21st century haikus” for Meleah, but I figured that Mimzie might read this, so I’m laying off.  For now…

If you would like to have your blog reviewed here, please contact me in some way and I’ll be happy to do so.  Otherwise, I’ll just keep selecting a random victim until, until, until…  I run out!

Jay of Dumb Little Man fame has published a new article that I’ve written about social bookmarking.  I describe two occasionally conflicting uses for bookmarks:  quick access vs long term indexed storage.

You can check out the article here:  Bookmarking Solutions:  Quick Access vs. Long Term Storage

Another useful article that I’ve written about social bookmarking is:  Nine Notable Uses For Social Bookmarking

If you’re still not sure what social bookmarking is, here’s the Wikipedia entry:  Social bookmarking

Here’s a list of social bookmarking apps on the Web:  Wikipedia list of social bookmarking websites

Finally, here are links to the three social bookmarking sites that I use most often:

• Del.icio.us
• Netvouz
• StumbleUpon

Have fun with your surfing and make sure that you bookmark (or subscribe to, even better) The Uncanny Broadcasting Brain Blog!

Here is a simple list of some of the things I’ve enjoyed recently. Check them out!

How to handle smears against your online reputation:

This writer pulls no punches about their success or failures at living a healthy lifestyle

Image hosting sites

Ways to get beyond blogger’s block or blogging block (I think making a post full of lists might be one of those ways…   :)   )

Article that compares web 2.0 “social” technologies to ancient “orality” traditions of making and maintaining relationships

Six tools for creating podcasts

Forsooth!  Ye Shakespearian insulte creator!

What Liberal Media - page about Eric Alterman’s book of the same name, which I highly recommend

OK, this has almost as many links as a string of sausages, done for now!

Yeah, I know, I’m blowing my own horn here, but in my own humble opinion, I’ve just written a very cool and insightful article about how introverts can thrive in the Web 2.0 world.

If you want to force my ego back to normal size, do me a favor and check out the new article.

Yeah, I’m kind of proud of it.  It’s not perfect, but the article does a good job of capturing my recent brainwave activity and putting it into a post.

Thanks for your attention!

If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you’ll notice that although the blog has a nice enough layout with a couple of sidebars, it’s not very visually exciting.  I have only written a handful of posts that incorporate images or video of some kind.  My banner is the most colorful part of the blog, having recently been spiffed up.  On the whole this makes my blog something of a rarity, almost a bit retro.  So why have I chosen this path, the “road less traveled”, as it were?  Good question.  

The short answer is that I’m not a huge fan of additional media on web pages:  

a)       Extra media can slow down the time required to load your page.  Although I do have a relatively high speed account at home, I don’t have a new PC.  If I have to wait too long for my Web pages to load or for video to play, I’m not going to spend my time waiting for it.

b)       I’m not a big fan of images, audio or video.  I know some of it is quite good, but it’s not a “must have” quality attribute for a blog, unless it’s extremely relevant to the task at hand.  I’m really more interested in the words, not the shiny bells and whistles.    I’m a novice when it comes to working with multi-media files.  Unless I could find something free and pre-made, I found it difficult to justify spending time to create this content.  Sure, I have looked for free images and used them.  In the end there is a cost-benefit decision and right now it’s not leaning towards extra media. 

I look at all of these things as “nice to haves”.  My own blogging preference is to work in text.  My favorite kind of writing is the novel, followed by the short story and then non-fiction genres (excluding comic books, of course!)  That’s what I enjoy and it’s reflected in my blogging.

Pictures could enhance a good story, but they won’t make a story good.  The writer’s words should be able to describe a scene vividly enough so that pictures aren’t necessary.  I feel the same way about my blog posts.  I talk about ideas, popular culture, comic books, perception, communication, and business.  I try to tell stories or teach you something and I don’t usually need pictures to do that.  Although I’ve certainly tried YouTube  and enjoyed some of its content, that type of thing just doesn’t grab me like text. 

However, I’m not going to shut the door on using additional media, because I know it’s attractive to some of my readers and, as I said above, it can enhance the experience.  In fact, I’m going to research audio, video, and photo hosting for another project that I’m working on.  It may come in handy.  But I’m not going to depend on using additional media.

Thumbs up to Barbara Doduk for our spiffy new banner, with original avatar art by Scott Marshall!

Hello there.  Juggler kindly allowed me to write a guest post for the WWW Observer. 

Don’t Be a Leech, Be A Social Media Apprentice

The article talks about strategies to establish a reputation in social media.  You can try to go it alone or you can try to enlist the aid of others in your quest for mastery.  There are times when it is very tempted to try to get a benefactor to promote your work for you.  However, a social media “master” can do more than just promote yourself.

Jump on over to the WWW Observer and check it out.

I’ve got a new article at Socyberty, which I’ve posted a link to at The Mighty Introvert.

Here’s a teaser:  it features Superman.  Enjoy!

Enjoy!