SEO Strategies

I'm looking out the window at another storm passing through California. The worrying about water, reservoirs and flows for rafting is disappearing as quickly as the dry grounds of the foothills. Looks like an awesome river rafting season for 2008.

I just got off the phone with a colleague that I have worked with for the last 5 years. We were discussing internet marketing strategies and the new landscape on the net. We both agreed that links are still important, but not the same linking strategy as before. No more, "Give me a link, and I'll link you" stuff. It's dead. I think we both agreed on that.

We also agreed that old strategies are out the window, too. Both of us had attended a conference discussing internet marketing. We both laughed at one presenter, not because of mis-information, but because of how old the strategies were. Marketing on the net changes extremely quickly. So quickly, that by the time a public speaker is addressing it, it's already old.

We optimize using alogorithms, logs, analysis and intuitive reasoning. We both belong to many SEO forums and groups. We both read everything and subscribe to all the heavy hitters including Matt Cutts' blog. It's almost my bible.

But it's the intuitive reasoning that is the most difficult. It's the art in SEO. Our team struggles everyday with this issue. Each RSS feed alert that comes into the desktop provides another method of SEO or internet marketing technique. Most we dismiss, and others we bookmark and send to each other.

Blogs are big. We know that. But when we started, we didn't know anything. We just journaled and blogged because it felt right. So we guessed, and we were right. Now, we are guessing again. And we are taking major gambles in doing so. If we succeed, it will be great for all of us; our white water rafting industry, our network partners and the consumer. If not, we go back to square one and try something else.

Meanwhile, I am forming a business relationship/partnership with a long-time colleague. He is one that I respect in this awful landscape of black hats, grey hats and every color in between. We both work to death and he is probably one of the few people that I can even discuss these issues without a blank face staring back at me.

The future is here and we at this domain RAFTWET.com are riding a wave like we've never rode before. We are psyched over here and crossing our fingers.

New Year Website Hangover

It's a plot. A diabolical plot designed to create havoc here with our seo team. We are "fixin'" the website... and the blue screen appears. ARRGH! Yeh, the blue screen of death. Hmm, did we upload those changes? Did the blue screen appear before or after the lastest changes? WTF!!!

Anyway, we have a dead computer. And the IT dude is gone on vacation, so none of us have the password to the external drives. And there lies our dilemma. Do we just do a download of the entire site from the host side? or do we wile away the hours by taking off again to go snowboarding. Hehehehe...

Ok. We are back again. Clean install and some more new computers... love it when we can start over again. Fresh. Clean. Ready to roll. But, the slopes are beckoning again. Can we get away with not working this week? I mean, it's almost the weekend anyway... (what? it's only Tues) the W.E.T. crew got to go river rafting today... we didn't get invited... I suppose it's because none of us woke up today until after 2:00 pm.

The partying last night did give me a bit of a headache... oh, yeh... Happy New Year.