Mutterings for the Minority

That’s my aim and one of the reasons why I’ve recently been reading David Viney’s book – ‘Get to the Top on Google: Tips and Techniques to Get Your Site to the Top of Google and Stay There‘.

David is a self confessed leading Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) expert and works with companies large and small to improve their search engine rankings. Which is one of the main reasons I decided to take the plunge and start reading it – courteousy of Swansea central library.

Whilst I’m not what you’d called an SEO virgin (is there such a thing?) I’m also far from being 100% au faux with the ins and outs of the SEO business – although I do intend getting there one day. Thankfully the book is set out in a way which caters for the lower to middle of the road SEO readers and as such has something for everyone.

It’s also reassuring to read the same fundamental rules and themes that I’ve picked up from reading about SEO elsewhere, as I’ve often found that some people proclaim to be SEO experts when in fact they merely provide their own (often mis-guided) judgements on SEO.

Aside from the usual SEO stuff, the book has provided me with a useful insight into how you could utilise Google Maps and Google Earth as part of an SEO strategy. Who’d have thought that a little ‘corner shop’ business could benefit from these tools in a search engine kind of way.

The section on links was also useful, providing some useful pointers to lots of web based link directories (with associated page rank) and other suitable avenues for exploring in order to boost your link strategy. Just one word of advice (warning?) – make sure you use a ‘disposable’ email address (e.g. links @ domainname . com) for registering your site with ANY of the directories. As of the ones I tried such as Jayde has insisted on sending me quite a few daily emails relating to my submission and SEO. But hey, what do I expect for a free directory submission.

One gripe I do have – which isn’t related to the book – is David’s website SEO Expert Services. Somewhat surprisingly the blog on the site was last updated in August 2008, which I’d have thought isn’t good in terms of both SEO and enticing new customers? Perhaps the site forum is a hive of activity, but as I was too tight to shell out for the subscription fee I couldn’t tell you

Anyway, don’t let the site put you off borrowing/buying the book it’s worth a read and will certainly give you some food for thought in terms of SEO and how it can be applied to your business strategy.

Just one parting shot though, don’t think that this book alone will get your website to rank number 1 in Google, it won’t. It will point you in the right direction, but only hard work will get your site to the top and keep it there. There is NO quick fix in terms of getting to the top in Google.

Yes indeed. I’ve got into that awful habit of making draft posts in blogger – with the intention of completing the post later – but somehow never find the time to go back and finish them off.

So if you’re wondering why this blog has got more holes than a moth ridden blanket then you’ll now understand why. One day I’ll get around to putting some context onto the key points I’ve made in each draft post and I’ll publish them – by which time it’ll be totally irrelevant of course.

I decided to try my luck on the bike again today – the 2nd time this week woooo hoooo – as I slowly build myself up to get back into the ‘groove’ of my training. I headed off down to Forte’s ice cream parlour in Limeslade, a 11.7 mile round trip which took me 44 minutes 19 seconds. That included navigating the TWO sets of traffic lights just past Verdi’s and on Big Apple hill!! My max speed was 21.5 mph and I averaged 14.9 mph.

As for the conditions well it was overcast/murky/foggy and as a result it felt rather chilly – despite there being very little wind. At least it meant that there weren’t many human obstacles about – well other than the ones whom are oblivious to the world around them due to having headphones in.

But hey, I’ll take about the health and safety issues of that another time LOL.

Back in early December I’d bought a brand spanking new Canon Pixma MP600 multifunction colour printer, as our old Brother laserjet printer was on its last legs. At the time it was a bargain at £94 from Argos and I was chuffed to bits – especially after reading such a positive review of it in PC Pro magazine.

So here I find myself a few weeks on with a constant ‘U150 – The following ink tank cannot be recognized’ errors, meaning I can’t use the darn printer and as a result have an outstanding support call to Canon to “sort it out”.

My frustation – anger? – is compounded by the fact that a quick search on Google reveals numerous other people having the same problems, which to me indicates a design fault with the MP600 (and the ink tray in particular). Don’t these companies test their products stringently enough before releasing them for general sale?

Huh, some start to the new year eh!?

My work took me to Gloucester today to see how the County Council had setup their call centre. It also gave me an opportunity to have a look at the ‘Solidus’ system from Sony Ericsson – which was quite impressive I hasten to add.

The timing of the trip was a week out however, as last Friday the Osprey’s were at Kingsholm (home of Gloucester RFC) for a European Rugby Cup – which would have been an ideal destination post-meeting time. Oh well maybe next time.

Our return journey via the A40 (as opposed to the M4 – anything to avoid the toll bridge you see) I got my first glimpse of the new Amazon building on Jersey Marine. It is MASSIVE and a great coup for this area, especially in terms of the economy and regeneration. My only concern however is what ‘sort’ of jobs will be on offer and how much they are likely to be paid. Time will tell I guess, but I doubt very much that Amazon would be a bad company to work for – especially given their global size and status.

On the subject of the Opsrey’s I had the misfortune of watching them misfire (again) against Leinster on the box earlier. Granted they were missing 9 senior players, but given the squad Lyn Jones has assembled surely they could have got a result against Brian O’Driscoll’s men? I’m beginning to think that the time for change at coaching level is fast approaching.

Talking of TV, I saw the much debated ‘Swansea at Christmas’ advert on ITV tonight. Despite my initial optimism BEFORE seeing it, I really felt deflated after seeing it – it could literally have been anywhere in the UK and I felt it came across on the cheap side. What a major disappointment, considering the vibrant and stunning area we live in.

I woke this morning to see that the weathermen had got the forecast right – with the very first gound frost of the winter to date. The air was noticeably colder and for the first time it actually did feel like winter had arrived. I do like this weather though, bright sunshine, blue skies and a sharp crisp feel to the air.

DDWT Junior had a coffee morning in school today, which gave the parents an opportunity to pop along and see what the kids get up to each morning of nursery school (as trying to get the nippers to tell you is like…. well nigh on impossible!). It’s very evident from this morning that the school embraces the ‘Learn through Play’ ideology and it’s curriculum is based on the ‘Here I am’ booklet.

With me deciding to take another rest day from training due to my knee problems, I thought better of sitting behind my desk for lunch and decided to go for a walk into the city centre for a change. This also gave me the opportunity to (a) finish off getting family Christmas cards and (b) treat myself to some PS2 games from Gamestation

I was glad to get the cards sorted, as that’s the one and only thing I hate having to do come Christmas time – choose and write cards. I also managed to pick up 4 games – Final Fantasy X, NHL 2006, Salt Lake 2002 and Need for Speed Underground 2 – for £20, which is an in-store deal that Gamestation often have (alongside 4 for £10 and 2 for £20).

So without further to do, I’m off to try out my new acquisitions and then put my feet up with a milky coffee and watch the first installment of “I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here“.