Another year on the Trail

3 years and I still won’t shut up

Well it’s that time again… a blogging anniversary. If you’ve ever wondered about the screwed up domain name (HuoMah = FireHorse) be sure to see last years post…

We’ve now logged more than 450 posts (yea slowed down a bit) and over 1600 comments (and thousands of spam ones deleted). Over the last year we had more than 85 000 visitors and 130 000 page views (not including the Dojo). We also had more than 2 dozen fine folks as guest riders on the Trail to bring new life to my tired old banter.

What is most interesting at the end of the day is the fact that people actually enjoy some of the geekier stuff and come back for more. I’ve done less ranting and more musing and digging than in the past on the urging of my SOSG mate, more focus on IR was the call of the day since early 09.

Highlights

WebMaster Radio – Virginia was kind enough to have me on to chat about personalized search and re-rankings (give it a listen) – it was a ton o fun to do!

Guest Riders – we started having guest riders in the form of posters and interviewees and have had more than 2 dozen peeps on the Trail the last year.

SEO Dojo – another fun development is the (slowly) progressing SEO Dojo and all the GREAT members we have there and our Patent and Research paper library.

SEO Geeks Newsletter – with prodding and help from friends I also started a SEO newsletter which now boasts more than 600 hard core search obsessed peeps (feedback has been wonderous!)

Won a SEMMY – I thought winning a SEMMY (for ranting) was kinda cool as well. When you go up against Michael and Rae and manage to win it’s a definite compliment to this cranky ol search geek

The Pimperati

Considering this blog was originally just musings and answers to common topics I encountered, it has had some great growth over the last 3 years…and a big thanks should go out to all that have been supportive over that time.

The usual suspects – I was fortunate to get some industry love from some of my fav publications including Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, SEO Book, Search Engine Watch, SEOmoz, Search Engine Roundtable (and of course many hot stories on Sphinn). I really do appreciate all the support from some of the best in the biz! Other notables included;

Web Pro News – the good folks at WPN (and properties) asked to syndicate my content which was awfully nice and I enjoyed the compliment

Media Post – Laurie at Media Post has asked me to pose as an authority on more than one occasion as you can see – it’s fun that they care for my ramblings.

And of course a massive thanks out to all the Twits, Stumbers, Sphinners and other socialites that have also brought many a new face by the blog…

Popular Posts

Google social profiling – coverage of a set of patents dubbed ‘FriendRank’

Search geek’s guide to ranking factors – a look at the various methods/signals search engines use to rank webpages.

Google Analytics for SEO – part I, part II and part II – series looking at using advanced segments and custom reporting

Hunting for paid links – a guest post from my pal CJ on how search engines find paid links.

SEO implications of page segmentation – a look at how modern search engines may soon be using page segmentation and what it means to SEOs.

SEO Higher Learning – the mother of all IR resource posts; a great way to start 2009.

Tin foil hat alert; Google personalization – ever wondered how far all of this personalization could get? A possible future….

The final word on bounce rates as a ranking signal – my definitive rant about implicit user feedback and search rankings.

Looking ahead

It’s a safe bet that the Trail will continue to be active with more uber search geekiness and plenty of new guest riders to keep it interesting. While there isn’t as much ranting going on a there once was, surely something in this whacky industry will get me going at some point as well.

Thanks again to all the fine folks that have supported us, the thousands that promoted the trail and of course the MANY wonderful peeps I have encountered over the years, (easily the best part o’ blogging).

Cya next year…same time, same place – m’kay?