I decided to start a new series called ‘Bad SEO’ – to highlight what to look for and funny anecdotes about encounters with some ..er.. uh.. not-so-professional Search Engine Optimization providers out there. I am certainly NOT going to start ‘outing’ people (naming offenders) – simply posting chronicles as a warning to the consumer; and a good laugh for the professional (hard working) SEO craftsperson. ‘Tis borne from unfortunate tales and wary consumers all in need of reassurance.

So I say to all you SEO Hacks out there – the Reality Train is a comin’ – Get off the tracks or get run over.

12 Step Program - Things you DON’T want to see on a SEO provider’s website;
<< Much of this rant is based on a REAL SEO site/provider, tho a few are JUST ME ranting – let the debate begin! >>

Here we go...

Oh..er oops.. I mean 'Link Bombs'

I was just posting this over at SEO Yak and figured I would put a quick heads up here as well. Apparently Google Bombing has been dealt a blow of its own; Matt Cutts of Google (fame?) mentioned a recent piece of his on the Google Webmaster Blog that discusses what Google is doing to defuse this nasty little sport. There is also mention of a breakdown from Danny Sullivan – I am still reading that one..

Sounds interesting … more to come after I get some sleep and read up more...

Ok still up... who needs sleep anyways, right?  – well it seems Matt and Co are givin’ it the ol ‘Hidey Ho’ and simply passing off the update (why the fuss Matt?) and his ‘gang’ merely slid along by letting us know that they are, “improving our analysis of the link structure of the web” – Which is really great kids because it will likely  be “minimizing the impact of many Googlebombs” – or so we’re told.

Added October 07; I have created a more detailed post - Link Building Ideas for 2008

 Well.. I have been posting these resources all over the place lately - everytime some one asks me about Link Building. So I figured I would save myself some finger work and post them here for posterity -

101 Ways to Build Link Popularity in 2006;
http://www.seobook.com/archives/001792.shtml

Where to start a Link building Campaign; 
http://www.linkbuildingblog.com/2006/08/order_matters_s.html

Advanced Link Building; 
http://www.seomoz.org/articles/advanced-link-building.php

Link building tactics and relevance;
http://www.seomoz.org/articles/advanced-link-building.php

Link Development vs. Traffic Development and Staying with the Times
http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum12/3047.htm

The Right honorable Matt Cutts on Link baiting;
http://mattcutts.com/blog/seo-advice-linkbait-and-linkbaiting/

Unconventional Link building techniques 
http://www.seobook.com/archives/000895.shtml

Andy Hagans Ultimate Guide to Link Baiting and Social Media Marketing; http://tropicalseo.com/2007/andy-hagans-ultimate-guide-to-link-baiting-and-social-media-marketing/

..and of course let's add my own ramblings on Link Profiles and Link Building Strategy
 

Added October 07; I have created a more detailed post - Link Building Ideas for 2008

Wow… here’s a fun one. Depending on whom you believe the SEO industry is having a bad year… or maybe not. Taken from references in the Marketing Sherpa ‘Search Marketing 2007 Benchmark Guide’, a couple of different take’s on the situation

First the ‘anti-SEO’ view ; http://www.dmnews.com/cms/dm-news/search-marketing/38695.preview

…and then the ‘anti-anti-seo’ view;  http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=50940

I for one have one simple word – Spammers – As long as spammers keep getting more sophisticated so will the SEs. It’s a war of attrition. The more sophisticated the SEs become, the more complex the task of ensuring one’s SEO endeavors are ‘up to speed’ with the latest changes and nuances.

Anyway, I felt that was an interesting little journey, let me know what you think.