Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category
SEO Secrets from an SEO Insider
Often I am asked about search engine optimization (SEO), so I’ve asked Joel Gross, a search engine optimization expert based in Los Angeles, to write a guest post that goes beyond the basics of SEO.
As an search engine optimization expert working in the industry for four years now, I have come across quite a few tidbits that only professional SEO’s are privy to. The blog post you are about to read will share some of the strategies and tactics that I have found many web designers, businesspeople and even some marketing people don’t know about or overlook.
Clickthrough & Bounce Rates
Microsoft Excel: Feature Request
After my deification of Microsoft Excel, I was thinking that there is one feature I wish Excel had that it doesn’t. Note: this is a serious power user feature.
Why can’t an Excel Workbook be queried with a SQL Query Tool? A workbook is a database, each worksheet is a table, and each row is a record. Isn’t this obvious?
I often find myself importing an Excel Worksheet into Microsoft Access, so that I can then run queries against the data. In fact, I do this regularly.
Microsoft Excel: The Most Valuable Software of All Time
An informal survey of marketing and PR professionals who work with social media asked the following question:
What is the one tool you can’t live without?
Do you think the answer was TweetDeck or an iPhone or the latest and greatest sentiment-reputation analytics package?
The Opportunity Cost of Focus and the Cost of Distraction
When a good portion of your revenue is running on WordPress.com servers, this is not a tweet that causes my heart to go pitter-patter:
Will I buy an iPad?
To buy an iPad, or to not buy an iPad, that is the question.
The answer is no.
I love the idea. It would live on my sofa and everyone in my family would use it. Instantly, it would become an indispensable part of our every day life. Five years ago my friend Lee had a NEC Tablet which just ran ordinary Windows and used a stylus, but I thought it was awesome. A perfect integration into everyday life.
So, why won’t I be buying an iPad?
In first place: no front-facing camera. I’m sitting on the couch, watching a show or a game, I want to talk to my friend about it…video chat. Awesome. Except I can’t. I have to get up to my computer. In other words, it’s not a complete device.
A List of Reasons Why Cheezburger has Greater Success Through Incrementalism
At Cheezburger, we embrace incrementalism. We’ve found that when we make changes in incremental, small pieces and there are several benefits:
- Things get done and ship faster. The result is regular progress and momentum. Success begets success.
- Things tend to be less late. It’s hard to have a 2 day project be 2 months late.
- You get the thing your making out to your customers faster. As a result, a) you start learning if it works sooner, b) your customers get to start using it sooner, and c) assuming it’s valuable, you start capturing the value sooner.
- There is less overhead (design, planning, etc.) in a 2 day project than a 2 month project.
- Incremental changes have fewer dependencies. Dependencies add complexity and can cause delays.
- Developers like small projects because they seem easier and more fun.
- A small project has less bugs and is easier to test.
- It’s easier to A/B test incremental changes.
- It’s less expensive to change your mind because changes cost less.
- Incremental changes are less jarring to customers.
Words of Wisdom from a Sys Admin
I just gave someone admin privileges to one of our Cheezburger systems. Whenever I grant someone admin privileges to one system or another, I always give them this little speech:
You’ve been given the power, now keep these two things in mind:
1. Play nicely with others.
Gnomedex Recap — It's the People!
I spent most of Friday and Saturday at Gnomedex 9.0–the most recent version of Chris Pirillo’s conference about the intersection of technology and humanity. In my view, there are two reasons to attend an industry conference, regardless of industry:
- To gain some practical skills or information. For example, attending a training or sales conference.
- To develop relationships with industry peers.
Without a doubt, Gnomedex is #2. There were many excellent sessions, but what I value most from the experience is the people I met, and the exchange of ideas.
Rewire the Guts of the Software Machine
The line below is a lesson one of my mentors taught me long ago:
Software is simply a reflection of the people and processes that created it.
If you make a version 1.0 that does not satisfy customers, then don’t throw it out and start working on version 1.0′ 
because the same people and processes are going to end up with the same product. Instead, re-engineer your processes and get your people in the right place, then iterate to version 1.1.
In other words, if you have a machine that makes widgets, why would you expect the new widgets to be different if you don’t rewire the guts of the machine?
Dumping RSS for Twitter is a Mistake
I disagree with Steve Gillmor’s recent essay, Rest in Peace, RSS, that declares RSS is dead. There, I said it.
Now, it’s scary to say that because Steve Gillmor is a legendary tech journalist whom I respect tremendously. For me to even assume that I know 1/10th of what Steve Gillmore knows in his pinky finger is audacious. Nonetheless, I think he misses the mark.
To summarize, Steve says that he’s completely abandoned his RSS Reader (Google Reader) and now gets his information entirely from Twitter. In short, this is the money line: Read the rest of this entry »