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Happy Easter
2008-03-27 00:00:00
It has been a long time since I have posted, but as far as moving to Cleveland and getting acclimated to the area (and the weather), we are almost done! Happy Easter everyone, and there will be more from pittfall in the near future! Post from: SEOpittfall.com Happy Easter

Google Search within Search - User Assistance or Retailer Handicap?
2008-03-27 00:00:00
Google recently began experimenting with a new site search box within results: Through experimentation, we found that presenting users with a search box as part of the result increases their likelihood of finding the exact page they are looking for. So over the past few days we have been testing, and today we have fully rolled out, a search box that appears within some of the search results themselves. This feature will now occur when we detect a high probability that a user wants more refined search results within a specific site. Like the rest of our snippets, the sites that display the site search box are chosen algorithmically based on metrics that measure how useful the search box is to users. We hope that you will make use of the site search box in order to get the information you’re looking for as quickly and easily as possible. Here is what this looks like in the SERPs: This is what appears on the right sidebar for a simple site search: As you can see by this query f...
More About: Google , Search , Google Search , User , Retailer

Getting Settled in Cleveland
2008-03-05 00:00:00
It has been some time since I posted… I have been without a connection for almost a week, aside from my new office here in Cleveland . It has been an amazing experience so far and it looks to be an unbelievable opportunity. I will be posting more when we get more settled. Thanks! Post from: SEOpittfall.com Getting Settled in Cleveland Post from: SEOpittfall.com Getting Settled in Cleveland

New Horizons?
2008-02-17 00:00:00
I would like to take this moment to thank everyone that has been supportive of this blog and me personally in my growth and development in the Search Engine Optimization industry. I am also extremely happy to announce that I will be furthering my career and moving from an in-house SEO to an agency. I will be working with the SEO team as part of Brulant in March. This means a lot to me and has very dramatic implications on my family. We are uprooting from our beach-side cottage/apartment in Florida to brave the cold winters and four actual seasons in Cleveland, OH. Which just so happens to be the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (pictured above). It’s a brave new world that we are jumping into and very exciting for me, my family and my career. Other changes might also occur as I may be moving the hosting of SEOpittfall to a new provider, so you might not hear too much from me on SEOpittfall.com until my family and I get settled in our new home. Again, I want to thank ev...
More About: Horizons

The Great Search War or Search War I?
2008-02-10 00:00:00
Whether the outcome would be Micro-hoo or Ya-soft the outcome would be the same, a new combined power that may be able to put some heat on Google to maintain their control on search and online advertising. This is not new speculation, actually last year Microsoft was in the same role as they have assumed recently: Competition is the thing that Microsoft has not had to directly face for some time, and Yahoo knows what it feels like to be on top, but both have not been able to touch Google in the department of search and search driven revenue. As Google looks to other areas, like radio, television and newspapers, to generate additional revenue streams, this might be the optimal time for these two tech giants to seize an opportunity (that may or may not exist). The only thing that I can see, outside looking in, is that Google has never really been tested in their core competency, search. This could expose weaknesses that might be there, but I don?t see that either Yahoo or MSN could ac...
More About: Search , Great

Oops, an Error has Occurred - Yahoo! Says No to Microsoft
2008-02-10 00:00:00
Via the Wall Street Journal: Yahoo Board to Reject Microsoft Bid Yahoo Inc.’s board plans to reject Microsoft Corp.’s unsolicited $44.6 billion offer to acquire the Web giant, a person familiar with the situation says. After a series of meetings over the past week, Yahoo’s board determined that the $31 per share offer “massively undervalues” Yahoo, the person said. It also doesn’t account for the risks Yahoo would be taking by entering into an agreement that might be overturned by regulators. The board plans to send a letter to Microsoft on Monday, spelling out its position. Yahoo has taken “poison pill” provisions to prevent an unwanted takeover. Microsoft would likely have to oust the board in order to overturn them. Will Microsoft and Steven Ballmer attempt a takeover? Does this mean the end to the Search Wars… I don’t think so, but we will see! This would equate to the second failed attempt in as many years! Post from: ...
More About: Error , Yahoo!

SEOpittfall is Welcomed into The AdAge Power 150
2008-01-30 00:00:00
I know that it has been a long time since posting anything… no worries! I will be visiting the lovely city of Cleveland in the next few days. I have not been and I say lovely because that is what I am being told, I will let you know after I get back. I am sure that I am in for a bit of a shock, Florida has been in the 60’s and Cleveland plays with the low 30’s regularly this time of year. I would like to announce that SEOpittfall has been added to the AdAge Power 150 (even though I don’t rank in the top 150). What is the Power 150? The Power 150 is a ranking of the top English-language media and marketing blogs in the world, as developed by marketing executive and blogger, Todd Andrlik. It’s really as simple as that, except that the name isn’t strictly accurate: It currently ranks more than 500 blogs written about all types of media and pretty much every imaginable marketing discipline. Looks really interesting, certainly an honor to get noticed...

Marketing and Learning - Division and Contrast
2008-01-21 00:00:00
The smallest remarks can sometimes spur the greatest conversations. Case in point, yesterday on a blog by Professor Michael Wesch, an assistant professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University made a very simple interaction with his students that many of us might remember during our time in college, regarding school and learning, and posted it on the Digital Ethnography blog: First day of class ? I took an informal ?raise your hand? survey of my 200 Intro students. Me: ?How many of you do not actually *like* school?? ? just over half(!) raise their hands Me: ?How many of you do not like learning?? ? no hands You may remember their video post Digital R/evolution. I left a comment regarding the post citing similarities with educators and marketers: As a professional marketer, it is my job to reach an audience and make a lasting impression regarding a product or service. In that same respect, as an educator you are trying to reach your audience and make a lasting impressi...
More About: Marketing , Contrast , Learning , Division

MyBlogLog Steps Up Authority for Blog Communities
2008-01-21 00:00:00
Today, MyBlog Log added a new feature to the online blog communities… to put it simply, a validation process to verify that you are the owner of the website and have authority over the community. Why verify? As an owner of community on MyBlogLog, the Verified check mark is like a “seal of approval.” This shows anyone who looks at your MyBlogLog community page that the owner of the site has an active hand in the management of the community page. How it works When a site owner begins the verification process, we give them a bit of code to put onto their site that only someone with edit rights to the site can put into the page. Verification happens by putting the code on your site, re-publishing, and clicking the “Authenticate” button on the verification page. MyBlogLog then goes out to the site to check for the code. If it finds it, verification is complete! Once you complete verification, you can remove the code from your site. What it means The verified ...
More About: Authority , Communities , Steps

Bill Gates Retires from Daily Activities at Microsoft
2008-01-15 00:00:00
This video was too funny not to share (thanks Adam)! Post from: SEOpittfall.com Bill Gates Retires from Daily Activities at Microsoft Post from: SEOpittfall.com Bill Gates Retires from Daily Activities at Microsoft

Yahoo?s Online Social Universe
2008-01-15 00:00:00
Yahoo! has been a very influential provider of social services online for quite some time. Over the last few years they have either created or purchased online social sites, here is a quick breakdown of some of the major start-ups and acquisitions: —————— ;—————̵ 2;—————R 12;————— 212;—————&# 8212;—— 2005 —————— ;—————̵ 2;—————R 12;————— 212;—————&# 8212;—— name: flickr acquired purpose: photo sharing similar to: DropShots status: Top photo and image sharing website online. When acquired by Yahoo!, flickr was a top online property and it still is. name: Yahoo! 360° created purpose: Personal Pages similar to: Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle s...
More About: Social , Yahoo , Universe , Online , Yahoo!

Technology is not Suited for Small Business - Business Week
2008-01-15 00:00:00
Tech ‘Solutions’ Your Small Biz Can’t Use A lot of highfalutin software and gadgets aim to help you run your company, but too little of it is suited for a small business environment - Gene Marks Business Week Recently, Business Week offered up a reason to be concerned. In an article (title and subtitle above), by Gene Marks, warns small business owners away from “overhyped and underwhelming technology.” The article isn’t about usability, as I first expected, rather turned into a rant against products and services that can help small business owners manage their time more efficiently and even help them improve their business in the short and long run. Gene highlighted 10 products/services “that don’t work.” Now, I will warn you, SEO is on the list, but rather than taking offense to his opinions, I want to highlight some of these and how they can help you improve your business. Here they are (numbers are based upon order in origina...
More About: Technology , Small Business

New Look for SEOpittfall in 2008
2008-01-07 00:00:00
After a while you have a tendency to want a change, so for the new year, I have changed themes and after an afternoon of work… Tada! It has a few features that were in the old theme and is based upon Gluttony from WPdesigner. I must stress that I am not a programmer, so, if you should happen to find errors or something not working right, please let me know by either commenting here or sending me an email. Don’t like it? Let me know!
More About: 2008

?Don?t Be Evil? - Philosophy, Corporate Culture or Inventive Perception?
2008-01-06 00:00:00
Whether it’s a mantra, an “informal corporate motto” or just a slogan, Google’s statement: “Don’t Be Evil ” has lost it’s shine with many users and publishers that make up the Internet. This post has been a long time coming. This is a topic that I have been intending on writing about, however, every time that I sit at my keyboard and look for direction, it always seems to get lost. What I am trying to say, it is hard to be negative (not that this is intended to be negative) about long standing resources that have redefined a market that is as diverse as the Internet. But, as with most things, they age and sometimes go away. The Netscape browser will be discontinued the first of February, AOL has shifted to an advertisement based business that may be cut up and sold off to the highest bidders and Google is no longer just a search engine built on advertising. When looking into what Google is really about, it is hard not to look at their o...
More About: Philosophy , Culture , Corporate , Corporate Culture

Happy New Year 2008 - SEOpittfall 2007 in Review
2008-01-02 00:00:00
I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, but I do want to learn more of my craft and connect with others in my field. 2007 was a wonderful year loaded with excitement for me and my family. Here are a couple of things that happened this year (no particular order): Build a Better Website was retired SEOpittfall.com launched Finished my Bachelor’s Degree at UCF Attended SES Travel in Seattle I became a father - my daughter, Sophia Noelle Pitts was born Thinking back, there are so many that have been helpful and insightful throughout the year, I want to thank my readers, friends and constituents for a successful 2007 and wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008. Here are the most popular posts from SEOpittfall that you may have missed: Google Wants YOU to Report Paid Links! Google Wants You to Be Social and Share Your Stuff PeekYou.com - Online Reputation Management Google?s Attempt at Ruling Media (ALL MEDIA) Cuill - Have We Found a Google Killer? MSN Live...
More About: New Year , Review , Happy , Happy New Year , Year

Christmas Remembrance
2007-12-26 00:00:00
A Different Christmas Poem The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest. Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight. The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve. My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep. In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream. The sound wasn’t loud, and it wasn’t too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear. Perhaps just a cough, I didn’t quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow. My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near. Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight. A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty...
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Happy Holidays
2007-12-26 00:00:00
Happy Holidays to you and yours. May this be a joyous and happy occasion that you can share with others.
More About: Happy Holidays , Happy

Killing Two Birds with One Stone - Knol Tackles Wikipedia and Squidoo
2007-12-17 00:00:00
“Knol” stands for a unit of knowledge, according to the Official Google Blog. Here are some highlights on Google’s new project: The challenge posed to us was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal. The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors. Books have authors’ names right on the cover, news articles have bylines, scientific articles always have authors — but somehow the web evolved without a strong standard to keep authors names highlighted. We believe that knowing who wrote what will significantly help users make better use of web content. At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word “knol” as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting o...
More About: Wikipedia , Stone , Squidoo , Birds , Killing

Announcing the Birth of Sophia Noelle Pitts
2007-12-08 00:00:00
Thursday, December 6, 2007 - 1:34 p.m. - 7lbs. 5ozs. - 20 1/2 inches 10 fingers - 10 toes - full head of hair. I will post pictures and more when we go home (tomorrow at the earliest). Happy, healthy and very coherent!
More About: Sophia , Birth , Anno , Noel

Baby Pittfall Arrives Tomorrow
2007-12-07 00:00:00
I would like to thank all of my friends, family, constituents and readers for their prayers and wishes for the health and well being of my wife Kris and our soon to be born daughter Sophia. Sophia has decided to stay in the comfort of her mother’s womb for 40 weeks, but she will be induced tomorrow and Sophia should join the rest of her new family. I may not be checking SEOpittfall.com over the next few days as I share a hospital room with Kris and Sophia until our release from the hospital. Not to worry, I will be updating as soon as I am able. Pictures should be included too! I am extremely excited to see her little face for the first time. Thanks again for all of your well wishes and blessings! Until then, here is a 3D Image of Sophia at 32 weeks.
More About: Baby , Tomorrow , Morrow , Tomo

Has Technology Created Another Bubble?
2007-12-05 00:00:00
Whether you agree or not, it is a very funny, well thought out video! Enjoy!
More About: Technology , Bubble

Blogs in Plain English Video from Common Craft
2007-12-04 00:00:00
Common Craft has put together another great video with common sense and explaining complex issues with a dash of common sense and a lot of comfort that breaks down the anxiety that can hold people back from trying new things. Enjoy!
More About: Video , Blogs , English , Plain

Google AdWords? Click-to-Call Ending
2007-12-01 00:00:00
If you can recall, last year (around October) Google started a project called Click -to-Call that allowed users to click on an ad and enter their phone number and connect with the advertiser. Google and it?s very profitable AdWords is testing new service Click-to-Call to provide the user with the security to speak to an advertiser without passing vital information (like phone numbers) for companies that work on a call equals a lead. previous post The Click-to-Call service was the first CPA type ad to come from Google’s AdWords Program. CPA stands for Cost Per Action or you only pay when a specific action is taken by the user, in this case a call is made. The way to track such an action is that Google would complete the call. This was similar to a similar service offered by Ingenio called Pay Per Call. The major differences, Google’s program was limited (as in they didn’t show these type of ads frequently) and Google does not provide any information about the caller,...
More About: Google Adwords , Adwords , Ending

A Note on Wikipedia - The Social Encyclopedia
2007-11-28 00:00:00
Once again Wikipedia is getting buzz from educators and marketers alike. Linda O’Connor regards Wikipedia the same way former first lady Nancy Reagan campaigned against drugs. She urges people to “Just Say No.” The Great Meadows (N.J.) Middle School librarian hasn’t been a fan of the online encyclopedia for years. This fall, she decided it was time to make others at her school aware of the Web site’s pitfalls. She put up a sign saying “Just Say ‘No’ to Wikipedia” over the computers in the school library. Specifically the teachers and librarians sited two arguments to the reason for limiting access to and disallow the use as a resource: Errors Not a Primary Resource From (at least one) marketing perspective, it based upon the fact that Wikipedia can (and is) edited by anyone, and that the primary reason for the it’s success is traffic from Google. Wikipedia does rank extremely well in Google SERPs, consistently appearing o...
More About: Social , Note , Encyclopedia

Tis the Season for Giving
2007-11-28 00:00:00
I have not used this blog as a platform to make money only to give my opinion, based upon my own experience and research. There are many places online to look for information related to search engine optimization and marketing, but if you have been in the industry for much time, it can be extremely difficult to find many offline resources that are worth their salt. In full disclosure, I will say that this is NOT a paid endorsement and no other form of compensation has been offered. OK, back on track… Like I said before there are very few offline resources that I would consider consistent enough to endorse, but Search Marketing Standard has proven themselves over their two years in publication. They offer insight from noted experts in the field, from Kim Krause Berg, Chris Boggs, Eric Ward, Jaimie Sirovich, Joe Whyte and many, many others. I have been reading the magazine for well over a year, so why would I start posting about it now? Because they are offering a valuable reso...
More About: Season , Giving

Google Wants YOU to Report Paid Links!
2007-11-24 00:00:00
As reported by Philipp Lenssen, Barry Schwartz, Tamar Weinberg and Loren Baker, Google has updated their Webmaster Help Center question regarding Paid Links : Google and most other search engines use links to determine reputation. A site’s ranking in Google search results is partly based on analysis of those sites that link to it. Link-based analysis is an extremely useful way of measuring a site’s value, and has greatly improved the quality of web search. Both the quantity and, more importantly, the quality of links count towards this rating. However, some SEOs and webmasters engage in the practice of buying and selling links that pass PageRank, disregarding the quality of the links, the sources, and the long-term impact it will have on their sites. Buying or selling links that pass PageRank is in violation of Google’s webmaster guidelines and can negatively impact a site’s ranking in search results. Not all paid links violate our guidelines. Buying and selli...
More About: Report

Happy Thanksgiving
2007-11-23 00:00:00
From SEOpittfall and our family, Hoping you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving to share with friends and family!
More About: Happy , Hank

Conspiracy Theory - AT&T Acquires Ingenio to Fight Google
2007-11-22 00:00:00
Monday, AT&T announced that they would acquire Ingenio , the leader in the pay per call marketing technology. To put it simply, a customer enters their phone number and receives a call from the service and is patched through to the advertiser. These advertisements are visible, most notably, on AOL within the sponsored listings. The user clicks on the ad and is transferred to a landing page to find out more information. The advertiser is only charged when a call is completed. This is similar to Google ’s pay per action Click-to-Call, however, the major difference is that Ingenio provides information about the caller that Google retains. “As advertisers add performance-based advertising to their marketing mix, this investment makes sense for our business,” said Ray Wilkins, AT&T group president-Diversified Business. “Ingenio’s technology will allow AT&T to expand our robust service portfolio for print, online and mobile advertisers, and that ...
More About: Fight , Theory , Conspiracy

It?s Official - MSN Webmaster Portal Center is Open for Business
2007-11-22 00:00:00
I have outlined the MSN Webmaster Portal Center over the past few months, and now it is open for everyone: Webmaster Tools: Open for Business This week we’re excited to announce that the Live Search Webmaster Center has moved out of its closed beta and we are now open for a public beta. In conjunction with this release we want to announce the creation of the Live Search Webmaster Center blog. In an effort to serve our webmaster community better we will be sharing information on how to improve your crawlablity and visibility. We want the center and the blog to be a place for two way communication between Live Search and the webmaster community because we understand that SEO’s and webmasters need this kind of information and the tools we are building to keep their sites performing well. In the coming weeks we’ll blog in detail about the improvements that we’ve made. Being a webmaster is what you do best. We want to provide a service that will help make you ...

Google?s Attempt at Ruling Media (ALL MEDIA)
2007-11-22 00:00:00
Everyone reading this is at least aware of the value of Google ’s empire of advertising online, but do you see the areas that they are building? Today, I reviewed one of the messages at the top of my AdWords account announcing Google Television Ads in beta: New! Place Ads on Television You’ve been invited to participate in Google’s TV Ads beta. Reach new customers with TV ads — the perfect complement to your online campaigns. Easily select networks, choose your bids and budget and track your performance all in one online interface. Learn more | Dismiss this message After reviewing the information it sounds extremely exciting for a moderate advertiser with Google to have the opportunity to explore a new medium for our company, advertising on national television. As I looked through the information provided and watched a short video on how easy it is to set up, build your ad and monitor the effectiveness, I wondered “Where is Google not planning on making ...
More About: Media , Ruling , Temp