by Marty | Jan 22, 2010 | Work Tools
http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/
This neat little site explorer tool was released this past week by SEOMoz.
It’ll help you to do competitive research or learn more about your own site, and where you might be able to build some power into it.
I’ll add more to this post after I have had more time to play with the tool, but it is pretty swift. Highly suggest checking it out if you are into SEO copywriting – there is a ton to learn in here.
To get a better idea of what this tool can do, Rand Fishkin, the Big Cheese at SEOMoz wrote this post full of details and explanation.
On another site, I actually asked Rand about the site metrics, which he responded to almost immediately.
My thinking, is that in time, this tool will become very popular, especially in SEO circles. Go check it out!
(tell ’em Martypants sent you!)
Later observations:
- The tool has a really nice interface and is very user-friendly. Pretty easy to figure out, even if you have limited SEO experience.
- The clear indications of 301s and no-followed links gives some great “at-a-glance” info
- (Entry date: April 17, 2010): I am realizing I use this tool mostly for some large overview glances into competion. I do not have a pro membership, so my results from my free account are limited. They do help, and I do think of this tool in my natural work flow now. I like the look at link profiles to see where I stack-up against the people I am looking at. I don’t get much value from some of the data (seem a bit abitrary, but if used as a constant in comparison and analysis, I guess they offer some degree of competitive insight), and referred to this tool probably 3-4 times. I will give it props though – it does offer value, even at the free level. And the sales tactics used to try to upsell don’t impede anything, so it is well presented in that way. For a free tool, it is one of the better ones out there in the SEO world, to me. That said, I use my SEOBook tools much more often, and still rely pretty heavily on them. Go figure! 🙂
- (more to come…)
by Marty | Jan 20, 2010 | Finding Freelance SEO Copywriting Work
Before you connect, make sure your portfolio is ready. Slamming, in fact. The best it can be.
You must have some or all of the following: Email-ready samples of previous work, links or a company website.
You want to be taken seriously, so take yourself seriously. The very first thing a prospective client will ask is “Can I see some of your work?” Invest what you need to produce the best possible “quick glimpse” showcase of what you’ll be bringing to the table. Get them responding like Pavlov’s dogs about the idea of working with you.
A client wants to be able to visualize their goal through your talent. Most potential clients are busy people who will give you one chance to connect. It’s a little harsh, but once is all you get – to impress, to dazzle, to bring it home. You don’t ever get to explain why you failed- you simply get ignored or politely rejected.
This means you need to make a power-packed first impression.
It doesn’t mean cram everything you have ever done into a single PowerPoint slide, or email a 30-page attachment as a look at previous work.
Have something reasonable and appropriate to show your new contacts that you mean business. Show where (specifically) you have delivered to other businesses in the past. When you can include any data around the measured effect your writing had, it gets ’em every time.
Once you have a website in place or at least some email-ready samples, it’s time to find more work.
And that brings us solidly into the rest of our lives, people – balancing a decent portfolio with the right amount of cold calls and repeat visitors to stay fat-and-happy.
by Marty | Jan 10, 2010 | General Pearls of Wisdom
I have had a website for Articulayers since 2002.
This one is my fourth now for this company…each one I think, gets a little stronger.
I am now on WordPress with a modified theme by Thesis – a far cry from the “every stroke must be mine” approach shared by the first three efforts. Now, I am into steamlining. Quick is quicker now.
But this site was not meant to be released quite yet – so I am in a scramble trying to get things back together.
See, I have had my site hosted by this company down in Australia for the last 6-7 years. But they were getting increasingly problematic to deal with. I could never reach anyone in the support, and when I did, they rarely understood what I wanted.
After a couple years running with hassles that were mounting, but none big enough to make me leave, my site went down for about 6 hours. I finally got mad, and cancelled my credit card information – this was last spring.
The hosting plan actually ended in August, but they did not shut me down until last night. I did not really see it coming, so “Surprise!”
Now, I was in the process of building a new site (as you see here) and had it on another domain, almost ready. I was playing around, testing and tweaking for the last few weeks. This morning, I saw that the crappy Australian host had finally pulled the plug, so I scrambled all day to move some stuff over here.
This site is by no means ready, but it is world’s better than the one I had I think. I believe I am going to lose a lot of my rankings, but I am fine with that. I am actually going to recapture them now a little more purposefully.
So welcome to the new site. I may have been a bit rushed today to get some things out here, but over time, I think it is going to be a wonderful thing.
