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Jeff Cotrupe, Founder and CEO

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One of my favorite comedy lines ever, which in this case emanated from the magically twisted mind of Steven Wright, goes like this: “I bought some batteries. But they weren’t included. So I bought ‘em again…I bought some powdered water. But I didn’t know what to add…”

Open letter to Steven and ROW (rest of world): When it comes to websites, I can tell you exactly what to add.

It’s always a good idea to keep your keywords and metatags complete and current on a website; many search engines still key on that when deciding whether to list you in search…

Spotting (and Baiting) Unethical Search Marketers

Good advice on how to tell ethical from unethical search marketing firms from Mike Moran and Bill Hunt in Search Engine Marketing, Inc., Second Edition. Rather than boost your site, a glib operator, or spammer, can actually get it banned from search engines.

In search marketing, “spam,” explain Moran and Hunt, is “any technique that is designed mainly to fool the search engines to gain an untoward advantage:”

• Be wary of firms that guarantee high rankings. “No reputable firms will promise you top results–too many variables are out of their control.”

• Be wary of firms that promise that top rankings require only…

Can your SEO efforts use a shot in the arm?


When I was Web editor for a technology magazine, I was responsible for increasing Web traffic to our site. I was new to SEO and the SEO manager for our parent company worked with me for months to help us achieve our goals. He postulated that by employing SEO strategies, we could organically grow our numbers. My boss, the chief editor, was skeptical. He was convinced that the popular sites became popular because someone was getting paid.

As time went on, the SEO manager found Google AdWords. Just as my editor suspected, there was a way to rise to the first…

SEO Course Survives at UC San Diego

SEO Inc., a Carlsbad, CA-based search engine marketing company, will continue teaching a search engine optimization course at the University of California San Diego. Though the company’s press release on the course being retained is a bit cryptic, we take it as an indication that SEO may be gaining academic credentials. The SEO Inc. course “is believed to be one of the only courses of its kind to offer college credit” – 2.5 credits earned over three class days.

Student support apparently saved the course. ”After teaching ‘SEO & SEM: The Fast Track to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing’ for the first time…

Searches Can Make You Feel ‘Sick’

Be wary of diagnosing health conditions via Web searches. That’s good advice from Microsoft as it releases a study on self-diagnosis by means of search engines. The study suggests that health searches frequently lead people “to conclude the worst about what ails them.”

Take care not to fret unnecessarily. It all has to do with the term “cyberchondria,” which emerged in 2000 to refer to the practice of leaping to dire conclusions while researching health matters online. The Microsoft study is the first systematic look at the anxieties of people doing searches related to health care, says Eric Horvitz, an artificial intelligence researcher…

Using Google’s SearchWiki

Here’s a Google blog post and video on using its new SearchWiki and another blog post noting the potential significance of SearchWiki. Aggregated SearchWiki changes from personal search viewings could become a rankings factor on Google searches.

WSI Internet Marketing Conference in Toronto

Here’s an internet marketing conference this week in Toronto, Canada. These kinds of gatherings for idea-sharing have increased relevance in this down economy.

Learning About Google’s PageRank

Here’s a primer on Google PageRank, an important feature for search folks to understand, especially if Google decides to strengthen it. It gives an instant reading on the popularity of your site, though not necessarily an especially current one. It’s part of Google’s toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox.

Think About Presenting in Boston Next July

Here’s a call for presentations to be made at Campus Technology 09 in Boston July 27-30, 2009. Presumably a good place to present and learn about alternative search engines of special value in the academic world and other aspects of search and Internet research. We thank AltSearchEngines for this lead.      

Google Introduces ‘Search Wiki’

Google has come out with a search wiki that allows you to reorder and otherwise edit search results for your own keeping. It needs to be used in conjunction with a Google account. It’s apparently causing confusion and a lot of Web commentary. Need to get up on this.