The hapless ramblings of an intoxicated web designer.

Today I watched this fascinating video from SEOmoz guru Rand Fishkin and thought I’d pass on my evolutionary thoughts on his concept. Keep reading for some useful tips.

Linkjuice river

As this video suggests, Google aims to pass link juice up the river to its apparent source. If Google is therefore seeing past our link hungry nature and identifying the true source of information, then surely it also makes sense that we, as publicists, need to be at this sweet spot.

So what if, as is usually the case, someone else is in that sweetspot? Well, you could try an innumerable number of tactics. You could spam links, leverage social media, you could black-hat that particular page, you could try to grow links organically. Most of the time you’ll fail at this. Why? Because the other site is older and, most likely, has done exactly the same as you with the above and possibly better.

So how do I take over then when someone else is so strongly positioned? Read on to discover how.

Being washed down the river

Most people are trying to go as far upriver as they can in Google’s eyes. We’re trying to be the first to spot a great article and link to it. Hopefully people will see our site instead of the original source and link to us right? Well, no.

At most this will place us slightly down river from the source. Pretty soon some big player will post their link and push you even further downriver. Everyone will link to him, if not the original source and you’ll, quite literally, get washed out.

Find the mountain source

So, how do you end this effect and stop getting your pages pushed downriver? Take a closer look at the ‘original source’. What’s special about this page, other than the fact everyone is linking to it? What if it had its own ‘original source‘? What if you were that original source of the ‘original source’? Now THAT would be something beautiful.

We all know Google loves links from similar content. The reason Google loves this content is because it’s trying to sniff out the source of the river; any scent is worth following up. So, what if we gave Google exactly what it wants - a really strong scent?

Practicalities

For those of you who don’t like reading long explanations I’ve made it very simple. Essentially what we’re doing here is transferring the ‘original source’ status from another site onto our own. As an original source we’re immune to the usual downriver complications.

1. Identify a highly popular article that could be improved upon.

2. Create an almost identical article, but in your own words.

3. Add to it, improve it, make it your own.

4. Find a way to post a valid link on the ‘original source’ page that has the original popular article. There’s many ways to do this. Check through the page source to see which links have no rel=nofollow. You will be surprised at the places where you can find these.

5. Carry out standard link building on your new page. Give Google the trust it needs to recognise you as the true ‘original source’.

I’d love to hear your feedback on this strategy. Is it a moral one? What other implications do you think this strategy has? I’d love to hear your views.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Today I thought I would discuss one of the lighter sides of search engine optimisation. Recently a friend of mine introduced me to a novel SEO tactic that I had, quite frankly, completely overlooked.

Pink hat SEO is the practice of pretending to be a female in order to increase the number of stumbles, diggs, reviews, etc that you receive. In today’s male dominated internet this can give you a significant advantage. People will always respond better to your ‘female’ persona.

Isn’t it immoral?

Well, strictly speaking yes it is, but I don’t think it harms anyone. I think there’s nothing better than a quick spike of testosterone to make people’s eyes pluck up and pay attention to the quality content that you’re offering.

The downside

Expect to receive plenty of PM’s that quite frankly you don’t want to read. Another perspective is that this is quite humorous and you can have hours of fun reading the silly chat up lines that people use!

How much do you benefit?

A great deal. You will be surprised at just how much of an impact it actually has.

My perspective

I think, in circles where you aren’t actively socialising and are merely looking for reviews, this is a good tactic. I wouldn’t use this in say a forum or other circle that I actively socialise with though because, quite frankly, it just wouldn’t feel right.

What are your views on this? Have any of you used this strategy before? I would love to hear your stories concerning this.

Popularity: 28% [?]

Today I came across a new site that might spell the end of Digg and, quite possibly, for tales the end of social bookmarking altogether. Diggxchange is a new service that allows users to collaboratively exchange diggs with other users. All you need to do is register and send a few diggs out and you’ll get those diggs flooding back.

As a site it looks pretty basic and I’ve had a few problems with loading speeds. This doesn’t fool me though. The concept seems like the next step in the spam arms race that seems to be overshadowing the internet. I expect very soon to see a site that allows exchange of diggs, reddits, stumbles, you name it, all into one.

How can they stop it?

Well basically, I don’t think they can. I’ve read quite a few understandably poisonous blog posts describing how all the users will be banned from the bookmarking sites but really it doesn’t take a genius to realise that by mixing in a few (or even a majority of) randomly selected innocent bystanders into site output you can prevent the bookmarking sites from taking action. How can you ban all the users if you will be mostly banning innocent people?

Natural evolution

I think the internet is a true expression of Darwinism. The weak shall perish and, judging from Digg’s front page content, I won’t be shedding many tears.

One of the wonderful things about this is that, as the bookmark sites die, so will those who prey on them. Just like the mammals taking over from the dinosaurs something better, something more intelligent, will rise from the ashes and inherit the netosphere.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Today I installed the dofollow plugin for wordpress by Kimmo Suominen. This popular plugin removes the default rel=’nofollow’ microformat from Wordpress visitor comment links. It’s just one of a range of plugins available. Andy Beard, a leading supporter and member of the dofollow community, has kindly put together a comprehensive guide to removing the nofollow from a wide range of blogging engines.

So why did I take this step? Here’s just a few reasons…

1. So not to deceive my visitors

I think that the vast majority of people who see the ‘website’ box on my comments form will believe that they are receiving the full value from that link. Therefore without removing the ‘nofollow’ I am, by default, deceiving my visitors. This isn’t acceptable to me.

2. Show appreciation for participation

I think comments enrich the content. Many times I have read an article and scrolled down looking for a quick link to something relating to the topic. Comments also show that my posts have authority and have been approved/disapproved by the wider online community. This mandate is incredibly valuable.

3. I’m not an information dead-end

Call me a hippy, but without outgoing links your users will have to go back to square one and open Google, Stumbleupon, etc to search for more relevant information. Just like a river, current has to flow out as well as in from a website for it to become a major pathway on the ‘blogosphere’.

4. Nofollow is a plaster over a bullet wound

Nofollow should be a perfect solution to the blog spam problem. Unfortunately it has proved far less than sufficient. There is still great value in standard click through traffic when spam posting is automated. Matt Mullenweg from Wordpress has stated that nofollow is a failure.

5. Spam filters work better

Spam filters aren’t perfect, but they are still pretty damn good. I don’t mind occasionally pruning the few bad apples that slipped through the net for the benefit of my other users. There’s a fairly comprehensive guide to spam filtering and other techniques on Sixapart.

Popularity: 36% [?]

This is perhaps the greatest tool in any web designer’s arsenal, and also perhaps the most overlooked. I notice many web designers shy away from the idea of copying ideas, design elements, color schemes or styles. To me this seems like madness.

The impossibility of individuality

It helps to realise the vastness of the internet, and then to consider what it would take to make each and every one of those sites entirely unique. I also like to consider the overwhelming similarities in basic structure that have developed over the years.

How many websites that you know of don’t have the following?

- A logo in the top left hand corner.
- A header, content area and footer.
- A ‘navigation bar’.
- A ‘home’ page.

Clearly even the most original of web designs have some form of benchmarking involved.

The benchmarking process

Benchmarking in web design is the process of visiting numerous websites and extracting the best features from each of them. Personally, I use a pad and paper and note down the features I like and the features I don’t like. Visiting rival websites is an even more targeted way to see what they are doing right, and also what they are doing wrong.

As your list builds up you’ll find appealing ideas crossing over from all the different sites you have visited. Eventually you’ll be able to develop a seemingly original idea that learns from the lessons of the past.

Choosing a time to shine

Originality certainly has its place in web design. Without it the internet wouldn’t be where it is today. Even the most talented though only have flashes of greatness periodically. The smart web designers use benchmarking for those times when ideas aren’t flashing into their heads.

Knowing the limits

There’s nothing web designers hate more than a copycat. Cloning, as it has come to be known, should be avoided. Many members of the online community immediately click the back button when they realise a site is exactly the same as another more established one. If you think about it this totally makes sense. Why would anyone want to use two sites that do (or look like) exactly the same thing?

My advice is to just take 1-2 of the best elements from each site and leave it at that. Remember that you tread on a thin line and resist temptation.

A place to start

- Awards sites are a great place to find quality web site examples. SEOmoz.org offer an excellent selection of sites from their web2.0 awards.

- Showcase sites are a talking shop for cutting edge web design. CSSbeauty.com is possibly my favourite. Here you can see the reactions of other designers to submitted work. CSSzengarden.com takes a different form. Here the site itself transforms to demonstrate quality designs.

- Sites you visit every day. Odds are that if you visit them, then there is something you like about their design.

- Don’t forget search engines. If you search for “top 10 websites” or “Web 2.0 designs” you are bound to find sites that interest you.

Go forth and benchmark

Clearly there’s no reason to shy away from the benchmarking concept. It’s a powerful tool you simply can’t afford to ignore. Just like the great artistic masters you’ve under-studied the past greats and, over time, developed your own mastery!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Remote mouse viewing is nothing new. There’s plenty of software out there that allows users to transmit their mouse movements and activity to another users’ screen. In a sense it was only a matter of time before the website usability trade got a hold of this concept.

A company called Tapefailure are one of the first on the scene. Robotreplay have also recently entered a free beta testing phase. The new services allow webmasters to monitor user activity in ‘video replay mode’. Essentially this is just like looking over the persons shoulder while they surf your site. Activity is tracked from the moment you enter a site using the script until you leave it.

Where’s my right to privacy?

Well I’m sorry to say that you don’t have any. In a sense you didn’t have any before. The vast majority of computers have hidden spyware that monitor your surfing for marketing purposes. Many sites already use services like google analytics to give incredibly detailed statistics about your surfing behaviour. The only new thing about this is that it doesn’t just record your activity - it watches your every mouse movement. It adds a very personalised touch to something that was previously very generalised.

I’m sure a lot of people reading this will be feeling outraged. I think it’s a growing concern in the society that we live in that we are being increasingly surveyed.

The flip side: better usability

As with any product that has a hard sell there tends to be a big advantage to make up for it. In this case it’s usability. By watching mouse movements webmasters can optimise their websites to make them easier to use for those who visit them, and more profitable. You can watch, for instance, a user that goes to the final confirmation of payment for one of your products and then backs out. Understanding customers is big business.

In addition, there’s thousands of hours of activity being recorded. The odds are you will never have your activity watched. If you think about it, this has been the case in the telephone call center industry for a decade now. Ever heard the “your call may be recorded for training purposes” message?

Webmasters will also find the software useful to convince their managers that something needs to be done that is affecting their business. User behaviour becomes more of a fact than a science when you are watching it in real-time.

Ease of use

Services like this are very easy to use. You simply have to insert a small snippet of code into your head section and activate your account on their website. The entire process takes 5 minutes.

Can I protect my privacy online?

Yes! Most modern browsers give users the ability to disable Javascripts from running while browsing. This will prevent the required mouse surveillance scripts from being activated. Unfortunately many (poorly designed?) sites use Javascript in their core functionality. Users therefore stand to lose a great deal of quality in their surfing as a result.

In the wrong hands

I do worry about the potential uses of software like this in the wrong hands. It could potentially be included in all sorts of nefarious activity. It’s worth noting though that the software only displays your browser window (rather than your computer screen). Certainly though the creators of this service will have to be very aware of the potential negative power of this technology.

I hope that this software plays a positive role in the internet and delivers on website usability while minimising the potential negatives. Perhaps an inclusion option for website web site users, “tick this box if you do not wish to have your mouse activity surveyed”? Then again, maybe this isn’t something companies want to advertise!

Popularity: 9% [?]

John Chow is, quite possibly, the devil. His blog johnchow.com is dedicated to how much money he makes online, how he makes his money online and also, how awesome he is for making so much money online. Seeing a recurring pattern here?

Famously he’s recently had the idea of charging people to remove the nofollow attribute from their comment links. Now I know this might be stating the obvious, but wasn’t the nofollow attribute designed to prevent comment spam, and improve the quality of search engine SERPS?

Recently he has also had the bright idea of bribing people with backlinks in order to get them to use the words ‘make money online’ in his anchor text. Clearly this is done to fool Google and I’m surprised that he hasn’t been banned yet for this behaviour.

My pet hate today is people who write blog posts purely to target keywords. This sort of content for the sake of content is watering down the internet slowly but surely. It’s becoming rarer and rarer to see people writing because they want to express an opinion, or simply want to help others.

John isn’t the worst culprit though. At least his content is original, well written and, in some cases, useful to readers. The real prize has to go out to those invisible profiteers who are tirelessly plagiarising our content as we speak and re-posting it, plastered in adverts, all over the blogosphere.

That is not to say that I think it’s wrong to make a few bucks from your efforts. I think all bloggers should include one or two ads and get some compensation for their efforts. The main thing is to make sure your heart is in the right place and that you’re adding a positive contribution to the internet, rather than a negative one.

Popularity: 7% [?]