Posted by Kaz on January 20th, 2010
You may or may not be aware that as of December 4th, 2009 Google introduced Personalized Search for ALL users, regardless of if you are signed into Google or not. For some, this is a real PITA.
For example, I have to track and record rankings for my clients on a regular basis. I do not want to report on rankings showing up in personalized search, that’s for sure.
Well fortunately there is a way to turn it off. Before proceeding, make sure you are logged OUT of Google first.
When you visit Google.com, enter something in the search box and hit “Google Search”. On the results screen in the upper right-hand corner, click on the link that says “Web History”:
Then click on the link that says “Disable customizations based on search activity”:
Now enter the url to Google.com again in your browser bar and personalized search will be turned off. To verify, click on “Web History” again and you should see this screen:
If you know an easier way to deal with this, please let me know! For now, this is what works for me. So at least I feel confident knowing that I am reporting rankings that are NOT influenced by customizations based upon my interactions with Google.com.
Cheers!
Kaz
Posted by Kaz on January 20th, 2010
I’m curious – how many of you use Google Bookmarks? I would be LOST without them. If you are not familiar, you can install the Google toolbar and quickly bookmark any page by simply clicking on the “Bookmarks” link on the toolbar.
Anyhow – I have somehow accumulated over 400 bookmarks, tagged with a slew of keywords that aren’t exactly organized in any beneficial way. One tag (category) I do maintain however is called “themes”. Periodically I enjoy scrounging for new and interesting Wordpress themes (by scrounging, I’m talking digging into 20+ pages of Google search results!). I thought I’d share a few more with you (see this post for a few others):
New Wordpress Themes
As of this post, they are offering 92 free themes. You need to look for yourself – these are top notch designs. A few I personally like are Creatismo, PressBlue (which this site is/was using – I might be changing themes again!), and Praven.
DigitalNature
Only 4 themes available here – but they are unique. If you are looking for something different yet slick, take a look.
CSSJockey
Just one theme to show you here… called Imagination. Looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to try it out on one of my sites.
If you find any unique or interesting themes, drop me a line because I’m always on the hunt!
PS: I’m going to try and update my blog more often. TRY being the operative word.
Kaz
Posted by Kaz on March 20th, 2009
Pete Belanger has done it this time. He has orchestrated an amazing book over 400 pages in length, chalk full of advice from 100 hand picked online marketers. One hundred marketers, who are active at the Warrior forum, provided top notch content on many aspects of Internet Marketing. This is not one you want to miss!
When Pete approached me and asked me to be a contributor, I knew it was a no-brainer. But little did I realize how fast the ebook grew! Contributors received a complimentary copy and I can tell you, there is SO much information you really cannot go wrong with the small investment. Content ranging from blogging, affiliate marketing, article writing, traffic, SEO, video, membership sites and so much more can be found.
The website isn’t live yet but will be Monday March 23rd @ 10am EST – so set your bookmarks now.
Don’t forget to use the discount code to get 50% off
50% OFF DISCOUNT CODE: BU5A8I
WEBSITE: http://www.100warriorsambushtheweb.com/
Karen
Posted by Kaz on March 18th, 2009
I spent quite a bit of time lately reviewing articles at EzineArticles.com and I’m really surprised to see how little article authors are implementing simple SEO strategies. It made me stop to wonder, what is the purpose of writing an informative and useful article without even doing simple optimization for the search engines?
I came across several articles that didn’t even utilize effective anchor text in the links within the resource boxes. Many resource boxes simply contained links to the actual url without any anchor text at all. When you’re viewing an article at EZA, if you view the page source you can see what keywords they assigned to the article. This is a terrific way to find additional keywords for your niche and you would be surprised at how often people are not researching properly for sensible keywords.
I agree that whatever you are writing should be geared towards your audience – you should always write in such a way that compels your readers and provides useful and relevant information. But that doesn’t mean you have to forego optimizing for the search engines! With a few simple steps you can write keyword rich articles while still maintaining your writing style and create a stunning article:
Don’t neglect keyword research
A popular approach is to find long tail keywords which are phrases that contain 3 or more words. While these phrases may get searched on a lot less that generic 1-2 word phrases, they are often much more targeted and less competitive. There are many keyword tools available both free and paid, but I suggest you use a combination of tools to get a solid understanding within your niche. Different tools aggregate their data from different sources, so don’t isolate yourself within just one tool. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Kaz on January 30th, 2009
Finally decided on a theme, going with Flexibility Theme version 2. It was given a big thumbs up at the Warrior Forum so I decided to check it out. Must say, it’s the most customizable free theme I’ve ever come across. I’m not done with the final design but it’s a work in progress.
During my theme hunting I found a few sites I really liked. There are tons of free Wordpress themes available online but a lot of them are mediocre to say the least. If you’re ever on the lookout for some fresh themes check these sites out:
FreeThemeLayouts.com
They only showcase about 50 themes or so, but there are some beauties in there. A couple of my favorites are BoldLines and KikiBerry. I also love how they display their themes – you can easily hover over the thumbnails to get a larger image. That means no clicking back and stuff, saves a lot of time. You can also demo each one of the themes as a full site.
WPThemeDesigner.com
If you’re looking for a news theme look no further. Some gorgeous ones available here, worth checking out. They also have a beautiful site design with large images of the blogs to make it dead simple for previewing.
Theme-Time.com
I like the themes on this site, and use one over at my Free RSS Tips blog. I think it only cost something around $10 to get the theme without their backlinks on the bottom, otherwise they are free. There’s a lot more themes to choose from on this site, and some rather unique ones.
I’m always on the hunt for fresh and unique blog themes!
Karen (Kaz)
Posted by Kaz on January 13th, 2009
I’ll be trying out some new themes so you might end up seeing some strange activity going on here! I love seeking out new and interesting themes, feel free to comment on what you like or dislike. Right now (at the time of writing this) I’m trying out the “gridblog” theme. I like the layout but might need to tweak the font and play around with some settings.
Posted by Kaz on January 10th, 2009
I’m really itching to jump into a new niche, and what better way to get started than making a detailed post about how I’m going to go about it. In the past I’ve always targeted niches that appealed to people’s desperation and didn’t pay much attention to whether or not the actual niche held a lot of interest for me.
Well, not this time. I’m dead set serious about getting into a niche that I can actually leverage my own true passion about. But I must be honest and up front here. I’m not actually looking to start into a new niche for the purpose of making money – not initially anyways. I want to get into something enjoyable and entertaining for ME. Of course I want to be successful in what I do so I will eventually look to monetize it.
You hear time and time again from many sources that the best place to start niche hunting is to look at your own hobbies and likes. Like I said before, I’ve always glossed over that and went the other direction (and certainly both can be successful). So now I’m faced with this looming over my head… what are my hobbies? It saddens me because I’ve long given up my most beloved hobby which is quilting.
Forget about that for a minute though because I want to ramble. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Kaz on November 16th, 2008
I sit here this evening thinking about the people I’ve met online during my last couple of years involved in Internet Marketing. What is the aim of this article? Well it’s partly to say thank you to all of those who I’ve developed friendships with over the past couple of years. But it’s also to discuss the subject of networking.
If you’ve been involved in Internet Marketing for any length of time, you’ll know that gaining contacts can be very valuable to your success. I firmly believe networking properly is key to not only broadening your horizons but opening doors for you that may never have existed before.
But a lot of new people come into this game thinking that they don’t have anything to offer, and often struggle with making contacts and developing mutually profitable relationships. Well from my experience, I’ve never had that problem.
Why? Simply because when I’ve met fellow marketers I’ve always just treated them as I would a friend. I don’t worry about what I have to offer or not. I don’t start a conversation with someone with any specific goals in mind, I just simply enjoy the camaraderie. I’m curious by nature, and love to get to know what others are doing in my field. This just naturally opens up doors when you’re willing to GIVE without having any expectations whatsoever.
Some of my online friends have opened doors for me that I’ll be forever grateful for. Others have not done that, yet they remain just as important within my circle. We share tips and ideas – and brainstorm together. It’s amazing what kinds of things you can come up with just by yakking (Skype, MSN etc) with another like minded individual.
So this is my point. Get out there and get sociable! Don’t do it with any specific goals in mind besides making a pal with similar interests. Then when an opportunity arises that you can help with – do it without ANY expectations. Of course, if it requires considerable time or effort, it’s not a bad thing to still have to charge. Business is business after all, and each one of us knows that time is very valuable.
One thing to keep in mind if you start gathering contacts – keep it under control. Constantly chatting with several online friends may become a detriment to your business, if it consumes too much of your time. Set aside scheduled times when you make yourself available for chatting.
So get out there and start socializing!
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