Beanstalk's SEO News Blog

Back in my younger years (we'll call them ... about 365 days ago) I spoke out against Twitter. On my weekly radio show, in this blog, really anywhere there were Twits, I would go off on the same rant: I have enough things sucking my time away ... why would I possibly use Twitter?

And then age set in and I succumbed to the pressures of the online marketing world, created a Twitter account, installed the app on my iPhone (watch for another interesting blog coming soon related to the iPhone) and was happy when more people followed me. Alas, I too was flushing more time down the proverbial toilet that could likely have been better spent on forums or (wait for this great revelation) ... working or spending time with my family. Here's where it gets truly sad - I know this and I still do it. I read stats that only 27% of tweets are useful and find that to be generous and yet still I tweet and read the tweets of other twits. You can read them at @beanstalkseo and even as I type this, I hope you'll follow me on Twitter. That's right - I have a problem.

It was one of my co-workers that brought to my attention a video that gives me hope. There are others like me out there and perhaps, just perhaps, we can all join a 12-step program and find help. If you hear of one - be sure to tweet it to me. Here's the video (enjoy - it's very funny):

Labels: twitter

Yesterday I touched on the Twitter rankings on the first page of Google for competitive phrases. Today I was tweeting while listening to an SEOmoz webinar and noticed that a friend of mine ranked on page one for "seo" via the Twitter feeds. My tweet about this then ranked me and my tweet about this irony then ranked. it appears that it's easy to now rank on page one which is precisely why this "feature" will soon die.

I had assumed that for this to work well you needed a strong twitter account but I've avoided it until recently so only have about 100 followers. Hardly a strong account thought I'd trying to build those number by providing periodic updates and good info (you can follow me at @beanstalkseo should you feel so inclined).

You can view the rankings I'm referring to at

Labels: google, seo, twitter

Alright, today is the first time I've seen this. Now we've all seen Twitter in the Google results. We've all seen articles in the Google results but never before have I seen a scroll box with a mix of articles and Twitter comments half way down the first page.

As quickly as it came it disappeared but fortunately I'd done a screen capture which you can view here:

As if things weren't complicated enough. :)

And for those of you thinking this is just for longtail - the search phrase was "car insurance". Obviously we're looking at a major phrase here.

Shortly thereafter it went back to News Results indicating this may be a Caffeine test reinforcing rumors that Twitter and other social media avenues will have a greater impact in a post-Caffeine world.

Labels: Caffeine, google, twitter

Today Jim Hedger and I hosted Webcology on WebmasterRadio.fm. Every week we have a great time covering the latest happenings in the search engine and search marketing world but today, rather than amicably discussing the issues - we battled it out over Net Neutrality.

Net Neutrality is a subject that both Jim and I have enjoyed debating over the years. We first did so in front of an audience back at SES San Jose 2008. Jim takes the pro-Net Neutrality side and I take the anti-net neutrality side of the debate. In truth - both of us fall somewhere in the middle but a debate is sure a lot more entertaining to watch than two fence sitters discussing their ambiguous feelings. :)

When I first entered the debate I was pro-Net Neutrality. Now I tend to lean towards an anti-Net Neutrality perspective but with an understanding of the need for consumer protection. The same consumer protection that exists currently and seems to be doing a fine job.

You can listen to the argument by downloading the podcast from the Webmaster Radio site at http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/webcology/2009/fcc-backs-net-neutrality/.

We also discussed the hacking of Jim's Twitter account and how to safeguard your information. Seriously - if it can happen to Jim, a 13 year veteran on the Internet, then it can happen to anyone.

For those of you who head over to the show - enjoy and be sure to listen next Thursday at 2PM EST (11AM Pacific) for another great show. We might even have a great guest or two. :)

Labels: jim hedger, net neutrality, twitter, webmaster radio