Google Releases Updated Search Engine Starter Guide

As anyone knows who frequents this blog, I think the BEST way to optimize a site is to do EXACTLY what Google would want you to do if they could or would tell you what that was. There are no shortcuts. That’s why our motto here is Build Your Web Presence…Don’t Just Add to It.

Google released a handy guide for those new to the world of search engines. I posted it here and have kept it available because I saw its value to the market. (That, and because I saw all of the disinformation and misinformation out there. . Now they have released the latest version and I am linking it here as well and promoting the heck out of it,

Why? Because I think getting the basics right is just the starting point. Then it gets down to creativity and making your online authority match up with you offline authority.

Anyway…Kudo’s to Google on the revision..

HERE IT IS.

Enjoy!

Eric

Rock Hall Real Estate Agent Richard Budden – Authenticity.

One of the great things about going to a Real Estate Webmasters conference is that you meet great people. These are solid real estate agents with growing professional clientele and businesses. They are authentic. So I thought I would introduce you to one of them. Authentic is the best way to describe Richard Budden.

I communicated with him via email a few times before meeting him at the conference. Who I met at the conference was VERY much EXACTLY the person I had pictured him to be. He was laid back, unassuming and yet totally professional all at the same time. He was one of those kind of guys that was not out tooting his own horn, but yet you knew that you could count on him.That is the kind of authenticity that I look for in a REALTOR. It was fun to chat with he and his wife Vicki.

I have never been to Rock Hall Maryland.

I haven’t purchased any real estate there.

But I can tell you that if I was listing a home there or other had other Rock Hill real estate for sale, Richard Budden is who I would list it with.

Congratulations on the launch of your new REW website Richard! Here’s to you having success in building your business and reaching your goals in the years to come.

The Top Five WordPress Developers I’d like to hang out with….

Those who know me, know that I love working with WordPress. It fits my style very well. It is Open Source, is focused on growing its user base, and most importantly has grown into a CMS that can be increasingly applied to business to build a web presence profitably.

I (along with many others I am sure) constantly evaluate as many other options as we have time to, but sooner or later you have to choose your weapon. WordPress has been and is mine. So if I had a weekend to code some sites (when am I not these days…) and I could pick five WordPress developers to hang out with, these would be my five. They might surprise you!

#1 – Mark Jaquith – What, not Matt Mullenweg?? I respect the heck out of Matt, but at the end of the day this is about who I’d like to hang out with. Mark has earned my respect for who he is…here’s how his blog describes him:
* … a WordPress lead developer
* … 27 years old
* … a husband to a wonderful wife
* … a capitalist and a libertarian
* … a fan of Free and Open Source Software
* … a Floridian
* … one of those stuck-up Mac users
* … an independent WordPress consultant
* … an amateur photographer
* … really bad at answering e-mails
* … six feet, four inches tall

Other than the Mac thing, the WP lead developer thing, the 6’4″ thing and still being 27 years old (boy I wish I was still there…grin) I can TOTALLY relate.

#2 – Donncha Caominh - Let’s make this simple. Donncha has contributed a TON to the building of WordPress…he has added a ton to things. He is simply a bright guy and one guy who I’d like to learn from. Anyone with a blog archive going back to 1998 has a story to tell…seriously.

#3 – Yoast (err…I mean Joost) DeValk – This comes not just from my SEO roots. Joost has done a great job at being on of the go to WordPress SEO resources…but there is more to the story. He is a great guy as well. When I commented on his blog one day, he was quick to respond with a friendly answer and that goes a LONG way with me. That says “This is a guy who wants to build friends in and around the WordPress community. Besides..he builds great plugins. And he has a cool bike.

#4 – Brian Gardner – This site is built on an older Brian Gardner theme, While i use all kinds of themes, including my own with a lot of the hundreds of WP sites I have created, Brian’s coding has always stuck me as the most logical, easy to sort out and hack friendly (is that a word?). Thanks Brian and if you ever get down this way…holler…I used your theme for WordCampLouisville as a thank you for being a great part of the community.

#5 – This may not seem like a logical choice to you, but I think the FUTURE of WordPress is in business as much as it is in doing personal blogs. WordPress as an e-commerce tool. You betcha… on that basis, my last spot in the Top 5 goes to the entire team at Instinct.co.nz . Why? They are the creators of the WP-ecommerce plugin that is the engine behind much of the e-commerce capability in the WordPress world. They saw the potential of WP and went right at it.

So now it is your turn…who would you like to hang out with in the WordPress community? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…