Over the past couple of years I’ve heard the mantra that the value of reciprocal linking is diminishing daily, to the point where it’s no longer worth the time and effort.

Even Google’s Matt Cutts has said, “As Google changes algorithms over time, excessive reciprocal links will probably carry less weight.”

In fact, one of my own quick search engine optimization tips is: The acid test for a potential link is if there is a natural, logical reason for that site to link to you. If not, then you don’t want the link.

If Google’s recent rankings are any evidence, then that mantra is dead wrong and Matt, it ain’t working!

Over the past few months I have noticed that fairly new sites with thousands of reciprocal links, frequently using keyword phrases for anchor text, have come out of nowhere to rank extremely well, sometimes dominating their space. Some are just using power reciprocal linking. Others are combining thousands of reciprocal links with another supposedly dead black hat technique, triangular linking, sometimes called a mini-net.

For this article, I’ll use an example of a site using purely reciprocal links to power it.

Here’s one site that didn’t show up in Google Trends until about March and is now ranking #2 for “sunglasses” in the Google serps.

The site itself is pleasant enough, but until recently, the only way to contact whoever is running it was using an e-mail form. No address or location information is given, nor is any information about who owns it, just that it is incorporated in Toronto. All I can tell from a domain check is that it was registered with GoDaddy.com and the I.P. is in Albany, New York. They don’t appear to want you to have much information about them. Only recently have they added a telephone number so that orders can be placed by phone.

Not what I would call a trusted, authority site.

What appears to be driving the rankings for this site is the sheer volume of backlinks to it, mostly from reciprocal linking. The site includes a link page that lists hundreds of their link buddies, almost none theme related. The links are from every variety, size and flavor of web site, blog and directory out there.

So much for the value of link theme.

Here’s what Yahoo! Site Explorer sees:

See that correctly? This site has 184,079 links to it! By comparison, I did the same backlink check for the Coca-Cola web site, a trusted site with a long history and authority. It only has 87,971 backlinks.

Clearly, reciprocal links are still working and well for many sites that otherwise would be left in the dust by longer established sites with more history and backlinks with theme focus.

I still don’t recommend this magnitude of reciprocal linking, though. Google is supposed to consider massive link trading to be spam, even though it currently appears to be ignoring it’s own statement:

At least for the moment.

I know this has nothing to do with SEO, but it does relate to technology and, well, I just feel the need to let folks know about this documentary, which I missed when it was originally shown in a limited number of theaters.

I recently watched the Who Killed the Electric Car? DVD and must say, it is an eye opener. I was in California when the state mandated that car manufacturers produce vehicles with zero emissions. While it was in place, I saw all kinds of electric cars here in the Palm Springs desert - the EV1, Honda and others. That was a decade ago.

Apparently, the auto companies, with help from the oil companies and politicians, convinced California to drop the mandate, and the electric cars were immediately pulled from consumers who loved them! The EV1 electric car that is followed in this documentary is one hot little car, but GM killed it, recalled all of them (they could only be leased) and destroyed them rather than sell to consumers who were begging to buy the vehicles.

So, we’ve had the technology for a quiet, practical around town electric car for years. The Japanese got the message and started producing hybrids, while the USA car companies came out with gas guzzlers like the Hummer.

Now, we are paying for big business greed and politics.

This should be required viewing for every American citizen. I highly encourage everyone to watch this. In addition to purchasing a DVD, Netflix has it. For more information on the movie, see the site.

I’m adding an S E O Resource Directory to The Web Optimist blog. It’s a moderated directory that, at least in the beginning, will be reciprocal link based. You can submit a resource for free, but the back links will be checked and sites that remove their link back to The Web Optimist will be removed from the directory.

And, yes, I am the moderator.

To start with, I’ll include the following general categories:

1. SEO Blogs: Blogs about search engine optimization, pay per click and related subjects.
2. SEO News Sites: Strictly SEO news and information. No blogs, please.
3. SEO Forums: Links to forums and discussion groups related to SEO and PPC topics.
4. Palm Springs Web Community: Links to web development and search marketing sites in the Palm Springs, CA desert area.

I’m open to suggestions for additional SEO and SEM related categories.

So, feel free to submit your link to the S E O Resource Directory.

Of course, if you want to be on the front page of The Web Optimist, you could always use the Tip Me link in the upper right side of almost every page on the blog.

In my post a few months ago, Social Media & S E O: I Want My MTV!, I lamented the loss of the original MTV format - 24 hours of non-stop music videos. If you’ve watched the channel lately, you’ll see music videos from time to time, but the format is mostly movies, music related documentaries and bad reality programming.

An interesting Internet-only TV channel has stepped in to fill the void. Available through TVU Networks, the strangely named BroccoliTV shows 80s videos non-stop (I’m watching The B-52s Love Shack video as I write this). It’s free. You can either watch through your browser (I could only get it to work with Internet Explorer, not Firefox) or you can download their viewing software.

TVU Networks offers a lot of other Internet video viewing, including a few cable channels like Sci-Fi Channel and Comedy Central. Most channels work great, but some could stand for better compression as they came through jerky, even on my 130 Mbps connection.

Cool! Hot in the City and White Wedding by Billy Idol!

I miss the VJs, though!

SanDisk has an updated version of their Cruzer Titanium USB flash drive. I gave glowing reviews to the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium USB Flash Drive with Skype a few months ago. The updated version keeps all of the great features and adds a few more.

In addition to sturdy, ready-for-heavy-duty-action construction and tons of free and inexpensive software, the new SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus boosts the capacity from 2GB to 4GB and also includes a new, innovative feature - automatic online backup.

As you’ll recall, the idea is to allow you to sync the Cruzer with all of the files and programs you need on your primary PC so that you can simply pop the USB drive into another PC somewhere and use all of those files as if you were working on your main PC. Once you eject the Cruzer from the “guest” PC, there will be no trace that you were ever there.

Sort of a PC in your pocket!

But, what if you change some crucial files on the Cruzer and lose it on the plane or, heaven forbid, run over it with your Hummer (That’s about what it would take. This baby is tough!) before you have a chance to sync up with your primary PC?

That’s where the automatic online backup comes in. Powered by BeInSync with Amazon Web Services technology, the encrypted online backup service is free for six months, and costs $30 a year after that.

The benefits of the online backup are many. If your Cruzer Titanium Plus is lost or broken while you are on the road, you can access your files through the online backup service on any Internet connected device. If you delete needed files by accident, again, you can retrieve them through the online backup.

No Internet connection at the moment? The Cruzer Titanium Plus will do the backup automatically the next time you are connected. Worried about security if the drive is lost or stolen? You can activate an encrypted password protection system to keep prying eyes out.

Alas, there still doesn’t appear to be any kind of VPN client available in U3 software format, severely limiting what could be a great business product.

The Cruzer Titanium Plus retails for $59.99 (But can be found for less online. See the link below) and is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista.

Check out the SanDisk Cruzer Titanium Plus at Amazon.com.

Here’s a great job opportunity in Minnesota that I thought I would share:

Job Title: Director of SEO

Description:

Our client, the world leader in online legal information and interactive marketing services is looking for a Director of SEO to manage a team of 35 SEO professionals and continue to build a world class internal SEO department. This person must have proven experience of being able to influence internal stakeholders throughout the organization on the importance of SEO and it’s effects. They must be independently driven with the ability to lead many people.

About the Role:

The Director of SEO will be responsible for leading the fulfillment of all SEO projects and initiatives across all brands. They will need to strategize with the various teams throughout the company and develop education tools and guidelines for the organization in order to optimize every element of their SEO strategy. In this position you will also be responsible for staying current with the Search Engine community, by attending conferences and analyzing the risk/reward associated with new pursuing trends.

Requirements:

Our client is looking for someone with at least 5 years of experience within the search industry to lead a team of 35 search specialists. You must be a strong leader who can manage multiple priorities across multiple business areas. The ability to influence your peers and act as an agent of change is critical to this position.

Major Areas of Accountability:

• Responsible for the leadership of SEO fulfillment for all products.
• Responsible for leading and setting direction for SEO data analysis and reporting.
• Develop research, analysis and strategy initiatives and strategy, and development of the team to execute on those strategies.
• Collaborate with Product Development, Portal and Engineering teams. Provide leadership to optimize various site elements, site structure, architecture, linking and content, and to ensure that new products and enhancements meet SEO requirements.
• Provide leadership for the creation of educational tools and guidelines across the organization.
• Research current trends within Search Engine community – Attend relevant conferences to gather insights from search engine representatives and professionals. Continually monitor new advancements in SEO and evaluation the risk/reward of integration.
• Communicate specific SEO requirements to business/product stakeholders.
• Research emerging technologies for opportunities to expand.

Responsibility for the Work of Others:

• Team of 35 Search Specialists executing SEO fulfillment and analysis.

Financial Responsibility:
• $3 million

Requirements:

Education, Knowledge and Skills

• Minimum of 5 years experience within the search, SEO/SEM, or web analytics environment
• Demonstrated leadership experience of direct and indirect staff in a Web environment with time sensitive responses to changing market trends.
• Strong leadership skills and proficiency in leading multiple priorities across organizations.
• Strong influence and change skills and demonstrated ability to articulate and gain support with leaders across a business.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Proven leadership to lead and influence a wide variety of constituent groups.

Contact: (800) 829-0072, jobs@onwardsearch.com, http://www.onwardsearch.com/jobs/search_marketing_jobs.aspx

Lately I’ve noticed that the “Do you mean keyword?” results in Google vary quite a bit from a toolbar or search box search. For instance, let’s take a search for “rayban sunglasses” as an example. Most folks search for “ray ban sunglasses” (with the brand name as two words), but there is still a large number of searchers looking for the brand name as a single word.

Here’s what I get as I write this:

You’ll see that the Ray Ban sunglasses catalog page for FramesDirect.com comes up #3. Nice, but notice the “Do you mean ray ban sunglasses?” link at the top.

Click on that and you’ll get this:

Still a nice #3 ranking, right? Well, maybe not. Do the exact same search for “ray ban sunglasses” in the Google search bar:

This is what happens. A totally different result:

The FramesDirect.com page drops to position 6.

At first, I thought this might simply be a case of different data servers serving up different results in much the same way you can get different results from search bar searching. But, it appears to be consistent. Each and every time I click on a “Do you mean…?” link I will get one result and then a totally different one from a search bar query.

Is Google favoring pages in the “Do you mean…” links for some reason? I tried this in several different browsers (Firefox, IE7, Opera, Safari), not signed into Google with cleared caches and get the same actions every time.

Curious…

Unlike a certain recent political candidate we’re all familiar with, I know when it’s time to concede. John Carcutt is the winner of the Search Engine Journal Blog Off. John’s finalist post Are S E O Forums Still Needed? beat out my own 25 Blog Optimization Tips Even Dear Old Dad Could Ace to take the top prize.

What can I say? John has this ability to come up with topics near and dear to an SEO’s heart, write great content about them and attract Sphinns like a magnet.

Great work, John!

I really don’t see coming in second for the competition as a loss, though. Far from it. I blog because I love to share what I know. That’s really what blogging is all about. Every time I get the opportunity to publish some of the things I have learned in a subject I am passionate about (in this case, SEO), I’m a winner. It’s such a feel-good thing for me. As far as I am concerned, sharing amounts to taking the prize!

That’s what my blog, The Web Optimist, is all about. I certainly don’t make money with it. It’s just a place for me to share the tips and tricks I pick up along the way as an in-house SEO. I also manage, optimize, edit and write most of the content for The Eye Zone, the eyewear blog of FramesDirect.com, my employer, so I do a LOT of writing every week for it. Squeezing time in to write for my own blog (or something for Search Engine Journal if I think I’ve got something good), can sometimes be difficult. But, when I can, I love doing it.

So, we’re all winners here. Lots of great content and tips came out of this competition. The folks over at Search Engine Journal are the best!

Now, I think I’ll retire to the chaise lounge by the pool and console myself with the bright California sunshine, clear blue skies, gorgeous Palm Springs mountain views and a glass of White Merlot (or two).

Loser? Naw…

Flytunes, the Internet radio service for mobile devices, has rolled out a GUI upgrade and the addition of videos and podcasts.

I gave the new interface and videos a try and have to admit, they are pretty slick…when the technology cooperates. For instance, although I watched some fun Best of YouTube videos that offered nice quality on my iPhone, I still had some hesitation and pregnant pauses in the video stream. It could be my wireless-G network, I just don’t know. Other times I couldn’t get the videos to do anything at all. I tried Fox News Flash several times and never could get the thing to work.

The interface is slick and simple. When you first go to the Flytunes Player in your mobile device, you get a bar simply asking “What do you want to do?” with a down arrow on the left. Touching it opens a window on the bottom that lets you scroll through several options - Radio High Bitrate, Radio Low Bitrate, Video, Podcasts, AccuRadio and Settings. I’ve been listening to the radio stations a bit and enjoyed them.

Next you are asked to “Select a genre” and then “Select a station” for your chosen category. For instance, select Podcasts, Technology and then something like Diggnation and you’ll get some flashing “Loading” messages before a menu of podcasts comes up.

Sound quality is good and I must say I’m impressed. When it works. So far, my iPhone experience with it has been hit or miss. As I mentioned, it could be my Wi-Fi connection that is causing the sputters (works fine for my PCs, though). Flytunes is apparently gearing up for the iPhone broadband that is coming.

Flytunes says there are now 350 channels available, which is a lot and, they change the interface constantly as they add new features. Right now, it’s simplicity at its best.

Give it a try with your iPhone or iPod. It’s free!

What you will see for the next few days (or weeks) is the rebuilding of this blog after my hosting company went MIA overnight. They haven’t been the most stable host I’ve ever had. My blog would be up and down and, after being unavailable for writing or editing most of last week, I took the plunge and moved to a new host.

Unfortunately, the latest backup I have is over a month old, so expect yet more reposts as I try to replace lost content. I don’t even know if the old hosting company will re-emerge. Their site is still unavailable, too.

So, let this be a good lesson. Back up EVERY day! Now, if I can just figure out where some of my stuff went. This new version of WordPress does NOT like some of my plugins and theme.

Sigh…

I recently did a guest post over at Search Engine Journal titled 55 Quick S E O Tips Even Your Mother Would Love which had a very positive response. I got lots of great comments and Sphinns (If you haven’t given it a Sphinn, feel free to).

So, being someone who believes in sharing knowledge, I decided to add an expanded version (10 bonus tips) of this article to my free eBook section. As time goes on, like with the previously released S E O 101: The eBook , this one will be updated from time to time. Who knows, it might become 200 or 1000 tips before it’s over.

Anyway, feel free to download the 65 Quick S E O Tips Even Your Mother Would Love PDF file.

Enjoy!

Thanks again to Loren and gang over at Search Engine Journal for using my piece!

I’ve discussed image and video optimization in my various S E O 101 posts and free eBooks, so I thought I’d point out some quick examples of how a variety of content can give you a kick start in search engines in this world of Universal Search.

Many of you know that I do search engine optimization for FramesDirect.com as well as manage and edit their blog, which is high on eyewear fashion, celebrity sunglasses and so forth. Our readers love to get scoops on who’s wearing what on TV and in films, so when the new Iron Man movie came out (great flick, by the way), we started getting questions about what sunglasses Robert Downey Jr. wore in certain scenes. In the opening scenes, Downey is wearing Ray Ban 3320 sun glasses, so I wrote a blog post on it appropriately titled Ray Ban 3320 Sun Glasses in Iron Man.

At the same time, I posted an image of those Ray Ban 3320 sun glasses on Flickr, complete with a title, description, tags and links back to the blog post and product page at FramesDirect.com. When you post an image at Flickr and include a title, tags and description, it’s like posting a web page which is spiderable and can be indexed by the search engines. The links are “nofollow” but the pages can still rank and bring you traffic.

Since Google drives the most search traffic, optimization tends to favor it, but we have all discovered that the different engine rankings can vary wildly. Including images, as well as videos, podcasts, etc., can help you rank across engines.

Below is a screen shot of a Yahoo search for “iron man sunglasses” where you will see the blog post ranking at the top as I write this. Cool!

In Google, the blog post doesn’t rank on the front page at all, but the Flickr image does at #7:

See how important it is to diversify your content across the board? Granted, #7 isn’t as good as #1, but because the different engines have different algorithms, diversifying your content types across different media (text, images, videos, podcasts, etc.) you get ranking opportunities you would not otherwise have.

And, as a bonus (not shown), a Yahoo Answers question that I answered about what shades Downey wore in the movie came in at #8. Again, the links back to you in Yahoo Answers are nofollow, but they can still bring you traffic. More exposure! Even better if your answer is chosen as the best!

If you’re real lucky, you’ll get something like we got recently for a search in Google for one of our top selling products:

Results #1 and #2 are pages from the FramesDirect.com web site, #3 is a video posted on YouTube featuring company CEO Dr. Dhavid Cooper, #4 is a New York Times article featuring the goggles and linking to us and #5 is the same video as #3 but posted to Metacafe.com.

So, be sure to cover your bases. My rule of thumb is that whenever I do a blog post, I take all of the elements of it and find search friendly places to do supplemental (but not duplicate) posts that can link back to it. These places include Flickr, Yahoo Answers, YouTube, Twitter and the FramesDirect.com Fan Page over at Facebook. This is by no means an all inclusive list, just a few places to get started.

Diversity is the key!

OK, after several days of chaos with my blog, it appears it’s back up and running. I’m not sure what happened, but last Saturday night I was working on an article, saved it, went to bed, got up the next morning, fired up the WordPress admin and . . . nothing. Several sections of the blog admin, including Write, were just blank pages. I could see drafts, but I couldn’t edit or publish them. I was dead in the water. Pure Hell for a blogger!

No clear explanation ever emerged other than changes the hosting company was making at their end. The blog was up and visible to the world, but was stuck in time. The only option was to try to load a backup of the database. Unfortunately, the newest I had was a month old, so several recent posts are missing. I’ll attempt to reconstruct them.

In the meantime, the post I was working on when the sky fell in was guest posted over at Search Engine Journal as False Prophecy: Onsite S E O Will Be History. Give it a read, a Sphinn, a Digg, you know the drill.

Also, don’t forget my previous guest post at SEJ, 25 Blog Optimization Tips Even Dear Old Dad Could Ace (Plus 10 More Tips for Mom!). It could use some more Sphinns and votes, too.

Now, finding the time to reconstruct the missing content…

The Search Engine Journal Blog Off for 2008 has begun!

Sphinn, Digg, Stumble and post to delicious at will! Check out my finalist post - 25 Blog Optimization Tips Even Dear Old Dad Could Ace (Plus 10 More Tips for Mom!).

Vote! (Pretty please with sugar on top!)

Adobe has announced the demise of GoLive, the web authoring software used by many web developers over the years.

I, for one, found it confusing, hard to use and, at least in the version I tried when I took over as the web site marketing manager at the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority several years ago, a code bloat wizard. Whatever I worked on seemed to get full of code that I, as an SEO, felt was just in the way. But, as I mentioned, I only tried that one version.

Adobe took over Macromedia, the maker of Dreamweaver, my personal favorite, in 2005, which meant the company was marketing competing products until now.

I know there are lots of GoLive aficionados out there who are sorry to see it go, but Adobe is offering upgrades to Dreamweaver for registered GoLive customers for $199.

Here’s a pretty cool link that lets you check for the lowest gasoline prices in your area.

This MSN service is apparently updated every evening and includes a map of the area with place marks to help you find the stations. I checked for my zip code and the best price is $3.75 per gallon (OUCH!) today.

I need to lose weight anyway. Guess it’s time to break out the walking shoes!

This week I’m guest posting for my friends over at Search Engine Journal with a neat little piece featuring simple SEO tips that even your mom could cook up! Anyone with a little basic web design should be able to whip these up for better rankings.

Read the post - 55 Quick S E O Tips Even Your Mother Would Love .

Enjoy (and thanks, Loren & gang!).