WhiteFire

Hustle-cuts: Hacks to Turn Surfing Into Working

Mitch — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 12:00:01 +0000

Hustle-cuts: Hacks to Turn Surfing Into Working WhiteFire

Browse nothing, we’re working here. This is a list of my favorite productivity-boosting browser shortcuts, wrapped up in a tight little package and delivered to you with a special bonus at the end. And trust me, the bonus is well worth it. The List Alt+Left/Right Arrow – Navigate Back/Forward, respectively. Ctrl+Tab – Move through open browser tabs left-to-right Ctrl+Shift+Tab – Move through open tabs right-to-left Ctrl + T – Opens a new tab Ctrl+Shift+T – Opens most recently closed tab (I LOVE this one, so much) Ctrl+W – Closes active tab Ctrl+Shift+N – Opens new incognito window Right-click Tab + [...]

The One Thing That Makes Anyone Successful

Mitch — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:00:29 +0000

The One Thing That Makes Anyone Successful WhiteFire

There is a single skill that will make you successful in anything you do. It’s not one of those “silver bullet instant millionaire” remedies, but every successful entrepreneur I talk to agrees with me. What is it? Hustle: the ability to just get things done. Once you know something needs to be done, act. If you can master that, you’ll be successful in anything you do. On the surface it seems simple enough; make a plan, execute it. But there are entire industries dedicated to helping people just DO something. Motivation is clearly not enough. So how do we become [...]

Five Rules of Thumb for SEO

Mitch — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:00:12 +0000

Five Rules of Thumb for SEO WhiteFire

The technical bits of SEO change every day. Everyone that I talk to that is trying to wrap their head around SEO is intimidated mostly by the rapid change in the industry. However, there are a few basic rules you can bet money on when you’re dealing with Google. Nothing Easy Works for Long If it’s easy today, it won’t be tomorrow. Google’s actively looking for ways to improve the quality of their search results, and that generally means eliminating loopholes. As soon as you discover a tactic that produces amazing results for little effort, watch your back. Chances are [...]

Six Tips to Make Your Writing More Interesting

Mitch — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 12:00:59 +0000

Six Tips to Make Your Writing More Interesting WhiteFire

I don’t know you that well, but if you clicked on this article, your writing probably sucks a little. At least to some extent, you want to make your blog read better, keep your visitors around longer, and stop boring your mother to tears. Writing for the web is a beast all its own, so here are six tips to help you out. Go for the Absurd The more jarring your topic and title, the better. I don’t mean be shocking and racy just for indecency’s sake (I’m looking at you, Sarah Silverman), I mean connect something to your topic [...]

Why Every SEO Should Blog

peterattia — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 12:00:37 +0000

Why Every SEO Should Blog WhiteFire

By this point most SEO’s understand the benefits of blogging and creating unique content. However, there’s still an astonishing amount that don’t blog themselves. I understand that its not for everyone, but considering how large a role blogging plays in internet culture, I think it’s vital. To be clear, I’m not saying you should start a blog or even blog about SEO. I’m talking about the importance of blogging at all. Learning How to Write One of the largest benefits to gain from blogging is learning how to write. With the increasing importance of web content for SEO, it’s an [...]

Data-Driven Persona Development

Mitch — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 12:00:06 +0000

Data-Driven Persona Development WhiteFire

Trying to sell ballet slippers to 20-30 year old men is a bad idea. That’s pretty easy for anyone to understand. But when someone asks us who our target audience is, what do we say? Do we know the interests and demographics of the audience we’re trying to sell to? Or are we trying to sell ballet slippers to frat boys? Developing a persona is a tried-and-true practice for content and market research, but it’s surprisingly underutilized in the SEO world. Do you know what type of person you’re trying to capture with that massively competitive keyword? Is the traffic [...]

Making a Case for Citizen Twitter

anthony — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 13:37:57 +0000

Making a Case for Citizen Twitter WhiteFire

Bram Makonda ‏@brambreezy @content_muse Aha thanks for the RT! For the record, I don’t see you doing said offensive acts #OutstandingTwitterCitizen Anthony Pensabene has mysteriously disappeared. Upon last contact, reliable sources report him uttering the last word, “Twitter.” The enigmatic ordeal has left me mulling over his notes and prior life, musing his insights to myself over and over. He’s no Charles Foster Kane. But like the protagonist of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, he is (was?) a proprietor of media, social media in Anthony’s case. In the film, reporters pursue in unwinding the tale of Kane’s death. Perhaps if I share with you some [...]

Finding the Right Words: 4 Tenets of Effective Keyword Selection

Mitch — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:00:38 +0000

Finding the Right Words: 4 Tenets of Effective Keyword Selection WhiteFire

The first and most critical step to an effective SEO campaign is choosing the right keywords to target. Over and over, I consult with business owners who choose keywords that are too competitive, too vague, or too small. This post is a step toward helping you solve this problem. Choosing the right keywords is not as complicated as it may seem, and it isn’t by pure black magic that SEO consultants choose the best keywords for your campaign. Here are four things we evaluate to determine the value of a keyword. Are People Using It? The first step to effective [...]

Honest Marketing: the WhiteFire Manifesto

Mitch — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 19:22:13 +0000

Honest Marketing: the WhiteFire Manifesto WhiteFire

Well, I’ve finally made the jump into full-time SEO, and I’m taking WhiteFire with me! We’re beginning a new era of growth at WhiteFire, recruiting new talent, expanding our outreach, improving our blogging schedule and working with other great minds in the industry. At the beginning of our new era, I felt it was important to establish our guiding principles. This is what WhiteFire’s about. We believe in fostering the entrepreneurial spirit. We believe in constructing lasting businesses that provide quality services and products, not making a quick buck with slash-and-burn marketing. Our guiding principles: Transparency – No corporate runaround, [...]

Science and Statistics for SEOs

Mitch — Mon, 28 May 2012 12:00:48 +0000

Science and Statistics for SEOs WhiteFire

Lately, there’s been a big push for calculated, scientific and statistical studies for SEO. We’ve seen amazing research into SERP clickthrough rates, tweet link placement, and link metric correlation, and several prominent minds in the industry have put out the call for more of these studies. With an eye towards that call-to-action, I’m laying down a few ground rules. Statistics can become a massive black hole of pseudoscience when its precepts are misunderstood, so this post is aimed at a few key issues with statistics, including some things you should keep in mind if you’re going to embark on your [...]