Mad Fish SEO Blog

Guest Posting: Think of it as Meeting New Friends

Anne Krzysztalowicz — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:55:19 +0000

The core of any good SEO strategy must be based on two key elements: content and backlinks. These days, Google is on to the low-quality backlink strategies that once worked forcing all companies to think beyond the simple article submission tactic of a couple years ago. Quality is the name of the game, and in order to find that quality backlink, you need to:

A Guide to Google Authorship

Corrie Herman — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 20:52:31 +0000

So your blog post is ranking well for a couple of high-profile terms. You know your content is informative; you’ve had several websites cite it as a source. And yet, the blog post isn’t generating a lot of visits. Is there something more you can do to get that blog post to convert into a website visitor – or better yet, a potential customer?

A Look at Direction Service

Corrie Herman — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:57:20 +0000

Every so often, Mad Fish SEO comes across organizations so important to local communities that we jump at the opportunity to get involved. Direction Service is just such an organization.

Direction Service of Eugene is a local non-profit corporation that helps families of children with disabilities and special needs get the services, care and programs they need. The group strives to reduce stress and confusion for these families by helping them access resources they may not have otherwise known were available. Much of the work provided by Direction Service is done in conjunction with a child’s school to ensure that each child is getting the right kind of education for their needs as well.

How to Give Your Visitors Web Content They Can Sink Their Teeth Into

Nicolek — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:00:48 +0000

As search engine optimization has become increasingly important for companies who want to strengthen their online presence, the amount of content floating around the internet has multiplied exponentially. Businesses constantly send new content out into the ether, hoping it will help them improve their keyword rankings – but, unfortunately for the average web user looking for helpful information, most of this content is targeted at search engine web crawlers rather than at the actual people who must wade through it all to find what they’re looking for.

Optimizing Your Business Listings for Local Search

Nicolek — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 16:00:18 +0000

Google’s addition of local search results has given businesses a new type of fruit to reach for in their search engine marketing efforts. While the concept didn’t even exist just a few years ago, local search now captures 20% of all searches, displacing organic search results.

Mad Fish SEO Launches Proprietary Analytics Portal

Corrie Herman — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:23:04 +0000

Mad Fish SEO is excited to introduce Mad Fish Elements, its new web analytics and reporting platform, Mad Fish Elements.

Mad Fish Elements offers reports and statistics in an easy-to-visualize format so that marketing managers can quickly see progress being made by their SEO campaign and identify areas of opportunity for future endeavors.

Mad Fish SEO Has Moved!

Corrie Herman — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:34:22 +0000

In June, Mad Fish SEO moved its offices up the street to the Woodlark Building in downtown Portland. The move allowed Mad Fish SEO to expand its space to create a more collaborative team environment. The new office also incorporates additional infrastructure to keep our SEO web team running smoothly. And frankly, we are all appreciating the bigger windows and corresponding sunlight they are providing us.

Mad Fish SEO Sponsors Raleigh Hills Little League

Corrie Herman — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:29:47 +0000

Mad Fish SEO is gearing up for Spring training. Okay, so none of us are officially in training for anything too physical but we are excited to be part of the training for some great little leaguers. This year, Mad Fish SEO is sponsoring the Raleigh Hills Little League teams.

MadFood Drive | Thank You From Mad Fish SEO!

Corrie Herman — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 23:49:00 +0000

A Big THANK YOU to everyone who participated in our first MadFood Drive for the Oregon Food Bank. We had a tremendous response from our friends here at the Postal Building downtown, as well as clients and local friends! Thanks to the generosity of so many, we will be dropping off 125 lbs of food and over $300.00 in cash donations to help feed those in need this holiday season!

MadFish SEO Sponsoring MadFood Drive | December 1 – 15

Corrie Herman — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:48:57 +0000

This past year, the number of emergency food boxes distributed to Oregon’s in-need families increased by over 14%. Those in need represent young families, children, retirees and the disabled. This holiday season, Mad Fish SEO is encouraging our neighbors, colleagues and customers to help the community around us by donating to the Oregon Food Bank.

How To Move a Website without Losing Your Search Rankings

Ben Herman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:47:29 +0000

For any number of reasons it can sometimes become necessary to move a website to a new domain. When done correctly, moving to a new domain can be simple and flawless. Unfortunately, there is only one way to do it right, and a million paths for getting it wrong.

Advanced SEO URLs in Apache and IIS

Ben Herman — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:21:42 +0000

When making a website SEO friendly, one of the first orders of business is analyzing the URL structure. If the website utilizes the proper keywords in the URL filenames, then the next step is to make sure that search engines (and users) are only able to view one version of each page.

Mad Fish SEO Quarterly Update

Corrie Herman — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:43:38 +0000

The crew at Mad Fish SEO has been swimming in projects the last few months, launching new web sites, growing marketing campaigns and creating a few handy tools for ourselves. It is no wonder September kind of blew past us. Can it be October already? At least we spent that time putting together some great projects that we are pretty excited about.

Keyword Importance in URLs

Ben Herman — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 21:04:38 +0000

In the recent Search engine ranking report from SEOmoz, the number ten (out of 24) ranking factor was “Keyword Use in the Page Name URL (i.e. madfishseo.com/folder/keyword.html).

It appears that it is becoming more important to make URLs descriptive, accurately describing a web page’s content. After the SEOmoz report was released, I racked my brain as to why something so exploitable could be such a huge factor. It seems that spammers could easily exploit this factor, and create poor quality websites with keyword rich URLs much like they did prior to 2004-2005. In 2005 Google appeared to be cracking down on this type of website spamming and those websites still appear to mostly be filtered lower in the results.

Do Search Engines Understand Your Site?

Ben Herman — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:00:30 +0000

Every quality SEO campaign setup should start with a thorough analysis of the website’s code. The reason for the code analysis is two fold: 1.) make sure a search engine crawler can make it through the page and find the pertinent content, and 2.) make sure that a search engine crawler best understands the pertinent keywords of each page.

Twitter for Business

Ben Herman — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:14:12 +0000

A client recently asked how much effort should really be put into Twitter. Their understanding was that it was just a platform for voyeurism at its finest, where kids and adults can share intimate or inane details to people who may or may not care. As someone who has been following Twitter for quite some time and who has seen it evolve heavily just in the last year, I was a bit surprised by this assessment. I quickly realized that the benefits that Twitter can have for a business, if used correctly, are not on the surface obvious, especially for those still thinking about marketing in the most traditional sense. Twitter can be used to promote and spread the word about traditional marketing campaigns. But it can also be a great venue for less structured, more grass roots, marketing (think scrappy marketing).

4 Questions I Ask When Writing a Blog Post

Corrie Herman — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:23:39 +0000

Zillions of blogs – that’s what I feel the internet is cram-packed with. There are so many wonderfully written blogs worth reading and following; I have blog-reader guilt weekly because I have no time to read them all. But, there are a lot of garbage blogs out there as well streaming pointless content for the sake of making noise in cyberspace. I have written blog content for a number of companies and groups and have found that if I can answer yes to four pointed questions about any topic for any blog, then I can feel good about putting it out to the world.

Google Makes Mistake, Calling Sites Harmful

Ben Herman — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 23:18:08 +0000

From ChannelWeb Today article “Google Accidentally Broke The Internet“

Over the weekend something strange happened to Google search results. For almost an hour on January 31, every site that Google returned in a search result was tagged with the message, “This site may harm your computer.” In fact, most of those sites wouldn’t harm a user’s computer. Instead an inadvertent keystroke deemed any Web site with “/” in the URL as potentially malicious. More

Now Hiring – Entry Level Web Developer

Ben Herman — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:10:40 +0000

Mad Fish SEO is now looking to hire a part-time entry Level Web Developer to help us grow our SEO and Web Development business in 2009. Check out the job posting for more details on requirements and job responsibilities.

Microsoft Launches New CashBack Program – Will It Work?

Corrie Herman — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:08:25 +0000

Microsoft announced yesterday that it will offer consumers cash back incentives for using their search engine, Live search. The way the program is designed, consumers will be rewarded for searching and buying products using Microsoft’s SE by receiving a percentage rebate after the transaction is completed. That rebate equates to a cost per action fee Microsoft charges its merchants, which include online stores like eBay, Barnes & Noble and Overstock.com.

Google Makes 450 Algorithm Mods in 2007

Corrie Herman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:02:39 +0000

Client’s are often amazed at how their search engine results fluctuate month to month, especially in the early stages of an SEO campaign. As SEO specialists, we understand the constant changes search engines make to improve the accuracy and usefulness of their results. Explaining the volatility of search results is easy when you consider that, like any quality company, these search engines are attempting to improve their business, and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the constant increase in content on the web. Ultimately, we all hope these changes will result in better ways to get quality sites at the top of results and push down the noise. In an interview with Udi Manber in Popular Mechanics we learn that Google made roughly 450 changes to its engine algorithm last year. You can read more of the interview with the Google Vice President by following the link below.

The SEO Strategy | Summary of SEO Goals Statement

Corrie Herman — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:56:45 +0000

We’ve been putting together several SEO strategies for new and existing clients this past couple of weeks. As we work through each client’s needs and targets, we incorporate our recommendations into three clear segments. No matter what the client’s goal, whether it is increasing revenue or improving membership numbers, a good campaign strategy requires an expert assessment of keywords and existing searches, evaluation of a site’s on-page coding and recommendations for off-page link building.

Designing Code | An SEO Rap

Corrie Herman — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:30:52 +0000

Some light-hearted Friday Night SEO entertainment for the masses:

View This Video on You Tube

The web developers at Mad Fish are in agreement that the Poetic Prophet raps the truth.

Is Twitter an SEO Strategy?

Corrie Herman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:15:42 +0000

So, the buzz word this weekend for me was “Twitter.” I was at a spectacular bunko birthday party for a friend where a colleague in the industry asked if “I Twittered.” Afraid that I may have had a few more Heinekens than I originally tallied, I asked for some clarification where I was than introduced to the twitters he had been receiving over the course of the evening. The next day, my previous boss and dear friend, instant messaged my husband asking if we knew what twitter was. That was the last straw. I jumped in and have been playing around with the thing and generally obsessed with it for the last 72 hours.

That Thing About Bloggers

Corrie Herman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:12:25 +0000

I’ve been working with a few different blog writers lately and I’m finding that the one thing that makes the good ones stand out is something, unfortunately, you just can’t teach. There are bloggers out there that say they can write, say they can be topical, say they can project an interesting voice. But frankly, few are truly capable. Blogging takes a certain amount of radio-announcer wit and charisma to truly make an impact.

Read more on That Thing About Bloggers…

YouTube Analytics | Now You Can Track Your Viewers

Corrie Herman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:12:24 +0000

On Thursday, YouTube released YouTube Insight, a video analytics tool created to help posters understand where their viewers are located and how they found their videos. Like data analytics programs, the data collected through Insight is expected to help online marketers and advertisers better target their videos to the correct regions and demographics.

Economy Hitting Google Click –Thrus?

Corrie Herman — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 03:07:32 +0000

Analysts are assessing Google’s paid click numbers for the last couple of months and are concerned that the search engine giant is falling short of its projected goals since the company adjusted how it generates clicks. The Associated Press article “Google Paid Clicks Data Generate Debate” out today, news of Google’s faltering stock revenues and click rates has analysts wondering if this is a permanent problem or a temporary melt-down.

HP zd8000 Laptop Overheats; Shuts down

Ben Herman — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:06:32 +0000

Lately I’ve been having a problem with my HP ZD8000 17” laptop overheating. If it was just getting hot, I wouldn’t mind. But when it overheats, it can unexpectedly shut down.

ProFtpd Error Message: IPv6 getaddrinfo ‘home.ben-herman.com’ error: Name or service not known

Ben Herman — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:43:37 +0000

If your an avid linux user, then you probably know what Proftp is. Proftp is a service which allows users (including yourself) to ftp into your server.

After a recent server upgrade, the daemon which runs proftp (proftpd) gave me some errors on restart. When I restarted proftp, I received the following error printed to the screen:
IPv6 getaddrinfo 'home.ben-herman.com' error: Name or service not known

Who killed Sharky and Why?

Ben Herman — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 03:44:51 +0000

I know it’s a strange title, but follow me just for a minute. The title is a question posed in a class I took about logic and data structures.

You are given several pieces of information in the form of statements given by four people. One of them is telling the truth while the other four are lying. Based on their statements and the use of logic, you are to figure out “Who killed Sharky and Why?”

Where we at with Cpanel 11?

Ben Herman — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 00:36:19 +0000

Anyone know what cPanel is? cPanel is a hosting platform. Once a domain name points to a server, cPanel is the software that is used to administrate all of the functions used behind the scenes. Everything from managing stats software, to adding email addresses, cPanel can do it all.

Optimizing C++ Code; PCC

Ben Herman — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:49:30 +0000

Here’s some cool stuff I learned in school while finishing up my computer science degree. I took a class called CS-201, at Portland Community College.

The only bad part was that the class was only offered at the “Rock Creek Campus” which is far from where I lived. Even better was that the class was only offered at only one time on one day (6pm on Mondays). 6pm in Portland (and just about any other populated metropolitan area) happens to be rush hour. And did I mention that last term my car stereo was stolen? Having only my thoughts and the high pitched squeal from the broken drivers side window, I had plenty of time to think of this blog entry and the examples I wanted to show, so check it out.

Read more on Optimizing C++ Code; PCC…

Returning to School to Learn Some More

Ben Herman — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 23:06:15 +0000

As most of my friends and family know, a little over a year ago, I decided to quit my job in the marketing industry, and start my own search engine optimization firm. At first it seemed like a crazy move. Steady work is hard to find, and if any one of my client’s decided to leave, then my dinner menu would most likely be that of a poor college student.

More About .htaccess mod_rewrite

Ben Herman — Sun, 17 Jun 2007 22:35:23 +0000

After receiving a positive response from my last post regarding the .htaccess mod_rewrite, I wanted to follow up with a post that contained a little more information on why the rewrite would be good to use, and a few descriptions about it’s syntax.

Using Joomla!

Ben Herman — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 18:29:41 +0000

Over the past year, I’ve been researching various content management systems. The latest one that I chose to use is Joomla!. And all I can say is wow!

Usually Prefer to build the backend myself, but after many late nights researching the software, as well as finding quality support for Joomla in the open source community, I decided to switch to the Joomla CMS.

The infamous htaccess rewrite

Ben Herman — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:22:08 +0000

I decided put together a few example of rewrites that I use and like. BEWARE!!! Editing the htaccess file is not for the faint of heart. Making one small edit that incorrectly rewrites, or redirects, or changes any URL could kill your search engine rankings, and make your webmastering life miserable. Make sure you understand what you are doing, and test throughly. Be sure that no matter what no two URLs can access the same page, and make sure that any old URLs redirect to the new ones.

Combating Referer Spam using the .htaccess file (Apache)

Ben Herman — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:23:29 +0000

Beware that editing the .htaccess file is not for the faint of heart, and we recommend not editing the file unless you know what your doing.

Today I solved a “referal spam” problem that one of my clients was having. The problem had been occuring for the past few weeks.

Link Vocab

Ben Herman — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 01:07:22 +0000

From time to time I’m asked about various vocabulary terms surrounding links.Â Since the definitions are very simple to explain, here’s a brief explanation.

Link Anchor: This is the blue underlined text that is clicked on to go to another URL.