Turns out #1 in Google really is important…

Posted on May 27, 2010 by Jexley

I Know! Woulda thunk it?

Search Engine Land has an article on some data that a mob called "Chikita" has run on their assorted sites.

While I am usually loathe to chime in on such a ridiculously obvious concept as "#1 in Google is better than #2 or #3" I do love me some data.

According to the data they ran, the top spot gets twice the clicks as the second spot.

To be honest, I like this kind of stat and I always, ALWAYS try for #1, but with such a hugely diaphonously amorphically ever-changing thing such as Google’s algorithm, who would honestly have the time to spend getting a client from #2 to a #1 spot for any given keyword?

Once again, maybe the folks at Search Engine Land can all hang around and play with their linkfarms and leverage their 50,000 blog posts and articles to try and boost a client for one keyword spot, but I don’t personally know anybody that plays in that kind of sandbox.

That said, the stat that hit me the hardest was where they figured out that a site at #10, the bottom of page one (but still ON page one) gets 143% more traffic than the #11 spot (the TOP of page two, but still ON page two).

143%

That’s a pretty big deal.

And THAT’S the kind of thing a fella can chase as a goal, not something as finely sliced as going from the #2 position to #1.

Going from Page 2 to Page 1 is a much more attainable goal, and I’m pleased to say that I’m at about a 95% rate with my clients and their targeted terms. And for that 5%… I’m actually still working on that, even though they may not even know nor have paid me in months.

Bit of a pride thing, I suppose.

Later folks, and if you’re doing a #2 and want to switch to a #1, I don’t know that I can help you. I’m no urologist. HA!

But if you want to go from Page 2 to the Front Page…

Have a Good Website.

Category: SEO, State of the Web | No Comments

Jex Member Image Upload Plugin

Posted on May 12, 2010 by Jexley

Plugin Name: Jex Image Upload Page for Members

Plugin URI: http://www.jexanalytics.com.au/plugins/jex-member-image-upload-plugin
Description: Folks that are logged in to a WordPress site can upload images to a general page of the admin’s choosing (by placing "[jex_member_image_upload_form]" on that page. The image gets stored in the "uploads" folder and the Admin then gets an email notification that they can ‘approve’ or ‘disapprove’ the image.

Version: 1.0

Author: Judd Exley

Author URI: http://www.jexanalytics.com.au/

Requirements: PHPMailer and some other stuff that I haven’t figured out yet.

WordPress Version: 2.1 and up.

INSTALLATION: Simply copy the jex-image-upload-for-members.php file into your /plugins directory and activate it. Then, place [jex_member_image_upload_form] on any page that you want people to be able to upload images to.

NOTES: It only works for one page at a time thus far, so if you put the form on multiple pages, it’ll pull all images that have been approved for the whole site. I haven’t coded it for a "per page" use yet. YET.

UPDATE: Yes, yes it DOES now work on multiple pages. Mostly because IHS Web Solutions wanted that and because I rock hard for them.

DOWNLOAD PLUGIN

Category: Plugins | No Comments

Ticklespot Finder

Posted on May 8, 2010 by Jexley

Part of blogging, as an SEO anyway, is to pretty consistently be experimenting with different terms, their complexity, their competition level and how fast you can rank for ‘em.

I suppose it’s a way of flexing my optimisy muscles, but there’s this thread on Port 80 that’s sparked a rather funny debate about whether or not SEO is bullshit or can we call those who do it properly "SEO"s and the rest of them can be "Cookiefarts" or "Snailhelmets" or something equally ridiculous.

In my efforts to explain that I consider myself far, far more than just an SEO, I proposed "Ticklespot Finder" though that’s a fairly narrow frame of reference, particularly when you consider it only applies to my wife and my kids.

That said, I’m the best Ticklespot Finder in town.

Heh, at least that’s something.

Cheers folks, and Have a Good Website.