Reviews

Since Tyler has reviewed a couple of non-webmaster blogs, I believe that it’s ok for me to do another seo blog, and no one should get bored.

And boring is exactly what many of them are. It’s kind of sad how so many webmasters don’t really get blogging and don’t appear to have fun with it. Not like the average web surfer who has just discovered this great way of expressing himself online without the need of major design and programming knowledge.

There are however a few exceptions to this rule as well, and one of those is definitely SEO Pedia.
I love how Christian Mezei, one of the most skilled search engine optimizers in the world, just has a neck for which stories to pick. He frequents many webmaster boards as well as search engine news related sites (e.g. Search Engine Watch) and manages to pick the topics of interest to most webmasters trying to increase their rankings in the search engines. Gaining inbound links can’t hurt right ? Wrong for example is an excellent topic which has been discussed a lot on various forums. A lot of webmasters have the tendency to believe they figured out Google, and then they are surprised when suddenly their rankings drop and they have no clue what has happened.
Bloglines rocks is one of those entries where he shares his own experience in what works for him. There is no better way to learn, than watching those who are successful and follow their guidelines without having to waste time trying the many programs and sites which don’t provide the results that they promise. And with entries such as Business.com removes the nofollow from links he makes sure that readers stay updated on some of the best resources to help them advertise, build links and stay on top of their competition.

I highly recommend bookmarking seo pedia to every webmaster and blogger out there. Especially if you don’t have time to research on your own. Christian will do it for you and share the subjects which are of interest, without going into detail about meaningless discussions which happen far too much amongst the techies.

I give it a 5. The highest mark possible. Great info, no hype and all the info that you need.

– Mike Dammann
Search Feature

Since I’m in the travel blog state of mind, I decided I would go ahead and do a review that had been requested by DarrenC at V7N. According to the title of his blog, Darren is a self-proclaimed travel addict. After taking a look at his personal page, I have to say I agree with him. Although Darren is only thirty-three, he has done a lot of traveling.

Upon visiting the homepage, I was met with an attractive WordPress blog. I have to admit that I’m especially fond of the header animation. The man holding the phone and looking like he is about to snap reminds me of a few all too familiar situations in various airports. As far as the layout of the blog, it is very organized and free of ad clutter (I only noticed a few, unobtrusive ads throughout the site). At the top of the page is a navigation bar, which provides links to various pages, along with a travel forum. Although the forum is relatively small, it still has over two hundred and fifty members, along with a lot of good information. The only downside I see to the forum is the lack of comments on the blog (this goes back to Mike’s review of the Mark Joyner blog, however, Darren’s blog does not pressure visitors to go to the forum).

I didn’t take the time to find out exactly how old the blog was (there was no monthly or yearly archive link), but it does contain over one hundred and fifty posts. It seems like Darren does a very good job of posting fresh content on a regular basis. Although there is a link that allows visitors to submit travel articles, it looks like Darren does the majority (if not all) of the writing and posting.

I have decided to give this blog a four because of the nice template and extensive content. Although I wasn’t overall interested in the content (mainly because my travel opportunities at this point are slim), Darren has created a very useful blog for travellers (especially international). The posts and categories range from advice to news, and everything in between. This was the aspect of the blog that I liked most. Although the blog relates to travel, Darren varies his post by addressing many different areas of travel. On the homepage alone, his posts vary from “Wine Tours in New Zealand” to “Be Healthy During the Heatwave.”

As long as Darren continues to post regularly (and maybe even step up the pace a little bit), I see nothing but good things in the future for his blog.

–Tyler Banfield

So what do we know about Hammer? He was an MTV icon for a minute and then became the butt of jokes. Well now he has a blog as well. A blogspot blog. Could he be that broke?

Well, apparently McHammer (btw. I thought he was just called Hammer now), has a team member named Eric who works for Google. Google’s blogger department, the one responsible for such mess-ups like deleting blogspot blogs for interlinking, assuming that it’s all done for the reason of manipulating search engines rankings (true in some cases, but not all). So it seems like Google and Hammer are in this together. Whether he is trying to get the domain name McHammer.com or not, I don’t know. But it seems like he is fine with the way things are right now. Doesn’t make sense to me how anyone could be ok not owning his own online identity.

So now let me put away whatever I know about Hammer, Blogger and look at the weblog itself.
In his profile he says:

I’m an ordinary man, who has lived an extraordinary life. I have been to Japan,Russia,Korea, Hong Kong,Egypt,Germany,Spain, Australia,Singapore,Puerto Rico, every state in America including Alaska and Hawaii.I have met and dined with Presidents and Sultans, and Princes. Most and above all I have met God.

and suddenly I realize, that none of us really know the person. What he says about himself. His blog entries are about his family, his music videos and whatever seems to interest him.

Fishing with the boys, stuff like that shows me that his interests are no longer to be the biggest star in the world. He doesn’t seem to care too much about image at all. His entries seem laid back, and he takes the time to respond to fans commenting. He does however promote current and upcoming events in entries such as DC Hammertime Hyphy Show as well as on his My Space Blog.

To make a long story short, I’m giving it a 2. I like his effort. I give his at least a 4 for his own writings and participation. I hate the slow loading time, the low budget presentation that blogger seems to limit its users to. I would like to give it a higher rating, but believe that the owner of a blog should take some serious interest in aspects that he himself is not an expert in as well.

Register a domain name, Mc. Hammertimeonline.com was available the other day. Sue for your own domain if you have to. Create a stronger presence online. You’ve skyrocketed to the top once, don’t let Blogger keep you from doing so again.

– Mike Damman
Blog Reviews and More