The Greatest Irish SEO Competition
Damien Mulley has only gone and started an SEO competition to find who the greatest SEO of them all is. These competitions are always a great laugh among people who share interest in SEO but it’s also a great way to test new methods on reaching top ranks for a site.
The criteria is very straight forward with very little restrictions on what we can actually do to win. You can get a list of rules under Mulley’s post.
The goal
By 3pm on 1st December have a new domain be in #1 position on Google.ie for the key term geansai gorm – simple!
At the moment there are very few results for the term geansai gorm so it will be interesting to see how the scuffle pans out over the next 4 weeks. 24 hours in and things are already starting to take shape.
It’s interesting to see what people are doing or more importantly, what they aren’t doing. Someone has already caught my eye by doing some domination tactics, I can take this bastard and he’s going down!
If you decide to take part then best of luck!
FYI: If you leave a comment on this blog linking to a geansai gorm site or use its keywords, I will remove your link and insert my own – fair game.
Highlights Of Google Webmasters Questions & Answers
Google held another Webmaster Q&A session yesterday which I missed but thankfully David Harry of huomah.com has published what he thinks is the top 80 Q&A’s from the session. David has picked out some really good ones thats well worth a read.
The full transcript will probably be published under Google Groups some time soon.
Next Webmaster Meetup In Cork - October 31
I’ve been meaning to publish this post since the announcement of the Webmaster Meet-up Series.
Richard Hearne has announced the dates of the next webmaster meet up to take place on October 31st the night before BarCamp Cork on November 1st.
So as before with the webmaster meet there are no rules, no special invite needed, you don’t even need to know anyone and its totally free. Just come along introduce yourself and have a chat, simple as that.
I am not 100% sure if the folks of BarCamp need to be informed if you are attending, I can’t see any mention of it on their site. If you fancy BarCamp Cork on 1st November and want more info go ahead and contact them directly, I’m sure they’ll provide everything you need.
You can read more about the BarCamp manifesto here and follow the Webmaster meet up discussion here.
Unfortunately for me both events fall on Halloween weekend and I am expected to be in Derry, dressed as a clown, for the cities biggest yearly event. 
*update*
Pat Phelan is orgainising a Pre BarCamp Dinner so if you are ineterested drop him a comment to confirm. Also, Sabrina Dent is organising a Sunday mornning brunch which will be a great way to wrap up the weekend events.
Better Late Than Never Links
For the past number of months (I’ve lost count) I have taken a back seat with anything related to publishing websites. Although I have been following hundreds of RSS feeds and reading my daily forums I haven’t been doing much with my own sites, including this blog. I can’t say that I have lost interest in the web industry or its community but I have been concentrating efforts with my ‘offline career’ in IT simply because I still have a passion for it. Nothing like troubleshooting things on the fly.
As part of my web catch up I’ve decided to link out to posts that have caught my eye, similar to Damien Mulley’s fluffy links series. I had to give mine a different name though and thought up, better late than never links.
Irish Webmaster Meet Up In Dublin
Another meet-up of webmasters in Ireland has been arranged by members of the Irish Webmaster Forums. These meetings are great opportunities to meet other online professionals and talk some shop, over a few pints of course.
So if you are in Dublin on August 9th and have some free time in the evening come along and enjoy the night.
When: August 9th 2008
Where: Harbour Master in Dublin
Time: Arrivals from 7pm onwards
Some of the webmasters that have confirmed they will be attending are:
Richard Hearne
Michael Wall
James Larkin
louie
garycocs
David Behan
Leo Fogarty
Michael Flanagan
Cormac Moylan (to confirm)
Dave Davis
Gavin Doolan
Michael Morris
Like previous webmaster meetings in Dublin this list will grow, keep an eye on the official thread for more attendees. I have yet to confirm if I can attend.
Aaron Wall Interview By RedFly Marketing
Just a quick post on Dave’s brilliant interview with Aaron Wall of SEO Book who is one of the most respected consultants in the SEO industry.
I’ve learned a lot about search engines and optimisation from Aaron so it’s great to see a local Irish search marketing consultant get the opportunity to interview Aarron about the SEO industry and provide a great insight from one professional to another.
See the Redfly Marketing interview with Aaron Wall of SEO Book
Anyone Going To BarCamp Belfast?
Barcamp Belfast is fast approaching (21st June) and I’m in two minds if I should attend or not. I should be in the North that weekend but I don’t fancy having to travel an overall 12 hours in one weekend and not even leave the country, flying to New York and back would take less time.
How To Make Money Using LinkedIn
Have you ever browsed some of the profiles on LinkedIn and realised you are looking at a potential gold mine? Think of all those professionals, CEO’s, sales people and all other members. If only you could tap into their wallet and milk them dry, rich bastards.
If you are really interested in learning how to make money using LinkedIn read on.
Some Search Engine Keyword Tools For Your Arsenal
If you are someone who likes playing around with tools then you’ll appreciate the good list of keyword tools provided by webdistortion.com under 10+ SEO keyword tools you cant live without.
For me these type of tools come well into play before even starting a new site, they provide a better idea on what words we should be covering within a site.
New Chitika CPC Revenue Store For Parked Domains
Chitika has just announced a CPC store for your parked domains which allows us make better use of any domains that we might have gathering dust.
I like the looks of the CPC store and how easy it would be to ‘bounce’ visitors onto the products getting paid for the clicks. It’s a very clean design and has very little clutter making it easier to see exactly what is being presented.
The store itself is extremely easy to setup, a few clicks and it’s done. After the store is created change the domain’s nameservers to reflect the ones that Chitika supply.
I’m sure this new service is going to open a few windows of opportunity so it’s probably worth throwing some time at it. I’ve been using Chitika’s services for 2 years now and it’s not bad, excellent for those with a technology site or blog.
If you are not a Chitika member already you can signup here, recommended if you have dormant domains or a tech site.