Geek in Heels - Page 183

Aug 4, 2009 • In Blogging, Web

Squarespace: SEO Gods?

I don’t know how they do it, but Squarespace never ceases to amaze me when it comes to SEO.

Before switching over in September ’08, I hosted my blog on WordPress which seemed to be the de facto standard for serious bloggers. After befriending some internet marketers, I read up on numerous articles, blogs, and e-books on how to best optimize my blog for search engines – essentially, how to “trick” Google into placing my posts at the top of targeted search queries.

I re-worded my titles and posts. I tried my best to utilize meta tags and keywords to my best advantage. I installed numerous SEO plugins.

It wasn’t all for naught. I saw some improvement in traffic; I’ll grant you that.

However, just a short while after switching to Squarespace, my traffic improved drastically…and kept growing. I must acredit some of this growth to Facebook, Twitter, and internet friends (thanks for the link love!). However, I couldn’t ignore the fact that the largest percentage of my traffic increase stemmed from search engine queries.

Just yesterday, I wrote a post about the possiblity of a The Office Monopoly game. Today, less than 24 hours after writing the post, my little blog comes up as the third hit on Google when you search “the office monopoly” – out of 3,270,000 hits.

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Here’s another example from a post I wrote last year, titled Top Ten Pantone® Inspired Products. When you search for “pantone products,” this page comes up as the fourth hit on Google:

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Now, with the massive weight that the Pantone name has on the world of designers, I can’t help but feel a bit giddy about this.

I know that the first rule of thumb when it comes to SEO is to write good content. And perhaps the quality of my content has improved since I made the switch. However, looking at the timing of my traffic records, I cannot help but credit at least some of my search engine rankings to the clean XHTML that is generated by Squarespace.

For more on Squarespace and SEO, read:

What are Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services?

Are spiders ignoring my site because of < insert mythical SEO practice >?

have been hearing bad things about squarespace and SEO work!

Kudos to Squarespace on all your hard work!

The Circle of No Life

Via Gizmodo.

Measurement Conversion Apron

I know I should wear an apron when cooking, but I don’t.

(An apron would prevent the numerous greasy stains on my clothes. It would’ve also averted that nasty burn I got on my boob from a glob of jumping oil. Why was I cooking naked? Don’t ask.)

However, this Measurement Conversion Apron is cute AND functional – especially for American r-tards like me who are mathematically challenged and uninformed in the ways of the metric system.

Via Lifehacker.

Telegram Postcards

I can’t remember the last time I sent a postcard but these Telegram Postcards from Girl Of All Work would surely give me an excuse to start again!

Actually, they’re so pretty that I may just tack them to a bulletin board to admire. Or perhaps I’ll gift them to a friend who will send me one as a thank-you?

$6.75 for a pack of 4. Via Better Living Through Design.

Something, Something, Something Dark Side

About a year ago, the creators of Family Guy announced that a follow-up to the knee-slappingly funny spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Blue Harvest, was in the works.

If you are a Star Wars or Family Guy fan who hasn’t watched
“Blue Harvest,” shame on you. Go pick up a copy now.

And at Comic-Con last week the cast, creator, and writers of Family Guy shed some more light on what will be a spoof of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back: Something, Something, Something Dark Side.

Although the hour-long special was originally set to air as the finale to Season 7, it has been pushed back to Christmas 2009. The director of Blue Harvest, Dominic Polcino, has been tapped to direct the sequel and fan-favorite James Woods will also make a cameo.

If Something is nearly as good as the first spoof, we will not be disappointed. And, as a large majority of Star Wars fans cite Empire Strikes Back as their favorite of the six films, we definitely have something to look forward to this holiday season.

(And just FYI, my favorite Star Wars movie is Return of the Jedi. I like to be different from the crowd. )

Via The Official Star Wars Blog.

“The Office” Monopoly?

OfficeTally, a blog about NBC’s The Office (one of my favorite shows ever) just posted this image, accompanied only with the words “But what are they for? Clues coming soon…”

Ack! I’ve already written about my love for boardgames and Monopoly. Parker Brothers, please tell me that you’re publishing a The Office edition of Monopoly!

The Godfather Marionette

Dear Michael Lau,

I love your work. Seriously, I do. As one of the world’s most popular premium toy figure designers, your work commands respect and recognition. And I am happy to oblige.

But why must you price your figures so damn high?

The Godfather marionette, $175 at Vinyl Pulse

$175 may not be too much money for some, but it is to an unemployed marketer/designer/web developer living in one of the most expensive areas in the U.S.

Me. Want.

Waa.

The Divine Project

To all my readers using WordPress: have you heard of Divine? It is a newly released tool/plugin that lets you create websites from Photoshop to WordPress in just 5 minutes…

…for free.

The Divine website explains that you can convert any Photoshop design to a WordPress theme in just four simple steps:

Open your design in Photoshop and launch Divine
Assign all WordPress elements in turns
Specify FTP parameters and upload your theme to the web
Check the site in a browser

As expected, the Divine website features tutorials, videos, and forums.

I currently host this blog on Squarespace and I love it. However, as a web developer/designer I am familiar with, and presently work with other CMS such as WordPress and Joomla. And as someone who has a toe in the vast pool of internet marketing, I can’t deny that WordPress is the most popular blog platform out there.

I will definitely download Divine and tinker around with it…perhaps even use it for my next WordPress project. In the meantime, I would love to hear from current users of this nifty tool!

Via SmashingApps.

PhotoFunia

I stumbled upon 7 Awesome Site to Have Fun with Photographs the other day and I’ve been having way too much fun with PhotoFunia.com! Let the evidence speak for itself…

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They even do animated GIFs!

Have fun making your own!

MoMA’s Unfinished Clocks

I’m loving these Unfinished Clocks from the MoMA Store:

Designed to be placed on shelves or mantles, it’s a simple and ingenius way to incorporate the functionality of a clock with its surroundings. Not to mention, the red round version would look great against my boxy black bedroom furniture…

Via Popgadget.