Vinny Lingham's Blog

So, here’s something that I thought was really cool! The tech team at SynthaSite have mashed up Picnik & SynthaSite in the latest update of SynthaSite.

Instead of creating an entire photo editor, it was far simpler to use Picnik’s API’s and embed the web application into SynthaSite. This is a great example of how web applications make integration with each other so much easier through the use of web services.

In addition, Synthasite now also allows you to use your own domain name with your websites (instead of mysite.synthasite.com)! There is a lot more to come, stay tuned…!

Many people have asked me why my blog ranks so well on Search Engines, and sometimes for some really good search terms. The secret sauce is using Wordpress as a platform and adding some very cool SEO plugins that I would like to share with my readers. Please backup your blog before trying them out, and use them at your own risk – none of them gave me any problems. Not all of them are strictly SEO plugins, but they all help me.

I’m guess that probably less than 5% of Wordpress users even have half of these installed, so if you take the time and effort, it should boost your search engine traffic by about 2-3x (which is what I’ve seen since installing them last year).

Permanent Redirection of Posts

This plugin helps when you need to move a post or a page to another location. Very useful in that you don’t disrupt the value that the incoming links to that page offers your site and preserve the PageRank that Google may allocate.

Permalinks Migration Plugin

This plugin will really help you to migrate pages from poor page structures (i.e. http://www.vinnylingham.com/2008/01/endeavor.html to a better structure such as: http://www.vinnylingham.com/endeavor.html). Remember that having pages or blog posts that are 3 levels deep into your site is not optimal for SEO. I highly recommend that you use this plugin and move your posts to the root (i.e. the blog post should basically site on the highest level in your site directory structure).

DoFollow

Wordpress comes standard with NoFollow tags, that basically tell search engines not to apply weighting to links posted by readers who comment on the blog. I personally moderate every comment on this blog, and if sometime takes the time to post decent comments, I believe that they deserve a link back to their site. I obviously delete silly comments like “nice site”, etc. If used correctly, this can really incentivize your readers to interact more on your blog.

Google XML Sitemaps

This plugin is great for getting a sitemap submitted to the major search engines, such as Google, Yahoo & Ask. I used it right after changing the permalink structure and it helped them to reindex the site a lot quicker. I had a few minor problems here, but I think the new version might have fixed those bugs.

Head Meta Description

Decent enough plugin thats assist in getting meta data into your posts. Meta data is not highly regarded anymore with the major search engines, but it might be worth inserting them.

Landing Pages

This is a brilliant plugin. When readers come to your blog via a search engine, it reads the keyword term and offers them links to similar posts based on the initial term they searched. This is one is a must, and it greatly increased my internally pageviews from search terms ratios.

SEO Title Tag

This post probably helped the most with my SEO rankings. It basically inserts the heading of my post’s keywords into the Title tags for the page – simple but effective. I recommend removing things like your name in the title – it should just be the name of the post.

SRG Clean Archives

My archives page is very clean. Have a look. It shows a list of posts, by month with number of comments. Good, Clean & Fresh – Nuff Said!

Here is a list of some other really good wordpress SEO plugins. Most of the plugins listed above will have links to other similar ones. I really suggest that you check them out and if you’d like, post comments below to others that are worth trying! Happy SEO’ing!

Today, a legend passed away. As a high school chess team captain, I loved the game like none other and I particularly marveled at the sheer brilliance of Bobby Fischer. Today, a genius leaves this world. Political and religious affiliations aside – he will be sorely missed.

I found this tribute video on YouTube in tribute of him. Rest in Peace, Bobby Fischer.

I often find that in the new Web 2.0 world of “social media” and “communities”, that there are some very flaky business models. I was quite impressed to come across Global Scholar today. Not only are they proposing a very valuable community offering, but they’re also finding a way to monetize it from the early stages – which sometimes isn’t always a good idea. However, what they’re doing is pushing the idea of actually paying for the experience – even if it’s just $1 for the first hour, in order to get people into the idea that not everything online will be free in the future (VC money does run out at some point, and sustainable business models need to be in place by then!).

Global Scholar offers:

* all tutoring occurs on online via chat/audio/whiteboard/curriculum sharing
* all tutoring sessions are recorded and archived with a “playback” option, for students/parents to review
* tutors set their own prices/courses/hours of operation
* GlobalScholar.com background checks every tutor (criminal + education) and trains them on the site
* All tutors need to have a minimum four-year degree
* Users can leave ratings/reviews for tutors

They’re creating a community that has value for all parties – and are charging for it, as it will most definitely have value for a lot of students and parents.

There was quite an interesting article on ReadWriteWeb recently on The Danger of Free, which I highly recommend reading – and which actually inspired this post as I was very comforted to see “Web 2.0″ companies trying to charge for their services. I know… it sounds rich from a guy that’s giving away free websites but at least we have a long term plan

So I (hopefully) am the first person to write about PepperJam’s new affiliate network launch given that the embargo just ended an hour ago and I’m in South Africa

PepperJam has a lot of experience in the PPC Affiliate arbitrage space, both in managing PPC affiliates and running the actual campaigns. Arguably, launching an affiliate network has become a bit of commodity and does not necessarily warrant a review every time. I’ve had access to the platform ahead of this blog piece in order to review it – and I was quite impressed with such a comprehensive set of tools, especially for a first release.

I also though that the speed was incredible – most interfaces that I’ve worked with are quite slow, and perhaps it might slow down as they load more affiliates and merchants onto the backend, but the experience was great, especially some of the uses of AJAX in the interface. PepperJam provided me with a list of highlights in their press release.

Here is a list of some Highlights of Pepperjam Network:

- Pepperjam Network addresses two of the most significant shortcomings found on other existing affiliate networks: (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency.
- With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chatâ„¢, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships.
- Pepperjam Network provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships.
- Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, clean interface.
- Pepperjam Network offers industry leading SID-level tracking and reporting (great for sophisticated search marketing affiliates)
- Pepperjam Network introduces pepperjamADSâ„¢, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.
- Pepperjam Network contains a knowledge vault, which is exclusive to Pepperjam affiliates. The vault contains exclusive access to a list of tools and educational resources used by Super Affiliates.
- Pepperjam Network represents over eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers.
- Pepperjam Network launched with over 100 merchants and growing quickly, including Blockbuster, Jelly Belly, AeroGrow, Oscar de la Renta, BabyPhat, Rocawear, Ben Sherman, FlyCell, SinglesNet, SEOmoz Premium, and many more.
- Pepperjam Network has its own affiliate program that pays out up to $7 per approved publisher application
- Check out the Pepperjam Network Blog for videos, commentary and updates on Pepperjam Network and the broader affiliate marketing community
- Pepperjam Network is FREE to join.

And here is the official press release:

Pepperjam Announces Launch of Next Generation Affiliate Marketing Network

Pepperjam, a two-time Inc. Magazine fastest growing company and industry leading full-service internet marketing agency, today announced the launch of Pepperjam Network, a proprietary next generation affiliate marketing network.

If you are an advertiser or affiliate and would like to sign-up for Pepperjam Network please visit www.pepperjamnetwork.com.

“Pepperjam Network represents an evolution in affiliate marketing. The creation of Pepperjam Network represents eight years of research and development and the combined ideas, feedback, and intelligence of hundreds of affiliate marketers and advertisers. Pepperjam Network will forever change the face of affiliate marketing by putting power back in the hands of affiliates and advertisers to build long-term, profitable partnerships through better communication tools and transparency,” said Kristopher B. Jones, President & CEO of Pepperjam.

Among a variety of affiliate marketing enhancements, Pepperjam Network addresses the two primary shortcomings of other existing affiliate networks, namely (1) poor, unreliable communication tools and (2) lack of affiliate transparency. With Pepperjam Network, affiliates and advertisers can communicate in real-time via Pepperjam Chatâ„¢, thereby providing a reliable communication system to build stronger, more profitable partnerships. Pepperjam Network also provides advertisers with an unprecedented measure of affiliate transparency, which helps to establish trust, protect brand integrity, and lays the groundwork for open, long-term, profitable relationships. Pepperjam Network also introduces pepperjamADS, which is a first-ever affiliate marketing widget that affiliates can use to serve customized contextual ads from multiple Pepperjam Network advertisers at the same time.

Pepperjam Network was designed to make the experience of affiliate marketing profitable and educational with the goal of allowing affiliates and advertisers to truly understand and maximize the affiliate channel, which is critical to their online business. Unlike most other traditional networks Pepperjam Network uses Web 2.0 technology to provide affiliates and advertisers with an easy-to-use, cutting-edge interface designed to facilitate and optimize the affiliate marketing process. In addition, Pepperjam Network offers industry leading SID-level tracking and reporting – this robust technology is especially beneficial to search marketing and sophisticated super affiliates that want to take advantage of the most up-to-date technology available to track commissions at the keyword level.

Here is just a sample of what many industry experts are saying about Pepperjam Network:

“Even after all these years using Commission Junction on the merchant and affiliate side, I still find it terribly clumsy to find what I want. With Pepperjam Network it is quick and easy. Pepperjam Network is what an affiliate network would look like if it were built from a wish list from both the affiliate and merchant perspective,” said Shawn Collins, Cofounder of Affiliate Summit.

“As both an advertiser and a affiliate, I am on the lookout for affiliate marketing systems that meet all our company’s needs. Pepperjam Network is without a doubt the most comprehensive, practical and useful affiliate marketing system I have seen the date. Pepperjam Network demonstrates that it is possible to combine style with substance in a network that provides site owners and advertisers with tools and resources to increase their bottom line,” said Joel Comm, New York Times Best-Selling author and CEO, InfoMedia, Inc.

About Pepperjam:

Pepperjam is an industry leading full-service internet marketing agency offering marketing services and advanced technology in the areas of pay-per-click, search-engine optimization, affiliate marketing, and online media planning and buying. The company was founded in 1999 by internet marketing expert, conference speaker, and published author Kristopher B. Jones. Pepperjam has received numerous awards and achievements, including recognition by Inc. Magazine for two consecutive years as one of the fastest growing privately-held businesses in the United States. Learn more at www.pepperjam.com

All in all, it’s a great start – there aren’t too many merchants pre-launch, but I’m sure that will grow quickly. Often with these types of systems, they are built by people who don’t sit on both sides of the fence – in PepperJam’s case, they do and this should really give them an edge in the market. I’ll be interested to see how quickly they can get traction.

Disclaimer : PepperJam proved how smart they were and bought one of the 125×125 blocks on the right hand side of this blog and are now an official sponsor of VinnyLingham.com .