The following were questions sent to us by readers of the StepForth SEO Newsletter and the StepForth SEO Blog. If you have a question of your own we would love to hear from you; email us your SEO question.

Question from Steve:
Information about the why’s & how-to’s of the BLOGosphere have made for a plethora of copy all over the SEO world, yet my constantly recurring question never seems to come up! And this first question always leads me to second one. (1) If your business is NOT in any way concerned with… let’s call it “journalism” (it seems that the business of StepForth would have a sizable reliance on journalistic talent), how would a company go about deploying a blog initiative and still have time to sleep more than one or two nights a week? (…there’s this business we gotta keep running!) And (2) if one were to hire one of many firms offering such a BLOG service, how would it come off as more than a thinly veiled SERP ranking initiative, when your business is not of the type where there is really any “news” to report — AND further, where the BLOG service cannot possibly be expected to have the specific knowledge needed to write usefully pertinent journalistic copy? Read more…

Here are some of the interesting articles and posts I came across today… it is a bit of a content spread

• If you use Twitter and you like it tell Shoemoney why!
  Popular blogger Shoemoney is just not that sure why anyone wants to use Twitter. I put my two cents in, why not you?
• Yahoo soft-launches lifecasting service
  The scivvy on a new service leaked from Yahoo that will be based on personal live broadcasting of video.
• 2007 US Internet Year Stats Released by comScore
• Weekly Digest of the Social Networking Space: Jan 30, 2008
  Jeremiah Owyang creates this nice overview of the social media landscape on a weekly basis.
• Middle East and Asia Lose Internet Access After Cable Fails
  Oh my… need I say more?

In the course of my day I come across a load of great articles or news posts that I often don’t have time to read. Sometimes I even do read them but forget to share the wealth. In addition, my Twitter feed is chalk full of article suggestions and tips from great minds; unfortunately I don’t do a good job of noting them yet. Here are a few links and tips I have come across today, I will try to do this more often:

• Microsoft adCenter To Power Ads On Wall Street Journal Digital Network
• Handling a Domain Name Dispute Without a Lawyer – when the big guys try to crush you with their legal teams because they don’t like your domain… what do you do? WebmasterWorld users weigh in.
• No Recession for Link Building – link building guru Eric Ward weighs in on the world of link building and how to adapt during any 2008 recession
• Free Social Media Measurement Webinar this Thursday: Jeremiah Owyang has put together a webinar “on Social Media Measurement How to Listen Effectively and Engage in the Conversation this Thursday at 12:30 EST/9:30PST with Glenn Fannick, Product Development Manager at Dow Jones.” This is likely to be a very interesting webinar which I highly recommend listening in on.
• Hey Rand, Do You Mean Siloing?: Lisa Barone wrote this great article on the theme-based approach to designing and optimizing a website (what Bruce Clay calls “content siloing”). It isn’t a new concept by any means but it is worth a read if you are unfamiliar with theme-based optimization.

On the always helpful advice of Michael Dorausch (a fellow Twitter user) I submitted my Twitter profile to the Twitter Pack Project. The Twitter Pack Project is a wiki where anyone can catalogue their Twitter address under a variety of categories:

• Packs by Topic
• Packs by Location
• Packs by Company
• Packs by Events or Meet-ups
• Packs by Identity

So what is the point? To gain more followers and network more with people of like minds. It is a great idea and I am happy that I took the time to publish my Twitter profile (www.twitter.com/rossdunn).

If you have a profile be sure to post it on the Twitter Pack Project. If you don’t have a Twitter account give Twitter a try, I have not regretted it one bit. In fact it has taken me by surprise just how good a networking tool it is and how interesting it is to follow people’s everyday discoveries as they Twitter them.

Related articles/posts:

• Twitter’s Usefulness Underscored During San Francisco Storm
• Twitter Get’s a Guide

As an accredited Yahoo Ambassador, I am accustomed to working with the Yahoo Search Marketing PPC system (YSM). Although YSM can be an effective means of paid advertising, its Panama system still has a ways to go and I want to share with you several of the challenges in setting up a geo-targeted campaign.

Opening an account with an address in the US or Canada, restricts you to advertising only in those markets. If you’d like to geo-target other areas of the globe, you have to use this site: Yahoo International Accounts Read more…

As a staple toy for just about every child, Lego has turned 50 today, and Google is celebrating with a Google Lego Logo.

On Jan 28, 1958 in Copenhagen Denmark, Godtfred Kirk Christiansen submitted a patent for his invention which would eventually be called the Toy of the Century. Since then, more than 400 million children and adults play with their Lego totaling an estimated 5 billion hours each year.

I for one grew up with a large bucket of Lego and still on occasion bring it out and play once in a while, hoping that my upcoming child will want to do the same – I’m sure he/she will.

On Dec 26, 2007 Google shares closed at $710.84. Today one short month later, Jan 25, 2008, Google closed at $566.40. That is huge drop, more than 20% over a one month period, and I am sure some investors are feeling the pinch on this one. Back in November Google peaked at around $741 – I feel sorry for anyone who bought on that day.

I am no financial expert – in fact far from it, but I am pretty sure this is bad. That said, they will recover and break back into the $700+ range – right? I would be surprised if they didn’t, although I have been surprised before.

Expect QDOS (taken from ‘kudos’) to be on the lips of many over the next year. QDOS is a method to monitor and measure your own Internet popularity and, in the longer run, help you secure your online persona from identity theft.

Currently running in Beta in the UK, QDOS is planning to launch in North America in this first quarter of 2008. So how does QDOS calculate Internet status?

Read more…

These days, as more and more companies come to the conclusion that their 1990′s built websites with the animated gifs, static backgrounds, and auto-playing midi files have seen their prime, they begin to enter into a world of redesign. While creating these new websites with the sleeker look, and cleaner file structure is a smart move for the future, the risk and complications caused by changing URL’s and the impact this has on search engine rankings is very real.

This is where redirects come in. Using the correct redirect, in most cases a permanent 301, is key to helping maintain your existing rankings, whether your site is undergoing a complete face lift, or if you simply want to move a few pages around.

While Permanent 301 Redirects are the most common there are valid situations where either 301′s or 302′s may be the most appropriate. This article will discuss what these redirects do, common and less common uses, implementation, and how to check that you have set them up correctly Read more…

I am pleased to say, although I am a little late finding out, that my article “How Glossaries and FAQs Can Improve Search Engine Rankings” was nominated for a SEMMY (Search EMMY). I wish I had known sooner so that I could have spread the news earlier but just the same I feel honored; it is nice when work gets a little link love and additional attention.

By the way, Matt McGee deserves a big thanks. Creating the SEMMY’s is a brilliant way to acknowledge all of the writers out there that work hard to produce quality content. Thank you for your hard work and vision.