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The biggest mistake I see SEO's make: They focus on keywords first and foremost, ignoring opportunities that exist right in their own analytics data. This is my presentation from SMX West 2010, where I talk about analytics strategies for SEO. It'll help you... Read More »
A bunch of random facts about internet marketing, all of which are worth knowing, regardless of their randomness: Internet marketing is hard. Really hard. It's not something that easily succumbs to a 'miracle system'. Guys like Shoemoney have it right - they have... Read More »
Soooooo, I started this tutorial with every intention of being serious. But it's been a long week, I was up at 4:30 AM and I had Evan in the tutorial. Things went downhill fast. Regardless, it still shows you how to install Google... Read More »
Fresh from the blog:
March 12, 2010 by ian
March 12, 2010, Seattle, WA - Ian Lurie, CEO of Portent Interactive B-list SEO geek, has catapulted himself into the limelight by suing every business using words that contain 'ian'. The lawyer-turned-marketer wants all businesses using words containing 'ian' to request permission, first. According to documents leaked to the media, Ian's lawsuit claims he's had his reputation unfairly smeared by publications such as Wikipedia: Law scholar Febrile Ezureis stated this suit could have far-reaching implications. "Never mind the Lindsay Lohan suit against E-Trade. This could mean marketing copywriters everywhere will have to buy a thesaurus. Imagine if you can't use…
Continue Reading Breaking news: Ian Lurie filing suit for use of 'ian' »
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March 11, 2010 by ian
Whenever I read a book on SEO, I want to slap the author. First there's the inevitable reference to keyword meta tags. Then there's the "Write great content" line. And the "put more keywords on every page". Or there's great stuff like "Exchange links with other sites". Bleah. So, when I cracked The Art of SEO: Mastering Search Engine Optimization (Theory in Practice) I was skeptical. The authors are the top folks in the industry - Rand Fishkin, Stephan Spencer, Eric Enge and Jesse Stricchiola - but I figured there's some kind of stupid club that all editors use to…
Continue Reading The Art of SEO: Book Review »
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March 10, 2010 by ian
The biggest mistake I see SEO's make: They focus on keywords first and foremost, ignoring opportunities that exist right in their own analytics data. This is my presentation from SMX West 2010, where I talk about analytics strategies for SEO. It'll help you get out of the keyword abyss. I added text so that it makes sense, instead of looking like a random set of images and babbling: Analytics for SEOView more presentations from Ian Lurie. You can download the PDF version here: How to: Get SEO analytics beyond the stone age PS: Sorry for some color oddities. Powerpoint. Sucks.…
Continue Reading How to: Get SEO analytics beyond the stone age »
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March 8, 2010 by ian
A bunch of random facts about internet marketing, all of which are worth knowing, regardless of their randomness: Internet marketing is hard. Really hard. It's not something that easily succumbs to a 'miracle system'. Guys like Shoemoney have it right - they have systems, but they don't say it's easy. Internet marketing can't be done by a computer. You're still marketing to human beings. That's why #2 is true. As long as we're selling to humans, we're going to need humans to handle the marketing. 'Internet' marketing is more of a medium than a method. Marketing is a method/technique. Internet…
Continue Reading 25 internet marketing facts »
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March 5, 2010 by ian
Plot synopsis: Drunk Google engineer, me trapped in window seat, 90 minutes stretches out like years. That's the short version. Here's the long one: Have to give Rand Fishkin credit for the title 'Captain Crazy Pants'. Rand was sitting across the aisle and heard some of the goings-on, so you can check with him to verify I'm full of truthiness. Last night as I boarded my flight home from SMX West, a somewhat twitchy guy sat down next to me. He was pretty big, and all elbows. I hunkered down, ready to play compress-the-body-bubble until we got to Seattle. No…
Continue Reading Captain Crazy Pants and the Flight to Nowhere »
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March 3, 2010 by ian
One innocent Tweet and everyone went nuts. Sheesh. The YouTube Video Optimization session at SMX West today kicked butt. Out of many cool tidbits, one really stood out: Matt Ballek pointed out a Forrester study showing that an optimized YouTube video is 50x more likely to get onto page 1 of Google than an optimized HTML page. I tweeted it. It then got retweeted. And retweeted again. And then some more. And so on. Since it got a lot of attention, I figured I'd better provide a proper citation. Matt was referencing a Forrester report that said: Now that's a…
Continue Reading YouTube videos are 50x more likely hit page 1 »
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March 3, 2010 by ian
This post is somewhat advanced - I geek out quite a bit. If you don't know what a server log file is, read about that, first, then come back. Yesterday I explained why, in internet marketing, attribution is a mind-sucking pain in the ass. Not very satisfying, I know, because all I said was "This is really difficult" without providing any solutions. I was channeling Republicans. Tonight I'll channel Democrats and provide a hopelessly complex yet plausible solution upon which no one will ever agree. You can provide accurate attribution data. It's hard, but it's doable. All you need are:…
Continue Reading Attribution: Part 2 - Connecting the dots »
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March 2, 2010 by ian
The worst job in the world? President. I'd rather be a telemarketer (been there, done that). It's not the assassination threats, or the constant hounding by the press, or the fact that you can blow up the earth about 40 times over. It's about attribution. You get 'credit' for things that go wrong, and no credit for things you do right: Which, as it turns out, is also why being an internet marketer can really suck at times, too: It's just about impossible to accurately determine attribution. Attribution means giving credit where credit is due: The economy improves - why?…
Continue Reading Attribution: Part 1 - why it sucks to be President »
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February 26, 2010 by ian
Soooooo, I started this tutorial with every intention of being serious. But it's been a long week, I was up at 4:30 AM and I had Evan in the tutorial. Things went downhill fast. Regardless, it still shows you how to install Google Analytics on a regular web site and on Wordpress: A brief lesson on installing Google Analytics on your web site. Plus color commentary. It's fun, we promise. Enjoy...…
Continue Reading Google Analytics Tutorial Redux: Installation (with commentary) »
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February 25, 2010 by ian
Linda Lybert knows sales. I mean she really knows sales, the way a history professor knows history. She wrote a brilliant, brief white paper about sales, titled "Are you going to sell to me the way you want to sell or the way I want to buy?", and she was kind enough to give me a copy to distribute, for free, from my blog. What I like most about her writing and philosophy is that she takes something that should be obvious, but isn't, raps you gently on the forehead and says "LISTEN UP". In this white paper, she goes…
Continue Reading Sell the way your customers want to buy »
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