Malcolm Coles

I'm a consultant - advising on SEO, content strategy and user experience for big brands and small websites. Like a busy builder who lives in a run-down house, my company website needs some work. So you're better off finding me on Twitter or my blog.

Before all this, I was editor of which.co.uk, the UK's most successful subscription website, with 200,000 subscribers paying £75 a year. As well as being the product managed, I ran the online editorial and news team, and have managed design and technical teams over the years.

PC Mag slags off SEO, again (so tell me it's not selling links...)

PC Mag writer John Dvorak has written another bit of anti-SEO linkbait in which he claims that SEO "is killing the Internet if it hasn't already".

But what's that I see on PC Mag category pages? Surely they're not selling links for SEO reasons are they? Let's investigate.

by Malcolm Coles 06 January 2010 11:45am 20 comments

What a lot of rubbish everyone is talking about Google and paywalls

The biggest load of old rubbish ever has been written about the changes to Google's first click free program. Here's a round up of who understands what they are talking about (and might survive with a paywall) and who hasn't got a clue ...

by Malcolm Coles 03 December 2009 10:00am 4 comments

3am site goes from swearing off SEO to keyword stuffing in 3 months

The Daily Mirror's 3am.co.uk gossip site has gone from disavowing SEO and promising to concentrate on building a loyal audience - to stuffing its HTML titles with as many keywords as it can think of. And then adding some more. Before finally making sure Britney is in there.

by Malcolm Coles 17 November 2009 13:38pm 26 comments

Cervical cancer jab: Please help inject some sensible advice into Google's results

Google risks undermining the cervical cancer vaccine program with the negative, scaremongering slant of its search results. Any parents searching for information on the vaccine in the light of the tragic death of Natalie Morton are presented with a page of negative and alarming stories.

There's something we can all do about this - that's link to the relevant NHS page and try to get that in the top 10 results for relevant Google searches. Here's how YOU can help.

by Malcolm Coles 02 October 2009 11:36am 13 comments

Google Sidewiki: Brands under attack

Internet users have started to use Google's new Sidewiki feature to abuse brands on their own websites:

Microsoft is described as "useless" and "crap" on Microsoft.com
Apple is slammed at apple.com for lying and shipping products with "severe bugs"
The Daily Mail's home page is labelled as "sad toss"

by Malcolm Coles 24 September 2009 15:07pm 16 comments

Murdoch CAN charge for content online, but can anyone else?

Commentators have queued up to tell Rupert Murdoch that his plan to charge for online content is wrong. But I think it's obvious that he can charge.

Murdoch's got the will to charge, access to value-add content, and has a lot of experience selling subscription products in the UK. The question is not whether he can charge - it's whether his competitors can match his content and experience.

by Malcolm Coles 10 August 2009 11:31am 23 comments