Patrick Altoft

The Link Buyer's Guide

Most webmasters should know by now that link buying is a "black hat" search engine optimisation tactic. High profile sites are being given penalties for buying their way to the top and Google is publicly making life very tough for link buyers and sellers alike.

So why am I writing a link buyer's guide?

by Patrick Altoft 13 March 2008 11:54am 1 comment

What Wikipedia can teach us about SEO

Wikipedia probably receives more traffic from Google than any other website. With over 2 million in depth articles the English version is most people's idea of a perfectly optimised site so what can we learn from it?

by Patrick Altoft 13 March 2008 12:18pm 9 comments

Is the search interface key to user experience?

Google has one of the most basic interfaces on the web. In fact, the simplest pages on Google are their most profitable with most of the revenue coming from search pages and comparatively little arriving from maps, video, Gmail etc

The new Search Me search engine promises to deliver a new kind of interface and the developers no doubt hope to gain market share as a result.

by Patrick Altoft 12 March 2008 17:17pm 1 comment

How to launch a new website - post launch

In the early stages it is very important to monitor your site's reputation using something like Google Alerts or even a paid solution.

Feedback

by Patrick Altoft 06 March 2008 08:33am 1 comment

How to launch a new website – launch week

Before we discuss the launch of the website I want to focus on how to spread the viral articles most efficiently.

Launch

by Patrick Altoft 05 March 2008 09:00am 3 comments

How to launch a new website - pre-launch

Before actually going "live" with your site it is important to make sure you have set up some key features to make your site stand out from the rest.

Hook

by Patrick Altoft 04 March 2008 09:00am 0 comments

How to launch a new website - design & creation

Launching a new website is a daunting prospect, so this week we have a four part series guiding you through the pitfalls and best practice strategies to make your new project a success.

Grow

by Patrick Altoft 03 March 2008 09:00am 4 comments

Mainstream media fails to understand paid search

Those of you who read The Times , Guardian , FT or the Telegraph this week probably heard about the campaign against Marks & Spencer by Britain's biggest union, Unite.

Anybody who knows about internet marketing probably wondered why a story about somebody using Google Adwords to bid on a brand name was such big news, myself included.

by Patrick Altoft 28 February 2008 11:58am 6 comments

Why SEO is expensive

Last week I was discussing SEO with a small business owner who thought that the £60 a month he paid for optimising his website was expensive.

When I explained that a lot of companies (mine included) charge £500 - £1000 per day for consulting he came to the conclusion that his £60 per month was quite reasonable.

The issue is that some businesses still don't regard internet marketing as a professional activity in the same way as financial or legal advice.

by Patrick Altoft 27 February 2008 09:40am 12 comments