Puppy's Picks - 07/28/08

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by Jennifer Laycock

I scan a few hundred feeds and read dozens of articles a day so you don't have to. From surprise social media usage to keyword copy writing to an ongoing debate around how to be the best company you can be online...check out half a dozen posts I classify as "must-read" for the day.

David Meerman Scott makes a great point on his blog about the supposed lack of social media usage by Internet users. David points out that while many people may not think they read blogs or visit video sharing web sites, they do use search engines...and where do search engines often lead? Yep! Blogs and videos. (Hat tip to Mike Moran

A week after my own article explaining how search engines decide which of the words on a page are important, Karen Thackston delivers another killer article on SEO copy writing. Karen explains the best ways to work keywords and phrase into your copy while maintaining strong copy that's likely to convert. A must read for anyone tasked with writing SEO friendly copy.

The team over at the Blog Council has put together a set of open source documents aimed at helping companies understand best practices for blog outreach. The documents address issues like outreach, disclosure, compensation and blogger relations. The documents will continue to evolve over time, but look like good starting points to me! (via Conversation Agent)

Trying to figure out if local search is worth the effort for your small business? Larry Sullivan offers up seven reasons in a post over at Local Biz Bits. From the growth of Online Yellow Pages to an explosion in local search spending, find out why it's still not too late to get in the game.

Rohit Bhargava covers the current debate between 37signals and Freshbooks on his blog. The question is about delivering amazing customer service and the best way to do it. (You'll need to read his full post to get it.) My two cents? We've used both Basecamp and Freshbooks here at Search Engine Guide. While I love both company's offerings...I feel a personal connection to Freshbooks because I've interacted with them at conferences, on Twitter and via email. They put faces and personality behind their company. Combine that with their attitude about delivering the customer service people want, and I think they win this battle hands down. (Rohit asks if this type of customer service can scale. I'd answer simply by saying Zappos.)

I hope we're reaching the day when stories of small business owners being scammed in the name of SEO are gone, but it looks like we aren't there yet. Simon Hestletine shares the story of a friend who found her wallet $1750 lighter and her site not ranking any better after being sucked in by an SEO cold call. The post offers a good word of warning for anyone considering hiring one of these services after a phone call.

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