Cameron Gibbs

Every SEO will agree that the most important factor in SEO is backlinks, both quality and quantity — it’s no secret.

There are a number of ways to get other sites to link to you… here’s a few: reciprocal links (you link to someone and they link to you), renting links through a broker or directly from another site, buying permanent links, sponsoring or advertising on sites (pretty much the same as renting), etc. You can also comment on others blogs and link back to your site or write in online article directories, such as ezine articles, and include a link to your site. But the cheapest and the best way to build links is by the sweat of your brow — developing a quality, valuable site that other sites will link to.

You can see how many sites are linking to you by typing the following in the google search bar link:yourdomainname.com. In yahoo, type linkdomain:yourdomainname.com. You’ll notice that Google and Yahoo will also list pages on your site that link to the homepage… this is normal.

So, when optimizing your site for search engines, the number one thing you can do is build links, lots and lots of links! There are a number of other things to consider when you’re building links… but I’ll leave that for tomorrow. It’s past my bedtime right now.

I was once made fun of because I joked that I had drank two slimfasts and lost 3 lbs. Well, there’s actually a drink out ther that claims to have negative calories (you burn more than you consume by drinking it - between 60 and 100).

By my calculations, if you burn 100 calories drinking a 12-ounce can of Enviga, you only have to down 35 cans to lose a pound. Who’s laughing now? Ha, ha, ha.

Inspired by my dad, I’m subscribing to a “joke of the day” blog. I did a search and, from the little research I did, I’m gonna try www.jokeoftheday.com. The jokes I read so far were clean and funny so I think I’ll like it. If anyone knows of a better site, give out a shout… thanks.

Next week, I will share 5 tips (one tip each day) on search engine optimization. This is something I plan to do over the next several weeks. I plan to share tips on the most common, effective forms of internet marketing, specifcally, pay-per-click advertising, comparison shopping engines, affiliate marketing, email, merchandising, and maybe a little on promotions, blogs, and banners (CPM).

The tips will certainly not be comprehensive and will be a mix of beginner’s, intermediate, and advanced.

On a totally unrelated note, I posted this entry as I watched the ending of the Dallas - Seattle WILD card playoff game. Poor Tony Romo… he will never hear the end of it… you could certainly feel his pain as he walked off the field with his head hanging low. Interestingly, the commentators never recognized what #27 of the Seahawks did… if it weren’t for his shoestring tackle from behind, Romo would have had six points or a first down, at the least.

Yesterday I got an email from a friend to support Mitt Romney as the Republican nominee for president in 2008 (he recently announced he’s going to run for the presidency). The email included this link to a video biography of Mr. Romney.

Since the presidential election is so far away and there are many issues yet to be debated among the candidates, I’m in no hurry to make up my mind as to who to I’ll be voting for in ‘08. However, since Mitt and I share the same religious beliefs, he can’t be all that bad, despite the fact that he’s a politician. Though I think his chances of winning the nomination, let alone the election, are quite slim, it’s fun to entertain the idea of a Mormon president.

A while back, Google Adwords added a setting to campaigns called “delivery method”. The setting includes two options: 1) Standard: shows ads evenly over time and 2) Accelerated: shows ads as quickly as possible. Surprisingly, Google sets the standard option as the default. Common sense would be to make the accelerated option the default. Read on…

If every $10 in ad spend results in $20 gain, why would anyone want to spread out a limited budget over the day? That also leads to another question… why would anyone want to limit their budget? I can’t think of a scenario in which setting a limited budget and spreading it out over the day makes sense. Anyone that can think of one, I’d love to hear it.

Those that have a very high budget that they never come close to reaching probably don’t have to worry about the delivery method, though I’d switch it just to be safe. If you aren’t hitting your budget than your ads will show all day, regardless of which option is selected.

Yesterday I mentioned remarks I remembered that were made by my dad’s boss about my dad at his funeral. After writing the post, I thought I’d listen to his comments again (it was the first time I heard the recording since the funeral). Upon listening to it again, I realized that there were other very meaningful and insightful things said that I didn’t remember.

With permission, I’ve made the talk available for download (click here). I think what he said would be of benefit to any and every businessman or woman.

At my dad’s funeral back in September, my dad’s boss, Paul Spencer, spoke for a few minutes. One of the things he said that has really stuck with me was that ‘Ned’ (my dad) “had his priorities right… God, family, work and fun.” He talked about how great of an employee he was, how much he cared about others, and how much everyone admired him. As proud as I was of my dad, Paul’s words made me even prouder. I was so impressed that my dad was living in such a way that even his boss was able to tell what was most important to him. I’ve since wondered if the same thing could be said about me.

The events of the last couple of weeks of my life have brought me to a realization of what really matters. Over the last couple of years I think I really lost focus as my heart and mind were really caught up in work… which is fine while you’re at work but not when your at home.

Over the last couple of months, I gave a shot at owning and running my own business and I’ve learned that its not really what I want right now. It’s not that I was working more than 40 hours a week, but that it was hard to not think about the business and letting it have my attention 24/7. I’ve decided that no matter what business venture/job I pursue right now, that when I come home from work, I don’t bring it with me.

Of course, I plan on spending time outside of work to benefit my employer/career but to an extent that it doesn’t become a distraction at home.

Heidi and I just finished watching the Boise State - Oklahoma Fiesta Bowl game and though we aren’t fans of either teams, we were routing for BSU because being BYU fans, we like rooting for the underdog in big games. If you missed the last few minutes of regulation and overtime, you missed the best ending to a football game I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen BYU comeback in wild fashion time and time again).

Hats off to BSU, both the players and the coaching staff for calling and making such great, entertaining plays. It’s always inspiring to see a major underdog win!

I’m thinking about making a New Year’s resolution to post something to my blog every day. This would mean most of the entries would be short and may not have much meaning. Nonetheless, it would be better than what I’ve done so far.

I just thought I’d post this thought so I’ll take it more seriously. We’ll see. Happy New Year to all my faithful readers.