Interview with Sugarrae
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I first met Rae in 2002. She has been one of my best friends ever since [It’s the ass, she has a *great* ass. Don’t believe me? Just ask her yourself ;)]. It never ceases to amaze me the depth of her knowledge - from SEO to algorithms and more.
Back in the dinosaur days, Google would do a dance every 30 days [Rae would chug Tums, call me 50 times a day and curse like a sailor or scream with delight] and you could find your new site ranking or not doing much [that is when the cursing would ensue, but it was rare - not the cursing, the not ranking ;)]. My how things have changed…
I asked Rae to answer a few questions and she graciously said yes. So, below you can read my interview with Sugarrae. It was hard to narrow down the questions, there are just so many ;) Enjoy.
Chrissie: I know link development is your specialty, what is one essential linking strategy you believe every webmaster should be utilizing?
Rae: I think it depends on the type of site you’re marketing. I’d say social media would be top on my list though at the moment whether you’re writing a blog or selling coffins. It’s a great way to get links in general. If you’re a blogger, social media is of the utmost importance because it will help you not only build links, but also build a subscriber base and make friends within your niche.
That said, in order to utilize social media marketing effectively, you’ll need some well written content to take aim with. Know the demographic you’re targeting and write something that will appeal to them and will interest them – either via controversy, humor, teaching them something or wow factor. That said, the essential linking strategy that will get you the best results is a well rounded strategy. Don’t focus on any one single method. Variation is key.
Chrissie: What are the first five steps you take when you are launching a new blog? Do you have a set routine you use?
Rae: Yeah, I do. First things first – get it installed and get the right plugins installed. Get a basic template up, make sure I have feeds ready to go and a quality blogroll in place and start posting one smaller post a day to create some back history to the blog. I always let it build up a bit of depth and age before I start hawking it all over the place. Putting your blog in front of the world when there is only one post won’t likely have a ton of people hitting subscribe. But, if you can get some history behind you, and then post some killer posts and promote heavily, people can see that you’re more than a one hit wonder. I also try to grab it at least a handful of links from some friends to start the aging process there as well.
So, I guess my five steps would be:
1. Install the blog and the proper plugins
2. Give it a basic and simple design and get the feeds in working order on Feedburner
3. Start adding content with a good quality blogroll in place and by making a few weeks worth of daily posts
4. Grab a few links from friends at the same time
5. Get several killer content pieces ready to go and start a promotion blitz
There’s really no “secret”. I like processes. They save me time and energy.
Chrissie: Do you feel affiliate sites are better as websites, blogs or a mixture of both? Or is it simply a matter of preference?
Rae: I think it is a case by case basis type of thing – for me anyway. Conversions tend to be better on typical sites, in my experience. Blogs tend to be easier to draw traffic and links to than a typical site. That said, the design comes into play a lot too. You can make a blog look and feel like a typical website and get the best of both worlds.
We built our own CMS system in house that handles the main portion of a site and we usually attach a blog to the main site in industries where it makes sense. The look and feel of the two sections matches, but serves different purposes. Our blogs will usually benefit mainly from advertising sales where as the main sections of the site will benefit more from the result of affiliate sales. A smart affiliate site is adaptable to the industry it serves and uses every possible monetization avenue it can come up with. Utilize the typical pages to make sales, utilize the blog to bring in traffic and links and funnel traffic into the sales pages, both through actual clicks from the blog, to increased search engine rankings on the sales pages based on the popularity being accrued by the blog section of the site.
That said, a blog nor a typical site will make you much if you’re not writing competent and unique content, from a conceptual standpoint and not a literal one. You have to make a site worth visiting. That’s the bottom line. “Build it and they will come is definitely not true, nor am I implying it is. “Build it well and market the hell out of it and they will come and come back is, in my experience.
Chrissie: Are there any WordPress plugins that you highly recommend and feel are essential to blogging success?
Rae: Yeah, I have a few favorites:
1. Complete RSS
2. Delicious Rank
3. Digg This
4. Permalink Redirect - absolute must for SEO
5. SEO Title Tag - another SEO Must
I actually have a pretty decent list of ones I like to use, but those are my top five that are on every single blog I own.
Chrissie: What are some common mistakes you see bloggers making? You know, the ones that have you slamming your head into your keyboard ;)
Rae: Faking it would be number one. If you don’t have a real voice, it comes through, like a brick and will turn users off.
Regurgitation is number two. There’s nothing wrong with reporting on the news, provided you are adding a unique viewpoint to the news and not simply acting like a delicious with a brain. Creating 50 blogs with 1 post every other day each rather than five blogs with 5 posts a day each is a close third. Also, not citing sources. Bloggers are supposed to link freely – stop being paranoid of not using nofollow within your articles.
Oh, and duplicate content from an SEO standpoint is a huge one too. WordPress can be a nightmare for duplicate content if you don’t take the right precautions and restrict spider access and post according to that knowledge.
Chrissie: What strategy do you use when it comes to social marketing sites? What social marketing sites would be your top three in terms of promotion?
Rae: Great content is first and foremost that targets the demographic using the social media site you’re aiming for – and great content includes great links and great visual aids. Making sure you craft a great title and description is also important. Also, understanding social media is highly important – and how it impacts SEO. Social media marketing isn’t submitting your own everyday stories to all the social sites over and over. It’s about writing something remarkable and using social media to get noticed. It isn’t about the backlinks from the social media sites themselves, but about the backlinks you stand to gain from the exposure at these sites – if your content is good enough. As for which sites… there are the obvious like Digg, Delicious and Stumble Upon, but depending on your niche, you may find one of the smaller niche social media sites would be a better target.
Chrissie: How valid are the old “target a keyword” rules these days?
Rae: Depends on what you mean. On page SEO still matters, as does the anchor text of your inbound links. But the days of writing literally unique content? Well, see my answer to number three. ;-)
Thanks, Rae!
Interview with Brian Prince of Best of the Web (BOTW)
Head over to Sugarrae’s to read the interview she snagged with Brian Prince of Best of the Web (BOTW). It’s a good read that details their success with guerrilla marketing, future plans for BOTW and more.
If you don’t yet know of BOTW you are missing out, they are a great bunch of guys! Lynn, Teli and myself had the pleasure of getting to know them at the Boston PubCon in April.
Most importantly, the BOTW shirts rock ;) They are stylish and comfy. Definitely my favorite swag from the conference by far.
Rebranding Ask.com
My good friend Sugarrae did an interview with Michael Ferguson, the Senior User Experience Analyst at Ask.com in reference to their rebranding campaign. The article is definitely well worth the read and full of interesting information. You can read the article over at Search Engine Watch:
Rebranding Ask.com Part I
Rebranding Ask.com Part II
Sugarrae Interviews Josh Siegel of YPN
Sugarrae scored a Q&A with YPN’s Josh Seigel. It’s a must read if you have any questions about the YPN Beta Program.
“Rae: What types of sites does YPN value most in their publisher network? Do those types of sites get more customization options, better payouts or other benefits? Do you see yourself creating a program for “elite” publishers in the future? ”
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