Google Wave people… Google Wave.  Google’s new model for communication and collaboration on the web.

Click here to watch the unveiling of Google Wave at Google I/O.

Click here to learn more about Google Wave.

I typically like to spend more time ripping apart new/updated operating system before posting about it on my blog but Microsoft’s Windows 7 (Release Candidate) has me very excited.  If you have followed me for a while or at least know me a little bit, you’ll know I was a huge Microsoft guy, which is until Vista was released.  Vista (like Windows ME, Microsoft Bob and other poor Microsoft decisions) really pushed me away from Microsoft, not only forcing me to waste a lot of time trying to make Vista work for my business and home setups but also making me realize Apple’s OS X (Leopard) a lot more.

After stepping back from Windows Vista (Ultimate) and reinstalling XP Pro on all my computers, I was left wanting what I expected to get when dropping over $300 on Vista… a more advanced operating system that is in-tune with today and tomorrow.  Apple did a fantastic job of catching my attention and eventually finding it’s place into my home and office; OS X Leopard had what I wanted and it actually worked very well.  Although I still run Microsoft Windows XP Pro and even Vista on a couple machines, I have been using OS X Leopard a lot… until last week - that is.

Microsoft Windows 7 is what I wanted to and really expected to see in Vista.  I have been using Windows 7 RC for a little over a week now, running all applications I normally run (MS Office 2007 Pro, Adobe CS4 Master, etc) and really pushing this OS hard, trying to crack it like I did with Vista and every other OS I’ve used to date (Linux, BSD, OS X, etc).  So far Windows 7 is not just hanging in there but seriously performing; running much faster and way more efficiently than Vista ever did, providing a longer battery life on my laptop, zero downtime and lots of new slick surprises.  This is really surprising considering all the non-compatible applications I am forcing it to run on a regular basis.

Windows 7 Release Candidate has me excited about Windows as a primary operating system again and I hope Microsoft continues to really listen to what we want in an operating system.  Apple has taken advantage of the Vista tragedy and earned its place in a lot of homes it probably never would of if Microsoft went from XP to Windows 7 (skipping Vista altogether).  What excites me about this is we are starting to see some healthy competition as Apple really forced Microsoft to look at them as a company that could take a chunk of their business.  Microsoft cannot afford another Vista and with the release of Windows 7 RC they proved they listend, learned and are headed down a smarter path.

If you are currently running Windows 7 RC (not Beta) I would love to hear your experience with it.  Thank you!

To learn more about Microsoft Windows 7 or if you are ready to take the dive at give the release candidate a run, click here.  I think Microsoft has released Windows 7 RC to the general public or will be doing so this week - very exciting!!

I have been receiving a ton of emails about .avi to dvd software and a lot of people want to know what app I use when burning .avi’s to DVD.  I assume this spike in emails is due to the economy and people trying to save a buck here and there by illegaly downloading movies and burning them to disc.  That being the case (who am I to judge - LOL) I am aware of several applications out there today that can do exactly that but the one I have had complete success with is Xilisoft AVI to DVD Converter.

This application easy extremely easy to use and does exactly what it says, it converts and burns .avi video/movie files to DVD so you can watch on almost any DVD player.  I say almost any DVD player for my own liability but I have yet to find a DVD player that hasn’t accepted a disc I burned using Xilisoft.

Now while I do recommend this application I want to make it clear that there may be better or free ones out there.  I happened to be searching on my own, found this one and have used it ever since.  If you have something better, cheaper or just straight free please let us know - I’ll make sure to update this thread if a better one exsists!

You can find out more about Xilisoft AVI to DVD Converter here: http://www.xilisoft.com/avi-to-dvd-converter.html

Here is my top 5 list of SEO resources for information, tools and a quality community following.  This list is not in a specific order, they are numbered but that doesn’t mean #1 is any better than #3 and vice versa.

1.  Digital Point - An awesome internet marketing forum for webmasters.

2.  SEOmoz - I have a PRO membership and I suggest getting one as well, their tools rock (especially Linkscape).

3.  SEOBook - Aaron Wall is a really smart guy and always has fantastic information and tools available.  I am a member of his training program, I own the book and I am addicted to his forum.  Oh yeah, I read his blog too!

4.  Social Media Daily - Michelle put together a phenomenal e-book called Social Media Daily.  It’s free and you need to read it.  Michelle also recently launched a 6-week training program.  I have not joined the training program but if it’s anything close to her Social Media Daily e-book, I’d say it’s going to be worth it.  If you have joined this program I’d love to hear what you think of it so far.

5.  Real Estate Webmasters & SEO Guy - Real Estate Webmasters was created by Morgan (SEO Guy), one of the greatest SEO’s in my opinion and a pioneer in the online real estate industry.  The REW forum is geared towards the real estate industry of course but still offers awesome resources and information for any internet marketer.  For those of you who want less industry specific info I suggest checking out the SEO Guy forum then.

Of course there are many other resources available online that offer awesome information, tools and relationships.  I hope to hear what you guys think, what would your top 5 be?  Remember this list is in no specific order, that would be very difficult for me to do… LOL.

Is Phoenix SEO Really all That Competitive?

When people claim a keyphrase is competitive, what does that mean to you?  As an SEO you should know how to gauge the competitiveness of keyphrases before you tell another SEO that a phrase is hard to rank for.  There are a lot of tools people use to determine how hard a keyphrase is, but I just like using good ole school Google, and good ole school Yahoo.

Since I am talking about SEO, I figured a local modifier to that phrase would yield the right kind of “semi - competitive but sexy” SERP.  For my readers who don’t know what a SERP is, it means Search Engine Result Pages in the SEO world.  So let’s take a look at Phoenix SEO and a few Google and Yahoo tricks that can help us determine if that phrase is even that difficult.

First, just search Google for the phrase.  There you go; you’ll land here http://www.google.com/search?q=Phoenix+SEO and see the SERP for Phoenix SEO.  Besides the actual results, there are a few things you should check out on this page.  First, who is ranking for the term.  Right now I am seeing ObuSearch, DataFlurry, and MCP Media at the top.  That should be a good sample set for later on in the post. Notice to the right area of the page.  Currently it tells me there are about 299,000 results.  A healthy amount, but it’s nothing compared to searching Google, for let’s say Google.  2.5 billion, now that’s a lot.  That should give you some perspective.

So we have determined that not a whole hell of a lot of people are talking about Phoenix SEO.  Searches like Tucson SEO and Wichita SEO surprisingly yield more results!  But take a look at two other things on the page.  There are a lot of ads running for that phrase. And at the top there, a bunch of local SEO businesses in that Google Maps one box.

Now, you have determined two things.  The market is not as big as you would think for this service.  I mean Phoenix is a huge city, I am surprised there aren’t that many web pages in Google’s index for this query.  But there are a lot of businesses competing for a slice of that pie.  So the other thing we have found is that the marketplace is competitive.  If there is a big market with few companies competing, it’s called an opportunity.  If it’s a small market with a lot of companies competing, some may call it a waste of time, but I digress.

Let’s take it a step further and determine who is actually actively TRYING to rank for Phoenix SEO.  This can be done with a few google commands.  First let’s determined the people who have talked about the exact phrase “Phoenix SEO“.  You can do this by putting quotes around your query. Honestly, there are only 22,500 results in Google’s index for this phrase.  That still may seem like a lot, but its really not.

Next we will see who has links pointing to their site with Phoenix SEO in the anchor text.  In Google, type in allinanchor:Phoenix SEO and search.  Google will then find the sites with the most links with Phoenix SEO in the anchor.  Funny, 22,500 results again.  MCP Media is up there at the top, followed by, you guessed it, DataFlurry and ObuSearch.  That correlation between actual rankings and anchor text in the links is no coincidence.

And a step further, type in allinanchor:”Phoenix SEO” with quotes around “Phoenix SEO”.  You’ll see only the sites with that exact anchor text in their links.  Mostly the same guys, but I see ClassicHits now is up there.  This tells me they are actively link building, and looking to rank on Google for Phoenix SEO.

The anchor text link is the most powerful aspect of SEO.  But there is another extremely important piece of the pie here.  The actual title of the page (up at the top of your browser window on the left) is the second most important aspect.  Luckily, google has a command to find those pages and sites as well.  Instead of “allinanchor:” try “allintitle:” and your search.  To continue on, we’ll stick to Phoenix SEO and check the results.

Wow, only 273 results on Google for Phoenix SEO.  Notice the actual SERP is different now.  MCP Media is still up there at the top, but now we have azpixles.com and atomicmedium.com creeping into the front page.  Those two sites just need more good links and they should rank well.

Speaking of links, Google does have a command to find links but it doesn’t give you much, which sucks.  It doesn’t tell you how many links a site really has.  Try it, the commad is link:Phoenix SEO.  Interesting, on this page there are 153,000 results.  But it shows who is getting links.  DataFlurry again hustling, and now we see PhoeenixSynergy make an entrance in to the top results as well.  Now let’s try replacing the keyphrase with the top website to see what Google sees as far as links pointing to the site. Try link:www.dataflurry.com and see what happens.  That’s right, only 308 results.  Mere child’s play.

Now here’s the problem, and here is where I switch engines.  Google’s link command sucks.  Pretty much pointless.  Open up good ole Yahoo and try the same command.  Holy crap, over 32k links, and it even shows the sites and let’s you download the list!  This is how you see what your competition is really doing with their links.  Turns out it is a little competitive eh?

Try using your main keyphrases and replacing Phoenix SEO in the commands outlined above.  You’ll learn a lot about your competition, that’s for sure!

What a cool interview, enjoy!

Google has unveiled a new way to deliver AdSense Ads which is being labeled as “behaviorally targeted ads“.  This works by Google installing a cookie on the surfer’s computer and then tracks the websites visited.  When that user lands on a page that delivers AdSense ads the user will be more likely to see targeted ads geared to what their cookie’s data holds.

Google does a great job of monetizing the data they intake and this is definitely Google taking monetization to the next level.  I do see how this could raise eyebrows on the privacy factor and I agree,  I don’t like being tracked by cookies.  I also don’t like the thought of people getting an idea of what I am looking at by seeing what ads appear on my machine.

Google hopes to pre-empt this concern by offering their users the ability to control what kind of ads they see but it also is more of a broad approach at this time.  “To provide greater privacy protections to users, we will not serve interest-based ads based on sensitive interest categories,” said Nicole Wong, one of Google’s legal representatives.

“For example, we don’t have health status interest categories or interest categories designed for children.”

Users can modify their ad preferences through the ad preferences manager.

Scottsdale SEO

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOU!

Lou Amundson is awesome.

Sleeping Dog Runs Into Wall - Watch more Funny Videos

When did SPAM’s website become so cool?  I guess a quick look at the Wayback Machine would give us the answer but never mind that, SPAM rocks!  The interactive and funny flash design keeps me entertained but the shocking PR7, 30,000+ inbound-links and 13 year old domain makes me jealous!  Even better… over 32,000 visitors a day!!  Damn Spam!!  Damn you!!  You got my link and you got a spot on my grocery list!  ARGH!!

:)