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And by mainstream, I mean “USA Today”. You know, that newspaper you buy when your plane’s late and then leave in the backrest pocket. This little article presents the basic principles of SEO in language anybody can understand. If you are trying to get beginners to comprehend the first steps they can take to get their sites noticed and searchable, this article might be a good place to start.

A beauty of blogging as a business tool is that your site is a fluid ever-changing process of the sort that search engines love. You have the ability to go back and update old posts. But should you bother updating old posts, particularly ones which appear to have little traction? Isn’t it better just to write a new post? I would have thought that there was no question that adding a new post was the best use of energy, but this article in Performancing, to whose feed you should be subscribing, BTW, puts a finer point on it. Here is an excerpt:

The solution, in my opinion, would be to write a new post now and update the old post later. Obviously, you want to create the new post to give readers something to read, and people could simply go back to the old article via links if they wished. Afterwards, you update your old post with some of the new information, and then link to your newer post. This gives people that come from search engines and social sites a reason to go to another page on your site, and if that happens, they are much more likely to subscribe.

Read the whole article by James Mowery on the Performancing Blog, and add Performancing RSS feed to your feedreader.

Okay, I’m going to pretend that we have all agreed that a good domain name is an important art of a unified and coherent web presence. Opinions vary, but let’s suspend disbelief for a bit, if necessary.

I found a blog entry which appears to be distillation of accumulated wisdom about domain name selection; it is a kind of “edu-checklist”, to coin a hyphenated word I wish never to hear again.
Here is an excerpt:

TIP #2: Avoid hyphens. They may make your domain name easier to read, but they also tend to create confusion. “The bottom line with hyphens is that most domains don’t include them. So, when you tell someone your domain, they’ll probably try typing it without any hyphens.”

Read “10 Tips for Getting that Perfect Domain Name” and bookmark it for future reference or to save a friend from making a terrible domain-name mistake. Like hyphenating, for instance

I often make the mistake of including a “*click here!*” kind of link, which is the result of underestimating the abilities of readers, I suppose. I will no longer do so.

Which of these is more effective (potential links in bold)?

• If you are interested in hosting a giveaway, please review my vendor guidelines.
• My vendor guidelines are available here.

Read these brief useful linking directions in their entirety ( See, I didn’t do the *here* thing! ). From Blogging Basics 101.

Sometimes, (if not most of the time) you want to know exactly what your competitors are doing and how do they excel in doing it right. Today we wanted to share with you a comprehensive list of more than 13 online tools that can help you figure out why some of your competitors are ranking better than you.

Read the whole story here.

… and not just because of SEO considerations, either.

On the Web, users are engaged and want to go places and get things done. The Web is an active medium.

While watching TV, viewers want to be entertained. They are in relaxation mode and vegging out; they don’t want to make choices. TV is a passive medium.

Read the whole story here!

This little article is the most concise and useful on the subject of choosing an appropriate domain for your small business site I have found so far. As usual, the author says i far better than I could.

Tip#2
Another thing that is very important is to be sure that your domain name is easily remembered and can be recalled instantly. When I say to you “Just Do It!” what do you think. Have you visited JustDoIt.com lately? Who do you think owns it? Making an URL memorable is extremely important. You want your prospect to remember it well after they have seen it, no matter where you are displaying it.

Read the whole piece by John Waraas here. Goes a long way toward dispelling the contradictory folklore about domain names without getting technical.